I saw a post on reddit a while back just asking for people's thoughts on the Emperor, his trustworthiness, and his alignment. I had written some thoughts down and put it away, but today. Today I am having more thoughts about Emps, especially his subterfuge and his romance scene. I'm obsessed with the way he tries to manipulate the player, and how it gets even more intense after you make it to the Elfsong basement and find all those books on Mindflayer Manipulation tactics.
He's so cool because will do anything it takes to maintain his own freedom, but he also is attracted to power. He was pulling SO many strings with the Knights of Shield and clearly enjoyed both power AND the art of manipulation. I see him as leaning Neutral Evil after finding out about the Knights of Shiel, and then him fucking turning on my first Durge when they freed Orpheus.
Duke Stelmane felt more like a means to an end than an actual relationship, though I do NOT doubt that the companionship mattered to him. However, the relationship between Mindflayer and Thrall seemed to be enough for him, and I think he would have been content with the same arrangement. I don't believe he refined his methods for the sake of his next thrall, but because of the circumstances of what he was facing. He needs more than a meat puppet to get through everything with the Absolute, REQUIRING him to give the player more freedom than he gave Stelmane. He is also using so much energy and concentration on keeping the Gith from Orpheus and keeping the squad from transforming, I doubt he even would have been able to have that level of control if he wanted.
He also threatens the player if they aren't completely trusting of him. You do NOT have to call him a freak for it, either. You get a harsher response, but the distrust is enough to trigger frustration. He thinks the protection he offers should automatically earn him trust, despite all the subterfuge required. Like he is beside himself with disbelief if the player is distrusting from start to finish. It's quite funny, imo. I love him, but he got wrecked on my first Durge run lol
I have two Durges that were friendly with their Guardians and didn't immediately reject him after the Emperor reveal on either. One has slurped every tadpole up, the other is very adamant they remain tadpole free.
The one who took the tadpoles didn't reject him harshly, but it actually made the manipulations more apparent to me because of how the encounter ends. I've ran the encounter twice on that Durge. Ashe turned down Emperor after clarifying if he was flirting, but she also did it again when I tried to get the achievement for fucking him and pussied out when I read he smelled like garlic. Regardless of when you end the scene, this is how it closes out:
The entire night seems to be set up to encourage the player to take the Astral Tadpole. The Emperor approaches you with vulnerability to gain your trust and use that trust to make the player think he has their best interest at heart. His interest in the player also immediately drops the moment the Emperor realizes it's not there for him to play with, which leads me to believe it isn't genuine with any of his affections UNLESS you become a Mindflayer. It feels more like Tav / Durge is equal to a pet that needs direction (and to be leashed).
This is also one of the many parallels I've seen between him and Ascended Astarion on that particular run. (just to add bc it's interesting to me lol)
Players who have the moment of intimacy also are able to see they won't lose the ability to experience that if they transform. Like he is trying to get them to see the full spectrum of what a Mindflayer is capable of and cannot even fathom someone NOT wanting min-max but irl.
I don't think the Emperor would ever come clean about Stelmane if the player didn't find out about it, but I think he realizes he can use the reveal to his advantage by assuring the player that he's changed! He tells the player he appreciates their mind. Not their body nor their abilities. No matter how much he appreciates the player's mind, he thinks they're wasting all that potential by not further embracing their Illithid potential.
It felt like the attempt at sleeping with the player is to try and make them question their attachment to their physical form. If the player is willing to be intimate with him, then clearly they appreciate the "devastating beauty" of a Mindflayer. No matter what your decision is, in terms of how you respond to the romance, the scene ends with him pressuring the player to take the Astral Tadpole (if they haven't already).
Here's the full ending dialogue from Emps romance scene:
Emps said "This pathetic lifeform will be desperate to evolve if I just show it what my beautiful body can do"
Also, just to clarify, I don't think the Emperor thinks of you any lower than he does anyone who isn't a Mindflayer. In fact, I do think he has great respect for them when they've proven themself competent. However, he is an elitist and sees ANY creature that isn't a Mindflayer as a lesser being. I think the respect is just what makes him see the value in those "lesser beings." If the player fully evolves, they're no longer lesser, and become an equal, worthy partner.
This is forever long, so I'm going to leave it here for now while I go back to find some books that I want SCs of to show where some more of my thoughts are coming from.
