Josmael (episode)

For information about the character, see Josmael.

“I have the gift.”

Josmael is the title of the third episode of the web series Dragon Age: Redemption.

Introduction[]

In the world of Dragon Age, human and elvish mages are forcibly held in isolated towers by the Chantry.

Mages who rebel are called "Apostates". They are hunted down by templars, captured or killed.

Qunari treat their mages worse, keeping them leashed & bound.

They call them "Saarebas", meaning "dangerous thing."

Few ever escape.

To be born with the "gift" of magic is a fate not to be envied...

Plot[]

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Redemption.

Outside of Dalish camp

After witnessing Josmael using magic, Cairn proceeds to capture him as his templar training taught him. Josmael states that he can be of use as his uncle taught him healing spells. Tallis stops Cairn from attacking the elf, but then throws a dagger into his chest, asking him to heal himself to prove that he can in fact heal. When he does so, Tallis invites him to join the party and tells Cairn that he has to come with them so that he can keep an eye on Josmael.

On their way to where Saarebas was heading, Josmael asks Cairn about his uncle who was imprisoned by templars. Cairn informs him that he died during Saarebas's escape, and Tallis states that it must have been Saarebas who killed him once he found out about the Mask.

Clearing

The party stops and rests, and they engage in conversation. Josmael comes to a realisation that without his uncle, the only person left alive whom he loves is Fina. Tallis then quotes a Qunari proverb of unknown source: "A follower of the Qun feels not love, for nothing should tyrannize their heart." Cairn then states that he loved his family, but doesn't have a wife as Chantry forbids it. Tallis then replies that it works similarly in Qunari society; if a Qunari is to have a partner, the partner is assigned to them by the priests.

The cave

Tallis, Cairn, and Josmael manage to track the Saarebas down to a cave that is guarded by a mercenary. They sneak inside.

In the cave, Saarebas is perfoming a ritual involving the Mask of Fen'Harel that requires Fina's blood. As he cuts her arm, Josmael screams, making the mage's entourage aware of the group's presence and a battle breaks out. One of the saarebas's mercenaries is killed by Cairn, Josmael casts sleep on the two rogues, and Tallis engages Nyree. Cairn then confronts the Saarebas, weakening him with his phylactery, after which the mage calls upon Nyree to defend him. Nyree pushes Cairn to the ground, making him break the phylactery, restoring the Saarebas's powers.

As Josmael leaves with Fina, he spots the Mask, and says to her that it is his duty to protect it, and so he does not escape. Battling the Saaarebas, Tallis throws a paralising bomb towards the mage, but he manages to redirect it towards Nyree, trapping her. In the meantime, the rogue siblings wake up and rejoin the fight. Busy fighting the rogues, Cairn and Tallis let the mage escape. Before leaving the cave, he knocks Josmael out with magic and orders the rogues to take Fina. Outside the cave he uses magic to cause a cave-in, trapping Tallis, Cairn, and Josmael inside with Nyree.

Trivia[]

Cairn only brands Josmael an apostate after he sees him using magic, but he should have known as a templar that a Keeper's First is also a mage, and Josmael is revealed to be the First at the camp in front of him.
Cairn states that templars are not allowed to marry, but Aveline Vallen was married to a templar named Ser Wesley Vallen.
In previous episode, Josmael says that Saarebas stole a "golden mask of Fen'Harel", but the mask is actually red. It could be that early in development the mask was meant to be golden.
The knife that Saarebas uses to cut Fina's arm was based on an unused Dragon Age II resource for a "Shark jaw bone sword."^[1]
According to Production Designer for the series, Greg Aronowitz, the blood required for the ritual was that of a virgin,^[2] and not of a Dalish elf. There was never any significance to virginal blood in any of the Dragon Age games, unlike other medieval fantasy media.
Saarebas sarcastically quotes a Qunari proverb that goes "As does a drowning man know the sea, so does a mage know magic;" this means that the Qunari bind the mages to help them as they are "drowning" in magic. The same quote is said by Sten when asked about the Saarebas by The Warden.