Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Unhappy Endings Might be GOOD

If the idea is that Karlach should go back to Avernus because she needs to face her fears and fight for her freedom together with people who care about her, rather than catch a free ride out on the Nautiloid, then that should've been what her story and our choices were about. But they're not.

1) You don't get much say in what direction it goes:

Yes, you can choose the end states -- become a mindflayer, explode, or go back to Avernus -- but none of them are affected by what you do during her questline.

The reason why Karlach ends up like that is because those two fetch quests led to nothing. Now, you could argue that failure is a type of impact on its own. Yes, yes it is. But here's the thing -- you could, if you wanted to, ignore Karlach's entire questline, and nothing would fundamentally change, except that you wouldn't be able to romance her.

What Karlach has, instead of an actual storyline, is an optional romance quest. All that changes by completing her quest is the ability to touch her. How am I supposed to be content with any of this? We need to be allowed to make choices that actually impact her situation, even if they lead to the same conclusion.

2) The story is thematically incomplete:

What you have right now are two interactions with Dammon and a meaningless boss fight

a) the first time you meet Dammon, he temporarily stabilizes you and tells us he'll come up with something the next time we meet;
b) the second time you meet Dammon, he temporarily stabilizes you and tells you there's nothing he can do;
c) then you go and take revenge on Gortash and that changes absolutely nothing about Karlach's character arc

Now, you could say this as a rebuttal: Dammon's failure shows her that she can't just patch her way out of this, and her empty revenge pushes her to accept her fate rather than cling to old grievances.

The problem is that neither of those is necessarily true within the confines of the game:

Firstly, just because Dammon failed doesn't mean there aren't others who can try. In fact, it's not just the Gondians. Few people mention this, but one of the Gondians' premiere rivals are the Grymforge Gnomes whom you also get to save. I think anyone reading this can come up with at least a few twists and turns involving these two that can lead you to explore an engine fix. You can still have those options fail, but it will make Karlach's story that much more believable. You truly did try all you could.

Secondly, Gortash dying isn't necessary for Karlach to find acceptance. In fact, killing him is a wasted opportunity, since he is her only connection to the main story. You could've had at least a couple more options for dealing with him -- including one where you betray Karlach and return her to Zariel via Gortash (a la Shadowheart) -- and one where you make a deal with him to secure her life on Fearun. Both of those are obvious routes already set up in the game -- you know Zariel is after her and you know Gortash has advanced infernal engine tech in his arsenal.

If you combine the two points above, what you get is a more complete storyline worthy of an Origin character that retains the tragedy and the bitterness of the original, while also giving players more agency in how they approach her situation. This way, you can save Karlach but the cost will be immense. If she finds out you struck a deal with Gortash to get her a new engine, she might leave you forever. Is a living Karlach who hates you a happy ending? You tell me. Maybe now the Avernus ending doesn't sound so bad, does it? Now you have a true dilemma.

So an unhappy ending can be good, but it has to be earned and it has to be meaningful. Tragedy for its own sake is not satisfying.