The Political Agenda Of Dark Souls (The Jimquisition)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2019
- / jimquisition
www.thejimquisition.com
www.thejimporium.com
Political intrigue is baked into the lore of Dark Souls. Class struggle, propaganda, a ruling elite manipulating those of lower status into serving their needs. There's more going on than just hitting monsters with swords.
Let's look at the political agenda of Dark Souls, the politics of its storyline, and the perpetuated cycles that keep its world of Lordran running. Also, let's talk about why Frampt is a jackass.
Huge thanks for Vaatividya for the help. Check him out here: / vaatividya
#DarkSouls #Politics #FromSoftware #JimSterling #Jimquisition
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Twitter: / jimsterling
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Not this again. Why can't I just enjoy politics without having Dark Souls forced down my throat?
All politics are Dark Souls
@@bigcas78 I'm tired of having my Jim shoved down my political games :P
@@Ellthom and I'm tired of having my Darks Souls shoved in to my Jims!
Though, Jim may not have the same sentiment. I'm not here to kink shame.
@@bigcas78 I'm just tired of having my Jim Souls shoved down my Video Dark while im playing political games.
hol up
The preemptive outrage over the video before even watching is funny.
The outrage over the UI showing a club and shield while the Baron wields a breadknife is, however, valid.
Wait you miss did a thumbnail GET THE BOLT PISTOL
Obviously people saw the long health bar and were like; I am not going to watch a fuckin' casual.
@AlastrionaCatskill u didnt get the point of the video if u think thats true.
Any disagreement is outrage. Ah the good days of social media.
But was it a RAW knife though...it loiks like a RaW knife.
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Raw knife
"I shall link the fire" declared lord Gwynn "and the humans shall pay for it!"
I mean that’s kind of exactly what happens. Humans continually kindle the bonfires linking the first flame by feeding their humanity to them, until they go totally hollow and lose their minds.
@@97Multiphantom Truly gwyn is a dick
Magnifique!
@@AbstractTraitorHero To be fair, the alternative is very scary. Personally I think we should have left the dragons in charge! They would have never had this problem!
@@tomhill3248 At least the dragons ran the trains on time.
Of course it's political, the game has KINGS IN IT
'E 'asn't got shit all o'er 'im!
@ when you have a good ruler monarchy is great. When you have a shitty ruler we call it tyranny and it's the worst shit ever.
The problem is that the method of choosing rulers in monarchy is essentially fucking random.
@@SavageGreywolf It's not totally random. As you go down the line of succession rulers get more and more inbred leading to the worst shit ever.
chef's kissing my fingers this comment
@@SavageGreywolf Well in that case why monarchy? Benevolent despotism is the best from of government. All we need to to do is figure out a mathematical equation for picking the best despots, then go find them. Because they aren't gonna come to us.
Am I the only one who finds it funny that Jim is only one leather goods shop raid away from being an actual Dark Souls boss?
Certainly has the size for it. Could never be a player character, for sure.
This needs to be a mod. Jim of the Boreal Valley
Kody Whittington replace the moon light butterfly with a floating Jim
But what would his boss name and lore be?
The plague mask would be a must.
@@KnownAsKenji Jim is overweight? I didn't notice.
The political agenda of Dark Souls, is the Dark Souls of political agendas.
How could you say something so controversial, yet so true?
Beat me to it
The political agendas of political agendas are the Dark Souls of Dark Souls.
@I Write Terrible Haiku No. But it does make me feel like Spiderman.
Destiny got destroyed in this debate.
Me, before the video: “Oh no, what has dark souls done to deserve a Jimquisition?”
Me, after the video: “Oh? Nothing. It’s just a solid piece of artistic expression that’s genuinely worth discussing 7 years after it’s initial release. Carry on then”
How dare he crowbar a solid piece of artistic expression that's genuinely worth discussing 7 years after its initial release into our video games and force it down our throats! D=
good joke
Hahahahaha, absolutely.
Dark Souls is a textbook example of radicalizing young, disenfranchised men to kill big monsters.
Think of the big monsters...
C´mon Hillary should be a boss in the game
to stop the monsters we need to bullid an wa.... no wait i think that they did some thing related with Monsters and Walls
@@superninja252 gwyn literally consigned all the filthy humans and their dark soul to a city behind a massive stone cliff, acting as a wall to block the city in. it's called the ringed city, and you can only enter or leave it by permission of gwyn.
If you oppress men long enough they will start killing, yes.
Whenever someone tells me I'm the chosen one, I automatically assume there were about thirty or so _chosen ones_ before me.
the best part of dark souls is that the first NPC you meet in lordran shoots that narrative in the foot by sighing at the fact that yet another idiot has arrived to ring the bells and be the chosen one.
Should play The Bards Tale. Lol
@@UberOtaku001 But do you get a musical number each time you discover the corps of a previous chosen one?
@@Vonalray OH IT'S BAD LUCK TO BE YOU
@@QuantumFluxable A chosen one of many isn't you.
I'm confused how sekiro doesn't have politics in it. It is literally set in the Sengoku Jidai period of Japanese history, As in a 140+ year civil war. There are real world political figures, events and religions used in the game. Do people even know what the word 'politics' even means anymore?!
You have to remember most people here are westerners so they only acknowledge the politics they identify with their culture they don't care about eastern politics
Politics is "things I don't like" now.
@@darkomihajlovski3135 even persona 5 was heavily political but I saw literally no one talking about the politics in the game merely because it's Japanese
No, they really don't.
@@themagalanium9491 I'm hoping that is because people just didn't pay attention, but they would be dead wrong if they said it wasn't political. That game was oozing various political messages and ideas about taking down corrupt people in power. Hell, the main villain was a fucking politician, and so was one of the confidants.
"...She turned into AKIRA but trees!"
Somehow missed that line the first time I watched this and I love it.
I'm here the morning Jim uploaded Mister Negative, and this was one of the videos listed as a failure. I'm... really sad this failed by metrics, because I loved this one, watched it a couple times over!
Same! This was INCREDIBLY well done. I think the moment people see the word "politics" they turn tail and run.
Years ago I would have given this video a pass, probably even bemoaning with the "why are you stuffing your agenda in to a video game" angle. Because discussing politics, status quo, and class struggle were things that made me *very* uncomfortable.
Now? I barely finished the Mister Negative video before hopping over to this one and I am super happy I did. I don't agree entirely with Sterling's interpretation, but some overarching details are very on-point.
It's pretty obvious though. Loads of people will watch a few minutes of this, turn off, unsubscribe and cancel their patreon donation just because what Jim's saying doesn't jive with their politics. Only those who can stick it out until the key point is made are likely to get much out of it.
@@Matt__B I mean, I get that, but I wouldn't even say that these views are particularly extreme. I can't even really say what he's saying is interpretation-- it's just legitimately the story.
Could you explain to me the difference between political agendas and social agendas? Or even better question, wjat exactly is a political agenda and how can i identify them? I ask this because i am making a 25 page monograph analysing and identifying the political agendas in bioshock 1&3 and darksouls 1-3. I've been researching a lot but i cannot find a concrete example and idea of what exactly is a political agenda and how can i identify it.
Dammit Jim, keep your dark souls outa my video games!!
...wait a second.
"The political agenda of dark souls"
I'm sure this video make won't anyone angry.
None at all!
Science Mad Gamer WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING AND CUTE FUCK YOU REEEEEEEEEE
The comments are delicious 😊
"Make won't" .. I think your comment may get more heat than this video.
@@ThePunk01 I problem a don't see.
@@josho1805 😏
Here because of the "Mister Negative" Jimquisition. I admit I've never seen this one yet. I wanna see what a video that Jim is really proud of making looks like. :)
juancarloang This is my favourite Jim video. I came here to rewatch it after "Mr Negative", because Jim said this video didn't perform well. I shall add views manually!!!1
It's a genuinely great and well made video that I regularly come back and rewatch. I definitely hope it gets a lot more attention after his "Mister Negative" video.
I like this vid as well.
Same reason I'm here. Cheers
@@niki_bbb This is probably my favorite one that he's done in the 3 or 4 years I've been watching these things.
"Eat the rich!" - Maneater Mildred
I'd love to kill them too but eating then feels too far.
I don't want to catch their smug
Michael Pearson would probably feed half a county by himself!
Compost the rich and grow your crops from their bones
I'm quite certain Mildred would want to eat everyone.
Mildred best souls waifu
You missed an opportunity to say "praise the sun for me"
The fool
"Praise the Sunny D for me"
Dammit
About equal in mass so it makes sense
I'M SORRY JIM
People want video games to have the respect and prestige of art.
But don't want video games to be intepreted and analyzed as art.
Probably 2 different kinds of gamers.
I use to want games to be viewed as art, and well some do deserve it this microtransactions, live service, gambling for kids, bull ****** can rot in the seventh layer of *****.*
So yes I no longer want most of it considered art, I don't want most of it profitable if I'm being real honest.
People don't want video games to tell them what they SHOULD think or decided on them what is right or wrong.
People will always tell how the Nazi symbol is a offensive hate symbol. They will never tell you how that symbol was originally a peace symbol from a different culture, that was stolen by the Nazi.
The problem isn't that people don't want games interpreted as art, it's that certain groups don't want art to be seen as valid when it doesn't align with their views.
Nier automata has meaning, dks is inspired by Greek myth
I love the discussion about Anor Londo's illusion. To me, that entire portion of the game really highlights that everything you've been sold so far is a lie - the prophecy is a lie, your achievements so far have been lies, Gwynevere is a lie - perpetuated by the last remaining god, Gwyndolin, to keep him and ilk on top. It's so reminiscent of the lies that are sold to us everyday: the pretty skyscrapers and mansions, the empiric proportions of mega-corporations, and the prophecy of the "American Dream" which promises that if you "work hard" you too can become a member of the most powerful. Just a lie to continue grinding, exploiting yourself, and betraying your own for the benefit for the ruling class on top.
Coming back to this after 3 years. This is stil your best video. I miss the more analytical approach and the more relaxed Jim Sterling. I understand your rage don’t get me wrong, I just wish people would let you do your work. because you’re one of the only critical Voices on TH-cam these days and we need them. Stay yourself, don’t listen to what people say
Weapon Slot has a Club.
Jim is holding a bread knife.
Do you even Dark Souls?
In fact...where is your shield?
IMMERSION RUINED.
I've never even heard of Dark Souls, to be fair.
Jim Sterling I don’t blame you as it’s a rather niche title. All the games journalist keep calling it the “Cuphead of Metriodvanias” though.
Real Dark Souls players don’t even use or need shields. I can’t remember the last time I had one equipped.
Do you guys not dodge? 😉😎
REEEEEEEE!!!
To be fair, he does have the Grass Crest Shield equipped.
The true irony is that a desire to be apolitical or neutral is, itself, a political choice
Liberalism (in the classical liberal sense, i.e. the philosophy basically all Americans, Republican or Democrat, ascribe to) sells itself really heavily as "the end of history", the 'default state", etc. It's easy to when it's the dominant force, and I'm not even saying that always makes it bad, but... it's an ideology. Like all the others. It had a beginning, it will have an end. It has good points and bad. It justifies violence in some ways, and works against it in others.
It's just eye-rolling when it's sold as "not being political" despite wrapping up a ton of philosophical assumptions and political arguments. Much like when a true religious believer says their own faith "isn't a religion" to put it "above" all the other competing faiths. In fact, it's rather exactly like that.
No. It's just that I choose not to let politics dominate my life or let politics dictate my beliefs or be responsible for them. I don't believe in things because I am left or right or due to this or that. To say everything is a political choice is also nonsense. Everything is a choice not everything is political. That is the real danger in today is people starting to think that politics is involved in everything.
It is political, in favour of the status quo
@@stanknight9159 Have you tried thinking WHY every choice is political? Why you think you'd rather live in comfort not adscribing to a political stance? Isn't it just because you like the status quo? And that status quo is this capitalist society, and it being what it is doesn't actually harm you in a systematic way? Maybe you're just comfortable in this society, and thus ignoring people that do suffer?
@@stanknight9159 that is quite a political stance you got there!
dude spoilers i was totally gonna finish that game like at some point
Perpetual mood
I gave up today. My original plan was finish the first and not touch 2 or 3 but after being killed by Nito and having to fight my way to him just to die again made me give up.
Good condition copy of Dark Souls for $10 anybody?
@@Nutsaur c'mon, rise to the occasion. You can do it, I believe in you.
@@Nutsaur just run past all of them! And don't panic when he starts screaming! That's what he wants!!
@@Nutsaur I can beat 2 and 3 with little effort. I still haven't beaten the first one. Its janky, annoying, and stubborn. Try 2 and 3. You're not missing anything if you've already given it a decent try.
So you’re fighting Boomers in Dark Souls
ok boomer
Boomers fight you in Sekiro
Ok Nito
awesome comment:)
Boomer souls
Quick, match each boss to their related neoliberal politician
The fact I just got to watch Jim in a Helmet pouring SunnyD on himself yelling Estus has made my week much better.
Would have been even better if he had actually recorded that clip again instead of reusing it from his last Dark Souls video.
Everyone is talking about the politics... But I am still here wondering who would win between Baron von Breadknife and Surprise Mechanic
Bread knife: his helmet will block the Surprise Mechanic's wrench.
It'd be close, but I think Surprise Mechanic would clinch it through his sneaky underhanded tactics.
However, they would both be completely and utterly trounced by the Cornflake Homunculus, even if they teamed up against it.
Jim pin this comment and make it happen!
The answer is Cornflake Homunculus.
This video is absolutely fantastic. It made me realize that we probably should discuss politics, religion and art MORE, rather than less. To do that, would teach people to be more respectful to each other, and possibly to see things in a completely different way. I've looked at Dark Souls lore extensively, and never really clicked in my head this could be viewed the way Jim pointed out, nearly A YEAR ago. This makes me view the age of fire and dark in completely different ways, and that's truly mind-boggling. Thank you Jim.
Watched this after the latest vid, "Mister Negative", and boy howdy am I glad you mentioned it because even though I go back and watch the back catalogue rather often, this one has never popped up. It's one of the most interesting, refreshing takes I've heard on the series since the damn thing exploded and I'm glad I didn't miss it. Thank the lords for Jim Sterling.
here from that as well
Estus is BESTUS! Imagine pouring an entire bottle of SunnyD over your head only to have the video not be seen.
Same reason I''m here. I didn't even know this video existed until he mentioned it. Glad I came and watched it.
meh, it is a load of bollocks... but we all gotta waste quarantine time, right?
@@DahVoozel hahahaha, word
So to summarize:
Amazing Chest Ahead
Beware of Mimic
Try tongue but hole
"Those decrepit old monsters who are better off dead." Wow, didn't sneak a Koch joke in there?
Stop trying to shove politics into my Jim Sterling videos!
He probably thought about it but then David had to go and make it too soon.
what?! The second old git also kicked the bucket?
@@andyenglish4303
Somehow I don't think Jim would step away from a joke about a dead person if that person was a terrible person.
@LysanderNemoinis TBH, I'll take ten McCains over just one
Mitch McConnell. While McCain had some views I disagree with, he had principles. McConnel is simply evil. He's exactly what Jim was talking about in the video.
I would LOVE to see more "The Political Agenda of ____________" as a series
As long as it isn't always class struggle. That would get old after awhile.
Curio has a good one about New Vegas and it's themes of imperialism and why the NCR aren't the good guys.
Unlikely it happens. As of today, March 30th 2020 Jim Sterling posted a video stating this kind of videos, although requested, have little views and support (as you can see in the comment section of the present video). I, too, loved this video. Alas, we are a very small minority, as of Jim's words.
Cheers.
there are literally dozens of us
@@mbilbo It is, sobering, to find that even here, the vapid and shallow outnumber you so heavily.
So you're telling me that when i accidentally walked away from the center of the room and got the Dark Lord ending i essentially got the good ending?
Yup.. kinda. There really isn't "good" or "bad" ending. In the end it's all subjective.
To me doing what you did aka walking out the room aka the Dark lord- ending is a good ending. Jim arques the same.
However you ultimately decide in the end what good or bad means to you.
@@nativelog7302 as long as I get to rule, it's going to be a kick-ass age. No one will question me considering my primordial snake army
I got the dark lord ending in my first playthrough because my blind ass couldn't find the bonfire.
You finished the game. Later dark souls games and common sense proves that no matter what you did as a player everything eventually someone prolonged the age of fire.
Now I want an entire series from Jim; ”The Politics of [Insert game series here]”
I have a strong feeling he would insert his same extremists views into any game - it took a lot of twisting here and he still done it!
@@paveldundr6390 lmao
Truly Jim Sterling is The Dark Souls of Games Journalists
I like this comment...a lot
More like the Smough of games journalism.
But... He's not a games journalist, he's a garms jarnalist! Have I been living a lie this entire time and watching a journalist!?
So you’re saying Jim Sterling is...hard ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )
okay but what is Dark Souls the Dark Souls of? Is is a stamp of quality? A stamp of darkness and dread?
"To me Dark Souls is about what I said is about"
And that's exactly what Dark Souls is about!
When Hidetaka Miyazaki was little he tried to read english books but was not good at it. Every time he found a word he couldn't read he replaced it with his own guessing. This is why his games are like that.
All Art is an artifact of it's culture, all cultures are political.
If videogames are art, than video games are political
3 months late but care to partly disagree with you
yes games are art and culture, but culture but the culture in the arts is basically "self-reflectiving culture" with the idea of make the person self-refelect about the themes, it can be socio-political or selfpersonal talk (eg an game about an person strugging depresison it would better fit as an selfpersional talk about yourself than politics itself)
@@superninja252 Self reflection is ultimately still cultural though, since you exist in the context of your culture.
For example, if you feel bad that you did something, you probably feel bad because your culture tells you it was bad, or you did that thing according to the customs of your culture, which you now think is bad.
@@FNLNFNLN Not me. I disobey my culture and define my morality entirely on the basis of consent of hard results. Intent means little to me.
@@tomhill3248 And by what standards to you judge a result to be positive or negative? How do you weight the significance of a negative result against the outcome of a related positive result?
Even if you judge outcomes based on objective data, the standards you set are still ultimately going to be culturally influenced.
Yes! Thank you! Concise, elegant, to the point and accurate. Kudos! ^_^
You know if you beat Mr. Breadknife without taking any damage his death animation is him buttering HIMSELF?
God damn the feels. Gets me every time.
He's gotta commit Sudoku.
Wait what?
@@majeedmamah7457 Yeah Sir Alonne in Dark souls 2 will stab himself if you beat him without taking any damage, it's pretty badass.
Then you use his sword's special effect to do the same thing whenever an invader estus flasks on you
Seppuku*. That had me puzzled too. XD
@@RobertPayne556 Everyone knows Seppuku is that game with the numbers in the squares, you should probably google it before correcting someone
Hidetaka Miyazaki (darksouls creator and fromsoft president) has a masters degree in sociology if im not mistaken. To think there is no form of politics or philosophy in the game is naive at best
Does he now? That does put the half-told histories of Yharnam or Anor Londo in perspective...
In a guardian interview he describes himself as growing up 'tremendously poor', so.... maybe some credence to Jim's theory
I'm so sick of people forcing politics into everything. I don't play games and see politics, I play games because I love them. I see art, fun among other things.
@@16xthedetail76 Sadly, you've got it all wrong. People don't force politics into everything. Almost everything is political. Politics just exist in most things. Jim is likely quite correct. Sure, maybe he's not, but the main point is that almost everything is political.
@@16xthedetail76
Everything is political my dude. Doesn't mean you have to focus on that aspect, but it's gonna be there.
I just came from the "Mister Negative" video and realized I never saw this in my feed.
God, DS is even more grim now... I must start a new game immediately!
You're crazy, dark souls is no more political than say... Metal Gear Solid 2.
Thank god someone finally pointed out Metal Gear. I mean, what's so political about it? War? Nukes? Patriots? Yeah right, next they'll say Gundam is political. Smh
Every game is influenced by politics one way or another.
Cant say I'm wrong :3
It is political in it own story. It doesnt have to involve real world politics or reference it. Theres no political agenda, but it may leave you reflecting on the real world like this video :D
It's no more political than a game full of politics?
@@ULTRAOutdoorsman borot man agrees with you. It's called sarcasm
wait did someone literally think a game based in literally any Tom Clancy novel wasn't political? xD
The modern warfare devs literally said that their game wasn't political after they said their game was "a very relevant contemporary war story". Cowards.
The creators of the Tom Clancy game tried to claim it wasn't political.
That's one game. All Jim's other examples are stupid. Firstly, "having something to say" doesn't mean your political. Most artists reject politicizing their work... Jim doesn't know this, as he doesn't create art.
He's projecting his own obsession with politics onto others.
Sometimes stupid people will believe obviously stupid things if somebody tells them to believe it.
"Most artists reject politicizing their work..."
By all means, just outright make things up. That's how you win without having to tire yourself out by using too many words.
The parallels that can be drawn between the events in Dark Souls and real life are further expounded upon by exhausting regular NPC dialogue and reading item descriptions. We learn about the subjugation of the giants, as well as the truth about New Londo being not only another sort of prison for the undead because of Gwyn's fear mongering, but also a weak attempt to cover up the spread of the Abyss by flooding the city with water. Hmm, trying to sweep "mistakes" and "filth" under the rug? Totally not political, nope.
Right sure Dark Souls has politics. Next you'll tell me games like Fallout or MGS has some political meaning behind it. Or I dunno Sonic the Hedgehog has politics.
Seriously I'd love to see more of these kind of videos.
Politics in MGS? *gasp* No way! /s
Politics in a game about a wasteland do to a nuclear war that repeatedly has characters talking about communism? Nah, definitely not political
For the politics of Sonic, I recommend Hbomberguy's "Sonic Serious Lore Analysis "
@@FaelCacilhas IT IS TIME
Rafael Cacilhas eventually
You were told that it was wrong to read politics in a Tom Clancy game? Did none of those people ever read a Tom Clancy book?
No, they almost certainly didn't. I don't think there's much crossover between the audience for old war books and The Division 2
They do not read.
I really doubt modern "gamers" even know that Tom Clancy was a real person
The very genre Tom Clancy wrote for is called 'political thriller'. Would it suffice to tell them that? Also, they wouldn't even have to read anything. There are tons of movies based on Clancy's work.
This is why basically any work that involves warfare claiming to be "not political at all" is so absurd, as Jim made fun of with the Division 2. A war is a political act done by a state, a political organization, for a political reason. Even the Galactic Empire wanted to like, unite the galaxy and stuff. And blow up a few planets along the way. Okay, a lot of planets.
Hey, the whole Age of Fire -> Age of Darkness reminds me of Greek mythology.
Zeus killed his father and took over control of the world from the Titans. Cronus did the same to his father before. Humans are destined to kill Zeus and usurp power from the gods. Zeus ordered Prometheus to tell him the mother of the child who would dethroned e the gods, but he refused. He wants mankind to have their turn.
Most of darksouls lore is based on European myths
This! I can’t believe nobody (or very few people) have made this connection.
I can't believe that Greek Myth stole Miyazaki's Politics. What utter twats
Neutral Narwhal I mean it’s quite obvious that Gwyn is based on Zeus :P
He even throws lightning bolts and everything lol
Came here after the Mister Negative video. It is a really well thought out piece, and I, currently a Key Worker (TM) who's had their European Citizenship ripped away from them, enjoyed it quite a bit.
To add credence to your interpretation: in the Ringed City, the last dlc for DS3 and the final chapter of Dark Souls as a whole; it’s revealed that the Darksign (that ring of fire which serves as the franchise’s main symbol) was a ring of fire put upon the first humans by Gwyn himself…
A ring which *created the Undead Curse.*
Gwyn’s complete terror of humans eventually overthrowing him lead to the abyss becoming mangled and corrupted, and to most of humanity ending up as mindless zombies, begging for death.
TH-cam needs a better way to organize comments on videos because the replies under that pinned comment are such a shitshow but I want to read them to torture myself.
Me too lol
I can't even comment on it myself, I keep getting an error
"TH-cam needs to be better."
Fixed it.
Behold, society-In comment form. :3
Please take the time to read through it and look at peoples. Look at the peoples and how they babble. Sweet, pointless babble. *this planet is dying*
I can see the merit in you encouraging google to research and develop, a means of categorising and analysing language, using an algorythm to understand the meaning of text without human oversight. The merit is... ummm... to make scrolling through a list of comments more edifying?
And the cost is an orwellian police state imposed on the internet, as the only real shield true free speech has, that the internet is vast and full of too much stuff for humans to effectively police, gets taken away. Great idea dude, hope it's worth it.
My own personal reading of Dark Souls' two endings is that they demonstrate that the entire way we've approached the problem is flawed. The entire conflict is framed as Age of Fire vs. Age of Dark, with both sides attempting to argue that they're serving the best interests of Man. However, throughout the game we see that we are being manipulated not only by Frampt but by Kaathe too, they are after all both serpents (and the recurring symbol of two serpents connected at the tail strongly implies that both are ultimately serving the same interest).
I think it's significant that before we make our final choice we're forced to travel through both Anor Londo *and* New Londo Ruins. The former demonstrates the farce of the Age of Fire, as explained in this video, but the latter demonstrates that the Age of Dark is anything but the Age of Man, characterised as it is by skull-adorned officers terrorizing the populace in order to build their "utopia" in the name of the Four Kings (I would say a pretty obvious parallel to the original four Lords). If anything, the rhetoric of Kaathe's followers is even more fascistic than that of Frampt, what with it's allusion to an awaited Dark Lord who will usher in the destined age of his race (and we see what happens to people who oppose that).
For Dark Souls 1, I believe that the either ending is a tragedy, a misguided attempt to save the world by submitting to the plans of Gods and Masters. The mechanic/lore of hollowing further reaffirms the idea that the overall theme of the game is despair and hopelessness, with the implied result of either ending being the chosen undead becoming a hollow (whether intentionally in the Dark ending or by burning his soul away like Gwyn in the Fire ending).
In contrast, Dark Souls 3, being the final entry into the series finally gives us an escape from hopelessness. We have the option to reject both the rekindling of the First Flame *and* the rise of the Dark Lord, instead simply letting the flame go out for good, with the Firekeeper's final words there as an indicator that the world will live on without it.
You know, I never realized it until now. But the lore for Dark Souls sounds remarkably similar to The Legacy of Kain series.
Not the same of course, but there are similarities. Manipulation of the protagonists, cycles of death and rebirth, sacrifice, killing those that have become abominations from their unwillingness to die, ect.
Different story, same strokes.
You're goddamn right!
Yeah, pretty spot on. That's why Dark Souls 2 originally didn't have an alternate ending. It was just "You become the world's next ruler" with no more context or choice because either choice would just perpetuate this broken cycle.
Then after all the DLC, Aldia came along with "Hey, both options suck. Let's just ditch this cycle and figure out a 3rd option." With Dark Souls 3, he and 2's chosen undead clearly never found that 3rd option. Something Aldia himself admits might not even exist in such a twisted world in 2's alternate ending.
Gabriel Munn But then why do all the primordial serpents bow down to you in the Dark Lord ending? Clearly you’re top dog at that point. Unless you’re going to tell me that’s just them continuing the charade, which is a pretty lame way to hand-wave it.
Plus, the undead curse is a symptom of a prolonged Age of Fire. There is no way that unlinking the fire is an inferior option.
@Greig91 "The only way to sustain humanity is to link the fire."
Doesn't the fact that unlinking the fire ushers in an age where hollows/humans may rule prove my point? Isn't humans having no gods, no masters the most desirable outcome of your actions? Sure, I could have been wrong on saying that the "undead curse is a symptom of a prolonged Age of Fire," because it would be more accurate to say that it's a symptom of an upcoming Age of Dark. It can be distasteful, but some have willing accepted becoming undead and some make the best of it like Yuria despite it making you look like a dried pepper (funny how humanity morphs humans into a image resembling that of Gods). Regardless, the undead curse being the natural state just means it's wouldn't be totally awful or wrong for humans to return to that state. In the Age of Fire, Gods and non-human beings may have stigmatized the "curse" to convince humanity to oppose it. Humanity is a sort of opiate for humans in the Age of Fire where Gods rule.
"The only reason the cycle continued previously, and the world's civilizations were able to prosper for a time (we don't know how long, but I think thousands of years is a safe bet), is because an untold number of previous lords of cinder had successfully linked the fire, and effectively reset the clock."
Before Dark Souls 1, this statement is untrue because Gwyn was the only one to ever link the fire. It could be true for 2 but 3, but it really isn't that relevant to the conversation at hand. And "prosper" is subjective, because it was often only prosperous for the Gods.
"So it's not as black and white as Gwyn being evil, or the Darkwraiths being evil."
Gywn is a self-destructive madman hell-bent on maintaining the world he's created rather than allowing nature to take its course. Darkwraiths are definitely assholes who are trying to spread the dark as much as possible by taking it out on the wrong people. Their methods are wrong but their ultimate goal align with that of humanity's. Their vilification is a result of propaganda by Gywn and other Gods in combination by the horrible acts they did in New Londo (I mean just look at all the corpses). I wouldn't call either evil, but they are selfish and do evil things but only side resists the course of nature and surrendering their place of power.
"Technically neither Kingseeker Frampt nor Darkstalker Kaathe ever lie to the player. They certainly manipulate the player, but what they say is completely true despite their serpentine form suggesting otherwise."
Manipulation is only a single step removed from lying. It's conveniently leaving out truths to convince listeners of your message. The difference is that Kaathe's message would still be more or less the same. In summary, I guess it comes down to whether you like having smooth skin and the Gods around or not. But I think humanity is just something that tempts humans from taking their turn as rulers in the cycle.
I was recently motivated to more deeply examine my feelings on the politics of Dark Souls in the comments of TB Skyen's video on Gwyn. I realized that, coming from a similar leftist, Marxist perspective as I presume Jim is, I reached the opposite conclusion - Linking the Fire is not perpetuating the status quo, and letting it die is not breaking an unjust cycle and liberating humanity, because we see in Oolacile what the Age of Man looks like - it is the antithesis of civilization, of humanity as we know it, a return to a base, bestial, Hobbesian state of nature, in which the player character, as the Dark Lord, reigns as a new supreme monarch, just as Gwyn did. Linking the Fire, meanwhile, involves wiping out the old power structure, since you have to kill both Gwyn and pretty much all his ilk to do it, and more importantly, it DOESN'T involve creating a new one - you, the "heir" to Gwyn's throne, burn yourself alive as kindling, instead of ascending to the throne. So to me, Linking the Fire, in DS1 at least, is actually saying "no matter what its flaws, human civilization is better than a return to the stone age, better than eternal darkness and nothingness, and maybe, just maybe, without Gwyn and co. around to fuck it up this time, the next cycle could be better, kinder, more egalitarian. It probably won't be, but all we can do is keep trying until we get it right, because giving up means, quite literally, being swallowed by the Abyss that makes up the darkest, cruelest part of the human soul."
That's just one interpretation, however, and Jim's is equally as valid. The thing about Dark Souls is that it is open to an almost infinite number of interpretations, but one thing that it makes very clear and unambiguous is that unjust power structures and heirarchies are bad, and the only right thing to do with a king is to topple their throne and break their crown. I haven't given as much thought to the political implications of DS2 and DS3, since the former is more about personal journeys and abstract philosophy than it is about societal structures, and the latter is... frankly a bit meandering and confused, as far as I can see, so this analysis only takes into account the original game, but the theme of "power structure = bad" is pretty consistent throughout all three.
Sick take! God I love dark souls
I think you mistake what happened in oolacile. The people of oolacile disturbed manus and took away what he found precious. Oolacile is what happens when you treat humanity as a commodity and blindly use it not what humanity should be. Manus wrought havoc on oolacile because they couldn't just let he rest in peace, they wanted his power and then discovered the consequences of trying to use humanity to their own ends. Like the shop worker looking forward to going home to find out that he is doing "voluntary" over time and he's also just lost his bonus, just to protect profits of share holders. He snaps and rampages. He is blamed and that is that.
Even dusk points out that she did not feel hatred from manus, just a sadness and longing.
Oolacile created their own monster and then were either killed or corrupted.
Nice interpretation, however things get a little bit less straightforwards once you delve further into the game franchise.
Dark Souls 2 picks up many, many, many cycles into the future. The histories of the distant past-- of the land of Lordran, and the gods that inhabit it-- seem just as much questionable legend as truth, for nobody is really certain what actually happened with all the time that has passed and word has become distorted. However, as we, the bearer of the curse, traverse to a potentially new land fabled for the linking of the fire, Lordran's successor, the land of Drangleic, driven by some impulse and our increasingly hollow state, where we are told by the present Herald of Gwyn's conspiracy, the Emerald Herald, to go forth and gather the power.
As we go forth, we will learn some things that tie into the saga: we eventually discover that echoes of the gods of old still inhabit the world (Teased by the Name-Engraved Ring, along with the fact that The Lost Sinner bears the Witch of Izalith's soul, The Rotten bears Gravelord Nito's soul, and Seath's fragment of Gwyn's soul has passed to a dragon-kin which has, in kind, passed to the Duke of Tseldora's abominable pet, Freja). However, once we have acquired the lord souls,a New Herald appears: Aldia, the Scholar of the First Sin. Much as Kaathe acts in the first game, Aldia speaks against the linking of the flame, of the sins and lies of Gwyn. Aldia inspires us to not simply be a "pawn of fate," but to go forth and seek adversity.
What is the adversity we face? Well, shortly after encountering the vestiges of the Gwyn's Order, we encounter the remains of that which is most strongly opposed to it: the Dynasty of Magnus, twisted and corrupted humanity. We delve into the land of a forgotten king who drowned in poison attempting to please his queen, a shrouded daughter of Magnus, Elana, the Squalid King. We delve into the land of a king of iron, who eventually grew so hungry as to abandon his land in conquest and in the end, turn into a fiery demon in a pit of magma. His own would-be queen, another daughter of Magnus, Nadalia, Bride of Ash, waits forevermore for his return. We delve into that of Drangleic itself, whose king, Vendrick, was inspired to bring the linking of the flame that has kingdom was fabled for, into ruin unknowingly at the behest of his own Dark Queen, Nashandra, Queen of Drangleic, holder to the Throne of Want.
But we also delve into the land of the Old Ivory King, where we learn of a king so great and noble that he turned his own Dark Queen, Alsanna, the Silent Oracle, to a different path from that of her sisters, that of ruin and corruption, and in the end gave his life alongside that of his land, now a frigid wasteland, to keep the ever-ceaseless chaos flame at bay.
At the end of Dark Souls 2, when we have usurped both of the Old Dynasties, Aldia confronts us with a choice: will we link the flame or walk away? Perpetuate Gwyn's sweet, tender, lie, or let it fade? The monologue of both endings go as such:
"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...Great Sovereign, take your throne. What lies ahead, only you can see." -The Emerald Herald
"There is no path... beyond the scope of Light, beyond the reach of Dark... what could possibly await us? And yet we seek it, insatiably... such is our fate." -Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin
Overall, we get the side you spoke of, where you might perpetuate the unending, repressive, cycle, or become a Ruler yourself (which Dark Souls 2 has expanded on that as well; those who lead might become no better than what they replaced, however, as with the Ivory King, there is always hope for a shift towards better). With the Dark Ending, however, we get a different interpretation, where the Chosen Undead, usurper of both Light and Dark, decides to walk away, throneless. What awaits, we do not know. There is no set course, no path, for those who bring about change, and yet, as Aldia says, they will seek the unknown way forwards insatiably-- such is their fate.
And where does Dark Souls 3 pick up? Well, many, many, cycles later, once again, we pick up as an undead warrior previously burned to fuel the first flame, and once again go out to conquer the vestiges of Gwyn's old Empire. Yes, that's right, power has once again congregated within the few, as always, and just as the undead were once pulled to the land of the Linking of the Flame, first by Gwyn's lie, and those who perpetuated it, The Way of the White and his allies, then by Want itself, things have progressed so far along that time and the material world itself is bending for the linking of the flame, and everything will inevitably end in a grey world, a sea of ash. Dark Souls 3 once again reiterates on the way people might react to old ways dying out; indeed, some might choose to create their Dynasty of Darkness , some might let the stagnant ways of old continue, while others might purely decide to be done with the ways of old-- either of them-- and decide to let entropy take its course and let the world be free of the dynasties of old-- at least for now. As Aldia said, there is no path beyond the scope of Light and the reach of Dark, and things that have been done can undo.
If you read this far, thanks for giving this essay of sorts a read. It kinda blows through a lot of Dark Souls' main lore post Dark Souls 1, so it's a bit of a read.
My biggest extrapolation from the power structure was that that a in one form or another it reformed itself time and time again to favor the beings in power. Maybe the problem lies in the system itself? I mean, what if EVERYONE, including all the lords, contributed to the flame? The lords have plenty to give, that which humanity does not, and maybe by working together? Not an age of overwhelming fire, nor crushing dark?
What could possibly await us?
Edit: some letters posing as another
Could you explain to me the difference between political agendas and social agendas? Or even better question, wjat exactly is a political agenda and how can i identify them? I ask this because i am making a 25 page monograph analysing and identifying the political agendas in bioshock 1&3 and darksouls 1-3. I've been researching a lot but i cannot find a concrete example and idea of what exactly is a political agenda and how can i identify it.
discussion on politics aside, I actually *really* enjoyed this interpretation of the story of Dark Souls. It brought all the points together in a way I've never thought of before. I knew that the Age of Dark was the right ending, but I could never say *why*
I'd love to see similar videos for DS2/3 and Bloodborne
There aren't just two sides to any political issue, but the status quo relies heavily on perpetuating that two-sides dynamic.
Yep: the whole "don't vote, both sides are the same!" perspective only benefits those already in power.
To conserve? Hmmm sounds like a conservative
I wish the US had more than two parties, we'd actually get something done.
More specifically, the idea that there are only two sides, and both are essentially the same. Which always turns out to be either an excuse for people to tune out and not get involved since "what's the differencec", or for the wealthy and mainstream journalists, the "reasonable middle ground" always involves a heavy dose of capitalism and preventing any checks on said capitalism. Always. Even when those checks are just common sense. It still comes out that "the sensible middle" is doing whatever the rich want, when they want it, how they want it. It's like magic.
@@isaacargesmith8217 Honestly, it'd depend; currently we do have more than two parties, but our electoral system makes supporting one of them at the national stage borderline suicidal. I'd love to see ranked choice voting implemented to allow for a wider array of party choices while not creating a situation where voting for one party in effect means empowering your least favored one.
Dark souls is the dark souls of political agendas.
I'll see myself out.
That got a good chuckle out of me
Benadryl Thundercrotch
You had one fucking job, and it was to not become IGN
Why do I feel like I've heard this joke before
I didn't skip this video due to craving negative content or keeping "politics out of our games"; I did so in order to avoid spoilers as I'd never played Dark Souls.
Now that I have *finally* played (and loved!) the remaster I could not agree more. Great episode!
"He just challenged both men to a duel"
"Your challenge is to watch a video about video games and politics"
So just a typical Jim video then? Fine by me :)
Dark Souls was always about triple capitalism? My mind has been blown.
@@krillin6 This whole video seems like it is a huge strawman. When I see people complaining about games having politics, it is not so much about games having political influences, but some people on the far left, especially some game journalists trying to insert their own political agenda into games via the way of demonizing said developers not having feelgood message in their game.
Your quest noble adventurer is to clean out the rust and old ass sunny D from my helmet! It will require courage, grit, and CLR.
Bugger me, for a split second out of the corner of my eye I read that as "will require courage, grit, and DLC".
@@jubuttib CLR is in the random lootbox you buy with a JEWELS, it's 80% generic brand dishsoap and spunk filled dishrags.
This episode was brought to my attention from a friend, and they are correct to say this is very refreshing to see after all your videos on loot boxes and gambling in games or Epic's whole ordeal. Those are good topics as well but this is a critical subject I'm glad to see you bring up. You did an excellent job with discussing Dark Souls's plot, world, characters, and themes of futility into our own world. It helped me to think about the game's story even further than initially. Everyone who says that gaming and art as a whole medium isn't political are complacent and only see things at base level.
We need to analyze and think on subjects like this more, and you helped make Dark Souls feel more inspirational with the idea of someone breaking the cycle against overwhelming odds. Thank you for the immense work you've put into this video and your whole channel. I hope to see more Jimquisitions like this one.
Dark Souls main theme has always been about hope and not giving up. Its honestly 1 of if the most hopeful games ever. Sure the way it is expressed is Dark....souls...sorry, but it definitely gets across extremely well. So well in fact a vast majority of people dive deep into the game don't even catch it.
I hate it when people make every thing political, its like i dont fucking care about politics, when i play a shooty game i just want to do shooting, if i want dark souls i just want to fight big ass dudes, and try figure out what the fuck is going on. Like not everything needs a uptight fuckin political bs about it, in mario i dont really want to the rescue the princess its just along the way of having fun. Mario kart i just wanna ram princess .. nevermind..
Possibly my favorite Jimquisition alongside the one telling the story of the Digital Homicide lawsuit.
Just FYI; It's called "The Age of Dark" because within humans lies the fragmented Dark Soul, AKA Humanity. Humans are, by their very nature of what makes them human, creatures of the dark.
Ah, good to know
In shame and shadow remade.
In Black and Gold reborn.
Makes sense.
So we are all black deep inside? Guess we cant be calling other people racist anymore can we? 😂
@@MazeMaker4Life well, in dark souls it's a bit different. see, gods and humans in dark souls are almost identical, the only differences are that gods have the light soul and humans have the dark soul. so, highborn gods are white inside and lowly, filthy humans are black inside.
and while this is totally me stretching the lore, the fact that i can make a coherent point about racism here kinda indicates that dark souls strongly contains politics.
You know you can also see a Tolkien-esque lessening between generations where each cycle becomes less and less grand.
You go from immortal dragons, to gods amongst men, to simply men.
So something like "inevitable decay"? I think that was actually a religious idea or something.
@@Reydriel yeah Extra Credits mentioned it when they talked about Lord of the Rings. That in Mythology and Biblically the older generation lived longer and we're more powerful and as time went on you see that grand power go away.
I'm not too familiar with Dark Souls but don't Miracles become less and less powerful in each game?
the trick is if prior generations are more grand. It would appear that is just what prior generations tell you about them.
Immortal, not emortal. Stay in school.
Sounds a bit like a pendulum - the apex of the pendulum's swing lessens with each swing until, eventually, the pendulum will finally rest at the bottom and stop swinging at all.
Holy shit, this is an awesome interpretation... Hope we can get more of this style of stuff
Still one of my favorites. I ended up accidentally making some of jim's points verbatim in a discussion about the themes of Fromsoft games lol. I'd typed most of the relevant portion out, read it back to myself, and thought "Wait a tic this is a bit too familiar" lol
If Vaati read the script I wonder if he read the ' _*Bathe in Sunny D wearing a helmet and shout "Estus is bestus"_ ' part and gave his thumbs up
You know for a fact he did
Zero doubt
UGHHHH, political video games? Why can't we talk about apolitical games like Metal Gear Solid 2 or Bioshock or Spec Ops: The Line?
I saw that. I wanted so very much for the person who created that image to explain themselves.
It not a argument about their being political games it about taking every game politically
Everything is political. Every book, play, show, movie, album, video game; _every_ form of media is political in some way.
However, art is also subjective. Meaning that not everyone will have the same takeaway, especially in a series as blurry as Dark Souls.
@@banessuperbrutalmetalfunti2561 Which is what makes Dark Souls so great!
My fav take was that Neir Automata was subtle in its politics, unlike Western games. The game literally had sentient factory machines named like Engels and shit.
This is probably one of your finest videos Jim. It shows that you've poured your all into it.
Thanks for making it
Something I find interesting about Dark Souls lore is how even though the game clearly spells out why the Age of Fire is bad and needs to end, the Age of Dark is not made out to be all sunshine and rainbows. Throughout the game (mainly in the DLC) you see the negative effects made on the world by the forces of the Dark. Darkstalker Kaathe seems to be this benevolent human loving creature in the main game but if you look into the lore you find out that he was directly responsible for the destruction of both New Londo and Oolacile. What this does is add nuance to the situation. There is no definitively good or bad ending since both sides have huge issues that will need to be dealt with. It's left up to the player to decide which side is right, the security of the Age of Fire ruled by tyrannical gods or the age of freedom created by the Age of Dark which brings with it a host of new threats to the world. There is no perfect answer to all the worlds problems, our only correct answer is the one we choose for ourselves.
Pfff... What's next, you will find political meaning in the first part of Final Fantasy VII? Why not an environmentalist message, while you're at it?!?
Pat SG don't give him ideas lol
Please DO give him ideas! I’d love to see a video about how FF7 shows the evil of corporate culture, and how it can destroy the very environment it needs to survive.
Also maybe a footnote about Wutai and how it shows the human cost of colonialism.
It’s the preaching people don’t like, to pretend otherwise it to be obtuse to the Nth degree.
!!!! AND THE FIEND MAY FIND POLITICS IN METAL GEAR. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW. METAL GEAR HAS NO POLITICS HWATSOEVER.
Jim just baited you to take opposing to his view, argument about Ubisoft was that they don't want preach to players what to think and that would be bad PR for them.
DS2 recontextualizes the choice your character makes at the end of DS1. In DS2, an indeterminate amount of time has passed since the first game and your character(presumably a new one if you linked the First Flame in DS1) travels to a new place called Drangleic for reasons they can no longer remember. In DS1, everything is just barely clinging to life, but by DS2 the remains of Lordran have largely been forgotten. The people of DS2 do what they do because that's just what they do; the reasons for it have long been forgotten.
And so your character, cursed with undeath, is primed to become a True Monarch in the tradition of the founder of Drangleic, Vendric. Where Gwyn was imposing and prideful, Vendric was driven. Drangleic is built on the corpses of the giants who once thrived there, divided up between Vendric and three long forgotten kings. Vendric's throne is the Throne of Want, built to contain the once again fading First Flame. Though Vendric never took his throne, instead staying back. Nashandra, who married Vendric, wanted the First Flame desperately.
In DS1, you're led on a journy that would ultimately result in your own death if you're not careful. In DS2, it's the same way, except that instead of being the one to charge the new age, Nashandra would use you as a pawn to allow her to get to her husband's throne and do with it what she will. It's heavily implied that she and her sisters, who married the other three kings of Drangleic, are associated with the Dark of DS1. However many ages have past, the Dark and Fire are trading places to attempt to keep going. Nashandra is the Dark that has now been reincorporated into the cycle of Fire.
So why didn't Vendric allow Nashandra to reach his throne? Vendric and his brother, Aldia, seemed intent on avoiding another Age of Fire or Age of Dark. Vendric became cursed with undeath, and lost his mind before he and his brother could find a solution. To prevent Nashandra from allowing either paradigm to reassert itself, he sealed it away and was buried with the only means of entry.
Aldia will confront your character throughout their journy and ask them about their perspective about this place they've been presented. Eventually, you can even meet with Vendric prior to his death, and receive the ability to always maintain your sanity and sense of self by uniting the power of all four kings. But Nashandra is always waiting, and your journy will lead you to where she wants to be.
At the doorstep to the Throne of Want, Nashandra will engage you, your role in her plan having reached its end. But if you defeat her, Aldia will challenge you next, to assure that whatever choice you make, you're ready for it. Surpass Aldia, and you're left with the Throne. You can leave it, and go with Aldia to try to find some other way around Fire and Dark, or decide to go the Throne and usher in whatever age you want. But regardless, your choice doesn't matter.
Like every monarch before you, from Gwyn to Vendric, you and your choice will be forgotten because of the cycle that the world revolves around. If you link the Flame, you will eventually need to be defeated so someone else can choose what to do with it as it fades again. If you preside over the Dark, someone else will come along to link the Flame again. And if you leave with Aldia, someone else will come along to take the throne you abdicated. No matter what, one person is not enough to surpass world-encompassing systems.
Many people think DS3 is unconnected to DS2, but in message, it isn't at all. In the time that has passed since DS2, the corpse of the world has become barely anything but bones and dust. Dark and Fire have repeated and alternated countless times. The Fire has faded over and over again. And those who have successfully linked it, the Lords of Cinder, have had enough.
The Flame is fading again, and needs the strength of the Lords to even have a chance at being rekindled. But the Lords abandon their Flame. Fire and Dark as systems have become fully unified; the Lords choose to instead return to their domains and rule as they had in ages past. Fire or Dark, it doesn't matter. They want to keep their power over the corpse of a world that's left. The world contorts and forces itself together, dragging their distant lands to Lothric, where the Fire hungrily awaits.
Your character is someone who attempted to link the Fire in the past, but failed: and Unkinled. The Unkindled have been awoken to bring back the wayward Lords and try to link the Fire again, or else snuff it out. Regardless, the cycle of their power would continue; the Fire will fade again, and embers of the Fire will always be present in the Dark waiting to reignite.
But something else has begun to happen. In Londor, the congregations of the Sable Church gather to meditate on the hopes of an old serpent. Pilgrims make their way to Lothric, having faith in a new power. The Dark of ages past was misguided; the Age of Men as a structure is the same as the Age of Fire but with humanity at the height of it instead of the gods. But if the people were to organize, to change the nature of the power granted by the Flame into something accessible to all, something else could happen. The solution Aldia may or may not have ever found was to flatten the hierarchy of Fire, to make power intrinsic to the beings subject to it so that it can't be wielded against them unjustly.
This is the new power the Sable Church seek. As a figure to manifest their ideal, they seek a Lord of Hollows to consume the Fire. When Gwyn linked it eons ago, he tied the people to power; whatever those who controlled the Flame wanted would be what the people had to deal with. But a Lord of Hollows would tie the Fire to all people, so that going forward what the people want would be achievable through the power that has been redistributed among them.
Of course, it's up to your character to join this new organized group of the dejected, or to reinforce the hierarchy that has asserted itself since the death of the dragons. But the choice is there, and they are no longer alone in making it.
Ava Aelius So Vendric and Aldia are the third party?
cool story bro
Nice analysis. I have a different view, however. I don't see ages of fire and dark coming and going, since you can't rekindle a fire that's not going anymore. You might replace it, but it would not be the same thing and it would also mean finding/creating a new flame. Seeing how people did not forget about Gwyn and the other lords, and that the Sable Church is still trying to follow Kaathe's ideas, I think it implies that an age of men has never happened.
This means that the linking of fire endings are canonical in DS1 and DS2, however.
Not to say that you're wrong, of course. That's the beauty of art, I guess...
Dark Souls 3 also further reinforces the idea of cycles with yet another example: the Ashes of Ariandel DLC. The world of the painting eventually begins to rot, and the only way to save it is to burn it all down in fire and paint a new painting to replace it. Understandably, some people within the painting object to having to die - but as the Unkindled, you bring the flame to them nonetheless.
Except DarkSouls is actually about gitin gud.
I really really love the narratives that you’ve brought forth in this episode!! Because dark souls is kinda cryptic and confusing I didn’t really understand the story on my first play through, but as time went on I finally understood what it all meant. I remember my boyfriend helping to explain it, and there was always this mental block for me. A little voice in my head going “isn’t darkness bad?” And then I finally got that it didn’t matter what it was called the old regime needed to be snuffed. You’ve perfectly summarized how I’ve come to understand it! This was very refreshing to see and I’ll be sharing it with all the dark souls nerds I know. Thank you so much for everything you and your team do : )
This is one of my favorite videos you've ever made, keep it up, I'm interested in seeing more of your video essays that don't have to (necessarily) do with current gaming news.
As an author, I have found it quite interesting to study my own works and uncover things about my beliefs that ended up in the book's themes without me realizing it. You can learn a lot about a person by the stories they tell.
the is the problem nowdays, since we live on super-political word were you need to show an fucking point every fucking second people end up finding stuff even by accident
there is no problem in talk about politics like dark souls or the Division did, the problem is that not all games are political, you can find on one or another but you wont find an polticial deep meaning on Tetris or fucking Mario vs Donkey Kong and people talk like every game should have some super deeper meaning or some social critic of some shit
@@superninja252 So you are annoyed by people that overanylize games? Why? What's wrong with that?
@@jowysw i am annoyed with people annoyed with people that see video games as just as escapism
@@superninja252 If you want to see videogames just as escapism then fine. What I (and probably all those people that you are referring to) don't like is when people say that videogames can ONLY be escapism. When those people go after others that do want to anylize videogames according to their political views, go after devs that Dare to introduce politics in their games or when they insist games with obvious political themes don't have them at all. It is fine if you play a game with political themes and decided to not put focus on them, it is also fine if you decide to only play games that have no direct relation with political themes. The thing is that people are also free to interpret a videogame they like however they want.
@@superninja252 tetris, cold war politics make it a shock it was able to be released, it was programmed by a man working directly for the soviet R&D center and is based on a toy used to help visualize mathematics.
donkey kong is about animal abuse. and that's straight from nintendo, don't even have to create that one. mario was DK's master and was punishing a disobedient pet.
This is the unholy fusion of Vaati and Jim. The result of the intermingling of lore and politics and satire is truly an eldritch abomination...
GIMME MOAR!
Jimti Sterdya, Cleaner of Steam Has Invaded.
Surely you mean an ALDRITCH abomination hahahahaheeheheho
@@DagothBob I doth perceiveth that which thou hast done.
Had this conversation with my boyfriend when I watched him play. Why save the world if it fucking sucks, piss on the flame and bring in the new age.
The new age where darkness consumes everything and corrupts the humans you're trying to save! Bring in the new age whooooo. Are you that naive that you only see these two endings as black and white?
I admit I didn't see it as deep as that, but once I knew about that Gwyn was extending a desolate, decaying and lifeless age I felt that it was time that fire was allowed to fade.
I believe after that is the age of water.
That's Zelda Windwaker
@@RangaMasterRace you're probably right. Still not played it though.
I've never been more intimidated by a character than I am upon encountering Baron von Breadknife.
Just roll out of the way when he tries to spread your jam and keep hitting him with a pierce based weapon. Also don't wear the La's Veg'as Crab set or else he'll be more aggressive.
It's the dark souls of politics. And those politics need to git gud
The Ukranian government is an example of what the dark souls of politics feels like
great video! i really like the depth and attention to detail in this one. one of the best ones to date!
Haven't watched Jim in a good year, so I'm binging everything I've missed. This is one of the most refreshing video he's made!
"He laughs at memes about milennials eating avocado" LOL
We all do😁
Screw you, Seath! With your gimmick kill move and your stupid beautiful cave full of invisible walkways!!
*Shakes fist angrily*
Not going to lie, this video has finally convinced me to try out Dark Souls for the first time.
Fantastic game. Ignore these "hardcore fans" telling you how to play. Enjoy it and relish in the challenge.
No shame in jolly cooperation if you need help. The "get good" crowd can get over themselves.
it's not as hard as people make it out to be
Clyde the Hobo all joking aside it’s the game I hold closest to my heart. From one stranger to another, I hope you enjoy and find a great deal of fulfilment from it.
Now don’t you go hollow...
I seriously think that this is my favorite comment and subsequent conversation thread ever on TH-cam. I’m terrible at theses games btw and I think I’ve tried them all. They are exhilarating in the way that I used to find early Nintendo games back in the day long before graphics and “realism” took ahold of my suspension of disbelief.
I love darksouls but never looked at it this in depth. This makes me love it even more.
Also please do more videos like this!
I would love to see more of these political analysis of the Dark Souls franchise
I don't see any parallels to modern issues.
I mean, where in Lordran can you find someone whose radical beliefs in a nebulous divine entity drive him to commit brutal acts of ill-targeted violence?
...
Wait a second...
You didn’t do the “heh”!
@@sirweenielick8534 I just felt like I should delay it a bit this time around.
Heh.
We’ll build a wall and the hollows are going to pay for it!!! -Gwyn probably
There is a Wall of Lothric in Dark Souls 3, so it seems they indeed build that wall
uhh, guys, the ringed city is called that because it's surrounded by an insurmountable cliff wall.
he literally walled off the human capital.
What about the undead asylum and new londo , or the door in ds2 that every speedrunner skips.
*WALLS* the ultimate obstacle , alongside the brothers , Cliffs and Bridges
Videogames and politics at the same time? Hbomberguy?
Why cant you just let me enjoy my politics? Why do you have to just FORCE in dark souls in to it?
Your own blindness to the political nature of something doesn't make it forced. L.
@@1917girl It's a joke..
"Your adventure is to watch a video about politics and video games.....at the same time." Oh, so just another Monday morning with Jim "effing" Sterling Son. I can do that.
What in tarnation? People have said you can't read politics in Tom Clancy things? How can people like that exist?
There's conservatives that believe Metal Gear Solid doesn't have anti-nuclear war messages in it and that the series has no political commentary. People would rather be ignorant than come to the realization that some of their favorite games are potentially criticizing their beliefs.
Easy... People like to shootbang rather than actually read Tom Clancy's books...
Gamers
Tom Clancy, who built his entire career on writing LITERAL POLITICAL THRILLERS, clearly has no politics involved in any of his works because muh vidya gaems.
Evan Holtz how can you play a series that basically invented the phrase “war economy” and not think its political? Are people that desperate to escape or just that delusional?
Holy shit, I didn't think I could love Dark Souls even more than I already do.
L. It's not a good game bro.
@@1917girl right..
@@1917girl ding dong your opinion is wrong
Honestly this is such a well done video and I'm glad I got to watch it. Actually just finished watching your latest upload, Mister Negative, and glad to visit these vids that I did not have the opportunity back then.
I'd watch that Dark Souls 3 political video if you're thinking about making it.
came for the shitpost
stayed for the LORE™
now off to replay Dark Souls
well done
yeah... I'm a go finish DS 3 now
the ultimate intention. Time to snuff that fire out once more.
"Anor Londo is the Brexit bus!"
...Oh gawd... oh gawd... I mean, he's not wrong, but... but...!
...
...Nobody tell Solaire~! T_T
Great video imo. I didn't thought I'd get it since I never played dark souls but you made it possible.
Love the video, but WTF were you thinking? Citric acid + metal - what could go wrong!?
ESTUS IS BESTUS.
Shhhhhh! I wanna see what happens!
Dragon Age is about terrorism. Mages are not inherently dangerous, but they are marginalized, not allowed to live in the society they would want to live in, so a tiny minority of them decide to use violence - some might argue in defence.
Not only that, but it has the idea about elites doing something that will make them greater and screwing up the world for everyone else. Sounds like a lot of politicians and corporations to me.
There can actually be a ton of politics in Dragon Age if you really think of it. I certainly don't mind analyzing games in different ways, though I do think shoehorning messages in while breaking lore is going a bit too far, ala Inquisition.
Only issue with that is mages in DA have to constantly be vigilant or they can easily become abominations. So you have a whole group of people who can just become demon monsters and murder countless people, probably pays to be cautious of them. Doesnt help that no one really gets magic, and I know you can say its like not getting a religion, but being able to make fire or earthquakes is not quite the same.
@@Featherwick I think it's more like "well any person can turn into a mass murderer", though I'm not sure that's the best argument, honestly, similar to how comparing magic and religion probably wouldn't work well either. I agree that watching mages in that world makes sense, but I also do tend to feel really bad for them that they're as oppressed as they are. I would think that maybe they could train a mage to resist becoming an abomination and then maybe they can be set free? Yeah, I'm not saying don't keep a bit of an eye on them, but keeping them locked up forever also seems unfair. Quite the tough call, really, like many political situations.
Or the most obvious one...the relationship between elfs and humans. In most fantasy settings, set races don't get along, but in DA the elves are literaly put in ghetos and considered by many, to be lesser then men.
@@Featherwick Mind you the "ooooh, always be vigilant!" is mostly the propaganda pushed by the Templar crowd. If you look at other places like amongst the Dalish Elves, they don't treat mages like that and you get far fewer abominations. Merrill is pretty much begging to become and abomination and still doesn't manage it. Ultimatley it's true that magic is dangerous - but so are swords. And if you are driven far enough into a corner, you will eventually take any means to use whichever tool is at your disposal.
The intro for this video was beautiful. I like to imagine Jim running around some sweaty ass town in Mississippi with a helmet on going "Haha!" everywhere. :)
This is one of my favorite videos you've ever done, and I've been watching for a long time now. Well done