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Karlach is arguably the most beloved companion in Baldur's Gate 3, but her ending marks one of the game's most divisive storytelling decisions. According to the actor who plays the Tiefling Barbarian, the impact of that ending is one of the most important parts of her character arc.
When we spoke to her at the Golden Joystick Awards this week, Karlach actor Samantha Béart was keen to acknowledge that she's not a dev and didn't have direct input into what happens to the character in the end, but she said that "What they've chosen is very deliberate. It's not by accident." She added that "maybe we need to ask ourselves why that's the journey and what the message of that might be."
Here's your warning that spoilers will follow. Karlach, of course, is afflicted by an infernal engine where her heart should be, and no matter what you might try to do, there's no way to save her from an untimely death due to that condition. Many people in the Baldur's Gate 3 fandom are disappointed by the absence of a happy ending, but Béart says Karlach's story resonates all the more because of what happens in the end.
"I get people with PTSD, people coming out of bad relationships, trans women who have to face the world despite the shit they have to go through, and people with chronic and terminal illnesses," Béart said, and they tell her that they appreciate "the fact the character doesn't get a magical spell to get her out of her predicament. They said it would cheapen the ending if she gets a magical way out and they don't."
Béart said "if my work on this writing is helping people to heal - which is a word I'm hearing a lot - then I can't ask for better than that. As a performer, I'm there to create an authentic character and to entertain if not affect you. I feel like that's my job."
Many of the best RPGs around are ready to break your heart.
