Dragon Age 4: Which Inquisition Companions Will Return?
Dragon Age 4 may be a long ways off, but fans can still speculate over which of their favorites may be making a return appearance in the game. After all, Dragon Age is known for bringing fan-favorite characters back and fitting them into the story somehow, giving them a cameo if not a major presence in multiple games.
Dragon Age: Inquisition saw multiple characters return from previous games, including Varric, Leliana, Cullen and Morrigan. To that end, let's discuss where each of the Inquisition companions were at the end of Inquisition (and specifically at the end of its final DLC, Trespasser) and their subsequent likelihood for a Dragon Age 4 appearance.
Blackwall (also known as Thom Rainier) is the fake Grey Warden who is atoning for past mistakes by the end of Trespasser, and that's if players spared him from the wrath of the Orlesians during the main game. However, aside from that one huge plot twist, Blackwall really doesn't have a big connection to the story. As such, it's likely he doesn't feature a significant return.
Cassandra is another interesting case, because she could either be rebuilding the Seekers or the current Divine. In the case of being Divine, it's hard to see her coming to Tevinter (a land where they outright reject the Divine and elect their own Black Divine), but as a key member of the Inquisition, she did vow to fight Solas wherever she could. So, it'll be interesting to see how BioWare incorporates the remnants of the Inquisition into a new game, perhaps allowing old characters to fight alongside new ones in the attempt to stop Solas' plans.
Cole's Dragon Age ending was pretty open-ended in Trespasser; either he was more spirit-like or more human, and in the case of the latter he finds himself entering a relationship with Maryden the bard. However, he didn't have anything specific left to do after the events of Inquisition or Trespasser, meaning he could end up in Tevinter for DA4 if BioWare really wanted him to. On the other hand, there are other characters who seem to have a lot more reasons to return for DA4 than Cole, so time will tell what BioWare does with him.
Fans of Dorian Pavus should be plenty excited; there's every chance that he'll be back in DA4 as a companion--and if not as a companion, for whatever reason, then at least as an important NPC in a similar manner to Cullen, Josephine, and Leliana in Inquisition. He'll likely be back for a number of reasons: first, the game is looking like it'll be mainly set in Tevinter, and that's where Dorian is from. It's also his last known location, since he returned to his homeland in the months following the end of Inquisition.
Furthermore, a key goal of Dorian's throughout Inquisition was to reform his homeland, preserving its good qualities and abolishing its many horrible practices in favor of a more ethical type of magic-revering society. The protagonist of DA4 will more than likely be involved with some world-changing events, and thus, Dorian is likely to be involved. Plus, he's got knowledge of Solas that few outside of the Inquisition's inner circle do, and would be an important player in fighting back against Solas' plans to tear down the Veil.
It's hard to imagine a Dragon Age 4 where the Inquisitor themselves doesn't make a cameo similar to Hawke's in Inquisition (again, because of Solas), but even if that doesn't happen, someone who knew him--namely, Dorian--should be present as a main NPC for the game.
The main problem with bringing Iron Bull back for DA4 is the amount of different endings that it's possible to get for him. Depending on whether the Chargers survive the events of Inquisition and how the Inquisitor treats him, Iron Bull could be anywhere from happily roaming the land with his mercenary band and in a committed relationship with Dorian to dead. While it's hard to believe many players left the Chargers to di, player choice does have to be taken into account. Without it, Iron Bull could easily return for DA4. As things stand, however, it's more likely he and the Chargers will get a cameo if they survived Inquisition.
Much as many love her attitude and sheer unpredictability, one Dragon Age companion who might not be making a return is Sera. Friends of Red Jenny aren't exactly known for operating in Tevinter, and that's what she's doing come Trespasser. The only real way Sera might make a reappearance is if she's happily married to the Inquisitior who also comes back for a DA4 cameo. Otherwise, it's more likely that Sera is going to sit this one out.
If there's one character who is all but guaranteed to make a DA4 return, it's Solas. This time, however, he'll likely be appearing not as a companion, but as an antagonist--possibly the main villain of the entire game. Whether he's the big bad or just bad, Solas' voice has already been featured in the one promo for DA4 that BioWare has produced, and Trespasser saw him making off with the Anchor (and the Inquisitor's arm that bears it), intending to use it to power his attempts to tear down the Veil and restore elven society to its former glory at the cost of all others. Naturally, we look forward to seeing what Solas has in store for Dragon Age 4.
It's hard to say if Varric will be in Dragon Age 4. On the one hand, he's a major fan-favorite character and has been a companion in the last two games--the only character in the franchise to be available as a companion twice (minus Anders, who was technically a companion in the Awakening expansion as well as DA2). Either way, Varric is well-known and well-loved, which means he's a good candidate for reappearance.
On the other hand, Varric's position at the end of Inquisition and its Trespasser DLC was the Viscount of Kirkwall, which is all in all a rather static role; it means he probably wouldn't be able to run around shooting things with Bianca, and definitely not in a foreign country like Tevinter. Varric will likely have a cameo in DA4, at the very least, unless the game includes the Free Marches as part of its map. If Kirkwall is involved, Varric is likely to defend it.
If she's not Divine by the end of Inquisition, then Vivienne is the leader of the pro-Circle mages, and by all accounts busy either leading the Circles or forming her own separate faction in the case of Leliana as Divine. As such, she might be a little too busy furthering her own goals to make an appearance in DA4, which is fine; there must be plenty of mages in Tevinter who could serve as a key magic-wielding NPC in her place.
Then, there are the advisors. Both Cullen and Leliana have three things going for them: they both appear in all three previous Dragon Age games, they're core members of the Inquisition sworn to fight Solas, and they're battlefield combatants, meaning they're likely to take things right to Solas' doorstep when the time comes. All in all, it seems likely that the pair of them will make some kind of cameo in the game--and Josephine too, for that matter, though to a lesser degree. Even if she's not a fighter, she is a star diplomat, and could easily make a cameo in the courts of Tevinter.
Dragon Age 4 is currently in development for PS5.
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