The rest of this post is a heavy Astarion personal story spoiler, so...
The "good" ending of his story is the one in which you are supposed to levarage your good approval with Astarion and help him resist the draw of power in Cazador's ritual, so he doesn't ascend at the cost of seven thousand others. I've watched this play out after my own playthrough, on my girlfriend's run. She was romancing him, had ~100 approval, and still needed to pass a few spicy checks in order to set him at ease and let him know that he didn't need that power to feel safe. 10/10 story moments, touching scene, brilliant acting, and all that.
Me? My Astarion had an approval of 14 at the moment of arrival at the Mojo Dojo Cazador. I never learned a thing about the scars on his back until last night, when his siblings attacked me. Through sheer luck, Astarion has never met Raphael, so I never got any of that interaction going. I was real worried for what might be in store for me when I started the mission, as I had no idea where it was going. Come the ritual, I quickly released Astarion, started fighting the Gur undead and Cazador, noticed that one of the ritual-bound siblings was constantly healing the boss... so I unleashed my great vengeance and furious anger at him when Cazador was standing next to him, bathing both of them in holy fire. Dude died, Astarion briefly shouted "No!! What are you doing!?" and... the post-combat cinematic played out as him just killing Cazador. He later thanked me for helping him resist the temptation. Wyll commended him on his resolve.

I very much feel like I did not deserve this good ending. Hell, I didn't even think the sibling would be killed, really, what with how vampires retreat into mist, regenerate, and what not. Maybe this should be looked at?

Last edited by Boz; 01/09/23 07:20 AM.
I don't want to think about why my eye is itching.