Sekiro, just like all other Fromsoftware games, has multiple endings that are designed to have major implications for the game lore and the entire world in general. Most endings in the series are down to a specific choice you make at the very end of the game, usually with one special or hidden ending that is very obscurely locked behind very specific things you have to do during your adventure in the game.
Sekiro is no stranger to this. With 4 endings, there is a great amount of things to do in Sekiro, with a ton of replayability that is to be offered to the player. However, it may prove to be quite a challenge to get to the endings that are more obscure. So, this list serves to help you achieve all 4 of these endings so you can platinum the game.
Just be prepared to die. A lot.
Shura Ending
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJN0cYE8H5w
As I’ve stated before, all Soulsborne games have multiple endings, and one of these endings is always an ‘evil’ or ‘bad’ ending, with relation to the world. The Sekiro-equivalent of that is the Shura ending.
Getting this ending is fairly simple, just play the game through to a little over halfway, when you fightGenichiro at the top of Ashina Castle. After beating him, play the game through until you once again find yourself having to go to the top of Ashina Castle, where you will now find Owl confronting Kuro and Emma.
Here, you are faced with 2 options; side with Owl or side with Kuro. To get the Shura ending, choose the option of siding with Owl, after which you will face Emma and then an even tougher final boss while Owl goes to fetch the second mortal blade.
Lore Significance (*SPOILER WARNING*)
In this ending, Sekiro becomes Shura, the demon of hatred by giving into his intense bloodlust. You defeat Emma and then Isshin, after which Owl greets you with the second mortal blade and Genichiro’s decapitated head, followed by Owl stating that he will use Kuro’s immortality and both mortal blades to rule all of Japan, only to be stabbed in the back by Sekiro (or Shura, as he has become the demon now). The game then ends with the ominous message of how Shura brought untold bloodshed and destruction upon Sengoku era Japan.
Immortal Severance Ending
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCxMu-V-7O0
This is the most straightforward and easiest ending to get. Just simply play the game exactly the same way as before until you reach Owl on top of Ashina Castle again. However, choose to side with Kuro, which will turn Owl hostile to you, leading to a very difficult boss fight. Once you defeat Owl, just play the game without worrying about any choices all the way to the final boss. This is the standard ending for the game.
Lore Significance (*SPOILER WARNING*)
This is the standard ending of the game and as such, it goes down the way Kuro always said it would. He sacrifices himself in order for people to stop fighting wars for the power of the Dragon’s Blood and immortality, of which Kuro is the Divine Heir. This leads to Sekiro having completed his purpose to protect and follow the Divine Heir and he ends up taking on the role of Sekujo, now turning into the idol sculptor and a sort of guide to people who would be undertaking a journey similar to the one he did. This, however, was a temporary solution, as a new Divine Heir is fated to be born after a few decades, which plays into the traditional Fromsoft trope of these worlds all having a cyclical nature to them as things are doomed to repeat.
Purification Ending
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1dRx5PVW_c
Now this is where things get hard. In order to get the purification ending, the player has to yet again play upto the Owl encounter at the top of Ashina Castle, and once again side with Kuro and fight the Great Shinobi Owl.
This time, however,instead of just playing through the game normally, the player has to do very specific things in order to progress this ending, which I have written down in the plainest possible way:
- Defeat Great Shinobi Owl
- Head to Isshin’s dojo from the rooftops of Ashina Castle
- Hide and eavesdrop on his conversation with Emma
- After this, go back to Kuro’s room and hug the screen doors near him to eavesdrop on his conversation where he says something quite unsavory
- Rest at the sculptors idol in Kuro’s room
- Then, go and talk to Emma at the top of the stairs in Kuro’s room
- After hearing what she tells you, agree to help her
- Rest at the sculptor’s idol again
- Talk to Emma again
- Warp to the Old Grave idol
- Run through the arch to the left where the 2 graves are and you will see Emma there, go talk to her
- After talking to Emma, warp to the Dilapidated Temple idol
- Go to the back of the sculptors shack from the outside where you will find a small slit in the wall
- Look through it and eavesdrop on the conversation between the sculptor and Emma
- Then, go inside the temple and talk to Emma about what you heard, after which she will give you a new bell for Hirata Estate
- Head back to Hirata Estate
- Run through the whole level once more, which is a little altered in terms of enemies,minibosses and atmosphere
- Make your way to where you fought Lady Butterfly, where you will now find Inner Father Owl, which is an even more difficult version of the initial Owl boss fight.
- Defeat Owl and you will now receive an Everblossom Branch, an item that you can take with you to the end of the game
Lore Implications (*SPOILER WARNING*)
What the purification ending does is that it lets Sekiro save Kuro from dying while giving up his immortality. However, a life must still be taken regardless so instead of Kuro sacrificing himself, Sekiro ends up giving his life to save Kuro and ridding the world of the power of the Dragon’s Blood, allowing Kuro to go on and live a normal life of a human. This does seem to stop the cyclical nature of the world in a way and gives Kuro the ability to love peacefully and also stops any future wars from happening over the power of the Dragon’s Blood.
Return Ending
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqOFgJnrKCQ
Whoa boy, now this is a long one. This one is very tricky and very time consuming to get and even 1 mistake or oversight can possibly derail the whole thing if it isn’t done properly (or in the proper order) but luckily for you, I am here.
So, let’s get started.
(NOTE: it should be said that whenever there is an option for you to consume rice, you should always choose yes, as well as whenever you are needed to give rice to Kuro)
- Again, stay loyal to Kuro and defeat Owl at the top of Ashina Castle
- Head down to Senpou Temple, Mt. Kongo and hop down to the right
- You will find a monk at the end of the bridge and to his left side, you will find a kite mechanism and a rat enemy
- Use the Puppeteer Ninjutsu Skill on him, which you got after beating the Folding Screen Monkeys
- After this, the rat will fly the kite using the mechanism and will make a shortcut through the huge chasm
- Now, advance through Senpou Temple until you come across an old woman who is surrounded by pinwheels after the room with the insects and monks
- Go to the tree on the left and grapple your way across the valley
- Keep playing through this area until you see a massive drop where the giant white serpent is, just lying down beneath you
- Drop down all the way and attack it to kill it and get an item called the Great Serpent Heart
- Next, wrap to the Bodhisvatta Valley sculptors idol
- Instead of going down the boss pit where you fight the guardian ape, turn around and make your way through the poison swamp
- To your right, there will be a mob vendor who you can talk to at the entrance of a cave
- Talk to him
- He will tell you not to enter the cave in front of him
- Enter and progress all the way through the cave, avoiding all the enemies on the way to the end
- When you see the other serpent, jump to the left side where there will be a monkey that's jumping around
- Deathblow the monkey and use the Ninjutsu Skill on him as well
- He will distract the serpent while you quickly keep sneaking on the left side and grapple to the ledge the serpent was covering
- Quickly make your way inside the temple while the serpent is distracted
- Acquire the second serpent heart
- Make sure at this stage, you have beaten the first incarnation of the Corrupted Monk at Mibu Village and have the ability to breathe underwater. If not, go and do that
- Head to the Temple Grounds idol
- Head down and left where you will see a body of water
- Dive down and pick up the item, which will either be a scroll or a prayer bead
- If it is a prayer bead, it means that you had already picked up the scroll at some point in your playthrough and you don’t need to worry about it as it is already in your inventory, which is why the scroll is not here and you see a prayer bead instead
- Head to the Inner Sanctum where you find the Divine Child
- Giver her the scroll
- Rest at the idol
- Travel to the hall of illusions where you fought the folding screen monkeys
- You will find the Divine Child sitting there, keep speaking to her and exhaust her dialogue
- Head to the Main Hall of Senpou Temple, the one with all the centipede enemies
- After the big drop, turn around and head back to where you initially came from and find the hidden route which is the cave
- You will come across a space at the end of the cave where there is a skeleton wearing a purple robe with an item that he will be holding, located towards the top left corner of that room
- Pick up the item
- Warp back to the Divine Child and give her this item
- This allows her to feast on the serpent hearts and act as a cradle
- Rest once more
- Now, you will realize that you cannot access the Inner Sanctum anymore
- Now from here, complete the rest of the game
- After beating the final boss, you will now have options on how to end the game
- Choose the option that says give divine dragon tears and frozen tears
- This unlocks the hidden ‘Return’ ending
Lore Implications (**SPOILER WARNING**)
This ending is championed by most fans as being the true ending of the game as it, much more than the other endings, opens up the questions and possibilities of a sequel to Sekiro. In this ending, Sekiro gives Kuro the divine tears but doesn’t die or allow Kuro to die in the process. What instead happens is that he accompanies the Divine Child (who is now cradling Kuro within herself) to the lands of the West, to the birthplace of the Divine Dragon, in order to better understand and fully sever the ties of immortality and birth Kuro without the power of the Dragon’s Blood.
