#astarion might not get the freedom to walk in the sun on the 'good ending' but he's free of cazador and he can finally choose for himself | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

margonite-seer · 8 months

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This might be one of the most heartbreaking Astarion moments in the entire game.

If you play Dark Urge, eventually, in late Act 3, Tav gets to try to get rid of the urges for good, or, embrace them further. There is a possible outcome where neither of these happen: instead, Tav becomes an outcast cursed to be a murder beast forever, never to be able to get rid of the hunger.

Non-Ascended Astarion's reaction to it is... well... My heart broke in a million pieces, let's say. Because of Neil's amazing acting, as usual, I felt like listening to the conversation is a must. That's why I had to attach the video, too.

But these specific small moments are breaking me more than others.

The subtle but visible drop of his shoulders. He feels so sad and defeated for Tav.

...And this line? Definitely the most tragically poetic/romantic I've ever heard him.

He is so sure he will never love again after Tav, let alone find someone like them.

This has all but confirmed my personal headcanon that unless something tragic happens, Tav and Astarion will stay together for hundreds of years. EDIT:

It's actually so much worse in the ending of the game...

I finished the game on this save path (I'll never consider it canon for my lovely boys and I deleted it after I finished recording all dialogue paths) and the Urges overwhelm Tav the minute the tadpole is gone, but only after Astarion runs to hide from the sun.

Tav has to either stab themselves to death immediately (right in front of other companions) to not become a mindless murderer. If they take merely a moment to plan their future, whatever it is, they get possessed by Bhaal right at the docks. Red glowy eyes, "Orin's" dagger spawning in their hand out of nowhere, all sanity and will gone. And them walking into the city with the dagger in hand is how the game ends.

Tav and Astarion never get their last day together. Astarion running away from the sun is the last time they see each other. No last goodbye, no last celebration, not even an hour of victory bliss and peace.

In the video above, Astarion sounds like he hopes to have at least a few months with Tav, maybe. At least a few days of enjoying the complete freedom together.

In the end, he never got any time with them.

#astarion #baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #baldurs gate spoilers #baldurs gate 3 spoilers #bg3 dark urge #not gw2

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shadowshrike · 5 months

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Early morning thoughts because I can't sleep (apologies if they're a mess):

Setting aside the obvious boost that comes from being a classically attractive wicked vampire elf with a beautiful voice, tragic backstory that is executed in a very real way, and entertaining manner of speech, I believe one of the reasons Astarion's stories get such a strong reaction from so many people is because his narrative has several distinct threads beyond the obvious. Each possible path presents different problems and perks with satisfying but contradictory conclusions - a brilliant trick of CYOA writing - and that dissonance is part of what causes so much fandom fighting. We each value different things based on our life experiences or just what we enjoy in a story. It inspires visceral reactions from the player.

Value honesty in your friends, your own safety, and consent above all else? He's probably not going to spend long in your camp without a stake in him.

Value bodily autonomy, absolute freedom of choice, and the ability to speak freely without fear of repercussion? Ascension might make the most sense for you.

Value the emotional healing process, the hope of becoming a better person, and learning to accept and move on from a crappy life rather than doing 'whatever it takes' to get what you deserve? Him staying a spawn is likely the most satisfying choice.

Of course, we all exist on a sliding scale of values, especially when playing with fiction. People who value honesty or consent highly may let him stick around because they hope he can learn to be better. Someone who values absolute bodily autonomy and confident speech may choose to have him remain a spawn because they believe with time and some DnD magic to cure vampirism, he can reclaim those things eventually a healthier way. People who believe in the emotional healing process and becoming a better person might even go for ascension because they believe his ability to walk in the sun and speak his mind bluntly are essential for him to heal rather than be dependent on others in the long run.

This sliding scale is also part of why people fight. Throwing him out or killing him for attacking or biting you is seen as an overreaction from someone who has a higher tolerance for boundary pushing. Ascending him is equated with irrevocably dooming him for those who want to change his view of the world (and himself) for the better and believe ascension will inevitably lead to abuse of his paramour and whatever spawn he creates. And keeping him as a spawn can feel to some like you're like taking away his freedom so completely by refusing what he wants and forcing him back into shadow that you've trapped him in a new, 'nicer' but similarly insidious cycle of abuse with a "savior" figure that he isn't emotionally mature enough to recognize as controlling his life.

It's all very relative, and that's what makes it fun. Players reacting to Astarion's approvals/disapprovals, following a romance vs non-romance narrative, knowledge of 5e lore, and having a strong versus weak relationship with him can all drastically change the experience of his story. And with open endings, it's easy to tidy up any values that might be important to us but underrepresented in Astarion's fate. I think that's actually a huge strength to his story: we don't know if he gets better or worse when he survives to the end and you make that Good or Evil choice. We can guess based on contextual clues, our biases, and in-game lore. But ultimately, you get to choose for yourself whatever future you like best, even if that's him leaving the party.

So for those who can stomach all the paths and enjoy a bit of literary exploration of competing narratives, I highly recommend you try all the different options for Astarion (and the other companions, but especially him) rather than sticking with one. You'll need unique playthroughs for context, but it's so worth it. The writing and acting have phenomenal breadth with tons of subtle shifts that can happen depending on what you choose.

Just please don't harass your fellow players or Larian employees about whatever preferences you have in the end, okay?

#astarion #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #this isnt really an analysis or essay #random thoughts

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wardenmages · 8 months

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I finished Baldurs Gate 3 and I need about 3-5 business days to recover before I hop back into Elissa's playthrough. oh my god. I cried so much. my mom is trying to talk to me about this documentary on tv and I'm like "yeah that's great" while actively weeping

SO under the cut to help people avoid spoilers. my playthrough took nearly 120 hours and I didn't even finish everything in every act. this has spoilers for like, the entire main quest line of act 3 since I did a lot of the main items today lol

HHHHHHHH it was very difficult to make the decision to make Orpheus a mind flayer. I was going to have Alet do it but backpedaled immediately because I just could not imagine them leaving Astarion alone like that. I had to pause and pace around for a long time. I knew I didn't want to side with the emperor but Man

I literally played through killing Orin and Gortash today, saving the guild, a bunch of other smaller quest items, and wrapping up the Orphic Hammer stuff once I had Lae'zel back. So like. It's been a lot all in one day.

I had Karlach with me while I killed Gortash and her breakdown afterwards was so painful, I was already so upset at that point. then afterwards I go talk to Astarion and

Astarion and Karlach understand each other so well and love each other so much it makes me want to eat drywall. I just. think about after killing Cazador w/o doing the ritual, Karlach telling Astarion how fucking proud she is of him, how happy she is that he's free. and then this happens and he can't even return the sentiment, because there is no other way out for Karlach. there barely was for him - he's free, but he knows that freedom comes with a heavy price he hates that he has to pay. I just. want to squeeze them both so hard. lovingly.

At one point I looked up if you could become a mind flayer and then turn back into a humanoid and saw people saying that at the end Astarion could die from getting caught out in the sun and I literally spent the whole final quest panicking because he was literally in my party 100% of the game and I was scared he'd die because of it, but he was fine. I think the game was trying to half-joke about it but I was so emotionally raw at that point I literally minimized the game because I panicked so hard lol

I'm a little bummed there was no scene about where Shadowheart, Halsin, Minsc, and Jaheira were going after the dust settled. I also kind of wish there was something like the classic Dragon Age "put all the companions in a space so you can say goodbye to them individually" thing, I didn't realize once you find the boat to the brain you wouldn't be able to change your party or even talk to most of the companions again (besides Halsin and Jaheira, at least for me). I just expected there to be more between killing Gortash and setting off for the brain, I guess? or something at the end like the act 1 tiefling party where they wait until night so Astarion can join them and the player gets closure with everyone. I like the few bits of closure we get it would just be nice I guess?? idk

Alet and Astarion are off an another adventure though, going to try and find a way for him to walk in the sun again, because while Alet is more than happy in the dark with him the rest of their lives, they know he's not happy with it, and they will do Literally Anything to make him happy again, and that last conversation between them made me gay. also it was funny in that whole last section you can say "this might be the last time we ever kiss" and he says "well then let's make it a good one" and they have the quickest most chaste kiss I've ever seen, it was shorter than the one you can do at the camp, it was genuinely so funny like Neither of you have any clue what you're doing and I appreciate the effort

Karlach ended up going back to Avernus with Wyll. I'm sad the scene only has Karlach talking, but I get why it's like that, so not that disappointed. But. I'm so happy for them. They love each other so much and have such a deep connection, neither of them will ever be alone again. as soon as they figure out if it's even safe or not ("is the thing lighting up the hells actually the sun") Alet and Astarion are going to visit them and Hope

ANYWAY I need to take a break from the game so I don't explode, probably going to write some more fic about Alet and Astarion, and then I will attempt to jump into a second playthrough without romancing Astarion which feels Genuinely Wrong, why would I even play the game without my favorite weird little guy hanging out asking for hugs :(

#bg3 spoilers ///#connor plays bg3 #this is entirely incoherent and I don't care because I cried a lot

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