The Garden of Eyes

The Garden Of Eyes

I posted my Garden of Eyes Rediculore (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWQrUbac6Jk) and got something very interesting in return. Actual lore! 

After talking it over with a few people like Herbert West (who mentioned that The Garden of Eyes may actually transform into the Amygdala, and the similarities between he two), Diego Carnero Ortega (whose comments you can find in the video), and others, some semblance of real lore started forming in my head thanks to everyone!

The Origins.

The Garden of Eyes weren't always hideous fly-like creatures roaming the grounds of Byrgenwerth. They were once human.

It's likely The Garden of Eyes became insects with bulging eyes, following experiments conducted by Willem and his scholars.

What was the point of creating these hideous beings? Well, their name explains it all. They were meant to be a garden from which eyes could be plucked. 

Eyes in a Jar.

Pickled eyes are found all over the Byrgenwerth building. Some of those eyes, if not all of them, probably came from The Garden of Eyes. Perhaps Byrgenwerth scholars had hoards of these fly-men locked up in in a room, a cellar, or beneath the floor. 

All that the scholars had to do was to reach out and rip out an eye, whenever they needed insight, or material for their experiments.

The Subjects

On the one hand, it's quite possible that people volunteered for an experiment at Byrgenwerth. Maybe neither the researcher, nor the subjects, really knew what was going to happen. Perhaps the countless eyes were an unintended side effect of the experimentation, and subjects' new title (Garden of Eyes), as well as their new purpose (having their eyes harvested), followed. 

On the other hand, it's possible that Willem knew full well what he was doing. He wanted more eyes. Much more eyes. So he gathered volunteers under false pretences. Once the volunteers transformed into flies, they became prisoners at Byrgenwerth.

The Transformation

The Garden of Eyes hold on to a rock on which a spider is engraved. Perhaps that rock, and engraving, are a hint as to their transformation. Meaning, their transformation could have followed a blood ministration from Rom. 

Moreover, there are theories suggesting that The Garden of Eyes transform into an Amygdala with time.

Rom

Rom is quite mysterious, but we can draw some parallels between Rom and the Garden of Eyes. 

Location: The Garden of Eyes hang round Byrgenwerth. Rom rests at the Moonside Lake, which can be accessed through Byrgenwerth.

Amygdala: Once Rom is defeated, the hunter is transported to an Amygdala. There are theories out there saying that the Garden of Eyes transform into an Amydgala.

Appearance: Both have a multitude of eyes. 

Amygdala

There are theories out there saying that The Garden of Eyes transform into the Amygdala. After all, both share some physical resemblance, and both can frenzy the hunter.

Some say that after escaping Byrgenwerth, The Garden of Eyes possibly ran into humans in Yharnam, and started being worshiped by them. Humans brought the offerings and treated them like Gods. With the help of humans, The Garden of Eyes prospered and grew, eventually embedding themselves into the landscape of the city, without bothering a soul, yet seeing everything.

BTW

On an unrelated note, I think their wings are reminiscent of an enemy in Dark Souls 1: the Moonlight Butterfly.

Moreover, I think that The Garden of Eyes look more distressed and agitated than other enemies we encounter. Their ripped clothes could suggests that they were mistreated, or that they fought their way out of their confinements. That could parallel the experiments that happened in the Archives in DS1. Naturally course their robes could have been ripped up during their transformation into fly-men.