History WMG / DarkSoulsIII

* IT will also give hints that the Dark souls series are in fact prequels to Demon Souls and Bloodborne which share the same world. Except the later two take place in Humanities Age of dark. Furthe rnote the Dark lord ending no matter what will be canon to some extent and the series will conclude with the question of [[WasItReallyWorthit?]]

'''Ashes of Ariandal post-release Guesses''':

[[WMG: Gwyndolin was male this entire time, and only had a female persona because that's what his abusive dad wanted]]
Of course this is really wild mass guessing, but the Reversal Ring says that he behaved like a 'sullen brooding goddess' and lore largely implies he [[WellDoneSonGuy wanted Gwyn's love and acceptance]]. While we don't actually have any lore saying otherwise, it's possible Gwyndolin was ''forced'' to take on a female aspect against his will rather than just him going through some teen deity angst. However he couldn't even do that right in the eyes of Gwyn. So of course he was sullen and brooding. Gwyn got tired of trying to turn Gwyndolin into something he wasn't and went 'ugh, whatever Gwyndolin, I've got to go set myself on fire so bye'. After some time, he manages to shake off his dad's influence somewhat and discards the ring (which is why it isn't looted in the room you fight [[spoiler:Aldritch]] in since it should be [[spoiler:with the rest of his body]]) but keeps the feminine aspect since at this point it was what he was most known by after eons. Of course, [[UnfortunateImplications unfortunate implications]] abound whenever Gwyndolin's sex/gender is spoken about.

TL:DR Gwyndolin's a dude who ''never wanted to be a girl'' and it took possibly millenniums for him to be comfortable with himself. Thanks Gwyn.
** In DS1, the Darkmoon Knightess/Anor Londo Firekeeper refereed to Gwyndolin as 'Master' which is more or less a gender-neutral term. This time around, however, Yorshka - Gwyndolin's sister - refers to him explicitly as 'brother' and was probably the only one left in Anor Londo when Aldrich and his Deep Crew came in to consume Gwyndolin which COULD reinforce this theory as she's probably the last person who has seen Gwyndolin.
*** Can I dare advance this into Heartwarming territory? Darkmoon Knightess was supposedly horrifically deformed and yet Gwyndolin accepted her without problems, with the respect she had for him it seems they knew each other beyond just worshiper and deity. Yorshka got her name and chime from Gwyndolin, it's entirely possible that she and the Knightess were the only people Gwyndolin felt comfortable being himself with and they in turn accepted him for who he was. No, I'm not crying, I just got something in my eye...
** Might I ask what advances Gwyndolin into UnfortunateImplications territory? If this has something to do with his character being seen as transphobic, that was my initial reaction as well, but I thought about it a little more and realized Gwyndolin is basically going through all the same crap that trans kids go through with unaccepting parents, just in reverse. His gender identity seems to be male, corresponding to his birth sex, but his father never accepted him as a son and forced him to dress and behave like a woman. Flip a few pronouns around and you can see how similar it is to trans issues. Of course, like all things in the ''Souls'' lore, I could be misinterpreting all of this.
*** Sometimes bringing up Gwyndolin can provoke some rather transphobic or homophobic comments from some players, including players who don't realize when they're verging on transphobic or homophobic territory. Unfortunate implications happen, even when we don't mean them to. And then there are some people that mean every word of it. It's not Gwyndolin himself, it's player reactions to him.
*** Ah yes, that is an unfortunate reality with some of the players. Those "trap ahead" messages in front of his boss chamber also struck me a bit wrong.
** The exact details are summed up by the description on Gwyndolin's robes from the original game: 'The power of the moon was strong in Gwyndolin, and thus he was raised as a daughter'. It's not an ambiguous situation.
*** Someone's parents brought them up to love football. Yet despite all this conditioning, they ''hate'' football. Just because he was forced into a role since birth doesn't mean he was happy or agreed with it. Which is the point of the WMG.

** Sort-of confirmed...It does look like the Lordvessel, and [[spoiler: it is being used for a similar purpose... Sister Friede has Ariandel making himself bleed into the bowl in a feeble attempt to rekindle the flame of the painted world.]]

* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin An ornate bowl that leaks fire?]]

* What else could a massive, ornate bowl that leaks fire be?

What is known, though, is that the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Devourer of Gods]] is, or rather was, a right and proper cleric, until he started eating men, women and children

What is known, though, is that the [[Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Devourer of Gods]] is, or rather was, a right and proper cleric, until he started eating men, women and children

What is known, though, is that the [[Names to Run Away from Really Fast Devourer of Gods ]] is, or rather was, a right and proper cleric, until he started eating men, women and children

It's the entrance to Ariandal, or a foyer that requires defeating a boss inside to access truly.

What is known, thoug

I know [[Hammerspace SpaceCompression is at work here, but the Catacombs don't seem very impressive for an empire. So what's the connection to the Undead Legion?

Wolnir was a typical [[EvilOverlord warlord bent on conquering his rivals and neighbours and he succeeded (whether he was a giant before he became a skeleton is up for debate.) The Undead Legion weren't bothered by petty politics, so they left him to it.

I know SpaceCompression is at work here, but the Catacombs don't seem very impressive for an empire. So what's the connection to the Undead Legion?

Wolnir was a typical warlord bent on conquering his rivals and neighbours and he succeeded (whether he was a giant before he became a skeleton is up for debate.) The Undead Legion weren't bothered by petty politics, so they left him to it.

Aside from the similarity in architecture and weather, one room in Irithyll holds host to a bunch of paintings from past games (including one of Gwynevere and one of Nashandra). Given that Anor Londo played host to the painting of the Painted World and Irithyll is just an extension of that city, it may stand to reason that Ariandal and the Painted World of Ariamas influenced post-''Dark Souls I'' Anor Londo and Irithyll (if one believes that the Painted World of Ariamas and Ariandal are one and the same or extremely similar locations).

* Listen to the first part of the DLC's trailer theme. Sound familiar? [[spoiler: It's the first part of Nashandra's theme.]] FROM rarely mashes irrelevant stuff together, and because of this, [[spoiler: Nashandra]]'s corpse may have been taken by Aldia and twisted into the creature we see after Oceiros, Aldrich, The Nameless King and The Twin Princes are shown... Or it's just [[spoiler: Gwynevere]]

* Listen to the first part of the DLC's trailer theme. Sound familiar? [[spoiler: It's the first part of Nashandra's theme.]] FROM rarely mashes irrelevant stuff together, and because of this, [[spoiler: Nashandra]]'s corpse may have been taken by Aldia and twisted into the creature we see after Oceiros, Aldrich, The Nameless King and The Twin Princes are shown... Or it's just [[spoiler Gwynevere]]

Aldia is responsible for the creation of the Forlorn, who are said to wander from world to world without a home. The trailer dialogue specifically says "...If you are like us, another forlorn soul with no place to call your own...", which recalls the role and description of the Forlorn from Scholar of the First Sin. Since Aldia is [[spoiler: immortal, being completely removed from the cycle of light and dark]], it's entirely possible that he could appear in the DLC. The fiery tree early on in the trailer looks very much like his [[spoiler: new form as the Scholar of the First Sin]].

Needless to say, with the premise being that "something" is bringing back old Lords of Cinder (including, presumably, Gwyn and Vendrick/[[spoiler:Nashandra/maybe Aldia]]) and with statements saying that III will tie in a lot more closely to the plots of I and II than II did to I, the pre-release ground is ''fertile'' for speculation

[[WMG: The Player Character, themself, is one of the revived Lords of Cinder.]]

It's Ash. Why, you ask? Just look at the title: Ashes of Ariandal. If that isn't convincing, I don't know what is!

* If we do get to see the rogue deity herself, then this boss could either be a follower,one of her potential children or a look-alike.

It's Ash. Why, you ask? Just look at the title: Ashes of Ariandal. If that isn't convincing, I don't know what is.

It's Ash.

In the trailer four bosses from the base game are depicted; Oceiros, Lorian and Lothric, the Nameless King, and Aldrich/Gwyndolin. If one subscribes to the theory that Gwynevere was the Queen of Lothric, then each of these bosses has a personal connection to her (Oceiros was her husband, Lorian and Lothric her children, and Nameless and Gwyndolin her brothers). The selection of these bosses would seem completely arbitrary were it not for that one connecting theme of the theory, thus lending credence to both the theory on Gwynevere and her potential role in the DLC.

In addition to this, there is a shot in the trailer of a young woman caressing what looks to be a painting canvas, which could either be the painting from 1 that lead to the Painted World, or is a different painting with similar properties.

'''Ashes of Ariandal pre-release Guesses''':

The main problem with this theory is if it were so, why did Yhorm ask Siegward to kill him if he ever came back as a Lord of Cinder? Perhaps he feared he would lose his mind after all, or maybe he somehow knew his resurrection would mean he had failed?