Line #81 Headscratchers/DarkSoulsIII


1	* It's mentioned in the Demon-related items that the Chaos Flame was extinguished. In ''Dark Souls II'' it was shown burning out of control and threatening to consume the kingdom of Eleum Loyce. Did something happen to quench it, or did it simply fade out over time like the First Flame?
2	** That would seem like the most plausible explanation. It's also possible that the actions of the player character in Eleum Loyce have indirectly led to the quenching of the Flame.
3	** Maybe killing the last of the Demons completely extinguished the Chaos Flame?
4	** Perhaps it has to do with the Bearer of the Curse leading the last few Loyce Knights into the Old Chaos. During the fight against the Charred Loyce Knights, the portals they spawn from are sealed, and the last one fades out when the Burnt Ivory King is beaten. Basically, the Ivory King's original mission is completed by the Bearer of the Curse. Combine that with Alsanna using her power to hold it back, and it probably just burned itself out.
5	* A minor nitpick, but if Blind Cleric Erina/Irina is from Carim, why is she wearing Thorolund garb? Granted, her appearance is supposed to be a CallBack to Rhea/Reah, but it's still a bit confusing.
6	** Possibly due to her status as a nun - she may have been born in Carim, but went to a cloister in Thorolund.
7	** The Maiden Set's description from the first game only says that it is "worn by traveling maidens", with no particular country named.
8	* Yoel can [[spoiler: Give you a free level, but after five times he dies, also it hollows you if you die, what is the point of this? embering is supposed to be this games humanity, so hollowing seems pointless]]
9	** [[spoiler: Because with hollowing comes the Dark Soul, and by harnessing the Dark Soul AND the First Flame you finally have all the keys to finally break the cycle of the Darksign permanently. See the Fridge page for more details.]]
10	* It's rather curious that a large portion of Dark Souls 2's lore is relegated to the most obscure references possible when Dark Souls 3 almost constantly makes direct callbacks and references to Dark Souls. How is it possible, for example, that the memory of Vendrick, Aldia, and Drangleic seems to have disappeared in Dark Souls 3, but Anor Londo, Artorias, Gwyndolin, and various other elements of Dark Souls are up and present in 3? Dark Souls 2 also established that, outside of Catarina, most of the kingdoms and regions from Dark Souls have been forgotten.
11	** As mentioned on the [[Fridge/DarkSoulsIII Fridge]] page, one possible explanation is the fact that Vendrick never actually Linked the Fire. He spent so long trying to fight the Giants and find his own way out of the cycle that his kingdom was a ruin and he was soon to become Hollow before he realized his folly. Thus, more of Drangleic didn't get pulled into Lothric since Lothric is described as a "transitory land" where the fallen kingdoms of the Lords of Cinder converge, which Vendrick never was.
12	*** Alternatively, it may get addressed during the DLC - after all, [[spoiler: Karla outright states that she's one of Manus' "daughters", in an attempt to dissuade the Ashen One from helping her]], so obviously the events of Dark Souls II's DLC are a factor already.
13	*** Though the "wretched child of the Abyss" line may have been metaphorical.
14	** Meta reason: DSII was the only game Miyazaki didn't produce.
15	** It's also possible that it simply didn't come up because there wasn't a reason in-story to go to Drangleic. Anor Londo was important because a Lord of Cinder had holed himself up there, while it's possible that none of the Lords of Cinder that sat on the Throne of Want abdicated like the 4 you have to retrieve did. There are actually quite a few call-backs to ''Dark Souls II'' even early on in the game, some more obvious than others.
16	* How...When...Where... What the heck, [[spoiler:untended graves ? Why is there a replica of the Firelink shrine ? Why are the player messages wrote in the classic Firelink shrine here too ? My best guess is that the Firelink we use as a hub works in a similar manner as the hunter's dream of Bloodborne. I mean, we never go to any other part of the world by foot, only warping from bonfire to bonfire, Iudex Gundyr doesn't drop a soul unlike any other bosses, but the description of the soul of Champion Gundyr and the weapons you can trade with it suggests Champion Gundyr is the past version of Iudex, before he became the vessel for the coiled sword, and he was defeated as Champion by an unknown warrior (probably the player, I guess). So, either that, or the untended graves are a past version of the actual Firelink shrine. But then, why behind Oceiros, beneath Lotrhic's castle ? And why is there black knights, by the way ? And why is the handmaid here ? Why does she sell the armor of Artorias ?]]
17	** Speaking to Ludleth the Exiled after finding a plot-important item there reveals some information: [[spoiler:Ludleth implies that the Untended Graves are a possible future where things went horribly wrong and the Fire Keeper was betrayed. He says that seeing the place himself is what inspired him to link the Fire and become a Lord of Cinder. So apparently it's one of those other worlds that the player somehow wanders into by accident, possibly one in which the Fire finally went out and the Age of Dark began.]]
18	** [[spoiler:And I totally missed that line. Oops, my bad. But even without asking all the questions about why the BK, why the Artorias'set, why behind Oceiros, etc, how can Champion Gundyr be in the future of a world, if Iudex Gundyr is the future of Champion ? Though it would explain why we only find a shard of the coiled sword in the graves and not the full sword. In that case, maybe Champion is Actually the future of Iudex and not the other way around, with Gundyr being brought back to normal after he fullfilled his duty as a vessel for the coiled sword ?]]
19	*** As to Iudex Gundyr, it's because HIS future is your present. [[spoiler: From what we know, Ludleth seems to have actually forcibly willed himself to become the Lord of Cinder that Gundyr was meant as. So essentially, when you go back to the Untended Graves, you're seeing what was originally happening, while the Firelink Shrine you go to is what IS happening]]
20	** There is some speculation (unconfirmed, mind you) that [[spoiler:those black snake corrupting things like what erupts out of Iudex Gundyr are not Abyssal creatures but products of Oceiros's messing around with Seath's sorcery. Ludleth said it was a potential future he saw from ''before he linked the Fire'', which means that this was long before Oceiros's reign, possibly even before Lothric even existed as a kingdom. If that future was what would have happened if Ludleth did not link the Fire, then in that future Lothric never existed, Oceiros never found Seath's research, and the black snake things were never created, thus Gundyr was never infected by one, and remained Champion. As for why all this exists behind Oceiros... your guess is as good as any. AFAIK, the Souls games have never before had a situation where an Undead visited another world without being Summoned or Invading.]]
21	* So...what is [[spoiler: Alva doing in the Irythyll dungeon? Even considering the weird timey-wimey bullshit this series has going on it's a big stretch to see him here after he was long dead in DS2]]. On that note: [[spoiler: Gilligan is just found dead in the Profaned Capital with little reason for him to be there]].
22	** Probably just there for [[CallBack call backs]] to DSII so that fans of the game wouldn't be too cheesed off that most of them are to DSI. That being said, Alva's original epithet was "The Wayfarer" which means "one who travels on foot", so it's quite possible that he just happened upon the place in his travels. Makes one wonder where Zulie the Witch is though...
23	** [[spoiler:Alva]] is only mentioned in the descriptions of his and [[spoiler:Zullie's]] armor sets. Neither explicitly mentions that they died, and the description on [[spoiler:Zullie]]'s is worded in a way that could include the possibility of them being alive.
24	** It was mentioned in DSII that [[spoiler: Gilligan went to Dranglaic to try to avoid his old associates]], so maybe he just moved on at some point and that location was as good as any. The people there are hostile to ''you'', sure, but they may have not minded him squatting there.
25	*** Or perhaps they did mind. Thus his current...terminated state.
26	* Okay so I can believe that [[spoiler: Aldrich ate Gwyndolin - an optional boss encounter. But...how in the heck did he get Nito's and Witch of Izalath's essence? It's unlikely it ate their bodies (as they disintergrate in DS1) and their Souls were used in the Lordvessel. Unless he somehow managed to drag it out through Gwyndolin's memories (like the Lifehunt Scythe was based on Priscilla), we're entering plot hole territory.]]
27	** [[spoiler:The Bed of Chaos's body was still there (as in the giant mass of tree roots), perhaps Aldrich consumed some of those. Or hell, he could have eaten some demons, which were spawn of the Witch of Izalith (as the Bed of Chaos), and gained a fragment of her essence that way. As for Nito, well, perhaps Aldrich ate a few Darkwraiths and/or Necromancers, and gained the Gravelord Miracles through that.]]
28	** [[spoiler:It's also possible that the deities of ''Dark Souls'' simply don't stay dead - three of the Great Soul bosses in ''DS II'' are hinted to be reborn aspects of the 3 Lords, while Seath's soul ended up in the possession of the Duke's Dear Freja [[note]]Look at the roof of the arena where she's fought, right above the spot where you enter the Dragon's Memory - there's a ''dragon's corpse'' hanging there. More likely THAT was Seath reborn than a spider-thing. [[/note]]. So if the Lost Sinner is the Witch, the Rotten is Nito, and the Ichorous Earth that possessed the Old Iron King is Gwyn, or their essences taking new form, it's possible that they were reborn in some way. Also, Gwyndolin is canonically alive up until just shy of when you find Aldrich, despite the possibility of his death in Anor Londo. Rather than CuttingOffTheBranches, it seems possible that he was able to rebuild his body after falling to the Chosen Undead given his divine nature[[note]]He curses you ''after'' he's "dead", for one thing; for another, Priscilla was sealed away because of her power of Lifehunt, which the Lords feared because it could lead to true death for them.[[/note]]. As far as the Lordvessel is concerned, the souls placed there were not the souls of the beings themselves, but the Lord's Souls [[note]]i.e., the Souls of Death, Life, and two halves of the Soul of Light.[[/note]] that were given to them by Gwyn after finding them in the Kiln. Their own souls were item drops that could be used to make weapons or gain souls, and despite that ended up in ''DS II''.]]
29	** Another possibility is that Aldrich never obtained either's powers. Rather, Aldrich hinself is the latest incarnation of Nito (a being composed of hundreds, or even thousands of others, with a grotesque and twisted form, akin to the Rotten's nature). The pyromancy and flame are not derived from the Witch of Izalith, but rather from the First Flame, taken on only post-mortem after his ascension to Lord of Cinder
30	* Has anyone figured out what's with the Sun in this game? Mostly it looks like an eclipse... except it's bleeding fire down to earth. The only thought that occurs off-hand is that the bleeding Sun looks eerily like the Darksign itself, as though signifying that the curse of the Darksign is at its zenith, and affecting the whole world... but what's with the trail of fire?
31	** One prominent symbol of the series has always been the Sun and Sunlight, and it's often used in a positive manner; Gwyn was the Lord of Sunlight, Solaire worships it and founded his Warriors of Sunlight as helpers to those in need, Majula is constantly light by a bright sun, Sunlight is channeled into powerful Lighting Miracles, etc. Thus, the bleeding of the Sun and it's eclipse could be seen as a true indicator of the end of this world; the Fire has been Linked so many times that it's simply running out altogether, and with the Flame seems to come the power of Sunlight (possibly because Gwyn's Linking of the Fire tied Sunlight and Fire together), and when the flame goes out the Sun seems to go with it. [[spoiler: The state of the Untended Graves as a PocketDimension made after Gundyr failed to Link the Flame and forced Ludleth to break time in order to Link it himself would seem to hold true with this, as the Fire has died out in that timeline and thus it is an empty pitch-black void with no sky much like the Abyss in ''DSI'']]
32	** Another theory that's been bandied about is that the Fire isn't stretching down, but it's the Abyss stretching ''up'' to quench the Fire of the Sun, thus giving the eclipsed appearance. It isn't another celestial body blocking out the Sun, but just another extension of the Abyss trying to destroy any trace of the First Flame. After all, there wasn't really a Sun or Sunlight in the Age of Ancients before the advent of Fire, so it stands to reason that the Sun is an extension of the Flame.
33	* Can anyone think of a reason why Leonhard thought [[spoiler: killing Rosaria]] to protect her soul was somehow not stupid? It's not like she doesn't have protection where she is, and it doesn't seem like there's anyone who actually would go out of their way to harm her. This troper is willing to accept that he just went crazy and thought it was the best idea, but is hoping brighter minds can think up a more creative explanation.
34	** Honestly, going crazy might be the best solution, but another thing to take into account is his ''severely'' misanthropic and detached personality. He straight up says that there is no honor among the Fingers, and others of them like Yellowfinger Heysel that say that there is are idiots to him. All that matters to him is procuring more tongues for Rosaria, bar none. Therefore, it probably wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think that he harvested Rosaria's soul because he got it into his head that only ''he'' should be allowed to serve her because he distrusts everyone else in the covenant. Another thing to consider is that he is the proper reincarnation of Lautrec of Carim instead of Eygon (since the Emerald Herald stated that Linking the Fire causes Souls to flourish anew and for events and people to repeat themselves in some fashion), and thus he's simply living up to the example set by his predecessor, unconsciously or not.
35	** Going by his battle banter, he's definitely harboring some sick, twisted form of affection for Rosaria, and typical of his first appearance, projecting that lust onto everyone else. Therefore fueling a possessive jealousy.
36	--->'''Leonhard:''' No one will despoil her soul. Certainly no beast wrapped in human skin! Isn't flesh enough for a sick beast?!
37	** He's also likely trying to keep her from going hollow. With no tongue, she can't talk, and she doesn't seem to enjoy the fact that people are harvesting tongues for her. Unlike the earlier sick maiden covenant leader the Fair Lady, it doesn't seem to help her at all no matter how many you bring to her.
38	* Speaking of Leonhard, how the ''hell'' did he get a Moonlight weapon with his Crescent Moon Sickle? Getting the Moonlight Greatsword required hacking the tail off of ''Seath the goddamned Scaleless'' for Gwyn's sake, how did another weapon with similar properties but that is easier to wield get made?
39	** The Moonlight Greatsword didn't just appear out of nowhere: someone had to have actually forged the thing. Probably Seath, given his expertise in sorcery. Why is it so unbelievable that some other accomplished sorceror, over the ages, discovered the process of forging Moonlight weapons and created some new ones?
40	*** Building off of that, the Crescent Moon Sickle is something of an "incomplete" Moonlight weapon. It only channels Moonlight power in one attack (the Weapon Art), rather than passively (R2s). It seems almost like a pale, mortal imitation of the original
41	** The tail weapons in the ''Dark Souls'' series are based off of the legend of the Yamato no Orochi, where a sword was found in his tail after his defeat. There is no indication that the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi was forged by anyone either - it's a magical sword that appeared in the tail of a dragon. The sword possible formed in Seath's tail as a result of his magic, since there are also swords in the tails of all the other dragons in the first game. But as far as the Crecent Moon Sword, there is no indication that it is a ''dragon'' weapon at all. Gwyndolin has Moonlight powers and isn't a dragon either, so it's possible just... someone made it.
42	* So about the Usurp the Fire ending: [[spoiler: Yuria of Londor spends most of the game trying to play matchmaker with the Ashen One and Anri of Astora, as they're both Undead and Unkindled, according to the Fridge Page. She is also a Darkwraith and serves the Primordial Serpent Kaathe revealed by her final words if you kill her. In Dark Souls, Kaathe wanted to bring the age of Dark, where humans would be in control. However, from looking at the New Londo Ruins and what happened at Oolacile, the black sprite known as humanity went nuts and brought the down fall of both kingdoms. At one point, he must've found out about Vendrick and his theory of holding the First Flame and the Dark Sigil in tandem. That's why he had Yuria try to groom them both as a Lord and Lady of Hollows. My Question: Was the marriage between the Ashen One and Anri his last ditch effort to bring the Age of Man?]]
43	** Almost assuredly, [[spoiler: and if the Primordial Serpents are still as involved as we think they are and figured out what Vendrick tried to do then he might have realized that he was going about the Age of Man thing all wrong from the get go. I mean, an Age of Man doesn't really mean jack shit if all the Men turn into deranged Abyss stricken monstrosities, so he may have finally realized that the only way for this to work was to work within the bounds of the Cycle in order to break it conclusively rather than just try and spread the Abyss on its own and see what happens. After all, you should keep your friends close but your enemies closer. Plus, we still aren't totally sure about what happens when the Flame and the Dark mix together, so it may have created a wholly unique force in the world that can exist in balance with itself rather than the constant ebb and flow of Light and Dark that Gwyn caused when he Linked the Fire.]]
44	* Was it ever explained why the few lucid members of the Abyss Watchers didn't answer the call and journey to Firelink Shrine? Or at least just ''one'' Abyss Watcher sent? We walk in, see one sane Abyss Watcher in the midst of slaying their possessed brethren, and they turn around and attack the Unkindled One ... ? Is it because the power of Cinder is spread amongst all of them, therefore requiring them to journey as a collective (which obviously isn't going to happen) so the remaining Abyss Watchers know that it's death or nothing, and might as well make the Unkindled One work for it?
45	** It's probably a combination of their uniqueness amongst the other Lords of Cinder regarding the fact that the power of the Lord of Cinder is spread amongst them all via their shared Wolf's Blood as well as the fact that, madness induced by Linking the Fire aside, they are all tainted by the Abyss in some way or another like Artorias was. Thus, it's probably safe to say that ''none'' of them are 100% there in the head, it's just a difference in what drove them insane; the Abyss or the Linking of the Fire.
46	** I think it's safe to assume that none of the Watchers are 100% sane, considering that they were basically fine with, oh I don't know, ''burning down an entire fucking nation'' just to quell the Abyss. I mean what in the actual hell...
47	*** To be fair, we've seen what the Abyss does. Oolacile, New Londo... Burning a nation down seems ALMOST merciful in comparison to that.
48	* What's up with the very specific timing of the Bells Of Awakening in this game? As said in the opening cinematic, these bells ring when the Age Of Fire is 'threatened'; various Unkindled wake from the dead due to the ringing of these bells, all four Lords of Cinder also rise due to that same bell (and as we see during the Abyss Watchers' boss fight, so long as the bell keeps ringing, they still rise), and Greirat outright attributes the Ashen One's presence to be because of these bells. The previous two games also had the First Flame in a similar state of urgency, but no Bells Of Awakening. At least not to this degree. Was this timing said to be predetermined, and somehow didn't kick in until Dark Souls 3?
49	** In the first game the Chosen Undead rings the Bells of Awakening. In the second game... shrugs
50	** I'm pretty sure that there were no bells to ring in DSII, and I think that the Bell of Awakening is designed/enchanted to ring of its own accord should the Link of Fire be threatened in any way. The thing is, the Link of Fire has never been threatened before since the choice to Link or Abandon the Fire is ultimately just perpetuating the Cycle of Light and Dark. The reason it's ringing now to awaken the Unkindled [[spoiler: is because of what Ludleth did to become a Lord of Cinder. Basically, he came from the timeline that Champion Gundyr came from, who was supposed to Link the Fire in that Cycle. However, he awoke too late to do so and was stopped by an unknown warrior (implied to be you due to a StableTimeLoop). Thus that Cycle slipped into the Dark and Ludleth basically sealed that timeline away behind Oceiros and made the new Firelink Shrine that you go to as a sort of PocketDimension so that he could Link the Fire. This lead to the crisis that threatened the Link of Fire and caused the tolling of the Bell of Awakening so that you can have enough time to gather the Lords of Cinder and Link the Fire yourself.]]
51	* The Profaned Flame: where did it come from and what is it? Many people's first guess upon hearing about an "undying flame" that's associated with evil would probably be the Flame of Chaos, but that's confirmed elsewhere to have died (or at the very least, there's so little left of it that its going out is inevitable at this point). The Profaned Flame just kind of pops up in the Profaned Capital with no explanation. And the fact that it's undying seems to run counter to the game's theme that "fire fades". All that's said is that it "came from the sky" and was connected to a group of cursed women, who were "descended of a certain oracle". It seems odd that FROM would add this new wrinkle to the whole Fire/Darkness theme and not elaborate more on it.
52	** Either it's something to be dealt in a DLC, or just a reminder that creating "false" Flames, like the Chaos Flame is possible, but they never end up well for their wielders, and can never replace the true First Flame.
53	** Might be a Demon's Souls reference as it's mainly Miyazaki-produced games being referenced.
54	** The item description for Eleonora states that the Profaned Flame was created by four witches who were warped by its power into the Monstrocities of Sin found in the chapel in the Profaned Capital. Most likely, it was an attempt much like the Witch of Izalith's to recreate the First Flame to maintain the Age of Fire - or possibly an attempt to recreate the ''Chaos Flame'', given how little the sorceresses cared when it destroyed the city.
55	** It's also available as a Pyromancy that engulfs foes at range and burns them to ashes, in the same vein as the [[VideoGame/DarkSoulsII Flame Swathe]]. The Profaned Flame, born of the sky, is said to have incinerated naught but human flesh. Perhaps, it's a specific kind of flame that only sets human flesh on fire while leaving everything else intact.
56	* Has anyone been hearing monster noises coming from the wall in the corner of the Firelink Shrine by Greirat? There's no area outside that wall that would have any creatures in it.
57	** There's an Undead Dog above the ceiling in the general area between Greirat and Yoel/Yuria. That's probably what's being heard.
58	* Where did Lothric and Lorian flee from or to? Based on their soul, they went far away to avoid linking the Fire, but we still find them in the Lothric Castle, for some reason. Their soul description is as follows:
59	-->"The two princes rejected their duty to become Lords of Cinder, and settled down far, far away to watch the fire fade from a distance. A curse makes their souls nearly inseparable."
60	** Well, where does one become a Lord of Cinder? The Kiln of the First Flame, which seems to be an entirely separate dimension or something from the rest of the world. In that sense, the Princes are pretty far away from where their duty dictates they should be. It's possible the distance is metaphorical as well, given that they're in the inner sanctum of Lothric Castle behind basically the entire royal guard, a bunch of wax-headed sorcerors, and a few dragons.
61	** I actually assumed that the description of the Twin Princes soul meant that Lorian and Lothric refused to accept the duty of Lord of Cinder ''again'', bearing in mind what it did to them. Seeing that you find them in Lothric Castle might mean that they chose to hide there, behind an entire legion of Guardsmen, Sorcerers, Knights, Two Dragons, A Dragonslayer Armor possessed and aided by a Pilgrim Butterfly, a Crystal Sage, the Dancer of the Boreal Valley... it seemed pretty safe, just not against the Ashen One.
62	* Related to the above, some lore seems to imply that Lothric and Lorian never actually linked the Fire (Soul Stream's lore suggests that a certain scholar mentored Lothric and had doubts about the linking of the flame) and that their curse is related to the 'unspeakable means' their family used to try and make a perfect heir. They're also not mentioned in the opening cutscene as Lords of Cinder who revived with the others. If they aren't actually a Lord of Cinder, why do you get the 'Lord of Cinder Fallen' message and why can they clearly enter a Lord of Cinder state when they go into phase 2?
63	** Lothric technically IS a Lord of Cinder, but it was Lorian, his twin brother, who took the brunt of the First Flame's power since Lothric himself was too frail to endure it. Maybe that's why the scholar you mentioned had his doubts about Lothric linking the fire?
64	** It’s confirmed that Lothric was the one intended to link the fire in the Ashen One’s cycle, but refused because his tutor was a scholar who doubted the linking of the fire. Lothric and Lorian were bound together by Lorian at some point so that Lorian could take the brunt of the sickly Lothric’s ailment (caused by Oceiros’ incessant selective breeding), rendering him mute, crippled, and practically one in soul with his brother. Deciding not to link the fire, they retreated to their castle, letting it fade. When the other four Lords who HAD linked the fire were revived and abdicated because linking the flame hurts, the Unkindled were rebived to hunt them down.
65	* Here's one relating to one of the game's biggest question marks: the Pilgrim Butterflies. Why are they hostile? And if they are hostile, why is the Dragonslayer Armor fight the only time they try to kill the Ashen One? They can launch firey beams of death and fling... whatever those dark globs are from afar, and yet, the moment the Dragonslayer Armor is defeated, they just retreat and seem content to flutter around in the skies above Lothric Castle. They never bother you before that, nor afterward, despite numerous chances to. It doesn't make sense. Of course, it would help if we had any more than ONE LINE of lore about them in the entire game.
66	** The Japanese guidebook for the game apparently describes the Butterflies as Abyssal creatures, which presumably means they are trying to prevent the First Flame from being linked. This could either mean killing Prince Lothric, or protecting him so his cinders can't be used by an Unkindled to Link the Fire. That at least explains why they're hostile to the player, whose assumed goal is to Link the Fire. It doesn't explain why they only try to kill the player that one time, though.
67	** Only two of the butterflies ever attack you, the two that animate the armor, and if you swing the camera around to look at them as the armor "dies" they die with it. It's safe to assume that only those two were hostile and the rest are just there for whatever reason.
68	* Okay, so from the appearance Aldrich takes on when you fight him, I can at least confirm that he [[spoiler: ate Gwyndolin and an essence of Gravelord Nito.]] My question is, where the hell did he get the [[spoiler: Lifehunt Scythe? He didn't... you know, ''eat Priscilla'', didn't he?]]
69	** The game answers this one. [[spoiler:When eating Gwyndolin, he had a dream about Priscilla and her Lifehunt Scythe, and he was able to reproduce the ability based on that.]]
70	* According to Miyazaki the Unkindled are Undead that were unable to link the fire because they lack the strength or will to do so, that's all fine and well, but how does the playable character come into being an Unkindled? they are absolutely relentless and while they aren't the strongest there is, they are capable of defeating Iudex Gundyr, meaning that, at the very least they had some potential to them.
71	** Just because someone fails at something once doesn't mean they don't have the potential to succeed if they try again. It's just that something like Linking the Fire is the type of thing one would get only one chance at doing, since if one fails the result is death.
72	* So what exactly is up with the Kiln of the First Flame? I get it's supposed to be the same Kiln as from the first Dark Souls where you fight Gwyn, but what is up with all the cluttered/mashed together castles in the area?
73	** One guess is that they're remains of the various kingdoms that have come and gone over the Cycles. Every time the Fire is Linked, a new ruin is left behind.
74	*** As of The Ringed City DLC, this theory has been established as canon. The Dreg Heap is where older kingdoms end up once the First Flame has been linked, or just before.
75	* Why are a lot people assuming that only [[spoiler: the various Chosen Undead and Lord Gwyn form The Soul Of Cinder]]? The fact that it can use ''Soul Stream'', a spell originating from the second game, should be enough indication that [[spoiler:the incarnations of The Bearer Of The Curse]] also forms part of the being.
76	** I personally think this is because a lot of players simply didn't like ''Dark Souls II'', and ''II'' has the fewest number of references in ''III''. There's also the DLC, where the Lost Crowns are collected and empowered to prevent the person wearing them from hollowing. A lot of people assume because of this, that the Bearer of the Curse simply abandoned the throne because they wouldn't personally benefit from it. This is wrong for two reasons. First, the world would continue to degrade and the Age of Dark does ''not'' seem like a good thing no matter how you slice it [[spoiler:though usurping the Flame may not be all bad]]. Second, the mission that Vendric and Aldia had set out on and tasked the Bearer with required harnessing the Dark (through the crowns) ''and'' the Flame (through the Throne of Want). It can easily be assumed that Vendric isn't a part of [[spoiler:the Soul of Cinder]], but the Bearer is up for debate.
77	* They shouldn't; there's nothing specifically stating that only the Chosen Undead(s) linked the Fire, but this also doesn't necessarily mean that the Bearer Of The Curse is a part of it, either; it isn't like they're the only one capable of sorcery.
78	* this is more a series wide headscratcher but still, why do they seem so intent to stop the age of Dark? we are never exactly told what exactly it entails, along with things not exactly ever been great anyway,linking the fire at most is a temporary measure and eventually you will run out of people to burn, I personally think that the age of Dark is the natural state of the DS world,and things were fine before, except for the dragons, but on that note we aren't really told what THEY did either, it seems abit... murky.
79	** ''Because'' no one knows what it entails. People always fear the unknown, and what little is known about the Dark/the Abyss suggests that the Age of Dark will also be an age of horrific monstrosities, judging by the fates of Oolacile and New Londo as well as the Pus of Man. The gods probably fear that they will meet the same end as the dragons did, wiped out by the new lords of the world, which means they and their close followers will perpetuate the linking of the Fire for as long as they can. It's also likely that the age of the dragons isn't the Age of Dark, because the opening narration in DSI explicitly states that the disparity of light and dark came into being with the Flame, and the age of dragon existed before the Flame did.
80	** The Age of Fire is the age of the gods of Anor Londo, with the Age of Dark supposedly being an age where humans would be the ones in power. So, the gods try their best to keep themselves in power, while manipulating the humans into pretty much screwing themselves for the gods' benefit.
81	** Essentially, no one has any clue what will happen if/when the Age of Dark comes to pass. Gwyn and the gods believed that it would spell the end of the world, or at least all life in the world. Other feared the Abyss would consume everything, and nothing in these games consumed by the Abyss ever comes out well. Others believed that the Age of Dark would be an Age of Man, with humanity (who have always had ties to the Dark) being the new top dogs of reality. Still others believe that life itself would alter and change, becoming something unrecognizable to those of the Age of Fire, but still continuing on in its new form. Lots of theories, but nobody actually ''knows''. What they ''do'' know is that the Age of Fire was an era of prosperity for the gods of Anor Londo and most life as we know it... so trying to prolong it rather than succumb to a potentially world-ending fate makes sense.
82	** It is also implied that "Hope" is a major reason why people keep Linking the Fire, The Age of Fire is their glory days and Golden Age, while an Age of Dark is a major unknown, The people of the Dark Souls world, expect that if they keep Linking the Fire, the Gods will come back and restart the Age of Fire eventually, not knowing or wilfully ignoring that most of the Gods are dead and the few who haven't left a very long time ago and are most, assuredly not wanting to come back.
83	* What happened to the kingdom of Thorolund? There's no mention of it anywhere. Did it just got ruined or was it absorbed by Carim or something?
84	* How did that demon get into the Catacombs? There are only two doors in that chamber, and he's too big to fit through either of them.
85	** The Sandworm got into Smouldering Lake by falling into it from above; perhaps he did too?
86	* How did Aldrich, Sulyvahn, and their followers all make it from the Cathedral to Irithyll without getting into a fight with the Abyss Watchers?
87	** I would think it has something to do with the transitory, convoluted nature of Lordran. One possibility is that they never had to cross the Legion because before the big crunch of the lands, there wasn't a Legion Keep between the two. Alternatively, the two weren't originally contemporaries. and they simply had to cross what was, in their Age, just a simple swathe of land

Context Headscratchers / DarkSoulsIII