Ghilan'nain

Ghilan'nain is described by Solas as brilliant, ambitious, and unconstrained by any form of morality. She was once a servant of Andruil whose skill at making monsters earned her great renown, eventually leading her to become of the Evanuris.^[9]

Despite their differences, Solas wrote to the Evanuris to persuade them to lead their people in a noble way and to cease claiming they were gods. To Ghilan'nain, he tried to urge her to create creatures to defend the elven people from the Evanuris' mistreatment and suggested that she serve the Evanuris for Andruil's approval.^[10] Ghilan'nain however, argues that her ambitious creations can only be realized with the Evanuris' resources and that Andruil had always supported her career. Thus she believes she has every incentive to throw her lot in with the Evanuris and that she has given enough to the elves by creating the Halla.^[11]

The Evanuris weaponized the Blight in their wars of supremacy, especially during Solas' rebellion against them. After Solas told Mythal of the other elven gods' abuse of the Blight, Mythal sought to convince them to cease its use on his behalf. However, the other elven gods had somehow acquired Solas' lyrium dagger, and used it to murder Mythal when she confronted them. Solas then recovered the Lyrium Dagger from Elgar'nan, and from it extracted a fragment of Mythal that had lain hidden within its depths.^[12] For unleashing the Blight onto the world and for slaying Mythal, Solas imprisoned the Evanuris in the Fade and used their lives to sustain the Veil by connecting their blood to his Lyrium Dagger. Yet Solas did not anticipate that the Elven pantheon that he had imprisoned would speak through the Old Gods and manipulate the Magisters Sidereal into breaching the Black City and releasing a portion of the Blight onto Thedas.^[13][14]

Nearly a decade after being revealed as Fen'Harel by the Inquisition, Solas attempts to transfer Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan from their failing prison within the Fade to a new one. His ritual is interrupted by Varric Tethras, Lace Harding, Neve Gallus, and Rook. The interruption results in the unintentional liberation of the gods from their prison and leaves Solas trapped within the Fade.^[15]

Seeking to release more of the Blight from their former prison, Ghilan'nain sent a ghoul to retrieve Solas' lyrium dagger but the Veilguard intercepted and recovered the dagger. As Elgar'nan could not sense the dagger, Ghilan'nain suggested they craft another out of red lyrium.

Regardless of whether the Veilguard chooses to save either Minrathous or Treviso, Ghilan'nain appears, demanding Rook hand over the lyrium dagger and leaves the task to one of her blighted dragons, either Seartooth Vyrantus or Corius the Icetooth. After a short fight, she recalls her dragon.

Ghilan'nain later awakens her archdemon, Razikale, and leads a darkspawn horde to besiege Weisshaupt, taunting the Grey Wardens in the form of a massive cloud. Rook appears on the battlefield, showing off the lyrium dagger to grab her attention, causing her to order Razikale to attack, only for her dragon to fall into the fortress' dragon trap. Ghilan'nain soon appears in physical form and stops First Warden Jowin Glastrum from dealing the killing blow to Razikale, kills him and uses his blood to transform her dragon into a multi-headed creature. Despite this, the Veilguard defeats Razikale, before Davrin delivers the killing blow, rendering Ghilan'nain mortal. However, when Lucanis Dellamorte attempted to kill her with the lyrium dagger, he only managed to inflict a scratch on her face, provoking her into furiously covering Weisshaupt in blight, though her enemies escaped.

In the aftermath of Weisshaupt's destruction, the surviving Grey Wardens re-group at the Hossberg Wetlands near Lavendel, under the leadership of Warden Evka Ivo. However, Ghilan'nain is not yet finished with them, and lairs one of her blighted dragons near the Cauldron to lure the Wardens into attacking it. Once they do, she takes the field, chastising the Wardens for their defiance at Weisshaupt and promising to make new, twisted creations from their remains.

Despite a protracted battle and the introduction of a second blighted dragon under Ghilan'nain's command, both dragons fall thanks to the efforts of the Wardens, the Veilguard, and their allies. Ghilan'nain tries to resurrected her dragons using the power of the Blight, but she is thwarted when Rook fires a ballista bolt into her, greviously impaling the Evanuris. Before she can succomb, however, Elgar'nan takes the field, freezing time and rescuing Ghilan'nain from a certain death at the hands of the Wardens. Defeated but alive, she retreats to safety with Elgar'nan, who reassures Ghilan'nain that she is vital for the next step of his plan.

Said plan eventually comes to fruition on Tearstone Island; here, Elgar'nan, with Ghilan'nain's assistance, intends to forge himself a Red Lyrium Dagger, a corrupted twin to Solas' own lyrium dagger, with which the two Elvhen gods can use to tear open the Fade, unleashing the full power of the Blight upon the world and forging a new Elvhen empire from it. Rook and the Veilguard quickly intervene to interrupt the ritual, and Ghilan'nain herself personally confronts them.

At first, she manages to incapacitate all but Rook with her Blight tendrils, but Rook is able to free their companions once again for the final showdown. One member of the Veilguard (either Davrin or Lace Harding) sacrifices themselves to distract Ghilan'nain while Lucanis prepares for the killing blow, and this time, his aim strikes true, fatally stabbing Ghilan'nain in the chest and stopping the ritual. Her last words are to a devastated Elgar'nan as she lay dying, lamenting that they had "such wonderful plans".