Shadowheart is a companion and an origin character in Baldur’s Gate 3. The daughter of darkness has a unique questline of her own with branching outcomes. This allows Shadowheart to have multiple endings in BG3.
However, most of Shadowheart’s story revolves around her faithfulness to Shar and lost memories of her childhood. To solve this mystery, you must go through a chilling quest and decide how the events will play out for Shadowheart in the end. Will you give her the peaceful life she finally deserves or allow her to delve into further madness?
Kill Shadowheart for Bad Endings
You will meet Shadowheart inside the Nautiloid, as she will be kept inside a pod. Once the ship crashes, you will find her on the beach with the Artefact.
If you decide not to trust Shadowheart and leave her, she will get hostile and attack you. The only possible solution here is to kill her. This will end her quest and result in a bad ending for her.
During Act 2, when you reach Shadowfell to meet Nightsong, you can show your mistrust in Shadowheart by keeping the Artefact for yourself. This will enrage Shadowheart, and she will attack you. This will end badly for her and result in her permanent death.
Upon playing as a Dark Urge, you will get an opportunity to attack and kill Shadowheart during the mandatory long rest at the start of Act 3.
All of these acts will result in a bad ending for Shadowheart, and you won’t be able to see her companion quest, Daughter of Darkness, through.
The Dark Justiciar Ending
During this Shadowheart Ending in BG3, Shadowheart will kill Nightsong. Now, she can choose to be loyal to Shar and kill Nightsong. Being loyal to Shar will allow her to become the Dark Justiciar and strengthen the bonds with Shar. Shadowheart will also get the Shar’s Spear of Evening, a legendary weapon with great damage.
She will also get Shar’s Blessing and Shar’s Darkness, but when she becomes the Dark Justiciar, the possibility of romancing Shadowheart becomes almost impossible. Shadowheart’s desire for any relationship vanishes once she becomes a Dark Justiciar, so you can say goodbye to her romance.
After Shadowheart has killed the Nightsong and become the Dark Justiciar, she will be tasked to kill Thorm. Next, she must cleanse the church in the House of Grief on the orders of Shar.
You will be welcomed at the door when you enter the House of Grief. Inside the inner chamber, there will be a fight against the Mother Superior, Viconia DeVir. This time, you will be aided by all the followers of Shar in the chamber. Now, from here, you must enter the Chamber of Loss and find Shadowheart’s parents. You will have two choices: kill or spare Shadowheart’s parents for different endings in BG3.
Become the Right Hand of Shar
Shadowheart will regain all her memories from the forest during the final test. Now, when you let Shadowheart do what’s right, she will proclaim that she should kill her parents and become faithful to Shar. She will then kill her parents and gain more strength and blessings from Shar.
After Shar’s gone, you can ask about her parents, and Shadowheart will reply that they are mere sacrifices for the greater good and were worth it. However, she will become the leader of Shar’s forces and have Shar’s powers at her fingertips. This will be the bad Shadowheart Ending for you in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Live with the Pain for Eternity
During the recollection of Shadowheart’s memories, you will also have the option to stop Shadowheart and save her parents before the ending. You will then need to pass a Persuasion, Insight, or Charisma check; if you pass, she will set them free, but she will not get the Blessing of Shar.
She will also get a parting gift from Shar, the memories of all the times she practiced on her parents and inflicted pain and suffering on them.
Shadowheart Defies the Shar
After you defeat Balthazar and his minions, Shadowheart will arrive. Shar has instructed her to drive the Spear of Night through Nightsong’s heart. Shar has promised Shadowheart that she will be turned into the Dark Justiciar if she kills Nightsong. Nightsong will tell you that Shadowheart’s memories have been tampered with, and she does not know the true story of her origin.
You must roll a successful Persuasion Check if you don’t want Shadowheart to kill Nightsong. She will throw away the spear when you pass the check and spare Nightsong’s life. She will then change her attire, have full body armor, and ask for assistance to kill Ketheric Thorm in Baldur’s Gate 3.
When Thorm is defeated, Nightsong will tell Shadowheart about her parents and that they are still alive. They are imprisoned in the House of Grief. You will need to go and visit the house.
Before going to the House of Grief, Shadowheart’s attire will change, and her hair will turn white. You must now visit the House of Grief in Baldur’s Gate 3. Here, you will meet the Mother Superior, Viconia DeVir, who will demand that you hand over Shadowheart to them. In return, you will get the full support of the Devotees of Shar. This will, however, permanently remove Shadowheart from your party.
If you side with Shadowheart and refuse, a fight will commence against Mother Superior. Once defeated, she will explain all about what had happened to Shadowheart’s memories. You will also find an old friend here, Nocturne.
When you reach the Chambers of Loss, you will find Shadowheart’s parents. They will call her by her real name, Jenevelle Hallowleaf. There, Shar will appear again, and you will have two choices: free Shadowheart’s parents or kill them.
Shadowheart kills her parents
For this Shadowheart ending in BG3, she will kill her parents. If you let her do that, they will be turned into Moonmotes. This will happen once she saves Nightsong in Baldur’s Gate 3. According to Shadowheart, these moonmotes will always have a shadow on her throughout her lifetime and remove Shar’s curse from her.
During the following dialogues, she will tell you about all the good memories she had with her parents in front of the Selune Statue. Shadowheart will also tell you about their guidance and presence. If you are romancing Shadowheart, she will stay with you after the end of Act 3. She will be sad and miss her parents, but decides to have a better future with you.
Shadowheart saves her parents
You can also let Shadowheart save her family. For this, you will need to pass Religion or Persuasion check. When passed, they will be freed, and Shadowheart will be reunited with her family. They will express their love and acceptance of Shadowheart, and there will be a touching family reunion scene at Selune’s Statue. This also leads to Shadowheart’s romance ending, where, after the fight against the Netherbrain in Baldur’s Gate 3, you get to live happily with her and her parents.
Evil Ending for Shadowheart
To get the evil endings for Shadowheart in BG3, you must play with her as the Origin character. This means she will be your main character throughout the campaign.
Once you reach near the end of Act 3, make sure to betray either Orpheus or the Emperor and take the Netherstones for yourself. Pass a Constitution check and control the Elder Brain. This will give you the following options.
- Will all of Baldur’s Gate to perish.
- Command the citizens of Baldur’s Gate to kill each other.
- Conquer the world with the army of the absolute.
- Brainwash the citizens of Baldur’s Gate to work for you. They will rebuild the city unaware of their fates.
If you fail the constitution check, you will become a Mindflayer and obey the will of the Elder Brain. It will task you with converting all the tadpole carriers into Mindflayers and joining the army of absolute.
However, with patch 7, there is a new evil ending for Shadowheart. She will get the option to denounce both Shar and Selune with her newly gained power and order the denizens of Baldur’s Gate to indiscriminately kill any follower of Selune or Shar.
She will then erect a new church in her name and force the people to follow her as the new goddess of Faerun.
