the whole "Solaire is the firstborn" theory has fallen off and it's not usually believed in anymore, because of events in DS3 (which i won't spoil)

The story of Siegmeyer, to me, is the absolute peak of Dark Souls writing. Genuine, powerful, and soul crushingly sad.

The cursed blade Makoto is from the 1st game Demons Souls!😊 Siegmeyer’s quest ends sad just like Sid!😢

Vaati was my main lore squeeze for so very long. Love his work, it was my sleeplist for a very long time. Nice to see you appreciating the classics Baya!

Vaati is the primary loremaster of all of Fromsoftwares Games. Everything he mentions is either based on facts found somewhere in the world may it be textures, item descriptions, dialoge etc., or but that a big part of the vague story telling, based on interpretation which he always declares as such. He works of course together with some very dedicated and talented creators(e.g. Zullie the Witch) who are awesome by their own.
But his kind, soft, clear and warm voice is for me the best part of all his videos. It's like ASMR Dark Souls history 😅

Great to see you diving into the lore of DS, as traditionally- after beating the game hah! Watching you play through ds1, I saw you make a lot of surprisingly accurate assumptions when speculating about the lore. You will be surprised how many times you might have the "thats what I thought!" moment. Vaati is the tip of the iceberg, he covers a lot of the emotional themes and inter-character drama of the Souls games, the production quality and value really compliments it. Though I heard you ask what the curse is, the "sun" etc., there is an amazing underappreciated channel called The Firelink Conspiracy which gives a much more systemic and sociological look at the world of DS. Miyazaki (Creator and Director of all souls games) studied Sociology, and it is shown with how inticate the souls lore is, covering cultures, ages of advancements, with great influence from human psychology and philosophy. The Firelink Conspiracy covers the most basic concepts while staying spoiler free for DS3! The production is not as polished as Vaati, and you might have to pause to read sometimes, however I do not think i seen anyone have such a clear vision of what Miyazaki made. I highly recommend it to everyone! peace

Some of the dialog from npcs like sheva is cut content that was removed from the main game. But if you know where to look you can find this cut content in the game data.

Nice to see new youtubers

Cry it is normal to cry on that kind of stories. It means you are alive, you are human. I have seen these stories in game many times, any time tears in eyes.

Yeeesssss, your watching some Vaati.
Excellent choice to catch up on the impossible to find, and even more impossible to understand untold lore of souls games.
Oohh, this is gonna be juicy 👌

So early, I'm excited to see this video. I wouldn't understand what's going on in Souls games without Vaati

Great video Baya 🎉. So glad you got to experience a vaddi video. So sad though. Looking forward to seeing more. ❤😊

To the question of how seriously to take Vaati's info, it's like a 70-90% solidarity.
Most of his info is taken directly from in-game/game-related content, but to tie things together, there are the occasional theorycraft and assumption. But there's little that people truly disagree with story-wise.

Hell yeah... I can't watch the DS3 playthrough until after i finish it, but i've been looking forward to some vaati reactions

Regarding the Sunlight Straight Sword looking like any other sword, that's kind of the point. It's meant to be plain and simple, like the rest of Solaire's gear. The thing is, ONLY the Sunlight Straight Sword looks like that in the game, and its easy to get early and its powerful so many people have it as a character first favorite and it carries them through the whole game so they recognize it. Solaire's story and narrative purpose are complex. For many years the community thought he was the firstborn of Gwyn based on that sword and the sun motif he carries. The 3rd game answers that question but I won't spoil it for you.

I've seen these videos before but it's been a while. It'll be interesting to see and get your take on them. Hope you enjoy seeing them. Also wish you the best on your vacation. Take care.

Hi Baya, some notes to your questions as usual :) The videos are generally explanation of years of observation, item descriptions, datamining of the game itself, and sometimes info from the interviews of the devs, but together by the community and made into storytelling scripts by Vaati and others (in very simplistic explanation from me) :)

- Yes, the respawning pinwheels before Nito drops all 3 masks.
- You first meet Logan locked in Sen Fortress, he was captured (Speculatively on purpose by him). He got to the Archives when You opened the path to him and others.
- It was big theory that Solaire is the Gwyn's Firstborn, but DS3 gave new info.
- Summoning and possible endings of questlines are sort of like multiverse. In some universes, Solaire gets Maggot, in others, he links the fire. In the end, it is just a question in which multiverse are you in (the in-lore mechanics might be a bit different, but it would explain the choice possibilities).
- The Alvina Covenant may be the main evil PVP one, simply because you sort of MUST cross the Darkroot garden to complete the main quest (IDK if you get summoned if someone used the Hydra ladder), so the invades have high chance of happening.
The part about Shiva and his hunt of the blade is either speculation or cut content (there are in-game leftovers that support this), because it is not in final game, but the lines were already recorded, and he was supposed to have black orb, suggesting you would invade him later. The story you see here is possible reconstruction of that.
- Nito's part intro - the thing about the humanity and its role in the cycle... Yep girl, you are for a biiig ride with this part of lore, pitty you skipped DS2 for now...
- I think Petrus bugged for you, you should be able to do his questline normally even if you joined the Way of White before...
- Ou, someone did not do his homework when he sorted the playlist for you... I am sorry... Well, you need more info on the ending through your playthrough to see which ending is really better.
- Dusk was human princess of the Oolacile, nothing "special" except of the ways of her people, the magic and that she was human nobility. Gwyn wanted to stop the Abyss in Oolacile, rescuing her was secondary, but the was ally so it was one of the objectives for Artorias.
- Siegmeyers "goal" was just adventuring, no matter the form, as long as he was able to progress, or die trying.
- Sieglinde, the "best NPC", making her way through Lordran without single death :D Yes, you finished his questline before meeting her, so she did not spawned for you... We do not know the final words of his wife... She kills him for the final time in the Ash lake when he is fully hollowed, and he does not "respawn" anymore.

At the beginning I was asking myself how I could ever know it, same as you did. The beauty of Dark Souls design is that the  community is only way to solve many of lore's mysteries. Genius move, love it.
Anyways. Stay wonderful Baya and don't you ever go hollow 😊❤

React Gang 😎No matter how much I've delved into the lore myself, it's nice to see others piece together a lot of the puzzles in the lore and make it make sense.

i just defeated gwyn at exactly 100 hours!!! very good game