Shadow of the Colossus - Story Explanation and Analysis

All in all, Emon was wrong about sacrificing her because her fate was cursed. The sacrifice was the cause of Mono's cursed fate.

Spoilers maybe: I always thought it was prophesized that Mono was to be involved with bringing back Dormin, so they sacrificed her to try to stop it. Ironically, her sacrifice is what causes Wander to take the sword and seek out Dormin.

I dont think dormin is evil, personally. I believe he's neutral. There are a few reasons I believe this, namely, the fact that he warns wander of the consequences before he does anything, (which kind of eliminates the idea that he's just being used) at the end he says that he "has BORROWED" wanders body, implying that he intends to "return it," and the fact that dormin does what he says he would do and brings back mono.

I'm glad SotC is still getting this much attention after all these years... I really am.

Very few people know about Nimrod, the tower of babel and how his body was scattered across the land. Congratulations.

Sorry but this is all wrong. The main character fell in love with his horse but the horse was in love with the colossi, so he had to kill those in order to win the heart of the mustang.

One of the greatest games and for me, love stories ever told. The world, it's atmosphere, the serenity juxtaposed by the fights, the story of this one guys love driving him to slowly kill himself, likely knowingly, to save the one he loves against all hope. He doesn't care if he dies, he just needs her to live and his determination to pay that bill, no matter the cost to himself. A storyline that needed so few words to convey something so powerful, and it did it with a beautiful world and as a video game - a singular experience. It should be remembered as one of the all-time greatest. Not just greatest video games. Simply one of the greatest tales of the condition of love. A video game could convey so vividly this tale as no other media could hope to come close to.

I think of the story as the origin as a tower of babel scenario, but slightly tweaked.  Dormin (or Nimrod) is punished with his people for attempting to reach the heavens, and is split into many pieces across the land.  There the civilizations began to develop, but became lost over time. I don't know if the civilizations themselves even coexisted together at the same time as the architectures draw from different time periods, so as I play the game myself it feels like wander is going through multiple periods of time, but fighting the Gods of each civilization that still lives within the rubble.

I pretty much agree with everything you said except the dormin being completely evil. When emon Sacrificed mono for a curse probably relating to dormin it seemed more of emon being a somewhat villan for also sealing away a god into 16 fragments that a religious group were worshipping. Not to mention the fact that they call dormin an entity of light. He also kept his promise to revive mono and if you think about it the fragments of him the colossus were also alive as well. So we could say dormin is a god of giving life?! True wanders tribe might find it unethical but i dont see why he can be completely at fault.

At the end of the game dormin mentions his body was split in 17 collosi. This means that wander has become a collosi himself. This also means that all the other 16 collosi where once human before and also did the sacrifice. I personaly think the humans created dormin by the sacrifices they performed to ressurect the dead.

Dormin could be the only non-evil antagonist in the trilogy. He is made up of both (in equal measure) Light and dark, symbollized by the two voices, the Light from the vital points and the dark tentacles/dark Colossus. Just like any "normal" person. While we see the Master of the valley as a blob of dark choking a light-ish core and the Queen is pretty much all dark (dychotomy with Yorda being all Light). Dormin is about as evil as Emon, i'd say. Hell, Emon is probably responsible for Mono's death while Dormin is responsible for her resurrection.. Though of course the consequences of all this is up for speculation

Not to nit pick... but as 'Wander' is pronounced 'Wanda' in Japanese, ICO is pronounced 'ee-co not 'I-co' ; )

Hope you get to see this comment (spoilers for all games). Just some food for thought: ICO: - In the Queen's chest region, you can see some black streaks coming up from bellow, similar to old Wander's neck. I always assumed this indicated that the Queen is Dormin (female side) possessing a woman, instead of a follower using dark powers. - In the first bridge scene (https://youtu.be/rveXly3labg?t=10m40s), if you pay attention to the Queen when she disappears, it really looks like Yorda's body, which would reinforce the thought that her extending her life by possessing her "daughter" is something that has happened multiple times. SOTC: - I always thought it was strange how Dormin said in the final colossus speech "the ritual is almost complete". And then Emon says "You used the forbidden spell as well". It almost sounds like the act of killing the colossi is literally how you bring someone's life back, instead of the assumed you killing colossi to resurrect Dormin who will then use their power to bring someone's life back. This ties well with the architecture around some of the colossi which look like made to imprison them or facilitate their murder (especially Malus, he's immobilized and there are essentially trenches made to approach him). TLG: - I never see this mentioned by anyone but, in the famous pool room, if you pay attention to the sarcophagus, the "lines" on it makes it look like it is divided in several parts. If you count them, you get 16. That can't be a coincidence.

"how would you convince people to spend 50 bucks on a graphical rebuild of a 15 year old game?" You don't. Not because the game is bad, but because you're sane. Then, the moment comes where you can tell people that this amazing title can be bought for 20 bucks. Like right now. THEN you tell them to get it.

Given the treatment of both the horned children as well as Trico's species, as well as the realization that they are not harmful by nature, I have some contention with the conclusion that Dormin is necessarily evil. Perhaps not good, but not outright evil. Even so, we are not given much context to what's transpired in the past aside from information given in this video. I suppose the fears about anything horned have to come from somewhere. To me it just feels unlikely that these games would paint such a cliche picture of what evil is supposed to be, when the rest does little to follow common tropes. Between the three titles, personally, I find it to be a criticism of superstition and religious fanaticism.

So, why did they go through all the trouble of splitting and sealing Dormins soul if they could've just sealed him in that pool of water all along?

So what you're saying is: Boy breaks the rules to save a girl prophesied to end the world. He and she do it forbidden style with a 20 - 30 age gap, and Mono gives birth to a generation of kids, who are eventually adopted by the same tribe that forsook Wander? You're honestly implying Dormin is evil, too? I don't buy that, for many reasons: Dormin is the motherfucking "God of Death," and not only did this creature WARN Wander that there would be a price to pay[Instead of grandstanding, insinuating his power was more than enough] that Dormin might actually be able to fulfill his request, but every implication you made contradicts Dormin being evil. In fact, he could be the good guy, and not malicious at all. Dorman gave notice. He asked Wander to pay for the service, and he revived Mono. Seems like a fair Trade-Off, aye? Dorman, if he were 'Evil,' shouldn't have to ask Wander to unshackle Dormin's power.... Dormin at any point could've STOLEN the person's vessel. Dormin did not possess him, nor lie about the deal. The price for a LIFE? Another life. The consequences Dormin warned him about? Wander's Lifeforce was being drained. His light was dying out, from possessing Dormin's DARKNESS. Dormin, stated to be a being of "Light" was not without a dark side, as stated. And there's evidence Dormin was NEVER the villain, considering he never lied. He did indeed say "Borrow" when he took Wander. The only promise he couldn't make, as they both fell. Dormin is the God of Death, and only took Wander once he'd died, making Dormin a Life-Giving deity, and therefore good. Emon dresses similarly to Wander... or rather, it's implied Wander dresses like Emon. Like Master and Apprentice. Like Wander was on his way to becoming a Shaman. And in fact, Wander's training to become a Shamon is probably the reason he knew about the place, and knew about that specific weapon's importance in the forbidden lands. It's because he was taught that lore. Emon was likely Wander's Mentor. That explains how informal and familiar Emon seems to be. They knew one another as friends. And assuming one religion wanted to destroy another religion, it makes sense for Emon to want to extinguish Dormin's relevance in history. If Dormin is gone, that religion no longer exists to destroy the tribe. When Emon arrived, Wander was paying the price he KNEW he was going to pay, and he was mostly Zombie-Like. Wander looked wretched and mainly weak. Wander no longer had time to live, and Emon's last favor was to perform a ritual, purging the darkness from Wander. Wander died, and at the same time, he was born once again as a baby. It's because Wander lost his life, and his very being as an adult and grown character that Mono could wake up from the dead. Lastly. Mono, again, prophesied to doom the entire tribe, was sacrificed to save the tribe from some 'fate,' most likely being Dormin. And if this is true, Emon is THE main villain. He's the reason Mono is dead, and the reason Wander needs to resurrect her from death... negotiating with the "Lord of Death," a being who can do the impossible, and bring dead people back. Emon perpetuated the entire story. Emon killed Mono in the name of a prophecy he likely misread. Emon is also the reason ICO Happens... because if he didn't kill Mono, then Wander wouldn't become Dormin-- Dormin wouldn't give rise to forbidden children.

I never knew how enjoyable it is to just ride a horse through lost lands...this game was amazing

Wait so she raised him and had his children?