Tallis is featured in the Dragon Age II DLC Mark of the Assassin. Both the Web Series and DLC launched
October 11, 2011.
Dragon Age: Redemption contains the following tropes:
- A Man Is Always Eager: Averted in Josmael's case when Nyree proposes they have sex before going into a potentially fatal confrontation with Saarebas.
- An Adventurer Is You: According to Day, the main group was envisioned with this trope in mind, with Tallis as the rogue, Josmael as mage/healer, Cairn as the tank and Nyree as DPS.
- Anti-Hero:
- Tallis, who's not only an assassin but also a follower of the Qun, a faction feared by most of Thedas. She also tests Josmael's ability to heal by tossing a dagger at him and steals from the Dalish, who previously welcomed her.
- Sociopathic Hero: She has at least a few shades of this due to her behavior here, especially in the first few episodes.
- Nyree is a Punch-Clock Hero.
- Anti-Magic: Cairn uses one of his Templar abilities ("Silence" from Dragon Age II ) against the Saarebas as he's animating the dead.
- Bar Brawl: The group is attacked by a group of mercenaries at a roadside inn. Felicia Day commented that she included this scene because every fantasy adventure must have a battle in a bar.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Tallis and Cairn.
- Big Bad: The Saarebas.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Saarebas is defeated, but Tallis fails in her mission, Josmael loses his beloved and Cairn dies.
- Blood Magic: The Saarebas intends to use Fina's blood as fuel to open a Hell Gate. Her blood does indeed contact the mask, but he is bound before he can finish.
- Butt-Monkey: Josmael. His troubles began before the series even started when his uncle, the Keeper, was captured by the Chantry. Then the Saarebas kidnapped his would-be bride as a blood sacrifice. Since the moment he joined the group, he's constantly a target for abuse. Even the barmaid at the inn smacks him on the head.
- Character Tic: The Saarebas refers to everyone by their class("rogues", "reaver", etc) where applicable. This makes sense, as the Qun teaches one's job is what they are.
- Combat Sadomasochist: Nyree has happy memories of drinking the blood of a Dragon she killed in order to become a Reaver. Since her motivation for becoming one was obtaining their ability to draw strength from pain, she was probably like this beforehand, too.
- Creepy Souvenir: One of the Saarebas' mooks wears an ear necklace. Tallis comments on its tackiness.
- Deadpan Snarker: Tallis.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: No one really calls Nyree out for trying to rape Josmael (he clearly wasn't interested). When Tallis does, it's because it's time to move out, not for any moral reason.
- Enemy Mine: One between Tallis and Cairn the Templar. They agree to work together to find the Saarebas and duel to the death for who gets to bring him in to their superiors.
- Later between Cairn and Josmael.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Tallis is her title, not her name. This is common in Qunari society.
- First-Episode Twist: Tallis's affiliation with the Qunari was meant to be a spoiler in the Mark of the Assassin DLC, while it's made clear in the beginning of the series.
- Hell Gate: Opening one of these, to usher in a demonic army from The Fade, is Saarebas' objective. Presumably a reference to Avernus trying to do the same thing in Warden's Keep from the first game.
- Heroic Sacrifice: How Cairn dies, saving Tallis from Saarebas's magic.
- Highly-Conspicuous Uniform: Tallis's armor has a Qunari sigil taking up her entire stomach. It's the same color as the rest of her armor, but the pattern is obvious.
- Hot-Blooded: Cairn
- Hypocrite: Tallis. She went against orders to rescue young girls from a pedophile, but rescuing a girl intended for a blood sacrifice? Nope, stick to mission parameters!
- She later tries to correct that mistake by trying to rescue Fina first. Which turns out to be a mistake.
- Cairn, being a Templar, often veers into this. Someone like Josmael, born with the gift of magic is clearly an abomination in the eyes of the Maker... but Reavers such as Nyree, who became what they are by ritually drinking dragon's blood, he won't even bother to bat an eye.
- As the Dragon Age series likes to discuss, since the Templars train to become capable of performing Anti-Magic, how does this really make them all that different from the Mages themselves? Granted against regular people they're just "guys in metal suits", but still, how is using semi-magical abilities as a tactical advantage against their opponents, not essentially the same thing?
- She later tries to correct that mistake by trying to rescue Fina first. Which turns out to be a mistake.
- Improvised Weapon: Nyree throws a plate of "crap-tasting stew" into one mercenary's face and disposes of another attacker with a large rock.
- It's Personal: Tallis abandons her mission and slays the Saarebas for killing Cairn.
- Cairn decided to go against orders (at least twice) to kill Saarebas on his own in revenge for his family's death. The first time accidentally setting Saarebas free, and the second time breaking the phylactery
- Literally Shattered Lives: Josmael and Nyree dispose of an opponent in this way, replicating a common Combination Attack from the games.
- MacGuffin: The Mask of Fen'Harel.
- Meaningful Echo: "A little blood for a lot of power."
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Deconstructed with Tallis. The Qunari often force their religion on the elves and humans they conquer; having been a slave, being brought into Qunari society was actually a step up for her.
- More than Mind Control: Fina.
- Must Not Die a Virgin: Nyree propositions Josmael before the final battle with this trope in mind.Nyree: You're going to get torn up by a demon army soon enough!
- Necromancer: One of the Saarebas's talents.
- Night of the Living Mooks: The Saarebas summons walking corpses to aid him in the final battle.
- Only in It for the Money: While Tallis, Cairn, and Josmael all have their reasons to go after Saarebas, Nyree doesn't, she was simply hired.
- Well, Saarebas does use her as a human shield during the first fight, getting her captured so he can escape. While she doesn't take this personally enough to go charging off after him for free, once hired she does mention that she wouldn't mind killing him as payback.
- Plot Hole: The Dalish Keeper, seen briefly at the beginning, has a beard, which elves don't grow, and lacks vallaslin, while being of age - something unheard of in Dalish culture. Josmael also has no vallaslin, though he may have been still too young to undertake the ritual. Not having it is basically declaring allegiance to Fen'harel (Dalish Satan/Loki).
- Tallis mixes up Andraste with the Maker, thinking the former's the human god and even the man she tells this to confirms it, despite it being wrong. She also claims killing Saarebas would be against her mission, despite the Qun demanding any unbound Saarebas be killed for fear of corruption, as seen in DA II.
- However, Andraste is seen as the Bride of the Maker, so it is perhaps an easy mistake to make. It's also worth remembering that dealing with rogue Saarebas is the job of an Arvaraad, meaning that Tallis is technically not required to do anything as it's not her role.
- There's also the fact that as far as the Qunari know, the Saarebas was taken by the Chantry, who would undoubtedly be trying to analyze him for potential Qunari weaknesses - which the Qunari very much do not want. Leaving behind a corpse would still be leaving behind a corpse for the Chantry's analysis were it ever found. Not that it stops Tallis from killing him, but hey.
- At one point Cairn uses Saarebas's phylactery to prevent him from using magic. Dragon Age phylacteries are unable to do anything of the sort; Templars merely use them to track the mage who's blood is in it. Templars themselves have Anti-Magic abilities unrelated to phylacteries.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Tallis shows just what she's made of at the end of chapter 1. Since she's
Playing Against Type, it's sort of shocking. - Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The team consists of a Qunari elf assassin, a Templar, a Dalish mage and a Nevarran Reaver. Not a combination that normally mixes well.
- Redemption Quest: Tallis is given the chance to rejoin the Ben-Hassrath if she captures the Saarebas.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: When Nyree taps into her Reaver powers, her eyes glow red.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Cairn is on one after the Saarebas slaughtered his whole family.
- One of the mercenaries goes on a small one against Nyree, after his sister (another mercenary) is slain by her. It doesn't work out very well.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Part of how Tallis got demoted to being an Athlok; after several missions gone wrong, she was tasked with recovering a valuable artifact from a nobleman art collector and bring it to the Qunari, leaving no trace she was there. Upon arrival, she found he collected many things - including little girls. She freed the girls and completed her mission, and nobody ever found all of the art collector's body parts - but he was nobleman, so his death was high-profile and nobody was supposed to know she was there. For this renegade behavior, and it not being her first offense, the Qunari lowered her in rank.
- Straw Affiliation / My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Josmael passes on Dalish dogma about how all elves are one nation. Tallis considers herself Qunari and doesn't really care for the parents who sold her into slavery.
- Shield Bash: Cairn uses this quite a bit.
- Sibling Team: The pair of rogues who work for the Saarebas.
- Slave to PR: The Saarebas, according to his Motive Rant; he has been taught his whole life by Qunari society, that mages represent evil and chaos. By doing such, he is fulfilling his role, as is demanded of all Qunari
- Sticky Fingers: Tallis. Fitting, since she's a rogue.
- Taking the Bullet: Cairn
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Nyree speculates (and Saarebas later confirmes) this is Saarebas's motivation for using blood magic and the Dalish mask, as he was treated like an animal and used only as a weapon. She says she'd want to destroy everything too if she was in his place.
- Too Dumb to Live: Josmael. Granted, he is young and inexperienced, but his Keeper should have hammered it into his head early on when encountering Templars, it's best that you do not tell them you are a mage.
- Too Kinky to Torture: Nyree's reaction to the prospect of being questioned with the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique, is nothing short of delight.
- Twofer Token Minority: Tallis, since she's not only an Elf but a follower of the Qun.
- Josmael too, being both an elf (a Dalish, at that) and a mage.
- Weapon Tombstone: Tallis builds one for Cairn.
