There is still a lot more to discover in Dark Souls 3, and in fact in all Souls games, for us as players. The story is shrouded in mystery, and motivations often remain vague unless you dig deep into the surrounding objects, areas, and people to get answers.

Below is just one interpretation of the story of Dark Souls 3, how it relates to the rest of the series, and where it takes us at the end of the game. You may or may not agree with some or all of the story, and that’s okay. Let us know what you think below. Also, let us know if we missed any items or explanations that you think could be added to the story.

This page covers the basics of the story, how the game begins, our motivations and who we play as, and finally how the world got to where it is now. However, there are other pages with more specific details, see just below.

• Boss Lore – Here we talk about the lore and stories behind the Lords of Cinder.
• Character Lore – On this page we will dive deep into the lore and stories of various NPCs.
• Lore Locations – On this page you will find information about various locations and the stories behind them.

The Fire Fades

“Ashes seek embers.” A line spoken in the opening scene says a lot but few words. The flame goes out, almost gone in fact. The ashes left behind crave a new fire, but there is none. Why did the flame go out? Usually, a hero rises up, lights the flame, the Age of Fire begins again, the curse is extinguished, and countless ages of peace reign until the curse returns.

What if no one lights the fire? What if, exceptionally, the First Fire never comes, the First Fire is never ignited? There is no one there, no new soul to give him power, so the fire goes out and darkness begins to overwhelm the light. This is a new scenario for us, no longer in a world where fire still has power. No, this time the fire is almost out, and we are the last hope before it goes out completely.

Why is it Fading?

As I said, someone has to light the Furnace of Flames. Sir Gwyn was the first, then Dark Souls 1 came along, and we will shine a light on them. It is thought that because the prospect of putting out the fire is too bleak, leading to a world no one wants to live in, countless others will come after us, rekindling the fire again and again.

But what if a chosen hero did just that? In Dark Souls 3, we learn about Prince Lothric, the future heir to the throne of Lothric. But what makes him so significant is that he was destined to be the Lord of Cinders. We know this because on his great throne in Firelink Shrine is inscribed “Lothric the Holy, Last Hope of the Lineage.” This makes it clear that he was destined to be the next Lord Cinder even before he was born. He would ignite the Flame and renew the Age of Fire, saving the world, at least for a time.

But… he never did. Lothric was born frail and cursed; barely able to move on his own, his body was deformed. That alone would be enough to spell trouble for his fate, for how could someone who could barely move light the Flame? However, there are other things that support this idea. The first of these can be found during the boss fight. In the opening scene, he frankly admits that he doesn’t want to be a lord:

This dialogue paints a striking picture: Lothric hates the idea of ​​being the Lord of Cinders. In fact, he goes so far as to call any connection to fire a curse, something to be hated and despised. He’s happy for it all to go away, and would even actively try to stop you, not just because he wants to live, but because he wants to prevent the Flames from ever being lit again.

So why should he feel that way? Yes, he felt his own curse was the result of his destiny. Or maybe he saw or read about what happened to the cultures before they connected with the fire, but could not stop it, only slow it down, so they were eventually consumed by the curse of the undead. But we have clues as to what led Lothric down the path of disdain for his connection to the fire:

Soul Stream – Magic bestowed by the First Scholar when Lothric and the Great Archive were still young. Unleashes a barrage of souls. The First Scholar suspected a connection to the fire, and is said to have been the personal mentor of the Crown Prince.

One of the first scholars Lothric taught as a child was known to be skeptical of the Connection of Fire. We are impressionable when we are young and often look up to those around us. Could it be, then, that the young prince Lothric listened to this mentor, and over time came to dislike the legacy of the Connection of Fire as much as his former mentor?

Lothric Ushers in an Age of Dark

So we know that Lothric was destined to be Lord of Cinder, but his physical condition and attitude towards his destiny show that this was never to be. He is not even mentioned as one of the Lords of Cinder in the opening cinematic. What does that mean? Prince Lothric, the hero who was supposed to light the sacred fire, was unable to do so, and a dark age ushered in. The world continued to turn, but the curse of the undead remained unpushed back, and thrived, and the fire continued to die out.

One misconception about the Dark Ages is that they are the end of all eras. This is not the case. The world doesn’t stop if no one lights a fire, and people don’t just fall over and die. The only notable change in the world is that fire goes out and the curse of the undead continues to grow. In Dark Souls 3, this is seen all over the world. The biggest example is the Undead Settlements, where entire cities are inhabited and maintained by the undead.

So, Lothric didn’t doom the world, but he did lead the world on a path that, as far as we know, it had never been on before. He threw his destiny overboard, refusing to bind the Flame, bringing about a dark age where the Curse of the Undead could thrive. This is where we come in. The world has been in darkness for countless eons, the Curse of the Undead has engulfed almost everyone, and the First Flame is only the last light.

The Final Bell Tolls

Without the First Flame, the land of Lothric was left to fend for itself, until one day the bells began to ring. It rang like a distress signal from the Firelink Shrine. This is the final call to save the fire, and if this bell rings and the protagonist fails, the first flame will go out completely.

It is not known who rang it, but it is possible that it was a member of the fire brigade. This bell seems to have a similar effect to the Awakening Bell from Dark Souls 1, but this time the bell heard at the beginning of Dark Souls 3 seems to be a distress signal. It rings to awaken us, the Lord of the Unburned and the Cinders, so we can attempt to save the First Flame before it goes out completely. Though they don’t look the same, it’s clear that both the Bell in Dark Souls 3 and the Bell of Awakening in Dark Souls 1 possess an insane amount of power.

The Lords Awaken

In the opening of Dark Souls 3, we see what awakens Bell; Abyss Watcher, Aldrich the Devourer of Gods, and the giant Yohm all awaken alongside us, the player. It’s not entirely clear why these particular Lords were chosen to awaken, but it may be due to the timelines each Lord of Cinder has linked their fires to. Since five Lords of Cinder must sit on the throne to win the game, the youngest five are likely the strongest. As we’ll see later, Yohm is likely the oldest, with Lothric, who was next in line before abandoning his destiny, being the youngest.

Why do we need the Lord of Cinders? Before, it was enough to kill everyone and enter the first furnace of fire to ignite the flame and save the world. But that was also a time when the fire still had some momentum left. Now that the fire is dying out, we need more power to rekindle it, but our lonely souls just aren’t enough. Awakening those who lit the fire before essentially gives our protagonist more power, and when he lights the fire, it not only adds his soul, but the souls of the other five Lord Cinders.

Us, The Unkindled

So we know the bell tolls to wake the Lord, but why does it wake us? The opening scene tells us, albeit vaguely:

“Nameless, cursed undead, not worthy even of ashes. And ashes seek embers.”

As in all previous games, we are the undead. Cursed beings with a mission to save the world. The direct difference is that we are also referred to as the “uninflamed”. So, what are we?

Well, we are both. What makes us special is the last part of the quote above: Ashes seek embers because we are not worthy to become ashes. Our interpretation of this is that the player character is an undead who is too weak or perhaps corrupted in some way to be able to become ashes like most undead. The item “Homecoming Bones” sheds some light on this concept:

“Bone fragments that have turned to white ash. The campfire is kept alive by the bones of the undead. In rare cases, a previous owner’s strong urge to seek out the campfire may endow the bones with a homing instinct.”

So usually the undead will inevitably turn to ashes and be added to the campfire to keep the flame going. But our character was not suitable for this process. He no longer had any flame or energy in his soul, so he could not turn to ashes. “Ashes seeking embers” probably refers to the first flame seeking new embers, but also to us, the players. Our character has no inner flame, he is just ashes looking for embers.

The implications of this are quite profound, and what becomes immediately apparent is that after death, we are essentially no longer Hollows. Hollows can be found throughout the world, such as outside of Firelink Shrines and in Undead settlements. Hollows are people who have been Undead for so long that they have lost their sanity and gone mad. In Dark Souls 1 and 2, we became Hollows upon death, but because we were Chosen Undead, we were able to retain our sanity. In Dark Souls 3, we are not Hollows at all unless we meet a very specific series of events.

Why is that? How did our character overcome a curse that has plagued humanity for centuries? Well, to become a Hollow you need a soul. You have to have something inside of you that you’re willing to lose. Every time the undead die, they lose their connection to their soul, and in the end they’re left with nothing and become an insane Hollow. What if we didn’t have a soul? We know that our personalities are not worthy of being turned to ash. Perhaps the reason we can’t be turned to ash is the same as the reason we can’t be turned to hollow bodies: the curse of the undead can’t turn us into hollow bodies if there is nothing inside us to begin with.