Master Willem: the Provost of Byrgenwerth Who Feared the Old Blood
Master Willem is the blindfolded old scholar in a rocking chair at Byrgenwerth. He led the college that found the old blood, warned against it, and went looking for eyes instead. Here is what the game states about him and what players infer.
Master Willem, also called Provost Willem, is the head of Byrgenwerth, the old college where the story of Bloodborne begins. He taught Laurence, who went on to found the Healing Church, and he gave the game its most famous warning: "fear the old blood". By the time the player finds him, he sits blindfolded in a rocking chair overlooking Moonside Lake and can only point toward the water. (Bloodborne)
Who was Master Willem?#
Willem is the leader of Byrgenwerth, "a bygone institute of learning", as the Student Uniform calls it. That uniform says the Healing Church borrowed heavily from its design, and that the Church's focus "not on knowledge, or thought, but on pure pretension" would bring Willem to despair, if he knew. (Bloodborne)
Alfred tells the player that young scholars of Byrgenwerth found a holy medium in the tomb of the gods beneath Yharnam, and that this led to the Healing Church. Willem was their master, and he did not follow them. (Bloodborne)
Willem and Laurence#
After Vicar Amelia, touching the skull on the Grand Cathedral altar shows a vision of Willem and Laurence. Laurence has come to bid his master farewell and tells him, "I will not forget our adage." Willem recites it: "We are born of the blood, made men by the blood, undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open." The two say "Fear the old blood" together, and Laurence takes his leave. (Bloodborne)
The phrase outlived the parting. It became "the sacred adage of the Grand Cathedral", the password a Byrgenwerth watchman asks for at the gate to the Forbidden Woods. A note in the Lecture Building reads: "Master Willem was right. Evolution without courage will be the ruin of our race." (Bloodborne)
Gehrman knew him too. In his sleep he calls out, "Oh, Laurence... Master Willem... Somebody help me... Unshackle me please". (Bloodborne)
The search for eyes#
Willem's own path went through the Great Ones, not their blood. The Great One's Wisdom records his epiphany at Byrgenwerth: "We are thinking on the basest of planes. What we need, are more eyes." The Eye rune says he was disillusioned by the limits of human intellect, looked to beings from higher planes for guidance, and sought to line his brain with eyes. (Bloodborne)
One of the four One Third of Umbilical Cords, the one found on the woman at Iosefka's Clinic late in the night, says Willem sought the cord to raise his being and thoughts to those of a Great One by lining his brain with eyes. "The only choice, he knew, if man were to ever match Their greatness." (Bloodborne)
His influence carried into the Church after all. The Choir Gloves say the Choir's eye covering shows "their debt to the teachings of Master Willem, even though their paths diverged". (Bloodborne)
Willem today#
The Lunarium Key says Willem, in his final years, was fond of the lookout on Byrgenwerth's second floor and the rocking chair he kept there for meditation. "In the end, it is said, he left his secret with the lake." (Bloodborne)
He has no conversation with the player. He sits in that chair, blindfolded, and gestures toward Moonside Lake. Jumping into the lake leads to Rom, the Vacuous Spider. Notes in Byrgenwerth and Cathedral Ward say the spider "hides all manner of rituals" and "keeps our lost master from us". (Bloodborne)
What fans read into Willem#
- The most common reading is that Willem's secret in the lake is Rom, a scholar or student who became a Great One through his research. The notes call Rom "the Byrgenwerth spider" and Micolash says Rom was granted eyes, but nothing names Rom as Willem's student. (Bloodborne)
- Many players link the Fishing Hamlet massacre in The Old Hunters to Willem's hunt for eyes, since the priest there curses "Byrgenwerth". The game ties the crime to Byrgenwerth, not to Willem by name. (Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)
- Some read Willem's blindfold as his way of turning to eyes on the inside. That's a natural reading of the eye theme, not a stated fact. (Bloodborne)
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Master Willem in Bloodborne?
- He is the head of Byrgenwerth College, also called Provost Willem. He taught Laurence, coined the adage "fear the old blood", and sought to line his brain with eyes to raise his thinking to the level of the Great Ones.
- What did Master Willem say to Laurence?
- In the vision at the Grand Cathedral, Willem recites "We are born of the blood, made men by the blood, undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open." Then he and Laurence say "Fear the old blood" together before Laurence leaves.
- Should you kill Master Willem?
- Killing him gives an Eye rune, but he has no quest and no dialogue for the player. He only points toward the lake where Rom waits.
- What was Master Willem's secret?
- The Lunarium Key says that in the end he "left his secret with the lake". Moonside Lake is where the player finds Rom, the Vacuous Spider.
Sources
- GameBloodborne, FromSoftware, 2015
- GameBloodborne: The Old Hunters, FromSoftware, 2015 (expansion)
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
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