At the climax of the Manumits storyline during the Fall Before Dusk quest in The Blood of Dawnwalker, you assault Greifberg Castle along with Crake and Lord Catalin Dragosti. A while after you enter the throne room, Brencis will ambush the party, knock Catalin to the floor, and try to murder him on the spot. You’ll then be given a brief timed prompt to either shout stop or let the wrong happen. Read on to learn what happens if you save Catalin or let him die by Lord Brencis’ hands, how previous choices affect Crake’s fate, and which way offers the best story outcome.
When Does the Catalin Choice Appear?
This encounter happens near the end of the Fall Before Dusk main quest, provided you followed Crake’s plan to join Catalin and assault Eastridge Outpost in Rise at Dawn. After fighting your way through the castle tunnels with Crake and moving past the dungeons, you’ll finally breach the throne room doors. Right as you enter the chamber, Brencis will appear in a burst of mist, incapacitate Catalin, and rush at the injured Catalin with his blade to deliver a death blow, giving you roughly five seconds to react before the timer runs out.
- No! Stop!
- [stay silent]
What Happens If You Save Catalin?
Selecting “No! Stop!” causes Coen to dart forward and parry Brencis with his sword, knocking the vampire back and dragging Catalin out of immediate danger. Catalin will be left severely injured while Brencis will retreat to the banquet hall.
When Catalin survives, he will claim the title of Knyaz and prove to be every bit as ruthless as his late father. He’ll enforce crushing monthly taxes on the peasantry, fill the castle dungeons with prisoners, and burn whole Svartrau districts to root out alleged Vrakhiri sympathizers. His foreign mercenary army will frequently loot and pillage local villages if their wages are delayed. Crake will become Catalin’s right-hand man and carry out bloody purges against the native Uriashi under the guise of eradicating monsters.
What Happens If You Let Brencis Kill Catalin?
If you stay silent or allow the timer to expire, Brencis will execute Catalin and mock his royal blood before vanishing to the banquet hall, leaving you to deal with the aftermath. If you supported or remained passive toward Catalin’s cruelty earlier in the campaign, Crake will scream and throw himself into the fray, only to get butchered by Brencis and die trying to protect Catalin, proving his loyalty.
However, if you challenged Catalin and eroded Crake’s loyalty during prior quests, Crake will realize Catalin’s arrogance, stand his ground, and let Brencis kill the would-be prince. With the cruel Lord gone, Vale Sangora is freed from Brencis and the Dragosti bloodline, though left without a ruler. Although this leaves an unstable power vacuum, the valley has avoided Catalin’s despotic tax policies, purges, and rampaging mercenaries.
How to Kill Catalin and Keep Crake Alive
To get Catalin killed without sacrificing Crake, you’ll have to turn Crake against Catalin before the events of the throne room. Crake only steps in to fight Brencis if he’s blindly loyal to Catalin. You can oppose Catalin during key dialogue prompts to break that devotion:
- At the Eastridge Outpost gate in Rise at Dawn, challenge Catalin when he wants to execute captured soldiers. Picking “You were supposed to save us from a cruel tyrant” or “Spare these men, sire!” will force Catalin to spare two captives while exposing his petty brutality to Crake.
- In the castle tunnels during Fall Before Dusk, defuse Catalin’s anger over the dead scouts by choosing “Now’s not the time to place blame.“
- Outside the upper passage door, call out Catalin’s cowardice when he orders everyone else inside first by asking, “Not so keen to lead the way anymore?“
- In the torture chamber crossroad, support Crake’s plan to check the prison cells by answering, “I’ll stick with my commander, sire” or questioning why the group even needs Catalin.
These dialogue checks guarantee that when Brencis attacks Catalin, Crake won’t rush over to take the blow.
Should You Save Catalin or Not in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
I would recommend letting Catalin die while keeping Crake alive. If you spare him, it leads you to one of the worst epilogues in the game, where Vale Sangora falls under the heel of another bloodthirsty tyrant, foreign sellswords ransack the countryside, and Crake turns into a genocidal enforcer.
Allowing Brencis to kill Catalin rids the valley of a dangerous despot while leaving the region free from feudal tyranny. As long as you picked the right responses to keep Crake sacrificing himself, you can let Catalin die. Only save Catalin if you missed the necessary dialogue checks to keep Crake disillusioned, or if you want to see the Dragosti restoration ending.
