Oh. Oh so THAT's what's inside the... oh. OOOOOOH! || Baldur's Gate 3 #25

[@theinspiredgamer1949]

Ah yes, the Astral Prism reveal. AKA the moment where everyone wonders if they should've picked a Monk as their class.

[@myosotis22]

shadowheart really had a crisis of faith and then dyed her hair and cut her bangs

[@lefishe5884]

I’m sure you’d been wondering what the drawbacks of using Illithid powers have been. Well, here it is. If you totally abstain from using the tadpole until now, you can just flat refuse the Emperor’s “evolution” without having to roll for it, but the more you dabble the harder it is to turn down. Conversely, you can accept his offer whether you’ve been tadpoling or not. On the plus side, it doesn’t lock you into an ending or anything, and there are tangible, powerful benefits for accepting the evolution.

[@SiffusVera]

My first playthrough i didn't touch the tadpole system at all because i didn't trust it. I didn't even know there was a check until this video.

[@radiobrain169]

more bg3 pls im on my hands and knees here skyen

[@corvidkhaos]

will never be normal about the way the emperor’s leitmotif when they first ask for help foreshadows their backstory

[@grinstrashcan]

Weird that Skyen put so attention to the Emperor feeding on criminals when he also took it pretty well when Omeluum said that he does pretty much the same thing.

[@GCWeber]

To be fair there's a pretty big difference between criminals in baldur's gate (petty thieves probably) and criminals in the underdark (slavers)

[@mdcandronic]

I think it's been so long Skyen forgot all about Omellum. That and he seems hellbent on believing the Emepror is some manipulator and secretly evil. He's not giving any benefit of the doubt, went straight for the kill when given the option. He'd have killed the Emperor if the game didn't gave you a game over for doing it. Spoilers: The fact the game also goes along with your presumption of the Emperor for sure won't help. If you trust him he is nice and kind. If you don't trust him he's bad and evil and cruel. His whole personality shifts to accommodate your view of him. So much so players choosing to trust him or not end up with vastly different impressions of him at the end of the game.

[@WanderingRagabond]

​@@mdcandronicWell yeah, he IS a manipulator. Of course he'll be nice and encouraging when you're responding well to him. The moment you show suspicion or so much as try to keep secrets from him, he gets furious and tries to dig inside your head. And he expects you to be GRATEFUL that he opted for subtle manipulation over outright enthralling the whole party.

[@GCWeber]

@@mdcandronic I mean, I played along with him all game because apparently I can't pick up on red flags but then at the end he was like "the only option is to kill orpheus" and I was like "okay yeah no, between this and Ansur (I never found out about what he did to Stelmane but if I did that would have been a factor too) you can go to hell now"

[@GCWeber]

addendum to what i said earlier: Omeluum mentioned that he *used* to sustain himself on criminals. He *used* to eat the minds of people he didn't feel guilty for killing but now he's found a more ethical alternative, even if it's one that doesn't give him as much sustenance

[@myosotis22]

Jaheira in this game is so fun, she never left my party just for her banter alone

[@bdletoast09]

For real, I've been playong Tav as a snarking smartass since the begining but most companion get offended really easily and they rarely bite back. Jaheira takes it in stride and she genuinely loves exchanging quips with you. I love her for that.

[@aperson5657]

Scratch is the goodest boy. Not the cleverest, the goodest 😂

[@st6x]

Emperor my beloved 😔 I really wish more people would understand that his character is driven entirely by your choices. If you're good to him he's good to you, if you're not he won't be. Not exactly an unfair stance for either a person or a character.

[@junpeidaman]

It mirrors exactly how players play games like RPGs (and hell, even other beloved characters from bg3) but ngl just bcuz it is an illithid ppl over-villanize it :/

[@TheNeilBlack]

He's nice to you if you're doing what he wants. But if you make your own choices or try to assert your own agency he starts getting controlling. It's very toxic.

[@asvezesleal]

is the series over ?.... 2 months waiting now :(

[@lizabetta1704]

Taking a break Or maybe no editor available/time to edit the VODs

[@IvanHavid]

Long live the emperor

[@mdcandronic]

I guess i shouldn't have expected Skyen to have a friendly relationship with the Emperor. I really wanted to see his reaction to a certain... scene later

[@Blorxian-hater]

All my homies hate the emperor

[@Blorxian-hater]

Who else up balduring their gate?

[@jaesaces]

32:50 - Four Elements monks can cast some spells, but they do still need to meet the somatic and verbal components of the spell, so they cannot cast them while silenced.

[@EsfingeCinza]

Scratch should 100% have become the mind flayer btw

[@giuseppe9653]

So far, my only experience with this game that i have, is this playthrough, and it's nice to get to see individual Mind Flayers, like the one in the Underdark

[@MuscleWizard.]

MORE BALDURING 🗿

[@komaytoprime]

We're eating good this week, gentlefolk!

[@EsfingeCinza]

YES. YESSSSSSSSS. YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS SQUID

[@Wromeo13]

Boooooooo! At least check out what the astral tadpole can doooo!

[@Keaton_Ambrose]

THE REVEAAAAAAAL

[@wolfdave4766]

It is true that is annoying that they won’t stop the ostilities even if you show you’re against the emperor. Makes the fight just much harder and the githzerais look much dumber.

[@applejackjk18]

I wonder if they don't have AI for 3-sided fights. Can't think of one off the top of my head

[@memelordmctasty3285]

@@applejackjk18 Closest I can think of is that the Bulette has a trait which explicitly makes it prioritize other monsters nearby. They could probably have given the gith a similar thing for Mindflayers.

[@colbyzimmermann7920]

even if they fully allied with you upon siding against the emperor, Mr 2BSkyen lost all right to complain when he sneak attacked them before scoping out the scene. He keeps doing it...

[@aperson5657]

New bg3 episode! 🎉

[@ethanm2562]

It's a pretty big reveal

[@fallenaster]

yayyy i’ve been so excited

[@katelynkaboom]

im still upset Skyen did not romance my big red lady lol

[@judahforshey1865]

STOP. TAKING. DUAL. WIELDER. ON. CHARACTERS. THAT. WIELD. LIGHT. WEAPONS!

[@Jacobstx]

This was a real hurdle for me to get my mind around. When I realized what it actually did, I picked it on Gale and he spent the rest of the game with two staves equipped, looking like he was in some kung-fu movie whener we entered combat. That feat has such a bad name.

[@15P3R14]

How about you shut your backseatgaming mouth?

[@Frogboyaidan]

Hi

[@junpeidaman]

YESSSSSSSSSS ILLITHID HUSBAND IS FINALLY HERE

[@opalescent4694]

Long comment because I have a lot to say about this part due to some annoyance and some nerdy research I've done on some subjects. I tried to keep it spoiler free in general. The Emperor is the worst written part of BG3. I truly hate that they changed the Dream Visitor from whatever it originally was to THAT. And to anyone who says "the emperor isn't evil" he is. Also, one of the few mindflayers to not use it/its pronouns exclusively (Ormeluum outside one mistake by Blurg uses it/its; but the Emperor actually has a few moments of someone using he/him without him taking issue). Further note, the reason Illithids don't have souls is because the process kills the original body. It's literally just a tadpole that's parasitically using the body as a puppet. The Emperor's stupid little, "even if my original body existed I wouldn't inhabit it" is because it's the tadpole speaking, not the original mind of the Emperor. The tadpole is saying it wouldn't want to be a human, while the original mind likely would be disgusted to what's become of his body. Further further note... The Honor Guard of Orpheus, are essentially proto-Gith, but are probably actually Githzerai and Githyanki who just joined up with him, since proto-Gith don't really exist anymore. Githyanki and Githzerai do have legitimate, biological differences from eons of living on different planes of existence, as well as cultural differences. The original Vlaakith was just a Gith, Orpheus is just a Gith, anything modern would be either Githyanki or Githzerai. For those curious, Githyanki lay eggs (implying Githzerai don't because it's mentioned that this is due to living on the Astral), have serrated ears, and sharp teeth. Those are noted as BIOLOGICAL differences, they're literally subspecies of a now-existinct original species.

[@colbyzimmermann7920]

my reply WILL have spoilers kind of: "worst written part of BG3" how? Everything mentioned in this comment is just explaining his character, not a critique. I agree that he's a dick but maybe don't put that in the comments of a play-through that just met him? The game is still in the phase where the emperor is trying to allay player fears. Side note I think it's fitting as the most utilitarian character in the game, there is no way they'd give a shit about pronouns. The emperor doesn't even use their own name anymore because it's "inconsequential". Anyway to preemptively defend the emperor's writing: if you're having constant debates on if he's good or not, that's a pretty well written manipulator!

[@jakobmoiirers_jmoii]

TBSkyen BG3 DOUBLE FEATURE