Silver Lining

Rusty-Arrow: So the relationship with Ascended Astarion is pretty much inherently toxic? Or could he love the Tav? Or maybe he thinks that he loves them?

Stephen Rooney: Yeah, I think he thinks that he loves them. This is difficult because what I think when I write the character is not the same thing as what the player thinks when they are playing the game. And what the player thinks when they are playing the game is just as valid. Once I have written the game and it goes out into the world, my opinion does not matter that much anymore. It is very much kind of, if people feel they are able to have a healthy relationship with Astarion, if he ascends, I am fine with that. That is okay. Everyone can have their own ideas and their own takes on the game, their own interpretation. So yeah, just because it is not what I choose doesn't mean that it is ever going to be a bad idea for anyone else to choose that.

Rusty-Arrow: What exactly the relationship dynamics you had in mind when you wrote the relationship between Tav and Ascended Astarion and how it relates or maybe how it is different with the Spawn Astarion?

Stephen Rooney: Yeah, so Astarion's backstory is all about a relationship and power dynamics that are unequal, as I say. So if, and I always see the path with Spawn Astarion, the relationship path with Spawn Astarion as a choice that Astarion makes to break the cycle, to choose to have a better relationship with people, a healthier relationship, and to not continue kind of what he has been doing. The path with Ascended Astarion is very much the opposite of that. It is Astarion looking at the unhealthy relationships he's had in the past and being like, I want to be the person on top. I want to be in charge. I want to have the power. And then that way I make sure that no one else can ever hurt me again. Which is a choice that a lot of people make in real life as well. It's not an inherently bad or evil choice, but it's not the one I would want for my relationships, I think.

Rusty-Arrow: So basically the continuation of the cycle of violence.

Stephen Rooney: Yes, exactly. Yeah.

Gagarin: A lot of people see the ritual of Dark Kiss when he creates you. You are not just a spawn, but you are his bride. It's from Ravenloft setting. Is it true? Or is this fan theory something not related to the game?

Stephen Rooney: The Dark Kiss thing, it was something, I think, that was there in conversations around that we were having. It wasn't something I was particularly thinking of at the time. There was another writer that did some writing on those scenes. And then I kind of came in because I was away for a while. And so I came in and rewrote stuff as best as I could. So that was more collaborative. I can't say 100% if that was on their mind or not, but it's not a direct one-to-one thing.

Gagarin: So in your recent interviews, you told that you developed another ending that didn't get into the game. Where Astarion cured himself from vampirism using the Thay book, Thay Necromancy. Is it true? And tell me more, please, about that, because it's so interesting, actually.

Stephen Rooney: Oh, this was an idea very early on that I had for Astarion that I would have liked to maybe try and bring through the game, but it didn't work out. And I think it's better that it's not there. But the idea was basically that the Necromancy of Thay, the book that you get, would maybe like unlock a wish spell. And then Astarion could have used that wish to become mortal or to become kind of to not be a vampire spawn anymore, anyway, to try and reclaim his soul a little bit more.

Gagarin: Is it his real desire?

Stephen Rooney: I don't think so. I don't think that is what he would want, having kind of gone the whole way through the game. This was in the very, very early days where I didn't understand the character myself very well. I was still figuring him out. But I think I had the idea that it is kind of a trope with vampires that they want their mortality back or they want their souls back. They don't want to suffer from the hunger. They don't want to suffer from being creatures of the night. They want to be able to walk in the sun again. But I think if we had gone with that ending, it would have been too happy of an ending kind of in some ways. And like you say, I don't think that is what Astarion is searching for the whole way through the game. So it doesn't make sense for the story to build to that. No, but I was very happy with the endings that we did, that we did get, that I did end up kind of writing.

Gagarin: I think perhaps in the sequel, a lot of my friends were like, oh, no, he will be a vampire forever.

Stephen Rooney: Possibly someday. But I like, I think I like the ending of him still being a vampire and losing his ability to walk in the sun and going back to the person that he was kind of physically going back to the person that he was with the restraints that he has, all the normal vampire spawn stuff. But personally, he has developed so much. He has come so far. He is not the same person, even though it feels like he is going back a little bit.

Gagarin: He does not go back. I don't think so.

Stephen Rooney: Yeah, but if he because he can goes back like in that he can no longer walk in the sun, for example. So he loses he loses that freedom. But personally, he has developed kind of a lot more. So I don't know. I think there is something very bittersweet about that, about achieving so much, but also feeling like you lose a lot because you have won. He wins the battle, but he loses some of his freedom. I like that. Maybe I'm just a terrible person.

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I completely agree with Stephen Rooney when he says:

"Everyone can have their own ideas and their own takes on the game, their own interpretation. So yeah, just because it is not what I choose doesn't mean that it is ever going to be a bad idea for anyone else to choose that."

Your headcanons are yours, and no one is trying to take them away from you. Enjoy the game however you like.

But please, stop presenting your personal headcanons as official canon.

According to Rooney, Astarion's Spawn route is about breaking the cycle of abuse, while the Ascended route continues it through unequal power dynamics. Spawn Astarion isn't the same person as AA, he actually grows and evolves. Rooney also clarified that the "Dark Kiss" discussion was collaborative and not intended as a direct one-to-one adaptation of Ravenloft's bride lore.

These aren't random fan interpretations. They're based on the lead writer's own explanation of how he approached writing the character.