A new video refers to the dragon slayer Taash, who is voiced by a nonbinary actor, using they/them pronouns.

It’s nearly time for Dragon Age fans to return to the realm of Thedas, and this particular homecoming might end up cracking the gender binary wide open.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard launches on Halloween this year, and eagle-eyed fans believe the beloved roleplaying franchise is about to hit another milestone for LGBTQ+ storytelling. Following the series’ first transgender character Krem in 2014’s Dragon Age: Inquisition, Veilguard may introduce its first nonbinary character as well: Taash, an adventurous dragon slayer and one of the game’s seven available companions.

Speculation about whether Taash could be nonbinary began earlier this summer, when some fans noticed that promotional materials didn’t use any pronouns to refer to Taash at all. This week, those speculations got a big boost courtesy of a new video from IGN and developers BioWare, in which game director Corinne Busche — herself a trans woman — specifically used they/them pronouns when speaking about the character.

“So Taash, in the creation of their arc, is one of our more complex characters,” Busche said in the video. “It’s a journey along their arc that is about introspection. Where do I belong in the world? What are my boundaries? What do I fight for? How do I become at peace with who I am?”

Busche also described Taash as something of a gentle giant, hinting at their “hard exterior and really gentle interior,” and called their romance path the game’s steamiest route. “When I got to that scene and saw the finished version of that cinematic, I was hollering. Hollering,” she said, laughing.

Taash was brought to life by a notable creative duo as well: BioWare writer Trick Weekes and voice actor Jin Maley (Picard), both of whom are nonbinary and use they/them pronouns. Although Krem’s arc in Inquisition — also written by Weekes — was largely praised at the time, BioWare faced some criticism for casting well-known voice actor Jennifer Hale (of Mass Effect fame) to portray him instead of a trans actor. VAs do frequently play characters of different genders, and there are plenty of reasons to hire a performer like Maley that have nothing to do with representation, but Maley’s casting alongside the other pieces of evidence could indicate that BioWare wanted to avoid a repeat performance when unveiling (sorry) a new nonbinary Veilguard companion.

Complicating matters, however, is Taash’s character lore page on publisher Electronic Arts’ website, which refers to “her interests” (emphasis added). That’s not necessarily proof that Taash is cis, though. Taash may be the sort of person to use multiple pronouns. Many nonbinary people do, just as they can also use he/him or she/her pronouns exclusively. (There are no rules!) They could change pronouns in the course of their arc. (We’re sure the anti-woke gamer crowd would love that!) Or it could be a simple error on EA’s part. BioWare hasn’t explicitly confirmed fan theories one way or the other.

Taash is from a Dragon Age society called the Qunari, which maintains fairly rigid gender roles that could provide a compelling backdrop for a person who doesn’t feel like they fit in any of their culture’s boxes. The Qunari military is exclusively composed of men, while women are expected to be craft makers and artisans, and the only gender-neutral niche is their priesthood. That’s not to say Qunari are transphobic — Iron Bull, a popular Qun companion from Inquisition, will take a stern tone with the player if they misgender Krem during dialogue, and makes it clear he respects Krem as a man. Even so, Iron Bull doesn’t represent all his people, and any strict system of gender roles will result in people who don’t fit into neat boxes. Taash, described as a lover of battle, might well feel disconnected from all their options — and will perhaps look to Rook, Veilguard’s customizable player character (who can also be nonbinary), for guidance and support.

Frankly, we will likely scream if Taash is indeed nonbinary, or in any way Cisn’t, in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. A musclebound, green-horned baddie with two axes and a heart of gold is practically a recipe to get us to commit to multiple playthroughs. If we’re in the timeline where Taash is nonbinary and Dame Aylin is lesbian vengeance incarnate in Baldur’s Gate 3, maybe the future doesn’t totally suck after all.