Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion On Returning Characters

Jaheira and Minsc are both excellently done in regards to their writing in general, but especially their personality and unique quirks. They're both an authentic adaptation of the character they were AND that they could have become, given the established (BG1/2/3, disregarding other sources) events between the end of the Bhaalspawn Crisis and the start of the Absolute Crisis. Minsc isn't really difficult to get right, i actually like his "official" 5e portayal, because it is Minsc as he always was. Matt Mercer is an excellent VA and although it took a few lines until his voice started to not sound too different, I really like his potrayal of Minsc, especially his interactions with Boo and Jaheira.
Speaking of Jaheira, not only did they cast the perfect VA for her, the writers show excellent understanding of the character. They nailed her Character and made her ambigious enough regarding past events so as not to invalidate any preset image that one might have of her, while still being able to put a new spin on her. I enjoyed her interactions in Act 3 so much. From how she talked to Ninefingers, to her willingness to give everything if it meant saving minsc, not to mention her home and family. I had really feared that they ruin Jaheira, by making her a romance option, by making her the canon love of Gorions Ward, or by any of the stupid decisions "Official" sources took over the years. Instead I found an old friend, that showed signs of age and change, but that i recognized for who they were. And when i found Khalids Pendant, I truly knew they had done justice to the character.

Let's start with Viconia. Viconia is a fascinating character in the original Games. As a priestess of Lloth, she refused to ritually sacrifice an infant, causing House DeVir to fall out of the Spider Godesses favor. That led to open war with other Houses, Viconias Mother trying to sacrifice her daughter to appease Lloth, her brother killing their Mother and getting subsequently turned into a Drider. Viconia lost her divine powers and was forced into exile. On the surface she faced horrible treatment from people that expected nothing less in return. Until she met Gorions Ward. Throughout their journey together, she changed from an abrasive, arrogant, socially inept and cruel person to someone that would put her trust in others, making an effort to help her companions, in her own unique way, and ultimately becoming a better person, reflected in the game by changing Alignment from Neutral Evil to True Neutral.

The "Viconia" in BG3 doesn't resemble any iteration of this character. She puts Shadowheart to 40 years or more of cruel, twisted torture, abducting her, abusing her, mind wiping her, forcing her to torture her own parents, all in the name of Shar. She is an even worse character, than as a Priestess of Lloth. She got retconned into betraying her own cult in Waterdeep, once again all in the name of Shar. She turned from a, for Drow standards, deeply empathetic but misguided character, to a sadistic, vicious, fanatical Zealot full of contempt.

What i would have expected to find, was a stern, stoic person, being a strict, yet maternal figure to Shadowheart, seeing herself in her, trying to instill her philospohy into her to mould her into what Viconia thinks Shadowheart needs to be, to not only succeed her, but to survive the erratic decisions and Ambitions that Shar will put on Shadowheart as Mother Superior, once she suceeds Viconia. You can see this behaviour in how she speaks and "helps", or atleast tries to help, troubled female companions in BG2, like Aerie and Imoen, aswell. Her Struggle to shield Shadowheart from Shars Dark Ambitions, while still appeasing her and seeing to her duties as Mother Superior would have made for an excellent character struggle, befitting her Character, and making the Divide between Shar and Selune, that defines Shadowhearts entire story even more ambigious, ultimately making both paths morally grey instead of a clear black and white. This is not what i wished this would have been after finishing the game mind you, this was my expectation after 3 Acts of Shadowhearts story, romancing her, getting to know her and hearing her speak about her upbringing, and especially how she talks about the Mother Superior before and after an eventual turn to Selune.

The absolute worst offender is her "dialogue" or rather lack thereof. As with a certain other character in the games finale, there is absolutely no dialogue talking place. The Person posing as Viconia is yelling a few jarringly out of character lines and only really reveals herself to be a cartoon villain, then a fight ensues. Even with Minsc and Jaheira in tow, there was nothing i could say or do that let me have any agency in this, it is as bland and binary as having literal WW2 Nazis as a final villain for Shadowhearts story. Viconia and Jaheira stood at the top of the Throne of Bhaal together and you want to tell me, this is how their reunion would go do down? Beside the fact that Viconia would never do any of this, given the prevalence of Act 2 "Dialogue-Bossfights" and their relation to Shar, why isn't this final encounter handled in this way aswell? Lets say Larian specifically wanted this vision for the finale of this story and replaced the Mother Superior for a different Character, it still is an absolute letdown of a finale, given the path we took to get their. There should be a deeply philosphiocal debate about Shar and Selune, that ultimately results in either the battle, or acceptance of Shadowhearts decisions, maybe even siding with us against the extremist followers of her demanding Shadowhearts Death.

It would have been better to not include Viconia at all, than to have this travesty of a misread on who truly Viconia is, an empathetic but arrogant Outcast, that only ever wanted to be free of the subjugation, others wanted to impose upon her.

Sarevok... Where to begin? Sarevok is a truly evil person. He embraced his divine heritage, but not out of fervor or admiration for his father. Sarevok thought little of Bhaal, seeing him as nothing more than a stepping stone for his own ambitions. He conspired against his own (adoptive) father to take control of the Iron Throne, he succesfully orchestrated a masterplan to take control of Baldurs Gate and sow chaos across the Sword Coast, with the ultimate goal being the Ascension of the Throne of Bhaal, becoming the new Lord of Murder. After his death, his essence was sent to the aforementioned Throne, where Gorions Ward encountered him twice more where he pledged his aid and arms in the battles to come to the brother that had bested him, thwarted his ambitions and cast him into oblivion, leading to Gorion's Ward to part with a piece of their own divine essence (or Imoens for that matter) to resurrect Sarevok. After that, he engages you in multiple deeply philosophical discussions, about fate, morality and death. He offers you an oath, so that you can be assured in his loyalty, which you can decline. He is completly dumbfounded by this, as he cant see reason in the fact that you trust him after all that he has done. Throughout these interactions, if one succesfully challenges his views through debate, Sarevok ultimately turns from Chaotic Evil to Chaotic Good, a fact that is reflected in his Dialogue and Voice Over. As with Viconia, he becomes a totally different person. It was a compelling and inspiring story about absolute evil being overcome and ultimately redeemed. If he wasn't redeemed, his Fate was to repeat his own mistakes and ultimately be bested again, whether it be by his Brothers hand once more or not. People that have played BG3 should realize by now how significant Fate as a concept is in this world.

When i saw Sarevok at the Tribunal I was struck with disbelief. I thought, "He must be Shapeshifter, ofcourse!". And after a really well done bossfight, I stood before his corpse. Not a Shapeshifters corpse, the corpse of Sarevok Anchev.

The game wants you to believe that he is a worshipper of Bhaal, a ludicrous suggestion, he despised Bhaal in his Life, and regardless of the players actions in ToB, gives up on his dreams of ascension. But even more than a worshipper, he seems to be his high priest succeeding Amelyssan, lording over the Tribunal. The only way any of this can even remotely fit in with the story and character of Sarevok Anchev, is if he was indeed a Shapeshifter all along, impersonating Sarevok, for his sheer presence would help boost the fervor of the cults initiates through the Tribunal. Bhaal would get revenge against his traitorous son that allied with Gorions Ward to thwart his plans, by using Sarevoks Legacy in a way that would make him go mad with rage. Orin gets to make her little play pretend psycho family. And Sarevok gets to not have his Legacy ruined by one of the worst cases of character assassinations i have seen in my life.

Sarevok Anchev is my second favourite Villain of all time. His story and legacy mean alot to me and I cant fathom how one of the most iconic, well defined characters of the setting could ever be misrepresented in such a severe fashion.

Viconia.

In BG1 and BG2, if Jaheira was in the party when the first encounter with Viconia took place, then Jaheira's the one who gives Charname permission to take the hit on reputation and encourages us to welcome this Drow gal into the fold. She suggests this via bark in BG2 as well, that she's fully on board here, and thinks it's a 'good idea', wise even.

This really establishes Jaheira as classically druidic in her thinking on the subject, and a better Harper than most, for actually believing in the possibility of redemption. In BG2 Viconia takes over the role of Minsc's Witch after Dynaheir, and he goes Berzerk to save her when the pricks in the temple district are trying to burn her alive. Viconia challenges the PC's notions of villainy the whole game, leaning into it or away from it depending on Charname's choices, and her romance was one of the sequel defining arcs. She is the quintessential outcast background.

This isn't like running into Kivan again or something. Viconia was a much bigger deal to the Saga, so the idea that we could meet her again after all these years but not have a way to bring her out of retirement stings a bit. Also, she is practically the archetype for what is now covered by Seldarin Drow. I mean Drizzt was just somebody with the boss armor to strip in BG, I mean right, but Viconia was along for the whole ride. I feel like everything between her and Jaheira or Minsc should have nuance. Even if the player doesn't understand what makes this particular Drow lady different than say Minthara (who starts out pretty psycho and instantly gets blood on our hands). Viconia was like the opposite of that, even if our hands weren't totally clean there either. To recruit her initially you had to trust your gut, or follow your heart, and show some deference to neutrality over law. It was a nice way to handle that in BG1/2 and I think BG3 needs a bit more of a nod to the same. To me it makes perfect sense that she'd end up in charge of a Sharran cult, as she was always fervent. I mean for her "Shar" was a one-liner lol, so sure, of course. But just to put things in perspective, 9 times out of 10 Minsc got chunked to oblivion in my games, but Viconia stuck it out all the way to Hell and back. She's a hero of Baldur's Gate, much as anyone, even if Karlach never heard about it, probably cause Viconia prefers to keep her secrets.

Why can't she crack wise at Jaheira on that score in some endearing way? I mean that would feel right. Like they meet each other again, kinda shocked, and exchange some insider banter that makes it very clear this is a reunion with some weight to it. She should say something amusing on all those ballads the bards have been writing about Jaheira, and poke a bit of fun there. More of a VH1 behind the music there, if we can get a y2k callback ya know hehe. I totally agree that shadow philosophy and the Shar/Selune dichotomy should be centered here, and clear the stage a bit so there's some more room for that heheh.

Sarevok - very disappointed. I can't accept this ending for him, not after starting to genuinely regard him as a sort of sibling by the end of ToB and helping him work out his redemption. Brother and sisters standing together to defy their divine father in the end - so awesome. My headcanon says this was just a shade like the other ones and I'm not budging on that.

Viconia - no opinion, I've never had her in my party, but I completely understand the disappointment. If they made a BG4 and decided to bring Astarion back as a cackling evil subvillain I would be furious.

Minsc

are out of character

Jaheira was by far the best of the four. She had the same sarcastic, tough-as-nails, but caring personality I remember and I appreciated all of her interactions in the city. My main gripe is that she joins your party as a level 7 adventurer. Last I remember of her, she was fighting near-Gods with me in Throne of Bhaal. Maybe one can wave hands and just say "well she's old now" but it felt pretty immersion-breaking for me. She can also die really easily in the Moonrise attack if you don't ask to recruit her for the fight (which can be a pretty reasonable thing to do without realizing, if you don't want to mess up your current party comp), which is a disappointing end to the character.

Minsc however was not at all fleshed out as much as Jaheira was, with minimal dialogue, no real quests, and an appearance so late in the game that you barely get to know him. He felt more like a tacked on cameo. And he was also given... a 12 in strength, when his enormous strength in the originals was a hallmark of his character! That doesn't seem like the guy who tore the bars apart with his bare hands in Irenicus' dungeon. I always built him in the heaviest armour you could find and slapped on a two-handed sword or halberd to smack his enemies, but that just doesn't make sense here anymore. Meanwhile he was also given a 15 in wisdom... his lowest stat in the originals (at 6), which made perfect sense for his character. No one should ever describe MInsc as wise, yet here we are. It felt like Larian just saw that his original class was a "ranger", gave him ranger stats, and didn't think about it further at all. This wasn't the Minsc I remember.

But perhaps the most disappointing thing is what happens if you don't recruit Jaheira in Act 2. When you find Minsc in Act 3 you have no way to snap him out of his delusions and you are forced to kill him and watch Boo mourn his dead body. It's one of the biggest slaps in the face for a character's ending.

She needs better hair! They really should have anticipated this from the many discussions about Minthara's hair hehe.

Right now her part is off. They also nixed her beauty mark over the lip. I'm not too attached to the BG2 portrait on that one, cause it was a rip (the BG1 portrait is better in my view and this Viconia does feel more like the BG1 Viconia to me) but they obviously went with more of a BG2 approach to her trim there. I think they should have kept her in a hood for the reveal and left more of her face in Shadow that way.

Ted Arfken did a nice concept for her a couple years ago... I liked his idea for Jaheira as well. The both have the Elf thing going with the larger eyes and wider set, but mostly I just liked the vibe and outfit there...
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/eawONX




I think if we don't get to see Shar save her from the Spider Queen's vengeance then that's bound to be a let down. I read somewhere the suggestion that we should be able to trade out for Viconia when we get to that point so we could still have a Cleric. But to me it would be more fun to have them together. You know like, "I hate what you've done with your hair, and what are you wearing!" Griefing Shadowheart about not having enough tattoos for a justiciar her age, and "I don't care what your aunt Jaheira said!!!" heheh. Seems like it could have been a goldmine for some clutch banter.

To me the thing which doesn't fit and isn't going to sit right is the idea that Viconia is the one who's primarily responsible for Shadowheart's woes, like from childhood, by the implication. Shadowheart's quest becomes all about finding her "parents" and getting to the bottom of that mystery, but if you want to do that right, we as the protagonist should be able to play out the dysfunctional family, with the lesson that 'mother' has an inherently redemptive angle, even Shar. You need a reveal which lends more weight to the value of the obscure there.

Like where we don't do what Viconia asks, and lie to protect Shadowheart, and then doing that is the thing which makes Viconia actually trust us. When we find out some sub-plot stuff there, that makes every dark choice of Shadowheart's still seem like maybe it was the right call after all. In a more morally ambiguous universe, where gods are intervening and all these peeps are just sorta hapless proxies for the divine wills at work, at least. Instead of a Mommy Dearest set up, where we just want to see that person get instantly off'd, cause we're on team Shadowheart now, instead it could have been a whole schtick with the dysfunctional Sharran side of the adoptive family tree there hehe. Viconia was a fantastic BG character! Of all the companions who made it through to the sequel she'd have been the longest lived.

By this point she should be among the wisest people we speak to in the entire game. She's both older and wiser than Jaheira, but what does that mean here lol. According to her BG2 starting stats, Viconia was the one who must have read all the wisdom tomes in BG1 hehe. I mean for real, by now she should be like the Heraclitus of Faerun on that score, imparting the revealed wisdom of a priestess who's served Shar for centuries already.

I'm happy to see her in BG3, I just want more, and better!!! Always for that one!

Either that or we learn she's been Orin in disguise the entire time, from the very start. Shadowheart raised by doppelgangers twist. Like seriously, if they have to fix it like that, then fine. But gotta do something here.

"VIconia DeVir, the stories say she was..."

1. the best
2. the worst
3. Nod to Jaheira indicating she should take the lead on this one
4. "this is absurd!" (current default)

If you choose 1 or 3, then Jaheira steps in front of Shadowheart with her hand motioning to stay back. Says...

"Don't listen to her! This is not Viconia De'Vir who stood with me atop the Throne of Bhaal! She passed long ago into shadow.
This is an imposter!"

Then boom - Viconia polymorphs into a Greater Doppelganger! Jaheira barks "nature take the life she gave!"

I was delighted by Minsc’s translation, but considering you’re not really working with a great deal to begin with, I considered Minsc a layup for the team. Unlike some others I actually would have found greater deviation from old Minsc more forgivable and interesting.
I’m also happy Larian didn’t ruin the fun of Boo.

I also thought Jaheira was well done. Very faithful to the original games but not to the point of arresting her development as a character. I totally bought the hardbitten, wished she could be a cynic put on. And her relationship with the city for that matter.

Sarevok never struck me as a fanatic . His attitude toward Bhaal and godhood always seemed pretty matter of fact. But I have trouble understanding the motivations of anyone in a murder cult, so who knows. That extends to Orin I don’t really understand her motivations, or maybe they’re just too simplistic to be interesting. Sarevoks journal says he was brought back in BG2 but very little of the interesting development for his character there seems to have occurred, nor does much seem to have happened to him since then except falling in the Doppelgängers again and continuing Bhaals work. If they made more clear he was the revenant of only part of Sarevok I might more easily have bought in, but much like his VO there’s just something lacking.

And Viconia. I’ve felt like reserving my judgment here before playing as Shadowheart, there seems to be more going on here that Tav isn’t party to. As Tav, Viconia is little more than a cameo. One who I have trouble matching up with the original games.

No point in denying I’m a Viconia fan, I don’t usually go through BG2 without a spot for her (or Jaheira and Minsc for that matter) and going to the Underdark without her is leaving a lot on the table. Maybe for that reason I’m trying to be more impartial than is reasonable, still based solely on Jenevelle’s story it doesn’t seem like the Viconia in BG3 would have survived the first two games.

Thanks to BG3’s notoriously spoilery journal entries Viconiam’s cell has gone rogue adding to my interest in her story despite there not seeming to be much there to discover.

First off because to ally with her you have to give her SH, so now you're out a cleric. Recruiting her would gamewise make sense.

There's actually alot of potential in the story larian has given her. Running the HoG, providing aid and helping people, all in the name of an evil goddess, and then her part in the mission, sending SH to get the artifact because who cares if Shar didn't tell her to save the world, she lives in the world and has saved it before so yeah she's going to prove to Shar she is a best priest of Shar by ignoring her orders and saving the world to spite her.

That has SO MUCH potential as a good story, but BG3 is about SH so it makes it all about SH, if we could recruit V after giving her SH, we'd get to hear her side of the story and give her some agency and power back over her story.

I don't like it, but compared to 5e canon, he is a homeless drug-addicted priest of Bhaal who lives on the streets of BG city, tormented by his immortality.
That was bad, and mean spirited and gross. Him being a powerful cult leader and a grandfather, it undermines his ToB story but it's better than M&BBoV

I can kind of see how, if he became lost he could find identity and power in the cult of bhaal, even if he doesn't believe those who do worship him and it's not like he can return to the Iron Throne. So I guess it works?

It's baffling that WotC seems incapable of reading a script. Sarevok lost his immortality when he got resurrected in ToB. He lives on as a mortal, how can his non-existenst Immortality torment him?

Viconia puts her hand on Shadowheart's shoulder and says "Shar looks upon us with favor" right before we all leap down that chasm to fight the biggest spider queen's spider that's ever been in a computer game! hehe I mean come on! Right?

We already have a Jaheira cinematic for a dopelganger reveal, so this could be repeated. Simple option would be, current Viconia does an Orin/Dopelganger morph, and we find recruitable Viconia bound in a nearby room after that fight concludes. Shadowheart repeats dialogue about memories and memories she can't access. Viconia delivers a line indicating that all those memories were deceptions and that Orin has been twisting her mind. Posing as Mother Superior, posing as Shar to warp the acolytes, that sort of angle. You could blend the lines of Shar from the Gauntlet with Orins to play this up. All the stuff about Shadowheart torturing her own parents turns out to be false, the wolf memory is also incomplete. In the end Shadowheart comes to understand the wolf was also family. Viconia didn't wipe her mind, that was Orin and the Dopelgangers - Bhaal's revenge against Viconia for all that stuff she did last time - to break her adopted child and successor and twist the knife with his chosen. Everything that's happened since before Shadowheart even left Baldur's Gate and wound up on the Nautiloid. Viconia then gets us onto a more wise sort of clairvoyance about the events that have taken place surrounding Shadowheart and the stuff that's now about to go down, in dialogue options that leave her angle open. Recruits into the fold for the final showdowns. That would be very satisfying for me, with extra dialogue for the Drow if they are around, Minsc and Jaheira for sure. lil alurl!

Edwin, and that didn't pan out from what I hear, the wizard is just someone else, and the Iron Flask plot goes nowhere like the Minsc and Boo version does

Viconia and Sarevokare terrible. What really annoys me is that people encountering these characters for the first time are going to have a completely inaccurate impression of them. Viconia and Sarevok are two of my absolute favorite characters from BG1 and BG2 (Viconia being my favorite vanilla romance option and favorite lady NPC), and Sarevok is one of my favorite video game villains (though I always redeem him in ToB). This is due to the excellent, nuanced writing of their characters, not because "lol I have an evil alignment so I torture children." Their portrayal in BG3 is really just ludicrous and a blemish on a game I otherwise really love.

It turns the Drow into an inherently 'born evil' sorta race again, despite everything that's been said on the subject recently.

"Help me! If you don't help me, they'll kill me." Now it would seem, it's time for us to answer the call again!

Helm of opposite alignment, Girdle of you guessed it, Throne of Bhaal, for people who may not get the importance...

In BG1 there was a Helmet which would change the PCs alignment to it's concordant opposite. Worked for everyone except the true neutrals, like Jaheira, though I suppose you could head canon a Dark Jaheira out of that one, but it was particularly cool for Viconia.

In BG2, there were 3 romance options for a Male protagonist, but only 1 for a Female protagonist. Although it was not possible to import the girdle from BG1 into BG2 to trick the game, with Weidu, you could call it up from the console. Using Shadowkeeper it was possible to change the avatar and tags of Charname, allowing Viconia to romance the protagonist, no matter who they were. You could change your own avatar to make match whatever cosmetics and trigger the romances. This gave something to people who found Anomen dull, and a villainous option. Also made sense for her character archetype I think. This was never in the official games and not possible until mods started cracking it open in the Tutu modding era to force put BG1 into BG2's engine. Still it was a nice touch and kept things going during the afterlife.

In Throne of Bhaal the player was able to achieve an alignment shift for this character, which under 2e and given the rest of the game/gameplay there, was pretty novel. It was a precursor to the sort of approval/disapproval mechanics that we see in play these days.

So for the first instance of that, you figure, there's going to be some extra baggage to unpack here. I think this one is like worth calling the VA principles back into studio, so we can have like 3 or 4 different ways that scene might play out depending on who's in the room and what Tav feeds the game as the initial dialogue responses.

One of these paths should allow recruitment, ideally without giving up Shadowheart along at least one path. The advantage here of the CRPG form, and also of the EA writ large, is that you don't have to undo the work that's been done, just keep that but add another path which plays out differently responding to the player and the old crew.

You know like as if the Dread Wolf wasn't around the entire time. When we cleared the Mines of Cloakwood, or when we slew the Doppelgangers beneath Candlekeep, saved the City from ruin and devled deep into Durlag's together. Faldorn, the only character in BG1 who could cast a lvl 5 spell! I mean nobody's going to care what happened to her right? lol. Our options there were to kill her in ritual combat or kill her outside of ritual combat, and in either case pretend like we basically didn't know who we were dealing with. Complete miss.

Now with Faldorn we can give this a bit of a pass, cause she was the same voice actress as Jaheira. So you can sort of imagine it like "ok guys, I don't really have it in me to do her all over again, how about we just make her into a big bad and cinch it up with Jaheira's questline..." OK fine, water under the bridge there, we've had plenty of time to cope on that one. In BG2 usually these were very quick cameo interludes, just enough to make you feel kinda bitter about seeing them again, but it didn't really derail any one character's storyline, or color it in that way, except maybe Cernd's.

Shadowheart on the other hand is a more major character here. She's the first NPC we can recruit once the game begins in earnest, so these choices have knock-on effects for how I feel about that character now. Shadowheart is much more like our Imoen in the BG3 context, pretty close to a secondary protagonist and there from the getgo. This is why I suggest the Doppelganger wipe, as a way to leave well enough alone if they just don't want to touch it. But of course I'd rather see a redux here and a more nuanced implementation of that story wrap, for reasons mentioned by others - that this will be the first time many people meet some of these characters. They already put her in the game. Now they have to do her up proper. I mean right? I think they can salvage this, because like the OP I know what I wanted and expected, and the set up was all there, so if they could just give us a little of that, it would be so major!

I have just started my first Origin campaign with Shadowheart. I did not expect this to be the thing that finally has me engaging with the Origin idea, but I guess we're going for it. Just to see.

For Sarevok, here I was willing to reserve judgement, because while he was also a top fav and pretty much the only Throne of Bhaal companion worth mentioning, he's a bit harder to pin down. His initial role as our primary antagonist and killer of Gorion always made him a much tougher sell. He's a blackguard anti-paladin archetype, responsible for everything that goes down in the first game. But then again, the villains got short shrift in the sequel with many fewer companions, so he was able to fill a real niche there. I thought his character was fantastic and his interplay with Imoen sorta made that whole sequel to the sequel for me.

It's easy to imagine him as the Kurgan from Highlander (for all too obvious reasons), so like, if they're going to go there, they should at least make him look like a young Clancy Brown right?

And then let us bring him back for one last family brawl!

the Viconia mentioned in Vlad's text is only there in case she is the romance partner of the PC in BG2. And that Viconia dies afterwards. She was my favorite character in that game, and it was one of the few moments I really got emotional in a video game when I read the ending of that story. That's why I still remember it. The "official" Viconia though, the one which survives is evil. Her story afterwards is pretty much what happens in the game. I also don't think there is anything grey about Shar which needs a deeply philosophical debate. At least not how Shar is presented in the game. Nor in most of the officail DnD products. That does feel more like a headcanon.

I do agree though it would have been best to leave Viconia out of the game. It just annoys people who liked her in their playthrough in the previous games, and her being there doesn't really serve a purpose. It doesn't make what happened to Shadowheart any different. It felt like a really unnecessary cameo. But the original Viconia, the one which wasn't changed because of a relationship with a good/neutral PC was an evil character, and nothing what is shown in BG3 seems out of character to me at least.

I do feel that this is a bit different than say Khalid or Dynaheir dying during the interregnum between BG1 and BG2, or the Faldorn stuff I mentioned. If only because made it into the sequel and had a much bigger role there. And the characters who got got between games were killed by Irenicus, which is different than the protagonist doing it.

I chose the guardian options to help me play it up

Even though a non-romanced Viconia underwent a less impactful, yet still similar character arc, the fact remains that the Viconia in BG3 displays a degree of wickedness that doesnt even fit Viconia in her time as a priestess of Lloth. Her relationship with Shadowheart is the prime example of this. While the way SH talks about her in act 1 and 2 would appear to fit the character, nothing she says or shows about herself in act 3 is compatible with any iteration of viconia we have seen throughout the games. The things she has put SH through would infuriate BG2 Viconia. She wanted nothing more than to be break free from the control of others, men and gods alike. If she knew then and there what she would force upon those that would come to rely on her, she would most certainly ask Gorions Ward to strike her down, in fear of what will become of her.
If this really was their vision for the character, they would have needed to atleast show the player how she got to that point. But it seems like the bare minimum was done with both the character and the finale of Shadowhearts questline. As the other person said, if this would have been playtested via EA, Viconia and Sarevok would have never made it into the game in this form.

Regarding Shar itself, just compare the depiction of Shar in Act 1 with her depiction in Act 3.
Act 1 paints Sharran worship in a very nuanced light. And while the bleakness of Act 2 does paint a really grim picture with the Shadow Curse and its Inhabitants and Victims, it is in the 3rd act that Sharran Worship is truly set in stone as nothing other than comically evil. To finish off the whole Shar/Selune Subplot, that weaves itself throughout the games narrative, making you question not only the morality of the twin godesses, but also Shadowhearts and your own, in such a fashion, disregarding the very notion of any choice or agency the player might have had or wanted, ruins the whole storyline, regardless of who the Mother Superior is.
I can only speak for myself, but I think we have enough of those types of antagonists already. There was the possibility for a nuanced, morally grey storyline, worthy of carrying on the story of Viconia Devir, one of the most nuanced, multi layered characters of any RPG, instead it ends in the most asanine black and white fashion, and ruins a beloved character in the process.