Many FromSoftware games like Demon Souls, Dark Souls and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice have often left players interpreting their stories and their many possible endings, and Bloodborne is no exception. In true Lovecraft fashion, the endings to this game leave fans with more questions than answers. These endings are named after their respective achievements for completing them. They’re also largely open to interpretation, and fans are going to continue debating on them and which is the “true” ending.
After defeating Mergo’s Wet Nurse at the end of the Nightmare of Mensis, players can then make their way back to the hunter’s dream where the lodge is on fire and the moon is hanging low. The Doll will direct them to Gehrman who’s waiting at the base of a tree in a previously locked-off area of the Dream. There he’ll offer to end your life in order to escape the dream and wake up in the land of the living. It is here that players must make the biggest choice of the game before ending it right then and there.
Yharnam Sunrise
The first ending in the game can be obtained by choosing to accept Gehrman's offer. When this is done, Gehrman will say his farewells and a cutscene will play where he stands from his wheelchair and decapitates the player. After a moment, the player is seen waking up somewhere in the city, with the sun rising and bells ringing in the distance. The Doll is shown to be near what is most likely the player's grave, mourning their passing.
This ending points to the possibility that the entire game and everything the player experienced was nothing more than a dream. This is reinforced by the fact that the Hunter’s Lodge can be found in the overworld of Yharnam, albeit in an abandoned state. It could also signify the end of this year’s hunting night, at least until the next comes. Those who choose this ending and begin a new game plus will find a new headstone in the Hunters Dream that’s implied to be your character's previous play through.
Honoring Wishes
The second ending in Bloodborne can be obtained by refusing Gehrman's offer. Once the offer has been refused, the player cannot later accept the offer later, and the first ending is locked off. When the player refuses, a cutscene plays showing Gehrman getting up from his wheelchair and readying his weapons to fight the player, saying that “Tonight, Gehrman joins the hunt.”
Players will then be thrust into a boss fight against him under the name Gehrman, the First Hunter. Gehrman is an especially dangerous fighter; he’s fast and aggressive, and his Burial Blade weapon has a long reach. Depending on how much of the game you've completed, defeating him will end the game. Once you’ve defeated your former mentor, players will be set upon by a Great One called the Moon Presence. After it incapacitates the player, the next scene shows the player in a wheelchair being pushed by the Doll, who says that a new hunt is beginning. This ending proposes that the player character will take Gehrman’s place in managing the hunts and advising new hunters.
Childhoods Beginning
To unlock the very well hidden third and final ending, you’ll need to consume three of the incredibly rare One Third of Umbilical Cord items found in the game. There are potentially only four to be obtained in the game, but acquiring fewer than three by the time you've reached the endgame will lock this ending out. After eating the Cords, refuse Gehrman and defeat him, drawing out the Moon Presence. Thanks to the power imbued in the Umbilical Cords, the Presence is unable to incapacitate the player, kicking off the game's true final boss fight.
After it's defeated, a new cutscene will play showing the Doll picking up a small slug-like creature and saying “Oh, Good Hunter.” This final ending would suggest that the player managed to ascend to become an infant Great One themselves. Whether or not this means that the cycle of endless dreams, nightmares and the hunt has been broken, or if now players will take the place of the Moon Presence themselves, is still hotly debated by fans to this day.