Heya! Despi here.
This week's lore discussion will be a bit shorter than the others because there's not much information available, but I've still made the most of what I can. Without inflating it, of course.
I'm going to be exploring the possibility of the Nailmasters being Watcher Knights.
There are several key pieces of evidence that led me to this idea.
The first major bread crumb is that the Nailmasters look almost identical to the Watcher Knights. Take a look:
https://i.redd.it/jvq8t7hg5ry11.gif
https://i.redd.it/d4deetxl5ry11.gif
They both have stout roundish bodies with short stubby legs, and they both have a three-horned head. And what is their preferred weapon of use? A large broadnail.
This physical comparison only goes so far, though: the horns of the Watcher Knights are longer and more widely spaced. And its hard to tell if the Nailmasters' horns are even part of their head or just helms, like those the City sentries seem to wear. I'll also point out that the Nailmasters' arms are far more robust than those of the Watcher Knights, although this may be just their clothing. Brumm also wore thick clothes that obscured his true, far smaller shape.
But physical similarity alone isn't enough to start formulating theories. Let's peel back the outermost skin of appearance and take a look at the tender layer beneath: their combat behavior and attacks.
The Watcher Knights are perhaps the most infamous bosses in the entire game but only because the first time the player fights them, they are extremely underleveled, unexperienced, and get overwhelmed by the onslaught of charging bosses. Do you know how much health they have? 220 HP, exactly the same as the Gorgeous Husk! I'm not even kidding! The Soul Warrior found in the Colosseum has more health than any Watcher Knight (300 HP)! And what about their combat behavior? The Watcher Knights move and attack relatively slowly, and even without Shade Cloak are fairly easy to dodge. And they only do normal damage.
Let's talk about these attacks. The Watcher Knights' basic attack is a double swipe of their greatnail: One horizontal slash followed by a vertical top-down slash. Exactly like the Nailmasters' basic attack. Paintmaster Sheo doesn't have any such attack but that's because he wields a brush instead of a nail. But Great Nailsage Sly - the Nailmasters' teacher - does, although his is a bit different: He'll do a vertical top-down swipe, a curving back-forward-up swipe, rise into the air doing a sawblade slash, and slam his nail down when landing.
Another of the Watcher Knights' attacks is their rising bounce attack: they start spinning, rise into the air and smash the ground, bouncing one time along the way. The Nailmasters don't bounce but they do have a similar rise attack: they jump up, spin once, and bring their nail down on landing. Sheo's is identical to that of his brothers: his red attack has him leap, spin once and slam down, launching red paint globs throughout the arena. And Sly's double slash attack could count as a rise attack but he does have his own: jump up, spin once and bring his nail down, quickly followed by a vertical bottom-up slash. All these attacks are usually performed in place but they can cross the entirety of their arena.
Lastly, the Watcher Knights' most famous attack and everybody's favorite: their rolling attack. They'll again start spinning but will now stay on the ground and roll across the entire arena. Of the Nailmasters only Oro has a similar attack, which is his Dash Slash. Sly also shares this move. Paintmaster Sheo himself doesn't cross his arena but his yellow paint spear does.
The next layer in our theory's little arcane egg is a bit thicker, as it deals with the game's explicit lore. Even early in development both the Watcher Knights and Nailmasters were designed separately, although this needn't necessarily hinder us. The game's Kickstarter page describes a Watcher Knight (listed Black Knight) as "A stoic defender of a once great city." Team Cherry has said that they were meant to be stationed throughout the City of Tears as mini-bosses. The Nailmasters in turn are stated to be "A trio of ancient warriors, completely focused on perfecting their skills with a nail. Having hidden themselves away from the world they now spend their days in quiet introspection of their art." And they were always meant to simply provide the player with Nail Arts. Nothing that particularly affects our theory in any way.
What about their Godmaster descriptions? The Watcher Knights are "Sentinel gods of the spire," Nailmasters Oro and Mato are "Loyal brother gods of the nail," Paintmaster Sheo is the "Talented god of artists and creators." And Sly is the "Cunning god of opportunity." Again, no meaningful connections but that's fine.
Their Journal entries however, are where things start to get interesting. Specifically, the entry for the Watcher Knights: "Discarded shell of a Watcher Knight, reanimated by a swarm of infected flies." This is huge. Discarded shell of a Watcher Knight. Never has this terminology ever been used for any other enemy in the game. All other husks are specifically described as "reanimated remains of a bug." Except for the City's flying husks, which are described as sentries. But in no other place are these infected flies ever brought up, and they are only encountered in the Knights' boss room. And the words used - discarded shell. This sounds as if the Watcher Knights we fight are really only empty molted shells of their previous owners. They might be their organic shells because unlike the False Knight's metal armor, they give Soul when hit. Even though the False Knight's journal entry says it inhabits a "stolen armored shell," and the Maggot itself describes it as such ("This great shell...It belongs to me!"), but **this is could be just a play with words. Besides, Kingsmoulds also give Soul when hit and these are just artificial constructs. So the Watcher Knight shells could just as easily be discarded suits of armor. (You might be surprised to know that Ogrim wears armor as well, and he also gives Soul when hit)
https://i.redd.it/nzzzwv1tary11.png
I'll point out that when they die, the Watcher Knights' bodies break apart to reveal that they really are just empty shells, thrown away by a separate bug. Are they the molted shells of the Nailmasters, or at least their species of bug? Ehhh, its hard to tell. There are a total of fifteen Watcher Knight shells in the City of Tears - including the ones we fight - and it's unlikely they all come from just our three Nailmasters. But like I said in the previous paragraph, if the Watcher Knight shells are just suits of armor they could easily have been worn by a different type of bug - the type of bug that the Nailmasters are. This would explain this species being able to perform rolling and bouncing attacks - because they're wearing heavy armor with considerable momentum (but being insects they're able to carry that weight). And if the Nailmasters' horns are really part of their head, they'd be able to fit into the larger helms.
The next layer below the explicit lore is the implicit: that which is not evidently stated but we can deduce. One such example is the Nailmasters' (and Nailsage's) furnishings. There's really only two examples of import. Both Mato's and Sheo's huts are fairly spartan in their décor: they contain their weapons and odd trophies of beasts they've slain. Oro's hut is nothing like that of his brothers: it has dressers, bookshelves, and lavish curtains. All of them in the City's style and color palette. And Oro's hut does not contain any Nails or indication of him being a Nailmaster. On the surface, Sly's shop is identical to those in Dirtmouth, with just a few odd skulls and a nail hanging on the wall. But his basement - where he bestows the Nailmaster's Glory charm - also has items and décor from the City of Tears. This basically confirms that the Nailmasters and their teacher originate from the City.
But why would Oro and Sly still have such items in their possession? This is wear the maps of evidence fade out and we start venturing into the uncharted territories of speculation, but I'm sure I can make some educated guesses. Given Sly's previous profession as Nailsage he could have been the official combat instructor of the City of Tears, teaching the Sentries and Watcher Knights how to wield nails and protect the City.
Oro is a bit more difficult to explain. If he indeed was a Watcher Knight in a previous time he would have lived a life of luxury and wealth as an elite guard. The room above the Watcher Knights does contain a Hallownest Seal and a chest with 650 Geo. When the City fell it seems Sly and the Nailmasters dedicated themselves to slaying all infected beasts in the Kingdom, even if to no avail. The other Nailmasters were fine with this change in lifestyle but Oro wasn't. It seems he wasn't as skilled with a nail as his brothers were and he may have seen his teacher as unsympathetic ("Oro you oaf...you wield your nail like a club"), so he might have continued to devote himself to material goods and wealth. He is after all the only Nailmaster who demands payment in exchange for instruction. Oro does claim Sheo was the "mightiest of the Great Nailsage's pupils", and he describes Mato as having "strange notions of loyalty and honor." Sounds like honor and loyalty in having sworn to protect the weak without any sort of compensation.
The last line of discussion and the juicy center of our theory is the characters' dialogue. Most of this dialogue actually goes to explain the Nailmasters' and Sly's backstory. When Dream Nailed Oro thinks about how he'll explain to Mato why he chose his current path. The path of having abdicated the role of Nailmaster and choosing wealth instead, for the reasons stated above. And it seems this affinity for Geo was passed on to their teacher. Sly may have given up the role of Nailsage and chosen the profession of merchant instead as a result (the fact that he started to get infected might mean that he was of weak will). This could have been seen as dishonor for the Nailmasters, and Mato would have held Oro responsible for their teacher abandoning his role. Perhaps up to the point of demanding a blood price from Oro: "So he is still alive then. I still haven't forgotten what he owes me and I never will." Oro himself seems to be aware of the price demanded from him: "Did he [Mato] mention my name to you? If he does, tell him to be patient. He'll be waiting a while longer before I give him what he wants." And if he is responsible for Sly's abdication he clearly regrets it. When seeing the Knight wearing the Nailmaster's Glory charm he'll say "It seems the Great Nailsage has deemed you skilled enough in the Nail Arts to earn his highest esteem. I do not begrudge you his love. You have earned it. And perhaps by helping you along your path, I have redeemed myself... if only a little." Sheo himself also has some lines to say about Oro, claiming he "always seemed to be haunted by something, though I never learned what." And when Dream Nailed he'll wonder what this was: "Was it pride, or fear, or shame? Perhaps you should lay down your nail if it haunts you so, and find a new calling that eases your soul."
As for what kind of role the Nailmasters used to have, they themselves don't have any relevant lines but Sly does. When bestowing the Nailmaster's Glory charm he'll say "You have mastered the arts of my remaining pupils." Note that this requires the player to have acquired all three Nail Arts so he knows that all three Nailmasters are alive, and thus he's not talking about them. Could the rest of the fifteen Watcher Knights have been his students? The Nailmasters themselves don't give any indication that Sly trained any other pupils, only ever referring to their group of three. Sly could be referring to Esmy, a character that he only mentions while infected in the Forgotten Crossroads. This Esmy character was commented on by Team Cherry as "Someone that still lingers in his dreams." They could have been another of Sly's pupils, but ultimately we know nothing about them.
So based on these points of evidence, can we reasonably conclude that the Nailmasters were Watcher Knights at some point in the past? Mmm perhaps it's not absolutely confirmed, but there are many similarities between these characters, and the Nailmasters obviously have some connection to the City of Tears. My theory starts to crumble once I start talking about their history by interpreting their dialogue, since some of you may have different interpretations, but I'm excited to hear your thoughts on the topic.
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That's it for now!
As you know, my next topic of discussion will be the Abyss! Feel free to throw any ideas you have my way about how to improve it and make it a legitimate area!
See you soon and have a great week!
Team Cherry AMA (Sly and Esmy, Ogrim's armor)
Kickstarter (character reveals)
And special thanks to u/Sumwann and u/MolaMolasses for their feedback
Link to my other discussion threads
Submitted November 16, 2018 at 10:19PM by Despi47 https://ift.tt/2RYvYMm
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