Summary
- Halsin had a more interesting storyline originally.
- He was originally planned to kill Isobel.
- It’s unclear whether bear sex was still on the table.
When you think of a narrative that’s as complex and flexible as that of Baldur’s Gate 3, you can’t help but wonder how it would have turned out if earlier drafts were approved. Maybe Astarion was among The Chosen Three, perhaps Scratch was an origin character, and maybe Wulbren wasn’t so bad. Actually, that last one seems improbable.
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You can be sure that the narrative saw hundreds of iterations before the final one was settled on, and each of these iterations would hold scenarios that seem strange now that the game is out – some sort of alternate timeline shenanigans. We still come across such content 2 years after launch, and we’ve just found another one, featuring Halsin.
Halsin And Ketheric Thorm’s Characters Were Originally More Intertwined
Halsin is, unfortunately, not among the top choices for everybody’s favourite Baldur’s Gate companions. His biggest highlight is that you can sleep with him while he’s in bear form. Not much apart from that. And, while he’s instrumental in driving the curse out of the Shadow Cursed Lands, there’s just nothing else interesting about the character.
However, it seems Larian’s original plans for Halsin would have made him a bit more interesting. As pointed out by user Merrinla on Tumblr (thanks, VideoGamer) it seems the original plan was to have Halsin kill Isobel, leading to Thorm unleashing the curse upon the land. This was discovered through scrapped journal entries that were still present in the game’s source code.
Part of the the entry reads:
I can’t remember what happened with any clarity. We were negotiating. She with […] I led the druids. […] words grew heated […] threw the first punch. It was mayhem.
[…] stared at me, my glaive’s blade buried in her stomach and shock in her eyes. I can’t believe she wanted to hurt me. It was pure instinct – the heat of combat.
However, Larian decided to go against this for whatever reason, even though it would have made Halsin’s character a bit more interesting. It’s truly amazing that even after two years we’re still finding new content in the game, and new information about it as well.
- Released
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August 3, 2023
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence