Should You Place The Splinter Of Eothas In The Statue In Avowed?

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Avowed.

As part of the "Dawntreader" quest in Avowed, players will encounter a golden-faced godlike "Oracle" named Sargamis who asks them to retrieve a relic from deep within the underground temple as they search for the lost expedition team. This same relic, the Splinter of Eothas, happens to be the very one the expedition crew was looking for, and players will soon discover things didn't work out so well for them. While searching for the relic, details about what Sargamis is up to become clearer, and after reading through his journals, players might be a little skeptical of his motivations.

Sargamis has siphoned the expedition crew's souls and intends to use animancy to put them into the statue, with the ultimate goal of holding his God, Eothas, accountable for past atrocities. Depending on someone's moral approach, Sargamis's actions may feel unforgivable, and they'll be tempted to reject him - and possibly even kill him and destroy the statue. However, placing the Splinter of Eothas in the statue has late-game implications, and even if players don't want to help Sargamis, placing the Splinter is a good idea, especially if they plan to set that voice in their head free eventually.

What Happens If You Place The Splinter Of Eothas In The Statue

You Can Still Place The Relic After Defeating Sargamis

After retrieving the relic and returning to Sargamis, one option is to simply help him out by putting the Splinter into the statue and pulling the lever. This results in the mechanism's failure - and a very disappointed Sargamis. At this point, you can convince him that his efforts are in vain and that he should give up. Alternatively, now that it's clear Sargamis is a soul-sucking murderer, fighting him to the death before (or after) placing the Splinter is understandable. Sargamis drops a unique sword called Last Light of Day, though killing him isn't the only way to get it.

Using electricity to start more than one of the Statue's generators will aggro Sargamis and he will automatically become hostile.

Regardless of how players handle Sargamis, the ominous voice in their head will reach out before leaving the area, and they can interact with the nearby Adra stone to converse with it. This will trigger a sequence where the voice explains that it can use the statue to walk freely in this world, but it will take some time to clear the statue of essence. The results of this decision don't come until the end of the game if you choose to free Sapadal, and it allows you to occasionally roam and explore the Living Lands in the statue's form.

What Happens If You Help Sargamis

Sargamis Can Refocus His Efforts On The Greater Good

Avowed Sargamis In Front of Eothas statue

If players decide to help Sargamis, placing the splinter into the statue will not work out the way he intends, and they will have the choice to convince him that his efforts are futile, or decide to let things come to blows. Multiple dialogue options result in a peaceful exchange, with a few dialogue options requiring Perception (2) and Intellect (3 and 4), all of which result in Sargamis realizing the statue is not going to function the way he intends it to.

Players can respec at any point for a set amount of Gold, so it's useful to take advantage of this feature when entering dialogue that requires a certain level of a given attribute, assuming they know what to expect.

At this point, players can give Sargamis direction as to how to atone for his mistakes, and they can find him on the way out to acquire his sword. Alternatively, there is also the option to continue to help Sargamis, who believes his plan would work if only he had a "chime" to cull Eothas into the statue for good. It becomes pretty clear that this means using the player as a human sacrifice.

You're then asked to stand under some sort of essence mechanism, and are warned multiple times that this equates to certain death. It's probably a good idea to save the game here as they aren't lying. Standing under Sargamis's death ray, players can take a few moments to contemplate their fate before the mechanism kills them as promised, unlocking the "Get in the Statue, Envoy" achievement.

What Happens If You Kill Sargamis & Destroy The Statue

Activating The Generators Destroys The Statue

If players aren't convinced that helping either Sargamis or the Voice is worth it, there is a third alternative, which is to overload the statue by activating the surrounding generators. Doing so will upset the Voice and turn Sargamis hostile, and it will prevent the Voice from being "free to roam" after the finale. There are three generators scattered around the temple area, and tracing the cables to their locations is an easy method for tracking them down. Ultimately, if players don't plan on freeing the Voice by the end of the game, this decision won't change much.

Overall, placing the Splinter of Eothas in the statue is worth it, especially if you're planning to free the Voice eventually, and it is the only way to acquire theLast Light of Day without actually fighting Sargamis. There are no truly negative consequences for placing the Splinter, and alternatively, deciding not to will upset everyone involved, so for it's best to do this in Avowed for gameplay reasons.

Even if Sargamis's actions are detestable, he can be convinced to refocus his efforts toward the greater good. Because of this, it's worth considering which choice to make in Avowed. Whether you decide to destroy the statue or allow the Voice to possess it will depend on your endgame intentions - and your capacity for forgiveness.