After 9 Years Bloodborne’s Community Is Still Not Sure What Bloodborne Is Even About.

At the very beginning of Bloodborne we find a note right next to us.
“Seek paleblood to transcend the hunt.”
This note here, is basically the only objective we are given throughout the game.
Finding pale blood and transcending the hunt is pretty much Bloodborne's winning state.

The only problem - I’ve beaten the game half a dozen times at this point, yet I still have absolutely no idea what seeking paleblood is even supposed to mean.
So when I sat down and began working on this retrospective I set myself a simple goal.
I wanted to work out what the objective of the game means in the context of the game’s lore.
And this small little goal, sent me down a very deep rabbit hole.

The thing is.
As it turns out, Pale-blood is one of the biggest mysteries in the entire lore of Bloodborne.
There just is no obvious answer to the question what the note refers to.
And that’s really interesting isn’t it.
The very first thing we are told to do in bloodborne, the very first objective we are given and the clearest goal that the game ever gives us, is still a mystery to its community almost a decade after the game came out.
You know, it’s been 9 years yet people are still not entirely sure what the game is even about.

In this video we will embark on a journey to solve this mystery. We will take a look back at Bloodborne and it's themes and finally try to solve this mystery.

====== Patreon

====== Timestamps-----------
00:00:00 - Intro
00:03:31 - Bloody Viles (Bloodborne’s Premise and Healing System)
00:15:39 - The Trailer (Bloodborne’s Themes Analysis)
00:24:25 - The Genealogy of Blood Transfusion (Lore Discussion)
00:32:13 - Boss Fights
00:52:55 - The Origins Of Bloodbonre’s Madness (Inspiration)
01:05:38 - The Birth Of God (Bloodborne’s Philosophy)

====== Credits for the Music
Bloodborne OST - The Orphan Of Kos
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time OST - “Gerudo Valley”

[wachyfanning]

The "borne" in Bloodborne is an entirely different word from "born". It means "carried by" or "transmitted by"
That is, the beast plague is transmitted via blood - the old blood. Basically the game spoils a massive twist in the title.
But the two do work well together. "Borne" could be a double ententre, and the idea of something being a host of a disease is often paralelled with women being hosts of children, menstration, etc.

[MisterPuck]

My interpretation of the true/hidden ending is that both Willem and Lawrence were wrong, it is neither through pure insight or holy blood that will lead man to a new childhood, but rather a special combination of both. If you consider the way the game is typically played, throughout the game you gain strength from blood (bloodechoes) and knowledge from insight. What do the One Third Umbilical Cords do? Give us large bursts of insight with each one used, as if our character has an epiphany with each use. Yet, to survive all the way to the Moon Presence, great strength is required through the use of the Blood.

(level 1 runs not-withstanding)

[clarfonthey]

That ending note about plagarism and how we see derivative work was honestly such a great way to finish the video. Bloodborne really is an example of how to make something better than the sum of its parts (and wow, those are quite some parts) and I think that alone is worth celebrating.

[spark]

paleblood is explicitly the moon presence. there's a note in the lecture hall that says "The nameless moon presence beckoned by Laurence and his associates. Paleblood."

[starwave]

I haven’t finished the video, but a huge thing about the note at the beginning of the game is that the Japanese version says that it’s written by your character

[lorenfulghum]

Miyazaki explains his definition of Paleblood pretty explicitly in an interview - it's the way the sky looks after beating Rom and revealing the ritual.... the sky is pale blue, "like a corpse drained of blood". Thus "Seek Paleblood" = get the sky to turn light blue = reveal the mensis ritual. I know that the moon presence being Paleblood makes more sense in the context of the story, and that the sky is more purple than pale blue, but that's still what he said.

[samfish]

A series I've seen on yt that has a notable piece of the puzzle is called "A Agony of Effort"
To summarize blood borne was inspired by in hospice, a book of poems written by the author of jeckle and Hyde, recounting his experience of being operated on in edinburgh scotland around the birth of modern surgery. Using this framework to explore the way we can dehumanize others and in turn loose our humanity our selves.

While the series is a bit slow and repetitive and a bit TO convinced of its own concept, I think when viewed along with the other influences that it does a lot to convey the inspiration and themes bloodborne explores. E X E P T ! his thoughts on paleblood, true or not I feel lack thematic resonance on a surface level. He thinks it alludes to tuberculosis and the pale phlegmy blood patients cough up. This I believe, my question is WHY, why do we seek this specifically.

[Dan-kmje]

if you had told me years ago that the funny mario maker creator i was watching would one day post a 90 minute video about the death of god, and that it'd be one of the greatest youtube videos i'd have ever seen, i'd have laughed in your face. but here we are.

[ChuckFinnley]

Small correction: Entering Iosefka’s Clinic prior to killing Rom doesn’t lock you out of getting the Third Umbilical Chord, but killing (and possibly just fighting) the Imposter Iosefka does.

[AlkisGD]

Regarding blood vials, my own take and the reason why I don't hate the system is that they are so common a drop, that they facilitate long stretches of exploration without rest, something estus flasks do not allow. If you're a patient and methodical hunter, you can clear out areas and rarely die outside of boss battles, which then allows you to develop a large enough stockpile that the lack of vials never becomes an issue.

37:49 - The transformation is based on the bosses' HP, with 3 phases in total.

[xanathar]

God, every time I see a new upload from this channel I get genuinely excited to watch it. I absolutely LOVE your philisophical discussions and the lens through which you examine games like this. And of course when I saw that you made a video about Bloodborne, a game which I would consider to be one of if not THE greatest game currently in existence, I immediately clicked on it. If I had the financial stability to support you on patreon I 100% would, but since I can't do that at the moment I want to show some genuine appreciation by just letting you know how much these videos not only entertain, but also genuinely enlighten me. The way through which you examine games is unlike any I've personally seen on youtube before and provides such a fresh and interesting perspective on things otherwise talked to death. You truly succeed at providing interesting perspectives on great games. I wish you the best of luck with your next projects and I look forward to watching them!

[joshuareesor]

40:55 Rhetorical question aside, the point of the door is to act as a back entrance to Djura, as you can befriend him if you sneak up and don't kill any of the beasts near him, which he gives you the Powder Keg Hunter Badge and a gesture as a parting gift.

Darkbeast Paarl is an awkwardly placed boss though, and the explanation for this seems to be that he was a later addition to the game. People datamined an old list of bosses from the game's Alpha network test, and Paarl isn't included in the main game line-up. However, the Chalice Dungeons list includes the Darkbeast (large) boss, so it seems that he was a Chalice Dungeon exclusive boss before being brought up to the main game, resulting in his location and rewards being a bit haphazardly put together.

[JuliusCaesar]

I think the argument FOR the healing system is that you get punished for NOT using the rallying system. The stamina is so forgiving in this game because even in the midst of battle you should use the rallying mechanic, and not doing so will cost you. I got this from AesirAesthetics btw.

[nchappy]

Bloodborne is a horror game about spending a night in england

[Woedenaz]

I'll be honest, there's a good chunk of this video that I just do not agree with but I still found it fascinating regardless. If anything, I think the views of Nietzsche are incredibly interesting and so often twisted or misinterpreted by people with ulterior motives. One thing I *do* love about this video and your other videos, though, is how you approach the narratives of games in trying to understand what they *mean.* There's so many Bloodborne videos out there trying to interpret what Paleblood is quite literally but I think you are right in viewing it from a metaphorical and thematic viewpoint, rather than a literal one.

I think what I disagree with the most in the video, though, is the idea that Bloodborne is not trying to convince or tell us something. I'd argue that it very much is trying to do so. There is a very common theme throughout the game of people seeking transcendence, of *not* leaving the dead well enough alone. How this causes them to sink further and further into madness. It causes them to commit more and more atrocities, perpetuate the suffering of others just for the sake of this transcendence. They seek something they can never have and continue to do so despite it clearly causing nothing but more suffering.

In a metaphorical sense, they're more or less trying to manifest their way out of mortality. They wish to move beyond death itself.

But this is impossible for anyone who also wishes to retain their humanity. Mortality is that which *makes* us human. And any actions towards removing ourselves from the inevitability of death only serves to erode our morals, anything that makes us empathetic and human.

I think this is likely why Gehrman has the scythe at the end. He is our final step to fighting the literal concept of death. Killing him and the moon presence is the final spilling of blood that completely erases our humanity.

Anyway, I'm kind of rambling here.... but man, Bloodborne is truly an incredible game. As much as I love Dark Souls and Elden Ring, Bloodborne just tickles the brainmeats far more than either of those. Sekiro actually comes pretty close and I'd say it actually deals with a lot of similar themes around immortality being antithetical to being human. But yeah.... I don't know how to end this rant so, uh... great job, Cleave!

[TheEntroponaut]

What an incredible and enlighting interpretation of Bloodborne. Ceave truly is one of the best video game essaysts out there, keep up the good work man!

[jwilliam]

This is the most unique interpretation of Bloodborne I've seen. Bloodborne has become the video game equivalent of the shining at this point with so many different takes on it. Fantastic video.

[Azurade]

I mean meeting a symbol for death as the alternative or bad ending to finding meaning within yourself could certainly be seen as a metaphor for how if one falls into nihilism, doesn't find meaning in life, it can result in them taking their own life. The reaper allegory being a "shadow fight" also supports that interpretation.

[Gear_Storm]

I have never played bloodbrone but clicked on this video because Ive always enjoyed your videos and whatever you had an hour and a half to say about what I assumed would just be some ambiguous key item in a weird ambiguous game, and was gifted with an incredible lecture about religion, art, and how we view and interact with it whether or not its something we have a positive relationship with.

Thank you for sharing this work of art, and all the effort that went into it. It inspires me as an artist and creator.

[jannituts]

I don't know why, but I feel like video games, as a form of art, are underappreciated (even though they combine art, storytelling and music), but the way you analyze games makes me, without explitly mentioning its an art, appreciate video games overall a lot more.
I really thank you for that, Ceave.