I suspect that's the case. Even with his softening I still find him agreeing to abandon the ritual flimsy. He spends half of the game scheming about stealing the power. He rebutts Tav every time they try to speak to his conscience. There is not even one time where he has doubts about wanting to ascend other than not being sure about all the details related to the ritual. He only feels a bit remorseful when he sees all the caged spawn for the first time but that's it. Then he gets convinced with one persuasion check that's not even persuasive but manipulative in tone. I think there should have been another check at the very least.
It just looks like they wanted to have every character have two possible paths but wrote him in a certain way (with ascension as the main, logical path), backed themselves into a corner, and it was too difficult a task to make it convincing when it came to the alternative. Ascension has a natural flow throughout and has foreshadowing while non-ascension feels forced, awkward, overly sappy and sad at the same time, underdeveloped and just there for the sake of choice. Instead of fixing it and rewriting it to make it better, they are trying to make the evil path less attractive.
I think it has something to do with the "not forcing the player" idea too because they have a moral dilemma at the core of the plot but don't use it when the time comes.
Astarion did not like bringing people back to Cazador, he makes that clear in a few places, but he couldn't do anything against it. The one time he tried to save someone backfired horribly for him. Still he feels somehow guilty for it but it's the past and it can't be helped. When we learn about the real price of the ritual and what actually happened to all the people he brought back to Cazador, this changes, he now can do something about it. It's a good, clear-cut moral dilemma: Does he take back everything that was taken from him (food, reflection, the sun ...) no matter the cost, or does he think that other victims have the same rights that he has? It's also the only revelation that makes him question his plans. I think it has been called choosing the vampiric or the "human" side in this thread. It's also a pretty good dilemma for someone who was a magistrate and it foreshadows how the game defines freedom - it's not just being free from control but also responsibility for one's actions.
However, when the time to make a decision comes, they make this the player's problem and not Astarion's. Your persuasion has nothing to do with the only thing that made Astarion waver. I assume, they guessed, that people might be apprehensive of letting a small town of vampires run wild and so they chopped it into two portions. So you don't have to let all the spawn loose, when you want "good" Astarion. It would be funny if by killing all the spawn in the cells, you killed all the spawn linked to the ritual - Astarion included. ^^ I mean, if you want to be morally righteous, be completely morally righteous, no? It's also why I really enjoyed not ascending with Origin-Astarion because at least dear, trusty Gale makes exactly this *his* argument against the ritual, the butcher's bill is too steep.
Originally Posted by Marielle
That's curious. I just came across the notion that Astarion comes to you and starts a romantic relationship after you kill Gandrell together. And in my game, that's how it coincided! And I was wondering, if you didn't kill Gandrel, the romance with Astarion still happens, but in this case already at the party or also before the party? Maybe it's just a coincidence, and killing just allows you to "finish" the approval to some level, after which Astarion can start the romance earlier.
I don't know, it might be approval but it might also be linked to the scene. A lot of people seem to get his proposition after the Gandrel incident, I got mine at the party. But, I am sorry Astarion, I like Gandrel, he is not for killing. ^^
Originally Posted by Ametris
That's a cool option for Gale. I don't think I had it on my wizard Tav playthrough. I like his reaction when you ruin his party. Disposing of Tav like a boss.
Oh! I was wondering if that was exclusive to Gale. I really liked it because I thought that he could probably relate to Arabella - I mean, he must have lost his father around the time he summoned Tara. It's "my parents" when he talks about wanting a kitten and afterwards it's only his mom who's in the picture.
