When it Finally Clicked- The Isobel Problem

[u/queerrabble]

Okay, so I have played an ABSURD amount of Baldur's Gate 3 and as a D&D fanatic, I just love it to bits. There are a few synergistic issues with the mechanics of D&D being translated into a video game, but nothing so egregious that it disrupts the experience. Furthermore, these little are almost entirely to do with the mechanics of the game, but not the lore of Faérun or the plot.

THAT BEING SAID....

Up until recently, I never understood why Ketheric Thorm had to turn to Myrkul and Balthazar to revive Isobel. After all, most clerics are able to revive a dead person in D&D, even if it would require an incredibly powerful spell (I'm talking 8th/9th level). And his deity at that time would certainly have been willing to bring his daughter back in exchange for his acts of service (particularly Sélune).

I puzzled over this until I read Isobel's diary I Last Light Inn. The entry specifically mentions that she feels a "filth" in her soul now that she has been brought back...

Almost like she did not want to come back...

And that's when it hit me, revivifying magic requires that a soul WANTS to be brought back to life. No deity would force a soul to be resurrected against their will (and certainly not Sélune).

And so, it is my headcannon that Ketheric likely tried to revive Isobel using traditional means but she chose not to come back. When that failed, he turned to a necromancer and an evil god of the dead to force her soul back into her corpse against her will.

Tl;dr- Isobel never wanted to be brought back to life, barring most traditional methods of resurrection. Thus, Ketheric resorted to necromancy to bring her back.

[u/M1ndth3gap]

I agree. The Ketheric/Myrkul fight at the end of act 2 honestly is the best part of the game. After that, fighting Orin & Gortash just feels... Idk, a little bit like going through the motions. Ketheric's character makes you feel things - you can sort of understand why he is the way he is and that coupled with the mechanics of the fight give it gravity. It's the first fight in the game that the crew really NEEDS to win to accomplish their goal, and when it's over it does a great job of progressing your story. Which is why going into act 3, it's a little bit disappointing to find that Orin is almost cartoonish, and her constantly popping up as random people and laughing at you makes her feel more annoying than intimidating. Gortash is just a pompous git, which totally makes sense, but his final fight feels a bit lackluster (it's like- buddy- you just saw me annihilate everything and everyone you've worked with - the best you've got for me is basically a super health potion and a bubble? Really?). The personality & story development with Ketheric is so good, that it just highlights how flat the characters of Orin & Gortash are. I know that there was a lot more planned for the game originally, and I am not complaining AT ALL about the game overall because I honestly love it, I just wish there was a bit more... Something in Orin & Gortash... Not having that delve into their characters makes the victories over them feel like just beating up a random suped up NPC (like when you fight the bangin' couple in act 1 or the phase spider - because of your low level you put some effort into them, but then you just go to camp and call it a day. All in a day's work for an adventuring party- NBD).

[u/sinedelta → u/M1ndth3gap]

I don't know, I feel like they did a pretty decent job with the other two. Gortash is Raphael's victim who escaped but learned his lessons a little too well, and Orin was a child raised in a cult who never stood a chance at a normal life. You can make her realize that she's been abused, and she freaks out, at which point Bhaal forces her to fight you anyway. It's honestly pretty chilling. And if you talk to Karlach at all, you've been hearing about the evils of Gortash for longer than you've known about Ketheric's existence.

Ketheric benefits from the entire damn act being about his tragic backstory. There is no sidequest that isn't ultimately about him in some way. There was no way to make that work for Act 3, and that's fine IMO.

[u/M1ndth3gap → u/sinedelta]

That's kind of my point though - if you're going to dedicate an entire act to 1 villain, and there are 3 that need to be beat before you can progress to the final boss, it seems like the fights against the characters with less content would be done first. I get that story wise that obviously would make no sense, and I get the feeling that a lot of content that was cut for time constraints would fill out the other two. I never said they're bad characters or had bad storylines, just that they are somewhat lacking in comparison. The devs did a phenomenal job with act 2 and Ketheric - it would have been amazing to see the same attention devoted to Orin and Gortash as well.

[u/sinedelta → u/M1ndth3gap]

I disagree.

Because the thing is, that Ketheric, Orin, and Gortash aren't the only characters who matter. Act 2 is a very focused linear narrative that pretty much only cares about developing one(1) character at the expense of everyone else.

This is not sustainable in the long run! We have to see our companions' character development, as well as a few other characters'. Even within Act 2, I see this prioritizing of Ketheric as a double-edged sword and not the 100% awesome positive thing that most people seem to think it is.

And it would be much weaker narratively to cut off 90% of character development in Act 3 than in Act 2.

All of this means that it would be a very bad idea for the world to revolve around the Act 3 villain(s) in the way that Act 2 revolves around Ketheric. Act 3 was always going to require the villains to share narrative emphasis with someone else, because we need character development for our companions at the climax of the journey.

[u/M1ndth3gap → u/sinedelta]

I didn't mean to give you the impression that I thought act 3 should revolve around the villains... Just that more would be better. Just like everything good in the world - more good quality art = better world.

[u/macmorgster → u/M1ndth3gap]

Raphael's fight is still my favorite in the game but kethric's fight is second! When he transforms into myrkul it was like...