Dragon Age 2 — Story Playthrough — Part Twenty-Four (The End)

Anders had destroyed the Chantry and incited war between the mages and templars. Now they had to race to the Gallows and save the mages there before Meredith could destroy them all for the actions of one man.

As they flew through Lowtown to get to the Gallows, Carver suddenly appeared. The Wardens had seen the explosion and he had come to make sure she was okay. That she was still alive.

He then requested to fight at her side as she did whatever she was doing. If she was going to start a war, he would be there to protect her.

It seemed unlike the Carver she had known and she questioned him, but apparently he had changed while in the service of the Wardens and she was the only family he had left. He would not allow her to die in this madness.

She gratefully accepted his assistance.

Together they continued through Lowtown, watching in horror as mages were cornered by templars and resorted to demonic help to free themselves from their grasp.

Other mages were simply protecting themselves, hoping to survive this conflict. It was madness.

Demons filled the streets as more and more desperate mages cried out for help to survive. They had to fight through these demons to make it to the Gallows!

The Gallows were on the other side of the harbour. They quickly liberated a small boat from the docks and made their way across, in silence as they contemplated what would await them on the other side.

The templars were in the courtyard with mages, already fighting.

As Lyria and her group rushed in, the First Enchanter called out to them, grateful that they were there, they needed to save these mages!

Meredith arrived with more templars, Fenris and Knight-Commander Cullen by her side. Fenris could not help the mages, not after what he had suffered in Tevinter at the hands of other mages.

Lyria pleaded with him. He knew the burden of slavery. Would he not help to end it?

He closed his eyes. Lyria was correct. She was his friend and slavery should be abolished, and he would help her.

Meredith allowed Orsino to prepare his people. Her templars were coming across the harbour, right now, and it didn't matter what the mages did; they would all perish.

She looked over at Lyria. The Champion would perish too.

Fist Enchanter Orsino stalked back into the Circle and gathered his mages. He told them to flee. To run to the other Circles across the land and tell all the mages what was happening. The entire world would know what was going on here! Even if he and the Champion were to die this night.

While Orsino was talking with his mages, Lyria gathered her brother and friends around and spoke to them before the inevitable.

For the first time, Carver told her that he was proud that she was his sister... they might die in the next few minutes, but she was glad to hear those words nonetheless.

Anders was just surprised that she hadn't killed him. He loved her and she him, but after what he did, he had never imagined that she would stay her hand. He asked her to join him. After all this was done, after they had saved these mages and fled, would she be a fugitive on the run with him, working together to make the world a better place for all mages?

Of course she would.

Orsino ran up to her. The templars had arrived in their full power to eradicate them.

Lyria grabbed her people and fought as the incoming templars approached and tried to take down Orsino and his mages.

After the wave of templars was defeated, Orsino fell to temptation. He was sick of this. Sick of everything. If Meredith believed that every mage in the circle was a blood mage, then he would show her what a blood mage could do.

The bodies of the few mages who had just been killed rose up and joined with Orsino until he became the most disgusting abomination Lyria had ever seen.

Orsino's mages screamed in terror and fled from what had once been their First Enchanter. Templars fled at the sight of him too. And then it descended upon Lyria and her group and they were forced to fight him.

Lyria could scarcely believe the fool had turned to blood magic. They had it under control! He had just made things worse.

Once the beast Orsino became was put down, they fled. They needed to get out of this place. There were templars and demons everywhere.

In the next room over, a massive corpse-pile of demons lay scattered around the room with Sandal at its centre. The boy offered enchantments for them before the end. Whatever he was doing there, Lyria didn't think to ask. It wasn't as though he spoke much anyway.

In one room Lyria came across a group of mages and sympathetic templars ready to help them flee. Lyria nodded at them and continued, killing all aggressive templars in her sights as those at her back escaped.

The gates to the courtyard were just ahead. They would make it.

The Knight-Commander and another group of templars were waiting for them in the Gallows courtyard. She demanded her men kill the Champion!

Suddenly Knight-Captain Cullen turned on her. They were there to arrest the Champion, not kill her. Meredith would not back down and Cullen refused to kill Lyria. He told Meredith that he had defended her when everyone spoke of her growing madness, but this was too much. He declared her unfit and told her that he was taking over as Knight-Commander.

Meredith pulled her sword out on Cullen and yelled that she would not stand for insubordination.

Lyria and Varric gasped simultaneously. The sword she had pulled out... it was made of pure red lyrium. Meredith admitted it. She had bought the statue from the dwarf and had it melted down into this sword. It had cost a lot, but it was worth it.

No wonder she had been growing madder and madder over these years!

Lyria tried to get through to Meredith. That lyrium had made Bartrand go crazy; it was warping and twisting her mind!

It was too late for Meredith though. It had already consumed her.

Meredith started her attack. All of her templars stood back and refused to fight alongside her, instead watching this chaos ensue. Cullen, on the other hand, fought by Lyria's side. He wasn't so bad... for a templar.

Just when they thought they were actually getting through Meredith's lyrium-enhanced armour, she leapt away like a ninja and slammed her red-lyrium blade into the ground.

The life of the lyrium swept through the Gallows courtyard and activated all the statues. Statues of the slaves, of the masters, of the guardians, they all burst into life and followed Meredith's command.

It was a brutal fight against bronze statue and crazed madwoman, but with Cullen by her side, Anders, all of her friends, her brother, and even Nathaniel Howe had briefly left the Wardens to join Carver in the fight... Lyria soon overpowered Meredith.

Meredith would not accept defeat. She demanded more power from the lyrium.

But it had given too much to her. It burnt her to a husk and left her frozen in the centre of the Gallows.

The battle was over.

The templars surrounded Lyria and her group, but weren't too sure what to do. Meredith was a husk of red lyrium in the courtyard, they looked at her, confused at what she had become.

Finally Cullen looked at Lyria and nodded his head. He was in charge now, and she could go.

Gathering her people, they quickly backtracked out of the Gallows, and out of the city.

Aveline stayed to be with her guard and Carver returned to the Wardens, but everyone else followed Lyria... until one by one, over the months, they left for their own reasons. Soon it was just Anders and Lyria, together against the world, mage fugitives, hiding amongst the chaos they had wrought as mages and templars warred across the world.

Varric had finished telling his story of Lyria the Champion to Seeker Cassandra.

Now we will find out how the story continues in Dragon Age: Inquisition. If I manage to finish it. It really is my least favourite of the entire series and a slog to get through. 😩😩😩😩

(Yes, I know I didn't do anything with Sebastian or the Mark of the Assassin DLC. Neither of them add anything to the story. Well, apart from a brief cameo of Leliana in Sebastian's questline.)

(Also, I'd just like to say that Dragon Age 2 crashes so damned much when taking screenshots. I've never experienced so many crashes in all my life. And I play Bethesda games!!) 🤣

 

Until next time! 🐲⚔️

 

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_{All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, @kaelci and are from the game: Dragon Age 2.}