[KCD2] Poke holes in my theory: Brabant's role in a certain event

Maybe I'm tripping, but:

I don't think Bergow (who isn't exactly young anymore) picked the lock on his door, climbed down from the tower using a rope made of sheets, swam across the moat, and escaped over the palisade.

That fits Henry as a jack-of-all-trades, but not Bergow, who has made exploiting and using people his modus operandi.

Moreover, this theory would conflict with the lock-picking mechanics: a broken lock pick simply means NO successful lock-picking.

Maybe he tried lockpicking and failed, and the broken lockpick is therefore legitimate. But I don’t think he used it to get out of the room, and I simply don’t believe that POS was capable of the other alleged escape sequences.

Henry also says in the dialogue (or it’s an option) that it’s hard to believe. However, this mysterious escape route isn’t discussed or questioned further in the course of the story.

**So who could have helped him?** There are various theories, ranging from a random guard to gang members. We know of one member who really turns out to be a traitor: Brabant.

Brabant was Bergow’s hostage in Maleshov; they’ve known each other at least since then. Brabant was basically only accepted into the gang because he was incarcerated with Capon (and has an inflated ego).

It’s clear that Brabant didn’t travel back to Suchdol *after* his betrayal to free Bergow. But he had been in Suchdol with the gang before that, while Bergow was still in prison. We only see Bergow in the one scene where he suggests the silver heist to us, never again after that.

We have absolutely no idea *when* exactly the escape took place.

**I suspect Brabant had already freed Bergow before everyone set out for the Italian Court**.

Wouldn’t that have been noticed long ago? I have no idea. It wasn’t noticed even after the heist, until von Bergow stood at our gates with the Prague army. If security at the fortress is so lax that an escape during the celebration is considered plausible, then an escape before departure (or after preparations by Brabant: between depature and return) for the Italian Court is equally plausible - and that timeline better accounts for von Bergow’s ability to flee, join the Prague army, discuss a plan with Aulitz, and arm himself.

Bergow suggested stealing the silver. After news of his escape broke, Zizka is angry because he thought Bergow was on his side. I find that inconsistent, both in terms of Zizka’s character and Bergow’s. We know that Bergow is, at best, only on his own side, and Zizka isn’t actually stupid. It’s absurd that the hostage would give what appears to be helpful advice without any ulterior motives.

I suspect Bergow had been in cahoots with Brabant at least since Capon’s captivity in Maleshov and deliberately placed the two of them together in the same room. Brabant managed to get accepted into the gang and gather information. Bergow wanted the silver for himself because, as he correctly pointed out, Sigismund would then have to withdraw from Bohemia so he wouldn't notice the newly acquired wealth, and for someone like Bergow, a lot of money equals a lot of power - which must certainly have been tempting. Simply breaking out of captivity (with help) and marching to the Italian Court on his own wouldn’t have worked. Sigismund would have found out it was Bergow’s doing and taken it back. Instead, Bergow let the gang do the dirty work, as is his modus operandi. It would be entirely in keeping with Bergow’s character to throw his captors a bone to keep them occupied while secretly making them work for him.

**Before leaving for the robbery, Brabant freed Bergow while everyone else was busy with the preparations, and hastily planted the “traces” using the lock pick and the sheet.**

Why go to the trouble of planting fake footprints? If Bergow’s escape had come to light before the group left for Kuttenberg (and no footprints had been found suggesting that Bergow had done it himself), suspicion would have fallen on Brabant pretty quickly and the whole thing would have been exposed. Some in the gang already found him suspicious. And he’s French.

The fact that the clues are objectively hard to believe doesn’t matter, as long as no one has enough time to form a suspicion. Brabant only had to get rid of Bergow shortly before departure; the deception didn’t have to be maintained forever, because he knew he could end his charade after the robbery. The plan had been to get rid of the carts before the gang showed up, but in the end, that didn’t work out. It’s certainly plausible that Brabant would be no longer with the group if he had been pulling a fast one on them. But at the same time, the hostage has also disappeared. What a coincidence.

___

So, to summarize:

**Why does Bergow tip off the gang about the silver?**

Because he wants the silver for himself

**Why can’t he just take it himself?**

Because he wants the gang to do the dirty work, and he wants to keep his clean slate with Sigismund

**Why does Bergow seem to disappear completely unnoticed?**

Brabant made his escape possible

**Why are there still escape clues lying around that point to a Ninja Bergow?**

They provide an alternative explanation and protect Brabant as long as necessary

**Why does Brabant stay with the group until the heist?**

He has to see the silver heist through to the end

**Why does Bergow show up with Aulitz and an army shortly after the heist?**

He had time to make his way there because he had already fled much earlier, plus the stealing from the gang did not work out, Ninja-Man wants money

**Why do I find this approach more plausible than what the game says?**

Because it fits Bergow better. He doesn’t flee on his own in a comedically cliché way but uses Brabant. He doesn’t get the silver on his own, but uses the gang to do it. That simply fits the character much better than the Ninja version, for me