In this weeks video we go over some overlooked alchemical aspects that made up Dark Souls 2. I touch on some deeper meanings behind Dark Souls 2 game mechanics which seem more calculated than originally perceived and tie it back to core concepts in alchemy.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/maxderrat
SubscribeStar: https://www.subscribestar.com/max-derrat
PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/maxderrat
Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj8orMezFWVcoN-4S545Wtw/join
My Website: https://www.maxderrat.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/maxderrat
Discord Link: https://discord.gg/EuyNXpN
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/maxderrat
My Podcast (MAXimum News): https://youtube.com/@TripleSPodcasts
#darksouls #eldenring
31 Comments
I get it man you made another video previous to this one please stop beating me over the head with that information
Comment for the comment gods.
Souls, baby!
The Wooden Shield isn't completely useless during the Rom fight. I demand a better analogy 😀
I really think your theory calls back to the origin in the game. That when all four souls are together, fire does not seal the dark and all is free, hollowing does not exist/is a natural state of sanity. It could be argued that the "first sin" is throwing things out of balance just by claiming the "life force" of the world and spreading it around. Humanity in DS1 shows that "light" coexists around darkness and forms a being. The "nobles" and "gods" have pure light souls that have become golden in its "purity" and great soul from the first flame. (flame + white souls = gold?). You're crown theory makes so much sense because wouldnt it make sense that when all off those souls come together you'd break the "curse" that was caused by those who took from the first flame? Even the Pygmy lords in DS3 are nobles and are shown to be selfish and greedy.
I mean, DS3 shows that time is "convoluted" (overlapping) because time is being held frozen by fillanore. Light magic = time magic as represented by the descriptions in DS1 in Oolacile and in spells given by Princess Dusk. Clearly that is the cause of hollowing taking hold as feeding the first flame with a Champion feeds the spell with enough light (souls aka magic) to power spell. This is how Bonfires are connected through time. Time overlaps. I think it makes sense that the crown could have the power as you say by having the power of the first flame. Thank you for coming to my ted talk. Im sure there is more evidence. Geez I should have made a reddit post.
You count Filianore as one of Gwyn's 4 kids "in Dark Souls I."
But she isn't introduced until DS3. We didn't know all 4 of Gwyn's kids. You've counted one 4 too many.
While the theory is so well rounded that I agree with almost every point, I have to bring some data that are inconsistencies.
First, the Witches of Izalith and Nito's souls aren't "light souls". The only "light soul" is Gwyn's. The 4 Lord Souls are opposites: Izalith's is the Soul of Life, Nito's is Death, Gwyn is Light and Pygmy, opposing Gwyn, is Dark. But nonetheless the theory still applies since the Dark Soul work in a so different fashion of the other 3, while they weakens when divided, the Dark Soul becomes more powerful as more it divides, and that's why Gwyn feared the humanity so much.
Also, what made the ancient dragons immortal was their stone scales. Seath wasn't immortal because that, out of envy and hatred he betrayed his kind just because he was born scaleless, and the persue of immortality was what drove him mad. And it was him who told the Lords the dragon's weakness, so Gwyn and his knights were able to break their scales with lightning, and them Nito could weaken them with miasma for the Witches finish it with their rain of fire. But maybe the scales covering the dragons are a part of the Prima Materia of the Dark Souls Universe
SIR! long time lurker first time commenter i love your videos and im thankful you are doing things about my favorite game dark souls two. Your thoughts and research is always amazing thanks for the entertain
newer subscriber here, have you played signalis? really great homage to games like silent hill and resident evil with a really good story
Best Souls 2.
Very cool. In Christianity ✝️ the four souls in Dark Souls actually can co relate. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which is the spirit of God. Man is the fourth soul as written in Genesis, Man is made in the image of God. So we have 4 here. Man is the fourth element, the dark soul. Dark because of sin. The serpent (Satan) who tempted mankind to sin. This is also seen in Dark Souls
Your fashion is trash my guy lol
Love the vid Max
The Trinity is representative of Heaven and God, the 4th is representative of Earth and Creation. By implication its inevitable for Perfect Deity to create everything else in existence. Earth is the inevitable byproduct of Heaven. Its also inevitable for Materiality to be transfigured by Heaven. For Heaven and Earth to become United.
In the beginning there was God who is Infinite Perfect Being. And the Void. Therefore the beginning is both Infinitely filled and Infinitely empty. Therefore Materiality is inevitable.
Damn max, this is your spiciest video yet! Damn!
there is a new game called BLEAK FAITH Forsaken, it is by no means great, its made with 3 designers only. give it a check
This whole video is built on sand. It was never stated in any part of Dark Souls that there were 3 "light souls". The souls were opposites of one another, death x life; light x dark. If you're saying there were 3 light souls based on the fact that the souls are represented as fire, the Dark Soul also is represented as a small flame in the opening cinematic.
It is also a little dishonest that you represent the dark soul with the image of the Soul of Manus. That is NOT the dark soul, as I said, the dark soul can be seen in the opening cutscene and it is clearly a small flame.
Thanks for the contents you wonderful yellow man
A good old fashioned lore video. Love to see it
The one thing that really bothered me about your theories is that you call the Death and Life souls Light souls, when only Gwyn's soul is the Light soul. It's just semantics but it still irked me.
The soul of cinder is our chara from ds2 since it is the only human that can resist hollowing the souls of all who linked the fire afterwards plus the old lords gathered from the crowns in ds2.
Great video, always love your stuff. <3
I love the way the human mind is just so motivated to detect and rationalize patterns. Numbers especially are an endless source of entertainment. Take any number and try to find all the different ways you could divide, multiply, or otherwise manipulate it into all kinds of seemingly mind blowing ways. I have always wondered if that means there really is a sacred geometry or if we are just masters of observing the material world and explaining it to ourselves in whichever way we find most attractive.
Look into One Piece the anime, The world government symbol the different devil fruits (especially the Dark Dark fruit) The navy Admirals and why sengoku can transfor into a giant buddha. Theres a reason why the two forces of pirates and world government are at odds with each other. Japan sure has some amazingly well-read manga artists.
I recommend to also play TUNIC, it has a good use of this trinity concept. I really like these videos by the way.
I look forward to every one of your videos! Dark Souls 2 definitely deserves a lot more attention
In ancient Babylonia there was Anu, Bael, and Ea (Heaven, Earth, and the Abyss).
In the Tarot, 3 is the number of the Empress, the embodiment of the female principle that symbolically links the Heavens with Earth and who carries within her the triple aspect of the Goddess as Virgin, Mother, and Crone.
4 – not only does it represent a square but also a cross.
In the Sufi tradition, there are 4 gates through which a man had to pass on his way to enlightenment.
In the Tarot, 4 is the number of the Emperor, the archetypal male figure, father, the King, the patriarch, who likes to create order and harmony in the universe.
If the numbers within 4 are added together—1+2+3+4— the whole adds up to 10, which implies the start of a new cycle, a rebirth, or reincarnation. These ten numbers form the Tetragrammaton, the Hebrew theonym for the name of God, transliterated into 4 letters as YHWH or JHVH. Yahweh or Jehovah.
I think a key component of the universe is hinted at by Aldia. He mentions something like shattering the yoke, spoiling the falsehood, that the world is an illusion or facade, but a splendid one. I think in a meta way it's a commentary on how the universe they inhabit isn't real, as intricate and complex as it may seem. He sought to find out the nature of reality (gnosis) and transcend it, but failed, in the process corrupting himself as he had previously corrupted others, perhaps as karmic punishment for his sins. Your character ultimately has two choices, perpetuate the cycle of illusion by coveting and claiming the throne, acting as a pawn of fate. You "win" in this scenario, but not really because you just end up right back at the start. You've really accomplished nothing. Alternatively you can turn from the cycle completely, refusing to restart it and create your own fate separate from the pre-destined one almost every player experiences in perpetuity, regardless of the consequences. Perhaps on some level it represents putting the game down when you've finished, and actually living life instead of being trapped in the game world and its predictable cycles, or perhaps it's analogous to life itself. Idk man, I could be way off, but there are definitely heavy Gnostic and Buddhist elements, especially in DS2. It's a cool game.
The final antagonist of the manga "Bleach" is named "Juha Bach" and he is the son of the "Soul King".
His plan is literally to bring about everlasting life for everyone by reverting reality to it's primordial state before the concept of the cycle of life and death was invented.
These themes really do pop up everywhere.
Hey Max, I'm a big of your channel and your unique content. I'm currently writing my M.A thesis in criticism and comparative literature and I strongly believe that your content and ideas are worthy of a PhD thesis. This can be a huge topic for another day. Your videos add to me and I learn a lot from them as I'm sure they do to many others. Stay yellow (;
Would have thought you would mention the Japanese view on the number 4.