story of Dark Souls 2, and clearing up some questions that I get. I think it goes without

saying that there will be massive spoilers in this video, and I don’t recommend watching

until you’ve completed the game. I’ll also be referencing Dark Souls 1. You’ve

been warned. So, let’s get started!

-- Part 1 – The Great Souls

“You, who link the fire, you, who bear the curse…

Once the fire is linked, souls will flourish anew,

And all of this will play out again. It is your choice…To embrace, or renounce

this…”

In the end of Dark Souls 1, player s are given a choice to link the fire or not. Regardless

of which choice the character makes, at the time of Dark Souls 2, it’s safe to say that

someone, be it the chosen undead from Dark Souls 1, or another hero, at some point has

linked the fire. “They say these are the remains of a saint

who cast himself into the bonfire. But we will never know for sure, for soot and ashes

tell no story.”

Once this happens, everything that happened before plays out again. A cursed cycle. History

doomed to repeat itself over and over again. Straid of Olaphis informs us:

“Many kingdoms rose and fell on this tract of earth; mine was by no means the first.

Anything that has a beginning also has an end.

No flame, however brilliant, does not one day splutter and fade.

But then, from the ashes, the flames reignites, And a new kingdom is born, sporting a new

face. It is all a curse! Heh heh heh!

And it is your cursed flesh that will inherit the flame.

Heh heh…”

One such kingdom that resided where Drangleic once did was Olaphis. But, like all kingdoms

before, it has fallen by the time of Dark Souls 2, likely during another cycle.

“Once the fire is linked, souls will flourish anew.”

When a powerful Undead links the flame, it causes this rebirth, and the cycle continues.

Great and powerful souls fly reborn, and inhabit new bodies.

We see this through the major bosses of Dark Souls 2.

During the Lost Sinner fight, you’ll see a familiar creature…

(Lost Sinner scene) One that looks just like The Witch of Izalith

from Dark Souls 1. For defeating The Lost Sinner in New Game

+, you’ll receive The Old Witch Soul, which you can trade to Ornifex for The Chaos Blade.

For defeating the Old Iron King, you’ll receive the Old King Soul,

For the Duke’s Dear Freja, The Old Paledrake Soul,

And for The Rotten, the Old Dead One Soul.

The implication being that many of the great souls from Dark Souls 1 have been reborn,

and spread into new beings. Those beings then pick up similar properties as their former

selves.

In Dark Souls 1, The Witch of Izalith created the Chaos Flame, and thus all demons in its

wake. Quelana, her daughter, views this as a sin, and something to attone for. We see

The Lost Sinner “eternally punishes herself for the sins of her past.” Her sword tells

us: “Its blade saps the life of its wielder. The true nature of this sword is unknown,

even to the Lost Sinner herself. Those who choose this sword will share the Lost Sinner’s

misdeeds.” While it’s possible she’s attoning for

her sins of The Witch of Izalith, as her Penal Set tells us “The tattered skirt is worn

in shame by the guilty. By now, no one knows who this was used to punish, or for what reason.”

I actually don’t think this is the case. I think this character, like The Witch of

Izalith, has sinned in some great way, but is atoning for some new great sin.

“ The Lost Sinner lives deep within the Bastille.

The fool, trying to light the first flame. “

While The Witch of Izalith attempted to duplicate the First Flame, it seems the Lost Sinner

tried to light first flame.

The actions of the other old ones speak onto the same theme of being related to the great

lords of the past, but not exactly the same.

The soul of “The Old Dead One”, or Nito, from Dark Souls 1, has been reborn into The

Rotten, who takes on similar properties. Like Nito, who is comprised of what he watched

over – The Dead, The Rotten is comprised of what he watches – The undead and forgotten.

He is has turned The Black Gulch into his domain, and “embraces all, in his sanctuary

for all things unwanted or tossed away.”

The Iron King, who held “Undead hunts during his reign” and “in the heyday of his land,

fancied entertaining dubious and eccentric guests from faraway lands,” also carries

a great soul. His being the “Old King soul”

“It reminds me of someone who lived long ago.

A vainglorious liar who ended up hurling himself into the flames.

Now he’s Icarous earth if I’m not mistaken.”

By trading the Old King’s soul to Ornifex, you’ll receive the Dragonslayer Greatbow,

and for trading the Old King Soul to Straid, you can receive the miracle Blinding Bolt,

“Crafted in ancient times by the God of Sun, but later forbidden by the same deity.

Was it to protect the world from hatred, or sorrow?” – The implication being the Old

King is supposed to represent Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight and Cinder.

And finally, we have the Duke’s Dear Freja, whose soul is associated with the “Old Paledrake

Soul”. Trading this soul to Ornifex will net you the Moonlight Greatsword, “The blade

of this greatsword shines like the brilliant rays of the moon. In the oldest legends, rarely

spoken today, it is said the sword was born of a great white being.”

“Oh, it’s like that awful traitor long ago,

He coveted what he did not have, and it drove him mad.”

The clear implication being this is Seath.

All of these great souls are de scribed as: “Soul of the ineffable. The once-magnificent

soul continues to exert influence over the land, even after the eons have reduced it

to these remnants.”

“Once the fire is linked, souls will flourish anew.”

Gwyn, Seath, Nito, and The Witch of Izalith can all be accounted for, as well as Ornstein.

His souls seems to be reborn in the “Old Dragonslayer”, who inherits his Old Leo

ring.

Now, the most important of these souls is the Soul of Nashandra. “Nashandra was born

of the Dark with an insatiable lust for strength. Use the special soul of this prisoner of desire

to acquire numerous souls.” She is “The old one of the Abyss, [who] was reborn in

death, split into miniscule fragments, and spread across the land.” “The tiniest

of these pieces, precisely due to its size, was the first to restore its form,” “The

pieces began to coalesce once again, becoming human in shape.”

This soul, reborn, is the soul of Manus, and has a vital role in shaping the land of Drangleic.

Nashandra was “the smallest of pieces, [which], sensing its own fragility, yearned for what

it lacked.” This yearning seemed to be for power and strength. The soul manifested itself

into Nashandra, and the woman who would become the Queen of Drangleic.

-- Part 2 – The Founding of Drangleic

“What makes a king? Some say that it is birthright, while others call it destiny.

Perhaps it is not important, as long as the king’s name serves to unite his people.”

King Vendrick rose to power in the land of Drangleic before it was known as such. He

fought with warriors, prepared to die for him, whom he granted Royal Soldier Rings,

“These were granted to warriors who distinguished themselves in the service of King Vendrick.

The king favored simple warriors who staked their every battle on strength alone.”

He also utilized Dragonriders. These Dragonriders were “King Vendrick’s royal guard. According

to legend, the Dragonriders straddled not horses, but wyrms.”

“Together with the King, they crushed its former inhabitants and erected a magnificent

kingdom upon their graves.”

There to help Vendrick gain power over Drangleic was his brother, Aldia. “They say that Lord

Aldia was the King’s elder brother and helped found Drangleic, but he later lost interest

in the land’s fortunes.”

Aldia was known for his experiments, and it’s quite possible that the Wyrms the Dragonriders

rode on were actually creations of Aldia’s.

For, Aldia liked to experiment on various creatures. “The mysterious Lord Aldia secluded

himself inside a manor to conduct various experiments. Those invited to the manor disappeared,

replaced over time with malformed beasts that roamed its halls.”

While his halls are filled with mutated creatures found throughout the game, beyond the manor

lies the Guardian Dragon, as well as the Dragon Aerie.

King Vendrick was loved by his subjects, but something happened… something that would

change him. A curse spread throughout the land, one that desperately frightened him,

and one that he would be inflicted with himself. The curse of the Undead.

King Vendrick tried everything to rid himself of that which he feared. “Long ago, the

dungeons overflowed with the accursed, and the King commanded a contorted sentry to deliver

those who had no cells to a faraway and, and to make certain they were never heard from

again.” He tried to put the Undead out of sight, and out of mind, sending them far away

to the Lost Bastille.

He hired Mad Warriors from foreign lands as well as Shadow Knights from Mirrah to counter

the Undead. “In an attempt to stave off the curse, King Vendrick hired shadowmen to

put down the Hollows, but before long they were Hollowed themselves.”

I believe it likely the Pursuer was also a creation of King Vendrick’s, for “The

Pursuer hunts down those branded by the curse, as if each Undead soul that he claims will

atone for his sins.”

At some point, King Vendrick met his queen, Nashandra. It seems it was Nashandra’s doing

that caused him, in a desparate measure, to cross the sea and invade the land of the Giants.

“Soon, the Giants will descend upon this fort.

It is revenge, for the Kingdom’s misguided barbarism.”

“The venerable Lord build this kingdom To bring prosperity to His subjects.

What has transformed him so, I can not imagine.”

I believe Nashandra tempted the King, to steal a “prize” from the Giants, a great and

wondrous soul that would help temporarily “cure” him of his curse.

“A powerful soul is like a curse. And Vendrick, King of Drangleic, used a powerful soul to

keep the curse at bay. King Vendrick sought greater souls, and made the giants’ strength

his own, but even still, the curse overcame him.”

“Long ago, the King crossed the seas, pillaged the land of Giants, and brought back

a “prize.” It was then that the golems materialized.”

-- Part 3 – The Fall of a Kingdom

--

“Drangleic’s been a pile of rubble since the war fought long, long ago.

Since the giants crossed the sea. Seemed like the battles would never end.

Poor folk like myself had nary a place to sleep.”

The giants came to Drangleic with a vengeance. “The Giants landed on the northern shores,

and set siege to King Vendrick’s castle to claim an invaluable prize.”

King Vendrick sent his best men to fight off the Giants, but they were woefully unprepared.

“King Vendrick supplied his bravest men with the best armor available to face the

great giants, but very few returned alive.” “Sir Syan was widely known as the kingdom’s

most leal knight, and when the Giants invaded, he volunteered to lead the advance party,

but was slaughtered most dishonorably. The King commissioned replicas of Syan’s accouterments

and bestowed them to promising knights, but not long after they donned the armor did they

go thoroughly mad.”

For multiple generations, the giants laid siege upon Drangleic.

“My father, and his father, both fought the Giants on this very land.

The Giants have wills of steel. They cannot find it within themselves…

To forgive the misdeeds of our lord.”

Not only did Captain Drummond fight against the giants, but so too did his family. “Captain

Drummond’s ancestors have served Drangleic for generations, principally as defenders

of the great fort, but Captain Drummond is the last in this proud line. In his day, King

Vendrick was fair and just, and expected the same of his liegemen. This helm was proof

of King Vendrick’s trust, an honor, until his transfiguration…”

And, with the Cursed Undead traveling into the memories of the giants, “The Giants

were eventually defeated by an unnamed hero, but alas, victory came all too late.”

Even beyond death, the Giants were still enraged at King Vendrick. “Will the Giants’ resentment

for the King be pacified in death, or only emboldened?” It would seem their resentment

was emboldened, for the more Giant Souls the player acquires, the more they can damage

King Vendrick.

While the land was enveloped in war, King Vendrick and his brother, Lord Aldia, eventually

had a falling out.

Though King Vendrick wanted to do nothing but seal away the Undead Curse, his brother

Aldia was obsessed with discovering its cause. “The peculiar figure known as Lord Aldia

attempted to uncover the secrets of life itself, and viewed the Undead as a key to this mystery.”

“King Vendrick condemned his own elder brother to the mansion. They both sought the truth,

but through different means, and their fervor meant the eventual withering of their familial

ties.”

Aldia conducted horrific experiments, “To imagine what unspeakable deeds were performed

to create [the northern and southern ritual bands], one need only recall the cruel fate

of the residents of Aldia.” He invited acolytes and sages to help him

in his work. “Several of the greatest minds converged in Aldia to weave strange new rituals,

but rumors suggest that during the course of their work… their thoughts were not their

own.”

He utilized the Giants in Drangleic, and “The peculiar figure known as Lord Aldia kept Giants