So, you’ve finally made it into the Krat Zoo greenhouse in the Overture DLC and got absolutely flattened by a woman floating on magical orbs. Join the club. Honestly, Lies of P Markiona is one of those bosses that feels like a brick wall the first ten times you hit it. She isn't just another puppet-mashing encounter; she's a lore-heavy, mechanically dense fight that essentially bridges the gap between the Alchemists and Geppetto’s early work.
Most people just see her as "that lady with the flying puppet," but if you dig into the notes scattered around the Savanna Experience Center, you realize she’s basically the reason Krat went to hell in the first place.
Why Markiona is the DLC’s Biggest Difficulty Spike
The fight against Markiona, Puppeteer of Death is a chaotic dance. You aren't just fighting her; you’re fighting the Queen’s Arche Puppet at the same time. It’s annoying. Kinda feels like the Black Rabbit Brotherhood but with more magical lasers and fewer places to hide.
Here is the thing about Markiona: she plays with your focus. You’ll see a glowing strand connecting her to the puppet. If that string is blue, Markiona is going to pelt you with magical spheres and lunges. If that string turns red, the puppet is about to dive-bomb you or start spinning its mace like a helicopter.
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The "Don't Kill the Puppet" Trap
A lot of players make the mistake of focusing entirely on the Queen’s Arche Puppet because it has a smaller health bar. Don't do that. Or, well, do it if you want a five-second breather, but know that Markiona will just start a "resurrection" animation to bring it back.
Basically, the puppet is a distraction. The real target is always Markiona. However, there’s a sweet spot. If you can time the puppet’s "death" right when Markiona is at about 50% health, you can skip some of her most aggressive aerial dive sequences. It’s a gamble, but it works.
Breaking Down the Moveset (The Stuff That Usually Kills You)
Markiona doesn't fight fair. She has this one move—the Will-o-Wisp—where she conjures spheres and slams them into the dirt. It looks scary, but it’s actually your best opening. If you strafe sideways during the slam, she’s stuck in a recovery animation for a good three seconds. That’s when you go ham with a heavy charge attack.
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- The Boomerang Toss: She throws two orbs that curve back. If you only dodge the first pass, the return trip will clip you in the back of the head.
- The Golden Strike: Once she hits 50% HP, she starts glowing gold. This is the "get out of the way" phase. She and the puppet will perform consecutive diving attacks. Don't try to parry the whole thing unless you’re a god at Perfect Guards. Just run.
- The Grab: She has a sneaky tendril/string grab that reaches further than you think. If you see her hand device spark, dodge backward immediately.
The Lore: Was She Actually Geppetto's Student?
The community is still arguing about this in the forums, but the evidence in Overture is pretty clear. Markiona was a prodigy at the Workshop Union before she defected to the Alchemists. She’s the one who figured out how to "hack" the Grand Covenant.
Wait, it gets darker. Markiona was obsessed with a woman named Camille (who was essentially a mother figure to her). When Camille died, Markiona was the one who had the "brilliant" idea to stuff Camille’s Ergo into a maid puppet. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the origin of the "awakened" puppets we see in the main game. She basically handed Simon Manus the keys to the kingdom.
Without Lies of P Markiona, the Petrification Disease might have just been a local plague. She turned it into an evolution project. She’s arrogant, sure, but she’s also the smartest person in the room—which makes stabbing her with a giant wrench feel surprisingly satisfying.
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Best Gear for the Greenhouse Fight
If you’re struggling, stop using Fire. Seriously. Markiona is an Alchemist/Human hybrid thing, and she’s remarkably resistant to it.
- Acid is King: Use the Acidic Crystal Spear or throw some Carcass Body Fluid Bottles. The decay damage ticks away at her health even when you’re busy dodging the puppet’s spinning mace.
- Shot Puts: If you see her "malfunction" (it looks like a brief stun), toss a Shot Put. It’ll usually trigger a Fatal Attack opportunity instantly.
- Amulets: Put on the Puppet Destroyer’s Amulet for the Queen’s Arche and the Blue Guardianship Amulet to survive the magic bursts.
How to Consistently Win
The most reliable strategy I’ve found involves ignoring the puppet about 80% of the time. Keep Markiona in the center of your screen. When the puppet charges, dodge through the attack toward Markiona. This keeps you in her face.
If you stay at a distance, she will just spam those annoying orb projectiles until you run out of Pulse Cells. Be aggressive. Crowd her space. She hates it. When she goes into her second phase and starts the aerial dives, just hold block or use the Aegis Legion Arm if you’re feeling lazy.
What to Do Next
Once you finally take her down, you’ll get the Macabre Puppeteer’s Ergo and Markiona’s Key.
- Take the Ergo to Alidoro (or Hugo, depending on where you are in the timeline) to trade for the Orbital Wand or the Cursed String Amulet.
- Use Markiona’s Key to unlock the back door of the greenhouse. This leads directly to the Zelator Underground Facility, which is where the DLC really starts to get weird.
- Check the desk in her boss arena for the "Letter from a Distraught Technician"—it fills in the gaps about her relationship with Geppetto and why she eventually betrayed the Workshop.
Don't forget to rest at the Stargazer right outside the arena before heading down into the facility. The next area is full of those elite "Sweeper" enemies, and they don't have the decency to telegraph their attacks as clearly as Markiona does.