Miquella's Secret Plan for the Haligtree Theory | Elden Ring Lore

In this video we talk about the Haligtree and a theory about what Miquella was going to use it for.
Table of content:
0:00. Introduction
0:55. Secrets of the Haligtree
13:55. Miquella's Goal theory
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[@ArlunGrim]

God I can't wait for a Miquella DLC.

[@thesilvershroud2134]

Yea would be great if it could show what the lands between were like before the shattering but i highly doubt they will

[@slaindesmond2574]

and to get a final boss (Miquella) where we can use torrent!

[@rodrigoperez5073]

Maybe we get to somehow enter his dream. Like instead of going inside a painting, we go inside Miquella's dream.

[@joaoluizkfsantos8392]

God I can't wait for a DLC.

[@Etticos.]

I hope we get a DLC with Miquella and another DLC with the Gloam Eyed Queen where we fight her in a Sister Freide level battle.

[@vampyboi438]

One interesting thing about Malenia and Miquella is that they're known as the twin prodigies. They certainly fit the modern meaning but they also fit the original roman meaning as well. In ancient Rome a prodigy was the worst kind of bad omen, a sign that the gods were angry and that something must be done to appease them immediately, often involving the destruction of the prodigy. A prodigy could be anything that was considered a violation of the natural order, one example being children born with deformities, which I think fits pretty well with Malenia's rot and Miquella's eternal childhood. Morgott and Mohg as the omen twins also have this same connection. Its possible that both sets of twins were born as they are as a sign of the greater will's anger (Possibly even the anger of multiple outer gods) and perhaps that is why Miquella seeks to defy the outer gods.

[@__bepis____bepis__308]

There’s some merit as Rykards official title is Praetor Rykard

[@nicklewis23]

I thought miquella sought to defy the outer gods by simply trying to create this hailgtree Wich was suppose to be just like the erdtree, Wich the erdtree was a beacon place for the elden beast and the greater will. Wich if miquella was to try to create something as such would mean that she would consider herself greater or better than the outer gods defying them and thier pledge to the greater will (I.E. the erd tree/greater will/elden beast)

[@jonathangoodwin5609]

@Nick Lewis side note. Miquella is a boy.

[@plus6874]

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[@janinebelleestrada7096]

@@nicklewis23 he wanted to create the haligtree so he can provide a sanctuary to those who are dejected. The reason why he left the golden order was that anything that they gave to him has served no purpose for what he needs, like his father's incantation which served no help in curing his sister's rot. Ever wondered why albinaurics live in the vicinity of the haligtree? Its because these species of hominids are hunted by people and are mistreated because they are imperfect being. Miquella doesnt wish to create and be better than the outer gods he just wants a place where he can protect the weak even though he is weak himself and his sister provides that protection while he will try to find a way to cure her rot. And yearning to grow into his adult form thats why he sealed himself inside the tree because maybe if he matures he can be better at looking for a cure and be fit for a certain higher position. He isn't tainted with evil and under the table mindset but rather his primary goal was to protect that one thing he really values the most, his sister.

[@Jacckh]

Since both Miquella and Malenia’s bodies are cursed, he may be studying all that in order to transfer their souls to new and perfected bodies.

[@thereisnospoon7054]

I think it would be reasonable to believe he could’ve succeeded and that the body with Mohg was already a husk, that or he could’ve even been seeking the formless mother to be honest and neither of those things really refute any of this theory

[@Zeke1460]

No wonder. He wanted to save his sister. You can tell from the statues that they were both heartbroken by the other’s condition, with miquella being particularly saddened seeing his sister rot away in front of him, unable to do anything. So likely he tried to create those soulless demigod bodies so that he could transfer Malenia from one body to another. Man, I really wish Sellen had met Miquella. Sellen’s primal gintstone heart is pretty much EXACTLY what Miquella needed. If he found something like that, he might have been able to transfer his and Malenia’s souls into new bodies. Even if they happened to be weaker bodies, they would be free of their curses.

[@fourthplateau944]

@@thereisnospoon7054 I've seen a theory that Miquella is the player after his rebirth but lost all of his memories.

[@thereisnospoon7054]

@@fourthplateau944 it could be but that would be so boring I think it would be cooler if mequilla is the one that sent us grace cause technically Marika is never confirmed to be

[@fourthplateau944]

@@thereisnospoon7054 I like that idea too!!! He feels like a Pontiff Sulyvahn type character, where we will find out he's pulling every string imaginable

[@yofomojojo]

"Even Sir Gideon, Tarnished with Approximate Knowledge of Everything, didn't know that Miquella was taken." - Sir Arlun Grim, Tarnished with Superior Knowledge of Everything, First Successor to Sir Gideon Ofnir, Tarnished with Approximate Knowledge of Everything (Formerly Sir Gideon Ofnir, The All-Knowing)

[@darkhobo]

I think the "how did Miquella get kidnapped?" Question is easily answered. He thought he had Melania protecting him.

[@rhys1264]

Saw an interesting post on Twitter that says that the statue of Miquella, Malenia and the third person -- that the third person may not be Marika, but Radagon. There is no stake of Marika within the entire tree and there's more evidence to say Radagon took care of the twins instead of Marika.

[@johnvoices4087]

Omg that's a good point. If Radagon was in control of the Marika/Radagon Rebis he may have hidden his children from Marika purposefully...

[@skinless5136]

I mean it makes alot of sense, I’m pretty sure radagons ring of light or another golden order incantation mentions how close Miquella and radagon were, and I’d assume by proxy malenia aswell

[@aranthur]

Very interesting and believable theory, in my opinion! Also, one interesting thing about the revenants: The wraithcallers who worship them have blue skin and four arms, just like the snow witch Ranni learned from and based her doll form on

[@vaclavsoukup7302]

Her appearance is based on her former mentor Renna the Witch. Though no one denies she couldn't have been a Wraithcaller.

[@themonolith253]

I disagree with the notion that Miquella doesn’t oppose the Golden Order/Greater Will. Yes he does love his family, but its pretty clear he resents the Outer Gods and the influence they have not just on him and his sister, but the whole of the Lands Between. Even if he doesn’t outright fight against the Greater Will like Rykard does, the fact that he decided to plant the Haligtree behind the mountaintops of the giants as well as keep its location a secret, is kind of evidence that shows he knew what he was doing probably wouldn’t go over well with the Golden Order. Why else would he feel the need to hide where his lands were? Miquella was specifically creating ways for people to become immune to the Outer Gods influence. The Greater Will would obviously have a problem with this. He also specifically welcomes and offers haven to those who have been spurned by the Greater Will, which is a direct act of defiance. For these reasons, I do think that Miquella was opposed to the Golden Order. Not in outright hostility like Rykard or Ranni who serve only themselves or another Outer God respectively, but more like a conscientious objector. He refuses to do its or any other Outer Gods bidding and instead wants to rid their influence entirely so they can be free to choose their own fates.

[@AshfieldGray]

Item description on Radagon's Rings of Light: "A gift of gratitude to the young Miquella from his father, Radagon. ... And yet, the young Miquella abandoned fundamentalism, for it could do nothing to treat Malenia's accursed rot. This was the beginning of unalloyed gold." So it's pretty explicit that Miquella turned his back on the Greater Will and the Golden Order at the beginning of his going down the path he chose.

[@jonmacdonald2193]

provide lore as to why you think he resents them or your thought fall on deaf ears

[@themonolith253]

@@jonmacdonald2193 Well I outlined the lore reasons in my original post that you just replied to but okay I’ll go again I guess. Miquella created needles that stopped the Outer Gods from influencing people. Not exactly something one would do if they liked Outer Gods. These needles also don’t just stop the Scarlet Rot, they stop ALL Outer God influences as evidenced by the fact that it also stops the Frenzied Flame. Secondly, he created his own secret order of gold specifically based around removing the Greater Will from it. Unalloyed means pure and so that tells you that Miquella viewed the golden order as impure, tainted by the Greater Will. He also wanted to create his own Erdtree, made from his power alone and not in control of the Greater Will. He also purposely took in those that had been shunned by the Greater Will/Golden Order as is evidenced by the fact that Misbegotten can be found at the Haligtree worshipping Miquella. The Albinaurics also view Miquella as their protector and saviour. All this is pretty clear evidence that Miquella did not like the Outer Gods not just because of his sisters curse but also because of their influence on the people of the land, such as encouraging the enslavement and mistreatment of the Misbegotten and Albinaurics. This is all canon.

[@themonolith253]

@@AshfieldGray Yea its pretty obvious he turned his back on the Golden Order. I don’t know why this video says he didn’t.

[@user-ec6kt2fg7m]

@@AshfieldGray Miquella uses INT and not FTH builds. He knows the meta. Just like sunbro Goldmask.

[@anotherday5270]

13:50 Just to add on here, I dont think its the 1st bloom. In Caelid near the center there is a apparition that specifically says this was the first time she bloomed.

[@tb4076]

Finally someone who doesn’t think it’s malenia’s. Why would there be a traveling maiden set right next to it? It also doesn’t make sense for malenia to just randomly bloom there, when her 2 other confirmed blooms were against 2 of the some of the strongest beings in the lands between.

[@NaK-R]

@@tb4076 plus Aeonian Butterflies are spreaded through Caelid, but those just apear when Malenia is in his second phase.

[@AngryPlayerGaming]

I personally think it's one of Milicents "sisters", one that Gowry probably manipulated as he did her.

[@ArlunGrim]

That's precisely what I think too, but a loooot of people think it is Malenia's first bloom because they think that the 2nd phase of the Malenia fight is her 3rd bloom since she has the title of "Goddess" already. I think that's just her 2nd bloom though.

[@tb4076]

@@ArlunGrim What I think is that Malenia is the Rot Goddess in her 2nd phase similar to how Marika is the "Goddess" for the Greater Will. But what the scarlet aeonia spell is referring to as a "true goddess" is more similar to the Elden Beast. Because when we slay the elden beast, we get the God Slain screen, but when we slay the Rot Goddess, we don't - so this means to me that the Rot Goddess isn't a "true goddess" yet.

[@deztacular]

16:54 interestingly, ensha, the one who works for gideon and attacks us in the hold after we receive half the medallion, his armor set, Royal Remains, says they belonged to a soulless lord of the lost and helpless named Ensha. I'm still not sure if the ensha in game took his name or if he is the same ensha the bones are from, but either way I thought it interesting when you brought up the rebirth of a soulless king/lord

[@moonmessiah9368]

Ive compiled multiple theories from ALOT of lore videos and one thread i found that stands out goes like this. Miquella has been conspiring behind the scenes after losing faith in the Greater Will to cure his sister and his curse. He turned to the Formless Mother (or is possibly manipulating her with his charm? who knows just how strong his pull is) and she told him to grow his own tree (Haligtree) and water it with his blood (Who else would tell him to do this besides the Formless Mother?). As for Mohg kidnapping him, I think that both Miquella and the FM are using Mohg as a pawn. They needed him to remove Miquella from the Haligtree (i will explain why later) without anyone else knowing. There is a secret portal to the Blood Palace you can find thats most likely how Mohg was able to steal him away with no one being the wiser. I think when we come across Mohg he seems lost and confused. Miquella hasnt communicated with him at all and it seems like the FM left him in the wind too. But Miquella if you notice has grown exponentially. In the intro miquella is a fraction of the size of Mohg but in the cocoon hes definitely outgrown Mohg at this point. Kind of odd for someone with eternal youth no? Before Miquella was kidnapped he separated his body and soul, placing his soul into the Haligtree itself to help it grow. But what if the whole reason he did this was so that he could transfer his curse of eternal youth onto the tree. Hence why the tree has completely stopped growing. I think Miquella somehow influenced Ranni to carry out the Night of the Black Knives so that he could see if Demigods could be successfully separated body and soul before he attempted it himself. And once he saw it could be done he transferred his soul to the tree to pass the curse onto or at the very least give his physical body time to grow without the curse. The envoys are heralding a new god in the Haligtree and Leyndell because Miquella has succeeded in overcoming his affliction and is in the process of becoming a new god (could very well be for Malenia too but how would they know she was about to bloom for the 3rd time?). Thats why the Haligtree knights are awaiting his return because maybe this is exactly how Miquella planned everything to go? Im willing to bet money we get DLC where Miquella returns ascended as a god and we have to go fight our way back through an altered Haligtree and face off with him in the same arena we took his sister down in. side note: The black knife in Ordina is an agent for Marika trying to investigate what Miquella is doing but got trapped in the Evergaol. Cant think of any other reason why they would be there. I love your videos you have quickly become my favorite Lore channel outisde of Vaati since ER came out please stick with it.

[@mycoffeequest6634]

In real life, I think the ancients had a belief that when you go to sleep, and you dream, your soul travels to another realm while your physical body stays behind in stasis. When the soul returned to its body, that person was changed. If that holds true in Elden Ring, then Miquella is in another realm, searching to change himself in such a way that when his soul returns to his body, it transcends the curse. We don't know though if the curse is merely an affliction of the flesh, or if the soul is corrupted as well. If it's both, then the situation is a bit more complicated, perhaps explaining why he's been gone for so long. Maybe he's grown accustomed to the dream world. Maybe it has corrupted him in such a way that he chose to abandon Melania, or maybe he simply forgot the reason he went there in the first place. Maybe there are consequences when the soul and the body are apart for too long. After all, Miquella's body resembles a withered husk. As many before have stated, we probably enter the dream world by touching Miquella's hand. Maybe we face him inside the Haligtree, just as we face the Elden Beast inside the Erd Tree. Just as the Erd Tree protects the Elden Ring, responsible for the physical and metaphysical manifestations of the world, it's possible that Miquella (or Saint Trinia) is (or is the vessel for something that is) the anchor for that dream realm, with the Haligtree being a representation of that order. In the Lands Between, where Marika is Radagon (both male and female) and also the anchor of the Golden Order, then in the dream realm, it stands to reason that Miquella is not only Saint Trinia (both male and female), but is also at the center of whatever prevailing order we encounter when our Tarnished dreams.

[@Raptor747]

15:50 I'm pretty sure that the rebirthing Rennala does is flawed, but possessing the Rune of the Unborn allows for the bearer to be reborn perfectly. This is why it works for the player character and no one else--you can't do rebirthing UNTIL you have acquired the Rune of the Unborn.

[@ArlunGrim]

Yup, which means she can only truly successfully rebirth one person or that the rune of the unborn is what allows for rebirth rather than the amber egg.

[@WarriorKalia]

@Nook Small Malenia and Miquella are flawed because they're selfcest babies. And Mohg and Morgott were born Omen, not sure why off the top of my head but it seems that that happens on occasion, and since they were nobility, they were hidden away and locked up under... Leyndell I think?

[@plus6874]

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[@DouglasZanini]

At 13:49 , its not Malenia's first bloom. That one is mentioned in the game: It was in Caelid, during the battle against Radahn (not the desert). There is a giant decaying flower and there are worshippers around. That flower seems to be another sister of Milicent, the set of clothing you grab by the flower is similar to what Milicent herself uses, might be the clothing of that sister from before she was transformed.

[@NorthstriderGaming]

Miquella's goal was plain and simply to find a way to prevent people being influenced by outer gods. He grew the entire fking Haligtree and created the unalloyed gold to save Malenia, starting with infusing her skin with the gold to prevent the Scarlet Rot to claim more limbs of her. Then Miquella went into his cocoon form to solve two problems at once: the first one was curing Malenia's curse. The Haligtree was suposed to become a shield against the Outer Gods Influence. Next he had to solve his own problem: his eternal youth curse. He enveloped himself into the cocoon to finally grow into adulthood, growing the tree while in that state. Of course this was all interrupted when Mohg has shown up and taken Miquella to offer him to another Outer God. With Miquella gone, the source of the Haligtree's power was gone, hence, the tree became just another tree.

[@GriFFonRec4]

I don't think Mohg took Miquella. I think Miquella is inside the Haligtree, hence why it stopped growing, it now houses his curse. The body that Mohg took started to grow, which is why the arm is huge when you reach him and why he doesn't respond at all to Mohg (and why Malenia didn't go an kick Mohg's ass to get him back). Miquella studied life, death and spirits to be able to transfer his spirit into the haligtree and he will probably transfer his and Malenia's souls into new bodies once he can figure out how to keep the curses from following them. There are also heavy implications that Miquella was helping Ranni, and maybe even helped her transfer her soul into the doll. Everything he does, he does to rid Malenia and himself of their curses. Try looking up AngelOfThePast, he has a very good theory video which even if it isn't 100% true, has some very keen insights which answered a LOT of questions I initially had around some of the characters and events in the game.

[@putdownthreads]

Something important to note: The Erdtree existed before the Elden Rune and the Greater Will's influence. The Erdtree is native to the Lands Between, the Elden Ring is not. I think the Haligtree was an attempt to return to what the Erdtree was before the Outer Will infested it with gold, in an attempt to create an 'Outer God' that is not Outer, i.e. a cosmic power native to the Lands Between

[@plus6874]

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[@RuthwikRao]

@@putdownthreads before Erdtree was the Great Tree, which was a symbol of the ancient Crucible, where all life was melded into one. I'm not sure if Haligtree was made to return to that. BTW isn't there an outer god associated with Crucible as well? Which would conflict with Miquella wanting nothing to do with any of the outer gods.

[@ALaz502]

@@GriFFonRec4 That's completely wrong. Miquella is literally inside the egg when you fight Mohg. Also, there are countless statements and lore entries that say that Mohg stole Miquella.

[@UberCletus]

Btw, Halig(tree) sounds a lot like the Swedish word helig (hellig in Norwegian) meaning Holy.

[@GyanyPlays]

In Dutch the word Heilig also means Holy

[@TheDr00g]

@@GyanyPlays and in german aswell. I read that halig is from germanic meaning holy.

[@golDroger88]

It means holy in old English too.

[@renatlottiepilled]

It is basically a holy tree i was intrigued by the name so I looked up halig in Wiktionary, turns out it's basically an old English word for holy

[@ultragamer4465]

Yeah duh the haligdrake talisman gives holy resistance

[@Bundesverfassungsgehirn]

Also what if Miquella himself has a gold needle inside himself protecting him from the formless mother's influence and we start the DLC by pulling it out and birthing the god of blood Miquella? That would be kinda cool.

[@TheSUGA1202]

Maybe the graveyards are there so that the souls are claimed by the hailig tree instead of the erdtree, to make it grow bigger.

[@Eladelia]

It could also be something similar to the guardians around the minor erdtrees, who apparently have some sort of pact with the Erdtree that they'll rise again to continue defending it if they die. Burying them there might be putting them where they're best positioned to rise again in defense of Miquella and the Haligtree.

[@wesley5729]

Maybe the cocoons are carrying people and metamorphosing them into pests. Maybe Miquella is becoming a pest. The arm sticking out of the cocoon in mohg’s boss room looks kind of like one of those skinny pest arms

[@puppetarmygaming3756]

Wow exactly what I thought bro

[@TNTales]

Doing some research it turns out that "Halig" is old English for Holy or Sacred. So it's literally Miquella's Holy Tree. And Elphael appears related to Elpaal which means "god's work" and a brace is something used to keep a tree of weak structure from collapsing so, Elphael is doing god's work keeping the holy tree from collapsing, quite possibly from Miquella's absence. Also the graves near the roots of the tree may be related to the placement of bodies near the roots of the Erdtree for reabsorption as we see in the Catacombs in Limgrave and Altus. Finally Miquella is the feminine version of Michael whose name means "Who is like God?" apparently question mark included. Thus: Miquella who presumed himself to be a new god created a holy tree to replace the Erdtree the same as the Erdtree had done to the Greattree in Deeproot Depths. But when he was taken by Mog the tree began to collapse. So a city was created as a brace to protect the holy tree, doing God's work. My guess is Miquella is divided between his body which is kept by Mog and the his spirit or part of it in the Haligtree which is why you see the human shape in the tree at 20:01

[@IsaacGBaby]

im 100% sure the city was there before he got captured

[@patriciapandacoon7162]

Your findings are great but I don't agree with your conclusions. I can't give concrete examples for why I think this, but I don't think Miquella was taken that long ago.

[@plus6874]

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[@TNTales]

@@patriciapandacoon7162 it could be. Maybe the city was built first to house the tree and then it grew up out of the city which is why it's breaking through walls everywhere. So like a preplanned brace?

[@blackronin848]

@@patriciapandacoon7162 maybe in body but not in soul

[@solitajre222]

So Miquella watered the Haligtree with his own blood since it was a sapling? Lot's of blood for Mogh to blood-teleport through. Mogh is the lord of blood and the formless mother set his cursed blood aflame. Mogh, being an omen and brother of Morgott, probably knows of Miquella since before his exile and annex. Mogh must have been very interested in Miquella's seemingly godlike blood since it can grow the Haligtree into a new Erdtree replacement. Since Mogh seems to worship Miquella, even placing him on a giant Pelvis in the Dynasty palace, replicating the placement inside the haligtree roots (roots look like a female with a hole where her belly would be) Perhaps the fusion of Miquella and the Haligtree failed and Mogh tried to help by taking him away to his formless mother. The similarities between Mogh's palace and where Miquella is in the Haligtree are many. There are lots of downtrotten creatures in both places and lots of graves/death. Just some thoughts for your brain.

[@Urkstore]

I think the cocoon's in Elphael were Miquella and Malenia experimenting with their soldiers to see if they could accomplish some kind of advanced aging abilities (like a caterpillar to butterfly) to help age Miquella and potentially break his curse. This experimentation could also be how Malenia created her Scarlett Aeonia move. Considering she sprouts wings after bursting out of her scarlet cocoon in second phase.

[@StCrimson667]

Has anyone else noticed that those candelabras in Elphael are designed exactly like the same ones that dot the Lands Between and release ghosts which direct you to certain places? Am I missing something or is that something of a connection?

[@freeaudiojungle4407]

props bro, i saw this the other day but have no idea what the connection is

[@StCrimson667]

@@freeaudiojungle4407 I have no idea either! Maybe they were wayposts that pointed people and beings towards the Haligtree?

[@TonkarzOfSolSystem]

The candletree wooden shield states: "Thought to represent a surreptitious prophecy of cardinal sin, the lit candle-tree design was forbidden." The prophesied cardinal sin is the burning of the Erdtree, which is referred to as such in many places (such as the Finger Reader at the Grand Lift of Rold). Seems related, but F if I know how.

[@Madashell-jh5xn]

I'm so glad you covered this. I had questions about the Haligtree and Miquella since I found it.

[@TheMag1cWalrus]

I actually came to the same conclusion so it’s cool to see what you found. But there is one thing I think you’ll find interesting that you missed, that adds to the theory. Check the doors to the prayer room

[@MrRaposaum]

My favorite theory so far - and it fits with yours without any conflict - is that Miquella indeed succeeded at improving the rebirth process. And that he actually he used it on himself, to escape his fate (like his whole family wants to, to escape the fate dictated to them by the Greater Will outer god). He then rebirthed as a Tarnished, without memories of his previous life, but with a deep drive to claim the Greater Runes and become Elden Lord. His reincarnated soul is first recognized by his own spirit creation, Torrent. In his new life, he succeeds at defeating demigods and is even invited to the Roundtable Hold. Melina trusts him with Torrent and the power to convert runes into power. Strangers feel like they could ask this no-name Tarnished with problems they can't solve for themselves. Even the unfriendly Gideon ends up believing that he'll be the one to become Elden Lord, forfeiting his own ambition to do so. Although is not a power that he can use consciously, Miquella's soul still retained his ability to make people like him.

[@Doffythegoat]

Interesting, so basically we are all Miquella. That would also mean that we killed our own sister 😢

[@brysonbridges1496]

I don’t like this theory for 3 reasons. 1st most of the NPCS like you after you do a task for them. Second when did he have time to pull off the rebirth? He’s been asleep this whole time, meanwhile it took Ranni to do this really difficult task to pull it off halfway. Third having the reason we are so powerful is because we are Miquella diminishes the whole point of the souls games. Our characters are powerful because we put in the time to strengthen them. NPCS like us because we put in the time to help them out. The theory just insults the whole souls games ideology.

[@brysonbridges1496]

Also if he doesn’t want outer gods to have influence then he picked a bad way to do it, as there’s so many gods the player can side with. Also going against Miquellas plan

[@LFiles48]

Really nice theory. I like it. Also it seems creating life was also Rykard's obsession. He had albinaurics and virgin thingies in his town. Different methods I guess but I suppose you'll do anything once you find out you might be mortal after all. Potential DLC, Miquella comes back and creat the rune of life ? (and upon acquiring it you get the power to respawn bosses for a rematch, or something?)

[@jonsno3688]

And snake people

[@CC-oi9mc]

I think that’ll be the second DLC and the first DLC will have a big PvP element using the arena near stormveil castle

[@MetallicaKing48]

I see parallels between the primeval glint stones of this game and the black soul gems of Elder Scrolls. Of course I do see some differences as well, for these stones simply transfer souls. No doubt that’s how Ranni’s soul was transferred into the doll/ mannequin that we see her in. Where as the black soul gems of Elder Scrolls imprisoned souls for energy. And transported them over to the soul cairn. And the high ranking sorcerers knew of how to transfer souls into new bodies of creation, which gives them purpose to the Haligtree to support Miquella’s clause and assisting him.

[@JboJackson]

"Surrender yourself to the eclipse!" I've heard that the reason why melania went to war with Radahn was because Radahn was holding back the Stars/Eclipse and Miquella's goal was to be reborn during the eclipse...Melania had to kill him for her brother to be reborn but failed... Radahn saved the world and the tarnished doomed it when he killed him.

[@chonghe5598]

Not necessarily. Radahn stopped new stars from falling, hence limited the new influence of Outer Gods from arriving. However, Lands Between is already a playground of a handful of Outer Gods already. If anything, he merely slowed the problem from developing, not solving it. His sister Ranni and half brother Miquella were actually trying to solve the problem. And thanks to Radahn's arresting of stars, her sister's effort was kind of going nowhere for a very long time...

[@genericgorilla]

Yeah but the only party favored by Radahn holding the stars in place was the golden order, making Radahn a lackey of the greater will and its vassal beast, which currently seems very invested in making everybody suffer for Marika's transgression.

[@avdima5000]

@@chonghe5598 Was Ranni really trying to solve the problem by quote to quote "Getting rid of the world of all that exists, and reshape it into the dark path?" Hmmmmmmm

[@avdima5000]

@@genericgorilla that's interesting, but there's also the thing that Radahn's portrait is nowhere to be found than the hall of Volcano Manner if I'm not mistaken along side the portrait of The Burning Erdtree

[@chonghe5598]

@@avdima5000 More precisely, she said "upend the whole of it, and rid of the world of all that *came* before." It is likely that "all that came before" referred to the outer god's representatives. What she will upend was the order established since their arrival.

[@Navelia]

I definitely think that your theory is interesting and very illuminating, i just have some minor nitpicks. I don't think the Misbegotten are in the state that we see because, after all, "they are just Misbegotten". Considering that we only see them (at least, as far as i remember) in the first few areas of the Haligtree, they are probably a relatively new addition, if not the latest, and when Miquella was kidnapped, the Haligtree was rotting etc, conflict and discord ensued between those who lived there for longer and the Misbegotten. So, now they are praying Miquella, waiting for his return, hoping to be forgiven and welcomed by him, as their last bastion of hope in the Lands Between. Plus, i think that Mohg was just a "nobody", we never see Omens in the Haligtree, however he managed to kidnap Miquella i don't think there was a betrayal going on. Gideon doesn't know about Morgott's status as an Omen, so i don't see why he should know that Mohg is an Omen and that Mohg even exists, he just knows about a certain Lord of Blood. I think that Marika (and Godfrey, and then Radagon too) did everything in their power to maintain their existence as a well-kept secret. I'd also add that, narratively speaking, Mohg is essentially delusional, no matter what is he gonna do, Miquella won't help him out in any way, the proper time to go to the Mohgwyn Palace never really comes, the Bloody Fingers are pawns, pawns as delusional as him, engaged in a war that they will never be able to win. It makes double sense that Gideon would be like "Uhhhh yeah, there's also a Lord of Blood... I wonder what's up with that fella".

[@Etticos.]

Gideon has a few lines where he basically calls Mohg a useless chump and mocks his title of “Lord of Blood” and his desire for a dynasty. He knows of Mohg.

[@kanseidorifto2430]

I feel the part that mentions Miquella welcoming Omens would make sense, and double so that there aren't any Omen when you visit the Haligtree anywhere.

[@Navelia]

@@Etticos. That happens after we defeat him at Mohgwyn Palace, right? Considering that we're sorta gathering intel for him, he probably knew abt him thanks to us, same goes for Miquella's cocoon

[@plus6874]

Congratulations you have been selected among the shortlisted winner's for the ongoing ps5 giveaway What'sapp the number above ^^^^^^^^^^^^👆……..

[@mediumvillain]

@@Etticos. correct, yes. Morgott and Mohg are demigods and shardbearers, children of the Golden Lineage, they are known by anyone of importance. Morgott is the king of Leyndell and effectively the leader of what is left of the Golden Order in the absence of Marika & Radagon, if anyone didnt know how that Morgott is an Omen its bc he specifically hid that with the identity of Margit the Fell Omen. Mohg is quite clearly known by Gideon to be an "unlocated demigod" and Gideon has specific thoughts about his "dynasty", he was just unaware of where he was hiding, in some dark corner of Nokron.

[@largegroupofmales]

Alot seems to hint at Miquella being potentially the most powerful entity we may face during the story. He's described as the most fearsome of the demigods, and more importantly alot of the imagery regarding him implies hidden potential. He's portrayed as a powerful demigod cursed with eternal youth and as a helpless egg/chrysalis waiting to hatch, also as the roots of a great tree. A cut weapon implies Miquella is also a demigod of abundance, and hes also described as unalloyed and pure, basically forming a dichotomy between him and Malenka. I think that with Malenia's death and freedom from her curse, since their fates are tied, Miquella may find some form of freedom from his and grow to his potential. Also since Miquella is associated with pure metal and golden needles, it's possible he may have the golden hair of Marika, while his sister has Radagon's red, two sides of the same coin.

[@vnolwen_art]

We actually see a glimpse of Miquella when we are told about the Demi-Gods and he indeed has white/golden hair ! However I doubt he would be "free" from his sister's death. After all, he was kidnapped into a place that I can't describe as pure and there is little to no doubt that it will have "corrupted" him in one way or another. Another interesting thing to note : people have looked at the model inside the chrysalid and he looks like he was ready to get out. He isn't in a foetal position as we could expect, but instead his feet and his other hand are against the ground, positioned to push himself up. The fact that his arm moved when we arrived seems really weird to me, especially to summon Mohg. Did he sense us and "called" Mohg to either kill us or for having us kill Mohg, or was it Mohg that just used Miquella's body to summon himself to meet us ?

[@daylinslaunwhite6786]

I think it's kinda interesting that Marika/Radagon is based on the alchemical rebis, which is created by undergoing stages of putrefaction and purification. You can't get much more putrid than Malenia or pure than Miquella.

[@plus6874]

Congratulations you have been selected among the shortlisted winner's for the ongoing ps5 giveaway What'sapp the number above ^^^^^^^^^^^^👆…………..

[@yerpderp6800]

Taking over the greater will theory is shaky at best. I think there's something much more likely instead (admittedly there are still some holes, I think it still makes more sense). It's alluded to multiple times how much Malenia loved her brother Miquella and vice-versa. In fact Malenia was waiting for her brother to return since she was convinced he would find a way to save her. This already implies that Miquella is doing something in order to save her (it's also why Miquella left the Golden Order as it offered no way to save Malenia, stated by Radagon's Rings of Light). One key thing to keep in mind is that Malenia was cursed with rot from birth; this means rot and her body are intrinsically tied in some way. It doesn't seem like there's an easy way to fix the rot while keeping the body intact. It would first appear that without the ability to cure the body Malenia is doomed to rot away. I believe Miquella understood this (eventually, he also tried using unalloyed needles) and tried to circumvent the issue entirely by figuring out how to transplant Malenia's spirit to a new body. The only example which seems capable of that without issue is the Erdtree, hence why Miquella chose to create the Haligtree; he was trying to replicate the Erdtree's ability to move spirits around with absolute control (since we know the Erdtree is choosy). It also explains why he was attempting to integrate himself into the Haligtree since it was the only way to ensure there would be no issues with transmigrating Malenia's spirit. I don't think Miquella was trying to subvert the greater will for selfish reasons, if anything his actions scream of selflessness as he seems to be doing it all for the sake of his sister (though one could argue that after transplanting himself into the Haligtree he could always try to move his spirit to some body that can grow up). One thing that seems to be made very clear from dialogue and item descriptions is how much Malenia and Miquella both loved each other to the point of determining their actions. It's still possible Miquella was also finding a way to subvert the greater will, Malenia was cursed since birth by the outer god of rot so it would make sense that Miquella would like to prevent that again with the aid of unalloyed needles. I don't think that's the primary motivator for Miquella creating his Haligtree though, I think he did it out of love for his sister.

[@harrigan4162]

Damn that’s the first time I heard the Mausoleum’s were soulless demigods. Does that mean Marika had 7 stillborn children?

[@blegoin2662]

I just found out you can use them to duplicate rememberances I feel like a dumbass 🤦‍♂️

[@henryteo8566]

I'm not sure about soulless, but I sure as heck know they house a headless corpse in each of them.

[@plus6874]

Congratulations you have been selected among the shortlisted winner's for the ongoing ps5 giveaway What'sapp the number above ^^^^^^^^^^^^👆…………

[@Raphsophomes]

Miquella may have had the ability to influence others. Explaining peoples odd reverance and mohg was likely used by his god to get to miquella, because omens are seperate from the golden grace, and are not influenced by miquella. This explains the lack of security as well. I think he was genuinely a good guy, but had a low key griffith situation going on. He may have a bloodsoaked destiny, and his whole egg rebirth thing may suggest a dark transformation, which seems to be mohgs job. I believe, mohg may also have multidimensional abilities. I think thats how his power even works. He was way too organized, and focused on different things to be simply "helping his sister" as well. I think he may be an evil little sh**, and his god is a manipulative and dishonest one.

[@kurousagioktavia4374]

Listening to Miquella’s Haligtree story while Zhongli’s theme playing in the background was something I never expected to happen

[@axeldef8020]

Miquella radiates Griffith energy so much, the words used at the end of the video could be used to describe Griffith as well and i love it

[@kit0134]

It's interesting that the Haligtree soldiers don't seem to be aware of Miquella being kidnapped, but the albinaurics do. This is evidenced by the albinauric found near the teleporter to Mohg's area, as well as all the albinaurics in the Mohgwyn mausoleum area (who likely went there to seek Miquella)

[@bigtired2810]

love the new gameplay style of editing, your videos are great

[@Necrotaku999]

i really like this theory, very in character for miquella without going outright for "miquella its tue good guy"

[@tatyannaallen1929]

Hear me out: The statue with the three people is Godwin the Golden. The sickle dropped in Castle Sol, the Eclipse Blade, has a skill that directly mentions the Prince of Death. All around the Throne of the Prince of Death are headless soldiers with Eclipse sigils on their tunics. My theory is that the Prince of Death protected and looked after his younger siblings. I also think that Godwin had a rune related to spirits or even act as a sort of psychopomp guiding spirits back to the Erdtree. There are also a lot of old gargoyle puppets before the Throne of the Prince of Death.

[@symo9924]

Gowry is actually a Prawn Miner (try and strike him and he'll turn into one) so I believe he was lying when he said that he was a Sage and was just sent by someone to have Millicent doing their bidding.

[@felbalze6307]

The “prawn miners” are called the Kindred of Rot, or Pale Pests. They are abominations of rampant growth, in what I can only assume, were the prawns or crawfish that once inhabited the Lake of Rot prior to the sealing of the Outer God of Rot. After Malenia bloomed for the second time in Caelid they started to push towards the surface to get as close as they could to the areas where Malenia’s influence had even a slight impact. Gowry is (currently) a devout follower of Rot, either allied with, or bewitching, one of the Kindred Pests. He’s projecting an image of himself onto the kindred in case some rando tarnished smacks him for being a nut case, and like he says “We shall meet again, you and I. There are countless pests to choose from.” As you push through the questline, he teaches you three spells, and an incantation of Rot. (Pest Threads) Showing that he is a well learned man that was highly intelligent, had formal training, and also holds faith in the outer god of rot. The sage’s set says that this was the attire of wise sages who were deemed heretical, evidence that the wearer was driven from town. If you help Millicent fight off her sisters during her questline you can kill the actual Gowry while he weeps over his failure to produce the perfect bloom. Edit: some grammatical errors

[@johng29]

My theory as to why Mohg was able to snatch Miquella so easily is because Mohg and Miquella were extremely close. I believe Miquella learned of Mohg and Morgotts imprisonment while he was very young. I believe this is why Miquella was trying to make a place for outsiders in the first place. You see in the trailer that Mohg is standing with Miquella holding his hand. I also believe that it was Miquellas own ability to captive others that drive Mohg is such extremes. I believe that when Miquella was younger he may not have been completely in control of this power and in one of his visits to Mohg he accidentally used it on him. Maybe this is another reason as to why Miquella wished to break his curse and become a god. To release Malenia from the scarlet rot but also to release Mohg from his own power. And I believe that Miquella trusted Mohg so much that he would never expect Mohg to ruin his plans. And Mohg is just completing his plan that he’s probably had for thousands of years and “help” Miquella become a god through the formeless mother and become his consort. I believe Mohg was welcomed at the haligtree and may have been there with Miquella since it’s creation. I could go on and on forever 😂😂😂😂

[@saltgenerat0r]

I'm pretty sure you've become my favourite elden ring content creator, I use to be heavily into Vaati vidya, he's cool and all but I like your transitions alot

[@CGAA07017]

Great video. I absolutely share the same line of thoughts. Few minor divergences here and there, but all for the sake of this very ambitious fanfiction I'll be writing haha. Good job 👏🏼

[@ClayAdams]

I love how you transform a place of absolute agony for the player into this lore-rich setting for a deeply intriguing story. This is why I love this game

[@luciusireckon2469]

The saying, The road to hell is paved with good intentions, is blaring in my head. I can't help but think that there is something that is ultimately going to go wrong I could be wrong because Ranni has an ending but Miquella seems to be far more sceeming than Ranni. However trying to help the whole in a souls game never ends well.

[@elte7226]

Whats that Armor Chest Piece + Gauntlets you are wearing? This combination with the cape looks amazing

[@lil_thang]

bruh, i got a lore epiphany moment when you showed Gowry's quote at 19:18 ! i definitely feel i understand Miquella's motivations far better after watching this video, thankyou. It has begged the question however, how exactly did the broken unalloyed needle (of miquella's creation) come to be in the heart of the aeonian swamp in caelid? Why do we get the needle from defeating Commander O'Neill? my immediate guess would be that perhaps the needle, when it was unbroken, was in Malenia's possession when she went to fight Radahn. maybe due to her doing the scarlet flower bloom explosion thing, this expelled the needle from her forcefully and broke it. i guess from there, Commander O'Neill may have found it on the battlefield long after? I'd be interested to hear your theory on this.

[@ArlunGrim]

Yes, we have the same theory that the Broken Unalloyed Needle was Malenia's, she broke it in order to beat Radahn. If you watch the trailer where Malenia and Radahn fought, she "stabs" herself with her sword, imo this was her breaking the needle.

[@TheSpoartsNetwork]

The player is miquella. That's why everyone, even the dung eater and torent, takes to liking you.

[@jonnymario771]

This was interesting too.

[@NohrScum]

I hadn't even considered that Mogh could have been welcomed to the tree. Given that he has the ability to let his knights teleport to his domain, I bet he snagged him and vanished before anyone could intervene.

[@corxiiifelinike2643]

I feel this theory is interesting. But there’s a theory going around that sounds even more interesting, that is THE tarnished, us, is Miquella’s reincarnation. That miquella planned out everything, the one true mastermind behind all: helping ranni die and bring the age of the star, burning the eardtree using the flame of frenzy, then proceed to subdue the frenzied flame with his own created needle, etc…

[@gugugal1211]

He wouldnt kill his sister

[@corxiiifelinike2643]

@@gugugal1211 what do you mean?

[@TheRealJG0]

@@corxiiifelinike2643 we kill malenia, miquella wouldn't kill malenia, also there's substantial proof that we existed before the events of the *armor, burial gifts, starting class* it could be possible but its a long stretch, and personally I think that would be poor writing

[@erlandir9121]

@@TheRealJG0 How's that poor writing?

[@TheRealJG0]

@@erlandir9121 there would be a plethora of plot holes and things that don't align, like miquella is firmly against the influence of outer gods him standing with any of them would look weird from a plot point, plus we can find miquellas cocoon and clearly see him sleeping inside at mohgs palace, if they wanted to have us be miquellas incarnation and actually built the story around that I think it'd be cool, but as the story stands rn it doesn't seem too plausible

[@namikaze116]

Love the attention you paid to the environment. During my playthrough I was only thinking about how pretty everything looked 😂😅

[@730ways]

There were castle sol related enemies right outside of Godwyn's Prince of Death body, and the connection's much stronger than an unrelated, hitherto unmentioned demigod in the walking mausoleums.

[@mtamorixxx]

Hey Arlun great vid! What armor set are you mixing up for your character on here, it looks sweet!

[@BriteRory]

I didn't realize that was the Haligtree you can see from Castle Sol; it gives an even greater impression to know it reaches that far south. I thought it was the very top of the Minor Erd Tree from Consecrated Snowfield when I first saw it but I think that is toward the southwest whereas this view is looking to the north. It is hard to get an idea just how big the Haligtree is while walking along its branches and it is difficult to get an overview from a distance. But it was by far my favorite area in the game, the masonry as you get closer to Milenia is fantastic and she was my favorite boss fight.

[@charleystube3835]

I think with the help from general radahn and his ability to use gravity magic he tore Miquella from the tree roots. This is why I think Malenia fights him in the first place. Plus Mohgwyn Palace is right under Caelid.

[@zaku-san]

I like the deep inspection, also carefully distinguishing theory from fact

[@elenoradaimio4979]

Aha! Some really cool ideas there, and your point was really helped by your walkthrough of the area. Your theory seems very plausible! I like it, thanks for sharing!

[@jorgetovar5876]

To me it seems like he’s trying achieve rebirth so he can move his soul to a new body that isn’t cursed with eternal youth, he had a pretty huge arm in that cacoon

[@scorponok1997]

For a character we’ve barely seen, im soooo curious about him. Cant wait to see more

[@retrospect]

Another Arlun video 🍿👁👄👁

[@NightmanDX]

Was that an arrangement of zhong li's theme in a elden ring video? Your videos help make sense of the amazing lore deep iwithin elden Ring. Keep up the good work.

[@ArlunGrim]

Yeah it is, you guys have really good ears to be able to recognize the bgm, I made sure it's volume is very low and intended for only ambience lol

[@NicoBlackXIV]

The soldiers aren't looking for Miquella because he never left. He moved his soul into the tree before Mogh kidnapped him. This is the actual reason why the tree stopped growing while the lifeless body in the cocoon is even larger than Mogh's. it's also the reason why there is a face in the tree next to where the cocoon used to be. This also matches your own theory of Miquella's plan for the tree, which i love btw.

[@SixBeark]

You are 100% on the right track w the themes of rebirth. Every instance of reproduction in the game is fkin weird

[@toadelf8195]

miquella is my favorite demigod as well! he’s so interesting and i’m so excited to see him in a dlc

[@sampalace358]

You forgot to mention the miquella’s straight sword description. It notes that the sword is in fact a glintstone straight sword that has been reforged for miquella’s knights. Which reinforced the connection between sorcery and the haligtree

[@hobosorcerer]

Anyone else notice the vaguely humanoid shape in the tree in Malenia's first cutscene? Could be a depiction of Miquella rebirthing himself through the creation of the tree.

[@user-bu7fc3ez4d]

It looks to me like a pregnant woman, but the womb is missing. Miquella's cocoon would fit perfectly in that missing spot

[@Flacoisbored]

So miquella (technically an omen with his sister) waters the haligtree with his own blood and cocoons himself in the haligtree to grow to godhood. Mohg has shown plenty of times that him and his followers have the ability to use blood as a way to teleport/spawn. Since Miquella and Mohg are technically brothers, it makes since to me that he’s able to sense his slumbering and maybe was able to teleport straight to miquella through his own blood!

[@raymalik5171]

Two Miquella videos from different channels in one day, let's gooooo

[@wesleyvl8572]

A other good vidoe dude keep it up you rock

[@spikemaw]

Gowry being linked with Miquella and Malenia is interesting. There are so many egg sacks around Ephael, and I think those are from the kindred of rot centipede people. If you kill Gowry at his shack, he turns into a centipede and says that there are many more kindred where that came from, and IS ALIVE when you rest and come back! He says that you can't really kill him so don't bother, basically. Gowry is immortal, possibly possessing the bodies of different centipede kindred. He says explicitly that he serves Malenia and the "Order of Rot," the cycle of decay and renewal, and the paired centipedes are the symbol of the rune of death. I think that the Kindred of Rot (centipede people) are creations of the Haligtree and Malenia/Miquella, possibly the reborn spirits of people whose bodies and ash were fed to the roots of the Haligtree in the cemetery there. The "Pest Threads" incantation can be learned from Gowry after you give Millicent her mother's prosthesis, and the incantation description says the pests are the "abandoned children of the goddess." There's only one other character that seems to possess other bodies, Shabriri (he possesses Yura's corpse later). Shabriri is an agent of another Outer God, the Frenzied Flame of Chaos. Is Gowry an agent of the Outer Goddess of Rot? Or just a disciple of the Order of Rot, a half-success in Miquella and Malenia's effort for rebirth, the first real success, not just failures like the kindred of rot?

[@asavel6227]

you can kill him after the questline,he is a mage like few others that can transfer souls(ranni and sellena)they use bodies in ranni case dolls

[@henryteo8566]

I think Marika was doing it or made to do it on red wolves to form Radagons

[@plus6874]

Congratulations you have been selected among the shortlisted winner's for the ongoing ps5 giveaway What'sapp the number above ^^^^^^^^^^^^👆…………

[@josephspencer6375]

I think that Miquella could've been using the power of rebirth to create a new body for himself. His curse was to look like a child eternally, and he could need a more powerful body in order to be respected. Really the only evidence I have is at 16:31. Right above where I think Miquella was in the tree we can see the underside of a face with an incomplete body made out of the roots of the Haligtree. Maybe he was leeching off of the power of the Haligtree to birth himself a new body and that's part of why it is now so decrepit and rot infested (aside from Malenia).

[@BiffHardCheese]

The statue in Elphael you suppose is Gowry isn't the same statue as the ones in the underground areas. Those seem to be from an unnamed civilization, likely the one whose people worshipped Rot. They are at the very lowest levels of the underground area, below the Eternal Cities, populated by the mudmen and shamans. There are also a few ruins in Liurnia, namely the Uld Palace Ruins, where we also find the ancestor worshipping shamans. For a connection back to Rot, just take a look at the Winged Greathorn ax from the Regal Ancestor's remembrance -- it's Melenia's wings as the Rot Goddess. I like the idea of Gowry being the statue in Elphael though!

[@shnorkeythefourth4572]

After watching another lore video about miquella, they theorized that miquella and st Trina are the same person but that st Trina is some kind of feminine aspect of miquella. I think it’s possible that due to radagon and marika being merged that miquella inherited some aspect of that. Miquella could be hermaphroditic, androgynous to the point of being mistaken commonly, or actually morph slightly into either miquella’s appearance or st Trina’s like how mara-gon does.

[@MacDaddyMaestro]

This man has already figured out what they’re planning for the DLC that will inevitably release at some point lol

[@daviderlik8512]

19:59 there is a face there around top right corner which might be miquellas new body because he was gonna reborn and he infused himself with the tree so it kinda makes sense for him to have a tree like body when you find him in mohgwyn palace his skin resembles a tree trunk idk

[@golDroger88]

I think it's just Miquella shaping the tree like his mother, as if she was carrying him again, in a symbolic way, or maybe because he missed her.

[@bloodyhelice4284]

Also, the roots that Malenia is touching is shaped like a hand reaching down to her.

[@AuUntaris]

The statue in the prayer room is adult Miquella holding a giant golden needle. It’s a statue of what Miquella and his worshippers want him to be, in idealized form.

[@AshfieldGray]

Note about the Crystalians: I'm pretty sure they were created by anyone. They're beings related to the primeval current, showing up where glintstone crystals - the "amber of the cosmos" - appears. They're referred to repeatedly as "mysterious," are described as "inorganic beings, yet they live," and are considered "revered guests" of the sorcerers at Raya Lucaria pursuing the "wisdom of stone," i.e. the 'faint cognition' of the Crystalians. I think they're more like primal or primeval entities relating to glintstone, the cosmos and primeval current. If he's studying them for anything, it's to figure out wtf they are, and/or how they got infected with the scarlet rot despite being inorganic. (Although weapons and other stuff are said to be affected by the rot too, right?)

[@mcsquared5005]

I think the scarlet bloom outside Melanias boss room belongs to Millicent. I think she is the one who carried/ defended Melania from Caelid back to the Halig tree. Millicent's injuries and direct contact with Melania's body and blood gave Millicent the scarlet rot. Thus after she got all the way back, she succumbed to the rot and blooomed into a flower. I think thats why she has the rot and is in caelid. Shes got faint memories of the path she took while bringing melania back

[@dZ0647]

mohgs palace one is odd but there is rot there, but the other two locations, at least the one I noticed on my playthrough at the lake of rot i always considered to be swordsmen who taught melania how to fight.

[@isaacboyer2694]

You said one of Miquella's powers was to bewitch or enchant people I think? What if he used that on Mohg intentionally to be taken so that mohg would feed him blood in an attempt to strengthen himself for the rest of those plans he had?

[@Jackson-tn6fw]

Loved the video! Just wondering, what was the sword that you had on your back around 11:18?

[@ArlunGrim]

It's the Golden Order Greatsword, you can get it in a cave in the Consecrated Snowfield.

[@Jackson-tn6fw]

@@ArlunGrim thank you!

[@torgo_]

I wonder if there's some weird connection between the envoy bubble folk, and the clay men down in Nokron? They both have this bubble magic.

[@cross-eyedhollow]

Miquella didn't want the newly available job position. He wanted the whole business from the roots up. Hehehe.

[@d4usa]

Awesome! What’s your armor/weapon load out though? You look awesome

[@SilverShadow1617]

It would be so cool if they added Dlc for new quest lines that lead into new endings. If they did then one for Miquella would be amazing.

[@jackalx2154]

Miquella has a lot of symbollism with regards to sewing. The needles are in reference to him and he can spin silk it seems. He's probably able to alter life through a process like weaving or stitching. Kinda how the Godskins can make living clothes from the skin of gods.

[@TheRealEvilSink]

a very cool dlc idea i have, is that from could make a miquella dlc, instead of fighting malenia we can inform her that mohg has him. several paths to take from there story wise, but killing malenia had always seemed like a bad thing to do, since she is only waiting for miquella at that point

[@ajackass5950]

Fantastic video

[@puzzleheaded6195]

I have this theory that ties Ranni to Miquella and it’s brought much of the story together. It starts with the The Beast Eye. “Claw-marked stone eye received from Gurranq, Beast Clergyman. It is said to tremble when near Deathroot. The murky violet iris writhes as if alive.
"I am not sated... Feed me more...Death..." I personally believe that the Item description is the key to tying it to the Dusk/Gloam eyed queen aka Marika the eternal. The short version is that judging from Iji and Ranni’s dialogue, we know that when each Empyrean are chosen by their two fingers, they are given a shadow that will betray them if they should ever go against the Greater Will. When Marika began to plot against the Greater Will, I believe Maliketh used Marika’s own Great Rune, Destined Death, against her and took the eye after impaling her with the crimson spear you see in the final arena. It would explain why her corpse is missing her left eye, why the eye has a claw mark, and is surrounded by Marika’s stony flesh. This eye could very well have been passed down to some of her children as well. Melina- she reveals to have the same eye, on the same side of her face, in the lord of frenzy ending. Malenia - obviously this is pure speculation but I think the rot that covers her eyes was an intentional creative decision to hide this very secret. Miquella - maybe we’ll find out in the DLC Ranni - It’s hard to tie Ranni with being a daughter to Marika but she does possess the same Gloam colored eye in the exact same pupil. I believe Ranni’s pupil color that she never opens is Golden and that’s basing it from Melina. In fact, the golden color from Melinas right eye only changes to white in the flame of frenzy ending, after the golden order is no more and grace is gone. Shortly after I had another big theory that began with Torrent, that’s right. Particularly about who the former master might be. “A delicate goldwork ring. Can be used as a finger whistle.” I scratched my head on that question for a bit and it lead me to two candidates. First one is Miquella. Second is Ranni. I’ll make some points that back up both of these contenders: Miquella: The spectral steed whistle is made of a delicate “goldwork”. I didn’t think much of it at first but after seeing the flame of frenzy ending, I’ve speculated that the material is Unalloyed Gold. This is backed by the fact that the whistle is still intact after the flame of frenzy is unleashed. We know that Miquella’s needle is made from the same material and has the properties to ward away the effects of the flame of frenzy and rot, which both originate from outer gods. Ranni: This one is less likely but upon inspecting Ranni’s discarded Empyrean flesh, you can see that she had red hair and is missing a 🦶 much like how Radahn is missing both feet. In fact, all of the red haired demigods are crippled in the same way and use some kind of crutch to help them get around(Malenia with her prosthetic feet and Radahn with his gravitational powers). It might have something to do with the Curse of the Fire Giant….hmmm….but I digress, I speculated what Leonard is to Radahn, Torrent was to Ranni before she became a doll. Shortly after, I started to my formulate my craziest theory in the game and the more I played with it, the more everything began to tie in a bow. Ranni WAS Miquella. I’ll try to explain with my biggest points: 1.I believe that the Amber Egg Radagon gave to Rennala contains the Great Rune of Miquella. I also believe that Rennala is trying to rebirth Miquella using the rune. Juvenile Scholar Cap Reads: Yet their rebirth is not without imperfections, and thus do they repeat the process, eventually becoming utterly dependent upon it. I speculate that the “imperfections” are happening because of Miquella’s curse(eternal childhood) and until it’s perfected, Ranni(Miquella) will continue to inhabit the doll. Backing up my previous theory, this would also explain why they all have gold/dusk eyes. 2.Another supporting evidence is by looking at the rune of the unborn, then looking at Malenia’s. In order for it to make sense I have to mention another of my biggest theories and that is Marika and Radagon were born twins, had their children before becoming one, and most of their children are born twins as well. This is backed up by the fact that every Great Rune in the game bears a striking resemblance to their twin counterpart. Malenia & Miquella(confirmed twins) Margitt & Mohg(confirmed twins) Rykard & Radahn The only one I can’t tie this to is Godrick but it is said he has distant relations and not a direct offspring. That country bumpkin. 3.Another key is Ranni’s discarded empyrean flesh. Obviously, it’s charred so it’s impossible to tell but I’d wager it looks like Malenia’s. The corpse has Malenia’s red hair and her stature, and she was crippled as well. Speaking of Malenia, this would be a good explanation as to why she went to Caelid to challenge Radahn and be desperate enough to nuke the place with her scarlet rot. She was serving Miquella(Ranni). 4.There are item descriptions that reveal that Miquella used to be a golden order fundamentalist, but I believe he/she switched sides after her and all of her sibling demigods were born with curses and were expected to follow the Greater Will, but I think the breaking point was when Marika(the mother) fell and was betrayed by Maliketh(This would also explain how she and Iji know about the true nature of Blaidd) after possibly wanting to free her children. Miquella might’ve been chosen as the next heir(which would explain why Mohg wanted to be his/her consort) but instead decided to create her own fate following Rennala’s teachings about the moon but in order for her to set herself and her siblings free, she would have to slay their two fingers(Finger Reader Crone, Liurnia) which I believe she did but before she could get to her own they retreated to the stars and are being protected by Radahn. 5.After becoming her consort, Ranni says that her age will not be of “gold” but the “stars”. Miquella is heavily tied to gold and the properties it possesess to ward away the influence of the outer gods especially once it’s unalloyed. This is backed up by using miquellas needle to rid ourselves of the flame of frenzy, Malenia prosthetics, and Torrents whistle. In fact, all of Ranni’s entourage can be seen wearing unalloyed gold. 6.Everyone speculated that Miquella has ties to and St. Trina’s gender is open to interpretation. In fact, the item description in the Sword of St. Trina states that he could’ve been a boy or girl. St. Trina is heavily tied to sleep and there is an instance in the game where Ranni enters a deep slumber at the same time as Rogier after he asks you to retrieve her curse mark and she murders the dude in his sleep for prying too much *shivers*. I believe she takes the form of St. Trina when she is dream phasing. Also, the juveniles in Rennala’s fight sing about sleep. 7.The Miquellean straight sword is modeled after the carian sword but it has amber(just like the egg) instead of Glinstone and the real Loretta can be found at the haligtree tying Caria to Miquella as well. In fact, I personally believe the Albinauric’s(all generations) are Miquellas(Ranni’s) subjects. This would explain why half of the haligtree Medalion is in the Albinauric village right under Ranni’s moon realm. Coincidence? 8.In Castle Sol, there is a ghost that talks about Miquella’s Eclipse, which is pretty symbolic to Ranni’s destiny(moon taking over the sun) 9.In her ending, before she brings about the age of the stars, the way she holds Marika’s(her true mother)head makes it seem like she’s making a vow to her to not be influenced by the outer gods anymore, but to prosper with true freedom and she chooses you to be her consort(Suck it Mohg) That’s my interpretation anyways. 10.Finally, Ranni do sound like a child and that she tiny I may have missed something but those are my strongest points. The only things that could disprove this is Miquella’s cocoon in Mohg’s palace but I believe that it’s nothing but a husk. In fact the game eludes to this. And Ranni has dialogue where she talks about being chosen as Empyreans and she says I, Miquella, and Malenia. Could be she’s being tricky with her words in order to protect her TRUE identity(which she’s done before) but who can say.

[@Justin-pp2sw]

Sorry for the off topic question, but what armour are you wearing in this video? Great content btw 🙂

[@bamcorpgaming5954]

Just an fyi: I've killed gowry 4 times in my playthrough and he turns into a pest when he died, and when I revisit he has respawned and says let's put that behind us, you'll learn the truth one day or something to that effect. So it fits very well with your theory.

[@BigBossDP]

Can't unsee that humanoid-like form in the roots 20:01. Did the tree start taking Miquella's form?

[@TNTales]

and is it just me or does the shape that Malenia is leaning on have a similar shape as her pose?

[@huntercollins4985]

I was just about to say. I saw the first shot of the roots and had to make sure he doesn’t say shit about that. My theory is miquela becoming a god, means he is fused with the haligtree. I also noticed how his needle can stop the influence/communion of gods/outer gods. I think miquela wants all outer gods gone and for him to be a supreme outer god. Hence him messing with spirits, sleep(if he is saint trina),and trying to stop scarlet rot. I don’t think he’s a bad guy. But most good guys on the surface are bad guys in fromsoft games

[@plus6874]

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[@nlm7033]

Hey its my favorite demi-god, and creator of the Haligtree: Dan Halig. So fun fact: the Scarlet Bloom off to the left before Malenia is Millicent, you get her clothes from it. There are also 7 coffins up the stairs: for Millicent, her 4 sisters, and the twins perhaps.

[@AngryPlayerGaming]

I'm pretty sure it's there even if you kill millicent isn't it? (I could be wrong I don't remember if it was or not on the one playthrough I did kill her in) if it is than it couldn't be millicent.

[@syncarn]

@@AngryPlayerGaming If you follow the Millicent questline and betray her in the end by siding with her sister then she blooms further up the tree (or, if you side with her, she dies without blooming), so the bloom down near Milenia is not hers.

[@plus6874]

Congratulations you have been selected among the shortlisted winner's for the ongoing ps5 giveaway What'sapp the number above ^^^^^^^^^^^^👆…………

[@sebastianreyes4839]

Excellent theory

[@angryzergling7832]

I saw someone wearing a shirt with a stylized tree logo emblem and the brand name in bold beneath the logo and thought to myself: you know what I really want? A parody of that shirt with the holy tree crest above the text 'HALIGTREE' in the same font as that shirt. It was a Timberland shirt...tell me making a Haligtree version of that wouldn't be the coolest thing ever?

[@FoxBatinaHat]

There are alot of parralels with the big (5). The romans described the ancients Celts as worshiping 5 gods with the qualities to their own (listed bellow). There are alot of similarities in Elden Ring; Athena (Malenia)_combat + golden needle Apollo (Miquella)_child protector + medecine Jupiter (Godwyn)_ lightning qweller of storms. Mercury (Ranni)_ destiny and manipulation Mars (Rabahn)_ warrior & camraderie

[@susvik7986]

I think the baby malenia and miquella statue with their parent is representing radagon and not marika. After all the begining of the haligtree start by miquella abandoning fundamentalism after it failed to heal malenia. The statue could be a representation of miquella embracing his father and the golden order in order to save his twin who's being afflicted by the scarlet rot (represented by the branch of dead leaves) Also someone pointed out that there isn't a single stake of marika on that place (i'm not sure about this) so i guess miquella only inherited marika's gaslight/gatekeep/girlboss attitude from her but the emotional support came from radagon. Either way i find it quite cute.

[@gretchling5012]

I think miquella's intentions are supposed to be purely in the realm of speculation (for the time being, anyways) - that said, I do like this theory a lot. I this story in my head of a younger Miquella, living in Leyndell, traveling down into the shunning grounds in search of knowledge on primordial life. There he would find the omen, and everything else discarded by the Erdtree, reaffirming his hostility towards the Outer Gods. And perhaps this is where he first met Mohg, who would remember young Miquella until the time of the Shattering... it's more of a headcanon than anything, really, but I'm of the belief that we're supposed to have those about the distant past of the Lands Between.

[@Sealey-mi6kh]

Those egg cocoons you’re wondering what’s inside of they look exactly like the oracle envoys and would make sense they sort of just grow into them they look so similar

[@XIIthehangedmanXII]

20:00 Btw, look at these roots - doesn't it look vaguely like a lying humanoid with something ripped out of it's stomach? It was somewhere said that Mogh kidnapped Miquella when he was merging with the tree...