Dark Souls is a game where you never truly feel safe. Sometimes you’ll run around hoping to find an NPC to talk to and give some semblance of security. This is why reaching Anor Londo is so significant since it’s the only area of the game bathed in a comforting light. Fighting your way through it will eventually bring you to Gwynevere, the Princess of Sunlight.
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She is the most benevolent figure in the whole game with her chamber being one of the safest places you can be. Though her role is small, she serves a vital role in helping you complete the quest. Although, she has quite a bit of mystery surrounding her.
10 She Is The Second Child Of Lord Gwyn
The Lord of Sunlight Gwyn ushered in the Age of Fire and recruited a number of other powerful beings to his cause. By association, this went on to include his children of which he had four. Guinevere was his second-born child and his eldest daughter.
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She inherited the title of Princess of Sunlight and ruled over Anor Londo with her family and the other gods. She never fought or weaved discourse and simply sought to maintain the Age of Fire as long as she could. Once the Age neared its end, she fled Anor Londo with the rest of her fellow gods.
9 She Was Loved By Everyone
When it comes to gods and deities in Dark Souls, very few of them are admirable or positive figures. Once the adventure begins, there are almost no gods left since they ran to save themselves. During the high point of their rule, Gwynevere was the most beloved by the people.
In addition to being the Princess of Sunlight, she was also viewed as a symbol of fertility and bounty. True to this, she is the most comforting encounter in the whole game, despite only being an illusion.
8 She Married The God Of Flame
Following the Age of Fire, many of the Gwyn family suffered horrible fates. Lord Gwyn turned hollow and almost all of his children fell from power. Of all of them, it seems Gwynevere escaped the worst of it. After fleeing from Anor Londo, she married a deity named Flann, the God of Flame.
He’s mentioned briefly as being one of the gods who also fled Anor Londo and one of the only who escaped intact leading him to meet Gwynevere. The two got married and raised their children together.
7 She Grants Sunlight-Based Miracles
In the world of Dark Souls, magic spells are referred to as Miracles and are granted to different people by the power of the gods. Depending on their association, these Miracles can be helpful to devastating. Being the Princess of Sunlight, Gwynevere is able to grant her own set of Miracles.
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The two that can be found in-game are Bountiful Sunlight and Soothing Sunlight. Both of them have to do with healing and you need to be in the Princess’s Guard Covenant in order to use them. In the past, Gwynevere granted these Miracles to her maidens so they could be used to heal others.
6 Her Illusion Is Used To Manipulate The Chosen Undead
Gwynevere seems very out of place in the world of Dark Souls. Every other place is barren, ravaged, and plagued with monsters while Anor Londo and Gwynevere’s chambers are pristine, well-lit, and filled with armored warriors. Though many were pleased to meet the friendly goddess, there were others who were suspicious.
They attacked Gwynevere and exposed her as an illusion created by Gwyndolin. Since Gwyndolin’s goal is to restore the Age of Fire, he created the pleasing image of Gwynevere in order to manipulate the chosen undead into completing the task under the guise of serving the beloved princess.
5 Her Siblings Are Filianore, Gwyndolin, And The Nameless King
Though Lord Gwyn is the central figure of Dark Souls, his children also have very important roles to play. Though Gwynevere played an important role during the age of fire, she eventually fled to start a family and had better luck than her siblings. Her older brother pursued warfare and became the monstrous Nameless King.
Her younger sister Filianore would confine herself to the Ringed City and wait for her father to return while slowly decaying. Her youngest brother Gwyndolin would use illusions to manipulate the Chosen Undead to link the flame before becoming the King of Gods and falling to illness.
Though Gwynevere’s main functions are to provide you with the Lordvessel and initiate you into the Princess’s Guard covenant, she has a lot to say. As is to be expected, she has a very soothing and refined voice speaking very politely. She can only be spoken to in her chamber but her voice can be heard through another mysterious character, Crossbreed Priscilla.
What’s interesting is that the two characters are almost complete opposites. Gwynevere is loved while Priscilla is feared, Gwynevere is out in the open while Priscilla is hidden away. They both have similar ways of speaking since they’re both connected to the gods.
3 She Actually Has Stats
Like all the other NPCs in Dark Souls, Gwynevere can be attacked. While most will generally respond by attacking you or asking you to stop, Gwynevere can be slain instantly. Any attack you land on her will cause her to disappear exposing her as an illusion. She doesn’t drop anything on death except for the Lordvessel if she didn’t already give it to you.
In spite of all this, she has a number of stats in health and defenses. She only has two to three hit points and has resistant to all forms of physical and elemental damage ranging from 96-135. She also has S-rank resistance to poison, toxic, and bleed.
2 Killing Her Gives You A Permanent Sin
There are some games that incorporate something known as an “invisible” stat. These are stats that can’t be tracked but tend to have an effect on gameplay. In the Dark Souls series, sin is a recurring invisible stat that depends on your interactions with other characters.
Usually attacking NPCs causes your sin to rise which will result in some of them attacking you on sight or opening up your world to invaders. However, sin can be removed by speaking to certain characters, unless it’s permanent. Killing Gwynevere will give you a permanent sin that will cause Anor Londo to become much more hostile and make you an enemy of the Darkmoon Covenant.
1 She Reveals Her True Nature Accidentally
Aside from out-of-place suspicion, there’s really nothing concrete to show that Gwynevere is an illusion without killing her. However, there’s a subtle hint to let you know that something is not right. While Gwynevere is acknowledged as both the Princess and Queen of Sunlight, there’s an inconsistency.
When speaking to Gwynevere, she is the only source in all of Dark Souls to use the title of Queen. Everything else refers to her as Princess and she even leads the Princess’s Guard covenant when she should call it the Queen’s Guard.
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