All Mortal Shell 2 Endings — Main & Baghead Secret

Overview

Mortal Shell 2 ships with exactly two endings, and both can be earned in a single playthrough if you plan your route. This guide covers the standard main ending — send every Ovum to the Heavens from the collection room in Marrow Keep — and the hidden secret ending tied to an NPC known as Baghead on a remote island in the Fane Weald region.

The ending count itself (two) is consistent across every guide we compared, and post-launch coverage (GameRant, Gamer.org, Whisper of the House) confirms the main-ending flow described below. One lore point worth knowing up front: the player character is the Harbinger — an entity hatched from the last remaining Ovum of the Undermether and sent to recover the stolen Ova. That title is used consistently by the game and by post-launch guides (IGN's review and Rock Paper Shotgun both refer to the protagonist as the Harbinger).

Main Ending — Send Ova to the Heavens

The main quest ending is the route most players will see. The campaign revolves around the Harbinger collecting Ova across the corrupted world, and the conclusion fires when you send those Ova to the Heavens.

The steps are straightforward:

1. Collect 168 Ovum — the requirement confirmed by post-launch guides (GameRant, Gamer.org). Cleansing the six Corrupted Gates is the fastest path, but beacons and other sources also count.
2. With 168 Ovum collected, the Gloom Siphon room in Marrow Keep opens a route into the subterranean Unfound Path. Defeat the four endgame bosses there — the last of them is Zmey, the Unbidden.
3. After Zmey falls, the Gloom Siphon gains a "Send Ova" option. Selecting it fires the ending: the foul passenger is gone, Undermether sends the recovered kin to the Heavens, and the Harbinger stays behind — told he was not made for the heavens and must find his own meaning.
4. There is no confirmation dialog and no final good/bad choice — the sequence plays out the same way each time. This also awards "This is Not an Achievement" and moves you into NG+.

The point of no return is step 3's "Send Ova" click, not the final boss itself. You can keep exploring freely after beating Zmey, and the game actively encourages finishing your collectible sweep before pressing the button.

Baghead Secret Ending — Come with Nothing

The second ending is hidden behind a short NPC quest. You need to find Baghead, a figure seated on a throne surrounded by hooded followers, and — counterintuitively — give him nothing at all.

Location. Baghead waits on Desolated Peak (written "Desolate Peak" in some guides), a small floating island off the western side of the Fainweald region (the region is spelled "Fane Weald" by some sources and "Fainweald" by others). To reach the island, travel from the Gloomshade Grove Beacon and take the jump teleporter nearby. The island sits just beside the Illusionist's Cache dungeon.

Quest walkthrough. The correct approach is to bring Baghead nothing — the real answer is in his idle lines ("some say nothin' is the best gift of all") and a Tattered Note in the building opposite ("The more I give, the less he cares… And yet he says I don't understand nothing?").

1. Talk to Baghead. He invites you to sit with his followers — take the seat for a few moments.
2. Speak to him again and answer his questions (for example "You think you're any different?"). Your answers do not lock anything at this stage.
3. He asks you to bring him "something special." Pick up the Special Moonshine sitting on a nearby crate.
4. Bring it to him — he asks whether you really think this is what he wants. Answer as you like; it does not matter.
5. Return the Special Moonshine to the exact spot where you found it. The item is removed from your inventory and must NOT be handed over. This is the most commonly missed step.
6. Talk to him again and answer yes when he asks whether you came back with nothing ("This is your final chance").
7. Speak to him one final time to trigger the secret-ending cutscene: your Harbinger replaces Baghead, sitting and doing nothing for the rest of the story.

Completing the quest does not end the game — reloading returns you to your last activated Beacon. The quest unlocks the hidden "Bag Holder" achievement, described as "You've mastered nothing and this is your reward. Pretty pointless, eh?" Note that "Bag Holder" is one of the missable achievements (see the collectibles guide for the full missable list).

Ending Comparison

Both endings can be earned in one run. The recommended order is to finish the Baghead questline before you send the Ova, so you can watch both conclusions without starting a new playthrough.

The most common reasons players fail the secret ending: handing over the Special Moonshine instead of returning it to its original spot, or answering no to the final "nothing?" question.

NPC Questlines

Both endings sit inside a larger web of NPC questlines. Launch coverage lists at least 16 questline entry points in Mortal Shell 2, including: Baghead, Despondent Villager, Dog, Egon, Franz, Gorf, Grisha, Pup, Hilga and Grom, Lonely Villager, Merrick, Milos, Ruk, Sester Genessa, Suspicious Villager, The Collector, Vlas, Vratko, and Young Villager.

Most individual questlines are only documented at entry-point level right now and are not treated as settled facts here — dedicated per-NPC guides will be added after the Aug 20 release. Several of these NPCs also appear in the mechanics and collectibles guides on this site: Franz holds the Etching Needle for Tarforge upgrades, Merrick and The Collector sell Tarstones, and Milos and Sester Genessa anchor the Ova-collection loop that feeds the main ending.