History Literature / Asunder

* InvisibleIntrovert: PlayedWith. Cole was a young mage at the Val Royeaux Circle who was so inconspicuous that the Templars managing the Circle forgot that they had locked him up for a minor infraction. Somehow, this ended up putting him under permanent PerceptionFilter effect, allowing him to escape and to eventually join Rhys and Evangeline on their journey. However, [[spoiler:the ugly reality was that Cole had actually starved to death in his cell, and the Templars {{unperson}}ed him to cover up their failure. Cole's suffering, however, has drawn in a Spirit of Compassion from the Fade who assumed his identity so fully that it forgot its true nature. The PerceptionFilter was thus actually part of the spirit's own powers]].

* DeliberatelyBadExample: Lambert and his henchmen towards Evangeline, one of the rare idealistic templars.

* MercyKill: All of Cole's victims were people in such despair that they accepted death to escape their fate when he offered it. This concept is [[Deconstruction deconstructed]], however, with Dabrissa, a character that Cole ''almost'' mercy-kills before deciding not to for Rhys' sake. She initially seems as at peace with the idea of dying as Cole's other victims, but when he decides not to, she cries ''in relief'' instead. It makes one wonder how much Cole's victims truly wanted to die if they'd been given more time to think it over.

* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler:Cole sort of dances around this one, being a fusion of a spirit and a mage left to die by the templars. The fact he was actually alive at one point makes him fit as this.]]

* FreudianExcuse: Present for both Lambert and Cole, though the latter doesn't fully remember his.

* GhostAmnesia: Cole may or may not be a ghost, but he still has next to no memory of his life outside the White Spire.
* HeroicBSOD: Wynne, Rhys, and Cole all have one at various points. [[spoiler:Wynne after seeing her carefully planned peaceful negotiations break into a full brawl, Cole after Lambert reveals that he wasn't human, and Rhys after Evangeline was mortally wounded while he was too weak to make a difference.]]

* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: As with just about every Dragon Age story, the group has one major adventure in the Fade.

** Lord Seeker Lambert is intent on bringing order to the Circle. [[spoiler: Even if he has to break away from Chantry authority entirely to do it.]]

* LineInTheSand: [[spoiler: Fiona offers this in a speech to the surviving mages at the end of the book: they can either go back to the templars and hope for mercy or play this revolution out in full. They choose the latter, but not without a fairly close vote.]]
* MercyKill: All of Cole's victims were people in such despair that they accepted death to escape their fate when he offered it.

* SealedEvilInACan: [[spoiler: Pharamond's experiments failed because he, in a feat of rationalization only a Tranquil could accomplish, made some very inadequate seals for the demons he risked summoning.]]

* YourMindMakesItReal: [[spoiler: Cole believes that he can only keep from losing himself if he has someone's attention, or is the most important thing on someone's mind before they die. He may or may not be right about that.]]

* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Wynne, after sacrificing herself for her son's happiness]].

* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: Cole, after figuring out his true nature, is implied (and later confirmed in ''Inquisition'' to have slain Lambert at the end of the book.]]

* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: Cole (after figuring out what he was) is implied to have slain Lambert at the end of the book.]]
%% ** [[spoiler:Confirmed in Inquisition, where Cole very plainly admits to having murdered Lambert as revenge for all the awful things he had done, and would have gladly continued doing - it's only after certain events occur in Inquisition that Cole questions the wisdom of this decision, given the political fallout Lambert's death caused.]]

* WarIsHell: Upon entering the Fade, the group are transported into a hellish recreation of Wynne's memories of the Battle of Denerim. She even points out to Adrian's questioning that while it marked the end of the Fifth Blight, it was still a horrific and bloody battle, and a great many people lost their lives to achieve victory.

* StartXToStopX: The Templars believe that blood magic is inherently evil and that mages will always dabble in it if left on their own. So they ensure they can always locate mages via phylacteries, which is itself blood magic. The hypocrisy of this practice makes Evangeline uneasy, [[spoiler: and she eventually allows Shale to destroy the White Spire vault containing all the First Encahnters' phylacteries because of it.]]

* StartXToStopX: The Templars believe that blood magic is inherently evil and that mages will always dabble in it if left on their own. So they ensure they can always locate mages via phylacteries, which is itself blood magic. The hypocrisy of this practice makes Evangeline uneasy, [[spoiler: and she eventually allows Shale to destroy the White Spire vault because of it.]]

* SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers: Justinia gives Lambert a speech like this when he accuses her of being too idealistic. The Chantry's stock in trade is idealism. Without it, their actions would be tyrannical.