I simplified a bit for the sake of putting Tavs into two camps, I agree there's room for ambiguity! But I really hold the thought that a romanced Tav that lets him ascend hasn't really realised, is unaware, or doesn't care about why Astarion really wants to do the ritual and what you're reaffirming for him if you help him. The reasons for why Tav does it can vary, but to me it's very clear it's not a good option for him (which is why I love picking it tbh, tragedy enjoyers rise).
Thanks for clarifying. And I agree - It's really not what he needs for his self esteem. I'm totally on board with Ascension being the bad ending for him because he never confronts his fears (and I like it that way, too!). We all know that fear leads to the Dark Side. But I'll continue to be grumpy about the post-ascension dialogue and its lack of roleplay options, ha ha.
Originally Posted by jinetemoranco
I also think that while the good ending is more satisfying the evil ending is much more interesting, since the good ending can be a bit unsubtle, esp the conversation the morning after, where he makes it very clear that this is the good path (to the point where I think "Okay... I don't think people talk like this". That being said I think most of the convo is sweet, but a bit heavy-handed here and there). With the evil ending there's a lot to pick at and dissect since it's, for the most part, subtler in regards to Astarion's psyche, which is why I don't like the idea of dumbing it down/sanding the edges for a sweeter and simpler "evil couple who are equals romance". This is mostly unrelated to what we were talking about so not an argument against you or anything but I was thinking about it and wanted to say it lol sorry
No, I agree. The spawn ending is toothachingly sweet, especially in the new epilogue. Even spawn Astarion needs to keep his "bite" IMO and he comes off as a bit too nice at times.
But I really love the Ascended epilogue and got exactly what I wanted out of it. My evil ex-Durge just reveled in the evil couple stuff, still seeing the talks with Astarion as a constant game and ignoring his low-key threats ("I'm always watching"). I loved that I could talk with God Gale about the possibility of Ascension. *evil snicker*
And with my goodish ex-Durge who just wanted to give all the power to Astarion for safety reasons but who had buyer's remorse there was the whole freedom dialogue complete with Astarion's gaslighting. Damn, what a gut punch!
