What Wander is not aware of is that each of the colossi he is slaying contain portions of Dormin's own essence that were scattered long ago to render the entity powerless.
As Wander kills each colossus, a released fragment of Dormin’s soul enters his body. Over time, the signs of Wander's deterioration from the gathered essence become clearer — his skin becoming paler, his hair darker, with grotesque streaks growing across his face. After the death of the twelfth colossus, it is revealed that Wander is being pursued by a group of warriors led by Lord Emon. Urged to hurry with his task by Dormin, Wander soon heads off to defeat the sixteenth and final colossus.
After Wander has defeated Malus, the final colossus, Lord Emon's company arrives in the Shrine of Worship to witness the last temple idol crumble. Wander appears back in the temple soon after, the signs of his corruption readily apparent: his skin is pale, his eyes are demonic blue, and a pair of tiny horns have sprouted from his head.
Emon recognizes Wander as the boy who stole the Ancient Sword and took off with the cursed maiden Mono to trespass into the Forbidden Land. He cries out, “Have you any idea what you’ve done?!” explaining that the entity Dormin has deceived him and has been using him this whole time so that it may be resurrected from its prison in this shrine.
Possessed by the dead, Wander does not seem concerned with Emon’s words as his only task lies before him — to bring Mono back to life. Seeing that his rebuke has no effect on Wander, Emon orders his men to eradicate the source of the evil. They aim their crossbows at Wander, piercing his leg. As Wander drops the ground, Emon states that he should be put out of his misery rather than to exist in this cursed state.
As Wander lies helplessly on the floor, Emon’s swordsman deals the fatal blow by stabbing him in the chest. Dormin’s essence flows out of Wander’s wound just as it did when he slayed the colossi. Knowing that he is dying, Wander gazes at Mono for the last time as he desperately reaches for her. He completed a monumental task that no other person could have endured to save Mono’s life, now to see it all slip away in front of his very eyes. He painfully pulls the sword out of his chest and takes his last breath before collapsing to the ground.
The shadow essences completely cover Wanders corpse. Believing this ordeal to be over, Emon turns his gaze towards Mono’s lifeless body, but that is shortlived as a newly whole Dormin takes control of Wander’s body, transforming into a giant, shadowy demon. The entity Dormin condemns Emon for severing their body into sixteen segments to seal away their power and imprisoning them for an eternity. Dormin further states that they are arisen anew by taking the body of the young warrior.
As Dormin enacts his fiery revenge, Lord Emon and his men flee. At the entrance of the shrine, Emon casts the Ancient Sword into a small pool at the back of the temple's hall to evoke a whirlwind of light that consumes Dormin and Wander, sealing Dormin within the temple once again. After fleeing with the bridge connecting to the temple collapsing behind them, forever isolating the forbidden land from the rest of the world, Emon expresses hope that Wander may be able to atone for his crimes should he have survived.
Back in the temple, Mono awakens and finds Agro limping into the temple with an injured hind leg. Mono follows Agro to the pool into which Wander and Dormin were pulled by Emon's spell, finding a male infant with tiny horns on his head. She takes the child with her, following the horse to higher levels of the Shrine of Worship, and arrives at a secret garden within the shrine as animals gather around her and a hawk flies off in the distance.
The game’s original director and lead designer, Fumito Ueda maintained that the game’s status as a prequel to Ico was his personal take and largely intended for players to decide the specifics of the ending for themselves.
When Dormin is resurrected, they no longer speak with a male/female voice, rather only masculine remains. Perhaps the feminine entities are those who revived Mono.
I choose to believe that the horned child is Wander and that Wander, is in fact, the reincarnated form of Ico.
Platform: PlayStation 4
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