Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Fixing Astarion's "Good" Ending

Can I add to the list that only Ascended Astarion can react to the Mizora-affair while spawn gets no special scene afterwards?

The more gifts the better. I always play Durges so naturally I miss an opportunity to give him something...bloodier.


I like that Astarion is not connected to the plot. Sometimes I just grab him, leave or kill everyone else, and we go on an adventure to solve our personal problems and kinda accidentally save the city in the process. Or would save the city, if I ever got through Act 3. On the other hand, having the Upper City and some quest for him to charm and lie his way through would have been sweet.


Really? Well, maybe that's a good thing. Less shitty writing for him.

Bumping for the gifts idea! Especially in acts one and two or before the ascension ritual. And unique gifts (plural) if you choose to ascend or not at the end of the game, that would be cool to see.

Well, I would love to see more quests that are meant for Astarion (or Wyll and Karlach). And of course, I would love to see the upper city. I think that part of the unbalance with the companions is because many of the quests and content were left for the upper city and when it was cut, we lost all that content. But that is why I think all companions should have had a similar amount of content in all 3 acts.

I would have liked to see more Astarion on his element. Or discovering himself.

Adding my voice to the choir.

While Astarion's romance is in need of some love throughout act II and III, I'll solely focus on the ending for unascended Astarion.

After defeating the Netherbrain, we end up on the docks with our companions.

Astarion: 'I - I can't feel the tadpole. It's gone - we're free! And I'm still standing in the sun. This is incredible! Maybe whatever it changed in me was permanent?' This is the first thing Astarion says while looking happy and hopeful.

And then he has to flee the sun in a way I can only describe as cruel. We (the player) spent hours and hours to bond with this character, deal with his problems, defeat Cazador, help him realize, he's a person, he's loved (dearly by a lot of us). Only to have his and our hopes crushed. I honestly can't understand, how anyone could think, it'd be a good idea to have him scurry away like that.

We're not even given a chance to react. Why can't my Char take care of the love of her life?

Now let's see what the companions have to say:

Shadowheart: It seems that's the end of Astarion's love affair with the sun. That'll be hard on him.
Gale: I suppose that's the last time any of us will see him, and the last time he'll ever see the sun.
Wyll: Astarion will keep to the dark now, I wager. At least... he'll find plenty to feast on.
Halsin: He will sorely miss that freedom, I sense. It may be quite some time before we see him again.
Jaheira: I doubt we'll ever see that face baskin in the sun again.
Minsc: We will find you, Astarion! AND BOO WILL BRING A SUNFLOWER!
Karlach: Didn't speak up no matter how many times I reloaded the scene.

Aside from maybe Shadowheart's, none of those remarks are acceptable. I would have punched each and everyone for it before bolting after Astarion. Instead I am forced to deal with Karlach. I am sorry but in that moment I couldn't have cared less about her fate. (Which is a shame because I really liked her up to that point.)

Why not instead have the celebration they talk about? (Dragon Age Inquisition nailed that, you get to speak with all your companions and then retreat with your LI.)
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The Epilogue for Astarion and his romantic partner is severely lacking emotional depth and intimacy. During the whole scene the PC stands there, sometimes even with crossed arms. What are those poses and facial expressions? It looks like they barely want to be in the same room. Astarion and the PC are in love, yet it's not shown at all.

Astarion: 'Hello darling. I was just thinking about freedom. How I'm free of the parasite - free of Cazador. How I'll never be in someone's power again. And all it cost was my life in the sun. Now I belong to the shadows. So. What happens next?' I like that part aside from 'What happens next?'. I'd prefer 'What are we going to do next?'.

(I'm going to only talk about one of the possible answers here since that's the one I always choose.)

PC: 'I'll help you find a way to walk in the sun again.' That line sounds incredibly condescending to me. They are in a relashionship as equals after all. Better were something along the lines of 'We could search for a way for you to walk in the sun again, love. Would you like that?'

Astarion: 'You - do you think it's possible? I suppose there is a chance. And if there's a chance, no matter how small, I'm going to take it. And it would mean setting off on another adventure together. Is that what you want? Is this what you want?' I actually really like that part as is.

Astarion: 'I would understand if you wanted to go your own way.' I think, it makes not much sense but don't really mind it being there.

PC: 'No, this is what I want.' This sentence shows no emotions whatsoever, it's completely hollow and disappointing. Please, let me tell him 'I love you, Astarion. To be with you is what I want.'

Astarion: 'Good, because selfless as I am, I really did not want to let you go.' Minor change with huge impact would be: 'Good, because I love you too and selfless as I am, I really did not want to let you go.' Astarion should take PC's hands now, drawing them closer together.

Astarion: 'We are rather excellent together, you know. And united, there is nothing we can't do. I can't say what the future holds for us, but I know we'll be facing it together.' Why don't they kiss?

Astarion: 'And we're going to have a lot of fun.' Here they should embrace each other in a tight hug before it fades to black.

- the happier end (imho)
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PS: English isn't my first language, please excuse mistakes I may have made. Better yet, let me know about them. Thanks!

Somebody thought it was funny. While Karlach gets treated seriously and with respect.

I suggest posting this in Larian's Discord feedback channel so they can't pretend they didn't see it.

No need to tell you but for the record, it isn't funny. Not in the slightest.


Just did.

Edit: changed link to the repost because the upvotes were broken.

No need to tell me, but apparently we do need to tell it to the "writer" who wrote it. Somebody sat down, took a character with Astarion's story arc, and decided that it would be hilarious to watch a recovering abuse victim have their hopes crushed and run away in pain while nobody cares. And just in case you disagree, the game takes all control away from you so you don't ruin the joke by trying to make sure he's fine or disagreeing with the other companions when they make their dumb, useless comments.

This is a video game forum so i don't want to get into what this kind of writing tells people who see themselves in Astarion. And there's unfortunately plenty of them, as Neil keeps mentioning.


And the upvotes are broken lol.

The first time I saw it, I broke out in tears. I'm one of those people who relate to Astarion because of my own past and to watch that scene was incredibly painful.
If the message is supposed to be: 'no matter, how hard you try or what you do, you're always going to be a joke', they succeeded.


Great. Well, thanks for letting me know. I reposted it here.

I had to take a very long moment to admit to myself that a few seconds of a video game (and a very badly done few seconds at that) just messed me up so hard I was going to feel it for days.

Astarion was a surprise, and not a pleasant one at first, because it feels almost intrusive when interacting with a video game character makes you feel like looking into a mirror. And as I saw more and more of his scenes I almost trusted this game to treat the subject with respect. Almost. But that little amount of distrust still didn't prepare me for that.

Oh dear, I'm so sorry you felt like that. It's been very similar for me too.

How the ending is currently handled is absolutely uncalled for and I really hope that Larian is going to revisit it.

I'm sorry it made you feel like that too.

If they really look at feedback they must have realized by now that they messed up.

Thank you <3

I don't want to get my hopes up but Larian just teased a celebration is coming with patch 5 on twitter. Let's wait and see what it means for the docks scene.

Oho. Did not expect that. Let's see what happens.

Depends on who writes it.

Since I went through the romantic dialogue again yesterday to get to the party: I took his expressions and the lack of suggestions he makes as uncertainty about how to deal with the situation. He has tried to manipulate the player until the middle of Act2, then relapsed into this behaviour again early in Act3 when the ritual drew closer. I assumed that he didn't want to inadvertently push the pc into a direction again. I also saw his double and tripple checking if you really want to stay with him in this light. That is alright with me. I just hate that we can't equally be considerate and make suggestions instead of decisions.

I didn't see his dock-sequence because I was on Origin-Gale and Mystra is impatient, so Gale doesn't have to watch Astarion run away. But in Astarion's Origin, Gale has a line that suggests that they maybe should all look for shade together and I really liked that. It's both in more character for Gale and more caring about Astarion. I would prefer more statements of this kind - or just someone casting darkness, when it's on their spell-bar.

Hello! first time I post. I must say that English is not my native language, I am using google translate (please no one kill me).
I agree with previous comments about Astarion. The epilogue after the fight doesn't seem like they are a couple, they are meters apart saying what to do now. And when you tell him something (go for a sun cure, etc.), we don't have the option of telling him that we love him. It's a somewhat sad epilogue because the whole advance of the cemetery here seems like it doesn't exist and that we're just friends looking for an adventure. And giving him a gift would be great, I would love for them to add it, in addition to modifying that epilogue and making it much closer. You don't need a wedding like Gale, but you do need love.

And something else, the epilogue of patch 5, at the final party is too short. Yes, it has a spectacular hug (thanks Larian, we love you), but I would have liked it to have a couple more lines. Let me comment on something about our life these six months, a small comment. Gale talks about his school, Karlack that he has found a forge. I would have liked a little phrase, something. Talk about how traveling together is great, what city you would like to see next. Or just talk about it for a second. Let him tell us that he is happy even if he doesn't have the cure of the sun, that we are enough or something like that. One sentence only hahahaha

But I say this out of respect and admiration for Larian. It seems that they listen to the players and that little by little they are implementing things.
I really value it a lot and feel that they work hard. But yes, I would like a little more love for Astarion, especially in the first epilogue, that scene needs a remodel please Larian.

thanks for reading me

I'm still working my way toward the new epilogue (starting with my Gale run), but I'm a bit disappointed to learn:

It is pretty short isn't it? I have an Astarion- and a Gale-Origin, romancing the other. In the Astarion-Origin they do have quite a bit to talk about. I chose an adventuring live-style for both endings - and they chatted about some of their adventures together, the party and some slice-of-live stuff - "metaphorical light in the darkness" is also just a very cute compliment.

For some reason once the ending hits Larian decides to roleplay your character for you where Astarion's involved.

I'm assuming this means his docks scene is still the same?