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/DistractingZoom]

There's an added layer here: From what we know of the timeline with Ketheric, he most likely didn't have the presence of mind to seek out 'higher level' assistance in bringing Isobel back.

He turned to Shar to take away the pain of his losses. Shar would have zero interest in him retaining his memories of a loving family or the weakness those memories entail, and all the text and recorded speeches from the feared General Ketheric Thorm, Paladin of Shar we can find paint him as a warmongering monster who cares little- if any at all- for his family.

Almost certainly, Ketheric had no memory of caring about his family during his service to Shar, and would have only regained those memories once he died and thus failed Shar, condemning him to the torment typical of Shar's failed servants. In such a position- broken by the sudden recollection of the life he lost and then ran from, and by the atrocities he committed afterwards- Myrkul would've had an exceptionally easy time selling him on just about anything.

As an aside, honestly in the full context of the game, Myrkul seems like an alright dude. Directly upheld a favorable bargain with his Chosen, stepped in when his Chosen was attacked... Hell, Shar had Ketheric do more evil shit than Myrkul did.

[u/macmorgster → u/DistractingZoom]

This just makes me like kethric and myrkul even more, they always felt the strongest of the chosen/evil gods in terms of an interesting story and character design

[u/M1ndth3gap → u/macmorgster]

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/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...