A Plague Tale Innocence: Ending Explained (Spoilers)

If you found yourself a bit confused at the end of A Plague Tale: Innocence, rest assured you’re not the only one. Let’s explain the ending of A Plague Tale: Innocence. 

Obviously major spoilers are ahead this is your last chance to turn away.

While the game may be exceptionally good at weaving a tale of two siblings forging a bond of love and trust over the course of a harrowing adventure, much of the rest of the game’s sub plots develop and are explained in the background.

This means that, come the end of the game, certain developments and conclusions may seem a bit confusing to those who didn’t catch all of the reveals tucked away in the dialogue of side characters and NPCs.

That’s why we went back and examined the story in-depth, catching as many if not all of the key plot points we could find to get a better grasp on the ending and clarify a few key bits of it below.

A Plague Tale Innocence Ending Explained (Spoilers)

What Vitalis’ Final Smirk Means

While the game has only one ending, it’s split up between two key segments. The first takes place right after the player defeats Vitalis, the leader of the Inquisition and a holy man with aspirations of using the Prima Macula to his own ends.

After the player defeats him, he falls to the ground and looks over at Hugo, showing a villainous smile as the life drains away from him.

While this could easily just be his madness breaking through one last time, this may hint at his hope or knowledge that Hugo can carry on his ambitions.

After all, he did condition Hugo enough that he could better control the swarms of rats spreading the plague, and even convinced him to attack Amicia and the rest of he group alongside Captain Nicholas.

This may be explored more if and when the game receives a sequel or DLC, though no plans to do so have been announced by developer Asobo Studio or the game’s publisher Focus Home Interactive yet.

Why the Rats Have Disappeared

The second segment of A Plague Tale: Innocence’s ending takes place three days after Vitalis’ death.

Amicia and Hugo go through a small town after buying supplies needed for their mother Beatrice’s recovery, celebrating with some of the townsfolk over the disappearance of the rats spreading the plague.

While most greet them in a friendly manner, some turn them away from a fair due to a young woman and a young boy being wanted by the local authorities. Melee has also gone off on her own, distraught at her brother Arthur’s death.

Eventually, they regroup with Beatrice and Lucas at a cart. They then set out for a new country to start a new life.

While this is all fairly straight-forward, a few points can be confusing if you missed some bits of dialogue in the game. First and foremost: The rats are gone after Vitalis died because he was ordering his men to spread them in towns and villages.

This was done so that they could harvest Episanguis from the nests they created, allowing Vitalis to artificially produce the rat-controlling powers Hugo was born into.

With him dead, the rats receded, allowing the country to begin to heal.

Why Amicia, Hugo and Their Companions Have to Flee the Country in the Ending

The second key point is the reason for Amicia, Hugo and their companions’ fleeing the country. While they may know about the terrible things he did to get the Prima Macula, the rest of the world only knew of him as a key figure in the Catholic church.

As a result, his murder is considered a crime anywhere that the church has influence, not least of which in the country where they currently are. Should Amicia and Hugo ever be caught, they would be executed.

There’s also the fact that alchemy is considered a heretical art by many in the church, which forced Beatrice, Lucas and other practitioners like them to practice in secret.

In order to continue looking after Hugo, and ensure the Prima Macula stays under his control, the group will have to find a new home free from prying eyes, or otherwise stay on the road.

This may be interpreted as an open ending that could set up a sequel, but it could also be seen as a pleasant enough de facto ending to the adventures of the De Rune siblings.

Hopefully this cleared up any confusion regarding A Plague Tale: Innocence’s ending. For more tips, tricks and info tied to the game, be sure to check out our A Plague Tale: Innocence guide wiki.