gale, elminster & mystra: new infos from the epilogue and how they tie in with what we know from the base game
so i was mulling over bits and pieces of new information we got from the epilogue, connecting it to the stuff we already knew:
1. gale's story of how mystra came into his life in the full release
gale jumping from from "i'm what one might call a wizard prodigy, who from an early age could not only control the weave, but compose it" to "such was my skill that it earned me the attention of the mother of magic herself" to then the teacher, muse and lover dynamic.
Player: What did Mystra’s attention feel like?
Gale: Love.
Player: He sounds like a very talented individual
Gale: He was. Even though it was in Mystra’s affections that his true power lay.
Player: Teacher’s pet, was he?
Gale: He fancied himself much more than that. He fancied himself favoured above all others. Perhaps it was not quite love, but you see, the wizard was but a very young man. It was most certainly love to him. Mystra showed him the secrets behind the veils. The gossamer veils first, draped across the Weave. The delicate veils next, draped across her body. ‘Chosen One’ she whispered, as she slipped them off completely.
2. elminster's new letter from the epilogue
we knew before that elminster must have come into his life early-ish as well from this convo:
"While most know Elminster the legend, few know him as you have. He plucked you from obscurity. Offered you his guidance. His faith."
we also know that gale got to attend blackstaff academy.
now, with the new letters from the epilogue, we know that elminster met him at eight years old:
elminster coming into his when gale was just "eight summers old", gale's talents being as they were from "an early age", mystra involving herself in his life.
perhaps those two events happening are connected: the chosen of mystra. plucking him from obscurity. taking him under his wing.
perhaps on the guidance of someone? someone very clever? someone who'd later use said mentor to also deliver a message that needed to be conveyed with the utmost severity of her bidding?
someone who'd involve herself in gale's life, too? someone who needs his ambitions to be laid to rest because of a future she glimpsed at?
3. raphael's new epilogue lines if gale fails his ascension:
Raphael: I owe you a debt of gratitude. You were the spark of ambition that rekindled Gale's ambitions, after Mystra had so cleverly put them to rest.
i'm thinking thoughts not only about "cleverly", implying some sort of scheming here or manipulation.
a goddess involving her chosen, to oversee a child, so full of promise and ambition -
(a relationship forming between elminster and gale, which even by the point we see them interact in the game, speaks of the care and love they hold for each other) -
before she too involves herself: becomes his mentor, teacher, and he becomes her chosen.
making gale her chosen as a form of control, so he perhaps would not oppose her, like, for instance, even elminster is hardly capable of.
but not only did she make him her chosen, in the same breath, she made him her lover.
we know she very much is capable of using her chosen for her needs.
raphael is also very directly saying that gale's "ambition" reawakened after meeting the protag. so we are talking about mystra putting them to rest before gale met the protag, so the comment couldn't possibly be about his character arc during the game.
i already touched on this a bit earlier but:
4. we also know that mystra has foresight, being able to predict the future to some sort of degree:
History of the Chosen of Mystra:
The reason why Mystra, the Goddess of Magic, invested a portion of her divine might into mortals is not known. One of the popular theories, and one that is gaining more support in light of the other goddess' during that period, is that Mystra foresaw the Time of Troubles (and her own passing at the hands of Helm) and chose to give some of her powers to mortals in order to ensure that her successor (the female mage, Midnight, as it turned out) would have a number of nearly immortal allies in the struggle against the schemes of the gods (the now dead Bane, Myrkul and Bhaal) who precipitated the Time of Troubles by stealing the Tablets of Fate.
(again, i want to reiterate that larian doesn't keep close to the dnd timeline at times, and has quite a few lore mistakes and even breaks. i know mystra was 'dead' around the time gale would have been that young. take it up with larian, please. i'm only trying to extrapolate from the things we are told in the game and the narrative in it.)
