Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, we tackle one of the most important characters to the lore of the franchise, Flemeth.
I'm not going to lie; I had a whole analysis of Flemeth and Mythal, weaving Mythal's pantheon and Flemeth's personality into each other. But then the Trespasser DLC happened, and that threw everything I was going say into chaos. So it changes my analysis slightly.
Flemeth's story starts in ancient times, before the Veil was created, where a part of her was known as Mythal. Mythal was a powerful mage. She was so powerful that she, among the others the other members of the Evanuris, became known as a general, then an elder, then a queen, then a god. She was immortal, like all elves, was the mediator and protector of her people. She was known to settle disputes between the other Evanuris, calming rage, saving them from their own folly in order to protect the innocent caught between them.
However, according to those who lived during that time, Mythal was murdered by the other Evanuris. This enraged Solas, by then stigmatized as "Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf", and caused him to create the Veil and trap the other Evanuris in the Fade. However, this had the effect of cutting off the elves from their immortality.
Solas entered Uthenera, the sleep of the ages soon after, but Mythal, now freed from her corporeal form, wandered the land, looking for her own means to gain both vengeance and protect her people. It took her thousands of years, but she finally found a vessel; Flemeth.
Flemeth was an Alamarri in the time before Ferelden was a nation. According to the story that she told Morrigan, she had been married to a minstrel named Osen. However, Conobar Elstan, Bann of Highever and cousin to the Howes of Amaranthine, had been enchanted by Flemeth's beauty and offered Osen a choice; money for Flemeth. Flemeth urged Osen to accept; whether she had loved Osen or not, she had been cold and hungry for too long.
However, Conobar bartered with coin he did not have, and had Osen slain so he didn't have to pay him. This enraged Flemeth, and, as an Alamarri mage, she called to the spirits to aid her. The spirit that came to her was Mythal, the ancient elven "goddess". Mythal would give Flemeth power, in exchange for revenge against those who killed her and to protect the world from itself. They merged, technically becoming an abomination, but were more like Wynne than Anders, and killed Conobar and his men, save for his captain of the guard, Sarim Cousland, and retreated south to the Kocari Wilds, to learn to control her newfound power and to learn just what merging with Mythal truly meant.
Now, I'm going to stop here for a moment and say that yes, a lot of this is conjecture. Solas says very little about Mythal once he is revealed to be the Dread Wolf, and the in game legends of Flemeth differ slightly than from what Morrigan tells us. What's interesting to note, however, is the Flemeth holds importance to 2 of the origins in the first game; the Couslands would have never become nobles if it were not for Flemeth killing Conobar. Their entire line, their struggles and victories are all made possible because of Flemeth.
She's also held in high esteem as Mythal, even though the Dalish don't know it, and as Asha'bellanar (the woman of many years in Elvish). As Asha'bellanar, Flemeth is known as a benevolent, if temperamental, being to be respected and feared.
Anyway, Flemeth goes on to have a hand in many important events and interacts with many important characters. She speaks to Maric Therin and Loghain Mac Tir, and informs them of the upcoming Blight. She saves the Warden Player Character and Alistair, and sends them off to combat the Blight. She rescues Hawke, Aveline and the surviving Hawke sibling and sends them off to the Free Marches with an amulet which allows her to resurrect herself after being slain by the Warden (potentially. Otherwise, we don't know what it does if you didn't kill Flemeth). She aids the Inquisitor and her daughter to combat the ancient magister Corypheus through both the Well of Sorrow and either giving them a dragon to combat Corypheus' dragon, or giving her daughter the power to transform into one.
She also takes efforts to implement plans beyond her appearances. That amulet that was mentioned previously mentioned was part of a contingency play in case she is killed. She also sent her daughter Yavanna to help bring dragons back from the brink of extinction, which Yavanna claims to be "the heart of the world". And finally, she sent Morrigan with the Wardens she rescued to use a ritual to claim the soul of the Old God.
However, as far as we know, we will never know exactly what Flemeth/Mythal's plans were, as she was murdered a second time, this time by her old friend Solas. He absorbed her power to do whatever he is planning, but there is hope; the amulet that Hawke brought to the Free Marches. Were some knowledgeable individual perform the same ritual that brought Flemeth back in DA2, she could return once again, though not as strong as she had been. And that is where we're at now.
But before we go, let's take the opportunity to take a look at the clues that Flemeth and Mythal are the same being. First is her first appearance in the novels; it is the Dalish that bring Marric and Loghain to her. This is tenuous at best, I know, but it helps establish a tie between her and the elves. The next is her connection to dragons; between her ability to transform into one, the fact the Mythal is depicted as a dragon in some of elven artwork of her and Flemeth sending her daughter Yavanna to protect dragons shows a strong connection to the creatures. Third is both Flemeth's DAO concept art and her appearance in DA2 and on. Pay attention to Mythal's statues in her temple in DAI. Looks a LOT like Flemeth, doesn't it?
Finally, what I find most interesting is how everyone is wary of Flemeth, and she, while cryptic, is actually one of the most honest and upfront characters in the franchise. And she's a LOT more benevolent than we're led to believe as well, helping others even when it doesn't benefit her directly (though she does find a way to make it benefit her, but I digress.) And while we don't know what her plans are, I can almost guarantee that they are a LOT more benevolent than Solas' plan to tear down the Veil and mass murdering the majority of the population of Thedas, due to them being "not people" to him.
Next entry will either be me wrapping up the series, or comparing the Dragon Age series to the Mass Effect series. Until then, stay beautiful freaks!
