The main tadpole story implies urgency but there is a LOT of focus on the companions and their story. Which you get to see by resting a lot. It kind of clashes hard.
The tadpole is in stasis. While the pc would still likely want to get it out quickly, the pc isn't in immediate danger.
There are multiple hooks for removing the Tadpole, but they lead to nothing every time. Of course for the rest of the story to work, it can't solve the problem, but it feels very forced and frustrating that it doesn't give you anything for sacrificing both eyes, following leads to different sidequests, etc. It doesn't advance the plot at all and as such I consider it bad storytelling. In DnD terms, it's railroading. If for example you could cure companions, but not yourself for some story reason, this would lead to interesting character interactions and inject more background info. Would they stick around? If so, why? If not, will you meet again?
Sacrificing both eyes!
