SPOILERS AHEAD!
Right, so let's put aside the Solas stuff for a second and talk about the Qunari. Specifically, was the Dragon's Breath operation officially unofficially sanctioned by the Triumvirate or was Viddasala really acting on her own? Did the Triumvirate treat the Dragon's Breath operation like a black ops outfit that they denied once they knew it had failed, even though in reality they had supported it? Or had Viddasala and her followers truly gone rogue? My thinking is that it's the former, because Iron Bull (well, a non Tal-Vashoth Iron Bull) turns on the Inquisitor at Daarvarad. If they were really a rogue group he would oppose them. We might not ever know, but I hope it was an unofficially sanctioned black ops outfit. A rogue group is just boring compared to that.
Also, just what the sod was Saarath? He's a Saarebas that's the size of an ogre with crazy suped up powers. Are there others like him? Was Saarath simply a kind of rare Saarebas that some qunari leaders use as body guards, or maybe living weapons? Or was he a unique experiment? Also, do some qunari get that large naturally (or via breeding), or was his size the result of magical experimentation? My guess is that Saarath was unique in terms of his magical power, but that a few ultra rare qunari are bred to be ogre-sized behemoths for various purposes. The guy made qunari shock troopers look small, and those guys made Iron Bull look small. Qunari don't have names, and Saarath doesn't sound like a nickname (like Iron Bull). It could be an invented word, or it could be an actual rank, meaning there are others like him.
I just hope we don't have to fight them. 200k hp on a mage-tank? Thanks for the 45 minute battle of attrition, Bioware. Silver Warden (talk) 01:26, September 13, 2015 (UTC)
I personally feel that it was more a member of the Qun taking a wider interpretation of their role. A Viddasala's role is to disable magic, what better way to do that than to cut it off at the source? The Qunari are more than willing to use something ageist itself, after all they have Saarebas fighting Tevinter, no? While I feel it was not "sanctioned" per say, I do believe that those involved were not Tal'Vashoth. They acted according to their role, without needing to seek guidance from their superiors. The rest of Dragon's Breath? an attack of opportunity, while the Eluvians were still functional. At least that's my thought.
As for Saarath... That thing was terrifying, but almost certainly unique. It seems to me that it was the result of a Qunari Saarebas taking large quantities of Lyrium. Which, thanks to Hissrad (or the Iron Bull), we know they only had one source of, which we have now cut off. Why am I so sure it was unique? Simply this: Only Knight-Enchanters or Arcane Warriors seem comparable in raw magical power and combat prowess, and there are few of either in the Tevinter forces. Were there even a handful of Saarath, the Empire would have fallen by now. Unless they're a recent development, in which case we'll probably see more of them. Yay. Eggy the Duck (talk) 08:41, September 13, 2015 (UTC)
Personally, I think it has to have been sanctioned, and a plan in the works for quite some time, because of how completely willing Iron Bull is to betray the Inquisitor when told. That's not "oh, I guess if my superiors say so", it's "Ah, finally, this part of the plan." Especially considering what one of the writers said, "Iron Bull tells you what he is when you meet him". His betrayal was always part of the plan. Dragon's Breath was sanctioned. By our good buddy the former Sten, no less! Well, him and the other two.67.193.194.141 (talk) 09:47, September 13, 2015 (UTC)