Text-heavy and speculation heavy! Probably The Masked Empire and Asunder SPOILERS too.
Thread in part inspired by discussions we had in the Solas thread. Various discussion points bolded. Sorry if this would be best posted in another subforum, I wasn't sure. This is probably tl;dr I know. At the moment I haven't bothered including any links to tarot resources like the meanings of the cards and such, because I figured it's pretty easy to Google and there is an abundance of info on the net, but if you want me to do so I can.
So we know the Inquisitor's Edition of the game comes with a deck of 72 tarot cards (both minor and major arcana) with custom artwork that depicts mythology from Dragon Age lore.
Kind of similar to the Last Supper speculation, I'm curious about what card each character will be. I think the people who made the deck will have at least put some thought into allocating each character a card that makes a bit of sense in at least some lights. 
Although who knows, they could have thrown out the traditional cards entirely and we could end up getting a set with things like "The Spymaster", "The Mercenary", "The Templar", "The Enchanter"?
The tarot is a specialized set of cards with a long history. A deck is similar to an ordinary pack of playing cards. Both have 4 suits numbered from ace to 10. These are the "minor arcana". Instead of clubs, hearts, spades and diamonds, the tarot suits are wands, cups, swords and pentacles. Unlike an ordinary set of cards, each suit has 4 court cards rather than 3 - King, Queen, Knight and Page. This makes 56 cards in the minor arcana.
In addition to the minor cards, the tarot deck has 22 'extra cards' known as the major arcana. These do not have a suit but have their own numbers (with the exception of the Fool), a title and symbolic image. This means that most commonly, a tarot deck has 78 cards. Interestingly, the deck that comes with the Inquisitor's edition seems to have 72 cards. Whether it's an error/typo, a stylistic choice or a choice with meaning I don't know. Googling "72 cards tarot" brings back a bunch of stuff on "72 names cards" which from what I can see is to do with Kabbalah and the names of God.
Anyway I'm mostly interested in the major arcana (speculation on how they'll translate the rest of it into DA things is still welcome! Wands -> staffs? Cups -> joining chalices? ), with the rationalization that with their more obvious themes and personas they will all or mostly be represented by characters. This could be wrong of course but I'm going to run with it. Given that I'm not sure where the 6 'missing' cards have been docked from... we could have the full 22 major arcana, or if the 'missing' cards were major arcana they chose not to have, we'd have 16. Another one of my assumptions is that the characters depicted on cards will all or almost all be characters who will be important or prominent in some way in the game Inquisition (and not simply in a King Alistair cameo in DAII manner). My list of who I assume will be key players in the game currently looks like this:
- the 9 companions (generally assumed to be: Cassandra, Beardy Warden, Iron Bull, Varric, Sera, Cole, Vivienne, Solas, DHMG) & 3 advisors (generally assumed to be: Cullen, Scribbles, Leliana)
- Empress Celene
- Morrigan
- Flemeth
- Gaspard
Given the fact that the Inquisitor can be customized I am unsure of whether to include them (since featuring them on a card would probably require making statements about their race at least, if not gender)? Not including the Inquisitor, my list has 16 people on it. I have no idea whether I'm simply missing a bunch of people who will be important or whether this backs up the fact that we'll have a major arcana with 6 missing (or a re-vamped DA-style major arcana like I said above, "The Templar", "The Enchanter", etc, in which case direct correlations with the traditional ones are kind of a moot point). If you think some people on the list are likely not to be included as a card, feel free to say. Feel free also to suggest additions. Briala? Maybe some of the cards will feature characters we have yet to meet or be made aware of in the DA franchise? I didn't include characters like Rhys, Fiona, the Divine etc because have been assuming characters like that die in the explosion.
Going back to the image in the first link up there, we can see Iron Bull, Cassandra, Solas (of course you would only block Solas's handsome face BioWare!!!11) and DHMG. In the Solas thread we were speculating that Solas looks like he may be Death. It looks like he might be holding a sheaf of wheat and a scythe. A scythe is self-explanatory I would hope. And Death is apparently sometimes depicted with wheat (credit for sourcing image etc: Banxey).
We spent a while discussing the possible implications of this. Falon'Din is the elven god of Death and Fortune and guides the dead to the Beyond. In ancient times instead of dying, elves would enter the long sleep and walk paths beyond the Veil with Falon'Din and his brother Dirthamen. Solas, we're told, is a "fade expert". Falon'Din must know the Fade well if he guided sleepers along its "shifting paths". It was speculated that Solas will be the one who can guide the Inquisitor in or at least about the Fade. Here we can see an example of how a character's assigned tarot card could have some symbolic meaning on their character or even their role in the story.
Side note #1: Falon'Din is Dirthamen's brother. Some people have speculated a link between Felassan (The Masked Empire) and Solas... However much water you think the "Solas has a link to Felassan" theory is up to you, I don't want to get too much into that here though.
Side note #2: We also wondered if this could indicate a link between Solas and the necromancer mage-specialization.
Side note #3: Bear in mind that the meanings of the cards are not always the most obvious. Death, for example, rarely means an actual death and is much more likely to indicate sudden, inevitable and dramatic change, and significant transitions (incidentally this puts me in the mind of Morrigan's "Change is coming to the world" speech and Flemeth's "We stand upon the precipice of change"). "Tarot cards were made to be vague so the "fortune teller" can convince the querent that basically any card that comes up applies to their life in some way" [as summarized by Mort de Minuit].
More Solas-specific tarot-based speculation under the spoiler button (TME spoilers in there, be warned), since I know not everyone cares that much about him (I hope you don't mind me quoting you, Ispan!):
I'm also blending in the fact that necromancy was touched on in DA2 (and was performed semi-successfully) and it's very likely an entire specialization in DA:I.
I'll come back and edit in the thoughts and guesses I had about other characters bit by bit and maybe clean up/sharpen some of the stuff I've written below too, I'm pretty sleepy right now. Agree? Disagree? Other thoughts? (Note: in Tarot, interpretations of cards are divided into upright and reversed meanings, i.e. whether a card is upright or upside down when it appears in a spread, showing the positive and negative effects of the cards respectively).
Solas as Death we've already looked at. (In the Solas thread we wondered in passing if he might instead be the Hermit or the Magician.) Some additional things: In some tarot decks Death is depicted wearing a full suit of armour. In others it's a skeleton, representing that the inner self (the skeleton) is the most durable part of the physical self. Again relating to Solas's role as Fade expert - it's the inner self not the physical self that enters the Fade, most of the time. It can also mean harsh fate which does not consider personal feelings and (reversed) the loss of a friendship. Solas pls don't break my heart... 
He does look like an extremely pragmatic and clinical kinda guy..
Cassandra - The Hierophant. The Hierophant is connected with moral law, spiritual power, and represents the intellectual, physical and spiritual worlds, tying in with Cassandra's position as a Seeker of the Chantry and Right Hand of the Divine. The Hierophant symbolizes a wise and capable advisor, the influence of established faith and also forgiveness and comfort (Cass's squishy center). Reversed it means bewilderment and confusion and a crisis of faith and disorderly conduct (Cass might have a bit of a crisis if the Divine is killed at the peace conference at the start of the game like some people speculate). More positively when reversed it also means making one's own rules without reference to what has gone before - the modern Inquisition compared to the old one? The Hierophant is suited to being in a leadership position as he strives to create harmony in the midst of crisis and chaos. However, like the bull (Taurus) that rules the card, he can be stubborn and hot/hard-headed, he is also sometimes seen as domineeering (Cassandra...). I could also see the Hierophant being Cullen. It is typically a male card after all and a lot of the themes about leadership, faith and tradition are things you can see in Cullen too.
Leliana - The High Priestess. Female (or in this case, traditionally feminine - compare Leliana and Cassandra in terms of stereotypical femininity) counterpart to the Hierophant (the Left Hand counterpart to the Right Hand). Where the Hierophant is concerned with moral law, the Priestess is concerned with intuitive wisdom. The High Priestess is often shown as a woman dressed in robes reminiscent of a nun (Leliana was a Chantry lay sister), and when read as someone other than the querent she often represents a spiritual woman/woman of faith. She sometimes sits between two pillars representing severity and mercy, which to me speak of Leliana's sweet/kind character that she presents but her dual nature as a bard (lotta dirty and questionable work in there). In the set I have her robes have pomegranates on them, representing the mystery of life and death - haven't the devs suggested there is more to Leliana's possible resurrection than simply a retcon? Pomegranates link to Persephone, who was the only goddess allowed to travel to and from the land of the dead. Now it's been said Leliana is our Spymaster in Inquisition. Leliana deals in secrets and intrigue. When the Priestess appears in a Tarot spread a secret is about to be revealed. Reversed it means to be discreet and delay all plans, because there are hidden obstacles and enemies.
Iron Bull - The Devil. Apart from the obvious (horned, monstrous and fear-inspiring to the general public), and caveats aside (that the info in the leaked survey may no longer be accurate), IB is a "slap in the face" of your typical Qunari. He loves drinking, killing and looting, but not necessarily in that order. He's had a decade-long party as the head of his vicious mercenary company (the Devil card can incidentally mean unbreakable bonds). He's known for excellent pay (and brutal punishment). The Devil card is typically misunderstood. Rather than Satan it represents gods like Pan and Bacchus, gods of pleasure, wild behavior and abandon. The Devil is the card of materialism at it's worst. It rules the tyranny of the body and senses. It's connected with greed, lust, hedonism, carnal desires and indulgences such as drink and drugs, and a refusal to recognize anything other than the value of pleasure for its own sake. Interestingly it's also about resourcefulness and ambition - qualities you might find in a feared mercenary leader. It's also often the bearer of the inevitable - IB may find that old loyalties die hard, and it's been said by David Gaider I think that IB fears nothing but his past. Reversed it means the overcoming of bad habits and addictions, charitable deeds and thoughts, the beginning of freedom and light at the end of the tunnel - themes for IB's companion quest perhaps. If it's read to represent a person, you're looking at someone who has self-interest, who is powerful, aggressive and perhaps of monetary power. These are traits I can imagine IB having. I can also see the Chariot for IB, with it's themes of victory, conquest, self-reliance and reversed, arrogance and being out of control.
Sera - The Sun. Again with the caveat that the info in the leaked survey may no longer be accurate. She's described as young, frenetic and a total brat. The Sun card often depicts a child or children riding a horse, with the sun shining down on them. The mood of the card is buoyant and happy, and it's meanings include joy, children or young people, and vitality - Sera is described as tequila and skittles and is seen having a right old time in the "Tavern" concept art by Matt Rhodes. Notably, the child on the card rides the horse without a saddle or bridle, representing perfect control (sometimes between the conscious and unconscious mind). Sera revels in the athleticism of being an elf and of being different. In Sera's underbelly-of-the-city network of rogues culture, what you do is more important than where you're from. She robs from the rich to keep for herself. The sun represents success, simple pleasures and simple truths [like how in Sera's world, who you're friends with opens doors, not titles], glory and achievements and has been tied to incoming money, wealth and abundance. Apart from youthful energy it's also a card of intellect. I think Sera is probably really quite intelligent and street-smart, despite first impressions. Also obvious blond/gold imagery [blond + young/a child can't really equal the Sun being Cole imo since he lacks all of the positive connotations]
Celene - The Empress. Kind of a no-brainer! I could also see her being depicted as Strength (a card which shows a woman in the act of opening a lion's mouth), however. The Empress is a creator of romance and art. Celene has her love affair with Briala and is a patron of the arts. The Empress is a nursery or safe space where ideas can reach maturity, and signifies future progress - Celene inspired a cultural renaissance in the Empire and supports scholarly pursuits. The goddess that rules the card is Venus. Venus is a goddess of beautiful things, sex, love and artists. The Empress is sometimes described as "the star-crowned empress, herself a morning star". Celene's beauty is apparent. The Empress is the Great Mother; Celene is the Lioness. The card also points to material and domestic comfort, security and protection - all of which are things found in Celene's life of luxury where she's protected by guards and her Champion. The Empress can withhold in her anger, be possessive, tyrannical and jealous, indulge in emotional blackmail. Celene's own flaws, while not these exactly, are quite present and well-explored in TME. Certainly she's done some questionable things.
Gaspard - The Emperor. The male counterpart to the Empress, and Celene's male rival. If he wins the throne in the Orlesian civil war (perhaps depending on the actions of the Inquisitor) he will end up an Emperor. The Emperor is a middle-aged man that exudes confidence and accomplishment. In contrast to the luxury associated with the Empress, he surveys a barren domain. I think that's a nice link to the contrast between Celene's diplomatic approach and Gaspard's more direct, militaristic leanings (the Emperor is Mars to the Empress's Venus, Mars/Ares being a god of war. Apt considering Gaspard has won many victories for Orlais and is a renowned chevalier). Celene/Empress is artful creativity where Gaspard/Emperor is imposed order and codes. At the Emperor's feet a shield bearing the device of an eagle lies, a symbol of worldy power and aspiration. Gaspard's position of power and ambition to take the throne are apparent. Only one side of the Emperor's face is shown, suggesting he is only concerned with one side of life. Gaspard is quite focused on his Chevalier honor, and certainly seems to think his way is the way to make Orlais strong again. The Emperor is guileless. Gaspard definitely isn't being an Orlesian noble who was trained in bardic arts and does a bunch of plotting, but when compared to Celene he retains his chevalier code of order when dealing with opponents and is a lot more direct. When the card represents a person it means an influential man whose help may be required. Celene and Gaspard were forced to work together during part of TME. To a woman this card might represent her husband or father - there was a point in time when Celene and Gaspard may have ended up marrying, and they are related. Reversed the card means tyrannical attitudes and the abuse of power, ambitions unfulfilled and a craving for status. Alternatively maybe he's the Chariot.
Varric - The Magician. Varric isn't a male magic-user of course, but the Magician is a travelling entertainer and showman. Varric is a mercenary and storyteller. The Magician signifies new enterprise and the energy of thought, Varric is a quick-thinking businessman. It's a very male card and dat hairy chest. The Magician is part mountebank, part wise man and possibly also a pickpocket, living on the fringes of the law. Varric is a rogue and a scoundrel, at times evasive and hyperbolic, and a good source of common sense and "layman's wisdom". I expect some of his business ventures have been borderline legal, yet he lives alongside Aveline (paragon of law and order) for many years. The Magician exudes originality, confidence and creativity, traits I see in our self-assured storyteller with the sometimes overactive imagination in his tales. The card is often tied to Mercury (god of smooth-talkers, salesmen and thieves - self-explanatory really). It's also card of new beginnings - Varric's transition from life in Kirkwall to member of the Inquisition is significant. Interestingly I've seen it said that if any card is the Tarot, it's the Magician. And if any DA party-member is The Dude or The Friend, it's Varric. Both card and character are often favorites. When it represents a person it can mean a magnetic trickster. Career-wise it relates to jobs where speech and writing are important - storytellers, commentators, motivational speakers. Alternatively I could also see the Magician being DHMG. The Hanged Man also comes to mind for Varric considering that's where he lived for a long time but I don't see much symbolism there. All that said however, the Magician is also about big reveals, truth, presenting options you're meant to pick from.. these are things more in line with people like Morrigan and Flemeth, who also happen to be magic users that talk in riddles and are not to be trusted.
Edited into OP as thread progressed:
Cole - The Hanged Man. There's the obvious, like poor Cole's horrible situation and theories that he is or was a demon of despair, but aside from those:
The man hangs weightless as if underwater, observing, seeing, absorbing. Cole has done a whole lot of watching, it's debatable as to whether he even has real form (weight) and David wrote that poignant blurb about him feeling as if he's underwater on his Tumblr. HM is often toted as the most fascinating and strangest card in the deck and Cole is one of the most fascinating characters, or at least his nature is fascinating (I acknowledge my bias in this line of thinking of course), and strangest entities. With the World card, you go "out". With the HM, you go "in". Inside as in "the real Cole" is very significant. In older decks, HM was called "The Traitor". People are fond of the idea that Cole is the "Judas" traitor in the Last Supper imagery we've seen. Certainly if his true nature is demonic in nature there is a chance he could turn traitor or betray. I've also seen it said that HM invokes that moment when a baby in the womb turns upside down so that it can be born 'hanging' as it were by the umbilical cord. Cole is child-like in many ways and DGaider has stated that he is like a child. And like a baby in the womb he hangs suspended between one world (the womb) and another (outside). HM sees things from an 'inverted' perspective - given that he's some kind of Fade creature with little to no idea of how things are done in the mortal realm, Cole sees the things around him from a very different perspective to that of a mundane. What's 'up'/'down' or 'wrong' (etc) to a mortal initially is meaningless to Cole. Odin hung himself so that he could gain wisdom for the world. Cole is self-sacrificingly defensive/protective of his friends (Rhys). HM also speaks of new ways of seeing things, leading to enlightenment and insight (Cole realizing his nature at the end of the novel).
Said of the HM: "What is important to remember is that this is a card about suspension, not life or death. The querent might well feel that one thing has ended, yet the next has not begun, and they are stuck in a kind of waiting room. Things will continue on in a moment, but for now, they float, timeless." Speaks a lot about Cole to me. He feels like he's between worlds and falling away through the cracks. He's timeless in a way - what happens with his age isn't really clear, and I'd assume Fade entities don't age the way mundanes do. The card is ruled by Neptune, again linking to the underwater motif and self-sacrifice motifs, but Neptune is also about dreams, psychic abilities, spirituality (the Fade). In the querent the card means someone sensitive, vulnerable, introverted - traits Cole displays. HM also tells us to put aside prejudice, open to new ideas and perspectives - Cole's nature, I think, is in part aimed at getting us to question the usual spirit/demon split we think of in Thedas. "One thing is certain, once you have been the Hanged Man you never see things quite as you did before." -> clearly Fade creatures aren't as obviously demarcated as we once thought. The central theme of the card is a reversal of the expected and I'm of the opinion that Cole is the "deceptive wax fruit". Reversed it can mean manipulation and messing with peoples' emotions - Rhys wondered whether Cole had been manipulating him.
Flemeth - The Moon. We haven't seen anything of Flemeth yet but most people seem to be sure she'll be in the game. Flemeth's always afoot when something important and world-changing is happening! In my notes I'd linked the Moon to both Flemeth and Morrigan. It's a feminine card, for a start. The card depicts a dark landscape full of threats. A lobster or crayfish is usually seen in the foreground in a pool of water, symbolizing the primitive mind (the Hero of Ferelden, Hawke and now the Inquisitor, in each of their encounters with Flemeth - compared to a being like Flemeth they are primitive) rising towards the light (help that Flemeth offers them). Usually a wolf (wildness and animal instincts - a Witch of the Wilds, a shapeshifter, getting caught up in the chaos about to unfold) and a dog (domesticity and mundane life - walking away from the oncoming storm) stand between two towers. Both of them are a trap and the truth lies between them on the rocky road (the path the PCs follow) under the watchful gaze of the moon (Flemeth sets them on it). The Moon means that all is not as it seems (Flemeth is obviously not just what she seems). It means to take care in the face of this (take care when dealing with Flemeth) because it can be deceptive (she talks in riddles and rarely reveals any of the cards she's holding in her hand). Again relating to the PCs, it means that the path you're on is difficult and may cause fear, but continue along it even if you are beset with doubts, for it will eventually turn out well (defeating the Archdemon, saving Kirkwall from the Arishok, closing the tears, etc).
Traps and truth, deception, vision, genius, powerful magic, questionable mental states, powerful whirlwhind romances that aren't trustworthy (Flemeth and Conobar, Flemeth and her "guests"), dark magic and reversed, unforeseen perils, lies, hidden enemies. The Moon is the wild card of the major arcana and we're never sure what Flemeth is up to. She seems to straddle a line between mad and all-seeing, just as the Moon is the card of extreme people who walk the line between crazy and artistic genius. And the line "Here is the magical forest in fairy tales, the wasteland in myths where heroes meet with spirits, oracles, sphinxes and their own shadow selves." is very Flemeth. If she was depicted as a mythical creature she might be a sphinx. With the sphinx imagery in mind and also for a few other reasons alternatively I could perhaps see Flemeth as the Wheel of Fortune. She would probably also suit being Death.
And I'll edit in more later (I have things scribbled down on a notepad) or maybe just post them as a thread reply.
Disclaimers:
- I do not put any stock in tarot in the real world, in terms of it's fortune- or future-telling abilities, despite owning a deck.
- Of course all of this is just intended as fun/interesting speculation, nothing more!
- This is all probably incredibly off-mark and devs will laugh at how wrong I am 
. But it was a fun thinking exercise : )
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maybe is an intended contrast? 
