9 Dark Video Game Secrets You DON'T Want To Find

8. Isabela Is A Murderous Slave Trader - Dragon Age II

dragon age 2 isabel
Bioware

This next secret is definitely dark and something I bet you wish you didn’t want to know but I’m going to tell you anyway because if I have to know it then you do too. The pirate queen Isabela is a fan favourite character in Dragon Age II and why wouldn’t she be? She’s fun, roguish, super hot, and plenty charming.

Unfortunately, it turns out we may have been a little blinded by that charm since there’s a pretty important part of her backstory most of us were ignorant of.

The canon comic Dragon Age: Those Who Speak reveals that prior to being our lovable rapscallion companion, Isabela was pretty big on the slave-trafficking scene. At one point, even going as far as to throw the slaves she had in her hold overboard when she was being pursed by an Orlesian ship in order to get away. In the events of Dragon Age II she’s clearly hugely repentant and anti-slaver but once you know, you know, and this one is pretty hard for us to gloss over.

I’m just glad after learning this that I decided not to romance Isabela and instead chose Anders who is obviously not problematic at all.

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Contributor
Contributor

Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.