Baldur's Gate 3: Why Auntie Ethel Is Afraid Of Your Tadpole...

[@PlayerSkillFTW]

8:55 Fun Fact: After the (umpteen millionth) death of Mystra at the hands of Cyric which caused the Spell Plague, Mystra's Edict (the ban on mortals casting above 9th level spells) was gone. A Star Elf Mage in the "Key of Stars" novels mentions this, that while Mages are now temporarily weaker than they were before due to having to re-learn how the Weave works, they can eventually become much more powerful than before due to Mystra's limitations placed on mortals access to the Weave being gone after her death. This means that extremely old and powerful spellcasters (such as Larloch) who had knowledge of above 9th level spells prior to Mystra's Edict, could once again cast them. In fact, Larloch did drain several Mythals in an attempt to cast a version of Karsus' Avatar to become the new God of Magic, but was foiled by Elminster and the Srinshee.

[@spellandshield]

I remember Larloch trying that.

[@matthewvillanueva4420]

Question: is it back now that she's back again?

[@PlayerSkillFTW]

@@matthewvillanueva4420 Yep. That's what Gale talks about in BG3, with how whenever he slept with Mystra, he would get a glimpse of the Weave beyond what Mystra would allow him to access. He begged and pleaded with her to be allowed to access that forbidden magic, so that he could better serve her, but she always refused. Eventually Gale recovered a piece of Whole Weave magic (what Mystra refers to as "Karsite Magic"), thinking it would impress Mystra enough to make an exception for him, but instead it terrified her. Mystra basically gives Gale a suicide mission because she's terrified of the Whole Weave magic he now contains.

[@Senok13]

@@PlayerSkillFTW It's pretty understandable, if you think about that how Karsus used that magic. And there is the golden rule: "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." She has her role, and by the other gods, she has her limitations - limitations, which are not apply to mortals. So, until one of them would be able to ascend into godhood, they could abuse that power, as much as they want. (And other mortals let it to do so.) Without Mystra, there would only be Chaos magic, as there would be no rules, what apply to - or no magic at all. Realising, how much the creatures of Faerun depend on magic, a bit of limitation still far better, than the total self-annihilation, what otherwise they would cause.

[@deathbycognitivedissonance5036]

Finally someone covering the Netherese and their connection to the plot. Great video!

[@Kmaitland89]

This is a great video! As a person who just got back into DnD through BG3, this is exactly what I was looking for.

[@epli72]

Didn't Omeluum (the friendly mindflayer in the myconid colony) mention at some point that he used to know a lich in the past? Coincidence?

[@Suzanne_sf]

Hi. Thank you for the video. I believe only you and HarbsNarbs have talked about the Netherese. Besides what you have said here, the last time I played BG3, I came across some dialogue with Gale on how the portals we use have Netherese magic and of course, we can't forget the Netherese orb that is inside of Gale. BG3 is going to be a wild ride once Larian is finished making it.

[@spellandshield]

Yes, it will be. Gale does mention the Netherese in the context of the portals as well as the orb. Good points.

[@anska7475]

It surprised me, when visiting her with Origin-Gale, that she reacts strongly to the tadpole but not to the whole tainted wizard. Which is similar to how Astarion seems to usually sense tainted blood (like that of Araj) without having to take a sip first, but is completely unaware of Gale's blood being off prior to having a snack.

[@Suzanne_sf]

@@spellandshield Thank you!

[@Suzanne_sf]

@@anska7475 Interesting!

[@garwynrosser8907]

When it comes to netherese... When someone says the sky is falling down. They ain't joking.

[@lostzephyr2191]

As always, a high level of quality. Keep them coming!

[@apres-lachute8718]

Fantastic video. Love the detail and the fact that you talked about the Shadovar. It seems obvious that the Netherese have their fingers in many pies in the game.

[@spellandshield]

They are obviously deeply involved in the plot. Someone had to talk about them.

[@Oneydjak]

Hey this was a great recap of one of the settings most interesting pieces! I'm really looking forward how they're tying into the game!

[@andrewvincent7299]

There seems to be quite a few factions and powers at play here. I think the main players are the Absolute(The Dead Three), the manipulated Mindflayers(I believe the dead three are manipulating them), The Githyanki, Shar and her Sharrans(possibly Netherese or a separate group of Shar worshippers) and Zariel. Another god involved but not directly is Kelemvor(I believe Withers is an avatar of Jergal sent to find out what is going on or even aid the player). There is a lot at play here and I can't wait to see what's truly going on.

[@raaznak]

but isn't the absolute referred to as a unification of the group of mindflayers by a dead mindflayer in goblin's camp?

[@raaznak]

also, you forgot vampires. So, now you have vampires, demons, shar, gith, and the absolute with the mindflayers. Too dark for me, there should be somewhat better sides

[@luiousy7329]

@@raaznak Shadowheart's true master is probably Selunem, also the Vampires are working with infernals and same side.

[@battlerushiromiya205]

@@raaznak Nah i think we should throw lolth in there for good measure

[@thatweirdgirl8466]

@@battlerushiromiya205 you can technically worship her in the game so maybe she’s already in the ring throwing secret punches lol 😂

[@MrDarkenson]

It nicely relates to the story of basic Neverwinter Nights 2 story as well. Where the player has to deal with the consequences of Mystral's death. As we are fighting King of Shadows. An arcane Guardian of Ilefarn Empire that turned to the weave of shadow when regular one went into chaos. Such an ancient history and yet it still haunts us to this day.

[@aver155]

What a great channel! Glad I've discovered it. Helps me with my BG3 itch.

[@SolidDragonUK]

God tier narration. Subbed.

[@spellandshield]

Thank you!

[@mildlyannoyed1]

For all those fledglings who aren't as ancient as me: Netherese Ruins can be explored in Neverwinter Nights: Shadows on Unrentide. Thanks for the informative video. Enjoyed watching it! Your game-Audio 11:56 is a bit low in comparison to your voice but you probably noticed that yourself already.

[@jimrusel6629]

This might explain why both the duergar and the deep gnomes are so intimidated by the Absolute. You wouldn't want to get on the Shadovar's bad side.

[@spellandshield]

Perhaps. I am not sure how much contact those races have with the Shadovar tbh.

[@andrewvincent7299]

The Absolute have a direct connection with the Dead Three, not Shar and the Shadovar. I believe Shar is working against the Dead three, hence why a group of Sharrans that included Shadowheart attacked the Mindflayer ship which was indirectly working for the Absolute. Plus the Absolute symbol is the combination of Bane, Myrkul, and Bhaal's symbols. Shar is evil but she is definitely not friends with the Dead three.

[@jimrusel6629]

@@andrewvincent7299 I had no idea Shadowheart's group actually attacked the ship. This explains a lot

[@qzbnyv]

@@jimrusel6629 That’s the theory, at least. The main reason (I think) being that the opening cutscenes show that there were already dead Mind Flayers on board the Nautiloid BEFORE the Githyanki dragon riders attacked. The Illithid who puts your tadpole in looks down at one of them as it floats past it on its way out of the room. So it seems the Nautiloid had already been attacked, and Shadowheart goes on about how she was on a raid to get her weapon box thing and she was the last survivor. So it’s an easy assumption to guess she was attacking the ship. That said, in contrast to what this video says, I’m totally open to believing that Shar is working with the Dead Three and directly provided the shadow magic necessary to suppress the tadpoles. And that the first Illithid (who tadpoles both Lae’zel and you) is actually part of Shadowheart’s team. So the Dead-Three aligned/controlled Illithid is actually floating past and looking down at a normal Illithid that it killed itself. And the Nautiloid was specifically taken over by them to be used as a strike vehicle to attack the Githyanki and steal Vlakith’s weapon rune box thing that Shadowheart now carries around. ….but that’s my headcanon/guess

[@qzbnyv]

errr, “in contrast to what Andrew Vincent says above” (not “to what this video says”). oops

[@ericfluellen8957]

Great video.

[@mikemullen2047]

Idea would be that ilithids were mentioned before to actually time travel as they came from the future that was all lost. Mentioned by the aboleths that encountered them. So one point maybe a netherese mage got by a mind flayer. Before he turned he affected the tadpole to keep his memories and personality. Now he is conducting experiments for the future of netherese.

[@artiepavlov6022]

Solid lore video. Good job!

[@cernunnos_lives]

Man your uploads are getting slick brother. I even love the title thumbnail pics. And of course the content is great. I've been noticing a lot of old farts (like me, who played AD&D as kids), are getting sucked into this Larian game.

[@nyanko2077]

I love how Larian went digging deep in D&D lore. Such an awesome studio. The eye thing is so bad for the player though. I guess, there is a way to remove the curse, but where and how?

[@minakoperegrinus2636]

You can have Volo remove the eye in his experimental cure abd get the ersazt eye in exchange for the failure. This all comes with the price of a -1 to intelligence tho.

[@AirLancer]

@@minakoperegrinus2636 Does the choice of which eye the hag is supposed to take matter when it comes to the eye you get from Volo, or is that just fluff?

[@kristopherjohnston3337]

@@AirLancer We can find out

[@upsetti6404]

@singingman2025 Game doesnt let you get to 17th level so Wish isnt ever going to be a viable spell you can actually cast, we do see it cast in the full release though by a powerful npc if you make the wrong choice lmao

[@MyViolador]

​@@minakoperegrinus2636volo eye now gives passive detect invisible with no negatives

[@Tentacl]

This was pretty cool. I recently found your channel, subbed, good quality

[@kephryccephryc863]

sadly all this turned out to by just some powerful Netherese artefact used by the dead 3 gods chosen champions

[@SirCharles12357]

Excellent lore video! I always wondered what Auntie Ethel was referring too!

[@williamhenry8914]

There's a top tier lore deep dive lurking under this video title.

[@raisinbranmunch7552]

Great video! I was totally unaware of the last bit regarding the lich/elder brain infusion-- neat!

[@paulpoumet773]

Apparently there is a huge link with the Dead Three and our tadpole.

[@spellandshield]

Yes. At the moment it is fairly ambiguous but the Dead Three are definitely involved as well.

[@andrewvincent7299]

The Dead Three are no doubt the Absolute as the Absolute symbol combines the three symbols of Bane, Myrkul, and Bhaal.

[@paulpoumet773]

@@andrewvincent7299 Well, we don't know yet. They can be allied with the Absolute for instance, allowing it to use their combined symbols. Otherwise they would have nothing to gain by presenting themselves as one single entity (instead of themselves directly) which is nowhere near their domain and portfolio. Instead of gaining anything, it's more the contrary actually, as all the followers of the Absolute stop being possible followers of the Dead Three, and since for gods more followers means more power, they loose a lot. They can be allied but clearly not friends, such and a forced alliance for instance. A cult of the Dead Three can be more or less behind the cult of the Absolute without the involvment of the Dead Three. The Absolute seems to be strongly linked to psyonic powers (something absolutly not linked to the Dead Three) and old way Ilithids (another things absolutly not linked to the Dead Three). Therefore we can't say such things as "the Dead Three are no doubt the Absolute", for the moment, we can only point at the link between them regarding the symbols, and the leaks. By the way, I wonder if a cleric of one of the Dead Three, or anyone with skilled in Religion recognise that the symbol of the absolute is just a mix of the Dead Three's symbols.

[@MysticTroll]

The Dead Three are definitely the most gods of all time.

[@rabuliz]

That’s a great video thank you for making it

[@spellandshield]

Thank you!

[@patrickgjertsen9577]

Spell and shield, I have said this before. I love your voice. You sound like the archetype mentor every man whished for.

[@spellandshield]

Thank you, apprecaite the kind words!

[@EdenFalCie]

ethel is no ones first time hearing about netherise. gale blatently says it when you first meet him about the portals.

[@spellandshield]

Sure but he makes no mention of its connection to the tadpole.

[@EdenFalCie]

@@spellandshield true. i wasnt trying to be a jerk or anything. just noticed you didnt specify to do with the tadpole. just said it was the first mention of the netherese is all.

[@spellandshield]

@@EdenFalCie Fair.

[@EdenFalCie]

@@spellandshield that said, you did a fantastic job. very entertaining. and near flawless info. definitely earned another sub. :)

[@spellandshield]

@@EdenFalCie Thanks!

[@AshoreNevermore]

14:40 Wait, "[...] like blood and piss"? Isn't that what Benji (the Ghoul at the Circus) says? "[...] like piss and iron." (Iron referring to the iron content of blood.)

[@AimlessSavant]

15:10 Ethel is breifly pulled one second back in time. :V

[@rogerwilco2]

If there is a link to Netheril and shadow magic, there is probably a link to Shar and Shadowheart.

[@jarrodbright5231]

Shadowheart working for the Shadovar instead of the mainstream church of Shar perhaps?

[@lsaria5998]

Possibility of Shadowheart's mysterious artifact containing Karsus's Avatar?

[@МаргаритаСмирнова-у6б]

Very useful video !Thanks!

[@spellandshield]

Thank you!

[@necrolicious]

I wonder if the skelebro who joins your camp and rezzes your dudes is Yulum(however you spell it) or a servant of his.

[@ChargeQM]

Based off of what I've seen, definitely not. SPOILERS BELOW He is Jergal, former lord of Death, and though Kelemvor now holds that title, he serves Kelemvor as a record keeper and seneschal. He usually does not interfere in mortal doings, but things are set in motion by others with parts of his old portfolio (Bhaal, Bane, and Myrkyul) that he must nudge back onto a proper course.

[@necrolicious]

I must have wrote this before I saw the cutscene of Withers talking to the mural. 100% he's Jergal.@@ChargeQM

[@PlayerSkillFTW]

Honestly, I doubt that Ioulaum is involved with the Illithid Tadpole. The hag states it's Netherese shadow magic, but shadow magic was specific to Thultanthar (Shade Enclave) due to it escaping Karsus' Folly by being in the Plane of Shadows at the time. Ioulaum himself was not particularly known for shadow magic.

[@jarrodbright5231]

I'd agree with you that Ioulaum isn't known for shadow magic and that the whole plot seems something he would be less likely to be involved in (especially since he's had all the time in the world to hatch such a thing so "why now?") There is someone though who is closely connected to Ioalaum, spent a very long time with a lot of Illithids (including the 2000 Illithid souls she absorbed) and was imprisoned by the Shadovar for around a century until very recently, who may be involved in this plot. While Ioalaum would be cool to have directly, I would be less surprised to see his connection through Tabra being involved in the plot somehow. Heck given the lengths she's been willing to go to in order to hunt down archmages who worked with the Shadovar I wouldn't be too surprised if she was involved in the tadpole plot directly.

[@thordragon97]

The earliest that you can hear about the Netherese is actually when Gale steps out of the rune! If you ask him what happened he mentions its probably old Netherese magic

[@mishiara5499]

Speaking of Ethel - they should make it an option when you have her on single digit amount of health points and she tries to make a deal - that you can make the deal to leave the girl, give you power (the two stat increases) - but you deceive her and kill her.

[@Vagabond_01]

What do you mean they should make it? This has been in the game for ages...

[@mishiara5499]

@@Vagabond_01 no not that you can deceieve and kill ethel her after making the deal

[@battlerushiromiya205]

Choices and consequences, you cant have your cake and eat it too, only a certain amount of weight can keep the boat afloat.., need i go on?

[@mishiara5499]

@@battlerushiromiya205 no not really as you already can get the deal, and save the girl it just makes the hag get away. You could also get the power and let her have the girl, or you can kill the hag and save the girl

[@GermLoc]

I'll say this for Larian thus far.....they've added a shocking and surprising amount of player choice to go about solving or navigating quests and the outcomes. it's quite in depth and more realistic than I've really seen in games. i'm impressed so.....something like that JUST may be a possibility.

[@fhrizo]

seems that they downgraded the lighting quality

[@vivi44]

If this theory is true and the Vlaketh Phylactery in Shadowhearts possession is true. It can me big bad things.

[@CrookedTundra]

I got blue balls from almost killing Ethel she retreated to the guy she turned into the gate is there a glitch cause I pass persuasion check and I still can't get in 😢

[@louiesatterwhite3885]

Dude just walk through the wall, it's an illusion.

[@thisorthat629]

that would've been such a cool story. instead we got dead three, again still love the game, but for the next game, can we please let the dead three rest? there were so many great theories, that would've fit better than deus ex machina crown of karsus

[@caseyb1346]

either let them rest or kill them for good. Seems like we're headed for that latter, considering Withers remarks about them in the epilogue. Withers, aka Jergal, wants to make up for his mistake of creating the dead three. The fact he resurrects party members who sacrifice themselves for various endings suggests he's keeping them as his own "chosen" of sorts.

[@dog_with_hat]

I was here before they blew up

[@silentdante]

dont know if you read messages left on old videos like this, buyt i was wondering if you had a list of the novels or books that cover a lot of this stuff? thanks!

[@spellandshield]

I do indeed Lord Dante! and what's more I made a video recommending books and novels to immerse yourself in the lore. Look for it under my channel name with the title: Novels To Enrich Your Baldur's Gate 3 Experience

[@silentdante]

@@spellandshield sweet thanks, great channel

[@tremeloandtriplets]

Shadow Wizard Money Gang

[@necromancer0616]

It would be a curse if we were not to mention the Mind Flayer that we met in the Underdark Myconid village. He too was an arcanist out cast as per his dialog. Perhaps it was really him who created the tadpole?

[@spellandshield]

Given how surprised he is by the tadpole when he tries to find out what is going on, it is doubtful.

[@necromancer0616]

@@spellandshield There's this thing we villains do it's called acxting and lying. You may have heard of it?

[@dimitrijevukajlovic6063]

@@necromancer0616 You should be in the olympics the way you're leaping to conclusions.

[@faselfasel2864]

@@necromancer0616 That specific Mindflayer has a Ring of Mind shielding on himself, so he is cut off from any elder brain or hive mind connection. If he was truly a villain or would be the mastermind behind the tadpole manipulation, he would not go out of his way to try and help you remove it or give you more new info about it. He would say that he couldnt help you and then direct you towards some kind of trap/manipulate the tadpole to take over control of you. You are at his absolute mercy when he does the probing and cure. So no, you're wrong.

[@AnijatsuGentlemen]

fix your mic - it clips

[@Praetoreon]

Did you seriously just say “hitherto unseen”?

[@BLACKDOJAH789]

Interesting points not sure how Devils the Shadowvar, mind flayer's , The ancient Netereese and the xfer of God Portfolios all merge together however it is important to note that Edwin was looking for the Nether scrolls , Xfering divine powers was the premise from bg2 and its modeules with the underdark and the magic of the elves playing a part. The original protagonist was a decentdant of the Netherese and at the opening scene there were a lot of dead 😳 Mindflayers around and no one explained why .....they were not killed by dragons maybe defects?????

[@odinulveson9101]

Hope we can get rid of that brain rascal from any in the party no later than mid-game. I want to be pure from illithid non sense and focus on greater threats. Also the tadpole shouldnt be turned into a mcguffin, then it actually harms the little buggers role as plot hook.. you gonna live... for now

[@caad5258]

nice

[@elijahbrooks1472]

Crazy 2yrs later that the game still only has a Act 1 lol. But they said it’s suppose to be a big game so it’s understandable

[@pajurr]

To be honest, I did not understand what you said

[@nemendor]

Currently, when you want to have this dialogue explored, but don't want to loose an eye yourself: initiate the conversation with a companion character (someone that usually stays at the camp). Kinda scumbag move, but as they will be sitting in your camp anyway, they wont be missing the eye that much.

[@tatters6623]

what if it wyll? pretty sure hell miss it hahaha!

[@NeverUseAnApostrophe]

Lose, not loose.

[@nyyotam4057]

Hmmm.. So Omelon is actually bound to Ulam and Ulam's idea is to create the fabled illithid that saves the previous personality, the one illithid all illithids fear, so that he will bring the non-undead illithids down and leave Ulam as the only elderbrain in existence, albeit undead? Well, this explains the plot. Now I don't need to play the game🙂.

[@aw2031zap]

that is not the story of the game, at any rate