“I'm not interested in stories. I came to hear the truth.”
Cassandra Pentaghast is a Nevarran of the royal Pentaghast family and Seeker of the Chantry 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 film Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker, which revolves around her investigating a conspiracy within the Chantry. In Dragon Age: Inquisition she becomes one of The Inquisitor's companions.
Background
Cassandra as a child
Involvement
Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker
The Seekers, including Cassandra, attack a group of blood mages who abducted an elven girl with a 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, whose 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 given Cassandra vital information with a knife pressed against his neck.
The blood mages are planning to attack the current Divine, Beatrix III, 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 led by Knight-Commander Martel. At the edge of a cliff and with 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 of 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 duels the Knight-Commander, accusing him of betraying the Chantry, to which he retorts that he is ushering in a new era for the Chantry, 'one where events like Kirkwall will not be tolerated'. Cassandra ultimately wins the fight by severing Martel's sword arm; she spares his life and orders him imprisoned, intending to put him on trial for his crimes, but when the Knight-Commander breaks free and attacks, Cassandra beheads him. 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 manages 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, explaining he took advantage of her ambition to further his own plans. The magic of the Circle mages doesn't hurt Frenic, but Avexis summons the high dragon to burn Frenic. Cassandra leaps on top of him and stabs Frenic in the skull 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 Seeker armor again accompanied by Regalyan who is waiting in a dark hallway. Regalyan tells her she is the most beautiful and bravest woman he has ever 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 Beatrix III.
After the ceremony, the Divine meets with Cassandra in the cathedral. The Divine insists that the attack on the Gathering was only the beginning; a storm is coming and the Chantry must be prepared. Cassandra asks how she can serve as the Divine places a book in her arms (the same one she holds during her interrogation of Varric Tethras).
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. As she starts demanding that Varric tell her everything he knows about Hawke, he starts explaining that Hawke and their sibling were fighting darkspawn before a dragon appeared, causing Cassandra to interrupt him, claiming it to be a falsehood, so Varric explained the true story. Cassandra became skeptical at his claim that Flemeth rescued Hawke from the darkspawn, but relented when Varric asked if he was to recount the tale of the Warden. She permitted Varric to continue but warned that she would cancel her interrogation if he claim that the Hawke family and Aveline Vallen flew to Kirkwall on a dragon.
Upon reaching the part where Hawke joins Varric and Bartrand's expedition into the Deep Roads, Cassandra attempted to deny his version of events, having initially believed that the Champion came to the city to spread subversion against the Chantry. She points out that Hawke just happened to have dealings with the Qunari, a known raider, a blood mage and a rebel Warden all in an effort to obtain wealth. At the end of Varric's retelling of the expedition, Cassandra remarks on the fate of Hawke's sibling. She also starts changing her opinion on Hawke's companions, having assumed that they all came from Ferelden together but Varric insists that's not the whole story.
When Varric finishes with the end of the Qunari attack on Kirkwall, Cassandra's opinion on the Champion changes: she calls a male Hawke heroic for his deeds, whilst for a female she develops respect for what she has done. If Hawke had bested the Qunari Arishok in single combat, she remarks that the tale sounds very romantic.
In Legacy, Cassandra confronts Varric regarding a Grey Warden prison in the Vinmark Mountains and Hawke's actions there. When the Seekers had investigated, they were turned back by the Wardens. By the end of Varric's retelling, Cassandra found it hard to believe that Hawke defeated Corypheus, one of the first darkspawn and allegedly one of the magisters who entered the Golden City. She also noted that the Wardens did not mention the presence of Janeka/Larius at the prison, who left after Hawke defeated Corypheus.
In Mark of the Assassin, Cassandra accuses Varric of holding back on her, mentioning that Hawke nearly sparked a war with Orlais. She demanded the true accounts of the events at Chateau Haine, especially regarding Tallis, mentioning that the Seekers had an agent there who lacked any knowledge of the event. Upon reaching the part where Tallis was revealed to be Qunari, Cassandra clarified for Varric that the Qunari were a religion, not a race. When Varric's story ended with the death of Duke Prosper, Cassandra demanded to know who was to appease Orlais after his murder at the hands of the Champion. Varric explained that Prosper was making deals with Tal-Vashoth, possibly on Empress Celene's orders, and thus it would've been scandalous if the truth came out.
When his story comes to an end, Cassandra comes to the conclusion that the Knight-Commander Meredith was the central cause of outbreak of the rebellion in Kirkwall though Varric suggests that either the idol or Anders are equally responsible. When she asked about the whereabouts of Hawke, whom she believes can stop the escalating conflict between mages and templars, Varric admits that even he doesn't know it, but doubts that his friend is dead. Satisfied, Cassandra grants the dwarf his freedom and exits the Amell Estate, where a contingent of Seekers are awaiting. Leliana asks Cassandra if she was successful in determining the Champion's whereabouts, and she confirms Hawke's disappearance, in circumstances similar to the disappearance of the Warden-Commander. She then asks Leliana whether they should proceed with their unknown original plan or keep searching. Leliana tells her to trust in the Maker. Cassandra is then seen leaving with the Seekers.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Along with Varric and Vivienne, Cassandra is one of the companions confirmed for Dragon Age: Inquisition. [2]
Quotes
- (To Varric) "Start talking, dwarf. They tell me you're good at it."
- "The Champion killed the Arishok in single combat? It sounds so romantic."
- "The righteous stand before the darkness, and the Maker shall guide their hand."
- 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
- 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 that Cassandra is head of the Seeker Order. Cassandra Pentaghast, however, is not the head of the Seekers.[3]
- Cassandra is proclaimed the "right hand of the Divine Beatrix III" in Dawn of the Seeker, while in Dragon Age II, Grand Cleric Elthina refers to Leliana as the "left hand of the Divine" (albeit referring to a different Divine).
Gallery
.jpg "Cassandra (DotS).jpg (41 KB)")
.png "Cassandra Pentaghast (HoDA).png (5.8 MB)")
References
- ↑ "As you saw in the trailer, Morrigan, Varric & Cassandra play a role in the game."
Chris Priestly. "Article on title of Inquisition vs DA3" . BioWare Social Network. Retrieved on June 22, 2013.
- ↑ | Game Informer September 2013 Issue
- ↑ Gaider, David. Twitter. Posted on August 26, 2012.
Chris Priestly. 
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