There are a number of factors in the Ketheric plot that I would like clarified in a future Definitive Edition. I believe clarifying these factors will make for a better narrative because I find the apparent plot holes and lack of buildup unsatisfying. This is my understanding of the timeline and my complaints:
1. At the start, Ketheric, Melodia, and Isobel are a happy, Selune-worshipping family. Aylin comes along (did I miss why a demigod was visiting them? It's not as irritating as other plot points but it would be nice to know why a demigod is visiting a backwater town.) and she and Isobel fall in love.
So far, so good. I'm a bit lost as to why Aylin visited the town, but it's no big deal.
2. Ketheric does not approve of Isobel's relationship with Aylin because Aylin is immortal.
I do not understand this plot point. It comes out of nowhere and it is not explained. Ketheric is a devout Selunite whose daughter is in a relationship with the literal child of his goddess, and he's upset? Ketheric apparently had Moonrise towers built as a monument to Selune herself! Why would he be upset that his daughter is in a union with the child of said goddess? The only way I can make sense of it is that he is worried that Aylin doesn't really love Isobel, or would abandon Isobel as she aged, given Aylin would stay the same age, but Isobel would become an elderly woman, so Ketheric might think that Aylin would abandon Isobel when she needed her most. If that's the case or not, it needs to be made clear.
3. Melodia dies. Ketheric does not turn to Shar.
The game's imagery treats Melodia's death as a breaking point for Ketheric, but he still does not turn to Shar. What happened between Melodia's death and Isobel's death?
4. Isobel dies. Unknown cause. Ketheric almost immediately turns to Shar and imprisons Aylin in the Shadowfell. He then wages war on the Sword Coast
What did Ketheric get for turning to Shar? His gripe with Selune was that his family was not protected in spite of the sheer level of devotion they gave to her. Clearly, Ketheric wanted something from Shar. He takes the love of his daughter's life to Shar's domain! Yet he does not get his family back. He does not "forget" his family either or experience further loss or forgetfulness. So why did he send Aylin there? Why did he go from normal Selunite to a general on the warpath? Certainly giving the daughter of Selune to Shar would be enough to get something from the goddess. The way I am headcanoning this follows: Isobel died a violent death by some nearby group of people or polity, and Ketheric somehow blamed Aylin for it, perhaps by not protecting her as he wished she would. He trades Aylin to Shar in exchange for a relief from his grief and the power to take bloody vengeance on those responsible for his loss. The bloody vengeance is so great it provokes the intervention of druids and Harpers.
5. Ketheric is defeated. Refusing to accept his loss and disappointed in the weakness of the powers given to him by Shar, he asks Balthazar to help him strike a deal with Myrkul. In retaliation, Shar sends the shadow-curse upon the land. In exchange for Ketheric's soul and will, Myrkul resurrects Isobel. She is horrified by what her father has become and runs. However, every note one finds shows that somewhere deep inside the "undead" Ketheric is the man he once was.
Why didn't Ketheric go to Myrkul first? Is he stupid? What was the point of his deal with Shar if he could resurrect his daughter and earn her favor by uniting her with Aylin, rather than sending Aylin to the Shadowfell? If he didn't get Aylin to the Shadowfell in a deal with Shar, why is Aylin in the Shadowfell at all, given it is Shar's home? Also why is Aylin said to have undergone a hundred years of torture through the Soul Cage when Ketheric was vulnerable when Jaheira and the Harpers first fought him 100 years ago? Clearly the Soul Cage, Balthazar's involvement, and Ketheric and Isobel's resurrection had to have occurred AFTER the deal with Myrkul. Also, Aylin is clearly very powerful. How did Ketheric subdue her in the first place? Also, if Ketheric only turned to Shar 100 years ago, per the archaeological excavation of the Grymforge, the Ancient Sharran Temple is wayyyyyy more than 100 years old. Why is Ketheric, a Selunite, apparently unaware of an Ancient Sharran Temple connected to his ancestral Mausoleum? Again, is he stupid? Did I miss some important note or dialogue?
6. Aylin refuses to allow Ketheric to submit, presumably out of a (justified) rage at her torture. She reunites with Isobel (who NEVER mentioned Aylin or the Nightsong btw) and they embrace. Every dialogue until Act 3 with either of them is about how much they are going to fuck.
Why? Why would you write that as a rational response to the entire timeline of events above? Certainly that dialogue would be better placed in Act 3 as some camp banter, as opposed to the immediate response to Isobel's father being warped into the Avatar of Myrkul, Aylin recovering from a century(?) of torture, and both of them experiencing exceptionally severe trauma. Those lines brush off the entire tragedy as something that can be fucked away (literally!). It takes the entire weight of the storyline away.
7. Aylin is known as the Nightsong, despite being a child of Selune.
Why? And why does everyone but Isobel know about her by this name? Why is she referred to as a relic or a weapon when being the daughter of a goddess is already a big deal. How do people know about her by this name other than Ketheric?
I think that's all. Please, someone fill me in if I missed a plot point somewhere. I think the game would be best served by answering any number of the above questions. While unlikely, it would be nice if we could somehow gain access to Ketheric's memories, or turn in some of the information we find to Isobel BEFORE finding Nightsong.
