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Who is depicted on the original Shadows of Amn cover?

https://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/l/76400-baldur-s-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn-macintosh-front-cover.jpg

For the longest time for some reason, I always thought it was Waukeen. I came to that conclusion back in high school.

Now over a decade later, I'm second-guessing myself. And I just now noticed for the first time the second face underneath the first one.

Looking at the first face, the logical guess would be Ellesime based on her portrait. However, the line going across the nose of the face on top could be one of the veins/cracks on Irenicus depicted in his portraits. That would explain the bottom portrait potentially being Bodhi. The headgear matching Ellesime's would also make sense in that regard.

Another possible theory is that it could be the Bhaalspawn and his alter-ego as the slayer/child of bhaal.

Has this ever been officially confirmed anywhere?

Comments

  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    we actually had this exact same discussion a couple of years back in this forum, dont remember what the thread was called though

    i dont remember what the outcome was either unfortunately

    some even said aran linvail was one of the portraits given the title "shadows of amn" so there was some speculation that he was involved since he is the leader of the shadow thieves
  • ThunderburpThunderburp Member Posts: 51
    edited May 2021
    I've always found the Shadows of Amn logo to be a surprisingly well thought out statement on the game's story.

    From a far away point of view it shows Elves on top and Drows under, Surface and Underdark, Amn above and below. Zooming in, it shows the story that will unfold in that context: Drows were cast down underground and left in the clutches of Lolth, and so were Irenicus and Bodhi cast down by Suldanesselar without even a soul. The darkness and evil these two surface Elves wallowed in further ties light with the shadows it casts. Then there's the whole circular motion of Joneleth's path, from the top of Elven society down to the ground of Athkathla, down to the Underdark and the top of Drow society, only to surface up again and reach the heart of the Tree of Life in a way that mixed dark and light in the cappuccino of war. It's all in the game logo. A polarized reflect but also a circular motion that ties them in "interdependent causation".

    I don't know if there's any official stance on this but that's always been my take. Baldur's Gate II sure isn't shit as a game.
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    found the other thread talking about this;
    https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/42879/shadows-of-amn-logo
  • Axl_KrowAxl_Krow Member Posts: 69
    Awesome! Thanks for the answers and link.

    Very interesting :)
  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,829
    While I don't have anything to add on the interpretation, I'll note that the logo is still there in the EE - it's what you see at the campaign selection screen to represent SoA.
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    It's my favorite BG logo and back in the day it was so sad that ToB's installation replaced it with new one.
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,367
    DJKajuru wrote: »
    It's my favorite BG logo and back in the day it was so sad that ToB's installation replaced it with new one.

    ToB's logo is pretty cool too, but I agree that the SoA logo was cooler. It was kind of mysterious and made you wonder what the meaning was...
  • lollerslollers Member Posts: 190
    It is a symbol of all manner of things. Dichotomy of good and evil. Good luck and bad luck. Superficial appearing goodness on top hiding a dark side underneath.
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,508
    For me, the box art of the games were always a reference to some part of the story the protagonist would take part in.
    Bg1 showed a skull which later reveals to be the symbol of bhaal.

    TotSC gave a ship as reference to the travel to Baldurans Island which I presume is supposed the main story there, although the plot of durlags tower is much bigger.

    Bg2 shows elves and drow as a reference to the elven plot the protagonist gets railroaded into.

    ToB shows bhaals symbol in the grasp of a claw which turns out to be the claw of the antagonist.

    Bg1 plus TotSC combined box just shows two faces, Sarevok and Ajantis, where Ajantis is out of place. I assume they did not go for a representative for each individual story but a mere representation of the antagonist and one of the heroes we can encounter during travel.

  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,724
    I've stumbled upon this chapter 6 art today:
    jn7boocsg081.jpg

    I think the elves depicted on the Shadows of Amn cover are very similar to these 2 - so I agree it's about the drow - elves conflict.
  • TheodreadTheodread Member Posts: 10
    Although it is true that the figures resemble an Elf and a Drow, I believe that the art is a bit more generic, a ying-yang type of thing.
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