As the senior Grey Warden present, Riordan acknowledges his duty to make the first attempt.Īfter this revelation, Morrigan waits in the Warden's bedroom to offer a deal.
However, if a Grey Warden strikes the killing blow, the soul will assail that Warden's taint-causing both souls to be destroyed. If killed by anyone else (as Riordan explains) its soul will escape to the nearest darkspawn (who are soulless), making it practically immortal (barring the impractical eradication of every darkspawn in existence). The Warden discovers on the eve of the Battle of Denerim that the Archdemon must be killed only by a Grey Warden. Sometime before Arl Eamon Guerrin called the Landsmeet, the Archdemon appears again in the Warden's dreams the same night he has send a group of shrieks assassins to kill both the Warden and Alistair in their camp while they are traveling across Ferelden. While traveling through the Dead Trenches, it is encountered in the flesh for the first time from a distance, leading the bulk of the darkspawn horde. Urthemiel appears in the Warden's dreams after first leaving Lothering. Urthemiel is first glimpsed by the Warden after their Joining ceremony, although the other Fereldan Grey Wardens, such as Warden-Commander Duncan, had felt his presence since before their engagements at Ostagar. Instead, the dwarves consider the Blight to be something of a respite, as all darkspawn activity is focused on the surface. Since the dwarves managed to fend off the darkspawn invasion after the First Blight, no Archdemon has led a Blight against them. Prior to the beginning of the Dragon Age there had been four previous Blights, each led by an Archdemon, Dumat, Zazikel, Toth and Andoral, respectively. The Archdemon is their leader, and a Blight will not end until the Archdemon that started it is destroyed. Ī Blight begins when the darkspawn find and taint an Old God, who then unites them into a great horde and unleashes them onto the surface in a wave of darkness and destruction. Similarly, the Archdemon rarely fights on the surface during Blights unless direct intervention is necessary, though through the hive-mind, the Archdemon communicates with and commands the entire horde whether in their presence or not, usually sending its orders to the emissaries or powerful hurlock generals Grey Wardens often "hear" the Archdemon in their dreams, veteran Wardens even claiming to understand parts of the Archdemon's speech. They rarely appear on the surface, except in raids and small invasions. Most of the time, the darkspawn are organized as a simple hive-mind, concerned only with expanding the horde. It awakens twisted and corrupted, and leads the darkspawn in a full-scale invasion of the land: a Blight.Īrchdemons possess an intelligence far beyond the average dragon and are purely evil creatures. Whatever the reason, when darkspawn find one of these ancient dragons, it is immediately afflicted by the taint. Perhaps there is some remnant of desire for vengeance upon the ones who goaded the magisters to assault heaven. Perhaps it is instinct, as moths will fly into torch flames. No one knows what it is that drives the darkspawn in their relentless search for the sleeping Old Gods.