Summary
- Players face a tough choice in Starfield's "Entangled" mission: save Rafael or many NPCs, each with consequences.
- Recruiting Rafael as a crewmate in Starfield requires careful decisions and specific actions to save him and the station.
- By following hidden instructions and finding Rafael's body, players can achieve the best ending in "Entangled" and save everyone.
Starfield’s “Entangled” mission presents players with the choice of saving Rafael or a station of NPCs, leaving players to wonder which is the best course of action. Choosing to end the life of a likable NPC, especially when he’s the one who called the player for help, isn’t exactly a choice that anyone wants to make. However, the alternative presented seems even worse, as it means letting a lot more people die.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Entangled Mission in Starfield]
At first, “Entangled” seems like a bit of a trolley problem, with a cosmic twist. Of course, unlike real moral choices, players can always just save the game before making it and check out the results of making either choice. "Entangled" also has some secrets that extend outside of the mission into the narrative of the main game, and a hidden choice within the mission itself for players to discover that makes it easier to choose whether to save Rafael.
Related
Space Stations In Starfield Are A Reality Now Thanks To Industrious Fan
Starfield players can finally set themselves up in their very own orbital space station thanks to a talented fan's impressive creation.
Should Players Save Starfield’s Rafael In Entangled?
Rafael Can Join Players As A Crewmate
Rafael Aguerro is an NPC in Starfield that can join the player’s crew, so long as he survives the events of the “Entangled” quest. Rafael is a pleasant companion and a handy engineer. Players should save him if given the chance, but they will likely want to do so in the right way. Otherwise, recruiting him may come at a serious cost.
Players meet Rafael when answering his distress call from the Nishina Research Station on Freya III. To the player’s surprise, the station will initially say they didn’t send out a distress call. However, a quick journey into the station will suddenly reveal the existence of two conflicting realities: one where the station is okay and one where it has been destroyed. However, one crew member is dead in the better of the two realities: Rafael.
Related
Starfield: 10 Choices That Actually Matter
Starfield has many choices that one can make, but not all of them matter. Here are a few that actually impact the narrative and gameplay.
Since there are no other recruitable NPCs on the station, players will likely feel an incentive to save the one who will have a bigger impact on their game. However, saving Rafael could come at a steep price. Players will need to be careful how they go about recruiting Rafael if they want to avoid tragedy.
There Is A Worse Way To Save Rafael
Entangled Presents Three Choices To The Player
While Starfield players will likely want to save Rafael so he can join their crew, the “Entangled” quest initially makes this difficult because of the choice seems to be forcing players to do something bad. Players invested in the role-playing aspect of Starfield will have a harder time just callously letting an entire space station full of people die to save one man unless they are intentionally trying to make the most evil decisions possible.
However, players could be forgiven for not knowing they don’t have any other option if they want to recruit Rafael. “Entangled” seems to only offer these two options, forcing players to find the hidden third ending if they want to save Rafael with their morals intact. Once players find another way to do things, the choice to save Rafael becomes a lot easier. Players looking for the best outcome to “Entangled” will want to make sure they follow the right steps to avoid killing anyone involved.
Related
All Companions In Starfield, Ranked Worst To Best
Starfield has 27 different companions to choose from, and some are certainly better than others. Here's the full list, ranked.
Players Who Want To Save Rafael And The Crew Will Need To Do Extra Work
Entangled’s Best Ending Requires Specific Actions
To save both Rafael and the rest of the Nishina Research Station, players will need to find Rafael’s dead body in the universe where the station is intact. Near the end of the quest, when players are tasked with disengaging the power interlocks in one of the two universes, players can find Rafael’s body slumped in a corner on the north side of the room. Looting him gives the player a text log called the Probe Calibration Protocol.
Related
Starfield has 20 potential companions and lots of crew members who can help out on ships and outposts if you have the Credits to hire them.
The Probe Calibration Protocol will give players instructions to follow that will allow them to save both Rafael and the rest of the station. There are a variety of tasks players will have to complete without the aid of quest markers, meaning they will need to be careful to follow the instructions provided in the log. Once the player has followed all the instructions, the two distinct universes will merge into one, bringing Rafael with the player back to the better universe. YouTuber Generalkidd has a full guide for completing the quest's good ending.
Knowing that there is a definitive good ending to “Entangled” makes it a lot easier for players to choose to save Rafael. By using this method, they get to save everyone and still get to recruit a new member to their crew. Now, it could be said Starfield somewhat de-fangs the quest’s initial moral dilemma by offering this choice, but the developers did a good enough job hiding the third ending that it still feels like a rewarding conclusion instead of a cop-out.
Source: Generalkidd/YouTube
Starfield
- Platform(s)
- PC , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- September 6, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs, Strong Language, Violence
