I see this thread has become about the 'reason to adventure' in the first act, being counter to the 'reason to explore' There have been a few threads about this before...have some!
I believe they added a few pieces of dialogue here and there, to make it more clear to you (the player) that you don't have to take the tadpole seriously. Shadowheart, for instance, will bring it up the first time you take a long rest (if nothing else overrides it), but it still comes across as a more gamey way of playing, but that might be more that I found the race against the clock scenario, much more compelling than the mystery brainbox one.
