Do I Save Mayrina or Take the Stat Boost in Baldur’s Gate 3?

During the fight with Auntie Ethel in her lair, players are faced with one of the most impactful moral choices in Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3, a decision that will carry weight for the entire game. It’s a moment that tests whether you value compassion or raw power, and there’s no going back once you make your choice.

When Auntie Ethel’s health is nearly gone, she will stop the battle and try to strike a bargain. She offers you power in exchange for being allowed to keep Mayrina and her unborn child. At this point, you can accept her deal, reject it and save Mayrina, or simply kill Ethel outright. Each path has its own consequences, rewards, and moral implications.

If you accept her offer and let her keep Mayrina, you’ll receive one of the most valuable items in Act 1: a single strand of Auntie Ethel’s hair… Thanks. This nasty token grants a permanent +1 to any ability score of your choice. It’s a tempting prize, especially for builds that need to hit a key stat threshold, boost Dexterity for stealth and sleight of hand, or raise Charisma to 18 for persuasion checks. Why not boost that charism and use it to give a boss an existential crisis? The cost, however, is walking away while Ethel keeps her victims.

Choosing to save Mayrina instead means finishing the fight and killing Auntie Ethel grabs you 150 experience points and the loot on her body, while ensuring she can’t harm anyone else, at least for now. Even if you kill her here, Ethel reappears in Act 3, because apparently hags have cheat codes for death.

Rescuing Mayrina triggers a short side quest called The Cost of Love. Despite your good intentions, Mayrina is furious that you interfered. She had made a bargain with Ethel to resurrect her dead husband, Connor, in exchange for her unborn child. After her outburst, she storms off. Before following her, make sure to search Auntie Ethel’s chamber, you’ll find the Bitter Divorce Wand, engraved with Connor’s name plus some other good loot laying around on tables.

Use the mushroom circle to return to the surface, where you’ll find Mayrina at a coffin. The Bitter Divorce Wand can bring Connor back, but only as a zombie. From here, you have several options.

Give Zombie Connor To His Wife

You can resurrect Connor from his coffin and give him to Mayrina as a zombie. She decides to take him to Baldur’s Gate in the hope of finding a real cure.

Keep Zombie Connor

You can keep him as an undead companion to fight alongside you, adding an extra set of hands in combat. This makes Mayrina very upset.

Kill Connor Again

You can choose to kill Zombie Connor, this will provoke a fight with both him and Mayrina, ending in their deaths, Connor’s second death that is.

Snap Wand And Crush Mayrina’s Dreams

Finally, you can snap the wand in two, destroying it. This last choice angers Mayrina, who will run off, ending the quest on a bitter note.

No matter what you choose, the Auntie Ethel and Mayrina storyline is one of the most morally complex encounters in Baldur’s Gate 3. The rewards are tempting and the consequences are lasting. Whether you take the stat boost or try to save Mayrina, this is one of Act 1’s morally challenging quests..

If you found this guide helpful, be sure to check out our other Baldur’s Gate 3 quest walkthroughs for more combat strategies, loot locations, and in-depth story breakdowns.

Should You Give Auntie Ethel Your Eye Or Not?


How to Beat Auntie Ethel in Baldur’s Gate 3 (Act 1)