Today I started going through the Patch 2 voice lines, and lines from this scene popped up in the files. Rather than being cut content, I think this is new and a direct message from the devs to the fanbase.
This is starting to feel like a tug of war. At some point I have to wonder why make Karlach playable at all if they’d neglect her story so glaringly and give her such an underwhelming questline? Putting her on the same standard as the other origins just emphasizes the gap.
Someone did decide to go ahead with this regardless, and now I feel a lot of effort to indirectly justify it.