Dark Souls Timeline, Explained

Trying to link together the events in the Dark Souls Souls-like franchise, are you? Well, that might be a little tricky, seeing as the entries barely mention specific time periods. There have been three Dark Souls mainline games, thus far. However, these entries are only linked to one another by certain items and characters that don’t always point toward a specific time. 

Add to that the fact that you can time travel and experience time-space distortions, and it just makes the timeline all the more obtuse. Not to worry, though, as through careful study of the story’s in-game items, dialogue, and environmental storytelling, we’ve managed to come up with a timeline for Dark Souls that helps make better sense of the events in the series. 

3. Dark Souls (2011)

To understand the lore and setting of Dark Souls, we have to go back to the beginning of time: the Age of Ancients. This is where the Dark Souls timeline takes off.

Age of Ancients

FromSoftware’s Dark Souls (2011) gives us a clean start into the Dark Souls dark fantasy world, from the very beginning of time when everything was formless and void. Well, it was shrouded in deep fog, more rightly, with the Everlasting Dragons wielding control. This was the Age of Ancients. When a primordial fire called the First Flame appeared, though, things changed. Suddenly, the distinction between light and dark was made: life and death, as it were. Time began flowing, and life, and consequently, souls were born. 

Age of Fire

It’s here that the creatures of the Earth became more distinct, from altered dragon species to giant humanoids and everything in between. A primitive being called Gwyn, however, stumbled upon the First Flame, which gave him the Soul of Light. It enabled him to defeat the Everlasting Dragons and take control of the world. Other beings stumbled upon the First Flame, too—Furtive Pygmy, who took over the Soul of Dark, and Nito, who took over the Soul of Death. 

Upon the wiping out of the Everlasting Dragons, the Age of Fire began. It’s within this time that Furtive Pygmy created the first humans. They spread out across the kingdom of Lordran, the setting in which Dark Souls (2011) takes place. However, humans descended into the Abyss, too, forging weapons and armor. The Abyss is located beneath the world, where darkness brews and begins to spread through Lordran. 

Age of Dark

Its effects lead to the gradual fading of the First Flame. If the First Flame completely goes out, the Age of Dark would begin, which Gwyn couldn’t let happen as it’d mean the end of the rule of the gods. Gwyn, with help from other beings, tries to keep the First Flame lit. But all his efforts go down the drain, leading to a final sacrifice of his own life to keep the First Flame burning. 

While Gwyn’s plan works to continue the Age of Fire, the consequences are dire for humans, who inherit the curse of the Undead. Humans can die. But they return to life, having lost a piece of themselves. Eventually, they turn into soulless beings known as Hollows. 

Throughout the Dark Souls series, we see how the cycle of the Age of Fire and the Age of Dark repeats itself, with the First Flame nearly extinguished, your character attempting to keep the flame burning, and ultimately, the inevitable happens with the dawn of the Age of Dark.

The player in Dark Souls (2011) starts as a cursed undead, just escaped from the Northern Undead Asylum, and keen to investigate the fate of your kind. You’ll have to clear paths filled with enemies, monsters, bosses, and threats around every corner. Gradually, you’ll battle through the kingdom of Lordran, drawing closer and closer to fulfilling your destiny. 

In the end, you’re given a choice: whether to reignite the First Flame or allow it to fade. The former choice will extend the Age of Fire. However, that extends your undead curse, too, which will lead to becoming Hollow. But the latter choice will end the rule of the gods and usher in the Age of Dark. 

2. Dark Souls II (2014)

Now, here’s where things get a little murky. See, Dark Souls II does, in fact, take place in the same universe as the first game. This means that you’ll run into some items and characters from the first game. However, players are taken to a new setting in the Kingdom of Drangleic. Because of the new setting, it’s difficult to find a direct story connection to the first game, and hence, the sequel is somewhat displaced in the timeline of events.

However, we do know that you’ll be, once again, playing the role of a cursed undead character. This time, though, your mission is to search for a cure for your curse. Amid battling fearsome monsters and expanding on the lore of the Dark Souls universe, you eventually are faced with the same decision from the first game: reignite the First Flame or let its fire die out, ushering in the Age of Dark. But there’s a third choice, this time. A way out of the cycle, of sorts. The player can choose to renounce the throne and follow their own path beyond the light versus dark loop.

1. Dark Souls III (2016)

Unlike the second game, Dark Souls III does, in fact, share a connection to the first game. It takes place in the kingdom of Lothric. Here, your mission is to end the cycle of the Age of Fire and the Age of Dark, once and for all. The First Flame has been dying out. The Abyss has been spreading its darkness throughout the world. Pain and suffering are becoming more prominent. But the Lords of Cinder seek to put up one last fight. 

Gwyn was the first Lord of Cinder, and many more have come after him to keep the First Flame burning. And perhaps that’s the lesson of Dark Souls, that even when you try and try again, your efforts nearly proving futile, there’s always hope, and even a small sliver of it can be enough to keep the Age of Dark from ever becoming permanent.