A Theory on Death and Resurrection in Baldur’s Gate 3
Hey everyone! A few days ago, I was playing yet another BG3 campaign with a friend, and we started discussing why Ketheric Thorm didn't simply pay a cleric to bring his daughter back to life, considering that he was a nobleman devoted to Selûne, with more than enough power, influence, and resources to do so.
I know most discussions about this topic usually end with something along the lines of, "We can only resurrect our companions because of gameplay mechanics, and we shouldn't take that too seriously when discussing the game's lore."
However, I came up with a hypothesis that might explain how everything actually fits into the lore, and why things might not be quite so simple.
First, let's look at what's actually required to bring someone back to life in the D&D universe. We'll use True Resurrection, a 9th-level spell capable of bringing back anyone who died within the last 200 years, even if their body has been completely destroyed.
The requirements for this spell include a sprinkle of holy water, materials worth at least 25,000 gp, and, of course, a sufficiently powerful cleric capable of casting it.
So far, so good. Ketheric could certainly afford all of that, given his position and resources. But there's one important catch: the soul must be FREE and willing to return.
And that's where my hypothesis comes in: Isobel's soul was either imprisoned or, at the very least, somehow incapacitated throughout all those years.
And we actually have some evidence pointing in that direction.
When our beloved wizard Gale dies and is brought back to life for the first time, he explicitly mentions how depressing the Fugue Plane is and seems genuinely happy to be alive again.
Isobel, on the other hand, says she remembers absolutely nothing. It was as though she had been submerged in complete darkness, without even dreams, only to suddenly wake up and discover that 100 years had passed.
This strongly suggests that Ketheric was never able to resurrect Isobel precisely because her soul was unavailable.
Which brings us to Balthazar.
According to some discarded lore, Balthazar was originally supposed to be the one who murdered Isobel and framed Aylin for her death.
Of course, that storyline was scrapped, but that doesn't necessarily mean every aspect of it was completely removed from Larian's plans.
Personally, I believe Balthazar really did murder Isobel and somehow trapped her soul in order to manipulate Ketheric, ultimately setting in motion the events that led to Ketheric becoming Myrkul's Chosen.
Now, some of you might argue:
"But those rules don't mean anything! Larian changed them! They're not the same as in D&D. We can cast Revivify without spending diamonds, and the spell doesn't even have the one-minute time limit it has in tabletop D&D!"
And my response would be: that's true, but only partially.
Larian certainly changed those rules, but that doesn't necessarily mean there isn't an in-universe explanation for those changes.
And what would that explanation be?
Withers/Jergal.
Of course, this is another hypothesis of mine, but what would an RPG be without a little roleplaying and interpretation, right?
My theory is that whenever we resurrect someone in the game, whether through a scroll or a cleric spell, the resurrection succeeds without requiring elaborate rituals, costing only a trivial amount of gold for a scroll or even just a cleric's spell slot, because of Jergal's direct intervention.
Essentially, he's constantly intervening on behalf of our party as long as its members still have a purpose to fulfill.
That would explain why we can't resurrect people outside our party, such as random NPCs, or companions who have lost their purpose in the Absolute's storyline.
For example, when you permanently lose a companion, allow Cazador to complete his ritual, kill Karlach, or even try to bring back poor Connor.
In other words, whenever a party member dies permanently, it's because Withers' intervention would somehow disrupt the balance he values so much.
Finally, there's one last piece of evidence suggesting that ordinary resurrection scrolls don't work the same way on people who aren't under Jergal's protection.
In Baldur's Gate, we encounter a child in the cemetery who attempts to use a Revivify scroll to bring her brother back to life.
And what's the best she manages to accomplish?
Bringing back a decrepit zombie.
Anyway, I've rambled on for far too long!
That's my hypothesis/theory about how resurrection actually works in Baldur's Gate 3.
Also, I apologize for any mistakes in my writing. English isn't my first language.
Image credit: https://cathfur.tumblr.com/post/756632430077706240/my-lord-myrkul-gave-me-the-one-thing-i-desired