question about linking the flame

[DeuceBane]

All someone needs to do in order to link the flame is be "powerful" enough, correct?

it doesnt involve gathering all the lord souls? im a little confused on this, and how it relates to the soul of cinder and what exactly that entity is

[[Jintoro]]

You are basically forcing the lords of cinder to return to their duty which they have forsaken. During the cutscene where you kneel in front of the coiled sword you are receiving their strength to help you link the flame.
Spoilers ahead but what the hell, this game is a year old.
The Soul of Cinder is basically an amalgamation of previous lords, characters that had previously succesfully linked the flame, many were unkindled ones like you as showcased by the variety of playstyles that SoC fights you with. Inside these souls resides the soul of Gwyn who, being the strongest Lord among everyone, comes out to defend the flame at phase two.
Now why exactly is he trying to stop you from linking the flame, that I don't know. But hey, the game needs a final boss right?

[Rootin']

Originally posted by Spacecadett:

You are basically forcing the lords of cinder to return to their duty which they have forsaken. During the cutscene where you kneel in front of the coiled sword you are receiving their strength to help you link the flame.
Spoilers ahead but what the hell, this game is a year old.
The Soul of Cinder is basically an amalgamation of previous lords, characters that had previously succesfully linked the flame, many were unkindled ones like you as showcased by the variety of playstyles that SoC fights you with. Inside these souls resides the soul of Gwyn who, being the strongest Lord among everyone, comes out to defend the flame at phase two.
Now why exactly is he trying to stop you from linking the flame, that I don't know. But hey, the game needs a final boss right?

I think its more of, you already claimed the cinders from the lords, now you must prove powerful enough to link the flame yourself. When that happens, all the souls of the lords transfer their power to you. Next cycle when the flmae needs to be linked again, "the ashen one" would now be a lord of cinder too.

Or at least, thats my thoughts on that subject.

[[Jintoro]]

That makes sense.

[Artek [General]]

It seems the thing is: in the past they used Lords of Cinder as a fuel to the flame.
Their strength manifested into the strength of their souls which is what made them so good for fueling.

When they became Lords of Cinder - they transformed. They are now not just something with a powerful soul - they have something entirely else to them - the "flame" that they surrender us during the final ritual at the shrine. NOT the white souls as we usually get. But a literal flame - light cinders flying through the air during the scene.
We become a vessel for their "flames" - a place where all their power (or whatever they had in them) combines into one source making us THE best fuel for the Flame in history.

Originally they were supposed to link the flame together, but since they refused - we had to do it another way with us being the "proxy" of the linking.

And Soul of Cinder - is an amalgamation of everyone who tried to link the flame in the past.
Diverced fighting styles is Soul of Cinder is him calling for different souls of champions of the past in order to use their strength to fight you.
When it gets close to death - it calls for one last soul, the oldest soul in its possession - soul of Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight who was the first person ever to link the Flame.

Reasons why it fights us? Well, in the description it does mention that its nothing but a husk... So maybe it simply doesn't know any better? Its kinda there to protect the flame from people like Yuria of Londor and her assistants.
Perhaps its implied that only the real champion (us) can defeat it in the end?

[DarKraft]

you get the power form the lords because you alone are too weak to link the flame because is like a little bit too late so you need all the power you can get

the soul of cinder fight you because he is there to protect the first flame from any intruders , because some may want to extinguish the flame (like in 3 of the endings)
if your powerfull enough then you can go and link or not the flame
he is like a guardian of a gate and his only purpose is to protect the gate

[Nick Naughty]

Intro: Unkindle will rise, nameless accursed undead, unfit even to be cinder. And so it is that ash seeketh embers.

Cinematic - lords of cinder: Lords of cinder surrender your flames, bla bla bla.

Basically the ritual makes the unkindle fit for cinder, yes your character becomes a ham.

Still only 4 out 5 are actually lords of cinder, the other one is lord of cinderella.

[jay jay the dank planezinho]

Originally posted by Spacecadett:

Now why exactly is he trying to stop you from linking the flame, that I don't know. But hey, the game needs a final boss right?

Because if you think about it, the other endings of the game, you are not really linking any flame, are you?

[Anri of Astora]

Originally posted by Spacecadett:

You are basically forcing the lords of cinder to return to their duty which they have forsaken. During the cutscene where you kneel in front of the coiled sword you are receiving their strength to help you link the flame.
Spoilers ahead but what the hell, this game is a year old.
The Soul of Cinder is basically an amalgamation of previous lords, characters that had previously succesfully linked the flame, many were unkindled ones like you as showcased by the variety of playstyles that SoC fights you with. Inside these souls resides the soul of Gwyn who, being the strongest Lord among everyone, comes out to defend the flame at phase two.
Now why exactly is he trying to stop you from linking the flame, that I don't know. But hey, the game needs a final boss right?

I believe assuming that soul of cinder are amalgamation of previous "lnikers" are common misunderstanding, soul are what's left from the last dude who linked the fire. Once you give up your strenght to kindle the fire, there's huge chance you will die or become mad or just some twisted monsrosity. Ludleth once linked the fire and look what have left of him? Gwyn from DS1? that's one hell of a story about self sacrifice.

[[Jintoro]]

Yeah but it's safe to assume that someone playing the game for the first time will likely miss all side quests relating to the linking of the flame and by the end will only be left with the standard option to link it.

Originally posted by jay jay the dank planezinho:

Originally posted by Spacecadett:

Now why exactly is he trying to stop you from linking the flame, that I don't know. But hey, the game needs a final boss right?

Because if you think about it, the other endings of the game, you are not really linking any flame, are you?

[Zenathane]

Well, Soul of Cinder strikes me as a guy that beats you to a pulp first, asks questions later.
Now imagine if final battle had a short dialog like: "So, are you here to link the Flame or...?"