Elden Ring Lore - Romina, Saint of the Bud

[@MrMobius010]

This sorta borders a theory I have. I think it's the shaman blood that made Marika's children easy prey for the outer gods. Specially her kids with Radagon, it's the hapsburg jaw for possession by gods.

[@ChrisSummers-AlienFaeRE]

Baseless red propaganda, ironically a berg fan favourite of late.

[@momnihkanshanz]

Romina being a Shaman makes so much sense. I always thought that her apearance looks like a burnt victim and the centipee and scorpion were burnt together with her and blended their flesh like the crucible of life. Her being called "Saint" makes me wonder if she was ever in a pot to become one. Great video :)

[@HlPBone]

I’ve always wondered about Romina being called a “Saint” too. Now I’m thinking more on St. Trina Very much a fan of the grafting and blending theory. Especially since it looks like the centipede and scorpion body parts are replacing Romina’s legs

[@FullMetalElric]

Seems like the product of a Gu ritual.

[@HeevaEgo]

If we follow this theory, It really recontextualises a lot of Messmer’s Crusade on a personal level, as shown in the trailer. We know Marika at some point wouldve likely associated with the Hornsent, until she didnt. Romina may have been a Shaman who WILLINGLY decided to not overthrow the Hornsent, and instead become part of it - their saint, unlike Marika. And if we follow this theory, then Marika would’ve sent Messmer to rid of a Shaman who decided to side with the enemy. The theme song for Romina even plays during Messmer’s highlight portion of the Story Trailer. The song is meant to tie Messmer and Romina together, burnt in fire. I’ve always thought so much about the naming convention in Elden Ring too. Almost every single person in the basegame, beginning with the initials G R or M, all have ties to Marika. In the DLC, we have two characters with ‘M’ and ‘R’ that the players haven’t found the connections too yet. If we believe the theory that Radagon is his own person - or that Marika conceived Radagon before overthrowing the Tower - then Romina’s “curse” would fall in-line with characters who share Radagon’s Blood. Perhaps daughter? Sister? Another distant relative. The other character with a GRM name is Midra. I still haven’t fully figured out the implications of his naming convention, but I’m almost confident he is also of Numen descent. We know that Marika’s people (particularly Shamans) were either sacrificed or used by the Hornsent (Implied by Grandam’s dialogue). Midra would follow perfectly inline with Romina and Marika, both who are of Numen blood who were probably spared to become a utility for the Hornsent. Midra was employed for his curious knowledge. Midra, like Romina, probably even submitted to the Hornsent, making Marika’s ascension to overrule order that much more impactful. EDIT: the second paragraph is pure speculation. Don’t deep it

[@Αστερίων13]

7:38 The centipede part is possibly connected to the fact that in japanese culture they represent decay, stagnation, rot and impurity/kegare, a central concept in shintoism. It's a theme present in other fromsoft games, like vermins in Bloodborne and the senpou monks in Sekiro. Kegare is found within corpses so it's not a surprise that in Elden Ring the centipede mark is also linked to death

[@acudar]

Good name for a new strain, saint of the bud

[@blue_hoodie9987]

She's a wasp. When she flies in the air and does a ground attack. She actually lets out a stinger that looks like a wasp stinger as she lands on you. Similar to the flower blooms twice ash of war

[@kranvis2885]

“Because in this battle, the monster is YOU…” *Has insane itch to start a new Demon Souls character all of the sudden*

[@FreeRunful]

A thought that occurred to me, if the shamans were left alone by the hornsent, I wonder what their traditions would have looked like if their bodies could meld with other living things

[@ExalNysta]

We know Shaman Village has one somewhat inside a tree, where we find the Golden Braid. Bonny Village has another one in the same pose, but near a dead tree, where we find the gesture. Theres no proof it was from their own will, but i'm inclined to believe their culture would be around trees and flora in general

[@FreeRunful]

@ I wanna piggy back off of that awesome insight. If “the grandmother” and shaman had traditions with trees it’d probably explain the whole genetic makeup of the Erdtree and possibly Marika merging with the great tree- creating the Erdtree. I guess this is obvious to most people by now but I’m glad I got to hash those thoughts out and make that connection. Thank you :)

[@LoboPal]

Fun Fact: your ending description mirrors real history of syphillis

[@andrewstirling2051]

How so?

[@ChrisSummers-AlienFaeRE]

Neurosyphilis? Hmm?

[@LoboPal]

@@andrewstirling2051 10:35 There is discussion that specific French wars led to the significant spread of syphilis across Europe

[@LoboPal]

She also has a wasp stinger underneath her. I think it's more of an aspect of death as a form of rebirth in the style of metamorphosis. Rot is a byproduct of Abundance. Rot is an effect of Disease. Rot is an effect of Venom.

[@agxryt]

This is some really nice, haunting background music

[@marystone860]

The woman in the trailer IS Romina, because, if you listen carefully, part of her Boss Theme, her Second Phase, is in the Trailer Theme too! JUST like, obiviously, part of Miquella's Boss Theme was inside the Trailer, but we didn't know it yet! I never thought Romina could be a Shaman! Makes PREFECT sense tough! Maybe she somehow escaped from the Potentate's before she was stuffed into a jar, and made her way to the Church!

[@wizdoom1]

Damn DLC created more questions lol…still loved it

[@ConfusedJarbert]

So Romina, the blue dancer who cleansed rot in the past, melania's teacher, and the dancer of ranah of the DLC all feel connected to me, though I can't put into words the throughline I am seeing there. Obviously the rot connection of all involved but the dance of ranah, but, like, idk, something about all those elements just seem to be related to some missing thing we haven't figured out yet.

[@haven4adream]

I'm just mad she didn't get a cutscene, it's absolutely criminal.

[@square-table-gaming]

I couldn't agree more

[@warpstorm1988]

I like the idea of her being a shaman; it fits with what The Tarnished Archaeologist and Smoughtown put forward that Marika was a maiden of a church before becoming a goddess. Maybe Romina and the Church of the Bud were collateral damage in the razing of Belurat?

[@NedStarrk007]

Ya why would messmer attack a numen??

[@HeevaEgo]

@@NedStarrk007 we know how Marika is. She wouldn’t have cared who Messmer burned, so as long as they join her in overthrowing her captors. It’s very implied that Romina guards the Church, she is also mourning losses in the Trailer. All this, to me, tells me that Romina - unlike Marika - decided to stay and help the Hornsent. Romina probably embraced the belief that she would become a ‘Saint’ if she stayed. And guess what, she did end up becoming a merging saint of a crucible as promised. Marika simply couldn’t fathom the implications, nor could she accept the Hornsent’s promises after what they did to traumatise her. Marika wanted to burn down the tower nevertheless. No matter who was in it. Remember. Messmer is a heartless child devoid of any love, joy or embrace. He lived his entire life cursed from birth. He was a tool from the beginning. The only thing he cared about was making sure his friends (Fire Knights - the upper Erdtree echelon, and the Black Knights) were treated well, as well as achieving his mother’s love. He became the symbol of fear itself, all so he can satisfy these two things. I doubt he harboured any sympathy for Romina, especially if Marika commanded him to burn the church - with Romina in it

[@JusKalZ]

YOOO haven't checked the channel in a while SO glad I did when I did, I been wanting this video to happen for a while lol awesome stuff brother amazing video like always 🙏

[@freddidye4395]

Dang Morpho knight made his way into another heroes path

[@planetcheese]

Messmer was a Kirby fan the whole time; he saw a butterfly, then out of fear, burned down everything in the entire area and hid himself up in his room miles away

[@Ronnie.rocket.333]

What your opinion about the 'Saint' title? Trina is a Saint too, to a specific element (sleep) and had her body modified with flowers, as the Romina's face. The only mention to sainthood is the bridge connecting Limgrave to Caelid, where we first met the pumpkin mad

[@ChrisSummers-AlienFaeRE]

Saints are normally only ever canonized in history for making great sacrifice. Usually martyrs but not always.

[@kenganmmvs8615]

Saint of the bud is what I call my drug dealer

[@herrzyklon]

Ooh you're hard

[@kenganmmvs8615]

@@herrzyklon how does buying weed make me hard. Sounds like your a twelve year old I guarantee half the people in your family have smoked weed

[@goldenbough6563]

Couldn't agree more. Romina is a numen. This challenges the widely shared notion that Marika's crusade was motivated by the treatment of her kin in the land of shadow. Romina wasn't jarred prior to messmer's crusade. Seeing as she is the only person in the dlc actually described as a saint, this could suggest that the hornsent penchant for jarring was motivated by her transformation. An enemy that deserves a second look in relation to this issue is the broken statue. They too are long-lived, meld well with others and possess that straight fair hair typical of marika and the shamen.

[@johncrondis4563]

Awesome, I have been seeing romina as a jar saint too, especially due to saint trina (flower, poison, purple).

[@Zard1212]

Amazing video. First of all - appreciate staying consistent with confirmed lore (unlike most of the videos these days). I also feel like your shaman theory does make sense. Subscribed.

[@square-table-gaming]

Thank you!

[@Clepsydra909]

I really want to know the lore behind the choice to have her guard the sealing tree, as well as the fact that she's the only other mandatory boss besides Messmer and Radahn/Miquella.

[@Technodreamer]

Butterflies for the Scarlet Rot makes a lot of sense to me. It's not just "rot", it's "rot-and-rebirth". You could just as easily call it "Life-from-Death". As Poison Armament tells us: "Those who dwell within poison know rot all too well. The death that begets life, that comes to all equally. That is to say: it is the cycle of rebirth put into practice." Butterflies come from caterpillars. They "die" into a chrysalis, melt into nothing, and are reborn as butterflies from it.

[@Dragonlord-Tempest]

Thanks for the amazing video keep up the good work I’m excited for your videos there so good I hope your having a good day

[@roderickcochranjr.6931]

We're the monster in alot of em sadly🥲 Elden Ring Is, has, and will forever be GOATED 🙏🏽💯🫡

[@FaithAckerman-cb4oo]

lol I just beat her last night and I woke up and here’s a video about her on KZbin 😂 love you Elden ring content creators. ♥️

[@Tilburyy]

Pretty cool being here within a minute of upload ^^

[@ゼロシン]

Romina probably felt sad when she dreamt morgott singing skibidi toilet while kicking boc 190034 times before boc admitted defeat and became a ramen More absurd theory on community post

[@woffydoggy686]

Your vids are amazing bro, you always have an interesting theories about minor characters. I love it ❤

[@DoctorTBR]

i'm no monster, i just wanna melt the world away 😥

[@DanielGarcia-rx3kt]

One thought that disturbs me about Romina being a shaman. Like the Tooth Whip says and like we see in the transitory scene of Godrick's second phase, Romina may have needed to inflict wounds to her body to allow for the grafting of these creatures into her body. Meaning she cut off parts of her lower half and maybe made incisions into her chest for those jewels/eyes. Dammit Miyazaki. Why? 😵

[@stevensonjohnson9213]

YES, FINALLY!! THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO!!!!🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉

[@mattsherman4964]

I was always confused when it said she “weaved it into the scarlet rot” I wondered if that meant she created the scarlet rot or if she just summoned it into the world. Thanks for clearing that up

[@Castl3_]

This was very nice, thank you!

[@square-table-gaming]

Thank you too!

[@AegisKHAOS]

I most definitely am a monster, thank you very much. 👍 Also, kinda forgotten about that woman in the trailer, so her being Romina is something that didn't cross my mind. Also, Romina as a shaman is a theory I like as well.

[@EvergreenxWizard4141]

Praise the bud 🧙‍♂️

[@shaunconnally4794]

Oh oh oh can you do the history of the hornset please I need to know more about them

[@444dmoney]

Niceee been waiting for this one 😃😃

[@evafox9696]

I’m curious what your take is on if a Age of Rot ending would truly be a bad thing? The concept of Rot is all about life, death and then new life from death. Like a life dying and becoming soil, to breathe new life into the next. It’s a stark contrast to Marika’s ‘deathless’ age, and the Frenzied Flame just ending everything, souls included.

[@pg3223]

Romina also has a flower head

[@Duransurik]

Music was perfect 10/10

[@Zeromortalsplan1]

She makes giaus look like the best boss in the game

[@LYCAN-MASTER]

I watched this video recently during my newest play through. So while going through Fia's quest line at its end in the nameless eternal city I think I noticed something and I say I think because I accidentally clicked passed one of Fia's voice lines that I'm fairly sure when I saw the text for what she was supposed to say, she mentioned something about a centipede. So if Fia did I am wondering if it relates somehow to Romina and her centipede side?

[@Nicoseilas]

Nah, i'm glad none of these buds blew. We had one blooming and look what happened 💀 I was thinking if maybe Romina was a Shaman too, someone who could be a god. I'm glad someone elaborated this.

[@youssefhossameldin435]

My tarnished character , gunslinger Jeff Briggs made peace with the monster within and he tamed it , so killing Romina was bad but necessary . Jeff has killed a lot of innocents back in his youth and he got punished enough

[@kelpopunch5923]

Saint of the bud and saint of the butt

[@melomet3789]

When Romina "found a twisted divine element and weaved it into the baleful scarlet rot," does that mean that she brought the scarlet rot to the Lands of Shadow and then it cursed/infected Malenia in the Lands Between after? Like Romina predating Malenia and being responsible for the rot even existing in the game's reality?

[@YATZIwastaken]

I wonder if there is any ties to centipedes and the centipedes in sekiro, if the land of reeds was potentially (far stretch) sekiro, I wonder if the power of almost cursed immortality or strength plays a role in the lands between, centipedes basically created a version of those who live in death in sekiros world, needing the mortal blade to kill them, if those who hunt those who live in death use it for some reason (maybe to mock them, maybe taking the power for themselves, I'm not sure fully what) then I wonder if that ties somehow into Romina, especially since shes labeled a saint rather than a maiden, once again I'm not sure fully but I feel like the label saint has some much deeper meaning in it, maybe tying into messmers "crusade" of fire. Secondly the shaman flesh melding, I'm sure there is something to be explored with grafting and godfrey, he had the weakest tie to marika and godfrey yet seemed to be the most apt at merging his flesh with others? Thirdly what actually are the buds? Are they just flowers simple as that? Or would they bloom into beings similar to melania, because she bloomed but from the video it seemed these buds were separate from the rot originally so what happened there. Fourthly, the swordsman that locked the rot god (scorpion?) away, could that also have some potential ties to sekiro somehow

[@agxryt]

4:20 does this mean she created the scarlet rot? If so, does that mean the crusade against the hornsent happened before Malenia was even born?

[@square-table-gaming]

I don't believe she created the rot since the original rot goddess existed long ago, but she certainly discovered the ingredients for rot and spread it through the land of shadow

[@Αστερίων13]

The japanese description is more clear and straightforward and simply says that she "clung to the scarlet rot", most likely out of desperation

[@hhowdy]

Next video is Halloween! Wonder what that’s gonna be the 🎃👻

[@square-table-gaming]

Next Elden Lore will actually be after Halloween, but who knows, maybe we have something in store for the holiday...

[@hhowdy]

@@square-table-gaming Bro PLEASE get that video out on time 🙏🙏

[@NedStarrk007]

I love the numen theory!! But why would messmer attack her then? I love this game but sometimes I really wish we had more info😂

[@square-table-gaming]

I don't believe he did. The sealing tree can only be burned by his flame and it only burns when we burn it. I think the church was caught in the attack of belurat but wasn't a target.

[@NedStarrk007]

@ ya tho at makes sense. Or maybe she was actually working with him? She does protect the sealing tree.

[@shemasmcguire3999]

Doing the finaly of spooky season 3 days before Halloween is an odd choice

[@square-table-gaming]

Our Elden Lore series releases every Saturday. But check back on Halloween, there may be a treat waiting...

[@shemasmcguire3999]

@@square-table-gaming fair nuff, thanks

[@Papathunda]

If rot and scorpions are related, why aren't they dealing Rot?

[@square-table-gaming]

Tough to say but the connection is 1-to-1 in the written lore. I'm willing to bet the scarlet rot was only ever meant to be used by the goddess herself

[@ClashxClipzz]

Don't they do poison? Isn't poison somehow connected to rot. Atleast thats what i thought.

[@dumbdead8835]

Hey for next year’s Halloween could you guys talk about some bloodborne characters

[@square-table-gaming]

We're still too small to talk about anything but Elden Ring and get any kind of traction from KZbin haha. The algorithm has decided we are all Elden Ring all the time. That said, things have slowed down for us growth-wise, so why not?

[@dumbdead8835]

@@square-table-gaming lol yeah Elden ring is more popular, but yeah if you guys are down I would love those videos your current videos are already great

[@shadyomo3636]

11:04 she's wouldn't have taken it up the WHAT?

[@square-table-gaming]

"taken up the bud"

[@someothercobra8360]

I would like to say ramina is in fact not horrifying and scary she is very beautiful that is all thank you

[@square-table-gaming]

Why not both?

[@Αστερίων13]

Just wanted to congratulate you for pronouncing Romina right, I've heard many people saying Ròmina. It's an italian name and as an italian it hurts a little every time 😂

[@square-table-gaming]

1/4 Italian here with an off-the-boat grandfather. No way I was getting this wrong haha

[@Αστερίων13]

@@square-table-gaming Eccellente

[@D.boys6t9]

She Probubly grafted the centipede and the scorpion into her legs

[@Saphedon]

Nice

[@the1ghost764]

❤

[@christopherlyndsay8611]

Missed opportunity for another skeleton wheel enemy - imagine a centipede wheel

[@HenryGreenEngine3]

i'd really rather not

[@Banuune]

You should have mentioned that Romina looks like she is wearing the black knife set. They are said to be numen. Marika is numen. Marika is shaman. So shaman and numen might be the same (:

[@square-table-gaming]

Based on her character model I don't really see that. The black knives are much lankier. Her clothes in the trailer could be any garment with a flowy hood

[@nbmoleminer5051]

For the algorithm

[@square-table-gaming]

Always appreciated

[@DizzyDeez]

PLEASE, turn all your shorts into a long video, it would make it easier to watch them on consoles! I’d die to have another long duration video.

[@square-table-gaming]

Check out our compilations playlist. We have one that's a full 24 hours!

[@DizzyDeez]

@ THANK YOU GUYS, you’ve become my #1 FromSoft lore creators. Vaati would be proud of STG.

[@HeyGuy4321]

My Bluntstone is ready 4 this

[@blumiu2426]

It's probably just the Japanese choosing names that sound cool and add grandiosity, but why is she called a saint when saints are those that died for their faith (leaving out the specifics to Christianity).

[@CiviteitRN]

Not exactly, what you mention there Is a martyr. A saint Is someone who Is recognized by their holiness, likeness or closeness to god. That last part I think Romina fits. But there might be something with the translation, as in sekiro there Is a character named sword saint, and I don't think he fits the christian definition

[@blumiu2426]

@@CiviteitRN Wrong. The only time you see a saint in the Bible is when it refers to someone dead in Christ. Catholics made up what you're talking about. Remember Mother Teresa didn't want to be made a saint, but they did anyway. Claiming to make saints is adding status points, it's not biblical.