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firbold · 1 year

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Alright I HAVE to gush about Dragone Age Absolution mostly cuz I’m a starved DA fan first and a person second. Spoilers, and long post below

I LOVED Rezaren. He’s an excellent villain, but I hardcore disagree with the takes that he’s just as traumatized as Miriam and Neb and that he’s coming from a place of twisted love- He’s a born and bred Tevinter Magister. There is not a single second where he does not place his needs absolutely first or hesitate to do something that crosses a line or endangers others. From the START he believes he knows best (turning Memory, an ancient spirit who had so much knowledge to give to Enmity when it would not obey) or that his wishes are what everyone else should want (ignoring Tassia’s requests to make the palace safer to play with the circulum, everything with Miriam). And why should Rezaren EVER question himself? From birth he was given PEOPLE as personal playthings, tools, extensions of himself (his right and left hand). His failed harrowing, a DEATH SENTENCE in every other circle, is a consequence for someone ELSE to bear (and suffer for). He’s an Ammosine, and no Ammosine has ever failed their harrowing. There is no point in the show where Rezaren shows a hint of hesitation or remorse. This is WHILE he is considering himself kind and so far removed from his cold blooded and cruel magister kin. He breaks every rule with blood magic and magister law and if he had succeeded I truly do not think he would have faced a single consequence. What an amazing way to showcase the deep set corruption of the Imperium without having a stereotypically evil character.

Tassia and Sapphira are different sides of the same coin to me. It’s an excellent example of how difficult, if not impossible it is to separate the biases and culture you grew up in from yourself. Tassia defends the citizens at the palace at every turn- even defying Rezaren at one point to do so*. She agrees with Hira when it comes to rooting out the Venatori, an easy example of Tevinter corruption. But it means absolutely FUCK ALL because she’s so indoctrinated into the Imperium culture that she would never make an actual difference. *Part of the reason the common people at the palace are in danger is because she never, ever corrects Rezaren or contradicts his will in any real way. She lets him into the vault without changing the safety measures (EVEN AFTER SUMMONING A WHOLE DEMON) because he’s a magister and she’s there to hold the status quo. She never blinks an eye at the slaves around her, even going to far as to consider Neb (who she can’t possibly know the truth about) someone who would care deeply about Rezaren’s welfare, knowing he is a whole ass slave bound to his service from childhood. She willingly turns a blind eye to Rezaren’s corruption and ambition, vaguely threatening to turn him into the Divine but I truly believe she never EVER would. Innocent people died all around Rezaren and Tassia willingly let it happen every step of the way, while considering herself anti-corruption and a bastion of what Tevinter could be.

Sapphira is the EXACT SAME! Spoilers for the twist but despite joining the inquisition we see that she could never detach herself from the Imperium even if she’s wanting for it’s destruction and not caring what that means for the elves that live there, free or enslaved. She paints the Inqusition as uncaring to the Tevinter plight but the key is that she, unlike the advisors of the Inquisition (shout out to my wife Leliana) doesn’t care about the collateral, be it innocent citizens or her lover, Miriam. There’s so much I could write about the dynamics between Miriam and Hira but it really does boil down to this: Hira is/was an affluent mage from a well respected family in a place where mages rule above all. I have no doubt her family had slaves as well, and that she likely didn’t think twice about them and still doesnt. I can’t speak to Hira’s true feelings for Miriam; the show makes it seem like she does care for her at the end, with her inability to kill Miri. But there is no love where, to get what you want, you’d SELL YOUR ESCAPED SLAVE GIRLFRIEND back to her master. “You would’ve escaped again!” my ass. She would’ve been as complicit to Rezaren as Tassia was while convincing herself the ends justified the means. Hira is just as much the villain as Rezaren is. They both use Miriam for personal gain, like she’s a “thing”, a piece in their chess game, while they’re convinced that they’re in the right and better than their peers. It’s almost a shame her family was wiped out, because she probably would’ve made a very effective magister. (And don’t get me started on “we were trying to change things for the people around us!” Her family was for sure, but in the flashback we see she was just a child when it happened. Her family may have been trying to enact change, but Hira had a chance to make a difference with Miriam and instead used her for personal gain, just like the people who killed her family).

#long post #firblurbs #dragon age #dragon age absolution #da absolution #da absolution spoilers #da: absolution #rezaren ammosine #miriam

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felassan · 1 year

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Dragon Age: Absolution creator Mairghread Scott posted this update today on her website, Mairghread Scott Writes. It confirms Rezaren's surname as Ammosine (see source link, it's contained in an image caption) and mentions that the development of the show began in Spring 2019, when Mairghread pitched several ideas to BioWare and Netlix. Maighread says that the show has been a huge passion project for her, that to prepare she spent weeks immersed in DA lore, and that they wanted to make something fans could be proud of. She describes the new characters as wonderfully flawed. She also mentions that "BioWare was committed to excellence every step of the way" and "everyone from the recording studio, to the post house, to the marketing team brought their A-Game" -

DRAGON AGE: ABSOLUTION OFFICIAL TRAILER AND RELEASE DATE (ALT: MAIRGHREAD GETS SUPER-SAPPY)

Hi everyone. Happy November! We’ve got news!

Netflix just released the official trailer and poster for my show, Dragon Age: Absolution and announced that all six episodes will premiere on Netflix, December 9th. Watch the trailer here!

This has been a huge passion project for me. I loved DA:I from the moment Cassandra accused my Inquisitor of being a terrorist (BTW, rude! But I can’t stay mad at Cass). Back in Spring 2019, I pitched several ideas to Bioware and Netflix, and this was the one I NEVER expected them to pick. This was the pitch I did just for me, sure no one else would believe in it. I’m so glad I was wrong.

When I got the job, I replayed and rewatched everything I could get my hands on. (Thanks to all you YouTube DA Lore Keepers out there!) I spent weeks scribbling weird insights on my office walls (they were glass at the time, don’t panic), and listening to songs on repeat for hours. Then in Fall 2019, I got to bring on the incredibly talented Tim Sheridan and Mae Catt, and our amazing writer’s assistant Grace Deppe-Waldschmidt. We brought so much of ourselves to this story! We wanted to make something fans could be proud of. Netflix was a dream to work with and Bioware was committed to excellence every step of the way. Then in 2020 Red Dog started bringing our show to life, and the last several years have been full of late night meetings with Korea, art approvals, and finally animation. (Bae, if you read this, you’re the absolute best!) So many people worked so hard throughout the pandemic on this. Our amazing voice cast recorded the whole thing from their homes over video conferences. (Best Zoom meetings EVER!) And everyone from the recording studio, to the post house, to the marketing team brought their A-Game.

It’s funny that in writing a show about such wonderfully flawed characters, I got to meet so many flawless professionals. I’m truly the luckiest showrunner in the biz. Now, three and a half years later, it’s all come together and we can share this with you. Whether you’ve played from the beginning or are brand new to Thedas, I hope you’ll watch on December 9th and fall in love with these characters as much as we did.

See you in Tevinter! Mairghread Scott"

[source]

#dragon age #dragon age: absolution #bioware #video games #cassandra pentaghast #my lady paladin #long post #longpost #feels

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airin-lavellan · 1 year

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my brain agonizes me every day about latching onto rezaren and here's the thing. here's the thing I dislike most about how he was written: he was an inconsistent and rushed character. the inconsistency was the worst part and I could go on forever.

he starts as the morally questionable guy right? the show leads you to believe he's grey in morality- willing to fight a spirit for what he believes is right, manipulative but still caring. the first major hint of the backstory/flashbacks we see is rezaren crying. crying asking what miriam has done in the bloody scene. and that hits like a "holy shit there's more to it

then they open up with the brother/sister thing when they finally meet. still incredibly interesting- a villain who platonically loves the mc? who cares about them but in the wrong way and does the wrong things because of it but overarchingly loves them? amazing.

then in episode four, they build it up. the flashbacks point to rezaren having an idealistic idea of their past and miriam being rightfully very angry. we see it from his eyes, them laughing and playing together. then we see what rezaren ignored. he deflects this by saying he was a child and couldn't protect them- a fair point if we infer his mother was abusive towards, which we can infer from the harrowing "no ammosine has failed" part. he could apologize. he does not. miriam brings up the harrowing as her trump card- extremely strange to me in terms of narration because it portrays rezaren in a...not bad light? his mom is the aggressor, he's just shown as younger and weak and helpless. it doesn't match the buildup

there is a very clear snapping point where redemption is no longer an option for him: when he loses his temper at miriam. the switch is jarring, very jarring, at first, but it's okay. it would have been preferred if he was redeemed but it's not necessary, he could still be an amazing pure evil character.

...and then he's not. he goes far too quickly into too much evil- they set him up for a descent to madness and then go from one scene of "i won't use blood magic tassia don't worry" to "watch me publicly kill this guy on my own team".

when his character is really messed up is the finale. when he decides to go super sayan racist mode and be like "i'm going to enslave you bitch kys" but is STILL TRYING TO RESURRECT NEB. perhaps he's delusional but they don't explain that!! if he's angry with miriam now, if he's fully evil now, his character motivation is gone. it cannot be "i want to resurrect my 'brother' and have a happy family again" because if he's going to turn on miriam in this way he should have no reason to keep trying with the circulum.

the show had so many places it could have solidified him as a villain- a true villain like he was supposed to look like at the end. they could have, say, shown him mistreating miriam or slaves. or shown him owning slaves. because we don't have any idea if the slaves in the summer palace are his- and they're probably not because he doesn't even live in that city. the palace is in Nessum, and he explicitly tells Tassia "don't worry queen i can't keep doing evil blood magic study because soon I have to go back to Minrathous".

they could have made him a descent into madness character- which is totally thrown off by the whole "hey don't get too deep into blood magic" "*kills people*" swapup. so now people can basically paint things however they want- because a lot of the "proof" for him being a certain way is inferences. justified, reasonable inferences, but inferences nevertheless and the show is just badly paced. and so we have people differing from "if you like rezaren you're a slaver" to "actually his enslavement was good and miriam is the real villian" and it's just. aagg. they were all good and bad characters!! liking a fictional character does not mean you agree with them. agony agony agony. anyways sorry for my 9 paragraph essay in your ask box but I am Tormented By Thots and your rezaren post reminded me of the queercoded little man who would call me slurs if I ever breathed the same air as him (he has 55 limp wrists and two arms. and it's no coincidence the show censored the only heterosexual kiss him and tassia have to be fruity at least just a bit)

Wow first of all thank you for taking the time to read my post and giving me your insights. I was fully viewing this in terms of what we see in the show but reading this, I must say a lot of aspects of how he was written also came into play. I loved the show and it's characters and I think it's biggest flaw is it's length since a lot of things had to be rushed and couldn't get explored on a deeper level.

He is definitely presented as a rather grey character and I think it's thanks to all of these sudden shifts that the fandom is very divided, since we didn't get to explore more about him and his other motivations or actions in the past we can merely judge him by what we see, and only what we are shown. From the start he did seem a bit manipulative, hiding true intentions behind the so called kindness, yet as the show progressed I couldn't help rooting for him, like you said: the harrowing scene doesn't show him in a bad light. He was completely helpless and in danger himself, the choice to use Neb was his mother's and I do believe she was also abusive to him. Sure not in the same way as Miriam got abused but you can see how fearful he was. When they were kids he was taught that slavery was normal and okay, yet we see an adult that wants to change that, he recognizes his mistakes.

The snapping did feel rushed and out of nowhere, and you're right. I hadn't noticed how conflicted his motivations are during the show. Perhaps it is indeed flawed writing but I think if we can find a logical explanation, it would point to the circulum itself. Tassia openly says that the thing is changing Rezaren, and she has known him for a while. Again, we haven't seen anything else from his past so nothing we can really base ourselves on. He seems to know blood magic and as far as we know he was always in control using it. Why did it change now? I blame the circulum, mixed of course with his desires being frustrated. Miriam was algo blinded by rage, both were equally stubborn and wanted to do something yet they sought a different purpose with different means and I can love and appreciate both. I just indeed dislike the discussion about Rezaren being a slaver, because imo he definitely isn't.

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felassan · 1 year

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Dragon Age: Absolution Episode 4

some random bits and pieces on Episode 4. under a cut due to length

Episode 1 post, Ep 2, Ep 3

The title, Those Who Falsely Dream, reminds me nicely of Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep :>

^ "Tevinter snake!" reinforces the image created by the title of Episode 3 (The Serpent's Coil). like a snake, he can't be trusted, he's manipulative and just wants to 'coil around' and entrap her and hypnotise/lull you into a false sense of security (a false sense of what their relationship dynamic is) :| you know that scene in the Jungle Book (I think?) where the snake is like, trussst in meee.. even if on some level he believes it's okay. and the way he victim-blames Miriam for his mother's and his own evils is unsettling.

when Miriam's friends run in to try to fight Rezaren and help her, despite all his 'I don't trust you, I'm gruff and out for myself, we've only just met etc' gruff bluster, Lacklon is the one yelling loudest (at this point Lacklon still doesn't even completely trust her/the situation, see his subsequent discussion with Roland in the alley, but even then he's running in with them!). I was teary when Miri's new [found] family ran in to help her here despite the risk, it's just 🥺

It's a very cool move/scene when Rezaren is blocking Qwydion's magic here. the SFX there were also cool

Was that Fade Step?

Qwydion holding wounded Miri in one arm while magically sealing the door with the other 🥺

is the blond blue-eyed guard who reports to Tassia about the dragon and the captured thief the one who saw the mark on Miri's face at the end of Ep 1 and let her in?

"Don't play stupid" Tassia straight-talkin

the mark on Miri's face, the name. Do we think it's Ammosine or Rezaren? And do we think it's Tevene, like the literal Tevene for it or the initials, or is it more like a family (House) or personal sigil symbol?

the funny thing is I figured the woman 'mother' from Miri's backstory as shown in the trailer was Rezaren's actual mother before Ep 1 dropped, in November, if only because she and Rezaren have a similar bob haircut ｡(^▽^)ゞ I also sussed that the other elf in her flashback was a sibling of hers and that something had happened to them. I didn't expect the reanimated body stuff tho

the word Sicarri isn't said, but Miriam's situation and training reminded me of the Tevinter Siccari. a slave, and Rezaren's personal spy, assassin and whatever was needed.. the Sicarri are Tevinter's elite spies, most of whom come from enslaved families. their families are kept 'safe', as a promise and a threat, to ensure that the Siccari never flinch from their duties. their existence has been officially denied.

"left hand" reminded me of The Left Hand of the Divine. if Miri was to be Rezaren's left hand, a rogue, was Neb's 'purpose' to be his right hand, a warrior, more like a bodyguard, mirroring the way Cassandra as the Right Hand of the Divine is an out-in-the-open protector?

"But she raised us as siblings. Now Miriam's the only family I have left" - Tassia knows the soldier Neb is loyal to Rezaren. She doesn't know he's an animated corpse. so if she isn't questioning the assertion that Miriam is Rezaren's only family left, then she must not know that his mother raised him with not one but two slave 'siblings' (because otherwise, wouldn't she say "What about Neb?"). I guess he never told her about his 'siblings'

Rezaren's shadow looming over the wall that's covered in Miriam's blood feels like.. well, foreshadowing

Rezaren happens to keep a bottle on him at all times, ready to do blood magic in a pinch whenever wherever apparently

Tassia has lines she won't cross. girl, you can't trust that guy. when she says "It always starts with a few drops Rez, but it never stays that way".. I wonder what she's seen in the past, in Tevinter society with Magisters abusing blood magic for power and their own ends?

security, hunting criminals, no lyrium-based power to deflect magic.. Tevinter Templars really are as Tevinter Nights says, basically just guards with fancy equipment and shiny metal armor.

"I won't disappoint you" he says after being told not to use blood magic by Tassia, with.. a vial of blood in his hand, which she has seen

"Please, you're my best friend. I can't lose you too." "You won't". 🥺 it's wlw-mlm solidarity 🥺

^ Lacklon's face when Roland says "Trust me instead" ;;

also, Qwydion carrying Miriam!! a] strong b] my heart..

mOOOOOM THE DRAGON'S WAKING UP AGAIN

hhh when the dragon is thrashing around, one of the guards that was holding one of the chains goes flying through the air with a cartoonish "aaaaa!"

did none of the other guards notice that their comrade guard had been badly stabbed, armor ripped right open, blood everywhere, and was just standing there silently like 'all cool'?

^ shoutout to the creator of the descriptive subtitles in this show

now we see part of why Qwydion was recruited for this job, and introduced to the audience in episode one as a talented healer

Okay, so this use of blood magic feels like new lore, new information on what blood magic can do. We learn here that if you have a vial of their blood and do the right spell/have the right skill, blood magic can be used to keep someone who is wounded from healing (even when they are being healed by a talented mage healer who is trying to counter the offensive blood magic), to keep someone unconscious and to 'visit' and talk to them inside their minds. Rezaren later says "Blood magic can make a lot of things possible" - what else can blood magic do that we don't yet know about? maybe it's just referring to the ability to bring the dead back using an artifact powered by blood magic, which as we know is his intent

Lacklon knows first aid and some field medic stuff :)

it's a fake Hira, Miri, "I'd never leave you", she did though, to go and join the Inquisition

In this mindscape of Miriam's, the nice white fluttering sheets from the scene with Hira turn into solid vertical bar-like structures in the background when her trauma and Rezaren manifest. it's like bars of a cage, the cage she's trapped in still (the past that she can't stop running from, or more accurately can't move past yet or isn't yet ready to confront)

I guess from the Rage demon in the mind sequence, Miri holds (understandably) a lot of anger still about what was done to her in the past. she's also angry at herself. trauma and survivor's guilt are very complex things.

Rezaren lookin very creepy when he's floating there with the sword.. in the dream at the time he looks and sounds calm and kind, and a bit sad/forlorn, but irl he's smirking creepily. he's so manipulative. it's his facade vs what he is inside, what he pretends to be (and on some level thinks he is) vs the reality. he's deceptive, and to an extent deceiving himself

I feel like when Rezaren is talking about how he bound a demon to Neb's dead body in order to keep his body going, and his plans to bring Neb back to life, the background music purposefully grows discordant, childlike but discordant, because, yeah, that's creepy and wrong Rezaren and he still has juvenile tendencies ("mine!")

the ritual to use the Circulum to bring someone back from the dead requiring the blood of a [I assume] close relative was a good shout. resurrection in a setting like this (outside of game mechanics) is extremely OP, so it needs significant limitations placed on it in the 'rules' to make it 'feel' more reasonable

^ what's this lil dude? looks like a cat-nug, maybe rabbit as well

Tevinter mages do still go through a Harrowing, iirc Dorian references his in DA:I dialogue

It looks like Miri's face marking is on the left of her face and Neb's was on the right of his. I feel like this lends credence to the idea that Neb's job was to be Rezaren's 'right hand'

^ the demon possessing Neb, I wonder what kind of demon it was?

Rezaren's mom was a piece of work, I feel like she knew her son was pretty weak and disappointing both in terms of magical power and personality (like lacking in fortitude) - he references this soon when he says "the mage mother never thought I could be" - so she thought there was a chance he may fail his Harrowing, so she ensured to bring Miriam and Neb along in case she needed help killing anything that came through or in case she needed to do something just like what she did to save her son

When the floating rocks start, the mindscape is now reflecting Rezaren's thoughts/things he's saying (rocks floating up = rebuilding). Are we now in Rezaren's mind? Is he creating these images in Miri's mind? Are their minds temporarily mashed together?

oooh I see. Rezaren's mother was basically raising him with the intent of him becoming the next Black Divine in future, from his very early years trying to mould and train him for this lofty goal, and that's why from their very early years she was trying to train a left hand and right hand for her son. Maybe in Tevinter, the Divine also has a Left Hand and a Right Hand, just as the Divine does in the south. makes sense, the two Chantries are in some ways mirror images. also "the role you were born for" has unpleasant implications.

When Rezaren says that Miri doesn't have to keep running anymore, not the past, not from his mother or from herself, notice he doesn't also add "or from me"

^ btch, u thought?? such entitlement, he's dumbfounded when she won't play along. I'm glad Miriam isn't written as entertaining his horrible notions and that the show (while Rezaren is a well-written and realistic villain [not all bad people are cartoonishly evil on the outside]) doesn't try to like.. sugarcoat what he was or send him on a redemption arc. obviously it doesn't matter if an owner "cares a lot" about their possession/tool, it's still 100% not ok. in this scene we see that despite his charming persona / exterior, Rezaren is brittle, kind of like glass. he seems to have been an only son, so the only blood scion of his House. as the mage son of a noble house with a powerful mother that had these lofty goals for him, he had everything he could ever have wanted. there's a childishness [idk what the right word would be, I don't mean that he's child-like]? to him even now as, sometimes his charming exterior bluescreens when his mask drops when he's challenged by someone or something doesn't go his way. like a tantrum. in this scene when his mask is off everything begins to crumble and shatter. his illusion of their future together in the mindscape crumbles even as his external persona (which is in its own way an illusion) evaporates, as he realizes that his dream of them 'being together' again isn't going to happen. everything around them crumbles and the rocks/ice starts boxing Miriam in. more coils.

^ Thedas is entering its turtleneck era

anyways, how did Rezaren know some of this stuff about Miri's life since she escaped? either he was keeping tabs on her during that time (he did say he made it so the Templars never found her. which btw ig implies that Tevinter Templars are also responsible for chasing down/catching/dealing with runaway or escaped slaves) or he can 'see' the knowledge in her memories because they're in bloodmagicmindscape

I wonder what Rezaren's plans to 'make Tevinter a better place for everyone, to change the world' entailed exactly

^ Rezaren up there in his ivory tower

our falsely-dreaming dreamers.. Rezaren, with his vision for the future that isn't going to happen. Rezaren, in his dream/delusion that the slaves his mother owned were his 'siblings' and that everything could just be alright again (and that it was alright before to the extent that they should try to go back to that place). Miriam, with the dream of a Hira that would never leave her?

This is gross but I think the blood that Miriam throws up after waking up from the mindscape was Rezaren's, it magically evaporates and he had cut himself using the sword to combine his blood with her blood that he had from the vial, in order to do this blood magic spell. gross. truly invasive in more ways than one.

Qwydion and Miriam 🥺 I just love them both. they have some really nice moments together in this series

Miriam's friends taking it in turns to watch over her bedside as she recovers 🥺

the final shot of Miriam outlined by the doorway and backlit by the daylight pouring in is cool.

#dragon age #dragon age: absolution #dragon age: absolution spoilers #bioware #video games #longpost #long post #blood cw #solas #mj meta

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