Most Elden Ring lore videos - Reading the in-game text for 30+ minutes TA's videos - A history class that I stay wide awake the whole duration and look forward for more
Exactly, I feel like the inspiration behind the lore is equally, if not more important, than it's implications. It really brings things into perspective.
Honestly when I watch a 30+ minute lore video and it's just reviewing things we see directly in game with no kind of speculation or insight, I go hollow
The more I watch this channel, the more I am convinced you could teach a history of civilization using the analogues in Elden Ring (and maybe other fromsoft games).
@@navypilot47 You honestly could, especially with Elden Ring. It's really a testament to the writers and Miyazaki (shoutout to GRRM too who no doubt had a big hand in this as well). You can really tell that Miyazaki studied the humanities and specifically majored in Sociology throughout each game by how the stories are presented and the ideas they draw from. No doubt working as an artist/writer under someone with that type of background really lets you flourish as a creator and bring new twists and ideas to the table based on real world inspiration. FromSoftware fans really have been blessed these last 15 years or so. Literally my favorite type of storytelling(subtle without huge exposition), wrapped in otherworldly mysteries, while being based on real world history and myth. We cant take this shit for granted.
I want everyone at TA to know that whenever I saw fascinating reliefs and stonework in the dlc, I would leave a message with the “nod in thought” gesture that said “Tarnished, archer required ahead.” Was the closest I could get to saying “we need TA to explain this” lol
The fact that these kind of videos can even be made for a GAME is mind boggling to me. Simply can't express the depth and care the devs put into this game, what a masterpiece.
It truly is. What's crazy is they could have put 10% of the amount of detail and it still would have been staggering. And the funny thing is, the vast majority of players have absolutely no idea about any of this (including me if it wasn't for people like TA). That just shows that they really respect their audiences intelligence (probably a little too much 😅).
Thanks for making your first DLC vid about a detail not many people are talking about. The stone coffins are def the most fascinating aspect of the DLC alongside Rauh
@@tarnishedarchaeologist why is ghostflame in the putrescence spells blue? it doesnt look like the ghostflame spells or torches and matches the blue fire torches of caria manor instead. the colors of fire are definitly the real most fascinating aspect of the dlc along side the colors of flowers which also have new context
@@okname5335 I read a theory that Ghostflame used to be purple, and that it was the sealing of the Destined Rune of Death that discoloured it, leaving Ghostflame as blue since Destined Death is red-black.
Genuinely said, "no way" out loud to myself like 3 times watching this. Astonishing stuff. When you mentioned the lands between the two rivers, it felt like a seismic shift in my understanding of the world of Elden Ring
TA, you changed how I played the game. I noticed how much slower I went through the DLC than the base game. How I looked not just for enemies and secret doors, but for interesting architecture and art. Going up and down structures and thinking about why the structures were there. The way your team approaches the game got me to enjoy it so much more, thanks for that :)
Playing the games like this what turned them into masterpieces for me. They were always engaging and thrilling to run through boss to boss, area to area. But really taking my time and digesting the art and environmental storytelling is what makes them All-time great games, IMO. And its made better because the stuff you're looking at is often placed intentionally by the Devs.
I'd go so far as to say that TA and others who make content like him have changed how I play games as a whole. I pay a lot more attention to the little details and set designs, and sometimes that has resulted in me having a much greater experience. For instance, I recently replayed Lies of P and started paying a lot more attention to the environmental storytelling and it definitely added to the fun.
a lot of times i stopped and just started looking around, the DLC is easily one of the best artistical works that fromsoft ever did, Elden ring already had amazing compositions and colors schemes, the dlc has so many extremely cool places
Minor quibble at around 23:05 or so. *Ilim* is Akkadian for "god,* not "gate," so *Enir-Ilim* - factoring in the E- prefix which commonly denotes the temple complexes of deities in ancient Mesopotamia - means something more akin to "Temple of the Lord God" than "Lord's Gate. "Gate" is the *Bāb* part of *Bāb-ilim.*
TA going all in on the idea that the surface of the Lands Between was turned back to magma at one point with that ending question. Magma can cool and solidify before rock and sediment completely submerge. But for rocks to float on lava, it needs to have been made from dense metals or other materials. Like say a meteorite carrying these metals impacting the lands between. (Meteorite weapons. The forges themselves in the DLC also support this theory). This would explain the Coffin Fissure. One of the strangest connections to me before this video was that the far off chambers of the Coffin Fissure were similar to the chambers beyond the play area in Rykard's boss room. I doubt the crew running TA haven't noticed this, but I'll leave this here in case they haven't yet. There is only one instance of the Spiral Columns in the Lands Between. It is at Volcano manor. While more ornate than those in Enir-Elim it is nonetheless far too similar in design to simply write off as a coincidence. Thanks for the videos! Your channel reawakened my love for the lore of these games! 😀
The only thing that worries me is I’m not sure that ending question is answering a concern we should have. We’ve seen stone coffins float and travel up waterfalls. There should be no concern that they can float along any ordinary stream of water.
Could it be that the worship of a luminous tree began in an impact winter? If the sky was choked with ash, it would block out the sunlight. Plants and animals and people would die. But if a fancy new tree was able to grow in spite of that, and shed its own light? That'd be reason enough to convert. It'd be a miracle.
Doesn't this mess up TA's timeline a bit? The whole premise of the magma theory is that is connected to the civilization that built the Divine Towers, and that that was the first civilization (or at least the oldest that we still have evidence for), and TA connected that to what amounts to the Rauh civilization post-DLC. Also I wonder how the crucible will connect to all this since as some other Lore creators have pointed out the Crucible seems to be a far more shapeless, esoteric force that existed in the Lands Between from the begining, rather than the Great Tree. The trees are connected to it as we can see from the Crucible Knights depiction of a tree and the Hornsents twin spiral tree.
@@phillidaadamus4349 Not necessarily... the mountain Bayle is on is a craggy mountain that very well could be a dormant volcano similar to Gelmir and even looks like a volcano. Probably just a coincidence and choice to have a mirror to mt gelmir zone in the DLC like they do with all the main zones, but they rarely do that without reason.
Following your idea that the surface turned magma, I always noticed that the entire lands between seem to be formed by interlocking basalt columns (look at places like the plateau of Manus Celes) which in the real world are the result of an volcanic fissure eruption (the same geological phenomenon that originated the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland). Now we can't know if the devs chose that geological appearance to communicate something, like that the lands between originated from a volcanic fissure eruption and/or to make look the terrain "artificial", or just because it's cool and enhances the sense of fantasy of the world
14:08 My dude pulls out a telescope in the middle of fighting arguably the most difficult Deathrite Bird in the game. The commitment to research is on another level lmao!
Blew my mind once more, 10/10. On the one hand your thorough exploration, on the other hand...if FromSoft's Team actually built the world with this much intentional architecture, they are on another level Edit: could it be that Charo is the Twinbird? The south-western coast area of the Land of Shadow is red and blue just as the twinbird kite shield; or maybe the red color of Charos Hidden Grave is a hint towards the Helphens Grace?
@@MFGod_Hand frankly, I doubt that the dragon is Charo. The area is called Charo's Hidden Grave and say what you will about the difficulty in the current time period to reach the area, it is by no means hidden. Anybody with a sufficiently lengthy piece of rope could get there without having to face the Ancient Dragon Man
This might be a huge stretch on my part, but just throwing this out there since Fromsoft did include a lion dancer in Bellurat so maybe they are using influence from many ancient civilizations rather than just Babylonian. In Chinese culture there are two distinct types of Phoenix ( 凤 and 凰 ) one male and one female, and phoenixes were believed to have a higher status than dragons in ancient china, but as the emperors of China, which took the dragon as their symbol, became more centralized in their rule, the phoenix's status was diminished and made subordinate to the dragon. This could be implying that the death rite civilization preceded the dragons, or initially had a harmonious relationship and then conflict arose, but honestly I have no idea and maybe that wouldn't fit other lore but this is just something that popped into my head as a Mandarin speaker.
This is hands down one of your best videos. I was a bit disengaged on the lore debate of SotE so far since nobody seemed to want to make the big connections but you got me interested in the lore again. And just like another commenter I also believe Charo is the twinbird (because of red and blue) and his death is a sign of the ghostflame itself dying and losing its color. Remember ghostflame used to be purple (i.e. a mix of red and blue) and now it's a very pale grayish blue.
@@alexrocky9147 from grave violet item: "A purple flower that blooms in graveyards. Material used for crafting items. The hue of ghostflame, it's believed to be useful in calling forth spirits." so the original ghostflame was purple, probabley a mix of red-blue of the twinbird god that lorded over death and guided the spirit to the afterlife. and for X reason, the power diminished, and the ghostflame became a pale white.
@@RodrigodelaFuente-nw4szcould just as easily be a translation oversight. There doesn't seem to be any other corroborating evidence whatsoever other than this item description which itself can be questioned as I did earlier.
"The Uncanny Valley" is literally how I'd best describe the DLC. It's all so familiar, yet so foreign at the same time. Part of what contributes to this is how loot is scattered. In the main game the type of upgrade materials you find is cohesive with the area; low level stones in low level areas, high in high. In the DLC you'll find three smithing stone 2s on a corpse and just just up a tower from it with no enemy is an ancient dragon smithing stone. I don't know why but even just that aspect still gives me the most unsettling feeling. What is familiar- an established, reliable rule- no longer makes sense.
I think also its world design lends to the feeling of uncanny-ness and chaos - its weird and wild, chaotic and twisty world design that laps into each other also gives the player a sense that these cultures, that would be seen as individuated and distinct in the Lands Between, all seamlessly and uncannily blend into each other in the Land of Shadow. After all, the Realm of Shadows is explicitly stated to be the realm where Order does not exist. It’s a place where the Crucible was once the strongest. As such, the developers made such an incredibly uncanny, yet familiar, land that feels like a melting pot of multiple substances, old and new. Just like the crucible itself. And such is the case that developing the conclusions on the answers of Elden Ring’s story, through Shadow of the Erdtree, will take the community much longer than it did with the basegame’s Lands Between
It has to be. On the archways of the Divine Towers doorways, you can see reliefs of human shapes and they are the same as the bodies depicted on the doorways of the stone coffins. There is a direct 1:1 relationship between the two. The molten lava idea is very exciting one to see fleshed out.
27:59 "What catastrophe would lead them to build giant boat-shaped ships to, all at once, go properly into the the afterlife?" I imagine that building non-boat-shaped ships is more significant than the decision to build boat-shaped ships. Jokes aside, I'm always impressed with the way you go about piecing lore together from textures, models, and a small handful of lines of text.
Another important part of establishing these carefully crafted Babylonian parallels is that there's a long-standing use of this in modern Japanese mythology to build a _LOT_ of parallels in the rise, fall, & corruption of Babylon to form relatable narratives about post-WWII Japan (often explicitly with regards to Tokyo). Messemer's Furnace Golems and his form of crusade and the Toyko Fire Bombings have… overwhelmingly mirrored bits of history and iconography. The syncretism of cultural beliefs and practices of rule not only mirrors the American occupation, but also the initial arroval of Buddhism and the clash with Shinto beliefs and the formation of the Empire, as well as the Genpei War and other historical events that help the Japanese mythos intertwine with elements of Western Fantasy.
@@phillidaadamus4349 Thing like Leda's line, _“They were never saints. They just happened to be on the losing side of a war. But it's still a wretched shame.”_ is as much self-reflection on the post-war trauma Japan experienced as it is a perspective about the suffering other nations like China experienced from Imperial Japan. (This duality is also something used heavily in *_Final Fantasy VII_* with the post-war relationship between Midgar & Wutai being as much a reflection of America & Japan as it is Japan & China). From a long history of civil war, Japan's history of portraying conflicts where there is no singular side that's right, but just one that's victorious over a particular injustice which leads to a different type of reflection of that struggle & oppression as that Empire attempts to make itself eternal. Since Babylon was the Biblical analogue for the Roman Empire, it has a lot of strong mythological foundation in allegorical parallels to the rise of religious unification and imperial expansion that easily tie in with how Western Fantasy represents certain themes. The *_Souls_* games and *_Elden Ring_* in particular have a very specific Japanese-history-centered design that's not always immediately apparent, since it's such a close match to other Western Fantasy that doesn't have those elements, but feels nearly the same.
To TA and his team that put these videos together. I just want to say thank you for being so passionate about this game that I love. The time and dedication it takes to research the real life parallels and inspirations for such a complex and enigmatic story, at this point leave me feeling that all of your opinions and conjecture are indispensable to the lore hunting community. Every one of your videos is of the highest quality content, and I'm looking forward to the next installment.
The quality of your channel is overwhelming. It's brain candy. Keep up the fabulous work! Btw I've recently watched a BBC vid about a recent reinterpreting of the triangles pointing out of the Imago Mundi, and it's a fascinating watch. Cheers!
Outstanding research and presentation TA. I'm a huge fan of FromSoft's work, especially Elden Ring (Bloodborne close second). Playing this game made me feel as if I were some conquering hero from Greek/Roman/Judeo-Christian mythologies, and this perfectly encapsulates why. They had a clear inspiration from the real world histories of the Nordic, Mediterranean and Middle East regions. I loved your point arguing against "reused assets" I even detected a bit of frustration in your tone and I totally get why. EVERYTHING is intentional in these games. Miyazaki is a madman in the best possible way. His creations are celebrations of humanities' histories, weaknesses, struggles, despairs, fantasies, and hope. Excited to be a new sub, keep up the amazing content.
Not gonna lie, ship burials and stone coffins is something that I definitely overlook. What you uncovered, however, was nothing short of incredible. Always appreciate not just the lore dive, but also the history lesson.
This is some incredible work. So often "lore delvers" end up just reading too much into everything and make things up from specters of their imaginations, but this... there's way too much that just makes sense! Thank you for putting this all together, I hope the folks at FromSoft see how much their work is being appreciated!
I love this cold war TA has going on with Vaati lol. Vaati absolutely started this in his video where he took not-so-subtle shots at TA by stating he believes TA and those like him are doing nothing more than looking too deeply into "reused assets".
Holy shit! THAT'S why the rot god was attracted to the LBTW! All of the corpses, meant to be burnt in rite, stagnated at the lake of rot and.. well, rotted!! Yooooooooooooooooo, Markia's hubris again comes back to haunt, and sully her machinations, by attracting a rot god that shows up, notices Malenia, and selects her as it's surrogate. Seriously though, you just broke Elden Ring lore SO wide open with this video. Magnificent work bro!!!
You missed a core element: the rot god was sealed by a blind swordsman long ago, one who seems to predate Marika - certainly predated Malenia. The Lake of Rot, where the god was sealed, is all Ancient Dynasty construction.
@@WanderedIn Ah, dicks- you're probably right. Are we sure the swordsman isn't a metaphor for the river Siofra though? I've heard that floated around quite a bit, no pun intended.
TA. Your channel is my all time favourite for lore, history and philosophy. I could listen to any of your findings in games, myths and time every day. I'm so happy you exist and are willing to invest your time in us, the lowly tarnished. May grace forever lead you
I thought that the tower and the Shadowrealm must be in the Sea in the centre of the map. I even saw parallels with the normal map. The mountains with drakes are to the West of Farum Azula the Crumbling. And the enmity of Bayle and Placidusax would make sense, one dragon in a shrine the other inside a volcano, staring eternally at eachother. Charo's place with the red grass might be the remains of Caelid before the disaster. Caelid is themed red even before the Scarlet Rot blasted it. The Redmayne knights take their name and colours from Red-Headed Radahn. It's not surprising they would choose a land that reflected their tastes. Limgrave leads naturally to the Gravesiteplain, both being places of burial. Lim grave could be translated as edge, border or limit of graves, so it's where the Gravesite Plain ends. The Ruins of Rao somewhat but not perfectly connect to the ancient dynasty ruins at the palace of Uhl. And the lake of Rot beneath the Earth could also come from Rao because the saint of the bud is stationed there, spreading the Rot.
Great to have you back TA! Glad to see your journeys in the lands between have been fruitful. I think I get what you're hinting at with the end of the video, I admit before this video I didn't think about the connection between the stone coffins and the lava flows on the divine towers that you guys talked about way back. It's awesome to see so many of this channel's theories get confirmed by what's in shadow of the erdtree, and this is just the first episode!
TA you are the only loretuber that actually uses real human history as a guide to unravel ER more criptic mysteries. Your videos scratch the itch of learning history and learning lore at the same time, and for that i am extremely grateful. Another mind blowing video.
I ain’t gonna lie chief. I’ve been in shambles without your channel😂. I’ve gone through a whole Latvian mythology comparison deep dive and a massive amount of digging into the history of Wicca and its relationship to the Carian families traditions and specifically Ranni’s ending. It’s nice to have the channel I’ve used as my primary grounding point for the lore, regardless of speculation or no. Your channel is in my humble opinion, the most interesting and enlightening of the “LoreTubers”. And that’s no disrespect to others like Quelaag and obviously Smough and Vaati, and many more like Scum Mage Infa who I’ve come to really enjoy in your absence. Glad to see you back, and I can’t wait for what’s to be uncovered.
Well now, there's a very interesting thought - the Latvian mythology connection? Being Latvian myself, are you by chance making a connection between Marika and Māra of the Latvian myth? Because there are most certainly a lot of similiarities here that I can see, from being intimately involved in the cycle of birth and death, to weaving the threads of fate. And if we go this path, hell, our bearded Dynast aka Elden John could well be a stand-in counterpart for Dievs (our word for "God"), who is the head of the pantheon and is ever the guiding force in the myth. Māra is also known to be the goddess of cows that ancient Latvians sacrificed to by leaving offerings next to sacred trees, and she has many signs, from a cross to a wave pattern, to a downward triangle, to even the sign of the grass serpent... And of course, there is the very obvious Mary connection as well, the syncretism of the Christian mythos with the pagan faith to keep at least parts of it acceptable, weaving in the old faith into the new one that was spread with sword and fire. I am just now running through the other demigods through this filter, and for one, Miquella might well be a reflection of Miķelis, the later and most likely Christianized name for our male deity of harvest and fertility Jumis, his association with the Autumn solstice and ushering in the longer nights of the winter... But Jumis is symbolized by a twinning in nature - two vegetables or fruits fused together, two yolks in one egg et cetera... The tragedy of the Latvian mythology is that a lot of it is very much veiled and obscured by the intense Christianization of the past. There are practically no written records, most of it is entirely passed down through oral storytelling, and even the the ancient poems written down in the 19th century are just that - a collection of oral tradition, written down, with little proof of authenticity. How much of the themes are native to the Latvian (and Lithuanian for that matter) myth, and how much are elements of Ancient Greek and Christian mythos seeping in, that is difficult to tell with a certainty. Many have also posited a Hindu connection to the Baltic languages and myths, as there are sections of our language that are very akin to Sanskrit. But this, in turn, gives your simple comment so much weight - as the very theme of Shadow of the Erdtree is of the history lost, of truths submerged, buried, weaved together with what came after. Lots to ponder!
@@thesunthrone I’m glad someone from the region can give some of their own insight into what I’ve been looking into. I do think Norse, Celtic, and as T.A brings up Mesopotamian culture and mythological parallels are all prevalent. But I’ve come to believe the central structure of Elden Rings cosmology is at the least heavily influenced if not taken by George as the basis for the structure of the universe and its relationship to the gods of the game. I will be spoiling the DLC so do not read much further unless you’ve finished the DLC or are indifferent to knowing. I’d assume you’re not gonna fret being on a theory video about the DLC but better safe than sorry lol. Māra is one of 2 Latvian and more broadly Baltic region gods I believe Marika can be compared to. The other would be Saulē, the goddess of the sun. As you brought up, the pagan religion was largely obscured as the area became more Christianized, so I had a hard time finding solid textual reference(this is mirrored in the games story and themes of the golden orders oppression of old ways through violence despite a peaceful message as you said). But what I found was physical descriptions that somewhat resemble Marika. Saulē is obviously tied to golden colors and wears golden lined clothing and gold shoes. But also notably silver, another compound/color that is prevalent in Elden Ring and does have ties to Marika in the more obscure lore via the silver tears and albinaurics. Saulē also owns a variety of golden tools, similar to Marika’s golden seamstress tools we find in game specifically designed for altering the attire of demigods. Although some of the “gleaming” terminology with Metyr may connect her as well, and seemingly so if she is a mother of the two fingers that led to Marika’s ascension. I think the aspect of Saulē’s mythos that plays most into Marika, is the extremely similar concept of the “celestial wedding drama” within the mythology where the sun and moon, or one of the sun and moons children wed. This not only melded decently to the main game, but even moreso to the DLC. In the myth of the celestial wedding, an “Axis Mundi” which in the pagan mythology seemed to be a world tree, and specifically one that “no one had ever seen” despite looking for it sometimes all their lives. Which aligns well with even more lore that the Erdtree cannot be seen by everyone in the lands between, most likely those without grace who see the physical husk the tree really is or perhaps it’s something else entirely. It is said that the “solar deity” is spied on at the world tree by male deities, which the gender is most likely inconsequential to the games story but that’s what I was able to find. Eventually this solar deity is abducted and thereafter wed, in most versions of the myth, to the moon, Mēness. Which aligns with the consistent gold and blue intertwining we see with Radagon and Renalla, and now Miquella and Radahn. Even if Radahn is also technically a child of gold as well, he is indefinitely the moon to Miquella’s sun. But Māra also has definite ties. Being tied to the term “Austras Koks” which’s seems to be be translated as “tree of life” or “tree of dawn.” Along with her being the other half of the sky god Dievs. However I think Māra would best fit the essential mother of the lands between. Mother Nature in a sense…a formless mother perhaps? But that’s entirely speculation. There’s still plenty of connections with Marika and Māra and not just the similar names. But I’ll explain my reasoning more. Dievs I believe is not Elden John but synonymous with the greater will itself. Dievs is the sky god, and birthed all the celestial deities from himself. From sources I’ve read one of the major differences in religious interpretations with Latvian mythology is the gods are not typically physical beings or human in form. It seems ancient Latvian paganism was aware of the difference in the celestial bodies but still worshipped them as sentient, along with giving it seems potentially hundreds of “mother” titles that were deified titles for aspects of nature and the pure essence that drives them. Similar to Māra being mother of cows. It seems everything from rain and trees and even fog had a “mother” which constituted its form in the world. And the current in game evidence suggests the greater will is in fact a black hole, and most likely the “lightless void far away” that Astel and all of the fallingstar beasts were born from. To move away from mythology quickly, black holes mathematically speaking contain a singularity at their center. This “center” isn’t solid within space time obviously because space time itself breaks down within these cosmic phenomena but this singularity seems to be the “origin point” in a sense of a black hole. There is heavy debate within academia still on the exact nature of the Big Bang and even more debate on the true state of the universe pre-big bang. But a theory that’s within discussion is the universe having been “born” from this singularity of subatomic size. Which, seems to imply, even if not magically or in a commonly accepted religious context, that the universe was an absolute, that “fractured” and from that came life and births and death. Which aligns really well with Dievs being the greater will. This also spices up some of the relation between Māra and Dievs. Because she is said to be the other half of Dievs. The earth to sky. If the formless mother really is just Mother Nature and the Earth, and the greater will the void of space I wonder if Marika’s ascension went through the formless mother somehow. Perhaps she really was stuffed in a jar and came out as “Marika” but I think it’s more likely the serpent has something to do with that. Scum Mage Infa has been doing a really good series on the “grandmother”. The giant throne sitting skelly of the eternal cities. He’s postulated the idea of “spirit transfer” and discusses the logic of summoning and controlling spirits in lore as well as the idea of transferring a soul or spirit into a new vessel of some type. Perhaps Marika also had an encounter with the formless mother, being a Shaman she’s in tune with nature and the Earth it seems, despite Japanese game text hinting at the Numen coming from space. Serpents are tied to the dead and spirit communion especially within context of the symbol for Zalktis. Perhaps the formless mother is the fractured half of the greater will that formed the physical world from her half, and any and all outer gods that serve as cyclical forces of rebirth are aspects of her being. Māra is said to take the persons body in death, while Dievs the soul. So perhaps the formless mother is the cyclical essence that rot, putrescence and any outer god manipulation of the physical form is an aspect of “Māra” or as Elden Ring interprets it. The formless mother. Perhaps the serpents serve as some sort of mediator for the formless mother. The abyssal serpent within Messmer may add to this theory. Not to mention the name, the Formless Mother. If the greater will is in fact the void. There’s a clear connection linguistically between the two. Lightless and formless are much the same thing. Light is the essence of all form. All matter emits light. To be formless, is much the same as lightless in that context. The connections with Jumis and Miķelis as representing Miquella is extremely interesting and something I have not known. That’s not something I could find anywhere on any obscure site discussing Latvian mythology and historical texts. I’ll have to go back, because the only notable thing I could remember immediately was Jumis’ relation to the harvest, which aligns with Miquellas cut content ending the “age of abundance”. Which I suppose aligns well still with an age of compassion. I think the only other thing I’ve found with potential ties to Elden Ring is the existence of Laima within Elden Ring, and the goddesses of fate. Laima is said to decide a child’s fate at birth, in some versions there’s three Laimas for a child and each gives a separate fate. But they regardless play a role in deciding someone’s ultimate fate and their “luck” as the name implies. The Lithuanian version of the Laima tells that she was related to the cuckoo oddly enough. Of which we know of the somewhat mysterious “Knights of the Cuckoo” in game which may have some inspiration. There is a divine bird confirmed to be died to life death and rebirth with the divine bird warriors… And to top it off, it’s said the Laimas sacred tree is a linden. The same species as the Erdtree. Implications continue that Marika wrested her fate out of the stars somehow, perhaps hinting at the origin of her dark ascension to godhood. Lots to ponder indeed. I got way carried away with this as I tend to do. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this!
@@lillonerboi504 Oh yeah, there is lots to ponder! I've been going through what I recall of the folk beliefs myself in my head, and I'm certainly making some linguistic connections - but they may well just fit what's shown in the game than the actual source inspiration. Either way, very fun to consider. The reason why I mentioned the Dievs and Elden John parallel is because in many of the folk tales featuring Dievs, it is with him in a sort of folk hero status, showing the way or facing Velns (Devil, but a much more trickster sense than the Biblical sense). In our folk beliefs, Dievs is very commonly depicted as an old, wise man with a long beard - pretty much the image of the wise king, wise chieftain archetype - truly, not too different from the Wanderer aspect of Odin/Wotan in Norse myth, who can simply appear amidst mortals to resolve some menial trifle. Therefore, my angle was that Elden John would be more akin to this depicted ideal of the people as a whole, this wise man that at first just observes (as is in the Land of Shadow depictions) and then guides (as is in Lands Between). There may also be a duality at play here, as like you say, the Baltic faiths at once humanized the gods but also held them away from the mortal realm, understanding that they are forces well beyond the regular folk. As with most religions, there is still a need to translate that concept to the layperson - because not everyone is a learned shaman, most folks just need the cliffnotes of the faith, not the entire corpus of the esoteric beliefs. And so, the Greater Will can well be depicted as Elden John, too - saying "hey, this is what you should do now, you who resemble this man" - while the later Golden Order can afford a more esoteric viewing again, because there is already a personable goddess to look upon: Marika. As for the solar deity angle, I find it very interesting for the following reason. In most western occult traditions influenced by the hermetic tradition, the Sun is traditionally masculine. However, Latvian is a strictly gendered language, and so every noun has a gender assigned to it. The Sun or Saule - is feminine. The Moon, likewise, in the western occult traditions is depicted as feminine - yet in Latvian, once again, Mēness is instead masculine. In Japanese mythology, the Sun is likewise feminine and the Moon masculine - Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi respectfully. And so, Elden Ring decides to simply unify the paradoxes - Marika and Radagon can both play the role of Sun the Father or Sun the Mother as needed, and this duality is further extended towards Rennala's line in Caria, where the Moon is considered masculine and a certain lineage is established with him, with Rennala and Ranni as the lunar daughters to be wed to the solar sons. There's so much play with dualities in Elden Ring lore, it truly is fascinating. As Radahn is the son of Sun and Moon both, no wonder Miquella sought to resurrect him in the Land of Shadow, thus pushing him into that lunar aspect fully for their union to better fit the celestial drama. The linguistic angle that I found interesting is, first, Radagon. It sounds very much like "rada uguni", which in turn means "creates fire". But unified into "radugun'", it can also mean "fire of creation" if read with a more poetic interpretation of some Latvian dialects that like to erase the last few letters of the words. And Radagon has that link with the fire giants... But of course, the affinity of fire also fits the solar deity role, while his depiction as the smith that is perfecting the Elden Ring fits that "fire of creation" angle as well. And to return to that gendered language part, "uguns" or fire is feminine in Latvian, despite at a glance appearing to be written in a masculine way... That's what is so fascinating about the Fromsoft games as a whole - it is clear they are made by very creative people with deep interests in the world cultures and myths, and they love to play with them, seeking out even more obscure angles to make things more interesting. There's definitely more and more to delve into here, and now I am curious to replay the game with my own folk faiths' angle in mind!
Hell yeah we are so back! Honestly I appreciate TA taking the time to consider and digest the DLC and not rushing something just to capitalize on the initial hype. To that last question of what catastrophe required stone coffins/ships, my first thought is the meteor/meteor bombardment that threw the slag onto the divine towers and buried so much of the...Titan? Rauh? architecture. Some stone would probably float on lava and it would definitely be one of the better insulators against the heat.
Yeah, this was fantastic. Addressing so many physical elements within the in-game world that I just wish other loretubers would try and take an honest crack at. Grateful we do we have Tarnished Archeologist and Quelaag (Nameless Singer too!) to dive into all of the rich visual storytelling Fromsoft has delivered in ER.
Tarnished delivering yet again the deepest lore secrets, proofing again and again the high standart of his research. You ignited my love to eldenring, what in time surpassed my love for dark souls. Thank you - you are my favorite UA-cam channel.
The amount of discussion when they came up with this game's lore must have been such a grueling brainstorming activity for everyone involved. Just the amount of detail and research it must have took to make this world as alive as possible and filled to the brim with hidden clues on every corner must have taken the developers several sprint cycles until the release of the game. Of course nothing is perfect but man it's insane how deep the lore is with this game.
I love this content so much - top notch analysis by someone well versed in real life art history and archaeology. Elden Ring iconography deserves such attention and scientific approach.
You end with such a tease when you know you wanna talk about molten lava. Also thinking of supervolcanic mass extinctions irl being an inspiration. you are my favorite elden ring expert thank you for this video!
Great episode! Bringing some much needed clarity to the DLC, and even tying it in to the base game. How in the hell did I never connect Charo with Charon. I will never stop kicking myself.
This was super fascinating. Also I know you briefly touched on Egyptian lore, but it's important to note how prominent the role boats played in the cosmology. There was even a 138 foot-long "solar boat" buried at the Great Pyramid.
I've both visited the pillar and have seen the map overlay before, but when you illustrated the pillar being at the center of the map where the fog clouds are- it blew me away.
Finally an interesting and thought provoking theory after the dlc. You are a treasure to this community and even when I completely disagree with your theories, they always make me think and allow to look at minor details from a new perspective
glad you mentioned the uncanny valley links to the lands between, seemed like such a major theme to me on my first playthrough, but people seemed to forget about it pretty quickly. still not sure what to make of it, but im glad to see you resurface it :)
I have waited forever for you to make this all add up. You, sir, are the very best lore guy out there. You go beyond the item descriptions like no one else can
Insane timing, i just finished going back through all of your videos after watching Nameless Singers recent videos (which are as excellent as their reddit posts). I thought to myself, "what will I watch now and when is TA's next video?" As i refreshed the page, lo and behold. Edit: Great video as always. I did expect you to cover the ancient dynasty first Interesting suggestion at the end that the stone coffins are linked to the bombardment catastrophe floating on molten earth towards the cerulean coast. The ancient dynasty does seem completely devoid of smithing and/or metals . . . Brought by the meteor and harnessed by the smithing culture.
You forced my mind to pay attention to things like this during my playthrough of the DLC so I was right with you in understanding why we encountered "reused assets".. Rusty😒.. Instead of seeing it as lazy, I asked "Why is that there?" These videos are awesome and made so much make sense. Great work
I knew we were in for something good when I saw "Part 1". Been waiting for you to make your return ever since finishing the DLC and this did not disappoint. Can't wait for part 2!
This might just be one of my favorite lore videos ever, I didnt even ask half of these questions to myself while I walked through this area... I have so many different thoughts, one of serious note, I think the river paths of Sioffra and Ainsel actually might line up with every corpse of Godwyn found in the game
The thought and detail they have given this game is astonishing, as well as you guys for disecting it and putting all the pieces together. Great content as always
Between yours and Kitetales recent videos, the biggest lore questions we’ve all been left with are finally close to being solved. Loose threads are really tying together in ways I never saw coming. I seriously feel through a historic lens this game becomes so much clearer. What a masterpiece, truly. And thank you guys so much, for devoting yourselves to all these mysteries and histories to share with the rest of us who perhaps aren’t scholars, simply history lovers alongside our love of gaming❤
I have pointed this out on multiple channels, but nobody seems to pay attention to this detail... The "bulls" on the stone coffins are actually spectral steeds like Torrent. I know this because of their hooves. Cows have two toes whereas horses have one. These are singular hooves on the coffins. The bull-like appearance can be chalked up to the statues being stylized.
Alas, someone else has noticed it ^^ I also wondered if it was by any means an ancient ancestor or incarnation of the same, hem, spirit, entity...? In any case, Torrent right in the game events as his "ancestor" or previous iteration if not a stylised representation, is clearly meant to be "THE psychopomp" of the lands between; hence it's omnipresence, as well as his name, after all: Torrent... Seems obvious!
26:56 For those that doubt the possibility of people being born from trees in ER, take a close look at the trees in Enir Ilim. They have body shaped growths in them.
Brilliant as always. Hear me out though. Im of the belief that both Nocron and Nokstella were literally pulled under ground by the Greater Will's power. Im thinking that the Shadow Realm was not only veiled but also pulled under water. Much like the Hamlet in Bloodborne. Now we have a reason for stone coffins. They can sink. I also think that the image of Elden John was appropriated by the Erdtree faithful to convert the masses and that he didnt have a change of faith.
21:53 The land of shadows fits nicely in the center of the divine towers as you previously mentioned in the episode about divine towers. which is certainly an interesting insight.
A bit late, but the literal interpretation of Death washing up on shore should take us down a fascinating rabbit hole. And the flood? Now I'm interested.
Yesss. I always knew that the bull head on the coffins marked them as ancient dynasty related. Glad to see someone went and did the research in favor of that.
But there are no bulls in all of the Lands Between! We have torrent and we have star beasts as the closest things, and they do look a lot more like torrent.
It's not been discussed, but the scale shown at 11:22 seems to be another depiction of what I assume to be the ritualistic burning of death. What we see are two flames withing 3 pronged horn spirals, forming two crucibles atop goat heads holding the scale in balance, which, in the center shows a boat and on the other side shows a sort of rock/mountain. I read this as "the burning of death within the crucible keeps the world in balance".
Well, consider my mind officially blown. I wonder if the Conversion also happened in Enir-Ilim (and might be the seduction mentioned by the story trailer) which would explain the trees all around the tower. Also when you look closely these trees have people in them, so the tree they venerated was maybe the Crucible?
I can't believe I watch FromSoft Lore videos since 2011 and juste foud out about you... I can't express how happy I am to find about your work and to have a LOT of it to consume haha. Sir you have my utmost respect and gratitude.
This is awesome! I will say, I think the map of the land of shadow need to be bigger. If scaled to the right size, the Divine Bridge in Leyndell aligns with the Rauh Grand Stairway that leads to Enir Elim, and the Jagged Peak sits next to drgaonbarrow, both of which make sense contextually
I’ll add that while the two trees align on the maps, this would not put their actual locations together. To do that, the Scadutree’s base on the map should be approximately aligned with the Stone Platform, with some margin of error for the Scadutree’s tilt
I haven't watched your content before. I was interested the first 8 minutes, and then I saw the connection between the Sutton Hoo treasure and the Land of Shadow jar lids. Holy cow, you truly do your research. Great stuff! Subscribed!
Amazing, amazing video. I’m so happy for people way smarter than me figuring out the things I can’t quite put together in my head! 😊 I love the idea of the Dynast embracing the Greattree religion later.
Dude I’ve been waiting for you to upload since the DLC - while I was playing and looking at the architecture of the Land of Shadow I knew you would have a field day. Worth the wait, great video! All manners of death wash up there…
On the end note of stone coffins floating: We see the smaller stone coffins float on water and even through the air. Since the large stone coffin ships would clearly make for _awful_ mundane ships I think that if they were meant to float it'd be with some magical help.
I always enjoy your lore videos the most out of all the fromsoft lore videos TA. Glad you finally started investigating the artifacts and ancient structures of the dlc. Here's to uncovering more of this mysterious and fascinating world.
Spectacular as always. As usual, the only lore channel where I actually gain some insight into the world that Fromsoft is presenting. Thanks for politely dunking on MaatiMovie btw.
Couldn't the opposite be true? I took the stone coffins to mean that the people that built them didn't know ghostflame yet at that time. Given how the Ancient Dynasty's steles seem to depict an arrival, with living humans on the stone coffins, I've assumed that these stone coffins were some kind of ship originally and that they carried as many dead as alive people, suggesting that the people on them were fleeing a huge catastrophe and underwent a long journey. When they landed, they repurposed the ships as coffins, but, since they were new to the Lands Between, they didn't know of ghostflame and left the corpses to rot. After all, the Hornsent seem to still respect the power of Ghostflame, so much so that there are a ton of gravebirds in Belurat (although it may be that the Hornsent didn't build Belurat, but rather inherited it, since its iconography is mostly hornless, and the horned statues are made of a different stone than the rest of the structure). I wouldn't even be surprising if these people (likely the Numen) brought Silver Tears with them, given the similarity between them and the Putrescence and the mention of "tainted" flesh in the lump's description.
Somewhere out there there's an environmental artist for Fromsoft who may or may not know just how much their work has been poured over to make some of the best lore videos on the market... We can only hope they know how much we appreciate their attention to detail...
I absolutely love every one of your videos, and I love learning about world history. Not only do you offer more revelations about the Lands Between, but also about our own world. This has lead me, and likely others, to speculate on how the history of our own world was formed. Thank you TA for all the work you do. You definitely deserve more subs.
The stone coffins always reminded me of the various Beksinski paintings that feature similar huge death-looking ships. There is one painting where it is almost an exact match.
HE HAS RETURNED TO THE FAITHFUL
Right? I feel like I have been really patient waiting for our favorite tarnished to return.
I like this comment also because the DLC was very good to FTH builds lol
Arise now, ye tarnished.
Huzzah!
Long did we abide without his grace, but he has returned!
Most Elden Ring lore videos - Reading the in-game text for 30+ minutes
TA's videos - A history class that I stay wide awake the whole duration and look forward for more
Exactly, I feel like the inspiration behind the lore is equally, if not more important, than it's implications. It really brings things into perspective.
Honestly when I watch a 30+ minute lore video and it's just reviewing things we see directly in game with no kind of speculation or insight, I go hollow
The more I watch this channel, the more I am convinced you could teach a history of civilization using the analogues in Elden Ring (and maybe other fromsoft games).
Yes!!!
@@navypilot47 You honestly could, especially with Elden Ring. It's really a testament to the writers and Miyazaki (shoutout to GRRM too who no doubt had a big hand in this as well). You can really tell that Miyazaki studied the humanities and specifically majored in Sociology throughout each game by how the stories are presented and the ideas they draw from.
No doubt working as an artist/writer under someone with that type of background really lets you flourish as a creator and bring new twists and ideas to the table based on real world inspiration. FromSoftware fans really have been blessed these last 15 years or so. Literally my favorite type of storytelling(subtle without huge exposition), wrapped in otherworldly mysteries, while being based on real world history and myth.
We cant take this shit for granted.
The vow has been honored, and our lord archeologist’s soul has returned.
Qohaleth
to be granted audience one more... wait a minute... TOGETHAAAA... no thats not it. uuuuuuh oh I got it! NIHIL
Likely lore ahead, therefore; praise the video. Offer thumbs.
::O Mother Emote::
Such many thumbs
DONT TELL ME WHAT TO DO FRIENDLY MESSAGE!!! *likes video*
Friend, O Friend
Something incredible ahead, therefore praise the message.
I want everyone at TA to know that whenever I saw fascinating reliefs and stonework in the dlc, I would leave a message with the “nod in thought” gesture that said “Tarnished, archer required ahead.” Was the closest I could get to saying “we need TA to explain this” lol
Oh THAT’S what that was about!
Lol I definitely saw this and actually did suspect that's what this meant, thanks for the confirmation
Aye I saw your messages
I saw a couple of these!
I actually saw a few of these holy shit
The fact that these kind of videos can even be made for a GAME is mind boggling to me. Simply can't express the depth and care the devs put into this game, what a masterpiece.
It truly is. What's crazy is they could have put 10% of the amount of detail and it still would have been staggering. And the funny thing is, the vast majority of players have absolutely no idea about any of this (including me if it wasn't for people like TA). That just shows that they really respect their audiences intelligence (probably a little too much 😅).
We are so back. We have never been more back. Return of the century.
THE ROCK HAS COME BACK TO THE BACK
Back that archeology up.
bro, we are BACK!
Thanks for making your first DLC vid about a detail not many people are talking about. The stone coffins are def the most fascinating aspect of the DLC alongside Rauh
Funny you should say that. We will definitely be making a Rauh video eventually.
@@tarnishedarchaeologist why is ghostflame in the putrescence spells blue? it doesnt look like the ghostflame spells or torches and matches the blue fire torches of caria manor instead. the colors of fire are definitly the real most fascinating aspect of the dlc along side the colors of flowers which also have new context
@@okname5335 I read a theory that Ghostflame used to be purple, and that it was the sealing of the Destined Rune of Death that discoloured it, leaving Ghostflame as blue since Destined Death is red-black.
@@Nothrazim- iirc that's explicitly in-game text
@lettuceprime4922 which text?
Genuinely said, "no way" out loud to myself like 3 times watching this. Astonishing stuff. When you mentioned the lands between the two rivers, it felt like a seismic shift in my understanding of the world of Elden Ring
No one puts it together like TA.
We waited for so long. Our flesh dull gold and our blood rotted. Welcome back TA!💛
Couldnt have said it any better 🤗
TA, you changed how I played the game. I noticed how much slower I went through the DLC than the base game. How I looked not just for enemies and secret doors, but for interesting architecture and art. Going up and down structures and thinking about why the structures were there. The way your team approaches the game got me to enjoy it so much more, thanks for that :)
Playing the games like this what turned them into masterpieces for me. They were always engaging and thrilling to run through boss to boss, area to area. But really taking my time and digesting the art and environmental storytelling is what makes them All-time great games, IMO. And its made better because the stuff you're looking at is often placed intentionally by the Devs.
I'd go so far as to say that TA and others who make content like him have changed how I play games as a whole. I pay a lot more attention to the little details and set designs, and sometimes that has resulted in me having a much greater experience. For instance, I recently replayed Lies of P and started paying a lot more attention to the environmental storytelling and it definitely added to the fun.
a lot of times i stopped and just started looking around, the DLC is easily one of the best artistical works that fromsoft ever did, Elden ring already had amazing compositions and colors schemes, the dlc has so many extremely cool places
YES! I found myself theorizing what these coffins were used for and it seems that I was probably way off, but still
Minor quibble at around 23:05 or so. *Ilim* is Akkadian for "god,* not "gate," so *Enir-Ilim* - factoring in the E- prefix which commonly denotes the temple complexes of deities in ancient Mesopotamia - means something more akin to "Temple of the Lord God" than "Lord's Gate. "Gate" is the *Bāb* part of *Bāb-ilim.*
TA going all in on the idea that the surface of the Lands Between was turned back to magma at one point with that ending question.
Magma can cool and solidify before rock and sediment completely submerge. But for rocks to float on lava, it needs to have been made from dense metals or other materials. Like say a meteorite carrying these metals impacting the lands between. (Meteorite weapons. The forges themselves in the DLC also support this theory). This would explain the Coffin Fissure. One of the strangest connections to me before this video was that the far off chambers of the Coffin Fissure were similar to the chambers beyond the play area in Rykard's boss room.
I doubt the crew running TA haven't noticed this, but I'll leave this here in case they haven't yet. There is only one instance of the Spiral Columns in the Lands Between. It is at Volcano manor. While more ornate than those in Enir-Elim it is nonetheless far too similar in design to simply write off as a coincidence.
Thanks for the videos! Your channel reawakened my love for the lore of these games! 😀
The only thing that worries me is I’m not sure that ending question is answering a concern we should have.
We’ve seen stone coffins float and travel up waterfalls. There should be no concern that they can float along any ordinary stream of water.
Could it be that the worship of a luminous tree began in an impact winter? If the sky was choked with ash, it would block out the sunlight. Plants and animals and people would die. But if a fancy new tree was able to grow in spite of that, and shed its own light? That'd be reason enough to convert. It'd be a miracle.
Doesn't this mess up TA's timeline a bit? The whole premise of the magma theory is that is connected to the civilization that built the Divine Towers, and that that was the first civilization (or at least the oldest that we still have evidence for), and TA connected that to what amounts to the Rauh civilization post-DLC. Also I wonder how the crucible will connect to all this since as some other Lore creators have pointed out the Crucible seems to be a far more shapeless, esoteric force that existed in the Lands Between from the begining, rather than the Great Tree. The trees are connected to it as we can see from the Crucible Knights depiction of a tree and the Hornsents twin spiral tree.
@@phillidaadamus4349 Not necessarily... the mountain Bayle is on is a craggy mountain that very well could be a dormant volcano similar to Gelmir and even looks like a volcano. Probably just a coincidence and choice to have a mirror to mt gelmir zone in the DLC like they do with all the main zones, but they rarely do that without reason.
Following your idea that the surface turned magma, I always noticed that the entire lands between seem to be formed by interlocking basalt columns (look at places like the plateau of Manus Celes) which in the real world are the result of an volcanic fissure eruption (the same geological phenomenon that originated the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland). Now we can't know if the devs chose that geological appearance to communicate something, like that the lands between originated from a volcanic fissure eruption and/or to make look the terrain "artificial", or just because it's cool and enhances the sense of fantasy of the world
15:00 Shots fired at the doubters 👀
TA really out here winning months long arguments for me 🙏🏼🗣
Yep, crazy how things work out. Really, they're doubters of fromsofts environmental storytelling.
LET EM KNOW TA
Yeah I didn't see the Vaati/TA beef coming. Diss tracks and clap backs included 😂.
So many people that I know say that it's the developers running out of ideas smh if only they had the attention span to watch TA
14:08 My dude pulls out a telescope in the middle of fighting arguably the most difficult Deathrite Bird in the game. The commitment to research is on another level lmao!
Second only to the one located near the Apostate Derelict.
Blew my mind once more, 10/10. On the one hand your thorough exploration, on the other hand...if FromSoft's Team actually built the world with this much intentional architecture, they are on another level
Edit: could it be that Charo is the Twinbird? The south-western coast area of the Land of Shadow is red and blue just as the twinbird kite shield; or maybe the red color of Charos Hidden Grave is a hint towards the Helphens Grace?
I've always thought that Charo was the name of the dead dragon at the communion church. The red flowers are like the Calorblooms.
Excellent point about the Twinbird
@@MFGod_Hand frankly, I doubt that the dragon is Charo. The area is called Charo's Hidden Grave and say what you will about the difficulty in the current time period to reach the area, it is by no means hidden. Anybody with a sufficiently lengthy piece of rope could get there without having to face the Ancient Dragon Man
@@patriciapandacoon7162 Fair enough, but my point about the flower color still stands!
This might be a huge stretch on my part, but just throwing this out there since Fromsoft did include a lion dancer in Bellurat so maybe they are using influence from many ancient civilizations rather than just Babylonian. In Chinese culture there are two distinct types of Phoenix ( 凤 and 凰 ) one male and one female, and phoenixes were believed to have a higher status than dragons in ancient china, but as the emperors of China, which took the dragon as their symbol, became more centralized in their rule, the phoenix's status was diminished and made subordinate to the dragon. This could be implying that the death rite civilization preceded the dragons, or initially had a harmonious relationship and then conflict arose, but honestly I have no idea and maybe that wouldn't fit other lore but this is just something that popped into my head as a Mandarin speaker.
Stone coffins might float on the sea of magma erupting from an enormous impact crater, same thing that sent slag all over the giant's towers.
Shhhhhh. Don't spoil the next vid.
GRRM does have an Atlantis fetish.
IT ALL MAKES SENSE
Technically, even stone boats can float on water.
This is hands down one of your best videos. I was a bit disengaged on the lore debate of SotE so far since nobody seemed to want to make the big connections but you got me interested in the lore again. And just like another commenter I also believe Charo is the twinbird (because of red and blue) and his death is a sign of the ghostflame itself dying and losing its color. Remember ghostflame used to be purple (i.e. a mix of red and blue) and now it's a very pale grayish blue.
How do you know ghost flame used to be purple??
@@alexrocky9147
from grave violet item:
"A purple flower that blooms in graveyards.
Material used for crafting items.
The hue of ghostflame, it's believed to be useful in calling forth spirits."
so the original ghostflame was purple, probabley a mix of red-blue of the twinbird god that lorded over death and guided the spirit to the afterlife.
and for X reason, the power diminished, and the ghostflame became a pale white.
@@RodrigodelaFuente-nw4szcould just as easily be a translation oversight. There doesn't seem to be any other corroborating evidence whatsoever other than this item description which itself can be questioned as I did earlier.
"The Uncanny Valley" is literally how I'd best describe the DLC. It's all so familiar, yet so foreign at the same time.
Part of what contributes to this is how loot is scattered. In the main game the type of upgrade materials you find is cohesive with the area; low level stones in low level areas, high in high. In the DLC you'll find three smithing stone 2s on a corpse and just just up a tower from it with no enemy is an ancient dragon smithing stone. I don't know why but even just that aspect still gives me the most unsettling feeling. What is familiar- an established, reliable rule- no longer makes sense.
I think also its world design lends to the feeling of uncanny-ness and chaos - its weird and wild, chaotic and twisty world design that laps into each other also gives the player a sense that these cultures, that would be seen as individuated and distinct in the Lands Between, all seamlessly and uncannily blend into each other in the Land of Shadow. After all, the Realm of Shadows is explicitly stated to be the realm where Order does not exist. It’s a place where the Crucible was once the strongest. As such, the developers made such an incredibly uncanny, yet familiar, land that feels like a melting pot of multiple substances, old and new. Just like the crucible itself.
And such is the case that developing the conclusions on the answers of Elden Ring’s story, through Shadow of the Erdtree, will take the community much longer than it did with the basegame’s Lands Between
It kinda just sounds like poorly thought out design being worshipped because Fromsoft did it 😒
Wait that last part, takes me back to the Divine Towers and their molten lava sides, could it be?
Shhhh
It has to be. On the archways of the Divine Towers doorways, you can see reliefs of human shapes and they are the same as the bodies depicted on the doorways of the stone coffins. There is a direct 1:1 relationship between the two. The molten lava idea is very exciting one to see fleshed out.
and these towers circle the Shadow of The Erd Tree map.
@@telerobotic oh boy, he cooked again
27:59 "What catastrophe would lead them to build giant boat-shaped ships to, all at once, go properly into the the afterlife?" I imagine that building non-boat-shaped ships is more significant than the decision to build boat-shaped ships.
Jokes aside, I'm always impressed with the way you go about piecing lore together from textures, models, and a small handful of lines of text.
Another important part of establishing these carefully crafted Babylonian parallels is that there's a long-standing use of this in modern Japanese mythology to build a _LOT_ of parallels in the rise, fall, & corruption of Babylon to form relatable narratives about post-WWII Japan (often explicitly with regards to Tokyo).
Messemer's Furnace Golems and his form of crusade and the Toyko Fire Bombings have… overwhelmingly mirrored bits of history and iconography. The syncretism of cultural beliefs and practices of rule not only mirrors the American occupation, but also the initial arroval of Buddhism and the clash with Shinto beliefs and the formation of the Empire, as well as the Genpei War and other historical events that help the Japanese mythos intertwine with elements of Western Fantasy.
That's actually a fascinating route that I haven't thought about but in retrospect makes a lot of sense.
@@phillidaadamus4349 Thing like Leda's line, _“They were never saints. They just happened to be on the losing side of a war. But it's still a wretched shame.”_ is as much self-reflection on the post-war trauma Japan experienced as it is a perspective about the suffering other nations like China experienced from Imperial Japan. (This duality is also something used heavily in *_Final Fantasy VII_* with the post-war relationship between Midgar & Wutai being as much a reflection of America & Japan as it is Japan & China).
From a long history of civil war, Japan's history of portraying conflicts where there is no singular side that's right, but just one that's victorious over a particular injustice which leads to a different type of reflection of that struggle & oppression as that Empire attempts to make itself eternal.
Since Babylon was the Biblical analogue for the Roman Empire, it has a lot of strong mythological foundation in allegorical parallels to the rise of religious unification and imperial expansion that easily tie in with how Western Fantasy represents certain themes. The *_Souls_* games and *_Elden Ring_* in particular have a very specific Japanese-history-centered design that's not always immediately apparent, since it's such a close match to other Western Fantasy that doesn't have those elements, but feels nearly the same.
This is why Elden Ring is possibly the best game ever made, the amount of detail and nuance is incredible
To TA and his team that put these videos together. I just want to say thank you for being so passionate about this game that I love. The time and dedication it takes to research the real life parallels and inspirations for such a complex and enigmatic story, at this point leave me feeling that all of your opinions and conjecture are indispensable to the lore hunting community. Every one of your videos is of the highest quality content, and I'm looking forward to the next installment.
The anticipation was immense but this video surpassed my expectations. Back to the chapel of anticipation to wait for your next video.
The quality of your channel is overwhelming. It's brain candy. Keep up the fabulous work!
Btw I've recently watched a BBC vid about a recent reinterpreting of the triangles pointing out of the Imago Mundi, and it's a fascinating watch. Cheers!
A fellow Irving Finkel fan I see.
@@tarnishedarchaeologist Very much
MY LORD HATH RETURNED
Bro had us waiting ❤😂
Outstanding research and presentation TA. I'm a huge fan of FromSoft's work, especially Elden Ring (Bloodborne close second). Playing this game made me feel as if I were some conquering hero from Greek/Roman/Judeo-Christian mythologies, and this perfectly encapsulates why. They had a clear inspiration from the real world histories of the Nordic, Mediterranean and Middle East regions. I loved your point arguing against "reused assets" I even detected a bit of frustration in your tone and I totally get why. EVERYTHING is intentional in these games. Miyazaki is a madman in the best possible way. His creations are celebrations of humanities' histories, weaknesses, struggles, despairs, fantasies, and hope. Excited to be a new sub, keep up the amazing content.
Not gonna lie, ship burials and stone coffins is something that I definitely overlook. What you uncovered, however, was nothing short of incredible. Always appreciate not just the lore dive, but also the history lesson.
This is some incredible work. So often "lore delvers" end up just reading too much into everything and make things up from specters of their imaginations, but this... there's way too much that just makes sense! Thank you for putting this all together, I hope the folks at FromSoft see how much their work is being appreciated!
I love this cold war TA has going on with Vaati lol. Vaati absolutely started this in his video where he took not-so-subtle shots at TA by stating he believes TA and those like him are doing nothing more than looking too deeply into "reused assets".
Man, when this dude takes some time to cook, he cooks up a Michelin 5 star meal. New Elden John lore confirmed.
Holy shit! THAT'S why the rot god was attracted to the LBTW! All of the corpses, meant to be burnt in rite, stagnated at the lake of rot and.. well, rotted!! Yooooooooooooooooo, Markia's hubris again comes back to haunt, and sully her machinations, by attracting a rot god that shows up, notices Malenia, and selects her as it's surrogate.
Seriously though, you just broke Elden Ring lore SO wide open with this video. Magnificent work bro!!!
You missed a core element: the rot god was sealed by a blind swordsman long ago, one who seems to predate Marika - certainly predated Malenia. The Lake of Rot, where the god was sealed, is all Ancient Dynasty construction.
@@WanderedIn Ah, dicks- you're probably right. Are we sure the swordsman isn't a metaphor for the river Siofra though? I've heard that floated around quite a bit, no pun intended.
TA. Your channel is my all time favourite for lore, history and philosophy.
I could listen to any of your findings in games, myths and time every day. I'm so happy you exist and are willing to invest your time in us, the lowly tarnished.
May grace forever lead you
I thought that the tower and the Shadowrealm must be in the Sea in the centre of the map. I even saw parallels with the normal map. The mountains with drakes are to the West of Farum Azula the Crumbling. And the enmity of Bayle and Placidusax would make sense, one dragon in a shrine the other inside a volcano, staring eternally at eachother.
Charo's place with the red grass might be the remains of Caelid before the disaster. Caelid is themed red even before the Scarlet Rot blasted it. The Redmayne knights take their name and colours from Red-Headed Radahn. It's not surprising they would choose a land that reflected their tastes.
Limgrave leads naturally to the Gravesiteplain, both being places of burial. Lim grave could be translated as edge, border or limit of graves, so it's where the Gravesite Plain ends.
The Ruins of Rao somewhat but not perfectly connect to the ancient dynasty ruins at the palace of Uhl. And the lake of Rot beneath the Earth could also come from Rao because the saint of the bud is stationed there, spreading the Rot.
Great to have you back TA! Glad to see your journeys in the lands between have been fruitful. I think I get what you're hinting at with the end of the video, I admit before this video I didn't think about the connection between the stone coffins and the lava flows on the divine towers that you guys talked about way back. It's awesome to see so many of this channel's theories get confirmed by what's in shadow of the erdtree, and this is just the first episode!
TA you are the only loretuber that actually uses real human history as a guide to unravel ER more criptic mysteries. Your videos scratch the itch of learning history and learning lore at the same time, and for that i am extremely grateful. Another mind blowing video.
Not the only one, but perhaps the best mixture of comparing both elements and from introducing a mystery to a most potential final conclusion
@@normanbates7373 can you recommend other er lore creators?
@@RBRB343 can you recommend me another one? Thanks
@@normanbates7373 can you give me some suggestions? Thx
@@tinchoman2
Quite not all but a few:
Kitetales
Quelaag
Scum mage infa
...
The wait is always worth it with TA's videos.
I ain’t gonna lie chief. I’ve been in shambles without your channel😂. I’ve gone through a whole Latvian mythology comparison deep dive and a massive amount of digging into the history of Wicca and its relationship to the Carian families traditions and specifically Ranni’s ending.
It’s nice to have the channel I’ve used as my primary grounding point for the lore, regardless of speculation or no. Your channel is in my humble opinion, the most interesting and enlightening of the “LoreTubers”. And that’s no disrespect to others like Quelaag and obviously Smough and Vaati, and many more like Scum Mage Infa who I’ve come to really enjoy in your absence. Glad to see you back, and I can’t wait for what’s to be uncovered.
Wah that Carian connection I had not heard yet. Where can I go to learn about that? The Latvian sources would be cool too.
Well now, there's a very interesting thought - the Latvian mythology connection? Being Latvian myself, are you by chance making a connection between Marika and Māra of the Latvian myth? Because there are most certainly a lot of similiarities here that I can see, from being intimately involved in the cycle of birth and death, to weaving the threads of fate. And if we go this path, hell, our bearded Dynast aka Elden John could well be a stand-in counterpart for Dievs (our word for "God"), who is the head of the pantheon and is ever the guiding force in the myth.
Māra is also known to be the goddess of cows that ancient Latvians sacrificed to by leaving offerings next to sacred trees, and she has many signs, from a cross to a wave pattern, to a downward triangle, to even the sign of the grass serpent... And of course, there is the very obvious Mary connection as well, the syncretism of the Christian mythos with the pagan faith to keep at least parts of it acceptable, weaving in the old faith into the new one that was spread with sword and fire.
I am just now running through the other demigods through this filter, and for one, Miquella might well be a reflection of Miķelis, the later and most likely Christianized name for our male deity of harvest and fertility Jumis, his association with the Autumn solstice and ushering in the longer nights of the winter... But Jumis is symbolized by a twinning in nature - two vegetables or fruits fused together, two yolks in one egg et cetera...
The tragedy of the Latvian mythology is that a lot of it is very much veiled and obscured by the intense Christianization of the past. There are practically no written records, most of it is entirely passed down through oral storytelling, and even the the ancient poems written down in the 19th century are just that - a collection of oral tradition, written down, with little proof of authenticity. How much of the themes are native to the Latvian (and Lithuanian for that matter) myth, and how much are elements of Ancient Greek and Christian mythos seeping in, that is difficult to tell with a certainty. Many have also posited a Hindu connection to the Baltic languages and myths, as there are sections of our language that are very akin to Sanskrit.
But this, in turn, gives your simple comment so much weight - as the very theme of Shadow of the Erdtree is of the history lost, of truths submerged, buried, weaved together with what came after. Lots to ponder!
@@thesunthrone I’m glad someone from the region can give some of their own insight into what I’ve been looking into. I do think Norse, Celtic, and as T.A brings up Mesopotamian culture and mythological parallels are all prevalent. But I’ve come to believe the central structure of Elden Rings cosmology is at the least heavily influenced if not taken by George as the basis for the structure of the universe and its relationship to the gods of the game. I will be spoiling the DLC so do not read much further unless you’ve finished the DLC or are indifferent to knowing. I’d assume you’re not gonna fret being on a theory video about the DLC but better safe than sorry lol.
Māra is one of 2 Latvian and more broadly Baltic region gods I believe Marika can be compared to. The other would be Saulē, the goddess of the sun. As you brought up, the pagan religion was largely obscured as the area became more Christianized, so I had a hard time finding solid textual reference(this is mirrored in the games story and themes of the golden orders oppression of old ways through violence despite a peaceful message as you said). But what I found was physical descriptions that somewhat resemble Marika. Saulē is obviously tied to golden colors and wears golden lined clothing and gold shoes. But also notably silver, another compound/color that is prevalent in Elden Ring and does have ties to Marika in the more obscure lore via the silver tears and albinaurics. Saulē also owns a variety of golden tools, similar to Marika’s golden seamstress tools we find in game specifically designed for altering the attire of demigods.
Although some of the “gleaming” terminology with Metyr may connect her as well, and seemingly so if she is a mother of the two fingers that led to Marika’s ascension. I think the aspect of Saulē’s mythos that plays most into Marika, is the extremely similar concept of the “celestial wedding drama” within the mythology where the sun and moon, or one of the sun and moons children wed. This not only melded decently to the main game, but even moreso to the DLC.
In the myth of the celestial wedding, an “Axis Mundi” which in the pagan mythology seemed to be a world tree, and specifically one that “no one had ever seen” despite looking for it sometimes all their lives. Which aligns well with even more lore that the Erdtree cannot be seen by everyone in the lands between, most likely those without grace who see the physical husk the tree really is or perhaps it’s something else entirely. It is said that the “solar deity” is spied on at the world tree by male deities, which the gender is most likely inconsequential to the games story but that’s what I was able to find. Eventually this solar deity is abducted and thereafter wed, in most versions of the myth, to the moon, Mēness. Which aligns with the consistent gold and blue intertwining we see with Radagon and Renalla, and now Miquella and Radahn. Even if Radahn is also technically a child of gold as well, he is indefinitely the moon to Miquella’s sun.
But Māra also has definite ties. Being tied to the term “Austras Koks” which’s seems to be be translated as “tree of life” or “tree of dawn.” Along with her being the other half of the sky god Dievs. However I think Māra would best fit the essential mother of the lands between. Mother Nature in a sense…a formless mother perhaps? But that’s entirely speculation. There’s still plenty of connections with Marika and Māra and not just the similar names. But I’ll explain my reasoning more.
Dievs I believe is not Elden John but synonymous with the greater will itself. Dievs is the sky god, and birthed all the celestial deities from himself. From sources I’ve read one of the major differences in religious interpretations with Latvian mythology is the gods are not typically physical beings or human in form. It seems ancient Latvian paganism was aware of the difference in the celestial bodies but still worshipped them as sentient, along with giving it seems potentially hundreds of “mother” titles that were deified titles for aspects of nature and the pure essence that drives them. Similar to Māra being mother of cows. It seems everything from rain and trees and even fog had a “mother” which constituted its form in the world.
And the current in game evidence suggests the greater will is in fact a black hole, and most likely the “lightless void far away” that Astel and all of the fallingstar beasts were born from. To move away from mythology quickly, black holes mathematically speaking contain a singularity at their center. This “center” isn’t solid within space time obviously because space time itself breaks down within these cosmic phenomena but this singularity seems to be the “origin point” in a sense of a black hole. There is heavy debate within academia still on the exact nature of the Big Bang and even more debate on the true state of the universe pre-big bang. But a theory that’s within discussion is the universe having been “born” from this singularity of subatomic size. Which, seems to imply, even if not magically or in a commonly accepted religious context, that the universe was an absolute, that “fractured” and from that came life and births and death. Which aligns really well with Dievs being the greater will. This also spices up some of the relation between Māra and Dievs. Because she is said to be the other half of Dievs. The earth to sky. If the formless mother really is just Mother Nature and the Earth, and the greater will the void of space I wonder if Marika’s ascension went through the formless mother somehow. Perhaps she really was stuffed in a jar and came out as “Marika” but I think it’s more likely the serpent has something to do with that. Scum Mage Infa has been doing a really good series on the “grandmother”. The giant throne sitting skelly of the eternal cities. He’s postulated the idea of “spirit transfer” and discusses the logic of summoning and controlling spirits in lore as well as the idea of transferring a soul or spirit into a new vessel of some type. Perhaps Marika also had an encounter with the formless mother, being a Shaman she’s in tune with nature and the Earth it seems, despite Japanese game text hinting at the Numen coming from space. Serpents are tied to the dead and spirit communion especially within context of the symbol for Zalktis. Perhaps the formless mother is the fractured half of the greater will that formed the physical world from her half, and any and all outer gods that serve as cyclical forces of rebirth are aspects of her being. Māra is said to take the persons body in death, while Dievs the soul. So perhaps the formless mother is the cyclical essence that rot, putrescence and any outer god manipulation of the physical form is an aspect of “Māra” or as Elden Ring interprets it. The formless mother. Perhaps the serpents serve as some sort of mediator for the formless mother. The abyssal serpent within Messmer may add to this theory. Not to mention the name, the Formless Mother. If the greater will is in fact the void. There’s a clear connection linguistically between the two. Lightless and formless are much the same thing. Light is the essence of all form. All matter emits light. To be formless, is much the same as lightless in that context.
The connections with Jumis and Miķelis as representing Miquella is extremely interesting and something I have not known. That’s not something I could find anywhere on any obscure site discussing Latvian mythology and historical texts. I’ll have to go back, because the only notable thing I could remember immediately was Jumis’ relation to the harvest, which aligns with Miquellas cut content ending the “age of abundance”. Which I suppose aligns well still with an age of compassion.
I think the only other thing I’ve found with potential ties to Elden Ring is the existence of Laima within Elden Ring, and the goddesses of fate. Laima is said to decide a child’s fate at birth, in some versions there’s three Laimas for a child and each gives a separate fate. But they regardless play a role in deciding someone’s ultimate fate and their “luck” as the name implies.
The Lithuanian version of the Laima tells that she was related to the cuckoo oddly enough. Of which we know of the somewhat mysterious “Knights of the Cuckoo” in game which may have some inspiration. There is a divine bird confirmed to be died to life death and rebirth with the divine bird warriors…
And to top it off, it’s said the Laimas sacred tree is a linden. The same species as the Erdtree. Implications continue that Marika wrested her fate out of the stars somehow, perhaps hinting at the origin of her dark ascension to godhood. Lots to ponder indeed. I got way carried away with this as I tend to do. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this!
@@lillonerboi504 Oh yeah, there is lots to ponder! I've been going through what I recall of the folk beliefs myself in my head, and I'm certainly making some linguistic connections - but they may well just fit what's shown in the game than the actual source inspiration. Either way, very fun to consider.
The reason why I mentioned the Dievs and Elden John parallel is because in many of the folk tales featuring Dievs, it is with him in a sort of folk hero status, showing the way or facing Velns (Devil, but a much more trickster sense than the Biblical sense). In our folk beliefs, Dievs is very commonly depicted as an old, wise man with a long beard - pretty much the image of the wise king, wise chieftain archetype - truly, not too different from the Wanderer aspect of Odin/Wotan in Norse myth, who can simply appear amidst mortals to resolve some menial trifle. Therefore, my angle was that Elden John would be more akin to this depicted ideal of the people as a whole, this wise man that at first just observes (as is in the Land of Shadow depictions) and then guides (as is in Lands Between).
There may also be a duality at play here, as like you say, the Baltic faiths at once humanized the gods but also held them away from the mortal realm, understanding that they are forces well beyond the regular folk. As with most religions, there is still a need to translate that concept to the layperson - because not everyone is a learned shaman, most folks just need the cliffnotes of the faith, not the entire corpus of the esoteric beliefs. And so, the Greater Will can well be depicted as Elden John, too - saying "hey, this is what you should do now, you who resemble this man" - while the later Golden Order can afford a more esoteric viewing again, because there is already a personable goddess to look upon: Marika.
As for the solar deity angle, I find it very interesting for the following reason. In most western occult traditions influenced by the hermetic tradition, the Sun is traditionally masculine. However, Latvian is a strictly gendered language, and so every noun has a gender assigned to it. The Sun or Saule - is feminine. The Moon, likewise, in the western occult traditions is depicted as feminine - yet in Latvian, once again, Mēness is instead masculine. In Japanese mythology, the Sun is likewise feminine and the Moon masculine - Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi respectfully.
And so, Elden Ring decides to simply unify the paradoxes - Marika and Radagon can both play the role of Sun the Father or Sun the Mother as needed, and this duality is further extended towards Rennala's line in Caria, where the Moon is considered masculine and a certain lineage is established with him, with Rennala and Ranni as the lunar daughters to be wed to the solar sons.
There's so much play with dualities in Elden Ring lore, it truly is fascinating. As Radahn is the son of Sun and Moon both, no wonder Miquella sought to resurrect him in the Land of Shadow, thus pushing him into that lunar aspect fully for their union to better fit the celestial drama.
The linguistic angle that I found interesting is, first, Radagon. It sounds very much like "rada uguni", which in turn means "creates fire". But unified into "radugun'", it can also mean "fire of creation" if read with a more poetic interpretation of some Latvian dialects that like to erase the last few letters of the words. And Radagon has that link with the fire giants... But of course, the affinity of fire also fits the solar deity role, while his depiction as the smith that is perfecting the Elden Ring fits that "fire of creation" angle as well. And to return to that gendered language part, "uguns" or fire is feminine in Latvian, despite at a glance appearing to be written in a masculine way...
That's what is so fascinating about the Fromsoft games as a whole - it is clear they are made by very creative people with deep interests in the world cultures and myths, and they love to play with them, seeking out even more obscure angles to make things more interesting. There's definitely more and more to delve into here, and now I am curious to replay the game with my own folk faiths' angle in mind!
@@thesunthrone My mother is half Lithuanian and half Italo-Polish.
Hell yeah we are so back! Honestly I appreciate TA taking the time to consider and digest the DLC and not rushing something just to capitalize on the initial hype.
To that last question of what catastrophe required stone coffins/ships, my first thought is the meteor/meteor bombardment that threw the slag onto the divine towers and buried so much of the...Titan? Rauh? architecture. Some stone would probably float on lava and it would definitely be one of the better insulators against the heat.
Bro is singlehandedly unraveling Elden Ring's entire chronology.
Ayyy welcome back. I've really been looking forward to you covering all the new stuff we got in the DLC. Can't wait to watch through this one
Yeah, this was fantastic.
Addressing so many physical elements within the in-game world that I just wish other loretubers would try and take an honest crack at. Grateful we do we have Tarnished Archeologist and Quelaag (Nameless Singer too!) to dive into all of the rich visual storytelling Fromsoft has delivered in ER.
Tarnished delivering yet again the deepest lore secrets, proofing again and again the high standart of his research.
You ignited my love to eldenring, what in time surpassed my love for dark souls.
Thank you - you are my favorite UA-cam channel.
The amount of discussion when they came up with this game's lore must have been such a grueling brainstorming activity for everyone involved. Just the amount of detail and research it must have took to make this world as alive as possible and filled to the brim with hidden clues on every corner must have taken the developers several sprint cycles until the release of the game. Of course nothing is perfect but man it's insane how deep the lore is with this game.
I've waiting for this for so long!
ELDEN ARCHAEOLOGIST OH ELDEN ARCHAEOLOGIST
It is SO nice to have you back. Thank you for the incredible, thoughtful, and educational videos.
When you referenced Mesopotamia= The Lands Between 🤯. Thank you for your constant work, much appreciated!
The harp sends chills through my heart
I love this content so much - top notch analysis by someone well versed in real life art history and archaeology. Elden Ring iconography deserves such attention and scientific approach.
You end with such a tease when you know you wanna talk about molten lava. Also thinking of supervolcanic mass extinctions irl being an inspiration. you are my favorite elden ring expert thank you for this video!
Great episode! Bringing some much needed clarity to the DLC, and even tying it in to the base game.
How in the hell did I never connect Charo with Charon. I will never stop kicking myself.
The obvious answer to what can stone ships float on is Lava, but the only other thing I can think of is maybe Mercury.
We do use a stone coffin ship which uses light glyphs to defy gravity and levitate, something I figured implied space travel
Didnt think my appreciation for this game could grow any further. God I love Elden Ring, and god I love you TA!
Dude. Just yesterday I was looking at your channel with sadness in my heart wondering what had happened!? Thank you for coming back
This was super fascinating. Also I know you briefly touched on Egyptian lore, but it's important to note how prominent the role boats played in the cosmology. There was even a 138 foot-long "solar boat" buried at the Great Pyramid.
I've both visited the pillar and have seen the map overlay before, but when you illustrated the pillar being at the center of the map where the fog clouds are- it blew me away.
Finally an interesting and thought provoking theory after the dlc. You are a treasure to this community and even when I completely disagree with your theories, they always make me think and allow to look at minor details from a new perspective
glad you mentioned the uncanny valley links to the lands between, seemed like such a major theme to me on my first playthrough, but people seemed to forget about it pretty quickly. still not sure what to make of it, but im glad to see you resurface it :)
I have waited forever for you to make this all add up. You, sir, are the very best lore guy out there. You go beyond the item descriptions like no one else can
Insane timing, i just finished going back through all of your videos after watching Nameless Singers recent videos (which are as excellent as their reddit posts). I thought to myself, "what will I watch now and when is TA's next video?" As i refreshed the page, lo and behold.
Edit: Great video as always. I did expect you to cover the ancient dynasty first
Interesting suggestion at the end that the stone coffins are linked to the bombardment catastrophe floating on molten earth towards the cerulean coast.
The ancient dynasty does seem completely devoid of smithing and/or metals . . . Brought by the meteor and harnessed by the smithing culture.
YESSS HE'S BACK! Man I was looking forward to your Dlc analysis! You're the only one that can crack the deepest mysteries hidden in there
You forced my mind to pay attention to things like this during my playthrough of the DLC so I was right with you in understanding why we encountered "reused assets".. Rusty😒.. Instead of seeing it as lazy, I asked "Why is that there?" These videos are awesome and made so much make sense. Great work
I knew we were in for something good when I saw "Part 1". Been waiting for you to make your return ever since finishing the DLC and this did not disappoint. Can't wait for part 2!
not only one of the best elden ring channels on YT, one of the best, period!
This might just be one of my favorite lore videos ever, I didnt even ask half of these questions to myself while I walked through this area... I have so many different thoughts, one of serious note, I think the river paths of Sioffra and Ainsel actually might line up with every corpse of Godwyn found in the game
The thought and detail they have given this game is astonishing, as well as you guys for disecting it and putting all the pieces together. Great content as always
Between yours and Kitetales recent videos, the biggest lore questions we’ve all been left with are finally close to being solved. Loose threads are really tying together in ways I never saw coming. I seriously feel through a historic lens this game becomes so much clearer. What a masterpiece, truly. And thank you guys so much, for devoting yourselves to all these mysteries and histories to share with the rest of us who perhaps aren’t scholars, simply history lovers alongside our love of gaming❤
Da King has returned
He's finally back! His expedition took longer than expected!
I have pointed this out on multiple channels, but nobody seems to pay attention to this detail...
The "bulls" on the stone coffins are actually spectral steeds like Torrent. I know this because of their hooves. Cows have two toes whereas horses have one. These are singular hooves on the coffins. The bull-like appearance can be chalked up to the statues being stylized.
Alas, someone else has noticed it ^^
I also wondered if it was by any means an ancient ancestor or incarnation of the same, hem, spirit, entity...? In any case, Torrent right in the game events as his "ancestor" or previous iteration if not a stylised representation, is clearly meant to be "THE psychopomp" of the lands between; hence it's omnipresence, as well as his name, after all: Torrent... Seems obvious!
Had always noticed the relationship of death and ships within elden ring but i never thought it was this profound. These are good finds indeed
This channel is so cool man. You really are in my top 5 UA-camrs.
26:56 For those that doubt the possibility of people being born from trees in ER, take a close look at the trees in Enir Ilim. They have body shaped growths in them.
Brilliant as always.
Hear me out though. Im of the belief that both Nocron and Nokstella were literally pulled under ground by the Greater Will's power. Im thinking that the Shadow Realm was not only veiled but also pulled under water. Much like the Hamlet in Bloodborne. Now we have a reason for stone coffins. They can sink.
I also think that the image of Elden John was appropriated by the Erdtree faithful to convert the masses and that he didnt have a change of faith.
21:53 The land of shadows fits nicely in the center of the divine towers as you previously mentioned in the episode about divine towers. which is certainly an interesting insight.
Yes! I've been waiting for this!
A bit late, but the literal interpretation of Death washing up on shore should take us down a fascinating rabbit hole.
And the flood? Now I'm interested.
Yesss. I always knew that the bull head on the coffins marked them as ancient dynasty related. Glad to see someone went and did the research in favor of that.
But there are no bulls in all of the Lands Between! We have torrent and we have star beasts as the closest things, and they do look a lot more like torrent.
@@Xandros999 there is a lot of bull imagery in ancient dynasty stuff albeit small and hard to notice. This video literally shows some of it.
It's not been discussed, but the scale shown at 11:22 seems to be another depiction of what I assume to be the ritualistic burning of death. What we see are two flames withing 3 pronged horn spirals, forming two crucibles atop goat heads holding the scale in balance, which, in the center shows a boat and on the other side shows a sort of rock/mountain. I read this as "the burning of death within the crucible keeps the world in balance".
Well, consider my mind officially blown. I wonder if the Conversion also happened in Enir-Ilim (and might be the seduction mentioned by the story trailer) which would explain the trees all around the tower. Also when you look closely these trees have people in them, so the tree they venerated was maybe the Crucible?
I can't believe I watch FromSoft Lore videos since 2011 and juste foud out about you... I can't express how happy I am to find about your work and to have a LOT of it to consume haha.
Sir you have my utmost respect and gratitude.
This is awesome! I will say, I think the map of the land of shadow need to be bigger. If scaled to the right size, the Divine Bridge in Leyndell aligns with the Rauh Grand Stairway that leads to Enir Elim, and the Jagged Peak sits next to drgaonbarrow, both of which make sense contextually
I’ll add that while the two trees align on the maps, this would not put their actual locations together. To do that, the Scadutree’s base on the map should be approximately aligned with the Stone Platform, with some margin of error for the Scadutree’s tilt
I haven't watched your content before. I was interested the first 8 minutes, and then I saw the connection between the Sutton Hoo treasure and the Land of Shadow jar lids. Holy cow, you truly do your research. Great stuff! Subscribed!
Amazing, amazing video. I’m so happy for people way smarter than me figuring out the things I can’t quite put together in my head! 😊 I love the idea of the Dynast embracing the Greattree religion later.
Dude I’ve been waiting for you to upload since the DLC - while I was playing and looking at the architecture of the Land of Shadow I knew you would have a field day. Worth the wait, great video! All manners of death wash up there…
On the end note of stone coffins floating: We see the smaller stone coffins float on water and even through the air. Since the large stone coffin ships would clearly make for _awful_ mundane ships I think that if they were meant to float it'd be with some magical help.
I always enjoy your lore videos the most out of all the fromsoft lore videos TA. Glad you finally started investigating the artifacts and ancient structures of the dlc. Here's to uncovering more of this mysterious and fascinating world.
Spectacular as always. As usual, the only lore channel where I actually gain some insight into the world that Fromsoft is presenting.
Thanks for politely dunking on MaatiMovie btw.
I wish you had a patreon or something I could support you at, this is just phenomenal work!
3 long months have I waited mlord. Mine ears quiver in anticipation.
I like this channel so much. Not only do I learn facts and lore about my favorite game, I actually learn a fair amount about the real world
Couldn't the opposite be true? I took the stone coffins to mean that the people that built them didn't know ghostflame yet at that time. Given how the Ancient Dynasty's steles seem to depict an arrival, with living humans on the stone coffins, I've assumed that these stone coffins were some kind of ship originally and that they carried as many dead as alive people, suggesting that the people on them were fleeing a huge catastrophe and underwent a long journey. When they landed, they repurposed the ships as coffins, but, since they were new to the Lands Between, they didn't know of ghostflame and left the corpses to rot. After all, the Hornsent seem to still respect the power of Ghostflame, so much so that there are a ton of gravebirds in Belurat (although it may be that the Hornsent didn't build Belurat, but rather inherited it, since its iconography is mostly hornless, and the horned statues are made of a different stone than the rest of the structure).
I wouldn't even be surprising if these people (likely the Numen) brought Silver Tears with them, given the similarity between them and the Putrescence and the mention of "tainted" flesh in the lump's description.
So beautifully told
Can’t wait for the next episode
Absolutely insane work here.
Best elden ring loretuber by a mile, happy to see a new video! Please rain more of your precious content upon us!
Somewhere out there there's an environmental artist for Fromsoft who may or may not know just how much their work has been poured over to make some of the best lore videos on the market... We can only hope they know how much we appreciate their attention to detail...
I absolutely love every one of your videos, and I love learning about world history. Not only do you offer more revelations about the Lands Between, but also about our own world. This has lead me, and likely others, to speculate on how the history of our own world was formed. Thank you TA for all the work you do. You definitely deserve more subs.
Been waiting for this!
The stone coffins always reminded me of the various Beksinski paintings that feature similar huge death-looking ships. There is one painting where it is almost an exact match.