Long ago, an everlasting being called the Sakura Dragon took root in Ashina's lands From it, flowed various forms of immortality Powers that would go on to corrupt the lives of men One of these was the Dragon's heritage, A direct line to the dragons undying blood. And from that blood came the rejuvenating waters Which was a bewitching force that grants great resilience to one's flesh However, this power was never meant for Japan and from these gifts stemmed infestations and rot Leading many, like Kuro, a divine heir, to ponder whether this power was a blessing or a curse. So, atop Ashina castle, our goal becomes to sever this immortality and what better weapon for this task than the crimson mortal blade? This is one of two weapons in this world that's capable of wounding immortal beings And once we ascend to the dragon's realm with this sword We can rebuke its power The crimson mortal blades true name, after all, is the Gracious Gift of Tears And, by making the dragon cry, we reject its gift of everlasting life. Sekiro: "Where is this mortal blade?" Isshin Ashina: "I've heard it's held in the Senpou Temple. The gates to that temple are closed now, though. Who knows what those degenerates are doing, shut away up there in the mountains." Senpou temple was once a place dedicated to Buddhist teachings. These were teachings of selflessness, of death, and of rebirth. However, Divine Child: "Those of the Senpou temple have strayed from Buddhist teachings. They have abandoned their faith, Seduced by a search for immortality." And since you are now considered an immortal being Divine Child: "Should you be captured there is no telling what would become of you, you would do well to return the way you came." Despite being these rotting degenerates infested with immortal centipedes The monks may not be as evil as they're being portrayed, but we'll get to that later The first monks you fight bite down on sugars to enhance their strength Which should be a strategy that's very familiar to you If you've been using these sugars that you find scattered across all of Ashina And their placement around the world is actually very intentional For, in an effort, to curry favor with the Ashina Senpou monks effectively bribed the Ashina with candy They spread these sugars across all of these lands in honor of Ashina's military heroes Gokan, and even Ako, Ungo, or Yashariku are statued as we first enter Senpou These men once fought for their country, but they all became corrupted. Turning into the headless monsters that you find throughout your travels Ungo, for example, lost his mind in defense of the state and he was beheaded, sinking to the bottom of a moat And since these sugar blessings are coming from such tormented creatures You kind of have to wonder at what cost to us, or them, are these blessings being imparted? And, you know, while we never really do get a chance to explore Senpou temple's "candy" factory The monks themselves use these sugars really liberally They use every single one of them except Yashariku actually, this candy in particular puts you closer to death which made it forbidden to the monks of the temple Yet, they had no problem distributing it far and wide in the name of donations towards their costly undying research So these sugars brought them wealth and they brought them favor with the Ashina And this focus on wealth in particular actually aligns with another tool of theirs, The Golden Vortex It's an upgraded version of their large fan, which forces enemies to drop items and money which are to be considered donations And it's all ironic really Considering the words of their founder, These are the words of the high priest and they were ideals that were upheld With the tenacious mastery of martial arts These martial arts culminated in the Senpou esoteric texts A tome that contains skills that are both martial arts and prayers Weighted strikes that purge the self of worldly desire for Without strength, one cannot defeat the enemies of Buddha and as we know there's at least one undying enemy of Buddha Occupying a Buddhist temple in-game. Eventually, however, this ideology decayed and festered For the Senpou temple was seized by an obsession with undeath and their martial arts that were once used for virtue Became used in the pursuit of immortality instead There's even a curious statue sitting before their esoteric text that is consumed by flame It's left half blackened and burned and if you finish the game You'll know that this could be a sign of Shura a demon that appears in the bodies of those who have lost all virtue This is a Myoo statue and these statues represented guardians of buddhist law So it being so badly damaged is wholly representative of the degradation of Senpou's brand of Buddhism. This fall from grace has a lot to do with Senpou's experimentation with the rejuvenating waters which, as we mentioned earlier, is a legendary source of immortality and it flows from the dragon's blood. We talked about Isshin in the last video on the first half of Sekiro that you watched and He was a legendary figure who established Ashina as the dominant force in the land we spoke of how he hates the rats from the interior ministry who are preparing to invade his land but curiously He also considers these short assassins to be rats, as they spy on behalf of Senpou Temple. Soldiers of Ashina: "It seems Isshin's illness is indeed grave." "The land of Ashina will not last much longer" "Even with Genichiro on our side" Here the Senpou assassins spy on Isshin, ruminating on how the land of the Ashina is doomed even with Genichiro on their side Senpou is part of Ashina after all and its monks are Equally screwed if the interior ministry invades them all Especially since the interior ministry actually fears the Waters of Rejuvenation and Senpou temple has been experimenting Successfully with the Waters of Rejuvenation for years. They have a lot to lose if Ashina goes down talking more about these short assassins They were originally hired to guard Senpou temple but inevitably, they became an extension of the monks will in their quest for undeath. Their mission became to kidnap children So that the Senpou monks could experiment on them with the Waters of rejuvenation. So circling back around to Isshin. It's no wonder that he considers these assassins to be rats and degenerates in fact knowledge of these experiments on children could explain why Isshin Supports our quest to sever Kuro's immortality and why he's so disappointed in Genichiro's use of the rejuvenating waters since his grandson Genichiro actually sided with the degenerates of Senpou. In fact, there's evidence to suggest that Genichiro was actually Encouraging even more research on the rejuvenating waters through Dosaku who you would have seen Experimenting with them on Ashina's behalf in the abandoned dungeon This place is right outside of Senpou temple and Dosaku wears a garb. That's actually Identical to that of the bomb-thrower monks, in addition he fights with their martial arts cementing the connection between the two places and Considering this man was an ex disciple of Dogen who is another important character I wouldn't be surprised if Dogen was also involved with experiments on the rejuvenating children as well Dotting the hills of Mt. Kongo are hundreds of little statues that are accompanied by red and white pinwheels these were offered in fond remembrance for the children that the monks sacrificed in their experiments with immortality and At least one of these children is likely named Armored Warrior: "Robertttt" You might have heard of him round and round all their little pinwheels spin and yet the children are still right here Kotaro: "The spinning, spinning red and white flowers. Only one pure, white flower." And of all the children only one child survived the ritual Battlefield Memorial Mob: "It was by a hair's breadth, but mercifully She survived. Oh, she must have suffered greatly you'd best treat her kindly." This member of the Memorial mob still remembers the event and it makes sense, right? Because where you find the departed, you will find the memorial mob .Curiously though, when he Contracts dragon rot. He actually draws a parallel to what the children went through during the experiment Battlefield Memorial Mob: "Divine children, forgive me." Sekiro: "What's wrong with you?" Battlefield Memorial Mob: "Buddha's Just in righteous punishment. I had no idea the divine children were suffering so badly. I see now. I must make an offering." He feels guilty But none should feel more guilt than those who are directly responsible Master of the Senpou Temple: "Children of the rejuvenating waters. Forgive me, that child She's the only one left. She must be lonely Trapped in that room by herself... So you're the one who works for the divine heir of the Dragon's Blood?" Sekiro: "That's right." Master of Senpou Temple: "The divine heir is truly exalted, but exalted or not, man is still man. I'm so foolish that I didn't understand that myself. Don't, don't leave your divine heir on his own. Leave! It's too late to regret once you've already lost them." This man is a high-ranking priest as he claims to be at fault for the divine child's confinement Furthermore, he's proof that the monks knew that their experiment was successful But, ironically, it also seems like it's impossible for them to reach the realm where she resides Master of Senpou Temple: "It's my fault, the child, She's confined within the inner sanctum. It's impossible to see her now." Why? Well, this is just speculation. But my theory is that Buddha himself Protects the realm where the divine child resides because this space that she's at lies past the illusory halls This is a realm protected by the folding screen monkeys Beings that are said to occupy a space between life and death These guys are a play on a proverb that you've probably heard- see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. This is a famous proverb of Buddhist tradition And there's even an invisible fourth monkey who was a reference to the 'do no evil' Principle then they often leave out when they're talking about this legend. This to me Is evidence that the Senpou monks turned a blind eye, a deaf ear, a mute voice Upon their sinful path to enlightenment and it's likely to me that this bossfight represents that fact There exists a prosthetic in Sekiro Called the large fan which allows you to spirit people away All of the monks of Senpou temple were actually spirited away once before, that's why they're here But if you spirit them away again Rumors say they'll disappear forever Unless of course, they're Kotaro, a kind Senpou monk or unless they're the other monk here in the Illusory Halls, who seems legitimately set on achieving nirvana. The fact that these two Wholesome, legitimate monks are the only beings that were actually able to reach these halls when they're spirited away twice plays into my belief that Buddha is perhaps Protecting this realm from the infested. Illusory Hall Monk: "By the way, there was once someone who, like you, was on a mission. I believe he chased the monkeys for a while, but Everything here eventually went silent." This someone is almost certainly Genichiro, he's a man with friendly links to Senpou temple, a man who is looking for the mortal blade and He's someone who would have found it impossible to catch the monkeys since he doesn't have the same talents that we have It's almost as if this was meant to be solved by us Divine Child: "Please forgive them They only sought to keep me hidden However, it seems it was not meant to be Close your eyes Let us meet at the Inner Sanctum." Here, the Divine Child of the Rejuvenating Waters parts you finally with the Mortal Blade. Which you're able to draw thanks to your resurrective powers. Sekiro: "I accept it's power." Kuro: "Wolf... That sword on your back Is it the sword that can kill those who cannot die?" Sekiro: "Yes. It was given to me by the Divine Child of the Rejuvenating Waters at Senpou Temple." Kuro: "The Divine Child of the Rejuvenating Waters?" Sekiro: "The monks at Senpou Temple abandoned the ways of their faith in pursuit of immortality, the result is those who have false dragon's heritage known as the divine children of the Rejuvenating Waters." Kuro: " A false dragon's heritage... I never would have thought... wait divine children?" Sekiro: "Yes. Many were created but only one survived." Kuro: "Further proof of the corruption this power brings to man, the ties of immortality must be severed." Sekiro: "Yes my lord." Now that you have the gracious gift of Tears We can actually acquire the Dragon's tears and sever immortality. Interestingly, though We are not the first to seek the Crimson mortal blade with immortal severance in mind many years ago There was a woman named Tomoe and a divine heir named Takeru Who tried to do the same. Tomoe's note reads what she's describing is the purification ending, where the oathbound commits sudoku (very funny) restoring the divine heir's mortality and the humanity. She goes on to write The high priest is central to everything in Senpou. He was the founder of this temple So we need to figure out what his motivations were For creating the divine child, for starting this temple, for hiding away the Mortal Blade and for creating the divine children. We find him dressed all in blue, his corpse sequestered away in a cave and instead of immortal severance Which Tomoe wanted, the high priest wanted a different ending. Turns out he was actually gunning for the Dragon's return ending which he must have looked up on a wiki or something because that shit's Complicated, but to this end and for this dragon's return ending he outlined his journey in two sacred Scriptures. The first text that describes his journey is Holy Chapter: Infested. Depending on when you arrive here, it's either in the hands of the regretful monk outside the Halls of Illusion or It's thrown to the bottom of the lake in disgust. It lays out a founding principle for Senpou temple That their journey is to spend an eternity Musing on why they cannot die The text is from the perspective of the High Priest and it reads: This text reveals a potentially major twist in Senpou Temple's law. It reveals that their founding principle isn't necessarily to acquire immortality After all the monks already assumed they were immortal from the centipedes. No, Instead their founding goal was to understand their infestation, something the high priest considered enlightenment. Although, whether it is enlightenment and whether the path to that enlightenment was justified That is another story But he believed that the Avenue to this enlightenment was the creation of a divine child of the Rejuvenating Waters and they abandoned all virtue and ethics while chasing that creation, and when you give the divine child this text it explains to her why she was created Sekiro: "I was told to give this to you." Divine Child: "Thank you. I will accept it..." Sekiro: "What's wrong?" Divine Child: "I, I still cannot help but detest them." In the end though The information within does set her on a path to the dragon's return Divine Child: There is something I would like to discuss. I believe we should aim not to sever the dragon's heritage But instead to return it to its rightful place." Sekiro: "Return the dragon's blood?" Divine Child: "That's right. The dragon's heritage was set free from its homeland and it drifted here to Japan Its power was never meant for this land Until something is done it will continue to corrupt the lives of those who encounter it, the dragon's heritage and those Connected to it. It is only right that they return home to the west to the birthplace of the divine dragon However, there is one problem. I am unsure of the exact destination." Sekiro: "Who would know? Divine Child: "Perhaps the high priest of Senpou Temple." Sekiro: "And he is?" Divine Child: "He's the founder of Senpou Temple. I wonder how old he actually is. He has secluded himself in a five-story pagoda Past the narrow cave not far from here... Shinobi of the Divine heir." Sekiro: "Yes?" Divine Child: "This path differs from that of the one to sever Immortality. I do not wish to force my opinion upon you. Should you wish to return the dragon's heritage Then prehaps you should seek out the High Senpou Priest." The infested chapter speaks of his undying journey towards understanding why he cannot die. And the second chapter : "Dragon's return" lays out his conclusions. it reads : The serpentine fruits mentioned, are the dried and fresh hearts of the Serpent's of the sunken Valley And Senpou actually has a lot of pre-existing links with the snakes and with the valley that are really easy to miss however, discussions surrounding the snakes will Continue in the 'sunken Valley' episode and will go deeper into the Dragon's return I think in the endings video. Remember to subscribe and ring the notification bell so you don't miss out by the way It's coming soon. I want to leave you on a really important topic, the infested, the centipedes. You probably thought I'd mentioned them earlier They're so core to Senpou Temple and yet I mentioned them last because just like the monks and their motivation, We don't really have enough information on them yet, in my opinion, to draw guaranteed conclusions. what we do know is that the centipedes are found within Hanbei, the Senpou monks, the guardian ape and the Corrupted monk and in all of these examples the hosts actually have a pretty symbiotic relationship with the centipede They're able to carry on their goals while infested whether it be defending a bridge meditating on undeath or Just cultivating a flower to give to a mate The centipede is more than happy to stay in the body for a ridiculous amount of time. And that might be their goal we'll get to that later but Assuming that the rejuvenating waters and the fountainhead waters are the same thing then these waters are actually what all the infested have in common the guardian ape resides in a valley where the fountain headwaters pool deeply the corrupted monk guards the fountainhead palace And could also have linked the Senpou monks who themselves have studied the waters for an age. To me It makes a lot of sense that the centipedes come from these waters after all, the waters stem from the Dragons heritage and the Dragons heritage, too Has its own form of stagnation in the form of dragon rot Which eats away at one's lifeforce the centipedes mirror that stagnation in the waters of rejuvenation Sealing it for me is that there is actually one more place that the centipedes appear It's very hard to find but deep below Fountainhead lake Surrounding the corpse of a giant carp are tens of luminescent centipedes Which might mean that they infest the very source of the rejuvenating waters interestingly giant carp in Sekiro are supposedly everlasting and have goals of becoming a dragon and the fact that some centipedes have stripped away an immortal corpse is Curious to say the least. In addition, there are multiple Japanese legends that link centipedes and Dragons But those are tales for another time for all their mentions about centipedes making the infested Immortal, they might actually not for, in the cave by the five-tier pagoda, we find the high priest and his peers as still and as dead as the centipedes that rest upon them. The nature of the High Priest's undeath is By far the most intriguing part of Senpou temple. Did he know when he was going to die? Is this why he and his peers hid away in a cave So no one would find out? Did the centipede leave their bodies once it was fully grown? Does it have some objective beyond this place? Where did it go? And also, how did this guy discover so much about the Dragon's return and what was his relationship like with the Divine child? She knows about him somehow after all. There's a lot of questions that I could speculate on for hours But this has gone too long already. I'm curious though, as always. What do you think? I've actually decided to split the majority of Sekiro's story into four parts now and I'm doing this for a few reasons partly because it allows me to go into way more detail as you can probably tell from this episode and Partly because, hey I get to Commission a bunch of incredible art for every single episode So that makes me happy. If you want to access all my notes Or if you want full-sized exclusive wallpapers that you see featured on these thumbnails then check out our patreon or Just subscribe with twitch prime over on Twitch The next few weeks are all about the lore. So stay tuned and I'll hash all over now
