Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Halsin's motivation

Pretty much. Personally (especially as a small halfing who had no interest in Halson) I found his sudden shift from being pollite professional, to sex addict rather unsettling.

@KlarissA, yes, my mistake, he directed, he didn't write this scene

In general, regarding the romantic aspects in the game, I beat Atarion, Gale ,and Halsin is definitely on the first place of the podium. I complained here in one of the threads about the ending, where Tav only gets one option with the orphanage, while the others have more decisions for Tav. However, now that I have a comparison, I don't complain about anything.Astarion has a beautiful story, but the end of the romance is disappointing, the involvement escapes somewhere and everything becomes superficial (the scene after the battle and the epilogue), while Gale's romantic scene, the one in the astral, was probably the most embarrassing moment in the game. Licking a spider in the temple of Shar was less pathetic. Halsin keeps the level all the time, I haven't been to a brothel with him so I'm turning this issue off.

This

But to be fair, as stated in the other Halsin threads, many people wanted to legit romance him, not just bang him. But as ususal, sex comes out on top, as you said, and it heavily reflects in his romance. I never got access to EA Halsin. But I was legitimately hooked on him after talking with him a little when you rescue him and at the party.

I think a lot of his cut content would have been amazing too. Supporting him and being there for him as he confronts the curse, Ketheric, Isobel...

I'm not sure if I'm quoting Anska the correct way, but this is what taints Halsin for me. I'm sure he isn't meant to be a creep, but suddenly his established concern for consent goes out the window at the brothel. He either doesn't notice or doesn't care when Astarion dissociates. He doesn't care that Gale is clearly uncomfortable or that he flees the room. I'm not sure if Gale is watching through his projection, but if he is, then Halsin is mocking him for not doing a sexual activity he never agreed to. If Gale isn't watching, then mocking the projection is just weird.

I really don't think they wanted Halsin to come across as a predator, but these scenes make it seem like he just pretended to care about consent until characters dropped their guard. I have to just pretend the scenes don't exist, or it ruins the character. I like him when he's doing his druid thing or ending the shadowcurse, and I want to be able to enjoy those parts.

It also doesn't help that you can't turn him down until act 3. The game thought I flirted with him at the party (I didn't, bug?), and he would make flirty comments from time to time. I was not able to tell him no, so it just kept being occasionally uncomfortable. I think we should be able to shut down ANY romance at any time, but it isn't possible in the flirting stage with some of the characters.

I'm not defending the situation in the brothel, my character didn't even go there, but I understand the ridicule of astral projection. An adult (mature) guy does not create a projection to look at such a situation from the side. Either he opposes and leaves, or he participates in it since he has already agreed to it. These projections of Gale are really inappropriate for his age, status, experience. I was embarrassed by it every time, and the peak of embarrassment caught up with me during astral sex. This is child's play.

As a kinky person, the brothel scene concerns me on a couple of levels: you can't stop the scene when it becomes clear that something is wrong, making fun of a participant for withdrawing consent (this is what safe-words are for), lack of pre-negotiated boundaries (unlike with the single-person brothel scenes), and lack of proper aftercare.

It's not well-written. I wish Larian had done better.

I agree with all of what you wrote @SteelTempest. To me it also seems as if the writers tackled the brothel scene with different levels of seriousness. In Gale's case the dialogue leading up to "the scene" is quite interesting and even adds another layer of meaning to the act 2 romance, especially if you chose the bed-in-the-woods version because it shows how much he trusts you and your relationship. It's a lovely way to use an uncomfortable situation to show another layer of the character and I am very glad they changed the player dialogue for this portion of the scene.

The orgy scene itself also makes me appreciate Gale even more but at the cost of being thoroughly disgusted by Halsin and my own character. While I can retcon these feeling in regards to my own PC for something that I only tried for science anyway, the bad feeling about Halsin's actions lingers, which is both unfortunate and most certainly unintentional.

They are his form of dealing with a situation that he can't handle himself, emotionally or otherwise, so the projection puts on a chipper mask and deals with it instead. If he is killed and terrified his corpse will blow up the area, his projection deals with it; inviting you to an outing while seriously depressed and unsure you accept, projection; dealing with a situation he is very insecure about and that gets handled callously by the person he trusts, projection; consoling his dear friend/lover after his final death, projection. Astarion retreats into his mind during the orgy (and Halsin is a creep in that scene too), Gale retreats into his magic.

The astral scene has nothing to do with the projections and while I agree it looks goofy I like what it represents, though I like the bed scene better because it is more emotionally intimate.

Those are scenes about Gale (and Astarion in the brothel) that I’ve only seen on YouTube. I remember going with the hologram invitation and projection under the stars many times, as a friend. And honestly I can’t fault him there. I like what it informs about him, even that which I didn’t experience first end. Maybe it seems childish to some, or strange. Yet, as someone who has to physically and emotionally get on the sidelines a lot, who used daydreaming as a coping mechanism a lot while growing up ? Well, I kind of get it (and it might just be that I don’t have the magic to end up doing it like this, ah ah…). Maybe that’s why I really adore Gale as a friend and a companion that I take everywhere a lot, because he is kind of relatable to me. I just haven’t romanced him.

For the brothel bit, I can understand the different perceptions people can get from it. For my own part, I think I’d put my thinking that way. That there are the people on stage and the characters they play, and it’s not really their fault if they are handed very bad material in some instances. To me, here is one such example, and I try to keep that in mind.

Perhaps I don't have enough sensitivity and empathy to evaluate these projections in a positive way. It's not something I despise, but every time I think- wtf Gale, how old are you kid? Halsin won for me as LI because I like his raw naturalism. He says the right amount of words, so I don't have to strain my brain to grasp the whole statement, which unfortunately happens with Gale. I think Gale's emotionality stopped at the level of a child. But his intellect soared towards the stars. That is why many people are irritated by his character. They cannot withstand this dissonance combined with excessive talkativeness. As for Halsin in the brothel, it seems to me that he was written in such a way that he does not delve deeply into psychology, lives by instinct and is not as sensitive as trauma-driven characters. It gives the impression that it is disgusting, but I don't see it that way.

With Halsin they just tried to do too much, hes like two characters meshed into one whe they diddnt really have to do that, and certain things are hidden behind certain events, so we don't really get a whole picture, and when we do it's a bit...inconsistent and creepy.

>Halsin inviting himself to the orgy

People have an issue with this when they have previously told him no to a relationship/sex. This is fair, Halsin has no reason to believe he would be welcome at an orgy with someone who turned him down for sex before.

>"I have had many lovers"/"My heart doesnt stir lightly"

This is a wierd one, because it seems contradictory. I have no problen with Halsin being someone who has had a lot of sex. You can have sex without a relationships, and I'm assuming that was the case with most of his lovers.. But this, coupled with his questionable behaviour at the brothel, his flirting with a romanced Shart, the Chimera thing, and his little banter with Gale about Wildshape and sex...it doesnt come off as healthy in anyway, it makes Halsin seem like e a creep who will stick his dick into anything whenever he has the oppourtunity. He also, like all the companions minus Astarion, is very cold and judgemental toward Tav when Harleep propositions us and uses our form. For someone who is that much into sex, made such a big deal about consent when he first proposes, who himself is an SA victim, you would think hed be more sympathetic. It gives his whole sexual attitude a creepy vibe.

Also, I find it funny how when you ask him about the relationship, he says he only wants you, but wants you to roam. But if you sleep with Mizora, he says he said that he said both of you are free to sleep around, which contradicts what he said about only wanting Tav. So, does he only want Tav or not? But you wouldnt know that if you diddnt sleep with her. Also, as someone who made a big deal about consent when he proposed, he should be upset that you slept with her but diddnt talk to him first. Tav cheated in that scenario, polyship or not. Its like he doesnt care at all as long as he gets to bang as he sees fit. Which also ties into my previous point and makes me question is this a loving romantic relationship for him, or is it just a sexual relationship?

I'm going to clarify what I mean for anyone who hasn't watched the scene.

The problem isn't just that Halsin complains about the projection. Gale had said he might be able to enjoy watching, from a distance. Depending on player choices, Halsin can say, "Hmm. Hovering yonder like a carrion bird. Perhaps he'll find the courage to peck at some flesh later." That's comparing someone to a vulture and implying they're a coward for trying to stick to their sexual boundaries. Ick. A different player dialogue choice leads to Halsin saying "Don't just stare, Gale. That mouth of yours can do better than just hang open, I'll wager." Halsin comes across as trying to push Gale to do more than Gale had agreed to do, once the scene had already started. I also think the conversation to get Gale to agree in the first place is too coercive for comfort. He ends his agreement to allow Halsin to join by saying, "If we must."

But like I said earlier, I think Halsin is out of character here. It's one of those situations where a character's behavior is so different than how they are otherwise characterized, that I almost view them as a different character. Brothel Halsin makes me skin crawl, Shadowcurse fixing Halsin is alright. It seems like a bunch of people (myself included) just try to pretend the scene doesn't exist.

For me, it's obvious that a relationship with him is more sexual than based on love. In the game, there is no way to say "I love you" to him, nor does he confess this feeling to Tav. I assume that it is a physical fascination and a relationship based on physical closeness. Halsin does not want to call it a romantic relationship.

As for the scene in the brothel, it is a specific place that triggers less subtle strings in people. I'm not defending Halsin's strange responses, but Gale could have let go of his presence there as a projection. It was immature, embarrassing, and not even funny.

This is my biggest gripe with him.

Wood elves (and Halsin is one of them) do not bond with one person, they are culturally polyamorous and it is very bad to express their desire to fit into one partner. Golden and Moon Elves are unlikely to look for partners among Wood Elves, because they know that they have no chance of a lasting relationship. So it's in line with the principles of DnD. Halsin doesn't know the world of lifelong relationships or long-term relationships.

There are a lot of lore inconsitencies in the game though.

But thats all I will say in regards to this because its been discussed before in the past two big Halsin threads.

Up until they patched in the epilogue, that would have been my interpretation as well. But with the epilogue I'd say it is quite open to your own interpretation. If you don't pay the sex workers at the brothel for an orgy and say no to Mizora, there is little in the way of dialogue and reactions from Halsin to suggest that he is only in it for the sex. You have a sex scene that shows a strong sensitivity and concern for Tav's needs and camp dialogue with kisses that are very warm and caring and some playful banter about his appetite for sex and previous encounters. If someone's interpretation of that is that he is in a romantic relationship with their Tav, I think it makes logical sense and is consistent with the story they have played.

Just as if someone else played the game and started a relationship with him and one of the other origin characters, paid the sex workers for an orgy and banged Mizora and Haarlep, there is a lot of reactions and responses that would reinforce their interpretation that the relationship with Halsin is based on sex and not romantic.

Do with it what you will and what makes you happy about the story you want for your Tav.

I agree, it can be assumed that Halsin has a deeper layer of feelings for Tav. Like Lae'zel, I think, but her culture doesn't even know the word "I love". Halsin, as a wood elf with a loose approach to relationships and raised in a polyamorous culture, still seems strongly devoted to Tav. I see similarities in the context of the relationship between Lae and Halsin. At the end of the game, both seem surprised by how involved they are in their relationship with Tav.

Yeesh, I knew about his other comment poking fun at Gale, but the carrion thing is just straight up mean, lol.

Ugh, Halsin bby, what did they do to you....

It was debunked in other thread: the polyamory of wood elves was mentioned only once and only in one book which is not even a rulebook. Forgotten Realms wiki is made by fans hence it is not a good source of material, so taking this "fact" from it was a developers' mistake.