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Some Gortash headcanon banters, because we need it

Gale: About your Steel watch... Can you speak through it?

Gortash: And "watch", too. I don't usually see anything interesting, though, so it's more for fun.

Gale: You have a interesting view of fun.

Gortash: Don't worry, wizard, I didn't spied your party through the watchers. You make so much noise, I could do it just from my office window.

Wyll: Your parents... I can't imagine anyone capable of such cruelty to their own child

Gortash: It's not your business.

Wyll: But all I wanted to do was--

Gortash: Wyllric Ulder Ravengard, one more word and I'll kill a random slave just so you'll stop pretending to understand me.

Wyll: A monster after all.

Gortash: That's better.

Gortash: I've been meaning to ask. Your sword, it's Gith-made, isn't it?

Laezel: No, I will not let you study my sword.

Gortash: How could you think that! I'm just trying to get to know my dear friend's new companions!

Gortash: ...and what about the crossbow?

Shadowheart: So what was Ketheric like?

Gortash: Dead? Ah, though that's not saying anything in your party.

Astarion: That's very kind of you.

Gortash: Suffering for his daughter, suffering for his wife, suffering that we made a little joke of him... Didn't he also suffer when he died?

Shadowheart: Don't tell me you're feeling sorry for him.

Gortash: It's just so monotonous. I was hoping he'd surprise me before he died

Gortash: So what about the dragon under the city?

Laezel: It does not obey the githyanki and will likely burn you all. I will be saddling it.

Gortash: Oh no, no, my dear, the city is mine, so the dragon belongs to me as well. I will be its rider.

Wyll: You do know he's intelligent and unlikely to want to ride you, don't you?

Gortash: Remind me to put your father back in the Iron Throne when we get back, okay?

Astarion: And how many years did you spend in House of Hope?

Gortash: Nine years, four months and five days

Astarion: What admirable accuracy.

Gortash: I have a talent for math.

#these are so fun i feel robbed #😭 #gortash #bg3

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How redeeming Gortash would improve Karlach's story

I will admit, that the title is a bit overstated, because by the time you actually get to interact with Gortash, the plot just does not have enough time left to redeem him. Because other than what some folks in Hollywood think: No, giving a character one last minute "heel-face-turn" with one big symbolic act does not in fact redeem a character. Redemption is a process that takes time.

BG3 actually understands this, because Astarion's arc basically ends with: "You took the first steps towards redemption." Which is really good.

However: You could end the game at least in a way to set Gortash up for a possible redemption arc - and more importantly just... not have him die. Because actually that would improve Karlach's character arc.

I will get one thing out of the way first: The entire "Gortash redemption" idea is always contentious on the fact that he is a really bad guy. Like, he is bad. He brutally killed and tortured, he enslaved people, all of that.

I am an anarchist though. Hence, I do not really believe that punishment is in any way just. And to put it differently: Killing Gortash does not undo any of the harm he has caused. Not a single dead person will live through it, not a single tortured person will become untortured through it, and no slave is freed through it either (you kinda gotta say that as the player in a different mission).

And yes, I will say at this point that in general I was iffed by the fact that in many fights of the game I was not given a choice really. It was "either join the bad guys or kill them", and my "all charisma bard", who does not believe in killing for revenge, was like: "But... But..."

Like, my Tav was on board with killing Cazador (because literally in the situation it is "kill Cazador or have 7000 people die") and killing Ketheric (because he needed to die to end the curse), but he is already iffy on Orin (as she never had a choice but to be a killer) and definitely is not on board with killing Gortash (because there is no good reason to do it).

But let me talk about Karlach. Because the thing is... I have seen a lot of commentary on how Wyll is underwritten. And he is. But not as underwritten as Karlach. Like, her entire companion quest basically goes: "Kill some fake paladins, find Dammon, find two pieces of Infernal Iron, kill Gortash (which you have to do for plot reasons either way)". She doesn't really have a dungeon connected to her quest. Nor really an exclusive boss fight, because again: Gortash you kinda gotta fight for the story either way. Nothing really.

Every other character, too, also has to make one hard decision. Where they want one thing - but what is actually the good thing is something else. I wrote about this before, the "become what you hate" decision, basically.

Karlach doesn't. Sure, you could argue that the "die or go back to Avernus" decision is her big decision. But it feels very different than the decisions of the others.

Which brings me to Gortash and saving him.

Here is the thing: Logically speaking Gortash should probably be able to fix Karlach's engine. He understands infernal engines, as he built the Steel Watch around them. You can easily argue that yeah, he should be able to fix Karlach. And that... would actually make for a great decision for Karlach's story.

If I would get to fix Karlach's companion quest, I would probably do it like this: Put in some sort of dungeon where Dammon sends you in the hope that you can find some plans there, that might give him an understanding on how to fix the engine. Heck, if you do not wanna do a whole new dungeon, you could also just put some plans or whatever into the Steel Foundry.

The point is that it will then turn out that, yeah, even with those plans for some reason Gortash is the only one who could fix it. Putting Karlach into the spot to make this decision: Does she value her life more than her revenge on Gortash?

Because here is the thing: Gortash is supposed to be 1) the intelligent one of the dead three chosen, and 2) also clearly is the one who acts first and foremost in some sense for his own self-preservation. Which made me go like: "Nah, this does not make sense," when he decides to fight against me after his Steel Watch was disabled and I already killed the other two chosen.

So, yeah... You should get at least a chance to persuade him to just give up - or, going back to what I was talking about before - to save Karlach.

And again, I actually think that even for the Gortash part of the story it would make for more interesting storytelling. Killing him is not really that interesting.

Especially as, once again, killing him does not undo any of the harm he has caused. But given that he is this big egghead he could actually do something good if he got to live. And yeah, also there is the fact that... You know... Given what we know about his backstory, his actions are about as understandable as those of some of the companions.

Some of you might already know, I have written some fics dealing with the way how I would imagine something like this to go. Mainly Hurt begets Hurt (which is basically my Tav convincing Gortash to give up), An Impossible Future (Karlach inner turmoil after her engine is fixed) and Cheesy Noodles (Gortash being a big meany towards Tav, who is unphased by this).

I am right now writing a story featuring Astarion dealing with a very, very depressed Gortash.

#oobh My anarchist self was also cringing through ever big choice in the game that required murder #but YES #i would have loved this so much. Karlach and Gorty boy both deserved so much better narratively 😭😭😭😭 #gortash #bg3 #aaaaaaa

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Being a kaku enjoyer is soooo embarrassing

#FALSE #being a kaku enjoyer is based because giraffes are cool #one piece #kaku #husband btw. since ye olden days (2006)

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Not every heist requires planning

#they are so cute and silly op i love them i love this #tav #bg3 #astarion #gale #shadowheart

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POV: your workshop has just caught on fire but there's 220lbs of a freshly asleep Bhaalspawn on you and you aren't sure if you're allowed to move

plus Gortash with wrist braces cause you can't tell me he doesn't have carpal tunnel

#durgetash #gortash #bg3 #durge #his expression is ✨✨✨💯

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Durgetash Crossing: New Horizons

#!!!!!!!! #bg3 #gortash #durgetash #durge #CUTE

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Niamh and Gortash absolutely have this dynamic ✨

#ooohb i love them #bg3 #gortash #durgetash #durge

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Savior or tormentor

#gortash #bg3 #hhhhhmbmgbgngb pretty

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#i mean look at those puppy eyes cmon #bg3 #gortash

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marrying my two loves: drawing nothing but my dark urge (esper) for a month in a fit of hyperfixation and bullying his grace lord archduke enver gortash chosen of bane for his taste in clothes

#durge #gortash #op you draw gort so cute and your durge looks v cool

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They're arguing

#bg3 #astarion #gale #asdghjklljgsa

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I like Gortash not because I want to fuck him but he has the most unhinged and selfish answer for “I’m so full of hatred and grief. Where should it go?” And this bitch said “anyone and everyone who has ever wronged me plus those who could grow to wrong me. I am a comet and your life is forfeit, die under my heel”

#yeah #yeah. yeah. yeah. yea #gortash #he’s like a little tree that grew up once a tiny bit of sun touched his leaves and now his roots choke the saplings #<-YEAH #bg3

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Slightly chewing on the 'well you always had control of your Urges' from Gortash.

Thinking about how maybe Gortash got that idea because Durge really made an effort to clamp down on them once the Feelings started.

Gortash never really saw them at their worst. Wracked with pain, doubled over trying to fight that burning need - refusing to fall into that easy blood haze where all would be well after. Sometimes, just giving in to get it over with.

He never saw it. They made sure he didn't see it. They didn't want him to see them like that.

But every once in a while the Urge got its way and Gortash saw them dismantle a person or two in a fit of blind rage and it was over after.

He had an idea of what it could be, but never the depth of it.

Composure was important in an alliance, after all.

"You were always so good at controlling your Urges..."

Just for you.

#gnawing on glass as we speak #durgetash #bg3 #dark urge #gortash

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Not gonna lie, I think my favorite potential options to follow 'Is that what you-', are 'think' and 'want'

Is that what you think? You get to come back and tear everything apart because it has to be this way? As in, You think you can just waltz back into baldur's gate- no- my life, play the same little games we used to play, rekindle our alliance, just so you can throw it right away? You think you can do that while telling me you RETURNED the feelings?

You think 'this is how it must be'? Do you REALLY think that?

Or in a similar way:

Is that what you WANT? To throw it away this second chance we have? To destroy everything we worked so hard to build together? Now that we are finally together once again?

Incredulous and angry, like he is about to argue with them, try one last time to get Durge to see reason after the hesitation brought on my his memories, his emotions, gets the better of him. But then he reels himself back in and proceeds with the battle instead. Because that's not his Durge and it's what he HAS to do. It's just. Hhhhhhhhh

#gortash #it just feels more natural with the tone of his voice for that line while still making me insane at the possible implications #bg3 #durgetash #durge #he sounds incredulous #god i cant believe you personally get to traumatize the traumatized man. hey yea the me that died like you #not this me tho. i personally am going to destroy everything 'we' built together while wearing old me's skin :) #but i DID like you. just think bout that while we battle to the death #baldur's gate 3

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Like, you KNOW the only reason they gave us durgetash crumbs in the form of narrator lines is because getting more Gortash lines is too hard. You KNOW they would have if it weren't fucking Jason Isaacs.

#gortash #durgetash #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #im dying im exploding what we got was crumbs but it was perfect crumbs i need to be hospitalized

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Durgetash babes, patch 6 gave us some crumbs! 😂🤍

Had to reupload this because I found more!!

#bro i am going to FUCKING throw up #gortash #durge #durgetash #real 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭aaaaa

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Dark Urge and lord Enver Gortash for @commander-krios! Had tons of fun working on this one.

#durgetash #gortash