Good evening everybody! This is Aifos coming to you alive from the Grand Archives literally buried in books! Emphasis on literally! Can someone contact security for me, and have them get me out? Now.. The Crystal Sages. I was farming for Sunlight Medals, by helping my brother through NG+. Once we hit the Crystal Sage, he asked me a rather curious question.. “Oh dearest brother of mine,” he said “what lore is there surrounding this sage?” Well.. At first I wanted to say not much. The Sage was once a part of the Scholars, but joined with the Legion. But then I got to thinking, and did some digging.. Surprisingly it said “and he allied himself with the Undead Legion”, as opposed to but. This leads me to believe he is still a part of the Scholars, and that is most curious indeed. Let’s talk about the Scholars. One of the three “Pillars of Lothric”. It’s known that one of the first Scholars, a private tutor to the kingdom’s titular prince, probaly talked Lothric out of linking the Flame. Likely, this ideology of anti-Flame was held by all Scholars, because Lothric’s provate tutor was probably in charge of the group, given how he was a tutor to the prince. This brings us to who that Scholar was. There’s several theories, but the one I like best, is Pontiff Sulyvahn. I’m going to skip out on talking about Sully in depth, but basically after being a Scholar, he discovered the Deep, and used it to take over the city of Anor Londo, where he gave shelter to Aldrich. Aldrich foresaw an Age of Deep Sea, rather than an Age of Dark. We can assume given the fact that Aldrich works under Sully, he probably wants this Age to come to. Now, if Sully is still in charge/a part of the Scholars, then the Scholars, at least some of them, would willingly protect the Deep.. Which brings us to the Undead Legion of Farron. The Legion is an army of Undead, that mercilessly pursue the Abyss, and bury entire kingdoms to stop it. Being opposed to the Abyss often results in being opposed to the Dark, and being opposed to the Dark, means being opposed to the Deep. We meet the Farron-allied Crystal Sage in a fortress between Farron Swamp, and the Cathedral of the Deep. He is, ot at least was, allied with Farron, providing them with spells, and enchanted weapons.. Not for Farron, but to protect the Cathedral, and the Deep that lied within. If Sully still has any link to the Scholars, he could’ve contacted one of the Sages—the most powerful of the Scholars—to protect the Cathedral from Farron. Rather thsn take on an army, he simply blocked the way in his fort of mages, and soldiers, offering the Legion sorceries, and enchanted weapons, possibly pretending he was from a nonexistent kingdom in the Cathedral’s direction, and when the Legion fell he simply remained. In a sentence; the Sage might be guarding the Cathedral under a guise of friendship to the Legion, under Sulyvahn’s behalf.