In the Japanese text
The hooded woman defers to the crow-like creature as "father"
But, she means it in a religious sense,
Not a paternal one
So it's more like the word "reverent"
"Godfather"
Or, perhaps, most accurately,
"Allfather"
And if you're invested in the lore of these games
Then you already know who this is.
"Allfather Lloyd"
Lloyd was said to be the uncle to Lord Gwyn
And he was a focus of worship within the way of white
Which was this holy covenant devoted to the gods
And, to the maintenance of the bonfires
And in particular, Lloyd was known for his cleric knights
And he was praised for their undead hunts
Which were succesful partly because of Lloyd's Talismans
Which were these thrown items that block undead recovery via Estus
And in the earlier footage we saw Lloyd flaying himself
Over a lordvessel full of this liquid fire
Which is... Like Estus, really.
So, this creature being Lloyd is a certainty, to me.
Most notably, Lloyd is no longer a proud man like he's described previously.
In fact, in the current age of Dark Souls III,
Allfather Lloyd is described as being "long-forgotten" by the Way of White
And the clerics of Carim stand strong in their assertion
That Lloyd was always a derivative fraud with his "Allfather" title self-proclaimed.
It makes sense then, that he should appear in the world
of The Forlorn,
The Unwanted, and
The Exiled
The Painted World of Ariandelle
And Miyazaki has confirmed that the DLC takes place
in The Painted World
Albeit, a different 'Painted World'
There's this article from Polygon that I'm going to talk about,
Which mentions quite a few things that you wouldn't have caught if you just watched the trailer.
So first, Miyazaki says that,
He's aiming for a more "Gothic flavor," in
Not just this DLC, but the next DLC as well.
They're... Linked in this sense, the two DLC's.
They're said to be somewhat unique from the base game
And IGN-Japan reports that the focus is on the second DLC
To complete and finish the story.
There will be two new bosses
And... We've actually seen all elements
Of both of the fights.
In what is presumably the main boss fight,
The female character clearly serves as phase 1,
Displaying this dominance over the tied-up Allfather.
As to the woman's identity...
She's actually been mentioned in-game already.
The Corvian Greatscythe reads,
"The Mistress of the Painted World is said to wield a great scythe, herself,"
And, we always assumed this was referring to
Priscilla, of Dark Souls 1
But, since the word "mistress" actually means,
"A woman, in position of authority or control..."
It's clearly, in my opinion, referring to this woman,
Someone with a thematic connection to Priscilla,
With the Corvians, and
With the Way of White, also.
Perhaps, this woman is Lloyd's apostle,
Mentioned in the White Seance Ring description?
Perhaps she's Gertrude,
A woman described as a heretic,
Which might explain the source of the heretical stories
The winged Corvians tell all throughout the land.
Or, perhaps, she's as yet unnamed.
I read that there were a lot of people crying, "Velka!"
As soon as they saw her, and
Honestly, I'd be a bit dissapointed if this was Velka,
I don't envision Velka this...
God that the other gods and lords fear,
I don't envision her as a simple humanoid being, to be honest.
The other boss fight starts with a human duel as well,
With the wolf joining the fight after the defender falls,
According to Polygon.
But interestingly, in the trailer we don't see the wolf join the fight after the death of the human,
We see him join immediately after this shield bash.
So, why is that?
Why is there a discrepancy in the information here?
My best guess is that the flash of the wolf's face here when you get shield bashed,
Might trigger the wolf's appearance in the fight early,
If you get caught by it.
And, considering that this human enemy is so oddly dressed,
And actually a player-like NPC,
Do you think that this could be a sign that this is an actual player?
Like, in the mirror knight fight from Dark Souls II for example?
I hope so, that was one of the best encounters in Dark Souls II.
And, I love the way the wolf fights. I just have to say that.
It's so reminiscent of Sif, and
I do believe it is Sif, or at least, it's an incarnation of him,
Just like Osiris was an incarnation of Seith, for example.
The visual details are... Identical,
His face and his eyes are exactly the same,
I can't wait to find out more about why he's here, and
I do really hope they fleshed out this part of the story, cause
They run the risk of this just being a shallow throwback if they don't flesh it out.
Anyway, my favorite move of his is this one,
Where he misses you to kick up all the snow,
And then he attacks you from within the mist,
It's this fighting style that's consistent with how the wolves are described in-game
As enemies, how they confound their prey when they fight,
And, regularly sized wolves are enemies in the DLC too
Though, we only see one in the trailer...
He's hidden, at the back, here.
Polygon describes them as devious,
They say they watch from a distance and they maintain
that distance until the entire pack is gathered
and only then will they all attack at once.
And, I like that. I think it's really important for the designers of this DLC
To keep the player's mind occupied with visual elements,
like the wolves constantly threatening you. That's a great one.
Because, in open level design, like this,
It's easy to get a bit bored because you don't quite need the same awareness you do when
You're traversing a complex dungeon and its traps.
Other enemies include these 'Tree Women,' which I'm guessing are "Witch Trees."
As the Witchtree Stave item description says that,
"They're customary in the Far North."
And, we know that the North is a cold place from the Northern Set,
And there are enemies wearing very Northern-Set-Esque armor.
Anyways, regardless of what they're called,
These long-limbed trees will grab at you if you come too close,
And they hurl orbs of flame at you if you stray too far.
The other main enemies in this area are the Hollow Warriors
With the pointed helms.
And at first I thought these might be members of Farron's Undead Legion,
As the pointed steel helm is described as a distinctive symbol of their's,
Plus, it makes some sense for them to be here because Sif is here as well,
And the Great Wolf and its blood is an object of their worship,
So if they are Warriors of Farron,
Perhaps that explains why the warrior with Sif
has a sorcerer's staff upon his or her hip,
Because Farron were known for the sorceries they develop as well.
However, the sorcerer's staff is something given to sorcerers of the Vinheim Dragon School,
And, looking a bit closer,
the pointed helms on the warriors actually look
visually a bit more like the Northern Helm,
Though, admittedly, they are taller and more narrow than that helm.
Plus, many of these enemies use shields which the Undead Legion aren't known for.
My second-best guess is that they're the cleric knights of Lloyd.
Their straight swords have only a slight hint of a crossguard,
Just like the sword upon Lloyd's Sword Ring.
Their shields have the same shape as the shields upon Lloyd's Shield Ring as well.
And, their affinity with fire might make them related to Lloyd, who
We're certain is at the end of the DLC.
But let's move on.
Polygon states there will be four new spells.
Four full new armor sets.
And fifteen new weapons.
The most interesting of which, to me, is this spear,
Which has a weapon art whereby you can throw the spear as a javelin,
and then magically have it reappear back in your hand...
Another interesting thing is the short Gladius-like sword,
and the shield that the wolf companion uses.
This stance he or she is in, is totally unique,
And I wonder if it's a quality of the shield or the sword, or both.
So, yeah, that pretty much wraps things up.
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Please comment below if you think that there's something I missed because I'd love to read it and so would others.
We've usually got some really good discussions going on down there and I think our comment section is one of the best.
And, in the spirit of trying to shout-out someone every video,
I'd love to direct you to a growing channel named, "The Ashen Hollow,"
Jake has been doing a great job breaking down some of the more specific questions of the series,
And, he has a particularly good couple of videos on Velka and his theories surrounding her.
So, let's see if they get proven right or wrong in the coming months.
Thanks for watching, again, and special thanks to Patrons.
I'll see you next week.