10 More DLC Lore Discoveries That Change Everything (Shadow of the Erdtree) | Elden Ring

[@Hawkshaw]

What has been your favourite insight? The horse skeleton of the Putrescent Knight is definitely one of our favourites!

[@telerobotic]

The horse skeleton riding its own flesh is metal af

[@BasicallyBaconSandvichIV]

That the guidance of the fingees is very outdated indeed. And such Marika seems to still be on the chopping block.

[@malbhet]

I have a great theory about Melina, the gloam eyed queen, and the godskin. I believe the godskin are searching for the soul of Gloam eyed queen (Melina) within the lands between. The reason the gloam eyed queen isn't a part of the dlc is because she is traveling around with the player throughout the campaign. I seriously hope this isn't the only dlc, or at least the only game, because Radahn, being the final boss of the dlc, is just a really terrible retcon of what was already established with Godwyn's backstory and connection to Miquella. Seriously the way Fromsoft introduced and built up Godwyn, those who live in death, but didn't do anything with it at all in the dlc other than a few death knight mini bosses is the absolute worst choice in game development Fromsoft has ever made, it's like they just phoned it in when it came to concluding the choice on who would be the final dlc boss. We all know damn well Godwyn should have been resurrected by Miquella as some sort of lord of Death. I seriously hope there is more dlc in the future that tidy up a few unanswered questions like... 1.The 3rd sister of Renalla and Relana 2.The gloam eyed queen 3.Malenia's final bloom form 4.Godwyn 5.The formless mother or blood star 6.the dragon god 7.the twin bird of death 8.Why the Rune of death is required from a gameplay perspective. They introduced so much in the base game and did absolutely nothing with the majority of it, and it's making me irritated. I understand this is how they make their games, but not every single game they make have to be cryptic speculations with everything, they could at least flesh out more of the lore and background of many of the concepts they introduced in the base game, if not then what was even tge point of introducing them to begin with. It similar to how they introduced Velka in the Dark Sould trilogy and did nothing with that character throughout the series other than pointless vague references. Seriously, Radahn, being the final boss of the dlc, is a complete letdown.

[@ITBEurgava]

Hornsent folks, having a rather similar look to the omens?

[@birthrite8254]

​@malbhet Radahn was always the consort. Go watch the trailer for base game. Malenia says "Miquella awaits thee promised consort." There was no retcon. It was always the plan. Fine to dislike it, just wanted you to know the Godwyn plan is unrelated.

[@FiveTiger]

2:40 note how Loretta's arena is surrounded by chairs, and Rellana's turns into a grace called "Ensis moongazing grounds". It makes me think that rather than studying the moon directly, the Carians view it through a reflective surface. If I remember right, Tarnished Archaeologist mentioned in his Bloodborne video on the School of Mensis that pools of liquid served in the real world as simple early lenses. Couple that with the fact bodies of still water are associated with death and the travel through different planes and it makes me think that the true nature of the moon can only be understood by looking through a portal to another world, or something like that. Like in Ranni's ending.

[@karldergrosse-333]

Great point. Wouldn't the reflection be an flipped image of the moon, too? Plus, there is starlight shard on the altar at Loretta's arena. I think that lends even more credence to those grounds being a type of celestial viewing glass (water) of some sort. Tidal forces are also impacted by the moon (at least on earth), so the water is certainly important within these sites.

[@thegodofsoapkekcario1970]

It definitely is a sky reflection, since that’s how astrologers in real life saw the night sky, not by looking up but by seeing the reflection on the ground.

[@karldergrosse-333]

@@thegodofsoapkekcario1970 exactly. I’m really loving this connection. Small details like this are what makes these fromsoft worlds feel so special.

[@Pedrintavs]

In bloodborne, bodies of water are highly associated with higher beings too. There were memes/theories about Ranni's ending being the start of bloodborne's universe, I don't know if it's the case, but that's interesting to think about it and cool to consider, even if it's not the case

[@Pedrintavs]

Here, the description of the Lake rune from Bloodborne states: "Great volumes of water serve as a bulwark guarding sleep, and an augur of the eldritch Truth. Overcome this hindrance, and seek what is yours." I know it's not the case with rellana, not being great volumes of water, but cool nonetheless

[@guggerscheese]

turns out the mohglester was the miquellested

[@daruddock]

I'm so glad I got to see this joke recycled for the millionth time.

[@DrNeonGaming]

He was a victim of Miquella the Tickla

[@Zenbon111]

Weirdo

[@sageex3931]

Miquella the diddler

[@Illier1]

He has beaten the allegations

[@darkwraith9548]

Mad we didn’t get to see Velka in the DLC 😡😡

[@VictorIV0310]

Gloam Eyed Queen has become Elden Ring’s Velka LMAOOO

[@greasysox]

@@VictorIV0310she really has, I was so sure that either the gloam eyed queen or a resurrected godwynn would be in the dlc

[@dbfzato-1327]

Same bro, what that about the eclipse now lol.... melina as well ​@greasysox

[@greasysox]

@@dbfzato-1327 right they said there won’t be an elden ring two or more dlc but now I really want them to do another expansion so we can have those questions answered

[@gustavonomegrande]

​@@dbfzato-1327we got a confirmation that Melina is Messmer's sister from his remembrance, but I'm still mad that she doesn't go with us to the shadow realm.

[@briankay3146]

The putrescent knight seems very albinauric like. It has a silvery appearance and the horses back legs are dissolved.

[@greasysox]

It also seems like albinaurics are maybe a lot older than we originally thought because if you look at the side of the coffin you jump off into the arena you’ll see the side is broken and some of the goop leaking out. I think that might imply that’s where the putrescent knight came from

[@kimashitawa8113]

There have been hints found about this connection Like with the arrows that use Albinauric Clot and those in the dlc using Putrescence They have like the same function and their description uses the same wording when explaining it for both

[@Grimsly3736]

This would also explain why it’s weapon scales with Arcane just like the Albinauric Staff but the spell it uses still goes by the normal Faith / Int like the other death sorceries

[@Grimsly3736]

Back with some more thoughts, the Knight’s fighting style isn’t to far off of 2nd gen Albinaurics how it circles you and even has a spin move it charges you with like them (also it make more sense why the Gen2s with the ripple blade have that frost attack) also since this is a Miquella creation the Knight’s Horse was probably like are Torrent once a spirit steed, also the Big Gen2s in Mohg’s literally summon the giant death beam skeletons

[@_hank9508]

It's also very interesting that he is called Gloam Eyed in the game files.

[@Amferam]

@2:40 the Aztecs would use pools of water to study the stars. They would use the stationary pools reflection to map the stars cycles instead of having errors in where they where standing and not having to look up constantly.

[@griffiththechad9483]

God, Humans are so smart

[@TrippyTimesTwo]

Rellana’s arena is called the Ensis Moongazing grounds, same as Loretta’s Carian Moongazing grounds. Based off of the seats in the latter, with your additional info, it makes sense that Carian’s would sit around the still pool and watch the moons and stars.

[@K.S.24]

I think that's so cool!

[@Shizn0id]

if you look closly in the cutscene where messmer removes his grace you can see there's a ball of snakes twisting deep inside the socket afterwards alluding to that being his true eye that was sealed by the grace.

[@Chrisbun1]

As a note for you, BonfireVN did a closeup on the Base Serpent recently. It has Messmer's hair, it has an eye in its mouth and multiple eyes all along its body. It's pretty weird.

[@InternetHydra]

Broke: We need more eyes on the inside, lets take other’s eyes for implantation to make it happen. Woke: My snake needs more eyes all over, let’s pluck out my own eye to make it happen.

[@historiabyssus]

As you once did for the vacuous Rom, Grant us eyes, grant us eyes

[@IngeniousNinja]

I mean yeah. Its him. The serpent is fundamentally part of him, he is it. He was born with it. Obviously, it has an external original source still.

[@Diesalot-sc9qz]

What if Putrescent Knight is the skin and bone of Torrent, cast down the Fissure alongside St Trina by his master, Miquella. The form we ride is merely his spiritual form, like we see with Melina and Ranni

[@lockepersonal]

I think Metyr's attack is spawning those creepy lamprey things that live on the finger ruins.

[@dylanvickers7953]

They strike me as failed fingers, a single living digit

[@nazarkabylov4545]

​@@dylanvickers7953along those lines, I think there's an item you can loot from them and in the area (mimic fingers or smth like that) talks about how people are trying to become fingers or smth like that.

[@florianchabaud8548]

@@nazarkabylov4545 The item is called "Finger Mimic"

[@PeteQuaint]

If the lampreys are failed finger, are the wormfaces humans who failed to become fingers?

[@jellydamgood]

​@@dylanvickers7953 there are hatched eggs at the edge of the first finger ruins. Do Fingers come from eggs and are snakemen just spontaneously made? As a bodyguard force perhaps?

[@zanesy6250]

I think the StormLord was a hornsent. Stormveil is close to were the hornsent castle would be and they are one of the few groups who celebrate the storm in their divine beast dances.

[@hatefulgaming1800]

@@armandaneshjoomate that’s a reach if I ever seen one.

[@CFX992]

@@armandaneshjoo Ancient dragons use dragon lightning not the storm and if you noticed no ancient dragon ever deviates from using red lightning, including Gransax's bolt itself which is also red lightning , the storm is a crucible related power which you can see used by hornsent like the ancient lions, and the banished knights who served the stormlord hawk who himself once served Serrosh the king of beasts before Godfrey and the golden order took over.

[@CFX992]

@@DoctorPecker not arguing , and he is free to have his own views, just like me and you. Even if we don't agree with it. It is just a game man.

[@The_Muncher2017]

@@armandaneshjooagain thats cool theories you have but AGAIN those are just theories my guy lmao

[@aidenbrenneman2302]

@@armandaneshjoowhere are you getting this info from?

[@blinkrush6101]

Hornsent is Irish, and the village the Shamans were jarred in is called the Bonny village. This means good, or pleasant. Truly horrific.

[@ilcorvo9559]

Bonny in Scotland (and north east England) is more like saying something or someone is handsome/pretty.

[@user-sd4dd4pn4s]

​@@ilcorvo9559 For a person - for an object, it's a general expression of positivity, like "lovely".

[@crumblyguy1834]

It's both funny and satisfying to have godrick's grafting and rykards reverse snake absorption ability be revealed through the numen jars

[@liarwithagun]

I was thinking about that as well. It is kinda sad that Godrick had a single trick that makes him interesting, but Rykars one ups him and is planning on grafting 'the gods' and all powerful warriors he comes across. Godrick really is a pathetic loser in every way possible.

[@Bigpea167]

@@liarwithagun I’m pretty sure the main reason he is at stormveil is because he wimped out of the capital during the shattering

[@waeldra1548]

@@Bigpea167 he literally disguised himself as a woman to not get his ass whooped when fleeing the capital

[@Ryxbar]

For Rellana's arena and the other Carian types, those pools they fight in are moongazing pools, no? So, super important for Carian royalty or high officers I guess.

[@Rarrded]

I wondered if there was a correlation with Miquella's light and the Miranda flower's light attack. Saint Trina seems similar to a Miranda flower as well in terms of appearance.

[@dars1961]

The final boss was Flowey all this time, no wonder they are so ridiculously tanky and annoying.

[@Renastarsong]

Another thing about Messmer and the snake: many snakes "see" with special pits along their snouts with thermal sensors; essentially a kind of heat vision. So in addition to the snake's eyesight, he might be tracking the Tarnished's body heat.

[@SorowFame]

If that were the case I’d imagine most of his own attacks would end up effectively blinding him. Maybe he has that ability but I don’t think he’d rely on it considering how much fire he flings about.

[@Renastarsong]

@@SorowFame flashes of flame would lose their thermal signature pretty quickly. They’re usually there and gone on a thermal camera. Unless they’re the kind that linger on the field I guess? I confess I do not remember his move set at all off the top of my head. I don’t think heat pits work exactly like eyes in terms of output so it’s hard to say and not a 1:1, but now I’m stuck with the very goofy hypothetical of heat vision + fire attack = flashbang on himself. The model (at least in the close up as you walk in) certainly seems to have them.

[@habanerodash447]

after phase 1 radahn glows red because its mohgs body and hes likely about to go bloodflame. notice he only turns gold AFTER we hear miquella's voice and miquella makes an entrance. its another tell that it's not radahn, but mohg's body, but miquella shows up just in time to try to cover this up.

[@habanerodash447]

@@Chicanery_Artifice someone hasn't beaten mohg on their own lmao, maybe try actually getting to mohgs 2nd phase and tell me the red aura isn't a part of mohgs identity.

[@0ne-Two]

@@Chicanery_Artifice He literally uses fucking bloodflame in the fight LOL

[@The_Muncher2017]

@@Chicanery_Artificeyou got cooked

[@ididntaskverified3663]

"Artifice" - introduction - yeah I summon, yeah I'm a 5'3 47 year old 317+ pound man, my balls fell off

[@RichardKushman]

Beginning to think that shaman lineage is what allows for grafting, since I've heard people theorizing that the base bodies of the fleshy jar men is a shaman who's had their flesh meld with the flesh of others in the jar with them. It's mentioned in game that shaman flesh melds with others well and if done with purpose I imagine you'd get the results of grafting and the only ones we've seen use grafting involving flesh are descendants of the golden order and so have shaman blood and can meld with others

[@michaeljohnston8891]

Few things I thought I’d add: I think the association with sorcery and water stems from primitive cosmological views, seeing the night sky as a vast firmament of waters that contained the stars. From Ymir and Sellen, we know that this Firmament of the great beyond, in a sense, is the Greater Will, and is where all souls come from. I think this also explains why we see so many river coffin burials in the underground regions; the goal was to drift the dead bodies out to sea, allowing their souls to return to the cosmos. Another thing about Messmer; BonfireVN recently showed that there are actually two serpents in the fight. There’s the one Messmer turns into, which is basically just him in serpent form, as well as the actual Base Serpent. An interesting facet of both serpent’s design is that their bodies are covered in tiny red eyes

[@sk8legendz]

Metyr carrying the elden beast and tricking Marika into following its broken guidance and becoming a vessel for the elden beast to become the elden ring is a really crazy lore drop too. Just makes me wonder why send Metyr to establish the order of Gold only to abandon Metyr later.

[@sk8legendz]

@@armandaneshjoo metyr was stated as abandoned Metyr came bearing the elden beast whether sent by the greater will or not isn't confirmed or disproven by anything concrete

[@WheezingBobcat]

​@@sk8legendz Where does it say something about Metyr carrying the Elden Beast? All I saw was something saying she arrived before it.

[@sk8legendz]

@@WheezingBobcat It is said that long ago, the Greater Will sent a golden star bearing a beast into the Lands Between, which would later become the Elden Ring. in the trailer you see Marika reaching into Metyr's eye. withdrawing the elden beast to become the vessel for the elden ring. Metyr didn't arrive before the elden beast, Metyr was the golden star and was in possession of the elden beast which is a Vassal beast of the greater will and the concept of order that connects Metyr and the elden beast both being directly connected to the greater will and the Metyr weapon remembrance describes precisely what we see marika touching in the trailer and the elden beast being in it's eye and the concept of grace in eyes probably has some connection too. the dlc has a lot of unspoken implication like radagon and marika's fusion is a great example as well of that.

[@WheezingBobcat]

@sk8legendz Got it. I think I interpreted the star thing as the elden beast just being the golden star, but the word bearing is definitely pulling a lot of weight there, since that implies a separate entity. It'll be fun to watch all of this lore detangle. I've been super happy with this DLC

[@davidbengtsson4964]

​@@armandaneshjoo when was the greater will shown to be above other gods? Do you just mean that it's above Metyr?

[@cool2314]

some one did some data mining and found out that the putrescent knight was called knight of the gloam eyed queen

[@Grimsly3736]

Yeah it seems they wanted to actually do some GEQ / Godskin content early on but scrapped the idea and turned it into what got now, a Ghostflame related knight

[@mcsquared5005]

Not to be a buzz kill, It's actually called "gloam eyed knight". Not gloam eyed queen's knight. Still has potential to be linked, but it isn't that explicit.

[@The_Muncher2017]

@@mcsquared5005its not potential they literally have the same name they 100% were originally planned to be commected. They were both “gloom eyed”, when does elden ring give two people the same title/name and not have them connected

[@mcsquared5005]

@@The_Muncher2017 actually, I pointed out that the comment is incorrect. It is not called 'knight of the gloam eyed queen' as the comment stated. It is referred to in the code as gloam eyed knight. That's what I'm correcting. It is not explicitly linked as the commenter said. Sorry for sharing facts.

[@I_Made_it_Up]

​@@mcsquared5005 redditor

[@antoinedenis3081]

The water for the carian fights are astral observatories, they work as a mirror when the water is still

[@ThrowingHydra]

7:28 the skin is most likely shredded due to the in game file naming of the textures, the midphase masking for the snakes is named "c5132_HU_Snake_shedding_a" for the albedo, with shedding in it that makes sense for the explination

[@TheActualMrLink]

0:40 and, interestingly, if you look veeery closely at PCRadahn’s face (such as when landing a critical hit,) you can see that his left eye is missing, *just like the eye that Mohg’s own horn punctured.*

[@teamshesh]

I think the water with the Carians, ties back to ancient civilizations using water to reflect the moon and stars, so they didn’t have the break their neck while staring and analyzing . Basically telescopes without the magnification

[@antoinedenis3081]

I'm kinda sick of hearing "this guy is actually evil, and this other guy is actually good, we owe them an apology, king". Like i think the game is clear enough : no one in it is moraly good and above the others, everyone comitted atrocities to reach a goal they see as righteous

[@2shadowgamer2]

I agree, I think the writing in this game tries to make these characters as complex and nuanced as possible. All these characters are seeking power including the tarnish you play as. When people are seeking power no one comes out of it without doing some really bad stuff. I think, compared to the average fantasy story where there's a clear indication of good and evil, that's why this story trips people up. They're trying to look for a good and bad when this game isn't really about morality it's just a story of people vying for power and the horrible things people will do in order to get it. (Even if they have good intentions)

[@antoinedenis3081]

@@2shadowgamer2 exactly what i think ! Tho, you can make your own judgment on which character is the most moraly correct, according to your set of morals, but that doesnt mean they are moraly correct

[@eurongreyjoy2]

Mohg and Radahn are still violent draconian overlords

[@antoinedenis3081]

@@eurongreyjoy2 yeah and some people see them as the pinnacle of good guys when, like all other characters, it's not that simple

[@paulogaspar8295]

@@eurongreyjoy2 yes, but are way better then ranni, malenia, radagon, marika, dung eater, rykard, etc...

[@mralabbad7]

I feel like some people see the Shaman Village bit and are like, "Oh! Marika was right!" Forgetting that she did the same to giants and basically every other faction that was against them. Not to mention, she didn't even discontinue the making of living jars because we see them fertilizing the minor erdtrees everywhere. While also imprisoning omens in sewers who aren't even on the hornsent's side, they just happened to be born with the same infliction. While making it a common practice for people who are not nobility to cut their babies' horns off, killing them, or most of them at least. And Omen killers were all perfumers under the golden order.

[@FaeQueenCory]

Got that backwards. The commoner ones are the ones who get their horns cut. The noble ones get to keep their horns... But get to be dumped in a sewer.

[@mralabbad7]

@@FaeQueenCory yes both what we said are the same. "Not nobility" = "commoners"

[@KrispyBuddha69]

​@mralabbad7 i mean yes Marika does the same things but the hornsent did it first her whole god hood was built upon the grief of her entire people getting slaughtered and the erdtree jar burial could be seen as her way of honoring what happened to her dead because it is said somewhere that the jar burial is how souls return to the erdtree for rebirth so maybe it became a tradition after Marika tried to bury some of her villages jars at the erdtree in hopes they will be reborn and it became a tradition years and years later. No character in this game is black or white they're merely shades of grey

[@mralabbad7]

@KrispyBuddha69 there may be evidence supporting marika helping the hornsent in subjugating her own people and using them to ascend. (They themselves say marika betrayed them) as in they were on the same side. And the mountain of flesh that made the gate of divinity is possibly the same lumps of flesh that explode out of jars (her own people)

[@Psychedel1x]

@@mralabbad7 I thought that maybe she used hornsent to ascend. Used their knowledge divine tower and rituals to go through gate of divinity, maybe thats why they say about betrayal

[@Mario-SunshineGalaxy64]

I’ve always defended Mohg, that even though he might’ve been a (now acquitted) Mohglester and blood cultist, he was ultimately trying to make a new government with civil rights and that balanced him out. Now I can say he really is less evil than people thought, though it’s a shame I can’t say the same about Miquella. I genuinely believed he would’ve been the Jesus of Elden Ring but nope.

[@formatomi]

You cant escape the Berzerk references with Mister Zaki, Miquella was Griffith all along (albeit with a more noble porpuse)

[@SiphonRayzar]

I mean, sure, he got mind controlled by Miquella. However, I'm of the opinion that Mohg was still the instigator in kidnapping Mohg, and that Miquilla mind controlled him after the fact, not before. Miquilla's power of enchantment is, seemingly, limited to touch, not ranged. Additionally, well, have you seen the blood swamp? Mohg was still obsessed with blood and wounds, courtesy of his worship of the formless mother.

[@Joesmho23]

Yeah he got played but that doesn’t excuse his blood lust and his plan to take over with the new dynasty. He’s a tragic character because he was born an omen but nothing excuse the stuff he set out to do. He’s still evil lmao

[@LorenzoLame80085]

All the Miqullester fans above doing damage control. Lord Mogg, Sir Asbach, I killed the femboy for you two

[@cool2314]

lol he is still evil though.

[@coldblizzard5880]

If he had to give a winner to the dragon fight I’d say Placidusax won that scrap they had. Bayle not only got his wings completely torn to shreds to the point that bones are showing, but he’s also missing a whole leg. And Placidusax is still biting into him. And above all else…it was Bayle who ran away. Love the lore of those 2. Easily two of my favorite characters in this game.

[@TrueNamelessOne]

Counter argument: Placidusax lost three heads, retreated to a place outside of time, and had an army nearby. Bayle probably didnt have one, as (to my knowledge) there arent any drake bodies in Farum Azula.

[@coldblizzard5880]

@@TrueNamelessOne here’s the problem with that. Placidusax only retreated for a completely different reason. He left because his outer god left. So he waited for it to come back. That’s not because of Bayle.

[@GJWhite66]

I'd say the biggest oversight people are making about Rellana is her fire. Her fire has nothing to do with Messmer. If you observe every fire user associated with Messmer, they all share that snake-like characteristic, as if the flames are alive. Rellana is a fire user because the original Astrologers all were flame users. They learned flame magic alongside the Fire Giants. We find the Sword of Night and Flame in the Carian Manor. Rellana's flame magic mirrors the flame attack of that weapon. We shouldn't be surprised that the strongest Carian warrior is capable of freely using carian spells, moonlight spells, and flame spells

[@TheMrNukeman]

Except there are item descriptions saying she accepted Messmer's flame and literally wields his different color fire...

[@GJWhite66]

@TheMrNukeman and how often has Hidetaka Miyazaki made any lore description item 100% literal? I believe I remember the item you describe, but I can't remember the exact wording. There are other items that just say Rellana chose to stand with him. I state again, Astrologers already know how to use flame magic. The Legendary Weapon of the Carian Royals is the Sword of Night and Flame. The best Carian Knight already knows Flame magic, she wouldn't need to be taught how to use it. And the animations are a dead giveaway. Why would her fire attacks not act like Messmer's? How every other character who does use Messmer's Flame attacks behave? I hesitate to say Miyazaki made a mistake in having the attack animation almost fully match an animation from a Carian weapon. If one thing the DLC has proven to a lot of people is that whatever you thought at the end of the base game, those theories are on the whole incorrect. Even things that seem obvious.

[@XxN00BxXgg3]

​@@GJWhite66 I'm sorry man but if you had eyes rellanas flame is extremely similar to messmers It doesn't have the serpentine nature of it, but rain of fire also doesn't

[@tomnope540]

The pools you see in Relanna and Loretta are moongazing pools. They use the water's surface to look on the moon at night. And technically we aren't fighting Renalla in phase 2 of her fight, but a projection made by Ranni. Same purpose for the water there though.

[@weebhunter9305]

What if the Hornsent succeeded into creating a Saint? Marika, we know that was their whole idea behind the jars and besides Marika there isn't another (Miko) shaman or maiden whichever translation you accept for now, that had an alter ego. Which is Radagon and remember this. Every child of Marika and Radagon specifically had some influence or alter ego. Messmer was influenced by a flame and then a abyssal serpent consumed it, Malenia was influenced by an Outer God, Miquella who straight up had an alter ego St.Trina, and since Melina is implied by Messmer flame that it is his younger sister possibly had the Gloam Eyed Queen which Marika defeated giving us a reason as to why Melina doesn't have a body since the Gloam Eyed Queen was killed and Melina was the alter ego. That's why they talked about being betrayed by Marika, they think they were doing good by the atrocities committed trying to create a saint only to succeed and Marika played her role until she had the opportunity to take power and become a God. And to explain the rest of Demigods is easy, at that point Marika and Radagon were separated Marika and Godfrey had Godwym, Morgott and Mohg. While Radagon went and had Ranni, Rycard and Radahn. And the Demigods mentioned above only had traits/roots of their respective parent. I'll even retract what I said about them being separated they might have had control when they were having their respective children.

[@embargovenom9948]

"A twist that no one expected." Tons of us thought Miquella had brainwashed Mohg. XD

[@SifGreyfang]

I mean he kinda did

[@embargovenom9948]

@@SifGreyfang He did, and it was a common theory even before the DLC, thanks to Bewitching Branches.

[@jellydamgood]

​@@embargovenom9948 it took a while to take root. Lots of people just didn't accept the fact that miquella is actually just a midget. And then be like nah, miquella will never actually use his powers, and all that.

[@coldsteelblue7275]

​@@jellydamgood then maybe miquell actually managed to bewitch the community 🤔

[@jellydamgood]

@@coldsteelblue7275 he very much did. It also made me realise that I'm cynical like Ansbach and Leda with none of their strength and coolness. Goddamnit.

[@afk2402]

"The flesh of shamans was said to meld harmoniously with others" doesn’t it make you remember of someone known for grafting others body parts on himself to grow stronger ?

[@liarwithagun]

Rykard actually does grafting too I think. It's how he fuses himself into that immortal snake when it should have just digested hik like everything else it ever ate.

[@DisgruntledPeasant]

Interesting that godrick specifically targets Tarnished for grafting. Perhaps the tarnished connection with Marika also makes them Meld easier. Something that I've never seen someone look into deeply, is the way that the spirit binding lady (I forget her name, in roundtable hold) specifically guided her people to the lands between to be willingly grafted. Is she a shaman? Shit, just outside godricks boss chamber there is a big collection of jars... Are they what remains of her people?

[@Kiranthia]

Small connection: The mother of fingers sits really close to the Scottish Cryptid the Nuckelavee in my mind, same goes with the Knight and many of the creatures related to the Greater Will like the Erd Tree protectors in the base game. My two pennies

[@pepeg239]

there’s also similarities in name of the cathedrals (dlc one and ranni’s quest one), and the cathedral of manus metyr houses: metyr the mother of fingers, then i wonder if ranni’s cathedral of manus celes actually means something..

[@carna-9501]

Celes means "heavenly" Cathedral of the Heavenly Hand

[@alyandthecats]

Maybe explains why her fingers looked different?

[@thebigenchilada678]

@@alyandthecatsi figured it was due to her cutting them in half diagonally with the finger slaying blade.

[@thehotwindblowing]

The insight into the origins of Dragon Communion helped make sense of an environmental detail that always puzzled me a little. In Farum Azula, you can find Banished Knights that perform Dragon Communion, yet they seemed to be at home in the Dragon Temple instead of being intruders. In hindsight, maybe it should have been obvious that no Ancient Dragons appear in the Dragon Communion spells but now it all sort of "clicks" with that explicit testimony.

[@liarwithagun]

I was the same. I realized that not all dragons in the base game dropped hearts, but never realized it was only ancient dragons that didn't drop hearts. After I heard the DLC line about communion being at the behest of Placidusax, it seemed so blinding obvious to me that I felt like facepalming.

[@jinji_xo]

9:10 Serosh is the stormlord. Godfreys axe has beastmen carvings on it. Afterwards, him and his men went to the roundtable hold and placed their weapons upon the table to become royalty, leading to him becoming the first elden lord. The Godfrey statue in the throne room is not melded together, it just has Godfrey in front of Serosh's plaque. The roundtable Manor and stormveil itself has Farum Azula architecture in it as well.

[@reigoj8228]

Stormlord is stated to be a bird. Most likely twinbird, the first of grave and death birds. Divine bird feathers: A technique of the divine bird warriors, the very first of all horned warriors, wielded as an incantation. Spread the arms wide like wings to release a flurry of feathers. This incantation can be cast while in motion. Hold to continue releasing feathers. The divine bird warriors, and indeed this technique, are said to bear resemblance to the golden Crucible. The birds were first beastial warriors, lions came afterwards. And with birds being the first, before the crucible itself, all the storm incantations of crucible are afterwards earned. Most likely this is also the reason why storm and warhawks are found in stormy places and cats aren't.

[@5chneemensch138]

@@reigoj8228 While I don't agree that Serosh is the Stormlord as there is no evidence for it, beastmen are not directly linked to the Crucible (and therefore horns). Serosh is noted as the lord of beasts, which in ER context basically means he is the oldest/first beast. Birds have a direct link to 2nd(?) gen dragons (Greyoll being feathered, birds all around Farum Azula, birds being a direct descendant of dinosaurs IRL). Dragons do relate to the crucible as they have horns, tails, wings and all the animal aspects explicitly shown in ER which are notably missing from the beastmen. So no, your dismissal is dismissed.

[@reigoj8228]

@@5chneemensch138 crucible isn't just horns and point of my dismissal is origin of all horned warriors, spira and twinbird being cojoined. Dragons, serpents and drakes are separate and of different order than crucible and stormlord. Unless our twinheaded bird is in fact twin headed dragon plasi after he lost two of his heads. Now we know already that bayle tore those two heads off before time of marika and big g beat stormlord. Twinbirds kiteshield tells us twinbird was envoy of outer god. So crucible is, by in game confirmation, bird originating twinned spiral of wind and storms.

[@kayhaich]

Serosh wasnt storm anything, he was a beast. The storm lord was probably related to the divine bird stuff, probably a divine bird warrior....stormkeep was probably a hornsent/spira-related stronghold to begin.

[@Orobolus_Outline]

Yep, all the weapons at the Hold even have spiral grips. I've been trying to clear up the carvings on Godfrey's axe being stylized representations of wind (and thus connected to Beastmen, etc.) for awhile now.

[@wanderingbufoon]

Mogh cosplaying as Radahn probably made him so happy because he gets to be not an Omen. I mean, dude is beautiful. Looks like his father, Godfrey, in Radahn's armor.

[@Dubious_Neon]

Except his soul is gone, utterly discarded. There is nothing left of him. "I think the humiliation implied by this act has been lost on Tender Miquella" as Ansbach says. His (Ansbach)'s entire motivation is around Miquella being a true horror and to avenge Mohg's mistreatment at Miquella's hands.

[@wanderingbufoon]

@@Dubious_Neon two ways to interpret this, his soul as in his entire freedom or his literal actual soul. I think it is the former. Miquella probably put him under his spell with the idea of recreating him into what he is now, un-Omened, promising him his dynasty that he craves for. Then Miquella pulls a fast one like Ranni did with her ritual with Godwyn. The reason why Godwyn doesn't pass on is because Ranni's soul lives on. The ritual body swapped them then kills "Ranni" (Godwyn in Ranni's body). The same thing happened here. You, Tarnished, liberated Starscourge Radahn from his body and Miquella used Mohg's body to capture it. I think Mohg is most likely still alive for Phase 1. As we see in the cutscene once we fell him for phase 1 exude the blood essence that he had and replaced by a golden shimmer, only then Miquella shows up and tells us that that is Radahn. If Phase 1 is truly Radahn, it could mean that he was still unwilling to submit to Miquella and that the Tarnished would need to subdue him so that Miquella can put him under his spell. Still, former is most likely as we know Radahn can't be subdued as Malenia already tried.

[@gnojlk]

Ancient people used crafted pools of water to reflect the night sky to chart the stars. The Carians magic was tied to the movement of celestial bodies. The pools were used in game to research and harness that connection to their magic. But that's only for standing pools and areas like Renallas. Moving water in Elden ring is more associated with the flow of life and the dead.

[@TheCapitanoPlan]

Radahn was remade in his prime(young version before Malenia fight) and Radahn wasn’t in control until the end and it was the Battle that bought back the fire in Radahn soul because he just wanted to die

[@PoolNoodleGundam]

Been screaming Mohg did nothing wrong for over a year at this point, happy that people are finally apologizing to the boy. Hail the formless mother 🤘

[@shiroiidakku]

Radahn and Mohg did nothing wrong. They just victim by god. And that's why Ranni purpose is the best ending yet until another next DLC (i hope so story of Gloom Eyes Queen)

[@alreadyd1d]

​@@Chicanery_Artificethose are just albinauric periods, don't trash on our benevolent Mohgoat 🙄

[@1uanonymous444]

Put this man on the pdfile list

[@thebigenchilada678]

@@shiroiidakkuranni’s ending is left intentionally vague and the DLC’s visual and narrative bits reflect the actions that ranni takes to ascend, to taht of miquella’s, hinting that Ranni too will fall victim to godhood (probably) Continuing the cycle that Marika wanted to break. In otherwords the frenzied flame ending is the best ending as no god or order will exist to continue the cycle.

[@hatefulgaming1800]

@@thebigenchilada678mate nothing will exist, you destroy absolutely everything.

[@FiveTiger]

4:35 maybe not caterpillars, but centipedes? Golden Centipedes are associated with Golden Order fundamentalism and the hunters of Those Who Live In Death, and If I remember right they can be found in churches dedicated to Radagon.

[@nilspochat8665]

here's what i found, first in the base game, then again in the DLC : in the consecrated snowfields, near the dead erdtree, *and only there,* you can find rocks that looked like stone tablets, engraved with what i'd call _'hebrew-looking-sorta text' (i noticed them a bit before the DLC came out) you can find the same sort of tablets in the shadow keep grand library, freyja is trying to decipher some of them

[@playa1877]

6:35 I like the way you threw that in there, (Purple Mire) That is the Exact word Nashandra uses in DS2 when you fight her...and this creature has almost the same design as she does.....Maybe this is the horse she rode when her and Vendrick conquered the Land of Giants

[@theredknight9314]

I cant wait to see full data mines to see what is hiding in the shadows and how much if any was rewritten

[@joesaiditstrue]

one thing that's interesting about mesmer's inability to see coupled with the fact that he has snakes surrounding him, is that snakes have the ability to sense infrared heat without the use of their eyes

[@Illier1]

This basically confirms that Marika was basically made to be an alchemical Rebis, a perfect fusion of man and woman to make the ultimate being. Perhaps the Shamans were enslaved and tortured for this very purpose and thats why they forced them to fuse with other beings, to make a divine being. She is the White Queen to Radagon's Red King, and makes me wonder who Radagon was before the melding. This process is so engrained in Elden Ring society that it still shows up in a mild form even in Marika's rule. The Battle Jars are the entrails of many warriors that make mighty Jars like Alexander. Grafting might also be a pale imitation of this ritual which is why Godrick tried to make himself perfect.

[@WiresDawson]

6:51 that's an absolutely incredible joke if it was intentional, can't believe no-one else seems to have noticed.

[@mihaitanase987]

Interesting observation with the presence of water in arenas. I have a few possible theories. ` 1. Water is a very important symbol in Elden Ring as flowing water is the opposite of Rot ("Just as still waters turn foul, stagnation leads to decay. Warriors must remain ever-drifting". So the water in the arenas might help the warriors to never stagnate. It lowkey fits with most characters: Rennala seems to be in a bad physical state when we meet her (she cannot even walk) so Ranni is creating this illusion of a 'prime' Rennala surrounded by water. The magic projection of Loretta could be just that the water in a way is supposed to allow her to keep watch over Caria without decaying and the same maybe for Rellana. But in the end I must say it's a bit of a stretch since it does not really tie with their magic nature and stuff. 2. Water reflects the image of the moon, revered by both Rennala and Rellana. Since Loretta served Caria Manor it follows she would also believe in this mystic ritual where maybe the water reflecting the moon would empower their magical power? I also think the presence of Loretta in a water arena is just a bit of a coincidence and it's just that that area was used as some sort of praying area where they would watch the moon reflect in water. Then it would make sense Rellana is trying to replicate that in Castle Ensis as much as possible (even though she stepped down as royalty she is still faithful to the moon) and then Rennala's fight is just magnifying that fact where ALL is water

[@Fyre19]

The omen horns and the puppet body does do bleed attacks, Also i think the "flame of war" bit might just be moghs body trying to reinsert itself but only calms down once miq lays on his consorts back. Forcing moghs body back and bringing radahns spirit in place

[@darklordauron]

Something I am considering is based on that Shaman bits are part of the living jars' function. So what if Radagon was a Shaman too. And his binding and unbinding with Merika is a function of that people in general? What if the living jars of the land of shadow are female shamans aligned to the crucible, but those of the lands between are male jars beholden to the erdtree, grace, and gold because Radagon made them. That Radagon, in his fundamentalism, took this old Shaman art, put a little piece of Shaman - perhaps even a piece of himself that could be as little as a strand of his hair - in them, and created this lands between version to ferry the dead to the erdtrees?

[@spikeyfied]

We should have gotten a Cutscene for Rellana. It is so outrageous that she just is "there" like she is nothing special. In fact the lack of Boss Cutscenes is a letdown in the DLC in my opinion.

[@magicka789]

Rellana is by far best encounter in DLC, she has everything good boss needs. (aside of cutscene) :(

[@harrymcgrory2531]

Not exactly new: previous DLC's, for example Ringed City and Ashes of Ariandel, had only 2 cutscene bosses between them.

[@Willie_Dickins]

Very interesting. I'm seeing a parallel where the god Miquella ensured that Radahn's (the Lion's) spirit was used to inhabit a bloody lord's (Mohg's) body, and similarly, the god Marika ensured that Serosh's spirit was linked with a bloodthirsty lord's body, both for the sake of creating a lord that is just and regal. Unrelated, I want to point out another potentially obvious thing, where people are calling the lava droplet enemies "Lava Slimes", they really share little in common with the slime-type enemies. Rather, they have identically shaped models and attack animations to that of the Silver Tear enemies. I am really looking forward to learning about connections between the Nox and the smiths of the ruined forges. We know the Nox created Albinaurics, attempted to forge a lord, resisted the Greater Will, created mimic tears and silver tears. The connections are being made obvious between the Nox and the god of smithing and the forge, and their followers. What hidden implications that may bring up, I will be considering, and waiting to hear what the lore community thinks.

[@charysesay8476]

i like how from a design standpoint the putrescent knight is basically a nuckelavee also i always knew that mohg was charmed by miquella, i just knew it was more complicated

[@crew_the3rd]

Miquella is the best option for the Lands Between. Formsoft characters are never 100% moral, nor innocent, nor perfect. But Miquella is the closest thing to a good ruler that has ever been offered to the Lands Between. His methods are the most reasonable compared to the wrath, hatred, prejudice, and blood lust of all other rulers. Including us, the tarnished, we are the bad guys in this war too, our path would destroy the Lands' only hope for lasting compassionate peace. Miquella's great rune charm is an overall positive power. The charm helps people let go of the evil within; if someone wanted revenge they can now settle for forgiveness, if someone was prejudice they can now tolerate others, and if someone had lust for blood shed they can now seek love. Miquella brought out the best version of each person, gave them love, and gave them hope. During our fight we had the power to resist Miquella's charm and so do many other characters like Messmer. There still is a choice to reject Miquella but 99% of people will be more attracted to what he offers than what they currently have, most people will agree with Miquella, because what he offers is valuable to them. Haters try to simply this process to simple brainwashing but it is not that crude nor sinister. Mohg wanted Miquella to bring the mother of blood dynasty, Miquella offered him something better. To assume that Mohg is innocent of kidnapping Miquella is a not necessarily. Two things can be true, at the same time, with these complex characters. Mohg was all about blood sacrifices so it's possible that he is ok with helping Miquella in this way, to be the vessel of Radahn's spirit, this is not a tragic end. Radahn was a proud and powerful warrior. By his standards he could not simply die, he had to die in glorious battle. Miquella tried to satisfy this honor by asking Malenia to go to war with Radahn, they were both too powerful for each other, so stalemate persisted until the tarnished rose. Miquella then sent Melina to persuade a tarnished to help in his plans. Most of the work had been done my Malenia and we come to finish off Radahn in honorable battle. Long ago Radahn promised to be lord and consort to Miquella. The reign of Miquella has all the good aspects of the Golden Order but with out the shunning of the graceless. Miquella extends grace and blessing to all in the Lands. Radahn would find it easy to support Miquella's Order because it is just a better version of the Golden Order. His loyalty would remain. consistent. Haters of Miquella will see these events in a sinister filter, this is unreasonable because there is a more honorable way to except what Miquella planned. Each one of these characters have good reasons to give Miquella a chance, the Charm helps but it's a positive help, not sinister. When Miquella divulged his love, it was specifically his love of self that died. He is still clearly able to love Radahn and showing compassion to an entire kingdom clearly communicates love. Saint Trina seeks to protect Miquella from the bondage of being a deity, that is self-love. Miquella had to let go of what was good for himself to obtain the power to serve everyone in his kingdom. Clearly he has sacrificed just as much as his flowers sacrificed to obtain compassion, leading by example.

[@doju5505]

6:17 definitely shows just how horse-like the knight himself is

[@TheClocktowerCrew]

4:50 I actually got insight slug vibes from this attack, like how in bloodborne all the elder things use slugs to gain insight, and slugs seem to be a symbol for insight in bloodborne

[@newengland9thgen372]

You know for a fact when our Tarnished lives out his years and passes that Radahn is waiting with the crispiest dap up of allntime

[@BasicallyBaconSandvichIV]

Hey I noticed that horse-flesh thing first time I saw that fight! I thought the ribcage looked very much like a horse, but the skull threw me off. I also noticed a couple other things like Messmer being his snake, his snakes losing colour and the fingers, but the horse is the main one.

[@markchopaping2576]

The Putrescent Knight/ rider looks to me like the lower part of the horse's skeleton but the hind part is now the front lol . Like the "neck" of the knight is actually the skeleton's tail.

[@antoinepfen9904]

The appearance of the undead knight-monster guarding St Trina is interesting. Maybe the "lord brother, please die a true death" from the base game also applied to Godwyn, as many people initially thought. Maybe the St Trina part of Miquella, his "love" which he later divested himself of, indeed wanted to bring solace and mercy to Godwyn, but Miquella had other plans in mind.

[@dewey_montana]

"As though affected by great sucking forces" is something that was nver going to be on my bingo card for Elden Ring lore

[@zakuraayame5091]

always been on Marika's side; and I think she was doing a lot more behind the scenes than most people give her credit for. Marika's Mischief. I think she didn't remove death to save her order from it like a lot of creators are implying; I think she was preventing the banished center of the in-between from getting new death until we could come and deal with it. Miquella and Gold Mask's endings are quite similar; they are both servitude without question for 'order/acceptance' for peace.

[@ORLY911]

I now speculate the Storm King may have been Serrosh, chosen to become Horauh Loux's calmness after he was physically slain, representing the calmness after a storm. The imagery of the Divine Lion in the DLC gives me this impression, the Hornsents interpretation of the storm king through a dancers contraption, which does bear similarity to Serrosh, as well as the divine beast warriors masks.

[@ryangregson3256]

"... And call it a (k)night" Some quality wordplay right there.

[@Caseyuptobat]

The real secret is that his name is Mohg, not Mogg

[@theredknight9314]

I mog you

[@blizzardgaming7070]

Just listen to how Varre pronounces it, not too difficult.

[@theredknight9314]

@@Chicanery_Artifice SHAME, SHAME, *SHAME* !!!!

[@samueltitone5683]

@@Chicanery_ArtificeClearly you’ve never had a substitute teacher if you don’t think people take names and their pronunciation seriously.

[@chrispollard2611]

Never gonna unhear "The Abyssal Serpant: Shawn of Light"

[@quinnzykir]

4:25 you can’t tell me this wasn’t inspired by the furry artist Mot

[@acrowdofpeople]

The putrescent knight makes me somehow think of a nuckelavee. And the water's association with spellcasting makes me think of two things: the pools of water in Armored Core 6 which typically sit atop Coral deposits, and the Deep from Dark Souls 3 which was once a sacred place before it became contaminated and impure (I recall there was an area in the Cathedral of the Deep with shallow water as well, and it became quite polluted near the edges). I'm not sure what to make of this connection, and I'm probably just seeing patterns where none exist. Or it may just be a recurring visual theme.

[@nachomandos]

There is certainly something to dig into around Manus Metyr and Manus Celes, as well as the twin moons on rellena and renalla childhood

[@HissDelgato]

In regards to Messmer, if you look at his model like BonfireVN's video it's not just the snake that changes colour. Clearly there was a veil over his entire being obscuring his true form. Phase 2 his nails are claw like, there's open wounds, and snakes are clearly putruding from under his skin.

[@Stormandreas]

One thing to consider... Godwyn is Miquellas brother. Lord Godwyn, who didn't die a true death. We know Miquella prayed for Godwyn to die a true death. We know all forms of death wash up in the Land of Shadow. Could Godwyns soul be mixed with Radahns, or even be in possession of the Mohg/Radahn body until Radahn wakes up? The hole in this is simply that it looks and fights (a bit) like Radahn. That said, the fact it is Radahn also makes very little sense too.

[@IceCreamed]

Us: We're tired of fighting repeat boss fights, stop it. FromSoft: So you're saying you want the final boss of the DLC to be a boss you've already fought before? Us: .....

[@whitewolf8780]

my theory on the putrescent knight is that it was failed attempt at recreating Radahns loyal steed Lenard

[@PixelOverload]

In regards to Metyr, I've been wondering, when it says she's the mother of _all_ fingers, does that include ours? Is she the sole reason fingers exist on creatures in this world? Part of what makes me wonder this is that it's pretty clear that includes finger creepers, but there's clearly a few finger creepers that seem to be constructed of hands removed from various creatures, notably among the de-handed remains of the fire giants, so if those creepers are also her children it seems to be necessary that she was responsible for those hands having fingers in the first place...

[@Buff-Wings]

The water in the Carian and Ensis Moongazing grounds is a reference to ancient stargazing pools in human history. Several ancient cultures would create large shallow puddles of water in stone that would act as a kind of mirror to help accurately keep track of the stars in the sky. The puddle stays in the same location, but throughout the year different constellations are visible through it, which helped these ancient civilizations chart how the earth relates to the heavens.

[@mmyr8ado.360]

Fun fact: Bayle has the same pronounciation as the Canaanite god Baal, which means 'lord'. Also, did no one notice the similarities to Belurat and Enir-Ilim with the Tower of Babel? It would explain the two giant hornsent hanging within the Shadow Keep and the large stele on the arena where we fight the Lion Dancers.

[@metarenegade]

5:04 LOL I just watched that meme where a guy challenges a centaur to a horse race.

[@enokdnb7388]

I just really wish we would get more info on The Formless Mother. This Outer God is a direct reference to House Bolton. What can tell no lies? Blood, just like a flayed man can hide no secrets.. very cool, George (; Either way, I wish we got more of this being.

[@DenBover-pf7xk]

It was ranni who teleported us to the water during the rennala fight, and the water pools are to look at the reflections of the cosmos at night to act like a giant mirror

[@adri-frenchy]

The discovery of the shaman village is one of the most significant moments, tel discover the reason of the war, of the mistreatment of Omens and any misbegotten in the base game, being some kind of vengeance from Marika for the crimes committed

[@PixelOverload]

There's a black snake he summons without leaving the arena that has undamaged eyes, that's likely the Abyssal Serpent, the snake that replaces him entirely probably just _is_ Messmer

[@TheScrootch]

This is truly a Mohg moment

[@bloodandbonezzz]

00:56 oh no I’m not sorry, that guy made me question why I bought the game.

[@Ventus_S]

So what if we tell the dragon maiden that... we killed her master dragon lord?

[@jim0_o]

we need to go back in time to fight Placidusax (cut-scene: we lay down and watch time rewind) theoretically Bayle could be the last of them left alive in the "current" day.

[@parafoxl7619]

Mesmers eye is actually the same as the Talisman of Marika

[@ostrichdefiler9426]

In days of old, people didn't watch the sky to peer the stars, they used tranquil body of waters. Hence why Renalla has a reflecting pool as an arena.

[@TeamKhandiKhane]

The Putrescent Knight is just Leonard after things were done to our boy.

[@AssailantLF]

Awesome video! I had the exact same revelation about the Stormlord thinking about the lore at work last night, lol

[@SomeRedDude93]

Putrescent knight is Radahn's horse, abandoned when Miquelle abandoned his love (Trina) he tossed aside Radahn's love as well (Leonard).

[@PeteQuaint]

I think Metyr might had sponsored the Gloam Eyed Queen’s gods slaying. The god slayer glyph look very similar to her head, with an eye in the middle. The spiral shape of the Godslayer Greatsword might be referencing her tail. Melina, the most likely to be the GEQ, had experiences as a finger maiden.

[@Altair758]

Gaius was an Albinauric according of his leg armor, which is obtained by defeating a wolf rider albinauric shortly after Gauis's arena.

[@todd3143]

i thought the reason bayle was different is because he was born without 2 fore legs. he has 2 back legs and had to use his 2 front wings to support balance and walk. his 2 hind wings were probably ripped off during the right with placidusax, and he could still summon and use them. i don’t know why he’s the only dragon in the game with horns? also, there were misunderstandings around whether fervent use of dragon communion would turn people into magma wyrms or not. with the dlc, would people who eat a lot of dragon hearts instead turn into something like the dragon man or priestess florissax, or only eating ancient dragon hearts turn you into man-dragons, whilst drake hearts turn you into magma wyrms? the dlc also presents gaius, a fellow pupil with radahn who fights on a boar because he’s albinauric. is this why radahn thought fighting on leonard was doable? gaius basically showed him a way to do combat with gravity magic on a mount? also, who’s the mysterious gaea, another fellow pupil in gaius’ and radahn’s class? could she be the albinauric woman found after beating gaius? could she be gaius’ sister?

[@RogerBlevins-q1w]

It just hit me there are living jars in stormveil right near Godricks arena where all of the grafting takes place post DLC it’s easier to see how he got that ability and why there would be living jars. The living jar ritual itself is emblematic of the crucible explaining why the crucible is so demonized in The Lands Between as the afflicters of the torment while the living jars are venerated being they were filled with the victims of the original ritual

[@diegosolis9681]

4:10 This is because there's actually 2 different snake models. One is the actual snake and the other is literally Messmer in snake form. The normal snake has eyes.

[@MutantHeadcrab]

4:00 The body of Messmer's snake form is lined with additional eyes, even within his mouth!

[@TheSaylesMan]

I don't think you've got it right on on Bayle there. He is a lesser dragon! I suppose he could be the first, but lesser dragons are extremely lesser. Nowhere near the might of the Ancients. Yet he is so strong and he has at least one Ancient Dragon follower! The implication being that once upon a time he had more than one! We find him separate from the likes of Placidusax's brood on a mountain that is survival of the fittest. The dragons there are all at each other's throats and the place is littered with Sharp Gravel Stone. I think the implication is clear. Bayle is who invented Dragon Communion. Placidusax's brood find it distasteful, probably because it was used by Bayle as a tool to gain power to upset their order. The Dragon Cult of Leyndell was not fond of Dragon Communion at all. I think that Bayle has been set up to suffer a Sisyphus-like punishment. He was a lesser dragon. He invented Dragon Communion to challenge the order and his title of Tyrant was born from his might means right philosophy. He was ultimately defeated and forced into exile with his followers. Bayle was too powerful to be defeated outright and so Placidusax's brood decided to let nature take its course. Bayle's dragons would inevitably destroy each other in their attempts to become strong and the humans who learned of Dragon Communion would only add to this process. Placidusax wants Bayle to be devoured in Dragon Communion by a human and this seems an ironic punishment. For the crime of rising up against his betters, he too would be destroyed by his own lessers and suffer the same fate that he inflicted on countless others on his quest to the top.

[@rwberger6]

I'm still torn on whether Radahn was being brainwashed or not. I am working on a theory though that Radahn only agreed to it if he first failed to becom the Elden Lord on his own and fell in battle rather than the theory going around that he wanted a just worthy challenger who could kill him. I think after he failed to seige the capital and was pushed back by morgot Miquella considered that part of the deal complete and sent Malenia to either retrieve or kill him once he had retreated back to Caelid.