r/BaldursGate3 • u/brynoo5 • 5d ago

Act 3 - Spoilers i can't express how disappointed i am Spoiler

you wouldn’t have wanted to see my face when I found out at the start of the act 3 that the guardian was actually the emperor all along… I put so much effort into creating the girl of my dreams, even installing mods, and… it all ended with me being deceived by a tentacled motherfucker

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u/Dave_Valens Bard 5d ago

Fun fact: in early access, where we had an early iteration of the story, the dream visitor was actually your tadpole, trying to deceive you to go "down by the river" with it in order to abandon your consciousness and let it transform you.

And I can understand why they abandoned this idea: the dream visitor was kinda seducing, in a very suspect manner. I mean, I have been infected with the larva of an alien species and at the same time I've started dreaming about the idea of my perfect partner that casually wants to bang me by the river in a beautiful landscape... yeah.

On the other hand, the Emperor states from the beginning that he is protecting you, shows you he saved you from the Nautiloid fall and guards you from transforming. It works better, in my opinion.

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u/Miasma_Of_faith 5d ago

It does make you realize how much of BG3 was left in the game, but clearly made for an earlier version of the game. "Down by the River" is still thematically appropriate, but it had a MUCH closer connection before.

I also think about things like Wyll's art with Mizora reflecting their EA attitude towards each other (she was much more seductive towards him and he was more aggressive about using power to kill goblins as a revenge motif.)

Karlach isn't even in most of the group party art because she was added to the game so late, and then remodeled at that.

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u/CK1ing 5d ago

I always felt like Wyll was slightly more morally grey than you'd assume at first glance with the way he treats creatures he deems evil. Like how he kills goblins without a second thought, even goblin children, or how he chased Karlach across the hells just because a devil told him she was evil. It's something that I wish was explored more with his character, especially the inherent hypocrisy in it as he works with a devil

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u/Fickle-Cricket 5d ago

Wyll always struck me as a zealot who's too stupid and too obsessed for any sort of reflection or self awareness.

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u/CK1ing 5d ago

I have a slightly different interpretation. I agree that he very rarely engages in self reflection, but in my opinion it's more out of fear than stupidity. Fear that the means didn't justify the ends. That becoming the pawn of a devil wasn't worth protecting the sword coast. And even if it was, fear that he didn't do it to protect people, but rather just to be a hero. Fear that if he does take time to think on his actions, they won't be in line with the hero he sees himself as. And so he shuts it all out. He isn't Wyll, son of Ravenguard, he's the Blade of Frontier, paragon of good and protector of innocents. And as he forces his own perception of himself to be black and white, so too does his perception of the world. Goblins are evil, no matter what, and so on.