In Baldur’s Gate 3 you will be accompanied for almost the entire game by someone who can revive you at any time: Lazarus, or the Withered One. According to the rules, he can actually cure you of the larva, but he doesn’t. Why?
Spoiler warning: This is about some details of the story that you can only find out for yourself under certain circumstances and with knowledge.
Who is Withers?
Can Jergal really heal us? A user on Reddit found a passage from the official Dungeons & Dragons rulebook about vampires. It says: Vampirism is a condition that is cured when the sufferer dies and is revived.
This has brought several points up for discussion in the community:
Because that’s what should actually happen: If the host dies, the larva should also die according to the rules. For the most part, Larian in Baldur’s Gate 3 sticks strictly to the rules with only a few exceptions to improve the flow of the game.
In some cases, this goes so far that rules even more or less undermine gameplay; for example, you can simply dress up in order to talk to dead people that you have killed yourself. This is exactly where the rule appears to be waived – or not. Players have a theory.
Lazarus is an important NPC. Not only can he revive you and your squad, you can also choose a new class and reskill with him:
Baldur’s Gate 3: Reset character and choose new class
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“Tav is the Chosen One of Jergal”
According to the discussion, Lazarus has no interest at all in freeing Tav – the player character – from the larva. Apparently he deliberately revives you and the larva so that you remain infected to ensure that you fight for him.
Actually, his plan is to destroy the “Dead Three”, i.e. Bhaal, Myrkul and Bane – or at least their chosen ones. That’s his job anyway, which he was given by the god Helm because the Dead Three became a problem in the first place because of him.
Additionally, the Dark Desire, actually the literal child of Bhaal, gains the powers of Jergal when it rejects its father. If not Tav, then at least the “Dark Urge” is the chosen one of Jergal.
In another thread on Reddit, fans are talking about how Withers doesn’t even volunteer to accompany you. He was sent to complete a task, especially because the gods were in turmoil due to the new threat from the Absolute.
So if Lazarus doesn’t heal you completely, it could also be because some higher authority demands it – in case of doubt, the supreme god Ao. However, fans agree that Withers feels at least some level of affection for the characters. Finally, he’ll throw a party for you, unless you misbehave: If you annoy Lazarus in the new Baldur’s Gate 3 patch, you’re done for