So — you did it. Baldur’s Gate 3 is over. Well; your first campaign is, anyway. And, what’s more, you decided to destroy the Netherbrain and eradicate all illithid tadpoles from the Forgotten Realms. The world is saved, and your companions’ stories are given sufficient conclusions.
It’d seem all is as it should be, right? I suppose it’s time to turn the game off — but wait, there’s more! As the credits finish rolling, a scene involving Withers, the skeleton who you’d go to if you wanted to respec your characters, and who inexplicably vouched for both you and The Emperor in the finale of Act 3. I still can’t believe no one questioned his presence, but I guess when you’re being bombarded by actual tentacle monsters, a living, breathing skeleton isn’t that odd.
Let’s take a look at the post-credits scene for Baldur’s Gate 3 and see what, if anything, it could mean for the future of the franchise.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Post-Credits Scene Explained
In this short scene, Withers looks upon a mural of The Dead Three — Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul — and mocks them for having failed to succeed in their machinations.
He asks them: “Didst truly believe thy ploy would succeed? Didst believe I would not notice?” and he reminds the failed gods that if their goal was to increase their overall strength, their efforts were in vain because mortals lose their souls upon becoming mind flayers. It’s his next line, however, that I think has more of an impact than anything else said in this scene: “Didst think the other gods would not notice?”
I believe this is implicit confirmation that Withers’ true identity is a deity in the Forgotten Realms, and he disguised himself (or maybe he didn’t) to help our party bring about an end to The Dead Three’s plot. It’d seem this is also confirmed in a book found in Baldur’s Gate 3, that Withers is Jergal, the Lord of the End of Everything. I guess that makes sense given he’s the last character we see before the game’s ending.
I can’t say whether or not this will mean anything in the future — it’d seem the Baldur’s Gate series only has loose connections to one another. But, should Larian decide to release a DLC campaign expanding on this post-credits scene, or perhaps throw in a casual reference to Jergal in Baldur’s Gate 4, that’d be neat.
Published: Oct 23, 2023 06:22 pm