Quick Links
The Grey Wardens are an order of warriors inDragon Age.They’re dedicated to stoppingthe Blight - the devastating war that occurs when an Archdemon appears among the Darkspawn- and they’re the only ones that can.Their insignia bears a Griffon,even though they’ve been extinct in Thedas for generations.
RELATED:Dragon Age: Who Are The Templars? Their History, Ranks, And Beliefs
Griffons were immense flying creatures that had the bodies of lions but the heads, wings, and talons of eagles. There’s some disagreement about the region they were once native to; some say it was the Hunterhorn Mountains, which stretch across Orlais and the Anderfels, while others insist they were from Seheron, an island nation north of Tevinter.
Wherever they came from, these beastswere once essential members of the Grey Warden Order.
The Role Of The Griffons In The Grey Wardens
Grey Wardens were formed out of necessityonce the first Blight arose.They were so essential to ending the Blights because the unique ritual they undergo, called the Joining, infuses them with the Taint.Usually, when an Archdemon is killed, its soul can simply hop into the nearest darkspawn and keep leading the war.
However, when a Grey Warden kills the Archdemon, the nearest Tainted creature is the Grey Warden itself. Wardens have a soul, though, unlike darkspawn, so when the Archdemon enters the Warden, the two souls fight for dominance. Ultimately, both are destroyed.
The Grey Wardensdidn’t use griffons from the very beginning.You wouldn’t be foolish for assuming that, though; those beasts appear on their insignia and official armour, and are spoken of reverently by all living Wardens to this day.
In reality,the Orth (the native people of the Anderfels) introduced the griffons to the Order.Griffons were intelligent creatures, and some of the Orth had managed to make alliances between their peoples. As the Grey Warden Order began to spread and gain influence around the world, some of the Orth joined up and taught the other Wardens to ride their griffons. Soon enough, griffon-riders were a staple of the Order.
RELATED:Who Was The Architect In Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening?
Not all Wardens rode griffons; indeed, they intentionally chose small, light individuals as riders so that the griffon would be less restricted in combat. The bond between a griffon and its rider was thatofpartnership,not slavery or servitude.In exchange for their service in combat, griffons were well-groomed, cared for, and respected by not only the rider, but the Order as a whole.
The griffon eyries (nests, sometimes also called weyrs) weretended to by a Warden of a special rank: the Roostmaster.And, when it came to combat, the First Warden would lead the ground troops while their second-in-command, the High Constable, would lead the aerial troops.
Why Did The Griffons Die?
The Story Most People Know
The story that most people know if they know one at all, is thatthe griffon eyries were devastated during the Blight- particularly the third and fourth. Some evidence suggests the griffons were resistant to relocations of their eyries, and, if true, that would not have helped the repopulation efforts. Not long after the fourth Blight, the griffons went extinct for good.
Inevitably,rumors crop up here or there that suggest griffons have been rediscovered.Each time, no matter how baseless, the Wardens investigate, and each time, they have been disappointed.
The Real Story
As is so often the case, the usual story is not the truth at all. Not even the Warden Order knows the reality of the situation, but it gets revealed in the official novelDragon Age: Last Flight.
In reality, thegriffons went extinct because they were forced to undergo the Joining.A modified version of that ritual had been made by a Grey Warden Mage, Isseya, becausethe Order wanted the griffons to be immune to the Taint,like their Warden partners were.
When the Joining is performedon a human, elf, dwarf, or qunari,they are inflicted with the Taint in a different waythan when an ordinary individual gets exposed. The Warden recruit experiences an extreme shock and, if they survive it, are left with a tiny piece left of the Taint inside them. It allows them to sense Darkspawn and hear the Calling of the Archdemon. The Taint inevitably kills anything it comes into contact with, but for Grey Wardens who survive the Joining, it happens very slowly - over the course of two decades or more.
RELATED:Everything We Learned About The Titans In Dragon Age: Inquisition - The Descent
Unfortunately,in the griffons who underwent the Joining, the Taint took its toll much quicker.They all died shortly after the ritual. However, between the time they underwent the Joining and the time they died, these griffons had unbelievable strength, speed, and endurance that made them invaluable in combat. They alsobecame more aggressive,and incapable of stealth; they attacked any darkspawn on sight.
At first, the griffon Joining ritual was deemed unusable. However, whenthe Wardens became especially desperate during the Fourth Blight, they began to put more griffons through the Joining ritual.They only performed the Joining on old or already dying griffons, deciding that, since they were not long for Thedas anyway, at least the griffon would become especially valuable during their final battle. The Wardens were right, and these griffons helped them win key victories, but they didn’t predict thatthe griffon Taint would become contagious.It spread throughout the species and mutated uncontrollably. Eventually, griffons were uncontrollable, attacking even their Warden riders. The order eventually came from the First Warden that the griffons had to be put down.Thus, the griffon species went extinct.
You might be wondering about griffons who were not working with the Grey Warden Order. It’s not clear whether all griffons were under the Order’s protection by this point, or if there were some still living in the wild. However, since they did go extinct, it’s safe to suggest that any living in the wild, if they did exist, might have been exposed to the Taint through a griffon from the Grey Wardens.
The Last Remaining Griffons
As griffons were being killed en masse around her,Isseya, the Warden Mage who created the griffon Joining,collected 13 griffon eggs and hid them from the Order.Through immense effort,she managed to cure them of their Taint.Unfortunately, the only way to do that was to take the corruption on herself, meaning Isseya died rapidly of the Taint. These griffons,and the mage Fiona,are the only beings to have ever been cured of the Taint inflicted by the Joining.
Isseya felt that the Grey Wardens had betrayed their griffon allies immeasurably, which was why she chose to hide them away.She placed them in what we know in a magical form of suspended animation,so they would outlast all the Tainted griffons dying out and could be kept safe until the Wardens had time to understand what they had done.
That was during the Exalted Age.Hundreds of years later, during the Dragon Age,an elven mage named Valya seeks refuge with the Order to escape the Mage-Templar War. She is made a Warden recruit and ordered to search Weisshaupt fortress' records for any account of Wardens displaying unusual behaviour, as they had begun to do at that time.
In her research, Valya manages to uncover Isseya’s ancient journal detailing what happened during the fourth Blight.Isseya’s account allows Valya to discover the hidden griffon eggs and hatch thirteen perfectly healthy griffons- the first to be born in centuries.
