What’s up guys, I’m Dave Klein. Today, we’re going to talk about the masked character
forever tormenting herself at the bottom of a prison. A character who’s back story is
wrapped in mystery, The Lost Sinner.
At the end of the Lost Bastille lies one final structure, Sinner’s Rise. Sinner’s Rise
is aptly named, as at the bottom lies The Lost Sinner, who “eternally punishes herself
for the sins of her past.” She wears garments to inflict pain upon herself, and her dried
blood can be found along the ground of her chamber. Along the ground are various messages,
presumably carved by the sinner herself.
Her Penal set describes just what sort of torture she inflicts upon herself. “The
spikes of the mask pointing inward suggest that this was not only used to bind prisoners,
but to torture them as well. The tightly cinched belt of the jacket presses against the waist.
Her handcuffs are used as a “device to restrict use of the hands”, and The tattered skirt
is worn in shame by the guilty. By now, no one knows who this was used to punish, or
for what reason.”
So, who is the Lost Sinner, and what were her sins that she’s eternally punishing
herself for?
Upon meeting the Lost Sinner, players from Dark Souls 1 will recognize a certain creature
crawling on her, which ends up crawling inside of her Penal mask. This is the exact same
bug we see in Dark Souls one inhabiting the Bed of Chaos, who would seem to be The Witch
of Izalith.
In Dark Souls 2, as I discuss in my Story Lore video, there is a major theme of great
souls from the past being reborn with every new cycle of the flame. It would seem this
bug is either the Witch of Izalith reborn, or one of the daughters of Chaos survived,
as defeating The Lost Sinner in New Game + rewards the player with “The Old Witch Soul”.
“Soul of the ineffable. This once-magnificent soul continues to exert influence over the
land, even after the eons have reduced it to these remnants.” I believe it’s likely
this is The Witch of Izalith reborn, as the soul itself seems to resemble that of The
Witch of Izalith.
Fighting The Lost Sinner in New Game+ also ties her to The Witch of Izalith, as half-way
through the battle, Pyromancers will come out of the windowed cells to attack players.
Quelana was the mother of Pyromancy, and The Witch of Izalith the godmother of Pyromancy,
so this makes sense. The Lost Sinner’s storyline also resembles that of The Witch of Izalith,
who tried to duplicate the First Flame, creating the Bed of Chaos in its stead.
“Once people tried to round up the Undead and hide them away from the world.
They thought that imprisoning the Undead would solve the problem.
They created a towering bastille to contain them, but in the end, it did no good.
The Lost Sinner lives deep within the bastille. The fool. Trying to light the First Flame…”
To me, it seems as if is the creature seems to possess The Lost Sinner, and after it enters
into her, she immediately attacks the player. I believe The Lost Sinner acts as a vessel
for the bug, who likely also controlled The Bed of Chaos.
But – is that all there is to The Lost Sinner? I believe we can devise more about her if
we take a look at her surroundings.
Next to Sinner’s Rise stands Belfry Luna – and there seem to be a surprising number
of correlations between Sinner’s Rise and Belfry Luna. In order to understand The Lost
Sinner, I think we first need to understand the history of Belfry Luna.
Belfry Luna and Belfry Sol, located in the Iron Keep, are related to the Prince and Princess
of Alken & Venn.
“The Bell belongs to the princess, it do. Stay back or we slice you to bits.”
“A long long time ago, The princess, she made me, yes.
Just like so. To guard this bell for the Prince’s honor.
Stay away, foul undead, or you’ll be a goner. Stay back, it belong to the Princess, it do!”
The Bell Keepers of Belfry Luna were created by the Prince and Princess, and “To this
day, the forbidden love of the Prince of Alken and the Princess of Venn manipulates these
marionettes.” “The Twin bells symbolize the bond between
the two lovers who could never be united. The bell keepers are their eternal guardians.
For that is their love; that is their curse.” The bells themselves “symbolize forbidden
love; the bell keepers, their faithful guardians, ever-ready to annihilate trespapssers.”
I believe the Princess of Venn was located in Belfry Luna, and highly recommend checking
out my Prince and Princess of Alken & Venn lore video for more information on the two
lovers.
So – how does Belfry Luna relate to The Lost Sinner?
Our first connection lies in the Belfry Gargoyles, the boss of Belfry Luna who can only be reached
after ringing the bell. Upon reaching the Sinner’s Rise bonfire, if the player has
not killed these Belfry Gargoyles, one will angry fly up and roar at the player, as if
it is angry the player has reached Sinner’s Rise.
In Belfry Luna, we meet yet another sinner – that of a red phantom who invades the
player, Vorgol the Sinner. Vorgol the Sinner guards the Bastille Key, which is the key
to the cells of the Lost Bastille – and… that of Sinner’s Rise. In fact, this is
the key that is needed in order to unlock the gates which allow the player to light
up the room in which the Lost Sinner resides, making the fight easier.
Yet another connection lies within Sinner’s Rise. Sinner’s Rise and Aldia’s Keep are
home to the “Enhanced Undead”, undead who would seem to have been mutated by Lord
Aldia and partially fused with that of a dragon. Yet, in Sinner’s Rise, and only in Sinner’s
Rise, these Enhanced Undead drop the Bellkeeper Shield and Bellkeeper Bow. This is the only
way to find this Bell Keeper equipment… in Sinner’s Rise. Once again connecting
Sinner’s Rise to Belfry Luna.
All of these connections lead me to believe that The Lost Sinner is, in fact, either the
Princess of Venn or the Prince of Alken. The masculine shape of the character, as well
as the beard, means it could be the Prince, and all of the female associations are meant
to refer to the bug. But, personally, I believe this is our Princess of Venn.
Alright guys, that wraps up this lore video on The Lost Sinner. Do you think the Lost
Sinner is the Prince of Alken or the Princess of Venn? Or, alternatively, do you think I’m
way off in my speculation? What do you think is etched on the Sinner’s wall? For more
lore on the Prince and Princess of Alken & Venn, make sure to check out my lore video on just
that, or my other videos relating to Dark Souls 2 lore. I hope you guys enjoyed, and
I’ll see you next time. Peace.