I remember looking at the branching choices board of Dontnod when they were talking ehind the scenes of Life is Strange (1) and how the tree of one choice beanched out into so many others. How hard it must've been to make it all work.
Now I imagine the tree of choices and consequences for a game the size of BG3 is ENORMOUS but I just don't understand. Are we really given any choice with Karlach like we are with the others?
It's pointless isn't it? Every companion has AT LEAST two main sways of story, a better and a worse (good/evil, whatever you wanna call them, I say shades of grey and complexity) ending but also multiple ways of doing that.
Karlach's end is not dependant on anything we do in the game. She will live even if we don't repair her, though her longing for touch and love would be left aside (can't hsve that can we!). But regardless of the upgrade, she will make it til the end and then we will be presented with the same choies as if we took her with us everywhere, talked to Dammon, Gondians, Steel Watchers and stocked up on a pile of enriched infernal iron. Nothing, and I repeat, nothing, changes the outcome for Karlach, until the very last minute when her time is up. Only thing we get as we progress her quest and meet all these people is more explanation to the same: she's burning up on the upper plane because of her engine basically being outdated.
And then they present you with choices: Choice A: Karlach from earlier in the game would be satisfied because she had the autonomy over her fate and could dictate her final choice without the threat of Zariel. Burning up in agony after a battle, in accomplishment, but also personal failure if we look at post-Gortash Karlach.
Choice B: We let Tav and/or Blade of Avernus Wyll to go with her back to Zariel's layer of hell. The one place she swore on everything she'd never want to set her foot back in. Though, she gets to live. And if we let her choose and have romanced her, she will tell us that we have to go, now. That too is a choice, even though in Avernus she peeks at Tav and says "remember, you chose this". 12 levels higher and yes sure badasses, but back in the last place she as a former slave would want to return to. Good for a DLC, looks badass, but in truth just says "you can live but only if you go to hell which you did everything to escape".
Choice C: Let her become a Mindflayer. She'll shed her former self, keep some sense of who she used to be but become eternally different. Sure, having many choices is fun, but this ain't anything I'd ever choose in any of my playthroughs as it basically takes away everything Karlach is and stands for.
Now imagine choice D: You come across the Steel Watchers who tell us to go to check Karlach's heart. We do that, but they themselves cannot help per se - however, they can introduce thw enriched inferlan iron to the plot and we set off on a subquest to find x amount. Everything we've gathered and learned, we'd take to Dammon, who would try to do something but it would ultimately be out of his skillset, in which he would have to team up with either the Gondians or Karlach's friend in upper city. Together with a fallen Steel Watcher, we'd be able to crack the idea of how to solve Karlach's predicament and she'd get repaired.
It could come at a cost of course, if one wanted to write that. Be it that she'd lose the ability to rage like she did, becoming a different kind of warrior, would likely affect the final battle and/or how she perceives herself as a fighter. It still comes at a cost, and is a change to the character, but her heart is stabilised and she is no less fierce and strong, just no longer flaming hot. I imagine an emotional scene, in Origin Karlach story maybe she could have a go at kissing Dammon as a thank you (for all you Kammon lovers) and for Tav romancers she could finally exhale and say that there was a hope for the future she didn't think she'd get to see.
There's a story to be told and still beauty in everything. Karlach doesn't have to die in the most tragic way to show a story of acceptance. Finding a cure for her flaming heart could tell a story of how trying to fight and having friends to support you can achieve great things. That wrongs done against you can be healed from, redeemed, and that there's a future to be had despite (or in spite of) the years you've lost to something totally out of your control. You can still live if you put your life in the hands of the right people, and you can fight to see another day without having to do so by going back to your abuser's turf.
I don't know. I just KNOW there's more to be told than just the ends we recieved. Karlach feels empty and left out and if she truly was a creation adjusted for the fans to enjoy and balance the rest of the squad, then why on earth would we want our precious girl to die?? Larian KNEW she would be important, they hsd to know based on fan feedback during EA. Samantha did a fantastic job in all the lines and it hurts me to know we can do SO MUCH for everyone, even outside of our own camp, but not enough for her.
I've survived one Chloe Price already. I don't want to hear her scream that she wants to live, and be doomed by the narrative. Because that's what she is. She "accepts" her fate and dies because what else is there? Or goes back to Avernus where life is shit, food tastes disgusting and everyone is out to get her, only to get more time to *offscreen figure out what to do next*.
If Avernus is the best ending we can get, then it must get a DLC continuation. If not, then they better patch this mess up. It's not right, Larian. I get the idea but it's not right. Not compared to the complexity of choices for the other characters, not right toward the fanbase this joyous beast of a woman enthralled with her presence.
