The scenes with the Solas-romancing Lavellan in Veilguard are, for me, one of the writing highlights of the game. Of course there are limitations with her being an NPC, but I think that subject to the constraints of the structure of the game, the writer did a really great job of a very difficult piece of writing - creating a depiction of the character that fits with thousands of different versions of Lavellan.
First of all, Lavellan’s dialogue is elegant and lyrical, matching the cadence in which Solas speaks and thus showing how in-tune they are even after all these years. One thing I loved about Inquisition was that the language was often really beautiful, so I enjoyed seeing that kind of poetic language return here, and I think the writer understood and captured the heart of what a lot of people loved about the Solas romance - the poetry and beauty of it.
In addition, we get a range of different emotions. Lavellan expresses sadness (‘He meant that much’), passion ('You’ve felt the power of that mind’), anger ('He left me to clean up his mess’), self-doubt ('Am I the prideful one?’). Whatever reaction you personally envision your character as having, you can find it represented in what she says here. I know some people wished Lavellan could have more of an angry confrontation with Solas, but that probably wouldn’t have been possible without just allowing us to directly control Lavellan; I think the writer achieved a good compromise by showing us her anger and hurt in this conversation.
At the same time, she’s shown to be mature, self-aware, and reflective. We see her questioning herself, asking 'Am I the prideful one, imagining his broken heart so I’d never have to face my folly?’ Lavellan isn’t deluded; she’s not romanticizing what happened. If she chooses to go with him, it’s clear that she isn’t naive or being manipulated. She’s making this choice in a fully aware, thoughtful manner.
And although Lavellan loves Solas deeply, he isn’t her first priority. It’s important that when Rook asks her if she’d be willing to leave with Solas, she states, 'No. We have to save the world first.’ We’re shown very clearly that she has a life outside of Solas, and she prioritizes her duty to the people of Thedas: only once her task is done is she able to put herself first, and finally choose her own desires over her duty for once.
It’s also impressive how clearly she understands Solas, as evident in her speculation that he’s left clues because part of him wants to be stopped. I particularly liked the fact that she’s shown to have a deeper understanding of him than Rook, as seen in their exchange about 'lies of the heart.’ Rook just sees one superficial version of Solas as 'god of lies,’ whereas Lavellan understands that although Solas did lie to her, at a deeper level he isn’t good at concealing what he really feels. Lavellan absolutely knows and understand Solas’ flaws and the 'bad’ side of him that Rook has seen, but she also knows a different side of him that no one else has seen. If Lavellan chooses to go with him, it’s because she understands him completely: she sees all the good and all the bad in him, and she chooses him anyway.
Finally, sometimes I see people critiquing Lavellan for being passive or not having much going on apart from her connection with Solas. Now first off, this clearly isn’t true, since she spends the whole game mustering the armies of the south and sending detailed missives about her military operations - no one in Thedas has more going on than this woman!
But also, it’s important to keep in mind that Lavellan isn’t supposed to be a fully-fleshed out character: she’s specifically left vague enough so that you can fill in the details with your own Lavellan. For example, we’re not told much about what she’s been up to in the last ten years, but of course that’s not because she’s done nothing but pine for Solas: it’s simply left unspecified so it can be compatible with different headcanons. Lavellan is specifically written to allow us to fill in the details, and the measure of success is not whether she comes off as a fully-developed character to people who don’t have their own Solas-romancing Lavellan (honestly, those people shouldn’t even be commenting, this writing isn’t for them); the measure of success is whether she works as a stand-in for all of our individual versions of Lavellan. And although of course it’s never going to be possible to please everyone, I think the writer did a great job within the limitations of what was possible in the plot.
For a belated day 5 of @veilguard-appreciation-week (Arlathan Forest), here is a short piece about Rook meeting an oddly familiar stranger at the Veil Jumper camp.
(No pairing | 1,181 Words | No Warnings)
“They grew and grew in the old churchyard Till they could grow no higher At the end they formed a true lover’s knot And the rose grew 'round the briar.” —Joan Baez, “Barbara Allen”
“Excuse me—are you the one who found our friends in the forest?”
Rook had been sorting through the various trinkets, samples, and sundries she’d collected on this trip through the wood. She paused now, turning toward the voice while her hands went on untangling several lengths of thread.
“That’s me. Can I help you with something?”
“Aniud,” the Veil Jumper offered, bowing slightly with a hand pressed to his chest. “And you are Rook? One of the two was out looking for something I’d dropped, but she can’t find it in her pockets now. I don’t suppose you saw a locket in that cave where you found her? I will need to go back for it if you did not.”
Lenore looked at him fully for the first time and was struck by an uncomfortably strong sense of familiarity. She would have sworn she’d never met him before, and yet…
hello i saw you post your fic in the Viago tag which is incidentally the first webpage i open in the morning when i wake up like the daily newspaper, and i clicked right away on it from the summary (um viago in the hossberg wetlands??? YES this is the missing content from the game i need) and it was SO GOOD and i know i left a comment there already but i just gotta tell you right now directly as well that im in love with your viago & i cant wait for more!! <3
HI I HOPE YOU KNOW YOU MADE MY DAY!!! it was a WHOLE ESSAY and it had me 😳😳😳😳 and I am savouring it with my morning coffee rn. Thank you so much for reading and for your wonderful commentary, it means THE WORLD!! I’m gonna go crack my knuckles and type out a proper answer because THAT is the sort of discussion I’m ABOUt haha.
As soon as I realised I’d get Viago, Antoine and Evka in a room, the “are you married?” question popped up in my head and that was the catalyst for the entire rest of the fic. I’ve literally been dreading and dreaming writing out that conversation for like a month and slowly building up to it and I can only hope the moment landed ahhh!!!
Thank you again, friend!!! Sending you all the good thoughts 🫶
