Summary
Baldur’s Gate 3is a massive adventure that many players are still getting through despite coming out a few weeks ago. The game’s critical and commercial acclaim solidified its stance as aCRPG that has raised the barfor others like it, and players who have been far along have begun uncovering the game’s secrets.
One ofBaldur’s Gate 3’s most mysterious characters is an undead NPC who refers to himself as Withers. After rescuing him from a catacomb, he offers his services by reviving dead party members andrespeccing a character’s class. Although players can question him throughout the game to better understand who or what he is, he remains tight-lipped and gets annoyed, but a post-credits scene after certain endings potentially answers why he’s as powerful as he is.
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Assuming players don’t end the world, a short scene will play after the credits that shows Withers visiting a mural of The Dead Three, a trio of gods consisting of Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul who plotted totake control of the Absolutevia their Chosen. Withers proceeds to mock them all, criticizing their plan by mentioning how souls vanish should people become Mind Flayers and questioning how they figured the other gods would not have noticed.
His scathing remarks continue by mentioning how he overestimated them while the player’s party did not, and the scene ends with him calling The Dead Three vermin before walking away. It’s an interesting note to end the game on while also being the biggest clue as to who Withers is.
Jergal is a god of death withinDungeons and Dragonswhose worship fell to the wayside when the Dead Three became prominent figures, and he is first potentially mentioned in the catacombs the player finds him in. Should anyone pass a religion check and recognize who is depicted on the statue inside, a character will remark about how they were surprised anyone still worshiped him.
Given Withers' location and his death-defying abilities, some players could easily conclude that he is associated with the god, but not necessarily him especially with the state of his resting place. The comparison might even vanish from many players' minds as Jergal is not brought up much inBaldur’s Gate 3, with this point only a few hours in the game being his only prominent appearance.
That said, his resurrection abilities are the most powerful inBaldur’s Gate 3since he can revive companions at full health at a small cost, something eventhe game’s best clericscan’t do as they are limited to resurrecting players at a single hit point. The post-credits scene reveals him to at least be aware of what the gods notice, which implies that he is either closely connected to them or is among their ranks.
His coyness with his history and there being multiple mentions from various characters about the gods not doing much could also imply that Withers was their answer to the conflict, even if it was not exactly by choice on his part since he mentions not being with the player out of his own free will. Despite his general moodiness with tagging along for the journey, he is a very welcome presence especially when players inevitably get manybad rolls for actions during combat.
Baldur’s Gate 3does not drop many hints as to who Withers is, especially for players who miss any information they can find about Jergal, but the ones dropped during the main story heavily imply he is the forgotten god of death. Even if the players' party is unable to find out who Withers is, at least the player themselves gets to glimpse at the most overt hint in the game.
Baldur’s Gate 3is out now on PC and will come out on September 6 on PS5. A version for Xbox Series X/S is in development.
