Screenshot: BioWare / Kotaku
A new BioWare game is out, which means that love is in the air. Dragon Age: The Veilguard has seven companions, and you can romance any one of them. This all culminates in a romantic scene between protagonist Rook and their paramour, and they’re…mostly fine. I was initially caught a bit off-guard by how tame most of the love scenes are in The Veilguard, until I remembered that this series has rarely been as spicy as its sci-fi sibling, Mass Effect (and even that depends on which game you’re talking about). In Dragon Age II, for instance, you’d get some heavy petting and making out, but it would cut to black before you saw anything that would have to be blurred out on public television. Inquisition had more nudity, but the actual deed still tended to be behind a black screen. But the emotional core of each scene still rings true, and that’s what counts, right?
All that being said, not all of The Veilguard’s love scenes are made equal, and we’re going to rank all seven of them right here and now. If you haven’t finished the game yet, avert your eyes, because there are spoilers ahead.
Much like the dwarven rogue (mage now?) herself, Harding’s love scene is very sweet. She tearfully tells Rook that she never gave up on them after their Fade prison, and they both give each other corny lines about being each other’s rock. See, she has stone-based magic. Do you get it? But then the two embrace, kiss, and her magic rumbles under her as she does a little foot pop.
That’s all well and good, and really fits Harding’s kindhearted demeanor. But where it gets real good is in the pillow talk afterward, when she starts to question if her lover is really the Rook she knew, or maybe a spirit who wandered out of the Fade and became a person. She’s seen this before, and having been present for two world-changing events in the Dragon Age universe, she’s got reason to speculate. Before she started this quest to stop the elven gods, she was a simple scout who signed on to help save the world. Now, she’s seen so much of what she knew change before her. Is it really so surprising that she would question whether her true love was even real?
Like most of The Veilguard’s sex scenes, Lucanis’ is pretty tame as far as the physical intimacy, but much more memorable for the emotional intimacy that comes after. Lucanis climbs onto Rook and his crow-like wings appear on his back in a fit of passion. The two kiss briefly, then the cursed black screen shows up again. When the deed is done, Lucanis starts to drift to sleep. The reason for his coffee habit is that he tries to stay awake as long as possible, lest his body be overtaken by the Spite demon that inhabits his body. But it’s not about maintaining control of his body, he just doesn’t want to miss a moment with Rook now that they’re back. It’s a lovely touch to an understated scene. Much has been made of Lucanis’ sleeping habits up to this point, and here they’re used to illustrate that his fears, once focused largely on himself, are now more about Rook. It’s an effective way to communicate how profoundly this relationship has changed him in the context of a love scene.
I admire Neve Gallus’ commitment to serving at every moment. As she tearfully expresses her relief at Rook’s return, she is working the camera. Her pushing her lover down onto the couch and closing the door with her ice magic? A slay. Queen shit.
The debrief with Neve is, much like the Tevinter detective herself, pretty straightforward. She’s always been a straight-to-the-point kinda gal, even when it’s clear she’s dealing with so much uncertainty. She says that even as her city is under siege and she doesn’t know if the two of them will have a future, she’s not going to operate on the assumption that the story of her and Rook ends here. Just like a Shadow Dragon, hoping for a better future at every turn. God, I love her.
Bellara is the socially awkward one of the group, and her romance scene doubles down on it. Even when she’s with someone she feels comfortable with, when it comes to discussing the big stuff, she’s still unsure of herself and has to bring a notebook with her, full of things she wants to say to Rook after they disappear into the Fade. She repeatedly has to look back at her notes and still can’t find the words, even when they’re written right in front of her. Bellara has lost so much already that she’s afraid to hope for Rook’s return, or to believe that they truly want her as they say they have. But as Rook reassures her and the two embrace, she drops the book at her feet. Sometimes you don’t need a script to express how you feel when you can show it in other ways.
By the time Rook and Taash actually get around to “doing it,” there’s been a lot of outward sexual tension. A few flirts into their conversations will prompt the Qunari warrior to pin Rook against a wall and ask how serious they are about getting on the ride, so when things finally reach that point, it’s more catharsis than anything else. Taash is one of the only two characters who undresses at all during their love scene, and watching a Rook of shorter stature straight-up climb Taash is an incredible sight. As Taash struggles with how to articulate their intentions and finds most labels failing them, the two resign to calling each other “Taarala,” the Qunari word for “mine.” Most of Taash’s story has been about them trying to find ways to express how they feel and resorting to a combination of different dialects, languages, and cultures to express them. It’s fitting, then, that when it comes to putting a label on a relationship, they’d pick one that felt right for them, even if it’s not the most traditional.
I adore the Emmrich romance scene because, even if it’s not as steamy as some of the others, it is undeniably his. No other character in The Veilguard could have conceivably been a part of this moment. Rather than going at it in Rook’s quarters, Emmrich takes our hero to the Necropolis to run some magical tests. Rook then takes him by the hand and they do the horizontal tango in one of the open coffins.
When Rook wakes up in the coffin, Emmrich kindly asks if they’d like some breakfast, completely desensitized to the somewhat morbid scene of someone waking up with a post-sex glow in something usually meant as a resting place for the dead. Then they can go for round two. Death is so central to Emmrich’s being that it only makes sense that it would make its way into the bedroom. If he chooses to become a Lich, there are some slight variations as Rook tells him he doesn’t have to hide his new face from them when the two are alone, which adds a new layer of emotional intimacy not found in other relationships. That’s right; if you wanted to bone a skeleton, The Veilguard is here to let you live out that fantasy.
Full disclosure, Davrin was my romance in The Veilguard, and I think the elven Warden’s sex scene set me up to be relatively disappointed by most of the others. It’s still pretty PG-13, but it’s definitely one of the more explicit ones. Davrin comforts Rook after their return from the Fade, and unlike in most other scenes, you actually get to see the two undress each other. They share some cheesy banter as Rook mounts Davrin on the couch, then is picked up and laid on their back in the bed. His scene, along with Taash’s, are undeniably the two that get hot and heavy. Like, I’m watching it again and it makes me wonder just why the actual sex in the sex scenes felt underserved in most other romances.
But even with all that, the emotional come-down after is one of brutal honesty, as Rook wonders if the two’s previous conversation about their future still applies. Davrin is the kind of guy who hears his significant other ask if he’d still love them if they were a worm and says, “Yes, dear,” instead of telling them that’s a stupid question.
You get to imagine what your future looks like if and when the elven gods are defeated. Is it hanging up your gear for a life of domestic bliss with your bird cat son? Or will the two of you go out and find new adventures facing the monsters of Thedas? Okay, look. I’d planned on putting some other scene above Davrin’s when I started writing this ranking so as not to play favorites, but BioWare cooked here. This is the best one. Sorry. I’m winning. F’s in the chat for the rest of y’all, but my Rook is bouncing on it in a way that would end the Blight.
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