Elden Ring Lore - The Prophet & The Prisoner

Who was the prisoner and why was he locked away? What prophecy forced the prophets to roam the land with their neck shackled? Join us as we dive into the mysterious origins of these starting classes.
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[@ilejovcevski79]

Brother Coren will make any leap of faith to justify what he has chosen to believe in. He even abandons the Gold Mask. Why wouldn't he ignore the prophecy? He is more then ready to adjust his tenants when it suits him, just like so many zealots across histroy.

[@doodlebop921]

The interesting one in that story is Goldmask. He sees through the bullshit. Coryhn is a zealot. Goldmask is a prophet.

[@d.r.1471]

I did the prisoner and spent my time in jail getting my GED from The Academy of Raya Lucaria now I’m happy married to Doll I Met and we have a dog named Blaid any reading this you can always turn your life around!

[@GeminibBorn]

True😂, but didn’t you kill the dog? And don’t you live on a dark moon far away from everyone? And your girl is actually a possessed wooden doll. 😅 You ever get a splinter … from your extra curricular activities?

[@SillyLittleMonstah]

You mean Gaol?

[@zenebean]

Took forever to crack that blasted helmet off! Luckily I found this guy, Iji. He was reluctant when I put my head on the anvil, but it all worked out fine. Minimal drain bamage

[@AnggoDoggo]

No pain no gain amiright?

[@SMarie-zk9oj]

Love how he called brain damage “drain damage” further selling the point he has brain damage. I just ruined the jo-

[@Awoken0]

My two favorite starting classes aesthetics-wise.

[@jasonheath7045]

The Wretch is the only starting class that might not show up in these Elden Lore vids

[@alpacaofthemountain8760]

Great video! Love the idea of making an exiled Carian Knight build. Also, the prisoner might’ve been locked up in an Evergaol, considering the rift design in their shield.

[@locustpreacher2102]

The prophets being blinded for seeing flame within the golden order and the blinded thorn sorcerors who've gone up to the peak of the Giants' flame alongside the fire monks is a connection i never made! Reminds me of how Shabriri had some form of dealing with the Frenzied Flame and he was also blinded. Seems to be a running theme of sorts, gotta keep an eye out for more

[@_ariosto1519]

Thanks for another great video! 🎉 Iji says that Sellen, “Carian weed”, can only be killed after Radan’s death sets stars free. Maybe prisoner is also Carian royalty, like in Alexadre Dumas’ Man in Iron Mask. I think a treacherous knight would just be executed. 😮

[@TiberiusRex182]

Sellen and carian weed, no wonder they were prisoners

[@kauaichan]

I think the most fascinating thing about the prisoner mask is how it mirrors Melina/Ranni’s own face. Left eye sealed shut, right eye barely open. Yet the mouth is completely unobstructed…sure, we can assume this is to eat but as a prisoner it’s the one unobstructed place in the entire helmet. Both have evidence of shame being a helmet, a wooden noose…Just like on the Prophets, the EYES are covered, yet EVEN as a blasphemers-BOTH of them have in no way been silenced, only shunned by society. It just says to me on a symbolic level that SEEING is way more powerful and terrifying than PREACHING what they saw. The golden older lets them SPEAK and possibly leads the people astray but it’s their EYES that are punished. Taken. Reminds me of how Marika STOLE the gold/grace from their eyes/Godfrey. If seeing is believing, what is the point of talking? Ok I’m done lol Ty again for the insight!!💯💕

[@Phantom17685]

That makes quite sense to me. Another example of punishment on the eyes that comes to mind is Shabriri, the most reviled man in history. His punishment for the worship of the Three Fingers and the Outer God of Chaos was, guess what, the removal of his eyes. But he kept on worshipping, even letting the Flame inhabit his empty sockets. And when we meet him in the form of the reanimated Yura, he problemlessly talks to us, but keeps hiding his frenzy-afflicted eyes.

[@user-ss4qr3qg9e]

I seriously love the professionalism you out into your videos

[@square-table-gaming]

Thank you! I like to think we've come a long way from our first few Elden Lores

[@agm5424]

Can't say anything about the inn game lore origins of the Prisoner Tarnished buy I may have a theory in the inspiration of the Prisioner ar a meta level or something like that. To be specific I believe that the Prisioner is supposed to be Elden Ring's expy and take on the character Griffith from the manga Berserk. Let me explain and spoilers for the Berserk manga from here on out: First as we all know The Prisoner represents the archetype of the Spellblade, a swordsman that uses magic along side swordplay to fight. Story wise this makes the prisoner the perfect role for the Tarnished that brings about the Age of the Stars (AoS) ending, which in turn makes The Prisoner a full blown Expy/parallel of Griffith himself in the lore of Elden Ring due to all the parallels/similarities in both Griffith's story and the storyline the Prisioner Tarnish has to walk to reach that ending. First lets talk about Griffith. To make things short in the manga Berserk Griffith is taken prisioner for seducing the crown princesses of Midland and spends a year being tortured while wearing the iron mask shown in the video. Later, after being released by his companions he's given the choice to sacrifice said companions in order to kinda ascend/transform into an evil demonic god, a member of the GodHand; and the Prisioner's journey to bring about the AoS is a positive/good twist and interpretation of this, a "Griffith, but not actually Griffith, did nothing wrong" sceneario. How and why? The reasons/similarities are as follow: First: Griffith was a skilled swordsman that mainly uses a slender blade which allowed him to move freely in combat. The Prisioner, and the Spellblade archetype as a whole, also uses a slender blade and moves freely in combat in order to avoid damage as opposed to a full blown armored magic knight that dives head first in the thick of it and takes hits head on due to wearing a full set of armor. Second: While the magic knight is typically show as a fantasy version of a medieval British knight, the Spellblade is sometimes presented in fantasy with an appearance similar to that of a sword wielding French Musketeer. It is theorized by many Berserk fans that the story is mainly set in a fantasy version of France (there's a video somewhere in yt that may point at this) making Griffith a French man furthering the connection between him and the Prisioner/Spellblade. Third there's the Prisioner's origins: According to the game the Prisioner used to mingled among the elite or was a straight up member before "falling from grace". The elite being probably the Carian Royal Family since the spell that The Prisoner uses at the start of the game is one of Carian origin. In Griffith's case he was very well liked by the nobility of Midland before being sentenced. Fourth: Griffith's fall was due to him seducing Charlotte, the crown princess of Midland while the Tarnished Prisioner properly becomes the consort of Ranni the (legal) crown royal princes of the Carian Royal Family at the end of her quest, which is necessary to unlock the AoS ending. Four and a half: At the End of Ranni's quest line, when you become her consort, the Tarnished is gifted with the Darkmoon GreatSword. This would be perfect for the Prisioner who is a Spellblade and the Dark Moon Greatsword is a literal magical sword fit for the consort of a demigod known as the Lunar Princess. (Although personally I believe the Wing of Astel is a better intelligence weapon than the DMG.) Fifth: In order to achive his ascension into the GodHand Griffith willingly sacrificed his companions, the Band of the Hawk. At the end of Ranni's quest all of your questline companions, Ranni's subordinates, also end up dead due to different circumstances. The main difference being that while Griffith knew what He was doing the deaths of Blaid and Iggy were not intentional on part of the Tarnished and are seen as unfortunate; except for Sellevus, that creep got what he deserved. Sixth, and this is the big one: Griffith became/ascend into a member of the GodHand, a group of god like demons that serve an Eldritch god that is technically the main antagonist of the whole story, at least thematically speaking that is, the GH and Griffith in particular are the true bad guys. Meanwhile at the AoS ending Ranni, possibly representing an unseen moon themed god/entity (the jury is still out on that one), becomes the goddess of the new aforementioned age just like Marika was the goddess of the previous one. This would mean that as her consort the Tarnished/Prisioner ascended into a demigod, the Elden Lord of the Stars, just like Godfrey, Radagon and by extension both their respective children were ascended into god like status when they married Marika.

[@WunstarSymbiosis]

Miquella is Mycelia, Helphen's Steeple is Hyphae's Shelter which are Trees, Hyphae (Mycelium threads/fingers) comes from Hephaestus who is a god of fire and our gods of fire are water, plants, and fungi

[@SonicSanctuary]

It's easy for me to think that brother corrin just refused to believe his visions. But he still had them all the same look what he can teach you when you first meet him

[@Nemo12417]

What I find interesting is that the starting sorcerer class isn't a sorcerer from Raya Lucaria. No, it is an astrologer. In fact, possibly the only astrologer in the game. We know Godfrey and his men became Tarnished and were driven from the Lands Between. However, there are some other Tarnished who I'm not convinced had ever set foot there until they were summoned by the Guidance of Grace. Nephali occasionally talks about her former life, but none of it involves the Lands Between, but in her case at least, I suspect her likely blood relations to one of the greatest Tarnished of all time is what caused her to be raised from the dead as a Tarnished. I bring this up because it seems nearly impossible to me for your Astrologer starting character to have been from the Lands Between and having been exiled alongside Godfrey. Sorcery was initially outlawed under Marika's Erdtree empire, and even after that was loosened, it was never fully incorporated. And by the time it was legalized, the astrologers had long since given way to the sorcerers. So, if your Astrologer was from the Lands Between, they may have never heard of Marika's promise to one day raise them from the dead and summon them back, having been banished long before then.

[@dm_ex_machina3395]

I'm of the mind that the Tarnished are the actual warriors banished with Godfrey, not their descendants. Well, it may be a mixed bag. But I don't think all the descendants of the Tarnished are considered Tarnished themselves. So it makes you wonder what is the condition to be considered Tarnished. We have reason to believe time travel is involved somehow, and that there is a world beyond the Lands Between where Confessors act on behalf of the Two Fingers. We know that all of our character origins have reference to a functioning version of the Lands Between in their history. The prisoner was sentenced by someone, after all. The prophet was banished by someone. The vagabond knew some service in their past and the bandit preys upon some citizen who by the time of our game are all long dead (as mentioned by the commoners garb item description). I'm often wondering what these Lands are Between, exactly. Perhaps between the beginning and the end. Or the past and the present. It's not life and death, I don't think, because they mention a time in the Lands Between when Destined Death operated differently.

[@JeffNyman]

I think what makes some of this tricky is that your character is a descendant of the original Tarnished exiles. A distant descendant. The events of the Shattering happened "an age ago." So nothing that happened in the Lands Between would have any relevance at all to your character. Not only that you were dead and then reanimated. So you're essentially not just a distant descendant but an amnesiac zombie as well. The Prisoner has always been a bit of a ludonarrative issue because ... you can easily take the mask off! Granted, that's needed for game mechanics but narratively, it makes little sense. The Prophet has the opposite problem: once you reanimate in the Lands Between, there is probably zero reason you would keep the blindfold on.

[@MrSmido1]

Made a prophet class for fun and ended up making is a faith int caster. Being dedicated to casting felt right for the pursuit of knowledge

[@erinuzumaki7606]

Great video, makes me wanna try that class

[@BlackHermit]

I always liked prophets. Those of the Lands Between are great, too!

[@Kraziel797]

I humbly again ask for Demi-Humans lore video, and maybe the Wreched Starter.

[@tonymathieu7449]

Used to follow all your videos, I love that you keep the same song on every video, it really represents elden ring for me 😊

[@TiberiusRex182]

Im here! Everyone remain calm!

[@38Jim]

Oh thank god

[@china_is_asshole]

I wasn't going to watch until you did.

[@mrmagpie3637]

Thank fuck you are man id be lost otherwise

[@WoK_Spider]

What would we ever do if you weren’t here

[@LoafofSourdough]

@@WoK_Spider Let’s be real, we’d probably just die without them.

[@dylanmorgan2023]

There, now I've listened through the entire elden lore playlist in about a week 😂

[@square-table-gaming]

That's dedication!

[@dylanmorgan2023]

I absolutely love listening to lore type stuff opposed to music while I'm at work, and I'm glad to have learned so much more thanks to your videos! Thanks for the awesome content!

[@Suesserto]

Another thing to note is that the Shield that the Prisoner carry, The Rift shield, boosts focus. And focus increases resistance to Madness and Sleep. The shield depicts a glaring eye which reminds me of the Frenzy Sauron eye towers which we see throughout the game. Could this be a hidden connection to the Frenzy Flame and the Prisoner that the tweet was trying to hint?

[@dm_ex_machina3395]

It definitely is. You find that shield near a bunch of frenzied flame cultists. A merchant is nearby them. Interestingly, you find them right beside a land bridge from the Caria Manor, near the Back of the Manor site of grace. So this shield, Caria Manor, and the frenzied flame all in close proximity. I don't think it's an accident.

[@salvatoresciortino946]

ever think about all those rises we come across in game were we find magics? i notice some of them are named after magics but some seem to be named after people. iv never been able to find anything connecting them besides two of course this is just speculation if you can even call it that. Lenne's rise could possibly be connected to the sorcerer who gave sellen the glintstone key she gives us? lastly the two rises in the Consecrated Snowfield and mountain tops of the giants be connected to rennala since there is some items connecting her to that area before she came down to liurnia? maybe its just me who has thopught about the most cryptic things?

[@salvatoresciortino946]

would you ever think of of video for something that cryptic?

[@AegisKHAOS]

I never thought of Brother Corhyn as being a typical prophet, or even a prophet at all. He always struck me as his own character with a very rigid view of the Golden Order, which made it easy for me to overlook his outfit. As for the prisoner, that starting class I initially thought unusual because of the ability to wield magic. You typically associate someone like the prisoner for being, say, a thief or a brute, so the fact you start out wielding some magic like the astrologer class stood out to me. Also, I liked how the shirt looks on my female spellblade, which was why I started with one in the first place.

[@pyrex2132]

Babe wake up, new square table gaming lore video dropped

[@andresleung8134]

Love these videos!

[@danielkubicek1323]

"Why does brother Coren still hold to the golden order if he's seen the burning of the erd tree in his visions." -Us: "Wait. If they can see the future, then why..." -Coren: "I cAn SeE dA fUtUrE!!!!" -Us: "Oooh. He's an idiot."

[@ThatRatBastard]

I saw a theory that i really like saying that the prisoner was actually a Carian Knight captured by the Cuckoo Knights and tortured as a political prisoner.

[@Carrot-Man1876]

Greetings from the Carrot-Man 👋🥕

[@square-table-gaming]

My liege

[@TitleDotJpeg]

Thank you

[@thataintme]

If you give Cohryn the scroll for catch flame, he calls it a work of heresy. One might need to rework is understanding after watching this video

[@rachnussouldrinkerlibraria5640]

I like to think that the prisoner was once a carian knight, before being imprisoned

[@Poliswag7]

Prisoner gang

[@indigodragon4098]

My original thought on the origins of the Prisoners is that they were from the wars between the golden order and the Carian Royal family Exiled before The 2 became 1

[@drakmendoa]

I think Brother Corhyn had a different vision. Yes he also can learn us catch flame, but also "Rejection" and "Magic Fortifications" and "Flame Fortifications". Rejection says "Hark, Tarnished! If you truly walk in faith, you must be prepared to reject all else.", which pretty much sums up Corhyns character. And the Fortifications both say "Follow the path that has been set for you, and you will make enemies of all others: the monks, the sorcerers, the ancient dragon knights, and the scions of gold. Heed me - the Lands Between offers no welcome to the Tarnished." I think Corhyn warned Tarnished from the doom that awaits them in the lands between. And for that collided probably also with the golden order in other lands and was because of that exiled. For the thorne sorceress I find another thing interesting. All the corpses of giants on the way to the fire giant are covered in thorns. And there are the same giant stick like thorns as right in front of the Guardians Garrison through the giants corpses. So could it be, that in the war against the giants thorn sorcery was used against the giants and the heresies was overlooked because they needed that power to win? Wouldn't be the first time that Marika changes the rules as she pleases.

[@legoincplx4x5]

Yayyy more lore.

[@doctor_markus9042]

Stg have u made a video on the trolls or not since i think it would be an interesting video i think brother corhyn might be in denial since he is clearly a prophet but the side of a burning erdtree may have shattered his mind and næw he refuses to except the fact the erdtree isnt perfect

[@square-table-gaming]

We have not! Thanks for the suggestion

[@mrjostar1518]

Maleina is hot.

[@gedoplanet]

I think the prisoner and the spell Lucidity are connected

[@mrjooxmanallah]

If you think about it, shouldn’t the Prisoner and the Confessor mirror each other on the starting class spectrum? The prophet should mirror the astrologer though the astrologers seem much less interesting.

[@shyboievris834]

Day 1 of asking for an episode on Melina.

[@andresleung8134]

Just out of curiosity, have y’all thought about doing lies of P lore?

[@square-table-gaming]

We have a few lies of p videos. Id love to do more but between being a dad, my full time job, and Elden Lore being a weekly series, it's tough to find time for other content.

[@andresleung8134]

@@square-table-gaming I completely get it! That’s a lot!

[@square-table-gaming]

@@andresleung8134 I love it all though. Id definitely want to tell the stories of a choice few characters from lies of P.

[@AbyssalWaste001]

is there any specific lore on the marionette soldiers? i wear their armor but feel rather clueless where it comes from

[@square-table-gaming]

They're made by the sorcerers of selia but there isn't much more to say

[@AbyssalWaste001]

@@square-table-gaming the fact they can be found near volcano manor makes me think they're used by selia as a deployable army

[@frankiefromky]

[@GrunkyPeeep]

Woowooweewoo

[@Augusto2]

is worth noticing that the prisoner has the highest starting arcane stat. This combined with the tweet makes me think that maybe the looked up into the sky and something other than the stars

[@Mastermax360xx]

Yoooo