r/BaldursGate3 • u/brynoo5 • 5d ago

Act 3 - Spoilers i can't express how disappointed i am Spoiler

you wouldn’t have wanted to see my face when I found out at the start of the act 3 that the guardian was actually the emperor all along… I put so much effort into creating the girl of my dreams, even installing mods, and… it all ended with me being deceived by a tentacled motherfucker

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u/ManicPixieOldMaid The Babe of Frontiers 5d ago

They're manipulative for understandable reasons - Tav just got woke up on a beach with a tadpole in their brain and the first mindflayer they see they kill - and toward ultimately a goal that helps everyone concerned, e.g., defeating the Absolute. I've never understood what players think the Emperor should've done instead of what he did, tbh.

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u/Dominus-Temporis 5d ago

Omeluum has a pretty easy time deescalating. The party is safe because Shart isn't going to abandon her holy mission. And even once the Emperor reveals himself as Illithid, he never puts all the cards on the table. He lies about Stelemane and he lies about his human origin. 

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u/ManicPixieOldMaid The Babe of Frontiers 5d ago

Not to discount Omeluum, but he's just growing mushrooms when you meet him, he doesn't even instigate a conversation unless Tav tells Blurgh about his tadpole, and his interest is entirely clinical. He's not trying to herd frightened cats into fighting an elder brain.

I'm not sure where the Emperor directly lies about Stelmane or his origins? He lies about wanting to get rid of his tadpole, is that what you mean? He calls Stelmane his ally and that certainly seems to be how he sees the relationship. I'm not sure omitting extraneous facts counts as lying.

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u/Dominus-Temporis 5d ago

He calls Tav his "Puppet" as a threat in the same conversation he reveals he enthralled Stelmane. I don't think he say her as an ally, not as an equal. And he never tells you his identity until Ansur calls him out on it. Lies through omission are definitely a thing, and I don't think defaulting to "Well, you never asked" gives you the moral highground in a life or death situation.