Punish the Wicked is a quest given to you by He Who Was in Baldur’s Gate 3. He Who Was is first encountered in the Shadow Cursed Lands in Act Two, where you find him performing a ritual on a woman.
When you speak to He Who Was, he will explain the woman, whose name is Madeline, was caught and killed for her part in a double murder. The shady character goes on to explain he is forcing Madeline to be punished far beyond simply being killed. However, if you ask He Who Was to judge his decision, he will allow you to fetch a ledger that proves Madeline’s guilt. This begins the Punish the Wicked quest in BG3.
Completing the Punish the Wicked quest in BG3
After you get the quest from He Who Was, you need to make your way to Reithwin Town in the Shadow Cursed Lands. This is accessible after you have been to the Last Light Inn and encountered Jaheira, Isobel, and the other rebels that are trying to escape the shadowlands.
Reithwin Town is found directly southwest of He Who Was’ location. When you arrive at the town, you are looking for The Waning Moon, a tavern located right near the Moonrise Towers waypoint in the western part of Reithwin Town.
Inside The Waning Moon, you will meet a barmaid named Thisobald Thorm, who is quite the large presence. You will need to interact with Thorm and pass a series of checks to not start a combat encounter with them.
If you fail the checks, you will need to kill them to get out of the tavern alive.
Either way, you can find Madeline’s ledger in a cabinet behind the bar in The Waning Moon. You can choose to read the ledger or simply bring it back to He Who Was so you can properly judge Madeline. Choosing to read the ledger will reveal Madeline accidentally got two men killed by a Dark Justiciar after she reported the two men were fighting.
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Return to He Who Was with the ledger, and you will be able to speak to Madeline to hear her side of the story. The way this is done is He Who Was takes Madeline’s spirit and runs it through his body, so you’re basically talking to Madeline in He Who Was’ body. After this dialogue starts, it truly does seem like Madeline is innocent in all of this, as she was told to report everything that happened in the tavern to her Dark Justiciar boss. She said she had no idea the two men would be killed as a result of her actions.
After Madeline has made her case, you need to make a choice. You have three available to you:
- Your first option is to believe Madeline, which starts a fight with He Who Was and his white raven
- Your second option is to not believe Madeline, which will leave her to an eternity of torture at the hands of He Who Was
- The third and final option is to tell Madeline she needs to stab herself to inflict the same wound on her that was inflicted on the men she got killed. However, as she’s talking through He Who Was, this will make Madeline technically stab him, killing He Who Was in the process and freeing her.
I picked the third choice, as it allows Madeline to walk free from her captivity and kills He Who Was without you having to lift a finger. Whatever route you choose, though, once you make your pick, the Punish the Wicked quest will be complete. If you chose to kill He Who Was through one of the two options, you can loot his body for some average items.
