#madam verucca

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Even Bilton Blimes being R’s leader would be a more effective twist than what we got. I remember so many people being suspicious of him but that never went anywhere. Guess it really was just a coincidence that he was conveniently in the background of some important scenes. Even if he’s not evil after all, it was still super strange. :/

On some level, I know what you mean. Bilton has been a consistent presence in the background, and if I recall, he was even introduced during the main story. And like you pointed out, he was often lurking in the background during significant moments for MC. He knew about The Circle of Khanna. So it's not like he wasn't eligible. He was on my list of characters I suspected of being the Leader - Madam Villanelle was another one. Compare that to Peregrine, who has literally never appeared or even been mentioned prior to his first appearance. For a game that calls itself a "Mystery" I can see why this might feel cheap or unsatisfying.

But really, this is the only answer we could ever have gotten.

It had to come back to MC, and their family. Because that is what this story has always been about. From the very beginning, and the search for Jacob. He was MC's motivation, their entire goal. As time passed, and we learned more about the story...the number of coincidences began to pile up. I don't really mind a coincidence or two in fiction, that's usually how a story even begins...but R was borderline obsessed with MC and Jacob, and everything always seemed to be about them. Why? Because they're lead characters? That's no good, it has to be more than just that. What could explain R's actions, as well as personalize them in a way that MC cannot escape?

I kind of wish that it was the mother, but I think I get why they made it the father. (MC should have talked about him though...established his existence and backstory prior to his introduction. Just sayin'.) Because R began as a group that MC had no connection to. Hell, not even a group, just an unknown entity with unclear intentions, but they spoke with a voice that made them appear threatening. Little by little, we learned more details - R knew Jacob, he worked for them. And then, surprise! Rakepick works for them too.

Fast forward to Year 6 and, even now, R is shrouded in mystery. We still don't know what they want, what it stands for. Most characters involved with R, apart from Rakepick, are distant and have no relationship to MC, not really. Shiratori, Verucca? At first, they're little more than generic, mustache-twirling villains. Except Rakepick, but she's defeated at the end of the year-surprise! Merula is part of R, and she might have been all along.

Year 7. And now everyone gets fleshed out. Merula, certainty. But also Verucca, Shiratori...even Rakepick makes an appearance. They are all developed as characters, and now MC is working with the knowledge that R wants them for their future Leader. That, to me, was the biggest piece of evidence - what other reason, apart from inheritance and lineage, would R be this fixated on putting their underage enemy at the top of their ranks? It's this year that R becomes more personal. In the beginning, they were far away, in the shadows. Distant, to the point that it wasn't immediately clear if they even knew MC existed or not. But they became more familiar, ultimately revealing the truth. That they are, from a certain point of view, like family to MC. Peregrine's organization kind of mirrors him pretty well, now that I think about it.

[missnight0wl]

Why Merula lied in Y7Ch27?

All right, so this question basically has two components:

1) Why I believe that Merula lied about joining R after the Sunken Vault?

2) What reasons she might have to lie about it?

In the recent chapter (Y7Ch27), we learnt that:

But if you ask me, I still think it’s actually pretty obvious that Merula was the mole at least since before the Sunken Vault, and the best evidence for that is her super suspicious behaviour at that time.

Y6Ch38:

Why she’s freaking out that MC does something she doesn’t know about? Because if she doesn’t know, she can’t report it to R.

Y6Ch40:

Why she literally forced us to take her to the Sunken Vault (and we, as players, had nothing to say about it)? Because she knew that otherwise, she’d have to face consequences from R for screwing up.

Y6Ch41:

Why she’s so upset about delays? I dunno, perhaps because she gave R the date already, and she’s afraid to tell them there are some complications.

I mean, if you have another explanation for Merula’s behaviour – hit me up. I’m serious. I’d love to hear about it because I didn’t come up with anything. Still, I’m not sure you can convince me, to be honest, and that’s because of how Merula’s meeting with Verucca went at the end of Y6. As a reminder:

Jam City is absolutely terrible when it comes to showing the passage of time, but let’s try to estimate how long it could’ve been between the Sunken Vault and the meeting in Knockturn Alley.

Y6Ch43: Right after the Vault, we met with Dumbledore to tell him what happened. Then, we met with Jacob to talk about his plans for the future. Then, we met with Moody to talk about the mole. Then, we met with Talbott who found the letter Ben wrote before the Portrait Vault. Finally, we met with the Circle of Khanna to inform them about our “victory”.

Y6Ch44: We spent the whole chapter planning the party. We talked with Madam Rosmerta, the Weasley twins, and the Weird Sisters. The chapter ends with the actual party.

Y6Ch45: We’re called by Mundungus to Knockturn Alley. We follow the tracks of the Dark Witch. The chapter ends with Merula’s meeting with Verucca.

I’m guessing that all above could’ve happened over… one week? Maybe two? So… we have two weeks of Merula doing something for R, right?

Then I’m sorry, but what the hell she’s talking about when she says: “I’ve done everything you asked”?! What you could’ve done in such a short period when literally nothing happened?!

And then, we have Verucca saying: “you have proven yourself worthy”… HOW?! How she could’ve proven herself worthy during two weeks?! And again, I’m sorry, but... most jobs have longer probation than that. And you want me to believe that evil secret organisation was like: “Oh, cool, that’s enough for us! You can join us!”.

No, I’m not buying it. Personally, I still believe Merula was the mole since the first year, but even if not, she had to be the mole at least in the Sunken Vault. THAT’S how she’s proven herself worthy. And that’s also why she lied that she was approached after the Vault: because she did SOMETHING in the Sunken Vault, and she doesn’t want MC to figure it out. Moreover, I imagine that it has to be really serious if she chose to say that she decided to join after Rowan’s death. Because here’s the thing: a much better lie was under Merula’s nose. Here, I’ll do it for you, Merula:

“R approached me after the Portrait Vault. They said Rakepick turned on them, and that they’ll help me get revenge on her. I didn’t know they’re planning to kill Rowan. I wanted to stop working for them after that, but they threatened me with serious consequences.”

Does it put Merula in a better light than joining after Rowan’s death? I’d say so. Ironically, it’s probably also closer to the truth. But it’d mean that she was involved with R while in the Sunken Vault, even if unwillingly, and it creates questions.

For example, did Merula know that Rakepick would appear in the Vault? I mean, it was a somewhat big deal that Rakepick somehow got through Barnaby’s watch. Did Merula purposefully instruct him to watch the wrong part of the Black Lake? Either way, it’s pretty bad if Merula knew about Rakepick and didn’t warn MC.

If Merula didn’t know about Rakepick (and I think that she didn’t know), it’s actually not great either. It’d confirm what I’m saying for a long time: that Merula would be a really shitty double agent, simply because R doesn’t tell her everything.

Also, Merula’s approach towards Rakepick in the Vault is quite interesting on its own. She basically wants to kill her, right? And it makes perfect sense because of her revenge and whatnot. Right? But look at what happens when you arrest Rakepick instead of trapping her. Merula still tries to kill Rakepick, Jacob stops her, and then we have this:

And yeah, it makes sense that if you hate someone’s guts to the point that you’re ready to kill them, you just want them to shut up. But don’t you think it’s a bit weird how quick Ben was to literally silence Rakepick? 

If you’re familiar with my other analysis, you might remember that I believe that Ben knows about Merula being the mole for quite some time. Funnily enough, it explains his behaviour here quite perfectly. Because if Rakepick is gagged, she can’t tell Merula is the mole. I mean, why wouldn’t she sell Merula out? She’s basically arrested already; she could at least create some drama. And I imagine that Merula was aware of this risk – so if she couldn’t kill Rakepick, she could at least try silencing her in a different way. 

Also, objectively speaking, gagging Rakepick was really stupid. They could’ve at least tried interrogating her instead, asking how she dealt with Barnaby… anything. I’m not saying Rakepick would be willing to cooperate, but still.

But even Rakepick aside, I’m pretty sure there’s something more about the Sunken Vault that Merula is hiding. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she pulled MC out of their vision? I theorised before that MC was supposed to break that curse by freeing themselves without any help – that might be the reason why we’re not done with the final Cursed Vault. But it’s also possible that R actually didn’t want MC to properly break that curse, for some reason. That’s why they told Merula to pull MC out. Maybe they even prepared her for that in advance, and that’s why it was fairly easy for her.

Either way, the point is that we didn’t learn shit from Merula in this chapter, and she’s still hiding some BIG secrets.

[missnight0wl]

According to one of the dataminers, ch40 confirms that Verucca IS Merula’s aunt. Not very surprising, its what quite a number of people were speculating she was but I guess it’s actually official now.

Sorry it gets revealed this chapter, not the next one. Seems like the dataminer got mixed up

Yeah, I’ve seen it. And I’m sorry, but it’s so fucking stupid.

Though I wonder if Jam City is aware that they didn’t make her the aunt who’s taking care of Merula. Because Verucca says:

Meaning that she has to be Merula’s father’s sister – which contradicts what we learnt in Y5Ch28:

Of course, it’s technically possible that Merula’s father took his wife’s last name, but… it's a big stretch. And let’s be real, JC probably just didn’t bother to check it because who cares, right?

I swear, it really feels like they have no fucking idea what they're doing, so they were like: "Let's see what people speculate! The players surely know what's going on in the story!". And I'm sorry, no offence to anyone, but... no. They don't. The average player is as lost in this story as JC itself.

Also, if they really intended Verucca to be the aunt who’s Merula’s guardian, all I want now is to see MC defeating her by scaring her with a black cat.

It won’t make me hate this reveal any less, but at least it’d be pretty funny.

[missnight0wl]

Let’s talk about the Cabal. The Rogues theory update

First things first: whenever I talk about “the Cabal”, I do not mean R. I always refer to the Cabal Jacob mentioned in his notebook in Y5Ch15. I explained in detail why he had to mean some other organisation then: here. I really recommend checking it before you continue reading this post below as it’s a relatively short analysis, and it’ll help us get on the same page.

Furthermore, I concluded that the Cabal is probably dedicated to protecting the Cursed Vaults, and that’s why they wanted to kill the siblings. I believe that the siblings are necessary to open the final Vault, so if they’re dead, the treasure should theoretically be safe forever. Also, since they want to protect the treasure, they probably wouldn’t like R who wants the power for themselves.

I know the game keeps using “R” and “a cabal”/“the cabal”/“the Cabal” interchangeably, but for the longest time, I thought it’s either misdirection or Jam City simply changed their original plans once again. I started leaning towards the second option, especially after coming up with “the Rogues theory”, but I’ve been thinking about it lately, and I realised that... the Cabal and the Rogues might be one and the same group.

Now, if you’re not familiar with the Rogues theory, I encourage you to read this post. This one, however, is much longer, so I understand if you want to skip it, and therefore, I’ll give you a summary:

“The Rogues” is the name I gave to a group of three people: Rakepick, the Wizard in White, and Verucca. In my theory, they don’t work for R, or at least they’re not loyal to them. Their real goal is to make sure MC KNOWS R is evil and won’t be swayed if R tried using any kind of manipulation to make MC join them. Now, Merula is truly the mole, and she wanted to join R to be a double agent or some shit. However, the Rogues are aware that she’s just a stupid kid who’d get killed right away, so they staged the meeting in Y6Ch45 to expose Merula. Therefore, Merula has to focus on MC knowing that she “betrayed them” instead of trying to play a hero with R.

Also, Rowan is alive.

And just to be clear, we’re talking about these people:

(Did I simply want an excuse to use this gif again? Maybe.)

Alright, so having these two pictures, you can see they have one thing in common: they don’t like R. Unfortunately, there’s one big difference between them, too: the Cabal wanted to kill the siblings while the Rogues are rather helping them (or at least MC). So, how they could be the same? Well, we just have to assume that something changed in their approach at some point. And the person behind it was probably…

MEPHISTO!

Just kidding. It’s Rakepick. Of course it’s gonna be about Rakepick. Spoilers up to Y7Ch29.

Alright, so here’s the thing about Rakepick: she’s an anarchist. No, really, even Snape called her that after Rowan was put under the Imperius Curse:

More seriously though, when you look at the beginning of Y4 when Rakepick was introduced, we heard quite a bit about her being a rebellious student.

Y4Ch1:

Y4Ch2:

She doesn’t really show much respect to the authorities.

Y4Ch1:

Y5Ch10:

And she doesn’t really like the Ministry.

 Y5Ch1:

Y5Ch2:

Sure, in the last example, she has a good reason to doubt the Ministry might be successful, but she also still sounds like she doesn’t think highly of them in general, especially considering the previous scene.

In other words: if I told you that Rakepick wears the “Fuck the system” T-shirt after hours, would it really be that hard to believe?

The problem is that we don’t see much of that rebellious Rakepick later in the story. In fact, I’d say it’s almost the opposite – and I’m thinking mostly about her involvement with R. Moody told us at the beginning of Y6 that she’s a minor member, and we’re supposed to believe that she’s the one at least since Jacob’s time, but… it doesn’t make much sense. Like, am I really supposed to believe that this rebellious and insanely ambitious woman just stays obediently at the very bottom of this silly organisation?

Moreover, I don’t even see why would she want to join R. It’s still the system. And sure, you could say it’s beneficial for her, but… HOW? R didn’t help her get back to Hogwarts – it was Dumbledore himself who wanted her to come. Nothing suggests that R was helping her later on. She did it all on her own, including creating her small army of apprentices. Why the fuck would she need R? Not to mention that it’s just bizarre that R would want to keep her around… I mean, she totally screwed up with Jacob. Why didn’t they eliminate her then?

Now, as you might know, I believe that Rakepick joined R only around Y5Ch20 and a big part of her story presented in the Portrait Vault was a lie. And while it explains some things I pointed out in the previous paragraph, we still don’t really see the rebellious Rakepick. Right? Unless… Patricia rebelled against her family – and it had an enormous impact on the story.

The Eye of Ra and the Rakepick family

So… I know the idea of the Eye of Ra being the symbol of R got pretty popular in the fandom, but… it just doesn’t make much sense. Sorry. I explained it properly in this post (it’s a rather short one again, so I recommend checking it out). In a nutshell, though: there’s enough evidence to believe that Rakepick wasn’t a member of R in Y4, so why would she wear their symbol then?

On top of that, in my opinion, it’d be a bit messy writing decision, to be honest. I mean, we have the Cursed Vaults located at Hogwarts, in Scotland. We have the Dark Scroll connected to Japan. And now the main evil organisation would originate from Egypt? Sure, it is possible. I just feel it’d make more sense to keep things more cohesive. Of course, this one is quite subjective, and my main arguments in this discussion are still the ones in the post linked above.

Anyway, I do believe that the Eye of Ra is connected to the Rakepick family only, seeing that both Patricia and Verucca wear the pin with this symbol. And it means that yes, I assume that they are related. Personally, I think that Verucca looks a bit too old to be Patricia’s mother, and my bet is rather on great-aunt, but it’s not super relevant. The relevant part is that they both belong to the Cabal. And that’s quite important because that’d also explain why Rakepick became a member despite her rebellious nature – because she was born into it. Alright, so what about that rebellion?

A bit earlier, I said that the Cabal wants to keep the Cursed Vaults safe by killing the siblings, right? Well, I believe it might be a fairly recent approach. I assume that at first, they were supposed to protect the Cursed Vaults and everyone involved with them. And by “everyone”, I mean families like Torvus’s who had the arrow to the Forest Vault as an heirloom for generations. Another family could be responsible for keeping the vault portrait etc. The point is that eventually, someone from the Cabal was like: “Hey, instead of protecting them, let’s kill them. They’re gonna be dead, but the Cursed Vaults will be safe forever”. And honestly, I suppose it could’ve been Verucca herself who came up with this idea some years ago. However, Patricia had a different vision…

I never was convinced by Rakepick wanting to get the treasure, so I don’t think it’s as simple as that. But in my own story, she actually wants to destroy the Cursed Vaults, and it can be applied in this theory as well. For her, it’d be a challenge. Still, I imagine that she needs to reach the final Vault to do that, so she’d need the siblings. And this is where her cooperation with Jacob might’ve started. Rakepick needed Jacob to reach the final Vault to destroy it. Jacob, on the other hand, would agree to work with her because no Cursed Vaults means that nobody would try to use him or his little sibling in the future. Sounds pretty fair, doesn’t it? 

Of course, the problem was with the Cabal because Verucca wanted to kill Jacob... So, what now? Well, let me remind you of one important line from Jacob’s notebook:

What if Rakepick wasn’t afraid but rather worried – because she didn’t know if Verucca would agree to her plan? Jacob might’ve misinterpreted her emotions. And here’s the thing: you might be a fearless Curse-Breaker, dealing with Manticores, Sphinxes, and whatnot. But standing up to your family? That might be intimidating. Now, I don’t want to compare it to Encanto…. but it’s kind of like Encanto. It might’ve taken years before anybody got the courage to tell Abuela Verucca that she’s not doing the best job. Apparently though, Patricia had to convince her somehow in the end, seeing that MC is still alive (I’m not so sure about Jacob, but I assume it wouldn’t be the Cabal’s fault…).

Oh, and I want to point out that Rakepick being connected to the Cabal would explain even better why R didn’t want her to get involved.

Y4Ch3:

Y4Ch5:

It’d possibly even explain Dumbledore’s claims:

The Cabal and the Cursed Vaults

Let’s move to an explanation of how the Cabal might be connected to Dai Ryusaki. And to put it shortly: very closely. 

See, I actually believe that Dai Ryusaki wasn’t that bad at all and that he wanted to protect the wizarding world from his Dark Scroll. That he recognised how dangerous it is and that nobody should use it. I also assume that it is in fact in the final Cursed Vault, we just didn’t deal with it properly at the end of Y6 (so we’re probably gonna return there before the end of the game). Why I believe Ryusaki was innocent, though? Because, like I said before and I’ll keep saying, that’s basically the theme of the story.

I guess that the best example to illustrate this is actually Jacob. At the very beginning, we were told that he was obsessed with finding the Cursed Vaults. Only later, we started slowly learning that he was worried about students getting hurt. That R was manipulating him, threatening him with hurting his loved ones, and basically forcing him to do all of that. Jacob wasn’t a madman with dangerous obsession – he was a victim, and he was trying to protect other people.

We can also kind of see it with Ben in Y4 when the game tries for the whole year to make him look suspicious, only to reveal that he was controlled. We hear it almost all the time in Y7: things are not what they seem to be. Corey was introduced with the story about Emeric the Evil about how people might do bad things for various reasons – not always bad morally.

Moreover, I believe that it could’ve been very similar with the Wizard in White. Ever since we heard about him for the first time in Y5, he was presented as someone dangerous, attacking Mundungus with some unknown incantations and whatnot. Then, we learnt about him being expelled for using Dark Magic. And… doesn’t it sound like the beginning of Jacob’s story?

On top of that, I wouldn’t be surprised if the WIW is somehow related to Dai Ryusaki. I mean, if the only reason for making him a former Mahoutokoro student was to say: “Oh, he got expelled because he was looking for the Dark Scroll”… it’d be rather disappointing. But if the WIW is related to Ryusaki, it totally makes sense that he’d be a part of the Cabal now. And that the Cabal continues Ryusaki’s mission: to protect the world from the Dark Scroll.

It’s all about protection

Let me ask you something. What was the very first thing Rakepick did when she was alone with MC in Y4Ch1? She taught us Protego.

Moving on…

Y4Ch14:

Y5Ch10:

I’m not gonna talk here about saving us from Ben in Y4 or saving us in Knockturn Alley in Y5 because my point is rather about preparing MC to defend themselves. Even breaking our wand was sort of a part of it because MC needed that damn new wand. And I’ll use here a comparison from my old analysis as I still think it explains my point well:

Imagine that magic skills are similar to drawing skills. You go to school, you get a pen, a pencil, maybe some crayons. You learn to make some simple patterns, to write, sometimes you draw. And every now and then, there will be a person who’s particularly good at drawing. They will practice, they will get better, and especially if they have talent, they’ll be able to create amazing art, even if only with a ballpen. And for most people, the basic school supplies will be enough. Even our artists can do well just with that. But they can also become better by getting better supplies, by learning new media etc. It will take more time at first for sure, but the end result will be more impressive.

The basic supplies are obviously MC’s first wand. It doesn’t mean there was something wrong with it, and it had to be changed. If you give just a simple pencil to an artist and to a “regular” person, the first one will still create something better. But then came Rakepick, and she recognised that MC can do more. That not only they went through a lot of changes and a different wand might be more suitable for their personality now, but most importantly that they have extra potential to improve. This was ultimately a good thing for MC.

And what about the other members of the Rogues/the Cabal? Well, one of my theories as to why the WIW “attacked” us in Y6 is that he was trying to protect MC from someone else’s attack. You know, just like MC did during “The Quibbler” TLSQ to protect Chiara from Ismelda’s attack:

And yeah, I still insist that the WIW’s real intention back then was to talk to MC. It wasn’t about kidnapping MC and that whole leader bullshit because the WIW doesn’t even work for R.

Now, I don’t have much for Verucca, but I do want to talk more about Burke. A while ago, I gathered all of our interactions with Healer Burke at St Mungo’s. Please, take a moment to check it here because if you really look at it, Burke was like… the sweetest person ever. And something very prominent about him is phrases like: “Try not to worry”, “Don’t worry, we have it under control” etc. Burke was quite literally trying to protect MC’s mental health. Sure, you can say that it’s just an act. But that’s not all I have to say about Burke.

In Y7Ch29, Burke had that mysterious line about “coming home”, right?

I know people assume that it’s a reference to the whole leader thing, but I still think it makes no sense. I explained it already here. However, I have a bit different interpretation for you instead.

If the Cabal was always about the protection, it’d make sense that some members (like Burke, for example) weren’t fully supportive of Verucca’s decision to kill the siblings. After all, they were supposed to protect both the Cursed Vaults and the families connected to them. In a way, they could see the siblings almost like the Cabal’s family. They don’t have to be all literally related – it’s more about… community, I guess. You know what I mean? In such a case, it’d make sense that Burke talked about home. Because “home” is a very emotional word that makes you think about safety. And that’s what the Cabal originally was about.

Another thing that might prove that Burke wasn’t talking about R is R’s letter they sent to Jacob after Duncan’s death.

So… R’s mentality is that “there are no friends”, but then Burke suddenly talks about “HOME”...? Yes, because Burke belongs to a totally different organisation that has an entirely different mentality. R is corrupted, and they care only about power and the treasure. That’s why there are no friends for them. Emotional attachments make them weaker. But for the Cabal, a more emotional approach helps them stay true to their mission of protection.

Oh, and I keep using “the Cabal”, but to be fair, I assume they might have a different name – Jacob just didn’t know it when he wrote about them in his notebook. In fact, I believe that R and the Cabal might’ve been one organisation once, but they got separated at some point because of different views. So, technically, they both might have the same name.

One last problem…

One of my main assumptions in the Rogues theory was that the Rogues acts against R, and they want to make sure MC knows R is evil. That’s why Rakepick made it absolutely clear that Rowan is dead because R wanted it (while they wanted to have nothing to do with Duncan’s death – even though we know it’s ALSO their fault). And that’s why the WIW was so off-putting when telling us that R doesn’t give a fuck about what MC wants, and we’re gonna be their leader no matter what. However… wouldn’t R realise by now that someone gives them a bad rap?

Well, yeah, they would. In fact, I suspect they already did. I think that the Cabal got compromised after Y6Ch35 when they staged the meeting for MC to learn that R has a mole at Hogwarts. That’s why Merula was surprised to see Rakepick in the Sunken Vault. Rakepick was hiding from R at the time, so R couldn’t tell Merula they’re sending her to the Vault – because they didn’t send her. Moreover, if I’m right about the WIW and Victor being related (which would be another parallel between Jacob and the WIW), I suspect that R might be behind turning Victor into a vampire as a punishment for the WIW.

The conclusion

So, yeah… that’s pretty much it! As always, do I think it’s too complicated for Jam City? Absolutely yes! Do I care? Not at all! I believe it might be what was planned in the original story, though. My goal at this point is basically to explain the plot holes in the simplest way possible without ignoring things, even if I’m aware that JC won’t address these issues properly. Therefore, if you see some inconsistencies or something isn’t clear – feel free to hit me up!

Oh, and one more thing… While you might say that having two groups is too complicated and whatnot, the idea of “R and someone else” is not entirely new for the game.

Y3Ch6:

Y4Ch4:

Y4Ch10:

Of course, it might be viewed as an early foreshadowing for the reveal that R is a secret group… But what if there’s even more to that?

[missnight0wl]

Y7Ch30:

*sigh* Okay, let’s go back to Y7Ch27 for a moment.

Alright, maybe I’m misunderstanding something here, but... Here’s what I’m getting from it. Also, sorry not sorry, but I’m gonna keep calling the Director “Verucca”.

So, Merula attacked us in Y7Ch27 because she thought that we’re Verucca. At the same time, she’s apparently scared to even talk about her. Also, Verucca is allegedly incredibly powerful, and Merula is aware of that, which would mean that... Merula has a literal death wish? I mean, if she dared to attack Verucca, how else am I supposed to interpret it? 

On the other hand, the use of the quotation suggests that when Merula said: “You don’t usually beat me in wandless duels”, she still thought she’s talking to Verucca, sooooo... Verucca is somehow incredibly powerful, yet worse at wandless magic than Merula??? 

Also, wouldn’t reducing anyone to a puddle with a look count as wandless magic? I don’t think Merula is at this level, to be honest. (To be clear, this one is a joke.)

Am I getting it right? Am I missing something?

Seriously, can someone explain to me the point of the whole: “I attacked you because I thought you’re someone else”? Technically, Merula didn’t confirm she thought it’s Verucca. It also makes absolutely no sense if that was indeed the case... But then, who did she think she was attacking? The actual Metamorphmagus A.K.A. vault!Jacob?

[missnight0wl]

Exposing Merula’s bullshit from Y7Ch27, part 1.

All right, we have two issues here.

First of all, the whole “I attacked you because I thought you’re someone else” makes no sense.

Before the duel, Merula calls MC per Last Name, without quotation. She uses the quotation after the duel, saying: “You don’t usually beat me in wandless duels”. The quotation means to me that it’s the moment when she thinks it’s not really MC. A little later, though, we learn that Merula thinks it’s actually Verucca in disguise. So... are we supposed to believe that VERUCCA USUALLY LOOSES WITH MERULA IN WANDLESS DUELS? Like... seriously? Is that what you’re implying? Because it’s beyond ridiculous.

Even if the writers screwed up and the quotation was supposed to appear before the duel, Merula wouldn’t have the balls to attack Verucca. I mean, she’s clearly scared just talking about her.

Also, Merula wouldn’t even have a reason to attack Verucca. In the very next part of the chapter, she tells MC that she was sending a letter to R to tell them that she quits. So, just fucking tell it Verucca to her face, Merula, if you’re so tough. Why you felt that you had to attack her instead?

Secondly, don’t you think it’s an interesting coincidence that Merula herself didn’t call Verucca “the Metamorphmagus”? She basically forced MC to say it. Why? BECAUSE VERUCCA IS NOT THE METAMORPHMAGUS. Merula wasn’t sure what MC thinks they know about Verucca, so she didn’t want to put words in their mouth. If you’re not convinced, compare it to another similar scene from the previous chapter: here. If MC doesn’t choose the correct answer, Moody straight up tells them: “No, I was thinking about Jacob”. Why Merula wouldn’t do the same? Why she walked around it: “Oh, you know who I’m talking about, MC...”?

Because Verucca is not the Metamorphmagus. But Merula can’t blurt out what she really knows about Verucca, so she just went with what MC said.

[missnight0wl]

Alright, but while Merula being related to Verucca is overall stupid, there’s also something funny about it, too. At the end of Y6, Merula said:

But Verucca was still in her Generic Dark Witch form at that point. Only then, she transformed and Merula looked pretty surprised. Now, I suspect that Jam City wasn’t actually planning to make them related while writing this scene, but if so, I imagine Merula thinking: “Oh, hi, Grandma. No, I wasn’t implying that my real family is shitty, so I want to replace it with R, what you’re talking about…”.

(Yes, I refuse to believe that Verucca is Merula’s aunt who takes care of her. Sure, it’s possible that she’s a much older sister of Merula’s mother, but I doubt she wouldn’t try to train Merula in some way. And I absolutely can’t imagine her being so superstitious about BLACK CATS that she’d raise Merula “to think that black cats are evil and bring bad luck”.)

[missnight0wl]

Regarding your theory about MC's mother and R: do you think that's who Zenith Xeep was referring to in Y7C24 when MC first talks to her in the Thickey Ward? (Granted, it could've been Verruca, but the dialogue seemed to put a lot of emphasis on her statement). Also, the insane version of Rakepick was said to be reliving her memories when addressing R's leader, so maybe she was referring to a former leader rather than the current one? She could've been recruited years ago as a student, after all.

Oh, I wouldn’t really call it a theory. It’s rather a silly idea. And hope, I guess. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’d be better than the Father (and I’d love it if it meant that “Player Father” is actually Jacob), but I honestly don’t expect it to be true.

That being said, I do think that Zenith was talking about Verucca. We saw her interacting with Verucca, which implies that Verucca was responsible for being in touch with her, therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that it was Verucca who approached her first as well. However, if we really get the Mother and JC did it intentionally as a misdirection… I’m gonna be damn impressed. I mean, that’s quite clever.

And again, I’m not holding my breath, but there’s one more thing I noticed when I was checking that whole pronouns thing: Rakepick refers to the Director by “they”.

And it does make sense because if Verucca is a Metamorphmagus, we can’t really be entirely sure if she’s a woman. In fact, Zenith even saw her in a male form during their meeting (as Twycross). So… wouldn’t it also make sense if Zenith used “they/them”? I’m probably looking too deep into it right now, but it’s a pretty interesting detail.

As for insane!Rakepick talking about a past leader… Well, I can’t get on board with this idea because I still claim that Rakepick joining R before Y5 makes no freaking sense. The version with her being recruited as a student is particularly problematic because of the note we found in Y4Ch5:

I doubt they’d address her “Madam Rakepick” if she was still a student (not to mention that it’d be hard for her then to stay away from Hogwarts). Moreover, if she was their member when she originally received this letter, they wouldn’t warn her – they’d simply give her orders.

Personally, I was thinking rather that the Mother could “pretend” to be a man as a part of hiding her identity. Well, it’s not even about pretending per se – just letting people believe that she’s a man. It’d be a similar situation to Power Broker in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, if you watched that show (if not, I hope you still get what I mean). Then, we could have two explanations for insane!Rakepick using “he/him”:

sane!Rakepick had more time to think in Azkaban and deduce that R might actually be a woman thanks to various clues from the past (but insane!Rakepick didn’t have this realisation).

both versions of Rakepick know that R might be a woman, but since insane!Rakepick is reliving her memories when she thought that R is a man for most of the time, she’s basically stuck on this idea and her mind ignores what she learnt later on (possibly not long before the Sunken Vault).

[missnight0wl]

I think I finally know what exactly Merula saw: her parents. And I finally know the answer why she was mad about it: Because she knows it won't be real

This actually makes quite a lot of sense. I mean, it’s always about her parents with Merula, isn’t it?

I still didn’t watch the whole quest, so perhaps I’m missing something, but I know that she said: “I saw myself with someone I thought I'd never see again... and I'm not sure how to feel about it”. And that adds up. Most Death Eaters probably got a life sentence, and since the visits at Azkaban are not a thing (unless you’re a high-ranked Ministry official)… well, yeah, Merula would think she’d never see them again. Also, perhaps she taught that she accepted their fate already, and that’s why she said that she’s “not sure how to feel about it”? And I agree it’s pretty typical for Merula to get mad about something she can’t get.

For a moment, I also thought about Verucca. If my horrible suspicion that Merula and Verucca are related is correct (please, no…. please, no…), then I guess it could work as well. Like, let’s say that Merula saw Verucca for the last time when she was little, maybe even before her parents got arrested. It’d actually kind of fit to her surprised reaction when Verucca revealed her true form at the end of Y6. Then again, to be fair, it still makes sense that Merula was surprised then even if they’re not related or anything. I believe Merula was simply always in touch with that Generic Dark With, and so she wasn’t expecting it could be someone else. So, it’s not really a strong argument. Besides, it wouldn't really work for the players in Y7.

Overall, I agree that Merula’s parents are probably the most fitting explanation. And I suppose it’s not even the first time she refuses to talk about them, right?

[missnight0wl]

If, according to your theory, the father planted false memories in Rakepick's mind in Y5 and she only started following his orders then, why was she already wearing the Eye of Ra, R's symbol, on her cloak in Y4? You could say that JC only recently decided to make it R's symbol, but what if they didn't?

See, that’s the problem with the Eye of Ra being the symbol of R – and that’s why I’m so fucking upset about it. Because it makes absolutely no sense! Even if Rakepick joined R simply because she wanted to, it had to happen in Y5, not earlier. I explained it in detail in this post. In short though: in Y4, R wanted MC to stay away from the Cursed Vaults and Rakepick. What would be the point of it, if Rakepick was a member of R at the time? Moreover, Rakepick herself was encouraging us to continue our search.

Rakepick wasn’t a member of R in Y4, therefore she wouldn’t wear their symbol. Ergo, the Eye of Ra can’t be the symbol of R. Period.

Seriously, I’m like 90% certain that JC decided about it recently. I mean, just look at the Father’s design. Why his symbol is so subtle that it’s barely noticeable? Even if they thought that a pin is too feminine or whatever, why he didn’t get… I don’t know, a buckle? I’m sorry, but I don’t think you can convince me that JC wasn’t like: “Oh, the symbol of the secret organisation should probably be subtle, right? But damn it! It’s too late to change Rakepick and Verucca! Ah, fuck it… Who cares?”. I care.

I can see only two possible explanations why “Player Father” has that subtle Eye of Ra – and in neither of them it’s the symbol of R:

1) The Father has a crush on Rakepick and is trying to get her attention (more about this idea: HERE).

2) “Player Father” is actually the real Jacob. He was never trapped in the portrait. In fact, he and Rakepick placed all the clues in the columns to help MC. Because they were never enemies, Jacob wears the Eye of Ra as a reminder of his mentor (more about this idea: HERE).

In both cases, the Eye of Ra is connected to Rakepick’s family, meaning that she’s related to Verucca (whether Verucca works for R willingly or not).

[missnight0wl]

Help me with something please.

Verruca has an orange streak in her hair and therefore is related to Merula because if this? Am I braindead or did I miss something? That doesn't make any sense. If she has an orange streak then logically that would mean she's related to Rakepick, literally the only person with orange hair except for the weasleys, not fucking Merula who has brown hair and dead starfish or her head. What is happening? Am I in hell?

The problem is that Merula’s dead starfish is orange as well. In fact, I’d say that Rakepick’s hair and Merula’s starfish are closer in colour to each other than either of them to Verucca’s streak.

Though to be fair, it’s not very reliable because datamined models are a bit off sometimes. For example, Professor Sikander was a gorgeous silver fox when he was first datamined, but in the game, his hair is simply brown. So, Verucca's streak might be more saturated in the end. But back to the main topic…

I talked about it a while ago already, but the thing about Verucca’s hair is that it’s not how greying works. I’m pretty sure it’s almost impossible for one’s hair to go entirely grey without a single streak like that. The other way around? More likely, especially in simplified design. But in general, hair goes grey gradually, so one untouched streak of natural colour seems... well, unnatural. Of course, Verucca might be simply dying it (or using Colovaria). But then, why would she limit it to a single streak?

This makes me think that it’s rather some kind of weird genetic mutation that makes the streak… not age or something? Either way, if we assume that Marula has the same kind of “mutation”, and we try to imagine her after going grey… her hair would basically look like Verucca’s. I mean, she’d obviously have to actually brush it, too, but other than that, it’s the same concept.

Now, considering that Verucca’s and Rakepick’s faces are also super similar, it makes me genuinely worried that all three of them are related. I even had a thought the other day that Patricia’s hair is naturally fucking brown with an orange streak, so just like Merula’s (and how Verucca’s possibly was when she was younger). But since Rakepick’s Azkaban model doesn’t show any colour changes, I hope Jam City won’t take it this far…

But yeah, that’s it. I don’t know what more to tell you. I wish I was wrong, but I can’t pretend that those similarities aren't there. If it really was a reference only to Rakepick’s red hair, I simply doubt it’d be a single streak like that.

[missnight0wl]

OK, new theory I've come up with: so JC seems to have made the Eye of Ra the symbol of R, which is ridiculous, but let's just accept it for the sake of this theory. Let's assume that all the pins that R's members wear are cursed/ enchanted and that whoever wears one has to follow the will of the one person who can control all the pins, which is the father. Note that he doesn't wear a pin himself, just a watermark symbol on his coat. The pins could work in a similar fashion like the Imperius

Curse, only much stronger. That way, Rakepick could have initially wanted to join R as a double-agent, but she didn't know that the pin would have such an effect on her. It would have to have happened before year 4. It is also possible that at times, she was able to resist the influence of the pin and did things that R didn't want her to do, but ultimately the power of the symbol was stronger or bound her in a way that she couldn't escape from. There would have to be an explanation for how the pin affects Verucca as well, but I imagine the more someone is in line with R's interests, the easier it is to control them, and perhaps Verucca never questioned R like Rakepick did. I admit this theory is a desperate attempt at trying to come up with a scenario where Rakepick is not a villain and there are probably some things that can't be explained by it, but at this point I'm willing to accept almost any theory that salveages Rakepick's story. Perhaps MC was the only one who could free her from the influence of the cursed pin by beating her in that duel in the Sunken Vault. Which would mean that Rakepick is now no longer unter the influence of it, but it has left a lasting negative effect on her which cannot easily be shaken off. I also thought the pins could work like the rings of power in LOTR and how they are all controlled by the one ring. It's probably a stretch, but perhaps the idea of the pins having some dark magic power could somehow work? Why did JC make her lose hers?

You know what? It’s not a bad theory. It’s not perfect, and I definitely see some holes. But on the other hand, it has some pretty solid points, too.

Alright, so let’s start with the strengths. And here’s your warning for a little spoiler from Y7Ch37, which will probably be released this week. In this chapter, in the sane route, Rakepick says: “So you say, but 'R' has a way of getting people to do their bidding, even without their knowledge”. And that’s like… exactly what you’re describing. I don’t even really know what to say here, it simply fits perfectly – at least when we look only at this particular line. A pretty strong start for your theory!

Another thing I like is the idea that Rakepick can occasionally resist the pin. It definitely makes sense, considering that she’s a skilled Occlumens. Moreover, in my previous post, I talked about how odd it is that with Duncan, R pretended that it was an accident while Rakepick openly claimed that R wants to kill one of MC’s friends. But Rakepick temporarily gaining some control could totally explain it. She’d still want to make sure that MC knows that R is a bad guy in this whole situation.

And speaking of Rakepick gaining control! It actually reminded me of my very old idea about Y5Ch30. See, before we went to the Portrait Vault, during our last private conversation, Rakepick said this (among other things):

I remember talking with my friend all the way back when that chapter was originally released, and we wondered whether Rakepick possibly referred to, like… her inner battle with the Vault. That maybe her behaviour in Y5Ch30 was influenced by the Vault. However, perhaps it was about the battle with the cursed pin instead?

Now sadly… we have to move to the weaknesses.  And here, the problem is mostly with Y4. Let’s keep in mind that at that point, R allegedly didn’t want MC to search for the Cursed Vaults. So, let’s say that in Y4, R sent Rakepick so she’d make sure that MC stays away from that whole business. And if Rakepick still regained control sometimes, she could use those moments to tell MC that they should keep searching for the Vaults, teach us Arania Exumai etc. Makes sense, right? Well, not quite…

Y4Ch3:

Why would the Red Cloak tell us to stay away from Rakepick? Why bring her name up at all? The only reason why the Father would want to keep MC away from Rakepick is if he knew that he doesn’t have full control over her, and so he suspected she could rebel. But if the Father knew he didn’t have full control, why send Rakepick to Hogwarts in the first place? You know what I mean?

Honestly, it all comes down to the fact that when you really look at Y4, it becomes quite clear that Rakepick and R were in pretty open conflict. This is why the idea of the Eye of Ra being the symbol of R is so damn stupid: because if Rakepick was in conflict with R, why the fuck would she wear their symbol?

Also, Rakepick NOT working for R in Y4 goes along super well with the idea of Merula being the mole pretty much from the beginning. Because if R didn’t want MC to search for the Vaults in Y4, then the Father probably didn’t want it earlier either, right? And notice that in Y1-Y3, Merula was constantly a pain in the ass for MC: trying to mess with them and find the Vaults before them. Only in Y4, after Rakepick arrived, Merula calmed down.

Y4Ch5:

It’s another example of Rakepick acting against R. Seriously, it’s like the Father had NO control over her in Y4. Yet, she always wore her pin.

So, unless the pin was cursed after Y4, I don’t think it could really FULLY work. I mean, I do like the comparison to the rings of power you proposed, but it simply falls apart when it comes to Y4. Still, as I said, the theory has some solid points, so I’m not gonna dismiss it entirely. I guess it’s just hard to come up with something that would leave no plot holes at this point.

Oh, and I do believe that you might be onto something with Rakepick losing the pin after the duel. Personally, I theorised in the past that it might be proof that Rakepick in the Sunken Vault was fake. And to quote my old post where I talked about it: “Rakepick probably leads a rather active lifestyle, being an adrenaline junkie and whatnot, so you’d think that she made sure to somehow protect her pin from getting lost. Right? Besides, look at the events in the Portrait Vault. She was hit by FOUR spells at once and her pin was still there. But after the duel with MC, when she wasn’t even knocked down, it falls off? I don’t know, feels kind of weird. Unless the pin was fake, and therefore not adjusted to more extreme conditions…”. It’s rather unlikely that it might be true anymore… But I agree with you that it doesn’t seem to be a coincidence in general.

Also, a couple more things that are mostly my nit-picking, but I still want to mention them. While Rakepick wears her pin all the time in the game, I imagine that she took it off for sleeping, showering etc. How would it work with the control thing? Would those be her conscious moments? But then, wouldn’t she realise eventually that she doesn’t have to put the pin back on?

Another thing: Shiratori, interestingly, doesn’t wear the symbol in any form. Would it mean that he believes in R so blindly that he doesn’t need control? Of course, his symbol might be hidden, but… Let’s be real: it’s probably further evidence that the Eye of Ra wasn’t originally connected to R, but it was unique for Rakepick and Verucca only.

Anyway, I suppose that’s finally all that comes to my mind. Usually, I’d say that the “Imperius Curse” (or just mind control) explanation feels pretty lazy. But here, I do understand your desperate attempt. And hey, I probably wouldn’t be terribly mad if it turned out to be true, to be honest. Is it the best Rakepick’s story deserves? No. But it’s something.

[missnight0wl]

If your theories are true then that means that so far we haven't seen anyone from R.(not counting Merula since she is not a full member)

Hm, that’s true. Unless we have seen them – they’re just very good at hiding their true nature… If Professor Sikander turns out to be evil and a true member of R, I might go crazy. But like in a good way. Just imagine that adorable dork being like: “Well, MC, now that you finally know the truth… it’s time for you to die. I assure you that your sacrifice will always be remembered”.

Seriously though. I know it’s actually something not everyone likes about my theories, and I get why people might dislike this idea. However, while I do wish we knew more about R in general, or at least so MC was asking way more questions, trying to deduce some things… I honestly wouldn’t be mad if it was the case: that we’re so far into the story, yet we haven’t seen anyone from R.

Alright, here’s the thing. R is a secret international organisation, right? The fact that they work internationally has to mean that they exist for quite some time. I mean, expanding to different countries is not easy, even if you run a legal business. So, if they remained in secrecy all this time, it has to mean that they’re pretty good at it, right? And at first, they were really good at staying hidden around MC, too. The Red Cloak in Y4 and another one in Y5... whoever moved the portrait which trapped Beatrice was also described as “faceless”.

But then, we have fucking Rakepick who is compromised because she couldn’t handle a bunch of teenagers. We have the Wizard in White who approaches MC in the middle of the day, all in white, mind you, his face very visible (seriously, this is a guy who was hunted by the Aurors at the time – what the fuck, dude?). We have Verucca who appears in her (assumingly) true form, even though she’s allegedly a Metamorphmagus… We have Burke blowing his brilliant cover for some stupid cursed CD… Honestly, it's disappointing how incompetent R suddenly became. So, personally, I wish true R was still hidden…

Admittedly, I kind of went against it in my own story, and I created my own character to give R the face. But then again, it was mostly because of Jacob. In MC’s time, I don’t really mind the mystery.

You know, I remember hearing a discussion once where the topic turned to low-budget horrors. Someone said then that they often evoke stronger emotions because they have no money to actually show the monster. Therefore, it’s all left to your imagination – and that’s what is scary. I think it could be kind of like this. Maybe it’s just me, but I think it’d be pretty exciting if we learnt the truth about Rakepick and all, and then MC would be like: “Wait, then who is a real member of R?”. “Well, we don’t know”.

[missnight0wl]

Wait, I'm lost. Why would Rakepick and Merula be related, if you don't mind explaining?

I mean, from the story point of view, it makes no sense, so I can’t really say “why would they be related”… But why I think Jam City might be trying to pull a plot twist like this? Well, it might be just my weird reasoning (and I hope it is), but this is how I see it.

I speculate about Rakepick and Verucca being related pretty much since Verucca’s model appeared in datamines – and it’s all about their pins as I refuse the idea that the Eye of Ra is the symbol of R. I explained it here, if you didn’t read it before. I also once wrote the theory about Rakepick's white owl which might actually belong to Verucca. Anyway, I’m 95% sure that these two are related.

But this orange streak in Verucca’s hair… I dunno, maybe it’s just me, maybe it’s supposed to be a reference to Rakepick’s ginger hair… But personally, I immediately thought of Merula’s dead starfish. Of course, Verucca’s streak is way more elegant, but she’s a classy woman in general while Merula is a teenage mess. I mean, it’s basically the same concept, just on the other side of her head.

So, if Verucca’s and Rakepick’s pins are implication that they’re related… And Verucca’s and Merula’s streaks are implication that they’re related… It’d mean that Rakepick and Merula are related as well. Right?

Again, I hope I’m wrong… But man, Jam City is surely testing my patience recently, so I’m just scared.

Alternatively, only Verucca and Merula are related while the Eye of Ra is indeed the symbol of R. However, it’s not a much better scenario, in my opinion.

[missnight0wl]

Don’t do this to me, Jam City... Don’t go this way...

If it turns out that Verucca and Merula are related... And therefore Merula is related to Rakepick...

I’M GONNA BE VERY UPSET.

[missnight0wl]

I know that our conversation with Merula was bullshit, and annoying, and whatnot, but… I also kind of loved it. And you know why?

Because it goes SO PERFECTLY with the Rogues theory.

All right, so here’s what the Rogues theory is about in short. “The Rogues” is the name I gave to a group of three people: Rakepick, the Wizard in White, and Verucca. In my theory, they don’t work for R, or at least they’re not loyal to them. Their real goal is to make sure MC KNOWS R is evil and won’t be swayed if R tried using any kind of manipulation to make MC join them. Now, Merula is truly the mole, and she wanted to join R to be a double agent or some shit. However, the Rogues are aware that she’s just a stupid kid who’d get killed right away, so they staged the meeting in Y6Ch45 to expose Merula. Therefore, Merula has to focus on MC knowing that she “betrayed them” instead of trying to play a hero with R.

Also, Rowan is alive. I explained everything in great details HERE, so I really recommend reading it.

But anyway, even with that basic information, let’s take a look at the recent conversation once again.

“Whatever it is you think you saw, you’re wrong.”

“You’re worried about things you don’t understand.”

“But you don’t know everything.”

(“And you’re not giving me any answers.”) “You’re wrong about that.”

Honestly, I’m kinda losing my mind over this, because if I’m right about the Rogues theory…

Merula is telling the truth in that very scene.

MC thinks Merula talked to a member of R. The players think so as well. But it’s not what happened.

Merula talked to Verucca who IS NOT a member of R. Merula didn’t join R – she found out that the meeting was staged and she was framed! Moreover, Merula absolutely knows that MC saw that meeting! That’s why she keeps playing us by turning the notes into Black Quills right in front of the whole class. That’s why she staged that weird meeting with Badeea. When Corey said that Merula suspects them of spying, they were wrong – Merula KNOWS that MC and Corey spy on her because they think she joined R! But she didn’t, because she didn’t talk to R – even though she thought so at the time!

And she knows that MC saw everything because the Rogues told her they made sure MC was there! Because Mundungus Fletcher was on it too!

Oh my god, I’m having way too much fun with this plot, but it’s honestly so incredibly amusing to me! :D :D :D