Dark Souls 3 Lore: The Lothric Civil War 

I just noticed, the blue armors symbolizes the ashen estus, which turns fire cold.

I'd actually love it if we could go into the memories of some the Knight's corpses, sort of like the giants from Dark Souls 2, and see the war actually happening.

Dark Souls Civil War: Bloodshades vs Grove Crusaders

There's also the fact that a lot of blue caped knights have succumbed to the abyss, hence the red eyes.

I think the beyblade angels were fighting their way through the archives to get to lorian and lothrics room. If you see, they're tables in lothrics/lorians room. That means that food was served there. the beyblade angels goal in the beginning was to get thicc. They somewhat succeeded but they ate all the food in the high wall of lothric and had to invade lothric castle for more thiccness. I believe gwynavere lead them because she was a god of thicc.

That's actually probably the best analysis of the civil war that I've seen, never thought of the Fire/Dark focus of the conflict before - well done!

Notes: Winged Knight Twin Ax states the weapon was used for beheading. We find the Lothric Knights decapitated. The first scholar was probably the Crystal Sage that locked the doors of the Grand Archives forever. Sulyvahn probably showed up long after the Lothric civil war which had been going on for some time. Anastasia of Astora had her tongue removed. When she's reborn (after we retrieve her soul) she gets it back. Why doesn't Rosaria? Further evidence that Gwynevere is the Queen of Lothric. The lattice work in Irrithyl, Anor Londo and Lothric is a recurring pattern. There's still a dragon slayer armor protecting Lothric and the Warriors of Sunlight covenant is located her. The connection with dragons could mean Gwynevere didn't care much about her brother's "betrayal" to side with the dragons. Great video Jake! Keep up the good work.

Given that you can find red and blue clad lothric knights in close proximity to one another, it seems that the civil war wasn't settled and rather just ended with hollow stagnation. Or will they fight if drawn close enough together?

Gotthard isn't heading away from Lothric. He actually helps the Ashen One on their journey to gather the four other Lords of Cinder. The way his model is placed when you reach the Archives and the fact that he had the key on him (if you gathered the other four Lord Souls) would actually suggest that he was heading inside but was struck down by the other Black Hand (or anyone else I suppose, but they are right next to the elevator that leads to the bonfire, which gives a little more merit to the theory). It seems more like Gotthard was trying to head to the Princes and collect their souls to continue the Age of Fire (why else would he help the Ashen One, someone literally raised from the grave to gather the Lords if they don't do their jobs?).

._. I don't why I came here expecting a dark soul-civil war trailer, but I like the idea that there was a civil war in Lothric.

As for your point of Gwynnevere changing her appearance, remember that the Gwynnevere in DS1 was an illusion. For all we know, that is not what Gwynnevere actually looked like, but instead what people would EXPECT her to look like. In fact, for the Irithyllian race in character creation, it is said that it has "the features of the old gods." This is reinforced by Gwyndolin, who has pale white skin. Rosaria ALSO has pallid, "Irithylllian" skin. Also, and I came to this epiphany when you were talking about Rosaria. I think Leonhard may actually be Ocelotte. He is implied to be the son of Rosaria, who we now know to be Gwynnevere, is a talented sorcerer, much like king Oceiros, and "suffered terrible burns to his body." (dragon fire?). He even wields a moonlight sorcery weapon, and Oceiros' soul can be transposed into a moonlight weapon. Please look into this, it can't all be a coincidence.

I always thought that the blue Lothric knights were just higher ranked captains or something, but I did suspect the winged knights to be blamed for all the dead Lothric knights and there was some sort of war. Nice video.

@The Ashen Hollow I've been speculating that Queen of Lothric = Gwynevere = Rosaria and that the Dancer is her first born for months. My take on that is that Sulyvhan, when he decided to get rid of the royal family and take over Lothric, ordered the Dancer to kill her own mother and bring her tongue as concrete proof of her loyalty. The Dancer couldn't bring herself to do it, so she only robbed her of her tongue and forced her into hiding, taking on the new identity of Rosaria. Sulyvhan received her tongue and then "promoted" the Dancer into an outrider knight in order to get rid of her as well. The Dancer knew she would end up as a mindless beast, but she accepted her destiny anyways, both to atone for the sin of harming her own mother and to protect her two little (half-)brothers, Lorian and Lothric.

Also ‘robbed of her tongue’ could mean her daughter simply surpassed her mothers influence in court or in her kingdom in general- forcing her to relocate to a place where she would have more power. That could explain why she smiles when she’s given tongues; she’s revels in other people becoming speechless because that’s how she felt being usurped, this works regardless of whether or not she lost her own tongue.

You're going to trigger a whole fandom my friend the AshenHollow, great video though I have always liked your point of view onthe series. Reminds me of how ol' ENB used to break down lore in DS1. You strike a cord on nostalgia within me.

I love this community of people, some praise the sun others sit down over a fine bowl of estus soup but either way we all in some way shape or form seek out the Cinders/Dark Souls. Merry Christmas and Happy New year's to you all Ashen ones out there!!! Can we all petition that colleges start offering classes on the lore surrounding these games! I would attend and know that I'm sure I'm probably not the only one. \[¢]/

Velka

This video really opend my eyes to what masterpeice the soulsborne series really is! Great video and theories! Thank you!

Hey Ashen, I haven't even started the video yet, and I already know it's gonna be great. I've been watching your stuff for a while now, and I love it. It's always nice to mute a game, and start an hour or two long binge of listening to your stuff. Keep up the great work man, I really love it

Anyone else find it curious how Gwynevere appears to be always bailing out just before shit gets real crazy?

Hmm, considering the similarity in shape of the slug like angel larva and the man-grubs as well as Rosaria's connection to the angel faith, I wonder if Rosaria is attempting the same rebirth/metamorphosis that the Londor pilgrims go through? On another note I'm pretty sure that the Lothric knights are wearing 'royal violet' rather than blue. Which says a lot about who they serve.

Has anyone considered cross referencing with the Japanese dub more often? It easily pokes a hole in the "Gwynevere is the queen" theory if you note that in that dub, the divine blessing description reads that the queen is "compared to" a goddess of fertility. Not a big hole, granted, but maybe there's something else we're missing that the Japanese fanbase might have already picked up on.

Very astute observations my friend. Amazing video as always.

I love your vids man, so much work and thought clearly go into them! Thanks for the awesome content dude! 😄

Great research, analysis, and presentation! A lot of details in the game now make sense to me.

Great content! This has to be one of my favourites!

Great video, I love the way you analyze the lore! I've been a sub for a long time now. You're a phenomenal content creator!

The small soldiers armor is called the deserter armor. I interpret it in the way that they, "they" standing for the common folk of lothric, have deserted the royal family and joined with the angels.

Coming back to this many years later, I have to say I think you have the best DS lore theories out there man. Solid work

"Gwynevere couldn't have lived that long." Andre passing a blunt to Patches: "Keh heh heh!"

Great video as always man.

i have two thoughts after watching this amazing video: 1. Can it be that the thing in Rosaria's arms is Ocelotte who likes to eat tongues? that's why Rosaria ask us to retrieve tongues to feed his firstborn? 2. The Gate on Rosaria's chamber looks like it was torn open by something huge. Probably Aldritch trying to eat another god? Great content, mate!

Nicely Done Jake.......that opens my eyes a bit......damn good evidence for it too!

This is good stuff it's hard to find lore including the amazing winged knight

Well done, as always.

Gotta tell you man, when I hear the opening tunes of your videos, I know I'm in for some good shit! Keep up the good work!

18:41 I believe that the ending you choose determines the side that wins.

In the description of Gertrude's Miracle, it says, "Ordinary men cannot decipher her fragmentary scrawl, nor comprehend how it became the foundation of the angelic faith of lothric." Given the presence of serpent statues in Lothric, I wonder if Kaathe (or other serpents who wanted to bring about the age of dark) influenced or manipulated the formation of the angelic faith.

This made me think of a weird hole I haven't been able to warp my head around. I don't think the angelic faith was directly allied with Londor, specifically with the Sable Chuch we know. The reason is rather simple, it seems like Lothric was a supporter of the angelic faction, if we go with the fact the guards of his chambers are mainly blue clad knights, his spells have the sacred light style angelic knights' miracles have and his lore states that he opposed his kingdom's main faith and tradition. Now why Lothric couldn't be working in lieu with the Sable Chruch's ideal? Simple. The Sable Church needs the ritual of the fire. The Usurper of the Fire ending requires you to travel to the kiln and for that it requires Lothric to give up his cinders. Lothric never acts like he is testing you or anything, he is always fighting for his right to stop the linking of the flame. The Sable Church wants him to be a lord, he doesn't want to. Now why do I think the angels are opposed to the Sable Church as well? This is a bit less clear cut, but I think it is safe to assume the angel followers' final goal is to ascend above their humanity into the angels we find in the dreg heap. I think this could be considered the "final form" of the human corruption, an immortal projection of one's soul that is free from the limits of Dark Souls most deadly enemy: gravity. Jokes aside, if this is true and the final objective of the angelic teachings is becoming these beings, then the Usurper of the Flame ending seems to be opposed to this. The world where the flame slowly dies away as it is presented in Dark Souls 3's DLC wouldn't exist if the Lord of Hollows succeeds in devouring the flame, as the still red sun in the sky of the dreg heap shows. So I have to wonder. Is Londor also broken in different sides? Is Yuria a good representant of Londor as a whole or is her Sable Church separated from their goals? Maybe the third sister of the church we haven't met in the game is a better example of what the pilgrims in general want?

This is great, I just reached Lothric Castle on my current play through, and found myself once again wondering exactly what battle was raging there. I think this may solve the mystery...

the scenery and characters in the video are really cool

Best lore channel hands down! Thank you!

I just had a revelation that connects DS3 to Bloodborne: Kos could be Gwynevere reborn, a mother to a new dimension through the blood of the ariandel painting which created Yharnam. little girl next to the painting could be Gwynevere's halfbreed daughter which honored her mother's wishes in creating this new dimension. Gael is a precursor to a hunter, much like the Black Hand hunters, but the Black Hands could be associated with a different sect in Bloodborne, whereas Gael could have been a predecessor to Gehrman, the first hunter. Gael was hunting the "blood" of the dark soul. The dark soul is now the blood everyone craves in BB. Moon Presence could be linked to Aldrich through Gwyndolin, as the trap guy was associated with the moon himself. MP could also be connected to Manus, through Artorias and Sif, and through the Farron Legion ( Abyss Watchers ). As the Watchers were protecting the wolf's blood, and what did the blood turn people into? Werewolves. Also, the wolf enemies in Farron swamp are also very similar to cleric beasts. Just a hunch.

sadly they were to fat to fit through the openining in the tower : (

Good shit. Thanks dude.

Awesome video man! I'm about to watch the full lore video for an hour... a FULL HOUR! EEEEEEE~!!!!! Just wanted to say that the imagery you put in your video is amazing! I shamelessly ripped about 5 new wallpapers from it. I especially liked the overhead view of the stairs leading up to the Twin Princes. Such great scenery in this game, so truly beautiful, especially knowing more about the lore. It's really a shame that many gamers will never see any of it due to the difficulty of the game. Keep up the good work, and, as always, Praise the Sun! \[]/

Love your videos dude!

always wondered about all those armors and battle renmants in the castle i feel silly for not thinking of a civil war ultra great video

i thought the blue Lothric knights where royal guards along with the cathedral knights in the garden of Lothric which are also blue.

There's so many clues in literally every step of the ashen journey, but the story is so grand that one could be forgiven for not picking up on even the more basic arches. There is nothing in video games like soulsborne. It's really a sad and beautiful thing

Maybe the blue Lothric Knights are high ranked Knights, not Angelic Faith Lothric Knight, because they are guarding the path to Lothric Prince, Lothric Castle and other important locations too. Every Blue Lothric Knight has red eyes and red eyes are a clear signal Of the Abyss. Maybe the Blue Lothric Knight you found near other Lothric Knights corpses Just killed them because they were controlled by the abyss Sorry for my english, im Brazilian. xD

I love your lore videos

Dark Souls 3 lore video? Didn't expect to see any more of those

Leonard was definitely a former clergyman. In the vein of Sullyvahn but less sociopath, more playaahh

Two little notes: The Winged Knights seem to draw much of their inspiration from everybody's favorite Executioner: Smough. The huge, bulky armour that makes its wearer look obese. The doofy helmet with a disturbingly cheerful face embossed on it, and of course, the fact that the Winged Knights all carry axes: Tools of execution. And what state do we find their victims in? Beheaded. This is another bolstering piece of evidence for the whole "Lothric royal family = Anor Londo royal family" theory. Smough being the royal executioner for the old gods, and the Winged Knights serving as executioners for the current family. No word on whether or not the Winged Knights subscribe to Smough's "ground up bones of your fallen enemies" spice recipe, though. Second note: We never actually see Gwynevere in Dark Souls the first one. We see an illusion of her, sure, but an illusion is just that: Fake. For all we know, little brother Gwyndolin may just have built the illusion of Gwynevere out of a collection of vague memories, hence the Amazing Chest Ahead and the fact that the Gwynevere illusion is fucking _massive_ compared to the actual corporeal gods we encounter: Gwyn, Gwyndolin, Nameless King, and - presuming the Lothric royal line is the same family - the Twin Princes and Dancer and are all pretty similar in terms of size. Then factor in Rosaria: Again, pretty consistent with the rest of the Brady Bunch in terms of overall size. For all we know, Rosaria/Gwynevere might not have changed their appearance much at all, save for the new Goth phase. After all, we never actually saw what she looked like back in the days of yore. Great video, in any case! Really enjoyed it, I think you summed up the Lothric Civil War up pretty much dead on. Looking forward to more like it!

Best video so far

* When suddenly you notice how half of the enemies related to the Church of the Deep are dressed either in red or in blue and realise how the true DS3 lore was entirely about Lothric all along *

As soon as he said Gwynevere is Rosario and gave some evidence i shouted "Holy Sh#t!!!" 😱😨 XD

I've seen a few great theories from you, a couple... less... great, but really beside the point because you've gotten my subscription and I've liked them all, even the several Velka theories where she's the Witch of Izalith but also somehow related to Primeval man. Still a little confused about Velka and your final thoughts on her, though.

About the civil war, there is one thing that seems pretty well featured in the game, it's the way Lothric used the power of the Abyss to lead the war against his mother. One thing we can notice in the game: the ennemies that have red eyes wear the Abyss within themselves, evidence are everywhere for this, in the fight against the Abyss Watchers, against the warriors of Carthus, on the fact the ringed knights "hide their eyes", on Yhorm, which asks one friend to kill him, which is completely absurd... if we don't see that he also have red eyes, which explain all. Another thing before going on the civil war: the Abyss were spread by Sulyvahn and Aldrich, Sulyvahn and Aldrich's powers come from the Abyss, there is an abyssal swamp in the Cathedral of the Deep, Aldrich's body is made by that swamp, the weapon if the Abyss Watchers deals him tons of damages, the deacons all have red eyes, Sulyvahn's power comes from the Profaned Flame, which wears the Abyss, all the ones that tried to face him and the Boreal Valley fall to the Abyss (that includes Wolnir and Yhorm), Aldrich saw the coming of the reign of the "deep sea"=the Abyss and started to devoure the gods from this moment... We could enumerate things like this a long time. And well, precisely, when we have a look to the ennemies we encounter in the castle of Lothric, we see that on the High Wall and at the bottom of the castle, you meet 50/50 knights with red eyes and without, but from the level where the dragons stand (who are also possesed by a creature of the Abyss btw), you only meet kinghts with red eyes, the guardians of the prince are all wearing the Abyss. We can also notice that forces of the Boreal Valley are completely supporting them, Vordt comes when you start being a threat for the Lords of Cinders, the Dancer appears just at the moment you start threatening Lothric, 2 knights of the Boreal Valley are found in the castle, even one in the archives, which are clearly the place where Lothric's struggle came from, just look how they are all protecting him, how they are depicted as "heretics"=people who reject the gods (Gwynevere and the line of the royal family, completely focused on creating an heir for the fire), and who were apparently implicated in what happened to Oceiros, who clearly had the ambition of linking the fire. Along with this, we find gargoyles of the Profaned Capitol at the op of the castle, just near to Lothric, again, minions of the Boreal Valley... When we've found how Sulyvahn helped Lothric in his war against his family (who aimed at making him a champion whereas he had nothing to care about sacrificing himself to link the fire), we have to clarify from where they know each others. We can find a pretty convincing answer in the donjon of Irythill: we know that the royal family (Gwynewere and Oceiros) didn't manage to have their heir for the fire, and for this, "resorted to unspeakable means", it's written somewhere (in the description of the ashes of someone if I remember well), that the donjon was the place for experiments, and you find in the cells those strange enemies, those who drop the item that enables you to reinforce magic weapons, which shows they were created by magic, and who very stranggly look like... twisted babies. Well, it's the only evidence I know that seem to clarify the "unspeakable means" used by the royal family, but it is completely consistent with the fact that followed. We know that the prince was educated by a fire-linking skeptical (which completely match with Sulyvahn), we see the statue in the High Wall of Lothric that seems to feature Sulyvahn, we know that the prince was born cursed and sick, and we know Sulyvahn was able to do this, he took Gwyndolin's place in Irythill, and lucky enough, just after he arrived in the Boreal Valley, Gwyndolin is striken by a mysterious disease (#Yorksha), hard to believe this is a coïncidence... Add to this the fact that Sulyvahn is directly presented as a great sorcerer, and that the uniform of the scholars look completely alike the clothes he wears, and you understand how the thing happened: Gwynewere and Oceiros don't manage to have a child to sacrifice to the flame, they call a great sorcerer -Sulyvahn-, to help them creating one, he accepts, but only wants to see the flame die, and the Age of Dark to come, that's why he curses the prince he created, is rewarded of his help by the title of first of the scholars and educator of the prince (he might have used the disease of the prince as an argument to convince the royal family he had to stay near to him to keep the situation under control), and uses his fonctions to convince the prince that the linking of the fire is bullshit (which isn't completely wrong), that he has no reasons to sacrifice himself, and that his family only see him as a tool to fulfill their ambitions (which was true). Between Sulyvahn's influence and the wrath he must feel for his condition, Lothric start hating the path his parents featured for him, his sister Gertrude also start having vision of the angels, embrace the religion of Londor and starts dreaming of usurping the fire (perhapas their is a link to find between this and the U turn of Lothric on the ambition of linking the fire, but if there is, I didn't find it), the royal family, that still rule the country, discover it, lock their daughter in the grand archives where she will die, and from this moment, eveything is said. Lothric finds the way to gain the support of the winged knights, that lost their goddess with Gertrude's death, Lothric beloved brother -Lorian- joins him, Sulyvahn infests knights of Lothric with the Abyss, he send his knights and gargoyls in the castle to help his pupil, the scholars are under his orders, they also join the prince. The royal family discover what is happening, send an assassin -Gotthard, that can be summoned against Sulyvahn- to kill the Pontiff, but it is too late. Gotthart is defeated, Oceiros and Gwynewere overwhelmed by their son's army, Oceiros is old and completely mad, they leave him in the Abyssal swamp that appeared at the bottom of the castle, guarded by knights of the Cathedral of the Deep, led, by Aldrich, who's allied with Sulyvahn; Gwynewere -Rosaria- don't have this luck and even if she is left alive, but she is locked away in the Cathedral of the Deep (that is now under Lothric's control because of his links with Sulyvahn, so Aldrich), her tongue and eyes taken by her elder son -Lorian-. Knowing how Lothric rejected the linking of the fire, pilgrims of Londor start trying to reach him to make him a lord of hollows, but he doesn't care and only wants the fire to fade, so Yuria starts seeking another champion to reach this rank. Time passes, Lothric stays at the top of the castle, preparing is defense against the Fire champions, during this time, Lorian, having shared the curse of his brother, ends mad and physically restricted. The bell tolls, the Lords of cinders come, Aldrich is no threat, clearly, Yhorm as already fallen to the Abyss when he tried destroying the profaned flame, Ludleth is weak, the only threat: the Legion of Farron. A Cristal Sage is therefore sent in it, telling them he will help them destroying the Abyss and linking the fire, but he only introduces the Abyss in their ranks, we the result we know... And everything is explained! Just to finish, did you guys see the shape of the cloth Rosaria is relying on? I'm not sure but I had the feeling in the video to see a the shape of the top of a head featured inside, if it's confirmed, that could explain where Oceloth disappeared... Just with his mother.

Something that I haven't seen anyone talk about at all is Creighton. We know from Sirris' dialogue that he is a "vile finger of Rosaria", and if the player doesn't kill him fast enough, he uses a divine blessing. Sure any invader could use divine blessings but I think this is another piece of evidence that Gertrude = Queen of Lothric. Also, if Kirk represents the Knight, and Heysel represents the Scholar, then it's a toss up between which of Leonhard and Creighton are the Black Hand and the Preist/Priestess. I believe that Leonhard represents the Priest due to his dedication to Rosaria, and that leaves Creighton as the Black Hand, which makes sense as he is in Irithyll, likely looking for the Queen's daughter with the reborn slug. I hope you like my theory!

Thank you

Yo. This is good. You're onto something.

I liek it. Especially the way you look at the knights being split. I always thaught the colour of the knights just indicated rank or power. Red

It's also possible that the dancer was simply akin to a servant and when the pontiff forced her into service he gave her the Arora Veil as a form of mockery to her faith.

"Dances for money" golden 😂 A Like for that

Damn, you're making me want to revisit Ds3. It's been a few months.

Very impressive journalism.

Good thoughts dude!! Perhaps if you compare the english dialogs and descriptions with the japanese ones they will reveal more interesting stuffs. But, anyway it was a great point of view and well based!! Good job!!

My concept of the war was that the age of fire is where, when the kings started feeding the souls of the dead to the fire, the fire was like "Ok" and decided to adjust, but the fire would go out either way for a bit, the whole thing is that, you would just exist in hell for a bit while the abyss takes over until we can get the fire to light up again, enter the Abyss Watchers, they were made to watch the abyss and make sure it doesn't take over all of the cities, basically not destroying it, but drawing a line, sadly one would be infected with some of the abyss and that would mess things up entirely. Pontiff Sulyvahn basically comes around and says, "Hey the Abyss isn't THAT bad guys, embrace it." and quite a few people thought this was a good idea, most of the people that thought this was a bad idea were either part of the age of fire restoration team or just wanting to find an alternative, basically saying "No fire and no abyss." this is why Ariandel exists, 'cause they decided they could just paint a new world and move there. the fire bros were the red Lothric knights, representing the fire and the people, the common folk who wanted to keep around the age of fire, and the blue and the winged knights represented the Nobility, who was in favour of letting the abyss run rampant. That's just my take on it.

This channel is awesome

I have a theory about Rosaria's firstborn. Gwynevere as the queen of Lothric married Oceiros and had children, Ocelot as the last one. I think Lothric and Lorian are her children also, and by "betraying" the royal family legacy (from Gwynevere by the way of white and Oceiros by it's obsession with making a worthy heir) at refusing to link the fire, it could be the speechless horror of Gwynevere that forced her (alongside the civil war) to reborn in Rosaria.

Dude, i think you're spot on

There is something you’re forgetting. Prince Lothric was opposed to the linking of the flame due to the first of the scholars influence. Because of this it’s more likely he ordered the lothric knights to ban the worship of angels. Ontop of which angels are divine beings and thus in favor of linking the flame. So it’s probably not a case of the Lothric knights in favor of linking vs the angels who are not. It has to be the other way around.

Man dark souls lore is so cool Sure Bloodbornes is more clear and concise, but I just love Dark Souls so much more

One thing that bugs me out though is, if the blue tabard Lothric Knights do not follow the Three Pillars but rather the Angellic religion, then why are they siding with the red hollow Soldiers?, not to mention that they're patrolling the elevator and the stairs that leads to the Twin Princes themselves, if they are not the Royal Guards, then they've probably knew that the Ashen One was coming, the Princes barricaded themselves in their room, and the two warring factions set out a truce to defend the Princes, since in-game we don't see the Winged Knights fighting Lothric Knights, neither the Elite Lothric Knight fighting other Lothric Knights, which on the contrary, we see them mourning dead LOTHRIC Knights, not to mention that the Elite Lothric Knight's tabard sports a different crest than that of the Winged Knights.

Lothric is badass to me, knights on dragons fighting winged golden knights in the air

"that's a great question other Jake" my man is starting to sound like Barry from Archer

I knew I wasn’t crazy for having a thing for Rosaria

That poise though

I know this is three years late, but I have a hypothesis to go along with your theory about Rosaria being Gwynevere. What if Rosaria/Gwynevere was actually imprisoned by Aldrich? We all know Aldrich had a horrendous habit of cannibalizing people, and we know from Anri that one of Aldrich's favorite "snacks" for lack of a better term were children, as he kept a lot of children enslaved and imprisoned for eating later. You can probably see where I'm going with this. With Gwynevere being the Goddess of Fertility and what not, what if before Pontiff Sulyvhan made his way to Irithil, Aldrich had him trap and imprison her in the room she now resides in before sending him to Anor Londo to prepare her brother Gwyndolin for consumption? This idea of mine also paints Pontiff Sulyvhan as Gwynevere's first born and uses that train of thought to explain why Rosaria doesn't speak. She doesn't speak because her hearts been irrevocably broken by her child selling her out to Aldrich. Aldrich would then go on to use Gwynevere/Rosaria to constantly be producing children for him to feed upon until his journey to Anor Londo could be made. --- I also think that the Peculiar Doll isn't Pontiff Sulyvhan's or Aldrich's, but actually that it belonged to Gwynevere. A small reminder to her before she left Anor Londo that no matter where her travels take her, Anor Londo will always be home. I don't think it belonged to Aldrich since he didn't even know that place existed until he had a dream about it, and the God who still resided there. It could be that once Aldrich is defeated, Ringfinger leonhard thought he would honor Rosaria/Gwynevere by bringing her soul back home to rest, but we go after him instead, kill him and force her soul back into her decrepit body. Even though Leonhard kills Rosaria to claim her soul, he also seems to care about her, so perhaps after all those years of being forced to churn out food baby after food baby for Aldrich, being betrayed by her child, and all the other bad things that happened to her, Leonhard thought that if he could bring her home to rest that it would make her happy. --- I have a lot more to add to this, but this comment is already pretty big. If anyone is interested in the rest of my hypothesis then feel free to ask me a question and I'll answer ya based on what I've come up with for this idea.

U missed one faction, the dragons and the lothric knights. I believe who led them was ornstein cauz his armor we find in lothric. This armor is special. First the head peice looks like the storm king in his early stages of transformation. And his armour is not only imbued with lightning,but it's also imbued with the power of the storm as we see in his second phase when we half his hp, he starts the second phase with a small blast of wind. I do believe that ornstein is the storm king and the evidence for that is his armor.

It’s funny how everyone just forgets about the abyss and how powerful it tends to be instead deciding to fight one another, I guess they just decided to leave it to the abyss watchers.

I enjoyed lothric castle because the whole thing felt like I was leading the charge as a one-man siege. Invading a castle and fighting my way through the defenders to take the keep.

At 11:20 you mention that Rosaria was robbed of her tongue. This might have a literal meaning as everyone who joins her covenant has to submit Pale Tongues to her. Could it be that she is actually commissioning her covenant members to find HER tongue?

Jake, again a terrific, thought provoking video. But I gotta ask, how did you get Lothric armour with a blue cape?!?

About the fact that the queen of Lothric is Gwynevere, I don't really like it, but the more I think about it, the more I think it's true. But I hearded somewhere that the english translate of divine blessing was a bit false, that this "was initially revered as a goddess of fertility and bounty." was not what the Japanes really meant. But on the other hand, I found a miracle if I remember well that said in French that the Quuen of Lothric was the "Reine Solaire", that can be translated to "Sunlight queen" in english (don't remember the name of the item, can't check), and that "Solaire" was always a translation of Sunlight. But I don't remember anywhere that Queen of Lothric was named the "Sunlight Queen', and that is the only item that stated it, and that go on the idea that she is the queen of lothric : From sunlight princess to Sunlight Queen.

I always saw the blue lothric knight looking at the corpses of the red knights as a "Commander" mourning over the death of his comrades

I love lore

good argument. adds a new angle to red invaders, not being just trolls, but agents of this angelic faction.

And Ringfingers hunt down the Unkindled who are meant to link the Fire.

Another great video Jake. I was curious about your thoughts on the war at the dawn of the Age of Fire. Everyone seems to be ok with the idea of "they found the souls of lords and dragons are just bad so they killed them." I wondered if you had divined any deeper reason to the Dragon War? Personally, I thought they Dragon War was about the First Flame. The Flame was changing them (Gaping Dragon) and making their offspring be born wrong (Serpents and Seathe). I think the Dragons recognized the Flame as a threat to their world and so they mobilized to extinguish it and extend the Age of Ancients but then they were met with opposition by the Lord Soul bearers and their forces. Seathe was likely born after the Flame emerged thus his disfigured nature, and his mortality (all things bound to the flame must eventually die). The Ancient Dragons would likely have already been distrustful of Seathe due to the Flame's effect on him, keeping him away from their treasured Primordial Crystal. Siding with the forces of the Flame would likely be his only chance at obtaining the crystal's power. At the end of the day the Flame was just the Light version of the Abyss to the dragons (note the Abyss's effects on living things and the spread of Dark causing the Gods to be born wrong EX: Gywndolin)

I’ve always believed that the Dancer was Lord’s blade Ciaran, as their armor and weapons are VERY similar. It is possible that the Dancer has the same origin as the Abyss Watchers, where she is just basing her looks and weapon on Ciaran.

Its jean d'arc Gentleman she also saw an "angel" I think i cracked the code of dark souls finally its the 30 years war and maybe a mixture of some other historically stuff call me sherlock.

seems clear to me that the angelic fate won. lothric and lorian himselfes are against the linking of the fire and now are secluded in their castle with the blue knights and some foot soldiers protecting them. if the blue soldiers are rly a part of the angelic fate(it seems like a solid statement)then we can see that the blue soldiers are commanded by lothric and that the foot soldiers(so people from the lower classes, likely normal people) are also involved in the split of fate(but honestly i dont know if those hollows can even take sides). i think the scholar are also devided within themselves to serve either the ones that have the same believes or motives ,and could even be the first since they were not so connected to the other pillars after the grand archieve. For example we know that the teacher of lothric doupted the linking of the fire so he and maybe other scholars sided with the angelic fate. there is an item that even says that the other two pillars worked closer together, but i think you already mentioned that.

The queen of lothric enshrines the ashen estus ring, (which was brought before her presumably by the player character?) mysteriously in your grave (the dark untended graves after king oceiros), hoping someone would benefit from its use which i guess suggests she wanted the age of fire to continue. It is made from shards and is crystalline, almost like soul crystals. Also strangely there are several corvians and a storyteller over your grave almost as if the ceremony is sacred or praising your gravestone? How important was the main character before they tried to link the flame the first time? Abit of a thought trail lol

by the winged knight the statue has the profaned great sword

I know I've seen a lot about how the queen of lothric has a good possibility of being qwynevere another fun little thought experiment to run would be, "what if lothric was a second attempt at new londo?" I'm not an expert on the lore but I definitely have spent a good amount of time playing these games and consuming lore content, from what I know new londo was established by Lord Gwyn in secret in order to reestablish a good relationship with humanity? Like I said I'm not an expert so anything that is incorrect please feel free to correct me. It would explain the usage of lightning outside of the presence of the Nameless King and it might even explain why the Nameless King is in this area, maybe he learned of his fathers (yes I'm a firm believer that the Nameless King is the firstborn to Lord Gwyn) plans in lothric and wanted to stop him. Essentially if you look at it maybe thats why the gwynevere in anor londo in ds1 was an illusion, Lord Gwyn ordered gwynevere to go and marry the king of the up and coming human kingdom known as lothric, then he ordered his youngest child gwyndolin, who posseses the power of illusion, to create a false image of his older sister in order to make sure that his knights have their goddess to worship and everybody is happy. Idk it's a bit of a rabbit hole but it's something interesting to ponder.

This is a really good theory

would love a team deathmatch game base on this war.