 |
I shall be a Witcher-Knight, when I grow up! |  | |
| - Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Audio version: | |||
Alvin was a boy who managed to escape the barghest attack which cost his foster mother her life. As a result of the shock, he started to divine the future and uttered the Prophecy of Ithlinne. It is supposed that Alvin was a Source, having magical powers he couldn't control.
Alvin lived with Abigail until the Reverend snatched him while collecting water for Abigail. The preacher gave the orphan to a group of Salamandra lackeys, who demanded that the dwellers of the Outskirts surrender their children.
In Chapter III, Geralt finds Alvin a second time. This time the boy is being held at St. Lebioda's Hospital, until he is kidnapped by Salamandra once again. In Chapter IV, Geralt finds the boy a third time, in the village of Murky Waters.
Associated quests[]
- Alvin
- Berengar's Secret
- Free Elves
- Frozen Reflections
- Of Monsters and Men
- The Paths of Destiny
- The Salamander's Tail
- The Source
Journal entry[]
- A boy named Alvin managed to escape the barghest attack which cost his foster mother her life. As a result of the shock, he started to divine the future and uttered the Prophecy of Ithlinne. I suppose Alvin is a Source - he has magical powers he cannot control.
- Alvin lived with Abigail until the witch gave the boy to the Reverend. The preacher gave the orphan to a group of Salamandra thugs, who demanded that the dwellers of the Outskirts surrender their children. I killed the bandits and saved Alvin.
- If Geralt leaves Alvin with Triss:
- I met Alvin again, this time in Old Vizima. Both Triss and Shani wanted to take care of the boy. After some consideration I left him with Triss.
- If Geralt leaves Alvin with Shani:
- I met Alvin again, this time in Old Vizima. Both Triss and Shani wanted to take care of the boy. After some consideration I left him with Shani.
- Alvin disappeared and was found in the village of Murky Waters, where a young couple took him in. Wild magical skills still dwell in him, but the amulet I gave him from Triss should suppress them.
- The boy seems to have taken to me. When I was in Murky Waters he followed me everywhere and asked a multitude of questions. My answers impressed him. I think Alvin can travel through time and space, though he cannot control these abilities and they surface when he is under stress.
- When the Order's units appeared in Murky Waters, Alvin was taken hostage by the elves. The boy got so scared during the ensuing fight that he used his extraordinary skills to disappear. I still hope to meet him again.
Speculation about Alvin[]
Many fans of the game believe that Alvin is actually the Grandmaster, Jacques de Aldersberg. When the fight between the elves under Toruviel and the Order of the Flaming Rose erupts in full force in the village of Murky Waters, Alvin teleports himself away because he is frightened by an elven warrior. Alvin's ability to teleport himself through time and space stems from the fact that he is a source. It is widely theorized that he flees to the past, perhaps back to where he was raised, and ultimately incorporates what he had learned with Geralt, accepting his perceived fate and becoming the Grand Master.
Clues that speak to this hypothesis include the dimeritium pendant Alvin wears. Alvin, the boy has one as does the Grand Master; only difference is that Aldersberg's amulet shows years of wear. But the previous hint, that he went back to time with everything, clothes, knowledge etc. explains it. Another hint lies in the mention that Alvin's favorite game is "kill the elf" where he always plays the Grand Master and wins. Also, when Jacques' group comes to the aid of the refugees in the Swamp Cemetery (Chapter V), Jacques tells Geralt that he was returning a favour by saving the witcher's life, possibly referring to Geralt rescuing Alvin from kidnappers in Chapters I and III, killing the Devourer who attacks Alvin in Chapter IV or slaughtering the barghests hunting Alvin at the beginning of Chapter I. In the same conversation, Jacques is suspiciously quick to accuse Geralt of preachiness; not a common trait of Geralt's, but one he must show when acting as a father-figure to Alvin. Jacques also mentions that he knows about Geralt from "a source", which could be wordplay hinting at his past. In addition some of Jacques conversation in Ice Plains reflects the choices you tell Alvin in the Murky Waters area (for example that "a person's gift should be used for good of others", to which the Grand Master repeats the same comment in first person and says he was told that many times by the Witcher), it would be impossible for the Grand Master to know that conversation unless he was Alvin (or somehow met Alvin after the events of Murky Waters). Furthermore, if you chose to send him with Triss, instead of saying he taught himself to use the power she will instead say "he uses magic wildly, like someone who began magic lessons but never finished them." which implies that your choices with Alvin affect Jacques.
Some feel that a counter-argument to this hypothesis is that townspeople in Chapters II and III already speak of Jacques de Aldersberg despite the fact that Alvin is in the care of Geralt and either Triss or Shani at that time and place, suggesting that they are two different people. Others feel that the two co-existing does not violate any time-travelling principles. One possible inconsistency is that Alvin has blonde hair and Jacques de Aldersberg has brown hair. However, children born with blonde hair in real life often darken to a middle brown as they grow up, so this difference in hair color is not prohibitive.
In the scene where Alvin tells Geralt that he wants to be a witcher, the player can answer "Don't become a witcher, become a knight" to which Alvin replies "I will be a Witcher-Knight!" suggesting a knight who hunts monsters, as the Order of the Flaming Rose does. Furthermore, during a dialogue with Siegfried, Geralt learns that even a witcher can become a member of the Order.
In the Fields in Chapter IV, the player must choose a piece of advice to give to Alvin. Whichever advice you choose, it will be parroted back to Geralt by Jacques in the Epilogue, which is highly suggestive. The Quests section of the Journal even notes the correlation: "The Grand Master's words seem familiar, though I'm not sure to what..." For more information on this correlation, see below.
After defeating Azar Javed, Geralt has the option to ask Triss about Jacques. She tells him that he never had any education of sorcery and learned to use the Power by himself. It is very unlikely that Alvin was adopted by someone with knowledge as Triss' after going back in time, so if he learned to use the Power, it can be assumed it was self-taught.
At the end of the game, if the King of the Wild Hunt is allowed to take Jacques de Aldersberg's soul, he tells Geralt that he knew this soul under another name as well, possibly pointing to Alvin, although his name is not explicitly uttered. Also, all of the lessons given to Alvin by Geralt appear to have had a major influence on the Aldersberg's expressed views during the endgame speeches.
Alvin appears in the Icy Wasteland in the Epilogue. Perhaps he is summoned by Geralt, perhaps by Jacques, he quickly disappears without a chance to begin a dialogue with him Meeting Dandelion after the final confrontation, Geralt brings this question up himself. The two conclude that they will never know for sure.
The following is from the official game guide released by CDProjekt: "The mist is no more and you appear back in the courtyard. Fights are ending and the political situation is stabilizing. Search the body of Jacques de Aldersberg, powerful and insane man, who he was a short while ago. Now he is no more, he doesn't exist - he is dead. Take the last part of the Witchers' secrets and the strange amulet, very similar to the one you gave to Alvin in Murky Waters. Where did Alvin go? What happened to the poor boy?"
The game guide also describes what the Grand Master will say depending on what Geralt said to Alvin on the topics of destiny, other races and witchers. These fan speculations have neither been confirmed nor denied by the developers.
[]
As noted above, the player's choice of advice to give to Alvin in Chapter IV determines the content of a specific conversation with Jacques de Aldersberg in the Epilogue (the one following the confrontation with Abigail's shade), suggesting that Jacques is Alvin. Alvin asks Geralt what he should do about his visions of people dying; Jacques tells Geralt that his Grand Plan (created in response to his visions of people dying) was in keeping with Geralt's earlier advice to Alvin.
Alvin asks, "I want them to like me. I don't want them to die. What should I do?"
If Geralt tells Alvin, "Your visions are a gift, not a curse. It's up to you to use them for good," then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:
- Jacques: Only a grand plan pursued without hesitation could save humanity from what I saw in my visions.
- Geralt: You trust your daydreams that much?
- Jacques: I never asked for these visions, this gift.
- Geralt: But you chose how to use it.
- Jacques: Many times you insisted special gifts should be used for just causes. I chose the most just of causes - saving millions of lives.
- Geralt: And pursued it by ending hundreds of others. How many more do you aim to condemn?
- Jacques: You have no notion of the approaching cataclysm. The spirits of those who perished wander here. Tell them they had no right to survive.
If Geralt tells Alvin, "Destiny isn't everything. We are masters of our own fate," then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:
- Jacques: Only a grand plan pursued without hesitation could save humanity from what I saw in my visions.
- Geralt: You trust your daydreams that much?
- Jacques: Many of the gifted foresaw the White Frost. Global cooling is this world's destiny.
- Geralt: Why fight it then?
- Jacques: You always believed man makes his own destiny. I seek to change all humanity's fate.
- Geralt: You robbed humanity of its right to decide. You understand nothing.
- Jacques: Geralt, I hear the walls of those who perished. Hear their cries and you will know my pain
If Geralt tells Alvin, "Keep your gift a secret. The lives of the gifted are rarely easy," then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:
- Jacques: Only a grand plan pursued without hesitation could save humanity from what I saw in my visions.
- Geralt: You trust your daydreams that much?
- Jacques: You think this burden easy to bear? Like you, I tried to hide my otherness. To use my powers to redeem my sin.
- Geralt: What sin?
- Jacques: The worst of all. My otherness. So I acted for the common good.
- Geralt: The good of the few you hand-picked to survive.
- Jacques: No, the good of all who would die. The dead wander here still. Tell them to their faces they did not deserve to live.
During the conversation about Berengar, Alvin says, "Witchers are brave. They never go ill."
If Geralt tells Alvin, "Wouldn't you rather be a knight?" then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:
- Jacques: How stubborn you are. I could use you to shepherd my sheep during the first years of winter.
- Geralt: I doubt you mean it. You stole our secrets from Kaer Morhen – used them for the worst ends!
- Jacques: Your guild's tenets proved a failure. Too much individualism.
- Jacques: I needed holy knight as able as witchers, evoking an image of nobility, not a hand stretched out for coin.
- Geralt: Bullshit, you wanted power.
- Jacques: If you say so. When my troops arrive, ask what they think of me as their master.
If Geralt tells Alvin, "We never get sick, but that costs us. And then there's pain... Would you like to hurt badly?" then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:
- Jacques: How stubborn you are. I could use you to shepherd my sheep during the first years of winter.
- Geralt: I doubt you mean it. You stole our secrets from Kaer Morhen – used them for the worst ends!
- Jacques: Witchers were meant to be guardians but proved too weak. You loathe yourselves.
- Jacques: I needed witchers, but perfect ones – emotionless, lacking human weaknessses.
- Geralt: You see human traits as weaknesses? I pity you.
- Jacques: Fear obscures your thinking. My knights never hesitate.
If Geralt tells Alvin, "It's not true that witchers are never afraid. Besides, none remain who can complete the mutation..." then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:
- Jacques: How stubborn you are. I could use you to shepherd my sheep during the first years of winter.
- Geralt: I doubt you mean it. You stole our secrets from Kaer Morhen – used them for the worst ends!
- Jacques: I needed witchers but knew the secrets of mutation had been lost.
- Jacques: You witchers had it all, but lacked courage and vision. I merely did what you desired in your hearts.
- Geralt: You took them, as if they were your own. You're a thief, a hypocrite.
- Jacques: Are you incapable of seeing the golden path of my dreams? My knights will explain to you in a way you will understand.
Lastly, Alvin asks, "Geralt, why are the elves doing this?"
If Geralt tells Alvin, "The elves refuse to concede that the world has changed. They cannot win but still they fight. It's their sad, desperate attempt at halting evolution." then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:
- Jacques: Of course, I had to get rid of any standing in the way. Especially nonhumans.
- Geralt: Why so obsessed about other races?
- Jacques: Geralt, they are condemned to perish. I gave them a chance to die in battle.
- Geralt: Humanity's also a passing phase. But unlike elves, we won't leave much behind.
- Jacques: We won't disappear, not with the guardians I created. You'll see soon enough how well they manage in these conditions.
If Geralt tells Alvin, "They're fighting for their freedom, for an ideal. Humans have them up against a wall and they see no other way..." then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:
- Jacques: Of course, I had to get rid of any standing in the way. Especially nonhumans.
- Geralt: Why so obsessed about other races?
- Jacques: I was prepared to sacrifice anything, to save humanity at all costs. Do you know the saying, "The ends justify the means?"
- Geralt: I do. You sound pathetic, De Aldersberg, as if you believed your own lies.
- Jacques: Nonhumans, their extinction, is not a goal but a means. Since you detest humans so, I'll leave you with my no longer human serfs. You have much in common, you should get along.
If Geralt tells Alvin, "They've lost their lofty, beautiful veneer. One can clearly see the deep hatred they hold for humans." then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:
- Jacques: Of course, I had to get rid of any standing in the way. Especially nonhumans.
- Geralt: Why so obsessed about other races?
- Jacques: You're joking. They detest humans.
- Jacques: With the slaughter in Vizima, they discarded their noble masks. How can you stand with murderers of women and children?
- Geralt: Another lie. You provoked the nonhumans!
- Jacques: Hatred for hatred. I'll show you my creations. Honest, they don't hide their intentions behind beautiful faces.
It is potentially 'telling' that a private conversation between Geralt and Alvin can influence Jacques' statements in this way. However, the argument that Jacques and Alvin share a core identity is made rather circular by the notion that the Ice Wastes are populated with manifestations of memories and thoughts, recalling the trope of 'conversations with oneself', wherein one does not know whether to trust a vision that may come entirely from one's subconscious. (Jacques has extraordinary raw power that could simply be used to craft convincing dialogue based on what he can detect of the effectively 'captive', at least while 'within' the Wastes, Geralt's memories and personal connections.)
Confirmation[]
After a long time the theory of Alvin being Grand Master Jacques de Aldersberg was confirmed in the final part of Geralt's trilogy: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. In the secondary quest: "Message from an Old Friend" bookseller Marcus Thaddeus Knut Hodgson tells the witcher about a message that someone left him a long time ago. This letter is named Letter from "A" and is placed inside the book titled My Manifesto - The Life of Jacques de Aldersberg.
Videos[]
Gallery[]
