Baldur's Gate 3 cut content for Cazador had the right to remain in the grave

SPOILERS FOR BALDUR'S GATE 3 AHEAD

Baldur's Gate 3 is a huge game, but originally it was even bigger. Dataminers found evidence of a large amount of cut content, from weapons and spells to companions, quests and areas to explore. Baldur's Gate 3.

One of the most famous pieces the cut content is the Upper Town area of the titular city, which would supposedly represent a larger arc — and potential redemption — for vampiric antagonist Cazador Szarro. While fans would love to see most of the game's cut content restored, Cazador works better as a villain who fully deserves the undignified death he receives.

Cazador could once play a role in a potential uptown plot

In the final version Baldur's Gate 3, The upper town, where the rich patriarchs reside, is visited only briefly. Players traverse a small portion of the area as they make their way to Netherbrain, the final boss of the game. However, datamined content suggests that the Upper City once played a much larger role.

All Upper City content outside of the final battle seems to have been removed fairly early in development. In an August 2023 community update, Larian Studios stated, “It was always our intention for the Upper City to be an epic, cinematic epilogue delivering a story Baldur's Gate 3 to the end.” But Cazador Szarr, who lives in an elaborate mansion in the Upper City where he pretends to be an ordinary patriarch, would probably be the centerpiece of any such story. (In the endgame, players must enter his mansion through a side entrance in the watchtower. The front entrance could have been in the cutscene.)

There are hints of what a more detailed story could mean for Cazador. The vampire lord held a masquerade ball before his profane ascension ceremony. Players can only find the bloody aftermath, but maybe they would have to break into his mansion as guests? Most notably, data-mined content suggests that Cazador was once a potential ally in the final battle against Netherbrain.

Why helping Cazador is wrong

Cazador's existence as a scrapped ally likely suggests that there was a version of the game where the player worked with the vampire lord rather than killing him or simply ignoring him. Being able to ally with Cazador doesn't necessarily mean he gets any kind of redemption. In the final version of the game, the player can get help in the final battle from some pretty shady sources, including the demon Mizora, hag Auntie Ethel, and even Bhaal, the god of murder himself.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)

The potential cut content seems to indicate that Cazador was staunchly anti-Absolute and would oppose Orin Red and the Cult of Bhaal. Working with a not necessarily heroic ally against Bhaal's forces is potentially interesting, but Cazador is a poor choice for the role. For one, it would probably mean losing access to Astarion, who would have to die in order for Cazador to Ascend. If the two were to somehow co-exist, it would be hard to swallow. Forcing Astarion to work with a man who has abused him for centuries is a choice not even the darkest of Dark Compulsions would make.

Cazador isn't a complex character – and that's okay

Baldur's Gate 3 is filled to the brim with complex villains. The conflicted Ketheric Thorm was once a really good man. The Sharran Mother Superior Viconia deVir is a former ally of the Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 who has gone down a dark path since the second game. Minthara Baenre, depending on the player's choices, can be a dangerous adversary or a loyal ally. Even Enver Gortash has a fascinating charisma about him, despite being far from the “handsome young man” the game promises him to be.

Cazador Szarr is not one of these complex villains, and he doesn't need to be. It is a nightmare that has plagued Astarion for two hundred years. He is a man who lusts for power, indifferent to the seven thousand souls that would have to die for it. In many ways, Cazador is the archetypal vampire Dungeons and Dragons he describes them as: soulless, selfish, constantly thirsty for power and blood.

The Vampire Lord works well in the role he currently plays in the game's story, as one of the most hated characters in Baldur's Gate 3. It is an obstacle that Astarion must overcome in order to regain his freedom and his identity. He is evil at his most banal: heartless, cruel for cruelty's sake, never satisfied with what he has. Players can learn about him by exploring his estate and discover that he began life as an abused vampire under the tutelage of his own master, Vellioth. But the fact that he perpetuated this abuse in his treatment of his own spawn makes the end of his long life more satisfying rather than sympathetic.

The story of Ascended Astarion does it better

Another reason, and perhaps the reason why the possibility of an alliance with Cazador was eventually canceled, is simple: the story of “working with a cruel and powerful vampire lord” is already present in Baldur's Gate 3 in the form of Ascended Astarion. Players can choose to allow Astarion to complete the Rite of Profane Ascension and sacrifice seven thousand souls (including Cazador) for immense vampiric power. Ascended Astarion is available as a possible ally against the Absolute; his ability, “Vampire Lord Retinue”, is probably the same one Cazador would use.

Choosing to ascend Astarion is an intense and emotional experience. Baldur's Gate 3 Players witness all signs of kindness and true feelings that Astarion began to show during the journey disappear, leaving a heartless, calculating and cruel vampire in their place. It encourages players to do evil and delights in violence and death. Any potential romance between Astarion and the player becomes twisted and emotionless. He may even choose to make the player his own spawn and mistreat them, continuing the cycle of abuse just like Cazador himself once did.

The story of working with a heartless Vampire Ascendant towards the common goal of ending the Absolute works much better with Astarion, someone the player travels with for several hours of gameplay. Cazador is only fulfilled in Act 3 of the game and players know little about him. Teaming up with him against Netherbrain, probably after helping him complete the ceremony, would feel unnecessary and far less satisfying than giving him an undignified death. (Unfortunately, the ability to push him into a pit was fixed long ago, but he can still be fried in the sun or displayed as Otto's Irresistible Dance). Larian Studios' decision to focus on Ascended Astarion while removing a potential alliance with Cazador was a good one, and Baldur's Gate 3 there is a stronger game for it.