[DAV All Spoilers] Rook's relationship with Varric throughout the game makes no sense, considering...

Posted this over on the r/bioware channel, but I'm still processing, so here I am to make a nuisance of myself. I'm probably going to phrase this argument a lot better, though. But if you're just here to insult or say someone didn't pay attention rather than discuss, this probably isn't the post for you.

I really struggle with the Varric twist in the game. Not so much that it happens, but the how and why of it. We're told that Solas is using blood magic to make sure Rook doesn't know Varric is dead, but a bunch of things in the writing make this difficult to accept.

1. No one ever says anything in a truly direct way to Rook, which has always struck me as odd. Neve and Harding knew Varric personally, as did Isabela, Dorian, and the Inquisitor. Also Morrigan, technically. But we never hear a single peep about it. Or when Rook is shown to address the Varric hallucination in team meetings. No, Rook doesn't address him directly, but they also don't directly address half of the companions in the room, either.

Also, there was never a moment where anyone talked over Varric? This happens in real life all the time, but no one interrupts Rook's hallucinations? It could have been a great hint while still being something that could be easily dismissed. The game tells us that the person who has basically been tasked with leading the charge to save the world is talking to thin air and appears to be addressing someone who has died, for months, and somehow not a single person says a single thing about it directly? Neither companion or faction contact?

a. But, Torz, you say, Solas was using blood magic to make Rook forget anytime someone was talking about Varric to them. I have two problems with that.

I. The power of blood magic has been shown to be directly proportional to the strength and effect of the magic it fuels. Solas himself says Rook sheds only a little blood, but the spell lasts for months? And filters out each and every reference to Varric's death from all characters, except for the most indirect references? I feel like Rook should have been drained dry at this point to fuel a spell that strong and long lasting.

II. You're telling me that Solas was able to catch all those references? The same man who has, twice, tried to complete this ritual and both times been thwarted by a single person either stumbling upon it, or knocking over some old scaffolding he somehow couldn't bother to take care of before this super important ritual he's been planning for a decade? Variables he...really should have anticipated, if he'd thought his plans through? This same man catches every reference to Varic's death, without anyone thinking it's strange? Up to and including Rook? Also, all of the missives that might have referenced it? Highly suspect. He could barely stop himself from blurting it out.

b. Another explanation I often hear is that the companions would say "Oh, we just thought you weren't ready to deal with it." Or "We thought you knew." That would fly for the first couple months, sure. But once the dragons hit our companion cities and shit really starts hitting the fan? After Weisshaupt? Everyone else was expected to face their mental or emotional issues to not distract from the mission. Why was only Rook exempt?

If the leader I'm following to try and save the world from the literal apocalypse was showing definite and obvious signs of a mental break down like this, I'd be challenging them at the least, and trying to get them removed from their position before they screw up and get us all killed at worst.

c. Solas is straight up manipulating and changing/editing/deleting memories of Rook's, and that never comes up? Rook never realizes that they're missing parts of their memory before the big reveal? The companions don't notice that Rook is forgetting things they've discussed, especially about Varric? I feel like Neve at the very least would have found that worthy of investigation. Especially as familiar with the signs of blood magic as she's shown to be.

d. Folks cite that no one ever visits Varric in the infirmary other than Rook throughout the game. Which is the only evidence for the twist I can appreciate. However, there were a couple of reasons I don't see this as very strong storytelling.

I. No one ever really visits Rook in their room, either, except for whomever you romance. Rook only ever goes running to everyone else. No one just wanted to sit and look at the fish? Nobody?

II. The writing is so clunky, and the character interactions (even the romance paths) were so limited, I felt it was fair to assume this was just a section the writers had overlooked. Especially since Mary Kirby, Varric's writer, was laid off over a year before the game came out.

III. The devs mentioned a scrapped advisor system or set up, so it can be forgiven to have seen this as a hold over.

2. We see Neve dragging Varric with her into the Eluvian as everyone escapes the ritual site. Up until that was shown, I was fully assuming Varric was dead. But seeing that convinced me he was still okay. You can't even claim it's a Rook hallucination from Solas, because one, he was rather busy at that exact moment and two, Rook's back is facing Neve in that scene. They wouldn't have seen her dragging or not dragging Varric. So I argue it was only put in there to convince the audience he wasn't dead to keep the twist from being revealed too early.

3. Varric is the one speaking in all of the narrator scenes for end of act slides and end of companion quests. If he's dead, who is doing that, and why? Again, it's something done strictly to fool the audience, because Rook doesn't see these. Why bother? Why not have Solas tell them, if they're that important? Plus it would have been a great way to at least have his VA in more of the game. And it's not like Solas had anything else to do while he was in prison.

4. If Rook' s blood at the ritual site is the reason they can talk with Solas throughout the game, why did we never see a memory or echo of Varric in the prison before the reveal? It wouldn't have really given it away, and could have strengthened the idea to the player that Varric was still alive, while only being a force ghost of sorts. Also, I feel like having them both present to advise Rook or argue with each other could have been a great 'Angel and Devil on the shoulder' set up. Also, call backs to their custody battle over Cole in DA:I. -laughs-

This was lazy writing, plain and simple. The writers clearly wanted to pat themselves on the back for being clever without putting in the work needed to pull this twist off and make it an emotional gut punch that the ending of a character as beloved as Varric deserved. I'll probably always be a bit disappointed by this because it could have been so good.