It's definitely the weakest part along with the lore, but the final boss was incredible in the way it tied back to the first game.
I could have done without the other references to DS1 but yeah, the final boss was cool
It's definitely the weakest part along with the lore, but the final boss was incredible in the way it tied back to the first game.
Only way the last DLC will be good to me, if they mention at least some plot points about the major things that happened in DS II with Aldia, and if the DLC is aware of it being the final Dark Souls content ever. I have very little hope in it after the first DSIII DLC.
Pretty much. While DLC 2 is clearly an improvement on DLC 1, I'm left feeling fairly disappointed by both.I'm guessing everyone else just found it as empty/vague as I did?
I'm glad we actually got to see the end of the world.
I knew we weren't gonna get answers to everything on a single DLC, otherwise it would've been too convenient. We got to finally see the pygmies, learn about the nature of their arrangement with the old gods, and even get the dark soul at the end.
There's still a lot that can be inferred from it, but it's probably gonna be a few days until the theories start showing up. Remember this only released two days ago. Not everyone has the free time or the skill to finish the whole thing already. Hell, I still haven't beat Midir myself. Give it time.
I don't really get Filianore. She's a daughter of Gwyn, but why does she has that magic thing (you know, awakening from her slumber turning her onto a dried mess and the world going all shit and all of that). I'm honestly tired of the time, space and god lord knows what else is convolupted in DS world. Seems lazy.
Gwyn having a pact with pygmies was cool, again though, I don't get why Filianore was part of that pact, especially when it involves just putting her there to sleep forever. It's not like neither Gwyn or the pygmies get any benefit from that.
Gwyn having a pact with pygmies was cool, again though, I don't get why Filianore was part of that pact, especially when it involves just putting her there to sleep forever. It's not like neither Gwyn or the pygmies get any benefit from that.
We don't really get the Dark Soul, just blood from it. The Dark Souls doesn't even exist anymore, it was splitted everywhere within humans and pygmies. What Gael wanted was blood coming from the Dark Souls, but when he arrived he found pygmies blood was all dried up, so he ate their souls to turn infested by the power of the Dark Souls, hence his own blood being the blood of the Dark Soul, knowing someone (probably you= will kill him and get his blood. Gael story was pretty cool IMO.
The painting stuff seems really convoluted too. I'm really disappointed where the lore ended up, especially considering DS1 never really needed much more added to it.
Filianore seems to be the only thing keeping the illusion of the city going. Once you wake her up, time catches up to the city which becomes a ruin covered by ashes, just like the rest of the world. It's possible that Gwyn did this to earn the pygmies' trust, while at the same time keep them confined to this "pocket reality" of sorts. There's a lot of this in DS3.
True. I probably should've said "the closest we'll ever get to the dark soul," considering Gael spent all this time killing the pygmy lords to get it. He also seems to have done this in real time, outside the illusion of Filianore's sleep. By the time you see him, he's been at it for ages. It's really cool, and really sad too.
The painting stuf isn't really convoluted, and it also works as meta commentary about the series as a whole too. There are some really good posts in Reddit about it.
Is meta commentary the new way of saying makes no sense/unnecessary?
I don't know how we got from DS1 to this. Miyazaki clearly has trouble with direct sequels.
How does it not make sense?
I mean, I get you didn't like it, but if you're going to shut down discussion like this there's no point in even posting in this thread.
https://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls3/comments/62cutp/spoilers_the_story_of_dark_souls_3s_dlc_or_why_i/ said:So here it is: The DLC is literally about why we, as a community, need to move on from Dark Souls. I'm going to argue that if you look beyond the minutiae of how things and characters fit into the hierarchy of gods and men, and look at the actual structure of the story and what it's trying to say, it's a flawless end to the series. Far more perfect than Velka descending from on high to be the final boss or showing us Gwynevere.
Miyazaki hasn't been terribly subtle for a while now about wanting to wrap the series up. We've all known this for ages. I don't recall an interview where he explicitly explains why, but that's ok because we have Ashes of Ariandel, which does it for him.
Ashes of Ariandel presents a world that is rotting. Stagnating. Its residents wallow in the rot that afflicts the place. The option to burn the painting and start over is presented as natural, but it isn't happening. Someone has come from outside and convinced the denizens of the painted world to keep it going. This is one big allegory for Dark Souls as a franchise, it's a stagnating world, being kept alive by outside forces, by the demands of the company and the fanbase.
[...]
Then there's Father Ariandel, the man who's responsible for the creation of this latest Painted World. That's Miyazaki in this sad little story. The father of the world we're in, chained to a chair in a basement, keeping the stagnating world he's created going with his own blood and tears. Ultimately, he finds the strength to fight, and is responsible for the flame that will burn away the world.
But the most poignant line in the DLC comes from the Corvian Settler.
"When the world rots, we set it afire. For the sake of the next world It's the one thing we do right, unlike those fools on the outside."
So, where is ‘the outside'? Is it the world outside the painting? Or is it the world outside the game? Whenever people talk about soulsborne games, it's inevitable that the vast majority of people's favorites are going to be Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1, or Bloodborne. You occasionally hear someone say DS2 or DS3 is a favorite, but far and away, From Software is at their best when they're creating new worlds to see, with new things to do. All three of them are similar, but they're their own thing. Miyazaki and Fromsoft swing for the fences when they're building the next world, not wallowing in the last.
It's not the world in Dark Souls that's rotting. It's the world of Dark Souls that is rotting.
Let's move on to The Ringed City to make my point. Fromsoft has always been pretty genius about using environmental detail to help tell its story. You start the DLC at the top of the end of the world. All of the places and things in the Dark Souls universe are collapsing together as the world comes to its end. The top. That's important. The top is Lothric. You begin where Dark Souls 3 ended. The ‘end' of the story so far. As you descend you come to the broken remains of Earthen Peak. You've descended through time into Dark Souls 2. Not much of it, but one zone's worth. And as you descend even further, you kill the Demon Prince and reach a tiny piece of Firelink Shrine. You've descended into Dark Souls 1, and it's a frail, insignificant speck compared to all that's piled on top of it...
You see the thing is, every time they make a new Dark Souls game, they add a new layer of complexity to the lore. The previous layers get crushed under the weight of the additions. With every thing that they add to the series, they have to come up with new places to go that didn't exist before. New people to fight. New things to kill. These have to fit in somehow. We speculate endlessly on how they might. We demand that they do. And this fact, this inarguable truth of the world is right there in the level design itself. A Dark Souls 4 would just make the pile deeper, the rubble of Firelink smaller.
[...]
So you kill Gael, and your reward is the broken, ruined remains of the Dark Soul itself. Which leads us to the final story related thing that any of us will do in the series. You take this bloody mess that represents the very namesake of the franchise, arguably the most significant item that you have ever carried in all your time playing these games, and give it away to someone else so that they can create a new, better world on top of what's left. Symbolism doesn't get any clearer than that.
The game is literally begging us to let go of Dark Souls and let From Software create something new in its wake. It's the end of this series, but the beginning of whatever follows, which will no doubt be wondrous as well. Perhaps a cold, dark and gentle place. Hopefully it will make a good home for us.
Sorry for the double post, but I wasn't expecting this thread to be so dead after the DLC. I'm guessing everyone else just found it as empty/vague as I did?
All I was saying is that I don't see how the painting doesn't make sense or is convoluted in regards to the game's story. But if you want to read on the metacommentary aspect specifically, I'm quoting some parts of the Reddit post that proposed it, because even if it's reaching at some parts I think it also makes some really good points.
The whole read is really interesting and makes a bit too much sense not to be intentional imo.
It desperately needed a final cutscene at the very least, or some kind of lore reward for turning in the Blood of the Dark Soul. As of right now literally nothing happens for remembering to deliver it back to her other than some super vague text that basically says "okay I'll paint with this", you're better off leaving it in your inventory because its description text is more interesting.
All I was saying is that I don't see how the painting doesn't make sense or is convoluted in regards to the game's story. But if you want to read on the metacommentary aspect specifically, I'm quoting some parts of the Reddit post that proposed it, because even if it's reaching at some parts I think it also makes some really good points.
The whole read is really interesting and makes a bit too much sense not to be intentional imo.
Now that you mention it, none of the DLCs in the Miyazaki directed games had a "lore reward" for completing them, unless you consider the short cutscene at the end of The Old Hunters. Only the Three Crowns trilogy did it.
what.....
The old hunters is "This is what happened.... right here....", you get to the see the story first hand,like much of BB.
AoTA you literally are the one to kill manus, how is that not a reward.
I'm not sure I buy it considering how much emphasis was placed on the Pygmy stuff, but if this is true then that's an even bigger disappointment that Miyazaki would want to sacrfice the lore in this series just for some Kojima level meta commentary for the fans. Can't see how anyone could be happy about that, especially since it would just imply that the painting stuff/DLC stuff was just forced into the story without any regard to how it ties back into the actual world and lore.
Now I'm wondering if some of the more cryptic dialogue is laden with clues about his next project. The biggest ones would be the skeleton at the entrance to the Ringed City and his ranting, and the multiple bloodsucker hollows repeating those short stories with "Fear not the dark, and let the feast begin."
Now I'm wondering if some of the more cryptic dialogue is laden with clues about his next project. The biggest ones would be the skeleton at the entrance to the Ringed City and his ranting, and the multiple bloodsucker hollows repeating those short stories with "Fear not the dark, and let the feast begin."
Deep Souls, lets go
I asked a couple posts before this, but doesn't this DLC imply that the Deep is just the Abyss/Dark?
Deep Souls, lets go
I asked a couple posts before this, but doesn't this DLC imply that the Deep is just the Abyss/Dark?
I believe Miyazaki himself said the deep is another way in which the abyss can manifest.
So, that's it? All these lose hanging threads, no real conclusion to anything. Lol. Dark Souls 2 was more conclusive than this, with the Bearer of the Curse going off with his crowns of perpetual humanity to find a way to break the cycle.
I asked this question earlier in the thread and it seems like there's no definitive answer.Personally i always thought the Abyss to be a twisted version of Dark, similar to how Chaos is a twisted version of Fire.
The Deep is perhaps a more natural version of Dark.
Dark Souls 2 was actually lucky because it was mostly a self contained side story. It doesn't really have any huge ramifications to the overall lore.
DS3 on the other hand tied itself too closely to DS1, and they dropped the ball hard in the lore department they couldn't decide between doing their own thing versus tying everything back to the first. I'm still salty over how messy Ornstein's story ended up becoming.
Why would the original gods exist anywhere but they're own city, that makes no sense, and Gwyndolin didn't keep the illusion going, I'd argue that Anor Londo/Irithyll froze over due to the lack of sunlight and eternal night. And there's nothing to suggest that the linking of the fire comes from Drangliec.the sad part is that all the stuff that is unrelated to DS1 is p good; well they needed a named god for aldrich to eat, but they didn't need to bring back anor londo with him. but a lot of the DS3-only stuff doesn't get enough development
this also had the weird consequence of making anor londo and gwyndolyn to have kept up the charade until aldrich, and so now in the DS3 lore, the legend of linking the fire comes from drangleic, and not from londran itself
One thing I don't get is the new Painting. Ariandel was already rotting and when we return with the Blood of the Dark Soul, everything is burning in flames. This new painting isn't just gonna be there right? A pocket dimension inside another pocket dimension? And who will live in this Painted World of Ash? Pretty much everyone in the world is dead. Unless the Painter can also create life when creating the painting.
Why would the original gods exist anywhere but they're own city, that makes no sense, and Gwyndolin didn't keep the illusion going, I'd argue that Anor Londo/Irithyll froze over due to the lack of sunlight and eternal night. And there's nothing to suggest that the linking of the fire comes from Drangliec.
Armour/Gauntlets/Shoes of the Drang Knights, proclaimed descendents of the land known for the legend of the Linking of the Fire.
Fine protection that is both light and strong, having been reinforced with rare geisteel.
The Drang knights were once feared sellswords, until treason meant descending into the abyss, and they were seperated forever.
And I'd also argue that Dark Souls III connection to the first game is where it's lore is strongest.
Edit: To explain further.
You have a castle that was built by the most powerful beings that exist in your world, your family for your family and your family alone. It's an heirloom. Your father is dead, and so is presumably your mother, the castle is now passed down to the children. Except, your eldest brother is disowned and MIA, so he now has no claim to it, your eldest sister is MIA so she has no claim to it and you're the only one left, you have a moral obligation to continue to reside in and maintain your family's heirloom. While there was a chance that your father may return, you had an obligation to make things appear as if everything was running buisness as scheduled. That never happened, so there's no reason to keep up the charade. Now in the absence of light (heat source) things get cold and Gwyndolin's trait is the antithesis of his/her fathers. Gwyn was the sun, Gwyndolin is the moon and assumedly it was perpetually day when Gwyn ruled over Anor Londo, now that Gwyndolin rules over Anor Londo, you'd get a perpetual night and with that perpetual night is going to come a perpetual cold, and considering its magic based I'd guess that seasons don't apply when in Anor Londo. Eventually everything would just freeze over until you get Irithyll/Anor Londo, which is cold and snowy, but not unbearably so or completely frozen over.
As for the linking of the fire, that was something that was pushed in tandem by Gwyndolin and Frampt from the first game, and since Gwyndolin he has reason to continue to preserve the age of fire and their fathers legacy, in addition to that. Considering how long Kaathe lived (Long enough to meet Yuria, hundreds of years later) you can assume that Frampt lived quite a while longer too and that they continued to push people towards linking the fire, even making it a grand event in the way it is now.
and funnily enough, places where Anor Londo/Irithyll has a lot of influence, two (technically three) lords are produced in Aldritch and the Twin Princes.
Why would the original gods exist anywhere but they're own city, that makes no sense, and Gwyndolin didn't keep the illusion going, I'd argue that Anor Londo/Irithyll froze over due to the lack of sunlight and eternal night. And there's nothing to suggest that the linking of the fire comes from Drangliec.
And I'd also argue that Dark Souls III connection to the first game is where it's lore is strongest.
Edit: To explain further.
You have a castle that was built by the most powerful beings that exist in your world, your family for your family and your family alone. It's an heirloom. Your father is dead, and so is presumably your mother, the castle is now passed down to the children. Except, your eldest brother is disowned and MIA, so he now has no claim to it, your eldest sister is MIA so she has no claim to it and you're the only one left, you have a moral obligation to continue to reside in and maintain your family's heirloom. While there was a chance that your father may return, you had an obligation to make things appear as if everything was running buisness as scheduled. That never happened, so there's no reason to keep up the charade. Now in the absence of light (heat source) things get cold and Gwyndolin's trait is the antithesis of his/her fathers. Gwyn was the sun, Gwyndolin is the moon and assumedly it was perpetually day when Gwyn ruled over Anor Londo, now that Gwyndolin rules over Anor Londo, you'd get a perpetual night and with that perpetual night is going to come a perpetual cold, and considering its magic based I'd guess that seasons don't apply when in Anor Londo. Eventually everything would just freeze over until you get Irithyll/Anor Londo, which is cold and snowy, but not unbearably so or completely frozen over.
As for the linking of the fire, that was something that was pushed in tandem by Gwyndolin and Frampt from the first game, and since Gwyndolin he has reason to continue to preserve the age of fire and their fathers legacy, in addition to that. Considering how long Kaathe lived (Long enough to meet Yuria, hundreds of years later) you can assume that Frampt lived quite a while longer too and that they continued to push people towards linking the fire, even making it a grand event in the way it is now.
and funnily enough, places where Anor Londo/Irithyll has a lot of influence, two (technically three) lords are produced in Aldritch and the Twin Princes.
Life can be created within a painting apparently, since that's where the Pontiff comes from.
Fair enough, my apologies.check out the description of the Drang armor in DS2
this is the Llewelyn set from Dark Souls 2. the legend of linking the fire thus comes from Drangleic. nobody knew about linking the fire in Lordran until Drangleic broke down and then was resurrected by some guy who actually linked the fire
When you kill Gwyndolin in Dark Souls 1, it becomes eternal night in Anor Londo(and just Anor Londo). Gwyndolin has the power of the moon as Gwyn had the power of the sun. It was eternally daytime because of Gwyn, then Gwyndolin keeping up the illusion of the sun in Dark Souls 1 until you kill him. Killing Gwyndolin in the first game is kind of a big deal because of that.we don't have reason to believe that Anor Londo was plunged into an eternal night; as far as we know, under gwyndolyn the false sun just stayed up forever, but in other areas, the sun set and came out as normal
what's more, it is nighttime in irythil, but it is day up in anor londo; the snow is not due to the lack of a sun, it is just the weather. E:irithyll is called "of the boreal valley". It's just the weather there.
I'm glad there's at least some discussion happening in here! That Reddit post about the meta story is great.
One thing: everyone always says the Ringed City has strong connections to Londor. It's worth considering that it might be the other way around. Londor most likely based their symbolism off the Ringed City, which was built much, much earlier (by the gods to contain the pygmies).
The hollows of Londor revered the pygmies and the power of the dark soul, and so the Sword of Avowal resembles architecture/imagery found in the Ringed City. Pilgrims of Londor shackle those huge covers to their backs in an attempt to seal their sigils until they reach their destination - which is Lothric; where all lands will converge as the world draws to a close - hoping to be closer to the "holy land" when they perish.
You also see the statues in the Ringed City, of those burdened by what we can assume to be the dark sign. Perhaps donning the covers is an allusion to this, as well.
Fair enough, my apologies.
When you kill Gwyndolin in Dark Souls 1, it becomes eternal night in Anor Londo(and just Anor Londo). Gwyndolin has the power of the moon as Gwyn had the power of the sun. It was eternally daytime because of Gwyn, then Gwyndolin keeping up the illusion of the sun in Dark Souls 1 until you kill him. Killing Gwyndolin in the first game is kind of a big deal because of that.
It's also not daytime in Anor Londo in Dark Souls 3, its night time and the moon is very visible (Gwyndolin). Arguably Irithyll is also part of Anor Londo. Anor Londo itself is the castle of the gods above the city, Irithyll is the city below which has existed since Dark Souls 1, we just never got to visit it until now.
When you kill Gwyndolin in Dark Souls 1, it becomes eternal night in Anor Londo(and just Anor Londo). Gwyndolin has the power of the moon as Gwyn had the power of the sun. It was eternally daytime because of Gwyn, then Gwyndolin keeping up the illusion of the sun in Dark Souls 1 until you kill him. Killing Gwyndolin in the first game is kind of a big deal because of that.
It's also not daytime in Anor Londo in Dark Souls 3, its night time and the moon is very visible (Gwyndolin). Arguably Irithyll is also part of Anor Londo. Anor Londo itself is the castle of the gods above the city, Irithyll is the city below which has existed since Dark Souls 1, we just never got to visit it until now.
When you kill Gwyndolin in Dark Souls 1, it becomes eternal night in Anor Londo(and just Anor Londo). Gwyndolin has the power of the moon as Gwyn had the power of the sun. It was eternally daytime because of Gwyn, then Gwyndolin keeping up the illusion of the sun in Dark Souls 1 until you kill him. Killing Gwyndolin in the first game is kind of a big deal because of that.
It's also not daytime in Anor Londo in Dark Souls 3, its night time and the moon is very visible (Gwyndolin). Arguably Irithyll is also part of Anor Londo. Anor Londo itself is the castle of the gods above the city, Irithyll is the city below which has existed since Dark Souls 1, we just never got to visit it until now.
Gwyndolin was never killed by the DS1 player in the DS3 world/timeline/whatever. He survived and likely maintained whatever illusion he had over Anor Londo until Aldritch ate him.
Irithyll is not part of Anor Londo, the crux of DS3's geography is that all the lands are converging. Proximity in DS3 means nothing.