Hi, so I took my Avatar-Gale and romanced Astarion to the dark side yesterday and watched the new cinematics (I didn't have Gale become Astarion's spawn in case this makes a difference) While I overall enjoyed Gale's personal evil ending and the way it wrapped up the romance with Astarion, there were a few moments that struck me as odd, which I hope might be touched upon in the future.


Conquering the Heavens
I like this ending, it feels very much like what the worst, deluded version of Gale might come up with and like a fitting conclusion to a play-through during which our dear wizard was heavily focused on gathering power and opposing Mystra's command. The first half of the cinematic is also extremely lovely, from Gale ripping the sky open to the way he repurposes his earring. Especially the shot of the earring flying down like a ominous shooting star is just chef's kiss. It might not be the flashiest of all the cinematics but it's beautiful, elegant and suits Gale so well.

However I was very confused when the thrall picks up a stone and throws it at the statue of Mystra. The large statue that miraculously appeared in the square. The square we spend the whole first part of the scene in and the square we know from our gameplay. I know you could argue that the faithful saved Mystra's likeness from the burning tabernacle (which we see in the background, when Gale makes his choice) but then why is it just the one effigy? Didn't the faithful care about the other gods? Where was the statue during the first half of the scene?

What I think would be narratively, thematically and visually more rewarding, was to have the new thralls direct their aggression towards the tabernacle as a whole. It has been a prominent background element during the first half of the scene and it is a place representative of all the gods. Have the thralls throw their stones to shatter its windows and in their broken shards see a reflection of the heavens which will soon share their fate. Have the likenesses of more gods than just Mystra fall as the tabernacle crumbles around them, no match for the angry hordes.

And maybe give Astarion and Minthy a more active role in the scene on ground if they are Gale's romanced partner. This ending sounds like it would be right up their respective alleys, so it's a shame they have no part in it at all. Adding a few of Astarion's minions to the mix would be fun. Which brings me to:


Together we can do anything
While I think the romance scene is nice, I wish the romantic partner would be a wee bit more involved in the things to come. By not making them kneel, you agree to them being at your side and ruling together. So it feels weird to just not have them be actively featured the following scenes at all. When taking a look at the "monument to your glory" ending, Astarion was t-posing at the gallows and looked more like yet another thrall than a partner. In the "will them all to die" ending, he was nowhere to be seen. It all felt a little disconnected from the narrative established mere seconds before.

I think it would be cute if, in a dark mirror of the morning-after scene of the good ending, we could offer our plans for the future to our partner just to keep the allusion of a shared dominion up. I mean, it might just be me, but offering Astarion to destroy the heavens because no god payed attention to his plight, is so soppy, I would totally click it. ^^


Visual Glitches
  • If the player is wearing the Robe of the Weave, its floppy sleeves are gently floating on the monumental stone statue.
  • The love interest is t-posing next to the gallows in that scene.

Last edited by Anska; 06/09/24 10:45 AM.