Other players: "TOGETTA WE WILL DEVOWA TA GODS" Me, who went into this fight with 15 VIG and all cerulean flasks: "NOOOW WE CAN DEVOWAAAA TA GODS TOGETTAAAA"
Rykards fight doesn’t feel glorious. You do not feel bad for him either. That’s really uncommon for Elden rings fights. When facing rykard you feel like you’re fighting the devil in actual hell. The part I like the most about the battle is the feeling of endlessness. When those skulls rain down it just doesn’t stop and so does the music in that one section at the end. You cannot take a breather at all. You’re under big pressure, all while its the most common thing for rykard to devour some more victims. He does this all the time. One of the best fights in soulsborne so far, even tho it’s just a free gimmick win instead of an actual challenge. Especially because most gimmick bosses were pretty bad in comparison to regular ones… all that until elden ring. “rykard is probably the most villainous of them all“. That’s what you said during your fight with him. But there actually is one shard bearer that’s even more evil than him and you’re going to encounter him ingame some day in the future. An amazing boss as well.
I'm glad someone else has experienced feeling bad for killing the bosses. Fortissax was a chill dude for a dragon, and a super loyal friend to Godwyn. He just suffered an unfortunate fate and got corrupted by death blight. Maybe Placidusax isn't good, but he doesn't seem evil either, and you're just kind of beating up an already wounded dragon that was just sleeping outside of time, not disturbing anyone; his reign was long over. That's the thing: many of these bosses weren't going out of their way to really do much of anything at all. The aforementioned dragons, Ancestor Spirit, Greyoll, and even Malenia, were just chilling out when you encounter them. It's easy to hate Malenia because of her fight (which is perfectly understandable), but she's not really evil. Yeah she was a ruthless warrior in the shattering, and she completely ruined Caelid and Radahn, but when you encounter her, she's kind of just sitting around, not doing anything. She's forced to cope with the rot inside her for all her life, and the only loved one she had was Miquella, who was kidnapped by Mohg. With Radahn, the dude seems respectable despite being a powerful war general, and when you fight him, you're just putting him out of his misery because he doesn't want to be alive, and he's gone insane from the scarlet rot (which is not his fault). His mother, Rennala, suffered severe depression after her husband left her to go be in a relationship with... himself... (Yeah the Marika/Radagon fusion is weird). Then, Rennala's students locked her up in the library, so she kinda lost everything. Despite Margit/Morgott's hostility to the player, I think he's just trying to fulfill his duty in order to prove to himself that he's not worthless because of his cursed Omen blood. Overall, many of the bosses either have something tragic about their story, they're just secluded and not affecting anything before you fight them, or they were formally good but have gone insane for reasons out of their control.
@@LtCdrXander Malenia isn't chill honestly. All she cared about was Miquella. She challenged radahn to a fair fight for his great rune which the general accepted and what did she do? She just fckd him up and all of caelid. And then she passed out and almost every cleanrot knight got killed by radahn and his army. And despite doing all this she still couldn't defeat radahn and acquire his rune and I thought what a waste. Is there more to the story? And then what did she do? She embraced the rot and wanted to spread it everywhere and infect until she finds Miquella. She was just tired to move on when you meet her. If you didn't arrive she would be fighting every other demigods for their runes and fighting for Miquella and spreading rot in the process even if it kills her and everyone else around her. The only chill person that can be compared to Malenia is Millicent. She also suffers the same fate as Malenia but she didn't want to become a rot spreading vessel so she died on her own terms instead of what gowry wanted her to become. Malenia, mohg, rykard, godrick, Godfrey/hoarah loux all deserved what they got. The only one I feel sorry for is Morgott.
@@DripMaykr very true. I can't believe I forgot about a very important line of dialogue from Millicent's quest, as she is the best maiden-material in the game lol. Anyways, Millicent says something along the lines of "I'm going to see Malenia so I can give her back her lost pride." This undoubtedly proves that Malenia doesn't have any pride, she doesn't fight honorably against anyone; she didn't with Radahn, and she doesn't with the player. She just kind of became a prick. Sure it's supposedly out of love for Miquella, but I doubt Miquella himself would be proud of her actions (this is going off of what little we know about Miquella and that he seems relatively good and maybe peaceful in nature). Now there is the argument that Malenia's more evil actions are due to the rot affecting her brain, sorta like Radahn going insane... But there's no evidence to back that up, and Millicent straight up says that Malenia basically has no pride anymore. Plus, Malenia seems pretty level-headed and not insane or anything like that; she knows what she's doing. So yeah, I definitely agree with you on this; I forgot about some of those finer details. Sometimes when you're trying to comprehend tons of lore and theories in your mind, an imaginary Malenia basically just waterfowl dances on your brain and turns it to mush.
I still remember my first time fighting Rykard during my first playthrough. He charged up one of his moves, fiery skulls started raining down from above, the ost hit that moment at 7:22, and the only thing I could think was that I was suddenly in hell. Amazing boss fight, and incredible theme!
“What role are we suppose to play in this fight? The f’kn victim?” I will never forget this quote from a particular streamers first reaction to this part of the fight 😂
One of my favorite parts is the female only choir in the first act almost being a soft and compelling aura in the music. Much like the temptation of the serpent. But once his true form appears the choir is then replaced by an all male choir, becoming imposing and disturbing with it's lows. That and that one dissonant violin bridge into what feels like a straight up satanic choir.
When you mentioned the beehive, I went O_O because technically Rykard is now multitude. He's gorged himself on tarnished past and incorporated them into himself. So it makes sense there would be some sense of there being a multitude, an echo, a swarm in the audio.
Ironically he's actually a good guy and was supposedly a pretty kind natured person who just opposed the Church of the golden order and was an ally to his sister Ranni the witch in her goal to bring a new order. He also had a strong admiration for his brother the Star scourge. However after letting his Immortal body be consumed by the Great Serpent and becoming one with it his kind yet rebellious personality that was already seen as Blasphemous by the church combined with the Serpent's insatiable hunger to consume turned him into an extremist that rather than overthrowing the gods with his comrades wanted to consume the Gods with his Twisted sense of family. He's actually not evil and if you had chosen to go against the golden order at some point he could have been your ally had his fate been different and his nature had not been so twisted by the serpent coils
Doesn't gideon ofnir tell u that praetor rykard's a ruthless justiciar, reviled for his serpentine demeanour? so i dont think hes a good guy more like a chaotic neutral
@@ahmedmigdhaam2726 He only has part of the story. He wasn't like that originally . His personality changed greatly after coming into contact with the Serpent.
That music describes the worst evil being possible. A demon, rotten to the core, there's no reasonning, speaking or anything to do but to fight it. That's what this music told me, and with the scenery of this boss' music, with everything becoming red, it really felt like descending to the Underworld to destroy its ruler. The vile Serpent. This fight was one of my favourite: great design, great area, great boss, and the music which makes this battle even more oppressing. I loved it ^^
And even how he makes it sound like even killing him isn't enough because a serpent can't truly die, or something to that effect. Been a bit since I fought him.
This track was so insane. This part, 7:23, where it just erupts and swings into the air, it felt like we are delivering divine retribution upon such a foul being. The unrelenting swings of the Serpent slayer weapon, while the air fills with the tortured souls Rykard has consumed. It felt like such a biblical fight, where the powerless hero has found the key to destroying evil. And the fanfare reminds me of Rykard's followers chanting for their leader, whose only wish is for him to finally be taken down.
This fight feels straight out of the Bible, as if you're fighting some kind of ancient awakened demon in hell. I mean, think of it, an ordinary human/warrior taking up a special holy weapon to slay an immortal serpent demon, feels so epic but at the same time dreadful. While my favorite fight is still Maliketh, Rykard is probably the best gimmick boss Fromsoftware has made. Yhorm and Storm King don't even come close.
I felt like I needed to clean myself after the entirety of Volcano Manor and the Rykard fight, it was fundamentally wrong but from their perspective it was right. The killing, torture, experiments, and devouring, to them was the righteous path and that was truly horrifying to me. 10/10 would get handshake teleported there again. 😅
I love the first phase of this because it sounds so... foreboding like a ritual is being performed to summon the litteral devil, an ancient, beyond primeval, almost cosmic horror entity, as you can feel through the music that this ritual is dangerous and no good can come out of this and as the tention builds and builds up at 2:50 the entity finally makes itself known and felt as both horror and madness take hold of the situation, turning the summoner(s) mad as they become aware of the entity, they change, evolve into monsters. the tones, melodies and dissonences realy undermine that the God Devouring Serpent is a being of cosmic horror, something thats not ment for the human mind to be comprehended, almost like Cthulhu is described.
The music is pretty excellent. The Voice acting is god-tier well, King-tier. When I watched the second phase cutscene, this became the top on my "WTF This is Awesome" list.
Whats most repulsive about Rykard to me is how completely lost he is mentally. Hes not the serpent, but he isnt Rykard anymore. Hes just this power hungry hedon writhing in the bottom of a volcano bursting at the seems with corpses, its no suprise his own knights wanted him dead. After all hes become, he has the nerve to demand that you join him. Im not religious but i always felt like there was something so biblically profound about Rykard and his journey
It felt like I arrived at the last level of Dante's Hell and had the displeasure of fighting the devil after watching him disgustingly unfurl and reveal himself
not only that but I think his knights started to disdain him because of the inhuman and ridiculously brutal battle that happened between Rykard's knights and Leyndell's forces. Gideon describes it as the worst battle in all of the shattering and it shows. The totally ruined landscapes, destroyed minor erdtree and knights infected with the flame of frenzy...
The more I listen to the soundtrack the more I’m starting to really like Elden Ring’s music. It’s not quite as good as Bloodborne’s soundtrack, but Mogh, Astel, and Rykard’s themes are definitely worthy contenders.
The more I listen, the more they're just about even for me. Ludwig still clears absolutely everyone but below that? It's all down to my mood that day lmao
I’ve listened to bloodborne and ds3’s soundtracks religiously and it upsets me when people say Elden Ring’s ost is terrible and doesn’t compare to ds3’s. Ds3 has a lot of great tracks, epic, somber and intimidating but Elden Ring tracks are much more colorful, cinematic and have more personality imo. It’s not fair to just put down ER ost just because it has more subtlety. Like I once read someone say ‘ER ost sucks for eg. Astel’s theme pales in comparison to Ebrietas’s’ 🤦♂️
@@fyodordostoevsky6984 Exactly. I think handing a good part of the composition to new composers in the series breathed a new life into it. In my opinion, DS1, Bloodborne and Elden Ring are tied. I liked DS3's soundtrack, but it got really stale really fast to me. DS1, BB and ER just have more personality to them. Ludwig is still the best for me though, it NEVER fails to give me chills.
I LOVE how the beginning of the second part is one man's voice. I like to think that this is Rhykard himself singing, almost reveling in his vile blasphemy
The word I think of when I hear that second phase is just…guttural. It’s very vile and dark, a hellish fanfare that befits the spectacle of fighting a great devouring man-serpent. I love it but I think I need to pull out a crucifix.
6:58 is my favorite part of this track, absolutely evil and foreboding, also when you're fighting him he practically summons the equivalent of hell on you and a bunch of burning skulls come at you.
I so needed this. My mom's dog just passed away before my eyes, just a couple of hours ago. My mind is a mess right now and some good music is just what I needed. Thank you.
@@IchorColdBlood I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Loss is never easy and the hole they leave never really gets filled. All we can do is march on and do their memory proud. It sure as hell is easier said than done, though.
Probably in my top 5 of From bosses of all time. It feels like a near perfect marriage of theme, spectacle and challenge. Really, my only gripe with the boss is how "unorganic" the way we get to him is. I wish we didnt just get teleported to a dead end cave right outside the bossroom. I feel like if they allowed us to personally descent to his lair from the Volcano Mansion meeting him would have even more impact.
There is a secret path you can find in the manor to stumble upon him naturally, that’s actually how I did it the first time. Had no idea he’d be down there.
@@martinhall9497 you still teleport to him though. I also thought the transition was a bit rough. Just imagine if you go down an elevator like the siofra river one, that just goes on for minutes and once you step out it just goes up again so you are locked inside.
One thing that really sticks to me about this theme is the vocals at 7:23, it feels very reminiscent of a haka, a war chant full of pride and i love it
The vocals when the 2nd phase hits were sooooo good. I felt like I was in a hellish nightmare when they hit and it was awesome. Also fighting him without the serpent spear is hard asf but definitely worth the experience. Best way to experience the whole fight imo.
Your analysis and reaction brought out a love for this track I haven't realized until watching your video. Thank you for this, it means alot to me and many like me. :)
i love how in the first phase when all the instruments kick in you can feel the cello (I think) moving around with the beat, almost like it's slithering across notes. Wonderful Video!
There are bosses where the second phase is overpowering, terrifying and even beautiful... But nothing like seeing that snake turn into vlad the impaler ever catched me more off guard. Immediately you start questioning what you just walked in on, and met with the realization that this is no mere simple beast, oversized or not.
From Elden Ring, the OSTs that stick out to me are Rennala, Godfrey, Godskin Duo, Ancestral Spirit, Mohg, Malenia, and of course the final boss. But for me, none compare to Godrick and Rykard.
These videos are great because while I already know what the music is meant to be, and how it makes one feel, it's so great to be able to hear you put into words exactly what I'm thinking
Amazing analysis as per usual, especially given the very overt operatic textures and sounds here that you can sink your teeth into with particular expertise. The first few times I heard this piece, I thought the transition between the two phases was really jarring, and I preferred the ethereal, haunting first half much more than the very sharp, bombastic second half. But the more I listened to it, the more I could appreciate how the first half unfurls into the second by having really dark (almost mirrored) parallels between the two in terms of how the sound itself flows over you. This piece is super dense, but very appropriately it takes a bit for it to really coil around you. Cheers!
Choirs are often used to convey an angelic, heavenly sensation. The borderline atonal use of choirs in this piece fits really well, because you're fighting a god devouring serpent so it almost sounds like the choir is being eaten alive by the snake. Aldrich in DS3 has a similar theme about devouring gods.
i really liked the part that plays at part 11 of the music, it shows the utter chaos going on in the fight and rykard's eaten brain. honestly my favorite after maliketh and hourah loux's theme
I’m so glad you got around to this piece! The dichotomy between first and second sections truly craft a story of a man lost to unbelievable madness and evil. One willing to commit any blasphemy to spit back at the gods who have damned him. A monster of his own creation born of hatred for his kindred.
The first part of this bossfight is my favorite in all of Elden Ring. The music combined with the Serpent Hunter combined with a massive serpent. It really feels like you’re the knight from those fairy tales you would hear as a kid about knights fighting dragons. 😮
Back when I datamined the network test for ER, the first part of this was one of 3 music tracks that were left behind in the files unused. It was very close to being finalized, just had a bit of a rougher mix. I had NO IDEA what this would even be used for, and when I finally got to it in the full game it was definitely fitting.
I love the slow slithery build up of rykards theme Like you said it sounds like a serpent, slithering. Though in my minds eye it sounds like it is a snake slithering around, coming in and out of sight. Clearly a threat, something to fear, something that secretly is a fearsome beast. The aura of the snake is so menacing it could be evil incarnate. It was as if the real thing to fear had not revealed itself Then second phase hits and suddenly the snake reveals itself, it becomes larger in sound, it is something towering above you emanating this mentality of madness and violence, something you shouldn’t have awoken. The drumming gets louder and louder as this echoing voice becomes the epitome of the music and then as if a seal or gate of some sort had been opened a flurry of percussion comes spewing out like an invasion. All that build up and hell is released. The track rushes getting faster and faster until it’s a torrent of madness, there is no stopping it, it overwhelms you! The track speaks these words with that 10 minutes of build up into this chaos “You brought this evil here and now you will cower”
It’s not a 1 to 1 comparison but I’m fascinated by Rykard because to me, he’s a very luciferian character. A once demigod, part of the godly rulers of the world, opted to Rebel and was cast out,. He’s now one of the most evil beings in the lands between, lord of a manor that has an outward appearance of being clean and fancy, but it’s hope to murderous degenerates who hunt their own kind. The mansion itself hiding a twisted nightmarish realm of experiments and torture. And of course there’s the serpentine imagery. It’s very interesting to me that Dark Souls and Demon Souls had traditional hellish monster demons, that were flat out called demons, but they weren’t really evil, they were honestly kinda victims. But in Elden Ring you have Rykard who is so evocative of the classic biblical devil. I think that’s fuckin cool
Still not Laurence Fist Vicar (Bloodborne ost)!!! Lol but still loving these videos! Keep up the great work! And yes I'm bringing it up until the greatest fromsoft track is reacted to! Haha also congrats on the channel growth dude, stoked for you! Your doing a big service to Classical as a whole.
At this point, after so many Fromsoft games it's hard for a boss to actually make you go "bro what the fvck", but Rykard's reveal manages to do just that. How you see that red portrait of him behind Tanith over and over in red taint to hint that there's something really evil waiting for you. Then you finally see him. And then you get a rain of red evil exploding skulls coming at you from every direction. I just stood there contemplating the "Rykard, *Lord of Blasphemy* " in silence. What a moment.
Yes! I've been waiting for this, the best gimmick fight fromsoft has done. when i saw those red skulls and the huge sword swing i was in absolute awe. What an amazing boss! Great reaction once again.
2:50 is the best part of a musical piece I've heard almost anywhere before, it perfectly encapsulates the manic, insane, malicious nature of this enmity.
It's interesting to me to see how different composers convey evil. I like compositions that are more about communicating sheer *threat* rather than the operatic style, but this track fits Rykard to a T. As Grand Admiral Thrawn once said: "There are things in this universe that are simply, and purely, evil. A warrior does not seek to understand, reason, or negotiate with them. A warrior seeks only to obliterate them."
This music and Rykard remind me of one important fact: you don't need a relatable or likeable, complex villain. One with redeeming qualities, understanding their motives, or being in their shoes. Sometimes, the villain can be simply just evil. Nothing more, nothing less. A vile, rotten being with its only goal is to seek destruction of all and cares only for itself. That's how Satan is. Carnage from Marvel Comics is exactly the same, a murderer, demon, monster, with no ultimate goal in mind, just a being living to kill and consume everything. Rykard is all these things, we find that pure evil fascinating and at the same time.... horrifying.
the only song that feels like a death metal opera song that you can bang your head too if you added metal guitars to this it would be insanely metal as fuck
The only downside this track is, the boss is very easy and normally dies without much struggle. There just wasn't that much time to appreciate the music while playing. Bosses where you try for hours, these songs are locked into your head and heart. I did not remember that track in particular because of that.
Thank you for covering this song I always found this always very interesting, especially the contrast in the singing, were the first is creepy but still very dignified and then the outright diabolic chaos of the second part ...and of course the rolling rrrrrrr, I love rrrrrrrrolling rrrrrrrrsss
Could you do Darkbeast from Bloodborne? No one ever has covered Darkbeast & it's fucking incredible. I love that so much. It's in my top 5 but people don't talk about it often enough. Such a beautiful piece
Rarely does a character lay claim to a single word in your mind. “Together” doesn’t exist anymore, anytime I see it, it automatically becomes “TOGETHAAA”
That's not really related to the music but the way you imitated the sound at 0:54 reminded me of the mosquito noise at first and your description right after matches how I feel about it when I hear them in the middle of the night. Sorry for not having a better comment but I thought it was just perfect. I still think this is an incredibly epic piece of music though.
I would love if you make a video of Laurence the First Vicar from Bloodborne, I think that is one of the best songs in the souls series and you'll love it
My favorite section in this song has to be the grand finale where all sense of order is lost as cymbals clashing alternates between the beat and the off-beat with seemingly no logic whatsoever. It takes the disorienting nature of the track and suddenly quadruples it by devouring the rhythm into the void heh.
for me rykard's theme truly feels like youre listening to an evil almost cartoonish laugh, like he is this fat giant thats laughing at you for being so small
Im not an expert on music or anything...but i felt the music was trying to pass some sentiment of "pride" and "honor", not the kind of a warrior would feel but like a servant...i mean like: "Oh, you are in the presence of our lord and should be proud and honoured" and not only that i think Praetor Rykard felt pride from his actions because he really thinks hes hot shit.
Such an Epic and underrated soundtrack for a boss fight easily my most memorable boss right up there with Malenia shes my favorite boss but Rykard is easily second
Blasphemy, a crime of all crimes, a vicious reality for all those that followed a blind fool who would go to any lengths to bring down the gods, his very own family. A man who stood against the very golden light that bathed his home, a man who bathed Mt.Gelmir in blood and darkness, to a point where it was simply suffocating. Now there is no man, only a mass of what was left behind, maddenned eyes of a remnant that was once followed, a leader that desires nothing but the end of it all, to devour the very world so that there may be nothing but blasphemy.
Praetor Rykard one of the most interesting optional bosses in my opinion due to how the recusants seem to take contracts there is no personal vendetta against them as far as i know. But i do have a recommendation for a ace combat song called blue skies honestly idk why it makes me tear up everytime i hear it
Other players: "TOGETTA WE WILL DEVOWA TA GODS"
Me, who went into this fight with 15 VIG and all cerulean flasks: "NOOOW WE CAN DEVOWAAAA TA GODS TOGETTAAAA"
Rykards fight doesn’t feel glorious. You do not feel bad for him either. That’s really uncommon for Elden rings fights. When facing rykard you feel like you’re fighting the devil in actual hell. The part I like the most about the battle is the feeling of endlessness. When those skulls rain down it just doesn’t stop and so does the music in that one section at the end. You cannot take a breather at all. You’re under big pressure, all while its the most common thing for rykard to devour some more victims. He does this all the time. One of the best fights in soulsborne so far, even tho it’s just a free gimmick win instead of an actual challenge. Especially because most gimmick bosses were pretty bad in comparison to regular ones… all that until elden ring.
“rykard is probably the most villainous of them all“. That’s what you said during your fight with him. But there actually is one shard bearer that’s even more evil than him and you’re going to encounter him ingame some day in the future. An amazing boss as well.
mohg?
@@DripMaykr Pohg?
I'm glad someone else has experienced feeling bad for killing the bosses. Fortissax was a chill dude for a dragon, and a super loyal friend to Godwyn. He just suffered an unfortunate fate and got corrupted by death blight. Maybe Placidusax isn't good, but he doesn't seem evil either, and you're just kind of beating up an already wounded dragon that was just sleeping outside of time, not disturbing anyone; his reign was long over. That's the thing: many of these bosses weren't going out of their way to really do much of anything at all. The aforementioned dragons, Ancestor Spirit, Greyoll, and even Malenia, were just chilling out when you encounter them. It's easy to hate Malenia because of her fight (which is perfectly understandable), but she's not really evil. Yeah she was a ruthless warrior in the shattering, and she completely ruined Caelid and Radahn, but when you encounter her, she's kind of just sitting around, not doing anything. She's forced to cope with the rot inside her for all her life, and the only loved one she had was Miquella, who was kidnapped by Mohg. With Radahn, the dude seems respectable despite being a powerful war general, and when you fight him, you're just putting him out of his misery because he doesn't want to be alive, and he's gone insane from the scarlet rot (which is not his fault). His mother, Rennala, suffered severe depression after her husband left her to go be in a relationship with... himself... (Yeah the Marika/Radagon fusion is weird). Then, Rennala's students locked her up in the library, so she kinda lost everything. Despite Margit/Morgott's hostility to the player, I think he's just trying to fulfill his duty in order to prove to himself that he's not worthless because of his cursed Omen blood. Overall, many of the bosses either have something tragic about their story, they're just secluded and not affecting anything before you fight them, or they were formally good but have gone insane for reasons out of their control.
@@LtCdrXander Malenia isn't chill honestly. All she cared about was Miquella. She challenged radahn to a fair fight for his great rune which the general accepted and what did she do? She just fckd him up and all of caelid. And then she passed out and almost every cleanrot knight got killed by radahn and his army. And despite doing all this she still couldn't defeat radahn and acquire his rune and I thought what a waste. Is there more to the story? And then what did she do? She embraced the rot and wanted to spread it everywhere and infect until she finds Miquella. She was just tired to move on when you meet her. If you didn't arrive she would be fighting every other demigods for their runes and fighting for Miquella and spreading rot in the process even if it kills her and everyone else around her.
The only chill person that can be compared to Malenia is Millicent. She also suffers the same fate as Malenia but she didn't want to become a rot spreading vessel so she died on her own terms instead of what gowry wanted her to become.
Malenia, mohg, rykard, godrick, Godfrey/hoarah loux all deserved what they got. The only one I feel sorry for is Morgott.
@@DripMaykr very true. I can't believe I forgot about a very important line of dialogue from Millicent's quest, as she is the best maiden-material in the game lol. Anyways, Millicent says something along the lines of "I'm going to see Malenia so I can give her back her lost pride." This undoubtedly proves that Malenia doesn't have any pride, she doesn't fight honorably against anyone; she didn't with Radahn, and she doesn't with the player. She just kind of became a prick. Sure it's supposedly out of love for Miquella, but I doubt Miquella himself would be proud of her actions (this is going off of what little we know about Miquella and that he seems relatively good and maybe peaceful in nature). Now there is the argument that Malenia's more evil actions are due to the rot affecting her brain, sorta like Radahn going insane... But there's no evidence to back that up, and Millicent straight up says that Malenia basically has no pride anymore. Plus, Malenia seems pretty level-headed and not insane or anything like that; she knows what she's doing. So yeah, I definitely agree with you on this; I forgot about some of those finer details. Sometimes when you're trying to comprehend tons of lore and theories in your mind, an imaginary Malenia basically just waterfowl dances on your brain and turns it to mush.
I still remember my first time fighting Rykard during my first playthrough. He charged up one of his moves, fiery skulls started raining down from above, the ost hit that moment at 7:22, and the only thing I could think was that I was suddenly in hell. Amazing boss fight, and incredible theme!
I'm pretty sure this move is synced up with the song
On first playthrough he cast the skull meteors twice on me but on ng+ he was never able to becoz i killed him way too fast. 😅
I never had the time to think when he did that attack, i as too busy screaming and rolling harder than a Limp Bizkit consert.
I remember the first timehe used takers flame. Caught me off guard so bad i just sat there and let it hit me
“What role are we suppose to play in this fight? The f’kn victim?”
I will never forget this quote from a particular streamers first reaction to this part of the fight 😂
TOGETHHAAA WE WILL DEVOUR THE LIKE BUTTON 🐍
One of my favorite parts is the female only choir in the first act almost being a soft and compelling aura in the music. Much like the temptation of the serpent.
But once his true form appears the choir is then replaced by an all male choir, becoming imposing and disturbing with it's lows.
That and that one dissonant violin bridge into what feels like a straight up satanic choir.
When you mentioned the beehive, I went O_O because technically Rykard is now multitude. He's gorged himself on tarnished past and incorporated them into himself. So it makes sense there would be some sense of there being a multitude, an echo, a swarm in the audio.
Oh! Damn!
Plus when he said something about the beehive. I also thought about the skulls rushing towards you protecting the "queen" which is Rykard
Ironically he's actually a good guy and was supposedly a pretty kind natured person who just opposed the Church of the golden order and was an ally to his sister Ranni the witch in her goal to bring a new order. He also had a strong admiration for his brother the Star scourge. However after letting his Immortal body be consumed by the Great Serpent and becoming one with it his kind yet rebellious personality that was already seen as Blasphemous by the church combined with the Serpent's insatiable hunger to consume turned him into an extremist that rather than overthrowing the gods with his comrades wanted to consume the Gods with his Twisted sense of family. He's actually not evil and if you had chosen to go against the golden order at some point he could have been your ally had his fate been different and his nature had not been so twisted by the serpent coils
Also his daughter is precious
I think you mean "twisted sense of FAMILIIIIIIIII"
@@Cwronaga216 protecc Zorayas at all costs
Doesn't gideon ofnir tell u that praetor rykard's a ruthless justiciar, reviled for his serpentine demeanour? so i dont think hes a good guy more like a chaotic neutral
@@ahmedmigdhaam2726 He only has part of the story. He wasn't like that originally . His personality changed greatly after coming into contact with the Serpent.
That music describes the worst evil being possible. A demon, rotten to the core, there's no reasonning, speaking or anything to do but to fight it.
That's what this music told me, and with the scenery of this boss' music, with everything becoming red, it really felt like descending to the Underworld to destroy its ruler. The vile Serpent.
This fight was one of my favourite: great design, great area, great boss, and the music which makes this battle even more oppressing. I loved it ^^
Meanwhile Rykard himself is just kind of vibing there and opposing the Golden Order and stuff
Literally elden rings Satan
And even how he makes it sound like even killing him isn't enough because a serpent can't truly die, or something to that effect. Been a bit since I fought him.
This track was so insane. This part, 7:23, where it just erupts and swings into the air, it felt like we are delivering divine retribution upon such a foul being. The unrelenting swings of the Serpent slayer weapon, while the air fills with the tortured souls Rykard has consumed. It felt like such a biblical fight, where the powerless hero has found the key to destroying evil. And the fanfare reminds me of Rykard's followers chanting for their leader, whose only wish is for him to finally be taken down.
This fight feels straight out of the Bible, as if you're fighting some kind of ancient awakened demon in hell. I mean, think of it, an ordinary human/warrior taking up a special holy weapon to slay an immortal serpent demon, feels so epic but at the same time dreadful.
While my favorite fight is still Maliketh, Rykard is probably the best gimmick boss Fromsoftware has made. Yhorm and Storm King don't even come close.
NOW WE CAN ANALYZE THIS SONG... TOGETHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
When the brass section goes frikin’ nuts 6:53 , makes me love this track so much more
I felt like I needed to clean myself after the entirety of Volcano Manor and the Rykard fight, it was fundamentally wrong but from their perspective it was right. The killing, torture, experiments, and devouring, to them was the righteous path and that was truly horrifying to me. 10/10 would get handshake teleported there again. 😅
I love the first phase of this because it sounds so... foreboding like a ritual is being performed to summon the litteral devil, an ancient, beyond primeval, almost cosmic horror entity, as you can feel through the music that this ritual is dangerous and no good can come out of this and as the tention builds and builds up at 2:50 the entity finally makes itself known and felt as both horror and madness take hold of the situation, turning the summoner(s) mad as they become aware of the entity, they change, evolve into monsters. the tones, melodies and dissonences realy undermine that the God Devouring Serpent is a being of cosmic horror, something thats not ment for the human mind to be comprehended, almost like Cthulhu is described.
The music is pretty excellent. The Voice acting is god-tier well, King-tier. When I watched the second phase cutscene, this became the top on my "WTF This is Awesome" list.
The vocals absolutely make this track for me. Everyone is mentioning it but 7:28 just feels so deep, otherworldly, blasphemous even
Same bro
My favorite part
Whats most repulsive about Rykard to me is how completely lost he is mentally. Hes not the serpent, but he isnt Rykard anymore. Hes just this power hungry hedon writhing in the bottom of a volcano bursting at the seems with corpses, its no suprise his own knights wanted him dead. After all hes become, he has the nerve to demand that you join him. Im not religious but i always felt like there was something so biblically profound about Rykard and his journey
It felt like I arrived at the last level of Dante's Hell and had the displeasure of fighting the devil after watching him disgustingly unfurl and reveal himself
not only that but I think his knights started to disdain him because of the inhuman and ridiculously brutal battle that happened between Rykard's knights and Leyndell's forces. Gideon describes it as the worst battle in all of the shattering and it shows. The totally ruined landscapes, destroyed minor erdtree and knights infected with the flame of frenzy...
The more I listen to the soundtrack the more I’m starting to really like Elden Ring’s music. It’s not quite as good as Bloodborne’s soundtrack, but Mogh, Astel, and Rykard’s themes are definitely worthy contenders.
The more I listen, the more they're just about even for me. Ludwig still clears absolutely everyone but below that? It's all down to my mood that day lmao
Elden ring music is like blend of mostly unsettling bloodborne music ,some Sekiro sometimes
It's better
I’ve listened to bloodborne and ds3’s soundtracks religiously and it upsets me when people say Elden Ring’s ost is terrible and doesn’t compare to ds3’s. Ds3 has a lot of great tracks, epic, somber and intimidating but Elden Ring tracks are much more colorful, cinematic and have more personality imo. It’s not fair to just put down ER ost just because it has more subtlety. Like I once read someone say ‘ER ost sucks for eg. Astel’s theme pales in comparison to Ebrietas’s’ 🤦♂️
@@fyodordostoevsky6984 Exactly. I think handing a good part of the composition to new composers in the series breathed a new life into it. In my opinion, DS1, Bloodborne and Elden Ring are tied. I liked DS3's soundtrack, but it got really stale really fast to me. DS1, BB and ER just have more personality to them. Ludwig is still the best for me though, it NEVER fails to give me chills.
I LOVE how the beginning of the second part is one man's voice. I like to think that this is Rhykard himself singing, almost reveling in his vile blasphemy
The word I think of when I hear that second phase is just…guttural. It’s very vile and dark, a hellish fanfare that befits the spectacle of fighting a great devouring man-serpent. I love it but I think I need to pull out a crucifix.
6:58 is my favorite part of this track, absolutely evil and foreboding, also when you're fighting him he practically summons the equivalent of hell on you and a bunch of burning skulls come at you.
I so needed this. My mom's dog just passed away before my eyes, just a couple of hours ago. My mind is a mess right now and some good music is just what I needed. Thank you.
@@IchorColdBlood I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Loss is never easy and the hole they leave never really gets filled. All we can do is march on and do their memory proud. It sure as hell is easier said than done, though.
Honestly the parallel to Ludwig is present in the music and the boss design
What an enchanting piece this is, btw i am praying to Lord Gwyn for the day of you reacting to Slave Knight Gael to come.
in just a few weeks!
I love how Marco took a moment after the listening to just revel in the vileness of the soundtrack. Man it really was disgusting!
Probably in my top 5 of From bosses of all time. It feels like a near perfect marriage of theme, spectacle and challenge. Really, my only gripe with the boss is how "unorganic" the way we get to him is. I wish we didnt just get teleported to a dead end cave right outside the bossroom. I feel like if they allowed us to personally descent to his lair from the Volcano Mansion meeting him would have even more impact.
There is a secret path you can find in the manor to stumble upon him naturally, that’s actually how I did it the first time. Had no idea he’d be down there.
@@martinhall9497 you still teleport to him though. I also thought the transition was a bit rough. Just imagine if you go down an elevator like the siofra river one, that just goes on for minutes and once you step out it just goes up again so you are locked inside.
@@axoliminator Elden ring sometimes just gives up on making areas connected and says “fuck it, you’re taking a coffin/teleporter to the new zone”
@@martinhall9497 gotta say, i love the coffins though haha
One thing that really sticks to me about this theme is the vocals at 7:23, it feels very reminiscent of a haka, a war chant full of pride and i love it
phase 2 of this boss is absolutely phenomenal in its atmosphere. this theme, and the part at 7:22 quite specifically, is incredible
The vocals when the 2nd phase hits were sooooo good. I felt like I was in a hellish nightmare when they hit and it was awesome. Also fighting him without the serpent spear is hard asf but definitely worth the experience. Best way to experience the whole fight imo.
Your analysis and reaction brought out a love for this track I haven't realized until watching your video. Thank you for this, it means alot to me and many like me. :)
i love how in the first phase when all the instruments kick in you can feel the cello (I think) moving around with the beat, almost like it's slithering across notes. Wonderful Video!
There are bosses where the second phase is overpowering, terrifying and even beautiful... But nothing like seeing that snake turn into vlad the impaler ever catched me more off guard. Immediately you start questioning what you just walked in on, and met with the realization that this is no mere simple beast, oversized or not.
I mean he is kinda disgusting, but it's exactly why he's the Lord of Blasphemy I guess.
From Elden Ring, the OSTs that stick out to me are Rennala, Godfrey, Godskin Duo, Ancestral Spirit, Mohg, Malenia, and of course the final boss.
But for me, none compare to Godrick and Rykard.
Holy shit the upper strings towards the end are *wild*
Has buff Pikachu been there the whole time? I guess I haven't noticed if it was. 😅
🤣🤣🤣🤣
These videos are great because while I already know what the music is meant to be, and how it makes one feel, it's so great to be able to hear you put into words exactly what I'm thinking
Amazing analysis as per usual, especially given the very overt operatic textures and sounds here that you can sink your teeth into with particular expertise. The first few times I heard this piece, I thought the transition between the two phases was really jarring, and I preferred the ethereal, haunting first half much more than the very sharp, bombastic second half. But the more I listened to it, the more I could appreciate how the first half unfurls into the second by having really dark (almost mirrored) parallels between the two in terms of how the sound itself flows over you. This piece is super dense, but very appropriately it takes a bit for it to really coil around you. Cheers!
Choirs are often used to convey an angelic, heavenly sensation. The borderline atonal use of choirs in this piece fits really well, because you're fighting a god devouring serpent so it almost sounds like the choir is being eaten alive by the snake. Aldrich in DS3 has a similar theme about devouring gods.
I've been waiting for this! Let's goo bb TOGEDAAA
i really liked the part that plays at part 11 of the music, it shows the utter chaos going on in the fight and rykard's eaten brain. honestly my favorite after maliketh and hourah loux's theme
The strings in the first phase remind me of the lighting of the beacons in LOTR.
Great Video as always still waiting for the Dragonlord Placidusax reaction ;)
It’ll be a bit but it’s in queue
I’m so glad you got around to this piece! The dichotomy between first and second sections truly craft a story of a man lost to unbelievable madness and evil. One willing to commit any blasphemy to spit back at the gods who have damned him. A monster of his own creation born of hatred for his kindred.
The first part of this bossfight is my favorite in all of Elden Ring. The music combined with the Serpent Hunter combined with a massive serpent. It really feels like you’re the knight from those fairy tales you would hear as a kid about knights fighting dragons. 😮
Back when I datamined the network test for ER, the first part of this was one of 3 music tracks that were left behind in the files unused. It was very close to being finalized, just had a bit of a rougher mix. I had NO IDEA what this would even be used for, and when I finally got to it in the full game it was definitely fitting.
I love the slow slithery build up of rykards theme
Like you said it sounds like a serpent, slithering. Though in my minds eye it sounds like it is a snake slithering around, coming in and out of sight. Clearly a threat, something to fear, something that secretly is a fearsome beast. The aura of the snake is so menacing it could be evil incarnate. It was as if the real thing to fear had not revealed itself
Then second phase hits and suddenly the snake reveals itself, it becomes larger in sound, it is something towering above you emanating this mentality of madness and violence, something you shouldn’t have awoken. The drumming gets louder and louder as this echoing voice becomes the epitome of the music and then as if a seal or gate of some sort had been opened a flurry of percussion comes spewing out like an invasion. All that build up and hell is released. The track rushes getting faster and faster until it’s a torrent of madness, there is no stopping it, it overwhelms you!
The track speaks these words with that 10 minutes of build up into this chaos
“You brought this evil here and now you will cower”
Darkeater Midir from DS3, please. It's sooo cool.
It’s not a 1 to 1 comparison but I’m fascinated by Rykard because to me, he’s a very luciferian character. A once demigod, part of the godly rulers of the world, opted to Rebel and was cast out,. He’s now one of the most evil beings in the lands between, lord of a manor that has an outward appearance of being clean and fancy, but it’s hope to murderous degenerates who hunt their own kind. The mansion itself hiding a twisted nightmarish realm of experiments and torture. And of course there’s the serpentine imagery.
It’s very interesting to me that Dark Souls and Demon Souls had traditional hellish monster demons, that were flat out called demons, but they weren’t really evil, they were honestly kinda victims. But in Elden Ring you have Rykard who is so evocative of the classic biblical devil. I think that’s fuckin cool
Still not Laurence Fist Vicar (Bloodborne ost)!!! Lol but still loving these videos! Keep up the great work! And yes I'm bringing it up until the greatest fromsoft track is reacted to! Haha also congrats on the channel growth dude, stoked for you! Your doing a big service to Classical as a whole.
At this point, after so many Fromsoft games it's hard for a boss to actually make you go "bro what the fvck", but Rykard's reveal manages to do just that. How you see that red portrait of him behind Tanith over and over in red taint to hint that there's something really evil waiting for you. Then you finally see him. And then you get a rain of red evil exploding skulls coming at you from every direction.
I just stood there contemplating the "Rykard, *Lord of Blasphemy* " in silence. What a moment.
Yes! I've been waiting for this, the best gimmick fight fromsoft has done. when i saw those red skulls and the huge sword swing i was in absolute awe. What an amazing boss! Great reaction once again.
2:50 is the best part of a musical piece I've heard almost anywhere before, it perfectly encapsulates the manic, insane, malicious nature of this enmity.
It's interesting to me to see how different composers convey evil. I like compositions that are more about communicating sheer *threat* rather than the operatic style, but this track fits Rykard to a T.
As Grand Admiral Thrawn once said: "There are things in this universe that are simply, and purely, evil. A warrior does not seek to understand, reason, or negotiate with them. A warrior seeks only to obliterate them."
You need to react to Laurence, The first Vicar!! 🔥🔥🔥
Next week 👀
You’ve heard of God-Devouring Serpent, now get ready for Serpent Eating the Horizon.
The fact that they actually put all those details in the boss themes gives me chills.
Thanks man!
Finally you're doing it!
Appreciate your time!❤️
This music and Rykard remind me of one important fact: you don't need a relatable or likeable, complex villain. One with redeeming qualities, understanding their motives, or being in their shoes. Sometimes, the villain can be simply just evil. Nothing more, nothing less. A vile, rotten being with its only goal is to seek destruction of all and cares only for itself. That's how Satan is. Carnage from Marvel Comics is exactly the same, a murderer, demon, monster, with no ultimate goal in mind, just a being living to kill and consume everything. Rykard is all these things, we find that pure evil fascinating and at the same time.... horrifying.
That's my second favorite boss theme in the game
the only song that feels like a death metal opera song that you can bang your head too if you added metal guitars to this it would be insanely metal as fuck
The only downside this track is, the boss is very easy and normally dies without much struggle. There just wasn't that much time to appreciate the music while playing. Bosses where you try for hours, these songs are locked into your head and heart. I did not remember that track in particular because of that.
LETS GO!! I asked for this and you delivered, thanks Marco! Glad you enjoyed this boss and it's OST as much as I did, great analysis as always.
YES! I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!
Thank you for covering this song
I always found this always very interesting, especially the contrast in the singing, were the first is creepy but still very dignified and then the outright diabolic chaos of the second part
...and of course the rolling rrrrrrr, I love rrrrrrrrolling rrrrrrrrsss
Laurence the first Vicar would be an amazing reaction
Could you do Darkbeast from Bloodborne? No one ever has covered Darkbeast & it's fucking incredible. I love that so much. It's in my top 5 but people don't talk about it often enough. Such a beautiful piece
4:30 Absolute chills!!!
Eveline... show him the way...
Perfectly described, Rykard is just evil as it evil gets lol, no in between with him so his theme perfectly matches him.
Mohg is much more evil imo
@@tear4442and now, he’s like a bit evil. Since Miquella manipulated him. And so did the formless mother
Second phase is fucking bars.
Rarely does a character lay claim to a single word in your mind. “Together” doesn’t exist anymore, anytime I see it, it automatically becomes “TOGETHAAA”
I love the atmosphere created by the opera singers in these songs, but I can never understand what they're saying 😅
That's not really related to the music but the way you imitated the sound at 0:54 reminded me of the mosquito noise at first and your description right after matches how I feel about it when I hear them in the middle of the night. Sorry for not having a better comment but I thought it was just perfect. I still think this is an incredibly epic piece of music though.
Thank you for reacting to this! ^^
Next one, Serpent Eating The Ground (Bravely Default 1). There is even a live version. It's quite intense ahah. ;)
I absolutely love these videos.
Rykard reminds me of Orochimaru.
1) Wants to be immortal
2) Has a rasp, dry voice
3) Has a giant sword that he pulls put of his throat
Same vibes.
to this day i am still trying to figure out the time signature of the last 4th of the song
I would love if you make a video of Laurence the First Vicar from Bloodborne, I think that is one of the best songs in the souls series and you'll love it
Next week
Please keep doing this, nice video 🙏🏻🙏🏻
My favorite section in this song has to be the grand finale where all sense of order is lost as cymbals clashing alternates between the beat and the off-beat with seemingly no logic whatsoever. It takes the disorienting nature of the track and suddenly quadruples it by devouring the rhythm into the void heh.
for me rykard's theme truly feels like youre listening to an evil almost cartoonish laugh, like he is this fat giant thats laughing at you for being so small
i love your videos man :D thanks for all
Welcome!
The best boss theme of Elden Ring! Thanks for reacting to this one!
Mogh lord of blood is prob one of my favorites, but this one is pretty good too. Dragonlord placidusax as well 😅
Listen to the music of Margit and Morgott, they are the same character and they are super epic!!
Nice, this more detailed analysis format is awesome (although seeing someone in a loss for words is also cool ahuahsua)
Just depends on the day 🤣
Togethaaaahh!
Im not an expert on music or anything...but i felt the music was trying to pass some sentiment of "pride" and "honor", not the kind of a warrior would feel but like a servant...i mean like: "Oh, you are in the presence of our lord and should be proud and honoured" and not only that i think Praetor Rykard felt pride from his actions because he really thinks hes hot shit.
I read this as "The serpent that devours the horizon" from Bravely Default... which is also a banger.
Potresti reagire alla ost di Aldrich, Santo delle Profondità? Secondo me riuscirai a cogliere molte cose.
Eventualmente 😬
Such an Epic and underrated soundtrack for a boss fight easily my most memorable boss right up there with Malenia shes my favorite boss but Rykard is easily second
Man, I've been waiting for "Godfrey, First Elden Lord", I'm really excited
Blasphemy, a crime of all crimes, a vicious reality for all those that followed a blind fool who would go to any lengths to bring down the gods, his very own family.
A man who stood against the very golden light that bathed his home, a man who bathed Mt.Gelmir in blood and darkness, to a point where it was simply suffocating.
Now there is no man, only a mass of what was left behind, maddenned eyes of a remnant that was once followed, a leader that desires nothing but the end of it all, to devour the very world so that there may be nothing but blasphemy.
Praetor Rykard one of the most interesting optional bosses in my opinion due to how the recusants seem to take contracts there is no personal vendetta against them as far as i know. But i do have a recommendation for a ace combat song called blue skies honestly idk why it makes me tear up everytime i hear it
"No one will hold me captive.
A serpent never Dies......."
The taiko drums are such a perversion of the final boss theme, it's amazing.
Probably my favorite track in the whole game! So menacing and, I think, does best at setting the appropriate tone.
I'm surprised that there are still those who think that the soundtrack does not stand out or is not at the level of Dark Souls 3 or Bloodnorne.
Yeah. Dis-gus-ting-snake!!!