It has been nearly a decade since Dark Souls III graced consoles, drawing hordes of Chosen Undead back to Lordran for the trilogy’s conclusion. Following this, George Mann authored other comic books set in the series’ universe, all within Lordran, where 66% of the franchise has taken place. The Dark Souls: The Willow King comic series by the same author boldly tells a new tale in an unexplored land, yet with the same familiarity that fans of Dark Souls crave.
The tale of Dark Souls: The Willow King starts by laying the groundwork for a whole new (and unvisited) kingdom of Ustrad. Here, King Uthrel rules fairly with an iron fist and cares deeply for his subjects. He sends his finest warrior, Herad, to link the first flame and keep the land from succumbing to an age of darkness and prolonging the age of fire. The Dark Souls faithful will feel like they’ve heard this before, but where The Willow King differs is in the sum of its parts rather than the quest that must occur.
Herad failed his quest to link the first flame and King Uthrel, in service to his subjects, took on the quest himself to keep the lights on for a bit longer. After succeeding and becoming a mighty Lord of Cinder (like Gwyn), the time to link the flame has come again, and he has forsaken his duty. In true Dark Souls fashion — now Dark Souls: The Willow King fashion — it’s up to Herad, the Unliving to rise from his ashes and bring the king to task, to force his hand on linking the flame once more.
On first impression, one thing is made abundantly clear in Dark Souls: The Willow King, Mann House’s illustrations bring the world to life in a new sharp way and some of the scenes are so visceral it may make fans shout “be wary of right!” at the top of your lungs. The striking art style complements the universe of Dark Souls well and lends to the overall gothic atmosphere produced in the video games. No small feat, accomplished beautifully and it’s safe to say the House won this hand.
“On first impression, one thing is made abundantly clear in Dark Souls: The Willow King, Mann House’s illustrations bring the world to life in a new sharp way, and some of the scenes are so visceral it may make fans shout “be wary of right!” at the top of your lungs.”
While the art style complements the storyline penned by Mann, much like old friends warmly embracing over a nightcap, The Willow King takes welcome creative liberties, especially when the protagonist speaks (Herad is not a voiceless Chosen Undead limited to grunts). He is accompanied by three hardy companions, each brimming with personality. Without giving away spoilers, these companions all carry their own baggage, and the female of the group, Morgwyth, serves as a cheeky nod to Tolkien’s Morgoth—a clever tip of the cap to the reference.
Dark Souls: The Willow King has a strong plot device in which one of the party members embodies their greatest impression of Solaire of Astora, channeling hope in its purest form toward the party. The creativity around this character’s dreamlike state delusions gave the artist an excuse to showcase the duality between what Ustrad used to look like, a beautiful kingdom, and what it is now, a sea of undead.
Although this is directly inspired by the world state of Lordran—specifically Anor Londo—it’s a fantastic plot device and gives the audience a much larger view of the world state. This can relate directly to the mental state of the world’s monarch, The Willow King. As Uthrel succumbed to abandoning his duty, his kingdom crumbled, and everything corrupted like its leader. This is storytelling excellence.
“…Dark Souls: The Willow King is a beautiful comic series that channels the energy of the Dark Souls mythos with a delicate hand.”
Dark Souls: The Willow King is a fantastic addition to the mythos of Dark Souls. On one hand, it caters to fans of the trilogy and showcases a new land full of new lore to explore complete with new possibilities and opportunities for storytelling. This excitement is further exacerbated by the insistence that there’s, yet another kingdom added to the timeline of Dark Souls and more Dark Souls is a good thing.
On the other hand, The Willow King may feel confusing to some, especially regarding the story. Vague explanations (in the later issues) assume the reader has played the video games. The first issue does a great job of indoctrinating the audience into the lore of the Dark Souls universe, but later issues fling terms around like ‘unkindled’ without explanation. This could be my problem, but George Mann didn’t take these liberties with his Dragon Age: The Missing series.
All in all, aside from some shortcomings Dark Souls: The Willow King is a beautiful comic series that channels the energy of the Dark Souls mythos with a delicate hand. The bold new direction is welcome and tells a novel story introducing more plot points and expanding the lore of the Dark Souls universe without recycling the same region prevalent in the first comic series penned by Mann, and Dark Souls & Dark Souls III.
