u/breshatower

I was wondering about the identity of Masked Andraste from The Last Court and while looking at art of her execution, I realized something: her face was covered when she died. One picture shows her cowled, while the rest obscure her face in various ways because it couldn't be seen when she died.

And then I realized that the last picture was what happened to Andraste: She was killed before the public execution as part of a ritual and her execution summoned a spirit. Her hair was cropped and she looked gaunt when she was stabbed to death.

>The mage claimed some of the spirits around her village had "lived" with her hold for a dozen generations, and sometimes took the form of an animal or departed relatives "when they pass on their wisdom."

>Strangest of all, in the event a "god" is destroyed, the Avvar begin a year-long time of offerings and prayers and rituals I have no interest in knowing about further. At the end of this period, a new spirit takes on the name and role of the old one. I attempted to explain that this was not a "god," merely a spirit drawn in by their desires. The Avvar mage declared, with a ridiculous air of superiority, that that was the point.

Codex entry: From a Mage’s Journal

>As the last group of glyphs light with veilfire, there is a sensation of excitement and anticipation. An Avvar hold celebrates a night festival around an altar piled high with food and drink. The thane begins a song. The hold joins in. The song grows louder and faster. It goes for hours.

>As the sun rises, a blazing spirit appears above the altar. It has the name of the spirit that fell in battle. It is both the same spirit and a different one at the same time.

>There is a ear-splitting roar of—triumph? Welcome? Something more?—from the gathered Avvar. The vision fades.

Codex entry: The Return

Andraste had been dead for a while when she was "executed" and her legions of followers inadvertently helped make this magic ritual possible, and Hessarian then used the public execution to perform this ceremony. He used Andraste's hair as proof of her identity. So there's a re-created spirit of Andraste somewhere out there.

It’s widely speculated that Andraste was an Old God Baby born with the spirit of Mythal in her. As a thrall to Mythal’s will, did Andraste obtain a dragon form by drinking from the Well of Sorrows?

The first mural, painted in-universe by Solas and he would know, show that Mythal is the Maker and that Andraste was bonded to her. Andraste is looking up to a picture of Flemeth/Mythal, and the symbol on the right represents a dragon.

The third picture is a statue of Andraste with a cave painting of Mythal holding an idol of herself, once again demonstrating a connection between the two.

And the fourth picture is of Andraste with what looks like a frost dragon icon underneath it. Compare that with the series of dragons: the connection between the first two is obvious, the last one in an unused version of the Guardian of Mythal, but why is a Frost Dragon there? I suspect that that’s Andraste’s dragon form.