Shadowheart Parents: All Choices, Outcomes, & Its Effect on Ending | Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3) 

Thats kinda the point...

​@tlemgr How is Vlaakith any different from your typical fantasy tyrant? Shar's worse because of how petty she is, how she wants everyone else to suffer just because she did, how she wants everyone to worship her after screwing their lives. She's a psychotic ex-girlfriend

@tlemgr honestly i think Shar is way worse than Vlaakith.

Even Bhaal’s purest child, before being freed of their urge or embracing it, with a Slayer form, is utterly disgusted by what Shar did to Shadowheart here with no special dialogue suggesting otherwise

Her and the lich queen/emperor, they kept Orpheus for years locked up

Yeah to be fair slaying Assimar's on average isn't a good idea short of them being fallen and unrepentant.

​@@theepicduck6922I think that murderhappy psycho is pretty much in need of death

@@theepicduck6922dudes it's 'aasimar' :D

Ass imar😅

I did pretty much the same thing; not staying silent, but choosing the neutral options ("Listen to what your parents want" and "You don't need me to tell you what the right choice is") and she made the same call. Pissed me off when I couldn't do the same with Wyll later.

Shadowheart was expendable. There was no scheme.

@@thatoneguy9816 Again, the scheme was to have someone permanently kill Aylin. Of course SH was expendable to her. If she failed, or was killed, Shar would’ve sent someone else. Rinse & repeat until someone succeeds.

Who tf had a reason to go there? Who? There was literally no one else who had a reason to go there or who knew where it was to pass the trials. It's plot for the story. We had to go there in the story. Anyone else would have literally died or has died. If we weren't there then she'd be in ketherics hands and isobel would have been taken. Jfc. No rinse and repeat. They were marching on the gate.@@TheOddityFair

​@@thatoneguy9816 Like the previous commenter said, Shar would have found someone else to go there if SH died on the way. She would've probably tried to brainwash another one of Selûne's followers. Of course it was used as part of the story but Shar's rivalry with Selûne IS part of the story, albeit indirectly. You should pay more attention to peoples' comments and not get so upset when you're wrong.

"You should pay more attention to peoples' comments and not get so upset when you're wrong". Ketheric was marching and the world was about to be enslaved. You really need to think and take your own advice. They had no reason to be in the temple other than killing Ketheric. Had they failed or you died, there would be no one else, literally, period. People like you lack critical thinking and always give me the ammo I need to throw back at you.@@cameronorr667

Are you sure? Shar lost big here because she did all of this scheme to hurt Selune. We managed to turn SH against her. Before the game begun Shar had a cleric, a powerful forge, powerful items , an aasimar. Killing Aylin would hurt Selune more than Shadowheart s pain. In the end Shar only left with i can inflict pain on you. Shes used how fragile her worshippers and how coward they are to do anything to escape from pain. Shes forgotten the power of the family.Shadowhearts will. She tried to break the soul of Shadowheart. Because if she sacrifices her parents physical pain will be gone but she will always remember what shes done. That regret will grow in SH with time. But if she keeps her family and the curse she will always remember how cruel Shar is so she will never turn back.

Shar’s puppet…? How are you coming up with that interpretation? Shadowheart is almost completely free of Shar in the Selune + save parents choice. Shar only can throw occasional tantrums by sending pain to Shadowheart’s hand, which Shadowheart herself says she will be fine dealing with.

It's the mark of Shar that makes it more eternally troublesome, which eventually convinced me... In terms of DND lore, when a god marks you, you are forever eternally bound to them, even in death. Doesn't matter if you deify the god or not, a petty God like Shar would try to make that claim and bound Shadowheart eternally, even in death. Eventually Shadowheart will die, like all mortals. Shar would have that right to 'claim' her after death, because of the Shar's mark / curse. Making Shadowheart eternally bound in Shar's shackles... Shar is petty like that, so it wouldn't be a surprise if something like that would happen. Letting her parents go 'pass on' is the better option for the Selune path. This is because that one day they'll all be reunited eternally in the afterlife, you'll all be together again, her parents, romanced Tav. Everyone together again in the afterlife is a better bittersweet ending long term for Shadowheart.

@@All_Knowing_Truth She could mark her but Shadowheart is a willful cleric. Shar couldnt even break her fathers mind. While having them beside Shadowheart wont give up. When they die their pain bond will disappear. So shar's mark wont be active. Shadowheart didnt promised her soul to Shar , and if she devotes her soul to Selune doesnt matter the mark Selune will get her. But sadly if you dont believe Selune while romanced its kinda hard youll meet with her or her parents afterlife. Think that wound and her parents as a pain link. When one is broken other will also disappear. Some pain will make people stronger. Real pain and victory for Shar would be breaking her soul by making her sacrifice her parents.

@@ladyselin35 The thing is, I believe that Selune would try to make that claim, but only if Shar doesn't get to her first. Shar would get to her first because she's petty like that. It's a mark of servitude. The mark of Shar is a symbol of servitude which tracks Shadowheart at all the times. Even after defiance, Shar is still there. Shar would be the first to notice Shadowhearts passing and could easily claim her before Selune. With her parents passing it doesn't break her soul completely, there is comfort in knowing that Shadowheart's parent's wanted that outcome for her and if you let her decided for herself, that's what she had picked. At least, for me she did. When I had a conversation with her afterwards, with how are you? She said she's at peace, I did romance Shadowheart on that playthrough though. To be marked by any god is detrimental spiritually and eternally, regardless of who you worship at the time of death. It's an act of servitude which is more compelling in who determines the rights of that claim in the eyes of the gods. Shar has more rights than Selune does in that scenario. Worshiping who or what is irrelevant in this scenario. After death, mortals who are marked can't make that choice in this situation, it's the gods who make that final decision. That deal was already set in stone when she got marked by Shar. Removing the curse / mark makes Shadowheart truly free, spiritually and eternally. As a result, freeing Shadowheart from the curse and mark gives her an better chance of being claimed by Selune in the Afterlife. Shar would have no claim because all ties would be severed.

The main downside is losing the Nightsong if that happens.

​@@crazyelf1That part sucks, true. But if you're playing as the Dark Urge, you get the Slayer form since Isobel dies with Nightsong gone.

@@crazyelf1 How is that a downside ? She's cringe as hell and behaves like a jerk, good riddance.

Well good luck with the memories Shar gave to you then.

​@@crazyelf1 Never liked her anyway.

and the ending dialogue in the epilogue even implies that the cusre is getting cured. when youre talking to Shadowheart in the epilogie the wound will hurt her one time during your talk and then you can say "It seems its happening less frequently, maybe Shar is losing interest?" Shadowheart says that shes "not gonna get her hopes up just yet." but why would that dialogue be put there by the developers - unless the curse, is, indeed, hurting less and less frequently as time goes on? thats the devs essentially implying to the player that the curse is slowly disappearing. probably thanks to Selune somehow curing Shadowheart. since Selune could even turn Shars Spear of Night into a Selune spear. Nightsong said "Shar and Selune are Twins and anything Shar has, Selune has an equal claim to" about the spear. so it must be the same with the curse - if Shadowheart turns back to Selune, it must give Selune power to slowly heal the curse. so yes - saving her parents, is always, in everysingle case, the Best ending. if the developers didnt put in a line about the curse slowly curing itself, then maybe we would have an argument, but since they purposefully put that line in, there is no debate to be had. save the parents. also i think you need to be her partner for the dialogue about the curse happening less often to come up - since of course, how else would a Tav who is not living with her know how often its happening. but you could also not click this dialogue and imagine it continues to hurt often. thats the thing with Shadowheart - Shadowheart i think is the only companion without a "true personality" with her everything is "an optional truth" not an "objective unavoidable truth." shes like lego pieces, you build her into whatever you want. I always click on "It seems the wound is hurting less frequently" and i also never take Halsin in my party. so my Shadowheart only ever cares about me her whole life And in my mind her wound heals since i picked that option that the devs left there. i think with everything Selune SH ever tells you, its completely against her writing and character for her to ever want anyone else (Halsin) besides you. but thats just another Optinal Truth, a lego piece you might wanna use or refuse to.

its worth it just with the simple fact that you can give up the finger to that stupid goddess.

Save her parents, tell shar to get bent, feed her the magic mushrooms from act 1 and the wound is effectively cured.

WHAT MAGIC MUSHROOMSI NEED TO KNOW@@OverlyEpux

@@OverlyEpuxit doesn’t cure the wound, I gave her the noblestalk before, it only heals it for a while before the wound reappears. Maybe you got a bug and it didn’t appear for you, but the wound was inflicted by Shar, it’s not easily cured.

@@Fercousion it happens but immediately cures. She’s also much happier with her folks

Meh, just need to create two different saves with both choices

Make sense, though. Shar doesn't restore her memories in the other path. So she torments her through the curse. But in the Shar path, Shadowheart turns on Shar at the last moment. So her "reward" is her memories of torturing her parents. That probably hurts much deeper than the curse was intended to do.

She remembers torturing her parents in the Good Path as well.@@noctusvolpes Shar restores memories that would hurt her.

But she doenst know why she tortured them, thats so evil. They manipulated and erased her memories so often, u can find that in the books ingame, she was not okey with the teachings, always had to be mind wiped again and again. A goddes that can play with ur mind and erase memories, astounding that she resisted that for 30 years@@VDA19

@@emilie1058 40 years

Broken people with no one else to turn to. That's how Shar got Ketheric Thorm to denounce Selune, because the man was utterly devastated by his family's death that he abandoned all hope and gave in to his despair. Ironically, as much as Shar worshippers preach about how nihilism is the ultimate truth of life, they all, deep down, hope that one day Shar will recognize them for the blind faith they have in her. Shar is basically an abusive mother who torment her kids and condition them in a way that they would forever seek validation from her, in spite of the hell she put them through.

well we do have that in real life, satanic cults and most likely , probably, others i have no clue about , but why follow willingly evil ? good question.

A mix of ordinary cult tactics and existential nihilism. Moreover, any deity would have thorough and deep philosophical explanations for what they stand for (or say they stand for) and the charisma to sell it.

I mean Shadowheart in particular was kidnapped, mindwiped and groomed so that probably helped.

@@budoshi1981oh yeah, definitely the satanic cults that do that. Definitely. Not any other religious organisation at all.

She says a long the lines of “I know, but I still want to be here”

She also says stuff like "I know but having too much freedom is also scary and lonely. There is a reason why so many gods have so many folowers"

The only thing her becoming a Dark Justiciar impacts is the romance arc; to the best of my knowledge, the only thing that will drive her to leave (apart from getting her to -50 approval, which is standard for every companion) is if you go to the Shadowfell and deal with the Nightsong without her in the party.

@@treehugger0241 i think the only other thing that makes Shadowheart leave, is if you save her parents and then you personally kill them. like when they become regular NPCs in camp or whatever.

Maybe it's because they were also cursed by Shar, so they ended up being tied to her realm against their will

Shar isn't exactly good-aligned; she could have been BSing Shadowheart.

Not possible, not even with noblestalk. You probably ran into a bug.

Not a wise choice: it would be mandatory to kill him in every possible playthrough.

Neither.

@@MistyKathrine That is extremely lame. Only way to get best gear for Shadowhear but you miss out on romance scene. Bravo, Larian

@@user-no6zk6vv4y You can still get a romance scene with DJ Shadowheart, she actually has an entire unique romance arc on that path. You only don't get a romance scene if she saves her parents after becoming a DJ. If she kills them like normal, you get romance scene.

@@MistyKathrine Well yeah, but then she breaks up with you in the ending. If you save her from going FULL DJ, you end up getting cucked out of a full romance scene, which is lame. I HATE that you're essentially forced to choose between getting the best loot or getting an actual romance scene with Shadowheart.

@@user-no6zk6vv4y She pretty much gets back together with you in the new epilogue though. So the break up isn't even permanent anymore.

spare nightsong kill parents imo

@@vanguardoffreedom20 nope The pain gets more unbearable and lasts longer and is more frequent. But it’s still a choice I can see people making.

​@@noreason3131Im sure Shar will eventually drop it after picking a new chosen. But sacrificing them or remembering her handmade torture for her parents wouldve broken her soul. Remember what she said at the end of the game if shes sacrificed her parents , shed do anyrhng to see them again etc. Shar would use that weakness in future for sure. But when her parents with her, saving nightsong each pain would make her even further away from Shar.

@@ladyselin35 Shar's pettiness is on another level. I won't see her dropping Shadowheart anytime soon, even in dead.

Shadowheart was my first romance and I told her to listen to what her parents wanted, followed by saying she didn't need me to tell her what was the right choice. She chose to honor her parents' wishes and send them to Selune to break her curse.

No, that only affects whether she remembers Nocturne - a character in a side room of the temple.

@@Wheatey thx

I’ve been told the game ends with her saying she needs to go do something, but I can’t personally confirm that

​@@shadowcastytI can confirm that now. After the ending you spend one last night together then she basically breaks up with you, she says she needs to concentrate on herself now cause she ignored her issues far too long (Viconia and parents quest obviously)

@@b.sz.965 kinda figured it would be something like that

lol there is now. they added it.

that doesnt sound like the "right decision" to me, playa.

@@DaggerPrince yea I don't mean it as in right by standards of "being a good person" I mean right by it's the right decision for my playthroughs

Superficially they're the same. It looks like the biggest difference is that Shadowheart actually regains her memories if she betrays Shar at the last moment, as punishment. With the Selune Parents version, they're gone forever.

@@baylaustmore specifically she mostly only regains the painful memories such as torturing her parents and killing. She’s does not return the more joyful memories

​@baylaust they're not gone forever you also gave the option to save them as a selunite

Not really. For the most part, there is only one difference. Shadowheart will keep her Black hair (which, in my opinion, is more attractive than her white hair Selunite version).

@@baylaust she can still get those memories of what she did to her parents by switching to Shadowheart and speaking to her parents back at camp

​@vanguardoffreedom20 I'm not too sure about that. I interpreted the dialogue as if you saved the parents Shar's curse was only going to get worse until it takes Shadowheart's life. Seems way more like a Catch 22 that way, and would be 100% more up Shar's alley.

Killed the mistress supreme spared her and killed her again as she walked off

based@@NotEmoney

I knifed Viconia immediately after Shadowheart finished getting the information she wanted from her. I wasn't about to let the bitch who abducted, brain-washed, and tortured Shadowheart walk away and put down new roots somewhere else to start the process over again, even if my preference would have been for my character to plant a bolt in Viconia's forehead or throat since my character was a Beast Master 8/Thief 4 with hand crossbows and Sharp Shooter

Great to see someone else mention it, I was so confused when I heard it the first time

I mean, she IS evil. Much like Bane, Llolth Talona, Loviatar, Auril, Umberlee, Talos...... fugg the Forgotten Realms has way too many gods