Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
There's been quite a bit of debate regarding what Alvin's relationship with Jacques is. Personally, I think they are similar but separate, but there is also evidence to suggest they are the same. Reason for my view is that even when you got Alvin around, people talk of the Grandmaster, so either writing is bad, or they exist at the same time. It could also be that after Alvin vanishes at Lakeside, he travels through time and takes over the boy who Jacques was and thus changing the future by changing the past.