While looking through discussion threads discussingDark Souls IIIoften you’re able to find topics regarding a connection between the events and characters ofDark Souls I/IIand Dark Souls III. Sometimes, though, it’s not clear whether a certain subject is a simple Easter egg, put into the game just to create nostalgia or mystery, or if there’s some actual lore connection behind it.
In this article I’d like to discuss one of those such things, which seemed pretty obvious to notice however, as it turned out, some players paid little attention to, list some of the common theories regarding it, and invite the readers to join the discussion.
When fighting your way into and through theGrand Archives, you can spot these peculiar statues around the location:
They have heads with long necks which resemble ones of the Primordial Serpents of the Dark Souls I, human, or rather, undead hollow bodies with small wings instead of their hands.
So, the first thing one thinks of when looking at their heads are most likely the primordial serpents of Dark Souls I: Kingseeker Frampt or Darkstalker Kaathe.
There are certain points that may be interpreted to indirectly support this version, though rather vaguely. The first is a lightning urn description that tells us that Lothric knights used to hunt dragons in the past and thus worshiped the sun - most likely, the Great Lord Gwyn, and Kingseeker Frampt, who claimed to be a friend of Lord Gwyn, might have had some weight in that religion. It is also stated in theSoul Streamsorcery description that first of the Scholars of the Grand Archives doubted linking the flame, and Darkstalker Kaathe sought the Age of Dark to come, and thus wanted the flame to fade.
However, there seem to be no hints in Dark Souls I that primordial serpents are in fact giant humanoids, on the contrary, it’s pretty much implied that they have serpent bodies as well, as we can only see their heads (which don’t look too snake-ish, though) and their long necks/bodies.
Another theory comes from another weird-looking part of the statues - their wings. According to this theory, the statues are, in fact, the statues of the “angels” of the Angelic Faith of Lothric, shared by the Winged Knights. As mentioned in items related to these knights the Angelic Faith of Lotrhic is based on a miracle tale revealed to the “Heavenly Daughter Gertrude” by a divine messenger, an angel, who, according to this theory was one of the primordial serpents.
However, this theory somewhat contradicts the fact that, as the armor of the winged knights suggests, the faith in “divine messengers” was considered heresy and wasn’t recognized by any of the three pillars of Lothric King’s rule (which include Scholars of the Grand Archives, Lothric Knights and the High Priestess). So, it is rather weird for the Scholars to place statues of the heretical “angels” all over the Grand Archives.
The next theory focuses on the heads, bodies and the clothes of the statues. As already mentioned above, the statues seem to have the bodies of the undead (except their hands) and they wear peculiar robes, with overcoats that only cover their chests, leaving the rest of the torso uncovered. It reminds of a certain NPC and its set from Dark Souls I:
The Xanthous King Jeremiah, who invades player in the Painted World of Ariamis (where forbidden things and creatures that don’t fit into the Dark Souls I world are banished) as a red phantom, using unique pyromancies.
He wears bright yellow robes with a weird “crown”, which look more like some sort of bandages over some weird head. The Xanthous Set is also present in Dark Souls III, however, it is a different set, shared by a group of researches of lost miracles. It also has a weird-looking headwear, but a different one, and its color is different, it is only slightly yellowish, as opposite to the original Xanthous Set of King Jeremiah, that was always bright yellow, no matter how old and ragged, according to its description.
Jeremiah’s head was always a topic for different speculations, as for what is it like for real, there even was this fanart illustrating one of the theories:
So according to this theory the statues in the Grand Archives are statues of the Xanthous King Jeremiah or similar creatures and Jeremiah, in fact, had a primordial serpent head. However the robes shown on the statues aren’t exactly the same as robes in DS-I/II Xanthous sets, and Jeremiah had ordinary hands, not wings, even though he had a weird headwear or head.
The other theory regarding the nature of the statues comes from theSoul Streamsorcery description mentioned above. It is found at the Grand Archives and its description states:
Sorcery imparted by the first of the Scholars, when Lothric and the Grand Archives were but young.
Fires a torrential volley of souls.
The first of the Scholars doubted the linking of the fire, and was alleged to be a private mentor to the Royal Prince.
And it is also similar to a certain sorcery from the Dark Souls II. It is a matter of speculation, naturally, but it may be interpreted as a hint of involvement of Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin, in role of the first mentor to the Royal Prince. According to this theory, the weird looking statues are statues of one of Aldia’s infamous experiments.
However, it is also rather weird to place statues of the experiments all over the Grand Archives among the statues of kings, high priestesses and others, is it not?
It pretty much sums up the most common version so far.
If you have your own theory regarding this matter or have noticed something about the listed versions that was missed, please jointhe discussion on the forum. you may also check the link to read the theories which were mentioned above in more detail.
What do you think? Are the statues in the Grand Archives mere Easter Eggs or they have some lore significance after all, and if they do, what do they exactly mean?
