Auntie Ethel is a reoccurring character you might encounter in Baldur’s Gate 3 during Act One or Act Three. Though not part of the main campaign, your interactions with Auntie Ethel can have rippling effects across your playthrough.
While Auntie Ethel initially appears as a nice old lady, she is actually a Hag that seeks to trap adventurers into soul-binding contracts. Whether you are trying to get help from Auntie Ethel or slay the Hag for good, here’s what you need to do.
How to Kill Auntie Ethel in BG3
If you don’t initially run into Auntie Ethel in The Hollow in Emerald Grove, then you can find her in the southern swampy portion of the map near the Riverside Teahouse Waypoint, south of the Blighted Village.
When you first encounter Auntie Ethel here, you’ll find that she’s seemingly being harassed by several men who are accusing her of abducting their sister, Mayrina. Here, you can choose to either side with Auntie Ethel or Mayrina. If you are trying to kill the Hag for good, then I recommend siding with the brothers.
Once this encounter has concluded, walk further into the swamp, and you will eventually see through Auntie Ethel’s disguise and reveal her to be a Hag. Holding Mayrina captive, Auntie Ethel offers to help with your Tadpole problem. To avoid losing an eye, I recommend you decline her offer and press her to release Mayrina.
How to enter Auntie Ethel’s secret lair in BG3
After you offend Auntie Ethel, she will teleport herself and Mayrina underground. You can pursue her by going through the now-opened fireplace near the back of the room. Further down, you will see various people trapped by Auntie Ethel’s curses.
The most important of these characters is the living door. You can simply walk through the living door as it is only an illusion, or you can don a Whispering Mask to phase through it without killing the cursed individual. Just be sure to unequip the Whispering Mask as soon as you walk through the door.
You will have to deal with several enslaved captives wearing Whispering Masks and navigate around toxic fumes further down, but eventually you will run into Auntie Ethel again.
How to save Mayrina
In this final confrontation, Mayrina will be suspended above a pit with her wooden cage set on fire. To save her, you need to travel to the controller orb at the other end of the cavern and strike it with either a ranged or melee attack.
I would strongly recommend that you save your game after hitting the orb and releasing Mayrina. Auntie Ethel will then create three copies of Mayrina and you need to strike the correct version to save her. The real Mayrina usually has the “Wet” status effect to help differentiate herself from the Hag.
After this point, the Hag shouldn’t be too hard to eliminate. You can then go to her lair and pick up various elixirs and a Wand that can help complete Mayrina’s quest.
Where to find Auntie Ethel in BG3 Act Three
After advancing to Act Three, you can run into Auntie Ethel once again even if you killed her the first time. Speak to Lora at the Basilisk Gate, near the guards’ headquarters, and you will be sent to the Blushing Mermaid to investigate her daughter’s disappearance.
Upstairs at the Blushing Mermaid you can find Captain Grisly. This pirate captain will try to convince you that the mother is at fault, but if you accuse the pirate of lying, she will reveal herself to be Auntie Ethel. Ethel currently has Lora’ daughter, Vanra, trapped inside of her, and killing Auntie Ethel means also killing Vanra.
How to save Vanra in BG3
Auntie Ethel will disappear again after this next encounter and you will be presented with two choices. You can either immediately pursue Auntie Ethel beneath the Blushing Mermaid and kill her again or try to find a more permanent solution that also saves Vanra.
I highly recommend seeking out Old Garlow’s Place to find a way to save Vanra. Simply killing Auntie Ethel again will not only result in Vanra’s death, but the Hag will also reincarnate in the future to wreak more havoc.
Your first step to saving Vanra is to visit Old Garlow’s Place to the south of the tavern. If you saved Mayrina in Act One, you can visit her again in the abandoned house. She has just been transformed into a sheep when you arrive, but you can transform her back by attacking the green voodoo doll upstairs.
After a brief combat scenario, the survivors give you access to a safe found across the desk downstairs that contains vital information about how to kill Auntie Ethel while saving Vanra. Go into your Alchemy page of your inventory and select the Grenades option. Here, you can now craft Hag’s Bane.
How to kill Auntie Ethel in BG3
Return to the Blushing Mermaid and head downstairs through the door near the bar. Jump on the wooden platform standing atop the wine barrels and go through the illusionary door to the left.
Once you descend downstairs, you are met with another combat encounter with various enemies wearing Whispering Masks again. After this, you can advance to the room where you will have your final confrontation with Auntie Ethel.
I recommend that you throw your Hag’s Bane at Auntie Ethel as soon as possible in the fight to release Vanra. To kill Auntie Ethel after this, you need to destroy the nearby Pearlspore Bells before killing the Hag. These Bells continuously heal Auntie Ethel throughout the fight, so get rid of them quickly.
After taking care of the Pearlspore Bells, you’re free to focus your damage on Auntie Ethel and deal with her for good this time.
