A Beautiful Agony | Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Miquella destroys himself in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. He rips apart the core of who he is in order to see his vision of a thousand year voyage of compassion, but how could a person be compassionate when stripped of their love? How could one assign meaning without love? To destroy oneself in pursuit of a goal is common, and in many cases commended as a strong commitment, but is there merit to this philosophical leaning? Is self improvement a half measure, must the self be destroyed entirely, for new to be built?
Business Email: [e-mail]
To Donate: ko-fi.com/hollowly
Music By Hollowly
VIDEO CREDITS:
• CGI Timelapse - New Yo...
• ELDEN RING- Rennala Qu...
• Elden Ring - Elden Lor...
• Elden Ring - Lord of F...
• Shadow of the Erdtree ...
• Elden Ring DLC - Promi...
• What Happens If Miquel...
• erm what the sigma?
• Breaking bad- brainrot...
• SIGMA MALE FULL VIDEO ...
• Oh Brother, this guy s...
• Crowd Booing Sound Eff...
• Elden Ring - Inside Mi...
• Elden Ring DLC - Bayle...
• [World First] Messmer ...
• Elden Ring DLC - Promi...
• ONLY SUB CAN USE FREE)...
• ELDEN RING - Malenia t...
• An Elden Ring Movie ► ...
• Elden Ring - Alexander...
• ELDEN RING Alexander N...
• Dark Souls Remastered ...
• DARK SOULS REMASTERED ...
• Demon's Souls - Flamel...
• Demon's Souls PS5 (No ...
• Elden Ring - All Enemy...
• "Radahn killed himself...
• Every Major Boss Fight...
• Midra Lord of Frenzied...
• Elden Ring DLC - Thiol...
• Curse You Bayle! (just...
• Elden Ring: Shadow of ...
• Elden Ring Frenzied Fl...
• Burning The Books - Ge...
TAGS
shadow of the erdtree,elden ring story,queen marika,miquella,miquella elden ring,miquella lore,messmer lore,messmer the impaler,shadow of the erdtree lore,lore shadow of the erdtree,elden ring lore,consort radahn,consort radahn cheese,radahn miquella,sote lore,shadow of the erdtree ending,scadutree avatar,st trina quest,miquella cutscene,messmer,messmer boss fight,miquella the kind,miquella the insane,miquella shadow of the erdtree,elden ring dlcshadow of the erdtree,elden ring story,queen marika,miquella,miquella elden ring,miquella lore,messmer lore,messmer the impaler,shadow of the erdtree lore,lore shadow of the erdtree,elden ring lore,consort radahn,consort radahn cheese,radahn miquella,sote lore,shadow of the erdtree ending,scadutree avatar,st trina quest,miquella cutscene,messmer,messmer boss fight,miquella the kind,miquella the insane,miquella shadow of the erdtree,elden ring dlcshadow of the erdtree,elden ring story,queen marika,miquella,miquella elden ring,miquella lore,messmer lore,messmer the impaler,shadow of the erdtree lore,lore shadow of the erdtree,elden ring lore,consort radahn,consort radahn cheese,radahn miquella,sote lore,shadow of the erdtree ending,scadutree avatar,st trina quest,miquella cutscene,messmer,messmer boss fight,miquella the kind,miquella the insane,miquella shadow of the erdtree,elden ring dlc

[@Hollowly]

I forgot to put a thing saying like & subscribe in the video. PLEASE LIKE & SUBSCRIBE What does the SELF mean to you? What do you carry with you? What do you leave behind?

[@courier6640]

Interesting... this is the first video of yours I've ever watched, and ironically, I finished the vid _after_ I liked and subscribed despite you never telling me to. Anyway, I think the *Self* refers to the conscience that uses the memes, ideas, experiences, and memories we've collected and makes choices throughout life based on said collection. I no longer have my father in my life, but I kept his humor. His positive outlook on life, even in dark moments. And hopefully, I didn't carry his diabetes with me! I have slowly begun as of last year to... relinquish my cowardice. I hate change. But life is inherently a fluid thing (Insert Miquellester Pun Here) and I have to accept that. Interestingly, I have more issues beginning a change than I do moving forward with it. But it's something I've been working on. Little by little, day by day.

[@Hollowly]

@@courier6640 I have the SAME issue with beginning a new change vs continuing it. I was actually just talking to my wife about that the other day, I think it’s an ADHD thing, especially if it’s something that you don’t find immediately captivating but know you should do. 🤣 Given the video I think self is a very fluid thing too, I’m actually surprised I forgot to put a blurb about carrying bits of all your loved ones personalities with yours. I’m so glad you enjoyed the video!

[@kinko143]

Your story telling is so compelling. Holy fuck. Share your grief, share your joy, share your mind, with us, with yourself. Subscribed.

[@Hollowly]

@@kinko143 I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I definitely plan to keep digging into hard topics, although my next one might be a tiny bit lighter since I think I’m going to do Outer Wilds :D

[@Hugo_Tate]

LOL

[@Ronaldodaldinho]

I had a struggle with something I carry that held me back for a long time. When I was a kid everyone called me dumb, even my teachers. They never said it directly but I could tell they thought it, I was really slow to learn. I started to see myself as that dumb guy, and I didn't try very hard anywhere because of that. At my job I had an issue reading a memo properly and later found out that I had discalculia, which is like dyslexia with numbers, and now that I know how to work with it, it isn't so bad. Turns out I wasn't dumb, I was just different. If I hadn't labeled myself stupid throughout my early life, I wonder what I would've accomplished sometimes. To the new us! Great video.

[@Hollowly]

I'm sorry you went through that! I know a thing or 2 about limiting beliefs, and how much they can affect you long term. I'm so happy to hear that you've found a way through them and were able to move on! I know some people well into their golden years that still haven't let go of stuff like this, you're more ahead of the game than you think, even though it's easy to feel the opposite. Thank you for checking out the video as always!

[@vaughnwagner4466]

Nice edit, video sounds great. Appreciate you relating lived experience.

[@Hollowly]

I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for checking it out. Finally getting a benefit out of all that life experience I’ve been racking up. 😂

[@Quesaracha]

When we overcome challenges (cognitive distortions of the self included) we outgrow ourselves shedding our old “skin”, increasing our resilience, skills and confidence that can help lead to an overall deeper sense of fulfillment. “Hard” things are often some of the most worthwhile outweighing the temporary discomfort of the journey. ✌🏼 ❤

[@Hollowly]

@@Quesaracha the Troof! But the line between challenging ourselves and auto-flagellation can be thin at times. To liken to our reptile friends, it’s important to let a shed come off naturally or you can hurt yourself in the effort to become new :)

[@Quesaracha]

@@Hollowly agreed, and something you’ve continued to build on with yourself in the last few years.

[@Hollowly]

@@Quesaracha we do be work in progressing ❤️

[@TheHi-NoteFunClub-BeatsByMike]

To be clear - love the vid - I genuinely enjoyed both the presentation and perspective. The one thing that inspired me to comment, RE: wiping the slate clean. Wiping the slate is different than burning it all down/away. Wiping the slate/starting from scratch from a certain moment CAN and SHOULD involve an inventory of sorts of what's known and what came before - wiping the slate doesn't involve burning the books - that would be an act of frenzied chaos. Taking that wet rag to the chalkboard begins as a thought experiment of: "OK - here's what - but this what and that what go against the fundamentals of whatever order we're trying to achieve (both in the case of IRL and Elden Ring, I'd call that order - Life), and these whats just need to be tweaked to accommodate this shared order, that might never ever be perfect, but is a fresh start at moving forward in a new and beneficial way... One that allows for ever closer forms of order that accommodate ALL. So, point one we'll write on our freshly wiped slate is..." Does that make sense?

[@Hollowly]

Absolutely! In fact that’s sort of what I was going for in terms of the balance between destructive and constructive views of “rebirth.” The problem is with how these ideas cross over, much like anything being misused by people. At a certain point what we’re debating is linguistics, and historically a lot of people, misguided or not, have viewed burning things down as a clean slate. I definitely agree that it shouldn’t be viewed the same way, I was trying to point out that it commonly is. I’m glad you enjoyed the video enough to comment your ideas!

[@TheHi-NoteFunClub-BeatsByMike]

@@Hollowly to paraphrase Jay, the great sage and eminent junkie, of Jay and Silent Bob Fame: 'Werd bitch, phantom leaves falling to tell a nuanced story that allows us to move on from the mistakes of the past to build a better now/future, like a mafukka" (Uses 2 fingers to point at own eyes, then Hollowly's, several times, back and forth, to mime "you and me, you and me", but then continues to mime, now using one finger in an upwards position twirling for 3 to 5 rotations, as if to say/meaning "us"... There is only us... The implied us being everyone... Then takes the miming performance to the absurd by acting out flipping pages of a book reminiscent of Andy Kaufman, reading, War and Peace at a "comedy" show and the crowd going ape shit in their sense of cognitive dissonance as they think "what the hell is actually going on here..."). 😁

[@ytmndan]

Interesting video title. I wonder what would happen if I searched for it on Bing video with safe search off...

[@Hollowly]

Only well crafted philosophy videos I hope. 😂

[@ytmndan]

@@Hollowly oh you betcha!

[@joeymayer7681]

Great vid!

[@Hollowly]

Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it, next up is gonna be Outer Wilds, hope to see you again!

[@KoreCobb-li2rd]

Thank You. ❤

[@Hollowly]

@@KoreCobb-li2rd thank you for checking out the video! I hope you enjoyed it! :D

[@OuiMatsu]

Man... Self is a lot to unpack. lol with something that changes that frequently it's incredibly difficult to put a concrete label on something like that, but I think I have sort of viewed myself as a compilation even though that doesn't really seem to be how it works. I know for sure that I've been WAY too attached to who I used to be more than once though, and there's been several times, especially when I was younger, where blowing it up and starting over may have been better. Who knows, maybe there was a reason I was trying to hold on to it.

[@Hollowly]

I definitely feel that debate between what should be held on to and what should be left behind is a CORE component of what makes a person a person, and what defines the self in many ways. Balancing between those extreme ideas of "everything just adds to me," vs "I am always brand new," is more or less what I'm contrasting in the video. Thanks for watching as always!

[@launcelotdulake8075]

I feel you, bro.

[@Hollowly]

I’m glad you felt it bro 👊

[@elemenohP]

10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

[@cblimes]

loved it! subbed.

[@Hollowly]

Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the video :D

[@Jardeezius]

1st, love this vid, never thought I'd see Nietzsche brought up alongside Elden Ring outside of an obscure subreddit. 2nd, WHAT a missed opportunity to talk about grafting when you were discussing self improvement! I feel like grafting is the perfect representation of the downside of that ideology. Especially Godrick when you were talking about adding enough parts until something is enough like with Alexander. I guess grafting is more malicious, but I could definitely see some comparisons to that. Outside of this somewhat missed opportunity, loved the video! Cheers!

[@Hollowly]

.... Shit when you're right you're right that would've worked really well. 🤣 I have no excuse there other than I just didn't think of it at the time (most of the time I was writing this I was only framing my thoughts in reference to the DLC, so Godrick really didn't come up, but the jar ppl are present in the DLC so they came to mind lol). I'm glad you still enjoyed the video despite my glaring oversight!

[@ltrain420000]

Great video. You got a subscriber.

[@Hollowly]

I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Got a ways to go on it but next up is going to be Outer Wilds!

[@ltrain420000]

@@HollowlyOh wow that makes me happy! I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Outer Wilds was immensely impactful and such a magical experience for me. Such nuance in game design really made it a breath of fresh air. I was utterly captivated.

[@Hollowly]

@@ltrain420000 I’ve had it on a list of games I thought would be interesting to make a video about but I hadn’t played it until just recently, and it’s honestly one of the coolest games experiences I’ve had in a while. And loaded with philosophical stuff to make a video about 😂

[@queertitan]

3:53 😓

[@Hollowly]

It was a rough time 😬

[@1x1boop28]

Hey you can still change that allen wake 2 thumbnail, it doesnt have to stay like that forever.

[@Hollowly]

@@1x1boop28 wait what? Are you talking about the thumbnail for this video? Or for my old Alan Wake 2 vid? Please don’t tell me this video is showing an Alan Wake 2 thumbnail 😂

[@1x1boop28]

@@Hollowly Oh, well no that isnt what I meant, this thumbnail is fine but when I looked at your channel I saw the allen wake 2 video and that could have done better, but I think the thumbnail was unnapitizing even compared to just your content.

[@Hollowly]

@@1x1boop28 so originally, all my thumbnails kinda sucked. 😂 I’ve been slowly working on replacing them all, but I hadn’t got around to Alan Wake 2 yet, mostly just because even outside of the thumbnail that video just didn’t do exceptionally well, I think it may have gotten a little too esoteric for the average viewer. It’s probably still MY favorite of my videos though so I am going to replace it soon. Now that the Shadow of the Erdtree vid is done I can do it today. This video was a PAIN to edit for some reason.

[@Hollowly]

@@1x1boop28 but yeah it’s definitely bad comparatively right now it’s the only one I haven’t re done 😂