Soul Of Cinder (Lore Analysis)

[BARBUTA]

Alright, so I've seen a lot of people mentioning the fact that the Soul of Cinder is an amalgamation of previous Lords of Cinder, which in essence, is definitely right since the game portrays it in its description.

But some people actually had forgotten a point clearly set by the game, when the player defeats a boss, the soul is absorbed by the player, you're essentially making boss weapons and using their moveset for that exact reason. You, the main character, grow stronger with each lord of cinder soul you have absorbed.

Now here's the problem: Why do people seem to have a hard time accepting the fact that the Soul of Cinder is a clear wink at the Chosen Undead? The Chosen Undead's resting place was in the Kiln of the First Flame, he had become an amalgamation of the Lords of Cinder because he had absorbed their soul. As the Chosen Undead in the first Dark Souls, your purpose is to defeat the lords and link the flame, is it not? What happens to their soul? You're essentially absorbing them.

After defeating every lords, the First Flame was to be prevented from fading, and what better way than to pick the strongest manifestation of the Lords of Cinder, the very player himself, the Chosen Undead?

The Chosen Undead has become part of that "amalgamation", because he essentially absorbed everyone's souls which eventually mixed in with his own, his identity was lost, he was no more than the Soul of Cinder because of all these souls he had accumulated.

The FireLink set is also very SIMILAR to the Elite Knight set in the first Dark Souls game, it shares a lot of striking ressemblance.

Fire Link Set:
http://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/file/Dark-Souls-3/fire_link_set_small.jpg

Elite Knight Set:
http://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/file/Dark-Souls-3/elite_knight_set_small.jpg

The One Shoulder Pad design, the width of the logo in the middle (despite saring a different logo which could be the product of design choices), the waistcloth and the leggings.

It's not too far-fetched to think that the inspiration was based on the Elite Knight set, they merely made a rusty, battle-hardened version of it. The headgear is most likely bent up due to the rust and the many battles the armor had gone through.

There are some minor differences that are a simple matter of design choice, or simply explained by the fact that the Chosen Undead had the choice to wear different pieces of equipments and combine them together.

Honestly though, the Fire Link armor is a nod to the mascot of the first Dark Souls game, the Elite Knight armor.
The strongest manifestation of the Lords of Cinder is the Chosen Undead, he shares movesets from Lords of Cinder while having an agile physical body. He also conquered the Lords' soul. The most important soul in the amalgam is Gwyn's soul due to the moveset being Gwyn's on the second phase.

It's also most logical for him to use more of Gwyn's move since he was the biggest Lord of Cinder to defeat in the first game and the most memorable one for him.

And honestly, based on the armor looking rusty, battle-hardened and being one of a knight's, it's clear that the Chosen Undead was the chosen manifestation of the First Flame, aided by all the souls of the previous lords of cinder.

The armor could have been anything else and my theory would go down the drain, but the VERY fact that they chose a rusty armor for a manifestation should tell you this much. This is exactly why a lot of people believe that the Chosen Undead had a dominant role in the apperance of the amalgam of previous lords.

[[Lethalvriend]]

I don't think people reject the idea that the player is actually part of the final boss. As far as I know most people think the same thing. Sure you could say your particular character may not be part of him as you maybe chose the dark ending but even then, other people linked the flame in DS1. I know for sure the developers intend it to represent the players as he uses all sort of different moves and weapons, just like how players all choose different builds.

[BARBUTA]

Originally posted by Lethalvriend:

I don't think people reject the idea that the player is actually part of the final boss. As far as I know most people think the same thing. Sure you could say your particular character may not be part of him as you maybe chose the dark ending but even then, other people linked the flame in DS1. I know for sure the developers intend it to represent the players as he uses all sort of different moves and weapons, just like how players all choose different builds.

They don't but some just believe that the idea of the Chosen Undead being part of the Soul is not probable due to the existence of the second ending in Dark Souls 1.
Which, like you said, shouldn't matter since another Chosen Undead would have most likely risen up, killed you and linked the Fire.

It's also the very fact that the amalgam wasn't just created by the First Flame, it's most likely every Souls that the Chosen Undead had absorbed. That explains the fact that the Soul of Cinder borrows movesets from every previous lords.

The wink to the Chosen Undead is also the armor set he wears which reinforces my theory. The armor he is wearing is definitely the Chosen Undead's, the latter had become the vessel of all souls and thus the amalgamation of previous lords of cinder (him included).