Whether it’s rekindling a fire that revives the world or restoring world order, both Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3 have a lot in common. Keeping the gritty themes, dark setting, characters, and gameplay aside, and purely looking at it from a lore-curious angle, it starts to make sense why so many fans of the series keep making new connections.
One such theory that emerged recently focuses on building this very connection. Based on it, Elden Ring’s universe was foreshadowed in a particularly interesting way, which may involve the painted world and Dark Souls 3’s legacy being carried into Elden Ring.
The Blight of Dark Souls 3 Slowly Carries Itself Into Elden Ring
In a post that speculates on this theory, user TheMasterlauti has shared their thoughts on Reddit. According to them, a painting in Dark Souls 3 signifies the age of a new world that serves a similar purpose to Elden Ring, eventually carrying a kind of plague from one world to another.
Humanity is the very core of this completely new universe within the painting. It also can be interpreted that this universe is devoid of fire as it is described as cold and dark, the opposite of flame, so it’s obviously not sustained by the linking of the fire.
The biggest commonality here is how exactly the protagonist’s role serves a higher purpose in these games. In Dark Souls 3, players are tasked with exploring the world and solving mysteries that eventually lead to linking the fire, giving the world new hope to look forward to.
In Elden Ring, this narrative kind of stays the same. Instead of the flame, there’s a world order that is completely broken thanks to the Shattering. Now, the player must mend the ring by restoring its power. It doesn’t feel like a coincidence, given the context of this theory, and the way the Redditor puts it across makes you want to believe that this was foreshadowed long ago in Dark Souls 3.
A Broken World, Shared Purpose, and the Common Narratives in FromSoftware Games
While this theory tries to build accuracy between Dark Souls 3’s universe and how it may have led to the events in Elden Ring, there’s a common pattern in these games that goes without saying. To look at it simply, you wake up with nothing but a vague sense of purpose, grow into a mighty being that challenges this world, and choose how the world sees you.
Well, the choice bit is subjective to games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Elden Ring, since the consequences matter heavily on the kind of tasks you choose to go about. Nevertheless, the purpose remains strong, almost as if it were taken from an excerpt from Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Despite the similarities between different games, it’s tough to pinpoint whether or not FromSoftware chose to create Elden Ring’s world intentionally like this. Also, George R.R. Martin was involved in the game’s lore-building, and there’s little evidence that suggests he played the previous games at length.
As interesting as it is to speculate on all of this, new theories keep building on a lack of solid evidence. However, it eventually builds the hype for Shadow of the Erdtree, and fans are quite excited about that. What do you think about this theory? Let us know in the comments below.
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