Diving back into the world of Thedas with Dragon Age: The Guard of the Veil, many longtime fans will have their Towers carefully planned out in advance. With four playable races to choose from, there was hope for a repeat of the unique stories seen in Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Inquisition. However, The Veil Guard instead, it takes a different approach to the character’s backstory, with mixed results when it comes to interpretation.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.]
Thedas is a vast, multicultural world with numerous countries, nations, and city-states, all populated by four humanoid races: humans, elves, dwarves, and kossith, who are often called Qunari. Rook can choose any of these bloodlines at Dragon Age: The Veil Guardwith its team also made up of a mixture of people from all over the world. However, the last installment of Dragon Age franchise differs in the way it treats racewith some of the rich history built through games and other media seemingly lost along the way.
Veilguard’s racing options appear purely cosmetic
The Lineage’s Narrative Impact Has Been Diluted
When creating a character in any Dragon Age game, save Dragon Age 2choosing which race to play used to have a big impact. This was most obviously seen in Originswhich had six different origins across three playable races, but also in Inquisitionwhich tied race with origin and surname. However, in The Veuguard, Rook’s race barely comes into play, with only a few mentions of other characters or unique dialogue options. While the switch to factions is a new approach, it creates a strange lack of impact as NPCs are unable to react to Rook’s lineage.
How race impacted the story in previous Dragon Age games
Rook’s race barely comes into play
The Veil Guard takes a similar approach to Inquisitionusing faction in place of race for backstory. However, although the Inquisitor’s race can lead to several unique interactions or war table missions, there are precious few moments when Rook’s race actually matters. This is different from how the protagonists’ races played a role in previous games, with Origins being the most obvious example, as the Warden’s race impacted several areas and NPC dialogue would change accordingly.
Nothing compares to the impact of returning to the dwarven capital of Orzammar when playing as Brosca and being informed that your visit is being recorded as your first time in the city. This is because, despite having grown up and living in Orzammar my entire life, Brosca, as a casteless dwarf, did not count as a member of dwarf society.. And many examples of insults can be hurled against both Dalish origins and urban elves, which highlight the inequality elves face when living in Ferelden.
Using race to differentiate between different versions of the protagonist is largely abandoned by The Guard of the Veil, which depends more on which faction Rook was a member of before the game. Elves seem to fare a little better across all lineage choices, with multiple references to Evanuris being “my gods” or “our gods” when talking about them. However, There are some circumstances where race should come into play, where it is frustratingly ignoredand whether Rook is human or dwarf is less important than whether he is a Lord of Fortune or a Veil Leaper.
Rook’s choice of faction has more influence on the world
Sometimes there is a disconnect between race and faction
When creating a Tower for Dragon Age: The Guard of the Veil, The character creator will guide players through the process, starting first with race/lineage. However, The most important aspect of creating Rook is choosing a faction which will determine his origins and certain aspects of his backstory. Although the race takes a backseat compared to the previous Dragon Age titles, there are many unique dialogue options tied to Rook’s faction, such as a Gray Warden Rook having extra options when dealing with Mayor Julius of D’Meta’s Crossing.
However, there is inconsistency with the backgrounds provided by factions, with some working well for specific races better than others. For example, a Gray Warden Rook’s story doesn’t address their childhood or how they joined the Wardensmaking them suitable for any race. This is in stark contrast to playing as an elf with the Shadow Dragons, where Rook could have Dalish Vallaslin, but will then casually mention in conversation with Tarquin that they are the adopted children of a Tevinter general.
This track record for Mercar is the same regardless of the breed chosen, although a Mercar elf will make an offhand comment about staying home often as a child so as not to be mistaken for a servant. Likewise, the Mourn Watch backstory says that Rook was found and raised by the faction, with a dwarf Rook able to joke with Emmrich about taking extra history lessons instead of magic lessons. But on the other hand, race makes little sense for a faction of necromancers, and yet no one looks at a dwarf member.
Realistic depictions of racial tensions are over
Rook is judged by his faction and actions, not race
However, Rook’s background isn’t the only area where race appears to have little impact, as racial tensions in Thedas have apparently disappeared. A Qunari Tower can roam freely around Minrathous, the capital of the Tevinter Empire, without any problems. This is frankly bizarre, considering Tevinter has been at war with the Qunari for decades. Likewise, an Elven Tower faces no problems, despite many elves living as slaves in Tevinter.
Taash, Bellara, and Davrin also face no problems as the team travels across Thedas and interacts with multiple cultures. Perhaps people should assume that the horrific abuse committed against Qunari or elven Inquisitors and Watchers is something that only happens in Ferelden and Orlais. But the fact that the elven gods are the ones causing so much suffering and no one mentions it perfectly highlights that This is a matter of storytelling, not peace in Thedas.
With a world as rich as Thedas, created over 15 years through games, books and comics, it’s disappointing to see one of the central aspects of its world-building completely ignored by a portion that could have skillfully highlighted it. Racism is a delicate and controversial subject that Dragon Age has always captured attention with skill through the interaction of its four races. However, Dragon Age: The Veil GuardInstead of weaving tension into the plot about the gods, it instead leaves the subject aside, weakening the narrative as a result.