there are parts of Dark Souls II lore that don't quite add up
unknown histories certain character motivations origins of the curse and of
beings like the giants
these are unknown elements and that's not really a bad thing
just like in Dark Souls 1 these unknown elements will act as the gaps in the lore
we fill for ourselves in this video though I want to question that lore my
best videos are based on interpretation so before I do any interpreting I want
you to understand which parts of the lore currently don't have any concrete
answers I want you to know what topics need answering when the DLC hits and I
want you to try and find answers for yourselves
let's make it a bit more fun though sometimes I'll engage in rampant
speculation and when I do this you'll see this little button light up
For example: Did you know? That Gavlan's wheel and deal quote is in reference to how he
wheels Darkdiver Grandahl all around to get two different locations so that he
can pay for his crippling alcohol addiction to Heineken? You can find
shortcuts to topics in the description.
We have four major topics: And the first one we're going to talk about is the
opening cutscene
so, in this cutscene we have to answer four questions:
Who are we? Where are we? Who is the woman? and most importantly: When are we?
The most obvious question and answer is: Who we are: We are a wandering Undead
it seems as if we've lost our memory of our past, life based on the dialogue and
the fact that these two are melting away.
The second question: Where are we in the cutscene? At the start I actually think
that it's irrelevant.
We're just a wanderer who comes upon this old woman, but it becomes relevant
when we come upon the ruins of Drangleic and considering these ruins
I think what's most important is when we are. The old lady tells us that one day
we're going to stand upon the decrepit gate of Drangleic without really knowing why.
This puts our actions in Drangelic in the past.
So when we arrive at this portal we are traveling to a kingdom that existed a
long time ago
and that's where the entire game takes place so that's significant.
So the next question: Who is this old lady to lay this prophecy upon us?
Well there is a fourth firekeeper mentioned in the firekeeper hut.
A firekeeper who left the others a fair time ago.
I believe this cinematic old lady is the fourth firekeeper and that's for a few reasons:
For one she's wearing the red firekeeper garb, but what's really interesting is that we
have a lot of evidence that she's an aged emerald Herald:
Firstly in the credits we're told that there is a young and an old version of Shanalotte;
Secondly she has very similar dialogue to the Herald at the Dragon Aerie
When she says that we shall walk those grounds without really knowing why.
And lastly the Herald mentions that it was her own manifestation that led us to Drangleic.
The Emerald Harold is also called Firekeeper in game by Navlaan;
The guardian of the Far fire the fourth Firekeeper.
The connection between the Herald and the aged woman
has also been confirmed by people who are working on the official guide.
So now that we know that the woman is an aged version of the Emerald Herald
we have our first question: Why is she laying this prophecy upon us?
Why is she sending us back? The old woman in the hut says: You spoke to that kind
old dear didn't you?
You're finished. Implying that they know what the Emerald Herald is trying to do.
The dialogue also reminds us that they've seen other undead passed through here.
All who have shared the same fate: Hollowing. They have this air of disdain for what
the Emerald Herald or the fourth Firekeeper seems to be trying to do
Their sister seems to be sending undead back to Drangleic through this limbo
called Things Betwixt perhaps in some effort to alter the past.
So what past needs to be altered? If you watched my video on the ending you might know
Our character's goal in this game is to link the fire.
The young Emerald Herald's goal is to get us to link the fire
The Emerald Herald tiredly guides the undead who come through Majula
Undead who appear to have been sent from the future.
I've always thought that the Emerald Herald's dialogue sounded really tired and weary and if she's had to guide hundreds and hundreds of undead along
the same path to their hallowed fate then I could explain why
in fact this whole thing is actually somewhat reminiscent of how our
character in Dark Souls 1 is sent back in order to stop the spread of the Abyss
with Manus
Think about it: The entire game of Dark Souls 2 is about the cycles. Things that
happened in the first game in Lordran happen again in Drangleic. The
framework is the same but the players change.
So just like in Dark Souls 1 when we were sent back to Oolacile to stop Manus
his abyss
we're being sent back to Drangleic in order to stop nashandra spreading her
own abyss and that's my theory anyway
speaking of cycles though a lot of you don't like the idea of cycles and that's
okay
do bear in mind though that these are concepts much more accepted in eastern
mythologies than in Western ones
it really drives through that hopelessness of what we're doing but if
we are to see a dark souls 3 then I hope it deals with our breaking of the cycle
somehow because if we just get another cycle in Dark Souls 3 that would be
pretty disappointing
so there wasn't too much rampant speculation on the discussion of this
opening
I think a lot of this speculation can be fairly valid if you find any loopholes
in my theories then let me know
let's move on to something you can help me with though the Giants. We'll start
with the facts what we know.
Long ago the Queen came to King Vendrick alone from a faraway land
she warned him of a looming threat across the seas the Giants.
It's not said whether they actually were a threat or not but the King crossed the
ocean defeated the Giants pillaged their land and brought back a prize.
So two questions come up with this topic: Who are the giants and what was stolen
from them? And we don't have definite answers to these questions.
It's an example of a really major missing plot point in the game
ultimately I think this might be revealed in some sort of dlc but there
are a few ideas floating around currently about who the Giants are so
I'll clue you in on some of my favorite ones and i'll let you make your own
decisions in terms of a timeline we know that the Giants appeared after nashandra
came to vendrick she came from a far-off land and warned him of the Giants
calling them a looming threat from across the seas
my interpretation is that she used this information to get closer to vendrick
giving him apparently vital information and conveniently placing her close to
the throne. Were they actually a threat?
Probably not. Captain Drummond calls the invasion of the Giants misguided
barbarism and I'm inclined to believe it if I had to draw parallels to Dark
Souls 1 i'd say it's similar to how Gwyn engaged the ancient dragons
so who are these giants honestly. I'm just inclined to believe that the giants
are an entirely new entry to the soul series since there isn't really much
evidence that they've existed in some other form in Dark Souls 1
One theory I do kind of like calls them a reincarnation of dragons
the ancient dragon drops a giant soul after all and while everyone assumes
that the giant soul was a part of the dragon due to experimentation with Aldia
what if the devs wanted us to come to the conclusion that the dragon was a
giant. This is further emphasized when you consider the plaque on the back of
the Majula obelisk. It's cut content but it says that the Giants crossed the
Seas perhaps to return home.
So are they coming home to Drangleic Since Drangleic is touted as being
Lordran who's to say that the dragons aren't coming back in some other form?
the only other link i have to them being the same being as dragons is that Giants
grow into trees and these trees could be the arch trees of the dragons in some
sort of long evolutionary cycle but this is a long shot.
Also in reference to the plaque it could be talking about how the Giants left
Drangleic
not necessarily that they came to Drangleic. All it says is that they returned
home.
So since the obelisk is a war monument I guess it kind of makes sense that
they're commemorating the fact that the Giants left. That they retreated
you know. Anyway other theories say that they are the Lords from Lordran that
perhaps this is the withered form they could take once they lose their souls
a few people notice that the giant Lords outfit looked a lot like Gwyn's.
It doesn't really explain why they grow into trees though so i wouldn't say that
they're the same race and if Drangleic is Lordran why would the Giants be
elsewhere
so as much as I'd love an explanation of what the Giants are
it doesn't look like we have a solid theory just yet. Moving on
Vendrick brought a prize back from the Giants when he
invaded and there's a lot of speculation regarding what this could have been
whatever it was it has to be related to the Vendrick's ability to create golems
since Drummond directly states that he brought back a prize and then the golems
materialized.
So some say it's the Lord vessel which is cracked in the basement of the
Majula mansion
the Lord vessel holds souls and studying it could have given Vendrick the ability
to place souls into inanimate objects and other common reasoning is that this
would explain all the Lord souls from dark souls 1 being present in dark souls
2 though this is problematic reasoning for a few reasons one it's already been
fairly established that Drangleic is a reincarnation of Lordran
so why would the Lord vessel be overseas in the first place
and two we know that vendrick had already risen to power and defeated the
four old ones by the time he attacked the Giants
so it's unlikely that it's the Lord vessel. Some say it's the Ashen Mist
Heart which allows you to delve into the memories of the withered
this could explain how Vendrick and Aldia peered into
the very essence of the soul though it doesn't really explain how they
developed the ability to create golems and some say it's the throne of want
itself
I don't like any of these suggestions but i like this theory the most for a
few reasons
a) the throne seems built for a much taller being. b) you need the Giants'
kinship for the doors to even open. A kinship means to be blood-related or to
share characteristics or origins. And c) Nashandra implies that she wants
access when she bitterly remarks that vendrick never sat the true throne
so it could have been the motivation for her to invade the giants in the first
place
and d) the throne is surrounded by golems that only react to the Giants'
kinship.
I don't think any of these opinions are definitively true or false
I think the intention of the developers was that you were never supposed to know
quite what vendrick stole and this is what makes Nashandra's intention so
vague and it's what makes the Giants' intentions so alien
and once we figure this out I feel like many other aspects of the game will fall
into place
speaking of Nashandra though there's a fair bit that doesn't quite add up with
her so Nashandra is well known to be a fragment of Manus at this point
she also looks a lot like dusk who Manus both steals and releases in Dark Souls 1
DLC if we follow this reasoning
while we're on the topic of dusk we can assume that a) dusk is nashandra and is
more than just a damsel in distress in the first game
her name is dusk after all which means to grow dark. Or b) the fragment of
Manus that develops into nashandra simply gets an impression of dusk or c)
the fragment infects dusk and grows within her
they're all possible and they're all interesting I really like to think that
there's more going on with dusk since her name seems to imply a little
bit more. When we meet nashandra she's sitting on the simple throne alone no
one quite seems to know where vendrick is but her with Wellager saying the
Queen has taken him
that must be what it looks like to Wellager. The Queen tells you to visit
vendrick then when he's dead proclaims that Drangleic is no longer
she then tells you to seek the throne and do what needs to be done
so she's guiding you in the right direction she's guiding you to the
throne
aka the kiln in order to link the fire
so why is she doing this. She says it's what must be done
so it's almost like she's given up almost like she knows what's going to
happen and if the popular theory is right there isn't much that she can do
before vendrick died he locked half the kingdom away behind sealed gates only he
could open and then he shut himself away so deeply in the crypt that nashandra
couldn't easily follow
so we get to the end of the game and we fight nashandra she tells us how we've
proven ourselves to her and how we will become one with the dark
her intentions are still vague the only conclusion that i can come to is that
she led us to the throne
knowing that we were the only one who could get that far
since she couldn't she then plans to usurp us at the last second and ascend
the throne for herself
the official guide says that she's found you the new heir to the throne
so it seems like she's been waiting for a really really long time
why then are we able to challenge nashandra over and over again in the
throne room
once we've lost shouldn't she have already won I mean she's just standing
there in front of the throne
shouldn't she have the ability to ascend it for herself and the only reasonable
explanation to this is a) that it's a gameplay oversight or b) that she can't
take the Giants kinship from you
which means that she clearly knows very little about what the throne is even
after craving it so much
her intentions are truly baffling and I feel like there's something missing here
and i hope that there is
and then there's the ending cutscene I've always been confused by the
Herald's dialogue here so there's this cycle where the age of fire fades to
embers and then it's on the cusp of becoming a dark age and an undead comes
along and links the fire starting the cycle over again
so why does the Emerald Herald say that we're the one to break the shackles of
fate
it sounds like we're staying within the strict guidelines of fate, doesn't it? In the
ending cutscene she says: "Once the fire is linked, souls will flourish anew and
all of this will play out again."
she then goes on to say it is your choice to embrace or renounce this is
she referring to how we can link the flame and choose an age of dark or is
she saying that it's our choice to link the flame or renounce the cycle
completely and then there's the nature of the throne room itself
The Herald says that nashandra coverts the first flame and the great soul she
implies that these things exist within the throne somehow since nashandra comes
here knowing full well that you'll take the throne and Link the fire
so where are these things? Furthermore do you think linking the fire takes place
when you enter new game+ is this what the herald means when she says that
souls will flourish - I personally don't think she's referring to New Game+ but
many people do
anyway that does it for major topics in terms of minor stuff we also have to discover
What happened to Aldia? Who were the prince and princess of Velka and Ven?
Why is Ornstein here?
we still don't know. And what's the deal with the Heide Knights? So if you have any
idea on these minor topics let me know in the thread in the description and
with this video I really just wanted to drive discussion to these areas
I want to put up the gaps in the law for public debate so that you guys are aware
of what's known and what's not
I've got a link in the description to a place where we can discuss all these
questions and when all three pieces of dlc are out, we might just have to revisit
these topics and see how far we've come
until next time guys