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hello Internet
welcome to game theory where this week
we're concluding our killer two-parter
on the darkest Dungeness game franchise
from from software Dark Soul first time
we started our epic quest unearth the
secret identity of our player from Dark
Souls 3 and I completely burned through
my allotted time going over some basic
foundational Lord we needed to be on the
same page about to even begin piecing
together this mystery so for all of you
with TL DW let me summarize the fire if
it gives the age of fire its name keeps
dying but someone always goes and uses
their body as a human candle to relight
it
doing so earns you the title of a Lord
of cinder and really crispy flesh in
Dark Souls 3 the person who was supposed
to relight it prince lothric has
rejected his duties and you know he
assumed that burning yourself really
hurts so four Lords of cinder were
brought back to life to do it for him
the theory goes if they were able to do
it once well they'll do it again except
they won't from personal experience they
know that burning yourself for eternity
really hurts and they are too eager to
do it again enter your character you're
playing as an uncannily someone who in
the past tried to link the fire but fail
you're basically the third stringer the
long shot of long shots the Hail Mary
you along with three other on kindled
are tasked with killing off the Lords of
cinder and returning them to their
throne but what we noticed last time was
that the three others each have a close
association with one of the Lord Hawk
wood the deserter with the abyss
watchers siegward of catarina with your
the Giant and honoré of astora with
Aldrich to the power of God which leaves
one unaccounted for Lord of cinder with
one unaccounted for on Kindle Prince
lothric and you but what exactly is the
history between the two of you and what
does it mean for your characters
identity in the game well like an owl
trying to get to the center of a tootsie
roll pop I too am ready to get to the
center of this mystery so let's find out
a one a two who nod at me for a long
time this boss the nameless King it's
such a random boss fight I mean not just
because it's one of the most difficult
in the game that's fine it's an optional
ball game developers have been throwing
in bosses that exist only to inflate our
egos for generations but there
a reason why specifically this fight
bothered me why did it exist Dark Souls
is a series where nothing is wasted item
descriptions NPC placements every fight
in the game has purpose you're hacking
through different Lords of cinder so you
can deliver their heads like the world's
most disappointing pizza to their throne
other bosses service their underlings
and even optional bosses have a reason
consumed king Osiris isn't insane danger
to everyone around him and the curse
rotten Greatwood is you know a gross
evil tree but the nameless King is
killing him doesn't further your goals
as someone trying to link the fire so
why is he your enemy for a long time I
thought maybe this is just a video game
thing and I'm overthinking it yes I
sometimes have self-awareness and
realize that all these theories do
amount to me over analyzing things that
the developer is probably never intended
but no not this time because there is
something hidden here the nameless King
battle is a hint that our character not
only has a history with Prince lothric
but Eddy also somehow was an enemy to
the nameless king but in order to know
exactly why well we first have to
identify our nameless King and let me
just point out the absurdity of this to
find the identity of our character we
need to find the identity of not only
this guy but also have a few more
characters that we're going to get to
later
gotta love Dark Souls is like five
theories wrapped up into one luckily
this first one isn't too hard but you
have to go all the way back to Dark
Souls 1 to do it according to the
description of the sunlight medals whoa
the symbol represents Lord Gwyn's
firstborn who lost his deity status and
was expunged from annals end quote and
from the ring of the Suns first born
item description we learned that quote
Lord Gwyn's firstborn was a God of War
but his foolishness led to a loss to the
animal and rescinding of his day epic
status today even his name is not known
in quotes Oh a king without a name you
say it would appear the nameless king is
Lord Gwyn's eldest son hypothesis
further supported by the fact that when
sunlight symbol can be found all over
arch dragon peak realm of the nameless
King but then why was he disowned from
his father
well hopping back to Dark Souls 3 have
you managed to win the fight and look at
the description of the soul of the
nameless King you see
he quote the nameless King was once a
dragon slaying god of war before he
sacrificed everything to ally himself
with the ancient dragon end quote and
there's even more hints sprinkled
throughout item description in the
miracle lightning storm the Dragon
Slayer sword sphere the storm curved
sword and the Dragon Scale set basically
looking at all of this it's undeniable
that the nameless king is the long-lost
son of Gwyn who allied himself with
dragons and thus became an enemy to his
father and by proxy anyone who Christ on
behalf of linking the fire and is an
enemy to Dragon both things that we know
the kingdom of lothric stands for as
we've established they have a tradition
of linking the fire and according to the
description for the lothric night shield
the lothric Knights contended with
dragons and their shields have suitably
high lightning absorption befitting a
dragon slayers arms
so obviously the nameless King wouldn't
be the biggest fan of anyone who fought
on behalf of the kingdom as such we're
given our first clue that you were once
a warrior of law furring but we can get
even more specific because what exactly
were you a knight a priest and in turn
whose sole responsibility was making
sure the kingdom had an up-to-date
social media presence
none of these get ready for a total
hardcore reveal because the main
character of Dark Souls 3 the ungentle
that you play as is the resurrected soul
of a heartless cutthroat assassin whose
sole purpose in the kingdom was to
perform covert clandestine black ops and
eliminate the enemies to the throne and
ladies and gentlemen you are a black
hand homeboy now we're getting into the
real deep stuff so let me explain find a
whole lot of rings throughout the game
but I want to focus on three in
particular the Knights ring the scholar
ring and the priestess ring by piecing
together the lore contained in their
descriptions we learned that the
government of lothric is built on what's
known as the three pillars the Knights
of lothric the High Priestess and the
scholar you actually meet all three of
these in the game Emma who sits where
the dancer of the burrial Valley hangs
out is the high priestess the Knights
are well you know everywhere just
literally everywhere and according to
the description for the miracle blessed
weapon the scholars are the creepy dudes
hanging out the grand archives covered
in wax
but there's one other group a secret
group rarely mentioned the hunter
basically the Dark Souls equivalent of
the KGB because they're evil feminine
according to the hunters ring they
served from the shadows and punished
enemies of the kingdom in ways that
three pillars couldn't and of the
hunters the black hands were the best of
the best so good that according to the
black hand armor set there have only
been three of them in the entire history
of the kingdom and your character in
Dark Souls 3 is one third of that elite
group but how do we know let's start
simple they serve the throne and we've
already established that your character
was a warrior of lothric but that's only
the beginning
remember the armor set says that there
were three black hands but over the
course of the entire game you only ever
come across two black hand camel and
black hand guitar and this whole part of
the story is actually revealed not by
item descriptions but by shifting NPC
alliances as most of you probably
already know you can summon NPCs to help
you through various parts of these games
and while these summons may seem random
they absolutely aren't we already
covered last episode how certain
unkilled are summoned to take down
bosses important to their backstory but
the same is true when unraveling the
secrets of the black hand black hand
guitard is an actual ally of yours
throughout the first half of the game it
can be someone to help you fight the
abyss Watchers and concepts Sullivan
only after you defeat the first three
Lords of cinder can he be found dead at
the entrance to the grand archive
searching his body gives you the Grand
Archives key which allows you to
progress towards Prince lothric hideout
to the final Lord of cinder and the end
of your quest so obviously he's an ally
of yours who's on the same mission he's
visiting the same spot as you because he
too has been reborn to kill the Lords of
cinder and relink the fire but then
widen from software design it so that
he's dead at the front of the grand
archives well that has to do with the
second black hand black hand can we near
the top of the Grand Archives you meet
and are immediately attacked by a group
of three hostile NPCs line night Albert
daughter of the crystal crime Hilde
and black hand camel we not only is this
a really challenging and really random
battle in the middle of what I thought
was a pretty easy section of the game
what stands out most is that
Lyonne night albert was your ally up to
that point you could summon him to fight
a boss earlier in the game board of the
boreal valley so why does he turn on you
now well we can get a clue by breaking
the sequence of the game a bit if you
summon Albert for that boss fight but
then go next door to kill Emma the High
Priestess and one of the three pillars I
mentioned a few paragraphs ago it
triggers another boss battles the dancer
of the real valley but at that point
Albert uses an item called the black
separation crystal an item which allows
him to basically reject your summon and
return home he's no longer on your side
willing to fight with you this means
that Albert and by proxy that group of
three NPCs in the Grand archives have an
allegiance to High Priestess Emma and
her cause and that you at one point
we're a part of that group they were
willing to fight alongside you but
through your actions over the course of
the game by the time you reach the Grand
archives are now standing opposed to
their goal so that begs the question
what does Emma stand for well to figure
it out we need to look at her dialogue
this is what she says the first time you
meet her the weight has been known on
Kindle Don I am Emma High Priestess of
Lottery's Council allow me to speak
frankly you will not find the Lords of
cinder here they have left gone to their
journey homes converging at the base of
this castle help to the bottom of my
world so first and foremost she knows
you she's been waiting for you there's a
history here once again confirming that
we were in some way a warrior for the
royal family and it's also important to
note here that she's also lying to your
face she says that there are no lords of
cinder here but there is you need to get
past her to kill the final Lord Akron
slaughtering it would seem like she's
trying to protect him a suspicion I had
that's confirmed in her final lines
before she dies Prince lottery is in
your hands please save his soul
tell him what he must be a lot this is
why High Priestess Emma who recognizes
you immediately sends you in the
opposite direction of the princes at the
beginning of the game she does this
because she has the religious figurehead
of the kingdom is primarily concerned
with preserving the salvation of the
princes who have shirked their duty this
is still her priority when she dies she
doesn't say hey go kill those lazy boys
who are leading the world to darkness
she says save his soul tell him to be a
lord like there's ever a target out
option in Dark Soul
do you know what game you're in Lady and
this is why black hand kamilly turns on
his fellow black hands are killing him
outside of grand archives and why lion
night Albert eventually turned on you
Albert and Tama we are loyal to the
Prince keeping him and his desire to
watch the world fade into darkness a lie
but got heart is out to return lothric
back to his throne dead or alive in
short there's infighting in the ranks of
the black dad they're meant to serve the
king but the King gone crazy and a
prince wanting to destroy the world it's
unclear which side they should take God
card ends up on one side and kam OE on
the other and at the beginning of the
game it's unclear where you stand on the
issue are you killing Lords of cinder so
they won't be able to light the fire and
Prince lothric will see his world of
darkness come true or are you killing
them to bring them back to their thrones
enabling you to link the fire that's why
Albert helps you in the early game he
assumes from your past history that you
are also still serving the prince based
on your role as the black hand but by
the time High Priestess Emma Dai is
either by your hand or naturally you've
killed three Lords of cinder and return
them to their throne your allegiance is
now clear you're no longer in hearing to
your duty you're not serving lothric you
want him dead and that puts you at odds
with former allies like Albert and your
fellow black hand can we remember when I
established an episode one that the
three unkennel have a relationship with
their respective lords of cinder and
that you're set to partner against
lothric this is why you as a black hand
have historically been a sir
to the royal family to the print your
their secret service but in this game
you're betraying him not only going
against his wishes but going so far as
to kill him and depending on the ending
that you choose usurping the power of
the flame away from the law for ik line
as its existed for centuries we never
find the body of the third black hand
just to because the third assassin isn't
anywhere to be found that is unless of
course you look in the mirror but hey
that's just a theory a game theory
thanks for watching and yes Austin and I
actually did a bunch of research looking
into the third member of that weird NPC
trio daughter of the crystal crime hold
Prem hold that or not to pronounce it
anyway I'm going to turn that research
into a diet theory on her because she's
one of the most mysterious characters in
the game but if you actually put the
pieces together what she means to the
story is actually fascinating it just
didn't fit into this theory from a
narrative standpoint or a time
standpoint but it is so good that I
really want to share it with you guys so
keep an eye out for that in the next
couple weeks so before we get to that
we're taking a break from Dark Souls
we'll be tackling Zelda Mass Effect's
splatoon maybe even some stardew valley
a lot of you have been requesting that
I'm looking into it so it's a good mix
of things as such make sure you ring
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theory that would be pretty cool
right I like calling out the people who
are first covers to these videos and hey
Dark Souls fans my apologies if I
triggered anyone by getting some details
wrong or if I said something the wrong
way we did our best but there is so much
information that we have to juggle when
making these episodes that sometimes a
small thing just slips through the
cracks things that you didn't think that
you had to look up like say for instance
looking up that inner play named fallout
enough Bethesda it's always so small
stupid things that you don't even think
that you need to question that end up
getting you aah
it is so frustrating and of course
whenever that sort of thing happens the
entire comment section latches onto it
and says ah matpat you're so dumb
guys I'm sorry I do make mistakes I am
NOT a complete expert in every single
game franchise even though I try to be
in researching these episodes but you
know you're reading through a hundred
other things to write these scripts it
have something to question simple stuff
like the makers of the game well such is
life anyway a huge congratulations to
our 10 winners from last week's Dark
Souls giveaway your names are on the
screen right now and I'll be reaching
out over the next couple days to make
sure that you're able to get your game
coat thank you so much for your
excellent theories in the comments and
enjoy your new Dark Souls 3 deluxe pack
I don't know about you but I'm excited
to dig into the new DLC and hey guys if
you like to giveaway let me know we can
always try to do more of these sorts of
things in the future I'm trying to
figure out new ways to give back to you
guys to just say thank you for all the
support that you've given this channel
over the last couple years I mean we're
about you if not already crossed eight
million subscribers that's incredible so
if I can share some of that back with
you guys all the better so let me know
ways that I can do that moving forward
and anyway with that I'm signing off
this episode has already gone on too
long so see you all next week for
something a bit less then then again
it's supposed to be the Zelda timeline
so yeah wish me luck guys I'll see you
then