You’re standing in the Astral Plane, and the person you’ve spent forty hours designing—the one you thought was your guardian—just turned into a tentacled monster. It’s the ultimate "wait, what?" moment in Baldur’s Gate 3. Suddenly, everything you thought about the Emperor flips on its head. Was he actually helping you? Or were you just a useful idiot for a cosmic parasite?
Honestly, the Emperor is probably the most divisive character Larian Studios ever cooked up. Some players see him as a tragic hero who did what was necessary. Others think he’s a gaslighting manipulator who deserves a Greatsword through the face. Both might be right.
The Balduran Twist: Not Your Average Hero
For a long time, the game keeps the Emperor’s "human" identity under wraps. You find out eventually—usually through a heart-wrenching (and literal) dragon fight—that the Emperor was once Balduran. Yeah, the Balduran. The guy who founded the city. The legendary adventurer from the history books.
But there’s a catch. In Dungeons & Dragons lore, ceremorphosis—the process of turning into a Mind Flayer—usually kills the host. The soul is gone. What’s left is a new creature with the host's memories. So, is the Emperor actually Balduran? Or is he just a psychic copy wearing Balduran's skin like a cheap suit?
The game actually gives us a massive clue in the Wyrmway. When you meet the undead dragon Ansur, he doesn’t see a monster; he sees his old friend. He tries to "mercy kill" the Emperor because he can't stand to see what his friend has become. The Emperor kills him in self-defense. That's heavy. It suggests that even if the soul is technically gone, the personality is so strong it basically hijacked the Mind Flayer's brain.
Why He Lied to You
Basically, he knew you’d hate him. If a Mind Flayer pops up on day one and says, "Hey, trust me," you're going to Smite it. No questions asked. By appearing as your Dream Visitor, he built a "bond."
It’s manipulation, sure. But from his perspective, it’s survival. He needed a "thrall" that didn't know they were a thrall. He didn't just want your help; he needed you to believe in the cause.
The Duke Stelmane Incident: The Truth Is Darker
If you want to know if the Emperor is "evil," look at what he did to Duke Stelmane. During the game, he describes her as a "partner." He makes it sound like they were a power couple running the Knights of the Shield.
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If you push him too hard—if you’re constantly a jerk or keep telling him you don’t trust him—the mask slips. He’ll show you a psychic vision of the "real" relationship. He didn't partner with her. He broke her mind. He turned her into a puppet.
This is the "Emperor is a villain" smoking gun. He’s capable of total psychological enslavement while smiling and calling it a friendship. If he did it to her, what's stopping him from doing it to you once the Netherbrain is dead?
Is Siding With Orpheus Actually Better?
When you get to the end of Act 3, you have a massive choice: give the Emperor the Netherstones or free Prince Orpheus.
Here is the thing most people miss: the Emperor isn't being dramatic when he says freeing Orpheus is a death sentence for him. Orpheus hates Mind Flayers. He is the prince of a race that exists solely to commit genocide against Illithids. If you free him, the Emperor literally has no choice but to flee back to the Netherbrain to avoid being executed by Orpheus on the spot.
- If you side with the Emperor: He stays loyal. He helps you kill the brain. He leaves the city in peace afterward (unless you tell him to rule it). He actually keeps his word.
- If you side with Orpheus: Someone has to become a Mind Flayer anyway. If it’s not the Emperor, it has to be you, Karlach, or Orpheus himself.
It’s a "lesser of two evils" situation. The Emperor is a pragmatist. He wants to live. Orpheus is a martyr. He wants his people free, even if it costs him everything.
The Voice Behind the Tentacles
Scott Joseph, the voice actor for the Emperor, has talked a lot about the "Schrödinger’s Narrative" of this character. Larian designed him so that your perception of him actually changes the "truth" of the story. If you treat him like an ally, he acts like one. If you treat him like a monster, he shows you exactly how much of a monster he can be.
The devs didn't want a "Good" or "Evil" label. They wanted a character that makes you feel uncomfortable about your own choices.
How to Handle Your Next Playthrough
If you're staring at the Astral Prism and wondering what to do, keep these actionable insights in mind:
- Check the Elfsong Tavern: There’s a secret hideout under the tavern. Go there. Finding his old stuff (like his favorite butter fork) adds a layer of humanity to him that makes the final choice much harder.
- The "Non-Trust" Path: If you want to see his true colors, keep picking the "I don't trust you" options. The dialogue changes significantly and gets much more threatening.
- Karlach’s Sacrifice: If you want the "heroic" ending without losing Orpheus’s soul or your own humanity, let Karlach volunteer. It’s bittersweet, but it solves her engine problem and lets the Emperor go his own way.
The Emperor isn't just a boss or a quest giver. He’s a mirror. Whatever you see in him says more about your playstyle than it does about the lore. Whether he’s the savior of Baldur’s Gate or its greatest hidden threat is entirely up to how much of his BS you’re willing to swallow.
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To get the most out of your Act 3 experience, make sure you complete the "Save Vanra" questline first, as the hags' lore actually ties into some of the deeper themes of biological horror and manipulation found in the Emperor's own arc.