Illithid Romance - The Dream Lover Revelation - Part 6 of Series [ Release BG3 ]

[@Ben1159a]

I'm not going to lie, when I found out the dream lover was a mindflayer it broke my heart. That's when I realized I am way too invested with this game.

[@Mmogurl]

Aww - no problem in that though! It didn't break my heart.. it just kind of shocked me.. Like what!? I had considered it momentarily from the belynne wiki, but I didn't think it was actually possible since I figured Orpehus was in there instead. I never considered it would be the two of them and that's the loop that really threw me.

[@skyoxford]

You are not alone!

[@cynreiusacari3163]

@Ben1159a it’s ok, once I heard N’zoth’s voice in world of Warcraft I decided anything was workable as long as he kept talking 😂

[@Avatargirl12]

I puked a little

[@Delsanar]

it was obvious the moment he wanted us to eat brain worms@@Mmogurl

[@hawksliravenwood460]

Don't you mean.. Cuttlefished. I'll sea myself out lol🤣

[@Mmogurl]

Hahahahahah! No, no! Please do stay.. I said Squidfished earlier, but I think Cuttlefished takes the cake! xD

[@Zutto95]

LOOOOL

[@noctoi]

🦑🤣

[@CharmaineMPhotog]

we need this on a tshirt!

[@bornagain_cynic]

Just make sure you do all of Wyll’s quests. Seems kind of random, but it will give you some insight about the emperor. You’re gonna lose your mind lol.

[@MeredithPutvin]

His previous form... He did say he was an adventurer like you. He lost the battle against the tadpole. He did say this in act 1

[@MalakiaLaGattaNera]

Normies: we got catfished Me, a fearless Bard: FINALLY, A WORTHY OPPONENT >:3

[@Mmogurl]

hahaha - hey I'm not a normie! I was just going with a classic joke.

[@MalakiaLaGattaNera]

I know, I've been watching you since the EA days ;) keep up the good work and feel better soon @@Mmogurl !

[@noctoi]

Yeah my bard was like "oh, that's new... You seem like you have free will though so I'm down!" 🦑🦑🖤🖤🤣🤣

[@Grimneth]

This is why they changed it from the "One you dream of" in early access to "Your Guardian". Granted we don't know what the original plan was from early access to full release, but I do like the change, as one of my playthroughs, I made the Guardian look like an older version of my character. Basically, "Older self uses Time powers to save their younger self from a situation quicker than what happened to them" scenario.

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

Larian confirmed that the "Dream Lover" of the Early Access _was_ the tadpole speaking to us. The Emperor was also a character back then, but not the Dream Lover. When they decided to change the interaction to the Emperor (as the players were suspicious of the Dream Lover in EA already and let's be honest there's a limit to how much you can interact with a larva once the lie is revealed), Larian changed it to the "Dream Guardian".

[@RainbowEssence-c3w]

Ooh, that's creative, I like it!

[@JacksonBalls]

I played a half drow and made the guardian a female drow.She was supposed to be his mother or like her ghost I had no idea about the romantic aspect to the dream guardian and now I’m uncomfy😭

[@ethanduncan1646]

I love how this is just the tip of the iceberg for the character. Also pay attention to his theme.

[@catandrobbyflores]

You don't know how hard it was not to say anything. I know i yelled WTF!? at the top of my lungs when i found out and my husband's hysterical laughter after he determined i wasn't in any danger was the icing on the cake for this catfish.

[@beckawilk]

The foreshadowing, of the injured mindflayer you find after the crash, when it tries to make you love it to save itself, had me wary of the dream lover but I had hoped I was wrong.😢

[@zohawn4398]

We got calamaried

[@Mmogurl]

Squidfished! xD

[@SarahHeartsDarkness]

Commenting before I've finished watching your video (awesome work as always by the way!): Personally I really mourned the voice that the dream guardian had - for some reason I really liked it and it added to the attraction. I understand why they gave the Emperor a different one of course, since his identity as a male as the Emperor is somewhat predetermined in contrast to the dream guardian who could be any gender and have any voice. But still - my dream guardian's voice was sooo nice and comforting. I miss it!

[@Mmogurl]

Thank you! Yeah I imagine if you had a feminine sounding voice and then went to the Emperor's it would be like.. what!? But I actually really like the Emp's voice because i recognized it from a past romance in another game. So, I guess I'm biased xD But I know what you mean even if you liked the masculine voice, because I really liked the old DL voice from EA and they switched it which really sucked initially for me. Honestly, they're all brilliant voices, but obviously people will have their preferences.

[@Isus24-s8e]

@@MmogurlI also loved the dream lover's voice from EA. I was 100% sure that we will get multiple options to choose from (including new and old voices of the dream lover). I was shocked when i realized that they only gave us one option for each gender and those are all new voices. I got used to the new voice of the guardian, even though i miss the old one (loved that seductive tone of his). What is cool that right now I am on my second playthrough, playing as a male Tav (I made him look like my guardian from my first playthrough, so my female Tav is now my guardian lmao). I picked the third voice for him, it's the same voice that our guardian has, before revealing his identity. I think that's amazing. We can hear so many new voice lines from that great voice actor.

[@jenni5104]

Lmao I've been giggling all the way through this series, waiting for you to get to this point 😂

[@MarieCurtis92]

When I found out that the Guardian/Dream Lover was actually a mindflayer in disguise, my first honest-to-god thought was... Mmogurl is going to be so disappointed. lol Hope you feel better soon! Being sick sucks

[@azureashes-i8v]

Honestly I was really surprised and a bit hurt. And then I was angry, because I had unlocked a few extra Illithid powers and had to deal with the Emperor trying to compel my character to accept his "gift". And then I was just skeeved out because, in hindsight, the manipulation was rather easy to spot. The Emperor really is an amazing example of an insidious character who's exceedingly well-written.

[@PinkMarshmallows]

The Emperor gets a lot of hate for this catfish, but I would romance him again and again, as I am a woman of culture. 😈😘🦑

[@Mmogurl]

Astarion gets a lot of hate too for what amounts to nothing. People should stop hating so much!

[@t-vo6443]

I've been waiting for this reveal Can't wait to hear your full thoughts on the Emperor

[@Jenova-rk9mh]

At first I was interested in the dream lover because it seemed kinda random and funny to romance a voice in your head. After this reveal the Emperor became my favorite character in this game 😤 I am really looking forward to your reactions and interpretations for the further reveals 😇 Larian did us good ✨

[@Li_Tobler]

Yes tentacle daddy with a hot voice protecting me from all harm, what more could we want 😍 hahahaha

[@walterkrueger5947]

When she told me she had been infected I figured it out. Of course she does read your mind when you enter the prism so its not hard to figure out.

[@epli72]

"Big daddy Emperor" ... I think I just died a little :'D

[@isbammoi3358]

May you recover quickly ♡♡♡ being ill isn't fun. Yeah, we got duped HARD lol

[@MayaPatch]

When it happened to me j was wtf? What I have to fight against? Seeing the brain dudes green I was like... wait... what... who... 😂😂😂 this was one of the most MIND blow plot twist ever xD Note: the song that plays in the background when the emperor is telling you 🙃 it's a specific song of a specific character xD the game is telling us a lot of things lmao

[@Mmogurl]

o.O Oh? Yeah I noticed the song when I was editing.. for the sake of recording though, since I've turned the music down alot because it makes it harder to hear dialogue, etc. I was wondering about that song though cuz it was very dramatic sounding.

[@MayaPatch]

@@Mmogurl well... I dunno at what point of the story you are but... that song... you know, when you speak to a character it can happen that their theme is played in the background... and that song... the game was telling us something even before and I noticed it just now!

[@zsusensei]

Haha the first shock about the emperor but not the last ! But oh girl..this will be a wild ride beleave me..😅 can't wait your next video about this 😃

[@Mmogurl]

I will be working at it.. It's hard because I am almost done with Astarion's romance, but I have sooo much more to do with the Emperor. So, it will keep me busy for a while yet and then I think I'm gonna get into my dark urge game.

[@kairoikki6981]

“Were” so hot? Idk Big Daddy Emperor is still kinda… Anyways! A massive thank you for these videos, I’m living vicariously through them as someone unable to play. Super fun commentary as always! >v

[@CapucineNighly]

Glad you're feeling better. :) This romance is such a catfish... XD

[@Mmogurl]

Thank you :D I'm working on getting back to full energy. At least my voice is still working!

[@CapucineNighly]

@@Mmogurl Try ginger+grapefruit+honey tea. Helps a lot. :) And just drinking hot water... XD get well soon~❤️

[@Exarch_Of_Justice]

Maybe its because I played alot of EA and always had my suspicion or maybe its because im suspicious by nature but that didint come up as much of a suprise. My money wasen't necessarly on a mindflayer but I 100% knew the Dream Companion wasent what it presented itself to you as.

[@Mmogurl]

Well yeah, that was a given that there was something unknown and weird about them. If you listen back on this series, there's plenty of times where I'm like..it's obvious their not telling you everything, red flags, etc. But the mindflayer thing threw me because I thought it was going to be Orpehus alone at least in the prism.

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

@@Mmogurl Maybe I was too (deliberately) spoilered by barious BG3 forums, I already knew about the Emperor. But Larian has confirmed recently that the "Dream Lover" from EA was indeed always meant to be the tadpole in our brain, as opposed to the Dream Guardian being the Emperor. The Dream Lover was always pretty blunt about offering us power and talking about world domination (hence the vision of us standing hand in hand watching Baldur's Gate in flames), while Astarion was the only one given nightmares of Cazador instead of "enticing" dreams. (I'm sad we lost those scenes of him getting jealous of everyone having had nice dreams but him.) Larian decided to completely cut the Dream Lover and change it to the Guardian, allegedly because players were already suspicious of the Dream Lover.

[@lunabloodstone]

Haha I have been patiently waiting for this throughout the series lol. I can't wait for your full thoughts and reactions lol

[@serenenightful]

Someone spoiled me about the Emperor's identity, and that was a bummer, but I still really like this character for some reason. I think its that super sexy voice, and the fact that I was able to choose his appearance to be more my taste. People say the Emperor is all lies and manipulation, but I'm not so sure. He seems lonely to me. At any rate, I like watching the videos. Can't wait for the next one.

[@stories5596]

I really enjoyed listening to this video because I felt basically the same way about everything. I started romancing the Emperor as pure luck for making it past the checks, and my Tav was already entirely too invested in him at this point.

[@kokoro9301]

YAY been waiting for this! its so crazy!! THE IMPLICATIONS!

[@Deceitful_Jester]

4:46 And those things are contradictory??? This is a win in my book! I see no downsides to this arrangement! Gimme that stylish spooky squid, Larian!

[@Isus24-s8e]

I had that feeling since the EA. Idc tho, he can still turn into his guardian form if he wants to, also...c'mon guys! BABY MIND FLAYERS!!!!! Let's go!

[@CeaseEcho]

I ah... got the hidden mind blown accivement. I was curious but I didn't save it afterwards and went back, turned them down to stay true to Astarion.

[@monozuki]

Hoo boy! I have to admit Larian ducking got me, they got me *good* with this one! I did have a suspicion, but it was tiny, like "they couldn't *possibly* have some gigachad mind flayer with like 50 charisma be the Dream Lover, right? ...Right?!" And the mad lads said "hold my beer". My jaw was hovering somewhere around the floor area this whole damned scene. The worst bit though? While I myself was utterly flabbergasted with this revelation, my Tav on the other hand.. His chaotic neutral, highly eccentric self was like.. "cool. Prove to me you're him and we're good". I myself could not believe how damned easily my Tav accepted this brave new tencacled reality! I was like "really my Tav?! You into tentacles now?!" and he was like "same person, don't care". I ended up splitting my save folder then and there, because of the disonance between him and me: he's driven by him insatiable curiosity, he would DEFINITELY eat the shit out of that tadpole. But *I* don't wanna lol. I progressed a bit afterwards, but... After I refused to eat it I sorta broke the link I had with my Tav, if you catch my meaning. Like I felt it's *wrong* because he WOULD do it, consequences and veiny face be damned! In the end I left that playthrough alone until I can get it together somehow and am doing a good boi durge playthrough instead! Romancing Astarion of course... If I stick with it, I might just end up doing Astarion on durge til the end (especially that my durge refuses to even touch a tadpole!) and ditch him for the Emperor in my main playthrough gods help me lol (and I am NOT ready for that mentally... Yet hahaha)

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

Important tip: DO NOT _EAT_ THE ASTRAL TADPOLE!!! Instead use the _"Open your mind to it and attune to it"_ option. That will grant you the same result (access to tier 3 tadpole powers and automatically unlocking all tier 1 powers) _but_ the Astral tadpole stays in your inventory and you can share it with your companions... and potentially with someone else important later. But if the Astral tadpole is gone because you ate it, well, you could be in trouble because you lost that plotline option. If you simply consumed it like the normal tadpoles, the Emperor will be flabberghasted why you did that. Also, Astarion _loathes_ the idea of taking the Astral tadpole; he will refuse to use it as it triggers yet more PTSD for him.

[@monozuki]

@@TF2CrunchyFrog Thank you for the warning and the tip, I appreciate it! :) I didn't know about it being useful later, so will keep that in mind for sure. I actually did learn not to eat it myself though, because that's exactly what I did before I savescummed and dug my heels in to prevent my Tav from using it at all. And I know what you're refering to in regards to Astarion.. that's actually one of the few dialogue branches I never explored because I just can't do that to him, even if I know I will reload in a moment. And it's not just PTSD, either. Tav has the ability to literally go in, picking at his most voulnerable parts and *break* him in a way that will make him... *obey*. It's utterly revolting, I physically recoiled when I doscovered it. ..And I LOVE Larian for giving us the capacity to be this evil. The degree of freedom one has in this game - for better OR worse - is outstanding.

[@noctoi]

Bahaha that indignation (paraphrased) "you're joking right? I'm speaking into your head!" Made me chuckle a lot when I got that scene. I'm so torn now, what to do as far as him (I still think of "it" as "him" because he seemed to identify as him when talking about his past) and Lae'Zel. I get he's a bit of an 'evil' dude, but he's also not wrong when he talks about what he's done for Tav and what they shared. I have to admit though, if they'd left a few more "daisy" moments in the game... A bit more emotional tugging over time, and close calls with the transformation rather than just him telling Tav after the fact, I'd feel even more conflicted. I think it did a small disservice to the conflict we're clearly meant to have about what to do with him. Like, if we're leaning down that path we should feel much more connected and emotionally invested *before* the "big reveal". My Tav chose to keep the emotional connection to him, but it doesn't feel as deep as it should if there were more Guardian/Daisy style scenes to add depth and history for them. I (the player) am having trouble role playing a viable reason to choose Emp over helping Lae'Zel because there's just a much stronger and more tangible connection to Lae'Zel than Emperor. It's vexing because I really wanted to stick with him. I almost wish I'd stuck to my guns and left Lae'Zel to find her own way instead of giving in and recruiting her at the bridge. Either way, Kudos to Larian. Even with all the spoilers, I was totally blindsided by that scene 🤣

[@Mmogurl]

Well you know how I've been with the whole Dream Lover thing.. I feel like as much as I love Laezel.. she will get her perfect game after I find out where this whole Emperor path takes me. It does make you feel like you're stuck between a rock and a hard place, but so far they've done a good job of allowing me to juggle it all.

[@noctoi]

@@Mmogurl Oooh I wanna say more but I'm not gonna!! I can't wait to see how you progress though 😄

[@datbadassunicorn2832]

I Knew it! 😱🤬🫣😭😰💀 I new it was handsome squidward! 🐙🦑

[@Xoxo.TheAuthor]

Thank you for all your hard work! ❤

[@Mmogurl]

Thank you, dear!

[@seras1231]

Feel better soon!!! ❤❤

[@Mmogurl]

Thank you

[@heresfrankbetches921]

Can't wait for your final thoughts on this romance

[@Ennasalin]

Yeah, I absolutely understand your dilemma as I am in the exact same position with my current PT. However, I did read a little bit on the DnD lore and now I am even more conflicted. The only thing I actually don't like is that he is always connected to you. You cannot even go to the bathroom without him knowing...let alone other...... stuff.... ;D Also, he sounds a lot like one of those umbrella parents. Always has something to say...

[@MarieCurtis92]

Yes! He's always in your mind. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought about him possibly third-wheeling in on Tav's... dates.

[@IIIGioGioStarIII]

i used detect thought on him and he got cheeky over it. Very beautiful

[@leevie8335]

the most devastating part of this is that big daddy octopus didn't even keep the sexy voice!! awful. terrible. bad mind flayer!

[@Mmogurl]

So, honestly.. I really liked the original male voice from early access. The new one was good too and it did grow on me, but I always kind of wanted that old voice back.. But then it changed again and I liked the Emperor's voice a lot more then the guardian's. I think I like a deeper voice, but I imagine if your guardian was female, it would be really jarring too.

[@atinity6749]

I mean... where emperor lies on the whole good/evil scale, was always irrelevant for me. My whole playthrough has basically been about my party, my friends, my lover. And about giving a giant middle finger to whoever thinks they can use us, abuse us, control or manipulate us. Be they a Lord, or a ruler, a Devil, or be they a God, I will crawl through dirt and broken glass just to yell "fuck you" with my last breath, if need be. I am that petty, and I am that protective of my family. So the fact that the emperor has been manipulating me, even if it was for a greater good, my response was just for him to get at the end of the line. I'll kill him like the rest of them. My character isn't that big on the whole "greater good" thing anyways 😂

[@Mmogurl]

I don't know that I said greater good.. but more so that we needed the Emperor to survive the Absolute.

[@atinity6749]

@@Mmogurl Yeah sorry you didn't say it, but emperor says it one point at least. That he has to do bad stuff for the greater good. And I'm like "cool motive, still murder" 😂

[@Anastasia-ii2yy]

So, I presume you then killed him at first opportunity and enjoyed the scene of eternal friendship and love between your character and their new family?)

[@atinity6749]

@@Anastasia-ii2yy yes 😂 I constantly told him that I don't trust him and that I won't do it what he says. So I attacked him at the Astral prism, and later again when I chose Orpheus over him. Then we defeated him, and he went down like a little bitch 😈 And then I cried because of what happened to Karlach 😭😭😭 Thankfully some of my party members survived and stayed with me. And Astarion and I are going to go adventuring and maybe finding him 100% uv protection sunscreen 👍

[@Anastasia-ii2yy]

@@atinity6749 but why haven't you ended just with killing him at first opportunity? 😃That could have saved Karlah! And all other you initial companions. And they all would have been happy and protected... And no need for uv protection

[@RainbowEssence-c3w]

I was aware there was a Mindflayer called the Emperor (I often end up spoiling things for myself because I'm paranoid about getting a bad ending) but never realized that the Emperor and the Dream Guardian were one and the same until this scene. Then it clicked and it was like "Shit!" 😂Suffice to say I'm glad I didn't romance them on my first playthrough (honestly I must've missed the romance dialogue or forgotten it because I didn't even know it was an option until recently). At first when I saw the Intellect Devourers (when you first enter the portal) I assumed maybe they had invaded somehow and were attacking the Dream Guardian (and some Githyanki must've invaded as well because Vlaakith already wanted the Dream Guardian dead or so they lead you to believe). Then I saw the Intellect Devourers HELPING the Dream Guardian/Emperor!

[@ShadowKaiserin]

I mean...I can roll with tentacles...

[@zacharyhawley1693]

Surprise I'm a soulless brain eating hentai monster but don't hate me cause reasons. Main Character: I dig tentacles. 😎

[@Mmogurl]

hahahah xD Man.. the scripts I have to show you for what I wrote as I went through this are pretty amazing and there is definitely a hentai reference coming up LOL

[@3ofClovers]

I mean he still hot 😂 tis fine tis fine

[@jenni5104]

From that comment, I know what later choice you made in your game 😂

[@felidaetsavo]

This was shocking for me too. Def a wtf moment. I hope you finished Wyll's quest as well... 😉

[@epli72]

The way our tentacled 'dream lover' is panting and breathing heavy in his mind when you're helping him up just doesn't sit right with me. Mostly because I feel it's a manipulation to show vulnerability. Or do any of you make breathing noises in your mind? >:D

[@mother.nothingness]

Oh, just you wait, there's going to be MORE

[@LaTarjista]

Not gonna lie... I wasn't catfished, haha. And that's bc I talked more with the githyankis to know more about of mindflayers and... yes, it wasn't something good.

[@BladeZero238]

"But...but you were so hot...and now you have tentacles?" Honestly, I don't see the downside there. Although, there **is** a significant downside later on, but that's more to personality and attitude than anything else.

[@robjohnson3095]

Allrighty then, time to talk about the Emperor's New Hat + SPOILERish Warning The Emperor there, you can see that great big platter behind his head... uhm, don't think about it too much how silly such a thing is, after all, its purpose is actually to make him stick out uniquely as a particular mind flayer. Now, I have to say, I didn't notice this until I started my second playthru, but the meaning of the opening cinematic changes dramatically once you recognize Mr E. in it! So you might not want to go check it out until later, just to get that shock? This also changes the nature of your relationship with Mr E., saying we've been "catfished" falls far short of what actually happened - I'm not even sure what the right word is! I will say this for Mr. E, except for this huge lie of omission, he pretty much doesn't lie to you unless you get hostile in your questioning.

[@Anastasia-ii2yy]

Hi, found you😃 So what moment does Mr E gets into prism? I missed it completely. We first "left" him in helm when ship enters Avernus. Then very soon we were freed (by E.?), met Shadowheart with prism and crashed... I lost in time here...

[@robjohnson3095]

@@Anastasia-ii2yy By the time we wake up, Mr E has already been moving in and out of the Prism, but none of the mind flayers we see, including the one we see before falling off the ship, have the big plate. I believe Mr E is already in the Prism, but possibly manipulating the lesser mind flayers we do see - and definitely paying enough attention to cast feather fall on us when we fall off the ship.

[@Anastasia-ii2yy]

@@robjohnson3095 I just left with feeling that we woke up very-very shortly after trailer ends... Also I wonder why there is 1 specific dead illithid on act 1 that the Narrator will specify as the one who infected our character... Other corpses doest have that reaction

[@robjohnson3095]

@@Anastasia-ii2yy I just started a new game to check, and the narrator only speaks up about the one surviving illithid we find in the crash site, calling it the one that abducted us, which is curious word choice since the opening cinematic shows the ship tentacles teleporting people directly into pods. Also, this might be a bit of narrative license in that all the illithids look the same until you've become more familiar with them.

[@Anastasia-ii2yy]

@robjohnson3095 I was talking about dead illithid in goblins camp. If you use speaking with dead on him narrator will said that "your parasite squirms in recognition, no doubt that creature is responsible for your parasite". And subtitles on my language stated "this creature put parasite in you" here... which, I think, is a possible interpretation of narrator`s phrase... so that is what I remembered. Also I always speak with this illithid after I kill goblins as that is easier to do so, but to check the dialog today I found only save with goblins alive and I decided to speak directly and suddenly found that narrator will tell that this illithid is not one you know in dialog with goblins... So, sorry, forget what I said, that was a translation problem🙈

[@Ashley1Black]

You better get used to this look from now on 😂. He's not going to hide himself anymore. *spoiler* . . . . You can still sleep with him. I hope you like seafood.

[@sophiacousland3452]

No, no, no. I’m not trusting the Emperor. I’d rather help La’zael’s true leader.

[@RebekkaJones]

*Patrons

[@LeChevalierduLys]

Pretty Sure the Giths in the Prism are Githzeri not Githyanki, could be wrong.

[@azureashes-i8v]

They are githyanki serving as Prince Orpheus' honour guard.

[@LeChevalierduLys]

@Liz-xq2wi I know, but as far as I have seen, they are only referred as Gith, while most of the time Githyanki are referred as both Gith and Githyanki. Just a theory.

[@13ANE13]

LoL