For long time playing this game , i didnt understand shit , till now i dont understand wtf is going on and y that lady in the firelink ask for souls she is sick
Let's appreciate how OP ringed knights were during the war. Despite their equipment being very poorly made to fight dragons and being nerfed by Gwyn they each brought back an arch dragon head as proof of killing one.
@@lowkeyarki7091 tbf I only corrected you because many people are under the impression that humans some how did most of the work for the gods, which is not true. What is true is that they did a substantial amount of work that they were never praised for.
The first time I met the crawling dude I was wearing the Slave Knight Hood and when he said "The red hood has came to eat us" I was like holy shit, I just discovered secret dialogue. Then I met Gael and was like aaaaaahhhh okay, and he proceeded to fuck my shit up
The fact that the Darksign, the logo of the entire series established 6 years prior to this DLC’s release, finally has context in the very last piece of Dark Souls content is some wild foreshadowing.
I really love how the straight sword wielding Ringed City Knights have that same wombo combo that the Soul of Cinder do. They’re mimicking the style of their lord
@@aidanbrendel1592 A vessel, nothing more, nothing less. The Dark Soul is not a power granted to any one individual, but the tool needed to birth a new world.
Oh man I've been waiting for this since I finished the game. Every time I didn't understand a character all I could think was "Vaati is going to have so much lore on this!"
I agree, his voice rocks. Pretty much the only reason I like to watch his videos. Most of the content comes down to a "maybe this happened, what do you think guys?". DaveControl and Fungo are way better channels to understand the convoluted plot points of DS.
Mateusz Tobola not so much dude I mean you have to think about how the dark souls lore is most of it is designed to leave a bit of it up to imagination and fan theory so little is left in stone really that its more respectable to end with a question
Vaati, you probably get this a lot but thank you for doing this. I never had the time, knowhow, or patience to dig deeper into these games and get the lore of it all. But with your channel I've been able to enjoy these games on another, even higher, level . I hope you continue the great work.
I might be late 5 years,almost 6. But after all these years, after not playing dark souls for 3 years, I still come back here and rewatch it again and again
This is two years late but. Gwin needs a night light cause he's afraid of the dark and it made him cranky. Proceeds to fuck everything up. You clean up the mess or make it worse... done.
*"But ignore the "hows" for now, and simply accept that she has this power"* Ignore the truth and accept on nothing but faith? Do I look like a cleric to you?
I noticed, the dialogue at the end calls The Abyss a mother of the world, and Solaire calls the Sunlight a magnificent father. Perhaps that is just what the entire world and humanity is in Dark Souls, a mix between the light and dark, with too much dark being terrible and evil (Artorias, New Londo with the Four Kings, Kaathe, and the corrupted Manus, who is called the Father of the Abyss, so perhaps the Abyss is almost like a subcategory of darkness?) along with too much light (Gwyn, Izalith, maybe even Nito considering his greed, the demons, the angels, and many more.) But when the dragons existed, there wasn't any light or dark, just gray. But when a fire appeared, granting light, it also brought a shadow, granting dark. The second ending to Dark Souls 3, where you let the fire fade, says the world will succumb to darkness, but light will appear again sometime later, maybe this acts as a way to reset the Age of Fire and bring balance again?
I have always thought the abyss was a giant clump of humanity and when humans overdose on humanity they become monstrosities just like how the people of Izilith became demons
(6 years later, nice necroposting, me.) I believe you are right. The appearance of the First Flame brought about the world's disparities. The duality Light=Gods and Dark=Humans superficially makes sense, until you realize that humanity was created by a Lord Soul as well. My (very Jungian) reading is that by merging light and dark (like in the secret ending), it's like humanity both accepts the good and the bad within themselves, by "integrating their light/fire" instead of "integrating their shadow".
@@MCSorryyou are correct my friend, it is constantly stated throughout the series that the age of dark (age of man) is the natural next stage after the age of fire, so the duality was always meant to exist and be a healthy thing, it was literally all because of Gwyns denial of this natural order that every single bad thing ever in the whole franchise happened haha
Dark souls lore is way to complicated and based on self interpretation. A movie couldn't possibly capture even a small part of what makes the story of dark souls great.
@@humbertonegron5788 have you tried summoning Gael for assistance in the fight? Friede was pretty tough ngl, but it makes it easier hitting her when shes too busy focusing on killing Gael.
I find it interesting how Gael is almost a foil to the soul of cinder. Let me explain: The soul of cinder is essentially the Light Soul manifest--a conglomeration of all the past lords, all the previous warriors to link the flame come together as a single, defiant entity. It defends the kiln to the death, as though defending itself against potential usurpers out of desperation and paranoia. It is made up of all the generations that came before, and that is reflected in its move set and lore. The soul of cinder is all about the fear of losing power, the fear of being consumed by the dark. Thus the Light Soul is drawn to it, and other desperate, powerful beings like it.Gael is essentially the same, except he is the manifestation of the Dark Soul--note that his move set shows influences of both Artorias and Manus (probably other notable abyss creatures as well). Gael's story--the silent, unnoticed struggle of staying alive against all odds, and keeping his purpose to the end of his life--is perhaps the most human of any character of Dark Souls, and that is why he is drawn to the Dark Soul, and the Dark Soul to him.I wonder though if there are manifestations of the Life and Death souls in DS3 as well. Perhaps the Demon Prince or Demon King have taken to the Life Soul, and Aldrich (who may or may not have consumed Nito) has come to represent the Death Soul.This is mostly speculation, but I found the thought of the four original souls slowly pulling themselves together into singular beings after so long interesting. I'm curious to see what others think about this.
The entire point of the end game of the Dark Soul franchise is making the first flame. You cant light the flame with only a few souls. Just look at what happened to Izalith when the witch did exactly that. Or Yhorm. It was incomplete. In DS, and any other cycle, the reason why it always runs out is somewhat explained in DS2. Or we get a real clue of what is going on. Its us. The reason why its the chosen undead that can and must link the flame is that the pygmies have dark souls within them. The other 3 lord souls are complete. Well, not really. Only Gwyns and Nitos were completed. The other 2, Life and Dark, are scattered amongst their respective people. But in DS3, Gael had hunted every pygmy there are (only you 2 remain). The demons are extinct and youve killed the last ones (demon prince and the last king) Gwyn and Nito is basically sitting at the bonfire (cuz you brought the other lords of cinder together by force). Basically, if you do it properly (chronologically correct), you usurp the flame (you become the first flame) as you are the very first one to finally complete the dark soul. You literally were the last pygmy standing after you killed Gael. The church of sable thought its because of their ritual (which it does play a small role) but it simply because you were at the very end of the world. You killed the last living being. You had all 4 lord souls completed, which no one has ever done. That is why you could "usurp" the flame. Really, all you did was become the bonfire. Good job. Someone from the painted world is going to drive a sword through you and claim your soul starting the whole series all over again.
@@avgvstvs7 it's hinted the dragons are merely waiting for this "change" foolishness to die down to return. By breaking the firelink curse the age of dark begins, bringing the world closer to returning to the age of grey.
"And so... She lived in fear, of the dark, of the things that gnawed at her flesh. And yet, the abyss hath yet to produce any such creature" Says the monster born in the abyss that gnaws your face off.
This ^ Exactly. He's like the dark souls equivalent of an angler fish, dangling a shiny light in front of you about the abyss not being a bad thing whilst lying to your face.
@@michaelhenry3234 Yeah, doesn't the pontiff knight curved sword and scythe have tiny bugs that eat away the metal? I forget if they are related to the deep or abyss, I'd have to look up the equipment description. But I could have sworn it specified the deep. Especially considering the Pontiff's relation to Aldrich, and the Aldrich faithful's relation to the Deep.
@@hunterotte4085 the deep is like the abyss but deeply corrupted by the very worst of humanity. Tbf I've never really truly accepted that the abyss is not evil. But the deep is definitely a worse form of it.
Why is it I can listen to the NPC's say all this sh*t and can't make heads nor tails of it yet when Vaati speaks it with that smooth Straya accent it's all so clear?
I think that the aggressive nature of the Abyss may be the dark trying to forcefully fix what gwyn messed up. A natural defensive reaction so to speak.
The only one who never lied to us was Kaathe.. I wish he would have been present at the end.. Kaathe told us of our purpose, heritage and the power we can obtain and after we killed Gwyn, he even awaits us as promised. Kaathe even acknowledges when we faithfully followed his teachings and were strong enough to not fall for temptations unlike those who failed him like the Four Kings. He orders his Darkwraith to gather Humanity in order to reassemble the Dark Soul. Kaathe was the first and the last to every try to bring order and negate Gwyns failures. And I don't believe in Oolaciles innocence as they stole Manus' pendant who in turn lost his shit and brings the city down to the ground. That Mushroom even treats Artorias as a burden who must be killed as he was corrupted without any regret. Kaathe always searched for a Dark Lord and Manus was an option. What the Oolacilians did to Manus was beyond his control also Ingward proudly states how New Londo was flooded in order to contain the Darkness. He is familiar with Frampt and only gives the Seal Key to the Champion of the Gods... That's how far Gwyn is willing to go just to proceed his age of fire. killing off populations, burning humanity to ashes and imprisoning the Pygmies in a giant Ring which is like a mocking of their burden, the Dark Sign.
But that doesn't change my view on him being among the good guys in the end.. I only said I wish he would have been around. And she rather means that he cannot fullfill his wish when SHE dies. It's always the search for a new Dark Lord. And using the Sigils to end the Age of Fire finally fullfills his wish
No one is really good at all, that's why it is called Dark Souls. And truth always hurts, doesn't it? If you kill Blades of the Darkmoon in DSIII as darkwraith you even receive a forked tongue, indicating they are liars and are defending just that. I always thought there is somewhat like worries in his voice. He wants it done fast BUT correctly because after all the failed attempts he just wants to go for sure. Kaathe explicitly states that his previous guys failed him, namely the Four Kings and they attack you without reason because they are corrupted. But Kaathe is not and neither are you in an Abyss which is completely peaceful and calm, unlike the Chasm in Oolacile created by Manus who was driven into his monstrous state by force and pain
It’s kinda sad thinking that everything and everyone you’ve known in the soul series is dead or gone, Solaire, Siegward, Firelink Shrine, Anor Londo, Sif, etc. And to top it all off, it’s all because of us, the player. We practically killed everyone
except we didn't this is not some story were we are the clear vilain, the world itslef is falling appart because of a decaying fate imposed by a fearful god, the player as no responsability in the tragedy of this world ending in suffering and despair we didn't " killed everyone " we assited powerless to they'r end
The Ethereal Lord He honestly made the lore of DS2 more interesting, and damn is his voice amazing. Boss fight was bland but his OST is fucking awesome!
If Gwyn placed a seal on the pygmies to contain their dark souls, it means the seal's effect is transgenerational; future offspring is born with it. Pretty creepy.
I have not seen the stream but if you ask me Vaati WANTED to reshoot this scene as many times as possible. Just imagine the chills going down his spine after seeing Edwad getting mowed down by the archers for the 14th time.
I think its like Nito's death miasma. Its those feelings and thoughts of humanity seeping out. It happens to just be maddening considering how they were treated. Sure they can be gentle and calming much like the dark can grant respite and solidarity to someone who needs to be left alone. But knowing that the dark soul is shared amongst pygmies, i think it created a different characteristic. Something which gives birth to the abyss. That something is feelings that had been bottled up and has been released from its vessel unto a new one. One that may not be able to fully cope/contain it so it seeps out.
I always thought about it like this. What Chaos is to the first flame is what the Deep is to the Abyss. The most important thing to note is that the words "Abyss" and "Deep" mean very nearly the same thing, and in the context of Aldrich's The Deep, they have the exact same connotations. Aldrich had visions of "the coming age of the deep sea," the significance of which is that the light of the sun does not penetrate into the depths of the ocean. This part of the ocean is commonly know as the abyssal zone.
The real reason why its so dangerous is because the nature of the dark soul that the first pygmy did. The pygmy fragmented and shared the soul to EVERYONE. Now the dark soul becomes humanity: feelings, thoughts, dreams, etc. Imagine gaining the dark soul. While it reverses you being a hollow, you are now brimming with memories, thoughts, dreams, and emotions from its previous retainer. It can make someone wild. Like a berserker. Like Gael. Only those who are strong can keep their abyss at bay. Who can still retain some part of themselves. A goal, a memory, a promise. Gael, unlike Manus, never wavered and contained his abyss. He never turned into a moster like Manus did. He didnt let his emotions run rampant as to finish his promise. He stayed true, uncorrupted. This is why the abyss is so scary. It turns beings wild, not because of the dark, but because of the "things that gnaw" the thoughts, fears, dreams, emotions of humans who carried it before they released/was taken their humanity.
Gwyns seal of fire on the ringed knights and the dark sigil are literally what caused it (the abyss) to erupt, like building a wall to hold back a flood, eventually it's gonna fuck things up
@@rodrigobritobernardo7913 And then there's Gael who in the end accepts the dark. He goes hollow but is not only significantly stronger but is actually more composed and in control than when he was resisting.
Ah... a Vaati video, such a wondrous gift, his voice radiating a calm and welcoming demeanor, like a kindly father. If only I could be so grossly knowledgeable as he.
I know 4 Years later But can we please briefly enjoy how incredibly epic Vaati initiated the fight with Gael. "At the end of the world the final battle begins. A battle between an undead slave knight who has existed since the age of the gods and an unkindled ash, born of the cycle itself. And in the ruins of countless civilizations, their battle sheds the blood of the dark Soul from which a new world can be born." All of our challenges led us to this event. It's like a battle of the gods at the end of time. Truly epic, I wet myself with these words out of sheer excitement.
Personally the dark sign looks like darkness encircled by fire. The darkness cannot progress because of the fire, so it burns from the fire. A constant reminder of darkness' inability to progress further than it has
Something I noticed was the similarities between the Locust Preachers, their songs and the Demon of Song from DS2 (Similar face, hands, insatiable appetite and using songs to lure people in) which seems to be a large Locust Preacher who is being eaten or has been eaten by a giant frog and is being used to lure unfortunate souls in. Just something that seems interesting.
As stated in this video, "The white-faced locusts were meant to beckon men to the dark with sermons". The full sentence is "The white-faced locusts were meant to beckon men to the dark with sermons, but most of them are unable to think past their own stomachs, the unruly mob!" Tl;dr, they lure men in with song and then eat them cause they have an insatiable hunger.
Demon of song originally singed along with the milfanito to keep the dead safe , was only when it became corruptod that he became the monster we fight in DS2
“The answer bettween light and dark lies somewhere in the middle.” This reminds me of the pilgrims for some reason, with their shell to protect from the burst of beast, the pus of man. As well as the roots that consume them and crawl up from below. Above and below, the fire and the dark, what’s right lies somewhere in the middle, the unkindled’s choice to make. Or maybe something even more. Like the deep perhaps, is what shall become of the future. Also Yuria and Elfride, both with contrasting views of what should be, perhaps the answer lies, “somewhere in the middle” like with the third sister, Lillian. Maybe the other sisters know not of what’s right, maybe Lillian knows what’s right, and maybe the deep is what’s right.
"The locust preacher posits that the Abyss was never a threat. Or, at least that it never was in the beginning. Perhaps it is the seal of fire that casts the shadows sending the dark into a frenzy." FFFUUUUUUUUU--
I don't know about anyone else, but I love how the pygmy holds the smallest flame and yet the player character as a human seems to be the most powerful entity in the entire souls series.
To be fair, we never fought Gwyn at his highest. We managed to defeat ennemies using fragments of his soul... Who knows how strong he was when he had its full power ?
Darkprosper Great Souls seem to effect size so I imagine full powered gwyn wouldve been bigger maybe around gundyrs size and could likely move around in the air like his son the nameless king (after powered w stormdrake's lightning abilities) and probably be able to just atomize the main character. I mean he was essentially The Supreme being of the world in his time
Personally I also find it so poetic that, in ways, Slave Knight Gael is almost like an epitomized version of how we all started out in Dark Souls 1--a creature steeped in Dark, eaten away by the Darksign, wielding a broken blade...
I don't think necessarily that the player is the most powerful entity it's just that, the player doesn't that and so long as you don't flip the table and walk away from the game you will eventually end up killing the boss think about it. You lose a bunch of times but you only need to win once in a way, undeath is the greatest weapon of the player as it allows you to throw yourself against the wall over and over and over again until you finally break through
The Souls series can be described in a similar fashion to Berserk (from my limited knowledge of Berserk). “Local man, too angry to die, gets a big sword and fights God.” Problem here is in Dark Souls, we win. Guts...hasn’t been so lucky from what I hear.
Lmao the all the grotesque events Guts have to go through is just depressing. Give it a read. Berserk has one of the greatest arcs in a piece of fiction ever,
@@IWantToStayAtYourHouse Old comment but Berserk just ain't my thing. I participate in most graphic violence in video games. With manga, I prefer more light-hearted/wholesome stuff. Most violent stuff I read has a fair amount of relief and fun thrown in to balance things out. Berserk...isn't something I'd call "fun" Granted, it's not made to be fun. It's violent, grim, gory, and downright tragic. That's just not my thing.
CubedQ probably was weakened and lost a lot of his archdragon perks due to all of that dark shit he ate. You can see dark crystalline material in his scales
+DarkSoulsIsLove DarkSoulsIsLife Wait, so the Archdragons weren't invulnerable? Lightning didn't necessarily have to be the key? That makes Gwyn's conquest less interesting.
Thank you for shedding light on so many deeper layers of Dark Souls that are not easily seen, and making them visible to me to appreciate, Vaati. Like, for years.
5:21 I was wearing full black knight set plus shield and great sword and that guy asked if I'm a knight of the gods i responded yes and he said something among the lines of, I can sense the dark soul is you, or around that. It was really cool.
I was playing through DarkSouls 2 the other day and i had a stunning realization, and I would like anyone to give me more details about this or their opinions on the matter, what if Ludleth from Courtland is the player character from Darksouls 2? In DarkSouls 2 at the end of the DLCs you *spoiler* find out that with the 4 crowns combined you become immune to the effects of hollowing. Ludleth seem's to be the only "lord of Cinder" who seems to be unfit for the job. When killed it does not say "heir of fire destroyed" nor does he drop a large or significant soul, implying he didn't actually link the flame, just like our character in DarkSouls 2 is encouraged not to. When Ludleth dies he drops the skull ring which says "One of Courland's transposed wonders. Derived from the soul of a Soulfeeder. Easier to be detected by enemies.The Soulfeeder was a beast that insatiably absorbed souls to feed its own power. Even after its accursed corpse was burned, it is said that the pungent stench of souls left the air permanently stained." Since he could die repeatedy and never suffer hollowing whats to say that he is not the soulfeeder and was not just accumulating souls. He knows of firelink shrine and the forgotten shrine, and above all else he knows of the firekeeper whose corpse we find in the bell tower in firelink shrine. Could that firekeeper that he mentions in his quotes actually be the emerald herald from DarkSouls two? This is just something I thought of guys so if anyone has more imformation on either of these topics whether be completely wrong or on to something I would like the feed back from you guys.
Ludleth was not intended to be a lord. Gundyr was the intended sacrifice, but he arrived late. Out of desperation, Ludleth broke time, sealing away the dark and taking Gundyr's place.
Maybe a weird thing to say it, but Solaire's explanation in DS1, where "time has become convoluted", I almost saw it as if time itself had become undead.
Everyone is blaming Gwyn when its Nito who is at fault. He just needs to do his job but noo, im just gonna sleep and chill. I mean if i was death, i would too. The hell with the mortal realm.
@@will2brown50 I thought death is his power and the undead curse was done for the purpose of relinking of the flame. Rather than it faltering, he chose not to bring death to them.
You think the Ringed City was actually around/beneath Lordran's walls? Cuz now that @Karshe Oberon mentions it, WHAT IF the Ringed City was beneath our noses the whole time in DKS1?
In DS2 the Iron Keep is at the top, with Earthen Peak below that and Huntsman's Copse/Undead Purgatory before that. In DS3, we have the dreg heap (filled with Ash), followed by the Earthen Peak Ruins, and then the foliage filled Ringed City. Undead Purgatory was a large circular structure. Could that have been the Ringed City?
As The Ringed City is still in the painting that you've entered in the beggining of the Ashes of Ariandel, I believe that Dark Souls 1's Lordran was one painting and Dark Souls 3's Lordran is completely different one. I'd say that every continent in the souls series (Boletaria, Dragnelic, Lordran and so on) are paintings. Just my weird theory :p. And also what if the painting that Painting Woman is to paint (lol) with BLOOD of the Dark Soul is Bloodborne world. That would be so cool. Rite?
All these revelations just turned my Dark Souls- world up-side down but at the same time it's all so clear, it's so obvious! Miyazaki is without a doubt a genius, and thank you Vaati for making these videos and for explaining all of this fantastic lore! :)
Vaaty, I'm sorry. Could you help us with subtitles? Because it's hard to understand everything and you are the most important youtuber that talks about dark souls' Lore so it's importan for us the complete understanding of what you say.
I love this narrative. I love the voice of the old man of dark souls 2. Dark souls 2 was a very personal souls game it was about you and what your darkness
This DLC was the best content in all of Dark Souls in my opinion. Never have I just stopped and stared at random scenery in a game before. Especially with that final area. The way it ended was perfect too, no cut scene just raw emotion.
" But the fact remains; hope exist in an Undead man, who has endured since the Age of Gods. " Damn this sentence hits me... The character of Gael reminds me of Greirat , when the slave is more noble than the king, and greater than the Gods.
This and other law videos on this chanel is what made me start playing dark souls. I know I started late and I'll admit I'm bad at the game but the story is so well put together that I just had to pick it up
Gywn will forever be a piece of shit. I love all the propaganda in the city though, he really tried to masquerade this prison as a sanctuary. I take joy in ending anything related to his legacy (minus Artorias).
INN C TV Yeah the Silver Knight statues were apart of the propaganda. Indoctrinating people into a religion which elevates Gwyn and the royal family into these all powerful, all righteous deities. Pffffffff.
suremaine still don't get why people hate Gwyn he's a hero a legend a god a king a savior of the world and he scrfaice him self to save the world from the age of dark what did he did wrong? i don't get someone explain please
suremaine Gwyn is basically like all the made up gods throughout human history especially the middle eastern ones, a complete self centered self righteous, genocidal jackass. Killing him when he exposed himself within the soul of cinder and usurping his precious flame for myself brought me great joy and vindication. On that note It's awesome the types of emotion the souls games can bring out of you.
Ahad Zeb it got dark souls wrong. Those who made DS2 made it their sole purpose to make it ultra hard which is such a big misunderstanding of why people liked DS. It has so many stupid mechanics like the health reduction every time you die, Lifegems are stupid you can buy as many as you want which destroys the good balanced healing you got with a limited number of healing in DS, the new stats which are so unnececary, the fall damage is ridiculous. The animations are so terrible I have no idea how they fucked up. The world and level design feels like they are designed to fuck YOU over in the worst possible way, and take the most obvious example like the earthen peak elevator to iron keep thats just lazy. The npc's are horrible they dont do things on their own they are just vendors or just go to majula and stays there, in the firs DS the npc's moved to different locations interacting with the world and had personal motivations. The bosses sucks they are uninspired and lacks variety.
Theclaw Yaww The combat in DS2 is a more refined version than 1, the animations are almost exactly the same, it was about equal in difficulty. Did you and I play the same DS2?
Just a stray thought, but what if the Dark going wild is what happens when it comes into contact with the light. Perhaps within the Dark there is only calm but from without the dark seems like a deadly raging fire. Maybe as the dark grows within it builds like a pressure and when it is great enough it explodes from within, essentially 'going wild'.
Get to a million subs vaati, you've earned it. I've been watchin since all we had was ds1, lots of speculation and some sad stories. Glad you've stuck with it.
Though I've watched loads of SoulsBorne lore videos, I think you are still the best. You have a way of explaining things understandably. Also, your voice is quite pleasant, I'll just leave it at that :) Keep making awesome content man! :)
The locusts' dialougue and item descriptions along with a bunch more from the ringed city implies that my own theory of the dark could hold some truths. My own interpretation of the Dark since Ds1 has been that there is nothing wrong with it itself, it's the natural progression and evolution of the world. But with it sealed away and cast aside by the gods causes it to bubble up and explode with massive concentrations of it leading to uncontrollable (shall we say cancer-like) mutations creating monsters instead (Oolacile and the four kings are excellent examples of this). In length you could say the world itself ends up turning in on itself as it's constantly prevented to move on as it's supposed to.
That makes a lot of sense and it is my favorite theroy, by casting the sigil of fire on humanity Gwyn contradicted the dark which made it unpredictable and dangerous ready to explode because it couldn't function normaly.
This is the theory I'm tending too as well now, but up till now I don't know that there was quiiiiite enough to support it. It makes the story extremely compelling and rewarding. It's amazing how slow burning the Ringed City is in my mind. I adored the final boss because I feel I got why it was the way it was, but the deeper meanings of the story at large and what this means for the series has taken a while to really set in.
I only noticed this the other day but I think the fight vs Gael supports my theory. He was a small guy who apparently grew only while eating the dark souls, during the first 3rd of his health bar though he's like a monkey flailing a stick around then he stands up, using sophisticated moves, a crossbow and an evolved miracle with 5 discs instead of 1. Finally he basically starts flying and the sheer power has a world-ending feel to it.
I now think that "undeath" is the natural state of humans : Darkness, in time, becomes humanity (see deep soul , great deep soul ,great soul dregs, and the openingcutscene of dks1) These humans are not the same as in the real world, they don't age. But the darksign, hidden during the "best moments" of the age of fire, slowly eats away their humanity, making them go old (notice how a hollow character is basically someone who got VERY old VERY fast) , and die. This is what Aldia, for me, meant when he said "'humans assumed a fleeting form" Once, humans knew how to countrol darkness , as in the armor and weapons of the ringed knights. But , no trace of this can be "seen" because everything was sealed away by fire. They could control darkness, and never went "hollow". But with the Age of fire, humans outside the ringed city were fed lies by the gods, and forgot how to control their inner darkness, and they even forgot they came from it. Which is why, when the fire dwindle, the darksign, which was hidden away, becomes visible, and the seal start to tear (dark sigils) , but the problem is : the humans now, they don't know how to control the dark, and so it leaks out of them , and they go hollow. The gods take advantage of that, and tell all humans that the dark sigils are bad, that it's a bad thing. But, you see, you can get all 8 dark sigils, and still not go hollow (just stay alive for that, after having used a purging stone) The gods just played with words, defining "life" as growing old and dying (your darkness disappearing gradually, eaten away by the hidden darksign on you) and "undeath" as being afflicted by the darksign, even though they really are the one who put the darksign on humanity, and the problem only started because the seal is weakening. So, is my theory cool ? .
Kamden Kenerly The gods wanted the humans outside the ringed city to believe that "undeath" was not their natural state. Yuria talks about "the most honest shape of man" because when you are a "hollow" (with dark sigils) you gains access to your darkness , making you more powerful (free level ups) AND close to the original humans who had neither the dark sign nor the dark sigils, because THEY could freely control darkness (ringed knight stuff description). The gods DID place the darksign upon humans (100% sure) but they did that VERY EARLY ( think about when did the events of the ringed city took place, it was very early when the war with the dragons was still a thing) . Now that we know (again, 100%) that the darksign did exist at this time, it only makes sense to think it was applied to all of humanity, but was hidden away with the power of the fast fading flame. Hence the darksign "randomly" appearing on humans when the fire fade : the gods NEVER applied it to the humans at this time (it never made sense) , it was just revealed. Also, see pictures of the original humans in the dks1 cutscene ? Now do you dare tell me they look "'living" according to the gods description, and that they don't like like hollows at all. Thank you, for reading my OBJECTION to your OBJECTION to my theory =)
You get all Dark Sigils, but don't go hollow due to character powers. That's why Anri, as well as so many others, go hollow and you don't. It would pretty annoying of you lost all of your progress because you died too many times.
It's not "THE natural state" it's : "the closest you can get to the natural state". Look at my second comment in this thread, my answer to Kamden Kenerly. The natural state of a human in this world is a state without the dark sign and without dark sigils, and in this state humans can access their own darkness naturally. Being a "hollow" can have two meaning depending on what you consider : One : someone "hollow" is someone who is FULLY a hollow, meaning the skinny/gross looking and mad people. Second, a hollow is someone who has at least ONE dark sigil , meaning their humanity is "always" in the process of leaking, and without your humanity you become one of those skinny, mad people. Remember, a dark sigil is essentially a byproduct of the dark sign, a dark sigil being like a hole opening up in the seal because of the weakening of the darksign. It's not great nor bad technically, it's just that for "normal" humans after the Age of Fire, they don't know how to control their darkness so it leaks out ( that is bad). But for you, the Champion of Ash, and for may hollows in Londor, probably like Yuria , it's a source of power, because it gives you access to your own darkness, meaning you are closer to the "true" humans, therefore a hollow (second meaning, not the mad people) is "the most honest shape of man"
One little subtle, fleeting perhabs even, detail that i haven't seen mentioned much, is that Gaels messages throughout the Dreg Heap oozes (or are imbued with) skulls - much like his cloak in the final two stages when we fight him. So he was probably already hollowed out even before his feast of Pygmies - which suggests a great many things about willpower when hollowed... Gael is as determined as, we the players even in the darkest hours...
I'm sad because Dark Souls is over, and I'm also sad because your lore videos about DS will soon be over too. Thank you for making that game even better Vaati. (and damn those shots of Midir flying are great !)
Just finished Ringed City and killed the First Flame so I can finally watch this set of videos. What a game. What a world. As the credits rolled, I really hope that after the age of dark, this world will heal and become anew.
It matters more than just for that lol It basicly started the whole cycle-theme, it brought Aldia into the game and the motivation to find a different conclusion to the problem other than "link fire vs dark lord".
lol you mean the remastered version lol. They threw that in there because they realized how disconnected DS2 was lol. You handful of DS2 stans are pathetic. Only reason why that game matters is because on PVP. This is why DS2 is rarely talked about outside PVP, DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!
this is your best video, seriously, incredible work, excellent camera angles and perfect script, really like the idea of the Dark being corrupted by the seal of fire. can't wait for part 2!
If you put your white summon sign outside the judicature boss fight you can be summoned as a spear of the church. I only tried once so it could be a glitch. Im not sure if there is any lore about that but who better to ask/tell. Great video Vaati.
was Gwyn right to fear the dark? yes he was. was his actions against the dark right? no. there are many things in the world to fear but destroying those things or warding them away is, as most acts of fear and paranoia do, makes things worse. ironically, in his fear of man, Gwyn does what is the most human to do. he feared something he most likely didn't fully understand and instead of understanding it, he sought to rid the world of it. it is not the dark he should of feared and in truth I don't think it was the only thing he feared. he simply feared all that could take from him everything he risked life and limb for and allowed that fear to control him. how funny for a Lord so high and mighty, his actions were ever so human. the dark may not even had been that much of a threat if he didn't aggravated it but that is something that none will ever know
Humans were powerful with no doubt, ringed city knights could kill dragons so he had right in fearing humans and humanity because of the feats we could accomplish. However I do believe by branding humanity with the dark sign in an attempt to hinder the dark it only made it more dangerous, destructive and unpredictable.
everyone on Gwyn's side could kill dragons. meaning humans were equal in power to Gwyn's subjects. could be why he focused so much against them and feared them so was not because the dark itself but how powerful the dark made humanity become
ZBGameSlayer Gwyn sort of reminds me of Odin. They both sought to delay something that the both viewed as the end of all things (Ragnarok/The Age of Dark) by any means necessary. However, both are ultimately doomed to fail, in part due to their own actions and preordained fate, yet both fail to realize that the world will still survive the end they fought (Lif and Lithrathsir/whatever age follows the Age of Dark). Coincidentally, Odin had the monikers of Lord of the Undead and The Oathbreaker.
Dude! I've always played the SoulsBorne games not because of the lore but simply for the challenge. I don't know how I came across your channel, but I really am thankful, I've binge watched most of your videos on lore and you have a knack for story telling, seriously talented. I've since replaced all the SoulsBorne games, bar Demon souls, and I have a much greater appreciation for them and that's a big part thanx to you. Just wanted to say keep up the fantastic work, big fan here!
Its kinda freaky how dark souls lore can be cobbeled upp to psychiatry. And the founders off it, how they thaught about man. "Don't fear or ignore the darkness in humanity. Recognize it, embrace it and understand it to not become the monster you can be (aka wild humanity). If you ignore it/seal it away you wont be prepared, or ready to stand against the darkness that is inside yourself.
"She lived in fear of the things that gnawed at her flesh, yet the abyss had yet to produce such creatures" Hinting at that the abyss never created evil or monsterous creatures it was all in her head.
Thor M I honestly think so. It's very clear to me the souls games are very symbolic, but like many great stories, what they symbolize could be one of many things.
I like to think that the Darksign is a sort of twisted harmony, with the Dark Soul of Man feeding the flaming RIng and the Flame in turn keeping the Dark at bay. A cycle unfolding, repeating, on and on, until the End of Time itself.
I have a different headcanon, you know the Sun is a wonderous body, seemingly liked to the Flame and the Lord Souls. At the end of the World, we see something happening to the Sun, very much looking like a solar eclipse but with a larger ring and its somehow going downwards, wich is what i see as a Sign of the world ending and the Sun not beeing a Star. Like... not a Star in the Sky, more like a creation to bring disparity, maybe even by the Lord of Sunlight. [with Soliar constantly looking for a Sun]. The Cursed Darksign looks awfully like that ring around the eclipse. That ring is also called a "Corona" or "Crown" I believe that, when the fire fades, the illusion of a normal human form fades in death. much like the illusion of the Sun fades at the end of the world. And it looks the same, because it is the same. Its linked to one another. We are all tiny flames, flickering in the Dark before we hollow.
So I've gotten back into watching a lot of lore videos for Darks Souls and Bloodborne, and started to wonder how the first flame happened in Dark Souls. I mean how does a dark and calm world suddenly get engulfed in flames? But then I thought about the dark and calm world part. Isn't that the same type of world that the painter in the Painted World of Ariandel wants to create? If you know even the slightest bit about Dark Souls lore, you would know that it's filled to the brim with repetition and such. Would it be such a stretch to believe that the world in Dark Souls isn't some sort of painted world like Ariandel that the dragons escaped into since for whatever reason their previous world died in a sense? I mean I expected the world in DS to keep on going since it was stuck in an endless cycle of light and dark, but it eventually came to an end, so it could mean that there has been previous worlds that ended the same way. Just a thought. Like if you agree
Collin Brown the thing about the age of ancients was That it wasn't cold at all. Before the first flame erupted there was no such thing as "cold". The only things that existed were the above and the below. Though the idea that the world Dark Souls take place in is also a painted world and the inhabitants don't know it because they stayed the ancient dragons (who would be the only beings aware of this fact) is interesting.
![Dark Souls 3 ► Story of the Ringed City [Part 2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/V5AYym15cig/mqdefault.jpg)
![Dark Souls 3 ► Story of the Ringed City [Part 2]](/img/tr.png)
After all these years I finally *fully* understand the Dark Sign, wow. It never clicked that the fire was supposed to hold in the dark in the middle.
Always thought it was a full circle of fire that was slowly being eaten up from the middle by the darkness.
Стефaн Сoлев ah but there's the irony of the story!
For long time playing this game , i didnt understand shit , till now i dont understand wtf is going on and y that lady in the firelink ask for souls she is sick
@@mulhambajaber9274 hahah so true :D Everytime I think I finally understood it I actually didn't.
@Cavalo Niilista do Diabo more like berserk reference, dark sign is basically the brand of sacrifice
Ohh, Filianore, help me, please... The Red-hood is come to eat us... to eat our DARK SOULS™ III : THE RINGED CITY™
after three games and six DLCs, we finally get our title drop.
Roll credits!
Is this the blood? The blood of the DARK SOULS™ III : THE RINGED CITY™ ?
but your progenitor found a fourth unique soul, the DARK SOUL™: ARTORIAS OF THE ABYSS™
lol, Gael wanna eat the game disc so much.
I wonder if Gael has found the pigment.The DARK SOULS III : THE RINGED CITY
Let's appreciate how OP ringed knights were during the war. Despite their equipment being very poorly made to fight dragons and being nerfed by Gwyn they each brought back an arch dragon head as proof of killing one.
Those aren't the heads of archdragons but of their weaker descendants. It says so in the item descriptions.
@@will2brown50ah, thank you for the correction, but still they were basically sent on a suicide mission and came back with an enemy's head.
@@lowkeyarki7091 true
@@lowkeyarki7091 tbf I only corrected you because many people are under the impression that humans some how did most of the work for the gods, which is not true. What is true is that they did a substantial amount of work that they were never praised for.
Just how many immortal dragons are there ? really for their heads to become standard gear for Knights
also my account got banned while I was doing these TERRIBLE CAMERA HACKS, I hope this video was worth it :)
does anyone have miyazaki's number i need 2 call him
Family accounts baby
VaatiVidya your bans are always a symbol of quality and commitment. keep up the good work.
VaatiVidya Yes, indeed. 696-696-6969. Thank me later. It is legit, trust me ;)
Yeah how does that family sharing workaround work? I've heard about it
Every fleeing man must be caught. Every secret must be unearthed.
Such is the conceit of the self-proclaimed seeker of truth.
AcidSaber But in the end, you lack the stomach. For the agony you'll bring upon yourself...
Secrets, are secrets for a reason.
And some do not wish to see them uncovered. Especially when the secrets are particularly unseemly…
AcidSaber Edgy....
Oh how the secrets beckon so sweetly .
“No matter how tender, how exquisite: A lie will remain a lie.”
Whenever Aldia shows up things become a million times more badass
@@ashikjaman1940 dude's a god in his own right.
best line in the entire series imo, the delivery is pefect
Dark Souls 2 Aldia.
!!!!
The first time I met the crawling dude I was wearing the Slave Knight Hood and when he said "The red hood has came to eat us" I was like holy shit, I just discovered secret dialogue. Then I met Gael and was like aaaaaahhhh okay, and he proceeded to fuck my shit up
Petter Olsrud you made my day
Petter Olsrud k
The fact that the Darksign, the logo of the entire series established 6 years prior to this DLC’s release, finally has context in the very last piece of Dark Souls content is some wild foreshadowing.
I like how every time we get new dark souls content there’s always another child of gwyn we didn’t know about
Yeah Gwyn is basically zeus of the dark soul's world he can control lightning and has a lot of kids
and their sons, Nameless king and Kratos both gods of war
Or of Gwynevere
@@07Bahamut kratos isn't accually a part of greek mythology and the only greek god who shares a similar name to Kratos wasn't a god of war
@@07Bahamut ares is the son of zeus and is the greek god of courage and war
I really love how the straight sword wielding Ringed City Knights have that same wombo combo that the Soul of Cinder do. They’re mimicking the style of their lord
yes
Gael was to the Dark Soul what the Soul of Cinder was to the first flame.
A vessel or holder
@@aidanbrendel1592
A vessel, nothing more, nothing less. The Dark Soul is not a power granted to any one individual, but the tool needed to birth a new world.
You made me touch my self with this comment
@@MeUngaBungaButYouAreWorst Thank you, Minzir, very cool!
@@MeUngaBungaButYouAreWorst And now we know that
L E T T H E F E A S T B E G I N .
Y𝓲𝓴𝒆𝓼 I shall partake
and then the painting that this little lady in ariandel draw was yharnam
Thicc Banger yharnam is only the name of the city
Your charakter names the picture.
Fear not the dark my friend
Break bread
Gwyn is literally Griffith at this point, he cursed the very people who made him who he was and then he sacrificed them to preserve that power.
The Main Duck daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn
Does that mean Anor Londo is Falconia
This series was inspired by berserk. Awesome catch!
Well Anor Londo does resemble Falconia A LOT...
It's great that we got to kick his hollow ass. Now, if we could do the same about that effeminate bitch Griffith...
Oh man I've been waiting for this since I finished the game. Every time I didn't understand a character all I could think was "Vaati is going to have so much lore on this!"
Proper Bird I've been waiting too ! Praise the lore!
Proper Bird+ I have been waiting Since #demonsoulsandarksouls2
He is the man with the lore. His voice fits darksouls mood perfectly.
I agree, his voice rocks. Pretty much the only reason I like to watch his videos. Most of the content comes down to a "maybe this happened, what do you think guys?".
DaveControl and Fungo are way better channels to understand the convoluted plot points of DS.
Mateusz Tobola not so much dude I mean you have to think about how the dark souls lore is most of it is designed to leave a bit of it up to imagination and fan theory so little is left in stone really that its more respectable to end with a question
Vaati, you probably get this a lot but thank you for doing this. I never had the time, knowhow, or patience to dig deeper into these games and get the lore of it all. But with your channel I've been able to enjoy these games on another, even higher, level .
I hope you continue the great work.
I might be late 5 years,almost 6. But after all these years, after not playing dark souls for 3 years, I still come back here and rewatch it again and again
After 3 years of watching your Dark Souls lore videos, I'm still lost on what's going on. But Your voice is just relaxing.
^^
This is two years late but. Gwin needs a night light cause he's afraid of the dark and it made him cranky. Proceeds to fuck everything up. You clean up the mess or make it worse... done.
@@bruva207 greatest synopsis ever😂👍
couldn't have said it better lol
He was ASMR before there was ASMR.
*"But ignore the "hows" for now, and simply accept that she has this power"*
Ignore the truth and accept on nothing but faith? Do I look like a cleric to you?
I think you just discovered her source of power
*This comment was made by Patches gang*
i can imagine Patches would respond with that line delivered in my head.
G’day! You look reasonably sane. What are you doing in this comment section? Are you a cleric or something?
You intellect nerds wish you could shoot lightning
I noticed, the dialogue at the end calls The Abyss a mother of the world, and Solaire calls the Sunlight a magnificent father. Perhaps that is just what the entire world and humanity is in Dark Souls, a mix between the light and dark, with too much dark being terrible and evil (Artorias, New Londo with the Four Kings, Kaathe, and the corrupted Manus, who is called the Father of the Abyss, so perhaps the Abyss is almost like a subcategory of darkness?) along with too much light (Gwyn, Izalith, maybe even Nito considering his greed, the demons, the angels, and many more.) But when the dragons existed, there wasn't any light or dark, just gray. But when a fire appeared, granting light, it also brought a shadow, granting dark. The second ending to Dark Souls 3, where you let the fire fade, says the world will succumb to darkness, but light will appear again sometime later, maybe this acts as a way to reset the Age of Fire and bring balance again?
I have always thought the abyss was a giant clump of humanity and when humans overdose on humanity they become monstrosities just like how the people of Izilith became demons
(6 years later, nice necroposting, me.) I believe you are right. The appearance of the First Flame brought about the world's disparities. The duality Light=Gods and Dark=Humans superficially makes sense, until you realize that humanity was created by a Lord Soul as well. My (very Jungian) reading is that by merging light and dark (like in the secret ending), it's like humanity both accepts the good and the bad within themselves, by "integrating their light/fire" instead of "integrating their shadow".
@@MCSorryyou are correct my friend, it is constantly stated throughout the series that the age of dark (age of man) is the natural next stage after the age of fire, so the duality was always meant to exist and be a healthy thing, it was literally all because of Gwyns denial of this natural order that every single bad thing ever in the whole franchise happened haha
@@MCSorrythe brighter the flame, deeper the Shadow It casts
Dark Souls needs to become an 8-part movie series
Too many plotholes. You cant make a legit movie/book out of it as its meant to be a fanfic paradise.
You put it out and none of it will be canon.
@@wanderingbufoon they should just do it to fuck with people
Kevin Pinto on goddddddd
Dark souls lore is way to complicated and based on self interpretation. A movie couldn't possibly capture even a small part of what makes the story of dark souls great.
In games you can put whatever you want in them, long as you want, taking your time. A movie has multiple limits, it wouldn't work
The place where you fight midir is the same place where the furtive pigmy appears on the ds 1 cinematic
Can't defeat Friede yet but dude if you are telling the truth can't wait to have a screen shot of that scenary
Humberto Negrón you beat friede yet?
@@Mc1ovin420 nop :( I defeated them until the second phase. The third one is too hard
Humberto Negrón oof if you want I could help, what console you on?
@@humbertonegron5788 have you tried summoning Gael for assistance in the fight? Friede was pretty tough ngl, but it makes it easier hitting her when shes too busy focusing on killing Gael.
I find it interesting how Gael is almost a foil to the soul of cinder. Let me explain: The soul of cinder is essentially the Light Soul manifest--a conglomeration of all the past lords, all the previous warriors to link the flame come together as a single, defiant entity. It defends the kiln to the death, as though defending itself against potential usurpers out of desperation and paranoia. It is made up of all the generations that came before, and that is reflected in its move set and lore. The soul of cinder is all about the fear of losing power, the fear of being consumed by the dark. Thus the Light Soul is drawn to it, and other desperate, powerful beings like it.Gael is essentially the same, except he is the manifestation of the Dark Soul--note that his move set shows influences of both Artorias and Manus (probably other notable abyss creatures as well). Gael's story--the silent, unnoticed struggle of staying alive against all odds, and keeping his purpose to the end of his life--is perhaps the most human of any character of Dark Souls, and that is why he is drawn to the Dark Soul, and the Dark Soul to him.I wonder though if there are manifestations of the Life and Death souls in DS3 as well. Perhaps the Demon Prince or Demon King have taken to the Life Soul, and Aldrich (who may or may not have consumed Nito) has come to represent the Death Soul.This is mostly speculation, but I found the thought of the four original souls slowly pulling themselves together into singular beings after so long interesting. I'm curious to see what others think about this.
This theory is very Nito!
The entire point of the end game of the Dark Soul franchise is making the first flame.
You cant light the flame with only a few souls. Just look at what happened to Izalith when the witch did exactly that. Or Yhorm.
It was incomplete. In DS, and any other cycle, the reason why it always runs out is somewhat explained in DS2. Or we get a real clue of what is going on. Its us.
The reason why its the chosen undead that can and must link the flame is that the pygmies have dark souls within them.
The other 3 lord souls are complete. Well, not really. Only Gwyns and Nitos were completed. The other 2, Life and Dark, are scattered amongst their respective people.
But in DS3, Gael had hunted every pygmy there are (only you 2 remain). The demons are extinct and youve killed the last ones (demon prince and the last king)
Gwyn and Nito is basically sitting at the bonfire (cuz you brought the other lords of cinder together by force).
Basically, if you do it properly (chronologically correct), you usurp the flame (you become the first flame) as you are the very first one to finally complete the dark soul. You literally were the last pygmy standing after you killed Gael.
The church of sable thought its because of their ritual (which it does play a small role) but it simply because you were at the very end of the world. You killed the last living being. You had all 4 lord souls completed, which no one has ever done. That is why you could "usurp" the flame.
Really, all you did was become the bonfire. Good job. Someone from the painted world is going to drive a sword through you and claim your soul starting the whole series all over again.
@@wanderingbufoon no dragons ever again? That fukin sucks
@@avgvstvs7 Nameless King after the war
@@avgvstvs7 it's hinted the dragons are merely waiting for this "change" foolishness to die down to return. By breaking the firelink curse the age of dark begins, bringing the world closer to returning to the age of grey.
"And so... She lived in fear, of the dark, of the things that gnawed at her flesh. And yet, the abyss hath yet to produce any such creature"
Says the monster born in the abyss that gnaws your face off.
This ^ Exactly.
He's like the dark souls equivalent of an angler fish, dangling a shiny light in front of you about the abyss not being a bad thing whilst lying to your face.
Well, the tiny creatures may also be related to the Deep, which is distinctly not the Abyss.
@@michaelhenry3234 Yeah, doesn't the pontiff knight curved sword and scythe have tiny bugs that eat away the metal? I forget if they are related to the deep or abyss, I'd have to look up the equipment description. But I could have sworn it specified the deep. Especially considering the Pontiff's relation to Aldrich, and the Aldrich faithful's relation to the Deep.
(casually eats skin)
@@hunterotte4085 the deep is like the abyss but deeply corrupted by the very worst of humanity. Tbf I've never really truly accepted that the abyss is not evil. But the deep is definitely a worse form of it.
Why is it I can listen to the NPC's say all this sh*t and can't make heads nor tails of it yet when Vaati speaks it with that smooth Straya accent it's all so clear?
Old Cyril The Gaming Grandpa cuz he speaks actual English?
What? It's still not even that clear.
PremiumCache ye it is tho
Ya boi!
I think that the aggressive nature of the Abyss may be the dark trying to forcefully fix what gwyn messed up. A natural defensive reaction so to speak.
The only one who never lied to us was Kaathe.. I wish he would have been present at the end..
Kaathe told us of our purpose, heritage and the power we can obtain and after we killed Gwyn, he even awaits us as promised.
Kaathe even acknowledges when we faithfully followed his teachings and were strong enough to not fall for temptations unlike those who failed him like the Four Kings.
He orders his Darkwraith to gather Humanity in order to reassemble the Dark Soul.
Kaathe was the first and the last to every try to bring order and negate Gwyns failures.
And I don't believe in Oolaciles innocence as they stole Manus' pendant who in turn lost his shit and brings the city down to the ground.
That Mushroom even treats Artorias as a burden who must be killed as he was corrupted without any regret.
Kaathe always searched for a Dark Lord and Manus was an option.
What the Oolacilians did to Manus was beyond his control
also Ingward proudly states how New Londo was flooded in order to contain the Darkness.
He is familiar with Frampt and only gives the Seal Key to the Champion of the Gods...
That's how far Gwyn is willing to go just to proceed his age of fire.
killing off populations, burning humanity to ashes and imprisoning the Pygmies in a giant Ring which is like a mocking of their burden, the Dark Sign.
But that doesn't change my view on him being among the good guys in the end..
I only said I wish he would have been around.
And she rather means that he cannot fullfill his wish when SHE dies.
It's always the search for a new Dark Lord.
And using the Sigils to end the Age of Fire finally fullfills his wish
No one is really good at all, that's why it is called Dark Souls.
And truth always hurts, doesn't it?
If you kill Blades of the Darkmoon in DSIII as darkwraith you even receive a forked tongue, indicating they are liars and are defending just that.
I always thought there is somewhat like worries in his voice.
He wants it done fast BUT correctly because after all the failed attempts he just wants to go for sure.
Kaathe explicitly states that his previous guys failed him, namely the Four Kings and they attack you without reason because they are corrupted.
But Kaathe is not and neither are you in an Abyss which is completely peaceful and calm, unlike the Chasm in Oolacile created by Manus who was driven into his monstrous state by force and pain
Just call them Dark Spirit if it fits the bill.
But since Wraiths go for humanity the confusion makes sense
Pffft Kaathe fanboys, am I right?
Arthur Moraes it isn't stated that it was Kaathe that lures Oolacile, it's implied
I was literally JUST thinking "man I wish Vaati would drop a new video"... Praise The Sun
Praise the Sun Indeed
kidfazer . . . Yes
I checked his channel 10 minutes ago thinking "Huh Vaati hasn't uploaded in almost 3 weeks now" and bam got this bad boy in my notifcations.
Sunlight Sage praise the SUN!!!
Hah me tooo! :D
It’s kinda sad thinking that everything and everyone you’ve known in the soul series is dead or gone, Solaire, Siegward, Firelink Shrine, Anor Londo, Sif, etc. And to top it all off, it’s all because of us, the player. We practically killed everyone
except we didn't
this is not some story were we are the clear vilain, the world itslef is falling appart because of a decaying fate imposed by a fearful god, the player as no responsability in the tragedy of this world ending in suffering and despair we didn't " killed everyone " we assited powerless to they'r end
Everybody is already dead.
Except Andre maybe.
@HipsterSnake with magical items like the Coals you bring him?
@@staomruel that went right over your head
@@staomruel Dude, your username gave me a punch to the gut of Malazan nostalgia
Aldia's voice is so fucking amazing
The Ethereal Lord He honestly made the lore of DS2 more interesting, and damn is his voice amazing. Boss fight was bland but his OST is fucking awesome!
If Gwyn placed a seal on the pygmies to contain their dark souls, it means the seal's effect is transgenerational; future offspring is born with it. Pretty creepy.
Zieg epic
@DabonJannies pretty well explained, thanks for that
So basically, slavery
@@ashikjaman1940 Precisely.
Undead can have children? How does undead sperm work?
3:50 That whole part where you expose the symbolism of the darksign was epic.
7:40 dat Edwad cameo tho
It's meeeee
The livestream with edwad at that part was soooo loooong.
I assume because Vaabi had to do a bunch of reshoots? Or was Criken being a Derp and not letting Vaati get what he needed?
I have not seen the stream but if you ask me Vaati WANTED to reshoot this scene as many times as possible. Just imagine the chills going down his spine after seeing Edwad getting mowed down by the archers for the 14th time.
sabata2 the were goofing a lot. Classic edwad and "the others".
my thoughts on the abyss was that it's like fire, they can both can be gentle and calm, but also wild and dangerous
C.D.P organization that.....actually makes sense, in a weird way
I think its like Nito's death miasma. Its those feelings and thoughts of humanity seeping out.
It happens to just be maddening considering how they were treated.
Sure they can be gentle and calming much like the dark can grant respite and solidarity to someone who needs to be left alone.
But knowing that the dark soul is shared amongst pygmies, i think it created a different characteristic. Something which gives birth to the abyss. That something is feelings that had been bottled up and has been released from its vessel unto a new one. One that may not be able to fully cope/contain it so it seeps out.
I always thought about it like this.
What Chaos is to the first flame is what the Deep is to the Abyss. The most important thing to note is that the words "Abyss" and "Deep" mean very nearly the same thing, and in the context of Aldrich's The Deep, they have the exact same connotations. Aldrich had visions of "the coming age of the deep sea," the significance of which is that the light of the sun does not penetrate into the depths of the ocean. This part of the ocean is commonly know as the abyssal zone.
"a corpse should be left well alone"
"..and the dark soul is better left well alone"
kos = dark soul confirmed
or as some may say kosm
Aldia is so cool. It's awesome how directly they tied his dialogue into the DLC. I wonder if SOTFS was made primarily in preparation for this DLC.
Still waiting for that long ass video where you squeeze in all the lore in all of Dark Souls into one
That is going to be one emotional rollercoaster.
I'd pay for it. real nice decent money.
it's doable, but that'd be such a massiva amount of data... it would take months just to make part 1 of 3.
Ville Lepoaho ikr
Agreed...would make for a nice feature film documentary
maybe fearing the dark might be what makes it dangerous.
Yeah right?! Every character twisted by the abyss tried to fight against it at some point!!!
The real reason why its so dangerous is because the nature of the dark soul that the first pygmy did.
The pygmy fragmented and shared the soul to EVERYONE. Now the dark soul becomes humanity: feelings, thoughts, dreams, etc.
Imagine gaining the dark soul. While it reverses you being a hollow, you are now brimming with memories, thoughts, dreams, and emotions from its previous retainer.
It can make someone wild. Like a berserker. Like Gael.
Only those who are strong can keep their abyss at bay. Who can still retain some part of themselves. A goal, a memory, a promise.
Gael, unlike Manus, never wavered and contained his abyss. He never turned into a moster like Manus did. He didnt let his emotions run rampant as to finish his promise. He stayed true, uncorrupted.
This is why the abyss is so scary. It turns beings wild, not because of the dark, but because of the "things that gnaw" the thoughts, fears, dreams, emotions of humans who carried it before they released/was taken their humanity.
Gwyns seal of fire on the ringed knights and the dark sigil are literally what caused it (the abyss) to erupt, like building a wall to hold back a flood, eventually it's gonna fuck things up
@@rodrigobritobernardo7913 And then there's Gael who in the end accepts the dark. He goes hollow but is not only significantly stronger but is actually more composed and in control than when he was resisting.
Ah... a Vaati video, such a wondrous gift, his voice radiating a calm and welcoming demeanor, like a kindly father.
If only I could be so grossly knowledgeable as he.
Vendrick was right all along ...
I know 4 Years later
But can we please briefly enjoy how incredibly epic Vaati initiated the fight with Gael.
"At the end of the world the final battle begins. A battle between an undead slave knight who has existed since the age of the gods and an unkindled ash, born of the cycle itself. And in the ruins of countless civilizations, their battle sheds the blood of the dark Soul from which a new world can be born."
All of our challenges led us to this event. It's like a battle of the gods at the end of time. Truly epic, I wet myself with these words out of sheer excitement.
8:33 automatic subtitles literally say "my keys are gone".
Judicator Argo sure has every day problems 🤔
8:55 Oolacile = Allah seal
good one
Todor Cvetkovic OOLACILE ACKBAR
I didn't understand anything, and it was still a great video
Personally the dark sign looks like darkness encircled by fire. The darkness cannot progress because of the fire, so it burns from the fire. A constant reminder of darkness' inability to progress further than it has
Something I noticed was the similarities between the Locust Preachers, their songs and the Demon of Song from DS2 (Similar face, hands, insatiable appetite and using songs to lure people in) which seems to be a large Locust Preacher who is being eaten or has been eaten by a giant frog and is being used to lure unfortunate souls in. Just something that seems interesting.
Reisyn songs? i never heard a song from the Locust, they preach and wisper, but they do not sing.
As stated in this video, "The white-faced locusts were meant to beckon men to the dark with sermons". The full sentence is "The white-faced locusts were meant to beckon men to the dark with sermons, but most of them are unable to think past their own stomachs, the unruly mob!" Tl;dr, they lure men in with song and then eat them cause they have an insatiable hunger.
Sermons aren't songs.
Reisyn Sermons not songs, SERMONS. Beckon the men with SERMONS.
Demon of song originally singed along with the milfanito to keep the dead safe , was only when it became corruptod that he became the monster we fight in DS2
Turn on subtitles at 4:12 when aldia speaks.
We have to re write the lore
Browncheeze Lord large burger and whorish wizard.
Lord Large Burger, lol.
“The answer bettween light and dark lies somewhere in the middle.” This reminds me of the pilgrims for some reason, with their shell to protect from the burst of beast, the pus of man. As well as the roots that consume them and crawl up from below. Above and below, the fire and the dark, what’s right lies somewhere in the middle, the unkindled’s choice to make. Or maybe something even more. Like the deep perhaps, is what shall become of the future. Also Yuria and Elfride, both with contrasting views of what should be, perhaps the answer lies, “somewhere in the middle” like with the third sister, Lillian. Maybe the other sisters know not of what’s right, maybe Lillian knows what’s right, and maybe the deep is what’s right.
Aldia was right all along. The answer was something beyond light and dark.
Paint a new world in blood. Borne of the blood.....oh shit
Bloodborne 2
Browncheeze Miyazaki has stated they are not linked.
Karshe Oberon Where?
Cujo99 In an interview he gets asked these questions all the time.
but watch out : Half Light -> Half Life... let's hope Bloodborne 2 won't be a 15-year rumour
"The locust preacher posits that the Abyss was never a threat. Or, at least that it never was in the beginning. Perhaps it is the seal of fire that casts the shadows sending the dark into a frenzy." FFFUUUUUUUUU--
4:10 Aldia's dialogue and the music gave me chills. So great
I don't know about anyone else, but I love how the pygmy holds the smallest flame and yet the player character as a human seems to be the most powerful entity in the entire souls series.
To be fair, we never fought Gwyn at his highest. We managed to defeat ennemies using fragments of his soul... Who knows how strong he was when he had its full power ?
Darkprosper Great Souls seem to effect size so I imagine full powered gwyn wouldve been bigger maybe around gundyrs size and could likely move around in the air like his son the nameless king (after powered w stormdrake's lightning abilities) and probably be able to just atomize the main character. I mean he was essentially The Supreme being of the world in his time
Purposeful mistakes but someone would manage to beat him using only punches
Personally I also find it so poetic that, in ways, Slave Knight Gael is almost like an epitomized version of how we all started out in Dark Souls 1--a creature steeped in Dark, eaten away by the Darksign, wielding a broken blade...
I don't think necessarily that the player is the most powerful entity
it's just that, the player doesn't that
and so long as you don't flip the table and walk away from the game you will eventually end up killing the boss
think about it. You lose a bunch of times but you only need to win once
in a way, undeath is the greatest weapon of the player as it allows you to throw yourself against the wall over and over and over again until you finally break through
Best gaming series I have played in my life.
Beer Expert 420 agree!
No way around it.
The Souls series can be described in a similar fashion to Berserk (from my limited knowledge of Berserk). “Local man, too angry to die, gets a big sword and fights God.”
Problem here is in Dark Souls, we win. Guts...hasn’t been so lucky from what I hear.
Grabnok The Destroyer That covers most anime and JRPGs.
Lmao the all the grotesque events Guts have to go through is just depressing. Give it a read. Berserk has one of the greatest arcs in a piece of fiction ever,
@@IWantToStayAtYourHouse Old comment but Berserk just ain't my thing. I participate in most graphic violence in video games. With manga, I prefer more light-hearted/wholesome stuff. Most violent stuff I read has a fair amount of relief and fun thrown in to balance things out.
Berserk...isn't something I'd call "fun"
Granted, it's not made to be fun. It's violent, grim, gory, and downright tragic. That's just not my thing.
@@Grab_001 honestly that's a valid point, it's all just what you like
One thing I have been curious about. Why can we kill Midir? Isn't step one to killing an immortal dragon breaking its scales? I did not do that.
CubedQ probably was weakened and lost a lot of his archdragon perks due to all of that dark shit he ate. You can see dark crystalline material in his scales
Probably explains how much HP Midir has.
he's immortal not invulnerable, also it is possible that the dark weakened his scales effectiveness
CubedQ the asian term for immortal is flawed it means long life not undying
+DarkSoulsIsLove DarkSoulsIsLife Wait, so the Archdragons weren't invulnerable? Lightning didn't necessarily have to be the key? That makes Gwyn's conquest less interesting.
Best Souls lore on RUclips. Not filled with cringey voices and expletives. Just well research, well crafted content. Keep up the excellent work dude
7:41 Edwad has some of the best lore in this game, who needs a whole dlc's lore when you have him.
Thank you for shedding light on so many deeper layers of Dark Souls that are not easily seen, and making them visible to me to appreciate, Vaati. Like, for years.
Thanks Aldia is in here, i love this character, so deep yet so little in the entire serie...
5:21 I was wearing full black knight set plus shield and great sword and that guy asked if I'm a knight of the gods i responded yes and he said something among the lines of, I can sense the dark soul is you, or around that. It was really cool.
Damm secret dialogue? That's cool
Oh hey, MaatiMovie posted a new lore vid!
He wishes to share with us the lore of this land!
lets hope there are no green fatmen around this time.
Do I count as a green fat man even though I'm a dragon?
Generic Memes "He just wanted to tell us the lore of the _land_!"
Well, all you have to do is go RIGHT DOWN THE ROAD then.
"Fear not the dark, my friend, and let the feast begin."
000 0 Ahh, yes, yes, I remember now! Let the feast begin.
Let the feast begin.
I was playing through DarkSouls 2 the other day and i had a stunning realization, and I would like anyone to give me more details about this or their opinions on the matter, what if Ludleth from Courtland is the player character from Darksouls 2? In DarkSouls 2 at the end of the DLCs you *spoiler*
find out that with the 4 crowns combined you become immune to the effects of hollowing. Ludleth seem's to be the only "lord of Cinder" who seems to be unfit for the job. When killed it does not say "heir of fire destroyed" nor does he drop a large or significant soul, implying he didn't actually link the flame, just like our character in DarkSouls 2 is encouraged not to. When Ludleth dies he drops the skull ring which says
"One of Courland's transposed wonders. Derived from the soul of a Soulfeeder.
Easier to be detected by enemies.The Soulfeeder was a beast that insatiably absorbed souls to feed its own power. Even after its accursed corpse was burned, it is said that the pungent stench of souls left the air permanently stained."
Since he could die repeatedy and never suffer hollowing whats to say that he is not the soulfeeder and was not just accumulating souls. He knows of firelink shrine and the forgotten shrine, and above all else he knows of the firekeeper whose corpse we find in the bell tower in firelink shrine. Could that firekeeper that he mentions in his quotes actually be the emerald herald from DarkSouls two? This is just something I thought of guys so if anyone has more imformation on either of these topics whether be completely wrong or on to something I would like the feed back from you guys.
Deathfromobove interesting theory
Nope
Ludleth is Ludleth, it is not a Souls staple to feature a player character in a new game.
Nope, Ludleth is clearly a lord of cinder because at the end of the game he burns exactly the same as the other lords on the way to kiln
Ludleth was not intended to be a lord. Gundyr was the intended sacrifice, but he arrived late. Out of desperation, Ludleth broke time, sealing away the dark and taking Gundyr's place.
what if "convoluted" time is just different paintings, and everyone is just in their own painting of a bigger painting
Maybe a weird thing to say it, but Solaire's explanation in DS1, where "time has become convoluted", I almost saw it as if time itself had become undead.
Everyone is blaming Gwyn when its Nito who is at fault. He just needs to do his job but noo, im just gonna sleep and chill.
I mean if i was death, i would too. The hell with the mortal realm.
wanderingbufoon the thing is just that Nito must rule the deads.
@@wanderingbufoon Arguably death only exists because of nito and the undead curse is just the consequence of his powers faltering.
@@will2brown50 I thought death is his power and the undead curse was done for the purpose of relinking of the flame. Rather than it faltering, he chose not to bring death to them.
Does anyone else notice that you fight midir at the place where the first flame sprouted from in the dks1 opening cinematic?
Tulak Hord No, but now that you mention it they look almost identical.
Tulak Hord You fight the demon prince in the ruins of the original firelink shrine.
You think the Ringed City was actually around/beneath Lordran's walls? Cuz now that @Karshe Oberon mentions it, WHAT IF the Ringed City was beneath our noses the whole time in DKS1?
In DS2 the Iron Keep is at the top, with Earthen Peak below that and Huntsman's Copse/Undead Purgatory before that. In DS3, we have the dreg heap (filled with Ash), followed by the Earthen Peak Ruins, and then the foliage filled Ringed City. Undead Purgatory was a large circular structure. Could that have been the Ringed City?
As The Ringed City is still in the painting that you've entered in the beggining of the Ashes of Ariandel, I believe that Dark Souls 1's Lordran was one painting and Dark Souls 3's Lordran is completely different one. I'd say that every continent in the souls series (Boletaria, Dragnelic, Lordran and so on) are paintings. Just my weird theory :p.
And also what if the painting that Painting Woman is to paint (lol) with BLOOD of the Dark Soul is Bloodborne world. That would be so cool. Rite?
All these revelations just turned my Dark Souls- world up-side down but at the same time it's all so clear, it's so obvious! Miyazaki is without a doubt a genius, and thank you Vaati for making these videos and for explaining all of this fantastic lore! :)
Vaaty, I'm sorry. Could you help us with subtitles? Because it's hard to understand everything and you are the most important youtuber that talks about dark souls' Lore so it's importan for us the complete understanding of what you say.
up this comment...
I agree, i didn't understand a word of that "demon" from DSII or the Judicator Argo
I doubt that he could spare the time, it would have to be viewer submitted
Praise the sun for French viewers ans up this comment \[T]/
Claudio Stana Most prominent, not most important
13:16 Gwyn getting some action ;)
I love this narrative. I love the voice of the old man of dark souls 2. Dark souls 2 was a very personal souls game it was about you and what your darkness
7:42 Is it ... is it Edward, finally in a lore video? Edward and his holy pants of ember?
Sophor yes, it's me (name IRL is Edward :)
The whole DLC grabbing items and killing bosses, I always had the thought in the back of my mind "can't wait for vaati to make a video on all this".
This DLC was the best content in all of Dark Souls in my opinion. Never have I just stopped and stared at random scenery in a game before. Especially with that final area. The way it ended was perfect too, no cut scene just raw emotion.
" But the fact remains; hope exist in an Undead man, who has endured since the Age of Gods. "
Damn this sentence hits me... The character of Gael reminds me of Greirat , when the slave is more noble than the king, and greater than the Gods.
This and other law videos on this chanel is what made me start playing dark souls. I know I started late and I'll admit I'm bad at the game but the story is so well put together that I just had to pick it up
Gywn will forever be a piece of shit. I love all the propaganda in the city though, he really tried to masquerade this prison as a sanctuary. I take joy in ending anything related to his legacy (minus Artorias).
suremaine Artorias was sadly just one of Gwyn's puppets, he deserved better...
Sven Krustaf I know man, I know :(
INN C TV Yeah the Silver Knight statues were apart of the propaganda. Indoctrinating people into a religion which elevates Gwyn and the royal family into these all powerful, all righteous deities. Pffffffff.
suremaine still don't get why people hate Gwyn he's a hero a legend a god a king a savior of the world and he scrfaice him self to save the world from the age of dark what did he did wrong? i don't get someone explain please
suremaine Gwyn is basically like all the made up gods throughout human history especially the middle eastern ones, a complete self centered self righteous, genocidal jackass.
Killing him when he exposed himself within the soul of cinder and usurping his precious flame for myself brought me great joy and vindication.
On that note It's awesome the types of emotion the souls games can bring out of you.
"It's not the end of the world, but you can see it from here."
3:50 love the music in this part, so good!
I like how Dark Souls 2 plays a large role in explaining the Souls mythos, even though it hardly played a role in DS3
Ahad Zeb provably cause DS2 is bad
Theclaw Yaww DS2 is great
DS2 is the worst in the franchise however the worst in an amazing franchise is still a great game.
Ahad Zeb it got dark souls wrong. Those who made DS2 made it their sole purpose to make it ultra hard which is such a big misunderstanding of why people liked DS. It has so many stupid mechanics like the health reduction every time you die, Lifegems are stupid you can buy as many as you want which destroys the good balanced healing you got with a limited number of healing in DS, the new stats which are so unnececary, the fall damage is ridiculous. The animations are so terrible I have no idea how they fucked up. The world and level design feels like they are designed to fuck YOU over in the worst possible way, and take the most obvious example like the earthen peak elevator to iron keep thats just lazy. The npc's are horrible they dont do things on their own they are just vendors or just go to majula and stays there, in the firs DS the npc's moved to different locations interacting with the world and had personal motivations. The bosses sucks they are uninspired and lacks variety.
Theclaw Yaww The combat in DS2 is a more refined version than 1, the animations are almost exactly the same, it was about equal in difficulty.
Did you and I play the same DS2?
Just a stray thought, but what if the Dark going wild is what happens when it comes into contact with the light. Perhaps within the Dark there is only calm but from without the dark seems like a deadly raging fire. Maybe as the dark grows within it builds like a pressure and when it is great enough it explodes from within, essentially 'going wild'.
Get to a million subs vaati, you've earned it. I've been watchin since all we had was ds1, lots of speculation and some sad stories. Glad you've stuck with it.
Though I've watched loads of SoulsBorne lore videos, I think you are still the best.
You have a way of explaining things understandably. Also, your voice is quite pleasant, I'll just leave it at that :)
Keep making awesome content man! :)
The locusts' dialougue and item descriptions along with a bunch more from the ringed city implies that my own theory of the dark could hold some truths.
My own interpretation of the Dark since Ds1 has been that there is nothing wrong with it itself, it's the natural progression and evolution of the world. But with it sealed away and cast aside by the gods causes it to bubble up and explode with massive concentrations of it leading to uncontrollable (shall we say cancer-like) mutations creating monsters instead (Oolacile and the four kings are excellent examples of this). In length you could say the world itself ends up turning in on itself as it's constantly prevented to move on as it's supposed to.
That makes a lot of sense and it is my favorite theroy, by casting the sigil of fire on humanity Gwyn contradicted the dark which made it unpredictable and dangerous ready to explode because it couldn't function normaly.
Parklout Fear not the dark.
And let the feast begin.
This is the theory I'm tending too as well now, but up till now I don't know that there was quiiiiite enough to support it. It makes the story extremely compelling and rewarding.
It's amazing how slow burning the Ringed City is in my mind. I adored the final boss because I feel I got why it was the way it was, but the deeper meanings of the story at large and what this means for the series has taken a while to really set in.
I only noticed this the other day but I think the fight vs Gael supports my theory.
He was a small guy who apparently grew only while eating the dark souls, during the first 3rd of his health bar though he's like a monkey flailing a stick around then he stands up, using sophisticated moves, a crossbow and an evolved miracle with 5 discs instead of 1. Finally he basically starts flying and the sheer power has a world-ending feel to it.
Only watching this just now, but wow, good choices in music! Really adds to the atmosphere.
"sweet dreams, my prince" as caption on the Artorias scene..
who ever made the captions, job well done
I now think that "undeath" is the natural state of humans :
Darkness, in time, becomes humanity (see deep soul , great deep soul ,great soul dregs, and the openingcutscene of dks1)
These humans are not the same as in the real world, they don't age. But the darksign, hidden during the "best moments" of the age of fire, slowly eats away their humanity, making them go old (notice how a hollow character is basically someone who got VERY old VERY fast) , and die. This is what Aldia, for me, meant when he said "'humans assumed a fleeting form"
Once, humans knew how to countrol darkness , as in the armor and weapons of the ringed knights. But , no trace of this can be "seen" because everything was sealed away by fire. They could control darkness, and never went "hollow". But with the Age of fire, humans outside the ringed city were fed lies by the gods, and forgot how to control their inner darkness, and they even forgot they came from it. Which is why, when the fire dwindle, the darksign, which was hidden away, becomes visible, and the seal start to tear (dark sigils) , but the problem is : the humans now, they don't know how to control the dark, and so it leaks out of them , and they go hollow. The gods take advantage of that, and tell all humans that the dark sigils are bad, that it's a bad thing. But, you see, you can get all 8 dark sigils, and still not go hollow (just stay alive for that, after having used a purging stone) The gods just played with words, defining "life" as growing old and dying (your darkness disappearing gradually, eaten away by the hidden darksign on you) and "undeath" as being afflicted by the darksign, even though they really are the one who put the darksign on humanity, and the problem only started because the seal is weakening.
So, is my theory cool ? .
Voxyld No, its pretty explicitly stated that undeath and the dark sign was placed upon humanity by the gods, its not their natural state.
Kamden Kenerly
The gods wanted the humans outside the ringed city to believe that "undeath" was not their natural state. Yuria talks about "the most honest shape of man" because when you are a "hollow" (with dark sigils) you gains access to your darkness , making you more powerful (free level ups) AND close to the original humans who had neither the dark sign nor the dark sigils, because THEY could freely control darkness (ringed knight stuff description).
The gods DID place the darksign upon humans (100% sure) but they did that VERY EARLY ( think about when did the events of the ringed city took place, it was very early when the war with the dragons was still a thing) . Now that we know (again, 100%) that the darksign did exist at this time, it only makes sense to think it was applied to all of humanity, but was hidden away with the power of the fast fading flame. Hence the darksign "randomly" appearing on humans when the fire fade : the gods NEVER applied it to the humans at this time (it never made sense) , it was just revealed.
Also, see pictures of the original humans in the dks1 cutscene ? Now do you dare tell me they look "'living" according to the gods description, and that they don't like like hollows at all.
Thank you, for reading my OBJECTION to your OBJECTION to my theory =)
You get all Dark Sigils, but don't go hollow due to character powers. That's why Anri, as well as so many others, go hollow and you don't. It would pretty annoying of you lost all of your progress because you died too many times.
It's not "THE natural state" it's : "the closest you can get to the natural state". Look at my second comment in this thread, my answer to Kamden Kenerly. The natural state of a human in this world is a state without the dark sign and without dark sigils, and in this state humans can access their own darkness naturally.
Being a "hollow" can have two meaning depending on what you consider : One : someone "hollow" is someone who is FULLY a hollow, meaning the skinny/gross looking and mad people.
Second, a hollow is someone who has at least ONE dark sigil , meaning their humanity is "always" in the process of leaking, and without your humanity you become one of those skinny, mad people.
Remember, a dark sigil is essentially a byproduct of the dark sign, a dark sigil being like a hole opening up in the seal because of the weakening of the darksign. It's not great nor bad technically, it's just that for "normal" humans after the Age of Fire, they don't know how to control their darkness so it leaks out ( that is bad). But for you, the Champion of Ash, and for may hollows in Londor, probably like Yuria , it's a source of power, because it gives you access to your own darkness, meaning you are closer to the "true" humans,
therefore a hollow (second meaning, not the mad people) is "the most honest shape of man"
One little subtle, fleeting perhabs even, detail that i haven't seen mentioned much, is that Gaels messages throughout the Dreg Heap oozes (or are imbued with) skulls - much like his cloak in the final two stages when we fight him.
So he was probably already hollowed out even before his feast of Pygmies - which suggests a great many things about willpower when hollowed...
Gael is as determined as, we the players even in the darkest hours...
I'm sad because Dark Souls is over, and I'm also sad because your lore videos about DS will soon be over too.
Thank you for making that game even better Vaati.
(and damn those shots of Midir flying are great !)
Also VaatiVidya is Gywns first born son if yalll didn't know that. He does way more than abandon his family to fly around on dragons!!
Just finished Ringed City and killed the First Flame so I can finally watch this set of videos. What a game. What a world. As the credits rolled, I really hope that after the age of dark, this world will heal and become anew.
See? Dark souls 2 Lore matters a lot.
It matters more than just for that lol
It basicly started the whole cycle-theme, it brought Aldia into the game and the motivation to find a different conclusion to the problem other than "link fire vs dark lord".
spartanmen100 Lol best comment ever.........
lol you mean the remastered version lol. They threw that in there because they realized how disconnected DS2 was lol. You handful of DS2 stans are pathetic. Only reason why that game matters is because on PVP. This is why DS2 is rarely talked about outside PVP, DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!
THIZZAVELI why so salty?
Exactly My friend. I love the new perspective Dark souls 2 have.
Your voice is amazing for the sad, dark souls lore.
this is your best video, seriously, incredible work, excellent camera angles and perfect script, really like the idea of the Dark being corrupted by the seal of fire.
can't wait for part 2!
7:40 EDWADS LONG LOST BROTHER
If you put your white summon sign outside the judicature boss fight you can be summoned as a spear of the church. I only tried once so it could be a glitch. Im not sure if there is any lore about that but who better to ask/tell. Great video Vaati.
You get summoned automatically if you're in the spears of the church covenant. Doesn't matter if you put a sign or not.
1357conor If it happened before the first post launch patch, that was a common glitch, being randomly summoned to defend the Church.
I meant if you were not in the covenant
1357conor The glitch occured without being in a covenant, so that might factor in
I think this is one of your best videos. Damn the music all alone..... Goosebumps
was Gwyn right to fear the dark? yes he was. was his actions against the dark right? no. there are many things in the world to fear but destroying those things or warding them away is, as most acts of fear and paranoia do, makes things worse. ironically, in his fear of man, Gwyn does what is the most human to do. he feared something he most likely didn't fully understand and instead of understanding it, he sought to rid the world of it. it is not the dark he should of feared and in truth I don't think it was the only thing he feared. he simply feared all that could take from him everything he risked life and limb for and allowed that fear to control him. how funny for a Lord so high and mighty, his actions were ever so human. the dark may not even had been that much of a threat if he didn't aggravated it but that is something that none will ever know
Humans were powerful with no doubt, ringed city knights could kill dragons so he had right in fearing humans and humanity because of the feats we could accomplish. However I do believe by branding humanity with the dark sign in an attempt to hinder the dark it only made it more dangerous, destructive and unpredictable.
everyone on Gwyn's side could kill dragons. meaning humans were equal in power to Gwyn's subjects. could be why he focused so much against them and feared them so was not because the dark itself but how powerful the dark made humanity become
ZBGameSlayer Gwyn sort of reminds me of Odin. They both sought to delay something that the both viewed as the end of all things (Ragnarok/The Age of Dark) by any means necessary. However, both are ultimately doomed to fail, in part due to their own actions and preordained fate, yet both fail to realize that the world will still survive the end they fought (Lif and Lithrathsir/whatever age follows the Age of Dark).
Coincidentally, Odin had the monikers of Lord of the Undead and The Oathbreaker.
ZBGameSlayer ye
Damn, this MUSIC 🔥
Dude! I've always played the SoulsBorne games not because of the lore but simply for the challenge. I don't know how I came across your channel, but I really am thankful, I've binge watched most of your videos on lore and you have a knack for story telling, seriously talented. I've since replaced all the SoulsBorne games, bar Demon souls, and I have a much greater appreciation for them and that's a big part thanx to you.
Just wanted to say keep up the fantastic work, big fan here!
Hey Vaati, The Darkness sent me over to your channel, loving what I'm seeing so far, please keep it up. Also loved you in Edwad!
Its kinda freaky how dark souls lore can be cobbeled upp to psychiatry. And the founders off it, how they thaught about man. "Don't fear or ignore the darkness in humanity. Recognize it, embrace it and understand it to not become the monster you can be (aka wild humanity). If you ignore it/seal it away you wont be prepared, or ready to stand against the darkness that is inside yourself.
"She lived in fear of the things that gnawed at her flesh, yet the abyss had yet to produce such creatures" Hinting at that the abyss never created evil or monsterous creatures it was all in her head.
Thor M I honestly think so. It's very clear to me the souls games are very symbolic, but like many great stories, what they symbolize could be one of many things.
this needs to be top comment
Sounds very Carl Jungian, I like it.
Is like the game was a Big metaphor for this
I like to think that the Darksign is a sort of twisted harmony, with the Dark Soul of Man feeding the flaming RIng and the Flame in turn keeping the Dark at bay. A cycle unfolding, repeating, on and on, until the End of Time itself.
I have a different headcanon, you know the Sun is a wonderous body, seemingly liked to the Flame and the Lord Souls.
At the end of the World, we see something happening to the Sun, very much looking like a solar eclipse but with a larger ring and its somehow going downwards, wich is what i see as a Sign of the world ending and the Sun not beeing a Star. Like... not a Star in the Sky, more like a creation to bring disparity, maybe even by the Lord of Sunlight. [with Soliar constantly looking for a Sun].
The Cursed Darksign looks awfully like that ring around the eclipse.
That ring is also called a "Corona" or "Crown"
I believe that, when the fire fades, the illusion of a normal human form fades in death.
much like the illusion of the Sun fades at the end of the world.
And it looks the same, because it is the same. Its linked to one another.
We are all tiny flames, flickering in the Dark before we hollow.
"ends the souls series, in a beautiful way."
damn you Vaati, I am more sad than ever.
So I've gotten back into watching a lot of lore videos for Darks Souls and Bloodborne, and started to wonder how the first flame happened in Dark Souls. I mean how does a dark and calm world suddenly get engulfed in flames? But then I thought about the dark and calm world part. Isn't that the same type of world that the painter in the Painted World of Ariandel wants to create? If you know even the slightest bit about Dark Souls lore, you would know that it's filled to the brim with repetition and such. Would it be such a stretch to believe that the world in Dark Souls isn't some sort of painted world like Ariandel that the dragons escaped into since for whatever reason their previous world died in a sense? I mean I expected the world in DS to keep on going since it was stuck in an endless cycle of light and dark, but it eventually came to an end, so it could mean that there has been previous worlds that ended the same way. Just a thought. Like if you agree
Collin Brown the thing about the age of ancients was That it wasn't cold at all. Before the first flame erupted there was no such thing as "cold". The only things that existed were the above and the below. Though the idea that the world Dark Souls take place in is also a painted world and the inhabitants don't know it because they stayed the ancient dragons (who would be the only beings aware of this fact) is interesting.