Should you let Auntie Ethel kiss your eye in Baldur’s Gate 3?

In Baldur’s Gate 3, you meet Auntie Ethel as she’s being interrogated by two brothers on the side of a road. If you have followed Auntie Ethel’s questline long enough, you might wonder whether or not to trust her.

This question of trust will likely come when she claims she can cure you and get the mind flayer parasite out of your brain. However, to do this, the old woman says she needs to simply “kiss” one of your eyeballs. Most will be hesitant to give in to this stranger’s demands. I know I was wary of Auntie Ethel from the second she started calling my character “dear” and “petal.”

However, if you want to know what happens if you let Auntie Ethel “kiss” your eye in Baldur’s Gate 3, read on. As a warning, there will be spoilers for the Auntie Ethel questline.

Should you give Auntie Ethel your eye in Baldur’s Gate 3?

If you are familiar with CRPGs, you might have had the same wariness regarding Auntie Ethel that I did. And you would be correct to be wary.

If you decide to give in to curiosity and let Ethel try to cure you, everything will go wrong. For starters, Ethel is actually a hag, not a sweet old woman. She turns into her real form to use her real hands, which are giant claws, to pluck your eye from its socket. When she asks for your eye, you can pick which one to give her.

Ethel will dig into your head, remove your eye, and place it back. This process turns your eye green and gives a permanent debuff called “Paid the Price,” which gives you a disadvantage on perception checks and completely removes your ability to earn critical hits. This is one of the worst debuffs in Baldur’s Gate 3, so I highly recommend not giving Ethel your eye.

Related: How to multiclass in Baldur’s Gate 3

However, if you still give in to temptation, Ethel will actually attempt to cure you and remove the parasite. Unfortunately, she stops the process short due to your parasite being tainted with a special kind of magic. After this happens, Ethel leaves you, and you’re left with a broken eye, a permanent debuff, and the parasite still in your head.

Once again, I suggest you not let Ethel take your eye and instead check the fireplace in her house. You might find something interesting behind there that progresses Auntie Ethel’s questline in Baldur’s Gate 3.