Astarion Romance Endings (Good and Bad) SPOILERS

So I finished my Astarion runs where I both let him ascend and become the Vampire Ascendant and I let him turn me into his vampire spawn, and a run where I convinced him not to ascend and he just killed Cazador and stayed a vampire spawn. I have some opinons and details to talk about.Spoilers ahead for the ending scene after defeating the big bad! Prepare yourself for a long text wall.

Initially I let him sacrifice Cazador and ascend because i'm all for riding the revenge train. Cazador tortured Astarion for hundreds of years and I felt like this was pretty good for retribution; yeah it sucks that in the process of Astarion ascending you kill "thousands of sacrifices" (where were they? it was like just a few people in the dungeons) and the other vampire spawn, but I was there to support my man and his quest to not have to fear anyone anymore.

Then we got to the camp scene after sacrificing Cazador and I let him turn me into a vampire spawn but did the wisdom check where the narrator says Astarion will always think of you as degrading yourself to be with him if you let him turn you. Then I stopped and did a run where I didn't let him ascend because that wisdom check line gave me the vibe that this was the bad romance ending. Afterwards I went back and did the run just to see what would happen.

So for the "good" ending you can insight check Astarion while in Cazadors dungeon and see that he's wanting to take over the ritual out of fear/temptation. All the power is right in front of him and he has the opportunity to not ever have to fear anyone again. But you can talk him down and convince him that he shouldn't kill everyone to ascend. Then he just stabs Cazador to death. In the camp scene he thanks you for believing in him, that he was enough and didn't have to ascend and brings you to visit his grave. Its a sweet scene and he professes his love for you. In the ending scene after defeating the netherbrain, you get tricked into thinking Astarion got to keep his power to walk in the sun even though the tadpole was gone. He begins to burn in the sun as the sun rises on the water and has to run away and dive for the shadows. A real gut punch there Larian, I thought you'd reward me and Astarion for being good people but no. Your ending scene is you and Astarion together and basically you get the options to go out and adventure to find him a cure for the sun, to settle down together, to go lead the vampires in the underdark, go be heros or break up. It's a sweet ending scene where you basically are led to believe you'll be together forever or until you die since its only Astarion that's immortal. That part also sucks since you as the player character will inevitably die before Astarion. I played as a high elf and in DnD 5e, they only live to 750 years, so big RIP.

For the "bad" ending, essentially if you let Astarion turn you he seems less loving and vulnerable and way more possessive (not in a hot way, like a pet way). Then at the ending scene when you defeat the netherbrain and you have the option to betray the Emperor or Orpheus (depending on what you did), he makes a comment about how all the power could be yours and you could rule the world with the netherbrain. Then in the final scene after you have defeated the brain, you basically get 3 dialogue options all ending with the same sentiment that you're gonna be evil together forever. You can't even break up with him, as he reminds you that you're bound together forever. A good ending perhaps if you don't mind the lack of sweet romance and think that being evil together is hot. At least you are immortal together and he can walk in the sun?

Now I understand narratively, it makes sense that the good route was to not sacrifice everyone and to have Astarion ascend. It's continuing the cycle of the chase for the power and hurting others. But at the same time, I wish the bad ending was a little sweeter and less possessive at least. You do have the option to let Astarion ascend but reject the bite, effectively breaking up with him. I haven't done a playthrough where you let him ascend and reject the bite to see if you can end up romancing him still, so that is TBD. I do wish the the good ending would let you have Astarion be immune to the sun.

And another thing is why didn't Astarion drink Cazadors blood before he died? If he doesn't ascend that's fine I suppose, but in the journal, it says Astarion will stay a vampire spawn. Why? If a full vampire is so much stronger than a spawn, why not drink Cazadors blood and then kill him, just so he can at least be a fully fledged vampire.

Edit (9/13/24): I've come back to leave a note on my post that after hearing other perspectives and understanding the narrative better + the lore of DnD around Vampires, I now understand why the Bad ending is a Bad one, and my previous wish for the Bad ending to be more "romantic" wouldn't fit. Initially I was only caught up on the idea of a victim wanting to become stronger than their abuser to make sure no one could hurt them again, but taking into account the rest of the story and lore I understand why this isn't the solution to Astarions traumas (if he ascends he basically becomes Cazador 2.0).