Friendly reminder to Galemancers that Gale's ambition is not something new.
In fact, I'd say Ambition is his "bread and bloody butter" (to quote God!Gale addressing Raphael)
(also, Mystra can bitch and moan all she wants, she inspires Ambition in her followers, this isn't unique to Gale but it certainly is one of his most dangerous traits. After all, when a mortal becomes a god, your godhood embodies what you are at your most base form. Gale becoming potentially God of Ambition is no fluke. It is Gale at his most base form)
Here's something we often forget when we write about Gale: the Gale we meet is heavily nerfed (twice, once by Orb, second by tadpole) and he's been humbled by his folly. Ambition is the last thing on is mind at the start of the game.
By the point you meet him, he was probably on his way north to find a secluded place to detonate the orb (Waterdeep is not one of the cities the Nautiloid passed, but Yartar is and that's to the north, hence the theory he was caught there on this way north) and he only starts to actively care about his survival when you pull him out of the waypoint sigil (he obviously doesn't want to die (his line from failing to help him out: "No! I'm slipping. I'll perish in here. I'll perish...")), he's more concerned for what the detonation of the orb will do than preserving his life since now he's not alone anymore.
Cue the orb reveal and him offering to leave. Again, he's more concerned about what the orb will do to others than him surviving. In his mind, he deserves this.
Cue meeting Elminster and Gale receiving his divine mandate: use the orb to destroy the heart of the Absolute and redeem himself in death.
Here's usually where many people fail to understand Gale's motives.
He resigns himself to use the orb because Mystra (his goddess, scrap the lover part, that's not even important here, his literally goddess whom he worships (and he does, there's literal lines in the game (by Wyll and Gale himself) confirming that Gale is a very religious man, his romance with Mystra was more than love, it was religious) has ordered him to do it. it has nothing to do with his residual feelings for her (but it does hurt him that she would not even tell him this order directly, that he means so little to her that she'd send his friend instead) and everything to do with religion (hence why it's so hard to convince him otherwise, he risks becoming Faithless... doubly so because he is one of her Chosen, even if formerly) and also Gale's intellect fucking him over here (he is a man of thought and reason, he's doing mental gymnastics to try and figure out a way that allows him to survive but unfortunately, he's at his lowest point here and he doesn't fight Mystra's demand, he caves to reason, that this is the best, quickest way to end the Absolute (it is but, I'd argue that Mystra's latest incarnation is the dumbest god in all of DnD because she failed to account for the countless souls that would be lost in the wake of the Absolute's death... soul death is no joke in the lore, Ao would probably deal with her harshly in the wake of Gale using the orb simply because of how badly she'd fuck up the material plane's supply of souls)
And then when you finally do convince him to not use the orb and Gale sees the Crown of Karsus, many assume he's becoming power hungry because he's learning to be selfish for once, or that this is just a wizard quirk, of wanting to understand dangerous artifacts, attain godhood etc. No, actually this is perfectly in character for Gale specifically.
See, Gale's goals shift according to how much information he has.
When the journey starts, it's merely survival, but as it progresses, he reasons that using the orb is the best path forward. if you romance him or befriend him, you can convince him not to use the orb and then his priorities shift again in the wake of Act 3's beginning. Fresh from surviving the Orb and Myrkul, he has a new lease on life. He's potentially in a romance and he's got his eyes set on the Crown. The Archmage is finally making his reappearance and it's up to the player to determine where Gale applies his ambition. And sometimes even with the player's input he can choose poorly (ala Sneaky God!Gale, which to me is actually the most narratively interesting ending because this is basically Gale deciding to become a god on his own and can have any number of valid headcanons to justify it)
Gale in Act 3 is the closest we get to seeing the Gale of Waterdeep from before the events of BG3 and him getting the Orb.
One does not become an Archmage by twiddling one's thumbs, you become an Archmage by being ruthless in your ambitions, by being the most intelligent person in the room at all times, by striving constantly for the next discovery, the next adventure etc... it isn't something you stumble into, you have to work very, very hard for it, relentlessly even.
Gale was already ambitious before the events of BG3, the orb and his romance with Mystra are testimony to that, so it stands to reason that ambition is a major part of him.
Even in his Professor!Gale ending, his ambition has shifted again, this time being either for his family (Morena and Tara) or his lover and his family. In the God!Gale ending, his ambition has reached its zenith and transcended (he's literally Ambition now) and he's sharing his Ambition with his petitioners.
Long story short, Gale's Ambition didn't just come out of nowhere, him becoming a god or professor or adventurer etc is not out of character (this is one of the reasons i love him so much, there's no bad ending for him besides using the Orb (and dying during apotheosis, but really that's more of a skill issue on Gale than anything since you'd think he'd do his research lol even without player input), he's always been ambitious.
The Gale we meet has been humbled and nerfed twice but the Archmage is still in there. He only starts to properly rear his head once he sees the Crown and survives Act 2...
A little more grumbling about Mystra and various pseudo-gods.
Lately, I've been seeing periodic references to the idea that Gale can replace Mystra in her domain. Hmm, let's try reading the lore.
Do you really want to become a god?
Mystra emerged from the fusion of the essences of Selune and Shar, long before the first elves, humans, dwarves, etc. appeared. She has always been the essence of magic.
But let's say it's possible? To destroy Mystra along with her Weave. Okay. But the new Master would have to completely disembody and transform into a NEW magical fabric of the universe, creating a new Weave. And loosing all human traits. Do you like that option for a wizard? :)
Midnight, who became the actual* Mystra, already carried within her a piece of Mystra's power even before her deification. The goddess made sure that Midnight had the skills to work with the Weave directly, anticipating her own possible death. (I recommend reading the Avatar series.) And Midnight, not yet a goddess, learned to work with the Weave without using spells. At least she understood the basics. (Gale has no experience working with pure Weave.) But most importantly, she had time to figure out how the Weave worked before she became the new Mystra.
Okay, let's say Gale was able to capture Mystra and suppress her will, preventing her from immediate destroying the Weave.
But even if he manages to seize the domain (which is very funny, since Mystra is second only to Ao in power, and forced to distribute her excessive power to her Chosen and Anchors of Weaving), he will simply repeat the path of Karsus. Since no one taught him how to control the Weave, it is unlikely that he will be able to comprehend (in an instant) the transcendence of this skill on his own. Otherwise, it will simply get out of control, destroying everything around.
Okay, let's say Gale managed to figure out how to control the Weave. Then all he has to do is merge with Mystra and assume his divine rights.
Do you like it? I don't really. After all, now three more female personalities fully reside in his head, with all the nuances of female psychology and physiology. For example, he will know exactly what a woman experiences during childbirth😵💫.
I would stay away from this god…
I will not draw any conclusions from all this; it is a personal matter for everyone. The universe of the Forgotten Realms is multifaceted and amazing.
I will only add a couple of phrases (again, Greenwood) why Gale was “allowed” to become a god. Аnd why Karsus' Weaving does not exist.
Gale is a "safe" deity.
The point is that Ed says it straight out: Gale was helped to ascend by Karsus' regalia. They already possessed divine power—the power of a dead god, whom he does not name, but it is definitely not Karsus.
It's also worth understanding that Karsus's Regilia won't help Gale unseat Mystra. He lacks the key component for usurping the domain—the Greater Spell of Transcendence—Karsus didn't leave it to his descendants.
My great spell of transcendence is my alone.
The Regalia were tuned to Karsus. And Gale, possessing a particle of Karsus' magic (magic, not his Weave), had a kind of digital “key” to retune the artifact to himself and gain full access to them. Only then would the power of this unknown god become available to him. Which would be a step towards divinity.
Incidentally, it was for the same purpose that Mystra needed Gale. To destroy the Crown. Gods cannot destroy the creations of other gods. And Gale could do it precisely because of his ability to tune into the Crown. Therefore, this option became an alternative to the explosion for him.
But there is no mention of Karsus's Weave. Why? Because it does not exist. No one has ever created this. God Gale will have to content himself with only his divine power (the so-called Galerian “Weave”), which, in the absence of worshippers, is quite small. And given the presence of powerful evil gods in the pantheon, he's unlikely to survive long—they literally eat little gods, annexing their domains and increasing their own power.
But there's even more unpleasant news. A Tav/Durge who agrees to be with God Gale will become nothing more than a spare body for the god if his own is destroyed. This is how the resurrection of gods works. They always need a body ready to accept their essence. Naturally, the essence of the body's owner will be destroyed 💀.
* – In fact, Ariel Manx (Midnight, Mystra-3) shares consciousness with Mystryl and Kaethlyn (Mystra-2), a Netherese peasant. Or rather, parts of their consciousness exist in the magical fabric of Faerun.
SO I was thinking about how strongly Tara dislikes Gale's in-game hair and beard and it made me wonder if it was originally a result of him locking himself away from everyone but then sort of became intentional later. Also brace yourselves for some character analysis which seems to be unpopular in fan works but is interesting to me:
Gale knows he's handsome.
There always seemed to be a bit of a mismatch between how people depict Gale's confidence in fanworks and how he presents himself in-game to me?
One of his very first interactions at camp he does, admittedly cheekily, play off his Mirror Image as fastidious grooming habits, and dismisses the spell with a sly little "Handsome devil, isn't he?" It's playful and could be read as a bluff, but it does exist and doesn't feel particularly misplaced. This is a man that fucked God. I think that is great assurance that you must on some level be looking pretty good on the regular.
He also thinks he's charming, which he is! He has a line somewhere about having a dazzling smile. He calls Karlach "rough around the edges" but that he supposed he could be "smooth enough for the both of them." He is entirely confident that he can befriend Minthara and is the only one to even think to attempt it.
He is not a shy lover, either, once you are in private. Some of his lines are straight up scandalous. He may be a bit shy and bluster when you're the one to bring it up, but later on he is shameless. The "For now, I'll keep my mouth shut. Unless you have use for it, of course" line made my jaw drop. ALSO when you ask Gale if you were his first aside from Mystra, he says no, you are not. But you are the first AFTER Mystra. In fact, Loroakkan insults Gale by implying it was NOT by magical merit that he gained her favor, and all that merit did was insure he lost it.
Gale's insecurity is about his sense of self worth, and how the metric he judges his own worthiness is by what he can do, not who he is.
I think the reason it bothers me to see this TYPE of insecurity attributed to Gale is that he is our token "bookish nerd" character, and it feels too easy to just assign the one "nerd" character the traits "inexperienced virgin who wishes he looked more like the leading man but actually the lead romance thinks he is sweet despite all his shortcomings." Especially when there's almost nothing in game to draw this conclusion from. And I dunno, maybe some people think that formula is still satisfying as a story but I think its boring. This dude is an absolute dweeb who is also handsome as all hell which is one of the many reasons you are able to pay attention to his forty-five minute long speech about the history of gnolls. He does that and then shoots Astarion down in the same breath. Let autistic people be hot. That's allowed.
You wake up in the House of Hope — a floating hellcastle above the River Styx — collared as an eternal debtor and lumped in with two very bad ideas. Your new objective? Survive ten days in Hell, navigate infernal politics, and decide what (or who) you’re willing to bleed for.
Devlog Updates
Coming Soon!
F.A.Q.
Q: What's going on here?
A: I'm making another Baldur's Gate III visual novel. A dating simulator, if you will.
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: Larian didn't let us romance certain NPCs.
Q: How are you doing this?
A: In my free time. I'm a full-time graphic designer, but doing this for fun off-hours just tickles my pickle, and I do love a challenge. I use the beloved Ren'py game engine. Expect recurring development updates before the game goes live on itch.io.
Q: Can I support the project?
A: Yes! But I don't have the will to start a Patreon, Kofi, or anything recurring right now. However, if you wanted to donate via itch.io (and play my earlier BG3 dating sim while you're at it), I would be immensely appreciative. Otherwise, simply sharing this project with others means the world to me, so any reblogs will make my day!
Q: When will the game be released?
A: A formal release date is TBD and will be announced when the end of development is in sight. Prior to release, a demo will be made available on itch.io; stay tuned!
Q: How spicy will this game be?
A: This is most definitely an 18+ game, with an ever-growing list of content warnings. Haarlep would blush.
Q: What platforms/devices will the game be able to play on?
Windows, Mac, and Linux. And if, by the grace of the gods, this game can fit within itch.io's in-browser gameplay limitations, it will be playable in-browser on supported devices.
BG3 Dialogue You've Never Heard: Gale's Mystery Dialogue
In poking around the parser I discovered a bunch of audio in Gale's topical greeting file that does not exist in the HTML file of text. I think I can correctly assume this means the dialogue was never implemented (or perhaps is left over from Early Access? But even EA stuff is in the HTML files). I suspect other companions may have the same; I'm going to check Halsin next, but if you have a request for a companion, lmk!
gummygunk
dededos
annaxmalina
pixelskylines
titsay
