I found this by pure happenstance as I shot a guard with a shock arrow while they were attacking my guy in the corner. Didn’t know why the torch was lit up blue, troubleshot and stumbled into the craziest side quest I’ve ever encountered
Great video. The quest that should finally answer (with that note) the question of whether even a free mindflayer is still the person they once were, after the tadpole’s host’s memories start to fade.
I missed this quest on my first playthrough but got around to it on my second and the whole sequence is really well done. Between the environment, Ansur's actual boss fight, and the ties to the Emperor and Wyll, it stands out but unfortunately seems to be missed by a few people.
Some people weren't so happy about the big reveal it sounds from some threads... But the way the wyrmway was set up and executed was so good I don't have it in me to care!
I honestly believe balduran is correct with sueto being the most destructive. After all her contemporaries focus on inner issues, one will lead to less unrest but possible losses in resources and the other will lead to greater resources but more unrest. Sueto’s view however will jeopardize both as war is not free, it causes prolonged strain on its people and a kingdoms resources, to quote Sun Tzu, “There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.” And that’s what Sueto proposes to continue and finish a war after an opponent has surrendered when brokering possible peace would be the more viable option to quell unrest and conserve and possibly gain resources.
"justice", oh please. Were given a crime without context, if the man was giving his spoils of thievery away to starving children in the beginning, then how do we know he wouldnt give his spoils from the 9 fingers away to the needy as well? This is why lawful good is bullshit.
Balduran was a thief, killer, and gang boss from the start, and Baldur’s Gate was built on the spoils of conquest and slavery. Justice is a joke in the gate. Kind of like some real empires of note.
You did not pay attention at all, the pictures showed the man joining the guild but using the spoils to help the downtrodden. The guild hurts people and is responsible for many of the city’s woes but giving the death penalty to someone just because they were part of it and stole an apple is wrong, but letting a member of the guild go without punishment for their crimes is also wrong, the best solution is almost always the center.
I had the EASIEST time with this fight in my last playthrough because i was doing a TAV oathbreaker playthrough.... funny thing about an undead bronze dragon is that it's undead... and an Oathbreaker's Channel Oath ability of Control Undead also works on Ansur
If you don't want to deal with the fight regarding the guards, go to the back porch of the last building on the right. Go to the far right corner closest to castle. You can use teleportation arrows or fly to get you and your companions to the ground, then run to the right. There will be a secret entrance into the prison, and if you go a bit further to the right around the building, a wall you can break down for easy access into the castle.
Absolutely loved this quest and the plot twists gave me whiplash. I was so excited to meet Ansur as I was working my way through the trials and was literally shocked and heartbroken as I entered the chamber and saw the remains of a dragon on the ground. It's crazy to think that you can so easily miss this great quest.
@@Aci_yt it is new! My previous video on the emperor had the old cutscene featured. Not super new, but new enough that I hadn’t seen it til I made this video!
This quest I did just before the final quest last playthrough, and the things I found out about SOMEBODY'S actions definitely informed my actions afterward -_- Also, please note - Balduran didn't think eroding citizens' rights 'for their own good' was wrong - ask yourself how he is behaving now. Makes sense, yes? Ask Stelmane how Balduran feels about suppressing people's rights 'for the greater good.'
Nicol bolas is terrifying the version of him I have somewhere has the ability to immediately make any player lose the game that doesn't control a legendary creature or a planeswalker which is absurd assuming you can survive long enough to activate it 😅 My friends did not like that card lol
something that i don't see many people talk about is that the emperor is lying about how and when he killed ansur. i didn't even notice it at first until i saw someone mention it on a reddit thread. think about it, in the vision he shows us he claims that ansur tried to kill him in his sleep seemingly in person form, but then how did he get into the wyrmway in dragon form? pretty sure the emperor was not sleeping down there, and there's no way he could have moved a giant dragon underneath the city by himself. he wasn't defending himself, he could have run away and left ansur, but he killed him. just solidifies the emperor hate for me
Beats me, maybe he can’t do much while immobilizing us? He drops us before getting ready to fight us, so maybe he needed to stop the hold in order to assume a fighting stance?
I dont know the geopolitical situation of the sword coast, when these statements were made, but "crush your enemies and salt the earth" is the kind of red flag that you dont want to see anywhere Because unless you are able to take on all your enemies AND those who are afraid that they might be next, can you even win? And what happens if you cant win, or worse, you get into a stalemate? Years, maybe decades of conflict, and a basically city state dies if it has to be afraid of every single merchant coming in Sueltos Statement reeks of arrogance and the idea that eveyone else will stand by and watch as you burn down entire cities and slaughter their populations Alwin Stedd realistically describes the USA, and that kinda works out, turns out if the peasantry has its basic needs met, they dont ask for much more, and those who do, are a minority that noone cares about. All that comes crashing down if you cannot provide bread and circuses, but a city as rich as Baldurs Gate should be able to pull that off. The final one is a man ahead of his time and unfortunately falls victim to the naivety and self-righteousness that comes with his views, as he seems to simply acept that people just dont see it his way and the small achievements he made have to suffice, as regretful as it is So in the end we have someone whos action will earn the ire of any neighbours that will be left afterwards, someone who wants to sacrifice the few for the good of the city and someone who wants to protect the few no matter the cost Sorry, Im going with the Warmonger here, the other two you can somehow work with, but if that Idiot gets people on the "We are stronger than everyone and can simply punch them if we dont like whatever we do"-train, then you are already heading towards a coinflip between vicous victory and misery
11:43 Uh… Minsc doesn’t run the guild, Nine Fingers Keen runs it solo. Minsc originally wants to… well, kick her butt, remember? You have to convince him to stand down or you’ll be forced into combat. 12:07 You zoomed in on the wrong figure. The woman is on the opposite side. She’s wearing the same red cloak. I did like the overall result of the “justice trial” as I think it was called. “The weight of the punishment should fit the weight of the crime”. Very clever, and Wyll was there to help me with it. 15:01 You… WHAT!? Oh that’s Bull! I had to interact with them in the hopes my character would succeed a check to grab them. You could have just thrown them the entire time!? Stedd I’d say would be the “lesser of two evils”. Yes her plan involves things happening over time, but over time people and their opinions can change, and he plans could end up being taken in a different direction by the people and the overall message could change, much like your concern with Amaps. Sueto is the worst option because the end results of her plans are WAY more immediate. If you go after other kingdoms and raze them to the ground… that’s kind of sort of an ACT OF WAR. You have more enemies way quicker. I think if Sueto’s plans were followed, we’d either have a way different Baldur’s Gate or no Baldur’s Gate at all. It would have been at war with other Kingdoms, and who knows if it would have survived? 20:14 I had Gale with me on a whim, so getting the answer immediately was hilarious. Plus it makes sense he knows his stuff. My fiancée didn’t have him with her at the time at first, but once she got here and saw the lance board, she remembered Gale’s interaction and Last Light watching Mol and Raphael playing, so she ran back to camp to grab him. 20:30 Wow. I didn’t know you could cheese the trail like that. Honestly just having Gale give you the answer feels more fun though. Not sure why. Maybe Gale’s personality is just that fun to be around? 22:53 I mean, if I HAD to take a guess, it’s like you said; the trials can be completed in any order. You just found the notes out of order (as in you didn’t go in the order that those previous adventurers did. They probably took on the trials in a different order than you did. Sounds like they did the paintings first with no problems, then the combat trial was next where they lost most of their numbers, then the rest of them died during the lance board trial. Based on how there are only three notes, it sounds like they didn’t even make it to the trial with the books). 23:00 A hidden fifth entry? That… may make at least part of what I just said above invalid… So you could just fail a trial and then go in? That’s… anticlimactic. And stupid. Gods above, I LOVE the new Ansur cutscene. He looks so much more cooler and imposing. 27:08 “Friend yes… and more” aye yo? (Ngl, that was my first thought. “Were they… having their own romance cutscene at one point?” 28:12 fun little fact! Balduran’s Helm will still be there in the cutscene even if you picked it up before talking to Ansur. Idk if that got patched out recently or not but that’s what happened to me!
14:57 WHAT THE OH MY GOD I'M SOOOOOO MAD I HATE THIS GAME i don't. But I just guessed right on instinct last time and I'm so grateful because I tried. I did. I was do annoyed.
the entire game features Wyll... He's the defender of the grove when you arrive, his patron sends you to moonrise tower, his dad being kidnapped sends you to moonrise tower, his father is a reason to go after gortash, hes a part of the party that saves the world...
@Aci_yt I disagree. Will's tacked on relation to the Duke makes the entire Gortash ascension and BG defense storylines lamer. Finding Ansur and saving the Duke become way more interesting and fun quests in his ansence. Because you are nor doing them for the sake of a whiny moron.
…are people actually this embarrassingly immature? I *have* to believe people who write comments like this are 11 year olds or something. That HAS to be it, right?
What are you even talking about? He’s speaking normally - you know, the way without social media brainrot scream-cadence. I really hope you’re an actual child.
I found this by pure happenstance as I shot a guard with a shock arrow while they were attacking my guy in the corner. Didn’t know why the torch was lit up blue, troubleshot and stumbled into the craziest side quest I’ve ever encountered
That's awesome. I can only imagine the thrill of stumbling across something like that accidentally!
Great video. The quest that should finally answer (with that note) the question of whether even a free mindflayer is still the person they once were, after the tadpole’s host’s memories start to fade.
I missed this quest on my first playthrough but got around to it on my second and the whole sequence is really well done. Between the environment, Ansur's actual boss fight, and the ties to the Emperor and Wyll, it stands out but unfortunately seems to be missed by a few people.
Some people weren't so happy about the big reveal it sounds from some threads... But the way the wyrmway was set up and executed was so good I don't have it in me to care!
I honestly believe balduran is correct with sueto being the most destructive. After all her contemporaries focus on inner issues, one will lead to less unrest but possible losses in resources and the other will lead to greater resources but more unrest. Sueto’s view however will jeopardize both as war is not free, it causes prolonged strain on its people and a kingdoms resources, to quote Sun Tzu, “There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.” And that’s what Sueto proposes to continue and finish a war after an opponent has surrendered when brokering possible peace would be the more viable option to quell unrest and conserve and possibly gain resources.
"My friend, every story benefits from a dragon"
"justice", oh please. Were given a crime without context, if the man was giving his spoils of thievery away to starving children in the beginning, then how do we know he wouldnt give his spoils from the 9 fingers away to the needy as well? This is why lawful good is bullshit.
Balduran is corrupt!
Either if he were giving his spoils or not he still committed a crime so it's fair that he gets to be punished
Alignment in general
Balduran was a thief, killer, and gang boss from the start, and Baldur’s Gate was built on the spoils of conquest and slavery. Justice is a joke in the gate. Kind of like some real empires of note.
You did not pay attention at all, the pictures showed the man joining the guild but using the spoils to help the downtrodden. The guild hurts people and is responsible for many of the city’s woes but giving the death penalty to someone just because they were part of it and stole an apple is wrong, but letting a member of the guild go without punishment for their crimes is also wrong, the best solution is almost always the center.
I had the EASIEST time with this fight in my last playthrough because i was doing a TAV oathbreaker playthrough.... funny thing about an undead bronze dragon is that it's undead... and an Oathbreaker's Channel Oath ability of Control Undead also works on Ansur
If you don't want to deal with the fight regarding the guards, go to the back porch of the last building on the right. Go to the far right corner closest to castle. You can use teleportation arrows or fly to get you and your companions to the ground, then run to the right. There will be a secret entrance into the prison, and if you go a bit further to the right around the building, a wall you can break down for easy access into the castle.
Absolutely loved this quest and the plot twists gave me whiplash. I was so excited to meet Ansur as I was working my way through the trials and was literally shocked and heartbroken as I entered the chamber and saw the remains of a dragon on the ground. It's crazy to think that you can so easily miss this great quest.
The literal and figurative foundation of the city. "Whose gate? Balduran's f*cking Gate!"
Is the dragon Reanimation scene new?? I swear he always just laid there for me and only stood up normally when combat started!
@@Aci_yt it is new! My previous video on the emperor had the old cutscene featured. Not super new, but new enough that I hadn’t seen it til I made this video!
This was such a pleasant surprise of a mission. Much like the black dragon quest of bg2.
Still haven’t played either of the other baldur’s gates, I’ll have to look into that quest!
Yay!!! So excited for this!! 🎉
ive never done this quest but once upon a day ill maybe not have to dont this quist
This quest I did just before the final quest last playthrough, and the things I found out about SOMEBODY'S actions definitely informed my actions afterward -_- Also, please note - Balduran didn't think eroding citizens' rights 'for their own good' was wrong - ask yourself how he is behaving now. Makes sense, yes? Ask Stelmane how Balduran feels about suppressing people's rights 'for the greater good.'
Aw f yeah I needed this I hate the Wyrmway.
I did it every time but with much grumbling.
Nicol bolas is terrifying the version of him I have somewhere has the ability to immediately make any player lose the game that doesn't control a legendary creature or a planeswalker which is absurd assuming you can survive long enough to activate it 😅
My friends did not like that card lol
something that i don't see many people talk about is that the emperor is lying about how and when he killed ansur. i didn't even notice it at first until i saw someone mention it on a reddit thread. think about it, in the vision he shows us he claims that ansur tried to kill him in his sleep seemingly in person form, but then how did he get into the wyrmway in dragon form? pretty sure the emperor was not sleeping down there, and there's no way he could have moved a giant dragon underneath the city by himself. he wasn't defending himself, he could have run away and left ansur, but he killed him. just solidifies the emperor hate for me
I gotta ask, how is it even possible that we fight ansur? Before the fight starts he immobilizes us with ease. Wouldn’t he just do that again?
Beats me, maybe he can’t do much while immobilizing us? He drops us before getting ready to fight us, so maybe he needed to stop the hold in order to assume a fighting stance?
Maybe he has a bit of pride. Even if he is death, he is still a dragon, and a copper one above it if I remember well
Ansur is one of my most favourite encounters in the whole game 🩶💙
Heart of the Gate.
Amazing quest, but unfortunately for me it was also the only one I had to reload a save because it bugged out.
I dont know the geopolitical situation of the sword coast, when these statements were made, but "crush your enemies and salt the earth" is the kind of red flag that you dont want to see anywhere
Because unless you are able to take on all your enemies AND those who are afraid that they might be next, can you even win?
And what happens if you cant win, or worse, you get into a stalemate? Years, maybe decades of conflict, and a basically city state dies if it has to be afraid of every single merchant coming in
Sueltos Statement reeks of arrogance and the idea that eveyone else will stand by and watch as you burn down entire cities and slaughter their populations
Alwin Stedd realistically describes the USA, and that kinda works out, turns out if the peasantry has its basic needs met, they dont ask for much more, and those who do, are a minority that noone cares about. All that comes crashing down if you cannot provide bread and circuses, but a city as rich as Baldurs Gate should be able to pull that off.
The final one is a man ahead of his time and unfortunately falls victim to the naivety and self-righteousness that comes with his views, as he seems to simply acept that people just dont see it his way and the small achievements he made have to suffice, as regretful as it is
So in the end we have someone whos action will earn the ire of any neighbours that will be left afterwards, someone who wants to sacrifice the few for the good of the city and someone who wants to protect the few no matter the cost
Sorry, Im going with the Warmonger here, the other two you can somehow work with, but if that Idiot gets people on the "We are stronger than everyone and can simply punch them if we dont like whatever we do"-train, then you are already heading towards a coinflip between vicous victory and misery
11:43 Uh… Minsc doesn’t run the guild, Nine Fingers Keen runs it solo. Minsc originally wants to… well, kick her butt, remember? You have to convince him to stand down or you’ll be forced into combat.
12:07 You zoomed in on the wrong figure. The woman is on the opposite side. She’s wearing the same red cloak.
I did like the overall result of the “justice trial” as I think it was called. “The weight of the punishment should fit the weight of the crime”. Very clever, and Wyll was there to help me with it.
15:01 You… WHAT!? Oh that’s Bull! I had to interact with them in the hopes my character would succeed a check to grab them. You could have just thrown them the entire time!?
Stedd I’d say would be the “lesser of two evils”. Yes her plan involves things happening over time, but over time people and their opinions can change, and he plans could end up being taken in a different direction by the people and the overall message could change, much like your concern with Amaps. Sueto is the worst option because the end results of her plans are WAY more immediate. If you go after other kingdoms and raze them to the ground… that’s kind of sort of an ACT OF WAR. You have more enemies way quicker. I think if Sueto’s plans were followed, we’d either have a way different Baldur’s Gate or no Baldur’s Gate at all. It would have been at war with other Kingdoms, and who knows if it would have survived?
20:14 I had Gale with me on a whim, so getting the answer immediately was hilarious. Plus it makes sense he knows his stuff. My fiancée didn’t have him with her at the time at first, but once she got here and saw the lance board, she remembered Gale’s interaction and Last Light watching Mol and Raphael playing, so she ran back to camp to grab him.
20:30 Wow. I didn’t know you could cheese the trail like that. Honestly just having Gale give you the answer feels more fun though. Not sure why. Maybe Gale’s personality is just that fun to be around?
22:53 I mean, if I HAD to take a guess, it’s like you said; the trials can be completed in any order. You just found the notes out of order (as in you didn’t go in the order that those previous adventurers did. They probably took on the trials in a different order than you did. Sounds like they did the paintings first with no problems, then the combat trial was next where they lost most of their numbers, then the rest of them died during the lance board trial. Based on how there are only three notes, it sounds like they didn’t even make it to the trial with the books).
23:00 A hidden fifth entry? That… may make at least part of what I just said above invalid…
So you could just fail a trial and then go in? That’s… anticlimactic. And stupid.
Gods above, I LOVE the new Ansur cutscene. He looks so much more cooler and imposing.
27:08 “Friend yes… and more” aye yo? (Ngl, that was my first thought. “Were they… having their own romance cutscene at one point?”
28:12 fun little fact! Balduran’s Helm will still be there in the cutscene even if you picked it up before talking to Ansur. Idk if that got patched out recently or not but that’s what happened to me!
I had an awesome time reading through your thoughts here! Thanks for such a great comment!
This guy rocks
14:57 WHAT THE OH MY GOD I'M SOOOOOO MAD I HATE THIS GAME
i don't.
But I just guessed right on instinct last time and I'm so grateful because I tried. I did. I was do annoyed.
The completed the trials first time, ever since I just fail intentionally and kill all the undead. Waayyyy quicker.
Peak
There's too much screaming into the mic. Otherwise I enjoyed this video.
It features Wyll, so no.
the entire game features Wyll... He's the defender of the grove when you arrive, his patron sends you to moonrise tower, his dad being kidnapped sends you to moonrise tower, his father is a reason to go after gortash, hes a part of the party that saves the world...
@BlackOpMercyGaming Wyll is completely optional, you can reject or outright kill him to improve youe experience.
@@naib_stilgar definitely not an improvement
He's the least interesting companion, but any companion you remove makes the game worse.
@Aci_yt I disagree. Will's tacked on relation to the Duke makes the entire Gortash ascension and BG defense storylines lamer. Finding Ansur and saving the Duke become way more interesting and fun quests in his ansence. Because you are nor doing them for the sake of a whiny moron.
…are people actually this embarrassingly immature? I *have* to believe people who write comments like this are 11 year olds or something. That HAS to be it, right?
Why is you cadence so monotonous??? Really at least put some effort into making the audience think that you give a crap, even if you don’t
What are you even talking about? He’s speaking normally - you know, the way without social media brainrot scream-cadence. I really hope you’re an actual child.
it isn't monotonous