To say that A Plague Tale Requiem is dense with information would be an understatement. There are plot threads carried over from A Plague Tale Innocence, new storylines that bear major importance to the larger narrative, and lore drops that can leave you immensely lost if you don’t happen to catch them. That’s why we’re here to summarize the entirety of the A Plague Tale Requiem story and ending, explained in a way that should make it easier to comprehend and understand.
In case it wasn’t obvious though: *Warning: Full Story Spoilers Ahead.*
A Plague Tale Requiem Story Summary
Chapters 1-5
It’s best to start with a summary of everything that takes place in the game.
The story of A Plague Tale Requiem picks up six months after Amicia and Hugo successfully defeated Vitalis and the Inquisition. All has been peaceful, and the two have travelled the countryside in search of a new home alongside their mother, Beatrice, and their friend Lucas from the first game. They’re currently on their way toward the Red City, which is home to a prominent Alchemist from the Order who may be able to shed light on how to further remedy Hugo’s condition.
They’re shown to be playing together in the countryside, exploring the ruins of a castle as Hugo pretends to be a king. Hugo and Amicia play with Lucas for a bit before he has to return to his studies, and then the two find their way to a river where they encounter a young boy. The three all enjoy a game together before the boy heads back home, and then Amicia and Hugo venture further into the ruins of a castle nearby.
Unfortunately, this idyllic day turns to tragedy in a hurry. Amicia and Hugo stumble onto a private bee farm in the aftermath of a thieving raid, and the owners are intent on killing anyone they believe to be a thief. This forces Amicia and Hugo to sneak their way through the property, but before they can escape, they discover the boy they were playing with. It was his job to watch for thieves, and since they snuck in while he was gone, his family plans to kill him as punishment.
Desperate to save the boy, Amicia attacks his family members and manages to stab one of them to death, but is quickly subdued afterward. They’re about to kill her, but before they can, Hugo summons rats to devour them as he loses consciousness from the stress.
As he does, he begins drifting into a recurring dream he has been having for weeks of a far-off island with two large mountains. A phoenix guides him further inland, and as it does, the Macula spreads further and further across his body. It gets worse and worse until he can barely move, and he’s ready to collapse by the time he and the Phoenix reach a tree and a small pond. He then touches the water of the pond, and as if by magic, the Macula’s spread stops and recedes away.
He then realizes that it’s a sign for how to cure his illness. Before he can ask the Bird more about the Island’s location and whether he can bring someone else there with him though, he wakes up on a cart with Amicia, Beatrice and Lucas. Amicia brought him back to them and hid the fact that they were attacked by the farmers, hoping it wouldn’t be an issue once they reached the city.
The group then reaches a checkpoint leading toward the Red City, but before they can cross, they’re spotted by the owner of the property where Amicia and Hugo killed the beekeepers. The group is then separated, and Amicia is forced to fight her way through the property owner’s men. She does so, even killing a man who was ready to kill her mother in retaliation.
In the aftermath of the fight, Amicia is shown to be deeply shaken by the events while Hugo has once again passed out. Beatrice tries to calm Amicia down, but can’t do much to help her before they set off again toward the Red City.
After some time passes, they reach their destination. All is peaceful, and the entire group sees this new place as somewhere they could call home. Before long though, Hugo’s condition starts to deteriorate due to the Macula’s hold on him advancing. Amicia and Lucas then have to set out into the city to find Magister Vaudin, the Order Alchemist who has the best chance of treating Hugo.
As the two progress further into the city, they start to get a glimpse of what it’s really like. The Plague and Rats have reached the poorer parts of the city, and the city’s ruler – the Count of Provence – has allowed his men to quarantine and exterminate the residence in order to keep to spreading scourge at bay. Some of the soldiers end up trying to kill Amicia and Hugo, and Amicia ends up killing said soldiers.
After getting through the poorer part of the city, they reach Magister Vaudin in a tower. He proves to be a terse man, but goes with them to check on Hugo. After several hours of treatment, he and Beatrice manage to stabilize his condition some, but only temporarily. They require Nightshade to stabilize him further, and so Amicia and Lucas venture out again to get some from the city’s premiere herbalist.
The two then make their way through the outskirts of the city toward an herbalist with the Nightshade they need. As they do though, their worst fears are realized: The Rats have come to the city in full force, and are already set to devour it the same way they did in Guyenne.
The Count’s soldiers are holding it back as best they can, but their tactics are more like a war strategy than a proper quarantine. Innocents are being killed in droves, and they’re on track to kill the city themselves well before the Rats can be dealt with. They even kill the Herbalist Amicia and Hugo were sent out to find, forcing them to go to the Herbalist’s property on the city’s outskirts in order to find the herb they need.
The two eventually reach the property, but soldiers are roaming the grounds in search of plants that can be used to keep them healthy as they purge the city of infected. Amicia’s stress and mental condition is growing worse, so Lucas offers to sneak in on his own to obtain the plants needed. Amicia begrudgingly agrees, but after Lucas doesn’t return for a time, she goes off after him in spite of her condition. She then finds Lucas captured by some of the Soldiers, who are threatening to kill him.
She then flies into a rage, slaughtering almost all of the soldiers before their leader, The Beast, stops her. Both she and Lucas are then brought to the soldiers’ base for execution, but before they can be killed, Lucas uses an alchemic concoction to blind their captors. They then make their way through and out of the base, grabbing some nightshade from a storehouse as they do.
The two then return home and deliver the Nightshade to Vaudin. He is cold about their late arrival, and chides Amicia when she gets angry about him not being kinder in the face of Hugo’s suffering. In particular, he states that “a protector” should know when their role is over. He then reveals to Amicia that Hugo’s condition is terminal, and that he will die as part of the Macula clearing its third and final threshold of development.
He then says that the best course of action is to stabilize his condition further and take him to Marseille, where the Order’s main headquarters is located. Once there, Hugo can be contained and monitored until his passing so that the Macula doesn’t send the Rats into a destructive frenzy. He sends Amicia and Lucas out again to make contact with a ship captain who will take them to the Order’s headquarters.
As they set out, Amicia shares her growing frustrations with Lucas and begins to try and think of another solution to Hugo’s problems. She then remembers Hugo’s dream, which he mentioned to her while they traveled to the Red City. She also realizes that Vaudin had a fresco in his tower depicting an island with two mountains and a phoenix flying through the sky around it. This serves as proof enough for her that the island is real, and Lucas admits that it may be their best option.
The two then make their way through the city’s docks before finding this boat captain. His name is Isaac, and he is an experienced marksman with deep ties to the order. As they approach the city though, the Rats begin to go into a frenzy, destroying everything in their path.
Worried for Hugo, Amicia sprints through the carnage toward her brother’s location. Once she arrives, she finds him seizing after being pushed too far by Vaudin’s treatments. As she tries to help him, Vaudin is killed by a collapsing building caused by the surge of Rats destroying the city. Amicia then guides her mother and Hugo toward Isaac’s boat, and they sail away from the carnage of the collapsing Red City.
The group then makes their way toward Marseille via river, but the drifting wreckage from the Red City blocks their path. As Amicia and Lucas clear said wreckage, Amicia realizes that Hugo is unlikely to recover unless they change course for the island from his dream; which, given Beatrice’s loyalty to and belief in the Order, won’t happen.
Before she can reunite with her mother and make one last plea to believe in Hugo’s dream though, a band of Mercenaries led by “The Wall” ambushes them. Amicia fights back against them and kills a decent few, but they eventually kill Isaac and force Amicia away from the group. She is then pursued by their leader, who delivers a blow to her head that leaves her grievously wounded. This sends Hugo into a rage, and he uses his control of the Rats to stop Arnaud from killing her.
This leaves the two separated from Lucas and Beatrice, but instead of regrouping with them, Amicia and Hugo agree to go off in search of the island on their own.
Chapters 6-11
A Plague Tale Requiem then moves into its second act of sorts, wherein Amicia and Hugo go off in search of a cure that can stop the Macula.
It isn’t long, however, before this proves to be too much for Amicia to handle on her own. As they journey through the countryside, Amicia’s head wound grows worse due to not receiving proper treatment. She and Hugo treat it as best they can, and then encounter a camp of pilgrims on a religious journey. They aren’t able to gather much information from them though, as soldiers of the Count of Provence arrive in search of Amicia. She is wanted for the murders of their comrades, and is set to be executed.
After a priest from the pilgrims’ group helps them escape, the two reach a quarry full of soldiers. Amicia deals with as many as she can, but her worsening wound eventually leaves her incapacitated. This forces Hugo to control the nearby Rats to kill them, progressing the Macula’s hold on him. This eventually incapacitates him, and Amicia is forced to carry him to safety even in her injured state so that they aren’t consumed by the raging surge of Rats. Soon after, she encounters The Beast again, but is able to kill him.
Just as they’re about to reach a safe point, she collapses. Fortunately, an unknown figure appears and helps Hugo get her to a safe location. They treat her head wound, and help get her to a more stable state before she awakens.
The figure is then revealed to be “The Wall,” who’s real name is Arnaud. After losing his men in the fight between them and Amicia, he no longer cares about killing her and offers a truce so that they can all get to a place away from the Count of Provence’s men. Not only that, but he knows where the island from Hugo’s dream is based on its description.
Hugo trusts him because he saved Amicia, so Amicia begrudgingly agrees to this arrangement. The group then sets off toward a coastal pirate hideaway where Sophia, a pirate captain, lives. After getting through a rat nest and past some patrolling soldiers, the group reaches Sophia, and she agrees to ferry them toward their destination. Before they can head out, though, they have to deal with the patrolling soldiers.
Amicia and Arnaud kill most of them with ease, but one attempts to kill Sophia on her ship. Amicia stabs him to death, and though she’s left shaken, Sohpia is grateful enough to say that she’s indebted to Amicia.
The group then departs on Sophia’s boat, and before long, they reach Hugo’s island. Known as La Cuna, it is a tropical paradise where the Count of Provence and his wife rule in peace. Hugo is thrilled and sees the island as a place where he can finally have a home again. The group makes their way through a festival honoring a “Child of Light,” and they slowly piece together where they can find answers regarding Hugo’s dreams.
They then reach a ceremony led by the Count of Provence and the Count’s wife, Emilie. Arnaud quickly becomes agitated and tells Hugo it’s time to enact their plan. Confused, Amicia asks for an explanation and learns that Arnaud only agreed to help Amicia if Hugo would use his control of the Rats to kill the Count. Furious, Amicia breaks away from Arnaud with Hugo and flees from the ensuing chaos as Arnaud still tries to kill the Count on his own.
Though some soldiers try to kill them, Amicia and Hugo are able to reach the Count and explain the situation. The Count’s wife Emilie believes them, and after Arnaud is apprehended, Amicia and Hugo are invited into the Count’s castle for food and rest.
The next day, they are allowed to explore in search of clues tied to Hugo’s dream. They reunite with Sophia while doing so, and quickly discover via an ancient stone map that the island is tied to the Order. They then hear of a ceremony being held at an ancient Order temple up in the mountains, and make their way toward the temple to see if it contains the healing waters from Hugo’s dream.
Once they reach it though, they’re shocked to find that it has been repurposed as a holy site for a cult led by The Count and Emilie. They took the ancient depictions of a Macula host to be those of a savior, and turned the temple’s entryway into a site for a holy ritual celebrating the “Child of Light” every year.
After going through the ceremony, Amicia, Hugo, and Sophia sneak off and journey further into the temple. Inside, they find references to and traces of Basilius, the first carrier of the Macula. Like Hugo, he had a protector in the form of Aelia, a fierce warrior. The two were always together until Basilius reached the final threshold of the Macula’s progression and was set to die. When this happened, Basilius was taken to a secret holding facility while Aelia was sent off to prison due to her opposition to the idea.
Hoping Aelia hid some clue to Basilius’ whereabouts before she died, the group then makes their way toward a prison tower’s ruins on a nearby island. Once they reach it, they discover that a slaver group has been sacrificing people to the Rats to keep them at bay per the Count’s orders. Their leader also believes this will curry favor with the Child of Light, which he thinks he can use for his own purposes.
This sends Hugo into a rage, and he kills some slavers in an attempt to save some captured slaves. Horrified, Amicia tells Hugo he was wrong to kill people when it wasn’t necessary. He argues that she kills all the time, though, and it begins to sink in that Amicia’s influence on Hugo has become to turn negative. Sophia separates herself from the pair for a time, but after Amicia and Hugo apologize for what happened, she joins back up with them.
The group then continues their journey into the prison, and as night falls, the Rats come out en masse to feast on the sacrifices laid out for them. They make their way through a courtyard before reaching the building where Aelia was held. Inside, they find her ring buried along with a symbol indicating that Basilius’ holding facility lies beneath the ancient stone map they found earlier.
As they move to leave, the Slavers’ leader ambushes them and tries to convince Hugo that he can bring him more sacrifices. Hugo tries to tell him this isn’t what he wants, but the leader won’t listen. Sophia is then forced to kill him, and the other Slavers surround them. This forces Amicia to fight them off as the Rats start to overtake the Prison Tower. There are too many for her to fight on her own, though, and Hugo decides to intervene and use the Rats to kill them all.
The group then escapes via a row boat, and Sophia snaps at Amicia and Hugo for their behavior. She finally imparts to both of them that their actions have consequences for both themselves and others and that they both need to think more before acting on their worse impulses.
They then make their way back to La Cuna. Once they arrive, they discover that the island is now being overrun by the Rats, partially because there are no longer sacrifices being made and partially because Hugo’s lax use of the Rats has caused the Macula to advance. They then journey toward the stone map and smash a column onto it to reveal a secret passage leading underground.
As the group makes their way through the passage, they find remnants of a battle between Aelia and the Order’s forces. She attempted to get Basilius back from them but was overwhelmed at the final tower where he was held. They then journey down into the tower and see that the Macula’s influence stemmed from this point over the past few centuries.
The reason for this is that Basilius’ containment was closer to imprisonment. He was locked away at the lowest level of the tower and left to be consumed by the Macula fully, where others wouldn’t be harmed. This pain left him to be twisted by the Macula, which grew into the scourge of rats that is destroying the country to this day.
Hugo is distraught at this discovery, and this causes the Macula to run wild without his keeping control over it. A massive surge of rats then forces the group to flee toward the surface, with Basilius’ remains and the ancient Order facility destroyed in the process.
Once they reach the surface and Hugo calms down, the Rats do as well. Amicia then has a realization: The Macula feeds off of the fear, anger, and pain of its carrier and worsens when these emotions run rampant. At the same time, though, the Macula is kept in check when the user is happy, calm, and content. To this end, she elects to take Hugo out to a remote mountain home her family owned where she and Hugo can live in peace. Sophia then splits off from the group to ready her ship for the coming journey.
Chapters 12-17
The story of A Plague Tale Requiem then moves into its final act, setting up the final confrontation and conclusion.
The group makes their way back toward the Count’s castle, and as they do, they’re told by the Count’s soldiers that Beatrice and Lucas have come to reunite with them. As they make their way up to meet them, Amicia and Hugo see the full extent of how the Macula and the Rats have destroyed La Cuna, making Hugo all the sadder that his illness destroyed another potential home for them.
They then reunite with Beatrice and Lucas, and after explaining what they found, Beatrice agrees that Amicia’s idea is their best shot at saving Hugo. Thrilled, Amicia goes to meet with the Count and let him know that they’ll all be leaving.
Unfortunately, the Count keeps her from doing so by revealing his own plan. He intentionally created the Child of Light Cult, knowing full well what actually transpired with the original Macula carrier, and wants to control that power for himself. He knows about Hugo’s ties to the Rats and the Macula and aims to keep him as a son for Emilie and a tangible symbol for the Child of Light cult.
Amicia then flies into a rage and tries to escape, but the Count injures her arm and stalks her through the castle. She ends up in a central courtyard, where she finds Beatrice tied up and set to be sacrificed by Emilie. She then fights a losing battle against the Count with a sword, only for the Count to nearly killing her. Beatrice then pleads with Emilie and the Count to spare Amicia, offering herself up for their sacrifice willingly. Emilie then kills her just as Hugo walks out into the courtyard.
Seeing this, Hugo loses all control. He gives in almost completely to the Macula, and uses the rats to kill the Count’s soldiers and Emilie. The Count escapes just before he can be killed but is incensed by Emilie’s death. The ground then collapses underneath Hugo, Amicia, and Lucas, and the three are dropped into an underground passageway.
Once she regains consciousness, Amicia learns that Hugo is now catatonic due to the Macula’s influence being so strong. She then works with Lucas to try and find a way out, only to discover an ancient Rat Nest formed by Basilius’ losing control of the Macula centuries ago. There are enough Rats present there to consume the world, and Hugo speaks of this being his true home.
Amicia then desperately tries to wake Hugo up and cries out that the Macula won’t have her brother. This angers the hivemind of Rats around the group, and they’re forced to flee toward a glimmer of moonlight leading toward the surface. They barely manage to reach this opening in time, and once they do, Hugo regains his senses.
They then start making their way through the ruins of La Cuna, and as they do, they hear that Arnaud is still alive. The Count plans to execute him for his attempted attack against him. Hugo then convinces Amicia to help him, as they now share a hatred for the Count, and Arnaud still helped them when they needed him.
Amicia agrees to this, and the group manages to find Arnaud before his execution. Though a group of soldiers nearly stops them, Hugo uses his control of the Rats to kill them, much to the fear of Amicia. They then board Sophia’s ship and head out to sea successfully. Things are peaceful for a time, and Hugo is far enough away from the Rats to feel the Macula’s hold slipping.
This peace is shattered, however, when the Count catches up to them aboard his own ship. Though they try to fight him and his soldiers off, the group is forced to abandon the ship, and Hugo is taken after Amicia suffers a wound from an arrow. This knocks her out, and Arnaud is forced to carry her to shore.
Amicia regains consciousness shortly after, and Arnaud gives her medicine for her wound while updating her on the situation. Hugo has been taken to Marseille, and the Count plans to use him as a weapon to conquer all of France. Lucas and Sophia are attempting to find a ship they can use to reach Marseille and save Hugo, while Arnaud plans to confront the Count with Amicia to learn Hugo’s exact location.
Amicia agrees to the plan, but when they arrive at the Count’s last known location, they find Lucas and Sophia captured. Arnaud then confronts the Count in a duel while Amicia deals with his forces. Arnaud then reveals why he hates the Count as they fight: During wartime, the Count abandoned Arnaud and his men to the enemy to save his own skin. This resulted in Arnaud losing most of his men and his son, who was serving with him.
A shockwave is then felt from Marseille in the distance. Believing Amicia to have been killed by the Count, Hugo lost all hope and gave in entirely to the Macula. This turned him into the Nebula, a concentration point for the Macula’s hivemind of Rats which will slowly spread, consuming the world.
The fight then becomes direr, with Amicia desperate to reach Hugo as soon as possible. Though Amicia emerges victorious, the Count overpowers Arnaud and impales him on his sword. As he dies, though, Arnaud grabs hold of the Count and removes his helmet, allowing Amicia to kill him with a shot to his head from her sling. Arnaud then tells Amicia to go save Hugo and passes away with the knowledge that he finally avenged his family.
Amicia, Lucas, and Sophia then make their way toward Marseille, and find that its populace is fleeing in terror from the endless swarm of Rats the Nebula is gathering. Though they manage to enter the city and get close to the Nebula, Sophia is injured and can’t continue on. This leaves Amicia and Hugo to enter the Nebula alone, and once inside, Amicia finds herself left to wander a supernatural space alone.
After some wandering, she discovers vestiges from Hugo’s memories and begins to hear Hugo’s voice. Hugo tells her that he wants to see her too, but only if she accepts what he has to show her. Amicia agrees to this condition, and while she tries to fight her way through the space, she eventually realizes she needs to stop fighting and accept that she can’t attack or stop what Hugo shows her.
Hugo then reveals himself to her, and begins to explain what he discovered after giving up control to the Macula. Even if it wasn’t intentional, he was responsible for destroying all the places they tried to call home. His existence is a threat to the world around him, and while it could be kept in check by living happily, it would be impossible to avoid all hardship and never be upset or hurt by the world.
As such, he wants Amicia to end him before the Nebula destroys the world. This is too much for Amicia, and while she is able to reach Hugo’s real body, she can’t bring herself to kill the last member of her family. Before she loses all hope, though, Lucas shows up and shows her that she doesn’t have to do this alone. Amicia then realizes that even if her family is gone, the friends and allies she made throughout her adventures will still be there for her.
She then readies her sling, takes aim at Hugo, and the screen cuts to black as the shot is fired.
The story then jumps ahead a year. Amicia is living up in the mountains at her family’s remote house, and Sophia arrives to pick her up for a journey to track down the next holder of the Macula. Amicia discusses how she is coping with Hugo’s death, and comments on how Lucas is off on the road continuing his alchemic studies and won’t be able to see them off.
Before they head out though, Amicia heads up a mountain trail and pays her final respects to Hugo’s grave. Though she is still upset at his death, she finally accepts that he’s gone and leaves him – and at least part of the hardships they endured – behind for a new adventure.
What the Story and Ending Mean in A Plague Tale Requiem
When looked at in its entirety, A Plague Tale Requiem’s story is definitely one about dealing with the trauma of loss and hardship while also accepting that said loss is bound to happen.
This is mainly examined through Amicia and Hugo’s relationship with each other, wherein Amicia is desperate to save Hugo from his fate despite Hugo repeatedly saying that’s not what he wants. This leads to the many conflicts in the game, not least of which is the suffering Amicia endures in order to keep Hugo safe and Hugo’s dismay at watching her go through said suffering.
There are also several minor plot threads that tie into these themes. Amicia’s PTSD which causes her to “feel her mind slipping,” is caused by the repeated exposure to stressful events while protecting Hugo. It’s not until he dies, and she accepts that it was going to happen, that she finally begins to manage the symptoms of this and starts to seem like her old self again.
Likewise, the short-lived solution of keeping Hugo somewhere safe and without conflict was one that was meant to fail. Amicia needed to accept that she couldn’t protect Hugo from everything in the world, and as a result, he was always going to be overcome by the Macula. Failing to do so nearly killed her and almost pushed Hugo toward the exact fate she was trying to prevent for him.
It’s a little grim, but also comes with a silver lining. Even if loss and hardship are inevitable and can’t be beaten or overcome every time they occur, one can still choose to stand back up afterward and find some peace in how they deal with it.
Such is shown through A Plague Tale Requiem’s final chapter. In spite of the loss she suffers, Amicia manages to come out of the experience having gained something. She now has a purpose to pursue in helping future carriers of the Macula figure out how to manage and deal with it, while potentially working toward a permanent solution to it at some point in time.
Hopefully this A Plague Tale Requiem story and ending explained guide gave you a better idea of what the experience meant. For more on the game, check out any of the related articles down below. We’ve also got plenty of other guides you can check out, including ones on whether there are multiple endings, what the post credits scene means, and whether or not there’ll be a Plague Tale 3.
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