DS3 isn't "subtly" connected to DS1, it's full of a lot of the same stuff and explicit references. You have no way of making the connections in 2 because it's trying to be vague, but you have to be blind not to see it in 3. The problem is people fanboying the new OC NPCs and trying to meme about them, that's how they end up spoiling the plot, not deep lore videos connecting it to 1.