Over the years, Dragon Age has presented players with many mysterious unknowns. This has led fans to hypothesize and theorize everything from the truth about Archdemons and what actually happened to the Maker, to Flemeth's true nature. In some cases, fan theories have turned out to be true, but when it came to the true nature of Sandal Feddic, getting to the bottom of his mystery wasn't easy.
First introduced in Dragon Age: Origins, Sandal was the adopted son of traveling merchant Bodan Feddic. After the player saved Bodan and Sandal from darkspawn outside Lothering, Bodan followed the Grey Warden to their camp and latched onto them for safety's sake. As the Grey Warden began chatting with Bodan, it was impossible not to ask about his son, who was abnormally quiet. Bodan explained that Sandal was a sweet boy, though not his natural son. He actually found him in the Deep Roads when Sandal was about five years old, wandering alone below the Aeducan Thaig.
Bodan discovered Sandal in a chamber with gleaming walls covered in depictions of heroic stories of Paragons past, dragons, elves and other mysterious creatures. Upon approaching him, Bodan asked what the boy was doing, and Sandal turned to him with vacant, pale blue eyes and said, "They are coming." Moments later, a swarm of darkspawn descended, causing the party to flee. Though Sandal didn't seem the least bit frightened, Bodan scooped him up and carried him home.
Sandal's warning about the darkspawn suggested that, though he was untainted by the Blight, he had a connection to them not unlike what the Grey Wardens possess after joining. Returning with him to Orzammar, the Carta claimed Sandal was likely the lost half-dwarven Aeducan son who'd gone missing years earlier, as he shared similar features to the Aeducan clan and was around the age of the boy who disappeared. According to rumors, his mother was either an elf or a human, but nothing was confirmed, and her identity remained unknown.
Regardless of his origins, Bodan loved Sandal like his own. When forced to flee Orzammar after being accused of stealing from a noble family's grave sight, Bodan packed up Sandal and took him to the surface to find their fortune. Sandal had a unique ability to enchant runes, which definitely increased their profits, but Bodan actually wondered if the boy was lyrium-addled from having spent so much time in the Deep Roads exposed to the underground veins.
The Circle of Magi declared Sandal to be a savant. Though they wanted to keep him for observation and study, Bodan refused and left quickly with Sandal in tow. Throughout Origins, Sandal and Bodan were at every camp the player set up. Before the final battle, they could be found at Redcliffe Castle for last minute enchantments and purchases. Later, while fighting through Fort Drakon, the Grey Warden mysteriously encountered Sandal alone in the fort, surrounded by a host of dead darkspawn and covered in blood.
After the Blight, Bodan and Sandal went to Kirkwall, where they encountered Hawke before Bartrand's expedition into the Deep Roads. The father and son accompanied the expedition, and while in the Deep Roads, Sandal disappeared. Bodan pled with Hawke to find his son, and the party set out to search for him. Fighting through darkspawn, Hawke happened upon Sandal, eerily covered in blood and surrounded by dead darkspawn.
When Hawke asked Sandal what happened, he handed them a Rune of Frost and said, "Boom." Hawke saw a frozen ogre and asked how he managed to do it; Sandal replied, "Not enchantment." While not much of an answer, it confirmed there was more to Sandal than anyone imagined. After leaving the Deep Roads, Bodan pledged his service to Hawke, and the pair stayed in the Amell family estate.
Sandal provided enchantments, and when Hawke spoke to him, he said strange things, like, "The old lady is scary. She has a scary laugh." Bodan told Sandal there was no old lady, but Sandal confided that she stood by his bed sometimes. Many theorized this old lady was Flemeth, who was in Kirkwall after Hawke returned her to the Sundermount shrine -- but would Flemeth watch over Sandal's bed unless he was incredibly important?
Sandal also said that, one day, the magic would come back, and everyone would be like they were. The shadows would part and the skies would open. "When he rises, everyone will see," he said. But when Bodan asked what he was talking about, Sandal offered nothing more than, "Enchantment." This suggests a foretelling of Solas's plans to tear down the veil.
Before the endgame, Bodan informed Hawke that they would be going to Orlais to serve Empress Celene. When fans heard Orlais would play a major role in Inquisition, they assumed a reunion with the Feddic family was in order. However, neither Sandal nor Bodan was anywhere to be found in Orlais. During the Trespasser DLC, the Inquisitor could find The Very Private Diary of Sandal Feddic, DO NOT READ!!!! What they found in the diary did not shed much light on where Sandal was or what happened to him, as each passage simply read "Enchantment" in various states of curiosity and excitement.
Though this has not been confirmed, many believe that Sandal is an old god in his own right, though which one remains uncertain. Others have theorized that he might even be the Maker himself. The only thing that seems certain about Sandal is that his story is not over. Future games in the franchise could reveal his true nature before all is said and done.
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