“Gone. Just like the Warden...”
Cassandra Pentaghast is a Nevarran royal and Seeker of the Chantry who is interested in Hawke. She believes that understanding Hawke's actions could be the key to preventing a war that threatens to engulf Thedas. She is the protagonist of the Dragon Age-based feature film Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker, which revolves around her investigating a conspiracy within the Chantry.
Background
Involvement
Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker
The Seekers, including Cassandra, attack a group of blood mages who abducted an elven girl with an unique ability from the Circle of Magi. Avexis has the ability to control beasts, and is to be used in a ritual to control dragons. The Seekers kill most of the blood mages but their leader Frenic shapeshifts into a crow and escapes.
They rescue Avexis, but High Seeker Aldren refuses to return Avexis to the Circle; he wants to keep her in custody claiming she is too important for the blood mages to be returned. Late at night Cassandra finds Byron taking the girl from prison. This confuses Cassandra as Byron taught her everything she knew as a Seeker and acted as a father figure for her. Cassandra refuses to leave and follows Byron into the woods. Byron speaks of a conspiracy within the Chantry and insists they get Avexis to safety, to a friend he can trust. Cassandra follows despite being told otherwise, but they soon find themselves surrounded by a group of blood mages. Byron is killed and the blood mages take Avexis.
Cassandra sees a mage trying to flee the scene and captures him. He claims he is not one of them but Cassandra doesn't believe him. When they are captured by templars the mage whispers that he was the friend Byron spoke of and eventually convinces Cassandra. Cassandra distracts the templars and frees them, deciding that it's up to her to find proof of the conspiracy to clear her name as she is branded a traitor.
The blood mages are one step ahead of them each time, and find the other mages killed in a Circle safe house. They had just returned from a paranoid elven informant Lazarro, who's house is in a cliff up a mountain and can only be reached by climbing. Lazzaro betrays them and the blood mages attack, but not before he's giving Cassandra vital information with a knife pressed against his neck.
The blood mages are planning to attack the Divine on the 10 year gathering. They are attacked by an ogre, and outside they are surrounded by ogres and golems controlled by the blood mages. They escape using a vial Lazarro was planning to use on them, creating a flash bomb effect. Cassandra is wounded and can hardly walk, but not long after their escape they are found by the templars lead by Knight-Commander Martel. At the edge of a cliff and seemingly no escape, Cassandra throws her and the mage off the cliff, falling into the river below. The mage, who by now has introduced himself as Regalyan D'Marcall, helps her into a cave where they get shelter and he treats her wound. Slowly the mage wins her trust, after he expresses his deep regrets when she tells him about how blood mages killed her brother.
They fall asleep and when the Knight-Commander comes in and sees they're gone, he communicates with an elven stone with Frenic proving to be the traitor within the Chantry. Cassandra manages to get a hold of the stone but is still too injured to fight Martel properly. Regalyan creates a distraction and collapses the tunnel so they can escape. They go on route to approach the High Seeker by entering a secret passage, but he is killed by Martel when he goes to the Divine with the stone as proof against the Knight-Commander.
Martel frames Cassandra and Regalyan for the murder and they are imprisoned. Cassandra learns before her execution that he co-conspired with Callista, the Grand Cleric or Orlais to unleash dragons on the Divine and the gathered Grand Clerics during the ceremony so that Callista would become the new Divine as the only surviving Grand Cleric. However, Regalyan informed Circle mages by sending a bird right before entering the secret passage way, and the mages come to their aid.
Cassandra decapitates the Knight-Commander. When 4 dragons, controlled by Avexis, who is in turn controlled by Frenic, attack, she jumps on the back of the first one, killing it. When she is on the back of the second dragon, Frenic orders for a high dragon to be summoned for the attack. The high dragon goes straight for the Divine, but Cassandra stops the attack by flying a wounded dragon into the high dragon, collapsing a wall and wounding Callista. Cassandra is aided by the Seekers to bring the Divine to safety. She goes on to aid Regalyan and the Circle mages who confront Frenic.
Regalyan managed to get Avexis in his arms and Frenic turns into an abomination to defeat the mages and destroy the Chantry after he kills the Grand Cleric of Orlais as she is no longer useful. The magic of the mages doesn't hurt Frenic, but Avexis summons the high dragon to burn Frenic. Cassandra leaps on top of him and stabs Frenic when he falls down to the square beneath, surviving the fall. She rallies the crowd by shouting: for the Chantry! The crowd responds in the same way.
After the attack Cassandra is seen in a Seeker armor again accompanied by Regalyan who are waiting in a dark hallway. Regalyan tells her she is the most beautiful and bravest woman he has after met. She giggles and tells him this is not the right place or time, but to his surprise gives him a kiss on the cheek.
When the door opens Cassandra and Regalyan walk through a crowd, holding hands with Avexis, up to the Divine. Cassandra is proclaimed Hero of Orlais and Right hand of the Divine by Justinia V.
Dragon Age II
On behalf of the Chantry, Cassandra approaches Varric after Hawke has become Champion. She interrogates him in the old Amell Estate revealing that the Champion has left Kirkwall before the Seekers have begun their search for the Warden and Hawke. Cassandra initially believed that the Champion came to the city to spread subversion against the Chantry.
Quotes
- (To Varric) "You know exactly why I'm here! Time to start talking, dwarf. They tell me you're good at it."
- (To Varric) "Bullshit! That's not what really happened!"
- (To Varric) "Why lie now about this? What have you to gain?"
- Cassandra: "I'm not interested in stories. I came to hear the truth".
- Varric: "What makes you think I know the truth?"
- Cassandra: "Don't lie to me! You knew him/her even before he/she became the Champion!"
Trivia
- Mark Darrah, Dragon Age II's executive producer, stated that the development team was thinking about the possibility of Cassandra playing a major role in Dragon Age III.[1]
- During the development of Dragon Age II, her hair changed from long black hair, to short white hair, to her current short black hair.
- In Dragon Age: Redemption Nyree states that she once fought beside a templar named Cassandra. Cairn states Cassandra is head of the Seeker order. Nyree could simply confuse seekers and templars.
Gallery
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