Baldur's Gate 3's Strangest And Most Intimidating Enemy Actually Has A Deeper Lore

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is playable without any prior knowledge or experience, but that can lead to missing context and a lack of explanation for some elements included in the game. Instead, gives enough information about enemies pulled from to explain why they should be avoided or eliminated, such as the illithid not having souls and seeking to turn others into illithid. However, there's a lot that goes unexplained for those who have no existing knowledge of the Forgotten Realms.

The Forgotten Realms are far more expansive than the glimpse that shows of them, and putting all the information about them into one game simply wouldn't be feasible. To make up for part of this, drives the plot forward with the threat of ceremorphosis and the center of that threat being in Baldur's Gate. As a result, there's no explicit need to explain the various societies, like the illithid, nor the githyanki's role in hunting and eradicating them.

Although the illithid and the elder brain are crucial parts of story, not a lot of information is given regarding how illithid society works and what the elder brain means to them. The context given in-game is that tadpoles cause a process known as ceremorphosis, which turns the infected into an illithid, aka mind flayer. Then, illithid feed on the living, and obey the commands of the elder brain seen later in the game. This all tracks with lore surrounding mind flayers, because elder brains are the center of illithidsociety.

This is a beneficial set-up for both parties in this society. The mind flayers receive guidance from the elder brain, a creature that acts as a giant archive for the illithid and their history, containing memories of mind flayers that have reached the end of their lives. In exchange, the elder