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Lore
Future Press game guide description: “Alfred is a member of the Executioners, an order of hunters affiliated with the Healing Church. He is on a mission to assassinate the Vileblood Queen Annalise and free the Executioners' former leader, Martyr Logarius, from eternal stewardship of the castle's seal. If you give him the Unopened Summons found in the Cainhurst throne room he will travel to the castle and finish what his master started by pummeling the queen into pulp with his Logarius' Wheel. With the remains of the queen still on him he laughs jubilantly and is seemingly unhinged. Afterwards, he will thank you for your assistance and leave Cainhurst. He is next found dead at the altar where you first met him.”
Alfred is a protege of Master Logarius and a hunter of Vilebloods. While his dialogue seems to imply he had a personal relationship with Logarius his later actions heavily imply that he is more of a well-read fanatic, or at very least too long divorced of his sect to understand them fully. Logarius commanded a band of warriors called the Executioners. The Executioners wore a conical gold helmet, the Gold Ardeo, which was their symbol. The helmet represented luminosity, ambition and an unflagging resolve to face impurity, staring it down with a “stern, golden spirit”. Ardeo is itself a Latin word, meaning "to be ablaze" or, perhaps more relevantly, "to be in turmoil/love". Their motto appears to have been a quote from Logarius that reads:
“Acts of goodness are not always wise,
and acts of evil are not always foolish,
but regardless, we shall always strive to be good.”
This quote seems to be dealing with their “unique brand of justice” which is, essentially, murder, as they were appointed by the Church to root out and execute heretics, whomever they may be. Here Logarius is tellingly, rationalizing the murder of those the sect deemed to be impure, saying an act of goodness (perhaps sparing their lives) would not necessarily be wise, while an act of evil (murdering them) would not necessarily be foolish. This quote is certainly a window into Logarius’ ideology. The Executioner’s toiled away in their workshop; a secretive enclave of mystical beliefs and heady fanaticism, which possibly predated the Healing Church as we have come to know it. The description of the Executioner Garb reads, in part: "Later became the basis for all Church attire, with its heavy draping of Holy Shawl." This would indicate that, if not existing prior to the Church, they at the very least were the first of its uniformed followers, though it is also possible they only became affiliated after its conception.
The only Executioner we meet in game is Alfred. All other Executioners either died in the siege of Cainhurst Castle or passed away shortly thereafter.
Alfred is a fountain of knowledge, both eagerly able to spout off facts about the city of Yharnam and the Healing Church while also admitting to the Player that he is unaware of many of the higher dealings of the Church's more notable works. He will tell the player the histories of Byrgenwerth, the founding of the Healing Church, what he knows of the Healing Church’s blood ministration and of course, the history of Logarius and the Vilebloods. He also claims that he was once a hunter, or that, that is how he started out. His knowledge of the Healing Church is the most vague, and only pertains to knowledge that the Healing Church would be happy to have shared. He likely became a hunter for the Healing Church, but, either upon discovering their history or otherwise being recruited, became enamored with the covenant of Executioners and quickly converted.
The player first finds Alfred praying before an altar outside a small church. The purpose of this church is unclear, but it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine it was built to honor Logarius or his Executioners, though inside is the tomb that hides the secret entrance to Old Yharnam. Alfred is certainly friendly enough to begin with, and offers much useful information. But by the next time he is found, in his second location above the steps leading to the Forbidden Woods, he tells the player that what he is really seeking is a means to enter the Forsaken Castle Cainhurst and destroy the immortal ruler of the Vilebloods, Queen Annalise. If he is able to destroy Annalise, then Master Logarius can finally be canonized as a martyr for his deeds.
After the player defeats Logarius, they can find the Cainhurst Summons in Annalise’s throne room, which was previously hidden from sight by ancient magic. These summons allow Alfred to find his way to the Castle, likely in the same way the Player does, by ghostly coach at Hemwick Crossing, and then reach the throne room of Annalise, now that it is has been revealed by the Crown of Illusions. Once there he proceeds to crush Annalise to a fleshy pulp with his Logarius Wheel. A most fitting end he believes to “rotten siren”. To him, Annalise is truly dead, because even though her flesh lives on, she cannot do much in the state she is in, “all mangled and twisted, with every inside on the outside, for all the world to see!”. He now believes that he has achieved what Martyr Logarius could not, apparently not realizing that Logarius donned the crown of illusions of his own volition so that no one would ever see the Queen, nor be able to access her corrupted blood. Through his actions and dialogue Alfred clearly shows that he never understood the sacrifice Logarius made.
After Alfred has gloated about his victory, he will make his way back to the altar the player original met him at. It is likely that once there he kills himself. This is implied because we find his body curled up in the foetal position, as if he has stabbed himself in the heart, and in his hand is a bloody, twisted piece of metal, perhaps a crude dagger. It may be that after achieving his goal of allowing Logarius to be canonized as a “true martyr” Alfred attempts to join him in the ranks of those martyrs. Alternatively, it may be that Alfred was hunted down and killed, perhaps by one still loyal to the Queen. However this seems unlikely considering Annalise herself says to the player after they swear a Vileblood oath that she and the player are the very last two Vilebloods on this earth. The third possibility is that Alfred simply had completed his only goal, and therefore ended his life as it no longer had purpose, the fanaticism with which he operated up to that point satisfied.
Theories
Title of theory.
Dialogue
Sources
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