Baldur’s Gate 3 has ten recruitable companions, with six being origin characters and the majority having their own personal quests. All of these characters have connections to the overall plot as well as the world as a whole, but one of them notably falls short. Minthara has some of the smallest amounts of content compared to the other companion characters despite being met in Act 1, and doesn’t have the nostalgia factor of Jaheria and Minsc.
It’s undeniable that Minthara is unpopular compared to the rest of the main cast. She’s been ranked as one of the worst romance options, and will often not even get a chance to be recruited. If any character deserves more content in Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s Minthara.
Many People Don’t Enjoy Evil Playthroughs in BG3
Minthara Is Seemingly Built For An Evil Or Dark Urge Romance
Unfortunately, many players simply don’t think that an evil playthrough in Baldur’s Gate 3 is as enjoyable as a good-aligned one. In a true evil run where players decide to side with Minthara from the start and raid the Emerald Grove, then they’ll lose beloved characters like Wyll, Karlach, Halsin and in some circumstances, Gale. If players continue their evil antics into act 2 and 3, they’ll likely miss out on Jaheria and Minsc as well, which means players essentially trade half their allies for Minthara, the companion with the least amount of content.
With this in mind, Minthara’s only animated romance scene outside regular dialogue occurs after raiding the grove. Though she can be recruited and romanced in a good playthrough, her lack of content hasn’t encouraged players to recruit her and go down her romance route – she remains as the least romanced companion. Whilst most of the characters have different arcs they can take, such as Shadowheart staying as a Sharran or becoming a Selunite, or Astarion ascending or staying as a vampire spawn, Minthara will not undergo any major character changes depending on the player’s choices.
Minthara also can’t be romanced in some evil routes. If a Dark Urge player rejects Bhaal, then Minthara will immediately break up with them if she was romanced prior. This makes perfect sense for her character, given her hunger for power, but it’s still another reason why many people won’t want to romance her – she can’t be dissuaded from her choice, even if the player still decides to take over the brain without the Urge.
There are several aspects of Minthara’s backstory that could’ve been explored more with her romance – if Karlach is also in the party, then Minthara has a banter line with her discussing her ex-lover. It would have been interesting to build more on this character, similarly to how other companions can discuss their past lovers. Though Minthara’s post-raid romance scene shows some of her vulnerable side, perhaps players would be more motivated to pursue her if they were able to see this side of her in a good playthrough.
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It’s notable that her past lover died of poison, and Minthara has several instances where she admits to giving the player subtle doses of poison to build up their immunity, including leaving traces of poison on her lips and slipping into their food. It would have been great to be able to have a conversation with Minthara about what could be perceived as her fear of losing the player like she did her first lover. This could possibly allow her to show vulnerability in a good-aligned run, much like how she does after raiding the grove.
Minthara Originally Had More Content Planned, Which Was Cut
Cut Content Suggests Minthara’s Original Story Involved A Pregnancy
From the beginning of production to release, it’s inevitable that lots of content was cut from Baldur’s Gate 3. Larian Studios has highlighted the importance of prioritizing the passion of their developers, and thus changed or removed some things that weren’t necessary for the final release. Though she was a later addition compared to the rest of the companions, and she later did receive some more content in patch updates, there’s still evidence that Minthara’s story was cut short.
“Minthara with child… Somehow I can’t imagine her sitting around the campfire, knitting baby booties…” – Shadowheart
Some fans have found unused voice lines of various companions within the game’s code which suggest that Minthara’s story was originally going to include a pregnancy – YouTube user Noble complied these into a video. This actually wouldn’t be the fist time the Baldur’s Gate series would have seen a companion pregnancy, as Baldur’s Gate 2’s Aerie is also able to have a child with the protagonist. Whether Minthara’s pregnancy would’ve followed a similar direction or not, this implies that there was a lot more to Minthara’s story originally planned.
A sentiment that seems to be shared by all the companions is that Minthara becoming a mother would be an unexpected development, and players knowing what could have been has left them wondering how Larian would have evolved the story from this point.
Before the full release, Minthara was originally intended to be a cleric instead of a paladin.
Unlike the other companions, Minthara does not have a personal quest, and most of her story past the first act revolves around getting revenge on Orin or being rescued from Moonrise Towers. Perhaps Larian could have planned for her to have more of a personal quest at some point in development that diverted away from Orin.
Larian Put A Lot Of Love Into Making Minthara, But A Lot Of Players Will Completely Miss Her
Many players who go into Baldur’s Gate 3 blind won’t realize that Minthara can be recruited, and even if they do, if they aren’t doing an evil run, they likely won’t consider knocking her out with a non-lethal attack. The only time when the game will actively tell the player to only knock out an enemy instead of killing them is in Act 3, where Jaheria’s quest will require defeating Minsc with a non-lethal attack in order to recruit him. So many players will miss out on Minthara as a companion, yet she still doesn’t compare to the other companions.
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This is disappointing, since Minthara can be an extremely fun character and has so much potential. In the event where Minthara is recruited after being knocked out, she can have a rather endearing relationship with Karlach, and will cry in an epilogue scene if the player romanced her as Karlach’s origin and chooses death over Avernus. Minthara developing more tangible relationships with the rest of the main cast would have been very fulfilling to see – especially Halsin, as though they weren’t originally able to be recruited together, there now isn’t much addressing how Minthara and the goblins initially imprisoned him.
Minthara is very underrated, and definitely got the short end of the stick in development. However, she was the protagonist of Larian’s parody of A Christmas Carol from their 2024 advent calendar, which shows that they still do have a lot of love for the character. It’s unlikely that Minthara will get much more content in future updates of Baldur’s Gate 3 as the end of the major patches draws closer, but perhaps she will be explored more outside the game.
Sources: Baldur’s Gate 3 Anniversary Statistics/X, Noble/YouTube
Developed and published by Larian Studios, Baldur’s Gate 3 is an upcoming role-playing game set to release in August of 2023. Players will create a character to embark on a large-scale journey and can do so solo or cooperatively with a friend. Combat is a turn-based style this time around.
