Alvin

A boy named Alvin managed to escape the barghest attack which cost his foster mother her life. As a result of the shock, he started to divine the future and uttered the Prophecy of Ithlinne. It appears that Alvin is a Source — he has magical powers he can not control.

Alvin lived with Abigail until the Reverend snatched him while collecting water for Abigail. The preacher gave the orphan to a group of Salamandra lackeys, who demanded that the dwellers of the Outskirts surrender their children.

In Chapter III, Geralt finds Alvin a second time. This time the boy is being held at St. Lebioda's Hospital, until he is kidnapped by Salamandra once again. In Chapter IV, Geralt finds the boy a third time, in the village of Murky Waters.

Associated quests

 * Alvin
 * Berengar's Secret
 * Free Elves
 * Frozen Reflections
 * Of Monsters and Men
 * The Paths of Destiny
 * The Salamander's Tail
 * The Source

Journal entry

 * A boy named Alvin managed to escape the barghest attack which cost his foster mother her life. As a result of the shock, he started to divine the future and uttered the Prophecy of Ithlinne. I suppose Alvin is a Source — he has magical powers he cannot control.


 * Alvin lived with Abigail until the witch gave the boy to the Reverend. The preacher gave the orphan to a group of Salamandra thugs, who demanded that the dwellers of the Outskirts surrender their children. I killed the bandits and saved Alvin.


 * if Geralt leaves Alvin with Triss:
 * I met Alvin again, this time in Old Vizima. Both Triss and Shani wanted to take care of the boy. After some consideration I left him with Triss.


 * if Geralt leaves Alvin with Shani:
 * I met Alvin again, this time in Old Vizima. Both Triss and Shani wanted to take care of the boy. After some consideration I left him with Shani.


 * Either way:
 * Alvin disappeared and was found in the village of Murky Waters, where a young couple took him in. Wild magical skills still dwell in him, but the amulet I gave him from Triss should suppress them.


 * The boy seems to have taken to me. When I was in Murky Waters he followed me everywhere and asked a multitude of questions. My answers impressed him. I think Alvin can travel through time and space, though he cannot control these abilities and they surface when he is under stress.


 * When the Order's units appeared in Murky Waters, Alvin was taken hostage by the elves. The boy got so scared during the ensuing fight that he used his extraordinary skills to disappear. I still hope to meet him again.

Speculation about Alvin
Many fans of the game believe that Alvin is actually the Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Aldersberg. When the fight between the elves under Toruviel and the Order of the Flaming Rose erupts in full force in the village of Murky Waters, Alvin teleports himself away because he is frightened by an elven warrior. Alvin's ability to teleport himself through time and space stems from the fact that he is a source. It is widely theorized that he flees to the past, perhaps back to where he was raised and, ultimately incorporates what he had learned with Geralt, accepting his perceived fate and became the Grand Master.

Clues that speak to this hypothesis include the dimeritium pendant Alvin wears. Alvin, the boy has one as does the Grand Master; only difference is that Aldersberg's amulet shows years of wear. But the previous hint, that he went back to time with everything, clothes, knowledge etc. explains it. Another hint lies in the mention that Alvin's favourite game is "kill the elf" where he always plays the Grand Master and wins. Also, when Jacques' group comes to the aid of the refugees in the Swamp Cemetery (Chapter V), Jacques tells Geralt that he was returning a favour by saving the witcher's life, possibly referring to Geralt rescuing Alvin from kidnappers in Chapters I and III, killing the Devourer who attacks Alvin in Chapter IV or slaughtering the barghests hunting Alvin at the beginning of Chapter I. In the same conversation, Jacques is suspiciously quick to accuse Geralt of preachiness — not a common trait of Geralt's, but one he must show when acting as a father-figure to Alvin. Jacques also mentions that he knows about Geralt from "a source", which could be wordplay hinting at his past.

Some feel that a counter-argument to this hypothesis is that townspeople in Chapters II and III already speak of Jacques de Aldersberg despite the fact that Alvin is in the care of Geralt and either Triss or Shani at that time and place, suggesting that they are two different people. Others feel that the two co-existing does not violate any time-travelling principles. One possible inconsistency is that Alvin has blonde hair and Jacques de Aldersberg has brown hair. However, children born with blonde hair in real life often darken to a middle brown as they grow up, so this difference in hair color is not prohibitive.

In the scene where Alvin tells Geralt that he wants to be a witcher, the player can answer "Don't become a witcher, become a knight" to which Alvin replies "I will be a Witcher-Knight!" suggesting a knight who hunts monsters, as the Order of the Flaming Rose does. Furthermore, during a dialogue with Siegfried, Geralt learns that even a witcher can become a member of the Order.

In the Fields in Chapter IV, the player must choose a piece of advice to give to Alvin. Whichever advice you choose, it will be parroted back to Geralt by Jacques in the Epilogue, which is highly suggestive. The Quests section of the Journal even notes the correlation: "The Grand Master's words seem familiar, though I'm not sure to what..." For more information on this correlation, see below.

At the end of the game, if the King of the Wild Hunt is allowed to take Jacques de Aldersberg's soul, he tells Geralt that he knew this soul under another name as well, possibly pointing to Alvin, although his name is not explicitly uttered. Also, all of the lessons given to Alvin by Geralt appear to have had a major influence on the Aldersberg's expressed views during the endgame speeches.

Alvin appears in the Icy Wasteland in the Epilogue. Perhaps he is summoned by Geralt, perhaps by Jacques, he quickly disappears without a chance to begin a dialogue with him

Meeting Dandelion after the final confrontation, Geralt brings this question up himself. The two conclude that they will never know for sure.

These fan speculations have neither been confirmed nor denied by the developers.

Correlated conversations
As noted above, the player's choice of advice to give to Alvin in Chapter IV determines the content of a specific conversation with Jacques de Aldersberg in the Epilogue (the one following the confrontation with Abigail's shade), suggesting that Jacques is Alvin. Alvin asks Geralt what he should do about his visions of people dying; Jacques tells Geralt that his Grand Plan (created in response to his visions of people dying) was in keeping with Geralt's earlier advice to Alvin.

Alvin asks, "I want them to like me. I don't want them to die. What should I do?"

If Geralt tells Alvin, "Your visions are a gift, not a curse. It's up to you to use them for good," then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:


 * Jacques: Only a grand plan pursued without hesitation could save humanity from what I saw in my visions.
 * Geralt: You trust your daydreams that much?
 * Jacques: I never asked for these visions, this gift.
 * Geralt: But you chose how to use it.
 * Jacques: Many times you insisted special gifts should be used for just causes. I chose the most just of causes — saving millions of lives.

If Geralt tells Alvin, "Destiny isn't everything. We are masters of our own fate," then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:


 * Jacques: Only a grand plan pursued without hesitation could save humanity from what I saw in my visions.
 * Geralt: You trust your daydreams that much?
 * Jacques: Many of the gifted foresaw the White Frost. Global cooling is this world's destiny.
 * Geralt: Why fight it then?
 * Jacques: You always believed man makes his own destiny. I seek to change all humanity's fate.

If Geralt tells Alvin, "Keep your gift a secret. The lives of the gifted are rarely easy," then the conversation in the Epilogue appears as follows:


 * Jacques: Only a grand plan pursued without hesitation could save humanity from what I saw in my visions.
 * Geralt: You trust your daydreams that much?
 * Jacques: You think this burden easy to bear? Like you, I tried to hide my otherness. To use my powers to redeem my sin.
 * Geralt: What sin?
 * Jacques: The worst of all. My otherness. So I acted for the common good.

It is potentially 'telling' that a private conversation between Geralt and Alvin can influence Jacques' statements in this way. However, the argument that Jacques and Alvin share a core identity is made rather circular by the notion that the Ice Wastes are populated with manifestations of memories and thoughts, recalling the trope of 'conversations with oneself', wherein one does not know whether to trust a vision that may come entirely from one's subconscious. (Jacques has extraordinary raw power that could simply be used to craft convincing dialogue based on what he can detect of the effectively 'captive' — at least while 'within' the Wastes — Geralt's memories and personal connections.)

Gallery
Alvin

Alvin

Alvin

Alvin