8 MORE Incredible Secrets in Elden Ring DLC!

[@Ziostorm]

Click this link sponsr.is/bootdev_ziostorm and use my code ZIOSTORM to get 25% off your first payment for boot.dev . That’s 25% off your first month or your first year, depending on the subscription you choose!

[@John-on8ld]

No

[@Syzyphuss]

Hey zio, did you see mention on the elden ring subreddit, the erdtree shield roots might glow in the presence of the minor erdtree? It may be a simple interaction due to light refraction, but I didn't think the roots were so reflective... It certainly looks like they're glowing. Also, the minor erdtree in shaman village lines up with the lands between erdtree when the two maps are overlaid. There's probably a few more implications we can learn through this super-positioning of the maps. definitely worth looking into. It's pretty obvious i feel, but still feel i should point out the shadowlands are clearly "below" and more "base" than the lands between themself, as the occurrences of one seem to erupt in the other. I would also guess that the lands between erdtree and the minor erdtree in shaman village ARE the same tree, as they likely transcend the veil, with how much power they channel. As far as why the lands between erdtree got larger than the source in the shadowlands is questionable and may even disprove that theory, but I'm just spitballing here. And what's up with the tree the scadutree is enveloping if the implication of the map positioning reveals that the minor erdtree may be the source of the lands between erdtree? Perhaps that's an "original erdtree", which the scadutree was placed to impose it's dominion over the erdtree. And after everything that happened, with the slaughtering of her people, Marika planted the new tree as a memorial... Definitely need a whole episode on the scadutree itself, I feel.

[@notchunglingsu7014]

Too many fucking ads

[@MitridatedCarbon]

About Enir-ilim, it could very well be the city of the sun it is talked about in the base game. also, what if the putrescent knight is not Radahn, but Leonard, discarded in the same place of saint-trina because deemed useless? both St. Trina and Leonard are proof of each demigod's kindness, and it would be an apt parallel that both Radahn and Miquella had discarded what made them right candidate to be elden lord and god in the first place to achieve divinity. also the putrescent knight is a horse skeleton riding a horse skin. maybe it is Leonard honoring his old master.

[@Asteriarimia]

There's a hole in the coffing above the boss leaking the same putrescent essence he uses, so i doubt it is Leonard

[@Capthowdy098]

Try Knucelavee it's Scottish in origin. Edit: Maybe context is warranted, I am not good at game lore. But I do remember creatures, when I fought the Putrescence knight all I could think of was Knucelavee. Could provide some way to connect to the game lore.

[@MitridatedCarbon]

@@Capthowdy098 I checked it and there might be some inspiration, in particular with it bringing death and the coffin/ships around the area.

[@sebastianmoscoso9404]

Bruh leonard dies when we defeat rhadan in caelid

[@MitridatedCarbon]

@@sebastianmoscoso9404 yeah but also radaahn dies, and Mogh dies. death isn't that much of a problem in er

[@arturkushukov1815]

Putrescence part is a reference to alchemy. The first step of Magnum Opus, blackening, nigredo. Miquella's whole path has parallels to Magnum Opus.

[@cwill14]

Top comment right here.

[@Bbmag23]

Its leonard!!!

[@cwill14]

@@Bbmag23 Yeah probably is tbh

[@Bbmag23]

@@cwill14 this dlc may wrap up the most loose ends of any from soft game.

[@AAG414]

@@Bbmag23 4000/99999

[@loblo5542]

The Putrescent Radahn actually blew my mind.

[@TheMachinehead112]

Same, but it does kind of fit. Maybe Miqella discarded Radahn's body when he discarded St. Trina? He used Mohg's body for Radahn's soul.

[@RandomBystanders]

I got one for you. Jolan Swordhand of Night, The finger armor she wears, Fingerslayer blade being at Night's Sacred Ground, and The Night set saying they are born underground. My brother has Jolan and Anne's ash and said they are very similar to the Nox Nightmaiden and Swordstress. Jolan maybe a snapshot into what happened to Nokron

[@Veish]

me and my friend were joking around today about radahn not having feet in the base game and as you can see in 5:40 / 5:41, the putrescent knight doesnt have any feet bones either

[@martinpatella3986]

Alexander ate radahn, so no

[@ghostdreamer7272]

Honestly, with the model, and knowing the story, I immediately thought that. It does make me wonder about the Gloam Eyed Queen too… maybe it was still Melina, and she originally got Radahn on her side, before maybe both repented. And Miquella say Radahn’s strength and compassion in that way.

[@apollodivine]

The coolest thing are the followers of Miquella referring to the Tarnished as, “Lord of the Erdtree, Lord of Marika” and “It was an honor to fight against such a worthy Lord as yourself” It’s the first time the Tarnished is referred to as a Lord, while also suggesting we’ve been on Marika’s side the entire time

[@AALion2004]

Not really I wouldn't say we're on her side they think we're on her side since we're so strong as you can choose Ranni so who's to say that they know our intentions for certain

[@SerPodrick]

This is actualky the one thing i didnt like because it assumes player choices. If you serve Ranni or frenzied flame then you arent really serving Marika or the Erdtree because youre replacing or destroying them.

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

It suggests that we defeated Radagon and the Elden Beast and claimed the title of Elden Lord...

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

​@@SerPodrickThe frenzy flame part is actually ridiculous. My character has the frenzy eyes and it's like why is anyone even talking to me let alone trusting me. Everyone should want me dead instead they're just like you're super cool and nice and sweet dude come help us gag on Miqella or whatever.

[@AALion2004]

@@SerPodrick yeah I feel like they kinda rushed some parts of the dlc they could've made dialogue be different depending on what part of the main game that you have passed for example. In Skyrim if you beat the main games final boss the antagonist in the Dlc will recognize this which changes their dialogue this should've been the same case like if you killed the Elden beast before starting the Dlc

[@LAK_770]

Lol my dude you have a sick idea of “fun twist” in that Divine Beast rematch fight

[@johnpaulada5111]

That "twist" got me the first time haha jesas

[@fernandofaria2872]

The twist is that reskinned fights suck

[@Asteriarimia]

Another cool detail a lot of people miss is that the hooded figure we see in the story trailer is Romina. Other than the weapon shape wich is the same, if you look closely you can see purple particles that only appear in the segment of the video. Also her remembrance says that while her curch was burning she protected the bud that is her weapon, and in the trailer we see the figure sorrounded by flames while hugging her spear. So I'm pretty sure they are the same person.

[@AM_61102]

Yeah we know that now because of the ost that was playing

[@Asteriarimia]

@@AM_61102 It's weird, I haven't seen many people talk about this but it's such a cool deatail.

[@jw81687]

Looked like midras weapon to me

[@Asteriarimia]

@@jw81687 I doubt it's Midra, he was probably banished when the tower still had control over the lands of shadow. Also to me it resambleces a lot more Romina's weapon.

[@rono974]

The story trailer music is the boss theme when you fight Romina, so yes

[@OmerKoffman]

damn marika rly left 4 of her children lol

[@geraldsanchez1934]

Birth Control is apparently nonexistent in the Land's Between.

[@luigisalcedoii6077]

Marika is NOT winning any mother of the year awards 😭

[@monolith_g]

They ALL had trust funds. No mercy

[@4Shaman]

⁠@@luigisalcedoii6077Which is why she&Rad are so taken aback by Rennala. In her entire existence, strength was the only thing that held value - when Radagon was beaten by a woman of virtue, a conciliator radiating with motherly love, I bet it frightened them just as much as it intrigued. I feel like Radagon & Marika set out to find someone who was their equal or superior, and disposed of them when they had gleamed the lessons they needed. From Godfrey they learned of Honor, patience & inner strength, from Rennala they learned of empathy, openness & nurture - and then they sought to take these lessons back to make "perfect" children that could restore their fractured selves. A move which showed they had learned absolutely nothing, which is why Miquella & Malenia are so screwed.

[@njauinuka7359]

She spams mimic tear smashes and REPEAT.

[@laminatedpeanutbutter]

Fun fact: many of the new clothing items in the dlc have very different altered versions such as the dancers dress and the high priest robe.

[@gunsniper414]

For the second divine beast section, in the outdoor area, there’s a squirrel that leads you to the rafters that you can jump to. I thought that was pretty cool. I wonder how many helpful squirrels there are in the game, because the only other one I know is the one in the Zamor Ruins.

[@FelisImpurrator]

Someone tell Ratatoskr they put him in Elden Ring after all.. (Norse mythology joke)

[@dominickroberts4653]

3:15 CURSE YOU BAAAAAAYLE

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

I've listened to his monologue like 3 dozen times lol

[@dominickroberts4653]

@@A_Black_Sheep94 Did you like it everytime?

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

@@dominickroberts4653 Yes. Igons voice actor deserves so much recognition.

[@dominickroberts4653]

​@A_Black_Sheep94 if he doesn't win. CURSE YOU GEOFF KEIGHLEY

[@n8doggy733]

bro, Igon is ridiculous

[@sk8legendz]

Im hoping to see speculation on Melina after the dlc So many rabbit holes right now

[@namarie.2289]

I really wanted more on her and the Godskins, I really liked where the DLC went lore wise and how it tied everything together, but I really wish they had another DLC cooking up that explored that side of the lore. Though that’s just me being greedy lol miazaki said he’s open for a sequel so I hope they get fleshed out there maybe

[@sk8legendz]

@@namarie.2289 Yeah, it does feel like we were left wanting an awful lot in this dlc, unfortunately. A second would be amazing just to wrap up everything, lorde wise

[@AALion2004]

​@@sk8legendztrue there's alot of unanswered questions and open holes they left us with all we need is a second dlc but make it more linear not as open

[@DANBAN119]

Yeah, the abyssal serpent, Nanaya and the frenzied flame, this DLC answered some questions then gave us 20 more. I'm still wondering where Radagon came into play.

[@StopItGarrison]

​@@sk8legendzWe both know if the make an ER 2 we will only end up with more questions.

[@andersondeneka1471]

I SWEAR IN THE CUTSCENE MARIKA IS REACHING INTO THE ABYSSAL SERPENTS EYE!!

[@lharsay]

I noticed the snake skin on my first run, but for me the wierdest thing is still the baby whale skeleton in the Specimen Storage next to Ansbach.

[@私はクソな中国人です]

Why is that so weird? Don’t overthink everything

[@I_Am_RYU]

@@私はクソな中国人ですDont think its weird either its rather cool imo. It confirms Water Animals in the game. Imagine what creatures live down there

[@diegoidepersia]

@@I_Am_RYU imagine if some are deathblighted or have the rot/omen/fell curses

[@donovan4222]

I feel like there should be some kind of connection between the Bonny village snake skin next to the “o mother” gesture, Mesmer’s serpent, and the snake that ate Rykard…but I just can’t put the pieces together. Idk why but I just feel it can’t be a coincidence that fromsoft made 2 demigod children so centered around snakes and put a snake skin where Marika or her people were presumably tortured…

[@Lidrien]

@@donovan4222the snake thing is driving me mad.

[@futurewarriorhero123]

as far the abyssal serpent you mentoned, the one with red hair and missing eye is clearly messmer turning into the serpent while the one that comes out of the portal could be the actual serpent that is writhing inside him. the burn mark are referencing messmers kindling that the serpent ate away at.

[@MortimerSCrane]

The Putrescent Knight isn't Radahn, it's Gaea! Gaius' armour mentions a Gaea (presumably his sister). Gaius is an albinauric ( based off of his greaves) , then his theoretical sister is as well. The Putrescent Knight's missing legs could be because they are based off of a albinauric . There is almost no mention of Gaea so they might of died a long time ago( and became Putrescence). The cleaver and spinning are similar to Radahn and Gaius but unique in a way that the third Gravity student could of learned?

[@kagunslinger767]

That's an interesting take

[@arcanumcoto]

I thunk Gaea's the pig

[@MortimerSCrane]

@@arcanumcoto Big doubt there as Gaea is referred to as a student. If animals are students how come Radahn's horse isn't named?

[@cpt_micky]

Gaius' greaves drop from an albinauric that you can fight after his battle. The only other albinauric in the DLC. If anyone is Gaea, its her.

[@MainTopmastStaysail]

The sword that pierces Midra is like parasitic vine. It winds around and through him, sapping his vitality and preventing the growth of another plant, the Frenzied Flame. It specifically resembles a Dodder vine in color. The flame head, with its yellow rim and dark center, is a sunflower. The wispy, frayed cloak that floats behind Midra resembles its root network and associated mycorrhizae. The cutscene is Midra uprooting a parasitic plant (the Sword of Damnation) from the soil of his flesh to allow the Frenzied Flame to bloom.

[@tropezando]

The sunflower/frenzy head resembles the microcosm on Metyr, and the runes we collect/eyes full of grace. Sunflowers are heliotropic, meaning they track the sun, which is why their stalks feequently twist. Metyr's microcosm's in-game file name is "Sun" and it looks reminiscent of a black hole. The Metyr quest line seems to reveal that the Greater Will is no longer in communication with Metyr. I can't remember the exact quote, but Jolán mentions her favorite and familiar night being black/devoid of stars if you give her the Iris of Occultation, which seems to hint at there being nothing to communicate with out in the heavens. I think all of these factions in The Lands Between are trying to contact/comprehend the same entity or natural force (perhaps the Greater Will, Primeval Current, Spiral) in their own way, though its perceived indifference manifests and affects them differently. Some become inspired to catch its attention, some become passionately zealous to defend its theorized principles, some become terrified and hopeless without its guidance.

[@Jay_daewi]

I saw a theory (I don’t remember where) that said since Melina and Mesmer are children of Radagon and Marika they must have a curse similar to melania and miquella. And Melina might be cursed with the existence of the gloam eyed queen being sealed in here after her defeat at the hands of maliketh. And the abyssal serpent might have been the queen’s consort before being sealed on Mesmer. Sorry if I explained that weirdly

[@Andrew_S1]

For some strange reason, many people call Malenia Melania.

[@ahlairgaming4551]

@@Andrew_S1 😂

[@KyngD469]

Larval tear appearing only at night is a reference to the demon fetus from Berserk.

[@dancampbell703]

I took Messmer’s lines as we will be shorn of light, once taken into the jaws of the abyssal serpent. Either way, I love the way he speaks

[@VultureXV]

Heard it this way too.

[@LAK_770]

He’s definitely describing the Abyssal Serpent there. His grammar is archaic, but it’s very regular and proper and his meaning is clear. If he were referring to the Tarnished this would be a strange incomplete thought and change of subject. The Serpent itself is shorn of light now that he’s removed and destroyed the eyeball grace.

[@yujin_sumeragi]

@@LAK_770 another point towards this, as if another was needed, is that Messmer already states, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Tarnished is, in his eyes, bereft of light. You can't remove light from something that's already lightless, so it wouldn't make sense for him to imply so.

[@Evan0614]

@@LAK_770 Agreed. This can be further supported by the line he delivers when he kills us in his second phase: "O lightless creature, embrace thine oblivion, as shall I." This betrays a kind of self-digust that permeates Messmer's entire being, and the fact that he has stooped so low (for allowing the Base Serpent to assume control of his body), no better than the Graceless Tarnished, to prevent a lightless being becoming Lord.

[@WynterLegend]

Getting my Messmer kill with a guard-counter on him in snake form was absolute cash. But, the fact that Messmer is Melina's older brother, and he's infested with all those snakes, both large and small, makes me think that Marika burned Melina.

[@angel_dot_data]

I can’t remember who made the video, but I recently saw a video that said the putrescent night is actually the skeletal system of the horse, and it absolutely does look like a horse skeleton with a slime blob on the head.

[@Ziostorm]

It’s not, it’s a bunch of skeletons if you look closely, though the horse’s may be one of the many

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

​​@@ZiostormWhen the the skeleton jumps off the horse for a moment it stands still and you can see it's actual the horses skeleton. It stands on all fours and both sets of limbs bend backwards like a horse. It definitely has a pair of human hands attached to the arms but it's a horse skeleton l.

[@UncleBen9999]

@@A_Black_Sheep94 its leonard (radahns horse) of course

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

@@UncleBen9999 Leonard too tiny

[@Ziostorm]

@@A_Black_Sheep94yeah the posture is horselike, as well as the neck, but it’s not just one skeleton. If you look closely, it’s a bunch of spines and rib cages all over the slime

[@MrXDreamsOfficial]

I still want to know what the deal was with the Godskin Hunt, who was the kneeling, possibly impaled woman in the trailer, the Gloam Eyed Queen's identity, and so many other things lol. Great video as always brother.

[@gudmundur-heimisson]

The kneeling woman in the trailer is Romina, if it’s the scene I think you’re referring to.

[@thej0y0f_a_nightmare33]

I believe the biggest secret yet to be revealed, is the alternative/secret ending shown in the gameplay trailer. It's odd that Miyazaki even answered a question about it but we never got to see it in the game... My only hope is that they patch it in later like they did in the main game with some quests.

[@rainer9931]

For real I thought the end was so anticlimactic, that would solve a lot of it

[@stehmer3]

@@rainer9931 Yeah I wasn't even sure it was over.

[@MADmaxazillion]

It's not an alternate ending. I'm fairly certain it's just the phase 2 transition from an alternate camera angle. Anticlimactic is the point of these games, especially Elden Ring. It's not about the destination, as it's not a story that goes anywhere, it's about the journey, the eternal cycle. Ultimately, my conclusion is that it's all for nothing, this eternal struggle unto eternity as Gideon puts it. Thus the true hero from my perspective is Boggart, as playing the game of getting to the top, chasing climax, is ultimately a losers game, so just sit down eat some crab and take it easy, and don't let the dung eater get ya! The secret to a good life. 😜

[@L_Zant]

That was just a cinematic of him divesting himself of his flesh. Idk why everyone is so confused about that. He was still in his golden order form. That was just him leaving his first cross.

[@Medi232-g1x]

I hope there is extra cutscene or dialogue with saint Trina 🤞

[@Cman04092]

Cool, im happy to see i found 7/9 of the new larvel tears. Fun fact, the new larvel tears are an entirely seperate item, even though they're the same thing and used the exact same, and functionaly are the same. They do have different flavor text though.

[@KlausMingo]

I find it inconsistent they used Scadu a lot, then you get to Shadow Keep! Why not call it Scadu Keep as well? Also, it was pretty obvious to me that Melina was related to Messmer: 1- They both start with M, their death is needed to burn thorns to unlock an area.

[@seanyeganeh7281]

Exactly mate, but I bet there's some 20min lore video out there explaining why it isn't Scadu Keep haha

[@squizzo5809]

Did anyone else find the bell bearing inside a breakable jar hanging from the big waterfall near the Cerulean Coast grace? I'm sure a lot of people probably missed it.

[@sakulugh]

there are a few more hanging pots in the dlc that holds bell bearings

[@certifiedcib7958]

Was it the mushroom one?

[@beerexpert1057]

I got to the second main boss of the DLC on my main character and I just started a new play-through with a Dex build. I want this DLC to last me months.

[@ZachTinnian]

I feel like Messmer and the Serpant are much like Marika/Radigon ect. They both share the same body as two separate beings.

[@mattnsg13]

i think they are actually like siamese twins, there's 3 snakes in his body, and the abyssal one is little but can turn him into big snek

[@blizzardgaming7070]

I think the children of Marika aren't actually cursed but are blessed, each having the influence of an outer God. The serpent God of Mount gelmir for Messmer. The fell God of fire for Melina. The rot God of stagnation for Malenia. And the Greater will for Miquella.

[@excalibur2596]

​​@@blizzardgaming7070The greater will and the fell god aren't using Miquella and Melina as vesells. And I'm pretty sure that a Serpent God doesn't exist in the lore. The serpent that devoured Rykard is an independent being and it has no connection with Messmer.

[@blizzardgaming7070]

@@excalibur2596 the serpent curved sword does mention an older snake diety, and every other god mentioned has been an in universe god rather than just belief.

[@scottgmccalla]

I was thinking that myself! ​@blizzardgaming7070

[@theodoravram6557]

I know it is not a secret, but am I the only one who finds it weird that Ansbach ‘s beard is not an actual beard but a part of his helm? The description says that the helm gives the wearer the appearance of an old man, but I wonder why that would be helpful to Ansbach in the first place.

[@aboodbb8774]

His fighting days are over, as stated by him ( sure, he can still fight, but he is not in his prime), so the best way to look more wise less harmful is to have a beard or like just like with few other outfits we get the hair is attached to it like radhan for example having his red hair in the helmet

[@DeathPoke1qa]

I mean, the same thing could be said about Jerren

[@ctyoro5086]

Igon's dialogue reminds me of Spider-Man yelling at Shocker

[@BungardBooce]

Man if the Putrescent Knight turns out to be Leonard's remains I'm going to lose my mind. Also yeah I never noticed those serpent remains, I wonder if Zullie or anyone can analyze the game files to see if we can find a origin for that, maybe it being Eiglay or some other character affected by the Abyssal or God Devouring Serpant

[@Oskha_]

"For most of you, I believe there is peace, and perhaps more waiting for you after the smoke clears. Although, for one of you, the deepest pit of hell has opened to swallow you whole. So don't keep the devil waiting... old friend." oh wait shit wrong OST.

[@tropezando]

Miquella was Crying Child the whole time, and Radahn got stuffed into a suit. Abductor Virgins are basically springlock suits, and Ranni ending is Fun with Plushtrap!

[@kilua87659]

What if the butterfly theory was just a coincidence the first time around but Fromsoft liked the theory so much they decided to make it a thing with Messmer in the dlc

[@Ziostorm]

Certainly possible

[@natesquibb3368]

St. Trina is basically the goddess of heroin. She offers syrupy poison that delivers blissful rest where you dream of her image and hear her voice. Thiollier spends the rest of his life chasing after that feeling but can never have it again saying he would sacrifice everything to see her again. Dark stuff Miyazaki

Did you notice Metyr has hole in the front that looks a lot like what Merika stuck her hand into in the trailer?

[@bladej7688]

I called it! I saw everyone coming up with theories. I thought Messmer and melina were siblings because neither were mentioned in the base game lore. Pay me!! 😂

[@stephenlucas8836]

9:23 abyssal serpent combines many aspects, red bloody finger eyes, Rykard’s fire snakes, eye growths like deathblight, flayed rotting like flesh, tracking fireballs, and even burns souls like original deathflame/rune of death.

[@DerGametastischeDude]

Melina literally said, marika was her mother. That's been confirmed long ago

[@Ryuzaki280]

She not says marikas name

[@ZugzugZugzugson]

Wrong. Melina said she was born at the foot of the Erdtree. she says nothing about Marika being her mother. Ever. Needless to say, that on its own is not enough evidence to say Marika is her mother. its an implication, sure, but not proof.

[@Andrew_S1]

@@ZugzugZugzugson Melinas internal name in the game files is "MaricaOfDaughter".

[@gyozapunk]

​@ZugzugZugzugson she specifically says her purpose, to burn the Erdtree, was given to her mother at the foot of the tree. Still not proof that it was specifically Marika, but she definitely mentions a mother

[@draw2death421]

​@@Ryuzaki280 she does say her mother is in the tree so unless elden beast is her mother then it kinda had to be Marika.

[@pyro3446]

We really fought Lenard & his skeleton doing a Rahdan imitation

[@rainer9931]

The Putrescent Knight isnt really missing its feet, the Knight is made up of the ribcage and back legs of the horse, with its "head" at the end of the horses tail. His missing "feet" would be the horses front hooves, which are still attached to the horse

[@Ziostorm]

I took a closer look at it after making this video and it’s not actually a horse skeleton. It’s just a bunch of random skeletons and bones, so it is in a sense still missing its feet

[@The.Nasty.]

Bro, thank you for making me aware of that second Lion Dancer fight in the ruins, I totally missed that guy! I’m halfway up the tower to Miquella and I want to make sure that I cover as much as possible before flushing that pretentious little turd. 😂

[@mt2r-music]

A second what!?

[@lharsay]

And this one got an abiltiy which was shown in the trailer but ended up getting cut from the Bellurat bossfight.

[@pepeg239]

i think this mention or confirmation of melina as an official daughter or marika, might mean she is the mentor witch of ranni. - melina has been burnt before to be bodiless (her dialogue), she has a body before. - ranni met a witch, whose body is copied to be her puppet body for the soul (mentioned to be exactly alike, and the doll has one closed eye including clawmark), personally, i think this is more plausible than ranni and melina being like marika and radagon (because st trina dies when miquella dies). the reason melina originally had the bell for three wolfs might be because she got them from gloam eyed queen (statue with 3 wolfs in maliketh area) - melina is born cursed with sealed power of death, i think gloam-eyed queen curse (all direct children of marika are cursed with outer god influences: miquella youth, malenia rot, mogh morgott omen, messmer serpent, even marika herself cursed by fell god giant red hair curse for radagon) and this opens up when we release the rune of death, hence the gloam eye in frenzy ending. - hence, melina might be the original owner of torrent (told ranni to give a bell to us during witch days), and she rides torrent (which might be a small version of divine beast, there are horned goat boat statues in enir-lim) what i thought anyways also, the giants killed by thorny sorcery would mean that marika asked greater will to send down the power of a blood star (since sorcery may has its root in greater will, with metyr questline). and astels come from greater will (star fell beast near finger ruins) as well as the golden star: elden beast.

[@Toe_Jamson]

As for the Base Serpent, I think looking at the massive parade coffins is a good start. The iconography surrounding them invokes lots of Crucible imagery such as wings, horns, scales, etc, however; below that imagery is always a massive snake. You might say its the "base" of the crucible imagery. Its possible that this imagery came about before Messmer's war and his great sin utilizing the Base Serpent, so I wonder if the Base Serpent was a renouned diety of the Crucible itself, or a basis for the scales trait found in Hornsend/Omen.

[@KaiWoodX2]

Personally I believe Base serpent is a nod to Nidhoggr from norse mythology who is a giant serpent that eats at the roots at the base of Yggdrasil the world tree

[@cwill14]

Dragons have almost every single aspect of the Crucible. I think they played a key role in that older order.

[@rwberger6]

​@@cwill14Well the dragons were worshippers of the greater will with their own god (the nameless god who was made into the finger slaying blade) Elden Lord, and Elden Ring. And the Age of Dragons did come before the Age of the golden order. Who is to say the Crucible wasn't part of Age of Dragons or came immediately after it?

[@cwill14]

@@rwberger6 Especially considering the form the Elden Beast takes and that dragons have almost every aspect of the Crucible naturally.

[@OfficialChrissums]

Something I noticed thematically about melina and messmer's flames: Messmer's flame burns a physical tree you can actually touch. He too is of course a physical person. Melinas flame burns a spiritually tree, and she is a spirit. I think if you combined their two flames you would essentially create the flame of destined death: something that can burn the physical and spiritual away. This parallels the way ranni split the rune of death into two components: one that kills the physical and one that kills the spiritual. I think marika stole the flame of the fell god and split it up. She used part of it to make Melina, part to make Messmer, part of it was used to burn the rune of destined death out of the elden ring (hence why destined death takes on a form of flame of its own), and abandoned the rest of the flame underground where it either awoke or perhaps even created the flame of frenzy. Ive always wondered why the game contains so many distinct types of fire. It always seemed excessive. The idea that it all used to essentially be one type of fire makes sense to me. I also think the slaying of the fell god happened WAY earlier than we thought. In fact, I think it was the first thing Marika did on her road to godhood. Now hear me out because this relies on some base game lore being essentially misinformation or revisionist history. The base game says marika fought the fell god to protect the erdtree, but im proposing she did it on behalf of the hornsent before the erdtree existed, and later lied about the war when the history was recorded since she had to find a way to explain it once she erased the shadowlands from everyones memory and perception. The hornsent were always afraid of the fell god and I think Marika made a deal with them: Destroy the fell god for us and we will stop kidnapping the shamans. Marika agreed although I suspect she had plans to use the fell gods power for revenge, hence how she could be described as betraying the hornsent despite obviously being a victim of them who couldnt really be described as being "on their side" in the first place. She goes off, kills the giants and steals the fell gods power for herself (or at least part of it) and becomes the gloam eyed queen, engaging in serpent and flame based blasphemy during which she creates the godskins, messmer, and melina. She then "betrays" the hornsent by unleashing mesmer on them and seizes godhood for herself, and then splits up the power of flame into a bunch of component elements that would go on to be the various flames we see in game. Not sure where ghostflame sits in that equation other than being just a spiritual inversion of flame that burns cold. Maybe the ghostflame already existed in opposition to the fell flame, since it seems to be more ancient than marika, or maybe ghostflame came about after since the more ancient gravebirds dont seem to use it, instead using rings of white light. Maybe marika created the gravebirds we see now too and powered them with ghostflame in an attempt to create a fascimile of a previously existing thing. idk.

[@kevinfortsch]

Here's a secret. When messmer removes his eye, if you look in his skull you can actually see the snake inside him wiggle and writhe. We need zuli or bonfireVn to turn the brightness up on the clip or something, but there's definitely something in his head!

[@Peter-qq3io]

That’s not a secret

[@thelastcheetomaster6954]

Oh that's nasty.

[@BaldorfBreakdowns]

BonfireVN did indeed make a video of this.

[@kevinfortsch]

@@BaldorfBreakdowns Must have missed it

[@kevinfortsch]

@@BaldorfBreakdowns lol posted four hours ago, 3 down on my feed after this one.

[@ivanrosati2055]

Maybe that snake you can see in the village is the one from where Marika pulled out those gold strains in the trailer as she contacted the greater will. I've read some people say that white thing you see in the trailer is actually a snake. It'd make sense given that bony village is where Marika's people where butchered to become the jars

[@amwazdraws6890]

What‘s interesting is how the two maps of ER interact with each other. So apparently the minor erdtree from Shaman village lines up with the Erdtree from the base game

[@BaldorfBreakdowns]

How?

[@cwill14]

She bathed the village in gold, for sure. Every detail matters. She made the capital of her Order and the root of her Erdtree the same parallel spot as where that small tree is found in Shaman Village. She sought an eternal age of life without the pain of death for her family and loved ones. Yet they were all cursed. It is merely a cycle.

[@BaldorfBreakdowns]

@@cwill14 What do you mean by the same parallel spot?

[@amwazdraws6890]

@@BaldorfBreakdowns apparently the realm of shadow was a part of the lands between. It fits in the giant crater in the middle.

[@cwill14]

@BaldorfBreakdowns They fit together and Shadow Lands were removed and veiled somehow like a parallel dimension sitting under or on top in some way.

[@ryansullivan9313]

The eye socket of the abyssal serpent looks an awful lot like the cavity that Marika pulls bloody runes from in the story trailer

[@MrFanservice]

For those wondering what the second Devine Beast's trick is, lemme break it down for you This isn't instagram, imagine a GIF of someone breakdancing

[@argnator]

Regarding Bayle: Pierre Bayle was a French Philisopher and writer whose work greatly influenced the writer Herman Melville - the author of Moby Dick. It's a whole layer cake of reference between those two, one that might end up sending you down a line of educational journals and published papers of how those two works are interconnected. Or into a Video Essay someone is surely brewing.

[@scouragesij7916]

Something interesting that I noticed in the dlc is that you can find Godwyn at the end of the catacombs. This means that Godwyn might be connected to the scadutree somehow

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

You can find his face in both death knight locations. Godwyns is in the Shadow Lands because for whatever reason things that die in the Lands between end up washed up in the Shadow Lands.

[@shawnmiller1432]

I was wanting to know more about this myself as soon as I saw it. The death knights are the personal knights of godwyn but why are they in the land of shadow

[@CreativeUsernameEh]

@@A_Black_Sheep94his soul died, his body lives. Meaning his soul is in the realm of shadow, somewhere. Weird that Miquella was trying to restore Godwyns soul… and then… just sort of forgot.

[@blizzardgaming7070]

​@@shawnmiller1432they are mentioned to be searching for a "surrogate corpse" which is the three eyed visage guarded by the longhaft knight. It seems like Miquella once had a third eye which he cast off and this visage absorbed it.

[@jackreacher7495]

​@@CreativeUsernameEhWhatever he tried with the eclipse had failed, probably because his soul was perma-killed on the Night of the Black Knives.

[@Veish]

me and my friend were joking around today about radahn not having feet in the base game and as you can see in 5:40 / 5:41, the putrescent knight doesnt have any feet bones either

[@Gilgamoth]

Someone suggests that the rider looks like it made out of a horse skeleton, riding it's own skin and supposedly, that was Leonard, Radahn's horse.

[@uncleulysses2328]

I left like 5 base game remembrances alive and came back to fight them after the DLC. Whole base game feels like child’s play compared to everything in the dlc its hilarious ☠️☠️ difficulty makes people better, Wish all those who complained understood that you grow from hardship not everything being handed over on a silver platter

[@BaldorfBreakdowns]

No, you see, you've been brainwashed and gaslit into thinking the game is good. Delayed attacks are a trick designed to make you dodge early so they get cheap hits, praying on your natural instincts. You're just coping if you think it's actually a good way to mix up attacks and make you pay attention instead of being able to react your way through every fight. Just in case it wasn't obvious, I'm being sarcastic.

[@uncleulysses2328]

@@BaldorfBreakdowns lmao remember when we all fought margit for the first time and thought it was cool asf and innovative that he reacts to panic rolling? Pepperidge farms remembers

[@thegodofsoapkekcario1970]

@@BaldorfBreakdownsIt’s crazy that people do actually think like that even as a joke, especially the delayed attacks. The people complaining about the difficulty would’ve hate playing DS2 and the Nameless King.

[@BaldorfBreakdowns]

@@thegodofsoapkekcario1970 Yeah, I was more or less quoting a person directly lmao... What I find most funny is how many of them are DS1 fanboys. As if DS1 doesn't have every issue ER has except ramped up and without the quality of life. Most people hate DS2 just in general, don't they?

[@thegodofsoapkekcario1970]

@@BaldorfBreakdowns I think most of them are just new people who went after the Elden Ring popularity, you can tell when someone is a DS1 fanboy by the way they speak or type; they straight up sound like a rackety old man.

[@themagikarp9676]

It's cool that the only Marika statue who actually has a head is in Messmer room, every single other marika statue in the dlc (i've seen) doesnt have a head.

[@tracaine]

It's pronounced "skibidi-tree".

[@jackblades90]

they edited the info on mesmer cindle, it not longer mention his sister, just that he also got visions of fire so meli-meli is not longer his siter.

[@Salvador-312]

Can you please talk about the similarities between Ranni and Miquella. In the final fight we see Miquella with 4 arms just like Ranni, they both speak of the same term “thousand year voyage guided by” compassion/stars. And you get the “let us go together” gesture once your heart is stolen by Miquella. The exact same line Ranni says in the age of stars ending. Please talk about this!

[@cyndlehick9777]

Yess

[@rwberger6]

Ranni only has 4 arms because she's possessing a doll based on her teacher. Her original body only has 2 arms. Miquella having 4 arms is weird though, as his original body is only portrayed as having 2 in the various statues and artwork.

[@Salvador-312]

@@rwberger6I know but she chooses to make her doll form have 4 arms nonetheless and that’s how we know her in most of the game so it’s intentional in my eyes still.

[@moritzi.4621]

The rider of the putrescent knight is the skeleton of the horse riding itself

[@gotama7239]

I'm starting to think that Marika takes out runes from the body of the "gloam eyed queen" (the figure of the winged serpent) in the trailer and seals death in the kingdom of shadows via malekith etc when she becomes a goddess (still in the trailer) after the shock of genocide of her people transformed into pots by the hornsents (the horned people who worship the "crucible".) Mesmer and Melina, her first two children are cursed, one has the snake inside him, the other death, and both have the ability to burn the tree. Marika sends Mesmer to fuck himself in the kingdom of shadows in addition to beating the hornsents (he embodies death therefore is symbolized by the winged serpent) The noxs half kill Melina and use her body to make the "Fingerslayer blade" - (used by Ranni to kill the fingers in her quest) The greater will sends the eternal cities to fuck themselves The noxs appeal to the gods of the Nightsky to help them out, Astel arrives, Radhan saves the game.

[@frizzman1991]

I didn't know about the Igon stuff, and getting a closer look at all those snakes was pretty neat.

[@VultureXV]

02:07 Can we STOP calling Melina the Gloam Eyed Queen now?

[@BaldorfBreakdowns]

She still could be, though.

[@Ziostorm]

This doesn’t really disprove anything about the Gloam Eyed Queen

[@jim0_o]

The Putrescent knight could just have been called pre-crude-oil. As i got through all these "spoiler" videos after having done the DLC I notice no one make the comparison from Putrescent Knight and the Aldrich, Devourer of Gods they seem to be under a similar sort of decomposition, and amalgamation of rotting corpses.

[@joaop2294]

Bayle's name also rhymes with the word whale.

[@drewkennedy2952]

I feel like the eyes all over mesmers snakes kind give me hellsing vibes due to Alucard and his form and abilities.

[@FaeQueenCory]

It's still Scadu. You just say it "scha-duu" or "scha-duh" as opposed to "sha-douh". The c in it is read as an old way that's an offshoot of the German sch, and is pronounced with that same ch sound blended in. Also as in ç.

[@randomnobody9229]

In “scadu”, the “sc” creates a “sh” sound, much in the same way that “precious” or “vicious” have a “sh” sound in them, while the “du” sounds much like how we would say the word “owe.” When you combine them together, we get “Sh-A-Dowe”, aka, how most English speakers would say “shadow.” In Old English, what we now know today as “shadow” was spelled “sceadwe”. “Sceadwe” evolved into “shadwe” in the Middle Ages thanks to associations with the word “shade,” eventually leading to the modern-day spelling of “shadow”. Granted, there are a few different regional dialects of how “shadow” was originally spelled, with the Dutch writing it as “schaduw” and the Saxons writing it as “skado”, but the meaning and pronunciation haven’t changed. 5 seconds of googling to find this to disprove what you are saying.

[@Ambreil]

When im in a memorable character competition and my opponent is based on captain ahab:

[@spectr__]

OMG, is the putrecent knight the remants of Leonard trying to remember his master????

[@Staycoldyoung]

Yup

[@lanxreedalenlum3706]

as soon i i found igon and saw him just screming about vengence, i was like ' Dont worry anrgy man, im in'

[@kiddibble8814]

i poop an farded 😞

[@djzanman9614]

noooo

[@CreativeUsernameEh]

What could miyazaki have meant by this deep lore

[@thelasthunter3123]

One thing that im still shocked not many people are talking about, although with how little details we have on it, it makes sense. Moore's armor mentions another new outer god, only known as the Vendigris outer god, who gifted them with that certain kind of metal. That just has me asking so many questions and kinda adds more to the Outer God pantheon. It seems to almost act as a Hephaestus parallel, but again, since it's only mention that I saw in my first run being on that 1 armor set, that's kind of a baseless assumption. Still, Im glad the DLC added more Outer Gods, and one that may actually not be an asshole is a cool thought in this already cruel world.

[@Thugiz]

One thing I noticed is that in the trailer scene where miquellas hand reaching towards the scadutree was not present on the dlc it seems like there's ton of stuff that was missing on release maybe got cut or maybe coming in an update cuz to me the dlc feels incomplete

[@tholomewplague7732]

I wouldn't be so sure about Melina and Messmer being Radagon's children

[@oliverboer4779]

the 2nd Dancing Lion was actually the first I fought, cause I didnt want to complete Belurat Settlement in fear of locking smth by progressing too much there (the area of Enir Elim on the map already looked like the endgame of the DLC)

[@BaldorfBreakdowns]

Ironic, since you broke Miquella's Rune by going that far and locked yourself out of multiple quests lol

[@noahherrera7281]

In the movie Event Horizon they have a gravity drive that acts like a blackhole towards a thousand year voyage across space, well if you look at the pedestal of the inverted tower, it also is a gravity drive and Ranni wants to take us on a thousand year voyage into space!!

[@AS-bc8fg]

SPLIT YOUR LUNGS WITH BLOOD AND THUNDER WHEN YOU SEE THE DREAD,BAYLE BREAK YOUR RUNES AND GET YOUR BOONS MEN IF YOU WISH TO PREVAIL MY HATRED IS WHAT PROPELS ME HAAARPOONS FLY TO THE SKY AIM DIRECTLY FOR HIS PUTRID WOUND AND LOOK BAYLE STRAIGHT IN THE EYE

[@AliDD-p2e]

Funny fact about rauh ancient place it's inspired from the hanging gardens of Babylon also rauh un Arabic means soul (روح).

[@dearcastiel4667]

I wouldn't call Melina being Marika's daughter a lore bombshell, she literaly speaks for her and said she was born in the Erdtree and spoke very highly of her mother, it was pretty obvious she was Marika's daughter, the DLC only confirms what the game already more than heavily hinted at...

[@michaelblevins1651]

In regards to Igon and Bayle it’s also a Rederence to the song Holy grail by Mastodon

[@oynjx2hy362]

Jar-Bairn wanting Diallos to be their potentiate really takes a darker turn after this dlc. Anyone know what the smooth hands could be referring to?

[@erikreber3695]

Considering GRRM wrote the story for Elden Ring. I'd bet money that the Igon and Bayle references and Easter egg came from him...

[@TJuice1986]

We seriously need a bell bearing for larval tears..

[@KenethDC]

10:42 Man no puedo creer que cuando creo que ya termine de explorar siempre sale una zona donde hay que hacer parkour y te encuentras con jefes secretos de la nada, increible

[@caseypalme9656]

I sort of thought that the putrescent knight was formed from the other individual who we killed during the Radahn fight. Leonard, the loyal steed of Radahn. In death, St Trina took him as the discarded half that Miquella didn't care for or need, as he only cared about Radahn being his consort, not the desire Radahn had to protect and care for his favorite horse.

[@iwillnotcomply1707]

I really wish they had added a larval tear and/or ancient smithing stone bell bearing

[@calebbryson2229]

So even the putrescent knight is a reskin of radahn. Peak

[@CoffeeBrainzz]

The putrescence knight secret was really kool!! It makes so much sense that it could be radahns body/Leonard

[@coraline2770]

I went through that whole way getting to the second divine lion fight convinced i was gonna find the map to the area but nope just a dope fight

[@hruikan]

Is the putrescent knight leonard? Perhaps Radahn's horse was given another life...

[@ratenthusiast4000]

Dude if people didn't see the correlation between Moby Dick and Bayle/Igon I'd be genuinely concerned 😭

[@gustavonomegrande]

Surely Mesmer Kindling is a reference to Dark Souls, see... Serpents, darkness, abyss, bonfire, fire, it all fits.

[@sebastianmorin9780]

Just found the snake skin earlier, or late last night. I was genuinely surprised to see it.

[@JakubKozowski-nj7uw]

I am the only one who knows that if you kill the ball in nokstella you have the chance to get larva tear?

[@nickfish-y6i]

surprised about a secret in a second lion, i killed it 1st time, unlike the first one - 101st time

[@minusp895]

Putrescent Knight looks Albinauric imo. Silver slime also reminds me of Mimic.

[@DiannaGold]

I fought the Beast the 2nd time with Player summons and finished the fight with a PvP FFA in the middle of the fight and still won lol

[@joshz7712]

I seent somewhere else but the Putrissant Knight skeleton is of a horse. If you look at the posture when he gets off of his horse after the spinning attacks, it's a horse. It's like the slime pushed the skeleton out and greated 2 seperate beings from it.

[@freudpantas1154]

What intrigues me the most is the Impenetrable Thorns Sorcery. How does it relate to the Impenetrable thorn blocking Radadon Boss fight in the base game? Is it possible that Radagon is Scadu Tree while Marika is the Erdtree?

[@YannMetalhead]

Puthrescent Radahn was very interesting.