Why the murderer can differ between saves
The Act II murder is described by current community guides as state-dependent, not a single mystery with one universal culprit. At least one detailed character entry explains that a Knight recruited in Act I or early Act II can become either the killer or the victim depending on relationship extremes. That means a name copied from another player’s run can be wrong for yours.
When the investigation begins, use the evidence shown in your timeline: which Knight is missing, influenced, highly favorable or strongly hostile; which murder or petition sequence occurred; and what knowledge your Sovereign has carried through a previous run. Preserve a save before an accusation so you can compare the result without rebuilding the entire act.
How Victoria enters the route
Community documentation connects Victoria with learning that she is behind the Enberg murder or with reaching the related victim and petition sequence. If she is not removed in the preceding conflict, she can later come to court and may be offered a seat. The route then continues through a series of morally severe tasks and dialogue checks.
The consistent warning across active guides is honesty: lying to Victoria or failing her conditions can close the intended recruitment or alliance result. Even after following the tasks, however, multiple players and one maintained guide report that she may still leave the Round Table. This is why the page does not promise a guaranteed permanent recruitment in the current build.
Victoria, Gothild and mutually exclusive choices
Gothild is tied to defeating or killing Victoria. One recruitment guide gives two reported routes: kill Victoria through an assassination-sponsored quest on NG+, or defeat Victoria in a duel before the murder investigation ends in the Yohav line. Pursuing Gothild can therefore conflict directly with keeping Victoria. Decide which Knight or outcome you are testing before committing to the duel or assassination branch.
Investigation checklist
- Save before the murder or confrontation sequence.
- Record the current affinity extremes among eligible Knights.
- Read the actual victim, location and petition details in your run.
- Do not assume another player’s culprit is fixed for every timeline.
- If pursuing Victoria, avoid killing her and do not lie during her later tasks.
- If pursuing Gothild, plan for a Victoria-defeat route instead.
- After recruitment, verify whether Victoria remains after the final requested task and the next several cycles.
Can the murder be prevented?
Community comments describe at least one first-run state in which the Act II murder did not occur after roster availability and Gwendan-related timing were changed. That is an interesting lead, but it is comment-level evidence rather than a reproduced guide route. This page therefore treats prevention as possible but not yet provides a guaranteed sequence.
What to do if Victoria leaves
First compare whether every task was completed honestly and whether Victoria and the potential target were allowed to interact. If the route still fails, keep the save rather than replaying blindly: current reports explicitly call the chain bugged. Check the game’s latest patch notes and Community guides before repeating a long Act III sequence.
Use the Knights directory for other recruitment branches and the Endings guide before using Try Again to preserve a no-rewind attempt.