Lords of the Fallen endings explained: Umbral, Radiance & Inferno

❘ Published: 2023-10-16T19:14:26

CI Games

Lords of the Fallen can end in a variety of ways depending on your choices. Here’s every Lords of the Fallen ending explained and how to unlock them. Warning, huge spoilers lurk below!

As is customary in Soulslike games, Lords of the Fallen has multiple endings that can be unlocked. While the game doesn’t have any traditional good or bad endings, with each being left up to every player’s interpretation, some are darker than others.

The quest can end in three very different ways, and much of this comes down to what NPCs you listen to, and if you start examining clues that the game drip feeds – or do you simply follow blindly, confident that your course is the correct one?

Below we’ll detail how to unlock each ending in Lords of the Fallen from Radiance, Inferno, and Umbral. We’ll also explain what each ending means to the story and the world of Mounstead. It’s also worth pointing out that one of the original Lords of the Fallen game’s endings was revealed to be canon, meaning one of these three endings is also likely to be – the question is, which one?

Radiance ending
Inferno ending
Umbral ending

A promotional image from Lords of the Fallen.

Lords of the Fallen is a challenging Soulslike.

Radiance ending

The Radiance ending in Lords of the Fallen is essentially the default ending, should you successfully complete your quest to cleanse the beacons and rid the world of Adyr’s influence and enacting the will of the Judges. In some respects, this could be seen as the happy ending, as Adyr’s tyranny has been ended and humanity need not worry about him again.

However, in slaying one vengeful god, have we created a new one in Orius – a figure who’s been pulling the strings from the shadows and can reign unchallenged? It’s also worth pointing out that this “good ending” also costs your playable character their own life, a detail that was left out the by the characters who guided us.

Should you choose to make this noble sacrifice, here’s what you need to do:

First, progress through the game normally, killing the major bosses (known as the Colossal Sentinels) and cleansing the beacons they guard. Each beacon can be found at the end of the following locations:

Forsaken Fen
Upper Calrath
Fief of the Chill Curse
Tower of Penance
The Empyrean

Be aware that the moment you cleanse a beacon, it’ll lock you out of the Inferno Ending and the Umbral Ending.

You can mostly just progress through the game without much fuss, but choosing this path will eventually bring you into conflict with the Iron Wayfarer, Andreas, and Damarose the Marked. Andreas will betray you and Damarose seeks to restore Adyr, so your quest threatens her plans.

It may be tempting to attack and kill these NPCs, but there’s more rewards and less drama, in keeping them around until the time is right to battle them – there’s also the revelation of some character’s true identities to enjoy.

Once you get to Bramis Castle, kill the Sundered Monarch, then approach the Effigy of Adyr and refuse his offer. Then enter the Rhogar realm and defeat the last boss of Adyr the Bereft Exile to unlock the Radiance ending. Doing so will also unlock a new starting class; the Radiant Purifier.

The endings need you to still beat most of the bosses.

Inferno ending

The Inferno ending is the opposite of the Radiance ending and involves you siding with Adyr rather than drinking the Kool-Aid of Orius and his fanatics. This ending will see you free Adyr from his prison, letting him possess the judge Iselle and elevate you to a Rhogar Lord. However, it also means Adyr is loose, and if all those terrible things you’ve heard about him are true, humanity is in for a rough time.

While some of what we’ve heard about Adyr may be propoganda, at the very least the god is a vengeful tyrant and is going to flood the world with demons to re-establish his dominance. If that sounds like a vibe, then here’s how to make it happen:

This ending is a little more complicated to unlock. First, defeat all the Colossal Sentinels like you normally would, but do not cleanse the beacons. Ignore them.

When you travel to the Abbey of the Hallowed Sisters, make sure you pick up the Rune of Adyr, as this is the key to releasing him later. You’ll need to defeat the Iron Wayfarer at Bramis Castle in order to achieve this. You’ll then notice that your Dark Crusader Rosary will have broken in your inventory.

Progress through the castle and destroy the Sundered Monarch, then approach the Effigy of Adyr. The god will congratulate you for your efforts and will bless the Rune of Adyr, turning it into the Empowered Run of Adyr.

You’ll now need to travel to the five beacons and use the Empowered Rune of Adyr on each. When you travel to the Empyrean, you’ll now notice the Judge Cleric has reverted to her true form – the Judge Iselle. Speak to her to enter her dream world.

Now, interact with her here to trigger the Inferno ending. You’ll now unlock the starting class of Rhogar Lord for future playthroughs.

Adyr may be a vengeful god, but is he humanity’s only hope?

Umbral ending

This third ending is perhaps the most complicated to unlock and involves you rejecting both Orius and Adyr, and instead siding with another godlike character who’s been influencing you and the rest of Mornstead from the shadows – the Putrid Mother.

This terrifying nightmare creature is like a horror from a Lovecraftian novel, and siding with her will essentially allow Umbral to merge with Axiom forever, making it her domain – and everyone in it her food.

While this ending causes the end of the world as we know it, its also the beginning of a new one. Here’s how to bring this horrifying world into being:

Be aware that you’ll need to betray and kill a variety of NPCs to achieve this ending, so make sure you’ve used their services and bought what you need from their stores before inflicting this terrible fate upon them. Once they’re gone, you’ll be locked out of their store and services for the remainder of the playthrough.

First, it’s important to state that you’re not to cleanse any of the beacons upon defeating the Colossal Sentinels. Doing so will lock you out of this ending. Make your way through the game until you defeat Harrower Dervla the Pledged Knight and the Unbroken Promise bosses at Revelations Depths to locate the well behind the arena.

Now, return to Skyrest Bridge and purchase the Scouring Clump from Molhu in Umbral. This will cost only 1000 Vigor. You can now use this item to travel to a creepy place in Umbral called Mother’s Lull when at the well.

There, they’re will be a friendly Remnant you can speak to, who’ll give you an item called Damarose’s Seedpod. Go to Pilgrim’s Perch and find Damarose the Marked and use the Seedpod on this agent of Adyr. This will kill her, ending her questline. It will also unlock the first platform in Mother’s Lull, getting you one step closer to what lies within.

Now return to the Remnant in Monther’s Lull to retrieve your next target, Gerlinde. Like Damarose, you’ll need to use Gerlinde’s Seedpod on the unfortunate blacksmith. You’ll need to have freed Gerlinde from her cell in Pilgrim’s Perch so she can set up shop in Skyrest Bridge.

Remember, using the Seedpod on Gerlinde will kill her, meaning you no longer have access to her shop and smithing skills. So, get any gear and upgrades you need now, because you’ll not be able to get them again until your next playthrough. Killing Gerlinde with the Seedpod will open the second platform in Mother’s Lull.

Now play through the story until you reach Bramis Castle and defeat The Lightreaper to obtain the Lightreaper’s Umbral Parasite. Now travel back to Skyrest Bridge and use the Lightreaper’s Parasite on the open slot in Molhu’s room.

Travel back to Mother’s Lull and speak to the Remnant again to obtain the Melchior’s Seedpod. With this, go and seek out the Rune of Adyr from the Abbey of the Hallowed Sisters. If the Iron Wayfarer has already taken the Rune, battle him at the gates of Bramis Castle to get it back. Now give the Rune to the Remnant in Mother’s Lull to turn it into the Withered Rune of Adyr.

Work your way through Bramis Castle and kill the Sundered Monarch to access the effigy of Adyr to find the Melchior’s body. Use the Melchior’s Seedpod on the body to activare the third plarform in Mother’s Lull.

At this point, you’ll need to locate the Iron Wayfarer. If he didn’t steal the Rune, he’ll still be at the gates of Bramis Castle, but if you defeated him there, he’ll have moved to the Fief of the Chill Curse location. You’ll need to enter Umbral to see him. Approach him and use the Withered Rune of Adyr on him. This will kill him and you’ll obtain Harkyn’s Umbral Parasite.

Return to Molhu’s room and use this Umbral Parasite on the empty slot on the pillar, then speak to Molhu about your next steps. You’ll now have to soulflay Pieta to bring out her true form before being pulled into a boss fight with Elianne the Starved. Defeating her will kill Pieta and you’ll obtain Elianne’s Umbral Parasite.

Go back to Molhu and select “Enter Mother’s Lull.” Molhu will use the final seedpod on himself. This will kill him but trigger the final platform in Mother’s Lull, allowing you to finally reach your destination – the Putrid Mother herself.

Of course, this will also kill you and plunge the world into darkness. Obtaining this ending will also unlock a new starting class, that of the Putrid Child.

The Iron Wayfarer is a familiar sinner.

Which ending is true?

The original Lords of the Fallen also had three endings in which Harkyn could either side with Adyr, kill the god, or keep him dormant, understanding that Adyr made some good points – but couldn’t be trusted. The third ending was canon, with Harkyn struggling with the fallout from his decision in the 2023 Lords of the Fallen.

As one ending in this game results in the end of the world, and another would see Adyr unchained to enslave Mounstead as he sees fit, we predict the Radiance ending will be canon. Of course, we can’t prove this, and we certainly won’t know unless they make a third LotF game, but it makes the most sense. After all, do we really need a third game dealing with the potential return of Adyr when new dark powers are rising?

There have now been two games with Adyr as a villain hiding in the background, trying to break free. His death could result in the cult around Orius, and possibly Iselle, growing with them becoming more tyanical figures, proving Adyr’s warnings correct. This could further the story, giving us new antagonists to battle and create the dilemma of ‘what is Mournstead without its gods?’ The Putrid Mother is also now arguably a bigger threat than Adyr ever was.

As the protagonist dies at the end of the Radiance ending, and Harkyn is a broken man (possibly even dead himself due to him only appearing in Umbral after his battle with the Dark Crusader), this gives a new protagonist the opportunity to rise in the next game.

For more content on Lords of the Fallen, check out our guides below: