Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion My thoughts on the ending(s) for this amazing game (Spoilers)

I just finished the game with a custom character and the experience was both very painful but in the end was very satisfying and brought me more joy from an RPG in years. I will say upfront there were some rushed aspects in the final sequence, and part of me wishes they were fleshed out more, but ultimately I was very happy with the final ending I got.

My character, Orgon, was a silver dragonborn paladin of vengeance, and if he had a listed D&D alignment it would likely be "chaotic good". He values freedom and the protection of innocents first and foremost. He's also quite merciless when it comes to enemies that abuse their freedom to harm innocents. I say this to preface my rather strong feelings on a controversial character in the game that will get into spoiler territory.

Of course I'm talking about the Emperor, and though my strong reactions to him didn't come about until Act 3, there were little things towards the end of Act 1 in the creche in which I began to grow suspicious of this character. One thing I always try to do with my RPG characters is to gather as much information about a situation as possible before enacting judgement or making significant decisions.

Despite the Emperor's "appearance" and his assistance early on the game, I found it frustrating that I couldn't persuade or draw any real information from him that might prove him being trustworthy. I figured Vlaakith was bad news, and that was enough for the moment, but I found it rather aggravating that he told me to stay away from the creche, etc. without telling me why. Why not just tell the truth, I thought.

Then at the beginning of Act 3, I uncover his true form, though I was quick to piece together that he was the suspiciously vague figure in my dreams. However, after reluctantly killing Orpheus' honor guards, he made his first real "strike" against Orgon. From what I'd heard about Orpheus from the creche, he would have been a positive influence on the Githyanki people. I put a lot of effort into saving that young trainee's life, and having a role model that wasn't Vlaakith piqued Orgon's interest.

Therefore, I was uncomfortable with seeing Orpheus chained up as he was. The Emperor gave me enough information to accept the situation (I could tell that I still needed the artifact's protection) but then came the Astral tadpole. Up until this point, Orgon had only reluctantly used the tadpoles in limited quantities if it was for the greater good, but ultimately hated the idea of possibly giving up his humanity (or dragonbornity) for the sake of power. I will also admit a bit of meta input; I had asked one of my friends if using any tadpoles had consequences somewhere down the line, but he said I could use a little and the game would warn me if I was using too much.

Well, that turned out to be wrong. I was annoyed and upset, both in and out of game, but I ended up forcing myself through the high wisdom check to resist taking the tadpole. Becoming half-Illithid at this point was a line Orgon would not cross, and when I told the Emperor that I didn't want it, he basically went "No no, you want this." The way I had envisioned my character, a Vengeance Paladin that values free will, that this was exactly the wrong thing to say. From this point, Orgon resented the Emperor, but mostly kept his feelings to himself for the sake of not being suicidal. The first chance he got, he stomped on the Astral tadpole, ignoring the Emperor's protests.

The next strike was the Stone Lord questline. In a meta-sense, I love how Larian included both Jaheira and Minsc/Boo in this game. They were two of my consistent party members in BG1 and 2, and after my rocky introduction to Jaheira, getting to talk to her as a party member felt like talking to an old friend. So when I finally got to the point where I knocked out Minsc, the Emperor initially refused to extend his protection to Minsc.

I was like 'The fuck you just say?' By the Emperor's own words, he had been in Baldur's gate a significant amount of time as a rogue mindflayer. And by his being Balduran (more on that later) he should at least have heard of Minsc and the ranger's adventures with Gorion's ward. How could he not know about Minsc, let alone advocate to kill him? That reinforced the idea that the Emperor really doesn't care about anyone that isn't obviously useful to him. Orgon now hated the Emperor. Thankfully Jaheira was there and threatened the Emperor in a way I wish I could have.

The final strike was the Balduran reveal. Being a silver dragonborn paladin, finding a dead metallic dragon was more than upsetting, at least in character. After fighting the undead dragon, the Emperor finally shared the truth, but by now it was too little, too late. Orgon normally tries to see the best in people, like giving Astarion and Omeluum a chance (two characters which actually prove trustworthy), but the killing of a metallic dragon who was also his friend/more was the final straw. I ultimately did believe the Emperor genuinely regretted it, but one question I wished I could have asked in a barbed way, was why the Emperor's life was worth so much more than his friend's. It was at this point that if Orgon could kill the Emperor after dealing with the Elder brain, he would.

The point where you choose whether to free Orpheus was I felt a bit rushed. I was waiting for the option to attempt to persuade the Emperor to release Orpheus, as he would be more useful as an ally now that draw the wrath of Voss. The Emperor tried to justify himself with "I helped you, saved you" and I wish I could have shot back "but you screwed everyone else."

After the Emperor left and I freed Orpheus, a very difficult decision came up; whether to become a mindflayer, or make Orpheus do it. At the time, I had Shadowheart, Gale and Lae'zel in my party, and due to my value of freedom and hatred of Vlaakith, I didn't want to jeorpadise Orpheus leading a revolution against Vlaakith, especially with Lae'zel in the party. But at the same time, becoming a mindflayer would go against Orgon staying true to himself the whole game without losing himself to power. Genuinely a difficult decision.

I figured that becoming a mind flayer would end badly for Orgon no matter what, but I decided to go through with that first, to guarantee Orpheus and Lae'zel having the best chance to stop Vlaakith. And it was painful to see him transform, especially since I had spent so much time and investment into him until that point. I was upset that I was basically sacrificing my character for this main plot when my relationship with my party left me so much to live for. (for reference, Shadowheart was my love interest, though Astarion, Gale, Wyll, Karlach, and by this time Lae'zel, were all high approval and I consider them all close friends).

Playing through that final section was painful, as I figure Orgon internally is in agony in having his own free will supplanted for the sake of the greater good. Even the other party members being accepting of his new form just served to remind me how much I had sacrificed.

After the final battle was over, I was hoping, somewhere, somehow that I could go back to being myself again. Orpheus, Voss and Lae'zel were immensely grateful to me, but by this point my character was too depressed to really care. After the left on their dragons, and Orgon was looking over the water, it was clear that he didn't want to live like this, even if there was a chance to become a rogue mindflayer. To end up like the Emperor, who would murder his friends to save himself, was not a risk he was willing to take.

So he took out the dagger and killed himself without hesitation, even though Shadowheart screamed for him not to do it. Then... Karlach also burned up and died in that same spot, and it all happened so fast I figured the rest of the party were in shock.

The ending was happy for everyone... except Orgon, and the whole party that I experienced this journey with.

The scene before the credits showed Orgon's soul, still in mindflayer form, persisting, maybe in the weave, and Withers expresses astonishment to find him there. One thing Orgon had disagreed with Withers on is whether Mindflayers can have a soul, which was reinforced by the positive relationship he had with Omeluum. Withers is astonished that he was actually wrong about this. When he asked Orgon his thoughts, he simply said:

"I'm sad. I wanted to keep living."

That was one of the most visceral and tragic endings for two characters I had ever had in an RPG, and I admit a shed a few tears. But Orgon's small belief victory was a silver lining to this otherwise miserable ending. In a way, this allayed my fears of condemning Orpheus to become a mindflayer; my biggest concern was for his soul, rather than his physical body.

So I went back and allowed Orpheus to become a Mindflayer. While unfortunate, my experience with the previous ending at least gives some hope for his and the Githyanki's future.

So when the scene by the docks came, Orpheus inevitably had the same reaction to his form as Orgon did. Thankfully I was able to convince him to live just a bit longer to see his people free, even if he couldn't lead them himself. It was much more satisfying to see Lae'zel leave on the dragon this time, because her character arc lent itself to her becoming a more open-minded and kind leader than perhaps even Orpheus could have been.

Then all the companions and I had their celebration and goodbyes, and Orgon and Shadowheart ultimately lived together and adopted Scratch and the owlbear boy. Karlach didn't die this time, going with Wyll into Avernus. And Withers enabled everyone to gather one last time, which felt like one of my actual reunions with old classmates from years ago, it was that emotional.

My headcanon in the end is Orgon and Shadowheart returned to Ansur's corpse and let the dragon know that the Emperor was finally dead, and possibly both of them could rest in peace, or explore the possibility of a True Resurrection if the dragon still wanted to live. Part of me would have liked to tell the people of Baldur's gate what really happened to Balduran and the kind of creature he had become, but that would have ultimately for revenge out of his hatred for the Emperor, and had to let it go, and let the people still believe that Balduran was a hero. Orgon had gotten everything he wanted, after all, and was finally happy.

Huh... I wasn't expecting to say all that, but this was such a fulfilling experience, ironically by getting the "bad" ending first. Just wanted to get this off my chest, in appreciation for Larian and this wonderful experience they gave me. All up this playthrough on tactician took 240 hours; it was a long and fulfilling journey. Thank you, Larian.

I do have some suggestions after several days of reflection, but that'll be another thread, probably.

Vastly different character on my end (Githyanki necromancer), but apparently many similar decisions and also a first game (finished yesterday) with as little meta info as possible to keep the suspense and sense of wonder. Sava (profile pic) would have started lawful evil, but drifted more and more towards chaotic good due to all that happened at and after the Grove.

Like Orgon, Sava is also very intent on not becoming a Ghaik due to her being a child of Gith. As the group's tactician she also hated not getting all available information. When the "Risen Legion" attacked, it was like clockwork. The blinders blow, skeleton archers on the gallery, flying ghouls go for the mages and clerics, mummies in the back giving remaining threats stink eyes, then in with Lae'zel and Karlach dimension dooring from unprotected angles to dish out the pain. By the end of Act 3, Sava's idea of a good fight was to plough over the surprised opposition within two rounds without losing a hit point. This could only work with solid info. After making so many unlikely friends and meeting Omeluum, she could accept an illithid ally, but not being fed tailored shreds and half-truths only when the Emperor was beyond denying. Sava also hates being told what to do.



This is exactly why Baldur's Gate 3 is such an amazing game. You really feel with the characters and endings like these won't easily let go of you. This is good narration! HOWEVER,...

Sava is a trained military leader (Soldier background).

*I often explored alternative dialogue options with quicksaves, but apparently botched this one and had to either roll with or replay a very difficult, but epic fight. I only noticed when the companions brought it up on what was the next IRL-day.