Dragon Age: Absolution (Netflix Animated Series)

I was going to say that the Anderfels isn't really famed for its magical traditions but then I remembered something Maevaris said in the comic series by David Gaider. When discussing the possibility of healing Maric, she says:
"There are healing magics. I've heard rumours about the Dalish and another Magister exiled to the Anderfels. Legend says they could graft spirit onto flesh and restore life." This sounds like some sort of necromancy, even something along the lines that Quentin was attempting in DA2. However, leaving that aside, apparently there was a Magister who was exiled, presumably for some misdeed that didn't warrant death or tranquility. May be they were from too important a family so the Archon settled on banishment. Even if this wasn't exactly the same Magister, it is apparent that exile to the Anderfels is an option for the sort of mage that might be the antagonist in the series.

As for the large amounts of water, there are several large bodies of water shown in the south-eastern Anderfels, all of which are quite close to the Merdaine, with a major settlement, Nordbotten, on the western side that is shown very close to one of these. So it is possible this could be the city shown if that is meant to be the great statue of Andraste we have been told about. However, that is meant to be white but may be the statue in the trailer was reflecting the sun.

We get a pretty good view of the whole city as we go over the tower and theres no sign of the famed floating aqueduct. If it's Tevinter then i think it's more likely to be Asariel.

On the map the area around Kassel and Hossberg is actually green rather then deserty, so if it is the Anderfels one of those River and lake adjacent cities seen likely.

True but if the statue is meant to be the one of Andraste in the Merdaine, I think that is some way from these major cities or the pilgrim would not have turned back having found the journey too difficult. He speaks of passing through red desert, not simply barren but desolate. He started his journey from Val Dorma and then took a little used road west. That suggests he passed some way south of Hossburg.

Let's assume the statue isn't the famous one in the Merdaine but just a generic one. If the Anderfels are devoted to Andraste, it is quite possible they constructed more than one statue to her. Given the amount of water around the city, Kassel would be a definite candidate for location. They definitely state it is set in Tevinter though. If Kassel was on the border between the two nations, that might qualify but I think it is more likely an actual Tevinter city. Given the fanaticism of the Anders, I don't think there would be so many mages running around free in their cities. Even without the Templars, I think the citizens would round them up; likely without the Templars in control, they would probably kill them.

I'm on the opposite end. I'm relieved it's animated because I dreaded the special effects either eating up the budget or looking super cheesy, wrecking the show either way.

I dont care that its animated, I care that its anime, extremely boring looking, generic anime at that

Arcane is animated and it looks fantastic, the character designs here look blah

Just wanted to touch on the numbers a bit. Oof... BW wishes they had a $500M budget/game to work with!  

DA:I's production budget would've been around $35 million. With an advertising budget something close to that.

Hard to believe DAI only cost 35 million to make. And that the advertising budget is about 35 million as well. Of course that also might explain some of the 'cracks' in the periphary for Inquisition. Wonder what DA D will end up costing.

Hey, my channel got a shoutout from Jackdaw!

That's awesome! I personally love your videos Heimdall. 

Speak for yourself


I will note that each piece of media since Trespasser, including the comics and books, has fed into The Dread Wolf story. Solas even makes appearances in both. While we may not have any direct cameos, and it may be a separate story, there could be huge revelations regarding the story of Thedas going forward. And by the looks of it - elves, pride demons, zombie elves, and ancient magic - I wouldn't be surprised if it did. I feel like it would be a missed opportunity if it didn't allude to at least something. 


And side note: is anyone else extrememly dissapointed in the character design? We've seen only concepts of the ones in game, and they have already stuck with us - crow lady, qunari lady, hot pirate. Here, they look like generic citizens of Thedas. But maybe that's the point? 

This seems unlikely to me. Whilst it might encourage watchers of the series to want to play the game, just seeing the setting would do that I would imagine and besides not everyone who plays the game is going to have watched the Netflix series. So the nearest it will get is likely to be as with previous offerings in alternative media; namely we will encounter characters in the game or may be even have a companion that featured in the series.

This does seem the more likely scenario, bearing in mind my comments above. However, I do hope it doesn't introduce some new piece of lore that is incongruous with what has gone before or even directly conflicts with previous lore, even if the BW team have authorised it. It is entirely possible it will be used to showcase a faction, either good or bad, that we haven't encountered in the games. The Lords of Fortune could well be one option since Tevinter Nights already introduced this group that had never featured anywhere, even in codices, up to now, and details were sketchy enough that they could be expanded upon quite easily in the series without antagonising the established fan base. As for a new evil faction, I think it more likely it will be some offshoot of the Venatori who has gone it alone somewhat (rather like the antagonist in the Streets of Minrathous). To be honest, I was surprised that the Venatori didn't fall apart at the loss of their "Elder One" but clearly there are a group of hardcore extremists who will carry on regardless and former members who have splintered off because they have loss confidence in the group but not its aims.

With regard to the "heists" element of the game formerly known as Morrison (or was it Joplin?), I think Tevinter Nights may have come about partly because the writers didn't want to totally abandon some of the good ideas they had had for that iteration of DA4 and so incorporated them into that collection of short stories. Many of these did seem to come under the broad heading of "heists", some of them more obviously than others. However, I could see how they could have been part of a game, either as part of the main story or sub-plots. I also find it interesting that despite the title, over half the stories are not even set in Tevinter but they do correspond to countries and regions that have featured in the concept art: Nevarra; the Anderfels; Antiva and the Deep Roads, plus brief excursions to old locations such as the Freemarches and Skyhold.

Incidentally, I don't see the Lords of Fortune as a criminal network but just a loosely aligned group of of fortune hunters, who might be willing to cross the lines of what is legitimate work in undertaking missions but it is not obligatory and certainly there is no centralised command structure. I could actually see them featuring in a similar way to the Mages Collective and other factions in previous games, where there is a board or contact in every settlement from which we can obtain missions to undertake but they are not the main driving force behind our Hero. At least I hope that is the case. I would rather my Hero is not aligned to anyone at the outset rather than having a group identity forced upon me as it was in DAO and DAI.

Thinking some more about this, whilst the comic series did have a connection with Solas, the story was self-contained so neatly fitted into the timeline in between the end of Trespasser and the beginning of DAD (assuming this is in 9:52 as suggested by that short story). Even if there isn't such a large time gap between the two, the Netflix series could still occupy a timeline within it.

The comic series actually involved a specific item, the idol, that is important to the Solas plot and yet the story itself wasn't really about that directly, although it was involved in pushing forward the plot about the red wraith. I wonder if the peculiar ring is going to be something similar. May be the heroes of the series will become involved in hunting down the demon it releases, after which the ring itself leaves the story, only to appear in somewhere in DAD. Since the Venatori do seem a rather persistent bunch of Tevinter extremists, who are found in multiple locations across Thedas, the series could focus on dealing with one particular adherent and their supporters, which could extend over several series, without them ever having to become involved with the Solas plot directly. After all, Solas only seems to become involved if the action is going to threaten his own plans. What might seem bad news to ordinary people on the ground, might be a minor distraction where he is concerned.

One thing that does spring to mind is that in Streets of Minrathous the hero was involved in foiling a plot by the leader of a sub-group of the Venatori in releasing a demon (or something more than a mere demon) that is apparently imprisoned below Minrathous. Now this would have had major repercussions for the city but apparently was not on the radar of Solas or his minions as it fell to the regular authorities and those associated with them to deal with it. So the new series could involve a similar sort of threat, totally unconnected to Solas, although it might be important in dealing with something that could impact on the ability of our new PC to deal with him. Think of all those War Table missions, often playing out over several stages, and often sounding a lot more exciting and interesting than what we were involved in and yet important to the overall mission to restore order to Thedas.

One more aside, my impression of the Lords of Fortune at the moment is that they aren’t really an organization. Rather more like a loosely affiliated guild of treasure hunters/thieves that operate mostly independently.