Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is well known for its similarities to other From Software classics such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne; among these similarities is the opportunity to achieve multiple endings depending on certain decisions the player makes and tasks that they complete throughout the game. The most elusive ending in for most players is the Dragon's Homecoming ending, which requires the protagonist, Wolf, to go through a slew of backbreaking labors in order to obtain the items necessary to unlock it.
The possible endings of Sekiro vary in terms of how hard they are to get. The "Bad Ending" is arguably the easiest and is achieved simply by choosing to ally with Wolf's mentor Owl late in the game. The bittersweet Immortal Severance ending can be gotten by simply following Kuro's wishes to end the immortal line and completing the game without doing any extra tasks. If the player chooses instead to follow Emma's instructions and goes back in time to the Hirata Estate to retrieve the Everblossom, they're rewarded with the "Purification" ending, where Sekiro saves Kuro at the cost of his own life.
How to get the Dragon's Homecoming ending in Sekiro
The final, secret ending can be unlocked by first finding the Holy Chapter: Infested, either by receiving it from talking to a monk in Senpou Temple before the boss battle with Genichiro Ashina, or after the battle where it can be found at the bottom of a pond near the temple. After defeating Owl atop Ashina Castle later in the game, return to the Inner Sanctum where Sekiro previously obtained the Mortal Blade from the Divine Child and speak to her to obtain rice. After eating the rice, leaving, and returning for more rice a few times, the Divine Child will become sick and ask for a persimmon. After giving her the fruit, she'll give Wolf some more rice and ask him to take it to Kuro. After doing that, the Child will be found in the Halls of Illusion, where she'll ask Sekiro to find another tome - Holy Chapter: Dragon's Return - from the body of a dead monk. After finding it, the path gets even trickier.
The child then asks Sekiro to retrieve two samples of viscera of a Great Serpent, one fresh and one dried. The Dried Serpent Viscera can be found in a cave near the Guardian Ape's Watering Hole, where a giant snake, different from the one who gave Sekiro a hard time earlier in his adventure, guards it. After using Puppeteer Ninjutsu on the native monkeys to distract the Great Serpent, Wolf can retrieve what he's looking for in the broken house that it guards. The Fresh Serpent Viscera is obtained through one of the most satisfying moments in the game, where Wolf can use an overlook in the Sunken Valley Passage to perform a falling deathblow on the Great Serpent overlooking the river below, executing the massive snake and ripping its heart out for good measure.
Once these tasks are complete, the items can be taken to the Divine Child to get the Frozen Tears necessary to complete her plan, but what is her plan exactly?
What the Dragon's Homecoming Means
The central conflict of Sekiro surrounds the Dragon's Bloodline, the hereditary quality that allows Kuro and his ancestors to imbue living things with the power of immortality. Genichiro and Owl seek to obtain this power to fight off the imminent invasion of Ashina, but Kuro fears that the corrupting nature of immortality will lead to an even worse fate for all of Japan. The monks of Senpou Temple, also immortal due to their being infested by demonic centipedes, believed that the key to understanding their everlasting life lay with the Divine Dragon, and began trying to artificially create their own Dragon's Bloodline in order to resurrect it.
The Divine Child is the sole survivor of the monks' experiments, and therefore bears a sense of divinity similar to Kuro's. Upon reading the monks' texts, she learns that the Dragon's spirit had originally come from a land far to the west, and had settled in Ashina, creating Kuro's bloodline and introducing Japan to a power that was never meant for it. She concludes that the key to saving Japan from the spreading corruption is not to end the bloodline as Kuro wants, but to free the dragon and lead it back home. To do this, she asks Sekiro to give Kuro her Frozen Tears, along with the Tears of the Divine Dragon, in order to unify the Dragon's bloodline.
If Wolf chooses to follow through with her plan after defeating Isshin Ashina, Kuro's body dies, but his spirit is absorbed by the Divine Child. Together, Sekiro and the Child embark on a journey to the birthplace of the Divine Dragon in the west, hoping to sever their ties to immortality without any further sacrifice.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
