#minthara does not want that for herself anymore and so she is making the choice to change that about herself - albeit very slowly

[trappedinafantasy37]

Welp, I just did the embrace Bhaal ending with Daedra and I gotta say, this is objectively the worse ending. And it is very much the ending I never wanted for her. Because this was always going to be the ending for a Durge who embraced Bhaal. And Minthara being killed was always going to be her ending too. What makes all of this worse is that Minthara saw it coming too, she just did not realize it.

When she first tells you about Orin, she criticizes Orin by saying that if she could turn the plot of the Absolute towards slaughter, she would take it. Minthara also criticizes Orin for wanting to be Daddy's Little Girl who would do anything to please Bhaal. She perceives these to be character flaws within Orin. Sadly her analysis is incorrect, because these are innate characteristics of Bhaalspawn in general, including Durge. All Bhaalspawn are born with the same urges: kill other Bhaalspawn, breed more Bhaalspawn, and then kill everything. Of course, a Bhaalspawn can fight these urges. But it is a never ending fight, one we see Durge struggle with throughout the entire story. They only "beat" these urges by having Bhaal's blood removed from them.

But because Minthara sees these as character flaws within Orin, she fails to see them in Durge as well. And when Minthara learns that Durge is a Bhaalspawn, of course she is elated. Durge is the child of a god. A deeply religious Minthara would obviously admire that, almost as far as borderline worshiping Durge (cause old habits die hard). She truly believes that Durge is nothing like Orin and would never be anything like Orin, and she has to believe this to be true because she does not want to be afraid of Durge like she is of Orin.

Despite popular belief, Minthara is indeed capable of love and has a strong desire for it. I have always read Minthara as a person who strongly wants what she feels she cannot have. And in Menzoberranzan, genuine love is frowned upon (or at least making it known). So of course she wants it. And there is no shame in that. It is trust that she struggles with, and she always has good reason to be distrustful. And the moment she became an exile, we see her start to deconstruct her previous ways of life, but with great difficulty as it is hard to let go of the only things you have ever known. She wants to love, she wants to trust, she doesn't want to be afraid, and she doesn't want to kill her lovers.

Thanks to the business with the Absolute, Minthara finds herself in a unique position in which she actually can read someone else's mind. And for the first time in her life, she has guaranteed certainty that the person that she loves won't hurt her, or betray her, or use and abuse her, or kill her. And that was a promise Durge made to her. And so she openly embraced Durge with everything that she has and becomes devoted.

Sadly, devotion is Minthara's fatal flaw. There is nothing wrong with being devoted to someone or some god, of course. But Minthara is too devoted in which her devotion makes her blind, and she has spent so much of her life being devoted to someone other than herself, and she does not know how to live a life without being devoted to someone. She does not realize the crux of her devotion until she is turned into a sacrificial lamb by Orin. It is Minthara who questions the worth of devotion if it only leads to death and she starts to become a little more selective of who she devotes herself to. Cause she was once devoted to Orin and was willing to be devoted to Bhaal if given the chance, and yet she was still put on that altar. But this never happens if Orin never takes her.

Edit: I forgot that Patch 7 added in the second part of Minthara's dialogue about Orin. Meaning Minthara can still come to question the worth of devotion, even without being a kidnap victim to Orin. However, she questions her devotion after Durge has made their choice in regards to Bhaal. Despite her beginning to question devotion, she still remains devoted to Durge as she perceives Durge as her savior, and not being like Lolth or the Absolute or Bhaal.

Her devotion to Lolth, still ended with her being abandoned (or so she feels) and left vulnerable to the Absolute, because her devotion to Lolth did not make her an exception. Her devotion to the Absolute still led to her mind being ripped apart, because her devotion to the Absolute did not make her an exception. Minthara may be of a feline nature, but she does not have nine lives and cannot always get lucky. Every time she has devoted herself to someone, it always led her close to the grave. Her devotion to Durge, encouraging Durge to embrace who they are, will get her rewarded with death. And death was always going to be her reward.

And of course she thinks this could never happen to her. She read Durge's mind and Durge did show her that they would never hurt her. That Durge would never do to her what Lolth or the Absolute did, or even previous lovers did to her. That her devotion would be rewarded with mutual devotion. But this is coming from a Durge who has not embraced Bhaal just yet and does not yet want to become Daddy's Special Baby. And Minthara is not stupid for believing that Durge was sincere. No one wants to believe that the person that they love would ever hurt them. That does not make someone stupid or weak. Minthara could only read Durge's mind, not Durge's future.

When Durge embraces Bhaal, she still believes them to be the same exact person with the same exact desires as when she read their mind. Durge has finally followed her advice and embraced themselves, become exactly what she always saw them to be. Durge is now on the path to ascension, to true godhood. And Minthara's proximity to it all will keep her safe from all threats because she would be that god's consort. She can finally have a life without fear or distrust. She will have a god to worship, someone to love, and a new house in Durge's name. She will have everything she could have ever wanted and all she had to do was be devoted. All she had to do was be herself.

In that moment, her devotion to Durge makes her blind to the reality that Durge has changed and has become the very thing she herself criticized about Orin. She still believes that Durge won't hurt her and that Durge won't use the Absolute as a tool for slaughter. Her devotion makes her blind to the fact that Bhaal is like Lolth and the Absolute and most certainly will use Durge like a puppet. Her devotion makes her blind to the reality that Durge has only become a master of their urges, because they are willfully giving in to them and no longer fighting them. And the urge wants to kill everything, no exceptions. Her devotion makes her blind to the knife that Durge will inevitably turn against her, because her devotion was never going to make her an exception.

[leopardmuffinxo]

Guess who hurt her own feelings last night by siding with the bloodthirsty drow, Minthara? I always said that I probably couldn’t go through with it, but I was just so freaking curious how the companions would react. I’ve seen a few videos here and there, but I just wanted to see do it myself and let me tell you, I HATED IT. 

It is definitely one of the more evil routes you can take and you really see that trickle down due to your companions reactions to the whole ordeal. I have included my ramblings below. Obviously there are some spoilers in the event that you want to play it yourself. 

I’m gonna keep this part short, but the slaughter of the tieflings and the druids in the grove is heartbreaking. You even come into a room full of defenseless tieflings, who are cowering in fear, while Minthara and the goblins just tear all of them down one by one. (I didn’t even participate in the fight since I kept skipping my turn. Poor babies. 😭💔)

After all the murder, you’re of course told by Minthara that they will celebrate in your camp that night. 😒 

If Wyll was in your party during the first fight in the grove, he will turn on you and you’ll have to kill him along with the tieflings, if not then he comes up to you right when you enter your camp to confront you. He calls you a monster and tells you that you don’t stand for anything he believes in. He then leaves the camp forever. (I don’t blame you sir, I am a terrible person).

Lae’zel isn’t fazed in the slightest, which doesn’t surprise me. She’s not really worried about either outcome because all she cares about is getting to the creche to be “purified.” She still wanted to claim me as her prize, so she’s just the same old Lae’zel regardless of your choice.

Gale is livid the moment I go to speak with him. He states that he’s losing himself and that I’m leading him down a dark path since I’m making him participate in mindless slaughter. That he doesn’t know who he is anymore and that I’m completely heartless. He then says that he should leave, and being that I’m already being a huge asshole anyways, I tell him I agree. He huffs, turns around, and leaves camp forever. 

Shadowheart is pretty intoxicated and comments on the goblins having the good wine that goes straight to your head. Its honestly hard to tell if she's drunk due to guilt, if she’s just genuinely enjoying herself, or if its due to the obnoxious goblins that are worshipping a weird altar they brought into our camp.  Probably some weird combination of all three. Who knows.

I will add that there is a random goblin you can speak to that offers you a prize for all the carnage you caused and its... Alfira’s lute. 😭😭😭 MY FREAKING HEART SHATTERED. I stared at the floor for a second after that. 

Here’s where a lot of my lovely mutuals/followers will focus lol. We all love the smug, sassy vamp. 😂

While I can say that I enjoyed his more sultry demeanor at this party, (that voice is just pure silk), I can tell that this may be the start of him becoming more power-hungry and dangerous. He seems completely content with everything that lead up to this point, and its a little off putting. (For me, at least.) Like I said, he’s much more sultry in the way he speaks to you during this party as opposed his more playful banter during the tiefling party. He immediately asks what your poison is, and if you let him pick, he chooses red. (I’m assuming he gives you some of the wine the goblins brought, while he drinks blood out of a wine glass.) He then toasts to the “pile of corpses” and asks what you would like to toast to. (Did I mention the dead tiefling bodies littered around your camp, lying in pools of blood? Yup, thats a thing you have to look at.) Picking the “that's not funny” option results in him replying that “You did what you had to. Don’t be ashamed you did it well” line and that “Life is tough.” Even the way he propositions you is different, in a way. The way he speaks is like he’s putting on a performance for you, with it almost being guaranteed that you’ll want to sleep with him. Hence the “come on, there's a spark here. I know you feel it too” line if you try to turn him down. He’s definitely reveling in the fact that you just slaughtered a bunch of tieflings, while being praised by a bunch of lowly goblins. 

Like I said, it was interesting to see the different reactions and what it does to your companions, but idk if I could do it again. I love the tieflings too much.