Zevran is hired by Loghain and Arl Howe to assassinate the Warden, who will eventually be lured into an ambush on The Long Road. If Zevran is overcome in the battle, the Warden is presented with an option to either kill him or allow him to speak in his defense. Should he be kept alive for interrogation, Zevran will ask to join the group, offering to protect and serve the Warden in exchange for his life.

Note that in order to trigger the encounter with Zevran, the Warden must have completed The Arl of Redcliffe up to reaching Arl Eamon, or obtained one of the other allies through the Ancient Treaties or completed The Urn of Sacred Ashes.

Confident and eager to put his abilities to good use under the Warden's employ, Zevran is easygoing by nature. Though many of the party members have their doubts about whether or not he is trustworthy, he takes their suspicions in stride and deflects their accusations with wit. He has no reservations about what he does for a living, nor does he try to dress up his role as a Crow. He acknowledges freely that he is a killer and that he cannot picture himself doing anything else. Even so, he does possess a somewhat slanted sense of morality that guides his actions.

Zevran is among the least judgmental companions. The Warden's decisions, for good or ill, rarely affect his disposition by more than a few points (if at all), though there are some exceptions. Zevran will object should the Warden opt to destroy the Anvil of the Void, arguing the anvil's value to their war effort. He will also protest the decision to cleanse the Tower in Broken Circle, questioning why his life was spared while those of the mages are so easily disregarded. If asked about the Dalish elves after the Warden has completed Nature of the Beast by siding with the werewolves, he will snap that it is a ghoulish thing to bring up after everything that has transpired (even if he has not joined the party until after said events); Zevran will, however, concede that the werewolves deserved their revenge, and the Dalish fell because they were weak. If he is in the party when the Warden proposes slaughtering the Dalish, Zevran will plead with the Warden to spare their lives, although the Warden can overrule him and persuade him to go along with no drop in approval.

If you have Zevran in your party while going to the Fade at the Circle of Magi, when you arrive at the companions nightmares Zevran is being pulled on the rack. It seems that he's reliving an old experience, that of being tortured to prove that he can endure pain, in order to join the Crows. While in the Fade, Zevran is oblivious to the fact that he is already an Antivan Crow, and has to be reminded of this by the Warden. Once convinced, Zevran will disappear, re-appearing before the final battle against Sloth.

Despite his Dalish lineage and the fact he briefly lived with a roaming clan, Zevran thinks of himself first as an Antivan. He claims to feel no collective kinship to other elves, those in alienages least of all: Zevran believes that too many of his kind have accepted being considered inferior as a fact of life, and thinks they have to fight to earn a higher level of respect. Regardless of what he says, Zevran will approve the Warden's actions if they benefit elves in general. For example, he will approve of freeing Soris from Howe's prisons during the Landsmeet and disapprove if the Warden frees Bann Vaughan, but only if the Warden brings up the topic of the elven uprising in Denerim (around -5 approval).

In time, if the Warden has garnered a high approval rating with Zevran, he will reveal the specifics of some of his missions as a Crow. The last job he performed in Antiva was to be carried out with the assistance of his fellow assassins, Taliesen and Rinna. Zevran explains that he had become genuinely smitten with Rinna in a way that directly conflicted with his assassin training. But as the trio planned their attack, Taliesen learned that Rinna had accepted a bribe from their mark and was planning to betray them. Zevran watched Taliesen kill the traitor, callously mocking her pleas of innocence and dying declarations of her love for him, and the two men carried out the mission on their own. Only after their target was dead did they discover the real source of their victim's information, which in turn proved Rinna had been telling the truth. Heartbroken and disgusted by his actions, Zevran returned to the Crows and made a bid for what many believed was a suicide mission: kill any remaining Grey Wardens in Ferelden. He took the job expecting, even hoping to die at the hands of legendary heroes, only to have his would-be killers show him the mercy he had not given Rinna. This is brought up by the Guardian, who will ask Zevran if he feels remorse for her murder.

After The Landsmeet quest has started, and while travelling in Denerim, Taliesen approaches the party and offers to take Zevran back to Antiva. If his approval rating is not high enough, Zevran (regardless if he's in the active party) will betray the team and permanently die in the following confrontation. If this happens, his codex entry will be updated with details regarding his death. If he has high approval (+26, or at least at "warm" or "interested"), he will deny the Crows. If he is in a romance with the Warden and at least "interested" but below +71, he may refuse to fight, depending on how the Warden answers Taliesen. If this happens, the Warden will have the opportunity to question Zevran about his relationship with Taliesen later. If he is in a romance with the Warden and the approval rating is high enough, he will fight alongside the Warden. Afterwards Zevran states that the Crows will have assumed he rejoined Taliesin and subsequently died with him. This gives Zevran an opportunity to disappear before they learn otherwise, and his disposition will determine if he then asks for his freedom or to remain with the group and continue to defend from the Blight.

Romance

A supposed master of seduction, Zevran will blatantly flirt with the Warden, in addition to some of the other companions, even if only in jest. He is typically undeterred by anything short of a firm and clear declining of his advances, thus making it easy to start a relationship with the Warden, regardless of gender. Almost immediately after being recruited into the team he will reveal his attraction to the Warden, and from there the Warden can drop unsubtle hints that the thought is reciprocated.

It is a simple enough matter to get into Zevran's good graces. He enjoys playful innuendo and being asked of his exploits, and as long as the Warden can accept his sexual history, the romance will continue. He can be asked to accompany the Warden back to their tent with a moderately high approval rating, which he happily accepts. Afterwards he explains that he holds no claim to the player character, and it is their choice if the encounter is a one-time thing or will continue. Conversely, if Zevran has a high approval of the Warden and they have not yet asked him to bed, he will offer his company for the night. Asking Zevran about love afterwards will result in a loss of approval, though telling him it's a one night stand will result in a significantly larger approval loss as well as ending the relationship. Zevran is just as faithful as the other romance partners once in a relationship.

If the Warden is concurrently romancing Alistair, Leliana, or Morrigan, Zevran will eventually ask if that relationship is going anywhere. He will offer to step aside to avoid complications down the road, stating they have "had their fun", but the Warden should pursue the path of lasting happiness, though there is some indication that his feelings run quite a bit deeper than he is letting on. Choosing to stay with Zevran will result in a significant approval boost, and dumping him in a corresponding significant approval loss.

While Zevran and the Warden can become very close quite soon after starting the romance, Zevran's approval rating won't switch to "love" until after the calling of the Landsmeet. The party encounters (and slays) Zevran's old friend Taliesen, and with that Zevran is given a reprieve from being hunted by the Crows. In gratitude, he offers the Warden an earring. Upon being asked if the item is a token of his affection, Zevran will give an awkward response that should make the answer obvious. However, pushing him to actually say it will result in a refusal to hand over the earring and a minor approval drop. Another alternative is to refuse the earring altogether, which will also cause disapproval. Later, he will approach and offer it to the Warden again (if the Warden makes the right dialogue choices when pressing Zevran on why he no longer accepts sexual encounters -see below-). There is an option to suggest that the earring represents a proposal, which Zevran will agree to if it is the Warden's wish that it be taken as such. This apparently is what Zevran wishes as well, as if the Warden decides a proposal is too much after suggesting it, the relationship ends as Zevran wants some promise of a future together.

After he has offered the earring, Zevran will refuse sexual encounters. If prompted to give a reason why, or asked if he wants to end the relationship, he will snap at the Warden and end the conversation with a small gain of approval. When asked about his change in behavior he explains that he is confused about his feelings, and from here the Warden will have to express love or end the romance. If the conversation ends well, Zevran will again take the Warden's bed.

If the Warden survives the fight with the archdemon and elects to rebuild the Grey Wardens, Zevran will accompany them to rebuild the order, assisting with recruitment and training, though he will never actually join. The Warden choosing to remain in Denerim, return to their clan, travel, or other such options will result in Zevran staying for a time. The circumstances aren't clear, although the Epilogue indicates that Zevran still loves the Warden. The Warden is also able to keep Zevran as a consort if his approval rating is high enough, despite marrying Alistair or Anora and becoming king or queen. There is an additional conversation with him regarding this once the engagement is announced, where he will ask about where he stands and whether or not the romance will continue in spite of the upcoming nuptials.

While Zevran does not appear in Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, he is referenced once when the Warden (imported only) is recruiting Nathaniel Howe, and again at the end of the game if the Warden was romantically involved with him. If so, the ending reveals that the Warden eventually travels to Antiva in order to find Zevran—whether to engage in a showdown with him, to lead the Crows at his side, or to continue to adventure with him remains up to the player to decide.

Zevran is still being hunted by the Crows, and may be encountered in a cave near a Dalish elf camp after Hawke accepts the quest A Murder of Crows given by an Antivan named Nuncio outside the entrance of the Blooming Rose at the beginning of Act 3. Hawke will have the option of bringing him back to his employer, letting him go or fighting him. If Hawke let Zevran go and kill the Crows hunting him, he will appear during the final battle with Meredith to aid Hawke.

If Zevran was not in a loving relationship with the Warden at the end of Dragon Age: Origins and Isabela, not romanced, is not in the party, he will offer to "get to know" Hawke after the Crows are eliminated. If the champion is in a relationship with Isabela and she is in the party during the quest A Murder of Crows, it is possible to have a threesome between Isabela, the champion, and Zevran, if the champion agrees to kill the Crows that are after him. Even if Hawke is in a relationship with Isabela, she will ask Zevran for sex. Hawke can ask her not to, and Isabela will comply, telling Hawke had better make up for it with sex later. If the champion is in a relationship with Anders, Fenris, or Merrill and they are present when Zevran makes his offer, they will react jealously and Zevran will retract his offer.

If Zevran is in a loving relationship with the Warden and Hawke chooses to fight the Crows Nuncio will comment that the Warden is not there to protect Zevran this time. It is unknown if this is only tied in to an imported character that went through Awakening, as during the epilogue in Awakening, it says how the Warden and Zevran fought a firece battle in Antiva and possibly ran the Crows for a time. (I got this comment from Nuncio once without importing an Awakening save but did not get it the second time with an Awakening save generated by the Game Save Generator as Awakening import flags are not registering properly. For both cases, Zevran addresses the Warden as if he or she made the Ultimate Sacrifice, saying, "The memories are too fresh" when Isabela asked him for sex.)

NOTE: There is a bug that causes Zevran to offer to sleep with Hawke and/or Isabela, despite having been in a loving relationship with the Warden that has not been officially fixed. Although the dialogue responses for Zevran turning Isabela's proposals down and commenting on his relationship with the Warden have been recorded for imported saves, they do not appear in-game for many players. Whether this bug will be fixed is not known. NOTE: There is another bug in which he still appears in Dragon age II although he did not survive the events of Dragon age:Origins(pc 1.03)

Zevran has been known to appear in the final fight against Meredith, lending his efforts around the time Meredith summons the slave statues. If he survives, his fate is not disclosed in the epilogue.

However, if Zevran did not survive the events of Dragon Age: Origins, the quest will not become available. There are no achievements related to the quest, so if he died in Origins, all achievements are still obtainable.