Battle of Minrathous

Battle of Minrathous
Date	9:52 Dragon
Location	Minrathous, Tevinter Imperium
Result	Pyrrhic Veilguard victory Death of Elgar'nan Massive damage to Minrathous Death of the majority of non-Venatori Magisterium End of the Sixth Blight
Belligerents
Veilguard Antivan Crows Lords of Fortune Mourn Watch Grey Warden remnants Veil Jumpers Inquisition Kal-Sharok dwarves Shadow Dragons
Evanuris Venatori Antaam
Commanders and leaders
Rook Inquisitor Andarateia Cantori Antoine Evka Ivo Solas (mid-battle) Strife (†) Ashur (†) Veilguard Companions (†)
Elgar'nan† Lusacan† Venatori War Mage/Aelia † Antaam Warlord/Dragon King † Blighted Veilguard Companion ⇆ Blighted Magisters (†)
Strength
The Veilguard remnants of the Grey Warden order dwarves of Kal-Sharok the Antivan Crows the Shadow Dragons the Mourn Watch the Veil Jumpers
Elgar'nan Lusacan majority of Venatori forces majority of Antaam forces Darkspawn the Blight Tevinter Juggernaut/Bone Golem
Casualties
Many troops Many civilians
Elgar'nan Lusacan majority of Venatori majority of Antaam majority of non-Venatori Tevinter Magisterium

The Battle of Minrathous, that took place in 9:52 Dragon, was the final battle of the Sixth Blight.

Background

Following the death of Ghilan'nain at Tearstone Island, Elgar'nan seized control of the Archon's Palace while the Magisterium was in full session. Elgar'nan slaughtered many non-Venatori magisters and declared himself the Archon of the Tevinter Empire. After fortifying himself in the Archon's Palace, he began to blight a significant portion of Minrathous and securing the city through the deployment of the Venatori and Antaam. A giant blight tendril has tethered the Archon's Palace and darkspawn have overrun the streets. Access to the city has been closed, including the eluvians.

Solas had planned on the Fade tears caused by Ghilan'nain being slain with his lyrium dagger, and used the opportunity to trade places with Rook as he escaped the Prison of Regrets, while he trapped Rook there. Fortunately, Rook was able to navigate his way out of the prison and Rook's companions pulled them out of there with a Fade tear.

Before Elgar'nan's forces sealed the gates of Minrathous, Solas managed to infiltrate the city. Solas saved some civilians and killed some Venatori, causing many in the city to follow Solas since they believe he's the only one who can save them.

Prelude

The Veilguard assembled their allies—the Antivan Crows, the Lords of Fortune, the Grey Wardens, the Mourn Watch, the dwarves of Kal-Sharok, and the Veil Jumpers—at the Lighthouse and made their war plans to retake Minrathous.

Since Solas' lyrium dagger is the only tool that can kill Elgar'nan, taking it back from Solas is the Veilguard's top priority. Strife reports that Solas was last seen in the western portion of Minrathous' Hightown, helping the Shadow Dragons fend off Elgar'nan's forces.

Battle

How severe the casualties that Rook's army will have during the battle is determined by how much Rook invested in solving their faction-allies and companions' problems; and also who Rook assigns to what task. If Rook garnered significant allied strength and/or if Rook's companions reach Hero of the Veilguard status, and also if they assigned their companions to the appropriate task, then the probability of Rook's army suffering casualties is low. If Rook did not invest in those two metrics, then chances of casualties are high.

Assault on Minrathous

The Veilguard Alliance assaulted the Minrathous gate by Hightown. The Veil Jumpers and a Veilguard companion were assigned to disable warding crystals powering the gate's barrier. While this group is fending off the Venatori, either Irelin or the companion can successfully unravel the Venatori wards with only Strife being injured, or Strife can die from Venatori blades.

The Antivan Crows, the Lords of Fortune, and a Veilguard companion will be sent to kill the Venatori War Mage Commander or Aelia if The Returned Cultist Case is not completed. The Antivan Crows and the companion launch an ambush against the Venatori commander overseeing the gate while the rest deal with the guards. The Veilguard companion struggles to disarm the commander's staff before being blown away by a magical burst. This gives Andarateia Cantori the opportunity to kill the Venatori commander but the Veilguard companion can either survive the magical blast or die from it.

The Grey Wardens, the Mourn Watch, and a Veilguard companion are sent to destroy the Juggernaught or the Bone Golem controlled by Johanna Hezenkoss if The Sacrifice of Souls is not completed. The battle begins with the companion ordering a volley of ballista bolts against the construct. The Veilguard companion or Evka Ivo is able to land a critical blow to the giant construct and Vorgoth uses its magic to redirect the construct's blow to a nearby building, which falls on top of the construct and causes it to collapse. Falling rubble from the fallen building could crush the Veilguard companion to death or they can survive the fallen rubble and continue fighting.

Rook's team makes a run for the now accessible gate while the rest of their army is fighting the gate's defenses. Once in Hightown, Rook's team fights through Venatori and darkspawn to reach Solas' position. They find Ashur being tossed hard by a blight tendril while Tarquin and Solas fend off the blight tendrils. Ashur can either be killed by the tendril or be temporarily knocked unconscious and soon recovers. After Solas forcefully over powers the tendrils with his magic, Rook confronts him about betraying them and manipulating them by using blood magic to forget Varric's death and creating hallucinations of Varric in their mind. Solas apologizes for how he wronged Rook and asks that they work together to kill Elgar'nan. Although Rook is skeptical that Solas won't just betray them again, Solas vows on his pride, on the people he's loved, and on everything he holds sacred that the Veil will not fall by his hand after their shared victory. The two agree to work together to defeat Elgar'nan.

Rook accompanies Solas and talk about their plan to head to the Divine's Manor so they can climb the giant tendril tethered to the Archon's Palace. Solas thought to do the same but the Blight is agressively drawn to his presence and the tendrils are controlled by an intelligence that will make the blight tendrils hostile until it's dealt with. Rook and Solas fight their way to the intelligence only to discover it was the mage companion that was abducted by Elgar'nan at Tearstone Island—now blighted and magically compelled to control the Blight in Elgar'nan's defense. Rook tries to rescue their mage companion but Lusacan intervenes, forcing Solas to use his magic to telekinetically throw about the blight tendril and Lusacan. Solas willingly gives Rook his lyrium dagger and tells Rook that he must deliver the final blow to Elgar'nan while he fights and kills his Archdemon. Solas then transforms into his Dread Wolf form and goes to fight Lusacan. The blighted mage companion uses the tendrils to create a blighted construct called Elgar'nan's Wrath, which Rook's team defeats. Afterwards, Rook freed the blighted mage companion from her tendril pod, which brought her back to her senses. Lusacan attacks the roofs of their overhead building and blight tendrils begin erupting from the ground, which causes rubble to start falling on the group. Morrigan arrives to use her magic to protect them from the falling rubble and covers them as they make a run for the Divine's Manor.

Capture of the Divine's Manor

Rook's team and Morrigan find refuge in the Divine's Manor. Following them was the Inquisitor, Dorian Pavus, Maevaris Tilani, and the strike team against the giant construct guarding the gate. Maevaris states that rescuing their blighted companion destroyed some of the blight and unblocked some entrances to the Divine's Manor. Nevertheless, the blighted companion thinks the blight will come back as she thinks Elgar'nan has other blighted mages. The Inquisitor states they got inside the city with the Veil Jumpers and helped them strike at the Venatori. The Veilguard made final preparations as the rest of the resistance army recuperated in the Divine's Manor. Tarquin reports that he got some civilians out through the catacombs while Ashur can offer to send them some extra supplies. Irelin has offered to help the Shadow Dragons scout routes to other safe houses, while Strife can join her as security.

The blighted mage companion revealed to Rook that the blight connected her to Elgar'nan which gave her insight into him. The blighted companion said that Elgar'nan's life force is tied to the Veil and his life is the only thing holding the Veil in place. In order to keep the Veil in place, Rook would need to tie the Veil to Solas as he would be the last surviving elven god. Rook also has the fake duplicate dagger of Solas' lyrium dagger which was made by the Veilguard when Rook was trapped in the Fade prison. Rook can use it in a bait and switch scheme to dupe Solas into using the fake dagger, causing a backlash, and rendering him helpless. Rook can also try to reason with Solas if Rook has the essence of a fragment of Mythal from the Crossroads. Coupled with Morrigan harboring Mythal's memories, Mythal's influence may be enough to persuade Solas to willingly tie himself to the Veil.

Regrouping and Final Push

Elgar'nan's combined Rebel Antaam and Venatori army has been gathering outside the Divine's Manor, with the Antaam being led by an Antaam Warlord or the Dragon King if Lair of the Dragon King is not completed. The Veilguard Alliance has barricaded the perimeter of the Divine's Manor and is prepared to defend the safehouse while Rook's team and the blighted companion climb the giant tendril to reach the Archon's Palace. Rook assigns a Veilguard companion to lead the defense of the manor.

Eventually the Veilguard Alliance and Elgar'nan's forces clash, the battle becoming a brawl. The Veilguard companion engaged in combat with the Antaam Warlord to protect Morrigan and is either murdered by the warlord or wounds the warlord, either way ending with Morrigan reclaiming her advantage and finishing off the warlord with a magical blast. Ultimately, the Veilguard Alliance managed to fend off Elgar'nan's forces.

As Rook's team reach the Archon's Palace, Lusacan and the Dread Wolf rampage at the entrance—with the Dread Wolf having to defend himself from both the Archdemon and the Blight tendrils. The blighted companion falls before reaching the entrance and has her climbing route cut off, forcing her to separate from the the main party and find an alternative way up. Rook's team has to fight through darkspawn to reach the throne room, witnessing the Dread Wolf tussle with Lusacan as they make their way there. Rook's team reunites with the blighted companion's team and she reveals that blighted magisters have been incorporated into the blight eruption to serve as the controlling intelligence of the Blight. Elgar'nan has the magisters directing the Blight at Solas and he won't survive without the Veilguard's help. The blighted companion's team goes off to help Solas while Rook's team faces Elgar'nan. Just as Rook's team was about to enter the throne room, the Dread Wolf was thrown to the ground and wrapped in blight tendrils. As the blighted companion goes to rescue Solas, she too started to be wrapped in blighted tendrils until she used her magic to release both Solas and herself. The blighted companion reassures Rook she has the situation under control and encourages them to go on ahead.

Fight Against Elgar'nan

Rook finds Elgar'nan sitting in the Archon's throne, wrapped in blight tendrils, holding his red lyrium dagger, and claiming to be the creator god of the world. Elgar'nan lambasts the current Thedas as a poor imitation of his previous empire and tells Rook he would have restored Thedas to glory. Rook argues he saw how he blighted D'Meta's Crossing and Weisshaupt and accuses Elgar'nan of being a tyrant who destroys everything he touches. Elgar'nan states Rook mistakes discipline for cruelty and says they are ignorant because they lack a master's gentle guidance. Elgar'nan explains he and Ghilan'nain only destroyed because the people resisted against their authority. Elgar'nan claims all would have benefitted from his protection and Ghilan'nain's blight creations, but now all he can do is make do with his power and avenging Ghilan'nain. Rook's team fights Elgar'nan but their battle is interrupted by Lusacan crashing into the throne room. The Dread Wolf lunges at Lusacan but is subdued by blight tendrils. While Elgar'nan uses his domination magic on Rook, the blighted companion sneaks her way to the throne, using the blight tendrils as an interface, and commands the blight tendrils to release Solas. Her body slumps afterwards, either dying from the exertion or becoming temporarily unconscious and breaks out of the tendrils after Elgar'nan is defeated and the world saved. With the Dread Wolf freed, Solas rips off Lusacan's throat and kills the archdemon. After a grueling fight, Rook and Elgar'nan then have a duel with their lyrium daggers and Rook kills him. Lusacan is sucked into a magical black hole and dissipates, while the Blight begins to withdraw.

With Elgar'nan dead, the Veil begins to collapse. Solas apologizes for his final betrayal but promises to minimize the damage and that things will be better when the old world is restored. Solas summons his lyrium dagger but Rook catches it before it reaches him. In a final appeal, Solas states he doesn't want to fight Rook.

Rook can:

• Trick Solas with the fake dagger, causing his ritual to go awry. Rook accuses Solas of being the same as Elgar'nan but Solas argues Elgar'nan would have used force to defeat Rook, while he just outwitted them. Solas' use of the fake dagger causes an adverse reaction, which resulted in the Fade energies trapping him. Rook cuts Solas' hand with the real lyrium dagger to sustain the Veil and then sends him to be imprisoned in the Fade. Solas rebukes Rook for judging him and asserts that as a mortal, they are beneath him. As he is being sent to the Fade, he bitterly chuckles and states he is a fool who met his match.
• Fight Solas, possibly with Rook's teammates being turned to stone in the fight, and Rook getting stabbed with the lyrium dagger but coating the lyrium dagger with Solas' blood as well. Both Rook and Solas are sent to be imprisoned in the Fade, with Rook telling Solas he could never make the sacrifices that leadership requires. Another version is Rook's team can come together to fight Solas and Rook finishes him off by stabbing him with the lyrium dagger. Solas is sent to the Fade; as he is sent there, he rebukes Rook for their ignorance and shouts he is a god who is superior than them.
• Use Mythal's essence and convince Solas to stop. Rook and the Inquisitor try to persuade Solas that despite what he's done and the people he's wronged, he can just stop and tie himself to the Veil to save the world and make amends. Solas still regrets that Mythal would have died for nothing if he doesn't follow through, but Morrigan appears, and together with the fragment of Mythal's essence from the Crossroads, reforms Mythal's spirit. Mythal tells Solas that she pushed Solas to do wrongs for what she believed to have been the greater good and she shares the responsibility of the wrongs he's committed and his troubled state. Mythal releases Solas from her service so that he cannot use her as an excuse. Solas willingly uses his blood to sustain the Veil and vows to spend the rest of his life protecting the innocent from his past failures. Solas exiles himself to the Fade to try to assuage the Blight's anger. If Solas was romanced by the Inquisitor, the Inquisitor can join Solas in the Fade.

Aftermath

Ultimately, the Veil is restored, sustained by the life force of the last elven god.

The Sixth Blight, said to be the final and worst Blight, was over.

The Veilguard, if any survived, were hailed as heroes; while those who died in the war were honored for their service to Thedas. If none of the Veilguard survived, a monument was built where they fell. A final memorial to those who gave their lives to bring Thedas a peace not known for many years.

The Veilguard's faction-allies returned to their homelands to repair the damage of the war and work towards a brighter future.

Depending on Rook's choices, Rook can help either Dorian Pavus or Maevaris Tilani become the new Archon. Dorian as Archon will drag Tevinter into a new era with bold and forceful measures. In contrast, Maevaris as Archon will inspire her people and bring change to Tevinter. If On Deadly Wings was completed and Rook chose to save Treviso, Dorian will become Archon and it is said that he continues to fight to bring Minrathous from under Venatori rule.

See also

• The Last Gambit
• The Dread Wolf Rises