Theories on what's to come!

[Aurelind]

Greetings, all.  New poster here.  After having played through Eps. 1&2 a couple times, and noticing more and different things with each playthrough, I thought I'd come here and toss some ideas back and forth about upcoming developments/puzzles.  You've got some interesting theories going so far!  Here's what I've got to add to the pot.

Concerning the Silver Cloaks

Spoiler (mouse over to reveal):

I agree with Bjorn that they will have a Zodiac motif/naming convention.  Not only does the stranger tell us about the Zodia stone and a leader named Leo, but the zodiac symbols appear in two places that I've seen so far in the game- Madame Mushka's horoscope column in the Four Winds and the magic circle on the floor of the Archdruid's cell.  Also, the preview clip I saw for Ep. 3 showed Graham back at the Archdruid's cell, so maybe he'll be providing further exposition on the topic then.  I get the feeling those symbols will be back to haunt us later in the game, and it would behoove us to learn them.

Concerning the Mysterious Stranger

Spoiler (mouse over to reveal):

Partly because of the time-becoming-unmoored/running-backwards plot point, and partly because the stranger refuses to show his face or say who he is, I have a strong suspicion that he's someone Graham already knows, come back from the future.  My first instinct was Alexander (his experience and continuing interest in magic, his secrecy, the research he'd already done into BCS matters before falling comatose, the great dramatic irony of Graham not knowing his own son), but the more I thought about it, the more I considered Edgar as plausible, too (his frustration at wanting to help the twins somehow, his own hidden past, the mention of him having disguised himself from Graham before, his previous magic use and fairy heritage).  One other outside possibility I had considered was a future son of Alexander (Cassima could be pregnant and not even know it herself yet), but that requires more stretching of the narrative and doesn't dovetail as well, so I consider it far less likely.

Concerning the Remaining Spell Ingredients

Spoiler (mouse over to reveal):

The ebony rose will almost certainly come from the Isle of the Beast.  It had exotic and magical rose hedges in KQ6, and knowing Beauty, she would want to cultivate them further, and perhaps introduce new varieties...

Spoiler (mouse over to reveal):

The "male subject's strength" will be obtained by following the hints from the legend of Samson and the story of the not-opening of Chessboardland in the Four Winds.  In my experience, whenever a game like this gives you seemingly unrelated pieces of exposition like these, you should filter them carefully for hints of what your character is going to have to seek out or emulate from the story.  The Green Isles version of Delilah cuts Samson's hair with a pair of shears enchanted with Fire and Earth to take his strength.  The Four Winds article mentions a pair of shears being flung into the air during the scuffle and injuring a Winged One.  I would not be surprised to discover that these were the same shears, or at least enchanted in the same manner.  Graham will probably have to find them either on the Isle of Wonder or perhaps on the Isle of the Sacred Mountain, and use them to cut away a portion of Alexander's strength.

Spoiler (mouse over to reveal):

Likewise, I think the clues for getting the "female subject's voice" are hinted at in the tale of the Princess and the Pea and the origin story of Nightshade.  In the garden on the Isle of Wonder there's a dried plant that looks like it has peapods hanging from it.  I think Graham will have to get one of these (perhaps after restoring the plant to health?) and place it beneath the twins' mattress to get Rosella to stir and talk in her sleep.  Then he will have to "catch" her voice somehow- possibly directly in the magic bag, but I think more likely with the nightshade, which can apparently steal someone's "breath"... not just because my metagaming sense knows the nightshade has to factor in somewhere, but also because the Air and Water magic with which the nightshade is imbued makes a perfect symmetry with the Fire and Earth enchantments on the shears (opposing elements, male and female, light and dark... makes sense to me...)

Thoughts, anyone?

[KatieHal]

Welcome to the forums, Aurelind!

I'm not going to give anything away, but you do have quite an eye for details!

[Aurelind]

Thanks!  Like I said, I didn't notice half of that on my first playthrough, but I do try to pay close attention. 

And don't worry, I wouldn't want you to tell me if I was right.  That would ruin the fun!  I'm content to register my guesses for the record, debate out my trope-spotting with other players, and wait with bated breath for the next installment...

[snabbott]

I'm not going to give anything away, either, but that's a very well-reasoned analysis. Your speculations certainly seem plausible.

[kindofdoon]

The Mythbusters agree.

[crayauchtin]

Wow Aurelind! I'm very impressed, I hadn't even thought of some of that!!

[tessspoon]

The Mythbusters agree.

Mythbusters

[LightWarrior]

The Mythbusters agree.

I theorize that Jamie and Adam will appear in EP3 totally destroying the continuum of the KQ universe.

Do I win? 

[Damar]

I hadn't given that much thought to the spell ingredients, but the nightshade one especially sounds right.  And I had a similar thought regarding the dead pea pods and the book in the library.  It kept bugging me that the game wouldn't let Graham pick up one of the peas.  Kind of like how you couldn't pick the nightshade flower in episode one.  You knew you needed to, but it just wouldn't let you touch it.  Ah well.

[dark-daventry]

Welcome to the forums, Aurelind!

I'm not going to give anything away, but you do have quite an eye for details!

Quite an eye indeed, I'd say! I'm very impressed! I'm so bad with the puzzles in any game I keep having to send e-mails out to my fellow team members asking for the solutions... I'm a bad gamer, I know...

[KatieHal]

To be fair, a number of them have changed over time, especially in Episode 3.

[Ultima992]

To be fair, a number of them have changed over time, especially in Episode 3.

them being the puzzles?

I CANT WAIT 

Aurelind you sure did put alot of thought into that... my mind melted that was awesomely done thought out theories

[KatieHal]

Yup! We did a lot of beefing up some puzzles in Episode 3. I'm really excited to see how people like it, it's turned into possibly my favorite episode as well! My favorite so far at least, anyways.

[Ultima992]

awesome thats what i was hoping for
beefy puzzles lol
 

naw - forreal though, i was hoping the puzzles would make ya think a little more

[KatieHal]

Indeed they will. I'm expecting more requests in the hint forum and more people getting stumped!

[Ultima992]

Indeed they will. I'm expecting more requests in the hint forum and more people getting stumped!

 

[snabbott]

There's a pretty good range of difficulty in the puzzles - I can think of a couple that are likely to stump a lot of people.
Some of the puzzles I can't judge the difficulty, since I knew the solutions before the puzzles were actually in the game. That's what I get for reading the code.

[dark-daventry]

Well if it's any indication of their difficulty, I have trouble completing them. I keep having to bug Weldon to send me the answers... But yeah, episode 3 has certainly changed over time. A LOT. I think all you fans out there will like episode 3 a lot. A lot of work has been put into it, but it will all pay off in the end. Based on what I've played, it is indeed the best of the episodes so far.

[LightWarrior]

Spoiler (mouse over to reveal):

Anyone want more hand trapping wall holes?

[Enchantermon]

Me! Me! Me!
I'd raise my hand but it's still there...