#but not in the male perspective because we hate mystra here
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Rant about BG3
MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR BG3 COMPANION STORIES
So... I finished my first playthrough and I have.... OPINIONS.
I feel that there's a pattern between the character stories of the companions depending on if they are male or female. It's subtle but I feel it's there quite strongly.
DISCLAIMER: I haven't done the evil run, so I haven't gotten to know Minthara so I won't be talking about her.
The Men
With the exception of Astarion, it feels all the male characters are in their current situation out of their free will. Gale was a dumbass and decided he wanted more tha what Mystra was offering him and messed up. Wyll might have been deceived into the pact, but he confesses that he has never regretted it. Halsin is not responsible for the curse, he only feels that way because he was there when it happened. And all the mess that happens in the grove? He left his post in the middle of a complicated situation because he was curious.
And even Astarion! True, he was turned against his will and abused by Cazador, but he still is an evil bastard. He's selfish, mean, and hates any attempt of helping others while very demanding on helping him. I know you can change him, so in this particular rant, he's kind of middle ground.
The Difference
Each female character's issues and trauma was IMPOSSED on them. Shadowheart gets kidnapped and brainwashed as a child. Lae'zel grows in an abusive regime that also brainwashes her. And Karlach is traded to hell against her will as a teenager. They didn't had any autonomy in their stories.
And then we go into the endings. I'll admit, except Karlach, you get the option to give them kinda happy endings. For Shadowheart to have a happy ending, you have to "fix her". Undo years of brainwashing, potentially sacrificing her family, her friends who she'll never see again (Nocturne is too precious for this world). Lae'zel will be put either in charge of a massive civil war that will kill thousands of her people against a living godess, or be the second in command of said war (or you can convince her to abandon her people and stay in Faerun).
And then we get to Karlach. I cried myself to sleep over Karlach's endings. They were all messed up. Turn her into something else and she stops being herself, let her die, send her back to the place she hates and abused her. Even if you and Wyll go with her (and if you do this, and you had romanced someone else, you have to leave them behind), is still sending an abuse victim right back to where she was abused.
I feel like there's a bias here, or maybe is a coincidence, or maybe I'm too angry I couldn't make all my friends have a happy ending and instead my character was left without the love of her life, never seeing Lae'zel again and escorting her best friend into hell again. Is just so.... shite.
I did research, checking other possible endings I could have gotten, and they weren't much better... It just feels that Larian wrote the female companions to be "They are hot, and have a tragic backstory and you can FIX THEM and have fun", and then just made their endings fit that.
The male companions all get to achieve what they wanted. Gale can give Mystra the crown to get healed of his own fuck up. Wyll get's to become the Blade of Avernus and hunt down the deamons that wronged him. To be a hero with his relationship with his dad restored. Halsin gets to achieve his goal and cure the curse. Astarion get's to either be free of his abusive sire and become a better person, or destroy and supplant him. And all of them can still visit and see their friends.
On the other hand? Only Shadowheart gets this. Lae'zel either abandons her people, or leaves her friends behind to engage in a terrible war. And Karlach either sacrifices herself, or leaves her city and friends behind to spend the rest of her life battling in a place she hates.
Dunno, I was loving BG3, I'm still playing it, doing new campaign as Lae'zel to get to see her story from her perspective. But this kinda put a bitter taste in my mouth. I was super invested on these characters, and it felt like a sad ending. One thing I kept thinking about was, Shadowheart gets the "Divine Favour" once per game spell.... couldn't I just use that to cure Karlach? It feels like is something that on a tabletop session would have gotten so many options to have a nicer ending, one that left all the players happy.
Maybe I'm sad I didn't get to live in a sapphic colony with my friends at the end haha.
Anyway, thanks for coming to my TEdRant.
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