Since patch 6 gave me the most satisfying spawn ending for Astarion in his Origin, it made me reconsider what I dislike about the end of Astarion’s romance as a companion and how to improve it.
My issues with the status quo
While Astarion’s dialogue from the graveyard and the following morning expresses his joy over being able to experience a future in an equal partnership, the game reality does not reflect this. In the endgame scene Astarion is written to only react to the plans made by the PC and the infamous "I promise I'll keep you safe always. You'll never need the power of an Ascendant." line following Cazador’s demise suggests that Astarion is indeed weak and needs protection - which, apart from being disingenuous, also betrays the statements of Astarion’s dialogue.
Planning a future together
Of all the options we are given during the endgame conversation, only Astarion’s love for the sun has ever been highlighted. Sunlight is his first love in act 1 and it is what he mourns when stepping away from the ritual - it is more than sunshine though, it is being part of the world instead of being an outcast. The remaining options, on the other hand, have not been sufficiently addressed in order for us to know Astarion’s feelings about them. If they had been, the conversation would be less about the PC making all the decisions but more about being given the final choice in a matter Astarion might have conflicting feelings about himself.
Let’s settle down somewhere and enjoy the peace.
While this seems to be the oddest option, it poses an interesting question: How does Astarion feel about the concept of home? He never had a place of his own, would he want one? Is a home something he wants or would he rather see the world? Would he like to stay in Baldur’s Gate? What about the old Szarr palace? In his un-romanced Underdark ending he burns the thing down. It would be cool if we could talk to him about this and maybe plot the destruction together.
We make a good team - let’s go be heroes together.
After the tiefling party, Astarion has a very negative opinion of his own heroism, by act 2 his stance seems to have softened. He now seems more surprised and amused by being a “banisher of shadows” instead of a lurker in. It would be nice to learn if his position has changed further after Cazador’s defeat or when the final battle draws nearer.
Heroism aside, all the things Astarion and the PC achieved together show how strong and capable Astarion is as a spawn. Instead of - or in addition to - promising him protection, the dialogue could point to situations in which Astarion has been the player’s rock and anchor. When playing as Gale, for example, you could have the option to tell Astarion that his affection saved Gale from detonating the orb.
We should find the vampire spawn in the Underdark.
Going to the Underdark is conceptually my favourite ending because it resolves a lot of themes of Astarion’s story. It shows how he has overcome both his fear of inadequacy and his selfishness. Underdark-Astarion in both the un-romanced companion version and his origin ending with Gale, is the counter-image to Ascended Astarion. While Ascended Astarion has power, power is nothing but a band aid for him. He sits in his palace, hosts vapid parties and likes being adored and feeling powerful - but he isn’t, he is a bit of a joke really. Spawn Astarion on the other hand is powerful, he has taken on the challenge of creating a community in a dangerous environment, he is challenged constantly and he succeeds. While A!Astarion wants to darken the world and rule over his minions (and pull strings), S!Astarion steps into the Underdark and becomes a “ray of metaphorical sunshine among the darkness”, the courageous, caring ruler opposed to A!Astarion’s wanna-be tyrant.
Unfortunately the dialogue that deals with the Underdark - and that freedom also means responsibility - is buried in the conversation following Cazador’s demise, when every other option is more appealing, given the closeness to the situation. In that moment, I care about Astarion’s well-being, not about whether we made the right choice concerning all the spawn. So it would be great if the lines about the other spawn could be separated from the rest of the dialogue and given their own conversation.
All of these conversation ideas could be stretched over a couple of days in order to give act 3 a more lively camp-experience. They could help the PC to suss out Astarion’s thoughts about his new life and how strongly he feels about the things he wants or needs to do. This would also be a great opportunity to show support for Astarion’s plans and feelings, and start paving the way for a shared future.
