Well, if you enjoyed these twists that is great for you.
It's not about whether or not it's enjoyable. The point is that it's obvious what the writers were trying to do. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't. Overall, I applaud their attempt, but I don't think it worked as well as they'd hoped.
One of the big problems, imo, is that the Absolute and the dream persona showcasing a fight for survival in the astral are all more interesting than the final reveal. Thus it's a let down. The reveal has to be equal to or greater than the tease.
I also disagree that the twist was intended from the start. There's numerous things pointing to that which other people have already explained in great detail (stuff like concept art book, soundtrack etc.). The original appearance of the Dream Visitor was prompted only by using the tadpole - which still gives you an unscrubbed voice line from the narrator implying that the tadpole eats at your brain - only to reward you with powers obviously granted by the parasite. If Daisy really was the Emperor from the start then what's all that talk about "letting her in" and the visions of destruction and world domination? Even if it's not the tadpole/Absolute but some mysterious third party it's most certainly not the Emperor we got to see in the final product.
1. Concept art book: the Emperor not being there is not proof of anything. The character is a huge part of the reveal of the story. Not having the Emperor in the art book isn't surprising. Having the character in the art book would have been surprising and would have generally been considered a poor choice all around.
2. The soundtrack: does not indicate the absence of the Emperor. Someone somewhere said the tadpole would convince Tav to stay down by the river and someone else suddenly thought that was canon? The entire story takes place along the Chionthar River. It's not a tadpole singing a song. Seriously, sometimes I feel like I can't even begin to communicate with a whole section of the world.
3. Using the tadpole: The Emperor used the tadpole to communicate with Tav. Just like Tav used the tadpole to communicate with Lae'zel and Shadowheart and so on. The Emperor keeps you from being turned into a mindflayer. The Emperor helps you unlock the power of the tadpole. But the power is still coming from the tadpole.
4. The tadpole changes you: Yes, it does. In the Emperor's opinion, it changes you for the better. The Emperor being the dream persona doesn't mean the tadpole doesn't exist or grow or change the character or give mental powers.
5. Letting her in: The Emperor does not want you to resist. The Emperor is asking you to let him in, to listen to him, and the Emperor is attempting to manipulate you with a persona drawn from your own imagination. "Let me in," the Emperor says. Why is that hard to understand, but it's easy for you to imagine the tadpole saying, "Let me in."?
6. Destruction of Baldur's Gate: that scene was not entirely clear in early access. You saw a ruined city on fire and the dream persona claimed you would have what you want. Perhaps some people wanted to ruin the city, to be a warlord. That was certainly Shadowheart's interpretation. But maybe it was a vision of the future and maybe what you wanted was the ability to stop it or save the city. The point is, the scene was basically showing the stakes of what was to come. With the power you would be able to defeat your enemies.
7. You say it's most certainly not the Emperor: I say you haven't presented a case at all. Nothing you said supports your conclusion.
--if I don't respond very often to this thread, it's because I'm going through a lengthy illness and I find the whole thing somewhat frustrating. It's so obvious that it's hardly worth debating. This isn't even hindsight. The clues were there in early access. Then people come in talking about eye color and art books. Eye color from a scene that's clearly out of date and clearly shows different details in more than one place. An art book that doesn't include the single biggest reveal of what's going on, the one thing that people jumped up and down trying to figure out in early access. I mean, my gosh, these are not arguments.
