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Will the Warden Return In Dragon Age 4?


Credit: Bioware

For fans who were wondering whether Dragon Age 4 is canceled, the announcement about Dragon Age: Dreadwolf was a relief. Currently, we don't know who you will play as in Dragon Age 4 but many players would hope for the return of fan favorites. For instance, will the Grey Warden return for Dragon Age 4?

About the Warden

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The Warden is the highly customizable player character of the original Dragon Age game, Dragon Age: Origins. Depending on the player's choice of race (human, elf, or dwarf) and class (warrior, rogue, or mage), this player character has a different backstory.

Without spoiling much, it suffices to say that all backstories - diverse as they are - end in some form of tragedy for the main character, which leads him or her to join an order of legendary warriors called the Grey Wardens to fight the Blight - a supernatural war against creatures known as the darkspawn - and eventually defeat an archdemon.

But the Warden's adventure isn't just another hero's journey adventure. It can be, depending on player choices, but although the game isn't open world as such, and the quests are pretty structured, the player experience can vary widely.

Throughout the game, the dialogue options are many and diverse, there are different romance options, and the Warden's decisions during quests affect the world - and the companions' approval - in big or subtle ways.
As such, players tend to become attached to their wardens, who come to feel like their very own characters. But while both Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition mention the Warden, the character doesn't appear.

Will The Warden Return In Dragon Age 4?

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Credit: Bioware

At the time of writing, we have little confirmation about Dragon Age 4 other than its title and one of the main characters/antagonists, as everyone who has played thus far knows who the dread wolf is. As such, we don't know if the warden will return.

In 2021, Christian Dailey, who has since left Bioware hinted a possible return of the Warden, but this has not yet been confirmed.

In Dragon Age Inquisition, depending on the state of world you choose to import, different characters who also appeared in Origins might inform you that the Warden is on a quest far away to find a cure for the Calling which eventually causes all Grey Wardens to die prematurely fighting darkspawn just a few decades after their initiation. 

At this point, it's unclear if the Warden will succeed. But even if they do, and if they manage to return to Ferelden safely, there would be practical problems if Bioware attempted to reintroduce them.

First of all, depending on players' choices in Origins, (or even if a player chooses to import Bioware's default world state into Inquisition) the Warden might not even be alive. In that case, if the Warden was to appear in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, they should have a small role that wouldn't impact the plot too significantly, or else someone else should take over the Warden's role if the Warden were dead.

Another complication comes from the fact that Origins is an old game, from a time when RPG protagonists were usually not voiced. For those who have experienced more modern games, this might now seem as breaking the immersion. However, there are also positives. 

Related: Will Dragon Age 4 Be on PS4 and XBox One?

The absence of a voice actor for the main character meant that the creators of the game didn't have to limit their dialogue options, with as many as five replies often being available. This meant there were almost limited ways in which one could develop the Warden's personality.

Nowadays, game protagonists are no longer voiceless and it wouldn't make sense to bring back the Warden without a voice actor. Given the vastly different ways in which different people have developed their Warden's, some fans are bound to be unsatisfied with whichever voice style is used, if any voice actor was chosen.

Of course, at this point, we can mostly speculate, as little is known about Dragon Age 4. When more information becomes available about the game and its characters, we'll update with more information. 

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