Ha you must be a young pessimistic dude right. The earth has bad stuff so if we just destroy it all and cull everything down to the same level then that will fix it. Awesome. Scorched earth plan ha. The earth is wonderful becaue of diversity and disparity. The world in the end will not be without pain suffering and ultimately death but what gives a person thier character and honor is what is done in the face of that. No shade to you though brother. Ive been there in my life as well

Vaati is the cancer of Soulborne.

if the woman in the opening cutscene isn't conducting some ritual to create the brand of the undead then what exactly is she doing? i was never convinced by the unclear language used in item descriptions, it was the cutscene that convinced me. although i will admit, this does really hurt the chances that the wway of white specifically are the ones creating undead

As far as really, really dumb ideas just made up from whole cloth by Hawkshaw go, I think the idea that the demons of Izalith predate the Chaos Flame is way more ridiculous. This one is at least based around a misreading of the English translation, but how do you misread the most simple exposition that poorly in either language?

Send this to Hawkshaw

Vaati Vidya and his consequences have been a disaster for the lore community.

LP, drops by, drops 3 minute video, destroys 59% of the theories surrounding the way of white and AFL, dips, what a chad

"Produce" also doesn't just mean "fabricate." If I take a rock out of my pocket and hand it to you, I have "produced" that rock. It's an archaic use, but the Souls franchise does use some flowery archaic terminology to sound more medieval.

I'm not sure what to believe on this one. It does seem like a stretch to me for the reasons provided, but on the other hand, what is that lady in the intro doing if not creating an undead?

"Quelling Pillar" maybe?

The intro to DS1 + the human pine resin description in DS3 imply it's at least doable, even if it isn't necessarily the norm

Bless! I'm just now getting into Dark Souls lore and I heard this somewhere. Lucky that this showed up in my feed.

The number of lore people who give way too much credence to individual words in item descriptions without checking the original Japanese is astounding. You'd think that if you're doing a 2h lore video you might as well double check item descriptions to make sure you're right.

WTH? Don't people know how to read it? Produced ITS first undead, as in relative to only itself. Hope for humanity -1

Love the idea of the brain of mensis being a failed amygdala. Fits rather nicely.

Yeah I disagree with this. It lines up more with what we know of the way of white, the undead legend that it was something that was made either purposely or accidently and span out of control. It also lines up with how the gods in Lordran banished the dark using a seal of fire. Additionally its stated that curses are the domain of the Gods. Solaire also says he "BECAME undead," as in an active choice, maybe there is something in the japanese dialogue to counter that but it seems like you can choose to become undead. Then there is the maiden in the opening cutscene, if she is not creating the undead what is she doing, and why did Miyazaki spend so much time trying to get the feel just right, I genuinely what to know what you think she is doing then. Lloyd using his talisman's to help in undead hunts is very similar to how the Yharnamites use fire to hunt beasts, the church did not create them on purpose but still had a hand in their creation and still must deal with this like a plague.

A supression pillar is simply a brutalist building usually a tower that conquering forces erect. Its a symbol

Also, a lot of people think Solaire deliberately became Undead. I interpret his comment about why he became Undead to be a rationalization after the fact. Think of a religious person insisting that everything happens for a reason, it's all part of Gwyn's plan.

I personally don't think Lloyd is very important in the grand scheme of things. Just like how Anor Londo has religious iconography devoted to Gwyn and his family contrasted with the Undead below revering a statue of a woman holding a child, it seems Lloyd is probably a famous human whose worship was tolerated by Gwyndolin so long as it ultimately could serve Anor Londo.

Never heard anyone claim they did

This was great, and more like it would be awesome!

"The fallen leaves tell a story Of how a Tarnished became Elden Lord. In our home, across the fog, the Lands Between. Our seed will look back upon us, and recall. An Age of Fracture."

Good explaination but oh god, DS3's lore is such a mess

Yeah, that's what I always thought at first. Maybe because English is a second language for me, but this was always kinda obvious to me because I've always had to keep in mind the different meaning a text might have. So this and the Firstborn being lost to the anals of history is something that is ambiguously worded but kinda obvious what it meant.

This is how I've always understood the meaning of that description; and English isn't even my first language.

I'm glad you decided to publish this. Thank you!

Did you guys know paladin Leroy is based on leeroy jenkins. He started out as a blank NPC that was gonna hold the gear from the art contest and I'm not sure if he was always going to be a paladin like the OG Leroy jenkins or if that came along later but that was always where he got the name

Man, the fact that people thought this makes me weep for reading comprehension skills.

Then what are they created by?

We're getting grammar lessons now in lore videos, plz make more LP! As a side note, is there a consensus on where the Darksign actually comes from? Who/what brands the undead? Is it to do with the relinking of the first flame? Have I fallen for Way of White propaganda? And will the grades I get later this month be as good as I hope?

I love your lore videos but aren’t going to watch streams so I wish they were different Channels so I could better customize what’s in my feed.

I think that there is a lot more in the lore of both DS1 and DS3 (probably DS2 as well) that would suggest the undead are created deliberately, perhaps even by the way of white. Personally i think the opening cutscene is more compelling evidence than anything else, but in DS3 we learn that Gwyn did in fact play a part in cursing humanity, and the Way of White was founded by his brother so I can see why this interpretation is so popular

My head canon agrees with you.

Setting aside the lore, I appreciate your clear, thoughtful explanation of the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs! I think this serves as a great example of how important such seemingly abstruse linguistic concepts actually matter a lot when it comes to parsing meaning in certain situations. I really liked this video👍

I hated the skill tree in PoE I hate the skill tree even more in PoE2. It is just garbadge

So now clarifying how language actually works is pedantic?? Don't apologize to people that grloryf anti-intellctualism

Well by DS3, it kinda explained that the hallowing is natural thanks to reigniting the first flame, so they couldn't make them.

As a warrior titan I feel like the warrior tree compliments the warrior. I've built a death knight with an aura that debuffs and slows with a necromancer army. I clear maps with corpse tread.

Tbh this theory was always a stretch. Why would the Way of White produce undead but also Lloyd’s Talismans? Why would Petrus murder Rhea?

You know how us kids likes our lore nice and sloppy!

personally, i just wish they would fix armor. As a warrior, i can live with having to travel across the map to get magic bonuses, though it's annoying, but in terms of defensives, warriors are extremely limited by the fact that armor is functionally useless.

Yo, thanks for this one! I think it's definitely a muddy instance of localization. Different people are going to read it so differently. I don't even think it's necessarily a case of "reading too much into it". While the meaning feels "obvious" to some people, and it may have felt clear to the localizer who worded it that way, it can just as easily be read the other way by just as many people.

I've come to see the Way of White as reflective of the White Soul, or the souls we usually collect. So the Way of White is the intention of the greater world to keep Light Souls over the Dark Souls of man so they can be used for kindling. So the idea of them sending out Paladins for their faith both serves to be rid of any notable undead and framing it it good faith, and also to feed the fire with as much light as possible. Leeroy was just the first one they had found in their faith and specced him out to go and pursue thier long term goals of prolonging the age by sacrifice. Aesir has a really good vid on the Firelinking process that goes into the depths of what the relationship between humanity and Souls are, and if the Soul is the animating force in Dark Souls, how could you operate with 0 of them? The answer is implicit yet sinple; Humanity is still a soul, but not a Light Soul that can be expended for levelling (until DS3 introduces Yoel)

Hard edged pedantry? I'm here for it boss!

I read that description more as the Leroy was the first member of the Way of White to become undead

Smash ! Next question

Yeah, it's such a obvious stretch, it's clear it's just meant to say "he was the first important member of the Way of White to become Undead". Explaining something as important as the origin of the Curse of Undead and tying it to a background character like Lloyd in a single item description would be ridiculous, especially when all 3 games point to Gwyn as the person responsible in multiple dialogues and such.

Thank you for clarification. I had no idea this was a misunderstanding in the community, I always read it the way you stated it, same with the cinematic scene (I mean it is immediately followed by "And amongst the living are seen, carriers of the accursed Darksign")

You explained that well with them fancy verb words, the helm just explains that the first undead that followed the Way of White was a paladin, ie. he was the Way of White's first undead. That's almost a Jesus allusion, referring to the resurrection.

Idk man I remember getting my Dark Sign from a guy named Tanner, he *might* have been a Way Of White goon