The Chained Mirror-Hard Riddles

Their own reflection doubled by a second hidden mirror behind them.

Explanation:

The Riddle

A mirror hung in iron shackles on a castle wall.
Anyone who looked into it saw a pale figure behind them—
even when alone.
Who was the figure?

Step 1: Setting the Mood — Misdirection

The riddle deliberately creates a haunted atmosphere:

• Castle wall → ancient, mysterious place
• Iron shackles → imprisonment, torture, or punishment
• Pale figure → ghost, spirit, apparition
• Even when alone → implies something impossible or supernatural

All of this primes the reader to think:

“This must be a ghost.”

That’s the trap.

Step 2: Understanding Mirrors and Perception

A normal mirror shows:

• Your face
• The space behind you as reflected from your position

So if someone sees a figure behind them when no one is there, something unusual must be happening with the mirror itself, not with reality.

Step 3: The Hidden Trick — A Second Mirror

The key is this line from the solution:

“Their own reflection doubled by a second hidden mirror behind them.”

Here’s what’s actually happening:

• There is another mirror, concealed behind or angled behind the viewer.
• Light bounces:
  1. From the viewer
  2. Into the hidden mirror
  3. Back into the main mirror
  4. And finally into the viewer’s eyes

This creates a secondary reflection—a faint, pale image of the viewer that appears behind them.

Because:

• It’s reflected twice, it looks lighter and less distinct
• It’s slightly delayed or offset, making it feel “separate”
• The brain interprets it as another presence

Step 4: Why It Looks Like “Someone Else”

The human brain is excellent at recognizing faces—but terrible at questioning reflections.

So when someone sees:

• A humanoid shape
• Roughly their size
• Standing behind them

Their instinctive reaction is fear, not logic.

Especially in:

• Dim castle lighting
• Candlelight or torchlight
• Old, imperfect mirrors (which distort images)

This makes the reflection:

• Pale
• Slightly warped
• Ghostlike

Yet it is still them.

Step 5: Why It Works “Even When Alone”

This is the cleverest part of the riddle.

The phrase “even when alone” reinforces the illusion, but also hides the truth:

You are never absent from a mirror.

If the mirror system reflects you twice, then:

• You are both the observer
• And the “figure behind”

The mirror is simply showing more of you than expected.

Final Answer Explained

Who was the figure?

The viewer themselves.

More precisely:

Their own reflection, duplicated by a second hidden mirror, creating the illusion of another presence behind them.