Today I'm delving into full spoiler territory regarding Dragon Age: Blue Wraith Issue #1, breaking down the major plot threads, characters and my overall thoughts on this new comic!
So, if you haven't had the chance to pick up the comic and you want to read the first issue for yourself, go give it a read and revisit this video. Alternatively, if you'd rather pass up the comics for whatever reason, you're in luck because I'm going to summarise all the important details here.
The first character we're introduced to is Francesca Invidus, a Tevinter mage introduced as a contagonist in Dragon Age: Deception. We see her at a younger age, expressing her magical capabilities to her father and brother, she has a lot of plant-based abilities as we see her bring life to a flower.
While Francesca's brother - Florian is excited to see these abilities, her unimpressed, obnoxious father tell her she'd be better of as a daughter of the help. As we know in the previous comic, Florian and their father were both members of the Venatori, her brother would later go on to say that Francesca's "naivety and lack of strategic thinking is the reason he and their father did not involve her with the Venatori."
The next scene is also established in the past - just fours years before in the Arlathan Forest, which is just outside of Ventus. Fenris and his elven comrade attack a Venatori envoy, leaving no survivors as they free elven slaves.
As eponymous as the comic title, Fenris is now referred to as the "Blue Wraith".
When Fenris speaks to his elven friend, they discuss a Magister Nenealeus who has an estate in the area, Nenealeus is looking to train an Elven perrepatae, essentially this is a special type of Tevinter slave, specialised in killing rival mages.
As we know in the current timeline, Magister Nenealeus succeeded in training his own perrepatae as he trained Marius into a Magekiller, however, it was stated he was looking for an elven perrepatae, not a human? So, perhaps there could be more than just Marius?
Skipping to the current day in the story, we have a familiar face from Knight Errand's comic leading a caravan outside of the city Carastes, which has just been destroyed by the Qunari just like Ventus before.
The familiar fellow is Cedric Marquette, an Orlesian professor who was hired by Tevinter to steal Sebestian's book of Red Lyrium secrets. He was hired for the Kirkwall job by house Danarius, however, this time around, The Qintara house has hired Marquette to recover this artefact.
With that comes the most ominous question of the issue, what exactly is this artefact? Marquette claims that this artefact will grant unlimited power if used properly. Is that why the Qunari seek to destroy it? Because of it's magical ability? So, it's some kind of weapon? And it's linked to the journal that Vaea gave to the Inquisition.
In issue 2's main cover, we have this frightening artwork of what I believe to be Calix inside this artefact, perhaps wielding its power? Who knows, however, we won't have long to wait for those revelations.
As the caravan fleets from the Qunari with this mysterious artefact, Ser Aaron, Vaea and surprisingly enough, Marius come to the rescue, slaughtering the Qunari forces. There plan is to follow the caravan as it makes its way to Castellum Tenebris. We learn that Ser Aaron's horse is named Casse, and as Vaea chases after a Qunari headed into the forest, we see Autumn following Calix and Francesca joining the fight. And... "Andraste's exposed ass-cheeks!" This was the point where I was like, okay I'm hooked, I love it. Each of these characters that we've learned about through the previous comics are now meeting each other and embarking on an epic, enigmatic quest, leading the way for Dragon Age 4's narrative.
Francesca wielding her nature magic destroys the rest of the Qunari fighters, proving that she has plenty to add to our band of ragtag misfits!
As each member of the group bands together to plan their next course of action, everyone is surprised at how powerful Francesca is. Calix remarks that he's "glad she's on our side", however, Francesca vehemently disagrees, exclaiming that she is not on his side. She tells Ser Aaron that this is not her mission, instead she will leave the group and ride for a place called Viridan.
Vaea argues with Calix about needing Francesca for firepower at Castellum Tenebris, so she decides to follow her. Whereas the rest of the group continue to follow the wagon and take the stolen weapon. After an adorable decision on Autumn's part, the doggo decides to leave with Vaea too.
Fort Viridan is Northwest of the Arlathan Forest. As Vaea catches up, Francesca reveals she's going here to meet her father who will be staying at a Laetan family loyal to her family.
We discover that Francesca's father has been taken by the Blue Wraith. Her wine is spilled accidentally by a slave and we see her disposition towards slavery in Tevinter. The slave master decides to hit the slave, but not before Francesca uses her magic to stop him.
She is the new heir to House Invidus, and she will not tollorate the abuse of slaves under her watch. After inquiring about her father's capture, she sets out to save him, putting on new clothes and changing her hair.
Vaea sets out to find her father and the Blue Wraith with Francesca, using Autumn to track his scent. We discover that Vaea's horse is called "Da'len" however, she doesn't know what that means, only that it sounded affectionate when her uncle used to call her it.
Francesca shares that she didn't need Vaea for Autumn's tracking ability, but actually because Vaea is an elf just like the Blue Wraith, she's the ideal candidate to talk down such a foe. There's a scepticism shared about Francesca's father, because saving Elven slaves is a good thing, yet Francesca is adamant is saving her kin.
The two journey deeper into the forest as Vaea makes a note of this Blue Wraith being a friend of a friend, clearly she's nodding to Varric. There's a dead body by a tree stump with his heart ripped out of his chest - Fenris's signature move. As they investigate the body, Fenris reveals himself out of the shadows, saying that they have made a mistake coming here.
And that's the end! Damn, what a good cliffhanger to drop on. I thoroughly enjoyed this first issue, I don't want to say more than the previous first issues of the other comics. But I love how this one had me hooked literally two pages in. I'm a huge fan of all of these characters coming together, with two key plot lines pushing ahead.
The Vaea, Autumn and Francesca dynamic is what I liked the most, of course being a huge fan of Vaea from the previous comics, and her development throughout this one. And witnessing the growth of Francesca, this rather innocent Tevinter girl who is on a quest of confronting her father's kidnapper.
So, I'm eager to see the developments of this narrative, now that I'm very much hooked and reeled in to where this story is going. I've got a feeling that the next issue is going to focus more on Ser Aaron, Calix and Marius's quest to follow that caravan and capture the artefact. The best thing about issue 1 of Blue Wraith is how it splits between many of the characters and their narratives, so I'm sure we'll see more of that in the next issue.