Oh, and throughout my entire playthrough of the game, I kept accidentally referring to Theresa as Kreia. I don’t know if you are a KOTOR fan, but if so, that might make a little sense of her character. Anyway, post forthcoming on my thoughts on the finale…

Yes…Teresa, I knew her the minute she showed up.

There is a conspiracy about Teresa, due to the fact that this was the name of the Hero’s sister in Fable I. She also has the same color scheme and attitude from the Fable I.
If that is Teresa from Fable I, she has every reason to be suspicious, as well as a few holes.

There is a “Hero of Oakvale” book that says the hero obtained the Sword of Aeons and defeated Jack. The problem with that is to get the sword in Fable I, the hero had the choice to kill his sister Teresa or spare her and not get the sword. What this means to me is no matter what was done in Fable I doesn’t matter, they just removed the choice from Fable I and forced it into Fable II. Something about that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I could see them throwing that in there on purpose, if Teresa was killed and came back (as often as heroes seem to), then that would explain why she would be suspicious, other than the whole “raised by Bandits” thing. Still the whole “everything you did in Fable I didn’t happen” hook kinda bugs me just a bit. I understand that everyone’s hero was different…but I didn’t kill her in my game, and apparently it happened anyway. Of course, it is too easy to rewrite history, especially if all that is left is a single book with not much information on the past, and whoever wrote the book obviously wasn’t there.

I didn’t notice creeping terror at Serenity, but then I was a pretty inattentive husband and father.

OK, now “Cat’s in the Cradle” is back in my head. Time to drink away the pain, and replace the memories with XP potions. (Isn’t that how it works?)

Such a simple bait and switch and done almost entirely through tricks in the map’s lighting, but it certainly had an impact on me. I’m not entirely sure why it took me by such surprise, but definitely a standout moment and one of the few things that has me interesting in opening the few demon doors that I have yet to see.

I’m curious about your upsetting moment with another door.

And–I felt manipulated by (and mistrustful of) Teresa from the first moment I realized who she was… which was when Rose pointed out her blindness. I sincerely hope we get an expansion that explores Teresa role more.

@Corvus: I took an entirely different story from the final farm than you did, it would seem. I certainly don’t think it was based on any sort of nostalgia, and I think that is somewhat obvious in comparing the two versions of Rose’s Diary. It seems to me that the “Perfect Day Farm” is definitely the Music Box attempting, in its own, perhaps somewhat cruel, way to belatedly deliver the wish that had been asked of it. But this isn’t the wish of the player or even of the Hero, but of Rose. The fact that the Music Box supplies a simulacra of Rose seems to further underscore that: everything that Rose wanted she wanted for her Sparrow. The fact that Rose’s belated wish has so little resonance with the Hero, no matter what path was taken (good or evil, corrupt or pure), is perhaps the point. It highlights the gulf between the opening of the game and it’s ending, the rift between the selflessness of the sister and the ultimately selfish act of revenge…

As for Teresa, she is definitely suspicious, and the “bwa-ha-ha the Spire is mine” thing at the end certainly jumped out at me. (Not to mention that I continue to wonder if Lucien’s usage of “Would you kindly…?” was an intentional reference or merely just an appropriate dialogue choice for his character type.)

I’ve been listening to my High School-aged sister playing Fable 2 and she directly blames Teresa for Rose’s eventual death (which was pretty emotional for her). I don’t think that I quite made that jump on my first playthrough like she did. (I think it was subconsciously noted as I did have some distrust of Teresa…)

But XP as memories isn’t just wordsmythe’s idea. It’s a stated part of the Fable two mythos. The orbs you collect after combat are explicitly referred to as memories.

Regardless, it’s a symbolic loss and I thought it well done.

I think this was where I stopped, because it seemed to be suspending the game rules for the story to make sense.

I like wordsmythe’s idea of XP as memories. I’d never thought about that before. Still, I think that it’s a bit of a hard sell, as all your XP in Fable comes (mostly) from fighting. Who cares if you can’t remember what creatures you’ve fought? I’d think I’d care more about family, etc… Hmmm…

Still, the idea that the punishment was draining you of your life experiences, your memories, is a compelling representation of a game mechanic.

I ought to clarify that I quite liked the Spire and thought it was a good narrative implementation of the core mechanic of the game.