I spent some time manually adding subtitles as a temporary 'fix' for the loud music! Thank you for the likes and subs guys! No pressure but if you want to go above and beyond and support my small channel: www.patreon.com/zayfthescholar www.ko-fi.com/zayfthescholar
Minor constructive criticism.. work on audio mixing a bit more. When talking about the Alabaster Lord in the later half of the video, the music rivals your voice for attention and sometimes even usurps it, might also just be that the track is a little too gung ho / energetic for background music during calm conversation. Though that might just be me, so take it with a grain of salt. Other than that, nice video!
By the wayyy what's the song between 9:28 and 12:12? It was indeed a lil bit loud, but I loved it, it really helped your narration, which was very well written.
I'm still confuse here.. then why is radahn stopped the stars if he actually wanted to just challenge some space monster? he might as well just pull in all those stars and invite those monsters to the land of between and beat the shit out of them or better yet since he can fly using his gravity magic he could just go and invade them himself.
love how he sjust this insane beast of a man stopping the stars and just wrecking shit yet has such a love for his old tired horse and even love a little cat
A twisted love tbh, now his horse stuck to his zombie body! How much of Rodahn you think it's carrying? I think he can hover n fly n now his beloved horse is stuck watching him eat bodys.... he ate People b4 his horse... man is twisted
@@dbfzato-1327 well what do you expect taking th efull brunt of a taint flower and then aimlessly roaming the lower parts of his realm? hell he even eats a warrior and doesnt seem to be much sentient at all yet still hasnt killed his horse
@@dbfzato-1327 wasnt he infected with scarlet rot tho. Dont think originally that is what he wanted, its just a bad outcome. Which is kinda common in fromsoftware games in general 😂
@@UlfMTG its cut content stuff or was it first patch removal about the long tailed cat relic you can find. havent played in forever and havent looked at the video of it in forever
It sounds like a joke but i wouldnt put it off that easly...we know the Fallen stars can teleport but all the ones we find are hidden beneath the earth. They could really be afraid of going out. Now that i'm thinking of that..we fight one Fallen star right before the end of Ranni's questline; could it it be that "Ranni's fate" was blocked by a Fallen Star that Radhan had felled and we had to clear ranni's way to kill her Fingers? i'm pretty sure thats more to it (been a while since i thought of Elden Ring lore) That doesnt explain why we had to kill him to "resume" her fate tho...Ranni or even her alter ego have shown to be quite prideful...is Radhan just a test of our loyalt? could it be that she was spiteful of him and wanned him dead? This game is amazing^^
@@STUDlOIC I'd be afraid of Leonard too. He's 90% corpse already, but still supports Radahn physically and emotionally. I wouldn't want to tussle with that.
@@giovaniconte1860Nah can't be. By the time you kill Astel Ranni has already reached the moonlight altar and slain the fingers. Radahn literally held the stars back with gravity magic, the passage of time and movement of the heavens dictates the fate of Ranni and probably the lands between as a whole. Radahn held those stars in place for millennia whilst being affilicted by Scarlett rott.
I think the one thing that makes Radahn my favorite demigod is that his interests are complex: he’s a scholar in gravity magic, he’s a warrior and a general, an animal lover, going by the care he had for his horse and his cat (I’m including the cut cat, I think it’s so insignificant to the main story that it wouldn’t matter if it were canon or not, but the fact that it existed shows how they thought of Radahn). He’s just such a complex character that I want to see him in his prime, before he goes mad from the rot, because out of all the demigods, besides Miquella, he seems to have phases in his life, and he even seems to have other interests besides his involvement in the story, like being an academic or an animal lover, like how Miquella was a machinist.
It also says a lot about him that his men loved and respected him. Respect for his strength, skill, and intelligence as a general shows he's a great commander, but love and loyalty indicate he was a good man in the eyes of his soldiers. Aside from having the coolest boss fight in game, his complexities as a character make him a fascinating figure.
I'd also like to mention that even with the rot, he is still not crushing Leonard, and he is still holding back the stars. He even in a state of madness follows through with his duty and with the love he has for his companion.
@@failurextreme7084 Exactly. People tend to overlook this. Radahn wasn't entirely absent of mind since he still possessed enough will, despite the Scarlet Rot, to not crush Leonard and to still hold back legions of stars--some of which are likely even more "Astels" and "Fallen Starbeasts." And that's not even mentioning holding the very fate of countless individuals throughout the Lands Between in stasis.
@@pompneigh4329ezzactly! Like, it feels like the moment where his sanity is gone is when he eats his horse. That’s the moment he breaks, but he’s still got so much power. It feels less like an animal and more like a really really sickened man (not sick as in mentally, like “he’s such a sick puppy”, but as in physically ill), who’s desperately trying to stay on his mission, including holding back the stars. I genuinely think that Radahn and Malenia could’ve been interesting people to see interact. Despite their final conflict, they do have a certain amount in common: wisdom about fate, faith to certain people or houses (for Radahn it’s Godfrey, and for Malenia it’s Miquella), gaining knowledge outside the norms for good personal reasons (like Malenia learning the water sword thing to manage her rot and hold back the god of rot, and Radahn learning gravity magic to hold back the stars and protect Leonard), having an army of soldiers that both loved and respected them, and in the end rejecting their families for their personal causes, for what they believe in, not because a god told them to (like Malenia ignoring the Golden Order and instead allying herself with Miquella). I think that’s so rad, and I think they could’ve even had some form of respect for one another, cause in the end, it feels like they both had good reasons for what they were doing, not necessarily out of selfishness, which is definitely the opposite of their mother/father, IMO.
Have you considered the Finger Slayer Blade? It can kill the greater will and its vassals and cannot be wielded by those with out a fate. When Radahn halted the stars, he made the demi gods (who were fated to die until Marika removed the rune of death) essentially immortal. Perhaps after the death of Godwyn, out of fear, he halted the stars?
yup.. its kinda funny btw because it sounds like some sort of "soft game mechanics exploit" people in Path of Exile make builds based on ( or in Magic the Gathering, same thing basically ). ( - you are a demigod, all stats increased, 5% chance for critical every second you deal your damage type, you always proc status effect based on your damage type / you proc status effect on yourself which lasts 1 sec every time you are out of fate, you are fated to die - Raddhan stops stars, all fates froze, while Raddhan lives no fates can occur )
@@DreamskyDance...and with the ring shattered, only these without fate can do anything about it. If GW wants to do literally anything to fix the ring, it has only one option, summon the Tarnished, who are the only ones capable of making a difference in the frozen-fate world. It's a gamble, Tarnished are unpredictable. And it backfired, with the Tarnished slaying the Elden Beast, severing GW from Lands Between, and fixing the ring in a way that defies Golden Order. Precisely as Marika intended...
With the DLC now being out, I think it's more likely that Radahn stopped the stars in order to halt fate and prevent Miquella from taking him as his consort, in doing so its why Malenia's last ditch attack didnt work
Exactly! Remember that we enter the land of shadows only a little after Miquella, which, if were counting the accuracy of who to kill first, is when you beat Radahn. We also know the only reason Melania fights Radahn is to kill him and have Miquella take his soul which she failed at. Radahn more than likely halted the stars to stop his own fate and Miquella's fate so that he couldn't ascend to God hood, Melina is also a key figure here but I won't leave a lecture. more importantly I can't believe Mohg is innocent in all this which is a wild concept to think of.
@@asidionprimus1226 It does seem, at the very least, that Radahn stopped the stars and froze time in order to preserve himself. His fate may be tied to the stars, and when Malenia gave him the Rot, he halted the stars to prevent his death, as the Rot would inevitably kill him over time, even with all his strength. But if the passage of the stars was halted, he would keep himself alive if he was tied to them.
Well its already been revelaed what she said to radahn before she bloomed so yes it was planned to have end him there but then no oen could fully beat him
Interesting thing about the Alabaster and Onyx Lords being 'opposite polarity' to each other - consider the gravity Magic symbol - it looks basically the same as a diagram of the lines of a magnetic field. Cool video overall!
In vers 1.00 Radahn is called the God of War, which makes me think he was literally warring against an invasion of stars (Astels and Fallingstar Beasts) or using them as weapons/guard dogs. There are Fallingstar Beasts near Leyndell and near Volcano Manor, the latter blocking a ladder route to the Manor (with Leyndell forces in disarray below, unable to proceed to the manor). Radahn probably called the Fallingstar Beasts down to protect Volcano Manor and to attack Leyndell in the original story. That might also be why there is an Onyx Lord in the Sealed Tunnel near Leyndell, protecting the path to Rykard's rune. There are other Malformed Stars, Alabaster/Onyx Lords and Astel along the path we must take to reach Manus Celes, almost like they were placed there to guard the secret Dark Moon, which can only be seen from Manus Celes. Ranni does not fear Astel, but the assassin sent by the Two Fingers. After we defeat the latter, Ranni continues up to Manus Celes, not fearing Astel or the like. She even has her dragon at the cathedral. Thus, I think that Radahn summoned the Astels as weapons in Vers 1.00, as well as to challenge them in combat.
Yeah, but you got to remember that radon was fundamentally for the golden order or at least it doesn't seem like he was directly opposed to it. So what would be his motivations to do all these things? Otherwise? I think we need a bit more context as to why certain of the demigods were fighting each other
@@azanyahyisrael101 well, there is official artwork of Radahn and Morgott fighting (when Radahn was smaller and not purple), so maybe he was not as allied to the GO as some think.
@falgalhutkinsmarzcal3962 Morgott hated how the children of Marika and Radagon fought for the fractured parts of the Elden Ring instead of unifying together, that's why he was fighting Radahn. We know Radahn clearly takes and loves his father Radagon a lot and Radagon is at his core, the opposite of Marika - in love with the Golden Order, so much so he would stop the player's progression in an attempt to fix the Elden Ring himself rather than allow a new order to come through
@@leekyonion Morgott coveted lordship and wished to rule. He suffers Stockholm Syndrome and wants badly to be like Godwyn and the others, resenting them for how they were born, and how he was himself born. I doubt he would have ever been happy, even if the shardbearers had been unified. Moreover, Marika does not want unification. She does not really love her children, hence her "make of yourselves what you will" speech. Mohg went in the other direction, which, in a way, is more respectable than Morgott. Morgott is the most pathetic of all the demigods. Marika banished him underground, shackling him, and then pitted her own children against one another for Darwinian conquest.
So I do think this theory rings pretty true, that Radahn became the Starscourge by calling the stars and challenging them (especially since Zullie has a video showing how his meteor attack was likely originally supposed to be falling Astels, not himself being the meteor), but the thing that is never broached here is how exactly that translates to _halting_ the stars. Without that link, these just seem like two separate events, a separate theory which may inform the theories about his halting of the stars (by removing the wrinkle of him having to do so when he was young, for example), but doesn't strictly compete with them. So, he challenged the stars to protect Sellia when he was young, becoming the Starscourge, and then later on he halted the stars at the behest of the Golden Order, for whatever reason. After all, it is very explicitly stated that the fate of the stars was "fettered by the Golden Order" so I don't think we can simply ignore that
The Meteoric Ore Blade reads: Katana forged from meteoric ore to dispatch lifeforms born of falling stars. Deals magic damage. The blade is weighty, known to deliver slashes of such ferocity that the impact is said to resemble the crash of a falling meteor. This sword is found close to Sellia in the ruins. And Radahn covers his swords in meteoric rock during phase 1.2. So it's likely he learned this technique in order to efficiently "dispatch" lifeforms from falling stars. And when Radahn slams his swords down they cause a huge impact almost like a meteor crash. The Alabaster Lords probably taught him this is how to take care of the star monsters.
My headcanon is that Radahn's first sword was the Meteoric Ore Blade, considering it's the shortest of it's weapon class the same way as the Starscourge Greatsword, and Radahn wasn't always so big.
I wonder if this is the case, if Radahn overdid and attracted the attention of too many Astel like beings and had to stop the stars because it became a potential risk to Leyndell, since there is a Fallingstar Beast just outside one of the gates.
@@Arcessitor There is one in Altus Plateau as well. South of the Perfumer’s Grotto and the road leading into the capital, there is a crater where one will spawn.
What if theres a bigger plan at play here? If we can assume his magic power was based on his intelligence, what if Miquella had Malenia fight Radahn with EVERY intention of infecting him with scarlet rot in order to remove his intellect in a bid to move the stars again, hence why the Eclipse to revive Godwyn mever came, infecting him wasnt enough but they couldnt know that.
Do the stars affect the moon cycle? Although I did figure malanias conquest always seemed weird, like she never took land she just whooped a bunch of ass. I know there’s that one theory that maybe she kind of knew miquellas location as he is under Caelid actually but maybe thought radahn had him? But why wouldn’t he just say he didn’t steal miquella?? We’re they just after each others great runes?
@@davidgraczyk775 1. Malenia definitely wasn't there to collect great runes; if so, then why didn't she take Godrick's great rune since she defeated him? 2. I don't think that Malenia was searching for her kidnapped brother because when we fight her, she speaks in this way, like she's waiting for him, like he's not kidnapped, so I assume she was never aware of the kidnappeing. Keeping in mind that Malenia is blind, she couldn't see her brothers missing Cocoon, and she's been asleep since her fight with Radhan. I believe Malenia was targeting Radhan all along, whether it was for the eclipse or not. Perhaps Radhan is simply a political threat to the unalloyed order that Miquella wishes to bring. Think about the battle of Aeonia is extremely significant because when it ended in a stalemate, the lands between kind of got stuck in time, and we as the tarnished are the ones who are moving things around.
@@BojerNicole Radahn at the end of the day was a golden order traditionalist, and would have certainly not approved of the Twins going against it. So yeah, he was a political opponent to Miquella and Malenia had to remove him from play.
@@BojerNicole I don't think it would be possible to not be aware of the kidnapping, given Miquella's body is clearly gone. More likely she is not worried because she knows going to the Shadowlands was Miquella's plan.
Was wondering how the Tarnished escaped the Fate Sealing. Than I saw your theory. What if Miquella was really aiming to free the fate of the Tarnished instead by weakening Radahn's grasp on the stars? I mean considering how much of a powerhouse the Tarnished becomes it's unlikely that we wouldn't possess a fate as well.
Hot take - Radahn doesn't consume the corpses on the battlefield out of madness, the cleanrot knights potentially have some superficial scarlet rot resistance, perhaps in the form of unalloyed gold, in their armor? and that by consuming their corpses, radahn also ingests the gold, but we know that this only halts the rot and that it is still incredibly painful, combining this and his love to fight, the dude is probably having the time of his life fighting everyone who gets close.
There is a piece of lore that I keep seeing unmentioned. Ranni's finale is THE SAME as what the Nox also desperately seeked. The Albinaurics are genetically created beings, the same as the silver tears, and they also have many references to "tears" (the shield etc). moreover, the symbol on the soldiers fighting for Messmer in the DLC trailer is the same as the one on the armor of the Albinaurics. So, this is what I believe. All the great people involved in Elden Ring's plot (except for Godrick maybe) are Numens. The Numens came from "the stars", and they revered an Outer God (at this point, maybe it wasnt "outer" when they were in their homeland) that since it's in the "great void above" they call Lord of Night (you cant see the stars during the day, can you). They win an invasion war against the indigenous population, creatures of the crucible, no idea if Placidusax and the dragons were still around. The nobles, or gods, of the Numens can be tall, even huge, the lords and ladies of their people can fit huge thrones in their cities, which at this point use the "throne" as their flag, and above all they are naturally immortal, or, said in another word, "eternal" . They spread around, and conquer the crucible cities, Uhl, Uld, etc, and found their own, Nokron, Nokstella, the Unnamed City, Sellia, Ordina, the Stargazer town, Zamor, and Leyndell. But Marika betrays the Lord of Night's cult, and becomes the Greater Will's avatar/spokewoman/goddess. A civil war ensues, the other Numens craft a weapon that can hurt the Greater Will's emissaries out of a god's body, but Marika and her Golden Order forces win and punish Nokron and Nokstella below ground, and the Unnamed city is specifically hit by a "malformed star" sent by Marika and becomes the place where the Erdtree sucks away life with its root (we know what kind of juice the Erdtree loves the most). Now, to the question: why did Radahn stop the stars? Two answers. The one I like less is he was trying to save Sellia from another malformed star. The one I prefer is that he was so enamored of Godrick that he was in fact loyal to Marika, and since Sellia was spared by the purge we might think they kept neutral in a way. So him stopping the stars means he shielded the Lands between from the influences of the Lord of the Night. Ranni is still devoted to the Lord of the Night and the Age of Stars, however, as her mother used to before Radagon fought her for hrt "heresy" and then wooed her (astrologers, night sky, etc). So she (together with Melina the GEQ, and Miquella, I think) had to steal the Rune of Death to kill her half brother Godwyn champion of the Golden Order first and her brother Radahn in order to let Fate come back to the Lands Between, shattering the shield of "eternal rebirth" Marika imposed and have a chance to bring the Lord of Night back to the Numens.
I always thought about how there isn’t any impact site or any reference of the unnamed city any where on the map, but it would make sense if the giant crater in the centre of the map IS the impact site of the Elden beast, taking a giant chunk of land with it. It also explains why the erdtree grows in an awkward angle out of the edge of a cliff, instead of on flat ground on the Altus Plateau.
I'm still riding the high of the story trailer and wanted to put out another video! A warning for my lore and sleep people: things get intense around the 12 min. mark ^^ Hope you guys enjoy! - Zayf
I love you and everything about this video. You also now have me wondering more about the Carian siblings who all seemed to despise fate in their own ways. I still wonder how Rykard would even remotely align with the other siblings’ goals. The siblings’ tolerances for one another signify some deeper connection, but perhaps “defiance” is the extent of their respect.
I love that Radahn is a rot ridden mobile corpse like creature that shambles around feasting on the flesh of what used to be his friends and comrades like a rabbid dog
I'm a researcher and intel analyst whose life circumstances directed me towards this game and also allowed me to deeply focus on it. It sated a very strong curiosity I naturally have and utilised but for things that are typically very heavy. Elden Ring offered a reprieve from that but I have struggled to find someone to collaborate with as taking on the entire task, while possible, would be exhausting. I create cinematic footage and stills of the in-game and tinker with it from the potential and beauty present in it's environment. While still intending to upload snippets of some of what I put together just for reference the research and connections I've drawn haven't had a chance to be made available. I am drawn to psycho-historical implications, science, cross cultural mythos, and archetypal representation inspired by trying to explain the nature of existence. I will shoot an email. You're work is phenomenal and I would love to contribute.
this theory actually does make more sense. it explains how he fought the stars to a standstill and also why it halted rannis fate: just before you get to ranni you have to fight astel. astel smashed into the lands between after the defeat of radahn opening the path to nocron and the fingerslaying blade that ranni sought all the while also opening a path to the location where ranni needs to venture. astel opens a path not only for rannis fate but also for her lord consort without whom she cannot ascend to godhood. for all that to happen you have to slay radahn, a warrior that smashed astels left and right to prove his strength, planting fear into them and halting their assault onto the lands between. it makes sense now why all this is necessary.
Off topic. I believe the tarnished is cursed. As soon as the Elden Beast dies the tarnished is forced back to the beginning of their adventure, forced to endure the events of the Elden Ring again and again, forever repeating the cycle and only ever getting stronger.
You're definitely on the right track. As soon as you mentioned his title in JP I paused with an epiphany to confirm that all of the ashes of war and sorceries associated with Radahn are attraction not repulsion, which coincides with his teacher being an alabaster lord as opposed to an onyx lord. There's nothing to indicate that Radahn mastered gravity magic as a whole, only evidence that he sought mastery of PULL gravity magic. And sure enough you go right into that immediately after. You can find Alabaster lords by the Limgrave Seaside Ruins beach, in the Lake of Rot, near the Raya Lucarian Academy lift, and in the Yelough Anix Tunnel. The Alabaster lord's sword is forged from a blue-white meteoric ore. You can Onyx lords in the Royal Grave evergaol behind Caria Manor and at the end of the Sealed Tunnel in Altus. The Onyx lord's greatsword is forged from golden-hued meteoric ore. Also, there's a possibility for an alternate translation related to the lords. The game refers to them as "a race of ancients with skin of stone", translated from 「古種族石の肌を持つ」. 種族 can mean race; tribe; ethnic group; species; genus; family. But it also has a usage in astronomy, meaning a stellar population (pop I, II, III). Stellar population is a means of classifying stars by composition, relating indirectly to age of the universe. Population III is a theoretical class of star, the oldest of the three, the all of which would by now be observed as remnants (WHITE dwarfs, neutron stars, BLACK holes). So the alternative translation would be that Alabaster/Onyx lords possess skin of ancient star stone.
I'm loving this video on Radahn! He's always been incredibly fascinating to me. Not only a great general but just a beast and champion in his own right! Great work on the video, it really illuminates a lot on various things with the Fates and everyone tethered to their fate via the stars
Hi guys, I appreciate that some of you have nicely let me know that the music is a bit loud! I hear your feedback loud and clear (badum tiss) and will 100% mix it lower in the next video. Thank you for letting me know in a polite way!
Hey Zayf! I really liked your theory! I also like the way you edit your videos. Is there any way to get a hold of you? Can't find any contact information on your channel and I can't message you on twitter. Anyways: Keep it going friend! You're doing a good job!
I think Radahn halted the stars for one reason, he was fully aware of his destiny and did so knowing he would have to be the final test for the new elden lord. I think Radahn knew only the true elden lord had to kill him in order to progress further, he was also knowledgeable about the stars and how they steer destiny and he knew the future elden lord had to face him in battle, which fits his character perfectly if he knew he would be felled by the new elden lord.
It's only because I like your content that I shared my feedback. Want to help make it better with it ^_^ Great stuff, these vids. Jumping on to some different theories, always fresh =D
I think that's Radhn's actual reason. Everything else is just fell into place, or was hyped up and over Glorified for story telling purposes 2nd and 3rd hand by People recounting it throughout the ages.
I know this is an old video from before the Dlc, but since it's on the same subject, I'll put my theory here. After finishing the DLC as thoroughly as possible, reading the description of every item I picked up, doing all but Thiollier's quest (which admittedly puts a massive hole in my knowledge surrounding St Trina), exploring every location, and defeating every boss. I believe that Radahn halted the stars for the same reason the game claims he learned gravity magic: sentimentality. It is his emotional attachment to Ranni, specifically his desire to avoid fighting her. We already know from the base game that both Ranni and Radahn are sentimental. Both go out of their way to keep people around they have an emotional connection to, despite how those people hinder them. Blaidd, and Igi for Ranni (Igi is frankly incompetent at his job and Blaidd is actually her jailer), and Leonard the horse that is too small to carry his master. All this on top of the likely relationships between the siblings that you pointed out here. Radahn knew Ranni was an Emperyan. When Miquella asked Radahn to be his consort, he knew this would make Ranni a competitor. There can be only one God and one Elden Lord. All the other contenders have to die or step aside. He knew Ranni would refuse to step aside so he stopped the whole game to avoid that final confrontation. But diving even further, I feel there is something to your conclusion here, though I would change one small thing. It was not his motive to fight the strongest possible foe he could, but the goal. For the reasons I outlined above, he challenged not just the stars, but the Greater Will itself, all so he could put an end to a world in which brothers and sisters were born fated to destroy each other.
@@of_jaggernaut2507 In castle sol (the fort being owned by miquella) the inhabitants are praying for an eclipse to revive godwyn, idk how they'll do that but radahn is preventing this eclipse.
For me I think it's all about Miquella. Miquella since child wanted Radahn as consort and maybe this is the reason why Radahn learned to hold the stars and freeze fate at a young age earning the Starscourge title. And probably the reason why Malenia wage war to Radahn to stop him but failed because of his Mimic Slime sized balls. XD
I'm so happy your work has had a bigger reach with this video. There have always been a certain quality you've had on you videos and it definitely deserves a larger audience :)
Considering the DLC now implies that Radahn was indeed impeding the goal of Miquella, hence why he fought so hard even after being poisoned by Scarlet Rot, I'd love to think that his main goal was always to beat up more of Astel's kind, and stalling Miquella for as long as possible was just an additional bonus he unexpectedly landed on. The festival was always meant to keep Radahn moving and in perpetual state of conquest, as he would have died faster if he wasn't doing something to ignore the pain, something he loved. Also would love to wonder how the Golden Order and the inhabitants of Sellia would have reacted to when Radahn began this hunt, probably using the beach as his battlefield. Marika looking over the horizon from Leyndal, seeing comet after comet of eldritch beings worthy to rival the Elden Beast in status being pulled into Caelid: "Dammit not again..."
Thank you for this fresh theory and the wonderfully edited video! However, one point - a particularly important one - is missing here. We know from Sellen, among others, that: "The stars alter the fate of the Carian royal family. And the fate of your mistress, Ranni. But long ago, General Radahn challenged the swirling constellations, and in a crushing victory, arrested their cycles. Now, he is the force that repulses the stars. If General Radahn were to die, the stars would resume their movement." So if Radahn's motivation is to draw the stars to himself in order to challenge and triumph over them, why doesn't he just do it? After all, he is keeping them in stasis, as evidenced by the cutscene after his boss fight, after which the stars immediately resume their movement.
Fantastic editing and composition! I actually really like the theory that Radahn wanted to conquer the stars but like, not travel so far to kill them. Very relatable.
In very early drafts of the game, the second phase of Radahn's fight involved an Astel, descending in the meteor Radahn now uses to fall from the sky. That's why I think he's stopping the stars from moving, to prevent a legion of Astels to ravage the Lands Between. Elden Ring has a lot of extraterrestrial elements and concepts, and maybe Radahn was the only one concerned with a potentiel alien invasion. Maybe the guy was simply tinfoil hat-minded!
There's a piece of removed content that featured Astel crashing down from the sky instead of Radahn in the phase 2 transition. I think it reinforces the idea that Radahn is the one yanking these guys out of the sky as he pleases. Would've also been cool to see it used in the animation you did of their fight. Great video, btw. Loved the way you presented this theory. The animated battle was a nice touch that tied it all together
Annnnnnddddd....he was bewitched by Miquella all along. He literally sent Melania to kill him so he could infuse his soul into Mogh's body to become his consort. And Ranni was the only one who could throw a wrench in Miquella's plan. So in the end, Ranni is the only demi-god that isnt an evil self serving maniac. The DLC only solidified her ending even more as the good ending. Ranni just pushes the reset button on this messed up world and takes us into a new era. In the end, Radahn was just a puppet and Miquella his puppetmaster.
I don't think Radahn was charmed the whole time he might have agreed to be Miquella consort for whatever reason but it seems like he changed his mind, after all he didn't let Melania kill him and he had help from Ranni during his war with Melania because we know that Iji (Rannis war Concealer) was the one making rot resistant weapons for Radahns army and both of those things wouldn't happen if he was still Miquellas pawn.
@@nzothfatherofdream9231 He cast out his ability to love in order to ascend to godhood. He actively uses love to enchant and bewitch all those he wants to serve his purpose, whether they want it or not (like with Ansbach and Mohg). Miquella's goal is one of compassion and love, but by becoming a god he would enchant and strip away everyone's freedom to defy the order he creates. Ranni's methods were cutthroat and brutal, but at least her end goal was to just leave and let mankind decide its own fate after getting rid of the gods. Miquella would end up just like Marika if we didn't kill him (St. Trina says godhood would be his prison in one of her dialogues).
i mean yeah Miquella post-great rune was def a psycho, but pre great rune he didnt have the weird charm effect. Every demigod became incredibly corrupted by their great runes power, even Morgot (Stockholm syndrome poster boy)
@@Vinnini ahahaha bro what are you talking about?? Free will?? Broh its Elden Ring universe not some disney fairy tail. Ranni actually started all the destruction events, because of her plans almost all the Lands between are in ruins, thousands if not millions are dead because of her plans, and in the end when we helped her to kill every one who was on her way she actually says:”Now cometh the age of the stars. A thousand year voyage under the wisdom of the Moon. Here beginneth the chill night that encompasses all, reaching the great beyond. Into fear, doubt, and loneliness... As the path stretcheth into darkness." Good luck bro if you think Ranni is "good"
That music in the beginning. I’m at work I had to stand, put my hands on my hips and stare off in the distance enigmatically like I was being summoned 🤣
Great video man, it's amazing to see literally every video be like an order of magnitude more impressive than the previous. I loved the visuals and music!
Ranni and Melina are both linked and working for Miquella, he sent Melina to bring the chosen tarnished Torrent along with the mission to burn the tree. When meeting Ranni for the first time, she has blanketed the church of ellah with sleep, speaking of Torrent's former owner wanting the chosen tarnished to have the spirit bell. But wait there's more, correlations with Tanith and her Consorts helm depicts a Queen of a foreign land, a Queen who has been shown in the first DLC trailer, the helms description talks of Tanith's life as a dancer, combative dancer also shown in the trailer, along with all the story hints of an accursed flame of blasphemy not referencing Rykard directly but the blasphemous flame Rykard would later control and utilize, a flame and power from a foreign land. St. Trina may be a character hunting Miquella not actually Miquella or aligned with him and his ideal, as stated by Miyazaki, we will know the story of the two, making St. Trina may have a possible blood relation to Malenia, Miquella, and even Millicent. My question is, Is Godwyn alive in the land of shadow?
The dev just need to release an official novel/book of Elden Ring in it entirety to make everything official. Lore video is great but with so many theory floating around nothing is set in stone. For all we know Radahn might work for NASA and Mohg a simp and a pdf.
I really want to mention that, Radahn looks so similar to King Gaiseric, from Berserk. Even the depictions in his armor, like tragoth in his gloves (tragoth is described in the bull goat talisman) look similar to king gaiseric. That's why i really wanna se him in the DLC.
Having under 10k subs for how well thought out and interesting your content is is actually criminal. You will go far with this man thank you for the great videos!
I think it’s interesting (though I’m not sure how it would tie into the story) that in cut content there used to be a falling animation and perhaps an appearance for astel within radahns arena. Again idk how that would tie into the current storyline but I definitely think the third theory you presented is the most plausible! Great video btw!!
Yes I was looking for a comment like this! The third theory and Astel's unused crashing down animation in Radahns arena fit together very well. Maybe the devs intended for Radahn to roar and pull in Astel from space and letting it crash down onto you instead of doing it himself.
@@Cleoli2 Dude that actually makes sense! I at first didn't see the connection but yeah, I really like the third theory about how Radahn sought out these cosmic beings to fight and make a name for himself! Thx for the insight btw!
2 potential challenges to this theory when asking sellen about nokron, she explicitly says radahn ‘repulses’ the stars. she could be wrong but in her mind he’s clearly driving them away, not towards. it also doesn’t make sense to me for radahn to have been pulling the stars in as when he dies, literally immediately after the stars begin to fall, convenient timing if he was trying to bring them to himself the whole time
Spoilers for DLC If Radahn really was sincere maybe he stopped the stars for Miquella. Halting Ranni from her path of godhood and helping his. That’s a whole debate in itself now if Radahn wanted to be with miquella now but it’s a possibility now as well. Maybe he chose Miquella since he was picked to be his lord over his sister and her path to godhood.
I love the implication of Radahn's true power, considering that he fought Malenia to a point where she was forced to make the Scarlet Aeonia bloom, while holding back the stars. I imagine Radahn would have absolutely smoked Malenia if he fought her with his full power.
I think that the Carian siblings were very close to each other (and probably with Renalla as well) and all of them were included somehow in the Night of the black knives. Rykard is obviously involved as we can read from that item description gifted by Ranni to him if she fails but I also think Radhan was a part of it as well. I think that Radhan stopped the stars (however that had to be done, most probably an offensive act) on Rannis request as it was necessary for the night of the black knives to happen and for Ranni to change bodies, for her two fingers not being able to influence her as well as Blaid to stay on her side and help her even though she discarded her fate as Empyreans. Later, after Ranni recovered her powers (she was weak after changing bodies, that is why she didn't participated in the Shattering as well as didn't keep/guard the Black knife which she need to kill her Two Fingers) and maybe even memory (why doesn't she know that Radhan holds the stars? She never tells us), Radhan should have let the starts to move again and her fate to move forward but Malenia came to Radhan in order to let the stars to move again as it was necessary for the ritual at Castle Sol to be performed (they needed an eclipse which can't happen without stars moving) i.e. to try to revive Godwyn, a wish of Miquella (that is also why you have to defeat Radhan for the DLC). Radhan couldn't let the stars to move again yet as it still wasn't a ripe time for Ranni. As Radhan went mad after confrontation and the stalemate with Malenia, he never let the stars move again, halting Ranni's fate forever (or at least until we come and kill everything without questioning) although that was never the plan.
And you were satisfied, it's a shame that after hearing this phrase many times from players everyone is now complaining about the fact that he is the final boss of the DLC and not Godwyn, knowing that the plot of his story is that he died in the most absolute way and he's cause of everything we see in the game
I'm sorry but Radahn is the true tragic hero of Elden Ring. He was respected and even genuinely loved by so many, he loved his steed enough to learn magic to keep his steed safe and he's holding the stars up and or protecting everyone even after he was rotted. The guy is a serious king
i like the idea that it wasn't radahn who stopped the motion of the stars, but the stars themselves who stopped moving in response to radahns challenge. like maybe what radahn actually did was pull the stars towards him, and the stars, realizing there was no way to go but towards radahn, stopped their motion entirely. and with this state being achieved all fate now revolves around radahn, long as he lived, nobody else tied to the stars could see the end of theirs.
I love your theory BUT you still don't explained why the stars have been stopped? You claim Radahn simply calling them to fight, why did the stars stopped moving? What is THE REAL REASON? You only claimed the reason Radahn challenged the stars but in the end of the video you didn't explained why the stars stopped moving and this is the reason many still support of the theory on protecting Selia. Please explain why the star stopped because I love this theory.
Unitententional consequence of pulling something in a vacuum? Instead of actually pulling it may have just stopped them where they all were, or very very slowly pulling the many many MASSIVE objects around the lands between; being that far away I feel like his spells would start to lose effectiveness
Plus if they're going away from him harder or equal to his pull it would just slow it down or stop it, considering how fast they move when released that makes more sense I guess
That thumbnail looks like the cover of a DVD re-release of an 80s fantasy movie you find at Walmart in the early 2000s. Yes, my brain damage is very real and very specific.
The pre-nerf state was a bug filled nightmare of mechanics not working properly. All his attacks were double the size, horseback was entirely impossible for the arrows, and second phase well…only a couple builds could do second phase at that time
I think in-between. He is most definitely playing defense by the time we come around, considering his brain is being eaten by sipholytic rot, yet the stars were still actively being held back, and he still wasn't crushing Leonard. I think with what little of himself remained, he was keeping the interstellar monsters away. However, in his glory days, he had to have earned his titles of both the star scourge and the strongest demigod from somewhere. While I don't think he actively pulled threats to the lands between, I think it's quite possible he pulled stars that were already falling to him, where he then smashed the falling stars and anything that may have come with them thus keeping the lands safe. Something of note that I feel isn't really taken into account in your video is Radahn wasn't just a mindless muscle head seeking glory. While he was certainly driven and motivated by the tales of the previous two elden lords, he was also fairly intelligent and kind. He learned one of the in universe hardest spell systems and mastered it at a young age, and his reason for learning it is as stated, so he wouldn't have to abandon his friend and companion Leonard. I'm pretty sure it is also written that he was a serious animal/nature lover, which generally shows a great deal of kindness.
Radahn knew all along. HE knew that a life under a charming "love" is no life at all. He is a general, but he is kind not like Miquella who is a manipulative little scrub.
It seems very unlikely to me tho. If Astel and his kind where something Radahn wanted to challenge he could have done so without tempering with the stars, since they were already here. He coudl have jsut chellenged them himself. Also once we kill him a star crashes down on the lands, so if Radahn really wanted to pull things in as your theory suggests, then he would have no reason to keep it away with all his might even while going mad from scarlet rot.
Small side note: I think the Alabastor and Onyx lords, said to have arisen when a meteor struck, are actually the meteor themselves (kind of obvious but I’m going somewhere with this). They fell to the lands between, and when people went to the impact craters they found onyx/alabasters. It would fit in with the Astel creatures, who are malformed stars that also fell from the void. They both have strangely humanoid features for void-born creatures, but the Astels are much weirder and more distorted. This would potentially tell us that Space-fairing creatures are in fact quite humanoid, as the onyx/alabaster lords are not deformed and resemble humans a lot. With this we are much closer to being able to imagine what a real star may be like. Following this, maybe the Outer Gods too are much more humanoid than we originally imagined?
14:22 welp, mild spoilers, i think the dlc solidly asserts that none of these theories were exactly correct. i won't elaborate bc that'd be major spoilers, and i'm sure zayf will probably make an update on this at some point on exactly that
oh my god the cut gameplay of astel the star monster crashing down like a meteor which is exactly like radan’s boss battle could have been cut because it was too obvious that he challenged the stars. meaning that it must be a critical plot point that they wanted to obscure
Awesome vid. It's interesting that gravity magic spells and attacks do more damage to other gravity related enemies like Astel. He really was minmaxing for these bosses lol
We know the gods descended to the world from the stars, and we know of Radahn and Miquella's plan to usurp godhood. I assume it was to prevent any other outside influence before Miquella could ascend.
Honestly loving your lore vidoes and find yours to be actually a lot more investigative than other channels. Any chance of making a video on the concept of death and rebirth and how it actually functions? Everyone just brushes it aside without a clear explanation
Radon’s full power comes from both the alabaster and the onyx lords abilities together the first is the pull your opponent enclose the second effect is to blast them away
I spent some time manually adding subtitles as a temporary 'fix' for the loud music!
Thank you for the likes and subs guys! No pressure but if you want to go above and beyond and support my small channel:
www.patreon.com/zayfthescholar
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Minor constructive criticism.. work on audio mixing a bit more. When talking about the Alabaster Lord in the later half of the video, the music rivals your voice for attention and sometimes even usurps it, might also just be that the track is a little too gung ho / energetic for background music during calm conversation. Though that might just be me, so take it with a grain of salt.
Other than that, nice video!
By the wayyy what's the song between 9:28 and 12:12? It was indeed a lil bit loud, but I loved it, it really helped your narration, which was very well written.
@@bode_sereia Yeah it's banging
@@bode_sereia Halls of Ancients - Ian Aisling
@@ahenkonacg thank you kind sir!
I love the idea that Radahn isn't halting an alien invasion, he's actively fishing for eldritch horrors.
What a chad.
Radahn be like….. Imma punch a star in the face
I like to think he was purposely doing both. What a badass
@kingcobra2858 Chadahn 😎
I'm still confuse here.. then why is radahn stopped the stars if he actually wanted to just challenge some space monster? he might as well just pull in all those stars and invite those monsters to the land of between and beat the shit out of them or better yet since he can fly using his gravity magic he could just go and invade them himself.
love how he sjust this insane beast of a man stopping the stars and just wrecking shit yet has such a love for his old tired horse and even love a little cat
A twisted love tbh, now his horse stuck to his zombie body! How much of Rodahn you think it's carrying? I think he can hover n fly n now his beloved horse is stuck watching him eat bodys.... he ate People b4 his horse... man is twisted
@@dbfzato-1327 well what do you expect taking th efull brunt of a taint flower and then aimlessly roaming the lower parts of his realm? hell he even eats a warrior and doesnt seem to be much sentient at all yet still hasnt killed his horse
@@dbfzato-1327 wasnt he infected with scarlet rot tho. Dont think originally that is what he wanted, its just a bad outcome. Which is kinda common in fromsoftware games in general 😂
what cat?
@@UlfMTG its cut content stuff or was it first patch removal about the long tailed cat relic you can find. havent played in forever and havent looked at the video of it in forever
There wasn’t any sorcery afoot involving the halting of the stars - they were just scared of Radahn
It sounds like a joke but i wouldnt put it off that easly...we know the Fallen stars can teleport but all the ones we find are hidden beneath the earth. They could really be afraid of going out.
Now that i'm thinking of that..we fight one Fallen star right before the end of Ranni's questline; could it it be that "Ranni's fate" was blocked by a Fallen Star that Radhan had felled and we had to clear ranni's way to kill her Fingers? i'm pretty sure thats more to it (been a while since i thought of Elden Ring lore) That doesnt explain why we had to kill him to "resume" her fate tho...Ranni or even her alter ego have shown to be quite prideful...is Radhan just a test of our loyalt? could it be that she was spiteful of him and wanned him dead?
This game is amazing^^
They were scared of Leonard
@@STUDlOIC I'd be afraid of Leonard too. He's 90% corpse already, but still supports Radahn physically and emotionally. I wouldn't want to tussle with that.
Darn tootin'
@@giovaniconte1860Nah can't be. By the time you kill Astel Ranni has already reached the moonlight altar and slain the fingers. Radahn literally held the stars back with gravity magic, the passage of time and movement of the heavens dictates the fate of Ranni and probably the lands between as a whole. Radahn held those stars in place for millennia whilst being affilicted by Scarlett rott.
It also makes sense as Radahn’s weapon do extra damage to gravity enemies like Astel and Fallinstar Beast
I think the one thing that makes Radahn my favorite demigod is that his interests are complex: he’s a scholar in gravity magic, he’s a warrior and a general, an animal lover, going by the care he had for his horse and his cat (I’m including the cut cat, I think it’s so insignificant to the main story that it wouldn’t matter if it were canon or not, but the fact that it existed shows how they thought of Radahn). He’s just such a complex character that I want to see him in his prime, before he goes mad from the rot, because out of all the demigods, besides Miquella, he seems to have phases in his life, and he even seems to have other interests besides his involvement in the story, like being an academic or an animal lover, like how Miquella was a machinist.
Not to mention he wasn't above venerating strength no matter what. His idol wasn't his father but Godfrey, the first tarnished.
It also says a lot about him that his men loved and respected him. Respect for his strength, skill, and intelligence as a general shows he's a great commander, but love and loyalty indicate he was a good man in the eyes of his soldiers. Aside from having the coolest boss fight in game, his complexities as a character make him a fascinating figure.
I'd also like to mention that even with the rot, he is still not crushing Leonard, and he is still holding back the stars. He even in a state of madness follows through with his duty and with the love he has for his companion.
@@failurextreme7084 Exactly. People tend to overlook this.
Radahn wasn't entirely absent of mind since he still possessed enough will, despite the Scarlet Rot, to not crush Leonard and to still hold back legions of stars--some of which are likely even more "Astels" and "Fallen Starbeasts." And that's not even mentioning holding the very fate of countless individuals throughout the Lands Between in stasis.
@@pompneigh4329ezzactly! Like, it feels like the moment where his sanity is gone is when he eats his horse. That’s the moment he breaks, but he’s still got so much power. It feels less like an animal and more like a really really sickened man (not sick as in mentally, like “he’s such a sick puppy”, but as in physically ill), who’s desperately trying to stay on his mission, including holding back the stars.
I genuinely think that Radahn and Malenia could’ve been interesting people to see interact. Despite their final conflict, they do have a certain amount in common: wisdom about fate, faith to certain people or houses (for Radahn it’s Godfrey, and for Malenia it’s Miquella), gaining knowledge outside the norms for good personal reasons (like Malenia learning the water sword thing to manage her rot and hold back the god of rot, and Radahn learning gravity magic to hold back the stars and protect Leonard), having an army of soldiers that both loved and respected them, and in the end rejecting their families for their personal causes, for what they believe in, not because a god told them to (like Malenia ignoring the Golden Order and instead allying herself with Miquella). I think that’s so rad, and I think they could’ve even had some form of respect for one another, cause in the end, it feels like they both had good reasons for what they were doing, not necessarily out of selfishness, which is definitely the opposite of their mother/father, IMO.
Have you considered the Finger Slayer Blade? It can kill the greater will and its vassals and cannot be wielded by those with out a fate. When Radahn halted the stars, he made the demi gods (who were fated to die until Marika removed the rune of death) essentially immortal.
Perhaps after the death of Godwyn, out of fear, he halted the stars?
yup.. its kinda funny btw because it sounds like some sort of "soft game mechanics exploit" people in Path of Exile make builds based on ( or in Magic the Gathering, same thing basically ).
( - you are a demigod, all stats increased, 5% chance for critical every second you deal your damage type, you always proc status effect based on your damage type / you proc status effect on yourself which lasts 1 sec every time you are out of fate, you are fated to die
- Raddhan stops stars, all fates froze, while Raddhan lives no fates can occur )
It is said that marika plucked the rune of death upon the orders creation, this doesn't make sense.
@@christiansargent6053 And how did her plucking the rune of death work out for Godwyn? Not very well, from what I heard...
@@DreamskyDance...and with the ring shattered, only these without fate can do anything about it. If GW wants to do literally anything to fix the ring, it has only one option, summon the Tarnished, who are the only ones capable of making a difference in the frozen-fate world.
It's a gamble, Tarnished are unpredictable. And it backfired, with the Tarnished slaying the Elden Beast, severing GW from Lands Between, and fixing the ring in a way that defies Golden Order. Precisely as Marika intended...
@@sharpfang Godwyn was killed, using a fragment of the rune of death. That's how he was killed even though the rune of death wasn't part of the order
With the DLC now being out, I think it's more likely that Radahn stopped the stars in order to halt fate and prevent Miquella from taking him as his consort, in doing so its why Malenia's last ditch attack didnt work
Exactly! Remember that we enter the land of shadows only a little after Miquella, which, if were counting the accuracy of who to kill first, is when you beat Radahn. We also know the only reason Melania fights Radahn is to kill him and have Miquella take his soul which she failed at. Radahn more than likely halted the stars to stop his own fate and Miquella's fate so that he couldn't ascend to God hood, Melina is also a key figure here but I won't leave a lecture. more importantly I can't believe Mohg is innocent in all this which is a wild concept to think of.
@@asidionprimus1226 It does seem, at the very least, that Radahn stopped the stars and froze time in order to preserve himself. His fate may be tied to the stars, and when Malenia gave him the Rot, he halted the stars to prevent his death, as the Rot would inevitably kill him over time, even with all his strength. But if the passage of the stars was halted, he would keep himself alive if he was tied to them.
yea this video's theory was so good, but now with the DLC there's this more plausible theory
Miquella: Give me a kiss, big boy. Radahn: No thanks. Im not into femboys. NOR am I into incest.
Miquella: *Gets on Griffith timing.*
Well its already been revelaed what she said to radahn before she bloomed so yes it was planned to have end him there but then no oen could fully beat him
Interesting thing about the Alabaster and Onyx Lords being 'opposite polarity' to each other - consider the gravity Magic symbol - it looks basically the same as a diagram of the lines of a magnetic field.
Cool video overall!
In vers 1.00 Radahn is called the God of War, which makes me think he was literally warring against an invasion of stars (Astels and Fallingstar Beasts) or using them as weapons/guard dogs. There are Fallingstar Beasts near Leyndell and near Volcano Manor, the latter blocking a ladder route to the Manor (with Leyndell forces in disarray below, unable to proceed to the manor). Radahn probably called the Fallingstar Beasts down to protect Volcano Manor and to attack Leyndell in the original story. That might also be why there is an Onyx Lord in the Sealed Tunnel near Leyndell, protecting the path to Rykard's rune. There are other Malformed Stars, Alabaster/Onyx Lords and Astel along the path we must take to reach Manus Celes, almost like they were placed there to guard the secret Dark Moon, which can only be seen from Manus Celes. Ranni does not fear Astel, but the assassin sent by the Two Fingers. After we defeat the latter, Ranni continues up to Manus Celes, not fearing Astel or the like. She even has her dragon at the cathedral. Thus, I think that Radahn summoned the Astels as weapons in Vers 1.00, as well as to challenge them in combat.
I love how much sense this makes
Yeah, but you got to remember that radon was fundamentally for the golden order or at least it doesn't seem like he was directly opposed to it. So what would be his motivations to do all these things? Otherwise? I think we need a bit more context as to why certain of the demigods were fighting each other
@@azanyahyisrael101 well, there is official artwork of Radahn and Morgott fighting (when Radahn was smaller and not purple), so maybe he was not as allied to the GO as some think.
@falgalhutkinsmarzcal3962 Morgott hated how the children of Marika and Radagon fought for the fractured parts of the Elden Ring instead of unifying together, that's why he was fighting Radahn.
We know Radahn clearly takes and loves his father Radagon a lot and Radagon is at his core, the opposite of Marika - in love with the Golden Order, so much so he would stop the player's progression in an attempt to fix the Elden Ring himself rather than allow a new order to come through
@@leekyonion Morgott coveted lordship and wished to rule. He suffers Stockholm Syndrome and wants badly to be like Godwyn and the others, resenting them for how they were born, and how he was himself born. I doubt he would have ever been happy, even if the shardbearers had been unified. Moreover, Marika does not want unification. She does not really love her children, hence her "make of yourselves what you will" speech. Mohg went in the other direction, which, in a way, is more respectable than Morgott. Morgott is the most pathetic of all the demigods. Marika banished him underground, shackling him, and then pitted her own children against one another for Darwinian conquest.
So I do think this theory rings pretty true, that Radahn became the Starscourge by calling the stars and challenging them (especially since Zullie has a video showing how his meteor attack was likely originally supposed to be falling Astels, not himself being the meteor), but the thing that is never broached here is how exactly that translates to _halting_ the stars. Without that link, these just seem like two separate events, a separate theory which may inform the theories about his halting of the stars (by removing the wrinkle of him having to do so when he was young, for example), but doesn't strictly compete with them. So, he challenged the stars to protect Sellia when he was young, becoming the Starscourge, and then later on he halted the stars at the behest of the Golden Order, for whatever reason. After all, it is very explicitly stated that the fate of the stars was "fettered by the Golden Order" so I don't think we can simply ignore that
13:56 “his motive was perhaps more simple” yeah it’s unga bunga
The Meteoric Ore Blade reads: Katana forged from meteoric ore to dispatch lifeforms born of falling stars.
Deals magic damage. The blade is weighty, known to deliver slashes of such ferocity that the impact is said to resemble the crash of a falling meteor.
This sword is found close to Sellia in the ruins. And Radahn covers his swords in meteoric rock during phase 1.2. So it's likely he learned this technique in order to efficiently "dispatch" lifeforms from falling stars. And when Radahn slams his swords down they cause a huge impact almost like a meteor crash. The Alabaster Lords probably taught him this is how to take care of the star monsters.
My headcanon is that Radahn's first sword was the Meteoric Ore Blade, considering it's the shortest of it's weapon class the same way as the Starscourge Greatsword, and Radahn wasn't always so big.
I wonder if this is the case, if Radahn overdid and attracted the attention of too many Astel like beings and had to stop the stars because it became a potential risk to Leyndell, since there is a Fallingstar Beast just outside one of the gates.
Mt. Gelmir is not "just outside" the Leyndell Gates. It's an entire country away.
@@Arcessitor There is one in Altus Plateau as well. South of the Perfumer’s Grotto and the road leading into the capital, there is a crater where one will spawn.
@@Arcessitor You know where you fight the Tree Sentinel Duo? Go to the right there and you'll find what I'm talking about :3
I like to think the real reason is because Lennard was afraid of the stars
3:56 Oh, you made this before the DLC xD
What if theres a bigger plan at play here? If we can assume his magic power was based on his intelligence, what if Miquella had Malenia fight Radahn with EVERY intention of infecting him with scarlet rot in order to remove his intellect in a bid to move the stars again, hence why the Eclipse to revive Godwyn mever came, infecting him wasnt enough but they couldnt know that.
Do the stars affect the moon cycle? Although I did figure malanias conquest always seemed weird, like she never took land she just whooped a bunch of ass. I know there’s that one theory that maybe she kind of knew miquellas location as he is under Caelid actually but maybe thought radahn had him? But why wouldn’t he just say he didn’t steal miquella?? We’re they just after each others great runes?
@@davidgraczyk775 1. Malenia definitely wasn't there to collect great runes; if so, then why didn't she take Godrick's great rune since she defeated him?
2. I don't think that Malenia was searching for her kidnapped brother because when we fight her, she speaks in this way, like she's waiting for him, like he's not kidnapped, so I assume she was never aware of the kidnappeing. Keeping in mind that Malenia is blind, she couldn't see her brothers missing Cocoon, and she's been asleep since her fight with Radhan.
I believe Malenia was targeting Radhan all along, whether it was for the eclipse or not. Perhaps Radhan is simply a political threat to the unalloyed order that Miquella wishes to bring. Think about the battle of Aeonia is extremely significant because when it ended in a stalemate, the lands between kind of got stuck in time, and we as the tarnished are the ones who are moving things around.
@@BojerNicole Radahn at the end of the day was a golden order traditionalist, and would have certainly not approved of the Twins going against it.
So yeah, he was a political opponent to Miquella and Malenia had to remove him from play.
@@BojerNicole I don't think it would be possible to not be aware of the kidnapping, given Miquella's body is clearly gone. More likely she is not worried because she knows going to the Shadowlands was Miquella's plan.
Was wondering how the Tarnished escaped the Fate Sealing. Than I saw your theory. What if Miquella was really aiming to free the fate of the Tarnished instead by weakening Radahn's grasp on the stars? I mean considering how much of a powerhouse the Tarnished becomes it's unlikely that we wouldn't possess a fate as well.
Hot take - Radahn doesn't consume the corpses on the battlefield out of madness, the cleanrot knights potentially have some superficial scarlet rot resistance, perhaps in the form of unalloyed gold, in their armor? and that by consuming their corpses, radahn also ingests the gold, but we know that this only halts the rot and that it is still incredibly painful, combining this and his love to fight, the dude is probably having the time of his life fighting everyone who gets close.
Bro was searching for that Unalloyed Gold Needle
Interesting theory, except he's also eating his own soldiers too so that kinda disproves it.
There is a piece of lore that I keep seeing unmentioned. Ranni's finale is THE SAME as what the Nox also desperately seeked. The Albinaurics are genetically created beings, the same as the silver tears, and they also have many references to "tears" (the shield etc). moreover, the symbol on the soldiers fighting for Messmer in the DLC trailer is the same as the one on the armor of the Albinaurics. So, this is what I believe.
All the great people involved in Elden Ring's plot (except for Godrick maybe) are Numens. The Numens came from "the stars", and they revered an Outer God (at this point, maybe it wasnt "outer" when they were in their homeland) that since it's in the "great void above" they call Lord of Night (you cant see the stars during the day, can you). They win an invasion war against the indigenous population, creatures of the crucible, no idea if Placidusax and the dragons were still around. The nobles, or gods, of the Numens can be tall, even huge, the lords and ladies of their people can fit huge thrones in their cities, which at this point use the "throne" as their flag, and above all they are naturally immortal, or, said in another word, "eternal" . They spread around, and conquer the crucible cities, Uhl, Uld, etc, and found their own, Nokron, Nokstella, the Unnamed City, Sellia, Ordina, the Stargazer town, Zamor, and Leyndell. But Marika betrays the Lord of Night's cult, and becomes the Greater Will's avatar/spokewoman/goddess. A civil war ensues, the other Numens craft a weapon that can hurt the Greater Will's emissaries out of a god's body, but Marika and her Golden Order forces win and punish Nokron and Nokstella below ground, and the Unnamed city is specifically hit by a "malformed star" sent by Marika and becomes the place where the Erdtree sucks away life with its root (we know what kind of juice the Erdtree loves the most).
Now, to the question: why did Radahn stop the stars? Two answers. The one I like less is he was trying to save Sellia from another malformed star. The one I prefer is that he was so enamored of Godrick that he was in fact loyal to Marika, and since Sellia was spared by the purge we might think they kept neutral in a way. So him stopping the stars means he shielded the Lands between from the influences of the Lord of the Night. Ranni is still devoted to the Lord of the Night and the Age of Stars, however, as her mother used to before Radagon fought her for hrt "heresy" and then wooed her (astrologers, night sky, etc). So she (together with Melina the GEQ, and Miquella, I think) had to steal the Rune of Death to kill her half brother Godwyn champion of the Golden Order first and her brother Radahn in order to let Fate come back to the Lands Between, shattering the shield of "eternal rebirth" Marika imposed and have a chance to bring the Lord of Night back to the Numens.
I always thought about how there isn’t any impact site or any reference of the unnamed city any where on the map, but it would make sense if the giant crater in the centre of the map IS the impact site of the Elden beast, taking a giant chunk of land with it. It also explains why the erdtree grows in an awkward angle out of the edge of a cliff, instead of on flat ground on the Altus Plateau.
DLC goes brrrrrr
This is a whole lot of no.
Much more fitting to his personality than the defensive "turtle" strategy. I enjoy this, makes Radahn even more awesome.
Ultimate Omegachad Radahn summoning monsters from the stars just to murder them to look cool is ABSOLUTELY my new headcannon
Thank you for creating the footage of Radahn fighting Astel! it really fleshes out this theory and makes it that much easier to believe. I'm on board!
I'm still riding the high of the story trailer and wanted to put out another video!
A warning for my lore and sleep people: things get intense around the 12 min. mark ^^
Hope you guys enjoy!
- Zayf
I love you and everything about this video. You also now have me wondering more about the Carian siblings who all seemed to despise fate in their own ways.
I still wonder how Rykard would even remotely align with the other siblings’ goals. The siblings’ tolerances for one another signify some deeper connection, but perhaps “defiance” is the extent of their respect.
I love that Radahn is a rot ridden mobile corpse like creature that shambles around feasting on the flesh of what used to be his friends and comrades like a rabbid dog
I'm a researcher and intel analyst whose life circumstances directed me towards this game and also allowed me to deeply focus on it. It sated a very strong curiosity I naturally have and utilised but for things that are typically very heavy. Elden Ring offered a reprieve from that but I have struggled to find someone to collaborate with as taking on the entire task, while possible, would be exhausting. I create cinematic footage and stills of the in-game and tinker with it from the potential and beauty present in it's environment.
While still intending to upload snippets of some of what I put together just for reference the research and connections I've drawn haven't had a chance to be made available. I am drawn to psycho-historical implications, science, cross cultural mythos, and archetypal representation inspired by trying to explain the nature of existence.
I will shoot an email. You're work is phenomenal and I would love to contribute.
this theory actually does make more sense. it explains how he fought the stars to a standstill and also why it halted rannis fate: just before you get to ranni you have to fight astel. astel smashed into the lands between after the defeat of radahn opening the path to nocron and the fingerslaying blade that ranni sought all the while also opening a path to the location where ranni needs to venture. astel opens a path not only for rannis fate but also for her lord consort without whom she cannot ascend to godhood. for all that to happen you have to slay radahn, a warrior that smashed astels left and right to prove his strength, planting fear into them and halting their assault onto the lands between. it makes sense now why all this is necessary.
We seriously need more people that love the lore like this man!
appreciate the support!
Off topic. I believe the tarnished is cursed. As soon as the Elden Beast dies the tarnished is forced back to the beginning of their adventure, forced to endure the events of the Elden Ring again and again, forever repeating the cycle and only ever getting stronger.
You're definitely on the right track. As soon as you mentioned his title in JP I paused with an epiphany to confirm that all of the ashes of war and sorceries associated with Radahn are attraction not repulsion, which coincides with his teacher being an alabaster lord as opposed to an onyx lord. There's nothing to indicate that Radahn mastered gravity magic as a whole, only evidence that he sought mastery of PULL gravity magic. And sure enough you go right into that immediately after.
You can find Alabaster lords by the Limgrave Seaside Ruins beach, in the Lake of Rot, near the Raya Lucarian Academy lift, and in the Yelough Anix Tunnel. The Alabaster lord's sword is forged from a blue-white meteoric ore.
You can Onyx lords in the Royal Grave evergaol behind Caria Manor and at the end of the Sealed Tunnel in Altus. The Onyx lord's greatsword is forged from golden-hued meteoric ore.
Also, there's a possibility for an alternate translation related to the lords.
The game refers to them as "a race of ancients with skin of stone", translated from 「古種族石の肌を持つ」. 種族 can mean race; tribe; ethnic group; species; genus; family. But it also has a usage in astronomy, meaning a stellar population (pop I, II, III). Stellar population is a means of classifying stars by composition, relating indirectly to age of the universe. Population III is a theoretical class of star, the oldest of the three, the all of which would by now be observed as remnants (WHITE dwarfs, neutron stars, BLACK holes).
So the alternative translation would be that Alabaster/Onyx lords possess skin of ancient star stone.
I'm loving this video on Radahn! He's always been incredibly fascinating to me. Not only a great general but just a beast and champion in his own right! Great work on the video, it really illuminates a lot on various things with the Fates and everyone tethered to their fate via the stars
Thanks so much for all the support @aLoneFox19!
Hi guys, I appreciate that some of you have nicely let me know that the music is a bit loud!
I hear your feedback loud and clear (badum tiss) and will 100% mix it lower in the next video.
Thank you for letting me know in a polite way!
Hey Zayf! I really liked your theory! I also like the way you edit your videos.
Is there any way to get a hold of you? Can't find any contact information on your channel and I can't message you on twitter.
Anyways: Keep it going friend! You're doing a good job!
I think Radahn halted the stars for one reason, he was fully aware of his destiny and did so knowing he would have to be the final test for the new elden lord.
I think Radahn knew only the true elden lord had to kill him in order to progress further, he was also knowledgeable about the stars and how they steer destiny and he knew the future elden lord had to face him in battle, which fits his character perfectly if he knew he would be felled by the new elden lord.
It's only because I like your content that I shared my feedback. Want to help make it better with it ^_^
Great stuff, these vids. Jumping on to some different theories, always fresh =D
@@Silly_Illidan I call that "skill" :D
I think that's Radhn's actual reason. Everything else is just fell into place, or was hyped up and over Glorified for story telling purposes 2nd and 3rd hand by People recounting it throughout the ages.
I know this is an old video from before the Dlc, but since it's on the same subject, I'll put my theory here.
After finishing the DLC as thoroughly as possible, reading the description of every item I picked up, doing all but Thiollier's quest (which admittedly puts a massive hole in my knowledge surrounding St Trina), exploring every location, and defeating every boss. I believe that Radahn halted the stars for the same reason the game claims he learned gravity magic: sentimentality. It is his emotional attachment to Ranni, specifically his desire to avoid fighting her.
We already know from the base game that both Ranni and Radahn are sentimental. Both go out of their way to keep people around they have an emotional connection to, despite how those people hinder them. Blaidd, and Igi for Ranni (Igi is frankly incompetent at his job and Blaidd is actually her jailer), and Leonard the horse that is too small to carry his master. All this on top of the likely relationships between the siblings that you pointed out here.
Radahn knew Ranni was an Emperyan. When Miquella asked Radahn to be his consort, he knew this would make Ranni a competitor. There can be only one God and one Elden Lord. All the other contenders have to die or step aside. He knew Ranni would refuse to step aside so he stopped the whole game to avoid that final confrontation.
But diving even further, I feel there is something to your conclusion here, though I would change one small thing. It was not his motive to fight the strongest possible foe he could, but the goal. For the reasons I outlined above, he challenged not just the stars, but the Greater Will itself, all so he could put an end to a world in which brothers and sisters were born fated to destroy each other.
Great observation about Onyx vs. Alabaster sorcery. You're the 1st person I've listened to/watched to make that observation, and so distinctively.
It wasn’t Ranni he was trying to stop, it was Miquella
But what's exactly the link between the motion of the stars and Miquella's plans
@@of_jaggernaut2507 In castle sol (the fort being owned by miquella) the inhabitants are praying for an eclipse to revive godwyn, idk how they'll do that but radahn is preventing this eclipse.
@@HH-ni5hm but a eclipse is the moon and sun not really the stars in the same way
If anyone has control over the eclipse it would be ranni
@@myersmayhem2023the sun is a star
@@sholeusmaximus1666 yes the in science this is correct this is art and story try to have a bit more creativity in this endeavor
Plot twist, it was his own fate he was avoiding.
It's been a while since I was fully convinced by a lore video. Thank you for resetting the counter.
Appreciate you @fiveward! and love the slippy avatar
For me I think it's all about Miquella. Miquella since child wanted Radahn as consort and maybe this is the reason why Radahn learned to hold the stars and freeze fate at a young age earning the Starscourge title. And probably the reason why Malenia wage war to Radahn to stop him but failed because of his Mimic Slime sized balls. XD
I'm so happy your work has had a bigger reach with this video. There have always been a certain quality you've had on you videos and it definitely deserves a larger audience :)
*this and some of your other videos, didn't see how much views they had gathered since I always see them the first few days
thank you kindly @lovesiriusblack!
Your music choices in all of your videos are just sublime
Awesome video! That Radagn Fight cinematic was fantastic!
Appreciate you as always Sax! Thanks bro!
Considering the DLC now implies that Radahn was indeed impeding the goal of Miquella, hence why he fought so hard even after being poisoned by Scarlet Rot, I'd love to think that his main goal was always to beat up more of Astel's kind, and stalling Miquella for as long as possible was just an additional bonus he unexpectedly landed on. The festival was always meant to keep Radahn moving and in perpetual state of conquest, as he would have died faster if he wasn't doing something to ignore the pain, something he loved.
Also would love to wonder how the Golden Order and the inhabitants of Sellia would have reacted to when Radahn began this hunt, probably using the beach as his battlefield.
Marika looking over the horizon from Leyndal, seeing comet after comet of eldritch beings worthy to rival the Elden Beast in status being pulled into Caelid: "Dammit not again..."
Thank you for this fresh theory and the wonderfully edited video! However, one point - a particularly important one - is missing here. We know from Sellen, among others, that:
"The stars alter the fate of the Carian royal family. And the fate of your mistress, Ranni. But long ago, General Radahn challenged the swirling constellations, and in a crushing victory, arrested their cycles. Now, he is the force that repulses the stars. If General Radahn were to die, the stars would resume their movement."
So if Radahn's motivation is to draw the stars to himself in order to challenge and triumph over them, why doesn't he just do it? After all, he is keeping them in stasis, as evidenced by the cutscene after his boss fight, after which the stars immediately resume their movement.
He's mad now due to the scarlet rot. He is no longer the man he was.
Fantastic editing and composition! I actually really like the theory that Radahn wanted to conquer the stars but like, not travel so far to kill them. Very relatable.
He's back with more! Love the content, keep up the incredible work!
Appreciate you!
In very early drafts of the game, the second phase of Radahn's fight involved an Astel, descending in the meteor Radahn now uses to fall from the sky.
That's why I think he's stopping the stars from moving, to prevent a legion of Astels to ravage the Lands Between. Elden Ring has a lot of extraterrestrial elements and concepts, and maybe Radahn was the only one concerned with a potentiel alien invasion. Maybe the guy was simply tinfoil hat-minded!
This
this this! i think zullie the witch mentioned this???
I vaguely remember that cut content of the radahn fight was and astel falling into his arena as the meteor instead of him
Another absolute banger, Zayf.
I also love the logic here. Radahn simply wanted to throw hands with the stars.
This theory is totally awesome and makes sense for who Radahn is. I want to see him crush stars.
There's a piece of removed content that featured Astel crashing down from the sky instead of Radahn in the phase 2 transition. I think it reinforces the idea that Radahn is the one yanking these guys out of the sky as he pleases. Would've also been cool to see it used in the animation you did of their fight.
Great video, btw. Loved the way you presented this theory. The animated battle was a nice touch that tied it all together
It's likely the reason he did it was just as you said, but the greater will might have approved of his goal and helped him in subtle ways.
The combination of your voice, the music and the editing format makes me feel like im watching a documentary, absolutely amazing work on this video
wow that is high praise for sure @davinshapka3211, thanks!
Annnnnnddddd....he was bewitched by Miquella all along. He literally sent Melania to kill him so he could infuse his soul into Mogh's body to become his consort. And Ranni was the only one who could throw a wrench in Miquella's plan. So in the end, Ranni is the only demi-god that isnt an evil self serving maniac. The DLC only solidified her ending even more as the good ending. Ranni just pushes the reset button on this messed up world and takes us into a new era. In the end, Radahn was just a puppet and Miquella his puppetmaster.
Why you thing Miquella is evil maniac?
I don't think Radahn was charmed the whole time he might have agreed to be Miquella consort for whatever reason but it seems like he changed his mind, after all he didn't let Melania kill him and he had help from Ranni during his war with Melania because we know that Iji (Rannis war Concealer) was the one making rot resistant weapons for Radahns army and both of those things wouldn't happen if he was still Miquellas pawn.
@@nzothfatherofdream9231 He cast out his ability to love in order to ascend to godhood. He actively uses love to enchant and bewitch all those he wants to serve his purpose, whether they want it or not (like with Ansbach and Mohg). Miquella's goal is one of compassion and love, but by becoming a god he would enchant and strip away everyone's freedom to defy the order he creates.
Ranni's methods were cutthroat and brutal, but at least her end goal was to just leave and let mankind decide its own fate after getting rid of the gods. Miquella would end up just like Marika if we didn't kill him (St. Trina says godhood would be his prison in one of her dialogues).
i mean yeah Miquella post-great rune was def a psycho, but pre great rune he didnt have the weird charm effect. Every demigod became incredibly corrupted by their great runes power, even Morgot (Stockholm syndrome poster boy)
@@Vinnini ahahaha bro what are you talking about?? Free will?? Broh its Elden Ring universe not some disney fairy tail.
Ranni actually started all the destruction events, because of her plans almost all the Lands between are in ruins, thousands if not millions are dead because of her plans, and in the end when we helped her to kill every one who was on her way she actually says:”Now cometh the age of the stars.
A thousand year voyage under the wisdom of the Moon.
Here beginneth the chill night that encompasses all, reaching the great beyond.
Into fear, doubt, and loneliness...
As the path stretcheth into darkness."
Good luck bro if you think Ranni is "good"
That music in the beginning. I’m at work I had to stand, put my hands on my hips and stare off in the distance enigmatically like I was being summoned 🤣
Great video man, it's amazing to see literally every video be like an order of magnitude more impressive than the previous. I loved the visuals and music!
Your voice, pacing, editing, and polish is fantastic. So glad I found your page.
Can’t wait to see your channel grow and grow! 🙏
Holy hell, seeing Radahn go up against several Astels is so cool! I like this theory, falls in line with his character 👏🏻
glad you enjoyed it @avi_rivera!
Love it. A+
Damn dude. That cinematic you made at the end was sick AF.
appreciate you @scott_chocolate!
Ranni and Melina are both linked and working for Miquella, he sent Melina to bring the chosen tarnished Torrent along with the mission to burn the tree. When meeting Ranni for the first time, she has blanketed the church of ellah with sleep, speaking of Torrent's former owner wanting the chosen tarnished to have the spirit bell. But wait there's more, correlations with Tanith and her Consorts helm depicts a Queen of a foreign land, a Queen who has been shown in the first DLC trailer, the helms description talks of Tanith's life as a dancer, combative dancer also shown in the trailer, along with all the story hints of an accursed flame of blasphemy not referencing Rykard directly but the blasphemous flame Rykard would later control and utilize, a flame and power from a foreign land. St. Trina may be a character hunting Miquella not actually Miquella or aligned with him and his ideal, as stated by Miyazaki, we will know the story of the two, making St. Trina may have a possible blood relation to Malenia, Miquella, and even Millicent. My question is, Is Godwyn alive in the land of shadow?
Holy crap the Radahn vs malformed stars fight clips are some insane production quality. Well done, mate.
The dev just need to release an official novel/book of Elden Ring in it entirety to make everything official. Lore video is great but with so many theory floating around nothing is set in stone. For all we know Radahn might work for NASA and Mohg a simp and a pdf.
You did an awesome job creating a visual for us. Fantastic work
Interesting theory, but if he's trying to pull down the stars, why are they just frozen instead?
I really want to mention that, Radahn looks so similar to King Gaiseric, from Berserk. Even the depictions in his armor, like tragoth in his gloves (tragoth is described in the bull goat talisman) look similar to king gaiseric. That's why i really wanna se him in the DLC.
Ah, new head canon acquired.
Having under 10k subs for how well thought out and interesting your content is is actually criminal. You will go far with this man thank you for the great videos!
I think it’s interesting (though I’m not sure how it would tie into the story) that in cut content there used to be a falling animation and perhaps an appearance for astel within radahns arena. Again idk how that would tie into the current storyline but I definitely think the third theory you presented is the most plausible! Great video btw!!
Yes I was looking for a comment like this! The third theory and Astel's unused crashing down animation in Radahns arena fit together very well.
Maybe the devs intended for Radahn to roar and pull in Astel from space and letting it crash down onto you instead of doing it himself.
@@Cleoli2 Dude that actually makes sense! I at first didn't see the connection but yeah, I really like the third theory about how Radahn sought out these cosmic beings to fight and make a name for himself! Thx for the insight btw!
2 potential challenges to this theory
when asking sellen about nokron, she explicitly says radahn ‘repulses’ the stars. she could be wrong but in her mind he’s clearly driving them away, not towards.
it also doesn’t make sense to me for radahn to have been pulling the stars in as when he dies, literally immediately after the stars begin to fall, convenient timing if he was trying to bring them to himself the whole time
Spoilers for DLC
If Radahn really was sincere maybe he stopped the stars for Miquella. Halting Ranni from her path of godhood and helping his. That’s a whole debate in itself now if Radahn wanted to be with miquella now but it’s a possibility now as well. Maybe he chose Miquella since he was picked to be his lord over his sister and her path to godhood.
Radahn learned gravity magic not so he could become more powerful, but because he refused to ever be separated from his horse, Leonard
Wow, i didnt know Nexpo did Elden Ring lore
Lol what? 😂
I just screen shot this and text it to him haha
Even had to go watch a Nexpo vid to compare it against. Eerily similar 😱
@@TheUltimatePositionOfPower he said he is gonna check it out haha
the cinematic of Radahn fighting Astel was soooo satisfying after hearing your theory. What a sweet addition indeed
I love the implication of Radahn's true power, considering that he fought Malenia to a point where she was forced to make the Scarlet Aeonia bloom, while holding back the stars. I imagine Radahn would have absolutely smoked Malenia if he fought her with his full power.
I think that the Carian siblings were very close to each other (and probably with Renalla as well) and all of them were included somehow in the Night of the black knives. Rykard is obviously involved as we can read from that item description gifted by Ranni to him if she fails but I also think Radhan was a part of it as well. I think that Radhan stopped the stars (however that had to be done, most probably an offensive act) on Rannis request as it was necessary for the night of the black knives to happen and for Ranni to change bodies, for her two fingers not being able to influence her as well as Blaid to stay on her side and help her even though she discarded her fate as Empyreans. Later, after Ranni recovered her powers (she was weak after changing bodies, that is why she didn't participated in the Shattering as well as didn't keep/guard the Black knife which she need to kill her Two Fingers) and maybe even memory (why doesn't she know that Radhan holds the stars? She never tells us), Radhan should have let the starts to move again and her fate to move forward but Malenia came to Radhan in order to let the stars to move again as it was necessary for the ritual at Castle Sol to be performed (they needed an eclipse which can't happen without stars moving) i.e. to try to revive Godwyn, a wish of Miquella (that is also why you have to defeat Radhan for the DLC). Radhan couldn't let the stars to move again yet as it still wasn't a ripe time for Ranni. As Radhan went mad after confrontation and the stalemate with Malenia, he never let the stars move again, halting Ranni's fate forever (or at least until we come and kill everything without questioning) although that was never the plan.
The more lore and theories I hear about radahn the more I wish we fight him at full power in the DLC
And you were satisfied, it's a shame that after hearing this phrase many times from players everyone is now complaining about the fact that he is the final boss of the DLC and not Godwyn, knowing that the plot of his story is that he died in the most absolute way and he's cause of everything we see in the game
I'm sorry but Radahn is the true tragic hero of Elden Ring. He was respected and even genuinely loved by so many, he loved his steed enough to learn magic to keep his steed safe and he's holding the stars up and or protecting everyone even after he was rotted. The guy is a serious king
Maybe he was trying to prevent an eclipse?
And stripping some golden child from his fate ? 👀
The eclipse was collateral damage as it prevented the ritual Miquella was trying to perform
Did not know I needed a Radahn vs Astel fight scene in my life. But I do now.
I actually really like this take if I was going to bet my ruins on his true intentions I'd place them all on this one for sure
i like the idea that it wasn't radahn who stopped the motion of the stars, but the stars themselves who stopped moving in response to radahns challenge.
like maybe what radahn actually did was pull the stars towards him, and the stars, realizing there was no way to go but towards radahn, stopped their motion entirely.
and with this state being achieved all fate now revolves around radahn, long as he lived, nobody else tied to the stars could see the end of theirs.
I love your theory BUT you still don't explained why the stars have been stopped? You claim Radahn simply calling them to fight, why did the stars stopped moving?
What is THE REAL REASON?
You only claimed the reason Radahn challenged the stars but in the end of the video you didn't explained why the stars stopped moving and this is the reason many still support of the theory on protecting Selia.
Please explain why the star stopped because I love this theory.
Unitententional consequence of pulling something in a vacuum? Instead of actually pulling it may have just stopped them where they all were, or very very slowly pulling the many many MASSIVE objects around the lands between; being that far away I feel like his spells would start to lose effectiveness
Plus if they're going away from him harder or equal to his pull it would just slow it down or stop it, considering how fast they move when released that makes more sense I guess
That thumbnail looks like the cover of a DVD re-release of an 80s fantasy movie you find at Walmart in the early 2000s.
Yes, my brain damage is very real and very specific.
...I would be lying if I said that's what I was going for but that's hilarious 😂
they never should of nerfed him
The pre-nerf state was a bug filled nightmare of mechanics not working properly. All his attacks were double the size, horseback was entirely impossible for the arrows, and second phase well…only a couple builds could do second phase at that time
and now, a month later, you got more than you wished for 💀
Your videos are of such high quality, oh my gosh man. Good job
I think in-between. He is most definitely playing defense by the time we come around, considering his brain is being eaten by sipholytic rot, yet the stars were still actively being held back, and he still wasn't crushing Leonard. I think with what little of himself remained, he was keeping the interstellar monsters away. However, in his glory days, he had to have earned his titles of both the star scourge and the strongest demigod from somewhere. While I don't think he actively pulled threats to the lands between, I think it's quite possible he pulled stars that were already falling to him, where he then smashed the falling stars and anything that may have come with them thus keeping the lands safe. Something of note that I feel isn't really taken into account in your video is Radahn wasn't just a mindless muscle head seeking glory. While he was certainly driven and motivated by the tales of the previous two elden lords, he was also fairly intelligent and kind. He learned one of the in universe hardest spell systems and mastered it at a young age, and his reason for learning it is as stated, so he wouldn't have to abandon his friend and companion Leonard. I'm pretty sure it is also written that he was a serious animal/nature lover, which generally shows a great deal of kindness.
Radahn knew all along. HE knew that a life under a charming "love" is no life at all. He is a general, but he is kind not like Miquella who is a manipulative little scrub.
After watching this video I realized that Radahn is a badass and now I want to make a character dedicated to his set up.
It seems very unlikely to me tho.
If Astel and his kind where something Radahn wanted to challenge he could have done so without tempering with the stars, since they were already here. He coudl have jsut chellenged them himself.
Also once we kill him a star crashes down on the lands, so if Radahn really wanted to pull things in as your theory suggests, then he would have no reason to keep it away with all his might even while going mad from scarlet rot.
Small side note: I think the Alabastor and Onyx lords, said to have arisen when a meteor struck, are actually the meteor themselves (kind of obvious but I’m going somewhere with this). They fell to the lands between, and when people went to the impact craters they found onyx/alabasters. It would fit in with the Astel creatures, who are malformed stars that also fell from the void. They both have strangely humanoid features for void-born creatures, but the Astels are much weirder and more distorted. This would potentially tell us that Space-fairing creatures are in fact quite humanoid, as the onyx/alabaster lords are not deformed and resemble humans a lot. With this we are much closer to being able to imagine what a real star may be like. Following this, maybe the Outer Gods too are much more humanoid than we originally imagined?
“Radahn! There are giant MONSTERS in the SKY!” “Hmmm. That is a problem. How am I supposed to kill something up that high?”
14:22 welp, mild spoilers, i think the dlc solidly asserts that none of these theories were exactly correct. i won't elaborate bc that'd be major spoilers, and i'm sure zayf will probably make an update on this at some point on exactly that
oh my god the cut gameplay of astel the star monster crashing down like a meteor which is exactly like radan’s boss battle could have been cut because it was too obvious that he challenged the stars. meaning that it must be a critical plot point that they wanted to obscure
I thought this video was really good... but when I saw the battle at the end, THAT is what made me subscribe. Well done reading the room, lol!
glad I could win you over 💪
Awesome vid. It's interesting that gravity magic spells and attacks do more damage to other gravity related enemies like Astel. He really was minmaxing for these bosses lol
What is the music playing at 10:00? Sounds incredible.
We know the gods descended to the world from the stars, and we know of Radahn and Miquella's plan to usurp godhood. I assume it was to prevent any other outside influence before Miquella could ascend.
Knowing that Miquella is coming for him
Radahn: If i don't halt the stars, then I'm gay!
That end combat with Astel and Radahn was way to fucking cool 😭😭
Thanks @ZhePomme! I have a lot of fun editing fights.
Honestly loving your lore vidoes and find yours to be actually a lot more investigative than other channels. Any chance of making a video on the concept of death and rebirth and how it actually functions? Everyone just brushes it aside without a clear explanation
Godamn I love seeing those sources pop up occasionally, awesome work man.
Radon’s full power comes from both the alabaster and the onyx lords abilities together the first is the pull your opponent enclose the second effect is to blast them away
I like that Radahn's purple gravity powers is probably a reference to Admiral Fujitora.
Radahn is the Good Boi of Elden Ring, while we the Tarnished are an indestructible, indomitable terror for all.
Pretty sure there was also cut content regarding Radahn's fight and an Astel falling from the sky during it.