He Who Was is a Shadar-Kai NPC encountered in Act 2 of Baldur's Gate 3, found in the Ruined Battlefield area in the Shadow-Cursed Lands. He is a gloom weaver, a type of necromancer elf transformed by the Shadowfell, serving the Raven Queen, a death goddess obsessed with collecting memories and essences of loss and grief
. He Who Was gives the quest "Punish the Wicked," where he seeks to punish the spirit of a deceased woman named Madeline. Madeline kept a ledger documenting complaints about Ketheric Thorm’s rule, which led to a Dark Justiciar forcing two patrons to stab each other to death. He Who Was holds Madeline responsible for these deaths and wants her to be punished
. During the quest, players retrieve Madeline's ledger from the Waning Moon tavern, overcoming obstacles such as dealing with Thisobald Thorm. Upon returning the ledger, He Who Was channels Madeline’s spirit through himself to conduct a trial. Players then face a moral choice: to punish Madeline by forcing her to stab herself, call her a coward, or placate her by acknowledging she was following orders and did not intend the deaths. Forgiving Madeline leads to a fight with He Who Was, while punishing her satisfies him and rewards the player with Raven Gloves, which summon a raven familiar with special abilities
. In summary, He Who Was is a Shadar-Kai gloom weaver who acts as an agent of the Raven Queen, seeking to exact justice on Madeline for her perceived crimes, presenting players with a complex moral dilemma in Baldur's Gate 3
