Board Thread:Dark Souls II/@comment-50.44.12.82-20140327155324/@comment-50.159.173.182-20140610144646

Its highly unlikely that the Lost Sinner is the Witch herself. While it seems rather ambiguous as to when Dark Souls 2 takes place in relation to the first game, its stated quite clearly that the Witch of Izalith was engulfed by the Bed of Chaos shortly after creating it so its more likely that she either became part of the Bed or was killed by it. I doubt that any one of them are the actual beings that we meet in the first game. However... that isn't to say that they aren't related in a different way. It is entirely possible for beings in this world to manifest themselves anew in some twisted take on reincarnation. One only needs to consider Nashandra to realize this. Considering the similarities between all of those who possess the Lord Souls/Great Souls and the fact that Eternal Recurrence is a central theme in Dark Souls (Gwyn, the Chosen Undead, and the Bearer of the Curse's similar situations come to mind), it seems likely.