It twists our heroic sacrifice, revealing the darker consequences of what once seemed like a noble and heroic act. If the original Dark Souls was about the victory of survival in the face of death, then Dark Souls III is about the desire for death in face of survival. We had a choice, a choice that Dark Souls III makes more complicated, and that choice speaks to our relationship with the gods and men of this world. We could have ignored that mission, done nothing instead. However, in previous games we didn’t actually have to “link the fire”, as it’s called. We naturally want to fight the darkness because it’s an easy metaphor for evil and horror. Society teaches us this is right, and we want to believe it’s right. A prince, a priest, a Giant, or a common man can all become Lords of Cinder. Those that survive the burning become Lords of Cinder, an honorary title that bestows royalty upon them, no matter the person’s origin.

We give ourselves to the Flame as Gwyn did, continuing the cycle he started, making us as gods as well. The Way of White is a religious covenant for all things related to Gwyn, and it teaches us the nobility of sacrifice. He sacrificed himself to the Flame to keep it burning, a boost of fuel to combat the coming Darkness.īy the time Dark Souls III was released, a society had formed around this process. With no kingdom, no family, and no friends, Gwyn did the one thing left to him. The Witch of Izalith, one of the original Giants, tried to create a new flame, but it backfired and consumed her, birthing Chaos Demons into the world. The other gods, Gwyn’s children, then panicked and fled. However, Gwyn’s four chosen kings were corrupted by a primordial serpent, an ancient being who seeks the Age of Dark, so the god flooded his kingdoms to contain these new enemies. It’s a long drawn out process that Gwyn and other Giants have tried to stop. The answer, as it often is for questions such as these, is a matter of faith. Why do we break ourselves for this already broken world? Why subject ourselves to so much death? “Enough death to leave you broken,” says another warrior we meet along the way. It’s a cycle that we’ve participated in for three games now, and each game hints that it has happened countless times in between, as well.īut why? Why sacrifice ourselves to keep this world alive? This is a horrible world, one of pain and sadness and constant horror. We fight our way to the fire and then we offer ourselves up to it, giving up our bodies as if we are kindling that helps the fire burn a little brighter for a little longer. In each Dark Souls game we set out to renew it. This is the Age of Fire, an age fueled by the First Flame, but the flame is fading. The Age of Fire begins with this victory, as Gwyn establishes his kingdom of Lordran, and humanity emerges to worship this Giant, this :ord of Light, this God and King. The important Giant from this introduction is Lord Gwyn, the one who “stood for the Light”, and led a rebellion against the Dragons to take the surface. The first paragraph of Genesis as it were. So begins the first major lore video by VaatiVidya, Dark Souls lore guru, laying out the beginnings of this world. For within the Flame was great power, and four Giants claimed this power.

These creatures emerged to inspect the Flame, and these were the ones who would become known as Giants. Now there was Light and Dark, and the Light illuminated the creatures who were hiding.

but that was about to change, because when the Flame came it created Disparity. Nothing changed, nothing progressed, and nothing lived or died. Above was grey, with Dragons who had existed forever. “In the beginning, there were two places of existence: There was the Above, and the Below.

Explaining dark souls 3 endings