But the whole point of it was to subvert the obvious. To provide a "twist" if you will. You expect the dream persona to be a product of the tadpole. Of course you do. It's designed that way. Then twist! It's not! That was the point. And if you're clever enough to see the clues then you can predict it.
So the first twist is that the dream persona is not the tadpole. The second twist is that the entity responsible for protecting you is a mind flayer. The third twist is that the mind flayer is Balduran.
The game is constantly trying to surprise you and keep you on your toes.
Well, if you enjoyed these twists that is great for you. Personally, I think the emperor being Balduran was unnecessary, and I'd rather Wyll's quest was actually about him.
But the biggest "twist" was that all these warnings you get throughout the game - from the narrator and some of the companions about using the tadpole powers, from Raphael about the emperor manipulating you like cattle and about your party turning on you, even a warning from the emperor himself when he talks about forcing the transformation - amount to nothing. And I don't think it makes the story clever, I think it makes it badly written.
