A bit on Giangio and Simon
----- LIES OF P & OVERTURE SPOILERS -----
This is just a little theory that came to me while I was going through all the lore items in the game. I noticed that the Great Master’s Letter of Excommunication shares the same wax seal and flower motif as the Letter of the Eternal.
That got me thinking: this is a letter Giangio, P.P., or Guillaume (I’ll post another theory/analysis on that soon) sent to Valentinus, which would make him not only the Grand Master and leader of the Order, but also Valentinus’s former master.
The line that stood out to me the most was: “I’ve heard my sea monster is on the move, and he is headed your way.” And since I’m very smart and not dumb at all 🤪😅, I thought immediately of Simon (and not that ugly shark boss).
When I realized he wasn’t talking about any fish enemies, I remembered that Simon’s middle name is Pistris, which of course refers to sea monster. From this line, it seems like Giangio was fully on board with everything Simon was doing. He doesn’t just call him Simon, he calls him MY sea monster. Almost as if he was proud of the monster Simon had become, and that he still had him in the palm of his hand.
Of course, in the end they were all pawns in the “Krat experiment,” but it looks like Giangio endorsed Simon’s atrocities because they aligned with his idea of “evolution.”
I don’t know what kind of relationship Simon and our pale, gray man really had. I’ve seen theories about Giangio possibly being Simon’s father, which would make Simon’s actions a way of trying to impress him. But even if that’s not the case, it seems clear Simon was on the Grand Master’s good side.
Meanwhile, this same Grand Master was already disappointed with Valentinus, first for straying from “the path”, for holding onto his human heart. But what broke it all was giving away the Arm of God (probably to Geppetto, and probably out of guilt after EVERYTHING the alchemists did to his family). That’s when he ordered Valentinus’s excommunication.
He didn’t exactly order Simon to go after him, though. My guess is he just wanted to deliver the excommunication decree and the “cure”, and when he learned Simon got involved, it was more like: “Well, I tried, but your fate is sealed.”
It was the rest of the Order who commanded Simon, and of course Simon jumped at the chance. He needed Valentinus out of the way to secure absolute power over the alchemists; he lusted over Sophia and her abilities; and he needed massive amounts of ergo for trying to swallow God.
And again, Giangio didn’t care. Human lives meant nothing to him, and while Simon wasn’t exempt from that indifference, unlike Valentinus he represented “results” for the experiment.
I just wanted to share that connection, since I didn’t realize it myself until I had all the lore items laid out in my inventory and when I was able to read everything in one go instead of random moments throughout the game.
I’d still love more information on Giangio’s relationship with Simon, and also with Valentinus, because it really does seem like Valentinus was once a valuable apprentice.
But well, they won’t give us answers, so here we are: analyzing and overanalyzing everything we can.
And as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts! 😄😄
