The last section of lore that we translated was in Izalith and
what we learned there forever changed the way that I'll view it going forward.
Back then I also mentioned the Abyss and its creatures and,
just like in Izalith,
there's far more of these creatures than the English lets on.
First and most importantly, the Primordial Serpents.
So the very name Primordial Serpent is perhaps more accurately
translated as World Serpent, which is a really overt reference to the legendary world serpent Jörmungandr
of Norse mythology. Jörmungandr is a child of Loki. He's a sea serpent
that is so giant that his body encircles the entire Earth. Actually,
Chester also refers to the Primordial Serpents as giant snakes,
calling them Orochi in the Japanese text. So they're the biggest snakes in From Software history. Eh -eh, they were.
The imagery of a snake eating its own tail is an example of an Ouroboros, a symbol of wholeness,
infinity, the universe, the cycle of life death and rebirth, and these are all
concepts that fit really neatly with the so called Primordial
Serpents, because they're obsessed with the cycle of the world. And I think it's fair to take issue with the word "primordial";
this implies that they've existed since the beginning of time, but a couple of item descriptions actually suggest that serpents are
derivative of ancient dragons.
No.
Instead, these World Serpents are better seen as creatures that
represent and understand the logic of the world. "I am the Primordial Serpent
Darkstalker Kaathe. I can guide thee and illuminate the truth."
"I am the Primordial Serpent Kingseeker Frampt,
close friend of the Great Lord Gwyn.
Chosen Undead, I wish to elucidate your fate."
They are elders, sages who take up the role to inform and advice,
respected for their profound knowledge of the universe.
Even if Kaathe and Frampt interpret that knowledge differently, Kaathe, the Serpent found after defeating the Four Kings
believes...
"Lord Gwyn resisted the course of nature." And when Kaathe talks about the
quote-unquote course of nature,
he's perhaps better translated as saying the "World's Logic." In Souls,
this "World's Logic" was supposed to be the fall of ancients to light and the fall of light to dark.
This is the logic of the world and Kaathe and his ilk help us because they've come to understand that reality at its core.
Therefore, Kaathe's retinue probably weren't always aligned with the dark;
In fact, Kaathe, when he talks, he talks about Gwyn as if he was on a very personal level
with him.
He betrays his thinking, he betrays his secrets and
if Kaathe is indeed loyal to the World's Logic as he says he is, then it follows that
he was once all for Quinn's age of light and
maybe he even encouraged Gwynn's war against the ancient dragons. The Age of Fire was clearly dawning and,
back then, it was only logical that it be dominated by beings of fire.
But next, it was time for dark to prevail. "After the advent of fire
the ancient Lords found the three souls, but your progenitor found a fourth,
unique soul, the Dark Soul.
Your ancestor claimed the Dark Soul and waited for fire to subside;
Thus began the age of men,
the age
of dark."
That last line is actually incorrect;
It suggests that the age of dark began, once, but it didn't. Instead, in the Japanese text it goes on to say
"Eventually fire goes out and only dark remains. In that case, it would be an age of you humans, of dark."
And, It's true.
Living is a weakness. And even the gods who were persons of fire are no exception to that rule.
But, this age never came to be thanks to Gwyn.
Lord Gwyn feared the logic of the world. So he made his own. This was The First Sin.
Once, the Lord of Light banished Dark, and all that stemmed from humanity.
And men assumed a fleeting form.
These are the roots of our world.
Cursed with undeath and relying on kindling the fire to cure hollowing, man became
intrinsically tied to Gwynn's Age of Fire. In time, many even came to believe in and love
the cage of falsehoods that had been created around them.
Peace grants men the illusion of life.
Shackled by falsehoods, they yearn for love, unaware of its grand illusion.
Gwyn even convinced a World Serpent,
Frampt the Kingseeker, that he alone had changed the logic of the world.
So you can imagine having a World Serpent on his side would have lent a lot of credibility to his cause and,
in a way, Frampt isn't wrong. Gwyn did do irreparable damage to the logic of the world.
In retrospect, we realized that he ended up creating an Age of Fire,
so endless that it ended up burning the world down to ash without ever truly passing over to dark.
Though Frampt does experience a lapse of faith when he witnesses the first Dark Lord depose Gwyn
Let Kaathe and Frampt serve your highness.
In the Norse myths,
Jörmungandr the World Serpent, is mortal enemies with Thor the God of Thunder, you can see the parallels here.
So too, does Kaathe, the World Serpent,
undermine Gwyn God of Thunder's rule in Anor Londo and in Oolacile, as well.
New Londo is of particular interest;
the name "New Londo" is clearly derived from "Anor Londo" and if we go off the elvish
Sindarin translation, Anor Londo
translates to Sun Haven,
making New Londo a sort of young small haven. The Four Kings of New Londo were appointed by Gwyn and they received
fragments of his very own soul.
And it's yet another example of Gwyn sharing his authority and his soul with others in his own
self-interests. In addition to this point the Japanese name of the Four Kings
suggests that instead of Kings they're more like officials or at least public Kings, sort of
ambassadors that were part of Gwynn's overall plan for control.
As for the ghosts in New Londo, they align with this common Japanese perception of evil spirits,
resembling those who die in a really sudden or violent manner, people who are not properly
respected after death, and, you know,
the residents of New Londo were drowned on mass by the healers in their community.
So they fit that criteria because those were supposed to be people they trusted. Even the mountain of corpses
below, release the heads of undead called a resentment or a grudge,
which supports the idea that the residents are bitter and vengeful at how they were killed.
It also explains how they were created and what a ghost really represents in Souls.
There was definitely a decline in New Londo society after Kaathe introduced Lifedrain to the Four Kings,
but it's debatable whether it was actually Kaathe's intention to drag the city into the Abyss.
Because in the Japanese Kaathe clearly states that "they," meaning the Four Kings, failed him.
He says, "Without understanding the value of truth, they were merely conceited in their power."
He expected more from them. He expected them to pursue the truth, not just steal from others.
And, this same disappointment would apply to Manus' Abyss in Oolacile, really.
While Kaathe definitely said to the Oolacilians "Hey, Manus is underneath your society and he is the origin of all humans."
Gough himself admits that Oolacile brought the Abyss upon itself, by defiling his grave.
Kaathe didn't necessarily intend for them to dig it up and mess everything up.
It's definitely clear that Kaathe was trying to learn about the world and he made mistakes,
as he eventually worked towards his end goal of usurping the fire and,
the most success that he had was when he created a Sable Church from the ground up, with its own
ideology and its own goal,
instead of just relying on others, this was more successful.
Kaathe worked until his dying breath, till the very end. In the Japanese, Yuria says
Kaathe, I have failed thee.
He was as devoted to the world's logic as Gwyn was to defying it, and
there's this great parallel with Norse mythology
once again;
Jörmungandr and Thor,
Kaathe and Gwyn, in both stories, both of them fall to one another at the end of the world.
Both stories are identical in that way, which is maybe more than mere coincidence? In the end,
the world's logic doesn't go from light to dark, it simply burns out and ash
inherits the world, and,
with that in mind, who knows what awaits us if Dark Souls 4 is ever made.
I owe huge thanks for this video to Lokey, who you've probably heard about by now;
he's one of the best writers I've ever met. He was the translator who contributed much of the script this time around
and, I won't have as much time for scriptwriting in the coming months. I'm sure some of you know why.
So instead of making no videos at all, I've simply asked for a little bit of help. I hope you guys don't mind.
Thank you Lokey and thank you Parry God for the footage, and thank you as always for watching, and I'll see you next time.