I do not like the Emperor, but that's more because he's inherited all the baggage of Daisy despite being a very different character.
Like, the most interesting part of the Emperor is that he does not lie to you. Up until the end, he wants to defeat the Elder Brain and will do so. Up until the end, he's a trustworthy ally. Sure, he's a weirdo, and he's done some questionable things, but just look at Astarion. Sure, he thinks being a Mind Flayer is some great evolution and maybe he's wrong, but Wyll is the most boring guy to take a demonic pact. I actually really like that he reacts badly if the player thinks he's a shifty asshole, because he's been helping you for so long that, yeah, I'd probably get snippy too. Like, it's very funny that his 'look into my mind' exchange is him trolling the player and the player basically being a hypocrite (I won't believe anything you tell me, unless you tell me something bad!)
The problem is, he just... has to be Daisy, too. He has to join the Absolute at the end. He has to come to you as the dream waifu/husbando because that was what Daisy did. Why doesn't he come to you as Balduran? That'd be just as odd. "What, you expect me to believe you're Balduran? Seriously?" It'd make the player just as prone to scepticism, and yet be much more interesting as you learn throughout Act 3 that he is exactly who he says.
I'm reasonably sure he existed in some fashion before being shoved into the dream visitor role, and it just busted up two interesting concepts.
