Soul Reaver 2 epilogue

Epilogue, also known as Epilogue: The Final Confrontation, is the tenth and final "level" of Soul Reaver 2, marking the formal conclusion of gameplay. It follows Raziel as he confronts his former Sarafan inquisitor self. An epilogue reveals Raziel's ultimate fate and Kain's ignition of the Third paradox in an attempt to avert it.

Plot
After blazing his way through the Sarafan Stronghold, regaining the Reaver and killing his former brethren of the Sarafan warrior inquisitors in the previous chapter, Raziel made his way to the Chapter House, where he is confronted by the Sarafan inquisitor Raziel - his former human incarnation.

As the two met, the Sarafan Raziel acknowledged the wraith's killing of his brothers and his pursuit of the Heart of Darkness, but refused to stand aside, instead goading Raziel into attacking.

Impaing his former self on the Reaver, Raziel kills his human incarnation and renounces his past completely. As he does so, the Wraith Blade manifests (after being disabled by Moebius's Staff in the last chapter). Raziel watches in alarm as the wraith blade uncoils from him completely and winds around the physical Reaver blade, forcing it to turn on and impale Raziel himself.

Vainly fighting the blade, Raziel is struck by an epiphany that the physical Reaver is empty - the soul devouring entity that Raziel has sensed within the physical Soul Reaver previously and had carried with him as the Wraith Blade throughout his journey is in fact a future version of himself, taken into the blade at this moment.

Overwhelmed by despair, Raziel is outraged when Kain shows himself, accusing him of orchestrating his fate. Kain does not resepond in kind and instead pleads with Raziel to let go and to trust him. As Raziel's strength fades he feels a growing sense of displacement - as his soul hovers both inside and outside the Reaver, granting a small window where there is a Reaver-convergence.

Acting quickly Kain ue this window to rip the Reaver from Raziel, apparently sparing him from his fate and igniting the Third paradox and spawning the Fourth timeline. As history reshuffles and new memories form in Kain's mind Raziel fears that they have caused fatal paradox, but the juncture eventually subsides, leaving Kain shocked at the changes caused in the Time-stream.

Kain desperately tries to warn Raziel about the Hylden and that Janos Audron must not be revived, but his warning is lost as Raziel is drained of strength and slips into the Spectral Realm - and there Raziel finds the Wraith Blade - proof that his destiny to enter the blade has not been changed, only postponed.

Players (in order of appearance)

 * Raziel/Sarafan Raziel (voiced by Michael Bell) and Raziel in Voiceover/Soliloquy
 * Kain (voiced by Simon Templeman)

Conclusions

 * Raziel has killed his former human self. After dispatching the other Sarafan warrior inquisitors in the previous chapter, this means Raziel is responsible not only for the original deaths of himself and his brothers but also the loss of most of the leaders of Sarafan hieracrchy - the only survivor is Malek who will be disgraced and doomed to live as a wraith for his failings.
 * Raziel has uncovered the truth of the Soul Reaver blade and his own cyclical destiny - that he is the entity within the blade, and it was not intended to be a soul devouring weapon, it only gained this ability by its imprisonment of Raziel. Raziel has thus been carrying his own future soul as a weapon. Raziel is apparenty fated to enter the 'vacant' Reaver blade.
 * Kain has used some careful timing around Raziel's 'consumption' by the blade to take advantage of a brief Reaver-convergence - in doing so he has ignited the Third paradox, giving birth to the Fourth timeline.
 * Judging by the the effect on the the Time-stream and Kain's own altered memories, the new timeline has some major changes to an extent not seen in previous timelines. Kain's new memories include a mention of the apparently antagonistic Hylden and his belief that Janos Audron should not be revived.
 * Kain's attempt to alter history has not changed Raziel's fate - his possession of the Wraith Blade shows that he is still destined to enter the Reaver blade at some point.