User blog comment:Jonesy95/Possibilities for Dishonored DLC/@comment-79.160.153.247-20130428143809/@comment-24612009-20140312233623

I think most of these ideas are best left the way they are, up to the players to decide. It wouldn't be as interesting if we were just plain off told that Corvo is the father to the Empress' child, but instead the game lets us work it out ourselves through remarks and rumours by NPCs or Emily's drawings.

It is quite clearly stated that Corvo was returning from the other Isles as the beginning of the game, in search for a cure or aid with the plague. Also, the heart is indeed of Jessamine Kaldwin, and contains her soul.

I do feel that it would have been nice, though, to have seen a pre-plague Dunwall to add contrast to the current dystopia.