A Bloodborne Analysis by Redgrave

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Introduction
I didn’t really like Dark Souls. Objectively speaking, it’s a any means of entertaining himself, Miyazaki would spend
great game. The gameplay is solid; the world is compelling; most of his childhood reading books found in his local
the characters are interesting. Maybe it’s because, Demon’s library. He was fascinated with western tales of fiction, but
Souls fanatic that I was, I had hyped the game up in my mind his English was not fluent enough to understand every single
to such impossibly high standards that there was no way it word. Many times he would read a story and find that he
could compete with my expectations. But I always found that couldn’t understand half of it, and so he would connect
there was something missing in Dark Souls: the unknown. the words he could find and fill in the blanks, forming a
story of his own that used the pieces that had been laid
The story of Dark Souls is certainly mysterious; the game avoi- out before him.
ded conventional storytelling and instead gave the player the
burden of uncovering the truth on their own. One could pull I’ve read many criticisms of Bloodborne’s story when
back the curtain of Anor Londo and discover the machinations compared with Dark Souls. Many people find that the
of Gwyndolin and Frampt, or bring the Lordvessel to Kaathe characters are empty, that the story isn’t as entertaining,
and learn of another layer to the story. Even so, the story of or that the plot doesn’t seem to be as rich when compared
Dark Souls was all too grounded for me. It was the kind of to the tale of Gwyn and the First Flame. And they’re right.
story that could be re-arranged and presented as fact, with Bloodborne, like Demon’s Souls before it, doesn’t have
all of the mysteries solved like a novel where, at the end of the answers to be solved within the game itself. There’s
the book, the brilliant detective goes over the evidence to the no dialogue or item description which can provide the
rest of the characters and makes all the connections for them. player with that crucial piece of information that explains
everything. There’s no brilliant detective who can explain
Demon’s Souls had been different. In Demon’s Souls, the it for someone in a condensed manner. Bloodborne is a
answers hadn’t been there. It’s no mystery that the concept book where half of the words can’t be understood, and
of Souls Lorehunting didn’t really exist with Demon’s Souls the reader must fill in the blanks on their own.
other than a few notable exceptions like GuardianOwl.
The only real topic of debate was whether or not the Old When I first wrote The Paleblood Hunt, I wrote that there
One was the God of the Church. But there was no answer was a singular truth we could discover. Seven months later,
to whether the Monumental was good or evil; there was having read so many different interpretations and discus-
no explanation for how Biorr’s armor could be found in sion on the game’s story, having discussed the plot with so
Miralda’s well; the mysteries behind Lord Rydell and the many different people, I can only now see how absurd that
Old Monk remained void of answers. They were unknown. the idea of a singular story had been. There is no answer to
Bloodborne’s story. Bloodborne is a game that asks you what
Hidetaka Miyazaki, the genius behind the Souls franchise, you think. It asks you what your story is. What do you make
grew up in poverty in the city of Shizuoka. Unable to afford of the unknown? This is my story. This is my Eldritch Truth.

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest
and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
— Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
Supernatural Horror in Literature, 1927
Table of Contents

Chater One:
Byrgenwerth, Kos, and The Vacuous Spider _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 05
Chater Two:
The Healing Church, Lady Maria, Iosefka, and Ebrietas. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12
Chater Three:
Djura, The Powder Kegs, Ashen Blood, and Old Yharnam. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 20
Chater Four:
Ludwig, The Hunts, Father Gascoigne, and Eileen. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 27
Chater Five:
Valtr, The League and the Vermin _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 36
Chater Six:
Cainhurst Castle, The Executioners, and Queen Annalise. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 39
Chater Seven:
The Pthumerians, Arianna, Oedon and Mergo. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 44
Chater Eight:
Micolash, the Blood Moon, the Dreamlands, and the Great Ones _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 50
Chater Nine:
Laurence, Gehrman and The Hunter’s Mark ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 57
Chater Ten:
The Paleblood Hunt. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 62
Dedicated to all those
with a story to tell.
Chapter One

Byrgenwerth, Kos
and The Vacuous Spider
“Byrgenwerth is an old place of learning. And the tomb of the gods, carved out below Yharnam,
should be familiar to every hunter. Well, once a group of young Byrgenwerth scholars discovered
a holy medium deep within the tomb. This led to the founding of the Healing Church, and the
establishment of blood healing. In this sense, everything sacred in Yharnam can be traced back to
Byrgenwerth.”
— Alfred, Vileblood Hunter.

Everything begins at Byrgenwerth. An old institution of a deep respect for the figure even if they had differen-
learning, Byrgenwerth was built in a peaceful, secluded ces in beliefs. There is also a reference found on the
area away from the neighboring city and close to a great Rune Workshop Tool which refers to him as Provost
lake. It is here that a group of individuals studied and Willem. A Provost is an administrator of an academic
explored the depths of human knowledge. facility which supports placing Willem as the head of
the academy and the leading figure. Master Willem’s
For starters, I will use only information and evidence that primary focus of study concerned the limits of human
can be found inside of the game. I will save my personal intelligence.
interpretations and beliefs for the end, so that you can
make up your own mind about the evidence presented. Laurence is a much more enigmatic figure, especially
for a character so important. From the Beast skull
There were many students at Byrgenwerth. There were, in the Grand Cathedral, the PC Hunter witnesses
however certain individuals of note other than the students, a memory of an encounter between Laurence and
figures of importance who formed the inner circle so to Willem, in which Willem accuses the younger Lau-
speak. While not all of them were scholars, for the purpose rence of betraying him. A note left on the Cathedral
of this analysis I refer to this group of individuals as The staircase reads:
Byrgenwerth Scholars, or The Scholars for short. Those
individuals who we can safely conclude were members of Place your hand on the altar’s sacred covering,
The Scholars consisted of Willem, Laurence, Micolash, and inscribe Master Laurence’s adage upon
and Carryl. your flesh.

Master Willem was the head of the academy and a That Laurence would be revered so highly infers that he
highly respected figure. All characters who refer to must have been a very significant figure in the Healing
Willem specifically refer to Master Willem, indicating Church. It is well documented that the Healing Church

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has its roots in Byrgenwerth College. The Byrgenwerth “Oh, Laurence... Master Willem...
Student Uniform states: Somebody help me…”

The Healing Church has its roots in Gehrman is also, as we know, the First Hunter. He founded
Byrgenwerth, and naturally borrows the Workshop, located in a hidden section of the Upper
heavily from its uniform design. The Cathedral Ward, and presumably worked with the Church
focus not on knowledge. or thought. but in its infancy. Judging from Gehrman’s combat proficiency
on pure pretension would surely bring and master craftsmanship he may have been a bodyguard
Master Willem to despair, if only he knew. for tomb excavations, a groundskeeper, or a handyman
for the college at large.
Laurence’s title is that of the First Vicar, given to him both
by the Human Skull of the Nightmare and in his boss Maria was Gehrmans’ greatest pupil, and judging from
fight, confirming this idea that Laurence was in fact one the fact that she takes over the Research Hall of the
of the Church’s founders, splitting from Byrgenwerth in Healing Church it’s possible that she was a student at
an event that I will later describe as The Schism. the College under Laurence. Regardless, her participa-
tion in the events which would take place at the Hamlet
Micolash, the boss encountered in the Nightmare of place her as a member of the Byrgenwerth Scholars
Mensis, was another Scholar, as evidenced by the tattered prior to its schism.
Byrgenwerth uniform he wears during the PC Hunter’s
fight against him; Micolash also makes references to other We can now look at The Scholars, having explored each
parts of Byrgenwerth, which I will discuss later. one individually, as a collective unit. Willem, Laurence,
Micolash, Gehrman, Maria, and Carryl were individuals
Caryll was a genius runesmith who, through unknown at the Byrgenwerth College, an institution dedicated to
methods, could listen to the scratchings and utterings the furthering of knowledge and the exploration of the
of the Great Ones. While she could not understand the massive Labyrinth built underground.
inhuman words they spoke, she managed to etch them
into visual symbols that could be identified. The Rune It was in this Labyrinth that the scholars made the discovery
Workshop Tool describes Caryll as: that put every event in Bloodborne into motion. Indeed,
the entire history of Bloodborne can be traced to a sin-
Runesmith Caryll, student of gle defining moment, in which The Scholars discovered
Byrgenwerth, transcribed the inhuman something deep inside the ancient Pthumerian Crypts.
utterings of the Great Ones into what are
now called Caryll Runes. The Executioner Alfred muses:

There are also two individuals whom we can believe to have Once a group of young Byrgenwerth scholars
been a member of The Scholars: Gehrman and Maria. discovered a holy medium deep within the tomb.
This led to the founding of the Healing Church,
Gehrman was most assuredly an acquaintance of both and the establishment of blood healing.
Laurence and Willem. After the PC Hunter defeats Rom,
The Vacuous Spider, they can find Gehrman whimpering Deep inside the Labyrinth, the Scholars discovered the
in his sleep: Old Blood. It is unclear exactly what was found, but in

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the upper level of the Byrgenwerth mansion we can find The discovery of blood made their
the Empty Phantasm Shell. dream of evolution a reality. Metamor-
phosis, and the excesses and deviation
Empty invertebrate shell that is said that followed, was only the beginning.
to be a familiar of a Great One. The
Healing Church has discovered a great There are two different resources that the Player collects
variety of invertebrates, or phantasms, as during their time in Bloodborne: Blood Echoes, and In-
they are called. sight. The Echoes is the method in which the PC Hunter
gains power, while Insight is the method in which the PC
Whatever was found, it was proof of the existence of the Hunter gains knowledge. While some at Byrgenwerth
Great Ones. It’s possible that The Scholars discovered believed that knowledge and understanding of the Great
Ebrietas, the abandoned and left-behind Great One who Ones and the higher planes of existence would lead to
would later commune with the Healing Church. They humanity’s uplifting, others believed that it was through
certainly discovered a source of the Old Blood, the tain- the imbibing and fusing with the Old Blood that would
ted Blood of the Great Ones. Whether it was Ebrietas or lead to humanity’s ascension. This was a concept anathema
something else is unclear. to everything Willem stood for:

With the discovery of the Old Blood and of the Great Ones, Fear the Old Blood.
everything changed. Evolution became the goal; push
the limits of humanity and become something greater. These two fundamentally opposed philosophies would
Ascend to the level of the Great Ones, push humanity into lead to The Byrgenwerth Schism. But there’s another
its next stage. A scribbled note found in the Nightmare piece of the puzzle.
Lecture Hall reads:
Upon entering the Fishing Hamlet in the Hunter’s Night-
Master Willem was right. Evolution without mare, the PC Hunter is greeted by a Fish Kin, muttering
courage will be the ruin of our race. to himself:

However it quickly became apparent that some of The Byrgenwerth… Byrgenwerth…

Scholars, and Laurence in particular, differed in their Blood-crazed murderers. Blasphemous fiends.
belief on how the evolution should be carried out. Carryl’s
Eye Rune states: If the player is wearing the Milkweed Rune, the Kin will
give them the Accursed Brew, a skull which states:
Eyes symbolize the truth Master Willem
sought in his research. Disillusioned by Skull of a local from the violated
the limits of human intellect. Master fishing village. The inside of the skull
Willem looked to beings from higher was forcibly searched for eyes, as
planes for guidance, and sought to line evidenced by innumerable scratches
his brain with eyes in order to elevate and indentations.
his thoughts.
Whatever happened in the Fishing Hamlet must have had
However, Carryl’s Metamorphosis Runes state: to do with Kos, the Great One found at the end of the

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area. Kos is apparently dead, and while the Hunter battles narrative of hunting Beasts, to a sudden understanding
her Orphan, the Great One is long since past. Other than that we, the player, have barely even scratched the surface
the mutterings of the Fish Kin, there is only one other of a much, much darker truth. But Rom is not a fully
reference to Kos, that of Micolash in his commune with developed Great One. Micolash, in his communing with
the cosmos. the cosmos, mutters:

Ahh, Kos, or some say Kosm... Do you hear our As you once did for the vacuous Rom, grant us
prayers? As you once did for the vacuous Rom, eyes, grant us eyes. Plant eyes on our brains, to
grant us eyes, grant us eyes. cleanse our beastly idiocy.

Rom, as the PC Encounters, is a large creature who is Rom was not always a Great One. Eyes planted on
found at the bottom of the Moonside Lake of Byrgenwerth. her brain to cleanse her idiocy, Rom ascended to
Rom’s title is that of the Vacuous Spider, and is shown to be become one.
very relatively weak. Rom’s only real strength comes from
the Spider Kin she can spawn to defend herself. Other Vacuous is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary
than that she is barely capable of defending herself either as: Having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence;
through carelessly hurling shards of energy, or thrashing mindless. The word comes from the Latin vacuus meaning
wildly at her enemy. empty, along with the suffix -ous, meaning by the nature of.

When the player encounters Rom it is the defining Where does Rom come from? Who is she? What is her
moment in which the story of Bloodborne goes from a relation to the dead Great One, Kos?

What follows is purely my own interpretation and belief based on the evidence I have gathered. Do not
consider any of this as solid fact. Instead, use it as my interpretation, so that you can gather your own beliefs.

In Byrgenwerth, Master Willem and his students toiled The second great discovery was Kos. When I first played
away to excavate the Pthumerian Labyrinth underground, The Old Hunters DLC, my initial impression had been
studying their Gods and exploring the depths of human that it was the Byrgenwerth Scholars who had killed Kos.
intellect. The Byrgenwerth Scholars made two major When I shared this theory, many people pointed to the
breakthroughs in their study. Their first major discovery description of the Kos Parasite, which states:
was the Old Blood, specifically the blood of a Great One.
It’s possible that this Great One was Ebrietas, as in the When the carcass of Kos washed up
Byrgenwerth Lecture Hall we can discover the Augur of on the coast, its insides were teeming
Ebrietas, and we also find an Empty Phantasm Shell in the with tiny parasites, unlike any found in
upper chamber of the Byrgenwerth Mansion. humans.

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The argument was that this gave evidence to the fact with his greatest pupil Maria to the Hamlet and butchered
that Kos had actually been dead prior to the encounter the Kin. The skulls were split open in search of eyes, and
with Byrgenwerth, having washed up on the coast of the the First Hunters carved a path towards the corpse of Kos.
Fishing Village. I was unsure about my conclusion, and It is there that their greatest blasphemy was committed.
couldn’t decide which theory was more accurate until I The elevator to the Healing Church Research Hall depicts
played through the DLC a second time, and encountered three statues hovering over a child, examining it. The
Maria. Her words, now that I had seen the entire picture, central figure is clearly a depiction of Master Willem,
made much more sense. featuring the same robes and hat as the Provost’s.

A corpse... should be left well alone. Oh, I know Gehrman and Maria discovered that the dead Kos had been
very well. How the secrets beckon so sweetly. pregnant, the unborn fetus still intact. A very important
rule of Bloodborne’s world is that even if an individual
When I first encountered Maria, I had naturally assumed dies in the Waking World, their consciousness may still
she was talking about her own corpse. Now that I had seen remain in the Dreamlands. This is something that will
what lay beyond her care, everything fell into place. As I come up time and time again, and is evidenced by the
wandered around the Fishing Hamlet, taking a look at its existence of Micolash’s corpse in the Waking World. The
design and features, I came to a new conclusion. Look at unborn, murdered Great One was brought back to the
how the Kin of the Hamlet throw their harpoons; how the Byrgenwerth college and dissected in the name of science.
Giants wield massive anchors; how the wrecks of mighty What was retrieved was a Cord of the Eye, the Orphan’s
vessels line the coast. This isn’t some quaint fishing villa- umbilical cord.
ge, it’s a whaling town. Prior to the release of the DLC,
many players had noted the strange masts sticking out of And it was then that Master Willem, the greatest mind of
the water in the Nightmare Frontier. We can now see the Byrgenwerth, had an epiphany. Willem is quoted in the
origin of these vessels, the Hamlet. The villagers must have description of the Great One’s Wisdom as having stated:
sighted the Great One Kos in the sea one day, rising up
and taking arms to kill what they must have perceived as a
monster. They hunted and killed her, losing many of their We are thinking on the basest of
whaling ships in the process but inevitably returning home planes. What we need, are more eyes.
victorious, having sent the creature back to the sea. But
one day, the corpse of the dead Great One washed ashore.
When the villagers investigated the corpse they found it The Eye is indeed the symbol representing not just Insight
teeming with parasites, which soon infected and took over in the Player’s HUD, but also the knowledge of the higher
the minds and bodies of the villagers, transforming them planes of existence and of the Great Ones.
into the Kin that we encounter them as.
The discovery of the Great Ones and the Old Blood split
Inevitably, word reached Byrgenwerth of the Dead God on The Scholars into two opposing factions. One I have du-
the Hamlet. They sent two individuals to investigate the bbed the Loyalists, led by Master Willem. The Loyalists
Hamlet: Gehrman and Maria. The announcement trailer believed in evolution through Eyes, the accumulation
featured Gehrman with his scythe extended, walking into of insight that would let humanity ascend. This faction
the Hamlet, and we find Rakuyo, Maria’s weapon, in the consisted of Willem and his students. The other faction,
Hamlet well. Gehrman, the First Hunter, traveled along which I have dubbed the Radicals, was led by Laurence.

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The Radicals believed in evolution through Blood, the and wears the Blindfold Cap and the attire of a Choir
accumulation of power that would let humanity ascend. member. This would show that the Choir returned to the
This faction consisted of Laurence, Micolash, Gehrman, ruins of Byrgenwerth from time to time in order to gather
and Maria. While there was never any violence between old research notes or artifacts. That the imposter Iosefka,
these two groups, the fundamental difference in philo- who wields a weapon of the Choir, an Augur of Ebrietas,
sophy led to them inevitably separating to go their own would be in possession of an artifact that once belonged
paths. While the Loyalists remained at Byrgenwerth, the to Master Willem can be explained as such. The Choir
Radicals founded the Healing Church in the pursuit of recovered this cord, the umbilical cord of the Orphan
further spreading their knowledge of the Old Blood. This of Kos. Willem had used the Cord in order to further his
schism was not also purely among The Scholars, but also research, delving deeper and deeper into the depths of
amongst the student populous, with many leaving along human understanding. During this point in time, with
with the Radicals. intense research into the Great Ones being conducted at
Byrgenwerth, the students were twisted and transformed
With the Healing Church founding and flourishing, Willem into Gardens of Eyes for Willem’s research, bizarre Kin
and the remaining Loyalists were no doubt concerned of the Cosmos who would wander the grounds. Only four
with the growing power and the threat they posed. The individuals were left intact: Willem, Dores the Graveguard,
Loyalists were fully aware that the actions of the Healing the unnamed Doorman who would be entrusted with
Church in their use of the Old Blood would lead to the the password, and Rom. Whatever happened to Caryll is
spread of the Scourge. unclear. She may have left with Laurence. She may have
been transformed along with the student body, or she may
While the Healing Church spread throughout Yharnam, have left Byrgenwerth at an unspecified time to continue
Willem and the remaining Loyalists got to work on their her research separately. However, thanks to Caryll’s trans-
own research. This is where things get fuzzy, as there is criptions of the inhuman uttering of the Great Ones, the
very little information available on this crucial point in Loyalists learned of the importance and the power held
time. What we can see however, are the results of the by great bodies of water. If we take a look at any of the
Loyalists’ research. If the PC Hunter encounters Iosefka, Lake or Sea runes, we can find the description:
or rather, the imposter Iosefka, after the Blood Moon has
risen, killing her will make her drop a Cord of the Eye, Great volumes of water serve as a
which states: bulwark guarding sleep, and an augur
of the eldritch Truth. Overcome this
Provost Willem sought the Cord in order hindrance, and seek what is yours.
to elevate his being and thoughts to
those of a Great One, by lining his brain This even matches the game mechanics, in which runes
with eyes. The only choice, he knew, if representing Water provide defense and resistance.
man were to ever match Their greatness. Micolash says:

When the PC Hunter first enters the Byrgenwerth Man- The grand lake of mud, hidden now, from sight.
sion, they encounter on the second floor an NPC Hunter
named Yurie who appears to be a member of the Choir, Master Willem’s last, great ritual ascended Rom into that
the highest-ranking members of the Healing Church. of a newly formed Great One. Placed at the bottom of
Yurie wields A Call Beyond, the Choir’s ultimate weapon, the Moonside Lake, Rom’s empty mind served as a shield

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for our physical plane, protected by the great body of The Hunter can find a note in Yahar’gul left by a dead
water. It prevented the beckoning of the Moon Presence Hunter, which reads:
by Laurence’s Healing Church. With his knowledge and
understanding of the Great Ones, Willem was able to Nightmarish rituals crave a newborn.
use the Orphan’s Cord to rebirth a new Great One and Find one, and silence its harrowing cry.
line her brain with eyes, using her as a living bulwark to
seal away the Great Ones, the Nightmare, and the Blood The first instinct of the player is to associate this with
Moon. But where did she come from? the School of Mensis. They must be using some child to
perform a ritual. But Micolash and his students are only
We have already determined what the word vacuous following in the footsteps of Master Willem, trying to
means: empty, mindless. This can very easily be attributed reproduce the success of the Loyalists of Byrgenwerth.
to a simpleton, or to a braindead being. Rom, however,
certainly does not seem to be braindead. While she is “As you once did for the vacuous Rom,
weak, she most certainly attempts to defend herself in grant us eyes, grant us eyes.
the meager ways she has. In the interview with Hidetaka Plant eyes on our brains,
Miyazaki found in the Official Guide, Mizayaki was asked to cleanse our beastly idiocy.”
what his favorite boss was. His answer was Rom. But that
in itself, while interesting, was not very striking. However Rom is not a Great One, in fact Bloodborne causes un-
the specifics of his response were… unexpected. derstandable confusion in that it refers to many different
species, factions, and groups as belonging to the singular
I really like her. There are some oddly cute group The Great Ones. But the Kin, ascended mortals who
aspects to her moves and modeling. bleed a clear Serum, are not fully fledged, complete and
whole Great Ones like the Moon Presence, the Wet Nurse,
There is another type being that is blank, empty. As John or the Orphan. They are merely Kin of the Cosmos. Ki-
Locke writes, human beings are born Tabula Rasa, a blank lling Rom does not drop a Great One Coldblood; killing
slate, empty beings that are given shape by our experien- Rom drops a Kin Coldblood. Rom, daughter of Willem,
ces. A being that can be described as being cute, weak, either literally or metaphorically, born from the fruits
helpless, and empty of thoughts, lacking of experience: of his research and used to ascend. Look at the way she
an infant. From Miyazaki’s Interview: moves, desperately backing away from the Hunter, she
seems almost infantile. Unlike the rest of the Kin that are
In the world of Bloodborne, babies that are encountered, Rom has no natural defense mechanisms
treated as “special” in one way or the other are other than her ability to manipulate energy. If you ask
offered as lures to the Great Ones. The Great me, she doesn’t look like a spider at all… she looks like
Ones have all lost their children because of their a caterpillar.
positions, and as a result, they’re attracted to
these ‘special’ babies. The babies are one way of The infant form of a butterfly, one that may have become
calling them. beautiful.

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Chapter Two

The Healing Church,

Lady Maria,Iosefka and Ebrietas
“If it’s blood you’re interested in, you should try the Healing Church. The church controls all
knowledge on blood ministration, and all varieties of blood. Across the valley to the East of
Yharnam lies the town of the Healing Church, known as the Cathedral Ward. And deep within
the Cathedral Ward is the old grand cathedral. ...the birthplace of the Healing Church’s special
blood, or so they say. Yharnamites don’t share much with outsiders. Normally, they wouldn’t let
you near this place, but... The hunt is on tonight. This might be your chance...”
— Gilbert.

It’s the first concrete objective the PC Hunter can make The first sane member of the Healing Church the PC
for themselves: Get to the Healing Church and look for Hunter encounters is Alfred the Executioner. From
answers. The Healing Church is the institution that, while Alfred, the Hunter learns more about the roots of the
it doesn’t technically rule over Yharnam, serves as the Healing Church:
City’s anchor and structure. It is from the Healing Church
that the art of Blood Ministration, the art that Yharnam The Healing Church is the foundation of blood
would become famous for, was first brought. With the healing. Well, I’m a simple hunter, quite unfa-
use of the Healing Church’s special blood they were able miliar with the ins and outs of the institution.
to cure any disease, forming a religion devoted to the But I have heard that the holy medium of blood
worship of Gods and Blood. When tales of the curative healing is venerated in the main cathedral. And
properties of Yharnam Blood spread, those suffering that councillors of the old church reside in the
from incurable diseases often traveled to Yharnam in high stratum of the Cathedral Ward.
order to seek out their last chance at salvation. The PC [...]
Hunter was one such individual, according to promotional The tomb of the gods, carved out below
information leading up to the release of Bloodborne. In Yharnam, should be familiar to every hunter.
search of Blood that can cure any disease, the PC travels Well, once a group of young Byrgenwerth scho-
to Yharnam. But what is the Healing Church? Where does lars discovered a holy medium deep within the
it come from? And, most importantly, what is the secret tomb. This led to the founding of the Healing
behind their special blood? Church, and the establishment of blood healing.

For starters, I will use only information and evidence that The short story is that a group of scholars in Byrgenwer-
can be found inside of the game. I will save my personal th discovered blood of incredible power in the tombs
interpretations and beliefs for the end, so that you can underneath, specifically, they discovered Old Blood.
make up your own mind about the evidence presented. The Old Blood and knowledge of the Great Ones that

12
existed led to a revolution in the college’s theories and One of the standard articles of hunter
experiments. But Master Willem, head of Byrgenwerth attire fashioned at the workshop. A fine
College, disagreed with the idea of using the Old Blood piece of hunter attire that provides stable
of the Great Ones to advance humanity. defense to anyone facing Yharnam’s
beastly threat. Allows one to stalk beasts
Master Willem warns Laurence: unannounced, by cover of night.

Fear the Old Blood The last sentence is the most important. Originally, the
Workshop was likely a secret institution. The Hunters
This led to the Byrgenwerth Schism, in which a group of wore no symbols and had no uniform, save for the Saw
scholars led by Laurence left Byrgenwerth and founded Hunter Badge which each kept in order to identify one
the Healing Church. There are four individuals whom another:
we know were founders of the Church, though there
may very well have been unnamed others: Laurence, Badge crafted long ago at the
Gehrman, Micolash, and Maria. Laurence became the Workshop. Attests to one’s prowess as
First Vicar, founding a new religion and promising a cure a hunter of beasts. The Workshop is
to any disease through the use of his miraculous Blood gone, and no group recognizes this
Ministration. A note found in the Grand Cathedral reads: meaningless badge.

Heir to the ritual of blood, purveyor of They operated in the cover of darkness, disposing of
ministration. Place your hand on the altar’s Yharnamites who had succumbed to the Scourge of
sacred covering, and inscribe Master Laurence’s the Beast, likely as more of a cover-up than anything;
adage upon your flesh. anything to prevent the public becoming aware that the
blood they were being administered was turning them
Laurence and his Blood Ministration brought a new era into monsters.
into Yharnam, a culture of Blood Worship spreading
through the population. But what of Maria? According to Maria’s Hunting Attire:

But with the tainted blood of the Great Ones flowing Among the first hunters, all students of
through human veins, the Scourge of the Beast came to Gehrman, was the lady hunter Maria.
Yharnam. Those who had been ministered by the Old Maria is distantly related to the undead
Blood were susceptible to coming under the effects of queen, but had great admiration for
the Scourge. In response to this, Gehrman, one of the Gehrman, unaware of his curious
men who had sided with Laurence in the Byrgenwerth mania.
Schism, founded the Workshop. Located in a hidden area
of the Upper Cathedral Ward, the Workshop was a place Born in Cainhurst, Maria was a beautiful woman, no doubt
of training of elite warriors, dispatched by the Church even by Cainhurst standards. While she was a relative of
to hunt the beasts and prevent panic from spreading the Queen, to the aristocratic Nobles of Cainhurst this
through the population. likely meant very little. No doubt every Noble was dying
to tell everyone they knew about how they were Annalise’s
The Hunter Attire reads: twelfth cousin seventh removed, and so the relation pro-

13
bably didn’t mean much. Unlike the rest of her people, But eventually, Maria died. Her passing marks the end
however, Maria disliked the use of blood-weaponry, as of an era, the beginning of the transition from the old
stated by the Rakuyo: Church and the old Hunters into the new ones, the ones
that we find ourselves engaging in the present. But how
This sword feeds not off blood, but did Maria die? When we meet her, she is noticeably dead,
instead demands great dexterity. Lady at least as dead as a consciousness can be. The evidence
Maria was fond of this aspect of the seems to point towards a slit throat, as the blood on her
Rakuyo, as she frowned upon blood blouse has traveled down from her neck. In addition,
blades, despite being a distant relative during her boss fight she visibly stabs herself in the throat
of the queen. in order to initiate the second phase of the battle. This
One day, she abandoned her beloved seems to point towards Maria’s death as an act of suicide,
Rakuyo, casting it into a dark well, when slitting her own throat.
she could stomach it no longer.
But let us pause for a moment to remember the individual
After the events that took place at the Fishing Hamlet, other than Gehrman and Maria who left with Laurence:
Maria could no longer bare to wield a weapon. As she and Micolash. There is very little information on Micolash and
Gehrman retrieved the Orphan for Byrgenwerth, Maria on the School of Mensis, which was no doubt founded
threw Rakuyo into the Hamlet’s well. to continue the work at Byrgenwerth. Micolash founded
his institution in a city hidden by the Church, Yahar’gul.
We as players first hear of Lady Maria from the patients in From here, Micolash could research in secret while su-
the Nightmare Research Hall. They call out to her and speak pposedly reporting to Laurence. The Upper Cathedral
of her with genuine admiration and even love. They ask Ward Key states:
her to hold their hand or to help them, to care for them.
The upper echelons of the Healing
Key to the balcony on the first floor Church are formed by the School of
of the Research Hall. Lady Maria of Mensis, based in the Unseen Village,
the Astral Clocktower gave this to the and the Choir occupying the
patient, Adeline. Maria had hoped Upper Cathedral Ward.
Adeline would find comfort in the faint
breeze that carried the scent of flowers The School of Mensis was likely there first, as its research
from the outside, but Adeline couldn’t more closely resembles Byrgenwerth, and its practice of
fathom her intentions. researching in secrecy matches the Healing Church’s
early strategy of working, for the most part, behind the
It seems that Maria genuinely cared for the patients of the scenes.
Church’s experiments, as she went out of her way to try and
make Adeline more comfortable in her suffering. While Everything changed with Old Yharnam. Ashen Blood was
the experiments themselves were gruesome, there’s no a horrible epidemic that spread like wildfire. Naturally,
evidence that there was any malicious intent towards the in order to cure the disease, Blood Ministration was
patients themselves. Though it might be their madness, used in excess, on each and every one of the victims.
the patients all seem to be there willingly, even apologizing This would lead to the Scourge, as referenced by the
for having been failures in the experimentation. Antidote tablets:

14
Small medicinal tablets that counteract Gods, were certainly God-like. The level of detail devoted
poison. Used to treat ashen blood, to the sacred symbols and carvings in the Church can
the baffling sickness that ravaged Old only display a veneration of the Great Ones as superior
Yharnam long ago. These tablets only beings, specifically the Formless Great One, Oedon. To
provide short-term relief. The ashen get a closer look at the Choir’s motivations and research,
blood ailment eventually triggered the let’s take a moment to analyze Doctor Iosefka, a character
spread of the beastly scourge. whom the PC Hunter encounters very early on in the story.

After Old Yharnam, the Scourge could no longer be kept Bloodborne begins with the PC Hunter awakening in the
a secret. The Workshop was disbanded and replaced with a first floor of Doctor Iosefka’s clinic after receiving their
new group that would become the Healing Church Hunters, very first blood ministration. Iosefka is the very first NPC
led by the Hunter Ludwig. The Workshop was no longer that the Hunter can encounter in Bloodborne; after the
necessary, and was sealed away. It is likely at this time that Hunter dies to the Wolfbeast and is sent to the Hunter’s
the Healing Church took more control over Yharnam, Dream, returning with weaponry marking them a Hunter,
the Church effectively acting as the governing body of if the Player travels back up the stairs towards the clinic
the City. With the Church firmly seated in power as the they will encounter the door locked and barred. Through
saviors who had brought Blood Ministration to Yharnam, a crack in the door we see a woman dressed in white, with
the Choir was formed in the upper reaches of the city. whom we can speak.

By now, the Healing Church was being run not by Lauren- Are you... out on the hunt? Then I’m very sorry,
ce and Gehrman, but by the generation who came after but... I cannot open this door. I am Iosefka. The
them. The Choir ruled over the Church while Ludwig’s patients here in my clinic must not be exposed to
Hunters formed the new ranks of Church’s police force. infection. I know that you hunt for us,
The School of Mensis remained, but likely grew further for our town, but I’m sorry. Please.
and further apart from the Church over time. Likely This is all that I can do.
dissatisfied with the progress of research that had been
made since the Church split from Byrgenwerth, the Choir Iosefka will assist the Hunter by providing them with her
began to research the blood of the Great Ones. specially concentrated Blood, capable of fully healing
the Hunter.
The Choir Garb states:
The product of a slow and careful
Members of the Choir are both the refinement process, this rare blood
highest-ranking clerics of the Healing vial appears to be a clinic original.
Church, and scholars who continue the
work that began at Byrgenwerth. The Hunter can return to Iosefka at any time to collect
more Blood, but can only carry a single vial at the time.
It is uncertain exactly how much of the Church’s religion This changes, however, after the death of Father Gascoigne.
was merely used as a figurehead. It’s not clear if the Choir
truly believed that the Great Ones were Gods, or if they This time, when the Hunter comes to Iosefka, there will be
simply used that as a way to legitimize their research. no blood provided. Instead, the Doctor will ask the Hunter
They certainly acknowledged that the Great Ones, if not to direct any individuals they come across to her clinic, so

15
that they can be treated and cured. From this point onwards, One of the secret rites of the Choir.
the Doctor speaks with a slightly deeper tone of voice, and Long ago, the Healing Church used
in fact is voiced completely by a different person. While phantasms to reach a lofty plane of
Iosefka’s voice actress is credited as being Jenny Funnel, darkness, but failed to make contact
there is a second credit to an Imposter Doctor, credited to an with the outer reaches of the cosmos.
actress named Lucy Briggs-Owen. From this point onwards, The rite failed to achieve its intended
Iosefka will ask the Hunter to bring her more and more purpose, but instead created a small
people, assuring that they are being taken proper care of. exploding star, now a powerful part of
As a reward for the Hunter if the Hunter begins to bring the Choir’s arsenal. At times, failure is
her people, she will eventually start providing the player the mother of invention.
with Blue Elixirs. Blue Elixir is described as a:
The False Iosefka is one of four NPCs who wield A Call
Dubious liquid medicine used in Beyond, the other three being Micolash, the Forgotten
strange experiments conducted by Madman, and Yurie, the Choir Member found in the
high ministers of the Healing Church. Byrgenwerth Mansion. We can infer from this revela-
tion that the False Iosefka is a member of the Choir,
A rather chilling item indeed for a common blood minis- relocating from the Upper Cathedral Ward to Iosefka’s
tration doctor to be carrying. Clinic in order to continue her research, possibly be-
cause of the fact that due to the spread of the Scourge
But it isn’t unless the Hunter finds the back entrance to of Beasts the Cathedral Ward is no longer a safe place
the Clinic, accessible by climbing up an adjacent building to operate. Upon killing the False Iosefka, she will drop
connected to the Forbidden Woods, that the truth of Iose- a powerful Oedon Writhe rune. Interestingly enough,
fka’s research can be discovered. Here, the results of the the Hunter can locate a weaker version of the Oedon
research is discovered. Any NPCs that the Hunter sent in Writhe rune by killing Adella the Nun, or by looting
the past to Iosefka’s clinic will be found, transformed and it off of the Celestial she becomes if the Hunter sent
twisted into Celestials, blue-skinned Kin of the Cosmos. her to Iosefka’s Clinic. This connection only reinforces
If the Hunter sent nobody to the Clinic, they will only the False Iosefka’s affiliation with the Church, and that
find a single Celestial, located in the Sickroom. Upon its she held a rank of higher importance than a nun. But
death, it drops one of Iosefka’s Blood Vials, possibly one this is only one of two possible events that can occur
that was being saved for the Hunter upon the player’s in Iosefka’s clinic.
return. These are presumably the remains of the true
Iosefka whom the player meets at the beginning of the If the Hunter goes to the top of the clinic after the Blood
game. As the Hunter travels upstairs towards the top of Moon has risen, they will find her on all fours, perched
the clinic, one of two events will take place. on one of the operating tables.

If the Hunter goes to the top of the the clinic before the God I’m nauseous... Have you ever felt this?
Blood Moon has risen, the Imposter Iosefka will attack It’s progressing. I can see things... I knew it, I’m
the Hunter. She wields a Threaded Cane and a Repeating different. I’m no beast... I... Oh... God, it feels
Pistol, and if her health is low enough will even attack the awful... but, it proves that I’m chosen. Don’t
Hunter with A Call Beyond, the ultimate weapon of the you see? How they writhe, writhe inside my
Healing Church: head... It’s... rather... rapturous...

16
With enough time to conclude her research, Iosefka has Deep within the Cathedral Ward is the old
begun her ascension. Killing her can drop what I believe Grand Cathedral... the birthplace of the
is the Orphan’s umbilical cord, which was recovered by Healing Church’s special blood.
the Choir.
But the Cathedral is not the source of the blood. While it
But what was this research? What did the Choir do? is provided to the public from the Grand Cathedral, it ac-
How did they do it? This brings us the final topic of tually originates in the Orphanage. From Ebrietas, and the
our current analysis: Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos. Celestials. Ebrietas is the left-behind Great One, whatever
Ebrietas is found in the depths of the Orphanage, that means, and communed and worked with the Healing
described as: Church in their research. We find multiple references to this.

Key to the Orphanage, birthplace of One of the secret rites of the Choir,
the Choir. The Orphanage, shadowed high-ranking members of the Healing
by the Grand Cathedral, was a place of Church. Use phantasms, the inverte-
scholarship and experimentation, where brates known to be augurs of the Great
young orphans became potent unseen Ones, to partially summon abandoned
thinkers for the Healing Church. Ebrietas. One of the few rites that allow
The Choir, that would later split the one to directly utilize the power of the
Healing Church, was a creation of the Great Ones, and evidence that the Choir
Orphanage. had approached the eldritch Truth.

We have established previously that it was originally the Great chalices unlock deeper reaches of
School of Mensis which performed research for the Church the labyrinth. The Great Isz Chalice be-
in the secrecy of Yahar’gul, however with the growth of came the cornerstone of the Choir, the
the Church’s power after the cleansing of Old Yharnam elite delegation of the Healing Church.
there was no longer a need for secrecy and a new effort It was also the first Great Chalice brou-
was put forward into spreading the Old Blood. It would be ght back to the surface since the time of
the Choir who would fulfill this need, with the Orphanage Byrgenwerth, and allowed the Choir to
as their laboratory. have audience with Ebrietas.

Note that the Orphanage is located directly behind But who is Ebrietas, what is her purpose? What research
the Grand Cathedral. We can recall Gilbert mentio- did she allow the Healing Church to perform, and what
ning that: relation does she have to the Great Ones and the Old Blood?

What follows is purely my own interpretation and belief based on the evidence I have gathered. Do not
consider any of this as solid fact. Instead, use it as my interpretation, so that you can gather your own beliefs.

17
The Healing Church operated in secrecy in its formative the Cosmos. Gehrman was the First Hunter, and Maria
days. Micolash slowly continued his own research into the his greatest pupil. In this sense, they can be seen as the
Old Blood through kidnappings and experimentation. Father and Mother of all Hunters. Anyone who calls
Laurence administered the Old Blood to the ill, and themselves a Hunter, no matter what organization they
those who succumbed to the Scourge of the Beast were associate themselves with, is a descendent in some way from
eliminated under cover of darkness by Gehrman’s Hunters. Gehrman and Maria, who murdered the Orphan of Kos.
While this was going on, the Church quietly continued
their research into the Great Ones, independent from Curse the fiends, their children too,
Byrgenwerth. Initially, the only Great One that the Hea- and their children, forever true.
ling Church had identified had been Kos, the Great One
from the depths of the ocean. The Church’s experiments Perhaps Maria was haunted by unending nightmares of
into the Great Ones therefore revolved around water, as what she had done. Perhaps, in her frustration, she des-
described by the Brain Fluid: perately continued her experiments. Surely something
had to come out of the atrocities she had committed?
In the early days of the Healing Church, But each and every one of her experiments was another
the Great Ones were linked to the ocean, failure, another dead end. The patients began to notice
and so the cerebral patients would her frustration with them, sobbingly apologizing for
imbibe water, and listen for the howl of their failures, begging for her forgiveness. Maybe over
the sea. Brain fluid writhed inside the time she became less and less compassionate with the
head, the initial makings of internal eyes. patients, and more and more wracked with guilt. On one
hand, her desire to uncover the truth behind Kos and
It was a fruitless pursuit, however, for as far as we know the the Great Ones could not be stopped, but on the other
Great Ones do not originate from the sea, but from the hand she cared for the patients of the Research Hall and
Dreamlands and the Cosmos. As such, the experiments did not want to see them suffer. She could see only one
were failures. Overseeing the research from the Astral way out. She says:
Clocktower was Lady Maria.
Oh, I know very well. How the secrets beckon so
After the Hamlet Massacre, Maria refused to hunt again. sweetly. Only a honest death will cure you now.
Instead, she began to run research towards the Great Liberate you, from your wild curiosity.
Ones for the budding Healing Church. But her thoughts
could never leave the blasphemous nature of what she And so she ended her own life. Her death marked the
and Gehrman had done at the Hamlet, how the Orphan end of an era. By this point, Micolash and the school of
had been ripped from its mother’s womb. Nor would she Mensis had already begun to draw further and further
be allowed to forget. away from the rest of the Healing Church. With her death,
Gehrman spiraled into depression and the elite Workshop
Atonement for the wretches… was sealed away and abandoned. The old, secretive, quiet
By the wrath of Mother Kos. Healing Church had begun to die, and may have fallen
apart completely were it not for the events of Old Yharnam.
Not all of the Hamlet had been destroyed. The parasites The Church had always relied on gaining new followers
that inhabited their Mother Kos had managed to infest through the use of their miraculous disease-curing blood,
the villagers, transforming them into ascended Kin of and Old Yharnam gave them the perfect opportunity to

18
display their religion to the masses. After Old Yharnam’s of protecting them until the Hunt was over. Yharnamites
cleansing the Healing Church exploded in power and would have no reason not to trust the Church, and were
fame. They could no longer operate in secrecy, and likely delighted that their governing body had such a
needed a much more significant source of the Blood. concern for the welfare of their children.

The Great Isz Chalice became the In the Lumenflower Gardens, we can see the results of
cornerstone of the Choir, the elite their experiments. Look at the way the Celestials seems
delegation of the Healing Church. It to grow from the ground. Even the name garden seems to
was also the first Great Chalice brought suggest an almost sickening way in which the Celestials
back to the surface since the time of were harvested from the ground like a crop. This was the
Byrgenwerth, and allowed the Choir to source of Yharnam’s special blood. The children who were
have audience with Ebrietas. elevated to becoming Celestials were then harvested and
used as sources of Blood for the Church, a renewable
And so the Choir was born. An elite delegation of old resource that would allow them to provide the entire
scholars and clerics, the Choir would become the new City with as much Blood as it needed.
ipso-facto leaders of the Healing Church. The Choir plun-
ged into the tomb, deeper than anyone had gone since The False Iosefka was one such researcher, who fled to
the days of Byrgenwerth, looking for a greater source of the Clinic after the Upper Cathedral Ward was lost to the
Blood and a way in which to bring their research to the Scourge. The presence of Scourge Beasts in the Upper
next level. They traveled to the ruins of the Pthumerian Cathedral Ward only proves that the Scourge was too much
City of Isz, which had not been entered since the time for even the Choir to handle, and that the researchers
of the Byrgenwerth Scholars. They went to meet with likely fled. One researcher fled to Byrgenwerth, the first
Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos. member of the Choir that the PC Hunter encounters.
The Choir Member, Yurie, is seen wandering the second
The Great Isz Chalice was relocated to the Orphanage floor of Byrgenwerth Mansion. She even wears a Blindfold
located behind the Grand Cathedral and would serve as Cap, reminding us that:
the main laboratory for the Choir. Interestingly, we see
many, many carriages throughout our time in Yharnam. Members of the Choir are both the
Many players will recall seeing or leaving notes in front of highest-ranking clerics of the Healing
them with charming or amusing words such as despicable Church, and scholars who continue the
infant. But... where are all the babies? We encounter no work that began at Byrgenwerth. The
child-sized coffins in the streets of Yharnam, but many, eye covering indicates their debt to the
many, many carriages. Where we do find child-sized coffins teachings of Master Willem, even though
is in the Upper Cathedral Ward. their paths diverged.

In the Orphanage, the Choir communed with Ebrietas and The Choir had an enormous respect for Master Willem,
used their new knowledge to experiment on the babies even though they split away from him. There was never
that were either abandoned or sent to the Orphanage. It any violence between the two factions in Byrgenwerth,
is even possible that, after the widespread epidemic of the only a difference in philosophy that led to an inevitable
Scourge, the Choir went through the public and gathered separation. It is no wonder that the Choir never disposed
all babies and children of Yharnam under the pretense of Master Willem, they truly saw him as a highly respected

19
figure in their history. In fact, Master Willem had achie- be found in the Nightmare of Mensis, as the School of
ved what the Choir so desperately yearned for: He had Mensis and the Choir shared their research. It’s possible
ascended to the level of the Gods. that Iosefka’s Blood Vial is, itself, the key to the Celestial
transformation; a clinic original. Who knows what might
In the beginning days of Bloodborne’s release, all anyone have happened had we consumed enough of it.
could talk about in regards to Lore was Iosefka. Who is
she? Is she an imposter? When do they switch? Which When the False Iosefka fled to the Clinic, she brought with
is the real one? So much focus was placed on the False her an artifact that the Choir had previously recovered
Iosefka that the real one got swept away. People were so from Byrgenwerth, the Orphan’s Cord of the Eye. The
engrossed with the revelation that Iosefka was replaced False Iosefka sought to ascend just as Master Willem had,
with an imposter that they stopped looking at the original. by lining her brain with eyes in the manner he had done
Who was Iosefka? Like the imposter, she wears the White so many years ago.
Church Garb, which tells us:
How they writhe, writhe inside my head...
These doctors are superiors to the It’s... rather... rapturous...
black preventative hunters, and
specialists in experimentally-backed She isn’t pregnant at all, but instead has run out of time to
blood ministration and the scourge of continue her experimentation. In her last ditch effort, she
the beast. They believe that medicine imbibes Willem’s Cord. But it doesn’t work, as evidenced
is not a means of treatment but rather by the fact that she bleeds a dark red.
a method for research. and that some
knowledge can only be obtained by Seek Paleblood to transcend the hunt.
exposing oneself to sickness.
The first note that the Player receives. Many, many pla-
This implies that Iosefka was a high-ranking member of the yers have noticed that there are certain enemies which
Church, and a specialist on experimental blood. Now look bleed not red, but a clear and almost pale colored blood.
at the back of Iosefka’s clinic. Bodies have been dumped However, this is not the specific Paleblood. If this indeed
into pits, vials upon vials upon vials of blood have been was the blood of the Great Ones, there would be a few
collected, hundreds of research notes have been written. figures whom we would believe to bleed pale, but in fact
There are also Celestials in the Forbidden Woods, who bleed a dark red themselves: Amygdala, the Orphan, the
appear to have wandered off from the Clinic. How could Wet Nurse, and the Moon Presence. There are however,
this be the work of the False Iosefka, when the original certain figures which bleed what I call, Serum: Celestials,
Iosefka doesn’t get replaced until the death of Father Brainsuckers, Master Willem, Rom, and Ebrietas. Rom, an
Gascoigne. Furthermore, how was she replaced in the first ascended mortal, does bleed red if the Hunter attacks her
place? There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that it is stomach, as do her Spider Kin. But if the Hunter attacks
possible to copy someone’s face. There’s only one type of the eyes and heads of Rom or her progeny they bleed the
woman that has the same face as another: a sister. In the Serum of the Kin. Serum is not blood of the Great Ones,
back of Iosefka’s clinic we find a half-transformed Celestial, but rather blood of the Kin of the Cosmos, those who
dead on an operating table. Iosefka isn’t some innocent were once mortal but ascended to becoming Kin of the
doctor, she’s the one who invented the process in the first Great Ones. Notice how Ebrietas is mentioned as being
place. This explains why one of Iosefka’s Blood Vials can the Daughter of the Cosmos. But this doesn’t follow, as

20
every Great One loses its child. Instead, the Great Ones were named as being familiars of the Great Ones. And
yearn for surrogates. when The Scholars stumbled upon her in Isz, she would
finally have an outlet with which to commune with the
Ebrietas was possibly Pthumerian, as she is found by the outside world.
The Scholars in a Pthumerian city. It is well documented
that the Pthumerians’ research and experimentation with Willem and The Scholars met with Ebrietas, and through
the Old Blood led to their ascension as they neared the her they began their research of the Old Blood, the tainted
Eldritch Truth, however they were struck down before they blood of Ebrietas, surrogate child of the Cosmos. It was
could truly to ascend to being Great Ones. The Scourge through Ebrietas’ tainted blood that the tragedy which
of Beasts spread throughout the people, the Blood Moon struck Pthumeru would be doomed to repeat itself in the
rose. The Great Ones descended, and a womb was left with city of Yharnam.
child. Yharnam’s pregnancy with Mergo was a failure and
so in search of a surrogate, Ebrietas, possibly a researcher Ebrietas seems to get her name from the Ebrietas Bu-
of Pthumeru, ascended to the level of the Great Ones. tterfly, a species of butterfly found in South America,
It is so very interesting to me how Ebrietas is repeatedly which matches the, although admittedly distorted form,
referred to as having been left behind. Ebrietas is not a of Ebrietas as having an almost Butterfly-like appearance.
true Great One, instead she was ascended to becoming When we meet her, she is found in front of a corpse, a
Kin just as Willem did. The Pthumerians are ancient, corpse of a Vacuous Spider. Remember that even though
who knows how long it took for her to develop into her something may die in the Waking World, its consciousness
current form? Perhaps in a thousand years, Master Willem can continue to survive in the Dreamlands. Ebrietas had
will look much like her as well. lost her daughter, Rom. It’s a tragedy really: Every Great
One loses its child.
She was abandoned, as the Great Ones left after the devas-
tation of Pthumeru. And so she waited in the Labyrinth, But there were many surrogates to be found in the baby
caring for the Phantasms, small slug-like creatures which carriages of Yharnam.

21
Chapter Three

Djura, The Powder Kegs,

Ashen Blood and Old Yharnam
“Old Yharnam, burned and abandoned by men, is now home only to beasts.
They are of no harm to those above. Turn back...or the hunter will face the hunt.”
— Djura, Retired Hunter.

The PC Hunter encounters Djura for the first time upon A trick weapon used by the old hunters,
entering Old Yharnam, in which Djura warns the hunter and crafted by the workshop heretics, the
to leave. When the PC Hunter fails to comply, he is none Powder Kegs. A giant hammer equipped
too pleased and becomes aggressive in his defense of Old with a miniature furnace. When ignited
Yharnam. But to really discover who Djura is, let’s first and fired, it emits a volley of flame that
take a look at the history of the heretics of the workshop, explodes furiously upon impact. Crush the
the Powder Kegs. beasts, then burn them - the brute simpli-
city of the Boom Hammer was favored by
For starters, I will use only information and evidence that hunters with an acute distaste for beasts.
can be found inside of the game. I will save my personal
interpretations and beliefs for the end, so that you can Another slightly rarer Powder Keg weapon developed
make up your own mind about the evidence presented. was the Stake Driver, Djura’s personal weapon of choice.
The Stake Driver is described as:
The Powder Kegs were, and I use the term were inten-
tionally, a group of hunters with a flair for the dramatic A trick weapon fashioned by the
and a love of complexity, intricacy, and explosiveness workshop heretics, the Powder Kegs.
in their designs. They deviated from the Hunting style The stake driver allows for high-damage
of simplicity in design developed by Gehrman the First critical attacks, but is difficult to use and
Hunter, and preferred ambitious (or excessive depending leaves its wielder wide open, but none of
on your point of view) weapon design. this should bother a mere Powder Keg.

Influenced by a love of flame and a desire to crush and These two new trick weapons, among others like the Rifle
burn, they developed their main weapon of choice, the Spear and Whirligig Saw, were drastically different from
Boom Hammer, which is described as: the previous designs of the Hunter’s Workshop. However

22
the Powder Kegs didn’t settle with trick weapons, even Uncommonly kind is certainly right. Djura is unique
trying to implement bigger and stronger firepower into amongst any character in Bloodborne as showing sym-
their arsenal with the Cannon and Gattling Gun. pathy towards those affected by the Scourge of the Beast.

We can also give the Powder Kegs credit for the design The things you hunt, they’re not beasts. They’re
of the Rope Molotov Cocktails, seeing as gaining the people.
Powder Keg Badge unlocks them at the Bath Messenger.
It’s also interesting to note that his cap refers to him as
At some point in time, the Powder Kegs were labeled having contact with the Powder Kegs, rather than being a
heretics and exiled from the workshop. Presumably, the member. It’s possible that Djura knew of the Powder Kegs
Powder Kegs are no more, as all references to them are in or made friends with them, that he carries a Powder Keg
the past tense, and even their badge description refers to Badge indicates that at the very least he was some kind of
them as the late Powder Kegs. They were very likely disban- Honorary Member. He most assuredly traveled alongside
ded or slain quite a long time ago, seeing as nobody seems the Powder Kegs, as the description of the Gatling Gun
to reference them. Their association with the Workshop states that Djura had three companions, the youngest of
only lends credence to the idea of the Powder Kegs being whom used the Gatling Gun. But Djura’s absolute most
a relatively old faction, as the Workshop itself is no longer a important quality is that he, like the PC Hunter, was once
relevant institution as evidenced by the Saw Hunter Badge: a part of the Hunter’s Dream.

The Workshop is gone, and no group I no longer dream, but I was once a hunter, too.
recognizes this meaningless badge, You have the whole night to dream.
except the messengers in the bath who Make the best of it.
understand its profundity.
He also knows full well that killing the PC Hunter will do
So who is Djura? His official description reads: nothing but stall them. If the PC dies to Djura, he remarks:

An old veteran hunter who is said to possess ama- I should think you still have dreams? Well, next
zing skill. No one has seen him in many years, and time you dream, give some thought to the hunt,
he looks like he’s been on his own for some time. and its purpose.

We learn more from the description of the Grey Wolf I do not believe every Hunter is special like the PC and
Cap which states it as: Djura. There would be much more information and ge-
neral knowledge about the Hunter’s Dream if this were
Attire of the retired hunter Djura. This the case. Certain Hunters are special, chosen by Gehrman
worn wolf cap was his trademark. Djura and attached to the Hunter’s Dream. The title I have given
is known through his contact with the these special Hunters is a Paleblood Hunter. The Doll
Powder Kegs, the heretics of the workshop. herself admits that the PC was not the first:
He is said to have been both uncommonly
kind and dreadfully foolish. Djura felt Over time, countless hunters have visited this
defeated by the state of Old Yharnam and dream. The graves here stand in their memory.
renounced his hunter’s vows. It all seems so long ago now...

23
Djura was at one point a Paleblood Hunter, like the PC However, as the antidote notes, with blood ministration
Hunter, who retired from Hunting and renounced his came the Scourge of the Beast, as the Old Blood used in
vows to live in solitude. the ministration would spread the Scourge. One disease
had been contained, but the treatment gave birth to the
Which brings us to Old Yharnam. While Old Yharnam is Scourge, just as it had in Ailing Loran:
an optional location in the game, the PC Hunter is gui-
ded towards it by Gehrman in order to acquire the Holy There are trace remains of medical
Chalice. Historically, Old Yharnam was the location of a procedures in parts of ailing Loran.
terrible disease known as Ashen Blood. Antidote tablets Whether these were attempts to control
are described as: the scourge of the beast, or the cause of
the outbreak, is unknown.
Small medicinal tablets that counteract
poison. Used to treat ashen blood, With the Scourge of the Beast too much to handle, a
the baffling sickness that ravaged Hunt was called.
Old Yharnam long ago.
These tablets only provide Now we have Djura, the Powder Kegs, and Old Yharnam,
short-term relief. three pieces of a puzzle. But it’s not unless the PC stumbles
The ashen blood ailment eventually into a hidden building in Old Yharnam that the pieces
triggered the spread of the beastly connect. Near Djura’s tower is a hidden building that can
scourge. be accessed by dropping a far, far distance down a ledge.
Inside this building, everything comes together. Here,
The tablets were used as to give temporary relief to the the PC Hunter finds two corpses. One of them holds
victims of the disease, while they were being treated by a Rifle Spear, the other wears a set of Charred Hunter
the then newly formed Healing Church. What would gear. Next to them is a Hunter’s Note. This is where it
bring true relief would be the bringing of Blood Minis- all comes together.
tration, the medical procedure that would become the
cornerstone of Yharnam. With the ability to cure any The red moon hangs low, and beasts rule the
disease, the Healing Church’s blood ministration got to streets. Are we left no other choice, than to burn
work immediately. it all to cinders?”

What follows is purely my own interpretation and belief based on the evidence I have gathered. Do not
consider any of this as solid fact. Instead, use it as my interpretation, so that you can gather your own beliefs.

After Maria’s death and Gehrman’s self-inflicted retire- were spiraling downwards. As the Healing Church conti-
ment, the Healing Church lost a significant portion of its nued its operations and explorations of the Pthumerian
strength. The School of Mensis began to drift apart from Labyrinth, they discovered a swamp in the Forbidden
the Healing Church proper, and it seemed as if things Woods. Located directly behind one of their clinics, the

24
swamp was deathly poisonous and filled with strange, in search of those who may have fallen to the Scourge. It
parasitic leeches. The poison likely came up from the was likely a time of great fear for the people of Yharnam,
Hintertombs in the Labyrinth, where we can see very not knowing who would be next to turn, who would die
similar swamps. We also find in this swamp what appear to of the plague, or who would be swept up in the bloods-
be lumbering giants, much like the ones that the Healing hed. The streets became a constant war zone between
Church would later employ as their enforcers. It’s possible Hunter and Beast as the plague spiraled out of control
that the poison itself mutated those who lived into these and countless citizens succumbed to the Scourge of the
beings. Either way, the Healing Church discovered these Beast. Soon, the Oto Workshop developed into something
parasites that secreted a poisonous substance. else. As the Beasts grew more and more numerous, and
more and more dangerous, the Powder Kegs were born
In the Forbidden Woods we also find the White Church in response. With them, came a young man named Djura.
Garb, which reminds us that the Church believes that:
Djura was, like the PC, a Paleblood Hunter guided by
Medicine is not a means of treatment Gehrman. When the Old Yharnam Hunt began, Djura
but rather a method for research, and awoke in the Hunter’s Dream. Djura acted as the PC of
some knowledge can only be obtained his time. He started weak, but gathered Blood Echoes
by exposing oneself to sickness. and gained strength through the Doll. He lit lamps; he
left notes; he slew bosses and probably died many times,
And so did the Church develop the Ashen Blood from reawakening at the lamp and trying again. During this
the parasitic leeches, and loose it upon Old Yharnam. time, he came into contact with the Powder Kegs.

As Old Yharnam began to grow sick with Ashen Blood, Djura joined the Powder Kegs in hunting the beasts of
Laurence and the Church arrived with the Old Blood, Old Yharnam. He grew to use their equipment and they
promising a cure to all diseases. They were hailed as sa- considered him an honorary member, and likely a friend.
viors as they began to administer their miraculous special But as Old Yharnam grew more and more tainted with,
blood to the people of Yharnam, swelling in power and the Scourge spread. When the line between man and
position. But, as the antidote reminds us, with Ashen Blood beast was blurred, the red moon hung low. Djura, loo-
came the Scourge, as those who had been treated with king down at his fallen comrades, opened his notebook
Communion fell victim to the Scourge, becoming beasts. and left a note.

With Gehrman gone and his Old Hunters disbanded, The red moon hangs low, and beasts rule the
the Church had a need for a new workshop to deal with streets. Are we left no other choice, than to burn
the victims of the Ashen Blood. The Oto Workshop was it all to cinders?
formed, and Hunters were recruited en masse to deal
with the rising issue of the Scourge of the Beasts. These The Scourge of the Beast was too great, and the Powder
Hunters, unlike the silent warriors of Gehrman’s, slau- Kegs could no longer stem the tide through simply
ghtered the beasts furiously. The old hunter garb, worn hunting beasts. The Powder Kegs, with their flair for the
by the Oto Hunters, tells us that in this era Hunters were dramatic, their bombastic nature, and their love of flame
“ten a penny”, indicating that during the time of the and explosions, were not gentle with Old Yharnam. The
Ashen Blood Plague, it was likely not at all unusual for city was cleansed. The Powder Kegs razed the city to the
citizens to witness groups of Hunters walking the streets ground. With the Blood Moon high over the sky and the

25
beasts overpowering, the Hunters saw no choice but to With the Dawn approaching, Djura returned to the Hun-
burn it all down. The attire of the Charred Hunter Gear, ter’s Dream where Gehrman, the First Hunter, met him
worn by the Powder Kegs who cleansed the city, states: by the tree. Wracked by guilt and shame at the carnage
he had caused, he sunk to his knees and accepted his
Wearers of this attire hunted down death, severing his connection to the Hunter’s Dream.
victims of the scourge who survived When he awoke, the sun had risen and the Hunt was over.
the raging flames and stench of By now, the Workshop had branded and condemned the
singed blood. Powder Kegs as heretics. Those Powder Kegs who hadn’t
died in combat had become so drunk on blood that they
Men, women, and children were hunted and purged. had been dragged into the Hunter’s Nightmare. All that
The entire city was cleansed to keep the Scourge of the remained was Djura. And so he went to Old Yharnam,
Beast from spreading. Djura participated in all of it. It’s where he had caused so much horror, and cast aside his
possible that Djura tried to put a stop to it, or it’s possible Hunter’s vows. If nobody cared about the beasts of Old
that he willingly, gleefully participated in the slaughter. Yharnam, then he would protect them from any further
Either way, Old Yharnam was devastated, never to recover. bloodshed.

26
Chapter Four

Ludwig, The Hunts,

Father Gascoigne and Eileen
“Ohhhh.. What’s that smell? The sweet blood...
Oh, it sings to me. It’s enough to make a man sick.”
— Father Gascoigne.

When we as players are first thrust into Bloodborne we trade, introduces herself to the Hunter not by offering
do not deal with eldritch monstrosities, horrible truths, sexual services, but instead a vial of her blood. But it’s
or inconceivable entities beyond the reach of space and not just any blood that flows through Yharnam; only
time. None of these facets of Bloodborne were ever blood permitted by the Healing Church is allowed to
included in promotional material. The terrible truth of flow. The Old Blood, specifically the blood of Ebrietas,
Bloodborne’s Lovecraftian Mythos was kept a secret up is administered to the population by special doctors
until its very release. What we first find is the Hunt, thrust known as Blood Ministers, who carry on an art that
into it scared and desperate for answers. was first pioneered by the First Vicar, Laurence. We’ve
already discussed how Ebrietas gets her name from a
For starters, I will use only information and evidence that species of butterfly, but she also gets her name from a
can be found inside of the game. I will save my personal latin word meaning drunkenness or intoxication. Indeed,
interpretations and beliefs for the end, so that you can the blood of Ebrietas not only aided to cleanse Yharnam
make up your own mind about the evidence presented. of disease but also provided the citizens with a drug
more addictive and more intoxicating than alcohol.
In Yharnam, blood flows like water. You will find no bars But with the rampant spread of the Old Blood came
in Yharnam, no pubs or taverns. Only blood is found in the Scourge of the Beasts.
Yharnam. The Pungent Blood Cocktail tells us:
Once Old Yharnam had been cleansed and knowledge
In Yharnam, they produce more blood of the Scourge became public knowledge, a new way
than alcohol, as the former is far more of dealing with the threat was required. Secrecy would
intoxicating. no longer be enough, and so the Workshop was retired
and sealed. Instead, with the Healing Church in its new
Blood is the source of pleasure, entertainment, worship, position of power, the Healing Church Hunters were
and devotion in Yharnam. Even Arianna, a prostitute by born. At the forefront of this new movement would be

27
Ludwig, the new head of the Healing Church’s martial A rifle typically used by Healing Church
force. Gehrman tells us the following: hunters. It is said that this rifle was
employed by Ludwig, the first hunter of
The Healing Church and the Blood Ministers the Church. Its long, heavy barrel makes
who belong to it were once guardians of the up in range for what it lacks in reload
hunters, in the times of the hunter Ludwig. speed. Ludwig’s Rifle exhibits several
departures from the workshop’s design,
According to the Sword Hunter Badge: suggesting that the Church anticipated
much larger inhuman beasts.
Ludwig was the first of many Healing
Church hunters to come, many of From these two weapons we can see a drastic shift in design
whom were clerics. from Gehrman’s Workshop to Ludwig’s. While the Hunters
of Gehrman’s time favored agile weapons, quick movement,
Not much is known of Ludwig’s origins, but from his and easily concealable tools, Ludwig’s Hunters wielded
Radiant Sword Hunter Badge we learn that Ludwig was weapons with great force. These Hunters no longer hid in
part of a lineage of chivalrous warriors known as the the shadows, they walked openly, wielding their weapons.
Holy Blades: After Old Yharnam, it had become painfully clear to the
Healing Church that only more and more dangerous
The radiant sword indicates the heirs to creatures would arise from the Old Blood, and so more
the will of Ludwig. These hunters, also powerful weapons would be required.
known as Holy Blades, are what remains
of an ancient line of heroes that date Ludwig sought to deal with the Scourge of the Beast in
back to a very early age of honour and a very different manner than his predecessors. In the
chivalry. time of Laurence and Gehrman, the Healing Church
and the Workshop operated in secrecy. The School of
Ludwig had a very different approach to hunting beasts Mensis quietly researched, Laurence perfected Blood
than his predecessors in the Workshop had, which we Ministration, and Gehrman’s Hunters acted as a clean-up
can see from the details found in the weapons of choice crew, fixers of problems. An individual would succumb
of Healing Church Hunters. and the Hunters would quietly remove them in the mi-
ddle of the night, leaving the population none the wiser.
A trick weapon typically used by Healing With Ludwig however, a new approach was taken: Do not
Church hunters. It is said that the ignore the populace; arm the populace. We see this from
silver sword was employed by Ludwig, the Yharnam Hunter Attire:
the first hunter of the church. When
transformed, it combines with its sheath Ludwig, the first hunter of the Healing
to form a greatsword. The Healing Church, once recruited Yharnamites to
Church workshop began with Ludwig, serve as hunters. This hunter’s attire was
and departed from old Gehrman’s made for new recruits, and has excellent
techniques to provide hunters with the straightforward defense. But not nearly
means to hunt more terrifying beasts, enough to allow an ordinary man to
and perhaps things still worse. stand any real chance against the beasts.

28
Ludwig would deal with the beasts not through secrecy, The Hunters of Hunters, it would appear, are an order old
but through purges or Hunts. Arm the population, in- as the Workshop itself, tasked with disposing of Hunters
form them, and work alongside the citizens of Yharnam who have been lost to the intoxication of the Old Blood.
to battle the beasts. The Church called for the Hunts. It The Crow Hunter Badge tells us:
would, unfortunately, cause a sort of never-ending cycle.
Beasts rise, in order to combat the Beasts the citizens rise The badge of the Hunter of Hunters is
up, imbibe in the Old Blood, and strike them down. Now quietly passed down from generation to
that they’ve been tainted by the Old Blood they inevitably generation, usually to an outsider from
become Beasts, causing more citizens to rise up and imbibe the hinterlands.
in the Old Blood. Even more problematic was the fact
that as the Hunts called for stronger Hunters, stronger The use of the singular an outsider seems to imply that
Hunters would become stronger Beasts: there is only ever one Hunter of Hunters at any one point
in time, once a generation. It is interesting that it specifies
Ludwig was the first of many Healing that the Hunters of Hunters are typically outsiders. Eileen
Church hunters to come, many of whom herself speaks with an accent unlike a Yharnamite. Perhaps,
were clerics. As it was, clerics transformed whoever the Hunters of Hunters are, it was decided that
into the most hideous beasts. Yharnamites, blood-drunk that they were, were not to be
trusted with this important task.
Hunters would become drunk on blood, addled by it,
intoxicated by it. The Hunters would become a threat. And But it’s the Hunters of Hunters origin that interests
so it was that we find ourselves now faced with a different me the most. Where on earth did they come from?
group, one that seems to be particularly mysterious: The The Crowfeather Attire gives us a small amount of
Hunters of Hunters. In Central Yharnam the Hunter information:
encounters Eileen the Crow, who warns them sternly:
Hunters of Hunters dress as crows to
Prepare yourself for the worst. There are no suggest sky burial. The first Hunter of
humans left. They’re all flesh-hungry beasts, now. Hunters came from a foreign land,
and gave the dead a virtuous
It’s the polar opposite of Djura’s warning, that the beasts native funeral ritual, rather than
are still humans. Eileen belongs to a mysterious organi- impose a blasphemous Yharnam burial
zation known as the Hunters of Hunters, detailed in the service upon them. With the hope that
Hunter Rune: former compatriots might be returned
to the skies, and find rest in the
This red-smudged rune means “Hunter,” Hunter’s Dream.
and has been adopted by those who
have taken the Hunter of Hunters oath. The explicit mentioning of the Hunter’s Dream is very,
These watchmen admonish those who very peculiar. Eileen herself appears to know about the
have become addled with blood. Be Hunter’s Dream, as if the PC Hunter attacks and dies to
they men or beasts, anyone who has her, she will respond by instructing them to:
threatened the pledgers of the “Hunter”
oath surely has an issue with blood. Tell the little doll I said hello.

29
Like Djura, Eileen appears to have at one point been a up call to the player. Like many Souls veterans, I walked
dreamer, a Paleblood Hunter like the PC. into Bloodborne with a very specific mindset: caution.
Study the opponent, look for weaknesses, wait for their
No more dreams for me. This is my last chance. guard to be down, strike once, back, watch, strike. It’s a
very slow, cautious, passive playstyle that the Souls games
It’s not the only link that Eileen and the Hunters of have hardened in many players. Gascoigne seems to be
Hunters have to Gehrman and the Hunter’s Dream; placed so early in the game specifically for players like
the Blades of Mercy, the weapon of the Hunters of that. Gascoigne has the exact same tools that the Hunter
Hunters, states: can wield. He uses a Hunter Axe as his weapon and a
Blunderbuss as his firearm. He can be staggered, and he
A special trick weapon passed down can stagger. He’s a parallel to the player in this manner.
among hunters of hunters. One of the Really the only difference between Gascoigne and the
oldest weapons of the workshop. Splits Hunter is the insanely aggressive manner in which he
into two when activated. The weapon’s fights. Gascoigne charges with blind abandonment, he
warped blades are forged with siderite, weaves through the fight swiftly, dodging attacks and
a rare mineral of the heavens. keeping pressure on the Hunter. It’s almost a direct
message to the player from the developers: “You have the
One of the oldest weapons indeed, the Blades of Mercy same tools as him, why are you losing? He’s not being
are one of only two trick weapons made of siderite, a unfair, he’s not cheating. He’s just playing the game, just
rare mineral that fell from the heavens. The other is like you. So why is he slaughtering you?” The player very
Gehrman’s Burial Blade, the first of the trick weapons: quickly learns that they must adapt to Gascoigne or they
will die. Passivity is no longer a valid strategy, in order to
A masterpiece that defined the entire master Bloodborne the player must be swift, aggressive,
array of weapons crafted at and unrelenting like Gascoigne.
the workshop. Its blade is forged
with siderite, said to have fallen But once Gascoigne’s health gets low enough, he will
from the heavens. transform. He will succumb fully to the Scourge, beco-
ming a powerful Beast that will relentlessly assault the
Exactly what connection Gehrman has to the Hunters Hunter. But to really understand Gascoigne, let’s start
of Hunters is unknown. It’s possible that the Hunters of at the beginning and analyze what we can learn about
Hunters were formed to police and oversee the Works- him from the game itself.
hop, or it’s possible they may be a splinter faction that
separated from Gehrman. Whatever their reasons, their From Gascoigne’s Attire we learn that:
methods are clear: find Hunters who have succumb to
bloodlust and end them. Two such Hunters would be two Father’ is a title used for clerics
of Eileen’s targets, Henryk and Gascoigne. in a foreign land, and there is no
such rank in the Healing Church.
Father Gascoigne is the first official boss in Bloodborne. The dingy scarf is a Holy Shawl
While it’s possible to fight the Cleric Beast, that boss is and symbol of the Healing Church,
optional. Gascoigne serves as the first true boss fight in from which Gascoigne would
the game, and he is one that serves as a very cold wake- eventually part ways.

30
This would seem to imply that Gascoigne came to Yharnam, It would seem that when the hunt was called, Gascoigne
like many others, in search of the miraculous Blood Mi- answered. Though he had left the Church, he still rose
nistration which was rumoured to cure any disease. The up to cleanse the streets, along with the rest of Yharnam.
PC Hunter was one such individual, as was Gilbert and When he didn’t return, his wife Viola went off looking
likely many others. Like Eileen and Gilbert, Gascoigne’s for him.
voice has an accent that differs slightly from the Yharna-
mites. Seeing as Gascoigne wears attire similar to that of My m-mum wears a red jeweled brooch.
a Healing Church Watcher and wields the weapons of the It’s so big and... and beautiful.
Workshop, he was clearly trained as a Healing Church You won’t miss it.
Hunter after he came to Yharnam.
When we find Gascoigne, he is hacking a corpse to pieces.
It’s unclear exactly why Gascoigne left the Church, He turns to face the Hunter, having finally succumb to
but perhaps he left in order to raise a family. After all, the Old Blood.
Gascoigne’s daughters can be spoken to in Yharnam,
hiding in their house. Indeed, the daughters provide Beasts all over the shop...
the last, key pieces of information on Gascoigne: You’ll be one of them, sooner or later.

Are you a hunter? Then, please, will you look for On a nearby balcony, a red brooch dangles from the corpse
my mum? Daddy never came back from the hunt, of a dead woman. But how did it all come to this? What
and she went to find him, but now she’s gone, happened to Ludwig? What is the story behind Father
too... I’m all alone... and scared... Gascoigne? And why is Eileen in Yharnam?

What follows is purely my own interpretation and belief based on the evidence I have gathered. Do not
consider any of this as solid fact. Instead, use it as my interpretation, so that you can gather your own beliefs.

Everything changed after Old Yharnam. The Church, Ludwig was the heir to a legacy of ancient heroes known
seen as saviors, were now in control. No longer did as the Holy Blades, dating back many generations. It’s
they require secrecy, instead they flourished and gai- possible he was one of Gehrman’s apprentices, who
ned power. With this power and with the spread of succeeded Gehrman after his retirement and was put
the Scourge, the Workshop was retired and replaced in charge of the new, reformed Workshop in the Upper
with the Healing Church Hunters, led by a Hunter Cathedral Ward. It’s in this Workshop that we can find
named Ludwig. Ludwig was a courageous, honorable, the Radiant Sword Hunter Badge, which allows the player
and chivalrous man who took a new approach to the to purchase Ludwig’s Blade and Rifle.
Hunters by recruiting openly, training the population
of Yharnam to combat the dangers of the hunt, and But the Radiant Sword Hunter Badge also unlocks ano-
working on designing new weapons to eliminate the ther piece of equipment: the Tomb Prospector Attire. It
Beasts without issue. is described as follows:

31
Attire of tomb prospectors who ever saw the blade. It would seem that Ludwig kept it very
explore the old labyrinth on behalf close to him, not allowing the others to lay eyes upon it.
of the Healing Church. The Healing
Church traces its roots to Byrgenwerth, Aah, you were at my side, all along.
and is therefore aware of the ruins’ My true mentor… My guiding moonlight...
true importance. They contain much
more than mere hunter trinkets, The Holy Moonlight Sword was more than just a blade.
indeed, they hide the very secrets The blade offered Guidance to Ludwig, as is described
of the old Great Ones. sought after by the Guidance rune:
by those with the insight to imagine
greatness. When Ludwig closed his eyes, he saw
darkness, or perhaps nothingness, and
We can now get a bit of a better picture of Ludwig’s that is where he discovered the tiny
arsenal, judging from the equipment made available by beings of light. Ludwig was certain that
obtaining his Badge. Ludwig wielded a Holy Blade and a these playful dancing sprites offered
Rifle, his weapons of choice. Along with them, he wore “guidance” and emptied Ludwig of his
Tomb Prospector Attire, or at least he did at one point. fears at least in the midst of a hunt.
It’s possible that Ludwig traveled into the Labyrinth in
search of a weapon or an answer to put an end to the When he hunted, Ludwig allowed the sword to guide
Scourge once and for all. Maybe he simply wanted the him. He closed his eyes and followed the guidance of
Truth, to know where the Scourge came from. What he the Moonlight Sword as he cut down beasts. He had no
found was the Holy Moonlight Sword. fear in his heart, and became a weapon for the Healing
Church. Eileen the Crow says:
An arcane sword discovered long ago
by Ludwig. When blue moonlight Without fear in our hearts, we’re little different
dances around the sword, and it from the beasts themselves.
channels the abyssal cosmos, its great
blade will hurl a shadowy lightwave. The shift in Ludwig’s personality did not go unnoticed.
The Holy Moonlight Sword is Ludwig’s dialogue reveals that there were those who
synonymous with Ludwig, the Holy accused him of being a “beast-possessed degenerate.”
Blade, but few have ever set eyes on the Even in the back of his mind, he knew that was he was
great blade, and whatever guidance doing was wrong.
it has to offer, it seems to be of a very
private, elusive sort. Good hunter, have you seen the thread of light?
Just a hair, a fleeting thing, yet I clung to it,
It must have been fate, that the heir to the legacy of the steeped as I was in the stench of blood and
Holy Blades would find such a weapon. With it in hand, beasts. I never wanted to know, what it really
Ludwig truly did become the Holy Blade, a hero to the was. Really, I didn’t.
people who feared the Scourge of the Beast, and a leader
to the Church Hunters who followed him into battle. But Yet he continued to use the Holy Moonlight Sword and
as the Moonlight Sword’s description states, few people follow its Guidance, hoping to secure a future where the

32
Healing Church Hunters became honorable warriors who The last sentence particularly interests me, the use of
protected the people. He would suffer any denigration if the phrase a tragically long life. It’s possible that Henryk,
it meant that goal could be achieved. old as he was, either grew sick or weakened in his age.
Gascoigne not only wanted to see his closest friend live,
In the end, Ludwig became further and further steeped but he had another reason for wanting the old Hunter
in bloodshed. With each swing of the Holy Moonlight to continue on; he loved Henryk’s daughter.
Sword, he descended further into beasthood. Eventua-
lly, blood-drunk as he was, Ludwig was dragged into the Gascoigne’s youngest daughter says:
Hunter’s Nightmare, cursed to wallow in a pit of corpses
for all eternity. Yes okay, thank you very much mister/miss
hunter! I love you almost as much as mum and
With Ludwig gone, the Healing Church Hunters slowly dad, and grandad!
began to fall apart. Organized Hunts became mobs as
Yharnamites wandered the streets, dragging the infected Indeed when we encounter Henryk we find him in Oedon
out and burning them at the stake. The Hunters them- Tomb just as we found Gascoigne, only Henryk is not
selves began to rely more and more on Communion for standing by the grave where Gascoigne was found; he is
strength, the Healing Church administering more Old standing in front of the corpse of Viola, Gascoigne’s wife.
Blood to their Hunters in order to give them the power But Henryk is not himself any longer, he has succumb to
to vanquish the Beasts. One of these Hunters was Father the Old Blood. Gascoigne had fallen in love with Viola,
Gascoigne. Gascoigne had come to Yharnam in search Henryk’s daughter. Perhaps Gascoigne convinced Henryk,
of a cure to his disease, seeing the famous Blood Minis- in his old and weakened state, to accept Communion
tration of Yharnam as his last chance at salvation. It was from the Healing Church. The old Workshop Hunter
there that he was trained as a Hunter, possibly by a man was likely wary of the Old Blood, but was convinced by
named Henryk. Very little is known of Henryk, but he his son in law, the father of his grandchildren, to accept
wears the garb not of a Healing Church Hunter but of the Ministration.
a Workshop Hunter, one of Gehrman’s. Henryk is also
mentioned multiple times as being an old hunter, and Gascoigne too had accepted the Ministration, but in his
the voice file he uses as an NPC Hunter are those of the case there were complications.
Aged category in the game’s files, the category designed
for the elderly. If you find my mum, give her this music box.
It plays one of daddy’s favorite songs. And
Gascoigne and Henryk would quickly become a powerful when daddy forgets us we play it for him so he
duo, partner Hunters and good friends. According to remembers. Mum’s so silly, running off without it!
Henryk’s Hunter Garb:
While the Old Blood of the Healing Church can cure any
The taciturn old hunter Henryk disease, it cannot repair a damaged mind. Father Gascoigne
was once partners with Father had come to Yharnam in search of a cure to his mental
Gascoigne, and though they illness, but the Blood Ministration had failed. Even the
were a fierce and gallant duo, tainted blood of the Great Ones could not fix the bouts of
their partnership led to Henryk’s insanity he suffered. It’s possible that during his episodes
tragically long life. in which he forgot the faces of his family, Gascoigne grew

33
violent, irrational, or paranoid. Viola, his beloved wife, the Burial Blade and the Blades of Mercy. Both weapons
would play him a lullaby. It would ease his mind and help were forged of siderite by Gehrman, The First Hunter.
him to stay grounded and sane. But Gascoigne, intoxi- Gehrman was not alone as a Hunter, he had several appren-
cated as he was with the Old Blood, continued to Hunt tices who he trained to carry on his legacy. Him and his
and continued to accept Communion, the Ministration of apprentices practiced a special art known as Quickening,
Blood. When Gascoigne failed to return from the Hunt, as evidenced by the Old Hunter’s Bone:
Viola left her children locked inside and fled to find him,
to bring him home… but she forgot the music box. When The bone of an old hunter whose
she found him, he was drenched in blood, killing man name is lost. It is said that he was an
and beast alike. She pleaded with him to come home, to apprentice to old Gehrman, and a
remember her. But he would have none of it. Viola died practitioner of the art of Quickening, a
that night, killed by the man she loved. technique particular to the first hunters.

If the player uses the music box in the fight against Father There are only four individuals in the entire game who
Gascoigne, he suffers noticeable pain. He grasps his head, can use the art of Quickening: The PC Hunter, if they
muttering and moaning. How else could he possibly react, clutch the Old Hunter’s Bone, Gehrman, who uses a
as he remembers the terrible things he did to his beloved significantly more powerful version of quickening, Maria,
Viola? Henryk soon goes searching for Viola and Gascoig- Gehrman’s greatest pupil, and an individual known only
ne, fearful of what may have happened to them. When he as the Bloody Crow.
found Viola’s corpse, he was empty. His tragically long life
would be ended by Eileen the Crow, Hunter of Hunters. The Bloody Crow is found in the Grand Cathedral as the
final fight in Eileen’s questline. It is a very difficult fight.
She says: It would seem that Eileen came to Yharnam with the goal
of hunting down this mark, the Bloody Crow; along the
This too is hunters’ work, but bears no honor. A way she slew Henryk and would have slain Gascoigne if the
burden you may choose to carry. Hunter had not beaten her to the punch. We know very
little of the Bloody Crow, but we can see that he wields a
If the Hunter assists Eileen in killing Henryk, then after Chikage blade and has strong ties to Cainhurst, with his
the Blood Moon has risen they will find Eileen mortally use of Numbing Mist and his dropping of a Blood Rapture
wounded in front of the Grand Cathedral. rune. Most bizarre is that he wears the Crowfeather Garb
of a Hunter of Hunters. The Bloody Crow of Cainhurst,
I’m afraid I’ve made a bit of a blunder. I’m just evidently one of the First Hunters as evidenced by his use of
going to have a short rest. Oh, don’t worry, I’ve the art of Quickening. Here we can paint a possible picture:
taken blood. Enough to save an old woman. No
more dreams for me. This is my last chance. In the infant days of the Workshop Gehrman trained his
What a fool I am, I’ll have to tread carefully. But apprentices and gave one of them the Blades of Mercy.
that thing still lies in wait. Turn back. This is my Mercy is a central theme to Gehrman, it appears to be his
score to settle. goal to grant mercy to Hunters who either are trapped in
the Dream or have succumb to bloodlust. This apprentice
Many years ago, Gehrman founded the Workshop. Much he tasked with the important job of acting as an unseen
like the PC Hunter can, Gehrman wielded two weapons: watcher of the Workshop, forming a new order of people

34
separated from Communion and the Old Blood of Yharnam. The hunters must die...
What happened next is very unclear and for the most part The nightmare must end…
completely unexplained. Perhaps this apprentice traveled
to Cainhurst, or perhaps traveled into the hinterlands to Eileen herself knows full well the way in which the Hun-
train the next Hunter of Hunters who would travel to ter’s Dream sustains and propagates the Hunters. Indeed,
Yharnam. Whatever happened, we can see the results: the Hunters themselves are being manipulated by the
Great Ones into carrying out their eldritch tasks. What
The Bloody Crow of Cainhurst, possibly the first Hunter if there were no more Hunters, none left to seek the
of Hunters or possibly the one who supervised and trai- blood or carry out the will of the Blood Moon. Would
ned Eileen. Eileen wishes to put him to rest, to grant him the nightmare end? Think of the way we as players thrill
mercy. But what fascinated me the most about Eileen is every time we slay a boss, how we rush to the Dream to
what happens if the player never encounters her at all. grow stronger, how we want only to continue hunting, to
continue growing in power.
If the PC Hunter never speaks to Eileen then if they travel
to the Grand Cathedral after the Blood Moon has risen, Few hunters can resist the intoxication of the
they will be suddenly attacked by Eileen herself. Eileen hunt. Look at you, just the same as all the rest...
accuses the Hunter of succumbing to bloodlust. It is throu-
gh this dialogue that Eileen reveals how she truly feels: Maybe she’s right.

35
Chapter Five

Valtr, The League and

the Vermin
The night brims with defiled scum, and is permeated by their rotten stench. Just think,
now you’re all set to hunt and kill to your heart’s content!”
— Valtr, Beast Eater.

The Beasts and the Kin. These are the two types of enemies The League appears to have been an organization that
that we face in Bloodborne. One is born of the Scourge exists during the transitionary period from Gehrman’s
of the Beast, humans tainted from the influence of the workshop into Ludwig’s, however Valtr has been in Yharnam
Old Blood. The other are ascended humans, who have for quite some time.
purged their body of the Scourge and have become Kin of
the Cosmos, pure beings. There’s something else though, According to the Constable Garb, worn by Valtr, there is
some strange third thing that seems to be right around a rather popular fable in Yharnam.
the corner, yet somehow avoid description. It’s almost like
there’s something we just can’t put our fingers on, right Once upon a time a troupe of foreign
in front of our nose. To try and pinpoint what this thing constables chased a beast all the way to
is let us examine Valtr, the Beast Eater, and his League Yharnam, and this is what they wore. The
of confederates. constables became victims of the beast,
except for one survivor, who in turn
For starters, I will use only information and evidence that devoured the creature whole, all by himself.
can be found inside of the game. I will save my personal
interpretations and beliefs for the end, so that you can As Valtr’s title is that of the Beast Eater, it’s very reasonable
make up your own mind about the evidence presented. to assume that he is the constable from this fable. It was
when Valtr consumed a Beast, an utterly unholy act, that
We first encounter Valtr in the Forbidden Woods, where an Oath Rune was born within him: Impurity.
he introduces himself to the player.
This rune, discovered inside the
I am Valtr, Master of the League. Members of the forbidden beast eater, came to symbolize
League cleanse the streets of all the filth that’s “Impurity,” and the oath of The League.
spread about during the hunt. Like any half-decent Confederates of The League hunt to
hunter ought to, you know? Haven’t you seen discover vermin. Vermin writhe within
enough of these wretched beasts, freakish slugs, filth, and are the root of man’s impurity.
and mad doctors? Sentence these fiends to death. Crush all vermin without hesitation.

36
When Valtr performed such a tainted act, he gained From the Butcher Mask, we learn it is a:
the Impurity Rune and the ability to see Vermin, and
with this ability he formed the League. The League, Mask of the Madaras twins, denizens of
dedicated to hunting down Vermin, consisted of in- the Forbidden Woods, likely belonging
dividuals who were brought face to face with the root to the older of the two. The twins grew
of man’s impurity and suffered the consequences. We up in silent kinship with a poisonous
only know of three confederates, other than Valtr. The snake. Eventually they learned human
first is Yamamura the Wanderer, who is described by ways, and became hunters. When they
his garb as: discovered vermin even in their beloved
snake, the younger brother is said to
Garb of a distant Eastern land, worn by have murdered the older.
Yamamura the Wanderer. This Eastern
warrior pursued a beast for honorable Furthermore, we learn from the Butcher Garb that:
revenge, then became a hunter of the
League. But when he stared straight Both the twins became hunters, and
into impurity, it drove him mad. brought back and dissected their beast
prey, in order to support the villagers in
It would appear Yamamura’s membership of the League their forbidden research.
was rather short-lived, as as soon as the Impurity oath was
committed to his memory he was driven mad. So while What was the forbidden research of the villagers? What
Yamamura plays a relatively minor role in the League, two twisted discovery brought Yamamura to madness? And
more significant figures are the Madaras twins. most importantly, what are the Vermin?

What follows is purely my own interpretation and belief based on the evidence I have gathered. Do not
consider any of this as solid fact. Instead, use it as my interpretation, so that you can gather your own beliefs.

Some time early in Yharnam’s history, a group of foreign and branding them with the Impurity Rune so that they
constables chased a beast into the city. The beast, however, could see the true root of man’s impurity.
turned and devoured the constables one by one. The sole
survivor was Valtr, who slew the beast and, in some twisted, In regards to the timeline of when exactly this took place, it
maddened hunger for revenge, devoured the beast in appears to have taken place during the time when Hunters
turn. This unholy act branded Valtr as the Beast Eater, were in the transitionary period away from Gehrman’s
and within him was born the Oath Rune: Impurity. When workshop, but not yet fully formed with Ludwig’s. We see
Valtr turned and gazed throughout the city of Yharnam he that Valtr favored the Whirligig Saw, a weapon designed
found he could now see those who had become impure, by the Powder Kegs, and so it’s likely that the League
tainted with filth. In order to combat this new threat, Valtr was in full force during the time of Old Yharnam. Two
formed the League, gathering a group of confederates confederates of the League would be the Madaras Twins,

37
wild folk from the Forbidden Woods who were trained in The poison swamp was teeming with Vermin, unseen
the art of hunting. The Madaras twins had a great love by those who had not committed the Impurity Rune to
for their beloved poisonous snake, alongside whom they memory. As the Madaras twins slaughtered the infected,
had grown up together. The Madaras Whistle tells us: Vermin-riddled beasts and fed them to their snake, the
creature became tainted and riddled with the parasitic
The twins grew up alongside a creatures. This is the source of the Snake Parasite of
poisonous snake, and developed a the Forbidden Woods. Vermin infested the local wild-
silent, inhuman kinship. The poisonous life, and in turn the wildlife infested the villagers. The
snake grew uncontrollably, raised on a Snakes spat poison at their enemies, the Ashen Blood
healthy diet of beast entrails. turned against the very people who had developed it
in the first place.
It appears that the Twins would bring the victims of their
hunts back to the Woods with them, not only feeding them Ashen Blood, the poison, the Vermin. Perhaps it is the
to their snake, but also handing them over to the villagers case that all cases of poison in the game are cases of Ashen
to aid in their research, as referenced in the Butcher Garb. Blood, and in turn are caused by the Vermin. After all,
the antidote tablets that were used to treat Ashen Blood
But what research was occurring in the Forbidden Woods? are still in circulation today. If we look at the Nightmare
It’s simple: Ashen Blood. The Healing Church was, at this Frontier, for example, we can recall the poisonous swamp
time, using the Forbidden Woods and the nearby poisonous that loveable, trustworthy Patches knocks us into. Here
swamp as their laboratory for the research and development we find countless leeches, and large creatures known as
of Ashen Blood. The Healing Church was studying the pa- Crawlers. Interestingly enough, the Crawlers do not take
rasitic leeches found in the poisonous swamp, not only to extra damage as either Beasts or Kin. They are something
develop it for use in Old Yharnam, but also to discover the else: Vermin. Infesting the Loran Silverbeasts we even find
source of the poison. The source of the poison, of the filth. more maggots, likely teeming with Vermin themselves. We
Where did this poison come from? Recall the Butcher Mask: as players of a videogame are so conditioned to think of
poison as some random, nameless, vague side effect that
When they discovered vermin even in we never stop to think what this poison actually is, and if
their beloved snake, the younger brother it has a root cause.
is said to have murdered he older.
This brings us to the Bloodlickers. Large, flea-like creatures,
A centipede-like creature discovered they are first discovered in Cainhurst alongside a group of
on successful hunts by League hunters. parasitic leeches. While described as beasts, interestingly
Vermin, found hidden within filth, are enough they do not suffer from damage bonuses against
only seen by League confederates, and are beasts. They’re something else. Not kin, not beast: Vermin.
the root of man’s impurity. The League
has assumed the task of finding and What if the Vermin were to infest a human? Not just one
crushing all vermin. Perhaps there is some or two vermin, but an entire colony of the parasites squir-
mercy in the madness. Those who wish to ming and writhing within the blood of a human being.
see vermin can, and those who choose to No doubt they would be tainted. No doubt they would be
are provided with boundless purpose. forbidden. No doubt they would be Vile.

38
Chapter Six

Cainhurst Castle, The Executioners

and Queen Annalise
“Once, a scholar betrayed his fellows at Byrgenwerth and brought forbidden blood back with him
to Cainhurst Castle. It was there that the first of the inhuman Vilebloods was born.
The Vilebloods are fiendish creatures who threaten the purity of the Church’s blood healing.
The Ruler of the Vilebloods is still alive today. And so, to honor my master’s wishes, I search.
For the path to Cainhurst Castle.”
— Alfred, Vileblood Hunter.

If you’re like me, you were excited the very moment While in Yharnam blood is an object of worship, in Cainhurst
the Stagecoach pulled up to greet you at Hemwick. The blood is an object of desire. The Nobles of Cainhurst were
journey to Cainhurst Castle and the exploration of the elitist and aristocratic, enjoying form and elegance over
new area provides a nice breath of fresh air and a pleasant strength or functionality, as described the Knight’s Set:
interruption in Bloodborne in which we are shown a whole
new area with a whole new mystery. Cainhurst is an area Attire of the knights of Cainhurst. A
unlike any other in Bloodborne. To be perfectly honest... it regal piece graced by intricate goldwork.
doesn’t really fit in, does it? A forsaken Castle ruled by an The Cainhurst way is a mix of nostalgia
Undead Queen. The weeping ghosts of murdered women and bombast. They take great pride in
wandering haunted chambers. Man-eating gargoyles lying the blood-stained corpses of beasts that
in wait to ambush unsuspecting prey... Really, the area they leave behind, confident that they
would fit much more into Demon’s Souls than it does will stand as examples of decadent art.
into Bloodborne. Cainhurst is so unlike any other area in
Bloodborne, even from a gameplay perspective. After all, In Cainhurst, your status at Court is everything. The clo-
Cainhurst is the only area in the game that offers a Dark ser you are to the Queen, the more important you are.
Souls-style Covenant for the player to join. So to get to The further away you are, the less you matter. The Blood
the bottom of the mystery of Castle Cainhurst let’s start Rapture Rune:
by taking a look at Cainhurst itself, what we know about
it, what we can glean, and what monsters wander its halls. This rune resonates with servants of the
Queen, carrier of the Child of Blood,
For starters, I will use only information and evidence that who yearn for their Queen’s blood with
can be found inside of the game. I will save my personal little hope of requitement. For them,
interpretations and beliefs for the end, so that you can they find solace in “Blood Rapture,” that
make up your own mind about the evidence presented. serves as a surrogate for their desires.

39
The highest of honors in Cainhurst was to be named a We have here an example of a very different kind of Beast,
Vileblood, one of the elite inner circle of Queen Anna- one wholly unlike the Beasts of Yharnam. Yharnam Beasts,
lise. As evidenced by the ritual Queen Annalise makes we know, are the result of individuals succumbing to the
the PC Hunter perform should they choose to become a tainted blood of the Great Ones, infected thanks to the
Vileblood, the Vilebloods imbibed in the Queen’s blood. use of blood ministration. The Bloodlickers, infested with
While Yharnamites share blood through injection and Vermin, must have a different origin. Let us recall what
transfusion, the nobles of Cainhurst seemed to drink it Alfred says about Cainhurst.
directly from the source, as Queen Annalise extends her
wrist to the Hunter. The Vilebloods were the elite guard Once, a scholar betrayed his fellows at
of the Queen, and would travel out to hunt for her, brin- Byrgenwerth and brought forbidden blood back
ging tribute back to her in the form of Blood Dregs. We with him to Cainhurst Castle.
will explore the Vilebloods and Queen Annalise further
in a later section, but for now let’s focus on the lesser Whatever blood was brought to Cainhurst, it was most
important figures in Cainhurst and what information we certainly not the blood of the Great Ones. It was something
can gather from them. different, forbidden, impure. The introduction of this for-
bidden blood led to a new mission by the then-burgeoning
The old nobles, long-time imbibers of Healing Church, and the formation of the Executioners.
blood, are no strangers to the sanguine
plague, and the disposal of beasts was Alfred continues:
a discrete task left to their servants, or
knights, as they were called for the sake In his time, Master Logarius led his executioners
of appearances. into Cainhurst Castle to cleanse it of the
Vileblood. But all did not go well and Master
While there are beasts in Cainhurst, they are much di- Logarius became a blessed anchor, guarding us
fferent from the beasts of Yharnam. There is no sign of from evil. ...Tragic, tragic time... ... that Master
lycanthropy, the main symptom of the condition we refer Logarius should be abandoned in the accursed
to as the Scourge of the Beast anywhere to be found in domain of the Vilebloods. I must free him, so
Cainhurst. Instead, the beasts of Cainhurst are twisted, that he may be properly honored in martyrdom.
malformed things that drain the blood from the ground.
The official description of the Bloodlickers reads: Little is known of the Executioners. They were a group of
Hunters who, led by a man named Logarius, traveled to
With no host left to defend Cainhurst Castle Cainhurst and battled the Vilebloods. It would seem the
from the beastly siege, these deadly, vile Executioners existed in the very early days of the Healing
creatures prowl the grounds, gorging themselves Church, back when the Church was still operating mostly
on the tainted fluid of the fallen. in secrecy. The Executioner Attire reads:

Indeed, the Bloodlickers seem far more interested in dra- Attire worn by the band of
ining blood from corpses than they are of the PC Hunter. executioners commanded by the
Unlike Yharnam’s beasts which rip and tear flesh to shreds martyr Logarius. Later became
in pure rage, the Bloodlickers move quietly from corpse the basis for all Church attire, with
to corpse, drinking. its heavy draping of Holy Shawl.

40
This would seem to suggest that the Executioners were In fact, the Queen is immortal. There is no way to kill
the first case of an organized group of the Church her; even Alfred, who rips her limb from limb, smashes
operating in the open, as before then there was no her into pulp, tears out her organs, smears her against
section of the Church wearing their familiar uniform. the floor, and leaves her nothing more than a pile of
What this means of Alfred is unknown. He claims to be blood and meat, fails to kill her. Indeed, she is left simply
a simple Hunter, perhaps he simply sought to emulate writhing eerily.
the teachings of Logarius. He certainly has a great deal
of veneration for Logarius, his entire mission being to Alfred states:
complete Logarius’ mission once and for all to elevate
him to true martyrdom. What good’s your immortality now! Try stirring
up trouble in this sorry state! All mangled and
Whatever Alfred’s motivations behind following the path twisted, with every inside on the outside, for all
of the Executioner, we know that the Executioners of the world to see!
old did battle against the Cainhurst Vilebloods. From
the accounts we have access to, it was not a close battle... The Queenly Flesh, a chunk of meat the PC Hunter can
Logarius’ Wheel describes itself as being: retrieve from her remains, reads:

Used to slaughter the Vilebloods in This pinkish lump of flesh remains

Cainhurst. Bathed in pools of their warm, as if cursed. All hail the
blood, and forever steeped in their ire. undying queen of blood!

Slaughter is the key word here. The nobles of Cainhurst Annalise is never dead. Her consciousness remains insi-
were systematically executed, the Vilebloods were blud- de of the meat, and can be used to repair her. Indeed,
geoned to death by the mighty Wheels of Logarius. For Annalise can even be restored from her mangled state if
all their elegance and beauty, the Cainhurst Vilebloods the Hunter brings the Queenly Flesh to the corpse in the
were no match for the fury of the Executioners. But there Altar of Despair. But Annalise is not unique in this. She is
was one Vileblood who could not be slain, and this brings not the only immortal Queen in Bloodborne.
us to the final topic of our current analysis.
Upon defeating Yharnam, Queen of Pthumeru, the Hun-
I am Annalise, Queen of Castle Cainhurst. ter receives the Yharnam Stone. It appears to be meaty,
Ruler of the Vilebloods, organic remains, and even has the faint outline of a fetus
and sworn enemy of the church. within it. The Yharnam Stone reads:

Annalise is a very strange figure in Bloodborne and, like The Queen lies dead, but her horrific
I mentioned earlier, doesn’t really seem to fit. She is consciousness is only asleep, and it stirs
most assuredly something far more than simply human. in unsettling motions.

What follows is purely my own interpretation and belief based on the evidence I have gathered. Do not
consider any of this as solid fact. Instead, use it as my interpretation, so that you can gather your own beliefs.

41
In the depths of ancient Pthumeru, the Byrgenwerth Arianna even wears a Cainhurst dress, furthering the
Scholars studied and researched the Old Blood of the connection between the two figures. Perhaps the scholar
Great Ones. However, the Scholars found much more who brought the forbidden blood to Cainhurst was just
than the Great Ones, they found those who had once an unnamed scholar, or perhaps it was Maria, or even the
worshipped them: the Pthumerians. It’s not exactly Bloody Crow. Either way, Yharnam’s tainted blood made
clear if they directly located Yharnam, or if they simply its way to Cainhurst Castle.
gathered blood samples from the Pthumerians them-
selves. However it’s most likely that some of Yharnam’s Queen Annalise imbibed in the tainted, Vermin-riddled for-
blood was recovered and researched. The Old Blood, bidden blood of Yharnam, becoming first of the Vilebloods.
while to be feared, was not forbidden. It seems strange But Annalise was not satisfied with the simple transforma-
that the Scholars, seekers of truth, would label anything tion that followed. She sought an Heir, a Child of Blood.
as forbidden. Yharnam’s blood must have been so Annalise believed that through the mass consumption of
tainted, so vile and impure, that it was not to be toyed powerful blood she would be able to impregnate herself
with. Perhaps this blood was teeming with Vermin, the and give birth to the Child of Blood, and so she created
source of the Pthumerian’s seemingly magical abili- the Vilebloods. The Cainhurst Attire says:
ties. Yharnam’s mastery over blood is unlike anything
seen in Bloodborne. During the battle against her she This paper-thin silver armor is said to
seems to teleport, spray blood from her fingertips, and deflect blood of ill-intent, and is what
summons blades in the air of pure blood. Yharnam also allows the royal guards to capture prey
appears to be able to project herself from her prison in for their beloved Queen, so that one
Pthumeru, appearing in both the Nightmare of Mensis day, she may bear a Child of Blood.
and the Moonside Lake. Neither human nor Great
One, Yharnam is some twisted, impure mix of the two, The Vilebloods set out into the night, seeking power-
possibly as a result of her impregnation by Oedon, the ful beings to capture and drag back in chains to their
Formless Great One of Blood. Queen. Hunters would become the favored prey for the
Vilebloods. The Blood Dreg, an item the PC Hunter
One scholar, however, betrayed their fellows. This may can recover if they have the Corruption Rune equipped,
have been Maria. We already know that Maria was of tells us:
Cainhurt descent. Perhaps after the Hamlet Massacre,
Maria was disillusioned enough to bring the impure The Vilebloods of Cainhurst, blood-
Yharnam’s blood back to her people. However it doesn’t lusting hunters, see these frightful things
really seem to fit, as Maria is associated with the early in coldblood. They often appear in
Healing Church. The Healing Church most assuredly the blood of echo fiends, that is to say,
fears the blood of Yharnam, and even labels her blood the blood of hunters. Queen Annalise
as forbidden as well. The Blood of Arianna’s descrip- partakes in these blood dreg offerings,
tion reads: so that she may one day bear the Child
of Blood, the next Vileblood heir.
A member of the old Healing Church
would know that her blood is similar Look at the image of the Blood Dreg item. Look at the
indeed, to precisely what was once small... things that seem to squirm inside of it. They
forbidden. rather look like sperm, don’t they?

42
Annalise believed that the consumption of the blood of One of the precious secrets of
powerful figures would allow her to eventually conceive a Cainhurst. The old king’s crown is said
Child of Blood. Whatever a Child of Blood is, it would never to reveal illusions, and expose a mirage
come to pass. The Church discovered of this new threat that hides a secret. And so Logarius
and formed a response in the form of the Executioners, donned the crown of his own volition,
led by Logarius. The Wheel Hunter Badge tells us: determined to prevent a single soul
from stumbling upon the vile secret.
Martyr Logarius led a band of What visions did he see, sitting serenely
Executioners, and this badge was upon his new throne?
crafted at their dedicated workshop.
Their workshop was a secretive enclave Only by wearing the Crown of Illusions would one be
of mystical beliefs and heady fanaticism allowed access to Annalise’s throne room. To prevent any
which served as the backbone of the further interaction with Annalise, Logarius donned the
Executioners’ unique brand of justice. crown and sat upon the throne of Cainhurst, acting as a
living lock for the prisoner Queen. Recall how Logarius’
Again we can see the reference to secrecy, describing the Wheel states that it had become:
Church’s early style of operating in darkness.
Bathed in pools of their
The Executioners stormed Castle Cainhurst and slaughtered blood, and forever steeped
the Vilebloods. The Nobles of Cainhurst were shown no in their ire.
mercy as Cainhurst fell to the invaders. But when Logarius
marched into the Queen’s throne room, he found that Transforming the wheel reveals how tainted it has beco-
no matter what he did, she would not die. Perhaps simply me, as it contains the strength of the Vilebloods’ within
imbibing Yharnam’s blood had granted Annalise power it. Logarius too had been so drenched in the impure
beyond death, or perhaps it was the accumulation of Blood blood that he had been forever steeped in the fury of
Dregs that had given her immortality. Either way, Logarius the fallen Cainhurst Nobles. He became undying, a part
ruled that Queen Annalise would never be allowed freedom. of the bloody spirits of the fallen Vilebloods. He would
If she could not be killed, she must be made prisoner for remain as such until the PC Hunter would end his watch,
all eternity to prevent the birth of her Child of Blood. A taking the Crown of Illusions and discovering Annalise.
mask was forced onto her, covering her entire face. There But what path will the Player take? Will they kneel to
are no references or information available to be found the Queen and join her, bringing her Blood? Will they
on what exactly this mask is, other than looking at it as help Alfred in smashing her to pieces? Which path is the
she wears it. However, whatever power the mask holds correct one to choose?
has bound her in her throne room and left her unable
to resist her captivity. This still would not prevent outside Martyr Logarius once said:
sources from meeting with her and bringing her further
Blood Dregs, as the PC Hunter is capable of doing, and Acts of goodness are not always wise, and acts of
so Logarius took the Crown of Cainhurst, the Crown of evil are not always foolish. but regardless.
Illusions, and placed it atop his head. we shall always strive to be good.

43
Chapter Seven

The Pthumerians, Arianna,

Oedon and Mergo
“In the age of the Great Ones, wedlock was a blood contract,
only permitted to those slated to bear a special child.”
— Ring of Betrothal.

The Pthumerians existed long, long ago, long before the Aside from the Bell Ringers we have the Keepers, a group
events of Bloodborne take place. And yet the echoes of of eternal warriors who wander the Labyrinth caring for
what happened in old Pthumeru resonate very deeply in its denizens. The Bone Ash Armor states:
the current city of Yharnam, moreso than Yharnamites
can possibly know. The keepers, who mind the
slumbering Great Ones,
For starters, I will use only information and evidence that gained eternal life, preserved in
can be found inside of the game. I will save my personal ashen form in a ceremony of flame
interpretations and beliefs for the end, so that you can that cremated body and soul.
make up your own mind about the evidence presented.
These women clearly held positions of importance, and we
The Pthumerian Society existed long, long ago, centuries do know they are women despite their masks, as the voice
or even millennia ago. They were a people who were mas- clips they play during their combat and death animations
ters of ancient arcane arts, specifically relating to arts of are that of a female voice actress.
Fire and arts of Blood. The Pthumerian People seemed
to be Matriarchal, or at the very least the most important Finally, we have the Pthumerian Queen. Originally, the
positions were often held by women. The hallways of the Pthumerian people had no ruler, they worked as simple
ancient Labyrinth echo with the Sinister Bells rung by caretakers of the ancient Labyrinth. The Great Pthumeru
the Bell Ringers. When we look at the description of a Ihyll Chalice:
Sinister Root Chalice we are told:
While early Pthumerians were
When used in a ritual, this sinister mere humble guardians of the
chalice summons the Sinister Resonant slumbering Great Ones, their
Bell. The bell-ringing woman descendants felt entitled to
appears to be a mad Pthumerian. name themselves a leader.

44
As Pthumerian society advanced, they grew into a more The Pthumerians were, as the Chalices imply, super-
stable society with a Queen as their figurehead. The human beings. They were close to the eldritch Truth,
capital of Pthumeru, Ihyll, was named after one such and achieved evolution and metamorphosis through
Queen, possibly the first. However it is the last Queen of the use of blood ministration, as evidenced by the
Pthumeru, Yharnam, who will be the focus of our analysis. fallen Pthumerian City Loran. According to the Ailing
Loran Chalice:
As for the men of Pthumerian Society, they seemed to
provide more of a workforce and military for Pthumeru. The tragedy that struck this ailing
The Hintertomb Chalice tells us: land of Loran is said to have its root
in the scourge of the beast.
Hintertombs are the peripheral
catacombs of the old underground When the PC Hunter travels to the ruins of Loran, they
labyrinth. To this day, the Watchers find a city that in many ways resembles Old Yharnam.
continue to expand the hintertombs, It is a place ravaged by the Scourge of the Beast, as
unceremonious catacombs filled with the vast majority of its inhabitants are either mindless
graves and death. beasts or mad Bell Ringers. There is even a Darkbeast,
the mightiest of the beasts, that lurks on the lowest
Indeed, very often will the clanging sound of a pickaxe level of the fallen city, just as there is one that dwells
fill the Player’s ear as the undead Pthumerians toil away in Old Yharnam. In Old Yharnam, the Scourge of the
to expand the Labyrinth further and further. They are Beast was a result of the rampant blood ministration by
overseen by the Watchers, fat and girthy men wielding the then newly-founded Healing Church in an attempt
cudgels, cleavers, burning irons and even shotguns. to cure the horrible disease ashen blood. The Lower
Loran Chalice states:
There are also the Shadows of Yharnam; first encountered
in the Forbidden Woods, the Shadows are presented to There are trace remains of medical
the player far before we know of the Queen’s true name. procedures in parts of ailing Loran.
The only two places the Shadows are found are in the Whether these were attempts to
Forbidden Woods and in the Nightmare of Mensis, both control the scourge of the beast, or the
times in places very close to Queen Yharnam herself. In- cause of the outbreak, is unknown.
terestingly enough, if the PC Hunter wishes they can lure
the Maneater Boars into the Shadows found in the Night- We can now put the pieces together and see that what
mare of Mensis. The Shadows will fight and kill the pigs, the Player is currently experiencing in Yharnam once
while some of them will die in the process. The Shadows occurred a long, long, long time ago in ancient Pthu-
do not appear to be aligned with the School of Mensis at meru. Through the use of the Old Blood of the Great
all. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word Ones, the Pthumerians were able to ascend and evolve,
shadow has many definitions, the most lesser used being and yet with the tainted blood came the Scourge of
An inseparable attendant or companion. It’s a very clever the Beast, and possibly even what we would refer to in
use of ironic wordplay by From Software, to introduce the the modern era of Bloodborne as a Hunt, along with a
players first to the Shadows of Yharnam, leaving them to Blood Moon. This brings us back to the Queen.
naturally associate the Shadows as being associated with
the City Yharnam, as opposed to the Queen. A note found in the Byrgenwerth Mansion reads:

45
When the red moon hangs low, the line between Blood taken from Arianna, Cathedral
man and beast is blurred. And when the Great Ward woman of pleasure. A member
Ones descend, a womb will be blessed with child. of the old Healing Church would know
that her blood is similar indeed, to
The PC Hunter first encounters Queen Yharnam after the precisely what was once forbidden.
death of Rom, the Vacuous Spider. The most immediately
horrifyingly apparent feature of the Queen is the blood Why would Arianna have blood similar to something that
staining her stomach. It’s a sickening moment for the was forbidden? After all, blood flows like water in Yharnam;
player, at least it was for me. She is found at the bottom anyone and everyone shares and imbibes in blood with one
of the Moonside Lake, having seemingly appeared out of another. What makes Arianna’s blood special? Let us, for
nowhere, staring up at the sky and weeping. There, the a moment, take a look at what the PC Hunter encounters
PC Hunter sees the Blood Moon for the first time, and should they go to the very depths of the Pthumerian Lab-
hears the cry of a newborn baby. In ancient Pthumeru, yrinth, to the very bottom of Pthumeru Ihyll. It is here that
the Scourge of Beasts ravaged the land. It must have been the Hunter fights against the weeping Yharnam, Queen
then that the Blood Moon arose, perhaps for the very first of Pthumeru. But take a closer look at her as you fight
time, and a womb was blessed with child. It’s unknown if her and notice that she seems bound, chained. There is
Yharnam was impregnated by the Great Ones specifically cloth bound around her eyes, blinding her, and her wrists
because she was Queen, or if she was simply a woman have been tightly chained together to keep her movement
chosen at random, but she is most assuredly assumed to restricted. She is restrained for apparently good reason;
have been, in that Hunt, the potential mother of a Great during the fight with Yharnam she will free herself from
One. As we can see from the bloodstained rags around her bondage and display a mastery over blood that can
her stomach, the birth did not go well. only possibly be defined as magic. She melts into blood,
using it to travel distances; she uses blood to create false
Let us now jump forwards hundreds of years back into copies of herself, she sprays blood from her fingertips;
present day Yharnam, and discuss Arianna. The PC Hun- she stabs herself through the wrists and chest in order to
ter encounters Arianna living in the Cathedral Ward of summon blades of blood that swing through the air and
Yharnam; the Lady of the Night mistakes the Hunter for impale the Hunter.
a potential customer and sends them away, telling them
that she takes Hunts off. Once the PC Hunter has defeated Returning back to Arianna, one only needs to take a brief
Vicar Amelia they can convince Arianna to seek shelter in look at her features to see the similarities between her
either Oedon Chapel or Iosefka’s clinic. Sending her to and Queen Yharnam. Where do these similarities come
the clinic will end all further interaction with her, while from? From Cainhurst. Arianna’s dress is the dress of a
sending her to the Chapel will allow the PC to encounter Cainhurst Noblewoman, one like Queen Annalise. Their
and speak with her further. flowing hair, long sweeping dress, and obvious beauty
are all shared. The Noble Dress is found in a Cainhurst
Once Arianna and the PC Hunter become acquainted, portrait room. There are many portraits of Nobles, and
she does what any good Yharnamite would do and offers one of a tall, crowned woman in a grey dress, holding a
her new friend a vial of her blood. If the Hunter accepts, blonde child... Perhaps Arianna is a descendant of the
they receive the item Blood of Arianna. It is with this item Queen Annalise, who had imbibed in Yharnam’s forbidden
that we see the first inklings that Arianna may be much blood, or if not royalty perhaps she simply has Cainhurst
more than she first seems. Blood in her genes. Either way, her blood is forbidden.

46
If the PC Hunter has also rescued Adella the Nun in ad- Oh... there’s something wrong with me.
dition to Arianna, they may notice that, when talking to
Arianna in the Oedon Chapel, if they angle their camera She will refuse to give the PC Hunter any more of her blood,
to the side they can notice that every time they speak to and will have nothing to say until after the Hunter has slain
Arianna, Adella will rise from her seat to stare and watch Micolash in the Nightmare of Mensis. If the PC Hunter
the conversation. When the Hunter finishes speaking to returns to the Cathedral Ward they will find Arianna’s chair
Arianna, Adella will immediately look away and pretend empty, and a trail of Serum, clear blood, leading towards
as if she wasn’t watching. It’s a brilliantly subtle way to the Tomb of Oedon. Following the blood trail we find what
show that Adella has her eye on Arianna, and is possibly is, in my opinion, the most disturbing scene in the entire
aware of the blasphemous nature of her blood. game: A sobbing Arianna next to a squirming, wriggling
Celestial Larva, covered in blood. The implications are...
But the similarities between Arianna and Queen Yharnam unpleasant. Arianna has gone completely mad, muttering,
do not end with their clothing and facial structure. The sobbing, and laughing.
fate that befell Queen Yharnam would, centuries later,
befall Arianna. It can’t be... this is a nightmare...

Every Great One loses The Larva will do nothing but squirm pathetically at
its child, and then yearns her feet until the Hunter kills it. A single attack from
for a surrogate. any weapon will do the trick. Recovered from the dead
creature is an Umbilical Cord:
Queen Yharnam’s childbirth did not go well. Judging
from the massive amount of blood staining her stomach Every Great One loses its child, and
and the way she is found weeping in front of Mergo’s then yearns for a surrogate, and
Loft, we can only assume that the child did not survive Oedon, the Formless Great One, is no
the birthing process. When the Blood Moon rises over different. To think, it was corrupted
Yharnam, Arianna first starts to feel pain in her stomach. blood that began this eldritch liaison.

What follows is purely my own interpretation and belief based on the evidence I have gathered. Do not
consider any of this as solid fact. Instead, use it as my interpretation, so that you can gather your own beliefs.

Centuries ago, the Pthumerian people discovered the Scourge, as an outbreak spread throughout the
the Old Blood and the Great Ones, using the blood populous and the Pthumerians were infected by the
to elevate themselves beyond humanity. Their height scourge. And when the line between man and beast is
grew, their strength was magnified, and they gained blurred, the red moon will hang low; the Great Ones
arcane control over fire and blood. However with will descend, and a womb will be blessed with child.
the Old Blood comes the Scourge of the Beast. The Queen Yharnam was impregnated, but every Great
Pthumerian city of Loran was the first to succumb to One loses its child.

47
But the Hunt will always begin again, and so it did. The red communing with a Great One. He begins by confusing
moon hung low and the line between beasts and men was Oedon with Kos, believing he is speaking to the dead
blurred. And so the Great Ones descended, and a womb Great One of the ocean:
was blessed with child. The daughter of Queen Annalise,
Arianna bore corrupted blood which began an eldritch Ahh, Kos, or some say Kosm...
liaison. But with whom? Do you hear our prayers?

This brings us to Oedon, the Formless One. The Formless Halfways through the boss fight, Micolash has an epiphany.
Oedon rune states:
The cosmos, of course!
The Great One Oedon, lacking form,
exists only in voice, and is symbolized It’s not Kosm. It’s Cosmos. The Choir would discover this
by this rune. Human or no, the oozing truth as well, indeed their entire religion would be founded
blood is a medium of the highest grade, upon it as referenced by the Cosmic Eye Watcher Badge:
and the essence of the formless Great
One, Oedon. Both Oedon, and his Badge of a member of the Choir,
inadvertent worshippers, surreptitiously elites of the Healing Church. The eye
seek the precious blood. signifies the very cosmos. The Choir
stumbled upon an epiphany, very
Of all the Great Ones, Oedon is the one most similar to suddenly and quite by accident.
an Outer God of the Lovecraftian Mythos upon which Here we stand, feet planted in the
Bloodborne is designed. Oedon is a being of such absurd- earth. but might the cosmos be very
ly complex design that it would be impossible for From near us, only just above our heads?
Software to even put him in their game, for describing his
shape is something human beings simply can’t do. Oedon Oedon is so omnipresent that while he might not be
is also the Great One most closely associated with the God in the judeo-christian religious sense it is mostly
Blood, as both runes associated with him, Formless Oedon certainly God-like. This would lead the Choir’s mantra,
and Oedon Writhe, secrete a constant medium of blood, their epiphany:
and provide the PC Hunter with ways of replenishing or
storing the Quicksilver Bullets that are fused with their The Sky and the Cosmos are one.
own Blood. While the Healing Church worships several
Gods, it is likely that Oedon is very high in their pantheon, The early Healing Church had believed that the Great
if not their Chief God. There is an entire chapel devoted Ones were associated with the water, as this had been
to Oedon’s worship, the Great One of Blood, around where Kos was found. The Choir however concluded that
whom all of the Healing Church revolves. it was not the sea that linked them to the Great Ones,
but the very Cosmos itself, Oedon. It was Oedon who
Oedon, the Formless Great One, exists quite literally all impregnated Queen Yharnam, and it was Oedon who
around us. He is literally everywhere, without shape and impregnated Arianna.
only carrying a voice. In this sense, Oedon could also
possibly be referred to as the Cosmos itself. Micolash The vast majority of players will first encounter the crying
makes this discovery in the Nightmare, when he is found of a baby when they are first presented with the Blood

48
Moon after the death of Rom, the Vacuous Spider. It is Stillborn, the only thing that would be salvaged from
at this point that the line between the Waking World and Mergo would be his Umbilical Cord. Found from the
the Nightmare begins to blur. The Blood Moon hangs low, defeated boss fight Mergo’s Wet Nurse, the cord reads:
the Amygdala become visible, and the constant crying of
a baby will begin to follow and haunt the PC Hunter as A great relic, also known as the Cord
they struggle to understand what is happening. of the Eye. Every infant Great One has
this precursor to the umbilical cord.
Many players know that it is possible to see the Amygdala Every Great One loses its child, and
before the Blood Moon rises if they have at least 40 insight, then yearns for a surrogate.
but did you know it’s also possible to hear the crying baby This Cord granted Mensis audience
before the death of Rom as well? I discovered this on my with Mergo, but resulted in the
NG++ playthrough, in which I decided to start with 99 tillbirth of their brains.
insight and see if anything happened differently. What I
discovered is that if the PC Hunter has an insight above Micolash had seen both the success of Master Willem and
60 they can hear the crying baby, even before the Blood the failure of Laurence. He had seen that in order to as-
Moon has risen. This would seem to imply that the baby cend, one must use a Cord of the Eye, the umbilical cord
exists far before the Mensis Ritual takes place of a Great One. When the School of Mensis attempted
to use Mergo’s Umbilical Cord to commune with Mergo
Every Great One loses its child and Mergo, Queen Yharnam’s himself, the ritual was an enormous and terrible failure.
child with a Great One, was lost as well. When we encounter It’s unclear exactly what it means for a Great One to be
Queen Yharnam in the Dreamlands, it looks almost as if lost, or even to be dead. They exist on a plane of existence
her stomach has been ripped open, a child torn from her so far above our own. Recall that even though something
womb. But when we encounter her in the bottom of the may die in the Waking World, its consciousness may live
Pthumerian Labyrinth, she is noticeably still swollen with on in the Nightmare.
child. Upon her death, she drops the Yharnam Stone. In
it we see the outline of a fetus. Mergo lived on in the Nightmare, possibly attached in
part to the Wet Nurse, or possibly manifested as the Wet
Roughly one percent of pregnancies are ectopic, a com- Nurse itself. It is likely that the School of Mensis made
plication in pregnancy meaning that the fetus begins to a connection with Mergo by using his Umbilical Cord.
develops outside of the uterus. Of ectopic pregnancies, But what they found was an eldritch concept of death
one percent of them are abdominal, in which case the fetus so inconceivable that it resulted in the obliteration of
develops in the abdomen of the mother as opposed to the their minds.
womb. When one of these pregnancies fails and the fetus
dies, it begins to slowly calcify and harden. The fetus can Simon the Harrowed says:
remain in the mother for years. In many cases, the fetus
remained calcified and hardened inside of the mother for Beware, secrets are secrets for a reason.
decades after its death. These fetuses are called Lithope- And some do not wish to see them uncovered.
dions, or “Stone Babies”. This is what the Yharnam Stone Especially when the secrets are
is, the calcified corpse of an unborn Great One: Mergo. particularly unseemly…

49
Chapter Eight

Micolash, the Blood Moon,

the Dreamlands and the Great Ones
“A hunter is a hunter, even in a dream. But, alas, not too fast!
The nightmare swirls and churns unending!”
— Micolash, Host of the Nightmare.

If there’s anyone in Bloodborne that we can safely ascribe Micolash’s existence seems to be, in itself, a laugh at the
the quality of ‘bad guy’ to, it’s probably Micolash. The Great player by the developers. We’ve journeyed so far, faced so
Ones are too complex and too alien in their existence to much, and struggled so painfully in our search for answers.
ascribe moral values of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ to them; Willem very When we finally encounter someone who could explain
likely tried his hardest to prevent the events of Bloodborne to us what the hell is going on, he’s stark-raving mad. It’s
from occurring in the first place; the Beasts are no longer almost as if the developers are taunting us: “You’re sure
thinking creatures; Yharnam is portrayed as being a tragic you want the answers? He knows the truth; look what good
figure the victim of circumstances beyond her control; it did him.” But before we get to Micolash’s status as being
Annalise defied the Church and tried to steer her people Host of the Nightmare and the implications that holds,
into a new age of prosperity; Laurence and Gehrman’s let’s go back the beginning and take a look at Micolash
tried to control the Scourge; Ludwig tried to establish and his School of Mensis.
an organization that would protect the innocent; Eileen
only kills Hunters who have succumbed to bloodlust; the For starters, I will use only information and evidence that
Abhorrent Beast can’t help the fact that he’s been so ho- can be found inside of the game. I will save my personal
rribly afflicted with the Scourge and his dialogue is almost interpretations and beliefs for the end, so that you can
heart-wrenching as you see how terrible his condition is; make up your own mind about the evidence presented.
Maria genuinely cared for the patients of the Research
Hall and was wracked with guilt at her actions in the Everything started at Byrgenwerth. A group of Scholars disco-
Hamlet; Patches is mischievous but amicable; the False vered existence of the Great Ones and the incredible power
Iosefka is desperately trying to finish research which she of the Old Blood. This would lead to an inevitable separation
believes will uplift and save humanity; Alfred simply wants as differences in ideology led to a group of the Byrgenwerth
to let Logarius rest in peace; Djura just wants to protect Scholars leaving the Academy to found the Healing Church.
Old Yharnam; Gascoigne is slaying what he believes are Micolash was one such scholar. In our fight against him we
monsters. Micolash on the other hand is batshit crazy, and see Micolash wearing the tattered uniform of a Byrgenwerth
he seems to be perfectly happy with that fact. Scholar. The description of the Student’s Uniform reads:

50
Uniform of the students of of a home in the Cathedral Ward, possibly searching for
Byrgenwerth, a bygone institute of more victims. It would seem, however, that the School of
learning. The Healing Church has its Mensis slowly drifted apart from the Healing Church. While
roots in Byrgenwerth, and naturally Yharnamites venerate the Old Blood and pay homage to
borrows heavily from its uniform the Great Ones as being god-like figures, the citizens of
design. The focus not on knowledge, or Yahar’gul worship the Great Ones directly. Statues of the
thought, but on pure pretension would twisted figures line the streets and enormous Chapels are
surely bring Master Willem to despair, if devoted to the worship of spider-like Great Ones.
only he knew.
Furthermore, the rituals of the School of Mensis seem to
In the early days of the Healing Church the group operated be either directly or indirectly responsible for the coming
mostly in secret. Gehrman’s Workshop would serve as a of the Blood Moon. But what is the Blood Moon?
secret police force for the Church, while Micolash would
found the School of Mensis, a new institution of learning A note left by a dead Hunter in Yahar’gul says:
for the Church to continue the research at Byrgenwerth.
According to the Upper Cathedral Key: Madmen toil surreptitiously in rituals to
beckon the moon. Uncover their secrets.
The upper echelons of the Healing
Church are formed by the School of Another note left by another dead Hunter says:
Mensis, based in the Unseen Village,
and the Choir occupying the Upper The Mensis ritual must be stopped,
Cathedral Ward. lest we all become beasts.

This key is found in Yahar’gul on the corpse of an impri- A note found in Byrgenwerth Mansion reads:
soned Choir member. From their new, secret location
in Yahar’gul, Micolash’s new School of Mensis would When the red moon hangs low, the line
be protected and hidden by the Healing Church. The between man and beast is blurred.
Yahar’gul attire tells us:
A note left by Djura at the entrance of Old Yharnam says:
The hunters of Yahar’gul answer to the
village’s founders, the School of Mensis. The red moon hangs low,
Hunters in name only, these kidnappers and beasts rule the streets.
blend into the night wearing this attire.
An anonimous note in Yahar’gul says:
From their hidden conclave, servants of the School of Mensis
would skulk out into the night and kidnap innocents to Behold! A Paleblood sky!
drag them back to Yahar’gul for their experiments. The
PC Hunter can be one such kidnapped victim if they die The Player first encounters the Blood Moon after the death
to a Kidnapper, an enemy that first make their appearance of Rom, the Vacuous Spider. The PC Hunter discovers
after the death of the Bloodstarved Beast. The Hunter also Queen Yharnam at the bottom of the Moonside Lake,
encounters and fights two Yahar’gul hunters lurking outside seemingly having appeared from nowhere. She weeps

51
as she stares at the sky, and as the Hunter follows her works of Lovecraft, from which the Bloodborne series
gaze they see the overwhelming Blood Moon looming takes its influence; even those who have read Lovecraft
above them. After that, everything changes. This is the typically only read his later (and admittedly much better
moment when Bloodborne goes from being a tale of written) works such as Shadow over Innsmouth and the
Beasts and Blood to a tale of horrible, eldritch things Call of Cthulhu. However towards the middle of Love-
that work behind the scenes. Or perhaps a better way to craft’s career we have what Lovecraft Scholars refer to
explain it would be that it was always a story of eldritch as The Dream Cycle.
things, only we couldn’t see them. Many players walk
out of Oedon Chapel for the first time to the sound of For Lovecraft, the act of dreaming was a method in which
a loud, hissing vacuum-like noise coming from behind human beings could briefly transport their consciousness
them. They turn and stare at the peculiar wisp of air that to an alternate dimension. The Dreamlands are not an
seems to flow through the air. Some of them, as I did, illusion, they are a real place. The Dreamlands are a
walk closer to learn more. It is then that the Hunter is location just like Yharnam, Byrgenwerth, Cainhurst, or
hoisted into the air by unseen forces, crushed to death Yahar’gul. The mere fact that the player can take items
and succumbing to Frenzy. If you’re like me, you moved from The Dreamlands and bring them back to the Waking
on with the hunt. You chalked it up to just another bullshit World is proof that it’s a place equally real. The Lead
Miyazaki deathtrap. What killed you was an Amygdala, or Elixir’s description states:
at least what I will refer to as an Amygdala. It’s not clear
if the Amygdala that serves as the boss of the Nightmare Its recipe for this mysterious
Frontier is the Great One’s name or is its species. However concoction is unknown, but some
the Amygdalan Arm labels it as: postulate that it materializes only
within the most desperate nightmare.
Arm of a small Amygdala Great One.
Strictly speaking, the Amygdalan Arm is There are four distinctly different locations in the
no trick weapon of any sort, but certain Dreamlands that the PC Hunter travels to: The Night-
madmen wield them like clubs. Starts mare Frontier, the Lecture Hall, the Hunter’s Night-
as a large, tough blunt weapon formed mare, and the Hunter’s Dream. The Hunter’s Dream
of bone, but when extended, the hand is the first place in the Dreamlands the Hunter travels
quivers as if it were still alive. to, and from here it is where they will travel to different
parts of the game’s world. The Lecture Hall is the next
And the term Great One is too broad, and so I refer to location the Hunter travels to. The Lecture Hall of Byr-
these creatures as the Amygdalae. Once the Hunter slays genwerth has been somehow warped and transported
Rom and the Blood Moon rises, the Amygdalae are no into the Dreamlands. The Lecture Hall is connected to
longer hidden; in fact it becomes painfully clear that the Nightmare, which consists of both the Nightmare of
they’ve been there all along. Mensis and the Nightmare Frontier, and judging from
the fact that a Church Giant is found in the upper levels
And this brings us to The Dreamlands. it’s possible that the School of Mensis moved into the
Nightmare Lecture Hall at some point in time. Notice
Many players, indeed I would say the majority of players, that when the Hunter opens certain doors in The Lec-
are naturally confused by the words Nightmare and Dream ture Hall and transports to The Nightmare, the same
that repeat in Bloodborne. Most people haven’t read the warping effects and particles occur as when the Hunter

52
uses a lamp. The Dreamlands are a location that exists Behold! A Paleblood sky!
parallel to our own world. They have a landscape just
like we do, only they play by slightly different rules. Te- This message can be found prior to Rom’s death, rather
leportation is just another method of transportation in confusingly. If we look up at the sky, nothing is out of
the Dreamlands. The Dreamlands exist directly parallel the ordinary. The message is still there, however, after
to our own Waking World. While the Waking World is the Rom’s death. Looking at the sky reveals the Blood Moon
domain of humanity, the Dreamlands are the lands of in all its splendor. Of course the message was there be-
the Great Ones. These two worlds exist like a reflection fore, because the Blood Moon was always there, we just
of one another. couldn’t see it.

The Nightmare Frontier appears to be a reflection of the This is what insight allows us to do. With forty insight
ravaged Pthumerian land of Loran, as evidenced by the fact the Hunter will be able to see the Amygdalae in the
that Silverbeasts wander the Frontier and that Amygdala Cathedral Ward even before the death of Rom. With
drops the Ailing Loran Chalice. The Hunter’s Nightmare fifty insight, the theme music of the Hunter’s Dream
appears to be a reflection of the city of Yharnam itself. will change to the theme that plays in the Hunter’s
The Hunter’s Dream is obviously Gehrman’s abandoned Dream after Rom’s death even before Rom’s death. With
Workshop. They are places so very similar to their locations sixty insight the Hunter will be able to hear the crying
in the Waking World, only slightly different. baby when standing next to Arianna, even before the
death of Rom. There is a theme here. Insight allows us
Consider staring into the mirror, watching your reflection. to glimpse into the realm parallel to our own and see
You stare at it for an hour and, for the very briefest of what lies beyond humanity’s perception. After the dea-
moments, you see a figure standing behind you in your th of Rom, the veil that separates the worlds collapses
reflection. Whipping your head behind you, startled, completely. Insight is no longer necessary; the Blood
you see that nothing is there. Looking back at your Moon rises; the Amygdalae are visible; the crying baby
reflection, the figure is gone. What you’ve just seen is is heard constantly. The citizens of Yharnam are driven
a tiny little rip in the veil that separates the two worlds, insane once they are forcibly made to understand the
the Waking World and the Dreamlands. The figure is, depths of their reality. Simply looking upon the Great
of course, still standing behind you. It exists on a plane Ones is enough to drive someone insane, let alone the
of reality parallel to your own, above yours. Maybe the twisted knowledge that they lurked above you all your
figure was curious about you, wanted to learn more, life, always watching you. But where does it fit together?
and in showing interest made itself visible for just the How does Micolash beckon the Blood Moon? Why is he
slightest of moments. in the Nightmare? Why is he the Host?

What follows is purely my own interpretation and belief based on the evidence I have gathered. Do not
consider any of this as solid fact. Instead, use it as my interpretation, so that you can gather your own beliefs.

53
The School of Mensis was founded to continue the A transcription of “moon,” as spoken
study of the Great Ones began at Byrgenwerth. Mico- by the Great Ones inhabiting the
lash reported to Laurence and the Healing Church nightmare. The Great Ones that inhabit
and in return they kept the existence of the School a the nightmare are sympathetic in spirit,
secret. After the purge of Old Yharnam, secrecy was no and often answer when called upon.
longer necessary and the Choir was formed to study
the Old Blood of the Great Ones and Ebrietas. Early Perhaps that explains why the Amygdalae which live in the
on, Micolash and the Choir co-operated, as evidenced Nightmare congregate around places of worship. Maybe
by the Augur of Ebrietas that Micolash wields. However they listen to the hopes and prayers of human beings. In
Micolash’s experiments and the rituals of the School Yahar’gul however, the Amygdalae are everywhere.
of Mensis slowly grew more twisted. Micolash began to
kidnap Hunters, likely to Ludwig’s displeasure. Even As Micolash and the School of Mensis grew closer to
the corpse of a Choir member is found chained and the eldritch Truth, they attracted more and more of
imprisoned inside of Yahar’gul, suggesting that Micolash the Great Ones, like a flame attracting moths. Their
and the Mensis students were growing emboldened by final ritual, however, would be their undoing. Somehow
their closing nearer to the Eldritch Truth. In response Micolash came into possession of one of the Umbilical
to this the Choir would send a man named Edgar to Cords of the Great Ones. Mergo’s Umbilical Cord, to
infiltrate the School of Mensis and discover what was be specific. Here was all the evidence they needed, the
going on, implying that the school had begun hiding Cord of a true Great One: Mergo, child of Yharnam
their research from the Choir. We know very little about and Oedon. With the results of their research and the
Edgar; he is found in the Nightmare of Mensis and Cord of the Eye at their disposal, Micolash and the
wears a Student Uniform, wielding a Holy Blade and Mensis students would attempt to ascend to the status
Rosmarinus. The Official Guide simply names him as of godhood just as Rom and Willem had done with the
Edgar, Choir Intelligence. Edgar traveled into the School Orphan’s cord. Micolash would line his brain with eyes.
of Mensis to find that the students now worshiped the The Cord’s description:
Great Ones as literal gods, the Amygdalae in particular.
Every Great One loses its child, and then
The motivations of the Amygdalae are unknown. It’s yearns for a surrogate. This Cord granted
clear that the godlike beings could likely send Yharnam Mensis audience with Mergo, but
toppling to the ground if they wished. The weapons resulted in the stillbirth of their brains.
of mortals pale in comparison to the Great Ones. It’s
odd really, how they seem so idle and passive as they Mergo was dead. Indeed, Mergo had died in stillbirth
watch the humans walk by, sometimes reaching down millennia ago in ancient Pthumeru. It’s not exactly clear
in curiosity to grasp at one. Amygdalae only appear in what it would mean for a Great One to be dead, if they can
places of worship. One is found wrapped around the even die in the first place. When the School of Mensis
Oedon Chapel, another in the abandoned Church communed with the dead Great One, it was the end of
that served as a gateway to Yahar’gul. The Amygdala Yahar’gul. The veil between worlds was ripped apart; Bell
the player fights is located in what appears to be a Ringers brought the dead to life; the citizens fleeing the
large cathedral, where the ancient Pthumerians likely carnage were frozen in stone, permanently affixed to the
worshiped the Great Ones. Consider the Moon rune’s walls they so desperately tried to climb to freedom. The
description: many caskets that lined the streets burst open, body parts

54
coagulating together into masses of meat and bone that clung I was rather confused when I had first seen this. Consider
together and attacked the Kidnappers, murdering them. Bloodborne’s tagline: Hunt your Nightmares. Let’s pause
for a moment and look at the four fully-fledged Great Ones
Mensis was dragged into the Nightmare, ripped open. that the Hunter encounters: The Wet Nurse, Amygdala, the
Micolash and all of his students were dead, but their cons- Orphan, and the Moon Presence. Of the four, Amygdala
ciousnesses were pulled down into the Nightmare. Very few is the only one who does not grant the NIGHTMARE
would survive this transition, the only two we know of being SLAIN message. The Wet Nurse, the Orphan, and the
Micolash and Edgar. Micolash was brought to the Dreamlands, Moon Presence are the only three enemies in the game
specifically the Nightmare. Edgar likely survived due to the who make that message appear on screen.
fact that he was not wearing a Mensis Cage and likely did not
participate in the ritual, while Micolash is a bit of a special This puzzled me for a very, very long time until I came
case. Micolash’s corpse, still located in Yahar’gul, provided to a rather simple conclusion: Amygdala isn’t dead. Even
a gateway. Just as the many lamps around Yharnam provide after killing the one in the Nightmare Frontier, the other
gates to the Hunter’s Dream, Micolash’s corpse, the Host of Amygdalae still remain. The Hunter even kills another
the Nightmare, would provide a gateway to the Nightmare. Amygdala in the Pthumerian Labyrinth. Perhaps the
Amygdalae aren’t individual members of a single species
The Nightmare, as we have discussed, appears to be a re- after all, but a single Great One. After all, Patches speaks
flection of the Pthumerian City Loran. If that is the case, to the Amygdala that grabs you in the Cathedral Ward
perhaps Loran was the place of Mergo’s attempted birth. At as if it is Amygdala itself. I only had this revelation after
the top of Mergo’s Loft, the castle upon which the Hunter refighting Mergo’s Wet Nurse in NG+ and realizing that
ascends, we find Queen Yharnam weeping. By following her she appears to create a perfect clone of herself, using it to
gaze, we ascend to the top of the castle and there we fight fight me. The Great Ones exist on a level far beyond our
Mergo’s Wet Nurse. Historically, a Wet Nurse was typically a comprehension, who is to say they can’t be in multiple
woman who would breastfeed an infant child if the mother, places at once? In the depths of Great Isz the Hunter even
for whatever reason, was unable to. While fighting her, the fights Ebrietas for a second time, who appears to have
Lullaby of Mergo, a haunting melody, plays throughout the been there all along. Whatever the mystery behind the
area. Perhaps the Wet Nurse was a Great One summoned Nightmare Slain message, slaying the Wet Nurse ends Mer-
by Yharnam to care for her future child, or perhaps the go’s consciousness and puts the Mensis Rituals to an end.
Wet Nurse was created as some kind of manifestation of
Mergo’s consciousness. Either way, the Wet Nurse is a fully However the ritual had not been an entire failure. The
formed Great One. She bleeds red just as the Amygdalae, ascension had worked, more or less. A new Great One was
the Orphan, and the Moon Presence do, instead of the born from the stillbirthed minds of the Mensis Students:
clear fluid that the Kin bleed. She is the dominant force the Brain of Mensis. The Living String tells us:
ruling over the Nightmare from atop Mergo’s Loft, and
something peculiar occurs upon slaying her. The immense brain that Mensis retrieved
from the nightmare was indeed lined with
In the English version of Bloodborne, the blue text PREY eyes on the inside, but they were of an
SLAUGHTERED accompanies a victorious boss fight. In evil sort, and the brain itself was terrible
the Japanese version, it’s the blue text YOU HUNTED. rotten. But even still, it was a legitimate
But in both versions, killing Mergo’s Wet Nurse causes the Great One, and left a relic. A living relic,
red text NIGHTMARE SLAIN to appear on the screen. at that, which is a precious thing indeed.

55
The Brain of Mensis is a helpless Great One whose only or to whom I performed Make Contact, nothing had
real strength is the madness it causes by looking upon it. happened. So I sat there, like an idiot I told myself, as
The Brain of Mensis is suspended in Mergo’s Loft, acting my Hunter stood in front of the Brain of Mensis with his
as a living weapon that attacks oncomers. If the Hunter arms outstretched. I knew from experience that eventually
finds their way down to a lever accessible by fighting the Hunter would change positions, and I had taken to
past the Winter Lanterns, they can release the chains on waiting for that moment before moving on with whatever
the Brain of Mensis and send it hurtling into the abyss. I was doing. To my complete and utter surprise, an item
Working back down to the base of Mergo’s Loft they will appeared in my inventory. It was a Moon Rune, the most
find a new elevator which brings them down to the fallen, powerful one I had encountered.
helpless Great One.
The Great Ones that inhabit the
It was kind of sad, really. When I first encountered the nightmare are sympathetic in spirit,
Brain of Mensis, twitching there, a mass of brain and eyes and often answer when called upon.
that watched me walking back and forth, I wasn’t really
sure what to do with it. Should I kill it? It certainly wasn’t It was a moment that legitimately made me feel bad about
aggressive, it was simply lying there and clearly had no this thing in front of me. I decided to kill it. Maybe the
way of fighting back. I decided to do what had become a fact that it gave me a Moon Rune, a Rune that grants more
bit of a habit for me whenever I encountered something Blood Echoes upon killing enemies, was some kind of cry
having to do with the Great Ones: I put on the Mensis for an end to its misery. I was rewarded with the Living
Cage and performed the Make Contact gesture. The String, an item I had been looking for idly for quite some
Mensis Cage is described as: time as it was needed to access Pthumeru Ihyll.

This hexagonal iron cage suggests their Later I would read online that the Mensis Cage was un-
strange ways. The cage is a device that necessary, and one simply had to perform Make Contact.
restrains the will of the self, allowing one To my surprise I would read that nobody had discovered
to see the profane world for what it is.It any use for the Mensis Cage whatsoever. Nothing? Really?
also serves as an antenna that facilitates Not a single secret unlocked with such an item that seems
contact with the Great Ones of the so obviously placed to unlock a secret? Maybe the Cage
dream.But to an observer, the iron cage doesn’t do anything at all. Maybe, in their madness, the
appears to be precisely what delivered delusions of the Mensis Students convinced them it worked
them to their harrowing nightmare. even though it wasn’t necessary. Their madness, after all,
would deliver them to their harrowing nightmare.
I had learned early that the Doll would respond to gestu-
res, leading me to believe there were others that would Micolash says:
as well. Just like everyone else, I was hoping to find some
kind of secret somewhere. So far, I had been thoroughly Grant us eyes, grant us eyes. Plant eyes on our
unsuccessful. No matter where I wore the Mensis Cage brains, to cleanse our beastly idiocy.

56
Chapter Nine

Laurence, Gehrman,
and The Hunter’s Mark
“Seek the old blood. Let us pray... let us wish... to partake in communion. Let us partake in
communion... and feast upon the old blood. Our thirst for blood satiates us, soothes our fears.
Seek the old blood... but beware the frailty of men. Their wills are weak, minds young. The foul
beasts will dangle nectar and lure the meek into the depths. Remain wary of the frailty of men.
Their wills are weak, minds young. Were it not for fear, death would go unlamented.”
— Vicar Amelia.

Laurence and Gehrman. Together, they would change Gherman, the First Hunters says:
the world. Who were they originally, and how did they
fall from grace? What happened to Laurence, and how Ah-hah, you must be the new hunter. Welcome to
was Gehrman bound to the Hunter’s Dream? When we the Hunter’s Dream. This will be your home, for
see now, what their organization has become, we can now. I am... Gehrman, friend to you hunters.
only wonder what these two individuals dreamed of. You’re sure to be in a fine haze about now, but
Did they want a better world? Did they want personal don’t think too hard about all of this. Just go
power? Perhaps they were simply madmen, chasing after out and kill a few beasts. It’s for your own good.
scientific curiosity and slaughtering the innocent in their You know, it’s just what hunters do!
path. In this penultimate chapter we will examine the You’ll get used to it...
fates of these two individuals, and the consequences of
their actions. Gehrman provides the Hunter with a home and a workshop.
From within the Hunter’s Dream, Gehrman will provide
For starters, I will use only information and evidence that the Hunter with a bit of comfort and a small amount of
can be found inside of the game. I will save my personal guidance. But who is Gehrman? Where does he come
interpretations and beliefs for the end, so that you can from and why is he here? According to the Plain Doll:
make up your own mind about the evidence presented.
He was a hunter long, long ago,
The PC Hunter awakens into a world of horror, just as but now serves only to advise them.
the player does. They have no answers, they have no real He is obscure, unseen in the dreaming world.
questions to even ask. The world is confusing, frightening, Still, he stays here, in this dream.
and punishing. Indeed if the Hunter had been alone,
they likely never would have gotten much of anywhere. Gehrman was the First Hunter, and from him all modern
But the Hunter isn’t alone. hunting techniques were developed. A central theme of

57
Gehrman is mercy, what he grants to those he kills in the announced to Master Willem that he was leaving the
Hunter’s Dream, as implied by his Burial Blade: college. We learn from Laurence’s Skull, found in the
Nightmare, that it is the:
Trick weapon wielded by Gehrman, the
First Hunter. A masterpiece that defined Skull of Laurence, first vicar of the
the entire array of weapons crafted at Healing Church. In reality he became
the workshop. Its blade is forged with the first cleric beast, and his human
siderite, said to have fallen from the skull only exists within the Nightmare.
heavens. Gehrman surely saw the hunt The skull is a symbol of Laurence’s
as a dirge of farewell, wishing only that past, and what he failed to protect. He
his prey might rest in peace, never is destined to seek his skull, but even if
again to awaken to another harrowing he found it, it could never restore his
nightmare. memories.

He also created the Plain Doll, basing its appearance upon The human skull appears to be a purely symbolic object,
his dead student Maria. From within the Hunter’s Dream, created in the Nightmare, as Laurence’s skull in the Wa-
Gehrman and the Doll guide the Paleblood Hunters in king World is found in the Grand Cathedral. In Miyazaki’s
their work. Gehrman was also, as we know, an acquain- interview with FuturePress he remarks that:
tance of Laurence.
[Laurence’s] skull served as the start of the
Oh, Laurence... Healing Church itself, but it’s taken the form of
What’s taking you so long... a twisted beast.
I’ve grown too old for this, of little use now,
I’m afraid... Laurence was therefore the founder of the Healing Church,
having left Byrgenwerth after a disagreement in philosophy
Our first encounter with Laurence comes from discovering with Master Willem. Laurence and Gehrman represent
his skull in the Grand Cathedral, after defeating Vicar two halves of a mystery. What happened to them? How did
Amelia. here we witness a memory in which Laurence things become the way they are when we enter the game?

What follows is purely my own interpretation and belief based on the evidence I have gathered. Do not
consider any of this as solid fact. Instead, use it as my interpretation, so that you can gather your own beliefs.

Laurence was the First Vicar; Gehrman was the First judging by his combat proficiency and craftsmanship may
Hunter. Their story, like much in Bloodborne, begins at have been the academy’s handyman, groundskeeper, or
Byrgenwerth. We have already established that Gehrman a bodyguard. But upon the discovery of the Old Blood,
was an associate of both Laurence and Master Willem. Laurence would lead a section of the Byrgenwerth Scho-
Gehrman may have been a student at Byrgenwerth, or lars in forming the Healing Church, separating from

58
Byrgenwerth. Gehrman, Laurence’s closest friend, would The Workshop acted as a secret cleanup crew for Lauren-
join him. Laurence and Gehrman believed that humanity ce’s budding church. They would hunt down those who
could achieve its next evolution through the use of the had turned and execute them before panic could spread
Old Blood, as written in the Metamorphosis Rune: throughout Yharnam.

The discovery of blood made It’s possible that Laurence and Gehrman, knowledgeable of
their dream of evolution a reality. the Great Ones that they were, also discovered the terrible
Metamorphosis, and the excesses and nature of the Blood Moon, and the source of the Scourge
deviation that followed, was only the as being the Paleblooded Moon Presence. They tried
beginning. to find a way to defeat the Moon Presence, an antibody
that would be too strong for it, some way to control the
It was, however, at this time that Laurence and Gehrman Scourge of the Beast. They were unsuccessful. Laurence
came to a horrible discovery. While the Old Blood could and Gehrman grew older, the Workshop was sealed away
indeed cure any disease, those who had been ministered and Gehrman became prisoner of the Moon Presence. In
were susceptible to falling under a new, terrible illness his attempt to free his closest friend, Laurence pushed his
known only as the Scourge of the Beast. Those who had research to the limits. The Scourge had to be contained,
succumbed to the tainted blood suffered from a form of no matter the cost.
Lycanthropy. Their hair elongated, their teeth sharpened,
their size and strength increased, and they became violent Ashen Blood was introduced to Old Yharnam, and the
and irrational. The men and women who had succumbed research intensified. The beasts were studied by Laurence
to the Scourge became Beasts. But Laurence could not and his Church, even while corpses piled in the streets
stop his research. Sacrifices would need to be made. All and the city was covered in blood. Laurence’s countless
who followed Willem’s footsteps knew that evolution re- experiments resulted in a breakthrough, the culmination
quired courage. A note found in the Nightmare Lecture of all of his research to put an end to the Scourge of the
Hall reads: Beast, and control it for good: The Beast’s Embrace.

Master Willem was right. Evolution without After the repeated experiments in
courage will be the ruin of our race. controlling the scourge of beasts, the
gentle “Embrace” rune was discovered.
And so Laurence’s work would continue. When its implementation failed, the
“Embrace” became a forbidden rune,
While Laurence formed the Church, Gehrman formed but its knowledge became a foundation
the Workshop. A secret institution, the Workshop would of the Healing Church.
train a group of individuals to hunt and slaughter Beasts.
The Hunter attire tells us it is: In the Grand Cathedral of the Healing Church, the First
Vicar committed the Embrace to memory, the Oath Rune
A fine piece of hunter attire that burned into his mind. With this he would take control
provides stable defense to anyone over the Scourge, put an end to the Hunts, master the
facing Yharnam’s beastly threat. Old Blood, guide humanity to the next stage of human
Allows one to stalk beasts evolution, and free his best friend from the control of
unannounced, by cover of night. the Great Ones. This is what everything had been for.

59
All the dead victims, all the unspeakable crimes, leaving by the Healing Church. With Laurence’s death, the Church
Byrgenwerth, exploring the Labyrinth, founding the had formed one of the pillars of its philosophy: Beware
Healing Church; everything in his life had been for this. the frailty of men. The Scourge cannot be controlled; it
Everything lead to this one moment; for this, it would be must be destroyed.
all worth it. But it was not to be.
As for Laurence, his consciousness was pulled into the
The skull is a symbol of Nightmare. Perhaps he was cursed to burn for all eternity,
Laurence’s past, and what he as punishment for the flames that covered Old Yharnam,
failed to protect. a brilliant mind lost to madness.

On that day, the Healing Church changed forever. Laurence And so now we have the first half of our picture. But what
became the first Cleric Beast, a creature the likes of which of Gehrman?
the Healing Church had never encountered. This was not
simply a person who had grown fangs and hair, this was a While Gehrman hadn’t been affected as deeply by the
true monster. It’s possible that it was the Church Assassin events of the Hamlet Massacre as Maria had been, it had
Brador who found Laurence first. Brador’s Testimony, the still disturbed him. He too was subject to the curse of
scalp of a Cleric Beast, tells us: the Kos Parasites, and had terrible dreams because of it.
Upon defeating the Orphan, the Doll notes that Gehr-
The scalp of a horrid Cleric Beast, man is sleeping strangely soundly, for he normally has
indicating that hunter Brador, a Healing difficulty sleeping. Even so, Gehrman aided Laurence in
Church assassin, had killed a compatriot. the founding of the Healing Church and established the
Afterward, he wore his ally’s own scalp, Workshop, training the First Hunters in the art of slaying
and hid himself away, deep below in a beasts. But while Gehrman hadn’t been as distraught by
cell. The Church provided him with a the Hamlet Massacre, the death of Maria destroyed him.
single, soundless bell of death to ensure
their secrets would be kept. According to Maria’s hunter garb, Gehrman had a “curious
mania” in regards to her that she was unaware of. Maria
Brador slew Laurence, and in doing so was driven mad. greatly admired Gehrman, but it’s unclear if the Master
He skinned the corpse, splattered his clothes with the and Student shared a romantic relationship or whether
blood of the fallen Vicar, severed the head from the body, Gehrman’s affection for her was purely one-sided. Whatever
and scalped it. When he was found, he was drenched the case, her death ruined him. After defeating Maria in
with blood and gore, and his Bloodletter was steeped in the Astral Clocktower, we find her coffin placed directly
Frenzy. Brador says: behind her chair. Resting atop the coffin lid are coldblood
flowers, the same as the ones found in Gehrman’s garden
Nothing changes, such is the nature of man… in the Hunter’s Dream. Spiraling into depression after the
death of his greatest pupil, Gehrman sealed his Workshop
Brador and his Testimony to the failure of the Healing away and withdrew from the world into his isolation.
Church were locked away. Any and all research into con-
trolling the Scourge of the Beast was immediately stopped, In his growing madness, Gehrman made a doll. The master
and deemed forbidden. The Clawmark and Beast Runes, craftsman that he was, the doll was made with exquisite
along with the Beast Blood Pellets, were all black marked perfection. The Small Hair Ornament tells us:

60
Although it has been lost for quite some This word, branded into one’s mind, is what makes
time, one can still see signs of the care someone a Hunter. And not just any hunter, but a
with which this tasteful ornament was special hunter: a Paleblood Hunter, one bound to the
once kept. Dreamlands. This Rune is what makes someone immor-
tal, cursed to hunt and hunt and hunt until they are
This indicates that Gehrman held onto his only memento freed. We as players have this Mark branded into our
of Maria, treasuring it designing his doll off of her. Terribly minds. No matter how many times we die, we wake up
lonely and terribly miserable, he wanted nothing more again. Even if we fall off a cliff; we’re cut in half; we’re
than to have Maria back. It was then that something took burned to death; we’re killed by Frenzy; we’re crushed
notice of poor Gehrman’s mania, for as the Moon Rune by a monster; we die and die and die and die and die
reminds us: the Great Ones are sympathetic in spirit. and die and die and die and even still we wake up once
more. Even if we kill ourselves with the Chikage, or
To have his beloved Maria back, he would give anything. the Wheel, or the Whistle, or the Bloodletter, we wake
So it was that Gehrman was bound to the dream, and up once more. There’s only one way out for someone
the Hunter’s Mark branded in his mind. The Hunter’s branded with the Hunter’s Mark: to die by the hand of
Mark states: another branded Hunter.

Dangling, upside-down rune As Gehrman settled into his new place in the Hunter’s
etched in one’s mind. Symbol Dream, he found himself shackled and chained. There
of a hunter. was no escape for Gehrman, the First Hunter. Trapped in
a living hell, unable to die, unable to be granted mercy,
What is the Hunter’s Mark? In terms of gameplay signi- Gehrman guided other Paleblood Hunters. When their
ficance it functions as the Nexial Binding from Demon’s hunts were over, Gehrman would end their life, freeing
Souls or the Darksign from Dark Souls. But… what is it them from the wretched, tortuous existence of eternal
really? Its description calls it a rune, but we do not commit life. He granted them mercy. But where is the Hunter’s
it to memory like we do the Carryl Runes. Runes are, as Mark coming from?
we know, utterings of the Great Ones etched into sym-
bols. Runesmith Carryl could commune with the Great As the player receives their first blood transfusion, they
Ones and listen to their mutterings, but she could find are attacked by a beast. But the beast turns to flames, and
no words to describe them; instead Carryl could only find the Messengers arrive, crawling over the player. At that
symbols that represented these utterings, comprehensible point, something took notice of the player. Something
to human minds. If we think of these symbols are repre- peered over them, and spoke a single word:
senting words of a language, we can therefore conclude
that the Hunter’s Mark is, quite literally, the Great One HUNTER.
word for Hunter, as the same symbol is found on Carryl’s
own Hunter Rune. The uttering of a Great One, etched With that uttering, they were reborn. Their life before
into one’s mind. The symbol of a Hunter. the transfusion was irrelevant. They were now a weapon.
They awaken into a new world, a new nightmare. They
HUNTER. awaken into a Hunt.

61
Chapter Ten

The Paleblood Hunt

“Now, let’s begin the transfusion.
Oh, don’t you worry.
Whatever happens... you may think it all a mere bad dream...”
— Blood Minister.

Normally, this is the part where I would tell you I’m Moon Presence if they refuse Gehrman’s offer of mercy,
going to use nothing but facts and evidence, and save and defeat him. The Moon Presence descends from
all of my speculation until the very end. But we can’t the Blood Moon itself, even its name implies a deep
really do that in this part, can we? Instead, consider connection to the Blood Moon. As we know, the Blood
all of my previous writing to be the evidence we’ve Moon rises whenever the line between man and beast is
gathered. I’ll try to be as factual as possible and I will blurred. When humans succumb to the Scourge of the
certainly try to leave as much of my speculation out Beast, the Blood Moon rises... or perhaps it’s the other
as I can. But for the purposes of this essay, consider way around. Perhaps it’s that the Blood Moon rises,
this last chapter to be purely my interpretation of causing those infected with the Scourge to transform
the impossibly complex ending to Bloodborne. Use into Beasts. At the beginning of the game, we find a
it for whatever you will. Accept it as fact, dismiss it as note in the back of the Hunter’s Dream, presumably
nonsense, or use it as the foundation for your own left for the Hunter:
theories. I do however ask that you read to the end
before choosing to comment, as this final chapter is To escape this dreadful Hunter’s Dream,
the most confusing and the most speculative of my halt the source of the spreading scourge of
essay. Whatever you choose to do, use your mind to beasts, lest the night carry on forever.
think. Master Willem would remind you that relying
purely on pretension leads only to despair. Now recall Gehrman’s words to the Hunter after the defeat
of Father Gascoigne:
The Moon Presence; the secret Final Boss of Bloodbor-
ne. Of all significant beings and events in Bloodborne, The moon is close.
this is the most mysterious. The Moon Presence has It will be a long hunt tonight.
caused many players to leave Bloodborne with a feeling
of discomfort, as if they came so close to the Truth and The Blood Moon, or rather the Moon Presence, is the
yet were still so far away. The Hunter encounters the source of the Scourge.

62
The Beast exists within Humanity, it always has. The Flesh, is indeed the source of the Scourge, than it can
Byrgenwerth Scholar Carryl was the first to discover this mean one of two things. The first possibility is likely the
during her commune with the Great Ones. According to most outlandish and controversial, that being that the
the Clawmark Rune: Moon Presence is the source of humanity, which in itself
contains the Scourge of the Beast. The second, and I
The “Clawmark” is an impulse to seek believe more likely scenario, is that while the Beast lies
the warmth of blood like a beast. within all of humanity, it is not unless they are tainted by
It strengthens visceral attacks, one of the Old Blood that they become susceptible to corrup-
the darker hunter techniques. tion and the Beast takes over. It is when the Blood Moon
Although the difference is subtle, draws closer that those who have been infected with the
Runesmith Caryll describes the “Beast” Scourge will succumb to their inner, terrible nature and
as a horrific and unwelcome instinct become monsters. But why? What does the Moon Presence
deep within the hearts of men, while want? Let’s take a brief moment to look at the very bare
“Clawmark” is an alluring invitation to bones of Bloodborne, the bare minimum that the player
accept this very nature. can accomplish in order to beat the game. Let’s strip out
absolutely everything optional and give only the basic,
But it wouldn’t be until the work of a mysterious figure necessary conditions in order to complete the hunt.
known as the Irreverent Izzy that Carryl’s theories would
be put into practice. His weapon of choice, the Beast First, the Hunter awakens at Iosefka’s clinic and travels
Claw, states: to the Healing Church. Along the way they defeat Father
Gascoigne, a Hunter who has succumb to the Scourge.
As flesh is flayed and blood is sprayed, Once at the Grand Cathedral of the Healing Church,
the beast within awakens, and in time, the Hunter defeats Vicar Amelia, the former head of the
the wielder of this weapon surges with Cathedral. Once Amelia is defeated the Hunter learns
both strength and feverish reverie. the password which will grant access to Byrgenwerth, the
source of the Old Blood’s discovery. With the password in
But while Izzy’s claw is telling, it is the tool he designed hand, the Hunter travels to Byrgenwerth, along the way
known as the Beast Roar which is the most haunting: defeating the Shadows of Yharnam. Once at Byrgenwerth
the Hunter discovers Rom, the Vacuous Spider, and slays
Borrow the strength of the terrible her. With Rom’s death, the gate to Yahar’gul is pried
undead darkbeasts, if only for a open and the Hunter travels into the Unseen Village.
moment, to blast surrounding foes back The Hunter defeats the One Reborn and locates the
with the force of a roaring beast. The corpse of Micolash, using his body as a gateway to access
indescribable sound is broadcast with the Nightmare.
the caster’s own vocal cords, which begs
the question, what terrible things lurk In the Nightmare, the Hunter ascends Mergo’s Loft,
deep within the frames of men? defeating Micolash’s consciousness along the way, before
coming to the Final Boss of the game: Mergo’s Wet Nurse.
The potential for evolution exists within humanity. But A fully formed Great One, the Wet Nurse is a vicious enemy
whether they will ascend to Gods or descend to Beasts is who rules over the Loft, and has claimed this section
unclear. If the Moon Presence, the Blood Moon made of the Dreamlands as her own. Upon the defeat of the

63
Wet Nurse and the silence of the nightmare newborn’s A note found in the Byrgenwerth Mansion says:
harrowing cry, the haunting words NIGHTMARE SLAIN
blanket the screen. With the Wet Nurse’s defeat, the Hun- When the red moon hangs low, the line between
ter returns to the Hunter’s Dream to find the workshop man and beast is blurred. And when the Great
burned to the ground. The Doll instructs the Hunter to Ones descend, a womb will be blessed with child.
meet with Gehrman, who meets them underneath an
ancient tree. There, Gehrman congratulates the Hunter Found in Byrgenwerth, this note is our first real indica-
on a job well done: tion that there is something far, far greater than just a
hunt at stake in Yharnam. The phrasing of the note, is
Good hunter, you’ve done well. The night is interesting however, as it describes a correlation. The
near its end. Now, I will show you mercy. red moon hangs low, and the line between man and
You will die, forget the dream, and awake beast is blurred. The Great Ones descend, and a womb
under the morning sun. You will be freed... is blessed with child. The order of the sentences make it
From this terrible hunter’s dream. seem as if first the Blood Moon rises, and then the Great
Ones descend. But the note doesn’t explicitly state that
The Hunter turns and kneels before Gehrman, who rises causality. Instead, what if it’s the other way around? What
from his chair for the first time and executes the Hunter. if the Great Ones descend, and a womb is blessed with
The Hunter awakens from their terrible Dream, weary and child, and in response the Blood Moon rises and the line
weakened, as the sun rises over Yharnam. The credits roll. between man and beast is blurred. For what purpose
does the Blood Moon rise? Why is a Hunter chosen to
When described in this way Bloodborne seems to be a be bound to the dream?
very linear, very simple game, doesn’t it? Gehrman tasks
the Hunter with killing Mergo. In order to do this, they A note left by an unnamed person in Yahar’gul reads:
must get to the Nightmare. In order to get to the Night-
mare, they need to get to Yahar’gul. In order to get to Seek the nightmare newborn.
Yahar’gul, they need to get to Byrgenwerth. In order to get
to Byrgenwerth, they need to get to the Healing Church. This message appears rather strikingly, directly after Rom
Getting to the Healing Church is the first objective the has died and the Blood Moon has risen. There is no source
Hunter makes for themselves upon their initial meeting for the message; it is not spoken aloud nor is it given in
with Gilbert. What does the Moon Presence want? It’s quite the form of a note. It simply appears in the mind of the
simple really: it wants to kill Mergo, and uses Gehrman Hunter. A message and an instruction. Every Great One
to guide the Hunter into doing it. The Moon Presence, loses its child. But… why does every Great One lose its
the Orphan, and the Wet Nurse are the only three fully child? Perhaps this is what the Moon Presence desires, the
formed Great Ones that the Hunter encounters. While death of infant Great Ones, using the Paleblood Hunters
the Hunter encounters the Amygdalae, as we’ve discussed to accomplish this feat.
previously it’s not entirely clear if the Hunter ever truly
fights or experiences the Amygdalae as they, or rather it, While the Great Ones’ motivations and reasons for acting
truly is. The Great Ones, beings of the Dreamlands, have are far too inhuman for us to understand, they do have
their own motivations and their own goals. They are not a very understandable goal. The most apparent goal
allied with one another, just as all humans are not allied they, just as every living creature before them, have, is
with one another. to reproduce.

64
Every Great One loses executes in the Hunter’s dream awaken and slowly forget
its child, and then yearns the details of their terrible, terrible nightmare. But they
for a surrogate. don’t have to accept it.

The order of the sentence structure here is important. It If the Hunter refuses Gehrman’s offer of mercy, they do
is not as one would think, which is that the Great Ones battle against Gehrman. It is the Master and the Student,
yearn for a surrogate, that is to say a human mother to the Parent and Child, battling so that the former can be
give birth to their child, and then lose their child as freed and the latter can overcome. With Gehrman, the
a result. This is most certainly what happens, but it is Moon Presence’s surrogate child defeated, the Moon
not their goal. Instead, every Great One loses its child, Presence descends. Look at the way it curls around the
and then yearns for a surrogate. It is evidently very, very Hunter, almost protectively. It lovingly embraces the Hunter,
difficult for new Great Ones to be born. Mergo died as a parent would a child. The screen fades to black, and
in stillbirth, the Orphan never even had the chance to we find the Doll pushing Gehrman’s wheelchair. It is not
be born, and the Brain of Mensis was born deformed, Gehrman sitting on the chair however, but the Hunter,
rotten and helpless. Something always goes wrong with and as the credits roll we hear the doll utter.
the birth of a Great One, and so the Great Ones find
replacements for their lost children. We already know And so the hunt begins again.
that this is not the first hunt, and that the Hunter is not
the first in the Hunter’s dream. There have been those The Hunter has taken Gehrman’s place as the surrogate
before the Hunter who have come; the Blood Moon has child, but this is not the only option. The cycle does not
risen in the past, and the Moon Presence has guided need to continue. The hunt can be transcended.
Hunters into completing its objectives through the use
of Gehrman, its surrogate child. The two Hunters who Seek Paleblood to transcend the hunt.
we know went through this cycle were Djura the Retired
Hunter and Eileen the Crow. Djura seems to remember It’s a handwritten note found in the very first room in the
little of the dream, only recalling it faintly: game, the room in which the Hunter awakens in Iosefka’s
clinic. As evidenced by the Foreign Garb the Hunter is
I no longer dream, but I was once a hunter, too. wearing upon their awakening, the Hunter remembers
nothing prior to their transfusion:
Eileen however remembers much of it. If the Hunter
attacks and dies to Eileen the Crow, she will chillingly Not typical clothing for Yharnam,
ask the player: perhaps it is of foreign origin.
It is said, after all, the traveler came to
You still have dreams? Yharnam from afar. Without memory,
Tell the little Doll I said hello... who will ever know?

Think of how we experience dreams. Upon freshly waking Without memory, the Hunter discovers this note and
up, we remember it vividly, especially if it was a nightmare. naturally the player forms a goal in their mind: Seek
As the day progresses, details become fuzzier and even- Paleblood to transcend the hunt. But what is Paleblood?
tually we can’t remember the contents of the dream at all, The Hunter apparently asks Gilbert this very question,
only that we had a dream. Indeed, those who Gehrman to which he responds:

65
Paleblood, you say? Hmm... Never heard of it. The Moon Presence, the Paleblood Great One. But as
But if it’s blood you’re interested in, Miyazaki notes, there is more than one interpretation
you should try the Healing Church. for Paleblood. Paleblood is not a single concept, but an
overarching theme of Bloodborne.
Gilbert himself admits he isn’t very knowledgeable on
Blood Ministration, and directs you to try the Church. There’s another reference to Paleblood in the game, one
The Healing Church, however, has absolutely no record that some players probably forget about as it occurs so
anywhere of Paleblood. Other than the conversation early in the game.
with Gilbert there are only four references to Paleblood
anywhere in the entire game. The first reference is the The Blood Minister says:
note found in the beginning of the game.
Oh, yes... Paleblood... Well, you’ve come to
The second reference is a note by an unknown author, the right place. Yharnam is the home of blood
found in Yahar’gul: ministration. You need only unravel its mystery.

Behold! A Paleblood Sky! It’s the very first sentence uttered in the entire game,
by the doctor who ministers the Hunter’s first blood
The note is pointed towards the moon, and if encountered transfusion. This doctor is credited simply as the Blood
prior to the death of Rom is fairly confusing. After Rom’s Minister. Let’s take a moment to pause in our analysis
death, when the Blood Moon rises and the sky twists into of Bloodborne and instead go over something very, very
a Nightmare, the note makes much, much more sense. simple: What is blood?

The color of the sky after you defeat the Vacuous I am not a doctor, nor will I pretend to be. As such I am
Spider and the Mensis secret ritual is revealed. likely vastly oversimplifying things, so take my explana-
The sky there is a very pale blue, tion with a grain of salt. Blood consists of three distinct
like a body drained of blood. ingredients. First are Erythrocytes, typically referred to
as Red Blood Cells. Red blood cells travel through the
This quote from Miyazaki discusses the sky that has been body of a human being and distribute oxygen to the
revealed once the veil between the Waking World and the body’s tissues. Red blood cells are the primary means of
Dreamlands has been torn apart. life support and nutrition for the body’s tissues. Second
is Plasma. Approximately half of blood is plasma, a liquid
The third reference to Paleblood is found in the Nightmare that serves as means of transportation for the blood cells
Lecture Hall, as part of a series of notes: which carry out their task in supporting the human body.
When blood is centrifuged to separate the ingredients,
The nameless moon presence beckoned by we find something very interesting about plasma. Plasma
Laurence and his associates. Paleblood. that has been separated from clotting proteins and blood
cells is actually an amber, light yellow color. This liquid
In Miyazaki’s interview he murmurs that: is referred to as Serum, or sometimes pure blood as it is
the liquid blood in itself without any other ingredients.
Right, that’s another interpretation. ‘Paleblood’ is The third ingredient of blood are the Leukocytes, or
another name for the monster that comes from the moon. White Blood Cells. White blood cells exist as part of the

66
human body’s immune system; they attack infectious lobin in his red blood cells. Anemia was a rather serious
invaders, foreign substances, and clean after old and problem in the Victorian Era, typically affecting young
dead cell structures. women. It would become known as the Virgin’s Disease,
and would be associated with a terrible paleness of the
Blood is such a central theme in Bloodborne, everything skin. The lack of hemoglobin meant the red blood cells
revolves around Blood, even the title. Especially the title. carried much less nutrients throughout the bloodstream;
Bloodborne. A bloodborne pathogen, a disease of the the blood was a pale, sickly color, and the skin followed
blood, this is what the Scourge of the Beast is. It’s an suit. Those who suffered from anemia would be sickly,
infection, a disease that spreads from person to person tired, and weak. And so Djura’s doctor discovered someo-
through the transfusion of blood. Master Willem sternly ne whose red blood was pale, who carried the antibodies
reminds Laurence that: and the potential to battle the Scourge of the Beast. He
discovered a Paleblood. When the Paleblood was treated
We are born of the blood. with the Old Blood, they were reborn as a Hunter, and not
Made men by the blood. just any hunter but a special one. The Hunter’s Mark was
Undone by the blood. branded in the mind of the Paleblood Hunter, connec-
ting them to the Hunter’s Dream and forcing them into
The scourge infects the victim by attacking and tainting servitude. But Djura would not become strong enough
their blood, corrupting them. Now look at the Kin, to overcome the Moon Presence. He was executed by
ascended mortals who have become Kin of the Cosmos. Gehrman, his connection to the Hunter’s Dream seve-
They have escaped the taint of the Scourge, moving red. Later, Gehrman would find a new apprentice in a
past it. Indeed they bleed a clear, amber liquid; serum, sick woman from the hinterlands, Eileen the Crow, but
to be exact. The Kin of the Cosmos have cleansed their again the Paleblood would fail. Gehrman can be found
blood of the tainted scourge, separating it from the other muttering in his sleep, almost whimpering:
ingredients and becoming pure beings. And finally we
have white blood cells, pale blood cells. The white blood Oh Laurence... what’s taking you so long...
cells are the body’s immune system. They seek out the I’ve grown too old for this, or little use now,
infection and destroy it. But it’s the way they destroy I’m afraid.
infections that fascinates me so. White blood cells grow
and consume the infection, bringing it within themselves An even more chilling message can be heard, though the
and isolating it in such a matter. The parallels to the PC trigger for the dialogue is currently unknown:
Hunter are striking.
Oh Laurence... Master Willem... Somebody help
Seek Paleblood to transcend the hunt. me... Unshackle me please, anybody... I’ve had
enough of this dream... The night blocks all
Maybe this isn’t a note for the player at all. Maybe it’s a sight... Oh, somebody, please.
note for the Blood Minister.
Gehrman is desperate for Laurence and the art of Blood
Djura likely suffered from a terrible, incurable disease. Ministration to find someone who can put an end to the
It’s possible that Djura suffered from a type of terminal nightmare, who can find a Paleblood strong enough to
anemia, meaning that he had a significant deficiency of become immune to the taint of the Great Ones. The PC
iron in his bloodstream and that he had much less haemog- arrives at Yharnam.

67
The Blood Minister says: A deep love for the doll can be surmised
by the fine craftsmanship of this article,
Oh, yes... Paleblood... Well, you’ve come to and the care with which it was kept.
the right place. Yharnam is the home of blood
ministration. You need only unravel its mystery. Let us again refer back to the Tear Blood Gem:

Here, they meet the Blood Minister. After the transfusion, Created from a shining silver doll tear,
the Paleblood has become a Hunter. Recall the very begin- this blood gem is a quiet but unfaltering
ning of the game in which a Scourge Beast rises from the friend that continually restores HP,
blood and closes towards the player. Upon touching the the life essence of a hunter. Perhaps
player, the Scourge Beast immediately bursts into flames. the doll’s creator had wished for just
It can’t touch you, because the very first transfusion is such a friend, albeit in vain.
coursing through your veins and creating the antibodies
required to battle the Scourge. And then, the Messengers If the Hunter locates the Abandoned Old Workshop in the
come. This brings us to the last mystery, or rather, the Waking World, they find a couple of things. They find the
last mystery we’ll be talking about. Gehrman isn’t the Old Hunter’s Bone, the doll set... but most importantly,
only denizen of the Hunter’s Dream. There are others. they find a Cord of the Eye.
The Messengers are strange, little creatures that venerate
and worship the Hunters. The other denizen is the Doll. Every Great One loses its child, and
then yearns for a surrogate. The
It’s funny really, when the player first starts playing Bloo- Third Umbilical Cord precipitated the
dborne they have no idea what rules the world works by. encounter with the pale moon, which
They don’t know what is possible or impossible. Upon beckoned the hunters and conceived
speaking with the Doll it simply becomes something the hunter’s dream.
accepted. “Oh, so there’s a talking Doll, of course there
is.” They don’t question it, nor do they consider how it The word conceived is very important here. The Oxford
came to be, it’s just accepted as an occurrence of the English Dictionary gives the word conceive two different
world. But sit down to think about the Doll for a moment, meanings. The first is as follows: Form a mental repre-
and it becomes painfully clear she is so much more than sentation of; imagine. This is the first definition the
a Doll. Magic doesn’t exist in Bloodborne. There are no player infers from the context of the sentence. However
wizards, no sorcerers. There are humans, and there are the other definition is as follows: Become pregnant with.
Great Ones, godlike beings capable of acts which we can Considering how much of Bloodborne is centered around
only consider to be magic as they are too complex for us birth, rebirth, pregnancy, and motherhood, I find it very
to understand the workings; some humans have learned hard to believe that the use of the word ‘conceive’ in
to use the power of the Great Ones in small and limited the Cord of the Eye is purely accidental. Gehrman was
forms but they are not Wizards, they are Scholars and terribly alone and terribly miserable in his isolation. All
Madmen. To avoid beating around the bush, Gehrman of the Cords of the Eye are found from women; one from
cannot animate a Doll. So how did it come to life? We the Wet Nurse, one from Arianna, and one from Iosefka.
know that Gehrman had a deep love and care for the The exception to this rule is the one found in the Works-
Doll, based upon the obsession for his student Maria. hop, until you consider that it’s found directly next to a
The Doll Clothes tell us: woman. Not a human woman perhaps, but a doll of one.

68
Perhaps in Gehrman’s madness and his love of the doll Watchers can inflict Frenzy by wielding a wooden cross
that was his only companion, the Great Ones took notice. twisted into a symbol of the Great Ones, which glows a
After all, the Great Ones that inhabit the nightmare are dark crimson. The Winter Lanterns cause Frenzy simply
sympathetic in spirit. by looking at the Hunter.

In his desperation and longing for his beloved Maria, From this information we can gather that Frenzy is a
Gehrman was willing to give up anything in exchange condition which occurs when an individual is forcibly
to get her back. When a Great One promised to bring made to wrap their minds around the eldritch nature of
her to life, Gehrman signed away his life into servitude. the Cosmos and the Great Ones. To put it another way:
But the Doll was not Maria. What is the Doll? What is it Insight is what happens when an individual slowly learns,
really? What manner of being is it, a thinking and feeling discovers, and processes the information of the Great Ones.
creature inhabiting an artificial body? And why, sitting Frenzy is what happens when an individual is forced to
in the altar at the Old Abandoned Workshop, the place process the information.
where Gehrman signed away his life to servitude of the
Great Ones, is there the umbilical cord of a Great One, The Winter Lanterns’ Frenzy attack is so powerful that
a Cord of the Eye? many players do not even bother engaging them. They
run past, desperately hiding from the Lanterns as they
Let’s pause for a moment to take a look at what we now sing their song. Whatever you do, don’t look at them. The
know as the Winter Lanterns. The Winter Lanterns are, game even provides mechanics for this, providing ways
as any player who has braved the Nightmare full well around them or cliffs that the Hunter can slide along or
knows, one of, if not the, most absolute dangerous ene- sneak underneath to prevent having to look at the Winter
mies to be found in Bloodborne. The Winter Lanterns Lanterns. Because of this, the majority of players never take
are tall, lanky women singing out of tune, covered in a good look at the Winter Lanterns; they are an enemy
bloody rags; they have no head, instead they have a large that revolves around avoiding looking at them. The Winter
brain covered with eyes that blink and dart in a full circle Lanterns’ existence went relatively unexplained until a
around them. Extending from their brains are tentacles player with the username chim_cheree managed to snatch
which they use to grab the Hunter and hold them still. a hi-resolution screenshot of one of the Winter Lanterns
On their own, the Winter Lanterns are not particularly close up. She came to a horrifying realization as she took
hard to deal with. What makes them so dangerous is that a good, long look at the Winter Lanterns: They’re wea-
making even the briefest eye contact with the Winter ring the Doll’s clothes… The comparison between the
Lanterns causes an uncontrollable rise of Frenzy which Winter Lantern’s bloody rags and the Doll’s clothing is
quickly does massive damage to the Hunter. But what is disturbing, to say the least. While the Lantern’s clothing
Frenzy? Frenzy is a status effect that occurs whenever the is covered with blood and they are not wearing the shawl
Hunter comes into contact with the intense concept of that the Doll has over her shoulders, every other piece of
the Great Ones. The Amygdalae cause Frenzy by grasping clothing matches. The sleeves, the ruffles, the skirt, the
the Hunter and forcing them to look into their eyes. The seams, they all match perfectly. This discovery was just
Celestial Larvae, Ebrietas, and the Maneater Boars cause the tip of the iceberg as players instantly began working
Frenzy by vomiting on the Hunter. The Gardens of Eyes to gather more screenshots of the Winter Lanterns and
cause Frenzy by leaping up and grasping the Hunter by really take a good, close look at them. While it’s difficult
their head, clinging to them and filling their ears with a to tell, many players point to the grooves in their clawed
mind-piercing, high pitched ringing noise. The Cathedral hands as being indicative of the Doll’s familiar jointed

69
fingers. This discovery had me incredibly, incredibly ex- the Messengers will reveal something very similar. When
cited. Just like everyone else, I was racing to get a picture the Messengers leave a note behind, did you know they
of the Winter Lanterns for my own look. But when I took actually rise up from blood? Of course you did. When
a picture of the brain lined with eyes that the Lanterns it’s a Specter, it’s the familiar red bloodstain. But when
have instead of a head, I discovered something… well, it’s a note... it’s pure white, blood of the Messengers and
something incredible. It may be shaped like a brain, but blood of the Doll. If the Hunter kills the Doll, the next
it’s not composed of the familiar grey matter which we time the Hunter returns to the Dream they will find her
associate with brains. It’s not composed of anything human standing there.
at all. I, like a few other people, discovered that it’s not a
brain at all. It’s the Messengers. Hello, good hunter. I am a doll, here in this
dream to look after you.
Ahh, the little ones, inhabitants of the dream...
They find hunters like yourself, worship, She doesn’t remember us...
and serve them. Speak words, they do not,
but still, aren’t they sweet? Over time,
countless hunters have visited this dream.
The brains of the Winter Lanterns are comprised of The graves here stand in their memory.
Messenger corpses bound and meshed together into a It all seems so long ago now…
single form.
Countless Hunters? That doesn’t make sense at all. So
There’s something just madly genius about it. The one long ago? It wasn’t really all that long ago... Gehrman
enemy in the game who can give us the most horrible, has only been imprisoned for at most possibly 100 years
terrifying Truth just by looking at it is the one enemy we or so. As for the known Palebloods, I can count them
want nothing more than to look away from. Of course on one hand: Djura, Eileen, and the Player. We do know
the Winter Lanterns cause Frenzy. How could we not however, that the Blood Moon has risen in the past. In
go insane by looking upon the twisted form of the one ancient Pthumeru, the people succumbed to the Scourge
being in the entire world who can offer us comfort and of Beasts. What if there haven’t been only four Blood
warmth? How could our minds possibly comprehend the Moons? What if there have been hundreds? What if
terrible realization that the Doll is linked so closely to over the past thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds
these horrible creatures? of thousands of years, the Blood Moon has risen and
Hunters have entered the Dream, the Hunter’s Mark
Have you ever attacked the Doll? I mean really, really attac- branded in their minds, before falling and succumbing
ked the Doll. I mean taking a Cleaver and hacking the Doll to the Moon Presence? It’s part of a cycle, and the Doll
to pieces. Many players must be sick at the thought, how has been there.
could you possibly attack the one being who provides you
with comfort throughout the horror of Bloodborne? Well Many players have encountered the Doll sleeping in the
if you attack the Doll, you might notice that she bleeds. Dream. When they wake her she will gasp, apologize for
Her blood is not red, like the humans or the Great Ones. having drifted off, and will return to offering her normal
Her blood also isn’t serum, like the Kin of the Cosmos. dialogue. But there’s another situation the Hunter can
Her blood is white. Almost like bleach, the Doll bleeds find the Doll in. Sometimes, very rarely, the Doll will be
a pale blood. Bizarrely enough, taking a close look at found kneeling before a grave.

70
O Flora, of the moon, of the dream. O little ones, The Paleblood Hunter defeats the Moon Presence by
O fleeting will of the ancients... Let the hunter be consuming the Cords of the Eye and the Ancient Blood
safe, let him find comfort. And let this dream, his Echoes, becoming too powerful and immune to its
captor... foretell a pleasant awakening... be, one influence. The Great One that has haunted humanity
day, a fond, distant memory... since its conception falls.

If the Hunter interrupts her she will awaken, startled, and NIGHTMARE SLAIN.
apologize for having drifted off into sleep. She will not
remember the words she spoke. We are left with the Doll, reaching down to grasp us
in our new form. Remember that the Great Ones are
Maybe she wasn’t always a Doll; maybe she’s had a hun- not all of the same faction, of the same species, or even
dred different shapes and forms, but she was there as the of the same ideology. The Great Ones are unique in
Palebloods struggled against the Moon Presence. Maybe, their desires and their eldritch wishes, incomprehen-
a long long time ago, she was even a Maiden in Black. sible to us mere human beasts. Having consumed the
Recall how we discussed the manner in which white blood Scourge and the Great Ones, we have ascended and
cells destroy infections: they consume them. Upon first been born anew, ready to bring Humanity into its next
meeting the Hunter, she tells us: evolutionary stage. And it’s all thanks to the Doll. The
Doll, who nurtured us, emboldened us, strengthened,
You will hunt beasts… and I will be here for and cared for us. The Doll cradles us in a motherly
you, to embolden your sickly spirit. fashion, giggling.

Sickly. Her white blood only further supports this meta- Are you cold? Oh, Good Hunter.
phor, as she strengthens our immunity to the Scourge
and grants us power. Perhaps not every Great One loses its child after all.

71
The Paleblood Hunt

An in-depth exploration behind the lore of the popular

FromSoftware video game Bloodborne.

Redgrave first introduced this document on Reddit and it

has since been revised, and finalized. He closely examines
the information available to the player in order to build up
the hidden story of the game. Both facts and Redgrave’s
own speculations are provided and a clear distinction is
made between the two in order to allow the reader room
to disagree with his conclusions and make up their own
minds based on the evidence presented.