But why doesn't Gale deserve to gain power himself and get closer to the divine? He's intelligent, rational, he's not violent or bloodthirsty, and I think he'd be a good use of that power.
I think he deserves better than becoming a god. I don't care much for gods personally and the story suggests that all gods, who used to be mortal, loose a part of themselves to their divine domaine at some point. Why would I want that for a character I care about? And what do you get from divinity in the end? A glorified, boring management position. He himself mostly seems to want it to get back at the gods (Mystra) and because he thinks his god-self would be the "best possible version of himself". I disagree. He is brilliant as a human, that already is the best version. Nobody needs gods - but brilliant, kindhearted, generous people are far and few between.
As for Raphael, death does not seem to be so final for devils and the like. I am sure he'll be back - and even if not him, someone else will try to put that crown to use. So it's good if it's locked up somewhere, let Mystra fret about it, it's her job.
Originally Posted by Marielle
But his phrase, "Thank you for your patience..." strikes me as humiliating to him. What "patience" can we talk about when I've enjoyed every minute of his company? (Except for those moments when you have compassion for him and you're hurting for him).
I think the patience to allow him to come to terms with his own feelings and give him space. It's the decent thing to to do but I don't see anything wrong with him telling you that it means a lot to him. For example, I saw a lets play of someone doing the love test with Astarion. The player picked all the answers that revealed Astarion's insecurities to the dryad and - of course - Astarion disapproved. The player then complained because she thought that they had moved past all the deception and that Astarion *should* have approved of her choices. That is what I would call not being patient - and also rolling a nat 1 on insight.
It's just a shame you cannot say it back - but that's a general thing, there are very few options to appreciate your companions. Like, why isn't there a dialogue option at the end of "Save the artist" to ask him whether he'd like to have his portrait painted?
Originally Posted by Marielle
And in the case of refusing the ritual, what new things happen? Just that Kasador is dead at last, but otherwise Astarion remains a spawn with all the problems that come with it.
Originally Posted by Ametris
It's pretty much this: Spawn = Astarion lite for more sensitive people, and Ascendant = full Astarion experience for the daring ones. No ritual is a perfectly valid path of course, but I think Larian did both Astarion and the players dirty in that scenario (there's also a whole thread about it), and I wish they made it better.
I think it also depends on personal experiences and predisposition. Cazador reminds me of my own father in many ways (not in the very horrible ones though - no need to fret) especially the goading at the beginning of the ritual-fight and how he valued control over trust and that he instilled a fear of the world in me. At one point I realised this world-view made me miserable. Sure there is nothing amiss with a bit of critical thinking but what helped me feel safer than any padlocks or security measures (having all the power so to speak), was the decision to not constantly be afraid anymore. Nothing really changed but my perception of the world and me in it, and that changed everything - the Graveyard scene captures that for me (and a few other things) while everything I have seen of Ascendent Astarion is just majorly anxiety inducing for me.
