Exploring the Story of Gwyn (Dark Souls Lore)

[@AesirAesthetics]

I made this video 2 years ago, was it everything you hoped for?

[@AesirAesthetics]

@Harmony Olivier Baker sure

[@SomnambulistMist]

Yes. Absolutely. I've recently encountered the problem of wanting to send a Dark Souls lore video to my friends. You know the first channel I checked, but upon rewatch, I discovered that Vadii's most popular videos are aimed towards people who already know and love the lore. This, on the other hand, is a much more clean and comprehensive timeline that makes sense to a newcomer. An absolute gem

[@primarchlogarius]

Yes sir! This is amazing! Give me more!

[@restrictedcoma2631]

Absolutely, as a newcomer to dark souls it was great

[@coreyrachar9694]

@@SomnambulistMist really? I find I don't really like vaati's content because it's heavy on emotion and light on actual lore. As someone who considers himself 'balls deep' (technical term) in the lore I prefer other channels. Maybe it's just me.

[@tha_juice3262]

New theories suggest Gwyn actually kindled the flame, NOT to extend the age of fire...but, to heat up the lands largest pot of coffee for aesir's dive into Lordran.

[@AesirAesthetics]

I cannot confirm nor deny 👀

[@autumnalvoid9646]

I always thought the Lords were relatively united in their approach of dividing up and ruling the world (with Gwyn having the final word of course). But hearing that maybe especially the Witch of Izalith was only grudginly (at best) cooperating with Gwyn, while working towards her own, seperate goals, is a very interesting take that I hadn't thought of before, at least on a scale that goes noticeably against what Gwyn thinks the world should be like.

[@zlodrim9284]

Nietzsche for Demon's Souls and Dostoevsky for Dark Souls, fitting quote choices.

[@Three_Tiny_Robots]

It was such a shock to me when I first realised that Dark Souls had subverted my understanding of "Light" and "Dark", "Gods" and "Demons", and even "Life" and "Death." I've come to really enjoy using the Dark Souls lore to unpick my expectations for these tropes in stories, and I've written a few short stories and TTRPGs that play around with this language as well.

[@rickimaru915]

I like how Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls series and Elden Ring all include giants and dragons but with variations on appearance, abilities and role in the history of the setting

[@SpookeyGael]

I think that it's simplistic to say Gwyn's actions were driven purely by self-serving narcissism. Gwyn did everything he did for his *dynasty*, not just himself. He wanted the Age of Fire, which was everything that he had built and believed in and served as the bedrock for his family and ideology, to survive even after he sacrificed himself to the First Flame. Honestly, after seeing what became of Oolacile and New Londo I don't think he was entirely wrong to be afraid of the Age of Dark. There really isn't much evidence it would be "better" for Humanity so it's difficult to say whether this is something Humanity should've wanted all along. This makes sense considering Gwyn is very clearly based on Odin, who attempts to forestall Ragnarok despite knowing it will eventually come anyway, as Ragnarok is the total destruction of the world with only a glimmer of hope in the end (reminiscent of the traces of fire seen by the Fire Keeper in the ending of Dark Souls 3). So, in the end, I think Gwyn's actions are a futile, increasingly desperate, and ultimately detrimental attempt to forestall the end of the world as most people knew it, driven not by greed or narcissism but simply by fear of death, change, and the unknown.

[@TheSuperRatt]

Humans used to live in the Abyss, but that was before they were tainted by Gwyn's curse of flame. Perhaps the curse can be cleansed. Anyway, in attempting to forestall the end of the world, he doomed the world to an actual death; rather than just a transition into a new state.

[@davinsosa1438]

Beautifully put

[@JuliusCaesar103]

I just know this will be a banger!! Excited to watch

[@AnimusBehemoth]

And the "god tier lore videos" playlist gets a new entry. Damn, my man, you deserve more subs. Keep it up, the quality is undeniable

[@AesirAesthetics]

🥰🥰🥰

[@jacklucy8745]

Every video I watch of yours makes me feel incredibly thankful, but also disappointed that you aren’t 10000x bigger on KZbin. We appreciate your videos so much and I hope you continue making them out of passion and don’t get discouraged

[@ragincrustacean5254]

What I really like about this video is the part on the nameless king, it makes way more sense. And I noticed something after that. Gwyn has always been about controlling humans. But the nameless kings covenant goes counter to that. The sunlight covenant has always been about assisting others against bosses/powerful foes that others can’t surmount. Super cool thought.

[@kreiskhaos8516]

I think that can actually fit into Gwyn's plans. Obviously he wants strong undead to link the fire so that the fire burns longer before needing linked again. However, if NO undead can get through alone, why not make a covenant of worshippers of the light to assist other worshippers of the light?

[@TheFpsNinja]

Great video. Miyazaki is a criminally underrated storyteller. I find his take on dragons especially interesting. Many myths feature primordial dragons, but they are usually associated with fluidity and change. Dark Souls' dragons, however, are static and unchanging. It's a neat subversion.

[@ywnrnf6028]

Do you find Sekiro interesting?

[@TheFpsNinja]

@@ywnrnf6028 Yeah, I think it is really cool. I didn't understand it much until I watched Aesir's commentary, since I lacked much of the cultural context.

[@sunlightblade6145]

What a great surprise, so happy to see new video Aesir! And on lore nonetheless

[@EdenHellCipher]

Your channel is one of the few that gets an automatic “like” from me every time I watch. Love your work!

[@AesirAesthetics]

🥰

[@AesirAesthetics]

This is the megacomment which theories are directed to :)

[@TheAlmightyLizard]

If Gwyn wasn’t the one would made the order to wipe the Firstborn Son’s name from the records (as well as destroying the statues that depict him across Lordran), might it have been Gwyndolin, the Lastborn of Gwyn that gave the order? Gwyndolin is the only child remaining in the city, ruling it in secret with their Darkmoon Knights as enforcers. I imagine there being a rivalry, or at least jealousy toward the Firstborn Son of Gwyn. This gives me a lot to think about. Thanks!

[@bobby_bretwalda]

This video deserves far more views than it has. This paints Gwyn to be the self-important, legacy obsessed narcissist that I believe the games paint him to be if you pay attention and approach the lore from the perspective of a human. Many see his story as a tragedy because of the majestic image Gwyn built for himself, but he's more akin to Stalin than a benevolent god. A being so fixated on maintaining his legacy and reputation that he'd give his own life and subjugate countless souls to preserve them.

[@annyonny1224]

Ah, at the top of the list of videos I fully expected to see today or ever... Well done my friend.

[@riotinmyheadofficial9570]

Amazing video as usual, although for its length it could be considered as a YT short for your channel 😂

[@AesirAesthetics]

Lol

[@wvngamer1516]

Great work as always!

[@jl3303]

Man how does this video only have 17K views? This video is a masterpiece. Amazing job, really impressive video!

[@brianbrianbification]

Oh my, a most welcome video indeed

[@captainfach]

This was absolutely amazing. So it was gwyns plan all along to test the Undead to be sure they'd be worthy of the flame

[@mrfreddorenton]

Aesir and Lokey, the essence of jolly cooperation

[@AesirAesthetics]

Lokey 🤝 Aesir

[@kalega311]

Great video, thanks. Gwyn is one of my favorite characters to analyze. Will the series expand more on the other things Gwyn did? It seems to be a pretty relevant take that his first born was not exiled (I forget if I've heard that take before), yet it so briefly mentioned. And any analysis on his other children or political dealings w/ other factions? I believe it was Ashen Hollow (but don't quote me) who had a video playing devil's advocate about his post-war actions and how he was actually selfless in his post-war deeds. After all, he essentially did sacrifice himself to extend the life of his family and kingdom. A truly fascinating character.

[@AesirAesthetics]

I am releasing a follow-up on patreon and YT (after a few weeks) which delves deeper into everythang

[@TheDarkWizard666]

Your videos are great man.

[@dethsnake42O]

Yo Aesir I love your vids! I'd love to hear your analysis on the Thief series.

[@AesirAesthetics]

There a Thief curse on the channel. Whenever I sit down to do the Thief games, something happens and I have to bail on them

[@dethsnake42O]

@@AesirAesthetics I'll just keep waiting till the curse is broken

[@coreyrachar9694]

takin' it back to the oldschool. I dig it.

[@AesirAesthetics]

:)

[@Duv1995]

There is never enough in depth lore videos with proper translations from japanese, I woul love to see more of these regarding demon's souls or bloodborne in the future

[@AesirAesthetics]

I did videos on both Demon's Souls and Bloodborne translations :)

[@Duv1995]

@@AesirAesthetics and they were amazing indeed, i just need more and more of this ; ;

[@ComfortsSpecter]

Great Coverage Interesting Concepts Goodwork

[@SinclairLore]

Oh Snap!

[@AesirAesthetics]

new phone, who dis?

[@paliing]

This was Gold first time i really understand dark souls lore

[@redtukeguy4263]

Well done with the essay, Aesir.

[@AesirAesthetics]

Thank you :D

[@Steph1]

How did this epic video only get 11k views and 600 likes? I mean it’s pretty steenkolen Engels but the quality of content and storytelling is superb

[@AesirAesthetics]

thank you :)

[@AesirAesthetics]

Consider following up the re-translation at www.AbyssalArchive.com Special Thanks to Lokey for including us :)

[@gregorymifsud5389]

Such a good vid dude. Well done.

[@AesirAesthetics]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@viktor_v-ughnda_vaudville_476]

Long time no see this was awesome

[@AesirAesthetics]

:D

[@DirtyMike124x]

Loved this video. Thank you.

[@beyond560]

Incredible video, did Nito, the witch of izalith and gywn all collude to defeat the arch dragons? Or did they separately fight the dragons?

[@realsubxero]

Good video as usual. Are you still doing Essays and Espresso? Haven't seen a new podcast posted in quite awhile.

[@edfmed1080]

Gwyn sounds like he wasn't a good king, but he sure was a formidable king.

[@BrettFairchild]

Lokey content is good content!

[@fhjunior6183]

Thanks for the vid

[@AesirAesthetics]

hope you enjoy!

[@ozy667]

gwyn stefani

[@orangerightgold7512]

I feel that the thing that made gwyn so successful was that he was willing to give his own power and even his own soul to those who served under him.

[@MacNuada]

And people try to deny the whole thing has Irish influence. Gwyn may as well have been Fionn

[@cackmed120]

Man it's kind of crazy how successful Gwyn's machinations ultimately were. Preventing the very dynasty of the world from moving forward, and instead traping it in a endless cycle until the world itself couldn't continue on as it was reduced to nothing but ash.

[@adsCrazyDiamond]

First 5 minutes: I'm gonna tell you some secret shit lost in translation.... Next 40 minutes: nothing but what we already know, literally.

[@jmarra07]

Typical "When the world needed him most"...comment lol

[@busraaakayaa]

Please make a video on how to claim airdrop

[@AesirAesthetics]

I dunno what that is, I assume Fortnite?

[@allanbergsma3256]

STI’s could give you an age of fire

[@jellydamgood]

It's a nice theory about Gwyn, but going full Gwyn bad and just wants control feels kinda simplistic and honestly quite lazy. Sure that's the only solid conclusion we can draw in the end, but there has to be a deeper reason, or else he would not have burnt himself. There were other great souls beside him that he could have used as fuel for the first flame. And him guarding the kiln all this time, to the point of hollowing is further proof of that. Sure he's still considered the greatest being, but he's no longer able to bask in it. That's not how megalomania works I think. While I'm confident there's a deeper reason to why Gwyn did what he did. It's just something we will never know unless Miyazaki himself chooses to tell us one of these days.

[@agahpito902]

i think people just asume that gwyn was a psyco and planed everything, i saw a video once that put the rekindling of the flame a lot earlier, even before abandonment of anor londo and allfather lloyd being the manipulative asshole who put himself as the "successor to gwyn"

[@jellydamgood]

@@agahpito902 it's not impossible I suppose. Makes sense that a political power struggle will cause people to abandon the capital.

[@RootVegetabIe]

"Feels simplistic and lazy" You can accept the fact that an aspect of something you like is flawed, or you can continue further into denial. Your choice. It's okay to dislike parts of things you love.

[@jellydamgood]

@@RootVegetabIe What are you trying to say? Are you trying to say that Miyazaki chose not to create a purpose for Gwyn? Does he feel like that kinda guy? Nah, It's one of those for him to know and for us to guess thing. It's the same kinda thing that happens all the time in real life history anyway. I shall give an example. Why did Hannibal not march and siege Rome after his total crushing victory at Lake Trasimene? The answer is for him to know, which he took to his grave, and for us later peoples to speculate.

[@TheSuperRatt]

I believe it's fear, and legacy. These are powerful, if simplistic, forces that have motivated real people to commit vast and terrible atrocities. Gwyn was simply afraid. Afraid that the world he had built was going to crumble. That when he and everything he had worked for, killed for, was nothing but ash... that his name would be forgotten. I think what you're trying to do is search for a motivation that puts Gwyn on a pedestal; that removes him from the realm of the mortal and makes him into a god. But he wasn't actually a god. He was just a man who had taken a particular soul. No matter how much the gods of Lordran might wish it, they weren't actually gods, and I think my interpretation of Gwyn's motivations as being very human, is poetic and fits the themes of Dark Souls nicely.

[@MacNuada]

Got a bizarre headcanon: Spyro for the PS1 is a prequel to Dark Souls.

[@HeloIV]

Well, putting a Dostoevsky quote (and a great one at that) at the start merits a preemptive like to the video

[@quickclaw240]

The gods are a conduit for the lord souls.

[@lumendrake2265]

What do you think of the possibility of Lloyd being Father Ariandel?

[@AesirAesthetics]

I'm not convinced. Assuming you're talking about the praying corpse in the Corvian church connection

[@lumendrake2265]

@@AesirAesthetics No I'm talking about Lloyd being a grey giant and Ariandel being called Lloyd in older builds of the DLC (apparently)

[@Jeremyb2023]

I have always found From Software games to have a deep and interesting lore. From what I can tell, the Dark Souls series also has a very deep and unusual lore. No matter what I learn about it, it seems like there is always something else a little bit deeper... and yes, lots of questions. I believe that was intentional. However, I've got to say that the Dark Souls lore has always seemed darker than other series like King's Field. To be honest, almost as if it was intended to be a metaphor for some spiritual aspects of the real world religion. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that it is all fiction... however, I also know that sometimes stories are written to give a sort of commentary on real world things whether it be historical events or religion. So, after having learned so much about Dark Souls lore, I would like to ask you: Do you think that any of the lore in Dark Souls was intended to be metaphorical of any real world religions? I know a lot about the Christian religion and I can tell you that many of the same themes are present in the Bible. Light and Darkness, a sort of "eternity past" and change of age with the creation of man, God, church, "shepherding," even the division of man such as in the Tower of Babel. Obviously, Dark Souls was not written from a Christian perspective, but reframing these very same themes from a completely different perspective may not be a coincidence. I have not studied Dark Souls lore and don't fully understand it, but it does seem like the inclusion of some of these things may have been intentional even if they were never intended to be metaphorical or give a commentary... perhaps just because they are very interesting and thought-provoking. Perhaps the Creators themselves had a bit of fascination with the incredibly deep things of religion and wanted to explore these ideas in a game. Anyways, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

[@MrBedZeppelin]

Another Awesome Analysis of this epic tale. I remember playing this the first time oblivious to the "Fire" ending thinking that I won, the main prize. I will now be on fire and conquer the next undead, that comes through that door. I am looking Boss! Then I realized I WAS Status Quo, I was doing what everyone before me, had done. "OH SHIT" this Story is FAR too close to real Life! Where the hell is Kaathe. EPIC!!

[@RootVegetabIe]

Gwyn? More like "belongs in the bin"!

[@MacNuada]

Look up the Tuatha Dé Danaan

[@ClaymoreLinx]

Gwyn did nothing wrong. Hopefully, I will have a video out soon enough to put some of these misconceptions to rest. The entire premise of this video is not proven and is actually debunkable, but I won't prattle on here.

[@AesirAesthetics]

Nothing wrong? how about when he cheated on his wife?

[@ClaymoreLinx]

@@AesirAesthetics Sauce?

[@MennydorgesERArchive]

That’s unfortunately how the Dark Souls lore community operates, all fanfictions to promote their headcanons and self insertions, ask any one of them why the hell Gwyn would need to do all this “manipulation” stuff to the humans if he just didn’t want to coexist with them and they can’t even answer you that, too busy in spamming words like “subversion” or “fire bad dark good” thinking that makes them intellectuals.

[@TheSuperRatt]

@@MennydorgesERArchive lmao, what? He feared humans, and the Dark; this is literally told to us verbatim in the games xD

[@MennydorgesERArchive]

8:37 you’re clearly cherrypicking the narrative to promote the usual Gwyn bad lie, first thing, yes, God in Dark Souls does not mean an omnipotent being, but it isn’t even about a political connection, “God” is any person that got a fragment of Gwyn’s light soul, like his silver knights, it is technically a race, as a soul can transform hollows into completely different beings. Closest I can think, would be an Elf. Second thing, the same argument should be applied to humans, humans in Dark Souls are eldritch abomjnations masquerading as real life humans, before having a fragment of the dark souls infected non-consensually might I add by the pigmy, they were hollows just like Gwyn, Nito, Izalith etc, I know you guys love to ignore this part, as it would disrupt your power fantasy of being an underdog fighting insurmountable odds, but your protagonist is doomed by the pigmy to be a walking virus, able to affect negatively the world itself due to the connection you have to the abyss. And the entire “age of dark bejng an age of humanity is hearsay by Kathe, which should be questioned the instant the Locus Preachers, an abyssal creature and natural hunter of humans appeared. Of course, linking the fire only prolongs the inevitable, but that’s the problem in maintaining an age of fire, which is represented by a disparity of light AND dark rather than creating an age of light itself. You can only blame Gwyn in trying to coexist with humans (hollows afflicted by the dark soul) even though it has genuine horrible side effects, as we can even see with Gwyndolin getting physically sick by the dark getting stronger, but him being a machiavellian villain is false, Anor Londo is able to create constructs that can do all manner of physical labour, the gods have no need for humans, and, if Gwyn did what Gael did instead of linking the fire, he would have saved the entire ds universe, unfortunately, Gwyn was naive, and didn’t even took care of his backstabbing allies like Seath and the Four Kings out of a sense of honor, and this naivety doomed the entire world.

[@TheSuperRatt]

You just can't stand that Gwyn was a tyrant who doomed the world to ruin, and destroyed the natural cycle that would have preserved it. I don't know why there are fans like you, who literally gloss over the entire point of the lore culminating in Dark Souls 3.

[@RootVegetabIe]

The way you fucking lovers talk about Gwyn like he's real. Find a better father figure. Keep ignoring the entire story of three games.

[@vladimirstojanovic4710]

Father Gwyn done nothing wrong.

[@carlcouture1023]

Saying that "Saishijou" means "Ritual Place" and not "shrine" is absurdly pedantic.

[@zanethompson3191]

From soft aesthetics

[@robdood2]

Dark Souls is definitely a metaphor for class war. Bring on the Age of Dark!

[@Steph1]

Where we, the normal people, feel we need the infrastructure held in place by our billionaire and government overlords? Hmm, I see your point.

[@MennydorgesERArchive]

Definitely, if you change ‘it’s all Gwyn’s fault” to CIA’s fault you definitely got a perfect modus operandi of your kind. Humans even end up being prey of the locusts preachers as the age of dark ensues, so that’s also an added bonus.

[@StockpileThomas1]

I disagree with Lokey's assessment of Gwyn so much. He's good at translating the texts but knows very little about mythology. If he did he would understand that Godhood is clearly more than just social status - with it comes the right and possibilty to differentiate and alter the world after all. Also calling Gwyn an evil, self-entitled tyrant is so onesided and wrong. In norse mythology, Odin knows the destiny of his death and the end of the world. Desperate, trying to change the inevitable outcome, he sneaks into the realm of man and starts war and conflict. He then collects the strongest souls of mighty heroes to assisst him in the final battle at ragnarok, the end of the world, to change what is unchangable. You can see where Fromsoft took their inspiration. Is Odin evil? He's shellshocked when he learned the world is gonna end. He wants to protect his loved ones. Gwyn sacrificed himself and burned himself to a hollow. That's courageous if anything. He's a tragic figure and portrayed as such. Also they didn't defeat the dragons to satisfý the thrive of a power hungry god-king as you put it, but to create something new the old has to be destroyed first, as elsewise their would be no room to build a house

[@AesirAesthetics]

He is evil because he thwarts the fate of mankind to perpetuate an age which has lost it's mandate All of the horrors of firelinking are his fault

[@DirtyMike124x]

Have my babies

[@AesirAesthetics]

the 10 dollar patreon tier should take care of that 😉

[@jacobnewell7845]

It's ironic, To see the Parallels between Marika and Gwen. It's clear to me that they both sought the same thing. Though, in Marika's case, she clearly took a more aggressive approach. But it seems Gwen was able to achieve a semblance of success... though that Success doomed the world of Dark Souls to Ruin. It seems that Marika's methods are the reason why the Lands Between have not yet suffered the same fate

[@WokeandProud]

Um it's the exact opposite actually Gywn wanted to maintain his power at the top and did every vile underhanded tactic to achieve his goals Marika started off there and slowly became disillusioned with the golden order the straw broke the camels back being the death of her favorite son Godwyn.

[@RootVegetabIe]

​@@WokeandProudUM ACKTUALLY

[@WokeandProud]

​@@RootVegetabIeTypical childish response of a moron with no argument.

[@mikez9929]

քʀօʍօֆʍ

[@LucasDimoveo]

The biggest plus in Dark Souls 2 's story is that it highlights just how awful Gwynn is