Some other oddities perhaps you may find interesting: 1. One key difference between the Research Hall patients and the "perfected" Celestial Emissaries is their blood. The earlier patients bleed regular red human blood, but the Emissaries bleed a silvery substance (it's easier to see when wearing white attire, like the Choir garb). The Emissaries commonly drop quicksilver bullets upon their death, suggesting their blood has been largely replaced by liquid mercury. Of course, quicksilver is very Not Good for humans, least of all their brains, but to the Choir, perhaps chemically-induced madness resembled a revelation. 2. The One Thirds of the Umbilical Cord resemble human cochleae (the inner ear) laden with eyes. The Research Hall emphasizes a theme of sound and voice, as the cerebral patients were forced to listen for the sea stirring within. St. Adeline remarks on the sticky sounds that guide her, eventually gaining the ability too see her guide's voice as it "bends and bleeds." Sound plays a significant role in Bloodborne, from Formless Oedon, who exists only in voice, to the disembodied wail of Mergo, to the baneful chant that curses the Hunters. Furthermore, "cochlea" means "snail's shell;" it's no wonder these umbilical cords resemble the shells of the snail women residing in the Fishing Hamlet. Stranger still, the central depression of a snail shell's whorl is known as the "umbilicus..." 3. The parasites inserted into the Brainsuckers' cranium (you can see sutures running the width of their skull from ear to ear) resemble the Kos Parasites, with the bulbous proboscis of one end emerging from the top of their skull, and the segmented tendrils of the other erupting from their face. Seeing as there are no Brainsuckers in the Research Hall of the past, these appear to be a new experiment devised in tandem with the perfection of the Celestial Emissaries. Just some food for thought, I guess.
Sir, your explanation was very interesting. I'm in the middle of the night, a little bit drunk, but reading this I felt like I've finally understood a lot of things about this game that I haven't understood before. I feel like I'm seeing something than I already know, but with a new perspective, you know? English is not my native language - it's my third, btw -, so sometimes it's hard for me to understand some hidden clues and figurative language or metaphors in other languages as English and japanese, because that's a cultural thing with it too, of course. Maybe it's just the alcohol, but thank u anyway. 😅
I think it's wise to compare the evolutionary differences between The Fishing Hamlet residents and those experimented on by The Healing Church's Choir. One being a more natural evolution coming about by a slow-progress of interacting,consuming and using the kos-parasites and the other forced by experimentation. If we go by the wandering fishman just outside the Hamlet, he seems to be of sound mind. At least more so than the Research-Hall patients and the Hamlet seems to be functioning as a normal society, albeit a bit warped.
Also the Kos parasite ressemble a ''Sacculina'' a parasite that infect crabs. It also have a big eggsack as a body, and tendrils that reach every parts of the crab, from the inside. It zombifies the crab. Pretty sinistrous parasite. The only main difference between the Sacculina and the Kos parasite is the tentacles that Sacculina has not.
I remember asking myself during my blind run why there were so many abandoned baby carriages in Central Yharnam and Cathedral Ward. Then I eventually found my way into the Orphanage. What a horrifying revelation that was.
i adore the way this series exposes me to facets of history I didnt have a concept of and as a result has generated within me a deep fascination with the idea of real world history used as horror the way these games do so masterfully
Watch the series called "an agony of effort: bloodborne lore" its original creator deleted his page but thankfully someone saved them and reupped them. Its amazing
@@joeclarke7982Sad how the really good stuff goes unnoticed while fucking Vaati gets millions of views... Anoter big reccomend is TBSkyen's "Boss Designs Of" series. More Let's Play than lore but he flexes his art degree to do a little essay at the end of each episode about what maybe inspired the boss and what he thinks is going on, and there's some pretty insightful ideas in there sometimes. (Also it's just fun.)
@@joeclarke7982it's so tragic how his series went so unnoticed and I think that's why he deleted everything tbh. I can't imagine how salty I'd be that I uncovered a completely unique perspective on Bloodborne, but the majority of the FromSoft fanbase just completely moved on to Elden Ring stuff as though Bloodborne was already thoroughly covered. I mean, it was, just look at "The Paleblood Hunt." Perhaps exhausted is a better word for it. But learning about this history and what it means to the game, to me, feels like a new dawn for Bloodborne and I can't help but wish Charred Thermos got his spotlight and revived the interest
@@nickhard7615 i would def understand the heartbreak but at the same time im sure he understood that it takes alot of time to build up an audience. Idk hopefully 1 day he comes back to see how many folks loved what he made
Parasite infection was the catalyst for the greatest evolutionary growth of all time: mitochondrial integration. Before we needed more eyes, we needed more energy.
@@gamongamesThe lines between parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism are, like many things in biology, often a lot blurrier than we might expect. And the relationship between organisms sometimes shifts between them, to the point where some scientists think that almost all mutualistic relationships in nature started off as one organism parasitizing another.
Guys youre on the internet, stop trying to sound all high and smart and like you know anything about the sht youre talking 😂😂 enjoy the content and stop being incels, cheers
It's wild how all these years later there are still things I hadn't noticed in this game. The corpse on the operating table in Iosefka's clinic for example; never noticed it wasn't fully transformed until this video. CRAZY. Man, I love this game.
I believe Wilhelm may have witnessed the ruins of Ailing Loran, and had put together the pieces after the discovery of the phantasms in the Dungeons and its connections to Loran. Thus, his understandable fear of the Old Blood.
The point about Wilhelm not condoning human experimentation DOES leave an important question as to why we find Byrgenwerth in the state we do. For one there's the Lecture Building that got set adrift in the Nightmare, but the remaining building is swarming with Garden of Eyes fly monsters, not to mention the fungus growing out of Wilhelm ('s corpse?).
@@Ancusohm Presumably yeah, and the raid of the Fishing Hamlet can be directly traced to him, in which they very much experimented on people, TA claiming otherwise is bizarre
Wilhelm was not above experimenting with humans. What he didn't want to do is to experiment with humans using old blood. Not by humanitary reasons, but because old blood, more often than not, produces mindless beasts, the opposite of what Wilhelm tried to achieve.
I've seen countless interpretations of this game's lore, but none were as viscerally intriguing as yours. Your work is truly inspiring. You dissect the lore in the context of real world history, and you do it in unexpected places. I mean I would've never thought to look at the big nose statues in the church of the good chalice, or think twice about quotes like "Moon-scented hunter." I can never get enough of this. Thank you for sharing your fascinating discoveries.
I wish there was more lore on my favourite bloodborne enemy, the blood starved beast. Sekiro had so much lore on the centipedes and blood starved beast was the precursor to it.
Lol, wonderful! Absolutely makes everything come together! Based off your last video, the split between the Healing Church higher echelon into the School and the Choir really came down to what to do with the Great Ones. The Choir seeing the Great Ones as teachers and mentors to human evolution, while the the School sought them as prey to consume (blood infusion) and grow. Such a fantastic story, but I'm finally glad you found the key things to help fit the puzzles together!
The one thing I'm wondering is why Beasts specifically? I mean, we know beast transformation is the result of mutation caused by Blood consumption, yet why specifically do victim of these mutations seem to consistently turn into vague lupine beasts (Ludwig's Equestrian shape not withstanding, as the weird second neck full of eyes leads me to believe he was also getting hopped up on Phantasms as well)? And we know its consistent because we have the Dark and Silver beasts of Loran, the beastly clerics of Lorans, and the Beast-Possessed Souls found in the Ptumerian catacombs. Now, I understand that the Doylist motivation may be to combine both Victorian werewolf stories with the concept in Victorians science of Atavism (that being the reappearance and reversion to primitive traits and natures) but Watsonianly what is it about the Old/Healing Blood that that causes such atavistic metamorphosis, and why does it occur so strongly in people who resist it the strongest (ie why do townsfolk and hunters just get somewhat hirsute and sharp teeth, while people like Gascoigne, Lawrence, and Amelia turn into full on wendigo monstrosities). Further, if this is a form of metagenic Atavism, doesn't this run totally contrary to the Choir and Byrgenwerth's goals of evolution and ascendance?
Isn't it that the members of the Church are using more of the Old Blood? As for it it running contrary to their goals; surely that's true; it's a disastrous and unwanted consequence that proves they were deeply mistaken about what they were doing and/or how they were doing it.
my read is that, with the old blood opening the self to rapid change and evolution, proper insight is required to have the mental fortitude to contain the changes. not enough insight, and baser instincts begin to take control, reverting the self to a more primal state. too much insight, and the mind shatters, "evolving" the subject at the cost of all humanity
There are some descriptions (like Beast Roar) that seem to imply that people are not "turning into" beasts, but rather "turning back into" beasts. I take it as a spin on H.P. Lovecraft's "Rats in the Walls", which ends with a twist about the protagonist devolving into a pig monster. Essentially, we might think that the humans of this setting are not descendant from apes, but something altogether more monstrous. As for why different people transform in different ways, you can take from things like the Sword Hunter Badge that it's connected not to "fighting against it" but to the amount of blood consumption, on top of other things. A personal theory I have is that the gigantism shown by things like the Carrion Crows, Man-Eater Boars, Snake Balls, and Cleric Beast is that it's in some-way related to Vermin and the consumption of tainted blood. We know that vermin were found in the Madaras snake after feeding it people, and visually we know that all the snakes in the forest are covered in bulbs identical to when real-world snakes are infested with ticks, implying that they have some sort of parasite. My assumption then is that the various animals of Yharnam are growing so large because they've been eating the corpses produced by the plague and subsequent hunt, which carry corruption through the parasitic Vermin. For the people, a similar thing happens, either due to blood drunkenness in the case of Gascoigne, causing him to go mad and seek more and more blood, or due to the blood used in ritual imbibing becoming contaminated in some way for the likes of Cleric Beast or Vicar Amelia. Potentially, we could say it's like PFAS or micro-plastics: At a certain saturation point, you couldn't find a single properly clean blood sample in Yharnam, and the corruption inevitably bio-accumulated at the top of the food chain in the Church officials and blood-addicts.
Think of the old blood as a powerful mutagen, something that makes metamorphosis possible. But what you transform to, depends on many factors, one being your insight. Regular people with no insight, no phantasms, no other special treatments, as the people in Yharnam, always transform into beasts.
The way the game describes beasthood, it’s essentially a sort of manifestation of humanity’s primal instincts. The old blood simply encourages our more animalistic tendencies, and indulging that too much causes a transformation into the beasts we see in-game. The reason for why they specifically look the way they do is because of the Victorian werewolf environment, like you said,
Also I want to point out that Brainsucker’s are wearing robes close to Franciscan Monks, and there’s a couple of paintings by Francisco de Zubaran of Franciscan monks holding skulls like Madman’s Knowledge
9:20 is this actually a mistake from the writers? We can see through fake Iosefka's victims, for example, that the celestial mobs were once the humans you sent to the clinic. Those people underwent metamorphosis, not evolution. The rune description could have been referring to that process
Speaking as a longtime lore hunter, I think bloodborne very frequently favors outdated/inaccurate/poetic interpretations of the terms it uses. Take the use of blood gems to modify weapons, which the relevant workshop tool states is something that works because "blood defines an organism". Technically true in the DNA sense, but clearly being applied in a kind of willful conflation here.
@@dagdammitBloodborne, more than the Souls games, seems to have a thread of unreliable narration in the text. Not that I think we shouldn’t believe what it tells us-it’s the only information we get, after all. But everything seems to have such a perspective, that when there is any room in those descriptions for interpretation through the lens of a person in the world of Bloodborne, I think it is wise to look at it as having that lens. There are factions in the game and they each have an interpretation of the mythos and cosmology that is unique, each of them I think uniquely flawed, such that we have this disaster world left due to their schemings. I think that’s where the poetic phraseology comes from, and with it a lot of purposeful (by the developers) conflation of science, religion, fact, emotion, and delusion, not to mention history and prophecy.
all knowledge can be conjoined! great video, and for me, everytime you say "thats a story for a another day" i get excited for the next episode and the next new knoledge! keep like that my brother
An incredible exploration into the Choir and their methods, along with what they hoped to achieve, just one thing to add. I don't think all of the Choir became the Blue-Eyed beasts, outside of boss music, music in Bloodborne is diegetic, I don't think its a coincidence that in the stronghold of the choir there is a third floor where the lights are still shining brightly that the player cannot reach, which may be the source of the haunting melody that's playing throughout the area. Some of the Choir may simply be watching the events unfold in a bemused state.
Heads up: in the original Japanese, the note referring to "evolution without courage" instead referred to "this ruinous evolution", which dramatically changes the meaning. I'd suggest checking out the work of Last Protagonist and his Fear the Old Lore series.
Actually you're mistaken too. The adjective used to describe evolution is 'nasakenai' [情けない] which is translated into miserable, pitiable, pathetic, or wretched; that last synonym being the actual adjective LastProtagonist used in his translation. The first character is the telling most of all, because that kanji means 'feelings, emotion, passion, sympathy.' So, 'evolution without courage' is on point, albeit with a poetic flourish. Japanese translated 1-to-1 into English is actually pretty cut & dry. So, it's up to the localizers to give it that literary accent, artistry, and flourish of the period while also preserving the meaning and context. Also, unless someone with full knowledge of the Japanese language is going pour over all the nuance of the kanji in the original text, verify the translations, and present their findings in lecture format like TA does with the lore, I think it's moot or even redundant to refer to the original Japanese. IMO we should really just take it as it is. Miyazaki used to read English books in his childhood without fully knowing their meaning, scope, and context. He probably wondered what the entire story was if he only knew better English, but that was his experience at the time. With Bloodborne, we shouldn't really need to bother, because Fromsoft crossed that bridge for us and had it localized. If he really wanted us to strictly to adhere to the meaning in his native tongue, short of leaving the game unlocalized (Sony would never let him do that because Fromsoft games should sell and reach as far and wide an audience as possible) he would have hired more thorough translators to make sure we get precise translations. And even after translations, Miyazaki and his writers probably had proofreaders go over the translations to check if the meaning was preserved. If you have any doubts, just go to LastProtagonist's translation spreadsheet, pick out the words in the original Japanese text, copy/paste and look them up in jisho or some other japanese dictionary site. It goes to show all this extra fretting over 'imperfect localization' after the fact is kinda unnecessary. At least where Fromsoft and their games are concerned.
@@PaszerDyeit depends on the game. The Sony published games usually have good translation, the bamco ones are all over the place with DS2 being some of the worst imo (names not even remotely close to the original JP names), and then there's Sekiro which have the most questionable translations.
The comment on humans possibly using Kos parasites to 'push' their evolution in the direction of a great one due to the symbiotic qualities of host/parasite relationship was brilliant. Extremely well made video. Look forward to more Bloodborne analysis.
Ayo I actually have hydrocephalus and I actually just learned about my own affliction from this video during chapter 2, holy shit! Hydrocephalus is such an under discussed issue from what I've noticed as I've literally never met anybody who could tell me about what this issue I have actually is or what the shunt even is or what it really does or anything like that but of course a video involving my favorite fromsoftware game has the insight to go and start telling me about it amidst the explanation of game lore lol way to go man holy shit xD
I like how simply by stating in clear, unambiguous language the work done in the Research Hall you've done a better job expressing the sheer abominable awfulness of it than would have happened had you used overly-elaborate words and poetic analogy. The horror speaks for itself. This entire series is great, and I look forward to seeing more of it as you progress through the various FromSoft games.
pretty late but always appreciate the work put into the descriptions to note videos and even soundtracks used for the video. helps in appreciating the work put in setting the mood throughout the videos!
I love this series so much. I was rewatching it recently and I don't know if you'll continue it or not (it would be great to see more of it but I'm super grateful for what you've already given us regardless) but between you and Charred Thermos I've learnt so much more about the fascinating real-life inspirations for this amazing game that I just wanted to drop a comment to show my appreciation. Have a great day and hope this message finds you well :)
This series is fantastic! I love a well researched, well explained theory and every video has knocked it out of the park. I'm very excited to continue watching.
Literally just checked for a new video a few minutes before upload. I’ve got an internal clock jonesing for the most thoughtful, thorough, and creative From lore in existence.
Love the ending zooming in on the crab. For as grim a topic transformation and brain parasites is a little humor helps to remind that this is all a story in a video game.
Just wanted to say thank you for doing these deep dives especially on older From titles. I always listen to your work while painting Dark Souls/BB/Elden Ring fanart!
Put this way, it really seems like Miyazaki just looked at the Mind Flayer enemies in Demons Souls and made a game based on an origin story made for them. lol.
This is a very unique perspective and delve into these topics. Amazing that this game can still allow for new ideas to be connected together for new outlooks and insights. As someone who is fascinated with biology and archeology, I greatly appreciate your attention to detail and phrasing. Thank you for making this.
Your Bloodborne videos are great, as an avid BB lore fanatic I have found your analysis top notch and intriguing - similar to charred thermos now defunct meta-lore serie - I really hope you'll delve even more into this unique universe
and i thought my day couldn’t possibly get any better…ill be honest im writing this before watching the video but I just know its going to be phenomenal!! We do not deserve you Tarnished Archeologist!
Great vídeo, my only complain would be when you say evolution occurs on a population basis. Talking about evolution by natural selection, selection occurs on a gene level. The idea that evolution occurs at a population level it is call “group selection” and was discarded long ago by biologist. Anyway I really appreciate your videos and how you connect Bloodborne’s Lore to real world science. Love your content!
The exhilaration that I feel when a new Yharnam Archaeology video comes out is so refreshing! Never again have I been so hyped for a video game lore channel!
personally I think metamorphisis is a better term to describe what the scholars were after. They wanted substantial change achieved in their lifetimes, rushing into godhood, much in the same way the protagonist does at the end of the secret ending.
This has got to be a great and an informative video, man, thank you! first time I watched it, I remember that it had english subtitles generated by YT, now from the parasitology chapter onwards they're gone. :(
GREAT video, the lore of bloodborne is soo good lol im gonna subscribe rn, i knew your chanell bcs of some elden ring structural lore theories and i love them but i lost track of u : ( , but the youtube algoritm recomended this bloodborne lore video and it was amazing, great work greetings from chile :D
I always thought the conversation between Willem and Laurence from the cutscene took place after they had seen the negative effect of blood on a human for the first time. Which scared Willem, leading him to seek more insight. And also making Laurence forced to leave to continue the research, because he did not get frightend enough by the event.
Interesting how many seemingly unrelated concepts fit nicely together in Bloodborne. Take trick weapons, for instance. A weapon that can be many different things at once. It's like a hand with many fingers.
@TheTarnishedArcheologist I can really recommend you the Reuploads from Dark Sun Gwyndolin original from Charred Thermos. He did so much great work that would fit so perfect in your work. The connections he made with real life lore is amazing and logical.. just baffling. I can't let this work to go unnoticed for the community!! Please let me know, when you already familiar with his work❤😊
The absolute genius of this game. Every thread perfectly woven. Waiting for great minds to tug on them. Each unfolding uniquely in to its own fascet of science and history. All leading back to naked humanity.
The fact that to this day, just about every video on Bloodborne leads to compelling viewing material goes to show how brilliant the game is. Issue is, capturing lighting in a bottle twice is a very tall order. So don't expect Bloodborne 2 any time soon if at all. I will say though, BB2 would be interesting if you took the role of the evolved great one/hunter and proceeded to travel to the realm of the great ones and took them all down only to have you choose the ending. I think this would be a good and logical route to take.
Amazing video (yet again). Very thought provoking! I might be in the minority here, but Bloodborne is so perfect,it doesn’t need a sequel Thanks again TA for the amazing content
"Unless we put you to sleep earlier in this video, it should be clear what that latter part means..." Hey now, no need to call us lore sleepers out like this
Some other oddities perhaps you may find interesting:
1. One key difference between the Research Hall patients and the "perfected" Celestial Emissaries is their blood. The earlier patients bleed regular red human blood, but the Emissaries bleed a silvery substance (it's easier to see when wearing white attire, like the Choir garb). The Emissaries commonly drop quicksilver bullets upon their death, suggesting their blood has been largely replaced by liquid mercury. Of course, quicksilver is very Not Good for humans, least of all their brains, but to the Choir, perhaps chemically-induced madness resembled a revelation.
2. The One Thirds of the Umbilical Cord resemble human cochleae (the inner ear) laden with eyes. The Research Hall emphasizes a theme of sound and voice, as the cerebral patients were forced to listen for the sea stirring within. St. Adeline remarks on the sticky sounds that guide her, eventually gaining the ability too see her guide's voice as it "bends and bleeds." Sound plays a significant role in Bloodborne, from Formless Oedon, who exists only in voice, to the disembodied wail of Mergo, to the baneful chant that curses the Hunters. Furthermore, "cochlea" means "snail's shell;" it's no wonder these umbilical cords resemble the shells of the snail women residing in the Fishing Hamlet. Stranger still, the central depression of a snail shell's whorl is known as the "umbilicus..."
3. The parasites inserted into the Brainsuckers' cranium (you can see sutures running the width of their skull from ear to ear) resemble the Kos Parasites, with the bulbous proboscis of one end emerging from the top of their skull, and the segmented tendrils of the other erupting from their face. Seeing as there are no Brainsuckers in the Research Hall of the past, these appear to be a new experiment devised in tandem with the perfection of the Celestial Emissaries.
Just some food for thought, I guess.
Sir, your explanation was very interesting. I'm in the middle of the night, a little bit drunk, but reading this I felt like I've finally understood a lot of things about this game that I haven't understood before. I feel like I'm seeing something than I already know, but with a new perspective, you know? English is not my native language - it's my third, btw -, so sometimes it's hard for me to understand some hidden clues and figurative language or metaphors in other languages as English and japanese, because that's a cultural thing with it too, of course. Maybe it's just the alcohol, but thank u anyway. 😅
I think it's wise to compare the evolutionary differences between The Fishing Hamlet residents and those experimented on by The Healing Church's Choir. One being a more natural evolution coming about by a slow-progress of interacting,consuming and using the kos-parasites and the other forced by experimentation.
If we go by the wandering fishman just outside the Hamlet, he seems to be of sound mind. At least more so than the Research-Hall patients and the Hamlet seems to be functioning as a normal society, albeit a bit warped.
Also the Kos parasite ressemble a ''Sacculina'' a parasite that infect crabs. It also have a big eggsack as a body, and tendrils that reach every parts of the crab, from the inside. It zombifies the crab. Pretty sinistrous parasite. The only main difference between the Sacculina and the Kos parasite is the tentacles that Sacculina has not.
Well, that was awesome.
Reminds me of how a lot of fish have a certain... mercury issue.
Ending the video on "...leads invariably to evolution" with shrill violins and a close up of a crab was a nice touch
As always, it begins with someone looking at a scientific achievement and going
"But what if we use it on P E O P L E"
Nice Sam o nella reference
I wanna be one
The choir and upper Cathedral ward were always my favourite lore parts of Bloodborne
My first play through, I totally missed the Upper Cathedral Ward. Goes without saying, my 2nd play through was amazing.
I remember asking myself during my blind run why there were so many abandoned baby carriages in Central Yharnam and Cathedral Ward.
Then I eventually found my way into the Orphanage.
What a horrifying revelation that was.
Upper cathedral is my favorite location in the game. So creepy and bizarre
Same
TA uploaded, let us rejoice 🙌🏼
Could it be friend? Therefore praise the beautiful view!
Woo!
Praise the sun? Too dated?
Fear not the dark my friend.
And let the feast....begin...
intro is vibrating my whole house
I never realized until just now the way "insight" is such a perfect play on words for "eyes on the inside"
How many eyes do you have on the inside to realize this word play?!
@@SinHurr I don't know, but I do know I look great in Father G's clothes
i adore the way this series exposes me to facets of history I didnt have a concept of and as a result has generated within me a deep fascination with the idea of real world history used as horror the way these games do so masterfully
🥺🥺😱🥚🥖🥖📣🕔🀄️🕓🀄️🕓🀄️🕓🀄️🀄️🕓🀄️🕓🕒🀄️🀄️🕒🕒🕒🀄️🕓🀄️🀄️🕓🀄️🀄️🀄️🕓🕓🀄️🕓🀄️🀄️🀄️🀄️🀄️🀄️🀄️🕓🀄️🕓🀄️🀄️🕐🕛🀄️🕜🕐 36:36
Watch the series called "an agony of effort: bloodborne lore" its original creator deleted his page but thankfully someone saved them and reupped them. Its amazing
@@joeclarke7982Sad how the really good stuff goes unnoticed while fucking Vaati gets millions of views...
Anoter big reccomend is TBSkyen's "Boss Designs Of" series. More Let's Play than lore but he flexes his art degree to do a little essay at the end of each episode about what maybe inspired the boss and what he thinks is going on, and there's some pretty insightful ideas in there sometimes. (Also it's just fun.)
@@joeclarke7982it's so tragic how his series went so unnoticed and I think that's why he deleted everything tbh. I can't imagine how salty I'd be that I uncovered a completely unique perspective on Bloodborne, but the majority of the FromSoft fanbase just completely moved on to Elden Ring stuff as though Bloodborne was already thoroughly covered. I mean, it was, just look at "The Paleblood Hunt." Perhaps exhausted is a better word for it. But learning about this history and what it means to the game, to me, feels like a new dawn for Bloodborne and I can't help but wish Charred Thermos got his spotlight and revived the interest
@@nickhard7615 i would def understand the heartbreak but at the same time im sure he understood that it takes alot of time to build up an audience. Idk hopefully 1 day he comes back to see how many folks loved what he made
36:10 "Reproduction leads, invariably, to evolution."
And, from the visuals, I'm guessing that evolution leads, invariably, to crab.
All beings lead to crab 🦀
Same braincell, haha
There's a joke in here about every developer eventually becoming a Rustacean, but we'll leave it.
@@ShizoMosesyeah let's avoid drowning every thread in dull puns like reddit
Parasite infection was the catalyst for the greatest evolutionary growth of all time: mitochondrial integration. Before we needed more eyes, we needed more energy.
That's not parasitic, it's mutualistic.
Both the original cell and the mitochondria ancestors benefited from coupling up.
@@gamongamesThe lines between parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism are, like many things in biology, often a lot blurrier than we might expect. And the relationship between organisms sometimes shifts between them, to the point where some scientists think that almost all mutualistic relationships in nature started off as one organism parasitizing another.
so true.
Guys youre on the internet, stop trying to sound all high and smart and like you know anything about the sht youre talking 😂😂 enjoy the content and stop being incels, cheers
@@leamneithon9531do you know any of the words you use
I never fully appreciated just how immaculate Iosefka's voice actress did in the birthing dialogue...
Mmm birthing
*homer walks over and eats 1/3rd of an umbilical cord* mmmm jerky
theres np way ypu couldve phrased this without spunding like a maniac
It's wild how all these years later there are still things I hadn't noticed in this game. The corpse on the operating table in Iosefka's clinic for example; never noticed it wasn't fully transformed until this video. CRAZY. Man, I love this game.
I believe Wilhelm may have witnessed the ruins of Ailing Loran, and had put together the pieces after the discovery of the phantasms in the Dungeons and its connections to Loran.
Thus, his understandable fear of the Old Blood.
If bloodborne ever was to gain a sequel, I'd be a prequel set in the ruins of Rohan
This Chanel is just too fresh with a game this old!! Absolutely glorious series!
lets get a remaster or remake Sony!!
It ain't even that old
@Gmasterjoelio dude the game is soon to be 10 years old
Everytime one of your videos come up I anxiously drop everything to watch. Your videos are amazing!
Thank you so much!
Come back to this series please...
As a big fan of nature docs and aquatic life, thanks for using such good footage
Watching that bottom turtle just hide within her shell made me feel for that turtle dude. 😢 I feel ya man. I feel ya.
The point about Wilhelm not condoning human experimentation DOES leave an important question as to why we find Byrgenwerth in the state we do. For one there's the Lecture Building that got set adrift in the Nightmare, but the remaining building is swarming with Garden of Eyes fly monsters, not to mention the fungus growing out of Wilhelm ('s corpse?).
Scratch that; what happened to digging eyes out of the skulls of villagers?! Clearly,he had no qualms by then.
That makes no sense, if he does say that, I haven't watched the video yet
Also, didn't he make Rom by experimenting on a human?
@@Ancusohm Presumably yeah, and the raid of the Fishing Hamlet can be directly traced to him, in which they very much experimented on people, TA claiming otherwise is bizarre
Wilhelm was not above experimenting with humans. What he didn't want to do is to experiment with humans using old blood. Not by humanitary reasons, but because old blood, more often than not, produces mindless beasts, the opposite of what Wilhelm tried to achieve.
I've seen countless interpretations of this game's lore, but none were as viscerally intriguing as yours. Your work is truly inspiring. You dissect the lore in the context of real world history, and you do it in unexpected places. I mean I would've never thought to look at the big nose statues in the church of the good chalice, or think twice about quotes like "Moon-scented hunter." I can never get enough of this. Thank you for sharing your fascinating discoveries.
I feel it’s because he doesn’t approach it as video game lore. He approaches it in a realistic way like it’s not really a video game
I wish there was more lore on my favourite bloodborne enemy, the blood starved beast. Sekiro had so much lore on the centipedes and blood starved beast was the precursor to it.
He’s got to make more of these man
Lol, wonderful! Absolutely makes everything come together! Based off your last video, the split between the Healing Church higher echelon into the School and the Choir really came down to what to do with the Great Ones. The Choir seeing the Great Ones as teachers and mentors to human evolution, while the the School sought them as prey to consume (blood infusion) and grow. Such a fantastic story, but I'm finally glad you found the key things to help fit the puzzles together!
The one thing I'm wondering is why Beasts specifically? I mean, we know beast transformation is the result of mutation caused by Blood consumption, yet why specifically do victim of these mutations seem to consistently turn into vague lupine beasts (Ludwig's Equestrian shape not withstanding, as the weird second neck full of eyes leads me to believe he was also getting hopped up on Phantasms as well)? And we know its consistent because we have the Dark and Silver beasts of Loran, the beastly clerics of Lorans, and the Beast-Possessed Souls found in the Ptumerian catacombs.
Now, I understand that the Doylist motivation may be to combine both Victorian werewolf stories with the concept in Victorians science of Atavism (that being the reappearance and reversion to primitive traits and natures) but Watsonianly what is it about the Old/Healing Blood that that causes such atavistic metamorphosis, and why does it occur so strongly in people who resist it the strongest (ie why do townsfolk and hunters just get somewhat hirsute and sharp teeth, while people like Gascoigne, Lawrence, and Amelia turn into full on wendigo monstrosities). Further, if this is a form of metagenic Atavism, doesn't this run totally contrary to the Choir and Byrgenwerth's goals of evolution and ascendance?
Isn't it that the members of the Church are using more of the Old Blood? As for it it running contrary to their goals; surely that's true; it's a disastrous and unwanted consequence that proves they were deeply mistaken about what they were doing and/or how they were doing it.
my read is that, with the old blood opening the self to rapid change and evolution, proper insight is required to have the mental fortitude to contain the changes. not enough insight, and baser instincts begin to take control, reverting the self to a more primal state. too much insight, and the mind shatters, "evolving" the subject at the cost of all humanity
There are some descriptions (like Beast Roar) that seem to imply that people are not "turning into" beasts, but rather "turning back into" beasts. I take it as a spin on H.P. Lovecraft's "Rats in the Walls", which ends with a twist about the protagonist devolving into a pig monster. Essentially, we might think that the humans of this setting are not descendant from apes, but something altogether more monstrous.
As for why different people transform in different ways, you can take from things like the Sword Hunter Badge that it's connected not to "fighting against it" but to the amount of blood consumption, on top of other things.
A personal theory I have is that the gigantism shown by things like the Carrion Crows, Man-Eater Boars, Snake Balls, and Cleric Beast is that it's in some-way related to Vermin and the consumption of tainted blood. We know that vermin were found in the Madaras snake after feeding it people, and visually we know that all the snakes in the forest are covered in bulbs identical to when real-world snakes are infested with ticks, implying that they have some sort of parasite. My assumption then is that the various animals of Yharnam are growing so large because they've been eating the corpses produced by the plague and subsequent hunt, which carry corruption through the parasitic Vermin. For the people, a similar thing happens, either due to blood drunkenness in the case of Gascoigne, causing him to go mad and seek more and more blood, or due to the blood used in ritual imbibing becoming contaminated in some way for the likes of Cleric Beast or Vicar Amelia. Potentially, we could say it's like PFAS or micro-plastics: At a certain saturation point, you couldn't find a single properly clean blood sample in Yharnam, and the corruption inevitably bio-accumulated at the top of the food chain in the Church officials and blood-addicts.
Think of the old blood as a powerful mutagen, something that makes metamorphosis possible. But what you transform to, depends on many factors, one being your insight. Regular people with no insight, no phantasms, no other special treatments, as the people in Yharnam, always transform into beasts.
The way the game describes beasthood, it’s essentially a sort of manifestation of humanity’s primal instincts. The old blood simply encourages our more animalistic tendencies, and indulging that too much causes a transformation into the beasts we see in-game. The reason for why they specifically look the way they do is because of the Victorian werewolf environment, like you said,
Also I want to point out that Brainsucker’s are wearing robes close to Franciscan Monks, and there’s a couple of paintings by Francisco de Zubaran of Franciscan monks holding skulls like Madman’s Knowledge
9:20 is this actually a mistake from the writers? We can see through fake Iosefka's victims, for example, that the celestial mobs were once the humans you sent to the clinic. Those people underwent metamorphosis, not evolution. The rune description could have been referring to that process
Speaking as a longtime lore hunter, I think bloodborne very frequently favors outdated/inaccurate/poetic interpretations of the terms it uses. Take the use of blood gems to modify weapons, which the relevant workshop tool states is something that works because "blood defines an organism". Technically true in the DNA sense, but clearly being applied in a kind of willful conflation here.
@@dagdammitBloodborne, more than the Souls games, seems to have a thread of unreliable narration in the text. Not that I think we shouldn’t believe what it tells us-it’s the only information we get, after all. But everything seems to have such a perspective, that when there is any room in those descriptions for interpretation through the lens of a person in the world of Bloodborne, I think it is wise to look at it as having that lens. There are factions in the game and they each have an interpretation of the mythos and cosmology that is unique, each of them I think uniquely flawed, such that we have this disaster world left due to their schemings. I think that’s where the poetic phraseology comes from, and with it a lot of purposeful (by the developers) conflation of science, religion, fact, emotion, and delusion, not to mention history and prophecy.
You’ve quickly become a “drop everything I’m doing to watch a new upload” type of RUclipsr
all knowledge can be conjoined! great video, and for me, everytime you say "thats a story for a another day" i get excited for the next episode and the next new knoledge! keep like that my brother
An incredible exploration into the Choir and their methods, along with what they hoped to achieve, just one thing to add. I don't think all of the Choir became the Blue-Eyed beasts, outside of boss music, music in Bloodborne is diegetic, I don't think its a coincidence that in the stronghold of the choir there is a third floor where the lights are still shining brightly that the player cannot reach, which may be the source of the haunting melody that's playing throughout the area.
Some of the Choir may simply be watching the events unfold in a bemused state.
Heads up: in the original Japanese, the note referring to "evolution without courage" instead referred to "this ruinous evolution", which dramatically changes the meaning. I'd suggest checking out the work of Last Protagonist and his Fear the Old Lore series.
His use of it in the video surprisingly close to the original meaning; the author is expressing anxiety at the coming evolution.
Actually you're mistaken too. The adjective used to describe evolution is 'nasakenai' [情けない] which is translated into miserable, pitiable, pathetic, or wretched; that last synonym being the actual adjective LastProtagonist used in his translation. The first character is the telling most of all, because that kanji means 'feelings, emotion, passion, sympathy.' So, 'evolution without courage' is on point, albeit with a poetic flourish. Japanese translated 1-to-1 into English is actually pretty cut & dry. So, it's up to the localizers to give it that literary accent, artistry, and flourish of the period while also preserving the meaning and context.
Also, unless someone with full knowledge of the Japanese language is going pour over all the nuance of the kanji in the original text, verify the translations, and present their findings in lecture format like TA does with the lore, I think it's moot or even redundant to refer to the original Japanese. IMO we should really just take it as it is. Miyazaki used to read English books in his childhood without fully knowing their meaning, scope, and context. He probably wondered what the entire story was if he only knew better English, but that was his experience at the time. With Bloodborne, we shouldn't really need to bother, because Fromsoft crossed that bridge for us and had it localized. If he really wanted us to strictly to adhere to the meaning in his native tongue, short of leaving the game unlocalized (Sony would never let him do that because Fromsoft games should sell and reach as far and wide an audience as possible) he would have hired more thorough translators to make sure we get precise translations. And even after translations, Miyazaki and his writers probably had proofreaders go over the translations to check if the meaning was preserved.
If you have any doubts, just go to LastProtagonist's translation spreadsheet, pick out the words in the original Japanese text, copy/paste and look them up in jisho or some other japanese dictionary site. It goes to show all this extra fretting over 'imperfect localization' after the fact is kinda unnecessary. At least where Fromsoft and their games are concerned.
@@PaszerDye good man. someone that talks sense.
@@PaszerDyeit depends on the game. The Sony published games usually have good translation, the bamco ones are all over the place with DS2 being some of the worst imo (names not even remotely close to the original JP names), and then there's Sekiro which have the most questionable translations.
@@shira_yone Which examples of mistranslation in DS2 and Sekiro can you cite?
The comment on humans possibly using Kos parasites to 'push' their evolution in the direction of a great one due to the symbiotic qualities of host/parasite relationship was brilliant. Extremely well made video. Look forward to more Bloodborne analysis.
Click your vids immediately. The work you put in is apparent and appreciated. Thanks for inspiring myself and others like me to do better.
Was that last closeup a hint that even in video games everything evolves into crab? If so i'll get butter melted
We need more! Your lore dissection of Bloodborne is exquisite.
I know less than nothing about Bloodborne, but RUclips recommended me this and I love listening to people talk about videogame lore, so might as well.
Ayo I actually have hydrocephalus and I actually just learned about my own affliction from this video during chapter 2, holy shit! Hydrocephalus is such an under discussed issue from what I've noticed as I've literally never met anybody who could tell me about what this issue I have actually is or what the shunt even is or what it really does or anything like that but of course a video involving my favorite fromsoftware game has the insight to go and start telling me about it amidst the explanation of game lore lol way to go man holy shit xD
I see TA knows the insurmountable drip of the hunter coat and Gascoigne hat.
I like how simply by stating in clear, unambiguous language the work done in the Research Hall you've done a better job expressing the sheer abominable awfulness of it than would have happened had you used overly-elaborate words and poetic analogy. The horror speaks for itself. This entire series is great, and I look forward to seeing more of it as you progress through the various FromSoft games.
I just realised the Lumenflowers look like eyes when fully bloomed
pretty late but always appreciate the work put into the descriptions to note videos and even soundtracks used for the video. helps in appreciating the work put in setting the mood throughout the videos!
Best channel on RUclips, love it
At this point, youre the only one i trust with Bloodborne lore. We need more!
Even after all these years, the story is so thought provoking. Great job analyzing and explaining!
This disquisition does an awesome job by contextualizing the themes of Bloodborne with real life concepts, ideas and happenings.
Bro I love this shit. I love this channel. It’s soo gd good.
I love this series so much. I was rewatching it recently and I don't know if you'll continue it or not (it would be great to see more of it but I'm super grateful for what you've already given us regardless) but between you and Charred Thermos I've learnt so much more about the fascinating real-life inspirations for this amazing game that I just wanted to drop a comment to show my appreciation. Have a great day and hope this message finds you well :)
Hope you bring us another episode one day, you do amazing work.
This series is fantastic! I love a well researched, well explained theory and every video has knocked it out of the park. I'm very excited to continue watching.
I was blown away when I first noticed that each brain fluid has a unique item description
Oh please do more videos. These have been so wonderful to delve into as someone who has never been able to play blood borne
Literally just checked for a new video a few minutes before upload. I’ve got an internal clock jonesing for the most thoughtful, thorough, and creative From lore in existence.
Love the ending zooming in on the crab. For as grim a topic transformation and brain parasites is a little humor helps to remind that this is all a story in a video game.
I thought I could watch this while eating dinner. I was so wrong...
I always learn something new watching this channel, I adore you folks, this content is amazing. Thank you 🫶
finding fresh bloodborne lore content in 2023 feels so good man. Good work!
I’ve learned so much more about science, history, archaeology, and Bloodborne lore from this series! Thank you! Please accept my subscription
Just wanted to say thank you for doing these deep dives especially on older From titles. I always listen to your work while painting Dark Souls/BB/Elden Ring fanart!
Put this way, it really seems like Miyazaki just looked at the Mind Flayer enemies in Demons Souls and made a game based on an origin story made for them. lol.
Bloodborne truly is the coolest game of all time.
Yes i agree, its already a cult..and on top of that huge lore there Is the gameplay and the fucking OST ❤
@@Lorix84 Yes... It's not a mere game.
It's a ritual. A blood magic ritual.
YES!!!!! Another excellent video from my favorite lore channel, I’m truly loving all your Bloodborne videos, they’re the BEST!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!
This is a very unique perspective and delve into these topics. Amazing that this game can still allow for new ideas to be connected together for new outlooks and insights. As someone who is fascinated with biology and archeology, I greatly appreciate your attention to detail and phrasing. Thank you for making this.
Your Bloodborne videos are great, as an avid BB lore fanatic I have found your analysis top notch and intriguing - similar to charred thermos now defunct meta-lore serie - I really hope you'll delve even more into this unique universe
omg the crab at the end pinacle of evolution 😂😂 tysm TA for your work (I also love Fall of Civilizations)
Another Soulsborne Lore Hunter with a nice voice to listen to. Amazing, love it already.
and i thought my day couldn’t possibly get any better…ill be honest im writing this before watching the video but I just know its going to be phenomenal!! We do not deserve you Tarnished Archeologist!
Great vídeo, my only complain would be when you say evolution occurs on a population basis. Talking about evolution by natural selection, selection occurs on a gene level. The idea that evolution occurs at a population level it is call “group selection” and was discarded long ago by biologist. Anyway I really appreciate your videos and how you connect Bloodborne’s Lore to real world science. Love your content!
The most underrated RUclipsr I know
The exhilaration that I feel when a new Yharnam Archaeology video comes out is so refreshing! Never again have I been so hyped for a video game lore channel!
First running into these emissary creatures in the woods changed everything I thought I knew about the game.
We are born of the lore. Made men by the lore. Undone by the lore.
FEAR THE OLD LORE
These have become my most anticipated uploads on RUclips
personally I think metamorphisis is a better term to describe what the scholars were after. They wanted substantial change achieved in their lifetimes, rushing into godhood, much in the same way the protagonist does at the end of the secret ending.
This has got to be a great and an informative video, man, thank you! first time I watched it, I remember that it had english subtitles generated by YT, now from the parasitology chapter onwards they're gone. :(
love the slow zoom on the crab at the end. all becomes crab one day. kneel
GREAT video, the lore of bloodborne is soo good lol im gonna subscribe rn, i knew your chanell bcs of some elden ring structural lore theories and i love them but i lost track of u : ( , but the youtube algoritm recomended this bloodborne lore video and it was amazing, great work greetings from chile :D
And of course, the video ends with the end point of all evolution: Crab.
This is another fantastic entry in an excellent series! Great work.
I always thought the conversation between Willem and Laurence from the cutscene took place after they had seen the negative effect of blood on a human for the first time. Which scared Willem, leading him to seek more insight. And also making Laurence forced to leave to continue the research, because he did not get frightend enough by the event.
Interesting how many seemingly unrelated concepts fit nicely together in Bloodborne. Take trick weapons, for instance. A weapon that can be many different things at once. It's like a hand with many fingers.
Masterpieces of lore you are producing. Cheers.
God, what I wouldnt do to have Bloodborne on PC
I love your bloodborne videos, can't get enough of it! Super inspirational
@TheTarnishedArcheologist I can really recommend you the Reuploads from Dark Sun Gwyndolin original from Charred Thermos. He did so much great work that would fit so perfect in your work. The connections he made with real life lore is amazing and logical.. just baffling. I can't let this work to go unnoticed for the community!!
Please let me know, when you already familiar with his work❤😊
The absolute genius of this game. Every thread perfectly woven. Waiting for great minds to tug on them. Each unfolding uniquely in to its own fascet of science and history. All leading back to naked humanity.
Oh thank God. I needed this
I’m loving these bloodborne videos you do. Keep em coming!
I haven't even played bloodborne but I'm here for these videos man, so good!
The Choir missed the final destination, the end of evolution, the final step in the lineage of elevation:
To become Crab.
We settle for squid
The fact that to this day, just about every video on Bloodborne leads to compelling viewing material goes to show how brilliant the game is. Issue is, capturing lighting in a bottle twice is a very tall order. So don't expect Bloodborne 2 any time soon if at all. I will say though, BB2 would be interesting if you took the role of the evolved great one/hunter and proceeded to travel to the realm of the great ones and took them all down only to have you choose the ending. I think this would be a good and logical route to take.
A new TA bloodborne video exactly when I'm playing my first run? 😍
All these years later, this game hits as hard as ever. What a rabbit-hole!
Best soulsborne lore content creator by far
I didn't even know the flowers were people. These are the best lore videos
Amazing video (yet again). Very thought provoking!
I might be in the minority here, but Bloodborne is so perfect,it doesn’t need a sequel
Thanks again TA for the amazing content
After watching this my head expanded as well I'll see you all in the research hall for treatment
Since coming here for Elden Ring content, this channel has made me wanna play Bloodbourne so much
My favorite lecture series marches on!!
Hell yeah! This’ll be fun to watch later!! Thanks TA!
Wake up babe, the tarnished archeologist uploaded!
Keep it up boss, your actually one of my favourites fromsoft/history RUclipsrs❤️
I love your videos and am so happy when I see you uploaded a new one. Pleas continue!
"Unless we put you to sleep earlier in this video, it should be clear what that latter part means..."
Hey now, no need to call us lore sleepers out like this