Of all the characters in Baldur's Gate 3, one stands out as the most enigmatic, secretive, and manipulative: the Emperor, or the "dream guardian," as it calls itself initially. While the Emperor is ostensibly the player's ally for the majority of the game, its true intentions are difficult to read, and it's hard to ever fully trust the mind flayer inside the Astral Prism.

Warning: The following article includes spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3.

Whether the Emperor is using the player or genuinely wants to help them, one thing is clear: it is not above using deception to get what it wants. In fact, despite the Emperor's claim that it never lies to the player, it seems that twisting the truth is this illithid's first instinct in any given scenario. These five lies define the player's relationship with the Emperor during the plot of Baldur's Gate 3 and paint a picture of the mind flayer's actual morals.

5 The Emperor Hides Its True Nature Until It Can't Any Longer

Its First Lie Is One Of Its Largest

In a way, the very first thing that the Emperor does in the game is lie to the player, since it initially appears disguised as somebody else: the Dream Guardian, an idyllic hero in golden armor that is designed specifically for the player to trust. It knows that the player and their party will be unlikely to side with an illithid and hides that part of its identity, instead pretending to be another mortal afflicted with the parasite and searching for a cure.

The fact that the player themselves literally designs the Dream Guardian's appearance at the beginning of the game, being prompted to "choose a Guardian" adds to this level of manipulation, as it could be interpreted that the Emperor is reading the player's mind to create an alter ego tailored to them specifically.

This alternate identity is also one that the Emperor uses to build up a relationship with the player, giving the player character a reason to empathize with the Dream Guardian and believe it is a force for good. It seems likely that the Emperor would have kept this ruse up throughout the story, were it not forced to reveal its illithid nature at the end of Act Two. Rather than apologizing for the deception, the Emperor merely seems annoyed that its disguise has failed and immediately begins working on a new tactic to keep the player on its side.

4 The Emperor Lies About The Power The Prism Holds

Claiming The Power Of Orpheus For Itself

The second lie the Emperor tells goes hand in hand with the first. It pretends that the power to suppress the Absolute's control belongs to the Dream Guardian, making them essential to the player character's goals. Then, if the player decides to enter the Astral Prism while inside the githyanki creche, the Dream Guardian will switch gears, claiming that it stole the power to protect the party from Vlaakith, something that is technically true but definitely misleading.

The Emperor will then attempt further manipulation by offering the player character a sword, offering to let them strike it down if they don't believe it. Of course, choosing to try and kill the Dream Guardian will reveal that the offer was never genuine, and that the Guardian won't allow itself to die right then.

In reality, the secret to avoiding the Absolute's control belongs to the gith prince, Orpheus, who is trapped inside the Prism. The Emperor discovered this and has been siphoning the gith's power for its own benefit and that of the party, all while fighting off Orpheus's honor guard. As becomes evident at the end of the game, had Orpheus been freed, he would have helped the players willingly to defeat the Absolute. But the Emperor wants to remain in control, so it maintains the idea that Orpheus would strike the party down at the first opportunity.

3 The Emperor Twists Its True Relationship With Duke Stelmane

False Memories Tell An Incomplete Story

As the party moves closer to the city of Baldur's Gate, they'll discover that they were not the first allies of the Emperor. Duke Stelmane, one of the city's leaders, was the illithid's first partner as it went about creating the Knights of the Shield. At the time of the game's events, Stelmane has recently been murdered by Bhaal cultists, and the Emperor reflects fondly on their friendship, painting Stelmane as a willing ally who looked past its appearance as a mind flayer and saw the good in the Emperor.

Other characters, like Wyll, will note that Stelmane survived a stroke late in her time as a duke, and that she was forever changed afterward, seeming more distant. As one might expect, the timing of this stroke lines up with when the Emperor would have "befriended" her.

The Emperor will try and use the loss of Stelmane to evoke sympathy and make itself seem more human, but the reality is far more brutal. If the player keeps pushing back against the Emperor's story, it will eventually reveal that Stelmane was never its friend, but its puppet.

The Emperor broke Stelmane's mind using its illithid powers and forced her to go along with its plans. The Emperor claims that it has spared the player character by giving them more freedom, but it's obviously what this really is: a threat that the Emperor will force the player to go along with its plans, one way or another.

2 The Emperor Disguises Its True Identity — And Hides The Murder Of Its Closest Friend

The Knife In The Heart Of The Gate

Just as the Dream Guardian was a false identity, so was "The Emperor," as the illithid hides its true identity from before its transformation until it is forced to it it. This happens if players enter the Wyrmway to seek the aid of the dragon, Ansur, the loyal ally of Baldur's Gate's founder and sworn to protect the city. But as they discover, Ansur is dead, having been slain years ago. Even more shocking, it reveals that it knows the Emperor, and that the mind flayer hiding inside the Astral Prism is in fact Balduran, the legendary adventurer.

Evidently, Balduran was seeking treasure and instead found the Illithid Oubliette below Moonrise Towers. He was captured and transformed, only escaping the control of the colony due to Ansur's intervention. But as Ansur continued to search for a cure, Balduran grew more and more content with its mind flayer identity and the power it provided. Ansur eventually tried to mercy kill Balduran, and in return, the mind flayer slew the dragon, hiding its corpse below the city.

Notably, before entering the Wyrmway, the Emperor dissuades the party from seeking Ansur's help, but does not tell them that the dragon is long dead. This is just one more sneaky way the Emperor tries to use a half-truth to influence the player character.

The Emperor dismisses its former identity as irrelevant, and even claims that losing its closest friend was worth it to maintain the power it had as an illithid. As it says after the player defeats the undead Ansur, "I do not regret my actions, but I regret that they were necessary." This reveals the Emperor's true priorities once and for all, showcasing that it will discard allies if it means keeping its hold on power.

1 The Emperor Is Inherently Lying About Its Priorities And Morality

Not A Savior, But A Tyrant

Despite all the lies, betrayed allies, and false identities, the Emperor still seems to ultimately have good motivations: to destroy the Absolute and save the world from illithid enslavement. But what if that, too, is a lie? The Emperor does want to stop the Absolute, but not by any means necessary. It will not sacrifice itself or its power to achieve this goal, though it will happily cast others aside. It actively suppresses and contains Orpheus, the one figure with the best chance of actually leading a group to kill the Absolute, and has no remorse for doing so.

If the player character insists on freeing Orpheus, the Emperor will switch sides and the Absolute in order to preserve itself. This is the biggest indication that everything the Emperor says about ends justifying the means and sacrificing others for the greater good is false. The whole time, it was just trying to save its own skin.

This is made even more evident by the fact that, in another ending for Baldur's Gate 3, the Emperor can be persuaded to the player in controlling the Absolute, rather than destroying it. Wielding this kind of power over others is not something the Emperor has a problem with, so long as it maintains its own freedom. In the end, the Emperor is not a hero but a parasite, clinging to survival by any means necessary and sacrificing whomever it needs to stay in power in Baldur's Gate 3.