Baldur's Gate 3's Strangest And Most Intimidating Enemy Actually Has A Deeper Lore (2024)

Baldur's Gate 3 is playable without any prior Dungeons & Dragons knowledge or experience, but that can lead to missing context and a lack of explanation for some elements included in the game. Instead, BG3 gives enough information about enemies pulled from DnD 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 BG3 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, BG3 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.

Elder Brains & The Illithid

Although the illithid and the elder brain are crucial parts of BG3's 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 DnD lore surrounding mind flayers, because elder brains are the center of illithid society.

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 brain receives protection from the mind flayers, which is why they are generally located in well-guarded caves that have pools of brine. Although full of knowledge and able to cast spells, an elder brain is otherwise limited to slapping enemies with its tendrils for physical battles, which isn't exactly effective. So each party makes up for the weaknesses of the other in illithid society.

The Creation Of An Elder Brain

Then, there's the question of what an elder brain actually is and how one is created. The shortest answer is that it's a collection of brains making one large super brain. To be more specific, an elder brain is a collection of mind flayer brains, which is why it has so much knowledge of illithid history and technology. Becoming an elder brain is the last stage of a mind flayer's life. Aside from mind flayers that die in combat and other such circ*mstances, they reach a point where they offer up their brain to the elder brain in order to become part of it.

The mind flayers are willing to give up their brains to the elder brain because they're told that it provides them a form of eternal life. However, this is a lie that's guarded by elder brain​​​​​​​s so that Mind Flayers won't decide to continue living instead of increasing the Brain's power and knowledge by sacrificing themselves to it. When mind flayers join the elder brain, their memories and knowledge become part of it, but their consciousness doesn't remain separate, which means they effectively die instead of receiving that promised eternal life.

The Difference Between An Elder Brain & The Netherbrain

The Netherbrain is the primary antagonist in Baldur's Gate 3, and the one element that sets it apart from the elder brain is that it's wearing the Crown of Karsus. The Crown of Karsus is an incredibly powerful item that lets the wearer use magic without relying on the Weave, a fact that Mystra isn't happy about, to the extent that she orders Gale to destroy the Absolute with the orb in his chest. And when he refuses, she requests that he retrieve the crown and give it to her. It's so powerful that even the goddess of magic is afraid of what could happen if it's misused.

With the power of the Crown of Karsus, the Netherbrain is able to form its own plan and use the Chosen of the Dead Three as well as the Emperor to bring the Netherstones to it, so that it's able to free itself from the bonds that have been placed on it. But it also has some unique abilities that aren't seen in normal elder brains. The biggest is its ability to produce illithid tadpoles that bring the infected under the controlof the brain, butwithout triggering ceremorphosis unless the brain specifically orders it. In-game, this results in the cult of the Absolute, which is composed of non-illithid followers.

The Likelihood Of Another Netherbrain

Even if Bhaal has another child like The Dark Urge in Baldur's Gate 3, who formed and started the plan that created the Netherbrain, it's unlikely that another Netherbrain will be seen in the future. The reason that it was so unique was solely because of the Crown of Karsus, and at the end of BG3, when the party doesn't decide to join the Absolute, the Crown either ends up in Raphael's hands, turns Gale into a god, or it's returned to Mystra, who would never allow it to be used for any purpose again.

It was a perfect storm of circ*mstances that created the Netherbrain, and it showed its desperation to continue living when the party confronted it. However, it probably won't be happening again, especially if Bhaal has his godhood rescinded, considering a few foreboding comments from Withers about the Dead Three at the end of the game. Bhaal's child came up with the plan, and the purpose was to sacrifice all life in his name, so taking both Bhaal and the Crown of Karsus out of play makes the chances slim to none of another Netherbrain being created.

A giant brain might seem like a strange enemy to fight, but the Netherbrain has a lot of lore to explore, especially regarding how unique it is from the elder brain because of the Crown of Karsus. However, it's difficult to include all the context and lore regarding the elder brain and illithid society from the Forgotten Realms into a single game. So, while the deeper lore is interesting to dig into, it isn't required to understand and enjoy Baldur's Gate 3.

Baldur's Gate 3

Franchise

Baldur's Gate

Platform(s)

macOS , Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 5

Released

August 31, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

Genre(s)

RPG

ESRB

M

How Long To Beat

50 - 100 hours

Prequel

Baldur's Gate 2

Summary

Baldur's Gate 3 is a long-anticipated sequel to Baldur's Gate 2, released in 2000 from BioWare and now being handled by Larian Studios. Set 120 years after the events of Shadows of Amn, Baldur's Gate 3 puts players in the role of a customizable protagonist who has been captured and infected with a parasite that will turn them into a mind flayer. Before the process is complete, the ship they are on crashes, leaving them on a quest to cure themselves as they meet up with other survivors. Gameplay is turn-based and can be played co-operatively online or tackled alone in a single-player campaign with NPC allies.