What happens if you never met Astarion

Proof that Tav was destined to elevate their friends to being better or aiding in their destruction.

Fair to say, all the companions are sealed to a sour fate if you don't recruit them. That alone, the lack of protection from the Artifact either makes them a slave to the Absolute, or fall to their fate. Lae'zel is killed by her people in search of a creche. Gale explodes, dying with nobody to remember him by. Astarion is captured and sacrificed to Cazador's ritual. Shadowheart falls short of her mission and cannot return to Baldur's Gate. Likely condemned to her doom. Karlach and Wyll continue this game of cat and mouse, either one of them will die or will kill the other. If the elements don't claim them first.

There were some notes in the kennels saying that Cazador got pissed because he couldn’t control Astarion, so he flayed Astarion alive over and over again until Astarion couldn’t be put together in human form anymore. It gives you more perspective on why Astarion is so terrified of Cazador, considering what happened to him when he got caught.

Intro: 'You there, come here. I need help.' Mid act 2 when asked why he didnt ask for help: 'Im not exactly used to asking for help and being met with... well... help' Oh god this is so dark in so many ways.

Thank you for your sacrifice, but this ending is beyond cruelty of what Casador did to him (not blaming you, just this scenario is unimaginable).

The game's depiction of Astarion is quite realistic: being a victim of prolonged brutality and abuse does tend to turn one apathetic, sadistic and insecure, which is basically the impression Astarion leaves me for the first 2 Acts.

I could NEVER not recruit him, ever. He's always in my party, I never even send him back to camp, he needs to be by my side all the time. I have to be sure, he's okay, safe, well fed, geared up, properly dressed, clean, and happy.

Astarion is like a domesticated animal that doesn’t know how to survive in the wild and it’s just waiting for its owner to come pick him up

Whelp. That settles it. I'm always going to recruit Astarion. No matter what.

I have over 600 hours in this game, and not once has he left my party. I always recruit him second, cause Shadowheart is literally right there and it would be silly to just skip an unconscious person lol Point of the matter is, without Astarion, I wouldn't have been introduced to BG3. I wouldn't have taken the chance to play DND, and I wouldn't have met all of the people, friends, that I know now because of our campaign. Astarion's only a bunch of pixels but I love him so freaking much. And yes, this is a normal amount lol

That "please come help me" on the beach is just heartbreaking 😭He hasn't had his own agency or freedom in two centuries, and without Tav appearing, he's alone on a beach with only his clothes and a knife. There's no way I can not recruit him, even if he does draw the knife on me. After the nautiloid and the crash no one's at their best, and the guy's hiding how terrified of everything is I'll give him a break. It's so tragic that without Tav, no matter what else happened to him, he'd meet a horrific end.

In an least one alternate universe where Astarion is ignored by the party, Gandrel the Monster Hunter stumbled upon Astarion asking for help and was tricked into helping him. They wrestled around fighting for a bit before calling a truce and becoming close pals, but Astarion uses a fake name, of course. One day after already having gone on numerous adventures together, Gandrel learned the truth, but ultimately decided to side with his new BFF, Astarion, and together, they destroy Cazador and his cult and live happily ever after chasing skirts and drinking copious amounts of cheap wine like total bros.

Okay, I didn't expect his fate to turn out so horrible... Never seen this outcome before! Thanks for sharing 🙏🏻

I was considering to recruit Astarion later on in the game to see the different outcome, and now… this guy is not even real but I choked thinking of all he went through before the chapel… nope. I shan’t do it. Astarion is coming with me always. I will not let him out of my sight. Thank you for the vid.

damn the zoomed in zombie looks brutal 💀

Who's going to pay for my therapy after i watched this because holy moly im SOBBING

In general, being with the MC (doesn't matter which origin it is) is the only way to survive for the most of our main companions. Just think about it: Astarion is captured by Cazador, Lae'zel is killed by another githyanki, Karlach… well, you know, Gale is exploding. Probably Wyll is the exception but he'd be doomed in his own way and SH as she's almost impossible not to recruit.

This is actually perfect for advertising! Lol! „Go! Only you can save him!“

Tell me why i am playing a durge run where i ate Gale's hand and doomed him to the equivalent of exploding while stuck on an elevator, and THIS is the line i refuse to cross

That made me so fucking sad :c I’m happy I’m always going for him first so he can finally live happily with me 🥰