So at the time of writing I've played through this game 4 times, focusing on different companions each time, and just finished a playthrough in which I romanced Karlach, so I think I'm ready to have an opinion here now.
To start I'll say I love BG3. I'm really glad Larian gave us this game. Karlach is my favorite character and I do really appreciate that they tried to add some better closure with the epilogue patch.
That being said, it's not enough. I think there are deeper issues with the way she's written into the story beyond just the ending. After four playthoughs, Karlach definitely feels the least finished out of all the companions. It's a shame, because what is there is amazing.
- The first and most important point I want to make, and the one I (like to) think Larian cares the most about, is that becoming emotionally invested in the outcome of Karlach's story just feels bad. Obviously I wasn't in the writing room so I can only speculate, but I think the reason you can't actually save her in the end is because they wanted her story to be a poignant exploration of coming to terms with mortality and bravery, and probably felt that having her survive without making some kind of sacrifice would undercut her arc, but: her arc and survival don't have to be mutually exclusive. If she lives at the end she still lives with her revelations on the nature of strength and bravery as she states in Act 3. She doesn't have to die at the end to experience personal growth. For me, choosing to romance her gave a rather depressing overtone to the entirety of the game because I knew there would be no way to save her, despite the constant hints to the contrary. I can only imagine how it'd feel if I'd focused on her on my first playthrough and didn't know that there was no way to even attempt to save her. Probably confused and thinking I did something wrong, then very disappointed when I realized there's just no way to do it.
On a more personal note, the whole thing feels unnecessarily tragic. She's betrayed and enslaved as a kid, escapes just long enough to be reminded how much she loves life and the world, only to have it all ripped away again, and there's nothing you can do?? Come on, now, Larian. I mean, what's the point of all that? To show that even the best of us can live short, brutal lives and die too soon? We all know that, thank you.
-The second point is that Karlach's story is filled with certain tonal inconsistencies that are somewhat difficult to pin down. She seems to react with hope and optimism to certain game events, but when you actually speak to her she has a rather fatalist outlook, particularly in Act 3. At the beginning of Act 3 she tells you "I'm not going anywhere, I have plans for the future", to bleak fatalism, to "We can handle whatever comes at us together" when she takes you on the date, to "I'm going to die and pretending I'm going to live is a fantasy" after the date, to "hey the steel watch is based on me? maybe there's something that can help me there", to raging at her fate after Gortash is dead, to making dinner plans with old friends in the city and saying "first we save the city, then we save me", etc etc. She's excited about life, then she's ready to die, then she's not.
I don't know if the writers intended this rollercoaster or not, but I'd almost say it gave me a sort of... emotional whiplash. The script doesn't seem to know how it wants either the player or the character to feel. It seems to want to give you hope while she herself tries to take it away from you. She constantly swings from doom and gloom to optimism. She repeatedly insists she will never go back to Avernus; it's simply not an option. At the same time, the game almost seems to encourage you to hope and look for other solutions by letting you reassure her not to give up, you'll keep looking for a way. But there are no other solutions, and she suddenly does a 180 at the end and goes back to Avernus anyway? That felt somewhat jarring. The game reinforces to the player that there may be a solution by letting you tell her so, when in fact there is not. It doesn't feel great.
A secondary point here that confused me is the weird difference between the party's reactions when learning about Gale's impending death versus Karlach's. When Gale learns he has to blow himself up (and he seems resolved to do it), the party's reaction is generally "no way, we can't let him do that, we'll find some other way", but when Karlach discovers that she's on a clock, their reactions universally are "damn, that sucks, it's too bad there's nothing we can do about this". What? We didn't let Gale blow himself up, but we're supposed to be okay with Karlach exploding? We have exhausted literally zero options trying to save her.
-The third point is that it doesn't really make sense that in a place like Forgotten Realms, filled with magic, gods, and other death-defying phenomena, there's nothing that can be done. Hell, the game itself is full of people and things which sometimes feel like they're dangled in front of you to give you hope and lead you to believe you should be able to save her. Off the top of my head:
- You can't ask Raphael (or Mizora for that matter), despite the fact that he probably could easily do it, as evidenced by him removing the tadpoles with a snap of the fingers, which no one else in the game was able to do, even the Emperor. Yes, I know Karlach would hate the idea, but that's what makes it interesting. - The Gondians built the steel watch based off of Karlach's prototype. She remarks on this with optimism when you learn it, hoping that you might be able to find something at the factory, but she never mentions it again and you can't ask the Gondians. The game even gives you "Enriched Infernal Iron" along the way, leading the player to think that there might be some way to use it for her when it is in fact useless. Why? That seems like a strange connection to write into the game when it's ultimately meaningless. - You also can't ask the deep gnomes after you help Wulbren - You can't ask Withers - You can't use the crown to save her - Can't use the dominated brain to save her - Dammon repeatedly says that he's working on a solution up until she just dies and nothing ever comes of it - As it's been pointed out, this should be an easy fix for the scroll of true resurrection, which even exists in the game. Yes, I'm aware an item like this is a writer's nightmare and a deus ex machina cop-out. It's there, though. - You can't ask Dame Aylin/Isobel for help from Selune after saving Aylin from the Shadowfell. Seems like an easy fix for Selune and she kind of owes you a big fat favor after all that, not to mention I would think that Aylin/Isobel would be pretty sympathetic to your plight if you're romancing Karlach. - The rest of the gods. You just prevented the illithid grand design and saved the universe. They all owe you pretty big and I would think saving one mortal's life is a pretty small ask. - I even saved my one use of Divine Intervention the whole game hoping that I'd be able to use it on her at the end, but no such luck - But turning into a mind flayer saves her from the engine?? Come on.
All of these things result in the feeling that a specific ending is forced and you can't actually save her and you never actually had a choice. Ultimately, Karlach's 'arc' left me disappointed and somewhat bitter, I suppose because in the end it all felt kind of misleading and hopeless and pointless.
This post is already dangerously close to a rant so I'll end it here and say that there are already a lot of great ideas for solutions to the Karlach story in this thread. Rewrites, more content for her side quest involving an Avernus visit and a permanent fix, they're all good. Thanks for reading.
