We’re getting really close to the end of Dragon Age: Origins. This week features a lot of pretty crazy things. There’s a daring prison escape, the crowning of a new ruler, and we learn that we can’t keep fooling around with two women without it catching up to us. But, before we get to all that, we need to go over some numbers. I’ve played for just under 26 hours and Ivan Ooze is currently level 17.

Like I stated last week, I had a couple side quests I needed to finish up back at camp. First off, I gave Leiliana her pet Nug. She seemed very happy to have a pet of her own. I guess Bork Doggo just isn’t enough. After some more pleasantries, I ask Leiliana to sleep with me, and she agrees. I’m not really sure why I keep bothering with all that, since it doesn’t seem to affect anything. But, it’s an option, so I do it.

Next up, I need to give Morrigan her mother’s grimoire, which we obtained a few weeks ago at this point. She’s very, very happy to finally have it. Afterwards, I try to have sex with her as well, because again, why not? This time, Morrigan explains that she’s developed feelings for me, feelings that she doesn’t really understand. I tell her I have the same feelings, but she tries to push me away, thinking that it’ll just turn into a big problem. I eventually convince her that it won’t, and now we’re a couple. What could possibly go wrong?

After that, I talk to Oghren. Apparently getting a party member so late in the game means that you don’t have to wait too long to get their personal quest. Oghren wants to talk to an old girlfriend of his, but needs help because the relationship ended badly. Sounds simple enough. I also talk to Sten and get his quest. Sten has lost his sword, which is apparently very important to the Qunari. Sten and a group of Qunari had been sent to investigate a possible Blight, only to be defeated by some Darkspawn, leaving Sten the only survivor. Outrage over what happened and losing his sword is what led to Sten murdering a family of farmers, and why he was locked up when we first met him.

I start with Sten’s quest. It’s honestly pretty simple. You go to the last known whereabouts of the sword, and find someone who recently sold the sword. He tells you who he sold it to, so then you go there. Eventually, this leads to Redcliffe, where a mercenary has the sword. I intimidate the mercenary into giving it up, reuniting Sten with his beloved sword.

Next, we head to a bar located where Oghren had heard his old girlfriend would be. I decide to talk to her myself, instead of just letting Oghren bumble his way through the conversation. Turns out, the reason they broke up was that Oghren had gotten drunk at her father’s funeral, stripped down, and wrestled the roast dinner. I tell her about how great Oghren is now. Eventually, the two start talking and insulting each other. Apparently that’s good though, because she wants him to come back once this whole Blight thing is over.

Now that I’m done with these personal quests and I have all of my Grey Warden treaties taken care of, it’s time to call a Landsmeet with all our allies. We head to Arl Eamon’s estate in Denerim. Not too long after we arrive, however, we learn of another problem. Elrina, who is the handmaiden of Queen Anora, tells my group that the queen has been imprisoned. It seems that Loghain is planning on killing her and blaming it on Eamon. Elrina supplies my party with disguises to sneak into the castle and find the queen.

After getting inside, we sneak around for a bit and come across the room Anora is being held in. Unfortunately, it’s being protected by a force field, one that was made by a mage that should be hanging around Arl Howe, one of Loghain’s supporters. We head to the dungeons to find them.

While running around, we free a whole bunch of people. This is a good thing, because they’ll lend their support to us in the Landsmeet. We even a find an old Grey Warden who wasn’t present for the battle at Ostagar. Eventually, we find Howe and kill him, along with a couple mages he was with. With that taken care of, we return to Anora to free her.

Oh, also, partway through all this, I accidentally talked to Leiliana when I meant to open a door. She’s pretty pissed about the whole “Morrigan and Ivan Ooze: Together Forever” thing, and says I have to choose between the two of them. Throughout most of the game, I had intended on ending up with Leiliana, but I honestly started to grow more and more annoyed with her character as the game progressed. So, when given this option, I chose Morrigan. Don’t sleep around, ladies and gentlemen.

So, anyways, we free Anora and everything’s going great, until we’re stopped by some more of Loghain’s allies. I try to explain that we were rescuing the queen, but Anora then declares us her kidnappers. Great. So, Ivan Ooze is imprisoned. At this point, you’re given the option to either try to break out on your own or wait for your allies to help you out.

I decided to go with my allies. This means that I get to choose two of my party members to break me out. I go with Morrigan and Leiliana, because that won’t be awkward at all. After a little convincing that they’re members of the Chantry, they manage to sneak in and get Ivan out of there.

Back at Arl Eamon’s, it turns out that Anora only turned on us because we let her presence known. It was the only way to save herself. Anora would like to stop her father’s plans (that’s Loghain, if I haven’t made that clear) and keep herself in power. The problem with that is that Alistair is the actual heir to the throne, even though he doesn’t want it. But I want it for him, and that’s what counts, right? I manage to negotiate a marriage between the two, so that they can both be in power.

Before starting the Landsmeet, Anora tells us of problems in the Alienage, the poor part of Denerim where many elves live. Elves have been disappearing, and she believes Loghain is part of it. If I can solve the problem and prove that it was Loghain’s doings, it might help me out at the Landsmeet. So, that’s what I do.

Turns out that Loghain has been helping sell elves into slavery. We fight the slavers, and kill them. We also obtain papers that link Loghain to the slavery. That seems pretty important.

Finally, it’s time for the Landsmeet. Finally, we can try to stop the Blight, as long as we have enough people on our side. Loghain would rather deal with Orlais. Because of all the people I freed and sidequests I did, I win the Landsmeet pretty easily. Loghain’s not happy about this and calls for a duel. I take him on and beat him up pretty good. I don’t kill him, however, opting instead to try to make him a Grey Warden.

Alistair is very unhappy about that decision. After a lot of whining, I finally agree to kill Loghain, although this ruins any chance of Alistair and Anora getting together. I let Alistair be the man to execute Loghain. Now, we have a new king and it’s time to stop the Blight.

Next week should be the finale for this series. It’s been a long run with some ups and downs, but I’m really glad to finally have this game under my belt. It’s been a long time coming. Hopefully, we’ll see how it all turns out next time.

P.S., while looking through my screenshots, I remembered that I also did Shale’s personal quest. It wasn’t very interesting, but turns out, Shale really is the person she was told she was last week. Here’s the screenshot that jogged my memory.