i honestly forget how dark the first game was. Like realy disturbing stuff

Love how dark origins is

Origins darkspawn design was on point actually gave me chills, the dark spawn from inquisition was like it was made by children lol

There is alot of mystery surrounding the origin of the darkspawn. It is written that the Tavinter mages corrupted the Golden City, but one of those mages stated that it was already corrupted when they got there. There has been a lot of foreshadowing that something isn't quite right. Things like the Primeval Thaig and the darkspawn not all being pure evil all hint to somerhing greater and much darker. I just hope Bioware has the vision and ability to make it a big payoff.

It just occured to me that a person whose relative was made into a broodmother is technically related to a darkspawn like lets say your sister is made into a broodmother an ogre could be your nephew

Odd how the architect wasn't ever used or brought up again. With the warden civil war going on maybe there's hope for his return in d4.

I hate how they changed the look of the Darkspawn

That little fight in the background tho 10/10

There's something you missed on The Children segment that might make your entire narrative about it moot. The Childrens fought with the Darkspawns, even the Darkspawns are afraid of them. The Childrens are something new made by The Mother, so they're definitely not a larval-stage Darkspawn.

QUANARI BROODMOTHERS That sounds terrifying

Two points you missed: The "shriek" emissaries also appear in DA2. One is a boss in the prologue. Also, you did not talked about the presumed "religion" of the darkspawn (that seems to revolve around the Old Gods). The DA2 entry on the Emissaries says that they serve as some sort of spiritual guides. And, you can see their altars in the Return to Ostagar DLC. Nonetheless, good video, as always :)

The context, tone and the way "violated" was used in her speech is definitely an indication of sexual assault. To avoid needless controversy it is highly likely they used that word as a substitute. Also is it possible to do a video on the qunari? More specifically their blood and theories behind it. If you have done it already, my apologies :) Brilliant content as always!

The way broodmothers are made doesn't outright say its SA but its so heavily implied that its almost impossible to view it any other way. I think this was the intention of the writers all along and I'd consider any denial of it today as a retcon. Is it horrible? Yes. Are the darkspawn horrible? Also yes. Making the Darkspawn sexually parasitic just makes them even more horrifying and disgusting which is kinda their whole point.

Jesus, I'd never played Awakening so I had no idea how dark it gets. Like, seriously disturbing stuff. Adds a whole new layer to how terrifying the darkspawn are. Their reproduction is rooted in one of the most hideous atrocities one can inflict upon another

Lately I have been thinking about what happens when the last archdemon is killed. Many people, both in game and irl, talk like the darkspawn will cease to be a threat, but can we be certain of that. I mean the darkspawn spend most of the time between blights searching for an old god, but what happens when there are no more old gods to find? So Ghil, what do you think will happen once all the old gods are dead? Eternal peace-ish (at least as far as the darkspawn are concerned), or blight without end? Also, that's a hyena, not a dog.

Darkspawn are another crime of the Elven people, as if warmongering against Dwarves and Humans wasn't enough. "When Andruil began stalking the Forgotten Ones in the Void, she suffered longer and longer periods of madness after returning. She put on armor made of the Void, and all forgot her true face. She made weapons of darkness, and plague ate her lands. She howled things meant to be forgotten, until Mythal turned into a great serpent and sapped Andruil's strength with her magic, stealing her knowledge of how to find the Void. Andruil couldn't get back to the abyss ever since, and peace returned." - Madness, like Wardens who succumb to the taint, or Ruck. - Andruil donned armor of the Void and made weapons of darkness, red lyrium. - All forgot her true face, figurative due to behavioral changes or actual physical mutations. - Plague ate her lands, the blight. - Things meant to be forgotten, truths about the Elves origins, as I suspect they are not a native species on the planet. - Why did Mythal become a dragon? Because they are more resistant to the Blight, as revealed in Dragon Research when playing Inquisition. - Who cured themselves of the Blight? Fiona, by way of ancient Elven writings perhaps. - Similarly, who cured an Eluvian of the Blight? Ding, ding another elf taught by a Keeper who would have access to the oldest knowledge found of her people.

Imagine a qunari broodmother boss. I so hope we can see that in DA4, it would have to be one hell of a battle!

The darkspawn lore is the best I remember spending so much time looking up whenever in a fade stage in any of the three DA games trying to find the black city.

Cute darkspawn babies

Jesus i remember how it disturbed me 1 origins moment when i heard this dwarf woman, just playing casually at night and hear in tunnel her whisper....had to stop and play in daytime

Anyone else hope we see the different brood mothers and not just human and dwarf?

Wow. One channel with actual lore, and done well. Came by accident, stayed on. Keep up the great job!

Give me a good Dwarven reason and sod the rest.

i honestly hate the reskin of the darkspawn

Yeah, that's part of what makes me really dread the Deep Roads in Origins is the Broodmother. I actually puked during that segment (thankfully not on my computer) because of the imagery. It's really horrifying stuff.

Honestly, I just keep waiting for a game that will get back to murdering Darkspawn as a central theme. I mean, I don't mind if we don't see another "Blight" and fight another Arch-Demon, but I'd like a more in-depth look at the Taint the Black City and such. Why couldn't we be a member of an expedition to the Deep Roads for research? Maybe our goal in the game is to establish "bases" in the Deep Roads as well as supply lines above ground because some Sage or something has come up with some theories to test on ending the Darkspawn Threat forever. Maybe none of them work, and that's fine, but I think a game based on discovering more about them and going further into the Deep Roads and finding all the lost lore about them... maybe even their exact birthplace.... Well, that would be an adventure I'd love to go on. Even if we never do discover the true lore of the Black City and the Chant of Light. Even if we never discover the true origins of the Darkspawn. I'd like some hints, at least. At the very least, I'd love to know the reason the Magisters were tainted, even if we never discover exactly how.

I didn't care too much for the redesign of Darkspawn and the shriek emissaries in Inquisition just felt like arcane horrors except they're weak to ice. Regarding the Genlock, if they are in fact used to mine lyrium does the taint within them corrupt it into red lyrium? Why wouldn't they get any closer to all the untapped lyrium in the Descent other than the Sha-Brytol protecting it? I'd be interested in seeing a darkspawn use it other than Corypheus. Anyways lovely video as always.

I kind of want a Talking Darkspawn companion in DA4...

Pro tip: The architect can lie.

This channel is great! Can't believe it flew under my radar!

This game would have been 10 times better if it had new game plus

Glad to read I ain't the only one liking the original darkspwn design better. Great video btw, really liking your channel.

You got a great voice for doing these kinds of videos. Nice stuff!!

I am SO glad u did this. I can't be bothered to read; reading on a screen hurts my eyes

Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the throne of the gods...and it was empty

love those videos. been a big fan since your posts on the DA sub.

The Darkspawn remind me a bit of the Locust from GoW

Your voice is perfect for binge watching.

best lore info i have found on dragon age thank you.

I'll have to watch this after work but I gotta say that thumbnail was hilarious to see

Hello new subscriber, just wanted to let you know that when you talked about the Architect I may have light on why he has no memory. It deals with a codex entry you find in the Fade, it explains that a dwarf finds to mage looking darkspawn arguing then end up fighting leaving one severely injured.

Thank you for sharing, very informative.

Another great video and my heartfelt thanks for the warning and the time stamps :)

I had no idea darkspawn types were based on the race of the brood mother xD that makes so much sense now! Clearly I need to read the Codex more

Weird how elven darkspawn are the ones without magic

I'm looking forward to seeing more information about the Kal Sharok dwarves and their connection to the blight, there has only been small bits of information so far. Something very strange about that place. I'm wondering if there is a titan there myself. 😀

Since it has never been mentioned, i'd be curious to see an ogre mage, logic would suggest they exest, right?

Speaking of archdemons needing their own video... please do that!!😊😊😊

All hail lol another interesting and informative vid

The Deep Roads mission is the second game I played on 360 that unnerved me

I love inquisition and DA2 i need to play origins after watching your lore videos

Late to the party, but that bit about Alphas fighting for turf in the Deep Roads when there's not a blight makes me think that perhaps when a darkspawn troup/squad/team (whatever) finds an Old God to taint, that it brings them some kind of honor maybe? Or perhaps there's a boon that the Archdemon will bestow on those specific Darkspawn that discovered him? Normally i'd think of Darkspawn as a hive, so if any of them discover the Old God body they all win, but maybe they compete for it as well. Also something im wondering about is, since all Grey Wardens go into the Deep Roads when their Calling comes, how come they dont tell the Darkspawn of the Old God locations? We know that select few of the senior wardens know where they are, and if they start hearing the Old God's call, do they resist it? Or is it just implied they die before they fully transform into darkspawn that want to bring about the new Blight?

Missed a good part of this video cause of watching that dog fight in the background lol

I was really invested in that hunter/hyena fight.

I wish Daragon age inquisition had origins’ level of gore and dark elements

Baby darkspawn... Adorable

Watching in 2024 preparing for veilguard a darkspawn game based on the lotr sow games would be great. Always hoping for a dark spawn companion

Inherently evil race. Even when awakened and try to do "good" will leave death and misery in their wake. A cursed existance when you become aware and realised your an abomination and struggle withouth going completely insane.

I know these videos are pretty old by this point, but I am a little disappointed you didn't include mention in the "culture" part about how in DA:O they turned the forge at Ostagar into a sort of shrine. I've always been curious about that.

Wooooow that's dark as hell

One thing I found interesting was the lack of ogre emissaries. We know that the Qunari obviously have mages, although they're chained/heavily restricted. And don't get me wrong, an ogre emissary would be a challenging enemy I'm not particularly eager to face. But with the dwarven people turned to genlocks suddenly able to use magic, I see no reason why the qunari equivalent wouldn't happen. Maybe this would be tackled in a later game? Or maybe it'll be written off as "ogres are rare anyway, so magic ogres would be near impossible."

The fact I’m eating sloppy joe’s while watching this

Bioware is hoping we all just forget about Awakening DLC.

coriphispit still had his memorys coz he was sleepin in the prison where as the other one had to live every day thinking and he lost the memorys over a long ass time

What about training? The darkspawn seem to be very proficient with the weapons they wield, which makes them formidable advesaries.

I now have a need to draw baby darkspawn. Also I'll forever miss the ghoulish smiles on the Hurlocks, so much sadistic glee in those awful faces.

This made me think of something that I had not thought of before. I DAO the call of the blight is referred to as a song and Lyrium is said to sing as well. This makes me think of 2 possibilities. 1. The magesters somehow made red lyrium and in doing so, became blighted and in turn created the darkspawn. 2. Red lyrium already existed but, was in some way contained. The magesters then discovered it and tried to use it but, instead ended up being used by it. If the later is true and the blight/red lyrium has a will of its own, what if tearing down the veil is what it wants?

Anyone else want a darkspawn follower? Maybe a mage one be intriguing to learn a New specialization, a side quest that last the entire game about finding out who they were beforehand.

You guys remember when Dragon Age was a really dark game like in Origins? With each race having committed and/or suffered injustices by other races and often their own people. Like with the Dwarves with a caste system so strict it makes the Qun look flexible. City elves treated like less than dirt in ghettos who can only get hired as servants but are treated more like slaves without the physical chains. The Dalish who's first instinct is the shoot first and ask question later for all outsiders. And humanity doing what humans do, go to war, stab each other in the back, blame the next guy then go to war with him. And that's just the races we play as, the world is also dark and terrible (as this video suggests) and I think the game was better for it because it felt more real. I miss those times and lament that they will prolly never come again for the series.

i want a darkspawn companion so badly

Every play through I have done halfway through DA:O shreiks destroy your camp. After you've done everything outside of going to the landsmeet. Anyone else?

I admit I didnt understand those lines when I heard them in-game (broodmother process)

The chuldren from the mother , the mother was a mage before she became a broodmother Before coming insane she remembered her magic and used it to alter her new children. This may also be a result of the awakening for her

I liked the remodel they did come across as more zombie like and were definitely stripped of their humanity

The speaking darkspawn from awakening could be considered different. In a way more evolved because of the architect's experiments on other darkspawn including the insane broodmother

i hope the ogre design from dragon age origins comes back in the next game

I think the Architect does know who he is, he just hides who he is, but thinks he can find some way to 'fix' the problem he created.

Could Archdemons be blighted versions of beigns like the dragon in Jaws of Hakkon? The thought just crossed my mind...

Im kinda wondering about the dialogue between Solas and Blackwall when he asks him about the origin of the blight then finishes by saying "nothing, i hope they are right" it makes me think Solas knows more about the origin of it and what causes it but that is just me.

Kreia in knights of the old republic the Sith Lords also uses the term “violated” and I’ve always assumed this is BioWare using tact in their speech to convey the message without having to outright say it. Don’t be children we all know what that word is implying

I think the codex states that darkspawn are born able to walk, and grow to adult size quickly. The Children were a mutation, I believe, likely due to the Architect's ritual on the Mother. Unlike other darkspawn, these Children can be laid as eggs, which then hatch later.

I did want to ask, given what we know after the second DA:O book. From what I recall, Grey Wardens don't turn into mindless ghouls, rather they simply deal with hearing the "song" of the Old Gods but can ignore it, their bodies is effected by the Blight but it never causes them to rot or lose their minds. Did that get retconned or does everybody keep forgetting that? It's the whole reason the Architect wanted Grey Warden blood, was to try to do a sort of reverse Joining ritual to free the Darkspawn of their urges to follow the calling of the Old Gods, and how we got the fifth blight.

i always too the children being span larval stages

So I've been reading all the in-game codex on the darkspawn across all the games, and the DA wiki, nowhere in any of it does it say that darkspawn rape women during the process of becoming a broodmother. In fact, the only implication that there is any sexual abuse at all is in Hespiths' poem, "Eighth day we hated as she is violated". Now not to make light of sexual abuse, but this one line in a creepy poem made up by a tainted crazy women who's seen all her friends and family sacrificed to the DS by her lover is hardly solid facts. And like you said, violated can mean almost anything, up to and including sexual abuse; but if I was force fed tainted DS flesh and vomit, and the flesh of my friends and family, then I would consider that being violated. Ignoring that fact that this game never really shied away from the topic of rape, even saying the word several times throughout the game, I never got the impression that DS sexually abused women. I only ever even heard of this opinion a little while ago, and the fans who ascribe to this topic, talk like the women are just gang raped repeatedly by the DS; like what? When was that ever said by anyone besides some fans who were severely disturbed by this part of the game? No lore says it, no one in game ever says anything like that, so this might just be a case of fan emotion and imagination that ran a little wild. The facts are that DS are asexual, they can't reproduce. They kidnap women, force feed them their flesh and vomit to taint them. If they survive, then they become cannibalistic and will eat living flesh until they start to bloat and change until they mutate into broodmothers. From there, they automatically start to reproduce on their own; DS have been compared to insects in that they share a hive mind and that the broodmothers (insect queens) will give birth by themselves. Is it not bad enough that women in DA are the victims of this type of evil, force fed tainted meat, vomited into their mouths, not automatically dying from the taint, only to then become cannibalistic and continuously stuff yourself with the flesh of whatever people the DS kidnap, and then changing in a DS factory that just continues the cycle? All that bad shit and you just wanna add the possibility that maybe the women are gangraped nonstop while it's all happening, like, there's a limit to how much something can be horrible until it becomes ridiculous to the point that this even crossed some persons' messed up mind to think of trying to pass this off to a game developer.

I would like to play a full game as an awakened hurlock alpha.

9:21 R.I.P.

Genlocks can use magic because spellcasting is fueled by the taint.

sub-fukin-scribed. Amazing channel.

So what would if a demon possessed a darkspawn?

I want to see an Emissary turn into an abomination.

How did you know i was watching the little fight?

The one dislike is the Archdemon

Bit late to the party, but "We have no idea how many of them round around" ... Well, can't be more than seven, because six priests entered the golden city under Corypheus. One ate the other, so... Corypheus + the architect + possibly four more.

In the beginning of this vid you said there was no depiction of a humanoid race being ghoulified. If you play Dalish origin you get attacked in your camp at one point by shrieks and at the back of your camp you will find Tamlen who is being ghoulified. He says he is sorry and he cares for you but attacks you.

Has an old god ever been encountered that hasn't been blighted? Are we sure that they aren't blighted to begin with? Frederic's war table mission reveals that dragons are resistant to the blight but also that common dragons have the blight in them. Also do old gods want to be found by darkspawn? Why do they sing a song only blighted creatures can hear prior to being infected themselves. And lastly and prehaps most far fetched but what if the Tevinter Magisters were already tainted before breaching the veil and the voice Corypheus and the others heard was the song that darkspawn do?

Archdemons are beings that take the form of dragons...who else could do that? The old elven pantheon.

How does the Darkspawn DLC from Origins fit into this, I wonder? I know there's a DLC mode where you play essentially as your potential Warden but blighted or an Alpha under the command of the Archdaemon and it orders you on missions where you eventually end up succeeding in Blighting all Ferelden, but I never went back and finished it.

Wait, do you not become a darkspawn once tainted? I was always under the impression that you'd become a darkspawn yourself, not just become a ghoul and then die. Huh.

"Genlocks: These are darkspawn that you can't transfer to Pokemon Sword or Shield."

heres a question in dragon age inquestion how come you can fight darkspawn without any problems? the characters aren't grey wardens?