The party includes:
- Miriam (Kimberly Brooks), an elven runaway slave and dual-dagger expert.
- Sapphira or "Hira" (Sumalee Montano), a Tevinter human mage and Miriam's former lover.
- Fairbanks (Matthew Mercer), an agent of the Inquisition who players of the game will recognize from the Emerald Graves.
- Lacklon (Keston John), a grouchy dwarven mercenary and treasure hunter who wields a two-handed axe and also a bag of grenades.
- Roland (Phil LaMarr), an Orlesian human mercenary who worked with Miriam previously.
- Qwydion (Ashly Burch), a bubbly and plucky Vashoth mage.
Meanwhile, Tevinter Magister Rezaren Ammosine (Josh Keaton) and his bodyguard, Knight-Commander Tassia (Zehra Fazal) seek to unlock the secrets of the Circulum for their own ends.
Dragon Age: Absolution contains examples of:
- Accidental Murder: Miriam killed her brother after he was possessed during Rezaren’s Harrowing.
- All for Nothing:
- The Circulum's power of resurrection has one major caveat that Rezaren either didn't know or never considered: the dead person's spirit must willingly return to their body. Not only can they choose to stay dead, but they gain the power to destroy their body to prevent any future resurrection attempts. Neb's spirit does exactly that, meaning Rezaren's efforts were entirely for naught.
- The party manages to get the Circulum and escape the Summer Palace, but Hira is captured by Tassia and Rezaren. They storm the palace again to rescue her, but it turns out Hira was a traitor who was trying to steal the Circulum for her own ends. They only end up rescuing someone who betrays them, and Hira escapes with the Circulum to boot, meaning not only was the rescue pointless, but the mission for the Inquisition was a complete failure.
- Ambiguous Situation: The subject of Fairbanks' betrayal is subject to a lot of speculation. Did he attempt to kill Hira after piecing together that she wanted to use the Circulum to wage war with the Imperium (like Miriam and the rest of the party believe), or did he have his own agenda like her? If it's the former, did he figure it out on his own or were Cassandra and Leliana also in on it and ordered him to do so?
- Amicable Exes: Played with. Miriam and Sapphira were in a relationship, but the latter left to join the Inquisition when the Breach opened up. Miriam refused to go with her and broke things off. While understandably bitter with Sapphira, Miriam is otherwise cordial and works with her during the heist job in Tevinter. Sapphira, for her part, wants to rekindle their relationship. Ultimately, Hira chooses her goal of destroying Tevinter over her feelings for Miriam, getting rid of the amicable part entirely.
- Animesque: Much like other Netflix-original adult animated series, Absolution resembles anime in terms of both art style and especially animation during action scenes, which are high octane and fantastical resembling Sakuga style.
- Armor-Piercing Response: After learning the job Fairbanks is gearing up for involves going to Tevinter, Miriam is about to leave. It takes Sapphira throwing one of these when Miriam refutes and says "no one saves people like us". This actually affects Miriam more than expected after she lets a drunk cook take an elven slave back for punishment, repeating her earlier words before running off to save the slave.Sapphira: Because people like you never try!
- Artifact of Doom: The main goal of the group is to steal a Tevinter artifact called the Circulum Infinitus. It's a powerful magical artifact that apparently can resurrect the dead...except it's also fueled by blood magic.
- Back for the Dead: Fairbanks, a relatively minor character in Inquisition in the Emerald Graves area, is a member of the main cast. He's also killed by Hira early on.
- Back from the Dead:
- Maybe, given their fate in the game series. The final scene of Absolution shows Meredith, former Knight-Commander of Kirkwall, is somehow still alive despite having been reduced to a red lyrium statue at the end of II, now a giant chunk of red lyrium. She's also implied to have been back in action for some time, being the leader of the Red Templars and the one Hira wanted to give the Circulum Infinitus to in the hopes of starting a war with Tevinter.
- Rezaren wants to use the Circulum to resurrect Neb, Miriam's brother who was killed after he became an abomination when Rezaren's mother redirected the demon that had possessed Rezaren into Neb. He thinks this will convince Miriam to "come back home" so they can be a "family" again. He never counted on Neb having serious problems with this.
- Bait-and-Switch: The first episode shows three thieves slowly making their way up the Circle Tower, with Miriam and Roland looking on from afar. At a glance, it seems like they're partners despite Roland's wariness in hiring them...until Miriam fires two arrows at the ropes the thieves are using to climb the tower, showing they're actually a distraction for her and her partner while they sneak into the Circle Tower with mage robes.
- Balking Summoned Spirit: Magister Rezaren Ammosine summons a wisdom spirit to ask about a magical artifact named the "Circulum Infinitus." The spirit says that if the person who seeks the artifact acquires it, all of Tevinter will burn. When Rezaren asks the spirit who that is, it refuses to answer, prompting him to attempt to coerce it into telling him; this causes it to transform into a pride demon and attack Rezaren and his bodyguard, Tassia.
- Big Bad Friend: It turns out Hira set the whole plot in motion by attempting to sell Miriam back to Rezaren in exchange for the Circulum.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
- Rezaran comes off as a magister trying to reform Tevinter, who genuinely loved Miriam as a sister. As the show goes on, he proves to be power hungry and dismissive of her, using blood magic and disregarding the trauma she suffered while his slave.
- Sapphira also presents herself as an idealistic member of the Inquisition who has to convince the cynical Miriam to take on the mission to keep the Circulum Infinitus out of the wrong hands. By the end it's revealed that not only does she want to use the Circulum to burn the Imperium to the ground, damn the consequences, but her plan to steal it involved handing Miriam over to Rezaran in exchange and somehow double crossing him afterwards. She protests that she would have allowed Miriam to escape, somehow, but it evidently rings hollow.
- Canon Character All Along: Downplayed. In the final episode of first season we learn that Hira is working for the Crimson Knight, a character never mentioned before in the entire franchise...except the episode ends revealing that the Crimson Knight is actually Meredith Stannard, Big Bad of Dragon Age II.
- Canon Foreigner: While this applies to most of the cast, Sapphira gets this the most as she is stated to have joined the Inquisition prior to its disbandment.
- Captured Super-Entity: In addition to the Circulum Infinitus, the crypts of the summer palace also hold a high dragon held in magical stasis. It is initially awakened by Hira's activation of the security system and is then released by Qwydion as part of Miriam's plan to save Hira.
- Cast Full of Gay: Two of the female main cast are shown to have a romantic history. Two of the male main cast are shown flirting throughout the series. Both sets of pairings gain kiss scenes.
- The Cameo: Cassandra and Leliana make a brief appearance in the first episode via flashback, with the former telling Fairbanks and Sapphira their mission. Cullen and Josephine also make an appearance in episode 6, in Hira’s flashback.
- The Caper: The show is fundamentally a heist piece, with the crew attempting to break in to a heavily guarded stronghold to steal a valuable artifact.
- Cutting Off the Branches: The series is set after the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition, as Miriam says the Herald of Andraste sealed the Breach and killed Corypheus, and that the Inquisition was disbanded rather than reduced in size and under the Divine's order (as was possible in Tresspasser). However, given that they were absorbed by the Chantry in the latter scenario, an ordinary Thedosian might not see the difference. For the sake of ambiguity, the gender and identity of the Inquisitor is never mentioned and referred to using gender-neutral pronouns, and they never make an appearance (with flashbacks to Skyhold showing only Cassandra and the Advisors). Similarly, there's no mention of who succeeded Justinia as Divine.
- The Cynic: Miriam is a jaded woman who honestly believes no one would risk themselves to save another, owing to her own experiences as a former slave in Tevinter. Sapphira has to convince her multiple times in the first two episodes to convince her to join the heist.
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- Miriam is a former slave, so naturally this is a given. Unlike most elves, she had the unfortunate pleasure of being an elven slave in Tevinter, where they're treated like utter shit compared to elves in Fereldan or Orlais. By her own admission, the only motherly figure she had growing up was her owner, who struck her when she accidentally tripped a young Rezaren despite the latter not being injured or dared to so much as own a flower, bluntly telling Miriam slaves are not allowed to own anything. The most traumatic moment in her life was when she witnessed her brother Neb be turned into an abomination when her owner, Rezaren's mother, transferred the demon possessing Rezaren into Neb during the former's Harrowing, leading to the latter's death at her hands. She's understandably pissed when she learns the place the Circulum is held happens to be her former "home".
- Sapphira had a front-row seat to her parents' death at the hands of the Venatori. Also watching this unfold were Magisters who didn't lift so much as a finger to stop the atrocity. This is the main reason why she believes there's nothing about the Imperium worth saving.
- Entitled Bastard: Rezaren ultimately turns out to have an absolutely delusional expectation of loyalty and affection from Miriam, being completely blind to the vast power difference that exists between them which prevents them from being "siblings" in any real sense, and completely disregarding her agency as a person or that she might have dreams that don't involve being his personal servant. When she asserts her independence, he goes ballistic and shows the cruelty and entitlement that a lifetime of privilege has instilled in him.
- Entitled to Have You: Of the twisted adoptive family variety. Rezaren considered Miriam his sister in all but name despite her status as a slave. In the present day, he takes this to mean she must be loyal and see him the same in return, if not become a personal servant at worst. When Miriam rejects this notion, Rezaren blows his top.
- False Flag Operation: The entire heist plan was one. Hira's plan was to use the heist as a cover to exchange the Circulum Infinitus for Miriam with Rezaren.
- Fantastic Racism:
- Miriam is subject to this, given her status as an elf. On more than one occasion is she called "knife-ear", including in the first episode by her employer. The show also makes it very clear to the audience what kind of status elves have in Tevinter. Flashbacks make it clear that, for as bad as the elves have it in Fereldan and Orlais, Tevinter treats them much worse.
- On a lighter note, when Qwydion rescues a group of enslaved elves from a rage demon and army of walking corpses triggered by the palace defense system, they celebrate her by cheering and chanting "Giantess! Giantess!" Qwydion appreciates the sentiment but lets them know that "that's actually kind of offensive!"
- Fighter, Mage, Thief: The main party has two of each:
- Roland and Lacklon (the fighters)
- Qwydion and Hira (the mages)
- Fairbanks and Miriam (the thieves)
- Foreshadowing:
- Hira gets Miriam to agree to the mission by omitting crucial information about it. This foreshadows her manipulative nature in general, and more specifically that the entire mission was Hira's con in the first place.
- In Episode 2, Rezaren questions Memory, the spirit of wisdom who knows more about the Circulum Infinitus than anyone else in the Imperium. Memory warns Rezaren he's not the only one seeking the Circulum's power. At first, it sounds like he's talking about Miriam and the others. His choice of wording says otherwise: He's talking about Hira, or possibly even Meredith, who wants to use the Circulum to start a war with Tevinter.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Once Hira is captured and Fairbanks is killed, the remainder of the party takes on this dynamic:
- Qwydion, the bubbly, comedic Plucky Girl and Bunny-Ears Lawyer, is the Sanguine.
- Lacklon, the grouchy, all-business and distrusting dwarf with a quick temper, is the Choleric.
- Roland, the calmest, most lackadaisical of the bunch, is the Phlegmatic.
- Miriam, the broody, traumatized assassin, fills the role of Melancholic.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: The group consists of three women (Hira, Miriam, Qwydion) and three men (Roland, Fairbanks, Lacklon).
- Last Episode, New Character: In the 6th episode we learn that Hira is actually working for someone called the Crimson Knight, complete with several characters exchanging confused glances to indicate they have no idea who that is. Subverted when the final scene reveals the Crimson Knight is Meredith Stannard.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In the third episode, Miriam allows a drunken cook to take a slave back to punish her for stealing food from the garbage, as she cannot move from her post. After repeating the words she told Hira how "no one saves people like us" to herself, she tries to rectify her mistake and searches for the girl. She never does as the Summer Palace becomes swarmed with monsters and demons after the security system is activated. She is able to save her and several of the other slaves later by the end, during the dragon's rampage.
- Noble Top Enforcer: Knight-Commander Tassia, Rezaren's bodyguard, is a rare example in Dragon Age of a (mostly) heroic Tevinter character. She takes her duties extremely seriously, fights alongside and encourages her troops, and is always trying to save as many lives as she can. Even while interrogating Hira, she condemns the Venatori as traitors and outlaws and tries to appeal to her desire to improve things. Overall, despite ultimately being an antagonist, she's probably one of the most good-aligned characters in the show.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: The show plays pretty fast and loose with the game series' accent conventions. Notably, Rezaren, Tassia, Hira, Dolph, and Hasem all have American accents despite Tevinter humans (along with Fereldans and Free Marchers) generally having British accents in the games.
- Ouroboros: The Circulum Infinitus is a variant; it's a golden band consisting of two snakes eating each other's tails. When Rezaren powers it up using the dragon's blood, the snakes disconnect and start dancing around each other. Eagle-eyed fans of the DA comics will even spot the suspicious similarity of the Circulum's powered-up form to the Magrallen from Until We Sleep.
- Red Herring: In Episode 3 after learning Miriam has the Circulum and that Fairbanks is dead, Hira tells her of Fairbanks' betrayal and tells her to go to Kirkwall and give the Circulum to her contact there, specifically mentioning the Hanged Man, implying her contact is Varric. The final scene reveals it's not Varric; it's Meredith.
- Wham Shot: The last 45 seconds of the final episode showing the surprising return of a big character to the franchise. Meredith Stannard, now the Crimson Knight.
- Where I Was Born and Razed: Hira sees nothing worth saving in Tevinter ever since her family was murdered by the Venatori and the Magisterium just stood by. So she plans to give the Circulum Infinitus to the Crimson Knight to ignite a war that would burn all of Tevinter, no matter how innocent or guilty, to the ground.
