The wolf among us episode 5 ending?!? Faith / Nerissa

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  • I have to say I think it's more plausible that Faith is still alive at the end like DKsaNn says, not only for the reasons people are giving, but because of two big clues at the end.
    1) At the end you hear the line of dialogue about how Faith was a master of disguise. Why would they remind us of this fact if not to infer that Faith would be the one in disguise, just like her fable? But the one thing that no one seems to mention is possibly more important which is...
    2) When Bigby meets 'Nerissa' for the first time, she says 'Let me guess, you're trying to place me' and he responds, 'yea, have we met?' Those lines are even included in the rush of flashback dialogue. They HAD in fact met before, because Nerissa is actually Faith in disguise. You could argue that they maybe just met in the old days, but then why would those particular lines be important enough to include at the very end?

    Lastly, I think that the argument that Nerissa disguised herself as Faith in the beginning to create a personal involvement with Bigby so he would solve the case is just silly. He's the SHERIFF. And this was one of the first murders in FOREVER. He'd be a pretty terrible damn sheriff if he needed a personal connection to take the case of the decapitated head left on his front porch.

    Obviously everyone has there own opinions, but that's mine and I just thought I'd share.

  • Both Faith and Lily had been dead for at least a day before the start of the game.

    Nerissa had been pretending to be both Faith and Lily, it would explain why she had easy access to both heads: She needed their hair as materiel for Glamours, it also explains the debacle with the woodsmen; she never got a chance to talk to Lily about him, despite what the letter from Lily says. It also explains the extra time needed to examine the head, especially if there are discrepancies between the believed tod (that morning) and the tod one would come up with after examining the head (at least a day or 2 ago).

    Why have they been dead for at least a day you ask? Because Holly reported her sister missing; Gren mentions it the first time you visit the Trip Trap--the day Faith was "murdered". That morning you walk past him waiting in line to either; report Lily missing, or to complain about the lack of action on a previous report. If Fabletown laws are anything like mundy laws then they would have had to wait at least 24 hours before even reporting Lily missing.

    It also explains the set up at room 207, why Nerissa knew it was there and why it puts the blame on Crane. If Lily died days before you find the room then that means it was Nerissa with Crane that morning; not Lily. She set the room up to put Crane in a hard spot per Faiths original plan, and then waited for Bigby to show up.

  • 1) Telltale has a history of playing with gamers' heads. At first hearing the dialogue at the end does imply that Faith is alive and Nerissa is dead. But when you analyze it, again, it can go either way.
    2) About Bigby telling Nerissa he think they've met, you get the chance to do the same to Faith. Bigby can tell her he thinks he's met here before and Faith says they all sort of knew each other at one time or another.
    In short both theories have their loopholes. The only way to know for sure is to see if Telltale makes a season 2 and lays it out in front of us. And I'm not certain that even if they make a season 2 they are going to clear this up. Because at times some stories (like fairy tales) are better off with a bit of mystery at the end.

    I have to say I think it's more plausible that Faith is still alive at the end like DKsaNn says, not only for the reasons people are giving,

  • edited July 2014

    Option 3:

    The player is party to Bigby's jump to an incorrect conclusion. ;0)

    But back to the other two options (Nerissa/Faith) If not for the matching bruises it would make sense. More sense for Faith to have been the real Faith in the first scene and the real Faith glamoured as Nerissa in the final scene (more poetic) and the head to have been Nerissa's head glamoured to look like Faith. Faith is leaving her husband (and maybe lied her ass off about everything to maintain the pretence (maybe orchestrated the whole thing (to the point of even setting it all in motion) to get herself out of her existing predicament)).

    Ultimately it's a twist ending that gives the player a reason to re-play the game doing his own detective work.

  • edited September 2014

    I haven't read every post, so sorry if this has been said already, but here's my two cents... I think the people saying "Either Faith or Nerissa died before the first episode" are simply wrong. Keep in mind, Georgie killed Faith... supposedly, at least. He admitted to it. That leads me to believe that he really killed Nerissa, who was glamoured as Faith, instead of Faith herself. The person Bigby was talking to at the beginning was most likely Nerissa glamoured as Faith, who was later killed by Georgie. Some people are just so convinced that Faith was dead before the first episode, and I don't understand that. It could have also been Faith, not glamoured as anybody, but there are a lot of points that go against that. Faith has since been glamouring as Nerissa, and the actual Nerissa is dead. But then I think about what I just said, and not everything adds up. The whole "have we met before?" thing goes against this theory, and although it's just implied that they have met before, and it could possibly just be thrown in to cause more confusion, it's completely valid. Faith's head not turning into Nerissa's probably had something to do with the ribbon. That's why I think that makes the most sense. But looking at every theory, nothing makes complete sense. Somebody said "After Faith was killed Nerissa glamoured as her and met with Bigby in order to make sure he has a "personal" relationship to "Faith" so he would go after the whole thing when she places Faith's head in front of his home." ... That probably makes the most sense, besides the personal relationship part. The whole thing is just confusing, and it's meant to be that way. And I should say, when the episode ended, my initial thoughts when trying to make sense of the ending was "Nerissa is Bloody Mary"... Not sure why, but that's the first thing that popped in my mind. I thought the "I'll see you around... Wolf" was Bloody Mary's voice. Turns out it wasn't. It was Faith's voice. However, at the end of Wolf's first encounter with Bloody Mary, if you can recall, she said "I'm sure we'll be in touch... See ya 'round." ... MAYBE I'm looking into it too deeply, but she may be involved in some way. I know she supposedly got killed in that battle with Wolf, but the way it happened left me with the "there's no way she's dead" thought.

    Also, something nobody's really talked about... Nerissa not wanting to take that ribbon off at the end. That could be significant somehow. Maybe the ribbon acts as a glamour... Maybe there's more to the ribbon than the game lets on... but whatever.

    NOTHING ADDS UP... and that's what's awesome about it. Season 2 will be very interesting. Can't wait.

  • Interesting theory, definitely makes a lot of sense. But I'm just not convinced that Faith is dead for some reason.

    Grafite posted: »

    All people here have only posted the "Faith is Nerissa" theory, so I'm going to post the other one, for you to decide in which one to believ

  • The one thing that stops me from believing that Faith is still alive, is the fact that in the 'Special Stats' screen at the end of the game it clearly states 'Deceased' over Faith's picture. I know that may not be considered concrete proof in everyone's eyes but to me I just can't go with the theory if Telltale have put the deceased stamp on her.
    If you go back into the game>extras>player choices>special stats (at the bottom) You can see for yourself.

  • Here's my 2 cent (potential wall of text ahead).

    We know Faith attempted to leverage Crooked Man(CM) using pics of Crane + Snow White (actually Lily as Snow White). Then, officially, Nerissa have a second thought and try to defend her friends from possible retaliation by exposing their plan beforehand. We know that Georgy goes to the CM to ask for directions, gets back after some time and kills Faith. At the beginning we meet Faith, who's probably covering Lily's shift, as said in the note inside the locket (Woody seems pretty close to both Lily and her sister, therefore maybe Lily knew what Woody wanted in "that" regard, explaning why he gets pissed off at Faith). Meanwhile we could assume the real Nerissa went to Georgy and exposes their plan. Timeframe seems to fit as during the final dialogue we're informed that Lily was not at her designed appointment when Nerissa goes to Georgy. Faith gets back full of bruises but she has another shift so ask to swap with Nerissa (who accepts, confident that things would end well - in the novel, the little mermaid strikes me as naive but that might be personal bias). Proof of this could be how bad Nerissa dances in the Pudding and Pie scene: it makes sense if she's a heavly bruised Faith. Georgy gets back with the order to kill the "dissidents", namely Faith and Lily. Too bad Nerissa and Faith swapped their look and due to the ribbon they cannot talk about their work or glamours so the real Nerissa can't actually reveal who she is and dies. Faith assists at the whole beheading of herself (omg), realize what's gonna happen and keeps the Nerissa look and manipulates Bigby in exposing the CM. Then she just goes somewhere else, being her original plan as stated in the letter to her husband.

    I realize there's some wild speculation here and there, but the whole thing seems kinda solid to me

  • i think it was nerissa in the beginning glamoured as faith to get bigbys attention and woody helped her knowing what happend and supported her, because if i remember correctly woody says in episode 4 while leaving the pawn shop: "everybody has to play his role", that was the last time we saw woody in season 1 (which i kinda find sad, but with this one liner it was ok^^)

  • But if woody knew what happened couldn't he just talk ? The whole point of leaving the head on the stairs is because they cannot talk about their work or the ribbon, but (whoever it was) still needed to catch Bigby's attention

    i think it was nerissa in the beginning glamoured as faith to get bigbys attention and woody helped her knowing what happend and supported h

  • With your mention of glamours, I just finished the most recent comic in the series and there haven't been any mentions of glamours "expiring." In fact, from reading the comics, I got the feeling that glamours were mostly permanent, if not very long-lasting. Bigby seems to be able to go a very long time being away from Fabletown and the witches of the 13th Floor.

    I know that doesn't help with the current debate, but it does suggest that the body might never turn back to the original person, even after death.

    bl00dy posted: »

    @DKsaNn a lot of your points are facts but i don't see a real proof in most (if not all) of them... 1. is a fact indeed but not a

  • I've read all of the comics and one-offs (including some of Fairest and Jack), and I've never seen a tendency for Fables in the mundy world to relive their past stories or even have the same characteristics. In fact, the opposite often happens. Their origin story is simply that, and at most will play into their story within the Mundy world (but not guide it). I know that this was done by Telltale, but if your argument is that this explanation fits her backstory, it doesn't convince me at all. In fact, most of the story arcs in Fables have been about changes in the characters.

    I do admit, however, that you make a lot of good points. I'm not sure if it's conclusive, but it's very well thought-out and now I don't know what to think lol

    DKsaNn posted: »

    * ok yes it doesnt prove that faith is Nerissa but i was including that so it supports the rest * this is a fact and the proof is in the ga

  • Thank you DKasNn for the clear and to the point post. I back you 100%. Fazz, It wouldn't be Nerissa because they didn't shine ANY, ZIP, ZERO, light on Nerissa's tale/history other than she was the little mermaid. There's NO reason why they would go so in to detail on Faith's Story/Past only for it to not be her. It just doesn't make for good writing or any sense that way.

    Fazz posted: »

    Telltale left it possible for both possibilities... The co-writer of the episode already told on Twitter that she wouldn't pronounce herself on that debate. At the moment, both the theories are right.

  • Sorry pal,but there are something that doesn't work at the begining of your theory.
    The thing is that the person that was with woodsman in the begining(Faith or Nerissa)is the same person that was in the ending.The quote "You're not bad as eveyone say you are "proves it.It means tha Bigby never met Nerissa or never met Faith.But the rest of the theory is correct and ireally like it.

    DKsaNn posted: »

    I made an account just for you lol For those who do not understand the ending hear me out. Nerissa was covering for faith with the woodsm

  • So my friend finished this a while ago and I've only just finished it now, but my friend says that the ending is a cliffhanger. I honestly don't understand the end, but the theories on this thread are fairly convincing so I'm not sure what to believe. What I do want to know is what exactly is the ending saying and also, does it line up for a second season or does that flow into the graphic novel series?

  • The ending is a cliffhanger, but it doesn't line up for a second season (because one hasn't been announced yet) and it doesn't line up for the comics because the comics don't mention Faith/Nerissa at all. Either Telltale wanted the players to make up the ending for themselves, or they do have some future plans for Wolf that will answer the question. Fingers crossed on the latter.

    RogueLlama posted: »

    So my friend finished this a while ago and I've only just finished it now, but my friend says that the ending is a cliffhanger. I honestly d

  • As much as I would agree with you and how well its backed up, theres a flaw. If Nerissa was "faith" at the time of death and faith was glamoured as Nerissa the whole game, dont you think she would have unglamoured at the end since the whole time she was just trying to get her life back? it makes no sense for her to stay in Nerissas form. Hear me out on my thought. I think that Faith was dead the beginning of the game. Georgie made Nerissa glamour herself to cover Faiths shift with the woodsman so that no one would find out about Faiths death essentially trying to cover his tracks. When Nerissa saw the way Bigby treated the scenario she felt that she trusted him with the case which led to her taking the real faiths head to his apartment. Georgie felt as if he couldnt trust Nerissa and Lilly with staying quite about what he did so he killed Lilly to make a statement to Nerissa about what her consequences would be. Just incase you would bring it up, the reason the doctor said he wanted to run more tests on Faiths body wasnt because she was glamoured, but because the death was by a magical ribbon. He couldnt identify that it was her, but instead couldnt identify the cause of death.

    DKsaNn posted: »

    I made an account just for you lol For those who do not understand the ending hear me out. Nerissa was covering for faith with the woodsm

  • I think Faith stayed glamoured as Nerissa because she wanted to escape and leave everything behind her. Remember her story? "She would hide her beauty so she could escape his kingdom." -Bufkin. It's the same concept. Faith never actually heard Crooked Man give Georgie the order to kill Lily and Nerissa, she just gave her testimony at the trial to put him away/support Bigby. She also put Nerissa's head (glamoured as Faith) Bigby's doorstep in order for him to begin investigating. Also the fact that she lied at the trial made her testimony false and if anyone found out, then she would be in danger.

    Faith, Nerissa, Lily all seemed to have a history of covering for each other. Nerissa could have been covering for Faith when Georgie killed "Faith," explaining why the "Nerissa" at the Puddin' N' Pie was such a crappy dancer. Nerissa's job was to be a dancer, why would she be so bad at it? It wasn't Nerissa. It was Faith glamoured as Nerissa. Faith as a prostitute, would not be an expert in dancing. Add in the fact that she said the exact same thing to Bigby "You're not as bad as everyone says you are" that Faith said in Ep. 1, bringing the story full circle, it just has to be Faith!

    Chafinhog posted: »

    As much as I would agree with you and how well its backed up, theres a flaw. If Nerissa was "faith" at the time of death and faith was glamo

  • Alt text

    You're all wrong! The "girl" we met was actually Flycater all along! :P

  • I think none of it's true, I've started a thread explaining why.

  • The problem with your theory is that fairh was covering for Lily, not Nerissa. Bur let's humor the possibility that faith it's glamoured Nerissa.Wouldn't it have made more sense that Nerissa should had been glglamoured as Lily?

    DKsaNn posted: »

    I made an account just for you lol For those who do not understand the ending hear me out. Nerissa was covering for faith with the woodsm

  • edited November 2014

    (Moved to end of thread)

    DKsaNn posted: »

    what?! no bigby never met nerissa. Faith said the same quote at the end cause she said the same thing at the beginning in episode 1

  • edited November 2014

    For people saying that Bigby never met Nerissa, I disagree. I found it pretty obvious that he met the real Nerissa. This happened at the strip club, when Georgie was having her dance. He says "You never fucking smile" - This points to her fable entry, which says that using her legs feels like walking on broken glass. If walking around feels like that for her, it is totally understandable that she was in some serious pain dancing up there. Those things correlate too strongly for it to be a coincidence imo.

    However, the way people are explaining the theory that Nerissa was disguised as faith at the beginning aren't very logical, it seems like reaching. EXCEPT for the one who said perhaps Nerissa was pretending to be both Lily and Faith to cover for their deaths. The note about faith covering Lily's shift could have been a bit old. Plus, why is everyone acting like Faith was covering Lily's shift with the woodsman, when in fact she was not glamoured to look like Lily or snow white. The woodsman even said he was going to rob her. Maybe he was lying, is this confirmed?

    Another thing of note: It makes more sense that one of them was glamoured as the other, than they were BOTH glamoured to look like each other...

  • This discussion is a testament to the greatness of the game. The ending is ambiguous, but it still somehow manages to provide closure. There's ample evidence to support both theories, and that's by design, and there's no evidence to actually disprove either theory, and that's also by design. Is there any doubt about that?

    For me, the biggest problem (or red herring?) with the Nerissa = "Faith" theory is the cryptic mirror message. Faith seems to be protected by the ribbon discretion spell, which we presume would be broken when she died, suggesting that she's still alive. However, we have no idea how the ribbon spell works, and it may just keep working until the "original" ribbon spell is broken, even posthumously.

    The biggest problem (or red herring?) with Faith = "Nerissa" is that the ring that was left on the Faith-head likely came from the box in the locker, which had been busted open. The real Faith wouldn't need to break it open; she'd have the key. However, you could explain that away any way you like (Faith lost the key, it wasn't her box, etc.).

    Just a couple of random thoughts:

    Based on the timing and the size of "Faith's" bag, it seems likely that the head was with her when she met Bigby. If that's the case, then she applied makeup to the head afterwards to match her bruises -- that applies to both theories. Maybe thats what peaked Swineheart's curiosity and made him want to perform further examinations.

    After being held hostage by a ribbon curse for who knows how long, I couldn't get the thing off of me fast enough once the curse had been broken. Yet, "Nerissa" keeps wearing it, and firmly resists when Bigby tries to remove it at the end. What's the deal with that?

  • Actually, the curse is still in effect after someone dies and that's why the mirror couldn't show Faith. The same happens with Lilly If you ask about her when she's already dead. I think Nerissa doesn't want to take it Off because it reminds her of her Friends And what she's been through.

    This discussion is a testament to the greatness of the game. The ending is ambiguous, but it still somehow manages to provide closure. There

  • Actually the Woodsman confessed that he was going to rob Red Riding Hood, Bigby (and we players) assumed that he was taking about Faith. Woody never said that he was going to rob Faith.

    Slackaholic posted: »

    For people saying that Bigby never met Nerissa, I disagree. I found it pretty obvious that he met the real Nerissa. This happened at the str

  • He says "my lips are sealed" when you ask about Lily? And we know for a fact that she's dead at that point? I don't remember that, but if it's true, it unequivocally debunks the "it couldn't find her, so she's still alive" argument, making it a much weaker objection to Nerissa = "Faith."

    Keeping the ribbon on as a reminder is what the character would have us believe, but whichever one she is, she's a master manipulator, and I suspect there might be more to it than that. On the other hand, maybe the developers kept it on for the sake of convenience, not having to redo her rendering (or however that works), and they hope we won't read too much into it.

  • First of all, I don't think there's any real "proof" of anything regarding the true identity of Faith or Nerissa at any point in the game... the ending is ambiguous and all we have are suggestive facts. That being said, I think the most we can hope for is to decide on what makes the most sense. You do make a few compelling points, but the quote by Bufkin, "would hide her beauty so she could escape his kingdom," doesn't make sense if it's meant to hint that Nerissa used a glamor to escape her father, disguised as Faith. Think about Faith's history in the game: information in the game reveals that Faith moved into an apartment with her husband, Prince Lawrence, and they couldn't make ends meet, so she left him, and turned to prostitution to make it on her own instead. So this suggests that by the time Faith ended up at The Pudding & Pie, Nerissa was already there. Nerissa couldn't have reasonably used a glamor to disguise herself as Faith to escape her father-- it's revealed at one point in the game that glamors usually involve a piece of the person they're meant to look like (which is why locks of Snow's hair are found several times throughout the game, for example). How would Nerissa ever get a part of Faith to use, or even know her in the first place, if she was held captive by her father? It just doesn't make sense. Bufkin's quote seems to relate more to Nerissa's back story as the Little Mermaid, and that's all.

    It makes much more sense that Lily, Nerissa, and Faith were prostitutes working under Georgie... Faith obtained a photograph showing Crane taking advantage of Lily glamored as Snow, so Georgie eventually killed her to shut her up, and Lily as well. Nerissa was spared because she was the one who told Georgie about it. Feeling guilty and wanting justice, Nerissa glamored herself as Faith, dealt with the Woodsman, and met Bigby. She set things in motion by being friendly with him (to establish a bond between him and Faith), even asking if he liked her ribbon... which is also a question asked by Nerissa as herself later in the game (maybe to hint at him that she was really Faith in the beginning). Anyway, knowing Bigby would react strongly to Faith's murder, Nerissa planted Faith's head on his doorstep, as she explained in the game. So most likely, Faith was actually Nerissa at the beginning of the game, and Nerissa is truly Nerissa at the end.

    Also, one last thing-- the fact that the doctor wanted to run more tests doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Faith's head really being Nerissa's... if anything, it probably had to do with the fact that her neck was cut in such a strange way (I think during the investigation Bigby mentions it could've been the work of magic-- which is consistent with her head falling off from Georgie pulling the ribbon).

    DKsaNn posted: »

    * ok yes it doesnt prove that faith is Nerissa but i was including that so it supports the rest * this is a fact and the proof is in the ga

  • ...I have no facking idea. I just hope that Faith was the one who left at the end of E5...

    "You're not as bad as everyone says you are." Faith/Nerissa
    ^^ this just made my brain stop working, because I didn't know whos head was lying in front of the Woodland Building.

    Well, I guess we'll find out if TTG gives us another Season with Bigby ♥

    • or, maybe not. Because it's telltale and they love to fool us and mess with our heads :D
  • Wait... Am I the only player who thinks the Crooked Man was innocent after all, and everything was a conspiracy by the thirteen floor witches, who wanted to get rid of cheap glamours, as they were unfair competition for their glamors?

  • especially after consulting the mirror in the beginning otherwise you should be able to track faith unless she was still alive with her ribbon still intake

    Tooly posted: »

    All the evidence backs his theory up. He's completely right.

  • lol. I love you.

    especially after consulting the mirror in the beginning otherwise you should be able to track faith unless she was still alive with her ribbon still intake

  • So late on this.

    I think that Nerissa was glamoured as Faith in Episode 1 to create a bond with Bigby. After that, Nerissa put Faith's head on his doorstep so Bigby would actually care and want to take the case on instead of shrugging it off. Hence why Nerissa kept saying that "Faith" (Nerissa) was saying. "You're not as bad as everyone says you are." "Do you like my ribbon?" etc.

  • But when Faith covered for Lily she did not glamoure into Lily so why would Nerissa glamoure as faith when she covers for Faith?

    DKsaNn posted: »

    hey thanks for the extra help. Awesome observations

  • Thanks!!!! everything is so clear to me now!!!!! :3 now i can sleep at peace..

    DKsaNn posted: »

    I made an account just for you lol For those who do not understand the ending hear me out. Nerissa was covering for faith with the woodsm

  • Actually it was Red Riding Hood's grandma that he was gonna rob.

    Actually the Woodsman confessed that he was going to rob Red Riding Hood, Bigby (and we players) assumed that he was taking about Faith. Woody never said that he was going to rob Faith.

  • edited January 2015

    The ring was on Faith in episode 1. Interestingly she at first doesn't have the ring on, but has it on when smashing the axe into Woody's head.

    This discussion is a testament to the greatness of the game. The ending is ambiguous, but it still somehow manages to provide closure. There

  • Ok so let me get this straight. Am I correct that:

    parenthesis = the real Person

    IN THE BEGINNING:
    Glamoured to look like FAITH was really (NERISSA) who was with the woodsman. We were supposed to think that FAITH was the real FAITH talking with the woodsman.

    Meanwhile at the pudding and pie talking to Georgie
    Glamoured to look like NERISSA was really (FAITH)
    who created the ribbon idea.
    HENCE (FAITH) would have entrapped herself with the spell as well

    Then what is the deal with VIVIAN?? What is her role in all of this especially the fact that it was her who had the power to break the spell?

  • he just backing you up but in the end it says 'last words you said to Narissa' as one of the different actions in the end so the last words you said to faith as Narissa.... just sayin'

    DKsaNn posted: »

    * ok yes it doesnt prove that faith is Nerissa but i was including that so it supports the rest * this is a fact and the proof is in the ga

  • edited January 2015

    The point is it was the same person , because they were covering shifts, and the woodsman wanted something from Faith , but she didn't know what exactly (thats why they were fighting (besides what else can you want from whores except for sex))(because Nerissa worked disguised as Faith as woodsman's client , and Nerissa had some business with him , and Faith didn't know about it ) , which means that those were the 2 same persons at the end and at the beginning.

    Argadem posted: »

    Well,it does make sense in some way,but why would Nerissa (or Faith,as you think) say "You are not as bad as everyone say" in the end,meanin

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