The Crestfallen Warrior and the heroes of the Firelink Shrine

 

Crestfallen Warrior

What turns an undead into a hollow? Is it the passing centuries of a never ending life? The experience of dying hundred of times ? Or is it those things coupled with the loss of hope? Firelink is the last place heroes often visit before they go hollow, it is the gateway to many dangerous places.

Most Undead in Lordran have a purpose that they strive towards before hollowing. However there is one who is content to wait until his sanity slips away, the apathy of this man is kept whitin Firelink Shrine, while he simply watches Heroes come and go. Some never returned and he remains, at least nothing will bother him once he goes hollow.

When you first encounter him it is clear that he does not have any faith in the fate of the undead and their purpose, so he just stands there and tries to make you give up before you try, just like he did.

Big Hat Logan

“Well, what do we have here? You must be a new arrival. Let me guess.  Fate of the undead, right? Well, you're not the first. But there's no salvation here. You'd have done better to rot in the Undead Asylum… but, too late now.”

“Did you see him? Big Hat Logan, the legendary sorcerer, in the flesh, this place is simply mad. Legendary heroes popping up right and left… They are making me feel quite inadequate, to be honest..”

It is obvious that he is jealous of you, and all of the others who passed through that place, the Firelink Shrine, all of you have a goal, a fate, but he..

Anastasia of Astora

“Oh, have you seen that terribly morose lass? Anastasia, the fire keeper, she’s stuck keeping that bonfire lit. Sad, really sad.. She’s mute and bound to this forsaken place. They probably cut her tongue out back in her village, so that she’d never say any god’s name in vain. How do these martyrs keep chugging along? I’d peter out in an instant”

Griggs of Vinheim

“How did that silly sorcerer's apprentice end up? You know, Griggs,  the one always prattling on about Master Logan. He left for the Undead Burg, but never came back. Servers him right. If even Old Big Hat can't make it out there, what chance does he have? I hope he enjoys his new life as Hollow.”

Laurentius of the Great Swamp

“How did that raggedy old chum end up? You know, Laurentius, the one who idolized some godmother of pyromancy. He left for Blighttown, but never came back. Whereas most flee from sickness, he dive right in. Well, nothing will harm him once he goes Hollow.”

“Did you hear about Rhea, the maiden? The virtuous lass came back alone, and in absolute tatters… Did her follower die, or was she abandoned? Who knows, but I suppose we've heard the last from "M'lady".”

Rhea and her followers

“Did you ring the second bell? That is incredible, I must say…but now we have a new problem. It's noisy, it snores, and its breath is lethal…this is no laughing matter, I tell you. And I was really beginning to like it here! Sigh…Maybe it's time I do something about it…”

After you have fulfilled the prophecy of the undead and the primordial Snake, Kathee, arrives, he clearly begins to go mad, he can stand it no more, so he waits for you in New Londo and prepares an ambush… but after you end his misery, it looks like he was looking for that from the start, to be killed by the undead hero.

“Heheh, not too shabby…
I think you've done me a favour…”

Solaire and the Sun

Lordran

It's not easy to find the Sun in Lordran, and those who see it can't tell if it's real. The age of fire is ending, and the world is already dark. Logan believes that there are no Gods, no trascendence, only power. 

Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight

To become a God it's simply to find the power, the Lords found the power amongst the first flame and proclaimed themselves to be Gods, but as the flame fades the Lords must rely on illusions instead of power until a new fuel for the flame is found. As Gwyn burns in his turn, Gwyndolin and his friends search desperately for someonne to replace him, to mantain the Age of Light a little longer. 

That reminds me of the legend of Icarus, who crafted wings and used them to chase the Sun, but he flies too close and falls to his death.

Solaire of Astora

Solaire has limitless ambition and tries to obtain the Sun as well, but he too runs the risk of flying too close, it's hard to find the Sun in Lordran, and the world is already dark, perhaps Solaire is looking for a new light. There is a prophecy that comes from Solaire's homeland in Astora, a prophecy that sheds light on Solaire's quest: There is an old saying in my family, "Those who are undead are chosen, and in the exodus from the Undead Assylum, making pilgramage from the land of Ancient Lords, when those ring the bell of the Awakening, the fate of the Undead will be known".

To fullfill the prophecy you must be two things, you must be undead, and you must escape the assylum. Oscar became undead and travelled to this island to fullfill the prophecy, and you carry out his legacy, but Oscar was not the only one trying to become part of the prophecy, Solaire also escaped the Assylum.

"The way I see it, both of us seem to be intertwined, both of us were imprisoned in the Assylum and now we're both here, in a land brimmed with Hollows, could there be merely be a chance? I hardly think so, I became undead to pursue this"

Solaire's quest meant so much he became undead to fit the prophecy, so if you believe you are the chosen undead, you and Solaire are in the same path, and your meeting was not chance but fate, you can choose to believe that everything in your past led you here.

But, who is Solaire Before he became undead and met you? Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight had three children, one was named Gwynevere, who fled her father in Anor Londo as the flame continued to fade, another was Gwyndolin,

Gwyndolin, Master of Illusion

Gwynevere

 Born off the Moon and raised as a daughter, Master of Illusion, he mantains power in Anor Londo through the illusion of his sister (Gwynevere) and the fake the Sun. The identity of the third child is a mistery, all we know is that he was a God of War, but his foolishness led to the loss of something invaluable, that he had his cult statue destroyed, and in their places it is clear that there have been obvious efforts to remove all traces that he ever existed.

Missing statue close to Gwyn Gwynevere statues

Solaire and his mother

But in a land far from Anor Londo, in an altar dedicated to Sunlight, there is one statue that remains, it's a statue of a woman who holds a small child, wielding a straight sword, the same sort as Solaire's wields.

Solaire never talks of the past, only of the future, to find the Sun. If he is the son of Gwyn, he is falling out of his father's grace. But who is Gwyn to take his powers away? Solaire would have lost his status, and nothing more. Even though his equipment has no special powers, he travels trhough Lordran with little trouble, reaching Anor Londo, Demon Ruins and Lost Izalith before you do.

It is said that the God of War still watches over his warriors, Solaire travels through worlds to help you take down your foes.

In the end, it doesn't matter if Solaire is the son of Gwyn, he is simply a friendly man who helps his comrades when they are in need. He is a man who gave everything he had to find something, despite looking like a fool, but after years of searching, his hope turns to despair, and his despair, turns to madness..

Solaire, a man of indominable will, loses his mind to a creature that looks like the sun, and dies to your blade… Or does he? One undead may take a different path, a path that led Solaire to persist a little longer, a path that takes you both to the kill of the first flame, where Solaire can fight to find his Sun.

With Gwyn defeated, Solaire can light a flame of his own, and return Sunlight to the world, from the fire within Solaire, will burn the brightest ever.