Yes! I had the same thing in mind! Initially, I thought of ways to recruit Minthara in a “good” route for storytelling purposes but it ended up making me question why it’s not in the game. I can confirm that you can defend the Grove and still infiltrate Moonrise as some sort of double agent.
Aside from the things you listed under the spoiler tag, I think Minthara fleeing from the Grove makes perfect sense because she specifically had this line before the raid:
“I do not intend to lead a suicidal charge. The goblins are expendable, I am not.” This is a direct contradiction to her later actions and I'm surprised it's getting unnoticed.
Now, to preface this, some people have said that presenting "headcanons" as fan feedback is a little stupid. But this is a roleplaying game, I see there is no harm in doing so
as long as it is narratively coherent. I’d also like to say, at this point in time, it seems like Larian is making changes that require little to no effort. I have my reasons to support this claim but simply put:
the more elaborate your suggestions are, the less likely it will be considered and implemented. So, the question is: how can we expand Minthara's recruitment with
minimal changes?
Currently there is a
datamined dialogue from Patch 4 that hints at a new way to recruit Minthara with the non-lethal attack option. I expressed my dislike for this method over at the Larian Discord for several reasons, and most of her fans seem to agree.
While it is definitely an in-character reaction from Minthara, there is little sense behind the player's decision to knock her out. This method also requires little effort from a production standpoint. If this is all they're adding to her recruitment, I would even go on to say they're being lazy. It’s just several lines added into one part of the game, rather than animating a potential cutscene of her fleeing from a fight and considering the consequences that would follow such a decision.
As for the optional parts you've suggested, while they would be interesting to see (Ketheric punching a hole through Minthara?! Wow XD), I don't think it is in-character at all for Halsin to start a fight in Moonrise. He recognizes Minthara as a victim of the cult and if he did feel threatened by her, the dialogue would most definitely happen in camp and be discussed civilly. Larian has already planned for
this ultimatum to be added into the game.
Diving into more hypotheticals:If Minthara flees from the Grove, there should be several changes to her dialogue after you rescued her. For example, when she is put on trial before Ketheric, she will recognize you as someone who betrayed her in the Grove. She will be less likely to trust you, but would still be grateful if you saved her life. I think this route is miles better than the KO option Larian is planning, but it does take a reasonable amount of time and effort to implement so I'm not holding out much hope.
Meanwhile, KO-ing an important character like Minthara needs a
strong reason outside of metagaming, which the datamined dialogue didn't really present.
If the option must remain, I would suggest they add a small scene of the mind control wavering on Minthara because of the Prism's power. This could happen at the spot where we first meet her but I'd prefer it if we get the option to talk to her alone without any goblins in the room. This small addition would give us a real incentive to sway her to our side and instantly recognize her as a brainwashed cult member.
