Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Act 2 Spoilers! Shadowheart near end stuff - a little bit of rant

I think CRs theory is a very good one and it's interesting and engaging (also I don't for a moment believe it's what Larian was thinking when they wrote it), but as far as symbolism is concerned, I think it's also empty symbolism for a number of reasons, and I fully get why OP doesn't find it a satisfying explanation, because I don't think it's a satisfying explanation either. There are a couple factors to this worth going into. One factor is that while I think thematically and symbolically, the dome shattering when Aylin dies makes sense, it doesn't really make sense in a causal way. We're not led to think that killing Aylin would have any impact on the inn. It's not some inherently obvious connection. I don't know if we know Aylin is Selune's daughter before we get the option to kill her, but even if we did, why would that make Isobel stop being able to support the dome? Why would we the player, ahead of killing Aylin, think that killing Aylin would lead to that result? This goes beyond just getting evidence ahead of the event, but it goes to our understanding of the characters in the story. We as players never really think of Selune as a person, as a character with feelings or wants. She's a goddess, she's a vague set of values and a battery powering clerics. Hell, we're predisposed to NOT sympathise with her because for most of the story up to that point, all we hear about Selune is from Shadowheart, who speaks very negatively about her. We the audience aren't primed to think of her acting in an emotional capacity, so having the breaking of the dome symbolize her grief and despair at the loss of her daughter isn't really earned. We the player don't really get to live in that despair or react to it. We don't really have the opportunity to voie an opinion about the fact that a goddess basically foresakes a couple dozen people because she was sad. We're not meant to engage in this moment emotionally as far as Selune is concerned, if we were then surely Sha


I see what you mean here and I agree with you, but this isn't just a story being told, it's a story that we the player are part of. It's a two-way street, with our actions essentially completing the story. If our actions are going to lead to such a major outcome, then it's my opinion that the outcome should be better broadcast. We as players, as active participants shaping the story rather than just recieving it, should have suitable information to let us understand how our actions will shape the story. Funamentally, the dome cracking here is just a surprise punishment, not a foreshadowed consequence of the story beats leading up to it. I think your explanation is the equivalent of if in act 1, stealing the idol of Silvanus made the rite of thorns go out of control and kill all the tieflings. Yes you can make logical sense out of that, but it wasn't realy foreshadowed. Imagine how random it would feel if that had happened instead of the druids just killing the tieflings. Hell, the rite of thorns example would arguably be more foreshadowed because at least we know that was meant to keep outsiders away.