The story is constantly making it extremely clear that the tadpole is special and protected by Netherese magic, therefore it cannot be removed by conventional means and any sort of tampering might kill us or severely maim us. This is the case displayed through Nettie, Halsin, Gale, the Guardian, Priestess Gut, Volo, Ethel, Raphael, Omeluum, the Ghus'til, etc... countless of scenarios by the time we reach the zhei'thisk.
Any attempt at removing it does leave the player with negative consequences which start being mild and then progress to more serious ones;
- Nettie tries to kill us
- Priestess Gut tries to kill us
- Raphael is waiting for the right moment
- Volo takes out our original eye
- Ethel takes out our original eye
- Omeluum's tampering either makes us attack everyone around us or drastically empowers the tadpole if we resist
- Zhei'thisk either maims us or empowers the tadpole if we successfully resist
It's very clear that each time you tamper with the tadpole through conventional means you're pretty much risking a negative consequence if you don't successfully steel yourself. Either someone turning hostile or losing a body part or losing even more.
To me personally it was clear as day that something was about to go wrong with the zhei'thisk so I told Lae'zel that I'll go first, which she even admires if you tell her properly. Going yourself into the zhei'thisk and succeeding the saving throws (which are very easy to resist if you explore and collect all the numerous saving throw equipment), gains you a permanent "Awakened" buff which turns all tadpole powers into bonuses instead of actions because it empowers the tadpole just like Omeluum does.
So there is a negative, but also an incredibly positive risk to it. But in terms of risk warnings it even has a perception check to tell the player it's designed to kill, not purify. So it seriously cannot get any clearer than that, might as well have a sign that slaps the player against the head "
BAD DECISION! BAD DECISION! ABORT! ABORT!"
