Elden Ring Lore: What is the Elden Beast?

Spoilers, obviously.
The final fight of Elden Ring is a mysterious one as it basically introduces a wholly new character as your opponent. In this video, I explore the final boss, the Elden Beast, and try to figure out the lore behind it.
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Music:
Elden Ring OST - The Final Battle
Unicorn Heads - Space Station Experience (KZbin Audio Library)
Sonora - Quincas Moreira (KZbin Audio Library)
#eldenring #eldenringlore #eldenbeast

[@MadLuigi]

Feel free to let me know what your thoughts on the Beast were here! And if you really enjoy the content and want to support the channel, you can do so by becoming a patron: www.patreon.com/madluigi

[@drlo0]

Hey man, I think I know exactly what you missed about this. Think of the elden beast as "our" sun. Ever noticed that there is no sun in the skybox? Yet there is a sun on the pass time UI, and there is ppl who worship the eclipse and many more references to a sun exist, yet none do. Also note that the sun is a star, and that monotheistic religions are often helio centric as well, so having your sun be in the center of your world (Marika and the erdtree) makes a ton of sense for this monotheistic god of creation. However, the sun must set eventually and give the moon a chance to shine ;) im doing a big essay on this topic hit me up if you wanna read it early Edit: you can even find a sunset without an actual sun in both the overworld, and this fight

[@bondmiles]

I love this focussed vid! Been waiting for an attempt at one of the many elephants in the room. I have two curiosities in mind: - The crack in the Elden Beast's blobby is, roughly, "anatomically", around the same spot as Marika's wound (red-blood spear thing wtf izit). I have it in mind that Marika did this to herself as a way to injure the elden beast but the thought goes so far out. NEXT! - This bits a bit obtuse so I could see how it might be hard to approach. But... How the Beast looks! Given the previous cycles as you mentioned, and its use of holy fire breath... It has the wings of multiple dragons, a giants body, wielding its own corporeal vessel(s) as a weapon. Someone mentions below as well, the similarity in the "Nebula" attack of Astel. Here's the thing. There is almost nothing that doesn't get "hewn" into the Erd Tree and thus empower the Beast. It retains everything. Goodnight!

[@SixBeark]

@@drlo0 the sun does exist in game. It's hard to find tho because it's very small. I thought this was the case for a bit, but I am no longer convinced. It does appear as if major portions of the sun's energy (in terms of light as well as like, the burning parts?) were transferred to the ertree. I suspect this had something to do with the lunar eclipse discussed at castle sol/the dung eater (who has the sun bling chain on his chest) but I haven't been able to fully piece it together yet.

[@drlo0]

@@SixBeark hey im glad you posted this because I recently came to the same evidence! Honestly, I think they secretly updated the sun layer to be more visible actually. Go check out the skyline now, I've had a WAY easier time finding it since a little bit ago (I've been trying to prove to myself whether that is even true of I just wasn't looking close enough before) regardless of whether it was a secret update though, it is clearly visible now and I do NOT think the initial intent was for the world to not have a sun, but its diminished presence still feels thematically significant.

[@dawnyzero0]

While I agree, Bloodborne did a much better job with the whole; Entity pulling the strings & "TADA! Guess what the Final Boss is!" and making it fit with the overall theme I feel like the presence of the Elden Beast and how it's just suddenly *There* as the Final Boss kinda fits a theme. The Greater Will is this outside force that shoves its own philosophy and beliefs onto a world that it does not belong in. Lots of item description mention how so many people are left behind or suffer because the Greater Will deemed them unworthy. While Radagon & Marika are referenced and constantly used as symbols, statues of them litter the world and even if you don't look into the Lore, not reading descriptions, you still know of Marika's presence at the very least. "She's nowhere to be found" Marika does look out for the people of the Land in her own way, same with so many of the other characters. Radahn, Ranni, Alabaster Lords, Rykard, Vyke, Miquella. Nearly every character has their own reason for their actions that tie into the People's Freedom. Whether to bring them peace through Order (Radahn), Through Domination (Rykard), Through Tenderness (Miquella), Peaceful Death (Fia), Utter Annihilation (Shabriri) or an unknown future full of doubt through Ranni's upheaval of the entire system. The Golden Order is like an Control-Freak DM in a session to me, throwing a fit and going "Screw you guys. Here, big OP monster." An entity so alien that it doesn't realize what it's doing or it just doesn't care because it can't. It's butting in where it doesn't belong, which fits the whole theme of the Golden Order. Forcing its own policies onto a world it's not even supposed to be in, it's not MEANT for that world, so its influence feels so jarring and out of place. So I'd think it would make sense for a creature made by the Greater Will to not make sense in the overall story. It doesn't care about the themes, the atmosphere or the lives of anyone aside from the one it wants to tell. Trying so hard to steer the story it forced onto everyone to keep going, even if the immersion is broken. Forcing it's way into everyone elses story. I'm probably reading to much into it and over-complicating it but that's how the Elden Beast felt to me.

[@SabbyNeko]

No one ever seems to pick up on the Beasts sword. It's holding Marika/Radagons body in its right hand, lowers it beneath the water, then pulls out a sword made from two intersecting golden blades. Marika and Radagon are tools of the Beast.

[@pamafa3147]

not to mention the sword has a ribcage and arms, and looks like a giant version of the fingerslayer blade

[@soham_das.]

@@pamafa3147 ribcage? arms? where?

[@pamafa3147]

@@soham_das. the hilt of the blade clearly has a ribcage and arms which, fun fact, are in the golden order pose, which makes sense since the sword used to be Radagon

[@Galamoth06]

I didn't know people didn't know this. The camera lingers on an extreme close-up shot of the hilt of the sword and it's just plainly a human arm and a ribcage. You can even see in another shot that the bottom of the hilt is a pair of human legs crossed at the knees and ankles, reminiscent of the crucifixion. I actually don't like using that sword in the game, it genuinely weirds me out a little bit 😅

[@Ttangko_]

man fromsoft is tight

[@domewing2012]

I'm surprised you didn't bring up the fact that it has a "Nebula" attack that only one other creature in the game possesses: Astel. This suggests a connection between the Greater Will and Astel, possibly identifying it as the punishment that was inflicted upon the Eternal Cities for their treason. There's also the Sacred Relic Sword that it creates out of Radagon's corpse that bears strong resemblance to the Fingerslayer Blade, which is also said to have been wrought from a corpse. All together, this suggests that an event similar to our slaying of Radagon/Marika has previously transpired and led to the downfall of the Nox civilization.

[@orlando5789]

Astel is the punishment the Greeater Will inflicted upon Nokstella

[@kaosisback8376]

@@orlando5789 no shit

[@ItsAHiighMusicWorld]

Its cuz they are both meteors

[@eddieddieeddie]

the only weapons that has nebula type attacks scale off of int given how fundamentalism is both int and faith

[@reiuno393]

Damn I like this one 💯

[@Writh811]

I imagine that From was trying to give the impression that no one has ever seen this thing. History played out with it influencing the Lands but it never appeared before anyone. Why would it? It has Two-Fingers (five at first if you like that theory) and they will hunt down and nominate Empyreans to act on their behalf. Grace can be bestowed seemingly on the wind and with grace comes guidance. It's out of left field for the player because it is out of left field for world. If Radagon and Goldmask saw it they would both respond, "WTF IS THAT?"

[@augustuslxiii]

Yeah, exactly. It shows how hideous - to humans - the Golden Order really is. I mean, it's led in the Lands Between by an amorphous, giant, terrifying bug thing. A human, or human-looking, leader is... slightly easier to admire for, you know, human beings.

[@justsomewritingfan2202]

I'd like to add two things. 1. It is also implied that it might literally be the Elden Ring itself. When Radagon dies the Elden Ring symbol disappears from inside his body, his black cloud begins to cover the floor and the Elden Beast rises from it. The reason why it is cracked could be because of Marikas attempt to shatter the Elden Ring. This could be what is meant what it means that it is "the living incarnation of order", since the Elden Ring is integral to and controls the world order. 2. It is also implied that it exerts some form of control over Marika and Radagon. When Ranni talks about how she killed her Empyrean flesh, she says that she "will not be controlled by that thing", which is a pretty odd line. To what extend it can control Marika I do not know, but she is trapped on a rune arc and penetrated by some sort of spear that is very much akin to the Elden Beast's grab attack.

[@Broomer52]

If we rolls with the “Jesus” comparison he did earlier then the Beast being the Elden Ring makes sense. It is the incarnation of Order itself, The Elden Ring is the Order of the world. By this logic the two could easily be the same thing

[@Rusty_Spy]

The Elden Stars description says it outright

[@warriorwatch2406]

The way I always saw it is the Elden Ring is the Beast's dormant state, and with enough effort it can get woken up.

[@pembertr0n]

Ranni had to do a whole bunch of nonsense to free herself of the Two Fingers/Greater Will’s control without it realizing.

[@Maes777]

This is exactly it

[@TeamGreenBurrito]

Something that has crossed my mind about the Beast’s design, both aesthetically and gameplay wise, is that it is reminiscent of a whale. The swimming and sounds it makes are the obvious comparison, but when you consider the historical appreciation humans have for whales, it makes even more sense… Whales are the largest animals on Earth, therefore the hardest kill and the greatest hunt. Their fat was used as oil for the industrial revolution which literally brought light to the world. They were seen as legendary beasts; Moby Dick’s story in particular is about being consumed by one’s pursuits - Ishmael was compelled by Grace, if you will, in pursuit of his white whale. I know lots of people dislike the fight for the chase element. I thought it was a nice way to unwind after six back to back boss fights going from the Dragon Knight outside Maliketh’s chamber, through to Radagon, and allowed you to appreciate the ending, rather than feel exhausted like when we finally defeated Malenia. Although, I think having Torrent appear in the cutscene and allowing us to fight alongside our first friend, would have done a measure to help with that.

[@orlando5789]

I liked Elden Beast, but its attacks can sometimes overlap in ways you simply can't predict, meaning some damage is unavoidable

[@Agentlefox]

Oh ye space whale whom I have hunted throughout my tarnished, wretched life.

[@sshhddoo9892]

What's fustrating is that fromsoft know how to make an amazing dragon-based fight, Placidusax for example. So the fact that the elden beast makes you run half the time and you are unable to use torrent is baffling

[@ASNS117Zero]

It's not a whale. It's a Pliosaur. Go look at the images of various types of Pliosaurs here and tell me with a straight face that the elden beast isn't just a magic pliosaur with wings. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliosauroidea

[@SpiritStoneWarrior94-yx3gs]

Especially more so with Japan, as whales were seen as a sign of prosperity for a town/coastal village when they would wash up/be hunted by the fishermen of Japan in the 1700's to early 1900's. That's why besides the Lovecraft reference with Kos in Bloodborne, the Old One had washed up on a beach, with the locals seeing it as a blessing of prosperity.

[@thatguy779]

I personally think the sudden shift to the Elden Beast works well to actually make good on the stakes of becoming Elden Lord. Like, up to that point it feels mostly like we’re conquering mythic figures and beasts, but then at the end you’re finally hit with the confirmation that you’re meddling with something properly cosmic and unfathomable. Honestly I think that helps it pull off the unimaginable outer god thing as well if not better than Bloodborn but that’s imo

[@ryanlafferty5815]

in the context of the lore, I agree 100%, ....but as a player,,,,the elden beast is just an awful scrap, for me it was a huge letdown as a grand finale, for such a beautiful game full of amazing fights, the last one should nail it.....Malenia & maliketh were both amazing....the finale should have at least been as good, if not better...huge letdown for me, radagon and the elden beast both

[@nikobellik8491]

Meh I was thoroughly disappointed, all these powerful gods are just being manipulated by a giant butterfly loch Ness monster. I think if radagon turned into Marika in the second phase that would have been much more satisfying.

[@assgardiano]

@@nikobellik8491 but Marika had no reason to fight you in fact you're doing 100% of what she wanted you to do it by killing Radagon and Elden Beast lmao she would prob thank you instead of fighting

[@qasderfful]

The Elden Beast *is* the Elden Ring. The Elden Ring is order, the Elden Beast is order incarnate. I think it also inherits certain traits from the ones bearing it. Like an enormous stature and wings from whoever was ancient dragons' god. And, well, humanoid hands and legs from Marika. Also it probably passed on the enormous stature to Marika too. She's a numen, which are normally human-sized (since PC can also be numen).

[@batman-hv9wp]

That’s why I believe he’s not totally out of left field or prior knowledge, you hear about the elden ring all over the place, hell it’s the name of the game. It’s more of learning what the elden ring is instead of learning what the elden beast is.

[@olymyster]

Also explains why the elden beast is wounded, as radagon failed to fully repair the elden ring after radagon repaired it

[@WORLDCRUSHER9000]

I love how it looks like it's filled with galactic supercluster filaments

[@pious83]

*How it should have happened:* Radagon - Final one on one boss fight Elden Beast - Final Torrent Based boss fight Which would have given more thematic weight to both encounters.

[@khandimahn9687]

Plus would have cut down on all the extended pauses in the fight, just to run close enough to the Beast to attack it.

[@b-mansly7550]

Is that not how it went?🧐 Thats how I always saw it, Radagon is the last traditional souls boss and the Elden Beast is bringing every mechanic youve learned in this game full circle, using jumping and Torrent to dodge his attacks and close in

[@dathkakashi1034]

@@b-mansly7550 the problem is that you can't use Torrent in the fight against Elden Beast which still baffles me. This create so much more downtime and pretty often I couldn't make a hit on it for more than one minute. This really made me hate Elden Beast. It's just terrible.

[@NimbusTM]

@@dathkakashi1034 I like to think Fromsoft meant to make it so you could ride Torrent but released the game without fixing that, and now it's just been too long so if they patch it, it'll just be embarrassing.

[@Purriah]

@@NimbusTM more likely they designed it with torrent in mind, then it was too easy, so they left it as is, maybe reduced the speed of the stars and the rings etc, and made it torrentless.

[@darkmoon1892]

The Elden Beast’s arena reminds me of the… trees?… we see in upper Siofra River, which also echoes the pillars in the Hunter’s Dream and the trees in Ash Lake. I wonder if there’s a thematic tie, but I agree with the idea that the beast’s trees are those of other worlds

[@tsarcastic3722]

The pillars in upper Siofra and the hunters dream share another similarity the erdtrees and ash lake trees don't share. The pillars have been chopped off cleanly at the top. Like it's a cross section of a larger pillar.

[@Agentlefox]

@@tsarcastic3722 it makes for some pretty decent symbolism given that the tree of life/similar hold up the sky or the heavens in a fair bit of faith and mythology IRL. It would make sense if the spirit tree analogs of the nox were cut down to size when the skies were taken from them. Their actively engaged faith was stripped from them, but they still kept it. Hell, maybe the ancestor beast is protecting whats left of the trees. After all, the beast has crucible vibes instead of elden ring era, and Siofra is the one safe* underground city when thinking of starbeasts like Astel. As I remember the other cities are lacking in that tree analog, and of course the greater will would have the record of the great tree, erased as much as possible, especially when it might imply that the greater will night not be as all encompassing as conveyed. If there are other navigable paths among the the stars, then who wants golden bullshit. Blue's a more unique natural color anyways

[@ASNS117Zero]

Don't overthink it. From is genuinely trying to nostalgia bait and get people to speculate on how the settings are connected, without actually taking the step to make the games connected by way of telling that story. It's a giant, blatant tease.

[@rafsandomierz5313]

@@ASNS117Zero Or just reference that they put everywhere in their souls likes.

[@ASNS117Zero]

@@rafsandomierz5313 I mean, if it was something like Patches or the Moonlight Greatsword I'd agree with you, but the trees on the water is so blatantly obvious that it clearly was there to bait people into thinking the settings were connected.

[@PR1ME98]

Despite the overall hate this boss gets, im a sucker for stars, galaxies, and space like designs. Love how the inside of it is like a pant root system which piggybacks off of your “anchor point” statement. It’s connected to everything, and everything in turn, is connected to it. :)

[@Imsoconfusedthesedays]

The Elden beasts “root looking interior” is actually a real image of a real star system that exists in space. I can’t remember the name but if you look it up you’ll find it

[@AeonNahar]

The Laniakea Supercluster?

[@Imsoconfusedthesedays]

@@AeonNahar that’s the one mate!

[@rafsandomierz5313]

Imagine if our universe is inside an being similar to Elden beast.

[@ChickenMcNougat]

@@rafsandomierz5313 I sure hope we don't get parried then

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

It's not so much a star system as it is a large scale structure within the Universe, known as a galactic filament. It's made up of untold thousands or millions of galaxies bound into "strands" through gravitational interaction.

[@dmomintz]

My theory is that the Elden Beast had a more physical form before the Elden Ring was broken, as it has a body similar to a dragon. Then it became this amoeba-like, featureless mass with transparent skin that is a shadow of it's former glory and represents the lack of current order in the lands between. It seems like its become more of an infectious bacteria or fungus than a blessed vassal.

[@inkajoo]

It does look kind of like its been skinned.

[@Agentlefox]

I get the sense that much like the Erdtree infected and took on the form of the original tree, the Elden Beast took on a more aetherial version of the ancient dragon and even uses golden flame breath. I almost wonder if that's a holdover from when the elden ring first came down and the big bad dragon of farum Azula was still lord.

[@SixBeark]

Tbh, I loved this boss. It's the only enemy in any video game where I died because I spent too much time watching it's pretty attacks rather than dodge them lol.

[@GILGAMESH069]

I think elden beast should have been a secret boss like the moon presence from bloodborne instead of the default final boss because it thematically and mechanically fits radagon more

[@MadLuigi]

You hit exactly on something I bring up in the vid!

[@GILGAMESH069]

@@MadLuigi you said the elden beast is the watchdog of the elden ring but isn't it THE elden ring?

[@MadLuigi]

@@GILGAMESH069 I would say it's hard to say with 100% clarity if it and the Elden Ring are completely the same entity. The ER is the anchor of order whereas the EB is the living incarnation of the concept of order. The ER and EB are discussed as distinct in the Elden Stars item desc. And, the EB is defeated, but the ER remains for the final 30 seconds of the game. There is a strong relationship between them, and maybe they are to some degree the same thing, but the EB does exhibit a kind of watchdog role to anyone who wants to access the ER. Maybe the EB is just a defense mechanism in the ER itself? Its possible, but again its hard to say anything super concrete because we aren't given super concrete facts in-game

[@TheTrueAdonis]

@@GILGAMESH069 But if that happens, how we become Elden Lord? Also its called a vassal so its the servant I think.

[@GILGAMESH069]

@@TheTrueAdonis what confused me was the elden stars saying "which later became the elden ring" most people think it reefers to the beast but I think it's talking about the star itself since the ring still exists after killing the beast, it might be a security check to protect the elden ring which is why it didn't really interfere in the shattering because that's not it's job

[@avraelasgard]

In my eyes, the elden beast is MORE literally the incarnate form of the elden ring then most people think, which IS itself order in this world, very directly. It does seem to be a physical object in some sense, but not a "Ring" as we would imagine. But you are able to touch it, or its manifestations, like inside radagons body, stuck in Marikas hammer, obtaining great runes, or just breaking a golden rune to get... runes... im already tired of the word rune. What im trying to get at is, nobody knew about the elden beast, because noone had seen it... because it didnt exist in this form. Since Marika became the VESSEL for the elden ring, which IS the elden beast itself, its beastly form just wasnt "there" anymore. It existed only inside Marika, and probably only she knew of its existance. It may paint a wrong picture overall, but i think its helpful to imagine it like a demon posessing a human (in fiction), they can have a physical form themselves, but when they posess someone, they exist just inside them. Although, for Marika it probably was exactly like a demon posession, she was not a willing subject. So probably the only times the elden ring existed as its beast form was when it landed as/on the golden star sent by the greater will, so before Marika, and after Radagon/Marikas body was shattered enough through us. Only after their defeat/death did the elden ring take the form as the beast again, probably kinda "leaking" out of their broken body, and shaping the husk into a weapon it could wield. I think the elden beast is very much meant to be out of place and almost unmentioned anywhere ingame. We COULDNT have known about it. A "true" look at the forces that rule over that world, literally alien to us and literally coming from space, having uncomprehensible power. However, you could also see it as the opposite to unmentioned, when you again realize the elden beast IS the elden ring, and the ring is mentioned EVERYWHERE in the game, so actually, the elden beast is mentioned every time. Just, people didnt know it could take the form of a beast, and it was never recorded. The thing that stands out most however, is that we find the elden stars incantation. Under the erdtree, on a corpse. Now, it could have fallen from above, maybe as part of the beast at some point, maybe from the tree itself, many possibilities here. This individual found it, maybe even used it, and died with it, however i dont think even they KNEW about the elden beast. Except if they had read the item description... c: As for why the beast wasnt recorded in any mention before Marika became its vessel, idk, that may have been too detailed for the devs to even think about. Maybe it hid itself, maybe it could take other forms and had no reason to be a beast at all times, no idea, and i dont think its too important. Noone will ever read this, but im having fun theorising anyways. :D

[@danielrhodes548]

You know it’s possible in the Remembrance of the Dragon Lord (Placidusax’s boss soul) where it mentions him waiting for the return of his God, they could be referring to the Elden Beast. Placidusax’s age might be one of a civilization in E.B.’s image. Beast people, multi-winged dragon creatures having the most power, and an Elden Ring Sigil in Farum Azula depicts what looks like a system of tree roots in its design. If we go on the theories that claim Elden Ring is all fungus and mushrooms in the lore (something I’m starting to agree with more and more) than we could be looking at the age of the Crucible, pre Erdtree being illustrated. The Greater Will spreads its influence via golden fungal spores (like we see in meteorite crater boss arenas at the end of the mine dungeons sometimes) that crash into the lands between within meteorites and on the hides of interstellar creatures it would appear. So these spores end up deep in the earth and take root in the soil of the Lands Between. This furtive soil has the roots of all the things already growing their spreading through it, and so, the spores form a symbiotic or parasitic connection with these roots. This is the Crucible. Not just where all things are conjoined but also where other god spores (like what we see form in the Rot areas of the game) vie for supremacy. They are all trying to spread, survive and thrive. This version of the order is expressed as the Farum Azula Elden Ring. Because we have no Erdtree yet, the Elden Beast stands as the representative of the Greater Will on this new planet. The Beast would raise up Placidusax as Lord and traits similar to his would be venerated in ancient civilizations. We read about how once, the horns and extra limbs and such we see on creatures throughout the game were viewed in a positive light. If the Elden Lord of that age had multiple heads, horns and wings they would be seen as desirable physical attributes. Still, yeah E.B. needed a better introduction. If you miss Placidusax boss fight before you finish the game, Farum Azula’s possible connections to an earlier God than the Erdtree are even more cryptic, if decipherable are all.

[@ALaz502]

Placideusax was a Lord. This implies he had another vassal that ruled alongside him. Probably the Gloam Eyed Queen. It's said that she was defeated implying she never died. So makes sense that she fled.

[@nickbator5526]

The Elden Beast makes more sense in game than MadLuigi gives credit to; we know the Outer Gods and Greater Will are invaders, parasites etc. The Elden Beast also isn't just connected to the Elden Ring, it IS the Elden Ring, and it is the parasite that joins itself to an Empyrean to rule over The Lands Between. It makes sense when we know Marika was fighting off the influence of a source of the majority of her power, that that power itself is has its own agency granted by the Greater Will.

[@johncra8982]

Most of my playthrough was totally blind and full of awesome discoveries, but the EB was ruined for me with a screenshot. When I found the Elden Stars incantation during my accidental stumble into Deeproot Depths while I was trying to complete Ranni's quest (my favorite mini-adventure in the game), it actually made me regret having been spoiled on it because I realized the beast being referenced in the incantation must have been the galaxy cluster looking alien I saw in the screenshot. Really wish I hadn't been spoiled because finding that incantation at the end of that amazing excursion and reading that lore was mind-blowing.

[@xLanzer]

I was spoiled that the Elden Beast was the final boss, but I didn't know how it looked or how the fight was. By the time I saw it's hand coming out of the water, I thought "oh, so it's gonna be like those giant skeletons?" and suddenly, the Elden Beast revealed itself. I only said "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS THAT THING!?" lol. I love this boss.

[@hexerin]

One other thing that could lend support to the theory that the Greater Will has abandoned the Lands Between (and thus both the Fingers and Elden Beast). An almost universal trait of animals in real life, is that when feeling negative feeling (especially sadness, abandonment, etc), their head and tail will generally tend to droop down as a resting state. I can't help but look at the Elden Beast's head, drooping as it is, and draw a parallel.

[@adamesughi7387]

Right. I think that the outer god that Placidusax is waiting for IS the Greater Will. If he was Elden Lord, that couldn't relate to anything other than the Elden Ring which is the Elden Beast. I think the Elden Beast has gone, for lack of a better term, rogue. The beast is what Marika wanted the Tarnished to kill. That is probably why the Greater Will left, because its only vassal started operating on its own.

[@FoxBatinaHat]

Astel, naturalborn of the void has the same tail tip, dragonfly wings as the Eldenbeast. Differences are: EB has 5 fingers rather than 6 (as some dragons). The head no longer has an eye. But the eyeball is still the luminous point of light on EB.

[@bjarnivalur6330]

When I first fought the Beast I interpreted it as: When you defeat the Rings vessel (Radagon/Marika) the Ring was freed and turned into to Beast. That's also how I interpreted the Elden Stars description, that the Beast was sent to the lands and then it became the Ring, and the Ring is how The Will influences the lands between.

[@Red-nl4lk]

Laniakea supercluster

[@FoxBatinaHat]

11:25 fascinates me. That symbol seems to have been layered upon. Changed, covered, repainted and remolded. But could not be erased.

[@eldenthugshaker]

The Elden Ring is a Golden Star made up of gold-infused star stuff that allows the host to affect the metaphysical laws of the world the Ring resides in. Notice how the body of the beast is made up of constellations. Now look up the centuries-old work called "The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast", where the gods cast a beast made up of constellations out of the heavens to reform the world below and you'll see why the Ring is a beast :)

[@yosemitesam7.62]

Good shit man! Awesome video and insightful as well. Thank you!

[@christophergannon8812]

Great video! I love the lore community around these games. I also like the fact that there isn't much in game about the Elden Beast its area. It helps paint a nice picture about how little we the players know about the back story and goings-on of the Outer Gods. Much more to learn and much more to find. Until next time.

[@ToeKnee010]

0:34 “Celestial Slug” best name for the Elden Beast I’ve heard 😂😂

[@AC-hj9tv]

😂 Fr

[@truthhc]

Great video! I think the Elden Beast is an amalgam of all the life we see, trees, animals, dragons, and even human. The bit about the eye being it’s place of origin is amazing. Like it’s body is space being warped.

[@ChernyH]

They are constantly makes us remember that the great will it's a "outher God", like you say thar cement the idea of the otherworldy-form of the beast. And the thing that we don't know nothing of him in the lore of the world, it's has sense... the elder beast it's the ultimate line of protection to access the elden ring. The only one we can concider that know its excistens it's Radagon/Marika themself. And don't forget, our tarnish it's the first to become elden lord by force.

[@vankristlabs]

I just assume it's the Shadowbound Beast of the Erdtree, beholden to the Greater Will, just like Blaið is Ranni's Shadowbound Beast beholden to the Two Fingers, Maliketh is Marika's, etc.

[@BlueStarRadio]

I know 60K subscribers isnt low, but for you not beeing one of the biggest Elden Ring channels. I appreciate you even more for putting in all that work and making such a good video on a topic there is not much information about. Eventhough you uploaded this a year ago i still gotta thank you

[@jbr1255]

It's also worth considering the resemblances to the Divine Dragon of Sekiro. Both are divine godlike creatures who are a water dragon of sorts and a spirit of a tree. Often in Eastern mythology great trees or rivers have a spiritual depiction in their belief that often resembles Dragons. Spirited Away and No-Face come to mind too. A living representation of this great natural thing, but in this case it's been imbued with the destroyed Elden Ring, it's Golden power chaotically yet elegantly doing everything it can to keep itself, the Erdtree intact. But truly Shattered with no way to keep the Tree upright and properly rooted, let alone Order over the Lands Between.

[@dongar2127]

Has anyone pointed out the simultaneity from the “Hallucigenia” like parasite from "Attack on Titan" and that of the Elden Beats? Also Ymir and Marika have a lot in common.

[@Josh-ht7ci]

yeah I also thought it looks a lot like Hallucigenia^^

[@Shrekinspace]

how do ymir and marika have anything in common

[@dongar2127]

@@Shrekinspace Their power was divide amongst their offspring, and those holding the pieces held a war. After their power was broken they became prisoners by this same power, held alone in an astral plane.

[@idzidz833]

@@Shrekinspace theyre both girlbosses

[@pandakun8556]

@@idzidz833ymir is a literal slave who worked slave labor for hundreds of years after her death idk where you got the „girlboss“ impression

[@theticksquad8218]

I like the possible implications of the Erdtree stumps in the Elden Beast's boss room, might be hinting that there could be more Erdtree's out there.

[@aWolffromElsewhere]

I interpreted the Elden Beast as the dragon from Nietzsche's 3 metamorphoses. The tarnished is the lion challenging the dragon to the right to his freedom to create his own and new values for himself and the world.

[@Austib_]

It should be mentioned, Enya isnt the one trying to convince us we havent been abandoned. Thats the Two Fingers speaking through her which is why her voice becomes so much more grim/formal

[@tsm688]

does the greater will do jack squat in the entire game though?

[@TheBlaringBlue]

Enjoyed your interpretation of the elden beast! Another great video. I would have one question for you - how do you reconcile the Elden Beast and Two Fingers being vassals of the Greater Will who have contradicting motives? The Two Fingers actively push us towards the Erdtree, commanding us to mend the Ring. Yet Radagon/Elden Beast lock us out of the tree, and then both attack us when we try and… mend the ring, which i thought is exactly what the Greater Will’s vassals wanted us to do?

[@Mae_Dastardly]

Maybe without the greater will directing them they developed conflicting ideas of what the greater will would want

[@masamitsu5149]

idk honestly, when i found elden stars in the deeproot depths and read about a "beast" sent to the lands between that really stuck with me until the encounter

[@WeirdTroll666]

well, the Elden Beast, is a Beast made of Elden :)

[@Princetopher_]

I would've loved to see the Elden Beast puppetting Marika's body during the fight after Radagon has been defeated and Marika is the only part of them that's able to fight The Elden Beast fight itself could be more or less the same, except maybe it's aestheticaly channeling its attacks through Marika, and rather than chasing the beast around you're attacking a puppeteer'd Marika instead

[@SixBeark]

3 - Abandonment/why final boss? - I think you sort of answer your own question here. If the Elden Beast is the og empyrean/vessel of the greater will, and the greater will dips out, then the Elden Beast becomes the defacto highest power; a dog with no one holding the leash anymore if you will.

[@SixBeark]

4 - the missing runes from the Older/Bigger Elden Ring - there are 3 missing runes/rings as well as the rooty tendrils at the bottom. For some reason those are not being kept in the body of Radagon/Marika. The Elden Beast uses them as an attack against us.

[@travman1987]

I finally get it now. “Ash lake” at the bottom of the Hollow tree in DS1 is actually the same area you fight the Elden beast in ER. The same arch trees can be seen in the background. The hollow tree is actually a dead Erd tree. That’s why Elden ring is so bright and beautiful, because it’s blessed by the grace. While the world of Dark Souls is lost, dark and gloomy and everyone is “hollow” because the tree is dead. Perhaps the ashes from the burned Erd tree are the same ashes that are in the Lake of Ash in DS1. Perhaps the great dragon war that occurred in the past of the Dark Souls story is the same as The Shattering in Elden Ring

[@ASNS117Zero]

If you're going with that train of thought, I'd say the dragon war took place afterwards, with Gwyn and his ilk appearing an unspecified time after the flame wrecked the world, leaving only the dragons and souless husks as survivors.

[@ashholenyc1312]

I’m surprised you didn’t bring up the Elden beasts tail. It seems pretty important to me

[@SixBeark]

2 - *Beast* it's the Elden Beast. Why the word "Beast?" Because the Elden Beast is the same as the thing sent by the greater will to provide the 5 fingers of intelligence described in the beast incantations & items. The original form/theology of the golden order is not the same as what the player describes. We can see from the 4 rune arcs that Marika's order has undergone at least 3 major reshuffles.

[@brianalvarez1954]

Loved this boss

[@SixBeark]

7 - Rainbow Blood - it's insides are technicolor & rainbow in a very rare way. The only other two places we find it are in one of the greatshields which describes that color as life mixed in the crucible (I think?) and in the rainbow coat of the merchant set we find near the ff/3 fingers. I am also pretty sure each of the colors is represented by a corresponding leaf in game (first lines of the narrator are "the fallen leaves tell a story" and it looks like a lot of those fallen leaves ended up inside the Elden Beast. It appears to be made up of the gold veins, but I don't think the dots are stars. I just finished a playthrough & did the boss fight. I am pretty sure those things floating inside the Elden Beast are pedals/leaves.

[@SixBeark]

5 - the Abyss/the Eldritch Dimension - this is a bit tricky to explain, so stay with me. Physics, in Elden Ring, has an added dimension which, for lack of better term, we can call "the abyss." The abyss is a psychological and philosophical concept that refers to the vast knowledges that not only do we humans not know or understand, but that we can't understand. The abyss stands for a big blob of horror that if we could hold in our brains, would cause them to melt. There are several other interchangeable words, but the abyss is most frequently depicted as a metaphor in terms of an ocean where all we can see are the surface ripples. There's a lot of stuff that's based around this (the Mariner enemies, where Mohg pulls blood flame from, where many defeated enemies dissolve into, the various 'wind' effects where we can see particles floating through the world) but the most important imo are the sites of grace which universally emerge out of some kind of rippled magic water stuff as well as the emergence of the Elden Beast.

[@xavier84623]

I felt like his appearance made sense, what with all the talk of outer gods and stuff. If the end boss was just radagon, and not some outer god avatar, I woulda been disappointed

[@benakinnusi2518]

Exactly. Like i cant believe ppl r complaining about this.

[@rotsen3123]

the elden beast we fight was a severely weakened, abandoned and in a incomplete state due to the shattering of the elden ring. if we fight the prime elden beast with the guidance of the greater will then its a one shot.

[@dedicatedtomars3140]

The Elden Beast IS the Elden Ring. It doesn’t need an explanation about why we fight it. It is defending itself since its vessel (Radagon) was trying to fully repair it, yet was killed by you the player. You as the player are ultimately going to destroy it, even by “mending” it, you are altering its very being with a foreign mending rune almost like a parasite, therefore killing it’s original form it was made as by the greater will.

[@H45556]

Love your vids man keep it up, you’re on par with Vaati and other soulsborne creators in my mind

[@MadLuigi]

Thanks so much!

[@WhatAreYouBuyen]

The fight was awesome and the music was magical. It kind of have some revelations vibes. It felt mysterious and fitting for a game that I had no idea what was going on most of the time anyways! haha

[@Vitreia]

Interesting perspective! I guess I didn't really find it quite as distracting. Even if we didn't get as much info on the Beast itself, I was fully expecting some sort of fight with an avatar of the Greater Will, given how clear it is that the GW is to blame for most of what has happened in the world.

[@aaronwinrock8164]

:O Elden BEAST, Ranni has a beast Marika has a beast Radagon has his wolves Godfrey has Serosh. From Outter God to God to Elden Lord to Tarnished. We can have our own beast servant in the form of boc

[@jacobfreeman5444]

There is some precedent to the elden beast appearing out of Radagon. There is lore stating the elden beast became the elden ring. That great rune that all derives their power from. That is supposed to be the explainantion why the beast pops out of Radagon. We already see the elden ring sheltering inside him. So once he is no longer useful as a guardian of course the beast will stop hiding and start actively participating. As to explaining the beast...hiving some decent foreshadowing...well, this is just how fromsoft likes to do things, isn't it?

[@grandbean9031]

Ι always interpreted the shattered belly of the Elden beast to signify how the Elden Ring was shattered. The Elden Ring *is* the Elden Beast, or at least the manifestation of its power over the laws of the land. So when the ring was shattered, so was the Elden Beast, at least partially.

[@numberoneinyourhearts8122]

The Elden Beast arena reminded me of the underground area in the first Dark Souls.

[@gamingjesus420]

Exactly my exact thoughts to it's ash lake and the ost sound like the moonlight butterfly and the elden beast it's self looks like seath the scaleless a bit

[@JMCrookston]

Good video. Agree they could have done more to tease and foreshadow the Beast throughout the game

[@dhathaway5866]

By taking a close look at all of the features of the elden beast, perhaps it is where all plant and animal life in the Lands between got their start from. The elden beast itself could be what the greater will added to the great one to produce divisions and fractures.

[@dhathaway5866]

* the one great, not the great one.

[@ProtoIndoEuropean88]

The elden beast is the elden ring found inside raddagon which means that raddagon/marika was nothing more than a puppet of the elden beast, or the greater will.

[@albyx]

Order = Two Fingers, Chaos = Three Fingers. What this video makes clear is that these two forces were once one and the “living incarnation” of Order (the Elden Beast) was sent to the Lands Between to keep and “extend” order there, from the cosmos. I think that the Numen at some point decided they could run things on their own, without some extraterrestrial being telling them how to run their world. Marika would suffer losses (the death of Godwyn and the exilement of Godfrey) in an attempt to usurp power from the Golden Order (via control of Radagon, a vital cog in the Golden Order’s machine). It was all for a “greater good”. Anyway, just my opinion lol

[@dominikzakrzewski3070]

I actually loved the Elden Beast fight. On my first playthrough I had absolutely no idea that it would appear and I was astounded and I loved it. I had a feeling that I got way more than I bargained for, and that I'm not supposed to just kill a god, but THE GOD of this world, something way greater and unimaginable for mere tarnished. That's why I think the lack of information on it is perfect, we do not have and we cannot understand everything about this world, and there is beauty in this mystery. I love all the theories and methodic exploration and deduction that goes into that, but some things, like the Elden Beast or the Outer Gods are perfect when we have to fill the gaps with our imagination, that's the absolute beauty of it.

[@killpuddle9977]

honestly the whole end of the game felt like the quality drops off

[@schpeidermann]

This area is so similar to the one in DS1. The huge (Erd)tree and the the trunks.

[@shquankinket8068]

Laniakea supercluster

[@thetsarofall8666]

I always had the idea that the crack on the elden beast was formed by marika plucking the rune of death from the elden ring (i.e, the elden beast).

[@Tenraiden]

Those golden veins/roots look like galaxies filaments: long strands of galaxies in our universe: There's an entire universe INSIDE the Elden Beast.

[@johncra8982]

ehhhh tbh this is less of a discussion of ideas about the elden beast himself and more a subjective complaint that seems to be born from a place of frustration 🤷‍♂️ don't wanna compare it negatively against videos by other creators but the beast isn't as barren or impoverished of a lore entity as this makes it out to be

[@user-qq8pe6zj8l]

The Eldon Beast and the Eldon Ring I one and the same they were sent to lands between together and they are fundamentally inseparable although as the player character you can conquer the beast (and by extension The Greater Will’s desires to have Godfrey as a new Elden lord) thus replacing the Eldon beast as the greater will’s “Arbiter” as the great will is forced to except for you have killed every one else including the eldon beast which presumably no one has ever done before Note that The only ending which requires an empyrean is Ranni’s ending which directly shunned the machinations of the outer gods

[@miguelarturopalomaresruiz]

I think the song of the elden beast is like a requiem , sounds like it purposes the function of us finally us to let the elden beast rest from its eternal suffering

[@SixBeark]

6 - the Belly Wound - I do not read this as evidence of the collapsing of Order because order as a singular concept (without anything to relate to, i.e. an understanding of chaos) doesn't mean anything. It becomes a naked power grab wrapped in a nice sounding illusion. Imo, it's not all together clear whether this was the intended outcome or not. All of that stuff aside, I think there are two easier explainations; either this is the reflection of Marika's spear wound or it is evidence that the Elden Beast did blood magic as the location seems pretty similar to where you stab yourself when doing briars of sin/punishment. This is a big stretch, but my going theory is this was how the Elden beast defeated the fire Giants. It was at one point the case where everything was continuous and connected (as described by Hyetta & the 3 fingers). The blood briar magic allowed them to break this bound to some degree. Essentially, if everything is a part of the Giants flame god, then hurting yourself also hurts it. There's some physics stuff that connects this to how nuclear weapons work, but it's my biggest stretch and still missing a lot of pieces.

[@dandavey2080]

What if - the greater will is just another kind of alien like the falling star beasts and atsel, it sends erdtrees down to different planets to latch onto them like parasites, and elden beasts to protect them and create its own religion to conquer that world, and all the other erdtrees we see in the elden beast fight are the ones on different conquered planets. And Marika & Radagon were the first to realise this and rebelled by destroying the elden ring trying to save the planet, so the greater will imprisoned them inside the same body as punishment which sent them insane and kept them in the erdtree. Just speculating but I think that would make a really good story to expand on.

[@mrtortoise3766]

My theory is that the elden beast is an avatar of the elden ring but not created by the greater will as placidusax was likely an elden lord before greater will so the elden ring was probably there before the greater will ruled and the elden beast is subservient to the outer god which rules at the time

[@idknemore525]

Look at thematic parallels between the elden beast and other entities instead of just the item descriptions that are spelled out for you if you're missing the build up to the Elden Beast. It's all there, you just have to actually look.

[@WiseOwl_1408]

Some sort of beast from the stars.

[@xaahd]

Thank you for this. I just finished the game for the 5th time and it finally hit me - why am I fighting a space dinosaur?

[@VictorMictorr]

is there any way to go back to visit the Elden Beast arena??

[@hainguyn948]

Yes, ng+

[@zarodgaming1844]

*"seeing how the world is, this Golden Order is not doing much good"* > Marika shattering the ring: " *nervously looking for the exit before everybody notices her*

[@ItsAHiighMusicWorld]

Elden beast is a mixture of the stars and The crucible

[@calibula95]

Maybe they could have gone the Bloodborne route again. You defeat Radagon, then restore the Elden Ring without fighting the Beast (because it wants the ring to be mended) so it's the same base ending in the game. Then if you have the Frenzies Flame or Age of Stars ending, you need to destroy the Elden Ring and the beast appears to try and stop you (?)

[@Lopuch64]

loved the linguistic remarks

[@PastramiSalami666]

The Elden Beast will probably get more explanation in the sequel

[@SeaStylesBilly]

If you think about about the other outer gods (Astel, Ranni's Moon (?), that dragon Picadilly, Mohg's Blood Mother), it makes sense that the Elden Beast should exist. Expecting what it looks like is another thing, but all of these factions that exist in the game seem to have some sort of external influence/representation.

[@chalybee8689]

I dont think it's accurate to describe the beast as a guardian of the ring or anything that is fundamentally independent from the ring. As you can see in the elden stars description, "the elden beast later became the ring", which means the ring IS the beast. The ring is the order and the beast is the living form of the ring. The beast being in "ring form" is likely so a different being can claim it's powers. As we can see inside Radagon, although the ring had been shattered, most of it remains, so it's safe to assume only a small part of it was shattered which would explain why the beast only have a wound but is still mostly intact. Im curious if the beast turned itself into the ring so it could inact it's will through a human either because the beast cannot live outside the tree or because it's simply needed human figure to represent the Order as people wouldnt have followed a beast. It could also be that Radagon forced the beast into a ring to claim it's power as it's own. Maybe in that process the greater will took over it's own will. One thing is sure is that by killing Radagon, the ring, the beast, no longer had a vessel to be contained so it was set free.

[@nicholaspatton101]

Might get more information in the DLC.

[@timelineenjoyer]

Not sure if anyone has brought up the similarity of design between the elden beast and the ulcerated tree spirits, down to the movement and appendages.

[@Lilbird2fye]

Do basically elden ring is white zetsu

[@sylvaindudrip341]

The Elden Beast looks like the Laniakea supercluster... where we live

[@augustuslxiii]

The Beast being mostly secret is kind of the point, though. Most people wouldn't do well with following a giant amorphous terrifying bug-thing. Marika was chosen pretty much because she's human and probably, apparently, pretty attractive. Complaining about the Beast not being foretold better misses the point; it's supposed to be a surprise. "So THAT's what the Golden Order/Elden Ring is!" That explains things. It did well for me, anyway. If I'd known about the Elden Beast at length, I'd have been fighting Radagon assuming the real fight would take place after he fell. Instead, it was much more fun for me to be surprised by the Beast. (As the inhabitants of the Lands Between would have been, which again, was the point in hiding it.) To each their own, though. Love your videos, by the way, well done. Just disagree on this one point.

[@Metrion77]

I would have thought the beast would be a secret final boss, like the moon beast in bloodborne.

[@NikFuryEndgame]

Seems like the astel are the moons version of the elden beast to me.

[@zotethemightyknightofgreatreno]

as has been mentioned the elden beast has connections to astel, astel is called a star. this may be becouse astel fell from space and has gravity magic, but the stars are referred to as alive by many people. knowing this we can say that astel is literally a star. now in Liurnian belief the stars controll the fates, so that means astel has power over the fates, which is interesting considering that Ranni has you kill astel but i digress, but there is another part this while normal stars (astel) ar said to control the fates of man, amber stars controll the fates the gods. now what i believe is that the Elden Beast is an amber star I have a few reasons for this first the Elden Beast's star cloud attack. the fact that the location of elden stars could imply that the Elden Beast landed at an eternal city (like astel), that it fell from space, the fact that the Elden Beast's spine and attacks while primarily gold often shine amber, and that the amber starlight looks alot like the Elden Beast's scar. the idea that the Elen Beast is an amber star something controls the fates of the gods lines up quite nicely with the idea that the Elden Beast is (atleast the vassal of) the Greater Will.

[@samos343guiltyspark]

The Elden Beast on Attack On Titan was kinda surprising to me, and their version of an ErdTree, and their version of Marika (Ymir)

[@beanargrowers]

maybe the beast gets doggy biscuits, even the gods like a good boy

[@SuperFusionAJ93]

The Elden Beast is like Necron from Final Fantasy 9

[@topcat59]

Honestly the fight with the elden beast is a pain in the ass, since It like likes to avoid you during the entire fight.🐱

[@pious83]

Hopefully some day, a modder can add Torrent into the fight. So we can see how much of a difference it would make.

[@Zapdos97]

It frustrates me too but understand that it's wounded and has most likely never been challenged, especially by a being who possesses destined death

[@VeryJUICED]

Is the greater will the original master of Placidissax and thats why he’s waiting around?