[SPOILER] Alexander von Brennenburg...

[zico]

Besides trying to have some sort of "actual" relation, I could imagine Mandus was rather talking in a symbolic manner.

By time we know he tinkered with

Spoiler below!

an Orb.

In that relation he said about

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the Gatherer

it had a smell of

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Orb

on it. Additionally due to that

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Orb

he got some insights ... and these might made him "aware" or Alexander of his doings I think. So he might refer to him as an "uncle" in terms of their profession or simply being "similar minds".

If that theory was brought up already, sorry, I didn't read all the posts - just flew by most of them.