The Hidden Secrets of Dark Souls - Alchemy and the Ancient Dragons

[@remusaldana8147]

The salt is found in the tears of countless raging players I believe

[@AH-vm8yo]

Beat me too it

[@remasteredretropcgames3312]

Brace yourselves the Steam Deck raytraced retro experience is coming.

[@TravellingCultivator]

Always glad to see someone appreciate Dark Souls 2 and its lore in particular. Thanks for another brilliant interpretation!

[@cidfacetious3722]

Ds2 is under rated.

[@guttgrinder1626]

Me too and hopefully Max will cover the lore in the DLC's.

[@raioh4747]

I love DS 2, not my fav, but I think there are many things in that game people overlook or complain about but were probably purposely built like that. For example: the tower that has a elevator that goes up into a lava castle, people always cite that as bad level design with no belivability, but I think they did that on purpse, the entire game is dream-like, being even more surreal than any other souls game in the series and I'm pretty sure that was the intention. It's like the David Lynch of the Souls series and I love it I also love all the boss fights against dudes in armor, imo that's where DS combat shines the most

[@avoidbeing]

never could play dark souls but I watched one video of yours talking about it’s relation to alchemical thought, gnosticism and neoplatonic thought and immediately began playing which turned into 2 months straight of completing the games. thanks for the gnosis.

[@esotericheretic3740]

Fear not, the dark, My friend. And let the feast begin.

[@avoidbeing]

The path to immortality is hard, and only a few find it. The rest await the Great Day when the wheels of the universe shall be stopped and the immortal sparks shall escape from the sheaths of substance. Woe unto those who wait, for they must return again, unconscious and unknowing, to the seed-ground of stars, and await a new beginning.

[@avoidbeing]

@@jakepittman3068 long journey ahead of you. you just discovered the entrance to the rabbit hole.

[@core-nix1885]

​@@avoidbeing I saw you on some of John David Ebert's videos. I could talk for hours about Dark Souls; the buttresses and paintings linking to Spengler, the disparity linking to Heraclitus' Logos; even references to Rudolf Steiner (Old Sun Ring, Gael = Archangel Gabriel).

[@avoidbeing]

@@core-nix1885 lol, small world then. dark souls truly is the best instantiation of a digital psychogeography.

[@KomradeCPU]

I considered DS2 a better game after SoTFS and now I enjoy it for what it is.

[@guttgrinder1626]

Yes, the DLC's made it really good too (for me).

[@SaHaRaSquad]

In terms of lore? Yes. But the gameplay changes were mostly just stupidly bad.

[@ButterscotchPenguin]

Same, I enjoy playing it a lot

[@TheFaqvideos]

Man, you'd have a field day with Pathologic 2, it is stuffed with alchemy/occult symbolism, you should definitely check that game out, it's an underrated masterpiece.

[@Rockmih]

Im not even surprised to see its you the one to see how important DS2 lore is to the series, Excellent work Max.

[@10hawell]

Record tons of them, these are great new interpretations and takes on this endlessly profound games which are in our days analyzed only by people with same pigeonholed outlook (not that they are bad, just bored and limiting) Dragons have skin like petrified wood - scales that the Seath and Oceiros did not have and a fire deep within which they breathe, except for the Seath and Oceiros - all "dragons" which arise from mind are silver, naked and breathe ice.

[@zionthedragon8866]

I disagree with many parts of this, and part of what you said contradicts lore when it comes to the dragons. And just as you claim other's are limiting, by making your stance, that also introduces a limit.

[@lillywho]

I wonder if someone else is getting this feeling, but I'm someone who is very much occupied with their soul and healing their soul (it's a tangible thing to me) and such lore of those experiments comes off with the same vibe as body horror to me. It's grotesque because it defiles something inherent and precious.

[@Dunge0n]

I've been meditating on that very feeling the past few days, and it's haunted me since I was young. Horror villains like Freddy Krueger, Pinhead, Pazuzu, even Dementors, do a good job of embodying it. Anything that delights in twisting, destroying or consuming innocent souls. The simple concept of Hell itself, and every 'sin' being counted against me by God, was like being trapped in a horror film. Especially for a kid who was already terrified of fire. I stayed away from 'Souls' games for years, simply because they're built on all these concepts. It's hilarious how much they've helped me move past them, in addition to 'Berserk'. Miyazaki and Miura can be cruel teachers, but they care more than most.

[@hugofontes5708]

I don't share your views and even so I can still find stories dealing with some mutability of the human disturbing, it's like if something could snap a finger and transmute me into a smoothie, but I'm fascinated instead of horrified by the stories

[@mproxima4791]

I think more then the attention on the body horror the thing that hit me the most is that all the characters in Dark souls world are seeking excactly that, the healing of the soul breaking the curse that is cast upon them by their very own existence. I think for everyone in search for that is an awesome meditation.

[@thescatologistcopromancer3936]

DS2 has some really good moments. And the hub music is great

[@ZenDel10]

I always like to think that the bearer of the curse achieved his mission in becoming a unique anomaly outside the cycle of light and darkness and even in the times of Dark Souls 3 he is still wandering the confines of the worlds, this resonates completely with the coin toss of Cain, for our bearer of the curse the coin did fall on its edge. excellent video.

[@SunriseParabellum_elysium]

I love how you bring the series under a new light with your take on the lore

[@TOUGHEYES]

Well, its interesting to reflect that the place beyond the scope of light and beyond the reach of dark that Aldia wanted, was back in time beyond time more than he could consciously understand. But if you want a more illicit reference, then consider the place of Tseldora, and how during an age of 'light' The Duke of the mining town unleashed a horde of spiders upon his people for his experiments, his obsession.

[@DisgruntledPeasant]

Hey, I wanted to share another mythic connection that doesnt get discussed much: The depiction of the 'dark sign' is extremely close to a zen metaphor for the soul. In this metaphor the soul is described to be like a circle of firelight in the dark, imagine that you are in total darkness with a flaming torch or candle in your hand, spin that flame in a circle and you will generate an illusion of a circle of light. That circle is described as being your self, something that exists only with continual input and only in the eyes of an observer. I have always felt that this was intentional, since the humans in dark souls go hollow without continual effort, if they stop moving their flame goes out, so to speak.

[@toojungtodie1898]

"He's not a dragon because he doesn't posess the soul of a dragon" I think my heart just stopped. 5:25

[@rexhex3700]

I always love watching these videos for some deep discussion on lore.

[@retrogamer7965]

How would burning alive for all eternity as a mindless husk be a benefit to Gwyn? He did it to save the world after giving up almost all his power and broke up his Lord soul to protect his friends and family.

[@MrMaradok]

I’m of the mind that it was a MAD plan - Mutually Assured Destruction. Gwyn himself may not benefit from the reconstituted Age Of Fire and it’s many, MANY iterations, but neither would humanity gain the upper hand, the power over all, with the coming of the Age Of Dark.

[@retrogamer7965]

@@MrMaradok An unrestrained Dark Soul turn humans into mindless abominations. Humans aren't disembodied humanity sprites "They" are hollows given life by using the Dark Soul as fuel. The Lord of Dark is not an alternative to the Lord of Light, but the Lord of Cinder. He is just one who is responsible for the end of the world. When the Serpents say age of Man or Dark they mean the humanity sprites eating everything. Gwyn threw himself into the First Flame as fuel because he had no other way to save the world.

[@DisgruntledPeasant]

It benefited Gwyns goals, which was to hide humanities true essense from themselves. The final DLC for 3 really solidifies this, even at the end of all time his presence is felt deeply. Do not confuse his physical power with his true power- he became the force that encircles the human soul. The visual symbol of the dark sign shows this very well: the 'true' human souls is the darkness both inside and outside the ring of fire, but gwyn creates that circle of fire that creates 'disparity', it creates edges and boundries to human identity and inevitably turns us against ourselves and one another, rather than allowing ourselves to see the truth that we are not truly individuals at all. Hollows go 'mad' because when they lose the fire, they lose the boundry that defined them. The fact that they still exist when the flame is gone proves that they were the darkness in that symbol all along, but they have relied on the boundries so much that they lose their damn minds. in DS3 we see hollows who have learned to understand their true self, and they are dangerously disciplined beings.

[@retrogamer7965]

@@DisgruntledPeasant The Pygmys made humans as weapons and the God's plural put seal's of fire on them so they wouldn't go insane. There is no such thing as a hollow with memories. Just undead who have gone insane or have taken on the moniker as a religon after being tricked by Kaathe. Without that seal Human's subsist to be and the remnants become monsters true self, or not true self, is a false dichotomy. An individual piece of the Dark Soul is not the true form of a Human anymore than white soul sprites are the true form of other forms of life. Gwyn's plan was to keep existence going. There is no alternate to the Age of Fire. Sheparding the Humans was just to keep the Dark Soul safe. Fire=Life. Humanity Sprites aren't a hivemind either. They individually seek nearby out life when they go wild. If you rip the humanity sprite out of a human and it goes hollow that human is now dead, because a Human is the sum of its parts. Calling an engine the true form of a car isn't correct.

[@PasCiprano]

In a previous video, you said that Serpents represent the link between body and soul. In dark souls, Serpents are imperfect dragons. It makes sense then that dragons in dark souls are everlasting, since they're are the perfect vessel to link body and should, and reach the primordial balance that you suggest in the video. Anyway, absolutely brilliant work, congrats!

[@viktor_v-ughnda_vaudville_476]

Yes more ds from max, dude your videos, philosophy, subject matter and explanations are absolutely top notch

[@stapuft]

nice intro/primer, but i really wish you went deeper into the alchemical processes, and their symbolic meaning instead of just the "ingredients", cant wait for the next one. (these kind of videos are why i subbed to you in the first place)

[@highbrednxtus]

I would enjoy seeing a real deep dive analysis of DS2 by Max, his interpretations are always interesting. I hope there's more to come on this title

[@XonixDerps]

He did do it for bloodborne abit but I guess DS2 doesnt go far into it?

[@malarkeyhippie3215]

We can have ideas but ideas can also have us. Much like how the trees have the hollows in both life and death.

[@frazfrazfrazfraz]

As far as the hollows turning into trees, I think there's something more going on there. Not all dead hollows turn into trees, and you can notice that the highest of the "tree hollows" are almost always turned toward the archives, like something they revered came down to meet them. And the lower ones are similarly reaching up to the highest ones, like achieving that state is something special. They also look similar to the pilgrim butterflies, who might have been in Lothric before we show up, so they could have something to do with it

[@pixiechicjk]

This description smacks of the Ahrimanic (physicality), Lucifer (spirit), and their resolution, the Christ, per Rudolf Steiner. Story dates back to the Zoroastrians, to my knowledge. Wonderful content, Max. Thank you! Particularly love the Jung series on Aion and Job. Thank you so much! :)

[@meaningfulmindfulness15]

Man, seeing correlations between Legacy of Kain and Dark Souls in general is one of the many reasons I love your content. Great stuff man, keep up provoking thought in people. Alchemy is intriguing as ever.

[@meaningfulmindfulness15]

Also, I'm having a hard time connecting salt into Dark Souls as well. The closest thing I have is maybe the Crystal Caves? Or any of the Crystal Lizards or Titanite related things? Maybe I'm just thinking of salt rocks.. 😅🤷

[@damadatura]

Max: uploads a dark souls video Me: insta like

[@samlewis8048]

I know not many people may agree with me but I always think on the reason why we use crowns to stave off hollowing. The crowns in all of soulsbourne all have some ties to desperation. Gwyn wore his crown until his linking of the fire, Vendrick was desperate to keep the dark from taking over until he found a new path, Wolnyr was a man who held his conquests over the lords whose crowns he melted down and Logarius used the Vileblood crown to hide the undying queen behind both himself and an illusion. I am skipping over the rulers of the forgotten crowns but they also hold a similar value to me. When we defeat the guardians of the old crowns and speak with Vendrick we inherit his desperate wish for us to find a new path onward. This is why I believe the crowns stop our hollowing for the remainder of our playtime and allow us to carry out Vendrick’s wish. I don’t know if anyone else sees the crowns the same way I do but I hope people at least have some discussion about this.

[@auslandposse]

for my part, you became one of the most interesting souls borne youtubers, instantly. try to think about the connections of ds1 & ds3, with an eye on the alchemical concept; as above so below. (yorshka - priscilla) I think current theorys are looking to deep into it. shout outs from austria

[@MarkMeszaros95]

I'm currently reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche and a parallel just occured to me: the transcendental process of becoming a tree or being a hollow is kind of similar to the way how one could become a 'superman'.

[@lordmoldybutt6361]

I love your in-depth analysis of the soul series. Great job max.

[@tec-null2050]

Nice Video. I am truly amazed, how many of my favorite games are influenced by alchemy. Thank you Max :)

[@lauxbonet4475]

Just started replaying ds2 this week, your video couldn't have come at a better time.

[@padrinomanloth]

How about linking salt to ash? Even in Dark Souls 3 the MC it's called ashen one so I think it must be something there...

[@Hiihtopipa]

Was it MC hammer?

[@retrogamer7965]

Lol no shit . When undead die they turn to ash and reform at a bonfire.

[@emiki6]

And in fact, when you burn something, the ash that remains is a mixture of salts.

[@retrogamer7965]

@@emiki6 he can only think about alchemy and not in a way that's interesting because of his hard limit low iq so he didn't put this in the video.

[@raymondzellar5523]

It's wonderful to have you filling in the corners of the dark souls lore like this

[@ThatFont]

Was just seeing your series today and was very drawn in by your views. Thanks for releasing a video today, subscribed :)

[@fukcg00gle95]

I started the Souls series two years ago with DS3. I'm currently playing DS1 and DS2 will be next. These games are a masterpiece. I absolutely love everything about them.

[@kingnro1]

If the Archtrees are living beings that hollowed and became trees, then perhaps an "age of ancients" is just another reoccuring part of the neverending cycle of light and dark.

[@burritowyrm6530]

Giants turn into trees themselves when they die, humans dying regularly without turning into trees, and undeath for hollows is likely because of the darksign Just my theory idk

[@woahlucid]

ds2 was my introduction to the souls series and it semented dark souls as my favorite game series ever

[@Zeethoo]

Fantastic video, my man. Hunters dream and Ash Lake are masterful areas. 🙏 I’m glad someone noticed the trees!!

[@KyleCzHall]

Nailed it.

[@ladyfox6705]

Nice one, Max! I do enjoy your Lore videos so much 🙌 Am nearing the end of my 3rd play of Dark Souls, so going to give Dark Souls 2 another chance afterwards! I've heard it's a long game, and I'm a slooooow player, so see you in 2025 😅

[@Writh811]

The funny thing most people don't think about, is that the dragons were not beyond the reach of Dark. Cycles of linking the flame and people trying to turn into dragons thinking it will reach beyond the Dark and along comes Midir. Why do we have to fight Midir, he's fallen to the Dark. His mineral body, covered in Dark Crystals, like a Dark version Seath. Seems crystalized light/dark is bad for the mind.

[@Proctor_Conley]

•When the Fire\Flame fades all humans don't loose their souls & become hollow shells. Hollow is how humans look without a Humanity Sprite (see "Soul of the Four Kings"), less you forget about New London & Human Effigies. •Gwyn isn't purely good & has lore regarding the mistreatment of his kids. Gwynevere was given to Flann, Gwyndolin had to hide their sex to learn magic, & Gwyns' Firstborn was exiled. •The mother of Crossbreed Priscilla is Gwyns' Wife, the Witch Izalith, & is told to you via the environmental storytelling of statues throughout Lordran. You're thought are all still on the money, more or less, so Damn Fine Video! Bravo!

[@neilsanders2341]

Magnificent Max! Love all of these theories for their grounding in ancient beliefs

[@mniakan3544]

Dark souls 2 is a great game as good as the other souls game but for some reason people say it's not

[@targetdemographic1257]

I loved it on release and loved it even more after SOTFS. The hate for it was overblown.

[@deesevrin8570]

If you really want to know watch the channel Mauler and however many episodes of his series on dark souls as you please to.

[@mitchellnelson9487]

I 100% understand why people think DS2 is worse than DS1. It is, objectively worse as far as level/world design. What I dont understand is how people hate 2 but love 3. I enjoy 3, but it is the most frustrating game to play of the series. I feel like I have to fight against the game itself. Is DS1, every death is my fault, in DS2 its 50/50, in DS3 I get stunlocked to death and there was nothing I could do. Its rubbish.

[@targetdemographic1257]

@@mitchellnelson9487 whether it’s worse than ds1 or not the game is good and worthy of the souls name. I probably like ds 3 the least but idk what you’re on about. Sounds over-dramatic.

[@mitchellnelson9487]

@@targetdemographic1257 haha, maybe I am overdramatic. But I just mean just compare Ornstein and Smough to Sister Friede and Father whatshisface. There is actual strategy for the first. Manoevering around the pillars, dodging and blocking, etc. For the second, there is no strategy. No obstacles to use to your advantage, shield is practically useless, and if you dodge one attack you get hit by another. I think Demon Souls, DS1, and DS2 are more intuitive, whereas DS3, Bloodbourne, and Sekiro are more sensory. The latter games are all about reaction time rather than strategic. Which personally I find it a little lame.

[@danooshansureshkumar8405]

The character Petrus (the one who betrays Rhea of Thorulund and the other followers of the way of white) does refer to Rhea's body after you save her in a strange way by saying she's: not worth her salt without her family name. I believe this is a direct reference to the salt as a body. The fact of this coming from a devout follower of the way of white and the significance of rhea is very well explored in a video from Hawkshaw

[@jagergerg9771]

I had to watch it twice to understand it but it was completely worth it.

[@Perceval777]

This is one of the best analysis of Dark Souls I've ever seen! Transcending disparity and dualism and becoming one with the "immortal part" of the Universe is the end goal of Yoga, Taoism, and Buddhism too. A similar concept of fully achieving a total unity within oneself of both masculine and feminine, light and dark, creative and destructive, subject and object, etc. exists in many "pagan" religions as well, like the one in Ancient Egypt, and I think there was something of that kind in Greece and Rome as well. Mircea Eliade, an amazing historian of religion, mentions this topic a lot in his books. Please make more videos like this! (^-^)

[@cosmic2750]

Keep doing these lore videos dude! They are so awesome, and they all give me new takes and perspectives on some of the lore I already knew. That I believe is the beauty of Soulsborne, there's so many ways to interpret its lore, that changing perspective could give a whole new depth to the lore. And I also love the connections to real-world myths and stuff. It seems Miyazaki (or his writers, whatever) did research quite a bit, if not LOTS, to find and piece together lore from different parts of the world, such that while they do have several similarities because of mixing they end up as their own unique thing! Again, do more of these, please. I love knowing lore about setpieces and stories and events.

[@skavage124]

here to waiting for Max to play Demon Souls. :)

[@maxderrat]

Played it already. :) Love it! Aside from DS1, it's my favorite of the Soulsborne games.

[@skavage124]

@@maxderrat guess I should have said a video more from that game lol. I love your Dark Souls videos. watched that whole Playlist. I dont even play Dark Souls much. I'm a Bloodborne guy myself. :) keep up your amazing work

[@esotericheretic3740]

@@maxderrat if you played it back in the day when it first was released, it would be your number one favorite of all

[@cidfacetious3722]

@@esotericheretic3740 nah. I picked it up on releas randomly, loved it but dark souls completely blew it away when it came out

[@hellogoodbye3786]

@@esotericheretic3740 stop projecting, sorry.

[@sonofjack965]

Hey max, just wanted to stop by and let you know how much of an inspiration you are. I can’t thank you enough for just existing, bro. Love your vids, and keep up the good work!

[@miabbqpitgrill]

dark souls 2 scholar of the first sin was my first souls game adventure and it blew me away after finishing dark souls 3 with all achievements i await the coming of elden ring

[@Ziabetus]

Never before has something I don't understand, made so much sense.

[@thedanielstraight]

I loved this video Max. Your videos allow me to feel normal for a while. I still like the idea of arch trees and other realities. They are scattered in a visual way that makes me think of (it's been 8 and a quarter years, I don't consider this a spoiler) the Lighthouses from Bioshock Infinite. I do love Dark Souls, but my true favorite is definitely Bloodborne.

[@voxstelarum]

Is interesting how the soulsborne lore channels, despite having different takes on the lore, they all end up discussing the same primordial topics of humanity. Very cool video

[@TheMrMRsmoke]

Estus probably connect to the “Salt” it means “from the sea” and since it heals your body it kinda makes sense

[@tabhabbish6336]

Max. You the champ.

[@loganthinkshecan]

This video aged like a fine ass wine with Elden Ring. We're seeing the same concepts explored even more.

[@umukzusgelos4834]

Ahh, always do enjoy a good quality discussion about these kinds of topics, like they truly are inspiring I bet a lot of people would probably never care about the concepts of Alchemy, Morality or any sort of such thing most often only found in ancient literature if it weren´t featured in Videogames

[@Gman1991]

Fantastic

[@raioh4747]

I can see a link between "salt" and the all the bones in the games. This game has so many bones around, boney enemies and all that. Plus bones are what support the body, bones are the body without flesh, without life, without, dare I say, mind nor spirit.

[@Warcrafter4]

For salt it could be shown by hollowing which dries out the flesh of the victims much like how salt does. Also as other's pointed out ash which plays a major role in the series can be a mixture of salts and other chemicals.

[@joshking1260]

Your videos are always so dope. Keep doing your thing🙏

[@guttgrinder1626]

DS2 might have a lot of plot holes but my boi the Burnt Ivory King's lore is top tier.

[@leedowling1448]

everytime i watch a video you make i always feel like i achieve some form of gnosis

[@IronForce-ff2qx]

Can you make a video about gods in Dark Souls? Things like the difference between Gods and Lords or why some of the gods like Velka regarded heretical by the Lords of Lordran never made clear and it’s open to interpretation.

[@recepomur9841]

I'm starting to think everything everything about soulsborne series is random things cause i can't wrap my head around how they brought every single detail with such subtlety.

[@monadamus42]

Great video! I love your content so much, bro.

[@hubguy]

Not at all proof that salt is linked to Dark Souls, but I find it to be a neat coincidence that salt corresponds to the body. Salt is used to preserve food, and the linking of the flame as well as using humanity/human effigies are meant to preserve the body. One could also relate it to kindling the flame since that gives you more Estus uses to preserve your current life. Whenever one is about to fully rot away (i.e. die or go hollow), they respectively apply Estus/humanity to keep themselves intact, so could one say they're figuratively salting the body with fire/humanity? Idk haha

[@escre]

I don't know if everlasting dragons were truly everlasting after the flame. Also don't think they had fire within before the flame. Great content ty.

[@ignatius7812]

If I remember correctly there is a very interesting mural in sister friede boss room that has the dual snake depiction

[@anisabbassi1058]

watching some Dark Souls deep lore at 3am what could be better?

[@forts1251]

Never thought I'd be this early on a Max Derrat video.

[@gustavosantos106]

I'm the Like #51 :D

[@CrashBandicootFan100]

Well the way boss corpses despawn in Dark Souls, more likely might be ashes but could be the "salt" you're looking for

[@Sciera]

Such an interesting interpretation, love it ♥

[@theastrovert]

anyone telling you to skip Dark Souls 2 is not your friend.

[@bowsori]

I am convinced the age of ancients and all the tree stuff is linked to the old one in demon's souls

[@inasilentway9835]

I really love your analysis and it is astonishingly correct about the mythological parallels and primal archetypes in Dark Souls. However and not to be rude but I think there are a few things the video may have forgotten about the setting of Dark Souls that have been misinterpreted by me and so I have a few questions. Alchemy is very slightly present in Dark Souls while mercury is only alluded to in Bloodborne as quicksilver bullets to give hints about the change in the Hunter's blood post-transfusion. Ouroboros is the only remotely alchemical concept that would apply to the Dark Souls series which is why serpents are a symbol of the undead but that alone cannot warrant an alchemy based theory of the game setting. The Darksign, like the Ouroboros, is a symbol of Eternal Return which is why the Undead are not freed from suffering even upon death since time is especially cyclic for those that are reborn after death. That is also the straightforward answer why spacetime also appears to work differently in Lordran and Lothric, where Izalith can drift anachronistically close to kingdoms that rose an untold aeon later. Why did the video emphasize alchemy to such an extent? Humanity is not exactly light and dark halves into one being. Human souls are thoroughly dark and the Abyss is the only ubiquitous human quality. The first game made it clear that human souls were not the true source of life while the third game claims that things which originated in the Abyss could be quasi-living. While it is true that humans in the Age of Fire could possess a First Flame derived soul which bestowed the Hollows from the Age of Ancients with vitality, identity and sometimes godhood, the protagonist is always an Undead and reliably loses power, identity and life itself upon death. Dying over the course of the game, a player is only preserving their core humanity making them purely beings of the dark, a Hollow. Fire and Dark were a duality but how is it true about humanity itself? The Everlasting Dragons were mostly inert and not so much immortal as they were immovably lifeless. While at least one Crossbreed existed canonically, Miyazaki himself described the Ancient Dragons as "half living and half element" and so Priscilla being the offspring of Seath, a dragon which lacked the longevity of his kin, does not make this dragon hybrid eternal. Dragons, insensible as stone, and soul sorceries, as mere energy, were powers that existed separate from Gwyn's Lord Soul and the Witch of Izalith's Flame of Chaos, both are shown to manipulate life-force. The Path of the Dragon in Dark Souls III proves that becoming a dragon renders an human listless as rock and even then Midir is a specimen of humanity's influence on the Archdragons. Since the great beast succumbs to the Abyss, I must assume that the Abyss is the truly primordial essence of the Dark Souls world. How is it that dragons rather than undead occupy the niche of immortality? Lastly Dark Souls II is non-canon to such a great degree since it was directed by an entirely different team. By the third installment, Dark Souls II is nearly irrelevant and vaguely mentioned in passing. It is Dark Souls in name only and some of its elements contradict the other two more canonical games. The Chaos Flame never grew more powerful after the defeat of the Bed of Chaos and that would run counter to Dark Souls' existential theme of inevitable decay and futility. The roundabout ending in Dark Souls II claims there is a hopeful place beyond light and dark while all endings from Dark Souls and Dark Souls III make very clear that the waning Flame demands soul sacrifices to the benefit no one except the tyrant Gods and the Age of Dark is the only certain future for humanity. Did people really find Dark Souls II as insightful as the other games? I only liked the magic. Let me be clear that even with my reservations that I did enjoy watching the video and that I still believe the idea that mind-body duality and the symbolic aspects of alchemy are themes in Dark Souls albeit minor but more so in Bloodborne. I think Dark Souls' main theme is about human nature and how humanity is so mediocre that it ruins absolutely everything, even other human beings, while Dark Souls III is about meaningless struggle, violence and suffering to preserve things in decay. However since Miyazaki's games are by and large anthropological I can believe they comprehend things like psychology, specifically social psychology because he studied it, and archetypal mythology.

[@albino5995]

Salt could be connected through Ash Lake, home of the Everlasting Dragons and was the world as a whole for Eons before the Lords came from the dark and found their lord souls in the flames

[@agamemnonofmycenae5258]

I am not sure how many times the First Flame was linked, but a lot of time must have passed between Dark Souls 1, 2 and 3. Yet the gods, not the Everlasting Dragons, were the ones to survive to the last Age(Dark Souls 3 time). Lothric and Lorian were supposed to be the last inheritors, but due to them forsaking their duty, the unkindled appeared in order to force the inheritors to redo their sacrifice. The unkindled can therefore be considered beings that transcended their death, while the Gods are true immortals, whose only way to die, is to either being slain or willingly immolating themselves. No god was ever shown to die from natural factors.

[@Kurai_69420]

The salt is represented by the casuls who never got gud

[@RandomlyAwesomeGamer]

Hey Max,as a relatively new viewer I have been really enjoying your videos,thanks for taking the time to make them. Since you mentioned that you had already played through Dark Souls 3,I wanted to query your opinions regarding the Usurpation of Fire,and it's status as the Sable Church of Londor's solution to the disparate ages of Fire and Dark.Upon witnessing the cutscene I couldn't help but ruminate on the status of the Dark Sign(which by this point in the story had already consumed the Sun) and how,after having been freed from the effects of Gwyn's first sin(which had irreversibly Linked the flame and the dark through a perverse relationship wherein they would both ravenously seek to consume the other as fuel) we can see the orange,corrupted,sign bleed out into a harmonious black and white one,wherein the Dark Soul both emanates and protects the Light but is also emboldened by the shadows it casts and the role it's serving as a Highlight for it's Mass/Existence.This seemed to me to be a harmonious duality of Black and White,Dark and Light,that still managed to be different to the Grey of the Age before.Whereas timeless dragons meaninglessly roamed the fog covered world,unkowning of Life and Death,of Change and Perserverance,the New Human of Londor's age seems to be of a wholly different ilk. The members of the Sable Church have an aesthetic that many might consider 'evil' at first glance,having once been diciples of the now deceased Kaathe,they seemed to have ended up inheriting the decorations of his Darkwraiths.But considering the Lore and Worldbuilding of the series I truly do believe the Usurpation to be the "Good Ending" of the series story.I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts on the subject,whether they be in video or text form.

[@mahaok1]

I always thought souls 2 had the best lore, even if its a bit self contained and can theoretically be skipped overall. I actually think the story of drangleic as a kingdom is the most fleshed out by far and as such provides brilliant context for the games over arching theme of cycles and rebirth. Aldia created a psuedo everlasting dragon which should be a big deal, yet none of that is remembered by souls 3. Even king vendric himself is reduced to "shield of want" as a king that powerful is lost to the cycle Ofc im biased though since it is my favourite game ever

[@simonlaplace9790]

The shia reference got you my like great video

[@bradyweed4124]

Max, I love your stuff, it’s so insightful and interesting, but I cannot watch this video because I too am yet to finish dark souls 2. Forgive me.

[@maxderrat]

All good, bro! Go check it out. I recommend DS2. :)

[@saulgoneman]

Gwyn's reign definitely does not benefit from linking the First Flame, since he dies in the process and all that. I also don't know where you get "a being of pure light", nothing (to my knowledge) ever suggests this. He is just another being that came from the Dark, and claimed a Lord Soul.

[@themourningwolf8926]

This is obviously a longer stretch and just speculation but the soul is specifically mentioned in darksouls as where the ability to perform magic is derived from. It is a projection of the soul made physical. And the body is also a projection of the soul made physical. In this speculation. There's hinging detail that pulls it together so I admit it's weak but magic once it reaches a specific purity and power of its specific manifestation it becomes a crystal soul spell, crystal being the natural state of salt its a small connection between the soul, and the physical forms of it being crystalline in nature like salt is. Crystals are everywhere and are often centered around magic almost exclusively from the golems to the very foundation of the archives itself and even the very immortality if seeth was achieved by a crystal. Almost like he took the soul he had and suspended it in a separate physical form so that if he were to be attacked his soul would not be present to endure it. I have little evidence this was not properly investigated and is merely just a connection I saw in passing.

[@dankswag7860]

Love ya Max

[@Mannnnnnnn]

Your vids r so good bruh

[@SmokeKage]

This is just one of those videos that you auto-like first, then watch the video.

[@kalypsodeepsea982]

Great job, my Lord 🙏🏻! But here is a fintasea (pun intended) of mine: Max playing a game centered around merfolk and analyzing it 🧜🏼‍♀️🌊💧🤩

[@maxderrat]

Si tu peux trouver ce jeu, dis-moi. :P

[@kalypsodeepsea982]

@@maxderrat Évidemment ! Je ne te laisserai pas tomber 🧜🏼‍♀️😅

[@warrior-wm8vb]

In dark souls 3 there's am Armageddon symbology with the locusts of Abadon in the rings city streets bonfire

[@rarestpepe3815]

I really don't know why DS2 receives the hate it does. As you pointed out, it does a great job of expanding on the Lore & Story of the first one, and even improves the gameplay in some areas.

[@yuviT]

So, when are you playing Demon's Souls?

[@Blood.exe01]

My only problem is that in ds 3 the hollows who become "trees" may more likely be transforming into the hollow butterflies like the ones in the Dragon slayer armor. Other than that, sound points.

[@TheAce5399]

I am interested to see your interpretation to the age of ancients versus the end of the world in dark souls 3. Can these two be seen as tail ends to ages, are they one and the same? The world has burned to ash due to the age of fire and the continuation of it, is this similarly why ash lake is called what it is as its a peak into the age of ancients? Or rather is it there due to the witch of Izoleth burning down the arch trees? Of course I don't want merely a comment response to these ideas as that would be a lot to look into and write down in a reply. I think a video on that could be interesting as your alchemic take on this series is truly fascinating. Another thing I was mulling over while watching is what salt (body) has to do with both the Dragons and Humans. We do have crossbreeds of angle as well as dragon decent, yet they do not live forever. The Everlasting Dragon cult could be alike Gwyn's quest to keep the flame alive. Simply keeping the age of ancients as the dragons immortalized through the transmutation of humans into dragons. Could this be a possible path towards immortality? Is there a possible connection to the crystal and the dragons' scales that made them immortal? With their stone scales is that the part of the body that Humans laced that prevented them from becoming immortal? I think Dragons are a perfect example of your theory as they were able to harness their soul/spirit within themselves, but their power (as souls give power to beings in this world) could be unleashed through their fiery breath attacks. Their body was protected through their hard scales so they need not worry about the type of damage another dragon could inflict upon them. Their minds, however, I am not sure if they truly were able to balance correctly. The only information about the minds of dragons that I am aware of (with the exception of the Dragon's memories in dark souls 2) is Seath. However, he was an imperfect dragon and was more alike the humans. Fleshy exterior, eventually went mad while pouring over the first sin and the first flame (Which is where Aldia first found out what the first sin was by looking at the duke's archives. How he found them or how they were even in Dranglaic is not really known) , and finally his breath attack forms crystals that inflict curse, which is mostly exclusive to Seath's area and the basilisks. Seath's mind was broken, just like the other humans we see in the game, and we know he was an imperfect being relying on the crystal for immortality, but why the crystal? Anyways, this is all food for thought. I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking about these things. I really like these videos on my favorite game franchise and look forward to more from you. OH, also Giants also turn into trees. are they also hollows? Like Yorm, did he hollow or merely refuse to link the flame because he had a dead kingdom? I just thought about that whilst writing my wrap up, I apologize.

[@marvinbagdonas3937]

Great video,hope that you win the algorithm lottery.

[@EssenceOfBanana]

It's good that you found some value in Dark Souls 2 even though your friends recommended against playing it. It is certainly an odd game in many respects, and could be called the black sheep of the souls family. I would even go as far as saying that it feels like some kind of spin-off Souls game that had been outsourced to another developer. It has its share of problems. And yet, I can't help but love many of the game's idiosyncrasies and the unique story and lore snippets it brings to the Souls universe.

[@alexyguadalupe3456]

The hollow tree dudes are turning into pilgrim butterflies

[@thisguynamedmatt12]

Dark souls 2 is like the peak of dark souls lore. It is the best without a doubt

[@TOUGHEYES]

Dems fighting words, boi.

[@thisguynamedmatt12]

@@TOUGHEYES Come at me then, I got the power of the Ruin Helm on my side!

[@simon870909]

Having a hard time linking salt to Dark Souls! Hehe

[@thescatologistcopromancer3936]

Don't forget Salt and Sanctuary!

[@Exile_Sky]

Max: This solution greatly benefits someone like Gwyn. Because he is a being of pure light. Me: (◎_◎;) You.... You are aware you are playing video of the Gwyn boss fight right...? The fight... where you are effectively fighting Gywn's hollow... You know.. in that place where he DIED to link the flame...

[@retrogamer7965]

And he wasn't a being of pure anything. Gwyn had the Dark Pygmys, Giants, Hollows and Dragon Kin and Humans in his Clan who he gave pieces of his soul to. History being tampered with is one of the main points of Dark Souls as a whole.