The Emperor: Difference between revisions

| description = The Emperor is a mind flayer NPC in Baldur's Gate, who acts as an ally for most of the game.

| full name = The Emperor

| image = The Emperor.png

| va = [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1517710/ Scott Joseph]

| role = [[Temporary companion]]

| race = [[Mind flayer]]

| type=Aberration

| size=Medium

'''The Emperor''' is a [[mind flayer]] who appears in [[Baldur's Gate 3]]. It{{note|The Emperor, like other mind flayers, is addressed using the "it" pronoun. It is incidentally referred to as "he" in-game, and "they" in the game's files, possibly due to an oversight, or characters conflating its current and previous identities.}} plays a key role in the main story, but its identity is intentionally obscured until later parts of the game, allowing the player to ultimately decide for themselves if they want to know more about it, and whether or not it is trustworthy.

The Emperor plays a key role in the main story of [[Baldur's Gate 3]], and as part of this role its identity and personal background are kept obfuscated for much of the game. It very carefully divulges information that it deems necessary, sometimes arguing that the player is not ready for the answer yet, or that it will reveal specific information in the future.

During Acts One and Two, the Emperor only "meets" with the player as the [[Dream Guardian]]. At the beginning of Act Three, the player finally meets the Emperor face to face, an event which reveals that it is a mind flayer.  

After reaching the [[Elfsong Tavern]] in Act Three, the Emperor will initiate the quest [[Visit the Emperor's Old Hideout]], in which the player can better get to know the Emperor. It discloses some of its past, during its time in the city and from before it became illithid.

The Emperor can appear in multiple combat encounters as a controllable ally, a neutral ally, or an enemy. It cannot, however, become a full member of the player's party or camp.  

The Emperor can have a romance with the player during Act Three. See [[#Romance_2|Romance]].

[[File:Balduran1.png|left|thumb|200px|''An Adventurer, I came from Baldur's Gate, though I was never one to be constrained by circumstance. I longed for more.'']]

[[File:Balduran2.png|left|thumb|200px|''That longing brought me to Moonrise Towers on a search for treasure. To a colony of mind flayers who caught me and changed me.'']]

 

Balduran's new acceptance of its illithid form caused a wedge to form between it and its close companion, the dragon [[Ansur]]. Ansur attempted to kill Balduran as it slept, believing this would be a merciful death. The Emperor sensed the attempt, and in its struggle to protect itself from being murdered, it killed Ansur in self-defence. {{ref|Dialogue with [[Ansur]].|name=ansur}}

After Ansur's death, Balduran came to be called the Emperor as it used its newfound psychic influence to rule Baldur's Gate from the shadows. For the next four centuries, it made its haven under the Elfsong tavern, keeping various sentimental knick knacks from its time as Balduran.  

During those four centuries, it also came to be associated with the Knights of the Shield, a lawful and neutral evil conglomerate of politicians and merchants manipulating events behind the scenes. [[Belynne Stelmane|Duke Stelmane]] was a major figure of this secret society, acting as the Emperor's envoy while it secretly kept her enthralled. {{note|name=stelmaneModule}}  

Sometime before the events of the game, [[Enver Gortash]] and [[the Dark Urge]] captured the Emperor, and brought it back under the thrall of the Moonrise Elder Brain, who was now wearing the Crown of Karsus and had become the Netherbrain masquerading as the [[Absolute]]. The Netherbrain, sought to have all three Chosen of the Dead Three killed, and specifically picked the Emperor, unbeknown to it, to lead a team of illithids on a nautiloid to search for and steal from the [[Githyanki]] the Astral Prism containing their prince, Orpheus.{{ref|[[The Netherbrain]]'s dialogue to the player at the [[Morphic Pool]].}}{{clear}}

}}

After defending the Emperor, it will explain how it used the power of the Prism and [[Orpheus]] to protect the party from the Absolute, and recite to the party its [[#History|history]] as an adventurer and finding freedom from the Absolute. The Emperor will offer the party an [[Astral-Touched_Tadpole|Astral Touched Tadpole]], which causes the user to transform into a [[partial-illithid]]. It insists the path of the mind flayer is preferable, regardless of the player's view on them.  

Though this may seen contradictory to its previous promise as the Dream Guardian; to ensure the party do not become mind flayers, this promise refers to the player becoming a mind flayer unwillingly because of the Elder Brain. The Emperor is in favour of the player becoming a mind flayer of their own volition and without the influence of the Elder Brain.

As the party nears the [[Elfsong Tavern|Elfsong]], the Emperor will remark that the tavern is the location of its old hideout. The hideout proper is in the basement, past the Knights of the Shield's hideout. In it, the player will find various sentimental knick knacks from the Emperor's previous life, before becoming an illithid.  

Once the party completes the Wyrmway trials, they will find the corpse of [[Ansur]] the Dragon. Interacting with his body will awaken Ansur's spirit, which briefly possesses the player in order to communicate. As Ansur's introduction concludes, he will detect the Emperor within the Astral Prism.

This development is somewhat foreshadowed when the player first meets The Emperor in their true form, as the song that plays during the encounter is a variation of [[The Elf Song]], which prominently features Balduran in its lyrics.}}

:The Emperor unless convinced otherwise is mostly concerned with its survival and prosperity. Should the player allow it to wield the Netherstones, it will follow through on destroying the Elder Brain, at the cost of letting it "assimilate" with [[Orpheus]].  

:If the player suggests to the Emperor to take control of the Netherbrain, it will mention that the thought of becoming the [[Absolute]] did cross its mind. But unless otherwise persuaded, it will refuse, claiming that whoever becomes the leader of the [[Cult of the Absolute]] will be in an open war with the [[Githyanki]], which is a war it is not certain it will survive. The Emperor will destroy [[the Netherbrain]], and the parasites within its control in this ending.

:It is also possible, after suggesting it to take control of the Netherbrain, to persuade it. In this scenario, it does not free the player or their party, instead making them mindless thralls and assuming absolute control of them, continuing the Grand Design.  

:If the player frees Orpheus, the Emperor will abandon the party, and side with [[the Netherbrain]] for the sake of its own survival, as it believes that Orpheus will kill it.

{{hatnote|See [[Dream Guardian]] to read about its previous conversations with the player when it was in disguise.}}

Players have a limited number of opportunities to interact with the Emperor, and as such, opportunities for conversation are much more limited compared to that of [[companions]].  

Conversation scenes are available, but only occur during Act 3, after its "true" identity is revealed to the player, and all scenes require a long rest to trigger. The Emperor will occasionally also talk to the player as they walk through different locations in [[Baldur's Gate]].

Depending on the player's choices, the Emperor's behaviour has many possible states. The more the player treats the Emperor like a "person", the more it will act as such, compared to other illithids. The more the player treats The Emperor like a monstrosity with hostile intent, the more it will respond to the player with threatening language and visions of it acting like a hostile illithid.  

During ''Help Your Protector'' at the start of Act 3, a conversation is automatically triggered when the player ventures far enough into the [[Astral Plane]]. A combat encounter in some form is inevitable from this conversation, and then another set of conversation options are available after the combat resolves. The Emperor will have nothing further to say when this conversation ends, even if the player tries to interact with it further.

When the player first explores the [[Rivington]] area, being in proximity to certain characters or objects will "inform" the player about the recent death of [[Belynne Stelmane|Duke Belynne Stelmane]]. This will trigger a line of ambient commentary from The Emperor. The next time a Long Rest is triggered, the player ''may'' trigger a scene discussing The Emperor's reactions in more depth. Certain dialogue choices made during earlier conversations seem to disqualify the player from this scene. If the player does not long rest before ''completing'' the quest ''Visit the Emperor's Old Hideout'', this scene will be skipped entirely.

This scene ''may'' be available to trigger (by long resting) after the player completes the quest Visit the Emperor's Old Hideout.

Possible states for this scene appear to vary ''heavily'' depending on the player's choices in prior conversation scenes, with the general differentiating factor being the "attitude" the player appears to express towards illithids, and towards the Emperor, through their selected options in these prior scenes.

If the player tried to kill the Emperor in Act One, by choosing the dialogue option "''You do a great impression of a human. But you're not fooling me.''" , the Emperor offers to share memories through a vision. This vision shows Stelmane paralysed in pain, being brainwashed, and turning into the Emperor's puppet. Her face emotionless, and the Emperor puppeteering her gestures to get a sense of company. Such was its true relationship with Duke Stelmane. {{note|The Emperor's vision of its control over [[Belynne Stelmane]] is corroborated by the 5e module, ''{{FRWiki|Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus}}''. In it, Stelmane is described as having a secret, mental battle against a mind flayer. This mind flayer is very likely the Emperor itself, and as a result, puts its entire "alliance" with Stelmane into question. It is very possible the Emperor and Stelmane did not have a proper alliance at all, and rather, the Emperor enthralled her for its needs. Whether this was always the case, or if they had a genuine alliance beforehand, isn't fully clear.|name=stelmaneModule}}

The Emperor uses this memory to frighten the player. It gives them orders, and threatens to make them half-illithid even if they refuse.

In terms of game mechanics, it is technically possible to [[romance]] the Emperor. {{note|This romance behaves somewhat differently from that with companions, as the Emperor generally cannot be interacted with outside of cutscenes, and romantic progression is limited to the final act of the game.}}

 

Players have a limited number of opportunities to interact with the Emperor, and as such, opportunities for romantically-styled interactions are ''much more limited'' compared to the other primary [[companions]].

If the player visits [[Crèche Y'llek]] prior to the start of Act 3, killing the [[Dream Guardian]] will subsequently lock the player out of romancing the Emperor, and from interacting with it in general.  

There are many possible ways to interact with the Emperor in the available conversation scenes. It currently ''seems'' that the primary way to unlock "romantic" options is by choosing dialogue that generally treats the Emperor more like "any other person", and does not show explicit hostility towards its actions, or its illithid characteristics.

The player does not need to accept the powers of the [[Astral-Touched Tadpole]] to unlock this option. The Emperor seems to take offence to destroying the tadpole, but more testing is needed to determine if this has any effect on the available scenes.

The scene that occurs after completing [[Visit the Emperor's Old Hideout]] is generally regarded as the "primary" romantic scene. As long as the player is receptive to the Emperor's advances, conclusions to this scene will allow the player to engage in more intimate activities with it.

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|alt-file2-px=250Emperor Concept Art.png|Concept Art

==Notes==

 

 

[[Category:Temporary Companions]]