Baldur's Gate 3 Player Discovers The Real Reason Karlach Won't Go To Avernus Alone

Summary Karlach refuses to go back to Avernus alone at the end of Baldur's Gate 3 for one heartbreaking reason.

Her mechanical heart will kill her if she doesn't return to the hells.

A viable alternative to going to Avernus to save Karlach is turning her into a mind flayer in Act 3.

The barbarian tiefling Karlach is one of the more fiery (pun intended) origin characters in Baldur’s Gate 3. Despite the illithid tadpole in her head, Karlach has another immediate threat to her life: the mechanical heart placed in her chest. Though players can find some temporary relief for her rapidly-heating heart, the only way to stop Karlach from overheating is if she returns to Avernus. Karlach will immediately dismiss this idea, accepting that she’s living on borrowed time.

Reddit user Fraestro6 had to reckon with Karlach’s fate after four playthroughs and 500 hours in the game. In the post, the user laments that they couldn’t suggest Karlach go to Avernus by herself, ultimately resulting in her death (and a heart-wrenching conversation with Withers). “In the epilogue party I talk to Withers who tells me about Karlach, I ask him "well can't you bring her back??’ And he answers... ‘I tried. But SHE REFUSED,’” they wrote. But one user in the comments pointed out a very good reason why she won’t venture to Avernus alone.

“Her going back on her own is not an option because going back to Avernus with a friend or two solves the biggest thing she hated about her time in Avernus: the loneliness,” Reddit user Caaros pointed out in the comments of the post. “Multiple times throughout the game, Karlach expresses her disdain for being alone and having no one she could relate with or rely on. Even worse, she couldn't even let herself feel sad about it for fear of leaving herself vulnerable.”

Related Karlach’s New Ending Won’t Be The Only Change To BG3’s Third Act Karlach is set to get some epilogue changes in Baldur's Gate 3, and this is only one part of what Larian Studios has planned for Act 3.

There Are A Couple Of Ways To Save Karlach In BG3

One Option Doesn’t Turn Her Into A Mind Flayer

For those who don’t want to commit to an adventure in the hells following the journey they’ve just completed, there’s the option to turn Karlach into a mind flayer in BG3 to save her at the climax of Act 3. She’ll offer to do so and control the Netherbrain, saving the party, though she’ll later unveil during the epilogue that she feels her identity erasing with every brain she consumes. It’s a bittersweet ending, but a viable one that allows her to live without ever returning to the hells.

Romancing another companion character in Baldur’s Gate 3 makes it a little difficult to convince Karlach to go to Avernus and find a solution to her mechanical heart, as players will miss out on important post-game content with their partner if they leave for the Hells. Though agreeing to go to Avernus with her seems like the most obvious avenue to saving her (without turning her into an illithid), it’s not the only route for those who don't romance her.

If a player chooses not to funnel Wyll into the role of the Archduke of Baldur’s Gate, replacing his father, the Blade of Frontiers will offer to go to the hells with her. It’s a full-circle moment that brings the pair’s relationship to a happy conclusion, and she and Wyll will share that they’ve found blueprints that could offer a solution to her mechanical heart. This is probably the happiest ending for the tiefling in Baldur’s Gate 3, and the best option for those who have already romanced her.

Source: Fraestro6/Reddit