Kately attacks Piranesi and Raphael in the flood

The attack by The Other on Piranesi and Sarah Raphael during the Great Flood is a decisive confrontation in which his attempt to control their escape turns into a direct threat against them. Piranesi prevents him from recovering his gun, warns Raphael that he means her harm, and survives the rising waters with her; The Other, by contrast, leaves the relative safety of his boat and is lost in the flood.

Causes and Preparation

The encounter begins after Piranesi has searched unsuccessfully for 16 along the route she gave him. With the first tides already rising, he decides he must look for The Other. The Other appears in the First Vestibule wearing jeans, an old jumper, sneakers, and a life jacket, then passes into the First Western Hall without seeing Piranesi. Piranesi follows and hides in a niche, still watching for 16.

In the hall, The Other goes straight to a bag and starts unpacking an inflatable boat. As water enters through the northern doors and tides rise in other halls, he inflates the boat with a foot pump. A grey bag lies nearby; when he approaches, a silver gun is also visible on the pavement. The combination of a ready escape craft and a firearm makes the encounter more than a desperate response to the flood: The Other is preparing to leave while retaining the means to threaten anyone who stands in his way.

Piranesi realizes that 16 may also be waiting for The Other rather than trusting him, so he can no longer remain concealed. The Other scowls but keeps pumping. He angrily asks why Piranesi failed to meet him on Tuesday and says that he cannot remember whether Piranesi warned him that ten rooms would flood or a hundred. He has changed his plans, he says, because Raphael is coming and they will finish matters regardless of Piranesi’s objections.

Threat and Resistance

The Other’s intentions become explicit when he tells Piranesi that they will get into the kayak as the room floods and instructs him to strike Raphael’s hands and head with a paddle if she tries to climb aboard or hold on. Piranesi does not comply. Instead, when The Other moves toward the gun, Piranesi kicks it across the marble floor, sending it about fifteen metres toward the northern wall. The rising ripples carry past their feet in the same direction, leaving The Other separated from the weapon.

When Piranesi asks where 16 is, she answers from somewhere near the southern doors, then calls out that she has come for Matthew Rose Sorensen. The Other grabs Piranesi by the arm and shouts that Matthew is there, inviting her to come and get him. Piranesi counters by warning Raphael that The Other means her harm and has a gun. This is the scene’s sharp reversal: The Other tries to use Piranesi as bait and leverage, but Piranesi’s warning gives Raphael the information she needs to approach with caution.

The Flood and the Attack

As the tides converge, Piranesi and Raphael climb onto a deep cornice roughly seven metres above the hall floor. The Other has not boarded his boat. Instead, he runs to the northern wall to retrieve the gun and fires at them. One shot strikes a statue above their position; Piranesi is injured in the forehead. The Other then wades toward them, apparently seeking a clearer opportunity to shoot, while the noise and force of the rising water make communication difficult.

The gunfire leaves Piranesi and Raphael exposed on the cornice. Piranesi moves to the body of a horned giant projecting from the wall and finds shelter in the space between its back and the wall. He jumps down and catches Raphael as she follows, placing them behind the statue’s body, between themselves and The Other’s gun. This quick move replaces the vulnerable high ledge with cover, while the statue—one of the hall’s monumental fixtures—becomes practical protection in the struggle to survive.

The Other’s Death and Aftermath

The Other turns away from them and tries to reach the inflatable boat. By then the water is at his knees, and the waves drag at him as the boat moves freely through the hall. He changes direction repeatedly to pursue it, but it keeps being carried elsewhere. For a moment the boat seems to turn toward him; just as he reaches for it, it spins away toward the western end of the hall. Piranesi shouts for him to climb, but The Other cannot hear over the flood and continues after the boat.

A powerful surge strikes the wall and sends spray through the northern doors. The next wave lifts The Other and throws him against the southern wall, where he crashes into the statues high above the floor. Piranesi can only infer that he dies at that moment; the wave then draws back and The Other disappears into it. The boat, meanwhile, continues to whirl on the water, repeatedly submerged but reappearing. Its continued survival underscores the reversal: the craft prepared as The Other’s means of escape remains afloat, but he has lost the chance to reach it.

Significance

The confrontation brings The Other’s plans to a violent end while showing Piranesi’s changed relation to him. The Other expects obedience and treats Piranesi as an instrument in a plan that includes attacking Raphael. Piranesi instead acts independently: he removes the gun from The Other’s reach, warns Raphael, and helps her find shelter. His refusal is expressed through practical decisions rather than argument, and those choices alter who is protected and who is exposed.

The flood does not simply serve as a backdrop to the conflict. Its rising levels, moving waves, and shifting currents repeatedly change the available choices: they make the boat seem necessary, make the cornice dangerous once The Other starts shooting, and finally prevent him from reaching the craft he prepared. The Other’s disappearance is reported through Piranesi’s limited observation, so the account does not show a confirmed body or establish more than his likely death in the surge.