Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Shadowheart's Power

However her realization she has been stolen causes a crisis of faith. THIS is where the game and the storyline can get a little screwy.

You see if she abandons Shar she should, by lore, instantly loose access to her spells. The power that granted those to her has been abandoned. Yet she retains them.

Worse yet, the power does not change. The "theory" is that she has become a devote of Selune and that the Lady of Light has come her benefactor and thus providing her power. Would this not mean then she should instantly be changed from a Trickery Domain to either Light or Life?

Oh wait the convolution gets worse. Recall what I said above, the level of power a Cleric has is based on the level of devotion. Well Shadowheart is, by her own dialog, in a massive crisis of faith. Further she has not in ANY WAY proven herself to Selune or the Priesthood and thus should have no or VERY limited power. She should essentially right now be back to level 1 as far as spell access.

From a pure lore/plot point of view there is a work around. Selune wants the Absolute stopped at all costs. To this end she see's fit to make sure Shadowheart's powers stay in tact to help defeat the Absolute. She there by works behind the scenes, working for her own goals, not based on the devotion of the "cleric". This will result however, once the Absolute is defeated, in Shadowheart losing her "power" and needing to make a live choice. Will she become a Cleric of Selune, thus starting over, or will she become something else or just retire?

when you enter shadowlands for the first time - you get dialogue with Shadowheart how curse doesn't work on her and Shar loves her.
However, if you try to enter deep shadow zone(where you need pixie lantern/blessing bascially) - she still has no protection against it. Her "protection" basically mimics Isobel's blessing of Selune that allows you to walk around, but not in the deep shadows. Wouldn't Shar give her full protection from that, because it's her curse? Maybe it was Selune all along, that protected her.

This does raise a question that makes no sense. She has been raised in Shar, her beliefs are in Shar. Shar would have no reason to "limit" her powers. By the Lore it would appear more likely this is a bug that Larian needs to fix in the game.

Sceleritas Fel(Durge's butler) points that "two goddesses fight for her, but is she really that special?"(or something like that). So maybe they were fighting before too. Maybe Selune predicted/wanted Shadowheart to actually free Aylin(Still strange, because she "accepts" Shadowheart even if she killed the nightsong in act3, if she saves her parents on DJ path)

The first thing I want to address is who the source of her divine powers is.
I've seen this take, but I don't think it's correct. It is stated in her character sheet that her god is Shar. She does in fact have full protection from the shadow curse even in the deeper areas. It is a bit bugged when you cross the threshold between the lightly and heavily cursed areas. But I have played shadowheart origin and ran around the deepest part of the curse with no issues. She has unique interactions with the star statues ( not having to pass a check to get the blessing), shar speaks to her in the gauntlet, and the narrator hints at her losing shar's favour if you save Aylin.



Shar empowers her before nightsong, and if she takes the light path she loses that. So where does that leave us with Selûne? This is a line you can say to her deep into act 3 if you're a Selûnite yourself. It sums up my perspective well.



The moonmaiden, or "she who guides" is not a goddess who likes to directly intervene. But there are some hints that she has not given up on Shadowheart. And is trying to guide her back into the light. Netav has pointed out the dark urge butler comments, but I think the big one is the conversation with Aylin in the Shadowfell. Aylin has been trapped in the Shadowfell since well before Shadowhearts birth. Yet she knows who she is, and not only that, she knows details about her life that Shadowheart herself cannot remember. Here are some Aylin quotes with my interpretation of them.



^Hinting at her parents fate




^knowledge about her kidnapping and origin as a Selûnite



^Promising SH a new life as a Selûnite after she chooses to spare Aylin.



^Again, Aylin does not seem particularly surprised of SH actions.



^Aylins last words if SH kills her "shar's child after all". She had faith that she would be set free.

So we have an angelic daughter of Selûne laying eyes on a stranger coming to kill her. She knows more about her life than SH does herself, and has faith that she will be set free. The invisible hand of Selûne is at work here. I can't think of any other reason as to why Aylin would know these things. And those words are extremely effective on Shadowheart, she states that they were the primary reason of why she defied Shar. And to top everything off the game tells you selûne blesses the party when receiving the moonlight glaive.





Here is where I disagree. She was able to overcome decades of conditioning and trauma by rejecting Shar. And in doing so saved a literal angelic daughter of Selûne from imprisonment. Aylin then blesses her, hands her a legendary Selûnite weapon, and sends her on her way. Not to deal with the absolute, but to free herself from Shar's curse and save her parents. If that's not a roaring divine endorsement then I don't know what is. Shadowheart does not need to crawl to Selûne to beg her for a scrap of divine power. Selûne (through Aylin) embraces her.

The ying-yang situation of Shar and Selûne might also make it easier to convert between these deities. Aylin: "Whatever Shar calls her own, Selûne has equal claim to. They are one and the same. Their power is matched and mirrored".

But, to stay correct lore-wise, SH should lose access to cleric spells while she's still in Shadowfell (afterall - all gods have issues with dispensing their powers in Shadowfell, Selune most of all). And should regain them AFTER the cutscene of Shar's punishment is played unpon exiting Shadowfell.

I have no doubt that she would find favor with Selune but remember she has stated numerous times she is not sure she will worship Selune. There is no faith there. Further while she has turned her back on Shar she is not, nor has implied she is embracing Selune.

If I was DMing this adventure I would actually do it as I mentioned. Allow her powers to stand until the crisis was ended, faith or not. Then would require the player to make a direct choice and would use a specific quest line to fully bring her into Selune's favor.

This makes perfect sense. Rebuilding her faith should take time, it would be jarring if she turned into a zealous Selûnite before the end of the game. So I believe that she takes the power out of pragmatism initially. Not really knowing where that path will lead.



I do agree that the game leaves it up in the air. But that is a matter that should be settled in the epilogue. Selûne powering her up until the end of the game makes sense to me for the reasons I stated before.
Her epilogue needs to show how she will cope with her trauma and grief/shar curse. Perhaps she will find solace in a Selûnite cloister. Or maybe she decides that she has had enough of gods and finds something else. I could even see an unromanced (white)Shadowheart with dead parents turn back to Shar to forget. That version of her is so devastated and alone.

So in a nutshell: I think her Selûnite path is well done and makes sense. It just lacks closure, like many other things in this game.