So when illithid Tav at the end of the game decides to kill himself, he is greeted by withers. Despite illithids having no soul, he is able to recognize Tav. The explanation given is that Tav is some kind of anomaly and that some parts of his soul still remain.
So what if that is the key to rogue mind flayers? What if some people, with strong enough souls, manage to unconsciously dodge their death thru ceremorthose by transfering parts of their soul into the new illithid body.
And that's why the emperor, omeluum and Illithid Tav are different. They still have parts of their souls.
i felt SO bad during my first campaign cuz personally i really like the emperor but my tav lotus??? forget it. they're an asshole to everyone. the way the rejection was handled made me laugh tho. i can't remember the dialogue fully but the emperor was just like "oh. yes. of course. forget i said anything." like NOOO dude im sorry </3
Don't even dont even get me started on how it was such a missed opportunity to connect the falling from the netherbrain to the falling of the nautiloid if romanced with the emperor. To have your lover, who caught you the first time, catch you again and you plummet together into the ocean that he loves so much... absolutely wrecked. It feels so obvious