Most Baldur’s Gate 3 Players May Miss Out On One Disturbing Feature

Almost two years after its launch, Baldur’s Gate 3 continues to unearth secrets buried beneath layers of rich narrative and branching paths. Between all the romance options, moral choices, and chaotic dice rolls, it’s easy to overlook small, seemingly insignificant details. But Larian Studios didn’t just craft a vast RPG; it built a gaming experience that hides horror within its narrative nooks. Within its grotesque setting lies one of Baldur’s Gate 3’s most chilling features: brain jars that contain not just tissue, but also memory, identity, and agony.

While most players might rush through a burning Mind Flayer ship or experience the pulsating conclusion of a pivotal act, they could easily miss critical pieces of Baldur’s Gate 3 lore. These details add even more gruesome layers to an already horrific scenario. Brain jars are odd, fleshy curios found early on that can be dismissed as set dressing or thrown into an inventory never to resurface again. But those who locate and insert them into the Mind-Archive Interface in Act 2 are rewarded with a deeply disturbing revelation: the brains remember. They speak, they plead, and they expose the tragic fates of ordinary people used as fuel for the Mind Flayers’ machinations.

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Baldur’s Gate 3: Hidden Secrets That Are Hard To Find In Act 1

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There’s an Actual Use for the Brain Jars in Baldur’s Gate 3

In the first few minutes of the game, the player awakens in a burning Nautiloid ship and is immediately faced with the high-stakes task at hand: surviving. In a first playthrough, it’s entirely understandable for a player to rush through the tutorial level, especially since the game encourages quick progression through subconscious time limits.

Collecting brain jars early on seems counterintuitive for progress. Especially since those precious first hours in-game can have players looting for actual valuables, including weapons, armor, or gold. However, brain jars serve as a unique piece of lore that later, in Act 2, reveals disturbing realities for some of the Mind Flayer’s victims.

Where to Find the Other Brain Jars in BG3

Players who missed out on collecting brain jars during the tutorial can rest easy knowing that there’s a chance to find more. There are a total of eight jars, and only two of them are on the Nautiloid ship. In Act 2, after completing the Gauntlet of Shar and progressing toward the Nightsong, players can find the remaining brain jars in different locations under Moonrise Towers.

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What The Mind-Archive Interface Reveals About The Brains

A Mind Flayer colony awaits players under Moonrise, and so does a necrotic laboratory deep within. The necrotic laboratory may as well be a hidden area in Act 2, since it’s easily missable for players bolting toward the end. But entering the necrotic laboratory and moving southwest will reveal a “Slack-Skinned Head,” a product of pure nightmares connected to a device known as the Mind-Archive Interface.

Inserting the brain jars into the Mind-Archive Interface reveals information about the people behind the brains. The Slack-Skinned Head will speak as if it can take on the consciousness of the victims. Below are what the jars can reveal about the victims:

Name of Brain Jar	What the Slack-Skinned Head Reveals About the Person Behind the Brain
The Waking Mind	A guilty githzerai warrior will emerge, lamenting that they betrayed their comrades in exchange for promised immortality. Tav or Durge can choose to purge their memories or destroy the brain. Players looking for some of the best Baldur’s Gate 3 buffs should consider speaking to this brain, since the Githzerai Mind Barrier is a permanent psionic buff to Intelligence Saving Throws.
The Dark Mind	This mind does not offer lore, but instead offers insight into the soul behind the brain. It makes the Slack-Skinned Head sing a sad song about love loss.
The Fresh Mind	On an equally creepy and sad note, this brain reveals the consciousness of a tired child asking their mother for permission to rest.
The Closed Mind	This brain reveals the conscience of a gnome who wants to join the City Watch. To get around the racial limitations set forth by the Watch, they plan on joining “Gortash’s camp.” Players who progress into Act 3 will learn more about this alleged gnome camp in the Steel Watch Foundry.
The True Mind	In a horrifying retelling, The True Mind informs the player that they are Gortash’s prisoner. Other prisoners turned into Mind Flayers before them, and Gortash would visit them to examine their progress.
The Slave Mind	The scattered persona that comes forth is terrified and can detect that Tav/Durge is also infected with a Mind Flayer tadpole.
The Butchered Mind	The Butchered Mind belongs to someone who wants to escape, but hesitates to tell Tav/Durge more details upon noticing that they are infected with a tadpole.
The Willing Mind	This joyful brain belongs to a bard vying for Lord Gortash’s patronage. After hearing them singing in Beggar’s Rest, Gortash shared that he needed someone to “give voice to lost knowledge.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZGdtnNwsUU

Disturbing Lore Dumps Remain Hidden in Baldur’s Gate 3

The Mind-Archive Interface isn’t just a lore dump. It’s one of the most quietly devastating moments in the game. Each voice represents a life lost or twisted, and inserting the brain jars doesn’t just illuminate the victims—it reminds players that Baldur’s Gate 3 was a game carefully crafted to show what Faerun is actively losing to the Mind Flayer threat. The disturbing nature of these revelations reveals what’s stolen when agency is stripped away by tadpole infection, when consciousness is harvested, and when something as sacred as thought becomes a resource for a greater machine.

That this entire sequence can be missed makes it all the more haunting. Most players will never hear the frightened githzerai or the child telling their mother that they are tired. But those who do are unlikely to forget what they’ve uncovered. In a game filled with cinematic evil and bombastic heroism, this quiet, grotesque collection of voices is perhaps one of its most terrifying and human.