[SPOILERS] The Ghost in the Aqueducts (Thoughts on Finishing a First Playthrough)

[cyranoj2265]

I just completed a first playthrough, and can confidently say that I will be a doing a second run (and possibly a third). This game blew me away.

I was especially moved by the ending. For a history nerd like me, it's a sublime payoff that -- in the process of shaping your own distinctive artwork through the choices you make for Magda's mural -- the final act is basically about shaping how history sees all these events, and tracking the legacies left by life-and-death choices. I liked that some of those choices were obviously momentous in the moment, and others seemed small at the time but had grave consequences.

For example, I went out of my way to encourage Ursula Gertner to learn about her pagan heritage and talk about it openly -- my version of Andreas was naively convinced this could only lead to good -- and the final "family tree" montage showed Ursula ultimately being burned at the stake as a heretic alongside the Bogomil tinker Vacslav. It's one of those little details where this game truly shone for me.

One question sticks with me after my first run that I haven't seen discussed anywhere:

Was there someone else in the aqueducts?

In the third Act, Andreas reveals to Magda that during his time spent hiding in the aqueducts and other secret tunnels beneath Tassing, he saw and occasionally tried to pursue an agile, elusive figure that always escaped him. He describes tricks of the eye during those attempted pursuits like the figure seeming to be able to expand and shrink in size.

I'm still not sure what to make of this.

On the one hand, it's made clear not long hence that Andreas came to the edge of madness during his time in the tunnels, and maybe this elusive other figure in the shadows is just a figment of his imagination (his mind elaborating on the half-glimpsed "ghost" on the aqueducts from Act 1). So, maybe it's just that simple.

On the other hand... there's something about the machinations of the "Thread-Puller" that would suggest another, as yet unidentified accomplice being involved. The placement of the Thread-Puller's notes suggests someone highly mobile and stealthy, who get to and from places unseen. Now, Tassing's abundance of secret passages would clearly make some part of this possible for Father Thomas, whom we ultimately learn to be the Thread-Puller. But he's also a big, extremely noticeable man with a high profile in the community and demanding, very public duties at the church. Was he really doing all this dashing-about and placement of notes all on his own?

The trouble with an unknown accomplice is that I can't think of anyone, in either Tassing or Kiersau, who could have played such a role across the time-span of the game. So maybe it is all just in Andreas' mind. Still, if anyone else has thought about or has theories about this, I'd be happy to hear them.

[okasion1]

Can confirm about Ursula. I asked her in the third chapter about the stories she was told, but just before finishing talking with her, if I remember correctly, the "cloud of doubt" appeared, and I don't remember the first option, but I know I chose to warn her about the dangers of the burning of heretics, and that she should be careful to not talk about the topic freely.
At the end of the game, she was portrayed preaching to what I assume is her husband, to the father of Tassing.

And as you say, it is such a small detail, but she was a character that I liked from the beginning.
About your question in particular, I think it was only a way of Andreas of portraying what he sometimes would see, but leading such a life hidden from everyone, is not surprising he would convey his words in such a way.
There was no ghost.
Assuming you believe what I wrote.

[Kiavik]

The way I see it is that the ghost was actually Sister Amalie the Anchorite and when she had one of her "visions" in reality she was traveling through the aqueducts to commit the murders.

[armadillo-dreaming]

Originally posted by Kiavik:

The way I see it is that the ghost was actually Sister Amalie the Anchorite and when she had one of her "visions" in reality she was traveling through the aqueducts to commit the murders.

Agreed.

In the mystery's dénoument, Sister Amalie explains to the player characters they're all there together in spirit. If you can follow along with how spirit and body play along with the diegesis of the ending (i.e., "is this really happening in the game world or is this for audience affect?"), it's weirdly straightforward. Sister Amalie's and Andreas' spirits traveled there. Magdalene physically moved her body there. Father Thomas does not bother to explain how he came to be there. But since Sister Amalie continues this discussion, she (as directly as she can) reveals her spirit is the ghost others talk about (e.g., Til, the Poor Clares). Her spirit moves around all of Tassing as she has her visions.

Hope this wasn't over-explaining things.

[powerist]

Also part about Sister Amalie about "twisting her body" was throw off players who would assume it as joints disease but most likely agile enough to go underground via her "grave"/tunnel small enough to be not noticeable but able to squeeze through..