Is Pontiff Sulyvahn a GOOD GUY in Dark Souls III? 

Hey y'all. Kindly remember that this is about what the music is making us feel and not specifically contextually. While i get that he's obviously not a good guy after these comments i think it would be worthwhile to remind you to keep your perspective beyond the story and hear the music. The opening does sound holy and gentle with the single child singing here. There are aspects that misdirect this on purpose. My job is not to be correct about lore my job is to interpret music and explain how i did. Thanks for watching.

Nice interpretation, my guess is you felt the music through his perspective. He is the hero of his story. He is ending the reigns of the gods and proclaiming himself as ruler

Pontiff turned the bar to the good side so much he broke it and turned evil.

In the beginning you’re hearing the guy just standing there. Just ignore him. Don’t disturb him. Don’t act against him and accept his will. But then after him realising you’re here to confront him he shows his true face. The brutality of his soul.

Along with his theme, what I love about Sulyvahn is the forcefulness and deliberacy of his movements and hits. He is really telling you "you are not going to take from me what I have achieved!"

My man, Pontiff's like the main antagonist of DS3. Half of the bad stuff happens because of him.

Is pontiff Sulyvahn a good guy? Well considering he is the Dark souls equivalent to Palpatine defiantly not

Pontiff Sulyvahn is my favorite character in all of Dark Souls. Vaatividya’s lore video on him is spectacular. This theme is incredible and the Pontiff fight, while not overly difficult, is really fun and engaging. The second half of that theme is really intense, too.

Pontiff is by far and beyond the realm to be considered "Good". He was a being who tyrannically took power in Anor Londo, placing himself as its leading "king" and began to consolidate power and running terrible experiments, such as Vordt becoming what you find him in his boss fight and declaring the Dancer to be both his personal entertainer and his personal warrior, which is what we fight and face in her boss fight. He sentenced the last remaining descendant of Gwyn to be imprisoned in a tower, unable to do anything but watch the pale grey consume everything. Half of all that happens in Dark Souls 3 is because of Pontiff Sulyvahn, and his theme in the first phase is a tempting call, a sort of reverence to think of him as a good priest. Enter 2nd phase and you see that mask slip off and see how he desperately grabbed power and sought to maintain it. So to take a few seconds and ask "is he good?" is you falling for that little siren's song of his. He was and never have been "good".

I want to add one more fact about the pontiff and that is that nothing was mentioned about his other sword, "A ceremonial sword, held in Pontiff Sulyvahn's left hand, representing the judgment of the moon, but with magic far closer to sorcery than any existing lunar power. Its dark blue hues, deeper than the darkest moon, reflect sorcerer Sulyvahn's true nature." I find it interesting that the sword that was infused with the light of the dark moon, a miracle, therefore associated with faith. But in the case of the pontiff he managed to manifest it with magic, therefore the darker tone. In other words, it can be said that (apart from the fact that he also took the title of pontiff by force) he is a false pontiff because he doesn't even have faith. A detail that is written in the description of the weapon, but hey, not everyone reads the description I have more things to say like the Latin lyrics that sound on their soundtrack and how well they complement the intentions of the Pontiff, the truth is a very well done boss. If anyone is interested, the translated lyrics are on RU-vid. That's all Ashen ones. Bye bye and don't forget to praise the sun

Ps: Can you do “Dragonslayer Armour” next? It’s a really underrated track. Sullyvahn is possibly the evilest dude in the entire FromSoftware gaming career. He is a tyrant who killed enslaved and transformed people into beasts. He also imprisoned the daughter of the royal family only to make her his private dancer… and then also transformed her into a monster. He poisoned a god, and let a saint devour that god. In his youth, he was a scholar in Lothric’s kingdom and he is possibly the one that told the prince to abandon the Kindling of the flame, making the events of the game happen.

NO HE IS NOT

Just a quick funfact, originally Pontiff was the final boss and you can hear that in the music aswell, his theme is so designed that its noticable.

Finally, Pontiff's theme gets the attention it deserves. Thou art blessed and highly favoured

The lore behind Pontiff Sulyvahn: He was a young sorcerer who once went to the profaned capital to learn about spells, and then fused his sword with the profaned flame, a flame that never dies, and then took over Anor londo, a land of the old gods that lived at the beginning of the world, killed the citizens and enslaved them as spirits and built his own city

I love how you started reading the lore of these bosses after the music. I feel like knowing the story behind these characters adds to the actual music it’s self as you can almost hear there story in it.

I actually was so lost in Pontiff's theme that DeCaptrio meme made me jump off my seat lmao.

Sulyvahn!!! My favorite DS3 boss after Sister Friede (which I recommend for a review on the channel 👀). Pontiff Sulyvahn's boss theme is so unique to me as the most of the other bosses first notes are violent and very loud and frightening ; while Sulyvahn's is more gentle or even reflective. Anyway I died way too many times on this boss too haha... screw the delayed attacks!

In my opinion he is possibly among the most evil characters in all the souls games only rivalled by Mohg and possibly surpassed by the LOATHSOME DUNG EATER.

I noticed that in the second phase, everything is sung/played twice in quick successtion, just like Pontiff’s attacks as he mimics his phantom :)

Pontiffs 2nd phase somehow always surprises me, it’s like a feel of how he shows you his rage and his evil has reached its peak once second phase starts… that’s just my opinion

pontiff is probably the furthest away from being good in dark souls :D if you read the things he's done he's pure evil

One of my favourite songs in Dark Souls. Second Phase always hits hard, even after listening to it for hundreds of times.

Pontiff is not a good guy. Pontiff Sulyvahn was planned to be the final boss of dark souls 3. He’s essentially a tyrant who took over Anor Londo. He’s also the reason Vordt and the Dancer are messed up.

0:18 there was absolutely zero need to put this much effort in photoshopping Sulyvahn onto the Pope's car, this is golden.

Pontiff Sulyvahn is what happens when ambition is left to itself. The rage you're hearing is the Profaned Flame inside of him. It's an undying fire that corrupts those around it. The way the Pontiff stands there waiting for you upon entering his cathedral clearly implies that he knew you were coming as well, which makes sense since you find his Outrider Knights (through whom he sees) all the way into Irythill. So his rage makes sense. How would you feel if you knew someone was coming to ruin everything you'd been working up to your entire life when you're already having a bad time? I think that's why his theme sounds heroic, yet distorted and wrong. From his perspective, he's the hero. He's the protagonist. He's fighting to defend what's his. So the combined heroism/evil in his theme is basically the clash between his perspective of what he is, and what he actually is. What he's become. He's the hero in his eyes, but really, he's an enraged, power-mad tyrant who's defending something he himself usurped in the first place. It's why I love that subtle, nefarious use of the violin right at the start of the song. There's this beautiful little siren's call from the child choir that sounds innocent and holy, but the violin creeps in right after almost like a warning. ''Stop. Don't trust it. He's not right. He's not what he seems.'' He's one of the best bosses in Soulsborne, from lore, to gameplay, to music, to just the setting and atmosphere. It's a small wonder he was originally intended as the final boss.

What's interesting is. Sulyvahn is technically a good guy. He's trying to end the Age of Fire which was supposed to end ages ago. He is a villain to us because we are slaves to the first flame. He's trying to give humanity the world we were meant to inherate before Gwyn ruined everything.

in both his lore and design, it makes perfect sense that he was originally supposed to be the game's final boss. He's easily my favorite boss in the whole game too despite being my hardest one and it has a lot to do with the music. In the moment, its hard to digest how cool it is since i'm too busy getting my ass handed to me but goddamn, the overwhelming feeling this gives is so incredibly memorable. unlike the other bosses where its sad, and tragic and you might even feel bad for having to fight them but him, the music tells you that this is evil. darkness incarnate. its so badass and scary. especially that crescendo with the choir and he starts doing that shadow clone bullshit where you cant possibly parry them both. he's my favorite boss purely because of that stark contrast. his music just says "i'm the bad guy, i'm going to kill you now." another beautiful analysis from big man marco and i love the nuance you added from it outside of the game's context. it adds layers to the composition that i dont think i would've caught purely from just playing this.

Ce boss. Ce passage du jeu qui te fait utiliser absolument tout ce que tu as appris du jeu pour gagner. 43 tries, 4h d'apprentissage, de découverte. J'y ai pris un plaisir étonnament fou à progresser pendant ce bossfight. Il a été pour moi la représentation de la licence des Souls (ayant commencé par le 3). La mise en scène, la musique, le charisme du boss, sa difficulté, tout est parfait.

Pontif was the good guy. First, consider where he is making his last stand, or rather what's behind it: the most popular and most populated PvP location in the game by far. Pontif was not fighting us to hurt us, he was fighting us - the player - to protect us from godawful PvP of Dark Souls. Second, remember that he left Painted World of Ariendel. And what did Sully did when he left it? He went searching for Profane Flame. The only logical reason for his quest would be that he wanted to burn down Painted World of Ariendel with it, for both in-game reason - it was supposed to be burned to be saved from rot - and out of game: so that we - players - would not have to play this terrible dlc filled with disgusting bugs and yuk. Finally, Pontif arena is the best place to farm Sunlight Medallions. So even in death, he continue to help the players...

This was awesome! Haven't found the words yet to praise you for your contribution to our lovely community. But since it is Music were are talking about, this seems appropriate :) Thanks a lot!

I always had a different perspective when it came to Pontiff Sulyvahn. The man left the painting, that was rotting and was in need of fire, and he went to the profaned capital for the profane flame to burn the painting. But he gets corrupted by the profaned flame, and this corruption is in the form of the Abyss taking control of him. The Abyss’ greatest enemy is the First Flame and would try to end it as soon as possible, and Pontiff Sulyvahn does exactly that. Music in dark souls 3 plays an important part in its lore, and the sudden drastic change in phase 2 when he has the dark roots out means it’s the Abyss going out in full force to end you. It’s not a far fetched idea to say the dark roots on his back is the Abyss’ on Sulyvahn considering there are a few NPCs with dark roots in their eyes (Fia and Archdeacon McDonnell) and a few deacons in Anor Londo (close to Aldrich)

The lore summary you read is interesting... it frames Aldrich and Sulyvahn as wholly oppositional in Irythill but item descriptions imply that they were just as much cooperative as oppositional in controlling Irythill. Sulyvahn gave the body of the God Gwyndolin to Aldrich as a gift to be devoured. Sulyvahn was probably planning a coup against Aldrich but they were still partners in crime. When you fight Sulyvahn I wouldn't describe him as desperate. Politically he is in a strong position. He controls most the city, he has become the Pontiff, and his Outrider Knights have gained significant influence in Lothric.

Pontiff Sulyvahn was one of my favourite fights on the first playthrough. You just enter into the bossroom of an area that is often very difficult for first time players and all you see is a long corridor in between the benches of the church and a tall figure in the distance; You both slow wolk towards eachother with the choirs sending shivers and then he lunges towards you as the music goes louder.

I'm really glad you made a video on this! Pontiff is one of my favorite bosses in ds3 (though also one of the bosses I've had most trouble with, next to dancer whom I STILL DID NOT BEAT FUUUUUUUUUU) and also has one of the best boss tracks in the game. I still remember the time I finally beat him (mostly due to luck) but damn, the music never failed to tense me up

There is nothing wrong with the innocent and holy part at the start of the theme, he is the pontiff, and his origin and childhood was innocent and genius, he is indeed also the rebellion of put the broken fire era to an end-whether right or wrong

Loved hearing your thoughts, this is one of my favorite tracks from dark souls 3 and at this point it's memorised from the sheer number of times I died to him. I can't promise you'll ever find a happy souls song, but if you want the most hate filled one you should check out Fume Knight from Dark Souls 2

funniest title ever

Honestly Pontiff is basically the main villain except you meet and defeat him mid-game and you'd have no idea how important he is without reading item descriptions

There are so many implications behind Sulyvahn. If you do Anri Of Astrora's quest, its story paints a clearer picture of the carnage that the Pontiff and the God Devourer caused. As convoluted as the questlines can be I recommend trying this one if you decide to do another run of the game. It's one of the quicker, more satisfying quests and it adds a good bit of depth to the characters.

Also Marco. Just want to add, I mentioned a song for reaction a month or so back, and I think you’ll find it to be, like me, one of the only *happy* souls songs. The Nameless Song is the credits music of the first souls game and although it still echoes of melancholy and pain, the music is so ethereal, it has this element of hope. The nameless song to me is the quintessential song of the player character across the series. Although the song “Epilogue” from the end of DS3 is absolutely stunning, it feels like a finale, a song that encompasses all emotions in one piece. But The Nameless Song represents the player character both in titular fashion and thematically. The desire for hope, the perseverance of the player and the cycle of fighting and dying for the hope at accomplishing your goal. I remember when I first found your channel way back during the early parts of Elden Rings lifespan and watched your reaction to the Elden Beast and seeing your reaction to that piece immediately reminded me of The Nameless Song. It moved me to tears after I beat the game for the first time and it brings tears to my eyes frequently on consecutive listens. It’s beautiful, solemn, and full of hope and the pride of overcoming obstacles no matter the strain. Never gonna request you to listen to anything I recommend but I think it may end up in your own personal playlist after you hear it😁 You’ve been killing it recently with the variety of music, and I’m dead excited for you having the GOAT Christopher Tin on the channel.

I love your videos! You can literary feel the music and tell what is happening just by listeting to it. It's exceptionally good when you play Dark Souls series since the lore there is really abrupt and incomplete.

Reminds me a lot of the Shadowlord's Castle from Nier Replicant. The unsettling tone choir along with a sense of unease and corruption of the once holy is a compelling motif, it seems. Thanks for breaking down the track!

5:05 when the best part comes in

Nothing better than hearing Marco in his opera singer days when he does the introduction

I had his soundtrack on loop, one of the best

This uneasyness maybe comes from the fact that Sulyvahn is that one person you hear about in Dark Souls III, and then you see him and the music also gives this expression of "...I heard of you... But are you him...?"

Definitely a wonderful analysis on this boss of a boss, and the tidbit on not finding footing on the music as you fight him makes a whole lot of sense. Died to the pontif too much on my first run 😂😂

Pontiff Sulyvahn is such a great use of dark souls' lore and storytelling style. you've been reading about the horrible things things this guy has done and then you just walk in a door and find him walking towards you, no cutscene or nothing. all the weight of those item descriptions means he requires no introduction. Also, he certainly does seem like a character who is doing what they consider to be the right thing. this theme is full of twisted righteousness.

Sulyvhan arrived at Irithyll from Ariandel paint, and he found a city ruled by Gwyndoline, the last god remained in Anor Londo. We can clearly see it from the arena itself. The 4 statues are Gwyndoline statues, but without the snakes because he was embarassed by his monstruous body. And if you look at the windows, you can clearly see his golden mask/crown. Sulyvhan rised up to the position of pontiff and started ruling over the city. He kept Gwyndoline sealed in the high Anor Londo, meanwhile he started modifying the city to a snowy environment, to get a more familiar environment, more similar to Ariandel paint. When Aldritch arrived, Sulyvhan fought against Aldritch to protect Irithyl, but Aldritch was stronger than him, so at the end he stepped aside, leaving Gwyndoline to Aldritch, to be able to at least save himself and continue to rule over Irithyl. In the western community this is a bit misunderstood, but it's pretty clear from the japanese scripts and transcriptions. In fact, in japanese, it say that Sulyvhan locked the God-king from the previous ruling family (so Gwyndoline, the last god remained to rule on Anor Londo) in the abandoned cathedral (Anor Londo cathedral, the oldest part of the city, where you fight Onrstein and Smough in DS1, and now Aldritch in DS3). THEN, in MORE RECENT time, he offered Gwyndoline to Aldritch, to save himself. Gwyndoline was locked years and years before Aldritch arrival. He was NOT locked there specificately to offer him to Aldritch. Unfortunatelly, the western community is full of people who makes video and share info about From Software games, but without looking at the japanese original scripts. Even Vaati, that is so famous, did disinformation in the past because usually he does not use the japanese scripts. And he is still making disinformation sometimes, at the moment Elden Ring: for example going on with his own head-canon that the Crucible was there before the Erdtree, even if the japanese script clearly explains that the Crucible IS the Erdtree. During the first life-phase of the Erdtree, it was called Crucible; before Marika took away the rune of death from the Elden Ring, changing the name from Crucible to Erdtree (but still, the same entity) and its color changed from orange/red to golden. There are only a few western content creators who explains the true lore, based on japanese original scripts and translations, for example the english youtuber Smoughtown, or the italian youtuber Sabaku no Maiku.

Sulyvahn was supposed to be the final boss in dark souls 3 in it's early design, and you almost feel it still in his OST, his has like that finality and ominous "you've reached the end, we both know what happens next" as it starts playing and he looks at you from the center of his cathedral, he's in no rush and wait for you to make the first steps forward. The calm feeling of the first part also gives that sensation of confidence, but as the fight goes Sulyvahn's theme and attacks get more violent, less gracious as he starts to feel an actual thrat.

Yeah, he was born inside the Painted World, which is normally a sort of magical refuge for those cast aside in the real world, but having been born there, Sulyvahn only knew it as the cold snowy place it was and found no comfort or place there. A young sorcerer, he set out into the outside world essentially searching for some kind of belonging or home of his own. However he found the Profane Flame in Irithyll, an evil fire tainted by the Abyss that corrupted his heart with dark ambition and his machinations from there on led the greatest kingdoms to their downfall and causing the ruin of the very world itself. He was even originally meant to be the final boss.

Funny how you describe it as "swimming" seeing as Sulyvahn was helping Aldrich bring about the *Age of Deep Sea*

This music leads us through the story of Sullyvhan himself. Going from a sad theme of longing since he is a child of the painted world, yet in the realm meant to house those who are cast out, he did not belong. So he set out into the real world on an adventure, and came across Anor Londo where he found the place he could really make something of himself. Only to find children of gods there and those who he deems as flawed and undeserving of worship. With the rise in the music, it symbolizes his fall from lost soul into a hunger for power. So he sets up their downfall and becomes empowered by the perpetual flame and the power of sorcery making his own subjects into monsters and dancers content to reign into the end of the world with a front row seat as the age of fire is swallowed by the Abyss. The song goes into its end game as you arrive and slowly undermine his grip on the city, he is enraged, and he'll make sure no one takes his place of belonging from him, no chosen undead, no god, no one! His thirst of power on full throttle and wrath focused solely on you. Also, the main DS 3 theme is in here because he is the main villain of the game according to the lore.

He definitely seems to view himself in the right. He left his birthplace and wandered until he discovered a source of power that had killed everyone in the civilization, took power in a corrupted clergy and "guided" it down a path of the age of dark. He is definitely an interesting character because you could see his actions as noble. He isn't aligned with Aldrich or Lothric's ideals. He's probably got a similar hatred or fear of fire from living in the painted world, which is why he stands against us.

The Pontiff is about as pleasant as a sandpaper enema. But his music does give off a sense that he may once have had unassuming, if not good, intentions. Being an outcast among the outcasts and trying to find a purpose in the outside world humanizes him, if nothing else. It's only after he nabs the Profaned Flame that he starts to really become the Dark Souls equivalent of Palpatine. For all we know, the true Sulyvahn is dead and his corpse is being piloted by the Profaned Flame, much like how Shabriri eventually takes over Yura's body in Elden Ring. There are some interesting retrospective parallels to be drawn, if nothing else.

love the content and edits! Especially the blurred text while you were reading specific paragraphs of the lore!

This track is probably my favorite out of the series if not one of them. It has everything I love about fromsoft’s dark orchestral music from the Menacing Angelic vocals to the way have beauty in the wake of all this darkness that the scores and the game’s atmosphere presents to you.

The Pontiff is the undisputed villain in fromsoftware games.

Fun fact that has probably been said somewhere in these comments: the main menu theme was originally supposed to be pontiffs theme song

Pontiff "Infinite Combo Chains" Sulyvahn. Likely one of the most clear-cut villains in the Souls games.

Yes, you are correct, Pontiff Sulyvahn is the hero. He was a brave outsider who upset the tyrannical government under Dark Sun Gwyndolin, who was basically magical Stalin by the time of Irithyll. He was pretty brutal about it, though. Also, at some point he came into contact with the Profaned Flame, which turned him from what was possibly a good man to something else. A tragic hero, worthy of song.

Wow! waiting for the reaction to the theme song of Sister Friede and Father Ariandel.

This is one of my favourite tracks from DS3. I always think of the liturgical choral overtones as having venom dripping off them, in a similar way to how Sulyvahn used his religious power to enact so much evil

Sulivahn could be argued to be the good guy depending on your perspective, if you side with Gwyn and the age of fire, he's the biggest villain its ever faced, but if you want to end the age of fire, then he's the reason that's possible. Sulivahn is basically the reason all the events in the game happen, he is implied to have a hand in convincing Lothric not to link the flame, thus leading the lords of cinder to be ressurrected, he's also the one sheilding Aldrich, one of the lords of Cinder, and to a certain extent Yhorm from you, Vordt and the Dancer also both work for him and are there to protect Lothric from you. He took over Gwyn's old city of Anor londo, feeding his younger son to Aldrich, imprisonning one of his descendants and turning the other into the dancer. He's definately a tyrant, but could be argued as neccessary evil since the age of fire needs to end.

5:20 You can hear that the music in phase two sorta mimics itself a few times. The same melody will play right after the first one. I like to imagine that this is a reference to how Pontiff mimics his Shadow form in phase two. It’s like an echo.

Pontiff is the reason why DS3 exists. I even used phantoms to kill him because he deserves it.

Pontiff Sullyvahn is the main antagonist of the game lol! Everything happened due to ol' sully here. He convinced the Twin Princes to not light the flame, so that the previous Lords of Cinder would come back; but he specifically wanted Aldrich, because he had captured Gwyndolin (Gwyns son) so that he could feed him to Aldrich as a sorta peace offering. And that's just a little bit of the chaos this guy created.

Fun fact: Pontiff's music was originally supposed to be the Main Theme of DS3 and Pontiff as the final boss, it was later scrapped for this!

One of the best Dark souls bosses ever made

I would like you to please listen to the boss music for Champions Gravetender and Greatwolf. A boss that a lot of people hate on but has beautiful boss music

It was a nice catch noting it is similar to Dark Souls 3's main theme! While the game was being produced, Pontiff Sulyvahn was meant to be the final boss, and the game's main theme used to be his boss fight theme. After his role in the story was reworked, and his old theme repurposed into the menu theme, he needed a new theme for his fight that was obviously similar in tone to what the previous one was.

It sounds like this because here, you're the good guy putting down the bad guy.

I was waiting for this Video to Happen

The pontiff is the very opposite of good. He comes from a painted world of snow and was a sorcerer who derived his power from darkness. He became greedy and left his cold world to take claim to the boreal valley and killed and made a mockery of the previous royal family, one of them being the dancer of the boreal valley who he made a dancer for his own entertainment before turning her into one of his outrider knights. He also spread his dark magic throughout the church and corrupted it. The deacons of the deep are an example of this. (Highly recommend their boss music btw)

Dont know if anyone has commented this, but the ds3 main menu music was originally supposed to be Pontiff's theme, because of his involvement with the ending, etc. Also Gwynevere Princess of Sunlight is the "happy" song you are looking for. Pontiff had something to say about Gwynevere tho...

It’s also funny that the main theme was supposed to be his boss music as well

I always watch your videos . Greetings from argentina

You are right about the main theme, since Pontiff was initially supposed to be the main antagonist of DS3, until it was scraped. Considering his impact, he pretty much is the main boss of the game lore wise. I highly recommend listening to ocerios' theme as well, it is very underrated and unique even among the DS3 roster.

Yes, yes he is. In a weirdest, most twisted and horrid way, but he is. "Oh no, he fed Gwyndolin to Aldrich!" Remember who kept his dear Pop's plan of "Hey you, Undead! Go and burn yourself to prolong the suffering of the world!" running? Yup, that's right, little Gwyndi did. "B-b-but he's going to hurt Yorshka!" Yorshka, is another Half-breed, but, unlike Priscilla, she is FULLY supporting of her relatives' plan of prolonging the world's suffering. Also, she leads Darkmoons. If you look into item description for the Double Tongue invasion reward (given when you kill Blues in invasion) you'll see that Darkmoons/Blue Sentinels are treacherous snakes with forked tongues, who stand with the Gods' subjugation and brutal rule over humans and are here solely to ensure that "chosen" fools would successfully make it to the Kiln and burn themselves, dooming the world further. So guess what? Yeah she's a bad person and deserved whatever cruel fate Sully had for her. "It was (LIKELY) him who told Lothric/Lori to not link the Fire!" Yes, if it was him and not Aldia, the Scholar (which there's a possibility since we find his Soul Geyser Sorcery in Lothric Archives), then that's yet another thing that Pontiff did right. Age of Fire MUST end. Let the world rest. Let the true be cast upon the world, let humanity be free for some time, they absolutely deserve it. "He twisted Dancer and Vordt into terrifying monstrosities!" Dancer is a descendant of Gods - Gwynevere more specifically. Sure, she might be sort of innocent, but with how horrible is the curse, the fate of Mankind given to us by the Gods, she's also guilty. Just because she's one of them. So is Vordt. He's always been running near and around dancer, like a loyal dog would. You stand with the Gods - you deserve the same punishment. He might've done alot of bad things from the general perspective, but if you look at it from the Human point of view, he's not that bad. He is not very nice to some humans, looks like - Irithyll's hollow slaves being the example. But at the same time - there's no noticeable mistreatment from him towards his Knights and Witches. Who, very likely, are humans - Knight's wield Deep-corroded swords and use a natural Dark Sorcery projectiles, and Witches wield Flame and Sorcery - both things are closer to human in nature then to Gods. Also, in current time in Dark Souls world, "Witch" is almost always used to describe a Human sorceress, usually capable of using Dark (humanity-based) Sorceries. He is a weird sort - he came from a painted world, he's a child of that Tree Woman we find near one of his Frost Sorceries. He's not human Himself, YET his Sword of Judgment glows in dark hues, darker than any (moonlight) sorcery, and said to represent his true nature - meaning he is VERY close to Human/Dark, even though he is not one. He, in a way, is a "Divine Punishment" that befallen the city of the Old Gods (Londo/Irithyll). The soundtrack, at least to me, starts as a relative calm argument between a "believer" or "man of faith" of sorts and a his religious opponent, it has some periods when tension heightens, but most of the time it's relatively calm, while still it's clear that "man of faith" side is trying to persuade their opponent to join them. But they just don't listen. And then, annoyed and disappointed, man of Faith snaps, going into religious zeal, ready to remove his opponent from equation entirely, rather then include. Which, does make sense. Pontiff does believe in the Age of the Deep. He is, also, affected by the Profaned Flame, hence the sudden outburst of anger reflected in music - seems that even the "corrupted, flesh-consuming" Fire is against the "First Flame" that holds the entire world hostage, and you, Ashen One, are carrying a tiny bit of that flame too. So, while I wouldn't call him a good person, in a global scheme of things, he is a good thing, at least for Humanity, as he took down the remaining Gods and tried to bring forth the Age of Deep (very likely NOT the same as the age of Dark, but it would've benefitted humanity still), and can be considered a "good guy".

The holy descendant from ds1 that reign for ages, this dude ended it.

He's on "Local man ruins everything" meme for a reason xD

Fun fact! Pontiff Sullivahn was once intended to be the final boss of Dark Souls 3 so that kinda shows just how much importance he had/still has in the game especially with his intense af music.

One of my favorite soundtracks and one of the coolest fights in the souls series

Been waiting for two months for Tenebre Rosso Sangue, P-2 first theme.

Lore-wise He is the worst guy of all. Enslaving people, propagating cannibalism, killing everyone who disagrees, hunting down people, or preventing Ashen ones from relighting the fire, both personally and through his underlings, Dancer of the Boreal valley and Vordt.

finally you are the first channel reacts to this song, auto subs!

You know I'd love to see you break down some opera music too!

Usually in Dark Souls the bad guys are complex, barely being real "bad guys" but rather simply antagonists to the player. Often you're fighting them to put them out of their misery. Pontiff Sulyvahn is one of the very few times you run into someone who is evil just for the sake of being evil, and that killing him is doing a service to the decaying world. A comical amount of tragedy could have been avoided if Sulyvahn never existed.

Oh I’ve been waiting for this one!

Hes like THE villain behind the scenes

fun fact, Pontiff Sulyvahn was going to be the final boss of the game, Soul Of Cinder was added late in development (Soul Of Cinder armor was supposed to be the canon look for the Ashen One, which is why he is on the game's cover)

you've probably had people comment this already, but this wasn't his original theme. He was originally the final boss of DS3 and his theme was what is now the main menu.

making you think sulyvahn is a good guy is such a sulyvahn thing

You sweet summer child, Pontiff is the physical manifestation of pure evil...

I'm kinda late here but from what I understand, Pontiff at one point discovered the Profane Flame. There's a disappointing lack of exposition on the Profaned Flame, but Andre says he can see the Abyss in it. My take is that Yhorm the Giant linked the First Flame and became a Lord of Cinder in hopes of quelling this Profaned Flame - because it apparently derives at least some of its power from the Dark, strengthening the Age of Fire and delaying the Age of Dark would be a logical step in trying to snuff out a flame fuelled by the Abyss. It's not very clear what happened around this time, but the simplest explanation is that while Yhorm was gone, linking the First Flame, the Profaned Flame raged and killed everyone. The Profaned Flame pyromancy says it burned away "naught but human flesh", which is interesting. Not sure if, through translation, we're meant to interpret "human flesh" as flesh of Dark-souls-humans or just humanoid beings, including Giants. Regardless, the way I interpret this is that the Age of Fire has been going for so long that the Dark has, in a way, become desperate, and enraged, crying out for the Age of Fire to finally end. I think Sulyvahn, who originally was an inhabitant of the Painted World of Ariandel and familiar with the custom of burning away the painting when it begins to rot so a new one can be painted, found the Profaned Flame, and took it as concrete proof that the extended Age of Fire was an atrocity to the natural world. So, with a "burning ambition" (Profaned Greatsword), he subjugated the remainder of the old gods in Anor Londo, and enabled and seemingly sided with Aldrich in getting him to consume them. If all the gods are dead, the head of the Age of Fire ideology is gone. Why Sulyvahn sides with Aldrich in bringing about the Age of Deep Sea is ambiguous. Perhaps it was just the fastest way to bring about the next age, similar to the Age of Dark but not identical. Or it might be that the Age of Fire has gone on for so long that the Dark has become so stagnant and weakened that it can no longer naturally take over and begin the next cycle by itself - it needs assistance. This "Deep Sea" is where all human dregs end up, which seem to be some kind of byproduct or later stage of Humanity sprites (they share the same shape) - i.e., Dregs are to Humanity as Ash is to the Flame. I think Sulyvahn's methods of usurping power were undeniably monstrous and uncaring, but that seems to be his very nature, born and raised in the Painted World with nothing but stories of hatred of those on the outside, and he left due to "never experiencing loss" - he had no use for the Painted World, he'd never experienced the oppression on the outside, and left his home without caring at all. But when you look at the bigger picture, how royally the gods have f*cked up the natural cycles, it's easy to see Sulyvahn as being a hero at the same time as being a villain. He's the final domino in toppling the Age of Fire and bringing about a new age, as it should always have been, and as it always has been inside the Painted Worlds, where he was raised.

Short answer: No Long answer: Hell NO Seriously tho, he is the guy who set in motion all the events of DS3 and he was supposed to be the end boss of the game.

You can say that the entire History of Ds is on a Gray Scale, but that changes with how monstrous Sullyvhan was. I would even dare to say that Seth is the only one who comes close to being so evil, not even the darkest beast like Manus is on that scale.

Sullyvan is the best villain in the series by far! The guy took advantage of all the weaknesses in the Dark Souls universe and turned them to his advantage. If it wasn't for us, the guy would have conquered the whole planet!!! It's tremendous!

Actually pontiff was initially supposed to be the final boss of dark souls 3 instead of soul of cinder. It's even more evident now with the main theme being included in his OST.