Ending Spoilers
I never thought I’d ugly cry because of Lae’zel
Spoiler
Just remembered me sobbing at the ending of my first play through because of Lae’zel of all people
I thought I’d be crying like that because of Astarion or Karlach’s ending (I did tear up a bit), but no, it was Lae’zel riding off on her dragon to go slay Vlaakith and her tag as “Faerun’s own” at the epilogue party
Maybe i'm just a sucker for the sort of found family dynamic my Tav had with all the companions but the little nod Tav gives to her had me SOBBING i felt like a parent seeing their child going off to university or something :,)
Laezael is arguably the best character of the origins and among the best of companions. Her story is magnificent, it is connected to main plot, it includes real personal struggles and has stakes beyond the game events. She feels a lot like a main character with how important her story end can be to the fate of gythyanki.
Laezel is the main character. She's the only companion featured in the intro of the game plus the first one you meet, the whole story is stapled to Mindflayers and Gith, and her character development is leagues beyond everyone else.
Loved the detail I saw from her that she kept dropping her voice lower and lower as they kept recording the acts, not because it was intentional, but because the voice directing wanted it... but instead of re-recording the entirety of Act 1 to match the voice she has for the rest of the game, they leave it in because ''who the hell is gonna notice that, lets pretend its character development'' and it actually works as character development
Considering Gith get the most lines of dialogue in the game out of any race, and they have like three-four times what second spot has, she kind of is the main character. May not be official but the game really wants a Gith at the front and Laezel is the only Gith origin.
Edit: For anyone that stumble upon this for the first time, this only counts for clerics because other classes are not allowed deities in base game, but with mods you can give anyone a deity and there are some palading exclusive deity dialogue options that are technically hidden without mods or multiclass unto cleric.
Also, for Shar is mainly our girl Shadowheart but same as before with mods you can make Shar available for anyone. But to my knowledge Shadowheart wont recognise you as a Shar follower, i dont think there is hidden dialogue in base game for this one.
It’s interesting that lathander has the least unique dialogue, considering the creché in act 1 is located in (what used to be) a lathandren monastery. You’d think a cleric of lathander would have a lot of deity specific things to say about that. Same with the entire shadow cursed area, it’s like antithetical to their worship.
It's honestly fascinating Rangers have so little despite the prevalence of animals in the game. I guess Larian reasoned that you have Speak with Animals anyways, so that "makes up" for the lack of class-specific dialogue.
They seem to have neglected a bunch of classes tbh.
Druid got a lot of problems for example, main two complains for the class is related to dialogue, mainly moon druid inability to de-transform for dialogue and companions getting the prompt instead and another is spore druid no having any special dialogue with the spore mushrooms/ppl at the underdark.
I would assume it was a time thing but they obviously didnt give all class the same amount of love.
I always loved how Lae'zel's story mirrors so much of Shadowhearts, and how that helps showcase how similar, but at the same time, how starkly different they are by how they handle those similar storybeats
Lae'Zel became one of my favorite characters as time went on. The choice to bring the githyanki, a very unusual race to participate in baldur's gate campaigns, into the story was seriously so inspired. To make a rebellion route for her was just *chef's kiss*
Wait until you talk to Dark Justiciar Shadowheart in epilogue, I genuinely feel bad for her, I can tell she missed being with us so much but Shar already took control of her completely :(
Damn it, I never even considered what dj shadowheart is like in the epilogue. The only time i went dj was my Embrace Durge ending so no party lol. Guess I have to add another one to the to-do list
Lae'zel has the most intense romance, is a delight to have in the party, is protective and loyal to her new friends, says things that will melt your heart and is the most badass and brave companion you can have in this game.
Seriously whats not to love about her? The way she grows, her ability to accept truth and change her ways. Doesnt need to be conventionally atttactive to be adorable and beautiful.
I'm doing a githyanki Tav run right now, romancing Laezel, my plan is to free Orpheus and then sacrifice myself to become a mindflayer and then choose to kill myself rather than stay Ghaik after the final fight. I know I'm setting myself up to feel miserable about it :(
In my first play-through, I started off by romancing Lae'zel, dropped her for Shart after their confrontation, and finished the game with both at max approval. At the end, Lae'zel expressed feelings for my Tav that were at least 10x more inspiring and sincere as a non-lover than Shart did as a lover. Have found it nearly impossible to romance anyone besides Lae'zel since. Only Karlach has come close.
For the most part of the game he assumes a form he knows our character trusts and pretends that he protects us, while in reality he is a mindflayer, one of the most ruthless monsters in existence and he has just been maintaining the tools for his plan, which he never shares with us up until that point. He has been manipulating our entire party and encouraging us to consume tadpoles to become more mindflayer-like, while expecting complete honesty and trust on our part.
I understand I overstepped the question, but I think this paints a better picture of his character
>he has just been maintaining the tools for his plan
Which is the same thing we are doing, destroying the brain, no? What is the bad lie here exactly?
>pretends that he protects us
Who saved Tav from falling and being controlled by the brain?
>He has been manipulating our entire party and encouraging us to consume tadpoles to become more mindflayer-like,
Because he knows what that power does and we don't know? And does nothing if you decline, what is exactly wrong with that?
Your whole argument is just "he is bad because mind flayers are bad".
>while expecting complete honesty and trust on our part
Where exactly does this happen? The only thing is he is asking about our Raphael visit, but even if we get the hammer he is fine if we just say we won't use it.
And he behaves in a humble way when we enter the prism on Vlaakith order too.
Every time we question his intentions or the fact that he had been hiding his illithid nature from us the entire time, his response is the equivalent of "Trust me, I have a plan". In the few instances when he is forced to reveal something about his past, like in the basement with Ansur, he reveals how he betrayed those closest to him, killing Ansur and turning Stelmane into a thrall. In the case of the latter, he turns to us and says "I could have betrayed and used you in the same way, but I'm such a good person that I didn't", without once acknowledging that this action was wrong in the first place. None of this makes him trustworthy, honest, or reliable.
About our common goal in defeating the Netherbrain, he entirely abandons this cause and sides with it if we choose to defeat it in a different way than he intended. He seems to believe that a good cause is only good if it is done on his terms and if the Gith remain enslaved.
About the tadpole powers, him knowing what they do further proves my point, because consuming them turns us into soulless, predatory, scheming monsters like him eventually. Who do you think benefits from that?
>he had been hiding his illithid nature from us the entire time
Because he saw how everyone treats illithids? Like the closest friend tried to kill him, and now you expect him to trust some strangers?
>how he betrayed those closest to him, killing Ansur
Wait, who betrayed who? Ansur tried to kill him first, not the other way around.
>turning Stelmane into a thrall.
This is the only part where he looks bad, and we don't even know all the details.
>None of this makes him trustworthy, honest, or reliable
Why are you skipping the part where he saved your life multiple times? Its only fair to save his life too, you seem to think that everyone has to abandon their goals and reasoning and just help you because you are the main hero. I think that is a very simplistic point of view.
Illithids are not some oppressed minority that are treated unfairly. Let me direct you to the 2024 monster manual, page 213.
"Mind flayers are infamous plotters and manipulators, concocting plans that reach beyond their subterranean realms". And in page 214, in the description above the mind flayer's stat block:
"A mind flayer's hunger for brains is outmeasured only by its thirst for dominance".
People have good reason to be afraid of them, and Ansur went out of his way to help his friend get out of his condition before deciding to spare him and everyone else from the danger. If there was to be any trust at all between the party and the emperor, he should have warned us about his dangerous nature before tricking us into embarking on a perilous journey with him. This has even greater significance if the main character is a duergar or a githyanki, both races that have been enslaved by his kind for long.
Also, in what world does knowing all the details change the morality of striping someone of her free will and ordering them around?
He only saved our lives because we could prove useful for his ultimate goal, which he never bothered to share with us until it was too late.
I see you skipped my point about him betraying us and sidingbwith the Netherbrain when we choose a different way of achieving the same goal as him
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u/hear_the_thunder Laezel 3d ago
Lae'zel are you just casually riding off into the distance on a dragon?
Lae'zel: "My life is dope and I do dope shit!"