Dark Souls 2's Lore: Questioned!

[@pieoverlord]

I always figured the reason you could fight Nashandra over and over was because, so long as you're not hollow, she physically can't take your stuff - notably the Giant's Kinship. So she needs to keep killing you until you give up and become another lootable corpse.

[@nathaneskin3572]

My problem with Nashandra is this: If she isn't able to fight her way to Vendrick herself, why does she think the player can? And if she thinks the player can and she can't, why does she also think she can beat the player at the end? That doesn't seem like a smart plan. Obviously if the player can kill all the lords and make their way to Vendrick, and Nashandra can't, then it stands to reason the player is stronger than her, so why does she think she can beat the player in a fight right at the end? Is she just lazy?

[@nathaneskin3572]

Like if she thinks she can beat the player character, why didn't she just go fight her way to Vendrick on her own?

[@zippo504]

+Nathan Eskin Think about how Nashandra fights us. Those founts of curse accelerate your hollowing, as if they drain your humanity. Why is Vendrick so Hollow when we fight him? Maybe Nashandra DID attack Vendrick which is why he fled, and then he was already pretty hollowed when he sealed his soul away. Putting the last of his strength away like that would leave him as hollowed as one gets, just like we see in the crypt. Even hollowed Vendrick is capable of some serious damage. We have to obtain 4-5 Giants' Souls just to do real damage to him. I don't think Nashandra would win a fight with Vendrick. Not without bypassing all the mechanics Vendrick put into play just to keep her out, which is why it appears to have worked. Nashandra has to wait until we bypass all the locks so to speak, then hollow us til we become just like every soul-bearing skeleton lying on the ground with a sad message by our feet. Then she can take the keys needed to cross the Golem-Bro Bridge and open the Throne of Want. Too bad for her we have indomitable wills. And lots of epic loot. And can summon Phantom buddies. She never stood a chance lol.

[@CosmicKnightly]

Hawkwood can take you dragon stone if you die to him in the boss room so this is can be put down

[@NightWanderer31415]

Until you the player throw the controller out the window and hollow. Nashy wants you to become a casul, but the legend never dies.

[@ultimatepronoob7320]

"If we do get a Ds3 I hope it shows us breaking the cycle somehow" And just like that Vaati may have just predicted the Usurpation ending from Ds3

[@vvvxzv]

I was thinking more the dlc where you fight Gael at the end of time

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

@@vvvxzv Beating Gael still doesn't really break the cycle.

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

Not just the Usurpation ending, but the regular Dark ending if you give the eyes to the Firekeeper and don't betray her. She'll snuff the Flame and mention that without it, other flames will be born, scattered throughout the world, and that no one of them will be solely responsible for holding back the Dark anymore.

[@ultimatepronoob7320]

OtakuUnitedStudio wait doesn’t she just say that even in the dark she can feel the cinders of lords that will rekindle the first flame again? Idk i gotta rewatch it

[@georgehouliaras7239]

@@OtakuUnitedStudio But that doesn't break the cycle, it just means that an Age of Dark will play out this time(same wit the Hollow Lord ending) the Fire will appear again someday, be it the First Flame or a new one and the cycle will begin anew. The Cycle cannot be broken, the only hope left in the new painting world.

[@vortex594]

i have a thought on The Rotten. perhaps, The Rotten is Pharros. Pharros once descended under the ground, where he met the rats, and, feeling sorry for them, he used his engineering skills to protect them, using his traps and lockstones. but he didn't stay. he went down further, deeper into the ground, where he found the gutter. the place where the unwanted, and discarded, go. seeing the hollowed here, he again felt sorrow for them, and so, he attempted to do the same as he did with the rats. but, he couldn't remember how to build his traps. he was becoming hollow. he resorted to simple traps. statues spitting acid. but this simple motivation was not enough. more and more, he was forgetting, until he stumbles upon the great soul. it gave him the strength to do one last thing to protect the ones living in the gutter. he becomes the rotten, absorbing them, protecting them. and then we find him, as he finally becomes hollow, and fails to build one final trap. cutting off one of his arms, it reveals one, final thing. a pharros lockstone.

[@loveless8241]

This is my lore now.

[@aspeckinthegrandschemeofth3457]

I'm late as hell, but this is great.

[@meci6625]

Oh shit that's sad

[@warfighter4623]

I'd believe it

[@devilskiss8421]

Rotten is incarnation of nito

[@miragegaocariomon9342]

You know, the lore about the giants gives me a theory of my own, and it comes not from DS2, but DS1. At the opening of Dark Souls, we're told that at the beginning, there were archtrees and dragons. Perhaps since the giants are beings that when they die, they grow into archtrees, and perhaps when the archtrees were destroyed, the seeds left behind became the giants.

[@murdurerm2969]

Woah .o.

[@someidiotfromover7yearsago]

this is my new headcanon. Time is distorted, and there is a cycle. There is no beginning, or end. What if the souls timeline goes Age of Dks1 > Age of Dks2 > (Dks3?) > back to Dks1

[@godofhunting]

+Jesse Rich OOOR what if it goes Dks1>Dks2>Dks3>DeS>bloodborne

[@heyllo1337]

+Hunter Derennaux imo it goes squid ending of bb>das>das2>des>bb or squid ending bb>des>das>das2>bb or das>das2>ending of bb>des>bb with the old one at the end of des being you at the end of bb. cant know the impact das3 will have but if it involves the ending of the soul arts then i choose the first set with das3 being between das2 and des. since des aludes to the the soul arts existed before but were forgotton.

[@heyllo1337]

+Hunter Derennaux i also have a theory that the ailment we have in bb could in fact be the curse of the undead (which is why we wore the hood in the foriegn set) which explains partly why we can do the things we do. If so then our protagonist of darksouls 1, 2, and 3 could be the same person who has simply existed so long that we have forgotten everything (like gherman at the begining of bb lol). if thats true then its argueable that we could also be the protagonist of des and the whole soul/body mechanic of the nexus was to try to alter our ability to fight since we are an immortal furtive pigmy. and if thats true then perhaps our journey to yharnam was to break the seal of the nexus which may have in fact led us to the fate of becoming the old one. (mind you each stage of that theory is intrinsic to the rest and makes it much harder to be viable unless "all things are true") My alternative theory is that we were infected with the vile blood (which is why we had the fancy looking clothes) why would we want to cure it, I dont know.

[@Snvw]

the only real question that matters is: does gavlan deal?

[@MyntenEU]

I don't know whats real.

[@PakiBlinders]

how can gavlan wheel if our deals arent real ?

[@Vider7CC]

***** Well... steam deals are definetly real.

[@magicalmarble]

that's a good question but my question is how does he wheel?

[@MayorS176]

Gavlan wheels

[@caderoman4031]

43 deaths worldwide jesus that number has changed so much

[@CidGuerreiro1234]

Pretty sure he was playing offline and those were just his own deaths.

[@theblackangel8059]

im pretty sure that number is atleast in the high trillions by now...

[@LeMancave]

It's over 170 millions in scholar

[@TheHunter1811]

It was 180 millions about week ago. Hurrah for death!

[@Aephyn64]

Just shy of 250,000,000 in SotFS as of now

[@AceTheBlack16]

Something that recently came to light has me questioning a few things. Bear in mind that this came to light with the release of "Scholar of the First Sin." The description on the soul of the Last Giant changes to indicate that the lord of the giants was felled by an unknown warrior, and then sealed away. However, your character is the one to fell the Giant Lord later in the story, albeit by going back through memories. But being that you can interact with the memories, Perhaps what you are seeing is your own memory of the events? This would explain why the Last Giant is roused to violence when you approach, as he sees it as a chance to exact revenge against you. Games in the Dark Souls series are notorious for mentioning that the area in which the story takes place has a warped sense of time, which is supposed to explain the summoning of phantoms. If this is true, it's entirely possible that your character was at Drangleic long before it fell to ruin, attempted to live a normal life, and had that life destroyed by the curse, and promptly wandered the earth until they were sent back to Drangleic.

[@kaanugurlu5251]

The prize was the Zweihander

[@TristanGray]

+kaan uğurlu And clearly the war started because they discoverd that giants lvld up dex.

[@slippy5849]

Ak47 Psshhhh. The only true weapon fit for a giant is the mighty Chaos Zweihander!

[@Carium1]

Psh, it was the great sword

[@darreideamos2309]

Vendrick found giant dad

[@dmhenderson]

I don't buy that what Vendrick stole was the throne of want. Take a look at the size of the seats in the throne room of Drangleic. Those are huge too. Take a look at the size of Nashandra and hollow-Vendrick. Also huge. I think the Giants' kinship may be what he stole and what the Giant Lord invaded Drangleic to recover (makes sense if you think about it). That's what made Vendrick and Nashandra huge. That's what gave him power over golems. If you think of the "giants' kinship" as a physical thing rather than an abstract concept, it all clicks.

[@dmhenderson]

Also when Nashandra says that Vendrick "never sat the true throne" she is bitterly complaining and not making an offhand comment. Nashandra wanted access to the throne and for that to happen, she needed Vendrick to link the fire. Vendrick found out what she was up to, fled Drangleic and locked himself in the crypt with Veldstadt standing guard and his soul sealed away in the shrine of amana safe from Nashandra.

[@Chompski_]

well, size wasnt really a problem. even in our history, back then things were huge. and if you are saying giant's kinship is the thing that make them huge, i think not. most of vendrick trusted man were huge, and that;s just literally their physical size i think. not the first time dks series we met a dude with giatn physical size

[@dmhenderson]

The Herald along with all the other NPCs you meet during DS2 are normal-sized. The only enormous people in the game are Vendrick, Nashandra and Vendrick's Royal Aegis. That can't be a coincidence can it?

[@Chompski_]

well, some of ti was even too small for a human size. glass looking knight also big, but if that so all drangleic should've been a giant. so does we, if by the logic that giant kinship makes people huge.

[@indersenmirchandani5060]

Vile Insect Well maybe this kinship doesn't necessarily "make them huge" but instead allows them to grow larger and with control of the giant kinship Vendrick could make whoever he wanted larger (also physical size could simply be a gameplay mechanic, but its not fun to think about it like that.) this is why so many of his trusted knights and those who are close to him are larger. A bit off topic, but do the Heide Knights and the blue dragon guys (don't remeber what they are called) work for Vendrick or are they a separate entity (kingdom whatever you want to call it) all together.

[@liquidsandwich1052]

Vaati: Hopefully we'll have a way of breaking the cycle in DS3 Future Vaati: No Criken! Don't you dare break the cycle!

[@Karampole217]

you mean.... EDWAAAAAAAAAAD EMBERPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTSSSSSS

[@ihatehandleupdate]

wtf is a Criken? I'm dumb

[@liquidsandwich1052]

@@ihatehandleupdate youtuber that did a blind playthrough of ds3 with vaati and bedbanana

[@ihatehandleupdate]

@@liquidsandwich1052 Oooh thank you! I haven't seen that video YET :D

[@lukemckinnon4214]

I'm not sure if this has already been discussed, but I have a theory on what the hole in the lake (during the cinematic) is. In Dark Souls 1, the way we travel back in time is by being pulled into a portal created by Manus (if I'm not mistaken, do correct me if I'm wrong). In Dark Souls 2, Nashandra is bringing undead to the Throne of Want in attempt to gain access. If we are to assume that Nashandra is connected to Manus, then I'd say it's very likely Nashandra is the one who conjures the portal in future Drangleic.

[@lukasruston8618]

Wow, no comments on a theory that is genuinely solid... I'm surprised honestly. Like Manus can reach through time and space because he wants something so desperately; the pendant which the player in DS1 just so happens to find. Nashandra wants the throne of want desperately so she reaches through time and space to find an answer to her issue and in BOTH cases, the player ends up being the one who puts the abyss to rest for the time being by killing the one who dragged them through time. This also fits with the cycle of DS2 repeating some of the major events from DS1.

[@afterwalker6773]

Inconsistencies exist in Dark Sousl 1's lore as well. We are told that a hollow cannot die, that they are forever cursed to be revived again and again until they go insane, and yet we take souls from corpses of the dead, and see certain hollow characters permanently die, like Kirk, Knight of Thorns. They're great games and I love them, but sometimes consistencies in the lore are sacrificed to make way for game mechanics.

[@Changetheling]

THIS!

[@alexs7670]

I've been working on an essay about how unique criticism of game lore has to be because sometimes story elements only serve game play mechanics. I'm reminded of an oxhorn video where he attempts to prove that synths are human because radiation can kill them. To test this he uses rad weapons in game to kill synths. He doesnt (at least at the tine) realize that rad weapons work on super mutants, who we know are cannon immune to radiation in lore, but that doesnt exactly serve game play.

[@jacobhoover1654]

Whoooosh

[@liocdeparmesan3885]

maybe the corpses are from people who died before the curse. Or not yet cursed people killed by new hollows ? The soul items we find are sometime called "disheartened knight", so it's not logic : they became hollow, it's obvious. Maybe when they go hollow, the "main" corpse stay and they respawn in a new one

[@juantsu2000]

Afterwalker I always thought Hollows were immortal until they lose their minds. So when you kill those hollows, you end their misery. Then again, you can kill any NPC that's also undead and they won't come back to life...

[@mergedpotato]

The Heide Knights came across the sea to sell Heineken, or should I say Heideken.

[@AiRsTriKeITA]

I want to belive that this is true.

[@Sumlildood]

Unglaub - Lich lol

[@foran43]

😂😂😂

[@cinnabonbons]

"we still don't know some minor things, like what happened to Aldia..." this is so funny in retrospect lmfao

[@morganpriest7726]

Blob man

[@reverieWithRupam]

Why? Haven't played ds3 yet so no spoilers please

[@cinnabonbons]

@@reverieWithRupam this video was made when only the base game of DS2 was out. The subsequent DLC for it was all about Aldia and what happened to him and it becomes a major part of the story and experience. The complete edition of the game is named after him; Scholar of the First Sin. It’s just so funny now because in the vanilla game he was just like a passing mention and then the devs went “BUT ACTUALLY HE’S REALLY IMPORTANT THO”

[@ash_1419]

@@reverieWithRupam pubgmobile 😂😂

[@UselessNekoGang]

I like these old videos on dark souls 2. Idk why, but I just do. I think it's pretty cool though how Vaati in this video says that he wants us to break this cycle in dark souls 3, and I actually think that this last DLC will give him what he wished for. Oh how the times have gone by, goodbye Dark Souls. May you have an everlasting tale of how great you truly are.

[@AxjZOne]

Dark Doubts: Prepare to Why. Snark Souls: Prepare to Lie. Dark Horse: Prepare to Nigh. Dark Science: Prepare to Nye.

[@CouncilmanDipsy]

Dark Drugs: Prepare to High

[@alypius9409]

NYE SOULS

[@Schlippan]

Bread Souls: Prepare (the) Rye.

[@BeautyIsJustAMask]

Dark Dessert: Prepare to Pie

[@SneakySolidSnake]

Dragon's Souls: Prepare to Fly

[@Arkios64]

There is another thing that the "price" could've been: The Lord of the Giants, who held the ability to sit on the true throne and also the ability to control the giants. The last Giant is a special Boss in every aspect, it is probably the first one in the game for most players, it is the only fire on the Majula map that doesn't seem to have any real importance, he has no similarity to any other enemy in the game and no connections too. But what he has is someone who is just like him, someone who wears the same clothing, has the exact same appearance and even fights with the same fighting style, down to every swing: Giant Lord, who came to invade Drangleic with his army of giants. The giants fought with a singular rage, with a mind enthralled in rage, but even still with one purpose and one goal, almost as if someone was controlling them, as if someone had complete control over their soul and kept them from going rampant. They came for their Lord, who was taken from them by the invading King Vendrick. The invasion failed and the Lords of the Giants fell, one in battle and the other in chains. Vendcrick aquired the giants' kinship from him, the ability to control souls. With that he "created" the golems, which meant nothing else than using the giants in a much simpler way, atfer ripping out their own wills. The hole in the chest is supposed to represent that their will has been completely taken away and supstituted with the will of the soul that gets placed inside the hole. In the end he realised what he has done and what Nashandra's goal was, so he made sure that nobody would be able to reach the throne, unless he aquired the giants' kinship from a free giant that was wary of his surroundings. He blocked the pathway to the one he knew of with everything he could, even his own knights. After that there were only two beings left that might've been able to claim the true throne, but Vendrick lost the will to do so and went hollow and the other one no longer had the strength to leave his prison: the Last Giant. Over the years even he lost his will and went hollow, leaving no way to reach the true throne by controlling the true golems that build the pathway. TRUE golems, that never even had a will of their own, that never even had a head to think of an own will. They were a certain way to guarantee, that nobody unfit for the throne would claim it, that only a person that knew how to control souls and give their wills a new vessel could reach the device that has the ability to do so on EVERY soul in the world, no matter if living or dead.

[@bioninja1]

not likely "if" that was the case then the king wouldn't be able to make them its more likely the power is of souls if one can control the souls then he can make souls, control them aka the golem's, and modify souls like make his souls more powerful like I said in a other text the more souls he got the more powerful and bigger he got

[@custardpup6385]

I've recently finished DS2 after playing ER, DS1, and DS3. I wanted to watch some videos on the lore but can I just say WOWW your channel has come so far!! Seeing your style and editing in the most recent ER videos compared to 8 years ago is just insane. What amazing progress you've made. Adore your channel

[@lordsybren]

Regarding Ornstein I have a little theory about him. I think that the Ornstein in DS1 is a fake, and that we are dealing with the actual Ornstein in DS2. In DS1 when you kill Ornstein first, it is well known that he twitches a little when Smough smashes him. In other words he was still alive. But didn't we deplete his health bar? every boss dies when we deplete his health bar. This leads me to think that he is an animated construct instead of a real one. Smough doesn't twitch when you kill him first, so he is actually dead when you deplete his health bar. As should be. Also, in that boss fight Smough smashes Ornstein without remorse or hesitation. He doesn't even seem to mind that he just crushed his lifelong companion. But Ornstein however seems to mourn the fallen Smough. Indicating that Smough didn't care, since Ornstein wasn't real anyway, and he maybe decided that he could use Ornsteins power better than the animted Ornstein could. Whereas the animated Ornstein was supposed to be as real as possible, including feigned human emotion. Ornstein probably went with Gwynevere and Flan. And if Drangleic is Lordran, maybe Gwynevere and Flan (and Ornstein) came back to rebuild Lordran anew.

[@lordsybren]

Plus, I am not a fan of Drangleic being Lordran either. I don't see enough evidence to support that theory. It seems far more likely that the giants came from lordran and that Vendrick stole the lordvessel.

[@MrNathanDaniell]

lordsybren very interesting theory!

[@sneekylilbast]

You get Ornstien's souls when you kill him in DkS1, and with that souls you can obtain his weapon. No mere fake/illusion can hold such a powerful souls. I really don't think that the Old Dragonslayer is a Ornstein, it just messes too much with what we learned in DkS1.

[@SBudgetStaudi]

well I have to disagree, I think that the cutscene after u beat ornstein first and he's apparently still alive just shows that smough as a executioner doesn't care about ornstein since he isn't able to fight anymore so he just absorbs his powers so he might beat you. Ornstein is one of gwyns 4 knights so it only makes sense that he is appointed to remain in anor londo the city of the gods to protect it. Gwyn and the sun bro covenants are famous for there sunlight spears which they used against the ancient dragons to destroy there skin In DS1 Ornstein also uses some kind of this magic through his spear, in DS2 tough he uses some kind of dark magic which is more connected to hexing. Hexes are infamous for there connections with dead like exploding corpses and stuff. I think the Ornstein in ds2 is some kind of reanimation of ornstein to protect the blue sentinels which try to bring justice to sinners (just like the blue moon in anor londo in DS1 !!!). One thing bothering me tough is that the spear u can create in DS2 from his soul is able to shoot lightning, perhaps the recreation of Ornstein in DS2 was performed trough a part of his soul which still remained some of the original lightning wasn't enough tough for his full recreation to be able to use that magic Also pure speculation tough ;)

[@lordsybren]

sneekylilbast Then how is ornstein wielding his spear in DK2? It could be that the Ornstein in DK1 was no mere construct. But that his armor and spear were replicated and infused with a soul. Because this soul was bound to Ornsteins armor you could make Ornstein's gear from the soul. You are saying that he might be an illusion, I never used that word. I said construct, which means its something real and not a perception. And the Old Dragonslayer must have a link to Ornstein at least. The dragonslayers were not some order who all wore lion armor. Dragonslayer Ornstein was a special individual. In my opinion putting Ornstein in DK2 was a pretty bad move from from soft. It isn't a very strong lore point.

[@Dantick09]

Giants are new in DS2?? What do you make of Ghough, the giant black smith and the giant guards of Annor Londo?

[@mbanana23456]

+Templar Knight they're probably related

[@WackRusDud]

Templar Knight was he even first?

[@avazak6879]

Yaroslav K. He was it was gwyn who started age of fire and chose undead killed gwyn

[@Itsprincesweets]

Gough is the blacksmith

[@Itsprincesweets]

A better question is *W T F A B O U T G I A N T D A D*

[@Blunderbustable]

It always bothered me how other "mighty" humans in the souls series are always so tall. At first I just assumed you grew in size as your soul grew, but the player never changes. (probably because of gameplay reasons)

[@NyxBeta]

My theory, which has been posted on Reddit many times: All of the events that take place in Drangleic are orchestrated by The Emerald Herald. This is bolstered by the item description of the Aged Feather. "An aged bird feather. Return to last bonfire rested at. Can be used repeatedly. The child of the dragon, sequestered away from the world, imagined a world of boundless possibilities from the mere sight of a feather." That last bit is the most important because it makes reference to the possibility that The Emerald Herald is possibly the creator of the strange realm where Drangleic is located. Also, a key word in that description is "sequestered", and that word has a very specific definition. When something is sequestered it is meant to be isolated or hidden away, and this may have been on purpose. We are told that The Emerald Herald was created to cure the curse, but we are never really told how she never came out as intended. What makes her imperfect? Why is she a failure? Why did she hide herself away from the world, or was she hidden away by force? Also, let's take a look at The Emerald Herald's powers. She grants power to the character through a trade of souls. This is very different from Dark Souls where power was given by the strengthening and burning of souls at a Bonfire. Also, The Emerald Herald is seemingly omnipresent, as she can appear anywhere she wants. This cannot be explained with Bonfires because she appears in places where there are no Bonfires. Why did the character go to Drangleic? To cure their curse. However, as soon as you arrive, The Emerald Herald starts manipulating the character to become the next monarch. Why? To link the flame? How can they? The Kiln of the First Flame is nowhere near Drangleic, as evidenced by developers comments, topography, and the fact that Lordran took place on the base of an Archtree and Drangleic is on an island surrounded by a large ocean. What do I think is going on? The Emerald Herald is recreating the events of a story because that is what she knows. She is borrowing elements of the old stories and she has made a world for herself, but she needs souls to fill it. This is why the undead come to Drangleic. She needs actors for her play. The ones who she has trapped there may possibly become aware of this as many of the NPC's speak very angrily of The Emerald Herald. "They say she is the last Firekeeper, but they say a lot of things."

[@makemebad153]

That would put some weight behind her also being the 4th fire keeper that we meet in the opening cinematic. She tells us "go to Drangleic, maybe you've heard of it" but we most likely haven't due to her luring undead into it, most of, if not all, are never to be heard from again (perhaps). The Old Knight armor set states it's so ancient, that their past deeds aren't known anymore. Perhaps they too have been trapped in the countless Cycles Drangleic has been through already. So many times, that their deeds aren't know because those who would of remembered have hollowed, forgetting the history of the world, along with themselves. But to what end does the Emerald Herald continue these cycles? Why and how is a shard of Manus here? Why are there shrines that take us to other kingdoms other shards of Manus have influenced, inside of Drangleic? What is her purpose if she was created? Who created her, and why? Does Nashandra know of her existence? If Nashandra succeeded in gaining acess/control over the throne of want, then what? I suppose her being a shard of Manus would probably give her the ability to come and go to realms such as Drangleic, especially seeing as we jump into a portal, easy peasy baby. Absolutely love where you are going with this, perhaps you have answers to the questions I have posed! Apologies in advanced if certain points got lost or blurred together. Was just letting the wind take me on this one.

[@theodoremangness8995]

Vaati, did you know that in DS1, after you defeat manus and dusk is released, if you attack dusk while she's lying on the ground in Manus' boss area, she disappears. If you then return to the first area in Oolacile, Elizabeth is gone and leaves an Elizabeth mushroom behind. I discovered this a while ago and haven't found any information pertaining to this online.

[@ghostbl33d65]

7:55 my god that's a sight I thought I'd never see...

[@whitebadger6633]

go offline 👿

[@Progamer-po5pr]

@@whitebadger6633 ummm, it’s still the same number

[@SmugLookingBarrel]

Here's my theory about the giants: they're animated stone, given life by being infused by souls. What king Vendrick stole was the ability to infuse inanimate objects with souls, which in turn prevented the ability to create more giants. this would be a pretty good reason for the giants to come across the seas with a vengeance. Also note that the giants look a lot like the golems in Drangleic castle.

[@thecynic3697]

infuse stone... well it could make sense because of all the different titanits that have those abillitys they shouldnt

[@risingbob5230]

That would explane how the kings ring has the ability to open doors that can t be opened otherwise. Maybe the doors were modified so they would only open if the ring is nearby.

[@sasugakirin]

Plus the giants have holes in their heads while the golems have holes in their chests. The golems are mindless and perform tasks with the soul put in their bodies, but the giants are sentient because the souls are in their heads, their minds (the key to life's ether). I don't think they're animated stone, though, they could be animated wood, since they grow into trees.

[@ohNoitsColt]

My personal theory about the Heide Knights: Their helmets look similar to Solaire's, which means they could have been former Warriors of Sunlight/Heirs of the Sun. Their weapons also have lightning power. They're also passive until you attack them, just like Solaire was friendly until you hit him. Perhaps they've grown weary of traveling, or could not find their "Sun."

[@SausageDynamo]

Which is why they look defeated and are just sitting down because theyve lost hope! Ahhh.

[@BRO56002]

No, no you got it all wrong. The heide knights actually are solaire. You see it all makes sense, when solaire put the chaos bug on his face, it have him the power of time travel. He went to the future and split himself into many different knights. He then went to the time of drangleic and had a party with all of the solaires. When they were partying solaire #17 made awesome white capes for all the solaires. Solaire #14 said that they should remove their shields and never use them again. Solaire #26 said that they should take off the crest of the sun from their chain mail. And finally, solaire #31 wanted to add a little modification to the helmets. All the solaires at the party got really drunk and solaire #48 stupidly put the altar of sunlight in harvest valley and the next morning all the solaires were hungover permanently. None of them could find the altar of sunlight and they all split up and sat down somewhere depressed cuz their head hurt from the permanent hangover and cuz they couldn't find the altar of sunlight. And the one in the forest of giants is the real solaire because it's the undead burg obviously. This is all confirmed lore guys.

[@TheArnoldification]

Err, are you serious? I don't think you can draw relations upon the heide knights and solaire just because they happen to be wearing bucket helmets. That's like saying Oscar and the Pursuer are related because they have similar style helmets. Also, solaire's arsenal is not magical at all (save for his talisman), which is even pointed out in the item descriptions for his stuff. Also, while this may not mean anything, note how the knights attack. They seem to have specific techniques in how they fight, which would presumably be taught in whatever "order" they belong to. I can't really think of a reason why the heide knights are there myself, but I just really doubt they have a connection to the warriors of the sun (bear in mind they are nowhere to be found near the altar as well, and how "masterless glencour" is wearing heide knight armor but is in fact a white sign, not a gold sign). Honestly it seems to me like an oversight on the devs part, like they were going to integrate the knights into the lore somehow but ran out of time.

[@Dontcryontheinternet]

Bwahahaha! IM DYING THAT WAS SO FUNNY

[@joshuakim5240]

Lethal Potato Wait! You forgot the most important detail! How could you not add the fact that Gavlan supplied all of the booze and Solaire #22 drunkenly rendezvoused with Ornstein in New Londo (now unflooded and renamed into Heide), then accidentally tripped unto the floodgate mechanism and reflooded the place? Then Ornstein said "Fuck it" and ate a few humanities to kill himself, except it put him into a dark drunken rage instead and when we fight him, he is hallucinating that we are Solaire #22, and trying to prevent the Cathedral from being destroyed by idiocy in order to protect Targay who he hallucinates to be Gwyn, and Targay himself is just awkwardly looking away from embarrassment (why did u think he doesn't give a shit that Orny dies?)

[@karlparker4208]

Love videos like these. Makes you fall in love with the series all over again and makes you wanna play again. Thank you Vaati

[@NoTLucas]

Still didn't quite explain why you go up a elevator from the Eastern Peak to Iron Keep, that, by the way, is a sunken in lava castle, how could that ever be above tower?

[@intimatethinker]

DS2 will never be the same now that I know this...

[@patwoods7640]

Maybe the old iron king accidentally built his keep on top of a very tall volcano.

[@jackh.9776]

Also remember that literally half the game is caused by a 3-foot pile of rubble in the shrine of winter

[@danitexsan]

B Team

[@ivanatreides]

That really needs an explanation!

[@Arcliff7]

This is all my speculation, but I'm guessing that Vendrick used to be human sized, if you want to get his set and soul, the chair on the room is human sized. The thing he stole from the giants is probably essence or soul, something that grants him power like a giant or give some characteristics.

[@Rednightart]

That's... actually possible. Vendrick WAS just a human after all. Growing to the size of a giant from gaining the soul of one isn't impossible.

[@pillagius]

Yes, it may be that way. Chancelor Wellager said that Vendric defeated the giants and then build his castle, where his throne is... well much larger than the chair you find with his soul. So maybe he did use something to become much more powerful. Also to get to the throne room you need to get a special key - Giant's Kinship, wich also adds up to this nicely.

[@GamingGoneNuclear]

You beat me to it. That was my theory when I saw he was so big as well.

[@Arcliff7]

Elijah Jacobs It might be something similar to how Orstein absorb Smough and grew bigger. Who knows, maybe Vendrick managed to kill one of the giants and absorbed it in a similar manner to that. Alex Sergeev Yeah, since basically Vendrick now have giant characteristics or essence.

[@bioninja1]

Elijah Jacobs don't forget his sword get more powerful with soul's so being human then the attack on the giant's and the treasure he got that let him use soul's would allow him to gain size with the power he gain. but he's knight that stayed by him and followed him in to the grave is giant as well so its hard to say but he can most likely use that power on he's knights to so it would show just how powerful he was and how much more powerful the queen would need to be to take him on

[@IdleHawk7]

4:56 “if we get a dark souls 3, it should be about breaking the cycle” Well well well. Thats a prophecy

[@anonforuz]

If Nashandra wants to get into the Throne of Want, but doesnt have the Kinship, what better way than to have her get killed and her soul taken in.

[@anonforuz]

daisukereds Manus's soul seems to have strange properties. We killed him, and the fragments of his being went on to become a powerful queen. If the next cycle springs to life from the previous large soul. What would happen if that souls was tainted with the Dark. The next cycle would be created from a Dark Soul. I get the feeling Vendrick took the other Option, he could have sat upon the throne and lite the fire, but decided not to. It even seems that he didnt want his soul to have any part of it (the next cycle). Hiding his souls away, separated from his body. She wants power, she wants to be inside the throne, she wants influence. Unfortunately she must part with her soul first. To be divided into the beings of the next cycle. Gaining more influence, more souls of want. A bitter sweet victory for her. She gets the world she wants for the price of her life.

[@unfadingx6263]

You have a point if she is dusk with Manu's fragment soul who to say that that fragment can't go into the player slowly turning the player into madness so thay can spread the abyss

[@hindae085]

I like that one, it explains alot. Maybe her "Be one with the dark" line is relevant too, she wants you to kill her, but, being a queen, she only wants the best Chosen Undead to take her soul. Would also tie in with Vaati saying Manus' soul infected Dusk too. Its repeating itself again, the Dark wants to live on in yet another age of fire.

[@sagefrench578]

Headcannon achieved

[@anonforuz]

If Soul Recycling is a reality within the Dark Souls Universe. Seed of a Tree of Giants "When the giants fell, they grew into great trees. Death is not the end, for anything that has ever once lived remains a part of a great cycle of regeneration. But what of those outside of the cycle?" Then I wonder, at what point did the Old Lord Souls re-enter the cycle. In Dark Souls 1, we collected them to gain entry to the Kiln of the First Flame. If we choose the Dark Lord Ending, then the Lord Vessel is gone as we walk over the spot we placed it last. If we did light the flame, the Lord Souls would still be excluded from the next cycle. But in Dark Souls 2, we find their Souls again within beings of similar form. Old King Soul (Gwyn's Soul) "Soul of the ineffable. This once-magnificent soul continues to exert influence over the land, even after the eons have reduced it to these remnants." If the empty and broken lord vessel is in the basement of the manor in Majula. Maybe at some point someone Vendrick knew took those souls, and observed them using the throne, relight the flame, died, and watched the cycle repeat. Vendrick supposedly was around for a long time, to see multiple kingdoms rise and fall. He may have wanted to die, permanently, or at least not be apart of the next cycle. Separating from his soul to prevent anyone from getting it... which he failed to do. And it will likely begin again. The actors and their souls will take their places once again.

[@axonn101]

I'm just going to say it. Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin is the latest Souls game I have played, and it is fantastic. I don't get the hate for the game. It tried to be different and it succeeded.

[@CidGuerreiro1234]

Most Dark Souls fans expect to relive their experience with Dark Souls with every new game. That's most of the reason why DS2 is hated. Also the disappointing boss battles and unmemorable dungeons. DS2 put quantitiy over quality.

[@jackofastora8962]

2019 and it's still a crap game

[@Changetheling]

DSII is the most meta Dark Souls will ever get. Too bad many people didn't have enough brainpower tounderstand the evidence.

[@henrytims4745]

Horus SC I’ve heard douchey sayings from a lot of the souls community, but this is perhaps the douchiest.

[@henrytims4745]

I played scholar before I really played any other souls game, but I knew enough about them to know i liked them. I’m not a huge fan, I already am a little annoyed at the enemy placements but they are mostly fine. And it was trial by fire to get me to let go of the fast weapons form other souls games. I sold scholar when I made it to the iron keep and bought the base game, which I like very much more. Dark souls 2 is made so much harder by having played and learned 1

[@WintersTheSixth]

4:58 This.... This aged like fine fuckin wine

[@Arkios64]

There IS actually a young Shanalotte in the game! The one standing in Dragon Aerie is younger in both appearance and voice, she isn't even 20 years old there.

[@rapsody230]

She seems the same to me...

[@Arkios64]

rapsody230 She is smaller, has a younger face and a higher voice. Even her speech pattern is slightly different.

[@darrenbannish9254]

Ruth Negga voices the Emerald Herald throughout. Young Shanalotte is voiced by an Amy Nolan which is not heard. There is also a young child version of Shanalotte in the art book. The narrator is also a different voice actress named Nicolette McKenzie. The Young Shanalotte voice does not appear in game. Also when you go to the Dragon Aerie how would she get younger the further you get in the story? That makes no sense.

[@xsliferx94]

Nope she is not. As Darren said the young shanalotte is in the art book and there is a VERY high chance she will appear in snow map DLC. (The young shanlotte in art book is wearing more snowy suited clothes) So yeah.

[@Joosterandom]

Darren Bannish Because the one at the Aerie is the real one. She says as much herself.

[@Zeithri]

Okay, in order to break the cycle, you're gonna need; * 4 Crystals of the Elements * A Princess with a Lute * And a Tardis Cycles isn't accepted in western mythology? I haven't heard that before but I guess it makes sense. Most good or obscure time traveling stories tend to be endless cycles or things that say that you cannot change what has happened if it was always meant to be that way - Time will find a way to make it right. That being similar to the Legacy of Kain series where they figure out that the only thing that can force time to go into a different track is if two Soul Reavers meet at the same time and place which causes a time paradox to occur and therefore changing history. I guess this is because we Westerners (to sound negative about it) have a need to make ourselves feel important, a need to say "We can fight destiny itself!" while Eastern is more accepting of fate.. I guess? I need to get my hands on Dark Souls 2.

[@Demmidude]

tbh i dont even think its that, i think in western culture we are generally more used to having an end in sight, to say what we do is a cycle is quite demeaning because it just gives an air of hopelessness which for a game like this, is perfect. However in general day to day life it would be soul crushing to know that no matter how good or bad you have done something means nothing because you will have to start again anyway

[@hijxsmoove9105]

Mostly true. People felt the same about the Call of Duty Zombies series that was a cycle. People are still looking for an " Actual " ending.

[@Changetheling]

"Most good or obscure time traveling stories tend to be endless cycles or things that say that you cannot change what has happened if it was always meant to be that way". This sums up Dark Souls as a whole; I wonder how many people actually realized this (doesn't seem like many when reading some comments here and there...)

[@riddlemethat5597]

...Really? I thought it was pretty obvious what Vendrick stole from the giants. He stole their ability to create more giants, giants themselves being stone constructs than are controlled by souls. Consider the shared characteristics between Giants and Golems, that strange hole-like structure, in which enemy souls will gather if killed nearby. Consider as well that the Smelter Demon, a metal construct of iron and fire, also has such a hole for a face. When Vendrick went to the homeland of the giants, he stole whatever power it was they used to create other Giants, and used it to create Golems.

[@red_menace1829]

Giants arent made of stone nimrod lol

[@2401blue]

Stone, wood, they're both material that could be filled. Heck, maybe the different material is what defines the differences between golems and giants.

[@riddlemethat5597]

@Hydra I think Earthen would be a better term, six goddamn years later. Giants and Golems are both soul-bearing vessels made from the earth. The statues in Drangleic Castle that come alive when you kill enemies near them are metal golems shaped like soldiers, and the soul always finds itself recessed in the chest. King Vendric straight up stole the power to stick souls into something and animate it from the giants to create Golems, Soldiers and all sorts of soul-powered technosorcery that made his kingdom beyond mythical in its power...until the Giants showed up because he stole the equivalent of their baby from them.

[@thelegendaryp]

I see the giants as forces of nature, similar to the dragons and archtrees as you mentioned. Neither truly living or truly dead. Their change into trees to me links them to natural phenomena, and the fact that they are capable of acting as mediums for time travel to me says that they are on some other level than everything else. They appear "dead" but something about them must exist continually, no matter what, otherwise there would be no memory. They are everlasting, just like the dragons. After all, we cannot just travel back in time whenever we want, we always have to use a giant or a dragon. I see no other explanations, so I think putting them on the same level as dragons is correct.

[@Knights_of_the_Nine]

I think the giants are actually very human. Not human in the sense of being same species, but human as another sentient being. I mean, they have names. Maybe they're just another people and the story of the giants is a story of cultural miscommunication. (monsters INC.)

[@zeon_zaku]

4:45 I love the concept of cycles personally. It makes Dark Souls a nice change in storytelling compared to other fantasy-settings in my opinion. I love the meshing of multiple religious themes from european and asian culture.

[@MegaLotusEater]

The idea that the Emerald Herald is the fourth sister just blew my mind.

[@MasterSorez]

"Why would the giants be elsewhere" Well, the giants and lords such as Gwynevere left Lodran(Anor Londo), in Dark Souls 1, so maybe they finally decided to cross the seas to return home, but found it was taken from them by Vendrick as his new kingdom. What if the "Prize" he stole, was their homeland?

[@SilverSpades100]

I'd have to say that Nashandra convincing Vendrick that the giants were a threat so that she could be close to the Throne of Want is the most sound idea. It makes sense. It was fairly obviously built for a much larger being. But what bothers me is how huge Vendrick seems to be when you fight him. Maybe he stole something else from the giants that allowed him this ability to grow? Maybe it was the throne that gave him the power? Or maybe I'm drawing conclusions where none exist and he's big because From Soft likes big human bosses now.

[@TheDarkFable]

The chancellor does say that the king made "The giants strength his own", so I am going to guess either through Alida's experiments or from when he learned to manipulate souls *and create golems", he possibly used this knowledge to imbue himself with more power. It is said on the Kings Ring how he used powerful souls to fend of the curse. Maybe at one point he thought maybe if he became something more than human he could avoid the curse.

[@SilverSpades100]

That's certainly viable as well.

[@taifudragon498]

XDarkFableX It seems to be a recurring theme in Dark Souls that souls alter a person as they gather them. I'd pose that, like the player's own levelling through souls, and shown as an example in Maughlin's changing attitude, Vendrick grew larger and stronger by gaining a huge number of souls.

[@TheDarkFable]

Liquid Nightfury That might be a good explanation too. If I might modify it, maybe also the nature of the souls they acquire effects it as well. We know the majority of the souls acquired by Vendrink were the 4 lord souls, and then vast amounts of giant souls. The reason we don't go super big is we mostly kill legions of hollow humans, rather than what seems to have been legions of giants. We kill at most...20 maybe total. Your way would also explain people like Velstadt and the Dragonriders been so large.

[@JacStance]

I think it's just more of a visual thing. The simple answer would be to say that they merely make them huge so that the moves are easier to see being telegraphed or because fighting a normal sized human wouldn't be as epic, but I think it's also a visual nod to the power they possess. There may not be any logical reason in the lore for Vendrick to be 20 feet tall, but it certainly conveys the vast amount of power he possesses. The same can be said of Ornstein and Smough. When you kill one, the other absorbs the remains of his soul and grows larger. There's really no logical reason for this, other than conveying their increase in power. I think that technically Vendrick is, story-wise, the same size as the player, but his vast increase in size when fighting him is merely used to convey his strength.

[@gatovillano7009]

at 12:00 when Nashandra ask that you must go to the thrown of want and to do what must be done, I prefer the explanation that she only needed you to open the door and what she really wants is the flame.

[@LoudWaffle]

I've figured out the Lost Sinner lore, and I have nowhere to tell people so this comment section is where it goes! Bed of Chaos wasn't the real boss/enemy in that fight, it was the chaos bug at the base of the tree, because that was what the true body of the BoC was. It was what the Witch of Izalith had become. Lost Sinner's soul claims that SHE was imprisoned for trying to light the first flame. Because of the female identity of the Lost Sinner and her strong relations to pyromancy, it's widely assumed that the Lost Sinner is Quelana, the last remaining Daughter of Chaos.This is a point of contention for fans because the "Lost Sinner" has a beard. The prisoner you fight is NOT the Lost Sinner. The actual Lost Sinner is the chaos bug seen crawling into his eye at the beginning of the fight. The person you fight is just some poor sucker who's serving as a vessel/seal for the true body of the Lost Sinner. She wasn't imprisoned when we meet her in Blighttown swamp, nor did she have the body of a chaos bug. So it stands to reason that she attempted to kindle the first flame by herself (possibly with help who knows) some time after the ending of DaS1. Since she was probably at the center of the action, rather than playing a supporting role with her siblings like the first time around, it resulted in her transformation, just as the Witch of Izalith transformed after being at the center of the first kindling attempt. Knowing the dangers such an action could cause (Using BoC and the entirety of demons everywhere as an example), she was promptly imprisoned within Sinner's Rise until the Chosen Undead of DaS2 comes along and kills her along with her prisoner host.

[@Umezete]

There is no evidence that any of the new lord soul holders have any relation to the original souls. She could just as easy be a wayward pyromancer from earthen peak.

[@LoudWaffle]

Umezete A wayward pyromancer that attempted to kindle the first flame, and holds the lord soul of the Witch of Izalith? It's possible, yes, but definitely not as likely as it being Quelana, who as we saw in DS1 is entirely alive and well at that point.

[@cibervader]

LoudWaffle But Quelana had no sword in the first game and she not only saw but experienced first hand what tampering with the first flame could do to you I just don't see her attempting it.

[@LoudWaffle]

cibervader Like I said in the original comment, I believe it's not her wielding the sword, she's the chaos bug in the prisoner's eye. And untold centuries have passed since the events of the first game, with countless Chosen Undead kindling the fire of the First Flame with their lives. There's no telling what else has happened during that time, and I can totally believe the Quelana could have made another attempt at it. Perhaps she started a family and had her own Daughters of Chaos to aid her? Maybe she spent all that time alone researching the First Flame, so that when she tried again it wouldn't be a last-ditch rushed effort to save the world and the Age of Gods, but rather she would go in believing entirely in a calculated success. There are plenty of possible variables that could make her attempt to relight the First Flame.

[@xavierwarganz7783]

The only problem with this theory is that the player could kill Quelana in the first game if they wanted to. She couldn't possibly be the Lost Sinner if she was dead already for some players.

[@GunRunner106]

I always like to believe that the Prince and Princess of Alken and Venn are the Throne Defender and Watcher, there is not much linking to this other then the both being male and female tho. But yea from a romantic point of view... I'd like the though... ^^

[@CriticalHitRabbit]

never thought about that Prince and Princess could be Throne Defender and Watcher, that kind of would make senses. Intresting :)

[@Akario3]

well many ppl think the watcher is female(i did too -.-)but the item descriptions say that he is infact male,so the princess and prince theory doesnt stand here

[@GunRunner106]

im afraid to inform you that that is a misspelling from the english version... just in case... and this appears more then once in the english version... many of the bosses who are female are just not referred as that in that version... - See the Lost Sinner for that...

[@Akario3]

nuub3d pics or didnt happen! jokes aside if you dont have a link the point stands that watcher is male

[@GunRunner106]

just look any other translation up....

[@mehrunez4838]

Kind of outa place but i wish DS had a day/night cycle, it wld be awesome to see some of these places in day, and vice versa.

[@Changetheling]

I was thinking the same thing yesterday

[@Eisenschleifer]

Wait for elden ring

[@ryansmith3448]

If you fire a projectile at the emerald herald you learn all the maps are actually at night and the sun was just an illusion.

[@toyguismailov4199]

Anor Londo

[@ryansmith3448]

@@toyguismailov4199 but you have to kill the emerald herald for the change to take effect

[@vopop30]

If individual giants have names (Orro, Jeigh, and Vammar), I seriously doubt they operate like a hivemind. I was also never convinced that the Giant Lord and the Last Giant are the same, as they drop very different souls upon death (I also like to think that getting it's soul is very definitive proof that the Giant Lord was truly dead). There is a certain word Drummond seems fond of: barbarian, and its variants. He seems to see the giants and the king alike as barbarians. If what Vendrick did in the land of giants is barbaric (extremely cruel and brutal) then the giants must only have responded in kind. I also doubt any hollow, no matter what species it originally was, would retain enough sense to build ships and catapults to mount a sea-born invasion.

[@Voolcan]

i wish we could know more about Vendrick's journey on becoming a monarch that he once was

[@Madking12357]

1:07 to 1:15 the 4 questions I ask myself after drinking a little to much and waking up the next day.

[@DexterNewton32]

OMG Vaati we definitely need something like this video for DS3. Not any precise dense information drop, just a video in-between where you mention the most burning questions and currently popular speculations that have to do with DS3 and the general nature of the DS universe. I really would like a more clear light on possible hints - and this is by far the topic that interests me the most - as to where DS2 fits into the Souls universe. With DS3 (spoilers !! spoilers !!!) having so much of DS1's geography and regions, as well as even characters but still having heavy signs of playing AFTER DS2 I ask myself how it all fits together. How does it play together time-wise (as far as one can tell in a land where time seems to be convoluted (in fact I have the theory time and space being convoluted increases the more the flame fades)) and also the final question "Where does Drangleic lay?" "What is Drangleic to Lordran?". Because I am pretty sure they are not the same. I had one theory that said Drangleic might be BEFORE DS1 and that the "first flame/fire" in which the 4 Lord Souls were found might not have been the very first flame, but rather a flame that came after a long time, after the age of anciencts which might be AFTER DS2 in the timeline. That maybe the cycles go way back and the "age of ancients" was actually some kind of intermediate phase that would have had the chance to break the cycle for some time. Interesting speculation. Then again, there is also evidence speaking against this. And last but not least, what the hell is "the outside world" the firekeepers speek about. In all honesty, no one ever mentioned that in any lore video. Milibeth, who takes care of the old ladies in the beginning of the game (the former fire keepers), she tells you that "things betwixed" is supposed to be a LIMBO, a connection between Drangleic and the "outside world". So what is the ourside world? Is it another TIME?`And if we travel back in time, is it maybe the time we CAME from that Lordran is closer to? What Drangleic before Lordran somewhere NEAR Lordran? idk, too many plot holes and speculations. Still, I would love for you to maybe tackle this issue at some point, because that is still one of the biggest mysteries to me, it boggles my mind how DS1 and DS3 are so similar while DS2 is so different, how it all fits in. It makes me go crazy at times.

[@dracomundo1498]

Ok so unpopular and possibly wrong theory: We all know that Drangleic is, to be nice, messy looking. All the areas just sort of are there? But there MUST be a reason for this. We all assume that this is due to a lack of Miyazaki's oversight, right? But what if this is the small bit he helped with? What if all of these areas are COMPLETELY different on purpose? We're told so many times that this kingdom had so many different names, that it's risen and fallen again and again. We're also told that the flow of time is convoluted here, that it doesn't flow in a straight line. So what if, bear with me here: what if we're not travelling to new locations, but different times? That would explain the appearance of Orenstein to a degree. But it also explains why some enemies look newer than others. The Heide Knights are clearly very very old, and yet, the Drangleic knights are in pristine condition. Now, I'll admit, I'm a VERY new souls player, and I don't know too much about all of the lore. But I was just noticing those things and thought the community might be interested.

[@axonn101]

my own personal theory is somewhat similar to yours, as it deals with time. I think the order of games are Dark Souls 1, then 3, and then 2. I think this because it is strange that Anor Londo still exists in DS3. Also Londor to Lothric seems to make more sense of a gradual change when compared to Londor to Drangleic. I have yet to fully beat Scholar of the First Sin, but you can get the Armor of Artorious in DS3 and maybe not 2. You find the Faraam set in DS3 on a live Knight. In DS2 the Faraam set is found on a skeleton in a cave in Drangleic Castle. Also in general DS2 has characters who say that the land is ancient, countless kingdoms have risen then fallen. The world itself seems old as well. With the exception of Drangleic Castle, all the areas feel like they are falling apart and all areas feel quite forgotten. In DS3 the areas feel like they are still occupied and that they still have a purpose. And the lack of knowledge? The Throne of Want? The lack, in hindsight, of any Lords of Cinder? The cycle now could have been going on for so long that the history of the world is simply gone. The flame is almost non-existent, the Throne of Want may be shaped like a Kiln but there is no true linking of the Fire. There is so little Fire that even the Fire Keepers are old and have left the Fire behind. A bit of a tangent, but that is my head cannon.

[@Joshstevens1133]

+Josiah Peace however that dead Gilligan is such a huge piece of evidence against that

[@whytho5607]

Actually dead Gilligan doesn't mean very much when you consider that Andre's still kicking.

[@kazj4908]

DKS3 SPOILER WARNING AHEAD it seems like for the most part that's correct, HOWEVER, it seems like The Ringed City is actually the very final part of the souls series. All the pygmies are killed, every kingdom is reduced to ash, and it generally seems post-cycle. also, gael doesn't seem hollowed, just ancient and tired-- explaining that Vendrick's hollowing cure DID exist, but was found after the events of DkS3. Gael cured his hollowing, but not in time to find the Dark Soul before everything was reduced to ash.

[@axonn101]

Kaz J Ya the Ringed City is a weird jump forward for the franchise. I am somehow still holding to my theory of "Dark Souls 2 is the end", despite potential evidence saying otherwise. Though after watching a bunch of videos from the Ashen Hollow I am beginning to really think Dark Souls 3 (except Ringed City) is soon after the events of Dark Souls 1. There are too many recurring characters to ignore. Ya time is convoluted and the cycles are weird by default, but with the exception of the Handmaiden in Firelink Shrine in Dark Souls 3 and dead Gilligan, are there any characters from Dark Souls 2 who reappear in Dark Souls 3?

[@PenDreamt]

13:50 I always appreciated that it is the Throne of Want, not a Throne of Need. A rule of desire, not a rule of necessitated order.

[@Vicioussama]

I disagree that Drangleic is Lordran, there's nothing concrete saying it's so, just small things hinting, and there's enough of equal amount to hint that it could be Astora or Vinheim or even a new area entirely. So if we're not in Lordran, still very possible that the giants came from Lordran. I mean, we don't really know much about the Giant(Gods) of Dark Souls 1 either or what happens to them as they die other than with Gwyn who we know willingly gave his soul to kindle the flame, which might not be the same as when they die. Hard to say though. I personally do like the idea of the giants having the lord vessel and that Vendrick stole it and brought it to Drangleic (which isn't Lordran). Also, I'd say that the bit with losing to Nashandra is just a gameplay oversight. I don't think DkS2 was made with enough time to be as careful to the gameplay/story comparisons as Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1. I think the people in charge were capable, but this game is larger than prior souls games and I feel the time they had to develop it was not enough.

[@yashar011]

The thing that makes me think that Lordran is Drangleic is the similarities of the locations. Brightstone Cove reminds me of the Crystal Cave and the place beyond the Freja boss battle looks a lot like the Duke's Archives. Note the abundant use of the word "Duke" in that area as well. The map matches up, assuming Dranleic Castle is Anor Londo, Aldias Keep would be the Duke's Archives. Past Aldias Keep (Dukes Archives) is Brightstone Cove (Crystal Cave). Could be wrong though, as it makes sense that Vendrick stole the Lordvessel. And then there are questions about warping bonfires, etc. I still think that Vendrick stole the Throne of Want though.

[@Vicioussama]

yashar011 Actually, the map doesn't match up too well, I think Kayin has a post about this on sirlin's forum (Kayin likes to take the Souls games maps and then connect them and match them up with themselves and other souls games). At least, in terms of the map itself from the game. And there's a lot of hints that if anything was Anor Londo itself, it'd be Heide's Tower of flame given then architecture, but I'm still not 100% convinced. But that's standard for the Souls series, From intentionally making things ambiguous and up for interpretation :P so I could be wrong about it not being Lordran. Ah the fun of a Souls game's lore :)

[@yashar011]

The God Emperor Indeed. Too many people complain about the game I find, because the game was great and while it might not have been as deep as the first game, the storytelling was just as good.

[@Vicioussama]

yashar011 At first I didn't like it because it felt kinda "samey" as DkS1 after you reach Anor Londo (as in, go kill 4 beings to get their souls, then head towards the king), but the more I play and the more I learn about the more, the more I do find it interesting. Especially the past about Vendrick and Nashandra and the Giants.

[@yashar011]

death seller Archtrees in Dark Souls 1 were only found in Ash Lake and the Kiln of the First Flame, far below Lordran. The problem is that Dragons (except two or three as far as we know) died out before DS1, and likely before the events of that memory. It'll be interesting to see what the DLC reveals.

[@darksoulsnstuff6850]

I noticed something huge on my last run through shrine of Amana. The last milfanito after Demon of song is praying in front of something. With a closer look, it's actually a portal to the dark chasm that the pilgrims of dark use! Any ideas why she's praying towards it?

[@Doginatie]

Actually , if you free all milfanitos and pray witn them ,you'll become human .

[@darksoulsnstuff6850]

I didn't know that! But still, it doesn't explain why she's praying and what that fire thing in the middle is.

[@maximebv]

The lady in the movie is probably the emerald herald that sends you back to a time when she was young, altering the fate of the world. Maybe she is there to break the curse and bring back a grey age of the dragons? Maybe she is also a piece of manus. Maybe she is lying to you. Maybe she just manipulates you...

[@maximebv]

If Vendrick had the 3 crowns himself. Why did he chose to go hollow?

[@maximebv]

Maybe he was deceived by nashandra to let the first flame die or something. The lost sinner sought to re-light the flame. It's kind of leading me to think DS2 takes place in an age of dark.

[@Dantick09]

Maybe she s just a bored undead who sends people into a loophole

[@sephimaru2198]

Maxime Vincent The most important question is, does she somehow overcome time? Because how else does it fit, that she says, an other version of herself send you to her. But who is she refering to? As I see it, either the Emerald herald in Majula is not the same Emerald Herald you meet on your journeys, or the old woman from the cutscene is indeed her. If she doesn't have the ability to know which sort of intentions her future self has at sending people back (if that should be so), how does she know where to guide us? If she doesn't and the old firekeeper from the cutscene is her, it probably means that when she was young, there was no "chosen undead" or next monarch. So she fixed it by sending undeads back into the past until it is fixed, relying on her past-self to get what she has to do one day, when the undeads keep comming, because the issue isn't solved. About the Manus-thing, her Dialogue from the end of the game should kinda answer this, when she tells you about some sort of flaws in her creation and so on, but I don't think she is a piece of Manus, why should she be? But the most important question first: Is she the woman from the cutscene in the first place? I don't think there is any real evidence to support the theory. The missing firekeeper could as well have been an old woman like the other ones from the past too already and they're just immortal or something like that.

[@maximebv]

Maybe Drangelic is just a place and whe is just the missing firekeeper and she just sends you there. Or whatever. I haven.'t played in a while so my memory isn't all that fresh either.

[@37metalgearsolid]

1:10 You forgot the most important question of all: Why are we?

[@chiip90]

I like the idea that the whole of Dark Souls 2 is in a weird afterlife/purgatory. You sought the cure for undeath - and died at the beginning. The place betwixt is literally the place in between life and death and everyone you meet has, in their own way, given up on the journey to whatever comes next. That would explain why Ornstein is there - he is dead but has yet to pass over. It would also explain the lack of conformity when passing between areas; each area bubble is created from the will of those trapped there - I like the idea that the village on the cliff is peaceful because your character remembers it like that in some way; it might look completely different to one of the other characters. The Lord Souls too have passed over in some form or they might be a memory of someone else who is present. Or maybe not - I like this theory because it allows me to keep this game separated from the other two!

[@FellishBeast]

I feel like we can't ignore that people can't remember how they got there. That's pretty important. The whole opening cinematic and how we get there through "Things Betwixt" can't be minor details. I almost don't think Drangleic is a "real" place. It feels like a pocket dimension that souls go to when they've died or fully hollowed - a realm of pure introspection. It feels more like a metaphor than anything to me. It would kind of explain how we're seemingly seeing beings from DS1 but in different forms, especially the Lord Souls. Idk, DS2 hurts my head.

[@OGM_OriginalGameMusic]

While I have my own theories on ds2... I gotta say i really like this theory!

[@eleanorsfate445]

And then Dark Souls 3 came out and was basically "Souls Series - Greatest Hits". Grrreat.

[@drivingatank]

Well lets just look at the DLC for a minute, ====POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING=========== In the trailer it says "The crowns hold the strength of lords from times long past" Its speculated that the Crown of the Sunken King is to be the origin of the gutter, or how Manus reincarnated Nishandra, The Old iron king was a previous boss, but if you look at the description of the Old king soul (NG+ Drop) it says "Soul of the ineffable. This once magnificent soul continues to exert influence over the land, even after the eons have reduced it to these remnants." To me this seems like a reference to Gwyn or possibly the Chosen Undead from the first game. And as for the Ivory Crown, the only connections i could draw were "It is rumored to be related to Lord Aldia, ivory sorcery and the mystery of dragon recreation." - dark souls 2 wiki page And to the ivory talisman from the first game "Ivory Talismans are granted only to female clerics and their value is affected dramatically by their owner's faith." So it could be connection to a God of sorts, or a devout follower. Again this is just speculation but, im still excited to see what Fromsoft has to offer :D

[@IAmTheChimbleySweep]

The sunken crown might be about Heide, as his city sank.

[@gracchiii5232]

The sunken crown was confirmed to be vendric i belive

[@gracchiii5232]

Plus manus is nashandra born anew

[@IAmTheChimbleySweep]

nikolass marinskis But we already have vendrick's crown in the game?

[@gracchiii5232]

I know but knowing quite a bit of ds 2 lore I am sure that Vendrick may have had something up his sleeve, again, for the 10th or so time , mind you I believe I heard that not sure though

[@givmtheboot1]

I think the biggest DS questions are what are fog gates, what causes them, and why? Furthermore, if only the chosen undead and his allies can use them, does that mean Nashandra is a chosen undead!? She's definitely not allied with Vendrick anymore. Maybe he forgot to change his fog gate password.

[@BlackfeatherLegion]

The fog gates are a gameplay mechanic xD

[@Elipus22]

The fire keeper in the cut scene is NOT Shanalotte, the Emerald Herald. Listen to the pitch, and look back at what we know about the game before it had that sudden shift in direction. Also, know that time is convoluted. Now, let me get into details I found. After fighting the Guardian Dragon, you pass through a tunnel that leads you out into the Dragon Aerie. Pay close attention. You walk maybe twenty feet underground, but the other side has a vastly different rock structure. In that tunnel, you travel through time and space, just like how you do in Brume Tower to arrive at the Old Iron Keep. Now, listen to Shanalotte speak when she gives you the feather. She's younger. You can tell because her pitch is higher, as if she were still in her late youth. Also, when she meets your character, she acts as if she knows you, after all, she's "long awaited you" as if she knew you'd be her true champion. She's stuck as a firekeeper, mind you, so she will live as long as the bonfire remains "kindled" in the DS2 sense of the term. When she gives you the feather, she's saying you are her champion. You are now the one who will sit in the throne. The younger Shanalotte is found in the Dragon Aerie, before she was forced to settle in Majula. The tunnel proves we're traveling through time and space by the differing geology of the rock face. Shanalotte has a higher pitched voice, and sounds a bit more youthful in general. She acts as if she's met you before when you first meet her. She gave you and only you the Aged Feather, an object which she supposedly held dearly. When she does that, she's appointing you to be her champion of light, even if you chose to reject the throne. At that point in the game, you can have as few as two bosses left, or as many as 12 (including necessary DLC and no optional bosses) left. Either you have 3 hours tops left of gameplay, or you're at the halfway point, and you've seen the toughest foes on your journey (although whoever thought the Ancient Dragon was a well done fight can kiss my ass. Fix those hitboxes). At the point she gives you the feather, you are already committed to defeating whatever lies in your way, no matter what. It doesn't matter if it takes forty deaths to beat Raime, you have the persistence to kill him. Lucatiel lost her purpose, which was find her brother. Your purpose is to kill what gets in your way. In a world of hollows, you can hollow with them, but you still know to kill, so you kill, and with their souls and human effigies, you become stronger and more human again. Lucatiel isn't dedicated to the linking of the flame, but you are dedicated to power, meaning the ultimate power you can have is taking the throne for yourself. Sorry for the rambling, but yeah... Shanalotte is young in the Dragon Aerie, and older everywhere else it seems.

[@darthvatrayen]

I hope they include those white, mouthless, masks from the Dark Souls II trailers in the DLC. Those things were clutch.

[@R3DX6F8]

as The Holly Chinchilla said. FROM changed the texture at the last minute because of copyright issues which might by why all the mannequins are headless.

[@globox123456789]

***** I've yet to to see proof for that dumb rumour. Also, the Anbu masks from Naruto do not look as similar as the mask from another anime called Darker than Black. So why Naruto?

[@globox123456789]

***** That would be nice, because how can you copyright fictional masks?

[@Ghost77K]

I really don't like the "Maybe it will be explained in a future Dlc", I just think the game should be complete by it self and a DLC should add new things to the game, new things to the main story, not explain something that was supposed to be in the main game

[@Aotearoha7]

Completely agreed. Also the fact that there are just holes in the game the dlc or patches cannot change- e.g geographic discontinuity/ ridiculous bonfire placement/ the famous need to get 4 souls that will help you open the shrine of winter ( instead of jumping some rocks) and some. Bloodborne please

[@DarkWolfGamingX]

I like how he actualy went with "prepare to why"

[@Vattsu]

The giants in this game are the same as in Dark Souls (one). Remember the giants in Sen's Fortress and Gough and the giant blacksmith? They all had some iron masks on their faces (gough had the helm) so they might have covered their odd holes in the face. They also share the same skin like those ones so I am quite sure those are the same.

[@Hekk.]

Hard to disagree with you, + Gough didn't lose his ability to be "the best marksman" after they "got rid of his eyes" maybe because he hadn't eyes? Just a toilet face .O.

[@Vattsu]

***** Gwyn is different type of Giant. I am talking about the ones like the giant blacksmith and Gough's helm might is more of a symbol rather than for defense.

[@13mgreg]

giant black smith has a nose. implying hes got a face :P

[@Hekk.]

13mgreg Shh his nose is a lie!

[@argetlam350]

I have to disagree, for starters Hawkeye Gough is a giant himself and he is definitely more human in appearance then what the giants look like in Dark Souls 2. Then the few giants we see, like the one at Sen's and the Blacksmith which have no similar appearance to the ones in Dark Souls 2. Both look entirely different from one another in appearance and even in size they are somewhat different. I mean besides the Giant Lord and The Last Giant (who are probably one and the same IMO), the others are shorter in appearance (not by much but they do appear shorter then the giants in Dark Souls) and quite bulky with spikes on their shoulders. Plus they can't speak, I don't think the giants regressed through time between Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2. In the end I believe the giants in Dark Souls 2 are entirely different from those in Dark Souls.

[@tanknomaniac]

I can't be the only one who just wanted to give Lucatiel of Mirrah a hug; right?

[@Lord_Catra]

The item description for the warped sword as well as the Flexile Sentry itself would make an interesting piece of lore

[@VampiricDarkDragon]

One thing that occurred to me is the fact that the player can acquire the soul of an ancient dragon, which seems a bit odd. Given that the origin for the everlasting dragons has them being described as being 'part-elemental' in terms of the nature (the reason for their immortality is their stone scales), thus they are said to not truly be "alive". Then there's the fact that souls were gained from the first flame, which came into existence AFTER the dragons were already been around for some time. Either the everlasting dragons gained souls from the flame as well after the fact, possibly explaining how their descendants gave rise to drakes and such, or they always had souls, and these souls are not connected with the first flame. Anyone have an opinion on this?

[@atijohn8135]

The Ancient Dragon is an Aldia's experiment. This also explains, why we can kill him without lightning Yup, I'm replying to a 4 years old comment :P

[@atijohn8135]

@@curtismason4932 It actually doesn't matter, I just wanted to say that the ancient dragon is Aldia's experiment

[@heyimanameheyimalastname]

@@atijohn8135 ​ @Curtis Mason I know the point was that the DS2 Ancient Dragon was just an experiment by Aldia, which is true; he _was_ an artificial dragon, though whether Aldia was successful in his recreation of a real Everlasting Dragon or not is debatable. That's because ever since Seath betrayed them by stealing the Primordial Crystal, the Everlasting Dragons became not quite so everlasting, as their almost-impenetrable scales stopped regenerating and thus they could be meaningfully injured and killed (well, not that they were "alive" in the first place since life and death didn't exist in their age, but you know what I mean). Lightning was very effective at piercing their scales, but they can die to any old injury without them. We even fight a real true surviving Everlasting Dragon in DS1 which doesn't need to be killed by lightning either; Kalameet.

[@panos3320]

Speculation Wall of text incomming.... past ? never thought of it that way. always thought the character travels to another dimension and that the fire keeper is just an illusion of the herald. who knows.... You are right, the cycle thing is less appealing, but only because its something overused in these kind of games. dark souls felt unique cause there was this fear of an era's end and the uncertainty of what the future holds. The series got a sort of good ending with das2 (at least the world goes on) and while i like that, falling into cliches kind of bugs me for the giants, my theories go all over the place. what im always staying with is that they are probably affiliated with the dark, that they are some sort of kaathes visipn of the age of humans. if we are going completely with the theory that drangleic = lordran then my best thought is that they come from the land of the great swamp, home of the p[yromancers, who were probably tricked like oolacile and new londo and were consumed by the abyss. there are some things that i think as hints to that, The classes of Dark souls games often represent lands and groups of people. In Dark souls 2 pyromancy is well spread and accepted, but despite it comming with an area and story of its own in DaS, the pyromancer class is not represented in Dark souls 2. When you go to no mans warf you find dark stalkers, corrupted creatures that look like the residents of Oolacile. When killed, they often drop pieces of the tattered set. The Varangians that probably brought them there have traveled across the seas and probably to the land of giants. Their greatest treasure that they keep in the captains quarters is a pyromancy flame and a fireball. Aside from that, when you go to the gutter you find a dark pyromancy flame. At first you'd think that this is a new DaS 2 thing, infusing flames like weapons to produce different effects, but no, there is just dark pyromancy flame Finally, when you go into the memories of the giants, you see that the only kind of magic the giant casters use is pyromancies (unless im missing something. am i ?) like fireballs and poison. No sorceries or mirracles can be seen. It also gives a reason to the mother of pyromancy (quelaana most likely) to wage war against the old ones. she wanted to link the flame to bring back the light to her land, but failed, so pays for her sins in sinners rise. For the great prize i always think the throne too. I believe that it was something like the center of the dark giants hive mind (something that is mentioned as singular rage in Drummonds dialogue) from which they are controlled by the dark lord. Vendrick took it to try and controll the dark soul within people to stop the curse of hollowing with his will, instead of burning himself, but never came close to achieving this. . Soul puppetry is something that existed for a long time in the land. The bell guardians (tichy gren maybe), the small statues in ornifexes shop, iron clads and ruin sentinels etc were vessels carrying souls given a certain task. Heck, maybe even thats the explanation to why we see old dragonslayer back, someone used his soul to make a puppet to guard the cathedral. But controll was not complet as seen by the smelter demon. And thats where The throne comes in . Vendrick had his own puppets, the golems and Aldia was even able to controll the minds of his....guests, so the throne might have been the key to that. If Nashandra was to sit on the throne, she would probably try to take back the pigmys gift to humans and try to claim all fragments of the dark soul back to her, to fulfill her lust for souls, so letting her is no option. As for the reason that you fight Nashandra again and again, the answer comes from something that you have mentioned in the past. Our character in the game fully hollows when we lose the will to play,rage quit dark souls and never come back. Nashandra fight the chosen undead again and again, untill he hollows and she can claim the keys to the throne from your hollowed corpse Damn, i hope somebody reads this. those become longer and longer as time passes :p

[@gr4ystripe18]

Some nice theories in here man! :D I really agree with your theory of why Nashandra keeps fighting us and your theory about who/what the giants are.

[@gr4ystripe18]

Yeah i beat her first try on my first playthrough half hollowed so no summoned help. She is WAY too easy.

[@usuck902]

It makes sense since vendrick took the power of the giants. and his ring gives bonus fire damage.

[@cussingbasilisk6041]

Hay Vattie I'd say your lore and things you didn't know have probably improved my dark souls play through as before I found your video's I was 20 hours in and hadn't even rang the second bell and was only level 29 and now owth my newer play through I'm at level 43 and have rang both bells of awakening and am now just working on my level and my weapons and armour. Big thank you really enjoy your stuff keep uploading

[@Ohnonoki]

Sometimes I think Dark Souls intentionally leaves gaps in the story so Vaati can spill his interpretation juice all over it.

[@CateranOverlord]

That's one way to look at it.. Finding and piecing bits of story from Souls games is rather fun and interesting.

[@PaladinfffLeeroy]

I'm getting closer now! 10

[@Zeredek]

There was a Giant Blacksmith in Dark Souls m8.

[@IAmTheChimbleySweep]

Don't forgot punchy mc firebomb and boulder man in sens fortress.

[@syntheticsamurai]

Yeah that's what I assumed, the Giants in DS faces were completely covered there could have very well been a hole behind all that headgear.

[@Hasphew]

tou hou And Gough. By the way, why does he need eyeholes in his helm if his face is a giant b-hole?

[@IAmTheChimbleySweep]

***** Nah, the giants in the tomb of giants clearly had faces.

[@IAmTheChimbleySweep]

Hasphew Might be eyes in the bad of those but , hole faces, you never know.

[@Dean444ful]

Hey man just wanted to say that I love your videos and that for years now you have been making the Souls games 10 times more enjoyable than they already are for me. But yea man keep the great work and dedication up and as soon as I get a job at the end of next summer I'll be helping to kindle the channel as much as possible. Keep it up, man.

[@PonzooonTheGreat]

Gavlan's helm has the same thing on top as Vestaldt. Coincidence? I THINK NOT.

[@TheBeardedCaveman884]

Veltstadt is actually from Shulva(Sunken crown DLC), so maybe the Gyrm were too. Think about it, they both live underground in areas of stone. Maybe the reason the Gyrm hate humans, is because a human, Yorgh, led his human knights into a sacred city and defiled their object of worship, to the point where the dragon destroyed the city. Everyone ran and the Gyrm found a new land, underground, that houses a saint, and is also being defiled. Yet again, humans are bringing filth upon the sacred. Then there's Gavlan. He just doesn't care. Maybe he was too young to remember Shulva's destruction, so it doesn't resonate with him as much as the others, or maybe he's just an atheist and sees no problem with what's happening.

[@Joshstevens1133]

+Garidan Bane look at vaatis Lindelt video

[@arealhumanbean3058]

Garidan Bane I think Gavlan dont atack you because he is... well... drunk

[@TheDarkFable]

I might be one of the few but I don't believe the old lady at the start is the emerald herald. I think she is just a 4th firekeeper. Because the herald even states that she is a failed creation, they tried to make a firekeeper and failed. If she is a failed experiment, why would the 3 other real genuine firekeepers treat her like an equal. From their personalities I highly doubt they would just let her hang out with them. In the opening it says "In a walled off land far to the north", so Drangleic is a sealed off kingdom, I feel that water portal is one of the ways for someone to travel there. As for the child Herald, well there is concept are for a small child version of her, and I have seen pointed out multiple times when you meet her at the Aerie she is actually smaller and sounds different. There is also the possibility in these future DLC's we meet a younger version of her.

[@JacStance]

Keep in mind that all of the Firekeepers in DS1 were flawed as well. Anastacia could not speak, the Darkmoon Knightess was said to be hiding a hideous form and the Fair Lady was, well... that one's kind of obvious. Shanalotte could have easily been a Firekeeper because she was flawed, instead of in spite of it. The other three could have also had flaws that were just not told to us; for all we know they were all in their twenties and just had bad skin and teeth.

[@SuperUnunquadium]

Jac the Sipper I think by failure, fable means Shanalotte can't be a firekeeper. The ones from DS1 have personal flaws that don't seem to interfere with their jobs. Perhaps the herald is flawed as in she can't firekeep in general.

[@JacStance]

Perhaps, but the game doesn't really state this is the case. So although it is possible, I don't personally believe it. Firekeepers don't really do much besides tend the fire, I find it much more likely that she was intended for something else but was deemed a failure, and so became a Firekeeper instead.

[@MaryMaryMarcy]

Jac the Sipper My main problem is that killing her doesn't make the fire go out, and if I recall she still appears in other places regardless, dark souls clearly showed that killing a firekeeper would extinguish the bonfire, and as far as I know dark souls 2 doesn't have any evidence that the link between a firekeeper and bonfire should have changed, though navlaan is pretty crazy, I am inclined to believe some of his comments.

[@JacStance]

Didari True, but a Firekeeper is only bound to her own fire. Perhaps Shanalotte's bonfire is not the one in Majula. They talk of her as if she used to be a keeper, but has since given up the duty. Perhaps her bonfire is far away, wherever she lived before she gave up her duty and began looking for the next monarch. I don't know one way or the other, but it is true that there seems to be some hints of truth in Navlaan's words, but who's to say?

[@heyllo1337]

fun tid bit, the intro to souls 2 gave me such chills in regards to bloodborne. there were 3 points that really got me. "perhaps youve seen it, in a dream"

[@Gaiko32]

I have only one thing to debate... GO-LEM! NOT GOLL-EM!

[@shawnmarcum8078]

Does Giant Lord use Storm Ruler? Reason I ask is because it's using what looks like is white air. And I've heard the connection that Yhorm is a descendant to Giant Lord. So potentially, someone picked the sword up (potentially it was Seigward of Catarina), and then he gave it to Yhorm as a gift from his father. We don't see the sword in Ds2 after that battle and it remains lost. But then how did he get that from Demon's Souls?

[@bobbsaget1911]

I’ve been just playing dark souls 1 and listening to your stories it’s the best background noise honestly the prepare to cry series made me watch all this and all of your stories make me a little more aware of where I trample during my adventure thank you for making me love the souls series more then ever 🤩🤩🤩

[@ForTheViolence]

I think by "overseas" they mean a different time period, If your character could travel back in time then why not vendrick? Didn't vendrick have something to do with the "creation" of the emerald herald? Maybe she was created with the power to send people back in time.. So maybe she sent vendrick back in time, she said she failed to do what she was created to. to get the lord vessel and the great souls and maybe the giants in dark souls 2 chased him to the future to get it back? Not having the soul vessel in the past anymore could cause a strange chain of events to make the giants of lordran look strange, or it could be a penalty of time travel. Why is vendrick so gigantic when hollow to begin with? Maybe the giants are hollows and that's what they look like when they hollow. When the chosen undead goes onto the ruin of drangleic he crosses a big body of water, and also fire keeper shrine is right by the ocean, it's at the end of dranglic. These are just some of my quick speculations, don't flame me for it. Just trying to contribute.

[@SeppukuAddict]

Things in Dark Souls tend to be bigger depending on how powerful they are. Take Big Hat Logan's dialogue for example, he says that he doesn't believe in gods in the traditional sense, but also says that he thinks gods are just powerful beings. Gwyn is big, but shorter than Vendrick because he's been ran dry by the first flame.

[@TheLynxLax]

Over seas, like the seas of time I get what you are going for ya and it adds up to me for what I am thinking of the lore

[@HunterOfHircine]

Well we see gwyn (lord of cinder) as hollow and he does not look like a tree.

[@TheLynxLax]

Yea but fromsoft said to pay attention to when not where this is coming from... Maybe this game takes place in the past, that makes sense to me. and you are playing as the pygmy since ik I might get hate for this but, "Magnus" was the suppose to be the pygmy and I do think he is/was. But with dark souls II all of what we think is his soul is torn apart maybe all of those souls are him but before he became him... I mean it makes since. In a way he was the king of darkness correct? and with what, 4 dark souls into one human body, maybe that transformed him when he sat on the throne? Makes sense with him being able to grab us in dark souls I if you have the dlc....

[@SeppukuAddict]

TheLynxLax He's not the Dark Lord, he's a primeval human. Nashandra is a collection of fragments of his soul. His soul is not the Dark Soul, according to it's description "his humanity went wild" which implies that the Dark Soul had been used to create humanity beforehand, the Abyss is a wild humanity just like the Bed of Chaos is a wild first flame. I'm not so sure about the rest of your theory.

[@shoanrsr]

I like to believe that the prize stolen by Vendrick was the giants king which by the time we meet him he's called the last giant. I like this because 1 it helps explain why we see him shackled 2 it helps to also explain the giants single minded pursuit to free their king and it explains where Vendrick obtained HIS giants kinship from to build the golems. I think the giant lord is simply their current king and that he has come to reclaim the rightful ruler with his subjects and brethren in arms..

[@shoanrsr]

Oops had a typo their single minded pursuit is to free their old king.

[@mawichan]

I really like this theory!

[@Nuck-Fo0bZz]

I love the idea of cycles and how ridiculously hopeless and ultimately pointless our journey is

[@TheGhostdude99]

Man it still makes no sense to me. It seems like the ancient dragon, The emerald herald, and nashandra all want you to win. Nashandra guides you through everything, tell you to go see the king, get the giants kinship etc etc. yet then again seems to resent both the ancient dragon and the emerald herald. It seems almost as if she wants you to win. She wants you to take the throne. Do the thing that vendrick couldn't. It doesn't make sense for her to try to come in and kill you at the last minute. Hell if she didn't want you to take the throne why did she go through all the trouble of telling you what to do? Why didn't she just go after you the second she first saw you? It doesn't add up Her last words to you were to become one with the dark, I'm taking this in a literal explanation as, usher in the age of dark. I think both The herald and nashandra wanted you to get to the throne, but afterwards the herald wants you to link the flame, while nashandra wants you to usher in the age of dark. I think in the past, before you went to dranleic. Nashandra had won, the flames had faded and we were well into the age of dark. Which is why the emerald herald was trying to send people back in time to stop that from happening before it was to late. I think the cycle can only continue if the fire is eventually linked. If it's just darkness the cycle ends. That is fate. Soon the flames will fade, and only dark remains. Breaking fate would be continuing the cycle. What people have tried to do for so long. The emerald herald has worked tirelessly time and time again, kingdom after kingdom, watching the flames die, growing old, and sending undead back into time again and again trying to stop this. To reverse fate. And finally she finds someone strong enough to do so. But Nashandra sees this, and tries to get you on her side, so you can just ignore the flame and let it die. And at the end of the game when you take the throne, you have the choice... The renounce fate and link the flame. Or just sit there, and watch the world turn....into darkness That's just my take

[@TheGhostdude99]

I think in the past, before you went to dranleic. Nashandra had won, the flames had faded and we were well into the age of dark. Which is why the emerald herald was trying to send people back in time to stop that from happening before it was to late. I think the cycle can only continue if the fire is eventually linked. If it's just darkness the cycle ends. That is fate. Soon the flames will fade, and only dark remains. Breaking fate would be continuing the cycle. What people have tried to do for so long. The emerald herald has worked tirelessly time and time again, kingdom after kingdom, watching the flames die, growing old, and sending undead back into time again and again trying to stop this. To reverse fate. And finally she finds someone strong enough to do so. But Nashandra sees this, and tries to get you on her side, so you can just ignore the flame and let it die. And at the end of the game when you take the throne, you have the choice... The renounce fate and link the flame. Or just sit there, and watch the world turn....into darkness That's just my take

[@TheGhostdude99]

Or just sit there, and watch the world turn....into darkness That's just my take

[@Khuras17]

It makes sense if you consider how she was unable to open the way to the throne herself, she NEEDED you to succeed so that she could get the doors open, once you weren't useful anymore, she tries to kill you and take you place. Its a fairly common Story in fiction.

[@TheGhostdude99]

Khuras17 Hm. I guess that can be another way to interpret but that has a loophole. Why would she kill you if she knows you are undead? She knows you will come back. What does she hope to accomplish by killing you? That she can just hurry up and take the throne before you make it back? I just take her dialogue more literal. She said "in the end, he never took the true throne." Referring to that she wanted vendrick to sit on it and usher the age of dark, that she cant do it herself. She also tell you "Brave Undead, seek the throne. Follow the symbol of the monarch, and do what must be done." Which i once again take as a literal meaning. As do whatever you can to get to the throne. She desperately wants, she desperately NEEDS you to take the throne for yourself, because she cannot do it, maybe perhaps only an undead can either link the flame or let it die.

[@Khuras17]

PrinceJ Have you not considered that when she says those things she is not being truthful to her intentions? Its likely she is just telling you what she feels will motivate you to open the way from her, also to answer your question about why kill you when you're undead, first off she says she wants to make you "one with the dark" which I take to mean she kind of wants to consume your soul, just like you have so many others. another thing is that in order to usher the age of dark, you have to let the flame die, by killing you she keeps you from being able to link the flame. thus fulfilling her goal, she doesn't have to take the throne, just keep you away from it.

[@SuperDynakin]

More than anything, i'd like to know what the deal is with the Heide Knights...they're (in my opinion) the most ambiguous and fascinating elements in the game. Why are they just sitting there? Why do they look so defeated and tired, is their will shattered? Maybe they know of the cycle and see it's pointless to push further? Are they even hollowed, they don't aggro like normal hollows? Why do some look like they have a broken arm? Why are NONE OF THEM located at Heides Tower of Flame? I really hope the DLC's shed some light on these topics as well as the many convoluted topics in this video.

[@Infighter_]

Possibly Blue Sentinels invaded Heides and banished its Knights, who knows

[@m4hche3zy]

I think it's because those Heide knights are assigned to travel to other places,but they gave up as the Undead are just coming at them,probably overwhelming the knights and going Hollow themselves,after realizing that they're going to go Hollow the next time they die,the Knights might have given up on their journey to avoid hollowing themselves,and in the end?well that's for you to decide if you killed them,ending their journey,Or leaving them to their own choices

[@nicolasradrigan21]

They have to be hollows, since Heide sank long long ago and there'd prolly not be any living remnant from that kingdom after so much time had passed. As for why they don't aggro, well, they're just to cool to.

[@SahnigReingeloetet]

I don‘t care that not a single soul will read this, but I‘ve really delved into the „tree“ thing in Dark Souls as a whole, trees are almost always somewhat mentioned in all three Dark Souls installments, however nothing about them is really explained properly. The norse mythology states that trees are the ancestors of humanity and that the world is dependent on the world tree. Although it‘s metaphorical, the Kabbalah explains that all existence is reflected by the tree of life. Common science says that plants, and later trees, were probably amongst the first complex beings on land, and their ancestors, Cyanobacteria, go by the same way via photosynthesis. What I want to be going on about is the memetic importance of trees, trees symbolize life in balance as well as some fragment of eternity, they are essential to existence in nearly all existing cultures. Dark Souls 1 states that in a world shrouded by fog (a world where souls are centralized and perception is limited) and dominated by the ancient dragons, arch trees existed. What these arch trees exactly are or where they come from we don‘t know, it never got explained, same with the ancient dragons. What is a „dragon“ in Souls memetic? Dragons are always tied with the perception of perfection, they are all powerful and immortal beings who control the elements and are protected by stone scales, stone plays an important part here. Becoming a proper dragon is the goal of many (as seen in the path of the dragon religion) and failing to become one will transform you into a serpent. Stone is a seemingly everlasting material and the dragon‘s immortality seems to stem from their intertwining fate with the material. Furthermore, Dark Souls 2 established the existence of giant trees, giants who die grow into trees who will sow seeds of the giant‘s tree, meaning they reproduce by dying. Dark Souls 3 also has one such a tree beside firelink shrine. What really bothers me here is the trees atop the high wall of Lothric, where hollows are seemingly transforming into trees. But how can they, if hollows are supposedly immortal? Same thing with giants, who seem to be able to outlive everything over millenia. What I take from this is that humans and giants are somehow related. Please be patient, I‘ve got a lot of information to compress here. Back to the dragons and what I want to go on about with them, dragons are the embodiment of perfection, at least in terms of might. Their descendants (the drakes and dragons like Midir) aren‘t even close to being as powerful as them, after all, the war against them scattered their souls amongst all living beings. And trees are seemingly contrary to them, one being draws its strength from stone and power (lifeless + active) and the other draws its strength from wood and resilience (living + reactive), trees are fabled for their capability of absorbing huge amounts of power over all Souls games after all (the bed of chaos, curse rotten greatwood, farron keep). Now what am I going on about. Dragons and trees are both absolute beings, completely contrary to another and capable to not only live in harmony with each other (the age of ancients) but also in a world that stays completely still. Second thing is, beside their characteristics, they are heavily tied with giants and, more importantly, humans as well. Humans. One thing that bothers me is the capability of humans to transform into both trees and dragons (tree hollows, harald legion, path of the dragon, serpentine humans, etc.). See what happens when a human turns into a dragon, they turn into stone. And see what happens when a human turns into a tree, they turn into wood. Human dregs are the heaviest material in the world here and they form the bedrock of the world. Every single aspect of humans points at them to be essentially the missing link between giants and dragons, as well as crucial to the world‘s existence. Trees (giants) and dragons (drakes) are higher beings, while humans are lesser ones, but by aspiring different things they can turn themselves into higher beings as well: trees are absolutely active, they absorb energy en mass, and the tree hollows seem to be striving for the sun, a metaphor for them wanting „everything“. Humans who turned into dragons turned into solid stone (archdragon peak), to become a dragon you must strip yourself from all your belongings and meditate calmly, a metaphor for wanting „nothing“. Every age, it seems, was tainted by the greed of men. By usurping the flame, the world full of hollows will turn into world full of trees and dragons, souls will concentrate in all powerful beings and the world will get shrouded by fog. People, we‘ve gone full circle.

[@kinnebian]

found the hidden gem!

[@darreideamos2309]

Holy shit man the last sentence about the souls of hollows merging together to create another age of dragons is a very cool theory I've never heard before

[@darreideamos2309]

But that could happen only if the abyss doesn't consume all and creates a bottomless sea that Aldrich saw in his visions

[@Aaron-rd6go]

Considering Hawkeye Gough is pronounced "Goff", I like to think "Memory of Jeigh" is "Memory of Jeff".

[@andrewjames9051]

A wise man once said the "cycles" are just a worthless excuse for the inevitable Dark Souls 3.

[@iHeardYouLiekThem]

Why would they need an excuse?

[@andrewjames9051]

iHeardYouLiekThem To milk more $$$$ (lol @ announcement of DLC before release, btw). Have you seen the critique?

[@iHeardYouLiekThem]

Andrew James You didn't answer my question. If they wanted to make DS3 why would they need cycles? They could just make a new one with whatever story they wanted and it would sell.

[@714RIPPER]

I don't think 3 is coming. This wise man sounds like a fucking idiot because Fromsoft has never shown themselves to be the type of developer to pull a CoD and make 8 of the same game.

[@CapteinObvious]

Sage Myers It's not their call, Namco is the publisher.

[@Kedginator]

Great video man the theory's to piece together the story really seem as though they fit in a game that is so subtle in it's storytelling

[@ArchlordZer0]

Didn't Giants exist in Dark Souls 1? There was an area called "Tomb of Giants".

[@billygoatguy3960]

+Lightbringer giants were alot of things in DS 1, they were the lords you had to kill and a race of beings like the giant blacksmith, he's speaking of this specific race of giant which is nothing from DS 1

[@sanfransiscon]

I believe the DS2 giants are the same giants, but look slightly different because of their connection with turning into trees. The "hole" in their head that hides their face looks similar to Yhorm The Giant's headwear, leading me to believe that the DS2 giants are either wearing similar armor (perhaps stone armor that covers their body) or the armor fused with their body through their transformation.

[@IethargicAnarchist]

I like the idea of the Throne of Want being what Vendrick stole, but here's my problem with that. The Throne has a human-sized seat carved into it, which might suggest that it originally belonged to the Giants, but Vendrick himself is giant-sized. He would have had no reason to carve a smaller seat for himself. Which of course raises the question of who carved it, and for whom.

[@galbinati]

Since Nashandra said that he never sat on the true throne, it makes sense. Maybe someone else did, like Aldia.

[@Dylangillian]

what if vendrick used to be human sized? you need giant souls to deal more damage to him, and the chair where you find his soul is human shaped.

[@Schleicherfreund]

Guilherme Gab But the throne isn't made for giant butts either, so what would their relation be to the kindling?

[@FrostedSapling]

I think it is the throne except that the throne dates back to before the giants and that is why they're are two seat sizes carved in, but I really have no evidence for that

[@Schleicherfreund]

Ivan Navarro Look at the throne, it cleary has a single human sized seat and armrests, it also looks natural, not like it's carved. Even if the throne is the "prize", then why would they be mad to have it lost and how would you transport such a thing, seems way too far fetched to me.

[@ryanmacisaac5280]

“Forge I can, strong I am” giant black Smith from dark souls 1

[@RelativelyBest]

You know, it's always been a pet theory of mine is that the opening cutscene depicts the player character traveling to an alternate universe, rather than through time. After all, you end up in Things Betwixt which implies a location that is somewhat between worlds. In other words, Drangleic is in a different world from the original Lordran, where things turned out a bit differently. This would explain a lot of little inconsistencies, like why some of the Black Knight weapons have different designs and properties, why Drangliec is populated by different monsters and beasts than Lordran, why Ornstein is apparently still alive despite the fact that he _has_ to die in Dark Souls, etc. This wouldn't even be that weird canon-wise since alternate worlds is effectively how they explain the multiplayer function - something about the curse and the fire waning weakens the fabric of reality. Why would the developers do this? Well, it could just have been an excuse to make the second game a different experience and allow the developers more creative freedom without making the two games completely unrelated. So perhaps rather than trying to figure out how Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 fit together, they're not supposed to and instead we should just be looking at parallels and talk about the ways they are different. As for the weird portal in the opening being time travel gateway rather than a dimensional one, I admit that is also possible. Either way it's a bit weird that the Bearer of the Curse would need to come from a different world/time, especially if they were also suffering from the Undead Curse. If it's just a matter of cycles, wouldn't it make more sense if each cycle produced it's own champion? Someone is going to have to fix things in the original place you were in, after all, which makes it seem like the Fire Keepers/Emerald Herald stole the hero of a different story. (Unless of course that was a different world where the problem wasn't fixable in the first place and the Bearer of the Curse was better off elsewhere.) From the perspective of a storyteller, the only purpose for the Dark Souls 2 opening cinematic I can see is that it's only supposed to be a clue to the player that the Bearer of the Curse is from elsewhere in time and/or space. But implying that the Bearer of the Curse is from a different time seems kinda pointless since it has no relevance to the rest of the game - they could have just had the character wander around until they got to Drangleic and it would have changed nothing. On the other hand, if we assume Drangleic is in a different _world,_ the message becomes: "Want to know why this game is so different from the first one? Here's a hint."

[@isocryd]

I thought the dragon after the Aerie was Vendrick's brother? I'd like that the Lordvessel was more than just a nod, but, honestly, why would the Lordvessel be in the basement of a random mansion in the ass end corner of the kingdom instead of, say, Drangleic castle, or the shrine of Amana

[@franticpony1376]

I too think that the Dragon on top is actually Lord Aldia who managed to recreate the essence of an everlasting dragon and somehow turn himself into one... i think the cat in majula says that it's something just playing the part of a dragon... To the lordvessel someone commented on a video saying that it might have been shattered and It's shards spread across the bonfires to allow travel between them instantly... As for why it's in majula... well it's pretty much the equivalent of DS1s firelink shrine so there might actually be something very special about that one bonfire. which would fit with it being the only place where you can burn the sublime bone dust.

[@emlynselene1096]

I love how every theory I've ever seen about Aldia was wrong, lol

[@aliciagrayson4203]

my personal theory on the broken Lord Vessel is that Vendrick and Aldia studied it, discovering how to implant souls into inanimate objects, but shattered it in the process

[@femthingevelyn]

VAATIVIDYA CALLED THE 4TH ENDING TO DARK SOULS 3 BEFORE THEY WERE DONE WITH DARK SOULS 2 IM FUCKING SCREAMING

[@djspacebard]

Regarding the Old Dragonslayer and Orienstein (I hope thats spelt right), Orienstein might be the son of the old Dragonslayer or something. The armor is part of a family thing are something. The Giants might of owned the land and were then driven out. Whoever was before Vendrick (if there was anyone in the area) might of driven them out, found the throne, gotten someone to carve a seat fitting a human and said "THE KINGDOM IS MINE" or something. The Giants want the land back from the humans, and they want vengence for them killing their kind? Hopefully this DLC will give us a reason.

[@djspacebard]

Jess Bennett Very good point. I didn't think of that. I think I need to read the Old Dragonslayer's soul, to see what it's all about.

[@djspacebard]

Jess Bennett But..... why don't the two die like Gywnevere does? Gywnevere dies instantly. Also, I don't think you can absorb the energy of an illusion.

[@opydoesstory6532]

My interpretation was that Ornstein is a legend passed down among the knights who would eventually form the Blue Sentinels. They got a hold of his ring and his gear, and since then someone has always filled the role as the Old Dragonslayer, a title given to the worthy. Since the "descendants" couldn't use lightning like Ornstein, it was replaced by hexes and other dark magic.

[@djspacebard]

Jess Bennett Yeah. It's a pitty there was no bit of dialouge with him saying "I can do it this time!!!" (After he is defeated) "Not..... not..... again.

[@MrYogiLopez]

I don't think Ornstein was killed in the battle with the chosen undead. If you look closely before Smough smashes him with the hammer his hand was twitching. Plus. you don't get his soul after the battle just Smough's. When you kill Gwynievere (SP?) the dark comes. Maybe that is why he has dark powers in DSII. That would mean though that Smough dying last would be cannon to the story.

[@CadenDoesGames]

I said this on one of your videos a long while ago, and now I'll say it again. I personally think that that the Old Dragon Slayer is NOT Ornstein. It's merely a successor, one that took his place to protect Gwynevere after she fled and erected the city which is now Heide's Tower of Flame. This would make sense as the chances of the Ornstein in Anor Londo being an image are slim because he is capable of feeling emotion displayed when Smough died. To explain the dark magic, he resorted to it when Gwynevere left Heide, probably as a way to spite her. He stayed in the Cathedral to cut down anyone who possibly came to worship her. So not Ornstein, but someone elected by Gwynevere to take his place after she feld. The same armor is used to keep tribute and shows the lineage of the knights.

[@Procrastinerd]

Can anyone answer this? Why is the Iron Keep floating above the top of the Earthen Peak tower?

[@CRAZZYADRIAN911]

Might be because it's in the mouth of a volcano..

[@Lucas-hg5un]

Shhh

[@Procrastinerd]

Adrian Sheffield I don't understand the physics of that - you can clearly see the top of the tower in the boggy area just before entering Earthen Peak. There is no volcano in sight.

[@fuzxled]

its very similar to the intro cutscene where you jump into the water and how its possible things betwixt isnt a real place and its only a place that chosen undead can see and go to

[@Procrastinerd]

***** Very interesting. Dare we speculate that both Things Betwixt and the Iron Keep are illusory? It is possible that Undead consciousness is distorted or perhaps programmed differently?

[@BowerBomB]

my own personal interpretation of the DS2 universe is that it's some form of purgatory. But I'm pretty late to the party and it's really only a feeling I get....

[@lylechippah858]

Don't give up skeleton!

[@zxb995511]

You are never late to Dark Souls.

[@LessSuspect]

The theory that you're seeing the past of Drangleic makes sense, but I don't think you're traveling to the past. My interpretation is that Drangleic is sealed away from the world to contain it, the same way Brume tower, Eleum Loyce and Shulva were sealed away from Drangleic. The geography also makes no sense, that adds credence to the purgatory theory, Drangleic could be viewed more symbolically than as a usual place.

[@stoagymahalo5268]

4:58 I love how he called that.

[@dillhole1008]

Same

[@GARGANTUANMASKEDFISH]

"If we just get another cycle in Dark Souls 3, that'll be pretty disappointing" Sorry Vaati ;-;

[@JulesLeStrat]

GARGANTUANMASKEDFISH mmmmh, you might want to reconsider that after having played both DLCs ^^