There are 10 beloved companions in Baldur’s Gate 3 who can be recruited at different stages of the game. Some of these characters can only join the player under specific circumstances, depending on certain choices they’ve previously made. For example, Minsc can only be recruited if Jaheria has already joined the player.

Likewise, there are also several ways for companions to relinquish their loyalty to the player – if their approval rate drops below -50, then they’ll permanently leave the party, taking anything they had equipped along with them. Players will usually not hear anything about them again, which could leave them wondering what happened to them. However, some datamined content provides insight into the bleak and terrifying endings that the game has in store for them.

Players Could Sentence Minthara To A Disturbing Fate

Originally, Players Had To Choose Between Recruiting Halsin Or Minthara

Those who have played Baldur’s Gate 3 since it was first released will likely remember that there was originally no way to recruit both Halsin and Minthara in the same playthrough. In the game’s current version, players can keep both companions by knocking out Minthara in the goblin camp instead of killing her, and then continuing with Halsin’s questline.

This was originally a different scenario that was planned to play out in this circumstance. It would instead result in Halsin presenting the player with an ultimatum, forcing him or Minthara to leave. This has been shown in datamined content, like from Merrin La’s video on YouTube.

The video shows both outcomes of the decision – if Halsin was told to leave, he thanked the player and gracefully left – this conversation would take place after the shadow curse has been lifted in Act 2, so Halsin would not have that to fear. He is also one of the few companions not harboring an illithid tadpole in BG3, which is very significant when considering Minthara’s reaction if she was told to leave instead. Minthara would desperately tell the player that she would rather die than subject herself to what would await her if she left the party.

“If I am not protected from the Absolute’s voice as you are, then it will take me again. Body, mind and soul.” – Minthara

The Minthara the party meets as one of the goblin camp leaders is quite different compared to how she acts under the protection of the Emperor. Though she still has her iconic bloodthirsty personality, her loyalty toward the Absolute turns to hatred. While she was under the Absolute’s control, she had little say over her actions and committed various atrocities.

However, she is granted freedom from this upon the player convincing the Emperor to grant her his protection like the rest of the companions. Being granted brief freedom just to be cast out again would’ve been Minthara’s cruelest ending.

What Happens To Other Recruitable Characters If They Leave The Party?

Abandonded Companions Become Slaves Of The Absolute

With what Minthara knows about the future that lies before her if she is no longer protected by the Emperor, this adds a lot more context to what might happen to companions who leave the party. For example, Wyll and Karlach will permanently leave if the player decides to raid the Emerald Grove in Act 1, and are never seen again. This is likely because, by not being allied with the player, who the Emperor views as the group’s leader, he sees no need to keep them protected, meaning they are subjected to becoming slaves of the Absolute off-screen.

Players can actually see one other character likely succumbing to the Absolute’s voice if they never recruit them. If Lae’zel is not recruited by the end of Act 1, but also not killed by the Gith patrol or the player, then her body will be found in the Shadow-Cursed lands.

It’s highly likely that under the control of the Absolute, she attempted to get to Moonnrise Towers, but to no avail. The only other companion who has multiple chances of recruitment is Shadowheart, but she likely initially has the Emperor’s protection given her possession of the artifact.

Another fate for Minthara when not recruited by the player is for Balthazar to turn her into a zombie, which can still occur in the game.

After defeating Ketheric Thorm, players can talk to Minthara after she steals his throne. If the player had knocked her out instead of siding with her, she would ask the player why they spared her, divulging that she could have been one of hundreds in their “crusade against the absolute.” The number of ways Minthara’s story could have gone begs the question of how many true souls could have been saved in Baldur’s Gate 3.