Originally Posted by Anska
The Emperor not being malicious is debatable and probably depends on one's personal definition of malice. I'd say that it simply does not have the player group's best interest in mind. It knows from the start that we are looking for a cure and want to prevent ceremorphosis, still it encourages us to use and devour tadpoles, despite knowing this will later make it harder for us to resist the special Astral tadpole which it is preparing for us.

Of course this is related to its believe that we need to become more powerful in order to defeat the Absolute, but still this manipulation directly contradicts our most important goal - or at least one of our most important goals, depending on your character. So, it's very simple, I don't distrust the Emperor because it is a mind flayer but because it tries to sabotage one of our main objectives. By contrast, I have no problem trusting Omeluum.

If he was malicious he could have easily forced us to swallow the tadpoles, as numerous times he without any issues lifts our hand to put the tadpole in it... but he does not ever even force it, he merely suggests it and pushes for it because he is ultimately right.

He does not operate on trivial emotions. While we're banging our companions, he is 10 steps ahead of us making 300 calculations per minute to ensure survival because everyone's survival and the world is hanging by a thread, and becoming an evolved illithid drastically does improve our chances of survival. This is further proven by the fact that if the player truly does become an illithid, their mind opens to limitless potential and they get to basically tell him "he was right, it feels great".

So you ARE correct that it does not align with the group's interests, but it's not out of malicious intents because what good are your feelings when you become dominated to the brain. In his eyes he is trying to ensure 100% guarantee that everyone will prevail, most of all him. Because even fully unified he is still extremely afraid of the brain, worrying that unity won't be enough to prevail against it. So he isn't doing it for malicious reasons, but because our best interests mean shit if we all get dominated.

He is afraid and wants everyone to be at their very best when the final showdown begins, yet despite everything he not once forces it upon us despite knowing we're putting everyone at risk. Which is why if the player refuses to become an illithid, he'll take it upon himself to consume Orpheus and proceed to the final showdown because that's who he is. Unlike us he'll do what needs to be done to survive.

Originally Posted by saeran
Even if you consider someone words malicious, which I think is debatable in this scenario, how a person reacts can tell you a lot about them. My character told the emperor the truth, that she would not trust him because he is an expert at mental manipulation, when he tried seduction. At which point he reacted by forcing the vision of enthralling Stelmane. And in my opinion that is a sociopath's response; a sociopath who for a moment got angry - because his manipulation failed - and let the mask slip. Because even if he considered my character's words malicious, I think any non-evil person would simply call them out on their behaviour. Ignoring consent and threatening enslavement is a giant waving red flag.

I also think there is a hinted possibility that when the emperor says he 'finessed his methods', he means his mind thralling powers. If you react to his "seduction" by telling him to stick to business, he'll simply reply "good instincts". But there is a weird narrator line afterwards, where she says your character feels disappointed that the mind flayer was quick to abandon its attention on you. But why would the narrator be able to tell how your character feels? Unless the situation is similar to that of the of dark urge, where it is outside influence. Of course, it could be simply Larian writers overstepping their boundaries.

Of course he will because as I mentioned if you mistreat him by acting towards him like he's just a mindflayer who cannot be trusted, he'll lash out because he is NOT an emotionless mindflayer. He does truly have feelings because numerous times he gets annoyed when he's being mistreated after everything he's been doing for us. And in that particular moment he truly does like you (Insight check).

Same way players can discover he is truly bothered by losing Stelmane, because he gets extremely lonely and misses not having anyone to interact with. Afterwards the player can hug him.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

And the "finessed methods" are not about his enthralling powers, but about his way of interacting with people because as you can see he kept Stelmane dominated even during private hours, meaning he was craving for her company since she was his only friend still alive. Which is why he admires you greatly if you treat him like a person, because for the first time EVER he is being genuinely treated respectfully and is accepted without having to keep up any facade.

Also yes, Larian/Narrator does sometimes imply stuff that ain't true to the character at all, unfortunately nothing we can do about it. That's why I find it extremely hard to roleplay an evil character because I can do the most hideous acts imaginable, but in the next scene my character is suddenly empathetic and caring about someone dying. Like madam... you just murdered 100 people in the last 24 hours. YOU DO NOT GET TO HAVE EMOTIONS grin

[Linked Image from bg3.wiki] Minthara's Compendium Of Issues