You’ll meet numerous interesting characters in Baldur’s Gate 3. The Emperor is just one of them, and there’s a particularly surprising reveal that sets the stage. Our guide discusses whether or not you should help the Emperor Mind Flayer in Baldur’s Gate 3, as well as the results of your decisions. Likewise, please be reminded that this guide contains spoilers.

Should You Help the Emperor Mind Flayer in Baldur’s Gate 3?

We all know that Illithids or Mind Flayers should not be trusted. But, you’ll have a particular dilemma during Act 3. That’s when you meet the Baldur’s Gate 3 Emperor Mind Flayer, and he asks you to save him.

The Githyanki Ambush

Upon reaching Wyrm’s Crossing and resting in the outpost, your group will get attacked by Githyanki Monks. Several will spawn, and they hit hard. Worse, you have to reach the portal within three turns. Otherwise, anyone who has a tadpole in their brain will get completely controlled by the Absolute. They’ll turn into a Mind Flayer, which leads to a game over.

Ideally, you’ll want to take out at least a couple of the enemies to clear a path. Likewise, if you have characters with high mobility, such as a Monk, or a spellcaster with Misty Step, you need to get as close to the portal as soon as possible. Once a tadpole-infested character touches the portal, you’ll be sent to the Astral Plane. You’ve survived… at least for now.

The Astral Plane: Help the Emperor or Not

Upon reaching the Astral Plane, you have to eliminate a couple of hostiles. Then, once you head to the large skull in the center, the Emperor will approach you since his domain is being invaded. Now comes a choice on whether or not you should help the Baldur’s Gate 3 Emperor Mind Flayer.

What Happens if You Attack the Emperor

Long story short: it’s a game over. You need the Emperor alive, as he’s actually the only one who’s preventing you from being completely corrupted by the Absolute. If you fight him, you’ll go up against his Intellect Devourer brain creatures, as well as the Githyanki invaders. Even if you take him out, that still leads to the same cutscene where your character’s body bursts as a new Mind Flayer is born.

What Happens if You Help the Emperor

If you help the Emperor, you battle only the Githyanki hostiles. There are four in the area, including one who’s higher up on a ledge. The Intellect Devourers are there to aid, though they don’t have enough HP. Still, you should be able to win the battle without too much hassle.

After you help the Emperor in Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s revealed that he’s actually the Dreamlover/Guardian who’s been visiting you at night. He was once an adventurer and, although he didn’t take an arrow to the knee, he did take a tadpole to the eye.

He managed to wrest control of his being to live as an advisor to a duke. Unfortunately, one of the baddies, Gortash, revealed his true identity, and he’s been imprisoned in the Astral Plane ever since. Moreover, you realize that the Githyanki trapped in the core is Prince Orpheus, the son of the goddess Gith. His imprisonment holds back the Absolute’s grip on your mind.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is that the Emperor Mind Flayer has a gift for you: an Astral-Touched Tadpole. Should you choose to consume it, it will unlock better powers for your character. You can learn more in our high-tier Illithid Powers guide.