What events lead to the Nameless One finally changing his fate this time around, ending up with the Transcendent One in one capacity or another? He has made is as far as coming to TO and the fortress of regrets many times before right, so what did it take this time around - power, maturity? Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

I get what you're saying. This begs the question though - what made it possible for TNO to learn the origins of TNO's immortality? Was it just a question of time, of accumuling enough clues of past incarnations, or did it actually take something from TNO maturity-wise? I mean was it through his companions, or finally meeting Ravel, or somesuch? And perhaps it is outside the scope of the game, but how come the different incarnations are so different from one-another? They have no upbringing so one cannot point to parenting and such. :P And also how many past incarnations have the companions which one actually employs within the game accompanied? Does it differ between say Morte and the others? I played a long time ago but I'm writing a text which should be submitted the 30th and I thought these details might be relevant.

My guess would be - a combination of all that. The Practical Incarnation failed due to his approach to the problem, but the clues he left did prove useful for TNO. On the other hand, TNO would need to want to follow these clues, to know and accept his past - the Paranoid Incarnation ended up the way he did because he just wanted to live his own life and couldn't stand being blamed for something he couldn't remember. Also, the fact that the "current" TNO no longer loses his memory upon death - something that may or may not matter in-game depending on whether or not you die at some point - is related to the time that has passed since he was made immortal: Ravel's spell gradually got weaker and its effects changed. This is a bit meta, yes. TNO's previous incarnations presumably awakened in the same manner he did - in an unfamiliar place, with amnesia. Since Torment is an RPG, having the main character start as a blank slate allows for different behavior and interactions. While you don't really have the choice of going insane, you can be a complete jerk who puts his goals above everything else. So each of them chose their own path like that, sometimes starting with their reaction to their awakening in the Mortuary. (Morte even talks about how TNO often woke up with a different personality after dying.) We only know of Practical Incarnation's party, which consisted of Morte, Dak'kon, Deionarra and Xachariah. Morte and Dak'kon survived the Fortress of Regrets and were clearly waiting to join TNO again, and Morte has seen many of his "incarnations" already. If TNO had any other companions at any point between the Fortress of Regrets incident and the beginning of the game, they weren't important enough to warrant a mention, apparently.

I appreciate your perspective and clarification, thanks! One last thing - both Vhailor and Ignus ran into past incarnations of TNO, but what about Annah and Fall-from-grace (and, well, Nordom)?

While TNO meets a number of people who were involved with his past incarnations, his current companions don't have to be connected to him through past events. TNO's unfortunate "special ability" is attracting tormented beings, and he can very well attract new ones.

Annah got drawn into TNO's adventures because she was the one who found his body before the game started. Her reaction to Pharod's scolding implies that she wasn't aware of his immortality, she doesn't even recognize TNO at first since nobody expects a random corpse to come back alive. :)

Fall-from-Grace might have met TNO before, because at least one of his incarnations was a Sensate at some point. I don't think there's a confirmation, though. Nordom seems completely random. :/ He provides additional information on TNO's situation, but his advice is based on logic instead of experience. So these two are likely completely new to TNO's story.

Thanks for the spoiler.

Shit sorry! I can't seem to edit the topic subject. Can I? Otherwise someone can just delete the whole thread perhaps.

You can message JudasIscariot or another "blue" (search the general forum for the posts) and ask to change the thread title. Though, TBH, going to a forum for a 15+-year-old well-known RPG and not expecting open spoilers is a bit odd, IMO.

Jeah thanks for the spoiler, and i know people will whiteknight in saying it's my fault if i haven't played this masterpiece the last 15-20 years and i even dared to watch into a forum, but i was just looking for mods, didn't expect such a big spoiler literally on the first page without a spoiler tag whatsoever. Sorry i'm salty but damn, this game got praised so much for his story and i was looking forward to it playing it through after the last time i got 1/3 of it and enjoying it. Now i never have that experience, and it makes me sad...