Is Slave Knight Gael the Best song from any FromSoft Game!? Pro Opera Singer Finds out... 

Fun fact, the main woman you hear in the vocals singing is actually the composer Yuka Kitamura herself!

The real beauty of this piece is seeing it in action. They choreographed the fight to match with the phase changes. When Gael gains the will to fight you after the first phase, and he jumps out at you with all his fury and might cloaking him in a swirling mass of red skulls... It's incredible to behold.

7:55 This is so accurate, in his 3rd phase he actually starts going crazy and starts screaming and slowly losing his sanity completely.

This track hits different when you’re acfually fighting the boss, specially the 2nd and 3rd phases. Gael is one of the best, most climactic and visually epic fights in the franchise.

i love how yuka kitamura strung the melody for the gorgeous piece “for the dark soul” into the third phase of this song. it blew me away

Alrighty "quick" Gael lore dump for context Residing inside a world stuck in an endless cycle once existed a glorious painting that itself hid the painted world of Ariendel. However as all things eventually come to a fitting end, all that remains of the painting is a pathetic rotting scrap guarded by an old man bound by promise to fulfill the destiny of his niece, who within the cold and diseased lands of Ariandel continues to paint a new world that will exist as a refuge. However with Gael's assistance you clear the guardian of the church and continue into the Ringed City, a place at the end of time where everyone everything has forgotten its purpose and gone hollow or been reduced to pitiful ash, all except Gael. Somehow lasting until the end of time itself he leaves torn off pieces of his red cloak to guide you through this horrid wasteland until you can find him, however he is not the same man. Gael himself upon finally finding the pygmy lords gouges them as he finally goes Hollow in your battle within him, as at this point you, the embodiment of the first flame, battle against the embodiment of the Dark Soul itself and after he is dead it is revealed that this was his plan all along, raising you to become a champion strong enough to kill him so his promise could be fulfilled long after driven mad. So harvesting the blood from your once friend, you take it back to the painter in Ariendel, who even in the burning attic of a church continues vigilantly to use this new bloody pigment to conceive a new world, where perhaps someone may finally find refuge from the cruel cycle of this world.

"What, still here? Hand it over. That thing, your dark soul. For my lady's painting." Fun fact: He's one of the few bosses that has 3 phases.

For those who had read Berserk, this is the song i´ve always imagine that Guts and Griffith would have in a final fight.

I'm glad to see you're listening to the released album version XD. It's the best version of the song wih all 3 phases and no repetition or awkward fading out. Just a complete suite of epicness.

5:50 You're right on the complete loss of control for Gael, but it's because he has consumed nearly every shred of humanity in the world at this point; except yours. This swirling chaos in front of you isn't a lack of humanity, it's the very pinnacle of what humanity can be. Such a tragic character, and a fun fight. I'd recommend Champion's Gravetender next, wild track that I think you'll like.

Slave Knight Gael is without a doubt my most listened song from FromSoft games, if not all of gaming OST. It never fails to invokve the feeling of absolute awe and tragedy. Some of my favourite moments are the strings in the background for the first part, that sound like a steadily growing wind; the completely *insane* brass lines throughout the entire piece; and most importantly, the female voice serenading us with a desperate, mourning aria. I love every single second and I can recite it from memory at this point.

"The red-hooded, wandering slave knight Gael sought the blood of the dark soul as pigment for the Painted World. But Gael knew he was no Champion, that the dark soul would likely ruin him and that he had little hope of a safe return." "Used as pigment by his lady in Ariandel to depict a painted world. When Gael came upon the pygmy lords, he discovered that their blood had long ago dried, and so consumed the dark soul." From the Soul of Slave Knight Gael and Blood of the Dark Soul lore tab

Hand it over... that thing.... your musical review

Midir, Malenia, even Manus unprepared might be harder. But Gael is just... something else. Music synchs up perfectly with his phases and choreograpy, never felt that "I" was fighting enemy so much, you and him at end of the world and time, he is not even evil, he is just man of duty, that went a little mad. And its still noteworthy he HELPED you before you broke Fillianore sphere, on Demon princes, showed you how to jump... This is probably one of best boss battles EVER, not only in fromsoft games. Also how you two, standing there, differ - Ashen one - literally awoken zombie without any reason to live or kindling fire, just being pushed by fate, vs man who sacrificed everything for his lady, duty - himselft, world, future and everyone else. He wasn't any choosen one, ashen one, god - just man with some luck that become stronger and stronger and made it to end of the world.

It's incredible what Marco can make out of just the song without having played the game.

Gael was the perfect boss to end the Dark Souls trilogy

Dear god...the fight with this man, if you can even call him that, hit me like a truck. His whole arc was told over two DLC's and I completely forgot he was the one that sent you on that journey in the first place. I hadn't seen him since the first time we met and the fight was foreshadowed so subtlety. So when I found him at the end of a wasteland pointing a sword at me, I was completely thrown off, then I realized-"oh damn, this is how it's got to be, isn't it?"

"It feels like there's an absolute loss of control here, whatever sort of humanity was being held onto is now completely reverted" Gael goes hollow in the second part of the fight. It would be inaccurate to say you hit the nail on the head. You perfectly intuited the point at which the nail should be placed and hammered it all the way in, with almost zero context. Nice. (Also would you consider doing Pontiff Sulyvahn at some point in the future? That would be absolutely pogadelic)

I couldn't even remember his theme until the song started Then it all came back I must replay DS3 man

when it comes to "Best Fromsoft music", Im particularly a fan of Ludwig The Holy Blade the way the music was revealed to me in the accompanying cinematic and then gameplay was the most glorious, haunting moments I ever experienced

Finally! Probably the best OST from Souls games. You should try Sister Friede and Pontiff Sullyvahn themes next! :)

I love how this song escalates. It's constantly growing stronger, more complex and more severe. Just like the fight itself (which unusally for souls bosses has three phases) and in the environment. In the first phase Gael is almost bestial running on all fours, leaping and bounding, wildly flailing with his sword. The battle takes place in the largest battlefield yet, a vast almost empty landscape filled with dunes of ash. Then in second phase which has taken the battle to the ruins of a court that still remains in the fields of ashes, Gael rises up and for the first time grabs his sword with both hands and now he fights you like a human while in the environment the wind begins to rise as the storm is approaching. And then in final phase, Gael brings out the big guns, escalates his attacks and uses all the tools he has at his disposal to take you down and at this point the raging storm has arrived with thunder roaring and lightning striking the ground all around you. It's an epic battle in the grandest sense. And it's just two last remaining dudes duking it out for hardly any reason at all, one driven mad by his long quest, the other simply trying to defend himself. And when it ends... no fanfare or anything. The storm passes and you are left all alone in a dead world. No ending cutscene, no nothing. Your reward: a mcguffin that you can take back to someone in the distant past to get a vague promise of a happy ending.

8:24 This bit always sends a shiver down my spine

As good as this song is, it’s not one that I’d typically listen to outside of the game. It works incredibly during an electrifying fight with Slave Knight Gael, but I’d rather listen to the music of Vordt, Soul of Cinder, or Nameless King on their own when it comes to DS3. Maybe I’m just subconsciously making sure the song stays fresh so I can always enjoy the boss fight to the fullest?

The last two beings in the world, in a desert that swept ancient civilaztions. The last two hallows fighting over the fabled dark soul, the very thing the Lord of Light wanted to banish. Gael, after all this time finds the pigment he was searching for all this time in this battle. The battle sunders the lands, splits mountains and whatever remains of the ringed city turned to rubble, and as the dust settles it is the chosen undead who walks out. This pigment of the dark soul will make a new painting, a new world. Gael completed his quest, sparking new life out of a stagnant world. Maybe.... just maybe the lands between is nothing more than the world that was painted from this battle. That's my head cannon anyways edit:Loss of control is reacting to phase two where Gael finds the Dark Soul in his own blood. And it starts to take over him, its power is immense, and he completed his quest. After that..... the world sunders as you are no longer fighting Gael... you are fighting a puppet of the true power of the dark soul. Berserk mode is when he loses control to the dark soul.

DUDE, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE. LETS GOOOO! And still knocking it out with the boss fight descriptions through the feelings of the music! Great video as always!

DS3 has some insane tracks. This, Midir is another badass song, Vordt which goes so unnecessarily hard in the 2nd half, and my personal favorite Yhorm.

I really love your reactions to the Souls music so much. Seeing the expressions on your face, hearing your analysis. It brings me joy. Thank you so much. Subscribed.

It's also quite a sad theme considering Gael willingly corrupted himself all for the sake of delivering the Dark Soul to his lady. And in the end, your character can't tell her that her Uncle Gael will never return cause you could tell that the painter viewed Gael with affection and love like a paternal figure and wouldn't want him to bring harm upon himself if she knew the lengths he went to retrieve the Dark Soul for her.

The best in the game imo, probably my favorite Yuka Kitamura piece. Gael is still at the top of my list, including Elden Ring bosses.

The lyrics in this track is also a masterpiece, telling us the story of the Red hood knight and his painter. I would highly recommend listening to Orphan of Kos too.

Its scary how many details you always get about the situation the music is depicting. This is a testament both to fromsoft for having such great composers but also to your well trained ear for dissecting the song so well.

Had to click as soon as i saw the title. Hope you had a blast with the OST you should check out Dark Souls 1 music, since not many people do.

I've commented many times before but I just love how you also never talk when the music is on, and pause it when you wanna talk. So we (you and the community, us) just vibe together and then we can enjoy you talking about the music. It's really one of the best Music Reaction format I've seen on RU-vid !

What I love most about the beginning of this song is there's a duality of the meaning, like it is expressing Gael and him being sworn to his duty, but it can be interpreted as also being about the player at that point. We've reached the end of time, we've destroyed everything in our path to get here and now it is our duty to put Gael down after he's consumed so much Dark he's gone mad. There's that solemn feeling when that music hits entering the boss room and everything is ash and decay around you and you have to run across this nothingness to fight someone that's helped you fight along your journey, who has been irrevocably corrupted trying to achieve his mission. This music is just amplified if it does along with the actual fight I can definitely tell you that. I died the first time I got to the final phase because the music had stunned me so much I lost focus on the actual attacks going on.

It sounds incomplete without his angered grunts and screams, the slamming of his broken sword against us and the ground and the strikes of lightning in the last phase which all synced up perfectly with the music like they were instruments on their own.

I absolutely love this song. I've been playing specifically DS3 for over 4 years now and have almost 3k hours on the game. And you know what? Every fight with Gael, I cry. His song is filled with regret, saturated with such pain that every time I hear this song, I cry. I sincerely feel sorry for him, and for 4 years I still cannot overcome myself. Every time it feels like I'm killing my best friend with my own hands. It hurt a lot more when someone did a translation of his song and my God, I wish I didn't know. Even if I'm in a great mood, but I hear Gael's song, that's it, bring a bunch of handkerchiefs, because there will be a lot of tears. No song made me feel so strong feelings like this one. Thank you madam, Yuka Kitamura.

Arguably the best boss fight in the entire fromsoft catalog.

4:10 this piano, imo it represents the player and their place in this fight, the volume is too low in comparison to the other instruments and yet is trying to show off, carefully dodging and attacking, doing their best, I think it's the only song that has this moment to represent the player, that's because Gael questline is indeed about the player too, traveling, getting powerful, seeking and consuming Dark Souls, being a slave...

Slave Knight Gael is one of the only pieces of music that make me emotional, can't even hum along to it without getting teary eyed lol. the fight, the music, the visuals and the story implications of the fight make one of the most beautiful set pieces I've ever seen in any form of art, absolutely brilliant way to end the Souls saga

Slave knight Gael was the perfect send off for the dark souls series the music and the fight is amazing

I appreciate your insight to the song, but rather than this being directly about Gael, it's actually more of a grand farewell to Dark Souls as an entire series; so referring to the beginning of the video rather than Gael wanting to be set free, it's more about Dark Souls' last hurrah, and the significance that accompanies that. Surely Gael was taken into account when writing the song, and it is definitely tailored to his fight, but this was the last fight in the entire Dark Souls series, with no intent to return to the IP, and when viewed from that light, I think you can see how well all three of these peices really lend themselves to that.

Coming from your second ludwig video as you said in the vid I watched. Your channel deserves a lot of support

the part at 8:23 is also a throwback to the main theme of dark souls 3 (the main menu theme) and its there to tie up the game in a satisfying way I'd say. The last part of the song from the last battle of the last game was hinted from the beginning.

It doesn't sound right without the smashing of his sword that somehow matches up with the song

Ooh I love Gael's theme, especially the transition from 2nd to 3rd phase.

Incredible video dude, looking forward to other reactions.

I'm just so happy music brings people together like this. Whether you were a professional or know nothing about theory, everyone enjoys their own music. Pieces like these and so many others really just bring out the best in many communities. Makes me happy that even as such a young channel thay you are reaching out to people like me. Love you man even though I'm just another viewer to everyone

Please react to Darkeater Midir from DS3 eventually, it’s one of the best Fromsoft songs and by the same composer of Gael’s, Lady Maria’s and Malenia’s themes.

One of my absolute favourite boss and soundtrack especially 5:31 when you fight him this lines up perfectly with a certain attack (won’t say which attack just incase)

Its alwyas so crazy to me how u make these observations from just the music and you are always spot on.

2 nobodies fighting in a middle of nowhere for nothing. Gosh i love this fight so much

your descriptions were insanely accurate, lol. love how well you're able to read the contents of the fight purely through the implication the music gives, very impressive

Still my favourite theme honestly it's just so good, love your perspective and how you explain what it makes you think of, it's very fitting to Gael's story.

I am always so impressed by your ability to dissect a soundtrack and so accurately muse on it's meaning without any contextual knowledge.

100% goosebumps. This sits on top of the video game soundtracks for me.

Such a good piece for the boss! Absolutely love it. Thanks for the analysis!

The duty you mention it's to his granddaughter she wants to paint a world and she needs a special shade of paint which is the blood of the dark soul which is Gael's blood after he devours countless souls and becomes mad.The fight is very chaotic in a world after everything was destroyed,a wasteland.I think there is some humanity left in him which is reflected by those strings because he is with you on your journey in both dlcs and maybe he does not want to kill you but he can't contol himself.Also 7:50 that is not inaccurate at all that is an attack that he has,he grabs his head and explodes.

I love your insight. Great video!

Oh, I've been looking forward to this so very much. This song gripped me when I first experienced it in game, captivated me further when I sat down to listen to it on its own, and absolutely blew me away when I started looking up translations and transcriptions of the lyrics. The different parts of the choir are singing as Gael, trying desperately to keep his singular focus on his mission to gather the Dark Soul in his blood for the painting, and The Painter, crying out for him and wishing only for his return. A masterpiece.

man, sometimes in your interpretations you are SO spot on!

I know I am late - but this is an awesome idea for a channel and I'm going to check out more of your videos. It's very interesting to see what you take away from the music without knowing the lore, and honestly how close you have managed to get without knowing. Very impressive.

This fight is the best fight FromSoft had made to this day, by miles. No fights in Elden Ring (this is written pre-Shadow of the Erdtree release) even comes close.

I was been waiting for this reaction :)

It's interesting how the reception to both Gael and his theme have changed since Ringed City first released. At first, people felt like Gael was a weird choice for what was essentially the final boss of the series (because it was some guy we essentially just met who wasn't originally all that notable - he was just some guy who took you into Ariandel and provided weak help against Friede) and that his song was "messy" (I never really got this, honestly). Now he is (I think rightly) a well-liked boss and his story is equally appreciated. He's not just some guy, he's a mighty but tired warrior - much like you - determined to the point of striving for an eternity to help a person who could actually save humanity from the endless cycle of Light and Dark, battling with you at the end of time over the very Dark Soul itself and, at the end, finally letting go because he finally finished his task. His theme song is, as the demand for this video illustrates, as well-regarded too. It is a great piece of music that illustrates Gael's story very well.

I was so excited to see you listen to this one and im so glad you like it

Its kinda hard how to describe how I feel about this song. I think it has a finality to it though, Gael and the player fight at the end of time in dunes of ash over pretty much nothing, and that pointlessness to me really influences how I hear it. Its really just an epic theme, with some heroicism and even bittersweetness to it. Just two dudes who lived through it all brawling it out, a sendoff to the Souls trilogy.

your analysis was quite amazing. I love that these songs are composed with such thought and care to make them most fit the character(s) whose theme it is. I especially love this song for that, and also there's a slight bias there due to how Gael is probably the best boss fromsoft has created. your description about flailing around and spinning seriously sums up his phase 2 transition, where his attacks become more delayed and incredibly weighted, to the point where with every swing it looks like he's going to fall over. and phase 3 really does begin with him clawing at his face. I'm surprised with how well you described the actual fight through the song lol. + I just have to say it, he has this attack where he jumps into the air and shoots a repeating crossbow at you. so cool.

It's like you were watching this boss fight when you were describing the actions behind the music which ( your description) is spot on BTW

He somehow learned Gael’s whole character by listening to Gael’s theme…

It's honestly a testament to how much attention to detail FromSoft pays to their games, when someone can literally only listen to the music of a boss and tell you exactly who they are, how they fight and how the battle ends. Just with the part about the second phase where Marco talks about the Slave Knight and his will to fight, you see from that point forward, Slave Knight is now for all intents and purposes *insane* and is not trying to kill you out of a sense of duty but rather survival instinct. Everything else is spot on.

Another insightful video bringing music theory together with gameplay experience. My favorite thing as a new viewer is hearing how you interpret a songs meaning. A song suggestion: Great Grey Wolf Sif, Dark Souls 1 :')

Aye ive been waiting for this one, its truly an amazing song. Loved your reaction, pretty spot on with how i felt hearing it. 10/10 recommend Dark eater Midir if ya havent done that one yet

i love how this guy see how the fight is just to listening to the ost, love your vids greets from Spain!

Gael is definitely in the top twenty best Soulsborne tracks, in my opinion…and well, according to the community, it seems like that’s been pretty backed up. Dark Souls 3 is one of those soundtracks where almost every song is just stellar. I’ve been listening for so long and it never gets old, honestly. But to be fair, I think you also have to appreciate music with less melody and more story-telling/atmosphere to really enjoy it, which clearly you do! Also fun fact! This is another Kitamura song, so that solo soprano voice that rises above the heavy male chanting is her own once again. I have no idea if she has operatic training, but I really wondered if she did after first hearing this song. Either way, I love her voice!

YOOOO I WAS WAITING FOR THIS

*Phase 1: Slave Knight Gael, the man with determination and one only goal in the end of the world - Blood of the Dark Soul for his lady. *Phase 2: The man now knows he has that Blood and he can't return because the hollow is ready to take over him, so he fights with all the strength so that you can prove him right - The chosen one can have the Blood and protect the new painted world. *Phase 3: One last fight, but now it isn't Gael. It's the Dark Soul itself. The fight of the chosen one with the entity that can make Gwyn fear about in his time but also whose ever defeat it can bring a better future to the world.......

Now imagine - JUST IMAGINE! - a co-stream of Marco and Vaati working on lore from all possible perspectives :D That would be grand Thanks for the awesome video!)

Honestly amazing how accurate his descriptions of the fight were just from listening to the music

I think kitamura also activated her berserk mode when she composed this ost

it's amazing how many details of the Gael fight you collected here, he's a slave yes but a dutiful one that's devoted to his lady, at the beginning of the fight you encounter him in a state of decay, a grotesque husk that can't finish his final task properly due to the corruption he had to take into himself and is required to be put down, but after suffering enough damage he regains his composture, still corrupt but now standing upstraight, holding his knighship with honor and if he wasn't going down easily as a beastly husk then now even less so as a knight, now capable of casting some of his holy spells and emboldened with the strenght of the dark soul, only getting more volatile as he nears death and when he's finally down it all stops abruptly, his goal accomplished since now the player can finish his quest, also added to the immediate stop is how the world has basically ended already, after gael's death there's nothing left, only a dead world full of ash even more surprising is how "the spinning attack" is spot on, from the moment gael fights properly he does a lot of jumps and swings his sword in arcs, even accompanied by his cape when he's at the final moments

Marco, your face is so expressive when you listen to these tracks!

Your absolutely right about him going berserk, that part of the music plays when Gael let's out an agonizing scream

Oh my god he made it the madman! Jokes aside, I loved that your reactions hit exactly when mine tends to hit as well, that first female chorus drop is just bone chilling! Thanks Marco, I loved it!

Man, the way you read the characters story, by just listening to their themes really amazes me. I would like to one day see your reaction to Viegos theme from League of Legends. It was always more of a musical bio of that character for me.

3's DLC im telling you... its a MASTERPIECE! whenever i listen to any of this stuff, I cant get my headphones loud enough!

I'm sure you're subconsciously remembering some pieces of the game, but this is pretty well on point. Good interpretation and thanks for your insight as always, Marco!

The entire track is amazing from start to finish but something about 8:25 is just awe-inspiring. Like you said it’s berserk and specifically at 7:15 it just sounds unholy? Like darkness and foreboding. But at 8:25 it feels so angelic and serene such a nice contrast. Also a big fan of how aggressively those strings in the back are played at 8:44. I love the shimmer to close this song out as well calming things down. I could literally go on about this track it’s so good. Your assessment of the character was very accurate too! These songs tell a story. If you’re gonna do DS3 again. I’d definitely recommend Twin Princes. Since people are already asking for Darkeater Midir.

The way he describes the 'Loss of Control' is almost like he's seen the battle before this.

This song never fails to give me goosebumps. The flow is just so perfect

My absolute favorite fromsoftware OST! I'm so glad it finally made it to the channel, I think it fits very well here 😁👍

The cut content of this OST is called "For the Dark Souls" by Yuka Kitamura if you want to check

One of the motifs in phase 3 is actually from another lesser known piece called “For the Dark Soul”. I’m not sure if it actually plays anywhere in game(possibly the credits), but it is in the soundtrack and is used for one of the DS3 Dynamic Themes for PS4

It's eerie how accurate you managed to describe different phases of the fight without having any memory of it 😅 A testament to how good these tracks are at conveying the emotions behind the bosses

Thank you very much for these beautiful words. Musical analysis is often fascinating.* This song opens for us the doors on the flux in the soul of this enemy / friend that we fight at the end of the worlds and you help me to look / listen more clearly *(coming from acting but not singing I studied some musical analysis before directing a show on Carmen and its author Bizet in France... Working with singers was a great experience)

You're right about the "spinning around" since he attacks you with his cloak as it swooshes around following his sword swings.

You should watch the battle with this Boss, he is incredible and the atmosphere and the effects and the music itself during the battle just blow the roof off.

Friede, Pontiff and Midir. Then I can die happily... I will look forward to these, as you said you are planning to listen to all of them. It will be great...

Its amazing how close you are to painting a picture of gael's character with just the ost. It shows you how good of a musician yuka really is.

I thought you would love this one. It's a definite favorite that compliments an equivalently great boss! Darkeater Midir's theme is similar. I like a lot of the music from Dark Souls III, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring (even a few from Sekiro), so I actually listen to them regularly. With high-end headphones it's great to feel like I'm in the arena and listening to the orchestra and choir go all out. It's such powerful music, yet so niche.