Baldur’s Gate 3’s new evil ending could be the intended conclusion

The end is nigh for Baldur’s Gate 3, as Larian Studios has revealed it won’t receive DLC, nor is the team working on the sequel. All we have left is a few more patches worth of content, including a new ending that might finally give fans the conclusion Larian’s been planning since Early Access.

The upcoming Patch 7 for Baldur’s Gate 3 adds additional evil endings, though it’s unclear if these are exclusively for the Dark Urge (who is shown in their trailers) or if all characters can unleash true horror on the Forgotten Realms. 

A recent teaser for the evil endings has revealed something that piqued the interest of long-time fans, especially as it might also explain the meaning behind the game’s cryptic theme song. 

The Dream Guardian was a lot different in Early Access

Baldur’s Gate 3 entered Steam Early Access in 2020. That version of the game has a number of differences from the final release. The biggest difference involves the Dream Guardian, a character you design alongside your protagonist. 

In Early Access, the Dream Guardian was known as the Dream Visitor, and they dressed and acted a lot more seductively in an attempt to seduce your Tav, while the Dream Guardian is decked out in armor and is all business when it comes to fighting the Mind Flayers. 

The Dream Visitor’s role and personality are starkly different, as it downright gives you visions of power and tries to entice you with romance. This character is meant to be your ideal partner, one you craft yourself, and they love to tell you everything you want to hear. 

Fans instantly realized what the Dream Visitor was

You didn’t need a doctorate in obscure D&D lore to work out where this original storyline was going. 

Pretty much everyone who completed the Early Access build worked out that the Dream Visitor was a manifestation of the Mind Flayer tadpole you are forcibly given in the intro scene. Only, instead of forcing you into transforming, it teases you with your innermost desires. 

The fact that the Dream Visitor was notably more aggressive and evil on the surface added credence to this. The only question is how this would have all played out in the final release, as the story ended up being a lot different.

We know from cut content like the original Nightsong design that Baldur’s Gate 3’s story changed a great deal throughout development, and the shifting Dream Visitor/Guardian role seems to be part of this. 

Larian already made huge changes to character personalities based on fan feedback, with party members like Shadowheart being ungrateful jerks in the first Early Access, but were softened over time. It makes sense feedback to the Dream Visitor reveal could also have prompted a change. 

The meaning of “Down by the River”

Baldur’s Gate 3’s theme is a song by Borislav Slavov called “Down by the River.” It’s a great song, but on the surface, it seems to have nothing to do with the game’s plot. 

That is unless you believe that the original plan was for the Dream Visitor to seduce the player as part of the Mind Flayer transformation process. The final words of the song are:

“Don’t wake me up, Just leave me there dreaming”

Fans have taken these closing lyrics to mean that the original bad ending of the game involved your protagonist giving in to the Dream Visitor/Tadpole and choosing to remain with them in the paradise within your imagination, depicted as a beautiful river. Meanwhile, your physical body has turned into a Mind Flayer and is off to eat some brains. 

However, the full release of the game completely changed the story. The Dream Visitor became The Emperor: a Mind Flayer gone rogue who is actively helping you escape from possession. While there are endings that involve Mind Flayer control, they play out very differently from the theoretical Dream Visitor ending. 

How the new endings are bringing back the original concept

Baldur’s Gate 3’s Patch 7 update will add new evil endings, and a teaser for one of them suggests we’re going back to the cut concept with a twist. 

In the teaser, a citizen is struck with a psionic attack. Their mind is taken from the current hellish landscape, and suddenly, they’re picking up food at the market in a bustling city, while whistling “Down by the River.”

Instead of the player giving in to the Mind Flayer tadpole, this new ending involves your character controlling others using the same tactic as the Dream Visitor, giving them a happy life in their minds, all while singing. 

(Some have referred to this as the “Naruto ending”. Get out of here, you weebs — there’s no room for Infinite Tsukuyomi in my Baldur’s Gate.)

This evil ending could bring the story full circle. While the original Dream Visitor was a bit too suss, this new twist ending involves you becoming the seducer, using your mental powers to enslave others. Whether your character is also a thrall of the Mind Flayers has yet to be confirmed, which means it could be even closer to the original plan than we realized.