What makes this sadder is that the Blue Tearstone Ring, which protects you as your health falls, most likely prolonged his suffering. He took alot of hits, as we can see, as blood is splattered in large puddles as if he was struck repeatedly at different locations. He is also in the fetal position, which is a strange position to die in if you get slashed. He most likely took many painful blows that would have been fatal, but the Tearstone Ring grew more powerful with each blow, raising his defense and thus drawing out the ordeal. In the end, his death took so long, that he could curl up and beg for mercy even while being struck, after he was hounded into the dead end. He realized there was no escape, but he never let go of the ring, which kept him alive, regardless, because he still wished to live despite the torment. A central message of dark souls and especially eerie because it is just a nameless corpse to us.
Considering that he is facing him through the hallway with some distance between them, I’d wager that he just watched him bleed to death rather than finishing him off where he died.
Absolutely. It's why I prefer the smaller, contained world of Souls to Elden Ring. More time to breathe and tell little forgotten stories like this in depth.
Caitha isn't pronounced by anyone in-game, but I reckon it's like Ketta - the German word for Chain ⛓️. There's a Caitha statue holding chains on the bridge to Iron Keep. Chains are a metaphor for causality. Fire *link* refers to the causal/karmic linkages between phenomena (interdependent co-origination; pratityasamutpada).
Wow, after all these years, I never noticed those bloodstains. A beautiful little story. I don't think something as beautiful as Dark Souls will ever be repeated... thank you for making this. Wonderful work.
I love the style of this video, it's like if the Zullie the Witch and Sisyphus 55 channels had a baby, and sharing the music info at the end is a kind gesture. Good font choice as well imo. In the Dark Souls 3 dlc it's revealed that only humans have the Darksign and that other beings can't hollow, so the Black Knight would have no reason to hang around staring vacantly into space. He must have killed the poor ringbearer just before the player got there.
Sorry for the late reply. Thanks so much for your kind words! Happy to be compared to these two! I agree with your point on the guy having died right before the player came to Undead Burg. I believe that every place that has these Black Knights is linked to the Plot Against the Gods story, and that in the timeline, this should be closest to the "current" day?
One of the things I've been puzzled about is why there are any corpses at all if everyone is undead. It's entirely possible that all of these "corpses" aren't really dead, they've just gone hollow to such an extreme degree that they no longer try to live. They're conscious and aware, but they remain perfectly still like a corpse because their mind is so far gone they can't even make themselves move anymore. In a darker version of the game, I could see forcing players to crawl back to the bonfire after death, and if you log out without reviving then your corpse can appear in other players' games with a random item you had equipped. Would be a neat multiplayer feature, but probably not fun to do the actual crawl back to the bonfire.
It's something I've wondered as well, just as how enemies keep showing up everytime you sit at a bonfire. I think this might be just game play limitations however.
@@PointlessProductionStudio I think enemies revive the same way you do. The reason bosses don't revive is because we take the boss's soul, which is their essence. We can see an actual example of this in DS3 where we have the option to give Rosaria's soul back to her, which allows her to revive again, but if we keep or use the soul, she doesn't revive. Most enemies we take some of their power, but we don't bother to take their personal soul because it's essentially worthless to us. There's also the idea of the fading of the fire messing with time. It's possible no one is actually "reviving" per se, but the bonfire is turning back time to a point before we, or the enemies, were killed. I'm not sure why bosses would be excepted from that revival, though. Perhaps because _we_ defeated the boss then the bosses stay dead in our own timeline, but do revive for any other undead traveling through Lordran. This could be how Black Iron Tarkus was able to take on Sen's Fortress and defeat the Iron Golem, despite never crossing paths with us and the Golem still being alive in our timeline. While to a degree I think it's a gameplay contrivance, it does seem to have some kind of basis in the lore. Another place this is made clear is with Oscar of Astora, who says he'll die, then turn hollow, so it's clear that death is not the end. But it's not clear what the mechanism is for revival or why some things don't revive.
@@Greywander87 Apolegies for the late reply. That is a very interesting theory. I also heard the theory that time spend near a bonfire passes faster, so the new enemies move in. Though this doesn't explain stuff like the non respawning Gargoyles and boars.
Nah, I think you're correct. We kinda see a spectrum of Hollowing in the game. We got your usual Undead, like most human NPCs, who still bear the facade Gwyn gave them. Then we have the next step: the "sane Hollows" like the Burg merchant, the moss lady and the PC after a death unless they burn humanity. Then we have the "mad Hollows", who are the common aggressive enemy type. Then we have the "passive Hollows" who have degraded to the point that they don't react to us, even if they still perform actions. These are the ones found at the start of the Asylum, or overlooking New Londo or at the Altar of Sunlight. And then, logically, the last step would be the "still Hollows", who have given up even the ability to move. Still alive, but functionally in a vegetative state and reacting to nothing. There's a couple of these in Irithyll Dungeon in DS3 who will still give off bloodcurdling screams when you touch them. The horror inflicted on them by the guards have no doubt traumatised them even beyond total loss of mind.
Good theory but there's one issue.. The undead curse. Anyone in the undead burg is most likely going to be afflicted with the undead curse, meaning a person can only truly die after they go completely hollow. This could mean that the man was attacked and fatally wounded by the black knight, died, went hollow and died there again, or he could have gone hollow mid battle. Or, he could have died long ago, and that was just as far as his hollow corpse would bring him until something finally put him out of his misery.
Untold ages later, the ring ends up in the possession of a lowly thief, tasked with delivering it to an old and dying woman in a decaying village, only to be caught and thrown into a jail cell to rot away. But rot he would not, for after hearing the bells toll an unkindled undead would come and release him, who he would then ask to deliver the ring in his stead. The unkindled one would fulfill this request... only to recover a bone belonging to an old woman, her body bagged up and left hanging outside a building.
Thats how you play dark souls after disco elysium. Bro made the whole place around the corpse a crime scene and even reconstructed the moment of death with proof and evidence laying around the place, nice one 😂👍
Walking down the streets of Anor Londo. The sky pours its heart out, missery strikes down upon the long gone citziens, leaving nothinb but ghosts and shells. *pours cigar* Anor Londo ain't what it used to be.
What makes this sadder is that the Blue Tearstone Ring, which protects you as your health falls, most likely prolonged his suffering. He took alot of hits, as we can see, as blood is splattered in large puddles as if he was struck repeatedly at different locations. He is also in the fetal position, which is a strange position to die in if you get slashed. He most likely took many painful blows that would have been fatal, but the Tearstone Ring grew more powerful with each blow, raising his defense and thus drawing out the ordeal. In the end, his death took so long, that he could curl up and beg for mercy even while being struck, after he was hounded into the dead end. He realized there was no escape, but he never let go of the ring, which kept him alive, regardless, because he still wished to live despite the torment. A central message of dark souls and especially eerie because it is just a nameless corpse to us.
The ring, like the fire, refused to fade.
For better, or worse
@@PointlessProductionStudio wew, poignant...
best youtube comment of all time
Which is why I never wear the ring 😂 red tearstone is nice though
This editing style really reminds me of the early days of Dark Souls
Is that a compliment haha?
@@PointlessProductionStudio Absolutely, I long for those days and this video really captures that feeling just enough.
The dumbshit guides specially 😂
Considering that he is facing him through the hallway with some distance between them, I’d wager that he just watched him bleed to death rather than finishing him off where he died.
I never noticed the blood trails. Oh my. Very nice find!
This is what devs meant us to do while playing the game, just letting our imagination go wild
Absolutely. It's why I prefer the smaller, contained world of Souls to Elden Ring. More time to breathe and tell little forgotten stories like this in depth.
@@ianwilliams2632 facts
Lots of imaginations ran wild during Quelagg I'd imagine.
Also probably during Priscilla 😂
@@furiousdestroyah9999Maidenless behavior...
(I fw bro)
It's interesting to note he might've been praying to the goddess, Catalina in his final moments. RIP nameless corpse
Oh also, can't believe the black Knight was the bay harbour butchet
Caitha isn't pronounced by anyone in-game, but I reckon it's like Ketta - the German word for Chain ⛓️.
There's a Caitha statue holding chains on the bridge to Iron Keep.
Chains are a metaphor for causality. Fire *link* refers to the causal/karmic linkages between phenomena (interdependent co-origination; pratityasamutpada).
Oh, I hadn't looked at that in that way! That's fascinating!
Iron keep from DS2? Is she mentioned in DS2?
Wow, after all these years, I never noticed those bloodstains. A beautiful little story. I don't think something as beautiful as Dark Souls will ever be repeated... thank you for making this. Wonderful work.
Should've leveled ADP
I love the style of this video, it's like if the Zullie the Witch and Sisyphus 55 channels had a baby, and sharing the music info at the end is a kind gesture. Good font choice as well imo.
In the Dark Souls 3 dlc it's revealed that only humans have the Darksign and that other beings can't hollow, so the Black Knight would have no reason to hang around staring vacantly into space. He must have killed the poor ringbearer just before the player got there.
Sorry for the late reply.
Thanks so much for your kind words! Happy to be compared to these two!
I agree with your point on the guy having died right before the player came to Undead Burg. I believe that every place that has these Black Knights is linked to the Plot Against the Gods story, and that in the timeline, this should be closest to the "current" day?
You just turned DS into a horror crime show wtf.
Am definitely gonna boot up the game and go bully that dark knight LMAO 😂
Dark Souls is one of those games where you still find out little intricate details about it even after years of playing it
love the early 2010's vibes I get from your videos
"how beautiful will your tears be" pretty ugly considering how many times i've died
Love these hidden lore videos please make more
Your channel watermark at the bottom right makes this a cinematic masterpiece
You see so many corpses in these games that sometimes you forget the obvious truth, that each corpse used to be a person.
welcome to youtube 2013
rumor has it the body clutching the blue tearstone ring is a female. a female who happens to be siegmeyers wife
Female corpses actually wear a bra! You can spot this with Firekeeper corpses for example.
One of the things I've been puzzled about is why there are any corpses at all if everyone is undead. It's entirely possible that all of these "corpses" aren't really dead, they've just gone hollow to such an extreme degree that they no longer try to live. They're conscious and aware, but they remain perfectly still like a corpse because their mind is so far gone they can't even make themselves move anymore. In a darker version of the game, I could see forcing players to crawl back to the bonfire after death, and if you log out without reviving then your corpse can appear in other players' games with a random item you had equipped. Would be a neat multiplayer feature, but probably not fun to do the actual crawl back to the bonfire.
It's something I've wondered as well, just as how enemies keep showing up everytime you sit at a bonfire. I think this might be just game play limitations however.
@@PointlessProductionStudio I think enemies revive the same way you do. The reason bosses don't revive is because we take the boss's soul, which is their essence. We can see an actual example of this in DS3 where we have the option to give Rosaria's soul back to her, which allows her to revive again, but if we keep or use the soul, she doesn't revive. Most enemies we take some of their power, but we don't bother to take their personal soul because it's essentially worthless to us.
There's also the idea of the fading of the fire messing with time. It's possible no one is actually "reviving" per se, but the bonfire is turning back time to a point before we, or the enemies, were killed. I'm not sure why bosses would be excepted from that revival, though. Perhaps because _we_ defeated the boss then the bosses stay dead in our own timeline, but do revive for any other undead traveling through Lordran. This could be how Black Iron Tarkus was able to take on Sen's Fortress and defeat the Iron Golem, despite never crossing paths with us and the Golem still being alive in our timeline.
While to a degree I think it's a gameplay contrivance, it does seem to have some kind of basis in the lore. Another place this is made clear is with Oscar of Astora, who says he'll die, then turn hollow, so it's clear that death is not the end. But it's not clear what the mechanism is for revival or why some things don't revive.
not quite everyone is undead though, especially in the early days quite a lot of mortals ventured to lordran in an attempt to reach the lordvessel
@@Greywander87 Apolegies for the late reply.
That is a very interesting theory. I also heard the theory that time spend near a bonfire passes faster, so the new enemies move in.
Though this doesn't explain stuff like the non respawning Gargoyles and boars.
Nah, I think you're correct. We kinda see a spectrum of Hollowing in the game.
We got your usual Undead, like most human NPCs, who still bear the facade Gwyn gave them.
Then we have the next step: the "sane Hollows" like the Burg merchant, the moss lady and the PC after a death unless they burn humanity.
Then we have the "mad Hollows", who are the common aggressive enemy type.
Then we have the "passive Hollows" who have degraded to the point that they don't react to us, even if they still perform actions. These are the ones found at the start of the Asylum, or overlooking New Londo or at the Altar of Sunlight.
And then, logically, the last step would be the "still Hollows", who have given up even the ability to move. Still alive, but functionally in a vegetative state and reacting to nothing. There's a couple of these in Irithyll Dungeon in DS3 who will still give off bloodcurdling screams when you touch them. The horror inflicted on them by the guards have no doubt traumatised them even beyond total loss of mind.
This edits goes hard
The Tragedy here is not the death of one, the Tragedy here as that the Death of One has become meaningless.
Love these type of videos
Thank you!
This was very well put together!
Good theory but there's one issue..
The undead curse. Anyone in the undead burg is most likely going to be afflicted with the undead curse, meaning a person can only truly die after they go completely hollow. This could mean that the man was attacked and fatally wounded by the black knight, died, went hollow and died there again, or he could have gone hollow mid battle. Or, he could have died long ago, and that was just as far as his hollow corpse would bring him until something finally put him out of his misery.
i almost cried
This goes hard ngl
i love this ring is from catarina too 💙
Untold ages later, the ring ends up in the possession of a lowly thief, tasked with delivering it to an old and dying woman in a decaying village, only to be caught and thrown into a jail cell to rot away. But rot he would not, for after hearing the bells toll an unkindled undead would come and release him, who he would then ask to deliver the ring in his stead. The unkindled one would fulfill this request... only to recover a bone belonging to an old woman, her body bagged up and left hanging outside a building.
Oh, I hadn't even thought about that!
It would be so cool if this was shown in a DS movie!
VISUAL CALCULUS [Hard: Success] -
I don't remember Caitha being mentioned in DS1.
Not by any character, no. Both tearstone rings have the only mentions.
Thats how you play dark souls after disco elysium. Bro made the whole place around the corpse a crime scene and even reconstructed the moment of death with proof and evidence laying around the place, nice one 😂👍
Hahaha thanks! I really feel these games were meant to be seen through this kind of lens.
Press A, run away. 😂
Never have i ever got at the verge of sheeding a tear this hard bro
Well done miss detective
Good find! And nice choice of music too :)
Silent Hill music always works amazing
SCHIZO HOLY aga aga aga
This video is so 2012
This corpse is a friend of mine, who said this ring was super duper important and that I'm stupid for not using rings (I'm just THAT good)
What game has more head cannon than Dark Souls?
AL Noir - Anor Londo Noir
Walking down the streets of Anor Londo. The sky pours its heart out, missery strikes down upon the long gone citziens, leaving nothinb but ghosts and shells.
*pours cigar*
Anor Londo ain't what it used to be.