@@pintadezombie9126 I watched a boss fight reaction vid and I love the players' reactions when they got to phase 2 and Gwyn's theme started up and how they recognized it.
gwyn failed to become "Allah". that was his supposed to to do. Teach humanity, guide them, become like a father figure to humanity, considering he was the strongest, first lord souls claimer. he should become Sunlight. instead of shackle, banished it which caused humanity loses their existence (meaning, purpose) went to their natural state, (corruptible, brutish, naturalborn betrayer) human, we are awful by default. "humanity is poised midways between the beasts and the Gods"-Plotinus
Fun fact ; the music is a direct hint to what's Gwyn is most scared about. this song is basicly the song of Gwyn, the first lord to bound himself to the fire, not letting it fade so the "age of god" may continue. He was so scarred of the "age of men", so scared of the dark that would come after the fire that his own music doesn't use a single black note.
Holy shit - what an amazing fun fact. Not even a note from a black key is used in this song because he was so afraid of the age of dark…and the fact that Gwyn means white….mind blown
Ah yes, the famed “Plin plin plon” that we all love. This song really is the heart of Dark Souls. In the midst of all the orchestral chaos that suits a ruined world that is dying in desperation, the true melody that encapsulates it all is here. Just a calm and mournful piano piece that fits with the idea of a slowly fading fire. Motoi Sakuraba was a genius for this one.
Motoi Sakuraba continues to be one of my favorites of all time just because they do big and bombastic so well. Even when working in orchestral music they drag out some of their roots as a progrock artist into it all. But every now and again, they'll slow everything down and hit you with something like this or Elemental Stars and you remember it for the rest of your life.
I think the song is only supposed to be kinda hypocritical since Gwyn demanded so much from so many people and as a result until his perpetuity of the unsustainable finally reverses then no one gets a happy ending. No might can be attributed to the bearer of such a great sin.
Everything about Gwyn is symbolic. His theme song consist of only white notes, because he only feared the dark. He is completely hollowed in ragged clothes, showing that he is just a decrepit old man fighting for the age he once created. Even the fact that he can be parried like any other humanoid enemy is symbolic. He is only human. I think the perfect way to describe Gwyn was in one of Vaati's videos, where he used Dylan Thomas' iconic line "Do not go gentle into that good night".
@@dog.b74I don't think Gwyn was hollow or human. To be hollow, you have to have the darksign. He was a lord, but he already was pretty much consumed by the first flame by the time we get to the kiln.
His theme song consists of white notes not only because he feared the dark but Gwyn in welsh also means white. Didn't knew that until my welsh friend said it.
The fact this is the final boss theme is so powerful. It’s arguably the most tense moment in the game, but the entire battlefield and soundscape is a poignant vacuum of sound. Just one piano, alone, and sad. Echoing and filling each moment with such emptiness. How appropriate for the “Lord of cinder” to not end in a powerful blaze, but a quiet extinguishing whisper.
Its supposed to be played by two pianos, there's an analysis about that by Jaime Altozano, the only problem is that it is in Spanish but in short the one that repeats represent Gwyn and the one that is ascending represents the player ua-cam.com/video/LjKAQ-zI5Ns/v-deo.html
Because FromSoft names half of their things after the Welsh language, I'm obligated to share that Gwyn means white in Welsh, which then passes over to the notes of the song
Btw. one thing I can imagine why his theme feels so naked and pale is maybe because the moment we meet Gwyn ingame he already turned hollow. There is almost no sign anymore of that great Lord of Cinder which we see in the opening cinematic who defeated the dragons and created an Age of Fire, that's all history and the leftover from that history is just this weak old man defending his achievement with his last breaths. And can it be that Gwyn's theme is the only piano solo boss theme to this day? I can't recall any other piano solo boss theme right now ...
@coullx1708 Pretty fitting though, the embodiment of humanity just going ape shit around that wasteland. The slave knight who gave everything in hope of a refuge for the others.
I mean if you decided to bring an age of dark then your motives are different to Gwyn's and you would not empathise with him (I chose to snuff out the flame and worked towards that ending) Instead all I saw was the sad remains of a 'god' who oppressed humanity for an entire age. I'm glad I chose that ending in DkS1 after learning more about Gwyn in DkS3.
@@Rexhunterj Issue is you canonically won't have an age of dark possible until DS3 because someone else will link it and potentially people will keep linking it as long as lords of cinder can exist.
@@Forgenshoot This is kind of wrong. In the DS3 ending where you let the First Flame die the Firekeeper tells you that even in the coming darkness embers (or was it something like "small flames") will come back, implying that Age of Dark is just like Age of Light, a cycle that always leads to its opposite. If there is any fire then there is also dark, and vice versa. So there could have been many Ages of Dark in the past before DS3 because it is implied that there have already been countless Ages of Light too.
The presentation of the Gwyn boss fight and the lead up is one of the many reasons why this game is such a masterpiece. Gwyn is the figure you hear about throughout the game, the lord of sunlight a being of immense power who led the fight to slay the dragons and built a magnificent city of gods. His soul was so massive that you need to collect all the other Lord souls and fragments of his to even provide proper kindling for the kiln of the first flame. Then you make your way through a corridor of ghosts, trudge your self past the last and most trusted knights Gwyn had and step into the kiln. Gwyn is there and he’s a husk. Some of the power remains but he’s long past what he was. Just as each age of fire faded Gwyn himself has faded to prolong the age of fire. He gave up everything to hold onto the light. It’s beautifully tragic just like this song.
To me this was amazing. Gwyn was talked up as THE GOD of this world. But when after everything I struggled through in dark souls and I finally got to his door... Only to hear this.... Sad piano song and fight this weekend looking old man who was easy. It made me feel hallow not victory. And then when you learn about the lore were Gwyn has lost everyone and everything about the flame... It just... All fits so perfectly. Music, visuals, lore to make what to me was the most hard hitting moment I had felt in a game. And I think the reason why it's only a single piano is that when you reach Gwyn... He is the last one. Lost every child and allies he had one way or another. Not some god with millions of fallowers. But just one scared sad old man struggling to hold on to the one thing he has left
I'll never forget the first time I fought Gwyn. The entire game you hear about this larger than life character, that changed everything and was the defacto ruler of the age of the gods. Then you get to him. No cut scene, no dialogue. Just this track and Gwyn's new title, his current title "Gwyn, Lord of Cinder" as he charges at you with a flaming sword. No lightning, none of the sunlight associated with him. Just the burned out shell of a man that gave up everything, including himself, to prolong the age he ushered in.
Some info that might shed some light into the theme. Song is supposed to be played by two people. One arrangement is really still portraying Gwyn and his fear of change, the other part moves more representing your character and his will to keep moving forward. Song is played only using white keys to symbolize Gwyn's fear of the dark age. I always think of this song not as a boss theme but more of a final requiem for Gwyn and a really intimate song that represents more of a mercy killing than an epic duel. At the end of the day, the Gwyn you fight is just a husk of the God that once was.
The music does the heavy lifting in telling Gwyn story. We see him at the peak of his power in the games intro and the husk he becomes in the end defending the fire, the story between is implied, but absolutely clear by the songs delivery. And so the sad old man as the final boss trope was born...
@@TheAdriyaman King Allant in Demon Souls, Isshin Ashina in Sekiro, Gehrman in Boodborne. Slave Knight Gael in Dark Souls 3. And that is only Fromsoftware.
I always saw Gwynn’s theme as beautiful, but empty. Not a bad emptiness, rather the kind you associate with loss. I think that’s the beauty of Gwyn’s theme. It’s just as majestic as he once was, but there’s clearly something at its core that’s lost.
Hello from Korea. I saw some of your review videos. Your response to Dare Devil, Somnus and Lady Maria was wonderful. And I was also impressed by your deep consideration of game music. So I want to recommend you a beautiful song. It's a song called "Sweet Dreams, My Dear" by Lost Ark, and a game director named Kum Kang-sun made it to comfort his game users. As far as I know, he came up with the lyrics himself and asked a singer named Sohyang to sing. He developed the Lost Ark for decades and had a rough schedule. However, he recently dropped out of his job due to serious health problems. But he prepared a special Philharmonic Orchestra for the farewell, and it was carried out just yesterday. The song I recommended was also included in the program, and I was so comforted and shed a lot of tears when I saw the performance. There are English and Korean versions, so listen to what you want. Thank you for reading my long comment.
This song always feels to me like a lot of build-up, but the payoff to that constant building never comes. Just like how the game builds up an epic clash with, Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight, but that never comes. Instead we get an empty husk, his sunlight flame burnt down to cinders by the First Flame
The left hand at 0:50 is the definition of desperation. When I played DS1 for the first time (also my first soulsborne) I expected the most loud and biggest final boss of gaming history. I expected rykard. What I fought in the end didn’t make me feel heroic or happy. It made me feel sad. Dark souls helped me in a difficult phase of my life and literally cured my (small) depression. I had real fun again and the lore of Dark souls is more than just depressing and agonizing. It’s healing in some weird way. Plin plin plon is why is love hidetaka miyazakis work.
The simple piano is something I love. I love it when FromSoftware goes simple with their songs, and that's a rare thing. The only other piece I know that is simple with no other instruments is Lullaby for Mergo, the theme for the Mergo's Wet Nurse boss fight in Bloodborne. Just a simple, repeated tune played in imitation of a music box and I love it.
I remember first playing Darksouls when I was around 12 or 13. My older brother gave it to me as a birthday gift. Didn't get me a controller either, so I had to play it on PC with a keyboard....that was an ordeal I cannot forget. But another thing I can't forget is the first time I heard this song. When I saw gwyn, the God that everyone worshipped and revered, hollowed just like everyone else. It felt so demoralizing and depressing. As if the game was saying, "Give up, God couldn't stop this, what makes you think you can?". But of course, you can't give up. You don't want to go hollow. You want to finish what you started.
Soul of Cinder from DS3 was the perfect musical send off for the series, especially for those who waited the full 5 years to hear it after Gwyn Lord of Cinder
"Cinder- a small piece of partly burned coal or wood that has stopped giving off flames but still has combustible matter in it." Imagine being this renowned God, a stuff of legend, leading the charge against the dragons, only to go out as basically "The Lord of Hasbeens." To have any other style of song but this one for the Gwyn fight would have been a disservice to the story. Its perfect. Almost as if Miyazaki and Sakuraba know what they're doing!
There's so much of Gwyn's music that's full of struggle to me. It struggles to keep going at times, it loses track of itself, it wants to stop but it can't. It feels like the fantastical part of the piece has come and gone and we're tuning in for the ending notes, like the orchestra did their part and now everything's ending, it's a fantastic piece.
Certainly memorable how From Software decided to tackle the theme for the final boss of Dark Souls. Such a sad moment to see the once mightiest of the deities, the king of Anor Londo and lord of the age of fire and therefore the ruler of all mortal men reduced to a hollowed shell of himself, blindly attacking anyone that approaches the first flame with no agency of his own. It ties directly into the main theme of the game, the desperate and seemingly hopeless struggle to continue on while the world is in a constant state of slowly fading away.
This song is genius, you expect a bombastic orchestra like the rest of the game but instead you get this lonely piano solo which makes the bossfight so much more personal.
such a beautiful track to cap off an amazingly atmospheric game and world. Can never get back those first moments listening and breathing in firelink shrine or feeling sad fighting Gwyn for the first time. only a few soundtracks get me with their impressionist vibes and theyre all from video games. also nice buff pikachu
Absolutley heartfelt song with an incredible meaning and lore behind it. So happy that you looked at this track. A full sense of tragic past and melancholy. Great reaction as usual. Plin Plin Plon
The boss fight with Gwyn feels like you're putting down an old sick dog. Something at the end of its life that's just suffering alone. To show you that the world needs change, and you have to bring it about as he tries desperately to stop you from ending the world he wanted to preserve.
The most heartbreaking fan theory I've heard of is that this is a lullaby Gwyn played for his children. It has absolutely zero merit, but I love it for the sole fact of it nailing in the tragedy of Gwyn's character that much more.
One thing that always stood out to me was the fact that Gwyn's theme having a solo piano was symbolic of him standing alone to rekindle the fire over and over. The accompanying melodies could be interpreted as his loyal knights who never left his side in the Kiln, despite being scorched alive by him time after time in his pursuit of maintaining a dying age. But even still the song conveys this sense of dwindling like a candle in the wind that knows it will go out one day. It's tragic as hell, man.
It's frightening and amazing how he perfectly describes everything the song represents, without even having played the game itself. Very telling of the level of skill from both parties.
This melody captured MY mood perfectly as well. I'd had such a fun adventure with this game, and the fact that defeating this boss meant it'd be over felt sad, lonely, empty.
I think what makes this theme so special is that it’s so different from all the other boss themes. The fight against Gwyn wasn’t even a boss fight. It was a mercy killing of an already dead man.
This song is such a good encapsulation of Gwyn, but also the game as a whole in some ways. The the world the player has explored to make it this far, Gwyn’s kingdom, is entirely broken and lost. What power there is left, the player’s meager character has managed to slay. And the great Gwyn who once commanded so much might is just a flickering candle about to go out, lost, not even fully conscious anymore. But this also defies everything the player has been led to expect, both by stories told and by the multitude of powerful, even horrific beings the player fought and defeated themself. Here at what is surely the end, the music reflects not just Gwyn’s lostness but the player’s unsureness and in-tenuous relationship to this world, as if asking here at the end ‘Why have you come here? What does this mean to you?’
I haven’t played the original dark souls yet, but i know the basics of the existence of the hollows and ive seen a few challenge runs on it. All i can say about this piece for me its just.. so lonely. I dont know anything about gwyns lore but theres just this awful loneliness thats just pounded into you constantly throughout this piece, all it makes me feel is well, hollow. Sad. I love this piece. In every part where it slows down and almost feels relaxing it feels like (speculation on my part) your finally laying him to rest. Having to live through whatever this profound lonliness is must be horrible, its what makes this so sad for me (again this is assumption on my part from the music). So this piece really feels to me like were finally letting gwyn rest, after all hes been through were the only ones that can allow him this peace. Again pure speculation on my part but this is what I feel through the music.
After hours upon hours of fighting larger than life-bosses with bombastic battle themes to accompany them, hearing stories of Gwyn's deeds and finding hints of his glory days everywhere we looked along the way, it was so unexpected to discover that this was what it all was building up to. And I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a perfect fit for the battle against a crumbling old fool who was too afraid to let the past go.
People love to joke about plin plin plon, but it really is a standout emotional moment in the game. A culmination of everything you've seen from the fading land of Lordran, to the false golden city desperately pretending that things are okay, and ending with a trudge through the ashen Kiln to face a broken husk that was once this land's god-king, desperately clinging to his Age of Fire even as a hollow. The theme of decay is a constant one throughout Dark Souls, from its places to its people. To me, this song sounding so simple and melancholic is what makes it the perfect way to cap off a game all about fading glory. It feels like there's more to this song that was lost to time, and all that is left is the simple, repeating patterns that keep the song moving forward and nothing more. A perfect echo of the once-proud Lord of Sunlight, now just cinders smouldering in the fire.
It's very fun watching you interpret the meaning of the songs through feelings, I always do that too but not as good as you. To keep the theme of Soulsborne ost, It'd be awesome if you could check out DS2's credit song: Longing. I love this ost, and to me the song gives a slightly different vibe to DS1's Nameless Song. Nameless Song gives me: A hollow victory. I won, but somehow this "victory" feels empty. While Longing gives me: Finally, peace at last. But within this peace lies sorrow.
"Plin plin plon” Remember this pain ashen one... your journey is almost done... and when it is ... you will need to wait for the next souls game to come out... don't go hollow...
these videos really show the work that composers put into these track. Though lacking specifics, Marco analyzing these tracks seem to come to conclusions that you get from Vaati videos. So much is told through the emotions conveyed through the music, and is really going to make me pay more attention to songs in the games.
The pioneering king who claimed fire, Ambitious and brave, bringing down the dragons and fought demons. A god who would live to see everything he did begin to fade with the dying flame that raised him up. Through trail and temptation, pact and lie, he would fool mankind and brand them to be kindling for the fire, only to cast himself into it to reignite the age of god’s.. upsetting the balance of the world in the name of greed? Or fear. The chosen undead, prophetic champion, meek and small. Carving a way through the gods and man and beast, all this to finally see his great god, shambled, scorched, and weak… This song is a reflection of all that gwyn did, and how having heard all the great things that had been done so long ago, to finally see it as it is and to see what all your struggle amounts to. While gwyn is still strong, you know he is nothing like he once was. And as you finally fell him, the choice is given to you, will you continue the work He started, or will you abandon it and let the natural order of the world begin again.
You've earned a new subs. I like how you express what you think about the song. 👍 Kiln of the First Flame where Gwyn, Lord of Cinder lies and tries to preserve the flame for the Age of Fire to prevail, yet the Dark will return.
The first half reminds me of the glory of Anor Londo. The beauty, the leadership, the community. At 2:57 this makes me think of the desperation of keeping that all alive. Knowing his fire is fading. That low cord at 3:09 reminds me of the fading looming in the background getting closer, louder, to a point where something must be done to stop it or prolong it. 3:45 this reminds me of the sadness he must have felt knowing the fire can't be stopped, after all he's done. It will be for nothing.
All'alba viiiiinceróóó ❤️❤️che meraviglia. Adoro il tuo modo di amare e analizzare la musica, e di dare il valore che merita a certe composizione che troppo spesso vengono relegato solo al videogame,come quasi una colpa, quando invece meriterebbero di essere sentite in un auditorium
@@MarcoMeatball ti prego devi fare qualche video sulla colonna sonora di the witcher 3 wild hunt 🥺a mio parere una delle più belle degli ultimi anni, soprattutto per l'attinenza con l'opera. Basta ascoltare qualche secondo per essere trasportati dentro la Redania
The lack of accompaniment really struck me while playing the game. You just spent tens and hundreds of hours, voyaging through a violent and hostile world with huge booming orchestral tracks. Then this hits you. A single flame of piano music flickering in the dark. The whole game was a buildup with this as a climax, and I think that's why people remember it so fondly. "The Ancient Dragon" also had this effect, but I didn't find that area (Ash Lake) until way later.
I have a playlist of my favorite DS music and this song is on it. Always catches me off guard with the piano without any orchestral or choir pieces, combined with its melancholy tone.
Gotta say Dark Souls 2 OST deserves some love too. Even though it's the weakest of the series, Sir Alonne, Aldia, Burnt Ivory King, Sinh and Nashandra's themes are just as good as ever. THere are other great pieces too, but I'd recommend checking those out first.
There is a continuation too this song in dark souls 3 in the form of Soul of Cinder. The song starts like an epic duel between the two greatest beings left in creation both trying to kill each other in a final duel that will decide the fate of the world but after the second phase the song changes too a very emotional and tragic song that pays homage too the original gwyn ost and you find out that the reason why is because the soul of Cinder that protects the first flame thousands of years after the first game is an amalgamation of every person that has ever linked the fire including your main character from the first game and the tragic fact that gwyn is still in there fighting against the fading of the flame after god knows how many thousands of years. The song is art.
Alot of thought went into this piece of piano music. It feels almost empty, certainly melancholic and fits the scenery in which it plays. You see that even with all the accomplishments Gwyn achieved in his life he was merely a single man bound to end one day. No matter how big we become in a sense of history at our final moment we're all the same in the end.
Gwyn's theme feels so unique, especially for a final boss. It's not this epic orchestral theme, because it's not meant to be an epic final confrontation it's a sad and almost pathetic one. You finally reached the kiln of the first flame, you are face to face with the ruler of the gods and what stands before you isn't some glorious god, but a walking corpse. You are not fighting Gwyn, Gwyn died when he linked the fire and all that's left is his body, devoid of a soul and moved by nothing more than his deep fear of the age of dark that compelled him to throw his soul to the fire in the first place
i'm late but, another great video marco! i would love to come to your streams man but exams are keeping me very busy. i barely have time to watch youtube a day if at all :(
4:10 a magnificent father in a desperate attempt to stave off the end of his age, he runs himself hollow and burn all his knights alive. a shell of his former self, they lock him away far beneath this crumbling shrine.
Plin plin plon :'( Just such a beatiful piece. Just a piano. It works wonders. Such lonely and sad piece thats only played on white keys to try and stay away from the dark. Such an iconic piece that will never be forgoten. This is also a song I want to learn on piano because its a piano solo, but also because whenever I listen to it I can sway along to the song and feel like I'm the one playing it. Just be awesome to actually play it.
I love this piece very much, thank you for breaking it down. I'm still not sure if it's my favourite Souls theme but it is definitely a strong top 3 automatic inclusion.
the image this song brings to mind is of an older man, in his 50's. past his prime but plenty of life before him to live, receiving a terminal diagnosis that he has less than a year to live. it's the tragedy, the frustration, the longing for more, and the fear of your legacy being ruined once you are gone. all of the emotions build up and accumulate and in a blind fit of anger, fear, and sadness he starts trashing the room he is in. smashing paintings, knocking over furniture, destroying anything he can get his hands on. when the solo piano fades, and you hear the pianist getting more and more desperate hitting those keys harder, and harder for the background piano, this is what I see
1:24 perhaps the piano by itself can be interpreted as loneliness and the intensity combined with the fact that its solo could also be interpreted as one drowining in this raw continuous emotion coming from the piano
Trust that there is a reason for why I included Gwyn on his own without Soul of Cinder......
Pling plang plong?
@@pintadezombie9126 I watched a boss fight reaction vid and I love the players' reactions when they got to phase 2 and Gwyn's theme started up and how they recognized it.
Soul of cinder is Collective Concioussness of us who failed to become light, proper light.
Got around to the ol' plin plin plon finally.
gwyn failed to become "Allah".
that was his supposed to to do. Teach humanity, guide them, become like a father figure to humanity, considering he was the strongest, first lord souls claimer.
he should become Sunlight.
instead of shackle, banished it which caused humanity loses their existence (meaning, purpose) went to their natural state, (corruptible, brutish, naturalborn betrayer)
human, we are awful by default.
"humanity is poised midways between the beasts and the Gods"-Plotinus
Fun fact ; the music is a direct hint to what's Gwyn is most scared about.
this song is basicly the song of Gwyn, the first lord to bound himself to the fire, not letting it fade so the "age of god" may continue. He was so scarred of the "age of men", so scared of the dark that would come after the fire that his own music doesn't use a single black note.
What the hell?
How did the composers think of something like that? And how do people figure out things like that?
@@andregon4366 it's music theory it's like a language
This blows my mind....ive listened to this song and multiple versions of it for a decade now, read comments and never ran across this.
Also, gwyn means "white" in welsh
Holy shit - what an amazing fun fact. Not even a note from a black key is used in this song because he was so afraid of the age of dark…and the fact that Gwyn means white….mind blown
Ah yes, the famed “Plin plin plon” that we all love. This song really is the heart of Dark Souls. In the midst of all the orchestral chaos that suits a ruined world that is dying in desperation, the true melody that encapsulates it all is here. Just a calm and mournful piano piece that fits with the idea of a slowly fading fire. Motoi Sakuraba was a genius for this one.
uhh isnt it with m
nvm
@@czesciek8775 shhhhhh
Motoi Sakuraba continues to be one of my favorites of all time just because they do big and bombastic so well. Even when working in orchestral music they drag out some of their roots as a progrock artist into it all. But every now and again, they'll slow everything down and hit you with something like this or Elemental Stars and you remember it for the rest of your life.
I think the song is only supposed to be kinda hypocritical since Gwyn demanded so much from so many people and as a result until his perpetuity of the unsustainable finally reverses then no one gets a happy ending. No might can be attributed to the bearer of such a great sin.
Everything about Gwyn is symbolic.
His theme song consist of only white notes, because he only feared the dark.
He is completely hollowed in ragged clothes, showing that he is just a decrepit old man fighting for the age he once created.
Even the fact that he can be parried like any other humanoid enemy is symbolic. He is only human.
I think the perfect way to describe Gwyn was in one of Vaati's videos, where he used Dylan Thomas' iconic line "Do not go gentle into that good night".
Also it represents the endless cycle, cause it always returns to the opening
i never thought gwyn was hollowed, I believe that his skin was charred and his eyes burned away when he linked the flame...
@@dog.b74I don't think Gwyn was hollow or human. To be hollow, you have to have the darksign. He was a lord, but he already was pretty much consumed by the first flame by the time we get to the kiln.
His theme song consists of white notes not only because he feared the dark but Gwyn in welsh also means white. Didn't knew that until my welsh friend said it.
The fact this is the final boss theme is so powerful. It’s arguably the most tense moment in the game, but the entire battlefield and soundscape is a poignant vacuum of sound. Just one piano, alone, and sad. Echoing and filling each moment with such emptiness.
How appropriate for the “Lord of cinder” to not end in a powerful blaze, but a quiet extinguishing whisper.
Flames don't go out with a bang, they fizzle out.
It's sad when a proud and powerful being goes out like a flame.
Its supposed to be played by two pianos, there's an analysis about that by Jaime Altozano, the only problem is that it is in Spanish but in short the one that repeats represent Gwyn and the one that is ascending represents the player
ua-cam.com/video/LjKAQ-zI5Ns/v-deo.html
Because FromSoft names half of their things after the Welsh language, I'm obligated to share that Gwyn means white in Welsh, which then passes over to the notes of the song
Also, not a single black key is used since gwyn was so afraid of the dark.
Btw. one thing I can imagine why his theme feels so naked and pale is maybe because the moment we meet Gwyn ingame he already turned hollow. There is almost no sign anymore of that great Lord of Cinder which we see in the opening cinematic who defeated the dragons and created an Age of Fire, that's all history and the leftover from that history is just this weak old man defending his achievement with his last breaths.
And can it be that Gwyn's theme is the only piano solo boss theme to this day? I can't recall any other piano solo boss theme right now ...
I think Aldia had one?
There were a couple, I can't recall the names of the games, I just remember the emotion of the final boss and the music.
ua-cam.com/video/ef000WFXUj8/v-deo.html
"A Scattered Moment" from the original "Yakuza 2" comes close for half its runtime.
Part of the theme of Gwyn, is that he wasnt the lord of cinder, he was the lord of fire, what we find in the arena is nothing compared to what he was
Fits Gwyn, considering Cinder does have a meaning
Gwyn’s theme is for me, the absolute best of all souls game. And yeah, they call it Plin Plin Plon for a reason.
It (could) represents the sound of your tears hitting the ground when you listen to it.
It’s amazing, but I personally think that Gael’s is the most technically and thematically proficient
@@Senriam I like Gael’s first phase theme. The rest is a bit too much for me.
@coullx1708 Pretty fitting though, the embodiment of humanity just going ape shit around that wasteland. The slave knight who gave everything in hope of a refuge for the others.
Appropriate song for putting a tired old man out of his misery, since that’s what this fight is rather than an epic showdown between superpowers.
I mean if you decided to bring an age of dark then your motives are different to Gwyn's and you would not empathise with him (I chose to snuff out the flame and worked towards that ending) Instead all I saw was the sad remains of a 'god' who oppressed humanity for an entire age.
I'm glad I chose that ending in DkS1 after learning more about Gwyn in DkS3.
@@Rexhunterj Issue is you canonically won't have an age of dark possible until DS3 because someone else will link it and potentially people will keep linking it as long as lords of cinder can exist.
@@Forgenshoot This is kind of wrong. In the DS3 ending where you let the First Flame die the Firekeeper tells you that even in the coming darkness embers (or was it something like "small flames") will come back, implying that Age of Dark is just like Age of Light, a cycle that always leads to its opposite. If there is any fire then there is also dark, and vice versa. So there could have been many Ages of Dark in the past before DS3 because it is implied that there have already been countless Ages of Light too.
The presentation of the Gwyn boss fight and the lead up is one of the many reasons why this game is such a masterpiece. Gwyn is the figure you hear about throughout the game, the lord of sunlight a being of immense power who led the fight to slay the dragons and built a magnificent city of gods. His soul was so massive that you need to collect all the other Lord souls and fragments of his to even provide proper kindling for the kiln of the first flame. Then you make your way through a corridor of ghosts, trudge your self past the last and most trusted knights Gwyn had and step into the kiln. Gwyn is there and he’s a husk. Some of the power remains but he’s long past what he was. Just as each age of fire faded Gwyn himself has faded to prolong the age of fire. He gave up everything to hold onto the light. It’s beautifully tragic just like this song.
To me this was amazing. Gwyn was talked up as THE GOD of this world. But when after everything I struggled through in dark souls and I finally got to his door... Only to hear this.... Sad piano song and fight this weekend looking old man who was easy. It made me feel hallow not victory. And then when you learn about the lore were Gwyn has lost everyone and everything about the flame... It just... All fits so perfectly. Music, visuals, lore to make what to me was the most hard hitting moment I had felt in a game. And I think the reason why it's only a single piano is that when you reach Gwyn... He is the last one. Lost every child and allies he had one way or another. Not some god with millions of fallowers. But just one scared sad old man struggling to hold on to the one thing he has left
Well said.
beautifully said
I'll never forget the first time I fought Gwyn. The entire game you hear about this larger than life character, that changed everything and was the defacto ruler of the age of the gods. Then you get to him. No cut scene, no dialogue. Just this track and Gwyn's new title, his current title "Gwyn, Lord of Cinder" as he charges at you with a flaming sword. No lightning, none of the sunlight associated with him. Just the burned out shell of a man that gave up everything, including himself, to prolong the age he ushered in.
Some info that might shed some light into the theme. Song is supposed to be played by two people. One arrangement is really still portraying Gwyn and his fear of change, the other part moves more representing your character and his will to keep moving forward.
Song is played only using white keys to symbolize Gwyn's fear of the dark age.
I always think of this song not as a boss theme but more of a final requiem for Gwyn and a really intimate song that represents more of a mercy killing than an epic duel. At the end of the day, the Gwyn you fight is just a husk of the God that once was.
Ahh gwyn, the man who sacrificed everything for a lost cause.
The music does the heavy lifting in telling Gwyn story. We see him at the peak of his power in the games intro and the husk he becomes in the end defending the fire, the story between is implied, but absolutely clear by the songs delivery. And so the sad old man as the final boss trope was born...
What other game has " sad old man as the final boss"?
@@TheAdriyaman King Allant in Demon Souls, Isshin Ashina in Sekiro, Gehrman in Boodborne. Slave Knight Gael in Dark Souls 3. And that is only Fromsoftware.
The piano reminds of “deference for darkness” from the Halo ODST soundtrack. Strong recommend.
^
I always saw Gwynn’s theme as beautiful, but empty. Not a bad emptiness, rather the kind you associate with loss. I think that’s the beauty of Gwyn’s theme. It’s just as majestic as he once was, but there’s clearly something at its core that’s lost.
Hello from Korea.
I saw some of your review videos.
Your response to Dare Devil, Somnus and Lady Maria was wonderful. And I was also impressed by your deep consideration of game music.
So I want to recommend you a beautiful song.
It's a song called "Sweet Dreams, My Dear" by Lost Ark, and a game director named Kum Kang-sun made it to comfort his game users.
As far as I know, he came up with the lyrics himself and asked a singer named Sohyang to sing.
He developed the Lost Ark for decades and had a rough schedule. However, he recently dropped out of his job due to serious health problems. But he prepared a special Philharmonic Orchestra for the farewell, and it was carried out just yesterday. The song I recommended was also included in the program, and I was so comforted and shed a lot of tears when I saw the performance.
There are English and Korean versions, so listen to what you want.
Thank you for reading my long comment.
I really appreciate your ability to parse the emotional meaning of a song solely through listening.
Thank you
This song always feels to me like a lot of build-up, but the payoff to that constant building never comes. Just like how the game builds up an epic clash with, Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight, but that never comes. Instead we get an empty husk, his sunlight flame burnt down to cinders by the First Flame
The left hand at 0:50 is the definition of desperation. When I played DS1 for the first time (also my first soulsborne) I expected the most loud and biggest final boss of gaming history. I expected rykard. What I fought in the end didn’t make me feel heroic or happy. It made me feel sad. Dark souls helped me in a difficult phase of my life and literally cured my (small) depression. I had real fun again and the lore of Dark souls is more than just depressing and agonizing. It’s healing in some weird way. Plin plin plon is why is love hidetaka miyazakis work.
The simple piano is something I love. I love it when FromSoftware goes simple with their songs, and that's a rare thing. The only other piece I know that is simple with no other instruments is Lullaby for Mergo, the theme for the Mergo's Wet Nurse boss fight in Bloodborne. Just a simple, repeated tune played in imitation of a music box and I love it.
I remember first playing Darksouls when I was around 12 or 13. My older brother gave it to me as a birthday gift. Didn't get me a controller either, so I had to play it on PC with a keyboard....that was an ordeal I cannot forget. But another thing I can't forget is the first time I heard this song. When I saw gwyn, the God that everyone worshipped and revered, hollowed just like everyone else. It felt so demoralizing and depressing. As if the game was saying, "Give up, God couldn't stop this, what makes you think you can?". But of course, you can't give up. You don't want to go hollow. You want to finish what you started.
Soul of Cinder from DS3 was the perfect musical send off for the series, especially for those who waited the full 5 years to hear it after Gwyn Lord of Cinder
"Cinder- a small piece of partly burned coal or wood that has stopped giving off flames but still has combustible matter in it." Imagine being this renowned God, a stuff of legend, leading the charge against the dragons, only to go out as basically "The Lord of Hasbeens." To have any other style of song but this one for the Gwyn fight would have been a disservice to the story. Its perfect. Almost as if Miyazaki and Sakuraba know what they're doing!
There's so much of Gwyn's music that's full of struggle to me. It struggles to keep going at times, it loses track of itself, it wants to stop but it can't. It feels like the fantastical part of the piece has come and gone and we're tuning in for the ending notes, like the orchestra did their part and now everything's ending, it's a fantastic piece.
Certainly memorable how From Software decided to tackle the theme for the final boss of Dark Souls. Such a sad moment to see the once mightiest of the deities, the king of Anor Londo and lord of the age of fire and therefore the ruler of all mortal men reduced to a hollowed shell of himself, blindly attacking anyone that approaches the first flame with no agency of his own. It ties directly into the main theme of the game, the desperate and seemingly hopeless struggle to continue on while the world is in a constant state of slowly fading away.
This song is genius, you expect a bombastic orchestra like the rest of the game but instead you get this lonely piano solo which makes the bossfight so much more personal.
Ah yes... Plin Plin Plon...
Soul of cinder the full song has to be next its an absolute genius song that encompasses the entire trilogy of darksouls.
GOD DAMMIT. This song ALWAYS makes me teary eyed if it doesn't make me cry.
such a beautiful track to cap off an amazingly atmospheric game and world. Can never get back those first moments listening and breathing in firelink shrine or feeling sad fighting Gwyn for the first time. only a few soundtracks get me with their impressionist vibes and theyre all from video games.
also nice buff pikachu
Absolutley heartfelt song with an incredible meaning and lore behind it. So happy that you looked at this track. A full sense of tragic past and melancholy. Great reaction as usual. Plin Plin Plon
The boss fight with Gwyn feels like you're putting down an old sick dog. Something at the end of its life that's just suffering alone. To show you that the world needs change, and you have to bring it about as he tries desperately to stop you from ending the world he wanted to preserve.
The most heartbreaking fan theory I've heard of is that this is a lullaby Gwyn played for his children. It has absolutely zero merit, but I love it for the sole fact of it nailing in the tragedy of Gwyn's character that much more.
One thing that always stood out to me was the fact that Gwyn's theme having a solo piano was symbolic of him standing alone to rekindle the fire over and over. The accompanying melodies could be interpreted as his loyal knights who never left his side in the Kiln, despite being scorched alive by him time after time in his pursuit of maintaining a dying age. But even still the song conveys this sense of dwindling like a candle in the wind that knows it will go out one day. It's tragic as hell, man.
Plin plin plon..... plin plin plon....
It's frightening and amazing how he perfectly describes everything the song represents, without even having played the game itself. Very telling of the level of skill from both parties.
This melody captured MY mood perfectly as well. I'd had such a fun adventure with this game, and the fact that defeating this boss meant it'd be over felt sad, lonely, empty.
Plin Plin Plon very nice reaction.
The plin plin plon never fail to hurt my kokoro
The plin plons still give me shivers
YESSS! I love this track Marco thanks for uploading this!
I love that it sounds like the added a bunch of tritones AKA The Devil's note to make what would normally sound like a sad song slightly unnerving
I think what makes this theme so special is that it’s so different from all the other boss themes. The fight against Gwyn wasn’t even a boss fight. It was a mercy killing of an already dead man.
This song is such a good encapsulation of Gwyn, but also the game as a whole in some ways. The the world the player has explored to make it this far, Gwyn’s kingdom, is entirely broken and lost. What power there is left, the player’s meager character has managed to slay. And the great Gwyn who once commanded so much might is just a flickering candle about to go out, lost, not even fully conscious anymore.
But this also defies everything the player has been led to expect, both by stories told and by the multitude of powerful, even horrific beings the player fought and defeated themself. Here at what is surely the end, the music reflects not just Gwyn’s lostness but the player’s unsureness and in-tenuous relationship to this world, as if asking here at the end ‘Why have you come here? What does this mean to you?’
I haven’t played the original dark souls yet, but i know the basics of the existence of the hollows and ive seen a few challenge runs on it. All i can say about this piece for me its just.. so lonely. I dont know anything about gwyns lore but theres just this awful loneliness thats just pounded into you constantly throughout this piece, all it makes me feel is well, hollow. Sad. I love this piece. In every part where it slows down and almost feels relaxing it feels like (speculation on my part) your finally laying him to rest. Having to live through whatever this profound lonliness is must be horrible, its what makes this so sad for me (again this is assumption on my part from the music). So this piece really feels to me like were finally letting gwyn rest, after all hes been through were the only ones that can allow him this peace. Again pure speculation on my part but this is what I feel through the music.
After hours upon hours of fighting larger than life-bosses with bombastic battle themes to accompany them, hearing stories of Gwyn's deeds and finding hints of his glory days everywhere we looked along the way, it was so unexpected to discover that this was what it all was building up to. And I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a perfect fit for the battle against a crumbling old fool who was too afraid to let the past go.
"Soon the fire shall fade, and only dark will remain" kinda foretells the final bosses in the Dark Souls trilogy.
People love to joke about plin plin plon, but it really is a standout emotional moment in the game. A culmination of everything you've seen from the fading land of Lordran, to the false golden city desperately pretending that things are okay, and ending with a trudge through the ashen Kiln to face a broken husk that was once this land's god-king, desperately clinging to his Age of Fire even as a hollow.
The theme of decay is a constant one throughout Dark Souls, from its places to its people. To me, this song sounding so simple and melancholic is what makes it the perfect way to cap off a game all about fading glory. It feels like there's more to this song that was lost to time, and all that is left is the simple, repeating patterns that keep the song moving forward and nothing more. A perfect echo of the once-proud Lord of Sunlight, now just cinders smouldering in the fire.
It's very fun watching you interpret the meaning of the songs through feelings, I always do that too but not as good as you.
To keep the theme of Soulsborne ost, It'd be awesome if you could check out DS2's credit song: Longing. I love this ost, and to me the song gives a slightly different vibe to DS1's Nameless Song.
Nameless Song gives me: A hollow victory. I won, but somehow this "victory" feels empty.
While Longing gives me: Finally, peace at last. But within this peace lies sorrow.
The piano is telling you a story, good choice for it being solo/alone
Oooo gwyn
And ah yes blessed with the beginning intro
Looks like my wish came true, your reacting to more Dark souls 1 music
as souls fan and nier, drakengard, genshin’s fan, your contents are truly amazing! I’ve become ur fan too. 😊
"Plin plin plon” Remember this pain ashen one... your journey is almost done... and when it is ... you will need to wait for the next souls game to come out... don't go hollow...
your interpretations are always so spot on it's scary.
The trick is throwing an eye over the wiki page beforehand.
these videos really show the work that composers put into these track. Though lacking specifics, Marco analyzing these tracks seem to come to conclusions that you get from Vaati videos. So much is told through the emotions conveyed through the music, and is really going to make me pay more attention to songs in the games.
❤️
For me personally it was such a good "journeys end" vibe from it.
The pioneering king who claimed fire, Ambitious and brave, bringing down the dragons and fought demons. A god who would live to see everything he did begin to fade with the dying flame that raised him up.
Through trail and temptation, pact and lie, he would fool mankind and brand them to be kindling for the fire, only to cast himself into it to reignite the age of god’s.. upsetting the balance of the world in the name of greed? Or fear.
The chosen undead, prophetic champion, meek and small. Carving a way through the gods and man and beast, all this to finally see his great god, shambled, scorched, and weak…
This song is a reflection of all that gwyn did, and how having heard all the great things that had been done so long ago, to finally see it as it is and to see what all your struggle amounts to. While gwyn is still strong, you know he is nothing like he once was. And as you finally fell him, the choice is given to you, will you continue the work He started, or will you abandon it and let the natural order of the world begin again.
You've earned a new subs. I like how you express what you think about the song. 👍
Kiln of the First Flame where Gwyn, Lord of Cinder lies and tries to preserve the flame for the Age of Fire to prevail, yet the Dark will return.
Absolute Genius. Beautiful, haunting and tragic.
I wanted to hear that "All' alba vincerò" the rest sounded gorgeous
I loved listening along to it with you.
Algo boost
The first half reminds me of the glory of Anor Londo. The beauty, the leadership, the community.
At 2:57 this makes me think of the desperation of keeping that all alive. Knowing his fire is fading.
That low cord at 3:09 reminds me of the fading looming in the background getting closer, louder, to a point where something must be done to stop it or prolong it.
3:45 this reminds me of the sadness he must have felt knowing the fire can't be stopped, after all he's done. It will be for nothing.
The first plin plin plon triggered ptsd from when i was just a lil kid trying to parry all of gwyns attack back in DS1 hahaha
I love how you NAIL Gwyn mindspace with out digging into the lore...
When the piano went "Plin Plin Plon"... I felt that.
OMG. I asked to listen to this track, but I didn't think it would really happen. Thank you so much
All'alba viiiiinceróóó ❤️❤️che meraviglia. Adoro il tuo modo di amare e analizzare la musica, e di dare il valore che merita a certe composizione che troppo spesso vengono relegato solo al videogame,come quasi una colpa, quando invece meriterebbero di essere sentite in un auditorium
Hey ti ringrazio. E un piacere per me. :)
@@MarcoMeatball ti prego devi fare qualche video sulla colonna sonora di the witcher 3 wild hunt 🥺a mio parere una delle più belle degli ultimi anni, soprattutto per l'attinenza con l'opera. Basta ascoltare qualche secondo per essere trasportati dentro la Redania
the parry is so powerful I never hear this much of the song 😭
The lack of accompaniment really struck me while playing the game. You just spent tens and hundreds of hours, voyaging through a violent and hostile world with huge booming orchestral tracks. Then this hits you. A single flame of piano music flickering in the dark. The whole game was a buildup with this as a climax, and I think that's why people remember it so fondly.
"The Ancient Dragon" also had this effect, but I didn't find that area (Ash Lake) until way later.
The song made me tear up fighting him like I don't wanna kill u gwyn but u left me no choice to to sleep king
I have a playlist of my favorite DS music and this song is on it. Always catches me off guard with the piano without any orchestral or choir pieces, combined with its melancholy tone.
Gotta say Dark Souls 2 OST deserves some love too. Even though it's the weakest of the series, Sir Alonne, Aldia, Burnt Ivory King, Sinh and Nashandra's themes are just as good as ever. THere are other great pieces too, but I'd recommend checking those out first.
I honestly prefer aldia's theme to this one
every time I hear those three keys I die from EMOTIONAL DAMAGE
There is a continuation too this song in dark souls 3 in the form of Soul of Cinder. The song starts like an epic duel between the two greatest beings left in creation both trying to kill each other in a final duel that will decide the fate of the world but after the second phase the song changes too a very emotional and tragic song that pays homage too the original gwyn ost and you find out that the reason why is because the soul of Cinder that protects the first flame thousands of years after the first game is an amalgamation of every person that has ever linked the fire including your main character from the first game and the tragic fact that gwyn is still in there fighting against the fading of the flame after god knows how many thousands of years. The song is art.
yes, I know ;)
@@MarcoMeatball crap I didn't notice the top comment now I look like an idiot XD.
@@thelonehunter6025 noooo not an idiot. But you’ll be happy. I was.
The Plin Plin Plon... the sound of it... enough to make a man go mad!
Its kinda sad that I didnt get to hear it behind of sounds me parrying Gwyn into oblivion as my buddy Solair threw lighting all over the place.
Alot of thought went into this piece of piano music. It feels almost empty, certainly melancholic and fits the scenery in which it plays. You see that even with all the accomplishments Gwyn achieved in his life he was merely a single man bound to end one day. No matter how big we become in a sense of history at our final moment we're all the same in the end.
Marco, stop teasing us! Let us hear your vocal prowess!!!!! You have got this my man.
I just posted something two days ago!!! I’ll post the full nessun dorma clip..
Gwyn's theme feels so unique, especially for a final boss. It's not this epic orchestral theme, because it's not meant to be an epic final confrontation it's a sad and almost pathetic one.
You finally reached the kiln of the first flame, you are face to face with the ruler of the gods and what stands before you isn't some glorious god, but a walking corpse. You are not fighting Gwyn, Gwyn died when he linked the fire and all that's left is his body, devoid of a soul and moved by nothing more than his deep fear of the age of dark that compelled him to throw his soul to the fire in the first place
Takes me back man😥 plin plin plon
i'm late but, another great video marco! i would love to come to your streams man but exams are keeping me very busy. i barely have time to watch youtube a day if at all :(
The thing is ... that i can't parry thy feels .
4:10 a magnificent father in a desperate attempt to stave off the end of his age, he runs himself hollow and burn all his knights alive.
a shell of his former self, they lock him away far beneath this crumbling shrine.
the plin plin plon.... Finally
When that plin plin plon hits
I'm not crying, you're cry.....ok we both are lol :D great shit
Plin plin plon :'( Just such a beatiful piece. Just a piano. It works wonders. Such lonely and sad piece thats only played on white keys to try and stay away from the dark. Such an iconic piece that will never be forgoten. This is also a song I want to learn on piano because its a piano solo, but also because whenever I listen to it I can sway along to the song and feel like I'm the one playing it. Just be awesome to actually play it.
Absolutely love this series
And it's music
I love this piece very much, thank you for breaking it down. I'm still not sure if it's my favourite Souls theme but it is definitely a strong top 3 automatic inclusion.
Gotta try sir alonne and Burt ivory king. Twin princes and finally souls of cinder. Absolute bangers
I love to watch your videos and hear your input and how much it matches mine.
I must be a lord of cinder…. For it burns when I piss…
The only thing i hear.
I would love if you do Pontiff Sulyvahn next.
Its such a great piece,overlooked by many.
And so, the fire fades.....
the image this song brings to mind is of an older man, in his 50's. past his prime but plenty of life before him to live, receiving a terminal diagnosis that he has less than a year to live.
it's the tragedy, the frustration, the longing for more, and the fear of your legacy being ruined once you are gone. all of the emotions build up and accumulate and in a blind fit of anger, fear, and sadness he starts trashing the room he is in. smashing paintings, knocking over furniture, destroying anything he can get his hands on.
when the solo piano fades, and you hear the pianist getting more and more desperate hitting those keys harder, and harder for the background piano, this is what I see
Always gets me teared up. I'll wait for Soul of Cinder
1:24 perhaps the piano by itself can be interpreted as loneliness and the intensity combined with the fact that its solo could also be interpreted as one drowining in this raw continuous emotion coming from the piano