Originally Posted by Cawyden
Whatever he says some people always expect him to be lying or being manipulative and surprise - usually he does speak the truth. He hides information, yes, e.g. that
he is a mindflayer, things from his past that doesn't matter and things that would give you a hint that he might be a mind flayer. The only thing I found in the game (and I checked the game files too) that comes close to lying is when he feigns surprise at the tentacle/oubliette in moonrise towers.

Guardian second dream - 2:26. "Just like you I was infected by a mind flayer parasite. Just like you I seek to be free of it"


Even the most lawyerly interpretation of that line doesn't hold water because "it" clearly refers back to the tadpole. The outright lies and half truths in that conversation were not just protection, they were manipulation.

But we know from multiple other dialogues - confirmed by the murder of Ansur - that the Guardian does not seek to be cured and indeed would not accept a cure were it offered to them.

(meta - as I read Salo's post I think the rules on this subforum have changed and we can freely discuss spoilers in threads marked {spoilers} )


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Why would he show sympathy at this point if everything is just manipulation?

Because that's part of the manipulation. Just like Cazador instructed his spawn to show sympathy for the ones they fed on. Have you ever tried to win the [intelligence] battle with the mind flayer in the crashed ship? You feel compassion and then love as it eats your brain.

Here's a line I would like to see added:

"you've threatened for force me but I think you are bluffing. You know that thrall is less useful to you than an ally. Your attention would be divided between siphoning Orpheus' power and forcing us to enact your will. The absolute could easily take advantage of your divided attention and you would be lost"

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We also know from the game files that his grieving of Duke Stelman is genuine. And when he tells you that he would never lie to you - that was meant to be the truth and genuine too. It is in the dev notes, internal comments to give the cinematic and voice actors information how things are meant. But with a mind flayer it is very difficult to express things - you can't see if he is smiling or not for example.

If that's true then it's bad writing because it's inconsistent with so much of what has been said in the rest of the game.With the Sharess' Caress nymph a wizard can mention that mind flayers are literally incapable of feeling desire or affection. When you ask the Emperor if it regrets killing Ansur its answer is an intellectual one. "I regret that it was necessary" Even Omelleum dances around this when you save him - "I too . . . feel some some warmth". Which is a line like the ones you read in vampire stories "l remember what is to feel and I believe would have felt the same way towards you when I was alive"

(sorry, not sorry, I like reading trash)

What is the actual line? Is the voice actor asked to *convey* emotion or does it explicitly say the Emperor feels emotion? Just because the delivery is designed to be persuasive doesn't mean it is.

Last edited by KillerRabbit; 19/10/23 07:49 PM. Reason: pronouns - I keep forgetting The Emperor no longer has sex or gender