Gough, the man who mocked every single high-ranking CoD quickscoper and 360 sniper that ever lived, by sniping a dragon with an oversized bow(not oversized for him offcourse) whilst blind from at least a quarter mile away with physics going against him and still keep the dragon alive enough for a boss fight. Anytime you need something shot, just call Gough!
Looking at the wing just after it was shot, Gough managed to successfully cause 3 hindrances to the dragon (the more the better, it IS a dragon). He immediately pinned and immobilized the wing, the key reason for downing the dragon. But he clearly also broke the bone in between the first and second joints. Thirdly, it looks very much like the arrow dislocated the wing at the shoulder. Never a truer shot, indeed. I'd like to point out that the dragon was still capable of leaving the ground despite all this structural damage, if only for a little. I can DEFINITELY see why all those measures were necessary, dragons are durable man.
Not only that, you're missing the fact that he purposely shot the dragon'S LEFT FUCKING WING so that it clips to its body... A wing... constantly flapping and moving... on a dragon... that's flying... really fast... Not to mention he is bliNDDD
I think the relationship between her and Artorias would've be the classic "notice me senpai" thing, she loved Artorias, and looked up to him (both figuratively and literally) but Artorias just saw her as a companion and a partner, nothing romantic
I find gough to be an extremely ironic character. The obvious being that he is a blind archer whether from just not realizing his helmet has resin on it or from injury making him both obviously stupid and clearly the most informative and seemingly wise character in the game as you stated. And second because he is an archer and a giant. Rather than using brute strength and his size as tools for fighting, he uses a finesse weapon like a bow (even though it's a gigantic bow).
I figured that he may have known, but as the helmet was such an honor to him, he wouldn't be willing to take it off, and so just considers himself blind.
Well it still doesn't really matter, he shot kalameet out of the air without vision, kinda makes you wonder how skilled he would have been with his sight
I always figured that he had enemies within Gwyn's regime, who put the resin in his helmet. The resin had some acidic/corrosive properties, and when he put the helmet on he was blinded.
I personally believe gough was actually born blind or at least turned blind before the fall of the dragons. Let's asume for a second that gough has gone blind after the fall of the dragons: in that case, kalameet would be the first dragon he ever shot while blinded, and it seems very unlikely to me that he perfectly lands the shot on the first try, even with increased hearing. In addition to that, it would take tremendous amout of training to still even be able to hit SOMETHING with your bow using only your ears. since he lost his purpose after the fall of the dragons, why would he invest that much training in still being a capable archer? Also, we know from charcoal, rotten and gold pine resin that resins can have special, if not magical attributes to them. I speculate that gough only told gwyn of his handicap after the fall of the dragons and after he received the helmet, and in order to grant him better protection and eliminate a weakspot on his armor, some sort of special, damage reducing and/or resistant resin has been applied to his helmet
Nah, he was blinded because of oolacile towns people harassing him by pouring him with vat of burning resin, which could easily fused his eyes, face and helmet together
I'm pretty sure Artorias was aware of Ciaran's feelings and probably returned them. You don't die mourning over someone's grave over a crush. Only true love would do that, and true love is something grown not just visceral. Artorias sacrificed himself for his wolf, it's pretty obvious he's a strong loving and compassionate being. Everyone of the knights besides Ornstein recalls how dear he was. Clearly he was the heart of the four knights. So much of the game itself was about him if not inadvertently. He's almost the long lost protagonist of a story long ago.
Nemesis-0300 Ciaran had feelings for Artorias, that does seem clear - but we've no way of knowing how he felt about her in return. Even in his un-used dialogue, he never made mention of her, haha.
Artorias doesn't say much about any of the knights in his dialogue to be fair. It's unused and probably unfinished. IF we had to assume based on evidence whether or not he returned her feelings, I'd lean towards them never having a chance to develop their feeling for each other. Artorias seems like a loving guy, based on his character and what we know of him. It's fair to assume he may have had a thing for Ciaran too. Like an Alyx to Gordon Freeman thing -- an unspoken love for one another. That's what I like to believe anyways.
I'm Welsh, I'd just like to throw this here too. I've noticed Souls games has many Welsh/Irish names. Gwen is a Welsh feminine given name meaning "white, holy". It can be a shortened form of Gwenhwÿfar (Guinevere). The same goes for the name Gwyn which is the masculine version of the name.
Silver Mont, I believe you are mistaken about Gough and his helm. Though the explanation was good and fitting, I think it was more symbolic that he didn't take it off. It says in the description that the helm was packed with resin, which means our character found out through basic examination, so Gough could have as well. He also proves, in the shooting of Kalameet, that he doesn't need to see to land a killing blow on anything less than a dragon. Indeed, I think it's from his own dialogue and his offer to help, that he aspires to honour and glory above all else. When given that helm, it was as a gift and symbol of his status as the greatest archer in the land; so to take it off, even if packed with resin, would remove that status entirely. He had no more purpose, no dragons to hunt, no beings to slay, no king to serve, all he HAD was the reminder of that status he had earned through his skill and honour; if he was content as he was, why would he ever take it off? Indeed, much like Cieran, who died at her true love's grave, I think Gough was content to die wearing the helm he wore so proudly throughout his best years. Besides, taking it off might just prove the point of those who packed it, that he was just a brute who wanted to kill, rather than a being with thoughts and feelings concerned for courage and bravado.
You're overlooking the option that Kalmeet may have "scheduled" flights to due too some sort of circadian rhythm. Maybe Gough listened to Kalameet make the same flight daily for one-hundred years, before finally having a reason to shoot? This claim is slightly bolstered with what happens when you fight Gough with the Hush sorcery, or the Slumbering Dragon Crest ring. :)
See now, this is where Dark Souls shines for me. I'm not a big Dark Souls fan, quite frankly the game-play just isn't for me, and the main story-line I feel is nothing too remarkable. But as a writer I'm blown away by the quality of the game's characters, and their personal back-stories. They are believable, interesting, and well stylized.
Likewise, as a writer, I can appreciate the well written dialogue and the way the story is told (a manner that works uniquely well for a game) and I guess I'm fortunate enough to really enjoy the gameplay and setting too! Hell, I enjoy just about everything Dark Souls does.
Artorias was also known for helping seal Anor Londo (that's when his weapon became cursed). And the "poor, poor girl" simply refers to the fact Artorias died. She lost her lover either way. There's no real reason to believe Artorias didn't return these feelings, but all the more reason to believe they were lovers. If only for the fact he kept her safe in the first place... "Our land" because it was part of their kingdom. The Lords had full influence in Oolacile.
After Solaire, Ciaran and Artorias are two of the most loved characters in the game by the fans. My favorite Character is Artorias i thank you for the info in Ciaran. Didnt know much from her till this day. Cheers ! (Sorry by bad English, Brazilian here).
"Oh yes, that's the cave of the mighty lord Frighlow, who long ago stole the golden gypsies from Timbucktoo. and than turned himself into a dragon, and now you need to kill the dragon by going to the greybeards of mount skyrim and learning to scream so hard you bust up dragons." - Silver Mont on Skyrim NPC's
+A Man of Many Spells Pretty much. I mean I like me some Skyrim but that game is seriously bananas at times. Storytelling is not its strong point. Nor is combat, for that matter. But it does other stuff well.
+Bizzare Eh, beyond using a big sword, Artorias has basically nothing to do with Guts. I mean, Artorias normally uses a big-ass shield for god's sake, and the design is nothing alike.
Rodrigo Vaccari Artorias didn't lose his arm, that's one thing. It's broken, not hacked off, while Guts has a fully usable fake arm. Artorias only fights in an animalistic way after going insane, and he relies on speed and unpredictability more so than actual strength and power. Artorias only fights the darkness because he's a knight, with orders to do it. He was sent there by Gwyn, not as a choice. Also, there's a huge differences than being a wolf, and owning one. That's like saying that your birth was inspired by dogs because you bought one at the pet shop. There are several minor similarities, each one separated by legions of differences. Sorry but it's waaaaay too far-fetched to be even remotely true.
Rodrigo Vaccari No, I don't think that Artorias should be as reskinned Guts. I think they have nothing to do with each other and that's the way it should be. Sorry but Ingward wasn't inspired by Ladybugs just because they're both red.
I don't know man, Artorias felt himself getting corrupted by the abyss, then he went on a rampage, even attacking a guy that had nothing to do with it (you). Then he dies without knwoing what would happen to Sif (since he prob. knew his shield wouldn't hold out forever) nor if Manus would ever be stopped. He failed in his mission and leaves his comrades behind. I don't think he died that happy. All four of the knights seem to get a pretty crappy ending. Artorias get's corrupted by the very thing he was trying to stop. Hawkeye loses his vision, his very title is now pretty much a sarcastic insult. Ciaran either dies by our hands or pretty much cries herself to death at his grave. And Ornstein spends several hunderd years doing nothing but protect the illusion of gwynevere. And then get's crushed by Smough (or just killed by us). If anything atleast Ornstein died honorfull, In doing his mission and acting as the final test of the chosen undead (final test to be callled chosen undead by gwynevere atleast
I think Gough had the better ending. He looses his sight, but he retires and becomes a wood craftsman. Gough himself says he cherishes his work, and when the chosen undead arrives, he gets the chance to pull off one last amazing shot before retiring forever. Ornstein has to stand guard for the remainder of his life, he's going to die by a human eventually. Whether Ornstein takes that personally is up to speculation, but Gough is chill with his new life and is very accepting of the way things turned out.
what if someone just simply poured resin into the eyesocket of his helm while gough was sleeping and the resin blinded the eyes while also filling the eye socket of the helm
Ciaran probably lived for Artorias's sake at the point that you meet her. Gwyn became cinder for the Flame so she had no other purpose than to be with Artorias. Whether there was an actual relationship between the two is up for debate, maybe Ciaran thought herself unworthy for the honorable Artorias then. Maybe she was trying to mold herself into a woman she thought Artorias would be willing to love (hence the approval line). So since Artorias was dead, and possibly Sif (she had no way of knowing) she no longer had a purpose for her blades. There might also be a possibility that she uncorrupted Artorias's soul by sacrificing her own and died afterwards. Then her corpse was ransacked by Chester before he was chased off by the returning Sif. But Sif wouldn't chase him down due to not wanting to leave Artorias's grave.
I never kill Ciaran or Gough... All of the four knights have such sad trajectories, I just try and not make it worse for them. Would let Ornstein go as well, if I had a say in it. Artorias is the only one I kill happily, since it frees him from his slavery, madness and torment. Damn you Dark Souls, and your fucking proficiency at telling sad stories =/
I was pretty new to Dark Souls but took a fast liking to Artorias. After I fully learned his story I wanted to take on his role. I became Artorias, took on the Abyss with sanity intact, though the marks on the armor say otherwise. The hardest thing I had to do was put down Sif. But the rest was in honor of that faithful companion.
I can't see a problem with some random peasant "dumping" you with information, consider the fact that he/she lived his/her entire life in that region, with no source entertainment but talking to other villagers and travellers that stopped by there, no surprise he/she knows a lot of a certain cave or fort in the outskirts of the town.
That's fine when it's things that it would make sense for a random peasant to know. You're right that peasants often had no source of entertainment other than gossip and so would know a lot about local geography and local politics. But how does Random Uneducated Peasant Woman know about the secret weakness of Dragon Lord Sitherius, or the True History of Bandit King Fuckoff? Realistically, a lot of the information random NPCs give you should be wrong, because they don't have any way of fact-checking their sources and are just gossipers. That's another thing I like about Dark Souls. NPCs give information, but they're often lying, omitting important details, or simply mistaken - like Anastasia the Firekeeper, who thinks that if you link the fires the curse of the undead will end and she can die as a human, even though that's clearly not true.
The Drunken King If you've never got wrong info in Skyrim you should really replay it, this time toggling the way cursor off. Who's never wasted the most potent venom in the world to kill a small old man just to find out later that that little baby could make one dose of a poison strong enough to kill any one enemy in the game doesn't know what's frustration in Skyrim... Whoever never went through a gigantic walk around the Throat to get to High Hrothgar just to find out that the way through Helgen is 90% shorter (given it's more dangerous at starter levels) doesn't know what's to feel dumb in there. Whoever's never ignored Tolfdir's seeming stupid advice to look out for traps and died horribly has never played highest difficulty set. I've played Skyrim religiously since it's launch, and have never EVER met a mere peasant who'd come to me and tell me the right strategy to defeat a boss. What they give you most times is "I heard they have spiders in there. Pesky creatures"; "People say a witches' coven's been living there, I'd avoid it if I were you". Like, well, gossip. And that's not to mention how far away from the actual lore they are. Little to none NPCs can tell you a true story, only the most studied ones. Closer to real stories are usually found in old books, but even these sometimes have points being contradicted by scholars or other books. If you don't think so, just read every book they have into Talos, or read the many different opinions on the happenings at Red Mountain... People choosing a game over another is completely ok, but it just pisses me off seeing someone who's either never played the game or just gave it a shallow chance being deeply critic about it. Not that you are forced to beat the game to have an opinion, just, if you know you don't know much about it, give it some benefit of doubt.
I've looked at Artorias's dialogue. He says "Thou art strong, human. Surely thy kind is more than pure dark." - that isn't typically something a human would say to another human.
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. And yeah, I'm still getting used to the whole audio commentary thing, it does have the problem of becoming monotone now and then.
My weird and unlikely theory is that Artorias and Ornstein were competing for Ciaran's love. I base my theory on the fact she has 2 tracers, Dark Silver, which matches Artorias' armor, and Gold which matches Ornstein's. She might've gotten them as gifts from each. I also like to think Artorias and Ciaran were totally a couple.
I imagine he never cleaned the helmet out just to spite the people who packed the resin in. Proving that he is so skilled, he did not need his vision to be the best in the world.
I considered it, but in the end I figured it'd be better to just mention it, so people can go find it for themselves. I might include some links to videos others have uploaded that shows off the dialogue. There's a user here (Sir Fist) who has lots of cut content dialogue videos.
My theory concerning the helm. Gough does not take it off purely due to his own pride. Imagine you are one of the best archers in the land and some scrubs hand you a helmet with the eye holes packed thinking you are just so dumb brute. Pride would step in the way and say "Oh yeah? Well watch this im gonna continue to be the best archer in the land AND I'm gonna do it blind!"
Thanks! And yeah, I love that skin. Big props to the guy who made it. One thing that might not perhaps fit in Dark Souls, but I would like to see anyway, is "dyes" or colour-edits for the armour. Who knows, maybe we'll see something like that in DaS2?
Also, I read into Gough's blindness as if he was always blind and hunted the dragons using only sound. His eye-holes were packed with resin by those who mocked this 'brutish giant' but since he could not see he didn't know they had been blocked. Essentially, they were picking on him.
I think it's really sweet how Ceiran spent her (obviously later life) trying to please the one she loves.. It almost makes me cry how she is so dedicated to him.. ;-;
It is a theory, because you can find a female body behind Artorias's grave(Maybe her) and not to mention, if you kill her she says "But, how… You humans… My dear Ar…tor… " So yeah
TheBackwards3 The female corpse behind his grave holds her ring though, the hornet ring, one of the four rings given to each of the four knights. So it's pretty assuring that the corpse is her.
There is nothing to suggest that Artorias and Ciaran were not lovers, its entirely up to the player. The whole changing name thing, and hiding her face is contradicted by the info that the Lord's blades were all female. Chester had nothing to do with the awakening of Manus, as both Gough and himself say that a Primordial Serpent persuaded them, and Chester clearly states he was pulled back in time by Manus. Your videos are good but you ramble and digress too much.
Artorias was known as Sir Artorias. Then, he made the covenant with the creatures of the abyss (likely KAATHE) he became Artorias the Abysswalker. Once he fell to the abyss, he became Artorias of the Abyss
Hey, Alex. Felt like sharing this thought I had about Ciaran. I'm actually of the idea that she is indeed human. You mention that her helmet is designed for a cyclops but I believe that's part of the ornamental aspect. More so, there are other humans in Gwyn's army as the description of Pharis's hat points out or even Havel. I suppose the main argument against this theory is her dialog but what if she goes insane and renounces being human after finding out her beloved one was killed by, quite literally humanity, itself? Any thoughts? After all, it is very likely that she was ashamned of being human which likely impeded her relationship with Artorias and could the the reason for her mask.
+pietrobarca Or maybe there are other races than humans that are the same size, which is far more likely. I hope you're not going to say that the daughters of chaos were human because they were human-sized, since that's obviously not the case. Also, what makes you think that Pharis was part of Gwyn's army? As for Havel, I don't think he was human either, he wouldn't have held such a high ranking position if he was. Also, there's no proof that the guy we meet in the tower is really even Havel, it could have just been one of his soldiers. Also, the demi-gods vary greatly in terms of size, I don't see why they couldn't also be human sized considering the size differences between characters like Artorias and Ornstein who are both of the same race. Even Gwyndolin, a full god, was basically human-sized, maybe just slightly larger.
"Pharis was an accomplished archer, and though he was human, he ranked alongside Hawkeye Gough, one of the Four Knights of Lord Gwyn." - Pharis Hat Your first point is very fair but I honestly think that Gwyn, Ornstein, artorious etc, are roughly the same. I suppose we can also agree that the enemy in the Tower is evidence that humans, Havel himself or not, were part of Gwyn's army. What are your thoughts on Silver Knights? I doubt they are humans. I guess your theory of a third race could explain a few things.
Then again, do we ever meet an actual silver knight or black knight in game? They always seem to be spirits of some sort as even their armor points out.
@@krukblood-axe3649 there is no show of "other races" mentioned even once in the game , only difference between Gwyn and your avarage human is the Soul they have. Gwyn was just another stumbling creature in the intro cinematic, like furtive pigmy all of them found souls and kept it to themself , only sharing it with dear ones like the 4 Knights of Gwyn or sisters of The Witch. Furtive pigmy shared the soul he found with every other creature , thus creating the smallest soul fragments that are called "human" so technically a human who becomes strong enough can be called a lord and bigger the soul you gain is, bigger your size becomes as you can see by the fact that Gwynevere is a really big lady who is depicted smaller than her father Gwyn but when we meet Gwyn he is only a little bigger than us because he used his soul to fuel the flame. In conclusion beings like gwyn and Artorias are no different than the other humans , its just that they have a big soul.
I wouldn't say Gough is blind. If you packed resin into the eyeholes, he would still be able to see the light coming from underneath it. Just put a bucket over your head. You can still see the light coming from underneath it. - Quote Oro/Peeve 2015
Silver Mont Well he would still feel different, like the resin would be touching his skin and he would notice the difference on how his helmet felt like
I think that Ciaran isn't human, but rather a runt, undersized for her species. The only other god who is slightly close to the player character's height (excluding the snakes) is Dark Sun Gwyndolin, who was frail and undersized compared to his siblings, the player comes up to about his chin when at full height with normal non snake, from what I can tell. The name "small black one" also supports this, her height could be an identifying trait and a reason for her to be underestimated. It's interesting to note that she was apparently determined to get that mask as a "UNQIUE decoration of honor", implying that she might have been more driven than most to prove herself, and this would be more poignant if she was born undersized, or initially frail. If Ciaran has a resentment for humans, it could be that she resents them because her being small causes her to be compared to one, and since they're on the bottom of the rung, she'd have had to work twice as hard to get to where she is. So it's possible that she blames humans for that.
Gonna blame myself being sick for it, but I read that as "But rather a cunt." And I had to re-read a few times. My eyes are all bleary so I'm going back to bed.
Ahahahaha, been there. Get well soon, dude, hope you feel better! I love your videos, you have me totally hooked on Dark Souls lore and your interpretations!!!
My Speculation - what if Ciaran is Artorias's younger sister i mean it's not odd for family members to refer to one another as "dear" eg. the fair lady calls Quelaag "Dear sister" also you would have strong feelings towards family members regardless, perhaps Artorias was her idol and she wanted to be like him, maybe artorias didn't want her to follow in his line of work, so she became a knight of lord gwyn to try and gain his approval. When you kill artorias and ciaran appears the reason why she doesn't attack you is maybe because she already knows what has become of her brother and sees no alternative in saving him, the only way he can find peace is through death. Also if you idolize and look up to your siblings the last thing you would ever want to do is kill them. which maybe is the reason why she didn't try, i mean that would be hard to do if you can imagine it. anyways i've been rambling along enough just my speculation once again but it is something to ponder. hehehe
Ciaran's an elf. Gough saw himself as a sinner, and locked himself away in solitude to carve memorial stones for each life he took for personal enlightenment. "Very good" states the weak challenger, whom he bestowed brutality upon. "Hello" states lost friends from the past whom he could not save. "I'm sorry" states grief from abandoning innocent souls, or those he could have helped, but didn't save. "Help me" states forgiveness for the wrongs he caused.
12:23 So Ciaran was like "NOTICE MEH SENPAI!! NOTICE ME PLS!! NOTICE MEH SENPAI, Y DON'T U NOTICE ME BRAH?" And Artorias responded with "...nope gurl. nopenopenopenopenope" Miyadzaki has even less mercy than George Martin... I swear.
Gough mentions the blacksmith, but I don't think he ever calls him a brother. Just says something like "How is the old chap, I wonder?" It's possible they are brothers, of course, but I don't think it's ever confirmed in game.
Skyrim, or TES in general, actually has quite a rich lore, if you look into it a bit more. And not everything is thrown at you like that, especially not the most interesting answers. Like what the Elder Scrolls actually are. Or what the heroes actually are. Or when I realized out the Dragonborn is most likely an aspect of Talos himself, which is never really stated, but kind of hinted, it blew my mind. Skyrim players will know.
Anna Alētheia, PhD It wasn't so much about the overall lore of Elder Scrolls, it was more about the game presents much of it to you. The whole "Hello random stranger I will now just info-dump on you, even though I've never met you before." thing.
Silver Mont Yeah, okay, you're right about that... they could have solved that problem pretty easily though, by just adding a dialogue option like: Has there anything been going on lately around here? Or: How are things going in XY? Sometimes I feel like the Dark Souls way of giving you new information is a bit weird too... like... a ring telling you the story of it's owner? On the other hand, Dark Souls has barely any other way. Having a hundred NPCs lurking around every corner would obviously ruin the game.... ^^ Anyway, don't get me wrong, I love both games a lot, played through them multiple times, and will do so again in the future, I guess. ;)
***** Well, sorry, I'm just a really weird person... ^^ I also love Dragon Age, if I'm allowed to say that. I just enjoy the games for what they are, without usually comparing them. TES for the opportunity to basically be who you want to be and do what you want, Dark Souls for the challenge and the feeling you have after defeating Ornstein first and then Smough on NG+ without help, Dragon Age for the amazing characters and interactions with them.
I'm sorry, but the idea of Gough being able to see and just having his helmet blocked is ludicrous. Tree Resin can't block all light, and light would come in from the neck hole. He could just take the thing off and scrape out the resin if he could actually see. Implying that he's too stupid to notice the light coming in from the neck hole is insulting. Also, if he was too proud to remove the helm even for a few moments, he wouldn't say "retired and blind". He would say "blinded" implying that the actions of someone else made him unable to see.
the giant blacksmith is gough's apprentice (blacksmithing apprentice). wich is why you find gough's ring near the giant. I read somewhere that he was the apprentice (i might be wrong) but they are definitely related somehow.
Just want to help keep the discussion alive but I think you're wrong when it comes to Hawkeye Gough being blind because of his helmet because the footage you were showing us was proof enough that Hawkeye Gough wasn't too foolish take off his helm because if you can make that shot after being relatively recently blinded by your own foolishness then you're amazing but I doubt it so what I believe is that he was blind to begin with and the fact that he can shoot Kalameet down with just the sound of his wings to guide him shows that he has had practice with shooting in the dark as they say but I guess a counter argument would be that maybe the fact that the players can see with the helmet on even though it has the resin on it might show that it never really effected Gough to begin with but to disprove that theory(yes I both disproved and approved myself in the same though) would be that it's just a gameplay mechanic like how you can wear the Symbol of Avarice without falling over from being too top heavy(or blinded because I don't see any eyeholes in that thing) either way I really liked this lore video because I always liked the Giants in DarkSouls especially the blacksmith giant because he(like most blacksmiths) were probably the only ones to get out of this whole situation unscathed and called you friend
Gough is the biggest bro, and not just because he's physically massive. It made me sad when I killed him for his items (to read their descriptions!) but then I was happy again when he started butt-stomping me.
The Skyrim-shitting would have a lot more basis if A: any of the infodump characters gave you an objectively true account or ever touched on things they wouldn't realistically know, B: if the Elder Scrolls' lore wasn't a mess of conflicting in-universe sources with absolutely no objective truth to it, and C: if by that token it didn't do Dark Souls lore's ambiguity schtick much better than Dark Souls does. Not that Dark Souls' lore isn't solid as hell and open to an ungodly level of interpretation, it's just that the fandom never had to work out CHIM or figure out what the fuck was going on in the fifteen mutually-exclusive-but-still-all-true accounts of the creation of the world. Do some reading before you dismiss something as casul. TES is the grandaddy of this kinda shit.
Evil Lincoln I dunno, Skyrim seems pretty bad to me. I was into Oblivion for a while, but something about Skyrim prevented me from being able to enjoy it. Oblivion also had pretty terrible combat mechanics, but the world-systems were a lot more enjoyable. I found the story and lore elements of Skyrim lacking, too. Most of all I hated those terrible accents.
Skyrim's lore tended to be a hell of a lot more rewarding if you'd read enough of the supplemental bullshit to have a good idea of what was actually going on further than 'lol dragons'. No arguments about the combat, Souls takes that every time.
Silver Mont You should actually beat skyrim. Because you will meet the douchist most entitled npc group ever. The Blades. It is truly a masterpiece to poop on them.
The silver armour? If that's the one you're talking about - it's a PC mod that somebody made of the Brass armour. Try a search for "Brass Armor Dark Silver" on google and you should find it. It is really nice! Brass armour has always been one of my favourites in Dark Souls... and I have a thing for silver, apparently.
Personally, I think Gough saw the sleight of having his helmet packed with resin as a challenge, he knew that someone had ruined his helmet but continued to shoot with it anyway to spite whoever did it, and when the age of fire began dwindling he kept the helmet on just keep things interesting since there were so few dragons to hunt.
silver mont is forgetting that there is more than one species with human form, witches are confirmed to be an entirely separate race. I think that ciaran and possibly all of the lords blades are members of the race of witches; we already know they're friendly with the demigods from the witch of izalith and gwyn’s relationship, and it just seems more likely overall than a demigod with dwarfism
Yeah I've heard of such before, I've never really looked into it though - did he do anything that is Dark Souls'y, perhaps? Or maybe someone on the dev team was a fan of him? Orrrr maybe it was coincidence? I wonder!
I actually think Ciaran is human. I think the Honor part of her mask description is the fact that she may be the only human to have earned a lords blade mask and I think her association with the “gods” allows her to see herself as separate and above other humans which is why her dialogue seems to separate her from other humans.
From a theory I think can be correct Gough is blind and he can strike down flying dragons by hearing their sounds. If you atack him with a certain set that muffles your sounds he will attack random locations. Maybe that is right or he is not blind but he learned to fight without his vision as time passed.
My name is so long that it hardly even fit on the register back in highschool. I mean, if they put the full name in the credits of Dark Souls II, it will take up the entire horizontal plane of the screen.
This is the first lore video of you that I watch, so don't blame me if you said this anywhere else but maybe you didn't know that: Ornstein and the Leo Ring seem to be kind of an easter egg, because Leo Ornstein was a pianist and composer.
true, but Frampt isn't an asshole lol *[edit]* Kaath spends his spare time doing nothing of interest in the Abyss, and he's lhe leader of the dickwraith covenant, he wants the Chosen Undead to "usher in a new age of dark" i.e. spread the Abyss' blackness. He's certainly the perp.
I figure it's Kaathe, too. But there's a chance it was Frampt. Whenever they are vague like that, I think it's good to consider all possibilities. Kaathe makes the most sense, though.
I think gough is honor bound to the helmet. his helmet is the last thing that binds him to his purpose together with his bow which he doesn't abandon even after being locked up.
I would have loved to see a game about the four knights. It's like with the game Legend of Dragoon, I always wanted them to make a prequel based on the dragoons of legend in that game. The same for this. Their is just so much lore, so much story and it is so fresh. Just anything. About how they became Gwyn's blades, how they earned their ranks among the other knights, how they knew each other beforehand. I see a lot of character from each of them. Artorias obviously the loud, enthusiastic wanna-be hero who *acts* like such a badass along with companion Sif who may very well be the only reason he ever succeeds at life, Gough the best friend of said wanna-be hero, Ciaran the girl who is totally in love with said wanna-be hero but never let's him know, and Ornstein the actual badass who is just not all that talkative. It kind of makes me think of Yu Yu Hakusho in a way.
I personally like the idea that Gough isn't blind, but the resin packed into his Helmet's eyeholes makes him believe he had gone blind and he never removed it because of his sentimentality for the past and for his lost purpose.
Just happened to stumble over this... First video I see from you, and definitely not the last one. Much of interesting speculation, and the part about Wolf ring and (supposedly) Chester was completely new to me. You did recite the words the characters say and even described the voice actors, but would it be possible to add the actual voices in your videos too? Sure, it would take effort to edit, but also would have a nice impact as this video was slightly monotonous. Very good job here, mister!
04:30 in fact it could be from the same species as Quelana. Quelana is the same size as the player, but we know that the Witch of Izalith is not human, nor their descendants. As Manus divided his dark soul to create mankind, the witch might have cast the same, Ciaran could be of that species. Indeed, Havel may also be of the same species. Sorry if my English is terrible, it is the translator.
Some wizards have made videos spawning characters in silly places in the world - now somebody just needs to let Ornstein go wild in the Valley of the Drakes.
Am I the only one who noticed what could be a third eye-socket on the skull of the skeleton, which Pinwheel reserch when you interrupt him? Because it is placed in the same place in which third eye on the Ciaran's mask is placed.
Also to add to post - Catacombs is Lordran's burial ground, meaning Lordran's population of humans, demigods and giants most likely was buried there when they die, so it is easy to find corpse of some demigod Lord's blade there. Also, skull of that skeleton is slightly petite, meaning it likely belongs to woman once, keep in mind that only known member of the Lord's blades is female and the assassins order itself presumably is all-female So it could easily be deceased member of the Lord's blades. If it is, it is good example of unspoken attention to details.
+mauser98kar I honestly think the corpse with the hornet ring in Sif's room is Ciaran's. she stayed by Artorias to the bitter end and now Sif guards her too
couldn't we interpret gough as being too proud, rather than too silly, to take his helmet off? he was dismissed, so decided to show how skillful he is by embracing the blindness. essentially, I believe Gough was doing a blindfolded skill run!
Gough, the man who mocked every single high-ranking CoD quickscoper and 360 sniper that ever lived, by sniping a dragon with an oversized bow(not oversized for him offcourse) whilst blind from at least a quarter mile away with physics going against him and still keep the dragon alive enough for a boss fight. Anytime you need something shot, just call Gough!
Maxi ayy its a vert 3 years ago!
I bet he is good at hitting a target with anything. I wouldn't ever want to play a skins game of golf with Gough, you would go broke.
Looking at the wing just after it was shot, Gough managed to successfully cause 3 hindrances to the dragon (the more the better, it IS a dragon). He immediately pinned and immobilized the wing, the key reason for downing the dragon. But he clearly also broke the bone in between the first and second joints. Thirdly, it looks very much like the arrow dislocated the wing at the shoulder. Never a truer shot, indeed.
I'd like to point out that the dragon was still capable of leaving the ground despite all this structural damage, if only for a little. I can DEFINITELY see why all those measures were necessary, dragons are durable man.
Gough is a pro. Kids, remember, play dark souls over any game.
Not only that, you're missing the fact that he purposely shot the dragon'S LEFT FUCKING WING so that it clips to its body...
A wing... constantly flapping and moving...
on a dragon... that's flying... really fast...
Not to mention he is bliNDDD
I think the relationship between her and Artorias would've be the classic "notice me senpai" thing, she loved Artorias, and looked up to him (both figuratively and literally) but Artorias just saw her as a companion and a partner, nothing romantic
ElementalPrime the ultimate friendzone
I find gough to be an extremely ironic character. The obvious being that he is a blind archer whether from just not realizing his helmet has resin on it or from injury making him both obviously stupid and clearly the most informative and seemingly wise character in the game as you stated. And second because he is an archer and a giant. Rather than using brute strength and his size as tools for fighting, he uses a finesse weapon like a bow (even though it's a gigantic bow).
I figured that he may have known, but as the helmet was such an honor to him, he wouldn't be willing to take it off, and so just considers himself blind.
Well it still doesn't really matter, he shot kalameet out of the air without vision, kinda makes you wonder how skilled he would have been with his sight
I always figured that he had enemies within Gwyn's regime, who put the resin in his helmet. The resin had some acidic/corrosive properties, and when he put the helmet on he was blinded.
I personally believe gough was actually born blind or at least turned blind before the fall of the dragons. Let's asume for a second that gough has gone blind after the fall of the dragons: in that case, kalameet would be the first dragon he ever shot while blinded, and it seems very unlikely to me that he perfectly lands the shot on the first try, even with increased hearing. In addition to that, it would take tremendous amout of training to still even be able to hit SOMETHING with your bow using only your ears. since he lost his purpose after the fall of the dragons, why would he invest that much training in still being a capable archer?
Also, we know from charcoal, rotten and gold pine resin that resins can have special, if not magical attributes to them. I speculate that gough only told gwyn of his handicap after the fall of the dragons and after he received the helmet, and in order to grant him better protection and eliminate a weakspot on his armor, some sort of special, damage reducing and/or resistant resin has been applied to his helmet
Nah, he was blinded because of oolacile towns people harassing him by pouring him with vat of burning resin, which could easily fused his eyes, face and helmet together
I'm pretty sure Artorias was aware of Ciaran's feelings and probably returned them. You don't die mourning over someone's grave over a crush. Only true love would do that, and true love is something grown not just visceral. Artorias sacrificed himself for his wolf, it's pretty obvious he's a strong loving and compassionate being. Everyone of the knights besides Ornstein recalls how dear he was. Clearly he was the heart of the four knights. So much of the game itself was about him if not inadvertently. He's almost the long lost protagonist of a story long ago.
Nemesis-0300 Ciaran had feelings for Artorias, that does seem clear - but we've no way of knowing how he felt about her in return. Even in his un-used dialogue, he never made mention of her, haha.
Artorias doesn't say much about any of the knights in his dialogue to be fair. It's unused and probably unfinished. IF we had to assume based on evidence whether or not he returned her feelings, I'd lean towards them never having a chance to develop their feeling for each other. Artorias seems like a loving guy, based on his character and what we know of him. It's fair to assume he may have had a thing for Ciaran too. Like an Alyx to Gordon Freeman thing -- an unspoken love for one another. That's what I like to believe anyways.
Nemesis-0300 He he....unspoken
Hahaha, that's funny, I didn't catch myself making that reference.
Friendzoned
just noticed she is holding a Artorias doll.
Nigga wat
AW RIGHT
@@Idras74 look in the thumbnail
I'm Welsh, I'd just like to throw this here too. I've noticed Souls games has many Welsh/Irish names.
Gwen is a Welsh feminine given name meaning "white, holy". It can be a shortened form of Gwenhwÿfar (Guinevere).
The same goes for the name Gwyn which is the masculine version of the name.
Enigma Not to mention Domhnall of Zena saying siwmae.
Enigma I just want to say that my pastor's wife is named Gwendolin.
Gwen meaning 'white'
White=Pale
Gwyn's name means 'white'
White Man...
Silver Mont, I believe you are mistaken about Gough and his helm.
Though the explanation was good and fitting, I think it was more symbolic that he didn't take it off. It says in the description that the helm was packed with resin, which means our character found out through basic examination, so Gough could have as well. He also proves, in the shooting of Kalameet, that he doesn't need to see to land a killing blow on anything less than a dragon.
Indeed, I think it's from his own dialogue and his offer to help, that he aspires to honour and glory above all else. When given that helm, it was as a gift and symbol of his status as the greatest archer in the land; so to take it off, even if packed with resin, would remove that status entirely. He had no more purpose, no dragons to hunt, no beings to slay, no king to serve, all he HAD was the reminder of that status he had earned through his skill and honour; if he was content as he was, why would he ever take it off?
Indeed, much like Cieran, who died at her true love's grave, I think Gough was content to die wearing the helm he wore so proudly throughout his best years.
Besides, taking it off might just prove the point of those who packed it, that he was just a brute who wanted to kill, rather than a being with thoughts and feelings concerned for courage and bravado.
You're overlooking the option that Kalmeet may have "scheduled" flights to due too some sort of circadian rhythm. Maybe Gough listened to Kalameet make the same flight daily for one-hundred years, before finally having a reason to shoot? This claim is slightly bolstered with what happens when you fight Gough with the Hush sorcery, or the Slumbering Dragon Crest ring. :)
My apologies :S I initially misunderstood the claim.
Thats also considering Giants don't need to eat, or drink. :P
See now, this is where Dark Souls shines for me. I'm not a big Dark Souls fan, quite frankly the game-play just isn't for me, and the main story-line I feel is nothing too remarkable. But as a writer I'm blown away by the quality of the game's characters, and their personal back-stories. They are believable, interesting, and well stylized.
Likewise, as a writer, I can appreciate the well written dialogue and the way the story is told (a manner that works uniquely well for a game) and I guess I'm fortunate enough to really enjoy the gameplay and setting too! Hell, I enjoy just about everything Dark Souls does.
Just get good.
+Belial61 Truth.
I sense gaming journalist vibes from this comment.
Artorias was also known for helping seal Anor Londo (that's when his weapon became cursed).
And the "poor, poor girl" simply refers to the fact Artorias died. She lost her lover either way. There's no real reason to believe Artorias didn't return these feelings, but all the more reason to believe they were lovers. If only for the fact he kept her safe in the first place...
"Our land" because it was part of their kingdom. The Lords had full influence in Oolacile.
NEW Londo, nnot Anor Londo.
After Solaire, Ciaran and Artorias are two of the most loved characters in the game by the fans. My favorite Character is Artorias i thank you for the info in Ciaran. Didnt know much from her till this day. Cheers ! (Sorry by bad English, Brazilian here).
gough for the winn
Br carai
+Vinicius Araujo huehuehue
Vinicius Araujo Guilherme Salles o/ Br for the win. kkkk Se quiserem me chamar para jogar o/
+Joseph Oliveira Eu só tenho o dark souls 2, e jogo no ps3, se jogar tbm manda o Nick ai
Ciaran: notice me Artorias
Artorias: oh look at da doggy!
"Oh yes, that's the cave of the mighty lord Frighlow, who long ago stole the golden gypsies from Timbucktoo. and than turned himself into a dragon, and now you need to kill the dragon by going to the greybeards of mount skyrim and learning to scream so hard you bust up dragons."
- Silver Mont on Skyrim NPC's
+A Man of Many Spells Pretty much. I mean I like me some Skyrim but that game is seriously bananas at times. Storytelling is not its strong point. Nor is combat, for that matter. But it does other stuff well.
Artorias - Guts - Ciaran - Casca
:o
+Bizzare yes
Finally another human think the same
+Bizzare Eh, beyond using a big sword, Artorias has basically nothing to do with Guts. I mean, Artorias normally uses a big-ass shield for god's sake, and the design is nothing alike.
Rodrigo Vaccari
Artorias didn't lose his arm, that's one thing. It's broken, not hacked off, while Guts has a fully usable fake arm. Artorias only fights in an animalistic way after going insane, and he relies on speed and unpredictability more so than actual strength and power. Artorias only fights the darkness because he's a knight, with orders to do it. He was sent there by Gwyn, not as a choice. Also, there's a huge differences than being a wolf, and owning one. That's like saying that your birth was inspired by dogs because you bought one at the pet shop. There are several minor similarities, each one separated by legions of differences. Sorry but it's waaaaay too far-fetched to be even remotely true.
Rodrigo Vaccari
No, I don't think that Artorias should be as reskinned Guts. I think they have nothing to do with each other and that's the way it should be. Sorry but Ingward wasn't inspired by Ladybugs just because they're both red.
May be Ciaran used to be human, and was elevated to demigod by Gwyn.
Okay, hands up, who here ship's Artorias and Ciaran?
me, I've always to cosplay them with my girlfriend and walk around a park lol
+epiclolman57 *wanted*
My question is, who doesn't?
Noah Sturgis ME!!!!!
Noah Sturgis nah, raise your hand if you DON'T ship Ciartorias! No one? I thought not…
Whether Gough was blind or his helmet was just blocked, he still made that shot.
I'm impressed.
He's a damn good archer.
I don't know man, Artorias felt himself getting corrupted by the abyss, then he went on a rampage, even attacking a guy that had nothing to do with it (you).
Then he dies without knwoing what would happen to Sif (since he prob. knew his shield wouldn't hold out forever) nor if Manus would ever be stopped.
He failed in his mission and leaves his comrades behind.
I don't think he died that happy.
All four of the knights seem to get a pretty crappy ending.
Artorias get's corrupted by the very thing he was trying to stop.
Hawkeye loses his vision, his very title is now pretty much a sarcastic insult.
Ciaran either dies by our hands or pretty much cries herself to death at his grave.
And Ornstein spends several hunderd years doing nothing but protect the illusion of gwynevere. And then get's crushed by Smough (or just killed by us).
If anything atleast Ornstein died honorfull, In doing his mission and acting as the final test of the chosen undead (final test to be callled chosen undead by gwynevere atleast
I think Gough had the better ending. He looses his sight, but he retires and becomes a wood craftsman. Gough himself says he cherishes his work, and when the chosen undead arrives, he gets the chance to pull off one last amazing shot before retiring forever. Ornstein has to stand guard for the remainder of his life, he's going to die by a human eventually. Whether Ornstein takes that personally is up to speculation, but Gough is chill with his new life and is very accepting of the way things turned out.
But how do we know the Ornstein & Smough we faced aren't just some of Gwyndolins illusions?
sugarjumper45
if you kill gwyndolin first they are still there
Brecht Mombaerts If you kill Gwyndolin, Gwynevere is also there to give you the Lordvessel. The illusions are autonomous.
Ali Hussain
that... or you never kill gwyndolin, he is a master of illusion, faking his own death would be childsplay for him
what if someone just simply poured resin into the eyesocket of his helm while gough was sleeping and the resin blinded the eyes while also filling the eye socket of the helm
Cape EniEer That'd make sense to me
Ciaran probably lived for Artorias's sake at the point that you meet her. Gwyn became cinder for the Flame so she had no other purpose than to be with Artorias. Whether there was an actual relationship between the two is up for debate, maybe Ciaran thought herself unworthy for the honorable Artorias then. Maybe she was trying to mold herself into a woman she thought Artorias would be willing to love (hence the approval line).
So since Artorias was dead, and possibly Sif (she had no way of knowing) she no longer had a purpose for her blades. There might also be a possibility that she uncorrupted Artorias's soul by sacrificing her own and died afterwards. Then her corpse was ransacked by Chester before he was chased off by the returning Sif. But Sif wouldn't chase him down due to not wanting to leave Artorias's grave.
I never kill Ciaran or Gough... All of the four knights have such sad trajectories, I just try and not make it worse for them. Would let Ornstein go as well, if I had a say in it. Artorias is the only one I kill happily, since it frees him from his slavery, madness and torment.
Damn you Dark Souls, and your fucking proficiency at telling sad stories =/
I was pretty new to Dark Souls but took a fast liking to Artorias.
After I fully learned his story I wanted to take on his role. I became Artorias, took on the Abyss with sanity intact, though the marks on the armor say otherwise. The hardest thing I had to do was put down Sif. But the rest was in honor of that faithful companion.
I come from the future to tell you that the real Ornstein lives
the grave of artorias in which you fight sif is actually where olicile sanctuary is
Gough is a big ass giant he probally climbed the tower
I can't see a problem with some random peasant "dumping" you with information, consider the fact that he/she lived his/her entire life in that region, with no source entertainment but talking to other villagers and travellers that stopped by there, no surprise he/she knows a lot of a certain cave or fort in the outskirts of the town.
That's fine when it's things that it would make sense for a random peasant to know. You're right that peasants often had no source of entertainment other than gossip and so would know a lot about local geography and local politics.
But how does Random Uneducated Peasant Woman know about the secret weakness of Dragon Lord Sitherius, or the True History of Bandit King Fuckoff? Realistically, a lot of the information random NPCs give you should be wrong, because they don't have any way of fact-checking their sources and are just gossipers.
That's another thing I like about Dark Souls. NPCs give information, but they're often lying, omitting important details, or simply mistaken - like Anastasia the Firekeeper, who thinks that if you link the fires the curse of the undead will end and she can die as a human, even though that's clearly not true.
The Drunken King If you've never got wrong info in Skyrim you should really replay it, this time toggling the way cursor off.
Who's never wasted the most potent venom in the world to kill a small old man just to find out later that that little baby could make one dose of a poison strong enough to kill any one enemy in the game doesn't know what's frustration in Skyrim...
Whoever never went through a gigantic walk around the Throat to get to High Hrothgar just to find out that the way through Helgen is 90% shorter (given it's more dangerous at starter levels) doesn't know what's to feel dumb in there.
Whoever's never ignored Tolfdir's seeming stupid advice to look out for traps and died horribly has never played highest difficulty set.
I've played Skyrim religiously since it's launch, and have never EVER met a mere peasant who'd come to me and tell me the right strategy to defeat a boss.
What they give you most times is "I heard they have spiders in there. Pesky creatures"; "People say a witches' coven's been living there, I'd avoid it if I were you". Like, well, gossip.
And that's not to mention how far away from the actual lore they are. Little to none NPCs can tell you a true story, only the most studied ones. Closer to real stories are usually found in old books, but even these sometimes have points being contradicted by scholars or other books. If you don't think so, just read every book they have into Talos, or read the many different opinions on the happenings at Red Mountain...
People choosing a game over another is completely ok, but it just pisses me off seeing someone who's either never played the game or just gave it a shallow chance being deeply critic about it. Not that you are forced to beat the game to have an opinion, just, if you know you don't know much about it, give it some benefit of doubt.
Thiago Freitas Wow, what a gigantic reply bro, but I guess that now they got the true nature of Skyrim's lore.
Eduardo Blum i just got wooshed so hard that my brain hurts
I've looked at Artorias's dialogue. He says "Thou art strong, human. Surely thy kind is more than pure dark." - that isn't typically something a human would say to another human.
Ciaran is definitely in love with artorias
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. And yeah, I'm still getting used to the whole audio commentary thing, it does have the problem of becoming monotone now and then.
I love the intro pictures in your videos so much...
My weird and unlikely theory is that Artorias and Ornstein were competing for Ciaran's love. I base my theory on the fact she has 2 tracers, Dark Silver, which matches Artorias' armor, and Gold which matches Ornstein's. She might've gotten them as gifts from each. I also like to think Artorias and Ciaran were totally a couple.
***** *FaceDesk*
someone write a witty fanfiction about this right now...and I mean a good fanfiction, not some grammatically abhorrent piece of alphabet soup.
Riley De Bever I would hardly call something good a fanfiction
I imagine he never cleaned the helmet out just to spite the people who packed the resin in. Proving that he is so skilled, he did not need his vision to be the best in the world.
I considered it, but in the end I figured it'd be better to just mention it, so people can go find it for themselves. I might include some links to videos others have uploaded that shows off the dialogue. There's a user here (Sir Fist) who has lots of cut content dialogue videos.
My theory concerning the helm. Gough does not take it off purely due to his own pride. Imagine you are one of the best archers in the land and some scrubs hand you a helmet with the eye holes packed thinking you are just so dumb brute. Pride would step in the way and say "Oh yeah? Well watch this im gonna continue to be the best archer in the land AND I'm gonna do it blind!"
did you SEE (pun clearly intended) shot to Kalameet? that was pure beauty.
Thanks! And yeah, I love that skin. Big props to the guy who made it. One thing that might not perhaps fit in Dark Souls, but I would like to see anyway, is "dyes" or colour-edits for the armour. Who knows, maybe we'll see something like that in DaS2?
Also, I read into Gough's blindness as if he was always blind and hunted the dragons using only sound. His eye-holes were packed with resin by those who mocked this 'brutish giant' but since he could not see he didn't know they had been blocked. Essentially, they were picking on him.
I think it's really sweet how Ceiran spent her (obviously later life) trying to please the one she loves.. It almost makes me cry how she is so dedicated to him.. ;-;
Artorias-senpai notice me.
-Ciaran
Glad someone else uses that skin for brass armor. It's incredibly well done.
Some solid lore speculation, I always enjoy these vids.
I think he was blind, and doesn't really realize the resin is there. Like they were making fun of him for being blind
"The greybeard of MT Skyrim" 10/10
Artorias and Ciaran were lovers. (I believe i read it somewhere, possibly the wiki or an interview with a writer)
It is a theory, because you can find a female body behind Artorias's grave(Maybe her) and not to mention, if you kill her she says "But, how…
You humans…
My dear Ar…tor…
"
So yeah
TheBackwards3 She certainly holds Artorias in high regards, but the exact details of their relationship are, of course, up for the player to decide.
TheBackwards3 The female corpse behind his grave holds her ring though, the hornet ring, one of the four rings given to each of the four knights. So it's pretty assuring that the corpse is her.
*Takes no risk fighting boss and hides behind shield.*
*Risks dying to push body over bottomless pit just so he can laugh at it.*
Ciaran and Gough- Unused concept for Anor Londo bossfight XD
Don't forget Artorias and Sif.
Thanks for the tip - I'll try that!
There is nothing to suggest that Artorias and Ciaran were not lovers, its entirely up to the player. The whole changing name thing, and hiding her face is contradicted by the info that the Lord's blades were all female. Chester had nothing to do with the awakening of Manus, as both Gough and himself say that a Primordial Serpent persuaded them, and Chester clearly states he was pulled back in time by Manus. Your videos are good but you ramble and digress too much.
Artorias was known as Sir Artorias. Then, he made the covenant with the creatures of the abyss (likely KAATHE) he became Artorias the Abysswalker. Once he fell to the abyss, he became Artorias of the Abyss
Hey, Alex. Felt like sharing this thought I had about Ciaran. I'm actually of the idea that she is indeed human. You mention that her helmet is designed for a cyclops but I believe that's part of the ornamental aspect. More so, there are other humans in Gwyn's army as the description of Pharis's hat points out or even Havel. I suppose the main argument against this theory is her dialog but what if she goes insane and renounces being human after finding out her beloved one was killed by, quite literally humanity, itself? Any thoughts? After all, it is very likely that she was ashamned of being human which likely impeded her relationship with Artorias and could the the reason for her mask.
+pietrobarca Or maybe there are other races than humans that are the same size, which is far more likely. I hope you're not going to say that the daughters of chaos were human because they were human-sized, since that's obviously not the case. Also, what makes you think that Pharis was part of Gwyn's army? As for Havel, I don't think he was human either, he wouldn't have held such a high ranking position if he was. Also, there's no proof that the guy we meet in the tower is really even Havel, it could have just been one of his soldiers. Also, the demi-gods vary greatly in terms of size, I don't see why they couldn't also be human sized considering the size differences between characters like Artorias and Ornstein who are both of the same race. Even Gwyndolin, a full god, was basically human-sized, maybe just slightly larger.
"Pharis was an accomplished archer, and though he was human, he ranked alongside Hawkeye Gough, one of the Four Knights of Lord Gwyn." - Pharis Hat
Your first point is very fair but I honestly think that Gwyn, Ornstein, artorious etc, are roughly the same. I suppose we can also agree that the enemy in the Tower is evidence that humans, Havel himself or not, were part of Gwyn's army. What are your thoughts on Silver Knights? I doubt they are humans. I guess your theory of a third race could explain a few things.
Then again, do we ever meet an actual silver knight or black knight in game? They always seem to be spirits of some sort as even their armor points out.
@@krukblood-axe3649 there is no show of "other races" mentioned even once in the game , only difference between Gwyn and your avarage human is the Soul they have.
Gwyn was just another stumbling creature in the intro cinematic, like furtive pigmy all of them found souls and kept it to themself , only sharing it with dear ones like the 4 Knights of Gwyn or sisters of The Witch.
Furtive pigmy shared the soul he found with every other creature , thus creating the smallest soul fragments that are called "human" so technically a human who becomes strong enough can be called a lord and bigger the soul you gain is, bigger your size becomes as you can see by the fact that Gwynevere is a really big lady who is depicted smaller than her father Gwyn but when we meet Gwyn he is only a little bigger than us because he used his soul to fuel the flame.
In conclusion beings like gwyn and Artorias are no different than the other humans , its just that they have a big soul.
actually, we find ciaran's ring in the present artorias grave, the one that sif is guarding
Tony Hans The Hornet Ring, yeah
I wouldn't say Gough is blind. If you packed resin into the eyeholes, he would still be able to see the light coming from underneath it. Just put a bucket over your head. You can still see the light coming from underneath it. - Quote Oro/Peeve 2015
brundain1 Maybe they really packed it in good - the helm seems a pretty tight fit, at any rate.
Silver Mont Maybe, but when you look in game it doesn't look very flush to his body. I don't know man, we all have our own theories I guess
Silver Mont Well he would still feel different, like the resin would be touching his skin and he would notice the difference on how his helmet felt like
Maybe, but the giants in Dark Souls II have hollow faces.
Did you just really quoted from Peeve?
I think that Ciaran isn't human, but rather a runt, undersized for her species. The only other god who is slightly close to the player character's height (excluding the snakes) is Dark Sun Gwyndolin, who was frail and undersized compared to his siblings, the player comes up to about his chin when at full height with normal non snake, from what I can tell. The name "small black one" also supports this, her height could be an identifying trait and a reason for her to be underestimated. It's interesting to note that she was apparently determined to get that mask as a "UNQIUE decoration of honor", implying that she might have been more driven than most to prove herself, and this would be more poignant if she was born undersized, or initially frail.
If Ciaran has a resentment for humans, it could be that she resents them because her being small causes her to be compared to one, and since they're on the bottom of the rung, she'd have had to work twice as hard to get to where she is. So it's possible that she blames humans for that.
Gonna blame myself being sick for it, but I read that as "But rather a cunt." And I had to re-read a few times. My eyes are all bleary so I'm going back to bed.
Ahahahaha, been there. Get well soon, dude, hope you feel better! I love your videos, you have me totally hooked on Dark Souls lore and your interpretations!!!
My Speculation - what if Ciaran is Artorias's younger sister i mean it's not odd for family members to refer to one another as "dear" eg. the fair lady calls Quelaag "Dear sister" also you would have strong feelings towards family members regardless, perhaps Artorias was her idol and she wanted to be like him, maybe artorias didn't want her to follow in his line of work, so she became a knight of lord gwyn to try and gain his approval. When you kill artorias and ciaran appears the reason why she doesn't attack you is maybe because she already knows what has become of her brother and sees no alternative in saving him, the only way he can find peace is through death. Also if you idolize and look up to your siblings the last thing you would ever want to do is kill them. which maybe is the reason why she didn't try, i mean that would be hard to do if you can imagine it. anyways i've been rambling along enough just my speculation once again but it is something to ponder. hehehe
Yeah, if you have the PC version and DSfix, you can swap textures. This is a fairly simple one, it's basically just a re-colour of the Brass armour.
Lets get some Ciaran x Artorias in here!
Ciaran's an elf.
Gough saw himself as a sinner, and locked himself away in solitude to carve memorial stones for each life he took for personal enlightenment.
"Very good" states the weak challenger, whom he bestowed brutality upon.
"Hello" states lost friends from the past whom he could not save.
"I'm sorry" states grief from abandoning innocent souls, or those he could have helped, but didn't save.
"Help me" states forgiveness for the wrongs he caused.
12:23 So Ciaran was like "NOTICE MEH SENPAI!! NOTICE ME PLS!! NOTICE MEH SENPAI, Y DON'T U NOTICE ME BRAH?"
And Artorias responded with "...nope gurl. nopenopenopenopenope"
Miyadzaki has even less mercy than George Martin... I swear.
Love all the lore videos. Re watching all these waiting for more dark souls 2 lore :D keep it up!!!!!
***** Thanks man, glad you like 'em. There'll be a new lore video this week, as it happens!
R.I.P Giant black smith ;-;
Gough mentions the blacksmith, but I don't think he ever calls him a brother. Just says something like "How is the old chap, I wonder?" It's possible they are brothers, of course, but I don't think it's ever confirmed in game.
Skyrim, or TES in general, actually has quite a rich lore, if you look into it a bit more. And not everything is thrown at you like that, especially not the most interesting answers. Like what the Elder Scrolls actually are. Or what the heroes actually are. Or when I realized out the Dragonborn is most likely an aspect of Talos himself, which is never really stated, but kind of hinted, it blew my mind. Skyrim players will know.
Anna Alētheia, PhD It wasn't so much about the overall lore of Elder Scrolls, it was more about the game presents much of it to you. The whole "Hello random stranger I will now just info-dump on you, even though I've never met you before." thing.
***** That is very true. Hard to make characters stand-out when you have hundreds of them and only 5 voice actors to go around haha.
Silver Mont Yeah, okay, you're right about that... they could have solved that problem pretty easily though, by just adding a dialogue option like: Has there anything been going on lately around here? Or: How are things going in XY?
Sometimes I feel like the Dark Souls way of giving you new information is a bit weird too... like... a ring telling you the story of it's owner? On the other hand, Dark Souls has barely any other way. Having a hundred NPCs lurking around every corner would obviously ruin the game.... ^^
Anyway, don't get me wrong, I love both games a lot, played through them multiple times, and will do so again in the future, I guess. ;)
***** Well, sorry, I'm just a really weird person... ^^ I also love Dragon Age, if I'm allowed to say that. I just enjoy the games for what they are, without usually comparing them. TES for the opportunity to basically be who you want to be and do what you want, Dark Souls for the challenge and the feeling you have after defeating Ornstein first and then Smough on NG+ without help, Dragon Age for the amazing characters and interactions with them.
Anna Alētheia, PhD You're allowed to like whatever you want, haha.
I'm going by the way Gough says his own name in dialogue: "Now watch, and see how Gough [Goff] hunts dragons."
I'm sorry, but the idea of Gough being able to see and just having his helmet blocked is ludicrous.
Tree Resin can't block all light, and light would come in from the neck hole. He could just take the thing off and scrape out the resin if he could actually see. Implying that he's too stupid to notice the light coming in from the neck hole is insulting.
Also, if he was too proud to remove the helm even for a few moments, he wouldn't say "retired and blind". He would say "blinded" implying that the actions of someone else made him unable to see.
the giant blacksmith is gough's apprentice (blacksmithing apprentice).
wich is why you find gough's ring near the giant. I read somewhere that he was the apprentice (i might be wrong) but they are definitely related somehow.
Just want to help keep the discussion alive but I think you're wrong when it comes to Hawkeye Gough being blind because of his helmet because the footage you were showing us was proof enough that Hawkeye Gough wasn't too foolish take off his helm because if you can make that shot after being relatively recently blinded by your own foolishness then you're amazing but I doubt it so what I believe is that he was blind to begin with and the fact that he can shoot Kalameet down with just the sound of his wings to guide him shows that he has had practice with shooting in the dark as they say but I guess a counter argument would be that maybe the fact that the players can see with the helmet on even though it has the resin on it might show that it never really effected Gough to begin with but to disprove that theory(yes I both disproved and approved myself in the same though) would be that it's just a gameplay mechanic like how you can wear the Symbol of Avarice without falling over from being too top heavy(or blinded because I don't see any eyeholes in that thing) either way I really liked this lore video because I always liked the Giants in DarkSouls especially the blacksmith giant because he(like most blacksmiths) were probably the only ones to get out of this whole situation unscathed and called you friend
Thanks!
It makes sense that Ciaran is a black woman since Artorias is Guts Ciaran being a black woman could be a reference to Casca
That's actually a pretty good point. Imagine if Ornstein's theme had been a silver hawk instead of a golden lion. That would've been kinda funny.
Gough is the biggest bro, and not just because he's physically massive. It made me sad when I killed him for his items (to read their descriptions!) but then I was happy again when he started butt-stomping me.
the area where you find artorias' s grave is where you fight the sanctuary guardian, you can easily understand it if you watch how the area is made
The Skyrim-shitting would have a lot more basis if A: any of the infodump characters gave you an objectively true account or ever touched on things they wouldn't realistically know, B: if the Elder Scrolls' lore wasn't a mess of conflicting in-universe sources with absolutely no objective truth to it, and C: if by that token it didn't do Dark Souls lore's ambiguity schtick much better than Dark Souls does. Not that Dark Souls' lore isn't solid as hell and open to an ungodly level of interpretation, it's just that the fandom never had to work out CHIM or figure out what the fuck was going on in the fifteen mutually-exclusive-but-still-all-true accounts of the creation of the world.
Do some reading before you dismiss something as casul. TES is the grandaddy of this kinda shit.
Evil Lincoln I dunno, Skyrim seems pretty bad to me. I was into Oblivion for a while, but something about Skyrim prevented me from being able to enjoy it. Oblivion also had pretty terrible combat mechanics, but the world-systems were a lot more enjoyable. I found the story and lore elements of Skyrim lacking, too. Most of all I hated those terrible accents.
Skyrim's lore tended to be a hell of a lot more rewarding if you'd read enough of the supplemental bullshit to have a good idea of what was actually going on further than 'lol dragons'. No arguments about the combat, Souls takes that every time.
Silver Mont You should actually beat skyrim. Because you will meet the douchist most entitled npc group ever. The Blades. It is truly a masterpiece to poop on them.
Carzeyday I remember them from Oblivion, IIRC
Silver Mont You don't understand. You actually more or less side track the main plot by black mailing you.
Its amazing you still reply to comments after all these years
They all show up at the top of my feed, so it's no biggie!
The silver armour? If that's the one you're talking about - it's a PC mod that somebody made of the Brass armour. Try a search for "Brass Armor Dark Silver" on google and you should find it. It is really nice! Brass armour has always been one of my favourites in Dark Souls... and I have a thing for silver, apparently.
Thanks! Will do - next week is Artorias.
Personally, I think Gough saw the sleight of having his helmet packed with resin as a challenge, he knew that someone had ruined his helmet but continued to shoot with it anyway to spite whoever did it, and when the age of fire began dwindling he kept the helmet on just keep things interesting since there were so few dragons to hunt.
silver mont is forgetting that there is more than one species with human form, witches are confirmed to be an entirely separate race. I think that ciaran and possibly all of the lords blades are members of the race of witches; we already know they're friendly with the demigods from the witch of izalith and gwyn’s relationship, and it just seems more likely overall than a demigod with dwarfism
Yeah I've heard of such before, I've never really looked into it though - did he do anything that is Dark Souls'y, perhaps? Or maybe someone on the dev team was a fan of him? Orrrr maybe it was coincidence? I wonder!
I actually think Ciaran is human. I think the Honor part of her mask description is the fact that she may be the only human to have earned a lords blade mask and I think her association with the “gods” allows her to see herself as separate and above other humans which is why her dialogue seems to separate her from other humans.
This feeling when you searched for Ciaran's face, you just saw a bald woman...
Yeah, I was thinking more that when she started, before the Lord's Blades were founded, so to speak.
From a theory I think can be correct Gough is blind and he can strike down flying dragons by hearing their sounds. If you atack him with a certain set that muffles your sounds he will attack random locations. Maybe that is right or he is not blind but he learned to fight without his vision as time passed.
My name is so long that it hardly even fit on the register back in highschool. I mean, if they put the full name in the credits of Dark Souls II, it will take up the entire horizontal plane of the screen.
That picture is very cute.
This is the first lore video of you that I watch, so don't blame me if you said this anywhere else but maybe you didn't know that: Ornstein and the Leo Ring seem to be kind of an easter egg, because Leo Ornstein was a pianist and composer.
I always thought Gough's helmet was full of tree sap and like. stuck to his eyes so if he tried to pull it off he'd tear his eyes out.
+SH4D0W ouch
6:57 - no. it was irrefutably Kaath who made the suggestion, the perpetrator was referred to as a serpent.
Frampt is a serpent too
true, but Frampt isn't an asshole lol
*[edit]*
Kaath spends his spare time doing nothing of interest in the Abyss, and he's lhe leader of the dickwraith covenant, he wants the Chosen Undead to "usher in a new age of dark" i.e. spread the Abyss' blackness.
He's certainly the perp.
I figure it's Kaathe, too. But there's a chance it was Frampt. Whenever they are vague like that, I think it's good to consider all possibilities. Kaathe makes the most sense, though.
She places his soul in the Oolacile Sanctuary since if you remember the grave of Artorias's Grave is across the bridge.
It usually helps if you run through what you're going to say a couple times, means you can focus more vocal.
This is one i was looking forward to seeing how little I know of these two. I really like Gough for some reason :D
Sweet lore series, keep it up!
I think gough is honor bound to the helmet. his helmet is the last thing that binds him to his purpose together with his bow which he doesn't abandon even after being locked up.
Resin acts as a glue...goths helmet is glued to his head..
I would have loved to see a game about the four knights. It's like with the game Legend of Dragoon, I always wanted them to make a prequel based on the dragoons of legend in that game. The same for this. Their is just so much lore, so much story and it is so fresh. Just anything. About how they became Gwyn's blades, how they earned their ranks among the other knights, how they knew each other beforehand. I see a lot of character from each of them. Artorias obviously the loud, enthusiastic wanna-be hero who *acts* like such a badass along with companion Sif who may very well be the only reason he ever succeeds at life, Gough the best friend of said wanna-be hero, Ciaran the girl who is totally in love with said wanna-be hero but never let's him know, and Ornstein the actual badass who is just not all that talkative. It kind of makes me think of Yu Yu Hakusho in a way.
I personally like the idea that Gough isn't blind, but the resin packed into his Helmet's eyeholes makes him believe he had gone blind and he never removed it because of his sentimentality for the past and for his lost purpose.
Just happened to stumble over this... First video I see from you, and definitely not the last one.
Much of interesting speculation, and the part about Wolf ring and (supposedly) Chester was completely new to me.
You did recite the words the characters say and even described the voice actors, but would it be possible to add the actual voices in your videos too? Sure, it would take effort to edit, but also would have a nice impact as this video was slightly monotonous.
Very good job here, mister!
04:30 in fact it could be from the same species as Quelana. Quelana is the same size as the player, but we know that the Witch of Izalith is not human, nor their descendants. As Manus divided his dark soul to create mankind, the witch might have cast the same, Ciaran could be of that species. Indeed, Havel may also be of the same species.
Sorry if my English is terrible, it is the translator.
+Larry Leonel In the opening cinematic at least, the Witch is HUGE compared to her daughters. Which is interesting!
5:34 i'm never going to look at ciaran the same again
Some wizards have made videos spawning characters in silly places in the world - now somebody just needs to let Ornstein go wild in the Valley of the Drakes.
Love that little "drunk adventures of the Dragonborn" skit
16:35 DAT CLUTCH DOH
Am I the only one who noticed what could be a third eye-socket on the skull of the skeleton, which Pinwheel reserch when you interrupt him? Because it is placed in the same place in which third eye on the Ciaran's mask is placed.
I noticed it after I read that comment :)
Also to add to post - Catacombs is Lordran's burial ground, meaning Lordran's population of humans, demigods and giants most likely was buried there when they die, so it is easy to find corpse of some demigod Lord's blade there.
Also, skull of that skeleton is slightly petite, meaning it likely belongs to woman once, keep in mind that only known member of the Lord's blades is female and the assassins order itself presumably is all-female
So it could easily be deceased member of the Lord's blades. If it is, it is good example of unspoken attention to details.
+mauser98kar I honestly think the corpse with the hornet ring in Sif's room is Ciaran's. she stayed by Artorias to the bitter end and now Sif guards her too
Me too, I just pointed out what I noticed in DS.
probably changes size just like boss armor does when u wear it
Would've liked to see Ornstein and Gough like...do their jobs against the Hellkite Wyvern, Gaping Dragon, and the other semi-dragons.
So we played as the Dark Lord Reincarnation all along and it up to you fix chaos that been pledge across the land.
Not really. You don't have to fight Manus nor Artorias or even the guardian. You just chose to. They're all optional boss fights.
couldn't we interpret gough as being too proud, rather than too silly, to take his helmet off? he was dismissed, so decided to show how skillful he is by embracing the blindness. essentially, I believe Gough was doing a blindfolded skill run!
+Devil's Advocate You definitely can!