Baldur’s Gate 3 players are uncovering more and more details about the Emperor, and it’s got them asking questions about everyone’s favorite illithid entity.
The Emperor has always been one of the more controversial characters in Baldur’s Gate 3. Outside of someone like Minthara and some of the other companions, there isn’t a figure that divides the community more, mostly because he’s very hard to read. Having tentacles instead of a mouth definitely helps with the poker face.
The community has gone back and forth on the Emperor ever since the game was released. On the one hand, he’s a great asset in the fight against the Absolute, and he’s even romanceable if you can get past all the tentacles.
On the other hand, he’s a manipulative liar who catfishes you and pressures you to eat mind-altering tadpoles. It’s a tough call. But now, players are starting to spot additional little details in his behavior that make the Emperor seem far more sinister.
Baldur’s Gate 3 players still aren’t sure about the Emperor
One player highlighted a “small, cruel detail” in a late-game interaction with the Emperor that had them seeing him in a different light.
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They said: “At the very end of Act 2, if you succeed the will save to reject the astral tadpole, he forces your hand to close around it.
“I’ve seen people say that he is “good” if you believe in him, but I believe his intentions from the start are to turn you illithid. He spends all of Act 1 encouraging you to embrace the powers, and if you do even once he knows you can barely resist when he presents you with the astral tadpole. And this subtle act is so sneakily sinister.
“I never experienced him as a good guy, but it wasn’t until my last run that he fully directly told me that I am his puppet, and if I don’t obey by choice he threatens to simply puppeteer me.”
Still, that maliciousness hasn’t stopped quite a few people from following the romance quest with the Emperor, which is needed to 100% the game.
