Quote Originally Posted by Cikomyr2 View Post
I always saw Mystra's romances with wizards being more of an analogy for their love at mastering the Weave. She is interested first and foremost who love Magic for Magic's sake, and dedicated their entire being in understanding the Weave for its own pleasure.

She cannot help but be seduced by that sort of exceptionally brilliant mind who dedicated themselves to what she is ultimately about. She's not the goddess of Love or carnal passion, but she loves the Weave with every fiber of its being, and thus feels a connection to mortals who share that love.

Ill be honest, i do not even understand why Sune would have sex with her Chosen. If anything, i think she's more the kind to play Cupid for her Chosen and cheer them in their "conquest" than someone who indulges with mortals.
The problem I have with this sort of passive interpretation is twofold: First, Gale shows that this kind of dalliance can clearly have a negative impact on the mortals themselves; it's not merely a metaphor for their mastery of magic itself, it's an act of passion that can breed feelings of obsession, resentment and abandonment like any other short-lived fling. Gale himself describes feeling as though he were "used and discarded," if you romance him and ask him if he still has feelings for Mystra, and there are parallels here between her and a previous newly-minted Chosen (Sammaster) who similarly was driven to rather dark places and magics by a seeming need to try and impress her.

And second - I haven't gone through every bit of Greenwood's canon on the subject or anything, but all the examples I'm aware of concerning Mystra's "love for those who master the Weave" seems to be or at least have been exclusive to those practitioners of magic who identify as male. Elminster, Sammaster, Gale, Khelben, Azuth and Savras (as mortals)... in one of his rare moments of piercing clarity, Minsc comments on this trend in the game itself, pointing out that male Wychlaran might be so rare because it was probably best to hide young boys who were talented in magic from her. He seemingly meant that jokingly but it felt like one of those "saying the quiet part out loud" moments.

For Mystra to continue making a habit of this is therefore at best irresponsible.