Dragon Age 4 is BioWare’s next installment in the studio’s fantasy franchise, and one character who died in the last game may still have a big influence on the plot. Corypheus was the primary antagonist in Dragon Age: Inquisition and had deep ties to some of the most important moments in the overaching Dragon Age lore. One of the original darkspawn, Corypheus was once a Tevinter Magister named Sethius Amladaris before a turn of events changed both the man and the face of Thedas forever.
Although Corypheus was defeated at the end of Inquisition, there are good reasons to think one of the character’s biggest hanging plot threads will make a return in Dragon Age 4. To understand why, it is important to know the character’s origins, his links to the Tevinter Imperium, and the actions Corypheus and his fellow Magisters undertook in search of power.
Corypheus was a member of the Magisters Sidereal, seven of the most infamous people to ever exist in the history of Thedas. The Magisters Sidereal were several high priests to the Old Gods, ancient beings that appeared in the form of dragons. These gods are seen in-game as Archdemons when they have been awakened and tainted by the darkspawn. Until the actions of Corypheus and the other Magisters Sidereal, however, it is believed the darkspawn of Dragon Age did not exist.
The Magisters Sidereal broke through the Veil, the barrier between the material plane and the Fade which was erected by The Dread Wolf, revealed in Inquisition to be the Inquisitor’s companion Solas. In the year -395: Ancient, the seven Magisters used two thirds of the lyrium in Tevinter and sacrificed hundreds of slaves to cast a spell which allowed them to enter the Golden City, a city in the fade which is either the realm of the Old Gods or, according to the Chantry, the former seat of the Maker.
That wasn’t the only part in which the account of the Magisters and the Chantry diverged. According to the Chantry, by entering the Golden City the Magisters Sidereal corrupted it with their pride, turning it into the Black City and causing the Maker to abandon his creation. According to Corypheus, they found the Maker’s throne already empty.
Whatever events transpired in the Fade, the Magisters were cast back to Thedas as the first darkspawn, triggering the First Blight. Unlike the other darkspawn, powerful Magisters like Corypheus remained able to speak and think, often leading the darkspawn troops in the absence of an Archdemon like the one in Origins.
One other member of the original seven Magisters, at least in theory, has made an appearance in the games, the Architect, who appears in Dragon Age: Awakening attempting to use the blood of a Grey Warden to free the darkspawn from the old gods. It is revealed that the Architect’s attempts to awaken, or cleanse, Urthemiel caused the Fifth Blight. They can be spared or killed by the player character. After the defeat of Corypheus, one big question remains: what was the fate of the other five Magisters Sidereal, and could they make an appearance in Dragon Age 4?
Dragon Age 4 is likely to address the remaining Magisters Sidereal in some form for a few reasons. First, it is very likely that Dragon Age 4 will be taking place in the Tevinter Imperium, where the magisters originated. With most of the records of “The Seven” being destroyed, Tevinter is the most likely location for players to be able to find any information that reveals more about the mysterious order.
Not only that, but the plot of Dragon Age 4 will very likely deal with Solas and his attempts to bring down the Veil between the Fade, where mages in Dragon Age draw power, and the material realm. What affect this could have on any surviving members of the Magisters Sidereal isn’t clear, though if nothing else, it could reveal the truth about the nature of the Maker and the Golden City, which in turn would reveal whether the Magisters or the Chantry had a more accurate account.
The Chantry’s account, unlike Corypheus’ account, is not first-hand, and while Corypheus could have been lying when he made his comments about finding the Maker’s throne empty, it seems unlikely that BioWare would throw in such a reveal simply for it to be a red-herring. As the Dragon Age series has progressed, more and more of the phenomena introduced in Origins have been explained.
For example, it now seems very likely that lyrium – or red lyrium – plays a big part in what were thought to be miracles delivered by the Maker from the Chantry’s perspective. A Leliana who was killed before the Urn of Sacred Ashes in Origins will return as a kind of lyrium ghost in Inquisition, and while the full explanation behind this has yet to be revealed, the game does make it clear that the Chantry’s version cannot account for certain events.
The introduction of the Titans and the Deep Roads as some kind of semi-organic macrostructure in Inquisition’s The Descent DLC also raises questions about the nature of the darkspawn and what created them. It also raises big questions about the nature of the Old Gods to begin with that could reveal that even the Magisters Sidereal didn’t know exactly what they were dealing with when they worshipped those beings. With Shaper Valta gaining magic-like powers in The Descent, perhaps dwarf mages in Dragon Age 4 could lend some greater insight into the unexplored regions of the Deep Roads and their powers as well.
Dragon Age 4 has a lot of explaining to do if BioWare wants to make the game satisfying, even if it isn’t the final installment in the series. Questions about the remaining Magisters Sidereal, the nature of the Maker and the Black City, the Chantry, and the darkspawn are all extremely connected. If players gain new insight into any one of these things, which is quite likely, then the answers will likely have big implications for all the other big plot threads left hanging in the Dragon Age games until this point.
Dragon Age 4 is in development.
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