Victor LaValle’s ‘The Changeling’ Summary & Ending Explained: What Really Happened to Brian Kagwa?

‘The Changeling‘ is Apple TV’s upcoming horror series based on the book of the same name written by Victor LaValle. The book revolves around a man called Apollo Kagwa who desperately searches for the truth about what happened to his son after his wife does something incredibly horrific shortly after giving birth. 

Now this premise alone is enough to leave you asking more questions, and if the show is half as good as the book, we’re in for quite a ride. The best thing about the book is, however, the fact that you constantly keep on wondering whether the book truly does have some supernatural elements to it. Luckily, all things are more or less answered when you reach the book’s last pages. This is why today we decided to prepare you for what to expect from the show as we put together this summary and ending explanation of LaValle’s ‘The Changeling’ book.  

Please keep in mind that this post will contain extreme spoilers for both the book and the series. Read at your own risk.

Apollo was born to Lillian Kagwa and Brian West but had a somewhat tragic childhood 

Lillian Kagwa (Apollo’s mother) was 25 when she emigrated to New York from Uganda and got a job at the modeling agency. It was a fake agency, and she was unknowingly taking part in a scam, but this job connected her to what will be her future husband, Brian West, and probably one of the biggest mistakes of her life. 

Brian West was a white parole officer who was supposed to hang around the agency because Lillian’s boss was an ex-con at that time. His scam was eventually uncovered, and Lillian lost her job. She was mad at Brian, but the two met again years later and started dating. The relationship quickly progressed to marriage, and the two had a child together, Apollo West. 

Apollo was named after the sun god, and his parents loved him very much, that is, until Brian simply vanished from the face of the Earth before Apollo’s fourth birthday. Lillian quickly stopped talking about it, and they changed their names back to Lillian’s maiden name, Kagwa. 

As a child and even as an adult, Apollo had recurring nightmares related to his father. He would see his father with a ghoulish expression choking on clouds of fog. Apollo often wondered what happened to his father and whether he was even alive, and one day, years later, a box containing all the precious memories related to his father’s and mother’s relationship found itself on the doorstep. The box simply said ‘Improbabilia.’ This was enough to confirm that Brian, Apollo’s father, was alive and well and was out somewhere thinking about his son still but didn’t want to contact him. 

Apollo grew up into a bookworm and eventually made a career out of it 

Lillian was a hardworking woman and strived to provide Apollo with the best possible life given the circumstances. She was also forced to leave him alone a lot of the time since she had no family to fall back on in regard to babysitting. Lillian soon found out that Apollo had been reselling magazines she brought home from work and had been making quite a lot of money from them. 

At first, she chastized him but eventually made him his business cards, and from that day, Apollo knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Growing up, he decided to skip college and open his own business, book reselling. This is the job where he met his friend and coworker Patrice Green, a former army vet, and even his future wife Emma ‘Emmy’ Valentine. 

Emma and Apollo met at the library, and he was instantly smitten

Emma Valentine worked as a librarian in the library which Apollo often visited in order to buy used books. He was instantly attracted to her, but she was unwilling to go on a date with him, well, at least until five months after. Emma eventually admitted that she refused to date him because she was moving to Brazil. 

Emma grew up as an orphan, her parents died in a tragic house fire, and she was raised by her sister Kim Valentine and the local librarians. It’s where she fell in love with Brazilian culture. Emma never planned on skipping her trip to Brazil to date Apollo, and he was fine with it. He waited for her, and when Emma returned, she was still the same girl he fell in love with. 

Emma had a red string tied to her wrist. She claimed that the red string was magical and that she could take it off only after her three wishes came true. Apollo cut the red string with a plastic knife and promised her that all her three wishes would come true with him. 

Within a couple of months, Apollo and Emma were dating, and soon, she became pregnant with their first child. 

Brian Kagwa, Apollo’s and Emma’s son, was born on a subway

Emma was getting close to her due date, and Apollo had to up his business game to provide everything the child needed. Emma decided to have a home birth, her sister Kim Valentine acting as a doula. Of course, the plan was set in place if something went terribly wrong. 

One night Emma and Apollo were supposed to have dinner at an upscale restaurant with Emma’s friend, Nichelle. Apollo was stressed about the prices of almost everything on the menu but eventually decided to relax and enjoy the conversation. While Emma was away in a bathroom, Nichelle revealed to Apollo that Emma took naked photos of herself that were still somewhere in an art gallery in the Netherlands, and she also revealed to him 2 out of 3 of Emma’s wishes. 

Emma’s first wish was to have a good husband, which already came true when she married Apollo. The second wish was to have a healthy child, which will soon come true. 

Their dinner was cut short when Emma went into labor. Apollo refused to panic since they had a clear plan in place. He contacted Kim, but she was at least an hour away from arriving at their place. Apollo and Emma got into the subway, and just when they were about to reach their place, the cart got stuck, and the electricity went away. Emergency services were contacted, but Emma couldn’t put off giving birth forever. She gave birth to a healthy young boy in the middle of a subway cart. Apollo decided to name him Brian to honor his father. He also promised to be there for Brian forever and ever. 

Apollo, Emma, and Brian were an image of a perfect family 

Apollo bonded with little Brian as soon as he was born and had no trouble connecting with the child. He was a dotting parent, an annoying one who couldn’t help snapping hourly photos of his child to post on social media. He frequently brought little Brian to his work, scavenging through old books, hoping for that big catch while the child slept or simply fussed on the blanket. 

Apollo brought Brian to work that fateful day when he discovered a copy of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ signed by Harper Lee that was supposed to be worth a fortune. He decided to keep this find secret from his friend and business partner Patrice Green. After all, he had a family to take care of. 

Emma was starting to get suspicious and doubt both Apollo and Brian 

After six weeks, Emma was supposed to return back to work and resume her librarian duties. The pay was low, but at least she had good healthcare. At first, she was confident in leaving Brian with Apollo. He was a perfect dad, and was happy to bring Brian to work with him, something she didn’t have the privilege of doing. 

She was eagerly looking forward to Facebook photos that Apollo was posting regularly until Apollo sent her one image of Brian lying on the pavement behind the car on a blanket. Emma was disturbed enough that Apollo was leaving the baby lying on the ground just like that, and she even started wondering who took the photo. 

She confronted Apollo with this, but when she went to show him the photo, it was gone as if it had never existed. Apollo admitted that he left Brian on the ground, but only for a little while, but nothing happened anyway. So it wasn’t a big deal. But it was. It was a much bigger deal than he would ever realize. 

Emma fell into a downward spiral; she was suffering both mentally and physically 

Emma changed into a completely different person in the six months that Brian was alive. She started obsessing over the child and was working overtime to secure everything in the apartment, but the real issue became apparent when Kim Valentine, Emma’s sister, came to do a six-month checkup for the mother and child. 

Kim found Emma in a visible state of distress, she had lost weight, and according to Emma’s own words, they weren’t sleeping at all. Kim was disturbed but what she saw but was even more disturbed when her sister revealed that she had found her place in an online community of “wise women” that advised her to buy chains. 

Chains for a newborn baby. Kim couldn’t believe what she saw and heard but attributed everything to postnatal depression. Emma was clearly different when the last two of them met, and it was probably due time to seek professional help. Just before they were about to go their separate ways, Emma revealed to Kim that she sometimes has doubts that Brian was her child. 

Emma was convinced that Brian wasn’t her baby and it was destroying Apollo on the inside

Apollo quickly became aware that Emma was suddenly very hostile toward the baby, and she claimed that “IT” wasn’t her baby at all. He was uncomfortable with leaving the baby with her alone and was looking for every opportunity to get his son away from her as possible. 

Emma suggested that Brian be christened and brought to a priest, something that pissed Apollo off beyond all measures. He started yelling at Emma, claiming that she is what’s wrong with their family. Emma took the criticism with a blank stare and cryptic words. “You’re going to see.” 

She left the apartment that night, and their life will be changed forever. 

Did Emma really kill Brian? 

Apollo knew something was terribly wrong when he opened his eyes and heard someone screaming. He quickly realized that he was tied with a chain and poisoned by rat poison, presumably by Emma. Even though he was in grave danger, his son was the only thing he could think about. His son Brian was stuck in his room with the monster he married, Emma.

Apollo could see various tools and utensils strewn across the living room. They were tools for us but were weapons to someone willing to turn them into weapons. Knives and such. Apollo was mortified, and when Emma left Brian’s room, the only thing he could do was beg and plead for his son’s life. 

He begged Emma not to do this, to seek professional help. He begged her to release him or to kill him but spare their son. Emma answered him by hitting him across the face with a hammer. As she was walking away, she uttered a single sentence, “It’s not a baby.” 

Brian was dead, but Apollo made it out alive

The next time Apollo woke up, he was in a hospital, and his cheekbone had to be reconstructed. He barely made it out alive. Of course, his son Brian was dead, and Emma had killed him.

Emma naturally disappeared, and Apollo was desperate to find the murderer of his son and bring her to justice. He entered the library building where Emma used to work armed and took all the women working there hostage. They couldn’t reveal where Emma was hiding because they didn’t know. 

They sympathized with Apollo so deeply that they wouldn’t press charges. This earned him a short prison sentence but a prison sentence nonetheless. He was now an ex-con. He had no wife and no child. Things were looking hopeless. 

Patrice was there for Apollo, but Apollo almost gave up on his life 

Following his release from prison, Apollo was supposed to attend group meetings for troubled people. It was part of his parole. And even though he hated being surrounded by misery, he hated the idea of being happy even more. 

One evening he went to Patrice Green and his wife Dana for dinner, and this was when he revealed the signed copy of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ to them and the fact that it must be worth a fortune. 

Apollo freely gave the book to Patrice and Dana so they could sell it, maybe put a downpayment on a nice house. He was aware that his past plans wouldn’t come to fruition, and maybe even at some point, he played with the idea of suicide. 

Luckily, Patrice recognized the signs and warned Apollo against doing it. He promised he would put the book online and keep him posted about the potential prices. 

Apollo’s mother finally reveals why Brian West ‘left’

A large part of Apollo’s life was the fact that his father was absent, and his mother was pretty much the only person he could rely on. When Apollo reveals to Lillian that he started having that same nightmare related to his father again, she decides to spill the beans on what happened all these years ago and why Brian actually left. 

According to Lillian, Brian was a good but terribly immature man. The more she worked herself to the bone, the more Brian was ready to just..do nothing. She decided enough was enough and that she couldn’t care for “two babies” when she only gave birth to one. Lillian prepared the divorce papers, and that was it. 

Her life got all the more complicated when her boss, due to Lillian turning down his advances, ordered her to start coming in on weekends as well. Lillian didn’t have anybody to watch over young Apollo, and she was forced to leave him at home alone.

That is, until one Saturday, she saw her ex-husband playing with Apollo. She promptly rushed him from the apartment and ordered him to stay away from them forever. So, Apollo’s father never went willingly. He was chased out and forbidden from contacting his son. 

Apollo was always convinced that he was the monster chasing his father away. Turns out it was his mother. 

Apollo meets another woman who shows the same behavior that Emma did

Apollo was supposed to attend church meetings as a part of his parole, and the priest who led the group was the priest in contact with Emma shortly before she went on a rampage. This was something that bothered Apollo, but he knew he had to be on his best behavior if he planned on getting a signature that he could show to his parole officer. 

Apollo attended the meeting, and among the troubled people was one woman that acted similarly to Emma before she killed their son. She mentioned that she doesn’t believe that her daughter is truly her own, and this is what set off Apollo. He started screaming and telling everyone present that she was about to kill her child. The woman was also in contact with the “Wise Ones” – witches online who guided her on what to do regarding the child that’s not hers. 

He was forced to run away from the meeting before the police were called, but he was eventually relieved to find out that the woman had been hospitalized. However, after leaving the meeting, he was confronted by William Wheeler – the man interested in buying a signed copy of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ for $70 000. 

Who is William Wheeler & how is he connected to Apollo?

It turns out that Patrice managed to find a buyer for the book in record time, and it was William Wheeler, an older fellow interested in IT, who had enough cash. 

The book was supposed to be a present for his estranged wife, and although William never elaborated on it, we find out that something happened to his daughter, and she died. He had one child left, but unfortunately, he was unable to see her. 

After a preliminary talk, Apollo agreed to visit William on his boat, and Patrice went with him. Patrice hated William from the start. He claimed that the guy was a freak, incel, and chauvinist. Despite Apollo being skeptical about those claims, something was unnerving about the guy. 

This was around the same time that Apollo discovered that there was a Facebook group circling the network, one dedicated to the late Brian Kagwa. He had no idea that such a group existed and had even less of an idea of who created the group. He was shocked and demoralized by the comments that he saw, complete strangers, judging him and wishing the worst kinds of punishment on him.

He was insulted that Patrice would join such a group but shrugged it off. He would eventually confront him about it, but Patrice never gave him a good reason why he joined the group in the first place. 

Meeting William at the boat, they found out that William was a programmer, he knew his way around computers and the internet, and he even designed his own app for renting boats. Despite the unpleasant atmosphere, they felt sorry for William by the time the meeting was over. The guy was clearly lonely and depressed about his wife leaving him. 

William bought the book and transferred the 70 thousand dollars to them immediately. This wasn’t the last that they would hear about William, however. 

It turns out that Emma was alive all this time

After Apollo got his share of the money, he decided to see one person he had debts toward, Kim Valentine, Emma’s sister. Even though she was never with them during the actual birth, she still trained them, and they owed her money. Kim is initially scared to meet with Apollo but realizes he has no ill feelings toward her. She took the money and went on her way, which is when Apollo received a mysterious message which said 

“Emma Valentine is alive. I can help you find her.”

Apollo started following the map that was sent to him, and the map eventually led him to William Wheeler, the same guy he sold the book to. William tells him he has good evidence that Emma is alive and hiding on an island in the East River. He has the boat ready and everything. He just needs Apollo’s confirmation. 

When Apollo asked how William knew this, William claimed that he had inquired within the IT community, and it was basically like having a million eyes investigating every CCTV footage in town. William claimed that he cared about Apollo’s issues as he had recently discovered who he was and what happened to his son. 

Apollo didn’t want to make any decisions until he met with Patrice. Patrice, who was also the IT guy himself, showed him the footage of Emma Valentine and Kim Valentine together the day she murdered their son, which was proof enough that Kim was in on it the whole time. 

Apollo texted William that he would need a boat. He is going hunting for Emma. 

Apollo realizes that something is off about people close to him 

True to his word, William waited for Apollo in the harbor, about to embark on a journey to search for Emma on a mysterious island in the middle of East River. But before they started their journey, someone joining the Facebook group for Brian Kagwa was apparently aware they were on a boat. 

Someone under the nickname “Green Hair Harry” wrote, “Stay safe on the open waters,” and someone under the nickname Kinder Garten left an emoji of a sinking boat. Apollo went pale with dread and was convinced that the “Green Hair Harry” was none other than his best friend, Patrice Green. He knew that he had joined the group but had no idea that he was also the one to create the group. He had no idea who Kinder Garten was, however. 

 William only worked further to fuel his paranoia and chastized him for mentioning to anyone what the two of them were about two do.

Apollo and William discovered that North Brother Island was inhabited by witches 

After traveling by boat for several hours, Apollo and William finally came close to discovering a whole civilization of women that murdered their children and left the society. 

On North Brother Island, which historically served as a place to treat smallpox and eventually as a drug recovery center, they could see lights in the distance, and the Island was supposed to be abandoned for decades now. 

This was about when William revealed to Apollo that the gift he bought for Greta, his estranged wife, didn’t go down so well as she refused it and returned it to him. Keeping his mind on more important matters, Apollo and William left the boat and set foot on an island where they discovered that the Island was, in reality, far from being abandoned. A colony of women and children lived here, and Apollo was about to rain fury on them.

Filled with self-righteous rage, Apollo made his presence known by shouting, “I am the god Apollo, and I want my revenge.” However, he won’t progress very far as he was captured and beaten. 

Apollo was almost murdered by the witches 

While William waited by the boat, Apollo was thoroughly beaten by four women armed with makeshift weapons. After they beat him up, they attempted to strangle him and drown him, but Apollo was not about to let death get in the way of his vengeance. He revealed to them that he was Emma’s husband, and after that, the women decided to bring Apollo to Cal, the supposed leader of the witches. All of them were unaware that William Wheeler was waiting by the boat, scheming. 

Who is Cal & how is she connected to Emma? 

On the way to visit Cal, Apollo discovered that the women holding him captive were responsible for the deaths of many husbands (and children) who came looking for them over the years, but he was still quite assured that he wanted his revenge. When they reached Cal, he discovered that Cal leads this community of witches and women and that she had a really strong presence. 

Apollo concluded that Cal and the rest of the women were the ones that Emma was in contact with online, who called themselves the wise ones and who advised Emma to kill their son. 

Cal initially wanted to kill Apollo but decided against it. She was in the middle of making sock puppets for the children on the Island. She was going to re-create the ‘Rapunzel’ fairy tale. 

She was an intelligent woman who gave Apollo a crash course on fairy tales’ stupidity and utter foolishness. She also let him know that the magic was, in many ways, more real than he could ever imagine. She managed to “glamour” one doll to look scarier and more real than it actually was. 

And this is where Apollo’s resolve started to crack, and he started to doubt himself. If glamour was real, obviously, his and Emma’s son could be glamoured to look like something he was not, a human baby. 

Apollo started to wonder whether Emma was right all this time, and he was afraid of the thought. 

William Wheeler reveals that his wife is on the Island

William Wheeler is eventually also captured by the women, and Apollo quickly finds out that William is far from who he claims he is. Apparently, William’s wife Greta is one of the women that frequently visits the Island, and William was stalking Apollo, believing that he could lead him to Greta, and he was right. 

Apollo found the Norther Brother Island without too much trouble, while William spent weeks locating it. Apparently, Wheeler used his IT skills to infiltrate himself into Apollo’s life. He found out everything about him and didn’t feel guilty about using him to get what he wanted. Apollo also finds out that William’s daughter Agnes is dead, but William leads him to believe that it was Greta that murdered their child. 

Conflicted, Apollo has no idea what to do, and William reveals to him that he had called in help and refused to call it off. Apollo leaves him in the cell. Presumably, he will be dead come the morning but mentions nothing about the “incoming” help to the women since he is undecided about where he stands with the whole “witch” issue. 

Later Cal reveals to Apollo that William consorts with monsters and that he is the one that murdered their daughter and not Greta. 

William reveals who he really is 

Apollo eventually met Greta, who arrived on the Island to deal with William situation, and what Apollo fouds out made his blood run cold. Apparently, William is a psychopath and keeps haunting Greta and her only surviving daughter. In fact, he sent a copy of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ with every page inscribed with the name of their late daughter “Agnes.” 

The 70 000 dollars that William paid for the book were also stolen from Greta. It was her only life savings. Greta also confirms that William was the one that killed their daughter, but she didn’t elaborate on how he exactly did that. 

Apollo made his way to William’s cell, and there he confronted him. William dropped his mask and revealed that it wasn’t his real name. He revealed that he was Kinder Garten; well, he and his community of sick, twisted people that

enjoy the same hobbies as him. He also confirmed that he was responsible for the death of his daughter, Agnes, but he did it to get his family back, to make things right. He still wanted his wife and daughter back, but the chances of that were getting slimmer by the moment. 

At that time, Apollo knew he needed to let Cal know that William had called in help, but he was too late. They were under attack. 

Cal dies, but not before she reveals that Emma and Brian are alive 

William Wheeler somehow managed to call down artillery fire on the Island, and after the first bombardment, there was only one casualty, William’s wife, Greta, who was revealed to also be Cal’s sister. 

William somehow managed to free himself and was ranting about how he wasn’t a bad man and only wanted what was best for his family. They used his distracted state of mind to start planning their escape. There was a boat for them at the other end of the Island, and the women and children in silence started making their progress toward it while canon fire rained on them. 

Cal and Apollo stayed back while the children and the rest of the women safely boarded the boat. They were still under attack, and William was close to finding them. 

This is when Cal reveals that magic is real and that his child was most likely switched with a Troll offspring, and he never even noticed this because the Troll baby was glamoured to look like a human one. Emma noticed, which was why she actually killed “Brian” and claimed that he wasn’t a baby in the first place. 

Cal also revealed that Emma was not on the Island because she was still searching for baby Brian, who was supposedly alive in a forest, as Troll is trying to raise him as his own child. 

Apollo was shocked, but Cal told him that the only way to see for himself was to dig his son’s grave and see what was lying in a hole. 

William then discovers them, and Cal sacrifices herself so that Apollo can make it off the Island. Her last words were, “I can’t wait to see my son again.” presumably because her son was switched with a Troll baby but never made it out alive.

Apollo finds out the truth about his son 

Apollo contacted Patrice Green as soon as he could, he was still highly suspicious of him and angry at him for creating that Brian Kagwa Facebook group, but he was the only person that he could currently call. 

Patrice and Apollo made their way to the cemetery and managed to gain access to it due to Patrice’s tech skills, as he managed to circumvent the ancient alarm at the front gates. 

Apollo eventually confronted Patrice about the Facebook group thing, and Patrice denied it. They figured that William was behind everything and was likely spying on them via phones and computers for quite some time now. 

With that misunderstanding behind them, they started digging. Apollo dug using a shovel and Mattock. Patrice provided the light using his “Daylight” app that he coded himself. They took turns digging but were afraid they were running out of time since it was more difficult than they had ever suspected. Hours passed, and eventually, they hit the casket.

Apollo started tearing through the concrete until he glimpsed inside the grave and inside the casket, seeing nothing but his own son, but as soon as he reached for the baby, the glamour disappeared, and what he held inside his hands was not human at all. 

It was a misshapen creature made out of hair, razor-sharp hair, it was dead, but it still had enough movement that it managed to latch onto his bloodied finger and started sucking on it. 

Both Patrice and Apollo were frozen in shock. Apollo knew he had to locate his wife and real son as soon as possible. They attempted to repair the grave the best they could before leaving this nightmarish scene behind them. 

Brian and Emma were somewhere in forest

Cal told Apollo that Troll most likely lives in a forest, and there was only one forest in New York City, and it was located in Queens, in a neighborhood called Forest Hills.

Apollo packed some things he thought he would need and started his journey. He quickly reached that part of the city and decided to stop by for food at the local Starbucks, the last time he ate was over two days ago, and he needed energy. 

Once inside the Starbucks, he was interrupted by a rude man that bought all the premade sandwiches and hurried to leave the store as soon as possible. The old man resembled a Viking, but the thing that fascinated Apollo was that the old man recited a line from a children’s book called “Outside Over There,” which Apollo was familiar with. 

He started following the old Viking and eventually saw him leaving the food he bought near the forest’s tree line and whispering something to himself. 

Apollo was just about to confront the man when the police stopped him. This part of New York was called Little Norway because the Norwegian immigrants still inhabited this area. The police kindly escorted Apollo, a black man, out of the neighborhood and warned him not to come back. Since they assumed he was a homeless guy and nothing but trouble, they gave him a metro card with enough funds to make the trip back to the inner city. 

This was when Apollo noticed a figure coming out of the forest, a figure that he would recognize anywhere, his wife, Emma, leaving the tree line, taking the offering that the old men left her, and retreating to the forest again. 

Apparently, Emma also had magical powers since she was literally glowing.

Apollo politely thanked them in order not to raise suspicion and hid in the Visitor Centre’s toilet since he knew that the cops would be patrolling the streets the whole night because of him. 

How Askeladden defeated the Troll…

Come the morning, Apollo contacted Patrice, and Patrice told him that William caused quite trouble for him and Dana by hacking their computers, but he told Apollo to make his way to Forest Hills and find a man named Jorgen Knudsen. Luckily, Apollo was already here, and he had a pretty good idea of who Jurgen Knudsen could be. 

He made his way toward the old man’s house and entered it. This is where he was confronted by old man Jorgen who held him at knifepoint. 

Jorgen told him an old Viking story about Askeladden and the Troll. Askeladden, a hero from Nordic tales, managed to outsmart and defeat the Troll by exposing him to sunlight. 

Apollo was unsure of why Jorgen told him this story, but it will prove to be vital in the long run. 

Who is Jorgen Knudsen & How is he connected to Emma? 

After Jorgen calmed down a bit, he invited Apollo to join him as he prepared dinner, boiled sheep head, a classic Norwegian recipe. He reveals to Apollo that he hasn’t been sleeping for a while now because Emma keeps torturing him telepathically as she calls Brian’s name and looks for him in the forest. 

Jorgen usually prepares food for her. As a sort of tribute, he explains that he is aware that there’s something magical going on with Emma, and he understands the full story about what happened to Brian. 

This is the moment that Apollo notices all the photographs lining his living room’s walls, photographs of children. Jorgen also revealed to Apollo that Emma keeps torturing him because Jorgen was the person that stole their son and switched him with Troll’s offspring. 

What is a Troll doing in the middle of New York City? 

The fact that Jorgen was the one that stole their baby was enough to earn eternal damnation, but alas, there was more to the story, and the Knudsen family was responsible for hundreds, no, thousands of disappearances over several centuries. 

Jorgen told Apollo the story of Jotunn, Trolde, a Troll that found his way from the cursed forests of Norway to America thanks to his ancestors. In 1825 on board the ship called ‘Restoration,’ Troll traveled with the first Norwegians to set foot on American soil. He called it the Norwegian Mayflower. 

‘Restoration’ was a small ship, and it was a miracle that the Norwegian immigrants made it to America alive. Well, it was a literal miracle since supernatural dealings were involved with it. 

Jorgen’s ancestor Nils Knudsen made a deal with the Troll. In exchange for safe travel, he will bring him human children that the Troll will attempt to raise as its own. Unfortunately, the Troll always fails, and children get eaten or tragically pass away since Troll is an unfit parent to human children. 

Babies are switched while small. There is a lot of glamour and magic involved in order for Troll babes to pass as human babies. Nils even sacrificed his own child to the Troll, and eventually, the Knudsen family tradition was born. 

Nils Knudsen tried to say no to the Troll, but the Troll raged and destroyed half of the area. The other immigrants were unaware of what had taken place and called it an act of god. 

Jorgen revealed that “William Wheeler,” aka Kinder Garten is his son 

 Now that Jorgen confessed his new and ancient sins to the Apollo, he told him the story of his only son, who was forced to sacrifice his own child to save the family from ruin from debt. Apollo figured out who Jorgen was talking about and promptly recognized that it was William Wheeler. 

Jorgen also admitted that he let him in the house on purpose. He leaves the front door open to allow his son to escape when he notices that he has “company,” which means that William is inside the house. 

This is the moment that Apollo thrusts the blade into the old man’s throat, and his Troll feeding duty is forever over. 

Apollo finally finds Emma, but without Brian

After he killed the old man Jorgen Apollo picked up the boiled sheep’s head and made his way toward the forest where he last saw Emma. He left the tray as an offering, and she did appear, once again surrounded by electric blue light. He tried to communicate with her, but she ignored him, retreating further into the forest with the sheep’s head. 

She finally stopped when they reached the entrance to the cave, and Emma finally spoke up, revealing that this is where the Troll keeps their baby. Apollo was horrified but explained to her that he believed her. He is on her side, and they will save Brian together, but first, she needs to rest. She is useless to their son in such a tired, exhausted state. 

Brian was still alive in the cave, and Emma was convinced of it. Apollo discovered that children’s bones surrounded the vicinity of the cave. 

Emma finally agreed to rest, and Apollo took her to the Jorgen’s house. 

Lillian reveals what truly happened to Apollo’s father 

Emma and Apollo made their way toward Jorgen’s house and found him dead on the floor. They used the opportunity to bathe and recoup some of the lost energy while they still had an empty house. Lillian, Apollo’s mother, called him. It was the first time they called since she admitted that Brian West never truly left; she chased him away. 

And after Apollo reacted to that information the way he did, Lillian decided to come clean about everything. 

The nightmare Apollo had about steam coming from his father’s mouth was not a nightmare but a memory. Lillian revealed that once she was at work, Brian appeared in the apartment and decided to kill Brian by drowning him and basically submerging him in a tub filled with boiling water.

Brian West then planned on killing Lillian and then himself. When Lillian saw what Brian planned because of their divorce, something within her snapped, and she killed Brian West, leaving Apollo fatherless forever. She never revealed the location of his body, but Apollo understood. 

Following the conversation with his mother, Apollo, and Emma decided to burn down the house and leave to retrieve their son. 

William Wheeler, aka Kinder Garten, meets his demise

Just as Apollo and Emma were about to leave the house, they discovered that William was still inside. He discovered his father’s body but did not care enough to report it to the authorities just yet. They found the Kinder Garten in the basement, surrounded by computers. He was video chatting with random men and spying on a random family in order to get his kicks and earn some money. 

Apollo and Emma made their presence known, and William started bargaining for his life by using their son as a bargaining chip. Emma attacked William with a mattock, hitting him straight in the chest. He lived and tried to show them the live camera feed he placed within the Troll’s nest, where Brian was supposed to be. 

William revealed that he wanted to monetize this since the Troll by itself turned out to be of no use to the family. Even after he sacrificed his own child, he decided to set up the camera within Troll’s nest and charge sick people to watch as he eats their child.

This time was different. However, Troll still didn’t kill small Brian Kagwa for an unknown reason. The child lasted a lot longer than most other children. There was audible frustration in William’s voice as he was saying it. 

He also noticed that the house was on fire for the first time, and Apollo and Emma became aware that the police and firemen were only a few minutes away.

Hearing about William’s depravity, Emma swung the mattock, hit William’s head, and took a large piece of his skull. As William’s blood pooled around them, Apollo and Emma found an alternative way out of the house that was about to collapse any second now. 

Emma and Apollo finally locate Brian 

The secret path out of the house led straight to the Troll’s cave. This is where Apollo and Emma found it, along with their son, who at the moment seemed too well. Before they could come up with a viable strategy, Apollo contacted Patrice regarding his app “Daylight,” which was supposed to simulate sunlight. 

Apollo planned on killing the Troll with that and ordered Patrice to set the price for the app at $70 000. Patrice did exactly that, and Apollo used William’s money to purchase it. With the app ready, Apollo and Emma descended further into the bowels. They were shocked by how much Brian had grown within his four months away from them. 

Brian also acted strange for a human child. He reacted more like a Troll to the stimuli, which broke Apollo’s and Emma’s hearts. The commotion within the cave woke up the Troll, they used the Daylight app to bathe the Troll with light, but it did not help. The Troll was blind and was temporarily confused by the light as it fell on its side, losing its balance, but it most certainly did not kill it. 

Apollo uses the moment of distraction to lure the Troll away from Emma and Brian so they can escape. As Apollo was running away from the cave, the Troll swallowed Brian whole. 

 Did Brian Kagwa survive?

Apollo lured the Troll out of the cave and into the forest by using the metal serving plate where the sheep’s head for Emma was delivered. Troll took the bait and started raging and destroying the forest until the creature collapsed a tree on top of itself. Now pinned to the ground, it was vital to wait for the morning until the sun turned it to stone. 

This is where Emma ran out from the cave screaming that the Troll devoured Brian and the child was still stuck in its stomach. 

With a knife, Apollo jumped on the Troll and started tearing into its flesh. He had to be careful not to hurt Brian in the process. Digging through the Troll’s insides, the rotten stench was choking them, but they didn’t even flinch. They found Brian alive and well since the Troll swallowed him whole. 

The Troll was dead, and Brian was miraculously safe in their arms. It was over, the Troll was dead, and no child would ever be harmed because of it again. 

What was Emma’s third wish? 

Brian’s development was severely stunted due to his time spent with the Troll, and there would be a long road to recovery for all of them, but at least they were alive and together. 

The family was covered with Troll’s insides both Apollo and Emma were wanted by the police, and Brian was presumed dead. They have quite a lot of things to explain to quite a lot of people. 

They were out of money and had to reach Kim Valentine, Emma’s sister, in some way so she could check out Brian in order to fully ascertain whether there everything was okay with the child. They were about to beg for a bus pass when Apollo remembered that the police gave him the metro card, a one-way ticket out of the Forest Hills neighborhood. 

As they waited for the bus, in their horrid state, Apollo asked Emma what was her final wish. She revealed that she wanted 1) a good husband, 2) a healthy child, and 3) a life full of adventure. 

All of her three wishes came true, and they lived happily ever after.