Heh, 40 here, and playing through Siege of Dragonspear right at this very moment, listening to a certain NPC speak, and just had to come to this video once again because of it.
I forgot i commented on this video, welp here I am again, after a BG3 season, I don't know why but i remembered this and i had to hear Irenicus saying "memory of the memory" once again
I... do not remember your love, Bioware. I've tried. I've tried to recreate it, to spark it anew but it is gone... A hollow, dead thing. For years I clung to the Memory of Baldur's Gate, and then the memory OF the memory of Baldur's Gate and then nothing! Electronic Arts took that from me, too. I look upon Dragon Age 2, and *feel* nothing, I remember nothing but you turning your back on your franchises along with all the other big corporations.
Every now and again I recall this game and the phrasing: 'The memory of the memory'. It stuck with me for all these years for how tragic, bitter and hateful it was. I'm not going to say I sympathise with the character. It was punishment for a crime of existential scale. But he did freely admit there was nothing left to redeem. These days its fashionable to portray heroes as being flawed and villains as being justified. Seeing things as complicated is intelligent. Irenicus was not complicated. He was simply an empty, hollow force of nature - the shattered one.
Holy fuck dude, this exchange! This......godamn dude, FUCK GRAPHICS! Im getting this entire series TODAY i have to figure out what was it thats started this exchange of conversation. This was something out of a Shakespearean poem how even out of context for me it still had so much emotion.
1:00 "I... " And I know that Irenicus, in that very moment, he STILL feels something, and he knows. But it's too late, as it always happens in life. It's always too late, or at least you're always brought to believe it's too late. And it's a tragedy, even when it's not really too late. (Here in this clip it's rather fast-forwarded but that "I..." is a single dialogue line, for which you have to press Continue, meaning it might persist much more, meaning I - the player - get to decide how long Irenicus is thinking about that, and this is what I feel about it.)
Couldn't agree more. He still loves her but can't process the emotions because it was ripped out of him when the Seldarine stripped him of his divinity.
Is it ok if I cry now? Nevermind, I'm crying anyway. Not just because of the tragedy laid bare here but because none of us gamers will be treated to such a great and tragic villain. The voice acting, the atmosphere, the writing......nothing will ever return. At 0:11 "Do not call me that"....how much sorrow is there in that simple sentence? God Bless David Warner.
David Warner needs to voice every villain in cartoons and games. I seriously couldn't get tired of him ever. Irenicus will always be my favorite game villian
Kath Soucie ! Joneleth Irenicus = best villain of all time. "You warrant no villains exposition from me, I bid you farewell Child of Bhaal, we shall not meet again"
The elves kind of did this to themselves. Instead of giving him a quick, merciful death, they stripped the very essence from his soul, leaving him an empty, bitter husk. What else is there to live for when all of the greater joys in life are taken from you? They turned him into a monster when they exiled him a shattered husk living for nothing but power and revenge. Then they have the temerity to act hurt and disappointed when the monster they made came back to haunt them.
It is thanks to the great David Warner’s performance that the dialogue felt so emotional and tragic. The way that he spoke his lines with such layered emotion and tragedy solidified Irenicus into such an iconic villain.
An excellent way to summarize Irenicus' situation. Without a soul he is unable to feel any positive emotions. Add to that his failing memory. What did the elves expect to happen?
I didn't beat the game but I'm looking for his scenes here. He's by far the most awesome villain ever man. The way he is unstoppable is killer. And he has issues that you also feel for, like how he got screwed over things in this dialogue. Damn man, great game.
@Bartron100 Yes but he did not even SEEK redemption. He only kept shaking his metaphorical fist at those who punished him. Had he recognized his error, perhaps he would have been given back his soul. If a child repeatedly breaks his toys, you take away his toys until he learns to not break them. If a child never learns it, then he never gets them back.
@Bartron100 I'd say his entitlement of revenge even supersedes that. Not only did they do that. They stripped him of his entire personality, essentially. By taking away his memories permanently, they took who he was, what he was. They robbed him of his very own identity. Talk about your privacy intrusion. Now that's something one might say is even worthy of avenging. Not being himself anymore, he's not even avenging himself, he's avenging another guy ( a distant memory to him) who was slighted.
David Warner : "He has also contributed voice acting to a number of computer games, most notably playing the villain Jon Irenicus in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Morpheus in Fallout." /Wiki/ That means he was with Black Isle when Fallout was created. Also Rob Paulsen worked for Black Isle in 1998 (Planescape) That means these two guys WERE employed by Black Isle Studios and NOT Bioware. Also, the story and the dialogues are typically the work of Black Isle.
In the end though, he still brought it on himself. Without giving out any spoilers (for people who STILL haven't played it), it was his own ambition that doomed him to his punishment, and his lust for revenge that was the final nail in his coffin.
@Ingenna well the idea was that what he nearly did to ALL elves was done unto him and then he was thrown out to think about what he had done, with said pain burning inside him as a reminder. But what does he do? He tries to recreate what he lost instead of earning it back. He builds something new, the same thing, when the very point was to earn back what was taken from him. He missed the point to start with and well we all saw what the "recreation" consisted of, enslaved nymphs and all.
I know what Icewind Dale is. Yes it is focused more on battle, but it has top notch audio, story and atmosphere. Just because it dosesn't have that much dialogue, it doesn't mean it hasn't a great story...
..I swear the Baldur's gate series has the BEST voice acting ever. EVER. I swear. EVER once more! If they made this into an animated movie..I swear.. Cept they'd probably fuck it up like they always do.. I hope if they do someone that's actually played the whole series, or the people who made the game made the movie. I'd pay a thousand to see that.
Yeah, I can't help feeling a little bit sorry for him too. He's pretty much baby eating evil the whole game, and then this. Like you said, you ALMOST feel sorry for him.
Don't end up like Irenicus, you'll end up living an empty, shattered life like him, believing that everything you held dear is gone. It may be still there you just refuse to see it.
The expansion to BGII had an optional mod to bring him back as a companion, as well as his own backstory fan fiction. It was pretty fun having him as an antagonist and even rival. Imoen and the MC are siblings, with a strong bond. The same goes for Irenicus and his sister, which probably helped him fall. Irenicus chose one way to deal with his curse, and the MC is offered the same choice. If the MC is also a sorcerer, once you get epic level feats and spells it feels very much like you are catching up to Irenicus in not just plot, but power. And if you ever try to solo him, that would be pretty funny in its own right.
Cruelty1633 In Universe the protagonist after the Throne of Bhaal should be able to solo Joneleth pretty damned easily. Being essentially a god with epic tier feats does that to you.
+HrHaakon In Universe, Jonaleth is a genius of a mage that is quite capable of standing on one level with the likes of Vecna, Cyric or Bane when they were humans. He almost achieved godhood. And the Time of Strife is not the only time when gods were slain in Toril's vicinity.
He was pretty tough, but the guards will help too. As a warrior I've killed him without being hurt, but his magic missile can kill you outright if you have low hit points. I saved immediately beforehand and just tried as many times as I had to. I can be done though. I also always took out the guys in the sewer. You can always come back to it, but Jaheira's insect plague keeps the caster from casting. Cloudkill also works to damage/kill them without too much trouble.
@CCFi99 remember that this was in the game :) The pauses between the sentences is where you could press "continue", so you had full control to move at your pace, slower if you wanted to read the subtitles.
I must say that KOTOR was a great game as well. Despite being much more visual, it stood faithful to the mysterious and imagination-sparkling atmosphere and exploration gameplay so typical of BG. There was something left of it in ME1 as well, although it's mostly gone in both ME2 and 3.
I... I do not remember your love, Ellesime. I have tried to. I have tried to recreate it, to spark it anew in my memory. But it is gone... a hollow, dead thing. For years, I clung to the memory of it. Then the memory of the memory. And then nothing. The Seldarine took that from me, too. I look upon you and I feel nothing. I remember nothing but you turning your back on me, along with all the others.
Holy shit ! What is happening with the gaming industry nowdays? It is sad that from this perspective it seems that the best games were made ten years ago.
Also, please take a look at Neverwinter Nights 1. It was entirely developed by Bioware, since Black Isle had already went bankrupt then. It is a great game however it does not feature: gripping story, clever dialogues, great voice acting. These are the things wich BG2 had, and all because of Black Isle!
Actually I started playing BG2 again....but as I watch and listen to this movie I realize that I do not want to guide a party to destroy Irenicus. His hatred, his anger and lust for revenge is well justified...simply I cannot face him again, because if I did, I fear that I would have to sacrifice my party, so that Irenicus can have his rightful revenge.......
Every man has the potential to become Irenicus. We will all do things that are wrong at some point, to a lesser or greater degree. What sets men apart is the willingness to learn from our misstakes, to let go of our wounded pride and hurt egos, and to make amends to help those we have hurt, and to ultimately, to help ourselves.
R. I. P David Warner. He might be gone now but performances like Irenicus will ensure he's never forgotten
38 now..after all these years, i always come back to listen to this and it still sends chills down my spine.
I don't even really post stuff to youtube, but this needed done. I'm glad so many people have also been able enjoy it.
39 here. BG2 is the greatest rpg of all time for me...
Heh, 40 here, and playing through Siege of Dragonspear right at this very moment, listening to a certain NPC speak, and just had to come to this video once again because of it.
@@HessuVee Dragonspear was pretty decent. A couple things they did I didn't care too much for but overall it was pretty good.
I forgot i commented on this video, welp here I am again, after a BG3 season, I don't know why but i remembered this and i had to hear Irenicus saying "memory of the memory" once again
"The memory of the memory". Everything he says is pure quality.
Yep. This was an epic moment in the game. So good.
That phrase stuck with me too!
Even 20 years later, it's the #1 piece of BG2 dialog that comes to my mind (well, maybe #2 after Minsc's catchphrases).
thank you black isle, bioware for giving me this epic experience in my childhood.
I... do not remember your love, Bioware. I've tried. I've tried to recreate it, to spark it anew but it is gone... A hollow, dead thing.
For years I clung to the Memory of Baldur's Gate, and then the memory OF the memory of Baldur's Gate and then nothing! Electronic Arts took that from me, too. I look upon Dragon Age 2, and *feel* nothing, I remember nothing but you turning your back on your franchises along with all the other big corporations.
"It...is all i have now"
My feelings, exactly!
Bravo
Once my thirst for story telling was everything, and now I hunger only for money. AND I SHALL HAVE IT!
Oh, the good old days when DA2 was the worst Bioware game.
Every now and again I recall this game and the phrasing: 'The memory of the memory'. It stuck with me for all these years for how tragic, bitter and hateful it was. I'm not going to say I sympathise with the character. It was punishment for a crime of existential scale. But he did freely admit there was nothing left to redeem. These days its fashionable to portray heroes as being flawed and villains as being justified. Seeing things as complicated is intelligent. Irenicus was not complicated. He was simply an empty, hollow force of nature - the shattered one.
Holy fuck dude, this exchange! This......godamn dude, FUCK GRAPHICS! Im getting this entire series TODAY i have to figure out what was it thats started this exchange of conversation. This was something out of a Shakespearean poem how even out of context for me it still had so much emotion.
Yeah just a fantastic game. You'll enjoy it if just for the story.
I love how he says "don't call me that" - with such a tone of embarrassment and pain
Yeah, I think he's my favorite villain ever. He oozes evil, hate, loss and tragedy.
1:00 "I... "
And I know that Irenicus, in that very moment, he STILL feels something, and he knows. But it's too late, as it always happens in life. It's always too late, or at least you're always brought to believe it's too late. And it's a tragedy, even when it's not really too late.
(Here in this clip it's rather fast-forwarded but that "I..." is a single dialogue line, for which you have to press Continue, meaning it might persist much more, meaning I - the player - get to decide how long Irenicus is thinking about that, and this is what I feel about it.)
Nicely said, good interpretation!
Couldn't agree more. He still loves her but can't process the emotions because it was ripped out of him when the Seldarine stripped him of his divinity.
Is it ok if I cry now? Nevermind, I'm crying anyway. Not just because of the tragedy laid bare here but because none of us gamers will be treated to such a great and tragic villain. The voice acting, the atmosphere, the writing......nothing will ever return. At 0:11 "Do not call me that"....how much sorrow is there in that simple sentence? God Bless David Warner.
Well, I guess all sensitive boys like us can imagine these things, being Shattered one! : ))
He truly was shattered by his losing of himself.
A great metaphor for when we self abandon.
Showed this to my friends playing bg3 as why i still like bg2 more
Rest in piece, David Warner. What a fantastic delivery.
Rest in peace David Warner.
Voice acting is fucking gold
David Warner needs to voice every villain in cartoons and games. I seriously couldn't get tired of him ever. Irenicus will always be my favorite game villian
Kath Soucie !
Joneleth Irenicus = best villain of all time.
"You warrant no villains exposition from me, I bid you farewell Child of Bhaal, we shall not meet again"
From the late 90s until today I remember all of him as one of the best villains ever. Thank you David Warner
The script writing and the actors' deliveries of this scene set a benchmark against which everything that came after should be judged.
we shall see, my former love... we shall see
You are but a gnat compared to my power.
Ah, the child of Bhaal has awoken! It's time for more... experiments!
Best cRPG ever... Inicia, best villain, great dialogs, damn. Will we ever have that depth and caliber again?
One of the best villian speech in RGP iv ever heard.
A legendary performance for a legendary character.
Incredible writing and voice acting.
Once my thirst for power was everything. And now I hunger only for revenge... AND I! WILL! HAVE IT!
Yoshimo, a.... Friend.
This scene is even more intense as it touches something within my heart. Feels strangely personal...
RIP David 😭
Chills everytime...
The elves kind of did this to themselves. Instead of giving him a quick, merciful death, they stripped the very essence from his soul, leaving him an empty, bitter husk.
What else is there to live for when all of the greater joys in life are taken from you?
They turned him into a monster when they exiled him a shattered husk living for nothing but power and revenge.
Then they have the temerity to act hurt and disappointed when the monster they made came back to haunt them.
Indeed it is so. One of the best games ever. Even that there are mistakes it's no matter. Baldurs Gate is the masterpiece forever.
It is thanks to the great David Warner’s performance that the dialogue felt so emotional and tragic. The way that he spoke his lines with such layered emotion and tragedy solidified Irenicus into such an iconic villain.
one of all time favorite bad guys
... and one of the best villain in gaming history...
AND I, WILL, HAVE IT!!!
0:50 and on, feels like a conversation I had with an old ex of mine.
Indeed!
My God, this dialogue is perfect! ... about everything of me! Every time I end up there, goosebumps appears... This game is the ONE real love! :D
An excellent way to summarize Irenicus' situation. Without a soul he is unable to feel any positive emotions. Add to that his failing memory. What did the elves expect to happen?
imo the most powerful scene in the whole game.
A sad reminder of what gaming used to be and what it is now. Great works are now history...
I didn't beat the game but I'm looking for his scenes here. He's by far the most awesome villain ever man. The way he is unstoppable is killer. And he has issues that you also feel for, like how he got screwed over things in this dialogue. Damn man, great game.
The memory of the memory!
Thank you for uploading this.
Nothing better than a character that one loves, yet one hates.
This game captures his character in every essence perfectly. I love, yet hate him.
Irenicus Rules!!! Best infidel ever!!!
"You will suffer you will all suffer!"
RIP :(
legendary !
@Bartron100 Yes but he did not even SEEK redemption. He only kept shaking his metaphorical fist at those who punished him. Had he recognized his error, perhaps he would have been given back his soul. If a child repeatedly breaks his toys, you take away his toys until he learns to not break them. If a child never learns it, then he never gets them back.
@Bartron100 I'd say his entitlement of revenge even supersedes that. Not only did they do that. They stripped him of his entire personality, essentially. By taking away his memories permanently, they took who he was, what he was. They robbed him of his very own identity. Talk about your privacy intrusion. Now that's something one might say is even worthy of avenging. Not being himself anymore, he's not even avenging himself, he's avenging another guy ( a distant memory to him) who was slighted.
David Warner : "He has also contributed voice acting to a number of computer games, most notably playing the villain Jon Irenicus in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Morpheus in Fallout." /Wiki/ That means he was with Black Isle when Fallout was created. Also Rob Paulsen worked for Black Isle in 1998 (Planescape) That means these two guys WERE employed by Black Isle Studios and NOT Bioware. Also, the story and the dialogues are typically the work of Black Isle.
I love this guy!
In the end though, he still brought it on himself. Without giving out any spoilers (for people who STILL haven't played it), it was his own ambition that doomed him to his punishment, and his lust for revenge that was the final nail in his coffin.
@Ingenna well the idea was that what he nearly did to ALL elves was done unto him and then he was thrown out to think about what he had done, with said pain burning inside him as a reminder. But what does he do? He tries to recreate what he lost instead of earning it back. He builds something new, the same thing, when the very point was to earn back what was taken from him. He missed the point to start with and well we all saw what the "recreation" consisted of, enslaved nymphs and all.
I know what Icewind Dale is. Yes it is focused more on battle, but it has top notch audio, story and atmosphere. Just because it dosesn't have that much dialogue, it doesn't mean it hasn't a great story...
..I swear the Baldur's gate series has the BEST voice acting ever. EVER. I swear. EVER once more!
If they made this into an animated movie..I swear..
Cept they'd probably fuck it up like they always do..
I hope if they do someone that's actually played the whole series, or the people who made the game made the movie. I'd pay a thousand to see that.
Yeah, I can't help feeling a little bit sorry for him too. He's pretty much baby eating evil the whole game, and then this. Like you said, you ALMOST feel sorry for him.
"We shall see, my former love.. We shall see.."
Don't end up like Irenicus, you'll end up living an empty, shattered life like him, believing that everything you held dear is gone. It may be still there you just refuse to see it.
I think I dated Irenicus..
Amen brother!
David frekkin' Warner for the epic win.
There's actually still a lot of great people there. I got to meet a bunch of them. Don't give up on them just yet.
Well, is it time to give up on them now? The signs were obvious for years. Now, they are rotten to the core, sadly.
Makes me shiver even now. Irenicus was evil, lost in his vileness.
Rest in Peace David Warner
The expansion to BGII had an optional mod to bring him back as a companion, as well as his own backstory fan fiction. It was pretty fun having him as an antagonist and even rival. Imoen and the MC are siblings, with a strong bond. The same goes for Irenicus and his sister, which probably helped him fall. Irenicus chose one way to deal with his curse, and the MC is offered the same choice. If the MC is also a sorcerer, once you get epic level feats and spells it feels very much like you are catching up to Irenicus in not just plot, but power. And if you ever try to solo him, that would be pretty funny in its own right.
Cruelty1633
In Universe the protagonist after the Throne of Bhaal should be able to solo Joneleth pretty damned easily. Being essentially a god with epic tier feats does that to you.
+HrHaakon In Universe, Jonaleth is a genius of a mage that is quite capable of standing on one level with the likes of Vecna, Cyric or Bane when they were humans. He almost achieved godhood. And the Time of Strife is not the only time when gods were slain in Toril's vicinity.
What mod is this? Sounds amazing.
@@maclegend9169 The Longer Road by Dorotea
Nevertheless how evil guy Irenicus was I felt a tiny bit of sympathy at him when they had this discussion (and immediately I sent him to hell).
Forgot the exact words for a while. Awesome dialog....
He was pretty tough, but the guards will help too. As a warrior I've killed him without being hurt, but his magic missile can kill you outright if you have low hit points. I saved immediately beforehand and just tried as many times as I had to. I can be done though. I also always took out the guys in the sewer. You can always come back to it, but Jaheira's insect plague keeps the caster from casting. Cloudkill also works to damage/kill them without too much trouble.
voice is awesome
once my thurst for power was everything, and now I hunger only for revenge. AND I WILL HAVE IT
@CCFi99 remember that this was in the game :) The pauses between the sentences is where you could press "continue", so you had full control to move at your pace, slower if you wanted to read the subtitles.
never noticed how powerful the voice acting was in this game!
...we shall see, my former love, we shall see!
You know, I do believe this ship will sink..
I must say that KOTOR was a great game as well. Despite being much more visual, it stood faithful to the mysterious and imagination-sparkling atmosphere and exploration gameplay so typical of BG. There was something left of it in ME1 as well, although it's mostly gone in both ME2 and 3.
RIP David Warner :'(
Poor Irenicus
I'd want revenge too if a tree touched me long ago.
" my love for you is dead, nothing more that once reminded me of you dosent exist!"
I... I do not remember your love, Ellesime. I have tried to. I have tried to
recreate it, to spark it anew in my memory. But it is gone... a hollow, dead
thing. For years, I clung to the memory of it. Then the memory of the memory.
And then nothing. The Seldarine took that from me, too. I look upon you and I
feel nothing. I remember nothing but you turning your back on me, along with
all the others.
AND YOUR REVENGE HAS POISONED YOUR HEART!
I just can't unsee the Lobe from Freakazoid when I hear his voice now. But that's not a bad thing.
RIP David Warner
Holy shit !
What is happening with the gaming industry nowdays? It is sad that from this perspective it seems that the best games were made ten years ago.
make that twenty amigo
@@powerbeard5653 And now they created BG3 like one of his soulless servants.
Also, please take a look at Neverwinter Nights 1. It was entirely developed by Bioware, since Black Isle had already went bankrupt then. It is a great game however it does not feature: gripping story, clever dialogues, great voice acting. These are the things wich BG2 had, and all because of Black Isle!
AND I.. WILL.. HAVE IT!!!
Actually I started playing BG2 again....but as I watch and listen to this movie I realize that I do not want to guide a party to destroy Irenicus. His hatred, his anger and lust for revenge is well justified...simply I cannot face him again, because if I did, I fear that I would have to sacrifice my party, so that Irenicus can have his rightful revenge.......
Every man has the potential to become Irenicus. We will all do things that are wrong at some point, to a lesser or greater degree. What sets men apart is the willingness to learn from our misstakes, to let go of our wounded pride and hurt egos, and to make amends to help those we have hurt, and to ultimately, to help ourselves.
best game ever
A HOLLOW.... DEAD THING!
Ok, ok... have your ice cream sundae, jeeze...
Yep... and tons of others, including 3 characters in Tron.
I'm with Irenicus !!
This is british voice acting at its best, absolutely artistic delight.
And don't forget Morpheus from Fallout 1 ;)
Best antagonist of all time ? Of course..
No, you see if he behaves differently without his toys...
Play the Ezio Family soundtrack.
Listen to this conversation masterpiece.
Enjoy.
I... I do NOT remember your love Ellesime!
That line is so sad, it contains what little remains of Irenicus tormentented conscious, the small fragments of his shattered soul.
Black Isle Studios.....creator of greatest rpgs and dreams, Fallout 3 fans will never understand it, NEVER!
if DA3 fails, then nothing can save them