12 new subclasses in Patch 8. Many players will be aware that many polished characters look drastically different from their EA counterparts, and characters like Wyll had major revisions to their concepts and personalities. However, one very significant character had almost a complete overhaul.

WARNING: This Article Contains Spoilers for Act 2 & 3 Of Baldur's Gate 3BG3's Dream Guardian is the center of an iconic plotline, and players reading this may wonder how it could have ever been any other way. However, those who played the first available versions of the game may the character completely differently and with an entirely different twist. Lots of cut content suggests an initial direction that was nothing like the "guardian" players ended up with.

In Early Access, The Dream Guardian Was A Character Called Daisy Instead Of The Emperor

Daisy Was Representative Of The Mindflayer Tadpole Itself

It appears that most of Baldur's Gate 3's story in Acts 1 and 2 is built around the eventual reveal that the protector, who the player spent so much time personalizing, actually turns out to be the Illithid Emperor - but this was not Larian's initial plan. The original concept for this character was a separate entity named "Daisy." Despite what may be assumed by the name, Daisy was completely customizable, just like the current dream guardian. Players could present them as any gender. For example, IWasBoredAgain on YouTube made the Guardian in Early Access a man, as shown in the above video.

Unlike the Emperor, an entity outside the main characters and their tadpoles, Daisy was a manifestation of the tadpole itself. Many players who played in early access have voiced disappointment that this was changed in the final cut, which is a fair criticism to have. Some believe that Daisy may have been swapped out with the Emperor as to better tie in his and Wyll's backstory with Stelmane into the plot, but the two have significantly different personalities and manipulation methods to where it's likely that Larian had much bigger reasons for changing so much.

Daisy likely represents embracing or rejecting the tadpole, so narrative elements may have been reused for the plotlines of the Dark Urge and Sceleritas Fel in BG3.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s Iconic Song “Down By The River” Was Based On Daisy’s Storyline

Baldur's Gate 3's Most Well Known Song Is About A Character Who Didn't Make It Into The Final Game

Baldur's Gate 3's illithid tadpoles fall slightly flat to create a sense of dread and urgency for the player. Players usually aren't expecting to get cured of the tadpole in Act 1 and 2, so by the time they reach Act 3, most of the fear of becoming a mindflayer will have subsided. As a representation of the parasite itself, Daisy tries to lure the main characters into a false paradise, tempting players to stay with them in their dream-like reality while their physical body becomes a mind flayer.

Similarly to Daisy's attempts to seduce them, the player can have limited romantic interactions with the Emperor - this may have been remnants of the content planned for Daisy.

The songs "Down By The River" and "The Power" are both centered around the original direction of the game focused on Daisy - the first song is about players staying with Daisy - "Down by the River" - for the rest of their eternity. Though the Emperor is a very compelling character, Daisy's soft manipulation is a fantastic metaphor for ceremorphosis. Not only is it truly terrifying to portray what the parasite does to the player's mind, but it feels like a much bigger twist than the dream guardian being an impostor.

Something that is lightly touched upon in the game is that Mindflayers lack souls. In the final release, players who see a character turn into a Mindflayer will still have them retain the majority of their personality - but with the tadpole manipulating the brains of the infected with a facade like Daisy, there would be an obvious metaphor for them losing themselves. They're not conscious in the body of the Mindflayer - their real self would be far away, with Daisy. Scrapping Daisy has been one of the most controversial changes the creators of Baldur's Gate 3 have implemented.

Source: IWasBoredAgain/Youtube