Why is Baldur’s Gate actually called Baldur’s Gate? Who was Baldur and why did he have a gate? We answer that in this article.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is not only one of the greatest, but also the most successful role-playing games of all time. The story of mind flayers, the Sword Coast and Baldur’s Gate will stay with most players for years to come.
But GGMudkip asks an important question in the game’s subreddit: Who the hell is Baldur and why does he have a gate?
Spoiler warning: The article contains serious spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3 and especially Act 3 of the game.
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The question of who Baldur actually is and why he has a gate is answered in several places in the game – at least when you complete a certain quest series, which, however, is easy to miss. Alternatively, you just have to listen to the background music to find out the answer.
When asked in the subreddit, GGMudkip received many answers, which we will briefly summarize here.
Baldur’s actual name was Balduran and he was a sailor who lived as an adventurer and trader. According to legend, he was the first to cross the sea between Faerun and Anchorome, taking with him many riches. He brought these riches back to his home village of “Gray Harbor” and distributed them to family and friends. However, he invested a large part of the gold in protecting the village. He commissioned people to build a great wall to protect Gray Harbor from repeated attacks by orcs and barbarians.
Only after Balduran left the village was the great wall completed and given the name “Baldur’s Gate” in his honor.
After the wall was completed, Gray Harbor continued to grow, attracting artisans and merchants who found Gray Harbor a safe place to ply their trades.
After the village slowly grew into a city, it was quickly named after the gate that had protected it for so long – Baldur’s Gate.
There were many rumors and legends about Balduran – more of his heroic deeds, but also his death.
What is important, however, is that he did not die, but later returned to the Sword Coast and was captured in the Towers of Moonrise. There, the mind flayers infected him with a larva that later transformed him into an illithid.
In the game you meet Balduran as the “Emperor” – he is your nightly visitor and appears to you in your dreams. Because even after his transformation into a mind flayer, he continues to try to protect his city, even if the purity of his motivation can sometimes be questioned.
Song in the game spoils everything: If you played carefully and paid attention to the background music of Baldur’s Gate 3, you will probably have heard a pretty interesting song in the inn of Baldur’s Gate. Because in the “Song Of Balduran” Balduran’s entire career is sung about – including his transformation into a mind flayer and the appearance of our group of heroes:
The lyrics of the song say.
O, sing a song of Balduran
Who founded Baldur’s Gate
Empire golden built on trade
Couldn’t avert his fate
When three, though dead, attacked his port
Transformed, he fell their thrall
Succumbed as threat from nether years
Arose to conquer all
Now hope is gone, or so it seems
But game’s not over yet
New cards are drawn, new hands are played
Newcomers place a bet
A knave, a wizard, devil, gith
The odds are cast anew
And Baldur’s fate now turns upon
The whims of fortune’s few
The fact that the song is already being played in Baldur’s Gate should probably be seen as an Easter egg, after all the bards can’t even know about the incidents at this point.
Did you know who “Baldur” is and why he has a goal?
Have you already seen “Baldur’s Gate 3” as a FRIENDS opening?