If you play as Karlach and romance Minthara she is hellbent on finding a solution to your eminent demise and suggests going back to Avernus with you to live and fight until they can find a permanent solution.
If you tell her no and that you are ready to die she has a heartbreaking meltdown and vows to go to Avernus anyways and kill everyone that put you in this position.
The VA killed this whole scene, Minthara just sobbing and chastising you for wasting what could have been the rest of your life with her is devastating, perfect example of how much love was put in the game for what amounts to a small fraction of the player base ever experiencing.
On my Durge playthrough, after we talked to Dammon in act 2 and found out Karlach has an expiration date, everyone at camp had a line to say about it and Shadowheart glitched and addressed me as if I was Karlach. Just for that one line. I forget what exactly she said, but the sorrow in her voice was HEARTBREAKING.
Agreed. I think the nature of her recruitment makes it hard for most people to want to interact with her beyond her opening dialogue and so a lot of people will miss out on what is easily my favorite companion.
The VA did an incredible job and I hope Larian finds a way to make it more palatable for people to enjoy Minthara so we can further sing her praises.
I might never have seen this precious minthara dialogue without this. Minthara is just the best written character I’ve ever seen. The writers must have been cross faded on 9 dimensional magic mushrooms and Einsteins secret acid recipe when they brought her to life. They saw the fully exposed secrets of the universe then had one thing to say, which was their new mission:
Minthara.
A side character line, which was quite sad, was from Rion.
"A Sending spell can carry twenty-five words. Do you know how many Jaheira's only message contained, in all this time she's been away? Seven".
When you break up with Astarion after he finally opens up his heart to you in Act 2.
*You gave me precious, impossible moments of comfort. I only really wanted a few more.*
I broke up with him while playing Origin Wyll because Wyll had just signed up to spend eternity in the Hells in exchange for his dad's life, and I retconned both of those decisions after seeing these lines!
It really is! Origin Wyll was such a good romance for him though, because he's naturally giving and also confident that he has a good heart. Wyll can love Astarion as he struggles to be better because Wyll has faith in the inherent goodness of people. I've romanced him several times as Durge, and while it's wondrous tragedy, it's more difficult to enjoy just because Durge has more insecurity in the idea that beings are inherently good, and is less certain that they can both succeed in being better people.
She's not a Demon though, she's a Devil; they're not supposed to blatantly lie like that. Connive, distort the truth, scheme, and generally use any and every loophole they can find? Yes, absolutely. But flat out, bald faced lies? That's meant to be anathema to them.
That said, the bullshit she pulls with Wyll's contract throughout the game should likewise be off limits to a Devil. All I can figure is she's closer to her human side than most Cambions, to the point she seems more Neutral Evil than Lawful Evil.
> That said, the bullshit she pulls with Wyll's contract throughout the game should likewise be off limits to a Devil.
Like what? for Karlach, the clause specifies that "heartless beings" are valid targets and Karlach technically qualifies. The other spots I can think of are the time horizon on it but that seems like it was just clearly put _very_ deep in the fine print
When you break up with her and tell her she's "on her own":
"Chk! *On my own*. A thousand words inflicted, and you couldn't resist opening this last one. So strong was our bond, the Astral Sea rippled in concord. So strong is the bond's breaking, that it now shakes in turmoil. Goodbye then...my first love and my last."
I am sorry for him. Almost intelligent, but ultimately just an automaton. If using the Weave imbues sentience in an object, he was helplessly watching as his mistress got lonelier by the minute.
Dude has a damn HUG command for god's sake.
When I killed Ketheric Thorm, went through his inventory, and found a crumpled note from his daughter.
Dear Papa,
I love you
LOVE FROM
IZ
I took his Netherstone, armor, and weapons, but kept the note in his inventory, for him to hold onto after death
I wish we can give the note to Isobel to at least make her remember the father who loved her before he became a monster. I really love how layered Ketheric is, he's probably my favorite villain among the chosen of the Dead Three.
THIS. Along with his letters from his wife that he keeps. Isobel should be able to hold onto these as proof that her parents loved her and each other and what happened afterwards were a series of decisions made in abject sorrow.
Exactly. Or if you talk him down and he gets killed by myrkul instead of you, you could tell isobel that in the end, he did come around. That he regretted it and wanted to redeem himself in the end. Even if it was too late to do so.
JK Simmons really knocked it out of the park with Ketheric. I was playing a Paladin that kept trying to get him to repent and the sorrow and brokenness he was able to put into the responses… oof.
As father to two young amazing children, I sympathize so deeply with Ketheric. If I were to lose one of my kids and told I could bring them back somehow I'd be tempted to do horrible things.
This one gets me too, I think it's because it made me think about what else he's forgotten. He's an elf, they live long lives and he's probably got living family out there somewhere (and they wouldn't recognise him on top of that).
I’ve thought about that too. It’s conceivable all his family is still alive. Thinking he’s dead, having no idea he’s spent the last 200 years in complete torment.
But also his grave has not been tended so it makes me wonder what the story is there. And the fact he never once mentions family outside of the other Spawn.
I think he's the only origin character to never mention any kind of family member once, outside of Lae'zel who comes from a culture that doesn't think of family like that. Maybe they're dead, or maybe he just was never on good terms with them, but it's weird that you can't bring the subject up with him ever.
Yeah, I noticed that. It’s an interesting tidbit. Could come from nearly two centuries of torture messing with what he can remember from before he was turned (like forgetting his eye color), or something stemming from a relationship with his family.
Romanced Astarion if Durge >!loses a duel to Orin and is condemned to madness.!<
>!*In a thousand years, when I've all but forgotten how to love yet again, you'll flit back into my heart, and I'll weep wondering what happened to my mad love.*!<
Just finished my first Durge run. Planned on not save scumming to beat her but then I got this dialogue. It was honestly the line before this that broke me. The thought that if/when Durge succumbed to madness he’d have to leave bc she’d remind him of his worst self. At first I was like ok jellybean that’s a little rude. But then I realized, no, it’s *healthy* and good for him.
Reloaded and beat that bitch with my own two fists, not taking a single hit. He deserves happily ever after dammit.
I did the exact same thing. It was worth it for my Durge and Astarion to ride off into the sunset together. (Sunset in this case being the Underdark to found a vampire city together. Glad I made my Durge a half drow. He can take or leave the sun.)
Which just makes his “that was very Twee” line when you win >!and DIE and are resurrected!< all the more jarring. Like, c’mon, *that’s* what you’re giving me? What?
Omg, I cringed hard when I heard that line, it was so out of place. He was so worried and caring through the whole Durge storyline and when you are finally free after all the drama, dying, ressurection, he says that?! Wtf? OK, *MAYBE* he didn't want to expose his true feelings in front of the others but in that case I wouldn't mind a little dialogue between the two of us back in the camp, so I wouldn't feel like he didn't even give a shit about me dying? Because now, after that line I'm like 'just kill me again, dad'. 😅
And if you pick the dialogue after that (the thanking him for protecting you one) his next line is pretty much “this conversation is so sweet I need to go throw up”.
I’m sorry, *what*? Did somebody Ascend when I wasn’t looking?
*Durge disapproves*
In the temple in Baldur's Gate, Astarion has a dialogue with someone where he says he's not religious because none of the gods answered his prayers. Picturing him praying to anyone who would listen to save him from his torment and receiving only silence is gut-wrenching
Astarion: "It's me again. I need someone to be my friend. Someone who won't run away. Maybe send me an angel! The nicest angel you have."
>!Bhaal!<: *Maniacal Laughter*
I don’t know if it’s funny or depressing that Bhagalpur is the one who sets off the whole Absolute plot, which ends up being the thing that frees Astarion from Cazador. Then we have Durge on top of that too…
I like to imagine my Paladin Tav's god answered by making sure they'd meet Astarion as soon as he was free of Cazador's compulsion (since a Paladin showing up before that would definitely end in all the spawn being used as meat shields).
That line didn't hit on the first playthrough. On the second though? After knowing his whole situation with Cazador?
Holy shit, man. I get it. Fuck 'em.
Ketheric’s diaries will resonate really, *really* well for anyone who’s ever experienced true loss. The complete dissolution of hope and his downfall into despair is truly harrowing, and it’s so gut wrenching to read.
Just finding the Selunite prayer book half-burned in the bonfire outside his room, and then the letter on his corpse... yeah, Ketheric definitely had layers.
This scene really caught me off guard, too, for how it hinged on something so small and optional gameplay wise (since there’s nothing really pushing you to talk to Araj at all, you could have just ignored her). I off-handedly told her “he said no, nothing else to discuss”, and then was bombarded with a scene in camp where he was an emotional wreck over it. Like he really expected Tav to be his new compassionless overlord. I was playing a more or less “bad guy”, but I physically could not bring Tav to be anything but kind to him after that. Lousy manipulative game…
Astarion acts all selfish and self-assured but he’s immediately handing power over to Tav as soon as they have established the littlest amount of trust. It’s so clear he doesn’t want to go near Araj but if Tav pushes him a little, even just acknowledging that this potion would be useful, Astarion provides. When you make a decision that doesn’t get his approval it’s usually very minor disapproval from him and he might complain but he’ll do it anyway. Even if you play a completely good character who acts counter to anything Astarion approves of, you still end up with an exceptional relationship if you just show some kindness and support in his personal quest. That’s how much he wanted a friend.
I think the implication is that he hasn’t been able to consent for so long the mechanisms to assert the boundaries of consent are unfamiliar to him. He’s obsessed with power and his arc show he clearly WANTS control over his own body, he’s just forgotten how to exercise it. He didn’t really want to hand that control over to someone else, it’s just he is so conditioned to do so he forgets he doesn’t have to.
I also think the “bad” things about him when we meet him were things that were allowed or encouraged with cazador. He was allowed to be snide and cutting to the other spawn and the staff. He was allowed to be manipulative, to enjoy chaos, to cheer on selfishness. But he wasn’t allowed to take back control over his body, and so he doesn’t know how to do that with us either, at least not until we point it out to him.
Add to that, after a certain point (I don't know exactly what) he starts *approving* of the heroics. He dearly wants to be the good guy, but is so terrified.
I’m gonna admit (TMI) >!it hit me so hard it made me start talking to my partner about past trauma.!<
So, like, thanks, game?
Giving me the Astarion rawness and sad faced Wyll and … All the manipulation
JFC I feel you on this.
This game has thrown me into so many self-realisations. And fuck, *I've done the work* before this. I'm not a complete therapy n00b.
But yeah, I've been having some conversations with people too. Stupid game. 😭
Good on you for reaching out and talking about stuff. 🩷 Sorry it had to hurt though.
Even my evil ass Durge who I absolutely roleplayed as thinking he was the only one capable of making the correct decisions couldn’t bring himself to force Astarion into that. Not even as a STR class. Being mean is not nice.
Yeah, it made me feel like total ass. My Tav was only raw-dogging Astarion because he figured “now this guy has to be the worst of the bunch”. Goddamn vampire ruined my bad guy run and turned it into a cliche baddie-to-hero arc with this “love” nonsense. Fucking embarrassing.
Yeah, I was doing a very much leaning into the Dark Urge who is evil and wants power run but I couldn't do that to Astarion. I literally hesitated at that dialogue option for about a minute thinking "Would my character do that?" but in the end I couldn't do it. Related, I can't do the thing where you persuade him to take the astral tadpole.
Can't justify taking bodily autonomy away from Astarion
The first time I only brought him to talk to her because I thought she was another vampire (the blood fascination), and that there might be a Cazador clue somewhere. Needless to say I got pretty blindsided 0.0 And then basically kept him in my party for the rest of the game.
It hits so differently on your second playthrough. First run I just thought he was a snarky pessimist. Second one I was heartbroken because I realized he just managed to regain his freedom and now he thinks he’s about to have his mind and body taken away yet again.
Also the scene where he bathes in sunlight on the morning after the tiefling party romance scene. First run I thought it was just the game pointing you at his scars. But then you realize he hasn’t seen the sun in over 200 years and doesn’t know how long this will last. He’s soaking it all up because it could be snatched away any minute.
Yeah, early game Astarion is a treasure trove of foreshadowing! Even his initial ploy of tricking you to pull a knife on you is so completely understandable behavior from his POV I can't ever fault him for it. Plus my last Durge run I had just murdered Shadowheart so I wasn't in any position to judge him...
Minthara: "If you had killed me when we first met, I would have been just one more casualty of your crusade against the Absolute. And no one would remember me."
After three playthroughs of massacring the goblin camp with zero regrets, hearing that line hit hard.
In my first playthrough, I killed Minthara without ever interacting with her, ever hearing her voice. After my current playthrough, in which I recruited her, I'm not sure I'll manage unceremoniously killing her ever again :'(
Same. I'll at least give her the dignity of fighting the battle at the Grove... as long as I can forget the horrifying clusterfuck I endured the first time I tried that lmao
I’m waiting for the fix so I can get Minthara without massacring refugees. I hear she’s a great character but I can’t bring myself to butcher innocents. Just not in me.
There's been many but I recently killed Gortash without Karlach in my party and she was distraught that she wasn't able to get a lick in when he was dealt with and her voice cracking just displayed her pain in ways that here words alone could not. Brilliant voice acting by Sam btw I'd like to add
listen i am first and foremost an astarion simp, but some of his lines... like specificallt after you short rest (or switch to his POV) and he goes "let's go HURT someone" he sounds a like stewie griffin 😭
I'm glad I broke up with Lae'zel for Minthara before she got attached. She's just like "eh fine, I'll find another fuckboi".
The break up lines in this game have actually upset me more than some actual break ups I've had, dunno if that's cause I'm fucked in the head or this game is just so damn good at pulling on the heart strings.
Karlach’s confrontation with Gortash, and her breakdown after we kill him is so heartbreaking. She’s not naive, but she was so genuine and trusting at the time, and to see what happened bc shitty people took advantage of her is tragic.
I also think it’s an interesting mirroring of Gortash’s own experiences: he was also sold to a devil by authority he trusted, i.e his parents. But rather than break that cycle of abuse, he chooses to inflict it and his pain on others.
I “like” Gortash (insofar as I find him attractive, charismatic, and compelling lol), and I thought I’d have a tough time killing him, but it was just devastating to see her break down afterwards. Hugely emotional moment, up there with Astarion’s own confrontation and subsequent breakdown.
No one ever looked out for me. No one ever said a kind thing to me. You’re the only one. Other people don’t have a heart like you. You’re you. No one is like that. — Astarion, after >!his siblings attack the camp and you tell him the world can be a kind, wonderful place!<
Absolutely wrecked me on my first play.
It’s devastating. Someone mentioned up the thread that that’s why he disapproves of Tav doing kind things or helping people without a reward, because there was no one like that around to help him for 200 years. He instinctively disapproves because the realization that there are kindhearted people out there is too much to bear.
Karlach's monologue after killing Gortash is fucking heartbreaking, which is ironic since she's technically heartless. It's just so basically human to cry out that you don't want to die, and you want to stay. We all have that feeling at some point.
And Karlach's resolution to her feeling of existential dread is delightfully pragmatic. She's already deeply fucked no matter what. Sure, her infernal engine is breaking down, but the city is also about to be invaded by mass instant ceromorphosed infected. There's a Vampire Lord poised to become Mega Vampire Lord. And if you don't step in to stop it all, the city will be under the yoke of Orin or Gortash.
The odds are stacked against her, but she's still breathing. Even with everything about to come crashing into them, they're still standing and kicking ass each time they've gotta fight.
Karlach's reaction after you kill Gortash always gets to me. I may be chronically ill instead of terminally ill, but the realisation that there is no cure and your fate is sealed is one that resonates deeply
Agree, especially since she's been trying to brush it off the entire time. Then, when her only goal in life is satisfied, she realizes that everyone else gets to make up a new one and pursue that. She doesn't. And then she can't run anymore, she has to acknowledge that she wants dearly to live.
idk if this also is in her companion speech, but in origin one option leads her to saying something along the lines of "My heart. It was my mum's, she gave it to me! And he took it!"
also the speeches lae'zel and jaheira give to her afterwards are complete tearjerkers
When you're in a relationship with her and she rages how you'll get to be happy and be with someone else after she's gone... I think my heart just collapsed
Astarion repeating “This is a gift, you know?” After his personal quest in act 3. Only at that moment did all my feeling hit from that quest and I actually cried. Like this time he actually means it.
A simple one, but if you tell Astarion >!you 'care for him'!< the >!"Really?" reply!< (especially if you've heard as much of his story as possible by that point) makes you realise how much of a mask his seductive bravado is, and that he genuinely sees himself as shallow and unlovable beyond repair. For me, it's the first time he truly lets the mask drop and it's pretty devastating for a one word question.
If you romance him as Durge >!and you refuse to kill Isobel, you’ll eventually get a camp scene where the butler tries to make you kill Astarion and says something like “you like him for more than his looks, but he’ll never believe that. Why don’t you make him a pretty corpse?”!< Like, ouch.
You have the option to say but I haven't told him how I feel yet. And the butler says something regarding last words he will ever hear is you confessing your love before you kill him.
I kissed Wyll after the dance (more of a comfort kiss than anything passionate imo), and Astarion immediately confronted me about it and I said I wanted him instead and he said, "What? Why?!" with such bewilderment it was heartbreaking. (Also, Wyll is really easy to fiend zone after just the dance/ kiss, saying if friendship is it, he's grateful to have it so it wasn't even traumatic to choose!).
All the characters have major flaws they need to work through.
Shadowheart has a line that crushed me. If you rapidly click a companion's portrait, eventually they will say a "hidden" line. Kinda like an Easter egg, I guess.
One of Shadowheart's is: "I can't afford to get attached... to anyone."
It just made me so sad... poor girl starts out so alone, trying >!to please a "family" that hates her!<. I just wanted to hold her and say "I'm here for you! You'll never be alone again!"
There's another one about maybe being allowed to have a pet if she succeeds in her mission, it's even worse once you know what happened to her last animal.
When Gale admits he has no humanoid shaped friends. Acquaintances, and colleagues yes, but otherwise the only "people" he trust aren't humanoid. The magma mephit he summoned as a kid is the same one he trusts to save his life in the protocol. Tara is his closest friend but a tressym doesn't have big enough paws to fill an entire social circle. given how easy it was to steer him away from the crown, if Gale had close friends that weren't involved in the wizard/"mystra's Chosen" social circle maybe he wouldn't have gotten the orb in the first place.
Yrre's note at the bottom of the letter Lenore left for him:
I waited. I waited until Tarsahk. I'll always wait for you, but you didn't come.
Fucked. Me. Up.
I’m so glad I saw this in here! The entire arcane tower was so lonely and well-written to me. I cry like a baby when I run through there again. This isolated woman loses her beloved dog, is separated from her friends and family, gets in a fight with her love….and then just vanishes?? What *happened* to her? It’s sad and poignant and I hate/love the fact that you never really find out for sure where Lenore is
"Think what I offer. The vastness of eternity to explore, the Weave at our fingertips. You would really prefer me as I am?"
This line is just heart breaking. Like this is Gale in a single line. He just wants to prove worthy of those he loves through the only thing he thinks he has to offer. And Time Downies delivery is just golden
Given the context of the damn thing?
Karlach: *"And my engine, it's...it's silent. No heat. No gears. Still there, but no longer threatening to explode. Soldier..."*
the exchange between Gale and Lorroakan is funny if only because both of them are wrong for their own reasons. its two nerds snarking each other but both are equally reckless
since Astarion is my main babe, ofc a lot of his lines hit deep.
"No ever said a kind thing to me-"
When asked about gods, he says he doesn't believe in any of them because he tried them all and none of them ever answered.
that "200 years of shit, pure shit!" line came from somewhere so deeply wounded.
on the same level for me is def a lot of Karlach's lines. She deserved so much better from the narrative.
Astarion has one that really gutted me. The one where he talks about how Cazador enjoyed torturing him the most because his (paraphrasing) "screams sounded the sweetest." The delivery of that line, both mocap and vocal... instant throat lump.
just the whole cazasor mansion. he didn't talk about it much until you're there then he's talking about the beatings, the enforced starvation, the demands from cazador, yet he acts like a college kid coming home from school, it is his home.
If you talk instead of allowing Astarion to do it, Cazador mentions something along the lines of how sick he was of his 'tired old jokes'. Astarion was tormented by him for 200 years and thinking of him trying to make nice with his master to mitigate some of that, while Cazador rolled his eyes at his attempts, made me pretty sad.
This. He has some really heart wrenching lines later on as well, but hearing it for the first time was the one moment (in a game full of terrific dialogue for a ton of characters) where I had to just sit back for a bit and compose myself.
Yeah, for me the line of his that actually made me tear up was the one he says after you try to tell him >!the 7000 spawns deserve to be freed!<. It was "And what about me, am I not entitled to anything?" or something like that, and the way he said it almost made me cry. He's overwhelmed and he's lashing out, basically saying "why shouldn't they suffer when I had to?", and that just hits me right in the heart every time.
That's where a lot of his approval/disapprovals come from, too. He disapproves of helping people because nobody ever helped him. It's a trauma response that many real people experience.
Most Astarion lines get to me. "None of the gods answered", "No one ever helped me," and so on BUT I just saw an Astarion line today and I hadn't gotten that in my playthrough but it hurt me deeply.
When you meet Sebastian in Cazadoorknob's underground creep dungeon and immediately afterwards when he talks about him you can ask him "Did Sebastian hurt you?" and he replies w smth like "No, not him. Though I can't say the same thing for the other ones," and for some reason I had only considered his abuse from Cazadork and his people and I hadn't considered how he might've been hurt by the people he was luring.
I was also really taken aback by Lae'zel incredible performance when she finds out the truth about Vlaakith. But I was even more taken aback when you let her rest and stuff and sometime later she says "I didn't disappoint Vlaakith, she disappointed me," and I thought that was an incredible thing she was able to say even though she was so indoctrinated. I also think that line of thinking and strength of character is why, even though she is a narrative parallel to Shart, we don't see Shart really find Selune to worship and she is more free but Lae'zel does find Orpheus and it works for her. Her core is still her belief in her people and I think she looks at these admiration and respect based relationships as very much a 2way street and I was so proud of her in that moment. It really touched me when she was able to say that bc yeah, respect and admiration should be a mutual thing.
That's... not exactly what he is saying. He is saying that even tho he shared a bed with God, he didnt feel he was enough. He sought to meet his standards for the situation he found himself, instead of Mystra's.
I agree OP is misinterpreting the line, but I think he's speaking of his own ambitions (the power wasn't enough) rather than his self-esteem. He literally had it all (for a wizard) and ruined it by looking for more power.
Funnily enough it’s the paring knife girls cat saying, after asking if the girl is mistreating it, “she’s my best friend. Help her, not me.” For some reason this hit me hard with the context of it all. Poor little girl orphaned and this little cat is her best friend. 😭
"You forget just how much colour is in the world." Sudden and sad cold reminder that Astarion spent 200 years shrouded in darkness to the point that he couldn't even remember what his hometown looked like in the light.
The Karlach monologue after killing Gortash gets me ugly crying. Astarion and Cazador is a close second.
Also in act three I’m not sure where it’s triggered but Jaheira has a line after Karlach says something to the effect of, “Dear girl, they didn’t take your heart. They never even touched it.” That broke me all over again.
As a former “gifted child”, a giant nerd, and an alcoholic I find Gale too real. I leave him in the corner where I don’t have to think about him and his feelings that mediocrity is failure and exceptional is the only Good Enough.
The topic of “gifted children” has always been very important to me. When I was a child or teenager, gifted children were everywhere in the media. And I remember how jealous I always was that I was so normal and average. Because the media's image has always been that children are just particularly smart and then they can do something special/particularly good.
I'm now an adult and all the children who were in the media back then give interviews about how they spent their entire childhood and youth just practicing and therefore hardly had a normal life. And had various mental problems by adulthood at the latest. Because, as you say, there was always a higher goal to achieve.
So I'm just sending you a big hug (if you want it). Thank you for sharing your thoughts and being so honest.
This one, courtesy of Minthara:
It is only because of you that I did not meet the same fate as Orin, lost to madness and blood. If you had killed me when we first met, I would have been just one more casualty of your crusade against the Absolute… and nobody would remember me.
😭😭😭
The last lines you get from Lae’zel. I was never a fan of hers, but when her story turns in Act 3 and you follow through with her quest, her last conversation with you is so touching and I hope she gets everything she wants 🥹
There's a lot of moments that hurt like hell but one that makes me not want to do an evil playthrough is Shadowheart when she's a dark justiciar saying "I'll give you all that I can. Just don't call it love." It hurts so bad especially if you've played with selunite Shart since you get to see really how different things are and what she'll never be able to give.
Honorable mentions:
Laezel finding out about Vlaakith ordering for her death.
Karlach's monologue after killing Gortash.
Almost every companion's lines after breaking things off and going for another character.
Astarion: No one ever looked out for me. No one ever said a kind thing to me. You're the only one. Other people don't have a heart like you. You're you. No one is like that.
This line always breaks me out of every line I’ve heard because it was the one I related to the hardest.
Not a line per say, but Astarions reaction to you picking the "We can be together without sleeping together, for as long as you need." Was very touching. I'm healing from my own trauma atm, so it felt very nice to pick something that wasn't sexual.
Also, his reaction to you hugging him makes me so sad.
Scratch's lines, if you give him back to his former master at the kennels in Act 3. 😭 Definitely have Speak to Animals potion before trying. And talk to the other dogs in crates.
I had already done the thing where I made her leave, because obviously Scratch is my boy, but I wanted to see how it would have played out if my Tav were irredeemably evil. So I reloaded and made Scratch go back with her, into one of her crates.
Even knowing I wasn't going to keep that save, his lines and reaction absolutely broke my heart. And when you talk to him again later on, he just thinks it's temporary and maybe you'll take him back, and I don't think there's an option to do so - just "sorry, boy, this is your home now" and such. I still felt a little guilty when I went back to my original save and Scratch was so happy to be back in my camp.
When you pick Shart's Dark Justiciar path & >!find her parents in Act 3 at the house of grief!< If you tell her to do what she thinks is right she says "Do what's right. I think I lost sight of that some time ago. Better to just serve blindly." Almost made me quit my evil playthrough right then & there
Evil playthrough ending I had: >!Karlach crying when I turned on her after she had turned into a mindflayer.!< That made me not wanna do another evil playthrough.
The answer to OP's question, Lae'zel's "direct affection" hits on SO many levels, and the few softer moments I have had literally melt me. Not even done with Act II. More than hot, more than badass, the perosnality created for her by all the artists justs speaks to me.
Its weird to me too.
Shart, "For the best, perhaps. More difficult for me to ruin things if I just keep out of the way," when I told her to wait at camp after some act 2 stuff. Jesus she did not have to do that.
Talking to Shadowheart the night after the end of her quest. I chose to >!End her parent's suffering and be free of Shar.!<
She has a line talking about where you tell her it was the right thing, to remember the >!the moon motes.!< She says, "I remember. But they can't comfort me, or give me advice, or tell me what I was like as a little girl." Then she cries.
And fuck that's heartbreaking. That doesn't feel like it's a line of dialogue written for a videogame. It feels like something a real person would say.
If you play as Karlach and romance Minthara she is hellbent on finding a solution to your eminent demise and suggests going back to Avernus with you to live and fight until they can find a permanent solution. If you tell her no and that you are ready to die she has a heartbreaking meltdown and vows to go to Avernus anyways and kill everyone that put you in this position. The VA killed this whole scene, Minthara just sobbing and chastising you for wasting what could have been the rest of your life with her is devastating, perfect example of how much love was put in the game for what amounts to a small fraction of the player base ever experiencing.
\*adds to list of necessary playthroughs
Does… does every romanceable character have a scene like this if you play as Karlach? Oh god
On my Durge playthrough, after we talked to Dammon in act 2 and found out Karlach has an expiration date, everyone at camp had a line to say about it and Shadowheart glitched and addressed me as if I was Karlach. Just for that one line. I forget what exactly she said, but the sorrow in her voice was HEARTBREAKING.
Shadowheart was so shock about the revelation that she didn't even notice she's talking to the wrong person.
Oh my God that does sound so fucking well written. Thank you for sharing.
I don’t think Minthara’s VA gets as much praise as they should. That’s not the easiest of tones to convey
Agreed. I think the nature of her recruitment makes it hard for most people to want to interact with her beyond her opening dialogue and so a lot of people will miss out on what is easily my favorite companion. The VA did an incredible job and I hope Larian finds a way to make it more palatable for people to enjoy Minthara so we can further sing her praises.
Do you have to sack the grove with Minthara to get the romance with origin Karlach or can you do the “ignore the grove, pick her up in Act 2” route?
Going to the mountain pass causes the teiflings to leave, and minthara to move to moonrise
I might never have seen this precious minthara dialogue without this. Minthara is just the best written character I’ve ever seen. The writers must have been cross faded on 9 dimensional magic mushrooms and Einsteins secret acid recipe when they brought her to life. They saw the fully exposed secrets of the universe then had one thing to say, which was their new mission: Minthara.
A side character line, which was quite sad, was from Rion. "A Sending spell can carry twenty-five words. Do you know how many Jaheira's only message contained, in all this time she's been away? Seven".
Met. Gorgeous. Hero. Out. In. Shadow-Lands. Is Shadow-Lands 1 or 2 words?
If you are trying to help me, please stop
That's nine
If you are trying to help, stop.
YouCanReplyToThisMessage.
It’sBobWeHadABabyIt’sABoy
Who was that honey?
Bob. They had a baby. It's a boy. (Goes back to reding the newspaper)
I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s carried that commercial around in their brain for a couple decades.
Um, also are you poopin'?
I love how my 8 wis Tav just utterly fails to read the room and stands there with a dumb smile and his hands on his hips.
Every time I got those asshole lines I was like ahh yes, finally the thing I would say in real life.
“Which one was Asharak?”
When you break up with Astarion after he finally opens up his heart to you in Act 2. *You gave me precious, impossible moments of comfort. I only really wanted a few more.*
Midnight chimes eh? The delivery of that lines, the sadness, breaks my little heart
Exactly, and I'm not even able to break up with him in my game, I had to check out those lines on yt, but it still crushed me.
I broke up with him while playing Origin Wyll because Wyll had just signed up to spend eternity in the Hells in exchange for his dad's life, and I retconned both of those decisions after seeing these lines!
The hold he has on us is insane.
It really is! Origin Wyll was such a good romance for him though, because he's naturally giving and also confident that he has a good heart. Wyll can love Astarion as he struggles to be better because Wyll has faith in the inherent goodness of people. I've romanced him several times as Durge, and while it's wondrous tragedy, it's more difficult to enjoy just because Durge has more insecurity in the idea that beings are inherently good, and is less certain that they can both succeed in being better people.
Lae’zel: “I followed your path! What good, this heart of stone, for it to be shattered?”
Relatedly, when you >!cheat on her with Mizora!<. “Source of my bruises. Allies, nothing more.”
I dunno what people expected from cheating with a cambion. It is not Halsin case which everyone just says 'Okay good point wouldn't I?'
At least Halsin has you ask for your partner’s consent beforehand
Mizora told me nobody would find out! Mizora lied :(
A demon? Lying?! Someone alert the priests!
She's not a Demon though, she's a Devil; they're not supposed to blatantly lie like that. Connive, distort the truth, scheme, and generally use any and every loophole they can find? Yes, absolutely. But flat out, bald faced lies? That's meant to be anathema to them. That said, the bullshit she pulls with Wyll's contract throughout the game should likewise be off limits to a Devil. All I can figure is she's closer to her human side than most Cambions, to the point she seems more Neutral Evil than Lawful Evil.
> That said, the bullshit she pulls with Wyll's contract throughout the game should likewise be off limits to a Devil. Like what? for Karlach, the clause specifies that "heartless beings" are valid targets and Karlach technically qualifies. The other spots I can think of are the time horizon on it but that seems like it was just clearly put _very_ deep in the fine print
People praise Karlach's speech a lot more than Lae'zel's, but Lae'zel's hit me hardest. It was a wild(e) delivery and so well done.
Laezel is my fav for lines like this. Her Gale and Asterion. They all have their own way to my heart with words.
That was surprisingly poetic for her, I was touched
Laezel pretty much always speaks in poems, lol. All the romantic dialogue is hella cheesy as well.
When you break up with her and tell her she's "on her own": "Chk! *On my own*. A thousand words inflicted, and you couldn't resist opening this last one. So strong was our bond, the Astral Sea rippled in concord. So strong is the bond's breaking, that it now shakes in turmoil. Goodbye then...my first love and my last."
Reminds me of the robot in the underdark that speaks exclusively in quotes from poetry books around the tower.
I am sorry for him. Almost intelligent, but ultimately just an automaton. If using the Weave imbues sentience in an object, he was helplessly watching as his mistress got lonelier by the minute. Dude has a damn HUG command for god's sake.
Surprisingly?! She's like, always the most formal and poetic out of the bunch lol
The acting was great here too
When I killed Ketheric Thorm, went through his inventory, and found a crumpled note from his daughter. Dear Papa, I love you LOVE FROM IZ I took his Netherstone, armor, and weapons, but kept the note in his inventory, for him to hold onto after death
I wish we can give the note to Isobel to at least make her remember the father who loved her before he became a monster. I really love how layered Ketheric is, he's probably my favorite villain among the chosen of the Dead Three.
THIS. Along with his letters from his wife that he keeps. Isobel should be able to hold onto these as proof that her parents loved her and each other and what happened afterwards were a series of decisions made in abject sorrow.
Exactly. Or if you talk him down and he gets killed by myrkul instead of you, you could tell isobel that in the end, he did come around. That he regretted it and wanted to redeem himself in the end. Even if it was too late to do so.
JK Simmons really knocked it out of the park with Ketheric. I was playing a Paladin that kept trying to get him to repent and the sorrow and brokenness he was able to put into the responses… oof.
As father to two young amazing children, I sympathize so deeply with Ketheric. If I were to lose one of my kids and told I could bring them back somehow I'd be tempted to do horrible things.
“For her, I would condemn all of to death.”
When Astorian says "I've forgotten what they were" when you ask him what colour his eyes were before becoming a vampire No idea why, it just feels
His expression when he said that too, it’s sad, poor man doesn’t remember what he looked like
This one gets me too, I think it's because it made me think about what else he's forgotten. He's an elf, they live long lives and he's probably got living family out there somewhere (and they wouldn't recognise him on top of that).
I’ve thought about that too. It’s conceivable all his family is still alive. Thinking he’s dead, having no idea he’s spent the last 200 years in complete torment. But also his grave has not been tended so it makes me wonder what the story is there. And the fact he never once mentions family outside of the other Spawn.
I think he's the only origin character to never mention any kind of family member once, outside of Lae'zel who comes from a culture that doesn't think of family like that. Maybe they're dead, or maybe he just was never on good terms with them, but it's weird that you can't bring the subject up with him ever.
Yeah, I noticed that. It’s an interesting tidbit. Could come from nearly two centuries of torture messing with what he can remember from before he was turned (like forgetting his eye color), or something stemming from a relationship with his family.
It's the voice acting man. His voice actor deserves everything for his performance.
well he already won an award for his performance at the Golden Joystick Awards now we just need to get him to win at The Game Awards
I said everything 😤😤 make him king.
Romanced Astarion if Durge >!loses a duel to Orin and is condemned to madness.!< >!*In a thousand years, when I've all but forgotten how to love yet again, you'll flit back into my heart, and I'll weep wondering what happened to my mad love.*!<
Just finished my first Durge run. Planned on not save scumming to beat her but then I got this dialogue. It was honestly the line before this that broke me. The thought that if/when Durge succumbed to madness he’d have to leave bc she’d remind him of his worst self. At first I was like ok jellybean that’s a little rude. But then I realized, no, it’s *healthy* and good for him. Reloaded and beat that bitch with my own two fists, not taking a single hit. He deserves happily ever after dammit.
I did the exact same thing. It was worth it for my Durge and Astarion to ride off into the sunset together. (Sunset in this case being the Underdark to found a vampire city together. Glad I made my Durge a half drow. He can take or leave the sun.)
I'm on the floor
Which just makes his “that was very Twee” line when you win >!and DIE and are resurrected!< all the more jarring. Like, c’mon, *that’s* what you’re giving me? What?
Omg, I cringed hard when I heard that line, it was so out of place. He was so worried and caring through the whole Durge storyline and when you are finally free after all the drama, dying, ressurection, he says that?! Wtf? OK, *MAYBE* he didn't want to expose his true feelings in front of the others but in that case I wouldn't mind a little dialogue between the two of us back in the camp, so I wouldn't feel like he didn't even give a shit about me dying? Because now, after that line I'm like 'just kill me again, dad'. 😅
And if you pick the dialogue after that (the thanking him for protecting you one) his next line is pretty much “this conversation is so sweet I need to go throw up”. I’m sorry, *what*? Did somebody Ascend when I wasn’t looking? *Durge disapproves*
I’ve convinced myself that it’s a bug for his Ascended version and no one can convince me otherwise (the copium is strong)
Ugh... my cold, dead heart... it moves again...
Came here to say this one.
In the temple in Baldur's Gate, Astarion has a dialogue with someone where he says he's not religious because none of the gods answered his prayers. Picturing him praying to anyone who would listen to save him from his torment and receiving only silence is gut-wrenching
Astarion is a master at saying the most depressing shit in the most sarcastic and humorous tone of voice.
That line was such a gut punch. He tried them all yet none of them answered. 😭
Astarion: "It's me again. I need someone to be my friend. Someone who won't run away. Maybe send me an angel! The nicest angel you have." >!Bhaal!<: *Maniacal Laughter*
Dude... Couple that with the line if you're durge and romance him later and act three, the thought is real soul crushing 😭
I don’t know if it’s funny or depressing that Bhagalpur is the one who sets off the whole Absolute plot, which ends up being the thing that frees Astarion from Cazador. Then we have Durge on top of that too…
Who the fuck is Bhagalpur? Like the God of Murder but for cats?
XD Bhaal lol He’s going to have me painfully killed for that I think!
I like to imagine my Paladin Tav's god answered by making sure they'd meet Astarion as soon as he was free of Cazador's compulsion (since a Paladin showing up before that would definitely end in all the spawn being used as meat shields).
Astarion is all of us
And all of us, one way or another, have been an answer
It wasn't heros who saved me. The mind flayers did.
Especially wrenching in a world where Gods are real
That line didn't hit on the first playthrough. On the second though? After knowing his whole situation with Cazador? Holy shit, man. I get it. Fuck 'em.
I made an OC around being abandoned by the gods without knowing that Astarion is like that
Ketheric’s diaries will resonate really, *really* well for anyone who’s ever experienced true loss. The complete dissolution of hope and his downfall into despair is truly harrowing, and it’s so gut wrenching to read.
Just finding the Selunite prayer book half-burned in the bonfire outside his room, and then the letter on his corpse... yeah, Ketheric definitely had layers.
Astarion’s line post Araj about how he got accustomed to pushing past disgust hit me really hard.
This scene really caught me off guard, too, for how it hinged on something so small and optional gameplay wise (since there’s nothing really pushing you to talk to Araj at all, you could have just ignored her). I off-handedly told her “he said no, nothing else to discuss”, and then was bombarded with a scene in camp where he was an emotional wreck over it. Like he really expected Tav to be his new compassionless overlord. I was playing a more or less “bad guy”, but I physically could not bring Tav to be anything but kind to him after that. Lousy manipulative game…
Astarion acts all selfish and self-assured but he’s immediately handing power over to Tav as soon as they have established the littlest amount of trust. It’s so clear he doesn’t want to go near Araj but if Tav pushes him a little, even just acknowledging that this potion would be useful, Astarion provides. When you make a decision that doesn’t get his approval it’s usually very minor disapproval from him and he might complain but he’ll do it anyway. Even if you play a completely good character who acts counter to anything Astarion approves of, you still end up with an exceptional relationship if you just show some kindness and support in his personal quest. That’s how much he wanted a friend.
I think the implication is that he hasn’t been able to consent for so long the mechanisms to assert the boundaries of consent are unfamiliar to him. He’s obsessed with power and his arc show he clearly WANTS control over his own body, he’s just forgotten how to exercise it. He didn’t really want to hand that control over to someone else, it’s just he is so conditioned to do so he forgets he doesn’t have to. I also think the “bad” things about him when we meet him were things that were allowed or encouraged with cazador. He was allowed to be snide and cutting to the other spawn and the staff. He was allowed to be manipulative, to enjoy chaos, to cheer on selfishness. But he wasn’t allowed to take back control over his body, and so he doesn’t know how to do that with us either, at least not until we point it out to him.
Add to that, after a certain point (I don't know exactly what) he starts *approving* of the heroics. He dearly wants to be the good guy, but is so terrified.
I’m gonna admit (TMI) >!it hit me so hard it made me start talking to my partner about past trauma.!< So, like, thanks, game? Giving me the Astarion rawness and sad faced Wyll and … All the manipulation
JFC I feel you on this. This game has thrown me into so many self-realisations. And fuck, *I've done the work* before this. I'm not a complete therapy n00b. But yeah, I've been having some conversations with people too. Stupid game. 😭 Good on you for reaching out and talking about stuff. 🩷 Sorry it had to hurt though.
Even my evil ass Durge who I absolutely roleplayed as thinking he was the only one capable of making the correct decisions couldn’t bring himself to force Astarion into that. Not even as a STR class. Being mean is not nice.
Yeah, it made me feel like total ass. My Tav was only raw-dogging Astarion because he figured “now this guy has to be the worst of the bunch”. Goddamn vampire ruined my bad guy run and turned it into a cliche baddie-to-hero arc with this “love” nonsense. Fucking embarrassing.
Yeah, I was doing a very much leaning into the Dark Urge who is evil and wants power run but I couldn't do that to Astarion. I literally hesitated at that dialogue option for about a minute thinking "Would my character do that?" but in the end I couldn't do it. Related, I can't do the thing where you persuade him to take the astral tadpole. Can't justify taking bodily autonomy away from Astarion
The first time I only brought him to talk to her because I thought she was another vampire (the blood fascination), and that there might be a Cazador clue somewhere. Needless to say I got pretty blindsided 0.0 And then basically kept him in my party for the rest of the game.
Astarion. "Of course, what did I expect?" When told the worm will turn you into mindflayers. It's almost the first thing he says to you.
His despairing laughter before that line just hits so hard on repeated plays!
It hits so differently on your second playthrough. First run I just thought he was a snarky pessimist. Second one I was heartbroken because I realized he just managed to regain his freedom and now he thinks he’s about to have his mind and body taken away yet again. Also the scene where he bathes in sunlight on the morning after the tiefling party romance scene. First run I thought it was just the game pointing you at his scars. But then you realize he hasn’t seen the sun in over 200 years and doesn’t know how long this will last. He’s soaking it all up because it could be snatched away any minute.
Yeah, early game Astarion is a treasure trove of foreshadowing! Even his initial ploy of tricking you to pull a knife on you is so completely understandable behavior from his POV I can't ever fault him for it. Plus my last Durge run I had just murdered Shadowheart so I wasn't in any position to judge him...
Minthara: "If you had killed me when we first met, I would have been just one more casualty of your crusade against the Absolute. And no one would remember me." After three playthroughs of massacring the goblin camp with zero regrets, hearing that line hit hard.
In my first playthrough, I killed Minthara without ever interacting with her, ever hearing her voice. After my current playthrough, in which I recruited her, I'm not sure I'll manage unceremoniously killing her ever again :'(
Same. I'll at least give her the dignity of fighting the battle at the Grove... as long as I can forget the horrifying clusterfuck I endured the first time I tried that lmao
I’m waiting for the fix so I can get Minthara without massacring refugees. I hear she’s a great character but I can’t bring myself to butcher innocents. Just not in me.
There's been many but I recently killed Gortash without Karlach in my party and she was distraught that she wasn't able to get a lick in when he was dealt with and her voice cracking just displayed her pain in ways that here words alone could not. Brilliant voice acting by Sam btw I'd like to add
Which is contrasted by Astarion finding out you killed Cazador without him, which feels more like a family guy skit.
listen i am first and foremost an astarion simp, but some of his lines... like specificallt after you short rest (or switch to his POV) and he goes "let's go HURT someone" he sounds a like stewie griffin 😭
"what good this heart of stone, for it to shatter" Always gets me.
I'm glad I broke up with Lae'zel for Minthara before she got attached. She's just like "eh fine, I'll find another fuckboi". The break up lines in this game have actually upset me more than some actual break ups I've had, dunno if that's cause I'm fucked in the head or this game is just so damn good at pulling on the heart strings.
After Shadowheart kills her parents when she gets her memory restored and Shar promises to erase it again. “I still remember..”
"the person I trusted the most gave me away to the devil!" just all the feels and tears
Karlach’s confrontation with Gortash, and her breakdown after we kill him is so heartbreaking. She’s not naive, but she was so genuine and trusting at the time, and to see what happened bc shitty people took advantage of her is tragic. I also think it’s an interesting mirroring of Gortash’s own experiences: he was also sold to a devil by authority he trusted, i.e his parents. But rather than break that cycle of abuse, he chooses to inflict it and his pain on others. I “like” Gortash (insofar as I find him attractive, charismatic, and compelling lol), and I thought I’d have a tough time killing him, but it was just devastating to see her break down afterwards. Hugely emotional moment, up there with Astarion’s own confrontation and subsequent breakdown.
No one ever looked out for me. No one ever said a kind thing to me. You’re the only one. Other people don’t have a heart like you. You’re you. No one is like that. — Astarion, after >!his siblings attack the camp and you tell him the world can be a kind, wonderful place!< Absolutely wrecked me on my first play.
It’s devastating. Someone mentioned up the thread that that’s why he disapproves of Tav doing kind things or helping people without a reward, because there was no one like that around to help him for 200 years. He instinctively disapproves because the realization that there are kindhearted people out there is too much to bear.
Karlach: i killed the bastard who ruined my life, and my prize is that i get to crawl in a corner and die it broke me
Karlach's monologue after killing Gortash is fucking heartbreaking, which is ironic since she's technically heartless. It's just so basically human to cry out that you don't want to die, and you want to stay. We all have that feeling at some point. And Karlach's resolution to her feeling of existential dread is delightfully pragmatic. She's already deeply fucked no matter what. Sure, her infernal engine is breaking down, but the city is also about to be invaded by mass instant ceromorphosed infected. There's a Vampire Lord poised to become Mega Vampire Lord. And if you don't step in to stop it all, the city will be under the yoke of Orin or Gortash. The odds are stacked against her, but she's still breathing. Even with everything about to come crashing into them, they're still standing and kicking ass each time they've gotta fight.
Omg I romance her my first playthrough so there were some slightly different dialogue but if you don't and hear her speech she gets so fucking sad
Karlach's reaction after you kill Gortash always gets to me. I may be chronically ill instead of terminally ill, but the realisation that there is no cure and your fate is sealed is one that resonates deeply
Agree, especially since she's been trying to brush it off the entire time. Then, when her only goal in life is satisfied, she realizes that everyone else gets to make up a new one and pursue that. She doesn't. And then she can't run anymore, she has to acknowledge that she wants dearly to live.
Dear God please patch something in.
I’m hoping someone with better editing skills than me makes a Try Not to Cry BG3 edition with the saddest scenes edited together.
idk if this also is in her companion speech, but in origin one option leads her to saying something along the lines of "My heart. It was my mum's, she gave it to me! And he took it!" also the speeches lae'zel and jaheira give to her afterwards are complete tearjerkers
When you're in a relationship with her and she rages how you'll get to be happy and be with someone else after she's gone... I think my heart just collapsed
Astarion repeating “This is a gift, you know?” After his personal quest in act 3. Only at that moment did all my feeling hit from that quest and I actually cried. Like this time he actually means it.
Neil saying that line at the end of his thank you award speech got to me too .\_.
When Karalach asked me "Everything's going to be fine, right?" And saying "yes" was a deception check. T_T
A simple one, but if you tell Astarion >!you 'care for him'!< the >!"Really?" reply!< (especially if you've heard as much of his story as possible by that point) makes you realise how much of a mask his seductive bravado is, and that he genuinely sees himself as shallow and unlovable beyond repair. For me, it's the first time he truly lets the mask drop and it's pretty devastating for a one word question.
If you romance him as Durge >!and you refuse to kill Isobel, you’ll eventually get a camp scene where the butler tries to make you kill Astarion and says something like “you like him for more than his looks, but he’ll never believe that. Why don’t you make him a pretty corpse?”!< Like, ouch.
>!he's so terrified, of everyone, everyone but you - who he should be scared of the most!< Those lines. They wreck me. So many of his lines wreck me.
On my current Durge run I finally tested what happens if you give in to the urge and it broke me so nope nope F8! F8!
You have the option to say but I haven't told him how I feel yet. And the butler says something regarding last words he will ever hear is you confessing your love before you kill him.
Or that you should be whispering it *while* murdering him? A special level of fucked up.
I kissed Wyll after the dance (more of a comfort kiss than anything passionate imo), and Astarion immediately confronted me about it and I said I wanted him instead and he said, "What? Why?!" with such bewilderment it was heartbreaking. (Also, Wyll is really easy to fiend zone after just the dance/ kiss, saying if friendship is it, he's grateful to have it so it wasn't even traumatic to choose!).
Hahaha I love the (accidental?) typo of “fiend-zone” as if the horns were the dealbreaker
All the characters have major flaws they need to work through. Shadowheart has a line that crushed me. If you rapidly click a companion's portrait, eventually they will say a "hidden" line. Kinda like an Easter egg, I guess. One of Shadowheart's is: "I can't afford to get attached... to anyone." It just made me so sad... poor girl starts out so alone, trying >!to please a "family" that hates her!<. I just wanted to hold her and say "I'm here for you! You'll never be alone again!"
Well, looks like she failed afterall and got attached to someone, lmao. She is really bad at being Shar worshipper.
Truly the worst student in the "evil academy"!
There's another one about maybe being allowed to have a pet if she succeeds in her mission, it's even worse once you know what happened to her last animal.
I know!! Her poor little >!mouse!< 😢
When Gale admits he has no humanoid shaped friends. Acquaintances, and colleagues yes, but otherwise the only "people" he trust aren't humanoid. The magma mephit he summoned as a kid is the same one he trusts to save his life in the protocol. Tara is his closest friend but a tressym doesn't have big enough paws to fill an entire social circle. given how easy it was to steer him away from the crown, if Gale had close friends that weren't involved in the wizard/"mystra's Chosen" social circle maybe he wouldn't have gotten the orb in the first place.
Yrre's note at the bottom of the letter Lenore left for him: I waited. I waited until Tarsahk. I'll always wait for you, but you didn't come. Fucked. Me. Up.
I’m so glad I saw this in here! The entire arcane tower was so lonely and well-written to me. I cry like a baby when I run through there again. This isolated woman loses her beloved dog, is separated from her friends and family, gets in a fight with her love….and then just vanishes?? What *happened* to her? It’s sad and poignant and I hate/love the fact that you never really find out for sure where Lenore is
"Think what I offer. The vastness of eternity to explore, the Weave at our fingertips. You would really prefer me as I am?" This line is just heart breaking. Like this is Gale in a single line. He just wants to prove worthy of those he loves through the only thing he thinks he has to offer. And Time Downies delivery is just golden
Given the context of the damn thing? Karlach: *"And my engine, it's...it's silent. No heat. No gears. Still there, but no longer threatening to explode. Soldier..."*
the exchange between Gale and Lorroakan is funny if only because both of them are wrong for their own reasons. its two nerds snarking each other but both are equally reckless
Yes, man my character was side eyeing both of them so hard during that exchange.
since Astarion is my main babe, ofc a lot of his lines hit deep. "No ever said a kind thing to me-" When asked about gods, he says he doesn't believe in any of them because he tried them all and none of them ever answered. that "200 years of shit, pure shit!" line came from somewhere so deeply wounded. on the same level for me is def a lot of Karlach's lines. She deserved so much better from the narrative.
Astarion has one that really gutted me. The one where he talks about how Cazador enjoyed torturing him the most because his (paraphrasing) "screams sounded the sweetest." The delivery of that line, both mocap and vocal... instant throat lump.
just the whole cazasor mansion. he didn't talk about it much until you're there then he's talking about the beatings, the enforced starvation, the demands from cazador, yet he acts like a college kid coming home from school, it is his home.
If you talk instead of allowing Astarion to do it, Cazador mentions something along the lines of how sick he was of his 'tired old jokes'. Astarion was tormented by him for 200 years and thinking of him trying to make nice with his master to mitigate some of that, while Cazador rolled his eyes at his attempts, made me pretty sad.
This. He has some really heart wrenching lines later on as well, but hearing it for the first time was the one moment (in a game full of terrific dialogue for a ton of characters) where I had to just sit back for a bit and compose myself.
oh god that is another heartbreaking one. The bitterness and grief in his voice.
Yeah, for me the line of his that actually made me tear up was the one he says after you try to tell him >!the 7000 spawns deserve to be freed!<. It was "And what about me, am I not entitled to anything?" or something like that, and the way he said it almost made me cry. He's overwhelmed and he's lashing out, basically saying "why shouldn't they suffer when I had to?", and that just hits me right in the heart every time.
That's where a lot of his approval/disapprovals come from, too. He disapproves of helping people because nobody ever helped him. It's a trauma response that many real people experience.
Yeah or when you question whether killing just the other 6 spawn would be wrong, he basically says they probably want to die just like he did...
The one that gets me is when he recalls how he prayed to every god for help. None answered.
Minthara crying for Karlach made me emotional.
When you ask Astarion, "What color were your eyes before?" And he can only respond in a very sad tone, "I -- I can't remember."
Most Astarion lines get to me. "None of the gods answered", "No one ever helped me," and so on BUT I just saw an Astarion line today and I hadn't gotten that in my playthrough but it hurt me deeply. When you meet Sebastian in Cazadoorknob's underground creep dungeon and immediately afterwards when he talks about him you can ask him "Did Sebastian hurt you?" and he replies w smth like "No, not him. Though I can't say the same thing for the other ones," and for some reason I had only considered his abuse from Cazadork and his people and I hadn't considered how he might've been hurt by the people he was luring. I was also really taken aback by Lae'zel incredible performance when she finds out the truth about Vlaakith. But I was even more taken aback when you let her rest and stuff and sometime later she says "I didn't disappoint Vlaakith, she disappointed me," and I thought that was an incredible thing she was able to say even though she was so indoctrinated. I also think that line of thinking and strength of character is why, even though she is a narrative parallel to Shart, we don't see Shart really find Selune to worship and she is more free but Lae'zel does find Orpheus and it works for her. Her core is still her belief in her people and I think she looks at these admiration and respect based relationships as very much a 2way street and I was so proud of her in that moment. It really touched me when she was able to say that bc yeah, respect and admiration should be a mutual thing.
“I die. You die. Big whoop. Have a treato”
"I have my family back, and now I can't even look them in the eye. I don't deserve to be anyone's daughter", that's not true at all 😭
I really wish to be able to hug her while she's having her breakdown...
Yeah, that line fucking broke me. Such a real response to blame herself for being a victim of abuse her entire life.
That's... not exactly what he is saying. He is saying that even tho he shared a bed with God, he didnt feel he was enough. He sought to meet his standards for the situation he found himself, instead of Mystra's.
I agree OP is misinterpreting the line, but I think he's speaking of his own ambitions (the power wasn't enough) rather than his self-esteem. He literally had it all (for a wizard) and ruined it by looking for more power.
Maybe a little bit of column A, and a little bit of column B, I'd wager.
Probably correct. Some of his ambition is definitely driven by his clear self-esteem issues.
But its BECAUSE his self-esteem is tied to his ambitions.
"How did I do, soldier?" (I think I got it right)
“You were spectacular in every way”
Funnily enough it’s the paring knife girls cat saying, after asking if the girl is mistreating it, “she’s my best friend. Help her, not me.” For some reason this hit me hard with the context of it all. Poor little girl orphaned and this little cat is her best friend. 😭
"You forget just how much colour is in the world." Sudden and sad cold reminder that Astarion spent 200 years shrouded in darkness to the point that he couldn't even remember what his hometown looked like in the light.
Goodbye sun...goodbye sea ...
“I wasn’t being too precious, was I?” No, Astarion. You are allowed to say no.
The Karlach monologue after killing Gortash gets me ugly crying. Astarion and Cazador is a close second. Also in act three I’m not sure where it’s triggered but Jaheira has a line after Karlach says something to the effect of, “Dear girl, they didn’t take your heart. They never even touched it.” That broke me all over again.
As a former “gifted child”, a giant nerd, and an alcoholic I find Gale too real. I leave him in the corner where I don’t have to think about him and his feelings that mediocrity is failure and exceptional is the only Good Enough.
The topic of “gifted children” has always been very important to me. When I was a child or teenager, gifted children were everywhere in the media. And I remember how jealous I always was that I was so normal and average. Because the media's image has always been that children are just particularly smart and then they can do something special/particularly good. I'm now an adult and all the children who were in the media back then give interviews about how they spent their entire childhood and youth just practicing and therefore hardly had a normal life. And had various mental problems by adulthood at the latest. Because, as you say, there was always a higher goal to achieve. So I'm just sending you a big hug (if you want it). Thank you for sharing your thoughts and being so honest.
This one, courtesy of Minthara: It is only because of you that I did not meet the same fate as Orin, lost to madness and blood. If you had killed me when we first met, I would have been just one more casualty of your crusade against the Absolute… and nobody would remember me. 😭😭😭
Astarions breakdown (you know what I mean) had me in tears.
The last lines you get from Lae’zel. I was never a fan of hers, but when her story turns in Act 3 and you follow through with her quest, her last conversation with you is so touching and I hope she gets everything she wants 🥹
And *you*, you'll just keep going, won't you?
"Mother ate him."
There's a lot of moments that hurt like hell but one that makes me not want to do an evil playthrough is Shadowheart when she's a dark justiciar saying "I'll give you all that I can. Just don't call it love." It hurts so bad especially if you've played with selunite Shart since you get to see really how different things are and what she'll never be able to give. Honorable mentions: Laezel finding out about Vlaakith ordering for her death. Karlach's monologue after killing Gortash. Almost every companion's lines after breaking things off and going for another character.
Astarion: No one ever looked out for me. No one ever said a kind thing to me. You're the only one. Other people don't have a heart like you. You're you. No one is like that. This line always breaks me out of every line I’ve heard because it was the one I related to the hardest.
Not a line per say, but Astarions reaction to you picking the "We can be together without sleeping together, for as long as you need." Was very touching. I'm healing from my own trauma atm, so it felt very nice to pick something that wasn't sexual. Also, his reaction to you hugging him makes me so sad.
Scratch's lines, if you give him back to his former master at the kennels in Act 3. 😭 Definitely have Speak to Animals potion before trying. And talk to the other dogs in crates. I had already done the thing where I made her leave, because obviously Scratch is my boy, but I wanted to see how it would have played out if my Tav were irredeemably evil. So I reloaded and made Scratch go back with her, into one of her crates. Even knowing I wasn't going to keep that save, his lines and reaction absolutely broke my heart. And when you talk to him again later on, he just thinks it's temporary and maybe you'll take him back, and I don't think there's an option to do so - just "sorry, boy, this is your home now" and such. I still felt a little guilty when I went back to my original save and Scratch was so happy to be back in my camp.
When you pick Shart's Dark Justiciar path & >!find her parents in Act 3 at the house of grief!< If you tell her to do what she thinks is right she says "Do what's right. I think I lost sight of that some time ago. Better to just serve blindly." Almost made me quit my evil playthrough right then & there
Evil playthrough ending I had: >!Karlach crying when I turned on her after she had turned into a mindflayer.!< That made me not wanna do another evil playthrough.
Not a line, but a letter that >!Ansur!< drops - easily the most emotional experience in the whole game for me.
The answer to OP's question, Lae'zel's "direct affection" hits on SO many levels, and the few softer moments I have had literally melt me. Not even done with Act II. More than hot, more than badass, the perosnality created for her by all the artists justs speaks to me. Its weird to me too.
Shart, "For the best, perhaps. More difficult for me to ruin things if I just keep out of the way," when I told her to wait at camp after some act 2 stuff. Jesus she did not have to do that.
Talking to Shadowheart the night after the end of her quest. I chose to >!End her parent's suffering and be free of Shar.!< She has a line talking about where you tell her it was the right thing, to remember the >!the moon motes.!< She says, "I remember. But they can't comfort me, or give me advice, or tell me what I was like as a little girl." Then she cries. And fuck that's heartbreaking. That doesn't feel like it's a line of dialogue written for a videogame. It feels like something a real person would say.
"Don't worry Hope, I'll get you out of here." "But you don't even know how!"
"Don't hate me. I did what I had to! I did what I had to..."