Endings for Dark Souls and Dark Souls Remastered offers detailed guides on being able to acquire the various endings of the story. If you are looking for a quick overview of the game's walkthrough , follow our recommended Game Progress Route.
There are two possible ending for Dark Souls: "To Link the Fire" and "The Dark Lord".
These are popularly referred to as "the Fire ending" and "the Dark ending".
To Link The Fire
Triggered by defeating Gwyn, Lord of Cinder and lighting the final bonfire. By choosing this ending you succeed Gwyn as the next - "Great Lord" and accomplish the designs of Kingseeker Frampt. By linking the fire, The Chosen Undead embraces self-sacrifice, thus revitalizing the land and banishing The Curse of The Undead.
The Dark Lord
Triggered by defeating Gwyn, Lord of Cinder, then leaving the boss arena without lighting the final bonfire. By choosing this ending, you become The Dark Lord, The True Lord Of Men, thus realizing the designs of Darkstalker Kaathe. As The Dark Lord, you will usher in an Age of Dark... an Age of Men, and your Lordship shall prevail as the supreme sovereign.
AnonymousOops, I meant to link the flame... I didn't realise walking back would get the age of dark ending. ****!!!
- Anonymous
does the ending change if you dont choose any of the serpents
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
"May Chaos take the world!"
For real though, as someone who played Elden Ring as the first from-souls game, I genuinely thought there's a Chaos Flame Ending when I knew that chaos flame also exist in ds1
- Anonymous
Got the dark finale because i wanted to kill the knights outside of the fog gate that i had not killed yet lol
- Anonymous
Lol cast pursuers 1 2 3 lord gwyn died in less than 20 seconds kalameet was tougher with a giant spear through his side
- Anonymous
"Yeah, I know he wants to make life better for everyone and put an end to the suffering of almost everything on the planet... But at least the one that lives for this **** is honest." Lol
Anyway, wether or not you're deceived, I think the ending is more about fighting so hard to affect the world and then having to choose if you're going to be selfless and give up your life to save the world, or be selfish and choose to become the next lord of a rotten world.
It's been a while since I played the game, and I've definitely never seen the Japanese script, but I think it's made clear along the way that to "link the fire" will in effect require you to give your life.
- Anonymous
Frampt is effectively lying to you the whole time. He's called a Kingseeker and insists your destiny is to succeed Gwyn. There is a double deception because when lighting the fire, you don't ascend to godhood but rather die. Frampt, Gwyn's friend, deceives you into fulfilling Gwyn's ambition. He's not seeking a king, but rather a dupe. It's seems to have been all part of Gwyn's plan to prolong the Age of Fire and you get played like a fool. Kaathe, while he wants a bleak fate for the world, is at least honest.
- Anonymous
i loved elden ring so much i went back and bought souls I-III and i was so used to it asking me first before restarting my game that i didn’t know lighting the bonfire jus started u again lol
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Tried doing the game without the wiki or internet. Made it to kiln, farmed about 6 BK for gear, then proceeded, came across gwyn who took 2 whole flasks to beat, lit fire like normal and game just resets
- Anonymous
Frampt wants you to rekindle the flame, thus the Undead Curse will be gone, only for the flame to be on the verge of death once again when the whole cycle will start once again. Kaathe wants you to stop the flame, so the whole world will be covered in darkness. Both are wrong though, neither realize that this is an unending curse over Lordran, and whatever choice you make, the ending is still the same. Rekindling the flame again and again and again only for the Undead Curse to prevail once more and more Hollows to appear is just pure insanity. And covering the whole world in darkness is not any better either, but it's the correct way, in my opinion. We, no, everyone already knows the terror of the Undead so just extinguish the flame and face a bigger nightmare, but with hope that it will go away once and for all.
- Anonymous
I didn’t see anything in the boss arena, and thought to go back; only to find myself becoming the “dark lord”
- Anonymous
I couldnt find the "last bonfire" and thought I should go back.
- Anonymous
So… the fire ending is the good ending and the dark lord ending is the bad ending? So on one hand you get to free everyone from hell and get booted into NG+, on the other you make it worse but you get to stay for a while, which one do you guys recommend?
Me and on my first playthrough after defeating Gwyn.
"Oh, a bonfire? Let me earp back to upgrade my **** before going for NG+... Wait, what? Game ended? F**k..."
- Anonymous
I chose Kaathe but clicked to link the fire anyway, surprised Kaathe didn't jump out to stop me.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
So I just finished my first playthrough. I've played through DS3 several times, so when I got Gwyn's soul I thought I could go transpose it and do some other stuff to prepare for NG+ before linking the fire. But I guess I'm dark lord now...
For the record, Ispecifically didn't speak to Kaathe (or even encounter him for that matter) because I wanted to link the fire.
- Anonymous
Most beautiful ending ever made for this game, look for a video called 'Dark Souls 1 Secret ending Solaire ending' . Solaire finally finds his very own SUN!!!
- Anonymous
How do we know that linking the fire banishes the curse of the undead? I've searched everywhere and I can't find that information.
Wearing my skin is painful but can you guys become Dark Lord with me on, some more infamy couldn't hurt
- Anonymous
i dont hate gwyn for stuff he did to people i hate him because he started the cycle...dragons were neutral but gwyn and the other lords greed the damn greed...the world would have been a better place the way it was.i believe some of kaathe words are bullsh!t like he says gwyn has resisted NATURE but this sh!tty cycle isnt nature, its the most unnatural thing i ever saw. so you wanna see nature? well get down to ash lake...thats nature and thats how the world was supposed to be. it was gwyns greed that had brought this horrible things to the world. but you think dark is better? no... whatever that takes a role in this UNATURAL cycle is evil, greed will consume all same as it consumed the witch of izalith who wanted to have a flame of her own as it has consumed the whole world by this cycle as it was the element of which has gave birth to the abyss and so on...THE FIRST SIN means greed to me .the events of ds3 and so on...none of the would have happened
#hate_gwyn
- Anonymous
Yeah choice matters not there will be periods where the curse isn’t around but once that flame starts to fade.... BEEF JERKY TIME
- Anonymous
It doesn't matter if you light the fire or not. The age of fire will come back, even if you chose not to kindle the fire. It's a cycle that repeats indefinitely. And the age of dark is not the real age of man. Because the fire will come back some day. The only solution to get the age of man is what you do in the best ending of DS3. The age of Hollows.
- Anonymous
After defeating Gwyn, I just walked out to see where the knights have gone, but i unknowingly triggered the second ending lol.
- Anonymous
at the age of dark, does all bonfires fade hm? So immortality of undead is over or what?
- Anonymous
age of fire just comes with an another fading flame which just make undeads suffering from this endless pain again. on the other hand,dark soul came from the first flame,with the flame fading,the humankind will lost the abillity to rule,its just an "AGE OF SERPENTS".they just bow for you and sneer behind you for your foolishness.
- Anonymous
Either way, Chosen Undead flexes on everyone after whooping deity ass.
- Anonymous
They should have made dragon ending, one where after defeating Gwyn you summon Everlasting Dragon (only if youre in his covenant and gave him 80 dragon scales) and he starts Age of Ancients over again
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