Baldur's Gate 3 - Act 3 - The True Identity of the Emperor

Gather your party and return to the Forgotten Realms in a tale of fellowship and betrayal, sacrifice and survival, and the lure of absolute power.
Mysterious abilities are awakening inside you, drawn from a mind flayer parasite planted in your brain. Resist, and turn darkness against itself. Or embrace corruption, and become ultimate evil.
From the creators of Divinity: Original Sin 2 comes a next-generation RPG, set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

[@supleted]

I cannae believe it, it’s Mr Baldur’s Gate III himself! What an honor!

[@Lil.Grandpa]

Who knew that at the end of the day we would actually meet John Baldur's Gate.

[@TheSeeker225]

He's lying. If you want to see for yourself, keep calling him out for acting human he'll eventually drop the act.

[@MSnow-pu4qs]

@@Lil.Grandpa John Gate blesses us with his presence

[@jasonbrewer6714]

Who is this Baldur guy, and where's his gate?

[@Rubenz343]

"All Gates lead to Baldur." - John Baldur's Gate

[@ChristophelusPulps]

The Emperor is the tadpole that infected Balduran -- important distinction. Stolen memories and identity crisis does not the original man make.

[@CouchCit]

That's a good way of interpreting it, but unfortunately neither Ansur nor the Emperor see it that way, and that POV isn't really explored through the game's narrative other than the whole "do Illithids have souls" topic

[@funkkymonkey6924]

Its very ship of Theseus, do the memories make the man? It should be mentioned that Bulders Gate was essentially a pirate haven until Bulderan paid money to build the city's defenses. You don't get much more grey morality than the Emperor it seems.

[@thegatorhator6822]

​​@@CouchCitThe Emperor being "more willful" than the average Mindflayer might mean he's retained his mortal soul?

[@vladplysak3915]

@@thegatorhator6822 elder brain allowed him to be free on purpose.

[@thegatorhator6822]

@@vladplysak3915 I'm pretty sure other Mindflayers don't have memories of who they were before or any of their old personality. The Emperor does.

[@spacebarisntworking7530]

I love how the guardian has two twists one is that he's a mind flayer resisting an elder brain and the other is that he is pretty much the forgotten realms first Hero.

[@LiskowicStudios]

My wife made dnd campaign where we met balduran as ilithid few years ago...when she was playing BG3 and that plot twist entered she was so delighted xD of course our campaign had a lot of huge differences ...balduran was about to became an Elder Brain himself in our story....anyway Awesome game

[@ScripFing]

My own experience with him was: "I don't trust this dream friend. They seem suspicious as fuck" "Oh shit, they're a resisting Illithid? Oh my god they're just like Omeluum" "Wow, there are a lot of gaps in his story.... Maybe he's just being secretive because he's scared" "I WAS WRONG HE IS NOT LIKE OMELUUM"

[@Wanpeld1]

@@ScripFing And the game basically does nothing to follow up on his treacherous character though. The ending with him is as good as with Orpheus. It's a shame.

[@ElectricalExistence]

he is not actually resisting the brain, he was part of the brains plan all along. he killed his best friend so he could remain a mind flayer, so he could be used to destroy the city he created. if he had just accepted his honorable death, he cold have saved countless lives

[@ElectricalExistence]

@@Wanpeld1 i tried to kill him before freeing orpheus, didnt work, he ran away.

[@TheLauron]

Interestingly enough, I found the Emperor's sword before this reveal and I even commented "Damn it works very similarly to Balduran's sword from Tales of the Sword Coast!" . Didn't even dawn on me that it was in fact the same blade!

[@unknownvalor9755]

This was the final nail in the Emperor's coffin. If you read between the lines you can see he was playing you since day one. At this point in the game I knew it was time for the dark urge to give Balduran a proper funeral.

[@joshuakim5240]

Another thing to take into account is that the Emperor may have Balduran's memories, but not his personality. The type of character portrayed in Balduran's trials is not who the Emperor is in any way.

[@gerstein03]

@@joshuakim5240yeah according to Withers Balduran is long gone and his soul is destroyed

[@thedeepend6407]

@@gerstein03 Its like a personality engram, or a well adapted sociopath. The personality he has is enough to override the innate mindflayer thoughts, at least in terms of process. He clearly does not think of a grand design as can be found in any of the endings where he lives to the end and doesn't just fuck off. He wants to just go back to his previous role of having power but not overreaching. I think, despite the lack of soul, this AI personality serves a similar purpose.

[@__OS__]

@@thedeepend6407 he was an adventurer still, despite being a mindflayer, that's why he wanted his freedom and resisted. but the mindflayer evolution destroyed Balduran as he was, not to mention it has been sooooo long. people try to pin him as 100% evil, but even when he was Balduran there were several greys, the simple truth is that he was a mind flayer that wanted to be free, and in his mindflayer way acted that way. his actions are logical towards that end...and he was one of the nicest mindflayers around.... I sided with the gith tho, wish the emperor remained with me, but i guess he was scared of being killed before or after the fight. tought choices for him lol

[@marcinzysko1653]

hehe. He died first in my final battle.

[@Javitomanzano]

What can change the nature of a man? An Ilithid tadpole, apparently.

[@felixdumbravescu2725]

*updated my journal*

[@JTSuter]

Remember, it’s not that Balduran buried treasure beneath Baldurs Gate, he buried Trezorr, a primordial.

[@theonetruedoge6375]

John Baldur's Gate

[@garrus6000]

That’s the same dragon voice actor from divinity 2! Love that

[@ThexxxHaloxxxMaster]

The final two things that made me say "Fuck the Emperor" were this and a book in Gortash's boss room

[@elseggs6504]

On the way to the brain theres also an interrogation log by Gortash. Bro cant speak the truth at all lmao

[@vazanere]

I missed this in my playthrough, goinging to go find it.

[@Taggart00]

Hmm it doesn't mention that his crew became werewolves

[@Fellegar123]

I was about to comment on this. In Tales of the Sword Coast expansion for BG1, everything indicates he became a lycanthrope, and there was no evidence that he escaped the island that his ship was beached on.

[@technology5979]

To be fair, there wasn't really much reason to bring it up.

[@2dheethbar]

Ah, yes. Thanks, thumbnail. Finding out the guardian was actually a lanky green tree dragon definitely puts the world in a new perspective for me and my cohorts.

[@regiliok]

tldr the Emperor is evil and manipulative like a mindflayer (he pretends to be a goodguy so u wil hand him power)

[@SilasPGaming]

The way my jaw dropped! I suspected something about his past in my first playthrough but I never had anything to do with Wyll to take on this quest. I can't wait to uncover this for myself 😭😭

[@atduhe]

I decided I was going to side against him the moment I found out he was a mind flayer and had been manipulating and controlling everyone since the beginning. But this scene broke me a little bit and justified all my decisions.

[@kanden27]

Even hurts worse when you read Ansur's letter you find on his body.

[@squirrel1226]

I was always a bit wary of the guardian because they kept insisting that i should use the tadpole’s power. Going to the gith crèche made me even more suspicious of them because they were really adamant on not going. I think the final nail in the coffin was Withers telling me that mindflayers did not have souls + the fact that the Emperor did not want to help Minsc

[@elseggs6504]

​@@kanden27 Even later they practically spell it out. "I'm just like you fr" Him *really* not wanting you to find Ansur, and then his disdain for the Hammer. If he really gave two shits about "The Cause" he wouldve freed Orpheus himself and try to arrange a truce to stop the brain. Instead he kept on lying and lying and all he cared about was his powers. Hell, you can make him drop the act and admit he mindcontrolled his "friends"

[@TrinanKocht]

i missed this szene, thank you fpr showing me

[@mizushirokanon9174]

Ansur went crazy and evil, damn. He knew that you and emperor are on the mission to save the city and tried to revenge kill them anyway

[@Adeptus221]

I need to know the name of this song! during the dialogue with the dragon!

[@DoortoTwilight777]

THANKS, NOW I'M SAD.

[@mumei31]

Honestly even with all the lore about the emperor I still think he's not that bad. He wants to survive and Orpheus would never have agreed to work with him and protect him, Ansur tried to kill him in his sleep while he was still going under cerebromorposis (Which means who he was before wanted it regardless of what you think of mindflayers). He chose a dream form due to obvious reasons. (You were abducted by mindflayers, you would not trust any of them aside from Omeluum). The fact that he mind controlled someone is also understandable due to the bias people have against mindflayers. I know people are gonna say "but the soul is gone, it's a tadpole believing to be Balduran". But souls never mean anything to me in fantasy, Wyll can lose his to Mizora and still be Wyll. Your brain slowly becoming tadpoled isn't different to me than regerating your brain with higher level spells. If it's a new brain with your memories and your still consider yourself you (and are soulless due to a warlock pact with a fiend for example). How is that different from a new brain generated from a tadpole that has your memories like the brain regenerated by the healing spell after being a victim of the brain extraction attack ? Imo it isn't, Omeluum his still who he was before due to having arcanic disposition. The thing with mindflayer is your mind becomes so much bigger that "feeling yourself ebbing away" might just be an overly dramatic expression of having such brain power that your memories and old life feel small in comparison. Much like childhood memories for an adult but on a far, far larger scale.

[@Marsawd]

I also really like the idea of giving the Emperor the benefit of the doubt here. I’m still playing through so far, and just got to this scene yesterday. Sure, the Emperor has some pretty questionable methods for cultivating his plans, but at the same time his end goal is still aligned with yours, no? Stop the Elder Brain, prevent it from becoming all powerful and fucking everyone’s lives up? Granted, I haven’t seen how this all ends - maybe he will betray me, and irredeemably become a dick - but, I like to imagine that there’ll still be an area of moral greyness to his actions, where the ends may very well be justified by his callous means. Edit: I completed the story and do not regret my actions. I was right to trust him.

[@thistlearts5161]

Finally someone said it.

[@ifiinch]

Glad to see some other people seeing it this way - also looking at Illithid folklore I want to believe that The Emperor might be an Adversary - a rumor of a type of Mind Flayer that maintains more than just a partial personality (habits that some Mind Flayers rarely keep from who they were previously, which they often hide), instead they retain their memories, possibly even their original soul and free will, and could spell doom for the Illithids. His story lines up a lot with this imo

[@DrAhzek]

​@@Marsawd Problem is that there are lines and scenes that clearly show that the Emperor is super detached and calculating. If you try to romance him and reject him, he will show you his true face, especially if you follow through his memories (how he mind controlled everyone he claimed to be his allies). Again, he will even tell you outright that you are just his pawn and are nothing without him and that you should just do as he says. Since Illithids don't get "upset" and say nonsense because of it, you can tell he is simply tired of playing nice with you and tells you how he truly sees you - as an useful asset, that's all. Same with giving him control over the Brain - he will make you a puppet, a pet. You were never his equal... Shame, because I honestly hoped he was at least like Omeluum and really believed in freedom as a concept.

[@dianabialaskahansen2972]

He is manipulative, but so was my Tav, constantly using persuasion and deception to get what she wanted. And the alternatives are not too appealing: You do not know if you can trust Orpheus at all, but you know it is in Emperors own interest to take down the Elder Brain. And even then to get the hammer, you need to make a deal with Raphael or do something very very risky and go to Hell.

[@khaosterminator]

bruh, how you not gonna show the sword that dropped

[@user-xz4gf3ur6r]

You can actually figure out just by the lyrics of "song of Balduran"

[@Skyscraper125]

See a lot of misguided people in comments about BG3 regarding the Emperor's morality. Jergal ( mr bones guy in camp ) kind of hit the nail on the head answering this for you though. "Do illithid have souls?" - The answer is no. Fight it as much as people want, the Emperor may have been Balduran, your character as an Illithid may have been the hero of Baldur's Gate, but becoming an Illithid kills that part of the person who makes them that person, end of story. They may retain the same memories as that person, but it's like saying if you made an AI bot which acted/talked/behaved as you did then that AI is you when it's absolutely not. When someone becomes an Illithid, that someone is dead and the illithid takes that person's place. You could argue that The Emperor is True Neutral, but it kind of is irrelevant as again, Illithid don't have souls. Their morality doesn't matter as they hold no presence in the outer planes where morality IS matter and belief is currency. I think there's a lot of whimsical thoughts of people when getting into FR lore, but there are clearly defined stuff that takes away from the "Greyness" in certain things - illithid being one of them, extraplanar beings like fiends, angels, etc being another. The Pathfinder world with Wrath of the Righteous goes more into the thought that even extraplanar and alien entities that are stereotypically one thing can become another thing. It's a compelling narrative that even demons can be redeemed, but this is just NOT in Forgotten Realms. Forgotten Realms, in a lot of ways, is far more grimdark than I think the surface level shows. You can't negotiate with orcs that want to rape & pillage you, you can't worm your way out of deals with devils through good-natured requests, you can't convince the big scary red dragon to be nice without appealing to its greed, etc. The only entities with any real "freedom of morale choices" are mortal beings or deities (although the latter is kind of rare), and in the case of mortal beings (like aforementioned orcs or underdark races, etc) - psychological conditioning really damns them by the time they reach adulthood. Look at radical humans as a great example of how twisted/unredeemable (or very hard to redeem) a human can be when they are put in a group or society which indoctrinates them towards such radical behavior. Why do I think this is cool? Well, sometimes fighting a bad guy that is irrevocably a bad guy and being the hero is fun. That's sort of the basis of Forgotten Realms D&D - arguably NOT what is fun for everyone but potato potahto.

[@mi-og8mm]

O CARA É BOM

[@TheSeeker225]

Do you still get this scene if you call the emperor out for lying to you ?

[@ladyselin35]

Balduran is long gone. Its the tadpole who devoured his brain speaking. Hes just a mindflayer now.

[@simonphoenix3789]

But mind flayers don't exist as themselves do they? They are all just drones that are bound to the elder brain. Without elder brain, there is no... oh wait I forgot about that mind flayer in the underdark. So yeah, I guess it could be true. But why would he pretend to be someone else? Unless he pretty much has all the same memories and personality. But then it doesn't really matter anymore who he is.

[@ladyselin35]

@@simonphoenix3789 Mindflayers are perfect schemers. Using their subjects to dominate them to do their whims. It was the emperor himself who tadpoled us already.

[@scoobydoo2587]

@@simonphoenix3789 He does have the same memories and personality but he doesnt have the soul. Hes merely mimicking the personality of the actual Balduran.

[@DarkSygil666]

Was the tadpole forced on him, or did he go with it willingly and just eat it, or whatever?

[@ladyselin35]

@@DarkSygil666 forced

[@xaef3838]

how in the hell i've missed this?

[@TheOriginalPoon]

You have to play the Wyll personal quest in act 3 to get to this point, unless you already know what to do and where to find it

[@ElectricalExistence]

no you dont, you just have to explore thoroughly. @@TheOriginalPoon

[@ElectricalExistence]

you can find the tiny pipe when you find the secret door out of the side of wyrms rock. i did this without doing wyll's lame cry baby cant take care of himself or his family quest. getting in the tiny pipe is on you to figure out.

[@CouchCit]

Easy: because it's shoehorned in, and has very little weight in the overall plot. I feel like this entire quest was like one of those deleted movie scenes that make it the Director's Cut

[@andreabosello129]

sorry could you give more specific info about the location of it? @@ElectricalExistence

[@Skyscraper125]

This scene hit me hard as my paladin of Torm (in my head, i have no idea why torm isnt in this as an option???). I wanted nothing more than to avenge Ansur and obliterate the absolutely power obsessed maniac that the emperor is

[@aliyunusakn3798]

Ansur tried to kill him why would you want to avenge ansur? the emperor is all about self preservation and he practiced his core belief. if you side with him, he doesn't even try to take control of absolute unless you urge him to do it.

[@rileyedwards4212]

@@aliyunusakn3798 There's a lot of bits in various endings, books, and dialogue that implies what The Emperor wants is power. He's just pragmatic about it and wants to be viewed in a positive light. Also, that is the nature of a Mind Flayer; to acquire power over others.

[@spellandshield]

Torm has seemingly disappeared from 5th edition.

[@aliyunusakn3798]

​@@rileyedwards4212 weirdly he never sought power in my playthrough at least it was never his first goal. He didn't even touch the prince until it was necessary. his only red flag was how he enthralled his partner back in the days of knights of the shield. If player chooses to become mind flayer, he offer partnership to rebuild knights of the shield i think he is somewhat cooperative. im not saying he is good person but definitely not a bad person either especially for mind flayer standards

[@rileyedwards4212]

@@aliyunusakn3798 I agree that, by mind flayer standards, he's definitely better than the others. With that still in mind, he's still a mind flayer and I think he can't be trusted.

[@Combobreaker100]

What’s the sword?

[@starbreeze7249]

It would've been cooler if he was more like himself, similar to how rare it is to resist the elder brains control. The concept of a soul is human made, meaning a perfect copy/replica of your brain being placed into someone, or something else, is really not all that different than what makes you "you". But of course mindflayers not only consume memories, but also are their own race, with their own traits, just like how Orpheus was a mindflayer for less than a day and he could feel himself becoming less of who he was. Just think they could've done more with it

[@alekzanderor5489]

its not a "human made concept" in most fantasy worlds and in FR in particular - there are fucking literal devils barganing with mortals for their souls and making coins out of them...

[@elijahbrooks1472]

I’m so confused lol. Are the Mind Flayers the good guys and the Githyanki are the bad guys? Or is it reversed😂?

[@oumaijot9373]

both bad xD

[@PuchimonExtreme]

Both are grey. The Underdark guy is good. The Emperor is "power hungry Good" like Gale but with more "self preservation score" than Good. (As opposed to Gale who can be more self sacrificing when push comes to shove if you do his quest and helped him stay good). Every other mindflayer is evil. That being said, they DO need to eat brains for sustenance which can be terrible in the long run. And the Githyanki are a warring race "faction" thats hates everyone, especially mindflayers. They are clearly not "Good" but its quite hard to call them evil, with githzerai being the "peaceful faction". Since they were originally one race, you could say that the Githyanki COULD be peaceful. If they had better leadership at least. Whether the prince or a "Good" Laezel could actually do it is another matter entirely.

[@FirstLast-cg2nk]

The mind flayers are typically evil, although some can turn to good. The Emperor is what the Mind Flayers fear most, one that has retained their memories and personality after the transformation, something that prophecy proclaims would be their undoing and so they seek to hunt down and destroy any who show any sign of retaining who they once were. So, Balduran isn't just good, he's essentially a Chosen One.

[@NeoCreo1]

@@PuchimonExtreme I mean, Githyanki are an EXPLICITLY evil faction. The whole point of their history is that they allowed their hatred of their former slave masters to twist them into the very same monsters they abhor. They are built on racism, slavery, arrogance, cruelty, and a rigid, militaristic society. They are honestly more like Space Drow with a different flavor that fights a greater evil and has a tragic backstory than they are like the other races. La’zel is practically the patron saint of tolerance and compassion considering she’s still a loyal follower when you first start working with her.

[@VDA19]

Mind Flayers are Chaotic Evil in that they want to enslave/transform all life. But some are good and retain their personality. Githyanki are typically Lawful Evil, in that they believe in order and justice but they enslave and kill others with no remorse.

[@sahid2_-]

waiiiiiiiit........you mean to tell me that he was able to become a full dragon. where is my dragon form!!! they should let me become a dragon

[@kenn4eyes]

ansur is a dragon posing as a dragonborn using magic. your character is just a dragonborn w no actual relation to dragons. you have to think of dragons as sorcerers. they can cast spells that hide what they truly are

[@Vincentpanh]

Metallic dragon can change form, some choose to be a dwarf live in Waterdeep, some choose to be a women. Metallic dragon can be what ever they want to be.

[@crazymammoth]

what caused the Black like corruption on your character? i'm trying to learn all the events that cause perma cosmetic changes

[@g.761]

Accepting to increase your psionic power from the tadpole at the very end of Act II / beginning of Act III.

[@dajointcf4803]

@@g.761 did you eat the tadpole?

[@florianfrueh3282]

you dont need to. first playthrough i "opened my mind to it". and i think the more skills yoou use in the tadpool skill tree the darker it gets.

[@isopropyl1314]

​@@florianfrueh3282no

[@isopropyl1314]

eating the white tadpole at the start of act 3 makes u half illithid, and those cosmetic changes

[@DanielyanAG]

Can't find this ost, help pls What is the name of soundtrack at 2:30 - 4:00

[@roykong7024]

Yes I would also love to know! Going through the OST list now

[@Throrface]

I don't think it's in the OST, but it's basically Emperor's theme, the Song of Balduran. But in this cutscene it's a slower and more orchestral-epic version.

[@DanielyanAG]

@@roykong7024 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHPNlWqapMh1sKM

[@spellandshield]

This does not make sense. Baldur's Gate was founded over 800 years ago and there is no way the Emperor could be that old as illithids are not that long lived, unless he lived on the Astral Plane for the whole time.

[@Throrface]

He lived in the Astral Plane for most of the time.

[@night_44000]

@@Throrface Occam's Razor lol

[@bauloprete3905]

​@@Throrfacewrong

[@Hm-ed1lt]

he did not. he found out astral prism after gortash send him to find it.@@Throrface

[@TekRobo]

He lived in the astral plane before finding the prism. @@Hm-ed1lt

[@jamesmartin1362]

What armore set and cape is that?

[@kurayami180]

You get the armor when you fight kethric thorn, and the cape is a dlc. You get it if you played the early access for free, or you can buy it

[@cameronhulcy7481]

I can’t kill this dragon… please help😅

[@Tholapsyx]

Maybe try globe of invulnerability when he does his charge attack. I still don't know the proper way u're supposed to do it. I just tried to run back to the entrance to hise and healed through it on Balanced.

[@cameronhulcy7481]

The trader in BG finally had Arrows of Dragon Slaying and Undead after several long rests. Easy peasy. :) @@Tholapsyx

[@user-mu8ok5xf8d]

Hold up he has a legendary item on him and you don’t show it. What is it

[@michaelsted1500]

The blade of baldur

[@Morphcast]

Lots of people wondering about the weapon, here it is: Balduran's Giantslayer It's a +3 Greatsword that does 2d6 slashing damage. Giantslayer: On a hit, double the damage from your Strength Modifier. This weapon grants you Advantage on Attack Rolls against Large, Huge, or Gargantuan creatures The sword also lets you cast Giant Form, which makes you grow large and deal and additional 1d6 damage, and it gives you 27 temporary hit points and advantage on Strength checks and saving throws. Finally, the sword comes with all the usual Greatsword abilities plus Topple the Big Folk once per short rest, which deals additional damage equal to your proficiency bonus. On a hit, Large, Huge, or Gargantuan creatures take an additional 2-12 Bludgeoning damage and must succeed a strength saving throw or fall Prone. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sword isn't the only legendary treasure you earn from beating this boss. You also get the Helm of Balduran. Helm of Balduran (Medium Armor) Balduran's Vitality: Heal 2 hit points at the beginning of every turn. Balduran's Favour: You have a +1 bonus to Armor Class and Saving Throws Stun Immunity: You can't be Stunned. Attackers can't land Critical Hits on the wearer.

[@shadoweddragonfilms4424]

Hold on, wasn't it revealed that Balduraan died on the Isle of Balduraan during his last voyage after he crashed and half of his crew were turned into Wolfweres? I swear that was a whole plot point.

[@Kaiserhawk]

This still happened, but Balduran survived.

[@shadoweddragonfilms4424]

@@Kaiserhawk How? And how did he even get back? No charts, no ship, and he was over a month out from the Sword Coast, maybe two, can't remember. We need a specialized boat to deal with the rough waters, a secret cove, the charts, and weeks of provisions. And you're telling me he sailed a ship like that alone? Because it's been established that no one in his crew ever came back, and he got to Moonrise alone as well... It doesn't fit.

[@starkidmercer]

@@shadoweddragonfilms4424 my guy its a world with magic and monsters

[@shadoweddragonfilms4424]

@@starkidmercer And that is a valid critique in what way? The Forgotten Realms setting has rules, and has lore, stories, and more that we get from first person sources. What I outlined above being just some of them. Sweeping a plot hole the size of the eastern half of the continental U.S under the rug because "Hurr hurr derrs magik and monsters!1!" is lazy at best and genuinely annoying to someone like me that follows the stories and lore of the world for a long time at worst.

[@starkidmercer]

@@shadoweddragonfilms4424 except you’re not critiquing lore, you’re critiquing the chances of someone surviving out at sea in a world magic and fantastical events, it’s not as impossible as it is irl lmao

[@Zgrywu]

how to solve the shadow puzzle?

[@Zgrywu]

with the paithings in the baldurs trail

[@jergin4596]

Turn undead on the judge

[@Jamie-ul6ww]

Use 'remove curse' on the 3 dark paintings

[@Tholapsyx]

Banishment also works on the judge

[@Morphcast]

Lots of people wondering about the weapon, here it is: Balduran's Giantslayer It's a +3 Greatsword that does 2d6 slashing damage. Giantslayer: On a hit, double the damage from your Strength Modifier. This weapon grants you Advantage on Attack Rolls against Large, Huge, or Gargantuan creatures The sword also lets you cast Giant Form, which makes you grow large and deal and additional 1d6 damage, and it gives you 27 temporary hit points and advantage on Strength checks and saving throws. Finally, the sword comes with all the usual Greatsword abilities plus Topple the Big Folk once per short rest, which deals additional damage equal to your proficiency bonus. On a hit, Large, Huge, or Gargantuan creatures take an additional 2-12 Bludgeoning damage and must succeed a strength saving throw or fall Prone. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sword isn't the only legendary treasure you earn from beating this boss. You also get the Helm of Balduran. Helm of Balduran (Medium Armor) Balduran's Vitality: Heal 2 hit points at the beginning of every turn. Balduran's Favour: You have a +1 bonus to Armor Class and Saving Throws Stun Immunity: You can't be Stunned. Attackers can't land Critical Hits on the wearer.

[@alexv1154]

AKA one of the best weapons you can give to a barbarian. this this does BIG damage

[@TheOriginalPoon]

Fun fact you can completely skip the boss fight and still get out with the helmet if you want to. Pre patch this boss fight was fucking insane because a key mechanic of the fight wasn’t working. Now it’s fixed so it’s more manageable. To get the helmet just DONT interact with the corpse and misty step or dimension door behind it. The helmet is on an altar. What sucks is that you have to actually kill Ansur to progress the quest, despite everyone commenting “the dragon is fucking dead” when you find him

[@bibby659]

If what Balduran says is true, then the dragon realistically had no right to make the choice he did, even after countless and unending times he was told to simply stop and go live his life. In the end he chose then to die that day or was willing to kill his best friend, all simply because he was becoming a bit less like himself, in body and mentality... but not seemingly in spirit or mind. Yet I suppose those two weren't what the dragon was thinking about, and instead saw an illithid like he said... simply evil that couldn't be allowed to live. (Even though its proven that Illithids can be good, especially when freed of their hive minded influence)

[@taznx1509]

While Illithids can technically be good or neutral-aligned, they are still fundamentally soulless husks of their former selves. Withers says this throughout the game, but to become a Mind Flayer is to have your soul annihilated, one of the worst fates in the realms, and to live on as a creature that must murder to live and feels no true emotion. Most sane people would rather die than experience one of the worst fates in the realms, and it makes complete sense that Ansur would rather kill him so his soul is preserved rather than destroyed. Balduran was just too obsessed with the power he obtained to see or understand that.

[@estaveler3288]

@@taznx1509 plus if you keep distrusting the emperor he even admits that he's just using you for his own gains and that he's been lying to you the entire game

[@warallied]

@@estaveler3288 which is supported by Raphael as well.

[@medramonmasquedecendres2966]

Bronze Dragons are the draconic embodiment of righteous zeal, Ansur actd in accord with his nature and his ideals.

[@BlitzWare518]

@@taznx1509 >feels no true emotion This isn't even really true. If you decide to become a Mind Flayer at the end of the game, your character is outright stated to feel emotion. Similarly, Omeluum very clearly feels emotion in the player's interactions with him.

[@thefraser5131]

Where is this place? I finished the game and didnt see anyplace like this, and I feel like a did most of the side content.

[@1236remis]

Act 3 Wyrm fortress prison 2 wyvern statues. Extinguish them when electrocute and active them again. Its so random, impossible to find without external sources of info

[@BlitzWare518]

@@1236remis Yeah you really only learn of this place if you have Wyll and save his dad

[@Ajar37]

Or if you read walkthroughs online :P

[@hamsterpad3093]

Some of the comments baffle me. I get not liking the Emperor, but I don't understand why people think killing Ansur makes him evil. Like what would you do if your best friend/lover came to kill you in your sleep because they didn't like who you were anymore? I wonder if there's one person among these comments that would bare their neck and be "Yes honey, kill me if it makes you happy"

[@DjDoomtrain]

its balduran,

[@Tiltigo]

This whole ordeal is actually proof that turning into a mind flayer is an objectively bad thing for your morale. Your soul is actually erased as Withers states, and with it goes your moral compass. You only think in logic. There is nothing left of Balduran in the emperor, only objective memories, all feeling gone. This reveal shouldn't be treated as an opportunity to trust him, it should be a moment to do the opposite.

[@korruptkitten94]

I find this dialogue funny because in my recent playthrough I romanced it and I totally felt like they were that toxic partner thats like "why do you always gotta bring up the past, babe?" 🙄🙄🙄

[@jmbs9586]

Balduran f*k a Male dragon now…the hardest thing in BG3 is finding a straight NPC lol

[@Buggistboy]

I dont think he fucked him, they just seemed like really really good friends.

[@cridow]

its funny to see so many people hating the emperor when i myself love him. hes my silly manipulate mansplain malewife.

[@NonExclusive6669]

Damed spoilers hate the interweebs sometimes.

[@unknownbenefactor8029]

After knowing who the Emperor was.... I always made my dream Guardian to be tan skin human with red curly hair to match his human form.

[@MegaStiman]

I go to youtube and I eat this spoiler, thanks.

[@VDA19]

Huh? The title is not spoilery at all. You clicked and watched the 9 minute video. You only have yourself to blame.

[@MegaStiman]

No, I haven't seen the 9 minutes of the video, just the title and the thumbnail came out on the cover of KZbin...@@VDA19

[@maxheadroom5736]

So what was spoiled then exactly?@@MegaStiman

[@SophisticatedHermit]

​@@MegaStimanthe thumbnail has 0 relation to who the emperor is. You were not spoiled anything yet. Now get tf out of here before you do.

[@MegaStiman]

@@SophisticatedHermit Let's see genius, if a person has not reached that part but knows the emperor and sees in the title the true appearance of the emperor and a fucking dragon, what is he going to suffer? Well, since the emperor is a dragon, you don't have to be very smart to understand why I said that. So you better collect your tears and get out of here before I do it to you.

[@arkboi2145]

Multiple points here. After everything, I 100% said F-You to “The Emperor” and sided with Orpheus. *** SPOILERS BELOW *** --- -- - Unfortunately, the original Baulder, whom The Emperor became, is dead and gone. Only Baulders memories and psuedo personality remain within The Emperor, of which, The Emperor uses to manipulate others. If you ever pressure The Emperor continually, he will eventually drop the act and show his true colors - that he was using you strictly to take control of the Elder Brain for himself, to get rid of Orpheus and the Githyanki, and to eventually turn you into a Illithid/MindFlayer Thrall. If you decide to side with The Emperor in the end, you and all of your companions WILL be mind-controlled and will fall completely under his power as Thralls. I can finally understand why so many people are extremely hostile and prejudiced against Illithid/MindFlayers. They are one of the few races/creatures in Dungeons and Dragons that cannot be reasoned with and cannot be allowed to live as they are abhorrent abominations that will proliferate and will destroy whatever they touch unabated. 1) It was explained quiet a few times by multiple NPC that a MindFlayer parasite fuses with the host and eventually overtakes them in mind and body. They fuse with the original self, absorbing their knowledge, strength, and abilities while the original host ceases to exist. But what’s worse, is that this process also destroys the original hosts soul. Meaning, being soulless, they lack morals, values, and are disconnected from the universal collective consciousness and energy of the world. A fate truly worse then death. 2) Illithid/MindFlayers are true neutrals. They will only ever act solely for self-advancement, self-preservation, and replication. All of their decisions, actions, and instincts are for this sole purpose. Nothing more, nothing less. Due to not having a soul, they will perform any good or any evil to so long as it advances and achieves their goals. While they themselves have emotion and can somewhat express it, they no longer have the means to comprehend emotion. 3) Illithid/MindFlayers by racial nature, are manipulators. Their very being is founded on the principle of using psionic energy to influence and control others as well as the world around them. It permeates every facet of their being. In fact, upon meeting/seeing an Illithid/MindFlayer, it is presumed that you will be/are automatically being manipulated. Which, is proven 100% true by The Emperor, who was manipulating you and lying to you the entire time for the singular sole purpose of using you, a Thrall, to take control of the Elder Brain. 4) Illithed/MindFlayers are Hive-minded Ethnocentrists. They have a King/Queen, or in this case, Elder Brain, for whom which controls the entire colony and for which they cannot disobey. They also believe themselves to be absolutely superior in ever single way to all other races. The only ones deserving to exist. The only ones who are right. Often viewing themselves with a narcissistic lens of self-perfection. 5) Finally, Illithed/MindFlayers use other races strictly for two (2) things only. One - For substannence, killing the host and devouring their brains. And two - for reproduction, in order to create more Illithid.

[@ladyselin35]

Long storys short we are talking to parasite not him.

[@secbro16]

"If you decide to side with The Emperor in the end, you and all of your companions WILL be mind-controlled and will fall completely under his power as Thralls." Except no? I sided with him in the end, killed Orpheus, and he didn't mind control any of us? He himself used the spell to allow us to access the netherbrain and kill it for good because I said no one wanted to be an illithid. Gave him the stones and everything and he didn't betray or control us. Then he left because he understood that he wouldn't be welcome in the city after they were just assulted by mind flayers.

[@ladyselin35]

@@secbro16 He says he will leave. You have no tadpoles anymore so you wont know what his true intentions. That guy is master manupilator.

[@CouchCit]

​@secbro16 In other words he got you to give him the crystals, assimilate Orpheus, and now he's gonna go retrieve the crown. In my game he couldn't take my answer of "You can have the crystals but I won't allow you to kill the prince" and went to join the brain. Dude wanted more than just death for the brain....

[@Mortyrian]

damn youu with your spoilers

[@warcheef]

That's a really stupid retcon.

[@battlecast9202]

I think it's interesting. I wouldn't call it a retcon. More like a re-interpretation a dm would do while making a campaign. It doesn't change canon or anything

[@Rzepik]

Somebody was paid to write this. Maybe he even thought this is some clever twist or a quality contribution to the lore. Eh...

[@burgertime6372]

This twist sucked ngl