[Spoiler Act 3] Got back to Gortash a second time.. wtf?

[Randolph Carter]

i've noticed that act 3 isn't as polished as the previous acts and overall i don't like it as much so far. i liked act 1 & 2 better, but i still enjoy act 3 despite many inconsistencies, small bugs and (for me) too densely packed content so its getting almost overwhelming. but today something happened that is really weird and makes no sense to me at all.

i went back to gortash after traveling around the lower city for a bit to see if i had any new dialog options. so i get to the throne room and the entire nobility of baldur's gate has been slaughtered. wtf?

why did gortash do this? most people spoke well of gortash at the coronation and even if some of them were just putting on a facade.. murdering the entire nobility just seems absurd to me. killing one or two of them who are defiant.. well, ok - but everyone? that's getting public for sure and it only makes it harder for him to legitimize his power. i dont get it.

and why doesn't anyone seem to care? literally nobody gives a sh1t about it lol. even my companions don't say a word about it. i had wyll and karlach in the group and would have expected a reaction from those two in particular.

i slowy get the feeling that act 3 is patched together in places. as if they had cut and rewritten parts of the story at the last minute without being able to hide all the seams and holes.

[lonomac]

I got bored pretty quick at Act 3, dunno why. I'm at the final fight since a month ago and don't even care to finish lol. Was quite a buggy ride as well. Gonna wait a long while before replaying.

[Ravenfeathers]

Yeah I was shocked as well seeing all the nobility slaughtered with no reaction or explanation at all. I felt the same that act 3 is not done as well as the other 2 and it seemed like they tried to cram all the remaining quests in one area and it should of be spread out better with perhaps another act. Act 3 definitely needs a lot more polish.

[Orion Invictus]

Did you try speaking with the people who did the slaughtering?

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

i slowy get the feeling that act 3 is patched together in places. as if they had cut and rewritten parts of the story at the last minute without being able to hide all the seams and holes

This is correct.

[seeker1]

I've never seen this scene, but I think I'd try Speaking with Dead with the dead to find out what happened. Perhaps then they will explain it to you why Gortash did it. I have my theories, of course. Gortash seems to want to get rid of some obstacles to power by hiding them away in the Iron Throne. The rest ...

[Orion Invictus]

Originally posted by seeker1:

I've never seen this scene, but I think I'd try Speaking with Dead with the dead to find out what happened. Perhaps then they will explain it to you why Gortash did it.

I'd try speaking with the living who are around - the ones who presumably did the killing.

[Cinemax]

Originally posted by seeker1:

I've never seen this scene, but I think I'd try Speaking with Dead with the dead to find out what happened. Perhaps then they will explain it to you why Gortash did it.

Nah, none of the corpses react. That said, it's not hard to guess why he did it. He intends to destroy Baldur's gate, not rule it. He doesn't need a ruling class. Still, a little commentary would have been nice.

[Izuzul]

Use their brains to make more steel watch soldiers. Now the nobles can be useful.

[Noquid]

I saw this in my last playthrough (didn't happen in my previous two). I attended the coronation which I didn't do in my first two. You can fight Gortash in that room or another level up. I don't know why they would all be killed though. The one missing piece is Ravengard, he isn't there when you go up a level to fight Gortash because he's in my camp. He was rescued in the Iron Throne prison. I didn't think to try speak with the dead, was more interested in getting it over with.

[Randolph Carter]

okay i talked to some of the new iron throne guards standing in the throne room like some of you suggested, but the answer to the question what the hell happened doesn't really help:

"My lord needs a clear path to his grand future. We've cut away the troublesome undergrowth."

still doesn't make sense to me to slaughter all the key figures with power and money in baldurs gate. wouldn't it have been much smarter to tadpole them so they'll use ther influence to push his agenda and legitimize his claim?

speak with dead sadly dont works on the corpses, i've tried that already.

it's kind of funny that no one here has really been able to explain why gortash did this, too. shows that there's something weird with the writing going on for sure.

[Blanch Warren]

Originally posted by Randolph Carter:

still doesn't make sense to me to slaughter all the key figures with power and money in baldurs gate. wouldn't it have been much smarter to tadpole them so they'll use ther influence to push his agenda and legitimize his claim?

He barely has control over the absolute.

[Randolph Carter]

I've just read the following on reddit:

"At first I was confused, then I found the answer up in Gortash's chambers."

"There is a diary where he states that the Elder Brain doesn't produce tadpoles fast enough to tadpolize everyone. Therefore, he had to prioritize tadpoling the most important people. When he kills the nobles, many tadpoles are released, which are then distributed around the city. This allows him to consolidate his power more quickly."

still doesn't makes sense. i mean, who does he want to tadpole if not the (as i already wrote) key figures in the nobility with power and influence? apart from the top generals/officers in the flaming fist and people in important positions from baldurs mouth newspaper maybe, i can't think of anyone else who is more important.

[Randolph Carter]

Originally posted by Blanch Warren:

Originally posted by Randolph Carter:

still doesn't make sense to me to slaughter all the key figures with power and money in baldurs gate. wouldn't it have been much smarter to tadpole them so they'll use ther influence to push his agenda and legitimize his claim?

He barely has control over the absolute.

hm, ok. i forgot that yeah. then the whole thing makes a bit more sense. but its still kind of stupid to kill everyone imo. i mean, he has managed to become archduke with what little control he has.

if his plan doesnt work out now or simply takes to long and the massacre gets public in the meantime he is screwed because he has no backup. he maneuvered himself into a dead end with this. i think its a weird "all or nothing" approach.