Is Pontiff Sulyvahn a GOOD GUY in Dark Souls III?
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- One of the more requested tracks on this channel is good ol' Pontiff. One of the more memorable and hard fights from the Dark Souls lexicon, I distinctly remember the brutal frustration of this fight and per usual...never listening to the music just trying to stay alive.
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♪♫♬👊linktr.ee/marc... 👊♬♫♪
Hey y'all. Kindly remember that this is about what the music is making us feel and not specifically contextually. While i get that he's obviously not a good guy after these comments i think it would be worthwhile to remind you to keep your perspective beyond the story and hear the music. The opening does sound holy and gentle with the single child singing here. There are aspects that misdirect this on purpose. My job is not to be correct about lore my job is to interpret music and explain how i did. Thanks for watching.
S'all good my man, some of my fellow Souls fans just get their jimmies rustled real easily.
It's interesting that what you understood from the song harkens back to his childhood, before he became a villain.
But then you picked up on his vileness as the track progressed
I like the way it keeps getting more and more out of control, I always thought of this composition as naivete corrupted by all the ideas the person chose to surround them self's with. Born in a place that is for the forlorn and sorrowful, he was the only one that started where others ended.
the funny thing is the children's choir is probably representative of all the children that Pontiff has sacrificed to Aldrich (people eating sludge... thing)
If anything, the statue back in the Lothric castle courtyard does betray something of a tragic idealist
Nice interpretation, my guess is you felt the music through his perspective. He is the hero of his story. He is ending the reigns of the gods and proclaiming himself as ruler
great perspective
W
by enslaving all of his people and experimenting on them?
Pontiff turned the bar to the good side so much he broke it and turned evil.
integer overflow moment
In the beginning you’re hearing the guy just standing there. Just ignore him. Don’t disturb him. Don’t act against him and accept his will. But then after him realising you’re here to confront him he shows his true face. The brutality of his soul.
My man, Pontiff's like the main antagonist of DS3.
Half of the bad stuff happens because of him.
So he's like the Ranni of DS3...
tecnically its all bc of lothric
@@zolikoff Definitely not, and I'm not even one of Ranni simps
@@adrielic_ How so. Half the bad stuff in ER happens because of her.
@@adrielic_ Dude she orchestrated the assassination of her half-brother, Godwyn, because "I don't like muh fingers111!"
Along with his theme, what I love about Sulyvahn is the forcefulness and deliberacy of his movements and hits. He is really telling you "you are not going to take from me what I have achieved!"
He's brutal, yet efficient.
He reminds me of a professional fencer. Every move is precise, yet deadly.
Mans hits like a truck and you’re lulled into a false sense of confidence by his speed
Is pontiff Sulyvahn a good guy?
Well considering he is the Dark souls equivalent to Palpatine defiantly not
NO LITERALLY he rven emulated the "it's treason then" meme to a tee
“Somehow, Pontiff Sulyvahn returned.”
@@Hopeful_Husker This aged greatly
@@glennquagmire8345 *”RELLANA!! IS THIS HOW YOU FACE ME YOU COWARD?!”* - Tarnished bouncing like a basketball
@@The-ArthurMorgan Rellana : "It's over Tarnished, I have the high ground"
NO HE IS NOT
Debatably the WORST GUY
Very quite possibly THE WORST PERSON IN THE HISTORY OF DARK SOULS
😂😂😂
Local man ruins everything.
:P literally quite possibly the closest thing DS3 has to a true antagonist.
Pontiff Sulyvahn is my favorite character in all of Dark Souls. Vaatividya’s lore video on him is spectacular. This theme is incredible and the Pontiff fight, while not overly difficult, is really fun and engaging. The second half of that theme is really intense, too.
Pay attention with Vaati's videos. Sometimes he is right, but there are a lot of cases when he is wrong. Unfortunatelly, the western community is full of people who makes video and share info about From Software games, but without looking at the japanese original scripts. Even Vaati, that is so famous, did disinformation in the past because usually he does not use the japanese scripts. An example is about the "Time is convoluted" of DS1. Years and years with the idea of "Cycles", time convoluted etc., but in japanese is "Time is stagnant". So the correct lore does not speak about cycles and similar. However english content creators are addicted to the "English internation language, we are always right", and in this way, they're making tons of mistakes. Vaati is still making disinformation sometimes, at the moment with Elden Ring: for example going on with his own head-canon that the Crucible was there before the Erdtree, even if the japanese script clearly explains that the Crucible IS the Erdtree. During the first life-phase of the Erdtree, it was called Crucible; before Marika took away the rune of death from the Elden Ring, changing the name from Crucible to Erdtree (but still, the same entity) and its color changed from orange/red to golden. There are only a few western content creators who explains the true lore, based on japanese original scripts and translations; for example the english youtuber Smoughtown, or the italian youtuber Sabaku no Maiku.
Not overly difficult, damn dude you must be super good at dark souls games. Im pretty decent at them and can beat every boss without dying EXCEPT HIM. Idk what it is about him but man i struggle
I give you props for not struggling
based
"If even a man like Sulyvahn failed to change the world, then what chance do we have?"
This is one of my favorite quotes from Vaati, I think it summs up Sulyvahn's character so well.
Pontiff is by far and beyond the realm to be considered "Good".
He was a being who tyrannically took power in Anor Londo, placing himself as its leading "king" and began to consolidate power and running terrible experiments, such as Vordt becoming what you find him in his boss fight and declaring the Dancer to be both his personal entertainer and his personal warrior, which is what we fight and face in her boss fight. He sentenced the last remaining descendant of Gwyn to be imprisoned in a tower, unable to do anything but watch the pale grey consume everything. Half of all that happens in Dark Souls 3 is because of Pontiff Sulyvahn, and his theme in the first phase is a tempting call, a sort of reverence to think of him as a good priest. Enter 2nd phase and you see that mask slip off and see how he desperately grabbed power and sought to maintain it. So to take a few seconds and ask "is he good?" is you falling for that little siren's song of his. He was and never have been "good".
Yeah but you could excuse him for the fact that the profaned flame swallowed it's heart
did you watch this video.
@@HerMi.T wdym
bruh
you really didn't watch the video
@@kogakoga309 bruh.
Yes I did. So tell me what exactly was missed
I want to add one more fact about the pontiff and that is that nothing was mentioned about his other sword, "A ceremonial sword, held in Pontiff Sulyvahn's left hand, representing the judgment of the moon, but with magic far closer to sorcery than any existing lunar power. Its dark blue hues, deeper than the darkest moon, reflect sorcerer Sulyvahn's true nature."
I find it interesting that the sword that was infused with the light of the dark moon, a miracle, therefore associated with faith. But in the case of the pontiff he managed to manifest it with magic, therefore the darker tone. In other words, it can be said that (apart from the fact that he also took the title of pontiff by force) he is a false pontiff because he doesn't even have faith.
A detail that is written in the description of the weapon, but hey, not everyone reads the description
I have more things to say like the Latin lyrics that sound on their soundtrack and how well they complement the intentions of the Pontiff, the truth is a very well done boss. If anyone is interested, the translated lyrics are on UA-cam. That's all Ashen ones. Bye bye and don't forget to praise the sun
that' the point, he is an "impostor", gwyndolin locked up, and he rules as pontiff, the sword of judgement to rapresent gwyndolin, and the profaned flame o rapresent the first flame, but it's all fake
Pontiff is not a good guy. Pontiff Sulyvahn was planned to be the final boss of dark souls 3. He’s essentially a tyrant who took over Anor Londo. He’s also the reason Vordt and the Dancer are messed up.
Good people can do bad things too. I'm not arguing on Sulyvahn but would you flat out call Prince Lothric evil? Would you call Gwyn either good or evil? Would you call Gwyndolin good? Would you call Aldia good?
From the very beginning of dark souls it's clear that there's no meaning behind anything anyone does, no greater purpose, even "god" is just a self proclaimed title. All of these existences just clash against each other fighting to be on top and put everyone else below. And you are the same in every game as well. If Sulyvahn wasn't the final boss of Irithyll in the boreal valley, would that have stopped you from carving your way through the city to get to Anor Londo, and the Profaned Capital?
@@kabrozkabroz Our boy Sully is the reason of why A LOT of things are messed up in Dark Souls 3
besides, to all of those questions I say yes. For multiple variants there's indeed, some nuance when it comes to the description of "evil" but for the sake of painting a general picture we have to agree on this; there's just some people that do a lot more harm than good to the world of dark souls, and therefore, that means that the world would be much better without them. Sullyvahn was evil. Let's just accept that because it is the truth.
@@Ganom-ng1zt Yeah that's very true. I think we're kinda on the same page then.
@@Ganom-ng1zt We don't know his original intentions before he got corrupted by the Profaned Flame (whatever its called),so we don't really know if he actually was evil or not
Let’s not forget the tragedy of Sulyvahn’s beasts. So twisted up and monstrous there’s no way to confuse them for something else besides a beast. Unless they survive a riposte, where you can see some humanity left in them.
Ps: Can you do “Dragonslayer Armour” next? It’s a really underrated track.
Sullyvahn is possibly the evilest dude in the entire FromSoftware gaming career. He is a tyrant who killed enslaved and transformed people into beasts. He also imprisoned the daughter of the royal family only to make her his private dancer… and then also transformed her into a monster.
He poisoned a god, and let a saint devour that god.
In his youth, he was a scholar in Lothric’s kingdom and he is possibly the one that told the prince to abandon the Kindling of the flame, making the events of the game happen.
I love how you started reading the lore of these bosses after the music. I feel like knowing the story behind these characters adds to the actual music it’s self as you can almost hear there story in it.
The lore behind Pontiff Sulyvahn: He was a young sorcerer who once went to the profaned capital to learn about spells, and then fused his sword with the profaned flame, a flame that never dies, and then took over Anor londo, a land of the old gods that lived at the beginning of the world, killed the citizens and enslaved them as spirits and built his own city
He sounds like Flagg from The Eyes of the Dragon.
he literally read lore of pontiff in this video.
Don't forget that Pontiff Sulyvahn came from the Painted World of Ariendel.
Just a quick funfact, originally Pontiff was the final boss and you can hear that in the music aswell, his theme is so designed that its noticable.
Finally, Pontiff's theme gets the attention it deserves. Thou art blessed and highly favoured
Sulyvahn!!! My favorite DS3 boss after Sister Friede (which I recommend for a review on the channel 👀).
Pontiff Sulyvahn's boss theme is so unique to me as the most of the other bosses first notes are violent and very loud and frightening ; while Sulyvahn's is more gentle or even reflective.
Anyway I died way too many times on this boss too haha... screw the delayed attacks!
Same. I think I saw phase 2 just twice and that's because phase 2 was, for me, a lot easier than phase 1. I purposely kept the clone active so I could better read his attacks. Phase 1 took me so many tries to get a handle on. He was the first major wall for me. I knew I could parry him, but that did work out, so I just 2-handed the Hollowslayer Greatsword the whole fight instead. Those delays were awful. I've cleared the main game except for Soul of Cinder and am working on the 2 DLC, and even now I still have issues with delayed attacks. Nameless King was a nightmare and I actually was in tears when I finally killed him.
0:18 there was absolutely zero need to put this much effort in photoshopping Sulyvahn onto the Pope's car, this is golden.
pontiff is probably the furthest away from being good in dark souls :D if you read the things he's done he's pure evil
I actually was so lost in Pontiff's theme that DeCaptrio meme made me jump off my seat lmao.
This was one of the first bosses I fell in love with in ds3. Made him my profile picture for a bit xD Also decided to do a run at lvl 1. Honestly was a pretty fun fight with him. Took me many attempts.
Same his character design looks soo drippy
Pontiffs 2nd phase somehow always surprises me, it’s like a feel of how he shows you his rage and his evil has reached its peak once second phase starts… that’s just my opinion
In my opinion he is possibly among the most evil characters in all the souls games only rivalled by Mohg and possibly surpassed by the LOATHSOME DUNG EATER.
Aldritch though? He literally took pleasure in devouring people and hearing them scream, including children, until he became a literal blob of filth, I think he's still the most fucked up from software character, he and the Dung Eater are chill inducing (and Mohg to an extent)
@@Slow1337ex Not to mention that Gwyndolin is still alive(kinda) when you fight him, really messed up
@@Slow1337exyeah, I always forget that Gwyndolin's body isn't Aldrich, and he's just the blob under the robes
You owe Mohg an apology.
@@Zigthrill I already did under other videos. I was fooled by the Miquellester 😓
Pontiff Sulyvahn is what happens when ambition is left to itself. The rage you're hearing is the Profaned Flame inside of him. It's an undying fire that corrupts those around it. The way the Pontiff stands there waiting for you upon entering his cathedral clearly implies that he knew you were coming as well, which makes sense since you find his Outrider Knights (through whom he sees) all the way into Irythill. So his rage makes sense. How would you feel if you knew someone was coming to ruin everything you'd been working up to your entire life when you're already having a bad time? I think that's why his theme sounds heroic, yet distorted and wrong. From his perspective, he's the hero. He's the protagonist. He's fighting to defend what's his. So the combined heroism/evil in his theme is basically the clash between his perspective of what he is, and what he actually is. What he's become. He's the hero in his eyes, but really, he's an enraged, power-mad tyrant who's defending something he himself usurped in the first place.
It's why I love that subtle, nefarious use of the violin right at the start of the song. There's this beautiful little siren's call from the child choir that sounds innocent and holy, but the violin creeps in right after almost like a warning. ''Stop. Don't trust it. He's not right. He's not what he seems.''
He's one of the best bosses in Soulsborne, from lore, to gameplay, to music, to just the setting and atmosphere. It's a small wonder he was originally intended as the final boss.
One of my favourite songs in Dark Souls. Second Phase always hits hard, even after listening to it for hundreds of times.
Pontif was the good guy.
First, consider where he is making his last stand, or rather what's behind it: the most popular and most populated PvP location in the game by far. Pontif was not fighting us to hurt us, he was fighting us - the player - to protect us from godawful PvP of Dark Souls.
Second, remember that he left Painted World of Ariendel. And what did Sully did when he left it? He went searching for Profane Flame. The only logical reason for his quest would be that he wanted to burn down Painted World of Ariendel with it, for both in-game reason - it was supposed to be burned to be saved from rot - and out of game: so that we - players - would not have to play this terrible dlc filled with disgusting bugs and yuk.
Finally, Pontif arena is the best place to farm Sunlight Medallions. So even in death, he continue to help the players...
Yo sunlight medals are farmed form lothric knights u must be talking abt human dregs of aldrich faithfull
@@twilightofapprentice8280 I mean getting summoned as a sunbro and getting a reward for that. I found that much faster than killing lothric knights.
For whatever reason people have - used to have when I was playing the game several years ago - much troubles with Sully - and thus I was summoned almost immediately.
I noticed that in the second phase, everything is sung/played twice in quick successtion, just like Pontiff’s attacks as he mimics his phantom :)
The lore summary you read is interesting... it frames Aldrich and Sulyvahn as wholly oppositional in Irythill but item descriptions imply that they were just as much cooperative as oppositional in controlling Irythill. Sulyvahn gave the body of the God Gwyndolin to Aldrich as a gift to be devoured. Sulyvahn was probably planning a coup against Aldrich but they were still partners in crime.
When you fight Sulyvahn I wouldn't describe him as desperate. Politically he is in a strong position. He controls most the city, he has become the Pontiff, and his Outrider Knights have gained significant influence in Lothric.
I always had a different perspective when it came to Pontiff Sulyvahn.
The man left the painting, that was rotting and was in need of fire, and he went to the profaned capital for the profane flame to burn the painting.
But he gets corrupted by the profaned flame, and this corruption is in the form of the Abyss taking control of him.
The Abyss’ greatest enemy is the First Flame and would try to end it as soon as possible, and Pontiff Sulyvahn does exactly that.
Music in dark souls 3 plays an important part in its lore, and the sudden drastic change in phase 2 when he has the dark roots out means it’s the Abyss going out in full force to end you.
It’s not a far fetched idea to say the dark roots on his back is the Abyss’ on Sulyvahn considering there are a few NPCs with dark roots in their eyes (Fia and Archdeacon McDonnell) and a few deacons in Anor Londo (close to Aldrich)
in both his lore and design, it makes perfect sense that he was originally supposed to be the game's final boss. He's easily my favorite boss in the whole game too despite being my hardest one and it has a lot to do with the music. In the moment, its hard to digest how cool it is since i'm too busy getting my ass handed to me but goddamn, the overwhelming feeling this gives is so incredibly memorable. unlike the other bosses where its sad, and tragic and you might even feel bad for having to fight them but him, the music tells you that this is evil. darkness incarnate. its so badass and scary. especially that crescendo with the choir and he starts doing that shadow clone bullshit where you cant possibly parry them both. he's my favorite boss purely because of that stark contrast. his music just says "i'm the bad guy, i'm going to kill you now." another beautiful analysis from big man marco and i love the nuance you added from it outside of the game's context. it adds layers to the composition that i dont think i would've caught purely from just playing this.
Ce boss. Ce passage du jeu qui te fait utiliser absolument tout ce que tu as appris du jeu pour gagner. 43 tries, 4h d'apprentissage, de découverte. J'y ai pris un plaisir étonnament fou à progresser pendant ce bossfight. Il a été pour moi la représentation de la licence des Souls (ayant commencé par le 3).
La mise en scène, la musique, le charisme du boss, sa difficulté, tout est parfait.
So, interesting bit of information. Pontiff was originally the final boss earlier in development, and the main theme was HIS theme. When they changed things to make Soul of Cinders the final boss instead, they gave him a new theme.
Pontiff Sulyvahn was one of my favourite fights on the first playthrough.
You just enter into the bossroom of an area that is often very difficult for first time players and all you see is a long corridor in between the benches of the church and a tall figure in the distance;
You both slow wolk towards eachother with the choirs sending shivers and then he lunges towards you as the music goes louder.
I'm really glad you made a video on this! Pontiff is one of my favorite bosses in ds3 (though also one of the bosses I've had most trouble with, next to dancer whom I STILL DID NOT BEAT FUUUUUUUUUU) and also has one of the best boss tracks in the game. I still remember the time I finally beat him (mostly due to luck) but damn, the music never failed to tense me up
This was awesome! Haven't found the words yet to praise you for your contribution to our lovely community. But since it is Music were are talking about, this seems appropriate :)
Thanks a lot!
Aw! Thank you so much!
There is nothing wrong with the innocent and holy part at the start of the theme, he is the pontiff, and his origin and childhood was innocent and genius, he is indeed also the rebellion of put the broken fire era to an end-whether right or wrong
Loved hearing your thoughts, this is one of my favorite tracks from dark souls 3 and at this point it's memorised from the sheer number of times I died to him. I can't promise you'll ever find a happy souls song, but if you want the most hate filled one you should check out Fume Knight from Dark Souls 2
There are so many implications behind Sulyvahn. If you do Anri Of Astrora's quest, its story paints a clearer picture of the carnage that the Pontiff and the God Devourer caused. As convoluted as the questlines can be I recommend trying this one if you decide to do another run of the game. It's one of the quicker, more satisfying quests and it adds a good bit of depth to the characters.
Also Marco. Just want to add, I mentioned a song for reaction a month or so back, and I think you’ll find it to be, like me, one of the only *happy* souls songs. The Nameless Song is the credits music of the first souls game and although it still echoes of melancholy and pain, the music is so ethereal, it has this element of hope. The nameless song to me is the quintessential song of the player character across the series. Although the song “Epilogue” from the end of DS3 is absolutely stunning, it feels like a finale, a song that encompasses all emotions in one piece. But The Nameless Song represents the player character both in titular fashion and thematically. The desire for hope, the perseverance of the player and the cycle of fighting and dying for the hope at accomplishing your goal. I remember when I first found your channel way back during the early parts of Elden Rings lifespan and watched your reaction to the Elden Beast and seeing your reaction to that piece immediately reminded me of The Nameless Song. It moved me to tears after I beat the game for the first time and it brings tears to my eyes frequently on consecutive listens. It’s beautiful, solemn, and full of hope and the pride of overcoming obstacles no matter the strain. Never gonna request you to listen to anything I recommend but I think it may end up in your own personal playlist after you hear it😁 You’ve been killing it recently with the variety of music, and I’m dead excited for you having the GOAT Christopher Tin on the channel.
Aw man thank you so much for being an OG and sticking with me. I'll check this out for sure. Elden beast is like a religious experience.
I love your videos! You can literary feel the music and tell what is happening just by listeting to it. It's exceptionally good when you play Dark Souls series since the lore there is really abrupt and incomplete.
Sulyvhan arrived at Irithyll from Ariandel paint, and he found a city ruled by Gwyndoline, the last god remained in Anor Londo. We can clearly see it from the arena itself. The 4 statues are Gwyndoline statues, but without the snakes because he was embarassed by his monstruous body. And if you look at the windows, you can clearly see his golden mask/crown.
Sulyvhan rised up to the position of pontiff and started ruling over the city. He kept Gwyndoline sealed in the high Anor Londo, meanwhile he started modifying the city to a snowy environment, to get a more familiar environment, more similar to Ariandel paint. When Aldritch arrived, Sulyvhan fought against Aldritch to protect Irithyl, but Aldritch was stronger than him, so at the end he stepped aside, leaving Gwyndoline to Aldritch, to be able to at least save himself and continue to rule over Irithyl.
In the western community this is a bit misunderstood, but it's pretty clear from the japanese scripts and transcriptions. In fact, in japanese, it say that Sulyvhan locked the God-king from the previous ruling family (so Gwyndoline, the last god remained to rule on Anor Londo) in the abandoned cathedral (Anor Londo cathedral, the oldest part of the city, where you fight Onrstein and Smough in DS1, and now Aldritch in DS3). THEN, in MORE RECENT time, he offered Gwyndoline to Aldritch, to save himself. Gwyndoline was locked years and years before Aldritch arrival. He was NOT locked there specificately to offer him to Aldritch.
Unfortunatelly, the western community is full of people who makes video and share info about From Software games, but without looking at the japanese original scripts. Even Vaati, that is so famous, did disinformation in the past because usually he does not use the japanese scripts. And he is still making disinformation sometimes, at the moment Elden Ring: for example going on with his own head-canon that the Crucible was there before the Erdtree, even if the japanese script clearly explains that the Crucible IS the Erdtree. During the first life-phase of the Erdtree, it was called Crucible; before Marika took away the rune of death from the Elden Ring, changing the name from Crucible to Erdtree (but still, the same entity) and its color changed from orange/red to golden. There are only a few western content creators who explains the true lore, based on japanese original scripts and translations, for example the english youtuber Smoughtown, or the italian youtuber Sabaku no Maiku.
This music leads us through the story of Sullyvhan himself. Going from a sad theme of longing since he is a child of the painted world, yet in the realm meant to house those who are cast out, he did not belong. So he set out into the real world on an adventure, and came across Anor Londo where he found the place he could really make something of himself. Only to find children of gods there and those who he deems as flawed and undeserving of worship. With the rise in the music, it symbolizes his fall from lost soul into a hunger for power. So he sets up their downfall and becomes empowered by the perpetual flame and the power of sorcery making his own subjects into monsters and dancers content to reign into the end of the world with a front row seat as the age of fire is swallowed by the Abyss. The song goes into its end game as you arrive and slowly undermine his grip on the city, he is enraged, and he'll make sure no one takes his place of belonging from him, no chosen undead, no god, no one! His thirst of power on full throttle and wrath focused solely on you. Also, the main DS 3 theme is in here because he is the main villain of the game according to the lore.
Finally😭
To think that Pontyff was originally going to be the final boss oh man
(If im not mistaken, the ds3 menu ost was going to be his actual boss fight ost)
Short answer: No
Long answer: This man fed the gods to a dark sludge monster, usurped an unnatural, profane flame born of the abyss, manipulated the prince's of Lothric into betraying the cycle of linking the fire, and planned to usurp the fire himself and become lord of light and dark.
He was also supposed to be the final boss, which is why the main theme is mixed in a little.
Honestly Pontiff is basically the main villain except you meet and defeat him mid-game and you'd have no idea how important he is without reading item descriptions
Yeah it's crazy he's basically the king of this world and you kill him mid way 😂
Reminds me a lot of the Shadowlord's Castle from Nier Replicant. The unsettling tone choir along with a sense of unease and corruption of the once holy is a compelling motif, it seems. Thanks for breaking down the track!
Yeah, he was born inside the Painted World, which is normally a sort of magical refuge for those cast aside in the real world, but having been born there, Sulyvahn only knew it as the cold snowy place it was and found no comfort or place there. A young sorcerer, he set out into the outside world essentially searching for some kind of belonging or home of his own. However he found the Profane Flame in Irithyll, an evil fire tainted by the Abyss that corrupted his heart with dark ambition and his machinations from there on led the greatest kingdoms to their downfall and causing the ruin of the very world itself.
He was even originally meant to be the final boss.
Sulyvahn was supposed to be the final boss in dark souls 3 in it's early design, and you almost feel it still in his OST, his has like that finality and ominous "you've reached the end, we both know what happens next" as it starts playing and he looks at you from the center of his cathedral, he's in no rush and wait for you to make the first steps forward.
The calm feeling of the first part also gives that sensation of confidence, but as the fight goes Sulyvahn's theme and attacks get more violent, less gracious as he starts to feel an actual thrat.
Naaaah... Pontiff Sullivan is probably one of the most cunning, evil, layer 10, ruthless, string pulling, grudge holding antagonist in the verse lol
He was almost the final boss of DS3 actually from what I was hearing from the people that dig through the files
Dope enemy
Sulivahn could be argued to be the good guy depending on your perspective, if you side with Gwyn and the age of fire, he's the biggest villain its ever faced, but if you want to end the age of fire, then he's the reason that's possible. Sulivahn is basically the reason all the events in the game happen, he is implied to have a hand in convincing Lothric not to link the flame, thus leading the lords of cinder to be ressurrected, he's also the one sheilding Aldrich, one of the lords of Cinder, and to a certain extent Yhorm from you, Vordt and the Dancer also both work for him and are there to protect Lothric from you. He took over Gwyn's old city of Anor londo, feeding his younger son to Aldrich, imprisonning one of his descendants and turning the other into the dancer. He's definately a tyrant, but could be argued as neccessary evil since the age of fire needs to end.
Definitely a wonderful analysis on this boss of a boss, and the tidbit on not finding footing on the music as you fight him makes a whole lot of sense. Died to the pontif too much on my first run 😂😂
Pontiff Sulyvahn is such a great use of dark souls' lore and storytelling style. you've been reading about the horrible things things this guy has done and then you just walk in a door and find him walking towards you, no cutscene or nothing. all the weight of those item descriptions means he requires no introduction. Also, he certainly does seem like a character who is doing what they consider to be the right thing. this theme is full of twisted righteousness.
I had his soundtrack on loop, one of the best
He definitely seems to view himself in the right. He left his birthplace and wandered until he discovered a source of power that had killed everyone in the civilization, took power in a corrupted clergy and "guided" it down a path of the age of dark.
He is definitely an interesting character because you could see his actions as noble. He isn't aligned with Aldrich or Lothric's ideals. He's probably got a similar hatred or fear of fire from living in the painted world, which is why he stands against us.
This track is probably my favorite out of the series if not one of them. It has everything I love about fromsoft’s dark orchestral music from the Menacing Angelic vocals to the way have beauty in the wake of all this darkness that the scores and the game’s atmosphere presents to you.
Dark Souls is a very morally grey world. There are no good guys or bad guys....
That said Sullyvahn is 100% a bad guy. He's basically pure evil and guilty for pretty much everything bad that happens in DS3.
I love feeding kids to my blob bro
This uneasyness maybe comes from the fact that Sulyvahn is that one person you hear about in Dark Souls III, and then you see him and the music also gives this expression of "...I heard of you... But are you him...?"
5:20 You can hear that the music in phase two sorta mimics itself a few times. The same melody will play right after the first one. I like to imagine that this is a reference to how Pontiff mimics his Shadow form in phase two. It’s like an echo.
love the content and edits! Especially the blurred text while you were reading specific paragraphs of the lore!
Nothing better than hearing Marco in his opera singer days when he does the introduction
The Pontiff is about as pleasant as a sandpaper enema.
But his music does give off a sense that he may once have had unassuming, if not good, intentions. Being an outcast among the outcasts and trying to find a purpose in the outside world humanizes him, if nothing else. It's only after he nabs the Profaned Flame that he starts to really become the Dark Souls equivalent of Palpatine. For all we know, the true Sulyvahn is dead and his corpse is being piloted by the Profaned Flame, much like how Shabriri eventually takes over Yura's body in Elden Ring.
There are some interesting retrospective parallels to be drawn, if nothing else.
What's interesting is. Sulyvahn is technically a good guy. He's trying to end the Age of Fire which was supposed to end ages ago. He is a villain to us because we are slaves to the first flame. He's trying to give humanity the world we were meant to inherate before Gwyn ruined everything.
Ehh not really he’s trying to instill his own order that of the deep but he has to snuff the fire first he’s not altruistic in his motives or even benign like Lothric and Lorian he’s like Sauron
Dont know if anyone has commented this, but the ds3 main menu music was originally supposed to be Pontiff's theme, because of his involvement with the ending, etc. Also Gwynevere Princess of Sunlight is the "happy" song you are looking for. Pontiff had something to say about Gwynevere tho...
This is one of my favourite tracks from DS3. I always think of the liturgical choral overtones as having venom dripping off them, in a similar way to how Sulyvahn used his religious power to enact so much evil
Yes, you are correct, Pontiff Sulyvahn is the hero. He was a brave outsider who upset the tyrannical government under Dark Sun Gwyndolin, who was basically magical Stalin by the time of Irithyll.
He was pretty brutal about it, though. Also, at some point he came into contact with the Profaned Flame, which turned him from what was possibly a good man to something else. A tragic hero, worthy of song.
funniest title ever
Definitely got me to click!
It was a nice catch noting it is similar to Dark Souls 3's main theme! While the game was being produced, Pontiff Sulyvahn was meant to be the final boss, and the game's main theme used to be his boss fight theme. After his role in the story was reworked, and his old theme repurposed into the menu theme, he needed a new theme for his fight that was obviously similar in tone to what the previous one was.
I saw the thumbnail and yell out no irl he is not good, his is evil af
Pontiff "Infinite Combo Chains" Sulyvahn.
Likely one of the most clear-cut villains in the Souls games.
Fun fact: Pontiff's music was originally supposed to be the Main Theme of DS3 and Pontiff as the final boss, it was later scrapped for this!
I would like you to please listen to the boss music for Champions Gravetender and Greatwolf. A boss that a lot of people hate on but has beautiful boss music
Funny how you describe it as "swimming" seeing as Sulyvahn was helping Aldrich bring about the *Age of Deep Sea*
The pontiff is the very opposite of good. He comes from a painted world of snow and was a sorcerer who derived his power from darkness. He became greedy and left his cold world to take claim to the boreal valley and killed and made a mockery of the previous royal family, one of them being the dancer of the boreal valley who he made a dancer for his own entertainment before turning her into one of his outrider knights. He also spread his dark magic throughout the church and corrupted it. The deacons of the deep are an example of this. (Highly recommend their boss music btw)
Finally been waiting for this video!
You are right about the main theme, since Pontiff was initially supposed to be the main antagonist of DS3, until it was scraped. Considering his impact, he pretty much is the main boss of the game lore wise.
I highly recommend listening to ocerios' theme as well, it is very underrated and unique even among the DS3 roster.
Pontiff Sullyvahn is the main antagonist of the game lol! Everything happened due to ol' sully here. He convinced the Twin Princes to not light the flame, so that the previous Lords of Cinder would come back; but he specifically wanted Aldrich, because he had captured Gwyndolin (Gwyns son) so that he could feed him to Aldrich as a sorta peace offering. And that's just a little bit of the chaos this guy created.
Wow! waiting for the reaction to the theme song of Sister Friede and Father Ariandel.
I'm kinda late here but from what I understand, Pontiff at one point discovered the Profane Flame. There's a disappointing lack of exposition on the Profaned Flame, but Andre says he can see the Abyss in it. My take is that Yhorm the Giant linked the First Flame and became a Lord of Cinder in hopes of quelling this Profaned Flame - because it apparently derives at least some of its power from the Dark, strengthening the Age of Fire and delaying the Age of Dark would be a logical step in trying to snuff out a flame fuelled by the Abyss.
It's not very clear what happened around this time, but the simplest explanation is that while Yhorm was gone, linking the First Flame, the Profaned Flame raged and killed everyone. The Profaned Flame pyromancy says it burned away "naught but human flesh", which is interesting. Not sure if, through translation, we're meant to interpret "human flesh" as flesh of Dark-souls-humans or just humanoid beings, including Giants. Regardless, the way I interpret this is that the Age of Fire has been going for so long that the Dark has, in a way, become desperate, and enraged, crying out for the Age of Fire to finally end.
I think Sulyvahn, who originally was an inhabitant of the Painted World of Ariandel and familiar with the custom of burning away the painting when it begins to rot so a new one can be painted, found the Profaned Flame, and took it as concrete proof that the extended Age of Fire was an atrocity to the natural world. So, with a "burning ambition" (Profaned Greatsword), he subjugated the remainder of the old gods in Anor Londo, and enabled and seemingly sided with Aldrich in getting him to consume them. If all the gods are dead, the head of the Age of Fire ideology is gone.
Why Sulyvahn sides with Aldrich in bringing about the Age of Deep Sea is ambiguous. Perhaps it was just the fastest way to bring about the next age, similar to the Age of Dark but not identical. Or it might be that the Age of Fire has gone on for so long that the Dark has become so stagnant and weakened that it can no longer naturally take over and begin the next cycle by itself - it needs assistance. This "Deep Sea" is where all human dregs end up, which seem to be some kind of byproduct or later stage of Humanity sprites (they share the same shape) - i.e., Dregs are to Humanity as Ash is to the Flame.
I think Sulyvahn's methods of usurping power were undeniably monstrous and uncaring, but that seems to be his very nature, born and raised in the Painted World with nothing but stories of hatred of those on the outside, and he left due to "never experiencing loss" - he had no use for the Painted World, he'd never experienced the oppression on the outside, and left his home without caring at all.
But when you look at the bigger picture, how royally the gods have f*cked up the natural cycles, it's easy to see Sulyvahn as being a hero at the same time as being a villain. He's the final domino in toppling the Age of Fire and bringing about a new age, as it should always have been, and as it always has been inside the Painted Worlds, where he was raised.
Fun fact! Pontiff Sullivahn was once intended to be the final boss of Dark Souls 3 so that kinda shows just how much importance he had/still has in the game especially with his intense af music.
Pontiff is the reason why DS3 exists. I even used phantoms to kill him because he deserves it.
Yes, yes he is.
In a weirdest, most twisted and horrid way, but he is.
"Oh no, he fed Gwyndolin to Aldrich!"
Remember who kept his dear Pop's plan of "Hey you, Undead! Go and burn yourself to prolong the suffering of the world!" running? Yup, that's right, little Gwyndi did.
"B-b-but he's going to hurt Yorshka!"
Yorshka, is another Half-breed, but, unlike Priscilla, she is FULLY supporting of her relatives' plan of prolonging the world's suffering. Also, she leads Darkmoons. If you look into item description for the Double Tongue invasion reward (given when you kill Blues in invasion) you'll see that Darkmoons/Blue Sentinels are treacherous snakes with forked tongues, who stand with the Gods' subjugation and brutal rule over humans and are here solely to ensure that "chosen" fools would successfully make it to the Kiln and burn themselves, dooming the world further.
So guess what? Yeah she's a bad person and deserved whatever cruel fate Sully had for her.
"It was (LIKELY) him who told Lothric/Lori to not link the Fire!"
Yes, if it was him and not Aldia, the Scholar (which there's a possibility since we find his Soul Geyser Sorcery in Lothric Archives), then that's yet another thing that Pontiff did right. Age of Fire MUST end. Let the world rest. Let the true be cast upon the world, let humanity be free for some time, they absolutely deserve it.
"He twisted Dancer and Vordt into terrifying monstrosities!"
Dancer is a descendant of Gods - Gwynevere more specifically. Sure, she might be sort of innocent, but with how horrible is the curse, the fate of Mankind given to us by the Gods, she's also guilty. Just because she's one of them.
So is Vordt. He's always been running near and around dancer, like a loyal dog would. You stand with the Gods - you deserve the same punishment.
He might've done alot of bad things from the general perspective, but if you look at it from the Human point of view, he's not that bad.
He is not very nice to some humans, looks like - Irithyll's hollow slaves being the example.
But at the same time - there's no noticeable mistreatment from him towards his Knights and Witches.
Who, very likely, are humans - Knight's wield Deep-corroded swords and use a natural Dark Sorcery projectiles, and Witches wield Flame and Sorcery - both things are closer to human in nature then to Gods. Also, in current time in Dark Souls world, "Witch" is almost always used to describe a Human sorceress, usually capable of using Dark (humanity-based) Sorceries.
He is a weird sort - he came from a painted world, he's a child of that Tree Woman we find near one of his Frost Sorceries. He's not human Himself, YET his Sword of Judgment glows in dark hues, darker than any (moonlight) sorcery, and said to represent his true nature - meaning he is VERY close to Human/Dark, even though he is not one.
He, in a way, is a "Divine Punishment" that befallen the city of the Old Gods (Londo/Irithyll).
The soundtrack, at least to me, starts as a relative calm argument between a "believer" or "man of faith" of sorts and a his religious opponent, it has some periods when tension heightens, but most of the time it's relatively calm, while still it's clear that "man of faith" side is trying to persuade their opponent to join them. But they just don't listen.
And then, annoyed and disappointed, man of Faith snaps, going into religious zeal, ready to remove his opponent from equation entirely, rather then include.
Which, does make sense. Pontiff does believe in the Age of the Deep. He is, also, affected by the Profaned Flame, hence the sudden outburst of anger reflected in music - seems that even the "corrupted, flesh-consuming" Fire is against the "First Flame" that holds the entire world hostage, and you, Ashen One, are carrying a tiny bit of that flame too.
So, while I wouldn't call him a good person, in a global scheme of things, he is a good thing, at least for Humanity, as he took down the remaining Gods and tried to bring forth the Age of Deep (very likely NOT the same as the age of Dark, but it would've benefitted humanity still), and can be considered a "good guy".
Finally someone with media literacy
He was actually the final boss of DS3 in earlier stages of development. But it was changed.
The Pontiff is the undisputed villain in fromsoftware games.
thank you so much for this video, for sure my favorite theme from any from software game
fun fact, Pontiff Sulyvahn was going to be the final boss of the game, Soul Of Cinder was added late in development (Soul Of Cinder armor was supposed to be the canon look for the Ashen One, which is why he is on the game's cover)
Pontiff could be seen as a good guy when you look at who he’s against. Like he helped Aldrich by bringing him to anor londo and having him eat gwyndolin but think about how gwyn and his children aren’t saints and actively use man for their dirty work. Darkmoon knights were used by gwyndolin to kill people who sought the truth in anor londo. Pontiff may have corrupted the way of white but again, what was that used for? A religion used to shepherd humans towards linking the fire. Then comes the cleric Aldrich who linked the fire and saw that isn’t worth it so he gives up and goes and hunt down the gods and devour them. Sure that’s messed up but those gods? Terrible people as well. Except Nito, if Aldrich devoured him it’s kind of sad because Nito has always been a character who wants the undead and himself to be left alone.
One of the best Dark souls bosses ever made
It’s also funny that the main theme was supposed to be his boss music as well
Confusing why so many people race to the comments to explain the lore before even watching the whole video. Keep up the great content man!
I'm really pleased to hear that thank you! It was a very tumultuous title and i love it
Hello. I am a loreseeker who also explains environmental details and placements!
Despite being called a Pontiff, he is wrongfully self-proclaimed Pontiff by usurping from servitude inside. Sulyvahn is a sort of tree-man wizard who came from a Painted World which would become home for those without one to losing everything. His sorcery can be found within the painting and at the foot of a tree woman who is crying in suggesting it's because of him leaving. Engagement with this tree woman reveals a ladder in the style of an unusual laddersmith who was once a bandit, suggesting she had hid it. Sullyvahn would escape the painted world with help of this laddersmith and be recognized as the source of frost magic within DS3. Sulyvahn would be a sorcerer child of the tree woman, but working legs unlike his mother. Their home, Painted World, was rotting, and could only be set right by burning the painting away, and the painter to make a new one. The tree women would all share characteristics, but neither speak, nor their story directly told. They would breathe frost and some would channel flame.
In Dark Souls, the control of flame originates with Chaos dated back to the Great Witch and her daughters, unleashing a great Chaos that would sprout life. Even turning the Great Witch into tree-like entity governing her creations of Chaos. They were a prideful bunch, but one witch, Quelana would leave as the most human of them and teach pyromancies, and to always fear the flame. Quelana wanted to fix their misery and would betray them, but we find her body in DS3 by her sickly sister suggesting it couldn't be her heritage to the tree women. Instead our true prominent figure is the unsung Oracle of DS2's Ivory King DLC, who is our first glimpse of frost magic, and is only afraid and woeful of the fate of her king, who selflessly fought and fell to the Old Chaos. This Oracle tells us she is a Child of the Abyss, born a fragment of Manus. She too opposes the Old Chaos, suppressing it herself and her tree-like ice projections, the same we find in DS3's Painted World. On careful observation, the Oracle has unusual textured skin and a similar hair even to the Tree Women, concluding Sulyvahn's nature with Chaos, frost sorcery, and Dark. And not long after his departure, himself and the laddersmith would find their journey through Irithyll Dungeons and into the Profane Capital soon to recognize the accursed Profane Flame, a flame of sorcery that never goes out, and peering into it shows the Abyss to corrupt men. The same men who placed it off limits. Seeing the flame Sulyvahn had inspiration to change the world with the flame, like it would the World he once lived. At that same time, the Laddersmith, Gilligan would succumb to the journey at the capital, lifeless. We can't know if it was murder, but we know Sulyvahn fooled Irithyll from the inside, took rule, and gained tremendous influence to the lord in Lothric Castle and would attempt to rid the last of the known gods with Aldrich's help.
Thank you!
@@MarcoMeatball it's quite a good example of environmental storytelling. A commonplace in understanding the lore is wth item descriptions and dialogue only, so most people ignored 1/3 of that subject that your eyeballs can make a clear sense of looking at it. It's why I'm particularly passionate about this stuff and happy to share.
One of my favorite soundtracks and one of the coolest fights in the souls series
You know I'd love to see you break down some opera music too!
Lore-wise He is the worst guy of all. Enslaving people, propagating cannibalism, killing everyone who disagrees, hunting down people, or preventing Ashen ones from relighting the fire, both personally and through his underlings, Dancer of the Boreal valley and Vordt.
Oh I’ve been waiting for this one!
It sounds like this because here, you're the good guy putting down the bad guy.
The holy descendant from ds1 that reign for ages, this dude ended it.
you've probably had people comment this already, but this wasn't his original theme. He was originally the final boss of DS3 and his theme was what is now the main menu.
I was waiting for this Video to Happen
guys, he's interpreting the *music,* not the lore
music can give an entire new perspective to a character which you might not consider without it
That Is correct and a nuance that is lost 🤣😭
@@MarcoMeatball oh well lol