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

Long story short: Halsin's main goal was dealing with the Shadow Curse hence he doesn't allow himself to waste time on something else until the curse is lifted.
About romance issues: His romance was written and implemented only because of fans who liked him very much: one part liked him being adult, serious and witty and wanted to have serious good relationships arc, the others saw him as "hot daddy", and we all know which side "won". Halsin's attitude in Early Access was different, he had different traits, so EA players was shocked with what they got. Plus, his Act 2 story could've been wider and more tragic taking into account datamined information.
But all this info you can find in the " main" Halsin thread.

These books are canon whether you like it or not.

If a tie-in novel can be waved off as not canon because it wasn't a rule book, we could also argue that any character who appeared in the Drizzt novels, but only once, also doesn't count as a canon character, or that any worldbuilding introduced in the novels is non-canon.

Does it really matter what is canon regarding wood elves and what isn't? Faerûn is a setting with diversity where any character can be poly. Not all dwarves are stubborn and not all gnomes are carefree and a wood elf can be monogamous (even if the quoted wiki is canon, it simply says wood elves are often polyamorous, leaving plenty of freedom for the creator of a wood elf character to choose whatever they think fits their character). I see little to be gained by arguing whether Halsin should be poly or not because he is a wood elf, Halsin is esatablished as non-monogamous and you can have a story with him where he is just a casual fling on Tav's bucketlist of sexual conquests, or a story where you end up in a relationship with a deeper bond and commitment and this does not in any way conflict with the fact that he is non-possessive and strongly values and protects his and Tav's autonomy and independence in the relationship.

Except that nowhere does it say that Tav is in a relationship with Halsin. Even in the new epilogue. They just live together, sleep together, and that's it. There is not a single declaration of love (I love you), there is no declaration of an official relationship. So the most canonical polyamorous nature of the wood elf is preserved until the end of the game.

That and he is actually pretty boring as a companion. He doesn't bring much to the table. A lot of NPCs you meet along the line, would make more sense as companions, because they actually would have plot hooks in act 3: Barcus of course and the whole plot around Gortash and the artificer guilds, Korrilla and her ties to Raphael ( and maybe her sister as a bonus companion depending on your choices, similar to Minsc), Kagha could have had whole redemption plotline for her, a lot of the cultists in act 2 could have made sense, since they probably would be eager to see the Absolute gone too, and maybe pick some bones with Gortash and Orin. Hells, even Abdirak would have had more stuff to do for him with the Ilmater plot and the Chosen of Bane thing as a Loviatan.
I agree that Halsin was pretty much chosen as eye candy and not much more. Larian pretty much sold him as the resident sex toy so to speak. While every other companion has a lot going on for them, even outside romances, Halsin only has the romance in act 3 going for him, nothing else.

Meaning I agree with Ixal and Wormerine, that Halsins inclusion into the companion cast wasn't a planned thing, but a marketing coup , since people were lusting for him. I think act 1 and 2 were Halsin as intended and act 3 was for the simps, therefore the story doesn't make a whole lot of sense. He is even still listed as an ally in the final fight, but you can't call on him or the grove ( as was probably the original intention).

If you live together and sleep together you have a relationship, whether you put a label on it or not. That this relationship comes with individual autonomy and independence and without commitments or long term declarations does not make it any less of a relationship. Is it purely physical and about sex, or are there romantic and emotional feelings involved as well? That's up to you do decide. If you play the scenes where he displays his joy of getting your attention, the embraces and the forehead touches, it is quite easy to imagine this relationship as romantic and emotional.

I don't get what you are arguing against here? That it is somehow wrong to imagine your relationship with Halsin as romantic because as a wood elf he is non-monogamous? The two are not mutually exclusive by any means.

I have no intention of arguing with anyone about the interpretation of the character and the feelings associated with it, because it is a highly individual matter how someone understands it and there is no point in even discussing it. However, I see that Halsin, despite being written for fans and not entirely with a developed plot, still sticks to this canon of a wood elf. They do not create relationships for life and remain in informal "relationships". This is what Halsin's epilogue looks like in my opinion. I don't know all the romances, but I suspect that only here there is no verbally expressed love, no one says "I love you". I interpret it as a typical wood elf relationship, which is based more on physical attraction and fascination. Among the wood elves, it is even embarrassing to engage in long-term relationships and stay with one partner. Halsin was written this way, I don't know if it was intended for canon, or if it turned out to fit.

The only time this has been argued is in the context of a solomance run with him, which isn't unreasonable.

You cut out half of the sentence in that quote:


I meant that he could be poly/non-monogamous regardless of whether he is a wood-elf or not. I find framing it as a defining feature because of his race, and not his personality, experiences and nature as very narrow and I was making the point that there is a lot of variation within races and cultures in Faerûn.

It happens to fit that he is also a wood-elf, I just don't think it should discourage someone from exploring making a polyamorous character that is not a wood-elf or making a wood-elf that is monogamous. I am just saying, don't read too much into canon that you fail to see the possibilities and dimensions of a character outside that framework. Halsin's story is his own, not a story about wood elves.

I'm more trying to explain to myself the elven forestry that Halsin has such an attitude to relationships. He reacts "allergic" when you ask him "what do you think about our relationship". And yes – I interpret that it results from the fact that he came from a culture that does not recognize relationships. Of course, in my head I can even add that Halsin confesses his love, but I don't go beyond what I get in the game scenario.

I think you make more far reaching assumptions about wood elf relationships than the source material actually states. It states that wood elves are calm and level-headed and often cease relationships and engage in new relations without much drama. As I read it that makes them have a calm and sensible approach to the fact that things such as attraction, infatuation and romantic feelings will often change and fade. Not that they are fleeting or averse to deeper emotional bonds.

I've read that moon elves, for example, don't want to get involved with wood elves precisely because they don't want to place their feelings where they know it will be impermanent. Halsin also fits into the canon of the wood elf because he has these qualities, he is calm and balanced. Of course, I do not rule out that I define the entirety of his character by his origin. But I don't see anything wrong with that. He's a wood elf and he's a cool character, I don't quite like poly, but nothing is perfect.

I have a save from a play thru with the most recent patch and halsin will still have the above world banter with shadowheart even if you don’t talk to him.


The writer confirmed that the banter is sexual so you can’t even think it’s just friendly banter.

It doesn’t help that Shadowheart is so enthusiastic about the idea of having sex with him or him inviting himself with the drow twins after being refused twice and getting disapproval for rejecting him.

It made it feel like shadowheart dosent care about Tav and it made Halsin come across as a creep that won’t take no for an answer.

When did the writer confirm that the banter is sexual?

Halsin had a LOT of his Act 2 content cut, content which made him intricately involved and borderline central to the plot in Act 2, which is a shame. I would really have liked to see it. We briefly went over it in the other thread/s. I don't know why they cut it unless it was an issue of time, because they could have kept it in and it still would have worked narratively even when he goes with you in Act 3.

I think the story just changed. Based on what we have now, it wouldn't make any sense for Halsin to kill Isobel. They're both good aligned people with no reason to clash at all based on the story presented. I just think Halsin is another example of Larian being flakey and irresponsible in their creation process. Poor planning and poor consideration.

There was sense and it still would be there if Larian hadn't changed Nightsong: originally she was... something like a Herald of Shar or something similar and she was a reason for this event. There was logic in her name since Shar is a Night Singer. Calling daughter of Selune "Nightsong" is weird, plus it is weird she is a mere aasimar (correct me if I am wrong but aasimars are basically the same thing as tieflings, but with angelic ancestry). She should've been aasimon/deva/angelic being, but that's a discussion for a different thread.

Nightsong was the name, the Sharrans gave her and it probably was meant mockingly. She refers to herself only as Aylin or Dame Aylin.
And she is a bit more than a normal Aasimar, since she is immortal.

Aylin is the daughter of Selune is she not?

I still think the story would have made sense had they gone with the original story plan.

Unless I am incredibly stupid and completely missinterpreted the story, Halsin killing Isobel *could* make sense, especially since it was clearly in self defense on Halsin's part.

Idk the details of the datamined content though, but I do have my ideas on what could have happened based on what weve discussed here and I like it a lot better.