Tenebris Somnia endings: all 4 endings and how to get each one

How many endings there are

Four. Each one has a Steam achievement with the same Latin name: SOLVE ET COAGULA (Ending 1), MAGNUM OPUS (Ending 2), VIVUS EX MORTIBUS (Ending 3) and RENUNTIATIO (Ending 4). Endings 3 and 4 are hidden achievements on Steam.

Players and video makers often call Ending 1 the “good ending” and Ending 2 the “bad ending”. Some videos call Endings 3 and 4 the “Church” and “Runaway” secret endings; that naming is the uploaders’ own, and which name goes with which ending is our reading of their chapter lists.

Every ending and its conditions

Ending	What decides it	When the choice comes	Hidden on Steam
1 · SOLVE ET COAGULA	Finish the finale route without killing any Relicta ghost with the Aurifer	End of the game, after you receive the Aurifer	No
2 · MAGNUM OPUS	Kill at least one Relicta ghost with the Aurifer on the finale route	Same point as Ending 1	No
3 · VIVUS EX MORTIBUS	Collect 3 Iron Crosses with the Bible in a new game, then place them on the 3rd floor	Three early puzzles in a new game (see below)	Yes
4 · RENUNTIATIO	Use the Apartment Key on the building’s front door in the ground-floor lobby	The first minute of a run	Yes

Endings 1 and 2: the Relicta choice

After you forge the Aurifer (see Aurifer knife), Relicta ghosts appear along the final route. The Aurifer can kill them.

Run past every Relicta and finish the game: Ending 1, SOLVE ET COAGULA.
Strike down even one Relicta with the Aurifer: Ending 2, MAGNUM OPUS. A kill can’t be undone in that run.
There is also a hidden achievement, Heart of Lead, for killing all of the Relicta ghosts.

Julia in a dark blue hallway near the end of the game — Frame from “Tenebris Somnia All Endings Guide - How to Unlock All 4 Endings” by iampanax. Watch at 0:05

Each of these two endings has its own final boss, Hermes and Lacuna. Which boss belongs to which ending is not confirmed yet: iampanax’s full walkthrough shows Hermes before Ending 1 and Lacuna before Ending 2, while TheSavchynGames’ boss video lists them the other way round. We’ll update this once we’ve checked it in the game.

Ending 3: VIVUS EX MORTIBUS (the Bible and the three Iron Crosses)

According to iampanax’s endings guide you need Endings 1 and 2 finished first, then a new game. Only that one source states the requirement, so treat it as likely rather than certain.

The three crosses each come from a fight you trigger with the Bible before you solve an early puzzle the normal way. Miss the window and the chance is gone for that run.

Take the Bible. At the start of the new game it lies on the table in the ground-floor lobby.
Iron Cross 1, 2nd-floor apartment. Before you solve the TV remote puzzle, use the Bible in the living room, stand on the Mars (♂) floor tile and run counterclockwise around the symbols six times. A fight starts; win it for the first cross. Solving the TV puzzle takes the Bible away (“YOU’VE LOST BIBLE”), so this one must come first.
Iron Cross 2, 1st-floor community center. Before you open the projector-room padlock with the phone code, use the Bible at the padlock and enter 6666. Win the fight. (See projector padlock.)
Iron Cross 3, cinematography room. Before you go through the Copper Key door, use the Bible in the cinematography room on floor 0, plug the yellow RCA cable into the camera and keep changing channels until enemies appear. Win the fight. (See cinematography camera.)
Place the crosses. On the 3rd floor, go through the blue door left of the elevator, put the three Iron Crosses into the right-hand wall and enter the door. This route leads to the secret boss Amy (a character from the FAITH games) and then Ending 3.

Julia on the rainy street beside a wall with a framed sign, where the Iron Crosses go — Frame from “Tenebris Somnia All Endings Guide - How to Unlock All 4 Endings” by iampanax. Watch at 5:35

Whether the second and third crosses can still be earned after you’ve solved their puzzles normally is not confirmed. The first one definitely can’t, because the Bible is gone.

Ending 4: RENUNTIATIO (walk away)

Right at the start of a run, before you take the elevator, use the Apartment Key on the building’s entrance door in the ground-floor lobby. Julia walks away and the credits roll.

Inventory screen with the Apartment Key selected — Frame from “Tenebris Somnia All Endings Guide - How to Unlock All 4 Endings” by iampanax. Watch at 6:06

Not confirmed: whether this works on your very first playthrough. The only footage we have is from a run that already had the Golden Cross in the inventory, which suggests a New Game+ save. Try it at the start of any new game; it costs you nothing but a restart if it doesn’t trigger.

How to see every ending with fewer replays

Play normally. When you receive the Aurifer, make a save before the finale route (X-Rey’s walkthrough marks that spot) and keep it.
Finish without killing any Relicta for Ending 1. Reload the kept save, kill a Relicta, and finish again for Ending 2. That’s two endings from one playthrough.
Start a new game and try Ending 4 at the front door straight away. Then start another new game for Ending 3, and do the three Bible fights in order before each matching puzzle.

Every run also makes you permanently remove three save points mid-game (cursed canister puzzle), so think about which ones you’ll still want later.

The Golden Cross

The Golden Cross is an equippable item seen in iampanax’s New Game+ footage (Julia remarks that it looks like the priest’s cross). How you unlock it is not confirmed — none of the videos we read show it being earned. We’ll add it here once we know.