Elden Ring - Literally reading the bones
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- Опубліковано 16 гру 2023
- Placidusax is a living relic of an era from before even the Erdtree, but there may be an unusual parallel between it and the modern deities that replaced it.
Song used: Village Ruins - King's Field IV OST - Ігри
The fact the heads are visibly distinct enough that you can look at them in a still frame and reasonably decide one does kind of look more masculine is one of the things that makes datamining FromSoftware games so rewarding. In what world was a player ever supposed to be able to see that tiny difference while Placidusax was actively trying to kill them? And yet they put the detail in anyway.
It also may have something to do with the fact that the dragons attacked Leyndell, maybe to make a dragon elden lord again...right? I don't know the reason why the war against the dragons happened.
Спасибо за ваши видео, я хотел бы узнать можно ли в elden ring или серии dark souls заменить модельку игрока на модельку npc ( крыс, крабов, полых войнов и тп) с сохранением присущих им характеристик и анимаций?
Legit why they're the best developer in the industry. True artistry isn't afraid to go unnoticed.
This is why I love your videos showing players small details they would otherwise miss while playing.
It’s always that level of detail that makes you know that FromSoft put love and care into many aspects of this game :3
"Back in my day being Elden Lord meant something..." Placidusax reminiscing the good old days
"One really needed to have their heads screwed on straight to become Elden Lord", Placi humblebragging to Gransax.
@@colinnixon7739 Im guessing the joke flew over Bro's head
@@colinnixon7739 Undead Hunter videos hehe
"and there were not self-making-s3x beings... those where days"
Boomer Placidusax
I think one of my favorite lore bits about Elden Ring story is how much of their civilizations are build on top of the ruins of other civilizations while pretending they are the greatest and they will never fall into the same ruins.
You have Godfrey being called the First Elden Lord, despise very clearly another Elden Lords existing before him, like they didnt exist or count.
The capital is build on top of the ruins of another older civilization that existed once at the roots of the Erdtree but other than the crucible knights it seems that no one remembers that.
The Erdtree itselfs grew from the "primordial form of the crucible" but now their state religion seems to consider that belief as heresy.
This is an old world with old gods and old civilizations that have risen and rule and fall and die and the new civilizations just put some dirt on top of them and say "Nope, not gonna happen to us".
god fucking damn do I wish more people who played this game understood basic shit like this haha. astounding how unobservant the unga bungas can be
@@badflamer Wow, slow down a bit. Given how cryptic and scarse every single element about the story are, it can be really hard to understand anything, without videos like these to enlighten yourself
It's easy to go through a game like this and not pay attention to the architecture, simmer down.@@badflamer
Also Marika is literally called Queen Marika the Eternal,or the many mentions to how the age of plenty was just a fleeting moment.
@@TheSkyfolk Nah man. I'm not talking about architecture. just basic fucking general observation and listening to dialogue that you don't even have to read through. Legit can't tell you how many times i've heard people say that the omen under the capital are demons. there is a depressing fucking section of the fromsoft fandom that is seemingly outright hostile to the notion of these games being any deeper than a sad puddle of cum.
What is also interesting is that the pose we initially see Placidusax in, with the two heads extending towards the sky, mimics the pose the two fingers take when they are trying to make contact with the outer god.
to me it seems a lot like the caduceus
When I first saw that, I genuinely though that what it was doing, endlessly trying to communicate with its long gone god
You know… now that you mention it, it is a bit of a coincidence that there are two heads remaining, out of five. Meanwhile, the two fingers are the ruling force in the lands between, with the three fingers’ influence having been “cut off”. Might not be intentional, but interesting parallels nonetheless.
I saw a post on reddit speculating that he mutilated himself to only have two heads as a way of better resembling the Two Fingers to appease the current order
@@MasterSean-ql9xiI don’t think the removed three fingers/heads reference frenzy, it’s two heads left out of five, five fingers represent the intelligence given to beastmen by a higher power (from Cinquedea desc)
I love Placidusax’s intro cutscene - it’s not subtle but it’s clear that the devs want you to compare the position he’s in to the 2 Fingers, reaching up, trying to contact his god.
I swear that his pose is a Bloodborne reference of some sort, or FromSoft is trying to evoke similar symbolism as they had with the Amygdalas and certain Caryll Runes. He's in an almond-shaped pose with a DNA helix jutting out of the top, if you want to really break the pose down. I think this is supposed to evoke similar feelings of otherwordly power in association with Placidusax and, probably more poignantly, in its' ancient now-lost god.
Given that Placidusax seems to be the OG Elden Lord, I wonder if his god was primarily capable of creating complex life and controlling time? The OG era has an implied focus on dragons and beastmen, both of which are the simplest/earliest creatures with hands, and Placidusax exists in a storm which is beyond time's meddling. Storms and chaos are fairly well-established as intertwined symbols, and by controlling the storm, we seem to be able to go back in time for the boss fight. If the OG dragon god controlled storms, which can control time, and can create things out of chaos, which is often symbolized by great storms of detritus...was this ancient god a god of storms, time, and space prior to losing their power of the world? The god of possibility, as it were? Or was it more or less a god of chaos, not possibility, which is why it was usurped eventually?
If he originally had 5 heads, was he therefore originally in the shape of a full hand instead of just 2 of the fingers? Maybe as he lost heads the original 2 finger hand lost fingers, since he was Elden lord at the time so had more impact on the order
@@JackdotC That's kind of a crazy thing to put into perspective too. Which begs the question, what are the hands exactly (Fingers) in this case. SInce the Gods clearly spoke to Plac at one point (mimicing a hand) and now we have what appears to be leftovers of said hands. And the things that crawl around near the academy as well.
With three heads missing to parallel the three fingers
"His god"? I'm pretty sure Placidusax himself is a god, as he's described in-game as an original Elden Lord, before Marika's era.
The way Placidusax's necks seem to come out of the body in a spiral formation is kinda fascinating. Unless it's just a trick of the eye, makes me wonder what they'd look like in their prime with all 5 heads in this seemingly counter-clockwise corkscrew.
If shadow of the erdtree has any hint of time shenanigans I kinda want to see prime Placidusax.
If it is to be believed that we’ll explore the spirit realm, then I’ll bet more money on a (possible) dragon that represents the 3 heads missing from Placidusax??
Speculation going crazy over here lol
Hell seeing Marika or Radagon somehow in their prime would be nice maybe not as bosses tho
@@spaghetticondo.m9116
That too. Seeing them at all (especially if before they became one, assuming they were ever separate) would be really cool.
We got prime Fraudahn but not prime Placiduchad. Smh Miyazaki wtf?
@@Oracle_Orhyn CURSE YOU BAYLE
I love how they made the "Red King and White Queen" thing literal with Radagon and Marika's hair colors.
Marikas hair is white? Huh... I allways thought it was blonde.
@@draw2death421 it is, but it often looks (to me, anyway) to be platinum blonde(between white and yellow), and considering the rest of what's shown in this video, I highly doubt that's coincidence.
@@draw2death421 I just went and looked at the art for Marika; her hair looks especially-golden in a lot of art that should have a fair amount of dynamic lighting in the scene, like the Shattering (red-orange sparks against white hair makes it look more full/golden in color), while the really-old portrait of her in the Roundtable Hold confirms her hair is definitely supposed to be a platinum blonde/almost-white.
It confused the hell out of me too which is why I had to look it up lol
I really hope we get more dragon lore in Shadows of the Erdtree. They have such an interesting history in the Lands Between, but are still one of the most vague.
i don't know man i have dragon-fatigue. hopefully they do something unique with them
We've had secret dragon bosses in the dark souls dlcs. I would if the secret dlc boss for elden ring wasn't a dragon, maybe something elden
well if time shenanigans are involved, we might end up fighting Gransax.
@@mush2282. those dlc dragons are always the best in each game. But im not sure how youd go about topping placidosacks theyre pne of the best dragon bosses Fromsoftware has done.
Perhaps we'll end up fighting a dragon in human form.
@@alexisleskinen9870maybe we fight placidusax while it still has all 5 heads? I at least hope we would be able to see it at its greatest, even if we cant fight them
The female head being severed does kind of mirror Radagon and Marika. When we get to the Erdtree the only one who still seems conscious is Radagon, and when we defeat him and Elden Beast Marika’s head is laying on the floor
My favorite part of Elden Ring lore is probably this idea that there's numerous different gods, each with their own mechanics of how death work, and they seem to be able to be changed out like political parties changing the tax rate.
The modern FromSoft games all have an amazing sense of this metaphysical system beyond mortal comprehension, which you get glimpses into but will never have all the answers for.
Most people worship gods because they want to pray for something. That’s probably why they change and worship different gods due to the differences in their powers and natures.
Man, I'm glad our political leaders don't control the very fabric of existence and the afterlife
@@DarkSol16 At least... Not yet...
Things could always get worse!
Now that is an interesting analogy😲
There's something very funny about literally reading the bones to determine meaning. It's like participating in some prophetic divination to learn ancient secrets, but you're going through a video game.
Another great Zullie video almost two years after _Elden Ring_ was released. Truly a masterpiece of a game.
and still no dlc.......
@@MK-vi2cm Stay strong, Tarnished
@@MK-vi2cm leaks imply late february
jesus christ is it actually already 2?
@@KrillWhisperer came out February 2022, and Feb '24 is right around the corner...
Take note that the Rebis figure itself stands upon a defeated dragon, which in turn sits upon the world. The dragon symbolizes the prime matter from which all came. The dragon is also the symbol of unity of the material and spiritual, as well as ascension beyond their bounds.
This can be taken further when you recall the Fingers - Two Fingers that now rule, Three Fingers that have been imprisoned, once making a whole hand in total, just how Placidusax once had five heads. It isn't too far fetched to guess, then, that Placidusax was the Elden Lord of that ancient age of Five Fingers and his replacement happened around the same time as the Three Fingers were entombed.
Two heads, and three more missing. Now where else have we seen two and three things separated?..
OH SHI
big if true
I'm lost, imma leave this comment here in case someone explains later.
@@TaggedByTim The 2 fingers= golden order
The 3 fingers= flame of frenzy and chaos.
Combine them and here we have it- 5 fingers, or the whole palm. Now look at Placidusax- he has 2 heads and 3 missing. Could this mean that the outer god that has left him is a combination of 2 and 3 fingers? And possibly it just got split into two entities? Think about this for awhile.
the god that left was the two hands combined omg@@Mad_racc00n
Another influence on Radagon/Marika may be the character Androgeus from Miyazaki's favorite tabletop game, RuneQuest. A game the setting of which (Glorantha) is centered around the various metaphysical Runes that make up the rules of reality, and has a creation myth that kicks off when a God steals (or borrows, depending on who you ask) the concept of Death (in the form of a sword) and uses it to slay the Golden Emperor Yelm, the God of Truth and Light. This kicks off a war between the gods.
Damn whomever that god was hopefully got fucking butchered in the ensuing fighting.
There's also the duality roman god Janus, associated with endings/beginnings
@@randomname123 I say this with all due respect, I don't wish to attack your viewpoint, just provide context, invite discussion and hopefully inform. Also, I am not a qualified Historian, Archaeologist or other such figure, just a guy with an interest in Ancient History and Mythology.
With that said, I will say that while I can see the similarity, there is at least one major difference, both of the faces of Janus are male, afaik. Radika™ is half Male and half Female, just like the Rebis.
Also, Radagon and Marika symbolize the Red King and the White Queen respectively, which is much closer to the Rebis again, whereas Janus was basically a head that adorned the top of most Doorways and Archways.
Marika and Radagon are also much more prominent having full statues, whereas Janus was more a ubiquitous and subtle figure, existing as a scaled down sculpture in the form of Bas Reliefs or surface carvings of the surrounding structure, as apposed to a separate and distinct carving, such as a statue. I could be wrong, yet afaik, Janus didn't have many if any statues dedicated to him solely. (Edit: I did a quick Google search and did find statues of Janus, yet to go along with the point I was getting at, the statues seem to be small busts rather than full bodied and larger statues. It shows his importance, yet it also shows how he was a more minor God as compared to Jupiter, Mars, etc.)
Lastly, his was more a specific role as guardian of Doorways, Thresholds and Past/Future. Marika and Radagon however are the dual rulers of all the lands, thereby having a much more general role whereas Janus' role was much more refined in scope. Not saying that they didn't have their own specific domains of expertise/responsibility, yet that was included with many others, as apposed to the duties that Janus was assigned.
I also lastly want to say that I love the idea of Janus. I used that as part of my old name on the internet for many years. So, no hate, just respect. ✌
@@Halcyon53 He's mentioned RuneQuest in an interview, and in the Dark Souls Design Works he mentioned that the concept of Quelaag came from an old tabletop wargame he played called "Dragon Pass", which was the predecessor to RuneQuest and also set in Glorantha. So he's been a fan for a while.
Google image search "dragon pass wargame tokens" if you want to see Cragspider, the OG Quelaag. She's one of the black tokens.
It would be so cool to fight a prime Placidusax.
Have you considered covering Vendrick's Blessing one day? The one you can get on the DLC crowns in DS2? I find it super fascinating given the lore context of even a partial cure for The Curse of Undeath, but hardly anybody knows about or uses it since it's obscure, doesn't carry over into NG+ & is such a pain to get.
Dark Souls 2 has some crazy lore that I feel wasn't adequately covered, for example the description of the Ivory Warrior Ring.
"Eleum Loyce existed to subdue the raging flame, *but when the ivory gates were flung open, the land grew cold and lifeless*.".
The implication being that Eleum Loyce was not always a frozen wasteland. There's also the description of the white ring.
"A precious ring which grants the protection of *Quella, god of dreams*."
Yeah so... don't really need to explain why that caught my attention.
DS2 fans will take every single opportunity to talk about DS2.
Of course, why would we not want to talk about objectively the best game FROM has ever made?@@Crestfallen_Warrior
@@nekotrash6580 That title belongs to Bloodborne but DS2 is the best in the souls trilogy, I agree.
Best Souls 2.
I kind of get the feeling that if all 5 heads were different and had different goals maybe that could be the reason the placidusaxs reign as elden lord ended. Infighting seems to be a common theme in Elden Ring and a lord that grapples with 5 different personalities all sharing one body would certainly lead to a ton of infighting. Maybe it was this inability to cooperate that caused the ruin of placidusaxs reign and drove their god away, the removal of the other 3 heads by the remaining 2 a way to create balance. We see the last 2 heads interwoven with each other attempting to communicate with their long gone god, attempting perhaps to communicate that they learned a lesson all to late.
But why did they start with 5 heads in the first place, when it's rather-implied that 5 independent minds are going to have difficulty making decisions that they all agree on? Because 5 heads were needed to represent 5 fingers, presumably, but why did the ancient god of Plucidusax's era need a living being to represent the 'hand of god' in the literal form of 5 heads? Maybe the idea is that this ancient god is such a primordial force/being that its' conveyance of power is therefore also represented in a primordial (read: crude) manner? It was a god representing early intelligence, giving its' followers 5 fingers and a curious mind, so maybe this is a god which decided to do everything important in 5s on principle? Maybe the 3 missing heads were torn off by whoever bested Plucidusax and ended its' reign, leaving 2 heads to "send a message" (literally and figuratively!) that the era of the the 5-fingered god was over, now is the beginning of an era of 2 minds, Two Fingers?
Maybe the Greater Will is actually manifesting itself in all the various "kami" of the ER world, and this is why there has been so much linear, advancing change over time as different Ages come and go. The Greater Will tries things, learns from it, then does everything in its' power to mold the world in a new direction, making way for a new Elden Lord and a new Age to begin, complete with a new prevailing manifestation of itself that won its' wars against other manifestations of the Greater Will. That would be an incredibly interesting concept, "what if God split itself up into different gods and let natural selection figure out what the best aspects of itself were, and what prevailing ideas should rule existence"?
edit: fixed a word.
@@Supercohboy the tarnished archaeologist has a great video on what the meaning behind 5, 2 and 3 fingers may represent. The sundering of the 5 fingered "hand" of god into one group of two fingers against the three seems to have happened a few times throughout Elden Ring history, mirroring the real life splitting of the Roman empire and religious traditions of the west. Your last point is very interesting, a whole new world could be developed from that thought :)
I'm more inclined to believe it's akin to Final Fantasy XIV's Dragonsong War. Humans growing envious with the power and vitality of the Dragon Elden Lord, and plotted to kill it to take it for their own. But either the power was too much for them, or they interrupted the ritual because they realised their actions would cause the undoing of their world if they completed it...
It’s also interesting to think that in Rani’s ending where an empyrean takes controls the new great rune or order of the world, it’s still a being of dual nature, the snow witch physical doll and the spirit of Rani. It’s a little more symbolic, bc I don’t think the doll consciously influences Rani or has a personality but the symbolism exists for her character
The entire game has symbolism of this duality. Ranni and Renna. Godwyn, dead and alive. Rykard and the serpent. Miquella and St. Trina. Even minor cases like Sellen's transfer, Rennala and whatever her second phase is, Boc and his transformation. A lot of characters are defined by two bodies (or people?).
@@CrabgarThere's also a theory of Melina and Ranni being a separated person, with Melina's face fit so well with Ranni's shadow face
@@Crabgar Rennala's second phase is an illusion created by Ranni.
To show us how great her mother once was, before being consumed by grief.
Doesn't being the pocket doll "loosen her tongue" I think that indicates some form of influence.
@@thewick-j1837I always took that line to imply that she just doesn't have full control of her faculties in the new host. Like having no filter coming out of anesthesia or something.
Just noticed as well, Placi's lightning bolt does look to have some runes on it, like the Cipher Pata or the Coded Sword too
I swear From Software has better world building than most other games put together.
It's why they're my favorite. Like, I enjoy other devs and games, but the way From is able to craft a compelling story and above all keep it consistent while making it completely miss able is legendary. Very few other devs come close.
They just leave things vague to give the world an ancient and mythical feel. There's a very long and forgotten history to everything you see but you'll never get to know. Which is great, I love it, but it isn't exactly "world building".
@@portalmanHUN I'd argue the opposite. Fromsoft has all the world-building without an actual story to follow. You're kinda just finishing the final chapter of a story they promise is very interesting and important but you don't get to experience any of it.
@@portalmanHUN They leave things vague but its clear they plan out what to leave out. They clearly have a history written down that they choose NOT to tell all. Yet it can be seen within those smaller details, details they clearly conveyed to the artists designing the world but not to us as the player.
Seem to forget GRRM involvement who did in fact do the world building for Elden ring and their job fromsoft was to destroy the world he built
it's interesting that the dragons' elden lord has so many traits in common with both the current god and the fingers themselves. under the golden order, it feels like there's a hierarchy, or at least a conflict of interests: marika, her elden lords and the fingers have always either subjugated or tried to subjugate one another, and the existence of placidusax (along with their name) seems to imply that things weren't always so tense
It’s as if the Dragons and Golden Order were influenced by the same God 🤔
I always found it odd that Placidusax necks are outstretched when you enter the arena like they are communing in the same way the 2 Fingers do. They also have 2 heads out of an original 5 much like the fingers are 2 out of a complete 5. Any correlation here?
He’s supposedly attempting to contact the dragon god of time who fled and perhaps using the same method the fingers use when trying to contact the greater will
omg i love these parallels its so intruiging
His god "disappeared" probably because of the fingers schism. As we remember, 5 fingered beasts' hand means intelligence (capability of using tools) and is a blessing of god. Since the god vanished old era of beasts has ended as they've lost power.
I dont think he is communing. Its more likely his atempting to do so. And perhaps trying to contact his Consort
@@shnorkeythefourth4572we technicly dont know if the god was a dragon or not. Some say the god was humanoid as we see on a statue in Malikeths arena surounded by wolfs.
There's one other person you didn't look at that fits this theme sort of, and creates a sort of...pattern for Elden Lords - Godfrey. Specifically him, and not Hoarah Loux. Because Loux wasn't Elden Lord, Godfrey was, and only after being merged with Serosh.
It almost seems like ONLY a being made of two, conflicting natures is able to become a true Elden Lord.
Interestingly, this conjoining is treated as a handicap, rather than an advancement
Imagine having 5 heads and each one’s trying to decide what to have for take out
It’d be chaotic :3
Exalted spiced meat?
Nah. Chicken feet, I like the sauce
We can get the sauce on the spiced meat
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAB
we had crab yesterday
I don't want the chicken foot sauce on spiced meat, that sounds gross
My stomach feels bleh I want some simple pasta
You liar, our stomach is fine
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB
NO, no, it feels bad, how do you not feel that
Actually, changed my mind, I want ribs.
Wait which did you want before?
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB
You know what, I'm actually liking the sound of the spiced meat with the chicken foot sauce
Whatever else we get I just want a nice sarsaparilla to go with it
Oooh that does sound good. Alright, that changes my answer, I want pizza. I like dipping the crust in the soda
Please don't, that goes in my stomach, too
It ends up like that anyways and you don't have to taste it
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB
Fine. We'll order a few things. Spiced meat with the chicken foot sauce, ribs, crab legs, and pizza with a root beer?
Sarsaparilla and root beer are NOT the same
Actually I wanted the ribs now, we don't need the spiced meat
I want the spiced meat though. Did we want the chicken foot sauce still?
I don't mind it
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB
WE'RE GETTING CRAB SHUT UP
Don't yell at her!
Look can we not do this now? Just make the order. Spiced meat, crab, ribs, pizza with a sarsaparilla. Everyone happy?
I wanted pasta
Spiced meat pasta.
Yey
Works for me
Don't care
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAB
Yes, yes, we're getting crab.
Why not crab pasta? Pasta conflicts with the crab less
I don't know anyone who does crab pasta, do you?
Uuuhhhh no. Okay, that's fine.
Alright. Who is assuming the ordering position?
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAB
No, not you. You two probably are the best for it, we'll keep her entertained, I still feel sick.
:3 :3 :3
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 thx you've made my day
This is just multiheaded fursonas on a daily basis
Its silly :3
Even more to suggest the greater will wanted miquella as elden Lord, as a female and male counterpart is appropriate for the role
I think the greater will wanted Miquella to be the new god, otherwise, why would they name him an empyrean?
Well in Miquellas case Hes a boy but he sometimes disquises himself as a Girl named Saint trina.
In other words Miquella is a boy who sometimes becomes a Femboy.
Miquella is an empyrean. He was considered a candidate to becoming a God, i.e. taking Marika's place. A God, i.e. King\Queen, not the God's consort, i.e. the (Elden) Lord.
@@draw2death421 probably just being like Marika, being able to shift between gender but his main gender is male unlike his mother.
@@clorkmagnus im not so sure about that. We dont hear Miquella or especially Malenia ever having their Mothers Ability.
Closest we get is Saint Trina and even Saint Trinas swords Description is: Silver sword carried by clerics of St. Trina. Inflicts sleep ailment upon foes.
St. Trina is an enigmatic figure. Some say she is a comely young girl, others are sure he is a boy. The only certainty is that their appearance was as sudden as their disappearance.
So st trina could litereally just be Miquella wearing feminine clothes.
Tbh its not even really stated St trina is miquella tho its likely considering apearently when Miquella Disapeared so did St Trina.
Placi has always been my fav character in the game. Makes for a great wallpaper
Gives a whole new level to Gideon's phrase "I know in my bones....a tarnished can never become Elden Lord"
There are so many things in Elden Ring that contain the themes of conjoining, binding, unity, or “two souls ; one body.”
Radagon and Marika.
Dragonlord Placidusax.
Praetor Rykard, and the God-Devouring Serpent.
Ranni the Witch, and her two bodies.
The Fell Twins Mohg and Morgott; with Margit the Fell being Morgott’s other form.
Empryean Twins Miquella and Malenia.
Melina, and her two forms.
Godfrey, and his two forms; alongside his beastly advisor, Serosh.
Astel, and his two forms.
The Last Fire Giant, and the god that slumbers within him.
Grafting as a concept, and the numerous Grafted beings we meet in the Lands Between.
Even the Elden Ring itself is merely a representation of the Elden Beast, the being who acts as a vassal for the Greater Will. The embodiment of Order.
Small correction.
Astel doesent have 2 forms.
Astel is a species and we see 2 fully grown adults in Game... you can test it by ignoring Ranni Astel and killing the Dark Astel first. The Ranni astel will still be there proving it was no illusion.
You can also see tons of Larva Astel hanging from the cealing in some places.
In other words Astel is the species. Not the name.
(Oh yeah and Fallingstar beasts are their own species that arent connected to astel other than their place of origin being the same as we can see a fullygrown falling star beast aswell.)
The juveniles we see are called 'Malformed Stars'
So Astel might be a tittle or just how adults are refered as.
Simular to how youd call a baby Cow a Cow Calf and an Adult just Cow.
@@draw2death421 actually fallingstar beasts are a predecessor phase to malformed stars, which evolve into astels. you can specifically see the astel skull and blue eye emerging from the full-grown fallingstar beast's head
edit: or alternatively, since they are "malformed" stars, it might be that those are somehow incorrectly grown fallingstar beasts
@@ConstrictorDevlin but whoudnt fullgrown fallingstar beast mean its not the same species? Whould be odd if a fully grow animals whould then sudenly morph into another animal and start its juvenile stage again.
Placidussax is by far my favorite boss lorewise.
He looks both like an ancient and a modern dragon. Likely being a common ancestor to both.
He spews golen flames that deal fire damage, as oppsoed to the yellow flames which are fire plus madness of the 3 fingers and the yellow flames of holy damage from elden beast.
He posessed 5 heads representing the 5 fingers whom the beastmen served, but was cut down to 2 heads and is communing with the greater will in the same way the 2 fingers are when you enter the Arena
He is also a reference to king gidorah as midir is a reference to godzilla
@@cnut7383 also a Game of Thrones reference his it's gas a bit from the show's Targeryan theme
Aw yeah, some good ER lore/info to chill to.
There are so many layers to experiencing lore in these games. A player can simply play through and get the gist as they go, or they can dig deeper and read up on item descriptions and piece things together.
You can go a step further by then taking that knowledge and exploring the nooks and crannies of the world, and then go even further and begin datamining to uncover even more hidden bits of lore and detail in models or even in the game’s filenames and code itself.
What Zullie is doing here is really awesome, and I sort of hope a game dev sees that audiences love this layered storytelling and purposefully put effort into hiding details and lore in code more often to make the datamining just another way to experience the game.
This sort of engagement with a piece of art is what really tickles my brain and makes being a fan so awesome. I argue it elevates a work of art to a special place.
Anyways, thanks for your efforts, Zullie!
The level of detail and education from include is astounding. Thanks for all your work bringing it to light
Shoutout to Quelaag for creating literal web seminars explaining what has been found and theorized as more and more details in the game were analyzed by players.
I've learned a few things about real history while learning about Elden Ring's history, and that was INTENDED by the developers. That's amazing and deserve special accreditation, not every video game enriches its' audience in such a way. FromSoft has become the best game studio in the world, and while no video game can be perfect, Elden Ring deserves its' masterpiece status for being so damn deep it can teach you real amazing things about the real world we live in and mirror anthropology in a way that makes Elden Ring's world feel even more believable.
They succeeded at so much at once in this game, it's a genuinely enriching piece of media to enjoy. I'm so happy that more people are getting to discovering this aspect of the lore!
I’m so glad you pointed out the 5 heads. I’m tired of people saying it had 3 or 4 heads
The two big opposing phenomena of Alchemy are Solve and Coagula, meaning, Dissolvement and Coagulation / coming apart and coming together.
Marika and Radagon represent this dichotomy to a T, in addition of being the Red man and White lady.
I love your videos Zullie, thank you for your hard work, I and countless others sincerely appreciate it. Thank you.
Every time I see Placidusax I'm reminded of a hydra. The necks are so long and so often intertwined that I think of depictions of a hydra that do the same thing. Thus in that sense the dragon having lost three heads denotes just how battered and weakened it is having lost the thing that made Hydra so tough for Herakles to kill (well, on top of its blood being poison) and that's the ability to grow two heads for every one severed.
Bruh, it's like they put these secrets in they game just for Zullie to find. I got 400 hours in this game and I didn't notice almost all of things Zullie talks about
That's amazing. Thank you Zullie--you are the master of conveying things of great importance clearly and concisely.
Videos like this really make me appreciate the attention to detail art designers and modelers put into games.
Two things about Placidusax I don’t think people have noticed. When you first enter the area he is clearly attempting to commune with his god in a manner similar to the Two Fingers. Also he appears in a state reminiscent of a twin tailed comet or meteor falling to the ground, perhaps even more symbolizing his fallen state and the significance of space and the stars.
CURSE YOU BAAAAAAAAYLE
I love your videos, thank you 🙏
This was a particularly good watch - really cool stuff!
This duality is something that is seen throughout the entirety of Elden Ring. No matter where you look you can find dualism in design.
There is a god of Order in the Greater Will and Elden Beast and its opposite in Chaos and the Frenzied Flame.
Nearly every crafting item has a unique counterpart.
6/7 Great Runes have a similar Great Rune with slight differences.
There exists an above ground world and a below ground world.
Mimics exist in game that make copies of people.
Multiple sets of twins exist, not just in siblings but in the world, such as the twin Eternal Cities or the two Roundtable Holds.
Deciphering the meanings and the chirality between all of these twin pairs can give us a deeper understanding to Elden Rings story and philosophy.
This makes me wonder if you'll ever look in depth at placidusax throughout farum azula. You can see all his heads and its most vible from outside of malikeths areana.
Really compelling narrative you made in this video, Zullie
the lore keeps giving and giving
In light of Placidusax's necks spiraling around, I wonder if the terms "male" and "female" were used in the code to help clearly identify which head to work on during development. Calling something the front or side head wouldn't work as well when they all can tangle together and be easily mistaken from different perspectives. Also, Placidusax's god is the dragons' Marika equivalent, but Placidusax might have been a guinea pig.
I wonder if the 3 severed heads of Placidusax has any connection to the 3 fingers. Maybe the 2 and 3 were more united in the age of dragons and the separation between the two happened around when their reign ended. Considering Destined Death was split out from the Elden Ring at some point, which is another flame, maybe Frenzy used to be part of it too?
I personally doubt it. Elden Ring formed from a star sent to the Lands Between by the Greater Will.
It just seems unlikely that a thing sent by what is essentially a big G God of Order would house Flame of Frenzy, i.e. Chaos:\
@@l.o.v.e-sick5330 I don’t know, I don’t really see the Greater Will as a true ‘order’ being. The fact that it keeps picking creatures with multiple faces to be its vassal doesn’t suggest pure order to me. That usually means a bit of duality. It’d make more sense if it contained both halves of order and chaos like it did with death and rebirth. Miriel says all things can be conjoined so it might be everything originated from the ring’s true state and got split out by different civilisations over time. The depiction of the Elden Ring in Farum Azula is a lot bigger than the one the Golden Order uses after all.
"Ahh, I see! That is some fine intelligence indeed!"
- Gideon Ofnir.
Zullie, I am so happy to see videos from you again. I hope your break helped a lot.
Could there be a connection to the Two Fingers in the sense that they were also severed from a full hand of 5 fingers?
It's quite strange that he once had 5 heads. In Hungarian folk tales, dragons most often have 7 heads, sometimes also 3 or 12 (usually when there's more than one in the story). And they do use several Hungarian names, so they may have looked into it.
Awesome deductions, great video as always👍
What an amazing connection!!
Another absolute banger zullie
Yay new vid 🎉
Zullie out here doing actual witchcraft!
His necks sprout out of his body in a spiral shape too. This mirrors the shape of the permanent tornado of farum azula
I cant believe I didn't see the alchemy similarities before. God I love these games! The lore and inspirations never cease to amaze me!
I know it'd be a big ask, but maybe you could go over Limgrave's leadership status?
It's just because of some dialogue from the Kenneth Haight quests and the change from Morgott soldiers to Godrick soldiers in the item names for Limgrave soldier equipment (I don't know which update caused this).
My personal timeline for stormveil castle:
The stormhawk king-->Godfrey-->Godwyn-->(a possible child of Godwyn?)-->Godefroy-->Godrick-->Lady
(NOTE: None of these could be correct, but these are just my opinions derived from the timeline and Context clues)
(NOTE: you could also suspect there was a ruler before the Stormhawk king, for whatever reason, but considering it’s called “STORMveil Castle”, the Hawk king was likely its first ruler… before all the needless ornamentation the castle received over the years)
If you look at the Old Lord's Talisman, it depicts Placidusax in their prime, and it looks like they had 4 heads, not 5, I wonder why. Perhaps the fifth head was special in some way.
It's possible that Placidusax lost one head well before losing two of the others, though another possibility is that there wasn't enough space on the talisman.
If you look more closely at the Old Lord Talisman you can see that there is a ring sitting between the heads. So, it is inferred that the arrival of the Elden Ring coincided with cutting off the 5th head.
It is true that this is the ring that is intended to tie the talismans on a string or cord. However, the tying point is not always a ring and when it is a ring it is very deliberately placed. A lot of folk in the Lands Between with rings on their minds. Except the bowmen - for the arrow talismans the ring is at the fletching end of the arrow, as if the hand drawing it back also controls the ring.
@@miirshroom That's not a symbol of the Elden Ring, that's the carrying loop present on almost all talismans (such as the Amber talismans, the Green Turtle Talisman, the Arsenal talismans, the Companion Jar talisman, etc.). Most talismans have a loop at the top to run a string through, and the material creating the loop is either depicted as side-to-side or front-to-back in relation to the rest of the talisman. The talismans I mentioned above share a side-to-side loop with the Old Lord's Talisman, while some other talismans, such as the Erdtree's Favor talismans, the Heirloom talismans, etc., have a front-to-back loop.
If the talismans literally bearing the Erdtree's name just have a front-to-back loop and don't display any notable ring when looking at the front of the talisman, then the loops are likely just purely functional and not symbolic. Furthermore, the Dragoncrest and -drake talismans have front-to-back loops, which is inconsistent with the Old Lord's Talisman if there is meant to be any symbolic meaning to the orientation of the loops. The arrow talismans are by no means unique for having front-to-back loops, and talisman loops are generally all circular, even when punched into a blade like with the assassin daggers.
@@nightscout9979 I did say that the ring has a dual purpose as a carrying loop. Aside from which the turtle is another good example to analyze more thoroughly as it actively pursues the ring and grabs it with its mouth (and has a 6 nodes shape similar to the arrangement of Divine Towers). The Arsenal Talismans show the loop at the hilt of the sword similar to the arrow. The meaning is most clear in context of the Great Jar Arsenal because it is corroborated by other evidence surrounding the pot items - the Elden Ring is a tool of crackpots. This shouldn't be so surprising considering the alchemical theming of the game, because alchemy is also a tool of crackpots.
Other talismans have a front to back loop (which is more square and less of a perfect ring in a lot of cases) because they have other things worth interpreting and less emphasis on the ring.
I feel like speculating on the design elements of the artwork presented in game should be as much valid as digging through game files.
@@miirshroom Nothing indicates it's a "dual" purpose. The loops instead appear to serve a singular purpose featured on almost every talisman regardless of how affiliated or contrary to the Golden Order they are. Turtles in the Lands Between exist as normal creatures across the continent and are never referred to as creatures associated with the Elden Ring or runes. Furthermore, the sorcerers of Raya Lucaria are the ones who manifest the spirits of turtles as locks on their mystical towers, specifically at Oridys' Rise, Testu's Rise, and Chelona's Rise. Heck, Testu might refer to the Latin "testudo", meaning "tortoise", and Chelona is an ancient Greek word that likewise means "tortoise" or "turtle." The turtles generally don't pursue anything in the Lands Between, and the length of the neck on the talisman breaks any clean hexagonal pattern between the turtle and the Divine Towers.
A sword is not normally (if ever) wielded by the very end of its pommel, so the Arsenal talismans are unlikely to be referring to a swordsman's hand. Such a "swordsman's hand" argument also ignores how the assassins' daggers are pointed upward with a circle punched right in the blades themselves. The Elden Ring is clearly not meant to be utilized by "crackpots" in the setting itself either, but instead has myriad powers crucial to the development of life on the planet and the mechanisms of reality. Is the "crackpot" comment meant to be a joke?
The front-to-back loops are still clearly meant to be circular, they're just not all perfectly so due to things like weathering, erosion, etc. That's not exclusive to front-to-back loops either, and some of the side-to-side loops on the weapon talismans are also slightly diagonal due to the talismans' shapes. Also, how on earth do the side-to-side talismans put their emphasis on the loop over the talismans in question? The Crimson and Cerulean Amber Medallion talismans emphasize the literal inlaid amber and the artistry in the center, not a side-to-side loop at the top, and the Crimson and Cerulean Seed Talismans have much the same emphasis on the talismans themselves despite a front-to-back loop. Furthermore, the Carian Filligreed Crest features a side-to-side loop, yet it's perhaps the most intricate and ornate talisman in the entire game. The emphasis for that talisman is absolutely not on the threading loop.
Heck, the loops on the Godfrey and Radagon Icons, the talismans depicting the Elden Lords of the Golden Order that wields the Elden Ring, are not even side-to-side designs. The Godfrey Icon has a front-to-back loop, albeit hard to discern between the back of Godfrey's head and the top of Serosh's crown, and the Radagon Icon's loop is clear, rising up from the back of Radagon's head. There clearly isn't some emphasis on the Elden Ring via the talismans' threading loops if the Elden Lords' talismans have front-to-back loops.
This is why one stays subbed and ready. You never know when these ah-ha! discoveries are gonna pop up.
man i love the environmental storytelling in this game
I’ve still never played Elden Ring but I love your videos on the lore. The potential connection to alchemy and the Rebis 😮😮😮😮
It's not potential connections, they're really there, if you love alchemy look up Crunchy's video on Elden Ring and Alchemy it's an amazing video
Do yourself a favor and play it whenever you have the funds to purchase it and find the time to play it. It's a wonderful game and you should definitely give it a try if you're interested.
Perhaps the other heads were severed because of the need to adhere to the rule of two for the Rebis?
I suspect (and hope) that several From artists watch this channel and are delighted whenever you find something they implemented.
Your videos are so interesting!
It always feels bittersweet beating Elden Ring, you who enters this world full of legends that you'll never have the opportunity to truly fight at their full potential
It's a hard game, but I definitely get "I only won because I'm fighting sick, dying enemies" vibes sometimes, and that's cool in its' own way/deeply symbolic, but I agree. It feels wrong to win over and over again because you can't truly lose and you're executing the weakened and corrupted remains of once-great individuals. Even the Elden Beast can't count as being fought at 100% power, the Golden Order is not as powerful as it once was, which would definitely be reflected in the beast that represents said Order.
@@Supercohboy That's a better way of describing it "You can't truly lose" though then you look at a boss like Malenia gameplay wise over lore lmfao. If she does return in the DLC then it'll be interesting if she ends up stronger than in her fight with Radahn. In that fight her scarlet bloom affected everything in Caelid though you as the player dont even see the ground change.
Honestly, I think the idea of Placidusax was based on Tiamat from D&D. Given Miyazaki's love of tabletop games and his willingness to openly reference and take inspiration from them, I think Tiamat was the base idea and was just adjusted to fit the world and lore.
Placidusax having once had 5 heads and now only 2 may also be somehow harkening to the Two Fingers and how its theorized they were once part of the same being as the Three Fingers as a whole, single hand...maybe?
I've seen everything and I have witnessed the forging of the elden ring by my own eyes so this is nothing but a mere story for mortals like you.
Zullie, that head in the Godskin Duo area is implied to be from Placidusax, given its features. But it always struck me as simply too large. When Placidusax is poise broken and the heads are at ground level they are not that outsized compared to the player character, but the one mentioned above seems much, much bigger. Could you do a video on size comparison between the two models? I think it would be very informative.
I think the process to create the Philosopher’s Stone it’s in five stages (interpreted both in alchemical-scientific-magic process and also philosophical-symbolic), eachrepresented by a color: green, yellow, white, black and red. (Not sure in this order, I know that black and red are the final ones)
Maybe that’s where Placidusax reference originated
Always blown away!
Great video!
That’s another great video analysis, thank you! ❤ Placidusax’s talisman shows 4 heads, not 5, and a circle atop between 4 heads. Does it mean anything?
I love the recurring theme throughout the Soulsborne games that you’re almost never facing a boss at its full power. It’s always after it’s been weakened and damaged and exhausted for sometimes ages, and you’re just there to clean up the mess, because in reality you wouldn’t stand a chance otherwise
There''s something very conceptually compelling about the idea of a witch reading the bones of powerful beings to glean understanding of the larger patterns of the world.
Dude I had this theory forever ago but was embarrassed to post about it. Great video as always though Zullie! You explained everything a million times better than I could have. Love the background music too! I see you lol
If the god of the dragons was like Marika, in that they were a surrogate god for the greater will, maybe that god IS Placidusax's missing heads
If Placidusax is also a rebis, it’s totally possible that the god he was consort of was literally fused with him the way Marika is fused with Radagon, and that the reason he’s missing the other 3 heads is because his god tore itself out of his body…kinda wild
That’s actually an incredibly interesting thought! It pairs well with the interpretation that, by “his god was fled”, they mean a god akin to Marika, not the Greater Will. After all, if the dragons once had the Elden Ring, the following civilizations would have to get it somehow: take out Placidusax’s better half, or the other three heads.
Talking out of my ass here honestly, but just some thoughts 🤔
Just when i thought i learned all of elden ring, Zullie drops another banger
Placi is such an insanely cool and mysterious character, definitely my favorite boss fight in the game
Marika wasn't Elden Lord tho right? She's just the vessel for the Elden Ring who takes a lord. Does this mean Placidusax had a vessel that he was lord to as well?
Yes, the game mentions a dragon god of time in some item descriptions
It may be that the dragon god held the elden ring before the war with marika
@@shnorkeythefourth4572 Placidusax did have a god who wielded the Elden Ring, but all the mentions of time relate to Placidusax himself and his scales, not his god.
This propably isn't at all intentional, but I think there's some interesting parallels to draw here. Many indigenous cultures had gender systems that were different the European two-gender one, which was imposed upon them by European colonialists. I think that Placidusax' god being driven from the Lands Between by the Greater Will, and Placidusax themself violently forced into that male-female duality makes for quite an interesting parallel
I want to fight past Placidusax more than anything I think. He’s the coolest dragon Fromsoft has ever made by far and I can’t get enough of his design.
I So wish we could get a look into what those ancient civilizations looked like before the golden order.
You should do a placidusax model in depth video. I Have found some really interesting things with the dragons model :D He/ or She is actually a Human with arms and legs, just some kind of dragon hybrid being like Rykard - this would also imply that the title First Elden Lord would mean he was probably a human or an Empyrean before this change.
Wait what
?
@@jotasietesiete4397 I'm serious. Placidusax is not what people think.
Interesting i wonder if Placidusax having different genders for each head suggest that at ONE point in their lifespan they were 5 dragons that fused their souls together to form one being?
Another theory is that maaybe the God Placidusax waited for fused with then during his slumber?
If Placidusax was actively fused together, it would imply the same thing had been done to Radagon and Marika. Who were then originally separate?
you're back!
Every one of your videos is what it feels like when you gain +1 insight.
Interesting that when you look at the "head count" of the Elden Lords its always going down. Placidusax has five, Marika/Radagon has two, Godfrey has one. Though Godfrey is also represented by a dual nature in some ways, at once representing chaos and wilderness through his origins as Chieftain Hoarah Loux, at the same time as preserving law and civilization through being Elden Lord Godfrey.
Godfrey technically has two if you count the spirit that represents his beastial ego which clings to his back
The interesting thing I just thought of to do with Godfrey being known as the 'first Elden Lord', despite not actually being the first, reminds me of how William the Conqueror is sometimes (incorrectly) referred to as the first King of England, despite only being the first Norman king. I'm not entirely sure about the specifics of the history, but I just thought it was an interesting parallel, given that both Miyazaki and GRRM use historical English royalty as inspiration.
Love these
Vivec once again rules supreme in the realm of androgyny.
I’ve always felt like there’s mountains of lore to be uncovered with Placidusax and whatever god he (they?) served. Like we have some details on the flame of frenzy, the goddess of rot, and at least a hint about some kind of moon god. But this dragon god that Faram Azula is apparently tied to is criminally underexplained by comparison
Indeed - The whole dragon civilization in general is weirdly mysterious. Their civilization was massively significant in the history of the lands between, and at least a few individuals remained very relevant in the age of the erdtree, but the lore only provides very general facts and events which they instigated or were involved in, with no linking context or motivation for any of it. We have a very broad understanding of "what", with next to no "how" or "why".
On one hand, this could be just a remnant of development constraints (From just didn't have time/resources to fully flesh them out), but on the other hand, the absence of information is so glaring that it almost feels intentional, like everything about them was censored out of reality.
Don`t forget the Formless Mother and the God of Death
@@mushmoor3804 dear god how could I have? The formless mother is lowkey the coolest god of them all - just the idea of blood magic being the user LITERALLY impaling their god and bleeding it out??? So dope
@@BackwardsPancake I hesitate to point to any kind of time/resource issue, seeing as they finished Boc’s and Nepheli’s quest lines with an update after release. But I get where you’re coming from, it might just be cut content like Vyke
@@mushmoor3804don’t forget the wraith caller teacher Rannis body is based on who for some reason Melina based her face on
Imagine if there was a 3 headed dragon in the DLC that are Placidusax's missing heads. If there is, it'd kinda remind me of the Two Fingers and the Three Fingers, although, if it were to happen, and that's a big IF, it'd probably just be a coincidence. Still, speculation is fun
This format gives me the old Dark5 channel vibes, simple music, text instead of voice and a slideshow, there is something incredibly captivating about this type of videos
Probably some parallels with the Two Fingers as well. Only 2 out of 5 heads remain. The other 3 have been separated similarly to the Three Fingers.