| ⚠️SPOILER ALERT⚠️ |
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| This page contains information about plot points and future story developments so read at your own risk! |
John Roberts is a love interest in the book Theodora.
About John[]
John is a British doctor who works in a small town called Himworde, Belgium, in 1914. Originally, he and his friend Thomas Haines were travelling around Europe, but when John learned that the previous doctor left Himworde due to impending war, he decided to take over and started working at the local hospital.
He first meets the journalist Theodora Avery, the main character of this book, in Himworde's tavern where she notices him playing the piano. Theodora becomes interested the mysterious man and wants to interview him for her coverage on the First World War. John is not very sociable and seems rather cold, restrained and secretive, but he's not as indifferent as he wants to look: He cares about his patients and plays the piano at the local tavern during his free time to raise the spirits of the townspeople. After trying to avoid her for a while, John warms up to Theo and becomes acquainted with her friends Lawrence, Yoke and Friedrich.
Despite fighting his feelings, John begins to fall in love with Theodora. He finally agrees to the interview near the end of the first season and tells Theodora he was born and raised in London, wanting to follow in his father's footsteps; that's why he studied at Oxford to become a surgeon. He also mentions his mother who taught him how to play the piano. After Theodora gets shot in the stomach while investigating friendly fire, he saves her life and leaves town. After her recovery, Theodora discovers that she has become immortal. She tries to find John, only to realize that he must have lied about his whole identity.
They meet again in the Italian town of Forramo in 1963 where Theodora has been working in an exclusive burlesque club called Madame Rosetta's House when she starts suspecting the new pianist Julian to be connected to John in some way. John admits this to be true and explains that he is actually a demon called Almoret, representing the force of Balance. As a hig-ranking demon of the first circle, he has two forms, his true one and a human one, but he can also possess other people or animals. Almoret's main goal has always been to take human souls by making deals with them and then present these souls to the Lord who created all demons, Azal’Alor, in order to preserve his strength.
Asked about what happened after Theodora was shot in 1914, he tells her that quickly realised he couldn't save her because the wound was too deep. Desperate, he wanted to give her some of his own energy to buy some time and stop her bleeding, wishing for her to regain conciousness in order to accept a deal with him for another ten years of life. Unfortunately, something went wrong and parts of his demonic energy transferred to Theodora, saving her but leaving him as a little boundle of energy unable to keep his human form. His friend Thomas, revealed to be a lower-ranked demon named Eltaron, had to cover for him while John disappeared to recover. For quite a while, he could only possess animals; only in 1963 he managed to take over the body of a homeless man named Enrico after realizing that his beloved Theodora is still alive.
Because Azal’Alor and the other demons have been looking for him with the intention to punish him for giving power to a human, John and Theodora are forced to leave Italy. He gives her an amulet which can protect her from being detected by demons and disappears again, leaving Theodora on a roof in London.
In 2019, Theodora lives in Paris and works as a freelance journalist under a new name. Intrigued by a famous philantropist called Monsieur Lachance whose identity is a still a secret, she scores an interview with him. After talking about his support for many artists, mainly musicians and composers, Lachance starts praising the journalist's work and tries to make a deal for her soul with her. Coming out of the dark corner in his living room, he reveals his face to Theodora and she realizes he looks exactly like John, but the demon doesn't seem to recognize her. Fortunately, he is unable to detain her and Theodora runs away, leaving him confused and in pain.
Tormented by unknown memories and feelings, Lachance/John invites Theodora to a fundraiser which turns out to be a masquerade. After touching her on the dancefloor, John finally remembers their shared past and apologizes for what he's done. When they continue talking in his apartment, he shares that after leaving Theodora in 1963, he was almost immediately captured and brought to the Lord. As a punishment, Azal’Alor granted him oblivion, erasing Theodora and all the feelings he developed from his memory. Without his memories, John got back to making deals and collecting souls, eventually making up his alias as Monsieur Lachance and turning to artists because of their delicate and emotional nature. To save Theodora from the Lord's wrath, John needs to find a way to take his power away from her and make her mortal again. They meet with Darius, an exiled Guardian, who turns out to be a descendant of Latif Savari, a Guardian who helped John in the 1960s and created the amulet meant for Theodora. Darius offers to help Theodora and John in exchange for information about demons in general, the deals and their Lord. Both men don't get along, resulting in a fight which is accidentally witnessed by Marcel, a researcher helping Theodora with his knowledge about demonology. Thankfully, Marcel is excited to learn about demons and becomes part of the group. Together with Thomas, they all start to meet up at a secluded house in the woods where John trains Theodora to control her demonic energy. After a visit to Jordan where John, Theodora and Darius learn that Keepers have their real name taken away from them, John realises that he doesn't remember his name either, which pains him greatly.
After taking some time to himself, John finally regains his memories. He remembers his real name, Merotal, and that he was created as one of the five Aspects by Creos, the Creator, to personify balance. One day, one of Creos' messengers asked the Creator to share knowledge about the whole universe, but Creos refused. Being angry, the messanger managed to turn the other four Aspects against their Creator and eventually got access to Creos' essence, becoming the new Lord, Azal'Alor. He enslaved the Aspects and took their memories, tasking them with bringing him human souls for all eternity. Despite John remembering everything, the Lord manages to capture Theodora and her friend Jamie which leads to a final showdown in his castle.
Relationships[]
- Theodora Avery: Friend or Love Interest
- Thomas Haines: Childhood friend and travel companion. After Theodora learns that they are both demnons, John tells her that he met Thomas aka Eltaron in Manchester at the beginning of the 18th centuary. After noticing that Eltaron must still have echos of his memories because he didn't want to part with his cane, John got curious and decided to take him on as an assistant.
- Yoke Van der Lusse: Co-worker at Himworde hospital and friend in Season 1
- Friedrich Blumhagen: A German soldier and friend in Season 1
- Lawrence Barkley: A frontline journalist and friend in Season 1
- Latif Savari: A Guardian who helped John to protect Theodora
- Darius: Latif's descendant John meets in Season 3
- Marcel: A researcher helping Theodora and John in Season 3
Quotes[]
- About his smile: "It does happen from time to time." (Diamond scene - S1, Ep3)
- "I’ve seen a lot. But you’re questioning everything I stand for. And for some reason, I’m still willing to listen to you." (Diamond scene - S1, Ep6)
- "These feelings that I have... they bother me. The desire to protect you. See you. Talk to you. Touch you. The desire to be close to you."' (Diamond scene - S1, Ep10)
- "There is not pettiness in music, no lies and no pretense. Everything is true and real in it. I cure bodies. Art cures souls." (Diamond scene - S1, Ep10)
- From his letter to Theodora: "I want to thank you. You helped me discover a part of myself that I didn’t even know existed. Or maybe I did, but I didn’t want to admit it. Your compassion, kindness, confidence, and sharp mind... I respect you very much. / I admire you." (S1, Ep12 - last sentence depending on your relationship with him)
- "I don’t know how it works. Demons don’t experience human emotions. We are built differently. There is no need for pity, sadness, disappointment, or joy. There’s no need for love. And I had never had to deal with this. None of us had to. I read your books and watched your plays, and I wanted to laugh in the face of their authors, who declared that love was worth suffering and sacrifice. That love was what made life worth living. And then I met you. And all of these works suddenly made sense." (S2, Ep9)
- "You helped me see humanity from a different perspective. I considered myself better than any human. Superior. I never let people get closer than it was required to make a deal. But you, and Lawrence, Yoke, and Friedrich… You showed me that people can be something other than petty, pathetic creatures who are interested only in money and power. You just need to take a closer look." (S2, Ep12)
- "Every time I look at you, you take my breath away." (Diamond scene - S3, Ep5)
- "You see, Miss Avery... I just love making you feel good." (Diamond scene, S3, Ep9)
- "You changed my world, Theodora." (Diamond scene, S3, Ep11)
- "I love you." (S3, Ep11)
- "Whatever happens next, I know I'll never be able to forget you. Not really. And I will never stop fighting in your name." (Diamond scene, S3, Ep12)
- "I will accept whatever choice you make. Because I love you. And nothing is more important to me than your happiness. You've given me so much... I'd be selfish if I started begging you to join me in eternity." (S3, Ep12)
Trivia[]
- John's zodiac sign is Libra. [1]
- John really likes Earl Grey and white chocolate. [2]
- He states that cats don’t like him very much, that’s why he prefers to keep his distance.
- Theodora describes his scent as subtle and spicy, with notes of citrus and resin.
- John always carries an umbrella with him and finds it "a very useful invention".
- From the development: To get the face of John from the story Theodora just right, the artist created 23 different sketches before the final result was approved. [3]
- In an interview, the writer Arina shared that John was supposed to be called Damien which means “to tame”, “to subdue”. But the story was coming out around the same time that a character named Damon appeared in the book Arcanum and although the names are not the same, they are very similar. So she settled on John because it still suited his character, plus it's "pretty British."[4]
Romance Path[]
Important note: There are different options to continue or start a romance with John in Season 2. Make sure to pay attention to the following checkpoints:
- Romance John in Season 1 and choose "But I'm not ready to get into a relationship again." in Season 2, Episode 7.
- Romance John in Season 1, choose "I'm ready to try to open my heart to someone again." and "No one." in Season 2, Episode 7; and pick "To be with John." in Episode 11.
- Romance John in Season 1, choose "I'm ready to try to open my heart to someone again." and "Julian" in Season 2, Episode 7; and choose "Yes, I want to be with him." in Episode 9.
- Romance John in Season 1, choose "I'm ready to try to open my heart to someone again." and "Antonio/Blaine/Charlotte" in Season 2, Episode 7; and pick "(Break up with your current partner.)" in Episode 11.
- Romance someone else in Season 1 and choose Julian in Season 2, Episode 7. For Julian's romance path, please check his page here. In Episode 9, pick the option "Yes, I want to be with him.".
Season 1:
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Ep 3 · On Doubts
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Ep 4 · On Fears
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Ep 5 · On Enemies
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Ep 6 · On Changes
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Ep 7 · On Crimes
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Ep 8 · On Realizations
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Ep 9 · On Searching
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Ep 10 · On Things Lost
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Ep 11 · On Things Found
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Ep 12 · On Endings and Beginnings
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Season 2:
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Ep 1 · On Despair
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Ep 3 · On Glamour
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Ep 9 · On the Truth
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Ep 11 · On Dark Premonitions
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Ep 12 · On Fire
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Season 3:
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Ep 1 · Illusion
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Ep 3 · Invitation
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Ep 4 · Return
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Ep 5 · Conversation
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Ep 6 · Effort
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Ep 7 · News
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Ep 8 · Team
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Ep 9 · Hate
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Ep 10 · Keeper
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Ep 11 · Sforzando
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Ep 12 · Cadence
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Possible endings[]
- If they defeat the Lord, John asks Theodora to make the big decision - remain immortal or become human again and start aging.
- If Theodora decides to stay immortal, she agrees to spend her eternity with John and begins to master more and more of his abilities. John suspects that Creos will give them assignments in the future so they'll have to travel a lot, but he still gets them a house in France to have a home to return to. Theodora plans to continue working as a journalist while helping the Aspects with their assignments. To make their happy ending complete, John asks Theodora to marry him, and she accepts.
- If Theodora decides to become mortal again, John is quite sad about her decision but understands. They buy a house together in France and get married. She continues as a journalist while he does missions for Creos, and they both travel separately a lot. Theodora gets older and one night, after many years together, she dies at their home thinking of John.
- If Thedora and John are not together, if they have a good relationship, they either work on Creos' assignments together or they meet from time to time when he has breaks from Creos‘ assignments. If their bond is not close, John asks her for help with Creos' assignments very rarely or talk very rarely as they part their ways, but they still respect each other.
- If Theodora doesn't defeat the Lord but saves her soul, she wakes up in a French hospital, realizing that she suffers from amnesia and doesn’t even remember her own name. When Theodora visits a park, she notices a man leaning against a tree and feels an instant connection to him. She approaches the man, but staggers and falls. He tries to help her but both feel physical pain after touching. Confused, the man turns around and leaves, but Theodora is sure that she will see him again.
- If Theodora doesn't defeat the Lord and doesn't manage to save her soul, she dies in terrible agony and her soul is doomed to eternal suffering. While being tortured by invisible forces, Theodora sees an injured John and briefly remembers their time together. He tells her that she failed and will never get out.
Gallery[]
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Sprites and items
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