Morrigan

From the outset Morrigan, the Witch of the Wilds, is an enigma. She’s kicked out of her secluded life in the Korcari Wilds by her equally enigmatic mother and forced to learn about the rest of the world. Typically, she does so from a high horse, judging people affected by systems that were in place long before she was even born. It’s interesting to hear an outsider weigh in on things that have always been commonplace to most people in the Dragon Age universe, but it also exposes her ignorance about how shackles like the Circle of Magi’s mage prison come to be. Still, her words often seem prophetic, hinting at how the world will change in future games.

Morrigan always knew she was destined for something bigger than her isolation, but watching her uncover what that is throughout Origins as she stumbles confidently through a world she knows very little about is one of Dragon Age’s strongest narrative arcs. She ends Origins on her own terms, one way or another, and when we see her again in Inquisition, she has become the influential force she was always meant to be, but she has also learned to be caring and curious, and is still susceptible to that same unfortunate hubris. Morrigan is one of the most recognizable characters in Dragon Age, not because BioWare trots her out at every opportunity, but because when she is on screen, her presence always matters.

That is especially true in The Veilguard, as Morrigan once again appears to help the world change. While The Veilguard is being rightfully criticized for its lack of narrative carryover from previous games, Morrigan’s role in the fourth entry feels like the culmination of mysteries we’ve been looking for answers to since as far back as Origins. When she and Rook meet, Morrigan has found so much of the knowledge she has sought out, and all that new wisdom has brought with it humility and a desire to make up for past wrongs, all while maintaining a humanity that could easily be lost in someone who has seen and experienced so much. The Veilguard pretty succinctly wraps up most of Morrigan’s remaining mysteries (and ignores a few, seemingly for the sake of easy choice carryover), so whatever Dragon Age has in store for the future, she may finally get to rest. However, it’s not in her character to sit back while the world changes.