That part about miquellas lullaby being able to give the merchants some sleep in their agony is some of the most heartwarming/heartbreaking stuff i have ever heard.
nah i'm still on the boat that mohg did kidnap him without miquella prompting him 😭 the timeline doesn't make sense if he gets charmed before being kidnapped, not to mention why not just have mohg kidnap him after the tree was done growing for the most part. then there's the godwyn soul stuff that never got resolved
Mohg is the only Shardbearer whose post-defeat Site of Grace isn't named after him, instead it's "Cocoon of the Empyrean", that plus the fact that the Pureblood Knight's Medal allows you to teleport straight to this boss room almost from the start of the game makes it seem like a safe bet that Miquella's cocoon will be the entrance to a DLC location.
Good point. Miquella is “slumbering” apparently, so maybe the dlc is inside his “world of dream” (Gideon's aforesaid comment about Miquella slumbering is consistent with cut content suggesting that Miquella is in the world of his dream)
Also, FromSoft adding an offline way to complete Varre’s quest adds to the notion that they’re oddly focused on players reaching the Palace at a certain point. That’s a lot for “optional” content.
The #1 thing I want out of any DLC that releases is more information about Miquella. I would happily spend an entire DLC within a "dream of St. Trina" or something along those lines.
@@CrimsonRayne Death is not a thing in the golden order (until we become Elden lord at least), none of the bosses we defeat actually die. Even if explicitly killed, they only return to the Erdtree to be reborn
I've noticed a pattern with the demigod children. They have a pair of dualities and then an outlier. Mohg and Morgot are the pair of duality (how they go about accepting their omen blood) and Godwyn is the outlier essentially being born perfect. Ranni and Rykard are the duality (how they go about rebelling against the erd tree/greater will, also Ranni stays true to her cause while Rykard abandoned it to greed) and Radahn is the outlier being a loyalist to it. Melania and Miquila are the duality (Decay and Abundance) and Melina is the outlier. Fire counters both abundance and decay, it burns away decay to allow new life to grow, but also destroys life/abundance to create decay. And after typing this I realized even the parents are like this. Radagan and Marika are literally duality incarnate and Godfrey is an outlier mortal
@@kaiserdetectivegolden2735 Idk about you, but stopping the stars is not something the average guy would do. Godwyn is the closest, he didn't start the dragon cult himself, they formed based on his friendship.
To be clear, Mohg wanted to marry Miquella long before any compulsion, and Mohg wasn't compelled either, that's a fact, Miquella rejected Mohg's advances many times, before Miquella even knew how to use his abilities. It's also suggested, with Mohg being able to withstand the outer gods madness, with seemingly no effort, he was one of the few people completely Immune to Miquellas compulsion. Mohg wanted to marry Miquella long before Miquella even knew how to use his abilities, and honestly, so did a lot of other people too. Is it so hard to believe most people wanted to marry some innocent beautiful radiant babe? Especially in this world of monstrosities? Superman can lazer eye people, it doesn't mean everyone on the planet has been lazer eyed by him, it's the same with Miquella. Believe it or not, if you're a beautiful, genuinely good and gentle being, that just wants to spread love and cuddles, people will like you, magic or not, most of Miquellas followers aren't compelled.
I find there is a difference between childlike and childish which I'd love to see explored further in modern media. Older authors such as George MacDonald address this difference, and his fantasy works are quite cerebral. You made a good point I think!
@lordbalthosadinferni4384 Our greed was the tool by which we gained the power by which to make a better world. While it would be nice to be able to cast it aside as it now holds us back from further progress, it will take time. Growth is a slow and painful process, but we do continue to grow.
@Lord Balthos Ad Inferni Good. Let those pipe dreams rest. We do not have the tools to create a perfect world, for such things do not exist and will never. Don't let your ideals carry you to your ruin. After all, that ended up being Miquella's fate.
Thank you so much for including my St.Trina-inspired imagery! This Miquella breakdown of yours is a blast - so much interesting information! And it is truly an honor to be a part of it :)
Your artwork is amazing!!! Corporates are assholes, then I really wish for good and talented developers to work with you, to turn your art and ideas into a beautiful game!
Can we appreciate that this community has grown to 2.5 million just off of soulsborne lore. To me, this is a wild concept and I'm beyond proud of your huge leap in video quality over the last year or so. You're doing great things man
Or Miquella hated those who lived in death, they lived while his dear brother was nothin but a soulless body, it feels like they where stealings his brother place on the land between.
@@joseroa5243 Miquella is portrayed as very kind and sensible guy who's territory is a safe heaven for anyone and everyone. I personally think his love and empathy toward his brother caused him to create those spells cause in his eyes these people are suffering like his brother is.
@@MIOrko that's precisely why i think he has it for those who live in death. He's the closest one to a benevolent god, but he devised weaponry and magic to Slay them? That feels personal and unhinged of him, even the purest soul can have Shadows.
More like he wants to flourish their life back to them to live and then rot and wither way like a flower pollinating by spreading, think of it like the process of life and death as Vaati mentioned in the beginning, the golden order is in a way a refusal of the laws of causality and regression as everything is left in stagnation of order without change, calming and refreshing, developed and divine but also irregular and haunting as nothing every changes due to death being impossible for those that go back to the erdtree and back. Miquella cocoon symbolises motion or time as he grows and therefore development. He will likely end up nourishing himself from the blood of the lakes of the blood dynasty and feed it to the tree, introducing a new ending maybe a new conflict with the age of stars. Which I am pretty sure the stars and the torrent of the azur cosmos symbolises all the infinite gods beyond the greater will. Something that Vaati mentioned before is how Melina is likely the youngest daughter of Marika or even Marika herself wanting to change the ertree she's entrapped in for the punishment of shattering the elden ring. As a result she want freedom by either burning her soul she inbeded in a doll body or Melina is Marika youngest daughter that wants to save or change the fate of the world by burning the ertree she was born in and therefore give way to Miquella. Maybe Miquella put her up to this although the question comes what about us ? We are tarnished why did we come back, was it really Marika that wanted us to struggle to become a elden lord and was Gideon right ? Not likely as we kill the vassal of the greater will "Elden Beast". Also the relation between Torrent and us is amazing to me, Torrent was the one to guide Melina and also chose us, The Torrent is the also something Primal Sorcerer Azur explored and I think explained how the comet azur imprinted a greater meaning that of endless stars in the cosmos representing likely gods. Therefore is torrent a vassal of a god that roams around looking for those willing to server his god like all other vassals server the greater will. To me the opposition to the ertree isn't the moon, stars or dark moon which is Ranni's ending "age of stars", which her mentor warned her to be wary of and due to her respect for her mentor modelled herself after the snow witch and the colour of magic glintstone magic "blue". Also Ranni also knows who Torrents former master is which isn't Melina but is either Marika or the snow witch which might have served another god in the cosmos. Although it is weird Ranni killed her fingers due to not wanting to server or be an empyrean anymore, she fought and plotted with Rykard to take down Radhan which was a fanboy of the golden order and wanted to rule the capital while also controlling the stars in "motion", Melenia likely fought him on behalf of Miquella for that reason, although we know Miquella does not want to server under the golden order due to Melenia and neither does he server another god unlike Ranni might be unknowingly by giving us the stars, torrent and cosmos. I honestly dont see any way Ranni would ever side of Miquella. I also have the epiphany that just like Melenia is possessed by the goddess of rot she herself would be a full god already if she was born from Marika and Radagon / marika, this is where I think either Melenia and Marika aren't related to Radagon but they are to Marika both as they are the only afflicted demi-gods. After all we know the pests say that Melenia is a goddess of rot and her "buds" flowers bloom over caelid therefore giving birth to offspring of her first bloom where she had to become a god to injure Rahdan on behalf of Miquella to set the stars in motion and as a result started the night of the black knives as the demi-gods / gods started fighting likely so that Miquella could ascend to his god-hood just like Melenia when she become the rot goddess. This leaves us with Miquella and us awaiting for him to bloom into a god either to be slain for his crimes against the lands between by putting into motion the conflict of the empyreans directly or indirectly. I could go on but honestly I think the most important part of the story is us "tarnished" as whoever the narrator is at the start telling us the story / opening scenes. It makes me wonder "Are we Miquella?" are we deserving of the elden ring like Melenia said which she only acknowledged Miquella as being before us. Was it Marika that bought us back and plotted the night of the black knives or really Ranni. Are we tarnish really meant to have any other ending but the age of fracture just like Ranni monologue in the story trailer ? Who knows. What was our purpose to begin with. The first person we meet is Torrent, then Melina (possibly Marika) which was handed down to her by either Ranni herself or her mentor the snow dusk witch. In Paganism there is the idea of the triple goddess which symbolise the stages of female life cycle (Maiden, Mother and finally Crone), is Ranni our maiden, is Renalla the symbol of the mother, and the crone her mentor maybe her secret grandmother ? Was Renalla really heartbroken by Radagon or by Ranni (death) which she greaves by trying to give birth to her again and again with rebirth and therefore weeps like a mother when the egg falls when we enter phase two, which isn't really Renalla, it's actually a projection of Renalla in her prime likely by Ranni which narrates. Also where is Ranni after her quest and ending, she's not in her rise again, she just poofs our of existance (DLC plz!) Also Marika T*Ts who doesn't love them face-orange-biting-nails right Gideon. Either way in the end we never get the Elden ring, we only fight the greater wills vassal for some reason, we fight Radagon not Marika. It's possible that the ring itself is Marika and Radagon obsessed with order and power want to repair it to prove himself as a elden lord which is why we don't might Marika as this is her plan for a new Elden lord. This makes me thing we might have gotten a chance to betray Marika if she really did insist in our arrival to the lands between and by bring us her youngest daughter which seems to want to burn herself. Also the opposite of the moon isn't the ertree as mentioned before, it's the sun which we never see in the lands between, but we know that Miquella. Melina says "Burn for the sake of the new lord" and she thanks us for guiding her, not the other way round, she was born under the ertree by Marika and now burn it to free the roots and the tree, her hands also seem to have lots of scares was she maybe born of the ertree or was she trying to get in to save Marika and cut her hands on the roots ? Either way she says "Burn for the sake of the new lord" are we the new lord ? she then says "thank you for guiding me her" and tries to reach us as we are incapacitated and says "The one that walk along side flame. Shall one day meet the road of destined death. Good Bye". Why is the flame red, why is the path of flame? where is the sun as we know there was one due to the eclipse. Trees love the sun and the ertree is a tree, the eclipse would stop the sun from reaching the ertree and stop the golden light of the tree, this would mean an end to the meddling of the outer gods, similar to Ranni and Rennala and how they relied on the moons "Light and Dark moons", as for the outer gods, Miquella, eclipse and the flame path. Wouldn't that mean Melina is not on the side of Miquella and therefore is worker for her own ambitions since she left the roundtable. She was born under the ertree but why burn it. In the frenzied flame ending Melina doesn't die and her other eye opens it seems being dark blue, is she the golem queen ? is she maybe Ranni's mentor the dusk snow witch ? Why do black flames like the assassins of numen (all women FYI) or the black knife flame it seems apear or similar to the godskin apostates which serve the golem queen. Who knows. What we do know is the sun in Elden ring seems to be shunned by all and hidden while in dark souls it is the whole premise of the foundation lore with Gwyn the first flame.
May be mercy, may be causality-regression, may be honouring his brother, may be in-line with the vision of his future age. If those who 'live' in death aren't actually alive, then it is a bastardization of both life & death (& the cycle of birth & decay (;reminiscent of the wheel of fortune?)). Suppose that for flourishing abundance there must be death (Ancestor's consume the spirits they release, giant's fire needs kindling, erdtree recycles souls& bodies, souls(+flesh?) can be made into glintstone which is also sort of alive, dragon-&-beasts were all for funeral rites where the flesh is perhaps burnt or consumed(?) seeing as only the bones remain, someone crucible related is making those living pots who will die if smashed, disregarding the devouring serpent atm, death rite birds are collecting serfs & promising an eventual and far off afterlife while burning the bodies, even rot consumes & begets new life of a sort), this half-death half-living stagnant immortal existence isn't it. They aren't alive(/born) with no soul by the rules of 'births' in this world, nor should they be capable of creating new life, and yet are incapable of death with finality w/o outside divine intervention/incantation. With the pure/ultra-refined paradigm that Miquella appears to be aiming for, there are going to be a lot of things that do no make the cut. For all that he welcomes the miserable & outcast, given the environmental story telling it looks like all of them would be going through initiation/'rebirth' not unlike the prior ages receiving of dew or bathing in a tree's golden light or starlight; they (all) would have to participate for such an age to come into being/dominance to bar the outergods from interfacing through any one individual of the lands between. Is the soul a vital & pure part of life that is required in this process, esp w the pattern of curse affliction being done via blood/flesh(/body) rather than the soul? Remember that those who walk in death are of accursed flesh only, there is no redemption of Margott's variety nor metamorphosis proposed by Miquella available to them...unless, of course, the flesh is reunited with the soul first perhaps. An age of the dusk born could likely be a descent into a state of stagnation from which there is no return. Of the dusk-born, the only ones that appear to currently exist are Godwyn's soulless & mutating undead corpse and Fia's followers after their deaths (Rogier, Lionel & co.) if I am not mistaken, though with there being passionate hunters looking for them one could presume that there are more (What in the world are wormfaces??); interesting that Fia is only an acolyte of sorts and not actually one of them (she's still alive after all..the tarnished version of 'alive')...and that it is only the still living & not actual dusk born that presumptuously claim grievance for these others (and presumably their own future immortal selves) -- are the soulless even capable of suffering as is meant by those bleeding-hearted living, what do they have to fear even with destined death? "Living is suffering", an agreed upon conceptualization by the west & east, comes to mind. Consider also that if they are still alive by virtue of their flesh, soulless as it may be, then they are a deadend unable to birth new life, soulless or otherwise, and will only consume like a plague; no cycle, just decline. Then there is the matter of a kinslayer & betrayer unintentionally causing this death plague -- a very new splinter of a thing. That Ranni(demigod & sibling & rival for the godhood of the next age) did this to personally escape the Greater Will's influence (stars included?), rather than to bring about whatever age she was fated to w/in it's grand paradigm, is neutral in a sense but apparently self-serving at the expense of friends and family around her (getting some Griffith vibes actually). By splitting the rune of death & causing this plague (the root cause if you will. ha.) ... perhaps it is imperative that it regresses back into one whole. An ecosystem jarred out of balance (by a self-serving independent actor that then leaves said eco-system), which will most likely fail w/o intervention. Now how the whole rune of death being released shifts the dynamics of any of this unclear; Maliketh/G seems alright with consuming the deathroot after all so perhaps it is some parallel to Renalla's rune of the unborn that can be used w/o bastardizing one's life(memory & flesh) only if one possess the rune like our tarnished does. Perhaps w the rune released the dusk-born plot will cease to be viable in the long term... that is unless a special little mending rune of an exception to the rule is made (not unlike Marika's little exception to death). And how would they even fare against the death rite bird's death flame? Or that of the giants or the dragons? The matter of where the souls of the half-dead go after becoming such leaves much to speculation. Do they just cease to exist? Or is it not destined death unless both soul & body are slain by it in it's whole form -- the godskins' flame was nerfed once after all, wouldn't splitting the rune also nerf it's capability as an absolute. Are the souls accumulating in a purgatory, accessible by the sun-star, it's eclipsing, or the breath of a moment during dusk? Will they gain ground parallel to the soulless bodies of the dusk-born and one day descend upon the lands between? What is the worship of living in death if not a mortal's desperate & blind grasping for immortality?
@@notfunny3397 that is one thing but putting in in almost every pieces of your writing is another. I never said it’s not realistic, I just said he like to write about it.
Not sure if she would even listen to you. She seems to believe that he left on his own and will return on his own. She also seems to have a few screws loose after sleeping without the anti-rot-needle for so long.
@@boneman-calciumenjoyer8290 Apparently if you do nothing and stand still Malenia doesn't attack you and just circles. There was also cut content of a quest that let you take her to Mohgwyn Palace and get Miquella's cocoon. She would only attack you after you tried to take Miquella's great rune. Presumably it was changed because Tarnished aren't supposed to find Elphael and Malenia would naturally see any infiltrator as an enemy.
@@boneman-calciumenjoyer8290 Yup, it’s also why she says her famous line so much. She uses it as a mantra to not forget who she is and who she’s fighting for.
"Yo i found your brother and he has been Moghed by the lord of blood. But goodthing he did finally grow up before i dropped his yandere stalker in dirt."
@@Count.Saruman Malenia also has a ton of unused lines indicating that she was going to show up at several instances and develop a friendship with the player. It's implied that Malenia was originally going to be Millicent with memory loss but tying an iconic boss fight to an extremely obscure sidequest that is very easy to miss was obviously a bad enough idea to scrap and rework that to split them as different characters.
@Captain_Morgan nope, they trickle the difficulty enough so players are able to adapt along with it. It’s just ebb and flow. If they don’t make it more challenging we’d just have the same shit, it’ll be within the mechanics they provide for the players ability to defeat a boss they provide for us.
@@sophiaperennis2360 malenia's only difficulty was her gimmick attack. The rest was a cakewalk so if they just don't add anything like that, he WILL be easier.
It's really amazing how consistent these games are. Miquella is clearly the aesthetic/thematic successor to Lothric and Gwyndolin, and that description of the Golden Epitaph with "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death" immediately reminded me of Lothric's "O dear brother... rise, if you would, for that is our curse" in that case preventing a true death, but in both cases a pair of cursed siblings, one small and magical, the other large and martial despite physical impairment.
Excuse you, Morgott is the thematic suvcessir to Gwyndolin. Both were born with traits not desireable for their society, both became the hidden rules of the religious regime thst shunned them, both look down on The undead or tarnished, and both command dark knights
I think there are no Albinaurics at the Haligtree because while they were on a pilgrimage to get there they were unlucky enough to encounter Mohg who was on his way to abduct Miquella while Malenia and Radahn were at war. Many of them were assimilated into Mohgwyn's own forces; which is why we find many of them there (and some protect the teleport gate that takes you to his palace). Some of them managed to escape and are left wandering around the Consecrated Snowfield with no idea how to actually get to the Haligtree on their own. Really, the Albinaurics just can't catch a damn break.
@@Shaiyo5 Correct, the cocoons are the albinaurics in the midst of being reborn into proper beings, a metamorphosis which was stopped by Miquella's abduction at Mohg's hands. For anyone interested, I highly recommend watching the Tarnished Archaeologist's videos breaking down the story of the Haligtree and the twins, he covers the aforementioned cocoons and much more.
Hey Vaati, I have something to add to the part about Ordina and the word "liturgical". Liturgy usually describes a set of ritualistic actions performed by catholic priest during different masses. Each mass, for example the easter mass, has it's own liturgy. So in Ordina we have to complete a set of actions (lighting the fires) to perform the liturgy of Ordina, complete the mass and break the seal leading to the Haligtree. As a side note the word "Halig" has a close resemblance to the german word "Heilig" meaning holy. Kinda fitting considering the need for a liturgy to enter the "holy tree" so to speak
Anyone else feel that the twins here are very reminiscent of Lorian and Lothric? Lorian, the blade of the duo had his own afflictions while the younger brother Lothric had been cursed with fragility and disease, while at the same time blessed with incredible holy powers. Just a thought
Yeah I immediately thought of the twins from Ds3 when I heard about the twins from Elden Ring. I think another parallel is that they both receive deital praise, even though they aren't true gods. It's a repeated narrative in dark souls that becoming a Lord of Cinder, doesn't mean you're a god. So in theory, they're both falsified deities. It's an interesting subject, which I really wish I could dive deeper into
It’s really cool when you read into the lore and find out that Lorain was meant to be lord, but was born with a horrible affliction, lothric stepped up to bear half of his brothers curse, leaving him unable to walk. He essentially gave his body to his brother to be his sword to rule together
The DLC did a complete 180. Although the raving madness might be traced from Miquella severing Trina, the benevolent and rational side of his personality from himself. Ironic, isn’t it? His mother had two personalities in one body, and he split his personality into two beings(bodies).
@@jefferyhanderson7849Not to mention Radhan turned out to be a dude simping for his underaged femboy brother and Mohg turned out to be a relatively good guy just minding his own bussiness after finally escaping those wretched sewers...
@@cursedimageseveryday5559 i like to believe that Radahn never simped for Miquella. He was forced into it. Or else he would not have fought Melania during the shattering. The takeaway from the dlc is that even the age of compassion was based on something so inherently evil, you would question if the benevolence nature was even true in the first place. That sick femboi used his half brother's corpse to reanimate another half brother's soul after having him unsuccessful assassinated and making him suffer from scarlet rot for years. Miquella really mirrors his own mother and can do anything to gain absolute power, even when the means don't justify the end. Now I am thinking if the whole shattering was his ploy somehow to begin with
@@chubblord4611 I think you’re going too far out, Chub. As Hitler or Mussolini didn’t create the environment for their rise to power, I believe this outcome was the outcome of series of unfortunate, and some unavoidable, chain of events. I like to think major part Miquella’s actions have to do with him being a forever child. Genetic faults from him and his sister being the result of a Selfcest(?) of Marika. (I still don’t know how that works seeing they are two personalities inside one body…) The horrors of Childish innocence and what not. Just like in the original version of Peter Pan.
I don't know how no one seems to ever point how the seeming affection Godwyn had for the empyrean twins might speak to a sense of guilt in him, almost like he's trying to compensate for allowing what happened to his first set of twin siblings, Morgott and Mohg.
@@RedBishopGaming Yes, I know, I meant siblings. Godwyn has had two sets of cursed siblings that were treated wildly differently at court. I was suggesting exactly what I originally wrote.
Regarding Miquella´s watering of the Haligtree with his own blood Its actually pretty natural for Trees in real life to consume dead things with their roots to nurture themselves. The dead are full of nutrients that the tree can absorb. There are different techniques for using food scraps to fertilize soil. Fish heads aparently make your tomatoes grow super nice for example. And my grandmother taught me to every once in a while pour the usually discarded blood of any cut of meat one might be preparing a given day into the soil of a plant to make it grow healthier. (You know how your meat comes in a plastic bag bathed in red? put that in a glass and water your plants with it). It makes them look stunning. So no. I don{t think its disturbing for an Erdtree to do that. After all dont the Erdtree already performs that function of taking the souls and sends them back to the world in a greater version of the normal cycle of life? Watering it with blood might be Miquella´s way of strengthening it as a sapling so it can grow to be even stronger as an Erdtree later on
The thing about the Erdtree is there's never any indication it sends souls *back*. Everyone talks about the souls being gathered and fed to the erdtree but there's not any indication of reincarnation or a cycle of life. I have a notion that the Outer Gods are all competing over the world because they want/need souls, and the Golden Order is the most dominant but it's not the only one by any means. Ziostorm did a video likening everything to fungus--all kinds of stuff has a parallel either visually or behavioral or both to fungus, even the high branches of the Erdtree show creepers of gold that haven't completely covered the bark which means the gold is resting on it like a skin--and that'd mean Elden Ring is in a Lovecraftian world were various things are sending their own down to try to establish a foothold. It'd mean it isn't just the Scarlet Rot God using fungus to infect it all, it's everything.
@@TelenTerror Yeah that makes sense after all the world was crafted in part by GRR Martin. And in SoIaF there is a similar theme with multiple gods competing over the world. The difference there being that the gods do not compete directly but through "Champions" or "Prophets". The Drowned God for instance has Patchface who talks in prophetic rhymes and is an overall creep and Euron Greyjoy. The Red God/Lord of Light has Azor Ahai and their Red Priestesses . The Old Gods have the Children of the Forest and the Wargs. The Great Other has Whigths and The Knights King and so on. And on some level they all are fighting a war in the name of their gods knowingly or unknowingly. But regardless, soiaf tangent aside yeah I might´ve been confused I was sure that I heard somewhere that the Erdtree recycled the souls of the Dead. I might´ve been worng on that. But still if the Erdtree feeds itself on souls on the very essence of life, having Miquella watering the Haligtree with blood might be just a way to strengthening it. If he is forever young maybe that was a way to help the tree not age? Maybe Miquella knew about the parasitic nature of the Outter Gods and of the Erdtree and was trying to create a replacement that wouldn´t need to feed on souls? If the tree remained young like Miquella does it may not need to take souls. Well I don´t really know.
@@ChBrahm I think Miquella watering the tree with his own blood is because Miquella's supposed to be the god of abundance and growth, therefore his blood would make the most godly (pun intended) fertilizer. It's using his own essence to turbocharge it. My personal theory is Miquella made the Haligtree for many purpose, but one of his most important was to try to create something that could finish his growth. Transform him out of an infant body. And I think it worked because the arm we see in Mohg's courtyard isn't a baby's arm.
The story of Miquella and Malenia breaks my heart. It was the single most element of the lore that truly captivated me, and it's a shame a lot of the more intricate details were left on the cutting room floor. I'm still holding out hope for some expansion down the line.
I know. Imagine being able to finally save a major character, instead of having to put them down or lose them due to quest scripting. It would depend on how they wrote Miquella’s personality, of course. And still be bitter sweet unless they introduce a way to ally with Malenia. I would love a major clean win to add to the smaller ones. Plus I’m a little tired of “cool boss with epic lore, too bad your only meeting is an instant fight to the death.” For instance, I would have loved to have a full conversation with Godfrey or Margit. Edited for wrong names.😅
I'd suggest looking at The Tarnished Archeologist. While it feels like there is a lot left on the cutting room floor, there is a deeper look when looking at the environments themselves.
@@dawson3776 The TA is on a whole other level. You think you thought you knew Elden Ring lore, until you watched TA. He'll blow you're mind. Not an exaggeration 👍
I don't think Miquella expected Mogh. I see it as a tragedy. He was so close to his goal but was so good at obtaining others favor that he ended up getting kidnapped.
I Dont know, I think at least at some point Miquella sought to ally with Mohg in some form. There's too much emphasis placed on Miquellas alluring, almost enchanting, presence that'd charm everyone and he certainly used to do his bidding. Gideon's wording also makes it seem like they were scheming something together rather than it being just a kidnapping. So I think there's either more at play than what we see at face value OR whatever gamble Miquella took with Mohg backfired and he didnt predict what Mogh's infatuation/obsession with him would make him do.
@@IkanaCanyon7 i agree, also Miquella is meant to be a sort of genius amongst his kind. So I definitely think there is more layers of grey then what we have witnessed in the base game. Almost certainly it will be touched upon in the DLC.
Could it be that the first needle that miquella gave malenia actually worked and stopped the rot, but during the fight with Radahn she had to take it out in order to compete with him, causing the blossom of the scarlet rot in the fight as we see in the trailer. That’s why we find it broken and in the hands of one of malenia generals. It could be similar as Millicent quest where she take it out at the end of her quest.
@@Ryanrulesok Pretty sure in the cinematic her actual blood seeps down her blade and into the wound she inflicts upon Radahn that also pierced her own flesh in the process. I'd have to imagine mixing blood with someone who is the vessel of rot, from which all new rot originates, would probably be bad if you were the kind of person who didn't like being afflicted with incurable disease.
I’ve seen somewhere that says the place we fight commander o’neil is exactly where malenia bloomed during the fight with radahn. We can see those swirling branches around the arena and O’Neil also has the needle
You know, I'm wondering if part of Miquella's theme is Childhood Innocence. All of the adults are so focused on power and war and strength and politics; but Miquella just wants to help his sister, and eventually, his brother. Perhaps his youthful appearance is also a metaphor for the ability to entertain new ideas, regardless of viability. "I'll just build my own Erdtree!" "There's gotta be SOME way to help Godwyn!" It just feels like Miquella was willing to try things no one else could, and he was able to by just being kindhearted and "innocent."
Miquella for some reason really reminds me of Griffith before The Eclipse in Berserk. Ambitious, yet kind hearted. Griffith obviously had a direct goal but he was still a good person at the time. Part of me thinks that the biggest common factor they have is that they both “fell from grace”. Griffith had to sacrifice everything and everyone he cared about for his goal. I can’t say Miquella has done the same but they both share a “cocoon” or “egg” phase in their character development. Ultimately Griffith was reborn as Femto to take what he considered to be his, and if necessary, to do so with extreme force. This is of course just entirely speculation, but I think the concept of Miquella reaching his breaking point, a new all time low, and giving in to evil so he can take what belongs to him (godhood) is something I’d personally love. Again, this is literally just speculation on my half but I do find a lot of similarities. Especially considering how influential Berserk has been to FS
@@bryanarevalo5522 I think this is a very strong theory. The similarities between the two definitely can’t just be surface level, given how much FS has taken inspiration from the series. In a more gameplay oriented sense, I reallllyyyy doubt that FromSoft is going to taunt us with Miquella, Melania (hardest boss in the game by most people’s account, FromSoft staff included) saying he’s the most fearsome of all, and then not have us fight him.
moreso the curse of innocence: a child's innocence inspires protection, but miquella's presense *compells* affection, apparently against his own will, which leads to whatever mohg is up to
I wonder if Miquella was attempting to rewrite his own fate in a manner akin to what Ranni did. Ranni's physical form had to die to sever her fate and enable her to choose her own future. There are already parallels between sleep and death that were dug into in this video, but I wonder if Miquella's inserting himself into the haligtree was an attempt to "die and be reborn" in order to sever his pre-ordained fate and write a new fate for himself, intending to ascend to godhood as a result, but on his terms, not on fate's terms. He watered the tree with his own blood with the intent to reacquire some of that power while in utero and grow into someone greater. And the tree even takes on the shape of St. Trina, Miquella's adult alter ego, the perfect candidate to be Miquella's own mother. Miquella is trying to give birth to himself, which would be an evolution of the Rhebus-self-impregnating process Marika/Radagon went through where instead of one person giving birth with themself to separate people, one person could instead give birth to themself. And his deep slumber that he put himself into while back in the womb of St. Trina's likeness inside the haligtree was meant to trick fate into thinking Miquella had died so he could be reborn, unshackled from the constraints of fate. He would no longer be bound by the rules ingrained into him by his lineage as the child of Marika and Radagon. Because he would only be the child of himself. Miquella is dead, long live Miquella! To this end, while he would be sleeping, he left a compulsion / command with his followers to protect the tree and await his return. But then Mohg had to go and pull his womb from the tree prematurely, cutting Miquella off from his own supply of sustainence, carefully grown over the years. And the spell Miquella left on his followers is still active today and is the reason they are still protecting the tree and awaiting his return, even as the tree falls to rot around them. And Mohg is attempting to complete Miquella's rebirth using the blood of his followers and the power of an outer god, but he doesn't realize that the whole point was that Miquella had to give birth *To Himself* or else the process wouldn't accomplish anything. And that is why Miquella, the empyrean who could compel others with the sound of his voice alone, isn't even speaking to Mohg even though he could probably convince Mohg to return him to his tree so he could finish growing. Miquella used his ability as St. Trina to put himself into sleep deep enough to trick fate into thinking he was dead, inspired by the sleep of Gideon. Miquella isn't aware of what is going on around him. He expected to be "awoken" once his gestation completed and he emerged as a god proper (or at least as an empyrean unshackled by fate). So Miquella isn't "ignoring" Mohg. Mohg is just screaming at someone who is "sleeping like the dead" and wondering why they won't respond.
This sounds like a very possible theory, and may tie into the theory that even his kidnapping by Mogue is part of his plan. Perhaps if the Haliigtree is a seed from the Erdtree, it still has a tie to the primary tree. If he feeds it his blood, he is in essence creating an alternate Erdtree from his own essence, potentially also invoking the outer blood god that Mogue serves. This could serve two functions. 1. He compels the power of an outer god to aid in his transformation which would give him the extra power needed to become a god himself and 2. removing him from fate (the reincarnation granted by the Erdtree) If he is able to give birth to himself through another Erdtree and an outer god simultaneously. It would be a way to undermine the influence of the Erdtree completely. In essence, he would summon an outer god to infiltrate the divinity of the Erdtree, which is itself just a physical embodiment of an outer god that replaced the previous crucible, which Miquella seems to have ties to what with all the misbegotten occupying the Haligtree.
If I understand correctly, Fate here would likely be referring to the Greater Will. This is the Outer God that has held nearly sole sovereignty of the Lands Between, established the Erdtree, brought Marika and the current pantheon into being, and established the Two Fingers as caretakers and watchmen over the whole thing.
I’ve held onto the idea that where Melania suffers a curse of the Flesh (Scarlet Rot), Miquella’s curse is bound to his soul and prevents the flesh from aging. Thus, in order to allow his flesh the chance to mature Miquella removed his soul and hosted it in his Hallig Tree where it resides even now with no body to return to.
I really hope Miquella isn't straight up a boss we have to kill. So far, nothing about him seems inherently evil. I hope he's like Ranni and we can align with him.
Me too. And contrary to Ranni, I actually sympathize with his cause and believe him to be a generally benevolent force in the story. It would be a shame if we don't get a better ending to the game with the DLC.
Holy fuck the amount of foreshadowing this video had is so impressive. I am playing the DLC rn and this dude had it all figured out a year or so before it was even released. Good shit and amazing video! Definetly gained a sub
And yet there are people shocked about the twist that *a lot* of people predicted based on nothing more than the image of Miquella's hand in Mohg's being led away/"kidnapped". Not to mention the constant references to Miquella's power being so great, and him being beloved by basically all. I can only guess they don't read item descriptions because I've been seeing comments from people saying that it was out of left field and undermines Mohg's characterization.
Well technically most of this was already stated in game, the dlc in fact has retconed most of this and made complete ass pull with the relationship he has with radahn instead of Godwyn
38.7k subscribers when I used to watch your prepare to cry videos in bed to sleep back in 2015. I still find it wild how you're still running content and bringing out more stuff. Appreciate all your work and all the jolly co-operation within the community.
I think St. Trina is Miquella sleeping in the Haligtree and that the sudden disappearance was when he was stolen away by Mohg. It would explain why St. Trina resides in the realm of dreams and why they disappeared as suddenly as they appeared.
Something I don't see here: the reason there are no Albinaurics in the Haligtree is because Mohg is kidnapping them all to build his following. The portal to his domain is on the way to the Haligtree, and there are no Albinaurics past that point. Further, his domain is full of Albinaurics that have been corrupted/empowered by Mohg after he entraps them.
@@alfalldoot6715 There is no way that ALL the albinaurics are serving him willingly, when the Haligtree is like 5 steps further down the road on a long journey through rough terrain. A little bit more plausible that the blood-smeared death portal with an assassin right near it, might be more the reason they're over there.
@@alfalldoot6715 “wistfully”… he’s actively cursing Mohg and pointing at it to ensure the Tarnished sees it and delivers justice for kidnapping Miquella, as discussed in the video. The portal is likely the path Mohg took to arrive so close to the Haligtree in secret.
Actually, it's been theorized that the albinaurics in the Haligtree are the Oracles. Yeah, the weird looking egg hat looking people. Here's why: 1. They bleed white blood akin to albinaurics. 2. They roll around in layers of clothing. Seemingly, they don't use their legs. Just like the 1st generation of albinaurics. 3. Pale, bluish skin, and they have been described to whimper beneath their robes. What other enemy whimpers? The albinaurics, if you wish to compare their whimpering voices in the Alb village. 4. Freakishly long arms. I personally believe in this theory, as it makes sense and solves the mystery of the Oracle Envoys and their origins. Though what I won't understand is why they tend to use Holy based magic instead of arcane. And why are their bubbly instrumental incantations related to the Claymens bubbly sorceries, which rely on the requirements of intelligence and arcane...?
For DLC I imagine us entering Miquella's Dream which is this ideal version of the Lands Between he envisioned. At first Miquella is a friendly NPC but as we progress in the story the influence of the Formless Mother starts to show. The world starts to become this twisted interpretation of Miquella's dream. Ultimately, fighting a broken, corrupted Miquella. Bringing him back to his senses and passing on his dream to us before he perishes or accepting his twisted reality as the future. Edit: And maybe he can get us the fabled Saving Melina by using the frenzied flame without becoming the Lord of the Frenzied Flame Ending.
I’d also like to think we will fight godwyn, the cleric knight that saved melania(I can’t think of his name). A dragon, and probably a badass knight that we don’t know about
I always questioned why malenia and radan fought, now i think it was because radan was holding back the stars and thus preventing even the eclipse from occurring, the reason the eclipse never occurred was maybe because radan never died
There is also the theory, that if you look where the palace of the Moghwyn Dynasty is located (pretty much right underneath Caelid) it is also the possibility that she tried to find him and could somehow follow his presence up until there. Maybe she assumed Radahn had something to do with his absence, or he mistook her entering his domain as an attack, but for whichever reason instead of having a chance to continue towards him, she and Radahn ended up fighting, and he was strong enough to force her to give into the rot.
@@LaurenE135 everything is setup for that to happen, the death of radahn meant one thing, miquella's technical victory since the battle between radahn and malenia was a war of deciding who was going to decide the destiny of the lands, no one won, but if the eclipse is actually going to bring back some way miquella (like Griffith turning into femto) then he won and we will be standing on his way (or maybe we'll be his new blade) and that would make sense for the dlc remembrance mechanics, maybe we'll see other demi gods that died after godwyn coming back to the lands
@@cntra9378 it's not factual, though. There's been huge records set for tv show viewership within the last few years. Worldwide, over 1.1b people have at least one streaming service & close to 70m have cable, in just the US. Viewership for shit like the Oscars & Superbowl are down but for shows on HBO & the like, they're up.
@@CLL21 i think he is talking about the quality but even if we are talking about viewership this channel in the last 30 days made 12.5 million views take in consideration that Elden Ring has been out for more than a Year so interest in the game while still very high it obvsiously decreased with time this numbers are very close to What Game Of Thrones did in its peak which was the episode winterfell.
Do you think that Radahn, having held back the stars, actually prevented the Eclipse? The sun a star after. If that was the case, it’d certainly be pretty funny, since that would mean Radahn not only halted Ranni’s plans, but also Miquella’s plans.
Interesting point, Radahn (I believe) was the strongest of the DemiGod children, and thwarting the plans of two of his siblings wouldn't be beyond him.
@@froggie610 An Eclipse is a moment that occurs in a cycle. My idea is that Radahn, by halting the movement of the stars, stopped the cycle of the Eclipse, which made it so that it could never happen. With Radahn dead, the cycle of the Eclipse resumes, but that doesn’t equate to the Eclipse occurring immediately.
The idea that Malenia, of all people, considers Miquella the most fearsome Emperean of all genuinely makes Miquella sound terrifying. He's fearsome by Malenia's standards. She wasn't even scared of Radahn! Miquella's wise, he's alluring, and he does seem kind. But what power truly lies within that child's form. And what was he turning into in that cocoon.
Fearsome most likely doesn’t mean “strong in battle” there are other ways to be fearsome. By “fearsome empyrean” she most likely means “closest emperyan to actually replacing marika” meaning closest to being a true god.
Sure, but that's still pretty intimidating, especially considering all that Marika did during her reign. The wars she waged and won. Her reverence across The Lands Between. Like mother like son, I suppose.
@@tehCostHD Yeah the fact that he can "Compel" admiration and worship is kinda scary. Might even be why his sister worships him so much. He can literally force/bewitch people into adoring him
Note: could it be possible that Miquella was stolen to become the Formless Mother's avatar, as he is an Emperyon and Mohg is not? Because Mohg certainly seems to be acting more as a servant to the Formless Mother, while Malenia's relationship with the god of rot is more her being posessed. Maybe the Formless Mother is trying to sculpt him into her vessel with Mohg's blood, and the reason why nothing is happening is because Miquella is resisting
Having now seen Mesmer, whose name has a similar to what Miquella does as St. Trina, and seeing the blood flame that comes out of him, and seeing that his arms look remarkably similar to the one coming out of the chrysalis in Mogh's studio apartment, I think Mesmer is a tainted version of what Miquella dreamed he might grow up to be.
@@AwesomeWookieeMessmer isn’t necessarily using bloodflame. “Those stripped of the Grace of Gold shall all meet death in the embrace of Messmer's flame.” I believe he has his own flame that he is in command of (maybe it’s possible that he was banished to the land of shadow because of this as fire at the time before the shattering was seen as an enemy of the Erdtree and essentially illegal to wield or have.) that last bit is pure speculation but I do think there is evidence that he commands his own flame. Him also already having the moniker of Messmer the Impaler suggests to me that he has had a history of violence… Miyazaki also said in an interview that Messmer is a child of Marika who got wiped from history. I believe he is a sibling to Malenia and Miquella, and would be afflicted with some type of illness or meddling from outer gods just like his siblings both were. This meddling could have been done by the fell god of the giants which would explain why he can command a flame that looks similar to the flame of the fell god and also why Marika would want to rid history of his existence and banish him to the land of shadow. Lmao this tin foil hat is comfy
I’m not sure how a fight with Miquella would go. He’s always so angelic; I think that’s the way to go with him as a boss, angelically terrifying, Old Testament style
with the new info from the dlc trailer, i'm pretty sure the "soulless demigod" miquella needs the eclipse to save is messmer. which connects to the theory that malenia went to fight radahn to move the stars and allow the eclipse to happen. which also explains why you need to have beaten radahn for the dlc to occur. everyone's probably already had this theory and disproved it, but i felt really smart peacing it together!
Has anyone noticed the fact that Godwyn is basically just Baldur? He is revered as a hero befriended his enemies and was the first to die which trigged the death of many demi-gods?
Don’t forget he went to Hel, where the undead will spew forth from in Ragnarok and ultimately came back. And Godwyn is also associated with the undead and in one ending comes back.
Its not that big of a shock to me, old mytholgies, fairytales and ancient legends keep popping up in this game, with new twists. personally i love it. they didnt just drop a million pop references, (thank the elden beast) no.. they took inspiration from the stories, and built such a fascinating mythology and world, in and of itself. And Ill give em their roses for that.
I really do hope that Miquella becomes the Ludwig of Elden Ring. With a bigger part to play in DLC and an Epic boss fight which can live up to his lore.
Not sure if it was mentioned. But I loved the scene with godwyn and twins statues. Showing it at night really showed the characters 'aura' i suppose. The light in miquella's side, the red flowers covering melania and then the flowers behind godwyn are shadowed black. GREAT shot!
Miquella and Godwyn are the two kindest and most moral demigods in the entire game And the moment we get the chance for a Miquella ending, I'm going for it I will help save the special boy from Mohg and help him fix the TREE
@@ThingAnderson Well seems like everyone ends up siding with one of these endings as the "Good Ending" anyways Age of Stars for example is seen as "good and without flaws" by too many people I know from software endings are Grey, but if everyone is going to argue why Ranni's Ending is the best ending, then I can argue for a ending that's good for the world's stability vs the ending that blocks out the outr gods (even though she doesn't bother to at least help calm things down)
I feel like you're taking Miquella's motivation for creating weapons for use against Those Who Live In Death the wrong way. He has no grievance or hatred towards them. He created those weapons as a mercy, to end the suffering of those cursed to a really awful fate. His motivations are no different from Jerren wishing to grant Radahn a good death. The flavortext about Godwyn you read to me reads like a magical version of watching a loved one lie in a vegetative state for years and eventually deciding it's for the best to pull the plug.
Yea, I feel it's less that Miquella hates them But more that he views "Those who live in death" as people who are suffering/in a vegetative state Even if they can't feel, they also can't do much or be put to proper rest They are bodies without souls afterall and thus no true will to call their own
A thought that I had about Mogh's infatuation with Miquella: if Miquella is able to use their blood to continuously water the Haligtree, then perhaps this abundance of blood is something else that could have drawn Mogh to them.
I really like this theory, but what if its actually the formless mother's interest in Miquella, and she can't affect him because of his unalloyed gold so she has to go through Mogh. Maybe she is commanding Mogh to try to rebirth Miquella into some kind of god of blood.
The second you mentioned Miquella of the Eclipse and I saw that banner again, I felt confident this is going to be a reference to Griffith from Berserk. So much of that makes so much sense, and I really hope the DLC explores that
Digging into the lore of Souls games is like discovering the ruins of an ancient civilizations and you have to put together things you can observe and make a sense of it.
@@Dr_Diaz nah man i love how hidden away it is, lets you make your own conclusions and theories rather than it be written our for you. wouldnt want it for every game obviously but fromsoft does it very well
Miquella seems to be something of a magical scientist. He came up with solutions for his sisters sickness, his brothers undeath, and his own permanent infancy. Also the connection between godwyn and Miquella makes me excited that we’ll meet/fight them both in the dlc
I find the devs choosing the color purple to signify St. Trina very interesting. For those non-artsy-souls reading this, if you take a look at a color wheel, you'll notice yellow and purple are opposites. They are "opposed" to one another (they don't get along). Also, the VFX from St. Trina-associated items have an... almost muted color. Almost as if the power behind them is stuck halfway manifesting.
Golden fundamentals, blue scholars, red warriors, lavender dreams, purple gravity, yellow frenzy... Definitely something there. Many more I didn't remember too I bet. The color of amber tears for the Wonderous Physick, for instance.
it's a light purple though, and associated with mist. sleep is just death without commitment, after all. It's barely death, but death all the same. maybe it's more light violet than it is purple tbh
coming back to these videos once again now that shadow of erdtree has been announced and I'm once again dumbstruck by the quality, detail and comapssionate and soothing storytelling - absolutely incredible work, I can't wait to work through the backlog again and for any new videos on the DLC!!
I've seen a lot of stuff of miquella but goddamn this keeps scaring me more, he's everywhere, he knows everything, he's planning it all, slowly, and we are just mere pieces of the puzzle
Yeah, I've been saying that he's not a good guy. None of the demi-gods are good. We're all just pawns in their uncaring schemes. I go with Ranni on the principal that she's trying to cut the world off from the influence of the outer gods so that people and the citizens of the world can finally be free enough to choose their own way forward, as frightening and intimidating as that will be.
Influence of Martin is felt the most in wierd Radagon and Marika situation. And in Magritt/Morgott who is VERY remeniscent of Stannis Baratheon. A rejected, despised claimant to the throne, who actually has an unbreakable and stern moral code. Love that dude, despite dying to him about 9000 times
My first thought when I learned that Miquella imbedded himself into the tree, is that he wanted to grow, overcome his curse. The tree was growing and so would he :'(
the lores are so deep and intricate. howw. how can a game has such detailed lores. and kudos to the lore masters for explaining it to us in plain langauge. Loved the video! thanks
Did we miss this entire time that the figure holding Malenia and Miquella at 9:14 was actually Messmer (and not Godwyn, as originally predicted)? Suggesting that he could be the oldest of the three "M" children of Radagon.
On the Berserk comparison, the image of Miquella being carried by Mohg does also have the same, wispy, androdgynous angelic appearance that Griffith had. The Nascant Butterflies and Trina's Lilly also carry much of the same aesthetic, so I can 100% read the connection.
@@asurakazuma The creation of the Haligtree is similar to Griffith's creation of Falconia as well. It's a beautiful and perfect place (under a big cool tree) set outside of an ugly world led by an endlessly charismatic man blessed with seemingly eternal youth. That said, I doubt they'll fully turn Miquella into Griffith, but I AM hoping they make him into a bad guy as we get the inevitable DLC's and sequels.
@@grizzlywilliam same I've always loved from soft games cause for me they're the closest I'll get to games set in a berserk world. The more references and inspiration the better. I need the DLC NOW ALREADY
Miquella has the ability to create tools that halt the grow of scarlet rot, St. Trina has the ability to quell those under the influence of the flame of frenzy.
Also, after you beat Malenia you can get this neat little item called "Miquella's Needle" and it's description reads "Capable of subduing the flame of frenzy, if inherited". This is another one of the numerous paralles between Trina and Miquella. I firmly believe they are the same person
I'm such a baby... learning about Godwyn's bond with Miquella and Malenia made me tear up. I don't know why, but the stories from this game have a direct line to my emotions
I would love to see a video discussing the frequent duality and alter egos of so many of the most important characters in Elden Ring. Miquella is also St. Trina, Maliketh is also Gurranq, Godfrey is also Hoarah Loux, Morgott is also Margit. And most important of all, Marika is also Radagon.
I, and many other people, are definitely hoping that the DLC adds this sort of thing into the game. As-is, Ranni being the only Empyrean you can side with makes it feel a little half-finished because there's SO MUCH that the player is directed to do for her, but substantially less when it comes to most of the other endings. Adding this to a bunch of unused-but-still-in-the-files Miquella-related things makes it feel like another plot, namely a Miquella plot, was cut for time.
Wow, I can't believe Miquella's back story could move me this much, especially the St. Trina part. If the DLC includes his storyline, I'll definitely become one of his followers.
@@KhadiPlays In the game the Outer Gods we know are The Greater Will, the Frenzied Flame, The Dark Moon, The Destined Death and the Serpent God, prolly in the DLC we get to know the Formless Mother, The Dragon God and The Fell God, The Twinbird and the God of Rot, The Gloam-Eyed Queen and the Primeval Current.
@@osamaalawadhi9764 The new DLC for Elden Ring that's being teased lately is leaked to be accessible from Mohg's Palace and have something to do with Miquella
I think a potential reason that the Eclipse ritual failed is that heavenly bodies, generally, simply could not be moved - due to Radahn’s interference. Remember that a very important historical event during the Shattering was the fight between Radahn and Malenia, but we don’t actually know the reason they clashed in the first place. I think a convincing explanation is that Malenia clashed with Radahn was because he stood in the way of Miquella’s ritual (and while Malenia was away, Mohg was able to kidnap Miquella, which we know happened while Malenia was warring with Radahn).
I was thinking this as well. I have a feeling that Miquella's eclipse ritual wasn't really to help Godwyn, but to transfer Miquella's spirit into Godwyn;s soulless eternal body.
I think Miquella’s attempt to summon an eclipse pairs quite nicely with the theory that Melina is the reborn soul of Godwyn in the disembodied form of Ranni. (Some spoilers ahead) In the first place Godwyn is associated with the Sun and Ranni with the moon. Their paired deaths, the Sun in spirit and the Moon in body are mirrored by the eclipse. The glow of the Sun is dimmed (absent like the soul of Godwyn) and the body of the moon turns black (like the burned body of Rani, Melina’s incorporeal burned body seemingly matches the spirit of Ranni). But the death is not complete insofar as the dim glow of the Sun remains as does the burned body of the Moon. Thus, Melina is born by Law of Regression, the two seeds of Marika return to one another at the foot of the Erdtree. The spirit pay Castle Sol speaks the following prayer: “Ohh great sun! Frigid sun of Sol! Surrender yourself to the eclipse! Grant life to the soulless bones!” Godwyn the frigid sun should surrender completely to the eclipse, that is why the spirit laments that “The sun has not been swallowed.” The prayer of what we can assume is Miquella found in the Golden Epitaph states: “Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death.” So it seems that Miquella wants his brother to die completely in order to be born again. And perhaps that is what happens when Melina (potentially) becomes kindling for the Erdtree, the last trace of the Sun, enclosed in the bodiless moon, dies.
I read Miquella going into the Halig's trees womb as an attempt to break his curse of childhood and grow up. The idea of him being nascent and Malenia calling him the most fiersome Empyreum made me think that his power, while great already, was haulted alongside of his growth, forever just out of reach of what he could have if he was allowed to progress. If he found a way to grow up, he could more easily fulfill his goals (cure Malenia, perhaps bring back Godwyn's soul), or at least truly come into his own power.
Interesting. Maybe he thought being cradled in the Haligtree would make him grow as time passed, hence why Malenia is waiting for him there. But Mogh stole him somehow I think? Not exactly sure how and for what purpose though.
@@thisisfyne I also don't know 'how' but the purpose is explained on Mohg's Remembrance: "Wishing to raise Miquella to full godhood, Mohg wished to become his consort, taking the role of monarch. But no matter how much of his bloody bedchamber he tried to share, he received no response from the young Empyrean". - Remembrance of Mohg, Lord of Blood
Him cocooning himself to become a fully realised god is like how a caterpillar cocoons itself to emerge as a fully developed butterfly. And we already know that Miquella is associated with imagery of butterflies, as well as his siblings.
FINALLY! Finally I found someone who thinks this theory is boring as fuck. Not only has it been done to death, it would ruin the whole tragedy of Miquella and his entire character.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the possibility that many of Miquella's followers might've been under the affects of his compulsion. The footsoldiers explode in the hopes of guiding Miquella home-- The Phantom who discovered what Mohg had done spoke with anger and reverence, and even his sister and Mohg both had very deep faith in him. In fact, almost everyone who talks about Miquella speaks of him like that. Even the cut character Rhico. That does bring about a very interesting question, if what Miquella's followers are doing and saying are out of their own free will, or if their judgement is at all skewed by this compulsion.
Well, Miquella's following went downhill after he was kidnapped and the haligtree stopped growing. It might not be what Miquella intended at all. Everyone's got a screw loose after his disappearance and even Malenia is out of mind so it's not that far to presume his followers have lost their mind as well.
I was just thinking this in regards to “Miquella being a hypocrite for hating those walking in death” Perhaps he created all those spells out of compassion and sadness over his cursed brother, but his brainwashed followers are the ones who went mad hoonting like hoonters
One thing to note of Miquella are his bizarre proportions. In the art with Mogh he seems to have simultaneously one adult arm and one arm fit for a child. Even the Miquella molded in the haligtree roots has one of his hands depicted as an adults arm.
"The academy told Radagon to go fuck himself"
"He took that literally"
Gold.
Unalloyed gold.
@@cook279 lol
pure gold
Underrated line
-en Order
FORTY-SEVEN MINUTES OF MIQUELLA LORE? Vaati, you have blessed us. Mohg is foaming at the mouth.
Nihil? More like totum!
Mohg is definitely malding in his basement since Vaati knows about his dearest Miquela more than he'll ever know!
Mohg is a disgusting being
I don't think that's foam coming from his mouth...
Bros got some new beat material
That part about miquellas lullaby being able to give the merchants some sleep in their agony is some of the most heartwarming/heartbreaking stuff i have ever heard.
It's actually the bloodborn theme for the last boss.
It's incredible and nice
Does anyone know the name of that bittersweet instrumental piece from the Cradlesong section btw? It was really pretty
but this might be a remixed version
@@davidr5087 only one of them is there are multiple music they can play I believe
Miquella before June 21 : Oh such a kind demi-god if only Mogh didn't kidnap him
Miquella after June 21: You what
Had the moghlested chained up in the basement
@@shadow-faye.... for his meat. Like miquellamb for sacrifice.
@@shadow-faye Possibly one of the best comments i've ever seen
I read the "You What?" in the Spongebob meme voice.
nah i'm still on the boat that mohg did kidnap him without miquella prompting him 😭 the timeline doesn't make sense if he gets charmed before being kidnapped, not to mention why not just have mohg kidnap him after the tree was done growing for the most part. then there's the godwyn soul stuff that never got resolved
Mohg is the only Shardbearer whose post-defeat Site of Grace isn't named after him, instead it's "Cocoon of the Empyrean", that plus the fact that the Pureblood Knight's Medal allows you to teleport straight to this boss room almost from the start of the game makes it seem like a safe bet that Miquella's cocoon will be the entrance to a DLC location.
Good point, forgot about that medal
I like this idea. Also could Ranni's great rune be on the Dark Moon? Other half of DLC or DLC 2
@@Eric-cj8sb maybe Godwyn will be the second DLC, after Miquella puts the eclipse in motion
Good point. Miquella is “slumbering” apparently, so maybe the dlc is inside his “world of dream” (Gideon's aforesaid comment about Miquella slumbering is consistent with cut content suggesting that Miquella is in the world of his dream)
Also, FromSoft adding an offline way to complete Varre’s quest adds to the notion that they’re oddly focused on players reaching the Palace at a certain point.
That’s a lot for “optional” content.
Subtitles have been added! Queen America is now Queen Marika once more.
A THIRD PERSONALITY?!? Deepest Lore!
Ah yes. Queen America, spouse to Captain America, the Noble.
@@ewjiml Captain America actually has a strength of demigods, I think.
We must discard evil and store up good. Those who do not may be reborn into this world.
Change it back, we're going to need Queen America's help with all these damn UFOs that keep showing up over here.
"Visit Miquella's dreamworld in the DLC" ..This video aged very well
The land of shadow is not a dream from what info we got
It’s not miquellas dream, it’s the shadow of the erdtree. Literally.
Potato tomato guys
@Mohgenstein but still is the world you can only access by standing before Miquella's cocoons
@@Mohgenstein its a place in the lands between that marika after becoming a god hid away from the world, not the literal shadow of the erdtree.
Studying for the exam on June 21, 2024
Right there with you
Golden Exam
Same here
thanks for the laugh!
its funny how he called out what the dlc was gonna be
The #1 thing I want out of any DLC that releases is more information about Miquella. I would happily spend an entire DLC within a "dream of St. Trina" or something along those lines.
miquella im guessing is dead. taken advantage of. rip
@@CrimsonRayne Death is not a thing in the golden order (until we become Elden lord at least), none of the bosses we defeat actually die. Even if explicitly killed, they only return to the Erdtree to be reborn
@@CrimsonRayne Im pretty sure Gideon says Miquella is sleeping
Painted world of miquella baby
@Jose Krimzon physically, maybe, but Ranni's character clearly shows a separation between body and soul
Saint trina being sympathetic to those afflicted by frenzy and allowing them to sleep... man that strikes a chord with me real deep. I love this game.
ok
Fun fact I am so dozy right now my amygdala is acting up.
Knowers know. 😏
@@FreedomAndPeaceOnly go see your therapist
tfw no demigod empyrian to put me to eternal slumber to my deranged self
@@FreedomAndPeaceOnly I wish my insight was low enough to unbecome a knower.
I've noticed a pattern with the demigod children. They have a pair of dualities and then an outlier.
Mohg and Morgot are the pair of duality (how they go about accepting their omen blood) and Godwyn is the outlier essentially being born perfect.
Ranni and Rykard are the duality (how they go about rebelling against the erd tree/greater will, also Ranni stays true to her cause while Rykard abandoned it to greed) and Radahn is the outlier being a loyalist to it.
Melania and Miquila are the duality (Decay and Abundance) and Melina is the outlier. Fire counters both abundance and decay, it burns away decay to allow new life to grow, but also destroys life/abundance to create decay.
And after typing this I realized even the parents are like this.
Radagan and Marika are literally duality incarnate and Godfrey is an outlier mortal
soooo
radahn is the only normal dude in the family ?
Damn....you're right
@@kaiserdetectivegolden2735 Idk about you, but stopping the stars is not something the average guy would do.
Godwyn is the closest, he didn't start the dragon cult himself, they formed based on his friendship.
Everyone’s fucked while Godfrey and Radahn are just vining being absolute legends
great speculation!
Mohg beating the allegations was not what i expected from the DLC
Guy pulled off a Catholic Church level turnaround
Turns out the mohglester was being miquellested the whole.time
I thought P Diddy had a better chance at a comeback
To be clear, Mohg wanted to marry Miquella long before any compulsion, and Mohg wasn't compelled either, that's a fact, Miquella rejected Mohg's advances many times, before Miquella even knew how to use his abilities.
It's also suggested, with Mohg being able to withstand the outer gods madness, with seemingly no effort, he was one of the few people completely Immune to Miquellas compulsion.
Mohg wanted to marry Miquella long before Miquella even knew how to use his abilities, and honestly, so did a lot of other people too.
Is it so hard to believe most people wanted to marry some innocent beautiful radiant babe? Especially in this world of monstrosities?
Superman can lazer eye people, it doesn't mean everyone on the planet has been lazer eyed by him, it's the same with Miquella.
Believe it or not, if you're a beautiful, genuinely good and gentle being, that just wants to spread love and cuddles, people will like you, magic or not, most of Miquellas followers aren't compelled.
@@AlexisTheDragon i dont think the term "innocent beautiful radiant babe" is fit for someone described as looking like a child
Miquella’s idealist worldview is very fitting for somebody stuck in childhood, in all fairness, he’s actually capable of bringing his ideas to reality
I find there is a difference between childlike and childish which I'd love to see explored further in modern media. Older authors such as George MacDonald address this difference, and his fantasy works are quite cerebral. You made a good point I think!
@lordbalthosadinferni4384 Our greed was the tool by which we gained the power by which to make a better world. While it would be nice to be able to cast it aside as it now holds us back from further progress, it will take time. Growth is a slow and painful process, but we do continue to grow.
@Lord Balthos Ad Inferni Very well said!
@lordbalthosadinferni4384 I think you've run away with the metaphor.
@Lord Balthos Ad Inferni Good. Let those pipe dreams rest. We do not have the tools to create a perfect world, for such things do not exist and will never. Don't let your ideals carry you to your ruin. After all, that ended up being Miquella's fate.
Thank you so much for including my St.Trina-inspired imagery! This Miquella breakdown of yours is a blast - so much interesting information! And it is truly an honor to be a part of it :)
Your imagery of Saint Trina was amazing!!! The quality and ideas was at top level!!! Keep going, your artwork is just outstanding!
It's such a relief to have great visuals for that section - Miquella is a difficult character to depict! Very grateful.
Look you made me think a DLC trailer had dropped without me knowing. Bravo.
Your visuals are insane, they made me think I missed some recent DLC news lol
Your artwork is amazing!!! Corporates are assholes, then I really wish for good and talented developers to work with you, to turn your art and ideas into a beautiful game!
Can’t wait for an update to “Kindly” Miquella.
Y’know I think you might have gotten that update
The part about Miquella being "pure and loveable" juxtaposed with the shots of Radahn and Malenia is pure gold after the dlc 🤣🤣
Unalloyed gold one could say
Can we appreciate that this community has grown to 2.5 million just off of soulsborne lore. To me, this is a wild concept and I'm beyond proud of your huge leap in video quality over the last year or so. You're doing great things man
Excellent point. I was so sad when DS3 DLC was over. That last Vati video felt like a goodbye. So great to be back.
Holy shit I never realized that he had such a big channel now
I think Miquella could potentially want to put those who live in death out of their misery. He could truly believe he is helping them.
Or Miquella hated those who lived in death, they lived while his dear brother was nothin but a soulless body, it feels like they where stealings his brother place on the land between.
@@joseroa5243 Miquella is portrayed as very kind and sensible guy who's territory is a safe heaven for anyone and everyone. I personally think his love and empathy toward his brother caused him to create those spells cause in his eyes these people are suffering like his brother is.
@@MIOrko that's precisely why i think he has it for those who live in death. He's the closest one to a benevolent god, but he devised weaponry and magic to Slay them? That feels personal and unhinged of him, even the purest soul can have Shadows.
More like he wants to flourish their life back to them to live and then rot and wither way like a flower pollinating by spreading, think of it like the process of life and death as Vaati mentioned in the beginning, the golden order is in a way a refusal of the laws of causality and regression as everything is left in stagnation of order without change, calming and refreshing, developed and divine but also irregular and haunting as nothing every changes due to death being impossible for those that go back to the erdtree and back.
Miquella cocoon symbolises motion or time as he grows and therefore development. He will likely end up nourishing himself from the blood of the lakes of the blood dynasty and feed it to the tree, introducing a new ending maybe a new conflict with the age of stars. Which I am pretty sure the stars and the torrent of the azur cosmos symbolises all the infinite gods beyond the greater will. Something that Vaati mentioned before is how Melina is likely the youngest daughter of Marika or even Marika herself wanting to change the ertree she's entrapped in for the punishment of shattering the elden ring. As a result she want freedom by either burning her soul she inbeded in a doll body or Melina is Marika youngest daughter that wants to save or change the fate of the world by burning the ertree she was born in and therefore give way to Miquella. Maybe Miquella put her up to this although the question comes what about us ? We are tarnished why did we come back, was it really Marika that wanted us to struggle to become a elden lord and was Gideon right ? Not likely as we kill the vassal of the greater will "Elden Beast". Also the relation between Torrent and us is amazing to me, Torrent was the one to guide Melina and also chose us, The Torrent is the also something Primal Sorcerer Azur explored and I think explained how the comet azur imprinted a greater meaning that of endless stars in the cosmos representing likely gods. Therefore is torrent a vassal of a god that roams around looking for those willing to server his god like all other vassals server the greater will. To me the opposition to the ertree isn't the moon, stars or dark moon which is Ranni's ending "age of stars", which her mentor warned her to be wary of and due to her respect for her mentor modelled herself after the snow witch and the colour of magic glintstone magic "blue". Also Ranni also knows who Torrents former master is which isn't Melina but is either Marika or the snow witch which might have served another god in the cosmos. Although it is weird Ranni killed her fingers due to not wanting to server or be an empyrean anymore, she fought and plotted with Rykard to take down Radhan which was a fanboy of the golden order and wanted to rule the capital while also controlling the stars in "motion", Melenia likely fought him on behalf of Miquella for that reason, although we know Miquella does not want to server under the golden order due to Melenia and neither does he server another god unlike Ranni might be unknowingly by giving us the stars, torrent and cosmos. I honestly dont see any way Ranni would ever side of Miquella.
I also have the epiphany that just like Melenia is possessed by the goddess of rot she herself would be a full god already if she was born from Marika and Radagon / marika, this is where I think either Melenia and Marika aren't related to Radagon but they are to Marika both as they are the only afflicted demi-gods.
After all we know the pests say that Melenia is a goddess of rot and her "buds" flowers bloom over caelid therefore giving birth to offspring of her first bloom where she had to become a god to injure Rahdan on behalf of Miquella to set the stars in motion and as a result started the night of the black knives as the demi-gods / gods started fighting likely so that Miquella could ascend to his god-hood just like Melenia when she become the rot goddess. This leaves us with Miquella and us awaiting for him to bloom into a god either to be slain for his crimes against the lands between by putting into motion the conflict of the empyreans directly or indirectly.
I could go on but honestly I think the most important part of the story is us "tarnished" as whoever the narrator is at the start telling us the story / opening scenes. It makes me wonder "Are we Miquella?" are we deserving of the elden ring like Melenia said which she only acknowledged Miquella as being before us. Was it Marika that bought us back and plotted the night of the black knives or really Ranni. Are we tarnish really meant to have any other ending but the age of fracture just like Ranni monologue in the story trailer ? Who knows. What was our purpose to begin with. The first person we meet is Torrent, then Melina (possibly Marika) which was handed down to her by either Ranni herself or her mentor the snow dusk witch. In Paganism there is the idea of the triple goddess which symbolise the stages of female life cycle (Maiden, Mother and finally Crone), is Ranni our maiden, is Renalla the symbol of the mother, and the crone her mentor maybe her secret grandmother ? Was Renalla really heartbroken by Radagon or by Ranni (death) which she greaves by trying to give birth to her again and again with rebirth and therefore weeps like a mother when the egg falls when we enter phase two, which isn't really Renalla, it's actually a projection of Renalla in her prime likely by Ranni which narrates.
Also where is Ranni after her quest and ending, she's not in her rise again, she just poofs our of existance (DLC plz!)
Also Marika T*Ts who doesn't love them face-orange-biting-nails right Gideon.
Either way in the end we never get the Elden ring, we only fight the greater wills vassal for some reason, we fight Radagon not Marika. It's possible that the ring itself is Marika and Radagon obsessed with order and power want to repair it to prove himself as a elden lord which is why we don't might Marika as this is her plan for a new Elden lord.
This makes me thing we might have gotten a chance to betray Marika if she really did insist in our arrival to the lands between and by bring us her youngest daughter which seems to want to burn herself.
Also the opposite of the moon isn't the ertree as mentioned before, it's the sun which we never see in the lands between, but we know that Miquella.
Melina says "Burn for the sake of the new lord" and she thanks us for guiding her, not the other way round, she was born under the ertree by Marika and now burn it to free the roots and the tree, her hands also seem to have lots of scares was she maybe born of the ertree or was she trying to get in to save Marika and cut her hands on the roots ? Either way she says "Burn for the sake of the new lord" are we the new lord ? she then says "thank you for guiding me her" and tries to reach us as we are incapacitated and says "The one that walk along side flame. Shall one day meet the road of destined death. Good Bye". Why is the flame red, why is the path of flame? where is the sun as we know there was one due to the eclipse.
Trees love the sun and the ertree is a tree, the eclipse would stop the sun from reaching the ertree and stop the golden light of the tree, this would mean an end to the meddling of the outer gods, similar to Ranni and Rennala and how they relied on the moons "Light and Dark moons", as for the outer gods, Miquella, eclipse and the flame path. Wouldn't that mean Melina is not on the side of Miquella and therefore is worker for her own ambitions since she left the roundtable. She was born under the ertree but why burn it. In the frenzied flame ending Melina doesn't die and her other eye opens it seems being dark blue, is she the golem queen ? is she maybe Ranni's mentor the dusk snow witch ? Why do black flames like the assassins of numen (all women FYI) or the black knife flame it seems apear or similar to the godskin apostates which serve the golem queen. Who knows. What we do know is the sun in Elden ring seems to be shunned by all and hidden while in dark souls it is the whole premise of the foundation lore with Gwyn the first flame.
May be mercy, may be causality-regression, may be honouring his brother, may be in-line with the vision of his future age.
If those who 'live' in death aren't actually alive, then it is a bastardization of both life & death (& the cycle of birth & decay (;reminiscent of the wheel of fortune?)). Suppose that for flourishing abundance there must be death (Ancestor's consume the spirits they release, giant's fire needs kindling, erdtree recycles souls& bodies, souls(+flesh?) can be made into glintstone which is also sort of alive, dragon-&-beasts were all for funeral rites where the flesh is perhaps burnt or consumed(?) seeing as only the bones remain, someone crucible related is making those living pots who will die if smashed, disregarding the devouring serpent atm, death rite birds are collecting serfs & promising an eventual and far off afterlife while burning the bodies, even rot consumes & begets new life of a sort), this half-death half-living stagnant immortal existence isn't it. They aren't alive(/born) with no soul by the rules of 'births' in this world, nor should they be capable of creating new life, and yet are incapable of death with finality w/o outside divine intervention/incantation. With the pure/ultra-refined paradigm that Miquella appears to be aiming for, there are going to be a lot of things that do no make the cut. For all that he welcomes the miserable & outcast, given the environmental story telling it looks like all of them would be going through initiation/'rebirth' not unlike the prior ages receiving of dew or bathing in a tree's golden light or starlight; they (all) would have to participate for such an age to come into being/dominance to bar the outergods from interfacing through any one individual of the lands between. Is the soul a vital & pure part of life that is required in this process, esp w the pattern of curse affliction being done via blood/flesh(/body) rather than the soul? Remember that those who walk in death are of accursed flesh only, there is no redemption of Margott's variety nor metamorphosis proposed by Miquella available to them...unless, of course, the flesh is reunited with the soul first perhaps.
An age of the dusk born could likely be a descent into a state of stagnation from which there is no return. Of the dusk-born, the only ones that appear to currently exist are Godwyn's soulless & mutating undead corpse and Fia's followers after their deaths (Rogier, Lionel & co.) if I am not mistaken, though with there being passionate hunters looking for them one could presume that there are more (What in the world are wormfaces??); interesting that Fia is only an acolyte of sorts and not actually one of them (she's still alive after all..the tarnished version of 'alive')...and that it is only the still living & not actual dusk born that presumptuously claim grievance for these others (and presumably their own future immortal selves) -- are the soulless even capable of suffering as is meant by those bleeding-hearted living, what do they have to fear even with destined death? "Living is suffering", an agreed upon conceptualization by the west & east, comes to mind. Consider also that if they are still alive by virtue of their flesh, soulless as it may be, then they are a deadend unable to birth new life, soulless or otherwise, and will only consume like a plague; no cycle, just decline.
Then there is the matter of a kinslayer & betrayer unintentionally causing this death plague -- a very new splinter of a thing. That Ranni(demigod & sibling & rival for the godhood of the next age) did this to personally escape the Greater Will's influence (stars included?), rather than to bring about whatever age she was fated to w/in it's grand paradigm, is neutral in a sense but apparently self-serving at the expense of friends and family around her (getting some Griffith vibes actually). By splitting the rune of death & causing this plague (the root cause if you will. ha.) ... perhaps it is imperative that it regresses back into one whole. An ecosystem jarred out of balance (by a self-serving independent actor that then leaves said eco-system), which will most likely fail w/o intervention.
Now how the whole rune of death being released shifts the dynamics of any of this unclear; Maliketh/G seems alright with consuming the deathroot after all so perhaps it is some parallel to Renalla's rune of the unborn that can be used w/o bastardizing one's life(memory & flesh) only if one possess the rune like our tarnished does. Perhaps w the rune released the dusk-born plot will cease to be viable in the long term... that is unless a special little mending rune of an exception to the rule is made (not unlike Marika's little exception to death). And how would they even fare against the death rite bird's death flame? Or that of the giants or the dragons?
The matter of where the souls of the half-dead go after becoming such leaves much to speculation. Do they just cease to exist? Or is it not destined death unless both soul & body are slain by it in it's whole form -- the godskins' flame was nerfed once after all, wouldn't splitting the rune also nerf it's capability as an absolute. Are the souls accumulating in a purgatory, accessible by the sun-star, it's eclipsing, or the breath of a moment during dusk? Will they gain ground parallel to the soulless bodies of the dusk-born and one day descend upon the lands between?
What is the worship of living in death if not a mortal's desperate & blind grasping for immortality?
These videos are so incredible
Nice
Good
Ausome
Osam
Nice
Miyazaki saw this and said, 'nah wrong guy bro'
Lmaooo
FREE MOHG
JUSTICE FOR MOHG
I actually can't believe it bro.
"so uhhhh you guys read berserk?" - Miyazaki
Miquella being kidnapped by his own omen brother who wants to turn him into his spouse is one of the weirdest things in Elden Ring
All of Elden ring is pretty weird once you really started observing shit
G R Martin favorite trope, incest and a lot of it. You can see it in most of his novel where royalties are involved.
@@clorkmagnus it's just realistic, have you ever studied the British royalty?
@@notfunny3397 that is one thing but putting in in almost every pieces of your writing is another. I never said it’s not realistic, I just said he like to write about it.
@@clorkmagnus curse of all great fantasy/horror writers apparently
Stephen king books for example, or lovecraftian depictions in general
The one thing I truly hate is how you can’t tell Malenia that you have found Miquella.
(edit: i in Mique name)
Not sure if she would even listen to you.
She seems to believe that he left on his own and will return on his own.
She also seems to have a few screws loose after sleeping without the anti-rot-needle for so long.
@@boneman-calciumenjoyer8290 Apparently if you do nothing and stand still Malenia doesn't attack you and just circles.
There was also cut content of a quest that let you take her to Mohgwyn Palace and get Miquella's cocoon. She would only attack you after you tried to take Miquella's great rune.
Presumably it was changed because Tarnished aren't supposed to find Elphael and Malenia would naturally see any infiltrator as an enemy.
@@boneman-calciumenjoyer8290 Yup, it’s also why she says her famous line so much. She uses it as a mantra to not forget who she is and who she’s fighting for.
"Yo i found your brother and he has been Moghed by the lord of blood. But goodthing he did finally grow up before i dropped his yandere stalker in dirt."
@@Count.Saruman
Malenia also has a ton of unused lines indicating that she was going to show up at several instances and develop a friendship with the player. It's implied that Malenia was originally going to be Millicent with memory loss but tying an iconic boss fight to an extremely obscure sidequest that is very easy to miss was obviously a bad enough idea to scrap and rework that to split them as different characters.
Miquella is either the biggest tragedy or the biggest villain yet to reveal.
If he is turned into a boss in the DLC he will have to top Malenia in difficulty which is gonna make him the most hated character in all Souls games.
Knowing From Soft, probably both.
I'm hopeful but not expecting he'll be the biggest hero, in a dlc with an added ending or something
@Captain_Morgan nope, they trickle the difficulty enough so players are able to adapt along with it.
It’s just ebb and flow.
If they don’t make it more challenging we’d just have the same shit, it’ll be within the mechanics they provide for the players ability to defeat a boss they provide for us.
@@sophiaperennis2360 malenia's only difficulty was her gimmick attack. The rest was a cakewalk so if they just don't add anything like that, he WILL be easier.
Any time a character has "The Kind" for a title. You know they are anything but kind.
Grelod the kind in skyrim
"The academy told Radagon to f*ck himself, and he took that literally"
Pure unalloyed gold😂!
It's really amazing how consistent these games are. Miquella is clearly the aesthetic/thematic successor to Lothric and Gwyndolin, and that description of the Golden Epitaph with "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death" immediately reminded me of Lothric's "O dear brother... rise, if you would, for that is our curse" in that case preventing a true death, but in both cases a pair of cursed siblings, one small and magical, the other large and martial despite physical impairment.
Excuse you, Morgott is the thematic suvcessir to Gwyndolin. Both were born with traits not desireable for their society, both became the hidden rules of the religious regime thst shunned them, both look down on The undead or tarnished, and both command dark knights
@@karlwikman3874 That's a great point tbh!
@@karlwikman3874 nah. What OP said.
@@HollowHighlander your loss
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I think there are no Albinaurics at the Haligtree because while they were on a pilgrimage to get there they were unlucky enough to encounter Mohg who was on his way to abduct Miquella while Malenia and Radahn were at war. Many of them were assimilated into Mohgwyn's own forces; which is why we find many of them there (and some protect the teleport gate that takes you to his palace). Some of them managed to escape and are left wandering around the Consecrated Snowfield with no idea how to actually get to the Haligtree on their own. Really, the Albinaurics just can't catch a damn break.
would that explain the angy red ones and the dejected normal ones?
What about the ones in Ordina. The archers. And the ones right outside of town that are extra pale? I've always presumed that they were protecting it.
But the Albinaurics ARE at the Haligtree. Take a good look at the cocoons.
@@Shaiyo5 Correct, the cocoons are the albinaurics in the midst of being reborn into proper beings, a metamorphosis which was stopped by Miquella's abduction at Mohg's hands. For anyone interested, I highly recommend watching the Tarnished Archaeologist's videos breaking down the story of the Haligtree and the twins, he covers the aforementioned cocoons and much more.
@@mastericarus776 Oh sweet, haven't heard of them. Will be checking them out right now. Thanks.
You know why we came back
Fun fact: Miquella is the older one in the twin. In Japanese version, Malenia calls him "兄さま" (older brother) when referring to Miquella
ok
Ok
Oh cool, lore wise honestly it makes sense
Oni Chan
@@bhargavshatrughna489 chill
Hey Vaati, I have something to add to the part about Ordina and the word "liturgical". Liturgy usually describes a set of ritualistic actions performed by catholic priest during different masses. Each mass, for example the easter mass, has it's own liturgy. So in Ordina we have to complete a set of actions (lighting the fires) to perform the liturgy of Ordina, complete the mass and break the seal leading to the Haligtree. As a side note the word "Halig" has a close resemblance to the german word "Heilig" meaning holy. Kinda fitting considering the need for a liturgy to enter the "holy tree" so to speak
Interest sir thank you
Liturgies aren't limited to Catholicism or Christianity in general. Not even a little.
Anyone else feel that the twins here are very reminiscent of Lorian and Lothric? Lorian, the blade of the duo had his own afflictions while the younger brother Lothric had been cursed with fragility and disease, while at the same time blessed with incredible holy powers. Just a thought
😭😭DS3 so sad bro I cried reading there’s and yhorms story.
Yeah I immediately thought of the twins from Ds3 when I heard about the twins from Elden Ring.
I think another parallel is that they both receive deital praise, even though they aren't true gods. It's a repeated narrative in dark souls that becoming a Lord of Cinder, doesn't mean you're a god. So in theory, they're both falsified deities. It's an interesting subject, which I really wish I could dive deeper into
It’s really cool when you read into the lore and find out that Lorain was meant to be lord, but was born with a horrible affliction, lothric stepped up to bear half of his brothers curse, leaving him unable to walk. He essentially gave his body to his brother to be his sword to rule together
Miquella also remind me of Brandon Stark from George Martin books (the book version: a child bound to a magic tree who can appear in dreams).
Good observation. Not only that, but they're also very similar to Kuro and Sekiro as well.
"MIQUELLA WAS A BENEVOLENT CHARACTER" Boi do I have news for you😅
The DLC did a complete 180. Although the raving madness might be traced from Miquella severing Trina, the benevolent and rational side of his personality from himself. Ironic, isn’t it? His mother had two personalities in one body, and he split his personality into two beings(bodies).
@@jefferyhanderson7849Not to mention Radhan turned out to be a dude simping for his underaged femboy brother and Mohg turned out to be a relatively good guy just minding his own bussiness after finally escaping those wretched sewers...
@@cursedimageseveryday5559 i like to believe that Radahn never simped for Miquella. He was forced into it. Or else he would not have fought Melania during the shattering.
The takeaway from the dlc is that even the age of compassion was based on something so inherently evil, you would question if the benevolence nature was even true in the first place. That sick femboi used his half brother's corpse to reanimate another half brother's soul after having him unsuccessful assassinated and making him suffer from scarlet rot for years. Miquella really mirrors his own mother and can do anything to gain absolute power, even when the means don't justify the end.
Now I am thinking if the whole shattering was his ploy somehow to begin with
I'm pretty sure the people of Caelid would die laughing if they heard tha- oh wait.
@@chubblord4611 I think you’re going too far out, Chub. As Hitler or Mussolini didn’t create the environment for their rise to power, I believe this outcome was the outcome of series of unfortunate, and some unavoidable, chain of events.
I like to think major part Miquella’s actions have to do with him being a forever child. Genetic faults from him and his sister being the result of a Selfcest(?) of Marika.
(I still don’t know how that works seeing they are two personalities inside one body…) The horrors of Childish innocence and what not. Just like in the original version of Peter Pan.
I don't know how no one seems to ever point how the seeming affection Godwyn had for the empyrean twins might speak to a sense of guilt in him, almost like he's trying to compensate for allowing what happened to his first set of twin siblings, Morgott and Mohg.
This is soooooo good... Big ups
Godwyn was their step brother, not their father. You are thinking of Godfrey
this comment did call them siblings
@@RedBishopGaming Yes, I know, I meant siblings. Godwyn has had two sets of cursed siblings that were treated wildly differently at court. I was suggesting exactly what I originally wrote.
I wonder what Mohg's relationship with Godwyn was. Why would he call his new dynasty Mohgwyn?
Regarding Miquella´s watering of the Haligtree with his own blood
Its actually pretty natural for Trees in real life to consume dead things with their roots to nurture themselves.
The dead are full of nutrients that the tree can absorb. There are different techniques for using food scraps to fertilize soil.
Fish heads aparently make your tomatoes grow super nice for example. And my grandmother taught me to every once in a while pour the usually discarded blood of any cut of meat one might be preparing a given day into the soil of a plant to make it grow healthier. (You know how your meat comes in a plastic bag bathed in red? put that in a glass and water your plants with it). It makes them look stunning.
So no. I don{t think its disturbing for an Erdtree to do that. After all dont the Erdtree already performs that function of taking the souls and sends them back to the world in a greater version of the normal cycle of life? Watering it with blood might be Miquella´s way of strengthening it as a sapling so it can grow to be even stronger as an Erdtree later on
The thing about the Erdtree is there's never any indication it sends souls *back*. Everyone talks about the souls being gathered and fed to the erdtree but there's not any indication of reincarnation or a cycle of life.
I have a notion that the Outer Gods are all competing over the world because they want/need souls, and the Golden Order is the most dominant but it's not the only one by any means.
Ziostorm did a video likening everything to fungus--all kinds of stuff has a parallel either visually or behavioral or both to fungus, even the high branches of the Erdtree show creepers of gold that haven't completely covered the bark which means the gold is resting on it like a skin--and that'd mean Elden Ring is in a Lovecraftian world were various things are sending their own down to try to establish a foothold. It'd mean it isn't just the Scarlet Rot God using fungus to infect it all, it's everything.
@@TelenTerror Yeah that makes sense after all the world was crafted in part by GRR Martin. And in SoIaF there is a similar theme with multiple gods competing over the world. The difference there being that the gods do not compete directly but through "Champions" or "Prophets". The Drowned God for instance has Patchface who talks in prophetic rhymes and is an overall creep and Euron Greyjoy. The Red God/Lord of Light has Azor Ahai and their Red Priestesses . The Old Gods have the Children of the Forest and the Wargs. The Great Other has Whigths and The Knights King and so on. And on some level they all are fighting a war in the name of their gods knowingly or unknowingly.
But regardless, soiaf tangent aside yeah I might´ve been confused I was sure that I heard somewhere that the Erdtree recycled the souls of the Dead. I might´ve been worng on that. But still if the Erdtree feeds itself on souls on the very essence of life, having Miquella watering the Haligtree with blood might be just a way to strengthening it. If he is forever young maybe that was a way to help the tree not age? Maybe Miquella knew about the parasitic nature of the Outter Gods and of the Erdtree and was trying to create a replacement that wouldn´t need to feed on souls? If the tree remained young like Miquella does it may not need to take souls.
Well I don´t really know.
@@ChBrahm I think Miquella watering the tree with his own blood is because Miquella's supposed to be the god of abundance and growth, therefore his blood would make the most godly (pun intended) fertilizer. It's using his own essence to turbocharge it.
My personal theory is Miquella made the Haligtree for many purpose, but one of his most important was to try to create something that could finish his growth. Transform him out of an infant body. And I think it worked because the arm we see in Mohg's courtyard isn't a baby's arm.
No one asked
@@OCEAN-fc9wl i did, and i would also ask you to shut tf up.
The story of Miquella and Malenia breaks my heart. It was the single most element of the lore that truly captivated me, and it's a shame a lot of the more intricate details were left on the cutting room floor. I'm still holding out hope for some expansion down the line.
Hopefully they just decided not to tackle it until dlc
I know. Imagine being able to finally save a major character, instead of having to put them down or lose them due to quest scripting. It would depend on how they wrote Miquella’s personality, of course. And still be bitter sweet unless they introduce a way to ally with Malenia. I would love a major clean win to add to the smaller ones. Plus I’m a little tired of “cool boss with epic lore, too bad your only meeting is an instant fight to the death.” For instance, I would have loved to have a full conversation with Godfrey or Margit.
Edited for wrong names.😅
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I'd suggest looking at The Tarnished Archeologist. While it feels like there is a lot left on the cutting room floor, there is a deeper look when looking at the environments themselves.
@@dawson3776 The TA is on a whole other level. You think you thought you knew Elden Ring lore, until you watched TA.
He'll blow you're mind. Not an exaggeration 👍
The Griffith call aged well, shame about the lack of great rune tho
I don't think Miquella expected Mogh. I see it as a tragedy. He was so close to his goal but was so good at obtaining others favor that he ended up getting kidnapped.
I Dont know, I think at least at some point Miquella sought to ally with Mohg in some form. There's too much emphasis placed on Miquellas alluring, almost enchanting, presence that'd charm everyone and he certainly used to do his bidding. Gideon's wording also makes it seem like they were scheming something together rather than it being just a kidnapping.
So I think there's either more at play than what we see at face value OR whatever gamble Miquella took with Mohg backfired and he didnt predict what Mogh's infatuation/obsession with him would make him do.
Miquella = Venus (love) (Abundance)
Malenia = Mars (war)(Decay)
@@IkanaCanyon7 i agree, also Miquella is meant to be a sort of genius amongst his kind. So I definitely think there is more layers of grey then what we have witnessed in the base game. Almost certainly it will be touched upon in the DLC.
We know now that Mohg did not kidnap Miquella, Miquella stole Mohg’s heart.
Could it be that the first needle that miquella gave malenia actually worked and stopped the rot, but during the fight with Radahn she had to take it out in order to compete with him, causing the blossom of the scarlet rot in the fight as we see in the trailer. That’s why we find it broken and in the hands of one of malenia generals. It could be similar as Millicent quest where she take it out at the end of her quest.
you’re on to something
Explains how Radahn got the rot and Malenia decay from the rot is spreading
@@Ryanrulesok Pretty sure in the cinematic her actual blood seeps down her blade and into the wound she inflicts upon Radahn that also pierced her own flesh in the process. I'd have to imagine mixing blood with someone who is the vessel of rot, from which all new rot originates, would probably be bad if you were the kind of person who didn't like being afflicted with incurable disease.
This could really explain her saying "The scarlett rot blossoms once again" during her fight. Youre maybe right
I’ve seen somewhere that says the place we fight commander o’neil is exactly where malenia bloomed during the fight with radahn. We can see those swirling branches around the arena and O’Neil also has the needle
These videos are so incredible. The research, time and effort it must take to put all this together is amazing.
“Pure and likable character” oh boy
He still is likable. Pure not so much but his actions aren’t that bad compared to the other demigods 😭😭
Shit, I guess we owe Mogh an apology.
You know, I'm wondering if part of Miquella's theme is Childhood Innocence. All of the adults are so focused on power and war and strength and politics; but Miquella just wants to help his sister, and eventually, his brother. Perhaps his youthful appearance is also a metaphor for the ability to entertain new ideas, regardless of viability. "I'll just build my own Erdtree!" "There's gotta be SOME way to help Godwyn!" It just feels like Miquella was willing to try things no one else could, and he was able to by just being kindhearted and "innocent."
You have a point!
Don't forget the "Miquella's hideaway" area
Miquella for some reason really reminds me of Griffith before The Eclipse in Berserk. Ambitious, yet kind hearted. Griffith obviously had a direct goal but he was still a good person at the time. Part of me thinks that the biggest common factor they have is that they both “fell from grace”. Griffith had to sacrifice everything and everyone he cared about for his goal. I can’t say Miquella has done the same but they both share a “cocoon” or “egg” phase in their character development. Ultimately Griffith was reborn as Femto to take what he considered to be his, and if necessary, to do so with extreme force. This is of course just entirely speculation, but I think the concept of Miquella reaching his breaking point, a new all time low, and giving in to evil so he can take what belongs to him (godhood) is something I’d personally love.
Again, this is literally just speculation on my half but I do find a lot of similarities. Especially considering how influential Berserk has been to FS
@@bryanarevalo5522 I think this is a very strong theory. The similarities between the two definitely can’t just be surface level, given how much FS has taken inspiration from the series. In a more gameplay oriented sense, I reallllyyyy doubt that FromSoft is going to taunt us with Miquella, Melania (hardest boss in the game by most people’s account, FromSoft staff included) saying he’s the most fearsome of all, and then not have us fight him.
moreso the curse of innocence: a child's innocence inspires protection, but miquella's presense *compells* affection, apparently against his own will, which leads to whatever mohg is up to
I wonder if Miquella was attempting to rewrite his own fate in a manner akin to what Ranni did. Ranni's physical form had to die to sever her fate and enable her to choose her own future. There are already parallels between sleep and death that were dug into in this video, but I wonder if Miquella's inserting himself into the haligtree was an attempt to "die and be reborn" in order to sever his pre-ordained fate and write a new fate for himself, intending to ascend to godhood as a result, but on his terms, not on fate's terms.
He watered the tree with his own blood with the intent to reacquire some of that power while in utero and grow into someone greater. And the tree even takes on the shape of St. Trina, Miquella's adult alter ego, the perfect candidate to be Miquella's own mother. Miquella is trying to give birth to himself, which would be an evolution of the Rhebus-self-impregnating process Marika/Radagon went through where instead of one person giving birth with themself to separate people, one person could instead give birth to themself.
And his deep slumber that he put himself into while back in the womb of St. Trina's likeness inside the haligtree was meant to trick fate into thinking Miquella had died so he could be reborn, unshackled from the constraints of fate. He would no longer be bound by the rules ingrained into him by his lineage as the child of Marika and Radagon. Because he would only be the child of himself. Miquella is dead, long live Miquella!
To this end, while he would be sleeping, he left a compulsion / command with his followers to protect the tree and await his return.
But then Mohg had to go and pull his womb from the tree prematurely, cutting Miquella off from his own supply of sustainence, carefully grown over the years. And the spell Miquella left on his followers is still active today and is the reason they are still protecting the tree and awaiting his return, even as the tree falls to rot around them.
And Mohg is attempting to complete Miquella's rebirth using the blood of his followers and the power of an outer god, but he doesn't realize that the whole point was that Miquella had to give birth *To Himself* or else the process wouldn't accomplish anything.
And that is why Miquella, the empyrean who could compel others with the sound of his voice alone, isn't even speaking to Mohg even though he could probably convince Mohg to return him to his tree so he could finish growing. Miquella used his ability as St. Trina to put himself into sleep deep enough to trick fate into thinking he was dead, inspired by the sleep of Gideon. Miquella isn't aware of what is going on around him. He expected to be "awoken" once his gestation completed and he emerged as a god proper (or at least as an empyrean unshackled by fate). So Miquella isn't "ignoring" Mohg. Mohg is just screaming at someone who is "sleeping like the dead" and wondering why they won't respond.
Dude so much thought is in this. I wish you got more likes so Vaati would see it
This sounds like a very possible theory, and may tie into the theory that even his kidnapping by Mogue is part of his plan. Perhaps if the Haliigtree is a seed from the Erdtree, it still has a tie to the primary tree. If he feeds it his blood, he is in essence creating an alternate Erdtree from his own essence, potentially also invoking the outer blood god that Mogue serves. This could serve two functions. 1. He compels the power of an outer god to aid in his transformation which would give him the extra power needed to become a god himself and 2. removing him from fate (the reincarnation granted by the Erdtree) If he is able to give birth to himself through another Erdtree and an outer god simultaneously. It would be a way to undermine the influence of the Erdtree completely. In essence, he would summon an outer god to infiltrate the divinity of the Erdtree, which is itself just a physical embodiment of an outer god that replaced the previous crucible, which Miquella seems to have ties to what with all the misbegotten occupying the Haligtree.
If I understand correctly, Fate here would likely be referring to the Greater Will. This is the Outer God that has held nearly sole sovereignty of the Lands Between, established the Erdtree, brought Marika and the current pantheon into being, and established the Two Fingers as caretakers and watchmen over the whole thing.
I’ve held onto the idea that where Melania suffers a curse of the Flesh (Scarlet Rot), Miquella’s curse is bound to his soul and prevents the flesh from aging.
Thus, in order to allow his flesh the chance to mature Miquella removed his soul and hosted it in his Hallig Tree where it resides even now with no body to return to.
I really love this idea
I really hope Miquella isn't straight up a boss we have to kill. So far, nothing about him seems inherently evil. I hope he's like Ranni and we can align with him.
After killing his father and sister, I don’t think he’ll be too kind towards us
@@david91bcfc and mum
Me too. And contrary to Ranni, I actually sympathize with his cause and believe him to be a generally benevolent force in the story. It would be a shame if we don't get a better ending to the game with the DLC.
@@frenandin ranni is literally one of the most benevolent characters in the setting. And her ending is the best one from an altruistic viewpoint
@@666Kaca If you say so
Holy fuck the amount of foreshadowing this video had is so impressive. I am playing the DLC rn and this dude had it all figured out a year or so before it was even released. Good shit and amazing video! Definetly gained a sub
And yet there are people shocked about the twist that *a lot* of people predicted based on nothing more than the image of Miquella's hand in Mohg's being led away/"kidnapped".
Not to mention the constant references to Miquella's power being so great, and him being beloved by basically all.
I can only guess they don't read item descriptions because I've been seeing comments from people saying that it was out of left field and undermines Mohg's characterization.
Well technically most of this was already stated in game, the dlc in fact has retconed most of this and made complete ass pull with the relationship he has with radahn instead of Godwyn
I have always liked the fact that "Halig" is the Old English word meaning Holy, making Miquella's Haligtree literally his Holy Tree.
Wow much profound
@@cosseybomb Such holy
Eliphal, brace of the Haligtree translated to God's work, brace of the holy tree
So why isn't it a pine tree? Hmmm?! And where is Miquella's Santa outfit? Omg😮 the Haligtree outcasts are elves, it all makes sense
@@cosseybomblook at yourself in a mirror
38.7k subscribers when I used to watch your prepare to cry videos in bed to sleep back in 2015. I still find it wild how you're still running content and bringing out more stuff. Appreciate all your work and all the jolly co-operation within the community.
I think St. Trina is Miquella sleeping in the Haligtree and that the sudden disappearance was when he was stolen away by Mohg. It would explain why St. Trina resides in the realm of dreams and why they disappeared as suddenly as they appeared.
This is really fucking good! Like this aligns perfectly.
We now know that it was Miquella who controlled Mohg and it was Miquella who discarded St. Trina.
“Miquella is a topic that has to be explored further in an upcoming DLC”. The man knew.
Something I don't see here: the reason there are no Albinaurics in the Haligtree is because Mohg is kidnapping them all to build his following. The portal to his domain is on the way to the Haligtree, and there are no Albinaurics past that point. Further, his domain is full of Albinaurics that have been corrupted/empowered by Mohg after he entraps them.
@@alfalldoot6715 There is no way that ALL the albinaurics are serving him willingly, when the Haligtree is like 5 steps further down the road on a long journey through rough terrain.
A little bit more plausible that the blood-smeared death portal with an assassin right near it, might be more the reason they're over there.
@Phazz Right in front of the portal we can see an albanauric staring wistfully in to it. Mohg isn't kidnapping them
@@alfalldoot6715 “wistfully”… he’s actively cursing Mohg and pointing at it to ensure the Tarnished sees it and delivers justice for kidnapping Miquella, as discussed in the video. The portal is likely the path Mohg took to arrive so close to the Haligtree in secret.
They just chose the wrong portal 🤣
Actually, it's been theorized that the albinaurics in the Haligtree are the Oracles. Yeah, the weird looking egg hat looking people. Here's why:
1. They bleed white blood akin to albinaurics.
2. They roll around in layers of clothing. Seemingly, they don't use their legs. Just like the 1st generation of albinaurics.
3. Pale, bluish skin, and they have been described to whimper beneath their robes. What other enemy whimpers? The albinaurics, if you wish to compare their whimpering voices in the Alb village.
4. Freakishly long arms.
I personally believe in this theory, as it makes sense and solves the mystery of the Oracle Envoys and their origins. Though what I won't understand is why they tend to use Holy based magic instead of arcane. And why are their bubbly instrumental incantations related to the Claymens bubbly sorceries, which rely on the requirements of intelligence and arcane...?
For DLC I imagine us entering Miquella's Dream which is this ideal version of the Lands Between he envisioned. At first Miquella is a friendly NPC but as we progress in the story the influence of the Formless Mother starts to show. The world starts to become this twisted interpretation of Miquella's dream. Ultimately, fighting a broken, corrupted Miquella. Bringing him back to his senses and passing on his dream to us before he perishes or accepting his twisted reality as the future.
Edit: And maybe he can get us the fabled Saving Melina by using the frenzied flame without becoming the Lord of the Frenzied Flame Ending.
I’d also like to think we will fight godwyn, the cleric knight that saved melania(I can’t think of his name). A dragon, and probably a badass knight that we don’t know about
@@lawerencejuge4110 You mean Finlay? Or the guy on the dex charm?
@@lawerencejuge4110 if you mean Finlay aren't they dead since we can find their spirit ashes?
@@janejanejanejanejanejanejane but maybe alive in the dream OP is suggesting we might enter.
Maybe we enter the dream of our little tailor simp
holy matrimony this video aged like fine wine
speculating about the dlc and more or less nailing it, a rare sight
I always questioned why malenia and radan fought, now i think it was because radan was holding back the stars and thus preventing even the eclipse from occurring, the reason the eclipse never occurred was maybe because radan never died
Even infected and mad he was strong enough to hold the stars and prevent the fate of Gods!
There is also the theory, that if you look where the palace of the Moghwyn Dynasty is located (pretty much right underneath Caelid) it is also the possibility that she tried to find him and could somehow follow his presence up until there.
Maybe she assumed Radahn had something to do with his absence, or he mistook her entering his domain as an attack, but for whichever reason instead of having a chance to continue towards him, she and Radahn ended up fighting, and he was strong enough to force her to give into the rot.
So now the eclipse can happen
I always assumed Malenia just wanted to make Miquella the strongest, so she attempted to seize radahns rune.
@@LaurenE135 everything is setup for that to happen, the death of radahn meant one thing, miquella's technical victory since the battle between radahn and malenia was a war of deciding who was going to decide the destiny of the lands, no one won, but if the eclipse is actually going to bring back some way miquella (like Griffith turning into femto) then he won and we will be standing on his way (or maybe we'll be his new blade) and that would make sense for the dlc remembrance mechanics, maybe we'll see other demi gods that died after godwyn coming back to the lands
Its no wonder that the tv industry is going down, when this kind of content exists. so well made
here to ruin no comments on this.. btw banger comment 100% factual
@@cntra9378 it's not factual, though. There's been huge records set for tv show viewership within the last few years. Worldwide, over 1.1b people have at least one streaming service & close to 70m have cable, in just the US. Viewership for shit like the Oscars & Superbowl are down but for shows on HBO & the like, they're up.
@@CLL21 i think he is talking about the quality but even if we are talking about viewership this channel in the last 30 days made 12.5 million views take in consideration that Elden Ring has been out for more than a Year so interest in the game while still very high it obvsiously decreased with time this numbers are very close to What Game Of Thrones did in its peak which was the episode winterfell.
@@natanmadureiro8152 yes the quality we get compared to tv/some movies.
Can anyone please tell me about the Soundtrack used at 1:33 ?
It Sounds so melancholic, yet Divine,
Like the Beloved Miquella
Do you think that Radahn, having held back the stars, actually prevented the Eclipse? The sun a star after.
If that was the case, it’d certainly be pretty funny, since that would mean Radahn not only halted Ranni’s plans, but also Miquella’s plans.
Interesting point, Radahn (I believe) was the strongest of the DemiGod children, and thwarting the plans of two of his siblings wouldn't be beyond him.
He really said, “Fuck you and your fate in the stars!”
But when we kill Radahn, the eclipse still doesn't come forth. In fact there isn't much lore about the sun, only lore about the Moon.
@@froggie610 An Eclipse is a moment that occurs in a cycle. My idea is that Radahn, by halting the movement of the stars, stopped the cycle of the Eclipse, which made it so that it could never happen. With Radahn dead, the cycle of the Eclipse resumes, but that doesn’t equate to the Eclipse occurring immediately.
@cedar.summit That would actually explains it, if this theory were true.
Oh my gosh, Miquella is Griffith, and Radahn is Guts. I never realized
The idea that Malenia, of all people, considers Miquella the most fearsome Emperean of all genuinely makes Miquella sound terrifying.
He's fearsome by Malenia's standards. She wasn't even scared of Radahn!
Miquella's wise, he's alluring, and he does seem kind. But what power truly lies within that child's form.
And what was he turning into in that cocoon.
Fearsome most likely doesn’t mean “strong in battle” there are other ways to be fearsome. By “fearsome empyrean” she most likely means “closest emperyan to actually replacing marika” meaning closest to being a true god.
Sure, but that's still pretty intimidating, especially considering all that Marika did during her reign. The wars she waged and won. Her reverence across The Lands Between.
Like mother like son, I suppose.
@@ApetureTestSubject true, I just mean he’s probably not a warrior like malenia. Just powerful in other ways
A cold God is what I imagine. It'll be a well played dlc for sure.
@@tehCostHD Yeah the fact that he can "Compel" admiration and worship is kinda scary. Might even be why his sister worships him so much. He can literally force/bewitch people into adoring him
Note: could it be possible that Miquella was stolen to become the Formless Mother's avatar, as he is an Emperyon and Mohg is not? Because Mohg certainly seems to be acting more as a servant to the Formless Mother, while Malenia's relationship with the god of rot is more her being posessed. Maybe the Formless Mother is trying to sculpt him into her vessel with Mohg's blood, and the reason why nothing is happening is because Miquella is resisting
I think mohg is trying to replicate the golden order by having an outer god a god and a lord, mohg wants to be miquellas lord
Having now seen Mesmer, whose name has a similar to what Miquella does as St. Trina, and seeing the blood flame that comes out of him, and seeing that his arms look remarkably similar to the one coming out of the chrysalis in Mogh's studio apartment, I think Mesmer is a tainted version of what Miquella dreamed he might grow up to be.
@@AwesomeWookieeMessmer isn’t necessarily using bloodflame. “Those stripped of the Grace of Gold shall all meet death in the embrace of Messmer's flame.” I believe he has his own flame that he is in command of (maybe it’s possible that he was banished to the land of shadow because of this as fire at the time before the shattering was seen as an enemy of the Erdtree and essentially illegal to wield or have.) that last bit is pure speculation but I do think there is evidence that he commands his own flame. Him also already having the moniker of Messmer the Impaler suggests to me that he has had a history of violence… Miyazaki also said in an interview that Messmer is a child of Marika who got wiped from history. I believe he is a sibling to Malenia and Miquella, and would be afflicted with some type of illness or meddling from outer gods just like his siblings both were. This meddling could have been done by the fell god of the giants which would explain why he can command a flame that looks similar to the flame of the fell god and also why Marika would want to rid history of his existence and banish him to the land of shadow. Lmao this tin foil hat is comfy
I’m not sure how a fight with Miquella would go. He’s always so angelic; I think that’s the way to go with him as a boss, angelically terrifying, Old Testament style
Sounds like a final fantasy end game boss fight I'm all for it.
Or maybe he fights WITH you as a support
Why are they considered demigods?
@@half-blindentity9846 yeah, I would love that. Just not as some summon bell or anything related.
@@sergejdoll611 who do you mean by they?
with the new info from the dlc trailer, i'm pretty sure the "soulless demigod" miquella needs the eclipse to save is messmer. which connects to the theory that malenia went to fight radahn to move the stars and allow the eclipse to happen. which also explains why you need to have beaten radahn for the dlc to occur. everyone's probably already had this theory and disproved it, but i felt really smart peacing it together!
Has anyone noticed the fact that Godwyn is basically just Baldur? He is revered as a hero befriended his enemies and was the first to die which trigged the death of many demi-gods?
Don’t forget he went to Hel, where the undead will spew forth from in Ragnarok and ultimately came back.
And Godwyn is also associated with the undead and in one ending comes back.
Its not that big of a shock to me, old mytholgies, fairytales and ancient legends keep popping up in this game, with new twists. personally i love it. they didnt just drop a million pop references, (thank the elden beast) no.. they took inspiration from the stories, and built such a fascinating mythology and world, in and of itself. And Ill give em their roses for that.
Yooooo I never thought of that but you're dead on!
that would make Ranni Loki which I believe is quite fitting aswell!
I really do hope that Miquella becomes the Ludwig of Elden Ring.
With a bigger part to play in DLC and an Epic boss fight which can live up to his lore.
My Friend, he is becoming the Femto of Elden Ring
Nahhh don’t compare Miquella to Ludwig , Only Ludwig’s fight was good nothing so amazing about his backstory. Hearing about Miquella gives me chills!!
Maybe to his lore but no one ever will catches up to Ludwigs theme.
@@fast.food.ninjalarry954 One can only hope
@@vinayakmishra6173 True. Well hopefully Miquella lives up to his lore
Not sure if it was mentioned. But I loved the scene with godwyn and twins statues. Showing it at night really showed the characters 'aura' i suppose. The light in miquella's side, the red flowers covering melania and then the flowers behind godwyn are shadowed black. GREAT shot!
Timestamp?
@@longbow3082 9:08
9:17 really cool detail I just noticed about that statue, Godwyn is comforting but avoiding touching Melania
Miquella and Godwyn are the two kindest and most moral demigods in the entire game
And the moment we get the chance for a Miquella ending, I'm going for it
I will help save the special boy from Mohg and help him fix the TREE
You: hoping for happy ending in fromsoft game.
Everyone else: first time, eh?
@@ThingAnderson Well seems like everyone ends up siding with one of these endings as the "Good Ending" anyways
Age of Stars for example is seen as "good and without flaws" by too many people
I know from software endings are Grey, but if everyone is going to argue why Ranni's Ending is the best ending, then I can argue for a ending that's good for the world's stability vs the ending that blocks out the outr gods (even though she doesn't bother to at least help calm things down)
@@quinnholloway5400 You an advocate for the Goldmask ending?
@@WretchedRedoran I'd go for Miquella if I could bro
Don't u technically already save him from mohg when you kill mohg
I feel like you're taking Miquella's motivation for creating weapons for use against Those Who Live In Death the wrong way. He has no grievance or hatred towards them. He created those weapons as a mercy, to end the suffering of those cursed to a really awful fate. His motivations are no different from Jerren wishing to grant Radahn a good death. The flavortext about Godwyn you read to me reads like a magical version of watching a loved one lie in a vegetative state for years and eventually deciding it's for the best to pull the plug.
Yea, I feel it's less that Miquella hates them
But more that he views "Those who live in death" as people who are suffering/in a vegetative state
Even if they can't feel, they also can't do much or be put to proper rest
They are bodies without souls afterall and thus no true will to call their own
A thought that I had about Mogh's infatuation with Miquella: if Miquella is able to use their blood to continuously water the Haligtree, then perhaps this abundance of blood is something else that could have drawn Mogh to them.
It’s funnier that mogh is a
I really like this theory, but what if its actually the formless mother's interest in Miquella, and she can't affect him because of his unalloyed gold so she has to go through Mogh. Maybe she is commanding Mogh to try to rebirth Miquella into some kind of god of blood.
wow, the dlc is shining so much light on everything
Miquella has rly learned how to 'inspire' others to his own advantage
Yeah but his intention was pure to make World a gentler place . It just so happens he would steal free will in the process.
The second you mentioned Miquella of the Eclipse and I saw that banner again, I felt confident this is going to be a reference to Griffith from Berserk. So much of that makes so much sense, and I really hope the DLC explores that
This is the one that we’ve been waiting for. I can already feel it 3 seconds in.
Digging into the lore of Souls games is like discovering the ruins of an ancient civilizations and you have to put together things you can observe and make a sense of it.
which sucks
@@Dr_DiazI think it makes it more interesting, it’s just like honing any skill, it takes time and effort to uncover results
@@Dr_Diaz nah its a great way of storytelling
@@bidcs_ it's the worst
@@Dr_Diaz nah man i love how hidden away it is, lets you make your own conclusions and theories rather than it be written our for you. wouldnt want it for every game obviously but fromsoft does it very well
watching this one year later and see vatti called it that dlc would be about miquella
gj vatti
Miquella seems to be something of a magical scientist. He came up with solutions for his sisters sickness, his brothers undeath, and his own permanent infancy.
Also the connection between godwyn and Miquella makes me excited that we’ll meet/fight them both in the dlc
He's an alchemist.
Should we expect a sort of hospital or infirmary full of people who idolize him as well?
It's so great how you seem very happy to give artists and creators a platform atop your own. Loving these deep-dives alongside the shorts.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Vaati is a great presenter but he was never a lore expert to begin with honestly.
I find the devs choosing the color purple to signify St. Trina very interesting. For those non-artsy-souls reading this, if you take a look at a color wheel, you'll notice yellow and purple are opposites. They are "opposed" to one another (they don't get along). Also, the VFX from St. Trina-associated items have an... almost muted color. Almost as if the power behind them is stuck halfway manifesting.
purple also holds an association with radahn and gravity, though it's notably far more vibrant
Golden fundamentals, blue scholars, red warriors, lavender dreams, purple gravity, yellow frenzy... Definitely something there. Many more I didn't remember too I bet. The color of amber tears for the Wonderous Physick, for instance.
it's a light purple though, and associated with mist.
sleep is just death without commitment, after all. It's barely death, but death all the same.
maybe it's more light violet than it is purple tbh
Youd like a certain Hawkshaw video
coming back to these videos once again now that shadow of erdtree has been announced and I'm once again dumbstruck by the quality, detail and comapssionate and soothing storytelling - absolutely incredible work, I can't wait to work through the backlog again and for any new videos on the DLC!!
I've seen a lot of stuff of miquella but goddamn this keeps scaring me more, he's everywhere, he knows everything, he's planning it all, slowly, and we are just mere pieces of the puzzle
Tarnished: "He can't find me in my dreams!"
St. Trina: "Hi."
Tarnished: " AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"
I came here after the DLC announcement, damm you're right.
reminds me of gwyndolin in dark souls.
you're dancing to their tune from moment 1.
Yeah, I've been saying that he's not a good guy. None of the demi-gods are good. We're all just pawns in their uncaring schemes. I go with Ranni on the principal that she's trying to cut the world off from the influence of the outer gods so that people and the citizens of the world can finally be free enough to choose their own way forward, as frightening and intimidating as that will be.
Influence of Martin is felt the most in wierd Radagon and Marika situation. And in Magritt/Morgott who is VERY remeniscent of Stannis Baratheon. A rejected, despised claimant to the throne, who actually has an unbreakable and stern moral code. Love that dude, despite dying to him about 9000 times
I always thought the sword of night and flame was a cheeky reference to the song of ice and fire
And you could call Elden Ring , A Song of Ice and Fire instead of Elden Ring and it would make sense with all the themes and duality shit going on
@@andrew-rn9uigrafted greatsword is def a reference to the iron sword throne too
My first thought when I learned that Miquella imbedded himself into the tree, is that he wanted to grow, overcome his curse. The tree was growing and so would he :'(
the lores are so deep and intricate. howw. how can a game has such detailed lores. and kudos to the lore masters for explaining it to us in plain langauge. Loved the video! thanks
watching the part godwyn holding his twins sibling really brought tears to my eyes :
I hope that they explore more of Miquella in the DLC, I would play the whole game again just to get his ending.
Yeah
Me too fr
Yeah I'm already planning another Elden Ring 100% playthrough just for the DLC
Yea but remember how we thought the DLC for ds3 was going to be about Londor but it didn't turn that way at all. So don't be too sure
I cannot overstate how good Queelag's videos on Miquella are enough.
overstate
Quelaag is the absolute goat when it comes to lore
Did we miss this entire time that the figure holding Malenia and Miquella at 9:14 was actually Messmer (and not Godwyn, as originally predicted)? Suggesting that he could be the oldest of the three "M" children of Radagon.
On the Berserk comparison, the image of Miquella being carried by Mohg does also have the same, wispy, androdgynous angelic appearance that Griffith had. The Nascant Butterflies and Trina's Lilly also carry much of the same aesthetic, so I can 100% read the connection.
androdgynous ?
what ?
griffith is such a B/tch
but this is too much for him
Also the event in which Griffith attains godhood is called "The Eclipse" just another thing to add to it.
@@asurakazuma The creation of the Haligtree is similar to Griffith's creation of Falconia as well. It's a beautiful and perfect place (under a big cool tree) set outside of an ugly world led by an endlessly charismatic man blessed with seemingly eternal youth.
That said, I doubt they'll fully turn Miquella into Griffith, but I AM hoping they make him into a bad guy as we get the inevitable DLC's and sequels.
@@grizzlywilliam same I've always loved from soft games cause for me they're the closest I'll get to games set in a berserk world. The more references and inspiration the better. I need the DLC NOW ALREADY
Miquella has the ability to create tools that halt the grow of scarlet rot, St. Trina has the ability to quell those under the influence of the flame of frenzy.
Also, after you beat Malenia you can get this neat little item called "Miquella's Needle" and it's description reads "Capable of subduing the flame of frenzy, if inherited".
This is another one of the numerous paralles between Trina and Miquella.
I firmly believe they are the same person
I'm such a baby... learning about Godwyn's bond with Miquella and Malenia made me tear up. I don't know why, but the stories from this game have a direct line to my emotions
It's sadder if you think it's Godwyn trying to make up for what happened to Morgott and Mohg, his other siblings, also cursed.
I ugly cried
I'm the same way. A lot of the stories in this game are family stories, and it makes the stories all the more heartbreaking
same bro
🐈
I Love How At the End 44:00 you Made The Prediction.
I would love to see a video discussing the frequent duality and alter egos of so many of the most important characters in Elden Ring. Miquella is also St. Trina, Maliketh is also Gurranq, Godfrey is also Hoarah Loux, Morgott is also Margit. And most important of all, Marika is also Radagon.
Finkle is Einhorn!
Really wished there was an ending where we side with malenia and miquella
I, and many other people, are definitely hoping that the DLC adds this sort of thing into the game.
As-is, Ranni being the only Empyrean you can side with makes it feel a little half-finished because there's SO MUCH that the player is directed to do for her, but substantially less when it comes to most of the other endings. Adding this to a bunch of unused-but-still-in-the-files Miquella-related things makes it feel like another plot, namely a Miquella plot, was cut for time.
@@mastermarkus5307It seems like the DLC will in-fact be helping Miquella and possibly getting a new ending. Oof for Malenia though.
Wow, I can't believe Miquella's back story could move me this much, especially the St. Trina part. If the DLC includes his storyline, I'll definitely become one of his followers.
Expansion incoming ,🥂 cheers
Seems to me that the DLC will be exactly his story, as the person in the art that's riding Torrent is 99% him
@@KhadiPlays In the game the Outer Gods we know are The Greater Will, the Frenzied Flame, The Dark Moon, The Destined Death and the Serpent God, prolly in the DLC we get to know the Formless Mother, The Dragon God and The Fell God, The Twinbird and the God of Rot, The Gloam-Eyed Queen and the Primeval Current.
My guy totally just predicted the DLC
What dlc?
@@osamaalawadhi9764 The new DLC for Elden Ring that's being teased lately is leaked to be accessible from Mohg's Palace and have something to do with Miquella
@@osamaalawadhi9764 Elden Ring dlc, Shadow Of The Edrtree
@@osamaalawadhi9764 dude just woke up from a 2 year coma😭
@@kwixbix bruh i just goof around in game 😭😭😭
I think a potential reason that the Eclipse ritual failed is that heavenly bodies, generally, simply could not be moved - due to Radahn’s interference. Remember that a very important historical event during the Shattering was the fight between Radahn and Malenia, but we don’t actually know the reason they clashed in the first place. I think a convincing explanation is that Malenia clashed with Radahn was because he stood in the way of Miquella’s ritual (and while Malenia was away, Mohg was able to kidnap Miquella, which we know happened while Malenia was warring with Radahn).
How do we know Mohg kidnapped Miquella whilst Malenia was warring Radahn for sure?
omg this is fascinating
@@sunset6012 during the fight or after seems to be most likely, otherwise Malenia wouldn't be out fighting Radahn, she'd be retrieving Miquella.
@@sunset6012 Thinking for ourselves and coming up with interesting theories on our own. Not everything has to be proven
I was thinking this as well. I have a feeling that Miquella's eclipse ritual wasn't really to help Godwyn, but to transfer Miquella's spirit into Godwyn;s soulless eternal body.
I think Miquella’s attempt to summon an eclipse pairs quite nicely with the theory that Melina is the reborn soul of Godwyn in the disembodied form of Ranni.
(Some spoilers ahead)
In the first place Godwyn is associated with the Sun and Ranni with the moon. Their paired deaths, the Sun in spirit and the Moon in body are mirrored by the eclipse.
The glow of the Sun is dimmed (absent like the soul of Godwyn) and the body of the moon turns black (like the burned body of Rani, Melina’s incorporeal burned body seemingly matches the spirit of Ranni).
But the death is not complete insofar as the dim glow of the Sun remains as does the burned body of the Moon. Thus, Melina is born by Law of Regression, the two seeds of Marika return to one another at the foot of the Erdtree.
The spirit pay Castle Sol speaks the following prayer:
“Ohh great sun! Frigid sun of Sol! Surrender yourself to the eclipse! Grant life to the soulless bones!”
Godwyn the frigid sun should surrender completely to the eclipse, that is why the spirit laments that “The sun has not been swallowed.”
The prayer of what we can assume is Miquella found in the Golden Epitaph states:
“Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death.”
So it seems that Miquella wants his brother to die completely in order to be born again. And perhaps that is what happens when Melina (potentially) becomes kindling for the Erdtree, the last trace of the Sun, enclosed in the bodiless moon, dies.
Woah
Some parts of this were so close
I read Miquella going into the Halig's trees womb as an attempt to break his curse of childhood and grow up. The idea of him being nascent and Malenia calling him the most fiersome Empyreum made me think that his power, while great already, was haulted alongside of his growth, forever just out of reach of what he could have if he was allowed to progress. If he found a way to grow up, he could more easily fulfill his goals (cure Malenia, perhaps bring back Godwyn's soul), or at least truly come into his own power.
he was made eternally nascent, which gives him great potential, but will never reach. Unless he finds a way to grow up
Interesting. Maybe he thought being cradled in the Haligtree would make him grow as time passed, hence why Malenia is waiting for him there. But Mogh stole him somehow I think? Not exactly sure how and for what purpose though.
@@thisisfyne I also don't know 'how' but the purpose is explained on Mohg's Remembrance:
"Wishing to raise Miquella to full godhood, Mohg wished to become his consort, taking the role of monarch. But no matter how much of his bloody bedchamber he tried to share, he received no response from the young Empyrean". - Remembrance of Mohg, Lord of Blood
Him cocooning himself to become a fully realised god is like how a caterpillar cocoons itself to emerge as a fully developed butterfly. And we already know that Miquella is associated with imagery of butterflies, as well as his siblings.
@@tree4911 even the sleep torch that depicts st trina with an open third eye evokes slight butterfly imagery through the parting of her hair
The Twinblades at 2:29 got used in the dlc! renamed Euphoria with a revised description.
I think making Miquella secretly pure evil would be the absolute most boring thing they could do with his character.
FINALLY! Finally I found someone who thinks this theory is boring as fuck. Not only has it been done to death, it would ruin the whole tragedy of Miquella and his entire character.
Miquella is seemingly the only character with purely altruistic motives which is so fucking refreshing in a souls game
I however think, exploring the naive cruelty that can be present in children could be interesting. Idk
@@BOGOworms4saleeh, that’s done to death too. The ‘naive cruelty’ I mean.
@@nz605 that’s fair. But at least I feel it’s a bit more interesting
0:21 "Miquella is a topic that almost has to be explored in some upcoming DLC"
Vaati is the messiah confirmed.
Most people were saying that tbh, only demigod that wasnt explored at all
I'm surprised you didn't mention the possibility that many of Miquella's followers might've been under the affects of his compulsion. The footsoldiers explode in the hopes of guiding Miquella home-- The Phantom who discovered what Mohg had done spoke with anger and reverence, and even his sister and Mohg both had very deep faith in him. In fact, almost everyone who talks about Miquella speaks of him like that. Even the cut character Rhico. That does bring about a very interesting question, if what Miquella's followers are doing and saying are out of their own free will, or if their judgement is at all skewed by this compulsion.
Mohg: UUUUUOH 😭
Miquella: Just as planned.
Well, Miquella's following went downhill after he was kidnapped and the haligtree stopped growing. It might not be what Miquella intended at all. Everyone's got a screw loose after his disappearance and even Malenia is out of mind so it's not that far to presume his followers have lost their mind as well.
I was just thinking this in regards to “Miquella being a hypocrite for hating those walking in death”
Perhaps he created all those spells out of compassion and sadness over his cursed brother, but his brainwashed followers are the ones who went mad hoonting like hoonters
@@Knoloaify bratty demi-god… needs correction!! 💢 💢 💢
He definitely seems to be a bit malicious underneath although overall his actions seem good
I’m like 99% sure Miquella’s character is based on the youngest brother Alyosha from Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’
Turns out he's just based on Griffith 😂
One thing to note of Miquella are his bizarre proportions. In the art with Mogh he seems to have simultaneously one adult arm and one arm fit for a child. Even the Miquella molded in the haligtree roots has one of his hands depicted as an adults arm.