I'm ok with the emperor. I think it works better than "Daisy". The way I interpret it is that the emperor put the tadpole in you. Then, takes care of you while posting you to fight against the brain. But also has a conversation with you about how he used to be an adventurer before turning and about his independence from the brain is important to him. And at some point Ommelum question if his race is evolving. That for me is the key. The emperor is an evolution and, in a way, the illithid that you are becoming, the tadpole, is his "child". Or at least another like him. It is an attempt to create more independent Illithids like him. The illithid you might become won't be YOU, but the tadpole with your memories and part of your personality. A new being. I think that for the emperor, romance included, what he sees is the illithid you are supposed to become. Someone like him. In that sense, many things he says are "not lies" from his perspective. But of course he is not saying that you would be absorbed by the tadpole and no longer be you.
For me, they should have show that by taking away some choices (showing them in grey but not allowing to pick them) the more tadpoles you consume and the more illithid you have become. Since you are no longer you. But it is just my take.
