One of the biggest twists in Baldur's Gate 3 is blatantly foreshadowed by a humble bit of cutlery and some song lyrics

pcgamer.com:

Before I dive into this little Baldur's Gate 3 revelation—this article contains big, stonking spoilers for the game's third act. I'm talking about twists that are of major importance to a key figure in the game's plot—you have been warned, adventurer. The third act of Baldur's Gate 3 sees a handful of shocking reveals concerning the Guardian, that helpfully dreamy visitor you create at the start of the game.

First off—again, spoiler alert, this is the last time I'm gonna say it—the Guardian is actually a mind flayer named the Emperor, who escaped from the Elder Brain and sought to thwart the Absolute. Secondly, as discovered in the depths under Baldur's Gate, he's… well, he's the Balduran. The gate master himself, founder of the city. Captured by Mind Flayers, turned into a squid, but still Balduran all the same.

As discovered on the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit by user CaptainChalky, the Emperor's room in the Elfsong Tavern basically waves this in front of your face in the form of a fork. «My cutlery set», the Emperor speaks as you go around rooting through his stuff. «A gift from my mother. The butter knife is missing, but otherwise it looks to be complete. I don't need it anymore, but the memory stirs something within me still.»

Turns out, that's a direct reference to Baldur's Gate 1. As someone who hasn't played the first two games, this reference skimmed over my head—though I did think at the time that the long line of dialogue felt out of place. CaptainChalky explains: «Late in Baldur's Gate 1, you're given a quest to try and locate the shipwreck of Balduran's final voyage and find out what happened to him along with recovering any relics relating to him.»

One of these is a butter knife, of which the item description