In The Gryphon, Mark and his mother believe that Karl killed himself because he was mentally ill, but they soon realize that the reality is something else. Golo Euler plays the role of Karl.
Karl, Mark’s father, teaches his sons about the Black Tower and the Gryphon when Mark is just a child. Karl also tells his wife, Petra, about them, but she does not believe him.
On Mark’s fifth birthday, Karl takes Thomas and Mark with him to his workshop at night. Petra tries to stop him and convince him that neither the Black Tower nor the Gryphon is real, but he does not stop. This is the last time Petra sees her husband.
The strange case of Karl Zimmermann
Karl goes to his workshop with his sons to burn his research on the Gryphon so that no one will be able to find the Black Tower. He asks Mark to stay in the car with the Chronicle, while Thomas goes to help his father.
When Mark’s flashlight stops working, he gets scared in the dark and gets out of the car. Thomas then has to go to Mark and comfort him instead of helping his father.
Petra believes that Karl is mentally ill, so she sends the police to save her sons. The police reach Karl’s workshop just then, and Karl locks himself inside the workshop. In a rush to get rid of his research, Karl accidentally sets himself on fire.
The police thought that Karl kidnapped his own children and then killed him. The officers, along with Thomas and Mark, watched Karl’s painful death. However, years later, Kommissar Bräker tells Petra that there was something odd about the accident.
After the fire was put out, it was like Karl’s body disappeared in the fire. The police did not find anything of his, not even his ashes, bones, and teeth, which are always found even when a body burns completely.
Petra was given the ashes from the fire, and the whole thing was covered up by a public prosecutor. The prosecutor was none other than Koteas. Bräker had seen the Man-Ith’s real form and even pulled out his gun on him.
As Bräker was on anti-depressants, he was suspended and had to take therapy. His career was ruined. Today, there are no case files, and none of Bräker’s colleagues remember the prosecutor.
When Bräker tells Petra the truth about Karl’s case, the two of them decide to take Becky’s help to open the portal. However, it is not revealed whether Karl really died in the fire or not, and if he did die, what happened to his body.
Also Read: The Black Tower in The Gryphon explained
