I'm not going to watch the video, but according to this game at least, mindflayers have no soul, so no, nothing is left over at this point imo.
... The scene was not hentai. It's
him straight up confessing to never having cared about the player. Which. Predictable. Yet really makes Bg3's bad summary "mindflayer tries to catfish you".
A: I won't believe anything you show me you manipulative monster ! B: *Shows no context confirmation bias* A: I believe this 100 percent with all my heart.
It would be better proof if there was an ending path where the emperor reveals his evil master plan and dominates the brain, but there isn't one ?
The reveal with entralling Stelmane is interesting because the Knights of the Shield is a secret front for the devil Gargauth so you could interpret stelmane as a devil cultist, or the emperor both
Larian really needs to explain emperor's motivations better
A: I won't believe anything you show me you manipulative monster ! B: *Shows no context confirmation bias* A: I believe this 100 percent with all my heart.
It would be better proof if there was an ending path where the emperor reveals his evil master plan and dominates the brain, but there isn't one ?
The reveal with entralling Stelmane is interesting because the Knights of the Shield is a secret front for the devil Gargauth so you could interpret stelmane as a devil cultist, or the emperor both
Larian really needs to explain emperor's motivations better
You mean Larian's dialogue tree? Or the perception that he's evil?
I personally find it interesting that the unfeeling mindflayer throws a fit. ARGGGH, ungrateful child, this is my villain speech!
I like the "praying mantis ending" as one YouTuber dubbed it, though.
1. Romance the Emperor 2. Turn into a Mindflayer 3. Destroy the Elderbrain together 4. Hmm. Snacc 5. Companions completely undisturbed, end credits roll.
The dialogue has you say you won't believe anything he shows you, so he shows you something that makes him look evil. Then you believe that without doubt is a little on the nose for confirmation bias
It is lore accurate mind flayers do in fact feel emotions, but more they are considered alien and negative.
I appreciate having the choice to flip out on being chaotic evil, that has the same energy as romancing karlach, have her transform and then going "die monster!" at the ending
The dialogue has you say you won't believe anything he shows you, so he shows you something that makes him look evil. Then you believe that without doubt is a little on the nose for confirmation bias
It is lore accurate mind flayers do in fact feel emotions, but more they are considered alien and negative.
I appreciate having the choice to flip out on being chaotic evil, that has the same energy as romancing karlach, have her transform and then going "die monster!" at the ending
It's really good because he's
all chummy and "let's discuss future plans together", while the PC grabs him and eats his brain without blinking. No roll. No hesitation. Only snacc.
The narrator even lets you know it was a divine snack indeed. You make a happy mindflayer face. If not for what just happened, it would be heartwarming
The dialogue has you say you won't believe anything he shows you, so he shows you something that makes him look evil. Then you believe that without doubt is a little on the nose for confirmation bias
It is lore accurate mind flayers do in fact feel emotions, but more they are considered alien and negative.
I appreciate having the choice to flip out on being chaotic evil, that has the same energy as romancing karlach, have her transform and then going "die monster!" at the ending
Isn't there lore outside of the game that
confirms Stelmane was attacked and enthralled by a Mindflayer?
I really don't know what the Emperor wants. In general, I feel there are some parts of the plot which are very confusing:
As far as I understand, the Emperor, controlled by the Elder Brain, was sent out by Gortash and his allies, who control the Elder Brain, to retrieve the artefact from Vlaakith, because it's the only weapon that could endanger his / their plans.
Then, because of the contact with the artefact, the Emperor became free from the Elter Brain's control again and hides in the artefact.
The goal of the Emperor seems to be to either destroy of dominate the Elder Brain and that's why he needs the PC to defeat Gortash and Allies, to retrieve the three stones, which would enable him to do so.
During the first confrontation with the Brain, it reveals that actually the Brain freed the Emperor from its control willingly, so the chain of events would lead to Gortash and allies be defeated and the brain to be free from control. (Did I get that right?)
At any rate, the Emperor, when faced with a PC that wants to free Orpheus, joins the Elder Brain. Why?! This does not make sense. Was the Emperor evil all along? I don't think so. When siding with the Emperor, he will destroy the Brain, so he was sincere with his intentions, right?
yes, Murder in Baldur's Gate has a few paragraphs on duke Stelmane, leader of the Knights of the Shield is actually enthralled by a mind flayer whose purpose and goals are completely unknown to her only shared interest in running the organization, and the game shows that mindflayer is the emperor
When siding with and giving the gems to the emperor, you either have to convince him to control or literally backstab him to control yourself
As far as I'm concerned mind flayers are just zombie wizards. They need to eat brains and can only reproduce by infecting others. And the process destroys the host. Sounds like Larian was trying to add Mass Effect indoctrination into BG3.
I'm pretty sure both Emp and EB are following the mind flayer grand design but each one wants to be in charge. And Emp would rather be a pawn under EB's grand design than deal with you as an equal. I'm confused about the dead mind flayer bodies in the nautilus intro scene, though. There was no sign of battle until the Githyanki showed up so Emp must have killed his friends (but left the pilot alive... so maybe he was the only other mind flayer in on the plan), infected you, and jumped into the rubiks cube (which was located in Shadowheart's locked pod). I'm surprised you can just free Orpheus like it's no big deal considering you have to pass will checks every time you try to go against the parasite.
As far as I'm concerned mind flayers are just zombie wizards. They need to eat brains and can only reproduce by infecting others. And the process destroys the host. Sounds like Larian was trying to add Mass Effect indoctrination into BG3.
I'm pretty sure both Emp and EB are following the mind flayer grand design but each one wants to be in charge. And Emp would rather be a pawn under EB's grand design than deal with you as an equal. I'm confused about the dead mind flayer bodies in the nautilus intro scene, though. There was no sign of battle until the Githyanki showed up so Emp must have killed his friends (but left the pilot alive... so maybe he was the only other mind flayer in on the plan), infected you, and jumped into the rubiks cube (which was located in Shadowheart's locked pod). I'm surprised you can just free Orpheus like it's no big deal considering you have to pass will checks every time you try to go against the parasite.
Makes me wonder who the Emperor was before the merge with Daisy.
His actions really only make sense if he feels that way. If nothing else, he really wants Orpheus dead. This is all cemented further by the title of the ending if you do kill the Emperor.
At any rate, the Emperor, when faced with a PC that wants to free Orpheus, joins the Elder Brain. Why?! This does not make sense. Was the Emperor evil all along? I don't think so. When siding with the Emperor, he will destroy the Brain, so he was sincere with his intentions, right?
I'm not convinced he's even remotely benevolent.
He wants you to "evolve" into a mind flayer throughout the game after all... and I have no doubt that he's after the Grand Design with himself in control. He's an Illithid after all.
I wonder if the emperor is daisy after all (an illusion created by your tadpole) or a thrall of the elder brain that just believes he is free. The ending where you trust the emperor could be a carefully crafted illusion created by the elder brain to make you believe that you won, but in reality you’ve made your way entirely “down by the river” and lost. The thing is, I find the emperor path a little too easy. Just give him everything and let him do, and all is fine and good.
Your MC has a tadpole in his brain and it had quite some time to get comfy and slowly take over. The stepover into illusion could be seamless and you wouldn’t even notice.
This could explain why the emperor is so unwilling to side with you when you want to free Orpheus (even though it would make perfect sense) and goes to join the elder brain without further explanation.
Would this theory even work? Could it explain the plotholes (emperor not making sense)?
Maybe all endings are an illusion of the elder brain. That’s why there are no epilogues. ;-)
I wonder if the emperor is daisy after all (an illusion created by your tadpole) or a thrall of the elder brain that just believes he is free. The ending where you trust the emperor could be a carefully crafted illusion created by the elder brain to make you believe that you won, but in reality you’ve made your way entirely “down by the river” and lost. The thing is, I find the emperor path a little too easy. Just give him everything and let him do, and all is fine and good.
Your MC has a tadpole in his brain and it had quite some time to get comfy and slowly take over. The stepover into illusion could be seamless and you wouldn’t even notice.
This could explain why the emperor is so unwilling to side with you when you want to free Orpheus (even though it would make perfect sense) and goes to join the elder brain without further explanation.
Would this theory even work? Could it explain the plotholes (emperor not making sense)?
Maybe all endings are an illusion of the elder brain. That’s why there are no epilogues. ;-)
I feel like they could have made an ending like this but there are zero hints that this is actually what happens. Interesting headcanon though. I feel like an
Absolute ending where the brain just creates a nice illusion where you are "down by the river" with your Guardian would have been interesting.
He wants you to "evolve" into a mind flayer throughout the game after all... and I have no doubt that he's after the Grand Design with himself in control. He's an Illithid after all.
That's like saying you absolutely can't trust a word from orpheus either because the githyanki want their own 'grand design' to conquer and enslave everyone. But at the end neither the emperor or orpheus tries to dominate the brain for themselves
He wants you to "evolve" into a mind flayer throughout the game after all... and I have no doubt that he's after the Grand Design with himself in control. He's an Illithid after all.
That's like saying you absolutely can't trust a word from orpheus either because the githyanki want their own 'grand design' to conquer and enslave everyone. But at the end neither the emperor or orpheus tries to dominate the brain for themselves
I don't trust Orpheus either, but considering his freedom will start a Githyanki civil war he is the lesser of two evils. After all the Githyanki will be too busy killing mind flayers and eachother to focus on enslaving anyone.
