Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-81.159.3.74-20140825190535/@comment-16047389-20140826201733

First off, the Throne of Want basically IS the First Flame. This isn't speculation, Shanalotte flat out tells you that taking the Throne will link the First Flame. What is likely happening when the doors close is that the Chosen Undead is now being roasted in the massive kilnshaped room. Not unlike how the first Chosen Undead was burned when/if they linked the First Flame.

Second, there is no evidence that Vendrick was the person who broke the Lordvessel. Vendrick also slew the Four Great Ones of his time and took the Great Souls for himself to build Drangleic, so clearly they have means of returning whether or not they are actually used as kindling. Vendrick didnt' take the Throne of Want because he didn't want to die, not because it didn't have power. The entire set up of the game would make absolutely no sense if the Throne of Want turned out to be just a prison/illusion.

Finally, Vendrick wasn't afraid of death by the time he locked himself away in the Undead Crypt. He'd finally learned the "truth". What exactly this truth is is still speculative at best, but his dialouge makes it apparent that something he had learned drove him to locking away the Throne of Want and several other important items behind the King Gates before taking his King's Ring with him into the Undead Crypt. Whatever the secret is, though, it is tied to the three Lost Crowns that the Chosen Undead must now collect.