Baldur’s Gate 3: Thaniel, Spirit of the Shadow-Cursed Lands quest guide

As you advance through the narrative of Baldur’s Gate 3, especially if you have sided with Halsin and the Harpers, you will eventually come across Thaniel, the spirit of the Shadow-Cursed land. If you are looking to restore the era to its former glory, you will have to heal the spirit and then beat Ketheric Thorm. This will also round out Halsin’s questline, allowing you to unlock some of his endings in BG3.

However, there has been a fair bit of confusion among players as to how they will be able to heal Thaniel after encountering him. Today’s Baldur’s Gate 3 guide will go over some steps you can take to heal Thaniel and get one step closer to removing the Shadow Curse from the land.

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Healing Thaniel, the Spirit of the Shadow-Cursed Lands in Baldur’s Gate 3

Wake Art Cullagh up by using the Battered Lute (Image via Larian Studios)

Before you encounter Thaniel and look to help him, there are a few requisites that you will be required to meet. One of them will be to side with the Druids so that Halsin can either be part of your party or be found at camp. The second one will be to help wake up Art Cullagh with the aid of the Battered Lute. The Lute can be obtained by beating Malus Throm in the House of Healing.

Once you have met the requisites, you can continue with your plan of ridding the land of the Shadow Curse in Baldur’s Gate 3. After leaving the Last Light Inn, make your way north, where you will see Halsin setting up a portal. Once this is done, you will need to do the following.

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1) Protect Halsin’s Portal till he rescues Thaniel from the Shadowfell

Thanile had been cursed by Ketheric Throm in Baldur’s Gate 3, which had cast him into the Shadowfell. Halsin will need to rescue him from there, which is why he is erecting a portal to bring the Spirit across.

You must stay behind and guard the portal for four turns for this mission to succeed. As soon as Halsin ventures through, enemies will swarm you, with the first wave containing shadows and wraiths followed by vines and ravens in subsequent turns.

These enemies will not have much health, and you will be able to take them out with some of your most powerful AOE spells. Additionally, you might want to rely on movement-impairing spells like Ice Storm and Hunger of Hadar, making it harder for the enemies to reach the portal.

Once four rounds are up, Halsin will emerge from the portal carrying Thaniel in his arms. This will automatically make the remaining enemies die, so your objective is to endure the four rounds and not kills all the enemies.

Halsin rescues Thaniel from Shadowfell (Image via Larian Studios)

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2) Find and confront Thaniel’s other half, Oliver

Once you have taken Halsin back to camp, he will reveal that the Spirit was wounded by being split in half by Ketheric. One-half of Thaniel was in the Shadow-cursed forest, whom you rescued, and the other half is Oliver, who can be found to the east of the Forgotten Realms.

To locate him, make your way to his home located northeast of the Shadowed Battlefield waypoint. Upon interacting with him, Oliver will show anger (if you have not rescued one-half of Thaniel before meeting him, Oliver will be playful and want to play hide and seek with you) and retreat into a portal.

After going through it yourself, you will end up to the west of the Shadow-Cursed Lands in Baldur’s Gate 3, so make sure to have a Moonlantern or Pixie Blessing; otherwise, your health will keep depleting the longer you stay there.

Now, make your way to Oliver. You will need to confront him and then start a fight with him.

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3) Defeat Oliver in Baldur’s Gate 3

Once the fight kicks off with Oliver, he will summon two wraiths whom he calls “Mummy” and “Daddy.” He will then protect himself inside the Nightdome, which will protect him from nonmagical weapon damage, along with Acid, Fire, Cold, Lightning, Poison, and Thunder. It will also make him immune to Necrotic and Psychic damage.

Moreover, attacking the Nightdome will return the damage you have done back to you but double its effects. Hence, ignite the dome and concentrate on taking out the Wraiths as well as the minions they summon.

Defeating each Wraith will deal 60 damage to the dome, and defeating a minion will deal 10. This is how you will be able to take down Oliver’s shield.

Convince Oliver to go back to Thaniel (Image via Larian Studios)

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4) Oliver gives up and unites with Thaniel

Once you've destroyed Oliver’s Nightdome, he will give up fighting against you and start a conversation. Afterward, you will convince him to reunite with Thaniel, which will completely heal the Spirit of the Shadow-Cursed Lands.

You can then return to camp, and you will notice Thaniel healthy and standing beside Halsin. This will allow you to embark on the final step to clear the curse from the land by killing Ketheric Thorm in Baldur’s Gate 3.