Time is a strange thing in Dark Souls and there is no better example of this than the Ringed City’s controversial, impenetrable, ending. Time’s convolution has been a consistent explanation for the multiplayer antics present in the game (as Miyazaki always justifies game mechanics with lore), though it has also been used in attempts to explain just about anything that comes up leading to a myriad of interesting interpretations such as fog walls indicating the passage of time.
Filianore’s relationship with time is perhaps the most vague phenomenon in a series full of ambiguity. There has yet to be a comprehensive explanation that is accepted by the fanbase as a whole; due to the Ringed City’s vagueness, no-one can agree on anything beyond the player travelling forward in time. Thus, I want to make an attempt to explain the mystery of the egg in a way that goes against the most popular theory, that Filianore used soul transposition to manipulate the Ringed Citys time. As in my other theories, there is always a connection to Gwyn and his mentality, as I don’t believe they can be separated from major events like these. As a result, while I will use as much evidence as I can, portions of this essay will be more speculatory than my previous writings.
Part 1: Time is Convoluted
I want to examine exactly what the convolution of time entails because there are overlooked details to the mechanics of it. Let’s start with Solaire’s dialogue.
“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!
We are amidst strange beings, in a strange land.
The flow of time itself is convoluted, with heroes centuries old phasing in and out. The very fabric wavers, and relations shift and obscure.
There’s no telling how much longer your world and mine will remain in contact.” — Solaire of Astora
Next let’s look at the Soapstone descriptions.
White Sign Soapstone: In Lordran, the flow of time is distorted,
and the White Sign Soapstone allows
Undead to assist one another.
It is interesting to note that, at this point in time, time is distorted only in Lordran. Coincidentally the location of the First Flame and Gwyn’s place of birth. I will elaborate on what I think of this later. For now it is primarily important to understand that Souls’ time distortion works by pulling people from disparate times together, and then sending them back to their own time afterward. However this has changed by the time of Dark Souls 2…
Saulden fills the role of informing the player about summons in the second game, and his dialogue reveals that by this time distortion of time has reached even Drangleic. As I’ve covered in my previous essay, Drangleic is not located anywhere near Lordran, indicating the decay of time has spread, perhaps with the ongoing cycles of Light and Dark.
“Did you notice any letters on the ground on the way here?
These are messages that have jumped the fissures between worlds.
In Drangleic, the flow of time is convoluted. Things shift and waver, twist and turn.
Poignant wishes, dashed dreams… The messages convey our very inner thoughts.
If your will to soldier on falters, try leaving a message. Somebody out there is sure to listen.” — Saulden, the Crestfallen Warrior
By Dark Souls 2’s point in time, distortion has spread seemingly across the whole of the world, originating in Lordran. This is purely speculative, but I believe the cause of this distortion originates with Gwyn linking the flame. This would explain why the distortion originated in Lordran, and why this is coupled with it being “the place of Gwyn’s birth” as Solaire says. Prior to the First Flame, there was no Light, and as we see in the Repair Sorceries, no Time at all.
Repair (Dark Souls 2): Uses light to repair damaged weapons and armor.
Supposedly this sorcery restores items to a past
state, but with the knowledge of this art lost,
the finer details of the phenomenon are unknown.
Repair (Dark Souls 3): While the effects of this spell are rather subtle, its foundations are a well-guarded secret. Light is time, and the reversal of its effects is a forbidden art.
This is absolutely crucial to understanding what happens in the Ringed City, but I believe it is only half of the information we need. The rest lies with princess Dusk, of Oolacile.
“So, it is thou who rescueth me?
Most graciuous. I am deeply obliged.
I am Dusk of Oolacile.
I cometh from an age long before thine… I can not stay here for long.
For a very long time, I was trapped within the Crystal Golem.
From my home I was taken, and banish’d to a plane of distortion.
It was there, that thou came to my rescue.
Long after I had relinquished all hope.
So gleeful was I, my faith reneweth.” — Dusk, of Oolacile
I wrote about the nature of crystals, stones, and stasis in my first piece, but I wish I’d researched Princess Dusk beforehand, because this is an incredibly crucial piece of Lore that went completely under the radar. Crystals are able to prevent the distortion of time from pulling an individual back into their own world. Princess Dusk could not return until we freed her from stone! As we will see in the Ringed City, this will tell us everything about the mechanics of what occurred between Filianore and her Egg.
Part 2: The Egg
As visible in the left image, Princess Filianore’s Egg clearly possesses a Transposing Kiln in the center. This has led the reigning theory to be that the Ringed City’s time-freeze is the result of Soul Transposition.
However, thanks to community member Zullie the Witch, we can see the final Egg possesses not a kiln at all, but a nebulous, black crystal.
For this reason, the Transposing Kiln cannot be considered to be canonically in the final game; it was replaced. This bothered me for years, as I could never understand the significance of the Transposing Kiln being cut. That was prior to combing over Dusk’s dialogue. With that in mind, we have a concrete relationship between the interruption of time, and crystals that perfectly fits what we see at the end of the Ringed City.
When the Egg is broken, Light is released, and the player is sent forward through time. As we have established via the Repair Sorceries, light IS time, and thus the Ringed City’s time escapes from crystal that had previously stopped it, the same way it stopped Dusk from returning to her own time. The only question left to answer is who is responsible? I would argue the answer, as it often is, is Gwyn.
Gwyn is notable for being the first (and likely strongest) Lord of Cinder, but prior to that in his prime he was the Lord of Sunlight, essentially making him the Lord of Time. It makes the most sense for him to have trapped the Ringed City’s time as a part of making it a prison for the Pygmies and is thematically in-line with his attempts to stop the world at large from progressing into an Age of Dark. This still leaves us with another question, what is Filianore’s true purpose, if Gwyn is responsible? We need to look at Shira’s dialogue to ascertain this.
“They who are ken to God’s name are surely ken to the terrors of the dark.
Please, I bid thee take not from the Princess her peace or rest.
As the fire waneth, does she lie by the dark, all for the sake of Man.” — Shira, Knight of Filianore
Filianore’s true purpose has nothing to do with light, and therefore time, at all. She, like Midir, is a safeguard against the Abyss that seeps into the Ringed City. Furthering this argument, Filianore dies upon the Ringed City’s time being released. Were she the one who placed it there, it would make no sense for her to perish. The reason she dies is because she is a resident of the Ringed City. Her own time is within the egg as well.
Finally, let’s look at what the Egg symbolizes and how this can be applied to Filianore.
Petrified Egg (Dark Souls 2): Eggs are vessels that harbor life itself,
and symbolize the deepest secrets of existence.
But what does a petrified egg harbor?
Ringed Knight Paired Greatswords: Paired black greatswords wielded by the Ringed Knights.
The arms of early men were forged in the Abyss, and betray a smidgen of life. For this the gods cast a seal of fire upon such weapons, and those who possessed them.
This can explain the black void within the egg, representing the life within the Dark that the gods sought to hide. Furthermore, we have a mural near the Sunlight Altar in Dark Souls 1 depicting the gifting of an Egg, not unlike the gifting of Filianore to the Pygmies.
Lastly, I want to mention the Vagrants, as Filianore’s Egg is round just like theirs. The Vagrants appear when a large amount of Humanity has been lost in a particular area (more or less). As humanity is tantamount to the Dark, this can tie into the idea that Darkness and Life are heretical together. The Vagrant Egg serving as an augur of Darkness that cradles the Light of Time.
