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Origin Characters and Companions
- How much of the Dark Urge's "Prayer For Forgiveness" is genuine Ax-Craziness vs. an attempt to protect Gortash? As noted under Durge's folder on both the Character and Nightmare Fuel pages, it's not much of a leap to assume that the situation with Isobel wasn't the first time Bhaal demanded the Dark Urge murder a loved one in order to ensure they wouldn't decide against Bhaal's Omnicidal Maniac plan, and refusing to kill Isobel demonstrates that Bhaal is perfectly capable of forcing the matter in a pinch. A Dark Urge run demonstrates that Gortash and Durge had a Villainous Friendship or at least Villain Respect, and Durge wouldn't be the first kid to kiss up to their Abusive Parent and make all sorts of grandiose assurances and promises in an attempt to placate them.
- The fact that the Origin companions are so quick to romance you has been the subject of this. Some interpret them as being creepy Yanderes. Some think it's a trauma bond. Others however interpret the ease of romance as being them coming to terms with the fact they're living on borrowed time and are trying to experience what little joy they can in their final days. The latter would also explain why they're generally chill with you fooling around with someone else during Act 1, and only force you to choose during Act 2. During Act 1, they figure you have the same idea, and aren't about to tell you how to spend your remaining time; but by the time Act 2 rolls around, everyone's learning that ceremorphosis isn't as immediate a threat as they thought, and so they start actually considering (and expecting) longer-term commitments.
- Gale's original downfall with the orb, for that matter: how much was he driven by wizarding hubris and his Inferiority Superiority Complex versus genuine love for Mystra? His encounters with certain artifacts show that he is still enthralled by items of great magical power, and even after the disaster with the orb, he remains convinced he deserves to wield them. On the other hand, a romanced Gale also falls in love hard, to the point he is willing to suicide bomb the Netherbrain to prevent any chance his love interest might die or become a mindflayer, so a willingness to do extreme and self-destructive things in the name of love is also very much in keeping with his character. The truth is likely somewhere in between.
- How suicidal is Gale? He tells the player that he wants to live, and is grateful if the player guides him away from a Heroic Suicide. Nevertheless, he accepts his order to die with a level of relief that suggests some Death Seeker tendencies, and potentially needs to be talked down from sacrificing himself at least four times throughout the game, even when a cure for his condition is potentially in sight. His description of spending a year in isolation in his tower also suggests a major depressive episode, and his romanced arc makes clear that a lot of his pomposity is severe overcompensation for a lack of self-worth. Is his potential Heroic Sacrifice an act of redemption for his hubris, or a deeply self-hating Genius Burnout finally slipping off the edge?
Non-Origin Companions
- It's been questioned why Halsin didn't just Wild Shape into a mouse to escape the goblins. One possible explanation is that he simply couldn't; him involuntarily turning into a bear when he gets worked up during his romance scene indicates that he has a hard time turning out of a bear when his emotions are riding high. Given that he was in the custody of a goblin tribe scheming to slaughter his circle, with some of them actively torturing him, it's possible he just couldn't calm himself enough to turn back to normal, let alone anything else, until his tormentors were dealt with. Adding to this is the fact that his torturers talk about him as if they don't know he's anything more than a normal bear; even if he did calm himself just enough to Wild Shape into something smaller to escape, there was a risk of him losing that control mid-escape, and suddenly the whole Goblin Camp is bearing down on him now that they know that he's a bigger threat than they thought.
Camp Followers
- When elaborating on his backstory, the Emperor mentions that he sustained himself primarily on criminals. In the epilogue, a ceremorphed Karlach will talk about how the memories and experiences of every brain she eats become a part of her. Is it possible that the Emperor wasn't always so cold and manipulative, but was slowly warped by the bad experiences of the brains he ate? His letter to Ansur suggests that he still had some level of compassion, or at least pity, some time after his transformation; something that appears to be lacking when the party meets him. The Emperor's desire for the party to become illithids themselves might suggest that he's lonely; while friendship clearly isn't the highest on his list of priorities, mind flayers are used to being in telepathic contact with others of their species, something the Emperor has clearly been forgoing for a while for the sake of freedom.
- Should you choose to spend a night with the Emperor, it ends with a few of your companions accidentally seeing this thanks to the tadpole connection and reacting how you'd expect. However, Halsin and Jahiera, despite not having tadpoles, can be chosen for this; as can Gale despite not having that connection by default due to his arcane powers. The Emperor's excuse of "I said I'd protect you from the Absolute, not each other. And I was... distracted." also doesn't make a whole lot of sense; yes everyone with a tadpole is mentally connected, but actually getting anything meaningful from each others' heads tends to take active effort, which isn't happening with everyone asleep/trancing.note While the former could just be a goof on Larian's part, the combination has led to the theory that it was all an illusion by the Emperor to manipulate you further; you're basically forced to trust him when he says he'll wipe their memories, and when no-one brings it up the next day, it's easy to think that he kept his word when in reality they never saw anything to begin with. He's also giving the player a false sense of power in their dynamic (as their charms made him "lose control"). In this instance, Halsin, Jahiera, and/or Gale being part of the illusion would just be the Emperor being sloppy with who he chose.
Other Characters
- Enver Gortash is an unambiguous villain and a backstabbing schemer, but learning his backstory offers hints of layers to his characterization. As a child, his parents sold him as a slave to a warlock—who turned out to be the cambion Raphael. Gortash grew up in the House of Hope until he escaped when his jailor made a mistake. Back on Faerun, he's a reasonable boss aside from his unfortunate tendency to betray underlings, a habit he treats completely nonchalantly to the point of offering Karlach, who was enslaved in Avernus because of his betrayal, an alliance (albeit something of a desperate one)—showing that not only does he not care about betrayal, he expects others to treat it as casually as he does. Has Gortash internalized some devilish ethics, in which all relationships are transactional and loyalty nonexistent? Or, since Gortash is shown to have a penchant for secretly testing his allies, does he view his betrayals as yet more tests, and the Hells as the ultimate testing grounds since it's where he was tested by being forced to escape the House of Hope? Did he expect Karlach to escape, and use the situation to get one over Zariel by giving her only a temporary asset? Good questions all, but unfortunately not ones Gortash would ever truthfully answer.
- Shadowheart gives Viconia DeVir some of this In-Universe, noting that she could never quite tell whether her mentor was proud of the gems she earned for saving Suldanessellar. Was the memory of her heroism an Old Shame, or a point of pride she could never reconcile with her Sharran faith? Jaheira also theorizes on Viconia, believing she must have felt some affection for Shadowheart after raising and training her for forty years. For her part, Shadowheart believes she was more akin to a doll that Viconia wanted to mold into her image, while Viconia's diary indicates that she was determined to succeed at training Shadowheart because she believed that such a demonstration of faith would make Shar realize Viconia was the more worthy follower.
- Is Mystra actually intending for Gale to kill himself by ordering him to do a Suicide Attack on the Absolute or is it a Secret Test of Character? The Absolute is an existential threat to the realms that justifies a Fantastic Nuke but it doesn't actually solve the problem. Gale working with the Tav/Dark Uge can potentially find a more permanent solution. Also, testing to see if Gale is willing to die for her may also show he's learned his lesson about pursuing power at all costs. Another possibility is that she's testing him to see if he's learned his lesson by not pursuing the grandest gesture he can think of, and instead look for smaller and significantly healthier solutions. It's also possible that she's simply so worried about the danger posed by the Absolute that she's regretfully willing to sacrifice Gale when that appears to be the most viable option. Yet another possibility still is that Mystra doesn't actually care about stopping the Absolute half as much as she cares about destroying the orb and crown of Karsus, which pose an existential threat to her domain, to the point that the consequences of Gale detonating at Moonrise Tower are simply acceptable losses by comparison.
