Dear Angry Commenters: 1. I didn't delete VaatiVidya's comment. I NEVER delete comments. RU-vid refreshes comment threads all the time to show more recent ones. His is probably buried in the 55,000 others the video has. 2. Sorry we showed Patches' head on Siegward. The editors do a lot of Google Image searching, especially for franchises they're not as familiar with, and while I thought it was weird to see Siegward's face (I didn't remember it from my playthroughs and was something that, as I was giving notes gave me a red flag), I had forgotten that Patches steals his armor and didn't fully check it out. But one minor mistake like that shouldn't discount the theory, undermine my enthusiasm for this franchise, or prompt the rage you guys are sending. 3. Yes, a lot of this is basic -- but I can't assume people know ANYTHING about Dark Souls and I want everyone to appreciate the lore of the series. The next episode gets REALLY deep, so I had to start everyone on the same level so next week's follow-up will make sense.
Marilia Silva Well Vaati has certainly never taken credit for making Souls lore his own. He simply expounds on it the same way Mattpat has opened up FNAF for many ppl.
@@littlemoth4956 You realize Vaati has tons of videos on his version of the lore and its work that he got help with from many sources. Vaati gives the most based and realistic vision of how the lore plays out and people like it because based on what the game gives us its the most likely way the lore actually went about.
In defense of reptitive plot it’s supposed to show a cycle that keeps repeating but needs to end it actually does a good job of telling that if you see the story of all the npcs
Matpat didn’t have to look that far into hawkwood, since the item description of his weapons and armour say that he was a deserter from the undead legion
Same. This theory is actually the backstory I settled on for my character. I view the corpse atop the Castle as a diversion. Whoever that turned out to be wasn't the true 3rd Blackhand in my headcanon; it was someone the King sent up there to stall the tougher Winged Knights
He's not the one that edits the videos so it's possible the editor doesn't know the difference between the two; I think matpat only does the voice-overs
Hawkwood's shield also, ya know, just straight up tells you he is a deserter. You don't even have to look at his name or armor. Item Description of Hawkwood's Shield: "Shield that belonged to Hawkwood, a deserter from the Undead Legion. The unique swordsmanship of the Watchers does not normally allow for the use of a shield, and Hawkwood's very possession of it was telltale of his defeat.
Andrew Ryan i also noticed that someone skiped a few item descriptions!!! but really though what research are you doing if you don't even read about the armor set of the character you are researching?
Pretty much sums this episode up. I know everyone has to start somewhere, but this is still a pretty shallow theory. He's talking about this when my shower thoughts are questioning whether or not Aldrich ate Nito. You know, light stuff.
Matpat that's not Siegward of Catarina, that's patches someone who is in every dark souls games and trolls u. In dark souls 3 he steals Siegward's armour who is somebody your character trusts and trolls u by that identity. You can actually find Siegward later on in the game in a hole where u can give back his armour and then later on he helps you defeat Yorhm the giant which they have a cool back story together but I'm not gonna say every detail cause this message would be really long.
The Lords of Cinder aren't just people who Linked the Fire; they're people who were strong enough to SURVIVE the process and became protectors of the First Flame. All the others who Linked the Flame died in the process.
That's not entirely right. The Lords of Cinder were strong enough to REACH the first flame. Almost anyone can link it, it's the journey there that's hard. No one else linked the fire besides the Lords and the chosen undead. Those who died, died because the were defeated by the Lord of Cinder.
In a Taiwanese interview with Miyazaki, he defines unkindled as those who: "didn't succeed in linking the fire and becoming cinder, but failed and burned to nothing. Unkindled is born out of their remaining ashes". The Ocelotte theory is nice, but considering this..it doesn't really make sense. Considering your timeline, I doubt you could even say Ocelotte took on the soul of cinder and failed. Some other commenters are rightly pointing out that Orbeck has a connection to the Twin Princes, as he can be summoned for their fight and can die in the Archives, and is probably Unkindled. eh - Vaati
I’ve done some deep thinking since this video and come to a conclusion. (My theory implies this videos theory is correct which I believe to be true so take this with a pinch of salt.) If the player is the third black hand that’s cool but what bothers me is “what was his name?” If you type “Black Hand..” into the character creator name slot you’ll notice you have 6 spaces left (1 for a gap so 5) This means the player characters name was 5 letters long. Black Hand Gotthard’s name means: “as strong as God” Black Hand Kamui’s name means: “Gods authority” Judging by this theme then the third Black Hand has a 5 letter name meaning something to do with god. I did a seriously ridiculous amount of time searching names related to god and found few that fit the 5 letters and “God’s ...” guideline, so I gave up. Months later I chose to replay Dark Souls 2 (Forgive me..), throughout the game you can summon an NPC called Drifter Swordsman Aidel. My name is Drifter so I see him as a brother of sorts, anyway I chose to google his name and it means “God’s gift” 5 letters long and means something to do with god The name of the third Black Hand and possibly the player character is most likely Aidel. This opens a new question: is Drifter Swordsman Aidel the Dark Souls 3 protagonist many years before he became a Black Hand member??? Thank you if you read this far, you’re awesome and I hope you liked my theory
I like how you parallels from hawkwoods armor and name, but just playing the game will tell you for certain he was an abyss watcher and you fight him at the abyss watcher bonfire
My theory is that you play as a guy that has simply nothing to do... He just sits on the couch bored, when one guy came up and was like "Hey, you think you can assassinate someone for me" to as which he replied with "Yeeh" and he got up dusted the Cheeto dust off his coat and left for adventure. Please Mat I'm broke.
Jacob Lister Have you played as a male? Because ive played as both for different runs and cosplays and challenges and it does completely go on the gender of your player.
Havoc Zephyr mat pat said that he played through the game at least once. I'm assuming he put the picture of patches because he just wanted a picture, while there are no pictures of seigward
11:59 ummmm....Matpat...that's not Seigward. That's Patches, wearing Seigward's armor. He steals it from Seigward outside the chapel of the deep. The real Seigward never takes his armor off through the entire game, so you can't see his face without glitching the camera inside his helmet...
Makes you wonder, why matpat don't just collap with the famous people of the specific niches. Here with Vaati and for the for honor 1v1v1 fight with stallagrim. Would've eased the nerds and the normies wouldn't've cared either way.
the video was cool and gave me some tidbits I didn't know about but yeah...the picture fuckup with Patches being rubbed on my face over and over and over again really put me off this episode.
Of course it's Patches what are you talking about? The picture used in this vid is from the cutscene when Patches traps you in the Catheral of the Deep. Qick google search will prove it to you
Actually, hollowing is the outcome of losing one's hope and goals in life. If you lose that which drives you to achieve your dreams, you hollow. If you succeed in making your dream a reality and think to yourself: "Well... that's cool. Now what?" You hollow.
_ TheBlaiZe actually it’s not...having a goal and something to fight for just slows the hollowing process. It’s even stated by by onion knight in dark souls 1, and then the idea is re-affirmed in the lucatiel story in dark souls 2 and then in dark souls 3 after helping siegward kill Yhorm he dies regardless of the fight. Not because he instantly hollows, he has hollowed during his own journey to get to thorn and when yhorm finally dies and that being siegwards finally purpose he does as well.. so the idea of having a “goal” or purpose has been stated since ds1 so SLOW the process but never stop it.
If you want to talk in reality, then you are wrong, success in goals will find you ultimate relief from hollowing if you have found the right goal, if you chase the goal you are not whole heartedly going for and yet manage to succeed, you feel fooled by your success and empty because what you want hasn't come to fruition. Victory to the right goal, your ultimate purpose will give you success in your heart, and when you succeed at that, you will have succeeded in everything else you could possibly want, you are content and nothing will be able to gnaw at your conscience...
After a scanthrough of the lore of the dark souls universe (Vaati videos), I have concluded that the identity of the ashen one does not matter. In fact I would argue that the identity of the ashen one is deliberately left anonymous by Fromsoft to enhance the immersive atmosphere of Dark Souls. Take into account the description of the starting classes you choose at the start of dark souls 3. The Knight reads: "An obscure knight of poor renown who collapsed roaming the land. Sturdy, owing to high vitality and stout armor." - Source: Fextralife wiki (since I didn't pay attention to the class descriptions when I chose my class and instead looked for best armour). Aside from this all other information that directly links with the player character is in the descriptions of the starting gifts, and they are even more vague than the misc. items you discover throughout the game (Worker's trousers has more lore than these). Hell, even the NPCs of the souls games belittles the player character, take into account Eygon of Carim. When you first meet him he is not even remotely courteous to you, instead saying things like: "All you faceless Undead, behaving as if you deserve respect." By giving us little lore about our own characters and giving so many hints and references to the bosses we slay and the npcs we meet increases the opressive atmosphere of the game and raises the presence of the bosses. That is unlike games such as WoW, your character is no hero, and no chosen one. Rather than being told you are great you start as the bottom feeders of the barrel that is the souls universe, and you claw your way up and when you finally beat the challenges the game throws at you, it just feels that much sweeter. -Note to the people you clicked read more: Oh you poor souls, don't read it, it doesn't make that much sense. I'm gonna re-write it when I feel like it. Are you cold? Oh, good hunter. And Patches isn't OnionBro, what is this blasphemy? Do you even praise the sun?
you have obviously got this all wrong especially this section "By giving us little lore about our own characters and giving so many hints and references to the bosses we slay and the npcs we meet increases the oppressive atmosphere of the game and raises the presence of the bosses. That is unlike games such as WoW, your character is no hero, and no chosen one. Rather than being told you are great you start as the bottom feeders of the barrel that is the souls universe, and you claw your way up and when you finally beat the challenges the game throws at you, it just feels that much sweeter." it us sounds like rambling, of course the main character(s) has a level of importance in the game because if not, you have to ask yourself, why did Oscar pick you? you meant something to the world of lordran in order for him to select you to carry the torch.
I'm pretty sure Mat put Patches face in place of Siegwards. In the game Patches steals Siegwards' armour and tricks the player. You never actually are able to see Siegwards' face in the game at all.
Interesting theory, except there's one NPC you've forgotten about. One that could be seen as opposed to Lothric and Lorian. A Scholar, not unlike the ones who tutored the young Prince, who was perhaps sent to make amends for the mistakes of his peers by helping you subdue the final Lord; Orbeck of Vinheim. All of Lothric's family are steeped in Sorcery; Oceiros is attempting to follow in Seath's footsteps, the Grand Archives are geographically located atop the old Duke's Archives and Lothric himself uses a unique form of Faith-based Crystal magic. He shares a physical resemblance to Priscilla, Seath's crossbreed daughter with Gwynevere from the first game, who also represents a melding of Faith and Sorcery. What you first meet Orbeck, he has set up a makeshift study in the swamp, and immediately after finding him, you encounter the Crystal Sage boss, an enemy later found in the Grand Archives. The Crystal Sage seems pretty out of place in the swamp, unless it was attempting to track down and stop Orbeck at the behest of the other Scholars. When you meet Orbeck at Firelink Shrine, he says; "No matter the victim's stature, every killing has a consequence..." He specifically mentions that the victim's status doesn't matter, whether it's a commoner or even a member of the Royal Family. He also confesses to being more of an Assassin than a Sorcerer. His armour, the Clandestine Coat, states; "These were covert agents who excelled at manipulating sound", maybe hinting that Orbeck's aural Sorcery and training as an Assassin makes him a prime candidate to kill the largely handicapped Royal Family of Lothric; Oceiros is blind, Lorian is lame and Lothric is frail, and all of them have their eyes obscured in some way, meaning they would most likely rely on sound, something Orbeck can use to his advantage. It's also interesting that the only fight you can summon him for is Lothric and Lorian. Further, Yuria of Londor, who wants the Fire to fade, tells you to kill Orbeck, perhaps because it was Orbeck's task to subdue the Prince, just like it was Anri, Siegward and Hawkwood's task to topple their respective Lords. She goads you by telling you he threatens your position as Lord of Hollows. If you trust Yuria and kill Orbeck, that's perhaps one less person to persuade you to link the Fire, allowing Yuria's, and by extension the Lords of Cinder's, plans to come to fruition instead.
JamuThatsWho the crystal sage you found at farron keep wasnt there to kill orbeck it simply there because one of the crystal sage is siding with farron undead legion (you found the other one in grand archives) its stated in the coal you found in farron keep (forgot the name of the coal). also orbeck is too minor for a character to influence lothric.he was a sorcerer but not a scholar (it is stated in some item that the one who influence lothric is a scholar from grand archives) orbeck said this himself
I remember seeing something about the Sage teaching Sorcery to the Farron Legion, but it's not the Farron Coal description, it's the Soul of the Crystal Sage, which says he allied with Farron. Also, that doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't also there to stop Orbeck as a secondary mission. Perhaps he even taught Sorcery to the Farron Legion to help stop the Ashen One and Orbeck? Since none of them want the Fire to be kindled. He isn't an Archive Scholar, but perhaps he was sent by Vinheim, since maybe the end of the Age of Fire means the end of the ability to study Sorcery.
+VC12x I don't know how people still don't know this, but MatPat doesn't edit his videos. It was most likely an editor's mistake, especially since they used Artorias from the DS1 box art as a stand-in for the main character.
I personally prefer the idea that we’re connected to Ludleth. Ludleth is always nice to us, so to be honest it’s nice to imagine. But also, he was the only one who stayed upon being reborn, similar to us, because we are the only one of the unkindlsd we see who’s goal never wavers. Much like Ludleth, we are almost a nobody, a extra, a blank slate that managed to fill a vacuum, yet will die a colossus. Also, if I’m not mistaken The Brothers aren’t technically lords of cinder in the sense of the rest, because their twisted soul was never sacrificed to the first flame. Anyway that’s my two cents, and it’s mostly based off of headcannon
I'm sorry I "have" to correct you, MatPat, but! the character at 11:57 is NOT Siegward himself! It's actually the character Patches in disguise, after he stole Siegwards armor.
I personally think that lesser dog was kidnapped and forced to try to light the fire. He escaped, but he injured his neck in the process, so it wasn't insanely long anymore. He then went back after training with Obi Wan Kenobi to reclaim his honor, but died while lighting the fire. The fire burned away his fur and molded him into a human shape, to be resurrected and take on the role of the main character.
My theory (think its pretty good): There's something about Wolnir that's been bothering me. Like a lot of things in Dark Souls, there are tons of descriptions relating to Wolnir that seem to be dead-end fiction, but the other enemies all have explanations as to their presence (The Abyss Watchers follow Artorias' footsteps, the Old Demon King is the last remnant of the Chaos Flame, the Nameless King may or may not be the son of Gwyn who fell from grace, etc.). Meanwhile, Wolnir and the entire area related to him just kind of feel like a stepping stone for getting to other places. Even the Smouldering Lake has deeper Lore than the Catacombs of Carthus. You encounter a big scary skele-man, break his things, then move on. There's almost no impact from the fight other than "Surprise!" But reading anything I could find about Wolnir revealed some subtleties that make me think of Dark Souls 2. Given some of the descriptions and implications, it's got me thinking that Wolnir might be the Protagonist from Dark Souls II... Here's the breakdown of what's got me thinking this: In Dark Souls 2, the Protagonist is motivated for almost entirely selfish purposes: To resolve their curse of undeath. Which is unlike the Protagonists of Dark Souls 1 and 3, where it's more ambiguous as to motivation for your character (Rekindle the flame, extinguish the flame, etc.). The Curse of Undeath is largely the central focal point for Dark Souls 2, and NPCs like Vendrick and Aldia put emphasis on controlling the curse as well as harnessing the Dark, rather than outright curing it. Effectively granting immortality with no downsides, but such things are never truly without penalty. This brings me to the first bit of lore we get in Dark Souls 3 regarding Wolnir and Dark Souls 2: Soul of High Lord Wolnir: * "Lord Wornir of Carthus sentenced countless souls to gruesome deaths, keen to outlive them all." Wolnir has killed, or is responsible for killing, a lot of people. Which pretty much sums up any character in a Souls game. But the important bit of that description is the "keen to outlive them all" portion. Wolnir wanted to live forever. He wanted immortality. That is what harnessing the Curse of Undeath would bring. The most important and telling piece of lore for Wolnir in Dark Souls 3, however, lies in his crown: Wolnir's Crown: * "Crown of Wolnir, the Carthus conqueror." * "Once upon a time, such things were bequeathed judiciously to each of the rightful lords, until Wolnir brought them to their knees, and ground their crowns to dust. Then the crowns became one, and Wolnir, the one High Lord." What that description implies is pretty simple: Wolnir defeated Kings and took their crowns, whether directly or in roundabout ways is left ambiguous, but regardless, he did EXACTLY what the main character does in Dark Souls 2. He collected Crowns, and these Crowns, when brought together (and with a little help from King Vendrick's memory) effectively negate the negative aspects of the Curse of Undeath: you will no longer be affected by hollowing. After gaining this power, Wolnir ground up the crowns and created his new crown from their material. In fact, you could argue that Wolnir's Crown takes visual clues from the four crowns of Dark Souls 2. With his new crown and right to rule, Wolnir may have come to found the land of Carthus. Carthus is a relatively new addition to Dark Souls lore, as far as I'm aware. It's not like Astora or Anor Londo. It's never been touched on. Nor is it ever really established as "ancient", such as with places like the Profaned Capital or Drangleic. With the wonky flow of time going on in the Souls universe, Carthus could have been made between the events of Dark Souls 2 and 3. However, while Wolnir may of overcome the hollowing effect of the curse, he could not overcome what lies in the hearts of all men: Darkness. The Abyss. And so, while he may have been immortal, he was not immune to the grasp of the Dark: Wolnir's Holy Sword: * "A holy sword eroded by the Abyss. When Wolnir fell to the Abyss, he was gripped by a fear of true darkness, and pleaded to the gods for the first time." * "This holy sword, together with three armlets stripped from the corpses of clerics, gave him some semblance of comfort." Wolnir was now immortal, but was a prisoner of the Abyss, the deepest Darkness. The Circlets he wears are what keep him from plummeting completely into the Darkness, and thus, why breaking all three will end his fight and result in him falling beyond the reach of light (Literally, as he slides down the slope into the Abyss when defeated). Notably, he's one of the few bosses in the entire Souls series who doesn't "dissolve" upon defeat, but rather, simply leaves the arena. That's pretty much it, as far as direct lore connections go, but there is one other thing that's interesting regarding Wolnir and Carthus: The Shield of Want. The Shield of Want is a faded, corroded version of the "King's Shield" from Dark Souls 2, AKA, King Vendrick's Shield. A Shield the Protagonist creates through using the Soul of the King (Vendrick). There aren't a whole lot of items, gear-wise, that survived over from Dark Souls 2. And I mean DIRECT copies of things from Dark Souls 2, not things that are similar. There's Lucatiel's and Creighton's gear which serve as nostalgia fodder, and the Fume Ultra Greatsword, which is one of the biggest, heaviest, and most demanding weapons ever in any Souls game. There are also things like the Drakeblood set (The Drakebloods revered Dragons and their blood, explaining their appearance in Archdragon Peak) and the Faraam Set (The signature armor of Dark Souls 2), which make sense, as well as a couple great rings which survived over (Rings rarely often have a justification as to their obtain-ability). But why is an item as specific and unremarkable as the Shield of Want in Dark Souls 3? and why is it the only item that has visibly aged, as if from use? And why is it in a place with no explanation as to how or why it got there? The Shield is found in the smouldering lake, in the same area where the "Carthus Sandworm" lives. And the Sandworm fell from Carthus into the lake, as seen in the description for the "Yellow Bug Pellet": * "The grave wardens of Carthus used these to repel a great sand worm. The worm tumbled to the catacombs and proceeded to dominate its new home in the Smoldering Lake." So it's entirely possible that the shield fell from Carthus as well, but why would it have been there to begin with? What if Wolnir had it and either discarded or lost it, where it then fell into the Smouldering Lake? Like I said, it's not as clear a connection as the other information, and that stuff isn't all that clear to begin with (Such is the beauty of Dark Souls lore), but the implications can't really be denied either. That's all I've got on the subject, but until it's outright denied by FROM or a specific contradiction is revealed in-game, I'm sticking to my guns on this one.
Lordnuggetor xD fairly strong argument you've got and a great thinking process. You are correct He is the only boss to not disappear after being killed, because he is still immortal but he's slowly being drug down into the darkness.
My theory is that your character DS3 is your character from DS2. If you look at the ending of scholar of the first sin, your character, an undead, decides to leave the kiln behind (based on the new ending added by SOTFS edition) and chooses instead to walk away seeking a more permanent solution to the undead curse, essentailly becoming the Dark lord (the one who brings about the age of Dark, which is meant to natrually follow the age of fire, before gwyn created the cycle of having to relight the fire, which basically broke the balance of nature by keeping the age of fire going and creating a loop in which no progress could be made as everything was in a state of constant and unnatural creation and destruction). Whats the third ending of Dark souls 3 that also involves the undead? (not unkindled, difference is very important for those who havent played the game). Wresting the power of the flame from the kiln and taking it unto yourself, becoming the Dark lord of the Sable church of Londor. But if we go back to what the video says, unkindled are those who failed to link the fire and essentially burnt away. Your character in Dark souls 2 goes on a long journey to try and find answers. He/she obtains three crowns and in the process gains the knowledge to show them that linking the fire is not the correct choice as it just keeps repeating the cycle. But, if you dont link the fire, some other undead who was resurrected likely would, as they would have no knowledge of the damage they are causing, thus restarting the cycle and burning away your character. But the unkindled are those undead brought back, with all their previous knowledge intact. SOOOO if your character from DS2 is brought back, he/she would know that linking the fire is bad, and with the flame as weak as it is, then they would know to accept the dark sign they were free of by being reborn as an unkindled back into themselves, making them a full fledged hollow again, and this time being able to take in the power of the first flame as they are now a being of both fire and dark (two sides of the same coin, yin and yang basically), and can thus let the age of Dark come about as there is LITERALLY NO FLAME FOR ANY OTHER UNKINDLED TO RELIGHT. The only way to do it would be to maybe kill your character and make a new kiln out of their corpse using a coiled sword. But considering how God tier strong your character would be by then, having slain all the Great Souls of Drangleic and then being reborn to slay the Lords of Cinder, along with having an army of undead, including anri, at your service and two of the three sisters of the Sable church as well? Nah, I dont think anyone, gwyn included could, espescially considering you basically killed gwyn by beating the Souls of Cinder boss (his last form is Gwyn mode). So the age of fire dies, and you go off with your wife anri (who you "marry" to get this ending), forming a new kingdom of Londor and ushering in the age of Dark. There, rabbit hole thoroughly jumped down.
It's a solid theory with a good foundation and a lot of thought put into it, but one thing that you may have overlooked is that DS2 is not a canon part of the same timberline as DS1 or DS3. Most people who played the first game would wonder why your character from the first game isn't in this one since they were able to link the flame, but they are in the game. The character you play as in the first game, if you choose to link the fire becomes part of the final boss of the third game(The soul of cinder), guarding the dying flame. Almost nothing from DS2 is in the third one, the main thing from the second game I could find is Gilligan's body in the Profaned Capital surrounded by gold and silver. I'd love to be proven wrong, and I do hope your theory is right if I am.
Excuse me sir, The face you keep using for Seigward of Catarina is actually the face of Patches. Patches appears in previous Dark Souls game as 'the character that always tricks you' and he also appears in other Miyazaki games. Just making sure you are aware.
Thanks for the awareness, but I think thats the point. In dark souls 3 Patches tricks you into thinking he is Seigward, same as the editor here. (Or maybe Patches made a fool of the editor, that would be sooo fiting).
>one of my favorite modern franchises >20 pages of notes >Still can't distinguish Siegward from Patches It's like someone else without knowledge of the game edited the video / made the research / the script and matpat is just reading it out loud. For anyone not familiar with the scene depicted: It is when Unbreakable Patches, who stole the Armor of Siegward of Catarina, deceives the MC into walking into an elevator bridge with promised treasure on the other side of it. Siegward of Catarina can be found within a well near the main bonfire of the cathedral of the deep, after the ingame scenario with patches happened and his armor can be obtained from Patches to give it back to him afterwards.
My theory is that your character is actually reincarnated Solid Snake. How, you ask? I will explain but I must give a fair warning as there are LOTS OF SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! First of all, in the level where you team up with Eizo and Luke Skywalker to hunt the Xenomorph attacking your ship, the Normandy, you can find the "not so hidden" perk that allows you to use a cardboard box, a staple of the MGS franchise. There is also the part where you, Master Chief, and Doomguy, all go back in time with The Doctor to kill the Kraken before it sunk the Titanic. The battle is *very* difficult and if you die, Chief starts to yell, "Snake? Snake?! Snaaaaaaakee!!!" before fading to black MGS style. By the way, a great way to beat the Kraken is to call the Avengers from your Codec, another justification why you are actually Solid Snake. The dialogue that takes place before you are about to begin the boss battle against Ganondorf in the Mushroom Kingdom's world 8-10 is also an important piece of evidence. You are assisted by Dragonborn and Batman, who says, "you're pretty good" if you use Mortal Kombat Scorpion's "get over here" Kunai during battle. If you didn't already know, you can pick up his Kunai using the portal gun to teleport you to hell in the side quest in which you uncover G-man's identity with Gordon Freeman. (You can also see Jar-Jar Binks being tortured as an easter egg when you portal to Hell.). Still not enough to convince you that you are playing as Solid Snake? Well, if you complete the National Pokedex (much easier since you can fly to every region) and then talk to Harry Potter in Liberty City, he will give you a map to Mother Base, your home base in MGSV. I loved this game, what was your favorite part? I had _way_ too much fun writing this. Please like this comment so that more people can see it. Edit: Thanks to each and every one of you all for the nice comments!
I have a different theory. As you know, Frodo Baggins has the important role of summoning a portal with the one ring to the upside-down world where you encounter James Bond, who can provides you with the quest to find and defeat Captain Jack Sparrow where you are given the compass as the reward. It has the power to locate dinosaurs from Jurassic world. Where after defeating the zombie Indominus rex you are rewarded with a dragon skin armor that reads, 'he who carries the circle object, while wearing this armor and points the compass north, west, north shell be able to carry the fire' all narrated by Morgan Freeman. Or you are right that it is Solid Snake.
The fact that Matpat belives that Patches is Siegward, makes me think that he didnt actually play the games. Maybe someone else wrote the script, and he only voiced it
I have to say, as a huge Dark Souls player, I'm kinda annoyed at my community. So he got a couple things wrong, so his theory isn't correct, so what? Freaking VAATI is wrong sometimes. With lore this dense and so difficult to piece together, it's bound to happen. It doesn't matter. The theory is the fun part. Matt should be able to try digging into the lore if he freaking wants to. I bet every single one of you have been wrong about Dark Souls lore before. And as he says at the end of every video, it's just a theory. Chill the heck out guys.
Yeah. Isn't it funny that we already have had at least two people Vaati and Silver Mont talk about everything to do with the lore. We already have our resident experts in Souls lore researching things.
Jonah Keiffer Yeah, I hate how MatPat keeps getting away with taking theories from the Internet and presents them like he "cracked the code" without acknowledging or crediting where he got it from. The Game of Thrones videoes on the Film Theory channel are the worst offenders were most of the theories he presented like he discovered them were almost 20 years old! Like Jon Snows parentage was theorized correctly after the second book and some quick googling shows you that...
Idk why Dark Souls fans think everything that talks about any lore/story/theories about Dark Souls needs to be discussed through Vaati and no one else.
So let me start off by venting some steam: *Please everybody stop using the character on the box art of DS1 to represent the player-character, everybody who knows the lore knows it's Artorias* Anyway, theory time. There's a HUGE gap here, and something that I hope you address in the next video. I know that it may seem like we were resurrected specifically to fight Lothric - but if that's the case, and with the other characters seeming to make direct beelines to their target while ignoring any other Lords, why do we bother to go around killing the other Lords? Wouldn't it make more sense, from a story perspective, to set you rabidly pursuing Lothric - only to realize once he's dead that there's a far larger struggle going on? Remember that every Unkindled is someone who "tried and failed" to link the fire - you're a last line of defense against the Age of Dark, and an extension of the Undead Curse. How are you a last line of defense? When "the Lords go without thrones," the Unkindled are animated in order to hunt them down - except, something doesn't make sense. There's very little mention of these characters in item descriptions, in conversations - Anri, Horace, Siegward, and Hawkwood are barely mentioned other than their actual appearances and their own armor. Granted, Siegward "made a promise long ago," but that doesn't explain why he'd be resurrected and not one of the humans that was killed when Yhorm destroyed his kingdom by linking the fire? Why Anri and Horace, and why both of them together? Why is Hawkwood an Unkindled, and not a Lord, when the Abyss Watchers as a whole linked the fire? The answer is that they all tried and failed to link the fire - that's important. Any character that was strong enough to even get to the Kiln must be formidable indeed, and yet none of them are strong enough to complete their tasks alone. Why is it that you improve when they do not? I do not know. The obvious fact is that you tried to link the fire and failed - but the big question is *when.* The fact is that your character can be from one of any of three eras - the first era of DS1, the second era of DS2, and the third era of DSIII. I tend to believe that your character dates back to at least DS2, as the linking of the fire was a more well-known ritual at that point. But it doesn't necessarily mean that your character is targeted specifically at Lothric. Lothric, in particular, is a "worthy Lord." But what does that entail? What about him makes him a Lord? We get a hint from Hawkwood when he speaks about Aldrich (a subject he seems to know a lot about) - "And they made him a Lord, not for virtue, but for power." Why would he be able to link the fire alone when your character, who is obviously "mighty" enough to defeat him, needs the embers from all five lords? The answer is he wouldn't. There would be other Lords. The Thrones were carved far, far before you existed - only the names on the plaques change. The Fire is fading, faster than ever. The Souls that are given are no longer sufficient. And it takes the strength of six Lords (yes, six, you marvelous Unkindled you) to relight the flame. The Lords abandoning their thrones is not unprecedented. Clearly there are contingencies in place. "When the fire fades, and the Lords go without thrones..." There's even a ritual associated with it that is known to the Firekeeper. The problem is, your character does NOT have a specific identity. This is purposeful. Your character can have all sorts of conflicting information just in their starting item descriptions - in one life, you might start as a Sorceror, with ties to the Dragon School of Vinheim; you might be a Knight with armor hailing from Astora; you may even be a Pyromancer hailing from the ever-mysterious Great Swamp. All the other Unkindled have names, and are reborn not only with some measure of their former strength but also with knowledge of their purpose, up to and including memories involving those they hunt. Why don't you have any memory of Lothric? Hell, we don't even see Lothric and Lorian in the opening cutscene. Your character starts off with knowledge of the other three Lords that abandoned their thrones - but not of Lothric and Lorian, those who were intended to link the fire in this age? That's fishy, especially when you're clearly claiming that we were the specific unkindled designated to hunt down those two. I will grant you, the one thing that does lend itself towards your theory is that the one place we seem to be able to "poof" to initially is the High Wall of Lothric. But where in Lothric do we spawn? In the outskirts. The edge of the High Wall. That's important because I believe that space where we spawn is a hidden shrine to the Gods and the linking of the Fire - blasphemous beliefs that have been outlawed in Lothric at large. With all this, if you did select a single "character" as being our Unkindled, then by the simple argument of "then why don't you always start off as ___" we can shoot it down. I cannot stress enough that your character does NOT have a specific identity; this is a player-insert. Your character is "your character" and nothing more, nothing less. What "backstory" you have is determined by your starting class and equipment. You don't necessarily associate with any of the Lords. And if you do, what's to say that the Unkindled associated with Lothric already failed his/her quest and fled, and you were initially intended to hunt down the meek (and obviously fearful) Ludleth should he decide to cut and run? It would fit. Every other Unkindled has either failed or given up. You may not know him personally, but who's to say your character isn't from the Courland that Ludleth speaks so fondly of? Even if you simply say "we were a person, maybe a sorceror, maybe a priest, maybe a warrior, in the service of Lothric" - well that answer is so general as to be laughable. We're a backup of a backup. In the event that the Unkindled specifically designated to kill a particular Lord fails or takes too long, we were summoned - "not for virtue, but for power." For all we know, Hawkwood's refusal to carry out his duty as an Unkindled may have been the trigger for our resurrection. We're not targeted, we're not specifically designated, and that makes sense - Lothric has condemned the fire-linking as a curse; who under his rule would dare attempt such a feat? The fact that we have so many questions surrounding our character's identity is a masterstroke by FromSoft - it keeps us asking, keeps us guessing. And they will only ever be answered by us, in our own unique ways. That is the main quality that makes Dark Souls an excellent game; that your character could have been literally anyone in a past life, could have done anything, and rises from being a human who is normal except for the fact that they can't die, to a being capable of bringing down dragons and gods. Such is the Curse of Fire.
Actually, it is Artorias stepping into the Abyss on the original release box art; it's been known to the fans since forever, as he clearly has the Shield of Artorias on his right arm, and is wielding some sort of sword (believed to be Artorias's Greatsword) in his left, opposite what any Dark Souls character would - Artorias, though, is now known to be left-handed, so his shield would be on his right. I believe the one who pointed this out to me initially was VaatiVidya in one of his videos, although which one I can't honestly remember right now. *ahem* Get it right before you try to shoot people down on the Internet otherwise no one will bother to read what you have to say. also, instead of debating something that has to do with my theory, which is for certain rather nebulous and open for discussion, you instead nitpick at the one thing that I'm actually certain about?
Hey UNSC. I agree generally with your rebuttal, but with regards to MatPat's statement on Hawkwood, I think you missed his point. It wasn't the clearest statement and he kind of glossed over the point, but it sounded to me like MatPat was saying that Hawkwood deserted the Abyss Watchers right BEFORE they went to try and light the flame. Solid rebuttal though. I'm curious to see what MatPat has to say in the continuation of his theory.
All the Unkindled are related to one boss that is a Lord of Cinders (Hawkwood -The Abyss Watchers, Siegward - Yhorm, Anri and Horace - Aldrich) so the main character might be related to Lothric - The Younger Prince, they might be a scholar that influenced Lothric making him think that linking the flame is a mistake. Later, he might have been punished by the royal family and was tasked with linking the flame which we undoubtedly failed at.And now we're resurrected to right the past and link the flame. Also, we find The Ashen Estus Ring in the location of your grave in the Untended Graves (the past) supporting the theory that we were related to the royal family in someway but most likely not a member of the family since there are no mentions about another son in any item descriptions, which leaves the possibility that we might have been the one of the scholars that taught Lothric.
True and lets all think back to Dark Souls one. We can all remember a certain knight that was pushed away from being a part of the royal family correct. perhaps our character has a similar role. Maybe we were erased from the annals of history like the great sun knight long ago.
+Yuuki Tsukino Well, this is as plausible as the video. Point is, your character could have been a slave knight, a seeker of knowledge, a merchant, a wanton murderer, a knight, a barbarian, a naked guy with a stick. The backstory is in your head. You create the character, you give them a class, scars, tatoos, blind eyes, you set them up to match your vision, and in that time you are creating where they came from. But, to enter this world, and for your character to be able to play out the personality you have given them, you need a bridge - Miyazaki's quote. It's basically the "why is my character here". The game never forces a backstory for you, it only gives you the tools to play out the character. Still, I feel like your take on your character might have been fun to play out, so kudos. :-) The only thing that connects us, the moment you drop your character, and deleted/never played them again, they have lost their will, and they have become hollow.
The unkindled one related to Lothric and Lorian is, in fact, Orbeck of Vinheim. He's sent as an assasin, and you can summon him before the twin princes fight. He's not from Dark Souls 1, the son of Gwyn. That one is the Nameless King.
I feel the need to point out that the age of fire continuing is against the will of the gods, it was supposed to move onto the age of dark but Gwynn worried about the fire dwindling and sought to rekindle it, thus committing the first sin.
GLHF Matpat, you're playing with fire with this franchise.... My theory is that the main protagonist is actually linked to Ludleth. Each unkindled matches a lord of cinder, being someone who successfully linked the fire, not just a prospect to do so...and we do meet one other undead who failed in their quest, Gundyr, who depending on your interpretation may or may not have been after Lothric shirked his duty. Regardless, as the intro states, "Ash seeketh embers"... Embers that Lothric doesn't possess. He lacks the power of the first flame. His fire is demon fire, from his previous battles with demons. Add to that the fact that neither Lothric recognizes us as anything but another unkindled coming after them, and I don't think the connection holds. Ludleth may not need sought after, he came willingly... but the fire itself revived us. The fire is indiscriminate in all things, it is a force of nature, the only scrap of sentience we see out of it has little to do with the flame itself, and much more to do with the undead who've previously linked it, or what's left of them. Ludleth is old, even by Dark Souls standards. Look at his dialogue if you talk to him with a certain set of eyes in your possession. He pre-dates one of the most basic institutions/traditions of the world, He saw what the eyes saw, and sacrificed himself to prevent it. He's... more or less resigned to his fate being in your hands, and is suspiciously okay with whatever intent you have for the fire. Why would he trust you? Is he simply fed up after seeing his sacrifice ultimately didn't matter? Or does the little lord have a better reason for trusting the Champion of Ash? But hey, that's just a theory, my lame theory.
I said basically said the same you said but I also included that Gundyr could have been sabotage when he was on his way to make Lothric link the flame. Because when you think about the first time you meet him in your world he had a coiled sword stabbed in him and the sword basically absorbs and uses fire as fuel. And since he is unkindled he has fire in him when he failed to link the flame and is now one with it essentially. So basically he's in a coma or a never ending life and death cycle since the flame is trying to revive him when he dies but the sword is draining all the fire from him killing him until we get revive and pull the sword from his body freeing him than killing him out of self defense which sends him to his world which is completely dark now and he also returned back to who he used to be when he was revive for the first time Champion Gundyr whom we also kill again
I feel like I should say this so.... the reason hawkwood deserted the abyss watcher(BTW my favourite boss) was because they laughed at him for using a shield instead of fighting with the more fast paced and crazy fighting style they adapted after drinking the great wolfs blood
I think your character is actually tied to Ludleth instead of Lothric. Lothric isn't a "real" lord of cinder, since he wasn't reanimated from linking the fire in the past, but rather is a human tasked with linking the fire for the first time and refused. Ludleth is the only Lord of Cinder left without an unkindled being tied to him. Ludleth is from a land called Courland, a place that no other NPC is from and which is known for its soul transposition, but soul transposition is viewed as a somewhat dark art by the people in the dark souls universe, even those living in Courland. Ludleth is known is "Ludleth the exiled" which leads me to believe that he was kicked out of his home for mastering the forbidden art of soul transposition. Ludleth drops the Skull Ring upon death which references a "Soulfeeder" in its description. Stating that the ring itself is a soul item previously derived from the soul of this "Soulfeeder" similarly to how boss souls get broken down into weapons or rings. Since Ludleth is the only character we know of who can perform soul transposition, and since he's the one with the ring, it can be assumed that he's the one who made it. The Skull Ring also briefly describes what the Soulfeeder was, describing it as "a beast that insatiably absorbed souls to feed its own power" and that the stench of all its' collected souls "left the air permanently stained" even after its corpse was burned. Who do we know that fits that description? Someone who continuously collects and absorbed souls before being burned to death and leaving it's souls behind. It's the main character. You are the reanimation of this "Soulfeeder" that Ludleth transposed into his ring. Perhaps you were meant to hold a grudge against Ludleth for using your soul, but when you get to Firelink shrine you find him awaiting you patiently, having already accepted his fate, and leaving you free to pursue the other lords of cinder instead.
I also agree that you are linked to Ludleth. But I doubt you are the Soulfeeder, every Undead (including Ashes) can absorb souls and do so to try and reach their goal to get strong enough to link the flame (or in your case to bring the lords to their thrones). Also: Ludleth does not drop a soul upon death, and HE uses/feeds on souls to transpose items. I think Ludleth himself is the Soulfeeder and used his own soul after being exiled to make the ring.
Patrick Jolly It is a really good theory, and it was also my guess. Lothric is related to Orbeck, in fact. Too bad you posted it first, you have my upvote :)
I think the way the Soulfeeder is mentioned, it is something Ludleth fought. I think it might be accurate to say it is his Unkindled, whether that's the player character or not. It might also be an enemy he fought on his way to becoming lord, much like the dragons for Gwyn or the giants for Vendrick. Like wise the abyss for the Abyss watchers, the Profane Flame for Yorn. Aldritch is an exception, since he was the evil one. As Hawkwood says 'made a lord for might, not virtue.' Not saying you're wrong, mind ya. Just saying that they are both possible. Miyazaki isn't really known for making 'facts' in the lore.
Dude if you literally go along the lines of "this is my favorite character", you should do your 3 seconds of rework to check who the character is. Alongside that, I really hope that mess-up was a joke
6:52 Aldrich's design is a bit misleading. The editing here makes it look like Gwyndolyn is Aldrich when it's actually the sludge monster that he's stuck in.
But... that's... Patches. Siegward has hair... and a mustache. Theory? I don't think the PC has anything to do with the Twin Princes. If the PC did, don't you think it would warrant a response to the ash that has come back to kill the Twin Princes? Another thing, they're not actually Twins. Lorian is the Older Brother of Lothric. But they share a twin soul which explains why they can't link the fire. In every concievable circumstance, the Soul of the Lord of Cinder who linked the fire was sacrificed as part of the linking (Thanks Gwyn, for ruining everything.) Also, Hawkwood. He does try to become a "Dragon" and Archdragon Peak. I don't know the full ins and outs of it, but it is worth mentioning. He's called a deserter, but I don't think that's truly the case. If you recall back to Dark Souls 1, in Ash Lake (which confused the life out of me.) There is the Dragon Covenant. Said covenant allowed the player to become a dragon. I believe that the Dragon Covenant is the reason Hawkwood left. Because to him becoming a dragon was better than becoming a Lord of Cinder and enduring that torment of having to link the fire (and to be honest, can you blame him?) Should I win, PS4 please :D One last minor thing, with the Abyss Watchers, you actually join their legion (though you don't get the Lord of Cinder status because you weren't there when it happened). Hawkwood makes mention that joining the Legion requires extinguishing of 3 flames (the same flames you extinguish to get to the Watchers.
It ... kind of makes sense, in that there is a parallel of a missing unkindled for the Princes. While Sirris and Orbeck are summon-able, Sirris only shows up because she's sworn loyalty to you, and Orbeck because you've befriended him - neither have real investment in the fight, but are there because (presumably) they think you do. This makes it odd that they don't show up for the fights with the other lords of cinder, or for the fight with Soul of Cinder. Of course, this could be easily explained as simply something you were tasked to do by Emma - one of the earliest guiding NPCs - when it becomes clear that the ashes of the other three lords of cinder won't be enough. It's not necessarily any connection to our past. Especially, since we don't seem start out in Lothric (though the eerie parallel Untended Graves is) having to warp there via bonfire/lord vessel. Yeah, after thinking it over, I'm with you on this one. I don't think the ties to the Lothric princes are legit with just what I can think of off the top of my head, but I'll have to wait and see what comes of the next episode.
I don't really think that the MC is connected to the prince. When you enter the throne room, Lothric states: "Oh dear... another dogged contender". You are not even the first one to get to him. He further states that he isn't interested in becoming a Lord of Cinder, so he knows why did you come. Again, this confirms that you are not the first unkindled one who came for his ashes. Hence we can't make an assumption that we are linked to him in any way just because we encounter and defeat him. If I were to go with something, I would state that all the characters you mentioned were pretty much reincarnations of the characters from the first DS: Anri is a reincarnation of Oscar of Astora, Siegward is a reincarnation of Siegmeyer, and Hawkwood is a new Crestfallen Warrior. It fits the theme of the series with the endless cycles and souls getting new incarnations (see DS 2). Pretty much all of the characters from the first game were reincarnated save for one, who was instead replaced by a secret boss. A secret boss who is an entirely different person. Yes, I'm talking about Solaire, the guy who participated in slaying Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight. The only memo of him that we get is his armor which can be obtained by trading a Siegbräu with Pickle Pee - which indicates that there are absolutely no clues of him being in the game since his items are more or less secret. Of course, you can get his set relatively early in the game so that you could cosplay as him, but maybe that was not the intention of the designers? Maybe they thought that if you are diligent enough you can figure out how to play the game correctly - as Solaire himself? TL;DR: You are Solaire, so praise the Sun
pretty much. it is well known that you are supposed to be a nobody. just a random guy that has to prove his worth or disappear into oblivion. in DS 1 the crestfallen warrior says it, you are just "another one". a fool that believes he can succeed where countless others have failed. in DS 2 you are just one of many trying to find a cure that doesnt exists for the curse. in DS 3 as you said, you are just another loser who failed in his time and is now resurrected just because every other option failed. you are not even plan B, you are like plan Z pretty much. unfit even to be cinder. there is no secret connection to the princes. this is what dark souls has always been about.
+Frozt he also said he needed extensive research to understand that hawkwood the deserter came from Farron's Undead Legion... like seriously? this is bullshit... I'm starting to wonder if he has even played the game at all)
Enclave Sympathiser because he doesn't know what he's talking about, hence why he hasn't done anything with it before. ...but Austin's video was a hit, so gotta tailcoat his success.
I doubt he can.. but everything MatPat told us in this video already been told by another souls lore hunter like Vaatividya, DaveControl, The Ashen Holow, and others and theirs are more deeper than this.. I'm coming here hoping there're something I miss from watching them, but nope.. it all still the same..
i was wondering if hes even done hawkwood's story if you talk to him after killing the abyss watchers he thanks you for killing his fallen friends and sometimes he sits outside next to a grave that has their sword next to it .-. and when you see him last its at the abyss watchers boss fight
