Having submitted my previous post to the scrutiny of my Twitter followers and the GameFAQs Dark Souls forum, I was posed with a challenge to my version of the chronology, particularly as regards my position that Artorias traversed the Abyss in New Londo prior to entering the Abyss in Oolacile. Upon further research, I have to conclude that my chronology was totally wrong, and the premise of my article, while still largely intact, requires a lot of revision.
Here was my mistake:
I based my supposition that Artorias had entered the Abyss prior to entering the Chasm of the Abyss below Oolacile on two primary sources: (1) the item description for the Silver Pendant, and (2) the dialogue with Marvelous Chester. My error in relying on the first source was straight misinterpretation. My error in relying on the second was rooted in actual stupidity.
My first mistake was a misreading of the Silver Pendant item description. It reads, in part, that the pendant is a treasure of Anor Londo, granted to Artorias for facing the Abyss. My initial reading of that was to infer that the pendant was a reward for his victory, rather than a gift to equip him with power against the Dark prior to his initial journey into the Abyss. Having re-read the item descriptions for the Silver Pendant, the Abyss Greatsword, Armor of Artorias, Covenant of Artorias, Mask of the Sealer, Key to the Seal, Key to New Londo Ruins, Dark Armor, Dark Sword, and the Cursed Greatsword of Artorias, it's fairly clear that I made a mistake of runaway inference. I'll include an updated speculative timeline at the end of the post, but suffice it to say I was wrong.
My second mistake was to rely on Chester referring to Artorias as "the legendary Abysswalker," to my mind inferring that Artorias had previously traversed the Abyss and was returning to do battle again. The crucial error I made was to forget that Chester is from the future, and therefore would view seemingly current events as having already passed. In fact, Chester calls Artorias "legendary" in a fairly derisive tone, implying his lack of respect for legends in general.
All of this calls into question my supposition that Frampt was the "toothy serpent" indicated by Chester as having convinced Oolacile to dig deeper, upturning the grave of primeval man, "provoking his ornery wrath." While I still think it's much more likely that Frampt would have had easier access to the powers that were in Oolacile, this clarification (and, indeed, simplification) of the timeline greatly increases the likelihood that Kaathe appeared to an Oolacile sorcerer and urged the unearthing of the Abyss.
Tentative Timeline:
1. One of the serpents informs Oolacile that vast power lies in a chasm beneath the city. The sorcerers, either greedy for power (entirely possible, considering the dark sorceries), or desirous to discover a remedy for the curse of the undead, persevere to uncover the chasm and access the ancient knowledge within.
2. Oolacile locates the grave of the furtive pygmy, the holder of the original Dark Soul, also known as Manus, Father of the Abyss. Awakened from long slumber, his humanity having long ago gone wild, Manus becomes active, and obliterates or corrupts everyone within the chasm. The Abyss begins to expand at a rate much faster than before, corroding physical objects, leaving only Dark.
3. As Oolacile collapses, word reaches Anor Londo that the Dark has come. Artorias decides to set out alone, certain that he can find a way to prevail against this new threat. Armed with the Silver Pendant, he and Sif leave for Oolacile. Now, there is a question as to why the Four Knights did not go in force. My reading of the situation is that Ornstein and Artorias were the real vanguard knights, and probably served as the defenders of Anor Londo in much the same way Ornstein and Smough do in the present (imagine fighting Ornstein and Artorias in the cathedral at the same time :O). Artorias left Anor Londo under Ornstein's protection. Ciaran, though a knight, was much more the assassin than the warrior, and, considering the circumstances in which the player finds Gough, I think it's safe to assume he was imprisoned sometime before the events in the Chasm of the Abyss.
4. Artorias arrives in Oolacile with Sif and meets with Elizabeth and Alvina. He is informed that Princess Dusk has been taken captive by Manus, and that the city is being eaten away by a corrosive darkness. He ventures forth, fighting his way through the broken city, arriving at last at the Chasm of the Abyss.
5. What happens at this point is extremely vague. Artorias must have found that he could not approach the Abyss in his unaltered state. Knowing his objective to lie within, he must have covenanted with the creatures of the Abyss at this point. Now, Alvina states in the present that the tale of Artorias is a lie, and that Abysswalking is impossible, so one could infer that no covenant actually occurred. However, that the Covenant of Artorias works as advertised pretty well debunks that theory. One of two things undoubtedly occurred: (1) Artorias covenanted with Darkstalker Kaathe to be able to enter the Abyss; or (2) Artorias covenanted with the Humanity Specters to be able to enter the Abyss. I think either is likely. Kaathe would have done so to eliminate a threat. The Humanities might have done so out of a lingering desire to be freed from their formless existence. Regardless, Artorias enters into a covenant with the creatures of the Abyss, signified by a ring that Artorias wears when he crosses over. As a result, his divinity is stripped, and the blessing on his greatsword changes to a curse.
6. I don't think Artorias ever made it to Manus. Unlike the player character, who has the Dark within him naturally, Artorias was a being of light. Being allowed to enter the Abyss did not give him inoculation against its corrosive effects. It infects and corrupts him. He becomes an agent of the Dark. However, there are signs that Artorias knew what was happening to him, and he used the last of his power to safeguard Sif before leaving the Chasm as a changed creature. There's a YouTube video featuring unused audio from the Artorias fight in which the knight warns the player to flee, and laments that his efforts have "availed nothing." It's likely that, insofar as continuity is concerned, the player character arrives in Oolacile just as Artorias loses the last of himself. It seems likely that, absent player intervention, Abyssal Artorias would have returned to Anor Londo, killing and wreaking havoc in furtherance of the Dark.
7. The events of the DLC take place. The player character kills Artorias and Manus, halting the spread of the Abyss.
8. Though the player has the choice to either kill or spare Ciaran, at the end of the DLC, one of the Four Knights is dead, one is imprisoned and considers himself blind, and one, it seems, is either dead or driven by grief to abandon her post. Only Ornstein remains, and he must elevate Executioner Smough to serve as a defender of Anor Londo in the absence of his fallen comrades.
9. Darkstalker Kaathe begins to seek the new Dark Lord, a being worthy of replacing Manus. To this end, he ensnares the Four Kings of New Londo, and, through them, recruits Darkwraiths to gather humanity. The creation of the Darkwraiths seems to have been an effort to recruit a Dark Lord. Kaathe laments that all of his recruits failed in this regard. However, the threat of the Dark is taken much more seriously this time. Unable to fight against the Four Kings, the Sealers flood the city, killing everyone.
The point is that From Soft has done an excellent job crafting a labyrinthine backstory with an incredible number of clues that may or may not mean anything. I made the mistake of overreaching with a theory that proved false. But it was a damn fun ride.
Posted with Blogsy