I feel like if it is, it is about the pursuit of change. For the most part we tarnished strive to become elden lord so that the system that controls the world can be replaced, improved or destroyed.
Well, ya know, between what? There's obviously a metaphor going on here but I'm not certain we have all of the parts. Or else, if we do, it's not obvious. ER is this kind of meta commentary on all of Miyazaki's games up to this point. Perhaps this is Miyazaki's way of saying he's ready to move on from this type of game, ER being the state between past modes of production and new unknowns? Only time will tell.
I still feel the Lands Between is a world intersection between different stories, in conflict to become reality. Which is why things go again, as stories are alike or from same source yet different. Not perfect theory yet.
Someone once described Stars in our universe as the closest thing we have to Lovecraftian entities. - Of unfathomable size - floating in the cold dark void - constantly screaming (stars make sound, there is just no air for the sound to travel through) - entities of pure nuclear fire that causes sickness and death by simply being in it's light - hurts to look at
@@martian_turtle4070 No, wait, he's got a point. I actually think Elden Ring and Bloodborne are good examples of evolving the Lovecraftian genre away from it's 'brown people are scary' beginnings.
@@Zades145 Lovecraft horror is more seen as cosmic horror, and had been long before Bloodborne came around, though it is an excellent exploration into that kind of horror. And not all Lovecrafts stories were about his fears of the outside world and other people's, many of his most well known works involved people learning of something so great and terrifying that their minds broke as a consequence of knowing too much.
If you're on board with the idea that Bloodborne is a medical metaphor for the Victorian Era pursuit of understanding the human body, then perhaps Elden Ring could be a scientific one for understanding reality itself.
Random thought: I believe the original “founding rain of stars” is the meteor shower that created the lakes of Liurnia, as well as the glintstone deposits underneath. My theory is that the ancient astrologer from the Mountaintops (where they originated) mentioned in the spell description inadvertently caused this meteor shower as he discovered the sorcery, and the astrologers then migrated to where the shower hit and became glintstone sorcerers.
Didn’t mention how we use fingers to “touch” the worlds of other players And maybe how we “view” paintings to call up long gone spirits from the memory of them
Thank you for this video. Your voice and the background music helped me get some rest while I was feeling sick. You’re talented at making these videos, thanks again.
I think you're on the right track with looking up at the stars and making the future happen, can't site it exactly but gonna reference how they talk about meeting your dark moon with ranni and mentioning how she had to be led there
You are the best souls lore channel ever. Every time I watch any of your videos my mind is blown. nearly everything u say is an original and deeply insightful perspective on the lore. No one Compares
Incredible video! I love how you freely speculate and form theories that makes sense without feeling obligated to provide proof or evidence to every single thing you say. It really lets us go very far in our thoughts, but still grounded enough to be interesting.
Hawkshaw, I have been waiting for you to drop some elden ring content for a long time and all I want to say is thank you, thank you man from the bottom of my heart. I always play your videos before I sleep they really helped me out, and getting new content is sure refreshing! I hope you are doing well and keep up the amazing work that you do ❤️
In the Bible, stars are fractal analogs to the angelic host. In the Book of Enoch, when Enoch was taken into the solar system, and then into the sun, he noticed crystalline structures and entities that looked like fire, but could appear human at will.
this is so by far like the best channel for elden ring/souls lore.. the amount of depth and research in the videos and the presentation is just astonishingly good
Honestly, I've watched a lot of lore videos from a lot of people on this game, and I've not heard one complain about how it's hard. I've heard them mention in passing that they put in work to find out stuff, but that's not complaining, that's taking pride in work.
@@moosecannibal8224 we must frequent different creators because there were at least 2 or 3 videos from different creators that came out around the same time with the entire point of them being about Elden Ring's "Uninterpretable" lore. Nearly the entire run time of them was dedicated to complaining that elden ring's lore was more confusingly constructed than previous games. No insights or theorizing, just whining that the lore isn't spoonfed to them. Which came off particularly weird considering the claims that they all played the previous games, and ER's lore always seemed way more straightforward than the other games', excepting Sekiro. I've been in this community since 2009 so someone prefacing their take by saying it was hard and they might be wrong is nothing new. What is new to me, outside of JSF's takes on Sinclair Lore, is people spending more time and energy complaining that the games don't make sense than would have been spent doing some extremely minor research.
@@idknemore525 I agree, As someone who plays FS games before, Elden Ring's lore compared to Souls-Borne seems more.. tangible, less abstract. Anyway, would you tell us those creators/channels you mentioned? I would like to see for myself.
@@moosecannibal8224 I mostly just ride the algorithm when it comes to FromSoft so I can't remember a lot of the creators who did that but AGT Jake is one of them, he just recently put out another video whining about it. Which is especially weird considering after his first complaining video he put out a really interesting lore video that had some very unique takes, but I guess he gave up again and felt the need to vent his personal frustration as though it's a problem with the game. I seriously doubt he played anything by From before ER.
Personally when I think about elden ring the most iconic theme is the battle of wills. The lands between are the battleground of mortals, spirits, gods and demigods for supremacy, but over what exactly? Influence over others and oneself. The greater will and other outter gods against local beings. Some of those beings surrender and adopt that influence as golden order adepts, some insist on heresy. It is all a bloody mud fight over imposing oneself will. I see this reflected in the world, more than senses and thought I notice the world is altered through will, whims and the supresion of everyone elses will itself. In that regard I interpret senses (and even existence) as an extension of a will. Tarnished rebirth is the consecuence of the greater will manifesting it's desires. Grace guidance is seen by those who still intend to become elden lord and refuse to accept defeat. Much like in dark souls, kindling of the first flame represent how the stronger will is the most powerfull source of power in the world. Here the same aplies. The greater will is losing power because it is losing influence.
The Wandering Mausoleums' bells actually seem to primarily call on and maintain the presence of the Mausoleum Knights. Mausoleums without bells never have knights near them, and in the case of the one in the Nameless Eternal City, bringing it down kills every knight around it.
Another interesting thing (I'll make it quick, I swear): The idea of PERCEPTION having a PHYSICAL effect. This is actually common in quantum physics, though I can't remember the exact details. Some subatomic particles behave differently depending on whether they're being directly perceived or not. (I'm done, I promise. Sorry about how long my previous comment was.)
You cannot pervieve without interacting. To percieve is to measure. Thus you are not just passively recieving but reaching forth and touching it. Thus changing it. That is really what that theory is about. Still it points out how hard it is for us to know anything without changing what we wish to learn about.
If gravity can halt the “thoughts of the stars”, than it would make sense that it is on the same color spectrum as sleep effects, as per your color theory
Wow! Only after seeing this video I've been considering all the motifs of senses everywhere in the game I'm surprised that about sight and hearing you didn't mention Gideon Ofnir tho, who is all based on eyes and ears, could he have more significance to the theme of senses with his all-knowing nature?
Prior to Elden Ring's release, the stars were motionless, the stories and fate of the characters and world locked in place. We, the PLAYERS, are the stars that have been arrested, with Miyazaki representing the Greater Will. With the game's release we finally see the world begin to progress through the deeds and actions of the Tarnished - literal avatars driven by the will of beings beyond the control of the Greater Will (the stars, i.e. us). In the beginning, our paths are fairly linear, our actions confined by a powerful guardian of the Golden Order - General Radahn. The community's initial defeat of Radahn forms a crack in this dam, unlocking the fate of the world and allowing the community to rush through. Once shattered, the world opens up and each being is free to write the new fate of the world however they see fit.
I thought it was worth noting that Shabriri has his eyes gouged out (Frenzied Flame), Malenia looks to be effectively blind (Scarlet rot) and Mogh has a horn piercing his left eye (Formless Mother). Especially with the last two being demi deities and later on having greater runes this seems to tap into something that is made manifest (madness, rot/stagnation and cursed blood respectively). I think the Greater will and the Outer deities are more like the Force from star wars, not given active agency in things but ebb and flow in their respective areas as things change. The Greater Will is the penultimate power when life is abundant before 'abandoning' the Land Between once the devastating Shattering war occurs. Frenzied Flame looks to be gaining power as more beings are affected by madness/extreme emotional turmoil. Rune of death is removed from the Elden ring prior to make the Golden Order but this makes other parts of death become 'Outer' i.e. rot/cursed blood..etc that end up increasing as things are out of balance. Great points about sight, smell and fate, great video!
I think this element of the game is about I.) inner knowledge/intuition vs outer knowledge/rationality, and also II.) the idea that our separation between inner and outer world is arbitrary and they’re more connected that you believe.
Can't believe you called Hewg Gowry! (just messing, great video!) I love analysis like this that takes the gameplay mechanics as well as the item descriptions into account. Keep up the great work!
I like the style of being presented as a lore story to listen to before bed, but you don't try too hard. Some people go wayyy overboard talking in a very soft, whispery voice which is extremely distracting. Keep up the good work!
Id been trying to come up with a really strong connection between the lands between and the mind, it just keeps teasing you with hints at it all game long I couldnt have asked for a better They really may want to consider discussing you for the official retrospective when it gets done
The idea of thought potentially causing the future to occur is an interesting point to bring up. To an extent, this theme comes up frequently in Greek mythology. A character consults one of the Oracles, and finds out that their destiny is one they don't want to have come to pass. So they think of ways to avoid their fates, essentially to CHANGE them...which only serves to CREATE the fate they were so eager to avoid. Samples (and I apologize in advance, because this will take a while): 1: The father of Oedipus, learning that his son will kill his father and marry his thereby widowed mother, orders him to be left exposed as an infant, only to be adopted by a neighboring king; Oedipus grows up, learns of the prophecy, and runs away from his "home", only to murder his real father, and marry his widowed mother. 2: Priam, last King of Troy, has a dream in which his pregnant wife gives birth to a flaming torch; a dream-interpreter states that this means the soon-to-be born child will destroy Troy. Eager to prevent this, Priam orders his newborn son, Paris, exposed at birth to die...only for Paris to be adopted by shepherds, thus making him available to make the wrong choices that will eventually cause Troy's destruction. 3: The father of Princess Danae learns that, if her daughter has a son, that son will eventually depose and kill him. When Danae becomes pregnant by Zeus, he throws Danae and the newborn Perseus into the sea in a crate...only for them to be rescued. Perseus goes on to glory as a hero by saving Andromeda (who, by the way, was Ethiopian, contrary to Hollywood's belief), among other things. His grandfather, having forgotten the prophecy, and being proud of his heroic grandson, welcomes him home...and Perseus accidentally kills him, becoming his successor. Basically, THINKING that you can prevent your destiny, or else shape it in some way, oftentimes CAUSES whatever you're trying to achieve or prevent. So I find it interesting that you're bringing up the notion. I wonder if Miyazaki-san and Martin were pulling from the Greek tradition, here?
Accent alone was enough to solidify my lore boner. In-depth analysis/unique and authentic perspective made me Loregasm so hard I travelled through time.
10:51 oh, ohhhhhh. That makes alot more sense, I thought Radahn fought the stars at the orders behest in order to stifle the raya lucarians but it makes much more sense to enforce the mathematical laws of the golden order to forbid future seeing
Lovely video thank you. I love this and the color video and your thought process to surmise the world and break it down into very core real world fundamentals to be compared. Great concepts and recollection of lore and world knowledge, love your content. Feels like the evolution of gaming is taking us into virtual reality..oh wait
Ranni thought to kill Merika's soul and leave the body, to set the Golden order on auto pilot where the body maintains the ring but makes no choices. Miqella sends Malennia to fight Radahn and locks his hold on the stas when the scarlet rot kills his "soul" and leaves his body
Interesting. My own studies into “clairvoyance” for a project lead me to believe the opposite - clairvoyance meaning literally “clear sight”, and thought of by those cultures who practice it as extra/super sensory perception rather than a veiling or dulling of senses. You could, after all, ‘predict’ weather if you were sensually in touch with the flow of air and moisture to a supernatural degree. Phenomenologists like to speak of a ‘veil’ over reality, to be unveiled by senses that determine our path toward the veiled so it may be uncovered. It is the intellect (as opposed to the body and its senses)which, I believe, absolutely serves its purpose but leads ultimately to the more close minded, less expansive, less nuanced and more dogmatic view of reality if left unchecked.it excludes possibilities while the body unveils the world while looking for new ones. I like to believe that marika’s veil covering the shadow lands serves the same symbolic purpose. One more example of this - imagine Neo from the matrix trying to rationalize his way toward uncovering the true nature of reality outside his simulation, outside the one being fed to him by “outer gods”. No, the only way he does it, so that there can be no shadow of a doubt, is to step outside it in the flesh. Forsaking dogma and stepping across the veil of the shadow lands, in the flesh, may be the path to salvation in the lands between.
Is it possible Miyazaki is making a statement about religion? That those who most claim to know the true path are usually the most blind to the actual truth
That reminds me, you find star amber in front of a statue of Miquella and Malenia. What if Miquella's idea for unalloyed gold came from that golden amber?
Yeah i didnt want to see Dungboi do that to my good bro Boggart, so after getting Ryas necklace i killed him quickly cause i wanted Braggarts Roar. But i told myself i was "saving him from a darker fate"
I applaud the effort and the writing, which are both excellet as always, but I heavily disagree with the take that because weirs things happen with the senses, that implies somehow a fundemantel difference in metaphysics and basic human experience between the real and the elden ring world. you see. think of yahrnam in bloodborne. an insanely design maze of city. impossible to navigate for the disabled, yet they litter it's streets. coffins and chareiots line even places where only a madman would have thought to put them, ladders connect ups and downs of the city, but can be activatedwith levers. church entrances tumble into each other with no real sense of purpose or intent. the city is alao built above another city, old yarnahm etc etc. Does this imply that stair worl differently in bloodborne? Are the metaphysiscs of stairs in bloodborne such that people in wheelchairs can navigate them? no. the city layout is meant to be the observers window into the world of bloodborne. The limited space is utilized to it's maximum potential to communicate the core of the universe: yarnahm is kinda fucked up.
@@diegocastaneda3829 Doesn’t he uphold the Elden Ring, fixing the impurities but still letting the Greater Will affect the world? Not thrilled abt Goldmask’s endjng if that’s the case
This was definitely a really cool thought (can't say it's much of a video, most of it was footage of your character sitting), but damn, those kinds of thoughts regarding fate being predetermined always make me really depressed, but I'm very drawn to the concept of fate. In my own story (unrelated to Elden Ring), fate is not something a singular person can control, but rather the result of the will of an enormous number of people, whose thoughts and actions cause something to happen. For example, if enough people really want a kingdom to fall, eventually it will happen somehow. Maybe a revolutionary leader will rise up and overthrow it, maybe an enemy kingdom will get some ideas it, or maybe a natural disaster will wipe out the capital and the ruling class. The thing is, this fate is not set in stone, but is extremely hard to change. If that kingdom has a very good king who completely changes the perception of the people, and makes enough people wish that it will remain, the previous fate of the kingdom's fall will eventually turn. However, doing so is extremely hard - once fate starts going and it gets to the point that prophecies can be made, it's practically impossible to stop or prevent.
Ranni is the puppeteer. She knows exactly what Seluvis is up to. He’s her puppet and that’s why he’s left in the state he’s in when she’s gone. She made herself into a puppet and even figured out how to transfer her soul into it. She gives you the bell that summons spirits or puppets. She is the grand puppeteer.
Could this also be a reason why the firekeepers are blind as well as they have in lore been shown to see the future? That is if you subscribe to the theories that all the games are connected
NGL for all his sneering, Seluvis seems like a massive idiot for thinking that feeding a potion to a Doll body that doesn't eat, nor have a digestive system of any sort, would work.
What if the Lands Between is all one big analogy? And if it is, what is it an analogy of?
I feel like if it is, it is about the pursuit of change. For the most part we tarnished strive to become elden lord so that the system that controls the world can be replaced, improved or destroyed.
Reminds me of how the journey to the west was an allegory for the mind
Well, ya know, between what?
There's obviously a metaphor going on here but I'm not certain we have all of the parts. Or else, if we do, it's not obvious.
ER is this kind of meta commentary on all of Miyazaki's games up to this point.
Perhaps this is Miyazaki's way of saying he's ready to move on from this type of game, ER being the state between past modes of production and new unknowns?
Only time will tell.
I still feel the Lands Between is a world intersection between different stories, in conflict to become reality. Which is why things go again, as stories are alike or from same source yet different. Not perfect theory yet.
It is all a big analogy for Michael Zaky's feet obsession
Someone once described Stars in our universe as the closest thing we have to Lovecraftian entities.
- Of unfathomable size
- floating in the cold dark void
- constantly screaming (stars make sound, there is just no air for the sound to travel through)
- entities of pure nuclear fire that causes sickness and death by simply being in it's light
- hurts to look at
love this! one problem tho, stars dont represent white fear of black and brown people or racemixing
@@dytr-kHRM.tv-221.25bm "edge, lord."
@@dytr-kHRM.tv-221.25bm Do you just sit around waiting to say shit about white people?
@@martian_turtle4070 No, wait, he's got a point.
I actually think Elden Ring and Bloodborne are good examples of evolving the Lovecraftian genre away from it's 'brown people are scary' beginnings.
@@Zades145 Lovecraft horror is more seen as cosmic horror, and had been long before Bloodborne came around, though it is an excellent exploration into that kind of horror. And not all Lovecrafts stories were about his fears of the outside world and other people's, many of his most well known works involved people learning of something so great and terrifying that their minds broke as a consequence of knowing too much.
Freakin' insane- bells calling to spirits. Blew my freaking mind to realize the Mausoleums are calling to the demigod spirit
so much
If you're on board with the idea that Bloodborne is a medical metaphor for the Victorian Era pursuit of understanding the human body, then perhaps Elden Ring could be a scientific one for understanding reality itself.
Or consumism...
Yooo I just finished that series!
That’s such a good point. I never thought about this.
@@henrikg785 If you haven't already, watch Charred Thermos' Bloodborne lore videos! It's almost complete and they're the best I've ever seen.
@@eldenthugshaker thanks. I will watch it when I finally finish the game. It’s my first souls game where I try to didn’t look up everything :D
Random thought: I believe the original “founding rain of stars” is the meteor shower that created the lakes of Liurnia, as well as the glintstone deposits underneath.
My theory is that the ancient astrologer from the Mountaintops (where they originated) mentioned in the spell description inadvertently caused this meteor shower as he discovered the sorcery, and the astrologers then migrated to where the shower hit and became glintstone sorcerers.
Didn’t mention how we use fingers to “touch” the worlds of other players
And maybe how we “view” paintings to call up long gone spirits from the memory of them
I'm only 5 mins in but I'm feeling miazaki has been on the spice melange for this one
That was the shit of dune series right?
@@yopoxikeweapescai9066 correct
@@yopoxikeweapescai9066 Unwittingly fitting choice of words
I'm hihg
@@Duplicitousthoughtformentity was intentional, am a fan of the books. But have not touched them in some years
Thank you for this video. Your voice and the background music helped me get some rest while I was feeling sick. You’re talented at making these videos, thanks again.
Think about Malenia, too. She - due to Scarlet Rot - and her master are blind.
I think you're on the right track with looking up at the stars and making the future happen, can't site it exactly but gonna reference how they talk about meeting your dark moon with ranni and mentioning how she had to be led there
You are the best souls lore channel ever. Every time I watch any of your videos my mind is blown. nearly everything u say is an original and deeply insightful perspective on the lore. No one Compares
Incredible video! I love how you freely speculate and form theories that makes sense without feeling obligated to provide proof or evidence to every single thing you say. It really lets us go very far in our thoughts, but still grounded enough to be interesting.
Hawkshaw, I have been waiting for you to drop some elden ring content for a long time and all I want to say is thank you, thank you man from the bottom of my heart. I always play your videos before I sleep they really helped me out, and getting new content is sure refreshing!
I hope you are doing well and keep up the amazing work that you do ❤️
This is the most sophisticated lore analysis I’ve heard of this game
In the Bible, stars are fractal analogs to the angelic host. In the Book of Enoch, when Enoch was taken into the solar system, and then into the sun, he noticed crystalline structures and entities that looked like fire, but could appear human at will.
The clockwork elves are real and they are sacred geometry
@@egggge4752 Molecules are the true sacred geometry, therefore we are all sacred geometry.
I'm pretty sure there's at least one person that's done a blindfolded/visually impaired Dark Souls run.
Dunky did it with a USB steering wheel
Pretty sure the streamer LilAggy did Sekiro blindfolded
There have been definitely been people who've speedrun entire Souls games blindfolded.
this is so by far like the best channel for elden ring/souls lore.. the amount of depth and research in the videos and the presentation is just astonishingly good
It's refreshing watching content from a lore hunter who actually hunts lore instead of complaining that doing so takes work.
Honestly, I've watched a lot of lore videos from a lot of people on this game, and I've not heard one complain about how it's hard.
I've heard them mention in passing that they put in work to find out stuff, but that's not complaining, that's taking pride in work.
@@moosecannibal8224 we must frequent different creators because there were at least 2 or 3 videos from different creators that came out around the same time with the entire point of them being about Elden Ring's "Uninterpretable" lore. Nearly the entire run time of them was dedicated to complaining that elden ring's lore was more confusingly constructed than previous games. No insights or theorizing, just whining that the lore isn't spoonfed to them. Which came off particularly weird considering the claims that they all played the previous games, and ER's lore always seemed way more straightforward than the other games', excepting Sekiro. I've been in this community since 2009 so someone prefacing their take by saying it was hard and they might be wrong is nothing new. What is new to me, outside of JSF's takes on Sinclair Lore, is people spending more time and energy complaining that the games don't make sense than would have been spent doing some extremely minor research.
@@idknemore525 I agree, As someone who plays FS games before, Elden Ring's lore compared to Souls-Borne seems more.. tangible, less abstract. Anyway, would you tell us those creators/channels you mentioned? I would like to see for myself.
@@plipplop728 feels more like a metaphor, then any other souls game
@@moosecannibal8224 I mostly just ride the algorithm when it comes to FromSoft so I can't remember a lot of the creators who did that but AGT Jake is one of them, he just recently put out another video whining about it. Which is especially weird considering after his first complaining video he put out a really interesting lore video that had some very unique takes, but I guess he gave up again and felt the need to vent his personal frustration as though it's a problem with the game. I seriously doubt he played anything by From before ER.
Perfect timing, about to jump into bed and some fresh Elden Ring lore content gets uploaded!
Same!
Reflection of emotion. Is this the painting Aria painted with the Dark Soul?
Ever since I read the desc. For Iji's helmet, I always felt the other item descriptions in the game were written with the greater will's intentions
Personally when I think about elden ring the most iconic theme is the battle of wills. The lands between are the battleground of mortals, spirits, gods and demigods for supremacy, but over what exactly?
Influence over others and oneself. The greater will and other outter gods against local beings. Some of those beings surrender and adopt that influence as golden order adepts, some insist on heresy.
It is all a bloody mud fight over imposing oneself will. I see this reflected in the world, more than senses and thought I notice the world is altered through will, whims and the supresion of everyone elses will itself.
In that regard I interpret senses (and even existence) as an extension of a will.
Tarnished rebirth is the consecuence of the greater will manifesting it's desires.
Grace guidance is seen by those who still intend to become elden lord and refuse to accept defeat.
Much like in dark souls, kindling of the first flame represent how the stronger will is the most powerfull source of power in the world. Here the same aplies. The greater will is losing power because it is losing influence.
How long ago did Radahn arrest the stars? Imagine the backlog of fate that has to be caught up on.
Nice video. The Hollow knight music caught me off guard. Love it.
The Wandering Mausoleums' bells actually seem to primarily call on and maintain the presence of the Mausoleum Knights. Mausoleums without bells never have knights near them, and in the case of the one in the Nameless Eternal City, bringing it down kills every knight around it.
Another interesting thing (I'll make it quick, I swear): The idea of PERCEPTION having a PHYSICAL effect. This is actually common in quantum physics, though I can't remember the exact details. Some subatomic particles behave differently depending on whether they're being directly perceived or not.
(I'm done, I promise. Sorry about how long my previous comment was.)
You cannot pervieve without interacting. To percieve is to measure. Thus you are not just passively recieving but reaching forth and touching it. Thus changing it. That is really what that theory is about. Still it points out how hard it is for us to know anything without changing what we wish to learn about.
I really like this, it really is perfect to listen to before bed. Interesting and relaxing at the same time.
If gravity can halt the “thoughts of the stars”, than it would make sense that it is on the same color spectrum as sleep effects, as per your color theory
Wow! Only after seeing this video I've been considering all the motifs of senses everywhere in the game I'm surprised that about sight and hearing you didn't mention Gideon Ofnir tho, who is all based on eyes and ears, could he have more significance to the theme of senses with his all-knowing nature?
Prior to Elden Ring's release, the stars were motionless, the stories and fate of the characters and world locked in place.
We, the PLAYERS, are the stars that have been arrested, with Miyazaki representing the Greater Will.
With the game's release we finally see the world begin to progress through the deeds and actions of the Tarnished - literal avatars driven by the will of beings beyond the control of the Greater Will (the stars, i.e. us).
In the beginning, our paths are fairly linear, our actions confined by a powerful guardian of the Golden Order - General Radahn.
The community's initial defeat of Radahn forms a crack in this dam, unlocking the fate of the world and allowing the community to rush through. Once shattered, the world opens up and each being is free to write the new fate of the world however they see fit.
I bit far-fetched to be the intention, but a pretty accurate description of the release and first playthroughs of the game.
I thought it was worth noting that Shabriri has his eyes gouged out (Frenzied Flame), Malenia looks to be effectively blind (Scarlet rot) and Mogh has a horn piercing his left eye (Formless Mother). Especially with the last two being demi deities and later on having greater runes this seems to tap into something that is made manifest (madness, rot/stagnation and cursed blood respectively). I think the Greater will and the Outer deities are more like the Force from star wars, not given active agency in things but ebb and flow in their respective areas as things change. The Greater Will is the penultimate power when life is abundant before 'abandoning' the Land Between once the devastating Shattering war occurs. Frenzied Flame looks to be gaining power as more beings are affected by madness/extreme emotional turmoil. Rune of death is removed from the Elden ring prior to make the Golden Order but this makes other parts of death become 'Outer' i.e. rot/cursed blood..etc that end up increasing as things are out of balance. Great points about sight, smell and fate, great video!
Elden Ring has a lot in common with Twin Peaks when it comes to metaphor style.
I think this element of the game is about I.) inner knowledge/intuition vs outer knowledge/rationality, and also II.) the idea that our separation between inner and outer world is arbitrary and they’re more connected that you believe.
Can't believe you called Hewg Gowry! (just messing, great video!) I love analysis like this that takes the gameplay mechanics as well as the item descriptions into account. Keep up the great work!
Love how thought provoking your vids are, they make me love my fave game even more
I'm really happy I discovered you
I like the style of being presented as a lore story to listen to before bed, but you don't try too hard. Some people go wayyy overboard talking in a very soft, whispery voice which is extremely distracting. Keep up the good work!
damn bro, i ain't even finished watching the video yet and i'm getting sleepy as hell. You have a very calming voice good sir
How am i supposed to use this as “sleep lore” with so many damn ads
Id been trying to come up with a really strong connection between the lands between and the mind, it just keeps teasing you with hints at it all game long
I couldnt have asked for a better
They really may want to consider discussing you for the official retrospective when it gets done
This is one of your best. Keep it up Hawkshaw.
The idea of thought potentially causing the future to occur is an interesting point to bring up. To an extent, this theme comes up frequently in Greek mythology. A character consults one of the Oracles, and finds out that their destiny is one they don't want to have come to pass. So they think of ways to avoid their fates, essentially to CHANGE them...which only serves to CREATE the fate they were so eager to avoid. Samples (and I apologize in advance, because this will take a while):
1: The father of Oedipus, learning that his son will kill his father and marry his thereby widowed mother, orders him to be left exposed as an infant, only to be adopted by a neighboring king; Oedipus grows up, learns of the prophecy, and runs away from his "home", only to murder his real father, and marry his widowed mother.
2: Priam, last King of Troy, has a dream in which his pregnant wife gives birth to a flaming torch; a dream-interpreter states that this means the soon-to-be born child will destroy Troy. Eager to prevent this, Priam orders his newborn son, Paris, exposed at birth to die...only for Paris to be adopted by shepherds, thus making him available to make the wrong choices that will eventually cause Troy's destruction.
3: The father of Princess Danae learns that, if her daughter has a son, that son will eventually depose and kill him. When Danae becomes pregnant by Zeus, he throws Danae and the newborn Perseus into the sea in a crate...only for them to be rescued. Perseus goes on to glory as a hero by saving Andromeda (who, by the way, was Ethiopian, contrary to Hollywood's belief), among other things. His grandfather, having forgotten the prophecy, and being proud of his heroic grandson, welcomes him home...and Perseus accidentally kills him, becoming his successor.
Basically, THINKING that you can prevent your destiny, or else shape it in some way, oftentimes CAUSES whatever you're trying to achieve or prevent. So I find it interesting that you're bringing up the notion. I wonder if Miyazaki-san and Martin were pulling from the Greek tradition, here?
Awesome philosophical analysis
Tthis was giving me serious dune messiah flashbacks when discussing the requirements for senses to those who have the ability to see the future.
Accent alone was enough to solidify my lore boner. In-depth analysis/unique and authentic perspective made me Loregasm so hard I travelled through time.
10:51 oh, ohhhhhh. That makes alot more sense, I thought Radahn fought the stars at the orders behest in order to stifle the raya lucarians but it makes much more sense to enforce the mathematical laws of the golden order to forbid future seeing
I didn't expect such a metaphysical mind f@$k. Good job.
Reminds me of the saying. If no one is there to witness it, does a bear shit in the woods?
Great ideas to dream to.
You are hands down the best, most thorough and overlooked content creator for From Software's games
babe wake up from your coma new hawkshaw just dropped
Well done. This is one of your best videos. This comment is to help you with the algorithm.
Lovely video thank you. I love this and the color video and your thought process to surmise the world and break it down into very core real world fundamentals to be compared. Great concepts and recollection of lore and world knowledge, love your content.
Feels like the evolution of gaming is taking us into virtual reality..oh wait
Ranni thought to kill Merika's soul and leave the body, to set the Golden order on auto pilot where the body maintains the ring but makes no choices. Miqella sends Malennia to fight Radahn and locks his hold on the stas when the scarlet rot kills his "soul" and leaves his body
Gideon is the eyes
Goldmask the ears
Fia the fingers
Dung eater the nose
Hoarah Loux the mouth
would love an hour, or maybe even a 2 hour version of this!
Some videos you watch whenever, some you save for a good moment in your day to really enjoy them. Yours are the latter.
lets goo another hawkshaw video!!!
How did you know that I fall asleep to this lore videos?
Interesting. My own studies into “clairvoyance” for a project lead me to believe the opposite - clairvoyance meaning literally “clear sight”, and thought of by those cultures who practice it as extra/super sensory perception rather than a veiling or dulling of senses. You could, after all, ‘predict’ weather if you were sensually in touch with the flow of air and moisture to a supernatural degree. Phenomenologists like to speak of a ‘veil’ over reality, to be unveiled by senses that determine our path toward the veiled so it may be uncovered. It is the intellect (as opposed to the body and its senses)which, I believe, absolutely serves its purpose but leads ultimately to the more close minded, less expansive, less nuanced and more dogmatic view of reality if left unchecked.it excludes possibilities while the body unveils the world while looking for new ones. I like to believe that marika’s veil covering the shadow lands serves the same symbolic purpose. One more example of this - imagine Neo from the matrix trying to rationalize his way toward uncovering the true nature of reality outside his simulation, outside the one being fed to him by “outer gods”. No, the only way he does it, so that there can be no shadow of a doubt, is to step outside it in the flesh. Forsaking dogma and stepping across the veil of the shadow lands, in the flesh, may be the path to salvation in the lands between.
All these existential question before bed... not the best thing now I'm laying here and can't fall asleep thinking about the universe
“The blacksmith Gowry”
Great video. Truly, before the sleep.
For me it's the video I woke up to amazing
Elden Ring "We got some ppl with eyes covered"
BB "Hold my Ancient Blood"
I know you guys got less views on this one than the previous few but I was really good and I hope y’all keep it up!
Is it possible Miyazaki is making a statement about religion? That those who most claim to know the true path are usually the most blind to the actual truth
Daaaamn
That reminds me, you find star amber in front of a statue of Miquella and Malenia. What if Miquella's idea for unalloyed gold came from that golden amber?
Yeah i didnt want to see Dungboi do that to my good bro Boggart, so after getting Ryas necklace i killed him quickly cause i wanted Braggarts Roar. But i told myself i was "saving him from a darker fate"
maybe something related to quantum physics where something is only permanent when it is observed
the seer that doesn't need to see is something that happens in the second dune book
this is your best video btw. amazing perspective
I applaud the effort and the writing, which are both excellet as always, but I heavily disagree with the take that because weirs things happen with the senses, that implies somehow a fundemantel difference in metaphysics and basic human experience between the real and the elden ring world. you see. think of yahrnam in bloodborne. an insanely design maze of city. impossible to navigate for the disabled, yet they litter it's streets. coffins and chareiots line even places where only a madman would have thought to put them, ladders connect ups and downs of the city, but can be activatedwith levers. church entrances tumble into each other with no real sense of purpose or intent. the city is alao built above another city, old yarnahm etc etc. Does this imply that stair worl differently in bloodborne? Are the metaphysiscs of stairs in bloodborne such that people in wheelchairs can navigate them? no. the city layout is meant to be the observers window into the world of bloodborne. The limited space is utilized to it's maximum potential to communicate the core of the universe: yarnahm is kinda fucked up.
If only this wasn't uploaded at 6:00am for me
What an excellent video
Ohhhhh surprise lore!!!
Fuck yeah baby new hawkshaw baby yeah
So Roadan is depression? Certainly explains his poor horse.
More lore before bed please
Praise the lore!
The more I listen to this, the more I am convinced that Ranni’s ending is not the good ending people made it out to be.
Elden Ring is like Bloodborne. There are no good endings.
I believe in Goldmask. His intellect and selflessness are too great for him not to do a decent job at it.
@@diegocastaneda3829 Doesn’t he uphold the Elden Ring, fixing the impurities but still letting the Greater Will affect the world? Not thrilled abt Goldmask’s endjng if that’s the case
This was definitely a really cool thought (can't say it's much of a video, most of it was footage of your character sitting), but damn, those kinds of thoughts regarding fate being predetermined always make me really depressed, but I'm very drawn to the concept of fate.
In my own story (unrelated to Elden Ring), fate is not something a singular person can control, but rather the result of the will of an enormous number of people, whose thoughts and actions cause something to happen. For example, if enough people really want a kingdom to fall, eventually it will happen somehow. Maybe a revolutionary leader will rise up and overthrow it, maybe an enemy kingdom will get some ideas it, or maybe a natural disaster will wipe out the capital and the ruling class. The thing is, this fate is not set in stone, but is extremely hard to change. If that kingdom has a very good king who completely changes the perception of the people, and makes enough people wish that it will remain, the previous fate of the kingdom's fall will eventually turn. However, doing so is extremely hard - once fate starts going and it gets to the point that prophecies can be made, it's practically impossible to stop or prevent.
18:11 I got that reference.
Berkeley said it best: "Esse est percipi"
Bro you could rebrand with a Micolash theme and itd be a hit. You sound just like him and basically do the same thing lol
I feel like I’m at the end of a 5 short grables episode
When the writer has ideas but the video editor is busy with their day job.
Hope you come back with another video soon : /
Ranni is the puppeteer. She knows exactly what Seluvis is up to. He’s her puppet and that’s why he’s left in the state he’s in when she’s gone.
She made herself into a puppet and even figured out how to transfer her soul into it. She gives you the bell that summons spirits or puppets. She is the grand puppeteer.
Could this also be a reason why the firekeepers are blind as well as they have in lore been shown to see the future? That is if you subscribe to the theories that all the games are connected
I just remembered that they explained why firekeepers are blind
This is the best!
How'd you know it was bed time 9 days in the past
NGL for all his sneering, Seluvis seems like a massive idiot for thinking that feeding a potion to a Doll body that doesn't eat, nor have a digestive system of any sort, would work.
If Radahn is holding the stars still, how is there a day and night cycle?
He thought the sun and moon were chill ig
Your voice was made for storytelling.
You guys are the best
More videos to sleep to pls !!
Thirty three minutes and forty two seconds of speculation over thought and senses with no mention of Gideon Ofnir.
Great video but damn if my pet peeve isnt people saying a highly fictional game or movie loses its "realism" due to petty reasons
How tf you know im going to bed?
YYEES!
We are torrent peers to outer gods