[Story Related] A theory on Dark Souls' ending and general all around lore.

[Silent "9029" Phoenix]

Hey guys!
Me and a friend (Nuclear Eagle) have been really thinking deeply into the storyline behind Dark Souls after getting... addicted (for lack of a better word).

Basically our theory on the ending for Dark Souls can be summed up as:
The player has no impact at ALL in the overall sum of things.
Solaire is the "true" hero of the story. He solves everything.

(We are being completely serious)

Explain. NOW!

Ok. Ok.
So, we all know how time and space in Lordran is distorted and this is the point that we've basically dissected the most. Every NPC we meet is another person in this universe, and they are ALWAYS there doing the same thing. Oscar is always the one who we find knocked into that closed cell, Lautrac always finds himself inside that cell. But where are the players?
Answer: Right in front of us.
The player character (Referred to as "The Chosen Undead" or varients of that from here on out) is a variable in this universe. Something in that player's version of the universe changed, causing that version of the Chosen Undead to exist. Maybe in one they are female, in another a pyromancer and in another they are a gender confused mage going around stark-naked. In short, every player controls the same "character", but with their own spin to them.

Our theory starts here. (Based on the above assumption that it is true)
Why is it that we are the only variable in this world?
Answer: Because we really are "Chosen" (But in a different way that Gwyn's prophecy foretells)
Time and space is the most heavily distorted around the player, which leads us to believe that there is more behind it than we originally thought. What if the Chosen Undead was "Chosen" by the world itself? What if the Chosen Undead is the force that corrects the flow of all things?

"Now, random forum poster, that sounds WAY too out there to be related to Dark Souls and it still doesn't explain anything that you said up above!" I hear you thinking (Yes, I can hear you think).

I jumped the gun a bit by explaining what I just explained, but let me continue.

We know Solaire rekindles the Age of Fire if he reaches the Kiln of the First Flame (and leaves his summon sign there) {Confirmed by a dev somewhere}.
This is the act that "corrects" the world.
This is where the Chosen Undead stops making an impact.
No matter if we chose to light the flame or become the Dark Lord, all our actions cancel each other out. Because the distortion is "patched up", the overall collective actions of every player negate the actions of every other player. The only actions that cause any impact, is that of Solaire's. While the Chosen Undead makes no impact on the story (Apart from getting Solaire there in the first place), Solaire does.

Now, we've also managed to implement NG+ into this theory as well.

Even if the distortion was patched up, it still rips itself back open eventually.
NG+ is us coming back from retirement to fix the problem that (Would have eventually) happened again.
We are the white blood cells of the world, fighting the problem and fixing it. We keep fighting, until eventually one of us gets the "fix" to the problem (Solaire).

Now, there are many holes and such but that is why we wanted to post it.
This is a discussion, don't hold back and tell us we are idiots but please make sure you do it constructively.

[Ceivous]

Just because Solaire rekindled the fire in his world, it doesn't mean you are not the main impact on your own world. Remember that you can even kill Solaire first time you meet him or leave him going crazy in Lost Izalith. He can reach the end of his journey in his world if you help him, he needs you but you do not need him. Your worlds collide every now and then but they are still separate worlds. This is also why it does not matter at all in 2 which ending you chose in 1 because 2 could take place in anyone's world including Solaire's.

[Viento Solar]

Umu, Silent "9029" Phoenix,
Solaire is an NPC, he hasn't great soul, he cannot complete the prophecy. Only "Player" has soul (great soul), and because of it, he can choose his undead "embodiment", "embodiment" is named as "The Chosen Undead".
Solaire found his destiny in Lost Izalith (ends in possession of chaos bug), and only player can save him.

[Nellvan]

Solaire is also most likley Gwynn's firstborn son, former god of war. He has a "great soul" all by himself. It is accepted canon that he links the fire in his world. Plus it was stated by a dev, afaik.

For the plot, I' think the prophecy is just lies anyway, a plot to keep Gwyndolin's power going. The player is not chosen, the player just happens to have more strenght and willpower then any other undead, and Frampt and Gwyndolin are looking for the strongest one they can find, because that means the fire will have as much fuel as possible before they need the next replacement.

Solaire is the hero in his world just as the player is, but : You can kill Solaire or not prevent his madness and he fails, just as the player can give up, go hollow and fail.

[Dashiell]

Solaire isn't related to Gwyn, Andre was supposed to be firstborn until that part of story was cutted out so devs said that there's no first born in ds1.

[Nellvan]

I knew about Andre, but all the Sun talk, using Lightning Spear, the description of the Sunlight Medal.

That's just too much to be coincidental, imo.

[Viento Solar]

Gwyndolin hasn`t any significant powers, he just a magician, he is not a god and don`t have great soul either, he can barely maintain illusion of Anor Londo
He will probably die anyway like all other creatures in this world after kindle of the First Flame (because it is like Big Bang)

[Shadowdrake]

The firstborn is dead next to gwyn's illusion statue in darkmoon tomb, he was never meant to be alive

[Nellvan]

İlk olarak zero1m tarafından gönderildi:

Gwyndolin hasn`t any significant powers, he just a magician, he is not a god and don`t have great soul either, he can barely maintain illusion of Anor Londo
He will probably die anyway like all other creatures in this world after kindle of the First Flame (because it is like Big Bang)

He is very much a god, being Gwynns son. Whatever one may believe about the First-born, there's no doubt what Gwyndolin is. He is even the only god left, except maybe for Velka.

And yeah, him being not all that powerful is part of the plot, as the Age of Fire is about to end, only embers left and all that. Which , again, is the whole point of the prophecy plot.

[Viento Solar]

Nellvan , does God can be killed ? orl , lol )
(Gwyn not a God, neither Nito nor Lost Witch )

[Nellvan]

I think you need stop thinking of the christian concept of god. Yes gods can very much be killed.
Or maybe, just maybe that is just another thing that DS is about. Are they gods, or just powerful whatever, and is there a difference because its just a word.

[Viento Solar]

it is not like any other word, lol, believe me...

[Nellvan]

Ah ok. Well if want to get your religion into this, there's no point in talking further.

Now let me have a lol too. How about "Jesus has no significant power, he's just a carpenter..."

[Ale]

I don´t think the "player" is the only variable in this universe. The other knight at the beggining of the game had mission. Not us. I´m talking about Oscar, Knight of AStora. About the chosen undead, that might be just a title. In DS1, that title doesnt have any relevance IMO. That may differ from DS2 lore tho (since the player was brought there for a reason).

As I see it, the game doesn´t give you a reason for being there. Even a purpose. Maybe it doesn´t need it either. Last year I came up with the idea that the "player" was just another human going hollow and you just happen to continue his unlife as a player.

Regarding "Gods", in this game/universe gods are more like a lineage rather than an actual god (or our concept of gods). It´s like comparing the meaning of souls from dark souls with christian concept of soul or shinto´s. etc-

PD: English isn´t my native language. (I wanted to discuss about the respawning mechanic and how does it work in DS, or its meaning as game lore)

[firestarter]

İlk olarak ShadowDrake tarafından gönderildi:

The firstborn is dead next to gwyn's illusion statue in darkmoon tomb, he was never meant to be alive

the flow of time is distorted in lordran. and also the sunlight blade miracle says that he left this miricale as a final farewell. (it can be asumed tht this is):
1. before, the first born died,
2. after gwyn hollowed, and/or
3. when the first born left anor londo.
4. many other possibilities
it is possible that the body is solaire's on a different time line

and one thing that fits in to the OP theory is that only YOUR charater will stay alive in the world (after dyinng), all other undead (exept enemies die/hollow when you kill them, not including Ria if you complete her story) killing them actually kills them. a posssiblity is that lordran has stronger ties with dranleic that we may think, in the opening of DS2 beofre your charater jumps into the water you can see in its reflection what the ruins once were. it is possible that your actions are less currently happening but have already happened, (much like Oolicile) also lordran/dranleic almost like an imperfect reflection of the other. yes i know there is little evidence for any of what i said but i believe that dark souls has no diffinitive solid lore, there are possiblities for almost everything.

imo lots of things that happen in the game such as NPC permanant death are just gameplay over sights by the Devs to actualy make your actions have some meaning/consiquence

[Viento Solar]

Nuclear "Abyss Walker" Eagle
"We know Solaire rekindles the Age of Fire if he reaches the Kiln of the First Flame.
This is the act that corrects the world." - it is in your imagination only, sorry, we have no proof of that, and it has never happened since ds2 came out
(On the other hand, any player in ds can confirm that Solair is weak, he cann`t complete any boss by himself alone and this is serious hole in your theory)

Players have ability to rekindle FF, they don't negate the actions of each other, they coexists.