once, there was an abomination
who had no place in this world
a dragon crossbreed, feared by the gods
and described as an antithesis to all life
clutching a strange doll and truly alone
eventually this pale, white haired girl was drawn into a cold and lonely painted world
and much later, perhaps within many layers of these painted worlds
a scaled, snake eyed young girl becomes the last hope for humanity
we've talked at length already about the paintings
but it bears repeating, basically
they're self contained universes that
exist within themselves and from what we can gather
the original in the overworld is the Painted World of Ariamis in Anor Londo
which is protected by the Painting Guardians
and, as any painting does, really, these painting reflect the themes of the outside world
with the cycle of death and rebirth, just like our world
so, inevitably, just like the flame will fade, a painting will become rotten
and when this happens, the residents make the decision to set their world aflame
then, escaping into yet another painted world, as their world burns behind them
so that they can live on
"Ashen One, I cannot die"
"I have a world to paint"
this painter has no name, so we've taken to calling her Aria
and, to paint a new world, she must see flame
"Those who aren't kin to fire"
"Cannot paint a world"
"Those absorbed by fire"
"Must not paint a world"
"Don't worry"
"I haven't forgotten, Mother"
so just as her mother was once shown flame,
Aria, too, must have an awareness of it
so, in our fight with another unkindled, Friede,
the friction of our clash sets the world aflame
yet, Aria is left wanting for one more thing
"Ashen One, thy gift of flame has taken route"
"And Uncle Gael will soon bring the pigment"
"Pigment..."
"Colored like the dark soul of man"
since the dark soul of man has never been retreived from the Ringed City,
it follows that a painting with this dark soul as the pigment
will be different than the paintings before it
"I wish to paint a picture"
"Of a cold, dark, and very gentle place"
"Soon, Uncle Gael will bring me the pigment"
Gael
when we first met Gael in Ariandel, we didn't really think too much of him
he's a soft-spoken, reverent man in undying service to his lady of the painting
and, in many ways, Gael isn't supposed to be much more than just a simple undead
the core of what being undead really represents
however, saying that,
his two item descriptions, back then,
they revealed an unusually staggering depth to his history
because Gael has been around for a long time
he alone recalls the Way of White Corona miracle
which was something that was thought to have been lost to the ages
for, long ago,
when the gods still had their imprint left upon the world
in Dark Souls 1
reciting any of their miracles
would conjure up these white disks
and, back then, apparently, also
were these slave knights
an order that Gael was a part of
and Gael's slave knight armor, embellished with this red cloth,
was once a symbol of honor
but in stark contrast to this honor, slave knights had a terrible duty
they were used as fodder in the bleakest of battles
imagine, they were the knights that were sent first to tire out the enemy
because, after all, they couldn't die
and so, we know that at least one slave knight outlived his masters
for, while the slave knights were never relieved from duty,
Gael did eventually find refuge in the painted world,
which leads us to believe that whatever entity they served,
the slave knights outlived them
able to go mad, but unable to die
"My lady lives in the cold land of Ariandel"
"I need you to show her flame"
"A proper flame that will burn the rot away"
and so,
this ancient, old undead found a new purpose
one that he believed in wholeheartedly
first, to save his painted world from the tyranny of Friede
and then, to help his lady create a new world
this one, painted with the dark soul of legend
and, if there's any one positive attribute to take from the dark soul,
it would probably be immortality
and, perhaps this will be a painting that does not rot
but it is impossible to know exactly what kind of world will be painted with the dark soul
but I do have faith in the good of this ending, validated by one thing,
Gael's character
because, until very end of time, Gael fights for this new world
he weathers countless battles, he even knows that a terrible fate awaits him
and this is a man that has been around since the Age of Fire
what other character in the series can lay claim to the knowledge that represents
so, given that he has the right to knowledge of the dark soul, more than most characters,
and, given that he actually told Aria to paint this world,
"I'll head off to paint"
"I promised Uncle Gael I would"
and, that he expects us to be thankful in the end
"You will thank me when it's done"
you can conclude
that his quest to find the dark soul is a noble one
"If it is the dark soul thou desirest,"
"Then seek Filianore's church,"
"At the base of the cliff"
"There wilt thou the sleeping princess waken"
"Her slumber..."
"Is a deceit "
"A lid, covering an overgrown privy"
"A prop, to keep thee from the dark soul of thine desire"
upon her awakening, I expect Filianore fully believed that she would see the face
of her father staring back at her
alas, an unkindled wakes her from her slumber,
and in a flash of light, we are transported to an apocalyptic scene
the end of the world
what exactly happens, though, in this cutscene is very worthy of debate
some people believe that the entire city was an illusion
and that Filianore's faith simply kept it in check
somewhat like how Gwyndolin kept the sun shining in Anor Londo
but, another theory is that this flash of light takes us forward in time
to the very end
light, after all, is time
personally, though, not only do I believe we are transported forward in time,
I think we are the only one to experience this rapid skip forward
let me explain that
so, everyone else here,
Gael, the pygmy lords, Filianore, Shira,
it's likely they fully experienced every inexorable second of time
scraping by until this point
where Filianore finally dies
"Filianore"
"Help me, please"
"The Red Hood is come to eat us"
"To eat our dark souls"
the proof that time has passed is in all of these characters
for example,
the pygmy lords knew that Gael was searching for them
they knew long enough that he earned the terrifying mantle of the Red Hood
the Red Hood is come to eat us
rumors like that don't just appear in one flash of light
also, Gael's weaponry is a testament to time passing
his blade is broken and chipped,
and his crossbow is stained and twisted
they weren't like that before
and Gael himself, on some level,
is surprised to see that you still exist in this world
"What, still here?"
Shira, however, has been looking for you
"I've searched for thee, dark stricken creature"
"I am Shira"
"Daughter of the duke, descendant of gods, and trusted friend to Midir"
"At once,"
"I am the honor of the gods, the glory of fire, and the fear of the dark"
"Thou shalt not go unpunished"
"For thy treachery"
"Thy profanity"
"And thy shameless yearning"
She, too, made it to the end of the world
Her soul enduring in the name of her long lost gods.
Treachery, profanity and yearning
So, assumedly, our treachery could be our disloyalty to the gods as humans
Our profanity could be the dark within us
And our yearning is the want and will of all humans that is described in a lot of dark item descriptions
"Never would I ever forgive thy lowly kind"
Even till the end of time, she never left that dark room
Unaware or uncaring that only a few dunes away the pygmy lords are being devoured alive,
by Gael,
the final antagonist of the Dark Soul series
I see a lot of people complaining that for a final boss
We don't hear a single word about this character until the DLC of Dark Souls III
But, then, is that really so strange?
As we mentioned before, Gael is much like us
He is a simple undead, characterized by an uncrushable resolve
"Hand it over that thing, your dark soul"
"For my lady's painting"
The red hooded wandering slave knight Gael sought the blood of the dark soul as pigment for the painted world
But Gael knew that he was no champion
that the dark soul would likely ruin him and he had little hope of a safe return
So why do you think he led you here?
To kill him, perhaps?
The revelation here is that the soul can exist in the blood
which is something that shouldn't be too surprising
after all Ariandel flailed himself to satiate the flame within the lord vessel with his blood
Those that feast upon human flesh, some rats in Dark Souls I, for example,
they've always dropped humanity which is a fragment of the soul
and a hollow without blood struggles to be reanimated that we learn this in the cathedral
And the abyss watchers also shared the soul of the Wolfblood master between them
And in much the same way, the blood of the dark soul courses through the pygmy's veins
yet they've existed for so damn long that their blood has long since dried
The painter needs this blood to paint a world
But how do you paint with dried blood?
Well, one way is to consume it to, digest it and make the blood your own
"Ah"
"Is this the blood?"
"The blood of the dark soul."
Inflicted by the same frenzy that took Manus,
the same insanity that took Artorias
On some level, Gael is still holding true to his purpose
Even now, he wonders aloud whether he succeeded in digesting the dark soul
And when he sees us, he doesn't see an old companion, he only sees more blood
Broken great sword in hand, Gael represents more than just a part of the first DLC
Instead, he exists as a true counterpart to the soul of cinder
He is the desire of humanity fighting for a place in the world
He is the frenzy of the dark soul
He is a hollow's loss of self
And he is the souls of countless others that he's consumed in his journey
Gael died as he lived
As a slave knight, intended for sacrifice
And in the end, whether he guided us here to kill him, or not,
Gael's final accomplishment was consuming the dark soul, digesting it and bleeding it out
making the dark soul as whole as it's ever been since the very dawn of time
"My thanks, Ashen one"
"With this, will I paint a world"
"Please tell me thy name"
"I would name this painting after thee"
"I see"
"We are much alike"
"Then I will name this painting - Ash"
"It will be a cold, dark, and very gentle place"
And one day, it will make someone a goodly home.
I wonder when Uncle Gael intends his return
I hope the new painting will be to him a gentle home
And so, a little universe is painted within a dying world
A cold, dark and gentle place like the paintings before it
Except this new world has the ineffable dark soul painted into its very fabric
And even when the outside world expires
Whether fire fades, whether it's usurped by a lord of hollows or an accursed undead
Somewhere within the painted world of Ariamis,
hidden within the painted world of Ariandel,
tucked away in a small attic, surrounded by a burning world
is a new sanctuary named Ash
Maybe one day we'll see what this cold, dark, gentle world is like
Miyazaki hasn't completely ruled out Dark Souls IV
So I do feel like it will be made oneday
But for now and for the foreseeable future, really,
as you should have expected from the Dark Souls, the ending you envision
in this new world is all your own
Built upon the excellence of your imagination
I know you still have questions, so do I
Soon, we'll talk about the layers of time in the Ringed City
The differece between dark sigils and the dark sign
And the statues of primordial serpents and the stories of the locusts
This may be the end for now
"But one day, tiny flames will dance across the darkness"
I'll see you then.