Dark Souls III Lore | The Tragedy of Slave Knight Gael

What do you think?

[mitchl]

Couple of things. Main things mentioned in the comments so far are:

-"Gael is not really the Painter Girl's uncle, it's more of a term of endearment."
I can definitely see that as a possibility, and in fact, it makes a lot more sense. One caveat to that would be that the only other mention of an "uncle" in the series - as far as I know, is Allfather Lloyd being Gwyn's uncle. How do we reconcile that?

-"Gael consumed the Dark Soul to create the pigment."
While I like this theory and believe it is a very possible alternative, I doubt certain aspects of it. How would he know consuming it would create a pigment? Why did Gael ask you for YOUR "Dark Soul" upon seeing you, instead of begging you to kill him or something, and to complete his quest? If his intention was for you to be "the backup, " why didn't he just give you the blood, even after he begins to bleed the Blood of the Dark Soul?

Again, I believe the counter-theory is VERY plausible, and I think it rings -mostly- true, logically speaking. I just happen to have a slightly different point of view.

[positron]

A nobody fighting a nobody in the middle of nowhere, for no greater end as the world itself has crumbled into nothing. Considering the consistent mood of the three games, this is the perfect final battle and poetic ending for the entire series.

[ayemeharty]

Gael didn't betray his mission. As stated in the Blood of the Dark Soul's description, the blood of the pygmy lords had long dried out by the time Gael found them. In order to make the pigment, he consumed the Dark Soul himself, so that his blood would become the pigment for the painting. But, he knew this would drive him insane. Perhaps this is why he led us through the Ringed City? So that we might slay him and then take his blood to the painter. Whatever the case, Gael's consumption of the Dark Soul was not motivated by greed, but by necessity for the creation of a pigment.

[chyguy]

I wonder what the Pygmy lords were thinking when a man with a long beard and a broken sword barreled towards them and started eating them.

[brycecramer]

I think his "insignificance" adds to the echoing hopeless tone of the entire series. The big "final fight" is two undead, not gods or lords, fighting in the ashes of all fallen kingdoms.

[playnejaymes]

he helped me fight friede and the demon princes i felt no joy in killing him

[jdp]

Gael didn't fail. He traveled and fought maybe centuries, and consumed the dark soul to make the pigment. But he left us scraps of red cloth, leading us to where he would be, knowing we would stop him if it came to that and complete his mission. He sacrificed everything so that a little girl could create a cold, dark, and gentle place where lost souls could find peace, and he did so knowing he would not be there to see it. Gael was the goat.

[Commanderp]

Did you ever hear the tragedy of Knight Gael The Wise? I thought not. It’s not a story the Fire Keeper would tell you. It’s a Londor legend. Knight Gael was a Dark Lord of the Undead, so powerful and so wise he could use the Dark Soul to influence the curse to create death… He had such a knowledge of the Dark Soul that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying. The dark side of the soul is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be... unnatural. He became so powerful… the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught the Champion of Ash everything he knew, then the Champion killed him in his madness. Ironic. He could save others from death, but not himself.

[angeldoyle]

This video really gave so much context to not only the Gael fight, but the series as a whole, And it's a tragedy that so few people get the reasons why Gael is the final boss.
In my opinion, Gael represents the nature of humanity: That we are imperfect, but our flaws make us stronger. We can surpass our "destiny" and forge our own path. We are weak and fragile, but we strive to be more than what we are, at any cost. The fight against Gael is not a fight against true evil or against an infamous, all-powerful god. It is a fight against an old man with a broken sword, a rusty crossbow, and a crappy miracle.
Heck, I think it's intentional that he's such a forgettable character. Like us, he's just "some guy" who manages to take down gods and win against insurmountable odds, yet never gets any recognition for it. Why do we feel in awe of the great kingdoms, gods, demons, heroes, and legends, when all of them were outlived by Patches of all people? This game has never been about gods and legends, it's about the nameless undead who somehow defeated them all.

[FaceManPie]

I feel like you may have gotten something wrong, at least from my interpretation, is that that Gael only wanted the Dark Soul for himself after being corrupted by it and that he had forgotten that he only needed the pigment.

The description for the actual item "Blood of the Dark Soul" that you get from defeating Gael reads:

"Blood of the dark soul that seeped from the hole within Slave Knight Gael.

Used as pigment by his lady in Ariandel to depict a painted world.

When Gael came upon the pygmy lords, he discovered that their blood had long ago dried, and so consumed the dark soul."

He could no longer obtain the pigment when he found what had happened to the Dark Soul. So he consumed the Dark Soul fragments and allowed his own blood to be the pigment made from the Dark Soul. I feel as if Gael wanted you to defeat him, and bring this pigment to the Painter Girl, knowing that he himself could not.

I feel Gael sacrificed himself to create the pigment of the Dark Soul for the Painter Girl, and was not just consumed by the power of the Dark Soul. Your interpretation seems to ignore the description for the item entirely.

Well put together video, though! And that's just my interpretation.

[CanterlotCrusader]

I find Gael to be very noble and the clearest representation of man.

He was there since the beginning, but made a slave by the Gods who used and cursed his kind. He chose his own destiny and while not pretty, he sacrificed constantly through the ages, to the end of time at the end of the world, so he could create the pigment. Remember, the blood of the dark soul dried up in the Pgmy lords so the blood dripping once again shows it being revived by your fight with him and the souls that come out of Gael is the souls of men that he collected over the ages.

Also, I just thinks it's interesting that Gael summons forth blue lightning that appears because of the dark souls he secretes, while other bosses have shown summoning yellow lightning and tossing it up or throwing it, almost like the Dark Soul is natural and one with the world itself, while yellow is artificially crafted by the Gods power.

Gael is one of the most awesome bosses in the series for me, so much great lore that ties in with the most important things in the series and it feels just amazing fighting an ancient warrior who has suffered, but now fully embodies the power of the long awaited Dark Soul.

[SlyHaxorNaught]

I wish we could venture out into the destroyed world, check out the ruins of Anor Londo and Lothric. Maybe even see the current types of life that may or may not be still around and find out how the world ended up that way.

[gamer]

And so, the dark souls series ends with the tragic story of a simple, disposable and downtrodden slave knight, and his quest for a new world rather than stories of lords or monarchs. Yet in the end, the lords, people expected to be saviors of a dying world, achieved very little, if anything, while Gael, someone expected to be little more than fodders, ended up forming a new world. A very nice end to the series

[acedias]

Gosh, there's quite a number of parallels Gael's background has with Guts from Berserk.

Guts born to the life of a sellsword. Gael made to be an expandable soldier.
Guts pledging to the servitude of Griffith. Gael put to the servitude of the gods.
Gut leaves the Band of the Hawk. Gael leaves his duty as slave knight.
Guts eventually serving as guardian to Casca. Gael serving as guardian to the painter.
Both suffer at the whim of Gods, and both susceptible to corruption.

Miyazaki just really couldn't resist stopping at paying homage to the fighting style.

[Chyguy]

I am insanely impressed by how fast you put this together, and how well you did so. Outstanding.

[edrko]

When I heard that "the red hood has come to eat our souls" I got so worried because I knew what was about to happen. And when I saw the cut scene of Gael completely corrupted by the Dark Souls and he gives us that dialogue, it completely broke my heart. Then we have to fight him and you almost feel like you don't want to, and it's such a beautiful fight. It was such a tragic ending that invoked so much emotion in me, I can't understand how people weren't happy with it, I thought it was perfect.

[xenon]

The Dark Soul itself is desire personified. They call it "dark" not because it is black or evil, but because it is practically nothing more than the concept of "want". Humans have an unlimited capacity for seeking knowledge. The darksign, the black hole in the Ringed Knight armor, and hole in Gael's chest, and even the blackness of the humanity sprite are just symbols of an unfillable void. It's an insatiable desire to answer all questions.

I don't think there ever was any one Dark Soul or even physical slivers of it. I think it was sort of a lie. The Dark Soul only existed as our collective desire to find it. It was nothing more than a concept. And that concept of wanting is what drives humans mad looking for it.

[enz_]

13:16 those piano notes with that transition of Gael just makes you realise the shit Gael had to go through just for the pigment to create a better world. Only to end up being taken down by you... get the dragon balls we’re reviving Gael

[rcticfloof]

I think you´re missing something, when you fight Gael it´s possibly a thousand years into the future, thinking of the destruction of things, this should be just around when you fight the last boss, so the only living things when you fight Gael is the two of you. The Dark soul was split by the Fugitive Pygmy into all humans and pygmies, meaning that Gael didn´t ultimately fail, he just tried to collect all of the dark soul so that his Lady could create a new painting. The reason he is so bloated and malformed is because of how long he has gone killing and consuming, think about it, the abyss filled him and his goal was the only thing in his mind. his fighting and sword are both evidence of how long he has gone on to kill. So, the abyss is deep in him, because he has collected all of it. The Abyss is the Human soul, the dark soul of man.

[neroman]

Using the song "Time" from Inception added so much more value and feels to it .