We spoke to the creators of Absolution about what makes Dragon Age so unique and how the series fits in with the upcoming role-playing game Dreadwolf. Spoiler Free
Fans of Dragon Age are pretty brave people. We have to be, after all, we”ve been waiting eight years for a sequel to the popular role-playing series. And Dreadwolf, although already revealed, has no known release date and keeps us pretty much on tenterhooks with tiny teasers.
At least on Netflix we can return to Thedas for a few hours: In the series Dragon Age: Absolution we even see a completely new area that will also play a central role in Dreadwolf. We spoke to showrunner Mairghread Scott and creative director John Epler about how the series fits into the official canon and what”s so fascinating about the Dragon Age universe.
Before we jump in, feel free to check out the trailer for Absolution. In it, sharp-eyed fans will already recognise plenty of familiar species, environments and magic:
What is Dragon Age: Absolution?
What is it about?
The animated series launched on Netflix on 9 December 2022. In it, we follow a ragtag band of “heroes” through Tevinter, the ancient mage empire. Actually, the mercenaries wanted to steal a blood magic artefact, but the action goes wrong and – well, we pretty much know after three games what kind of chaos blood magic causes.
In our opinion, the series is less suitable for complete newcomers, basic prior knowledge of the world is mandatory. For example, you should have in mind what the Inquisition has done and why Tevinter is viewed more than sceptically in the rest of Thedas. Die-hard fans of role-playing games, on the other hand, will find many allusions.
How does the series relate to the games?
To help you place it in time: Absolution takes place between the events of Inquisition and the launch of Dreadwolf. The series also makes occasional references to the history known from the role-playing games, for example when Cassandra Pentaghast and Leliana walk through the frame or the Inquisition banner flies over Skyhold. Bioware has been working energetically on the series, according to showrunner Scott, to ensure that everything fits together in Thedas at the end.
But the series and the games have even more in common than the world and some characters. The series also takes familiar paths with the storytelling itself. As usual in Dragon Age, the focus is on complex characters that cannot easily be divided into good and evil. This is what distinguishes the franchise in Scott”s eyes:
Everybody here is an unreliable narrator. We have these different factions and that lets us create characters that feel like real people. These characters are trying to do their best and they all think of themselves as the hero. But as a viewer you realise, oh no, that”s a deeply messed up motivation. That human aspect is unique to Dragon Age.
Mairghread Scott, Showrunner Dragon Age: Absolution
Epler also explains to us in an interview how Absolution and the games are connected – spoiler free of course, nothing was revealed about the next RPG.
We approach the series, but also the Dragon Age comics, for example, like this: Dragon Age consists of stories about Thedas. And even if certain events from stories are not directly related, they develop our world. In Absolution, for example, we visit Tevinter, an area that has long interested and excited our fans. We”re filling in a corner there that we haven”t spent much time in before.
Tevinter will also play a central role in Dreadwolf, that much is already known about the story. In the next role-playing game, we”ll be trudging through the empire ourselves, which should also look very similar to the animated series. At least Absolution remains true to the canon, even with armour, architecture and so on. The few artworks we already know for Dreadwolf also fit perfectly with what the series shows us.
According to Scott, Absolution also does without certain stories and locations – on explicit instructions from Bioware. So we assume that we will encounter this content in Dreadwolf instead. And yes, we have tried to pull specifics about this out of their noses. So far in vain. As soon as the curtains come down, we”ll let you know! Until then, feel free to browse through our huge overview with all known info and teasers about (Dragon Age: Dreadwolf).
Absolution is exclusive to Netflix and consists of six 30-minute episodes. Whether there will be a second season is yet to be determined – the ending would make it so, but Netflix is notorious for looking very closely at viewership figures before flashing the green light for a sequel.
When Dreadwolf will be released is still written in the stars and unfortunately we don”t have an astrarium at hand right now. It will probably be August 2023 at the earliest, but it”s quite possible that the role-playing game will come out even later.
