Extreme Lore Theory: The Nameless King is Gwyn's Firstborn... but also Solaire at the same time!

[Lord Bewd]

WARNING EXTREMELY LONG POST READ AT YOUR OWN SPARE TIME AND SANITY

Obviously The Nameless King is Gwyn's Firstborn, but how could he also be Solaire at the same time? There is the lore theory that Solaire is the Carthus Sandworm which actually has some merit to it. But as all Souls games go, the creators leave a lot of story to the players' own interpretation and this is my personal interpretation of the story which I will stick with unless some massive evidence is found in the Ringed City dlc or somewhere hidden in the coding of the game not yet found. And even if that stuff is found I will probably stick with this interpretation because I just dang like the heck out of this concept.

So here is where the theory starts. There are several big evidences in this and a few things that could be left to question, but I will mainly be focusing on the evidences.

Before diving into the evidence and connections I will list some things we know for fact about the three named figures in question that I theorize to be the same entity.
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Gwyns Firstborn: "Lord Gwyn's firstborn, the God of War, inherited the sunlight from his father, Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight.[1] He once wore an ancient ring capable of boosting the strength of miracles.[2] He was said to have had respect only for arms and nothing else,[1] and wielded the Sunlight Blade and Great Lightning Spear miracles.[3][1]
His foolishness led to a loss of the annals of history, and in punishment he was stripped of his deific status, expunged from history,[4] and his name has since been forgotten.[2] Sunlight Blade, which had the power to boost a weapon with rays of the sun in the form of lightning, was left on Gwyn's coffin, perhaps as a final farewell." (Copied from the wiki to save time typing)
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Solaire: "Knight Solaire of Astora is a Warrior of Sunlight bound to a quest of finding his own "sun", for which he became undead." (Also copied from the wiki). There is a common description used on all of Solaire's armor pieces that states, "[Specific Armor Piece Name] of Solaire of Astora, Knight of Sunlight. Of high quality, but lacking any particular powers. Solaire's incredible prowess must have come from rigorous training alone, for his equipment exhibits no special traits."

Notable Dialogue from Solaire, "Ah, hello! You don't look Hollow, far from it! I am Solaire of Astora, an adherent of the Lord of Sunlight. Now that I am Undead, I have come to this great land, the birthplace of Lord Gwyn, to seek my very own sun! ...Do you find that strange? Well, you should! No need to hide your reaction. I get that look all the time! Hah hah hah!"

"Oh, hello there. I'm glad to see you alive ...You have done well, indeed you have. You've a strong arm, strong faith, and most importantly, a strong heart. I am in awe, really. Yes, yes...What do you think? Why not join me, as a warrior of the Sun? Righteous knights, guardians of all that is good, in the name of the Lord of Sunlight! ...Only if it would please you, of course. Well?"

"Hmm! Ah, oh... hello there. Forgive me, I was just pondering... about my poor fortune. I did not find my own sun, not in Anor Londo, nor in Twilight Blighttown. Where else might my sun be? Lost Izalith, or the Tomb of the Gravelord...? But I cannot give up. I became Undead to pursue this! But when I peer at the Sun up above, it occurs to me... What if I am seen as a laughing stock, as a blind fool without reason? Well, I suppose they wouldn't be far off! Hah hah hah!"

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The Nameless King: This is a lore theory from the wiki, "The Nameless King is quite possibly Gwyn's firstborn: a fearsome, dragon-slaying war god from the time of the ancient lords. At some point during the war with the Everlasting Dragons, Gwyn's firstborn turned against his father, siding with the dragons. Despite this, the dragons were defeated by Gwyn and the other Lords, bringing about the first Age of Fire. As punishment for teaming up with the dragons, Gwyn ordered his son's name expunged from the annals of history and stripped him of his deific status. He also was Dragonslayer Ornstein's personal trainer, explaining their similarities in moveset and cross-spear design."

His armor set description, "(Piece Name) of a nameless king who was ally to the ancient dragons.

This golden crown, buried amidst long strands of bristling ash, is said to closely resemble that of the First Lord. (Helm)

Dragon scales are razor-sharp and cannot be burned. (Chest)"

Gwyn's Crown description in connection to The Nameless King's Helm, "Crown Of The Great Lord. Crown of Gwyn, Lord of Cinder, who linked
the First Flame.

Lord Gwyn, bearer of the ultimate soul,
divided that power among his great clan before
linking the flame. But he did keep his crown,
perhaps to preserve a symbol of the monarch,
for its actual power had fully subsided."
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Now here are some big evidences supporting this theory (I might not be able to list them all because I might forget one here or there because there are actually that many):

- Going off the established basis The Nameless King is Gwyn's Firstborn, we know that Gwyn's Firstborn had great respect for arms and nothing else. We read from the descriptions of Solaire's armor set that he fits this ideal perfectly. Now it could be argued that Solaire is the adherent aka follower of the Lord of Sunlight he claims to be, but I would counter argue and will go more in depth to this concept in the conclusion of this theory that Solaire though referring to himself as an adherent is simply putting on an act, but a truthful one at that for he is that Lord of Sunlight he is a follower to.

- We know that the crowns are obviously connected, but how does Solaire's helm fit into this? Well his helm is actually part of the previous evidence. The helm we will be using for this part is actually the Sunlight Maggot helm. It bears a striking resemblence to the Crown of the Great Lord which I personally do not believe to be a coincidence. The bearer that wears the Sunlight Maggot will produce a grand light from his/her head which is extremely symbolic especially in regards to its resemblance to the Crown of the Great Lord. And whose main quest line just happens to be in connection to this very unique helm? Solaire of Astora! Now, there is the arguments and what if scenarios of Solaire going insane, but personally I do not think that really matters. When the player wears the helm the player does not go insane, so why does Solaire? The helm is not actually making Solaire insane, it is just a matter of circumstance, for Solaire is in a depressed and desperate state by this point in the game and the unique traits of the helm trigger Solaire's already low mental state to keep degrading while if you take the helm before he gets there he is still in a low mental state, but still intact because that trigger was not there and instead still holds on a little because you the player are also a trigger for Solaire that motivates him. However, even if the Sunlight Maggot is taken, I feel Solaire eventually get his hands on one, and probably in a more mentally stable condition as well.

- The first place you meet Solaire happens to be very close by the Sunlight Altar and in a place showered in sunshine. A very important aspect of this place is that a dragon/drake like creature (the Hellkite Wyvern) happens to constantly fly around the area in extreme proximity to the altar and can kill the hollow soldiers on the bridge. Obviously NK/Gwyn's Firstborn is an ally of the dragons, but how is Solaire an ally to the dragons? Well he is a devout follower of the Firstborn's covenant so it can be hypothesized Solaire has nothing against dragons. Perhaps Solaire had some connection to the Hellkite Wyvern creature, but he shows no sign of verbally recognizing its existence. When the player tries to fight or flee from the creature Solaire stays where he is (and he actually says he is just going to stand there for a bit looking at the sun) and does not help the player or the creature. This creature is not an everlasting dragon let alone a true dragon of any sort, so Solaire probably just views it as expendable. I believe the player's triumph to evade or defeat the creature is an act of gaining more of Solaire's praise even if it is not apparent. But Solaire helps you defeat the Gaping Dragon which is a distant descendant of the everlasting dragons so how could he be an ally of the everlasting dragons? The only lore we really physically get from the Gaping Dragon is the description from The Dragon King Greataxe. A key word in that description is deformed. Deformed means not in a natural state or mishaped from a natural shape which infers that the Gaping Dragon is most likely maimed or in constant pain probably from some type of curse which can lead to a lot of other theories but I will just leave it at that for this particular entity. I believe Solaire is probably aware of what the Gaping Dragon is and what it is going through and willing helps you fight it in order to put it out of its misery. Thus Solaire is an ally of the everlasting dragons not just because of devotion to his covenant, but because of sympathy through his actions.

-This will probably be the last piece of evidence I include although there are a few others I could list, but this post is gettting pretty long so I will conclude after this piece. For this part I am going to focus on physical similarities. Now it is possible that some of these things could just be coincidence, but I am going to believe them not to be. Both NK and Solaire share a big physical similarity in that both of their gauntlet armor pieces are bracelets one of iron and the other of gold. Though obviously different in size which I will explain in conclusion, Solaire and NK are very similar in shape and build. Both Solaire and NK are undead. Because Solaire is undead he can become hollow, and NK is very apparently in a state of becoming hollow or already is hollow. Both Solaire and NK use lightning offensive miracles. NK is riding a drake like creature called the King of the Storm and Solaire because he is an ally of the everlasting dragons can be inferred to be very knowledgable about dragons and drake like creatures. You fight NK in Archdragon Peak which is unarguably the most sun showered place in Dark Souls 3 and once you ring the bell and a storm is summoned where does the NK come from? He comes from the sky above the clouds where the glorious sun is still shining with grandeur and the place you first meet Solaire just happens to be just like this, in fact the sun just happens to be hovering above a great line of mountains in the distance at which Solaire is constantly gazing.

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[Lord Bewd]

~continuation because original was too long to post~

Now, for the conclusion and to wrap things up. First of all, If you have made it this far I congradulate you for reading so much of my ridiculously long post. Secondly I also thank you for taking the time to read this far into my post.

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Conclusion: This conslusion will be sort of a chronological order of events narrated by myself as a story basically.

First, we know the whole general back story of Gwyn's Firstborn. So the question is, what happened to Gwyn's Firstborn during the exact time after his name was erased from history? Well, using the theory at hand, I infer that the Firstborn not just lost his status, but in a way also purposely nullified his status as well. He purposely descended from his deific state to pursue a journey only an undead could experience and in doing so became an undead. Having lost his true name forever the Firstborn gave himself an alias to be addressed as for the time being. The alias he chose is Solaire and claimed to be a Knight of Astora. The Firstborn of Gwyn was and always has been a very optimistic fellow, from his Solaire persona we can obviously see that of course especially from the fact that he shows no apparent signs of being saddened at the broken and missing statues of himself, but we can also see that from his past actions, for even though he was forgotten and resented by his family he still showed respect and love for his father by placing one of his beloved miracles in the room of his father's tomb at the cost of not being able to use said miracle the Sunlight Blade in his undead state. However, despite how optimistic he was, he could still get depressed even while in his deific state, but probably as a result of becoming undead and being susceptible to hollowing it was a lot easier for him to lose that great optimism. Now claiming to be a follower of his own covenant and taking on the name Solaire, the Firstborn has set out on a quest of enlightenment through a method he states of achieving his own sun, comparing it to a father and previously making mention of Lord Gwyn in a respectful manner *hint* hint*. Throughout his quest he is mostly jolly and is always willing to help those in need. Eventually though, he must have anticipated it, but he starts to succumb to the weaknesses of being an undead. Though in his undead state he was both physically strong and mentally very optimistic he starts to eventually lose hope. But luckily, our dear friend is not alone, for he has us. Though still downhearted, Solaire continues his journey thanks to the help of his friends support. Eventually both Solaire and we the players his friends team up together one final time to fight the Great Lord who is indeed Solaire's father. After an epic and emotional clash Gwyn's Firstborn along with his friends defeats his father. Having completed perhaps the grandest of tasks Solaire feels that he has finally found his sun. From this achievement Solaire regains the soul he had lost ascending back to a deific state, but strangely still retaining his undead curse. The course of events that happen next could happen in pretty much any order, and this is what they are. He eventually obtains a Sunlight Maggot, but in a more mentally stable state and uses it to craft a crown in similitude to his father's perhaps as a sign of respect. He abandons the alias Solaire and the garb he used while using that persona replacing his garb with some similar armor, but more grandeur and befitting of a conquerer of Lords, a king. No longer using his alias and his true name being lost forever he has just decided from this point to not have another alias and simply be called by literal description a Nameless King. As a result of ascending having aquired a grand soul he has also grown in size and prowess. Eventually he comes into possesion or somehow crafts his original deific weapon that is his sword spear. He also eventually tames a drake like creature called the King of the Storm. Togther, NK and the King of the Storm make an impeccable duo. Having completed his quest as an undead NK still feels that he can ascend even higher with some literal action added to that too. At the Archdragon Peak he has finally found that higher ascension both literally and metaphorically and has made it his home. Broken statues of himself indicate it was originally a place that was his domain before or perhaps it became his domain, but suffered a lot damage due to many warriors that challenged the great monolith. Having retained his undead state he starts to undergo the process of hollowing. As a final act of his praiseworthy life of praising the Sun, NK waits upon the peak for more worthy warriors that he can call his friends by allowing them to beckon him for a duel in which if they win will obtain great reward in substance and more importantly in honor. As time has told, NK is a being of partnership and cooperation and he encourages the use of cooperation in the duel against him, for is not he himself also cooperating with his noble steed? This act of cooperation is also evidenced at the fact that there is an npc summon, but he actually black crystals out if you challenge NK encouraging online cooperation using your Soap Stones for this specific encounter. And thus is the life of Gywn's Firstborn who descended taking the name of Solaire and then reascending, but taking on no new name but his literal title.








..................................................

....

.....but
...how is Ornstein's armor and weapon after defeating NK connected to this?

Answer: In his Solaire persona, out of the few bosses that you can summon Solaire for guess who happens to be one of those bosses? Dragon Slayer Ornstein, who was also trained by Gwyn's Firstborn. After having bested Ornstein in his undead and unascended state Solaire takes his armor and trademark weapon and holds them for safe keeping and probably decides to use them as additional rewards as part of his "final act" as NK.

Thank you for reading this theory and I hope this can spawn some nice and interesting discussion.

Praise the Sun!!!
\[T]/
"If only..... if only I could be......so grossly incandescent......."

[Lord Bewd]

Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion and interpretation of the story, that is what makes it fun. So if you think of it a different way that is great, but if you agree with this theory then that makes me very happy because I just love this concept of Solaire descending from a deific state and then ascending back because a jolly guy like him deserves some deific status.

[Lace Black]

I'm not reading all that.

[baelrune]

Originally posted by Lace Black:

I'm not reading all that.

your loss, the theory isn't a bad one

[Lord Bewd]

Originally posted by baelrune:

Originally posted by Lace Black:

I'm not reading all that.

your loss, the theory isn't a bad one

Glad to already see someone that thinks this theory is not too bad.

[Nitron]

The biggest "problem" of this theory is that you assume that Solaire survived in DS1. But there are no evidence of this!

[Quist]

Originally posted by Li Sheng Long:

WARNING EXTREMELY LONG POST READ AT YOUR OWN SPARE TIME AND SANITY

Obviously The Nameless King is Gwyn's Firstborn, but how could he also be Solaire at the same time? There is the lore theory that Solaire is the Carthus Sandworm which actually has some merit to it. But as all Souls games go, the creators leave a lot of story to the players' own interpretation and this is my personal interpretation of the story which I will stick with unless some massive evidence is found in the Ringed City dlc or somewhere hidden in the coding of the game not yet found. And even if that stuff is found I will probably stick with this interpretation because I just dang like the heck out of this concept.

So here is where the theory starts. There are several big evidences in this and a few things that could be left to question, but I will mainly be focusing on the evidences.

Before diving into the evidence and connections I will list some things we know for fact about the three named figures in question that I theorize to be the same entity.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gwyns Firstborn: "Lord Gwyn's firstborn, the God of War, inherited the sunlight from his father, Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight.[1] He once wore an ancient ring capable of boosting the strength of miracles.[2] He was said to have had respect only for arms and nothing else,[1] and wielded the Sunlight Blade and Great Lightning Spear miracles.[3][1]
His foolishness led to a loss of the annals of history, and in punishment he was stripped of his deific status, expunged from history,[4] and his name has since been forgotten.[2] Sunlight Blade, which had the power to boost a weapon with rays of the sun in the form of lightning, was left on Gwyn's coffin, perhaps as a final farewell." (Copied from the wiki to save time typing)
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Solaire: "Knight Solaire of Astora is a Warrior of Sunlight bound to a quest of finding his own "sun", for which he became undead." (Also copied from the wiki). There is a common description used on all of Solaire's armor pieces that states, "[Specific Armor Piece Name] of Solaire of Astora, Knight of Sunlight. Of high quality, but lacking any particular powers. Solaire's incredible prowess must have come from rigorous training alone, for his equipment exhibits no special traits."

Notable Dialogue from Solaire, "Ah, hello! You don't look Hollow, far from it! I am Solaire of Astora, an adherent of the Lord of Sunlight. Now that I am Undead, I have come to this great land, the birthplace of Lord Gwyn, to seek my very own sun! ...Do you find that strange? Well, you should! No need to hide your reaction. I get that look all the time! Hah hah hah!"

"Oh, hello there. I'm glad to see you alive ...You have done well, indeed you have. You've a strong arm, strong faith, and most importantly, a strong heart. I am in awe, really. Yes, yes...What do you think? Why not join me, as a warrior of the Sun? Righteous knights, guardians of all that is good, in the name of the Lord of Sunlight! ...Only if it would please you, of course. Well?"

"Hmm! Ah, oh... hello there. Forgive me, I was just pondering... about my poor fortune. I did not find my own sun, not in Anor Londo, nor in Twilight Blighttown. Where else might my sun be? Lost Izalith, or the Tomb of the Gravelord...? But I cannot give up. I became Undead to pursue this! But when I peer at the Sun up above, it occurs to me... What if I am seen as a laughing stock, as a blind fool without reason? Well, I suppose they wouldn't be far off! Hah hah hah!"

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The Nameless King: This is a lore theory from the wiki, "The Nameless King is quite possibly Gwyn's firstborn: a fearsome, dragon-slaying war god from the time of the ancient lords. At some point during the war with the Everlasting Dragons, Gwyn's firstborn turned against his father, siding with the dragons. Despite this, the dragons were defeated by Gwyn and the other Lords, bringing about the first Age of Fire. As punishment for teaming up with the dragons, Gwyn ordered his son's name expunged from the annals of history and stripped him of his deific status. He also was Dragonslayer Ornstein's personal trainer, explaining their similarities in moveset and cross-spear design."

His armor set description, "(Piece Name) of a nameless king who was ally to the ancient dragons.

This golden crown, buried amidst long strands of bristling ash, is said to closely resemble that of the First Lord. (Helm)

Dragon scales are razor-sharp and cannot be burned. (Chest)"

Gwyn's Crown description in connection to The Nameless King's Helm, "Crown Of The Great Lord. Crown of Gwyn, Lord of Cinder, who linked
the First Flame.

Lord Gwyn, bearer of the ultimate soul,
divided that power among his great clan before
linking the flame. But he did keep his crown,
perhaps to preserve a symbol of the monarch,
for its actual power had fully subsided."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now here are some big evidences supporting this theory (I might not be able to list them all because I might forget one here or there because there are actually that many):

- Going off the established basis The Nameless King is Gwyn's Firstborn, we know that Gwyn's Firstborn had great respect for arms and nothing else. We read from the descriptions of Solaire's armor set that he fits this ideal perfectly. Now it could be argued that Solaire is the adherent aka follower of the Lord of Sunlight he claims to be, but I would counter argue and will go more in depth to this concept in the conclusion of this theory that Solaire though referring to himself as an adherent is simply putting on an act, but a truthful one at that for he is that Lord of Sunlight he is a follower to.

- We know that the crowns are obviously connected, but how does Solaire's helm fit into this? Well his helm is actually part of the previous evidence. The helm we will be using for this part is actually the Sunlight Maggot helm. It bears a striking resemblence to the Crown of the Great Lord which I personally do not believe to be a coincidence. The bearer that wears the Sunlight Maggot will produce a grand light from his/her head which is extremely symbolic especially in regards to its resemblance to the Crown of the Great Lord. And whose main quest line just happens to be in connection to this very unique helm? Solaire of Astora! Now, there is the arguments and what if scenarios of Solaire going insane, but personally I do not think that really matters. When the player wears the helm the player does not go insane, so why does Solaire? The helm is not actually making Solaire insane, it is just a matter of circumstance, for Solaire is in a depressed and desperate state by this point in the game and the unique traits of the helm trigger Solaire's already low mental state to keep degrading while if you take the helm before he gets there he is still in a low mental state, but still intact because that trigger was not there and instead still holds on a little because you the player are also a trigger for Solaire that motivates him. However, even if the Sunlight Maggot is taken, I feel Solaire eventually get his hands on one, and probably in a more mentally stable condition as well.

- The first place you meet Solaire happens to be very close by the Sunlight Altar and in a place showered in sunshine. A very important aspect of this place is that a dragon/drake like creature (the Hellkite Wyvern) happens to constantly fly around the area in extreme proximity to the altar and can kill the hollow soldiers on the bridge. Obviously NK/Gwyn's Firstborn is an ally of the dragons, but how is Solaire an ally to the dragons? Well he is a devout follower of the Firstborn's covenant so it can be hypothesized Solaire has nothing against dragons. Perhaps Solaire had some connection to the Hellkite Wyvern creature, but he shows no sign of verbally recognizing its existence. When the player tries to fight or flee from the creature Solaire stays where he is (and he actually says he is just going to stand there for a bit looking at the sun) and does not help the player or the creature. This creature is not an everlasting dragon let alone a true dragon of any sort, so Solaire probably just views it as expendable. I believe the player's triumph to evade or defeat the creature is an act of gaining more of Solaire's praise even if it is not apparent. But Solaire helps you defeat the Gaping Dragon which is a distant descendant of the everlasting dragons so how could he be an ally of the everlasting dragons? The only lore we really physically get from the Gaping Dragon is the description from The Dragon King Greataxe. A key word in that description is deformed. Deformed means not in a natural state or mishaped from a natural shape which infers that the Gaping Dragon is most likely maimed or in constant pain probably from some type of curse which can lead to a lot of other theories but I will just leave it at that for this particular entity. I believe Solaire is probably aware of what the Gaping Dragon is and what it is going through and willing helps you fight it in order to put it out of its misery. Thus Solaire is an ally of the everlasting dragons not just because of devotion to his covenant, but because of sympathy through his actions.

-This will probably be the last piece of evidence I include although there are a few others I could list, but this post is gettting pretty long so I will conclude after this piece. For this part I am going to focus on physical similarities. Now it is possible that some of these things could just be coincidence, but I am going to believe them not to be. Both NK and Solaire share a big physical similarity in that both of their gauntlet armor pieces are bracelets one of iron and the other of gold. Though obviously different in size which I will explain in conclusion, Solaire and NK are very similar in shape and build. Both Solaire and NK are undead. Because Solaire is undead he can become hollow, and NK is very apparently in a state of becoming hollow or already is hollow. Both Solaire and NK use lightning offensive miracles. NK is riding a drake like creature called the King of the Storm and Solaire because he is an ally of the everlasting dragons can be inferred to be very knowledgable about dragons and drake like creatures. You fight NK in Archdragon Peak which is unarguably the most sun showered place in Dark Souls 3 and once you ring the bell and a storm is summoned where does the NK come from? He comes from the sky above the clouds where the glorious sun is still shining with grandeur and the place you first meet Solaire just happens to be just like this, in fact the sun just happens to be hovering above a great line of mountains in the distance at which Solaire is constantly gazing.

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i read it and of course there is some holes but it could be possible also
I DID READ IT ALL. ALL OF IT. why? cause i dont have anything better to do

[gackie]

No. The theory that Solaire was Gwyn's firstborn was always rediculously silly. He's an NPC from Astora that uses Lightning Miracles. That's the only backup evidance.

[cridus]

Please, PLEASE at least in this thread, don't quote the first post!

I'll read it later when I'm at home.

[Shard of Manus]

Whelp, I just read all of it... and you use the word proof very loosely. The connections are so... nearly baseless. It's a nice idea (well, I strongly disagree with it actually), but the actual proof is lacking far too much.

[Quist]

Originally posted by tizius:

Please, PLEASE at least in this thread, don't quote the first post!

I'll read it later when I'm at home.

lol

[Lord Bewd]

Originally posted by Nitred:

The biggest "problem" of this theory is that you assume that Solaire survived in DS1. But there are no evidence of this!

The undead are undying... if we were to die and retain all our humanity and souls in our respawn would that make sense with how the lore and how the game mechanics works (because the creators meant for that mechanic and the lore to be extremely connected)? Of course npcs do not respawn, but yes the theory is off the basis that Solaire's soul was never "taken" aka he was killed by you.

[Lord Bewd]

Originally posted by Li Sheng Long:

Originally posted by Nitred:

The biggest "problem" of this theory is that you assume that Solaire survived in DS1. But there are no evidence of this!

The undead are undying... if we were to die and retain all our humanity and souls in our respawn would that make sense with how the lore and how the game mechanics works (because the creators meant for that mechanic and the lore to be extremely connected)? Of course npcs do not respawn, but yes the theory is off the basis that Solaire's soul was never "taken" aka he was killed by you.

Originally posted by Li Sheng Long:

Originally posted by Nitred:

The biggest "problem" of this theory is that you assume that Solaire survived in DS1. But there are no evidence of this!

The undead are undying... if we were to die and retain all our humanity and souls in our respawn would that make sense with how the lore and how the game mechanics works (because the creators meant for that mechanic and the lore to be extremely connected)? Of course npcs do not respawn, but yes the theory is off the basis that Solaire's soul was never "taken" aka he was killed by you.

And who is not to say the npcs do respawn in their own worlds. Just because your souls have been taken from you and your humanity.. and you are maybe killed in the process you always respawn back because you are undead. The fact that the npcs do not respawn in our world over and over as hollow I think is for gameplay's sake in that maybe you killed an npc you liked or really needed, but now you must face the physical and possibly emotional~psychological consequences.

[Lord Bewd]

Originally posted by Shard of Manus:

Whelp, I just read all of it... and you use the word proof very loosely. The connections are so... nearly baseless. It's a nice idea (well, I strongly disagree with it actually), but the actual proof is lacking far too much.

Personally I feel the evidence is very good. There is not a lot of "concrete" solid evidence in the world for a lot of stuff in general so one needs to make connections and as many similarities as possible in order to have a sort of substitute for that "concrete" evidence. This is exactly the same thing that Vaati and other popular people do when they share their lore theories about the Souls universe. The creators of the game meant for us to interupt the story the way we want, so if I want to think that Solaire actually is the Carthus Sandworm instead and the NK is just Gwyn's Firstborn that is awesome.

I love that you strongly disagree and shared your own opinion.

But I am a little sad you attacked my take on evidence specifically considering I put a lot of time into finding the connections and similarties (which was really fun) and the very specifics in what little concrete lore we actually have for example such as the Gaping Dragon's lore we only have one item description that is two short lines long.

[Ku no more]

I like the concept of fall from grace and redemption this theory brings to solaire... But sadly, i see quite a lot of holes.

I couldnt find the source, so i wont quote this as a truth, but supposedly Miyazaki himself said solaire wasn't the first born. Also, if i remember correctly he also said on a later ocasion that, if you save Solaire from the maggot, he would lit the first flame himself on his world... So i dont see him surviving to go on this epic quest of becoming the Nameless King.

ok, that aside... Regarding the lore the item description gives us, we get to know the first born left the gods to become ally of the dragons by his own terms. Ok. Until that, he coudl still be solaire. But lets think about the reason he left... it was specifically to become ally of the dragons. It says so, and also, says he become lifetime partner with the king of the storm.

How can he have this 'humble undead solaire' period if he's lifetime partner with the king of the storm? And ok, he /could/ have become partner with it after this period being solaire, but it still sounds really strange... Heres my reasons and point of views for speculation:

• Solaire says he became undead and came to lordran to look for his own sun. Why come back from a place he left by his own terms to begin with?
  
• What is he searching for? In nameless king stuff it left pretty clear he knew what he was after from day 0 : help the dragons. Solaire would already know what his 'sun' is if he was the nameless king, he wouldnt be searching for it.
  
• Solaire speaks about multiple times about, lets put on those words, 'following the steps' of the Lord of Sunlight. But as far as i know, the 'lord of sunlight' is Gwyn, and as far as i know², Gwyn and the firstborn didnt exactly left things on good terms, so it sounds strange to me that if those two were the same person he would show any respect or even mention at all gwyn.
  
• Solaire goes to anor londo during his search. Why would he go there if he was the first born? Its the city of the gods, hell, he had to know the place from before! No sense comming back there if he was the first born. Also, even if considering all this he did decide to go to anor londo anyway, what would he be looking for? Dragons, most likely. But Lordran itself, the land of the gods, already sounds as a pretty unlikely place to find dragons... Even less so in the actual city of the gods. It makes no sense he going there.
  
• Gwyn at least seems to be hollow on the first flame. If he can go hollow, no need to make creative reasons why nameless king would become hollow too.
  
• You say in your theory that ornstein garb could have ended up on NK arena because of... reasons. We summon solaire to help us agasint O&S, and solaire could have carried ornstein stuff (?). But on ornstein's armor it clearly states that ornstein himself left anor londo to go searching for the nameless king... And while there are some convolute pieces of information on the game, i've never seen an actual lying item description... So i really dont think ornstein armor there is any kind of connection between solaire and the first born.

Those are but a few things that popped up on my head while i was reading.
When i was reading there were more details that came to my head, but honestly i cant remember anymore. Oh well.
Your theory is very creative, to say the least OP, but as someone said before, i find it lacking proof. I know you worked hard to connect the dots and its well done, but its done over the open space for imagination the lack of information on the game leaves to us instead of basing it on more concrete facts.
Anyways.

[edit] About why solaire would go to anor londo: the lightning blade says it could be a farewell gift, hence it makes sense solaire visiting anor londo if he was the NK so he could left this gift on his father tomb. But the point i tried to show is that solaire himself said he went to anor londo to search for his sun (ill put the dialog down here), so while lefting the 'farewell' gift /could/ be a side trip for solaire since he went to anor londo anyway, it sounds really... stretched to think like that.
"I did not find my own sun, not in Anor Londo, nor in Twilight Blighttown.
Where else might my sun be? Lost Izalith, or the Tomb of the Gravelord… ?
But I cannot give up. I became Undead to pursue this!"