Most of you missed probably the scariest scene in Baldur’s Gate 3. Karlach plays the main role – and behaves as if possessed.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is full of small and large secrets and many of them have not yet been made public. On the one hand, this may be because they are very well hidden, but on the other hand, it may be because some of the content is simply a little buggy.
Now, however, a scene has emerged that might just be the scariest in all of Baldur’s Gate 3. Because Karlach breaks the fourth wall – and realizes that she is in a game.
Spoiler warning: The article contains spoilers for Karlach and the gameplay of Baldur’s Gate 3. You have been warned.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to PS5 – trailer sets the mood for the console release
More videos
What kind of scene is this? The scene begins seemingly harmlessly. Karlach asks your main character if she can try something. It’s about a “technique” she wants to test – something she learned from Zariel’s cleric. But that’s “nothing scary, don’t worry.” It’s a method to find out whether someone is telling the truth or lying. If you agree, she says it will be “fun”:
“Just stand relaxed. Look into my eyes. And then …”
From then on it gets scary. Because Karlach slowly turns her gaze away from your character – and instead looks directly into the camera. She looks at you, the player in front of the screen and keeps her gaze uncomfortably directed directly at you.
Accordingly, she addresses the following questions to you in the real world and no longer to the main character.
She first asks you for your name – and you can enter that of your main character. But Karlach makes it clear straight away that this is a “silly” answer.
You can say that the whole thing is suddenly quite unexpected, to which she just says:
“Good stories, good sex, all of life – they all share the element of the unexpected. Get used to it.”
Then something seems to be wrong with the spell and Karlach looks confused for a moment – only to then say that the spell is probably “working properly for the first time.”
Afterwards, Karlach becomes significantly calmer and more thoughtful. She seems as if she is gaining true understanding – and at the same time overwhelmed by it. She talks about understanding “grand design” for the first time and how it’s not at all what she thought.
The companion begins to question the gods of her world: are they really the gods? Can you be sure about this?
“I see… a big net. Crossing lines, permutations, and behind them, chaos. And then the hand that decides: yes, no. But she hardly knows herself.”
Karlach is currently “disenchanting” Baldur’s Gate 3. A large network of possible decisions that look like chaos. A hand that makes these decisions – our cursor.
“Tell me—tell me now. Do you know how this all ends? You, me, this adventure?”
Karlach realizes that you already know the end of this adventure in front of the PC. And she wants you to share this knowledge with her and tell her how it will end for her. She seems increasingly panicked and demanding. And then she asks, “Have you done this before?”
The dialogue is oppressive and creepy in a way that’s hard to describe, but it’s always interspersed with amusing secrets. She says the adventure will last about “a hundred hours, maybe a little more or a little less” – which is roughly the same time as a quick run through of Baldur’s Gate 3.
She then ends the conversation with a final question that seems both accusatory and reassuring: “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
If you confirm that with “Yes,” then she is overly happy: “Thank the gods. Thank the gods. We made it! Listen up everyone, we did it! YES!”
The bottom line of this dialogue is clear: With this technique, Karlach is able to recognize that she is only part of a “game”, even if she cannot understand the exact circumstances and tries to describe it with her knowledge.
Karlach spokeswoman says: Scene is “difficult to trigger”
When does the scene play? That’s not entirely clear yet. What seems certain, however, is that you will never see this dialogue during the first playthrough of the game. You have to have successfully completed Baldur’s Gate 3 at least once to have a chance at this dialogue – so a second save is necessary.
However, the exact starting conditions for this dialogue are still unclear. According to Karlach’s voice actress, he is said to be “difficult to trigger” – and so far only a few people have seen him.
The scene makes Karlach much more interesting – and at the same time is probably the scariest moment in all of Baldur’s Gate 3, which can be funny on the one hand, but extremely oppressive on the other.
What did you think of this scene?