Hey guys, I'm Dave Klein, and welcome back to my Dark Souls lore series. Today, we're
going to further explore and talk about the obtainers of the Lord souls, and discuss The
Witch of Izalith. Who she is, what she wanted, and what she became.
We find out a lot about the Witch of Izalith from her daughter Quelana, and the various
Pyromancies we find. "My mother, the Witch of Izalith, was one
of the primeval Lords... Her power came from the soul that she found near the First Flame."
The Witch of Izalith came to true power after finding the lord soul, and fought alongside
Gwyn, Nito, and Seath to gain power over the Dragons and bring about the Age of Fire. At
this point, it seems the various Lords took their own sections of Lordran to control,
with The Witch of Izalith controlling Izalith. As we learn from the Chaos Storm pyromancy,
"The Witch of Izalith, in an ambitious attempt to copy the First Flame, created the Flame
of Chaos, a twisted bed of life."
"She focused this power to light a flame of her own, but she failed to control it."
The Witch of Izalith decided to create her own flame, similar to the First Flame, which
would become the Chaos flame. The chaos flame replicates the First Flame in many ways. Similar
to the First Flame, it seems to feed off of humanity. According to the Chaos Ember found
in the Demon's Ruins, "Chaos weapons scale with humanity, up to 10." Joining the Chaos
covenant, the player is required to give The Fair Lady humanity in order lessen her pain
from her sickness. This is most likely making her stronger, because she is a demon.
"Welcome, bringer of meat. The children of chaos are hungry; give yourself to Quelaag's
flame!"
But for what purpose did The Witch of Izalith create the Chaos Flame? A common belief is
that, as the First Flame was fading, The Witch of Izalith attempted to create a new First
Flame in order to extend the Age of Fire.
"Mother's ambitions were misguided, no doubt"
I believe it's very possible she was simply striving to become more powerful, and was
perhaps a little power-hungry. This is rooted in the fact that most demon weapons are described
as being "imbued with no particular magic, but for those who have the strength, its great
weight will smash foes mercilessly". Pyromancy is interesting too, as it does not require
intelligence or faith, allowing players to be strength-based yet still have powerful
spells. On top of this, I think she was striving to create life, similar to how the First Flame
did.
Regardless of the reason why, poor things happen to those attempting to play God.
I believe there was a period of time after creating the Chaos Flame before the Witch
of Izalith lost control. Ceaseless Discharge was most-likely born after this time, as the
orange charred ring tells us "Since his sores were inflamed by lava from birth, his witch
sisters gave him this special ring." Miyazaki also tells us that "Demons are born from the
fire of chaos, but he was the first, born so long ago that the fire wasn't yet stable.
He possesses it, but he can't control it and it burns him constantly."
It's likely The Witch of Izalith did control the Chaos Flame for a time, and during this
time gave birth to Ceaseless Discharge. This was also the time I'd presume the art of pyromancy
was created, as Quelana is the mother of Pyromancy, yet Pyromancy is an art utilizing the Chaos
Flame. It's also worth noting The Witch of Izalith is the Godmother of Pyromanc.. This
could indicate that either she created Pyromancy and taught her daughters, where Quelana then
taught the rest of Lordran giving her the title of "Mother of Pyromancy" -- or simply
be based off of the fact that she created the Chaos Flame, which is what Pryomancy is
rooted off of.
"Pyromancy is the art of invoking and manipulating fire. But remember one thing. Always fear
the flame, lest you be devoured by it, and lose yourself. I would hate to see that happen
again..." Fire is chaotic in nature, and at some point,
The Witch of Izalith lost control of her flame. "She focused the power to light a flame of
her own, but she failed to control it. The Flame of Chaos engulfed Mother and my sisters,
and molded them into deformed creatures. Only I escaped, and now I am here. But my mother
and sisters have been in anguish since."
The lord soul, The Bed of Chaos, is described as:
"Soul of the Bed of Chaos and the mother of all demons. This Lord Soul was found at the
dawn of the Age of Fire. The Witch of Izalith attempted to duplicate the First Flame from
a soul, but instead created a distorted being of chaos and fire. Its power formed a bed
of life which would become the source of all demons, and is more than enough to satiate
the Lordvessel." I believe that it was The Witch of Izalith's
quest for power and the creation of life that made her lose control of the flame. Now, Quelana
believes her mother is in pain, and is atoning for her sins, yet there is no proof that she's
in pain. It's possible she simply became a distorted and twisted version of that very
power she was reaching for, and possibly lost her mind in a way. The Bed of Life she created
formed all of the demons in Izalith, and is the cause of Izalith becoming what it is now.
So -- in a sense, The Witch of Izalith did create life, but probably not in the way she
had intended.
(Intro about Age of Fire bringing about Disparity) In bearing in mind the idea that each lord
soul represents one aspect of the necessary disparity of The Age of Fire -- Nito would
seem to be Death, where as his opposite disparity would be The Witch of Izalith -- who attempted,
and created a chaotic version of Life.
An interesting thought about the Chaos Flame in relation to the first flame I'd like to
bring up, in large thanks to Reddit user: MSPainting. The Chaos Flame is very similar
to the First Flame in several ways, such as the fact that it seems to feed off of humanity.
It's possible the demon's have been gathering humanity for the Chaos Flame, as opposed to,
as Gwyn would want, the First Flame, as this will feed their own flame and Bed of Life.
Perhaps this is what sparked Gwyn's war against the Demons, as he is trying to extend the
Age of Fire. Quelana, believing her mother is wrong, could have potentially switched
sides, believing in Gwyn's attempt to extend the Age of Fire.
So what about her children?
We know The Witch of Izalith had 7 daughters and 1 son. We can account for at least 4 of
her daughters, and we know where her son is. As confirmed by Miyazaki San in the Dark Souls
Design Works, Ceaseless Discharge is her youngest child. He tells us "Despite his size, he's
actually the youngest of Izalith's children, he stands gazing up at the ruins where his
sisters live. The only source of comfort in his pitiful, painful existence is the belief
that they are watching over him". The eldest daughter of The Witch of Izalith is most likely
guarding the bed of chaos. We find this daughter regularly using the Chaos Fire Whip, which
is described as "Art of the Flame of Chaos, which engulfed the Witch of Izalith and her
daughters. This spell was wielded by the eldest of The Daughters of Chaos."
"Our Fair Lady, and Mistress Quelaag, fled from the ruins. I do not know the details...
and I do not ask..." We know Quelaag and the Fair Lady are both
daughters of Chaos as well, from Eingyi's dialogue.
"Have you heard of Lost Quelana? An inhuman witch, who wanders the Poison Swamp. Only
no one has ever seen her, so who really knows? But what if she is another of the Quelaag
sisters? Our Fair Lady would be greatly comforted by her presence."
"I abandoned my mother and sisters and fled to this land."
Quelana, too, is a s sister of chaos. We know from her own words, as well as the Gold Hemmed
Black Set, which is described as: "Worn by the witch Quelana of Izalith, mother of pyromancy
and Daughter of Chaos."
So, that accounts for 4 sisters and the son. But, what of the other 3 sisters? There are
several speculations out there, but it's not entirely clear. I'll throw out some of them,
and I'd love to hear what you think in the comments below.
One theory, made popular by VaatiVidya's lore video (which is very good, and you should
definitely check out) is that the Black Hemmed Cloak is found at the body of a 5th sister.
The bindings of the Bed of Chaos then make up the 6th and the 7th.
In my Quelana lore video, I speculated Quelana left her own Gold-Hemmed Black Cloak in order
to flee from Izalith, deceiving her family. But, what of the other 3 sisters? The Demon's
Catalyst, dropped by The Demon Firesage, tells us "The Demon Firesage was the first demon,
and the last master of the original fire arts before the Witch of Izalith was engulfed by
Chaos, creating pyromancy." We know for certain the Daughters of Chaos were Flame Witches
before the Chaos Flame, as the Izalith Catalyst tells us "before the birth of pyromancy, their
wands were mediums of sorcery, but knowledge of this flame sorcery has long since vanished."
It is then, possible, The Demon Firesage is a transformed Daughter of Chaos, and the 3
larger Demons we fight are the remaining three transformed daughters. This is all speculation
at this point, and I'd love to hear your theories, and what you think is the case.
- Alright guys, that wraps up this lore video.
As always, let me know your theories and thoughts, and let me know what you think! I hope you
guys continue to enjoy these, and I plan to keep making more! Also, a shout out to reddit
user "MSPainting" for helping me out big time. I'll see you guys next time, peace!