“I was the first to solve the mysteries of the gatebuilders. I was the first human to breach the boundaries between worlds. I, Professor Thurston Aloysius Herbert, of Cambridge, England, was the first.
”Herbert, in his final note
Professor Thurston Aloysius Herbert was a professor at the University of Cambridge and the leader of an ill-fated British expedition to the Algerian desert. Daniel was his research assistant. He is voiced by American actor Eric Newsome.[4]
Biography[]
Early life[]
Not much of Professor Herbert's past is known. Despite this, it is shown that he was a long-time friend of the Faraj, which suggests that Herbert was well-traveled in North Africa.[5] He was also an old friend of the French psychologist and aristocrat Monsieur Florbelle and was familiar with his daughter, Justine.[2][3] Herbert once offered his friend to help place Justine in a prestigious British academy, but the French aristocrat politely refused his offer.[6]
It is mentioned in Old Friends that, despite his English upbringing, Herbert was not a devout member of the Church of England.[5] He further states once he started his travels "all religions became mythical" to him, although Herbert was concerned with the fact he hadn't "found" God, the professor felt agnostic, even atheistic.[5]
Expedition to Algeria[]
In the early months of 1839, Herbert organized an expedition, that was "signed and paid for by the British Museum," to the tomb of Tin Hinan in the Algerian desert.[5] On the 12th of January, he wrote a letter Monsieur Florbelle, requesting help, as he was certain that the nobleman could use his standing in French society to speed up the process of acquiring the necessary permits to enter and dig in French-claimed territory.[2]
Monsieur Florbelle contacted the French consulate to send the permits to Herbert.[3] Monsieur Florbelle never got the chance to inform his friend personally, as his mentally ill daughter secretly murdered him before he could even finish the letter.[3] It is unknown how Herbert responded to news of his friend's death.
Trouble in Algiers[]
He took Daniel, his colleague from the university, to Algiers for the final expedition preparations.[5] For the length of their stay, Herbert and Daniel resided in a luxurious hotel and hired numerous Arab workers for the expedition.[5] Herbert then arranged to meet up with his old friend Faraj at a mosque in Algiers’ casbah; However, Herbert ran into some difficulty trying to find Faraj, due to both the unpredictability of the old and narrow casbah streets, and overbearing French soldiers constantly asking for identification papers; additionally, those soldiers also gave Herbert friendly advice to be careful about fraternisation with the locals.[5] Despite these troubles, Herbert eventually found Faraj.[5] After catching up, the two men went to the latter’s home for more serious discussion.[5] After indulging in some rose-flavored Turkish delights, Herbert revealed that he hoped to acquire a map to the tomb, originally made by Johann Weyer, from Faraj. Faraj then voiced some doubts about Herbert’s seriousness, to which the Professor reassured him him that he remembered what Faraj told him about Weyer’s research.[5] With Faraj fully brought onside, the two men worked out the exact route to the tomb.
Suddenly, fleeing anti-French rebels led by Faraj’s nephew, Baki, burst into the house.[5] Upon seeing Herbert, Baki admonished his uncle for fraternizing with a European and seized him at knifepoint to use as a hostage against the pursuing French soldiers.[5] The French soldiers, led by Captain Ambroise, had already surrounded the house. Baki and his compatriots left the house with a captive Herbert and tried to bargain. Despite this, Captain Ambroise ordered his men to shoot, killing Baki and his compatriots.[5] Faraj was caught in the crossfire as he tried to stop the potential bloodshed, and died in an unharmed Herbert’s arms.[5] An enraged Herbert shouted at the soldiers, but was forced to flee without the map after they threatened shoot him.[5]
After making his way back to the safety of the hotel, a sorrowful Herbert had dinner with Daniel.[5] Daniel noticed his quietness, but thought little of it and turned in shortly after.[5] Captain Ambroise then unexpectedly accosted Herbert in the hotel restaurant.[5] The captain had seized Faraj’s map and saw the crest of a star-shaped soapstone, one of which just happened to be a family heirloom.[5] He asked Herbert to explain the connection, to which the professor could only offer limited knowledge.[5] He then informed Herbert that his family acquired it during the Siege of Calais in 1558, revealing his familial connection to Sokal, and left the stunned Englishman both the map and the stone.[5]
In the desert proper[]
The Map
Ever curious, Daniel enquired what the Professor hoped to find there.[7] As Herbert gave an account on the exact whereabouts of the tomb and legends of "Tin Hinan / The Mother of Us All," Daniel started to suspect there was an ulterior motive to this entire African expedition and the Professor knew far more than he was letting on, as if he was intentionally hiding information from him.[7] On the 16th May 1839, he and his expedition took shelter at Al-Mamaru Fort, and in the evening discovered the tomb’s sand covered entrance.[7]
Daniel's relationship with Herbert was unclear but it seems he subjected him to mockery on at least one occasion during their expedition to Algeria, telling him to use a parasol to protect himself from the desert's harsh sun.[8] It became clear from the cold factual statements in Herbert's recovered journal that he did not care all that much for Daniel's welfare should his presence ever endanger or hinder their journey's success.[9]
While he expressed some concern for the young man who nearly suffocated when sealed in the ancient ante-chamber, from his annotations Herbert was primarily interested in recovering the Orb which he desperately sought from its tomb.[10] After freeing Daniel from the burial chamber where he was trapped, Herbert decided to send him to England to recover.[9] Daniel was sent back to Britain against his will with the shattered Orb in tow.[10] When Daniel later learned of the Professor's disappearance, however, he worried for his safety nevertheless.[10]
The expedition went on. Herbert continued pushing his unwilling men further forward to the brink of insanity.[11] According to his diary, he found another Orb.[11] His knowledge and intentions to misuse the second relic roused the Shadow's anger. Recovering the Orb drew the Shadow's wrath onto him and his men, some of which were brutally mangled by it.[11] Herbert believed that the murders were committed by his terrorized men to force the expedition to end so he took extreme measures to keep control of the situation.[11]
The men blamed the Orb for all of this, and knowing that they might try to dispose of the Orb the Professor shot one of the men to restore order, and ensured they wouldn't dare seize it from him, calling them all "animals."[12] Herbert sent one of the workers, Abdullah, out to contact the French authorities.[12] Just two days later (the 22nd of May 1839) the expedition is completely wiped out by the Shadow.[13] In his last diary entry he wrote:
“That thing is after me. It has been hunting me for days. But I keep out of its trail, so I will persevere. I can see a settlement at the edge of the desert. I'm getting closer. I can see it. But it is not me, it is Abdullah. Through his eyes I see, his mind I hear. Confined to myself, I see only death dressed in the Orb's darkest shadow.
”
Abdullah, the man who was sent to Algiers, arrived maimed by the Shadow and delirious, but alive.[14] After the arrival of Abdullah, the French dispatched a search party to look for the expedition.[14] They found the camp abandoned with no sign of Herbert or his men.[14] Their bodies were never recovered.[14]
His final fate in The Dark World.
Later[]
After his expedition team was wiped out, Herbert found a way to escape from the Shadow and managed to travel to the Other World with a portal.[15] However, because he didn't have a Traveler's Locket at that time he couldn't return back to Earth. While he was in the Other World, he searched for ways to return without success, while he managed to find 2 weak spots for possible portals he died from starvation and dehydration in a cave as there were no viable food or water sources.[16] In his last dairy entry, he claimed that he was the first "human" to travel to Dark World.[16]
Quotes[]
- Main article: Thurston Herbert/Dialogue
- “There is no shame in using a parasol in the desert. As it happens, it’s imperative to your survival.”
“The shame will hurt much less than dying, I assure you.” - “[T]hings don’t always turn out the way we plan.”
- “I was the first to solve the mysteries of the gatebuilders. I was the first human to breach the boundaries between worlds. I, Professor Thurston Aloysius Herbert, of Cambridge, England, was the first.”
Trivia[]
- The entries of Herbert's Lost Diary were fully voiced by Eric Newsome, but the dialogue was removed from final game along with the respective notes.[17]
- Herbert claimed that he was the first human to have passed the portal to the Other World and fully discover the secrets of the gatebuilders, although that achievement may belong to Johann Weyer.[16]
- In one of his notes in Amnesia: Rebirth, Herbert wrote that, in order to escape from the Shadow, he used the portal of the Tomb of Tin Hinan thanks the Orb that he found.[18][15]
- After he passed the portal of the Tomb of Tin Hinan, the Shadow reclaimed the Orb from him.[19]
- In Amnesia: Rebirth, it's revealed that Herbert was in very close contact with Alexander regarding the research of the tomb and, in particular, the Traveler's Locket.[1]
- In Old Friends, it is mentioned that Herbert was never "impressed by the Church of England" and that "when he had looked beyond the borders of the kingdom, all religions became mythical", thus revealing that he was either agnostic or atheist.[5]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Note to Von Brennenburg (Rebirth)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Herbert's Letter (Justine)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Unfinished Letter (Justine)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Amnesia: The Dark Descent – English credits: "Eric Newsome as Herbert"
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 Remember: "Old Friends"
- ↑ Note written by Monsieur Florbelle after her passing (ARG)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Daniel's Diary: 16th of May 1839 (TDD)
- ↑ Flashback: "Parasol" (TDD)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Daniel’s Worth (Rebirth)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Herbert’s Lost Diary: 17th of May 1839 (TDD)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Daniel's Diary: 3rd of July 1839 (TDD)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Herbert’s Lost Diary: 20th of May 1839 (TDD)
- ↑ Herbert’s Lost Diary: 22nd of May 1839 (TDD)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Daniel's Diary: 2nd of July 1839 (TDD)
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Herbert's Final Note (Rebirth) – "The Shadow sensed the Orb. I had to risk all and step through the portal."
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Herbert’s Final Note (Rebirth)
- ↑ "Amnesia Sounds - Herbert's Lost Diary -" [Video]. Accessed 22 October 2024. Published 25 April 2011. @VideogameSFXmusic, Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-bkmO6nxTw.
- ↑ Explorer's Note (3) (Rebirth) – "There is no sign of a portal. Even if I were to find one, the orb was lost to the Shadow, and I do not have another."
- ↑ Explorer's Note (3) (Rebirth)
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