POLL: Should Imoen Have Been A Bhaalspawn

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Looking back on the game now do you think Imoen should have been a Bhaalspawn or did it have a negative effect on the story and/or her character?

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 22 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Should Imoen Have Been A Bhaalspawn (22 votes.)

Should Imoen Have Been A Bhaalspawn? (Choose 1)
* Yes, she should be a Bhaalspawn - 77% (17)
* N o, she should not have been a Bhaalspawn - 23% (5)

 

Yes.

The story would have been considerably more awkward if she were not a Bhaalspawn.

 

Your question is a little akward. I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Do you mean would it be better if some other character was a Bhaalspawn besides Imoen, and that character accompanied you through your journey? In that case, I'd say no, she shouldn't have been the Bhaalspawn. She's a much too innocent character to be a spawn of the lord of murder.

Now, on the other hand, if you are asking if there just shouldn't have been another sibling Bhaalspawn as one of your companions, then I say, absolutely yes, Imoen should have been a Bhaalspwan.

Basically, what I'm saying is this: If you eliminate the addition of a companion Bhaalspawn entirely, you lose a lot of the story line, and BGII becomes a less exciting and less in-depth game. However, I will admit that there were other far better choices for the companion Bhaalspawn than Imoen.

 

I liked it, it was a welcome twist.

[edit: Branching off on what Aldeth said, perhaps Haer'Dalis would be a nice character? Being Tiefling and all.. ]

 

I would think Imoen's innocence is what adds to the irony of the plot, with her being a Bhaalspawn, plus it makes her more vulnerable, which is an important trait for a damsel in distress....

 

@Aldeth
I mean keeping Imoen in the story but changing the storyline so that she wasn't a Bhaalspawn. I peronally have thought of many different circumstances that could have led you to Irenicus or other reasons he might have had an interest in Imoen.
The reason I ask this is because I was quite unhappy with how the game played out. First and foremost Imoen was by far my favorite NPC in BG1 and I didn't like the fact that I had to play a large portion of the game. Secondly, I think having Imoen as a Bhaalspawn ruined the uniqueness of a child of Murder being good-aligned. Third I think that it clashed with her character from BG1, there seem to be several characteristics which all Bhaalspawn share and none showed up in her character (I might have forgiven this if I didn't feel they did a horrible job in conveying this in SoA and ToB. Lastly there was the lost option of a romance. I know there's a mod out there for this but it could have been much better, and more accepted, if she was only your childhood friend and not your half-sister.
So does anyone agree with me or does everyone just like it how it is?

 

i think that it would have been better if someone like korgan or jan had been the bhaalspawn, haer'dalis would be decent too.

 

Not having played BG1, I have no idea what any of the characters in that were like so I went in without expectations, I thought it was good that shs was Bhaalspawn because her innocence showed that (aside from the PC which can be any alignment obviously) not al Bhaalspawn are necessarily evil simply because of their heritage. It was a good way to illustrate that you don't have to be ruled by genetics as far as determining your actions. Besides, one less Bhallspawn trying to rule the world is always good.

 

I suspected that Imoen was a bhaal spawn, from the moment when you discover that YOU are one in BG1. It all made sense and the reasons are all mentioned in the dialogue you have with Irenicus. I just wished that they would have let her disintegrate just like you would, should she die (which is stange since any other bhaalspawn you kill still leaves a body behind, including Sarevok in BG1!).

 

In that case, no she shouldn't have been the Bhaalspawn. There were other/better choices. When you look at the sheer number of NPC's in BGI, and then you think that theoretically any of them could have been a Bhaalspawn, why was in necessary to choose Imoen? While it is true that many of the NPC's in BGI do not show up in BGII, or only show up as non-playable NPC's, this is only through Bioware's choice.

Bioware starts BGII with a "presumed party" from BGI. It assumes that you were playing a good-aligned party, and finished the game with Imoen, Khalid, Jaheira, Minsc and Dynahier. However, they decided (rather arbitrarily) to kill Khalid and Dynaheir. There's no reason they had to do this. Plus, even if you were playing a good aligned party, there's no reason to suspect you may not have had Adjantis, Kivan or Coran in your party. (And yes, I am aware that Coran and Ajantis make cameo appearances in BGII, but you can't play them.) The only point I'm trying to illustrate is you could have included ANY of the NPC's from BGI into BGII. Therefore, since you had somewhere around 30 or so options to chose from in BGI, I do not think that Imoen made the best choice.

A romance would have been nice too, and would make a whole lot of sense. Imoen was someone that presumably your character was close to long before you ever set out on the road together. She was always so loyal, and would stand by your side through everything, making a romance very believable and easy to work into the storyline.

Finally, I agree with this simple fact. Imoen was someone most people really liked in BGI. Why remove her from the entire first half of BGII?

 

The fact that Imoen was also in Candlekeep, same as the PC, makes her an excellent candidate for Bhaalspawn status -- Gorion wanted to keep an eye on both of you. If anyone else were the Bhaalspawn, you wouldn't want to rescue them as badly as you do (or should, unless you are an Imoen killer as discussed in other threads

I mean, dramatically speaking, would you be in such a hurry to rescue Jan or Haer'Dalis? You've just met them, right? And if anyone else from BG1 were a Bhaalspawn, why wouldn't Sarevok go after them? (Of course, that argument could be made for Imoen as well.)

I just think it's good drama for Imoen to also be a spawn and the one kidnapped by Irenicus.

 

I personally like the storyline as it goes concerning Imoen.

Although I do believe some people could be agitated by the fact that because she is your half-sister, thus you can't romance her (she does seem like a totally cool girl, like if you ever met a girl like her personality in real life, you wouldn't hesitate to hang out with her because she is so chillable and funny!).

People generally really like Imoen (even the dude that killed her on this board! LOL! I love reading that thread!), whereas Jaheira has her supporters and haters.

With that said, BioWare Corp. chose a player that you can maybe have a passion for rescuing, instead of going through it nonchalantly.

Side Note: I think I really should play BG1! I thought Dynaheir was just a character who dies before you even meet Minsc.

[ October 01, 2003, 19:11: Message edited by: Neeraj in the Underdark ]