It is no secret that Baldur’s Gate 3‘s companions are a massive contributor to its success. Thanks to how well they are written, their witty dialogue, and the charisma that the voice actors bring to the role, Larian has managed to produce one of the most beloved cast of characters in gaming, with Astarion earning Neil Newbon a deserving Game Award for Best Performance in 2023. Another popular member of the cast is the potty-mouthed tiefling, Karlach, who many have fallen in love with thanks to her fiery (pun intended) personality.

Karlach is a pillar of positivity and one of the few companions that is very openly good from a moral point of view. Ironically, she shares this trait with Wyll, who starts off as her enemy, but the pair can grow close if the player cultivates that relationship. In general, Karlach is one of the more tragic characters in the cast, and that’s no mean feat considering that everyone is tragic to some degree. It seems that she is doomed to die, but there are ways to save her from her burning engine of a heart.

Gale Can Get Karlach Her Happy Ending in Baldur’s Gate 3

But It Requires A Lot Of Work

Karlach has an Infernal Engine in her chest that is slowly burning her to death as long as she isn’t in Avernus, a section of Hell. Typically, players have solved this by either going with Karlach back to Avernus with Wyll, Tav, or both. She still has the Infernal Engine, but she won’t die. Another way is to turn her into a Mind Flayer before the final fight, ridding her of the Engine but also her soul, and likely her personality later down the line. It isn’t clear whether a Mind Flayer version of Karlach is really Karlach to begin with.

Wither’s mentions that Mind Flayers don’t have souls at the end of Act 2, after the party has defeated Ketheric.

Neither solution is ideal. One involves going to literal Hell while another requires that players turn their favorite, loudmouthed tiefling into an alien squid monster without a soul. Still, there is a third solution which rids Karlach of her Infernal Engine and allows her to stay as herself, or at least a version of herself. This involves players taking control of Karlach as their avatar, romancing Gale, turning him into the God of Ambition, then meeting him at Wither’s party six months later.

Through this interaction and their relationship, Gale will state that he wishes to take Karlach up into the heavens with him and help her ascend to godhood by his side. Through this, Karlach will receive a divine body that no longer has an Infernal Engine in place of her heart and, through immortality, will not have to worry about dying. She also won’t have to worry that much about Zariel in Avernus, especially because Gale states that the pair will enact terrible vengeance against the devil when the time comes.

A Lot Needs To Be Sacrificed To Save Karlach

It Isn’t Possible Through Tav Or Durge

In order to get this ending for Karlach, the player will need to do a lot of specific things throughout their playthrough. The obvious one is to play as Karlach, which does hamper the character’s ability to show off her personality the same way she would as a companion. Then, she needs to complete the romance with Gale, convince him that he should become a god in his own right, which some would consider a bad ending for the wizard, at least from an ethical or moral standpoint. His ego has certainly never been bigger.

If players have Gale as their avatar character and becomes a god, they can talk to a disapproving Tara, his Tressym friend.

This also requires Karlach to survive the ending sequence of Baldur’s Gate 3‘s third act and choose not to burn to ash at the end of the dock. A relatively good ending (the destruction of the Netherbrain without asking Gale to self-destruct) is needed for this too, since enslaving everyone and actually becoming the Absolute means that Gale can’t get the Crown of Karsus to become a god. This also means that Karlach will have to go back to Avernus to live long enough to make it to Wither’s party six months after the game’s ending.

Since players are controlling Karlach, it does mean that she will go back to Avernus without Wyll or someone to accompany her. This is good news for Wyll, but it is bad news for Karlach, since six months in literal Hell isn’t great for anyone. Still, half a year in Avernus is well worth the sacrifice to become a god and getting a regular heart, but it does require the player to jump through multiple hurdles in a single playthrough just to get Karlach in this position. Still, it is the best ending that she can get, although it isn’t unique to her.

Karlach’s Happy Ending Isn’t Unique To Her

Baldur’s Gate 3 Has So Many Endings Already

Custom Image by: Katarina Cimbaljevic

Karlach isn’t the only member of the party that can become a god. Practically anyone can join Gale in a divine pantheon provided that they romance him and encourage him to chase divinity, including both Tav and Durge. It should be noted that there are unique bits of dialogue depending on who becomes a god, and that Gale assures Karlach that her ascension will rid her of her Infernal Engine troubles. It is presented as a kind of happy by-product of divinity, rather than something that Gale specifically cures.

It isn’t clear how divinity affects Karlach, either. Keeping her body and mind while ridding herself of the Infernal Engine is certainly a net positivity, but becoming a god is seen as somewhat of a negative for Gale, considering how much of an ego he gets because of it. He becomes the God of Ambition, and it isn’t clear what Karlach would be the god of. She is vengeful, and revenge is one of the first things that Gale mentions, so becoming the God of Revenge or something similar might not be the best thing for her.

Karlach isn’t the only member of the party that can become a god. Practically anyone can join Gale in a divine pantheon provided that they romance him and encourage him to chase divinity.

Still, keeping Karlach alive while ensuring that she remains herself, since it isn’t clear whether a Mind Flayer version of someone is actually them or a copy of them in a squid body, is certainly worth doing for lovers of the swearing tiefling, if they don’t mind beating the game all over again. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a title with so much detail that there are many things only very few will ever see. This ending for Karlach is but one of these examples and shows that Larian has thought of practically everything for its golden goose.