The Dragon Age: Inquisition Retcon That Saved Morrigan
Morrigan is one of Dragon Age’s most complex characters, but Inquisition offered a retcon that upends everything about her in previous games.
Dragon Age: Inquisition changed a lot about what players thought they knew about the world of Thedas, but few were as interesting as to how it changed series favorite Morrigan. The mage has always been a divisive figure in the fanbase, due to her being the devil on the main character's shoulder throughout the original game, her bottomless cynicism when it comes to other people, and her seemingly betraying The Warden during the first game's climax. But Dragon Age: Inquisition changed her character in a way that recontextualized every interaction The Warden had with her back in Origins.
In Dragon Age: Origins, Morrigan joins player character The Warden's party very early on, acting as the countering perspective to the kind but naïve Alistair. Morrigan was portrayed as someone The Warden shouldn't trust under any circumstances but left that choice open to the player regardless. She was the one quickest to suggest the fastest way to get to one's goal, regardless of the moral lines that needed to be crossed to get there.
At once a scheming manipulator and a refreshing pragmatist, the game always left it ambiguous whether Morrigan was truly evil or simply had no patience for RPG fetch quests. Dragon Age: Inquisition, on the other hand, removed such ambiguity. As a result, Morrigan is far stronger a character thanks to this retcon in the story.
The fact that, despite her demeanor, Morrigan loved The Warden's dog was always the biggest clue toward her ultimately kind nature. The expansion Witch Hunt then revealed the ultimatum she gave The Warden at the end of the original campaign - to impregnate her so she can bind the Archdemon's soul to the fetus or die killing the Archdemon - was part of a larger plan to defend Thedas from her mother. Dragon Age: Inquisition then took this setup to its logical conclusion: There was never really anything to fear from Morrigan.
Morrigan's interactions with her mother near the end of Inquisition's campaign, combined with what she told The Warden back in Origins, show that Morrigan's behavior in Origins was mainly due to the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, having absolutely no idea how to talk to other people. It doesn't justify everything, such as her temperamental relationship with Dragon Age's approval system, but it sheds new light on her interactions throughout the series. Being away from her mother, whether on her own or with The Warden and their child (depending on the players' world state), helped Morrigan grow out of her shadow. While still mysterious in Dragon Age: Inquisition, her goals are more about discovery and preservation of knowledge.
It's yet unknown what role Morrigan will play in the long-rumored Dragon Age 4, but Dragon Age: Inquisition did a lot to make her far more complex than she was in the first game. Taking what was merely just the character giving the evil option for moral choices, and turning her into a misunderstood victim who grows over the years after escaping a terrible home and becoming a better person as a result. Hopefully, Dragon Age 4 will give fans one last meeting with the franchise's best character.