Baldur's Gate 3: Lathander, The God Of Dawn

Lathander is the god of dawn, the Morning Lord and the god of new beginnings. He is a consistent part of the Faerunian pantheon and usually is regarded as a universally benevolent deity who looks for the best in humanity and is much beloved of the people but he also has a dark side to his ideology...let us explore his darkness as well as his light together.

[@semmikozod1139]

He really reminds me of Apollo. Seems like a good guy, but I'm more of an Ilmater kind of guy.

[@AndronicusKomnenos]

Lathander is my favorite.

[@Terastas]

The gist of it when it comes to the gods is that, if something exists, there will be a god of it. Ergo, a god can only die without being replaced if the thing of which they were a god completely ceased to exist. Amaunator was a god of law and contracts as opposed to dawn and creation, and when Amaunator did absolutely nothing to stop the cataclysm of Netheril, he fell out of favor and faded from existence. But the sun continued to exist. So it was only a matter of time until a deity either claimed the portfolio, or was born anew out of the portfolio. Which, whatever the case may be, is how we got Lathander. But, as you noted, Lathander was a god of creation and renewal, not of the sun as a whole. Which effectively meant the sun portfolio went completely unclaimed until Amaunator was reborn anew out of it. And given that one was renewed and the other is the god of renewal, you can understand why the two got confused. I don't know if I like the word "heresy" for that though. Because it's not like either deity was opposed to the existence of the other. It's more like when Waukeen went missing and Liira filled in for her -- not a conflict as much as a misunderstanding between two cooperative parties that just needed to be further clarified.

[@j4ck3t]

I like that you put the lore in perspective between what is written en why it is written by wizards of the coast. Because sometimes a story is logically written and other times it is written with a goal.

[@aDeadMansParty]

Phenomenal video and my favorite forgotten realms god. Definitely playing a human life cleric of lathander in my multiplayer baldurs gate 3 playthrough.

[@DemonPrinceofHell]

How was that? Saving people is pretty troublesome...

[@aDeadMansParty]

@@DemonPrinceofHell It’s pure chaos but there are plenty of items that give “on heal give x.” Life Clerics can be very, very tanky so it’s not the worst if I’m not accidently being fireballed or being thrown around by my allies.

[@r0btech]

The light cleric would be more a fitting worshiper of Lathander.

[@deathbycognitivedissonance5036]

By far my favorite character. thanks for discussing him.

[@Sabamonster]

I had a Copper Half-Dragon (Not dragonborn, Half-Dragon) Cleric of Lathander on a Nwn Persistent World server for a few years. Absolutely loved that damn character.

[@semmikozod1139]

Good. Dragonborn are incredibly cringe.

[@Veepeks]

Excellent lore vid as always S&S! Thanks for this. I hope you'll be able to make a similar video about Elminster one day ^_^

[@Stevenabled]

Glad to see a vid on my favourite god YEP! Even better learning something new along the way. I really like the idea of the three-phased sun which would make him a god of life imo. Thanks

[@Geek0ftheWeek]

Great video. Keep up the good work! 👍

[@johnyoungerman1857]

Thanks for the video.... It has been awhile since I read the Avatar series and we do know that Lathander(Temple at least) Is present in BG3. Peace

[@apres-lachute8718]

I was waiting for this one....Lathander is pretty cool but I prefer Pelor from Greyhawk or Sarenae from Pathfinder. They are just much more convincing deities vs. Lathander's childishness.

[@spellandshield]

Yeah, but I think that makes Lathander interesting in a way that those deities are not. Sarenae and Pelor are much more standard deities in this regard and therefore both more reliable and boring at the same time.

[@WhitneyAllisonGG]

My opinion about Lathander he personally wasn't my favorite of the Gods. However, I making him part of an aspect of Sun God Amaunator makes sense but only problem I had was Jergal didn't seem to fit right with the other two. There no aspect of elderly man and wisdom representing sunset and waning years not death. Jergel is death or currently a scribe to death.

[@Suzanne_sf]

Thank you for the video Spell&Shield. It must be difficult for Jander Sunstar to worship Lathander, when Lathander is against the undead. I would like to see Jander Sunstar saved by Lathandar one day.

[@spellandshield]

Jander suffered a horrific fate, first becoming a vampire, then winding up in the Nine Hells.

[@Suzanne_sf]

@@spellandshield Yes. It is so sad. It is even said that Jander was split into clones and that the one you meet in Descent into Avernus is one of his clones. His story is so tragic. I wish that Lathander would restore and save Jander. Jander always did his best to fight his vampiric nature and be a good person. (I wish the like button was an agree button.)

[@kalebs6201]

Heh that final art is from MTG, card name is “Glorious Sunrise” fitting

[@Monochrome_11]

Isn't that thumbnail from that comic Artesia?

[@aDeadMansParty]

The same artist for artesia did alot of dnd 3.5 art. His faces though are very iconic.

[@juliam7037]

Does Lathander have a chosen?

[@spellandshield]

All gods do, at least potentially.

[@lostzephyr2191]

Great stuff as usual.