Shadowheart seems the most likely candidate for an enemy agent, but if she is I think she doesn’t know it, and I can’t quite make sense of why the Absolute would give the order to kill whoever has “the weapon” rather than capture them if Shadowheart’s mission to steal it from the gith was ultimately for the cult and they could simply restore her memory. Plus it seems legit that like us her tadpole has just been inserted as she knows about it unlike other cultists. Though thinking more about it, isn’t there something different about her condition when everyone else gets ill after a few tadpole uses?
In fact, the more I think about it the less I understand what’s going on with Shadowheart and the nautiloid. I initially assumed that it was heading to Moonrise Towers and was kidnapping people for the cult of the Absolute, but then why are there a number of sacrificed Absolute cultists on it? I suppose it’s possible that part of the reason for setting up the cult, if the mindflayers are behind it, might be to gain fodder for sacrifice. But we find them in the same room as Shadowheart. Is she connected with them? She says the rest of her mission were killed, was that elsewhere or might that be them? And, if so, are the people wearing the sign of the Absolute on the ship real cultists or are they disguised Sharrans? Or is Shar also connected with the cult? Where was Shadowheart brought onto the nautiloid, anyway? Was she coincidentally kidnapped while escaping from her heist, or was the nautiloid actually part of it and her getaway vehicle but she’s somehow been double-crossed or just restrained by the mindflayers as she doesn’t actually know she’s working with them?
I have so many more questions, but I’ll stop there! I’ll bet folk here have some interesting theories, or have picked up on stuff I’ve missed.
Very interesting. Here's some wild speculation - Shadowheart's sphere is needed for a ritual that would transform SH into a chosen.
So we have three big powers who want the artifact - the absolute, Shar and Vlaakith. And I don't know if Shar wants the dead three to thrive or not. She allied with Cyric against Mystra so that would suggest no, she'd rather see Cyric hold the portfolios the absolute are trying to regain, but Shar's allegiances shift so 🤷
