How Baldur's Gate 3's Cut Minthara Storyline Could Have Changed The Evil Drow

Baldur's Gate 3s character writing is one of its greatest strengths. Not just because so many of its companions feel fully realized at launch, but because so many of them carry the rudimentary weight of stories that were rewritten, redirected, or quietly abandoned along the way. What players experience in the final game is the result of years of iteration, compromise, and difficult narrative decisions. In most cases, these refined characters change into sharper, more coherent versions of themselves. In Minthara's case, they fundamentally reshaped who she became.

Most Baldur's Gate 3 players don't know how much these beloved characters have changed since their early days. Karlach was once more edgy, her story unfolding dramatically before her release. In another timeline, Astarion was depicted as a pale-skinned tiefling with long black hair. Almost every companion underwent extensive rewrites, both publicly and behind closed doors. Minthara, however, probably experienced the most consequential transformation. Not because her design changed or because her ideology changed, but because the trajectory of her arc once pointed toward a version of her story that would have permanently changed her relationships, her autonomy, and the long-term consequences of choosing her at all.

In its clipped form, Minthara's story seems to have gone far beyond a standard “BG3 evil route” companion. It would have asked players to count on permanence, sacrifice, and exclusivity in ways that no other companion does.

Baldur's Gate 3 spoilers ahead.

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Minthara's pregnancy: a cliffhanger that could have changed everything

Baldur's Gate 3s romances are as intense or fleeting as the player wants them to be. At least that's true for the main companions – other romances are entirely a one-and-done situation. Whether a companion is a one-night stand or a flame that burns brightly doesn't change how the main conflicts play out, but it colors a player's interaction with the world. The player may even get the chance to live happily ever after with their partner if they pursue righteous endings.

The happy romance ends in Baldur's Gate 3 there are plenty of. Whether you're living in a tiny cabin with Shadowheart or rubbing elbows with nobles thanks to Wyll, a life of secrecy is all but guaranteed. But these fates await the player as a reward for their bravery. Instead, Minthara's domestic future was meant to be placed upon the player on the path to saving the city of Baldur's Gate. In what could have been the most dramatic turn of interpersonal drama in the BG3would a romanced Minthara become pregnant at some point in the story.

Minthara's pregnancy is shocking because of the placement

Although Minthara's pregnancy is shocking, parenthood is not a foreign concept within BG3. Whether the player is a Tav, Durge or Origin character i Baldur's Gate 3a future with little things is quite possible.

If Wyll becomes Duke Ravenguard, then he and the player will adopt a girl named Lilly Aurora.
Lae'zel and the player can have a githyanki child. All that is required is to keep the Git Hedge found in Creche Y'llek in her inventory. Although not romanced, Lae'zel can still become a mother.
Cut content resurrected in the Withers Cut Content Dialogues mod suggests so Shadow heart was very keen to have children with Tav/Durge.
After the events of Baldur's Gate 3many orphans players encounter are left for Neck to raise as he helps restore the Shadow-Cursed Lands. “Papa Halsin”, they call him.

There's something to note about all this family-centric content: they happen after the events of Elder Brain and The Dead Three. All of these children are born or raised in the months after the final battle, when the tadpole is unconcerned and brighter, calmer days await companions. But Minthara's pregnancy comes amidst the chaos, painting a far more dire portrait of what could be happy news for those who love her.

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How Minthara's Cut Pregnancy Could Have Changed Her

Minthara is an excellent Paladin because she is not afraid to turn the archetype on its head. She disregards the need for altruism or the “greater good” and instead focuses on loyalty as the defining characteristic of her oath—no matter how many times that oath changes. Her changing beliefs throughout the game actually showcase remarkable character development, as they allow players to see her fully commit to what she believes is right and just. The knight in shining armor doesn't have to be good. She doesn't even have to be right. She just needs to be decisive and flexible.

Daughter of Lolth - Minthara - Good recruit in Baldur's Gate 3

But a pregnancy changes everything. It can change her loyalties, her beliefs, and even her willingness to fight. As the cut reveals, this pregnancy is embraced, giving plenty of room for it to dramatically change Minthara's story. It's almost a crime that gamers didn't get to see it brought to life. Here are some ways her pregnancy could have changed her:

Legacy over devotion: Minthara's faith is already shown to be conditional. Drow society values power, lineage, and survival above all else. A child introduces something more permanent than Lolth or the Absolute: legacy. Protecting what comes after her can challenge the idea that her life exists solely in service of divine will or conquest, and reframe her actions around continuity rather than obedience.
Motherhood Through a Drow Lens: Drow parenting is not gentle. It's strategic, brutal and deeply political as Underdark demands it be. Minthara was unlikely to raise a child on the surface world's ideals of kindness or safety. Instead, she can see betrayal, strength, and emotional control as acts of love: tools necessary to survive in a world that will not forgive weakness.
Gender and power dynamics: Drow society is matriarchal, so gender has high expectations. A daughter can be considered a successor, a weapon or a future rival. A son, meanwhile, can exist in a more precarious position—heavily protected, but constantly navigating a bias that sees male drow as expendable or inferior. Both results reinforce Minthara's complicated relationship with power rather than resolve it.
A reason to leave conflicts behind: Parenting can push Minthara towards withdrawal, secrecy or isolation. Alternatively, it could drive her deeper into the conflict that exiled her, determined to eliminate any threat before it reaches her family. Both choices introduce stakes that are no longer abstract or ideological, but painfully personal.

The Minthara who made it into the final game is still sharp, dedicated and uncompromising, but she's also a character shaped as much by what was taken away as by what remains. And that absence should quietly change how players understand her.