#that being said....... maybe i do understand durgetash....... like maybe i get it

[lixbf]

wtf went on btwn durge and gortash pre lobotomy......

[flymmsy]

on the scale of 1-10 delulu, how likely do you think some new evil gortash ending being made is?

I think it's 50-50, so I guess that converts to a level 5 Delulu.

Why I think it might be happening

1. The Dialogue Bug - I think it’s suspicious that a relatively simple bug (that has been confirmed as a bug) has gone unfixed through so many hotfixes.

EDIT: It’s a common misconception that Hotfix 18 removed all Gortash dialogue changes but that's not quite the case. Here is a rundown of what's missing.

Now, it really is possible that it is really just extremely low priority for Larian. I just think that this, paired with other things, is suspicious.

2. New Evil Endings - we know Larian is working on new Evil endings but we have no details on what those are. However, the fact that only Gortash’s alliance dialogue has changed (edit: there's a small change in his Boss Fight scene too but its tied to the same file. See link above for a full rundown) and gone unfixed is what makes me think maybe there’s more in the works. Like I’ve said before, the dialogue file that this addition is in is the entire file for that office scene. If they wanted to beef up a Gortash alliance as an Evil Ending, they’d most likely have to edit that file again anyway. So why work on something twice when you can just roll it out all at once?

3. Getting Gortash to the end of the game is not as complicated or involved as people think - Gortash dies once the endgame has already been set in motion. You wouldn’t have to actually add that much. All you’d have to do is have the Emperor suck him into the prism too and have them duke it out, or have the Emperor leave him and come up with some narrative explanation for how he got away from the Netherbrain. Then he’d probably have to have a few lines in your little Endgame Pit Stop to speak to your allies - and that’s pretty much it. The rest, if they really had to go bare bones, can be added via mentions of him in the Epilogue. There’s already files that make some mention of calling on the Steel Watch in the final fight.

4. The Extra Delulu point- Larian has always been responsive to fans. They need to set boundaries, and clearly aren’t going to be adding a lot, but I don’t think the fact that Durgetash has risen to one of the top spots on AO3 counts for nothing. That’s something that is clearly measurable data of fan interest. At the very least, I’m certain it’s made them aware of it, we just don’t know if they’ve made the decision to act on it.

Why I think it might not be happening

1. Larian will only be adding limited content from this point forward - my hopes for any Gortash ending were immediately dashed when I first heard this news, but then revived with skepticism when they mentioned the evil endings. We don’t even know if a definitive edition is still on the table, which is where I initially thought they might add Gortash content. It’s very possible that because of this decision, no new Gortash content will be added. They may have also originally intend to add content, but ultimately chose to reprioritize with this new direction.

2. The Absolute Legend that is Jason Isaacs- It’s always been said that having such an incredible voice actor is a catch-22, because it makes calling them back in to record anything new that much harder due to both budget and scheduling constraints. Now, as I said above, not THAT much would need to be recorded, but even if it is only a little this is a very clear reason why it might have to be a no-go.

3. Gortash’s other content - it’s clear that Gortash was a victim of the cut content stick. We find out way too much about him from only letters and mentions that feel really out of nowhere, but ultimately accomplish the job. I could also understand the writers feeling like if they had to pair down his story to what it is, adding it without any additional backup would feel weird.

TLDR; it’s a total toss-up.

The only people that actually know shit are Larian themselves, and no amount of speculation can actually be definitive. Assume the worst, dream of the best, and hope that it lands somewhere in the middle.