Link the Fire Ending: You might get an achievement for it, but its no real ending

The following was originally posted in this thread by Hammer_of_truthiness, and all content contained is credited to them. Only minor changes were made to accommodate the difference in format.

via gamesradar.com

So I've been thinking about the first ending, namely the default one you get in the game, where you link the fire. Most people have agreed that it isn't a "good" ending, at best pushing the cycle on to another stunted Age of Fire. However, I disagree. I don't even think you accomplish even that in the Link the Fire ending.

My belief arises from a few sources, perhaps most importantly an interview Miyazaki gave, which clarified the difference between "Undead" and "Unkindled". Although it wasn't in English, a redditor provided a translation, which goes as follows:

"Q: Previously, the protagonist was called 'Undead', in Dark Souls 3 he/she is called 'Unkindled'. What is the difference between the two?

A: Dark Souls 1's protagonist is Undead, its story is about linking the fire. But Dark Souls 3 depicts the Undeads who didn't succeed in linking the fire and become cinder, but failed and burned to nothing. Unkindled is born out of their remaining ashes. Unkindled exist to inherit the past and put an end to this cumulative tale."

This makes explicit something that the intro of Dark Souls 3... well also makes explicit. The final lines of the intro states: 

"Only in truth the lords will abandon their thrones and the Unkindled will rise.

Nameless accursed undead, unfit even to be cinder.

And so it is, that ash seeketh embers."

So this in important, the Player Character (PC) is not a normal undead. The PC is also an undead that at one point attempted to Link the Fire, and failed, leaving behind unkindled ash. The intro provides further proof of this, namely in the final scene, where we can see the Soul of Cinder dragging a body off. This is presumably your body, following your failure to Link the Fire.

But what does a failure to Link the Fire mean? A lot of people presume that you died fighting the Soul of Cinder. But that doesn't really follow, because unless you git gud you're probably going to die to the Soul of Cinder a few times before you beat him, and that doesn't seem to be a failure. Something else must happen, and to understand what we need to compare the Link the Fire endings of Dark Sous 1 and 3.

I think at this point we need to draw a distinction between what happened to your character at during the Link the Fire ending of Dark Souls 1, and the Link the Fire ending in Dark Souls 3. In Dark Souls 1, when your character links the fire they are consumed in a huge inferno, and the scene ends in a blinding flash of light, suggesting the birth of a new sun and a new Age of Fire. In contrast, the Link the Fire ending of Dark Souls 3 is hardly anywhere near as grand. The PC is covered in flame, a flame so weak that they have time to sit down and rest to wait for it to consume them. You don't even offer enough power, be that Humanity or Souls or both, to the First Flame for it to consume you, let alone start a new Age of Fire.

And this is the important part, because the Link the Fire ending of Dark Souls 3 doesn't lead to a new Age of Fire, it simply leads all the way back to the intro, where the Soul of Cinder drags your failed ashes back to the untended graves. Remember, you aren't the only one who revives in the intro of Dark Souls 3, so do the Lords of Cinder.

So it seems that world and people of Dark Souls 3 have been stuck in a loop, constantly repeating the last days of the Age of Fire. There are two NPCs in particular who lead me to think this, namely Ludleth of Courland, and Lothric. Ludleth's knowledge is far more complex to unpack, and relates to the second ending where you End the Fire, so let's focus today just on Lothric.

There are a few hints that Lothric has been through this song and dance with the unkindled one before. When the boss fight starts he seems downright bored:

"Oh dear, another dogged contender. Welcome, Unkindled One, purloiner of cinders. Mind you, the mantle of Lords interests me none. The fire linking curse, the legacy of Lords, let it all fade into nothing. You've done quite enough, now have your rest."

I think the most important word in that entire monologue is "dogged". Dogged means determined, tenacious. But more importantly it has a subtext of stubborness or unthinkingness. You aren't just determined, you are unthinkingly pursuing your path. Lothric presumes you seek to Link the Flame, as all other Unkindled who have come before him have sought, and knows its a fool's errand.

When he defeats you, Lothric is hardly thrilled about it, merely stating:

"This spot marks our grave, but you may rest here too, if you would like..."

This is interesting, since he totally kicked your ass, why would this spot mark his grave? Well, he's the first meta-cognizant boss of Dark Souls. I see a lot of posts on here about how the PC is actually the scary one, just this persistent little man who keeps on coming back and coming back and coming back until he eventually kills the boss. And Lothric knows this! He knows that once you show up its only a matter of time until you kill him, hence his weird throne slab bed thing marking his grave.

But that's not all Lothric knows. He also knows that you will fail to Link the Fire. Lothric's dialogue at the end of his boss fight only serves to confirm this. When killed he states:

"Mark my words Ashen One, you remain among the accursed."

This harks back to the intro, which also calls you accursed, then stating that you are unfit even to be cinder. Lothric was the only being in the current Dark Souls world that had the mettle to bring about a true Age of Fire. Killing him does not enable you to Link the Fire successfully, you remain among the accursed.

But how does Lothric know this? Because he's been through this crap a million times before! This is indicated by his line when he revives his brother, Lorian, for the first time, initiating phase 2 of the fight:

"Rise if you would... For that is our curse."

Their curse is to rise up again from the dead. And when do the Lords of Cinder rise from their graves? When the Soul of Cinder dumps an unkindled one in the Untended Graves and the Bell of Awakening tolls once more, indicating yet another failure to Link the Fire. And it all starts all over again.

At this point, I think we can safely say that from a lore perspective the Link the Fire ending of Dark Souls 3 isn't a true ending. As is appropriate for the last game in the series the only real endings are ones that put an end to the status quo, either by bringing about an Age of Dark or an Age of Hollows.