Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin Quiz

Answer: Throne of Want

If the prerequisites for unlocking Aldia's fight have been achieved, he will show up right after the player has defeated Nashandra. Nashandra is the default final boss of the game if the player has not unlocked Aldia's fight.

Answer: After lighting the second Primal Bonfire

The player can light the four Primal Bonfires in any order they want. Whenever and wherever they happen to reach the second Primal Bonfire, be it at Sinner's Rise, Black Gulch, Iron Keep or Brightstone Cove Tseldora, Aldia will jump scare them at the Primal Bonfire they are about to light, have some dialogue with the player, then leave.

He will do the same once the player has lit their fourth and final Primal Bonfire.

Answer: Become the next ruler of Drangleic

Aldia's initial journey was the exact same one the player is on- he once attempted to light all four Primal Bonfires, get the Giant's Kinship and assume the Throne of Want. He does not clarify why his attempt at this failed, but the game's lore paints a much clearer picture.

Where Aldia's journey to the player was initially the exact same, it deviated in what Aldia did once he lit all four Primal Bonfires. After doing this, instead of use the Ashen Mist Heart to do what the player did, Aldia essentially 'took a break' in his manor, Aldia's Keep. Here, he performed hundreds of magical experiments in a litany of different ways, to satisfy various scientific breakthroughs he sought after. Aldia would eventually pass away before he could use any of these innovations for the betterment of Drangleic. Unlike others, however, Aldia had planned for passing and created a way for his soul to, instead of wither away like anyone else, be magically sealed away inside a construct he uses to communicate directly, and eventually fight against, the player.

Answer: Older brother

It is said that Aldia was largely beneficial to a young Vendrick in founding the kingdom of Drangleic. Aldia then went to his manor to perform all manner of experiments and other tests on the Undead. Vendrick, who was actively trying to rid the land of Undead, became repulsed by Aldia's obsession with them, which caused the two to have a falling out.

They were never able to repair this relationship, as Aldia would die and Vendrick would thoroughly Hollow to the point of mindlessness. Ironically, though dying well before Vendrick, Aldia's work enabled him to essentially preserve his soul for far, far longer than Vendrick did.

Answer: Burnt, Ivory and Iron Kings

The monarch who 'drowned in poison' would be the Sunken King who was killed by the venomous Sinh the Slumbering Dragon, the monarch who 'succumbed to flame' is the Iron King who was killed being thrown into lava and, finally, the one who 'slumbers in a realm of ice' is the Ivory King within Frozen Eleum Loyce.

Answer: Defeat Vendrick first

Vendrick is an optional boss, but if the player wants to be able to fight Aldia, Vendrick becomes mandatory for reaching that goal. The player must defeat Vendrick before Nashandra is slain, and in addition, they must light all four Primal Bonfires and exhaust Aldia's dialogue at each point that he meets the player as an NPC.

Answer: So the player becomes the official ruler of Drangleic

If the player has killed Vendrick, a prerequisite for unlocking Aldia's fight, then kills Nashandra who comes before Aldia, it leaves Aldia as the last living member of the family who ruled over Drangleic. This means Aldia technically becomes the ruler of Drangleic.

The Throne of Want only grants access to the ruler of Drangleic, something Aldia is clearly well aware of as he follows the player on their journey to do exactly that. With nothing left to do to become the ruler but "kill" Aldia, Aldia presents himself as a fight to the player so they can rightfully earn their place in the Throne of Want.

He even comments on this the moment the fight is over. The player will find that they cannot actually kill Aldia, but simply defeating him proves enough.

Answer: "Or Something Else Entirely..."

The ending is named after dialogue Aldia has for the player right before they actually choose their ending. The "What Do You Want, Truly?" is the default ending, and it sees the player simply claim the Throne of Want before the end credits roll. In "Dark Souls 1" or "Dark Souls 3", you would draw similarities between this ending and lighting the First Flame at the end of one of those games, thus continuing the age of man and letting the world persist onward as it has been.

The "Or Something Else Entirely..." ending is unlocked by defeating Aldia. Here, instead of simply claiming the Throne of Want, the player actually leaves the throne completely unattended to and refuses to become the ruler of Drangleic. With no ruler, the First Flame will soon give out and the world will be taken by the Abyss.

However, as Aldia frames it, this is not entirely or even necessarily bad at all. There are a number of factors that should play into the player's decision, of which there really isn't an objectively 'right' or 'wrong' call to make. It is therefore ultimately up to player decision which ending they get.

However, on PlayStation, there is a separate trophy for each ending. So in most cases, getting whichever trophy they are missing will be chief in guiding the player's decision if they are a PlayStation player.

Personally, as someone who has done both endings probably a hundred times, thus has no trophy to influence me, I do greatly prefer the "Or Something Else Entirely..." ending, as this ending is canon to the "Dark Souls" trilogy. Events which take place in "Dark Souls 3" assume that this ending was chosen in "Dark Souls 2".

Answer: Bradley of the Old Guard

All four answers to this question are ultimately summonable for Aldia, but the other three do not care if the player has unlocked Aldia or not. Bradley can be summoned for the preceding Throne Duo and Nashandra fights as well as for fighting Aldia, but he cannot be summoned for anything at all here if the player has not unlocked Aldia's fight ahead of time.

Answer: Absolutely nothing

Aldia does not even drop souls to the player, nor does he drop an item or a Boss Soul attached to himself. Aldia drops literally nothing whatsoever, making this the only boss in all of the "Dark Souls" trilogy that does not reward the player at all, in any way.

As such, if you've already acquired the second ending to this game and do not particularly enjoy fighting Aldia, you could be 'forgiven' if you wanted to skip his fight entirely.