THIS

he has no stones and he was torturer of mortheus, and he killed most of his royal guards, of course there is still need of illithid but who can guarantee that mortheus wont kill emperor and turns himself? so his joining absolute is just simple calculation of risks, I remind you that illithid is pure rational creature, they have no "soul"/"heart" to do irrational things

he has calculated this to be his biggest chance of survival, that's all. Sometimes you gotta do 180° turns to zig-zag and survive the shots taken at you

@@kiemugen9830 "simple calculation" ← this *is* the 180°. Because survival is what he cares for, not loyalty.

Really, doing the Wyrmway destroyed my last vestiges of trust in the Emperor.

same energy of: You won't kill me. Proceeds to kill them.

@@GentleBreeze-72I had the same kind of interaction with Vlaakith, after she asked me to kill my guardian (The emperor) I told her that if she was a god she surely could kill anyone, anywhere. She proceeded to instantly kill me.

@@DOPSTARZzz i just hope it wasn't Honour mode 💀

​@@DOPSTARZzzOne of the funniest moments of the game. But it makes me wonder, if she has the power to delete you at will, why does she impotently threaten you at your camp later if Lae'zel refuses her final pitch, or send her goons to kill you throughout the rest of the game? I don't know if the game ever explains that, maybe it's something about the creche that amplifies her ability to project power there?

@@plain_simple_garakshe kills you using a wish spell, which has text saying that there is a 1/3 chance that you can never cast wish again. So, you can’t go around casting that spell willy-nilly, but the Tav questioning her godhood pisses her off so much that she casts it in an act of hubris.

Emperor even is a worse mindflayer than the Prince....

He’s in total control of them though

@@BigCountryProductionsMma Why do you think that? The Netherbrain ordered the transformation, Emperor just removed his protection.

@@Zebwak play through again and don’t trust a word he says. You’ll see.

@@Zebwak call all his bullshit, anything that feels off call it out. He slips

The true extent of godhood

And Salamaster, don't forget Salamaster

yeah, she REALLY doesn't like a smartass. Now theres a lady that could use a dozen cats.

You mean you didn't learn that was a bad idea on your first couple of playthroughs?

I laughed my ass off

I lost my first Honor mode run in the same way. Had only played tactician once before, and I didn't know that specific dialog choice consequences. So after butchering Ch'r'ai W'wargaz and his goons like they were nothing, I had so much self-confidence that I disrespected Vlaakith to look good in Shadowheart's eyes, and lost an over 70 hours long run because of this😅

@@riffgroove yea… it just hasn’t been something I’ve experienced, and thus didn’t know. Nothing the game did wrong to end it. Purely my fault, but it was a bit annoying. I also don’t get her whole thing from that interaction. I told her if she was a God, then why couldn’t she do it herself; at which point she got angry and just made everyone in the room die. So like… why can’t she do her dirty work, but she can just make us die by looking at us? Idk… I’m a bit salty, and maybe a bit racist with the gith… just never really liked them.

Cartoons --> Anime --> Tentacle Hentai "So easily persuaded, so quick to turn."

Say that for yourself. I piss him off first chance I get, and when we meet in the final battle he's always the first priority

yeah, this video is very well labeled, those were stupid choices to end the game.

A campaign to tear down the Ascendant Emperor would be astounding... until it met your players.

​@@arc_1704tbh another reason why it's stupid is that the party had ample time to attack the Emperor after he said he's gonna munch on the brain, instead they all just stand there as they like to do

@@Warland3r Like the players would actually stand a chance at that point. the guy ain't called Emperor for nothing, Orpheus was just like 3 feet away & the meal would only take seconds to finish. the players would get less than one turn of time to do anything by that point, & they'd be against a damn powerful being who's held his own against very seasoned githyanki warriors pretty all on his own for weeks, if not months.

@@FalconWindblader "that very powerful being" dies in turn 1 along with a dragon a 4 peasants, in DnD 1 turns is 6 seconds, so let's divide it by 2 since you don't have to kill the dragon and yeah, you can totally kill the Emperor before he kills Orpheus. Also in one of the illithid endings you can end Emperor yourself in about a second, when you don't waste time talking. This crazy OP dude whatever you wanna call him gets stun blasted and goodbye. And finally - they could just attack while he's having his super long "you're screwed" monologue before he even really does anything.

I lost mine due to a glitch

It’s painful bc you can do a similar run and deny him/join Orpheus

You mean you went into honour mode with untested options and dialogues? Dude...

You mean you remember what happened every action ​@@joaobranco2164

I left the orphic hammer at camp, so even though I didn't give him the stones, the same thing happened

It was an illithid so it made sense. People humanising it and dumping their trust into it rather than doing their own diligence deserve anything that comes. Still, siding with the Emperor rather than with Orpheus is worse cuz the evil litch doesn’t get her comeuppance, plus the Emperor is useless in combat.

In the moment You discover how he kill his friend You should realize he isnt good. Just a selfish squid trying to save himself

And there's people out there doing all sorts of mental gymnastics trying to defend him. "What about all these other evil people in your party? They can do bad things too!" You mean the ones you can talk down and get to shift to the side of good the way you can't with the emperor? "But if you blindly follow him, I mean help him, he won't betray you!" No crap. Of course if you do what he wants he doesn't turn hostile. The point is that it's literally his way or the highway. Your companions you can talk down from most situations Not this guy. This guy there's one and only one way to play nice with him. He will NOT stand down and look for an alternative. And he's wrong too. Orpheus does work with you and doesn't kill you if you turn ilithid. Meaning he very well might have worked with the emperor against the greater threat. Maybe. We never get the chance because the emperor never trusts us. He's a really good actor, but you can see how easily he betrays us. Orpheus will work with you as an ilithid, he'll work with karlach as an illithid, hell, he'll even turn into an illithid himself to stop the netherbrain. He might have been willing to work with the emperor... The emperor don't care about the party. So long as they remain useful and do things his way, he's happy.

​​​​@@Creshosk Just finished the game for the first time. I was sure, that giving him the stones was the end either way. There lots of lore here and there regarding illithid behavior. I'm really surprised how out of character was his way of dealing with netherbrain in the end. Like, I completely expected him to just assume control of the "absolute" there and you as a player had to stop him at the last moment. Instead he said something about "can't face githyanki with this power". I don't buy this at all. In my playthrough, I think, I went with the most logical course of action. Raphael is willing to make contract with you to get the crown. Even if you don't accept it, that's the most crucial information in the game imo. At this point, we don't know how Orpheus will behave, but what we do know - if Orpheus was to betray you, Raphael would never bet his crown ambition on him, and instead would've tried the emperor approach. Therefore, it's logical, that the Orpheus route would most likely work, since again, Raphael, wants the crown "more than anything in the world", so providing us with the wrong plan would backfire his goals, that's why he is so eager to deliver the means for it too - hammer itself. This way, I decided to free Orpheus, without taking Raphael's deal (just getting logical conclusions from it). The moment when emperor did 180, I knew, I had done the right choice. I though, in the alternative version he would do that later either way, but in that timeline he would have had the stones, so fighting him would have been much more risky. So, I am really disappointed that Orpheus, with a power to resist netherbrain, still wasn't able to use netherstones without illithid help. That's really off. And was disappointed that emperor doesn't betray you if you give him the stones. Just to not "upset" players who trusted him ig? I don't get why you ever would.. They could've easily just provided you with a fail save option to fight him off in the end where you decide the brains fate after he says something like "thanks, that's all I ever wanted" (it's still lame to say that out loud for him, but ob well, I'm not a plot writer, they can figure out it better)

@@elion4245 Why would the emperor side with the netherbrain? It wants to be free of its influence, it has been under its influence multiple times before, and still, just before the final confrontation it admits to having underestimated and being manipulated by the brain. If the options are a) kill the netherbrain, and b) give up on killing it, allow it to become stronger and dominate it, at least in the short term, then even if not killing the brain weren't the chaotic stupid thing to do, it is contrary to the emperor's only goal besides survival. Even if we assume that the emperor could somehow keep the thing dominated literally forever, regardless of whether it's true or not, the emperor seems to believe the brain when it says it has manipulated the plot all along, from far before it was ever out of the control of the crown. And again, being free from the brains machinations is the one thing it wants.

I use keyboard and mouse. I only ever use the number keys for dialogue options. Mouse is far too risky in proper RPGs. =)

That's essentially what happened to me in my first Honor playthrough. Though it was while fighting Ansur, after beating Raphel. I clicked the wrong button, cancelling the Globe of Invulnerability surrounding my entire party 1 second before Ansur 1-shot everyone... I did not make that mistake the 2nd time :P

@@Nexovus Ouch.

@@ArDeeMee Yeaaah, with about 70 hours in that playthrough alone lol. I just sat there in shock for about 5 minutes then started a new game hahaha

Well, that’s why they make you choose it twice.

He is "practical good" he will try to do good and HAS done good in the past, but he will not do so at the eventual cost of his own freedom or live. And if you do something that might put either of these two in danger he WILL stop you.

@@mermidion7552 no. He isnt good. You can Even find out how his "good actions" we're just schemes and he controled the mind of his allies in order to act at his will.

⁠@@mermidion7552nah he’s not good, the game heavily hints that he is just manipulating you the whole time and has no real feelings. He even reveals this himself when you choose the rude rejection on his romance. He only cares about himself and views you as an asset he can use to his advantage.

That's what is called pragmatism. From his own perspective, he does what he thinks he has to do, and the criticallity of the situation means the use of extreme measures. If I had to match it with the alignment system of DnD, I'd say he is purely neutral, like a machine would be, or even neutral evil. Or in other words, it's the attitude where the end justify the means, and that is generally considered quite an evil stance, regardeless of your goals. Evil people can do good, if it's in their own interest. Good people can make bad choices and do pretty horrible things, when they are misguided.

@@theslay66 i'm not going to read all that crap. Cause the emperor kill His Best friend, He mind controlled a counselor for his own benefit and lied that she was his lover. He sacrifices anyone who cannot benefit from it and refuses to assist them. Thats not "kind off" evil. Is pure evil

still lost tho cause balduran is only reason u still live

@@zeamjang7958 Orpheus extends his protection to you if the Emperor leaves in the other endings. As long as you kept Orpheus alive, you should be fine.

yeah he could have done it if he kept the stones and then said F* you to Balduran lol. But without them anything he would have done but siding with the emperor would have lead to demise, like it did.

@@GentleBreeze-72 He hadn't left yet. Instead of standing around, just attack him and take the stones back.

@@juanlaise1059 true didnt think of it

lae zel wants you to sell your soul to the devil for her tribe, i think thats much more villany

But he still chose to do what he did.

@@simonpaulet7681 chose to do what? Protect you from the nether brain?

The final bits of the game are definitely the weaker parts of the game. Orpheus, the son of a god not being able to wield the neatherstones to stop the brain. No way to persuade the Emperor to give Orpheus a chance.

@@unionblue21 The second one does make sense. Orpheus hates the Emperor both as Ghaik and personally and had the power to instantly kill him by removing the protection. Releasing Orph is just such a massive, cataclysmic risk that Emps won’t do it. Orph has NO reason to keep him alive and EVERY reason to kill him off

@@unionblue21 Orpheus hails from a time where they've just broken off from the ghaik's leash. his hatred for ghaik is first hand & very VERY personal. there's just no convincing a person who has made their life mission specifically to destroy a very specific something, in just a moment's notice.

​@@FalconWindbladerI don't know, he seemed pretty chill. Also I would prefer for us to be able to try and fail.

@@UTFx13007 Of course he seems chill, he's royalty after all. You can't go about leading your people to war & greatness if you go about throwing tantrums when things don't go your way, or hell, just people saying or doing things you don't like hearing or seeing. Chill-looking people can still have a lotta bottled up fury & hate & resentment in them, & i speak from personal experience.

Its the player's fault for not picking the attack option.

Doing that AFTER he gobs down such juicy brain would amount to nothing. Orpheus is dead and so are you not a moment later.

Lmao "I gave the Emperor the netherstones and refused to work with him. We're fucked!"

you were part human, part tadpole. What's different here is that the protection that stops the tadpole taking over is now removed.

Lae'zel wants to free Orpheus, and you agree after giving the Netherstones to the Emperor. I've never done this path before, but I've given the Emperor the Netherstones before and all has been well. I imagine it's Lae'zel/Oprheus tripping the character up here.

The "best" choice in this scenario is to side with Orpheus, let him turn into a mindflayer then kill him when he asks you to. You essentially avoid TWO Grand Designs, the normal one and a githyanki specific one many don't talk about, dunno if DnD 5e threw that under the bus but I doubt they did.

Well I want to say by killing Orph he gains the extra resistance needed to stand against the Nether brain, right? Their whole thing is absorbing brains and memories and such. He is the one using Orpheus' latent mental abilities and utilizing the prism at the same time, killing him there just screws that defense up since you don't know how to do it. That's always how I interpreted it though.

I interpret it as: the first time you meet the Emperor in Illithid form, Orpheus hasn't yet decided to help you. Kill the Emperor, and it can no longer channel Orpheus' protection to you. But this time at the end of the game, Orpheus has realized he needs you. So after the Emperor leaves, Orpheus chooses to continue protecting you. After the Emperor eats Orpheus, it now has Orpheus' powers and continues to protect you.

Orpheus is "awake" all the time, this is made explicit in this particular scene. You don't have to explain the whole situation because he's heard it all and says that the Emperor was right, therefore why he still protects you when freed to know if you or anyone in your party will turn, if not he knows he has no choice. I like how people blame their lack of attention to the details on the writers. Way too often for BG3.

@@genkureshima9834 wtf are you saying

Except turning Karlach into a squid is the way to save her life from her engine. Any other ending only buys her time at best. So turning Karlach into a player is arguably a good ending for her.

@@raikaria3090 But when you turn into a mind flayer you die, like straight up. You don't even have a soul anymore to like move on to a better place. It's literally not karlach anymore, it's a mindflayer who thinks it's karlach because her memories are the ones it started with when it was "born" She has to eat brains to survive and with every one she eats she becomes less karlach and more of a hivemind

@@raikaria3090 Even though if she goes to avernus with Wyll/romanced Tav, she reveals she has found plans for a way to fix her engine in Avernus. Honestly becoming a flayer is a fate worse than death. If she goes to Avernus with the Blade of Avernus/Tav, that is her best ending by a country mile.

The "cleanest" solution is to have Gale blow up in act 3. Noone becomes a mindflayer. Yes, Gale dies, but at least his soul is still there. Also, you can get the emperor to reveal his thoughts to you, admitting he was just manipulating and gaslighting you the entire time, while switching to threats to control you.

@@HistoricMold440 I think the developers intend it to be different here, so she survives and stays herself.

No wonder Larian has refused to make BG4 or DLCs for 3. Still refrain from overtrusting them, tho. They listen to community feedback, and that's all fine and dandy BUT not many know Starbreeze/Overkill, and those who do either know better or not, no middle ground

Because while you hold the nether stones you have a higher chance of beating him, and if he stops focusing on Orpheus for one moment, then Orpheus can wake up and help in the attack (especially if you free him during the fight. Also, the Emperor doesn’t honestly want the Netherbrain to win. True he puts his own survival above all else, but he wasn’t lying about wanting to get rid of the Netherbrain. It’s part of the reason why I generally work with him. Sure he’s out for himself more than anything. But all he really wanted (good or bad) was to run his city, not rule the galaxy (which is what the Gith want to do). Is he manipulative? Definitely. Has he done some bad things? Yep. But the player can also be a manipulative person (intimidation/persuasion), and do some horrendous things to… so turn about fair play lol.

Well the emperor is still illithid my dude. He's a sentient zombie, he is not Balduran. As for your logic, idk... turning you over and withholding protection is the only move that makes sense because he literally switched sides and you are in the way of his safety. At that point, you're expendable. There is 0 reason why, if he IS the reason you didn't turn and Orpheus' power needs to be channelled, he didn't just make you transform and follow the Absolute. He wants to live. If he is in control , more or less, of the parasites, and you are the obstacle to his survival, it makes 0 sense that he wouldn't make you transform and become enthralled. That's assuming that Orpheus' power needs to be channelled, rather than him radiating a disruptive psionic energy. So you have two plot holes, depending on what is true. Plothole one: the Emperor dying should not have transformed you into a mindflayer, or caused the Absolute to "find you" because Orpheus' protection is not something that needs to be actively channelled, not to mention that the Astral Plane is realms away from where the brain is. Mere psionic power, even that of an elder brain, does NOT transcend planar boundaries, and you can confirm this in the rulebook. Elder Brains don't even cover entire realms, let alone multi-realm space. Plothole two: if the power to disrupt elder brain communication DOES need to be channeled, then as soon as the Emperor turns you, you should by all means be screwed. Forcing you to ally with the Emperor against the honor guard is done to force the plot against the boundaries of lore, in the first case., which is confirmed later, based on the outcome of the Emperor changing sides (i.e., no outcome). @@CabinetofThorns

@@greyngreyer5 I know he’s not Bauldie Ron (lol). Does make me wonder if you trust Oolum, who is also an Illithid. Also you forget that by Act 3, the Elder Brain is now a Nether Brain, which plays by different rules and can clearly travel dimensions. The game doesn’t force you to side with the Emperor during the fight with the Honor Guard, it is encouraged though, because the Emperor will fight along with the Honor Guard, because they see you as a thrall/illithid. As for Orpheus’ power, I think it’s a bit of both. When Orpheus is asleep, it’s radial, but when he’s awake he can shut it off. At best I think the Emperor can give Orpheus’ power some direction, but he doesn’t have full control over it (otherwise he wouldn’t need to eat Orpheus’s brain I’m thinking). If I’m understanding you’re first plot hole, if both Orpheus and the Emperor are dead, then the power would be gone, and again, the Brain at this point is a Nether Brain, so it’s stronger than a regular Elder Brain. Plot Hole Two: Like I said, I don’t think the Emperor can really channel the power, at least not while Orpheus is alive, he can just give it some direction.

@@CabinetofThorns Like I said, I don’t think the Emperor can really channel the power, at least not while Orpheus is alive, he can just give it some direction. Okay. Now that we can start from something, I ask again: why does the brain find us when we kill the emperor, but not when he switches sides? And no, I never trusted Omeluum, personally. And with good reason, as it turns out. In my honor run I am looking to every advantage (if necessary), and I see that Omeluum kind of makes things worse for you, lorewise.

@@greyngreyer5 at the mid point at the beginning of Act 3? Or at this point in the video? If it’s the former, I think it’s because Orpheus cuts us off or we end up killing him in the fight as well (not gone that route, so I’m not sure). If it’s the latter, then it’s because the after the Emperor has eaten the brain of Orpheus, and we’ve killed the Emperor; then the power has been lost, due to there being no living host to control it. How does Omeluum make things worse for you in the honor run?

YES!!! It's so hard to keep La'zael in the party. The annoyance factor neutralizes the useful superior Gith Fighter party member. Powers wise, Gith are superior fighters to say, a Human, Elf, or Tiefling Fighter, but yeah, I have just let Shadowheart take her out and respect someone else into a "Fighter".

@@jonathancummings3807 you do know you can make all your party members into other combined class fighter right? I didn’t keep them with regular classes so none of the was “just a fighter”

@@jonathancummings3807 the game was too advanced to keep the party members with regular classes for me tbh I made all my party members into masters of wars so la’zael was something very minor compared to how I was playing the game. That game is way too advanced to just run on an adventure with only what they give you at the start. Just remember in that game you’re only limited to what you can think of.

Nah Orpheus' sacrifice is the best. Neither you nor your friends need to die, Lae'zel can lead the rebellion and gain support from the Githzerai using Opheus' dragons and carrying his message, with the potential for you to help her in the future. Everybody else gets to live. Best choice from the options Larian gave us imo.

Karlach is only too happy to get turned. Everybody wins.

@@tharfagreinir yep, but the moment she becomes ilithid - she dies, and her soul is no more. Squidlach is just an evolved tadpole carrying her emotions and memory, but not the Karlach. So it's the worst ending for her.

Ah, no, after mass effect trilogy, endings of this game are the "happiest" thing ever

@@saint4life09 Exactly. I don't know why everybody think Orpheus will topple Vlaakith just to embrace pacifism or something. Nah, he is a lot worse for other species of Faerun because contrary to hers ambitions of true Godhood, he will focus on expanding Githyanki territories, therefore attacking Faerun sooner or later.

Except that he's not Balduran? Load your game, get to act 1 and rush straight to Lae'zel. Her explanation will be enough. If not her, Withers' comments in act 2 after defeating Myrkul (or his avatar, whatever)

@@genkureshima9834 Yes I know mind flayers are considered “soulless” which is a sort of non-defined term. The Emperor clearly demonstrates all the reasoning, willpower memory and personality of the Balduran. Also when Orpheus, the player or any one else becomes a flayer all their original mental/personality is exactly the same. Also if Gale is no longer Gale after becoming a flayer, when he is cured by Mystra is he now a fake human Gale? Imo thralls are considered “soulless” because unshielded ones are essentially meat puppets for an elder brain

@@genkureshima9834 Also pretty much everything that Lae’zel says for the first 3/4 of the game is (spoilers) tainted by being a Vlaakith cultist. She’s not wrong about flayers especially with gith racial history, but her reasoning doesn’t go beyond “If Vlaakith says it’s bad, it’s bad. If Vlaakith says it’s good, it’s good”, there are no grey areas, ie. if a person is still themself due to being mentally shielded but look like a flayer

"we just gave away our three aces, Lets go all in with a pair of two's" ~ Book of Poker by Lae'Zel

Lae'zel doesn't care about being smart at this point. as soon as you give the stones away, she knows all is lost & wanna just lash out the only way she knows how. if she couldn't serve her monarch, fuck you & everyone else. that's how she's always operated & until Orpheus kicks her out for whatever reasons, that's how she'd always operate.

Weird, I didn't see her handing over the stones to Big Daddy Squid

Another 💩gem from Trashrian Studios

It's crap of the year my friend )

Obvious bait is obvious.

@@Shiverwar he's just a troll

@@ANGRYWOLVERINE2060-ft2nc Hence what I said.

yap yap

If he was ashamed, he is no father worth impressing

What