SPOILER [Theory] Nilrem and Martyn are the Same Person

Hello. This theory is a bit different from my others, since this one talks about an individual rather than an ancient civilization or ancient constructs like the Colossi. In fact, this theory is about:

Nilren and Old Man Martyn being the same person

Now, before I begin, I would like to thank u/OldWiseSensei on the Wynncraft reddit for making a great theory on this matter way before I did. Some of the points that I make in this theory are originally from their theory, but I will not include some of them and I will add some others. For example, the point about Martyn and Nilrem having flipped initials and last letters (M,N and N,M) is probably a moot point since Martyn was named after "InTheLittleWood" and Nilrem is an anagram of Merlin.

Let's begin, but first I want to preface this theory with this point that ties into the theory:

Old Man Martyn and Bob both have Olmic blood

First, Martyn, who is the easiest to prove.
He possesses time magic (whether that originates from runic magic or not we don't know, though it is likely), a type of magic that only the Olm truly mastered. No other group or species in the entire world is known to have time-altering magic, besides possibly the Rune Guardians of Gavel, though that's in a whole other province.
Obviously, he also has deep knowledge of the Time Valley, the only person left who knows how the valley functions, and most importantly he knows who it was that built the Time Valley, the Olm. Assuming the Olm can live very long (a point corroborated by the fact that there are still existing Olm in the Ancient City today after millennia), it would make sense for Old Man Martyn himself to also be indescribably old, old enough to have witnessed the construction of the Time Valley and the Olm messing up time, the latter being from dialogue from Deja Vu and Tempo Town Trouble. Not to mention, there are very few people in the world who even know the name "Olm": Martyn himself and WynnExcavation being the only ones that come to mind.
Finally, his skin is reminiscent of an Olm as well, being a crusty yellow pigmentation as opposed to the normal human white/black. There are other Olm who have yellow skin, the Repurposed Host mobs in the Silent Expanse.

Second, we have Bob, who I believe is at least half-Olmic.
Why? Well, first off let's look at where he gets that Olmic blood from: his parents. More specifically, I believe it was his mother who was Olmic.
In Ragni's Library, it is said that Bob's mother "[never said] where she had come from (she certainly wasn't one of Ragni's own)". Already this gives us the idea that Bob's mother was unfamiliar with the Humans, and nobody knew where she truly came from.
If one believes the theory that Witherhead is Bob's mother (corroborated by the item lore for Witherhead's Talisman, though item lore is iffy, and the fact that there are black bones around Bob's mother's tomb in "A Hero's Origin"), there is also a line where she says "The forces of the Humans could not save me when I hid here, and they can't save you either." She mentions the Humans as if she isn't one of them, which would make sense if she was actually Olmic.
Now, let's look at Bob's most famous traits: the fact that he learned magic, instead of being born with it, and the fact that he was the only known person in all of history to have mastered all four classes.
The former is especially interesting: while the fact that he mastered four classes could come from him being Olmic and thus special with inhuman capabilities, take in mind that Bob was born and learned most of his magic before the Villagers came to Wynn, who brought magic with them and taught the humans it. Before the arrival of the Villagers, humans who knew magic were unbelievably rare (the Twains and Ethe, Bob's mage teacher, being the only recorded gifted individuals), and no human could truly "learn" magic before the Villagers taught them it. So, Bob being the only recorded individual in Wynn to have learned magic before the Villagers may also hint at him not being fully human.
We also have the fact that Bob was grey-skinned, a trait belonging firmly to the Olm and not to any humans, and finally the fact that he lived to 146 years of age: he didn't learn any age-slowing magic during his training, and as we've said the Olm probably had a very long lifespan, thus being further evidence of Bob having Olmic blood.

Ok, now that we've established that Old Man Martyn and Bob belong to the same species (or almost), which will be important for a later point, I will point out why I believe it is possible that Old Man Martyn and Nilrem are the same person.

1. It is often said that being a friend of Bob was very rare and an honor

In Bob's Lost Soul, Tarod says that he personally knew Bob and that being a friend of Bob is an honor. He is one of the very few people in Wynn who were friends with Bob at some point, only Martyn and Nilrem coming to mind as to who else was a friend of his (there might be some others but rn I don't remember).
Asher also says that "Bob was a hard guy to know", and that's why I think that Asher mentioning how Martyn knew Bob at the end of Deja Vu does have some story importance and isn't just a random fact of trivia.
The fact that Asher specifically says that Martyn knew Bob, and that Bob has few friends, strengthens the theory that Martyn and Nilrem could have ties. If you don't believe this point, another point still based on Asher's dialogue may convince you otherwise, which I will bring up at the end.

2. Bob would have every reason to trust Martyn with the Sealed Letters

Think about it. What do we know about Martyn? We know that he is incredibly old, we know that he is good at keeping secrets (hence why he suddenly stops after accidentally mentioning the Olm by name to us in Tempo Town Trouble, why he doesn't tell the citizens of Tempo Town about the nature of the Time Troubles and why he doesn't tell Asher how he knows time magic), and we've already talked about how Martyn is likely Olmic, and therefore could have witnessed the fall of the Time Valley with his own eyes, not to mention that he could also know why the Olm died off and who killed them.

Let's look at the Sealed Letters that Bob writes to Nilrem. In them, Bob talks about how he is "going away" to "seal a dark creature of the night". If Bob knew the truth about Martyn's bloodline, it would make sense for him to tell a fellow Olm about him going off to fight the Darkness, the Olm's arch enemy. Furthermore, as Martyn already knows a lot of things about the Olm, I would imagine that he'd find it easier to understand what Bob's goal was, and hence would not object to placing Bob's power within his animals.

Finally, as I have prefaced in this theory and said before, Bob and Martyn both have Olmic blood, therefore Bob would find it easier to trust Martyn, a fellow Olm, rather than some human who doesn't even know what Light and Dark are.

3. Martyn is very magically adept and knows how to seal and unseal objects

To place Bob's power within his pets and to create a fake body, he would need someone with incredible magical expertise: of his friends, Martyn immediately comes to mind. Besides knowing time magic, Martyn is also able to seal objects and creatures away (as seen with how he sealed the Time Trouble in TTT) and, being Olmic just like Bob, could also know a bit of other magic himself.

Not to mention that Bob opens the Sealed Letters with this line: "The letter I enclose to you has been sealed with concealment magicks. I trust you to know how to read it."
He knows that Martyn would be able to break the seal that hides the Sealed Letter because he has already sealed things off in the past, and what person who can make seals doesn't know how to break them?

3.1. The Secret Discovery area in "Nilrem's Sealed Letter" is almost identical to the area where Martyn visits us after breaking the Time Trouble's seal

This point is a bit more minor, but should still be mentioned: when you enter the area where you get the SD in Nilrem's Sealed Letter, where the altar with all the letters is, the surrounding area is a completely pitch black void, just like the area where Martyn meets you in TTT: again, a black void. But it's up to you whether you choose to believe this point or not.

Finally, we have the final point, one which in my opinion really drives this theory home:

4. Asher mentions that he saw some letters in Martyn's house

Recall back to the final dialogue of Deja Vu, where Asher mentions that Martyn knows Bob. He then immediately says that he saw "some letters" in Martyn's house.
This is what led me to make this theory in the first place. Bob isn't known for writing letters, and the only letters that have truly been attributed to him are the Sealed Letters which he wrote for Nilrem. Asher mentioning this in the first place would also make no sense if it was for no reason, not to mention that he prefaces his statement with saying that Martyn was friends with Bob.
You might be wondering, then, "why would Martyn have the Sealed Letters if they're already in the Nilrem's Sealed Letters secret discovery in Nesaak?". To that, I have two possible answers: 1. Wynncraft logic (recall back to the Unfinished Letter in Gateway Island, why would Bob just leave a letter there and not finish it, and then write another one with the exact same introduction?) or 2. Martyn put the letters there AFTER you finished Deja Vu, which would make sense canonically as time advances as you level up and many characters recall to things you've done in previous levels.

Finally, at this point you may be asking "Why? Why would Martyn go under the name of Nilrem in the first place?" and I can think of three explanations:

1. Martyn went under the nickname of Nilrem in the past, or just called himself Nilrem around bob
2. "Nilrem" is Martyn's true name, perhaps of Olmic origin, and he just adopted "Martyn" as a new name or alias for himself (this I don't believe that much personally)
3. Bob's lore is super old and the first mentions of Nilrem date back to like 2015, while Martyn was createde more recently. A character having two names is the least contradictory thing in his lore at this point (this I believe more).

And that's it for my theory! Thanks for reading, I hope this can put the mystery of who Nilrem is to rest.

TL;DR: Martyn and Nilrem are the same person, and Bob trusted Martyn because both have Olmic blood. Bob sent the letters to Martyn because he knew that he had powerful magic, corroborated by the fact that Asher tells the player that he saw some letters belonging to Bob in Martyn's house.

 

Time travel is really screwy

 

aren’t there two letters missing from the discovery? those could’ve been the ones Asher saw, idrk why martyn would keep those with him rather than seal them like the rest though

 

Coincidentally, I was thinking about this earlier

Considering the fact that Asher says he had letters from Bob, I think this is true

''Nilrem'' is ''Merlin'' backwards so it's probably a nickname

dude wait theres a black void when you do /class what if you are an apparition summoned by martyn!!!!!!!!!!

 

Can we have a shitpost thanks





no but great theory

 

I'm feeling immense amounts of deja vu
(pun not intended)
I really feel like someone made a thread on this same topic before
Maybe you mentioned it in the WynnTheory discord, idk
I did try searching threads and found this but I don't think this counts: https://forums.wynncraft.com/thread...stions-raised-by-deja-vu.243102/#post-2992264

 

To be honest the context in both situations is similar: the black void is where you go after you've broken a seal

Thats just one sentence, and yes I did mention that I thought that Martyn was Nilrem in wynntheory

 

Actually yeah, I remember this being a thread also.