Concerning Withers: I took it that Bomb-Gale is simply somewhere in Ghost-Country, probably hidden so Mystra can't get to him. From my understanding, Withers just wanted to ensure, that Gale wasn't "plucked from the tapestry of fate" so he can technically be brought back somehow when the time is right, same as exploded Karlach.
On the tadpoles: The only tadpoles that are questionable are the player-group tadpoles. The unprotected tadpolees transform either way. In Act 3 they transform when the brain rises from its pond, only when it is destroyed, all the Mindflayers connected to it get a seizure and can be taken down easily. In Act 2 that moment of weakness never happens. Of course there still is a large army outside of Baldur's Gate in Act 3, so probably still quite a few Mindflayers to clean up in the aftermath ... it makes more sense in the unexplosive ending, in which the brain is ordered to destroy its squids.
In Origin the audience is an actual conversation in which you can chose your dialogue, not a cut scene. Astarion told Gale to not piss Mystra off and so I picked the answers that kept an overall good atmosphere but were also honest and questioning when necessary. I like how it turned out. If you so desire you can also tell her you'll detonate the orb, in which case she promises Elysium and says what a great service to magic it would be. I think he mentions that the orb ate his magical abilities when he tells you about his condition and what happened to him. That's why he is lvl 1 wizard and not the archmage lvl he used to be - because everyone else's abilities are dampened by the tadpole, nobody notices this as strange. But I would have to hunt for that portion of dialogue.
I didn't think he puts much blame on Mystra during Act 1 and much of Act 2, he after all calls himself the "villain of the story" and is very ready to follow her command in Act 2 - which none of the companions quite understand. Most arguments I have read on the matter put blame on Mystra because he does *not* put much blame on her. The switch to vengeance comes after he learns of the crown.
For me becoming Mystra's Chosen or lover again range somewhere among the very bad endings for him, because they deny him the freedom of self definition. I pondered the Chosen option for a while - the perks are neat - but in the end it would have felt like a step backwards on the whole - and as much as a betrayal of the plans he had previously made with Astarion as claiming the Crown would have. They decided on equality in partnership and finding a better way together afterall - and his vampire spawn boyfriend/husband deserves nothing less than full attention. ^^
Last edited by Anska; 07/01/24 10:09 AM. Reason: polished the end up
