'Dark' season 3: This theory about Tronte's origins could be the potential missing link in Winden's complex family tree
Spoilers for the second season 'Dark'
In 2019, Tronte Nielsen (played by Walter Kreye) is devastated by the disappearance of his grandson Mikkel (played Sebastian Rudolph). This is not Tronte's first child disappearance – in 1986, Mads, his younger child and Ulrich Nielsen's younger brother, had mysteriously disappeared never to be found. The disappearance left the Nielsen family scarred.
Specifically, Ulrich (played by Oliver Masucci) who was unable to deal with Mikkel's disappearance. The story of 'Dark' starts with the disappearance of young boys throwing its audience into a mind-boggling loop and features a unique connection of four families across generations. The first season catapulted us into the time-traveling saga showing only glimpses of the convoluted family tree shared by the four families. The second season, the latest of the series, gave us further insight into the convoluted family tree – but not so much. Hence this theory.
"What if Bartosz is Tronte Nielsen's father?" asked Reddit user 'ClockTownResident'.
Assuming that Bartosz is the man in the cave who gets killed by (a young) Noah (played by Max Schimmelpfennig) in the first episode of the second season, "it could make perfect sense. Agnes said her husband wasn't alive anymore, and that he was a priest but not a man of faith."
A young Noah and a man, who hasn't been identified in the series yet but fans speculate has an appearance akin to the 2019 Bartosz Tiedemann (played by Paul Lux). Given the show's precision towards casting actors who genuinely look like their older or younger selves, fans are pretty confident this one might be Bartosz Tidemann.
The duo is shown digging a cave – the cave – with the Sic Mundus Creatus Est symbol on a door. Upon venturing out and a little discussion about what 1953-1921 Noah's (played by Mark Waschke) true intentions are for hiring him, young Noah kills him. "First of all, Bartosz/'man in cave' had the same tattoo as adult Noah, which could indicate that he worked as a priest as well. Also, Noah challenged the man's belief in God, after which he killed him."
"Does that mean Bartosz becomes violent? Tronte had some clear signs of being abused and Agnes was getting him away from this abuse. Tronte had some nasty cigar-sized burns on his forearms. The man we believe is Bartosz did seem like he was losing his sanity," points out 'imooforyou'.
Bartosz's situation in this entire circle is still under the wraps – a lot is unknown and only speculations. But one thing was shown throughout the second season was that Bartosz was truly losing his sanity – that his belief in Dietrich Hollinderbäumer's Adam's "God" was dwindling. It is no wonder then that when he knew his time had come, the Bartosz (supposed) from 1921 told Noah, "it's interesting it's you.."
This theory, if true, would make Tronte Martha's (played by Lisa Vicari) great grandfather and make him Jonas's (played by Louis Hofmann) great-great grandfather. Incest in 'Dark' was scandalous in the first season. Now, with so many things at stake, we just want to know where 'Dark' is headed.