49:53 Millicent dialogue says that "Malenia abandoned her pride to meet Radahn's measure", wich implies that she did broke the needle intentionally. Besides that, the needle was a gift from Miquella, something that he dedicated everything into crafting, even denying the Golden Order, something that allowed his sister to resist the control of the Outer God. She would not forget it was there.
I would say be careful about getting too attached to characters being good or evil. Rarely does Fromsoft have characters that fit neatly in those categories. So I would hold that in mind when thinking about Marika as evil or Miquella as good. Don't think either characters are quite as evil or good as you may seem to think them to be. But who knows, fromsoft's storytelling doesn't paint the full picture usually
True, painting marika as a pure evil person is so crazy she is clearly not purely evil I would really recommend smoughtown videos about marika They are really insightful
Yup and well DLC answered that perfectly, just as you put, haven’t finished it myself so might get a few things wrong but basically you realize Miquella wasn’t this all good being, but that his goals were true (the ones mentioned in his lore video), he wanted to help everyone, however he didn’t care how evil the means he used were to get there. Again might be totally wrong here haven’t finished the dlc just pieced what I could from minor spoilers I’ve seen.
@@themysteriousgamers9616 yeah the dlc adds a lot of lore and background info that fills out the characters more. No hate to Emma though, it can be pretty easy to dislike Marika on the surface if you don't have all the info. I'm sure she'll watch more lore videos when she is done with the dlc and change her mind a bit
What about the formless mother in there too. But I agree lol. If the bloody fingers hunt the tarnished that fight for the golden order (or can at least see grace which is given by the golden order) plus have Flame aspects (blood flame) I can’t imagine it being too friendly either
I always kinda assumed that the reason that Marika's kids got messed up is because the other Outer Gods wanted in on the power in the Lands Between (referenced in Vaati's talks about the Crucible), and Empyreans make good candidates. That would basically mean that Marika's status as a god became the weakness in her children that the Outer Gods could use to screw each other over. To be honest I never really saw Marika as a villain. She was selected by an Outer God and commanded to do stuff. How many times in games do people just give us quests and we blindly do them. But this time a literal God is saying that she is Chosen to do the job. And even with all that, Marika becomes disillusioned eventually and shatters the Elden Ring. Just my two cents.
I think you're assigning a lot of the Greater Will stuff to Marika. Bear in mind that Marika is the one who shattered the Elden Ring and it was Radagon who tried to fix it. She broke with the Greater Will and was crucified within the Erdtree for it. Her children's afflictions are almost certainly because they are the product of quasi incest with Radagon. It's also very Greek Mythology that way. I think it's more likely that everything from the banishment of Godfrey onwards is a series of small rebellions by Marika that culminate in the shattering of the ring after Ranni murders her beautiful boy, Godwyn the Golden. Aside from that, Vaati mispronounces a few words. "Chitin" is pronounced "Kytin". Also "marais" is pronounced "maray" in french and means "swamp" which describes the location of the Shaded Castle really well, so I think it's intentional. And it also rhymes if you pronounce "Maleigh Marais" as "Malay Maray", which seems to be a thing this game would do.
Yeah, I've commented something similar on most videos where she talks about Marika. My impression is that there was a lot of tension between Marika and the Greater Will and it's difficult to tease out which decisions were her own and which were directly from the Greater Will (other than shattering the Elden Ring). I see her as a sympathetic character who was caught in a difficult situation, not petty and evil.
@@deschain1910 After looking into it, -ley and -leigh (they indeed are the same) are now pronounced as either lee or lay or both (or even leg for the latter) and there are no way of knowing unless somebody pronounces it. I guess Maleigh Maraid rhymes, then!
@@deschain1910 It's difficult because there are so many potential interpretations, and they vary wildly. I think Marika may be the most ambiguous character From Soft has done? How much of what she did was her own choice and how much was dictated by the Greater Will? _Why_ did she shatter the Elden Ring? Was it because of Godwyn's death or had she planned it for years ever since she banished Godfrey? Which is it? What was her plan? Was it suicide, rebellion, whatever Gideon talked about? Some people think she broke the Elden Ring in grief over Godwyn's death, some people think _she_ was behind his assassination. People have extremely different views on her and all are valid. My own take is a lot less sympathetic. I don't think the Greater Will has any sort of moral system or ideology it enforces upon the world, aside from "Order" in general. The evidence for this is in the existence of prior civilizations that have used the Elden Ring, the Gloam-Eyed Queen getting chosen as an Empyrean (she was all about death), Malenia being a viable Empyrean, etc. If this is the case, then the negative aspects of the Golden Order which people frame Marika as rebelling against, are in truth entirely because of her. She created the Golden Order, she decided what that would mean, and the consequences of the system (both good and bad) are her doing. I don't think the Greater Will coerced Marika in any way at any point. However, the one property of Order that the Greater Will does compel is that Order changes. There will be new Empyreans and gods get overthrown. The Two Fingers will choose new candidates for godhood, regardless of Marika declaring herself to be eternal. That's what causes tension between Marika and the Greater Will. The Two Fingers sponsor the Gloam-Eyed Queen that tries assassinating Marika's family. The Two Fingers choose Marika's own children as candidates to kill and replace her. Marika is eternal though, she has no intention of stepping down, so like Gwyn she resists until she takes her life. What she actually intended, I'm not sure. But unlike Gwyn, I lean toward the Shattering as a kind of "If I can't have it, no one will, fuck you world!" kind of thing. I think the Tarnished were a contingency plan for if she was ever overthrown (Why else would the Tarnished need to wage war in the Lands Between and brandish the Elden Ring?) and she misinterpreted Godwyn's death as the beginning of a coup, not unlike the Gloam-Eyed Queen's conspiracy, so she hastily destroyed Order to get back at the Greater Will. Sort of like killing the hostage once you've run out of options. It's a pet theory of mine that Marika wasn't too far off! I like to think the Black Knife assassins worked for the Two Fingers and were employed to ascend Ranni the Empyrean to godhood. But Ranni tricked them, exploiting the assassination in her ritual to destroy her flesh, robbing the Two Fingers of her Empyrean status. But that's entirely speculation. I do think there's a tragic element to Marika, though, in that she did try to make the world a better place, at least initially. She rose to power during a time of chaos and barbarity, and tried to make a deathless paradise of a world.
@@ianluzdub most of their similarities are still asthetcics and other stuff like manipulating Mogh/Gennon. Miquella was wrong but not in the same way as Griffith. Miquella wanted to make the world a better place but was too naive. Griffith just wants his kingdom. That man does not care about making the world a better place
The Souls Community are some of the most talented, awesome people you will ever meet. So incredibly happy to welcome you as a part of it! Oh, and great videos by the way! 😁👏
Aaaah it's the first time I see the art book in a video, I was lucky to be picked to be in it as one of the featured artists, there's so much good work on there
Here's my interpretation on why Malenia fought Radahn. I think the battle of aeonia was simply unavoidable. Queen Marika calls for her demigod children to fight for the elden ring else they would be forsaken, amounting only to sacrifices. The battle of aeonia was the final battle of the shattering, which ended with Malenia and Radahn fighting to a standstill. By this point, Rykard's and Morgott's forces had already wrecked each other, some calling it the most appalling battle of the shattering. Ranni, Mohg were out of the picture and Godrick was in hiding. That left Malenia and Radahn as the last 2 demigods fighting for control. Radahn presumably fought for great runes since his aspirations were be to become Elden Lord. Malenia on the other hand wasn't interested in great runes, else she would have killed Godrick. Now Miquella did try to revive Godwyn and needed the eclipse to occur which never happened because the stars were held by radahn. So you could infer that Malenia was sent by Miquella to dispatch Radahn and let the stars move again, however the cleanrot knights armor specifically says that they were celebrated for their undefeated campaign in the Shattering. If their intentions were to set the stars into motion, the campaign would have ended at a defeat but the description says otherwise. While Radahn didn't die, he was left out of commission to become Elden Lord and no longer a threat for Miquella's age of Unalloyed Gold. I feel people at Castle Sol never realised why the eclipse couldn't occur and poor Godwyn was left to rot. What makes this whole battle rather depressing is that despite the huge efforts of cleanrot knights to fight alongside Malenia, it would ultimately be pointless as Miquella ends up being abducted by mohg. The shattering would have been probably won by the Haligtree faction had Miquella been able to grow his new body and bring forth his new age, but this is a fromsoft story riddled with tragedies.
I screenshot this entire thing because I'm gonna compare the theory and the dlc to see if anything here i confirmed or denied because I actually really like this theory
@@madarauchiha116 the whole thing is an amazing theory and mostly what I was expecting, unfortunately the dlc took a whole different direction which was amazing but felt weird and less like how the world would have naturally progressed. Truth be told the dlc with Miquella fell short in my opinion because it just went in a direction that felt like it was chosen purely for shock value and less for world building
Loving the video, Emma! Always excited to see you post one of these I will say though, on the topic of Marika, there is a direct quote from her where she tells her children she loves them and wants them to become lords or even gods if they wish, and actively warns them that their fate will probably not be a good one if they arent ambitious enough. So her infecting one of them with rot to keep them from challenging her may be a little out of character? Edit: Additional thought... I wonder if the falling star was always headed for Limgrave, and Radahn was lied to by someone, because they knew he would stop it if he believed it was headed for Sellia instead. Someone like Radagon or Marika perhaps who would want to prevent Ranni's Age of Stars?
Technically, in the quote : "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..." Marika is basically tolding them to go do something with their lifes or being a "sacrifice" as in, as I interpet it, a sacrifice to another's story. That is why all the demigods are fightingin the Shattering, well most of them (Malenia isn't for example since she is fighting for her brother) : they don't want their great rune to be another's tool to godhood/lordhood. It could also explain why Melina is telling it at the capital outskirts, because it is here that most demigods chose to not become sacrifices. In my opinion, it is an urge to do the Shattering so that her age would come to an end, but her children might have been too strong to fully let one win. However I agree with your second point and the japanese saying that "their births were vulnerable" might suggest that it wasn't Marika's doing.
@@Elekhsus And adding to that is that Gideon's dialogue after defeating Malenia adds : "Perhaps the Queen's sorrow was justified.." so Marika may have more than one reason to be sad, she loved her children.
there are also quotes of her saying that her kids should battle over shards of the elden ring and the ones who wins get's to rule. So she also puts her kids fighting against each other like she puts her ex husband and all their descendants in a perpetual fighting life until they die and one day come back.
I've already watched all these by myself, and yet watching your reactions and seeing the joy that is the discovery of FromSofts lore on someone else's face is fantastic. I also love your theory crafting as you watch, which is also a lovely part of their games. It's my favorite.
Don't mind me, I'm just collecting phrases from the video and quoting them out of context for fun: "ooh, it's slipping out" - that one's obvious, hehe 😏 "I can't do another evening of getting glocked by Ishin, I'm taking the night off" 👀 "he's waiting for me to *plop sound* pop me in the face" 😳 "at the moment I'm growing on people's faces [...] and I'd really like to be in a person's body" 🥸 "I'm telling you man, she stinks, she whiffs.. she whiffs of snakiness" 🤢 "the needle is just hardcore Ibuprofen" 🧐 Vaati: "Malenia still had all her limbs as a kid" - Emma: *laughs* "just in case he's not really dead [...] let's go somewhere else" 😐 Vaati: "Godrick [...] had fled, with his tail between his legs, to-" Emma: "poossyyy" 🤣 "I've learned a new word today, thanks Vaati" ☺ - that's just wholesome "four phases, Miyazaki? No. Naughty!" Thanks for the reaction, had a lot of fun!
Elden Ring takes a lot of inspiration of the real world. Not just relgion but some themes of culture and Society. That is why i think the reason why Malenia and Miquella were born the way they did is because the relation between Radagon and Marika is almost incestuous( Or 100% because they are the same person). Could also be a reference to Baldwin IV that even with his afliction tried to make the most of his Life.
Soul Arts is an incredible book. I'm constantly blown away every time I pull it off my shelf and thumb through it. It was a no brainer to pre-order abyssal archive and blood echoes to know that along with more in-depth analysis of the games impact from the community, etc. the books themselves will be works of art thanks to tune & fairweather
Marika without a doubt wanted to forsake being a God and vessel to the greater will. That's why she initiated the shattering and set-up all the events in the game. Remember Melina's dialogue at the capital. Your perception of Marika is wrong.
I dont think marika wouldve let malenia become the rot gods empyrean, the gods are all competing for domincance in the lands between. I think in part its a symbolic thing. Because technically those two are super inbred, being born to marika and radagon (who is also marika).
I don't remember if he goes over this here. Something mind-blowing that helps a lot of this come together is the idea that Marika and Radagon are one in the same person, something called a rebis, which in alchemy is a perfected duality and the desired end goal of alchemical practice. Naturally, when they came together and had children, Malenia and Miquella, that was essentially selfcest. Incest is already known for producing profound deformities, and this is a level beyond even that (and pretty on brand for George RR Martin). That's why both of those characters ended up the way they did.
honing in on that Last of Us comparison for a second, I think it's good to know that infections like that do not have a "will" like most (self)aware beings have. They are not aware of other funghi and do not desire like humans do. They just do, they just act. There is no will, just instinct. It's only instinct. They are no different than flowers in that regard, just that this mutation of corticeps spreads in humans. And it's funny that you draw that comparison because that has always felt so eldritch and otherworldly to me! Or at least, it has filled me with so much existential dread that I literally could not finish the Last of Us show or game :P
I've watched a few of your Elden Ring reactions and you seem to ask what a lot of the community asks re: what happened to afflict Miquella, Melania, and Melina and I think the answer is so brutally simple that people tend to overlook it. Their mother and father are the same person. Marika probably thought her divine power would overcome any complications this impossible level of incest could incur, but she was wrong. So these three are more powerful than the children of Godfrey and Marika or Rennalla and Radagon, but they also have what are essentially the worst birth defects possible. Melania is a vessel for the Rot, in a state of constant decay, Miquella is weak and vulnerable as he's eternally in a state of naiscence, and Melina has no body and exists solely as a spirit. For me, it's as simple as the fact their parents are the same person, there is as little genetic diversity in their personal gene pools as can be. The entire story is about Marika making mistake after mistake, thinking she/he could produce offspring alone is another.
Yeah, I have my own many theories about this, but that is certainly one of them, and I was quite fond of this theory because GRRM might had a hand on this this time, these fucked up family with incest and everything.
I thought Miquella betraying Malenia was nonsense at first then I remembered that there r dozens of if not hundreds of similaritys between him and Griffith the character who has probably gotten more famously hated than any other just because he was that traitorous
Hey Emma (or is it Lition?), just curious, do you have any other lore or souls “deep dive” style channels you watch in your personal time, or on the channel? If you haven’t or are looking for more, I have some good recs, if you have, I just want to see who your favorites are!
I don't think Marika did anything to provoke these "cursed" states her children with Radagon were in. Marika and Radagon were 2 parts on one being or 2 separate beings in one body (whichever you chose to believe) and those two having offspring with one another very much looks like incest, in a way. And it's no surprise such offsprings ended up being flawed and more susceptible to influence of the Outer Gods. Which begs the question...what about Melina? She was heavily implied to be a hidden child of Marika, most likely concieved with Radagon. If so, what is her affliction? Also, Malenia The True Goddess Of Rot bossfight in the DLC, maybe? Can't wait to get butchered again...
so, the term used in the japanese version explaining malenia's affliction is that her birth was "vulnerable" due to her being born of a single, unified god. the greater will and marika didn't intend for malenia or miquella to be born afflicted, just like they didn't intend for morgott and mohg to be born omens, but marika's existence is a weakness in the order, a crack in the sidewalk that things can slip in through. she's a necessary piece, but represents a definite weakness to the greater will's designs. so, marika's children all inherit a connection to the outer gods through marika and/or radagon. malenia was vulnerable to influence, and the god that reached out was rot. malenia wasn't killed and the rot god wasn't expelled like the fell god of the giants or the frenzy flame because the rot isn't inherently antithetical to the erdtree. rot represents life blossoming after painful death, which is perfectly compatible with the greater will's order of life, light and shadow. but fire is not compatible, so the frenzy flame, formless mother, fell god and twinbird of death were all expelled with various degrees of ass-kicking to help them find their way out.
Ive come around to believing Miquella wanted so very badly to reverse his sister's sickness, that he used his skill of infatuation with himself to convince Mohg to rip him from the Haligtree, because he felt his efforts to water the tree with his blood wasn't enough or wasnt working fast enough. The brother sister link between these two is so amazingly written.
that makes no sense tho, as u can see the tree was growing fine before miquella got kidnapped and you can see miquella's arm was huge in mogh palace which means miquella managed to actually cure himself from his own curse and started growing to godhood before he got ripped out
@@haytamhaytam7227 Thats not the same cocoon though. We see him outside of it in the the opening(?) cutscene and in Mogh’s arms. Obviously what’s happening to him now is something different.
I’ve thought long and hard about what Malenia said to Radahn, and somehow I always end up with her simply explaining why. “I am Malenia. Blade of Miquella.”
I love that you looked up chitin. So many UA-camrs just need to look stuff up and they’d have a better grasp on what’s happening. Such a smart, easy trick.
Outer Gods and Gods are two different things in Elden Ring, so thinking that a God that is a vessel for one Outer God as being friendly with a different Outer God is absurd. Also, nowhere do we see these Outer Gods acting as allies. An Outer God is an unknowable entity without a clear physical form, though they can manifest in the world of Elden Ring, it's not their "real" form, more like a set of clothes that makes them visible to reality and able to kind of interact with the Lands Between. Even then, they usually don't seem to care about the end result of their influence, so long as it's their own power that's in control. The lore community assumes the Greater Will is an Outer God, but it's never explicitly said to be one, it just has a lot of similarities to the Outer Gods we know of (I personally do believe that the Greater Will is an Outer God). A God a being that is chosen as a vessel for an Outer God, and all gods (at least in the age of the Erdtree) were empyreans, which means they have the potential to become a god. Marika is a god, and was an empyrean long ago. It seems that Outer Gods want to influence the Lands Between and be the main force there, but we really don't know why. They are "outer" gods, similar to the eldrich Great Ones in Bloodborne. Also agree with some other comments: Being too attached to the idea of clear cut good and evil is not a good idea in Fromsoftware games.
Could it be that miquella has already betrayed melania by going along with Mohg’s plan? Or did Melania possibly already know miquella’s plan to be used in that way by Mohg? If these questions have already been answer somehow, I’d love to know!
You should watch smoughtowns Marika video he gives a good differen perspective to Marika and her part in the events of the shattering and the Godfrey video that has a great take on the tarnished and the very little lore of godfrey
Marika would not want a child be the embodiment of a god as she would have created a ready made successor. I have watched a number of videos now that paint Marika in a much less negative light. Its weird she gets grief yet Ranni gets a free pass despite effectively killing two of her brothers (if you count Marika and Radagon as one) and abandoned the black knife assassins to be slaughtered in the capital.
Chitinous is a Greek word, so it’s pronounced with a hard K sound not a CH “church” sound. It’s the hard exoskeleton that many insects use. I think our hair and fingernails are also made of a kind of chitin.
Damn you attribute a lot of bad things to Marika which we know she was not responsible for. Don't get me wrong she's not nice, but she is nowhere nearly as bad as you think.
My believe is that O'neil is on Malenia side, and he is in Caelid to finish what she started, commanding the Cleanrot Knights against Radan. That's why Radan is far from the swamp, that's why the place where he is is full of Cleanrot corpses, that's why he has so many spears on his back, and that's why the catacomb with the ghosts is in the arena. Malenia couldn't defeat Radan, so she rot him, but in the process she colapsed and had to be caried away back to her treehouse. Her soldiers stayed to fight until the end so her sacrifice wouldn't be for nothing but they couldn't kill Radan. O'neil ashamed never returned to Malenia, but kept the sacred needle safe whit him. Also we find O'neil 2.0 guarding the second half of the medalion to reach the haligtree.
I feel like people forget the fact that the Shattering happened because her first born was killed.... Marika probably likes her kids. Don't count Morgott and Mohg only because there were Omen children before they were born. They live in a Society....
I don't think Marika would afflict Malenia/Miquella to maintain power. Afterall, she's the one that breaks the Elden Ring, allowing the demigods to take a shard to gain power, and tells them to rise to the challenge. It's Radagon that's trying to maintain the status quo, not her.
Just want to let you know how much I appreciate these reaction videos of yours. My only friend who cares this deep about From's games lore is living overseas now, so I have this urge to SEE people into ER's lore. Sorry for unnecessary lame story of mine lol, but anyway, love it, thank you.
Some bit of advice for the Isshin fight I know it's a bit of a cliche at this point but the phrase "hesitation is defeat!" should be seared into your brain in order to defeat him! What helped me beat that fight and utterly enjoy it while doing it was the moment I decided to BE the aggressor instead of just waiting for him to attack me and hope I can deflect them and get a hit or two in. They really made sure you beat the last boss of the game the "Sekiro" way which is getting in his face slicing and dicing deflecting and jump or mikiri countering his special attacks. You just have to get into the rhythm and it feels like a dance once you get it. He's hands down my favorite boss in the entire Soulsborne series!
Regarding the possible betrayal, I think it'll be inspired by Berserk, there's a clear similarity between Miquella and Griffith. Both events are tied to an Eclipse. I'm keeping it as spoiler-free as possible, highly recommend to read the Berserk manga before the DLC.
I think your placing Marika in the firm "villian" box & its colouring your interpretation of events. We're given no evidence that the outer gods are in cohoots, in fact it's much more compelling evidence that their goals are adversarial with each other. It's highly unlikely that Marika who serves the outer will would make her daughter the avatar of the rot God willingly. Before considering Marika purely machiavellian remember, she had all the runes, she already had all the power. But she shattered the elden ring, gave a piece to all her children & divested them of their duty to the golden order to pursue their own paths forward. And act that cost her her freedom
Don't worry Miquella won't betray Malenia. He dedicated his entire life to save his sister and Malenia fought all her battles for Miquella and the Haligtree, so much so that she used her scarlet rot to win the war for her brother. Their bond is pure, so to say Miquella would betray her when everything points to quite the opposite doesn't make much sense.
you looked and sounded so happy that you explained Outer Gods before Vaati did and even used some of the same words as him😂😂😂 that feeling of connecting dots and knowing important concepts is one of the best
I gotta say I love the theory that Malenia was searching for her brother when she fought Radahn. Fromsift is very careful about item placement and map design so putting Miquela directly beneath Caelid wouldnt be a coincidence, especially with all the care they put into the other ties between the overworld and the underground.
Thanks for doing these reaction videos Emma! My two cents on Malenia vs. Radahn You don't become a famous fighter by shying away from fights, or even just fighting when you need to, you have to have the personality that seeks them out, that enjoys them. I Think we see this in our own fight with Malenia. She doesn't chastise us for showing up (like how Lady Maria does), but instead talks about her status as an undefeated champion; and at the half-way point she asks us to "wait", while she unleashes her god-borne rot strength. To me it reads as though she WANTS the fight with you, even (especially?) if it forces her to her limits. I think she loves, or even needs, a good challenge. So she may have fought Radahn in part because he was the only champion left who matched her, the two greatest fighters of the Scouring. I wonder if she fell short without the Scarlet rot, and it was her competitive nature in the moment of defeat that lured her into breaking the needle, poisoning Radahn, and dooming Caelid. Side note Does anyone else find it fascinating that during the scouring virtually none of the demigods killed each other? Malenia didn't kill Godrick, sure, but who DID they kill besides the human soldiers? Marika tells them to fight and die to figure out the Elden Lord situation, and when we join the mess, they have basically stopped fighting, and none of them are dead.
Radagon seald the stars and when i say STARS i meen manny outer gods who are coming in their own body to the realme so yea not metaforikal sealing but literal sealing and when you killl himm theyir is a meteor storm whitch brings these GODS . simple think it as Virgin Mary to stay VIRGIN and do not bring the Jesus. Think these OUTER GODS are Great OLD ONES like in HP LOVECRAFT .
Don't know if it is a joke, but I see it more as a "we were so happy before Godwyn's death, if he came back maybe things will go back together" it is a denial of Godwyn's death and illustration of Miquella's grief. Since the "official source" of the shattering of the Elden ring is Godwyn's death (baiscally story trailer), so Miquella could have fought that Godwyn's revival is the only thing to reunite the family.
To add to the conversation about the blue fairy and flowing waters, Siofra means "fairy" in Irish Gaelic, and Ainsel (meaning "My Own Self") is the name of a fairy in an old fairy tale. Oh, and Vaati pronounces chitin wrong; it's pronounced like "kytin".
I think the reason that the star hits Limgraive as opposed to Selia was a last ditch effort by Radahn to save Selia. Even when he was mad and eating corpses he still held the stars at bay but when he sensed he was going to die he redirected the stars movement towards Limgraive. Absolute Chad
Or you know, if we bring a bit of science in this: The stars might stopped moving, but the planet they're on might still rotating, so by that point the trajectory of the falling stars might have been changed.
About the Eclipse ritual: I’d say that instead of reviving Godwyn, Miquella wanted to euthanise him. See, some think that the Greater Will is represented by Sun (and since TGW supposedly abandoned the world, that’s the reason why it’s so distant). In fact, all the Outer Gods are supposed to be stars. By eclipsing the sun and therefore, physical presence of the Greater Will, he could somehow mercy-kill Godwyn’s tumorous body.
Oh right, you haven't played Dark Souls 2 yet. There's a reference for that in here. Anyway, I also subscribe to the idea that Marika wanted a lot of these things to happen to damage the Golden Order, since she's clearly being crucified to atone for her crimes against the Greater Will. I'm not sure of the chronology, but Godwyn being killed could certainly have been the thing that set it off. It's also interesting that so many of the demi-gods turned away from the Greater Will/Golden Order and instead turned to other outer gods: Malenia to the Scarlet Rot "scorpion" god, Ranni to the Full/Dark Moon (which is probably a god where the Gloam-Eyed Queen was a former vessel), Rykard to the God-Devouring Serpent who seems to be a god-like being in itself, Mogh with the Formless Mother, and Godwyn involuntarily becoming a vessel for the "god" of death (related to the twinbird?), and/or Miquella possibly also eventually serving this god to try to revive him. Either all these people drifted off to serve rivals of the Greater Will on their own, or perhaps Marika set them on the path, hoping that the Outer Gods would fight each other.
I think Marika tried to night of the long knives against the Greater Will. She was its ally until their cooperation was detrimental to her and she felt like the rug was being pulled under her feet, but the Greater Will double-crossed her with Radagon, to maintain the Order long enough for a new God to rise, but Marika double-double-crossed it, by making herself an army of war-hardened warriors outside of the Greater Will influence. Calling them back one at a time to weaken, crumble and destroy the Order's dominion. We're the last one, we step foot in a land as weak as it could be and have to decide the fate of the Order. She did not win, but at least she gave herself a chance to kill the Greater Will. We're not here to save the Elden Ring, endings were we do are... Underwhelming and copy pasted. We're here to break the cycle, bringing the flame of frenzy or the age of stars to the Land Between. Dark Souls has the same kind of narration, I feel.
Miquella's betrayal would be too good of it not to be a thing, especially considering the little hints about miquella's sus behaviour, so I'm taking that as my headcannon until it has nothing to do with the actual DLC
My personal theory is that a remnant of her consciousness will be within the dream the dlc is set in. Her very soul is infected with the rot and will bloom again and that will be her ultimate final form.
49:53 Millicent dialogue says that "Malenia abandoned her pride to meet Radahn's measure", wich implies that she did broke the needle intentionally. Besides that, the needle was a gift from Miquella, something that he dedicated everything into crafting, even denying the Golden Order, something that allowed his sister to resist the control of the Outer God. She would not forget it was there.
Let's not forget that she passed out after that fight, she was transported back by a Cleanrot knight named Findlay
I would say be careful about getting too attached to characters being good or evil. Rarely does Fromsoft have characters that fit neatly in those categories. So I would hold that in mind when thinking about Marika as evil or Miquella as good. Don't think either characters are quite as evil or good as you may seem to think them to be. But who knows, fromsoft's storytelling doesn't paint the full picture usually
True, painting marika as a pure evil person is so crazy she is clearly not purely evil
I would really recommend smoughtown videos about marika They are really insightful
Yup and well DLC answered that perfectly, just as you put, haven’t finished it myself so might get a few things wrong but basically you realize Miquella wasn’t this all good being, but that his goals were true (the ones mentioned in his lore video), he wanted to help everyone, however he didn’t care how evil the means he used were to get there. Again might be totally wrong here haven’t finished the dlc just pieced what I could from minor spoilers I’ve seen.
@@themysteriousgamers9616 yeah the dlc adds a lot of lore and background info that fills out the characters more. No hate to Emma though, it can be pretty easy to dislike Marika on the surface if you don't have all the info. I'm sure she'll watch more lore videos when she is done with the dlc and change her mind a bit
13:45
Emma: “Cause all outer Gods are besties.”
Me looking awkwardly at the Frenzied Flame and Fell God: “hm… ya sure?”
Fell God especially. It and the Greater Will absolutely hate each other. 😂
What about the formless mother in there too. But I agree lol. If the bloody fingers hunt the tarnished that fight for the golden order (or can at least see grace which is given by the golden order) plus have Flame aspects (blood flame) I can’t imagine it being too friendly either
I always kinda assumed that the reason that Marika's kids got messed up is because the other Outer Gods wanted in on the power in the Lands Between (referenced in Vaati's talks about the Crucible), and Empyreans make good candidates. That would basically mean that Marika's status as a god became the weakness in her children that the Outer Gods could use to screw each other over.
To be honest I never really saw Marika as a villain. She was selected by an Outer God and commanded to do stuff. How many times in games do people just give us quests and we blindly do them. But this time a literal God is saying that she is Chosen to do the job. And even with all that, Marika becomes disillusioned eventually and shatters the Elden Ring.
Just my two cents.
I think you're assigning a lot of the Greater Will stuff to Marika. Bear in mind that Marika is the one who shattered the Elden Ring and it was Radagon who tried to fix it. She broke with the Greater Will and was crucified within the Erdtree for it. Her children's afflictions are almost certainly because they are the product of quasi incest with Radagon. It's also very Greek Mythology that way. I think it's more likely that everything from the banishment of Godfrey onwards is a series of small rebellions by Marika that culminate in the shattering of the ring after Ranni murders her beautiful boy, Godwyn the Golden.
Aside from that, Vaati mispronounces a few words. "Chitin" is pronounced "Kytin". Also "marais" is pronounced "maray" in french and means "swamp" which describes the location of the Shaded Castle really well, so I think it's intentional. And it also rhymes if you pronounce "Maleigh Marais" as "Malay Maray", which seems to be a thing this game would do.
Wouldn't "-leigh" pronounced "Lee"? I kinda remember it being the archaic form of -ley, like in Ashley, Ridley, etc..
@@ThePomoAa
Could be, but then there is the example of ley in "ley line" which is usually pronounced 'lay'...
Not sure.
Yeah, I've commented something similar on most videos where she talks about Marika.
My impression is that there was a lot of tension between Marika and the Greater Will and it's difficult to tease out which decisions were her own and which were directly from the Greater Will (other than shattering the Elden Ring). I see her as a sympathetic character who was caught in a difficult situation, not petty and evil.
@@deschain1910 After looking into it, -ley and -leigh (they indeed are the same) are now pronounced as either lee or lay or both (or even leg for the latter) and there are no way of knowing unless somebody pronounces it. I guess Maleigh Maraid rhymes, then!
@@deschain1910 It's difficult because there are so many potential interpretations, and they vary wildly. I think Marika may be the most ambiguous character From Soft has done? How much of what she did was her own choice and how much was dictated by the Greater Will? _Why_ did she shatter the Elden Ring? Was it because of Godwyn's death or had she planned it for years ever since she banished Godfrey? Which is it? What was her plan? Was it suicide, rebellion, whatever Gideon talked about? Some people think she broke the Elden Ring in grief over Godwyn's death, some people think _she_ was behind his assassination. People have extremely different views on her and all are valid.
My own take is a lot less sympathetic. I don't think the Greater Will has any sort of moral system or ideology it enforces upon the world, aside from "Order" in general. The evidence for this is in the existence of prior civilizations that have used the Elden Ring, the Gloam-Eyed Queen getting chosen as an Empyrean (she was all about death), Malenia being a viable Empyrean, etc. If this is the case, then the negative aspects of the Golden Order which people frame Marika as rebelling against, are in truth entirely because of her. She created the Golden Order, she decided what that would mean, and the consequences of the system (both good and bad) are her doing. I don't think the Greater Will coerced Marika in any way at any point. However, the one property of Order that the Greater Will does compel is that Order changes. There will be new Empyreans and gods get overthrown. The Two Fingers will choose new candidates for godhood, regardless of Marika declaring herself to be eternal. That's what causes tension between Marika and the Greater Will. The Two Fingers sponsor the Gloam-Eyed Queen that tries assassinating Marika's family. The Two Fingers choose Marika's own children as candidates to kill and replace her. Marika is eternal though, she has no intention of stepping down, so like Gwyn she resists until she takes her life. What she actually intended, I'm not sure. But unlike Gwyn, I lean toward the Shattering as a kind of "If I can't have it, no one will, fuck you world!" kind of thing. I think the Tarnished were a contingency plan for if she was ever overthrown (Why else would the Tarnished need to wage war in the Lands Between and brandish the Elden Ring?) and she misinterpreted Godwyn's death as the beginning of a coup, not unlike the Gloam-Eyed Queen's conspiracy, so she hastily destroyed Order to get back at the Greater Will. Sort of like killing the hostage once you've run out of options.
It's a pet theory of mine that Marika wasn't too far off! I like to think the Black Knife assassins worked for the Two Fingers and were employed to ascend Ranni the Empyrean to godhood. But Ranni tricked them, exploiting the assassination in her ritual to destroy her flesh, robbing the Two Fingers of her Empyrean status. But that's entirely speculation.
I do think there's a tragic element to Marika, though, in that she did try to make the world a better place, at least initially. She rose to power during a time of chaos and barbarity, and tried to make a deathless paradise of a world.
"Miquella could betray malenia."
Vaati drops a bomb then leaves
I mean many have pointed out that miquella has many similarities to griffith from berserk
@@revengance4149 and they were completely right. Damn Miquella.
@@ianluzdub most of their similarities are still asthetcics and other stuff like manipulating Mogh/Gennon. Miquella was wrong but not in the same way as Griffith. Miquella wanted to make the world a better place but was too naive. Griffith just wants his kingdom. That man does not care about making the world a better place
The Souls Community are some of the most talented, awesome people you will ever meet. So incredibly happy to welcome you as a part of it! Oh, and great videos by the way! 😁👏
Vaati is just the lore goat!
Tarnished Archeologist and Smoughtown are right there with him
Aaaah it's the first time I see the art book in a video, I was lucky to be picked to be in it as one of the featured artists, there's so much good work on there
Here's my interpretation on why Malenia fought Radahn. I think the battle of aeonia was simply unavoidable. Queen Marika calls for her demigod children to fight for the elden ring else they would be forsaken, amounting only to sacrifices. The battle of aeonia was the final battle of the shattering, which ended with Malenia and Radahn fighting to a standstill. By this point, Rykard's and Morgott's forces had already wrecked each other, some calling it the most appalling battle of the shattering. Ranni, Mohg were out of the picture and Godrick was in hiding. That left Malenia and Radahn as the last 2 demigods fighting for control.
Radahn presumably fought for great runes since his aspirations were be to become Elden Lord. Malenia on the other hand wasn't interested in great runes, else she would have killed Godrick. Now Miquella did try to revive Godwyn and needed the eclipse to occur which never happened because the stars were held by radahn. So you could infer that Malenia was sent by Miquella to dispatch Radahn and let the stars move again, however the cleanrot knights armor specifically says that they were celebrated for their undefeated campaign in the Shattering. If their intentions were to set the stars into motion, the campaign would have ended at a defeat but the description says otherwise. While Radahn didn't die, he was left out of commission to become Elden Lord and no longer a threat for Miquella's age of Unalloyed Gold. I feel people at Castle Sol never realised why the eclipse couldn't occur and poor Godwyn was left to rot.
What makes this whole battle rather depressing is that despite the huge efforts of cleanrot knights to fight alongside Malenia, it would ultimately be pointless as Miquella ends up being abducted by mohg. The shattering would have been probably won by the Haligtree faction had Miquella been able to grow his new body and bring forth his new age, but this is a fromsoft story riddled with tragedies.
I screenshot this entire thing because I'm gonna compare the theory and the dlc to see if anything here i confirmed or denied because I actually really like this theory
Same lol. This is an amazing theory! Well done 👏
@@dragonborn2718 so wdy think?
@@madarauchiha116 the whole thing is an amazing theory and mostly what I was expecting, unfortunately the dlc took a whole different direction which was amazing but felt weird and less like how the world would have naturally progressed. Truth be told the dlc with Miquella fell short in my opinion because it just went in a direction that felt like it was chosen purely for shock value and less for world building
Loving the video, Emma! Always excited to see you post one of these
I will say though, on the topic of Marika, there is a direct quote from her where she tells her children she loves them and wants them to become lords or even gods if they wish, and actively warns them that their fate will probably not be a good one if they arent ambitious enough. So her infecting one of them with rot to keep them from challenging her may be a little out of character?
Edit: Additional thought... I wonder if the falling star was always headed for Limgrave, and Radahn was lied to by someone, because they knew he would stop it if he believed it was headed for Sellia instead. Someone like Radagon or Marika perhaps who would want to prevent Ranni's Age of Stars?
Technically, in the quote : "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..." Marika is basically tolding them to go do something with their lifes or being a "sacrifice" as in, as I interpet it, a sacrifice to another's story. That is why all the demigods are fightingin the Shattering, well most of them (Malenia isn't for example since she is fighting for her brother) : they don't want their great rune to be another's tool to godhood/lordhood. It could also explain why Melina is telling it at the capital outskirts, because it is here that most demigods chose to not become sacrifices. In my opinion, it is an urge to do the Shattering so that her age would come to an end, but her children might have been too strong to fully let one win. However I agree with your second point and the japanese saying that "their births were vulnerable" might suggest that it wasn't Marika's doing.
Yeah i think Emma's interpreted Marika's character a "little" wrong.
@@Elekhsus I think it is because Marika is often confused with the Golden Order at large and the Greater Will.
@@Elekhsus And adding to that is that Gideon's dialogue after defeating Malenia adds : "Perhaps the Queen's sorrow was justified.." so Marika may have more than one reason to be sad, she loved her children.
there are also quotes of her saying that her kids should battle over shards of the elden ring and the ones who wins get's to rule. So she also puts her kids fighting against each other like she puts her ex husband and all their descendants in a perpetual fighting life until they die and one day come back.
This actually aged pretty well. There´s a main boss in the DLC, related to the rot, that is half scorpion.
I hope you also watch Age of the Duskborn as well sometime in the future.
It’s on my list!
@@Emmalition Good to hear! It's one of my favorites. Appreciate the good content. Keep it up!
I've already watched all these by myself, and yet watching your reactions and seeing the joy that is the discovery of FromSofts lore on someone else's face is fantastic. I also love your theory crafting as you watch, which is also a lovely part of their games. It's my favorite.
1:00:44 Chitin is a good source of fibre, I always eat prawn tails if they are there, and insects such as ants are becoming more accepted as food.
Still gonna recommend Hawkshaw's video "The Color Theory of Elden Ring".
It's sooooo good
Really hoping for this one too
Any lore, that has to do with Elden Ring, is just simply epic. Can't get enough of this stuff 😄👍
Don't mind me, I'm just collecting phrases from the video and quoting them out of context for fun:
"ooh, it's slipping out" - that one's obvious, hehe 😏
"I can't do another evening of getting glocked by Ishin, I'm taking the night off" 👀
"he's waiting for me to *plop sound* pop me in the face" 😳
"at the moment I'm growing on people's faces [...] and I'd really like to be in a person's body" 🥸
"I'm telling you man, she stinks, she whiffs.. she whiffs of snakiness" 🤢
"the needle is just hardcore Ibuprofen" 🧐
Vaati: "Malenia still had all her limbs as a kid" - Emma: *laughs*
"just in case he's not really dead [...] let's go somewhere else" 😐
Vaati: "Godrick [...] had fled, with his tail between his legs, to-" Emma: "poossyyy" 🤣
"I've learned a new word today, thanks Vaati" ☺ - that's just wholesome
"four phases, Miyazaki? No. Naughty!"
Thanks for the reaction, had a lot of fun!
49:24 I guess he just found it on the battlefield, he is standing right where the nidle would have fallen
Elden Ring takes a lot of inspiration of the real world. Not just relgion but some themes of culture and Society. That is why i think the reason why Malenia and Miquella were born the way they did is because the relation between Radagon and Marika is almost incestuous( Or 100% because they are the same person). Could also be a reference to Baldwin IV that even with his afliction tried to make the most of his Life.
Malenia as goddess of rot final form, I like think of her looking like Quelaag from DS1 but with a scorpions body. That would be cool.
Tbh I thought they’d double down on the butterfly imagery, considering we already have Najka in Dark Souls 2
Soul Arts is an incredible book. I'm constantly blown away every time I pull it off my shelf and thumb through it. It was a no brainer to pre-order abyssal archive and blood echoes to know that along with more in-depth analysis of the games impact from the community, etc. the books themselves will be works of art thanks to tune & fairweather
47:03 FInlay is an actual spirit ash you can obtain in game.
Marika without a doubt wanted to forsake being a God and vessel to the greater will. That's why she initiated the shattering and set-up all the events in the game. Remember Melina's dialogue at the capital. Your perception of Marika is wrong.
Whoa someone stuck on Isshin Sword Saint? No way :P I'm catching up on your Sekiro streams so can't wait to get there!
I dont think marika wouldve let malenia become the rot gods empyrean, the gods are all competing for domincance in the lands between. I think in part its a symbolic thing. Because technically those two are super inbred, being born to marika and radagon (who is also marika).
Sweet home Leyndell
Let's goooooooooooo!
Next we need the Age of the Duskborn video.
Why did you skip the Blessing of despair?
It was so good
He has a Duskborn lore vid, as well👌
I suggest watching more of Vaati's "Prepare To Cry" video series!
I don't remember if he goes over this here. Something mind-blowing that helps a lot of this come together is the idea that Marika and Radagon are one in the same person, something called a rebis, which in alchemy is a perfected duality and the desired end goal of alchemical practice. Naturally, when they came together and had children, Malenia and Miquella, that was essentially selfcest. Incest is already known for producing profound deformities, and this is a level beyond even that (and pretty on brand for George RR Martin). That's why both of those characters ended up the way they did.
Love that intro, welcome back to emmilation 😊😊😊😊😊😊
You have missed the blessing of despair video from vaati
Happy birthday you amazing person love your channel keep up the amazing work 🎂🎈🎉🎁🎊
honing in on that Last of Us comparison for a second, I think it's good to know that infections like that do not have a "will" like most (self)aware beings have. They are not aware of other funghi and do not desire like humans do. They just do, they just act. There is no will, just instinct. It's only instinct. They are no different than flowers in that regard, just that this mutation of corticeps spreads in humans. And it's funny that you draw that comparison because that has always felt so eldritch and otherworldly to me! Or at least, it has filled me with so much existential dread that I literally could not finish the Last of Us show or game :P
I've watched a few of your Elden Ring reactions and you seem to ask what a lot of the community asks re: what happened to afflict Miquella, Melania, and Melina and I think the answer is so brutally simple that people tend to overlook it.
Their mother and father are the same person. Marika probably thought her divine power would overcome any complications this impossible level of incest could incur, but she was wrong. So these three are more powerful than the children of Godfrey and Marika or Rennalla and Radagon, but they also have what are essentially the worst birth defects possible. Melania is a vessel for the Rot, in a state of constant decay, Miquella is weak and vulnerable as he's eternally in a state of naiscence, and Melina has no body and exists solely as a spirit.
For me, it's as simple as the fact their parents are the same person, there is as little genetic diversity in their personal gene pools as can be.
The entire story is about Marika making mistake after mistake, thinking she/he could produce offspring alone is another.
Yeah, I have my own many theories about this, but that is certainly one of them, and I was quite fond of this theory because GRRM might had a hand on this this time, these fucked up family with incest and everything.
I thought Miquella betraying Malenia was nonsense at first then I remembered that there r dozens of if not hundreds of similaritys between him and Griffith the character who has probably gotten more famously hated than any other just because he was that traitorous
Could you pls also do the prepare to cry series?
1:00:00 it's "arthropod", not "anthropod". They are different things.
Me when I go “ super cyan “
Hey Emma (or is it Lition?), just curious, do you have any other lore or souls “deep dive” style channels you watch in your personal time, or on the channel? If you haven’t or are looking for more, I have some good recs, if you have, I just want to see who your favorites are!
I don't think Marika did anything to provoke these "cursed" states her children with Radagon were in. Marika and Radagon were 2 parts on one being or 2 separate beings in one body (whichever you chose to believe) and those two having offspring with one another very much looks like incest, in a way. And it's no surprise such offsprings ended up being flawed and more susceptible to influence of the Outer Gods. Which begs the question...what about Melina? She was heavily implied to be a hidden child of Marika, most likely concieved with Radagon. If so, what is her affliction?
Also, Malenia The True Goddess Of Rot bossfight in the DLC, maybe? Can't wait to get butchered again...
Wouldn't Melina's affliction to be burnt and bodiless
so, the term used in the japanese version explaining malenia's affliction is that her birth was "vulnerable" due to her being born of a single, unified god.
the greater will and marika didn't intend for malenia or miquella to be born afflicted, just like they didn't intend for morgott and mohg to be born omens, but marika's existence is a weakness in the order, a crack in the sidewalk that things can slip in through. she's a necessary piece, but represents a definite weakness to the greater will's designs.
so, marika's children all inherit a connection to the outer gods through marika and/or radagon. malenia was vulnerable to influence, and the god that reached out was rot.
malenia wasn't killed and the rot god wasn't expelled like the fell god of the giants or the frenzy flame because the rot isn't inherently antithetical to the erdtree. rot represents life blossoming after painful death, which is perfectly compatible with the greater will's order of life, light and shadow. but fire is not compatible, so the frenzy flame, formless mother, fell god and twinbird of death were all expelled with various degrees of ass-kicking to help them find their way out.
Ive come around to believing Miquella wanted so very badly to reverse his sister's sickness, that he used his skill of infatuation with himself to convince Mohg to rip him from the Haligtree, because he felt his efforts to water the tree with his blood wasn't enough or wasnt working fast enough. The brother sister link between these two is so amazingly written.
that makes no sense tho, as u can see the tree was growing fine before miquella got kidnapped and you can see miquella's arm was huge in mogh palace which means miquella managed to actually cure himself from his own curse and started growing to godhood before he got ripped out
@@haytamhaytam7227 Thats not the same cocoon though. We see him outside of it in the the opening(?) cutscene and in Mogh’s arms. Obviously what’s happening to him now is something different.
I really recommend smoughtown videos about marika and the golden order and radagon
I’ve thought long and hard about what Malenia said to Radahn, and somehow I always end up with her simply explaining why.
“I am Malenia. Blade of Miquella.”
I love that you looked up chitin. So many UA-camrs just need to look stuff up and they’d have a better grasp on what’s happening. Such a smart, easy trick.
This is a reupload? I thought I watched this last night
Outer Gods and Gods are two different things in Elden Ring, so thinking that a God that is a vessel for one Outer God as being friendly with a different Outer God is absurd. Also, nowhere do we see these Outer Gods acting as allies.
An Outer God is an unknowable entity without a clear physical form, though they can manifest in the world of Elden Ring, it's not their "real" form, more like a set of clothes that makes them visible to reality and able to kind of interact with the Lands Between. Even then, they usually don't seem to care about the end result of their influence, so long as it's their own power that's in control. The lore community assumes the Greater Will is an Outer God, but it's never explicitly said to be one, it just has a lot of similarities to the Outer Gods we know of (I personally do believe that the Greater Will is an Outer God).
A God a being that is chosen as a vessel for an Outer God, and all gods (at least in the age of the Erdtree) were empyreans, which means they have the potential to become a god. Marika is a god, and was an empyrean long ago.
It seems that Outer Gods want to influence the Lands Between and be the main force there, but we really don't know why. They are "outer" gods, similar to the eldrich Great Ones in Bloodborne.
Also agree with some other comments: Being too attached to the idea of clear cut good and evil is not a good idea in Fromsoftware games.
Traveler's Clothes easily best looking chest piece in the game. That and Scaled Armor.
Could it be that miquella has already betrayed melania by going along with Mohg’s plan? Or did Melania possibly already know miquella’s plan to be used in that way by Mohg? If these questions have already been answer somehow, I’d love to know!
You should watch smoughtowns Marika video he gives a good differen perspective to Marika and her part in the events of the shattering and the Godfrey video that has a great take on the tarnished and the very little lore of godfrey
Marika would not want a child be the embodiment of a god as she would have created a ready made successor.
I have watched a number of videos now that paint Marika in a much less negative light. Its weird she gets grief yet Ranni gets a free pass despite effectively killing two of her brothers (if you count Marika and Radagon as one) and abandoned the black knife assassins to be slaughtered in the capital.
Chitinous is a Greek word, so it’s pronounced with a hard K sound not a CH “church” sound. It’s the hard exoskeleton that many insects use. I think our hair and fingernails are also made of a kind of chitin.
sees video, grabs snacks
Miquella and Malenia being born afflicted might have been Marikas doing in an attempt to sabotage the greater will
Damn you attribute a lot of bad things to Marika which we know she was not responsible for. Don't get me wrong she's not nice, but she is nowhere nearly as bad as you think.
Nah if anything she’s much worse than what’s being credited.
@@wowitsfrostygames155 How? Emmi blames Marika for things we know from game info she didn't do...
@@FutayuriShironeko such as?
Wow poor Radahn. Can you imagine being deemed not worthy of seats of power because of their sex? Good thing that's just in video games.
"I don't know much about Malenia, but I do know she is _definitely_ the blade of Miquella" -Max0r
The scarlet rot always fascinated me, how can such beauty blossom in such horror? I love the duality
l can not wait to play Elden ring soon Emma because it is so well made and it look great to play the game .. l am still playing bloodborne still
Isshin is brutal! If there's one piece of advice I'd give it is- don't hesitate.
My believe is that O'neil is on Malenia side, and he is in Caelid to finish what she started, commanding the Cleanrot Knights against Radan. That's why Radan is far from the swamp, that's why the place where he is is full of Cleanrot corpses, that's why he has so many spears on his back, and that's why the catacomb with the ghosts is in the arena.
Malenia couldn't defeat Radan, so she rot him, but in the process she colapsed and had to be caried away back to her treehouse. Her soldiers stayed to fight until the end so her sacrifice wouldn't be for nothing but they couldn't kill Radan. O'neil ashamed never returned to Malenia, but kept the sacred needle safe whit him.
Also we find O'neil 2.0 guarding the second half of the medalion to reach the haligtree.
I feel like people forget the fact that the Shattering happened because her first born was killed.... Marika probably likes her kids. Don't count Morgott and Mohg only because there were Omen children before they were born. They live in a Society....
So the Blue Dancer is Bruce Lee pretty much. Or maybe Malenia is Bruce Lee and the Blue Dancer is Ip Man 🎉
Yeah, the stars are prety much alive. Astel is a Star. A malformed star, but still
I don't think Marika would afflict Malenia/Miquella to maintain power. Afterall, she's the one that breaks the Elden Ring, allowing the demigods to take a shard to gain power, and tells them to rise to the challenge. It's Radagon that's trying to maintain the status quo, not her.
Just want to let you know how much I appreciate these reaction videos of yours. My only friend who cares this deep about From's games lore is living overseas now, so I have this urge to SEE people into ER's lore. Sorry for unnecessary lame story of mine lol, but anyway, love it, thank you.
Some bit of advice for the Isshin fight I know it's a bit of a cliche at this point but the phrase "hesitation is defeat!" should be seared into your brain in order to defeat him!
What helped me beat that fight and utterly enjoy it while doing it was the moment I decided to BE the aggressor instead of just waiting for him to attack me and hope I can deflect them and get a hit or two in. They really made sure you beat the last boss of the game the "Sekiro" way which is getting in his face slicing and dicing deflecting and jump or mikiri countering his special attacks. You just have to get into the rhythm and it feels like a dance once you get it. He's hands down my favorite boss in the entire Soulsborne series!
Regarding the possible betrayal, I think it'll be inspired by Berserk, there's a clear similarity between Miquella and Griffith. Both events are tied to an Eclipse. I'm keeping it as spoiler-free as possible, highly recommend to read the Berserk manga before the DLC.
I think your placing Marika in the firm "villian" box & its colouring your interpretation of events. We're given no evidence that the outer gods are in cohoots, in fact it's much more compelling evidence that their goals are adversarial with each other. It's highly unlikely that Marika who serves the outer will would make her daughter the avatar of the rot God willingly.
Before considering Marika purely machiavellian remember, she had all the runes, she already had all the power. But she shattered the elden ring, gave a piece to all her children & divested them of their duty to the golden order to pursue their own paths forward. And act that cost her her freedom
No, if she ascended, she's be fully consumed by the rot.
Well, with the DLC now we know why 😢
Don't worry Miquella won't betray Malenia. He dedicated his entire life to save his sister and Malenia fought all her battles for Miquella and the Haligtree, so much so that she used her scarlet rot to win the war for her brother. Their bond is pure, so to say Miquella would betray her when everything points to quite the opposite doesn't make much sense.
you looked and sounded so happy that you explained Outer Gods before Vaati did and even used some of the same words as him😂😂😂 that feeling of connecting dots and knowing important concepts is one of the best
Just noticed, those oracle thingies, with the instrument.
The source of inspiration of that is actually amazing.
They await patiently..
Hello Emma! I wanted to ask if you would ever do a reaction to AI voices stories of Elden Ring? They're awesome and tons of fun.
Wow, im not the only one
I gotta say I love the theory that Malenia was searching for her brother when she fought Radahn. Fromsift is very careful about item placement and map design so putting Miquela directly beneath Caelid wouldnt be a coincidence, especially with all the care they put into the other ties between the overworld and the underground.
Thanks for doing these reaction videos Emma!
My two cents on Malenia vs. Radahn
You don't become a famous fighter by shying away from fights, or even just fighting when you need to, you have to have the personality that seeks them out, that enjoys them.
I Think we see this in our own fight with Malenia. She doesn't chastise us for showing up (like how Lady Maria does), but instead talks about her status as an undefeated champion; and at the half-way point she asks us to "wait", while she unleashes her god-borne rot strength. To me it reads as though she WANTS the fight with you, even (especially?) if it forces her to her limits. I think she loves, or even needs, a good challenge. So she may have fought Radahn in part because he was the only champion left who matched her, the two greatest fighters of the Scouring.
I wonder if she fell short without the Scarlet rot, and it was her competitive nature in the moment of defeat that lured her into breaking the needle, poisoning Radahn, and dooming Caelid.
Side note
Does anyone else find it fascinating that during the scouring virtually none of the demigods killed each other? Malenia didn't kill Godrick, sure, but who DID they kill besides the human soldiers? Marika tells them to fight and die to figure out the Elden Lord situation, and when we join the mess, they have basically stopped fighting, and none of them are dead.
I wonder if Miqella really sent Mallenia to attack Radahn. I think he would not have sacrificed his beloved sister himself.
I know the truth about vaati....
Try playing the game!
It's pronounced Ki-tin btw (chitin), Vaati was incorrect. Probably why you'd never heard of it
I am pretty sure Malenia attacked Radahn because he stole her pony. I could be wrong.
Oh no Emma said Radahn went MGTOW 🤣💀
Radagon seald the stars and when i say STARS i meen manny outer gods who are coming in their own body to the realme so yea not metaforikal sealing but literal sealing and when you killl himm theyir is a meteor storm whitch brings these GODS . simple think it as Virgin Mary to stay VIRGIN and do not bring the Jesus. Think these OUTER GODS are Great OLD ONES like in HP LOVECRAFT .
The third blooming by betrayal is basically.
(The incest is real in this game)
Sorry sis I love Godwin not you
Don't know if it is a joke, but I see it more as a "we were so happy before Godwyn's death, if he came back maybe things will go back together" it is a denial of Godwyn's death and illustration of Miquella's grief. Since the "official source" of the shattering of the Elden ring is Godwyn's death (baiscally story trailer), so Miquella could have fought that Godwyn's revival is the only thing to reunite the family.
Not gonna Lie i love these videos so much ❤️ VaatiVidya is a fucking legend ❤️
Cant wait for your next reaction 😊😎
To add to the conversation about the blue fairy and flowing waters, Siofra means "fairy" in Irish Gaelic, and Ainsel (meaning "My Own Self") is the name of a fairy in an old fairy tale.
Oh, and Vaati pronounces chitin wrong; it's pronounced like "kytin".
I think Miquella is the Griffith of Elden Ring. There is something foreboding about him in all his descriptions in game. So I wonder.
I think the reason that the star hits Limgraive as opposed to Selia was a last ditch effort by Radahn to save Selia. Even when he was mad and eating corpses he still held the stars at bay but when he sensed he was going to die he redirected the stars movement towards Limgraive. Absolute Chad
Or you know, if we bring a bit of science in this: The stars might stopped moving, but the planet they're on might still rotating, so by that point the trajectory of the falling stars might have been changed.
About the Eclipse ritual: I’d say that instead of reviving Godwyn, Miquella wanted to euthanise him. See, some think that the Greater Will is represented by Sun (and since TGW supposedly abandoned the world, that’s the reason why it’s so distant). In fact, all the Outer Gods are supposed to be stars. By eclipsing the sun and therefore, physical presence of the Greater Will, he could somehow mercy-kill Godwyn’s tumorous body.
Oh right, you haven't played Dark Souls 2 yet. There's a reference for that in here. Anyway, I also subscribe to the idea that Marika wanted a lot of these things to happen to damage the Golden Order, since she's clearly being crucified to atone for her crimes against the Greater Will. I'm not sure of the chronology, but Godwyn being killed could certainly have been the thing that set it off. It's also interesting that so many of the demi-gods turned away from the Greater Will/Golden Order and instead turned to other outer gods: Malenia to the Scarlet Rot "scorpion" god, Ranni to the Full/Dark Moon (which is probably a god where the Gloam-Eyed Queen was a former vessel), Rykard to the God-Devouring Serpent who seems to be a god-like being in itself, Mogh with the Formless Mother, and Godwyn involuntarily becoming a vessel for the "god" of death (related to the twinbird?), and/or Miquella possibly also eventually serving this god to try to revive him. Either all these people drifted off to serve rivals of the Greater Will on their own, or perhaps Marika set them on the path, hoping that the Outer Gods would fight each other.
I think Marika tried to night of the long knives against the Greater Will. She was its ally until their cooperation was detrimental to her and she felt like the rug was being pulled under her feet, but the Greater Will double-crossed her with Radagon, to maintain the Order long enough for a new God to rise, but Marika double-double-crossed it, by making herself an army of war-hardened warriors outside of the Greater Will influence. Calling them back one at a time to weaken, crumble and destroy the Order's dominion. We're the last one, we step foot in a land as weak as it could be and have to decide the fate of the Order. She did not win, but at least she gave herself a chance to kill the Greater Will. We're not here to save the Elden Ring, endings were we do are... Underwhelming and copy pasted. We're here to break the cycle, bringing the flame of frenzy or the age of stars to the Land Between. Dark Souls has the same kind of narration, I feel.
Miquella's betrayal would be too good of it not to be a thing, especially considering the little hints about miquella's sus behaviour, so I'm taking that as my headcannon until it has nothing to do with the actual DLC
My personal theory is that a remnant of her consciousness will be within the dream the dlc is set in. Her very soul is infected with the rot and will bloom again and that will be her ultimate final form.
I don't watch Vaati's videos on his channel bc it's even more fun to unwrap the lore togethaaa with Emma😊