"i know this ship won't make it far but making someone even consider it will be a small victory for me already. so. where do i even start. they're heroes of baldur's gate, balduran being a role model for wyll and someone he admires the most. they can both end up as "rulers" of baldur's gate too. the emperor will definitely try to make an ally of grand duke "heart of the gate" (wink) wyll post-game.
but the most interesting thing about them to me is how they parallel each other and how the emperor's story can make wyll reflect on his own. a hero unwillingly turned into a monster? a hero who wants to break free from the one who granted them their power? a hero who was faced with a decision between killing their loved one and sacrificing themself? wyll can find comfort in their similarities and begin to see in the emperor more than a monster ("there's certain dignity to it. the grand champion wearing the unholy skin."). but it can also be a lovehate toxic situation with wyll simultaneously hating their similarities or what balduran turned out to be like. they can be willing allies post game with wyll developing romantic feelings for his childhood hero or maybe someone who doesn't have to be one to be loved. or wyll can be at least conflicted about letting the emperor rule from the shadows aka "making bedfellows with monsters" but still do that out of obligation to the city's saviour and literal founder (as well as. reconcile with its needs since the emperor finds a similar solution to feeding ethically to wyll's). maybe it can blossom into a tastefully fucked up relationship. there are actually much much more ways their relationship can go, with the blade ending wyll too as well as with the emperor dying at the end after being betrayed by either tav or wyll. i personally find all of them fascinating but i don't have enough space to elaborate on each one of them so i just picked the most obvious ones.
and i also want to remind you that wyll is a monsterfucker who flirts with pc by inviting them to dance, and the emperor is a monster who flirts with pc by saying that their relationship resemble a dance. can i make it any more obvious."
"What's better than Wyll and Astarion? Or Astarion and Karlach? Or Karlach and Wyll? All three together, that's what. First, there are the narrative parallels. All three are Baldurians with a very different experience of Baldur's Gate. All three had their bodies forcibly changed by their abusers, and all three have unwilling ties to Avernus and devils, with narratives aimed at subverting what they believe they want (Ascension for Astarion, to save his father for Wyll, and revenge for Karlach). Then, they all work amazingly as individual component ships - Karlach is openly attracted to (and fiercely protective of) Astarion and Astarion is gentler with Karlach than anyone else, Karlach and Wyll's narratives are intrinsically linked and they're more or less soulmates, platonic or otherwise, and Astarion and Wyll are so down bad each other it's hilarious.
But what about as a trio? There's one tempting in-game crumb, only available if you play as Origin Karlach - after Astarion points out that Wyll giving Karlach the benefit of the doubt and all it earned him was a set of horns, he adds, "Not that they don't look flattering on him - almost everything does", with a lovesick little sigh. Karlach can then comment, "They do look pretty good, don't they?" to which Astarion can reply, "They do! Honestly, that man…" with an even more lovesick sigh. This conversation only being available with Origin Karlach at least says to me that Astarion recognises that Karlach is just as down bad as he is, and therefore he's more than happy to share those, like I said, lovesick sighs.
They work well together. Wyll can be on the serious side; Astarion and Karlach are both traumatised, but both know how to have fun (even if that fun sometimes involves stabbin', for Astarion… come to think of it, for Karlach too). Astarion can be cruel, through nearly two centuries of his empathy being systematically dismantled; Karlach and Wyll are both genuinely good people who can drag him, kicking and screaming, into caring for people. Karlach can be hot-headed and angry; Wyll can be calm, Astarion can help her focus her anger into something productive. They make each other better.
And, their endings all work beautifully together. Wyll openly begs Karlach to go back to Avernus to save her own life, promising he'll be there right there at her side. And Astarion, when romanced by Origin Karlach, outright says that Avernus is perfect for him - there's no sun, he can hunt as much as he likes… and he'll be with the people he cares most about. The three of them work together in a stable triangle, each point supporting the other, none of them letting one of the others fall."
