Talk:The Painter/@comment-87.174.18.72-20170625163733/@comment-173.67.159.37-20180724154241

Actually, DS1 never mentions anything about Ariamis being a painter. This may have seemed likely back in the day of DS1's release, before we knew anything about Ariandel or the Painter, but Dark Souls frequently adds layers of information that seem to transform the story with each installment (remember when everyone thought Solaire was Gwyn's firstborn?). I find it more likely that Ariamis and Ariandel were "inspirations" for the Painted Worlds, much like ourselves at the end of the Ringed City, when the Painter uses our name for her latest piece. It's even possible that this young girl is the same one who created both the world of Ariamis and Ariandel, and has existed for eons.

However, this potentially puts a hole in the theory that the Painter is the child of Priscilla, as the Peculiar Doll from DS1 suggests that Priscilla was once imprisoned within Anor Londo, but by "clutching the doll close," she eventually escaped into the Painted World. If the Painter in DS3 also created the world of Ariamis, this would mean she is older than Priscilla, or at least created the Painted World before Priscilla's arrival. Priscilla was apparently the first entity to enter the Painted World, and became its sole caretaker and a symbol of protection for the forlorn souls that ended up there. If Priscilla truly is the mother of the Painter, she would have had to have given birth to her prior to her imprisonment, or at least her escape, from Anor Londo, which could also be plausible considering the vast array of paintings decorating Anor Londo, depicting scenes of the gods and their servants, as well as various landscapes of the city.

Curiously, if you look more closely at her dragon-like features, the Painter bears some resemblance to the Primordial Serpents. Her eyes are the same bloody orange color with vertical pupils, and the "scales" about her neck and wrists are darkly colored, unlike Priscilla's. The Primordial Serpents, of course, were imperfect dragons, and apparently were close guardians of humanity and the Dark Soul save for Kingseeker Frampt. Perhaps this Painter has always existed, since before even the discovery of the First Flame. It would make sense then that Friede would have the Painter locked away, on account of her abandonment of the Sable Church of Londor and their philosophies based on the teachings of Darkstalker Kaathe, favoring instead a rotted world of nostalgia.

It's a lot to unpack, but I feel like there are a lot of factors that most fans seem to overlook. If not Priscilla, who then is the Painter's mother that she speaks of? Could it be Velka, the old goddess of sin? Fans have speculated Priscilla's relation to Velka for a long time, but is it possible that this was misjudgement, and that the omnipresence of Velka's influence in the Painted World is tied to the young nameless Painter? That statue of a mother embracing a young child is still quite mysterious.