I admit I was talking more about the issue of our illithid identity rather than the forced choices in the ending. I don't mind that someone has to transform as it does force us to ask the question, what would we sacrifice to win this war?
Regarding the ending, I get the sense that Larian wanted us to feel caught between two impossible choices: continue working with your ally and condemn a prisoner to death, or betray your ally and free the stranger from enslavement. Neither are good, and the issue is complicated by the backdrop of the gith/illithid war, where both sides loathe and fear each other.
I reluctantly accepted an ending that was not morally good, but I wish I didn't have to. It would be far more satisfying if we had the ability to broker a short truce between the Emperor and Orpheus, for the immediate common goal of ending the Absolute's Grand Design. Even if Larian didn't want us to have a "happy ending", there should be a pathway open to those who made careful choices, to achieve that.
