And same the toher way around. So far I have four completed playthroughs, each one of them as Durge, and I've always started them thinking I would do a evil run, like really dark urge evil, but no, the moment I meet Karlach is the moment all my plans falls apart, she's just too much of a golden retriever and I can't let her down. Astarion is my go to romance, love that guy with durge, they fit perfectly, but I don't mind going evil with him cause well, he can be pretty evil when he wants too, but it really shows how good of a story every companion has when even the ones I don't keep in my party still matters to me, like Lae'zel and Wyll. Someone once said that the companions are also rolling the dice to persuarde the player from doing bad things, and they are 100% right, and my companions always rolls nat 20!
There were some notes in the kennels saying that Cazador got pissed because he couldn’t control Astarion, so he flayed Astarion alive over and over again until Astarion couldn’t be put together in human form anymore. It gives you more perspective on why Astarion is so terrified of Cazador, considering what happened to him when he got caught.
He was also Cazador‘s favorite toy. In one conversation where Astarion drops a hint to this, you can call Cazador his „master in the bedroom“ and OH BOY. He is NOT amused by that. As with any „favorite“ victim, their supposed privileges come at a steep price. The other six spawn were only envious of Astarion because they don’t fully know what that meant, and only ever saw his preferential treatment by their master.
@@alisapizza4776 Yup. There are bits and pieces about his story you‘ll only hear if you’re mean to him. I recommend looking them up here, there are tons of clips and compilations.
Fair to say, all the companions are sealed to a sour fate if you don't recruit them. That alone, the lack of protection from the Artifact either makes them a slave to the Absolute, or fall to their fate. Lae'zel is killed by her people in search of a creche. Gale explodes, dying with nobody to remember him by. Astarion is captured and sacrificed to Cazador's ritual. Shadowheart falls short of her mission and cannot return to Baldur's Gate. Likely condemned to her doom. Karlach and Wyll continue this game of cat and mouse, either one of them will die or will kill the other. If the elements don't claim them first.
@@TheMentalStateZero I didn’t recruit her after the cage in my first playthrough and I was still able to recruit her when I encountered other githyanki for the first time (I waited until Voss left.). It was just a lot harder because I had to keep a level 1 Lae’zel alive through the fight with her brethren (or revived by the end), without her counting as a companion yet.
Intro: 'You there, come here. I need help.' Mid act 2 when asked why he didnt ask for help: 'Im not exactly used to asking for help and being met with... well... help' Oh god this is so dark in so many ways.
I checked upon him almost every hour just to get a look at him. Never played the game without him. Killed a couple of goblins then heading out to see how's my pale Elf faring and each time hearing him asking for help was too much to bear. I'm glad my next playthrough isn't going to be without him.
The game's depiction of Astarion is quite realistic: being a victim of prolonged brutality and abuse does tend to turn one apathetic, sadistic and insecure, which is basically the impression Astarion leaves me for the first 2 Acts.
That "please come help me" on the beach is just heartbreaking 😭He hasn't had his own agency or freedom in two centuries, and without Tav appearing, he's alone on a beach with only his clothes and a knife. There's no way I can not recruit him, even if he does draw the knife on me. After the nautiloid and the crash no one's at their best, and the guy's hiding how terrified of everything is I'll give him a break. It's so tragic that without Tav, no matter what else happened to him, he'd meet a horrific end.
@@Ailieorz The guy's been conditioned and tortured into using himself as bait for two centuries, with no worth or use outside of that. He's also scared, and yeah he pulls a knife but he threatens to kill me and doesn't actually knife me straight out. Again I'll forgive it, he's using all he knows and has to fall back on after being abducted a second time and having his world upended. No one's at their best in those circumstances. If he'd tried it a bit later, I might have been mad, but at this point he doesn't know our intentions either and sees everyone as a potential threat.
@@Ailieorz He traps you not to kill you, but to find out if you are a friend or an enemy, because if you turn out to be an enemy, then this is probably the only chance for him to protect himself. Moreover, he saw you walking freely around the nautiloid, so he has reason to assume that you are one of the illithids.
@@Madeleinewith3EsWhich doesn't change the fact that his cry for help is manipulation. I hate that he is forgiven for everything just because he is beautiful. On top of that he justifies it by saying he was a victim lol.
I could NEVER not recruit him, ever. He's always in my party, I never even send him back to camp, he needs to be by my side all the time. I have to be sure, he's okay, safe, well fed, geared up, properly dressed, clean, and happy.
SAME ! i love him so much 😭 the first thing i ever do in all my games is : recruit him, talk to him all the time and CHANGE HIS SPAWN OUTFIT. my boy is free, he doesn't need to wear that shit anymore
I have over 600 hours in this game, and not once has he left my party. I always recruit him second, cause Shadowheart is literally right there and it would be silly to just skip an unconscious person lol Point of the matter is, without Astarion, I wouldn't have been introduced to BG3. I wouldn't have taken the chance to play DND, and I wouldn't have met all of the people, friends, that I know now because of our campaign. Astarion's only a bunch of pixels but I love him so freaking much. And yes, this is a normal amount lol
I only left him at camp once in my second playthrough (I wanted to see other companions' situation specific dialogue) and it felt so, so wrong without him.
In an least one alternate universe where Astarion is ignored by the party, Gandrel the Monster Hunter stumbled upon Astarion asking for help and was tricked into helping him. They wrestled around fighting for a bit before calling a truce and becoming close pals, but Astarion uses a fake name, of course. One day after already having gone on numerous adventures together, Gandrel learned the truth, but ultimately decided to side with his new BFF, Astarion, and together, they destroy Cazador and his cult and live happily ever after chasing skirts and drinking copious amounts of cheap wine like total bros.
I was considering to recruit Astarion later on in the game to see the different outcome, and now… this guy is not even real but I choked thinking of all he went through before the chapel… nope. I shan’t do it. Astarion is coming with me always. I will not let him out of my sight. Thank you for the vid.
In general, being with the MC (doesn't matter which origin it is) is the only way to survive for the most of our main companions. Just think about it: Astarion is captured by Cazador, Lae'zel is killed by another githyanki, Karlach… well, you know, Gale is exploding. Probably Wyll is the exception but he'd be doomed in his own way and SH as she's almost impossible not to recruit.
I think Shadowheart would be the only person alive, but she would have been a Shar worshipper to the end, and would never have met her parents. She would have done all she can to get to Baldur's Gate, and there's a BIG chance she could have been killed by the Gith because of the prism. Wyll has a chance of surviving I guess, but there's also a big chance of him dying in the shadow-cursed lands trying to save his father, infiltrating moonrise alone.
@@IneffableChild Поправочка: без главного героя, Уилл бы умер защищая рощу, возможно ещё в первый раз, когда мы только подходим к роще. Если бы Сердцетени не умерла там же, а прошла дальше, то она не смогла бы сама убить Песнь ночи, если в той сцене не вмешиваться, она всегда выкидывает копьё. И как следствие её убили бы либо гиты, либо свои же.
Man, I've seen this on Tiktok way before I played the game myself, and it broke my fucking heart. He can't even be dead in peace as a zombie.... I can't believe how people refuse to look deeper into the characters, because Astarions whole life was filled with abuse and humiliation, and it doesnt end if you dont help him.... This poor baby boy just needs a Tav friend. He is severely misunderstood. :(
Dude this is the worst fate possible for him. Cazador literally flayed him alive over and over again. I’d sooner kill Astarion myself, just off him the second I meet him, than let him be taken in as Cazador’s slave again. A fate worse than death, one that Astarion could never have deserved.
Crowd: And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... (...)
I always recruit Astarion, even in campaigns where I don't intend to have him as a regular party member, because his fate is just too horrible otherwise. He can stay safe in my camp as long as he likes!
Tell me why i am playing a durge run where i ate Gale's hand and doomed him to the equivalent of exploding while stuck on an elevator, and THIS is the line i refuse to cross
Some things are sometimes beyond rational explanation. Love Astarion or hate him, He's one of the most interesting characters with a massive dose of human emotions. I'd never leave him alone at the ravaged beach.
You can only really torment Astarion if you keep him around. Top it off by letting him begin the ritual (because seeing Cazador brutalized is just cathartic), and then interrupt it. He‘ll attack you for that, permanently ending your affiliation. It’s a game, have fun. Astarion was the devs‘ favorite as well, that’s why he has so much variety.
This is very sad, but it's still somewhat funny that he doesn't even try to do anything if you don't help him. I understand that this option of his plotline is just not written, because developers don't consider you will play without anyone of the companions. But it still feels hilariously out of character. I'm sure Astarion would do everything he could and fight with or without Tav.
Astarion is a proactive character, but there's no way of telling what kind of challenges he's faced without the safety of the group and Emperor's protection from tadpole's influence. Clearly, no matter WHAT he does, the game wants to communicate to us that joining and remaining in our group is the only way he survives all this.
Cazador mentions something about Astarion taking part in the ritual regardless if hes dead or alive, i cant remember if its in a journal or in the middle of the fight but he does say it somewhere
@@wolflithay6380 In the middle of the fight - if we release Astarion from his ritual beam, Cazador usually goes after him with hard-hitting attacks meant to knock him down/kill him (and may succeed locking him in the beam again) and screams that he doesn't need him alive to complete the ritual.
Astarion has no plans or real ideas. He would try and run, but the Gur will track him down eventually. Gandrel isn’t the only one looking for him. If you want Astarion to get a redemption arc, ask Gandrel distracting questions so he doesn’t grow suspicious, and Astarion doesn’t feel the need to kill him. You‘ll meet him again in BG, and he won’t be angry. The Gur will charge Astarion with saving their children. When you’re in the dungeons, opposite Sebastian‘s cell is another containing the children. Talk to them. After the fight, release the spawn. You‘ll find Gandrel with the children on your way out. It’s really rewarding - and a complete accident for my playthrough. I originally wanted to trigger Astarion‘s attack on Gandrel, for the funneh. But this is better. Even though I‘m on an evil run. =) When I go Durge, this is going to play out a whole lot differently. 😂
@@ArDeeMee that's what I keep saying to myself, that next time I play durge (I always play durge) it will be an evil run. Let me tell you something: the moment you even think about doing something bad, Karlach will be there and the "My companion, I adore you" will play in your head on repeat and you won't be able to do a thing beside becoming a holy paladin of kindness.
Imagine how interesting it could be, if you, for example, leave him on the beach, and later he sides with the goblins and you meet him in the goblin camp or already in the Moonrise towers, and then you would have an option to side with him, maybe to persuade him join you. There could be so many interesting options for his plot development....
@@SzaraSzarancza wtf? Cazador broke him, I mean literally broke him because he can no longer do something important to elves - which is to be able to see their past selves when they do their meditation (their version of sleep), which is why he can not remember what he looked like beforehand (because elves can see their past selves and old memories when they meditate, so the only time they lose that ability is through a lot of trauma)
Ignoring him is just plain cruelty. So sorry you had to go through this just to show us what could happen. I literally melted when he had to say please twice in a row, my poor heart :((((((
This whole game is all about guilt tripping and manipulating the player by controlling his reactions, decisions and judgement through some twisted emotional "carrot and a stick" system. Toxic, psycho manipulative, unsafe to play without taking the risk of being brainwashed.
@@SzaraSzarancza At least it lets you kill them all. I never had a chance to learn his TragicBackstoryTM, he wasn't walking away alive after threatening my character with that knife.
it took me about 3 playthroughs when I realized I'd never seen his 'dismissed to camp' line. I've memorized every sentence by now but I still can't remember that one..
I completely in love for Astarion. While I play BG3, he will never come back to Cazador and will be protected. That will never happen to him, love you Astarion ♥️
I always take Astarion with me, not only because I love his personality and his lines but also because rogues have the capability to do so many things and do a crap ton of damage.
i've always hated cazador. but learning that he *flays* astarion repeatedly before you find him as a zombie in the ritual (which is already heartbreaking enough) i wish there was a long, graphic cutscene where you and astarion tear the mfer to pieces.
I'm just annoyed at the fact the responses basically shoehorn you into recruiting him. Dude just tried to shiv me, where's the option to be angry or, y'know attack him back?
Yeah, I got lucky with a headbutt and then selected the dialogue options to exit the convo before manually attacking him. It would've been nice to have an option to attack in the dialogue tree though
This makes no sense to methough, since in DnD lore Zombies(like most undead) no longer have souls. And Astarion's soul is one of the 7,000 needed for the Rite. Sooooo, Cazador now has 6,999 souls and just screwed himself hahaha. Unless he like, captured his soul off-screen or some read between the lines nonsense lol
The scars bind him to the ritual, so maybe the way the contract with Mephistopheles is that he has to provide 7k spawn with the contracts carved into their backs and the fact that Astarion is dead is basically a loophole in the contract. Like "I gave them all the scars and performed the ritual, you didn't say they all had to be alive." Cazador even says during the fight if Astarion is present that Astarion will be part of the ritual 'dead or alive' or 'your corpse will participate in this ritual' or something. Which is presumably also why when Astarion went missing, Cazador couldn't just turn someone else into a spawn and carve the contract on them. The fact that Astarion had the contract carved on him already meant that he had to be be part of the ritual, no takebacksies since once a devil contract is written/signed it can't be undone unless the devil themselves agrees to it
@@destinygalearies7382 Probably not even a loophole. The contract was already written and signed, so Astarion's soul was already bound and probably yeeted straight to hell when he died. I doubt Mephistopheles cares whether the whole payment arrives simultaneously. The body with its brands just had to be present for the ritual even if the first instalment had already been sent, as it were. Though I don't really see the purpose of making him a zombie, since his corpse would probably work just fine. Except maybe just for the sake of inflicting more torture on "him" even after death. 😬
I’m so happy I was able to see past Astorian as just another gay character. Easily one of the best companions in the game, I will always have him by my side. He’s a home dog now
Not necessarily, not every True Soul (ppl with tadpoles) gets immediately turned into a mindflayer. In fact the whole plot of the game is based on ppl getting infected but not immediately going through ceremorphosis as the Absolute builds its own army Plus if you have any companions not yet recruited when you get the first Guardian scene, they haven't transformed one you finally do pick them up.
Interestingly if you bring zombie Astarion to your camp he walks over to where Astarion would usually be in your camp and starts reading a book😭 You can’t interact with him though
I also don't like, what would become out of the others, if I never meet them or choose not to integrate into my party. Spoilers ... ... Laezel most likely will be killed by her own ppl in the Zaithisk (do I write that correctly? most likely not. Shadowheart might either die from her "goddess" because she failed her mission or worse, will become a "Dark Justiciar" ending her free life and free will at that point. Gale will most likely die in that stone or from the vile piece of magic in his chest (or both). Karlach will be killed by Wyll or the other way around. And if I forgot some, they might just become first True Souls and after that Mindflayers. Oh yes, Halsin will die as bear eaten by the Worgs in the pen or from grieve because of the grove.
My first game, he never left my party, so I decided to not even recruit him the second go, so I could free up more time for the others. But now I'm going back to pick him up anyway. I'm about to enter Shar's Gauntlet, so i just barely have enough time. The guy held a knife to my throat and generally disapproves of anything good I do, but I don't want him to die. Even though I'm a Rogue/Ranger and thus have no room for him in my party. He can hang around the camp.
I should show this video to my ascended astarion to constantly remind him that he is where he is because of me and only me. Say "i can take on anything" one more time.
Astarion and Shadowheart are the staples of my party because I love them. Neither one ever leaves my side. They need my lawful evil Durge Tav to protect them from evil goddesses and other blood-sucking predators.
Poor thing can’t fight for himself. I once played as only Astarion, I skipped talking to shadowheart after the crash and he died immediately in the first fight with the intellect devourers
I didn't even know of that vampire hunter dude since I just searched high and low for anything and everything on that beach I even found Gale whereas my friend had no idea who or even where he was 😅
Me and my friends killed Astarion on our first run through. We actually had his body stored in our camp chest the entire time. So we were very surprised when it turned out Cazador stole him from our chest LOL
Omg it's like youtube read my thoughts. The other day i thought about not recruiting him just to try and romance someone else (most likely couldn't do it if he was present so it was a way to remove the temptation haha😅) and well now i will NEVER do that 💀
Proof that Tav was destined to elevate their friends to being better or aiding in their destruction.
I like playing Tav as a god-sent therapist monk to help straighten out these traumatized runts, before they make an already bad situation way worse.
And same the toher way around. So far I have four completed playthroughs, each one of them as Durge, and I've always started them thinking I would do a evil run, like really dark urge evil, but no, the moment I meet Karlach is the moment all my plans falls apart, she's just too much of a golden retriever and I can't let her down. Astarion is my go to romance, love that guy with durge, they fit perfectly, but I don't mind going evil with him cause well, he can be pretty evil when he wants too, but it really shows how good of a story every companion has when even the ones I don't keep in my party still matters to me, like Lae'zel and Wyll. Someone once said that the companions are also rolling the dice to persuarde the player from doing bad things, and they are 100% right, and my companions always rolls nat 20!
The only true path is the path of necromancy.
H
There were some notes in the kennels saying that Cazador got pissed because he couldn’t control Astarion, so he flayed Astarion alive over and over again until Astarion couldn’t be put together in human form anymore. It gives you more perspective on why Astarion is so terrified of Cazador, considering what happened to him when he got caught.
This is seriously so brutal in all levels.
He was also Cazador‘s favorite toy. In one conversation where Astarion drops a hint to this, you can call Cazador his „master in the bedroom“ and OH BOY. He is NOT amused by that.
As with any „favorite“ victim, their supposed privileges come at a steep price. The other six spawn were only envious of Astarion because they don’t fully know what that meant, and only ever saw his preferential treatment by their master.
@ArDeeMee wait did cazador actually do something to astarion in the bedroom? :o
@@alisapizza4776 Yup. There are bits and pieces about his story you‘ll only hear if you’re mean to him. I recommend looking them up here, there are tons of clips and compilations.
@@alisapizza4776 it was implied
Fair to say, all the companions are sealed to a sour fate if you don't recruit them. That alone, the lack of protection from the Artifact either makes them a slave to the Absolute, or fall to their fate.
Lae'zel is killed by her people in search of a creche.
Gale explodes, dying with nobody to remember him by.
Astarion is captured and sacrificed to Cazador's ritual.
Shadowheart falls short of her mission and cannot return to Baldur's Gate. Likely condemned to her doom.
Karlach and Wyll continue this game of cat and mouse, either one of them will die or will kill the other. If the elements don't claim them first.
To add, Wyll is gonna end up in hell unless you provide him this miraculous chance to break the contract.
Will will fail to break out Mizora in act2 and be sent to hell as lemure.
Karachi's will fail to fix engine heart and burn up.
I erm... was late to meet Lae'zel, found the thieflings dead, so I know that I'll find her dead eventually.. :/.
@@TheMentalStateZero you can actually still recruit her later in act 1. i also missed her in my playthrough and got her later. 🙂
@@TheMentalStateZero I didn’t recruit her after the cage in my first playthrough and I was still able to recruit her when I encountered other githyanki for the first time (I waited until Voss left.). It was just a lot harder because I had to keep a level 1 Lae’zel alive through the fight with her brethren (or revived by the end), without her counting as a companion yet.
Astarion is like a domesticated animal that doesn’t know how to survive in the wild and it’s just waiting for its owner to come pick him up
Someone or something picked him up alright 😞.
I feel like that is actually very true
Intro: 'You there, come here. I need help.'
Mid act 2 when asked why he didnt ask for help: 'Im not exactly used to asking for help and being met with... well... help'
Oh god this is so dark in so many ways.
Omg now that I recall his lines at the camp, it really hurts.
Thank you for your sacrifice, but this ending is beyond cruelty of what Casador did to him (not blaming you, just this scenario is unimaginable).
I checked upon him almost every hour just to get a look at him. Never played the game without him. Killed a couple of goblins then heading out to see how's my pale Elf faring and each time hearing him asking for help was too much to bear. I'm glad my next playthrough isn't going to be without him.
@@kapitaineinthe fact there is a way to get the hella dead looking Astarion at camp is just foul
@@angelicsailor1stwut
this is how my game looks lol i dodged him so bad
@@billy53784 😭
The game's depiction of Astarion is quite realistic: being a victim of prolonged brutality and abuse does tend to turn one apathetic, sadistic and insecure, which is basically the impression Astarion leaves me for the first 2 Acts.
He is more than traumatized :(
Is there study to back this? I don't doubt just would like to read and learn.
He is a precious baby boy who could never hurt anyone
there is also the moment where he instantly becomes mad with power. you have version where is truly loves you or where you became his favorite tool
@@rubenrodriguez3164yes i’ve been obsessed with human psychology and i cant find any studies
That "please come help me" on the beach is just heartbreaking 😭He hasn't had his own agency or freedom in two centuries, and without Tav appearing, he's alone on a beach with only his clothes and a knife. There's no way I can not recruit him, even if he does draw the knife on me. After the nautiloid and the crash no one's at their best, and the guy's hiding how terrified of everything is I'll give him a break. It's so tragic that without Tav, no matter what else happened to him, he'd meet a horrific end.
LOL really? It's a ruse... he's literally trying to lure you into a trap to kill you...
@@Ailieorz The guy's been conditioned and tortured into using himself as bait for two centuries, with no worth or use outside of that. He's also scared, and yeah he pulls a knife but he threatens to kill me and doesn't actually knife me straight out. Again I'll forgive it, he's using all he knows and has to fall back on after being abducted a second time and having his world upended. No one's at their best in those circumstances. If he'd tried it a bit later, I might have been mad, but at this point he doesn't know our intentions either and sees everyone as a potential threat.
@@Ailieorz He traps you not to kill you, but to find out if you are a friend or an enemy, because if you turn out to be an enemy, then this is probably the only chance for him to protect himself.
Moreover, he saw you walking freely around the nautiloid, so he has reason to assume that you are one of the illithids.
@@Madeleinewith3EsWhich doesn't change the fact that his cry for help is manipulation. I hate that he is forgiven for everything just because he is beautiful. On top of that he justifies it by saying he was a victim lol.
@@rraven2670oh you're one of those people who think victims should be perfect
I could NEVER not recruit him, ever. He's always in my party, I never even send him back to camp, he needs to be by my side all the time. I have to be sure, he's okay, safe, well fed, geared up, properly dressed, clean, and happy.
Omg the way how you care for him sound so good ☺.
So you can leave him to Gandrel yourself
"well fed, geared up, properly dressed, clean, and happy" sounds like mom is describing a todler 😀
Astarian is a cat after all, it's only right you treat him like one :P
SAME ! i love him so much 😭 the first thing i ever do in all my games is : recruit him, talk to him all the time and CHANGE HIS SPAWN OUTFIT. my boy is free, he doesn't need to wear that shit anymore
Okay, I didn't expect his fate to turn out so horrible... Never seen this outcome before!
Thanks for sharing 🙏🏻
I really had my hopes high and had my fingers crossed quite literally.
I have over 600 hours in this game, and not once has he left my party. I always recruit him second, cause Shadowheart is literally right there and it would be silly to just skip an unconscious person lol
Point of the matter is, without Astarion, I wouldn't have been introduced to BG3. I wouldn't have taken the chance to play DND, and I wouldn't have met all of the people, friends, that I know now because of our campaign. Astarion's only a bunch of pixels but I love him so freaking much. And yes, this is a normal amount lol
Bro, he is not a sprite.😅
Interesting that shadowheart is unconscious because for me on my first game play she is by the door
@@onyxraven3455 That happens when you don't save her on the ship.
I skip her some times. Cause why not. Interesting to see what happens.
I only left him at camp once in my second playthrough (I wanted to see other companions' situation specific dialogue) and it felt so, so wrong without him.
In an least one alternate universe where Astarion is ignored by the party, Gandrel the Monster Hunter stumbled upon Astarion asking for help and was tricked into helping him. They wrestled around fighting for a bit before calling a truce and becoming close pals, but Astarion uses a fake name, of course.
One day after already having gone on numerous adventures together, Gandrel learned the truth, but ultimately decided to side with his new BFF, Astarion, and together, they destroy Cazador and his cult and live happily ever after chasing skirts and drinking copious amounts of cheap wine like total bros.
This is so good. I love it ❤.
Like this a lot!
Best ending
like he'd be caught alive or dead drinking, ugh, cheap wine. lol
Until Astarion suddenly turns into a Mindflayer, since he isn’t under the protection of the artifact.
Whelp. That settles it. I'm always going to recruit Astarion. No matter what.
☺
And I will alway let him die in the monastery and revive him. The reaction is too good
Who's going to pay for my therapy after i watched this because holy moly im SOBBING
This is actually perfect for advertising! Lol!
„Go! Only you can save him!“
I was considering to recruit Astarion later on in the game to see the different outcome, and now… this guy is not even real but I choked thinking of all he went through before the chapel… nope. I shan’t do it. Astarion is coming with me always. I will not let him out of my sight. Thank you for the vid.
☺
damn the zoomed in zombie looks brutal 💀
Astarion turned into zombie: Meeh...
Astarion while his ding-dong was taken away from him: Cazador, you foul monster, you will pay for this!!!
In general, being with the MC (doesn't matter which origin it is) is the only way to survive for the most of our main companions. Just think about it: Astarion is captured by Cazador, Lae'zel is killed by another githyanki, Karlach… well, you know, Gale is exploding. Probably Wyll is the exception but he'd be doomed in his own way and SH as she's almost impossible not to recruit.
I think Laezels fate is she dies and becomes a shadow creature in the shadowlands. She tried to cross it herself and you find her dead body there
Gale would be trapped in the portal which is arguably safer for everyone else than him being rescued.
I think Shadowheart would be the only person alive, but she would have been a Shar worshipper to the end, and would never have met her parents. She would have done all she can to get to Baldur's Gate, and there's a BIG chance she could have been killed by the Gith because of the prism. Wyll has a chance of surviving I guess, but there's also a big chance of him dying in the shadow-cursed lands trying to save his father, infiltrating moonrise alone.
@@IneffableChild Поправочка: без главного героя, Уилл бы умер защищая рощу, возможно ещё в первый раз, когда мы только подходим к роще. Если бы Сердцетени не умерла там же, а прошла дальше, то она не смогла бы сама убить Песнь ночи, если в той сцене не вмешиваться, она всегда выкидывает копьё. И как следствие её убили бы либо гиты, либо свои же.
I accidentally didn't recruit shadowheart in my first playthrough but then the brains killed me because I had to fight them alone so I reloaded :)
Man, I've seen this on Tiktok way before I played the game myself, and it broke my fucking heart. He can't even be dead in peace as a zombie.... I can't believe how people refuse to look deeper into the characters, because Astarions whole life was filled with abuse and humiliation, and it doesnt end if you dont help him.... This poor baby boy just needs a Tav friend. He is severely misunderstood. :(
Dude this is the worst fate possible for him. Cazador literally flayed him alive over and over again. I’d sooner kill Astarion myself, just off him the second I meet him, than let him be taken in as Cazador’s slave again. A fate worse than death, one that Astarion could never have deserved.
True.
That made me so fucking sad :c I’m happy I’m always going for him first so he can finally live happily with me 🥰
Aww
Crowd: And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... And me... (...)
Damn, didn't even think this was possible lol, Larian truly did a wonderful job.
I always recruit Astarion, even in campaigns where I don't intend to have him as a regular party member, because his fate is just too horrible otherwise. He can stay safe in my camp as long as he likes!
Tell me why i am playing a durge run where i ate Gale's hand and doomed him to the equivalent of exploding while stuck on an elevator, and THIS is the line i refuse to cross
Some things are sometimes beyond rational explanation. Love Astarion or hate him, He's one of the most interesting characters with a massive dose of human emotions. I'd never leave him alone at the ravaged beach.
Well, at least exploding is a quick death...knowing Cazador, whatever exactly happened to Astarion WASN'T...
Bc funny cutscene
You can only really torment Astarion if you keep him around. Top it off by letting him begin the ritual (because seeing Cazador brutalized is just cathartic), and then interrupt it. He‘ll attack you for that, permanently ending your affiliation.
It’s a game, have fun. Astarion was the devs‘ favorite as well, that’s why he has so much variety.
At first glance Astarion seems to be made to be Durge’s BFF so that’s understandable.
That turned way darker than I expected
This is very sad, but it's still somewhat funny that he doesn't even try to do anything if you don't help him. I understand that this option of his plotline is just not written, because developers don't consider you will play without anyone of the companions. But it still feels hilariously out of character. I'm sure Astarion would do everything he could and fight with or without Tav.
Astarion is a proactive character, but there's no way of telling what kind of challenges he's faced without the safety of the group and Emperor's protection from tadpole's influence.
Clearly, no matter WHAT he does, the game wants to communicate to us that joining and remaining in our group is the only way he survives all this.
Cazador mentions something about Astarion taking part in the ritual regardless if hes dead or alive, i cant remember if its in a journal or in the middle of the fight but he does say it somewhere
@@wolflithay6380 In the middle of the fight - if we release Astarion from his ritual beam, Cazador usually goes after him with hard-hitting attacks meant to knock him down/kill him (and may succeed locking him in the beam again) and screams that he doesn't need him alive to complete the ritual.
Astarion has no plans or real ideas. He would try and run, but the Gur will track him down eventually. Gandrel isn’t the only one looking for him.
If you want Astarion to get a redemption arc, ask Gandrel distracting questions so he doesn’t grow suspicious, and Astarion doesn’t feel the need to kill him.
You‘ll meet him again in BG, and he won’t be angry. The Gur will charge Astarion with saving their children. When you’re in the dungeons, opposite Sebastian‘s cell is another containing the children. Talk to them. After the fight, release the spawn. You‘ll find Gandrel with the children on your way out.
It’s really rewarding - and a complete accident for my playthrough. I originally wanted to trigger Astarion‘s attack on Gandrel, for the funneh. But this is better. Even though I‘m on an evil run. =)
When I go Durge, this is going to play out a whole lot differently. 😂
@@ArDeeMee that's what I keep saying to myself, that next time I play durge (I always play durge) it will be an evil run. Let me tell you something: the moment you even think about doing something bad, Karlach will be there and the "My companion, I adore you" will play in your head on repeat and you won't be able to do a thing beside becoming a holy paladin of kindness.
This video is so heartbreaking, but I can’t help but laugh at the whole “only you can adopt this poor kitten and save it” commercial vibe lol
lol .
Look at those wounds on zombie Astarion, dude died slowly
It seems Cazador flayed him 😦
It kind of warms my heart that everyone in the comments agrees on one thing: Astarion staying in the group
At best, he is ignored in my camp.
At worst, he gets staked
@@Thomasnmi+1 he is one of worse xd
If someone fetishizes carrying around vampire corpses for good fortune, then why not.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@Thomasnmi Agreed
I disagree
When I read Zombie Astarion I audibly gasped. My boy! My poor boy!
You're not the only one
Imagine how interesting it could be, if you, for example, leave him on the beach, and later he sides with the goblins and you meet him in the goblin camp or already in the Moonrise towers, and then you would have an option to side with him, maybe to persuade him join you. There could be so many interesting options for his plot development....
You can fix him.
He doesn’t need fixing, just help and time for healing.
@@katiatall Exactly this 🙏
@@katiatall well you kinda have to “fix his fear” (ie kill Cazador) so that he can learn to heal his trauma and live a life or relative safety
Well, Cazador fixed him pretty well, there is nothing more to be fixed now.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@SzaraSzarancza wtf? Cazador broke him, I mean literally broke him because he can no longer do something important to elves - which is to be able to see their past selves when they do their meditation (their version of sleep), which is why he can not remember what he looked like beforehand (because elves can see their past selves and old memories when they meditate, so the only time they lose that ability is through a lot of trauma)
This is why I always recruit him after recruiting Gale.
I can't do this to Astarion, I will never do it. 🥺
🥲
The real magic was the friends we made along the way
Very true indeed ☺.
Ignoring him is just plain cruelty. So sorry you had to go through this just to show us what could happen. I literally melted when he had to say please twice in a row, my poor heart :((((((
In my latest run I avoided meeting everyone except Shadowheart and used hirelings instead. This video gave made me feel guilty. 😂
This whole game is all about guilt tripping and manipulating the player by controlling his reactions, decisions and judgement through some twisted emotional "carrot and a stick" system. Toxic, psycho manipulative, unsafe to play without taking the risk of being brainwashed.
@@SzaraSzarancza At least it lets you kill them all. I never had a chance to learn his TragicBackstoryTM, he wasn't walking away alive after threatening my character with that knife.
I find this so deeply unsettling and I don't know why. It literally makes me feel dread. This was horrible😭
Hell No we gotta wipe Cazador all over the fuckin place
Ik it’s just an undead skin being used, but imagine what they did to him to make him look that way…this poor man..
I can't. This character has gotten entirely under my skin and I cannot hurt him, period.
@@jhod555 I refuse to treat him badly, but in that scenario..my heart broke when it crossed my mind
They probably just didn't allow him to drink blood for a long time.
it took me about 3 playthroughs when I realized I'd never seen his 'dismissed to camp' line. I've memorized every sentence by now but I still can't remember that one..
3 playthroughs and still haven't dismissed him? Impressive.
@@kapitainein well, I do play with a mod that lets me have more people in my party 😅 but I had dismissed everyone at least once except Astarion.
Astarion tried to bite my rogue during sleep. He died with a stick in the middle of the chest
I’m cryin in the club
Astarion is the reason why i keep playing this game .There's no way i would let him die.
He's the only one who approves me killing innocent people 😅
Hey now - Minthara ALSO approves of killing innocent people...most of the time anyway
True. Even Minthara will criticize you for going full murderhobo.
The first sensible argument in favor of Astarion that I saw in this comment section.😅
Yeah i recently did a "no boys allowed" playthrough and when I saw this I was just liike. HMMM
I completely in love for Astarion. While I play BG3, he will never come back to Cazador and will be protected. That will never happen to him, love you Astarion ♥️
Good for you . Astarion not in the party removes most of the banters and witty comments from the game.
Jeeez I wasn't ready for this 😱😢
This also happens if you stake him the first time he bites you.
Wonder what happens if you carry his body the whole game…
my 1st play through i lonewolf the game and it was very peaceful. enjoyed it the most
My heart...😭💔
Our love was in the little stars
This genuinely broke my heart
I try to do this every playthrough, but I find myself always needing Astarion in my party because he's such a great character.
Never meeting Astarion? Can't imagine
This happens to him if you've recruited him but he leaves camp as well
Don't even need to kill the hunter
And this is why I could never leave him behind.
What a horrible ending for him. I have always picked him up in each run thru. I am in my 3rd now.
I always take Astarion with me, not only because I love his personality and his lines but also because rogues have the capability to do so many things and do a crap ton of damage.
My headcannon is that the boar gores him, lol
my first playthrough i nearly missed him on the beach, thank god i found him before progressing to Act 2, this is so damn sad 😭
I'm sure there's a special place in hell for people who just leave Astarion there 🥺
"ONLY YOU CAN FIX HIM" really made me wheeze. X'D
i've always hated cazador. but learning that he *flays* astarion repeatedly before you find him as a zombie in the ritual (which is already heartbreaking enough) i wish there was a long, graphic cutscene where you and astarion tear the mfer to pieces.
I'm just annoyed at the fact the responses basically shoehorn you into recruiting him. Dude just tried to shiv me, where's the option to be angry or, y'know attack him back?
Yeah, I got lucky with a headbutt and then selected the dialogue options to exit the convo before manually attacking him. It would've been nice to have an option to attack in the dialogue tree though
"Only you can fix him" lmaoooooo wow what an excellent video, thank you for your sacrifice
This makes no sense to methough, since in DnD lore Zombies(like most undead) no longer have souls. And Astarion's soul is one of the 7,000 needed for the Rite. Sooooo, Cazador now has 6,999 souls and just screwed himself hahaha. Unless he like, captured his soul off-screen or some read between the lines nonsense lol
As I understand, Larian changed a lot of things regarding undead for their game
The scars bind him to the ritual, so maybe the way the contract with Mephistopheles is that he has to provide 7k spawn with the contracts carved into their backs and the fact that Astarion is dead is basically a loophole in the contract. Like "I gave them all the scars and performed the ritual, you didn't say they all had to be alive." Cazador even says during the fight if Astarion is present that Astarion will be part of the ritual 'dead or alive' or 'your corpse will participate in this ritual' or something.
Which is presumably also why when Astarion went missing, Cazador couldn't just turn someone else into a spawn and carve the contract on them. The fact that Astarion had the contract carved on him already meant that he had to be be part of the ritual, no takebacksies since once a devil contract is written/signed it can't be undone unless the devil themselves agrees to it
@@destinygalearies7382 Probably not even a loophole. The contract was already written and signed, so Astarion's soul was already bound and probably yeeted straight to hell when he died. I doubt Mephistopheles cares whether the whole payment arrives simultaneously.
The body with its brands just had to be present for the ritual even if the first instalment had already been sent, as it were.
Though I don't really see the purpose of making him a zombie, since his corpse would probably work just fine. Except maybe just for the sake of inflicting more torture on "him" even after death. 😬
My heart dropped when you showed "zombie Astarion" 😢
I had to show this so none of you'd do or repeat the stuff I did. Only YOU can fix him .
Oh God, not the sad music!!!! Love me some Astarion!!!
“I can fix him” , YES, YES I CAN
Yes .
The scream I scrumpt!!! Oh god! 😭😭😭
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MY POOR BABY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I couldnt find him in my first playthrough so i got to avt 3 without ever meeting him.
It needs that eyes of an angel song from the pet commercials
I’m so happy I was able to see past Astorian as just another gay character. Easily one of the best companions in the game, I will always have him by my side. He’s a home dog now
Shouldn't he turn into a Mind Flayer shortly after being out of range of the Prism?
Not necessarily, not every True Soul (ppl with tadpoles) gets immediately turned into a mindflayer. In fact the whole plot of the game is based on ppl getting infected but not immediately going through ceremorphosis as the Absolute builds its own army
Plus if you have any companions not yet recruited when you get the first Guardian scene, they haven't transformed one you finally do pick them up.
Only if the Absolute gives the order for their tadpole to activate.
My first play through I was good dark urge and committed to no spoilers. I somehow missed him. His storyline help keep the 2nd run enjoyable.
Goddamn, you got me with that reminder!
Level 1 high elf thief... with human ears.
Doesn't even look like Astarion.
I don't want to sound like a racist but for me all the zombies look the same.
@@SzaraSzarancza I think the word would be 'speciest', actually. I do believe elves are distinct species, like goblins, gnolls, tieflings... ect.
Never recruited him, always killed him as soon as I met him. Same for the gith.
I didn't even know Gale was a thing for my first 30hour playthrough... then I saw the video of the halfling barbarians.
I almost never met him until I spoke to the hunter and I recognised his name and was like THATS A COMPANION
It's awful how much he suffered
Bro, zombies are not capable of suffering, they are zombies.
@@SzaraSzarancza He's not a Zombie
Interestingly if you bring zombie Astarion to your camp he walks over to where Astarion would usually be in your camp and starts reading a book😭 You can’t interact with him though
I also don't like, what would become out of the others, if I never meet them or choose not to integrate into my party.
Spoilers
...
...
Laezel most likely will be killed by her own ppl in the Zaithisk (do I write that correctly? most likely not.
Shadowheart might either die from her "goddess" because she failed her mission or worse, will become a "Dark Justiciar" ending her free life and free will at that point.
Gale will most likely die in that stone or from the vile piece of magic in his chest (or both).
Karlach will be killed by Wyll or the other way around.
And if I forgot some, they might just become first True Souls and after that Mindflayers.
Oh yes, Halsin will die as bear eaten by the Worgs in the pen or from grieve because of the grove.
Damn. No pressure.
My first game, he never left my party, so I decided to not even recruit him the second go, so I could free up more time for the others. But now I'm going back to pick him up anyway. I'm about to enter Shar's Gauntlet, so i just barely have enough time.
The guy held a knife to my throat and generally disapproves of anything good I do, but I don't want him to die. Even though I'm a Rogue/Ranger and thus have no room for him in my party. He can hang around the camp.
😃
I should show this video to my ascended astarion to constantly remind him that he is where he is because of me and only me. Say "i can take on anything" one more time.
Astarion: (gulp)😅
Astarion and Shadowheart are the staples of my party because I love them. Neither one ever leaves my side. They need my lawful evil Durge Tav to protect them from evil goddesses and other blood-sucking predators.
He calls for help, just so he can pull a knife on you. Although that's quite the horrible fate if you don't let him join you.
In my first run, I saw him and thought he was a noble with gold... Failed to pickpocket so he attacked and by accident killed him
Ah, Astarion- the"Noble with gold' 🙂
I had this happen cuz I thought he'd show up later. Got to act 3 thinking "huh I wonder where is"
Thanks a lot for showing this🙏 I could never do this to him.
WHO THE HELL IS CUTTIN ONIONS IN HERE
Poor thing can’t fight for himself. I once played as only Astarion, I skipped talking to shadowheart after the crash and he died immediately in the first fight with the intellect devourers
You want to know what happens if you don't rescue Gale? Nothing, that's what.
I didn't even know of that vampire hunter dude since I just searched high and low for anything and everything on that beach I even found Gale whereas my friend had no idea who or even where he was 😅
Me and my friends killed Astarion on our first run through. We actually had his body stored in our camp chest the entire time. So we were very surprised when it turned out Cazador stole him from our chest LOL
Cazador or his spawns were super stealthy while getting his body lest you and your companions wake up.
I'll definitely use this for a later playthrough hee hee hee
Oh no 😅.
Look how they massacred my boy
Ah yes, parents who will always find an opportunity to brag about their children and their life achievements.
0:49 Bro looks like a lost child 🥲
Oh no 😟
Omg it's like youtube read my thoughts. The other day i thought about not recruiting him just to try and romance someone else (most likely couldn't do it if he was present so it was a way to remove the temptation haha😅) and well now i will NEVER do that 💀