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A new Dungeons & Dragons lore book has provided fresh details on the fate of everyone’s favorite Baldur’s Gate 3 barbarian tiefling — and officially confirmed a happier canon ending than the game itself provides.
Warning! Baldur’s Gate 3 spoilers follow…
Within Baldur’s Gate 3 itself, a range of possible finales are possible for Karlach, your companion whose mechanical heart always seems on the brink of shutting down.
Indeed, without intervention, players can watch Karlach tragically burn up as her infernal engine finally combusts, or alternatively sacrifice herself and become a Mind Flayer. Another option, meanwhile, sees the player convincing Karlach to depart Faerûn to live in Avernus and hope for a more permanent cure — leaving the character’s ultimate survival open to debate.
Now, fans think they finally have an answer for what happens next if Karlach does go back to Avernus, thanks to the canon Astarion’s Book of Hungers D&D Expansion. This book confirms that a pair of other D&D installments that feature Karlach are set post-Baldur’s Gate 3. Therefore, canonically, Karlach survived for several years after the game’s epilogue, and is back in Faerûn.
“Progressing the year to 1501 and having Karlach in the city again implies she gets her engine fixed in canon,” social media user RenMasaoAnkoku wrote, as spotted by GamesRadar+.
Them progressing the year to 1501 and having Karlach in the city again implies she gets her engine fixed in canon https://t.co/A8akZTyUzQ
— Ren Masao Ankoku (@RenMasaoAnkoku) November 12, 2025
The post shares an official timeline of fellow companion Astarion’s life that places “the events of Baldur’s Gate 3” in 1492, by Dalereckoning (DR). Meanwhile, the events of Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerûn and Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn — in which Karlach appears — take place three years later, in 1501 DR.
This fits with what we already know of Karlach’s possible future should she be convinced back to Avernus. In the game’s epilogue, set six months later, Karlach mentions a recent adventure where she obtained a set of blueprints offering a possible solution for her infernal engine. Seemingly, then, these worked — for another few years, at least — to allow her back to Faerûn and hopefully another reunion with your party.
Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian may be done with major updates, but it’s still releasing occasional hotfixes. The bulk of the studio is meanwhile working on what’s next for the company — though it won’t be Baldur’s Gate 4. Still, it’s expected that another studio will eventually make a sequel to the hugely-successful role-playing game. Here’s hoping Karlach once again pops up in that.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
