Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Halsin Romance, Expectations and Obligatory Poly

I know most comments are going to be from females romancing Halsin, for the simple point of demographics being that gay men make up 4% of the population.

But as a same-sex male/male relationship, I must say the valuation of this romance is even worse and damaging.

First, this seriously reinforces negative stereotypes about male sexuality, especially gay male sexuality. That is, of the few male options where you could have canon gay relationships (Gale is obviously bi, constantly rambling about Mystra, and Wyll eyes Karlach), the single remaining option for a full gay male character is a detached, theoretically promiscuous guy with commitment issues.

Second, it's outright nonsensical for a druid. Druids revere nature. Nature overwhelmingly represents bonding as longlasting pair bonds, because the alternatives are usually predatory low investment male mating where the mating happens and then the male moves on to another female and leaves the burden of raising offspring to the female exclusively. The exceptions here are lifelong pair bonds where there is equal parental investment.

So Halsin suddenly favoring a non-commital fling mentality which is rarely reflected in nature, especially in the emotional sense, feels completely at odds with the concept of natural order.

Then there is the issue of quality vs. quantity.

I get he was a late addition and only happened by fan demand.

The fact is, though, that we did not get quality to compensate for the severely poor quantity.

You rescue this guy since ACT 1. He tells you to be patient. You think there will be a payoff for that patience since the romance only starts by Act 3, nearly the end of the game. But there is no backloaded romance. It's the most barebone of romances! And the guy walks away from you in the end, he just goes his own way and tells you he will think of you and tell people of the hero of Baldur's Gate.

Like, what? I'm freaking Faithwarden of the druid circles. We are both druids. In what world is it incompatible for us both to work for the balance of nature together? This was such a bitter pill to be given by the writers, I'm sorry. Extremely disappointed and disrespectful not only of my character, but for the one good aligned strictly gay same sex male relationship available in the canon.

I think all companions are bi/pan and not player sexual. And Halsin had both male and female lovers ("elf maidens").



Well he explains it with following the way as bears do, seeing that bear is his favourite wildshape and he is build like a bear, having much with his favourite animal in common. And wood elves are known to be poly too. I wanted him to be monogamous too but I can understand that they went with him being poly. Him being poly isn't the main issue - sure disappointing for those who hoped for monogamous Halsin, but the romance could still be written in a good way showing they have a loving, serious relationship with both Halsin and Tav/Player feeling content.

If you are also in a romance with Astarion, then Astarion will say "I am sure it would be quite a harmless affair" regarding Tav being with Halsin too. So at least Astarion (not sure about Shadowheart) doesn't see Halsin as a serious romance for Tav but instead just for the sex. I don't think Tav can even really express what the "romance" with Halsin is - only to the other partner (by breaking up or saying e.g. to Astarion that what they have together is unique) but not really to Halsin. Maybe Tav only wants him for the sex - maybe Tav really is in love with Halsin. And Halsin will react the same to both situations. So Halsin being inconsistent in his romance is like being written for both parts (only sex or real love) but merged together (or wrong dialog for the current situation played). I don't think it is just a bug with wrong dialog flags, just that he was meant to be written for both paths and then they ran into time restraints and just thought - ok better than nothing.

As someone who is poly, this kind of bothers me a little bit. My Tavs end up pursuing someone else, and I don't play wood elves sir it's not something I'd follow with because of lore.

Idk. I don't feel I needed my relationship preferences represented in the game somehow I guess.

After some thought, I think my issue with the Halsin romance isn't that he's poly, it's that the romance feels incomplete. A lot of it is played for laughs (which I find jarring, considering how studious Halsin is and how serious some of his backstory is). I get some humor for sure, like the "daddy Halsin" joke was great, but overall the romance feels half-baked. And being poly shouldn't mean that he's just ready to say peace out at the end, especially since he genuinely seems to care for Tav. There should have been a better option to discuss a potential future with him and what that might look like. Otherwise, it does feel a little unbalanced, like does he really love Tav, or are they just a fling?

Edit: my impression is that they wanted to make a Halsin romance and have poly options, so they just kind of merged the two and because of lack of time/resources, the combo didn't turn out in the most satisfying way. They obviously didn't want the origin character romances to conflict or override each other, thus why no origin romances are poly with another origin.

This is so well said. I am still very disappointed and salty with Halsin's romance. I was so excited to romance him and willing to reject other companions' advances just to be with him but this is all we got?

With all the upcoming patches and updates, I really do hope we get to see some changes on this. This is literally my first ever game from Larian Studios so I am not sure if they are willing to ask Halsin's VA back to record additional lines. Any thoughts on how far Larian will go for this based on all the other games they have released previously?

It looks like there is a heterophobe and a misogynist in this chat. 4% of the population should be more tolerant, or this applies only to the female population, we should normally treat the fact that our love interests had male lovers, and this offends you in relation to women. Or does being called gay allow you to do whatever you want?

I'll be posting some of Halsin's untriggered epilogue flag, read at your own risk. here you go; https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1toM2E_7-cpiCvpvXQMjKt_Brh2ChhL2o
[spoiler]Halsin addresses a player to whom he's romantically linked in a private room in the Elfsong tavern. They discuss what comes next. This scene occurs shortly after the final victory over the absolute, a day or so after the battle. Player and Halsin are implied to have spent the night together.

Halsin:"When we joined battle for the last time, I did not want to presume we would survive. To feel your touch again seemed like a distant dream. That made last night all the sweeter.

PC: "Not to mention exhausting. I don't know where you get your energy from."

Halsin: "Do not be so modest - you gave as good as you got."

PC: (a)What comes now?
(b)Why do I get the feeling you're about to say goodbye?
[/spoiler]

There's a lot to shift through, its really sweet, one thing that caught my eye was
[spoiler]Halsin:"At last count, there were nine whole wagons of children in tow. They are my duty now. 'Daddy Halsin', they call me. Who am I to tell them otherwise?"[/spoiler]

This is in the game, but apparently it's the only line from this whole epilogue that made it in the game. This means this whole thing is bugged then since this is the only flag that got triggered.
The game doesn't acknowledge that you're in a romance with him, nor does it have his romance flag triggered throughout the ending. Definitely needs to be patched up much like Minthara.

What in the fresh hell are you on about? Hoping you're not talking about me.

I've also not noticed anything of the sort here.

Ignore Irritir. They strongly remind me of a troll we had. Not saying they are one or the same individual, but the risk is there

They mentioned using google translate in a previous post, so assume there is some language barrier, because you're right, almost everyone in this thread has said similar things "Not digging the romance".

Huh. Some hope for patch 2

She directed it to me. I just follow the rule of not replying to people who say stupid things, because it will lead to time waste and a stupid discussion you will gain nothing from other than a migraine at the bad faith displayed by some people. She's just mad I mentioned that some gay men would like a same sex romance that doesn't have a guy constantly pining for and rambling about his fling with some other woman, and in this case a goddess, and Halsin happens to be that alternative, but is undercooked.

I see.

I could get that. I know there were other games with gay/lesbian only partnerships, some were bi, others straight.

Then the inclusivity brigade came. As I mentioned, I'm poly, but didn't much care for it in game.

For me, it's about respecting players and giving them choices. Obviously, the characters need to be playersexual or we get Cyberpunk-style complaints of someone getting the short stick with the single romance option they got (in the case of Cyberpunk, the male romance options were all side characters not tied or participating in the main quest, and accordingly got pretty crappy romances compared to the females). I'm OK if they decided to make Halsin open to poly. But he should also give the player the choice for the committed monogamous relationship. And given how long his romance takes to activate all the way to Act 3, it should have been much more substantial when we do get it to trigger.

And I sure as hell should have the option to go with him and do druid things together on our travels. Hell, even his dialogue all throughout Act 3 doesn't acknowledge my Druid tag even though he did on Act 1 and Act 2. He wants to be putative father to the refugees? OK, give me the option to tag along. We can start our new druid circle of refugees together.

People keep throwing out Halsin as polyamorous, but he isn't really amorous at all. He just seems down to fuck after he gets to know you a bit. He isn't intetested in any real relationship.

It makes sense to me that some characters are more or less interested in long term relationships.

I haven't played with the 'dark' version of one of the characters yet since I convinced them to be good. It's my understanding that they become almost impossible to romance if they become dark. Their priorities just shift as a person.

I understand feeling let down by the situation though. There are quite a few different character relationship endings that personally leave a hole in my heart, but that also make sense from a narrative perspective.

I do find it interesting how the other romance options recognize Halsin for the fling he is, and don't mind you spending time with him. Especially strange are those who otherwise are seeking to keep you for themselves.

Astarion may , which is altogether amusing and depressing

Yes on one side he is clearly written just as a fling but then again - if this is all Larian intended for him, then why do you need to wait until act 3 before you can have the sex/romance scene with him? The shadow curse weighs so heavily upon him? So in all this time during the curse he never had a lover? And was never going to take one unless the curse was lifted? That is some dedication, especially if it is just sex - can't be then much of a distraction to him.

If it is just about sex with him they could have had a sex scene at the camp celebration and maybe later just a fade to black so they don't have to animate multiple sex scenes. Would not be much of Halsin content but at least then it makes sense. He is just there to have fun with and that's it.

But then again if you look at his dialog and what they did include like a romance ending (even if it is crap) and the dryade scene that you can have with all love interests, and that he is not a sex option from the start but waits to be with Tav (if he is only interested in sex, why wait? If he hopes for a romantic relationship it makes more sense that he waits to get to know Tav better) and that he speaks about his stirring heart and that it doesn't stir lightly.....

He has quite the romantic dialog lines but then it comes all crushing down when you play because he backs out again...

So it really looks like he wasn't just written to be a fling but a romance option too but somehow it is mixed right now.

I understand that they didn't had much time because he was included late (and it is amazing they did include him at all). But it wouldn't take too much effort to fix it at least a little bit. A little dialog change in the end that the player can go with him would already be a start. Maybe him telling that he never was one for lasting relationships but with Tav he wants to try.

IF they have more time then more fixes would be nice like to be able to speak with him about that time he was held as a sex slave in the underdark and maybe helping him working through that (he sounds ok with it now but maybe that is even the reason he has issues with relationships? Even if it was just 3 years, that must have been traumatic).

And when he says his heart doesn't stir lightly you can give a response that it seems it does (stir lightly) and he will again tell Tav about his lovers (elf maidens, pirate and that he had been multiple time to the underdark) - I am sorry but that doesn't make sense to me. It is implied he has now feelings for Tav and then he tells about his lovers and adventures (sexual?) in the underdark and that is the explanation that his heart doesn't stir lightly? That he already had so much lovers?

And a clear separation between "just let us have sex no strings attached" and "I am in love with you" would be really nice.

Do you have certain things you would like to have included if there were to be a fix for him?

i wont lie, i was open to the idea of the poly relationship with him ( i would have prefered monog personally, but hey. it is what it is), but it was written... (dare i say it) almost lazily. Like he was quickly added for the fans pleasure but not with much thought or planning put into it. He basically spends most of act 2 in your camp refusing to join you - for whatever reason. When he finally does, hes often hating about the city and wanting to be back in nature (which is fine), but i would have liked to have seen more tender/bond forming moments between him and tav. The ending as well left me a bit cold in the sense I didnt even get to stay with him, he just left with vague promises to meet again some day. I mean, i wasnt expecting a marriage proposal, but maybe something a bit more personal and special would have been nicer. Maybe making plans to return to the grove 'together' and help with the orphans there with him. I get his nature is to not be monogamous, but to just abruptly be like 'hey, thanks for the fun times, im off. ciao' left a bad taste in my mouth.

So when are we getting an alternate ending for Halsin + Tav?

They mentioned that Karlach will be getting an alternate ending in Patch 2. We need one for Halsin too.

[quote=iloverainbow]So when are we getting an alternate ending for Halsin + Tav? :(

They mentioned that Karlach will be getting an alternate ending in Patch 2. We need one for Halsin too.[/quote]

well, good news, the writer of halsin has been fully aware of all critics about him considering he's been reading posts about him.
https://twitter.com/mrjohncorcoran/status/1693433654519677218

guess we play the waiting game now. i, as well as other halsin fans have been asking larian, swen, and the game director to add more content and a better romance ending for him on twitter..
i still advise you guys to submit feedback via the ticket thingy. if you say nothing, then nothing will change