Dark Souls Series Story Summary/Thoughts

DARK SOULS
--------In the Age of Ancients, the world was unformed, shrouded by fog. A land of grey crags, archtrees, and everlasting dragons. But then there was Fire. And with Fire, came Disparity. Heat and cold, life and death, and of course... Light and Dark. Then, from the Dark, They came, and found the Souls of Lords within the flame. Nito, the first of the dead, the Witch of Izalith, and her Daughters of Chaos, Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, and his faithful knights...and the furtive pygmy, so easily forgotten. With the Strength of Lords, they challenged the dragons. Gwyn's mighty bolts peeled apart their stone scales. The witches weaved great firestorms. Nito unleashed a miasma of death and disease. And Seath the Scaleless betrayed his own, and the dragons were no more. Thus began the Age of Fire.

But soon, the flames will fade, and only Dark will remain. Even now, there are only embers, and man sees not light, but only endless nights. And amongst the living are seen, carriers of the accursed Darksign.--------

The description of the primordial DARK SOULS world is: gray, always equating out to null. At this time, the Age of Ancients, the sole inhabitants of the world are "everlasting" creatures, the dragons and archtrees, both immobile as stone, as untouchable as gods or ghosts.

Within one of the archtrees, a small fire appears. The prologue cutscene actually zooms through the innards of the tree as you see more and more sparks, then you see the tree's innards alight. In the final zone of DARK SOULS 3, [spoiler]you can see the final boss's arena and the location of the First Flame within the ruins of an archtree, if you look at it from the bonfire you use to warp to that arena[/spoiler]. This fire, the First Flame, is in DS terms the fundamental introduction of both life and the possibility of death. It is also small, and fragile, and the world it inhabits is ashen. The First Flame requires tinder to keep going.

But for now, the Fire is bright, and with its appearance there is also new life. The lifeforms that are born are drawn to Fire, their creator, the reason for their existence. Notably the prologue states that "from the Dark, They came", which is to say that life springs not directly from the flames, but from the shadow cast by the new light. Though the First Flame is weak and transient, some of the lifeforms divide it among themselves. They gain great power by doing so, but they also leave a smoldering, grimy ember in the remains. One small wretch, the Furtive Pygmy, collects this Dark power for itself, and exits the story for now.

The dawning Age of Fire holds sway not only over the new lifeforms, but over the everlasting dragons. "To be alive is to be vulnerable, and the fiery Gods are no exception," claims the Dragon Eye, artifact of the DARK SOULS dragon covenant. Perhaps now better known by the name "stone dragons", these ancient creatures are challenged by the upstart Lords, the official claimants of the First Flame (remember, we're ignoring that little guy at the end). On top of the Lords' power, the dragons suffer from an increasing number of deformities when subjected to the curse of life. Seath, a legless and scaleless dragon, betrays the rest of his kind, and the dragons that remain are hunted by the Lord's knights, or breed their way into mindless monstrosities like the Gaping Dragon or Hellkite.

Yet even without the threat of dragons, Fire dwindles. As it fades, its grip on its constructions- life and death -begins to blur. People are born with a curse where they cannot die properly, but nor can they live normal lives. Half-alive, half-dead, Undead, they lose their memories and go mad, becoming immortal zombies called Hollows. Their fates vary: some countries lock them away so they can't hurt anyone, other countries are overrun, and both Undead nad Hollows roam their decrepit ruins freely.

Likewise, if you consider that it is only under Fire's influence that various nations and peoples sprang forth, then when the Fire is dying, these disparate existences begin to melt together. Times and places start weaving into a single formless pool: a formless gray fog.

The Witch of Izalith, one of the Lords, attempted to revive the First Flame by her own method, and ended up corrupting her piece and herself, creating the Bed of Chaos from which life springs eternally, but all such life is demonic in nature. The protagonist of DARK SOULS ultimately destroys the corrupted flame, sentencing all demons to an eventual collapse from existence- they do not die. When you find their bodies in DARK SOULS 3, they are not rotten. Most of them look like they could spring to life at any time. But they have no souls, no inner fires, and so they no longer exist. What demons do linger at the end of the world have bodies in the process of turning to ash, punishment for holding onto what tiny piece of the fire remains within them.

Gwyn, leader of the Lords, then took it upon himself to revive his piece of the First Flame with his own body and soul. He burned himself as tinder for Fire, and reverted all this tentative gloom back to distinct lands and times. But the Undead curse was already upon him, and he was forced to burn an eternity, reviving endlessly, and going Hollow.

Several uncalculated millenia later, enter the protagonist of DARK SOULS. The protagonist is an Undead, part of the most recent wave of curses as the Fire inevitably fades. The protagonist is charged with enhancing Gwyn's original aim of reviving the First Flame by also collecting the souls/pieces of it that were dispersed to the other Lords. Upon doing this and setting themselves alight in Gwyn's place, the protagonist provides another few millenia of stability to the world.

But this is a conundrum. It is not the natural state of the DARK SOULS world to possess life (and death, and disparity). The Fire will always Fade, given enough time. Yet Kingseeker Frampt, a NPC that claims himself friend to Lord Gwyn, says "may the Age of Fire perpetuate". Kaathe, Frampt's counterpart, is friend to a very different kind of Lord. Remember the Pygmy, who clutched the grimy ember way back after the other Lords had taken their fill? That is the progenitor of humankind. The Dark Soul provided the essence of humanity, and the Pygmy became the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord naturally has no fear of Fire going out, and as the Fire fades, Darkness and the Pygmy's descendants become stronger.

The very first spark of Fire immeasurably altered the world, burnt and scarred it. The alternative to the Age of Fire is not a formless Age of Ancients, but an Age of Dark. Kaathe explains this alternative to the protagonist:

--------After the advent of fire, the ancient lords found the three souls. But your progenitor found a fourth, unique soul. The Dark Soul. Your ancestor claimed the Dark Soul and waited for Fire to subside. And soon, the flames did fade, and only Dark remained. Thus began the age of men, the Age of Dark. However…

Lord Gwyn trembled at the Dark. Clinging to his Age of Fire, and in dire fear of humans, and the Dark Lord who would one day be born amongst them, Lord Gwyn resisted the course of nature. By sacrificing himself to link the fire, and commanding his children to shepherd the humans, Gwyn has blurred your past, to prevent the birth of the Dark Lord.

I am the primordial serpent. I seek to right the wrongs of the past to discover our true Lord. But the other serpent, Frampt, lost his sense, and befriended Lord Gwyn. Undead warrior, we stand at the crossroad. Only I know the truth about your fate. You must destroy the fading Lord Gwyn, who has coddled Fire and resisted nature, and become the Fourth Lord, so that you may usher in the Age of Dark!--------

By Kaathe's account, Frampt knew the Dark Lord as well. Both Kaathe and Frampt are serpents, described by some rings in DARK SOULS as gluttonous, covetous symbols of the Undead. Perhaps in Gwyn's company, Frampt found something he chose to covet: endless Ages of Fire. His motivation then is not selfless, or respectful of you. Ultimately the Age of Fire causes great misery, and the golden splendor of it is unnatural. If you choose to become a Dark Lord in DARK SOULS, Frampt happily bows to you alongside the other serpents, that seem to multiply infinitely in the Age of Dark. The canon for the game's metanarrative however is that the fire was linked then, and over and over again.

DARK SOULS II
The story of DARK SOULS II actually begins in the DLC of DARK SOULS, with the actions of Frampt's counterpart Kaathe. Long before Kaathe tempted the Four Kings of New Londo, or met the Chosen Undead of DARK SOULS, he slithered over to the grave of the first human being and convinced the village that had grown over it to dig the fellow up. Why did he do this? Perhaps he thought returning to the purest "original" human would be a reasonable start for finding the Pygmy's successor. In a way he was correct: the corpse of primeval man overflowed with Darkness, or humanity. The Dark swallowed the village, and the corpse swelled into something monstrous, the very incarnation of the shadow Fire casts. The DARK SOULS protagonist slayed this manifestation.

But remember, when the Fire starts to fade, the laws of life and death do not matter as much as they should. In this case, the Father of the Abyss- as the creature was called -exploded into a bunch of tiny pieces, tiny Dark souls. DARK SOULS II explains, "Shadow is cast, not born of fire. And, the brighter the flame, the deeper the shadow." To survive, these fragile motes of Darkness sought power: brilliant souls, would-be kings that seemed apt to take the same fiery throne as the DARK SOULS protagonist. And like the Furtive Pygmy before them, they dropped out of sight for a while.

The DARK SOULS II protagonist begins as an Undead on pilgrimage, a Bearer of the Curse, much like the DARK SOULS protagonist. Again this special Undead meets two guides, like Frampt and Kaathe. The "Frampt path" is now under the guidance of a queen, Nashandra. Her husband Vendrick might have become what she calls a "true monarch", capable of linking the Fire, but instead he abandoned her and their kingdom. She sets the Bearer after Vendrick for the purpose of deposing him, and taking the throne he would not.

The "Kaathe path" sees the Bearer of the Curse visited by an abomination and scholar named Aldia. Aldia begins his persuasion of the Bearer in a very self-aware description of the SOULS story: "Young Hollow, there are but two paths. Inherit the order of this world, or destroy it. But only a true monarch can make such a choice." Aldia is first met after defeating one of the Old Ones, i.e. the first time you indicate your capacity to become the "true monarch" both he and Nashandra speak of. As the Bearer of the Curse becomes more powerful, Aldia's musings become less binary. Referencing those two fates, either continuing the illusion of an Age of Fire, or acquiring Lordship over an Age of Dark, he says, "Seek the throne. Seek light, Dark and what lies beyond."

Eventually the Bearer of the Curse meets a third guide of sorts, King Vendrick himself. With Vendrick's help, and the spirits of many failed kings like him, the Bearer overcomes the curse before they even reach the throne and the choice of Light or Dark. With a special crown constructed from the joined wills of those that might have been true monarchs, the Bearer of the Curse is immune to hollowing.

Then, upon overcoming Aldia's tests, and after destroying Nashandra who sought not a true monarch but a most brilliant soul to claim for the revival of Darkness atop the throne, the protagonist is allowed a choice between three options instead of two. The game has one cutscene that encompasses the traditional fates, a locking of the Bearer within an unlit kiln, where they may decide to provide tinder for the First Flame or where they may rule in Darkness. The other cutscene shows the protagonist abandoning fate, as Aldia says, "What do you want, truly? Light? Dark? Or something else entirely... There is no path. Beyond the scope of light, beyond the reach of Dark... what could possibly await us?"

DARK SOULS III
--------Yes, indeed, it is called Lothric, where the transitory lands of the Lords of Cinder converge. In venturing North, the Pilgrims discover the truth of the old words:

"The fire fades,
And the Lords go without thrones."

When the link of Fire is threatened, the Bell tolls, unearthing the old lords of cinder from their graves. Aldrich, Saint of the Deep, Farron's Undead Legion, the Abyss Watchers, and the reclusive lord of the profaned capital, Yhorm the Giant.

Only in truth, the Lords will abandon their thrones, and the Unkindled will rise. Nameless accursed undead, unfit even to be cinder.

And so it is that ash seeketh embers.--------

Rather than attempt to say what is or is not the story here, I am going to try and orient myself a bit. The prologue for DSIII tells us that it is still an Age of Fire, but one at so feeble a time that past entities who linked the Fire are being resurrected to serve as tinder, as no one of the current time has presented themselves. Maybe no one can. Maybe Lothric is the result of the First Flame being linked over and over again, fading over and over again, till the world is a nigh-unrecognizable mush. Many of the environments and creatures in the game are ashen, which recalls the Age of Ancients more than anything else. The Undead of this game cannot go hollow, which recalls the fate-breaking actions of the DSII protagonist.

But it seems that even in the absence of an in-game protagonist linking the Fire, others took that role. They are now called Lords of Cinder. The non-hollowing Undead are disdainfully labeled "Unkindled", under the assumption that they may someday be worthy enough to fuel the First Flame themselves. The guides of DARK SOULS III- a lone Firekeeper, and a self-proclaimed Lord of Cinder -progress much like Aldia in DSII. At first they give the Unkindled a straightforward story and goal, but later yield to the Unkindled's desires. Ludleth, the self-proclaimed Lord of Cinder, insists that the Unkindled make their own choice, just as he made his.

The other Lords of Cinder have only one trait in common: they want nothing to do with linking the Fire, even if they already did it once. They retreat to their homelands instead. Prince Lothric seems to be the most recent Lord of Cinder, or Cinder-potential. Judging by the Untended Graves beneath his castle, he refused to link the First Flame at all, yet the Fire's fading conceived alternative means of finding fuel. Something, or someone, started ringing bells to revive the old Cinder corpses from other ages, and when they refused their thrones, conjured the Unkindled from their graves instead. The Unkindled are wetworks specialists, assassins that will collect the Lords of Cinder, whether they want to participate or not.

DSIII introduces the faction of Londor as well, a gang of Undead bent on claiming the Fire for their own purposes.

DARK SOULS III has four endings:

+ [To Link the Fire] Linking the fire. The futility of this effort is marked by the tiny, feeble flame the Unkindled produces as they sit down at the fireside, and the persistence of a hollow sun in the sky.

+ [The End of Fire] Letting the fire die. The Unkindled summons a Firekeeper to whom they have granted eyes to tend the First Flame as it fades out, and the Age of Dark begins. The Firekeeper claims that "one day, tiny Flames will dance across the Darkness, like embers linked by Lords past". To me this suggests that even the Age of Dark will give sway to Fire again, someday. Men will simply have their Age of Dark like Gwyn had his Age of Fire, then there will be a new cycle, with new Lords.

+ [no trophy] Stealing the fire. The Unkindled steals the First Flame for their own benefit. To me this is the most mysterious ending, but I also felt like it had to be coming with that "ash seeketh embers" line from the prologue. I'm just not sure what to do with the Flame now that the Unkindled has it. This is the best ending because it most closely embodies the huge douche the SOULS protagonist always is.

+ [The Usurpation of Fire] The Unkindled accepts the dark sigil and the Hollowing curse from the cultists of Londor. Then, as a Hollow, they draw the First Flame into themselves, becoming a Lord probably not unlike Gwyn. This Lord of both Dark and Light, the Lord of Hollows, is a total badass and rules everything and "makes Londor whole again", the end.

There is a lot more to get into here, but that is my basic understanding. Cheers.