The latest patch forBaldur’s Gate 3is possibly Larian’s largest for its cash cow, adding in a wholehost of new endings for evil playthroughsand mod support. Now, console players can alter their game with custom content, just like players on PC, but what console players can’t do is search through the files and code after the new patch has dropped. Curious players have gone delving into the code, looking through it to see what content is still in the files but can’t be accessed by normal means.
With a game the size ofBaldur’s Gate 3and all the detail that has gone into it, there is bound to be some content that didn’t make the cutting room floor. Sometimes, scenes don’t make it past pre-production and are shot down in the writing room, but sometimes, they are added in an update and are simply inaccessible through normal means. Thankfully,these can be accessed by those in the know, and these pieces of cut content can give players an idea of what the studio was thinking before landing on the final product.
Baldur’s Gate Patch 7 Almost Added One Of The Most Bizarre Endings
Even The Characters In-Game Are Confused
YouTuber SlimXhas revealed that there are a few cutscenes flagged behind the Impossible tag to prevent players from being able to access them while playing the game.One of these scenes involves a hidden ending, which is both anti-climatic and presents players with a myriad of unanswered questions. The ending begins to play out similarly to the evil, God King endings added in Patch 7, but it has a strange twist that really doesn’t make any kind of sense.
Once the avatar character has defeated the Netherbrain and has effectively beaten the game, they have the option of taking it over with the Netherstones instead of destroying it,which effectively leads to the evil ending and would have led to this cut content. Now that the avatar has control over the Netherbrain, they also have control over all the Mindflayers and their fellow infected party members. The divergence in this cut ending comes when the character decides what to do with this power.
The Emperor can end the game as a God-King in his evil ending, making the avatar character their right hand.
Instead of taking over the world and sitting on their gray matter throne at the end of aBG3evil playthrough, the avatar player instead decides to rip out their tadpole, which was the goal from the very beginning. Then, they just walk away. That’s it. That’s the entire ending, andall the onlooking party members go from genuinely terrified to just confused, before also awkwardly getting up and walking away, if the player decides to let them. The Netherbrain and the Mindflayers are still there, but the assumption is that they can no longer act without any commands.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s Cut Ending Raises More Questions Than Answers
It Doesn’t Make A Lick Of Sense
This cut ending doesn’t really solve anything. The general options for dealing with the Netherbrain are either destroying it, which can be done through several means, like usingGale’s Netherese Orbas an arcane nuke or controlling it.This cut ending doesn’t really fulfill either option,since the Netherbrain isn’t being controlled by anyone, but it is still around, floating above Baldur’s Gate like a terrifyingly large and ugly balloon, yet it is still very much alive, as are the numerous tadpoles.
Gale can also destroy the Netherbrain during Act 2, effectively ending the game prematurely.
In fact,the only person who is safe from the tadpole is the avatar character who ripped out their tadpole, and although there is an option to either leave with their companions or alone, they still have the tadpole in their brain. This leaves the fat of the mindflayers up in the air. Plot holes are rife, and the ending isn’t developed enough to get many answers.
Easily-Missed New Baldur’s Gate 3 Feature Should Let It Win GOTY Two Years In A Row
Shadowheart and Scratch can now be seen interacting in the player’s camp, making the player’s safe haven feel more alive in Patch 7 than ever before.
Another question arises when players consider why their character would even bother making the decisions that lead to this ending. They have to take control of the Netherbrain, enslave both the entire city and their friends for a period of time, then decide that they can’t be bothered.Perhaps players can frame the whole thing as the world’s most elaborate prank, but the cut ending is being played very seriously, and everyone looks terrified throughout. The only humor of the scene comes from the anticlimax of it all.
The Bizarre Content Of The Ending Is Why Larian Cut It
And It Was A Good Decision
Although theending was likely put in place to give players one last option to escape the evil ending before it gets locked in, it just doesn’t make any sense. It leaves the fate of the Netherbrain and Baldur’s Gate up in the air, literally. The prospect of the Netherbrain floating there until the end of time and act like the city’s latest tourist attraction is funny, but unrealistic. Questions also arise about the party. Instead of walking out of the city, they appear to walk further in, and it isn’t as though there is time for party members to talk about where they want to end up.
If Larian had decided not to cut this ending, there would likely have been much more to it compared to what is shown so far. As it stands,the ending is underdeveloped, anti-climatic, and unsatisfactory, and this ending pathway was likely one that Larian couldn’t see working in Patch 7. There’s a reason why this was cut, after all, and it isn’t one of those cases where players miss out on something that could have been great, especially when compared with how horrifyingly brilliant the other added endings are.
Ultimately, thisbizarre yet interesting, ending was rightfully cut fromBaldur’s Gate 3,and although the players likely wouldn’t have complained much if it was included, some eyebrows would have been raised. Giving players a last-minute cop-out from the evil ending seems like a bit cheap, especially when it doesn’t make any sense, and all the questions asked would have required Withers' party to do some heavy lifting. That is, of course, if Withers would even throw a party after this mess.
