Elden Ring once again employs the epic dark fantasy known from FromSoftware's massive catalog. However, not ALL is lost yet. This makes the setting an oddity in the sea of FromSoftware's other dark fantasy titles, most of which take place in worlds that have reached the point of no return. One Elden Ring player has come up with a wild theory that claims this game is a prequel to FromSoftware's other titles.
Although the Lovecraftian world of Bloodborne is the most obviously apocalyptic, the worlds of Dark Souls and Demon's Souls are also on the brink of complete collapse. This ending comes in many forms and often includes a transformation into a state no human would recognize. If these games all chronicle alternate futures for The Lands Between, per this theory, it might be the darkest twist in FromSoftware history.
Fan Theory: Elden Ring is a Prequel to Dark Souls, Demon's Souls, and Bloodborne
Redditor theodis09 recently posted a theory of how Elden Ring could be a prequel to Dark Souls, Demon's Souls, and Bloodborne. According to this theory, three of Elden Ring's six endings lead straight to the hellish fantasy worlds featured in these games. A flowchart shows how each timeline plays out: after the events of Elden Ring, The Lands Between are subjected to three separate calamities. These are the Frenzied Flame, the Age of Stars, and Destined Death.
The Age of Stars and the Frenzied Flame paths both clearly take inspiration from the Age of the Stars and Lord of the Frenzied Flame endings. Meanwhile, the Destined Death appears to refer to the Age of the Duskborn ending. These Elden Ring endings all depict different futures for The Lands Between, and those futures do appear to have more than a little in common with the nightmarish worlds of previous FromSoftware games.
Demon's Souls takes place in a kingdom afflicted with colorless fog that isolated it from the world and unleashed a plague of demons, and the Age of the Duskborn ending features The Lands Between being engulfed in fog. The Dark Souls trilogy famously takes place in a fantasy world where the First Flame is the only thing preserving the world humanity knows, and the Lord of the Frenzied Flame ending appears to show the birth of the Age of Fire. Finally, Bloodborne features a world twisted by the presence of eldritch entities, including one that inhabits the moon. The Age of the Stars ending has Ranni ascending to the moon and leaving The Lands Between without a ruler or deity. While these connections could simply be nods to previous works, the theory may be worth considering.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.