Summary
Tons of action and a couple of very strong character moments keep this penultimate episode moving at a brisk pace.
This recap of the Netflix anime Dragon Age: Absolution season 1, episode 5, “An Altar of Fire”, contains spoilers.
After spending the entire season trying to convince her newfound allies that she was reliable and didn’t kill their former leader Master Fairbanks, “An Altar of Fire” at least opens with some payoff for all Miriam’s hard work. She resolves to get Hira back from Razaren, and Roland and Lacklon agree to help her in the endeavor.
Dragon Age: Absolution season 1, episode 5 recap – why does Hira hate Tevinter?
Speaking of Hira, we actually get some backstory for her here. In a conversation with Tassia, the Templar recognizes that she’s a Tevinter from a noble family. However, Hira recounts the Venatori turning on her family after they tried to help the people the Imperium enslaves. You know how it is – the powerful only retain control by keeping things the same. Hira’s father was burned on the front lawn by a dragon as an example to others who might have been inspired into selflessness.
You can understand why Hira is so against the Imperium, then – she has almost as much reason to hate them as Miriam does, which goes some way toward explaining their connection and romance, too. No wonder they found so much solace in each other. And no wonder Miriam returns to the city’s giant golden gates to get Hira out of there.
As ever, “An Altar of Fire” is full of action, and there are some cool sequences here. Miriam owning all the palace guards is one. Miriam fighting Neb while Tassia duals Roland is another. These occur simultaneously, and the episode does a job of jumping between them while still keeping the clarity up. Eventually, Roland and Lacklon take on Tassia together, while Neb blasts Miriam with a magical sigil that Razaren put in his hand, and Qwydion is able to sneak inside in the midst of all the carnage.
There are also lots of nice visuals of the collapsing palace and the berserk dragon, which manages to escape by episode’s end. And we also get the most significant character moment thus far, in which Miriam, having defeated Neb in combat, elects to cut off his head, freeing the demon from within him and bringing his service to Razaren to an end.
You can stream Dragon Age: Absolution season 1, episode 5, “An Altar of Fire” exclusively on Netflix.
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