Elden Ring's BIGGEST mystery SOLVED! Why Marika SHATTERED the ELDEN RING

[@Longknife]

I think you've got it backwards: I think Marika wants to *prevent* his ascension. I have a whole theory I'm too tired to type up, but the tl;dr is Marika doesn't like Miquella. She doesn't want him ascending. -This is why Marika and Radagon's soreseals - which based on Messmer's use of a scarseal, seems to imply they would give the correlating person complete control - are found in opposing factions bases: Radahn clearly isn't cooperating with Miquella, and keeps Radagon's soreseal - which would give Radagon complete control, under lock and key in a Redmane Fort, whilst Miquella has Marika's Soreseal heavily guarded at the Haligtree. -This is why Marika trusts Ranni and aids with the Night of the Black Knives, something we'd otherwise view as foolish: because in terms of Empyrean competition for Miquella, she's the ONLY Empyrean left for the job. Supporting Ranni wasn't stupidity, it was desperation. And unfortunately, Ranni betrayed her. -This is why the Haligtree is on the fringes, housing people shunned by the Golden Order: because it is literally illegal. Marika is not turning a blind eye because it's her son; that thing is on the fringes, heavily hidden and guarded because it's very much illegal. -We have ample evidence Radagon and Miquella get along, but none for Marika and Miquella. Why? Because they don't get along. St. Trina likewise shows us that two personalities sharing the same body can have very different, even directly conflicting ideas and opinions. Radagon proves this himself too when he tries to repair the Elden Ring. -This quote: *""In Marika's own words. The Erdtree governs all. The choice is thine. Become one with the Order. Or divest thyself of it. To wallow at the fringes; a powerless upstart."* That's for Miquella. He's the upstart, he's the one divesting himself of the Golden Order, he's the one living on the fringes. Marika is ticked at him and warning him not to cross her. These two simply do not get along. Marika's "sorrow" you're referring to is likely the realization of Miquella's *scheme,* not concern for his well-being. Again, Mohg was compelled to do this. Marika would KNOW this is Miquella scheming. That Marika shattered the Elden Ring is likely a case of trying to impede him when she has absolutely no other options left. Ranni nuked her candidacy, Malenia is basically Miquella's puppet already, and the fingers will undoubtedly choose Miquella as the next God. So what does Marika do? "If I can't have it, nobody can." She shatters the Elden Ring, delaying Miquella's ascension to Godhood, and sowing chaos that will likely impede him. Metyr/The Elden Beast punish her (seems like they directly GRANT her her Godhood, so they can easily take it away too), and now her last hope is a Tarnished gambit: that a Tarnished will ascend the throne, take the Elden Ring directly from the Elden Beast, and be her consort. It's her ace in the hole and last card left to play as a cheeky method of trying to re-ascend the throne. The entire story is based on family conflict between Marika and Miquella, with certain people (Marika, Radahn) not trusting or even fearing Miquella, for obvious reasons. This ALSO has GRRM's tell-tale signs of royal family drama and scheming as the core of the story's conflict.

[@LeviathanScream]

Interesting take!

[@CenteredTarnished]

Sorry but I can't agree with this. For one, sorrow is not the emotion one would feel in that case. Rage, anger, frustration maybe but sorrow is very specific. Also, Marika says she wants her children to become anything, lords, GODS, anything as long as they do something. So Miquella ascending would only make her happy.

[@mrjooxmanallah]

I like a contrarian take such as OP being countered by an even more contrarian take such as this one. Great ideas on both sides. I got this to add: Maybe when Master Hewg was tasked by Marika with making a weapon that could “slay a god”, maybe the god she had in mind was Miquella. I’m beginning to believe less and less that Marika had even average maternal instincts towards any of her children. She was most concerned about being replaced as a god. The two fingers had been abandoned and perhaps the Greater Will saw a more fitting candidate in Miquella.

[@greenbean4422]

​@CenteredTarnished it sounds correct based on exactly what you said. Miquella was growing into a monster that even marika could even fathom, but still young. What other kind of unthinkable things would this kid do before he's even become an adult? Marika knew if Miquella ascended the throne that he would way lasted to anything that didn't fit his image of a perfect world, whereas marika spared what she detested and hid it away instead She wants miquella to ascend *until* he grows like this. People can change her mind and I honestly think she did

[@knotgradaunknown7414]

@@mrjooxmanallah I don`t know, when you consider all the Greater Will`s agents seem busted, the Lands between look less like a vassal Kingdom and more like a Junkyard

[@Yoskiooo]

Miquella received a great rune which would mean he wasn't abducted before the shattering...

[@Terminalsanity]

Bingo, its pretty clear it was Godwyn's death and the death of the other Demigods slain on the Night Black Knives that made Marika resolve to shatter the Elden Ring. Think about it Godwyn was Maika's only child to be born without a curse a living symbol and embodiment of all she hoped the Golden order to be: Greatness distilled,radiant, eternal, and ever lasting and he was reduced to a soulless empty, twisted, putrid, vessel of undeath literally corrupting the entire land.

[@EmberAwoken]

He was also present and active at the battle of Aeonia after the shattering and presumably after he was “kidnapped.” He saved Frejya’s life. A lot of Miquella’s story is bizarre.

[@PhillyPhilPhil]

Oof

[@CenteredTarnished]

Why would Marika wait so long after his death to shatter the elden ring? Rogier -" It happened during the Golden Age of the Erdtree, long before the shattering of the Elden Ring". Like was does Marika have amnesia?

[@CenteredTarnished]

He picked up his great rune after the shattering, after he was taken.

[@Ben10Blader]

Mr Beast catching strays even in the ER community 😂

[@madmorgo6233]

@@Ben10Blader mist or, beast 🤯💥😳

[@adawg3032]

@@madmorgo6233 Mist or beast therefore offer rump

[@therealshadowblayde]

i had to double take at that part lolol

[@brunktondaily7137]

One thing COULD dispute "Mohg capturing Miquella causing the shattering". Miquella was present in Aoenia after Melina and Radahn fought. We know this from Freyja who states having been healed by Miquella after sustaining injuries in the Caelid Battle. Now was this a projecting? Very possible. But if Miquella could move apart of himself while captured, why not go see Marika/Radagon?

[@bobsinclair8990]

in the concept "it's all just aspects of marika" it might translate to "that part of marika healed freya" and "miquella is not able to contact the conscious part as he is shielded from reality by his protectors while marika and radagon(body and mind) need to solve their dispute before they can reintegrate their inner child". miquella's protector was heavily wounded after the fight against radahn and possibly not able to imprison/protect miquella for a moment, allowing the other guardian to take up the mantle protecting miquella after healing freya. just rambling though.

[@zjuraeventide8949]

It's more clear that this was the case thanks to a church dedicated to St.Trina there, with an item description stating that St.Trina seemed to appear suddenly from nowhere.

[@MitridatedCarbon]

@@zjuraeventide8949 goddamn this game. Miquella's love appeared in caelid where Radhan was. literally manifested there cause Radhan was chosen as his consort.

[@KKKuma]

@@armandaneshjoo I don't think Ansbatch has anything to do with that. He attacked Miquella after realizing Mogh was charmed. It could be during the cocoon part or after he was taken to the palace. And Miquella could have done that out of self defense. It is not sure. The only thing weird is Frejya and how she able to meet Miquella. The great rune can also be explained by Radagon or Marika gave it to him before the shattering. It is a possible theory because Radagon gave a great rune to Renala as a "sorry gift" already and he showed a good relationship with Miquella.

[@bobsinclair8990]

​ @MitridatedCarbon going a step further this was also around the time he abandoned the idea of unalloyed gold. he abandoned purity as he fell in love(trina) with might and seeing his progressive protector fail he turned to a not so pure protector mohg. this also fits neatly with putrescent knight being a bad copy of radahn in front of his discarded love st trina. it's a faint memory.

[@T.e.a.k]

Bros helping me work through childhood trauma lol

[@Eizengoldt]

Psychology isn’t real bro, its all nonsense

[@Lucardini]

Same

[@kennethsmith5383]

Hurts but yeah.

[@MegatronDconZ]

If just about all the lore didnt contradict this it night actually be a decent theory

[@CenteredTarnished]

What lore contradicts this? If you say timeline then... "To people thinking Miquella having a great rune is concrete proof that the Shattering happened before Miquella went MIA in the Haligtree, Freyja gives up personal accounts for Miquella being PRESENT and active at the Battle of Aeonia in Caelid when Malenia and Radahn fought post-shattering and most likely post kidnapping (because he was inside the Haligtree prior to being kidnapped). When Malenia returns back from this battle she finds Miquella has been kidnapped in her absence. He was clearly doing things after being kidnapped by the words of Freyja and what we know happened with him and Ansbach." - Ember Awoken

[@qwirkt]

@@CenteredTarnishedgood point, that’s already contradictory and implies that Miquella was either roaming around post his “kidnapping”, or that he brainwashed Freyja into thinking he saved her. I don’t remember if Freyja talks about Miquella having saved her after his enchantment is broken, IIRC she says she doesn’t care but will stick around because of Radahn

[@Miazger]

Makes sense marikas and radogons chilldren may be just parts of Marika herself

[@gd995]

"Marika is the elden beast" Homie try REALLY hard to have a unique take

[@808nzaro]

03:10 🤣 No way Mr Beast caught a stray

[@mikeekim8567]

"All that there is came from One Great. Then came fractures, births, souls.."

[@torchoftruth5534]

You forget Miquella charmed Mogh to put his plot into motion, so that doesn't fit the inner child well, but in Internal Family System the Exiled part of the psyche would coincide with the inner child role, the wounded part of us we pushed away, and that would be the Tarnished, while the Demigods would represent the Protectors.

[@shiroamakusa8075]

Yeah no, doesn't add up. Radahn already had his Great Rune when Malenia challenged him (it's how he managed to survive getting Scarlet Rotted to death) and Miquella was accompanying her to Caelid where he enthralled Freiya to his cause (his powers only work face to face, so he must have been there in person). It's most likely he was abducted on the chaotic retreat to the Haligtree since he had to pass very close to Mohg's territory and Malenia was knocked out and incapable of defending him. Also, the Elden Beast is stated to have come from space, after Metyr. Marika is not a space-creature, she was born in the Lands Between and has a grandmother, so she's of course not the Elden Beast herself, just its vessel.

[@CenteredTarnished]

Not sure what any of that has to do with this video..... seems more like a timeline issue than a theory issue. If you don't believe Marika is the Elden Beast, which I get, can you tell me what a numen is?

[@jimb.598]

​@CenteredTarnished glad you said it.... 😂

[@shiroamakusa8075]

@@CenteredTarnished Yeah, the timeline doesn't add up. If Radahn and Malenia and Miquella already had great runes before he got abducted then Marika obviously couldn't have smashed the Elden Ring as a reaction to that. Numen aren't glowing space slugs. Or are all the jar innards we find in the Lands of Shadow little Elden Beasts too?

[@ColorlessFog]

@@CenteredTarnishednot really in relation to this thread, but I’ve had this thought rolling around my head that a numen is literally a “new man” meaning the very rarely successful (“seldom born”) jar saints such as Marika. Enter the jar a mix of various things glued together by a Shaman; exit the jar a failed deformed monstrosity or a seemingly perfect whole new type of being such as Marika. A new man. A numen. I dunno, maybe something someone like yourself can cook into something even better. Great videos.

[@CenteredTarnished]

Sorry, I just meant the actual definition of Numen. Numen means a spirit or soul inhabiting a thing (usually a tree). That's exactly what the Elden Beast is. It's also what the shaman's seem to be able to do. Becuase marika is the spirit side of Maradagon, and radagon is the physical they are presented to us in these versions. Marika is the elden beast which is why they share the same exact wound in the belly. And why both of them use radagon as a phsycial weapon. They are one in the same. Marika, like we see in the shaman village, is just a petrified version absorbed by a tree. I guess that's just what shamans do.

[@agxryt]

Interesting take. Childhood trauma is often a theme of FS games. Sekiro is largely themed around childhood trauma - Wolf's, his PTSD, his relationship with the perpetrator (Owl), Owl's manipulation to conceal his abuse, Wolf's ability to overcome the cycle of abuse, Wolf's stewardship of the eternally innocent child Kuro, Kuro's untainted childhood wisdom, etc. I think there's def some themes like this about Miquella. Everyone is so obsessed about Miquella charming people, but really - his reaction to people trying to kill him, is to win them over. That's considerably more "decent" than anyone else in the series. His goal is a gentler world. Miquella is pure and radiant - even delusional ansbach recognizes it, despite hating him. Because he is a child, Miquella is good, gentle, loving. Untainted.

[@the-hermit-arcana]

Yeah. Ansbach "challenges" a little boy with his blade, then is salty that his charm was turned on him???

[@Filip-_-._.]

3:07 "The amount of fractures it causes are more numerous than the alligations on Mr Beast" lmao, didn't see that one coming xD

[@positivecontacts]

The narrative symbolism doesn’t have to tie into all of the complex character narratives in a tidy way to make sense. Symbolism is about layers of meaning and finding what speaks to you on the level you’re at. Miquella as the wounded inner child totally works for me.

[@the-hermit-arcana]

There isn't any indication in the game that she had any special regard for Miquella, nor Miquella for her. Miquella, however, exchanged a few gifts with his father Radagon. The only time we ever hear of Marika addressing Miq or giving him any kind of attention is when she tells all the demigods to make something of themselves or get out of the way. Kind of sad, really.

[@CenteredTarnished]

yeah but marika is radagon

[@the-hermit-arcana]

@@CenteredTarnished She is and she isn't. Obviously they remain separate people in personality, as one broke the Elden Ring and the other tried to repair it. We don't know a lot about their connection and how much one affects the other, but if they were functionally the same in thought and personality then they wouldn't have opposed one another. Marika herself has very little to do with any of her family outside of Godwyn, Messmer, and Melina, that we know explicitly of.

[@the-hermit-arcana]

It's possible she did shatter it because of Miquella but I doubt that reason is related to love, anger or grief; we know that Miquella received a vision from the Two Fingers, choosing him as her successor. It's more likely she didn't want the cycle to continue and the Fingers to stay in power, so she took drastic measures to stop that from happening.

[@DustDemonTwilight]

the Guidance of grace is from Marika, she guides the tarnished AND in the realm of shadow it specifically guides us to kill miquella. also Marika is 100% not the elden beast lol

[@CenteredTarnished]

It definitely doesn't guide us to kill Miquella. It guides us to find certain characters and learn about them. Also, there are no guidance of grace pointing us to the Haligtree. Also, why would Gideon say this is why the queen is sad? Also, Marika is the Elden Beast.

[@HimanshuPrabhatHP007]

And I don't think there is any evidence that Miquella was taken prior to shattering. If anything, given his actions during dlc, his disappearance post shattering and during/after war between demigods makes more sense. As for the reason behind the shattering, I still believe that the death of Godwyn was final trigger for Marika to realize that her golden order had failed and it's time for new age. Birthing the omen twins (which probably led to her sending Messmer on the path of crusade and maybe was the reason behind banishment of Goddrick as a form of deflecting the blame) and almost all other children except Godwyn suffering as a vessel of some odd outer gods must have been filling her bowl of regrets.

[@HighDratedTK]

I do agree that it is guiding us to slay God's and Demi God's if it were true that it was trying to make us look at new characters then the base game would've had a lot more guiding grace, however the Elden Beast imo has to be Maradagon, I say this cause in the DLC Metyr's rune confirms that the Greater Will never existed in or guided Marika's order whatsoever so if the Greater Will was never apart of it then she and Radagon, who is just her, has to be the Elden Beast to protect it in it's final moments which is why it's called a "beast" it's mindlessly doing what it's supposed to be doing.

[@kaiyz4222]

@@CenteredTarnishedit def leads us to miquella. Leda even mentions that

[@the-hermit-arcana]

Trina wants us to kill Miquella as well, to free him from the cage of divinity.

[@TamirErFuego]

Thank you for the great structure and analysis ! You gave us the bottom line in the first 3 seconds and then layered and expanded on it beautifully!

[@TheMidnightVendetta]

Hey, I have experienced severe childhood trauma. Your videos really have helped me not only understand the game, but they have helped lead me to self realization and better ubderstandings of my own ego and my own experiences. Thank you so much, I am very happy someone like you is a father - your kids will be great human beings! You’re insightful and smart, I know I’m a complete stranger but I hope you get more recognition for your work! We

[@CenteredTarnished]

I am very sorry to hear that about your past. And thank you for the incredibly kind words. I certainly hope my kiddos are kind human beings.

[@gygaxthecat2448]

That goes right in the relevant videos list!

[@CenteredTarnished]

Glad you liked it!

[@Ontos99]

Hey CT. Nice video. I liked your insights here but an important thing about the timeline. Frejya says how Miquella healed her wounds post Cealid battle meaning he was active in the lands between post shattering. Even the actual beginning cutscene you are referring to (Mohg taking Miq away) is talking about the timeline to be post shattering. You can rewatch the first cutscene: 'Soon Marika's off springs gathered the shards...' followed by 'Mad taint of their power triggered the Shattering (war)...' So Mohg kidnapping Miquella which is shown with this text is definitely post shattering meaning Marika can't shatter the elden ring as a reaction to Miq's 'kidnapping'. Other than that, the video was great. Much love.

[@CenteredTarnished]

Hmmm I am reading things a different way. We know that Ansbach tried to attack Miquella to free Mohg from his bewitchment, but had his heart stolen - which means that Miquella is fully autonomous and capable of wondering the world POST being taken. Mohg is just his puppet at that time. So healing Freya is kinda just what he does. Also, we see Godwyn's death in that opening cutscene as well but, thanks to Rogier, we know that he died long before the shattering of the Elden Ring. I don't think we can take those images in a linear way. They are simply telling a story - not necessarily the timeline. Let me know if that makes sense lol. I am getting confused at this point because every comment has their own head cannon timeline - as do I lol - AND the game constantly contradicts it's own timeline

[@sweeenchants6053]

Markka didn’t destroy the Elden ring cause of Miquella she destroyed it in response to Godwyn's death

[@mitchryan257]

That’s at least what Ranni told us, and I don’t see why she would lie about that.

[@kaingates]

​@mitchryan257 and Rogier. And the story release before the game came out.

[@patrascu1485]

@@kaingates rogier and the story trailer didn't say shit, it's ranni talking in that story trailer. Marika didn't shatter the elden ring because godwyn died, she shattered it because that was the next step of her plan of overthrowing the elden beast and the erdtree.

[@Somethingsomethingyoutube]

Tarnished, tread carefully... These words are words that seek to ensnare you in the threaded webs Miquella spins. Lies to wrench your emotions and weaponize your empathy.

[@syldraws]

this theory is great. i really feel that it explains the characters, especially because of the inspirations taken by grrm and miyazaki. awesome analysis, can’t wait for the next videos!

[@jman8350]

This is crazy - I was just saying this on Reddit a couple days ago and literally nobody supported my theory lol

[@thekris4378]

Wow, that makes so much sense. I knew everything and everyone was broken, but, all these characters part of the same person. Now it makes me wonder, are we, the tarnished player yet another fracture in their split personality?

[@CenteredTarnished]

Stay tuned :)

[@ShinobiFox1980]

I've been screaming it from the hills that Shadow of the Erd tree is indeed a reference to the Shadow and psychology, that many of our answers lie in this. Glad to see I'm not alone in this.

[@chazclark86]

Glad I got out on to this channel, loving it so far!

[@cwarnkecomedy]

In his quest to reach godhood we learn that Miquella divests himself of all of his flesh and reaches the divine gate and has his Consort, the only thing missing to get control over everything is the Elden RIng. Since we know that Miquella orchestrated his abduction and the battle of aeonia I think its fair to assume that triggering the shattering was also part of his plan, and we as a player light up the Erdtree and deliver him all the great runes, Miquella is a villain, maybe he is the main villain.

[@ThisChangeIsAwful]

miquella forcing Merika to break the elden ring would truly make him the most fearsome of all the demigods

[@austincrowmusic2378]

I think you cracked the code my man. I'm on board for this!

[@swordierre9341]

Its been clear to me, for a long time, that the story being told isnt one thats meant to peiced together entirely by timelines or even logical deduction, there is something more abstract and metaphorical happening under the surface. Your theory is one of the few that accually tries to tackle the story from the metaphorical angle, and its more and more convincing by the day. I never even thought about the fact that it says a gods “return” when referring to miquellas ascension to god, thats a very weird detail that i dont think anyone had an explanation for, and only makes sense once you consider miquella to represent a previous state of marika herself. Just a perfect example of how thing in this game cant be squared away until you get down to the abstract.

[@endlessXnow]

Elden Ring lorelets want everything to be literal like a Marvel movie. Mythologies have always been centered around human psychology.

[@theyoten1613]

Very cool analysis. I enjoyed the links to psychoanalysis.

[@dogofthedeath9686]

I have to commend you on all the videos you've made on this subject. You have to be the one that is closest to the true nature of this story out of everything I have seen these past few years. Who would do a whole game about trauma and hide it so well in a beautifully crafted world and story so as to hide the true meaning behind all of it. It's crazy to me. I think many people have been through hardships as children, and understanding this story the way you have brought it to us is eye opening as to how clever and inspired Myazaki and J.R.R Martin were on this.

[@gamingwglitch1088]

I absolutely love your insights here. I'm not quite convinced of the timeline (was Miquella stolen before or after the shattering) so I'm still convinced that Godwyn's death was the catalyst. However, your connection that the inner attacker stole the inner child is absolutely brilliant.

[@CenteredTarnished]

Thanks! Just curious then how you take Gideon's dialogue about Marika's sorrow?

[@gamingwglitch1088]

@@CenteredTarnished So I definitely think your interpretation has some validity but a couple things don't add up. Instead of helping Miquella attain godhood, she seems to do everything in her power to make godhood unattainable. I believe that this is because there is something abominable about godhood, at least in Marika's (and Ranni's) eyes. I believe that is what Gideon calls Marika's sorrow. So how does it relate to Miquella's "kidnapping"? Assuming it takes place after the shattering, it is proof of the Great Runes' corrupting influence. Despite the fact that they're fragments of the Elden Ring, the Order of the Greater Will, they bring the Demigods to ruin. They're evidence of Marika's own suffering, and justification of her treason against the Greater Will.

[@CenteredTarnished]

Interesting, but then how do you explain her echoes urging her kids to become Gods?

[@gamingwglitch1088]

@@CenteredTarnished Haha yeah that seems to kill that theory huh? I don't have a good answer to that but here's my assessment: Marika is reactive, not proactive. Her decisions don't make sense over the course of an eternity, but they do as immediate responses to emerging situations. This is the fickleness of gods that Goldmask speaks of. That being said, I really don't think my theory holds up. She really did seem to have high hopes for her children...and may have even instigated the Night of Black Knives... Perhaps the world couldn't progress so long as she remained a god...

[@OscarTheStrategist]

Well… it could have been Radagon that said that and not Marika.

[@HellYeahGaming]

There’s two reasons I can think of the top of my head that Marika could not have shattered the Elden Ring in response to Miquella’s abduction. The first is that the demigod only received their great rooms after the shattering, and Miquella has his until he discard it during the DLC story. The second is that the battle of Caelid Was the last great battle of the shattering war and we know that Miquella was there to heal Frejya of his sisters rot. The sequence of events that you suggest are simply impossible.

[@CenteredTarnished]

Why couldn't miquella get his great rune after he was taken? After the shattering it says "soon, the demigods claimed the shards of the elden ring". Why does he have to have his great rune before? If anything, he needs the shattering in order to get his Great Rune in order to charm others. We also know that Ansbach tried to kill miquella after he bewitched mohg, only to have his own heart stolen AND that miquella healed freya after his abduction. So miquella is fully autonomous during this time. Remember, he is bewitching Mohg so miquella is right where he wants to be.

[@CaptianSwan]

@@CenteredTarnished How do we know that Miquella cured Freyja after Ansbach was captured?

[@m.h7881]

​@@CenteredTarnished I thought Miquella have the enchanting power even without the great rune. I imagine he only break the enchantment of several people in scadu altus since he plan to enchant the whole world after ascension.

[@CenteredTarnished]

That doesn’t matter, I don’t think. We know it as definitely after he was taken, as Mohg was bewitched. Either way, Miquella is able to do as he pleases and is fully autonomous for both. And both are after the shattering.

[@bdono555]

​@@CenteredTarnished because they had them before... And the shattering occurred long before he was captured. The thrones before you fight morrgot came after the shattering and miquella had his own throne. Your video is just click bait nonsense.

[@ManuelLamy]

Ok, glad I found your channel, I will be sticking around, thanks and cheers!

[@EGwaltz]

Day 1 fan. Love your vids and theories. Keep going!

[@azurisuru]

I really like the Human Story layer. It finally answered my question as to why Mohg sprouts wings in his phase 2. Malenia as the Angel and Mohg as the Devil. In my humble opinion, Queen Marika was never in control. From one master to the next, Hornsent to the Greater Will, she never was in control. She tried to save her people as seen in the Nurse Wing at the bottom of the Black Keep. St. Trina knew that the same fate awaited Miquella if he did manage to ascend to godhood. Miquella's removal of his body parts are a direct reflection of how Queen Marika tried to remove all of the things that made her in the first place. All the unwanted materials placed in that jar ritual that made her. Why she and Radagon are stone-like and cracking as they pound away on the Elden Ring. _Queen Marika was driven to the brink._ The story trailer itself tells us that it was Godwyn's death that drove her to the brink (Elden Ring Story Trailer @1:02). It is a reminder that Marika was never in control. Godwyn is her only normal offspring, kind and noble. The rest are cursed with godly afflictions with whatever thing the Horsents added to the jar that created their only successful Jar Saint, Marika. Miquella has the Man-fly disease, he has wings in his concept art. Malenia has the Scarlet Rot. The twins Morgott and Mohg are fell-omen, in other words they are Crucible just like the Hornsents. _Miquella the Kind spoke of the beginning. The seduction and the betrayal. An affair in which gold arose._ In the SotE story trailer, Leda narrates to us what Miquella found out. Messmer and Melina are the Gloam-eyed Queen's. Queen Marika betrayed her and took her kids for her own use. One, implanting the base serpent curse (there is a snakeskin in Bonny Village) inside Messmer. Two, using Melina as kindle to burn the Hornsent's Scadutree. There is a Miquella cross in the Black Keep. Just like Radahn and Godwyn, Messmer was another Lord Brother to Miquella before Messmer and his troops left the Lands Between to burn the Hornsent's kingdom. The betrayal part is something you'd see in a George R. R. Martin's story, A Song of Ice and Fire, in which the stories are focused on Human Failure. Think of Marika's Family like the House of Stark. Jon Snow, like Messmer, was sent far away. His story is that of betrayal as you find out his true lineage later on, just like how Messmer, if you think about his lanky figure representing that of the Godskin nobles. Why the swadling cloth in the SotE trailer reminds you of the godskin material. Why there is no Night or Gloam in the Gate of Divinity. Who did Queen Marika seduce? The Gloam Eyed Queen? The Hornsents? The chieftain of the badlands, Hoarah Loux? All for her grand revenge. But in the end, she was never in control. The death of her only normal offspring, well loved by the citizens of Leyndell, and the Finger Reader at the Deeproot Depths, broke her. Godwyn is the only demigod without a remembrance. He is the only one that is permanently dead no matter how many playthroughs you do. He hath become the god of Those Who Live in Death, and Fia is the Finger Maiden, and we the Lord if we choose the Mending Rune of the Death Prince. Ascending to godhood is not what Marika wants for her children for she knew, just like St. Trina, that it is a prison. The cycle of revenge repeats, can you blame Ranni for killing Godwyn? After all, Radagon seduced her mother Rennala just so Marika can control the only force, the House of Caria, that is able to fight back against the throne. Like how House Lannister finished off House Stark so there is no contest for the throne in King's Landing. Queen Marika thought she was in control but as the demigod offsprings got older, the plots were hatched, Doll and Cocoon. Can we say that these happened simultaneously? Much like how G.R.R. Martin tells the story through different perspectives with the characters point of view as the chapter, things could have happened simultaneously in the Lands Between. How Ranni is not in control as she is an Empyrean with a Two Finger assigned to her. The combination of Human Failure and Human Story.

[@WillMorganzzz]

Miquella is Marika, same as Radagan and other Marika’s and Radagan’s children: Miquella, Melena and Malenia. They are all Marika, shards of her split personality 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 Miquella ascending to godhood is Marika’s plan all along to shatter the Elden Ring and be reborn as god again. Her pure version the inner child, so she can start anew, a kinder world this time. She understood her world was dying, was not based on Greater Will, as the fingers guiding Marika had no connection to the Greater Will. She understood the world of Golden Order she created was flawed and decided to start a new one / or she had no choice cuz she knew it was nearing its end / or it was hell on earth. That’s why she shattered the Elden Ring and set things in motion to Burn the Elden Tree. She killed all the giants but she kept one alive to protect the flame of the giants. To keep the possibility of using it. She had the plan B all along. The core of the Elden Ring lore is life and death cycle , destruction and rebirth. Marika’s golden order was never meant to be eternal. She knew it will have to be destroyed to be reborn in cycle as everything else. She needed to die in order to be reborn. That why she needed us the player to kill all that remained of her.

[@WillMorganzzz]

@thecenteredtarnish, what do you think?

[@T_I_O_T_M]

I love the Blayke callout. I can really get behind what you're talking about. Keep up the good work.

[@Tracerbullet328]

It was because of Godwyn. Miquella has a great rune, thus received it after the shattering and pre-kidnapping

[@CenteredTarnished]

To people thinking Miquella having a great rune is concrete proof that the Shattering happened before Miquella went MIA in the Haligtree, Freyja gives up personal accounts for Miquella being PRESENT and active at the Battle of Aeonia in Caelid when Malenia and Radahn fought post-shattering and most likely post kidnapping (because he was inside the Haligtree prior to being kidnapped). When Malenia returns back from this battle she finds Miquella has been kidnapped in her absence. He was clearly doing things after being kidnapped by the words of Freyja and what we know happened with him and Ansbach. - EmberAwoken Also, rogier tells us that the shattering happens LONG AFTER Godwyn's death..... so unless Marika just didnt feel the effects of his death for a while, or perhaps she was on vacation and missed it for like a thousand years - it's definetley not because of Godwyns death.

[@aurelienzuchowski]

Was the battle of Aeonia the premise of Miquella wanting Radahn to be their consort ? What if Radahn, not agreeing to become Miquella's consort, made them change their plan and taking avantage of Mogh after Aeonia, before Malenia was taken back to the Haligtree ?

[@ftbs8934]

Miquella was taken during the Shattering War when Malenia moved to engage Radahn in Caelid. The Shattering of the Elden Ring preceeded the War, meaning it could not have been a desperate move by Marika to protect Miquella.

[@GrandStyles]

I don’t know if I buy that the complete motivation for the shattering was because Miquella was absconded with. She doesn’t know Mohg has him and her sorrow could be explained by his abandonment of Leyndell and the Order. Also her grace leads us to slay him in the DLC. I will say, however, that it is a fitting motif for Miquella to represent the cycle of the “spirited away shaman” that would surely activate some Marika PTSD. Thanks for the insightful video!!

[@KKKuma]

Miquella gone missing may be one of the big news for Marika family. If he is gone missing everyone probably know that. Especially when the assassins were going around killing all of Marika children. After Godwyn death the security and the information network may be increased to provide safety for all of the demigod. So even though no one know who took him away, they probably knew that he was gone. Until Marika was done with everything and went to despair and shattered the elden ring.

[@MitridatedCarbon]

I kinda like this theory on how Marika's psyche influenced the reality of the lands between. it is an interesting concept, a mortal turning into the God of the world, able to shape reality, but since they were mortals, their fears, insecurities and traumas influence and morph the world. it reminds me of demon's souls and how the demons are created from the fear and myths of mankind, or in bloodborne how the great ones shape the nighmares based on their experiences. but more specifically it reminds me of Berserk and Fantasia. In the manga, the astral plane is a mirror of human consciousness, inhabited by the creatures of folklore, and psychological concepts made flesh. the main bad god, for example, is this creature called the idea of evil, which was created by the human shared consciousness's inability to process the evils of the world. eventually, this astral plane gets fused with the real world, turning both into a realm called fantasia, where there's a giant tree of light towering over the land. in the manga, the overlapping of these planes is called "interstice", which is the Japanese name for the lands between, and fantasia is one global interstice.

[@JebtonLT]

What about everything Miquella did to take care of malenia? He wasn't just sheltered and taken care of by her, if anything I think it was the opposite. He tried everything available to the golden order to try and heal her inner rot, he eventually turned from the golden order because it could never really help his sister, he ended up becoming a historian of sorts and exploring different cultures high and low to find a cure, doing experiments with different alloyed gold, unalloyed gold, going to the ends of the earth to try to heal his sister and basically mastering alchemy along the way. There's all these item texts detailing the lengths he went to, all the needles used to combat rot, basically everything in the game that is effective against rot was discovered by him at some point.

[@CenteredTarnished]

For sure! This is simply Miquella's nature - to heal. He needs her just as much as she needs him. It's a very symbiotic relationship

[@braedenaldridge8452]

I like it. It makes sense and I’ve always had this feeling that the entire focus of the game always comes down to The girl who decided to become a God.

[@EduardoNicoleit]

Also, even the " golden order" being a shallow illusion, it's the identity of the traumatized person creates to keep going...

[@geotch9685]

So, Marikas 3 empyrean candidates were 1)Ranni, 2)Miquella, 3)Malenia. Malenia was afflicted with the rot curse(outer god maybe played a role but it doesnt matter), Ranni basically peaced out of her potential duty(outer god maybe played a role but it doesnt matter). The Alliance took place, leaving Marika to think every1 will play nice and follow her lead in wars to come, cultivating Miquella to a worthy successor. Miquella, the eternal youth-cursed child (inner child), was kidnapped by Mohg (child trauma-inner aggressor), and was eternally scarred by him, then he decided to charm him, basically be a good boy and adopt this mentality towards everyone else in order to survive. Marika saw that happen, Miquella getting twisted and hurt, her Sorrow was justified. And thats when she decided she had to shatter it. There was only one last ray of hope, one last chance for the inner child (Miquellas Rune) to heal and be reintegrated to the Elden ring. A hero... A TARNISHED OF NO RENOWN! Last gamba move activated, Shattering the elden ring caused fragments of great power to emerge. Godfrey never claimed a Rune, because he and all the Tarnished together already had her grace.... All the tarnished together MAKE A DEMIGOD. Thats why we find runes in our adventure and this is our great rune, the ability to level up and become stronger in any way we see fit. Melina is part of marikas grace! Torrent was initially given to Miquella, that was Marikas first choice, we were her contingency plan, thats why she sent godfrey away.... In Marikas own words: "Then, after thy death, I will give back what I once claimed. Return to the Lands Between, wage war, and brandish the Elden Ring. Grow strong in the face of death. Warriors of my lord. Lord Godfrey." The Lords Rune: "Runes of one who was destined to become a Lord, but when the Elden Ring was shattered, all that remained was a distant duty." Its the duty of every Tarnished to strive to become Elden Lord, for everyones sake. Marika transferred her conscious part of her soul across the Lands between,to all the tarnished, to guide and assist us to kill the other parts of her. Mainly claim the inner child rune and other runes if possible, thus allowing the inner child to heal, to be reintegrated to the Elden ring. Now.... the endings: 1) Mending rune of death prince -> all become like godwyn, soul is killed, body remains, all become zombies ego is shattered never to recover. 2) Mending of Dung eater -> yee no1 wants this 3) Golden Order -> Minmaxing Life and take free will away from every1 in the process 4) Ranni -> submit to the one who left her duty and failed to stand to the occasion supposedly coz of not wanting to be controlled, while following an unknown outer god afterwards. 5) May Chaos Take The World -> basically too much sacrifice and nothing is worth it anymore time for some cleansing. 6) Mend the Elden ring -> Age of Fracture, reintegrate the claimed runes. Make the fractured personality one piece again and stand to the occasion. Basically get ur sh*t together. According to plato, soul is made of 3 parts, Logistikon (Marika Mind and Shaman) , Thymoeides (Godfrey Passion and also first lord) , Epithymetikon (Radagon bodily desires and second Lord) Our Tarnished Hero is destined to conquer these 3, thus making the fracture ego-soul whole again. Thats my view of this beautiful puzzle. Much love to all Lore enjoyers!

[@90piterr]

I don't understand a few things. Since every demi God claimed a shard of the elden ring after this being shattered by Marika, this should mean that Mog stole him after the shattering. We know Miquella was in the Aeonia battle present and cured Freya. And we also know his charming powers go away after him getting rid of his great rune, hence the Elden Ring was already shattered when Mog was "seduced", right? Why shattering the Elden Ring would protect Miquella when all this events seems to have happen after the shattered itself?

[@nomattr]

Mogh kidnapped Miquella because of shattering. There was no integrity guarding the pieces in place. It shattered because the Reason/Self represented by Godwyn - Sun was killed, toghether with the Intuition (Ranni) separated from the body. Marika herself shattered, the runes are representation of her soul, which when was completed formed the Elden Ring. The fallen leaves tell the story, it's fall, winter is coming. Something (or someone) is dying. Now there's no Elden Ring, just small runes scattered through the world (ones we get killing standard enemies) and the Greater Runes embodied in the demigods embodying some part of her psyche. By collecting runes we are integrating the soul into one piece, we are recreating the Elden Ring.

[@themaniae4803]

Love this way to read the story, even because, in a lot o f Mythos, God's children usually are parts of the God itself (Thor's children literally are called Thrudr, Strenght, Modi, Courage, and Magni, Strenght again.) Only problem about that is the timeline. As we see in the Morgott cutscene, Miquella had his throne in the initial council, so he was still around when Marika shattered the Elden Ring. About her reason to shatter the Elden Ring, well -Her traumatic past -The divinity (In good and bad, power corrupts. You have the power to change the world but even that is not enough to save your family.) -6 of her children on 7 are cursed. Two with a flame and maybe she was forced to take one (Gloom Eyed Queen/Melina) down. Malenia influenced by an Outer God, Miquella eternally young, and Morgott and Mohg literally a monster version of Hornsents. -The only one pure and perfect, killed for half and turned into a living-coma monster + at least 9 other golden demigods killed. -All this while her half's children were perfect, strong and beautiful. -Now, thanks to Ranni the entire sistem of Respawn from the Erdtree was corrupted by the Deathroots. -Radagon was taking power because their relationship -Not a good heir to rule -3 children of her were Empyreans, so maybe she thought Greater Will/Metyr/Fingers were thinking to remove Marika. She snapped after Miyazaki knows how many years constantly stressed, scared and feeling powerless as the World she created was crumbling down.

[@BlueberryBatter]

If Miquella is the regressed child aspect of Marika, it would make even more sense for Miquella’s cutscene, speaking about making -someone- a lord, to be a speech addressed to Godwin. I’ve never bought into Marika being a-ok with Godwin’s death, for one. Anyway, Godwin appears to be, from item descriptions, in game clues, etc, loved very much, by both Marika and Miquella. Godwin is also not fully from Marika, and works as a stand-in representation for concepts surrounding love, in multiple aspects. (Editing to add- IF IF IF the process to ascending to godhood does involve the creation of a Lord, I can get behind Marika having a hand in Night of the Black Knives. If Marika is/was looking for a do-over, using Miquella as the vessel, it makes sense for a motivation. Now I need to figure out if Ranni and/or Godwin had an idea about godhood and lordship, and what attaining it would entail.)

[@sficman3592]

Everybody focused on pointing out if ER and Jungian psychology align or not meanwhile I'm just here to learn a great deal about both with no downside (thank you Jake for the content). The game's setting and themes seem picked and designed in such a way as to allow for people to overlay multiple interpretations and explanations for the characters and events, it's nice to try and find out what's "the right" way to see things and what's "the truth", but I think that's narrowly missing the value of it all.

[@acehole7528]

Great work. I believe that Radagon is the concept of will and that his actions represent such. I don't agree with your theory that the elden ring was shattered by him because I believe that the shattering is a metaphor for the braking if the psyche and "all" was created then... "first came fractures then came births" all from the "one great"

[@Sandtauruspig]

Brilliant work. Thank you

[@Dev_Six]

Selfishness is how I'd describe it. All the corpses on the route to this end.

[@miirshroom]

For what it's worth, my impression of the interplay between Mohg and Miquella is that it's an abstraction of growing to adulthood. Not coincidentally, the model for Miquella in the cocoon is the same one used for Morgott, Mohg's twin. The "inner child" can be like a regression or cyclical return to childhood for the purposes of growing up the "right" way. But instead of that idealized result, Miquella fell to reliving all the same old demons of the past as represented by Mohg possessing his body and the adult form it takes. Because Miquella can't get past the thought that his blood is cursed. What use is there to healing the mind of past trauma if the biological body cannot be made perfect? And so, his mind is still trapped. And Mohg being one of the supressed adult fractures is enchanted by Miquella for the opportunity he presents to reset back to the time before the Omen were surpressed. When the strength of blood and violence determined the victor in any conflict and the weak were culled. Mohg is on the way to getting what he wants - Miquella takes Radahn as consort for his strength in battle and is recreating the rise of the Fell God that preceeded even the goddess form of Marika. Miquella is trapped in a cycle.

[@Banuune]

3:10 Did not expect Beast

[@pbtenchi]

The book is definitely an inspiration, but I think the conclusions you made were almost completely wrong.

[@CenteredTarnished]

hahaha go on

[@wordonice4457]

There are so many things that we see in-game that contradicts this entire video. For one, Radagon tried to fix the Elden Ring after Marika shattered it. He wasn't called back by Marika to shatter the Elden Ring.

[@InsomiacKnight]

Just an awesome blessing to view your videos as they make me feel justified in loving this amazing game. You always take a macro dive in the story of Elden Ring, but I am curious on your take of the ending of the DLC. Knowing that Miquella is the inner child of Marika, should we as tarnished let him ascend to Godhood, or are we right in denying him that fact? Based on your logic, allowing Miquella into Godhood is allowing Marika to be her true self. Is that person a good person? Sorry for the lengthy comment.

[@EmberAwoken]

To people thinking Miquella having a great rune is concrete proof that the Shattering happened before Miquella went MIA in the Haligtree, Freyja gives up personal accounts for Miquella being PRESENT and active at the Battle of Aeonia in Caelid when Malenia and Radahn fought post-shattering and most likely post kidnapping (because he was inside the Haligtree prior to being kidnapped). When Malenia returns back from this battle she finds Miquella has been kidnapped in her absence. He was clearly doing things after being kidnapped by the words of Freyja and what we know happened with him and Ansbach.

[@CenteredTarnished]

I'm going to just copy and paste this on every comment lol thank you

[@John-xs9ru]

Maybe im not understanding what exactly your post is contesting but from what I can glean you're attempting to counter ppl's claim of the shattering taking place before Miquella's abduction, thus him having always had the elden ring, by using the fact that Freyja said miquella was in the halligtree and thus vulnerable to being kidnapped(to which he could manipulate someone to retrieve his rune)? The problem aside from him having to predict that marika would even do this, which by this video's premise that miquella is just marika's will in a new body makes this now possible, is that we know that the battle in caelid is the last event to take place after the shattering which would greatly imply a substantial period of time passing after the act and the great runes having been obtained by their owners. As you had stated Freyja makes direct mention of Miquella being present at the battle of caelid, which regardless of whether he was kidnapped before radahn and melania fought or after they were finished, is still drastically after the events of the shattering haven taken place; which highly likely(if not outright) undoes the claim that was kidnapped before the shattering and thereby obtains his rune after and completely negates any possibility of marika having shattered the ring because of miquella being kidnapped first in order for this grand plan of child therapy to take place. Again maybe I misunderstood what the crux of your position was.

[@CenteredTarnished]

@@John-xs9ru I don’t understand why it matters how long after the shattering the battle between Malenia and Radahn occurred. The only way for Miquella to be in Calied is because he is underground in Mohgwyn. Or else he would still be in the Haligtree. Ansbach fights Miquella post being kidnapped, so Miquella is clearly still sentient.

[@John-xs9ru]

@@CenteredTarnished Because if something like the caelid war takes place 1000yrs after the shattering it makes the likelihood of miquella being abducted before the shattering that much more unlikely as opposed to the two events being removed by a week. Miquella's being removed from the haligtree and placed in Mohg's palace in any timeframe close to the war in caelid naturally makes it that Miquella's abduction also takes place at the end of the shattering wars.

[@CenteredTarnished]

@@John-xs9ru was it 1000 years after? Do we have any timeline of events occurring with the shattering war?

[@jimclayson]

Question: What does the PC tarnished represent in this cosmology playing out in Merika's broken psyche? An outside observer, or another piece of Marika?

[@CenteredTarnished]

Seems like I should make a video on this topic haha. I believe we represent the aspect of her courage and willingness to finally face these things in her past. Just like Millicent represents Malenia's pride.

[@YC-tx3di]

I've sed it since day one. All is Marika, Marika is All. Every story of every NPC is that of Marika. Marikas entire story is right in front of us. Patch things together.

[@KKKuma]

This is very good. But I am not sure of it. Gideon is not that reliable. I don't know where he get that information from. If it is from the same source that made him think that Marika wanted everyone to suffer eternally (the 2 fingers) then it may not be reliable. Because Marika are 2 people in one, the 2 fingers know the secret, when it refers to Marika it can refer to either of them and Gideon only understand it as Marika. In all of the text/lore there is not mention about Marika relationship with Miquella. She doesn't seem to care about him. But there are mention about good relationship between Radagon and Miquella. So the queen is sad could also mean Radagon is sad. And Marika is the one that shattered the Elden Ring so it doesn't fit much. The DLC also mess the timeline up because Freyja met Miquella in Cealid and he also has a great rune which should not be possible unless someone hand it to him or him seeing Freyja in the land of shadow somehow right after Mogh dead but before we arrive. May be Mogh and his follower got a hand on another great rune and gave them to Miquella. He has another personality as St Trina so it could still be possible. Like Radagon splitted from Marika and lived with the Carian Family for a long time. May be St Trina was splitted a while ago but still stayed with Miquella, only until the DLC that he abandoned her in the Fissure Depth.

[@TheNeoLoneWolf]

These videos do feel like they answer a lot of questions, but if everyone in the Lands Between is a fragment of Marika then what is the player character?

[@CenteredTarnished]

I think we represent her courage, her willingness to finally face this. Just like Millicent is the pride of Malenia. But that's just my opinion

[@ronaldachille7998]

When Godwyn's soul is killed by destined death in a world where Marika has removed destined death from the Elden Ring (the metaphysical laws of the universe), she realizes not even removing death from the world will remove suffering. Marika wished to create a world where no one ever suffered. This failed. That's why she proceeds to try and shatter the Elden Ring. The Greater Will never truly played a role in anything she did, only Metyr and the two fingers did and they stopped getting messages ages ago.

[@afrokoku-jin5161]

A lot of people’s takes are falsified by the game’s dialogue itself. The reason why Marika shattered the Elden Ring was because she wanted someone else to eventually foster in a new age. Likely because she knew her’s was flawed. That’s why she beckons anyone who can to seize the shattered Elden Ring. That’s why she gave the Tarnished grace. Her motives changed. But conflict is required so the most qualified rules. Everything else is solely speculation. Please listen to Melina’s “In Marika’s own words” quotes. That’s where the most important lore bits are, outside of visual storytelling.

[@crankpatate3303]

Very interesting concept. The lands between is basically "just" a reflection of a human god. And all the disturbing things in this world are borne from her inner conflict. This is indeed a very interesting lense to gaze through.

[@Thedeepesttruth]

So some of your ideas have merit and makes sense others don’t. Especially timeline issues. The kids with Renalla and Godfrey are different than the ones with Radagon. Messmer and Melina, and Miquella and Melania are all stronger and more pure godlings and are therefore most likely an extended split or alters of the God Marika. Her last born were Melania and Miquella. But, Marika is not The Elden Beast. She was a Vessel for, the chalice of the Greater Will. She housed the Elden Ring, the elden beast is the physical manifestation of the elden ring. The Elden Ring given form. It is a shape shifter, and multidimensional. It exists in many forms and by different names, and is basically an extension of the Greater Will into the living physical world. The Elden Beast and the Elden Ring exist inside Marika. As much as they exist as a part of this world and affect the laws and physics of it. When Marika Shattered the Elden Ring? She shattered her self. It may even be that each child she had was an aspect of herself and her godhood and therefore are an aspect of the Elden Ring. If you notice each of the Great Runes is perfectly matched and reflective of the person who had it. I think either they always had the Runes but each was bound to Marika until the shattering, kinda like the Rings of Power and the One Ring. Or the Runes and their welders hold a symbiotic relationship where both form and affect the other, expressing themselves along the lines of the symbols and aspects of the world they represent. Godrick conjoined like the anchor rune would conjoin the other runes. So on a so forth. It could even be both ideas are correct. Honestly I think the shattering war was so bad because the only way to gain a Great Rune is to either be born with or bestowed by the God with one, or to kill and take from the previous owner. This would have been a known aspect. And is why Marika’s ascension shows her pulling and holding aloft strings of light. She took the elden ring from the dead body of the previous God. A God and holder of the Elden Ring must be able to Reproduce. Hence why most Empyreans are Female. Miquella and Radagon could be considered more intersex and hermaphrodite like. There is also the possibility of Asexual Reproduction. Like certain plants and fungi and certain life forms can do. So while they are more male seeming, they have a way to hold and reproduce life. The Elden ring must be house in a fertile chalice, and the elden lord is their Sword. These symbols are the ancient symbols of the duel God aspect, the lady and the lord. The divine feminine and divine masculine. They can not truly exist with out one or the other. Both complimenting and defining each of the other. Also when we speak of Gods in Elden Ring it’s not the same concept as Gods in the West. This is the Eastern philosophy version. Where they are more humans made or attained divine status and are the living representative of celestial and cosmic aspects and powers. They are immortal only in that they do not age or take damage like a human would. They won’t get sick and ail. But they can be killed and their power stolen. They can lose favor and weaken in strength or be beholden to the flow of laws of nature. Like how a Goddess of the Moon being weak on the new moon and strongest on the full moon. So with that in mind, the Gods of the Lands Between are not truly divine and Invulnerable or invincible. They are mortals elevated and changed by being chosen and housing the divine power. Or an aspect of the divines power. That is why Marika can even be punished or usurped.

[@OscarTheStrategist]

Hmm… so Miquellas ascension through the Cocoon in the tree WAS the Numen way to ascension to godhood. But that didn’t work because of the curse… he could never mature… so plan B Go and do it like Marika did. Marika didn’t want this… she was cool with Miq becoming a god, just not like this. So she shatters the Elden Ring. Damn, this is a good line of thinking CT. Always love your take on the lore. The funny thing is, the actions and reactions match the hypothesis but there seems to be a bit of confusion regarding the timeline. I personally believe that Miquella already had a great rune. In fact, I believe Empyrians are born with a great rune, and that’s why they have a glowing eye. I don’t think Miquella needed the shattering to have a great rune, and Malenia also already had a great rune as she is literally the goddess of Rot after blooming a few times. The Gloam Eyed Queen had the rune of death and that was WAY before the shattering. So there you go, multiple instances of characters with great runes prior to the shattering of you include Radagon as well who then gave a rune to renalla as a divorce gift. 😂 Anyway great video man, I think you should gather up all the intel from this one and make a follow up video explaining the timeline as you see it fit this. The cause of the shattering is the most important event in the game. I like your interpretation though, keep it up 🔥🔥🔥

[@castles6977]

Getting a Mr. Beast ad before hearing that Mr. Beast comment 💀

[@tank19768]

"Perhaps the Queen's sorrow was justified" - this has two potential readings for me. 1: Gideon is wrong and doesn't have the full picture, or understanding of Marika's motivation. He acknowledges that he is under-informed multiple times, and is in fact wrong at almost every important point in the story - a tarnished cannot become a lord, a man cannot kill a god, Queen Marika has high hopes for us - that we continue to struggle unto eternity. Even though that doesn't align with what we see of Marika's plan - that should the Demigods fail to become Lords or Gods, for the Tarnished to return and with the help of Melina, who she gave the purpose of burning the Erdtree, become a Lord. It has long been theorised that when Gideon "glimpsed into the will of Queen Marika", that he actually saw Radagon's will, or otherwise misinterpreted it. After all, Gideon saw "the end that should not be" - but a struggle without end is hardly an end itself. 2: It was Marika's sorrow about the state of the Golden Order and the Greater Will. Miquella's Haligtree was an attempt to correct many of the errors of the Golden Order, being a haven for the outcast. If Marika believed the state of the world to be unsalvageable under the current Order, and shattered the Elden Ring as a result, the failure of Miquella's Haligtree is just more evidence that she was right.

[@kishinpain]

Bro... no.

[@mothgoth0]

I have a personal vendetta against Jungian psychology so that might tip me against your takes here, but interesting insight nonetheless! Also, I saw in the comments that you based your theory about Marika being the Elden Beast on the word "numen", and I know some Latin, so I have to interject. Numen, plural numina, means divine will (mens divina), divine presence, and it was a being, or rather the will of the gods, in the Roman religon. In Japanese the ingame numen are called 稀人 (marebito), which refers to a supernatural being which comes from a different world, a kind of sacred visitor that one has to welcome.

[@icrazymax6218]

Wasn’t expecting Mr Beast to catch a stray here damn😭😭🤣🤣🤣

[@OnSchoolyard]

You are right about a lot of this!!!❤

[@efaristi9737]

I'm pretty sure Mohg kidnapped Miquella during the Shattering, not before .

[@connormeeks9066]

Mic sounds nice dude! I almost offered to buy you one LOL

[@CenteredTarnished]

@@connormeeks9066 hahaha thanks! A much needed upgrade

[@khandimahn9687]

I wish we could see what GRRM wrote for Elden Ring. I feel like that's the only way we would ever know for certain what happened and why. Of course, the chances of that happening are probably around the same as winning ten lotteries in a row.

[@MrFRNTIK]

Miquella wasnt taken until the shattering war.... Which was after the shattering ....

[@LordFarKwadth]

Mr beast caught a stay out of nowhere

[@HouseofRedWine]

I think it's a lot of things including this that contributed to her shattering the ring

[@Michael59197]

And what is Radahn? The original torturer who inflicted the trauma or the final form adult self? Maybe it is the same. Maybe the broken inner child is destined to become its molester and cause the world the same pain he suffered.

[@danendrarifansa2943]

Now here's an interesting question, was Miquella failed to heal?

[@tyzombie89]

@CenteredTanished i wanna preface this by saying i find this video extremely compelling.. i do have a question tho: in your formulation, it would seem that Miquella’s goal is a mature one. However, brainwashing the world into being “kinder and gentler” seems to take quite an immature view of reality, compared to Ranni’s ending for example. Miquella is the child forcing his dolls to play nicely together. Ranni recognizes that life is complicated, and the best thing to do is take the powerful beings out of the equation so that the chips can fall where they may. I’d be v interested to hear your thoughts!

[@murderycatdoll1380]

So basicly we are assholes in killing this inner child that tried to heal 😢😑😁

[@CenteredTarnished]

100%. But it's a video game and that's just what you do. I think them showing us the ending of the DLC trailer where Miquella heals the shadow tree was FS way of saying, "this is our ending, but we know you want to kill a god".

[@ZeroOmega-vg8nq]

​@@CenteredTarnishedmeanwhile all the players who wanted to join the femboy are we a joke to you miyazaki

[@ThisChangeIsAwful]

@@CenteredTarnished i feel like miquella's charm is so powerful it works on people outside the game too. he wanted to enslave the world. he was going to take away everyone's free will. seems far more likely that literally its all his doing. Merika had plans and was doing her thing, but when Miquella got powerful enough he started setting his own plans in motion. he got so close to achieving his goal, and the only person who was able to stop him was a tarnished of no renown (with their friend ansbach. not you thollier)

[@KKKuma]

@@ThisChangeIsAwful Being likeable can be a trait or personality and not related to magic. He doesn't need magic for Radagon , Malenia or Leda, Dane to love him. He is just loved and know how to beloved. Moore also believe in him without the charm even though he was lost of guidance. Then Miquella can also charm people but only on super close contact. I don't think he can personally meet every single person on earth to charm them all. He can just simply be good virtual for them to work with him.

[@murderycatdoll1380]

🤣🤣🤣👍

[@kingk.ripple]

yes more please great video.

[@Catloaf]

So then is Malenia's rot just set dressing, or does it have significance too? I can think of a possible symbolism but I'm not sure how well it aligns with Nietzsche. That being that the progressed part of the person is not only in a constant state of flux, even if it's only gradual, but also that it takes a lot of energy to keep the defenses up and without solving the root of the problem the progressed will wear down and be defeated by its own mechanisms. But I could well just be pulling that out of my ass.

[@CenteredTarnished]

Haha, I think that's a pretty apt way of putting it. The way I understand the progressed part is that it's the one that grows up very quickly, bears the cross of the trauma's and, like you are saying, is basically self-defeating.

[@theroguerider]

Look, I know the game calls it the Shaman Village, but what sort of village is FOUR structures with only TWO having boarded up doors? If that was THE Shaman Village then the amount of people we find STUFFED into pots previously lived in this “village”? I am VERY MUCH a fan of Elden RIng, but I can’t help but ask, “THIS TOOK TWO PLUS YEARS?!” So many holes and nonsense that ultimately loops back on itself and making little to no sense.

[@ToadimusPrime]

I gotta disagree, that one line isn't evidence enough. We've gotten way more evidence that Marika had planned the Shattering for some time. Godwyn was a catalyst, but evidence supports that Marika had at least some hand in that, but she had put way too much trust in Ranni. Nevertheless, the Rune of Death was stolen, and her plan to demolish the Golden Order had started. Which is also when the Demigods claimed their runes. Which means the Shattering happened BEFORE Miquella went to the Shadow Realm, because he has a rune, which he discarded later. So the timeline also doesn't support your theory. It's obvious several plans had been put in place before the Shattering, including Marika's, Ranni's and Rykards plan, as well as Miquella and Malenia's plan. I'm pretty confident that with all the lore from the base game, as well as the DLC, Miquella had planned to become a God and overthrow Marika. I don't have any memory of any lore where Marika and Miquella have any sort of relationship. She loved her Omen sons more than Miquella, there's a lot of lore supporting that. Maybe it's because she knew he'd want to become the next God. You talk about GRRM and the way he writes characters...but he also writes mothers who hate their children, or a specific child. And I think that's the case here. Godwyn was her favorite, but he had to die for a reason. And Godwyn was Miquella's favorite sibling. Maybe that's why Godwyn had to be the catalyst for all this. Sadly, I think they failed to account for Miquella having his own plan, although his plan relied on Malenia being able to kill Radahn, which she couldn't accomplish in the end. Lets face it, Miquella's Golden Order would have been terrible, because everyone would have been charmed against their will. And sadly, the biggest victims of this deranged family war, were the most innocent characters: Radahn, Morgott, Mohg, Godwyn and Rennala

[@38Jim]

3:10 dang dude some call the burn unit

[@joannewheeler6159]

Loved this. What's the music that plays at the end? I don't recognize it.

[@MatheusDornelas]

She's definetly not the elden beast

[@CenteredTarnished]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree!

[@sucrilhus]

@@CenteredTarnished Just out of curiosity, what are some things that made you conclude Marika is the Elden Beast? I can think of a couple reasons, but I would love to get your opinion. 1) The music that plays when we visit shaman village (Marika's birthplace) is very similar to the Elden beast theme. 2) In the trailer, when Marika's ascend to Godhood, the Elden Beast theme plays in the background. 3) Marika and Elden Beast are in the same final arena (inside the Erdtree) But I can also think of reasons why she isn't the Elden Beast: 1) Marika wants the Tarnished to succeed, that's why she offers the guidance of Grace to us, but Radagon and the Elden Beast actively attempt to kill us. 2) Elden Beast is the embodiment of Order, but Marika's minor erdtree spell reads "Only the kindness of Gold but without Order". 3) The game mentions the Elden Beast came from the Stars (like the mother of fingers), the game also tells us Marika came from the Shaman Village.

[@CenteredTarnished]

1)If we look at the definition of the word Numen, it means a spirit or soul residing in a place (often times a tree). We see many shamans envoloped in trees, but that petrified at some point, but their soul or spirit still resides in the tree. 2) Marika's scarseal is all about the spiritual aspects of a being while Radagon's is about the physical - this is the exact same way the Elden Beast fights us. Using the sword, made from Radagon, as the only physical damage while the EB does incantations. 3) The EB and Marika share the same exact wounds 4) Marika wants us to "kill a god" which only happens after we kill the EB, BUT Rodricka makes it clear that the God is Marika. 5) all the reasons you mentioned but I would add that the gust of wind that occurs in the trailer is the EB "landing" on the lands between. Occuring at the same time as Marika's ascension and this split. Basically, I believe that the EB is Marika's spirit sealed in the erdtree. Not sure if it holds any actual weight but it certainly makes sense to me lol

[@8852scorpio]

@@CenteredTarnishedMetyr has similar wound, by the way.

[@OscarTheStrategist]

@@8852scorpio a lance through the womb is not the same a Metyr which looks more like gutting and extraction.

[@NorthernDruid]

While an interesting analysis of the connections to symbolic psychology, I don't believe in Marika shattering the Elden Ring out of distress. By the time of the Shattering she's quite clearly disillusioned by the Golden Order. As quoted to us by Melina she intends to get to the depths of it, being unsatisfied with uncritical devotion to the faith. In her words to Radagon she acts dismissive about his loyalty to the Golden Order, and implies he has a goal of taking over as the primary identity. If she was acting out of despair she wouldn't with such authority deny the agency of her other self. I'm super on board with reading Marika's children as reflections of herself though.

[@Lillesmol]

I thought she shattered it to give messmer a part of the rune in order to seal away the serpent

[@JackisaMimic]

While you always bring the heat when it comes to the literary analysis of Elden Ring, something your brought up helped solve a very important timeline issues I had come in conflict with: when was the Sovereign Alliance formed? With the point that Marika’s sorrow was due to Miquella’s abduction, and from the First Defense of Leyndell Sword Monument, the Sovereign Alliance must have existed before the shattering of the Elden Ring. The abduction of Miquella being the direct cause to the shattering of the Elden Ring, the collapse of the Sovereign Alliance and Shattering War all makes sense!

[@CenteredTarnished]

Thank you my friend! And for helping with the timeline confusion!

[@curtisfarley6558]

Greetings, centered Tarnished. I must say, your insights into the psychological aspects of Elden Ring make perfect sense for me in context to my own journey in processing trauma. I believe that Elden Ring is a greater allegory to the trauma of the collective human conscience rather than the trauma of a single individual such as Merica. I believe that the concept of Merica is closer to that of Sophia. And in the beginning sequence of the cinematic trailer, We see Merica climb the Gates of Divinity and raise a strand of gold. This gold is literally the concept of gold within the human psyche. This is not gold, but money. Money is a form of subjugation to the unconscious desires of the human reptilian brain. And so the Horn Scent, while they traumatized Merica in the literal narrative sense, the practice of stuffing Newman into jars, while Newman are the divine concepts, it is in fact the concept of divinity. And so they would stuff the concept of divinity into jars, mixing it with other things. This is a pagan parable. Just like in pagan traditions, they took concepts of divinity and melded these concepts together with other aspects of the natural world. To where we eventually started worshiping storms and dances and other abstract concepts rather than God as a singular whole or God as a wisdom or wisdom as a means for changing people. This brought man from "eye for an eye" to "turn the other cheek". Unfortunately we have gold with out wisdom thus a system such as capitalism. This is the elden beast and the beast of revelations. The mark of the beast is money. Miquellas plans to make unalloyed gold or tying the principles of wisdom and gold, or in modern terms; equity. Hope this helps. The world is counting on you lol

[@curtisfarley6558]

Thanks for acknowledging. Got hugged by the three fingers...I'll see my way out

[@BlueStraza]

Your theory has a few holes in it, in my opinion... One, the shattering is proposed to happen BEFORE Mohg absconded Miquella.. and second, the story itself says that Radagon attempted to repair the Elden ring, not shatter it. There's more. like how it was outright stated that the death of Godwyn was a primary catalyst to the shattering, and also Marka was beginning to look at her godhood as if it were a prison, and yearned for freedom from the greater will and two fingers, and.how she may have put things in motion to play out as as they have in the game, after her imprisonment.

[@TheAlphaLegionnaire]

A bold claim, but I wasn’t disappointed. Title was NOT clickbait. Take my subscription 🙌