The Dark Souls 2 Iceberg Explained

[@665Sunshine]

15:25 the 4 daughters of Manus are Nashandra, Elana, Nadalia, and Alsanna. You included a photo of Mytha the Baneful Queen. No relation to Manus.

[@natiscool]

Thanks for correcting Sunshine. I definitely always include one error in my iceberg videos to make sure you are paying attention..... Haha, will pin your comment so others can see the clarification, thanks again!

[@Talonfir]

Hey, maybe Mytha was the shard borne of Vanity, just like Nashandra was Lust for Power, Nadalia was Solitude, Elana was Anger, and Alsanna represented Fear? I mean, probably not, but she was driven to madness in pursuit of her King, in a sense.

[@darrkhunter96]

@Andrew Bright Mytha has no king to be bound to, so probably not. I personally like the theory that they seek opposite of what they are, to become compleat again. Like Nashandra as manifestation of greed came to selfless Vendrik or fearful Alsanna to fearless IK. It ofc just a theory, but still, connection between kings and daughters are obvious to me.

[@yay842]

@@natiscool Do better.

[@The_Fat_Turtle]

@@darrkhunter96 Mytha was the queen to the Iron King, which is why her boss fight is right before Iron Keep. There is lore into their past that is given in the game, I believe Magerold (the guy selling stuff in the Iron Keep) is the one who goes a little deeper into the backstory. If it's not, it's some NPC in that area or Earthen Peak who does say it.

[@ShanesSlothMunchies]

The lore of ds2 in my opinion is way more “dark fantasy” than the others, it has a mystical dream like vibe and i absolutely adore it

[@marleyjr00]

To me DS2 is a philosophical look into what the undead curse is. Just some lone undead trying to figure things out after he went hollow enough to forget his past.

[@timothye.2902]

12:15 another detail about Licia that shows her deceitfulness is the door mechanism she operates at Majula. She claims the contraption is 'powered by miracles' and charges a few thousand souls per move, but if you kill her, she drops a physical tablet that moves the door.

[@trustytrest]

And if you do pay her, you can see her quickly slap the device in while you're praying before kneeling down to "pray" with you.

[@PIKL_Creep]

She is like all the clerics from Dark Souls 1 as well, the Way of White is all a religion built on lies and every member you speak to seems to be hiding something. Except for Petrus who tells you he is a "wolf in sheep's clothing" when he kills you.

[@Guitar-Dog]

Does that give Lucia power in souls lore? Like faith is your believe in god's who allow you to do there magic. If the player is praying to 'lucias magic' does she get power? The old Elder Scrolls lore has similar where the gods exist becuase of mass believe

[@PIKL_Creep]

@@Guitar-Dog no, she is a part of some church organization and she just lies like all the high ranking members of the way of white.

[@opinionpaladin6007]

@@Guitar-Dog I did an entire D&D campaign where your belief in something gave you power, not gods. Very fun very DS2 inspired. Also note faith magic in dark souls are prayers that you recite. Stories given power through belief

[@djdaem0nplays]

The best confirmation that Licia is the usurper comes when you bring the Crushed Eye Orb near her, it stirs, and you are allowed to invade her. She says, "Puzzled me out have you? At least now I can finish you off, guilt free."

[@bebopganymede]

She says that? Does she attack you after?

[@genesisosuna]

@@bebopganymede obviously, it's the same thing with lautrec and leonhardt

[@zerotodona1495]

So you’re telling me… I murdered a bunch of people for fun but also story by accident lol

[@zach.hanford]

I feel like half of Dark Souls 2 lore can be summed up with "I don't know, Aldia I guess?"

[@hatefulgaming1800]

“Why is this here” Aldia I guess

[@VexJinks]

The lore actually has really deep themes revolving around the "curse" of life, the inevitability of death, and why life is worth living.

[@theultimatetactician1712]

It's much worse bro, I've written a whole document on a lot of lore. The worst ones to explain are like pharros, Allen and venn(f this one), the love pentagon(?).

[@yeah5895]

@@theultimatetactician1712 who is in the love pentagon? Is it Raime, Iron King, Nadalia, Mythra and Covetous Demon?

[@theultimatetactician1712]

@@yeah5895 yeah pretty sure

[@Achromatic_0]

for me dark souls 2 feels like a dream. the player's dream. it feels like the human brain tried its best to recreate dark souls 1 but ended up with a weird spinoff version of it. plus some areas feel really dream-like to me, especially the cut content. the lore is confusing as well, especially when you add in the cut content. it feels like trying to make sense of some dream that you just woke up from. one of the reasons why i like ds2 so much.

[@jjcoola998]

This is the honest answer that no one wants to hear you had a different Director and various other people trying their best to imitate someone else and doing a mediocre job the games OK don’t get me wrong but the bosses are all forgettable except for a couple and very clear the B team was doing it

[@Achromatic_0]

@@jjcoola998 ive heard that multiple times now and i accept it

[@QwertyUiop-bs2zr]

@@jjcoola998 it wasn’t only new people working on the project and Miyazaki was around to help from time to time, and despite not having exactly the same people they did a great job at fixing some stuff from the original ds and adding cool new things, the games is far better than ok or mediocre, it just differs a bit on its style. And bosses from ds1 are just as memorable as the ones from ds2. You need to realize that you only love so much more the first compared to the second because it was the first one you played, I played 3 first and 1 just seemed like a bad copy and 2 felt like a much needed breath of new air

[@adradox]

The concept of dark souls 2 is based around memories, so Drangleic on itself might be a distant memory of kingdom that once existed, at the beginning of the game main character drops down into the abyss and wakes up in "between" the worlds. Drangleic is not "a world", it's a prison, research fascility if you wish.

[@adradox]

@@jjcoola998 Most bosses in all dark souls games are forgettable to be completely honest.

[@gringomoderfoquer8287]

Ornstein makes the same scream Artorias did when charging up. Just wait for the dark jump attack. Its pretty low volume, but it can be heard. Just a small fun fact

[@silentnsalty]

That's because they are knights of the same order, there are 4 of them, the Giant that shoots Kalameet for you is also one of these knights, and the woman who appears in Artorias' arena after killing him.

[@FunkyFellaD]

Smelter Demon also has the same charge up sound as Artorias

[@STOPSYPHER]

I feel like we’re looking way too deeply into reused assets lmao

[@tristankendrick2582]

Old Dragonslayer is such an excellent and often dismissed boss fight

[@tacticalmattress]

​@@STOPSYPHERyup DS2 is just a ton of reused assets

[@Ayahuasca98]

Earthen peak being in Anor Londo is actually a reference to the video on KZbin called “happy souls”. it’s a joke on the iceberg I assume.

[@funforu8856]

Well, time to rewatch that

[@Er404ChannelNotFound]

MaatiMovie can always be trusted.

[@iainkilcar7463]

Now it may be hard to believe but we are actually standing in what was once anor londo

[@Mamon_Saleh]

@@iainkilcar7463 (gets smashed)

[@gmaster634]

Well to be fair aside from "happy souls" we do find the alter to the first born, its the same alter that we find in anor londo in ds 1 but its been a while since i played either so i might be wrong.

[@waltersullivan2727]

What I find interesting that many people don’t pick up on is that the old handmaid in DS3. Is wearing the exact same clothing as the old Firekeepers from DS2. DS3 item descriptions references Drangleic as a lost or old land but known for a legend of the Linking of the Fire. I suspect after Drangleic fell to time many of its inhabitants spread to other areas. As going off the twin spears description drang knights are said to be disbanded. Drakebloods at Archdragon Peak, a Faraam Knight located in Lothric, Pyromancer Zoey in the Dreg Heap, and Alva & Zullie in the Ringed City or Irithyll Dungeon, etc. I see no reason why the same couldn’t apply to a Firekeeper perhaps the fourth?

[@darkslayer1161]

It feels intentional sometimes when people skip over the handmaiden.

[@aockrewshi7480]

I think that the Old Dragonslayer is just a Silver Knight fanboy of Ornstein that left Anor Londo to find him (Ornstein left Anor Londo to find the nameless King) While on his journey, he succumbed to elements of the Abyss, which tinted his armor black and gave him the Dark Element to his attacks. This could also explain why the Old Dragonslayer is overall a weak/start of the game boss. Hes just a slightly beefed-up Silver Knight.

[@SalvageET]

I mean OG Ornstein is also pretty weak without Smough, he has a really small health pool and does average damage. He could be fought by himself instead of any other boss after the gargoyles and would still be a pretty easy fight.

[@DrooledOn]

Ok so what about his soul description? It’s literally just a nostalgia boss fight it’s not that deep

[@Exel3nce]

Its just cheap bs

[@Quirderph]

@@DrooledOn It says that he *resembles* Ornstein (which is obvious either way). It doesn't confirm whether or not it actually *is* him.

[@Godeias]

@@DrooledOn That's why DS2 sucks as a whole, it SHOULD be deeper than it is. In every other Souls game everything has a reason for being where they are, even the regular enemies. Everything has a purpose, and that's what makes these games what they are. DS2 just puts shit anywhere with no explanation and I honestly think that's what makes it the worst game of the Soulsbornekiro series.

[@guy77HD]

13:35 Ah yes, the famous dark souls character, the emerald hemerald

[@HexagonThatReallyLikesVinegar]

Embereld hemeralder

[@no_opinion1065]

Emberld Hrelard.

[@GuitarHeroKing55]

bear seek seek lest

[@magnuserror9305]

Pretty sure the giants in ds2 are a tree race, and in ds1 they are a mammalian race. 2 entirely dif races. Also confirmed emerald heralds cut content includes a child model. The game was originally all about time travel. The beginning cutscene takes place ages after the time you play. Your character falling into the water hole ends in you traveling to the past. Than from there you travel through time again and again. Drenglake castle in fact was meant to be apart of another time. Hence its stormy weather and emerald heralds voice change.

[@yuridapted7459]

drenglake?

[@NCeeJayM]

Danklake?

[@benclaypaper]

Drangleic

[@yurinoworry]

Dornglorc

[@TheMadGod]

Drinklake?

[@abyss9316]

Surprisingly when I got to play this game I had no idea about the hate it received until long after finishing it it is still a decent game albeit slightly different from the main formula that made Souls a household name What really got me was the change in graphics

[@dreadknight0]

I think is because internet just likes to push everything to the extremes, when people says dark souls is their worst souls , the people who liked it always acts like you are saying it is a shitty game when you only are saying that it was a good game but the least favourite of the souls games. And there are really good points in that regard depending on what aspect of the souls games you consider that make them better or not

[@taylorriccelli4062]

Same. I randomly bought it at a game store in 2016, and had never even heard of dark souls before. I just thought the cover of the game looked cool. I loved the game and then played DS1 later.

[@mickeyd8966]

There's some really cool features I wish caught on. Bonfire aesthetics, power stances, and build variety in general. First time I played it, I had areas I hated, but mostly enjoyed the experience.

[@VictorkillZ]

The game is decent, I would pair it on level with Demon souls, Dks1,Dks3 and Bloodborne being masterpieces really overshadowed it

[@endbfududb]

@@VictorkillZ DS3 is not masterpiece. It was all fan service.

[@omnibusprimephd7914]

It's great seeing DS2 videos because nobody seems to want to make them, and hardly ever mention DS2 in any soulsborne content. The other games have been talked about to death. We need more DS2 content!

[@kain361]

I personally think, that Lost sinner is a priestess of Eleum Loyce, as we know the chaos flame was discovered deep below their land, which could explain the presence of chaos bug.

[@homefront1999]

The Emerald Child has been knwon for awhile? There is actually some really nice videos going into the cut content of Dark Souls 2. One of them goes on to I believe show you the Child model even. DS2 was originally going to be centered around Time-Travel. Where you would meet the Emerald Herald throughout time. If I remember also. Snow was gonna be in the game also. That I believe had to do with the Emerald Herald. But it's been awhile.

[@ThelateDomC.]

Holy Jesus a Souls game around Time Travel would've been so goddamn cool man. Especially with the decaying world of Souls games.

[@idraigirtm]

It was my understanding too, that child herald is confirmed to have been part of the game at some point, cause there's a voice actress, cut content voicelines and concept art.

[@ӇЄӇӇЄ]

@@ThelateDomC. Theres still remnants of it. The Last Giant enraging at the sight of you is because they're the same Giant Lord that you fight in the Giant's memory, after you defeat the Giant Lord they're imprisoned. So when you fight The Last Giant at the beginning of the game, they recognise you before you've even met them as the reason they're imprisoned to begin with. So your meetings are flipped because of time travel.

[@keilaxbox615]

You are correct. She has been featured in many cut content videos and I have the art book from the DS2 collector's edition and there is baby Shanalotte artwork pictured.

[@nikorek1470]

*known

[@realkingofantarctica]

Since far less people talk extensively about Dark Souls II compared to the other games, there's more to learn about it which makes videos like this hold more intrigue.

[@Hunter1393B]

now that i think about it, the invisible hollows remind me of the invisible solider in majora's mask, i'll never stop drawing comparisons in zelda and souls games

[@EucliFox]

Yeah since there is probably no chance in hell Nintendo will ever make a realistic twilight princess style zelda game ever again I honestly wish Nintendo would let from software do there own take on a Zelda that’s not cannon or something but do it in their soulsbourne /sekiro style. I honestly think from software would make a better Zelda game at this point 😅

[@ramrodbldm9876]

Doesnt matter if you draw comparisons or not the only thing they have in relation is that they're both video games. Now m, you can stop there boy. Dont ever compare childish easy, 5 year old can beat it Zelda to dark souls.

[@Hunter1393B]

@@ramrodbldm9876 did you know that things bewtixt and dark root garden are quite similar to the lost woods in a sense that you can travel from there to any other place, even across dimensions?

[@taylorriccelli4062]

That would be the greatest game of all time

[@joshmay2944]

@@ramrodbldm9876 dude go back to middle school and leave comments to people that know what they’re talking about.

[@dillonqaphsiel7977]

The Lord vessel is broken because it's fragments are in bonfires. That's why you can travel from other bonfires from the start of the game

[@theone9132]

7:14 Yhorm probably was buried because it's hard for a pile of ashes to become a tree, and the message about a storm felling a greatwood is probably because boss placements were changed around

[@Guitar-Dog]

Yeah I thought the same thing, the greatwood is the cursed greatwood

[@lasthopelost9090]

What I like about dark souls is its deep history we will never get to see cause its lost the hands of time Dark Souls 1 is seeing the starting of the story and how the undead curse started, Dark Souls 2 is seeing a kingdom within the world centuries or millennia later and seeing how the undead curse spreads and Dark Souls 3 is seeing the ending of the world and forcing the world into the new era

[@isaacpotmesil1559]

Playing Dark Souls 2 got me through an entire heartbreak. It only took two playthroughs but dark souls 2 is definitely my favorite for that reason alone.

[@adventarchivist5789]

The only thing I could really hate about the game is some of the hut detection. But otherwise I adore this game to no end. It's like running around in an older edition of D&D. May be super hard at times, but some of the crazy weapons and upgrade can make you feel unstoppable at times.

[@travim4314]

I love DS2 and have probably spent most of my Dark Souls hours on it. I only hate the slow feeling controls. Just feels a little too heavy or something. The lore is most interesting to me and I actually like the worlds/levels quite a bit, even if they don't loop together like DS1. I've never really cared about that part.

[@NachozMan]

@@travim4314 You don't level ADP/Adaptability is why, level it and it'll feel fast like old souls again.

[@trutyatces8699]

You can only run in eight directions in D&D?

[@adventarchivist5789]

@@trutyatces8699 I mean... If you use a grid-based combat system, literally speaking. I was just referring to all the different and varried locations you go to. It all just reminds me of a big dungeon crawl.

[@Guitar-Dog]

@@trutyatces8699 you can only run in 8 in DaS2 tho 🤔 Maybe 16 but the analogue controls are whack there's only a set amount of points your character can move

[@Tuttifrutt8i]

The giants / golems in King's Field doesn't have faces, too. They look like Dark Souls giants. Also, if you kill Licia, you don't get sin points.

[@Cracked_Moon]

Nice to see ds2 get some love. I've always been enamored with the original concept of the game, wish we would've gotten it instead. Its nice people are still uncovering a few things from that past time

[@ostrichlord9097]

"Perhaps turning invisible is simply the next stage of hollowing..." Bruh my intelligence took 40 damage from that theory

[@theone9132]

Double that with "Perhaps the world is hollowing, and becoming invisible"

[@teedeepk]

It's just a theory. A FOOD THEORY

[@cultofdis]

I don't see why that's such a dumb theory. Explain please?

[@yikes6969]

Dang you're at like -60 intelligence now

[@genesisosuna]

@@cultofdis if you're invisible you're no longer existing... its more than just being dead. Being invisible also has nothing to do with hollowing. It is never stated anywhere

[@idraigirtm]

I think the old dragonslayer is actually Smough after an aeon of diet.

[@minecastlord]

Smough is actually in good shape. Its the armor that looks fat

[@idraigirtm]

@@minecastlord Well, the diet was after he got out of shape, because he let himself go. He realized that nobody would notice because of his armor and then ate too much until even his bulky armor wouldn't fit anymore. Then he started his diet and to prevent himself from falling back into bad habits, he switched his armor for Ornsteins old armor.

[@soulofcinder4748]

Smough is like all Caterina Knights. Their armor makes you think they may be fat underneath but they're not. They're actually in good shape and for lugging around such heavy armor, traveling the lands in it and even fighting in it with a Zweihander no less, you would have to be strong. Onion Knights are all in great shape and strong and Smough is no different. The armor looks fat but rather think of the amount of layers of armor it could have underneath if the person inside is actually in shape and not fat. It's not a thin layer of armor built to perfectly fit the person inside, rather its made to look that way and has thick layers of material for better defense, hence why both armors have some of the best defense stats

[@Ryan-gc3sd]

“Aeon of diet” lol

[@nap8187]

About the Yhorm and greatwood thing... It was mentioned in interviews that Yhorm was gonna be the tutorial boss originally and would have come out of the casket in the arena where Gundyr is. There's a sizeable tree there... Whstever 3am

[@The_Fat_Turtle]

You want an even deeper iceberg, how about that the audio for the waterfall near the Catacombs/The Depths in DS1 is used for the waterfall just outside the firekeepers cabin? I immediately recognized the weird mechanical sound loop I could hear low in the mix in both locations. The pitch has changed a little but the exact sequence of goofy noises is in both games. It is not used in any further areas or waterfalls that I know of.

[@shambleshef]

Huntsman's copse has that noise by the boss fog for skeleton lords

[@The_Fat_Turtle]

@@shambleshef Good to know, I’ll fire up the game later and go check it out.

[@ostrichlord9097]

"Hmmm yes,.... this water sounds like water🤔"

[@The_Fat_Turtle]

@@ostrichlord9097 There is a sequence of mechanical sounding tones that you can hear in the waterfall noise that is unmistakable as anything but the exact same sound file and only in a select few waterfalls in the game, not all of them. Sarcastic little bastard lol ;)

[@natiscool]

Wow, this is an interesting connection between the two! :O

[@SurfRock74]

I still don’t know how you can be so criminally underrated! Interesting and well edited videos about good topics as usual!

[@harlzdavarlz3964]

Heyyyy let’s go! Appreciate all your hard work for these videos man!

[@natiscool]

Thanks! Appreciate the comments, will definitely keep the videos coming 👀

[@DanateDMC]

Whoever made the "it's just a dream" theory. It's lame, it always is the lamest kind of theory, it's never shocking and always just boring.

[@mmcfeat]

Same goes for any theory suggesting Drangleic is the same location as Lordran.

[@silverraigirideviluke]

@@mmcfeat not really, the fact that the whole game is concerned with the never ending cycle of the flame makes it a rather robust theory that lordran was one of the many kingdoms that once stood in drangleics place.

[@WelcomeToDERPLAND]

@@silverraigirideviluke I'm pretty sure the lore makes it pretty obvious that Drangliec exists across the seas from Lordran, and that Vendrick invaded Lordran to steal the Lordvessel (which is broken in the basement of Majula, and the explanation to why we can teleport from the start of the game) Another implication that Drangliec is set on another continent to Lordran is Heide's tower of Flame, which drops hints to Gywn with it's massive statues that resemble Gywn + an animalistic head, and Ornsteinn's shade in the cathedral. Which implies this is the place that the family of Gywn escaped to and set up their new anor londo parrellel in their exile. Also, I think one of the devs of ds2 was asked this question of "is drangleic in the same palce as Lordran." and he gave the answer of something along the lines of "we wanted dark souls 2 and drangliec to represent an expansion of the world and show that there are many different lands in the universe that souls games take place." not to mention the great amount of item descriptions that describe faraway lands like Forossa, Jugo, Lanafir, Varangians ect.

[@silverraigirideviluke]

@@WelcomeToDERPLAND the lore doesn NOT make anything obvious, it just implies and you can build theories upon these implications and the quality of a theory depends on how many implications fit within it. the theory that drangleic sits on lordrans former site is a very solid one, as the game revolves around cycles, talks about a lot of former kingdoms, has the four souls of the great ones, a possibly modified kiln of the first flame and many more. the idea that drangleic is on another continent has way less going for it, even most of the things you mentioned are just implications interpreted in the favor of your theory, instead of taken at face value. Vendrick stole the lrodvessel? why should the giants care and even start a war over it? it was never them that used it, it was the gods, a gigantic race that are definitely not giants. and if it was an oh so precious item, why is it destroyed and why is it in majula, instead of drangleic castle or aldias keep? why should the gods have fled to heides tower of flame, instead of it always having been their home? what about exactly indicates it being a refuge? the only thing that cant be interpreted differently is the interview, but that has its own problems. when was it made? before or after the director change, with which came massive changes to the games lore? did they just "want" to represent that, or did they actually pull through? how well did they do, if they actually went to achieve that? of course none of that is proof that your theory is wrong, but it makes it far more flimsy than many others out there.

[@WelcomeToDERPLAND]

@@silverraigirideviluke "Why is it broken in majula?" - It's implied that the Mansion in Majula belonged to Aldia, and Aldia, being the brother of the king and the mad scientist most likely ran many expirements on it to extract its powers, which resulted in it being broken. This also explains how Vendrick/Aldia were able to create their own kiln equivelant under the keep. It doesnt matter that we never saw the Giants use the Lordvessel either, since just because it was created by the gods or previously owned by them, our undead human character in ds1 upon acquiring it can use it with no problems, this means giants could have easily used it after him, and anyone who owned such an item would treasure it as a precious tool indeed, as not only does it bestow the wielder the ability to teleport it's integral to the process of linking the fire and thus restarting the cycle of the world. This is most likely what Vendrick 'stole' from the giants, which Aldia then expiremented on to extract its powers and infuse it into the Throne of want, in the process breaking it in his mansion. "Why should the gods have fled to the tower of flame?" - In dark souls 1 we are told that the Gods fled Anor Londo when the age of fire began to fade after Gywn left to link it. This is why Gywnavere is revealed to be an Illusion, as she along with her husband Flann escaped to a faraway land that we never learn about. Now, Gywnavere's husband Flann, is the god of Flame and this could link him to the tower of flame in ds2. Not to mention the striking resemblence between Anor Londo and Heide's architecture but if that isn't enough how about literal statues of Gywn? - imgur.com/a/6Q2dFXo and finally the last connection being of course, Ornstein, whom was charged to guard Gywn's family while he left to link the flame, which is why he's defending Gywnavere's illusion in ds1. Now, in ds2 he's in Heide guarding the cathedral of heide, now explain to me why Ornstein's abyssal shade would be defending some random cathedral with absolutely no connection to his past and the gods whatsoever? It just makes sense that he either clawed his way out of the abyss of death, or was resurrected and found his way to wherever the gods escaped to, which would imply Heide's tower of flame.

[@LovelessDogg1]

Yeah. Bloodborne has two voice actors credited for Laurence as well. When Bloodletting Beast was more obviously just the beast form of Laurence, his boss fight had two phases and some dialogue that was cut. It’s incredibly rare but, you can get it to activate at random, but since the audio was deleted, it just plays dialogue from Patches instead. A lot of stuff regarding cut content and little known things is not only found on Sana’s channel but you can also check out SinclairLore’s channel. They talk about all sorts of things like the stuff on this iceberg. It’s pretty insightful.

[@brogamin179]

Dont forget zulliethewitch one of the legends in the community

[@e_xandr10]

quite surprised this channel doesn't have hundreds of thousands of subscribers

[@adindrecaj]

it may be the most flawed Souls game, but its the most passionate and forward thinking one, and the one ive replayed the most.

[@Patches_Gaming]

Oh so that's why I wasn't invaded by Licia...killed her really early for her chime.

[@ShadaOfAllThings]

Concept: Since magic in Dark Souls works off your ability to Logic of Faith your way into believing whatever enough to get your soul to do the rest, these invisible hollows are simply hollows who sat down and tried very, very hard for however long it took to not be seen. And since they still have some fragment of souls enough to do this, they also cast a shadow, because that's just kinda how souls work in most cultures.

[@MisterTTG]

There's another part of Licia you missed: you can invade her world with the crushed eye orb later on, and she drops the act, revealing herself to be a killer

[@genesisosuna]

Pretty sure that the "child" version of the emerald herald is the one on dragon aerie. She sounds younger there and is noticeably shorter than the player, which is weird as that's not the case anywhere else in the game

[@TheAquarius87]

My appreciation for ds2 keeps growing, even though it used to be my least favorite of the series Love Lore video's like this!

[@Guitar-Dog]

It's really fun to do multiple runs on. Powerstancing elemental damage raising with Int (means a spell sword class is easy to make without sitting with a wiki to remember where all the spells are) I hated DS2 at launch but it's probably my favorite now

[@hombreg1]

@@Guitar-Dog hope you're enjoying your power stance in elden ring. For me, DS1 was a cathartic experience. I loved the setting, the lore, the oppressive yet mysterious and inviting nature of its world building and maps. DS2 was the inverse of DS1's map design. I didn't like it at first, but I came to enjoy each long route being its own thematic thing. Lore got crazier and more interesting too. All in all, its probably the DS game I've spent the most time on. Even DS3 failed in that regard, since I'd drop it soon after beating it. Elden Ring, however, feels like the epitome of the DS Formula. I went in blind... And the game jus keeps going. I'm glad it took some things from all the previous games. Even the underrated DS2

[@Sohelanthropus]

@@hombreg1 DS1 only has world design going for it, and after a while it gets annoying rather than interesting DS2 is better in every way in my opinion

[@kotzer71]

@@Sohelanthropus pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

[@SimonRobeyns]

@@Sohelanthropus nah mate, DS1 was an experience. Every NPC i met in DS2 i felt like cringing. The world building was nowhere to be found compared to DS1.

[@juanrojas2595]

I never noticed the invisible hollows until this video, I jumped into the game and looked around for a bit with an old character and I found one within a few minutes. So creepy how I'd never ever noticed em hiding around the map.

[@tudeslildude]

People always talk about everyone being a reincarnation(or souls being passed on), but I feel like they miss a key element, the player. Mini iceberg Level 1 The 4 daughters of Manus, each had a king they attached to no? Why couldn't these kings be the reincarnation of each of the four kings from dark souls 1? These kings succumbed to darkness in DS1, so it would make sense the darkness would be attracted to them so much in their reincarnations. Level 2 Vendrick was not like the other four kings, as he did not follow the will of his daughter of darkness. He instead went against the grain to try and draw out the age, to prevent darkness from spreading. Sound like anyone in particular? Vendrick is actually the reincarnation of Gwyn, who being cursed through his original linking of the fire. He became an undead human, the thing he most feared, and was later consumed by the curse he created and became hollow. This would also help to explain why the other 3 kings became so strong, but Vendrick was still the strongest. Each of the four kings has only a sliver of Gwyyns soul, compared to Gwyn himself. Level 3 If Vendrick is Gwyn, who is the fourth King? This falls back into other peoples theories, but essentially, The emerald herald is indeed a 5th shard of darkness (though this one artificially either created or mutated by Aldia). This would by turn, make the players character the reincarnation of the Fourth king. This may also explain why a certain someone 'senses the dark within you', beyond just the simple fact you are human and there in possess part of the dark soul.

[@Astar72439]

I just played through DS2 for the first time and despite its shortcomings, I thought it was really fun. And the DLCs are phenomenal.

[@billedefoudre]

For the pursuers : i think they actually look more like a true player than the one we play. What the main character is about ? Many weapons in the bag at hands reach, able to withstand multiple massive weapon strikes, strength multiplied X times during their evolution, redeye-ing/aggroing all enemies, able to dodge most attack with skill and elegance, unbreakable shield, etc.. Who "looks the part" better ? Our frail avatar wearing a single weapon in hand and rags.. or a massive plated pursuer, truly ?

[@Er404ChannelNotFound]

What's more interesting to me regarding the Black Knight Greatsword in DS2 is that it's now called the Black Knight Ultra Greatsword. Whereas DS1's Black Knight Sword is now called the Black Knight Greatsword. This conveys that the originally inhumanely strong Black Knights and their large yet nimble stature were forgotten with time and now people just assume those swords were made for humans to wield and thus it was forgotten how the two weapons were meant to be a straight sword and a greataword so they defaulted to the new assumption.

[@vidaistvan1418]

That is mostly for clarity I think, Greatswords and Ultra-Greatswords are separate weapon categories, Black Knight Sword in ds1 counted as a greatsword, and BKGS counted as a UGS

[@Er404ChannelNotFound]

@@vidaistvan1418 My point is that the weapons were named originally with the black knights and their own capabilities in mind. Having only the human scale of reference in mind, the people in the far future of DS2 assumed that those weapons were used by humans and they were a greatsword and an ultragreatsword respectively. So yes while it is accurate to the weapon categories that humans deal with, it isn't accurate to those of the black knights.

[@Darkko88]

@@Er404ChannelNotFound But that makes no sense, when you pick up weapons from giant enemies in DS2 they are all called "great this" and "ultra great that". I think that they made an oversight in DS1 and they should have named those weapons ultra and greatsword (the way they are categorized in game) and in DS2 the developers just fixed that mistake.

[@why_4]

I will never understand the hate towards ds2 after all its still part of the story and still very unforgiving

[@filipmajewski8382]

What do you mean

[@filipmajewski8382]

@J.C. Denton Oh sorry, my comment was directed at the OP, not you. At the time of writing mine, yours didn't show up yet on my screen. I'm personally just baffled at the expression that DS2 is "still very unforgiving" idk what the hell that's supposed to mean

[@why_4]

@J.C. Denton Hehe to answer both your questions DS 2 is still part of the dark souls universe it still contains lore and mystery like DS 1 and in some way connected to it when I said unforgiving it still is hard and punishing like DS 1 upon death and with bad hit boxes it just amps up the frustration level

[@why_4]

@@filipmajewski8382 Hehe to answer both your questions DS 2 is still part of the dark souls universe it still contains lore and mystery like DS 1 and in some way connected to it when I said unforgiving it still is hard and punishing like DS 1 upon death and with bad hit boxes it just amps up the frustration level

[@filipmajewski8382]

@@why_4 No, as a matter of fact DS2 makes an effort to completely shit on the original lore. The team that made DS2 basically lifter their middle finger and told DS1 to go fuck itself. This could've turned out both ways but ended up in a rather poor attempt at storytelling. Difficulty never was the forefront design of the Soul series, Miyazaki, you know, THE CREATOR of the series makes a huge point about this. The difficulty is there to cement the fact that these worlds are extremely harsh to inhibit. Overcoming the challange is what's important here. This is evident in DS2, because the creators of that game misunderstood what made DeS and DS1 special and just made the game as hard as possible, turning it into an absolute chore. This is ridiculous and your opinion on this is frankly pathetic if you truly believe Dark Souls is good because it's hard

[@RooBoodle]

I always thought it was odd that people think the old dragon slayer is ornstien. Gwyn literally had a whole military of dragon slayers, ornstien was definitely high ranking and led groups, but I always thought his armor, spear, and lightning usage was what Gwyn and his son decided their dragon slaying military would use. Look at all the black knights, they have awesome armor too that all match and were appointed to fight the demons when they were created. Why wouldn't we have normal dragon slayer armour as well as ornstiens special dragon slayer armor? I always assumed it's because ornstien was only special in skill and not his outfit. Similarly the dragon slayer set in ds3 after the fight with Gwyns firstborn was probably just another normal dragon slayer and not ornstien himself

[@PriyadarsheePDash]

Black Knights are not an exclusively formed group. They are the remnants of the silver knights who survived the war against demons but their armour's were charred black by the chaos flame.

[@mr.mischiefiknowyourpasswo8224]

No it's not "The persuer" it's a translation quirk they are actually called "Undead hunters" if you translate it from Japanese. Yes it's a profession as you said, but it's easy to just see that yourself.

[@mckaygoodman6514]

I just love that the theory states that the earthen peak is anor londo, just to then present only evidence for the iron keep, and completely ignore the earthen peak. It's perfect, an undebatable theory of absolute truth, no question.

[@hb-robo]

The invisible bodies are one of those things I don’t even mentally process as part of the world. They are so jarring and catered to player rewards that I can’t take them seriously as anything but a weird collectable put in by a team that wanted more reasons to poke around the shallow environments.

[@colinsuttles5052]

Awesome video man! What about finding the dragonslayer armor in ds3 after the nameless king?

[@natiscool]

Thanks Colin. Great point, I mentioned this in my original Dark Souls Iceberg video relating to the theory that the Ornstein in DS1 is an illusion. If the Dragonslayer armour was indeed also Ornstein, then it would suggest that the Dark Souls 2 boss is less likely to be Ornstein assuming that dark souls 3 happened after dark souls 2. Might be a good theory to tie up in the eventual DS3 video!

[@ajanininja]

HOLY SHIT i never knew there were invisible hollows in the game, i’ve played the game a thousand times and never found them

[@KonStafylides]

Just starting the vid but I just wanna say I ADORE the fact that this even exists. DS2 is by far my favorite in the series and this just makes me ecstatic After watching, you did drag a few things a tad too far and/or give merit to really REALLY dumb theories but overall it was pretty great. Just some more fact checking needed I think

[@EdenHellCipher]

Your Iceberg videos are better than most! I learned a lot of theories I’d never heard before. You’ve made it to my “Best Dark Souls Theories” list. Thanks!

[@SonnyBJP]

I loved your dark souls 1 iceberg videos. You have the perfect voice for these videos also. They help me relax when I’m in bed watching them. Big fan 🙏🏻

[@VaryaTheVillain]

28:10 "if she indeed wanted to bring back the age of fire, I don't think she'd want to punish herself"... I mean, one could argue that someone being manipulated would be repentant against the mistakes of their past, especially if it means containing the manipulator with them. consider the fact that you, as described in the video, literally see a chaos bug, the same one in design that is under the bed of Chaos, but smaller, claw its way back into Lost Sinner's mask and make her aggressive towards the intruder, Bearer of the Curse... like, it's *there* ! whoever Lost Sinner is, she COULD be repenting for being manipulated by the old soul and hurting people around her, even if it doesn't relate to the Four Firekeepers discussion. good video, thank you for it 💛

[@JoeBloggs42069]

This might be such a weird thing to get happy about, but I so rarely hear people pronounce Heide's correctly that it made me really happy that you do!

[@Tr4sh1nP3ace]

Just for your information, I don’t know if it may be relevant at all, “Heide” in German can also translate to “someone without religion”, or more specifically, “someone who isn’t of Christian religion”

[@Arokuara]

I feel like the world of Darksouls (1-3) could be the afterlife or some sort of dimension, dream, or realm. The first cutscene almost implies a normal world outside of Drangleic and that once someone gets the curse they go mad. They start to lose a sense of self, forgetting their loved ones as their memory of them melts away like in the initial custscene, and like all whom are cursed they end up eventually finding themselves at Drangleic or whatever empire exists there. Because it is also stated that many kingdoms rose and fell in that spot just that Drangleic was the last to have done so during ds2's timeline anyway. Why they end up there could be the draw from powerful souls as it seems those who are cursed must consume souls or turn hollow. Or the curse directs them there on purpose possibly even created by the flame (implying it's a conscious entity) or someone so that the flame can be tended to or to even feed it with souls to keep the flame burning and "alive" I don't think it is ever said why the curse exists or how one contracts it. Implying that there are those who aren't cursed somewhere just not probably in the kingdoms of darksouls that even the fire keeper's are cursed. Why the one in ds2 willingly levels you up as you feed her souls. As the cursed need souls to keep from hollowing. It could also be that the fire keepers goal is to groom the next one to tend the flame so that they can retire and stop being a slave to the flame once again implying the flame is a sentient being actually pulling the strings.

[@Heavy_Burst]

My first time ever playing dark souls 2 I got the same feeling from the first cut scene. The whole game to me felt like a dream or a distant land. And that there was a normal world outside this dream or land not affected by the curse. I played dark souls remastered before ds2 and the game kept giving me a vibe that felt like a nightmare or a dream that the player is stuck in after falling through the whirlpool in the first cut scene. Ds1 didn't seem to give me that feel. I also noticed other comments stating the game gave the same feeling but yours is almost spot on to my first impressions i got.

[@SaturNo_O017]

5:55 "hi mom, I'm on KZbin"

[@spyrotikus]

My favorite bit of lore is when Shanalotte says bear seek seek lest

[@IIiiiLiiOiiIii]

Cant wait for DS3 Iceberg, THIS CONTENT IS AMAZING

[@nibiru2x410]

Ds2 lore can be summed up with "we never thought we would be making a third so we just made something similar without the original team".

[@chiefbeegee5860]

Ds2 was the first one I played. I actually like that it is so distinct from DS1/3. It has a lot of its own little quirks that I really appreciate, like the challenge rings, power stancing, and pharros lock stone doors. When put into the souls trilogy, DS2 feels really disconnected and weird. On its own though, it feels like a complete game tied up in a neat little package. Therefore, in my own head canon, DS2 is a completely separate IP from DS1/3. Plus I know pretty much all the developer made secret stuff in DS1/3. I didn’t even know invisible hollows existed until I saw this video!

[@kelvinsantiago7061]

I've been looking forward to this!. Also has anyone ever thought of Yhorm and the Nameless king having ever met, think about it Maybe Yhorm fought the Nameless king and was bested by its storm powers but instead of killing the giant, the Nameless king was reminded of Gough the giant one of his father's trusted knight and choose to spare Yhorm and befriend him then as a symbol of good will have Yhorm 2 weapons infused with the power of the Storm.

[@venommoe7029]

Amazing quality, great video, please make more

[@darksun7263]

I love your Dark Souls vídeos!Thank you!I have Just watched the Dark Souls 1 iceberg, i was really happy to see that u uploaded the dks 2 iceberg today!

[@natiscool]

Glad you enjoyed Darksun! Dark Souls 3 will come , there'll be a few more videos in between though!

[@doctorEeeviI]

I liked how in the section about the emerald herald, you kept calling her the "emerald hemrald"

[@mystuhree8827]

So excited for this one! Just started replaying it!

[@GmanTheTank]

Bro, you're making me want to play DS2 again haha

[@oce1989]

The game broke my heart. I can appreciate it for what it is now but when you come from demons and dark souls and then 5 hours into DS2 it just hits you. Never been so disappointed with a sequel.

[@jonathan1427]

This is much more interesting and satisfying than my impression that it was all just reusing assets and kitbashing while getting Bloodborne done.

[@MKsukkiiMiso]

I’m surprised that there’s no “LGK was created from Sir Syan’s soul” in the chart.

[@william1082]

This is what ive been waiting for

[@keno9636]

Honestly I really loved this one, gonna watch your other ones later! I really like that you explain it more simplified for those who don't know some stuff, and you keep it entertaining c: Keep it up!

[@core-nix1885]

My pet theory: The 4 primal bonfires are remnants/recreations of the 4 "pre-kindled" fire keeper bonfires in DS1 (anastasia at firelink, fair lady at demon ruins, darkmoon knightess at anor londo, stone dragon at ash lake [the dragon is a fire keeper]). The ash lake firekeeper-dragon is what Aldia based his dragon upon.

[@hamzamuhammadkhan]

Good to see the progress man watched you first time on twitch in DS1 when fighting the bed of chaos and getting beat up badly xD

[@natiscool]

Haha I remember you Hamza! Good times, twitch is just being dormant for now, will make a comeback one day.

[@hamzamuhammadkhan]

@@natiscool ayyy bro you remember ❤️ ... Same man twitch is dormant for me too

[@thekinggamer2950]

I think this games is a master piece and really has some cool interesting lore all on its own and expands on existing lore fairly well imo great game

[@hairlessgrizzly559]

What I think happened to the Giants' faces was that they went hollow. The face hole kinda seems like obvious evidence for this, but the fact that DS2's story centers around hollowing, so it makes sense for the Giants, a prominent group in the story, to suffer from the affliction that the story centers around

[@mageshmac4716]

Just bcoz face is hollow doesn't mean they became hollow.. Was the face always hollow or became hollow ? We are not sure.. could be a different type of giants

[@TheNickofTime]

13:35: ‘emerald hemerald’ replay button

[@zangashtu5786]

13:34 She will now be forever named The Emerald Hemerald

[@Save_Frog]

Please keep making these! I’d love to see more.

[@Bee-N64]

Absolutely excellent video! I haven't played DS2, and this cleared up a tonne of things I kept seeing talked about in the community.

[@joshmay2944]

If you’re a Souls fan you owe it to yourself to play! It’s an amazing game.

[@SHDW-nf2ki]

Shanalot as a child of Manus makes a lot of sense but I think the fact that she levels the player up is a huge hole in the theory all the other fragments stole people's strength and corupted their purpose while Shanalot guides us to this world's version of linking the flame, the only way to cure the curse even if only temporarily.

[@AngelofGrace96]

I don't understand the dark souls lore much at all, but I still very much enjoyed watching this. Keep up the great work!

[@dreadknight0]

I guess the iceberg of Dark souls 2 was made long time ago? how someone can discuss on wich place of dark souls 2 is anor Londo when you see it in dark souls 3

[@GMECRTL]

I love Dark Souls 2. My favourite game in the series by far. So much build diversity and I loved the environments.

[@noxartorias6553]

I like how ds2 solidifies the fact that the way of the world CANNOT be changed, we find a “cure” for the hollow curse however it’s only a temporary cure as all things eventually succumb to darkness, this is the way of the world and the very thing Aldia realized, he did everything in his power to change their fates but realized there is nothing but the way of the world, no matter how long they fight it the dark will come. Absolutely perfect as the middle part of the series as ds1 dealt with the start of the cycle and ds3 showing us the very end of all cycles. Ds2 shows us everything inbetween, just one of the many cycles that have taken place in this cursed land. You can talk about gameplay and level design all you want but you cannot deny ds2 has undoubtably the best and most creatively unique story in the souls series.

[@BasicLSD]

real nice video bro! Love mee some dark souls whoooo!

[@billybyrns2557]

Idk if you noticed by now, but @17:50, you include images of the Black Knight “Greatsword” in DS1 (which is a Greatsword for the Black Knights, but an Ultra Greatsword for us) and the Black Knight Greatsword in DS2 (Which is based upon the Black Knight “Sword” in DS1, with the only differences being its crossguard has been swapped out, and it’s decently longer than it used to be- but otherwise, appearing to be almost the exact same model.) Which, is in stark contrast to the other Black Knight Weapons- namely, the Black Knight Ultra Greatsword in DS2, which has the same model in DS1. Just figured I’d put this. It’s curious why they butchered the DS2 Black Knight (Great)Sword; perhaps to alter them for the new fighting style of its soldiers, who were unfamiliar with the odd crossguards of old? Beats me, but I sure wasn’t happy about it, haha.

[@NaskaRudd]

The strange thing is I SWEAR that way back in 2015 or something when I played Dark Souls 2 on the Xbox 360, that message was there on the back of the pillar. The one about the giants returning home across the sea. It's so weird, it's entirely possible I'm totally wrong, but it felt so extremely familiar in a way?

[@brogamin179]

It used to be how to access the dlc

[@brogamin179]

Otherwise it showed nothing

[@Classysassy12]

well there is a quest where u kill lucia for being the usper

[@Sunflower41XD]

Great video! Dark Souls 2 2 iceberg next please!

[@awkwardllama0509]

I almost always roll my eyes at "it was all a dream" theories. It's such a cop-out imo.

[@TheFloodFourm]

Idk who you’re parroting but you clearly misunderstand 1) why “it was just a dream” CAN be a cop out 2) how far DS2 goes in places to convey dream like phenomena

[@manni17b]

The entire time I played DS2 the first time, I kept being reminded of the 2nd Zelda on the NES.

[@stickofbutter4144]

It’s amazing how a game with such a troubled making is the best in its trilogy!

[@ghostoflazlo]

Next up bb? Great vid as usual man

[@natiscool]

I do like mysteries so maybe I'll reply with one: The next iceberg will be like going down a rabbit hole.

[@ghostoflazlo]

@@natiscool ooohh... I´m intruiged

[@TheAlex010]

if you do another one of these, you should make the health bar show up for longer

[@trustytrest]

Here's a deep iceberg fact for ya. The laughing you hear from the cursed pots in Shaded Ruins is reused laughter from dummied-out enemies from the cut Northern Limit area in Demon's Souls.