Originally Posted by ghettojesusxx
Luck is a HUGE element in this story. In no particular order, some of the luckiest ones are:

-Durge happening to be on the same Nautiloid that Thrall Emperor uses to steal the Astral Prism - remember that the Brain had nothing to do with placing Durge there, this was done by an uninfluenced Orin (remember: Durge becoming a pawn in the Design simply meant that the Brain simply looked upon it's disgraced master with disgust and would have used him as a lowly soldier or worker - at the very least there is nothing to suggest that the Brain somehow influenced Orin to place Durge in that Nautiloid)
-That dormant Mind Flayer colony just so happened to also house a dormant Elder Brain and at least one Nautiloid
-Emperor failing to appear as Balduran (aka himself) in Dream Visitor segments is incredibly unlucky

-> Durge was on the Nautiloid selected for the heist because Balthazar ordered Durge to be there. There is information for that in his room in Moonrise towers. Reason for this is that his assistant was distracted by Durge ("her pet project") and so Balthazar wanted to get rid of Durge to hopefully get his assistant to focus again on her work. I think Orin is only responsible for Durge ending up nearly dead in Moonrise towers

-> There are acutally several Nautiloids in the Colony as when you arrive near the brain Tav says they just saw a fleet of Nautiloids leaving (I didn't see anything, was just a voice line from Tav). But all the Nautiloids in the end over Baldurs Gate have to come somehwere, so this would fit.

-> I think the Emperor not appearing as Balduran might simply be because he wanted to appear in a form that the origins/Tav finds trustworthy. So he appears in different forms for everyone. He could have appeared as Balduran but he isn't really attached to his old appearance anymore so he doesn't care because his real form is now being a mindflayer. And who knows if they would have believed him that he is Balduran as Balduran was likely thought to be lost/dead. Maybe this would even lead to being more sceptical of him.