Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General A Theory

Githyanki and Githzerai in Dungeons & Dragons

Here's a video of Mike Mearls talking about the Gith and their mysterious pact with Tiamat reddit led me to.
From what I remember Mike was running point on Baldur's Gate 3's marketing at the beginning, so it's possible he was laying some groundwork for the game.

Those are some good points, I think it's a good bet then that the artifact is what saved us from the fall certainly. This also means the bridge scene is a pretty big anomaly, I've wondered what would happen if you continue through the rest of the EA with the buff it gives you, to see if anything changes

I feel good about the Daisy/artifact theory.

I think the tadpole is impacted by Netherese magic, but that doesn't mean the artifact necessarily is. We have to consider that all the true souls have tadpoles that also seem to be in stasis, which we can presume because they haven't changed into mind flayers yet.

So the Netherese magic isn't unique to the players. Only the free will and the overall absence of the Absolute's voice. Which Nere mentions when he comes into proximity of the artifact. Leading me to think that the artifact is, in general, blocking out the voice, at least passively most of the time, and actively when the voice is broadcast loudly, like when the characters try to cross the bridge.

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I'm still puzzling through my thoughts about how Shar and the dead three interact with everything. Clearly the dead three are somehow influencing or in league with the mind flayers... or a faction of the mind flayers.

I suppose the best place to start is to consider what their goals might be.

The dead three are only quasi deities, I believe. Perhaps their goal is to become fully deific once again? Perhaps they want to take over a portfolio? The last time they did it they had to slay a powerful entity first, right? And then make a deal with Jergal after attacking his fortress.

Is there a deity they may be trying to get rid of? Kelemvor, maybe?

Of note: when Withers asks the player about the value of a mortal life, if you answer that it depends on the mortal, Withers will reply with something like, "I wonder how thy will judge." Notice that Withers didn't say, "I wonder how they would judge if thy were in a position to judge." But instead, "How *WILL* thy judge?" As if it's a foregone conclusion that you'll be judging at some point.

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Then there's Shar. Yes, she's all connected to the Shadow weave in the lore. I believe she created the shadow weave.

Her goal, as far as I know, is to bring darkness to everything. That seems to be the same goal the illithids have, to darken the sun and take over the plane.

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Regarding the Absolute. Is it an actual entity? Is it the dead three? Is it an illithid elder brain? Lot of questions. Too little to go on.

I can't help but feel like we should be able to figure this out, though.

Yes, the only definite thing I’ve come across is what the dead mindflayer by Dror Ragzlin will say. That implies it is a mindflayer conspiracy, but of course there could be something more behind it.

In fact his description of the Absolute reminded me a little of the mural at the very beginning of the game.
I'm wondering who the central mind-flayer in that mural is and what the staff they're holding might be.

Is it Ilsensine, the illithid god?

Hard to tell so far exactly because of so little to go on.

The dead mindflayer shows us a vision of other mindflayers standing in a serene circle in absolute unity. I believe there is someone or something standing in the very middle of their circle, acting as an amplifier to their psyonic powers or using the mindflayers to amplify its own power.

In any case, it shows the world ending with thousands of Nautiloids pouring out of the void, but I believe it may be a false promise made to them by the being standing in the middle. I think they may have joined the Absolute with the intent to restore the Illithid Empire, but the Absolute has a completely different plan than the ones the mindflayers imagine and is just using them for now.

I doubt it's the absolute.

Why would the absolute call you her chosen, grant you powers and awareness of your own tadpole, and then try and have you killed and turned into an unthinking drone. at the bridge. Another theory I have seen about the dream person, is that the dream person is Shar herself.

I was just thinking about the Necromancy of Thay. Doesn't it say something about how the book makes you feel like you can do anything... like even darkening the sun?

And that made me think of this. Shar's goal. And perhaps the illithid goal, as well. If the illithids can darken the sun then the whole world is like the underdark to them. I seem to recall reading that as a goal of theirs once upon a time.

Who was the necromancer in Moonhaven trying to bring back? And what happened to the necromancer? We find the apprentice's body, but not the necromancer's.

Why have some of the companions lost so much of their remembered strength? Some people just sort of roll their eyes at this, assuming it's just a way to have characters with big backstories in a level one adventure... but I suspect it's tied directly into the plot somehow.

And so much of this story is about rebirth, or more specifically, one thing being birthed from another. The mindflayers from people. The gnolls from hyenas. There's a theme there. Intentional.

Based on all the books and letters in the game, I believe that the Necromancer in Moonhaven (Blighted Village) was Balthazar.

Because Moonhaven was devoted to Selune and it's pretty much confirmed by Shadowheart that Shar's followers raided the village. And in Ancient Temple of Shar (Grymforge) there are several notes, letters and even a map detailing the pre-planned raid of Moonhaven.

So considering how incredibly planned the raid was, it looks like they did not just go there on a whim to destroy Selune statues and kidnap her followers but also to bring the Necromancer to the Ancient Temple. Which correlates as to why the General sent True Soul Nere and Z'rell (female Drow Chosen) there in the first place, exactly to find Balthazar.

For what purpose though, I have no idea as it is outside the content of Early Access so it's pure speculation. But one good guess would be... the General requires a powerful Necromancer to bring someone powerful back to life. Maybe.

It could be, but I'm not sure how closley tied the Absolute is to the events of Ketheric Thorm and the Dark Justiciars, If the General is Ketheric, then it would follow...This would also play into the, 'Ketheric was driven mad with grief over his dead daughter' theory, because we know that the apothecary was trying to discover resurrection, whatever that means in FR.
I'm wondering if everything to do with the temple is just a side project Ketheric is trying to do on the sly.

Also the first raid was unsuccessful, though it's unclear why, it's also unclear why shortly thereafter, a host from Hell came and destroyed everything in Grymforge.

That's quite an interesting connection.

It is in fact confirmed by the Ruthe (oxen looking animals in Grymforge) that Ketheric Thorm was an elf. Although it doesn't mention which kind of elf, I assume he was a Drow since they operated within the Underdark and Shar is all about shadow.

So the General could really be Ketheric Thorm, who survived the Hell's legion and left Balthazar within the temple. And since nothing in the land is done without the General's knowledge, he seems to have known exactly where to send Z'rell and True Soul Nere and for whom exactly.

Also even his nickname is quite interesting, "The General". Possibly hinting precisely towards Ketheric Thorm's glory days of being a General of the Dark Justiciars.

I used to think it was a mistake that Us supported the player even if the player attacked the mind flayer on the nautiloid.

I thought it would make more sense if Us turned against the player if the player started attacking the other intellect devourers, for example. After all, they would screech something about the player being corrupted if a conversation led to violence.

But now I'm beginning to think that Us is just as "corrupted" as the player characters. It was a newborn, just like the players. Maybe the process didn't fully take with it, either. Maybe when Us is querying an unseen advisor, Us is really talking to the sentience in the artifact... which is leading the player to the helm.

It's also interesting how Us comments if the player tells Shadowheart she has to be left behind. "Safe if she stays," is what Us says.

And Us mentions escaping a great evil.

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Anyway. The idea that Balthazar is the necromancer from Moonhaven makes sense. It seems like an obvious connection now that I've heard it, but I admit that it never occurred to me.

I'm still left wondering whom the necromancer was trying to resurrect.

I have to say this thread is pretty damn interesting.

Jandk and Crimsonrider: you guys are some next level big brain theorists. Bravo, both! I love these theories so much, I'm actually hoping the story goes that way.

Something that occurred to me randomly regarding Astarion, his dreams and the artifact, which could further deduct that the Dreamer is indeed the being locked inside the Githyanki box.

Unlike the rest of the party, Astarion's dreams are the complete opposite. Whereas we are being attracted by our Dreamer and invited to surrender to the experience in order to become greater, Astarion on the other hand is being pushed away because the Dreamer is tormenting him by playing against his insecurities through the illusion of Cazador, which is why he has such strong emotional outbursts against us when trying to comfort him and why he is always uneasy and unable to relax.

And one may wonder why Astarion particularly, but it is quite an easy dot to connect and it is not because he acts evil or selfish.

Following everything else connected so far in this thread, the Dreamer is locked inside the box and can only directly communicate with us if we are unconscious. Outside of dreams though it can only indirectly communicate by acting as a sentient box who knows who to trust and who not to. It also protects us, while at the same time alarming us of danger when other factions looking to exploit it are close to discovering it or close to harming us, such as in the scenarios with Astarion or Minthara while we are sleeping.

It wants to stay with us because we are the only ones not looking to exploit it, so it knows that through us the box may finally be unlocked and the Dreamer that freed the Githyanki thousands of years ago may finally be freed from its shackles. Which is why it is also holding the mindflayer parasite at bay, because if the parasite kills us, the Dreamer forever remains imprisoned.

So... why is it tormenting Astarion? Precisely because Astarion is a sleeper agent of Cazador, yet another force in the world looking to exploit the artifact. Astarion was turned into a vampire spawn which enslaved him eternally to Cazador's will, something that he cannot resist mentally no matter how much he tries. And because Cazador is so powerful, the Dreamer knows if Cazador ever discovers the artifact then he may enthrall Astarion with ease and take the box, which would once again cause the Dreamer to forever remain imprisoned.

So in order to avoid this fate and ensure its freedom, it torments Astarion excessively so he does not get any bright ideas about the box since he is trying to find any sort of advantage in order to resist Cazador, which is why he is the only one advocating to overuse the tadpole's power without limits because he is constantly afraid of him and cannot resist him.

As for what happens once the Dreamer is free. I am positive the tadpole can only be removed by the Dreamer, just as it managed to free the Githyanki so many thousands of years ago. I assume that once we finally unlock the box, which will probably be linked to also freeing Astarion from Cazador and freeing Shadowheart's memories which will reveal she is a Selune follower abducted and brainwashed by Shar, the Dreamer will come forth and we will be presented by two choices.

Either we get rid of the parasite and by doing so lose our power. Or merge ourselves and transcend as the Dreamer always intended for us by becoming its champions.

It is worth noting that Us was originally planned to be a companion in this game, so this would actually make sense given that context.

That is interesting.

Is it confirmed that Us has been scrapped as a companion for full release? Or is there a chance that they just aren't a companion in Early Access?

The writing on Astarion's back is Infernal, maybe he's meant to be a vessel for something, possibly the thing in the box?

Interesting, I didn't know it was infernal as I never romanced Astarion myself ^^

This makes me think what if Cazador and Raphael are actually in league with one another and it was actually Raphael who told Cazador on how to inscribe the thing on Astarion's back. Which then could explain why Raphael literally shows up out of nowhere directly at our camp, precisely because Cazador told him that Astarion went missing.

Raphael is definitely playing an intricate game here. Because he couldn't care less about the tadpole, or us in particular for that matter. He wants something else, perhaps even the artifact. Because so far absolutely nobody cares about us, everyone wants the artifact.

Also Raphael saves us from Priestess Gut by sending the female dwarf assassin. My guess is he wants us to get somewhere in particular. It is a question of location, not time as he tried to imply.