DARK SOULS III (2016)

In an era where the First Flame—the fundamental law of the world—begins to fade, the end of all things draws inexorably near. For the world to endure, the “Linking of the Fire” is essential: a ritual in which a powerful soul offers itself as tinder to fuel the flame. Yet at the end of a long history of linking, the Lords of Cinder—mighty champions who once bound the flame—have abandoned their thrones, refusing to link the fire once more due to their own duties, despair, or disillusionment. As the bell tolls to herald the world’s despair, an Unkindled—a nameless, incomplete being of ash who failed to link the fire in a past life—awakens from a grave within the Cemetery of Ash.

Guided to Firelink Shrine, the hub for the linking of the fire, the Ashen One meets the Fire Keeper and is charged with a grave mission: to hunt down the fallen Lords of Cinder, claim their cinders, and rekindle the First Flame. Journeying through the decaying kingdom of Lothric, the Ashen One sets out to confront these once-great monarchs.

The first Lord, the Abyss Watchers—sworn swordsmen of the Undead Legion of Farron—had fought tirelessly to halt the spread of the Abyss, but were ultimately consumed by the very darkness they fought, trapped in an endless frenzy of mutual slaughter. The second, Yhorm the Giant of the Profaned Capital, had once linked the fire to protect his people, only for the resulting Profaned Flame to incinerate his city and subjects—a tragedy that drove him to abandon his throne in despair. The third, Aldrich, Devourer of Gods, originally a saint of the Deep, had degenerated into a monstrous cannibal who devoured men and ultimately consumed Dark Sun Gwyndolin, a god of the old era. Finally, Prince Lothric, born to a cursed bloodline, rejected his harsh destiny to link the fire, choosing instead to sit beside his elder brother, Prince Lorian, and quietly watch the world slowly fade away.

Crossing paths with fellow travelers and weary souls—such as Hawkwood the Deserter, Siegward of Catarina, and Anri of Astora—the Ashen One reclaims the cinders of every Lord and returns them to their respective thrones. Empowered by the gathered cinders, alongside Ludleth of Courland, the sole Lord who remained faithful to his duty, the Ashen One reaches the Kiln of the First Flame, the origin of the world.

Standing guard at the threshold is the Soul of Cinder, the manifestation of all the lords and heroes who have linked the First Flame throughout history. After overcoming this formidable guardian, who still echoes the strength and semblance of Lord Gwyn, the Ashen One is confronted with the ultimate choice that will shape the fate of the world: to link the First Flame and prolong the age, to allow the fire to vanish alongside the Fire Keeper and usher in an Age of Dark, or to usurp the flame and reign supreme as the Lord of Hollows. Thus, the story concludes, leaving the fundamental order of the world in the player’s hands.

DLC: ASHES OF ARIANDEL (2016)

The Painted World of Ariandel is a realm shrouded in ash and snow—a sanctuary for the forlorn, the outcast, and the defeated who have slipped away from the real world. When the ancient Painted World of Ariamis succumbed to rot, Father Ariandel, a restorer of paintings, created this new refuge to harbor those without a place to belong.

By the natural laws of painted worlds, when a world eventually rots, it must be cleansed by fire—burning the old canvas to make way for a new painting. However, Sister Friede—a founder of the Sable Church who failed to link the fire and became an Unkindled—firmly rejected this cycle of destruction and rebirth. Persuading Father Ariandel, she convinced him to appease the fire with his own blood, suppressing the flames and trapping the painted realm in a state of quiet, stagnant decay.

The Ashen One is drawn into the Painted World of Ariandel upon touching a scrap of a canvas offered by Slave Knight Gael, an aged knight resting at the Cathedral of the Deep. Gael summons the Ashen One as the bearer of fire for his master, a young Painter residing in the attic of the chapel. The Painter wishes to paint a new, gentle world where the forlorn may live peacefully, bringing an end to the rot consuming Ariandel. Yet to paint this new world, she requires two things: the sight of “fire” to burn away the old world, and the “Blood of the Dark Soul” to serve as her pigment.

Navigating through the rot-infested frozen wasteland and fending off the knights and monstrosities sworn to defend the realm, the Ashen One reaches the innermost chapel where Friede and Ariandel suppress the flame. Friede warns the intruder not to interfere with their sanctuary, but the Ashen One refuses, igniting a battle.

Though Friede falls in the fierce clash, Father Ariandel’s agonizing cries and shed blood resurrect her, awakening her true power as Blackflame Friede, cloaked in dark fire. Upon overcoming both, the long-sealed flame is unleashed at last. As flames engulf the chapel, the Painted World of Ariandel finally begins its promised burning to make way for the next world. Above in her attic, the young Painter gazes upon the fire, quietly awaiting Gael’s return from his journey to the ends of the earth to retrieve the Blood of the Dark Soul.

DLC: THE RINGED CITY (2017)

As the world approaches its ultimate end, lands and structures from across different eras collapse inward, piling upon one another to form the Dreg Heap—a chaotic graveyard of ancient ruins. Descending into the Dreg Heap from either the depths of Ariandel or the Kiln of the First Flame, the Ashen One embarks on a final journey to uncover the fundamental truths of the world and the origin of the Dark Soul.

Deep within the Dreg Heap, where the high walls of Lothric and forgotten ruins lie stacked in ruin, the Ashen One vanquishes the Demon Prince—a remnant born from the lingering Chaos—and descends into the isolated city at the edge of the world: The Ringed City.

In the dawn of the Age of Fire, Lord Gwyn gifted this city to the Furtive Pygmy—the ancestor of humanity who possessed the Dark Soul—and his descendants. In truth, however, the Ringed City was a gilded cage designed by the gods, who feared the terrifying potential of the Dark Soul awakening. At the city’s heart slept Princess Filianore, Gwyn’s youngest daughter. Her slumber, tied to her sacred embrace of an egg, sustained the illusion of the city, keeping it suspended in time away from the collapsing world. Meanwhile, in the shadows, Darkeater Midir, an ancient dragon raised by the gods to devour the Abyss, guarded the realm while resisting the corruption taking root within himself.

Guided by messages left by Slave Knight Gael, who had journeyed ahead, the Ashen One reaches Filianore’s slumbering chamber. As the Ashen One touches the egg in her arms, it shatters, disturbing her eternal sleep and abruptly breaking the illusion that bound the city in stasis.

The grand city vanishes, revealing the true face of the world at the end of time: a silent, endless expanse of ash and wasteland stretching to the horizon. In this desolate desert, the Ashen One reunites with Gael. Driven to madness by consuming the blood of the Pygmy Lords to obtain the Dark Soul for his Painter, Gael has transformed into a hollowed, monstrous beast, stripped of his mind.

A tragic battle ensues between former allies—the last two beings left at the end of the world. Defeating Gael, the Ashen One collects the Blood of the Dark Soul accumulated within him. Returning to the burning chapel, the Ashen One presents the blood to the Painter. With her pigment obtained, she vows to paint a new world named after the Ashen One—a place “cold, dark, and very gentle.” Thus, the final promise bridging the end of the Age of Fire to the birth of a new world is fulfilled, bringing the dark fantasy epic to its ultimate close.