Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion [END SPOILS WARNING] Addressing Karlach (PLEASE PUT SPOILERS IN TAGS)

im holding onto hope we will get more information on karlach soon, and the new physical release does make me hopeful that theyve still got alot planned for the game. Maybe DLC or a DE either way i hope they add more epilogues to the game and give karlach the happy ending she deserves.


#JusticeForKarlach

I mean, I'm hopeful for a DE just because that's been Larian's history with the Divinity:OS games and also the fact that, much as I love the game, it really does need one- act 3 is a noticeable drop in quality from 1 and 2 (from excellent to good, but still a drop), and the ending as it is right now- not just Karlach, but the ending in general- is extremely disappointing. (plus a bunch of QoL stuff the game could really use)
At this point I'm holding off on another playthough of the game until we at least get some epilogues to give some actual closure to the story (and hopefully make the Return to Avernus ending look a bit less like suicide by devil horde, if we're lucky), whether that's in another major patch or a DE. Just wish we had some kind of ETA on that.

youre right act 3 was a drop in quality and having some indication that the Avernus ending is anything but giving karlach back to zariel with extra steps would go a long way to making that ending better. Although i'd rather they just give her a much happier ending when they add more act 3 content and upper city stuff. Her ending is so dark compared to the rest of the origins it really threw me through a loop when i first saw it and thought i mustve missed something somewhere.

#JusticeForKarlach

Oh, if you put me in charge of how the story ends, I would absolutely go with allowing the player to find a fix to the engine using one of the several possibilites that are currently in the game that seem like they could work.
I'm just trying to temper my expectations with some degree of realism- unless there's a lot of dialog that was cut or something, you'd have to do a lot of new voiced lines, program and animate dialog, and so on to make an ending like that. It's not impossible, but I genuinely don't know enough about the process to know how likely or realistic it actually is to expect that.
I think something building on the Avernus ending would probably be a lot easier to implement in a satisfying way- it'd probably only require a few extra lines of dialog at a few key points and an epilogue after the game to work, and if you did it right, you could still pull off an ending that's at least bittersweet instead of just horribly depressing.

I see your point but for me I'll keep hoping they give an unambiguously happy ending and assuming they do give her a better ending ill be happy it's not death by mindflayer, death by engine blowing up, or death by demon horde, or captured by zariel again. They can't make another ending anymore depressing than what they already gave us cause it's so needlessly dark at this point

Hello, made this account for only one post.
The last time I did this was for the Mass Effect series ending, I want to start by saying I doubt a dev will read this and they owe me nothing.
They deserve their money and their awards, and from what I’ve played (most of act 1 including all the side quests) this game is at minimum a 9/10. I would actually give it the 10.

With that said, I can’t complete it or even recommend it for me it ends in Act1. My story is similar to a few I’ve read on here, came to look for a fix to a minor bug and saw this thread. Karlach was the only companion I didn’t instantly friendzone, she had faced literal hell as a slave and despite it was optimistic and genuinely loved life. I liked her immediately, I’m glad I broke my no spoilers rule because honestly I don’t want my escapism to be as miserable as my reality.

Before I get accused of being a flake who can’t handle anything but a Disney ending let’s just say the last few years have been pretty rough (I doubt I’m alone) I worked through the pandemic trying to keep as many under my care alive as possible, we were doing well until a government policy that undermined all our preventative measures.
Over half of us were off sick leaving me and a handful of other staff to try and manage.
Everyone I sent to hospital died as even the big ones were fairly overwhelmed and the people I care for have such specialist needs the skeleton crew at the hospitals had no chance to do anything.
In the end we were all but ordered to just do our best in the community.

I had to watch many I cared for die, I used my phone so their relatives could see their last moments as they couldn’t visit and then comforted them and the staff I had under me.
Then I would go home and weep, this went on for a while.

At the time I had a mate with a tumour who was just recently married, a top bloke who was one of those jerks who was simultaneously very good looking, sporty and was so kind you couldn’t even be annoyed at him rolling a natural 20 in genetics.
Except he didn’t and the tumour got him, I often wished I could trade places with him, he loved life so much and I was a husk at this point. But that’s not how reality works.

What’s the point of this self indulgent rant on a damn gaming forum you ask?

Well as painful as these memories are I accepted them and kept going, such is life. Life is unfair, deal with it.

I don’t however live in a world where people can be resurrected, or deities actually interact with you, or where basic potions have properties any doctor or scientist would consider magic, or actual wish spells, or true polymorph etc.

This is already long enough so I’ll stop, my point is even if you ignore all the points in game you were given opportunities to potentially fix her heart and told no there are options within the lore that could easily do better then being forced to fight until you die of exhaustion facing an arch demon in her own realm / enslaved.

I’m hoping that this is just cut content and eventually I can finish this but as it stands I’m back to getting home opening up the game, looking at the menu screen for a while then closing it.

If these options are really intended and she is supposed to be a ‘tragic character’ that didn’t earn her tragedy then great, you got me.

I guess this is mostly aimed at those who think all this drama is hilarious and buy the ‘it’s their narrative, cry more’ angle.
But this game was sold to me under Larian’s reputation and the idea that choices matter.

TL;DR The only choice I wanted to make I couldn’t and I don’t understand from a role playing perspective why. GG.

I feel you. Karlach's ending wouldn't be so disappointing if you weren't effectively forced to ignore multiple possible solutions to it on the way there.
But you are, so it comes across less as an inevitable tragedy and more like my character just couldn't be bothered to try, which just makes the whole thing feel frustrating. You basically just stop trying to do anything in early Act 2, for no particularly clear reason.

Isn't that what Avernus ending is supposed to be? (Especially after patch 2) More hopeful ending where you Karlach and possibly Wyll go to solve the problem themselves. Anything more would require retconning her whole story which is very hard task, if possible at all without burning through too many resources. Especially considering she wasn't supposed to be origin in the first place but was late addition

I think the Avernus ending might have been *meant* to be more hopeful- that's one reason I'm hoping we get an epilogue that expands on it a bit. The problem is, if you think about it for a minute, it really isn't very hopeful at all as it currently stands. Sure, Tav and Karlach and Wyll are capable, but 3 level 12 people against an entire plane of devils, led by an Archdevil with a personal grudge against one of them, in an incredibly hostile environment they literally cannot escape without Karlach dying anyway? That's not especially hopeful to me, no. Absent the game giving me some reason to think otherwise- and right now, it doesn't- they'd be lucky to survive a day.

100% agree thats my entire problem with the avernus ending its just death by another name and with a slight delay.

walking right by the insanely skilled deep gnome blacksmiths and not being able to ask them about how to fix her engine is such a major plot hole that it takes me out of the game whenever i save them and im just forced to leave them be. like if anyone is able to fix this its gonna be those crafty bastards.

Yeah, no retcon is needed for her to be given a happy ending/fixed engine optiin, not sure where this is coming from.
Its been suggested before here but as a suggestion it could be as easy as having two extra dialogue options. With the gondians and dammon with enriched.
Thats the easiest route*

Also id think everyone would agree that if a way to fix her was a implemented. It would be AFTER the gortash fight. Cause god damn sam did an amazing VA for that scene. Theres really nothing wrong with getting a fix after *experiencing no hope left * scenerio


Prime example in the game. You assume as a player wylls father is dead, gone, cannot be found, doomed to die as you seal his fate. By refusing to renew wylls contact.
Everyones sad. Shocked and dispair sets in.
Then by sheer player enginuity (by design by the devs)
You can STILL find wylls father and save him defying mizora

Which is always a good feeling

Hh exactly, you have backback full of enriched infernal ore but you cannot ask Dammon to try it. You stay with Karlach next to Gondians which you just saved from death, they tell you that they have new engine and you cannot aks them. "Hey can you try to fix my love?" Frankly this is very stupid when fixing her engine is main goal in her story.

Also. For the lolz but painfully relevent.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/17yntw4/can_you_help_me_save_karlach/

yep that meme just reminded me why im so upset with karlachs needlessly depressing ending thanks for that lol

With retcon I meant concept of her character, keeping in mind she was not origin etc etc. "Happy" ending invalidates the option of turning her into the mindflayer (she's not suicidal so no reason for her to do that) and the mindflayer option is in game from the begining so her making the sacrifice was always Larian's intention (or at least the option to do so, why only her is anyone's guess, but considering rest of her endings the answer is fairly obvious). So for the option to not stick out like a sore thumb and be completely pointless, they'd either have to delete it which is not likely or give the option to the rest of the companions, for example ultimate face turn for Astarion, way out of curse for Shadowheart etc. Now that's a lot of work and even more changes to the story

Ah i see what your getting at, but consider this, options in the game can- and in many cases are- triggered by who you have in your party at the time or what specific dialogue choices you make.

Like karlach can become a mindflayer sure, but if you dont have karlach with you when confronting the emporer, does that option and dialogue still trigger? I dont think so (but i could be wrong)

So adding an option to fix her but that requires some set up to get it right* to trigger again really wouldnt be that jarring of her character arc. Atleast in my opinion.
The character arcs can change and differ WILDLY through out the game based on player choice karlach though doesnt seem to get that currently.

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a thousand times: This is the most accurately meme’d game ever.

How does everybody manage to get the characterization down so well?

Anyways, apt points. Not allowing us to save Karlach still feels like…well, a character whose entire story and origin was changed three times. I honestly feel like Larian’s own staff is probably feeling the same way, but eventually the game had to be released, and certain things left for a definitive edition.

Your welcome ! Lol and agreed!

She's the only one that can be turned into the mindflayer (although I think Gale can offer to blow himself up if you didn't take care of that by then but i'm not sure). That's her special interaction unique to her, if you add to this the fact that she wasn't origin until very late and (i'm not sure about that so correct me if i'm wrong) she wasn't even companion at first, you can see that there is a real possibility she wasn't meant to be fixable and we weren't even supposed to spend so much time with her.