Originally Posted by Leucrotta
Emperor never 'needed' to be anything other than a mindflayer who had broke free of the Elder Brain's control and was pursuing his own agenda
I disagree. The Emperor now embodies the question "what actually is a mind flayer as opposed to a person with a human body"? Which is important since we can use the tadpoles and become more like a mind-flayer eventually. The theme is handled in an unpleasant way overall, but it is good that it is present within an NPC.