I love this line Elgar’nan throws at Solas:
“But you were always stubborn. Insubordinate, unmanageable. Even by Mythal’s reckoning.”
It paints such a vivid picture of Solas. It shows us a Solas who has always been defiant. Even when he stood with Mythal, he wasn’t someone who followed orders easily. He questioned. He resisted. And ultimately, he chose his own path.
Elgar’nan sees it as arrogance.
To him, Solas has always been a problem, a threat, not because of his power, but because of his refusal to be controlled. Not even by Mythal, the one who shaped him, the one he loved most - even she couldn’t fully command Solas! Elgar’nan’s words point to a fracture that’s always been there, a bond between Solas and Mythal built on shared ideals but slowly worn down by conflict, tension, and betrayal.
What makes this line hit is how it aligns with much of what I’ve come to understand about Solas (in large thanks to great conversations with fellow Solas lovers). His defiance isn’t just a character trait, it's a part of his psychology. As a spirit of Wisdom, he wasn’t meant to obey, only to guide and so taking form at Mythal’s request was the first compromise. From that moment on, he was at war with himself. And as Mythal and the Evanuris strayed further from their original ideals, Solas’ resistance only grew.
Even in service to Mythal, Solas didn’t fully submit. He gave his loyalty out of love and purpose but when she and the others chose rulership over liberation, he refused to follow. That’s the psychological stab of Elgar’nan’s accusation: Solas never truly belonged to them.
And it's Elgar’nan twisting the knife - weaponizing one of Solas’ deepest fears: that he is, and always has been, alone - ideologically, emotionally and spiritually. Solas has spent his entire existence trying to uphold ideals such as freedom, justice, wisdom (as he sees them), and in return? He’s been betrayed or disappointed time and again, especially by Mythal (how often these two must have hurt and disappointed each other).
By invoking Mythal, Elgar’nan turns Solas’ independence into rejection. “Even she couldn’t tolerate you.” “Even she couldn’t manage you.” “You don’t belong to anyone or anything.”
Brutal!
Solas’ relationship with Mythal is already steeped in guilt, reverence, and unresolved grief. He loved her. Served her. Then turned against her. And even centuries later, he can’t fully let her go, she is too much a part of his identity, his grief. So when Elgar’nan says even she couldn’t manage him, he’s forcing Solas to look at the possibility that he was the one who failed her - not the other way around.
Oooh, Elgar'nan, you are such a bitch.
