Baldur’s Gate 3 Find Thaniel: How to lift the Shadow Curse
I hope you're in the mood for hide and seek, and some tough battles.
There’s a lot to be doing in Baldur's Gate 3, and once you reach the Shadow Cursed Lands, your priority will soon become dispelling the shadow curse here. This means taking on some awfully tough enemies, becoming closer with Druid Halsin, and nursing Bards back to health.
In your bid to lift the shadow curse, you’ll need to find Thaniel, but that isn’t all. For Thaniel to be able to lift the curse, we’ll need to pay a visit to the house with flowers to find his other half. Without further ado, here’s where to find Thaniel's missing half and lift the shadow curse in Baldur’s Gate 3.
How to lift the Shadow Curse in Baldur's Gate 3
There’ll come a point in Baldur’s Gate 3 where Halsin will task you with finding Thaniel - the spirit of the land - in an attempt to lift the shadow curse.
This will come after the quest to wake up Art Cullagh at The Last Light Inn. If you’ve missed that quest, you’ll be locked out of this one, and will have to find another way to reach Thaniel with Halsin; we are yet to find an alternate way of doing this, but will let you know when we do!
So, after waking up Art - who knows of Thaniel - all he can recall is a house with flowers. This is our only clue, and fortunately for us, the House with Flowers isn’t far. First things first, though, Halsin will ask that you meet him at the lakeshore for some help.
Meet him, and you will need to defend a portal from a horde of shadow-cursed hostiles for four turns. It’s a tough fight, but with enough AoE spells such as Fireball or Glyph of Warding, it’ll be a breeze.
When you’re finally successful, Halsin will return from the portal with Thaniel, but a part of him is missing. Return to camp and speak with Halsin there before continuing, where he’ll tell you that you need to look for signs of life in the darkness. More specifically, flowers, if you want to find Thaniel’s missing half, Oliver.
At this point, you will now finally be able to recruit Halsin to join your party, too. I chose to take him with me to find Oliver.
Where to find Thaniel's missing half in Baldur's Gate 3
This is where the house with flowers comes in. This particular area, found just north of the Shadowed Battlefield Waypoint at coordinates X79, Y35, houses Oliver, who is key to curing Thaniel and lifting the shadow curse. So, let’s head over there.
Once you arrive at the house, you’ll hear Oliver before you see him. Head on inside and talk with them, where you’ll be presented with two options: you can play hide and seek with the spirit, or you can tell him that you know who he is, and you need him to reunite with Thaniel.
- Playing hide and seek with Oliver
If you choose to play hide and seek with Oliver, he’ll turn invisible and run off. Then, all you need to do is run around the area and hope you pass the Perception check to find him. You’ll then be able to play hide and seek with him again, but when you find him this time, three powerful Shadows called Mummy, Daddy, and Doggy will be trying to fight you.
After successfully winning at hide and seek, and beating up this shadow family, Oliver will give you the Ring of Shadows item. This is cool and all, but not what we actually want to do here.
- Tell Oliver the truth, and fight with him
Rather than play games, we want to tell Oliver that we know who he is, where he belongs, and that Thaniel needs him. In the next portion of dialogue, tell him that he doesn’t belong here, or to not make this harder than it needs to be.
As a result, he’ll conjure up a shadow portal and run off inside, so go ahead and follow him inside. Here, you’ll be thrown into battle with Shadows, Mummy and Daddy, as well as Oliver himself.
Oliver will also summon ‘friends’ but they’re only 1HP, so you need not worry about them too much. Once everyone on the battlefield is downed except Oliver, the orb protecting him will break and he will speak with you again.
The dialogue options you’re presented with after this don’t appear to be all that important in terms of their impact, but we chose “Talk to him, Halsin. You know what needs to be said better than anyone.”
Oliver will then be reunited with Thaniel, and he’ll wish you a rather sweet goodbye considering he was trying to kill you just a few moments ago.
Next up, you want to head back to camp and speak with Halsin again. When I returned to camp, I couldn’t actually speak with Halsin about anything Thaniel-related. However, once I’d ended the day and been to bed at camp, I was able to head to Halsin’s tent and speak with both him and Thaniel.
Thaniel will explain that reuniting him with Oliver wasn’t enough to quell the shadow curse. If you want to do that, you’re going to have to track down and kill Ketheric Thorm next. More on that soon!
For more on Baldur’s Gate 3, be sure to go speak with He Who Was while in the Shadow Cursed Lands, and here's where to find the Nightsong while you're at it.