when you finish the game you have a lot
of questions who are the Giants what did
king vendrick steal from them
why does nashandra need you to open the
door to the throne why does the Emerald
Herald want you to ascend the throne of
want
why doesn't vendrick sit upon the throne
of want what is the throne of want now
all of this is really overwhelming I
know but by the end of this video you
should at least understand my
interpretation of events and this can
serve as a really good framework to
build your own theories from so I'm
going to start at the end and work my
way backwards now this might sound
strange but there is a reason for it
because most characters in Dark Souls 2
are driven by a desire a want for
example to understand vendrick's
hollowed state and location you have to
understand what he desired above all
else and how it led him there to
understand nashandra desire for the
throne we have to understand why it was
so important to her and to understand
why the Emerald Herald drives you to
become king we need to know why she
needs a new monarch do you understand
the reason we have these questions is
because these character wants are hidden
from us until the very end
that's why you got to the end of the
game and you still had questions even
the cursed undead you play as in game is
told that they will do these things
without really knowing why and you as a
player are no different the fire keeper
says it but one day you will stand
before it's decrepit gate without really
knowing why the maiden says it if you
are to be the next monarch then one day
you will walk those grounds without
really knowing why grave ordinance is it
I'll quiz humans are you gone never
separating truth from fiction do you see
as the ancient dragon says the curse of
life is the curse of want and you peer
into the fog in hope of answers this
game more than any other Souls game is
about a search for answers so this is
great for channels like mine that
interpret the law but it's likely really
bad for the average player who has no
idea what's going on and I'd assume this
focus on answers is why so many item
descriptions have questions within them
because they want to make you question
the world you find yourself in and so we
start with the throne of want what is it
well first off the throne room itself is
a kiln and to understand why being a
kiln is significant you have to
understand the principles of this world
and it just so happens that they're the
same principles we found in Lordran in
Dark Souls 1 in the Dark Souls 1 opening
cinematic we see the shambling forms of
hollows they called that presumably
because they're empty vessels hollow
then the first flame appeared containing
powerful Souls one hollow found the Dark
Soul and used it to give birth to
humanity another three found their
powerful souls within the first flame
and one of these lords became gwyn lord
of sunlight his soul was power and he
ushered in an age of light and fire in
time though this age began to dwindle
the brighter the flame the shorter its
life and so the world began to darken
everything fell apart around gwyn lord
of sunlight his city became abandoned
his trusted friends betrayed him demons
were spawned when one of his fellow
Lords tried to relight the first flame
and humanity began to be afflicted by
the curse of the undead Undead a kept
sane through the strength of purpose and
one undead took on an impossible purpose
he journeyed through the crumbling world
and consumed thousands of powerful souls
in the process eventually gathering the
strength to overthrow the fading Lord
Gwyn
in the kiln of the first flame where
Lord Gwyn once linked the flame to his
own soul and Undead with a powerful soul
did the same he links the flame to his
soul like winded and the flame consumes
him starting a new age of fire before
Dark Souls 2 we didn't know what effect
this would have we assumed linking the
fire would bring light back to the world
and we were right we also knew that
linking the fire is a temporary solution
as everything fades in time but what we
didn't know is that this process is
destined to play out over and over again
it's a cycle the dull ember an item we
come across in our journey gives us a
clue about the cycle of light and dark
an ember radiating a dull light this
flame seems nearly exhausted but it
exhibits an eerie resilience perhaps
this is its ordinary state I think this
quote reflects the concept of light and
dark in the game I think it means that
the center point of light and dark is
around a struggling splattering flame
Gwyn linked the fire with his soul this
prolonged his age of light eventually it
faded to its natural state where there
were only cinders at this point an
undead comes along with another immense
soul he can either choose to link the
flame and bolster the age of fire or let
it splutter and die and lead an age of
dark in Dark Souls 1 this is your choice
whether you choose light or dark it's
possible that it doesn't even matter
because if you choose light your age of
light will eventually fade to cinders
and if you choose dark you might smother
the flame but an ember will always
remain in the ashes waiting to be blown
back into life in Dark Souls 2 there's
an item called sublime bone dust its
description says that it is the remains
of a saint who cast himself into the
bonfire but we will never know for sure
for soot and ashes tell no story this
isn't just any old dust it allows you to
bolster the power of your Estus flask
which heals the undead it's also found
numerous times throughout the game in
numerous locations so it's implied that
these are the remains of the chosen
undead before you the chosen undead who
linked the fire before burning to dust
themselves
many kingdoms rose and fell on this
tract of earth mine was by no means the
first anything that as a beginning also
has an end no flame however brilliant
does not one day splatter and fade but
then from the ashes the flame reignites
and a new kingdom is born sporting a new
face this tells us that the cycle has
repeated itself numerous times many have
sacrificed themselves to renew the cycle
of light and their ashes are found
throughout the land one after the other
without fail a chosen undead resigns
himself to the kiln to link his soul
with the first flame so it's my theory
that the undead curse crops up once the
flame begins to fade so that eventually
a fated undead will appear with the
willpower to gather souls and Link the
flame once again when you link the fire
you're also removing the undead curse
from the world for a short time but only
for a short time for when the world
darkens the curse appears again the
curse is a part of life itself no one
will ever be rid of it and so there is
only one choice to await a worthy
monarch a monarch who can shoulder your
a birdie lest this land swallow you
whole as it has so many others you are
the bearer of the curse but this means
more than you'd think
you don't just bear the curse of the
undead where you die over and over but
by linking the fire you also bear the
burden of this cursed world you are the
worthy monarch who sacrifices himself so
that humans can die instead of going
hollow why do humans go hollow well do
you remember the hollows from the Dark
Souls one opening cinematic that seems
to be their natural state some of these
hollows found Humanity in the first
flame and became human reverting to your
hollow state doesn't seem that unnatural
when you consider that does it so as I
said earlier remember the throne room
you enter at the end of the game look at
the design it's a kill just like the
kiln in the first game it exists
how's the first flame a kiln used to
change the form of something with heat
the throne and the room itself is
covered in ash and as you enter the
Emerald Herald tells you that you can
link the fire should you choose to do so
the giant skinship reads each King has
his rightful throne and when he sits
upon it he sees what he chooses to see
or perhaps it is the throne which shows
the king only what he wants so this is
the effects of the ending for now simply
know that it represents another cycle
taking place you are sitting upon a
throne and the throne is but a symbol of
power and choice the power and choice
that lighting the first flame gives to
you as you can decide how to reshape
your world
the Emerald Herald says that once the
fire is linked the souls you've
inherited will flourish anew and inherit
new bodies and all of the events that
just occurred will play out again the
age of fire will be bolstered and the
undead curse may disappear but in time
the fire will fade and eventually a new
undead will come along bound by fate she
then says it's your choice to embrace or
renounce this and like in Dark Souls 1
you have that choice to embrace light or
to reject it and let darkness come the
only difference between Dark Souls 2 and
Dark Souls 1 that I can see is that in
Dark Souls 2 we aren't able to make the
in-game choice of linking the flame or
walking away from it and when you think
about it why would we need to make that
choice in-game because now we know
regardless of what we choose you as a
player know the cycle will start over
again great sovereign
take your throne what lies ahead only
you can see now that you know what the
throne of want represents you can really
understand the stories of those who
would sit upon it so click here to view
part 2 which is about vendrick nashandra
The Herald and the world your player
character goes through as you play the
game I really hope that you enjoyed this
video but in my opinion the best stories
are in part two I'll see you there
you