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The Brotherhood of Light was founded by three major figures: the lord of the lycans Cornell, the lord of the dead Zobek, and the lord of the vampires, Carmilla. This is how we’ve come to know them throughout Gabriel’s adventures, but there’s more to them than just the dark presences put in front of the player. They were once of good heart and seeked nothing but to serve God and defeat the devil and his demonic forces. In the upcoming Reverie DLC we may see exactly how the three founders worked to do just that.
(Note: We already went over Zobek and Carmilla earlier this week so the actual new part of this article will be the one revolving around the Lords of the Lycans, Cornell. We just found it convenient to put together the passages on each founder into this one big article.)
Cornell in Reverie
In the main quest, Cornell was the first Dark Lord you faced. He resides in the land of Agharta where he commands an army of lycans. It is he who gives Gabriel a revelation concerning the Brotherhood of Light which he is so proudly serving at this point. Thanks to Cornell we find out exactly how the Dark Lords came to be.
Looking for complete enlightment, the three founders of the Brotherhood sought to be ascended into Heaven, but doing so would leave behind their “Dark forms” and they would be free to cause havoc. Their siblings, in essence, and this is exactly what happened. This makes Gabriel realize that the order he is so proudly representing may also be at the root of everything that is happening to mankind. Cornell, being the first Lord you come across, possesses the initial piece of the God Mask that Gabriel seeks to build with the intention of bringing back his dead wife, Marie.
When compared to Zobek and Carmilla, Cornell seems to be the least “evil” of the three. Not seeking to really cover the world in darkness like Carmilla is, or seeking complete domination like Zobek. Instead, he just remains in Agharta waiting for anyone brave enough to bump heads with him. Or in the case of this adventure, waiting for the prophecy to be fulfilled which spoke of a warrior coming to slay him.
Cornell even acknowledges how his brother, now in heaven, would have spared Gabriel had he been in the Dark Lord’s place at that moment. But he, however, will not. Thus begins the battle and Cornell turns into his Lycan beast form.
After defeating him you obtain the first piece needed to build the God mask and then you’re on your way to the land of the Vampires. The question remains, though, what role will Cornell (like Zobek and Carmilla) play in the upcoming Reverie DLC later this month?
As aforementioned, Cornell seems to be the least evil of the bunch. In Reverie we might see how Cornell may have been the one who was a bit suspicious over the act of ascending into heaven. Because doing so, left behind their dark and deadly forms. We may also get to see him and his fellow founders actually do battle against the forces of Satan all in the name of God. Hell, even his appearance seems like one who is very wise and maybe even philosophical. He may have been the most pure in soul among the founders, because as we learn later on in the main game Carmilla and Zobek definitely aren’t.
An interesting observation is how the Dark version of Cornell hasn’t forgotten all about his “brother’s” roots in the Brotherhood of Light. As seen when you first confront him, Cornell is still donning part of his Brotherhood armor, it’s more apparent on him that it is on the others. He may have been actually proud to serve God under such an order, instead of just seeking control and power like Carmilla and Zobek ended up doing.
Carmilla in Reverie
Right from the beginning, Carmilla is an interesting, and well-known, inclusion into Lords of Shadow’s cast. She has been featured before in previous games of the franchise. And while the debate continues as to Lords of Shadow being a prequel to the entire series or a complete reboot leading to a new time-line, there’s no denying the fact that Carmilla’s character in this game definitely channels the one we’ve come to know before.
Carmilla is basically a loyal servant to Dracula and desires nothing but the world to be covered in darkness to complement her Dark Lord. In Lords of Shadow we don’t actually see Dracula till the end of the game, who is of course Gabriel so it’s Carmilla who serves as the Lord of the castle you journey into. A castle which will also once again play a big role in the upcoming ‘Reverie’ DLC. The thing is, Carmilla’s castle wasn’t always in her possession.
Prior to her obtaining control over what became known as The Vampire’s Castle, the castle belonged to Friedrich Von Frankenstein and it was here where the Bernhard family resided. That is, until Carmilla decided to condemn Dr. Frankenstein for the evil experiments he conducted in said castle and thus lead to her “dethroning” him and driving out the Bernhards. And to make things worse for the poor doctor, Carmilla has kept him locked within the heart of the Castle in a highly, and continuously, tortured state. This of course leads into the next part of her character and how she’ll play a role in ‘Reverie’: “the unruly evil” that has been set free upon her death.
The initial information for ‘Reverie’ told us that we would be venturing back to the Vampire’s Castle in order to destroy the evil that Carmilla had once been able to keep in check. In a previous article, I speculated this “evil” as being Dr. Frankenstein’s most famous creation: The Creature. But there are many theories as to what this evil really could be, ranging from Chaos to Legion. One thing is for sure, though, it’s definitely going to prove to be quite a fight for Gabriel and Laura. Now I can’t help but stress the official description of this threat by Konami: “unruly evil”. Perhaps that is a hint as to who/what this foe is.
Carmilla essentially ruled out Frankenstein from his ownership of the Castle followed by keeping said doctor as her slave to torture as she pleases. Perhaps while she was alive, Frankenstein’s Creature was able to be kept at bay disabled from causing havoc. Now, obviously, Carmilla is dead thanks to Gabriel so this has led to a sort of re-activation of this enemy. What’s more interesting is what if Frankenstein himself has been fused with his own creation? Regardless, Carmilla was able to “rule” Frankenstein himself, but not his greatest creation. If that makes any sense.
Zobek
Right from the very beginning you have the Patrick Stewart-voiced character narrating the unfolding events. He also does this on a chapter by chapter basis, to mask the load times. One other initial impression of the character is that he seems like a pretty good guy. Keyword: seems. Hell, he even saves Gabriel from falling victim to the Ice Titan at the end of Chapter 1, after conversing with Pan. It’s at this moment in the story where the cards are basically laid on the table. Gabriel will head for the land of the lycans and Zobek will traverse into the land of the vampires, with them eventually meeting up to head into the land of the Necromancers together. All of this in order to overthrow the Lords of Shadow and bridging the gap between Earth and Heaven so that the souls of the dead can freely ascend, sans the restriction set up by the Dark Lords.
Later on you once again meet up with Zobek, while the whole time it’s suggested that Zobek is actually shadowing Gabriel as he goes on about his quest. In Chapter 5 some time after defeating Cornell Zobek once again shows up. He seems to be praying over the body of a dead Brotherhood comrade. As a matter of fact, the whole snow-filled area of the Wygol billage is littered with bodies. Zobek, possibly, had something to do with this, because as we later find out, he isn’t exactly the good-willed comrade he was initially made out to be.
Then you meet up with the witch, Baba Yaga, in the Woes Moor chapter. She aids Gabriel in his quest and after leading him into his next destination, Zobek’s proceeding narration suggests that he murders the aiding witch. Starting from this moment players start to get a little suspicious in regards to the true nature of Zobek’s character. And then we head into the end of the game when all is revealed.
Zobek was, in fact, the Lord of the Necromancers this whole time. And he reveals his entire plan to Gabriel right before the fight with Satan at the end of the game. What Zobek planned was to have complete dominance and obtain each power of the Lords of Shadow for himself and so he used Gabriel to do just that. The whole mystery of who killed Gabriel’s wife ended here where it was revealed that Gabriel himself, under the influence of Zobek and the Death mask, murdered his wife.
Then when Gabriel met Claudia and her Black Knight protector, Zobek saw this as the perfect oppurtunity to potentially have control over Gabriel. He knew Gabriel would snap and end up killing the poor innocent girl, and thus end up defeating her protector. Gabriel did just that, and when he obtained the dark gauntlet Zobek was able to control him at the end of the game by preventing Gabriel from striking him. Basically, Zobek had influence over Gabriel throughout the entirety of his quest. But how exactly did Zobek end up with such dark powers?
One of the founding members of the Brotherhood of Light, Zobek was one of the 3 major figures of said group. When he died, like the others, he left behind his dark form while his pure spirit ascended into heaven. This led to the formation of “The Lord of the Dead” as he is referred to as being. Which also leads to the belief that he is Death himself, which he also suggests himself as being in his narrations. Zobek then sought complete power over everyone so he went to the depths of Hell to gain mastery in the dark arts. Satan himself was the one who filled him with knowledge and thus Zobek came out stronger, leading to the curse that split the heavens from the Earth and basically leading to the scenario humanity faces at the beginning of the game.
Then, of course, Satan comes back and reclaims complete power. But let’s focus solely on Zobek. Now that we have a basic study of his character it’s time to see how he will play into the events of ‘Reverie’.
The time machine seen in one of the images for the upcoming DLC, coupled with the trio of potrait shots of the founding members of the Brotherhood of Light, seems to strongly indicate that we’ll be going back in time to see how the Brotherhood was before they died and ascended into heaven, leaving behind their dark siblings. I honestly can’t see Zobek playing another role in ‘Reverie’ in terms of present-time. I believe he’ll be serving such a role in next month’s ‘Resurrection’ DLC where we may even fight him as Death.
