Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Bhaal's essence

No point in wondering. The 5th edition tabletop adventure "Murder In Baldur's Gate" already covers what happens to Bhaal's essence. There were two Bhaalspawn left during the time Murder in Baldur's Gate is set in. One was Abdel, the guy who was the main character of the god awful Baldur's Gate Trilogy novels (the novels although official, cannot be considered canon because it ruins the lore of the 2nd edition time frame with serious lore errors like Angelo being a Grand Duke even though there are only four Grand Dukes (Eltan, Liia, Entar and Belt), and Angelo is not one of them, and the drow of Ust Natha eat spiders yet worship Lolth which is wrong because abuse of spiders in any ways is a death sentence), and the other was the guy (Viekang) who suddenly teleports away whenever he gets terrified.

Before anyone claims that Abdel is the official identity of the game protagonist, personally, I believe Abdel Adrian and the game protagonist to be completely different characters in the D&D lore, because their backstories and fates are vastly different. Abdel was born in 1343, 15 years before the Time of Troubles, and the very beginning of the first Baldur's Gate game says that the game protagonist is in his or her early 20's, spending 20 years of his or her life living in Candlekeep. That does not line up with Abdel's age. Plus, Abdel left Candlekeep years before the time the Iron Throne started their schemes in the Sword Coast. When Abdel was a child, he was first rescued by a paladin named Sir Daesric who was an old friend of Gorion, and Daesric brought Abdel to Gorion, and the game protagonist was rescued by Gorion himself and his Harper allies who raided a temple where followers of Bhaal were attempting to sacrifice Bhaalspawn in their infantile age, and Gorion was forced to kill the game protagonist's mother to save his/her life.

As for the way the games and novels ended, there are more drastic differences. After playing Siege of Dragonspear, it has become clear to me that the game protagonist unfairly falls from grace for a reason. Shadows of Amn's intro (even the original edition back in 2000) hinted that the people of Baldur's Gate figured out the game protagonist is a Bhaalspawn, and the end of Beamdog's Siege of Dragonspear story expansion revealed that the dark circumstance that forced the game protagonist to leave Baldur's Gate was that Irenicus under a disguise murdered Skie Silvershield with a dagger that took her soul, framing the game protagonist for the murder to draw him/her out of the city. And when the game protagonist escaped, he/she left Baldur's Gate with Imoen, Minsc, Dynaheir, Khalid and Jaheira until they got captured by the Shadow Thieves working for Irenicus, setting the stage for Shadows of Amn.

Also, it is possible that the game protagonist, good or neutral aligned also canonically met and interacted with a few evil characters even if they didn't start out with him/her like Imoen, Minsc, Khalid, Jaheira and Dynaheir. Like Viconia, for example. When you meet her in Shadows of Amn, she immediately recognizes the game protagonist by name even if you haven't met her in the first Baldur's Gate game.

In the novelization of Shadows Of Amn, the people of Baldur's Gate never learned Abdel's heritage. Unlike the game protagonist, he is more in the clear, while the game protagonist's heroics are destined to fade from the memories of the people of Baldur's Gate, leading up to the likelihood of Abdel replacing the game protagonist as the hero who stopped Sarevok and being recorded in Forgotten Realms history for the deed even though he wasn't involved, and becoming a Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate around 4th and 5th edition before his death in Murder in Baldur's Gate.

I just finished playing the enhanced editions of the Baldur's Gate games, and my character is a Chaotic Good male human, and I get the feeling that the overall story of Gorion's Ward is tailored to a good or neutral aligned main character, because of the themes of "overcoming your inner darkness and murderous instincts" and all that. Choosing to remain mortal and destroying the essence within the main character is the way to go, I believe, because if Gorion's Ward chose to ascend to godhood, it would canonically change the pantheon of gods in major ways, Gorion's Ward would be officially listed in D&D sourcebooks and stuff like that. But since the pantheon of Faerunian gods have not changed since after Throne Of Bhaal, it is safe to assume that Gorion's Ward officially did not choose to ascend to godhood.

And yes, BG3 will be a completely different game, since it is set more than 100 years after BG2 Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal. I know for sure that Minsc and Boo will return in the game because the Legends of Baldur's Gate comic books didn't bring them into 5th edition for nothing!