Dragon Age: Redemption Episode 2 – Cairn

Tallis spills on her history with the Qunari as she and the Templar make their way after the Saarebas — right into a Dalish camp.

Read our thoughts after the jump:

So, like any Qunari name being both a title and the name of he (or she) who carries it, “Tallis” is for one who seeks. A Seeker. (Kinda like Starscream?)

And the Tempar clearly has a phylactery from the Qunari mage. I didn’t know they did that with Qunari. So many questions. For those who don’t know: a phylactery is a sample of a mage’s blood. The Circle of Magi use it to track mages under their care should one dare to escape, such as Saarebas has done.

Tallis even mentions the collar that the Saarebas must wear, so clearly his is missing. Did the Circle remove it? Was he found like this? It doesn’t seem like Saarebas is interested in returning to the Qunari, unlike the one you encounter in Dragon Age 2.

Some notes on the Dalish elves…

Elven history in Dragon Age is pretty interesting. Elves exist, but they’re smaller than humans, and completely oppressed since humans first arrived on the continent of Thedas millennia ago. Their history tells them that — like most Tolkien-esque elven legends you’ve heard — that they were a nigh-immortal, highly civilized race. It was contact with humans that let their blood “quicken”, leading them to their fallen state.

The Dalish are nomad elves who try to stay outside of human civlization. Otherwise, they live in alienages among human society — kind of like American Indian reservations, but much, much worse. These mages practice magic outside of the Chantry’s watchful eye, and are generally left alone unless they threaten human settlements.

So it’s not strange to see this elven boy at the end doing magic. He was called the “First” to the “Keeper”. It is the Keeper’s job to watch after the ancient elven traditions (those that they can remember and/or uncover). The First is the apprentice to the Keeper, and will take over the Keeper’s role once their mentor passes.

Do you like where this series is going? If you weren’t a Dragon Age fan before, is it making you interested in the games? Leave a comment below!