Dragon Age: Absolution ending explained: Who has the Circulum Infinitus?

Netflix’s ‘Dragon Age: Absolution’ follows Miriam and her ragtag team of misfits on a quest to steal a powerful magical artefact from the keep of an evil empire.

Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers

Plot summary

Miriam, a runaway elf and a skilled thief and fighter, stumbles upon her old flame, Hira. She has come to enlist Miriam for a perilous mission.

The mission is to steal the Circulam Infinitus, a powerful magical artefact, run by the infamous blood magic and capable of horrors when wielded by malicious actors.

It’s being kept within the vaults of the palace of Tevinter Divine — the head of their faith.

Miriam refuses to join the mission as the palace has a connection to some of her most traumatic experiences during her childhood days as a slave there.

However, Hira convinces her to join them and lead them all inside, as she’s familiar with the layout of the palace. A reluctant Miriam embarks on the mission along with Hira, Fairbank, Roland, Lacklon, and Qwydion, and heads off to the city of Nessum.

Meanwhile, at the vault of the palace, Magister Rezaren Ammosine is hard at work using the feared and forbidden blood magic to summon spirits and demons, in order to learn more about the history of the Circulam Infinitus — so that he can learn how to use it.

The group eventually breaks into the vault and Fairbanks seems to turn out to be the traitor, betraying Hira as she’s about to steal the artefact. However, she manages to fight back and it’s Fairbanks who ends up dying before giving the artefact to Miriam.

While Miriam and others escape the palace, Hira gets arrested. Her connection to the Magister Rezaren is revealed while he tries to get her on his side, like before.

Later in ‘Dragon Age: Absolution’, the team makes another effort to fight back Rezaren and save Hira. They are successful but all hell breaks loose when Rezaren embraces the evil persona he’s always had, and Hira’s real quest is revealed.

After the final battle, Miriam tries to convince Hira to not give in to her hate, but the latter can’t oblige. As the rest of the team lives to see another day, Hira runs off to the Templars and the Crimson Knight, a strong nemesis of the Imperium.

Dragon Age: Absolution ending explained in detail:

What is the Circulum Infinitus?

The Circulum Infinitus is an ancient magical artefact capable of performing impossible feats when wielded by powerful mages.

It was the last and greatest work of Magister Amelia Pavus but remained ever since within the vaults of the Tevinter Divine’s summer palace, having never been put to use until Rezaren Ammosine.

The artefact is a golden, embellished bangle-like ornament. It’s powered by blood magic so its use is generally discouraged due to the moral toll it’d exact.

While the total depth of its powers is perhaps not depicted in ‘Dragon Age: Absolution’, one of its supernatural power is to bring the dead back to life. Rezaren intends to use this power to resurrect Neb and a lot of dead Tevinter people.

Why did Hira betray Miriam and others?

Hira’s family was one of the progressive ones that wanted to change the ways of the Tevinter kingdom and their enslavement and mistreatment of slaves.

However, the Venatori family, known and disliked for their brutish and monstrous ways of protecting the kingdom, attacked Hira’s family and burned her father alive as a warning and in a quest to safeguard the traditions of Tevinter.

Hira escaped and grew up to despise Tevinter to the point she wants it all to burn to the ground. She wants to indiscriminately kill everyone in the kingdom. To achieve her quest for vengeance, she turns to The Inquisition.

However, the Inquisition, although an enemy of Tevinter, refused to help Hira as the collateral cost of a battle with them would be too much. So Hira turned to a vicious force in the Templars and the Crimson Knight.

The Crimson Knight shares Hira’s sense of vengeance against the Tevinter and working along the Templars, Hira is tasked to steal the Circulum Infinitus. However, they simply can’t steal it because the Divine would be able to trace them.

So Hira concocted a plan wherein she’d stage a robbery while exchanging with Rezaren a certain someone for the artefact. So she was in collusion with the Magister and staged the robbery.

In exchange for the Circulum Infinitus, Hira struck a deal with Rezaren to hand Miriam over to him. After the resurrection ritual, Rezaren was going to hand Hira the artefact, as per the deal.

However, ‘Dragon Age: Absolution’ ends with Miriam and the team learning about Hira’s betrayal, Rezaren’s death, and the Circulum Infinitus being carried to the Crimson Knight by Hira.

What happens to Rezaren?

Rezaren is killed by Miriam after the Magister fails to resurrect Neb and complete his ritual. He always claimed to be sympathetic to Miriam and her dead twin brother Neb, while in reality, all he ever wanted was them by his side, as nothing better than slaves.

It was his failure that led to Neb being killed, in which his cruel mother had a great role. Prior to Men’s death, she would torture and abuse him and Miriam to no end, frequently treating them inhumanely and as slaves.

After Neb’s death, Miriam escaped and years later, Rezaren wished to resurrect Neb, who he claimed to love as his brother, similar to how he claims Miriam to be his sister.

However, Miriam knows and realises that what Rezaren wants is power and for her and her dead brother to be his “things” again, working under him as slaves, incapable of following their own desires and goals.

At the end of ‘Dragon Age: Absolution’, Rezaren embraces his evil roots and kills many Tevinter soldiers, to use blood magic and cast a spell strong enough to control the High Dragon and then use the Circulum.

He summons Neb’s spirit and commands him to get inside his material body. Miriam asks, with tears in her eyes, for Neb to not do that, as he’d just be possessing a body in the wretched realm where he’s nothing but a slave.

Neb agrees with his sister, as he flies forward destroying his material body to smithereens. Meanwhile, Miriam stands up and after moments of their fight, emerges a victor, impaling her knife into Rezare’s throat and killing him.


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