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“A man is made by the quality of his enemies.”


Maric Theirin (born 8:78 Blessed[1]), also known as "Maric the Savior", was the king of Ferelden from 9:00[2][note] to 9:25 Dragon.[3][4] He is the son of Moira Theirin.

Background[]

Around the beginning of the Dragon Age, he freed Ferelden from the rule of the Orlesian Empire and restored the Theirin family as the ruling family of Ferelden with the help of his queen, Rowan, and close friend Loghain. He and Rowan had one son, Cailan Theirin, though he fathered one illegitimate son, Alistair.

Maric was lost at sea on a voyage to Wycome in 9:25 Dragon, and was declared dead. Loghain Mac Tir searched for him for two years, to no avail. Rumors persisted however, that Maric was alive, being held in an Orlesian prison.[5]

Involvement[]

Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne.


Shortly after witnessing the murder of his mother during the Fereldan Rebellion, while fleeing for his own life, the eighteen year old Maric encountered the young outlaw Loghain Mac Tir. Loghain offered to let him stay at his father's rebel camp, unaware of his heritage. Bann Ceorlic's men, in pursuit of Maric, discovered the rebel camp and slaughtered most of the rebels. Maric was able to escape with Loghain into the Korcari Wilds. While traveling through the Wilds, Loghain and Maric were captured by a clan of Dalish elves who turned them over to the Witch of the Wilds. The Witch helped Maric in exchange for his making an unknown promise that he must fulfill at a future date. He could not reveal what this promise was to anyone. She also gave two warnings to Maric: that a Blight would one day occur in Ferelden, and that Loghain would betray Maric if the young king kept him close, "each time worse than the last."

Maric was able to find the remainder of the rebel army and his betrothed Rowan who fought with them. He spent years with the army and eventually helped lead them to victory at Gwaren. Here he met and fell in love with Katriel, who unbeknownst to him, was a spy for Severan, a mage and servant of the usurper King Meghren. Based on her false information, Maric's rebel army was nearly routed at the battle of West Hill and Maric only narrowly escaped with the aid of Rowan, Loghain and Katriel, who had genuinely fallen in love with him and came to regret her treachery. Unable to return to Gwaren to regroup with the rest of the army safely due to the usurper's army blocking the roads leading to Gwaren on the surface, they journey underground through the Deep Roads, a route suggested by Katriel who, as a bard, knew the whereabouts of an entrance.

Journeying through the Deep Roads with help from Katriel and the Legion of the Dead, they narrowly survived attacks by Corrupted spiders and darkspawn, and managed to return to Gwaren to reunite with the now greatly reduced remaining army. After a successful defense of Gwaren during another attack by the usurper's army, Loghain informed Maric that he and Rowan had conspired to spy on Katriel, and thus learned of her dealings with the usurper's mage. Goaded into a blind rage, Maric confronted Katriel and unthinkingly ran her through with his sword. Only later did he learn that Katriel had truly loved him and severed ties with Severan--a fact that Loghain had known from his spies' reports, and deliberately withheld from Maric. Maric would forever regret his part in Katriel's death, as well as never giving her the chance to tell her side of events.

Later, at a village chantry in the Bannorn, Maric and Loghain killed Bann Ceorlic and four other traitors responsible for the rebel queen's murder. In the final confrontation against the usurper's armies at the Battle of River Dane, Rowan and Loghain commanded the final assault while Maric snuck into the mage Severan's camp and assassinated him, eliminating the greatest threat to the rebels. Following three more years of war, the rebel army besieged Denerim and Maric killed Meghren in single combat atop Fort Drakon, where Meghren and his few remaining supporters had fled. Eventually, with Ferelden's freedom secured, Maric married Rowan and became a popular king.


Dragon Age: The Calling[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Calling.


Eight years after freeing Ferelden from the Orlesians, and eleven years after last venturing into the Deep Roads, Maric is approached by Genevieve, Commander of the Grey Wardens in Orlais. Genevieve's brother, Bregan, has been captured by the darkspawn and, she believes, that he is being held near the Ortan Thaig; Bregan possesses knowledge of where the Old Gods are buried, knowledge the darkspawn could use to trigger a Blight in Thedas. Maric and Loghain are the only two living people to have ventured that way and Maric, despondent with grief following his wife's death, fleeing from what he sees as his failure as a father to his five-year-old son, Cailan, and remembering the witch's prophetic warning of a coming Blight, volunteers to guide the Grey Wardens to the Ortan Thaig. Thus, he comes to travel with a band of Wardens including a young Duncan and an Orlesian elven mage named Fiona, to confront the Architect, an unusually intelligent darkspawn emissary.

They encounter many horrors of the Deep Roads, among them being a demon in the palace in Ortan Thaig, a high dragon and never ending darkspawn. Some of the Grey Wardens they traveled with perish in the Deep Roads.

On the journey, Maric remarks to Duncan that he did not regret killing Katriel, although this is later revealed to be false. While the group are imprisoned in the Fade by a demon, Maric is shown a dream where he is reunited with Katriel as his queen and Loghain and Rowan are happily together. Maric is content, but he realizes it is not real and sets out to rescue Fiona in order to fulfill the promise he gave to her. He resents the Ferelden throne and his past mistakes. Maric is the only one who willingly leaves his dream and set outs to free the other Wardens.

After they leave Ortan Thaig and follow Bregan's trail, Genevieve abandons the group while they were asleep. Once they wake up the group realizes that darkspawn will soon reach their location. They make one last stand and Maric manages to slay an ogre before he passes out. After he wakes up he finds himself imprisoned in a cell along with the other Wardens in Kul-Baras. The Architect along with Genevieve and Bregan come and inform them of the Architect's plan and invite them to join it too. However only Utha agrees to join them. After Duncan manages to free them, Maric along with Fiona and Duncan escape Kul-Baras while Kell ap Morgan along with his warhound Hafter stay behind to buy them some time. Before he leaves, the Avvar tells Maric in a sarcastic way that "he is not bad for a lowlander king" implying that Maric earned his respect.

Once they reach the surface they are captured by First Enchanter Remille and are taken to Kinloch Hold which was taken over by Orlesian mages and templars. Once the Architect's allies turn against each other, they free themselves once more and Maric asks Remille to stand down. He refuses and a battle ensues with the mage who is using darkspawn magic taught to him by the Architect. Duncan eventually manages to fatally stab him in the chest, some moments before Fereldan soldiers led by Teyrn Loghain enter the chamber in an effort to free the tower from the Orlesian usurpers and still unaware that their king was inside. Maric then asks the wounded Bregan to help him find the Architect who fled along with Utha but Bregan simply expresses a desire to die with what little dignity he has left. Maric accepts his last wish and orders his soldiers to kill him.

During their time time in the Deep Roads Maric and Fiona became romantically involved, both having dark, troubled pasts. The two shared their secrets with one another and care deeply for each other even though their relationship is short-lived. He invites Fiona to live with him in Denerim, but Fiona refuses as she has other duties. Eventually it is revealed that Fiona became pregnant and bore Maric an illegitimate elf-blooded son, Alistair. Some months after the events in the Deep Roads, Fiona meets with Maric again and she gives the child to Maric, to be raised in ignorance of the elven bloodline that has brought her little but pain. The children of elves and humans appear human so he can be raised as fully human. Duncan offers to keep watch over the child for his friends in addition to his capacity as Warden-Constable of Ferelden, Maric having allowed the Grey Wardens to return to Ferelden after 200 years of exile and despite the protests of Loghain and others.


Dragon Age: Origins[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins.


King Maric Theirin disappeared at sea while en route to Wycome in 9:25 Dragon. He was to attend a gathering of the Marcher lords in an attempt to forge a union in the north, and when he failed to appear, the Free Marches fell back into the petty squabbling that they are infamous for.[5]

Maric's memory continued to influence Ferelden's politics even many years after his apparent death. Loghain is quite vocal in his unfavorable comparison of Cailan with his father. Eventually Alistair is forced to reveal his lineage as Maric's bastard son and this helps further galvanize royalist sentiment in Ferelden.


Dragon Age: The Silent Grove[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Silent Grove.


BioWare canon
The plot follows BioWare's own canon, meaning that Alistair is king of Ferelden in the comic's story.

Marin Theirin in Velabanchel

Maric being released by his Antivan captors

After Alistair breaks into Velabanchel, the prison of the Antivan Crows, with Varric Tethras and Isabela, he finds a man who recognises him as Maric's son, and states how he used to share his cell with Maric until he was broken free by Yavana, the Antivan Witch of the Wilds.
Yavana reveals to Alistair what promise Maric made to Flemeth. He had to come to Antiva, to see Yavana and aid her in a task. Upon questioning, she responds that she did not kill him, but she "cannot speak for others."

After Isabela slays Prince Claudio Valisti, Yavana summons his spirit, who says that his master's name is Aurelian Titus. Then the witch leads Alistair down the stairs inside the Silent Grove temple. She tells Alistair that she needed the power of Maric's blood, the blood of King Calenhad, to revive the dragons slumbering in the Hall of Sleepers. While he helped her awaken the queen of dragons, Claudio's master captured him before he could revive the last of the great ones and thus fulfill his oath.


Dragon Age: Until We Sleep[]


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Until We Sleep.


BioWare canon
The plot follows BioWare's own canon, meaning that Alistair is king of Ferelden in the comic's story.

King Maric-Magrallen

Maric imprisoned at Ath Velanis

According to the Qunari, Maric, as a descendant of the King Calenhad of legend, has the dragon's blood within him. For that reason he has been imprisoned by Aurelian Titus in Ath Velanis on Seheron, to be used to augment the Magister's power as well as other magical experiments, against Maric's will. Varric is tasked to slip into the fortress and free Maric while the forces of Alistair and Sten, the new Arishok, besiege Ath Velanis.

After the Magrallen, the device that Maric is being kept prisoner within, is cracked, Varric, Alistair, Isabela, Maevaris, Maric and Aurelian Titus are pulled into the Fade. After re-uniting, Maric joins the others in the battle against Titus. While Alistair, Varric and Isabela combat Aurelian, Maevaris and Maric ambush him. Aurelian's magic fails and Maric is finally able to avenge himself by killing the Magister. In spite of their victory, Maric elects to remain in the Fade, commenting that everyone dear to him has seemingly passed on now. Alistair, however, persuades Maric that he should return with them. The party finds Maric still connected to the Magrallen in the Ath Velanis laboratory. Unfortunately, King Maric's health has deteriorated, and it is speculated that the Magrallen is all that's keeping him alive. Realizing that there is no other way to end his father's suffering after all, Alistair destroys the Magrallen, finally ending Maric's life.


Codex entries[]

Codex entry: King Maric Theirin Codex entry: King Maric Theirin
Codex entry: King Maric's Helm Codex entry: King Maric's Helm
Codex entry: Katriel's Grasp Codex entry: Katriel's Grasp
Codex entry: The Noble Families of Ferelden Codex entry: The Noble Families of Ferelden

Notes[]

  • The timeline on page 133 of Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 1 states that in 9:00 Dragon, Prince Maric defeated King Meghren. However, according to epilogue of Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne, the duel happened three years after the battle of the River Dane, which took place in the last year of the Blessed Age - this would put the end of Orlesian occupation at 9:02 Dragon. David Gaider has addressed some discrepancies in a post on the now inactive BioWare Social Network.[6]
  • King Maric MRH, MOR, and UTC files (as well as files for a child Prince Cailan) can be found in the Toolset source file, tagged to be used in the Fade during Broken Circle for the Secret Companion's nightmare. That content was cut from the released game.

See also[]

King Maric's Helm King Maric's Helm
Maric's Blade Maric's Blade
King Maric's Shield King Maric's Shield

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne, chapter 1 - Maric is said to be 18 years old when his mother is assasinated, which happens in 8:96 Blessed.
  2. Dragon Age logo - new Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 1, p. 133
  3. Dragon Age logo - new Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 1, p. 144
  4. Dragon Age logo - new Dragon Age: The World of Thedas, vol. 2, p. 32
  5. 5.0 5.1 Codex entry: King Maric's Helm
  6. BioWare old forums David Gaider (February 08, 2010). "Discrepancy between 'The Calling' versions" (archive). BioWare Forums (offline).
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