Originally Posted by Anska
I don't think it's low effort, it's rather efficient. From my point of view, the problem with Karlach is basically what makes her popular, she is that perfect cinnamon roll from the start. She has not much of a character arc because there is no need for her to have one. You can't even corrupt her because she is too decent for that. She has not much to offer apart from being heart warming or heart wrenching. I think she is wonderfully written and acted the way she is, but there is only so much you can do with a character that does not have any internal conflict.

Really, my only big issue with her ending currently is, that on certain characters, you cannot stop her from exploding in the end, despite going with Wyll being her default decision.
im gonna have to hard disagree with that statement, larian said this party is pretty edgy why not add this upbeat happy go lucky girl who in spite of being in the worst situation out of the whole group is still the happiest and loving life the most.
then another dev was like " but what if we made her die at the end lol" its honestly shit writing on their part. I wish Samantha beart(i hope im spelling that right) did a bad job so i wasnt so invested in karlach but she did a stellar job from start to finish and that is what makes it worse. the writing team as far as i can tell from the most recent IGN interview wanted to make the whole ending for karlach a pure grimdark trauma bait ending. its one the laziest tropes and has no place in a game thats whole claim to fame is its insane level of player impact on the story. you can be a genocidal maniac and kill everyone on a mad lust for power through the whole game but you cant take enriched iron and save karlach? you cant talk to the gondians about her engine? i cant track down powerful wizards and come up with a solution? nope her default ending was burn up or mindflayer.
kneecap is right as well, put karlachs story in any other setting with a linear story to tell and she is a masterpiece without question. id compare it to cyberpunk again with davids ending, it is perfect and the show itself is an amazing story that has 0 fat you need each episode and scene and you cant add a second season. But this is DND, Gales atom bomb is some quick fix why isnt karlachs overheating engine? Its just bad writing at the end of the day