HBO Max's Baldur's Gate Show Can Learn An Important Lesson From The Franchise's Past Mistakes

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An elf with a stoic look on their face in Baldur's Gate 3

Published Feb 21, 2026, 4:00 PM EST

Nicholas Raymond is an author and journalist based out of Alabama, where he proudly roots for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. A graduate of the University of Montevallo, he has a degree in mass communication with a concentration in journalism.

There's never been a live-action Baldur's Gate project, and yet, there are ways HBO Max's upcoming TV adaptation can learn from the mistakes of the franchise's past. With Craig Mazin at the helm, the series - set in Dungeons & Dragons' Forgotten Realms campaign setting - is expected to serve as a sequel of sorts to the game that rejuvenated the franchise, Baldur's Gate 3.

Although it's a sequel, it's understood that the story will follow a new group of characters. However, given all that happened in the game and beforehand, it won't be hard for it to connect deeply to the events of the games. So many important moments in Baldur's Gate 3 and prior will likely form the foundation for several plot points and perhaps the backstories of other characters.

Because Baldur's Gate 3 and its predecessors are choice-driven RPGs, that raises some interesting questions about what kind of history the show will give itself. After all, much of what took place, who died and who survived, and all sorts of other pivotal decisions were left up to the player, meaning there are multiple interpretations of the canon the series can offer.

The Baldur's Gate Show Should Avoid The Mistakes Of The First Two Games' Novelizations

Minsc fights a beholder in Baldur's Gate 2

Picking one will be a significant challenge, considering that it's obviously not going to align with every fan's experience of the Baldur's Gate games. Going against what some people may think of in terms of what happened in the games is unfortunately unavoidable, but one thing the game can do is not repeat the mistakes of the novelizations.

The novelizations of Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, are easily among the most widely disliked books set in the Forgotten Realms. Their poor reputations are largely attributed to the canon they established for the characters in the game, picking many of the most unpopular choices available.

The games are known for the vast amount of freedom they give the player in terms of the moral choices they can make. You can be anything from a righteous paladin who sees the world in black and white, to a heartless opportunist who murders innocent people. The novelizations embrace that freedom in one of the worst ways via all sorts of morally reprehensible decisions made by the canon protagonist, Abdel Adrian.

The books go so far that it becomes extremely difficult to like or appreciate its take on Abdel Adrian, who commits murder, wishes for the death of one of his companions so that he can be with his wife, not to mention how much it changes its core cast.

The Baldur's Gate show will have a similar level of narrative freedom to work with, but would be better-served creating a canon fans of the game can accept, which would mean walking a thin line between the good and evil choices the Baldur's Gate 3 character could have made, and steering clear of any extremes.