#old dragonslayer

So basically, Heide was most likely the place where Lloyd, Gwynevere, her husband Flann and probably some other Old Gods left to! Lloyd's Tailsman and Divine Blessing are found in this place, it features statues that throw back to Egyptian God of Sun, Ra, that stands in Gwyn's pose and holds Gwyn's sword (very blatant throwback to their roots), the whole blue orb invasions stuff was something Gwyndolin governed and the royal family clearly needed a "system" like this with or without him, literal landmark Tower of Flame....

And, there is ALSO bootleg Ornstein:

thanks Kat very cool screenshot gfhgjg He is not named, which is thematically appropriate to the whole 'so much time passed that names got blurred, forgotten or replaced here', he has silver armor, he does godawful job as "dragonslayer" because there is literally a dragon outside AND he drops a ring that is supposed to be unique item - Ornstein's ring given to him and worn with time:

But the problem is, in Dark Souls 3, we do find Ornstein's actual ring, not worn down with time, and his armor, that is still golden! AND events of Dark Souls 3 happen after Dark Souls 2, of course.

I feel like the exact same suit of armor but silver and the exact replica of a ring is all a bit TOO much for just some guy that was inspired by Ornstein 😕 But what is also very interesting about Old Dragonslayer is that he uses darkness!Basically? I wonder whether this is a pointer towards this boss being both Ornstein and not! Like... he is literally like a "shadow" version of Ornstein, right? Same appearance, same ring, same tactics, but dark both visually and literally.

We know that powerful beings can fragment their Souls and they might even become something else! Manus is the most plain example, there is also Soul of Cinder that includes fragments of Gwyn and others, also all important Lords in DS2 linger on in spirit. It makes sense as Soul is "the source of life", so it's fragments can come to life too! So, what if at some point Ornstein got corrupted by Dark too, but instead of waiting to meet the same fate as Artorias, he separated the part of his being that got damaged and discarded it? Maybe even because of what happened to Artorias he figured it was safer than to wrestle with the Dark? And yet, it became its own being, albeit incomplete because it is just a piece of soul, amputated to not let the Dark go further. Maybe Ornstein didn't even know it would happen?

As for why it is here, in Heide, I suppose it isn't likely that Ornstein lived with others here! Especially with the implication that Ornstein stayed back in Anor Londo for hell of a lot of time even after all Gods but Gwyndolin left. I think Old Dragonslayer settled in Heide after it was ruined and abandoned. Either, Ornstein has been looking for where did old royal family go to and legends brought him here but here he discarded that piece of Soul... or the "shadow" itself ended up finding this place. Maybe on pure instinct, not knowing or remembering why, but desperately looking for something or someone familiar.

Did Dark Souls 2 really just reuse the Dragonslayer Spear and Ornstein's Model but they just change the Colour Scheme for the Old Dragonslayer?? And also Tiny Little Elite Knight of Astora, Oscar is there too...

#39: Old Dragonslayer (Dark Souls 2)

“The ring's face has worn down, but close inspection reveals an engraved lion.”