Board Thread:Dark Souls III/@comment-3236835-20160805064715/@comment-29257715-20160807033516

LaVey wrote: XSylancex wrote: I would agree that it is the Ashen One, wearing the Firelink Set, while I understand your point on the Ashen One wearing his/her class gear. That is only for the first playthrough. NG+ and beyond show the Ashen One rising out of the grave with whatever you had equipped when making the transition. Plus I always figured whatever he was crushing was an Ember, but now that I've taken a closer look it does make more sense for it to be ash instead. A close to his identity. Wow, it had not occurred to me that he could be crushing an Ember and that maybe we are seeing him just as he is entering Lord of Cinder mode. The waving of his clothes and the effect of ash emanating from his body may support this theory.

However, as for events happening in NG+ and beyond, I would not consider them as canon. I would.

If you think about it, the Dark Souls series has focused on characters that were for the most part already dead at the time the game begins. In order for the curse to actually take effect ingame, you have to die. So its safe to say that the player character had to of died in order to discover the curse. The very first Hollow/Unkindled Ash, had to of been labeled a monster and killed by humans, when this didn't work and the curse spread, the King was forced to corral them.

There is an entire life as a normal human being, where the player character has gone through the training to learn the weapons and skills we pick and choose at the beginning. The burial gifts clearly show that there was a previous life before the events of the game. Plus there are always the questions. Where did we get all our starter gear? How did we first learn to use the weapons we start with?

The RPG elements of the game, is where the starter stuff really comes in. Start at the beginning and work our way up to badass. In reality, undead fighting for survival would go for the best weapons and armor they could use, to better protect themselves jsut like we do in the game. The knight that gives you the cell key in the first game, is proof of that. He did have a REALLY good shield.

For Me the REAL game of Dark Souls doesn't begin until the final playthrough of a character. Where everything is at its max, and crawling out of a coffin or opening the cell door. Is the best representation of the life lived before acquiring the curse your epic journey forces you to face.