Baldur's Gate 3: Should You Get Help From Auntie Ethel?

Baldur’s Gate 3 excels at character introductions, from Gale’s hand sticking out of a purple portal to Astarion attempting to slit your throat two seconds after engaging in conversation. The way a character is presented in the first few moments can tell a lot about their overall personality. Auntie Ethel is a prime example, as players might have a hard time discerning whether she’s a lovely old lady or a thorny hag. Is it safe to trust Auntie Ethel to remove this Mind Flayer parasite?

Baldur’s Gate 3: Is Auntie Ethel a Hag or a Human?

In all fairness, every clue points to Ethel being a hag. Look around; she lives inside a tiny wooden hut in a swamp. That’s the witchiest thing I’ve ever heard.

Still, her being a hag can prove helpful to remove the parasite eating away at your scalp. But, of course, she wants something in return: an eye. According to my Wizard Elf, this sounds like a recipe for Hag Eye. Is Auntie Ethel’s offer a scam, or can she remove the Mind Flayer parasite?

Baldur’s Gate 3: Should You Accept Auntie Ethel’s Help to Cure the Parasite?

No. Even if you accept Auntie Ethel’s help, she will refuse to carry on when the procedure once touches the parasite.

Upon agreeing to let Auntie Ethel cure the parasite, she’ll immediately transform into a hideous Hag. Then, there’ll be one more choice: lose the left or right eye.

Related: Baldur’s Gate 3: What’s The Level Cap?

First, she’ll turn the chosen eye neon green, which despite the Hag side effects, looks pretty rad. As the procedure continues, Auntie Ethel realizes the parasite is Netherese, which means it’s affected by shadow magic.

Alas, she’ll ultimately refuse to take out the parasite. Despite the unsuccessful procedure, she’ll refuse to restore the Hag Eye to normal, permanently leaving you under this condition.

Baldur’s Gate 3: Should You Eat Auntie Ethel’s Apples?

There are a bunch of baskets with lovely notes on top all over the Riverside Teahouse. The note invites players to have a bite of the delicious apples inside. While this is all quite tempting, the apples are poisoned. When consumed, Poisoned Apples give the Upset Stomach condition, shortly followed by the Feverish condition. In short, don’t eat Auntie Ethel’s apples to avoid negative status ailments. In fact, don’t even pick them up from the baskets to avoid getting confused later on.

About the author

Cande Maldonado

Though Cande started her journey in the video game industry as a localization specialist six years ago, she soon realized that her true calling was to annoy NPCS, smash virtual pottery, and complete every side quest available in RPGs. Throwing that useless degree out of the window, she has been writing professionally for the past three years ever since. Her passion for games dates to 2006, when she mounted a Chocobo for the first time. Under Nintendo and Square Enix's chokehold, she will willingly pour hours upon hours into reaching 100% completion in the longest roleplaying games ever made. But hey, who needs fresh air and sunlight when you can just live in Ivalice?

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