Dragon Age: Redemption Episode 3 – Josmael

Tallis and her ever-growing party are hot on the hells of the rogue Saarebas. Just what is he after, anyway?

What the heck might be going on, after the jump:

OH MY GOD, TALLIS TOTALLY STABBED THAT ELF KID WITH HER SWORD!

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure her sassy elf assassin bit was gonna work, then she totally mortally wounds a kid just to prove a point. Granted, he’s a mage and a healer to boot, but still… ballsy move, chick! (Or should I say “ovariansy” move…?)

We actually learn a couple of things about the world of Dragon Age. I don’t think it was ever said before that those in the church were not allowed to marry — including Templars — but I suppose it makes a lot of sense. Similarly, Qunari coupling is never touched upon in two Dragon Age games, but Tallis helpfully informs us that mates are “assigned… if we are ever allowed one.” Interesting, Tallis. So who did you lose in your past?

But this episode also finally brings to the fore the limitations of the show’s budget. The fight scenes that there have been so far were well-shot and imaginitive, but when we start to see magic spells being cast there’s just something… off… about the quality. I’m going to choose to ignore it because everything else has been so great. As a huge fan of the game, these fight sequences make complete sense to me — rogues vs. warriors, the mage spells, the potions that Tallis throws. Everything has a basis in actual gameplay. It only stands out to me because I’m used to these fight sequences after countless hours of playing these games. But I appreciate the detail. (Of course, it’s a little silly how Saarebas specifically names his cronies as their class types: rogues and a reaver. Ah well!)

Also, it seems I was indeed right and the Templar was using a phylactery to track down Saarebas. We don’t get much more explanation in the show itself about what it is exactly, but it is an enchanted sample of a mage’s blood used to track him or her should one ever escape, and bind their powers when they are caught. It is used precisely as described numerous times in this series, although never before seen until now. However, those tales didn’t really cover how fragile these things are! Seriously, a stiff wind seems capable of blowing them apart.

So far it seems that each episode is named after a member of the party that is being slowly formed here for a maximum of four. So far we have Tallis the elven rogue, Cairn the Templar, and Josmael the (also elven) mage. I’d probably round off the party with another warrior class. Perhaps a specialized one? Hmm…