Surprise! To no one. Like Bloodborne and the Souls series Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has multiple endings. Four to be precise. There’s the easy ending, the real ending, the true ending and the other ending that adds some extra lore. Those aren’t the real names. There’s the Shura Ending, the Purification Ending, the Immortal Severance Ending, and the convoluted Return Ending. Each has a few steps you need to follow to unlock it. Obviously, there are spoilers ahead.
RETURN ENDING
The true ending of the game and the most convoluted of all. Play the game up until the confrontation with Owl atop Ashina Castle, side with Kuro and forsake the Iron Code. All of these steps need to be completed before you do battle with the Divine Dragon at the end of Fountainhead Palace. Head to the Temple Grounds Idol at Senpou Palace and jump into the water in front of you where the Waterfall is. There are a couple of Rainbow carps as well as a prayer bead and a book named ‘Holy Tome: Infested’. Take this to the Divine Child in the Inner Sanctum.
Eat the rice she gives you then constantly rest at the Idol until you’re given more. After a couple of goes at this, she’ll request a Persimmon. Give her one. Eat the rice she gives you again and she’ll give you rice specially made for Kuro. Give him this and he’ll give you rice that he has specially made. Go back and tell her Kuro enjoyed his rice and when you rest after this conversation the Divine Child will be gone. In the Inner Sanctum, there’s an idol you can interact with that takes you back into the Folding Screen Monkey’s Illusion. Interact with this. You’ll find the child right in front of you and she’ll give you a new person to find, an Elder Monk. He can be found in the cave behind the Main Temple. Run through the cave until you find a corpse with a scroll. Bring the scroll to the Divine Child to get the next step of the quest: two Serpent fruits.
Head to the Idol before the Guardian Ape boss fight and you can drop down into the valley below. Down here you’ll find a merchant as well as a huge dark cave. Inside the cave is what seems like an old friend. It’s actually a second giant serpent. Avoid the small enemies in the cave until you reach a path where the serpent will be looking at you, head left along the cave wall until you see a lonely monkey. Equip the Puppeteer Ninjutsu, backstab the monkey and trigger the skill. He’ll distract the serpent long enough for you to grapple up, run into the building and grab the fruit. You can then grapple out of this cave. For the other serpent start from the Senpou Temple idol. Head down to the right where the lever for the kite is. There is a solitary enemy here. Use the Puppeteer Ninjitsu on him to have him fly the kite into the sky. Use this to grapple across the valley. Rest at the idol then drop from the wooden beam onto the serpent to use a deathblow and kill it once and for all. The other one in the cave still lives though.
You now have both fruits! Give these to the Divine Child and rest. The Sanctum will be closed and the Child will be in distress. Rest again and talk to her in order to receive Frozen Tears. Go kill the Divine Dragon now then head to the Silvergrass fields to take on the Sword Saint Isshin once and for all to end the game. Give Kuro the Frozen Tears and that’ll be you, a true legend and master of Sekiro!
