Game Theory: The TRAITOR of Dark Souls! (Dark Souls 3) 

Or maybe the nameless king is hostile to you because you turned up to his home and one of the first things you did was kill a ancient wyevern.

Waaaiiiit so the unkindled was a dex build all along?

Vaati does say, near constantly, that how you perceive the dark souls lore is up to you. The lore is shaded for a reason and not everything is clear, so, you may very well be the third member of the black hand, and as long as we never meet member #3, then you're just as right as someone who says that you aren't.

Ngl. Emma's last line about Lothric always gives me chills, something about the way she doesn't desire his death and wants you to "save him" she doesn't agree with him but she's still loyal. I really wish there was some kinda talk it out option

Lots of people are saying you arent the third black hand because there is a dead guy you find who has a hunter ring. Here is thepart they forgot: hunter rings are given to EVERY hunter, not just the black hand.

"Next couple weeks" It's been a year... Edit: Yeah I know it's actually been three years you don't have to remind me now

2017:next couple of weeks 2018: ... 2019: ... 2020: so the genius doesn't know how long a week is 2023: it's been a few years gang. If anyone is still waiting that would be nuts

"You are... A Black Hand." *Show a Dark Brotherhood symbol*

The FIRST TIME I played DS3 I played blind... THE MOMENT I saw the nameless king, I was like, "hey, there's Gwyn's son."

MatPat: "The darkest dungeniest game franchise ..." Me: "Darkest Dungeon ?" MatPat: "Dark Souls" Me : "Oh ..."

I think y'all scared him away from this franchise lol

If you see the true end of Dark Souls 3, you can use the Fire Keeper to slowly blow out The First Flame, thus ending the cycle, and not only alleviating Prince Lothric’s fear of death-by-eternal-burn, but also ending the curse of the Undead, ushering in a new age finally outside the cycle, and also, in a way, fulfilling your duty as Black Hand: serving the Prince and the Priestess by saving everyone from constant death and rebirth.

Good - he got Siegward's face right

I love how in this episode, his picture for Siegward is patched up with tape because in the last episode he got picture wrong XD

I think its cool that The Nameless King and Gwyn have similar character models. Both are imposing figures, covered in heavy armor, have long white flowing hair, deep sunken black eyes, most of their face is obscured, and their crowns are identical.

2 years later, I'm still waiting for that diet theory about the daughter of the crystal Kriemhild

So the blackhands are the legal version of the dark brotherhood 😂

11:05 that doesn't mean she knows you she could say that about any unkindled one, like if you called a plumber 2 hours ago " i've been waiting a long time plumber"

Matpat *makes a dark souls 3 video* Dark souls veterans: *VAATI* analysis!

Kriemheld could’ve been a firekeeper turned by the Crystal Sages, due to how she wears the Firekeeper set and her staff says that she was the favorite pupil of the Crystal Sages.

A fun theory but the origins of the unkindled are already described at the start of the game. You are able to choose your class and race when you start up a character, each has a description that explains what area your character came from along with some of your purpose prior to becoming unkindled. Before being resurrected you were just a normal hollow who came from a foreign place and tried to link the fire.

7 moths later, I'm still waiting for that diet theory about the daughter of the crystal Kriemhild

Really interesting theory, thanks for all the work you put into it ! What I love about Dark Souls is that you have to put the story together for yourself, like Myazaki intended it to be. And that story about being the third blackhand is one hell of a story ! I find a few things to be a bit incoherent still. For example : Prince Lothric is not a Lord of Cinder. That's a tricky one because you can read that a lot, even on wikis but he never linked the fire. Which leads to the thing I disagree with the most : Emma wants us to bring Prince Lothric to his throne, to link the fire. When she says those final words, she means bringing him to do what he is supposed to, to me. Lothric kingdom is at war. The scholars are fighting the Knights. The three pilars are unstable. That's because of the affiliations between the scholars, Prince Lothric and Sullyvan (he was raised by the scholars and Sullyvan and the kingdom hold them accountable for Lothric not wanting to fulfill his role). The three NPCs going against you could mean that they don't want you to link the fire or bring Prince Lothric to his duty, assuming they're on his side.

I'm still waiting on that theory about the Daughter of Crystal Kriemhilde

people, calm down. Dark souls' lore is DELIBERATELY obscure. There are many interpretations of the lore, just because a theory doesn't match up with the most popular interpretation doesn't make any less valid. Honestly, I appreciate when people look at things like this with a different perspective.

There's two summons for the Lothric fight. Both optional (in that they can just not be there if you don't do their questlines). Sirris of the Sunless Realms (if she swears herself to your service after you help her kill her grandpappy). She is there to assist you, as is her duty. And then Orbeck of Vinheim... who is there... for some reason. It can't be his "partnership" with you, as all that entails is you bringing him scrolls of sorcery and him teaching you what these scrolls say. All Orbeck is interested in is knowledge of sorcery. Which is why he can be found dead in a chair in the Grand Archives after the Prince fight. Why does he help you fight the princes? What has he to gain? Orbeck was an assassin at some point (long shot, as that was during his time in Vinheim, but whatever), as he confesses to you. Maybe he, not you, was the fourth.

Theorist: The last Lord of Cinder Lothric ! Me: *Thinking as absolute mad man to visit him as the first lord*

An intriguing idea to be sure. The connection to Lothric is the most concrete part of the theory as the graveyard you wake up in at the start of the game is directly linked to Lothric, you just don't realise it until you reach the Untended Graves later in the game.

hmmm

Matpat I need an "Inside" theory. It's such a confusing game to me.

Tbh I love the idea of our player character being part of the Black Hand, which seems genuinely supported by their lore of only ever having 3 members, but you only ever meet 2. I could see a narrative roleplay series being made with this lore in mind

next couple of weeks MatPat buddies i love ya and all but, im still waiting for the Daughter of the Kriemhild video, and its May of 2019 :)

Who revives the four unkindled?

Not a bad theory @MatPat. However, I challenge you with this: If the Unkindled are linked to the Lords of Cinder, then you (player character) can't be linked to Lothric, as he hasn't linked the fire and isn't a Lord of Cinder. However, Ludleth of Courland, the other Lord of Cinder who sits on his throne in Firelink for the entire game is. So technically speaking, per your theory that the Unkindled are linked to the Lords, the player character should be connected to Ludleth in some way, not the Princes.

It is 2021... and we’ve still yet to revive that diet theory

Everyone else: Where's the Diet Theory? Me: why is there a group in Dark Souls with the same name as the gang who started the first world war?

Looks like he _patched patches_

6:50 anyone else thought he was talking about the dark brotherhood?

Knowing how Miyazaki likes to make most of his souls-like game he tends to make his stories incomplete just to see what the community can put together some call it lazy, some call it fascinating. I wouldn’t put it past him to not actually have any hidden story to do with our characters.

*Places kamui's dead body * *Puts on it gottard straight swords * Me : you had one job , ONE JOB

I thought my character is a random villager that one day decided "Im gonna Wreckem". Edit: Wow thanks for the likes.

Yes! A video that is not an April Fool's joke.

It’s about 2020 and we still waiting on this couple of weeks!

the meta question is: who IS actually bringing all these guys back!?

Wait, I wanna know how the High Priestess dies if you, yourself don't kill her, there is *blood* on the ground when you come back and she's laying there dying. Did someone stab her and leave her there as an attempt of an assassination? She doesn't really die "naturally" like MatPat says in the video, it's just not natural for there to be blood all over the ground and her laying there dying.

*"aldrich the devourer of gods!"* >zooms in on gwyndolin

11:03 she knew you were coming because the bell of awakening tolled.

Actually, the basis of the main character being a black hand AND an unkindled says a lot aswell. Maybe the main character learned that Lothric wasn't going to link the fire so went to do it himself and got subsequently singed. Thus making him unkindled and an adversary of the prince all along (assuming you choose to link the fire at the end).

High Priestess Emma wasn't lying. Lothric only had the potential to rekindle the fire, he never did. Thus, he is not and never was a Lord of Cinder. Just saying.

You're obviously wrong matpat: the main character from dark souls 3 is an adventurer who took an arrow to the knee from skyrim. #proof #debunked.

Then who is the unkindled related to Ludlith of Courland?

I like how you found a topic that hasn’t been theorized to death. That’s hard to do for dark souls. Good job 👍🏻

she says they're no lords of cinder here because the princes aren't lords as they haven't kindled the fire.

where is that diet theory?????

The thumbnail looks like the “I see this as an absolute win” meme.

You never went back to the "diet theory" what heeeeck

Where's the diet theory??

Anybody else waiting for a "Autobots roll out" at the beginning? No, ok

"Next couple of years" it's been a week

that moment when you see ronnie in a video from the past before he passed on.... and it hits you RIGHT in the feels

Oh hey, you actually used Siegward's own face when referring to him this time, I'm positively surprised!

Lore just got deeper than the abyss

Mat pat: why does the nameless king fight us Me:*kills the ancient wyvern that the nameless king probably caired about and rings the bell*

No, I couldn’t hazard a guess as to why an ally of the dragons would have a grudge with someone that killed one.

I really like this theory, but I don't believe it is correct. If your character was a Black Hand, why wouldn't he remember it? If the main character was Hollow, the loss of memory would make sense, but he isn't. Even if our character had no memory at all, finding the Purging Monument in the second DLC would make the character remember everything (it worked for Lapp). And there IS a third Black Hand body: the one where you find the Hunter's Ring (why would anyone other than a Black Hand have it?). Emma knows you because she is aware of the plan to use an Unklinded to bring the Lords of Cinder back. And she doesn't lie to you. Lothric isn't a Lord of Cinder because he never linked the fire ("The mantle of Lord interests me none" - Lothric, Younger Prince). Emma sends you on your way to get the other Lords because she needs to know if you're strong enough to face Lothric. Albert will help you with Vordt because both Vordt and the Dancer are basically invading the kingdom. He doesn't help you because he's your friend. I thought it was really cool of you to point out about the Nameless King (not much of a secret but many people don't like it), but the reason the Ashen One kills him is different. The Nameless King is basically Hollow now, just like his father (look at their faces. there might be a discussion if they are Hollow or not, but I'll take the first option) and you're invading his territory (and you killed a dragon to get to him). To finish it, you said that no elements in this game is put to waste. So let's say that no element AT ALL is ever wasted. The character creation menu is an element in this game. Why would you be able to create a character if it would need to have a backstory that you couldn't change? This might work for some other game, but this is Dark Souls. The past of your character is always open to interpretation. It was like this in Dark Souls 1, Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne. Why would it be any different now?

The Game Theorists Hi MatPat. Sorry to bug you about this, but I do hope you make that video about Daughter of the Crystal . . . something (I don’t think I can spell that). I am curious as to what her role is in the story.

This was a whole new theory for me. Really cool theory, one I'm definitely going to pounder over as I do another playthrough of DS3

I love how when at the beginning the boss swing his sword I knew the roll was a flop and he was dead 😂😂😂

Dear Matpat, I would like to ask you to revisit the Binding of isaac theory since the new Dlc adds a new ending, that brings more ppssible theories. From, a loving fan

The Game Theorists entering into Dark Souls territory and making theories about them? We're gonna need a bigger channel. Actually that's not a bad theory for Dark Souls, maybe if you check out some of the pure Dark Souls youtubers you could have an easier/quicker time piecing the background, commonly accepted stuff together? Just a thought, as VaatiVidya and The Ashen Hollow really seem to know what they're talking about.

“Gotta find the identity of our character” I thought the point was to not have one?

2 years, 4 months. Still waiting for Part 3

But isnt Emma's dialogue about there being no Lords of Cinder in the castle correct as Prince Lothric isnt a full lord yet, as he didnt relink the fire?

Just because "it's just a theory" doesn't mean it's exempt from criticism. If people can break down an idea, find the flaws and can articulate why an idea was wrong, that's a good thing. Challenging preconceptions and furthering the discussion is a healthy thing to do as it benefits the community overall by keeping people informed. I think people are being rather harsh and childish, calling each other insults for disagreeing, but they are not in the wrong for getting upset at what is a very flawed theory. This is all in good fun, and just as I'm sure Matpat had fun coming up with this theory, we should be able to have fun debunking it without throwing insults or being insulted.

3:50 was the moment I realized MattPatt might be my English teacher from high school

Mat actually acknowledged Austin's existence, wow thats rare

Was anybody else afraid that this was an April fools video?

For anyone calling this debunked because you see the third body just because it has a hunter ring keep in mind that it is called the HUNTER ring not the BLACK HAND ring and not all hunters are blackhands

After 3 years, I still can't get over that Limp Bizkit's "keep rollin', rollin', rollin'..." was not used in the intro >_

2:16 every ds play: there we gooooo

WHY COULDN'T YOU WAIT A DAY!? NOW I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!!!

Whilst I like the theory that we may be the third black hand (considering there's no information on them which allows any character build to fit in), I don't think you have enough evidence to support it to be honest. Some of the conclusions seem a little far-fetched when you take other details into account, but just as you said it's easy to point out somebody's mistakes instead of coming up with our own accurate answers. The Dark Souls lore is incredibly convoluted and complex which means that sometimes we can't get a clear answer (and that's fine because it generates discussion and interest in the community). Everyone makes mistakes and there's always new information popping up (now that the final DLC is out we've got a whole new world of lore to delve into), and to be honest I genuinely got a giggle out of the taped on Siegward face. So here's what I think is wrong with your reasoning, in the hopes that the next theory becomes all the stronger: The first bit of off-reasoning starts with the Nameless King, who definitely IS Gwyn's Firstborn, but isn't fighting you because he opposes the linking of the fire (after all you can choose to let the fire fade as one of the game's three endings). In fact he's fighting you for a very simple reason: you're desecrating his home. Archdragon Peak is home to the trial known as Path of the Dragon, where you traverse the area to finally reach the Twinkling Dragon Torso Stone and ascend to full dragonhood. Along the trial you come across a massive bell that they specifically ask you not to ring. And it's by doing just that that you anger the Nameless King and bring his wrath down on yourself, not because you want to link the fire (which might not even be true). And because of this you deduce that the main character is from Lothric. I'm still trying to grasp with your reasoning here, because although Knights of Lothric were indeed Dragonslayers, they later adapted and learned to tame dragons instead (Source: Lighting Urn, DS3), which is why we see a few of them scattered about the area instead of being slain. And like you said, Prince Lothric didn't want to link the fire, and as such I believe we can apply that belief to anyone allied to the fading of the fire (and therefore not opposed to NK as you had put it). And like a few other people have already said, Lothric and Lorian aren't yet Lords of Cinder as they haven't yet linked the flame. As such Emma isn't actually lying to you and it seems to me that she believes that Lothric isn't needed to link the fire and that the four Lords of Cinder will be enough (which is why I think she realizes she was wrong at her deathbed and begs of you to make him a Lord ie sacrifice him to the fire). But since Lothric isn't a Lord of Cinder it would seem that we couldn't be his corresponding Unkindled (we might be related to Ludleth but there's not much to go from there). And also I believe that there are more than four Unkindled in the game. Anri, Siegward and Hawkwood definitely are (as well as Sister Friede in the first DLC), but what of Horace, who was Anri's companion since childhood, and Friede's companion Vilhelm? It might also be possible that Gundyr was unkindled as he was set to link the fire but failed. So whilst I recognize that the unkindled you mention are tied to their Lords of Cinder, I don't think you are the missing link to that cycle (in fact that missing link may well be Gotthard considering the evidence you've given today). At the end of the day, I think the main character is whoever you want him/her to be (that's why we have character customisation). Dark souls is still an RPG at heart and so you can let your character be whoever you want (I've had my characters be both Ornstein and Smough from DS1, my character from past games resurrected, and even a female Solaire that searched for her Moon). I actually think FromSoft purposefully left some holes in the lore, so that we could create characters that can fit right into the lore in just the right way (never wanted to be Gwyn's secret child? You can!). Also your lore on the Three Pillars and the Black Hands is spot on from what I can tell. It's still a great theory though, but that's just what it is: a theory. A GAME THEORY PS: Like I said before, it's very easy to pick a theory apart and I don't want to make Matpat look like an idiot for missing out a few bits of information from a couple of items and a message on the ground. He brought up a really interesting theory and before his videos I never even considered that the PC may have actual tie-ins to the present lore. Theorycrafting is all about trial and error and especially with Soulsborne games, it takes a lot of scrutiny to piece together all the different relationships within the game (I for one never considered why Gotthard was killed and Game Theory presented a very good explanation for it). I don't expect anyone other than a dedicated Souls fan who knows exactly what they're doing to bring up infallible theories, and that's not a diss at Matpat or anyone at Game Theory because it's not an easy task and I'm sure they know that. In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing more ideas and discussions! Kriemhild is definitely an interesting character that I personally haven't looked into, but I think you're right in saying there's more to her than an NPC invasion and a gank fight on some stairs. PSS: Did a bit more digging and Kamui's Katanas state that the Black Hands all wielded dual weapons (like Gotthard has twin longswords) so unless you craft your build to become the final Black Hand, chances are you're not. PPSS: Didn't think this post would get so many responses, and it's great to see how the discussions are going! It's easy being negative (especially on the internet) but the easiest way to hold a genuine conversation is to be respectful and I'd like to thank everyone for that!

"Next couple weeks" ....it's been 2years where is it.... WHERE IS IT

I saw traitor and onion bro in the thumbnail. I knew I had to come here and defend the best onion. THE REAL OG ONION!!! Instead I got big plot holes in a theory

-Cracks knuckles- 1) Sorry Matpatt. But the nameless king isn't attacking us because "we're from lothric." He's doing so because the area is a sacred dragon trial. And we ring a bell we are clearly not supposed to. Besides. Lothric while they originally slayed dragons eventually tamed them and used them to fight. Considering how away from the world his area is I really doubt he has been keeping up on events. 2) Albert only helps you for one fight. And Vordt is technically also guarding the princes. He may have only been willing to help you because he's friends/allied with ema. And ema sent you away. Thus him helping you with vordt is supporting ema's decision. Not because you were a blackhand. Also the other 2 people from the gank fight never help you. And gotthard if anything is the betrayer. Not you. Him helping you isn't because you're a blackhand. It could basically boil down to your goals and his were one in the same. 3) That's a big stretch. She's aware of the bell being rang because she's aware of the families duties. So she'd know an unkindled one would eventually show up. Not that she was waiting for you specifically. And Ema isn't lying to you. You established in the beginning "lords of cinder" are people who've previously linked the flame. This is true. But. Prince lothric rejected the role of being a lord of cinder. He never linked the flame. Therefore her telling you there isn't any lord there is technically correct. 4) Eh. Ema sent you to the princes. She forcefully brings you back so you can go talk to them. If they are supporting Ema like things seem to be in accordance to your theory they technically shouldn't be hostile to you immediately in the castle. The only reason They should be hostile to you before you meet the princes IMO is if you decided to go kill the king and enter the flameless shrine. Because killing the king is killing a member of the royal family. Thus can be seen as hostile intent towards the princes. Personally i'm wondering why ema is even dying in the first place. I see 2 possibilities. 1) The infighting eventually got bad enough that ema was considered against the princes wishes and was killed for it. So she quickly summons you and asks you to go save the princes. Or 2) Blackhand gottard came back. and ema wouldn't let him pass willingly. so he strikes her down to get past. And she quickly summons us to go save the princes from gottard. and have the princes do their duty. Either way Ema becomes aware that the 4 lords are not enough. and that Prince lothric has to become one. How she finds this out I don't know. Also aside from your other leaps of logic you completely skip ludlith as a lord. I suppose you can say that because he forced himself as a lord and because we didn't have to drag his butt back to his throne we didn't need to talk about him. But your theory involves the lords in general. And so even if no one was sent after him we still have to discuss if any NPC (or us) are connected to him in anyway. I still stand by my claim in the other video that orbeck would be a better fit than us. I will give you props for adding in a new theory. As I don't know if anyone has ever attempted to pin us as the third black hand. But your evidence to make us as a person from lothric and your evidence that pins us as a black hand are too circumstancial. There simply just isn't enough there. It's like the theory that ornstien became the dragon that the nameless king is riding. It's a cool idea. with enough there to think "hey it would be cool if this was a thing." But not enough solid ground to give it a serious pondering. That's my take on your theory anyway.

Matt you need to do some hangouts with VaatiVidya and EpicNameBro, they could help cover alot of the lore that you may have missed from prior entries, and so much will suddenly become more meaningful and atmospheric.

Wow wow wow this was awesome! I thought I had a lot of the story figured out and also had the suspicion that the MC was related to Lothric, but I honestly didn’t think of that. That would make so much sense!

When I saw the handprint, I thought he was gonna say Dark Brotherhood, and I was like; “Crossover fanfic?”

when he said "Black Hand" I swear it looked looked liked The Dark Brotherhood symbol(Skyrim).

Did anyone notice that when it got to the black hand bit it was the Dark Brotherhood symbol from Elder Scrolls

7:32 hold up this can be an entirely different theory on how dark souls and blood borne are connected because in blood borne you play as “the hunter”

It's been over three years and I'm still waiting on that daughter of whatsoever video (the sorcerer)

So... that means, as an assassin, you don't have to be ashamed of by leveling DEX. In fact, this is lore-wise you filthy STR build casuls :-)

As a superhero in training, I fully endorse the Tootsie Pop reference. Way to keep the youngsters in the loop.

6:49 I thought you were going to say the dark brotherhood lol

this is how most transfers of power goes. the protagonist is now the ruler of Lothric castle and will in time forge his own dynasty.

The fact that you get to chose your backstory at the start of the game when you select your starting "class" kinda debunks all of this. There are also 6 optional bosses in the base game (8 with dlc), there is no reason to draw a link between the player and the nameless king when none of the others appear to have any link either. The player has always killed others to gain strength so that he may progress with his quest - whatever that may be -, the nameless king and every other random mob and boss are no different. The young prince Lothric is not a lord of cinder since he has not fulfilled his duty so the high priestess was not lying. There is no reason to say that the player is one of the black hand, the absence of the third black hand does not suggest in anyway that the player is the third black hand. Liliane the third sister of the sable church of londor is missing from the game, is the player Liliane? THIS IS A THEORY OF GAPS! (Unless I missed something in this or the last video, if so please call me stupid and correct me.) Nit picking aside, the video was entertaining and interesting even if I disagree with the theory.

Very disappointed that the intro didn't include a rickroll

As someone who never really delved into the lore, I do enjoy having someone tell me stuff that I could never put together on my own, and it makes the playthrough a lot cooler, knowing I'm a cold blooded killer in the lore

2:40 food theory reference?