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

So, I finally played Dark Souls 2... and it just confirms everything that I have said up until this point. Not only that, it explains some other things... like why the Bed of Chaos or Aldia can be comprised of sticks and branches while continuously being on fire... and never turning to ash. It all has to do with alchemy and the ancient dragons.
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"World Soul" Video: • The Hidden Secrets of ...
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#darksouls
#fromsoftware
#bloodborne

[@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.

[@toojungtodie1898]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@AlexOsha]

I'm not sure those hollows are exactly turning into trees in DS3 - they look awfully like the pilgrim butterflies that fly aloft in the sky of Lothric castle...

[@Mannnnnnnn]

Your vids r so good bruh

[@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!

[@The1RedRooster]

Now compare the *Player* character too Wjolnir in DS3, if you beat DS2.

[@ahmed4397]

.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@Rockmih]

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

[@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.

[@thescatologistcopromancer3936]

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

[@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.

[@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?

[@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.

[@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.

[@yuviT]

So, when are you playing Demon's Souls?

[@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

[@Kurai_69420]

The salt is represented by the casuls who never got gud

[@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.

[@melkerhogborg9856]

Hard time linking salt? Just look at the hollows, devoid of both mind and spirit. They look like beef jerky, aka salted meat ^_^

[@aoneko6813]

Haha. True.

[@rexhex3700]

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

[@viktor_v-ughnda_vaudville_476]

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

[@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 😅

[@damadatura]

Max: uploads a dark souls video Me: insta like

[@cooldude1565]

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

[@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! :)

[@SmokeKage]

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

[@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.

[@tec-null2050]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@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'.

[@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

[@simon870909]

Having a hard time linking salt to Dark Souls! Hehe

[@thescatologistcopromancer3936]

Don't forget Salt and Sanctuary!

[@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.

[@ThatFont]

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

[@guttgrinder1626]

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

[@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!

[@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.

[@theastrovert]

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

[@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

[@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. :)

[@Nikp117]

Unapologetic Dark Souls 2 elitist here

[@malarkeyhippie3215]

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

[@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

[@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.

[@Gman1991]

Fantastic

[@KyleCzHall]

Nailed it.

[@silent_stalker3687]

Salt= Seeth/crystals Suffer: Chaos witches and demons Mercury= possibly Seeth but no eyes to project. It’s possibly Neo a resting mind (resting in death apparently) and his counted part a ununioned mind the four kings trapped, and ceaseless. Both Seeth and the bed of chaos are trapped, and ceaseless. One blind by her body, and the other bound by his blindness. Lord Gwyn is the embodiment of these two but never given rest even in death Spoilers He is the final boss of dark souls 3, along with your own characters should they sacrifice.

[@forts1251]

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

[@gustavosantos106]

I'm the Like #51 :D

[@callmefeatured]

You mentioned that you had some difficulty with trying to add Salt into the mix for Body. This might not be super insightful or even right but I started thinking if Salt=Body and the body dies(multiple times) then what would Salt be used for on a corpse? I started thinking of Ancient Egyptians and realized, Mummification. Salt the corpse, dry it out, mummify, bury; but there's no proper burial process for Hollows is there? So their dried out, hollow bodies are cursed to roam endlessly, losing their minds/spirit the further they drift from humanity and reality. Like I said I could be totally wrong but I think it follows the Salt=Body theme of the 3 Primes.

[@tabhabbish6336]

Max. You the champ.

[@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!

[@ManEaterBrainBug]

Didn't Aldia turn out to be immortal? In the final battle against him, if you defeat him, he is the only creature in all of Dark Souls that doesn't drop you a soul. Miyazaki described the everlasting dragons in an interview, half living, half elemental. Aldia took the form of a tree or wood-creature wich would fit this description of a being that is "elemental". So, my understanding is that Aldia removed his souls somehow and turned himself into a half living, elemental creature not unlike the Ancient Dragons rendering him as immortal.

[@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! (^-^)

[@kaiguynicky7317]

The problem with people saying "Dark Souls 2 is bad and should be skipped" is that majority of them are just parroting what they heard/read instead of playing the game then judging it. IMHO DS2 has the best combat in all 3 Souls games with it's power stance, shield buffering sprint, vast weapon types and has a better possible plot twist in the story, sadly the story DS2 built was completely discarded on DS3.

[@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.

[@Znewts]

Bruh, Dark Souls is salt incarnate Get pushed off a cliff in Tomb of the giants by a Skelebear? You're salty bro Disconnect when you run out of estus when fighting an invader who's pushing your shit in? Pure salt Walking up the one arch to get into the rafters of the Painting Cathedral in Anor Londo, but the camera bonks on the one pillar and you fall to your death and lose 80,000 souls? You know the one. Absolute fucking salt

[@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.

[@jokerzwild00]

Hey, if you ever get around to Demon's Souls you should try to play the ps3 version if you have access to that console. The ps5 remake is beautiful but they made some serious changes to Fromsoft's visual design. Some of these changes even impact lore in slight ways. Even though the original is technically inferior, the design is much, much better. One look at the Fat Official should tell you everything you need to know. Honestly if your pc is halfway decent you should be able to emulate it on rpcs3 at a much better framerate and resolution than on original hardware, but I know for your videos you'd probably have to use ps3 footage. Gameplay is identical in either version but only the original has all those mysterious touches that are the reason why we love From games. Bluepoint took way too many liberties, probably not realizing how much small details matter to the lore in these games.

[@xBinyWolf]

Just 1 correction: eternal dragons don't have souls that's why they were immutable and immortal, indeed no original dragon drops his soul khalameet doesn't, sinh and midir developed one just by consuming other souls/consuming darkness and seath has a fragment of the first soul given to it by gwin that's why drakeblood knight were focused on dragon's blood and not their souls. Aldia and vendrick managed to cure hollowing with the crowns but only 1 is cured and is the new king(our ds2 character) that's why vendrick became depressed and aldia went literally crazy about the first sin.

[@Banana-senpai]

I find your dark souls videos really compelling, but I always feel there's some things missing or that don't match some details in my mind. For example, as far as I know, you are ignoring some places' visual narrative. I can accept the symbolism of the trees conjoining light and dark, the land and the lake (also there are direct mentions of an age of the deep dark ocean in DS3), and I can accept the archtrees have connection with many mythical and symbolic trees in history; but I think it's only that, an inspiration. It is not a place between worlds, nor the trees represent or connect to different ones. You can see ash lake from the tomb of the giants, its stone cliffs reaching all the way down to the water. You visit a different part in DS3 again, with shallower water and scorching trees right next to a demon catacomb, which in fact matches DS1's visual clues from the tomb of giants. For what we know it could simply mean that there's a great part of the world resting on the branches of the old "dead" archtrees, creating enormous caves beneath. Without the fog and water that's what we see in DS3, and what we can infer from DS1. Symbolism can only go so far, and when you try to explain some aspects of the game with it or derive definitive significance, I think it falls apart sometimes.

[@MorroTreece]

I really hated Dark souls 2 originally...but after enduring the first few areas and figuring out how adaptability works it's probably my favorite of the 3 games.

[@dankswag7860]

Love ya Max

[@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.

[@Ton-uy1xd]

Scholar of the First Sin elevates DS2 above DS1 imo. Bloodborne is right up there with DS3 and Kingfield 2.

[@EmoEmu]

Maybe the salt is a reference to the Christian/Jewish "Salt Of The Earth"? Also strikes me that the three can poison (corrupt?) if too much is injested.

[@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.

[@CrashBandicootFan100]

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

[@vde1846]

DS II is very interesting, but clunky and unrefined. I would really like to see a remake of it where the change things around and work to implement the original ideas better, though I very much doubt we'll get one.

[@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

[@expeditoneto4748]

make more souls related videos!

[@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.

[@warrior-wm8vb]

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

[@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.

[@Kr10n1]

There's actually no support in lore for claim that dragons had souls. If anything it could be reasoned that they couldn't have had them because souls started with 4 great souls.

[@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

[@TheLastVillain]

salt can easily be linked to dark souls and that would be obvious if you had any experience with its pvp, casul

[@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.

[@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.

[@kallumhunter3280]

So the videos you've been doing on the soulsbourne series are all really good, I disagree with a few of your conclusions but the speculation behind them are just as compelling as the ones I do agree with However in this video you state that "the undead curse is linked to the fading of the first flame" as factual is that statement technically is on words alone, the undead curse is a creation of lord gwyn to try to keep humanity from ushering in the age of dark, it doesn't detract from the overarching ideas presented in this video I feel you may start to put your foot in your mouth lore wise if you aren't actually clear on what the undead curse is as it is a core part of most lore within the games In my personal opinion the linking of the fire slowly brings the world of darksouls back toward a new age of acients because the longer the world goes without an age of dark the less the light can be distinguished from the dark "There can be no light without dark"

[@GallarnHorde]

Sir, Could we get a longer version? Would appreciate it greatly. Sincerely The world soul

[@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.

[@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

[@xanderdaniels8284]

Normalize recognizing that Dark Souls 2 is the worst souls game but that it’s still not a bad game.

[@Anders010]

Of the Souls trilogy Dark Souls 2 has: Best pvp Best armors Best lore

[@loganthinkshecan]

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

[@BLIVEit]

Please, more dark souls videos/souls born

[@maxderrat]

Expect a video on a Souls-like game later this week. ;)

[@BLIVEit]

@@maxderrat Wow man thank you for replying and giving a heads up!

[@kaandarc1437]

How do you interpret ds3 ending that we steal flame ?

[@kamantariq2513]

The full hollow in all three games looks like mummies. They are all dried up as if by bathed in salt.

[@Eldagusto]

Everlasting Dragons are not supposed to possess souls, they are neither living or dead and within their bones is their animating essence the closes equivalent to a living soul

[@davestevens2908]

Having a hard time finding salt in dark souls? Do the pvp 🤣🤣