The LORE of Marika and the GLOAM-EYED QUEEN
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Did you notice this snake is looking at something incredible story important? With the theme of god slaying, god hunting, and blasphemy being represented by snakes, it makes perfect sense that this snake is here looking at.....
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I've had a lore theory write up that Marika was the Gloam Eyed Queen as well, based. That is the reason we are shown and told about the failsafe measures built into Empyrean shadows via Blaidd and Ranni. Maliketh is wracked with guilt and confusion because he had to defeat, not kill, Marika. The Queen in Black... Marika is always shown in black robes. Her eyes are never shown.
I had this same thought like a minute into the video. It especially makes sense if Miquella’s story is meant to reflect Marika’s. He divested himself of his emotions to ascend to godhood, one of those emotions being love, depicted as the person St Trina. The GEQ could represent an emotion of Marika that she divested of herself to ascend.
@@richizzle39 I don’t strongly feel about this but still I suggest it’s worth pondering about
The Gloam Eyed Queen could have been Marika’s emotion of pain. GEQ is associated with death (The one pain she couldn’t overcome). It’s possible that it was a result of losing her entire village and people to hornsent.
Someone even pointed out that Godwyn being called the “Prince” of Death instead being labeled as a King, is one of the many hints that Marika was the GEQ.
@saintofruin I played when there was still a reference to a Dusk Eyed Queen and a Queen in Black.
This is my lore write-up I did a long time ago about this:
Marika is the Gloam/Dusk-Eyed Queen.
- Red and black spike of death impales Marika and keeps her in place when we find her at the end. Only Maliketh wields this power, and only he could even defeat a God like Marika. But he's so loyal to her, why would he?
- Maliketh "defeated" the Gloam/Dusk-Eyed Queen. We know Shadowbound hounds have to attack their former master if The Fingers feel like the Empyrean is acting against them. We play through this reality with Ranni's quest, and both she and Iji know Blaidd will go mad as she enacts her vision. How do they know this happens? They saw/heard of it happening to Maliketh and Marika already.
- Only Marika would be able to guide Ranni to the location of the Rune of Death and how to use it for it to be stolen in the first place to forge the Black Knives. Remember, "Marika... is this what it is to sin?" "Why gull me..." Marika, after all, had only one use for Maliketh in the end, after the other work was done... a vessel to seal away Destined Death. And even then, she betrayed him.
- The Beast Eye is a purple, scratched up eye. It's Marika's eye from being defeated and imprisoned by her Shadowbound. No other Queen or Empyrean is "defeated" but not slain, as the text implies there except Marika. And who but her purpose-made hound could even stop her, a God? The one entity empowered enough by the Ring/Fingers to be able to do so should the need arise.
- No other characters are named as Queen or Empyrean that aren't already accounted for/ruled out to be the GEQ, and by that I mean Melina, she was given purpose by her mother at the foot of the Erdtree and that means she is a daughter of Marika, not old enough to be the GEQ but possesses traits of both Marika and Radagon. Eye color and hair color are passed down traits we see in game. Well, sure enough, Melina shows us a purple/gloamy eye in one ending. Inherited trait from her mother, the Queen in Black. Marika's eyes are never shown to us, to judge their color.
- Duskborn ending sees Godwyn rise to ascendancy and sees Death restored, with him as the Prince of Death itself. These titles aren't meaningless. Duskborn? The "Prince" of Death? Well, who would the Queen be? If Godwyn is Duskborn, and if he is a Prince, his mother would, of course, be associated with "Dusk" and be a Queen. And we know his mother is Queen Marika.
- Fia is hooded with a black cloak and comes from some other land. She also helps create Godwyn's Duskborn ending and is Death-aligned. We see Marika wearing black hooded garb in a statue where she also is holding the twins Miquella and Malenia. Her tattered clothing as we find her at the end is also black. She is also associated with the Nox/Numen race and the Black Knife Assassins that come from there as well.
- Statues of Marika in her crucified pose all show her with a flowing black cloth that wraps behind her in almost the exact same shape as the Godslayer Greatsword, which was the weapon or ritual sword of the GEQ/DEQ. You have to pivot the camera a bit to get a good view, but the shape is very similar. Coiled and then open, with one flap slightly longer than the other, same tip design on the Godslayer Greatsword. It's possible that she was propped up by the Hornsent culture and then part of the betrayal was killing other Gods in their pantheon, but what's maybe more possible is as Centered Tarnished pointed out, that Marika culled some other of her "unwanted" children after learning the truth of the broken Fingers and flawed foundations of her Order.
- Hewg prays to Queen Marika about his given task to craft a Godslaying weapon. Very interesting and specific task. Marika wants a God slain. Godskins certainly take an interest in that. Who was their leader? A "defeated" Queen who was once an Empyrean. Marika.
- Raging Wolf Vargram is a would-be Shadow. Wolf imagery is on his armor. He wields the Godslayer Greatsword. The weapon art is "The Queen's Black Flame", of course. A statue of Marika exists in Farum Azula showing her with three wolves.
- Marika learned the secrets of the Golden Order and realized her children would "amount only to sacrifices" as she instructed them. She knew the Erdtree was a soul parasite, and by sealing Death away, she weakened the Erdtree over time. She also had Godwyn buried at the roots of it, knowing that he would grow and overtake them, choking the Erdtree further. As he was, Godwyn was an "unwanted" child since he embodied the Golden Order, and she was a prisoner to it. He would end up much like Miquella would, a caged divinity of some kind. She was likely opposed to the Erdtree and Greater Will/Fingers for a long time, weaving plots in secret until the Shattering. She realized, only too late, that ultimate power has a way of becoming a curse when the truth of the nature of it all is finally revealed.
Just as Marika shined so brightly with her Golden Order, another aspect of her was as deep as the abyss, and as dark as any shadow.
Holy shit, I think I remember you as the first one to ever really suggest it back in the day when the lore was still fresh as well as give ample evidence. Good to see you still take an interest.
This would explaon why the GEQ's Rune of Death basically looks like a red version of Marika's sigil from her Scarseal.
ya know with the gloam eyed queen and snakes being linked , it makes me think that the "godskin" that she used could have been her own shed skin.
I'd say "yeeeeeees!!!!" if it wasn't for the faces that we can see on the hyde 😖😖😖
@@BigBadWolframio well the queen has a face to just cuz shes snake like doesnt mean shes all snake. and the one snake lady had a human form to.
take a look at marika’s statues in the dlc. they have a different pose from the base game. in the base game, marika takes on her crucifixion pose that appears to emulate the rune of life. in the shadow lands, her pose appears to emulate the rune of death. google the church of benediction if you want the visual.
if she discarded her gloam half at the time she split the shadow lands off from the lands between, it would make sense that the statues of her there represent her when she was the gloam eyed queen
Within the last week I came to the same conclusion: that Marika is the Gloam-Eyed Queen, but you went so far beyond and have done a great job expanding on and supporting that idea.
This video made me also consider this: Messmer's fire looks different than regular fire, it is black towards the center, as are godskin apostle black flame incantations.
There is also the very, very familiar line:
"Those stripped of the Grace of Gold shall all meet DEATH.
In the embrace of Messmer's flame."
And we know gloam-eyed Melina is his sister.
Also, Messmer's knights are the "Black" Knights, a color associated with the rune of death. Maliketh the Black Blade, the Black Blade Kindred, the Black Knife Assassins.
The spirit ashes for Black Knight Huw make reference to him being a champion of the "divine beast hunt", which could be another way to reference the "god hunt".
Finally, the Serpent-Hunter Great Spear may be related to Marika, or at least the Land of Shadows since it was said to be used to kill an immortal serpent in the distant past, and it features a spiral engraving.
Excellent essay!!
_proceeds to actually watch it_
I'm thinking Marika wasn't actually "born" in the Shaman village, but rather she was a successful birth from within a saint jar as a divine serpent. If you watch bonfire vn there's a video about the jar innard enemies, the tendril for their grab attack looks like a snake coming out and taking you in it's jaws. I looked it up as well, snake skins are seen as a sign of transformation as well as rebirth and such. So I think when she found the hut she took one last mournful look at the truth of what she really was, before shedding her serpentine form in favor of one not unlike the grandmother her people prayed to, a fitting form for someone to take when facing the very people who committed these atrocities. Kind of interesting that we also don't ever see Marika's eyes in a way that let us see what color they are as well.
It could also be that Marika became the gloam-eyed queen to get her revenge, but Metyr used her shadow Maliketh to defeat her to make her bow down again and listen to her guidance. As we see that a shadow will go mad if their empyryan will try to rebel.
I believe that's why Maliketh was the way he was when you see him as Gurranq as well, Marika taking out the rune of death was a big no no for the GW so she gave it to him and sent him as far away as possible to avoid him coming back for her.
@@luminousazureI think it's the other way around. Gurranq was turned into Maliketh because Marika couldn't be trusted with the rune of death anymore. It's why she had to betray him later.
Wow Rykard took the idea of devouring the gods with the serpant from Marika who did something similar before. The reoccurring themes of assimilation are poignant.
You can also tie in the Windmill Village as a massive thread here, we have the Godskin Apostle amongst the Celebrants who skin villagers as part of their festival. It is “tacitly tolerated” by the Erdtree because we can point to Marika’s actions as the Gloam Eyed Queen during the Godskin Hunt, and even further back to Marika witnessing the skinning of the shaman for the festival’s origins. We can see that the Celebrants’ eyes glow red when we draw their aggro, mirroring the red rune of death/Marika “turning into” the GEQ upon witnessing her peoples’ slaughter. The Celebrants’ weapons grant traces of runes when landing attacks, indicating there is something of Marika to be gleaned from this practice. Even the windmills themselves signal a cycle, casting a shadow of perpetuating trauma.
You’ve tied this mystery up quite nicely and in good time considering the amount of loose threads Miyazaki has left us, there’s so much left to answer still so I can’t wait to see where the community goes from here.
My biggest question now is how Marika gained the power of the Black Flame as a Shaman. Did the flame sort of spark within her when she witnessed the Hornsent murdering shaman (the event fractured Marika leaving her empty inside, perhaps enabling her to become a vessel for the God of Death?), or did she have to steal the power from the previous God of Death/the Twinbird, and if so, how?
If Radagon is Marika and it's implied he was a fire giant( who are also associated with snakes) then that power of flame probably came from him.
When the ashes are two, a flame alighteth. Thou art ash, and fire befits thee, of course
This is the best lore channel. You gave me a lot to think about
In Godricks Rune is written that Godfrey and his Offspring are the First Demigods of the Golden Lineage. And Enia tells us that each and all are direct Offsprings of Queen Marika. Either it means Godfrey is included as an Offspring of Marika or the Grace given to him turned him into a Demigod. If Marika was the Gloam-Eyed Queen then her Hunting the Demigods meant she hunted Godfrey and his Kin after she divested them of their Grace, that would finally explain that bit. Also some clues I found interesting is that Marika plucked the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring and if Marika is Radagon that would mean that Radagon did also Plucked the Rune of the Unborn from the Elden Ring. Marika gave it to Maliketh her Shadow, while Radagon gave it to Rennala his Beloved. One unanswered Question is the True Role and Purpose of a Maiden. I somehow believe that Maidens were also considered Demigods because to interact with Runes and Grace was something only Marikas Offspring were able to do.
Either way I believe
Still awaiting part 2 of your trauma vid as it resonated deeply. Appreciate your viewpoint. Great content.
Great video, I always thought the GEQ was a revenger aspect of Marika, especially after the DLC. Here's a few details for your consideration...
In the DLC story cinematic I believe Marika reaches inside a swaddling cloth and we can see some flesh inside, the shape makes me think of a baby's head.
Also during that cinematic she seems to be wearing a dress with flowing ribbons that in close inspection could be shed snake skins.
Inside the Erdtree she is crucified and pierced by what looks like a spear of destined death (could this have been the result of Maliketh defeating her GEQ aspect after it took over following Godwin's death?)
@@rpadinha77 I really like that connection between Maliketh and the spear in Marika! Great observation
I think Marika's "snake skirt" in the cinematic is definitely not accidental, have a look at the entry for this mesoamerican goddess who mothered a god of war, the moon and is known as "the grandmother"
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C5%8D%C4%81tl%C4%ABcue
My theory as I listen is Merida and GEQ are separate entities both chosen to be gods back in shaman village. GEQ took death as her rune and had her godskins. Merika met up with martyr, who lost contact with GW, and separated into radagon. Radagon seduced GEQ and had two kids, Messmir and Melina. Before GEQ could ascend to godhood, radagon left her and Maliketh came in and cleaned house. Merika becomes a god. Abyssal serpent is the outer god GEQ prayed to and was sealed within Messmir. Messmir tricked into believing Merika is his mother. Does her bidding. Melina learns GEQ is her real mother and wants to bring back death indiscriminate, ie: her real mother.
Also think the unknown/unwanted demigods are prodigy of radagon and any woman durning the age of the golden order. And Merika killed them. I think it’s like lycanthropy, Merika turns into radagon during a full moon or something.
reaching on a lot of this.😂
This is it, you did it. I'm big on Marika 'abducting' Messmer and Melina from the GEQ. Them having red hair like Radagon is another tie to your theory.
I’m sure other people have commented on it but that Hyetta dialogue blurs the line between all of Miyazaki’s games. Fractures is demons souls, births is Bloodborne, and souls is obviously dark souls.
And Miyazaki being the One Great, huh?
bro your lore videos are soo good i hope you get big soon because you deserve the viwes and subscribers!
Bruh this, this entire video….ive been saying literally all of this for 2 years it’s so awesome to hear someone else come to the same conclusion and lay it out so eloquently, bravo, hats off to you sir
I got the feeling Marika survived the hornsent’s pursuit of jar saints and took up the mantle of the gloam eyed queen to enact her vengeance upon the hornsent. She pretended to be part of the order of things but really sought to undo it all. She used this persona to trick the hornsent into making the divine gate where she then betrayed her purpose as gloam eyed queen. Her ascension was different than that of Miquella who had to make personal sacrifices where Marika made the hornsent her sacrifice. I think Melina is Marika reborn through erdtree burial leaving her godhood behind and embracing her true roll as the gloam eyed queen and brining an end to the erdtree itself.
I think there’s a lot of merit to this.
Most of the outer gods don’t really seem to have a presence until after Marika.
This, combined with the revelation that her people were all shoved into jars as part of the hornsent ritual, suggests to me that Marika would be the source of these as we know them in the lands between and their existence as such is made possible by that jar ritual itself.
It’s now my firm belief that Marika was created, or perhaps more accurately evolved, in a jar as part of these rituals, and that everything we see in the world would have been shoved into that jar as part of her mixture and she was the only Shaman capable of bringing it to order, which is why the Greater Will chose her to take over and end the chaotic crucible era.
All roads do point to Marika and this jar process.
Imagine:
1 part death bird,
1 part snake (accidentally the abyssal serpent)
1 part fire giant,
1 part follower of the scarlet bud,
1 part blood fiend,
And more…
Suddenly we have a mix that explains Radagon and his embarrassment over his hair and the association with the fire giants.
The fire giants provide context for messmers flame, and doubly so with the corrupting influence of the abyssal serpent.
The god of rot manifesting itself in one of her children.
The formless mother and its affinity for mohg, and even morgott (despite his attempts to suppress it)
The GEQ being born of the mix of the flame within from the fire giant and the death birds… (or something along those lines)
And all of this made possible by her slowly shedding these amalgamated elements of her torturous creation as a jar saint/empyrean.
I like to think of the body she pulls the threads from as the first god… she’s taking the ring for herself… the threads are the more chaotic and wavy portions of the original ring, and she’s taking her first step to convert them into the rigid lattice that would later be associated with radagon…
Okay enough ranting.
Great video 👍
Consider this: It's mentioned that Enir-Ilim was a tower built "to reach the gods". You know who would want to reach the gods? Someone intending to go on a god hunt.
Consider this: We see the divine gate at the pinnacle of Enir-Ilim in the story trailer, constructed of viscera, blood, and corpses. A closer look at the tower in-game reveals that the entire structure was constructed in very much the same way. Imagine it back then. A towering structure tall enough to be seen from every corner of the lands between, glistening with blood, gore, and corpses. A tower of death. Building a structure like that, in that fashion, would require supernatural powers and perhaps control over death itself. The only person I can think of who would be capable of this is an entity who had control over the Elden Ring BEFORE Marika. The Gloam-Eyed Queen.
Consider this: Marika eventually ordered Messmer to purge the hornsent, and the land mass at the center of the lands between was magically veiled and separated from the physical plane. Marika so thoroughly erased the history of the hornsent and the shadow lands that no one even remembers they ever existed in the first place. Completely purged from history as punishment for what they did to the Shaman. What if this is exactly how the hornsent felt about the GEQ. The hornsent worship the crucible, the embodiment of life itself, blended together in all its forms. Their jarsaint rituals were in imitation of the crucible, a blending of life. The GEQ seems like the exact opposite of what the hornsent worship about the crucible. Now imagine how they would feel if their dead were used as sacrifices to build a massive tower to invade the realm of the gods, perhaps the very domain of the crucible itself, and hunt them down. I think something so blasphemous would make them want to purge her existence from history and repurpose her tower as a holy structure linked to the crucible. I think perhaps her godskin children would be chased from that land, carrying with them the only relics that prove she ever existed at all.
Consider this: Messmer is red of hair, and his music/theme shares a leitmotif with Radagon's theme. I believe "the seduction and betrayal" referenced in the trailer was Marika taking on the form of Radagon to seduce the GEQ. The GEQ would go on to bear two children, one inheriting the aspects of the base serpent, and the other, her blackflame of destined death. I believe after they were born, when the time was right, Marika used Maliketh (who likely got his name "death of the gods" from joining the GEQ's godhunts) to betray her, slaying the GEQ and then laying claim to the Elden Ring before the divine gate, entryway to the realm of the gods, to become a god herself. She then plucked out the eyes of Melina and Messmer and sealed them with her grace, such that the aspects of the GEQ, the base serpent and blackflame, could never be used against her. Radagon is the father. And as you know, Radagon is Marika.
it makes even more sense
that Melina in GEQ mode appears to avenge after Frenzy
if GEQ was Marika/twin/death self she cast off that went rogue,
or became a god killer in revenge for being cast off/wronged
before Marika gets her dog to take her out
I wonder if Miq's journey in Land of Shadow, casting off "pieces" of himself
when a "piece" of yourself is an entire alter Ego St. Trina
what is Millicent, what is Ranni/Renna, D and his brother
this makes Radagon itneresting
was he cast off as a Misbegotten, the avenger at Moore Godfrey ordered to put down
his Boc parallels, returning to mother
lot's of curvy puzzles pieces start fitting together
in this duality jigsaw
So Gloam-eyed queen seem to be to Marika what St. Trina was to Miquella. An aspect that she threw away to ascend
After watching so many theories recently I thought I was going crazy.
There is definitely more here, others have discovered other parts of it and I think this is the correct path
I cannot find the video now but there's a bit that explains marikas seeming immortality.
A newish UA-cam was explaining how the people from the tower used Keltic (ish) magic to capture souls. using the doughnut-like rocks.
It included a bit more about Boni village. if you pay attention to the tree corpse ( where you get the gesture) there's a hole in the tree in the back. this could have seemingly been used to "capture" the soul and transfer it. It is looking straight at the snake. It would make sense that the being would have to rest after transferring bodies.
Further on, there is more tying the abductor virgins to the GEQ as it is holding a baby, looks nothing like anyone else ( allegedly), and hails from a volcano manner.
I am all for the theory that Marika was the best jar baby and came out as a single being as opposed to a meatball. She does have her veil at all times for seemingly no reason. that's really the rest of her body. (or like Envy from Full Metal Alchemist she can just shape-shift as per the mimic Vail item desc. She could have split parts of herself at different times during different events.
Marika also had to have been with Paci as he is an elden lord of the golden order at some point.
I propose she was kidnapped at birth by the tower folk. lost her true memories why being in a jar. came out and thought the tower people were her people until something happened. She found bonny village and went ape shit. Mesmer was assigned to help with the extermination ( had already split off as he interacted with caria so this was after part of Liurnia was captured) Part of her going ape shit is what caused the night of the black knives as this even is when the land of shadow was ... shadowed. ( proven by some parts of Godwin transforming in 2 catacombs there just like in Stormveil.) Marika regained control and shattered herself and time.
Marika is the multi-faced god.
The Formless Mother
The Sealed God of Scarlet Rot
God of the Twinbird (God of death)
The Frenzied Flame
The Blood Star
The Fell God
The God-Devouring Serpent
Ancient Dragon God (god of Time)
The Abyssal Serpent
I believe these are all aspects of the Many faced God. The one Great that came before.
I really dislike that I can't find those other videos.
I'm an old lore-head. 37yrs old. Idc.. I enjoy your videos so much. I sleep to your vids 😂🤙
Sorry it took me this long to sub.
Ahhh I should not have doubted you would also be part of the "All Statues Are Marika" club! You should have cut the "and" in your title though 😉
A theory I have is that Merika was jarred with many other creatures and then became the unified creature that became the god. But then she abandoned/took out all of the unwanted parts which were Mesmer, Melina and may be also the snake itself which then became the god Rykard joined. .... But since I never heard that idea by others I am a bit struggling 😅
To further support the idea of Marika killing or potentially sacrificing her children, those of reside within the walking mausoleums, is an echo of Marika given to us by Melina.
"In Marika's own words.
Hear me, Demigods. My children beloved.
Make of thyselves that which ye desire. Be it a Lord.
Be it a God.
But should ye fail to become aught at all, ye will be forsaken.
Amounting only to sacrifices..."
After the DLC, I assumed that the GEQ was part of the jar-birthed form of Marika, and that she was discarded to allow her to become the Eternal Queen, like Miquella discarded Trina to ascend.
So my head canon is: Marika was the successful god created by the hornsent. She reigns, but harboring anger over the injustice wrought on her kin.
Then she’s seduced by the Greater Will’s envoy, who gives her the secret to ascending to a form with the ability to reshape reality.
It gets fuzzy here as to timeline. Numerous scenarios suggested by the rest of the story, fit here.
I've been throwing this around:
Rome is the Eternal City. It's founding has to do with a she wolf saving and mothering twin boys who go on to found Rome.
In Elden Ring, three wolves surround a girl, and there are three eternal cities...
The golden threads retrieved from the unknown creature before Marika ascends.. that creature always looked like the Godskin-skin. Its a possibility...
She killed the previous God somehow. Needs Destined Death for that doesn't she? So she already had that power before she ascended.
The faces on Godskin robes are the strangest part. Its hard to imagine so many demigods being there.
12:43 it’s worth noting they’re not “unwanted children” it’s a translation thing, in Japanese the word more accurately translates to “bastard” or “illegitimate” child
Good video, I dont think GEQ and Marika are the same, but I think you did a great job finding evidence and displaying your theory :)
I feel the game is too much about 2's, it doesnt feel right for GEQ to be Marika. I also think things like "seduction, betrayal", "abductor virgin" are implying what others think: GEQ is the mother of Mesmer and Melina with Radagon and then Marika betrayed her. I think the betrayal of Maliketh is shattering the elden ring, going against the golden order / two fingers which he is appointed by just like how Ranni goes against it and Blaidd is forced to fight.
I also think the God Hunt has to do with the Fell God, maybe even whomever Placis God was. We know Marika betrayed the Hornsent, so GEQ could have been on their side. I also dont think they would reference GEQ as an Emyprean the way they do and it be just an offshoot of Marika.
great video, love the theory. theres also a parallel with Miquella discarding St.Trina
Yeah the idea that Marika is the gloam-eyed queen has occured to me too. Gods often have multiple aspects or personas this is more or less universal across cultures. The many many namnes and different apperances of Oden or the Christian god who comes in three distinct personas are just two easy examples most people would be familiar whit. The game also draws heavely on Gnostisism, the One great (the "true" god) and the greater will (the demiurge). To my mind "the one great" is the totality of all of creation, the divinity in all things. The "greater will" is the ego who mistake itself for the true god of which it is but a part, the gnosis is the knowledge that "all things comes from the one great" and by this knowledge you escape the endless suffering and rejoin the "one great". The three fingers are telling the truth. No wonder they were locked away.
Madness is the good ending! That’s what I’ve been saying since Bloodborne!
So this has made me rethink a few theories I had. But also lines up with those theories as well. I used to think of the gloam eyed queen as a title passed down between empyreans of an age which is why Melina and merika could both be the gloam eyed queen.
Now I think you may have hit on the missing peace which was funnily enough milacent. I now believe Melina is merikas milicent. The part of her that that was split off when her god hunt ended. A time she no longer needed that piece of her. Unfortunately for her she just created a being hyper focused on killing the only remaining god her. This part leads into other theories about the timeline and maliketh defeating the gloam eyed queen and exactly when the rune of death was removed. However don’t want this post to go on forever.
But before I go I did want to mention something that I have always thought about Mesmer that also lines up with your theory. The parallels between his story and Alexander the Great always made me think of this one line “I carried my weapon against you with in my womb”. From Alexander’s mother to his father.
I believe Mesmer was literally born as a weapon. Perhaps from the great serpent. The thing Rikard merged with. Or maybe a trist with the fell god as Mesmer seems to have ties to them both. But he definitely seems to be born for the purpose of merikas vengeance.
When I finished the game not long after it came out. I remember posting on reddit about Marika "sending" the black knives to kill Godwyn... man, the hating was real.
Love your videos, man!
Maliketh gives us a gloamed eye to find deathroot and its the same eye missing from marikas body. Ive been saying this since release
I think Lilith would be an apt example of “terrible mother” archetype. Hits all the points you made. Especially cool when considering the biblical allegory some call out re: Marika’s golden order
Holy Crap!! That's why she shattered the ring and subsequently herself. She didn't want the Gloam-Eyed Queen to come out and reek havoc anymore. The Gloam-Eyed Queen already killed her children who she loved dearly (especially Godwynn). That's why she deems serpents as blasphemous! Radagon is Marika, but the Gloam-Eyed Queen is the complete opposite of Marika. This makes so much sense now! Thanks for the vid!!
My relief when a reputable channel shares my sentiments that Marika created the Elden Ring (out of something that had already existed).
Like you say, the only other indication of the Elden Ring in a non-erdtree society is from Farum Azula, but it's above a statue of someone who seems very strongly to be Marika, meaning that entire altar represents her and not the FA civilization.
this is probably the best theory ive seen on this topic
The lady statue with the pouring jar is one for the 3 nornes, I think. 🤔 The game borrows heavily from Norse mythology. Great video! ❤ thank you!
Another possibility is Melina is the part of Marika ejected when Marika removed the Rune of Death from herself. Malekith seals that rune away in him and Melina kind of goes blank. Marika reconditions Melina as a failsafe to burn the Erd Tree, but if the Rune is unsealed while Melina is still alive in the Frenzied Flame ending, the Gloam-Eyed aspect resurfaces and it's the last living part of Marika, who wants revenge on the person who messed up their world, again.
Regarding the Elden Ring always being associated with Marika and no one else, I personnally disagree, from the starting point that the Elden Ring technically might have existed as the Crucible for gods prior to Marika, so for Placi's god, the Hornsent's, etc. The Elden Ring as we see and know it is Marika's manifestation of the Crucible. Prior gods may have had their own manifestations of it, so their own "Elden Rings".
@@ow124-k3z definitely possible! Also, thank you for saying you “personally disagree”. I truly believe everything is just up for personal interpretation
This could explain why Miquella felt compelled to give up his other half, like Marika did with the Gloam-Eyed Queen. The Gloam-Eyed Queen to Marika was like St Trina to Miquella, had to be discarded to become a God. Ironically this would mean Marika’s original identity is Death, not Life. Understanding how much she suffered as a Shaman, explains her obsession with Life and Kindness.
GEQ? Gold Experience Qequiem?
@@Untarnished2022 Gloam Eyed Queen
it's kind of crazy that almost all of Marika's children seem to reflect some sin she committed against a people; or some outer god or power trying to influence the lands between. Melana and the Gloam Eyed Queen, Messmer and the Base Serpent, Mohg and Morgot with the Honrsent, Melania with the Scarlet Rot, and Miquella with the unknown affliction that kept him eternally young.
Ironically, Radagon's children with Rennala also seemed to mirror that as well; with Rykard becoming a serpent, and Ranni breaking free of the Golden Order and slaying Godwyn with the rune of death and while under the teachings of the moon.
the two most likely to be "idea" sons; Radahn and Godwyn, got wrapped up in the machinations of the other emperyans. One to do away with the system for freedom, and the other to do away with the system for complete control.
I think it’s simpler than we would like to think. The winners write history and all written remnants of the other gods were destroyed. The black knives, serpents, fire giant, rot, gloam eyed queen, crucibles, they are all just remnants of those gods or past eras.
cant forget that it's likely Marika/Gloam eyed queen were a result of the jar soup. linking it to your fracturing theory, this makes sense.
Howdy there I have 2 theories about Melina and Messmer:
1) Marika was present during the Gloomed eyes queen Reign. As a saint or Emperyan she had Radagon and had twin during the reign. Before the great betrayal, l think Messmer And Melina has been arround the GEQ. They have been close that the GYQ sealed some of her power in the left Eyes of Melina(this is not a grace seal). And that is why Messmer might has been ordered by marika to burn to death Melina, and then Marika had denough and took power etc...
2) Radagon had Messmer and Melina with the GEQ. and Radagon killed the GEQ. In the video for the DLC when "Marika" do the position in Front of the gates after taking grace from the corps she has a lack of upper woman part that seems odd to me. Thas is why messmer looks pale and has snakes (abyssal in the right) and Melina has the GEQ in her left. After taking power Marika act like the mother of them both but has no interrest and don't care about them. Messmer still has burned his litle sister down in Marika name and Marika disposed of him in the Land of Shadow after. Radagon is Marika Marika is Radagon. They believe to be hers. They kinda are but not like they think they are.
The idea that marika (a mother deity) is the gloam eyed queen is good, but I think it’s different, just a touch, it feels to me that the gloam eyed queen, is to marika what st trina is to miquella, aside from the fact that marika’s eyes lack a hue (in the ending) and “eyed” rather than “eyes” or “with eyes of” suggests past tense, the black flame having been sealed at marika’s behest, and the black flame is channeled through a greatsword, though one may call it something else, a spiral perhaps? The gloam eyed queen is life, and death, she values birth, and she kills the gods and there’s a weird connection that could very well be made with dragon communion, especially with the admittedly jokey addition of bear communion, perhaps the blessings that marika doled out in the beginning times, were drops of blood from the gods themselves, which gods though? I would argue, the desiccated and decapitated tutelary deities, who cradle ash in their fingers and are surrounded by such material, marika divested herself of the gloam, of death, and birth, which would mark the births of her cursed and imperfect children, she was once a queen in the eyes of the hornsent, with beautiful eyes of gloam, until she divested herself of her love, leaving her last piece, in shaman village, betraying the hornsent, and consorting with those of other lands, at which point she would be cursed, after all, we have no evidence to suggest the demigods in the mausoleums are cursed, simply scorned, perhaps they were born before even messmer, when they were all held close in their swaddling cloths, but having divested that part of herself, marika was able to abandon messmer, leaving him to curse his mother, who never did anything for him
The gloam eyed queen would've been placidusaxs consort so probably a dragon, and it appears that the females are larger of their species (greyoll), or atleast the child bearing queens (kinda like alien lol) so it was probably the giant dragon on the hill of final dragon communion. The dragons and lyndell went to war and it sounded like they were one of the last to go to war in the time line before the shattering
I thought the same thing for a while but the DLC actually made me come around to the idea that Melina was/is the GEQ. Although with the point you mentioned about fracturing the self I guess both could be true 🤔
Very interesting video but it does cast more questions on Radagon. If the mind was split in two, and the mind and the body separated, would there possibly be an other body that was also split lurking around ?
Also, side note, for the audio you can use some de-essing. What you are saying is super interesting and this would make it more pleasant.
It was a very good video
It makes a lot more sense that Marika killed Godwyn in the context of her killing her children from when she was the Gloam Eyed Queen.
Dude I never thought that marika was the fled god of Farum azula 🤔 well if bale is in the Shadow lands, than is it possible the betrayal was that of farum azulu, and what if she sacrificed it hence why it’s outside of time and separated from everything else.
Another great video, and you continue to be the only Elden Ring content creator I enjoy watching at this point.
I do, however, have one unresolved question about your previous video (which I also enjoyed quite a bit).
You posit that "Marika shattered the Elden Ring because Mohg captured Miquella."
On the surface, I can buy that. And I know that from a psychological perspective, we are viewing the Elden Ring as Marika's psyche. And we can take that a step further from your psych viewpoint to say that "Marika's inner child (Miquella) was in danger, which caused a mental break which fractured her psyche (the Elden Ring)."
This all tracks! However, do you see a surface level objective that she was trying to accomplish by shattering the Elden Ring? I get the idea that she simply did it because Mohg captured Miquella... but to what end? What was she actually attempting to accomplish by doing so? Or was it simply an act of frustration?
Just curious if you had any more insight there, because that's the only connection I'm struggling to make.
Reading your comment my first thought was: to initiate the return of the Tarnished, but have no idea if that might be accurate.
@@DoctorPecker hmmm that’s a great question. From a completely psychological perspective, it would be simply to break up the pain caused by that event into several smaller pieces as to not take the full brunt of it.
From a gameplay, it could have been Marika’s plan all along. If Miquella is Marika’s inner child, then his ascension is the ultimate goal and getting him a Great Rune to defend himself from Mohg and ultimately charm Mohg into doing his biding might be it. But I’m not really sure.
Great video.
The seven souless demi gods being the seven faces on the Godskin noble apren is very interesting. We know these demigods died after destine death was sealed since Godwyn was first to die. So they died after the GEQ was defeated. Did the nobles carry on her mission? There is a noble seeming to serve Rykard, who took part in the knight of the black knives and we get Iji burned in black flame when he is killed my the black knife assassins. Plus the noble at Rannis tower.
I think you’ve got it bro. Makes perfect sense to me
The finger ruins are full of serpents/gods. The lamprey from the finger ruins are the creatures that are being skinned
Ohh Marika was the glaom eye queen, but asked her shadow to comit treason and seal the rune of death she had in her after she killed all the hornsent gods 😮 and then melina was born afflicted by that flame
Marika is everyone at this point💀
I wonder if part of Melina's body became the Fingerslayer blade.
Wolves statue is the are in shadowlands with too many wolves
Melina is the GEQ I believe or her other half but she removed the rune of death to creat the golden order or radagon removed it but it's a gap there I believe Melina was the first rune bearer and hers was death rune
Looks like you overthought this. While I love people deciphering lore based on indirect material, we can't just ignore the direct material. Ex: Messmer's Kindling;
The kindling that burned inside Messmer the Impaler.
A dark thing, eaten away at by a wicked serpent.
Burns the sealing tree said to be found at the old Rauh ruins.
Messmer, much like his younger SISTER, bore a vision of fire.
Its rather implied that Melina is the Gloam-Eyed Queen and therefore its implied that Melina is Messmer's sister. So the question then becomes how trustworthy is the information? Was it someone's opinion or just what has been accepted by the people through the generations. Well, I'm to believe that 'Messmer's Kindling' is rather truthful being that it was literally part of him, so hearsay can be thrown out. Then we get another key word, 'Kindling' like the kindling maiden (Melina) as described by her weapon Blade of Calling;
Dagger given to one who set out on a journey to fulfill her duty long ago. The power of its former owner, the kindling maiden, is still apparent.
The one who walks alongside flame, Shall one day meet the road of Destined Death.
In summation, I'm glad you went through the lore as the information could lead to other theories but its rather clear (which doesn't happen often) that Melina was the Gloam-Eyed Queen at some point and the sister to Messmer, making her a daughter of Marika. Also Radagon is clearly Marika's other self obviously not Melina, the game made that blatantly clear.
If I'm right about where the realm of shadows resides in relation to the rest of the lands between, and I'm very convinced I am...then the snake skin and "O Mother" gesture sit at the center of the divine tower hexagon. I think this is not a coincidence, though its significance eludes me.
Gloam eye queen is a medusa like character not yet seen in game however upon inspection of the architecture and design of Elden ring, it can be gathered that her character takes direct inspiration from the union of the Greek Medusa as well as the tale of the serpent, “egglay”.
I think this is more of a stretch than the Godskin Apostle.
youre fucking insane and I love it
And Melina body was burned and lost after her fight with malaketh
I wanna see Marikas eyes, I bet they would tell us a lot
Nanaya is the Gloam-eyed Queen
I've had a similar theory since the story trailer of the dlc. I obviously didn't see everything as mentioned here though. I think this is the closest theory to being true about the Gloam eyed queen and I love to finally have some kind of closure to it... it frustrated me to no end that we didn't get a full on boss (still does tbh..) but oh well...
Is the sound volume pretty wonky in this video? The volume fluctuates a lot. Just wondering if it is the actual video sound or something my headphones are doing.
its the same for me, something got messed up
something with the audio is messed up for me, the volume is off and inconsistent, sounds like underwater.
apparently its not just me, the audio is broken, I will wait with watching until its hopefully fixed or reuploaded
@@mikeekim8567 I’m not sure what happened….
What if gloom eyed queen was marikas other other part. She was going against the greater will and thus her shadow bound beasts fail safe kill mode was activated.
A wild theory, but i think Marika absorbs beings into herself much like Naraku from Inuyasha.
Marika herself is not an Empyrean, but she needed to absorb the GloamEyed Queen to become one. (Perhaps that's why we never found Marika's Fingers - there never was one assigned to her?)
It may also explain why all her children (incarnations) have unique outer God traits.
Fair enough, but where does radagan fit into all of this?
I still believe Melina is geq I believe after messmer left to commit genocide when Marika demonized his actions Melina lost it as that's her brother and that her own mother could do and let these atrocities happen and the final nail was the land of the tower folk being sealed away she vowed they her mother the gods will perish
Because it does not tell you how maliketh defeated her without the rune of death
I just noticed I said “egglay” earlier. Meant to say eiglay.
Also there is a statue of the geq the statue with the woman in black
Would it be possible that there is another Marika around that we are not aware of (yes, I know everyone is Marika at this point). But would it be a reach if I suspect that there are actually four of her, and now we are missing Marika the White with Marika as gold, Radagon as red and Gloam-eyed Queen as black?
Off topic from the video but what shape does the shadow lands make and how does it apply to the fetus of the base map?
I think Elden Ring has created a mythology that is a combination of Christianity, Taoism and Hinduism. I love it!
If the GEQ is Marika’s sister then the Melina can’t be it, as she refers to Marika as Mother unless Melina’s Mother is the GEQ 🤯
If the Gloam-Eyed Queen is Marika’s other half, then Messmer and Melina was born in the era when Marika and the Gloam-Eyed Queen was still one being.
The audio in this video sounds like it's entirely boosted highpass & it physically hurts. I can't reach 2-minutes. Not to be mean; it's something _I_ would want to know. All the best!
where's the key to Radahn being the consort in this theory I wonder? It still feels off a bit.
MARIKA IS THE GLOAM EYED QUEEN. MELINA INHERITATED HER GLOAM EYE FROM HER MOTHER
I should have finished the video lol
Then where does Radagon come in if the Gloam Eyed Queen was Marika's other half? Just another part of Marika making her 3 people or was Radagon made part of Marika later?
Placidusax is associated with the elden ring because the game calls him "elden lord in the age before the erdtree"
i love you video, but it think you need new EQ profile. your speaking sounds sharp.
What's going on with the mic audio in this one
Placidusax' god was fled though, Marika didn't.
What's the Golden Braid description?
8:09 the asset ID on that has Marika in it.
Hey man appreciate your content, but check your de-esser. The sibilance was very harsh and made it difficult to listen to
Down with the old gods, may they forever rot! Lol
Let's stop the cycle
Tree of life: erd tree
Tree of death embracing the Tree of life squeezes out grace or something like that
Marika is NOT the Gloam Eyed Queen