Please do not read this unless you have completed chapter 12 of Itzaland story. This will include spoilers, so you have been warned.
If you have already finished the story - feel welcome to read through my copium/theories and express your opinions, add your own theories, point out flaws in what I have collected etc, I’m happy to discuss it! Be warned this is mostly copium, as Angert is my favorite NPC we’ve had so far and I was really hoping he would maybe finally stay on the map instead of hiding away in the basement after every single quest with him has been finished.
Well… guess he found himself something worse than sharing basement with Giovanni and Oriin…
Anyway, onwards to the copium theories!
Sheepy theories, part 1: White Sheep
Facts: White Sheep has undergone a successful soul transfer into Angert’s body. Soul transfers without the mark of the cycle are highly dangerous and have extremely low chances of success, yet his succeeded.
Questions: Is his soul any special? Was he just lucky? Is there something to suggest his soul is especially resilient and could potentially hold off in the Soul Corridor until Nikki figures out how to save him?
Theories: There is nothing to indicate his soul is any special. However, maybe his soul became special - like Asna’s and Nikki’s and Saintess - because of the Mark of the Cycle (or rather half of it). From the lore notes we learn that Meteor, one of the Nine, has perished in unsuccessful soul transfer experiment. Many more experiments also failed, until - according to lore notes “Tattered Double sided draft paper: part III” - Mothis concluded that missing condition for a successful soul transfer was Mark of the Cycle. From this we can assume that the Mark (or rather half of it, since the other half was missing by the time they emerged from the cocoons) must have been placed on White Sheep’s soul for the transfer. Maybe it even still is on his soul (though I doubt that - considering he was sent out to the Boneyard, I doubt Mothis would have let him go with the Mark on him - but since it’s copium theories, we might as well assume he still has the other half). But even if he currently does not have the other half of the Mark, it could have left an impression on his soul. One point for making him more likely to be brought back.
More on why I think the Mark might have altered his soul slightly: he is the only character (at least as far as we know) that said he immediately knew Nikki replaced Saintess. Even Medael wasn’t able to immediately tell (otherwise switch with Wilhelm pretending to be Saintess wouldn’t have been possible, because Medael would have immediately known). And Angert was able to recognize Nikki had the Mark. Even Blue Eyes - who knows about the Mark and must have seen it before while aiding with Asna’s transfers - was having doubts if Nikki truly had it and asked Angert to confirm it. Maybe Angert had easier time recognizing it because the other half of the Mark left an impression on his soul?
Facts: But we’ve seen his soul stay in the Corridor and then his body collapsed! He died on screen!
Questions: Did he? Does staying in the Corridor, separated from the body always mean sure death?
Theories: He might still have a chance to return to his body. Based on lore note “Mothis Rotating Monthly Journal”, this is exactly what Blue Eyes was doing! His body was failing, so it was kept in ice chamber, rotting away, just in case he couldn’t find a better vessel, while his soul was in the Soul Corridor. If he was waiting there, ruling Mothis from the Corridor while his body was put on ice for later (he refused to dispose of it), then what stops Angert from doing the same? If he can hold his soul intact long enough and his body remains in good enough condition, then it should be possible for him to return.
A problem with that theory: the game contradicts itself here a bit. One time we’re told time dilatation makes it seem like however long spent in the Corridor is just a second outside, other time we learn from the lore notes that multiple souls (including Blue Eyes and Black Sheep) had been spending considerable amounts of time inside the Corridor, with Blue Eyes seemingly staying there while time flows normally enough for his body to rot outside of the Corridor. So how does the time thingy work exactly…? Maybe the time difference can work both ways if that’s the case? Maybe the longer one stays inside, the closer to normal time becomes? Either way, it can’t strictly be “blink of an eye” outside no matter how long one stays inside, otherwise lore note about Blue Eyes wouldn’t work out.
Facts: Staying long in the Corridor destroys the soul. The Corridor has also collapsed, making it even more unstable and difficult for souls to survive in there.
Question: How long could he possibly stay in the Corridor, especially one destroyed by Blue Eyes? Doesn’t it mean certain death?
Theories: he could probably survive there longer than we’re expecting. Corridor didn’t just exist from the beginning, Mothis was actively excavating it. So the fact it collapsed could be compared to the way it was when they just started building it. When that happened, we learn from lore notes (“Soul Corridor: Notes on Construction Journey II”) that Black Sheep forced herself to stay in the Corridor for “long periods” (we do not have details on how long though) just to gather information on how it all works. From the same note we also learn that after the construction of the Corridor was completed, Black Sheep was sick for a very long time. So the Corridor took a toll on her, but she survived prolonged stay inside it. This gives hope that Angert could also wait in there for a rescue! Or maybe even break out himself, because, as he said himself, he “can always find a way to open the door”. He is also familiar with safety rules inside there (lore notes and what Angert told Nikki about it are mostly the same - he needs an anchor, like the soul flames. From lore note (“Soul Corridor: Notes on Construction Journey II”) we learn that Aether Jade can be converted into Soul Flames. And isn’t the Corridor excavated inside Aether Jade? If Angert can get the soul awl (either back from Blue Eyes, one that maybe Nikki dropped, or finds another one in there) he should be able to excavate a bit for fuel for the soul flames. There were also multiple flames along the way, and what is the chance all of them got destroyed when Blue Eyes released that energy which made the Corridor fall into ruin?
Facts: Even if White Sheep’s soul managed to survive, he would need to undergo another soul transfer back into Angert’s body. And we don’t have tools for that… right?
Questions: What is actually needed for soul transfer?
Theories: According to lore notes, Soul Corridor is actually the very first step to soul transfer. The other component is the Mark of the Cycle. We suspect that only half of it is already enough, as we previously suspected that the half from Asna’s soul might have been used on White Sheep’s first soul transfer. Nikki already has (another) half, so she could probably use it and it should be enough. But also, she’s on a quest to complete the Mark for Saintess, so if she gets complete Mark, it should be even more probable for it to work to get Angert back.
Problem: Nikki was appalled by the concept of breaking the cycle. Would she be willing to be a hypocrite and use the Mark for her ally, when she didn’t approve of what Asna was doing? Even if said ally sacrificed himself for her?
Another theory: We have sovereign of cool that is capable of literally stitching soulrifting souls back to the body. Maybe Tinoscitto could be involved in saving Angert, by helping anchor his soul back in his body, stitching him up.
Fact: Angert had to show Nikki how to get inside the Soul Corridor. Soul Corridor has now collapsed.
Question: so how can Nikki get back in there to save him?
Theory: according to lore notes on Corridor construction, soul awls were used to excavate the Corridor. If Nikki still has the awl that Angert gave her, she could possibly brute force the entrance open with it.
Fact: It was a noble sacrifice.
Question: won’t bringing him back cheapen the story?
Theory: I believe it can be done in a way that would not cheapen the stakes. If this turns into an entire epic quest to save an ally, then it could be entire patch of its own. We believe he is dead. Nikki finds a way to maybe save him. She has to get help from other NPCs, like Tinoscitto or maybe even Black Sheep (more on that later). If done right, it could be a fantastic story with Angert waking up, confused (because he was ready to sacrifice himself), surrounded by his friends: Nikki, Momo, Zappy, Meghill, Tinoscitto, maybe Black Sheep. It could be spun into a very heartwarming story, which I guess we could use after all the dark lore dropped on us and multiple onscreen deaths that happened so far.
Alternative: I’ve seen someone mention that maybe Angert and Saintess could both wield half of the Mark and together act as new Echeros, guiding the cycle. I don’t think that’s very likely, but wouldn’t that be a cool ending for him?
Sheepy Theories part 2: Black Sheep
Wait, why did we suddenly go to Black Sheep in the Angert copium theories? Because we still have no idea what happened with her… and we have one more character that might have hidden her identity.
Facts: We have not seen Black Sheep yet. We know barely anything about her, or what happened to her. We know she’s White Sheep’s mother. We know she is absent from Mothis. We know Angert did not have a chance to hear her disagreement with Mothis prior to what he heard in the Corridor with Nikki.
Questions: what happened to Black Sheep?
Theories: I have a few theories here. In some early Corridor construction notes she is referred as Chief. Then suddenly Blue Eyes becomes Chief. We also know that their views on the mission became different at some point. So the possibilities we have are:
Possibility 1: Blue Eyes killed her. He wanted power, she wanted to back out of their mission. He killed her and became the chief.
Possibility 2: She died in labour. Blue Eyes seems to miss her (at least the version of her from before the disagreement regarding their mission) and he also clearly despises White Sheep. He even tells Anger that he’s not worthy of Black Sheep. If he blames baby White Sheep for her death, maybe that’s why he was so abusive of his own kid?
Possibility 3: when they were awoken from the cocoons this time, they had a disagreement. Blue Eyes seems to love Black Sheep, but he also wants power and to complete their mission. What if he couldn’t bring himself to killing her and instead he banished her from Heaven’s Reach so that she couldn’t know what they were up to, so that she couldn’t interfere?
Possibility 3 leads us to another theory…
If Black Sheep is alive… where is she?
Facts: we know nothing about Wilhelm apart from the fact that she was desperate to get to Heaven’s Reach.
Questions: why? What was she searching for? And why did she search for a titan’s book in coliseum?
Theories: Wilhelm is Black Sheep. She’s been desperate to get back into Heaven’s Reach to get back to her child. However, with Haven Veil in place, she might not have known how to get back into the city. Maybe she was looking for clues in the titan’s books. Also, wasn’t she avoiding docilists? If her identity wasn’t fully known as former chief, Blue Eyes might have told newer recruits to keep her away.
If that theory turns out true, she might have knowledge that could help save Angert. With Nikki’s half of the Mark, maybe complete Mark after whatever happens at the Golden Feast, and Black Sheep’s knowledge of soul transfer process, and maybe Tinoscitto’s help, they would have a chance of saving Angert.
Sheepy Theories: conclusions
Questions: so is it likely that Angert will come back?
Answer: I think it is unlikely for now. It was a noble sacrifice. Medael’s death story was very well received and I don’t think we’re calling for her return (though I would love to have her spirit as a battle companion healer!), so Infold writers might want to go that route again. Additionally accepting death has been a theme for the whole 2.X (though so is rebirth!). A heartbreaking death and funeral is a possibility. However, I think they left enough clues in the notes and sovereign’s skills of stitching soul to body, that if we collectively cry for his return, they have an option to bring him back. I honestly hope to have him back, just because he was a very unique and interesting NPC and it could be done in a way that would not disrespect the story and lore.
What do you think about all of this? Have I connected some dots, or am I reaching due to copium? All discussion very welcome!
