I didn't read this whole thread, I read the first page and most of page 4... So I I missed some finer points in between, please forgive me...
I don't understand all this great defense of the Emperor. I can't be the only player here who has done the 'Free Orpehus' ending, can I? My first 4 play throughs I did the Emperor's version of things, but eventually decided to do it completely differently... And when I did I reached a far more satisfying conclusion (IMHO, anyhow).
As soon as you push back on the Emperor he basically turns to the dark side, joins the absolute and then (in my case at least) comically dies by standing under a Nautiloid artillery shot while monaloging about how you're gonna fail..
Anyhow, my point here is; no 'hero' just swaps sides at the drop of a hat. If he believed so much in his cause, he'd try to kill you for betraying his cause, he would not just abandon his cause and go join the other team. That was all I needed to see. He's a mindflayer just like the others, he's just one that has his own idea of how he wants the world to be. He is different only in that he is not apparently a thrall of the Absolute (however it could be that he is a thrall, and his mission is to appear not to be... This is also possible) He's not any better than any of the other ones, he's just better at manipulating Tav.
Meanwhile the Gith are clearly the better people in that end game, you come away feeling like you really DID win the the game in that ending, because you overcame that annoying self-important shell of what used to be Balduran (apparently).
So anyhow, I don't think it was the emperor in the opening scene (as others pointed out, different eyes). But none of that matters because he's just there to further his own plan, and his plan may not be the right one.
Last edited by Croniac; 04/02/24 11:49 PM.
