twist that into 'evil character deserved 200 years of torture'
I'm adamant that it remains even in the final release. I see it and feel it, I don't believe one bit that this past is gone.
I'm sure one of Astarion's major plot-twists in the upper city is that after all the way through, when we learn his past, we'll be able to appreciate... Not even his personality, because 200 years of torture is quite a lot for a personality.
Author's Idea. That's the most important thing to me. People nowadays love psychology to evaluate a character. I always favor philosophy.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
Let's see.
It still wouldn't be "twist into an evil character deserving of 200 years of torture." Why is that, let's find out. 200 years of hell isn't enough? Quite a lot. Let the change can work with this story as well. It's even a biblical theme. True repentance and forgiveness.
Well, I think he would choose the path of evil himself, if it gave him what he wanted. Astarion is undead, there are more demons in his blood, much more. I view vampirism as a propensity to sin. Only with support can he become a better man. Is that right? The path of ascension is "Evil End" as Stephen Rooney said. I think of Ascension as the culmination of dark desires. And I don't think Astarion with all his huge inner demons deserves to own the world. BG3 likes gray morality, even the path of ascension is not black. It's much more complex and that's ok, because Astarion himself is a complex character.
Like I said at birth humans and even elves are innocent.
Dark Past doesn't make the story worse for me, it makes the remorse deeper, more convincing. Every personality has dark traits, it doesn't cancel out the good ones. A story with a sophisticated gray morality.
In EA even this information, it was the same as it is now, many people chose Astarion.
I think it's important to approach such things with extreme caution before recognizing the author's whole idea cut or not, completely. Because the point may be different.
Add to that the author's words that traumatized character is not what he wanted, simply part of it.
For me, the author's words are reason enough to look at it from a different angle.
Speaking of my feelings, if I told someone even in a whisper about my art that "I wouldn't want it to be interpreted as only ___ "traumatized" (in Ast's case)" - it would be a scream SEE IT OTHERWISE.
A poetic story about justice and evil, punishment and mercy.
That's why I think his Good Finale is so bittersweet. This man was killed once for his sins. Evil justice. It's humiliation, pain, fear - hell. 200 years of hell. A harsh lesson? If this true justice is as violent as Will said, then justice should not be called virtue.
In the end, of course, I think we can agree to disagree.
