Today I’m once more continuing the conversation on Dragon Age: Absolution. For those who don’t know, Dragon Age is coming to Netflix with a new animated show, titled, Dragon Age: Absolution. The show is premiering on the platform in December of this year, and the first trailer was released last month. I’ve already made a shot-by-shot breakdown of the first trailer, however, today I have more extended thoughts on the show, a few additional things I’d like to go over, and even more speculation to tinfoil about.
So, without further a do, let’s crack into this one. First, let’s go over my extended thoughts on Dragon Age: Absolution’s setting.
Setting:
Something huge that I overlooked in my Absolution shot-by-shot breakdown was the involvement of the Red Templars, Corypheus’s army of warriors that he corrupted at Therinfal Redoubt.
Now, we can assume a few of the characters witnessed in the trailer are Red Templars, but even so, Absolution’s official Netflix plot synopsis described that the Red Templars would be involved in this story, as well as elves, mages, knights, Qunari, demons, and other special surprises.
The reason why the Red Templar’s involvement in this narrative is such a big deal is because the last time we saw the Red Templars they were scattered to the four winds after their leader Corypheus was killed at the end of Inquisition. Their mere presence directly connects Absolution to Inquisition’s narrative, but when exactly?
Is Absolution set during Inquisition’s narrative, at the height of the Red Templars’ reign as they followed their schemes commanded by Corypheus before he met his end at the hands of the Inquisitor?
Or most likely, is Absolution set post-Inquisition, showing the Red Templars slowly regaining their footing after losing their former leader, exactly like the remnants of the Venatori in Tevinter Nights.
It’s unknown, however, I’d go with the latter option as it works more as a standalone plot with new tales to tell, without relying on Inquisition’s narrative too much. Also, this post-Inquisition setting works as a tie-in for future plotlines that could potentially connect to Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
In any case, this series is a new saga with new characters and locations. While the Red Templars connection does help us with the setting of the show, it’s not totally concrete. We’ll just have to wait and see when Absolution is set in the Dragon Age timeline.
Connected to the setting of the narrative are the locations that this series will take us to. The plot description only stated Tevinter as a location, however, I can assure you, that this trailer explores more of Thedas than just Tevinter.
Locations:
The first shot of the trailer perfectly depicts Antiva City, as I explored in my breakdown. The bauble-like architecture, the Disney-like castles, the beaches, the marina - this shot perfectly shows a waterfront city with a mountainous-jagged terrain and a sprawling ocean, which is exactly like Antiva City. So, unless I’m completely wrong, we may see Antiva City in Absolution at some point.
The next location I described as similar to Tevinter for its tall, spikey towers and structures, its sprawling landmass and rocky landscape with vast forests and valleys. However, another possibility is that it resembles the Anderfels, as pointed out by my fellow Dragon Age YouTube creator Watchmen Gaming.
Please check out his breakdown for his own thoughts and speculation, I really enjoyed his video and look forward to more of his content. As he stated in his video, he feels this location could be the Anderfels because of the massive Andraste statue.
In the Anderfels, chantry practice is mandatory for all, and death is the penalty for all who refuse to comply. Due to the region's mountainous terrain, saturated skies, and large Andraste statue, this location could resemble somewhere in the Anderfels.
Adding more to the idea that we may see the Anderfels in Absolution, there is a Dragon Age codex titled, Absolution which describes ruthless assassins from the Anderfels- is this representative of Absolution’s story? Perhaps, perhaps not.
“Antiva doesn't have a monopoly on assassins. The bleak Anderfels have produced some of the most ruthless killers in the world, and in the capitol of Hossberg, there are never fewer than ten in the service of their king. They served only the king, and the politics of the Anderfels are a brutal affair. Among the pious, the most dangerous thing a man can do is disgrace himself, for the king sends his killers not for those who plot to overthrow him, but for those who break the Maker's laws and fall into sin and decadence. In the Anders, this is called absolution, not assassination. Death is the sinner's act of penance.”
(From In Pursuit of Knowledge: The Travels of a Chantry Scholar, by Brother Genitivi).
There’s another location shown in the trailer that looks like it could be Tevinter. We see a large ocean with a massive skeleton carcass of a defeated monster. Tevinter has large oceans with massive sea creatures as witnessed in Tevinter Nights and on the map of Thedas. So, I’d say that’s a safe bet.
A location featured in the trailer that's a mystery is a large pair of golden doors that open, showing a figure below them. At first, I thought this was a death or dream sequence, showcasing the Golden City as one of the characters is greeted by the Maker. It may very well be that as it looks too pristine to be anything else. That being said, maybe some artistic liberties have been taken and this is a grand palace or throne room. Perhaps something like that. It remains an enigma for now.
Let’s move on to one of the most exciting aspects of this show, the new characters.
Characters:
Tevinter Mage:
First up, we have one of the villains of the show, a brown-haired mage wearing a black and gold coat, most likely a Tevinter magister, or a blood mage, something of that ilk. His motivations so far are unknown. Despite his red-lit eyes, and ominous magic spells, we assume this mage is one of the villains as the trailer revealed him fighting our elven rogue protagonist.
I’m assuming the story will follow him attempting to unleash one of the remaining old gods or original Tevinter magisters given the ouroboros and its representation of destruction and rebirth, and the unleashed Pride figure. Also, Absolution as a title refers to absolving someone of guilt, sin, obligation, punishment, imprisonment, etc. So, perhaps our band of villains are on a quest to unleash a mighty evil onto Thedas.
Red Templar Woman and Mage:
Continuing with the villains, we have two prominent figures who’re seemingly summoning this Pride spirit-thing. The figure to the left is a brown-haired warrior with a weapon and shield wearing Templar armour. She was witnessed later in the trailer smashing what looks like a rage demon with a war hammer. Her armour resembles the same style as our Tevinter magister villain, so it’s safe to assume they’re working together to achieve the same goal.
Given her armour and weapon style, I feel like this brown-haired warrior is a Red Templar or something of that ilk.
The figure to the left is a mage, originally in my breakdown video I thought that they were a completely new character, however, after a closer look, I’m fairly certain that they are our prevalent male magister. This figure has the same wonderfully decorated staff, as well as trimmed dark robes with flecks of gold and a tight waist belt. With that, I’d say it’s safe to assume that they are our male magister.
The mage and templar together seem to summon our ambiguous, hooded figure that demands more speculation. So let’s talk about this Pride figure.
Pride Spirit:
This ambiguous, peculiar, hooded figure with glowing eyes like a pride demon could be many things. A spirit transforming into a Pride Demon, a Pride Demon manifested in a human body, a high-ranking agent of Fen’Harel, a new/rare type of Demon, Solas’s new look, a messenger for Fen’Harel, the formless one, a forgotten/forbidden one, a vessel of an old god, an ancient magister, or something completely different, maybe even something new.
In any event, this figure sticks out like a sore thumb. The general consensus of the fandom seems fairly puzzled by its identity. Once more, I assume this is the ancient evil, horror or being that the magister wants to free for nefarious purposes. It seems like the figure is still held in this beam-shield thing and hasn’t been unleashed just yet, but it’s awake and can communicate with whoever, in order to be freed.
As stated, the being seems elven in nature as it has eyes like a pride demon and we refer pride to Solas, the elven god of rebellion who split the Veil and sundered the elven people from themselves. In addition, the nature of spirits and demons was more ambiguous in the times before the Veil. So, it’s fair to say that this figure does have many elven ties.
Now, given that Tevinter’s lore and foundations are directly based on the ancient elves, i.e, their homeland, magic, history, etc, maybe we’ll witness more revelations related to this Tevinter and ancient elf crossover in Absolution. Foreshadowing Solas’s scheme to reclaim the land of Tevinter and potentially the old god’s true identity.
I don’t know if we’ll get any massive lore drops or revelations like that, however, maybe this figure will push the dots in some way, connecting Tevinter to the ancient elves even more. We’ll just have to see, nevertheless, I’m eager to understand the identity and story behind this figure.
Elven Rogue Protagonist:
Next up, we have a squad of heroes. We’ll start with our elven rogue, who’s been confirmed as the protagonist of the show via press releases from Netflix. They also featured on the key poster art of the show, confirming that she will, indeed, have a huge role in Absolution.
Throughout the trailer, our elf was seen in many different clothing items. Her main outfit seems to be this teal green cloak with a light blue tunic, followed by holstered pockets and two sets of khopesh.
NehnBellanaris corrected my breakdown video and said that these daggers look like a khopesh, which, in the real world, are Egyptian weapons used by the Pharaoh’s guards, which is fascination.
Later on in the trailer, we got a very good shot of our elf’s face, she’s wearing a white tunic and looking terrified at some kind of magic ritual. We can see a marking on her left eye, I feel like this could be a Tevinter slave marking as there’s no valaslin like this. If so, maybe that confirms the relationship between her and the villainous magister, she could be a former slave to him. Perhaps she ran away naturally, maybe she witnessed something she couldn’t bear, hence this scene, maybe she stole something of significant value, maybe she heard of a lucrative rumour and decided to pursue it. Who knows, but I do think it’s a decent theory that she is a former slave to the magister given this marking. It could, however, be something different, maybe a new faction’s branding, maybe a new style in Tevinter or wherever this elf is from.
We see her at the end wiping the blood of her face, declaring to the group that they’re in. I can only assume what this refers to. Maybe a vault, a sacred temple, or ruin, a palace, etc. It gives me plenty of heist vibes. Whatever their mission is, it seems like it’s going to plan at this point given they’ve made it inside so far.
Qunari Mage Vashoth:
The most exciting character in this show for me and many of us is the Qunari Mage Vashoth, who looks absolutely beautiful and badass as hell! We first see her helping a group of people, setting an alleyway ablaze.
Pancakes noticed that our Qunari mage didn’t have a scar around her mouth, so perhaps she was raised outside the Qun entirely.
This is something I completely missed, but in the Qun, mages are treated as a dangerous threat, therefore, they are chained and stitched up, commanded by a rod at the hands of another Qunari. Our Qunari shows no signs of this process, therefore, it most likely seems that she grew up outside of the Qun, maybe even among clusters of people considering she helped a few villagers in that alleyway.
We see her later in a different outfit casting a massive beam spell against the magister, if we look closely we can see his staff just before he’s hit with this spell. I can’t wait to meet her, I’m very excited for more Qunari characters in the Dragon Age universe!
Human Rogue?:
The next character I wanted to look at doesn’t seem to be a part of the main group, at least, they haven’t been seen with the rest of the group together, so they could be either a villain or a hero. They seem to be a lady human rogue with the same face marking as our elven rogue protagonist, so perhaps they are also a former slave of the magister. She attacks two figures who look like Templars or guards in some kind of larder. In any event, they look very deadly and fierce!
Dwarf Warrior:
Next up, we have our dwarven warrior. We saw him previously in a top-down shot with a battleaxe, wearing a brown tunic with a white shirt. The following scene revealed a very close-up shot of him slashing undead with his battleaxe. He has beautiful facial hair and a long ponytail. The interior behind him reminds me of the Deep Roads with its tall structures and rune-like lights.
Human Warrior:
Next, we have our human warrior. He’s a dashing man with a shaved haircut slashing his sword and shield. His appearance is very knight-like, he looks quite regal. We can see him later on in different, less shiny armour in the scene.
Human Mage:
Then we have our human mage, she’s a very pretty woman with a long ponytail. We only see her in these blue robes, however, it would seem she has two different staves as seen in these different shots.
Other Human Rogue:
We have a human rogue who we didn’t get a closer look at. We can see him from a wide angle, he looks kinda smug.
Whole Squad:
Combing these two shots, we have the entire squad together: a dwarf warrior, qunari mage, human warrior, elf rogue, human mage and a human rogue. Two of each class forming our new band of heroes for Absolution. The group are matching colours with their outfits, three of them follow a brown and white colour scheme, while the other three follow a light blue, brown and white colour scheme. Maybe the team were originally two different factions banding together in order to achieve their goal. Or maybe it’s just a cool look?
A lot of people feel like our agents could be Lords of Fortune, seeking glory, wealth and treasure as their main endeavour. I certainly like that idea, perhaps they’re looking to steal the Tevinter ouroboros as seen in the trailer, and then end up on this quest to stop whatever this magister is attempting to release. That’s certainly one possibility explaining how this group end up on this mission. In any event, let’s talk more about the story of Absolution in my final category.
Story:
So far, we’ve speculated that Absolution will feature the Red Templars as somewhat of a threat to this narrative, establishing its potential timeline. The series is predominantly set in Tevinter, however, it will seemingly take us to other locations in Thedas like Antiva, and maybe The Anderfels. The characters of this story may be assassins, Lords of Fortune, a new faction, a group related to the Inquisition, or something else, maybe even just a band of adventurers joining together for the greater good.
The narrative surrounds elves, mages, knights, Qunari, Red Templars, demons, and other special surprises. I assume the special surprises are characters like the pride figure who seemingly relates to Solas. Is this figure the entire threat of the narrative or just has a small piece to play in the grand scheme of things?
An ouroboros is featured in the show, representing the eternal cycle of destruction and rebirth, potentially referring to the overall threat our party will face. What exactly is going to be unleashed onto Thedas if not stopped? Is it going to be a new foe? Or something deep within the Dragon Age lore that will make us fans blow our minds?
Dragon Age: Absolution is marketed as a saga which I would assume means multiple more seasons to go after this one, if successful. Does that mean the show’s narrative has been created for longevity? Are there already more stories planned for future seasons? Will the show eventually tie in with Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, if season one already doesn’t?
I have so many questions and more, but until the show comes out, I’m just either going to have to wait or try to answer them myself. Once we hear more about this show, of course, I will be covering that the moment news drops. And once the show is out, either all at once or episodes weekly, I will be uncovering and breaking down each episode one by one, enjoying the beautiful Dragon Age content we’ll have this December.