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Help Your Protector is a quest in Act Three of Baldur's Gate 3.
 | Spoiler warning: The following content contains unhidden spoilers. Read at your own risk. |
Objectives
Objectives and journal entries may vary pending player decisions and outcomes.
- During the night, we were awoken by the voice of the Absolute. A githyanki contingent ambushed us. We heard the voice of the Dream Visitor, desperately seeking our help.
- Inside the Astral Prism, we came upon a battle between githyanki and intellect devourers. The Dream Visitor urged us towards the epicentre of the fight - the skull.
- We met a mind flayer, who asked for our help to subdue an imprisoned githyanki. We did not trust the mind flayer, and now the githyanki are attacking us. We must defend ourselves.
- The imprisoned githyanki is close to breaking free with the help of its allies. The mind flayer is struggling to keep him subdued. Without our help, it will not succeed. We must destroy the githyanki assailants.
- The imprisoned githyanki has been subdued. The mind flayer is eager to speak with us.
- The mind flayer revealed itself as none other than our Dream Visitor. It is a rogue illithid, and just like us, it wishes to be free of the elder brain's domination. By helping it to subdue the githyanki prince Orpheus, we remain protected from the Absolute's power.
Walkthrough
This quest starts automatically after the party completes Defeat Ketheric Thorm and moves on to the road to Baldur's Gate. After this, the party rests at Wyrm's Lookout before entering the Outer City. After ending the day, the party is awoken by the Elder Brain commanding them to submit. The Astral Prism goes out of control, seemingly pushed away. Shortly after, a portal opens and three Gish'ra warriors step through and attack the party. The party has only three turns to make it to the Astral Portal. Only one character needs to make it for all of the party to get transported. It is not necessary to actually fight any of the attackers; they do not pursue the party through the portal, and any that are left behind will be found dead when the party returns.
Meeting the Emperor
Once the party makes it to the Astral Plane, the Dream Visitor calls out and asks for help, explaining they are under attack. The party is attacked by two Gish'ra - High Gish'ra Sh'ari, Ember Gish'ra Mir'ic - and aided by Intellect Devourers. Proceed to the skull, where a Mind Flayer is doing battle with several Gish'ra warriors. The Mind Flayer explains that it is the Dream Visitor and, if asked, explains things that happened during the party's adventures. If the party agrees to help it, they must defeat Prelate Lir'i'c, High Gish'ra G'imre, Ember Gish'ra M'i'hayk, and Zephyr Gish'ra Verik.
After the battle, the party learns that the power used to protect them from the Absolute is stolen from a Githyanki Prince named Orpheus, who is trapped by infernal chains in the Astral Prism. The Mind Flayer, known as The Emperor, was tasked to acquire the prism as an agent of the Elder Brain, but became freed from its control once within the prism's shield.
The Emperor's Story
The Emperor finally explains the full story after the battle. It was once an adventurer just like the party, living in Baldur's Gate. Eager to do more, the Emperor went to Moonrise Towers in search of treasure and was captured by the Mind Flayer colony below, who transformed it into a Mind Flayer. For years, the Emperor served the Elder Brain that is now the Absolute as a thrall like any other, but it was able to break free and return to Baldur's Gate. The Emperor lived in the shadows, feeding on criminals and worked along Belynne Stelmane as the governing force behind the Knights of the Shield. Those who knew it called it The Emperor, for its role in the Knights. However, The Emperor's identity was found out by Enver Gortash who forced it back into servitude for the Elder Brain. After being sent on a mission to retrieve the Astral Prism, it broke free and set out on a mission to take down the Elder Brain.
The Emperor tells the party they would be stronger as an illithid, and the already consumed tadpoles have made them stronger. It gives them an Astral-Touched Tadpole that can transform the whole party into half-illithids, should they agree to it. The party can either agree or refuse, though the Emperor urges them to consider it.
Early Ending
If The Emperor dies in battle, the party soon find that he was correct in his assertions that he was protecting them. The Elder Brain takes control and turns the party into Mind Flayers, assimilating them into her Grand Design. The game ends and an early save must be reloaded to continue.
- If a party member is the one to kill The Emperor, the player will be prompted to help him back up instead of killing him, which restores The Emperor's health and resumes the fight. This can only occur once. Choosing to allow him to die simply ends the game, as above.
- If The Emperor is instead knocked unconscious, the fight continues without acknowledgment. Similarly, if he later dies after being knocked out, nothing happens, and his corpse can be looted and picked up like a normal opponent. Once the battle is won, The Emperor will reappear in the middle of the room. If his corpse has been picked up by the party member, it will be removed from that character's inventory.