I wonder if the reason why Duke Stelmane was controlled by the Emperor was because they were genuinely good friends until he tried to convince her to eat tadpoles.

She had a stroke.. so it makes me think she's predisposed to ill health. When she reacts badly he accidentally vegetables her and he regrets that.

So when it comes to the player he remembers the past failure to win Stelmane over and tries to coax the player more gently, shows himself as a hero to try and get do gooders to help him, shows vulnerability to try and get the player to protect him, he shows himself as the just side. Sex to try and tie the player to him as well. It's all very calculated.

If controlling other people is so easy, why doesn't he do it and instead goes to all that effort? I think the simplest answer is that he is lonely and sees his past self in the player which is why he takes the player as a protege and tries to tempt with the squid path. Also, having other squids around who have chosen to help you is bound to be safer than just being alone because they are very strong.

I think the reason why he's called Emperor is because he really is a queen bee. He thinks that he is independent and free but acts just like an illithid and a person would. A queen bee who is NOT LIKE OTHER ILITHIDS trying to start a new hive of followers just like other ilithids. A lonely person who wants friends and company and loves so called free thinkers but is a huge hypocrite who wants everyone to freely think just like him and can't tolerate opinions that he sees threatens him.

>>279610860
Anonpipi, Challia is literally one of Zeon's most loyal soldiers. Never forget that he is aligned with the literal space hitler faction and will do space hitler things to achieve his goals.

Now, he is aligned to Char and most specifically he admires Char's father's philosophy (Zeon Zum Deikun) so he is going to exterminate the people responsible for that goal. Challia has a very cautious wait and see conservative approach which you see when he is waiting to find Machu and is willing to wait for clan battle. He also feels like he understands people completely because of the mind reading and newtype empathy which is his flaw on more than one occasion. He most likely believes that if he gives it up he can be considered Zeon's most loyal son and be admitted to more venues for assassination and wasn't aware that they were moving so quickly.

So he got fucked... again.