Summary
- Baldur's Gate 3 has a variety of different endings, but not all of them are good, as some lead to doom or missed content.
- Certain choices in the game can result in character-specific bad endings, but that doesn't mean other characters can't have a good fate.
- The right decisions can prevent missing out on major plot points and ensure a better outcome for the characters.
Baldur's Gate 3 is full of choices throughout its three acts that lead to various endings, but not every ending is necessarily a good one. Rather, plenty of decisions lead to endings that are bad, either in the sense that Faerûn is doomed or chunks of content are missed because of them. Here are the 10 worst endings in BG3 and why it's better to avoid them.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3.]
Given the number of endings featured in Baldur's Gate 3, it's not shocking that some of them leave Faerûn in a poor state or lack closure. But they make sense given the options that lead to them, as unsatisfying as that might be when it's easy to be invested in the game's world and feel connected to the characters. Additionally, bad endings can be character-specific, meaning that one character receiving a terrible end to their journey doesn't have to take away the possibility of a good fate for other characters.
10 Insult Vlaakith
Vlaakith claims to be godlike at the end of Act 1 in the Githyanki Crèche quest, and talking back to her about her abilities makes her angry. This doesn't give the achievement for completing the game, but it will end the game with an instant death as Vlaakith proves her power. As far as endings go, this would be the most unfortunate one since it cuts out the entirety of Acts 2 and 3 and doesn't resolve any of the game's major plot points.
9 Control The Netherbrain
This ending is the best of the worst situation. Since this is the result of one of the final choices in the game, it doesn't cut much content in the way a few other endings can prevent progression. Controlling the Netherbrain offers a measure of closure for the main characters, but it resigns the companions who have joined along the way to being mindless slaves of the Absolute, which isn't a great fate. It's also the exact thing that the party has been working to prevent through all three acts of BG3.
8 Becoming A Mindflayer
Another decision that comes at the end of the game is to become a Mindflayer. While this takes care of the Netherbrain and the Absolute, along with it, the character who becomes a Mindflayer can't live a normal life. Most characters do get a happy ending out of this choice, but the one who ended up as the Mindflayer will have to exist in isolation as no city or village would be willing to welcome them. Although it saves Faerûn, one person has to sacrifice everything except their life to be the hero in Baldur's Gate 3.
7 Astarion Doesn't Ascend
In Cazador's Dungeon, the ritual can be interrupted, or Cazador can be defeated before he completes it and ascends. If the ritual is interrupted and Cazador is defeated after, then there's no option to allow Astarion to take his place and ascend, leaving him as a vampire spawn. Since the tadpole is what lets Astarion defy the rules of being a vampire, dealing with the Absolute at the end takes those abilities away. As such, Astarion is burnt by the sunlight again and has to go back to living in the shadows, which has to be upsetting after he finally gets a taste of true freedom from his condition.
6 Wyll Returns To Avernus
Wyll's situation in Baldur's Gate 3 isn't easy, and he continually has to make difficult decisions that deal with the fate of his soul. By deciding to keep his pact with Mizora in exchange for her help to rescue his father, Wyll saves his father, but he condemns himself to the Nine Hells. He was almost freed from his pact, but in this ending, he willingly renewed it even if that meant he'd have to suffer for eternity once the Absolute was dealt with.
5 Karlach
It's not great when a character's best ending involves going back to Avernus with friends, but that's Karlach's situation. She gets perhaps the worst of Baldur's Gate 3's companion endings because the Infernal Engine in her chest isn't made to exist on the mortal plane. No matter which choices are made throughout the game's three acts, Karlach's return to Avernus is, unfortunately, unavoidable short of her becoming a mindflayer, which isn't exactly better.
4 Surrender Shadowheart
In Act 3, Shadowheart's quest, "Daughter of Darkness," requires that she goes to the House of Grief regardless of whether Nightsong is alive or dead. Viconia requests that Shadowheart be surrendered to her, and doing so is the worst ending for this character. She not only leaves the party, but she's put back into a situation that was the source of her suffering growing up and the reason that she doesn't have memories of who she really was before the followers of Shar kidnapped her.
3 Accept Bhaal's Gift
The Dark Urge feels like BG3's main character, and the end of their personal quest comes with the option to accept Bhaal's gift or reject him. In terms of personal quest endings, accepting Bhaal is the evil option for the Dark Urge because they'll never be free from their father's influence or the urges that make them kill. It does come with Bhaal's request to take control of the Absolute and destroy the world, but there's an opportunity to rebel against him one last time and defeat the Absolute instead. Yet, the Dark Urge will fall to Bhaal's control in the end if they resist, so there isn't a good ending to earn here either way.
2 Deal With The Devil
This ending puts the Crown of Karsus in Raphael's hands, which of course, turns out to be a bad thing. He uses its power to take over Avernus, then sets his eyes on the rest of the Nine Hells. The game ends with him promising to use the crown to conquer other worlds after, so he's just another version of the Absolute in the end, with his desire for power and control over all other creatures.
1 Netherese Orb
Having Gale use the Netherese Orb at the end of Act 2 will result in earning the achievement for finishing Baldur's Gate 3, but it means that the entirety of Act 3 is skipped. Aside from cutting so much content, it's a bleak end for the characters involved because they would also die in the blast. It's a great option for speedrunning, but it leaves much to be desired for regular playthroughs.
Baldur's Gate 3 has an overwhelming number of endings to explore, but some characters aren't fortunate enough to have the chance for a happy ending. Other characters end up doomed based on choices made throughout the three acts or in the final moments of the game, where they can become eternally controlled by the Netherbrain. Although there aren't any intentions for it from Larian at the moment, DLC could provide more good endings, or maybe even more bad ones, for Baldur's Gate 3.
Source: MELOO/YouTube