I was supposed to move away from this, but I kinda want to re-iterate myself from before and, perhaps, try to keep the thread on track. So here goes.
Baldur's Gate 3 is a really good game, but there's some aspects in its narrative that grinds me the wrong way. When it comes to characters Gale and Karlach, they both share a very similar hurdle; a ticking time bomb in their chest. Now, the game prides itself to have tough choices with consequences, but in this case, there's only consequences without any choices. Let me explain:
In the game's narrative, the player gets to help Gale, but no matter what the player's choice is, Karlach's is doomed. It's even worse considering their past, where Gale has had an easy childhood, silver platters all around, being a prodigy, and eventually is the cause of his own problems. Problems which get resolved by a deus ex machina style manner when Elminster pops up out of nowhere and stabilizes him. Karlach on the other hand is of a somewhat frowned upon race (Tieflings), her past is forced upon her with trauma after trauma, and in the end, no matter what the player's actions (or inactions) are, her arc remains the same and she cannot be helped. In a world where anything is possible from sleeping with gods and getting true resurrected from atoms, it's Karlach who cannot be helped. Larian might not have meant this, but it's quite close to slavery allegory, where after escaping captivity, you're never truly free and the only way to stay alive is to return to your "owner".
Here's some bullet points to show their differences:
Gale Easy childhood Gets rewarded from his actions (Sleeps with a goddess etc.) His problem is his own doing, he chose to do it Gets bailed out by a deus ex machina Gets a satisfying ending
Karlach Sold into slavery and forced into servitude Her problem was forced upon her Had no choice in her actions Escapes slavery Gets teased with hope many times to no avail No matter the player actions during the game, she either dies, gets sent back to her slaver or loses her identity (Mindflayer)
Looking at these side by side, it just doesn't look good. Especially when there are many, many ways, in-game no less, that might help her. Here's some:
- Enriched infernal Iron. You can loot that, and it does nothing. Convenient. - House of Hope & Raphael. I'm sure a demon/devil/whatever, who is a direct competitor to ZARIEL, might be interested in a transaction with SOUL COINS. You know, the infernal currency we find throughout the game? - Divine intervention scroll? No? Anyone? - Even Mizora might help, just to be spiteful. Or wanting a deal. Them winged ones sure like deals. - During the game you can help multiple gods. Why wouldn't they want to repay that? Would be just another Tuesday for them. - You have Withers at your camp. Why can't he true res Karlach for a fee? "But it's a game mechanic" you say? It's still a resurrection. Have permadeath if you think resurrection has no place in DnD. - Speaking of True Res, Gale has a SCROLL of it later in the game. Perhaps he'd be willing to part with it. Or maybe his cheese buddy Deus Ex Elminster has solutions? - Wish spell is in the game, Vlaakith uses it on you. After all we did for the world and gods, we'd sure love one wish spell. Is Vlaakith the only god who can wish? - But, the most obvious are the Gondians. You know, the INFERNAL MECHANICS you save/meet, who have PERFECTED and UPGRADED the same engine Karlach has. Why is this completely brushed off? "But open heart surgery!" Oh come on. There are talking heads. You can sleep with a bear. Magic, gas forms, resurrections, telekineses, submarines and gods are around, and you draw a line at heart surgery? - Hell, even Gortash might trade them schematics/newer engines for his life. Would fit perfectly with his character.
All in all, it's a major narrative whiplash you get when you're told that Karlach cannot be cured. It's a damn common cold compared to Gale's problem, and he gets it fixed just like that. It's way too railroading into a "bittersweet" ending in a game, that prides itself to have choices that will mean something. Then let them mean something.
"But we did all we could"
Karlach's fiery, poignant and bittersweet endings would work if the game was set in another setting. Set in the modern, real world? Most definitely. Sci-fi? Most probably. Low fantasy? So and so, but could work. High fantasy DnD? Not at all.
