This is part three of Vaea and Ser Aaron's story, continuing from Knight Errant and Dragon Age: Deception and concluding with Dark Fortress.
The comic contains examples of following tropes:
- Body Horror: The slaves placed in the sarcophagus go through hideous changes before their bodies explode. Their veins pop out, fluids run from every orifice and their bodies begin to bulge unnaturally.
- Bonding over Missing Parents: When Vaea and Francesca set out to save the latter's father from the Blue Wraith, she asks Vaea why she helps her, to which Vaea replies that she knows very well what losing one's parents feels like.
- Crisis Crossover: Blue Wraith brings together every important character from every Dragon Age comic book published since Dragon Age: Inquisition, as well as throwing in Fenris from Dragon Age II.
- Cynicism Catalyst:
- Francesca is still reeling from her brother's death in Deception. Most of her internal monologue concerns her attempts to exorcise the nicer sides of her personality as a coping strategy.
- Likewise, Fenris is extremely bitter at how Hawke's band of True Companions has fallen apart after the Kirkwall Rebellion, having come to believe that everyone is always only looking out for themselves and using others as long as it's beneficial to them. In other words, he hasn't really changed much since DA2.
- Death by Irony: Francesca's father once dismissed her nature-based magic as worthless. She uses it to kill him before he can kill Fenris.
- Evil Old Folks:
- Magister Nenealeus, who casually orders the deaths of several elven slaves and then orders one of House Danarius' servants to be put in the sarcophagus without knowing exactly what it will do.
- Francesca's father, the head of House Invidus, who willingly allied with House Nenealeus and House Danarius in the hopes of restoring the Venatori.
- Eyepatch of Power: Magister Nenealeus is missing his left eye, but it doesn't prevent him from being extremely perceptive, like immediately figuring out the scheme concocted by Shirallas or when he instantly notices Sir Aaron and company tailing Marquette. (Granted, Marquette had also spotted them, but he incorrectly assumed they were Nenealeus' men).
- Foreshadowing: The first issue opens with a flashback to one of Fenris' raids four years prior, where one of his friends considers being trained as a magekiller by a Tevinter Magister named Nenealeus. Despite Fenris' warnings, Issue 2 reveals that he went ahead with his plan and willingly became a slave to Nenealeus, trading freedom for power.
- The Ghost: Hawke is alluded to every now and then, and it's pretty clear that the Champion's journey continues to haunt Fenris.
- Gonk: Pascalis, the Laetan mage that Francesca seeks out in the first issue. He has a head the size of a watermelon and giant mutton chops.
- Hates Being Touched: The third issue shows that this is still true for Fenris, as he quickly shoots Vaea a Death Glare when she touches his shoulder. He mentions the lyrium markings still cause him some pain.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Francesca slays a number of qunari mooks using impaling plant stalks that shoot from the ground. She also kills her father this way in Issue 3.
- Klingon Promotion: By killing her father — if only in self-defense — Francesca is now the head of House Invidus. So when she tells Calix to keep the Invidus locket that marks him as an ally of her House, she actually formally makes him one (whether she realizes or not).
- Licked by the Dog: Olivia's mabari Autumn basically facilitates Fenris' joining the good guys. He even says something to the affect, "I'm joining forces with the mabari, but you people can come along with us if you want."
- MacGuffin: There are three in play here. The first is the red lyrium idol from Dragon Age II, which Marquette stole from Kirkwall and which Ser Aaron and Vaea had been after in Deception. It was used to create another red lyrium sword like the one used by Meredithnote . The villains intend to use the sword in conjunction with the third Macguffin, the magical sarcophagus that gave Fenris his lyrium tattoos, to create another elf like Fenris that is empowered by red lyrium.
- The Narrator: Francesca narrates the first issue, showing her inner turmoil after the death of her brother. Fenris' wayward companion Shirallas narrates the flashback that opens the second issue.
- Off with His Head!: Quite a few qunari mooks are decapitated by Ser Aaron or Fenris.
- Oh, Crap!: The new Viddasala demonstrates this expression just before the lyrium-infused Tevinters explode in his face.
- Phlebotinum Overdose: Danarius' sarcophagus is designed to work on elves. Putting a human into it seems to give them a lot more of the same powers that Fenris has ... but also turns them into a ticking bomb that explodes in a blast of lyrium within minutes. The villains are able to exploit this effect by sending a small squad of exploding mooks after the protagonists, as well as the qunari trying to capture the sarcophagus. While they fail at killing any of the heroes, the exploding Tevinters do completely wipe out all the qunari, including the new Viddasala.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The group pursuing Marquette at the start of issue one could have well been the Non-Player Companion cast of a mainline Dragon Age RPG.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Calix decides that fighting exploding Tevinters and qunari is a little beyond him and leaves the group at the end of Issue 3.
- Sequel Hook: By the end of the third issue, the sarcophagus is still on its way to Castle Tenebrius where Magister Nenealeus plans to infuse Shirallas with red lyrium, and the good guys are still racing to stop it.
- Slashed Throat: The new Viddasala callously disposes of an elven slave this way.
- Slave Liberation: Fenris actually does this twice throughout Blue Wraith: first, in a flashback during Issue 1, and again after storming a Tevinter fort that had been taken over by the qunari.
- Spoiled Sweet: Her haughtiness and hot-headedness aside, Francesca is depicted as a likeable individual who's been born into wrong family. She likes natural beauty (in fact, her magic is mostly plant-based) and she defends a elven slave from being punished for showing her disrespect.
- Subtext: The after-battle scene in the first issue where Vaea stops Ser Aaron from breaking out into a Tall Tale is difficult to understand if you don't know their backstory, because when they talk about "stories", they are actually talking about Aaron's alcoholism. In KE, Vaea has convinced him to go cold turkey (in fact, this was one of her main terms for their team-up), but after what Olivia did to him in Deception, he's been relapsing and Vaea cannot really bring herself to stop him from hitting the bottle again (fortunately, he manages to stop himself with her reminder).
- Ungrateful Bastard: Magister Invidus is, shall we say, less than pleased with his daughter's attempted rescue. He was willingly aiding Magister Nenealeus and Cedric Marquette in the hopes of restoring the Venatori.
- Vigilante Man: Fenris has been roaming the outskirts of Arlathan for at least four years, hunting down slave-traders and freeing Enslaved Elves as "Blue Wraith". It is yet unclear whether he works for Solas / Fen'Harel in any capacity.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Francesca really yearns for her dad's approval. Unfortunately for her, while she has the greatest raw magic power in her family, only her later brother has had the ruthlessness that Invidus Sr. expects in his proper heir.
- You Should Have Died Instead: Magister Invidus tells Francesca this after Vaea informs him of Florian's death.
