The games of Dark Souls are full of many strange characters, with backstories that can frequently only be surmised through hints dropped in dialogue and descriptions found on items. One particularly strange group of individuals are the Onion Knights of Catarina, as they look nearly identical, but are in fact three different characters: Siegmeyer, Sieglinde, and Siegward.
Dark Souls is a series of three third-person action games. They have been hugely influential in establishing mechanics that form the basis of a subgenre of game referred to as "soulslike." Soulslike games usually have punishing combat, checkpoints that respawn enemies in the area whenever a player saves, and a currency that the player loses when they die. Dark Souls is also infamous for its esoteric lore, much of which has to be derived from context clues in the environment or from conversations with NPCs in the games.
The Onion Knights is actually a derogatory term used to refer to the Knights of Catarina, a land not actually seen in the Dark Souls games. The Knights of Catarina garner their nickname from the onion-shaped armor they wear. This Dark Souls armor set is known as Catarina armor. Players in all three games can purchase Catarina armor from certain vendors or find it after completing certain quests. This includes Dark Souls 2, even though players do not interact with an Onion Knight NPC in the game (they instead encounter a phantom Onion Knight enemy).
Siegmeyer and Sieglinde are both found in the first Dark Souls game and have a rather tragic storyline. Players will likely encounter Siegmeyer first, a lone undead knight who appears in certain locations and requests the player's help. Elsewhere in the game, players can encounter Sieglinde after freeing her from being trapped in a Golden Crystal Golem. Sieglinde, it turns out, is Siegmeyer's daughter. She is looking for her father as her mother has died, and Sieglinde wants to pass on her final words. After freeing her from the Golem, most of Sieglinde's quest line can be accomplished by the player reassuring her anytime they meet her that they have seen her father and he's still alive.
Siegmeyer's ultimate fate, however, is complicated. Over the course of Dark Souls, players can aid Siegmeyer in various tasks, from killing enemies to collecting Purple Moss Clumps. Unfortunately, Siegmeyer is a proud character, and the fact that the player accomplishes these tasks when he could not takes an emotional toll. Eventually, players meet Siegmeyer near a boss fight of four Chaos Eaters.
From here, Siegmeyer has three outcomes. If players manage to defeat the Chaos Eaters without Siegmeyer ever entering the fight, Siegmeyer rewards them, but is devastated at being ineffectual, and is never seen in the game again, nor is his daughter Sieglinde. If players allow Siegmeyer to participate in the fight, but he drops below 50% health, he will die from his injuries, and Sieglinde will not get to deliver her message. If Siegmeyer survives the fight with more than 50% health, he will still be disheartened by needing aid. Players will later find Sieglinde standing over the dead body of Siegmeyer and learn that in his despair, Siegmeyer became Hollow, a state where an undead person becomes mindless. Sieglinde was forced to kill her father in his condition. After rewarding the player for their aid, she says she is returning to Catarina, and is not seen again.
Siegward is a character that appears in Dark Souls 3, and is unrelated to Siegmeyer and Sieglinde, a confusing fact given their nearly identical appearances. Siegward and Siegmeyer also share the same voice actor in Miles Richardson. On top of that, the two characters have very similar dialogue when first met by the player, proclaiming that they were "absorbed in thought" and that they are in a bit of "a pickle."
Like Siegmeyer, Siegward can be encountered in multiple locations over the course of Dark Souls 3. Sometimes he aids the player in a particular fight, while other times he has gotten himself into trouble and needs aid from the player. At one point, Siegward can be found trapped in a well after a merchant has stolen his armor, requiring the player to go on a quest to retrieve it. Later, Siegward can be found locked in a cell, and can be freed if the player locates the key.
Throughout these encounters, Siegward speaks frequently of a duty he must fulfill, one that is drawing ever closer. If the player successfully advances Siegward's questline beforehand, Siegward will appear at the Dark Souls 3 boss fight Yhorm the Giant and aid the player in the combat. Yhorm, it turns out, was once Siegward's friend, but sacrificed himself to become a Lord of Cinder to keep darkness at bay. Before doing so, Yhorm gave Siegward a sword named Storm Ruler, capable of defeating Yhorm should he ever be corrupted. The duty Siegward had been hinting at to the player was to slay Yhorm the Giant, his friend.
Siegward's fate after the fight (should he survive) has been up for debate. After the fight Siegward he thanks the player once again for their aid and ask them to take part in a "final toast." Players who teleport out of the room after completing the dialogue, or who leave without looking back, can later return and find Siegward's armor and weapon left on the ground. Since there is no body left after his death there was some speculation that Siegward merely left after completing his task.
Players who walk out of the room with the camera still aimed at Siegward however, will see the knight die in the background, leaving behind his armor and weapon. But how he dies is unclear, as evidenced by debate in this particular reddit thread, one of many about Siegward's fate. Some speculate he succumbed to injuries taken in battle. Another theory is that, his duty completed, Siegward killed himself rather than becoming a mindless Hollow. Either way, like Siegmeyer before him, Siegward's ultimate story seems destined to have ended in tragedy. This time in Dark Souls, however, there is the chance for a bittersweet ending as at least Siegward managed to honor his friend's request before he died.
Source: reddit
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