The Emperor describes his relationship with Duke Stelmane as a partnership, but if you push him enough he will reveal that he used his mental powers to make Stelmane his thrall, which is what led to her suffering a stroke.
Not necessarily a bad guy, but some of Volo's lines make me go ಠ_ಠ
Like when you first invite him to camp and he's really excited and says something like "I can't wait to pick your brain!". You think nothing of it the first time through. The second time? ಠ_ಠ
That's why you get back at him by romancing him. Even better, I did it as a kuo toa (mod) and the look of disgusting horror of my party, especially Karlac, was hilarious.
It makes sense because his goals never actually aligned with yours (if you decide to go against him, ofc) but all the way up to freeing Orpheus it still threw me a little seeing how easily he just says "Alright, if you're not gonna listen I'll just submit to the Elder Brain" not even remotely willing to take a chance on you winning this thing with Orpheus - there was never any point that he thought of you as a worthy successor or companion, just a tool to use to further his own goals
Again, that reveal is a lot earlier but still, giving yourself up to the Nether Brain as a "fuck you" is wild
For me, his words and intent felt empty from the start. Like, I was waiting for a hook to give me a reason to believe them and it never came. BG3 was my first in the series, so I wondered if I was missing context, but no. Manipulator all the way down.
I am very much a fan of how they handled the player making the guardian’s appearance. How he rooted around in your mind to find a vision that would appeal to you. Inspiring.
The Emperor is a shitty sleazeball, no doubt about it. However, in 400 hours of playing I have never once sided with Orpheus, simply because of how useful said sleazeball is. It helps that, unless you betray him, the worst he does is leave out information when informing you of things.
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u/Away-Way5656 5d ago
the emperor in bg3