Can you trust Baldur’s Gate 3’s Guardian? Players debate Act 3 finale
Larian StudiosBaldur’s Gate 3 most mysterious character caused a long debate in Larian Studios’ player community. Here’s whether they think the Guardian should be trusted during the adventure through Faerun.
Baldur’s Gate 3 gives players countless options that will directly affect the outcome of the narrative. These choices are related to what NPCs and companions let the main character know about their story, and, more often than not, users have to take a leap of faith when deciding who to side with.
Before you continue reading, please note that this article discusses major spoilers from all three acts of Baldur’s Gate 3.
As many players have noticed before, Larian Studios introduces many ambiguous characters that seem to have an agenda of their own. Even if they choose to help the main character momentarily, they can quickly turn their backs on players if they don’t feel their interests are aligned.
The most mysterious figure that appears during the first two acts of Baldur’s Gate 3 is the Guardian, a strange character that appears during Long Rests and tells players to embrace their Illithid Powers. However, everything that happens after the Mind Flayers’ parasite seems to suggest that using them might end up turning the characters into one of the Illithids.
The game eventually reveals that the Guardian’s real identity is that of The Emperor, a Mind Flyer that tells us that he has rebelled against his own, and is trying to help humanity against the Illithid invasion. However, besides his words, there’s little reason to think that he isn’t lying to the main character.
Larian StudiosBaldur’s Gate 3 fans were amazed that even if The Emperor is one of the sketchiest characters, he follows through with everything he describes.
“I just finished the game for the first time and put a lot of trust in the emperor but a lot of memes and other posts began to tell me maybe he wasn’t trustworthy,” described Redditor ‘Lost_Objective5813,’ ” We killed the Netherbrain, and the emperor didn’t betray us… he just got up and left.”
Fans also stated that you can perceive the “growing” relationship between The Emperor and the main character since, at first, he outright refuses to reveal his identity but then entrusts the outcome of his whole mission to the player.
The first time he explicitly does this is after speaking with the devil Raphael in Sharess’ Caress during Act 3, where he can’t get direct access to your thoughts. There, players who don’t trust him are shown the possibility to turn on him right at the end of the game. After the scene finishes, The Emperor will ask you what happened and try to probe the characters’ minds for an explanation.
“There is an option to say something along the lines of, ‘You tell me to trust you constantly. If you trust me at all, you will stop this at once,” commented Redditor ‘HurricaneeK,’ “I was literally stunned when he responded to this with, ‘You’re right. I will respect your privacy in this instance.’ It really changed my viewpoint on him, tbh.”
But even if The Emperor starts to show that he’s on the main character’s side, despite what players wish to do at the end, some Baldur’s Gate 3 fans pointed out that his past actions with human companions definitely aren’t trustworthy.
“Kinda ignoring the fact that he had turned Stelmante into a thrall, and she had no free will. Not really something you’d do to your ‘best friend’,” pointed out Redditor ‘Ag_Robertson_autor.’
“To play devil’s advocate, The Emperor is also a chronic manipulator,” explained Redditor ‘GlitteringCow9725,’ “For me, trust is gained by someone being honest when they don’t have to. The Emperor never does this. It constantly lies to you. It constantly tells you that now it’s told you everything, and it’s a lie every time.”
And that’s what Baldur’s Gate 3 fans said about whether you can trust the Guardian or not in your adventure through Faerun. If you want to know more about Larian Studios’ RPG, you can check the reasons why players choose to raid Emerald Grove and what hilarious glitch is interrupting romance scenes in Act 3.
