Hi, everyone!

I just finished replaying "The Black Mirror" and am more convinced than ever that Robert is the culprit, and he's not really dead ! Here's my theory.

Robert probably assumed that he would inherit William's estate, but found his new Will leaving everything to Samuel and his heirs. Robert was not a happy camper. Since he is the head doctor at Ashburry, he would have access to an unlimited supply of drugs, some of which we know were experimental. He drugged William so he would hallucinate whatever was climbing up the tower wall at the beginning of the game and commit suicide. Now to get rid of Samuel.

Robert sent Samuel the mourning card, knowing he would return to Black Mirror for the funeral. He replaced Samuel's headache pills with the same drug, causing him to hallucinate and believe he is losing his mind. After killing each victim, Robert described the murder to Samuel so he would think he had done it himself.

Samuel had no motive to kill William, Henry, Vick, James or Dr. Hermann, but Robert did. We know that Robert had something sinister going on with with Dr. Hermann, and Henry could have found out (remember the blood in the grinder?), so Robert killed him. I don't know why Vick was a victim, but James was about to blow the whistle on him, and Dr. Hermann could have threatened to blackmail him.

Bates only confessed to Father Frederick that he saw Samuel with blood on his hands. He didn't say he actually saw him commit murder. If Samuel was really the culprit, why would he not kill Bates to keep his mouth shut?

I think Robert killed James at the lighthouse, took his body back to Ashburry and strung it up. He then wrote "Samuel" on the wall to throw suspicion on him. He returned to the lighthouse, took something to simulate death and waited for someone to discover his "body". Dr. Hermann could have taken him back to his morgue, and that's when Robert killed him.

That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it !

Susan

It works for me---

Clever! Robert always did seem like the murderous type to me too.

A question though -- what does Robert gain from all of this? He can't inherit anything, or even show his face anywhere because everybody thinks he's dead.

And who is the dead body that everybody thinks is Robert?

Hi, Becky!

Since Samuel is the only one who discovered William's amended Will in Robert's study, wouldn't the original Will stand, which I presume leaves everything to either Victoria, Robert or both?

The body that was found is Robert (don't ya wonder why we never actually saw it?) but, if he only simulated his death, he could rise from the ashes at the morgue before killing Dr. Hermann and spin some convoluted story of what happened to him. With Samuel and James out of the way, there are no witnesses.

IMHO, there is more evidence that points to Robert as the murderer than Samuel, and he struck me as the murderous type as well.

Susan

Yes, I did wonder why we never actually saw the body. I don't recall Samuel dreaming about that murder either, the way he did with the others. And I also wondered if the body might be the groom who skedaddled about halfway through the game.

Though I do like the idea that Robert is merely simulating death.

With someone that ruthless, who would need evil spirits thirsting for blood beneath the ancestral mansion as an explanation for Samuel's behavior? Do you think Samuel accomplished anything by closing down the gateway, by the way? Or was that also a part of the drug-induced fantasy he was in?

You can take the story two ways then. One that completely denies the occult influences.

Hi, Becky!

I assumed Samuel didn't dream about Robert's murder because Robert isn't really dead. He knew that Samuel would investigate William's alleged suicide, so he was the perfect patsy. Do we know exactly when Robert found William's amended Will? If it was shortly before William died, Robert needed to act quickly before the new Will was revealed, and he needed to get rid of Samuel. He knew if the bodies started piling up shortly after Samuel returned to Black Mirror, he would be the prime suspect.

The only wild card in my theory is Vick, because Robert didn't have a motive to kill him, unless he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I'm going out on a limb here and will say that the closing down of the gateway was part of Samuel's drug-induced fantasy.

Susan

I like your theory, Susan. I never believed that Samuel was the evil doer. Of course, I also never believed the ending really happened, and a sequel would show it was a hallucination.

Hi, nickie!

Exactly! The sequel would pick up with Samuel waking up in bed, sweating profusely after the horrible dream he just had, and Robert will be seen lurking in the bushes !

Susan

I tried looking for our old discusson thread about the ending of Black Mirror but couldn't find it. I wanted to refresh my memory about my prior theories and compare with yours, Susie. My memory is too bad.

Your theory certainly sounds plausible though. Would sure love to see a sequel and that ending certainly works! As long as they make Sam talk like a human. What a great game.

Melanie

ohhh that is sooo plausible!! as for simulating his own death, there are drugs which will slow the heartbeat to almost zilch and Robert would have known exactly how much to take being a doc!!!! there are also yoga techniques which enable you to go into a trancelike state where your body is in suspended animation, who is to say Robert wasn't able to do this too???

I agree with you nickie and a sequel would be great!

I remember Becky had a wonderful explanation of it all in the old thread, but I like the Samuel is dreaming idea too---I really enjoyed that game and would love to see more

Oh, Susie, you take the words right out of my mouth. That's exactly what I thought!

Saying "OMG, what a horrible dream" is a time-honoured was of getting out of a plot device that you now wich you hand't used... I think we should go one farther and have Samuel wake up in a straightjacket in the asylum... then he has to solve the mystery and prove his sanity. Oh, wait, that's been done in another game.... But still a good premise; I'd have no objection to reusing it!

WW

There wouldn't be any complaints on this end either, WW. Asylums are always fun to play in, as long as it's in a game.

Melanie

I love the idea of Samuel waking up in the asylum. There are so many possibilities for a sequel, so I hope the game developers haven't closed the door.

Susan

wow! he wouldn't even have to wake up there ,maybe just in bed at the manor,and it's been victoria all the time - all the time alone snapped her mind or something.....i agree - it was a great game.happy endings are good,but the unexpected ones are good,too.