The award-winning Baldur’s Gate 3 has become an instant classic, and made it to the top of many players’ best of 2023 list – including myself. When the game launched, I found myself instantly enthralled by the “Dark Urge” character origin, and in my first playthrough, dived into learning as much as I could about my – as Astarion would put it – “precious little Bhaal Babe.”
While Act 1 was relatively tame in giving away information about the Dark Urge’s backstory, Act 2 hits like a truck – and as I continued playing noticed something undeniable: the Dark Urge and Enver Gortash absolutely had “something” going on before the events of the main game.
I’m not the only person picking up on the tension between the Dead Three’s chosen either, but Larian Studios is determined to try and run away from the possibility of “Durgetash” being made canon.
Larian Studio’s Continuous Denial Of Durgetash Is Funny, But Continues To Stoke the Flames
Plenty of fans are excited for the release of Patch 7. Larian recently dropped the patch notes on their social platforms, and it introduces a number of incredible changes, bug fixes, and the official modding toolkit. Also featured on Community Update #28, though, is this excerpt:
Clearly, Larian Studios has heard pleas from the desperate Durgetash community for any crumbs of content or making the doomed ship canon, but the studio has decided to instead choose violence. This isn’t the first time the studio has made jabs at fans of the ship either, as they regularly engage with fans of the villainous Lord Enver Gortash on Twitter/X.
These aren’t the only examples, of course, but Larian does seem to love the banter. The bigger question on this issue, though, is why they’re so dedicated to shooting down the hopes of Durgetash fans when there are clearly nods to the pair having some kind of “more-than-enemies-less-than-friends” dynamic before the Dark Urge got tadpoled.
Analyzing the Relationship Between Gortash & the Dark Urge: Partners In World Domination, Or Something More?
Analyzing what once was between Enver Gortash and Dark Urge is tricky at best, partially due to the fact that many of the references to the pair’s relationship can only be found in books, letters, and journals scattered throughout the game that are incredibly easy to miss for a player barreling through the main story. Regardless, observant Durgetash fans have done their research and have scoured every corner of the Sword Coast to find evidence that these two used to be involved with one another.
Posted by u/AgitatedMango9695 on Reddit, the following letter can be found in game – including a note added by Balthazar at the end making a jab at Dark Urge – of Bhaal’s chosen lamenting about being unable to ignore Gortash’s inherent genius.
Called a “Prayer of Forgiveness” in-game, this is the first concrete piece of evidence that the two had a much deeper relationship other than uniting the chosen of the Dead Three to take over Faerûn. Once the player makes it to Act 3, there are even more hints scattered throughout alluding to something going on – including a unique piece of Gortash dialogue when he’s speaking to Orin in an early cutscene, giving a shocked, “They live?” after hearing that the Dark Urge is making their way to the city.
When the Dark Urge finally makes it to Wyrm’s Crossing and goes to speak to Gortash during the coronation ceremony, he seems genuinely elated to see them – something that he does not do for a regular Tav. His body language in the cutscenes that follow are notably different, darting his eyes away and even smiling. If you have Karlach in your party, he even says this, “To think you and Karlach travelled together all this time, and she hadn’t the faintest you were one of my nearest and dearest.” and with specific dialogue choices will later add, “You and I always knew we could only stand against the world united.”
Then, when Orin begins invading the player’s camp, she makes a pointed statement directed at the player that they have always been easily influenced by the “Lordling”.
This isn’t what ultimately sold me on the two having involvement, believe it or not. What really sealed the deal for me as a player was learning about the heist on Mephistopheles vault, and what Gortash says to the player as they enter the The Iron Throne to rescue Ulder Ravengard, and their final conversation in a “good” aligned run if the player chooses to betray him. Surprisingly, much of this evidence was introduced in Patch 6 – one of the very few breadcrumbs that Larian has tossed to players to fuel speculation.
If the player chooses to betray Gortash and rescue Duke Ravengard from The Iron Throne, upon entering Gortash’s chambers in Wyrm’s Crossing, he will reprimand the Dark Urge for going against him, saying that the two of them could have been partners in crime had they chosen differently. To this, the player is presented with a series of dialogue options with one of them standing out, stating, “For what it’s worth, I think I always liked you, too. But this is how it must be.” Selecting this option, the player is hit with this narrative piece of pining: “There is hesitation in his eye for one moment. A passing thought of all times spent together you’ll never remember.” Gortash quickly interjects with, “Is that what you–” before being dramatically cut off by the rumbling of the Elder Brain.
While this is an overt bit of fanservice being thrown at Durgetash fans, this isn’t the only special dialogue shippers have decided to run with. When the player begins their descent into The Irone Throne, Gortash will send a clear message for them to stop what they’re doing or threaten to kill everyone imprisoned inside. While not the most concrete, the Dark Urge does get an interesting unique response to this, saying that Gortash is theirs to take from. Any fan of doomed or toxic ships can read between the lines with this one, even if it may seem like a stretch at a glance.
One of the most interesting pieces of evidence that players can find about the pair’s past is the plot to raid Mephistopheles Vault. While this can, of course, be read as nothing more than two evil individuals plotting to unite for a common goal, it also opens the gates for a great deal of analysis and implication regarding just how much Gortash and the Dark Urge have relied on one another in the past. It also confirms that the two were well acquainted before the “Absolute” plot, and that despite their patron Gods being fierce rivals, moving past that in order to truly care for each other.
References to the raid can be found by speaking with Helsik in the Devil’s Fee while playing Dark Urge before traveling to the House of Hope in Act 3. Helsik will recognize the Dark Urge right away, but, as per usual, the Dark Urge has amnesia and can’t remember anything about interacting with Helsik in the past. She’s willing to enlighten you on a bit of your history, telling the player that she had opened a portal for the Dark Urge and Lord Gortash to enter the Hells. She doesn’t provide much else aside from this, but players can also find a note written by a spy hired by Orin, and one written by Gortash corroborating this information.
While a reach, the pair must have had a great deal of respect and trust for one another in order to band together to attempt to rob Mephistopheles – the most powerful Archdevil next to Asmodeus. Gortash and his favorite assassin have undeniable history, and while many players could understandably read these interactions as being the result of a deep-rooted trust, it’s impossible to look at this evidence without also seeing clear nods to doomed, romantic pining.
Our read on these interactions is that it’s almost undeniable that the feelings Gortash and the Dark Urge have for one another are anything but platonic. Even if it’s toxic, Archduke Enver Gortash is pining for the Dark Urge, and it’s time for Larian to stop avoiding the writing on the wall. Even if we can never ultimately save Gortash if we decide to side with him in Act 3, we should at least have one last chance for an angst-filled goodbye between the two – and maybe that kiss that Larian keeps insisting he’s too busy for.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on PC (Windows & macOS), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Published: Jul 18, 2024 03:24 pm