I will only accept karlachs current endings if they change all the other companions endings to be equally cynical and ''bittersweet''. As it currently stands, and this has been discussed to death already, her story feels disjointed from the setting the story takes place in to the point of being ridiculous and forced(the fantasy equivalent of heart transplant surgeries dont exist in dnd apparently lol), so larian has to remove all the ''magical ways'' the other companions get good endings to make the story more cohesive and realistic!
Being mostly sarcastic. Mostly. But also with all due respect, saying that if karlachs story got changed it would cheapen the current endings is bullshit. Karlachs quest needs to be given the same amount of polish that the other companions get, where her story isnt just railroaded into the same ending regardless of our actions. And hey if karlach indeed did get a more polished quest line where we can more meaningfully roleplay what path her story takes, people who wanna experience the ''we did all we could for karlach™ ending for karlach are still free to do so. I personally dont like when a game set in a dnd world forces a sad ending on me telling me theres nothing to be done while everything and everyone else in the world can be fixed to an outrageous degree(gales magic nuke in his chest being just one example), but maybe thats just me.
This, thank you. Her endings are purely to bait the player into 'tragedy' which is over the top in a setting like this when all the endings are sad. Literally i've seen streamers experiencing her endings and they were wondering what did they miss and how unfair her demise was. This alone should tell you enough considering the rest of companions can get their good endings - especially when romanced. Even the new cutscene wasn't fullfilling because it's just an already existing ending with some flavor. Even Astarion suffers from bad endings BUT, he's still alive and well and can live with the player without issues (except not being out in the sun anymore but even that can be 'fixed'. Something something about a cloak someone mentioned in his thread that can allow the vampire walk under the sun without issues - correct me if i'm wrong but i read something related to that in his thread)
Imo, a dlc alone could fix a lot of things regarding Karlach (but not make it be for Karlach only). It can just be adventures in Avernus or anything but you get a 'bonus' if you bring Karlach along and add some critical choices such as trade offs as long as it doesn't affect the romantic relationship the player has with her this much. If Larian deems it impossible to tweak Karlach's fate in the base game, the dlc alone can be a miracle.
You cannot make a character like Karlach and give her ALL doomed endings without hope. This is just cruel. Larian really thought we'd all be fine with that? Really? How it's possible that they didn't think ONCE to give her one good ending when you have like 5 other origin companions that have fleshed out storylines and good endings depending on your choices?
Crazy.
Edit: and even IF we could try everything, one good ending with some hope would do wonders for me. I certainly wouldn't want to do everything, get some 'explanations as to why her heart can't be fixed' and still get bad endings. Sorry, but this isn't for me. One good ending in the mix offers good balance and gives players more reasons to replay the game and try other outcomes.
