Hello, good hunter. Do you seek the Eldritch Truth? Do you wish to unravel the secrets of the cosmos? Have you sought eyes on the inside and gone mad? If you’re a fan of Bloodborne and have completed the game, you’ll likely have noticed mention of a baby, Mergo.
Like all of Bloodborne’s lore, the truth behind Mergo is buried in cryptic item descriptions and the whispers of the mad denizens of Yharnam. But, it is human to seek out the truth and attempt to ascend. So read on, good hunter, and let the mysteries fade away, like a dream upon waking.
10 Mergo Is An Infant Great One
Who, or what, exactly is Mergo? It is strongly suggested through in-game item descriptions that Mergo is the child of a Great One and thus an Infant Great One themselves. Great Ones are beings that can traverse multiple planes of reality.
The ancient civilization of Pthumeria managed to contact the Great Ones and learn their Eldritch secrets. The remnants of their civilization can be found in the old chalice dungeons that Yharnam is built on top of.
9 Mergo Is The Child Of Pthumerian Queen Yharnam
Queen Yharnam is a character seen several times throughout the main story of Bloodborne. She is also the final boss of the Chalice Dungeons. She was the ruler of Pthumeru and was granted an audience with the Great Ones. The Pthumerians unlocked the secrets of blood, blood that came from the Great Ones.
Fans know that Queen Yharnam is Mergo’s mother due to her appearance after you defeat Rom. She appears and you hear a baby crying in the distance. She is also present just before you fight Mergo’s Wet Nurse in the Nightmare.
8 Mergo Is The Child Of Oedon
It is thought that Oedon, the most powerful of all Great Ones, is the father of Mergo. He is formless, transcending the need for any sort of physical manifestation, instead existing as only voice and influence. All residents of Yharnam indirectly worship Oedon through their use of blood, one of the ways he can manifest himself. It is through the blood that he was able to conceive Mergo.
As one item description reads, “Every Great One loses its child, and then yearns for a surrogate, and Oedon, the formless Great One, is no different. To think, it was corrupted blood that began this eldritch liaison." This implies Oedon impregnated Yharnham through blood so that she would bear him a child. Mergo’s crib, found in the Lunarium appears empty, though maybe it isn’t, perhaps Mergo is just formless, too.
7 Mergo Is Alive
As various item descriptions state, “Every Great One loses its child.” This, and the fact that Mergo is invisible, or formless, has led many to believe that Mergo is dead, or was stillborn. However, there is evidence suggesting Mergo is, in fact, alive.
One item, a Third Umbilical Cord, retrieved after killing Mergo’s Wet Nurse, reads “This Cord granted Mensis audience with Mergo, but resulted in the stillbirth of their brains.” The students of Mensis, a secretive part of the Healing Church, were driven mad by Mergo, hence the “stillbirth of their brains,” not the stillbirth of Mergo.
6 Mergo Was Taken From Queen Yharnam
Queen Yharnam wears a white dress stained with blood. She is seen after you defeat Rom, sad and longing, her baby crying. You next see her before you enter the Lunarium where Mergo’s crib is. Once you slay Mergo’s Wet Nurse, if you leave the boss area and head back down the stairs where you saw the Queen, she’ll bow to you, grateful that you’ve freed her baby from its captors.
After all, Oedon “yearns for a surrogate,” not a wife. So, it can be assumed that Yharnam was merely meant as a vessel for Mergo, which is why the latter needed a wet nurse to look after them.
5 Mergo Is The Cause Of The Nightmare
Just as the Moon Presence is the source of the Hunter’s Dream, Mergo is the source of the Nightmare, with Micolash, the mad academic the host. The students of Mensis were able to meet and communicate with Mergo, but that drove them mad, their human minds could not comprehend what they were experiencing.
This drove them all mad and ripped them and their lecture hall into the Nightmare. The Nightmare persists after you kill Mergo’s Wet Nurse – one of the game’s easiest bosses – so it doesn’t seem like you also kill Mergo. Also, when you kill the Wet Nurse, Mergo can be heard giggling, apparently pleased. So, maybe you just free the infant.
4 It Is Mergo’s Cry That Can Be Heard Throughout The Game
Two of the best things about Bloodborne are its tone and atmosphere. The game submerges you into a blood-soaked frenzy, pulling you deeper into its madness the more you play.
In certain parts of the game, such as Mergo’s Loft, you can hear a baby crying. If your insight level is high enough this cry can be heard throughout the whole game. Insight is the means through which your character learns to perceive the otherworldly beings; therefore, it stands to reason that at a high enough insight you can perceive the infant Great One’s cries.
3 Mergo’s Cry Was Used To Lure More Great Ones
One item description states that “Great Ones that inhabit the nightmare are sympathetic in spirit, and often answer when called upon.” It may seem odd that there are so many Great Ones throughout Yharnham, the Hunter’s Dream, and the Nightmare, but it could be that they have all been drawn to Mergo’s cries that can be heard permeating all of these realms.
Mergo would be their relative, after all, so it makes sense that they would want to protect their own.
2 Your Purpose Is To Free Mergo
If Mergo’s cries attracted the Great Ones, they could also be what calls to you. You venture out from the Hunter’s Dream, following lanterns all the way to Mergo’s Loft, where you slay their cursed guardian. Once this is done, the Hunter’s Dream is ablaze, and you choose whether or not you wake up or become bound to the Dream.
It has been theorized that your purpose is to slay a Great One, but you slay several before Mergo’s Wet Nurse. Your purpose could then be to free Mergo from the Nightmare, evidenced by Queen Yharnam’s grateful bow and the infant’s laughter when you defeat the Wet Nurse.
1 Something Was Keeping Mergo Captive
It is known that Mergo was taken from Queen Yharnam, and it is assumed that Oedon was the one who took them, but maybe that was to protect the infant from other Great Ones. Oedon is the most powerful of all the Great Ones as he ascended physical form itself. Mergo is also formless, appearing to be invisible in their crib in the Lunarium.
Could other Great Ones be jealous, or even afraid of such a powerful child? These questions could be answered in the long-awaited Bloodborne sequel. Maybe Oedon will fight to find his child again, maybe Mergo will take revenge on their father for keeping them hidden away in the nightmare for so long, or perhaps other Great Ones will descend in order to try and kill the infant.
