Dark Souls Remastered: Lore - The Story

[@098Xzibit]

Wasn't the the Dark Sign, the curse, created by Gwyn to control humanity and the Dark Soul though? Not because the flame was fading?... Pretty much the biggest highlight of the ringed city. With the curse they were able to suck out the Dark Soul (Parts of it, Humanity) from humankind dry, little by little because they were not able to truly die, they would become hollows, turn to the state of mindless beings before the dark soul was discovered, which would be highly beneficial to Gwyn. I might remember things wrong though but I'm pretty sure I'm close.

[@DaveControlLive]

Nebula Well, you're right in that the Dark Sign (what's on the Ringed City Armor) was created by the Gods. I'm honestly not sure about the rest, but I like the Theory and I'm pinning your comment.

[@XenoJehuty84]

I also took from the item description that Gwyn's the reason for the Dark Sign and by that the Undead curse along with causing their affinity with the Dark to go wild and mutate into beings like Manus and so forth. His artificially extending the age of fire, of course set up the world for a long time of hurt.

[@DaveControlLive]

Hmm... well, according to the Darksign "The darksign signifies an accursed Undead" And the Ringed Knight Set: "The armor of early men was forged in the Abyss, and betrays a smidgen of life. For this reason the gods cast a seal of fire upon such armor, and those who possessed them."Then back to the darksign: "Those branded with it are reborn after death, but will one day lose their mind and go Hollow." So - I think the question is: Is the Dark Sign the reason for undeath? Or is it (as the description said), something to signify an Undead - and prevent the spread of the Abyss? It's an interesting question, and something I'm now back and forth about if I should take down the video and include. 😅

[@XenoJehuty84]

Heh with how Dark Souls story and lore is so convoluted ain't that always the case we lore lovers find ourselves re-writing our theories? Especially when 'proper' translations are made? Hehe plus we do have the option of 'pick your own choices' with how it intersects. I learned long ago trying to make proper sense of the mess is a task but tis fun ain't it?

[@nicknamenescio]

The "linking" of the First Flame is mentioned often in the games. Gwyn linked the First Flame to his own soul. So we are told that this "linking" is meant to fuel the fire in order to extend it and with it the Age of Fire. My take: 1. Linking with Humanity: I had assumed that Gwyn had (before linking it to his own soul as a lost resort) also linked the First Flame to the Humanity within humans. Humanity is, for a better word, the soul of humans. Humanity is also part of the Dark Soul, a Lord Soul, and is thus effective in fueling the First Flame. 2. The cause of Undeath: The Undeath (= the Undead Curse) must be connected with the linking: It can be a necessary and deliberate effect complementing the linking because if a human died, his humanity would die with him, cutting the First Flame from its fuel. But as long as the human is reborn, the First Flame can continue to draw fuel. Or the Undeath is necessary because the First Flame can only draw humanity whenever a human is reborn at a bonfire, the bonfires being connected to the First Flame. That would explain why whenever the player character dies and is reborn at the bonfire, he has lost humanity. 3. The reason why the Undead Curse is spreading: So the weaker the First Flame gets by itself, the more Humanity it draws from human souls to sustain itself and the more the Undead Curse is spreading. 4. Becoming Hollow: If a human is drained from all his Humanity by the First Flame, they are empty of soul and thus "Hollow", an empty husk without being able to experience meaning or direction. So why are people hollowing quicker if they lose meaning or direction? Because having meaning and direction in life enriches the soul, enriches Humanity, "enlarges the fuel stock", so to say, and the fuel will last longer. 5. Humankind's destiny - the Age of Dark: According to Kaathe, humankind was deprived by Gwyn of its natural birthright, the Age of Dark. I assume that to mean that mankind, having a part of the Dark Soul (Humanity) as its soul, would ultimately awake to the Dark part within and realize its potential, elevating humans from the sideshow they are and were to center stage, so to say. But Gwyn cheated humankind twice: By linking himself to the First Flame he delayed the end of the Age of Fire. But even much worse: By linking the First Flame to Humanity before that, he let the flame burn out Humanity (and thus the Dark) from many humans' souls. And whoever loses all Humanity and becomes full Hollow, mindless, can never realize the Dark within. Such an Age of Dark would probably not be an age of monsters and evil, but such a prophesized Age of Dark would probably have more of the positive characteristics that Grave Warden Agdayne in Dark Souls 2 mentions: "Cradled by the comfort of dark", as he says. He also says: "In the past, humans were one with the dark." Yes, in the past the dark soul within humans, Humanity, was whole. But after the linking of Humanity with the First Flame by Gwyn, humans cannot be one with the Dark anymore because it is gradually burned out of them.

[@JPEGRonan]

Dark Souls Players: Wow the lore is so mysterious and evocative Dark souls: They call him Big Hat Logan because he wears a big hat

[@DaveControlLive]

That deep hat lore, tho.

[@HombreQuemado]

THE DEEPEST LORE

[@bzeffer]

Very deep

[@MissKuzara]

FromSoft logic.

[@Total_Inertia]

I saw that joke on twitter

[@howiehall2610]

To those new to ds1 with the remaster: Artorias does not speak in game, the soundclip was cut content that was originally going to be in the cutscene, but was taken out. Just in case you were confused :)

[@TheDwarvenDefender]

"And this is Quelaag's cut line." Dark Souls lore is so obscure you can't even find it all in the fucking game.

[@franciosdauteuil4626]

I meannnnn technically the fact that its cut content makes it non canon but at the same time that does fit in with how most of the lore is told in round about stories only tangentially related

[@L0rdLexan01]

I don't have anywhere else to say this so this video seems appropriate, I guess; Something I never see anyone mention is the way the world is arranged. The world itself is held up on one massive, huge tree, which grows around and contains the Abyss with it's roots. Similar to Yggdrasil from Norse mythology. The branches of the World Tree hold up the (notably flat) solid plate of the world. The Archtrees grow from the roots of the World Tree and spread up through the earth-part of the world to touch the sky. The Sun is a massive miracle, and the rays of the sun that strike the world cause time to flow. You can venture down the trunk of the World Tree, which is where the Catacombs and Ash Lake are, and below even that is the Kiln of the First flame. The Abyss, below even the Kiln, is what created the First Flame, for the Abyss contains everything. By giving up Life, Death, Light, and Dark, it creates a balanced Flame that it uses to burn down the world tree, slowly. As long as the Flame exists, the Abyss is weakened and believes it's work is being done, which is why the Gods attempt to continue the Age of Fire so that the Abyss remains sated. However, it should be noted that while the Age of Fire sates the Abyss, it also in turn burns down the world tree at the same time. By Dark Souls 3, this becomes extremely visible. No longer is the world layered upon itself like Dark Souls 1, where 'down' is the way to go, but it has become so thin and flattened as the World Tree loses height that it's more linear. It's burned so low there are no Arch-Trees to rise through the World Plate, and the Kiln of the First Flame, the lowest point in the Tree, is poking through to the sky. Look at the Soul of Cinder's arena, it's a small, tiny stump of a tree that has the first flame and the Kiln within a bowl of the once mighty tree, with everything exposed to the Sky and the Darksign in the sky. Then compare it to where you fight Gwyn, and how it's almost entirely underground. The World Tree has been burned from the Inside out by the Gods repeatedly sating the Flame, and thus keeping it burning. This is why everything is collapsing in on itself, because the Abyss is pulling whatever left of the World Tree into itself since now it's nearly uncontained. Normally, the Abyss would begin the First Flame, the Gods would claim it, have their age, and then Humanity would stifle it and let it die out. The Abyss would be furious as the World Tree grows back the small amount that was burned away, the Abyss would consume the last of it's pieces (the Dark Soul), and then would gather it's strength to light a flame anew, while the Dragons wait in their timeless world for the Abyss to spontaneously begin the flame again. This is the eternal cycle of the world However, in the World of Dark Souls, the Fire was kept burning longer than it should have, and the Abyss has won as it consumes the world. So if you think about it, there is no 'good ending' to Dark Souls. If you sate the flame, you only allow the Abyss to destroy everything for a bit longer, and if you surrender to the Dark, you only reset the cycle for someone else to mess up. An unwinnable hell. Except humanity and human-like beings have never been exactly OK with unwinnable games. If there is no victory, we'll make our own. And how did we do that? With the Painted Worlds. The first one for Priscilla was done not out of a desire to escape, but really to keep Priscilla hidden away. However, the Painter Girl in Ariandel perhaps realized that both worlds were burning away. By stealing the power of the Abyss, she makes a new world, unbound from ours, a way to escape the cycle, and a way to stick it to the Abyss. With the Light brought by flame, caused by a Living beings Blood, and the Dark blood of a slave knight long Dead, she uses these meager parts to make a world the same way the Abyss makes the first flame. The world lore stuff is from a map I found somewhere. Don't even know if it's official tbqh. Also this is a rant so if you read this far thanks, and please shoot me for writing this all up in the wrong place.

[@Superpiplups]

Album Interpretations bro get a life nobody with a brain would read all that

[@emv1309]

Where exactly did u get this info ? I am asking cause i saw an image that resembles what u are describing but that image was made by a fan

[@L0rdLexan01]

Found it on some social media platform. Tumblr?

[@emv1309]

+Album Interpretations i dont use tumblr , i saw the image on 9gag Anyway the world being like what u described is pretty much fan fiction unless u can provide solid evidence

[@bpluspoetry]

I appreciate the writing. I don't think there is ever for sure evidence to prove it, but I like this take on things.

[@akaniotevanos9861]

Dragons: Y U Bully me? Lords: Ha ha, lighting go crackle crackle

[@jessiejoy1703]

The fact that you included the lore of the other games to help "finalize" the lore of Ds remastered is amazing and you should totally do more vids like this when you get the chance

[@hazzmati]

7:40 this is a mistake. This comes from a translation error to the english version. In the japanese version it is stated Gwyn's firstborn was lost *to* the annals of history, not that he had lost the annals of history. It's a pretty weird thing to do anyway it never made sense in the first place.

[@BallotBoxer]

Gwyn: "Son, have you seen my Annals of History? You know, the huge book, about the size of a Capricorn demon, the only copy of the history of the world? Apparently something so intangible and irreplaceable can be lost. Play the fool, betray everything I stand for, but don't tell me you lost my history book!"

[@hazzmati]

''What about your Van Halen mixtape father? I lost that too.''

[@bosphon]

Could maybe mean that the annals of history resulted in him feeling guilt and regret, taming a dragon can also make him feel very different about those creatures that were slaughtered for power and land

[@DaveControlLive]

This is a completely new Dark Souls lore video from me, not a reposted old video. - Something I missed, The Ringed Knights fought dragons: "The Ringed Knights, by command of the gods, stood amongst the ranks who set out to slay the dragons, but their contributions were never lauded" - Dragonhead shield/greatshield It's not clear if this is was during the ancient dragon war, or hunting them down afterwards. Either way, it's an important note I missed. (Thanks Sam Jones for pointing it out)

[@bzeffer]

Ay, I'm doin quite a bit of research on the Dark Souls story. Right now I'm focusing on the DLCs and I have already made several summaries on several characters and all of Dark Souls one, including the DLC and how that the furtive pigmy is Manus and the lore of a few extra characters. Love your vids man

[@ohamatchhams]

It's unfortunate that Dark Souls 2 barely tied to both first and last games, either Dark Souls 3 could've tied the previous 2 (chronological) games or Dark Souls 2 could've became more coherent enough to have connection with Dark Souls 1 instead But I guess not everything in here are getting the satisfactory bonds altogether isn't it?

[@wanderingbufoon]

In the intro, i do believe that the age of ancient is still going some parts of the world. As we can see in the intro, the place where they are is completely covered in fog with enormous trees. We do not see these trees whatsoever. I doubt that they also cut them all down as well. Another thing is that the First Flame has existed during the Age of Ancients. It is simply just well deep underground and nobody had discovered it and moved those. As we see in the intro, we go inside a tree and down to its roots and the earth's crevasses and down into the pits until the First Flame is shown.

[@keganscurlock3549]

Heard a fucking ton about this game. Ive been addicted to the lore for a while as well. Such a charmingly dark story with undertones of sacrilege, betrayal, and the everlasting battle of our human flame against ever encroaching darkness. Thanks for making these videos, helping make up for lost time coming in so late into the series, they're well constructed and easy to watch actively or play in the background while you rage because of course there was a dark knight there.

[@eXHawk015]

I just came into dark souls with the remastered and this video was a really cool perspective that helped clear up some of the vague plot. I'm definitely going to replay it again after I've given it some time to simmer.

[@HaruIsOnline]

Holy shit, I never thought I'd see a new DS1 lore vid from Dave again, you're the best to listen to!

[@abhistorm]

I still have an unanswered question that I have been asking for 5 years. Did the dragons not breathe out fire before the "fire" came to be?

[@donnellebarfield3964]

Kamlet fire was made out a magic blast that resembled fire only fake dragons in dark souls 2 breath fire the dark souls 3 dragon also breath magic

[@leenaroz1753]

Your right the old dragons we God's unlike the dragons that breath fire they were nutral before the first fire brought difference heat cold light dark life and death there was no need for fire there was nothing the gods (dragons) simply existed

[@michaelwilder9938]

They did not breathe natural fire. They used magic to create it

[@jg8630]

clearly the answer is no

[@TheSuperRatt]

I assume they breathed 'crystals' like Seathe.

[@coffeepeals3936]

Here’s my lore with the remaster. In the world of ps4 there was an update that covered the land known to those as 1.0.2 then there were those who are held from the update and can’t play online they were the hollowed.

[@michaelsinger5851]

Coffee Peals they’re called demonic foliage because they’re aggressive shrubbery

[@Degnique]

Lovely work as always, Dave!

[@redpepperdave]

I'm finally patient enough to play through dark souls, I never understood the lore though. So here I am broadening my knowledge on well made video by talented story tellers.

[@fuckingawesome99]

redpepperdave Good Luck Skeleton

[@skellreeper354E]

Extremely talented story teller

[@TNell-dq8cd]

God! I've missed your Dark Souls lore videos.

[@TheDevil69270]

Your work is absolutely incredible ! Thank you so much for this

[@DaveControlLive]

No problem - glad you enjoyed! :)

[@TheHeymustache]

THE MAN HAS RETURNED

[@johnnyscifi]

I cant wait to pick up a copy of this for Switch. Might even get the corresponding amiibo of solaire of astora...:)

[@xxx-ff9gw]

Yeah I have it on switch a d it's great! I want to get the solar amiibo! Do u know what it gets u in game?

[@gryphon9795]

@@xxx-ff9gw u get the praise the sun gesture

[@katyelizabethmendoza5159]

@@gryphon9795 lol thats like the second gesture u get. Still want it tho

[@nikdsh]

amazing work Dave :)

[@drift2196]

Love the video great job as always Dave keep up the good work

[@DaveControlLive]

Glad to hear it! :D

[@drift2196]

DaveControl also please do a super show about shovel kni...wait you are doing a super show about shovel knight....what will i do now?

[@DaveControlLive]

Lol - I dunno. :P As a heads up, I'm working on it at the same time as another one, so not sure which will release first. (But, I've already gotten footage of it and started editing it, so it is being worked on. Just don't want you to be disappointed if I switch the order). :P

[@drift2196]

DaveControl as long as its happening I'm happy

[@LongNguyen-un2yp]

Dark Souls is like my life, Everyday, every moments I fight the world and myself. I lost more battles than I won. I want to go hollow and end it all.

[@casimirrodriguez8316]

I can’t take this anymore

[@sleepydragon758]

Saaaaame lol

[@omnom6934]

Please all stay strong 💪

[@crisfilms8165]

But don't you DARE go hollow.

[@NobleBruv]

Good work as always Dave!

[@michaelsinger5851]

People think that Gwen or one of the deities curse the humans with the dark sign to keep them tied and dependent to the bonfire which is connected to the first flame, if the first flame goes out so do the bonfires meaning that people will go hollow, forcing the people to sacrifice themselves for the first flame to keep the bonfires going

[@Calvin300clan]

Love ur dark souls lore videos

[@DiscoFinalBoss]

Great video, definitely enjoyed this. Your Giantdad lore video from way back made me sub in a hurry.

[@DaveControlLive]

I'm really glad to hear that! :D

[@MrPublius]

Thank you, this was very easily digestible

[@DarkGifrit]

Like always good job! Great video

[@ubaldowmdis3422]

I'm glad you made this video, because I didn't understand sh** during my first playthrough of dsr. Praise the sun! \[T] /

[@landon6797]

The instruction given by Gwendolyn, (done so through the illusion of Gwynovere,) must’ve been because of his longing for acceptance from his father. With this lifelong need of his being ignored all the way to the end of Gwyn’s life, perhaps Gwendolyn saw one more opportunity to salvage his self-image. Maybe by fulfilling his father’s final wish, he could at last feel a sense of accomplishment.

[@derekirvine8196]

awesome video, man!

[@YandMProductions]

A thought just crossed my mind. Have any of you Dark Souls Lore folks ever read any of the Dark Souls comics? Yes, in case you didn't know, there are Dark Souls comics. I've only read the first issue of the most recent mini-series, but if the others are like the current one, they focus on minor characters reacting to some of the major events and give even more details to the lore. For example, Artorius was definitely part of the war with the Dragons, slaying them with the best of them.

[@solaire4064]

Are the comics officially made by From Software? Or are they just fan made?

[@YandMProductions]

The comics are made and published by Titan Comics(which has made a lot of other comics), so they at the very least had to pay license fees to make them. When it comes to whether or not From Software had any say on them, I haven't been able to find in my brief research. But they are official comics released in comic stores and on digital sources like Comixology.

[@DaveControlLive]

YandMProductions I've only read the first issue, but it's my understanding (from something I remember reading, but I can't remember what), that the comics were licensed by Bandai Namco (who own the rights to Dark Souls) - and Fromsoftware had nothing to do with it. - So I don't take any of it as canon.

[@YandMProductions]

Fair enough. Though I think it would make sense for Artorius to be part of the war with the dragons, that's really the only addition to the overall lore that's been added. Everything else was the events we know from the perspective of smaller characters, in the case of the issue I read, a member of the Silver Knights present for the Dragon War and about to go fight the Demons. Again, I've only read the most recent issue, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

[@nammar6435]

damn this vid was really helpful!!! still understand nothing TwT

[@samjones4635]

In the ringed city, it's mentioned that the ringed knights had fought against the ancient dragons, but the silver knights got all the credit for it

[@DaveControlLive]

Is it? I might have goofed then. It's weird, as every Abyss thing (according to DS1) was supposed to have happened after the Age of Fire. So the fact the Ringed Knights armor as Abyss in it sets the timeline all goofy.

[@DaveControlLive]

Checked into some stuff, and you're right - I did miss that. :-/

[@stratoskdns7179]

Great video Dave, and yes, you can find that the Ringed City knights fought against the dragons, but the other part of the comment has no proof behind it (that the Silver Knights took all the credit), is a hypothesis. Something that I would like to point out is that you didn't cover a very vital piece of lore, in my opinion. In Dark Souls 1, if you enter the Abyss (4 Kings boss fight) without the Covenant of Artorias, you die instantly, suggesting that too much Abyss can be lethal, even for an Undead. But, on the other hand, the Abyss is easily tolerable for both Kaathe and Frampt, since they both bow before you in the Dark Lord ending. We can logically assume that Kaathe wants the flame to fade in order to become the dominant species. Frampt claims to serve the "other" side, and so the serpents up playing it both sides, benefiting from either outcome (the flame being linked or not). Another piece of crucial information: If you deliver the Lordvessel to Kaathe, Frampt will immediately leave the Firelink Shrine. The thing is, when you talk to Kaathe in the Abyss, you (the player) are alone with him. My opinion is that Kaathe is the one who informed Frampt of your conversation.

[@Orinslayer]

Once again Gwyn perverts humanity and makes them go against their own nature.

[@takezokimura2571]

One thing to remember are the dark sigils. The sigils were made to leak out the humanity from humans (but not necessarily create an Abyss). This means that Londor wants the humanity to leak out of humans and turn them into hollows. For obvious reasons Londor is an archenemy of the gods and therefore we can assume that the Gods DON´T want humanity to leak out. I believe that the darksign was at first a shackle meant to prevent the spread of the abyss (as indicated by the Ring Knights). I believe that the seal was cast into every human and that in the beginning the seal was pretty strong and completely prevented the humanity from leaking outHowever, as the flame fades the seal gets weaker and humanity begins to leak out, turning humans into undead and granting humans access to the power of their souls( for the good or the bad, mostly bad though) Why humanity leaks out? It could be two main reasons: 1)The person loses hope and so instinctively humanity leaks out of the body, because humanity´s main aspect is desire. The humanity has no more reason to remain in the body. 2)A big ammount of desire such as greed creates the Abyss In a sense sacrificing humanity to the bonfire is the right thing to do, because humanity keep spreading across the world, weakening the First Flame. The Gods too should sacrifice their souls to ensure the future of the world. When we Link the Fire in DS1 we are sacrificing everyone, Gods and humans alike, to fill the First Flame, so that both descendants of gods and humans can have a future. Of course, the Gods shouldn´t be the only ones in charge. The problem with the darksign is that it is good when at full strenght but a problem when weakened. While at full power it restricts humanity´s potential and prevents humans from spreading the Abyss, it could also prevent unwanted hollowing. But when it is weak it allows some humanity to leak out while holding down the rest, that´s why humans gradually go hollow. Another problem is that the seal gets weaker with the fading of the Flame. This means that humans are mostly vulnerable to hollowing when the World is decaying. If the seal were to be removed in the beginning of an Age of Fire I guess it wouldn´t be TOO bad

[@curts7801]

I would argue that the purpose of the Dark Seal is to vent excess humanity/darkness. When it builds up too much, you end up with the Abyss. Leaking Humanity isn’t dangerous for the Abyss Knights, because they can regularly draw more, virtue of being with the Pygmy Lords, the major concentration of the Dark Soul. Gwynn’s linking was tethering Darkness to himself as kindling, as he had pawned off his own Light Soul to his followers. He, Frampt, and Gwendolyn did set up a champion to come back for the fragments of Light as well too. The Way of Wight is busy pillaging humanity from the undead, or at the very least triggering the dark seal. All to give to the bonfires, the linked flame. Having been linked, I’d wager the Dark Seal senses the increased hunger and desperation of the Flame, and thus ramps up the curse whenever the age draws near its end. By making more undead, there is more humanity to leech, as well as more potential champions to link the flame. I doubt it’s conscious, but rather a symptom of being linked, Gwynn’s accidental creation of the undead. You still can’t have hollows rampaging about the earth, though, so they are sent to the asylum.

[@UnholyWrath3277]

I personally believe gwyn only sacrificed himself when the dark was at the gates of anor Londo itself. Also it's my belief seath is gwyndolin s true father. Both are sorcerers. Both are connected to powers of the moon. Gwyndolin also happens to have Snake feet. Plus why else would gwyn not want to acknowledge him

[@alexhamilton7090]

chandler gensel I think Seath probably kidnapped and experimented on Gwyndolin, but I doubt he’s his father.

[@Onewingerdraven]

Imo Seath was Gwyndolyn's spiritual influence, but not his father. Priscilla would be more likely to be his daughter.

[@TheGameconomist]

What's up DaveControl? Listen, I'm part of a shared Dark Souls Discord community between content creators. We all get our own channel in the server to post our own videos, and this means our work is never getting pushed up by someone else's post. We also all link to the Discord server, so together we feed traffic to the same server. The Admin is an experienced discord mod who loves FROMSOFT games, and he doesnt have his own youtube channel, so he just hosts for all of us and we dont have to worry about doing any of the work of running a discord server. Let me know if you'd be interested in being part of this!

[@PintsofGuinness]

great vid as usual davey boi

[@SkyWardSword1]

the biggest thing I got from this video that I wasn't already at least partially aware of was the theory regarding illusory walls and their relation to gwyndolin and by extension the aims of gwyn and his posse. I went and had a look at illusory walls throughout the series, and while in a lot of cases the theory matches up, the walls concealing things that shouldn't be discovered by the undead or things related to chaos pyromancy (most notably in dks1: , the daughter of chaos covenant, the great hollow/ash lake, darkmoon tomb, havel's gear and occult club, and the numerous walls in the lower part of the painted world of ariamis. And in dsk3(I'm not familiar enough with dks2 lore to check that one): the untended graves and eyes of a firekeeper, the walls to the fair lady and related chaos spells in the smouldering lake, dreamchaser's ashes, the chaos pyromancer in the painted world of ariandel, and darkeater midir) there are some cases where walls conceal things like miracles, anti-abyss pendants, or simply upgrade materials, that really don't threaten the gods in the hands of a chosen undead. Most confusingly though, one of the more common things to find behind a fake wall is a bonfire (darkroot garden, catacombs, lost izalith, and arguably the daughter of chaos one.), and if the bonfires truly are a means to siphon souls and humanity from unwitting undead, why hide them? Anyways, pretty interesting theory I've never heard before, not 100% sure of the truth or meaning to it, but maybe it merits some more investigation? /walloftext

[@stoniptfosupersonic]

I just finished my first playtrough of DS 1 , and any of souls like games and WOW!!! My mind was blown away by the game itself, but now when I know big part of lore it is even more mind-blowing! This game/franchise is actually deep af. I love how they don't just give you information about the world, but if you really want to know, you actually must explore. And then, when you find most of information's, you still must use internet to see where they fit in timeline. I was looking for rpg to fall in love since I started gaming. I tried everything, from Diablo, WoW, Skyrim (still great game), Eso, etc., but I never stuck with one of them for too long. I always avoided DS and Souls like games, cuz I thought they are more just about gameplay and don't care that much about the lore. Well, I couldn't be more wrong. What is LOTR in books and movies, that is DS in rpg genre. I can't wait to start DS2 and 3 to see how it all ends. But first NG+ and some pvp :). Great video btw, I'll be back after DS2

[@Barnesofthenorth]

The part of the lore I've always been most interested in his a combination of what the world was like before fire and what the ancient dragons were like, as it is implied there was races alive before the fire, but it says disparity came with fire as if they were happy with their lot in life until fire came to make them feel disparity between themselves and the dragons. That combined with somebody who would should have hated the dragons if they were truly evil allying with them kind of implies that the races were peaceful before fire came to create war, and Gwyns son realised they were the bad guys in this war and wanted to save the dragons. The dragons we see do attack us on sight, but honestly as by this point humanity has basically gone on a war of genocide against them it's kind of understandable that anything human-like they would hate and want to kill.

[@mattmagliocca956]

I'm not sure the betrayal of the Nameless king happened as early as you say. Remember he left his sword on his father's grave as a mark of respect (see the Sunlight Blade miracle description) which would be difficult to do if he was already exiled, not to mention his father shouldn't have a grave before he departed to the Kiln. Also if his father exiled him, I'm not sure why he's leave that sword on his grave as a mark of respect. The FirstBorn was also called a King which implies that he ruled for a time after his father left. Of course that raises another question: who had the power and authority to strip him of his rank and exile him if not his father?

[@IASteurer]

See Hawkshaw's timeline

[@charleswilfred6463]

I'm not sure, but I think Vaati explained that Velka, supposedly exiled the Nameless King as she deals with sin and stuff.

[@alexhamilton7090]

It’s actually not uncommon for important people like kings to have their tombs constructed and prepared long before their deaths, so it isn’t too unbelievable that the Firstborn could have left that miracle on his father’s grave while his father was alive. That said, I agree that his exile was probably after Gwyn linked the Fire. I think the NK was king of Anor Londo for a short time but after it became apparent that he sided with the Dragons he was banished by Gwyndolin.

[@bobojoestar2205]

All father Lloyd

[@420crim3]

Maybe japanese version of the game would make more sence as the english translation could miss a dire "or" or "the"

[@tha_juice3262]

I tend to agree with Hawkshaw in that the First Born was exiled after Gwyn left to kindle the First Flame, otherwise it's quite odd that he would leave his miracle Sunlight Blade on his father's tomb (tombs are for dead people) as a final farwell...as others have posted the "loss of the annals" is a terriblly mistranslated line. Also, the Witch of Izalith (of Izalith) was probably ruling the city of Izalith BEFORE the war against the dragons. A solid lore starting point though, well done!

[@TheSuperRatt]

Manus being the 'Father of the Abyss' doesn't have to contradict new lore given to us by the Ringed City; if we make the assumption that Manus IS the Furtive Pygmy who first received the Dark Soul. It's possible that the instance of the Abyss we see in Oolacile wasn't the first, but rather its re-emergence after suppression by Gwyn and the Gods. Considering that a seal of fire was placed upon Man, (tainting their pure dark essence with flame) it isn't out of the realm of possibility that Man's ability to create more instances or 'doorways' into the Abyss were curtailed. Existing instances likewise would probably have faded, since the Abyss had become toxic to Man's new tainted form, and without the presence of the Dark would be reclaimed by the ascendant Fire.

[@lt.hedgie549]

Awesome video

[@bloodfiredrake7259]

Oolicile was able to send an envoy in halflight to the ringed city so the abyss couldn't have gone wild at the start of the Ringed city.It also seems that the ringed city was taken by the abyss long after it was founded.

[@McBehrer]

5:45 Oh thanks for saying Ornstein correctly

[@420crim3]

Right? Lmao also your 1 sec late on the timestamp

[@devilsmaycry9877]

I never understood how a dragon betrays his kind. How does a dragon become a duke and how seath the scaless communicated with Gwynn and just said fuck it

[@NottherealLucifer]

The only thing I would disagree with about the timeline is where you've put Gwyns original betrayal of humanity. I personally think that it was almost immediately after the defeat of the dragons and the founding of Anor Londo. We know that the Ringed Knights are humans who fought alongside Gwyn during the war with the everlasting dragons, and we know they were given no credit or recognition for their feats during it. We also know that their equipment was forged in the abyss (which is a problematic piece of information, given that it is at least heavily implied that the abyss didn't exist until Manus was corrupted) and that their equipment was sealed by the gods. Those are just straightforward facts so this next bit is where it gets subjective. Gwyn has never liked humanity and his actions show that very clearly. I believe that the sealing of the Ringed Knights happened during the building of Anor Londo and the Ringed City, or even slightly before. Gwyn allowing the most powerful of humanity, along with the Pygmys, harbingers of the dark, to freely roam even during the height of the gods' rule just seems out of character for him. I think Gwyn always knew the dark was coming, that there were hints to its reign approaching from the very beginning. I'll back that up next. See, in the Age of Ancients there was no duality to the world, there was only grey and unchanging beings in a grey and unchanging world. Then the fire came, and brought with it many polar opposites. Life and death, heat and cold, light and dark. We can't look at this universe as if the age of light wouldn't have a single hint of darkness in it. The dark was always there, the Abyss was always there, it just began weak and slowly got stronger, as the light did the opposite. I think Gwyn realized that the power of the abyss, of mankind, was something to be dealt with immediately, so he sealed their greatest warriors and their ancestors, within a city at the end of the world. Manus' corruption was simply an overloading of the dark that had always existed, sealed away from the light by a god who defied nature to keep it at bay. Last bit, kind of related, and pretty much just my headcanon, the abyss corrupts because of Gwyn's sin. If nature had been allowed to run its course, the abyss would have spread and gained power along with the beings aligned with it. Gwyn kept it at bay, and its power grew separate from the power of those who would inherit the world. I believe Manus is the Father of the Abyss because he's the doorway that allowed the Abyss to reenter the world. However, it had gained strength without those carrying pieces of the Dark Soul being able to acclimate to that power. It corrupts (the pus of man for instance) because it's too much for its vessels to handle. I don't think mankind would have become horrific, mindless monsters if that process had taken the ages that the abyss should have influenced the world. I think that life's connection to the fire took it down a path that made it unable to adapt. Look at the dragons and their descendants, they changed over time as they too became connected to the flame, to the extent that dragon kin like wyverns even have souls that you receive when they're defeated. If humanity, and even the gods, would have been given the chance I think the Age of Dark would have changed them in a less aggressive and destructive way.

Jupiter is anything but peaceful.

[@jrodhemi67]

You slaughtered the use of the word "annals".

[@tristan364]

Did the dragons not have to deal with the abyss? What is their relationship?

[@Blackbeardpirategodthefatass]

There was no abyss back then.

[@tristan364]

@@Blackbeardpirategodthefatass that would imply the abyss spontaneously came into existence? I think the dragons came after the abyss.. Its a cycle guys age of dragons- age of lords- age of men - age of Dark or abyss.. Then the dragons come again to defeat the abyss at the end of time, birthing a new cyclic universe. You know, like rock paper scissors?

[@curts7801]

@@tristan364 the Abyss is the Dark. There was no disparity during the dragon’s rule. Light and Dark did not exist.

[@windnacho]

How does Pontiff Sulyvahn fit in here? Did he do his shenanigans before or after the events of the first game?

[@CrimsonReaper189]

Anyone else notice that the first flame area looks a lot like the land scape of the final area of 3? I know it sounds like crap but could they be on the same are? Light is time in dark souls u pass through a road of light maybe transporting you to the ringed city's area

[@McBehrer]

cerberus189 It is known

[@Velshin1986]

Thanks for the awesome Lore video Dave. You and Vaati are the best of the best when it comes to Dark Souls series Lore thank you so much! I always watch your videos and been subbed for a very long time. :D Question about the Deep do you think the Deep is another layer of the Abyss? or it is the Abyss itself but different form?

[@alexhamilton7090]

Velshin The Deep is like the Abyss, except that while the Abyss is made of Humanity that has run wild, the Deep is made of Humanity that has gone stagnant. It’s essentially a crappy, fetid version of the Abyss.

[@gwenstacy22]

I never played one but iv always wondered what was goin on in all the gameplay clips i would see on KZbin

[@satishbhande4940]

Usually fire is seen as something positive or it is seen as the truth maybe that's why dark souls stands out.

[@notenoughsalsa4668]

I forgot how terrifying Nito was

[@zanychelly]

I am enjoying the Remaster, 60 fps/4K is awesome.

[@nickmuhfuhkenkovacs]

I pissed off both snakes (attacking both) and was just my own dude about it. Grey boi for life!

[@warhammernerd52Daxx-Lorenzo898]

Is it possible you could explain the *Dark Souls Bonfire* and the *Bloodborne Rest Lampost* sometime?

[@XYZsolution]

Nice video my dude, excited for shadows die twice?

[@EvolutionIX219]

This is a really good video. Thanks

[@HaohmaruHL]

The question is how an illusion can give you a huge saucer with ability of teleportation.

[@moresky8919]

What about solaire? What's his story? Does he have any relation to Gwyn?

[@lordofash1667]

Lost TO the annals of history. Not losing the annals

[@Kirodev]

It was said in ds1 that seath the scaleless was jealous cuz he was born with no scales. Thats why hes a traitor

[@quinnzykir]

Well I wouldn’t have to kill the undead if they didn’t attack me.

[@chrispools]

This would make a great film

[@Empress_Theresa]

I still don't understand where and how did the beings, who found the initial four souls, lived, since the above world was still dominated by the everlasting dragons. I always thought the initial flame had created them, and they 'immediately' went to the surface and started fight the dragons...but apparently they existed down there before fire was even a thing. I guess being hollow was only the pygmies natural state, because, Nito, the Witch and Gwyn were just normal 'people'...right?

[@thesadwolf3233]

The player can know that she's an illusion by joining the Blade of the darkmoon covenant. Darkmoon Blade Covenant Ring: "Ring granted to those bound by the Darkmoon Blade Covenant. Answer Dark Sun Gwyndolin's summoning. Gwyndolin, all too aware of his repulsive, frail appearance, created the illusion of a sister Gwynevere, who helps him guard over Anor Londo. An unmasking of these deities would be tantamount to blasphemy."

[@mrthereddragon7622]

Wow, a Dave Klein Dark Souls lore video. What is this, 2012? Just like old times XD this was a really great retelling of everyone's favourite lore. Shame Dark Souls 2 is so detached from the continuity it has no place in this video.

[@alexhamilton7090]

MrTheRedDragon DkS2 actually does add to the continuity a fair bit, just more subtly than DkS3 does. I think some of the stuff it added could have been mentioned here.

[@Whiskeey666]

the legend of the chosen undead is spoken in old english, so it is my opinion that this is a legend made up by gwyndolin as he is the only one who speaks in the same old english. plus, gwynevere is an illusion so she could be mimicing gwyndolin’s language. shira doesnt have the authority, in my mind, to create this legend, and the fact that she is in the ringed city.

[@Onewingerdraven]

Is there a lore difference between Ds1 and DSR ?

[@jessiejoy1703]

How is it likely ciaran was partly responsible for the end of the rebellion? I can't say I remember anything on that. Also I believe the batwing demons are gwyns silver/black knights transformed into chaos demons. Would explain why they serve gwyn, use lightning, and their heads look oddly similar to the knights' helmets. I also believe most chaos demons were originally humans who transformed.

[@TheSwordsman100]

I fully support the gods (especially Gwyndolin) and their plan as now that all 3 games are out it has proven to allow the world to prosper and exist before the flame starts to die again and they have done some good things. Meanwhile the supporters of the Dark/Abyss/anti-gods (the pygmies supported the gods) have mainly been straight up evil. (with one exception the wife of the Ivory King in DS2 who betrayed her sisters and father for love) Also the rite of kindling wasn't a total lie, you do get more charges for your ectus flask. =D

[@SevereOutcast]

TheSwordsman100 A) In the unformed world, everybody was already at peace, war broke out so that a world could be crafted by the likes of Gwyn. Gwyn shot first. B) Pygmies did not support the gods willingly. They were lulled by the "gracious" gestures of the "Great Lord" Gwyn who gifted them a city in order to make them shut up and their warriors were forcefully branded and had to comply to vainglorious's god's demands. The gods also downplayed how crucial pygmies were to fighting back the dragons during the war. Pygmies hated the gods. C) Denizens who align with the Dark were NEVER evil. They were always bitter and driven mad by the twisted world (that Gwyn and his ilk created) denying and taking from them the one thing that keeps them sane and strong, their humanity. Warriors and the world at large in Dark Souls always saw it Gwen's way, because that was the story that was pushed by the gods to scare humans into keeping a useless Age of Fire from ending.

[@TheSwordsman100]

@SevereOutcast A) A peace where nothing was truly living and there was no civilization. That so called peace is about as appealing as Soul Cailbur's offer and definition of peace. B) Those gracious gestures happened after they were branded and their downplayement of the war and you forgetting one crucial detail, Gwyn also gave them his daughter, who they would go on to LOVE and PROTECT. Even after you unintentionally kill her and the beautiful Ringed City is destroyed and they are dieing they shamble towards her resting place. So the pygmies knew who they were dealing with. C) Not according to the item descriptions, which outright calls them evil in DS1. The Age of Fire isn't useless either as during it the world is prosperous and the darksign is gone, the problem is that the First Flame always starts to fade and there is no replacement. Actions speak louder than words anyway and the supporters of the Dark always responsible for the destruction of a kingdom and outright murder. Even the covenants reflect this with the gods' covenants offering help, protection and avenging while the Darkwraiths invade and kill other players.

[@lashed1980]

Gwyn was already gone when the first born was cast out...

[@billybob7564]

Could u try to do a family tree of the gods, we have so many gods that have unexplained relationships, named ones from ds2 and ds1 and the lothric blood line and all that stuff

[@ironstrong3431]

Soo, anor londo had humans living there too? Like rich ppl or what? And why is gwyndolin n many hostiles chilling in anor londo still?

[@420crim3]

TO YOUR POSITIONNS!

[@axelstoner]

Dave control video! Fuck yess

[@mathieumarineau4585]

PLS WAHT WAS THE SONG THAT PLAY AROUND 2.40 2.50 MIN PLS

[@DaveControlLive]

I put all of the songs I use in the description. ;)

[@semj]

Can I watch the video without getting hard spoilers for Dark Souls 3? Just finished remastered and want to watch some videos, before I start with Dark Souls 2 and 3

[@DaveControlLive]

The rest of my DS1 lore series has 0 Dark Souls 3 info/spoilers - and covers the entirety of the story.

[@semj]

@@DaveControlLive Nice

[@lilgmohanned8645]

Soundtrack name ??

[@arcaineshifter1799]

It would be cool if the realized dlc for the remasterd that lets us go back to the time before the flame

[@Kyosuke700]

i like how the four kings are the less characters to talk about and how they come about

[@inkeilardmaru6517]

Here's a good idea for a video who are the black knights who do they serve and how are thay different from the silver knight please. do a video like that

[@DaveControlLive]

The Black Knights are just a faction of the Silver Knights who came with Gwyn when he linked the First Flame, and had their armor darkend when he did so. Silver Knights were supposed to remain in Anor Londo to protect it, with Black Knights now venturing out to fight Demons/join Gwyn to Link the Flame. That's pretty much the whole thing. So, not sure if I could make a whole video about it, haha

[@ss-jg1te]

The Black knights where the knights that fought the demons and had there armor charred black lol :P

[@alexandfarr]

Whens King's Field part 3 Dave? I need my lore!

[@bjornv6243]

16:43 chest ahead

[@CrimsonReaper189]

1 place where I feel u are definitely wrong is where u say about all Lord souls being feed to the fire they are not only part of the life soul the others are used in the Lord vessel and are never actually feed to the fire

[@FalseShepherd]

YESSSSS YESS!!!!!

[@jjsouls6986]

Bro did u ever wonder why if u kill Gwendolyn b4 u kill smough and ornstine the illusions dont fade away?

[@TheRagnus]

Meanwhile Vaati and other Dark Souls youtubers can literally just repost their already existing Dark Souls Lore videos and just put Remastered at the end.

[@DaveControlLive]

I mean, I could have done that too, lol. :P But, thought it would be a good time to talk about the timeline and some of the things from DS3 along with the DS1 story.

[@CitrusPeppercorn]

Reload them at a higher resolution and you have yourself a remastered version.

[@johnnyscifi]

TheRagnus I sure hope not

[@sleepydragon758]

Vaati is redoing the prepare to cry series with new information from ds3, and completely remaking it, not reuploading it with remastered at the end

[@dakotakinert1994]

I am just trying to figure out what day to day life is like in the dark souls universe. Like do people have sex, or make themselves sandwiches when they get hungry, is there a such thing as food???

[@zephyrp8836]

Probably but it's most likely scarce, the gods most likely don't need food and the undead are well.. undead. The world you enter as the chosen undead is pretty apocalyptic to say the least, mostly everyone is either undead or hostile and the world is in ruin.

[@aaronwinrock8164]

It's pretty obvious where the First Flame came from. If the only things in creation are Arch-Trees and FIRE breathing Dragons 1+1=2.

[@imbadatnames1326]

I have a question Why didn't gwyns lazy ass just link the flame himself the second time?

[@ElishaSkater]

I think Velka created the undead legend. I think she led the cult rebellion and when that didn't work, she made up the legend as a final plot to destroy them. That's why you get help from a giant crow at the beginning of dark souls 1.

[@alexhamilton7090]

ElishaSkater This theory has been around for a while, and it makes no sense. We know for a fact that Gwyndolin created the Undead legend to find someone to replace Gwyn as fuel for the First Flame. That’s why the illusion of Gwynevere, created by Gwyndolin, calls you “Chosen Undead” and gives you the Lordvessel. The entire Undead prophecy hoax is propagated by Gwyndolin and Frampt.

[@ElishaSkater]

Shroom Soul The cult rebellion and Velka must of had a connection of some sort. The painted world of Ariamis hints at it. And why would you get help from a giant crow if she didn't have anything to do with it? It's also not a known fact that gywndolin and frampt started it. There's good theories for it but it's not told to us. Maybe they did, maybe Velka did it, maybe even Solaire in this weird mess. We don't know, all we can do is theorize. And I believe Velka did it, or had a strong influence in it atleast.

[@alexhamilton7090]

ElishaSkater Fun fact: the games never present a connection between Velka and crows. It’s the result of people like ENB and Vaati misunderstanding one interview with Miyazaki. The crow at the start of the game might not be connected to Velka. It is vastly more likely that Frampt and Gwyndolin are involved. Otherwise, why is Frampt the one telling you where to go and why is Gwyndolin’s illusion the one that gives you the Lord Vessel? Unless Velka is working with them, which is possible. But at the very least, Gwyndolin and Frampt are 100% the main propagators.

[@samuelhartness1399]

I think we need a live action dark souls series, would probably do bigger numbers than game of thrones

[@beytullahguneyli6471]

Is Gael from The Ringed City DLC in Dark Souls 3 not the furtive pygmy?

[@alexhamilton7090]

Beytullah Güneyli No. Gael is just a random guy who consumed the blood of the Pygmy Lords which contained the Dark Soul.