Is Imoen an Evil Genius? (Massive Tarrasque-Sized Spoilers Throughout)
Permidion_Stark
Member Posts: 4,861
For years we have been thinking of Imoen as our adorable (or unbearable) little sister: a happy-go-lucky, good-hearted kid who is intensely loyal to the Charname. But now conclusive proof has been uncovered revealing that as soon as you leave Candlekeep Imoen goes on a killing spree, slaughtering defenceless animals: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/66313/how-did-imoen-get-9-exp
So do we need to reassess everything we think about Imoen? Is she in fact using the Charname as a cat's paw to achieve her own ends? Is Imoen the one pulling the strings throughout your adventures? Is she the puppet master? Is Imoen the true power behind the Throne of Bhaal?
Look at the evidence:
1. She knows more about your flight from Candlekeep than you do. She turns up just after Gorion is killed. Coincidence? Maybe. Or did she watch and wait until the battle was over?
2. She keeps herself to herself and rarely interacts with anyone but the Charname. But she always complains if she doesn't like what you are doing and praises you when you do what she wants.
3. You can't get rid of her. No matter how you try. She will keep coming back.
4. In SoD she says she can't join you because she wouldn't be much use but she follows you through the first dungeon like a tour guide. None of the monsters in the dungeon will try to attack her. Even if everyone else is killed Imoen will survive.
5. Imoen sits out the whole of SoD because she says she is learning magic (even if she already knows more magic than she learns). Is this true or is she up to something? Is she, for instance, plotting with the Hooded Man?
6. At the end of SoD Imoen takes the credit for breaking you out of jail. But just before this happens the Hooded Man turns up and predicts that you will escape. Are they in this together?
7. Once you do escape Imoen chooses the path you take and just happens to lead you into an ambush.
8. You wake up in Chateau Irenicus and Imoen frees you from your cage. She claims she escaped from her own cage because it was damaged in the attack by the Shadow Thieves. Seems kind of convenient doesn't it?
9. She then tells you that she was tortured by Irenicus. But you only have her word for this. What if she was helping Irenicus in his studies? Wielding the knife that killed Khalid? Or worse yet, what if she was the one guiding the operation? Telling Irenicus where to cut?
10. When you break out into Waukeen's Promenade and the Cowled Wizards come to arrest Irenicus she makes sure she gets arrested by firing a Magic Missile at him. If she was really intending on fighting a battle with a powerful enemy mage there is no way she would start by firing a Magic Missile. She is just using a weak spell to ensure that she gets taken into custody with him.
11. Everyone has assumed that Imoen doesn't want to be taken to Spellhold but what if it is exactly where she wants to go? She knows Irenicus is a real threat to the Charname so she wants to make sure she can stay close to him. Irenicus is Imoen's dupe just as much as the Charname is.
12. In the end she achieves the power she wants without anyone ever suspecting what she is really up to. Even Elminster is taken in:
Imoen. We never suspected her because she was hiding in plain sight.
So do we need to reassess everything we think about Imoen? Is she in fact using the Charname as a cat's paw to achieve her own ends? Is Imoen the one pulling the strings throughout your adventures? Is she the puppet master? Is Imoen the true power behind the Throne of Bhaal?
Look at the evidence:
1. She knows more about your flight from Candlekeep than you do. She turns up just after Gorion is killed. Coincidence? Maybe. Or did she watch and wait until the battle was over?
2. She keeps herself to herself and rarely interacts with anyone but the Charname. But she always complains if she doesn't like what you are doing and praises you when you do what she wants.
3. You can't get rid of her. No matter how you try. She will keep coming back.
4. In SoD she says she can't join you because she wouldn't be much use but she follows you through the first dungeon like a tour guide. None of the monsters in the dungeon will try to attack her. Even if everyone else is killed Imoen will survive.
5. Imoen sits out the whole of SoD because she says she is learning magic (even if she already knows more magic than she learns). Is this true or is she up to something? Is she, for instance, plotting with the Hooded Man?
6. At the end of SoD Imoen takes the credit for breaking you out of jail. But just before this happens the Hooded Man turns up and predicts that you will escape. Are they in this together?
7. Once you do escape Imoen chooses the path you take and just happens to lead you into an ambush.
8. You wake up in Chateau Irenicus and Imoen frees you from your cage. She claims she escaped from her own cage because it was damaged in the attack by the Shadow Thieves. Seems kind of convenient doesn't it?
9. She then tells you that she was tortured by Irenicus. But you only have her word for this. What if she was helping Irenicus in his studies? Wielding the knife that killed Khalid? Or worse yet, what if she was the one guiding the operation? Telling Irenicus where to cut?
10. When you break out into Waukeen's Promenade and the Cowled Wizards come to arrest Irenicus she makes sure she gets arrested by firing a Magic Missile at him. If she was really intending on fighting a battle with a powerful enemy mage there is no way she would start by firing a Magic Missile. She is just using a weak spell to ensure that she gets taken into custody with him.
11. Everyone has assumed that Imoen doesn't want to be taken to Spellhold but what if it is exactly where she wants to go? She knows Irenicus is a real threat to the Charname so she wants to make sure she can stay close to him. Irenicus is Imoen's dupe just as much as the Charname is.
12. In the end she achieves the power she wants without anyone ever suspecting what she is really up to. Even Elminster is taken in:
And what of Imoen, the eternal child? She had long stood in the shadow of
, but she was her own person, and would find her fate where she
pleased. She returned to Candlekeep for a time, her formidable skill in magic
granting a greater appreciation for its tomes. It was smaller than she
remembered, however, and she did not stay long. Later she was seen in such
vaunted company as Khelben "Blackstaff" and Elminster, by all accounts
encouraging them to not be such stick-in-the-muds. Her influence grew over
time, and she may have founded a thieves' guild that now operates all the way
to Neverwinter. When asked of this she always answered with a smile of purest
innocence. "Heya," she would say, "it's just me, Imoen."
, but she was her own person, and would find her fate where she
pleased. She returned to Candlekeep for a time, her formidable skill in magic
granting a greater appreciation for its tomes. It was smaller than she
remembered, however, and she did not stay long. Later she was seen in such
vaunted company as Khelben "Blackstaff" and Elminster, by all accounts
encouraging them to not be such stick-in-the-muds. Her influence grew over
time, and she may have founded a thieves' guild that now operates all the way
to Neverwinter. When asked of this she always answered with a smile of purest
innocence. "Heya," she would say, "it's just me, Imoen."
Imoen. We never suspected her because she was hiding in plain sight.
Post edited by Permidion_Stark on
18
Comments
I was always puzzled where she was supposed to be held captive in ID. She emerges from the room with all the weapons (and Jaheira's cell key) and if you want to go there, all you find is a privy and a locked door.
What's with the "we" in the OP?
Some of us were never fooled.
And that belt that can't be removed.......what powers does it hold?
@Iroumen
Imoen must have had access to the second floor through the portal in ID. It's where you find Khalid and we all know how involved she was in that killing.
"He was already dead" yeah sure Imoen.
Poor misguided fools.
They will learn.
There's definitely something going on with this 'lil innocent girl', as we have been discovering.
Or it holds the souls of Seattle musicians. Hence the early deaths of Andrew Wood, Layne Stanley, Kurt Cobain, Chris Cornell, ...
It's just like that old gypsy woman said!
What are you raving about, a cute little sister would never... do... such a thing..? *Looks at his IRL younger sister* OH SHI-
*Takes the blue pill*
Apropos of nothing, just possibly my favourite music video.
(tried ever so hard to find a way to link it to "Evil Imoen" (how sad is that?) but gave up and decided it's worth a watch anyway)
Mucked up attaching the video but link still works. One of my favorite grunge videos - Get Born Again by Alice in Chains...
The idea that there are endless clones of Imoen called up whenever an "Imoen" is needed.
Could be why she says "Hya, it's me Imoen" all the time, she's just throwing you off the scent.
Another Imoen "incantation" is the one you meet in Spellhold. Somebody here pointed it out to me recently, even if you teach her loads of spells in CI, she doesn't have them when you pick her up in SH.
Cue this;
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hAAlDoAtV7Y
You may act all cute so others think you are good while you are secretly evil, but you can't hide your alignment from a detect evil spell. It probes your soul, man!!!
And have you actually tried casting Detect Evil on her recently?
Anyway, just tried this in BG2 v2.4 and she is not evil, even after Chateau Irenicus and Spellhold. And smelling Minsc's chafing armor
Of course
As we have already established beyond doubt (