Larian Studios

My head canon is that the tadpoles permanently altered Tav/Durge and the companions' brains.

I think that's right. Orpheus tells us we reek of illthid even if we never use any powers. And if you use the purifier and survive it tells you that your brain has been completely altered.

What's not clear but is probable is that the guardian purposefully waited until we started to transform to stop the process. They probably wanted to the tadpole to alter us before "saving" us.

That seems unlikely. There’s nothing in the game to indicate that the Guardian knows that the “purifier” will actually do that. They seem to intervene when you don’t remove yourself from the machine on your own. It’s like how in Act 3 The Emperor will move you away from the upper city gate after warning you something like four times to get away from the gate because the brain is bombarding you with telepathic energy that you can’t fight off.

As far as the permanent changes, I was under the impression from the ending that everything sort of just went back to normal, which is why I say the permanent changes are my head canon.

Oh, yes, the guardian doesn't want you to use the purifier that's clear. I'm talking about the narrative at the end when you conclude that you have been permanently altered.

I mean the first meeting with the Guardian that happens on day 3 or so. They show up saying "I came just in time. You were transforming . . . "

I think the guardian tadpoled us, let us cook for three days and then stopped the transformation so we just altered enough to be receptive to it's manipulations. At that point our brain is at least 1/8 illithid.

I might be wrong but I don't think this is timed but triggered by the Absolute finding us when we enter the Goblin camp. If you never have the moment in which you are overpowered by the Absolute's presence and saved by the prism, you can explore the whole Underdark without meeting your Guardian. Up until this point we have also been lost, Edowin and his siblings were charged with looking for us.

I am not sure what happens if you completely avoid the camp.

I’d rather not go too far down a rabbit hole about this, because I’m really interested in people’s head canons, but the scene your referring to gets triggered when you first enter the goblin camp and you’re hit with that huge wave of telepathic energy telling you to transform. So it wasn’t the Guardian waiting, there’s an explanation in the game for the timing. I think the long rest system can be a little awkward sometimes when it comes to cutscenes like this. The Guardian is also still fighting the Honor Guard at this point, so their focus is in multiple places. I know The Emperor is manipulative, but I think he gets too much credit for doing things that have other, far more plausible explanations.

Oh, I forgot to add: Yes, they tadpoled us. They deserve full credit for that, lol.

I could be wrong but I think the timeline is accelerated on honor mode (which I know because I keep dying!) I suspect the second meeting is triggered by your first cure attempt - nettie, omelleum or Halsin. It might be also be triggered by meeting Nettie. Would be interesting to see how long you can go if you avoid both the goblin camp and the grove.

I'm certain that isn't true on honor mode at least because I just got it after the owlbear. Like right now in another window. I'm on day 3 and still haven't made it to camp!

The guardian started speaking to me after I met Nettie.

"why is this voice in my head telling me to check out the parasite? hearing voices isn't a good sign . . . "

Yes, the first time you hear from the Guardian is when you speak with Nettie and they tell you about the tadpole in the jar. As far as the moment when you’re about to transform and the Guardian shows up to stop that, that scene gets triggered by entering the goblin camp.

I'm telling you I am playing the game right now and I got the scene without going to goblin camp.

Interesting. I’ve played act 1 probably way too many times at this point, and I've only ever had the goblin camp trigger the transformation scene even when I’ve used tadpole powers. However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t another way to trigger that scene that I just haven’t come across yet.

The scene has 3 trigger locations;

• The bridge to the Goblin Camp
• The dirt path to the Mountain Pass left of the Goblin Camp
• The bridge guarded by the Githyanki patrol

Once the party experiences the Absolute's voice for the first time, the next long rest will be the stage 1 ceremorphosis scene + the Guardian swooping in. If one doesn't take a long rest though and tries leaving the act, it will trigger immediately too.

As for my head canon, personally if I don't munch any tadpoles then I like to think I'm fully pure afterwards. And if I do munch them, then I'm just better and slightly evolved.

I have more questions than theories, really.

We know that the crown originally was intended to attract and absorb magical knowledge, while granting them dominion over themselves and keeping them apart from the Weave. One of Gortash's notes states that they reversed the dominion effect so that they can influence the crown's wearer instead. Because they apparently didn't do anything about the other functions of the Crown, the Elderbrain evolved.

But what does that mean for the tadpoles. From what we learn from Wyll, his tadpole messes with his magic. The tadpole also seems to mess with Gale's orb, and protects Astarion from both Cazador and the Sun. I think none of the girls ever comment on the tadpole messing with their abilities in any way that an ordinary tadpole wouldn't. Karlach's heart-issue is explained by Faerûn being colder than Avernus.

We are also told that each time we use Illithid Wisdom to bend someone to our will, that we loose something of ourselves, though it isn't clearly stated what exactly we are loosing - a memory, a bit of our soul, a part of our personality?


Astarion being severed from Cazador makes sense, as the tadpoles are tools of domination and the tadpolees should only listen too one master. But what about the tadpole's magic protects Astarion from sunlight? (Though that might be a remnant from Karsus's Weave and the Shadow Weave having at one point been one thing.)

Magical absorbtion and separation from the Weave would explain both Wyll and Gale's problems. Having two magical absorption devices inside of you can't be good. Which makes me wonder if, once Gale's orb was stabilised, was the tadpole also connected to the Weave through the Orb? Also if the tadpole hinders Cazador's influence over Astarion, why does it not influence Mizora's power over Wyll? Or is this the reason why his warlock powers have weakened?

My head cannon:

Jergal brought the Dead Three back to life to save Kelemvor.

Some dataminers found that Jergal was serving us because he brought the dead three back to life. Now this has been removed from the story - so head cannon - but I think he did that to save Kelemvor.

Kelemvor was originally Lawful Good but when he started allowing the dead to repent in the afterlife he was but on trial and forced to keep many of the aspects of the portfolio he didn't like: wall of the faithless, fate of the false, deals with devils.

But he kept them and became an impartial judge of the doomed.

Unfortunately Kelemvor is in trouble after the spellplague. The god of murder has lost the portfolio, the god of necromancy is MIA as is the lord of Tyrants. Jergal knows that Kelemvor will be need to take on those portfolios unless someone else takes up the task. And this would change him entirely. He could no longer hate undead, no longer be an impartial judge, no longer wish that the dying pass peacefully. Instead he would be a god of murder, tyranny and necromancy -- just as Jergal was once upon a time.

Jergal doesn't want so see somone he respects be forced to become something he hates so bring the dead three back to life. And that makes AO very angry . . .