2. I do want a cure for spawn Astarion. Guy got tortured and abused for nearly 200 years, who cares what happened before, he's paid for it by now whatever it was. I can't see it affects the choice to ascend him or not. One way you get a normal no special powers high elf, the other you get a powerful ascended immortal vampire lord, one way you just live out your lives together if romanced, the other you can choose to be as immortal as he is if romanced - still a massive choice there isn't there? Can't see that devalues the ritual in any way especially given that Astarion's' stated main purpose is revenge and to kill Cazador to remove him as a threat, with whatever else happens in the process being a secondary consideration.
3. If you can't do that at the least remove that appaling dock scene with spawn Astarion running away while his team mates make sarcastic remarks and the narrator drones on completely unconcerned.
I agree with both of these in particular. The dock scene with Spawn Astarion is such extreme tonal whiplash for something I expected to be a lot more emotionally affecting. Also, an option to cure him of his vampirism was something I thought would be available, considering there's an entire quest about curing vampirism in Baldur's Gate II... They could have even involved Jaheira in it somehow, it'd have been perfect.
All of his Act 3 stuff is rushed (like everyone else's to be fair). Cazador's palace is tiny while the basement is a big empty space, the puzzle still doesn't work, or at least the Reddit hivemind can't manage to solve it, the 7000 spawn are just a number, there's an entrance to the Underdark somewhere? Cazador can be killed with or without Astarion, so it would be nice if the palace had more things to do in it.
Also, Necromancy of Thay feels like it was supposed to be more important.
