Talk:Ending/@comment-17773214-20130921031916

I always choose to link the fire for the ending. The reason, however, is Anastasia (the bonfire keeper you first meet).

I started playing this game when the DLC for the PS3 came out, and I decided that I wouldn't spoil the story and only use the wiki for information on the weapons, but found out by accident about the existence of Kaathe. After talking with both serpents, and going through the DLC area, it's clear at that point that both were just trying to manipulate me to further a goal. But Kaathe's plan for "the age of dark" for man to prosper ends up being a lie hidden within a half-truth. Just walking through the DLC pretty much confirms that only you will get ahead of this deal, everyone else turns into monsters even worse than undead IMO (you at least have a conscience as an undead, but as a humanity-soaked shaven gorilla, that doesn't look likely at all).

Plus, when you think about it, the gods ruling over Anor Londo is similar to real life kings and their people. There is corruption, sure, but there are also good rulers out there that simply want to keep the peace and order. People think that the gods are selfish beings, that they don't care about humans and want to maintain the status quo. But what if they are actively trying to find a permanent solution to prevent people from becoming undead yet maintaining a warm, sunlight-filled world? We don't know what the gods are planning, some of them might being trying to help humans. After all, "true freedom from the gods" that so many people choosing the "age of dark" favor probably don't even realize, thinking ahead, it basically means anarchy in the world of Lordran. Ironically, anarchy will result in the birth of several groups who will try to take control, and if the forces that prevail are evil, then everyone is doomed.

Finally, Anastasia is the one who convinced me that linking the fire was the right thing to do. After suffering a brutal past, she learns that, by linking the fire, you can save her and all the other firekeepers by relieving them of their duty, and it makes me wonder about other people in general. Kaathe doesn't care what happens to the humans, only you and that the abyss ultimately prevails. The gods, well they want to remain in control like kings of real life, but I'm willing to bet there are some who legitly care about humans, that there are some trying to find a way to end the curse of the undead yet keep the fires lit. If I could save Anastasia and the others, even if only temporarily (or save her and the current generation of firekeepers but ultimately their daughers will retain the fates of their mothers), then I'm willing to bet everything on it. I will take the chance that, in the future, when the fires once again grow dim and I become a hollow that there will be another person to rise to the challenge of "the chosen undead." Maybe with time, he/she and the gods will find a way to end the curse, and if my sacrifice can buy them that crucially needed time, then so be it. The world will be renewed. No Bed of Chaos spawning demons, no Seathe creating unimaginable horrors, no necromancy, hopefully no corrupts kings (unlikely but there may be fewer), just another chance to do things right this time around.

Then comes Dark Souls 2....