I always found the original Larian claim that these were just the "evil" companions dubious at best. They seem to be "morally grey" at worst.
Most likely just a last minute attempt to throw the fanbase a bone, because they wouldn't quit bitching about how their companions were being mean to them.
"Yeah, yeah, those guys are totally evil. Don't listen to them. The nice ones are coming someday".
That said, maybe being evil does not need to overlap with being a psychopath and a self-harming idiot? Because these would be the only reasons to "join the Absolute side" currently.
In fairness to Larian, they made that claim that these are the evil companions before EA was released, so at least this was their intent ahead of time. I think these are pretty interesting brands of evil at least. I like them all for varying reasons honestly.
