There’s an even-more-rare ending hidden behind Baldur’s Gate 3‘s super-rare Lae’zel ending – so rare, in fact, that you can’t access it through normal means.
Last week, Larian released a Baldur’s Gate 3 infographic to celebrate the RPG’s first anniversary. That infographic revealed that of all the millions of playthroughs that the community has undertaken in the last 12 months, only 34 had ended in the game’s least-popular ending. That ending is only available to Avatar Lae’zel, who’s already the game’s least popular Origin character, and is so uncommon that until that point I’d never even heard of its existence.
Thankfully, YouTuber SlimX has stepped in to shed some light on the situation. The rare ending sees Lae’zel kill herself after her Ascension is rejected by Githyanki God-Queen Vlaakith. Rejected by her ruler, this version of Lae’zel sees little value in going on. But that’s partly because you can only get this ending by siding with Vlaakith and the rest of the Gith for the entire game, apart from the single moment where you choose to become a Mind Flayer, and thereby transform yourself into the Githyanki’s mortal enemy. It’s an odd choice – Lae’zel would be unlikely to make that choice at all, especially if she had remained loyal to the Githyanki throughout the game – and it’s enough to undo all the brownie points you’d earned from Vlaakith up until that final decision.
Having shown how to reach that ending, however, SlimX showed off an alternative that exists within the game files but is essentially impossible to reach. The original ending is only possible if Lae’zel becomes a Mind Flayer and then kills Orpheus. Lae’zel can let Orpheus transform, however, and in that eventuality there’s nothing the player can do to prevent him from killing himself. That’s all Lae’zel needs to Ascend, so the suicide ending is blocked off from the player. It’s still hidden within the game’s files, however, so with a little tinkering behind the scenes, SlimX was able to show it off. Having chosen to spare Orpheus, Lae’zel reaches out to Vlaakith, and is denied. She turns her blade on herself, and wakes up dead. There, she speaks to Withers (who teases that she might one day return to life), in a scene that’s normally reserved for her Mind Flayer self, but works as normal with her traditional Githyanki form.
It’s not a real ending, but it’s interesting that it exists in any form at all. Larian’s narrative flexibility is a high point of Baldur’s Gate 3, so I’m somewhat surprised that players are barred from getting this ending given that it’s present in the game’s files. Of course, there’s plenty in those files that probably wasn’t meant to be seen – including a bounty-worthy Karlach cutscene – but it’s rare that you can infer the existence of an alternative ending, especially when it’s as uncommon as this one.
In happier Githyanki news, Lae’zel borrowed her fighting style from a legendary samurai’s fight with his sleep paralysis demon.
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