Gwyndolin and Dark Souls 2

Just found this quote recently and got me thinking about curses found within the realm of Dark Souls. Frankly, I really only looked at it from a gameplay perspective at first glance.

One of the new things that is implemented into the game is that each time we die we lose health even after we spawn. This, at least from my perspective, was likely influenced by the curse system put inside Dark Souls which was influenced by how health worked within the realms of Demon's Souls. Regardless, with this being added gameplay will without a doubt be affected, with players being more aware then ever about not mucking up their chances of survival.

However, after the defeat of the boss Gwyndolin a few days ago I realized that this boss is a little more unique then we give it credit for.

1. He rules over a covenant. Only one other, that we can kill in a legitimate boss battle does this and that's Nito. For those that do not know Nito itself has a rather large influence on the WoW (Way of White) as explained here.

2. He has a opening cutscene before the boss fight AND after the fight. This is what makes him unique. No other boss from the original game has more than one cutscene with the exception of O&S, but they differ as two cutscenes are used to explain what happens after the one of them is killed, so what exactly differs? Well, the dialogue. In both cutscenes Gwyndolin speaks down to us as heretics and after this he curses us.


While Gwyndolin may not have been the hardest boss in the game it seems that his purpose within it must have played some form of a great role. We see he plays a large role within Anor Londo, but it seems that he plays a different role in DkS then most other bosses we encounter to begin with.

Dark Souls 2 is known to be a sequel to what has already transgressed within the first game, with it highlighted that the existence of curse(s) playing a major role. So what I have to ask is, lorewise, do you think that the curse that Gwyndolin may have placed upon us after his defeat might play some form of role in Dark Souls 2?

I highly doubt it, but it would certainly be cool!!!

I can just imagine it, you're winding up your arm to swing your hammer when, all of a sudden, you trip on your improperly-tied armor - whoopsy-daisy it's Gwyndy's cruse!  

It would be cool to find out we only killed an illusion in Dks (if you chose to kill him at all) and he returned as some secret final boss that has cursed all of the undead since he was so weak in the original game.

I think that might be the biggest problem with this. I really don't know what the curse itself is, it might be there to explain why we are constantly losing health when we die or something completly different.

I'm really only thinking lore wise Cake, granted that would be kind of fun facing him but having the fight be much harder but I was thinking about mostly how certain item descriptions or level design might point to him or how the archecture in one area would be similar to that of Anor Londo in a way.

The "curse" in question is the Curse of the Undead. The branding of the Dark Sign.
The only tangible way I could see Gwyndolin being involved would be if the canon transition is from the Link the Fire ending of Dark Souls 1 (which it seems to be, based on a few description hints.) Also, based on the fact that Dark Souls 2

Spoiler:

I can only imagine that any role Gwyndolin could have would be passive, and indirect.

Given that gwyndolin is an optional boss I don't see this as all that likely honestly. A part of me hopes they'll let you import your Dks 1 character data and the world you enter will change based upon the events of the last clear. You wouldn't continue as that character, but the world would be different if you chose the dark lord ending or link the fire. Similarly the optional bosses could be alive or dead (gwyndolin, priscilla etc.) and maybe even the NPCs. Time is messed up in lordran after all, even if it is set far in the future old heroes can still be fading in and out. Heck the final boss could take on the appearance of the dks 1 character data you imported or something. I don't know how easy that would be for from to pull off but...well...wishful thinking

im pretty sure gywndolin doesn't actually curse you; at least place a curse on you
for killing him he curses you for doing so

basically just empty threats

It's an interesting thought, but I think the curse just refers to the curse of the undead. Though it's not confirmed (as far as I know), I think it's the most plausible explanation based on what little we know of lore in Dark Souls 2.

That said, I'm not sure how I'd feel about having an explicitly antagonistic final boss in a Souls game. Granted, Allant and Gwyn were very similar in archetype, so I'd rather not see that same archetype for a third time in a row. I just don't feel right having a "villain" is all.