The Astral Prism is the MacGuffin that fuels the plot of Baldur's Gate 3, as its power is what allows the main characters to retain their independence. Much of the game revolves around learning about the Prism and using it to defeat the Absolute. However, not much is actually said about the Prism's origins, who made it, and where it has been since its creation.

Warning: The following article includes spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3.Still, there are clues left all around the game and found in other bits of D&D lore that can tell us more about this Astral Prism's history and how it ended up in the hands of the players. Given its importance to the entire plot of Baldur's Gate 3, it's worth looking back and creating a timeline for this magical artifact and giving it the attention it deserves.

The Prism's Role In The Githyanki Wars

A Perfect Prison For A Polarizing Prince

The Prism first becomes relevant to the plot of Baldur's Gate 3 over 10,00 years before it begins, when it was used to trap Prince Orpheus during his war with Vlaakith. Both figures were vying to rule their people, the Githyanki, following their freedom from the Illithid Empire. Their previous ruler, Gith, had been the one to set them free by making a deal with Tiamat, and her wish was for Orpheus to rule following her. But Vlaakith was ambitious and deceitful, managing to garner with the claim that Orpheus was a traitor.

The Vlaakith players may meet during the game is different from the one that imprisoned Orpheus and is actually the 150th Githyanki ruler to use that name. This Vlaakith has ruled for far longer than any other thanks to becoming a lich and extending her natural lifespan.

Vlaakith and her forces defeated Orpheus and his, yet the new queen knew she couldn't kill the prince, since he alone possessed the power to disrupt Illithid control, ed down by his mother. She couldn't take it from him, and killing him would destroy it, so she chose to try to imprison him.

Vlaakith made a deal with a devil (likely either Tiamat or Raphael) to construct the Astral Prism, which opened a portal to a demiplane cut off from the rest of the Astral Plane. There, Vlaakith bound Orpheus in infernal chains, which neither he nor his allies could break. She left him trapped with his honor guard, who refused to leave his side, and locked the Prism away in a crèche in the Astral Plane.

The space "within" the Prism defies the laws of time, much like the rest of the Astral, so Orpheus and his followers would not age over the eons that followed. They remained there as Vlaakith continued to rule the Githyanki, erasing and changing their histories to disguise her betrayal. Dozens of Vlaakiths followed Vlaakith I in succession, and all the while, the Astral Prism stayed within their grasp.

Two Cults Take An Interest In This Mysterious Artifact

Shar And The Dead Three Enter The Picture

Thousands of years later in 1491, on the material plane in Faerun, a conflict was brewing between the Chosen of the Dead Three and the cultists of Shar. The Sharrans held power over the areas around Baldur's Gate and the Shadow-Cursed Lands, but the rise of Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul's forces threatened to encroach upon them.

At this same time, Gortash, Ketheric, and the Dark Urge were executing a plan to steal the Crown of Karsus and enslave an Elder Brain. This trapped Illithid would help them to take over the Sword Coast and carry out their god's desires, something the Sharrans very much did not want to happen.

Both sides ended up learning about the Astral Prism in their own ways: the Sharrans by torturing a captured Githyanki for information on the Elder Brain, and the Chosen via their captive Elder Brain. Both sides realized they must obtain it before anyone else, and sent forces into the Astral Plane to find it in 1492. The Sharrans sent several units of acolytes, which included Shadowheart, and the Chosen sent the Emperor, the most powerful Mind Flayer under their control.

It becomes clear later in the story that the Elder Brain intentionally made the Chosen aware of the power that the Prism held, since it knew that the Dead Three would try and obtain the Prism and destroy it. However, this would only bring it closer to the Brain itself and give it a chance to sow discord among the Dead Three's followers, eventually leading to it regaining its freedom.

Somehow, both sides located the creche where it was being stored, though the Sharrans seem to have beaten the Emperor to the punch. Shadowheart was the sole survivor of her unit, managing to escape with her life from the creche only because she was abducted by the Emperor in its nautiloid, and taken prisoner.

However, once the Emperor came into close with the Prism, it regained control of its actions thanks to Orpheus's power, and entered it to investigate. Inside, the Emperor found and subdued the captive Orpheus and cut him off from his honor guard to harness the prince's power for itself. Meanwhile, Shadowheart and the other characters aboard the nautiloid were infected with parasites as the ship fled from its githyanki pursuers. Eventually, it crashed back on Faerun.

BG3's Plot Takes Less Time Than You Think

The Prism Saves The Forgotten Realms

Canonically, the entire plot of Baldur's Gate 3 takes place over less than twenty days in 1492. It is during this time that Shadowheart and the other main characters possess the Prism and, via the Emperor harnessing Orpheus's power, retain their independence from Illithid control. Interestingly enough, this group of characters can include Lae'zel, one of the very Githyanki who was pursuing the nautiloid, as well as the Dark Urge, having been betrayed by their underlings.

The Emperor appears to the characters as a knight in shining armor, a savior protecting them as they fight the Absolute and the Dead Three. Of course, in reality, the Emperor is an Illithid, using both Orpheus and the characters to ensure the defeat of the Elder Brain.

From there, the story of this artifact depends heavily on player actions: they may enter it to try and kill the Emperor, help the Mind Flayer maintain control by killing Orpheus's honour guard, or even assimilate the captive prince's powers as they become Illithid themselves. In any case, by the time the final fight rolls around, the Prism has become nothing more than an empty shell.

It is perhaps fitting, then, that in the epilogue of the game, it may appear in the mouth of the player's pet dog, Scratch. Deprived of its inhabitants in one way or another and no longer necessary to protect the main characters, it has been rendered inert and nothing more than a spiky metal box. For all of its historical significance and the power it once held, the Astral Prism ends Baldurs Gate 3 as a chew toy in a dog's mouth, roughly six months after the destruction of the Absolute.