Okay, I have to admit this...I never finished Black Mirror. I played about a quarter through the game and gave up. The game just wasn't for me. It felt like the game was too slow paced and predictable, and I simply lost interest...I know, I need a longer attention span. ) turns out to be the killer. He's going insane and, in the end, he redeems himself by saving someone and/or killing himself.

Am I even close? lol

Thanks!

Very close.

Extremely serious spoiler.

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Samuel (the protagonist) has been under some sort of mind control -- the entire mansion is built right over a site in which the ancients practiced blood sacrifice (including sacrificing people).

Samuel's grandfather (I think it was his grandfather) has inadvertently let loose a spirit of the ancient "gods" that starts to control Samuel, and uses Samuel to go on a bloodletting spree with the goal of reopening the gate to all the other "gods" and turning that beautiful corner of England back into a place of ritual sacrifice. Samuel succeeds in closing the gate and then (presumably) exorcises the spirit by jumping from the same tower onto the same fence where his grandfather died.

Yes, it was a very shocking ending.

A lot of us were very disappointed in the ending, Chris, including me, although I was a big fan of the game. What I didn't like was that the major character, who had been the "hero" up to this point, suddenly turned into the villain. I felt very much the same as I would have if Jake had snatched the knife from Tim and sacrificed Amy himself!

Having the "hero" killed in the end is disappointing, but very different than suddenly finding out that the "hero" really wasn't one...

Ah, so there was a supernatural twist involved. I agree that it would feel a bit like a cheat. Not so much because the protagonist turns out to be bad (although that in itself is a bit of a cliche, in my opinion), but because he is being controlled by a supernatural force.

Thanks, everyone!

Yeah, I didn't like the ending either, especially because it was illogical in that Samuel could not possibly have killed at least one of the people. I think the butler lied.

Paul

I'm still not convinced that Samuel is, indeed, the killer. I'm thinking that perhaps Robert is the culprit and thought that Samuel was getting too close to the truth, so he drugged him (he was a doctor, after all) and then convinced him that he was the killer.

If Samuel was the killer, why did he not murder Bates after he overheard his confession to the Priest? It's possible that Bates saw Robert who was dressed up to look like Samuel.

Susan

Samuel was, indeed, the killer.

Samuel's guilt becomes obvious well before the end of the game through his dreams. I remember groaning and thinking, "You silly twit, you did it."

interesting idea Susan, but didn't Robert die before the last victim???

HI Tig:

Never saw Robert's body. NO body, no proof of death (in much suspense lit and graphic novels, etc.) Still think it would have been a much better story if Robert had been the killer and Samuel was just set up. PLenty of precedent for that type of prescient (or simul-scient) dream in people who are NOT actually the killer.

WW

Hi, Tig!

As WW said, Robert disappeared after visiting the sanitarium, but his body was never found, and he had more to lose if James and William lived because William changed his will.

Robert could have slipped Samuel some mind-altering drug (he would have had access to it because of his dealings with the patients at the sanitarium). He then could have brainwashed Samuel into believing he was the killer set out to frame him. Remember when "Samuel" was written on the wall where James' body was found? Robert could have killed James and written "Samuel" on the wall.

I suspected Robert until Samuel overheard Bates' confession to the Priest, but it didn't make sense that Samuel wouldn't have killed Bates and the Priest to keep his secret safe.

Susan

I think an awful lot of people were unhappy with the way Black Mirror ended (including me!). The idea that Robert was the murderer seems a lot more logical to me too...

Hi, Jenny!

I absolutely HATED the ending, especially after enjoying the game so much. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and there will be a sequel, and all of our questions will be answered.

Susan

Susie and Jenny:

count me in with you! I thought it was leading up to Samuel being framed. I thought Bates was in on it and lying in the confessional. I really thought that Samuel was going to get to the crypt and have some huge confrontation with Robert, who had been hiding there. What I got.... Well, as a person whose life's work is stories, I felt totally gypped!! IT was no Murder of Roger Ackroyd, that's for sure!!

WW

I have to agree with everybody, that ending was horrible. I always like happy endings (or at least not sad ones). It's funny your mentioning Murder of Roger Ackroyd wysewomon, I had to reread the ending twice just to make sure I got it right.

Hi, WW!

"The Black Mirror" would have made a perfect Alfred Hitchcock movie, because he was the master of suspense and surprise endings.

I'm sure Robert is hiding out somewhere awaiting the perfect opportunity to make an appearance and collect William's fortune, having gotten rid of everyone who would have stood in his way.

It never occurred to me that Bates might have been in on it. I thought perhaps Robert had disguised himself to look like Samuel when he was committing the murders, and that's who Bates saw.

Susan

Oh, you can never trust those old family retainers, I say. They know all Master's secrets...Bwa-ha-ha!

WW

Hi, WW!

I guess Bates could have been in cahoots with Robert, but what would his motive have been? Loyalty? Was Robert blackmailing him?

I like our scenario much better than Samuel being the killer !

Susan