Firelink Shrine is a rather terrible place, when you think about it. Sure, the Fire Keeper will always be there for you, but what about when you're not there for her? She's disposable, forgotten, just like Champion Gundyr who's stranded in another dimension. Or like the Handmaiden, chained to this fate for what must feel like an eternity. "Remember well, I am undead. Bound forever by the Shrine's curse." As the fire is linked, over and over kingdoms change, and so too does the Shrine. In this world, as we know, the Shrine is a literal graveyard of ash. Quite befitting of an exhausted world. Though, one constant through it all is the suffering of the Fire Keepers. These women aren't as selfless as you might think. No, they're prisoners, just like you, and they fight for the linking of the fire, for with the linking of the fire comes rest. "Finally, the curse of the undead will be lifted, and I can die human." "Long have I awaited one such as you. One who can set me free." "Ashen One, link the fire. For the Lords of Cinder, for the ashen prisoners, for all those held to preserve the fire. Link the first flame." Though as we've come to learn, this rest is temporary, and the curse never was lifted. And yet, the legend of the linking of the fire continues to infect the minds of many. Undead are shepherded towards the first flame, and the kingdoms of the gods are always designed to enable their sacrifice in some way. Have you ever noticed that the incinerating kiln is never too far from the kingdom of men? Firelink Shrine is a crumbled peak of New Londo. The Throne of Want sits below Drangleic Castle. And in Lothric, hidden behind the King's Garden, along a trail of ash and untended graves, is the current iteration of Firelink Shrine and what must be the thousandth firekeeper capable of sending us forward to be face to face with Cinder itself. "Surrender your fires to the true heir. Let him grant death to the old gods of Lordran, Deliverers of the first flame." Those that fail to become Cinder are cremated, all the same: their ashes scattered in the Untended Graves by the Soul of Cinder. Those that succeed become Lords of Cinder, but, it says a lot about the future that they fight for if our Lords have refused to fight for it a second time. And so, the grand betrayal was conceived, this betrayal of the flame was not a novel concept by any means, but perhaps it was still a necessary one, considering it led to the link of fire being threatened, and the bell tolling for the Unkindled. According to his cinders, the Prince Lothric was destined to be a Lord of Cinder, and was cherished by the royal family, though ironically, he was born ill, shriveled, and frail, unable even to wield the platinum sword that was his birthright. Conversely, Lothric's older brother, Lorian, was a great champion of the realm. While his younger brother's sword would never be wielded, his was scorched black by the flame of the Demon Prince, which he had slain single-handedly. The great tragedy that's referenced so often in their lore is surely that while Prince Lothric was chosen to be a Lord of Cinder, Prince Lorian was the one suited for it. And so, Lorian must have had a great love for his brother, for he embraced Lothric's curse, merging their two souls. Tragically, this left Lorian mute and crippled, yet it is said that Lorian indeed wished it so all the same. There's this great mention of the grief of the Twin Princes, for once they came together, they rejected everything that had made this sacrifice necessary. So instead of linking the flame, they settled in their throne room and simply watched the fire fade from a distance and with their strength combined, fought off any who would seek their cinders. "Ill starred are they who take the throne. I shall not stand among them. The firelinking curse, the legacy of lords, let it all fade into nothing. Mark my words, Ashen One. You remain among the accursed." If we were to join them in their rest, this is the fate that the Princes would have us live, a darkened Shrine, most likely their Shrine, is hidden behind the chambers of the Consumed King. And items tell us that if a place is devoid of light, so too will it be devoid of time. Perhaps this explains away the terrible convolution within this place, justifying how those in the future shrine can be pulled to this realm, like the Sword Master, justifying how we physically walk here from present day Lothric, and accounting for the dead firekeeper who is from the past, and tucked away. But of all the things here from past, present, or future, she is the most consequential, for she is the one that's holding the Eyes that enable a Fire Keeper to betray the flame. "Ah. Found her, did we? And the black eyes that shimmer within, I see. 'Tis is if it were but yesterday. We did all we could to spare her from them. Much has happened since. Mayhap I should apprise thee of what the thin light of these eyes might reveal to the eyeless Fire Keeper. Scenes of betrayal, things never intended for her ken, visions of this age's end." The eyes are said to have belonged to the first Fire Keeper, and of all the would be Lords of Cinder, it makes the most sense for Prince Lothric to have had access to such an heirloom. He is, after all, the descendant of old royalty, inheritor of the throne, and it seems that he and Lorian coaxed their Fire Keeper to stifle the flame back in their age much like we can with the eyes in our possession. Now ask yourself, how does Ludleth know about any of this? Ludleth refers to the eyes and the woman they're planted upon in the past tense, it follows that somehow, he linked the flame after the Princes refused to. "Look not in bewilderment as I say I linked the fire long ago, becoming a Lord of Cinder. If substantiation be thy want, set thine eyes upon my charred corpse. This sad cadaver." There's something wrong in this dialogue. Listen to how guilty and how defensive he sounds. A true Lord of Cinder would have no need to constantly reaffirm his or her legitimacy, and we get closer to the truth on this by listening to him as he sleeps as he dreams about the nightmarish rite of linking the fire. "Ahh, it singeth, to the bone, it hurts! Please, help me! Be done with me! No! Gods, no! I cannot bear it! It burns, burns, help me! I am a Lord. A wee flame, belike, but I shoulder the world. Forgive me, I am not to blame. I'm not!" From his half-burnt corpse to the guilt that we hear, it seems most likely that Ludleth partially linked the flame. Perhaps it's because of him that there's a light in this world at all, that the bell was able to toll for help. Truly though, this story is one that I can't possibly claim to have all the answers to, for example, was it possible for weak little Ludleth to link the fire because the Twin Princes had already defeated the Soul of Cinder? If Ludleth could link it why couldn't Champion Gundyr? Who was the first Fire Keeper? Why are there Black Knights here? And why is this place still so dangerous to our Unkindled? Perhaps this place was laid with defenders for a reason, for of all the Shrines, this one seems the most geared towards stopping anyone who would dare rise and somehow link the fire. It's difficult and perhaps pointless to come through here. Champion Gundyr did arrive, only to find the Coiled Sword of the Shrine broken in advance, and the Fire Keeper gone. Grave Wardens patrol the graves, are devoted to hemorrhaging any reanimating corpses, and the only Fire Keeper that patrols the grounds is a Scholar: the Daughter of Crystal is drawn to any embers that would walk through this shrine. And of all the things that don't make sense in this story it does make a lot of sense that there would be a Scholar here, for the first of the Scholars as you may recall, is said to have doubted the linking of the fire and was also a private mentor to the royal prince At the highest peaks of Lothric Castle are the Grand Archives, home to the Scholars. They're the faction with a close relationship to the previous king, Oceiros, who went mad studying their store of knowledge, and this close relationship between the crown and the Scholars has clearly carried over to the new young Prince Lothric. But who was the first Scholar? There are many candidates but many have theorized that it was Aldia. And while all the evidence behind it being Aldia is circumstantial, the rise of the Unkindled is certainly something Aldia would have fought for: a destiny beyond the scope of light, beyond the reach of dark, a Painted World inhabited by Ash, a future born of this world but free of its curses. In no small way, the Princes are responsible for the rise of Ash, an unintended consequence of their grand betrayal. Think you can kill me in PvP? Well this is your chance, in exactly two weeks on the 23rd of September at 7pm PDT I'll be hosting a PvP event at the Kiln of the First Flame arena. If you invade me and if you defeat me, our first 5 winners will each receive a gorgeous limited edition copy of Dark Souls: The Vinyl Trilogy which will be officially released later this year. Our next 10 winners will receive a physical copy of Dark Souls: Beyond the Grave by Third Editions which is this comprehensive, well written exploration of the entire game, lore and all. Here are the instructions: This event will take place on PC, PS4, and Xbox 1 and while I'll personally be fighting on PC, you're still eligible to win prizes if you defeat one of my champions that I'm going to send to fight on my behalf on Xbox 1 and PS4. So to compete, you just have to get everything you need to enter the arena, so acquire the Champion's Bones from Ariandel, burn them at Firelink bonfire, and then join the Undead Match just like I'm doing on screen. Select "Duel" at the Kiln of the First Flame with the password "discord" all lowercase, and my name during the fight won't be VaatiVidya you won't know that you fought me unless you defeat me and I message you afterwards on Discord, and to be eligible for these prizes you have to be a part of our Discord server because that's how I'm going to message you. Click the link below and join, and once you're there change your Discord nickname to the name of the character that you'll be fighting with in the arena. This will just allow me to message you in the unlikely event that you beat me. So again, this two-hour long event takes place in exactly two weeks on the 23rd of September at 7pm PDT. You just need to join the arena, you need to join my Discord, you have to have the same name as the character you're fighting with on Discord so I can track you down, and yeah. So in the description there's everything I've said here, there's the Discord server link, there's the rules, and there's a link to both of the rewards if you just want to buy them outright. There's a countdown timer below, there's a timezone manager, everything you need. And I'll also have a video out in exactly two weeks on the day that this event takes place just to remind you one more time. So I'll see you then!
