Vaati the type of guy to be standing at the gates and actually knowing why

THE CYCLE HAS BEEN REPEATED MORE TIMES THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE, SHEPARD.

My dark souls 2 ending interpretation "You died".

Bear... seek... seek... lest...

To be honest, I understood NONE of the story the first time I beat it, nor did I bother to. My first playthrough was basically me eating souls and yelling "I AM THE KING OF HOLLOWS!!!" when I beat the game. Thanks for clearing the lore up a bit.

There is a very heavily existentialist theme to Dark Souls II, to the point where it almost seems like the writers were reading up on literature along those lines to get it across. You have to find your own way to make sense of what you see and experience, and the creators here deliberately set up a story framework that prompts you to do just that. "The one who sits upon the Throne sees what they wish to see." It all comes back to that line.

Why don't these guys just discover fossil fuels to keep fueling the flame.

I wrote this on another video, but I feel the need to share. My explanation of Dark Souls as a whole. Dark Souls is based on a mixture of Eastern and Western philosophy. Dark Souls asks us an age old question: What is the point of living? We struggle to achieve a goal which is thrust upon us. We forget why we came to this land, but in the end, we care not. We push on to achieve a goal all others want: Power? No, happiness. For our character, we gain happiness through meaning. Through the feeling of fulfillment. The Throne of Want indeed grants those who sit on it what they wish, for what better place is there to feel fulfilled, than to stand in the most important place to exist? The very place that birthed us all, The First Flame. When we finally achieve our goal, we begin to wonder if it truly was worth the effort to get to this end. Now that you are the most important person in the existence of now, are you truly happy? Are you truly fulfilled? Have you found meaning? Dark Souls then quickly reminds us that being important matters not in the passing of time. We are sacrificed to the flame to keep the age of fire alive for that much longer. No one knows our toils. No one knows our struggle. Yet in the end, we die content with our position. As time passes away, so do our deeds. We are then asked the question, "Was it worth it in the end?" Indeed Dark Souls answers this question. But first, let me explain the Curse momentarily. Those who live in the Dark Souls world believe the Curse is evil in nature, and that they must stop its spread entirely. Yet, in the end, they always fail. The Curse continues to overtake all who live. The Curse, you see, is as certain as death, but so it is as well to life. The Curse can't be stopped, and eventually it will overtake you. It is up to you how long you choose to postpone it's coming. In Dark Souls, characters begin to hollow when they have no goal. When they lose the will to achieve something, they lose the will to live. So they die and hollow. Indeed, Life is just another side to the coin of the Curse. You could even say life itself, IS the Curse. When the first flame did not exist, all things were hollow and without a soul. We felt no pain, no suffering, no anger, no struggle. This was our original state. That is what we were meant to be. It all changed when the first flame lit. Suddenly, emotion filled us all and we could feel for the first time. This was when the curse was truly born. We gained love, joy, compassion, happiness, and an insatiable lust for achievement. But we also felt hate through love, envy through joy, selfishness through compassion, and suffering through happiness. The first flame gave us understanding and emotion, at the price of tranquility. Indeed the curse was life. Even with this in mind, Dark Souls is not a depressing story about the meaninglessness of life and the certainty of death. No, in fact, it is an uplifting story about the greatness of life. It teaches us that even in the certainty of death, we must cherish the life that has been given to us. Even in the presence of pain and suffering, we must continue onward in the pursuit of our goals. It wants to let us know that we have the power to give our lives meaning! We can take life by the balls, and let it know we won't let death hold us back! We want to find meaning in our lives, and in pursuing achievement, can we find happiness! Even in the face of death. To lose the will to achieve is to hollow and become a husk of a person. Even though life is fleeting and filled with pain, we can gain fulfillment and happiness by pursuing achievement. Life is short, and time is your most valuable asset. So, live your life to its fullest, my friends, and cherish every moment. Then you will truly be happy.

*Fun drinking game:* take a shot each time Vaati says the word "understand".

My only complaint was when The Emerald Harold asked me if I would sit on the throne, or reject it, and I was like "Hell yeah I'm rejecting this." and then I had to watch in horror as my character did it anyway.

DS1: go light that campfire DS2: sit your ass down on that goddamn throne DS3: yeah about that campfire you can go light that again At least what I understand from all this

I want to see a dark souls world where the flame is healthy and linked. Not close to dwindling. Is shit peachy for that relatively short time? No hollows and demons? Things live and die "peacefully" and "naturally" instead of lingering and rotting into corruption? Aww man they need to bring the time travel theme back and show us that world.

"First thing to note is that the throne itself is a kiln" Oh god dammit I'm on fire again aren't I.

"The Maiden says it" got your mind on Demon's Souls Vaati? XD

ive put over 1000 hours in the first dark souls and ive already beaten the 2nd five times and watching this video made me cry a little it was so great. ive watched all your videos and each time i watch a new one it makes me think how great this game is and makes me appreciate it more thank you.

DS2 has a personal story, while DS1 and DS3 have a grander "fate of the world" story. DS2 protagonist went out to seek a way to cure, or at least stop the curse. He had a life he desperately did not want to forget and everything led him to Drangleic. The intro cinemtaic is everything your character remembers - his wife holding his child in her hands. The last sliver of the reason he departed on his journey in the first place and even this one static image is crumbling before his very eyes. The game specifically does not linger on it in hopes that you will forget - that your character will forget - the true reason why you are here. NPC's even tell you about becoming a king, so you assume it is why you are here. And then, you meet Lucatiel. If you do her questline, she will tell you that she journeyed here to find a cure for the curse. She does not want to forget her life. She is what most player characters were before they came into Drangleic, when they still knew their goal. And it turns out that the stories were true - the cure does exist. If you go out of your way and collect the crowns, he will make them into one whole crown. Crown powerful enough to break the hollowing curse, if only for a single person. When you stand before the Throne of Want you have a choice - to inherit it, or to reject it. Inheriting it always means one thing - the curse has overwhelmed you along your journey without you even noticing it. You lost your memories. Your quest ended in failure. But if you by some miracle still remember that one still image from the prolouge and understand it's meaning... you walk away from the throne. You leave this cursed land to it's fate, having gotten exactly what you wanted out of it. You can go back to the most precious thing you ever had - to a life with meaning you yourself created.

Now i want Dark Souls 3 to be about breaking the cycle.

When I played this, all I thought of is kill and don't die, but now that a see all of this lore I have missed, it feels as if I played only 10% of the game. This show me Dark Souls is more deep than you think. 10/10

Am i the only one who actually digs this ending? An endless cycle is fine and actually suits this game perfectly. Dark Souls is a game that very much appeals to the old gaming style where you're free to roam around, but you will have to follow a given path if you want to progress in the game; where enemies are actually hard to kill and even the easiest can kill you if you don't pay attention; where gameplay is more important than graphics and so on so on. My point is, back in the heyday of videogames you weren't given choices, your in game decisions didn't affect how the rest was going to play out and Dark Souls is very similar to that. The fact that we don't have a choice in the ending and that the ending will always be somewhat the same is perfectly aligned with Dark Souls' style. We can play however many sequels of the game we want, with slightly varied plots but with the same finale, hence shifting focus on the gameplay rather than the lore.

The dark covenant has missions where you link fire in the abyss. I think the approach they wanted to give us in dark souls 2 is different to linking the fire or not, but just as it's said at the start, to look for a cure to the curse too. Basically, long story short, it's a very open ending just as the ones of dark souls 1, but this time without choice even, and it makes sense, you don't see the player linking the fire, and he sitting in the throne is not necessarily linking it, but it's what the people expects you to do. Vendrick and Aldia both wanted to just cure permanently the curse, but eventually succumbed in different ways. They surrender in that goal. There are theories about bloodborne and even elden ring being in fact canonically paired with dark souls but just seeing the natural order in dark souls makes me see that connection in both worlds is not. Or at least it should not be. Dark souls has a very fantasy and grim origin to humanity, Bloodborne is a bit more "normal" in that way but it has it's "curse" too, it's just instead of a fated dooming thing, is a divine enemy a whole specie even. Something i like to think is how the cycle feeds himself, and even try to bound people to kindled it. For me is a fight against fate and nature. What is more forced? linking the flame? Or trying to solve your problems in the dark? Another thing i think now is how it seems some characters seems the "dark way" as a form of enlightenment. They are not necessarily sharing the same thoughts or opinions about the cycle, like that girl in ds3 compared to the leader of the dark covenant in ds2 or even the serpent in ds1. But they all seem to think the element of dark brings something necessary. The girl and the serpent thinks the dark age is the age needed. And i'm with that way of thinking, a world bound by fate is a world enslaved. Maybe they could get lost in that way, and definitely they could suffer. But people subject to something like that would be better trying to find another way instead of feeding the cycle. And some ideas came to mind worth of another dark souls game ending. Like mixing the light with the dark or something like that, even if the witch of izalith showed how bad idea is troubling the souls of the first flame.

what did he use by the painting of Nishandra to turn himself human? It looked like a humanity

I really enjoyed your interpretation of the Dull Ember and explanation of it. I completely agree with your interpretation of the ages, and the Undead being a part of the cycle which comes as the age darkens. (And disappears for a time as a new age is kindled into existence) Well done, great job on the video!

I think that Vendrick's entire journey to save Drangleic from the curse was a result of him knowing the cycle exists already. HE wanted to be the chosen. HE wanted to be the one to solve everything, so he fought the Undead Curse with all he had, but because Hollow because at the end of the day, his will was still not strong enough... But as I said, conjecture.

i watch this without knowing why . . . i didnt even buy this game

So, here's something additional that you didn't point out that, if I'm correct, you were trying to imply: all the great souls flourished anew after the fire was linked at the end of DS1, so it is quite possible that: 1) The Rotten is a reincarnation of Nito 2) The Lost Sinner is a reincarnation of the Witch of Izalith (relighting the first flame again are we?) 3) The "Old Paledrake Soul" from the dead dragon present during the Duke's Dear Freja fight is (or was, as it is dead again) a reincarnation of Seath the Scaleless 4) The only place where this doesn't hold up is the old iron king (it is possible that Gwyn might be represented by him or by Vendrick, but there's no substantial evidence for this) 5) Finally, the children of dark are implied to be living fragments of the "First being of dark", presumably Manus from the DKS1 DLC Anyone find any of this agreeable?

I get goose bumps just thinking about Dark Souls lore. I'm so excited to watch this

When you realize there is even lore for ng+ lmao

i wish they hadn't completely pissed on dark souls 2 the way they have, DS3 constantly hits you in the face with DS1 referrences but the DS2 lore was pretty awesome I thought. the only thing i didn't like about 2 was the level design and a few of the mechanics changes but now its just a big waste

I get the impression that during the game, you're actually living in an Age of Dark, with Nashandra acting as the Dark Lord, which would suggest either ending in DS1 is still canon, as either choice just results in an extreme that will result in a return to equilibrium, the natural state of a slowly burning fire. Cute, but very boring. Endless cycle tropes don't really lead anywhere, they just sound interesting on paper, until you realize you then have to either break the cycle or remake the same game over and over again. Which is what DS2 was. A poor direction to take the series, but probably the result of heavy handed eastern philosophical influences. The world just gets reorganized and scrambled, but achieves nothing. Maybe it has more resonance with asian audiences? A theoretical DS3 would have to be about why the cycle began to begin with, and perhaps on how to ultimately end it, and whether zero life is better than an eternity of repetition. Which I guess would be a fitting ending to a trilogy of games set in such a static setting.

One neat little detail is if you're playing for the first time there's a very high probability Nashandra curses your character so usually the cinematic would have you assume the throne as a hollow. It changes the tone a bit from the sort of noble sacrifice vibe you get here especially if you're wearing some banged up mismatched set of armor you looted off a rotting corpse.

Vaati's voice has really mellowed out over the years, gotten a more soft-spoken Storyteller vibe to it.

Unpopular opinion, but 2 is actually my favorite. And I think the reason why is that extra layer of bleakness from the people in Drangleic, unlike 1 and 3, not knowing the history of the world. They don't really know about the Lord souls or their origins. It was Aldia alone that began to piece it together. The world of 2 just feels much more adrift then the others, not just in a state of decay.

This video shows exactly why I prefere a series bearing a same storyline/lore. Look at how complex you can get, especially on a game like Dark Souls, where there is so much room for interpretation. I hope there is a Dark Souls 3 or even a different named game, that spots the same storyline. Dark Souls 1 ends, after some time 2 begins, goes on and on. I could play this game forever. Look how they linked the two games! Amazing work in my humble opinion! And I feel like it would be such a huge waste to just toss away all this "creative potential" that resides within the lore. Great video Vaati! I sure as hell feel like this Patreonage was one of the most well spent money in some time! Great work as always

i by no means read all the comments on this video but i get really pissed off by the people who bash the hell out of dark souls 2. sure everyone is entitled to their opinion but some people are acting like going from DS 1 to DS 2 is like going from driving a lambo to a rusted out honda civic. i personally enjoyed DS 1 more but that doesn't mean i didn't love DS 2. i have come to believe that most people think their special or something if they don't like DS 2, some people DO HAVE VALID REASONS but the people bitching about it being a copy paste of DS 1 are the same people complaining about how DS 2 is different from DS 1!! i'm strictly a PvE player so i don't have a horse in the PvP race so i'm not trying to speak for all DS fans out their but god damn people sure do love to hate DS 2 when even if it is weaker than DS 1 it's still an amazing game. TL;DR- DS 2 is still an amazing game regardless of how good DS 1 was. sorry for writing a novel. EDIT*- why can't we all just love the Dark Souls games for what they are, AMAZING GAMES!

making your character of DS2 resemble the wife of the undead of DS1 (intro) was a really, really nice and subtle touch. Another great video as always.

dood ur fucking poetic it was beautiful lol

Wait, so, no matter what you (or any Undead) does, the world is doomed to continually cycle into disrepair and collapse? That's incredibly depressing. And rather pointless.

9:15 That was possibly the shortest annotation asking for likes I've seen.

Holy shit this video is from 2014? That speaks a lot of the quality of vaati, consistent great quality vids for years

Holy cow, Vaati had so much more energy and enthusiasm in ye olde days.

"Half as long, twice as bright." - Cole McGrath and Zeke Dunbar

This is why i watch your videos. Gives me an entirely new perspective. I thought the ending was poorly done and when you and others put a spin on it i don't feel disapointed. I absolutely can't wait for you to start diving into the rest of the game.

An interesting difference, though: In the first Dark Souls, linking the First Flame sets you on fire, ends the game and then you wake up back in your cell when you start NG+. It's heavily implied to be a sacrifice required to prolong the Age of Fire. In Dark Souls 2, sitting on the Throne of Want doesn't show you bursting into flames, and after the credits you actually return to Majula and can keep going until you manually start NG+. That kinda implies that sitting on the throne doesn't disintegrate you or anything, nor does it appear to fix the Undead Curse. (At least not right away.)

I love how you are playing Demon's souls music in the background! It just ties all the souls games together for me. Keep up the good work!

You are a good narrator and you speak clearly, nice vid bro

I love how this game guides you into artistic interpretation. I interpreted DS 1 and 2 as like one person commented "existentialist", and I feel like it's nihilistic too. I see the theme of the game as what 'is', 'is', like millions of years of inevetable pain and death that just comes with existence that we just have to accept but in doing so it kind of disconnects us from compassion for fellow man. And in the nihilistic aspect I see it as an empty, cold game, not that everything is out to kill you for sport but just to fulfill the big picture of this 'isness' of inevitable death and pain. I hope some of this makes sense. I just see the game as a "big picture" stretching all of the pain and death that has ever occurred in time and putting it into this game. Every NPC seems to be aloof to the players existence and the cinematics of 1 and 2 just make you feel like your in an epic world of deadly beasts and also small completely empty, mindless hollows.

"With the dying of the flame comes the curse of the undead, and kindling it will break the curse". It's so obvious yet I never thought about it like that. My own interpretation of what is what hadn't progressed as far as yours, and this piece of insight (from DS1 no less) is just what I needed. Thanks.

Vaati's voice is deeper than the abyss in these videos holy shit

And then John snow stabs him

This is the most thorough and well thought out assumption of dark souls i've ever watched! Thanks for putting this out, I would never figure all this out myself haha

i am on my first playthrough and cant wait to watch your lore videos!!! they are the best!

The way you described the Age of Fire starting over and over again, made me think of a phoenix. Eventually it dies, but it's brought back to life in a continuous cycle. ...And it happens to be made of fire.

In Dark Souls 3 they better let you either cure the curse and stop the endless cycle or just end it with the whole world being destroyed or something... because what's the point of caring about a "story" if in the end it achieves NOTHING!

I really want Vaati to narrate everything in my life....

A peculiar flame live inside us all, is linked to the origin of the being, be it a human, a flower or a insect. The being is what truly evolves trough the ages, he lives trough you, me and everything else, experiencing and growing from experimenting. The same flame that existed in the very begining of time, still burns in the very core of our souls, and its up to each one of us, and the opportunity that is given to us, to choose if we want to follow trough light or step back into the dark. But in the end, we can only perceive light, because of the constant approach of darkness. Nice vid btw

This video will be a forever classic but 10 years later, I'm wondering if a new version with higher production value could be made.

I honestly thought the ending was actually very satisfying. I didn't have many questions.

In my head canon, Dark Souls 1 and 3 are the two games where character names don’t matter, so I give them the name ‘Chosen Undead,’ and ‘Ashen One.’ Dark Souls 2, however, I like to imagine was a character that we have met. I like to imagine that the main character from Dark Souls 2 is Slave Knight Gael from the DS3 DLC. It makes sense to me from a thematic perspective: he walked away from the throne to look for something else, and found Ariandel, a world that resides in a painting. Gael sought to build a new world with the painter, and come the events of DS3, Gael and the Ashen One find the blood of the Dark Soul to make a new painting, which ultimately leads to Gael’s loss of sanity and ultimate demise. Thanks to the Ashen One, Gael and the painter were able to begin reconstruction of a new world that was free from the cycle of fire and dark. The Ashen One goes on to fulfill their purpose, but there is hope of a world to come in the future for the inhabitants of the dying world. I don’t know if this TRULY makes sense from a lore perspective, so feel free to let me know if this theory has holes in it or if you think it holds water!

The quality of these videos is ridiculously high! Love em!

My theory is that the hollow curse is brought about by the flame itself to ensure its continued survival. Everytime the flame might die, the hollows start to run rampant and somebody decides to link the flame to deal with the problem. Thus ensuring the flame stays lit. I'm probably wildly wrong but it seems like a cool idea to me.

Hey VaatiVidya, I don't know if you paid attention or not but did you look at the bonfires in (at least) Dark Souls 2? They're remains. Skulls, bones, and all that. I figure you'd like to explore a little lore into that if you never paid attention. Maybe undeads sacrificed themselves for the fire and thus that's why feeding them humanity strengthens them? When you're hollow, you get more powerful when you use a humanity so... Yeah?

Vaati, about the "Chosen Undead" repeating over and over, I thought the idea was that there was no Chosen Undead, the idea of it was just being used by Gwyndolin to control the player in Dark Souls 1?

It's so wonderful to play Dark Soul 2 after some years again and to have your videos which accompany this new playthrough.

I'm thrashing around in joy now that you're back on your lore videos!

Why would anyone Dislike this? I just don't get it

Dark Souls 3 would be centered around an undead breaking the cruse of life.

Fckn hell 5 years have passed already and vaati is still one of the best story tellers around. He should be a reader in audible or something

You have one of the best commentary voices that I have ever heard.

In the general, powerful, tired words'o Simon from Bloodborne, "So our forefathers sinned, we cannot carry their burden forever..."

so my days of standing in the kiln with a torch was all for nothing?

I also think the death mechanic in DS2 has a role to play in "Not Really Knowing Why" You're dying and surviving so many times the purpose of the story/actual quest becomes lost as you gain more questions among the few answers given. It's another thing I love about souls games. The lore, even though it has a world that's tangible enough for it to make sense, is just open ended and convoluted enough to make room for questions and speculation.

Dark souls are best series in gaming and showing new way of telling story...and after finishing the game its even more epic and stimulating when VaatiVidya will retell it... :) tear drop

BUT! Each time the fire rekindled it is weaker and weaker until one day it dies fully, but without fire there is no dark, so will the whole world vanish completely until one day it is remade by someone or something and what will it even be?

Vaati, you said that when the flame starts to fade the curse gets stronger to make appear another chosen undead and then you said that when we light the flame the curse disappear for a moment, a short moment. BUT the bonfire ascetic description says: "Fire exhibits a connection to the curse, and when the flames grow stronger, so does the curse." It seems like the opposite, doesn't it?

I love it when there are so many unanswered questions. It really makes everything more interesting. In general, I dislike games that tell you exactly everything that's going on, compared to games where there are a lot of unanswered questions, but also connections that you find by yourself.

You provided a wonderful interpretation & I appreciate the platform of end-beginning, in gathering proofs of the supportive characters, their drives & needs to be fulfilled - while a new era was on the brink of manifesting. As per the great kiln, the birth of an illuminating light was granted & is much appreciated. I admire your analytic dissection & applaud your insights, VaatVidya. Bravo, Maestro !

if that were true then the cycle has happened 5 times before (judging by the five sublime bone dusts that you can find) however, the plot also allows for an unlimited amount of sequels to occur... bravo from soft... bravo

Endless repeating cycle of extinction... Hmm... Reminds me of something. So in Dark Souls 3 we will have 3 differently colored endings and our choices won't matter.

I view Nashandra as Darkstalker Kaathe and the Emerald Herald as Kingseeker Frampt. That's just how it feels to me anyway. The Emerald Herald wants you to link the fire so that souls flourish again and to destroy Nashandra when she inevitably comes after you. Nashandra wants you to find the King and open the way to the throne so she can seize it and let the Dark can overtake the world once more.

Just found your channel and this series of Dark Souls 2 lore (that is amazing i might add :P) but I've just got to say this...I fucking love your voice

"Waits eagerly for part 2" ‘︿’

Its interesting how many aspects of Buddhism have found their way into this game. Nice to see.

i love coming back and watching these whenever i have a dark souls throwback.

I logged about 1k hours on ds2 (no pvp at all) and many play through. I pieced some things together. But this is a big help. Thank you!

Eh, after 100 hours, I feel the game does not hold up as high as DaS1. It's not bad, it's just not great. Here's to hoping for DLC for DaS2 with Giantdad in it and Beast's Souls being a thing during E3

7:18 - 7:23 how many times am ı supposed to hear it again!?

Im guessing Vati recorded this with his new equipment, Because I do think this video has the highest quality recording of his voice to date. Sounds so smooth. Whatever you bought was well worth it

The fact that Dark Souls 2 is a game about a search for answers is why I think I enjoyed Dark Souls 2 more than any other Souls game; it's also the game that I connected with the most as I feel it hit home really well. Journeying on without really knowing why, but you do so in order to find answers to your questions.

I appreciate you trying to make the most out of From's obvious misstep with the franchise. To be honest this really plays out like fan fiction, I mean just the fact you have to use a lot of Dark Souls 1 videos to explain the story highlights the problem. Which would make sense, since a lot of the original devs are gone. I hope that this whole project beast is real.

Considering demon souls was the same, i knew dark souls 1 choices didn't matter because the curse still exists. Sure Dark Souls is a spiritual successor and not a true sequel but the fact is it is the next game and takes alot of the core plot to that game. Makes sense there is no choice but i just feel the game pointed you to kill vendrick yet you ended up killing nashandra made no sense throughout most of the dialog

Late to the party but that moment when you realize the Shield of Want in Dark Souls 3 is Vendrick's "King's Shield" in Dark Souls 2. I don't know what but Vaati talking about the Throne of Want and saying "want" several times in a row made me think of this.

very nice character creation, vaati

Dark souls lore reminds me so much of Dragons dogma's lore

On it's own, Dark Souls 2 is not a powerful story. However, as a companion game to DkS 1 it is stellar. And that is it's main failing, it depends too much on the perfect first game, so that it comes across as merely being a great game.

Did anyone else notice that the First Flame's bonfire and the sand around it forms the shape of the darksign on your back in dark souls 2?

Well, I watched Silver Mont's video on the Dark Souls 2 plot, and there I said I felt as though the Throne of Want granted the desires of whoever sat upon it, to guide the world or the next cycle- though based on its design, it is essentially this cycle's version of the Kiln of the First Flame. Vendrick was supposed to light it, but his refusal to essentially bought on the Curse and doomed the rest of the world. Also, really interesting what you said about the Undead curse. It means that Hollows are humanity's natural form in the Age of Dark- and they're just returning to that natural state as the Flame starts to fade. Never thought of it that way... Good work as always dude.

Hey Vaati, just wanted to let you know I may have stumbled onto a major discovery in dark souls 2 lore. More specifically what the hell Drangleic is. This discovery takes the form of the item description for the Lingering Dragoncrest Ring sold (not soul traded) by Straid of Olaphis. "A ring used long, long ago, in a land that existed where Drangleic does now..." "...Presumably, this ring was used by a high sorcerer, but no such proof remains." This means that since Drangleic was built on top of many fallen kingdoms, one of these kingdoms was either Vinheim, or, one which I think is more likely, Lordran. The sorcerer referenced is most likely Logan, even though Griggs owned the ring. although other item descriptions bring to light the warped historical beliefs of people in the time dark souls 2 takes place, and Griggs was sort of an apprentice to Logan, which is why I think it is Lordran and not Vinheim. Not to mention the striking resemblance Heide's tower of flame has to Anor Londo, as pointed out in the heide's tower of flame video. It's entirely possible that Heide's tower of flame is merely a part of Anor Londo that we did not have the chance to explore in Dark Souls 1. The parts we did explore are now lost to the ocean. This may also mean that the throne of want, was, in fact, built on the site of the Kiln of the First flame, as I've heard some people theorize.

I wish there was some true ending, Cycle going over and over again feels sad and makes My character life unaccomplished :( We were seeking the way to cure the undead curse, not to find out it will start all over again someday

I think most people are missing the point as most people have previously done so before initially with DS1. In DS1, the ending is open to many possible interpretations. Linking the fire or bringing the dark age is neither good or bad as the real truth behind it all is lost or hidden. In DS2, the ending of DS1 is confirmed as no matter what you choose or do, no matter how powerful you are, the player cannot escape or defeat the curse. Look at King Vendrick. He pretty much accomplished the same things done in DS1 such as obtaining the Four Lord Souls and even conquering the land of the giants. Despite his accomplishments and power, his fate is no different than Gywns. Vendrick becomes a mindless shell of his former self like Gywn. What you learn and accomplish at the end is that the cycle of linking the fire or bringing the dark age has occurred countless times. The cycle is unbreakable. That is why there is no choice at the end. It does not matter as the cycle will continue. DS3 will probably be about the origin of the curse and how to actually break it this time.

I love seeing how much better Vaati's voice kept getting the longer he made videos