Although I like the character of Karlach and I think her actor did a wonderful job helping to bring her to life, I can't get over her primary plot device: her heart.
We find out early on that Karlach has had her heart replaced with an 'infernal engine'. I had no idea what that was, but thought: "Surely it wouldn't be something as ridiculous as a demonic V8 pounding away in her chest. Right? Right?"
I went about googling and all I found were pictures of infernal war machines, basically swords and sorcery dark fantasy tanks of various shapes and sizes. Combine that with Dammon the Smith's mention of piston rings and oil etc etc and it really did appear that this was written to be a literal machine engine of some kind. And that...just seems like a bafflingly lame idea.
I mean, I understand that this is a fantasy series and the writers have included all sorts of utterly ridiculous concepts and conceits, but there are points where the 'silly' gets so much as break any sense of drama or immersion. Karlach's heart is one of places where the writing team did this for me.
So, a question for those more familiar with the lore: Am I misunderstanding the nature of an infernal engine? Is this plot point not as ill-conceived as I take it?
I'd be happy to hear a clarification, as Karlach herself is so wonderfully charismatic.
Cheers.
