The bg3 “Mystra groomed Gale” discourse is so frustrating to me not because I think it’s necessarily false or wrong for people to interpret the story that way, but because so much of it involves people asserting conjuncture and headcanon as if it was fact.
As far as I can tell, no where in the game is it stated how old Gale was when he and Mystra met, but I routinely see people asserting that it’s a fact that Gale and Mystra met when he was 8 (based solely on the letter Elminster writes where he says that Elminster—not Mystra—remembers meeting Gale at that age) or alternatively when Gale was 17 (seemingly based on no evidence at all). Gale himself does not describe the relationship as one in which he felt that he was deceived or taken advantage of, but repeatedly talks about his own hubris and how he had a relationship with the goddess of magic that he felt was not enough so long as he couldn’t access higher levels of magic.
I also routinely see people referring to that one quote by Minsc as concrete proof that Mystra has a habit of grooming young boys with magical ability, but that’s not even what the quote is saying. Minsc is explicitly speculating about why his culture has a tradition of having male mages practice in secret. He has no proof or basis that Mystra is the reason, other than his observations of what happened to Gale. Furthermore, Minsc’s quote refers to “young and prideful boys,” and I feel like the “prideful” piece is left out of the discussions even though it’s an important modifier. Including “prideful” suggests that the risk is that the male mages will be tempted by their hubris to do something risky (like Gale did in seeking out the netherese tome) rather than that it’s Mystra herself who poses the threat.
Again, I’m not saying that it’s wrong to point out the imbalance in power and how that could have led to Mystra taking advantage of a mortal man who worshipped her, but I really wish we wouldn’t just make up evidence of her misdeeds and assert it as if it was explicitly canon when it’s just not.
Instead, I feel like Gale and Mystra have a pretty compelling Greek-tragedy-like story going on. Mystra, as goddess, is less of a person and more of a representation of Gale’s ambition (as gods tend to be in such stories). Gale is less a victim of another person’s misdeeds and more a victim of his own pride. I could go more into this but I may save that for another post.
On the other hand, you know which character there is plenty of discussion and far more concrete evidence of having groomed someone in game? GORTASH! And honestly nobody really talks about it. Karlach repeatedly talks about how she was a naive kid when Gortash recruited her, how he fostered her trust, and then sold her to Zariel to serve as an experiment. Karlach’s youth and naivety and her deep trust in Gortash before his betrayal are repeatedly brought up in conversations with her. Her description of what Gortash did to her reads like textbook grooming: by Karlach’s her own description, she was vulnerable when they met (“he got his claws into me early. I was a wild kid brawling my way through the city”), he made her feel special (she says “he took one look at me and said I was perfect. I liked that”), he built up her trust and then he betrayed it for his own benefit.
Why are we constantly making up “proof” of Mystra having groomed Gale but ignoring that Gortash groomed Karlach? It feels like we’re not engaging with the story that’s there in favor of a story that likely isn’t.
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