Astarion & Cazador: All 4 Choices, Outcomes, & Endings | Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3)

[@Ehreads]

I love how in the non-ascension endings when he kills Cazador he sobs, but the context of your choices changes the whole flavor of the scene. If you don’t help him he seems to be mourning that loss of power, but if you’ve persuaded him not to do it, it’s more like a final release/relief. The context adds so much to it, even though it’s the same scene.

[@garyburke6156]

this is why neil newbon won voice actor of the year. this entire scene from start to finish was just flawless

[@pdjinne65]

on par with Raphael... morally ambiguous characters are the best

[@_Velqine_]

Hes not a voice actor.. motion capture, he acted

[@infamousminer5820]

I’m surprised you can’t make him drink Cazadores blood to become a full vampire instead of an ascended one. A power boost but not as big as the evil route.

[@aloneinthedark99]

Full vampires don't have souls. They're all evil.

[@Kenocka]

Yeah I was expecting that to be an option too. It makes sense. You have him down and at your mercy. Nothing is stopping Astarion from doing that.

[@infamousminer5820]

@@Kenocka it’s unfortunate. Makes complete sense, is alluded to and is the ultimate shame for a vampire. In fact, cazadore most likely did this to his master.

[@StubbornStupidity]

Yeah I don't understand why that's not an option.

[@inexalign]

@@StubbornStupidityA vampire’s blood has to be given willingly for that to work. Cazador certainly wasn’t willing in this moment. That’s why there is so much dialogue about how it “never happens” - vampires don’t turn their spawn into true vampires because it would only create competition, and that change can’t be taken by force.

[@KonStarStudio]

Just by looking at his demeanor and body language, you can tell that after ascension it's no longer YOUR Astarion, or at least the Astarion you've come to known throughout your journey. As much as I would love to have that 1d10 necro damage on my monk Astarion, it's not worth selling his soul over.

[@nesarakomire5044]

He might not be as cute as his uncorrupted self. But you have to say: of all the power hungry manipulative evil guys he is still the most loyal and loveable one. I love the voicecrack after his evil laugh ^w^

[@ekeclout3941]

​@@nesarakomire5044 Astarion's been given absolutely incredible scenes, they've written him so well. I love the one where you kick him in the balls and he leaves camp forever. Kudos to the VA.

[@asmalltalk]

@@ekeclout3941 Neil Newbon's voice acting is pure deliciousness. no matter what Astarion says it is either hilarious, tender, or sinister sweet. no other VA could bring so much personality into a character.

[@spirsom8750]

What does buffed Astarion get besides 1d10 necro damage? I plan to play my evil playthrough as him.

[@asmalltalk]

@@spirsom8750turn into mist and summon ghouls from what I’ve heard

[@joenidever7080]

I got a different ending. I started to let him ascend and got cold feet. I interrupted it and all the vampires died except Astarion. He left the party, turned aggressive and fought me.

[@zackvnoone]

Same here

[@TheMinecraftMan757]

I accidentally pressed the button to help him, but I backed out before he started the ritual, which seems to have pivoted it to the simple refusal path. I was shocked that he consigned all the spawn to their fate and left us.

[@TheHolyLionOx]

same here

[@scattysafari7742]

Does he get extra powers if you ascend him?

[@waltuh979]

@@scattysafari7742 yeah but he becomes evil

[@auroramadariaga4081]

I don't think I'll ever have the heart to let him ascent, but I must admit that scene of Astarion doing to Cazador what the bastard did to him and then using his own staff to command him to take what would have been his place is fucking poetic.

[@Thom35UO]

Not poetic, but i felt it was satisfying

[@odellelottering9375]

Something that that scene provides that you dont otherwise see, is how quickly astarion puts the thing on cazadors back. It takes a few minutes. But when he did it too astarion he spent an entire night doing it. It just reveals that Cazador made it last that long just to torture him

[@BrittonFilmmaker]

@@odellelottering9375just did this scene, it fades to black after the final birds eye view shot and then cuts back in after a timeskip. I assumed it took at least a couple hours. I imagined I and the party helped fill in some of the finer details haha.

[@justinburchette]

​@@odellelottering9375 Indeed, it's one of many instances where we get to see just how incredibly violent, abusive and sadistic he was. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like to be a victim of someone like that for *two fucking centuries...* It's really no wonder at all why Astarion is so fucked up. Honestly, who wouldn't be...?

[@TheMacC117]

It's criminal that we can't let him do this and Then stop him from performing the ritual.

[@birdpresident]

You missed an outcome where if you stop the ritual last minute astarion will turn on you and initiate a battle sequence

[@sebastjankrek1744]

This is what just happened to me, had to kill Asterion too. A tragic end for him, but an understandable one. Considering the low influence I had with him I knew I was probably going to get a crap ending for him lol

[@lazynoodle_4881]

Does he do this even when romancing him??

[@birdpresident]

@@lazynoodle_4881 I was romancing him so it happened for me and it was so tragic 😭

[@Tkokat]

Astarion's voice actor goes hard, man. He's an amazing talent. I hope he keeps delivering amazing performances in future games.

[@nicolerobertson2654]

Yes, Neil Newbon is a fantastic actor! His range from Kamski and Gavin from Detroit Become Human, to Heisenberg in RE, and now Astarion. He has so much skill, and it's beautiful to see him embody the characters he plays.

[@meris8486]

Astarion becoming worse than Cazador is such a depressing end for his character

[@FranWest.]

He really isn't "worse than cazador" though. Is he the sweet, scared, weak Astarion that we fell in love with, no. But he is not cazador. cazador never had anyone be nice to him, love him, care for him, show him anything other than torment. Romanced Astarion does have all of those. No matter what you choose to do for Astarion, a Romanced Tav is THE MOST Important thing in the world to Astarion. Non ascended, he loves Tav and wants to be together for as long as they have...(till your Tav dies of old ages or leaves him) Ascended, Tav is still the most important thing to him (although his love is now more obsession, possession and lust than what we would call "love") He will always refer to Tav first then himself. His dialogue is always "we, ours, us", "Yours and mine Alone". "Ask me anything and it will be yours". He would never send Tav out to seduce others on his behalf either, because he NEVER wants to share Tav with anyone. He'd rather lock you up in his palace and "keep you all to myself". Providing that romanced and turned Tav never tries to go against Astarions wishes and your interests both align, he won't even try to compel you.

[@meris8486]

@@FranWest. I won't argue that he is worse but I do think he would become a far greater evil on the world than Cazador was. He becomes ascendant by first inflicting the same pain he suffered upon his master, then killing 6000 fledgelings plus another 6 or so who he knew. Cazador deserves all the suffering sure, but that's what hell is for, Astarion doing it personally is concerning. While there are reasons in favour of destroying those fledgelings like putting them out of their misery, saving the world more pain, it is not motivated by compassion but a desire for power. The other 6 fledglings are just like him, they didn't have a choice but he kills them anyway. If as a person he already did these things why not go further? are there any evils that he'd really balk at after this? He becomes incredibly powerful, this is important because it means there are few checks and balances in place to stop him from doing horrible things, his personality flips too becoming a textbook narcissistic sociopath, not exactly a man who will be content with long walks by the beach for eternity. On a personal note, his relationship with Tav is immediately toxic after this and is bordering on abusive. Like you said, from Tavs perspective Astarion is a mess who craves affection and can take it as he pleases with mind control. It's not exactly a relationship that can end on a happy note for reasons you point out. That's my perspective, granted I don't have as many references for this side of the character (yet)

[@thedankgnasty1890]

@@FranWest. He essentially becomes Cazador, but with one "thing" he's "good" towards, that being Tav. That doesn't change the fact that he commits unspeakable horrors and becomes an evil overlord, putting people in the same loop of abuse that Cazador put him in.

[@FranWest.]

@@thedankgnasty1890 - Other than the ritual itself - exactly what "unspeakable horrors" has he committed? - He only becomes an "evil overlord" if you choose to that path for him. He literally asks you what you want "Ask me anything, and it will be yours" YOU can decide if you just want to see the world with him and he will gladly agree.

[@thedankgnasty1890]

@FranWest. sure, sure, but that doesn't mean he isn't evil. He isn't the same Astarion anymore. He sees you, the player, as a possession, an object to obsess over. The ritual made him (as it was stated to) pure evil, and he murdered his fellow vampire spawn in the process. Besides, it can be assumed that he feeds and/or kills nonchalantly anyways. That being said, it seems you agree that this isn't the same Astarion anymore by any means, this is someone evil, someone entirely different connected to past Astarion only by their "love" (if you can even call it that now) for the player. This Astarion, is pure evil, possessive, and has a God complex. This isn't the best choice for Astarion himself at all. Astarion becomes a good person, a better person, a truly caring person, should you help him down that path. This one makes him a sociopathic, power-hungry, possessive monster who might not do things that are TOO bad just because his pet told him to. This isn't the Astarion we all know and love. This is the worst outcome for him, considering this is no longer Astarion. Regardless of whether you tell him not to be act out his larger evil ambitions, that doesn't change the fact that he's now an evil, horrible individual who's essentially Cazador 2.0 because the player helped him along the wrong path.

[@TheTanakaMiyuki]

I'm planning on doing an "evil" run after my current good one but man, I feel like even with the goal of being evil it will be so hard for me to let Astarion ascend. I love his character and story and knowing he turns into Cazador v2, continuing the cycle of abuse is heartbreaking :(

[@stormychu5677]

You could RP it as your character not wanting any potential competition with an ascended vampire, thus just not allow him to do so.

[@Dani-nl2id]

I let him ascend on my good play through, what are you talking about :()

[@dopaminedrought395]

@@Dani-nl2id I wouldn't consider it a good playthrough if you don't want the good outcomes for your companions and you make them worse people

[@kstar1489]

@@Dani-nl2idif you let him ascend that’s not a good play through

[@TheTanakaMiyuki]

@Dani-nl2id for the record, I also romanced him and he very clearly does not see the player as an equal partner anymore. He immediately starts talking about turning people and yourself into spawns so he can control them. It's very clear that he becomes like Cazador, just like Cazador turned out like his old master.

[@meris8486]

"Rare is the man who's made better by having a bit of power"

[@isaactaylor8086]

"I am, the greatest vampire to walk this land. Even the pale knight would have knelt before me." Dawg, strahd could slap you halfway across the sword coast. calm down. Cazador was not even a fully powered vampire.

[@DeRizzlo]

exactly lol, my durge used kill word on him to shut him up forever after he said that to me XD

[@just_space_]

I just love how Astarion yeets Cazador out of his coffin

[@LordLux]

there is another one If you killed astarion you will find him as a zombie, sacrified like the others vampires. Then the choise of killing cazador and the prisoners is yours

[@meris8486]

You can. Real dick move though 😅

[@Gijo0205]

Can i lay in the coffing and finish the ritual as Tav, sacrificing Astarion?

[@melaniescribbles]

@@Gijo0205 Not that I know of; at the coffin itself, you either have the choice of leaving or staking him. If I remember correctly, that is.

[@marcosaugustorodrigueszano5945]

I wish he could take the power and still be good.

[@9volt65]

That’s the whole point. His whole story is about the cycle of abuse. Cazador’s former master abused people with his power over them, so Cazador did the same thing. Astarion is desperate for power since it’s the only way he knows how to be safe- but his only experience with power has been using it to hurt other people or to have it be used to hurt him. Him getting the power of complete dominion over vampirism and not being evil makes no sense. That was his goal the entire time. To him, it is safety and was his goal the entire time. When you ‘save’ him by stopping the ritual, you’re helping him break the cycle of abuse. I love the writing in this game. It’s so good.

[@HisameArtwork]

@@9volt65 true that, but why can't we be ascended vampires. meh.

[@MaXiMoS54]

I'd like to think hes good until he goes crazy after you die and becomes a villain later on in the series

[@marcosaugustorodrigueszano5945]

@@9volt65 I understand that, but as I said, I WISH he could be good even if he gets the power. To stop the cycle of abuse not brcause he cant abuse others, but because he wants to be different.

[@skolas-aditya]

​@@marcosaugustorodrigueszano5945honestly, considering the price of the ritual, what did you expect? The ritual corrupts whatever he was before, and all that's left is a twisted version of him.

[@ZakPlaysPerc]

There's actually one more ending! You can decide to stop Astarion in the middle of ascension by killing Cazador. Doing that turns Astarion on you and you fight him.

[@PenguinFondue]

That would make me feel awful!

[@woosongro8425]

this is what happened to me.. which made me rollback

[@lawrencefosterjenkins8216]

Funniest thing you can do on an origin run is carve the scars in cazador’s back and then stake him anyway. Very much a “I’m not gonna stoop to your level but I will make you suffer first”. And unlike tav/durge forcibly stopping you, it’s your choice.

[@PsyCoil]

That was some good storytelling. I always thought Astarion themes are about overcoming trauma, nature vs nurture, letting go, etc. The end of him killing Cazador is almost spiritual cleansing of sorts. Born anew if you will. Back to the dark a different person.

[@LuizOtavioZen]

He can always cure his vampirism though, lorewise there are at least two methods of doing it that i am aware of, true ressurection and wish. I bet Larian could come up with a interesting quest for it on a possible expansion or sequel.

[@kstar1489]

@@LuizOtavioZenthere is a dialogue option at the end of the good path with him that has you say you want to search for a cure for him. Idk about them actually adding that though

[@garyburke6156]

in the best outcome astarion becomes a dark hero, sort of a vampire Batman

[@Aurirang]

@@garyburke6156 Spoiler for the Endgame party: If you haven't romanced Atarion and leave him to his own devices as the non Ascendant Vampire, he just turns into just this. :D He remarks, how he's really good at killing bad people. So.. yay i guess?

[@AndyMacster]

Every end feels so rich and fitting. It really is exactly how Astarion would act, should he have had a change of heart, or a push in an alternate direction The only bad ending? When you fail to be there for him when he tells you he needs you. Fantastic writing

[@Capbyte]

There is a variation, if you kill one of the brothers in the ritual, it will be impossible to complete the ritual and Astarion will not be mad at you, as soon as he kills the Kazador, all the other brothers will flee and will not say anything to him, and then the option will appear to save or kill all the other 7 thousand vampires. I just did this and came here on KZbin to check what the other endings were like. I killed one of the brothers to prevent the ritual because I hadn't realized that I could rescue Astarion just by clicking on it.

[@Klaryz]

Early in the game, you can question him about vampires and he explains how a vampire spawn has to drink their master's blood to cure their vampirism, i thought it was very clever foreshadowing, but seeing that Cazador is technically undead and unable to be targeted by the "bite" attack it seems to be impossible :( so sad there's no happy endings for him, hope Larian considers adding it in a patch

[@urbirdfriend]

Right? I was really disappointed that it seemed like foreshadowing that didn't go anywhere. It seems like the writers thought the ascension was essentially the same as him becoming a full vamp, but it's kinda not. It's not what we originally talked to him about and what was implied could happen in the Cazador encounter

[@DariaStark23]

Not to cure vampirism, but to become "real vampire", just like Cazador. That includes cutting off the bond "master-servant", abitily for Astarion to turn another creatures into vampires, and some rise of abilities. Not like Acsended Vampire, but still he'd become stronger

[@DawnnLynn]

He also stated Cazador would have to consent to Astarion drinking his blood. Which of course, Cazador would never do

[@GioFireheart]

@@DawnnLynnI’ve seen a lot of people interpret the dialogue that way and I have to say that I disagree. I believe that when Astarion says that “Cazador would have to allow it,” references the fact that Cazador literally controls them. Like their bodies do not move without his say-so. In a world where he lets his guard down, or his thralls find a way to resist domination like Astarion has, I believe that the spawn should absolutely be able to drink his blood to become true vampires. It would just be silly otherwise.

[@Klaryz]

@@DariaStark23 oh thank you! i may have misunderstood the dialog, english is still hard sometimes, however i still find it sad that Astarion can't get half a good ending, it's either living forever as a spawn or becoming his abuser

[@doominator-117]

It is really sad how the Astarion we knew was, well, almost erased after the Ascension. I wonder if after gaining all that power, Astarion was corrupted because Cazador was part if the ritual, or because he himself was weaker of will to "resist" the evil influence, or maybe just was a lost cause, after he gained the Ascension, was doomed from the very beginning.

[@thespanishinquisition4078]

Ascension does that to people. Its a mind virus. Quite literally in the tabletop if you ascend it forces an alignment shift unless you were already evil.

[@dopaminedrought395]

from what I've heard it's Ascendant Vampire lore - them being cruel and incapable of compassion/love comes with the territory regardless of their personalities before or their willpower or anything

[@sasori2425]

It has nothing to do with Cazador also please remember even Rapheal talks about how evil the ascension is even by demon standards. Also the ascension is an agreement between whomever does it and Mepho so it's evil all the way through even without being super accurate to table top DND.

[@12trillioniq25]

The very act of ascension changes you to be evil. You are trading seven thousand souls for power, there's no way thay yours doesn't come away unscathed.

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

@@12trillioniq25 Astarion is already a vampire spawn - he doesn't *have* a soul. Illithids, undead, none of them have souls. They lose them upon being turned. Astarion never had a soul, not since long before the party met him anyway.

[@blumelodiez]

12:10 i actually got this ending in my first attempt to persuade him not to ascend...and i have to say...the PAIN i felt in my heart when he said this...😭😭😭

[@songbird6414]

I got to this point tonight and had the most brutal, tragic failure on the last persuasion role. Immediately reloaded and tried again. Was not about to lose him.

[@LovecitaCherish]

I must say that from all the characters, Astarion is by far my favourite. Yes at the start he is a prick. You can't make a good choice cause he disaproved all of them (except accepting the olwbear lol) but with little to no harm choices he likes, u can romance him and he start to change so much, and then u see that he is nothing more than a child in his soul with a stone wall across everyone because all he ever knew for 200 years was fear and feeling worthless, nothing to be cared for and loved for. Also i have to add that Neil did an amazing job in every escene.

[@tarena397]

Can confirm, I play a good character, and Astarion is pain in the ass by disapproving almost every of my decisions lol (as I have exceptional with everyone else), but because I romance him and try to help him through the game/dialogue and being patient, I still got high approval (not exceptional thought) but it was enough :) I just realised that its the same as if you help him to choose non ascension for him, he says he was “enough” to us as it it, (and having high approval from him is enough as well, the poetry lol)

[@Aurirang]

To be fair, you have a throughoutly broken, abused man who got tossed completely and utterly outside of his comfort zone (a bustling city) and is now drunk on the feeling of newfound freedom. Can't expect him to make any level of sensible choices for himself and his surrounding, especially since he harbors the idea that the world is injust for having him let suffer like this. His disapprovings are mostly just for show, a mere 1 point usually. Letting him bite you, offsets them by far. It would be cool if Larian would add some flavour to the approvals/disapprovals. Like somebody approved slightly if it's only a few points or dissapproves greatly if you decided to piss on their grandmother. But yes, he's a little bitch in the beginning. Especially going back and seeing him act like that again (only reinforcing that he, in fact, is a really shitty actor) was on one part hilarous and a bigger part sad to see. It was also very nice to see that his likes and dislikes started to slowly crack through in act 2 and if you did not ascend him, he even stops giving you shit for wanting to save people but actually enforcing the idea. I still wouldn't call him a 'good person' per se. But at least it's made clear in the epilogue that he dearly loves whoever romanced him. (For me, it was my female druid who was.. by accident... half a head bigger than him. Which was hilarous in its own way and i had some serious secondguessing my priorities when Halsin showed up) That being said, i wonder if Larian has anything in store for my female drow that keeps gaslighting Astarion into staying with her. I made him bite the researcher and then manipulated him into not breaking thing off and oh gods.. that was painfull to listen to. His voicelines were pretty much the same as with my upportive druid (who defended him) but the Druid made the topic about wanting him to be save while the Drow made the topic about him apparently not desiring her anymore. It was like watching a spider slowly spinning in prey.

[@destinygalearies7382]

Idk why people say Astarion disapproves of all of your good decisions. Once I played a 100% resist durge cleric of Ilmater (yknow the god that's all about self sacrifice and protecting people from pain) and despite me playing in character as a selfless but troubled cleric, Astarion still loved my durge so much that he hit on him before the goblin party (which I rejected bc the character I was RPing was a straight guy lmao). He's like literally every other party member in the fact that, even in the math, as long as you just do his companion quest, help him with his problems, support him, and treat him nicely, you'll have high approval with him by act 3 or even act 2

[@Plaid_pants_panter]

He isnt a child, he is a grown as man. He fully knows Cazardors behavior is wrong before entering act 3 after learning about the Ritual he will tell you he was fine with Cazador abusing others, his problem is that he did it to him. If you are in a relationship with him he will try to manipulate you " if you really care about me you will side with me" each encounter with the spawn. At the flop house, when the spawn come at night. He doesn't change at all, in fact its worst that he manipulates your feelings if you romance him because he specifical starts the relationship admitting he wasn't genuine so he know wants to " be real with you"- and proceeded to try to manipulate your feelings until his arc is finished. All the characters in the game have been abused, some more extremely them him starting at CHILDHOOD- but they can change before Act 1 is over.[ the start of Act 2 for good Minthara] ..not Astarion though.

[@Plaid_pants_panter]

@@destinygalearies7382 Astarion always like the durge character lol- play as a normal character and you loose points when you make good choices. Original character and Durge are different. You kinda of cheat the approval with Durge-

[@potato_mash121]

"But I'm not above enjoying this" Oh man how I love this character 😂 He made me laugh so many times. Neil did a great great job voice acting him. I hope to hear or see much more of Neil, the narrator and many voice actors that were in BG3.

[@zilkill09]

Damn I never noticed the echoing during the talking with the gur lady. How did they really make it sound like they were in this giant stone underground palace? Also the music when Astarion is stabbing Cazador. Just amazing. Coupled with the 3 wails that Neil does so perfectly. It’s happy and sad. It’s exhaustion and adrenaline. It’s just perfect

[@Timmah73]

I did what I felt was the moraly correct thing and talked Astarian out of acending and let all the vampire spawn go. It immediatly broke my Paladin oath. No regrets I told the Oathbreaker fuck my oath I stand by the morality of my decision woo woo all aboard the Oathbreaker Paladin train.

[@notatallfunctional]

Which oath did it break?

[@Timmah73]

@@notatallfunctional Oath of the Ancients. It did not like me showing mercy on the vampire spawn prisoners I guess

[@rustkarl]

If that’s the case, it’s an oath worth breaking.

[@Scott-ql2kx]

​@Timmah73 it's oath of ancients, not oath of mercy. Unleashing 7000 feral vampire spawn, consigning even children to an eternity of darkness and bloodthirst, is not a good thing. Sending them to the Underdark is barely a solution. They still need to feed.

[@VisibleNoises]

Devotion does not break.

[@wiredmirrors]

when he just outright sobbing wailing after stabbing cazador 😭😭

[@sundaddy1077]

I love how if you convince him that being what he is isnt a sign of weakness, and the only obstacle between him and his freedom was cazador being alive, and not the hunger nor the sun, he feels empathetic towards his fellow spawn

[@twilightgrilminda]

I wish we could hug him after kills cazador in the good ending

[@jenni5104]

That wouldn't be good for him. He's letting out his fear and trauma. He needs a moment. To touch him here would be incredibly selfish.

[@BeAsTMoDE528]

@@jenni5104 youre speaking with such certainty when 1. Its a video game character, he will react however he is written to. 2. You don't know what people need in different moments, everyone is different. Even if you or someone else might need a moment alone, some people shouldnt be. 3. You are being judgy at this person wanting to hug someone going through something, calling them selfish. youre annoying, i shouldnt extrapolate much from one youtube comment but this isnt a good look for you and the people around you in terms of emotional intimacy and intelligence.

[@dopaminedrought395]

YES but like Tav offering a hug with arms open and letting Astarion choose to hug us

[@meris8486]

​@@BeAsTMoDE528bold to say someone lacks emotional intelligence. Consider Astarion as a person not as a block of text that "will react however he's written to" the man clearly needs a moment as he's screaming and sobbing on his knees to just feel the moment in its purity, the immense catharsis of 200 years of abuse coming to a bloody end at his hand. But AFTER that I'm sure a hug would be nice, the man needs to catch his breath is my 2 cents. Hugging while he's screaming seems like that would be selfish. More for the person giving the hug than the Astarion receiving it. He even says how numb he feels, just so overwhelmed by emotion to process anything else.

[@naysha2271]

Astarion being an older sibling in the good ending is so good. I love Big Brother!Astarion so much.

[@gabagool1265]

God the buildup in the music and the sheer emptiness in his eyes as he tells Tav she can die screaming for not helping with the ritual... Honestly it's heartrending.

[@ShatnerLover]

At first, I found Cazador underwhelming, but now I find him realistic. Not every boss has to be a Ketheric.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

I think it just goes to show that he was always pretending to be more powerful than he was, that's why he created the spawn. It didn't matter how weak he was, he had a bunch of people he could lord over and control

[@Stadtpark90]

You can also keep the prisoners in the prisons without killing them and walk away: no longer my problem - the Gur will deal with them. Persuade Astarion not to ascend, sen his six “siblings” to the Underdark, but refuse to free the 7000: Astarion breaks the staff and says something about being tired of cleaning up behind Cazador / not-my-problem-anymore. Paladin Oath is not broken. Hunters stay neutral / thankful and will have job watching the prison for forever (- at least that’s my interpretation). - Later Astarion Thanks me in camp for helping him be the better man.

[@annieislostinfandom]

The first time I got to this scene I was too harsh and flat out told him no. I didn’t realize there would be a persuasion check after some of the other options. As the scene progressed, I could tell this wasn’t going the way I wanted it to. But watching him destroy the staff and leave us still left me speechless. Fastest reload of my life.

[@missnightowl1476]

I know that maybe killing the spawn in the cells is not an easy decision and maybe morally questionable, but it also feels merciful in a way. Many of them have lost their families, their loved ones, and the children will be forever immortal without growing up, without maturing. They would be stuck in time while they lose everyone they cared for as well. I imagine that being killed would save them from a world of pain, of having to learn how to move on. They get to be reunited with those they had lost, and the children would never have to worry about losing ever again, and they would be eventually reunited with their families. Tragic yes, but death in a way is setting them free from further and needless pain, it puts them out of unnecessary misery. After what they had been put through, they at the very least deserve to be put to rest

[@skarlet1505]

And on top of that, even if they may be a way to cure them, it would only led to more suffering for their families. Some retain part of their old self, but most of them are feral... Wouldn't it be more cruel to sell those broken families a hope to see their lost ones, just to have them killed by those whom they have been looking for so long? For all that is worth, I think this it's the most pious choice for everyone.

[@socialjihad5724]

It's also a cruel fate for the people of baldurs gate, turning loose 7000 hungry vampire spawn, although ascended Astarion doesn't sound like he will be the most benevolent of denizens either...fully expect him to eventually get heart-staked by Jaheira

[@nordicpush1452]

I would say let almost 7000 hungry vampires go free is also morally questionable... Prob much more IMO...

[@sleshstamp]

There are THOUSANDS of them, is the thing. Even just a few of them breaking from the group to go kill innocent people is bad in the long run. I did not even bring Astarion to this encounter. I killed Cazador, blew up all the spawn, then went home to tell him about it. He still gave the whole "I need to think about stuff" thing though. I really, really did not want him to be here during this.

[@exantiuse497]

If there was a way to cure them, make them back into living humans/elves etc, that would be the best option. But that isn't an option, and idk if it is even possible to return a vempire into a living person in DnD. So killing them is the only ethical thing. Leaving them to rot in their cells is extremely cruel, releasing them is supremely dangerous even if it's the underdark they end up in (and they probably get killed swiftly anyways there considering how malnourished most of them are, having gone decades or centuries without feeding)

[@valandil7454]

Just a quick game breaker I couldn't fix - Halsin lit the place up with sunlight to deal with Cazador and if you cast it in place it DOESN'T GO OUT, it's not even a concentration spell it stays till you've had a long rest and repels the other vampires after you've killed him so you can't talk to them and use the staff to release or kill the spawn they just run away. Couldn't even cover it with a fog or darkness it cuts right over it, had to go back and do it again, put the sunlight on something I threw at him, it goes out in 20trns that way

[@anisdiana161]

I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS! I didn’t even manage to see Astarion crying after stabbing Cazador because of the sunlight…it just snaps back to the game and all the spawns went off running. 🥲

[@Aurirang]

I enchanted a dogs colar with sunlight and tossed it at cazadors feet. :D Turns out Caz really does not like having 3 Owlbears ( and a bunch of summons) smaking his face in. But in that fight, i've also light ablaze one of the spawn by accident with the fire wall. (The hitbox on it is kinda dodgy) Astarion just defaulted to stabbing Cazador without me ever getting a say in the matter. But it was nice to hear Cazador flipp out during the fight, when one of the spawn got killed.

[@destinygalearies7382]

Daylight can be cast on a person, an object, or just left suspended in the air. You can cancel daylight if you cast it on a weapon and just put the weapon away before beginning the cutscene, or move the person with daylight on them (hopefully not tav or astarion) away from the cutscene before activating

[@abduljah9355]

I just cast the spell a second time somewhere further away after beating Cazador but before opening the coffin to confront him for this cut scene

[@nordicpush1452]

Halsin and Wyll thinking free 7000 vampires is good idea... ffs....

[@ladooshka]

Gale too. I was baffled when he said something about regrets killing them.

[@rustkarl]

They’re still sentient thinking people. At least unleashing them on the Underdark means they’re unlikely to be finding many innocents. Really it depends on whether you do or don’t rationalise your decision by dehumanising them.

[@sebastiananderson2047]

You understand the ritual dooms their souls to oblivion, right? It's not simple death, it's the consumption of the soul, even worse than the Fugue Plane.

[@ryan1000011]

dnd vampires aren't as murdery as most other media so with guidance they can be decent people

[@VisibleNoises]

Not all of them are feral, like the kids couldn't have been there for that long. Don't they deserve the same chance Astarion or the other Spawn have?

[@TheSeeker225]

You also get different dialogue if you kill one of the vampires cazador needs for the ritual.

[@rokanwood7458]

not necessarily. he'll just scold you during the fight saying something like "you ruined everything" and while confronting cazador he simply won't mention the ritual at all

[@TheSeeker225]

You also get the "good" ending for Astarion. It's not drastically different, but the dialogue is different. 😊

[@meris8486]

Did that accidentally, thought you needed to in order to stop the bat swarms

[@hugostiglitz9487]

Did that intentionally lol... he yells at you during the fight but don't leave the party or fight you later. The difference is that you don't need to pass any checks after

[@gman2570]

Honestly that ones my favorite because the music that plays during it with the narration really hammers home that while he won it wasn’t a complete win because the trauma is still there

[@deminisis]

I was hoping for an option to drink Cazador's blood as the MC and continue the ritual if you left Astarion trapped. For some reason he escapes himself even if you don't help him during the ritual.

[@lPurpleAshes]

Same ! Even during the fight, I tried to have Astarious "Bite" Cazador, only to realise what I'd forgotten : it doesn't work on undead 🥲

[@lavishlyvice]

A few days ago I read that this only works if a true vampire actually agrees to it. Meaning you'd actually need Cazador's consent for you or Astarion to bite him. Not sure if that's factual though.

[@deminisis]

If i remember correctly, all Astarion said was you need true vampire blood to gain independent vampirism. If there is some stipulation that you have to first become a thrall, it wasn't explained. It's not a huge deal... 🤷‍♂️

[@arianistvanic6772]

@@deminisis I think he was just speculating from a perspective of a slave intentionally kept from learning anything useful about wampirism when he said that.

[@destinygalearies7382]

@@deminisis He does specifically say that a vampire needs to "let" their spawn drink their blood. He has a whole line of dialogue about how "in theory" becoming a full vampire is as simple as drinking their blood, but the problem is vampires almost never do so because doing so would mean "giving up control of a spawn to create a competitor"

[@4Shaman]

even so, Cazador triggered me in a deep, almost ancient way. For 100 hours Astarion has hyped Cazador up to be this imposing, charismatic tyrant, and then we meet the guy and… He’s a pathetic weasily brat. And that’s what truly cemented the depth of Astarion’s tragedy. Because Cazador embodied the traits of real r***sts and SA predators. Weak losers who get off on hurting someone vulnerable to make themselves feel big and tough. After a single minute I completely understood what Astarion had suffered for 100s of years Caz is one of the few video game characters I would call a *Monster*

[@majimadayoyoyo]

What happened to me is that I used sunlight then pushed Cazador to the edge, after the cutscene all of the vampires ran away not even a conversation with them then Astarion will say "Let's get out of here, I wanted to feel alive again. This place reeks of death.". The prisoners are not free yet you will have the same Dialogue as this when meeting with Ulma: 21:52

[@HopeAngel777]

Watching Cazador pop like a blood balloon....as hilarious as it was priceless!

[@o_fernandomattos]

I have a different outcome... During the Cazador fight, he completed the ritual before i could help Astarion, and he was gone forever, like all the other slaves. Then I defeated him and killed the Sczar. Ulma was satisfied after that, but for my surprise there wasn't a single dialogue of anyone about Astarion's death, makes me wonder if that was really supposed to happen...

[@thui8398]

not really, you are supossed to stop the ritual. In order to do so you must kill cazador in first 5 turns before he "ascend"

[@BrightBlueInk]

In my game I ended up killing Shadowheart because of a story choice, and the others didn't have anything to say about her dying, either. Seems like that's just how it is, sadly.

[@nightrider_]

I freed Astarion as quickly as possible. I didn't even know there was a turn limit on Cazador completing the ritual. That's why Caz commented that freeing him was a smart move. I didn't get it at the time xD

[@foxxygradius7858]

@@thui8398 I had no idea there was a time limit because I got the world's dumbest Caz AI for some reason. He turned into mist and literally flew over to the ledge, so I knocked him off with an Eldritch Blast. One shot KO.

[@fes4861]

I got so lucky and he turned human form near a edge and i just pushed him

[@orionpk]

Astarion's body is so beautiful, Larian Studios did a great job in this game

[@wallywest2360]

I accidentally eliminated the ascending option. After the fight Karlach was low on HP, and I have her using a sword that leaches some health on each hit. So instead of wasting potions or spell slots healing her I just started slashing away at the ritual vampires. They can't fight back so it was just free healing. Then I killed one of them and Astarion says "No! What are you doing?!?" I thought maybe I could free his fellow spawn as well or something, but probably he was mad that the ritual was no longer possible. Then I opened the coffin and in the cut scene there was no option to complete the ritual. Just had to decide whether to kill all the spawn or not.

[@aviendha1154]

There’s more options, deal with Astarion in a way that makes him feel safe earlier in the game and be never even considers taking the ritual and is always all in for killing his master and freeing himself.

[@aviendha1154]

@@tbeth I don’t know what triggered it, I just know that he didn’t need my help resisting the allure of ultimate dark power

[@robocar74]

I ended up killing all of the ritual vampire spawn so Astarion just defaulted to killing Cazador. I feel bad knowing there was a better ending to save them aswell but I figured it was the intended way to kill him.

[@BillyMadison3rdGrade]

Honestly, if you are having trouble witht he fight, try pushing Cazador off the platform, you will still be able to loot him and stuff, but it is the easiest way to kill hom before he completes his ritual

[@robocar74]

@@BillyMadison3rdGrade I didn’t find it too difficult, I just figured it was the intended way of fighting. Nerfing him down to a easy to kill pleb

[@ZPM7]

I think he needs to know that someone trusted him, that someone was there for him, so he could choose to grow. he becomes so fixated on usurping cazador, but I couldn't just watch him put himself into the position of his abuser. he could be better. he could thrive. I knew he could break the cycle of abuse. I'm proud of him for it.

[@dreaminglynx]

There's also stopping the ritual and him leaving the party and starting a fight with you

[@stonechevy423]

I just straight up kill one of the other vampires that were in the ritual and didn't have to convince him of anything. He just automatically picked the good option himself.

[@jcosmozd]

Something to note, if you play as Origins Astarion, you are given the option to carve the runes into Cazador, then promptly kill him anyways, which was such a beautiful reward for sticking with his origins

[@gabagoooby]

2:20 cazador looks like he's streaming BG3 on twitch in this shot

[@Deserit]

I've heard people say that it's possible for Astarion to still be able to stay in the sun without turning him into a vampire ascendant. Anyone know if this is true? And if so, how?

[@MelissaMcewen]

Maybe by transforming him with the astral tadpole? But he really doesn’t want that

[@stars-and-clouds]

​@@MelissaMcewenif that is the case I'm sure astarion would choose to remain as he is over being able to walk in the sun.

[@sarahdempsey3452]

@@stars-and-clouds*spoilers* this is accurate. Astarion expresses when you select certain dialogue options that he is very fearful of transforming into something else again (and he describes how painful it was to turn into a spawn). He would prefer to be a spawn over any mindflayer transformation (unless you manipulate him into accepting the astral tadpole). Even in his good ending, he is thankful that he didn’t ascend as that would have taken away what was left of his humanity. Not allowing him to ascend and him joy being able to be in the sunlight is outcome most true to his genuine desires.

[@entropiceffect]

@@MelissaMcewen ** Spoiler** The astral tadpole wgile only produce partial ceremorphosis and is undone by destroying the netherbrain. So no this wouldn't work.

[@MelissaMcewen]

@@entropiceffect ended up having to become The Absolute so that Tav could be in charge again

[@ashlenz7033]

i had a different ending. i accidentally killed one of the spawn using an aoe spell during the cazador fight. astarion said something like "what are you doing?!" but otherwise the cutscene was like he chose not to ascend, and i had no checks to pass. he never mentioned it further. possibly because i had a high approval with him (not romanced). not sure

[@kanda5324]

Oh I intentionally targeted the spawn so Cazador wouldn’t get the ritual done at all, and so Astarion wouldn’t ascend I got scolded by Cazador not Astarion funny enough

[@vella8650]

I love when he doesn’t ascend and the graveyard scene, it is so beautiful and sweet and freeing. He really does start to change afterwards, slowly but surely. He doesn’t stop completely being the sassy orange cat that he is though, which is fine by me because it is funny 🤣

[@anthoniemccay]

Honestly he’s kinda right to kill the other spawn though, 7000 spawn that were locked up for hundreds of years and semi-feral. They won’t reproduce but they will be a menace

[@abduljah9355]

Some of them were children who were kidnapped like a couple of weeks ago

[@molealto]

"I will stop you, vampire. For I am no ordinary werebear druid. I am Abraham Van Halsin."

[@claireabraham9463]

This is crazy. Asterion's personal story is the most powerful odyssey I've seen in any RPG, ever, and I've been playing for 25 years.

[@cevie6928]

Halsin is right it's really a hard decision dang

[@metarra]

Amazing video as always because of how short it is. The timestamps are gold, too.

[@adamkaleo4062]

Why isnt there an option to drink cazzadors blood so Atarion could be a true vampire.

[@BeAsTMoDE528]

thats basically what the ascend option is in terms of story, as the ascension makes him better than a true vampire. Being a true vampire also makes you a controlling megalomaniac like cazador, so astarion would likely have the same personality as the ascension conclusion, and would likely want to do the ritual all the same. I also thought of this but its probably because the conclusion is basically a question of if youre willing to have astarion lose his humanity for freedom and power, and a half measure in the form of him becoming a true vampire but not ascend is kind of a weird middle ground where you dont technically do anything evil but astarion as a person is doomed morally. But it still should have been an option, since its an RPG and having different endings based on decisions that seemed like a good idea at the time is part of the fun.

[@destinygalearies7382]

Because becoming a true vampire wouldn't do anything except make Astarion a little more powerful. The entire point of ascension is that he would be able to walk in the sun and be free of vampiric weaknesses if he completed the ritual, which becoming a full vampire wouldn't do. Astarion wouldn't have the tadpole forever, and ascension was a way for him to be able to keep walking in the sun after the Absolute was defeated. Also, Astarion was killing Cazador either way, so staying a spawn doesn't matter when he can just kill his master and be free that way. But also, becoming a full vampire makes you evil bc vampires are alignment locked in DND, so

[@CREDLACE]

"Give a Beggar a million gold, and he'll eat until he's full. Then he realizes bread isn't the only thing for sale" Garth, Fable 2.

[@kawgrath1876]

If you let him start the ritual and then stop him halfway, he goes hostile and you have to kill him.

[@PaddyRoon7]

"The only thing wrong with what Cazador did, is that he did it to me." I believe Astarion says this during a camp convo, always stuck out in my brain when considering his character. I always saw him as still trapped by Cazador's "lessons." Which is why in the non-ascendant ending, there's such a feeling of catharsis. He has rejected the lessons Cazador taught him and is now truly free of him in every sense.

[@ArryOtter-ui3wt]

13:12 Cazador peeking in the corner cracks me up, he just looks too goofy

[@ejenks20]

You forgot the killing one of the spawn options where he and Cazador lose their chance to ascend and Astarion and you talk to Cazador after defeating him- definitely my favourite way to go

[@stewanel]

If you kill a spawn in the circle you don't need to persuade him, as one is missing.

[@Taric25]

Imagine instead if Astarion could cause Mephistopheles himself to appear to re-negotiate the contract and then get off on a technicality, being both good and ascended.

[@asmalltalk]

Apparently it is possible to somehow achieve that Astarion refuses to do the ritual on his own without any persuasion check needed. Have no idea how. does anyone know? i finished two playthroughs on exceptional approval and in both I had to convince him not to do it.

[@leld211]

i managed to do it. I dont know how, maybe if he have remorse after talking to the people cazador imprisioned by his actions?

[@MissingFish]

I just had this happen - my character was wildshaped, so I never got any dialogue with Astarion. He just killed Cazador and freed the prisoners on his own. I only had neutral (20) approval, so it's certainly not dependent on that, maybe it just bugged out since my character was unavailable for dialogue.

[@asmalltalk]

@@leld211 I feel like his remorse and empathy must be triggered before that.. maybe during the conversations with his siblings? the standard way it played out for me was that he pretty much said he’s willing to sacrifice them and that he can’t be what I see in him etc.

[@themoonlitspice325]

For me, I accidentally killed one of the spawn with Moonbeam and I didn't get prompted to do the ritual.

[@asmalltalk]

@@themoonlitspice325 i replayed the fight and ended up killing one of them too but what happened to me was that i got a pop up that Astarion permanently left the party..

[@REDff0000]

Thank you for listing all the choices!

[@superdawge808]

I love how insane Astarion's final decisions are. For me, I chose to persuade him to not Ascend and to kill the spawns. It felt the most like Astarion facing his mistakes to protect future people from being hurt, but I like the arguments for all these endings

[@carlamartinezmangas4112]

I got a different one, maybe cause i was romancing him, but he directly didnt wanna do the ritual nor did he wonder about doing it. He directly killed Cazador and set all of them free without my intervevntion

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

Seems weird that he stabs Cazador, but at no point drinks his blood. You know, freeing him eternally and turning him into a full vampire without the rite?

[@VisibleNoises]

I think in other material, it also requires the full vampire's consent not just their physical blood.

[@FranWest.]

@@VisibleNoises - That is the question though, isn't it... Does it require the actual consent to work... OR does it require consent because as a spawn you can't actually do anything w/o their consent.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

I get why he wouldn't want it, though. Cazador is gross

[@marciosevero1925]

I've let him to start the ascension, but I have interrupted the process and he turn against me. Then I had to kill Astarion. I reloaded the save.

[@ShinryuZensen]

I wonder if it's possible to just knock down Astarion with not lethal damage.. .

[@destinygalearies7382]

I never let myself be spoiled on the ascension scene and I'm glad I didn't. I don't like ascendant Astarion, but I have to say, that scene of all the sacrifices contorting and screaming in pain as everything glows in red light and there's an orchestra of screaming string instruments in the background definitely made my heart pound the whole time. The rite of profane ascension definitely warrants its name lol

[@Solike99]

Astarios has such a tragic story. Very well written.

[@onyx-jd]

I got a similar ending but a different one, i killed one of the spawn accidentally during the fight, it made Cazador weaker, and astarion has a line screaming "you ruined it" or something like that, but then i got the cutscene as if i had convinced him to stop the ritual, the difference is that instead of him saying that he could be better, he has a couple lines about the torment he suffered, and cazador says something about him never being praised for killing him because he's a bloodsucker, and your character has a couple options to respond, saying that he'll be a hero, Cazador then taunts him some more and Astarion says "maybe i wont be a hero, but i will enjoy this" stabbing him. The rest was pretty much the same. ( I might have misremembered somethings, but thats pretty much what happened)

[@Buffbrick]

Cazador was by far the most disappointing villain of note in BG3. He he supposed to be an ancient vampire living in a mansion with a harem of slaves. Yet when you meet him he just sounds and acts like an annoying bitch weasel. He has no imposing presence at all and his voice along makes me think hes a joke of a character. Im shocked this character passed the development stage. If he was in the beta i would guarantee he would have been changed before launch.

[@shivala]

I do agree. I had expected more from Cazador. I wished they had made him like "truly scary" and more of what you would expect of a full and ancient vampire. This was very disappointing. Also to account for Astarions stories and how scared he was of him. Instead Cazador was a bit whiney....honestly. The most cool thing about him was the name. Maybe we can mod a very scary Cazador into the game later. I hope so.

[@iruchi7974]

I think this was intentional. I consider him a lesser equal to Balthazar. Swap undead with vampire spawn, rely on spawn to do the dirty work of feeding you and gaining more spawn, study books of dust in the hopes that you can be the first vampire to work on your tan. He's probably so far up his own ego that he discounts the idea of traditional martial prowess entirely as well. He has the potential of Balthazar and he squanders it with his arrogance.

[@SophisticatedHermit]

Cut content. Szarr was supposed to be in the upper city and act as a major political player in the story. But no. Upper city cut, political play cut, Cazador's Mansion's entrance is through some random unconnected guard tower in Lower City. Meh.

[@shivala]

@@SophisticatedHermit nooooo...but sounds right. Meh meh meh

[@valkyriun]

I was expecting an Elder Vampire like the one in The Witcher 3. That thing was in another league compared to the others vampires.

[@johnstarks7759]

Sweet Jesus that was intense. Easily the darkest thing I've seen in a video game. If I saw that in a horror movie I'd probably have urgent business call me elseswhere.

[@stars-and-clouds]

9:26 what happens if you betray him here?

[@Theon.0]

you team up with gur and fight astarion

[@gustlightfall]

Best route, kill all the vampires in one fell swoop plus killing the last one.

[@minoena]

idk why that first ending triggered the hell out of me, jesus. i can’t… it’s too much. god i could never choose an ending like that.

[@rin590]

I went through this moment this morning and accidentally went to the second ending, where he leaves, because I'm an idiot and I don't know how to choose dialogues normally, I felt so disgusting. I've never reloaded a save so fast. Now I have chosen an option that dissuades him from the ritual and everything is fine with him. But I'm still an idiot

[@supershepherd]

I know the feeling. I broke my own heart.

[@Storystein]

SPOILERS: I left Astarion at camp when killing Cazador. When you tell him at camp, he is very pissed, but he stays. After killing the Netherbrain he starts to burn in the sunlight and flees. But at the reunion party he says he embraces the shadows, is a murderous hero now and that he is genuinely happy. This was a way better ending than I thought possible. *no romance, though

[@xlerb2286]

Cazador's voice actor reminds me very much of one of the voice actors from Oblivion. I had to check to see whether it was the same person (it isn't). Very well done in any case.

[@FreyFrey7]

I just want an Option where you can hug him, when he is crying... :(

[@LifeInPink999]

I like the first ending, he may be evil now but I have a thing for villains so it seems like a win.

[@Anastasiatoons]

Do you know If He lured actual children?

[@thedankgnasty1890]

@@Anastasiatoons Yeah. They're children.

[@Anastasiatoons]

@@thedankgnasty1890 wait how? And why??

[@vella8650]

The best choice is to not let him ascend. Aside from being the morally right one, it is the best one for him as a person and even he agrees with the choice, as he says afterwards. His biggest reason for wanting to ascend is to walk in the sun; with all of the magic in the game there has to be a way for him to walk in the son that doesn’t require ascension. Also, he can just move to the underdark if need be.

[@avatarxs9377]

i didn't expect helsin to say something like that

[@eesamees]

23:34 omg ive never seen this dialogue before i love it😭😂

[@MiGujack3]

The drow is about to have a lot of competition.

[@dasparadoxon7720]

My theory that Astarion has changed so drastically is because he absorbed Cazador and the other souls during the ritual. Anyone who knows anything about vampires or Hellsing knows that Blood is more to them than food.

[@fresh_knacker6226]

There is another ending - when you kill cazadore while astarion is performing the ritual he will start to attack you afterwards

[@benzippos]

I played an oathbreaker paladin who at the last second came to his conscious and interrupted his ascension making him hostile and ultimately killing him and it ended on a more somber note but in that play through was a fitting end to astarion as my standing with him wasnt even above neutral.

[@CrazyAsian_303]

Playing as evil Durge, i was so excited for this. But as a wholesome good druid, I didn't ascend him. Even as evil Druge I was sad to see him become Cazador and the downfall of his character development, but I went along with obviously and still enjoyed the experience. I still love Astarion's story, good and evil.

[@nottieru]

Or you could just misunderstand the battle terms, kill one of the sacrificial spawns, then Astarion can’t ascend at all and doesn’t blame you for it, no dice needed.

[@Chiongster101]

I love how well written astarion is. He is truly chaotic evil character hiding behind a polite facade.

[@sophiesheppard6719]

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[@yuffiefan7637]

it ios interesting and well done how "toxic" Astarion becomes when ascended. Accurate since you'll loose your soul during it