Dark Souls Lore | The Everlasting Dragons: History & Legacy

[@SmoughTown]

Thanks to Factor75 for sponsoring today's video. Go to strms.net/factor75_se6165437 and use code POGSMOUGHNOV50 for 50% off plus Free Shipping! Let me know your thoughts on the Ancient Dragons below!

[@Eldagusto]

I think arch dragons are the early dragons who are born before or near the war, same as ancient dragon. And everlasting dragons are dragons who are perfect and eternal with scales of immortality, and are also the highest of the arch dragons. Arch dragon like arch mage or arch demon just mean great or highest of. So they are the god tier dragons as opposed to the lesser more mortal dragons of modern era who breed and die like beasts.

[@Eldagusto]

On theory I had was when Dragons die and their souls reincarnate it becomes a giant since they are to magnanimous for a standard frame. So humanoids with a soul of a dragon (so dragons imperfect enough to have a soul) become giants, and they eventually formed their own tribes early in prehistory.

[@Eldagusto]

Giants might also be reincarnations of the archtrees that were burned rather then the dragons so they become trees again when they die.

[@brennanneiding5669]

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[@S_Scaling]

They fit right in with Elden ring lower dragons

[@david21216]

Dragons as a metaphor for rocks and minerals, giants as a metaphor for trees and forests. Such a neat game

[@Invader_Hex]

nito

[@qwopiretyu]

​@@Invader_Hex hes a metaphor for calcium

[@yikes6969]

they literally were made of rock and mineral, it's not a metaphor lmao

[@prismriot4910]

Maidenless as a reference to elden ring players getting no bitches

[@BaalFridge]

​@yikes6969 i think people forget allegory and metaphor are two different words sometimes

[@michaeliniga7958]

Aldia is my favorite NPC in the dark souls series. One of the few characters with answers instead of more questions. He saw through all the bullsh!t.

[@insertedgynamehere___969]

"A lie remains a LIE!"

[@shen5533]

Aldia became aware of the DS world of ambiguous-lore bullshit.

[@qwopiretyu]

​@@shen5533 hang on a tick, your history book and my history book tell the same story with details altered... This is a shell game!

[@jackjones7062]

Especially with the way dragons were used in DS1, it felt like they were meant to be so old and powerful they were pretty much features of the landscape, closer to a natural force than most life forms are

[@Grimsly3736]

Midir still kinda fits into that imo, with how much character he has as now he’s overflown with emotions (dark) and this is probably why he’s the most animated of all the dragons besides Seath of course even having a personality as Midir spies on you throughout your adventure in the ringed city itself and in your fight with him he puts a lotta anger into his strikes at you, Midir essentially became the opposite of what you described

[@goathead4831]

What if the basilisks aren’t simply cursing you with their breathe attack but are actually conjuring the fog of non existence to turn you into minerals… or like the fog is transporting you to a time before the age of fire. Knowing how repair powder works, it isn’t completely out of the realm of possibilities.

[@napalmpudding]

🤯

[@Jaden-Ring]

I sometimes can't help but see the desire to become great ones in bloodborne as a parallel to the desire to become a dragon to escape a lesser existence in dark souls and even elden ring. Although magma wyrms and childless successful great ones are still left wanting. Showing to me that there really is no perfect existence in these worlds even if you ascend as high as you can.

[@ProjectRedfoot]

"The ultimate perfection is to accept that you are imperfect" (I'm paraphrasing something. I forget what. Do your own research lol)

[@kimlee6643]

While I understand the sentiment, I think Dragon Communion tilts much more strongly towards the desire for destructive/raw power, and having that draconic power be a fundamental force for corruption - for all such Communion arises from violence against dragons (hunting and consuming dragon hearts) and all related incantations do harm attuned to whatever dragons have been hunted. I find that the presentation is rather straightforward on this, from Yura's warning to the Dragonbarrow ghost's pathetic demands that the/a dragon surrender their heart - it all alludes to prototypical sinful, personal pursuit of power that can only end in corruption/loss of one's self - such that this is the unavoidable consequence, rather than the desired goal. There is also some good contrast with the Dragon Cult followers, which seek to harness draconic power from Ancient Dragons that does not rely on dragon hunting, but rather emulation/channeling of the lightning that characterizes those beings. Both of these distinct ways to harness draconic nature, however, seem to come together in the fascinating form of the Dragokin Soldiers - beings that seemed to have aimed the highest, and so failed the most miserably, in their attempt to emulate Ancient Dragons. I still think it's reasonable to assume that these beings were aiming for the more straightforward flavor of immortality and power, rather than transcendence that challenges the concept of "living" in itself.

[@koshergaming3964]

@kimlee6643 I agree with you with how Dragon-ascension works in Elden Ring, and in that world power seems to be a larger focus on why to do anything. In the Souls series I've always seen Dragon Ascention as an attempt at escape. They are beyond cycles of life. They are powerful, but man and giants forged lightning and struck them down in number. To be a dragon-ascendant is to dedicate yourself to conjoining with their ancient essence and doing so leaves many people as half transformed husks. The pilgrims continue to go and pray because it's an escape from the broken, non-natural cycles of the world and rejoining the original energies of the land.

[@sageastreaus7905]

I absolutely love that you included so much Dark Souls 2 lore towards the end. I know the major controversy behind DS2, but to me, that game is incredible, and will always have a place in my heart.

[@ejihajwilhelm4604]

"Oh hey smoughtowns putting out a video in an hour, oh hell yeah it's about ancient dragons, OH HELL YEAH I have so much laundry to fold to this!"

[@SmoughTown]

hahaha! Hope it makes the laundry folding epic!

[@alanrockwell8160]

Dude me too

[@kyleshurtliff2056]

Scrubbing my shower imagining all the little humans learning to sew crests and cast lightning bolts so they could go fuck up some eternal deities went pretty hard

[@yikes6969]

Doing gymnastics on it

[@zombiecrepsley8991]

Washing the dishes, always love Smoughtown keeping me company in the kitchen

[@Women_Respecter]

Dragons in Dark Souls and Elden Ring hit two different spots. Dark Souls dragons are all unique and have their own personality. Elden Ring Dragons show the distinct race of Ancient Dragons in game are still powerful and fearsome, yet rare. FromSoft having both allows them to scratch both itches

[@kimlee6643]

That is actually an interesting way of putting it. ER dragons have names (implying uniqueness here) down to the drake-type ones (e.g. Agheel, Greyll, Smarag) and wyrm-type ones (e.g. Makar). Though Ancient Dragons have associations with the highest demigod figures (e.g. Fortissax with Godwyn), drake-types can still be very relevant for the lore as individuals, as happened with Adula, who was defeated by Ranni, becoming knightly bound to her service, and who can cast a powerful sorcery to boot. Agheel also has what we can describe as worshipers, to the point they chant about it in their state of madness. ER dragons are thickly embedded into the once thriving world of the Lands Between. This also makes it noticeable that, unlike Dark Souls, ER dragons are rather common, from Magma Wyrms to Ancient Dragons, they are quite a few in number. That said, the difference between DS and ER dragons and the concept of transcendence is quite distinct. Especially because ER Ancient Dragons are as beholden to the power of the Elden Ring as much as any other group, and so cannot represent, by definition, an order beyond it.

[@MrJordwalk]

@@kimlee6643 "That said, the difference between DS and ER dragons and the concept of transcendence is quite distinct. Especially because ER Ancient Dragons are as beholden to the power of the Elden Ring as much as any other group, and so cannot represent, by definition, an order beyond it." This point underscores the fact the transcendence humans who make the Dragon Communion attempt is always one made in vain, as they are cursed to become Magma Wyrms: simultaneously more than human and less than what they believed/hoped they would become.

[@kimlee6643]

@@MrJordwalk Indeed, I argued just as much in another reply. I think it's very clear Dragon Communion is a violent pursuit of destructive power that ends in either violent death or total corruption of the individual. This is completely different from the Path of the Dragon in Dark Souls. It's a bit of a shame this isn't mechanically more interesting in-game for ER, and we're left at a mere eye cosmetic. A body transformation effect would've been very interesting, as well as being invaded by NPCs and/or other players attempting to take our draconic heart. Alas, it is what it is.

[@HanzoHatt]

Yet they still need to give dragon cult users an awesome looking dragon form with moveset.

[@kimlee6643]

@@HanzoHatt Very low chance, but I have my fingers crossed for something like this. Also imagine it ties with multiplayer, so that when you're in "dragon form" other players try to take your heart. Alas, we can assume it's not happening.

[@thatonefinalgirl]

The time before all others, where these massive dragons could exist when nothing else could, is by far the scariest part of Dark Souls to me! It almost has an Eldritch feeling to it. Great work as always!

[@SmoughTown]

Thank you so much! And I agree - they feel so otherworldly in Dark Souls!

[@educatedlaziness3268]

An interesting take that i had is that perhaps the Giants arent distant relations of the Dragons, but of the Archtrees. Their metamorphosis when they die, taking on even more tree like looks, their connection to the passage of time is similar to the Ancient Dragons but they dont share the same niche. Perhaps they're descendents the same way Kalameet and the Gaping Dragon are, the advent of life and death twisting what were primordial beings into new forms

[@SmoughTown]

Yeh could defo buy that

[@nardoritardeau2291]

Hey I love that idea, plus the evolution line from tree->snake->quadraped->giant is pretty funny. Fire enters existence and trees turn into snakes... Vaguely biblical, garden of Eden has trees and snakes closely associated, Moses' staff literally turns into a snake at one point, Moses also hoists a bronze snake on a big stick to cure the Jews of snake venom. Cool thought.

[@RossAshmore]

Its not a FromSoft game without dragons of some sort! I still remember discovering the stone dragon at the bottom of ash lake, it was both terrifying and awe inspiring!

[@SmoughTown]

So true and yeh finding Ash Lake and the dragon, genuinely such a magic experience. Was expecting it to attack me...but it was so serene!

[@pebrockk]

@RossAshmore But there's no dragons in Bloodborne.

[@sergiovergaramontemiranda2116]

​@@pebrockkdanm you beat me to it. But yes we dont have dragons. We have eldric abobinations and frankenstein est monsters but not dragons

[@timmichan9581]

And that soundtrack

[@michael6880]

​​​@@pebrockkI'm gonna be the pedantic ass and say it depends on your definition of a dragon, before it was the traditional four legged creature that could fly, either with wings like the European and American dragons or slithering like the east Asian dragons. They were just about any monstrous beast of unnatural order, So the moon presence is a good contender But otherwise yeah, no dragons

[@bubbachord0167]

There is so much depth to these games, how did I never even question what the giant skeletons were in the tomb of the giants

[@Ulta_Nagenki]

The fact that Humans could possibly be just evolved dragons just blows my mind. So many ideas from this one little thing. Like using divine and magical spells are innate to us from our once powerful fires or some such ideas.

[@daniell1483]

I love the theory that most if not all life can be traced back to the dragons. It links together certain ideas that never quite clicked for me, like the radically different giant skeletons from DS1, or the relationship between giants and dragons. That kind of reminds me how in D&D, Forgotten Realms, the first major war was between Giants and Dragons, similar in power, but different in method and intention. I can't help but wonder if this comparison of DS's giants and dragons is not similar. Giants are not literally dragons, but they are possessed of the same psudo-life the Everlasting Dragons held?

[@SmoughTown]

Agree I really like it too - it made a lot of 'gaps' really click for me

[@etherflask6380]

differing forms of the same "stuff", basically. the archtrees, and now erdtrees, fascinate me more than the dragons actually. Like seeing all the erdtrees in the elden beast fight, or seeing all the trees in the hunters dream. Thinking about how it would be in reality is quite awe-inspiring. I need to see the american northwest with the sequoia trees and such.

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

I have nothing to base it on, but I always figured the giants were like the dragons, in that they existed before flame, but weren't, y'know, giants. Just trees. The advent of fire did something similar to them that it did the dragons, poisoning them with life, but something odd happened and they had humanoid forms thrust upon them. Maybe it was the human-centic concept of "soul" shared by the creatures that obtained the flame first, maybe it's something weird the Pygmies did, I don't have the why, but because they were much more different from a human, animal concept of life, they were forced to conform to that humanoid form as souls were forced into them. Thus why they turn back into trees when they die, and the soul is gone. Which ALSO compliments the idea that, like the Dragons, they have an odd in-between state of death, where the removal of life indeed kills them, but as they "lived" without life before, they're not, like, dead dead, just dead as animals, which supports why we can enter their memories in DS2. They're still alive in the vague, alien sense that life existed before the flame, and thus have active memories that can be interacted with. Yorm is an odd case though. Assuming he's a capital G giant, and not just a lower case G, One Piece giant, he was bound by the whole lord of cinder thing, possibly meaning that, linking linking fire overrides other properties of existence? Or who knows. And Wolnir is... not a capital G giant? Pretty sure he's not. He's just a One Piece giant, with impeccable fashion sense.

[@vardiganxpl1698]

​@@aprinnyonbreak1290perhaps Yorm and Wolnir are similar to dragon kind. In that theyre just the descendants that have become less like their old ancient relatives, and be more flesh and blood

[@whatthemeep]

One of my favorite topics in the Dark Souls universe and, as always, beautifully put together and narrated. Keep up the good work sir 🫡

[@SmoughTown]

Much appreciated my friend - will do!

[@swift5384]

Super cool learning about the fog and how it's a causality breaking force in the dark souls world. Makes me think that's why fog walls appear when you die to a boss. Travelling through it may essentially let you break causality and travel back in time to attempt the fight again from the beginning, explaining why a boss's health regens and the fight restarts. Pretty cool!

[@UtterApe]

Words cannot describe how much appreciate this video. The dragons of FromSoft games are on the biggest highlights for me, and the fact that none of the lore divers have ever truly talked about the clearly different types of dragons in Dark Souls and how they came to be irked me for the longest time. Many thanks for these interesting insights.

[@greenhydra10]

Got to Archdragon Peak on my current run of DS3, so this is pretty well timed!

[@SmoughTown]

That's awesome! Hope you are enjoying the run!

[@hhowdy]

We goin back to the olden days with this one 🗣️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[@lemonlefleur6236]

I’ve always viewed the Fog of the Age of Ancients as a result of the unbroken primordial Fire that mixed both Light and Dark Souls. This is why the doors to bosses is coated in fog, as the power of our Dark Soul approaching in Contest a powerful Light Soul entity brings forth a shred of the ancient fog as if the two souls were once again mixed through their proximity.

[@n8doggy733]

28:51 Midir is the best designed boss fight I have ever faught in any game ever

[@JOHN45332]

Thankyou for making this, it’s always annoyed me that nobody in the community seemed to understand the proper categorisation of the darks souls dragons and would just clump them all into one simple group. It really removed the eldritch, alien, unknown feel of the archdragons as well as the incomprehensibility of the age of ancients and leasend their mystery. Also great video 👍🏻

[@SmoughTown]

Thanks so much John appreciate that. It was certainly Lokey's work that finally made all the 'categories' of the dragons, and now their evolution makes sense!

[@gizmo3846]

Dragons were alive, they were everlasting, meaning no death, with death came the disparity.

[@EnglishAaron]

Never forget Gwyn caused the endless cycle because he was afraid of letting things naturally progress as it was supposed to.

[@andyghkfilm2287]

got what was coming to him, he did

[@chillyavian7718]

My guy, his soul was fading away. What world you do in said scenario?

[@skeletorgames8641]

@@chillyavian7718fading away? It remained powerful enough to at least somewhat influence both the Iron King and the sum amalgamation of all who ever linked the fire, many cycles later.

[@chillyavian7718]

@@skeletorgames8641 the dark soul is stated to be the only soul which does not fade due to it replicating instead of splitting. Gwyn kept his soul burning by taking advantage of this fact and used humanity as kindling.

[@dumbsterdives]

i recently saw someone posit that the "undead" dragons are dragons afflicted by Nito's "miasma of death and disease" from the intro.

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

The "all giants come from dragons" idea is a little wacky but fun. I think it's more likely that ancient humanoids came from the Dark ("From the Dark, they came and found the souls of Lords within the flames") and maybe had the physical variability that we see in Oolacile and such.

[@rickimaru915]

I like how Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls and Elden Ring all feature giants and dragons but they’re different in each, in both appearance and the role they play in world

[@Zyvelteas]

Chef Smough, this full-course meal is particularly scrumptious. You really cooked with this one!

[@SmoughTown]

Thanks so much! Means the world to me

[@slightlytwistedagain]

I have a theory why the lords challenged the everlasting dragons that I've never heard anyone mention before. The lords challenged the everlasting dragons because they would outlive them, and probably mocked them as well like they did to Seath. Denying the lords the power of the everlasting scales, they decided to pillage them and then give them to Seath so he can discover how to live forever and share that knowledge with the gods to escape the fading of the flame.

[@DeadpoolX9]

“How’s it feeeeeeeeel Seath?”

[@falseprophet4927]

​@@DeadpoolX9"to be a... bitch?"

[@ancientsnek9603]

"To be a ~b i t c h~"

[@TheRookie01010]

The idea that humans may have came from dragons just blew my mind for real. I never thought of that in all my years of knowing dark souls lore.

[@styge7512]

It seems notable that if we embrace the idea of ANCIENT MINERAL-BASED DRAGONS + FIRE/LIGHT/HEAT = LIFE AS WE KNOW IT, it closes parallels the idea of a primordial soup forming more complex proteins and ultimately life from minerals and heat during Earth's history.

[@wpb5876]

Absolutely fantastic video and thank you for sharing with the community! You tie together the series so well and present a thoughtful history of the Dragons that (I personally) completely overlooked. Time to play through the series again, but with a different pair of eyes this time!

[@SmoughTown]

Thanks so much my friend! Really appreciate that. Enjoy the playthrough!

[@mortuarycookiezshane4192]

Thanks for deep dive! I loved the original dark souls dragons. They are definitely my favorite. They have such unique appearances too.

[@SmoughTown]

My pleasure! Thank you so much for watching

[@corporeal5980]

This is the video ive been waiting years for, thanks Smough.

[@SmoughTown]

My pleasure bud, thank you so much for watching

[@josharchibald4637]

This channel has most definitely become my favorite lore channel. Man, I love a good deep dive.

[@SmoughTown]

Means the world Josh, thanks so much

[@SpanishDio]

Everlasting dragons its such a cool From Software concept

[@SUNDOWNESTUDIOS]

As always... another S-Tier Loregasm

[@JackisaMimic]

Can’t wait to dive into this video!

[@SmoughTown]

Hope you enjoy!

[@igniortix]

Thanks for still covering dark souls

[@SmoughTown]

More to come!

[@modernoverman]

I was checking YT everyday for this video. I love the Ancient Dragons!

[@SmoughTown]

Thanks so much my friend! So sorry for the delay on this

[@kalzero3319]

Another Banger from one of the all time Fromsoft Lore greats! This is a wonderful addition to the library of lore concerning the "eternal" Arch-dragons and the mysterious age of Ancients. You did a masterful job of explaining these otherworldly beings and weaving in the connected characters and events that would take place over the course of the three Dark Souls titles. Quick side note* Gwyn truly was a bastard. His admittedly valid fear of Humanity's dark nature(want) mixed with his all-consuming drive to keep his Age of Fire alive really did a number on the world of Dark Souls. The eternal constant of change is a terrifying reality that we all must come to terms with, but instead of making his peace with the inevitability of change he damned all of life(and death) to a never-ending cycle of madness. The scope of Gwyn's ambition and the motivations behind the curse he enacted upon the world is truly horrifying.

[@cow2hug483]

At the end of DS he is hollow, all his ambition, his fear to let go ended up not only cursing the world but also himself.

[@ihaveadigbick.3785]

18:01 I would argue that Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon is an Everlasting dragon. My argument: -Sinh was found slumbering underground not on the surface, meaning the reason he would be still alive as an everlasting dragon is because he slept through the war of the ancients. -Sinh was pierced through where the "heart" is but if he is an everlasting dragon I doubt sentient stones would have one. -The world of Dark Souls in a world of concepts, as it is also mentioned in the video. When fire brought on the concepts such as life and death, it started to influence the dragons and as said in the video "Life started to poison the everlasting dragons." Now Sinh was slumbering in an underground craven filled with poison. Poison affect life in different ways in Dark Souls, but most commonly, like toxic, it eats life away. So when Sinh, was affected with life he gained a soul. He became a half-living being but the poison that he was already containing ate away all the negative effects of live such as: the need for sustenance or the weakness towards life based attacks such as: fire and lightning. So as an everlasting dragon, what should he do? Well he does what he always has done, nothing really. That's why he just slumbers, what else would a being that has been existing before fire came to the world do?

[@epicgamer-ui9mb]

Babe, my favourite elden lord content creator made another banger lore vid.

[@WaterFlame3030]

SmoughTown, your lore videos will always be PEAK. I love your Elden Ring vids, your Bloodborne vids, and these Dark Souls vids as well. I believe you are perhaps one of the best lore youtubers on this platform, and will continue to believe as such till the end of my days!

[@TrickyThe0ne]

So happy to see this still being discussed.

[@SmoughTown]

Thanks bud - love this subject

[@Gloomyotters]

Wow, what a treat! Ty for your awesome insight and hard work!

[@SmoughTown]

My pleasure my friend - thanks for being here!

[@Gloomyotters]

​@@SmoughTownalways!

[@challengingyou212]

Kind of nice to be back to dark souls lore for a change

[@samualwilliamson369]

Chinese mythology says that all animals came from dragons and all humans came from giants.

[@Writh811]

For a while now I have had it in my head that the war with the Ancient Dragons was started over the First Flame. I reason that the dragons likely became aware of what was changing their world and they sought to destroy it before it destroyed their world (Not unlike Gwyn with the Dark). They didn't count on the ruinous flame having champions to challenge them. Once their attack failed, the Flames champions turned Dragon Slaying into a sport.

[@mlooky1]

this is my new favorite video in your channel dark souls lore always shows how genius miyazaki is, thank you and i hope you make more dark souls in depth lore videos

[@samueltitone5683]

I love how Fire Emblem’s dragons are consistently eldritch terrors from beyond the colors of time, but I think the everlasting dragons of Dark Souls have them beat as the single best dragons in all of fiction.

[@skeletorgames8641]

Consistently? A lot of Fire Emblem dragons seem more like just elves who shapeshifter into mutant lizards. Though the final boss dragons do come off as cosmic horrors.

[@colbyboucher6391]

I'm really glad that you picked up and focus on how the dragons are sort of a symbol of eastern nondual schools of thought. Interesting to note how as soon as a dragon _wants_ something it becomes corrupted somehow. Most obviously the Gaping Dragon, but look at how Oceiros was consumed by the desire to become one. He tried his damnedest to become dragon-like, like the monks he brought to his court, but he desired it so much that rather than "doing the work" he tried to transform himself quickly through sorcery and became... whatever the hell that thing is.

[@nathanhudelson1834]

To focus on the Giants for a second, I agree that it makes sense for them to be related to the Age of Ancients given their strange biology. However, I'm not convinced that they are descendants of the dragons; I think it makes more sense for them to be descendents of the Archtrees. If the Everlasting Dragons were "infected" by life, by souls, when flame first appeared, who's to say that the Archtrees weren't similarly "infected", becoming more alive; so alive, in fact, that they learn to walk and talk and wage war? And then, when these giants die, when they are "cured" of the infection that is their souls, their bodies revert to a tree-like state, trying to become Archtrees again?

[@matmil5]

"A land of gray crags, Archtrees and Everlasting Dragons." Made me think that DS2 giants might be a corruption of the archtrees, not the dragons. Elemental and primordial connection remains there in this interpretation. Also, DS3 serpent ring piqued my interest recently. "A silver ring depicting a snake that could have been, but never was, a dragon." Serpents have always been called imperfect dragons, but here it is hinted that some serpents actively chose against being the dragons. We could even make a reach here that they have orchestrated the cycle as a whole to place themselves in high positions of power, plotting against their ken. Denouncing the scales, actively seeking the disparity, aiding the flames and choosing when eras should change. But that is just a theory

[@remeg.3295]

I love listening to you and This Is Nate. He does more Skyrim and fallout lore. But both of y’all are so fun to listen to both of y’all.

[@Phenriir]

We’re eating better than the King’s right now.

[@Ravum]

Did you mean like better than Kings or better than the King is? It reads as better than the King is because of the contraction. I could read it either way and it would make sense, just curious which you meant.

[@Phenriir]

@@Ravum Both, Smoughs videos are chefs kiss

[@sarahdoublerainbow31]

Missed you Smoughtown!

[@SmoughTown]

Thank you so much! Sorry for the delay!

[@zm9498]

Wife: “Honey I’m pregnant!” Me: “Hold your horses SmoughTown just uploaded a new banger”🎉🎉

[@SmoughTown]

🤣

[@KakarotGamingXP]

Ah yes...with all the turmoil happening out in the world we now have another amazing lore video to help me sleep and relax to. Kudos homie 👌

[@SmoughTown]

My pleasure my friend, hope you enjoy

[@wyattmorelock5832]

I love it when you upload. Your videos always make my day!

[@Walamonga1313]

Smoughtown as always the best lore video creator

[@gamersthumb3723]

This is one of your best videos! Just finished replay of ds1, perfect time to hear the lore again 💕

[@TheAlphaLegionnaire]

Thanks for giving DS2 some love Smoughtown. It gets too much hate.

[@SmoughTown]

My pleasure - more to come!

[@TextToSpeechYoda]

Fantastic video, I wrote an essay on a similar topic a few years back and I wanted to add that there may have been an additional reason the Dragons were slain tying back into Seath and the true nature of an undiluted Archdragon. Seath, rather than fire or any element, spews a crystal causing breath that curses you. This breath is specifically called a "frightening power of the ancient dragons" meaning this is what they would have produced prior to the First Flame corrupting them. Essentially they spread the stone stasis of their own bodies throughout the rest of the world, keeping it in that static age. My conclusion was that this is why they were killed, as an age without change is eternally at odds with the age of fire, age of man, and so forth. There is a lot more supporting this I think, throughout all three games, but I never saw an explanation put forth as to why the war happened when the Dragons had no emotions or really did much of anything in the original time period to our awareness. I think with Gwyn constantly operating from a pragmatic (though not moral) viewpoint, it explains the genocide of the Dragons while also squaring away any contradictions found in Yorshka or the gods raising Midir.

[@vasylpark2149]

After looking at more dragons from FromSoftware I would say dragons with four wings are are ancient dragons, two wings are dragons, wyvern (pair of wings and hind legs) are modern dragons, and everything else decendants from them depending on the game - carps, centipedes, slugs, eels, snakes, raptors (birds of prey), etc.

[@abeard1]

As always, great video

[@SmoughTown]

Much appreciated

[@teddyhh9947]

Great video as usual. A possibility for why dragons exist may be that they started out as regular beings from ages past that followed the path of the dragon and thus perfected their physical form. The realization that dragons are not simple beasts but ancient sages may have been why Faraam chose to part with them. As for existing but not being alive that is a occult concept that regurarly comes up when contacting spirits through ouja boards etc. The spirit will insist that they are not alive, although clearly being sentient. The difference between being alive and merely having your consousness exist seems to be highly correlated to your ability to feel. Feeling something (anything at all, good or bad) seems to be something spirits actively craves. Being a dragon in the dark souls universe is akin to reaching Gnossis in our world. The degree of dragonification/stoneification is correlated to the degree of enlightment, and is a ongoing process. If you meditate correctly you will become a drake first, then dragon, then improve your scales etc.

[@melo774]

just finished DarkSouls for the first time so this gon be a good one 🔥

[@reubenforbes3172]

If you make a video defining the dark soul and what it means when Gwynn linked the humans/pigmies to the flame you would receive the title of lore master

[@SmoughTown]

I want that title

[@n8doggy733]

Elden Ring has my favorite dragons, especially the Lichdragon Fortissax

[@SmoughTown]

Yeh I do like the aesthetics of the ER dragons - Fortissax is defo the coolest

[@jonahs.757]

Oh chit let's gooooo! Waking up to a new Smoughtown drop. Love it.

[@coroarc8423]

Well done!

[@shini1908]

About the ancient dragons having four legs instead of two legs: george R.R Martin once said that he made his dragon with two legs because no four legged creature of their size should be able to fly. So my headcanon was always that because dragon such as wyvern and drake belong to the modern age they are made in the image of that age while the true ancient dragons comes from an age in which such law and limitations(along side flying with literal stone scale) did not exist.

[@phantomleaves]

Excellent video Smoughtown, I gotta get me a copy of the Abyssal Archive

[@Zk3798]

One of your best videos yet! 🎉

[@worriedremediation]

Just as I was dreading doing my mind numbing data entry job I see you uploaded this

[@Eldagusto]

Undead dragons I believe are alive not from necromancy but either cause they are pseudo immortal. It’s also possible they are like ghosts and survived with a curse of misery and anguish or they are just steeped with the energies or souls of death and entropy .

[@KonnyKhaos]

ITS HAPPENING! NOBODY PANIC! SMOUGHTOWN IS RETURNING TO DARK SOULS LORE! SOMEONE HOLD MY HAIR BACK IM GONNA VOMIT PURE JOY!

[@jake9107]

and then the king returned

[@LLDevion]

dark souls time 🙏🏽🙏🏽 cheers Geoff big up the videos

[@SmoughTown]

My pleasure my friend - thank you for being here!

[@SpaceDoggy777]

Yesss, awesome video 👍🏻 After finishing LOTF, I’ve decided to try Darks Souls 1 for the first time and WOW have I been so confused lore-wise. Love your lore vids man keep em coming pls!

[@DanielGarcia-rx3kt]

The Age of Ancients show us how all life was once paradoxically blended together in a state of gray. At the advent of the First Flame, Souls were brought into existence with the Four Lord Souls being the representations of the metaphysical laws of the Age of Fire (Life/Death and Light/Dark and symbolically black and white to refer to a split of the gray of the Age of Ancients).The Archtrees would become Great Hollows once the Souls of the First Flame gave form to the Hollows of the Great Hollow. That's why the Hollows in Dark Souls 3 and the giants of Dark Souls 2 might've been turning back into trees: because they lost their Souls from the First Flame that gave them their individuality, physically and spiritually, thus they were reverting to their original forms, the Archtrees. That might be why trying to become dragons was a goal because they would be transcending their Archtree base form to become an Everlasting Dragon which is a higher form of divinity. Theory was put together with some occult and alchemical inspirations because Dark Souls seems to have a lot of that. Thanks for your fantastic video! Lots to think about!

[@whatsnewbois9814]

43:16 It's confirmed: cats are related to dragons

[@varsoonhks3211]

What's LoKey got to say about the two-dozen everlasting Dragon Asses down in the ruins of Izalith?

[@garbagegrove2533]

Awesome video as always. Would love to see a video covering the painted worlds!

[@Florjb0rjTheFloorboard]

I love dragons, and thus this is the best video yet

[@Touma134]

I think there was meant to be contrast between Elden Ring dragons and Dark Souls. As you said in DS they are completely alien to us but the ones in ER have language, culture, architecture, and even had their own age as the top race for an unknown amount of time. Even relationships with humans (Vyke) and the ability to mimmick the human form. I hope the breeding was done in that form lmao.

[@skeletorgames8641]

Also look at their opposite relationship to lightning. In DS it is their weakness, in Elden Ring, it is their source of power. At least the main ancient ones. Even the dragon kin soldiers have to use ice in an imitation of lightning.

[@melkerbotin7098]

Amazing video!!!

[@SmoughTown]

Thanks my friend! Means the world

[@1god705]

My favorite bed time story

[@braedenbumaro828]

If we consider the idea of giants shrinking and evolving into humans, we can consider the themes of humans weakening in Elden Ring, growing smaller and less physically strong/vitile as civilization progresses

[@10hawell]

I always believed that Gwyn when he got the first flame just turned into old man straight away, as if it was the platonic form of god of sunlight. Same as i believe that children of gods and pigmy lords didn't come from procreation but adoption, they were just first in line to recive pieces of first flame. procreation in world of dark souls is overall interesting topic, since there's only so much souls to go about there must be reincarnation, and maybe when population exceeded amount of souls, people started to be born with just humanity, idk but reincarnation and recycling of limited resource that is souls is interesting.

[@syvarris467]

Inscrutable, except Midir. He just wants you super, extra, definitely dead. Jokes aside, beautiful video as always. I love how scholarly you’ve made lore discussions.

[@SmoughTown]

Hahaha agreed! Thanks my friend, really appreciate that - Makes it all worth it!

[@BENIS8D]

RAAAAAAAAH NEW SMOUGHTOWN LORE VIDEO DROPPED 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@os_r1ck]

I really enjoy your content, keep it up.

[@SmoughTown]

Cheers bud - will do

[@michaelbloomer6376]

Dude I found your channel after vatti and playing Elden ring. Best thing to smoke too.

[@zarkwhitnoname]

All this years later I am reminded of the damage to the lore that DS2 did. Dragons live outside of the cycle? yeah maybe before the cycle existed... but when the fire came they immidiately became corrupted by it, similar to all other races, and sure they can't truly die, but also the undead don't die, right? Doesn't seem like a great escape to the cycle to be honest. Anyway, great video as always!

[@UnholyWrath3277]

The undead hollow dragons dont. Also the true ancient dragons are outside of the cycle the only thing that affects them is outside forces like gwyn attacking them. Time has no effect on them and if left alone they would simply continue existing. They didnt make descendants until the age of fire becaus they simply didnt need to until they were being slaughtered and needed to reproduce. Ds2 was fine to the lore your interpretation of it is where there is flaws

[@joshmaggard6]

Another factor that can support the everlasting dragons being the ancestors of all life in dark souls is the fact that many real-world cultures and religions have some sort of dragon or dragon-like being as the originator of everything.

[@AlbertusSalvatierra]

‘Bout to eat this up

[@pieoverlord]

18:37 Been a hot minute since I played DS1 but doesn't the Ash Lake dragon have three tails rather than two hind legs, unlike the other four legged dragons in that list?

[@RobbieofCarim]

Love your lore videos they help me sleep 😴 not that their boring you just have the kind of voice I can sleep well too so thanks bro 🎉😂