The Secret Role of Withers Explained in Baldur's Gate III

Withers is a powerful yet mysterious ally in Baldur's Gate III. Time to find out who he is...

Comment other awesome things you've found in Baldur's Gate III! #baldursgate3 #bg3 #gaming

Music:

Tracks from Baldur's Gate III

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:45 The Ancient Crypt
04:03 Who is Jergal
08:09 Withers' Arrival in Camp
11:40 Abilities & Services
16:17 Do Illithids Possess Souls
21:14 Arabella
26:22 Saving The Dark Urge
31:56 The Grand Mausoleum
35:06 Withers' Party & Post Credits
42:12 Conclusion

[shadowdroid]

Withers is actually just a very tired DM babysitting the party, trying desperately to keep them on track and not dying from their hubris.

[ToiletWolf]

I love how Withers saving the durge is just him going "damn bruh that was badass. you got more gods to kill still, so *get up* ."

[Paranormal]

I believe the question about a skeleton not being able to talk is a shout out to the original Divine Divinity, in one of the first dungeons there are two skeletons chatting who suddenly realise they shouldn't be able to talk, have an existential crisis and collapse in a pile of bones, it's one of the funniest moments I've seen in a CRPG.

[notveryartificial]

For some reason, the most amusing thing about him is how he quite literally refuses to elaborate. Compared to how normal people deny some request - by wiggling, making excuses, apologizing he's just like - "No." and that's it. Funny to me for some reason

[Tiltigo]

I love how Jergal is basically like "I gave you three numbskulls my job so I could retire in peace, but you're so horribly inept at it" when talking to the dead three.

[majinwarwulf]

Me, who has zero DnD knowledge: "yep, that sounds exactly right"

[bigolbearthejammydodger]

Hi, Old man here, 35+ years of DMing and I have played pretty much all the previous D&D computer games. (huge massive spoilers and history lesson)
This is a good assessment of information available in BG3 - and I think you are almost right. You young man are missing some important data, from previous times. And when you have read this you will love larian even more.
In my opinion BG3 is not only a sequel to Baldurs gate 2 but also a lore sequel to Neverwinter knights 2 and its expansion Mask of the betrayer(MOTB), and even a sequel to the ANCIENT game eye of the beholder (one of the first D&D computer games)
The Emperor's location on the astral realm is actually a previous location from MOTB. It is the corpse of Myrkul, even a dead god has a corpse on the astral.
According to my understanding of what happens in the fugue plane in MOTB withers is actually not jergal himself, rather a split off aspect of the god, a divine shard that imbues an undying chosen. Further more the hand behind this is kelemvor - whom after the events of MOTB chose to take a role in finding a solution to the wall of the faithless - and what happens to souls who do not have a patron god.
now on to really old times: eye of the beholder. it is revealed here that mind flayers (and other aberrations such as beholders) are not from another plane, they are from another crystal sphere - another universe entirely - outside of AO's control. Even the gods don't know IF they have souls, or where those souls go and mortal becoming aberrations is essentially theft from the total balance of the universe (all planes, life and death).
Thanks for reading, and thanks to larian for making this old git happy and giving me a sequel I waited 20+ years for!

[albertosusy]

"You do not stoke fear by reaping your own fields, but by burning your foes." Is such a badass line.

[danpitzer]

Something worth noting about Jergal - When he dumped a bunch of his work onto the dead three, he kept some of it as a primordial god can't really retire. They were never a lesser being, so can't downgrade themselves.

The divine portfolios he kept? Runes and FATE. Remaining in control of fate matters, as it also gives him a means to move against the lunatics he gave his powers to. It's such an absurdly powerful portfolio, ranking right up there with Tyranny, Fear, and Death. (Bhaal did not manage to claim even one of Jergal's top portfolios.)

[dunngyllite]

The interactions between Arabella and, well, "Bone Man" are one of the most wholesome experience of the game.

[Tink]

I love the idea of Jergal trying to pawn off his job on Arabella 😂

[tony]

I always presumed he was Jergal and the reason he was helping the party was because AO commanded him to clean up his mess he made with the dead 3.

[TheRacoonGhost]

Gods in D&D have the ability to project their power into an "Avatar" sort of a physical manifestation of them in the material plane that makes it possible for them to interact directly with mortals without leaving the safety of their own divine plane. withers is almost certainly such an Avatar, rather than [SPOILER] in the flesh or a resurrected mummy/zombie he talks through.

also something you've missed is that withers casts "True Resurrection" (a level 9 necromancy spell with very few limitations including not needing the body of the deceased) rather than revivify (lvl 3) or raise dead which would be the resurrection spells within the level gap of BG3 further hinting at his probably divine status.

[CleverRiley]

I genuinely hope they never elaborate on Arabella, it makes the world feel more alive by having her go off and do her own adventures. Who knows, maybe in some future rulebook we'll get a line about a Tiefling wizard on the sword coast with ties to the former god of the dead

[LustyLichKing]

I like watching Sam at the gym because it makes the time go by so fast. Just beware that when the video ends, all the fatigue you were able to ignore will hit you all at once.

[indigo_tribe]

Let's not forget that Kelemvor is not the god of death. He is the god of the balance between life and death. His symbol is literally scales of balance

[TheLegendOfHoundoom]

I fucking love withers, best npc in the game

[Hanekin]

Great video. I realized that he was Jergal quite quickly in my own playthrough, but was never able to grasp his exact motivations. Your video explained a lot of things for me, thanks.

[kyokonightstorm]

I haven't seen it myself, but apparently Withers has unique lines for clerics of Kelemvor that strongly hint to him being Jergal too.

Edit: Spelling

[iangingras]

What’s crazy is the dead three had a contest where they bowled against each other in order to decide who got to pick first when choosing from Jergal’s divine portfolio.