“He Who Was” in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a vengeful spirit whose whole deal is punishment and grudges, not justice or growth, so “helping” him usually means enabling cruelty rather than doing something morally good.

Who He Is (No Spoilers)

  • He is written as a bitter, punishing figure obsessed with making someone suffer rather than finding truth or balance.
  • The encounter is designed to test how far you’ll go in judging others, even with limited context.

What “Helping Him” Actually Means

  • Helping him is not neutral: you’re actively supporting a fixation on torment and retribution, not closure or healing.
  • The game often uses characters like this to tempt players into “because I can” decisions that lean into cruelty or moral laziness.

How To Decide (Role‑play Angles)

Ask what kind of story you want for your character:

  • If you role‑play a vengeful or ruthlessly pragmatic character, helping him can fit that narrative, showing your character embraces harsh judgment.
  • If you play a compassionate , restorative, or justice‑oriented character, refusing to help or subverting his goal usually fits better, because it rejects suffering for its own sake.

A Simple Guideline

  • If it feels like you’re signing off on someone else’s obsession with punishment rather than doing something that clearly protects or helps the living, it’s usually better not to help.
  • BG3 is very comfortable with letting you walk away or refuse when a character’s demands are ugly, and the game world fully supports that as a valid choice.

Bottom line: unless your role‑play is explicitly about endorsing vengeance and cruelty, you probably shouldn’t help He Who Was.