Gwyn, Lord of Cinder

Lore

At the dawn of the Age of Fire, Gwyn discovered a Lord Soul and thus became the Lord of Sunlight alongside three other Lords.
His Lord Soul granted him the power of the sun and lightning, and Gwyn helped defeat the Everlasting Dragons; his "mighty [lightning] bolts peeled apart their stone scales".

Thousands of years ago, the First Flame began to fade. The Witch of Izalith attempted to recreate the first flame, but failed and the flame engulfed and corrupted her and most of her followers, creating the Bed of Chaos and the Chaos Flame. Gwyn waged war against the demons at one point, but the attempt failed.

Gwyn was also known to hunt dragons and wyverns later on and had Four Knights. The dragon trophies can be found all around on the walls in Anor Londo

He bequeathed parts his Lord Soul to the Four Kings of New Londo, and Seath the Scaleless -as well as a dukedom to the latter.

Ultimately, Gwyn left Anor Londo to travel to the Kiln of the First Flame to rekindle it and thus prolong the Age of Fire. He brought half of his knights with him, while the rest stayed behind to guard Anor Londo. After successfully linking the fire, the First Flame burned Gwyn and his knights, reducing him to the Lord of Cinder, though his soul remained powerful.

Gwyn's army of knights that accompanied him to the Flame were transformed into by the Chaos Flame, becoming the Black Knights.

Gwyn had four children: Gwynevere, Filianore, Gwyndolin, and his firstborn, whose name is unknown due to the loss of his deity status.

Gwyn's friend, Havel the Rock, was a general over his own warriors, which were presumably part of Gwyn's army.

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Design Works Interview with Hidetaka Miyazaki

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"We wanted his clothing to look ancient didn't we, he is an old king after all. I researched a lot of old clothing but I couldn't really find anything that looked cool. Short pants for example wouldn't create the image we wanted for the character. I'm happy with the final design though. As the design progressed he really turned into the type of king who would fight at the head of his army

Although as far as the game is concerned I think we could have done a little more with the character. He's the last boss and the concept of the character was to have the player use all the skills they'd developed through the game. I wanted them to have to use everything they've learned in order to beat him. The reason that he uses such a simple single sword fighting style stems from this concept, but in the end we ended up taking a different direction.

Theories

Who is Gwyn's Firstborn?

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Some have theorized that Solaire is actually the firstborn son of Gwyn, based on the items he possesses, as well as some subtle implications in his dialogue. For one, Solaire is always chasing the sun. He laments, "if only I could be so grossly incandescent". Perhaps this is a metaphor for his lost status and power. Gwyn may not just have stripped him of his status as a deity, but also his memory. This would mean that Solaire would not remember his time as Gwyn's son. His unquestionable loyalty to the Warriors of Sunlight may then just be an unconscious remnant of the firstborn's personality, trying to forever appease his father and to atone for his foolishness.

An alternate theory on the identity of Gwyn’s firstborn is that it is actually The Nameless King, a dragon-slaying war god from the time of the ancient lords. At some point during Gwyn’s war with the Everlasting Dragons, his firstborn betrayed his father and sided with the Dragons. The Lords were still able to defeat the Dragons, and as punishment Gwyn ordered his son’s name expelled from history. Gwyn’s firstborn was also Dragonslayer Ornstein‘s personal trainer, which would explain their similar combat style.

Sources

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[Armor] of the Great Lord
[Armor] of Gwyn, Lord of Cinder, who linked the First Flame.
Lord Gwyn, bearer of the ultimate soul, divided that power among his great clan before linking the flame.
But he did keep his crown, perhaps to preserve a symbol of the monarch, for its actual power had fully subsided.

Bequeathed Lord Soul Shard (Seath)
Soul of the albino Seath the Scaleless.
A fragment of a Lord Soul discovered at the dawn of the Age of Fire.
Seath allied with Lord Gwyn and turned upon the dragons, and for this he was awarded Dukedom,
embraced by the royalty, and given a fragment of a great soul.
Although just a piece, it will still satiate the Lordvessel.

Soul of Gwyn, Lord of Cinder
Soul of Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight and Cinder, who linked the First Flame.
Lord Gwyn bequeathed most of his power to the Gods, and burned as cinder for the First Flame,
but even so, Lord Gwyn's soul is a powerful thing indeed.

Ring of the Sun's Firstborn
Lord Gwyn's firstborn, who inherited the sunlight, once wore this ancient ring.
Boosts the strength of miracles.
Lord Gwyn's firstborn was a god of war, but his foolishness led to a loss of the annals, and rescinding of his deific status.
Today, even his name is not known.

White Seance Ring
A divine ring entrusted to the head bishop of the Way of White and apostle to Allfather Lloyd, uncle to Lord Gwyn.
The head bishop of the Way of White is the guardian of law and caste, and one of the great royals of Thorolund.

Sunlight Blade
Miracle wielded by Lord Gwyn's firstborn.
The power of sunlight, manifested as lightning, is very effective against dragons.
When the eldest son was stripped of his deific status, he left this on his father's coffin, perhaps as a final farewell.

Sunlight Spear
Miracle born from the fading soul of Gwyn.
In the war that marked the dawn of the Age of Fire,
Gwyn wielded these rays of sunlight, which remains fierce even as they fade.

Silver Knight Set
When Lord Gwyn departed to link the Fire, his knights split into two groups.
The Silver Knights remained in the forsaken capital in the service of their goddess.

Black Knight Shield
Shield of the Black Knights that wander Lordran. A flowing canal is chiseled deeply into its face.
Long ago, the black knights faced the chaos demons, and were charred black, but their shields became highly resistant to fire.

Black Knight Armor
Armor of the Black Knight who haunt Lordran.
The knights followed Lord Gwyn when he departed to link the flame, but they were burned to ashes in newly kindled fire, wandering the world as disembodied spirits ever after.

Black Knight Sword
Greatsword of the black knights who wander Lordran. Used to face chaos demons.

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• Darkstalker Kaathe Dialogue

Lord Gwyn trembled at the Dark.
Clinging to his Age of Fire, and in dire fear of humans,
And the Dark Lord who would one day be born amongst them,
Lord Gwyn resisted the course of nature.
By sacrificing himself to link the Fire, and commanding his children to shepherd the humans,
Gwyn has blurred your past, to prevent the birth of the Dark Lord.

• Gwynevere Dialogue

Once living, now Undead, and a fitting heir to father Gwyn thou art,
And beseech thee. Succeed Lord Gwyn, and inheriteth the Fire of our world.
Thou shall endeth this eternal twilight, and avert further Undead sacrifices.

• Kingseeker Frampt Dialogue

I am the Primordial Serpent, Kingseeker Frampt, close friend of the Great Lord Gwyn.
Chosen Undead. Your fate is… to succeed the Great Lord Gwyn.
So that you may link the Fire, cast away the Dark, and undo the curse of the Undead.

This is the Firelink Chamber, for the successor of Lord Gwyn.
Now, place the Lordvessel on the altar.

To achieve your fate, fill the vessel with powerful souls,
commensurate to the great soul of Gwyn.

Ahhh… ohh!
The Lordvessel is satiated…
Magnificent… You are the righteous successor to Gwyn, the new Great Lord.
And I am Kingseeker no more…

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