Dungeons&Dragons 50th Anniversary: La trama principale del terzo atto di Baldur’s Gate 3

2024/05/11

467

English version

The main plot in the third act of Baldur’s Gate 3 and some details on companions and their involvement in the general storytelling

Fabio Ciaramaglia

Once finally at Baldur’s Gate, though at first only in the suburb of Rivington, we can begin the exploration in order to achieve the main goal: getting hold of the artefacts owned by Gortash and Orin and at last facing the Netherbrain to control or destroy it. This would be the most linear and the shortest path, but of course it is not as simple. Meanwhile the city is under an incoming siege by the army left from Moonrise Towers, though without its commander Thorm, so to enter any district demands a permit. Then, Gortash has become an authority and he is well protected, while Orin’s lair is in an unknown location and she, being a doppelgänger, plays cat and mouse with us following our investigations. Moreover, each of them tries to persuade us to collaborate and get rid of the other.

Everything happens in the labyrinthine city of Baldur’s Gate whose game map is huge and full of hidden areas which can be found only through a very attentive exploration. Being the Z axis implemented in the game, the exploration is also on more levels, from sea level (but at some point we even go underwater!) to that of the roofs of the tall buildings which we can reach climbing (or jumping, or even flying). Furthermore many side and companion quests started in the first act can be finally completed, so for those who want to enjoy the game experience to the fullest, the third act demands much more in terms of time than the previous two acts all together.

Frame da Baldur's Gate 3: Il Netherbrain sui cieli di Baldur's Gate — Frame da Baldur’s Gate 3: Il Netherbrain sui cieli di Baldur’s Gate.
Immagine utilizzata solo per fini divulgativi. © degli aventi diritti

Already in Rivington we can begin the epilogue of the side quests of Shadowheart and Astarion. For the latter, by meeting a clan of Gur (monster hunters) we discover the incoming plans of Cazador, Astarion’s “Sire”: he wants to complete a ritual which will give him god-like powers. Actually Astarion is the missing piece for the ritual, but we can also opt to have our companion complete the ritual in order to achieve this godhood. We are in the range of difficult moral choices, since if we opt for this many of Cazador’s prisoners would be slain for good. If we instead save the children of the Gur in Cazador’s lair we may have the monster hunters as allies in the final battle. Similarly for Shadowheart, once inside the Church of Shar lair, we face a series of possible moral choices which strongly depend on those made in the second act: we can have her embrace fully her faith in Shar or deny it, in both cases we have to fight against the Church leader Viconia. In this case too the choices are difficult because, after the fight, Shadowheart meets her parents. These, imprisoned and tortured, become the final step of the complete communion of the half-elf with Shar if being sacrificed, or in case we decide to save them they become the reason why the goddess curses Shadowheart with occasional painful aches.

Moreover, if this happens, Shadowheart will go back to the faith she followed as a child, that of Selûne, providing also a visual sign of the conversion by changing the colour of her hair from her original pure black to a very bright platinum blond (metaphorically, from darkness to light). Only in the case Shadowheart stays within the Church of Shar, and becomes their leader, we shall have their support in the final battle.

As far as Viconia is concerned, it seems the trend of the first two games is kept, that is the fact she remains alive and kicking sometimes can be a little miracle, and as a matter of fact it happens here too, because even if we defeat her we can decide to exile her and make her go away. This is also the preferred option by Minsc, whether we have started and completed successfully another side quest to release him from the control of the Netherbrain. We discover pretty soon, in fact, that the good ranger has been victim of ceremorphosis and is completely controlled. Within her plans to cause mayhem in the city, Orin has tasked one of her doppelgängers mimicking Jaheira to Minsc, and he is led to fight the Thieves’ Guild led by Nine Fingers. With the nickname of Stone Lord (which somehow reminds us of his petrification in IDW comics), for months he has led a rival guild, which was ultimately under the control of Orin. Once found Minsc’s lair, defeated him and persuaded the Emperor to protect him from the Netherbrain, the ranger’s first move is to look for Boo who, in the period when he had been “evil”, had hidden. It is Boo himself who will tell us, as usual with the verbalization of Minsc, about the lost path of the ranger: for this reason, Minsc will be more than motivated to join us against the Netherbrain. The meeting with Jaheira, the real one, is touching and nostalgic, but at the same time gives us some comic relief within an apocalyptic general plot. We add that also for Jaheira there is a short quest related to her family, members of Harpers as well: the dialogues with her daughter are particularly witty and fun. Completing both these subplots will grant us the support of the Harpers in the final battle.

Frame da Baldur's Gate 3: Jaheira prima della battaglia finale — Frame da Baldur’s Gate 3:Jaheira prima della battaglia finale.
Immagine utilizzata solo per fini divulgativi. © degli aventi diritti

We can complete also the stories of Wyll and Gale (if survived). For the former, among the scheming by Mizora and political matters of Baldur’s Gate, the goal is to release his father Uder. He is captive, along with some rock gnomes, in an underwater prison named the Iron Hand, which is underwater. The building used to be the place where Sarevok had started from in his career as a Bhaalspawn in the first game, and later it was sunk to hide this memento of darker days. In a subplot more similar to science fiction than fantasy, considering also that Gortash controls some golems which resemble Terminator, with the need of choosing wisely the timing, we have to save everyone before the underwater prison explodes (Gortash tries to prevent this rescue by activating the self-destruction) and fight our way against Mizora’s minions. If we manage saving Uder and his close collaborator Florick, we shall have the support of the Flaming Fist in the final battle. Actually also Mizora could be our ally, if we during our problematic interactions with her she finds us particularly amusing. Moreover, once we have rescued Uder Ravengard and persuaded the Emperor to protect him from the Netherbrain, he will tell us the tale of a dragon hidden under the ground of Baldur’s Gate which, according to some legends, can be summoned for the protection of the city in dire times. It is only a side quest, but in case we completed it we would know more about the past of the Emperor when he was Balduran (there is yet another side quest to reveal some other facts of his past too, by entering his lair).

Unfortunately the dragon will not be of any help, because he is the former friend of Balduran, slain by him in the days when he was about to turn into a Mind Flayer: the dragon’s spirit wants only vengeance and we are forced to fight him. As far as Gale is concerned, the long and complex story of the Netherese artefact and the intervention of goddess Mystra, still allow the option of his sacrifice in the final battle against the Netherbrain. We have to find a specific book on the Crown of Karsus in the local guild of mages (where we can also fight the supreme mage who wants to get hold of Nightsong to exploit her power as Thorm had done) and then interact with Mystra herself who explains how the artefact in Gale’s body and the powerful magic object are linked.

The Crown of Karsus is actually the most important piece of the puzzle, because, fuelled by the netherstones, it is what allows the control of the Netherbrain. The Crown is owned by Gortash and clearly it is something we need to face the powerful Elder Brain. As we said, the devil Raphael asked us this artefact, in change for a cure to ceremorphosis but adding to the offer also the Hammer of Orpheus, which would allow us to release the leader of Githyanki. We can clearly opt for trespassing in Raphael’s lair, the House of Hope, and steal the hammer and then, after having defeated the devil, we can use it to release Orpheus -as a side note, before that fight we can persuade one of the devils to fight for us and, in that case, they will help us also in the final battle. Using the hammer or not affects the companion quest of Lae’zel, but, more importantly, it opens the possible choice of giving finally up the ambiguous help of the Emperor (in this case he will join the Netherbrain in the final battle), while the other choice is to leave miserable Orpheus captive. However, if we free Orpheus we can have his half-willing help in the final battle, but that is the reason for yet another choice: in order to actually use the Crown of Karsus a Mind Flayer is needed, so we have to decide whether being finally turned into one with our character or having Orpheus doing it.

Frame da Baldur's Gate 3: Il passato di the Emperor come Balduran — Frame da Baldur’s Gate 3: Il passato di the Emperor come Balduran.
Immagine utilizzata solo per fini divulgativi. © degli aventi diritti

The other companions are not involved in particularly complex subplots, if not for the fact that Karlach is a former resident of Baldur’s Gate so she comments a lot on local matters (she meets old friends, she visists the graves of her parents) and she can enter a frenzied fury during the first meeting with Gortash, who was the one who sold her to Zariel (by meeting Gortash’s mother we discover he was sold himself when a child). Maybe later on I could make up my mind on Minthara, if we have her as a companions, but in my gameplays I had her only when I played as Dark Urge (speaking of this in the next article).

So, going back to the main plot, we have to decide if getting rid of both the two owners of the Netherstones or allying to one of them. Facing Gortash is more linear because, despite well protected by many guards, included the mechanical ones if we did not disable them, he is in the Palace, so basically it is just going there and fight. As far as Orin is concerned the matter is definitely more complex, but also more interesting. We have to investigate on a series of ritual murders in the city, even preventing some of them, until we understand how to behave in the Murder Tribunal and thus granting the access to the secret lair of Bhaal’s followers. It is here that we have the important revelation about Orin, about whom most NPCs do not know anything important: she is a Bhaalspawn and the maternal niece of Sarevok. It is him leading the Murder Tribunal and he tells us about how Orin murdered her own mother to become her grandfather’s and Bhaal’s favourite. On this we shall write more details because mainly linked to Dark Urge.

Once getting hold of the Crown of Karsus (owned by Gortash) and of all three Netherstones, we finally can approach the Netherbrain for the first time. The twist is that actually the astute Elder Brain wanted only all the items together to be able to be free once again, and in all this the Emperor himself (in both cases if still our ally or not) has been just a pawn to accomplish this. We have to overcome a series of impossible “ability checks” but ultimately we have to withdraw. Meanwhile the Netherbrain has begun to activate all those with a ceremorphosis and to invade Baldur’s Gate from the ground but also from the sky, having summoned a series of nautiloids from other planes. With all our allies gathered, we have to defeat all the enemies which block the passage to the tallest spot of the city, from which we shall try to reach the Netherbrain. After the fight we have the final choice, that is whether destroying the Netherbrain (and thus slaying all the Mind Flayers under his control) or control it and using this power to conquer the Sword Coast. Like in many other games of this type, in the finale we are briefed on the aftermath related to all our companions, which depend on all the choices made so far. We meet all of them in a camp some months later to celebrate and talk about the latest events (we can find in the camp also letters by other NPCs who thank and brief us about their lives). In my gameplays I have often decided to join Karlach in Avernus to try to fix the problem of her mechanical heart.

Frame da Baldur's Gate 3: Con Karlach nell'Avernus — Frame da Baldur’s Gate 3: Con Karlach nell’Avernus.
Immagine utilizzata solo per fini divulgativi. © degli aventi diritti

Even without my usual digressions and trying to deal as much as possible only with the most important facts related to the story, as you can understand the third act is highly complex even if we opt for a smooth storyline. There are many subplots I have not spoken about (the hag survivors, the bad press, the Githyanki egg which hatched, the destiny of rock gnomes divided between Ironhand and Gondians), as there are many other details (the stores and the inns which are enhanced compared to the first game), and surely I might have told more about some companions (the destiny of Lae’zel and Astarion, for instance), and in no article I have mentioned the presence of Volo (I shall definitely speak of him in some other article, since he is one of the most canonical characters of D&D). And in spite of all this I had to write a lot. As we have already hinted, though, we have to revisit the whole story through the interpretation of Dark Urge, who is a pre-made character we can choose as protagonist at the beginning of the game. We shall see that Dark Urge’s gameplay makes Baldur’s Gate 3 the real and direct sequel of the first two games.

Frame da Baldur's Gate 3: Il sacrificio finale di Orpheus — Frame da Baldur’s Gate 3: Il sacrificio finale di Orpheus.
Immagine utilizzata solo per fini divulgativi. © degli aventi diritti

Biography

FABIO CIARAMAGLIA

With an M.A. degree in English Literature, with a dissertation on Shakespeare and comics (2000) and a Ph.D. with a dissertation on Shakespeare and Italian TV (2004), I have always tried to deal with the complex relationship between literature and other media.

I have written for comics magazines, such as Fumo di China and Fumettomania (in its previous printed version), but also translated into Italian a couple of American comics for the publisher Magic Press and some poems. Meanwhile I have begun teaching English language at High School, at first in Rome and then, after 2015, in Trieste.

I have never lost the nerdy attitude even as a teacher, but since 2006 videogames have attracted me more and in some of them, maybe for a personal inclination, I have found several elements which are worth of being analysed, though before this year I had never dared approaching more seriously.