197 words about Dark Souls 2's home theme
Henri Bergson once suggested that we distort time by thinking about it using concepts borrowed from space. Timelines, sundials, and clocks are useful but misleading because they represent time in segments and cycles, while the true nature of time is to press eternally forward into unending novelty. Dark Souls and its sequels form a unique rejoinder to Bergson, filling synchronous stages—Lothric, Lordran, and Drangleic, which are always there whenever you open the game—with spatial illustrations of duration without novelty. These everlasting dragons and weary knights have always been on the edge of ruin, heavy with the past’s weight but lacking relief from the future. The Majula theme from Dark Souls 2 give us something even more special: a little glimpse of time in its pure state. As the game’s “home base” theme, which cues up when you return to your starting point to level up and sharpen your sword, this short tune is always playing on repeat. Yet its sheer emotional force, the distinctive beauty of this synthetic tone poem, is such that it always feels fresh and evocative. You could sit with it forever without it growing dull; that’s as close as we’ll get to eternity.