🚨 BREAKING: What if the shadowy overlords plotting your doom in Larian’s next epic aren’t new faces… but ghosts from Baldur’s Gate 3’s underbelly, clawing back from the grave? A fan’s unearthed clues tying Act 3’s forgotten souls to the Dead Three’s unholy revival—necromancers rising, cults festering in plain sight. Imagine: your old nemeses, twisted into apocalypse architects, waiting to drag Faerûn into eternal night. Larian’s silence screams volumes… is this the sequel hook they’ve buried? Unearth the conspiracy before the tadpoles return. Who’s spotting the breadcrumbs first? 🕷️

In the ever-expanding tapestry of Forgotten Realms lore, where gods fall and tadpoles burrow into the brains of the unwary, few corners feel truly sealed off. Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios’ 2023 triumph that sold 15 million copies and redefined the CRPG genre, wrapped its narrative in a web of loose threads—evil endings that plunge the Sword Coast into darkness, companions scattered to fates untold, and villains whose defeats feel more like respites than finales. But what if those threads weren’t dangling idly? A viral fan theory circulating on Reddit posits that the antagonists for Larian’s next major project—codenamed “Excalibur” and shrouded in secrecy—might already be seeded within BG3‘s world, specifically as the “next Chosen” of the Dead Three: Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul. According to user Korrocks’s October 6, 2025, post on r/BaldursGate3, which has amassed over 8,700 upvotes and 1,200 comments, these overlooked NPCs from Act 3’s fringes could rise as harbingers of a new cataclysm, bridging Larian’s D&D farewell to whatever ambitious RPGs the studio is forging next. It’s speculative fuel for a fandom starved for sequels, especially as Larian shifts gears to two original IPs, leaving Baldur’s Gate in Wizards of the Coast’s hands.

The theory hinges on the Dead Three’s enduring menace. In BG3, these deities—Bane the tyrant of tyranny, Bhaal the lord of murder, and Myrkul the reaper of death—manifest through their Chosen: Enver Gortash, Orin the Red, and the Dark Urge (or your custom Tav, if you embrace the abyss). Defeating them culminates in a climactic assault on the Netherbrain, but the game’s “evil” endings—now expanded in Patch 8’s cross-play update—allow players to ascend as the Absolute, dooming Faerûn to subjugation. Korrocks argues that Larian, known for its intricate foreshadowing (recall the subtle Emperor teases in Act 1), planted seeds for future chaos among Act 3’s bit characters. For Myrkul’s successor, enter Nina Dortmell: the grieving sister in the Lower City graveyard, desperately attempting to resurrect her brother via forbidden necromancy. “She’s got the chops—literally raising the dead amid Baldur’s Gate’s corpse-littered streets,” Korrocks writes, noting her ritual’s eerie parallels to Myrkul’s skull-wielding avatars. If the Elder Brain’s fall scatters the Dead Three’s influence, Nina could channel that void, evolving from a side-quest plea into a lich-queen amassing undead legions in the city’s catacombs.

Bane’s mantle falls to Oskar Fevras, the scheming smuggler entangled in the Guild’s power vacuum. Post-Gortash’s demise, Oskar’s web of bribes and black-market dealings positions him as a natural heir to the Black Hand’s iron fist. “Tyranny thrives in shadows,” Korrocks theorizes, linking Oskar’s extortion rackets to Bane’s dogma of conquest through corruption. Imagine a sequel where Baldur’s Gate, fractured by the Netherbrain’s psychic scars, succumbs to martial law under Oskar’s banner—prefects patrolling Wyrm’s Crossing, dissenters vanished into hidden watchtowers. For Bhaal, the bloodlust ignites with Nine Fingers Keene, the shadowy Thieves’ Guild mistress whose fingers symbolize ritual sacrifice. Her operation’s underbelly of assassinations and ritual killings echoes Bhaal’s slayer cult, especially if Orin’s death leaves a power void in the murder god’s temple. “Keene’s already got the network—add divine whispers, and she’s a crimson storm sweeping the Lower City,” the post speculates.

This isn’t baseless conjecture; it’s rooted in Larian’s storytelling DNA. The studio’s Divinity: Original Sin 2 (2017) layered similar callbacks, with “Godwoken” echoes haunting its sequels. BG3‘s epilogues—playable in Patch 7’s Honour Mode—tease such escalations: a Dark Urge survivor might glimpse visions of resurgent Chosen, their forms flickering like half-formed illithid prophecies. Fans on X amplified the theory post-publication: @Korrock’s original thread screenshot, shared by @BaldursGateFanatic, garnered 4,200 likes, with replies like “Larian’s too clever—Nina’s dialogue about ‘debts to the grave’ screams Myrkul 2.0.” r/BaldursGate3’s comments overflow with support: u/ShadowheartSimp hails it as “peak Larian poetry,” envisioning a multi-act saga where these “minor” villains orchestrate a Dead Three resurgence, pulling strings from Avernus to the Underdark. Skeptics counter: u/TadpoleTruth calls it “copium for no BG4,” pointing to Larian’s March 2024 GDC panel where CEO Swen Vincke declared no DLC, expansions, or Baldur’s Gate 4—the studio’s parting gift to Hasbro after netting the publisher $90 million in royalties.

Larian’s pivot adds intrigue. Post-BG3, the Belgian powerhouse—now 1,200 strong across Quebec, Dublin, and Guangzhou outposts—abandoned a BG4 prototype in early 2024, opting for two original RPGs unbound by D&D licensing. Vincke teased at April’s IGF Summit: “We’re deep in the trenches on two massive projects—think bigger cinematics, wilder systems, but our IP this time.” Rumors swirl of a sci-fi pivot (echoing BioWare’s Mass Effect leap) or a horror-infused Divinity 3, with May 2025’s accidental LinkedIn slip—”Excalibur: Act 1 Prototyping”—hinting at turn-based roots. Yet, the theory persists: Larian could license back cameos or lore nods, much like Divinity‘s Source crossovers. Karlach’s Avernus exile? A perfect portal for Dead Three meddling. Orin loyalists? Fodder for Keene’s blood rites. “If it’s not BG4, why plant these seeds?” muses u/LarianLoreLord in a 2,500-upvote reply, sparking fanfic floods on AO3—tales of Nina’s skeletal horde storming the High Hall.

The buzz underscores BG3‘s lingering grip. Patch 8’s September 2025 drop—12 new subclasses, photo mode, and cross-save multiplayer—drove concurrent peaks to 80,000 on Steam, per Valve data, as players revisit Act 3 for “evil runs” unlocked by the theory. Modders on Nexus pounced: “Dead Three Rising” overhauls Act 3 with empowered NPCs, turning Oskar into a Bane-aspected warlord with conqueror perks. Economically, it’s a boon—Larian’s merch (tadpole mugs, $15 million Q2 haul) and Hasbro tie-ins (D&D sourcebooks spiking 40%) thrive on speculation. Critics at PC Gamer’s April 2025 roundup praised the “what if” ethos: “Larian’s endings aren’t closures—they’re invitations to theorize.”

Challenges loom for any canon nod. Wizards of the Coast, post-2023 OGL fiasco, guards D&D tightly—any BG4 successor (rumored for Owlcat or Virtuos) risks diluting Larian’s vision. Vincke’s August 2025 anniversary post quipped: “BG3 turns two—time for the next crazy thing. No spoilers, but the villains? They’re already out there.” Fans interpret it as a wink. Broader ripples? BioWare’s Veilguard (November 2025) borrows BG3‘s reactivity, while indies like Exiled Kingdoms II ape the ensemble drama.

As October’s Game Awards nominations brew—BG3‘s mod toolkit a shoo-in for innovation—this theory endures like a persistent debuff: harmless until it crits. Nina, Oskar, Keene—not just footnotes, but phantoms haunting Larian’s horizon. Will Excalibur summon them? Or is it misdirection for cosmic horrors anew? Reload your save; the Dead Three’s gaze lingers. Faerûn’s shadows deepen, and the next roll awaits.