Dark Souls 2’s ‘walk away’ ending is a mystery compared to DS1’s fire-linking choices, sparking debate about its deeper meaning.
A theory suggests the Dark Souls 2 player character who walks away becomes Slave Knight Gael, a character in Dark Souls 3 seeking a new path.
Both characters’ weariness, Gael’s fighting style, and a twisted form of hope lend credence to the theory.

Hidetaka Miyazaki didn’t helm Dark Souls 2, which makes it a bit contentious among FromSoftware fans. However, one of the game’s endings has long been a subject of debate. The mysterious ‘walk away’ ending stands in complete opposition to the established fire-linking choices from Dark Souls 1, leaving many questioning its deeper meaning.

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The community has speculated over this unconventional path for a long time, wondering whether it holds the key to a previously unexplored plot point. However, a Reddit theory proposes a wild connection to the Miyazaki-directed Dark Souls 3 that appears very plausible.

Hidetaka Miyazaki’s Genius Backstory For Gael

A still from Dark Souls 2. Credit: FromSoftware

Posted in the r/darksouls3 subreddit, the fan theory posits that Gael from Dark Souls 3 is actually your player character from the previous game. And it does make a lot of sense when you think about it.

By the end of Dark Souls 2, you’re a weary Bearer of the Curse, tired of being a pawn in an endless cycle. So, in one of the endings, you walk away from the throne, setting off on a new journey, hoping to find another path that doesn’t involve sacrificing yourself for a dying flame.
In Dark Souls 3, we encounter Slave Knight Gael, a loyal but corrupted warrior-turned-servant to a young painter in the Painted World of Ariandel, who wishes to paint an all-new world from the ashes of the previous one.

It’s a messed up way of starting over, a constant cycle of destruction and rebirth. But maybe it could’ve been an escape to the endless loop that the Bearer of the Curse was trapped in.

Could Slave Knight Gael Be The One Who Walked Away?

Slave Knight Gael in Dark Souls 3. Image credit: FromSoftware

This theory suggests Gael is actually the Bearer of the Curse who walked away in Dark Souls 2. Fed up with the continuous cycle of linking the flame, he searched high and low for a different answer. After countless failed trials, he finally stumbled upon the Painted World of Ariandel.

Here, he saw a silver lining, a way to break the cycle without succumbing to the darkness. His loyalty to the young painter grew fierce because he believed in her vision, a mangled form of hope in a world seemingly devoid of it.

While there isn’t any concrete proof to definitively link Gael to the Bearer of the Curse, there are some intriguing hints. Both Gael and the player character from Dark Souls 2 seem utterly exhausted and desperate for change. Plus, the way Gael fights bears some resemblance to how you might start out in DS2.

The theory is light on evidence, but something Hidetaka Miyazaki would definitely do. Image credit: FromSoftware

This theory offers an interesting alternative look at both Gael’s character and the significance of the painter’s world, while also proposing a sensible explanation for the puzzling ‘walk away’ ending of Dark Souls 2

Most importantly, though, this theory connects the two Dark Souls games in a way you might expect from Miyazaki. Even though there’s no evidence behind it, it stands as a testament to how many fans love digging into the games’ hidden lore.