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gryffintheparrotcat · 7 months

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Discussion about durge & the overall theme of breaking the cycle of abuse or becoming the abuser in bg3 Evil Durge ending spoilers ahead

So I recently finished my evil durge run and during the entire game i thought to myself "Ofc embracing Bhaal is the bad choice here, it's a situation like Shadowheart and Shar. But honestly for my character it isn't bad at all, he enjoys being a murder machine and he'd love to serve his Father as the Chosen. This somehow doesn't feel as bad as other bad-ending choices, though I have no doubt the good choice will feel very meaningful."

And I kept that opinion pretty firmly till the end bc accepting Bhaal seemingly didn't have much consequence (Note: I previously never defied the Butler either so I hadn't experienced ANY punishments for that at all, my character wanted to kill, so did Bhaal, seemed like a win-win, despite knowing narratively speaking this would be the bad ending).

But the very last choice (technically second last if you count telling your party what you just did as a choice) in the game really brought to light the part of the dynamic I was still questioning till the end,

(everyone say hi to my evil Durge E'stir, he likes to murder and when Auntie Ethel fusses over him but he'd never admit that) Yes my character enjoyed killing blindly with no regard to whom, only caring about how many he'd kill, yes he enjoyed indulging in his urges, of course he was elated to learn he's actually Bhaals True Chosen, what better fate for a murder hobo than to be the very flesh and blood of the murder lord himself? But that very last 'choice', really showed that this wasn't a good ending, not even for him, because it isn't a choice and he'll likely never get to make a choice again, ever. As much as he'd have enjoyed bringing the world to ruin, it'll now never be out of his free will.

so much even that even in this moment of clarity (regret even?) he could not have made a choice.

the price for ultimate power was a total loss of control. And unlike with the companions, this price never seemed that drastic. Durge was never good, Durge never suffered at the hands of Bhaal, Bhaal has always been there, nurtured them. Unlike the others, this wasn't a path away from the light, this was never a choice of giving up on your goodness to embrace a dark power. Durge was already evil, this was just taking back your lost legacy. There was no moment before Bhaal, there was no humanity in the Bhaalspawn, a Bhaalspawn like no other. And yet the price paid is ultimately even more devastating than that of the other companions, yes Astarions soul is lost and his emotions get twisted, but as twisted as it is now he still has a form of free will (though it will never be the will of spawn Astarion again), same goes for Gale, yes he's no longer Gale Dekarios and won't act like his old self anymore but he's still acting out of an own will. Yes Wyll will continue to have to follow Mizoras will, but even then we know he can defy her, not without consequences but he can. (Side Note: I don't think Karlach even gets an evil ending? Like she imeadiatly dips on you if you slaughter the grove so her only bad ending is... well every ending but they're not evil endings) Halsin & Jaheira are entirely excluded, they're not even infected. And Minsc doesn't have a character arc either as far as I've seen (only bg3, ive heard he's in previous games (I shall play them one day)). The only two coming close to Durge in this are Shadowheart and Lae'zel but even then the arguement can be made that they still have a chance to look past their goddesses deception and break free. Not without high punishment of course, but the possibility is still there, Durge can have doubts & regrets all they want, they can do nothing about it.

Durge is essentially the narrative opposite of all other companions, the only one who goes from truely evil to getting a chance at redemption via the tadpole, everyone gets a chance at betterment via the tadpole (except Minthara lmao, she still gets that chance just not via tadpole, quite the opposite actually) and some were even questionable people before the tadpole (looking at you Minthara-) but even then they were all products of their environment. But can Durge truely be a product of their upbringing if they re quite literally Bhaals flesh and blood, solely created to bring ruin upon the world? And if the answer is 'No, Durge only exists to bring pain, by nature they're evil'... what's that prayer for forgiveness about?

#sorry if it got rambly at the end #i just think this is very fascinating #bg3 durge spoilers #bg3 spoilers #bg3 durge #bg3 dark urge #badlur's gate 3 #the dark urge

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