[EPILOGUE] Alvin's identity

[mpetros]

Agreed! Btw as far as I can remember Alvin receives the medallion only when Geralt brings him to Triss... or will he get it as well when we side with Shani? ???

He gets it under both conditions.

 

[username_2075709]

No sign whatsoever was he Jaques? I think its possible. Maybe his visions drove him mad.

When he's a kid playing "kill the elf" he tells you "I'm always the Grand Master."

 

[bbushe]

I fought the wild hunt, and pretty sure he still made the different name comment at some stage.all the signs point to GM being Alvin. Doesn't mean he is though : Interesting idea about being Alvins son as that would explain the 'chinese whispers' sort of corruption of Geralts comments.

 

[fiznerpin]

Yes he did... can't seem to give Alvin up. :-[ All my playthroughs end with me wuppin the WH's arse. I'll try this time

 

[Corylea.723]

Would the storyline be consistent if Jacques / the Grand Master were actually Alvin's son?A lot of this Alvin=GM/Jacques theory operates on four items from the game:1) Many of the things you tell Alvin are repeated back to you later by Jacques de Aldersberg.2) The amulet you remove from Jacques de Aldersberg's body looks almost exactly like the one you gave to Alvin, except that it looks older and worn.3) Triss makes various comments about Alvin being able to teleport through space and possibly through time, remarking that he could be anywhere in time and space.4) If Geralt decides not to fight The King of the Wild Hunt, he tells Geralt that Geralt knew Jacques de Aldersberg by another name.If Alvin teleported back in time, he wouldn't necessarily have teleported back only 40-50 years, though that's perfectly possible too. He could have teleported back further than that, tried to "be good," as Geralt told him to be, tried to live a quiet life, settled down in Aldersberg (or wherever), and had a kid named Jacques who grew up to be the GM.Alvin would likely have been strongly influenced by the things that Geralt told him, which is evident from the way he reacts with a solemn "I'll remember that," or similar remarks. It's reasonable that he would impart these same ideas to his own children later in life. If Jacques is Alvin's son, this would explain why Jacques tells Geralt many of these things later.I think this idea is a stretch. However, it solves many of the inconsistencies related to the Alvin=GM/Jacques theory, such as appearance, accent, etc.Jacques / the GM could have obtained the amulet from his father (either if Alvin passed it down to him, or if the GM got it from his father by force at some point).The one thing that keeps sticking in my head, though, is the King of the Wild Hunt's remark that Geralt knew Jacques de Aldersberg by "a different name."If Jacques is NOT Alvin, then the only other name Geralt knew him by was "Grand Master," which is actually a title. I don't know whether that is what the King of the Wild Hunt meant by "a different name." If so, it wasn't meant to be a profound remark on his part, but merely a statement of fact. But then again, perhaps he was making a more profound remark because the "different name" was indeed Alvin. It is this problem that keeps sticking in my mind, and I sometimes wonder if there are more clues available in the original language.Ultimately, it's unclear, which is one of the reasons this was such a great game.

I came to this thread to suggest the exact same thing! There are a lot of logical reasons for Alvin and the GM to be the same person, but the GM just doesn't look, sound, or FEEL like Alvin to me. I really can't accept Alvin as the GM, no matter how many reasons there are. But if the GM were Alvin's son (or even grandson), then it all makes sense.

 

[aquaintus]

There is no proof Alvin is the Grandmaster. Only speculation, I don't even see circumstantial evidence here.Alvin displays super Telepathy reading the minds of elves in a foreign language. Grandmaster displays no telepathy at all. Like when you kill Javed and the GM is in the mirror with no clue as to what is going on because he has no telepathy. Many other examples of him not having telepathy skills. But the list would be too long to list.Grandmaster sired Siegfried illegitimatly. Siegfried displays no source type powers.Grandmaster was a religious secterian, and it was 'typical' of religious fanatics to wield 'wild' magic, and to train that power with their religious discipline, according to Triss.Grandmaster said he Spys on Geralt with the use of his magic. Often wanting to keep enlightened as to the Witchers adventures. He says so after aiding you in the swamp. You tell Alvin"your powers are a gift, its up to yo to use them for good""the elves are fighting for freedom, they have them up against a wall, they found no other way""we never get sick, but then theres pain..."The Grandmaster mentions only 1 of these.He says "I didn't ask for this gift" "Many times you insisted Special gifts should be used for just causes"No you told Alvin it should be used for good, not for "just causes" that would cause immediate evil. And secondly, he could have found out about Geralts persistance that gifts should be used for good by various means like spying on him, getting first hand accounts of Geralts actions, and also reading about him.Grandmaster never mentions any of the other things. He never mentions that mutants go through tremendous amounts of pain, never mentions that Elves were fighting for freedom. Instead he tells you that Elves are nothing more than terrorists.The necklace is something that is common to hinder 'nightmares' and other wild magics. There is no indication it is the same necklace. One is a new dimeritium necklace, the other is a old and worn dimeritium necklace.IF Alvin is the Grandmaster, there is no indication as to why he would jump 40 years prior to his own birth to live the remainder of his life there. He would join the Order of the White Rose and later sire Siegfried before he is even born, and then to convert the Order in the Flaming Rose.The Grandmaster was scheming his plans long before Geralt arrived in Temeria. The Grandmaster was considered a vagabond before joining the Order. The Grandmaster used his magic to lift the gate of a Castle once during a siege. He is charismatic and anyone would follow him.Alvin on the other hand wasn't charismatic. Several kids didn't like playing with him. 3-4 kids mention not liking Alvin or something similar.Alvin adressed Geralt by his first name. Grandmaster adressed Geralt formally as "Witcher Geralt"Alvin could teleport through time. The Grandmaster only dispalyed the ability to teleport, but not through time. Alvin's teleports looked different than a normal teleport that the Grandmaster, Javed and Triss were using.Alvin doesn't look like Grandmaster.I don't think there is enough evidence to say he is the Grandmaster, and although the Necklace and Time Travel are prominent, it is just circumstantial. I just don't see anything else that links the two together. It is just a mystery, that is how the Devs made it. Just like the Witcher attacking the king. That is also a big mystery. I'm just not convinced enough to slit Alvin's throat next time I see him.I agree with the Alvin's relative theory, it is more plausable. But, I hope I put the notion that Alvin/Grandmaster repeats everything you said to him to rest. He doesn't, and it is only one thing that he mentions close, but it is distorted. As if an already "Crazed Religious Sectarian" would view what Geralt said to Alvin, which Alvin was not at the time.

 

[username_2075709]

Alvin adressed Geralt by his first name. Grandmaster adressed Geralt formally as "Witcher Geralt"

What does that prove?Triss calls him "Geralt" at home but "Witcher" at the Tavern.

 

[fiznerpin]

After all the rambling essays mapping out how everybody is sure they are right.... let's put this baby to bed, with the phrase "only time will tell for sure" Wait for tW2 (tW3 ?)

 

[whiteaden]

When he's a kid playing "kill the elf" he tells you "I'm always the Grand Master."

yep.. that's one of the things that gives me bad vibes.. I don't want to kill Alvin.. >_< but I think I did.. lol!

 

[aquaintus]

Alvin adressed Geralt by his first name.

 

[baehlar]

Hair and Eye color change when you get older. Do some research. People who have been struck by lightning have had their eyes turn blue. Many people (even during medieval times) dyed their hair, though it was 99% of the time restricted to the Elite, oh wait, that's what Jacques is....

 

[Nighthawk8799]

I'd say the change in accent is a fairly weak argument against Alvin being the Grandmaster. When you're in another place, you pick up the speech inflections of those around you, whether you try to or not. My dad lived in London, after moving from California, for 2 years when he was Alvin's age. When his family moved back to the States everyone thought he and his brothers were English because they had picked up the accent. I've also seen similar things with adults. I'm not sure anyone here knows who Brad Friedel (American goalkeeper) is, but you wouldn't know he lived in Ohio all his life before playing for Blackburn. Now there are exceptions, like immigrants that often retain very heavy accents. My answer to that would be that dialects in mainstream Britain and America are close enough that the transition wouldn't be difficult. Whereas someone moving from Eastern Europe, Asia, etc., would have much further to go. Even then, people from those places can still change their accent over time. Children are far more impressionable, and are much more likely to transition to another accent quickly than an adult. For adults it's as much a matter of will as anything. To summarize: It is very possible for someones accent to change over time given the right circumstances and environment. To add to appearance changes, I was almost a platinum blonde when I was young, now I have light brown hair. My eye color also changes slightly all the time (includes mostly shades of blue, to blueish grey, to a light blue/green; not a lot, but still very noticeable), though that might just make me an oddity :-[..... As far as facial structure, who knows. I can't prove it definitively one way or the other, I just wanted to put in my two cents on those particular arguments that I had seen while scrolling through the thread. I also understand that my speculations can always be wrong, and that personal anecdotes are never good substitutes for imperial data.

 

[username_2075709]

Also, if Grandmaster and Alvin are both the same person. That means they are both a 'source' and so when you place the sensors, Triss would have picked up that there are 2 sources in Vizima. She would have you investigate both if it came to that.

Grandmaster has Dimeretium amulet Triss gave him blocking his magic so she can't sense him.

 

[Gamewidow]

Grandmaster sired Siegfried illegitimatly. Siegfried displays no source type powers.

oh really? do you believe every rumour you hear in the streets ?

 

[Zanderat]

Haven't read the whole thread, yet. But, in my game, the GM says at the end, as Geralt is about to kill him with the silver sword, "that sword is for killing monsters" in a sorta little kid tone. An exact Alvin quote.Of course, the GM is Alvin.

 

[Zanderat]

Something is still bothering me about the whole Alvin = GM thing. Ok, Grand Master is behind the whole Salamandra plot to take the secrets in order to create a new human race. (Maybe I am mistaken here?) One that will help everyone to survive the coming ice age, correct? So, the GM had to have been alive and in power at the beginning of the game? He put the whole plan together, correct? So, in the beginning of the story, Alvin is already grown up and is GM (if not, then who is behind Salamandra at the beginning?). So, where does little Alvin come from in the beginning if GM is already well into carrying out his master plan?

Ever watch Star Trek?

 

[fiznerpin]

...or H.G. Wells "the time machine" ?

 

[Eri94_user70]

i won't elaborate on it because there are so many other threads and the game practically RUBS IT IN YOUR FACEif you pay attention. play it again with triss and give different "life"-tips to Alvin in Ch.4 and then see what happens.......ze Grandmaster suddenly changes all his speeches, he even tells you that you are EVEN after he rescues you in the swamp (together with Shani, no matter how you chose before),making connections to Chapter1 where you and Shani kill the dogs following Alvin and the peasant woman.those are just 2 things, search the forum, you can come up with dozens more while your reasoning is just not correct.the locket given to alvin by triss has no effect as well (he no longer does magic but still teleports away, it's more an limiter than 100%shield)triss mentions the time/space jumping (maybe shani not)alvin describes how the "jumping" feels and that he's disoriented and daytime is not righti tried to teach Avlin good things as well, the perverted form of them was presented to me by the GM in the last chapter (only Alvin could have known that)of course the writers could pull a 180 at each point and come up with some:1) Alvin jumps back, meets other "gifted" guy (jaques) and gets to be HIS protege, tells him of the future2) Alvin is who-knows-where. Jaques is a product of the sorceresses, a failed experiment like Alvin, they tried to control him like now Alvin with a stupid amuletthat did not work but was of so high sentimental value to Jaques that he still wears it years after....no, A=GM, I never had ANY doubt. not even after the confusing end-sequence it was clear for me who I just killed and why.and that was the AWESOME part of the game. that what made the ending so cool.I had the GM suspected the whole last 2 chapters long but in the endfight when he just repeated what I told him in Ch4 I was certain.I waited the whole time for a dialogue option to unmask or maybe better: persuade him to stop it.

Check My query, exactly what I thought, this game has only one ending masked as three different ones. The ending you play is the same, no matter what.

 

[Eri94_user70]

@mothra As I mentioned in one of those threads all these life story things told to alvin could easily of been overheard magically by the GM and his presentation altered to coax Geralt into following his path. In game it even shows Triss looking at Geralt and cussing when she sees him about to kiss Adda. Why can't a more powerful sorcerer do the same thing? BTW, I do believe it is Alvin, but who knows but the writers. we'll find out in a sequel maybe.the biggest support for GM=Alvin is all that stuff being spit back at Geralt that he told Alvin BUT as you can see by my above that could be explained in another way, possibly even others... We won't know it until wer're told it...

Wow you have imagination,Geralt knows he has heard those words before. And that explanation is the less logical. I suggest you read Arthur Conan Doyle.

 

[Tarhiel]

Hi everyone!Yesterday I just managed to finish The Witcher game! Wow! Awesome! But there are questions I would like to ask you, since I didn´t found answers for them in game.First, I have to say I enjoyed the game, but there are things I didn´t like.Why authors never explained, how is actually possible that Geralt returned to Northern Kingdom? From last book (Lady of the Lake) we know, that he was teleported by Ciri to some „land“ maybe Island, with Yennefer. Thats the second question: why nobody in the game is asking about Yennefer? Everybody is asking how it´s possible that Geralt returned from death, when they clearly saw him death, and yet, nobody is asking about Yen? At least Triss could, she knew her well. And she saw her dying with Geralt as well.Generally, I think authors could set the storyline before the novel, because they didn´t achieved such epic climax, as Sapkowsky at the end of the novel, since they many times just reiterates things from book.Little comparison: When Tolkien finished his Lord of the Rings, he wanted to write a sequel to it. It was called „A New Shadow“ or „Return of the Shadow“ or something like that. But when he started to write it he realized it could never be as good as LOTR. It had to be about hobbits, who grew so tired about tranquility and peace in Middle-Earth, that they started worship Sauron again. LOTR was about epic storyline and many other things, the latter about bad human/hobbit character.Also in outro, that witcher Geralt killed, he was just a witcher, no one in particular, yes? And authors let backdoors opened for sequel, yes?Last and, for me, most important question: who the heck is Alvin? I mean, it is Jacob de Aldersberg? Because at the end of game, you found Alvin´s amulet on Aldersberg´s body, but this one was more worn out, like by age. So I suppose, it´s Alvin, and since he has similar abilites like Ciri has in book (he could teleport in space, so maybe in time also), maybe he somehow managed to „aged“ himself. I don´t know for sure, and that puzzles me, becuse in game, you don´t know for sure, what happened.To authors: Please do not take this as plain criticism, I liked the game, and I like that someone tried to do a game about Witcher, which I enjoyed.Personally, I enjoyed most Act IV, because of free movement around Nonetheless, these are thing I didn´t understand, or liked (mainly) about storyline.Thanks,Tarhiel