Saving Karlach in Baldur's Gate 3: The Unexpected Path to a Happy Ending!
Baldur's Gate 3: Why Karlach Deserves a Happy Ending (and How to Get It!)
Baldur's Gate 3's companions are awesome; they are a massive reason why this game's become a mega-hit. Their writing's killer, their dialogue's witty, and the voice acting's top-notch! Larian Studios has created one of gaming's most beloved casts; that even includes Astarion earning Neil Newbon a Game Award for Best Performance in 2023. But one companion, that fiery tiefling Karlach, really steals the show! Many love her personality; but we all need to acknowledge that Karlach isn’t always happy! There is much heartbreak in her story!
Karlach's basically pure sunshine, a genuinely good character (rare in this world!), and shares that surprising trait with Wyll (they become close, if you work for it). But, sadly, Karlach's destined to die! That's really a terrible fate. But, good news: there are ways to give her a happy ending without resorting to questionable measures. This isn't going to be a quick run; you have some serious prep work involved in achieving this ending and some unexpected changes; including certain major relationships!
Gale's Divine Intervention: The Path to Karlach's Immortality
Karlach's got this Infernal Engine in her chest, slowly killing her unless she’s in Avernus (a really bad part of Hell). Most players get around that by taking Karlach back to Avernus with Wyll (or both!). This makes that issue completely disappear. There’s this really awful other method – turning her into a Mind Flayer before the final fight! That removes her Engine… but also her soul; and personality. Is that even still Karlach? Wither mentions that these creatures actually lack souls completely. That’s not a very pleasant outcome!
The third option's the best, saving Karlach while keeping her intact! This method demands an entire playthrough strategy change: This might involve multiple additional replays from prior attempts before even attempting it, meaning there will be additional replay times spent before achieving this! First, play as Karlach. Romance Gale, convince him to become a god (the God of Ambition). Then, after six months, visit Wither's party. Gale says he's taking Karlach to the heavens; to help her achieve godhood! This will make Karlach receive an entirely new body. The Infernal Engine's gone, replaced with a fully functioning heart. It adds immortality. No more worrying about dying!
The Sacrifices Involved
Get this ending? Prepare for some intense, very strategic play, requiring a much different, highly strategic approach: You are going to be spending a great deal of additional time making this possible. Firstly; you'll have to completely play this through with Karlach as your avatar! This greatly affects Karlach’s own abilities. That romance with Gale has to be flawless and convincing enough; convincing enough to get him toward that goal; becoming the God of Ambition (a somewhat dubious decision morally), and then it must survive to its ultimate completion without making poor decisions that could trigger failure. It’s an enormous and very important role played; you really have to think carefully about everything going in, in a planned and structured method which should reduce problems encountered through that long process.
This requires you to survive Act 3's ending; that tricky escape at the docks (that’s extremely dangerous!), and that involves selecting a good ending during those ending decisions. This has some truly dramatic stakes; as many other factors could cause this ending from working. You’ll have to return to Avernus later; without anyone else, a very bad decision that only a determined character will even make, further showcasing just how difficult and dramatic this ending could be!
This Ending Is Not Unique, Yet Still Amazing
This path to godhood isn't unique to Karlach; others can achieve this too! But it does work wonderfully! Each chosen character will give unique dialogues. Gale makes it clear his decision helps solve Karlach's Engine problems, this was something he achieved incidentally, as an additional bonus; and further emphasizes the reasons why achieving godhood matters so much.
Yet, what Gale's ascension implies (the God of Ambition) is pretty disturbing. Karlach’s role remains entirely ambiguous–what she'd even be the god of remains unclear! She’s intensely vengeful; thus Goddess of Revenge might just fit—that sounds scary. Even so; it does allow you the best available ending and getting a regular heart.
Conclusion: A Labor of Love for Karlach Fans!
Getting this specific happy ending requires a huge time investment; likely requiring many multiple playthroughs. That time investment however isn't completely useless. That final reward provides a way to create a storyline completely optimized for those people deeply in love with Karlach; and it makes her situation even more compelling by the fact it only made a possible narrative option made for one unique play through with Karlach as the main avatar, thus demonstrating just why this character is deeply loved.
Even though other characters could share the same path to godhood. Those very unique elements regarding her specific situation and its resolution creates something unique, making the journey involved to achieve this, totally worth it. The entire narrative was carefully created by the team and shows that immense effort given toward their amazing creation: Baldur's Gate 3.
