So at the end of Auntie Ethel's dungeon, she appeared for me but then when I snuck my characters around to tactically initiate the fight, combat never started when I finally unloaded on her in the back. So I just kept slashing and she kept taking damage, but never said anything or started the fight. Then she died. Rest of the questline worked fine.
Within the same day, a friend got to the end of the dungeon to find that Ethel wouldn't appear at all, and they couldn't interact with the pregnant woman whose name I forget right now.