The new area is accessible from the Cathedral of the Deep, where a man in rags waits for someone to help his lady see the “flame.” Holding a piece of a rotted painting in outstretched hands, the player is warped to the snowy painted world. The lore masters out there are going to have a field day with the implications of this world. The plot here is vague and ends up diving straight off a cliff once the boss has been defeated. In this pocket universe, it appears that the DLC gives us a glimpse of the future of Ariamas’ painted world. The Painted World of Ariandel, the new zone introduced with the DLC, is a callback to an optional area in Anor Londo, a massive painting that served as a portal to a snowy, isolated world. This was either fanservice or some deeper meaning established by the problems associated with prolonging the First Flame. Because time is so convoluted, Dark Souls 3 shipped with a lot of winks and nods to Dark Souls.
