One correction: Anyone who goes through the Joining - whether they die or not - is officially recognized as a Grey Warden.

I love how similar Bioware's lore is but still feels unique. Mass Effect and Dragon Age both came out around the same time, and each has corrupted, racially distinct thrawls. Husks aren't that different from a Hurlock. Both have the super elite, fully autonomous, commando groups (Spectres and Wardens) that are the only hope to defeat the ancient evil. But each game does enough to feel unique. I love the intro stories of DA and wish Bioware did more with the concept. It's fun going to Redcliff to fight zombies as a human warrior, and then go as a mage and feel totally responsible for the whole situation. You released the blood mage that starts it all.

Nothing was cooler than playing as a grey warden. Their story was so cool and gave the game's story a sense of intensity that the sequels lacked.

"For centuries we have kept our vigil. We have watched and waited for the Darkspawn to return. There are those who have doubted, who have forgotten; but it has always been our duty to remember. "In Peace, Vigilance; "In War, Victory; "In Death... Sacrifice. "This is what it means to be a Grey Warden!"

The Chantry says a lot of things.

Great video, and I actually have a bit of a hypothesis on where the Darkspawn came from. So, according to the lore the Taint itself emerged alongside the Magisters from the Fade, thereby creating the first Darkspawn. Also, the Darkspawn are believed to be an artificial race, created solely to make the mortals suffer for their "sins". Now, what makes this important is the piece of essential lore from Trespasser, namely that not only is the Veil that the Magisters breached artificial, but it was created specifically to seal away the (evil, power-hungry, and godlike) Evanuris in the Fade forever. Now, what if the Taint (and thus the Darkspawn) were in fact created by the Evanuris in an attempt to hurt the world that banished them? We know from an anthology book that the Evanuris were no strangers to performing horrific experiments on their subjects, turning them into abominations. So what if the Taint is the ultimate result of said experiments?

I love the intro for DA:O. The amount of emotion that Duncan put into those lines hit deep every time.

The idea of a massive brood mother at the center of the earth is truly horrifying.

The Grey Wardens have some similarities to the Night's Watch. They don't care about anyone's background once they're in the order, they're well-respected (or used to be), but have lost a bit of their force lately, etc...

Still, Being the Warden is the best role I've played.

Hespith's poem about becoming a brood mother freaks me out to this day First day they come and catch everyone...

The Wardens will always be my favorite organization. With the return of their noble steads and Inquisition ending signalled coming change, I hope they come out stronger in DA4!

yes! lots of driving tomorrow. this will be perfect!

Let's hope DA-D goes back to the grim dark version of Dark Spawn.

In war, Victory. In peace, Vigilance. In death, Sacrifice.

Adrian Von Ziegler’s music is beautiful. I listen to it daily. Crazy how l can recognize it ln the background of this video! He should compose the next Dragon Age soundtrack!

I swear this the type of content I use to fall asleep. Feels like someone is reading me a bedtime story

Grey Wardens reminds me of the Watch in A Song of Ice and Fire - Forgoten Order that nobody care about in the current times but suddenly everyones hero when the threat emerges.

Coryphyes and the arcitect are both two of the original darkspawns, which is why they are like they are. They aren't Just among the original magisters that broke into the golden city, but they are the very two that started the whole thing and came up with the whole idea.

I've spent the last week or two watching your entire backlog. It has been a great and incredibly interesting time. Thank you for the content.

I love the lore of the Blights, Darkspawn and Grey Wardens and the mystery surrounding them. A shame Bioware completely redesigned the Darkspawn, they used to look menacing and cool from their armor down to their decaying flesh but now they just look goofy to me and I can't take them seriously. The hurlocks and genlocks being the prime example of that change. The only Darkspawn that either benefited from that change were the Ogres and Shrieks

Another fantastic video, you can't imagine how much I enjoy these lore videos. PS. One small detail you forgot to mention is that in The Joining the Grey Wardens need the assistance of mages and lyrium in addition to blood, this is confirmed by Duncan and Alistar.

You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this Thanks for bringing us this sweet lore

Haven't even watched the video yet, but I already know I want more Keep it up mate, love these

Hey, awesome job on this video, but I feel you missed an opportunity to mention that the Wardens know where all the Old Gods are located underground, but lack the resources to tunnel below and kill them before they rise as Archdemons: maybe in a future lecture, professor.

Great lession, professor! I just wanted to add that, according to Sister Petrachius on A Study of Thedosian Astronomy, me might have an eight Old God, since we know that Tevinteran dragon imagery is usually about them, and we have an eight constellation called "High Dragon". Of course, it's not proven, but an old god that even Tevinterans of old decided should be erased from history is... Frightening at least.

I strongly hope that we get more information on nature of Blight, ancient magisters like Architect and Corypheus, and Old Gods in Dragon Age Dreadwolf. Statments made by Kieran carrying soul of Urthamiel gave me feeling that everything in Dragon Age has a hidden meaning, and the next game must give us more revolutionary informations about Thedas.

Huzzah! A new lesson from Professor Absalom! I have my quill and inkwell ready.

The blight won't end until all 7 magisters that invaded the black city are destroyed since they had been sent back from the fade infected somewhere underground. I do how ever believe corythius when he said that the gold city was already black and empty by the time they step foot in there, he just seems so confused and outrage that it wasn't what they believed it to be. Two of the magisters have been shown only five left.

One of my favorite characters in Dragon Age is the Messenger. Just an all around good person who wants to help. Also a darkspawn who spreads the taint if he is allowed to do so. It's a very touching and sad story. Also, he's played by Mark Meer. My favorite Shepard and clearly born to play monster roles.

Man I loved dragon age origins the dark spawn fascinated me so much when I was a teenager and played it for the first time.

So, that’s how Fiona did it. She used/got a hold of Warden blood. That necklace only acted as a catalyst. Fiona drank/ingested/impregnated/all of the above with Warden blood. This broke her bond and it’s also why the Joining wouldn’t work with her. An Archdemon would ignore her body as it could not invade her.

I can see so many biblical elements and themes in this world

This has been a great series. I'm going to be playing the TTRPG and didn't know much, but this is helping to consolidate and expand what I've been learning from the rulebook. Thanks!

Excited for the next installment!

Every once in a while the YT recommendations serve me up an unknown gem. This video will go into my cycle of videos to fall asleep to and you have a new subscriber. Great work bro (Edit: then I see you actually have 8 videos of the same quality. So I have a new Playlist to sleep to. All I can say if fucking sweet!)

Already went through all your videos and am left wanting more. Great job!

Y E S I've been waiting on a new video from you for a bit, and I cannot wait to watch this one tomorrow!

Always a great video! Keep doing good work, love watching them!

This is good stuff. I’m glad I found this channel.

I love your videos. I have listened to everything while working and feeling like I'm in a lecture hall keeps me hard at work and motivated! Always looking forward to the next video.

I wish the grey wardens had a bigger part in the games still 😢 I love your videos!!!

Yesssssss! I just caught up on the Qunari episode a week or so ago and was hoping the next one would drop soon!

What terrifying body horror and fascinating antagonists. I wonder if there’s a way to end the darkspawn threat once and for all? I really like the Architect, and I’m looking forward to a video on them.

I've been rewatching your videos the last couple of days wondering when your next video's gonna come out. Irl foreshadowing. Thank you so much!

Found you in recommendation on KZfaq. Thanks for bringing back good memories of my time on Dragon Age. Earned a sub. 👍

The Wardens are so metal af lmao

Another great lore video. Your content is always very welcome.

Hell yeah! I’ve been waiting for this one. Watching first thing into work tomorrow morning

Wardens are cool af. Hail Duncan. Also, in my head canon, Darkspawn and Locusts (from GoW) are one in the same.

was just thinking about this lore series and would you look at that? a new vid! fantastic work as always!

Videos are great, thank you for doing this! Grey Wardens have always been a favorite fantasy faction.

I love long lore videos like this! I hope you make a new one soon, your time and schedule permitting, of course!❤❤❤❤❤

Blessed is your work, amazing job done!

Can you imagine the final dragon age game where the last two remaining old gods rise up to bring upon the blight of all blights. That would be sick >:)

Another excellent lecture. Honestly giving me a lot of the 😭 feelings about the Wardens. It's nice to remember their part of the lore and how brutal the tasks asked of them are.

Hi! I adore this entire series. I just stumbled upon it and I'm enthralled haha. I see that you haven't gotten around to doing videos on the individual blights, the Architect, or Corypheus yet (or if you have, they're not part of the playlist and I would love to be directed to them!). I would love for you to get around to those someday, if you're still active on youtube! The depth of detail in your videos and the way you weave the narratives are incredible. Thank you for the fantastic content! I hope to see more.

I hated the redesign of the dark spawn so much. Origins still my favorite.

Great video. Looking forward to seeing more. Subbed.

Great to see an upload after such a long time, I kinda hope you do dragons next

Love the content professor, I showed my friend your channel and we are loving it all. In War, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death, Sacrifice. Love my Grey Wardens.

This looks really good, accurate and informative. The only "problem" is that I wouldn't have included the Darkspawn design in Origins as it's basically not canon anymore, it would be simply aesthetic since the general shape of the Darkspawn is the same if it wasn't for the genlocks that now are more unique and different from the "baby hurlocks" design in Origins. Also a more important thing about genlocks is the emissary variant as I don't think that Emissaries are subcategories of Darkspawns anymore but a completely separate kind so I doubt Genlock Emissaries are a thing anymore, unless: A) All Emissaries look the same B) In II and Inquisition for some reason we only met one kind of Emissary (the closest based on looks being Elf/Shriek, maybe they might actually go for that adding that elven broodmothers are more likely to have mage children as the Elves have a closer connection with magic) But I actually doubt that the "Genlocks being Emissaries despite Dwarves not being able to be Mages" is canon anymore, it looks like Emissaries are their own category now unrelated to Genlocks, Hurlocks, Shrieks and Ogres.

Yess! Another lore video!!

Hey Professor Absalom! I just randomly stumbled upon one of your videos and it was an almost instant subscribe for me after that first one. I think I'll spend today going through the rest of your content. It's amazing to see quality DA content on KZfaq, best of luck to you, excited about the next class' topic!

43:42 hey I was wondering when these other blight videos were coming out? I’m super excited! I love this series and your delivery of the lore is top tier

I love what you do here. I m more the book than the game nerd, but you realy bring this universe to life. Please keep it on!

i love these videos. please continue theese videos as long as possible.

DAO will be one of the best RPG ever made

I'm just doing a replay of DAI and wanted to get a bit more of the backstory. So these videos help me very much. Thank you for making my replay much more fun!

Dragon Age: Awakening is, in part, second only to DAI: The Descent to me because of how vastly it expanded the potential for the Darkspawn. Like, sentient Darkspawn? Darkspawn that can learn? THat can question the nature of their existence in contrast to the wider world? It is as much terrifying as it is intriguing, and I'm still hoping Bioware brings the Architect back because he was leagues better presented than Corypheus. These lessons of yours remind me why I love Dragon Age lore so much, and I cannot wait to see what you have in store for us.

the wardens are really cool. i hope we can get a whole faction out of them next game instead of a limited story line.

Can't wait for the next one!!!

I've watered all your videos more times then I can count to the point where I turn them on when going to bed to fall a sleep to thank you for what you do

I have to say besides the armored ogre, the Bereskarn is the coolest Darkspawn monstrosity

Flemeth's words about a soul not being able to be forced on the unwilling is interesting. It could be the reason why Archdemons and wardens die during the possession process. Also, it could be the reason for why most abominations are unstable.

In Origins, the Dalish Elf story arc, you go into a cave which they think is Dwarven but find Elvish artifacts. In Inquisition, Solas tells us that the Vallaslin was, essentially, slave markings of the followers of the first Elves. I have wondered, since I learned that, if Solas caused the blight. The different types of darkspawn for those races who were serving the first elves. Later, stealing women and people to further their number.

Cannot wait to listen while I go through my morning routine!

man must be my lucky day just started DA origins over again and this video drops! yep its my lucky day.

I absolutely love this channel. This is going to be a good video. Dragon age spoiled me in terms of game expectations lol I need history and lore and secrets lol

What if Humans are spirits that resisted the veil when it was first created and so they fashioned themselves bodies or what if Elves closer to where the Veil begab, skyhold presumably, lost more than their immortality and became Humans? The skyhold is in the north after all EDIT: Skyhold is, in fact, not in the North

I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS :3

There was a line in the DLC of Origns that I wish was explored more. I don't remember it exactly, but it was about the Demon's and the Dark Spawn "The taint is Alien to them."

There are only seven elder gods in the Tevinter pantheon. In a thousand years the wardens killed five. That means that there are only two blights left before there are no more archdemons. What happens then? Is it only the elder gods be corrupted or any dragon? Corypheus had a dragon corrupted by red lryium he used to hold his soul like an arch-demon. Can the process be continued indefinitely as long as there are dragons and demons to possess them? The decent DLC showed that thedas is a hollow earth. Who knows what is in the depths? The dragons went extinct before and appeared again. Are there more in the depths? I don't know what terrifies me more, that we could see the end of the blights soon or that the blights are just beginning?

Can anybody do a quick comparison count on the elven gods and magister gods?

These are always awesome. Gonna listen to this when I fall asleep. Also do these they awhile to make?

Thank you for your work 👍

The Grey Wardens, some magic still lingers in the very name

Dang it I need more lore!!!

Omfg you included the ending of the last flight 💜💜

Loving your Dragon Age lore videos! One piece of constructive criticism might be to have a pop filter of some kind, you're P's are hitting very hard.

I really enjoy your narrations. Just wondering, will you bring us Dragonage news when information on the next instalment is available?

Solas is the maker, I bet. Trapped the old gods and “made” the veil as punishment for mythal and other issues. I’d wager that the “golden city” was also that one missing elven city and was the source of the taint. A plague created to destroy the magical “gods”.

This is pure speculation but 2 fairly popular theories I've heard is one, Tevinter is kinda right in that the magisters aren't responsible for the darkspawn existing and they have been around much longer and there's a story about one of the Elven goddesses hunting deep underground and contracting an illness that drove her insane, now what does that sound like. And something else I've heard is the Old God's of Tevinter and the Evanuris are the same, minus Fen'Herrell and Mythal, which kinda lines up, I don't think bioware decided they're were 7 Old God's and 9 Evanuris with 2 of the Evanuris who opposed the other 7 was them pulling random numbers that sounded nice

so in theory the grey wardens could die out if the time between Blights was so wide that they ran out of arch demon blood to make new Wardens or they will have to at some point share the ways of making wardens so that when the next blight comes around even if they fail to kill the archdemon permanently they can still harvest its body to remake the order i don't know the lore of this land confuses me due to the scale of things.

Yo! Yo! 2 old gods, right? What if they both woke up together and the last blight was a civil war between the 2? 😂, that'd be dope.

i always wondered what happens when all the old gods are killed, does that mean blights would be over?

looking forward to uploading the videos of the first 4 blights and those of Corifheus and the architect

Could u potentially do a video on how u think thedas manage to survive the first blight for as long as it did since it’s lasted almost 200 years I’m curious to hear yours or anyone else who also thought about it opinions

ooohh i've missed you bro

I feel bad for the Grey Wardens their whole life is sacrifice