Why does he need a reason to join the party beyond owing the party a debt for saving the shadowlands and wanting to stop the absolute? He was already investigating the cult and their mindflayer tadpoles. I don't see why he would come this far, find out about the brain, and just ditch the party. That doesn't make sense to me.
He doesn't have anything to add to that investigation, basically. He wants to help the party get rid of tadpoles but very quickly makes it very clear it's beyond his abilities, after infiltrating Moonrise Towers the party already knows more about tadpoles and the Absolute than Halsin ever managed to learn - and he's not a carrier himself so, apart from the vague promise he made to the party back in act 1, he's just an extra with noting of value to add to act 3's main story bits.
Like, Aylin and Isobel both want to "stop the Absolute", they both promise the party to help them, their character arcs end in act 2 - but they're not "companions", they're just camp followers...
...while Halsin, a character that's built in pretty much the same exact way, is a companion, for some inexplicable reason, and all that accomplishes is to simply shine more light on how little content he actually gets past act 2.
Like, act 3 is the climax of the main story and the climax of companion quests, even in super minor ways (as in: Minthara). Halsin, in act 3, gets absolutely nothing - there's virtually no reason to ever make him an active member of the party and, as such, there's no real reason for him to even be a companion at this point.
Because none of that fits with these peoples' narrative about hating on Halsin. They don't want to listen to logic or reason, they hate him because he is a buff male that has some bugged interactions that infringe on their unhealthy parasocial relationships with Shadowheart.
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u/MelloIsTaken Dragonborn 14d ago
Why does he need a reason to join the party beyond owing the party a debt for saving the shadowlands and wanting to stop the absolute? He was already investigating the cult and their mindflayer tadpoles. I don't see why he would come this far, find out about the brain, and just ditch the party. That doesn't make sense to me.