(SPOILER ALERT) about the end of the fire alternative ending

[Cyber Von Cyberus]

so if you do the end of the fire ending and attack the firekeeper when she is taking the flame to put it out you can get an alternate ending with a diffrent cutscene
however i did not really understand it, are you linking the fire again ? or are you doing something else with the flame ?

[Pat]

I think you're stealing the flame for yourself.

[Cyber Von Cyberus]

Originally posted by Pat:

I think you're stealing the flame for yourself.

so basically, it's like the lord of hollows ending but instead of using it to lead the hollows you pretty much become the new Gwyn ?

[Skeleton]

Originally posted by Cyber Von Cyberus:

Originally posted by Pat:

I think you're stealing the flame for yourself.

so basically, it's like the lord of hollows ending but instead of using it to lead the hollows you pretty much become the new Gwyn ?

Nope. Your character is just attempting to steal the Flame. Which will fail, and it will result in your Unkindled burning to Unkindled ashes again as they cannot control/harness the First Flame in a non-Lord of Hollows state. It's implied via the dialogue (the Shrine Maiden repeats the dialogue she spoke towards the end of the CG intro) that this very act is what made you an Unkindled to begin with. So your character trying to steal the Flame could very well be repeating a cycle that locked you into your current fate. Hence why the Shrine Maiden repeats her dialogue from the end of the CG intro.

Pretty interesting stuff, but yeah, it's not the Lord of Hollows ending. Wherein your character undergoes a transformation to be able to sustain the First Flame within themself via the 8 Dark Sigils that endlessly "seeps" the Ashen One's Dark Soul (the Ashen One builds the strength of their Dark Soul by "feeding" on the Souls of other beings) into the usurped First Flame. This allows the usurped First Flame to exist via the "fuel" that is the Dark Soul of the Ashen One. The Lord of Hollows thus "usurps" the First Flame, and satiates it within themself. Allowing him/her to harness its power. Effectively becoming the closest thing to "God" in the world of DkS.

Whereas, "stealing" the First Flame in the extra ending will just result in your character being burnt to Unkindled Ash again. Thus repeating the cycle.

[Cyber Von Cyberus]

oh thanks a lot for the clarification, i was really confused at what the ending ment

[Skeleton]

Originally posted by Cyber Von Cyberus:

oh thanks a lot for the clarification, i was really confused at what the ending ment

Most people are. It's pretty subtle, and has probably had the least amount of attention paid to it.

[Count von Bunnyhopven]

The three endings tie in to the three philosophical faction that you encounter during the game.

Linking the fire is the Ludleth/default faction. It keeps the fire burning for another cycle and things get reversed a bit to how they were in previous days.

Usurping the flame/Lord of Hollows is the second faction. They want to return the dark soul to the flame in order to controll it for them selves... And also, ironically, to repair it as the absence of the dark soul was the main reason why Gwyns linking did not work as well as intended.

The third faction is the Aldrich/Sulywan faction. They want the fire to die completely so that the current world/age can end and a new age can start. (Age of deep waters?) To this end they purge any place and person that have a connection to the fire. Any cruelty is acceptable as everything is supposed to die anyhow in their plan.

[HardcoreBunny]

I do not think that is what the stealing the fire ending means. I think it's basically covering the flame for yourself. Allowing for a world where there is no reincarnation or rebirth. Leaving you as a eternal cindering spark to exist for eternity. It's pretty much what I would suspect would happen to Gollum if left with the ring by himself.

[Count von Bunnyhopven]

Keep in mind that this is not something that the player does alone. The player have a whole church and organization behind him. And a church generally have some kind of higher cause to fight for. In this case they want two things I think.

1) They want to sieze the flame for themselves and become gods like Gwyn and his companions did.

2) They want to repair the flame by doing a "true" rekindeling. To return everything to the flame that was taken from it so that it can be reborn. Including the dark soul that Gwyn could never get his hands on.