Dragon Age 4: everything we know so far about Dreadwolf
It’s been almost a decade since BioWare released Dragon Age: Inquisition, the third instalment in the Dragon Age series, so we’re about due for a new adventure in Thedas.
BioWare first teased us about a new Dragon Age game all the way back in 2018 with a trailer at The Game Awards, and we heard relatively little since. Last year, however, more information trickled through about Dragon Age 4, including the official title.
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Back in June 2022, BioWare released a blog post announcing the name of their next game: Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
Why Dreadwolf? Well, that comes from a recurring character in Dragon Age that Inquisition fans will be familiar with, but more on them in a bit.
Since that post we’ve still heard relatively little, so it’s unlikely we’ll be playing Dreadwolf anytime in 2023, but there will hopefully be a lot more announced and revealed over the coming months about the new game, and we’ll be covering everything we see here.
With that in mind, here’s everything we know about Dragon Age: Dreadwolf so far.
Projected Dragon Age: Dreadwolf release date
There is no release date for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf right now. BioWare released a development update back in February 2022 saying the game was «right in the middle of production», but no further updates followed. Late 2023 is probably an optimistic release window, so we might have to wait until 2024 to play the game, but we’ll update you as soon as we hear any news of a release date.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf antagonist
The name Dreadwolf refers to the main villain of Dragon Age 4, Solas the Dread Wolf. Solas is an elven outlaw mage who first appeared in Dragon Age: Inquisition as a party member who helps the player understand the metaphysical realm the Fade.
Solas is not all he reveals himself to be, and more about his life is revealed at the end of Inquisition and its Trespasser DLC (which are currently available on Xbox Game Pass).
There’s plenty of time to play Inquisition and learn who Solas is yourself, but BioWare have also said that «If you’re new to Dragon Age, you have no need to worry about not having met our antagonist just yet. He’ll properly introduce himself when the time is right».
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf setting
The Dragon Age series takes place in the world of Thedas, with each game taking place in one of its various nations. Origins was set in Ferelden, Kirkwall was the setting of Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition was set across multiple regions of Thedas.
We now know that Dreadwolf will be set in Tevinter, an Imperium in the north which is governed by a powerful oligarchy of magic-wielding magisters led by an Imperial Archon.
The 2020 Game Awards teaser showed a glimpse of Tevinter’s capital Minrathous which looked full of magical colours and floating gothic castles. It’s likely that we’ll travel to other places around Thedas like we did in Inquisition, with Tevinter being the focus, but places such as the Deep Roads will probably pop up again.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf returning characters
Dragon Age has a familiar cast of characters that appear in each game, including the protagonist from Dragon Age 2 turning up as a companion in Inquisition. We should expect to see some more familiar faces along with Solas in Dreadwolf, and we even had confirmation of one more returning character in the 2020 trailer.
The Game Awards 2020 teaser featured our favourite unreliable narrator and dwarven archer Varric Tethras, who was a party member in both Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Those are the only two characters we can bank on returning right now, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see more Inquisition party members show up down the line.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf story and gameplay
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We know very little about what will happen in Dreadwolf or how the game will be designed, but we have been given a few hints.
The teaser for the game hinted that the hero will be someone with «No magic hand, no ancient prophecy.
The kind of person they’ll never see coming», which seems to hint that the story will be about starting from a position of no power and becoming stronger.
This seems to tie in with the words of BioWare general manager Gary McKay, who in a blog post in February last year said that «We are focused on a single-player experience that is built on choices that matter.»
So Dreadwolf might move away from some traditional Dragon Age methods and focus more on a single character having to make choices on their own that will affect the story as a whole.
That’s all the information we have on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf for now, we’ll continue to update this page as we learn more information throughout 2023 so make sure to bookmark it so you don’t miss out. Also be sure to follow the Jelly Deals Twitter account where we’ll post the latest Dragon Age: Dreadwolf pre-order news among all the best deals we spot each day.
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf loses another veteran BioWare producer
and another one gone, and another one gone —
After 19-year stint,
Mass Effect‘s Mac Walters is latest to leave company.
Kyle Orland
—
Enlarge / Yet another leader behind the Dreadwolf project has left bioWare.
BioWare’s Mac Walters used a LinkedIn post this weekend to announce the end of a 19-year career at the company. The move is yet another in a long line of shakeups for the leadership team behind the sprawling, long-anticipated Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, on which he served as production director.
Walters’ history at BioWare was primarily focused on the Mass Effect series, where he served as a writer and designer before rising to project director for 2017’s Mass Effect: Andromeda and 2021’s Legendary Edition remaster. He transitioned to the Dragon Age team after Legendary Edition to serve as Dreadwolf‘s production director, a role he said was akin to «both producer and director» in TV/film terms.
«So you have the vision for a product you’re helping to uphold—something you and the team want to do—but on the producer side, you are also responsible for figuring out how you’re going to support the team in creating that vision,» Walters said in a May interview posted on the BioWare corporate site. «And then you work with the team to actually execute that vision.”
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Walters writes that his decision to leave came «at the end of last year» and called his time at the Dragon Age and Mass Effect studio «a life-changing experience… I’ve worked with so many wonderful people and had the privilege to be a part of the most amazing teams and projects. It’s hard to fathom it all, and I know I’ll be reflecting on it for years to come.»
Not the first, maybe not the last
Walters’ departure comes just over two years after that of Dragon Age Executive Producer Mark Darrah and BioWare General Manager Casey Hudson (the latter of which had previously left the studio in 2014 before returning).
Christian Dailey, who had taken over the Dragon Age executive producer role from Darrah, then also left the company just under a year ago. And in late 2021, Dragon Age Senior Creative Director Matt Goldman left BioWare after four years working on the unreleased project.
This all came after BioWare founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk left the company behind in 2012, years before «Dragon Age 4» began earnest development in 2015. Since then, the game’s development has had its fair share of reported troubles, including a brief internal cancellation and a complete overhaul from a planned «live service» multiplayer experience.
Following a cinematic trailer in 2020, BioWare finally revealed the Dreadwolf name and a few story details last June. Since then, the closest we’ve come to any gameplay updates is a concept-art-filled story trailer from last month. There’s still no sign of a planned release date for the game.
Kyle Orland
Kyle has been the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica since 2012, specializing in video game hardware and software.
He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area.
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Who’s Who in the House of the Dragon
On August 22, House of the Dragon, one of the most anticipated television series of the year and the first successor to the cult Game of Thrones, will premiere. The series follows the Dragon Dance, a bloody civil war that nearly destroyed the Targaryen dynasty 150 years before the rise of Robert Baratheon. We talk about what we should expect on the screen, as well as about the book that started it all.
In the beginning there was a book
Like Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is based on the work of George R.R. Martin, and more specifically on one particular book called Fire and Blood.
Fire and Blood is not an ordinary book, it is not a fiction novel, but a pseudo-historical treatise that describes a century and a half of the reign of the Targaryen dynasty, starting from the landing of Aegon the Conqueror on Dragonstone three hundred years before the beginning of the Game of Thrones and ending with the aftermath of the Dance Dragons.
In fact, this is a kind of «History of the state of Westeros», allegedly written by Maester Gildain, a grumpy old man who lived at the dawn of the reign of King Robert. nine0003
A book has been created in the best traditions of medieval historical treatises — dry and mean language, with references to early sources, listing several versions of the same events and subjective criticism of the objectivity of these versions and their authors.
At the same time, Fire and Blood reads like a fascinating historical novel. This is a concentrated Martin — without verbose descriptions of feasts and battles, but with intrigues, adventures, large-scale wars and other medieval joys. nine0003
As the book spans a century and a half of history, the characters change regularly, dying of natural causes such as old age. At the same time, even episodic characters are described so vividly and deeply that the loss of each of them is perceived as parting with a close friend.
Fire and Blood is only the first part of a planned two-volume history of the Targaryen dynasty.
Martin plans to return to the second part after the completion of The Winds of Winter.
In Russian, the book was published both in two volumes — separate parts were titled «Blood of Dragons» and «Dance of Death», and in one volume, which also included over seventy black and white illustrations by the artist Doug Wheatley. nine0003
What is Dragon Dance? looks like a disassembly of a bunch of drunken reenactors. The scale of the fighting was given by the active use of dragons: on both sides of the conflict, a total of two dozen flying lizards fought. nine0003
The groundwork for the Dance of Dragons was laid thirty years before the start of the war, during the long reign of King Jayeheris Targaryen, known as the Old King. Jayeheris ruled the country for so long (55 years) that he outlived half of his children, including all his sons.
To prevent the death of the Old King from provoking a dynastic crisis, a Grand Council was convened a few years before his death, a council of all the lords of the Seven Kingdoms, convened only in emergency cases.
— who decided that the crown should be passed exclusively through the senior male line. Thus, his eldest grandson Viserys was chosen as Jayeheris’ heir. nine0003
Viserys was the first to put the bolt on the decision of the Supreme Council, officially appointing his daughter Reyenira as his heir. The lords of the kingdom accepted the will of the new monarch without much enthusiasm, but resigned themselves, since Viserys had no male children. It wasn’t until the king remarried, taking Alicente Hightower, daughter of the King’s Hand, Ser Otto, as his wife. Alicent gave her husband three male heirs at once, and at the court they began to whisper that the eldest of his sons should receive the crown after the death of Viserys. nine0003
Rhaenyra, however, did not understand why she should give up the crown just because her father managed to produce male children. And among the lords and knights there were those who shared her point of view. Gradually, the entire court was divided into two camps — the «blacks», supporting Princess Rhaenyra, and the «greens», speaking on the side of Alicente.
Both camps were named after the color of the dresses worn by the rivals at the royal tournament, where the division of the court became obvious even to the blind. nine0003
During his lifetime, Viserys managed to maintain peace before the warring parties for a long time, however, after Rhaenyra’s son gouged out Alicent’s son’s eye in a fight, the king decided to separate both branches of his family and sent his daughter to Dragonstone, to the Targaryen’s ancestral castle. Alicente and her supporters remained at court.
This decision of the king became fatal: there was practically not a single supporter of the princess left in the capital, therefore, as soon as Viserys died, Alicent’s inner circle quietly crowned her eldest son. However, Rhaenyra, having learned about the death of her father and the coronation of her younger brother, refused to swear allegiance to him. Both heirs declared their rival a usurper and a traitor and began to prepare for war. nine0003
At first bloodshed could still have been avoided: «the first battles of the Dragon Dance were fought with crows, feathers, parchment, threats, promises, edicts and persuasion» .
But, after one of Alicente’s sons killed one of Rhaenyra’s sons, the point of no return was passed. The Dance of the Dragons has begun.
Who’s who in the «House of the Dragon»?
Alicent, New Queen
Actresses: Emily Carey (young), Olivia Cooke. nine0054
Alycente, daughter of the Hand of King Otto Hightower, arrived at court just before the end of the reign of Viserys’ predecessor, Old King Jayeheris. As a matter of fact, the old man departed to another world to the sound of Alicente’s voice — the young lady at that moment was just reading to him excerpts from the book of one of the king’s longtime associates.
At first, Alycente and Reyenira got along well. According to the book, there was an age difference of almost ten years between them, but judging by the first shots from the series, they will be the same age on the screen. However, as soon as Alicente turned from a friend of the princess into a stepmother, their relationship deteriorated once and for all.
And after Alicenta gave her husband her first child and began to gather like-minded people around her, the girls completely turned into irreconcilable rivals. nine0003
Rhaenyra, Jewel of the Realm
Actresses: Millie Alcock (young), Emma D’Arcy.
From a young age, Princess Rhaenyra was called the Joy and the Jewel of the Kingdom. At the age of six, her father proclaimed Rhaenyra his heir, and the girl grew up with the idea that one day she would sit on the Iron Throne. At the age of seven, she saddled a dragon for the first time, and at eight she already began to delve into the affairs of the kingdom and attend meetings of the Small Council.
When Viserys married a second time, the princess tried to treat her stepmother and half-brothers favorably: she believed that her father would not change the earlier decision. However, when the court was divided into «blacks» and «greens», the princess began to look for strong protectors for herself and found them in the face of her uncle, Prince Daemon, and the young knight of the Royal Guard, Christon Kohl.
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Evil tongues claimed that the young princess was not in a platonic relationship with both men. There was no evidence of this, but the consequences were disastrous: Daemon was expelled from Westeros, threatened with the death penalty if he dared to return, and Kriston Kohl went over to Alicente’s side and turned from Rhaenyra’s faithful defender into her worst enemy.
Viserys found a husband’s daughter, but this union did not bring happiness. Historians unanimously claimed that the princess’s husband, who, by the way, died very early and under unclear circumstances, was only interested in boys, and all three children of Rhaenyre were killed by another knight of the Royal Guard. After the death of her husband, Rhaenyra no longer secretly married Daemon, which, in fact, confirmed the previous rumors. nine0003
As the years passed, time did not spare Rhaenyra. From a lively, energetic and beautiful girl, she turned into a heavy and suspicious person. The princess has always been spoiled, stubborn and vindictive, and over the years these qualities have become more pronounced.
And this, in turn, did not add friends to the daughter of Viserys.
Daemon, the Vicious Prince
Actor: Matt Smith.
The younger brother of Viserys. An experienced warrior, a brave rider, a dashing, daring and quick-tempered adventurer. At the age of 23, he was chosen as the head of the city guard of the Royal Guard and turned a crowd of poorly trained guards into an elite military unit that remained loyal to their prince even twenty years after he left this post. During his time as head of the guard, Daemon earned himself the nicknames of the Vicious Prince and Lord of the Flea End: the prince not only participated in patrols, but also personally «inspected» wine cellars, gaming dens and brothels. nine0003
After Daemon was kicked out of his guard, he amassed a small army of non-hereditary sons of lords and landless seekers of fortune and went to fight on the Steps, a small archipelago that became the domain of pirates who did not give life to ships from Westeros.
Within a couple of years, Daemon’s adventurers had taken over the entire archipelago and proclaimed their leader King of the Steps and all of the Narrow Sea.
But even in the new place Daemon did not stay long, replacing the crown won with such difficulty for the hand and heart of the charming Leina, the daughter of Corlis Velaryon. True, Leina quickly died in childbirth, and then Daemon married his own niece and became one of her most powerful allies. nine0003
Corlis Velarion, Sea Serpent
Actor: Steve Toussaint.
Local Sinbad sailor. One of the most famous sailors and politicians of his time. In his youth, he made nine legendary journeys, from which he brought fabulous wealth. Devilishly cunning, resourceful and smart.
Married Rhaenys Targaryen, daughter of Jayeherys’ eldest son, whom the Great Council swept with the crown, choosing Viserys as successor. Since then, Velarion has harbored a grudge against the royal dynasty, only intensified after Viserys chose Alicente Hightower as his second wife over his daughter Leyna.
Since then, the Sea Serpent has remained one of Rhaenyra’s most devoted supporters. nine0003
King Viserys
Actor: Paddy Considine.
Paddy Considine characterizes his character as «a good man, but a very bad king.» A kind, generous and generous person, Viserys ruled the country for almost three decades, but he was never able to restore order in his family and with his own hands created all the prerequisites for the start of the bloodiest civil war in the history of the Targaryens.
Lord Otto Hightower
Actor: Rhys Ifans.
Father of Queen Alicent. He was the right hand of three kings from the Targaryen dynasty at once.
Sir Christon Cole, Maker of Kings
Actor: Fabien Frankel.
Knight of the Royal Guard. In his youth, he was an ardent supporter, protector and even personal bodyguard of Princess Rhaenyra, and then overnight became her worst enemy and an equally zealous supporter of Queen Alicent.
Historians are still arguing what caused the quarrel. Some claim that the knight, in violation of his vows, showed up in the princess’s chambers, confessed his love to her, offered to escape across the Narrow Sea, and was ruthlessly sent. Others say that this princess, in one cloak over her naked body, dug into Kolya’s cell and offered herself. And in the latest version, Kol has already remained true to his vows and sent the princess to hell, for example, to get dressed. The bottom line was a quarrel and a quarrel. nine0003
Without this spat, there might not have been the Dragon Dance itself. After all, Kol became one of its main instigators. He persuaded Alycente’s eldest son to lay claim to the throne, personally crowned King Aegon and rose under him to the rank of Lord Commander of the Royal Guard and even the King’s Hand.
Misaria
Actress: Sonoya Mizuno.
The Fox Dancer became Daemon Targaryen’s lover during his time as Chief of the Golden Shrouds of King’s Landing.
Over time, she became his agent and rose to the position of master of whisperers — the head of all spies. nine0003
Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, Queen of the Lost
Actress: Eve Best.
The only daughter of Jayeheris’ eldest son. Twice she was among the contenders for the Iron Throne, and twice she was bypassed by male heirs. She married Lord Corlis Velaryon. Mother of Rhaenyra’s first husband and one of her closest supporters.
What We Know About The House of the Dragon
The House of the Dragon is the first Game of Thrones successor to survive the so-called Battle of the Five Pitches, a brutal selection of ideas that involved about fifteen different synopses. Martin initially wanted a successor series to focus on the events of Dragons Dance, but the first version of the series was shelved when showrunner Brian Cogman left HBO to work for Amazon. nine0003
Then the Dance of the Dragons found a second life in the hands of showrunner Ryan Kondal, a good friend of George Martin.
The writer personally recommended Kondal for this role. From Martin’s point of view, Condal’s key advantage over all other showrunners is that Ryan is a 20-year-old Song fan: he read Game of Thrones 20 years ago and has since devoured all of Martin’s other books.
Kondal wants the series to be enjoyed by fans like him first. Given the nature of the book, this is not easy to achieve. Not only is Fire and Blood stylized as a historical text, but Maester Gildain also relies on the writings of his three predecessors, who regularly contradict each other. And, if Martin in the book could afford to retell three different versions, Kondal was forced to choose one, which he took as the main one. nine0003
The second showrunner of the project is Miguel Sapochnik. He is best known as the director of most of the coolest battle episodes of the Game of Thrones. The showrunners immediately divided the responsibilities between them: Kondal is responsible for the story and screenwriting, Sapochnik is responsible for directing and staging.
The first season will have ten episodes, the first will air on August 21 (in Russia — August 22). The first season will cover 30 years of history — from the last years of the reign of Jayeheris and the Great Council to the very beginning of the Dance. There will be several chronological jumps in the season, and the two main characters, Rhaenyra and Alicent, will even be played by two different actresses, as in The Crown. nine0003
George Martin has already seen a rough cut of nine of the ten episodes of the season and was delighted. Critics are also pleased — the first reviews are completely positive. HBO is confident in the success of the series and has already renewed House of the Dragon for a second season. Ryan Condal says that he plans to wrap the story in three or four seasons, and Miguel Sapochnik does not rule out that The House of the Dragon will become an anthology and the next seasons will tell about other episodes from the three-hundred-year reign of the Targaryens.
Fans who are skeptical after the Game of Thrones finale should be reassured by the following facts:
- Ryan Condal is a big fan of the books and is in close contact with George Martin.
- Martin, after the failure of the pilot of another spin-off, code-named «Blood Moon», has more credibility in HBO than ten years ago.
- The end of the story is known, and the story itself is painted from beginning to end — and if you are not afraid of spoilers, we can read the entire story of the Dragon Dance, as well as other events of the first half of the reign of the Targaryen dynasty, on the pages of the books Fire and Blood: Blood Dragons» and «Fire and Blood: Dance of Death». nine0178
08/04/2022 Books
02.08.2022 Books
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Dragonheart 4 (2017) — Actors and Roles Will the descendants of the king become worthy successors of his glorious deeds, and what gift will each of them have?
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