BEST ENDINGS:

5. Dark Urge  (Good Ending)

Link: Dark Urge Good Ending 

While this may not be a truly good or best ending, it is one of redemption so I felt it should make its way on our list. As the Dark Urge, in place of going through with your Father’s wishes and taking control of the Absolute in his name, you reject him until your last moments. Fighting the urge in you to shed blood in his name. Trying to hold onto whatever good is left in you. In the end, no matter what you do though, your Father does come to collect on your soul as punishment for defying him. That punishment leads to true redemption when Wither’s revives you to save the world, free from Bhaal’s control.

How to get this ending:

• When faced with Bhaal’s Avatar and being offered their gifts, choose option:
  • Character: Pick Option: “What happens if I refuse?”
  • Bhaal Avatar: “I will extinguish you.”
  • Character Pick Option: “I’d rather die than live in your bloody image”
  • Bhaal Avatar: “You were made to conquer. To devour. You reject my blood, so I will reclaim it. I will make another who is worthy.”
• You then die at the hands of the Avatar, where your character rejoices for the first time at your freedom. 
• Withers then comes into frame and gives a long speech about the character’s change of heart and soul by defying Bhaal and giving the character another chance when reviving them anew.

4. Freeing Wyll from his Pact (Good Ending)

Link: Freeing Wyll from his Pact

Mizora, Zariel and Wyll’s pact have been looming over our gaming heads since his arrival to the party at the Druid’s Grove. He gained the warlock powers from Mizora in Zariel’s name to ensure the safety of the Sword Coast as the Blade of Frontiers. This came at a steep cost, the loss of his bond to his family- his father, the Grand Duke Ravengard. You have the chance in Act 3 to break Wyll’s pact and, if you finess enough, save his father as well from his impending death. You can help heal one of many families while helping save the world as well.

How to get this ending:

In Act 3, after getting to Baldur’s Gate and back at your camp, Mizora comes summoning two additional devil henchmen to claim Wyll’s pact.

• Mizora (two the other devils in attendance): “Come, Sisters, be my testament (Fiendish chant)”
• On a successful Arcana check, you determine that the Sisters in attendance are Sisters of Justice, adjudicators of diabolical contracts and bargains.
• Wyll: “Holy Hells” 
• Character: Pick option: “Just what are you up to?”
• Mizora and Wyll go back and forth for a bit before the option is presented for Wyll to get information on his father in exchange for his soul. 
• You can then choose one of two options:
  • Character: (To Sacrifice Wyll’s soul for Duke Ravengard’s location) “Do the right thing. Give your soul so that your father can live” OR “Save your father, Wyll. The city will need him to help rebuild”
  • No matter the option, getting the information to save Wyll’s father breaks Wyll’s contract with Mizora. 
  • She will then try to kill Duke Ravengard with exploding spiders when trying to rescue him from the Iron Throne under the water in Baldur’s Gate. 
  • If you bring a character with access to multiple uses of Dimension Door (Shadowheart, Gale or a couple of spell scrolls for example), you can bypass this entirely and the Duke survives the encounter by entering the submarine safely.

3. Karlach Goes to Avenus (Good Ending)

Link: Karlach Ending 

Losing Karlach in a way that can only lead to her surviving in Avernus is a hard one to swallow but it deserves to go on the list for one of the better endings. She isn’t turned into a Mind Flayer and she isn’t blown up by her Infernal Engine by trying to stay on the Material Plane. Karlach can be sent to Avernus with Wyll or with your character, given your choices in game and her level of friendship to you. Having the Tiefling survive is one of the best options for her, and she will no longer be alone when she goes back.

Karlach goes back to Avernus with Wyll:

• Karlach: Engine’s finally cooked, held on just long enough
• When Karlach asks, tell her:
  • Character: Pick option: “You were spectacular in every way”
  • Karlach: “So were you. My friend. My companion. I adore you.”
• Karlach then burns hotter with each given moment, has a last few moments of happiness with her friends before her Infernal Engine flares again and Wyll steps up.
• Wyll: “No. Stop. I won’t allow this. Karlach, you’re coming with me- back to Avernus.”
• Karlach: “You can’t. You..”
  • Character: Pick option: “It’s your decision, Karlach. You have to choose.”
• Wyll: “So? What do you say? Die here, now, or live on with the Blade of (Frontiers OR Avernus depending on Wyll’s pact status) at your side? Zariel won’t touch you. I swear it, Karlach.”
• Karlach: “Fine. I’ll go, Wyll. With you. But we have to go. Now. I can’t hang on much longer.”
• Karlach and Wyll leave the Material Plane and end up back in Avenus to fight devils, demons and spawns till the end of their days.

2. Shadowheart turns to Selune and saves her family (Good Ending)

Link: Shadowheart turns to Selune 

With every pulse of the pain in Shadowheart’s hand, it becomes evident that Shar is punishing her for something that she is doing as she adventures with you. That comes to a head when you go to capture the Nightsong, talk Shadowheart out of killing the Aasimar being and begin her healing journey towards turning her back on Shar, who wrongfully captured a child of Selune to turn her into a follower of the Dark Mistress. You also go down the path of saving Shadowheart’s parents who are still captured by Shar’s followers and who she herself tortured in her Sharan training. It is a well thought through ending that shows what a true family could endure and love each other through.

How to get this ending:

• In Act 2, when being confronted with the choice of letting Shadowheart kill Nightsong with the Spear of Shar or convincing Shadowheart to spare the Aasimar.
• After a short discussion between Nightsong and Shadowheart:
• Narrator: “You feel Shadowheart bristling- this is important to her. But your bond is strong. You may yet be able to sway her from the path of duty to the path of light.”
• Narrator: “And Nightsong is not blind to your conflict. Behind that raging heart is the restless bear of one who knows too well that her fate hangs in the balance.”
  • Character: Pick option: “Choose your own way, Shadowheart. You cannot allow your goddess to control you.”
• Shadowheart: “Cannot allow? This is my Mistress’s will- my life’s purpose!” 
  • Character: Pick option: “No, it’s not. Your life is whatever you make it- don’t give up on yourself.”
• Succeeding on a DC 30 Persuasion check, still shows the Spear of Shar manifesting but Shadowheart throws it behind her and off the edge of the platform they are standing on. 
• This is the first step in Shadowheart’s path to the light of Selune.

1.  Destroy the Absolute (Good Ending)

Link: Destroying the Absolute

You have one main task throughout the entire game- the end of the Absolute and its hold on the Sword Coast before it spreads to the rest of the world. How you go about this (transforming into a Mind Flayer, someone else in your party turning, etc.) is completely up to you. The sure fire way, though, to ensure that the problem of the Absolute goes away and stays that way is to obliterate it. For the first time in a long time after this- your mind is at peace from the tadpole. Your companions and all of the lands are free from the Absolute in its entirety.   

How to get this ending: (This ending in particular is with Karlach as the Mind Flayer)

• When faced with the ending that you are able to get to the Netherbrain, be sure that your Mind Flayer companion/character is with you. 
• Karlach/Mind Flayer: “No more tadpoles, brain. It’s time to die.”
• The Netherbrain: “--My master -- I must -- OBEY -- I must -- END!”
• The Netherbrain then not only destroys itself but not before crashing into the water on the borders of Baldur’s Gate with your character and companions. 
• There is then a cut scene where the Mind Flayers are hit with a pulse of energy from the dying Netherbrain with their kill order and become incapacitated, allowing the townspeople and guards to take back Baldur’s Gate.
• You are then greeted to any other endings should your storyline allow it and are crowned heroes of Baldur’s Gate. 

WORST ENDINGS:

5. Becoming a Mind Flayer (Bad ending)

Link: Becoming a Mind Flayer 

While there are a few different avenues to becoming a Mind Flayer, they all lead to one outcome. You are forever turned into a grotesque planar being with mind-bending abilities. This isn’t ideal should you have any type of life to get back to after saving the Sword Coast from, well, your newly transformed self. It does give some interesting dialogue and a worth-pining for ending but, certainly not the most ideal.

How to get this ending:

• Towards the end of Act 3, when you are inside the Astral Prism with the Emperor and Orpheus, the Emperor offers you once again the chance to come into your Mind Flayer powers and form
• The Emperor: “I trust you have aired opinions and grievances, and made your decision? Are you ready to become a Mind Flayer?”
  • Character: Pick option: “Make me a Mind Flayer” OR “It will let me wield the stones. I accept.”
• Both options prompt The Emperor to start the ceremorphosis transformation into a Mind Flayer.
• The Emperor will give you a stronger Tadpole to open your mind to, to start the transformation
• After completing the transformation, at this point in the game you can then absorb Orpheus’ brain and take his thoughts as your own. 
• You can then face the Netherbrain to your “full” and transformed potential

4. Gale Imploding with the Netherese Orb (Bad Ending)

Link:  Gale Imploding 

While this may not seem like such a bad ending for some, this one huge explosion causes a few huge events to happen in the game. Or should I say, not happen. When Gale implodes at the end of Act 2, the game finishes. He blows up the Netherbrain and the Moonrise tower with the three deadly champions falling as well. You miss an entire whole Act of potential gameplay as well. If you wait to use this ability in Act 3, then Gale goes to the Netherbrain on his own to destroy it. There’s also the new problem of all those hibernating tadpoles turning innocent people and creating an army of unbound Mind Flayers to wreak havoc on the Sword Coast.

How to get this ending (PLAYABLE CHARACTER IS GALE IN BOTH SCENARIOS):

• Exploding the Netherese Orb in Act 2
  • When standing before a fleshy door before facing the Chosen 3 at the end of Act 2, bringing Gale prompts the following:
  • Narrator: “No long a background murmur, the presence in your mind builds to a roar”
  • Dream Visitor: “We found it. The Absolute is behind this door.”
  • Narrator: “The orb pulses strangely. It feels.. Unsettled. The Heart of the Absolute is close, as is the moment when you must decide if you will follow Mystra’s orders. Or reject them.”
  • You choose to Enter the room and are faced with an Elder Brain wearing the Crown of Kauses. After a few bits of dialogue, the Narrator continues:
  • Narrator: “But here, in this very moment lies your chance to heed Mystra’s call. This must be it: the end of the Absolute.”
    • Character/Gale: Pick Option: “Obey your goddess. Detonate the orb. Destroy the Absolute.”
    • Gale detonates, destroying the party, the Elder Brain, the Chosen 3 and Moonrise tower. After panning to Elminster in the distance..
    • Narrator: “Freed of the Absolute’s control they will complete their transformations. A plague of illithids will soon descend on the Sword Coast, enslaving all they do not infect.”
    • Narrator: “It is an ending of sorts. Though not the one destiny has in store for you.”
• Exploding the Netherese Orb in Act 3
  • Standing at the foot of the Netherbrain at the end of Act 3:
  • Narrator: “As you gaze upwards at the monstrosity above you, the orb in your chest seems to pulse, like a dark second heart.”
  • The Emperor: “I can feel it- that dark thing in your chest- it’s ready to blow, isn’t it? It’s certainly a possible way out.”
    • Character/Gale: “This is where we part ways. I’m sending you somewhere safe, then I’m going to put a stop to this- alone.”
    • You then teleport your companions away before climbing the Netherbrain
    • When at the Netherbrain:
    • The Netherbrain: “Come to die? Come to kneel? Surrender and live- THRALL.”
    • No matter the option you choose, you then activate the Orb and destroy the Netherbrain
    • This will cause the Mind Flayers to become incapacitated and the townspeople and guards to take out the remaining enemies
    • Narrator: “Everything you did, everything you sacrificed- it was worth it, for this.”

3.  The Emperor Becoming the Absolute (Bad Ending)

Link: The Emperor Becoming the Absolute 

The entire point of the game is to defeat the Netherbrain and the Absolute. So why would you hand that over to someone, let alone another Mind Flayer? While the Emperor came to us as a disguised Guardian, they seemed to have the interest of the main character at heart until the end. When the ability to control their own freedom is left in their hands. They take that as their chance to control all of the Mind Flayers.

How to get this ending (ENDING WITH THE EMPEROR ALIVE AND TAPPING INTO ILLITHID MIND POWERS):

• After defeating the Netherbrain in combat:
• The Netherbrain: “Impossible -- PAIN -- FEAR -- TERROR -- reconsider-- assess-- implore-- SURRENDER”
• The Emperor: “Subdued at last- it begs for its life.”
•  The Netherbrain: “Spare me-- join me-- wield me-- BECOME ABSOLUTE”
• The Emperor: “It pleads because it knows I am its master. I will finish this.” 
• Narrator: “The brain is on the cusp of its final thought. And it’s taking all of the Emperor’s strength to keep it there. An opportunity perhaps?”
• Narrator: “You glimpse a future where you lose all the gifts the parasite gave you.”
• Character: Pick option: “Let’s dominate the brain and rule the world, together.”
• The Emperor: “I admit your ambition. The thought did cross my mind.”
• The Emperor: “But whoever becomes the Absolute faces a wart with the entire githyanki army. As strong as we are, they are legion. I cannot be sure of survival.”
• Character: Pick option: “PERSUASION: “We can do it. I believe in us”.”
• Succeed on a DC 20 Persuasion check
• The Emperor: “You have grown much. I’m proud of you.”
• You convince the Emperor to take control of the Netherbrain and become the new Absolute, enthralling you and everyone else to its command.
• The Mind Flayers then take over what is left of Baldur’s Gate

2. Making a Deal with Rapheal (Bad Ending)

Link: Deal with Rapheal 

Giving the power of the Netherbrain is never a good idea, as discussed above. Giving it to one of the devil’s of Avernus is most definitely an even worse idea. Handing the Crown of Karsus to Rapheal gives him the power to take control of Avernus, one of the levels of the Nine Hells before he goes on to control the rest of the Nine Hells. After that, he leaves you with the promise to go after and control other worlds- which just makes the new Absolute a devil instead of a Netherbrain. Neither one of those powerhouses seems to be a good option.

How to get this ending:

• After first meeting Raphael in Act 1 to his conclusion and offer in Act 3 in Sharess; Caress in Baldur’s Gate, you can agree to give him the Crown of Karsus in exchange for:
• The Orphic Hammer (an item that can also be used to free Orpheus in the Astral Prism) and a devil’s contract
• Accepting his deal to give him the Crown makes the Emperor none too happy with you if you make him aware of it. 
• After finishing Act 3, this will then give you an epilogue at the end where Rapheal talks about his devious plans with the Crown 

1. Becoming the Absolute/Control the Netherbrain (Bad Ending)

Link: Becoming the Absolute/Controlling the Netherbrain 

This goes against everything that you could stand for from the very beginning. Many chances are given to you to go one way or the other. Depending on who you romance as well- *cough* Astarion *cough*- try to help you push closer to becoming the Absolute. In doing so the death of the Emperor needs to happen at your hands before they can take control of the brain. You then take control of the mind of your companions to wreak your own kind of havoc onto the world. This seems like the worst ending in my books for sure.

How to get this ending (CHARACTER BRINGS THE EMPEROR TO THE NETHERBRAIN):

• After defeating the Netherbrain in combat:
• The Netherbrain: “Impossible -- PAIN -- FEAR -- TERROR -- reconsider-- assess-- implore-- SURRENDER”
• The Emperor: “Subdued at last- it begs for its life.”
•  The Netherbrain: “Spare me-- join me-- wield me-- BECOME ABSOLUTE”
• The Emperor: “It pleads because it knows I am its master. I will finish this.” 
• Narrator: “The brain is on the cusp of its final thought. And it’s taking all of the Emperor’s strength to keep it there. An opportunity perhaps?”
• Narrator: “You glimpse a future where you lose all the gifts the parasite gave you.”
  • Character: Pick option: “MELEE ATTACK: Betray the Emperor. Dominate the brain. Become the Absolute”
• You then stab the Emperor with a dagger to death and take the power of the Absolute for your own.
• Someone in your party will ask what you are doing
  • Character: Pick any option
  • You will then enthrall all of your companions and lead the Mind Flayers to take over what is left of Baldur’s Gate.