A Throne is meant for a king, but not just any king. The Lords of Cinder, or Kings of Kindling (薪の王) in the Japanese text have all fled their respective Thrones by the time of Dark Souls 3. In spite of this, their thrones adorn Firelink Shrine prominently and possess the ability to send the Ashen One to the Kiln of the First Flame when the Cinders of Lords have been collected. What is it that makes a throne significant and what link do they possess to the First Flame? By examining the unusual details surrounding thrones throughout the series, I hope to reach an answer.
The Throne of Want serves as the focal point of Dark Souls 2’s story, with its purpose ostensibly being to continue the fire linking “curse.” However, I have seen this point argued against before, with some thinking that the Throne has nothing to do with linking the fire. This is tacitly untrue as various sources tell us.
“If you proceed, Nashandra will come after you.
Knowing that you will take the throne, and link the fire.
She covets the First Flame, and the Great Soul.
Put Nashandra to rest.
You, who link the fire, you, who bear the curse…
Once the fire is linked, souls will flourish anew, and all of this will play out again. It is your choice…
To embrace, or renounce this…
Great Sovereign, take your throne.
What lies ahead, only you can see.” — The Emerald Herald
Soul of Nashandra: One day, the flames will fade, and only darkness
will remain. Unless, of course, an heir arrives.
Soul of the King: Use the soul of he who would link the flame
to acquire numerous souls, or to create something of great worth.
So the purpose of the Throne of Want is the link the fire. This initially makes little sense, after all Lordran and Drangleic are not located anywhere near each other as I addressed before.
Courtesy of Lokey Souls, the Dark Souls 2 Strategy Guide has some interesting notions about Things Betwixt that may shed light upon the mechanics of fire-linking in Drangleic. To quote Lokey
“According to the Dark Souls II Collector’s Edition Strategy Guide, Things Betwixt is a small dimensional rift bridging Drangleic and the rest of the world. This is why the area is called a ‘gap’ or ‘interspace cave’ (隙間の洞) and has such irrational geography relative to the rest of the game world.”
Thus, the nature of space being distorted predates Dark Souls 3’s converging lands. It is logical to conclude that the throne serves as another of these dimensional gateways connecting one who takes the Throne to the First Flame. This is further strengthened by another irregularity among the thrones we see in Dark Souls 3: Ludleth’s.
While all of the Lords’ thrones being present at Firelink Shrine is unusual due to the geographic discrepancies (and the fact that we see Yhorm seated on what is presumably his non-figurative throne in the Profaned Capital), Ludleth’s throne’s presence is by far the strangest.
Ludleth’s throne is identical in design to that of a Pygmy Lord’s in all but scale. Due to the Ringed City’s isolation, it is highly unlikely the kingdom of Lothric moved a throne from such a remote kingdom. Rather the throne’s presence is likely a side-effect of the Age of Fire’s waning, as was the resurrection of the selected Lords of Cinder chosen to continue it. The entire affair is abnormal by the standards of the normal fire linking procedure, and should never have been necessary. In the past, all that mattered was that a champion (or “hero” (英雄) in the Japanese text) step forward to link the flame. Never had the fire weakened to such a degree that it need call back past Lords of Cinder to revive it.
Furthermore, two of the five Lords of Cinder, Aldrich and the Abyss Watchers, were not royalty at all. Yhorm’s throne additionally does not match that of the physical throne he sits upon at the Profaned Capital, meaning these cannot be meant to be the literal thrones they once occupied, but rather metaphysical thrones generated by the First Flame, not unlike the Throne of Want.
