tbh I think his swap from lightning to dark magic is a hint to his betrayal with how lightning is effective against dragons while dark magic is more the opposite since whats the point on keeping your lightning abilities when you're planning on siding with dragons, it does make more sense with how he is positioned in the map with him seeming to have allied with the dragon rider and the dragons

This is not the real Ornstein, just an impression and follower he left in the world in his journey to find the Nameless King

Ornstein but from the hood

Ornstein but he’s Simon ****ing Cowell

I like to believe that this is the real ornstein. So for me In ds1 i kill smough first and ornstein gets powered up. And After we kill him while powered he dosent actually die. He is still alive before smough smashes him in his power up phase. So no reason for super mega ornstein to not live aswell. Probably not true but its fun to think about