Switching Between Quests and Episodes in the Council

Each of the five episodes of The Council is split into several sublevels, which the game calls Quests. Once you complete a Quest, you can go to your save game and choose to replay it through the “episodes” option. But does that mean you can change made choices easily? Unfortunately, not quite. Here is how it works:

• You can move back in time as much as you want and change any choices there
• However, you can’t move forward in time without undoing your choices. That means changed choices will not save unless you continue playing from there

For example, if we go back to the Quest where we chose to spend the night with Emily, we can now choose to go with Elizabeth Adams instead. Unless we continue playing all Quests from that point onward, however, this choice is not permanent. If we move back forward to e.g., Episode 4, the game will still play as if we chose Emily. To change a choice permanently, we need to keep playing from the changed choice all the way to the end.

That means it is relatively easy to change a choice you made in the previous Quest, but changing a choice you made a long time ago is a lot more work.

Skills and Achievements

Your skills work identically to the logic above. Changing them in an earlier episode does not carry them over to the future unless you keep playing from that point. Achievements, however, are a lot more lenient in The Council. None of them require a setup across multiple quests, meaning you can easily go back to earn those you missed.

Skipping Scenes

Once you reach the end of The Council once, regardless of the ending you get, you can skip scenes on that save file. That makes it a lot easier to change choices. Even though you need to keep playing from the point you rewinded to, it goes a lot faster when you can skip everything. Simply keep hitting spacebar when a scene you would like to skip is playing.

Skipping does come with some risks, too, however. When you are rushing through things, you are likely to miss things like side objectives, manuscripts, opportunity checks, vulnerabilities and immunities, all of which bring in experience. Remember to “skip responsibly” and pay attention to this if you decide to undo your choices in The Council.

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Demons in The Council

The Council has quite a few more demons than you would expect. While the first few are hinted at quite quickly, some only come to light later on or are less explicitly revealed.

It goes without saying that this is a spoiler-heavy article, so proceed at your own caution. Knowing who the demons are in advance does put some things in a different light as you play. For some players, this enriches their experience.

William Mortimer and Gregory Holm

It is unlikely that you landed on this article without knowing this already. William Mortimer is organizing his conference due to a disagreement on the future of humanity with his brother, Gregory Holm. He has ulterior motives as well, though, which we’ll discuss at the end of this article.

Elizabeth Adams and Esahel

As hinted at in the beginning of the game, Elizabeth isn’t actually a demon. She is, however, possessed by one. It isn’t until much later in the game that we find out it’s not Mortimer or Holm. It’s their father Esahel, leader of their family, who is using Elizabeth Adams as a vessel to keep an eye on his sons.

Louis Mauras de Richet

As hinted through his visions, it is revealed near the end of Episode 4 that Louis is also a demon. He is the son of Lord William Mortimer.

Sarah Faustine de Richet

This one is a bit more ambiguous during most playthroughs. However, if you manage to save Sarah de Richet at the end of Episode 4, you can confirm this. You need to pass the skill checks during conversations, regularly read her mind and confront her about Venice.

Keep insisting when she tries to dodge topics and keep hammering away at her. In the end, she will admit that she, too, is a child of Lord Mortimer. She initially started her crusade out of jealousy, because Mortimer rejected her, as she wasn’t able to move bodies like powerful demons can. She does really love Louis, however, and seems to have become a better person over the years and decades (though, as Emma can attest, she can still be overzealous).

That means that you may have lost a mother, but you did gain a sister!

Emily and Emma Hillsborrow

Another fairly obscure one, through not as hidden away as the reveal about Sarah de Richet. If you manage to keep Emily/Emma sane until the end phases of The Council (and don’t kill her in the confrontation with Sarah), she reveals this herself. Gregory Holm first informed her of her heritage, after which Lord Mortimer confirmed it. Both sisters are daughters of Mortimer.

Johan Von Wöllner

Von Wöllner is the last demon the game reveals to you, through an offhand remark. During the concluding Quests of the game, Von Wöllner exclaims to Gregory Holm “What is happening, father?”. This marks Von Wöllner as the only demon present who is not the child of Mortimer. It also explains why he is the one that is the most supportive of Holm and the most antagonistic towards Louis for most of the game.

Like Sarah de Richet, Von Wöllner seems to be on the lower end of the demon power level. In one of the endings, it is made clear he isn’t able to transfer bodies to improve his situation.

Why Are There So Many Demons?

The high demon count in The Council seems to be a bit of lazy writing at first. While the game does have its (narrative and other) flaws, it’s not actually the case.

Lord William Mortimer’s main goal of holding a Conference is not actually political. It is an opportunity to gather all his children in one place and pit them against each other in a challenging environment. His plan is to choose the one who performs best as his next vessel.

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The short answer is that there is no scenario in which you and Lord William Mortimer both get a happy ending. Either he will take you out or you will take him out.

If you do follow him all the way through, he will be very impressed with you. This makes him want your body even more as his next vessel, however. This ends in a confrontation that will not end well for at least one of you either way. Lord Mortimer’s goal for the conference was to have his children gather, then pick the most suitable as his next vessel.

He is not overly antagonistic when he makes his final move against you. It’s more of a “nothing personal, let’s not be dramatic” thing. In some of the endings, he even shows his pride when you outmaneuver him to take him out. It still comes down to a “It’s either you or him” scenario, however, so don’t give up your Holy Lance to him.

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The Short Answer

No matter what you try, Sir Gregory Holm dies at the end of the Mind Prison quest. You can, however, make him die happily. This locks you into a specific set of endings, as well, so if this is worth it is debatable. We’ll go over the consequences of this decision at the end of this post. First, let’s discuss how to actually pull it off.

How to “Save” Gregory Holm

You may think it’s a matter of speed, like it is when saving Sarah de Richet. This is not the case here. Instead, there is a specific sequence of steps you need to follow.

At the start of the Mind Prison quest, ignore the paintings you can easily spot to the right. Instead, make your way to the lone painting to the left, pictured on the screenshot above. After entering this painting, you will meet Asahel, father of both Gregory Holm and William Mortimer. He is a powerful, imposing daemon who is quick to anger.

To end this encounter with as little confrontation as possible, answer directly and avoid skill checks except Etiquette. Even if you can’t resist the temptation to explore different dialogue paths, however, you’ll be mostly fine as long as you don’t try to read his mind.

When the conversation is at an end and you try to leave, Asahel will propose to possess you to take care of Lord Mortimer when the time comes. If you accept, he will reveal himself at the end of the quest, preventing Mortimer from absorbing Gregory’s Soul. He also expresses how proud he is of Holm, who then dies happily.

What if Elizabeth Adams Is Dead?

If you went to have “fun time” with Emily instead of going with Elizabeth or didn’t drink with her until the end, she will no longer be alive at this point of the game.

You can still meet Asahel in this scenario, however, taking on the appearance of Elizabeth. That is because, as he mentions himself, it is your mind giving him that shape so you can see him. He is not actually Elizabeth Adams (nor is he possessing her at that moment).

Can You Save Gregory Holm by Letting Him Enter You?

Excuse the sus phrasing.

When you take Sir Gregory Holm’s side in the conference until the end, you will get an additional option at the end of the Mind Prison Quest. Apart from following Mortimer or following neither of them, you can also choose to “follow him (Holm) until the end.”

Sir Gregory Holm will then enter your body to allow you to communicate with the Ether. This will allow you to meet Asahel in the next and final Quest, locking you into the same endings as you will read about below. However, this ending is not as positive for Holm as what we discussed before. When he enters you, he simply gives you some of his power. He doesn’t transfer his soul to you, so it still gets devoured by Mortimer shortly after.

The Consequences of “Saving” Gregory Holm

If you decide to take Asahel up on his offer, he will take care of Mortimer in your body. Before reaching that point, you will enter into a confrontation with him. During that confrontation, he will ask you to prove your innocence in the fate of Gregory Holm:

• Failing the confrontation will result in being buried alive. Lous will then never see the light of day again.
• If you pass the confrontation successfully, he will welcome you into the family. You then no longer have the option to refuse your Daemon side.

The Best Ending

The best ending of The Council is highly debated. In the end, it’s much of a “everyone is a hero in their own story” scenario:

• Gregory Holm believes that humanity needs guidance and manipulating their monarchs is the best way to do so. He also believes that following the ruleset by Asahel is the best way for everyone involved.
• William Mortimer also believes that humanity needs guidance. He, however, believes that humanity needs to have the illusion of freedom to be better controlled. He also believes that Asahel’s rules are outdated and isn’t above using violence to rebel against them.
• Asahel has similar believes as Gregory Holm, but has little regards for humans. Everyone not part of his family doesn’t get a choice in their own fate. Those part of his family need to follow his rules for the good of all or face the (violent) consequences.
• Humanity believes it needs no guidance, but it is hard to deny we are pretty good at killing each other and damaging the planet.

Following your humanity and taking out Mortimer without Asahel is implied to incur his wrath in many endings. The actual consequences of this are unknown by the end of the game, but is implied to be something Lous wiFollowing Asahel’s lead, on the other hand, enlists you in the family. You then have no choice but to embrace your daemon nature, including their manipulation of humanity (or perhaps rebel later, as dangerous as that may be). Both endings have pros and cons, so it is up to you to choose your preferred one.

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The Short Answer To Saving Sarah de Richet

There aren’t any specific steps you need to do to save Sarah de Richet. Instead, it is time-based. If you allow other characters to hold you up for too long, you will arrive at the wharf too late to stop what transpires there.

So if you punch Napoleon, ignore Manuel Godoy and keep your conversation with Mortimer as short as possible, you’ll arrive in time. After that, you only need to win a confrontation against Emilie (or Emma), which is a lot more straightforward.

There is some nuance to this, however…

Choosing Your Battles

You can have some conversations and still be in time to save Sarah de Richet. There are a few options:

• You can reason with Napoleon instead of knocking him to the ground
• There are two optional conversations with Duke Manuel Godoy

The shorter you make the other 2 conversations, the more extensive your dialogue with Mortimer can be.

There is very little well… reason to reason with Napoleon. It takes a lot of time and the relevance of punching him is limited in the remaining story. Talking to Manuel Godoy twice (once before Mortimer and once after), however, is a lot more interesting, as it allows you to complete a sub-objective of this episode.

I would suggest not skipping this and instead keeping your conversation with Mortimer limited to the most interesting topics:

• The manipulation of thoughts and its purpose. If you don’t have his Conviction immunity registered yet, you can also exclaim he is selling rubbish but don’t ask him about the details of his powers
• In the second series of optional questions, you can ask him about the reason for holding conferences but don’t continue asking about global policy

When you’re done talking with Mortimer, don’t forget to grab the last part of Sarah de Richet’s notes from where the conversation took place.

An Unconfirmed Theory for Saving Sarah de Richet

Reports of the amount of topics you can pick and still rescue Sarah de Richet vary. This could mean there are some other factors at play, one of which could be actual time on the clock.

That could mean smaller elements such as knowing which direction to run in to get out of the garden and once in the mansion could be helpful. The conversation with Mortimer takes up a lot more time than what comes before it, so you can shortly practice this part and then restart the episode.

It is also worth closing your game and restarting it after the conversation with Mortimer ends, in case it tracks session time. There is no guarantee that this will help but it doesn’t hurt.

The Full Conversation with Lord Mortimer

The conversation with Mortimer seems vital at first sight. And in a way, it is. It has some of the biggest reveals in the game and it is a critical narrative point. But the majority of juicy information is in the mandatory parts of the conversation. The optional parts are usually obvious answers, vague answers, stuff you already knew or things that are repeated in the non-optional parts.

Still, if you’re really interested in having a longer conversation with Lord Mortimer, there are a few options:

• You could let Sarah de Richet die. Considering you searched for a way on how to save her, I am guessing this will not be an option for most, though
• You can go through all possible dialogue options, then restart the episode and have a shorter conversation with him
• If you choose not to talk to Manuel Godoy, you can pick a few extra topics. I would then suggest asking him about Elizabeth and how many Daemons there are
• You can watch the full conversation on YouTube, courtesy of AdventureGameFan8

The Confrontation With Jacques Péru

Assuming you kept Jacques Péru alive in previous episodes, a confrontation with him is unavoidable. There aren’t any shortcuts in this confrontation

As long as you navigate this confrontation successfully, it will not interfere with the rescue of Sarah de Richet. The above information takes his interruption into account. I only chose to save it for last because there is nothing you can do to save time or do wrong, apart from failing the confrontation.

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The Location of the Correct Lance

You can see the location of the correct Holy Lance in the above screenshot. This is the only Lance that matches the 3 necessary elements:

• Copper-rimmed
• Spear-shaped
• Symbol of a Fish

The fact that the location seems overly obvious throws a lot of people off. The game doesn’t tend to serve things on a silver platter, after all. But there is not that much more that can be said in this situation. This really is the location of the only correct Lance of Longinus.

How You Can Find the Holy Lance Through the Hints

Technically, you can go straight to the correct Holy Lance location right at the start of the episode. If you do this, however, you will lose out on a lot of content and experience. It may also not be very satisfying to go straight through the solution of the puzzle without actually solving it.

To get to the correct solution, you need to gather all available hints, then determine which ones are true. False hints have suspicious elements to them, while true hints are either from neutral sources or confirmed through multiple sources.

False Hints

There are 2 false hints:

• Cardinal Piaggi gives you incorrect information about the shape of the Lance. Louis notices several signs that he is possessed, so this hint is pretty easy to dismiss.
• The very obvious statue in Lord Mortimer’s Study also shows a wrong shape of the Lance. This one is a bit trickier to dismiss. Louis does note that Mortimer is a deceiver, but does that mean we should dismiss both the shape (Leaf) and the symbol (Fish)? The correct option is to ignore this statue completely. We can’t trust it, but we also shouldn’t assume both elements are false. Instead, we should look for more neutral/reliable sources for the shape and the symbol.

True Hints

There are 4 true hints:

• Reading the exegis before you even leave the underground area will allow Louis to conclude the Lance is NOT made of gold
• Winning the confrontation with Von Wöllner in his room after going through his books will further collaborate the material as being copper
• The bibliography of Longinus you can take from Von Wöllner’s room hints at a fish symbol on the tip of the spear
• A painting of Longinus near Mortimer’s desk will show a spear-shape. This is the most dubious true tip but can be confirmed through skill checks and reading Mortimer’s documents

Finding All Copies That Mortimer Owns

A separate objective of this episode is to find all copies of the Holy Lance that Mortimer owns. These are all spread out in the underground area. Although they are not hidden away in obscure places throughout the mansion, it’s still a bit tricky to find all of them. Some are on the ground, in nooks and crannies or off the main path. There are 12 copies in total.

Completing this sub-objective will give you extra experience but doesn’t have any big consequences. If you are getting frustrated by the process, feel free to proceed without having found all copies.

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Required Steps To Find out About Al Azif

1. In the first chapter of Episode 3, “The Conclave”, side with Holm instead of siding with Mortimer. This will make Johan Von Wöllner more willing to share information with you.
2. In the next chapter, “Face to Face”, you will start off in Mortimer’s office. After some brief dialogue with him, he will allow you to leave. Instead of returning to your room, go to Johan Von Wöllner’s room instead. The timing on this is important as his room will be locked during the rest of the chapter.
3. Ask Von Wöllner if there is any news about Al Azif.

The steps are pretty simple, but also easy to miss.

Siding With Mortimer as Your Final Decision

You cannot at the same time side with Mortimer and get Von Wöllner to give you info about Al Azif. If you want just to see this part of the game, however, there is no reason to start over fully. You can do the following instead:

1. Side with Mortimer and proceed until at least the end of Episode 3
2. From the “The Council” start screen, choose to “ENTER THE MANOR“. Instead of choosing “PLAY”, select your most advanced save file instead. From here, you can select separate Episodes to play. Choose “The Conclave” and follow the steps of the previous section.
3. After finishing “Face to Face” to check off this objective, close the game or return to the Main Menu.
4. If you now start playing again from the Episode 3 final, “The Trial of Faith,” or a later episode, it will still resume as if you sided with Mortimer. That is because the choices you make in the past do not override the choices you make in future episodes until you replay those, too.

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Requirements for Understanding the Condition of Jacques Péru

To understand Jacques Péru’s condition, you need to do the following:

1. In “The Conclave” Chapter of Episode 3, side with Holm, against Mortimer. This will make Johan Von Wöllner, who is working with Holm, friendlier towards you. This will also help you in finding out more about Al Azif, another objective in the next chapter.
2. In the next chapter, “Face to Face”, enter the room of Jacques Péru. During some parts of the chapter, his room will have a guard in front of it. It will be open during most of the second halfof the chapter, though. You’ll be able to enter it when prompted to return to your room and when trying to find a way into Lady Hillsborrow’s room.
3. Once you enter Jacques Péru’s room, you’ll encounter not only him but Johan Von Wöllner as well. You will not be able to study Péru while Von Wöllner is there. Asking Von Wöllner what happened to Péru and then giving information about Mortimer’s hidden chamber will get Von Wöllner to leave.
4. You can interact with Jacques Péru after Von Wöllner leaves. Although Péru is unresponsive, passing the skill check to analyze him will allow you to fulfill this objective and unlock the Analyst Trait.

The Non-intuitiveness of This Objective

The reason many people fail to meet this objective is the non-intuitiveness of the gameplay. The option you need to choose is the one that requires no leveled up skills and results in very little dialogue with Wöllner. Using the options that require you to pass skill checks lead to much more dialogue, but also lock you out of this objective and its reward.

Usually in games, the more difficult path also is the most rewarding. In this case, The Council throws us a curveball by doing the opposite.

The Reward for Analyzing Jacques Péru’s Condition

Successfully analyzing Jacques Péru’s condition will unlock the Analyst Trait. This Trait gives Louis an extra skill point in both Psychology and Questioning.

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