You’re standing at the edge of the Forge of the Giants. Melina is gone, or maybe she’s still there, begging you not to touch the yellow flame. Your character’s skin is charred, seared by three giant fingerprints you found at the bottom of a literal sewer. Most players see the Lord of Frenzied Flame as the "bad" ending. It’s the one where you burn everything. No more trees. No more people. No more Elden Ring. But if you actually look at the state of the Lands Between, it’s hard not to wonder if Shabriri had a point.
The world is a wreck. Everyone you meet is either dying, insane, or stuck in a loop of eternal suffering because Queen Marika broke the literal laws of death. Honestly, the Lord of Frenzied Flame isn't just a villain arc; it’s a hard reset on a reality that was already a mistake.
The Three Fingers and the Philosophy of Chaos
Deep beneath Leyndell, past the Omens and the creepy catacombs, you find the Three Fingers. They don't speak—at least, not in words you can hear without Hyetta. They represent the antithesis of the Greater Will. While the Two Fingers want order and structure, the Three Fingers want to melt it all back into the "One Great."
Think about it. The Greater Will came in, separated everything into souls and bodies, and created "distinction." This distinction led to war, racism against the Omens, and the genocide of the Fire Giants. Shabriri, arguably the most hated man in history, tells you that the world is just a mistake. It’s suffering. It’s "the sins of the gods."
If you choose to become the Lord of Frenzied Flame, you aren't just killing people. You are ending the very concept of "being." It's nihilism at its most extreme. You’re basically saying that if life can’t exist without this much pain, it shouldn’t exist at all. It’s heavy stuff for a video game, but FromSoftware has always liked to play with the idea that "light" isn't always good.
Why Everyone Hates Shabriri (and Why He Might Be Right)
Shabriri is a master manipulator. He’s the one who whispers in your ear at the Mountaintops, wearing the skin of your dead friend Yura. He tells you that you don't have to burn Melina. He offers you a way out. "Save the girl," he says. It sounds heroic, right? But he’s just using your empathy to turn you into a vessel for a cosmic virus.
The lore suggests Shabriri was once a man whose eyes were gouged out for his slander. The Frenzied Flame was born from his despair. This is key: the flame comes from suffering. It’s the collective scream of everyone who was stepped on by the Golden Order. When you become the Lord of Frenzied Flame, you become the avatar of that resentment.
Melina, however, is terrified of you. If you take the flame, she promises to hunt you down and deliver "Destined Death." It’s the only time in the game she sounds truly pissed off. She believes that even in a broken world, "births continue." She thinks life is worth it just because it is. But is it? Look at the Albinaurics. Look at the Misbegotten. Look at the guys stuck in jars. Most people in the Lands Between would probably prefer the fire.
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The Mechanics of Madness
From a gameplay perspective, the Lord of Frenzied Flame path is a pain in the neck. You have to find the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds, which is a maze of pipes and giant lobsters. Then you have to do that nightmare platforming section down the tomb of the merchants.
- You have to be naked to open the door. (The Three Fingers have no time for armor).
- You get those cool glowing orange eyes.
- Your head literally becomes a ball of fire during the cutscene.
- The Frenzy-Flaming Ram and other spells actually build up madness in you as well as your enemies.
It’s the only ending that requires you to physically change your character’s appearance before the final fight. It’s an investment. You aren't just clicking a dialogue option; you’re branding yourself.
The Merchants: The Tragedy Under the City
If you want to understand why the Lord of Frenzied Flame exists, you have to look at the Great Caravan. Hundreds of nomadic merchants were buried alive under Leyndell because they were suspected of heretical beliefs. They didn't actually worship the flame—until they were buried in the dark with nothing but their own despair.
They chanted a curse. They called out for the flame. They summoned the very thing the Golden Order feared.
When you walk through that area, you hear a violin playing. It’s one of the few merchants who hasn't totally lost his mind yet. Surrounded by the corpses of his family, he just plays. That is why the flame exists. It is the cost of Marika’s "perfect" world. It’s the bill coming due.
Is it Really the "Bad" Ending?
Most people say the Age of Stars (Ranni’s ending) is the best one. She takes the gods away and lets humans figure it out. It’s the "freedom" ending. Then you have the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince, which makes everyone "Live in Death," or the Dung Eater’s ending, which... well, we don't talk about that.
But the Lord of Frenzied Flame is the only one that addresses the root cause: the Greater Will itself. By burning the Erdtree and the world to the ground, you are evicted the alien influence of the Outer Gods entirely. You’re taking the ball and going home. No more Elden Ring. No more cycles of rebirth. No more suffering.
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It’s total destruction, yeah. But it’s also total peace. No more wars if there’s no one left to fight them. It’s a very "Morgott was right, we are all traitors" kind of vibe.
Comparing the Choices
The standard "Elden Lord" endings are basically just putting a fresh coat of paint on a rotting house. You’re still a puppet. You’re still part of a system that thrives on sacrifice. Even Goldmask’s "Perfect Order" just tries to fix the gods, not the world.
Ranni’s ending is cool, sure. But she still leaves the world as it is—broken and full of monsters. She just leaves. You and her go on a honeymoon in space while everyone else is still stuck with the Scarlet Rot and the Grafted Scions.
The Lord of Frenzied Flame is the only one who stays and finishes the job. You melt the divisions. You erase the boundaries. You become the chaos that allows something—maybe, eventually—to start over from scratch without the interference of cosmic fingers and fickle queens.
How to Actually Get the Ending (Without Messing Up)
If you’re planning on going this route, you need to be careful. Once you touch the Three Fingers, you are locked into the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending. You can’t just change your mind at the last second by clicking a different prompt.
- Find the Cathedral of the Forsaken under Leyndell.
- Defeat Mohg, the Omen (not the Lord of Blood version).
- Hit the altar behind the chest to reveal a secret path.
- Platform down. Try not to die. You will die.
- Get the Frenzied Flame from the Fingers.
- Finish the game as usual.
If you regret it, there is one way out, but it’s the hardest quest in the game. You have to get Miquella’s Needle, beat Malenia (the hardest boss), and use the needle in the heart of the storm at Farum Azula. That’s a lot of work just to say "just kidding" to the God of Chaos.
The DLC Connection: Midra and the Abyssal Woods
The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC gave us even more context. We met Midra, a man who tried to become a Lord of Frenzied Flame but was too weak. He lived in perpetual torture, a sword through his head, just to keep the flame contained.
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"The depth of your foolishness!" he screams.
Midra’s boss fight is a masterpiece of visual storytelling. It shows us that the flame isn't just "fire." It’s an infection of the soul. It’s yellow, it’s madness-inducing, and it’s beautiful in a terrifying way. Seeing what happened to Midra makes your choice in the base game feel even more significant. You succeeded where he failed. You had the "will" to embrace the chaos.
Final Insights on the Chaos
Choosing to be the Lord of Frenzied Flame isn't about being "evil" in the way the Dung Eater is. It’s a philosophical stance. It’s the belief that the universe’s experiment with "life" has failed and that the most merciful thing to do is to pull the plug.
If you want to play through this:
- Commit to the bit. Use Frenzy incantations like The Flame of Frenzy or Unendurable Frenzy. They are incredibly strong in PvP because madness stuns other players.
- Watch the eyes. Your character's eyes will change to a glowing yellow-orange. This carries over even if you use the mirror in Fia’s room, unless you manually toggle "Eye Alterations" off.
- Listen to the music. The music in the final cutscene is different. It’s somber, then explosive. It’s the sound of the world ending.
The next time you play Elden Ring, don't just default to Ranni because she's the "waifu" choice. Think about the merchants. Think about the Omens. Think about the endless cycle of the Erdtree. Maybe the world doesn't need a new King. Maybe it just needs a match.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Playthrough:
To fully experience this lore, start by completing Hyetta’s questline. You’ll need to find Shabriri Grapes (which are actually human eyeballs, gross) and give them to her. This provides the dialogue necessary to understand the "One Great" philosophy. Next, ensure you visit the Merchants' Grave in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds to see the environmental storytelling—the piles of bodies tell more than any item description ever could. Finally, if you want the most dramatic version of the ending, inherit the flame before you go to the Forge of the Giants. This changes the scene at the forge significantly, as you use yourself as kindling instead of Melina, which is the ultimate "saving" act—even if you’re saving her just so she can try to kill you later.