Dark Souls is a dark and terrifying setting that constantly beats you down with despair and pessimism, and you aren’t the only one to experience this, as most npcs have their tragic fate awaiting them. One of them is bit peculiar though and quite memorable, Siegward of Catarina, or as the community has lovingly dubbed him “onion bro”, due to his armor set looking like an onion. Whenever you meet him he is always in these terrible situations, when you first meet him he is confused by a pulley system puzzle, after which his path is blocked by a ferocious demon, later he is tricked into falling down a well and has his armor stolen, after that he is resting in the middle of a city overrun by enemy forces, and after that he is locked up in a jail cell by these horrible invisible jail keepers. For certain he has had a hard time of it, but regardless of each of these situations he always has boundless optimism. For example when the demon mentioned earlier is blocking his path, he sits there wondering what to do and says out loud he wonders if he can reason with it, demons in the dark souls series are not known for being conversationalists. In facts they are more commonly known for killing you. A lot. To even consider reasoning with one would be blatantly foolish or utter madness, which Siegward is neither; he is an optimist. The message I think Siegward delivers to us is that regardless of the situation, being happy is always the first step forward no matter how bleak the circumstances. Dark Souls shows us the depths of despair all to often and so much of the story of the game and gameplay of the game is filled with pain, that having a contrasting, unwavering optimist radically helps the player. Now what does this mean for philosophy you are probably wondering, simple: the external world does not matter. Even if you are meaningless on the grand stage of life, you have self worth and self meaning, you should try and make every stride you take a happy one, even if the destination is bleak and filled with pain as Siegward’s is. After all Siegward maintains that optimism even knowing where this path will take him. Siegward made a vow to his friend the Giant King Yhorm, that if ever Yhorm were to abandon his duty, Siegward would strike him down with a gift from Yhorm; the blade Storm Ruler. As it would so have it Yhorm did abandon his duty, and as such Siegward now marches forward in this horrifying and dark place knowing that his goal is to murder his own friend, and yet he does his best to keep a smile on his face, and spread some optimism. In the end of Siegward’s tale he himself perishes after Yhorm has been defeated, whether it's from exhaustion or from his wounds in battle is unknown, but the most likely explanation was that all he had in him. Going through this place and murdering his own friend was likely to much he could handle and so he let himself drift away with the flood of fear and pain. I believe the take away from this character is that happiness is a form of strength and regardless of what you do happiness is what you should strive for.
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Philosophy of Dark Souls Pt.2
Dark Souls is a dark and terrifying setting that constantly beats you down with despair and pessimism, and you aren’t the only one to experience this, as most npcs have their tragic fate awaiting them. One of them is bit peculiar though and quite memorable, Siegward of Catarina, or as the community has lovingly dubbed him “onion bro”, due to his armor set looking like an onion. Whenever you meet him he is always in these terrible situations, when you first meet him he is confused by a pulley system puzzle, after which his path is blocked by a ferocious demon, later he is tricked into falling down a well and has his armor stolen, after that he is resting in the middle of a city overrun by enemy forces, and after that he is locked up in a jail cell by these horrible invisible jail keepers. For certain he has had a hard time of it, but regardless of each of these situations he always has boundless optimism. For example when the demon mentioned earlier is blocking his path, he sits there wondering what to do and says out loud he wonders if he can reason with it, demons in the dark souls series are not known for being conversationalists. In facts they are more commonly known for killing you. A lot. To even consider reasoning with one would be blatantly foolish or utter madness, which Siegward is neither; he is an optimist. The message I think Siegward delivers to us is that regardless of the situation, being happy is always the first step forward no matter how bleak the circumstances. Dark Souls shows us the depths of despair all to often and so much of the story of the game and gameplay of the game is filled with pain, that having a contrasting, unwavering optimist radically helps the player. Now what does this mean for philosophy you are probably wondering, simple: the external world does not matter. Even if you are meaningless on the grand stage of life, you have self worth and self meaning, you should try and make every stride you take a happy one, even if the destination is bleak and filled with pain as Siegward’s is. After all Siegward maintains that optimism even knowing where this path will take him. Siegward made a vow to his friend the Giant King Yhorm, that if ever Yhorm were to abandon his duty, Siegward would strike him down with a gift from Yhorm; the blade Storm Ruler. As it would so have it Yhorm did abandon his duty, and as such Siegward now marches forward in this horrifying and dark place knowing that his goal is to murder his own friend, and yet he does his best to keep a smile on his face, and spread some optimism. In the end of Siegward’s tale he himself perishes after Yhorm has been defeated, whether it's from exhaustion or from his wounds in battle is unknown, but the most likely explanation was that all he had in him. Going through this place and murdering his own friend was likely to much he could handle and so he let himself drift away with the flood of fear and pain. I believe the take away from this character is that happiness is a form of strength and regardless of what you do happiness is what you should strive for.
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I love this position. One of the most important lessons I've learned and enacted in my adult life is to take a positive note or lesson out of every significant situation or trial in life. Otherwise you're not truly living, just existing. You must live to experience happiness.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely an interesting approach to describe optimism. I personally never played Dark Souls but have definitely heard how punishing it can be. Otherwise I thought you made a great point
ReplyDeleteAnd it isnt just in the third game, the onion knights are found throughout all Dark Soul games. All with a goal in mind that drives them forward.
ReplyDeleteHuge fan of the game. I myself played it quite often, but never seemed to take away much from that character until reading this. My outlook at this game was never one to be a learning experience, but in the realms of Dark souls I see that each game has it's own new set of goals that aims to be more than just killing demons and steeling souls.
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