Elden Ring - Who is the true heir to Limgrave?

[@ZullietheWitch]

The emergence of a royal bastard and competing lineages from among different, or even the same, noble bloodlines is quintessential George R.R. Martin influence. Whether GRRM penned Gostoc himself, or From Software was just aiming to follow the tone he typically sets in his writing, he wouldn't be out of place in any given book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. However, given what we see from Gostoc's behavior prior to defeating Godrick, it also wouldn't be out of place for him to be simply lying, or deluded about his own heritage. Which character to give the crown to could've been quite the conundrum.

[@kwokyiutsang8837]

Nepheli gives us an ancient dragon smithing stone for free, while we have to pay 20k runes for it from Gostoc. Therefore Nepheli wins.

[@natk8541]

Gostoc bears a clear familial resemblance. That much is clear.

[@ABPoolsTO]

This theme is way older than George Martin but whatever

[@auto1nfanticid3]

I'm not buying that it's Gostoc, he clearly seems Albinauric. If what they say is true about the Albinaurics being constructs, basically little more than golems, they would not be lords in their own right.

[@Gewrghs]

Great video like always. Responding to your comment to point out a typo you made, "prior to defeating Gostoc", i think you meant Godrick. Anyways keep up the good work

[@zacharybrown3010]

Gostoc also has a qualification that's apparently highly valuable for lords in the Lands Between... a name that starts with 'G'

[@vicortega2159]

Thank god not with "M"

[@Saint_of_red]

That's why people only call General Radhan ahahahah

[@TheMrTangamandapio]

Gepheli Loux

[@chaser1735]

Galaxander

[@manuelmanolo7099]

And people say George R.R. Martin only had little influence on the game

[@sicillcol2979]

I'll be honest, until somebody pointed out that Gostoc was following the player around the castle, I had actually thought that it was Patches that locked you in the room with the knight.

[@vyor8837]

How and why would you assume that

[@four5569]

@@vyor8837 It’s the kind of thing patches does. It’s almost a 1 for 1 of him locking you into the firelink tower in ds3. I thought the same thing until a friend corrected me, wasn’t even thinking about Gostoc.

[@Saviaar]

The laugh after you’re locked in the room with the stormveil knight sounds like patches. I’m still not convinced.

[@dragonknight4982]

@@Saviaar Kill gostoc and you will not be locked in the room, that should be enough proof

[@vyor8837]

@@Saviaar no it doesn't, it's the same sound file as when talking to gostoc earlier in the fucking castle and if you kill him after your death you get some of your runes back.

[@morganhelms80808]

This could also potentially explain why the guards listen when he tells them to open the gate despite it being so fortified

[@TreyWreckz]

Awesome analysis here

[@Smutter86]

This would definitely make sense. Gostoc would have to have at least SOME stature to have any pull over subordinates.

[@hexthehardcorecasual]

@Charles Hastings Yeah, the respect is for Godrick. Godrick has a gate and gates need a gate keeper. Godrick told the dudes 'when this guy says to open the gate, you listen'. Gostoc is just some guy trying to get by, but does bad things.

[@_maliciousIntent]

@@hexthehardcorecasual He is also Godrick's son lol

[@gankt]

Or maybe they listen because he is the gatekeeper. Duh

[@lukekline9513]

Limgrave, of all the regions the entire game, felt the most like a "functional" kingdom. Like castle Morne is being taken over, but it at one point very recently had a ruler. Stormveil is an actual castle, and it appears Gostoc has actual tasks he has to do their. Of course FromSoft's style is not privy to including lots of friendly npcs and stuff, but if there were more actual people in Limgrave it wouldn't really feel as post apocalyptic

[@lukekline9513]

@@OneDeuxTriSeiGo The academy seemed mostly functional, definitely, but I still don't know why they had to kill poor Thops 😢

[@manga925]

@@OneDeuxTriSeiGo Theres really no explanation why Rennala stops being hostile or why Ranni would work for someone who tried to kill her mom. Why the tarnished wouldn’t just kill Ranni and Rennala like they do any other combatant for the throne. The game does an awful job humanizing the alb and omens as well besides Morrgot. Seems like people are head canoning deep social commentary into the game. When the player is a horrible person that betrays and murders there allies for there ambitions. The world does not feel alive at all compared to almost every other open world game or previous fromsoft games.

[@manga925]

@@OneDeuxTriSeiGo What are you talking about? The Tarnished betrays Varre and Rykard for there ambition. The stars are not the gods there monsters? I never seen anyone link it to the outer god that cursed Malenia? Or her as the goddess of rot. Complete headcanon Rannis against you in phase two of Rennala fight. So you’re saying I should care about a world? Were the people you’re saying I should care about and want to save are just mindless monsters that try to kill you on sight? Replacing the golden order is also completely pointless when there quests are literally about reforming it. So you’re just proving my point social depth thats not really there. ok

[@kitt8132]

Was there ever a king of Redmane Castle at all? The throne room there looks far too big for Radahn.

[@manga925]

@@OneDeuxTriSeiGo “Stars equal destiny in other stories, so it most in Elden Ring.” Is not a in game source. Umm no despite what Sir Gideon said. Marika grace in every ending guides you into killing Radagon and becoming the elden lord because the continent is currently trapped in a leaderless anarchy. And she doesn’t want to serve the greater will anymore. This game is really not that deep bruh.

[@satyasyasatyasya5746]

Makes sense. Godrick steals body parts to gain power, Gostoc steals runes to gain power. Like father, like son, perhaps?

[@thePontiffsSnickerdoodles]

Godrick also grafted the limbs of his family, so it would also make sense that he'd snag an arm from his bastard child for his own twisted delusions

[@henrypaleveda7760]

you would argue that the player steals runes since the game play loop includes killing enemies and looting their corpses, what gosdtock does seems worse because it happens at the player's expense.

[@Jaggrias]

@@henrypaleveda7760 its more like unearned power he got since he didn't kill anyone for it like how Godrick just stole body parts

[@Arrakiz666]

@@thePontiffsSnickerdoodles It also makes it very tragic and personally insulting to Gostoc that the things Godrick created are "the Grafted _Scions"_ implying that he views these creatures as more fit to replace him than his own son. It's amazing how much of a piece of shit Godrick is, in addition to being one of the most arrogant and short-sighted pricks in the whole game.

[@Doosteroni]

You can find Gostoc rooting around dead bodies and complaining that they don’t have any muscle, hinting that he wants to graft himself, especially with the whole locking-you-in-a-cell thing, so I think it was intended for him to take up the mantle of grafted

[@thecuza9716]

Isn't cutting off someone's hand the standard old-timey punishment for thieves? I mean, yeah, Godrick probably still grafted it afterwards, because hey, free hand. I'm just saying that, knowing Gostoc, he probably didn't cut it off specifically FOR grafting.

[@torpid2906]

Godrick might have standards for grafting, since he tells the player their unfit for grafting when he kills you in his first phase. He could also just be making fun of you tho

[@ravenousbasilisk5120]

@@torpid2906 makes sense considering most of castle inhabitants still have all their limbs intact.

[@LordSevla]

This makes far more sense than this Gostoc theory.

[@TheXavierfull]

elden ring is a fantasy world so our old timey punishments wich there are paralels in fromsoft games are certainly exagerated, grafting makes more sense in Elden ring setting.

[@wishivme3252]

@@torpid2906 Gostoc may have been grafted for one of Godrick's grafted monster guys though, like with Roderika's crew

[@bawbehh]

"hm I wonder what kind of hints Gostoc might have towards the lineage" "I am son of Godrick" a little on the nose there, eh bud?

[@monkyk1ng]

“unquestionably” 😂

[@RegalBlob]

Yeah, Fromsoft isn't usually so obvious, would've saved Vaati a bit of a headache tho 😂

[@OutlawGrrl]

I wish this wasn't cut. I would still give the crown to Nepheli, since she has strong morals and the strength to defend her title, but I'm curious what Limgrave under Gostoc would look like. He'd probably institute a heavy rune tax lol. Having these options would also help with completing the quest in general. Most people won't find Nepheli downstairs in the Roundtable on their first playthrough and those that do are just as likely to give her Selivus' potion. Gostoc also tends to get himself killed by the player. Kenneth usually survives, so having him as an option would allow more people to finish his quest on their first playthrough.

[@biggrocc19]

Yes, but a classic From tenet is discovering new quests, items, and even NPC's on replay. Personally, completing different branches of quests is a huge draw for replayabilty in the Souls series and Elden Ring is no exception. Finishing Kenneths quest on my second playthrough made it even more rewarding. Just my 2 cents.

[@habijjj]

They might end up adding it eventually.

[@Stormmblade]

Just like every Souls game, there's ton of stuff that got cut. It's amazing the game is as complete as it is, especially considering the Covid Pandemic broke out right smack in the middle of development. My money is on that they might add in this stuff during the DLC, the way they added stuff like the Confederates and Beast Eater Valtr into Bloodborne. Fingers are crossed

[@GiovannaMMIV]

I think I kicked gostoc off the roof on my 1st playthrough..... Idk he spooked me

[@__8120]

WAIT THERE'S A DOWNSTAIRS IN THE ROUNDTABLE HOLD?

[@flatlo]

As if I would give anyone other than Nepheli the crown. One of the few truly decent people in the game, with a genuine claim of lineage, and she can get a happy ending? How often does that happen in a Soulsborne game.

[@albusnightspring8057]

Nepheli is barbarian and dumb, Gostoc is a way cooler character

[@rianrodrigues8195]

True. Almost all from's questlines end like "Oh you completed this NPCs questline? He dead now, how does that make you feel :( ?"

[@tykixds]

How's Kenneth not a decent person? He's a little haughty, but he's an alright guy.

[@DatAsianGuy]

@@tykixds yeah, considering that he even dropped his right to the throne, because he realized he wasn't in the condition to do so. that's not something a power-hungry noble would do.

[@Nothingseen]

@@tykixds I don't think they said otherwise, but Limgrave ending up with Nepheli and Ken being its rulers is a great outcome. They're one of the few NPCs who indicate they are interested in a just and peaceful society, with Ken being able to talk to the Demi-Humans and Neph splitting with her adopted dad over the Albinuracs.

[@SlipperyPeteClassic]

I just assumed Gostoc was missing his hand because he's a thief, and having a hand cut off was a common punishment in a medieval society. The other thing to note is that Godrick only grafted the limbs of other Tarnished onto himself and Gostoc just looks like all the other servants that attack us.

[@ZullietheWitch]

Godrick seems to have some troll parts, and obviously goes for grafting the dragon head too. I don't think he was only grafting limbs from the Tarnished, especially when the Tarnished returning was so recent in the events of the story.

[@SlipperyPeteClassic]

@@ZullietheWitch That's true. I'm mostly going by what Roderika says about how all the Tarnished that go to Stormveil end up as grafting victims. I never really noticed troll parts, to be honest and I thought the dragon head was sort of his last ditch effort in the boss fight.

[@sauravdas6436]

@@SlipperyPeteClassic Zullie's other video: "Elden Ring - Grafting is true body horror" has a close look at the anatomy of the scion

[@maniacalmurderer4123]

In truth godric actually grafted many limbs onto his body. Some of the banished stormveil knights, some of his soldiers, a couple troll parts, and of course there’s the dragon. Godric is so desperate to attain power he would graft anything that even got him a smidge close to that goal. The tarnished were his target for grafting simply because they received the grace he was never birthed with, being from a different time period and all.

[@kitt8132]

@@ZullietheWitch Honestly, that’s probably why there’s that one dead troll hanging upside down in the castle, I don’t remember if he’s missing any limbs but it’s possible that one was planned for grafting as well.

[@SonOfaChipwich]

Due to a glitch in the questline (edit: and killing maliketh before they fixed the bug), for me the story of Nepheli Loux is one of a young woman with royal lineage and great potential squandering it all by refusing to leave her basement, spending all her time sniffing some ashes and thinking about her old pet hawk.

[@spoon2537]

Same she loved that goddam basement

[@thevitulus]

From what I understand, her quest doesn't progress until you have some completely unrelated dialogue with the roundtable blacksmith and spirit tuner after visiting the royal capital or some other location. Not sure how much you've looked into it, but just in case you weren't aware, that might be what's keeping it from progressing.

[@SonOfaChipwich]

@@thevitulus ran out of dialogue with Hewg and the tuner, Gostoc and Haight both in their holding pattern before the move, and still nothing. Gotta be bugged, i think.

[@m.a.a9794]

@@SonOfaChipwich she finally left the basement after I killed morgott Idk if it's the same for you

[@SquatchViking]

@@SonOfaChipwich the wiki says that the dialogue with Hewg and Roderika in question triggers when you reach/complete Farum Azula. Get to there, check the two of them, then look to see if Nepheli moved to Godrick's throne room yet; hope this helps!

[@letskissnow987]

They likely meant for you to choose a ruler out of the three, with different rewards, wouldve been cool, but its fine the way it is now

[@kiteofdark]

The Gostoc questline feels woefully and completely unfinished in-game currently, even more so before the patch. I wouldn't call it fine but I guess I prefer it being there than not being there at all.

[@sharpiefumes]

grace mimic, ancient dragon smithing stone, and an erdtree dagger. yeah the choice is clear methinks

[@TryHardSasquatch]

what confuses me is that they had all of the pieces in place and then just didn't do it? like if you don't kill any of them, all 3 chill in the throne room after you complete Nepheli's quest. It seems like it could've easily been an open choice for multiple playthroughs. So odd

[@teecee1827]

@@sharpiefumes I use the erdtree dagger as my main weapon with a parry ash. I wouldn't say it would be my main choice but I still like this weapon.

[@InternetHydra]

After six Souls games I kinda expect better then “fine”. And this feels like a downgrade from quests In earlier games that sometimes did have choices and were way better told.

[@HellecticMojo]

This certainly explains why he's pilfering corpses when you see him at the tower. It did look like he wanted to get in on the grafting action himself

[@baritonamekian3639]

I think if you attack Gostoc in any of his stalking points and let him beat you, he says something about having a use for your remains... He definitely wants to follow in his supposed father's footsteps

[@doomdoot6731]

@Charles Hastings Tbf, there's also the part where the Erdtree is literally grafted on top of another tree's base. Presumably the Great Tree mentioned somewhere in some item descriptions.

[@Archdeacon.Krieg.]

Wouldn’t he just go and get a new arm then I mean there’s a lot of body parts just hanging around

[@HellecticMojo]

@@Archdeacon.Krieg. he's complaining about how the bodies left behind are no good if you catch him on top of the elevator room and Godrick calls you "unfit to even graft" if you lose to him. So grafting is definitely a picky endeavor if you want to get stronger instead of just settling with a fleshy prosthetic

[@StuOrWhatever]

I knew something felt off with this quest line. There's a HUGE gap between when you help Kenneth, until you see him again in the throne room. Maybe they'll patch it in, one day. For such cool and annoying/interesting characters, they aren't given enough time.

[@FleshlyDelight]

They're still patching in quest lines. Just look at how they added the end to Gostoc, Kennth, and Nepheli's quest lines in one patch and then added another part to Patches' quest line, and now they added *another* part to Patches' quest line in this latest patch. Kinda sick of how much content they cut, the performance and connection problems, and how they're slowly patching stuff in. Should have just let the game sit for another 6 months.

[@bretdeshotel7598]

@@FleshlyDelight I agree. It's not just content either, the end game feels rushed and unnaturally difficult.

[@duwangchew9902]

@@FleshlyDelight Wait what did they add to Patches? Is meeting him at the shaded castle not the end anymore?

[@tommasotedesco]

@@duwangchew9902 you meet him again in the cave you first encountered him in.

[@De_La_Evo]

@@FleshlyDelight I kind of disagree, the game is extremely polished and to specifically respond to one of the other repliers I believe that if you have all of the great runes (accept melenia) then you should be set for the late game, anyways, the game has so many damn quest lines already, it's extremely difficult to deal with, while having all of these insanely long quests too. So patching these in also gives a reason to go back and also not punch the player in the place with more stuff then it already has

[@BDR123]

Wonderful work as usual Zullie! So awesome to see how cut content gives us inmense insight into possible directions these games would go to

[@dannywatson4253]

I had gotten the impression that Gostoc would be Godrick's brother from the lines left in the game. The comment about 'looking down on him' feels like it makes more sense from that perspective than as a son, and I'm inclined to accept a line that's still in the game over one that was cut. But at the same time, a straight claim that he is Godrick's son is much stronger evidence than an implication in the language that remains in a translated game.

[@tiacool7978]

Parents can still look down on their children. I know Godrick started grafting to become stronger, but he probably thought Gostoc was the worst thing he ever created. Significantly weaker than himself, and embarrassing to Godfrey's lineage.

[@zacharybrown3010]

I wonder if that torso with a head is supposed to be all that was left of the "real" original body of Godrick, with all of the rest being the product of grafting.

[@vtheawesome]

yeah, duh

[@coolnamebro7363]

@@vtheawesome Don't be rude. Not everyone is as well tuned as you when it comes to these things.

[@flatlo]

Anyone who assumes they immediately know the full picture when it comes to FromSoft lore, is a fool. It’s all guesswork.

[@zacharybrown3010]

@@vtheawesome Well, I personally only put it together when seeing this video 😂

[@aniforprez]

yup. most of the demigods are huge by the power of the great runes. godrick being a "distant" relation of godfrey had far less power in him from the great rune which he compensated for by grafting. strip the rune away and they lose all of their power and given that they're all abandoned by the grace, the revert to their "human" forms. morgott becomes human sized when you defeat him as well

[@hypethekomodo6495]

I think it would've been really neat if that's how the questline ends. It would be really awesome if the entirety of Limgrave/Stormveil had various changes over time depending on who was running the place.

[@SirGrimLockSmithVIII]

Yeah and maybe the soldiers would stop attacking you now that you're best buds with their new ruler.

[@malum9478]

imagine elden ring ever having tangible changes to it's layout and environment outside of the ashen capital which is really just the same area but 95% of the complexity removed.

[@juancorzo5081]

Maybe they are planning to do it in the future dlc

[@Valanway]

Unfortunately that would require FROM to actually make a game where the world is reflective of results and causes and effects the player and NPCs create going through the game instead of being a static realm, or an "alive" world of any kind. Maybe next game.

[@suggestagoodname831]

@@Valanway should have been this game like what's the point of even becoming elden lord if everything still attacks me and nothings changed I atleast want to see what I did

[@underplague6344]

I always thought ghostoc was the focus because he was the most sane out of stormveils residents, but this makes a lot of sense too

[@sugoi9680]

@@gwynbleidd1917 Still most sane at least he had a purpose to those actions

[@finnlewis6207]

@@gwynbleidd1917 "Most sane" is a low bar in Stormveil.

[@sugoi9680]

@@gwynbleidd1917 How is it obstinate? He is the "most sane" in Stormveil because the others are just aimlessly walking around with no purpose due to the shattering and attack you on sight. He's the only one that has an objective (get richer) and hates Godrick for looking down on him. Out of all the residents of Stormveil he's the only one except for Godrick and Nepheli that gives the impression that they are sane.

[@ncrest4365]

@@sugoi9680 i don't know about that, since he was hinting about taking your body part to make himself stronger (if you attacked him for his stalking behavior). He also locked you inside a room with a banished knight, hoping you'll die. At the end of the day, he is no different than Godrick, he just lacks the power to go completely bonker against the tarnished.

[@emmanuel5897]

@@ncrest4365 Yes he's evil, yes he's fucked in the head. Thats not the Argument. They're saying he is the most sane. His actions have motivations, he talks to you, he's not a mindless empty husk.

[@MerelyMezz]

This would make the whole post-Godrick room being a protected no-attack area make alot more sense. Perhaps it is a leftover?

[@Mordoras1379]

It's still used for nepheli's quest

[@Kasaaz]

It's typical FromSoftware. They create far more than they end up using. It's why by the end of most games they just start teleporting you around, because they have stuff that looks cool, but no idea how to make it all work in a way that makes sense. A blessing and a curse. It leads to very interesting and original ideas, but just as often it gets you interested in something that eventually goes nowhere.

[@esc_mike3546]

@@Kasaaz Yeah I completely agree. Though while it is frustrating to see possibilities and not get closure on all the wild stuff they imagine, the process produces an absolutely fantastic game, so I'm willing to live with their eccentric style.

[@TheStickMachine]

@@Kasaaz Oh man you are so wrong about almost anything you said. You don't even know there's more to the questline lol And about the "starts teleporting you around" like wtf ? It happens Once in Dark Souls, Once in DS3 and once in ER, what are you talking about my guy lol It's all over in DS2 but that isn't a fromsoftware game, and it fucking sucks in terms of world design.

[@hatefulgaming1800]

@@TheStickMachine They teleport you to Farum Azula, the ashen capital, and the haligtree.

[@Micolashcage1]

makes sense. Nephelli's questline feels so empty and unfinished. Even after the update

[@ce5122]

yeah it's a very weird and big jump to give her stormhawk ashes and all of a sudden she is ok and is ruler of limgrave, i'm guessing they just replaced the crown with the stormhawk

[@professorgrimm4602]

I suspect they had planned quite a bit more for the game, but simply ran out of time. There are a few things that seem somewhat unfinished (for example the lack of unique enemies in Mountaintops of the giants).

[@Valanway]

@@professorgrimm4602 Big as an ocean, deep as a puddle. Though I would say ER is more of a lake than an ocean. Which is unfortunate, as ER had the longest dev time and biggest budget of them all, on top of having all of the DNA of the past 13-15 years and engine work done right there, as well as the base concept and mythology structure being done by GRRM very early on in development. The amount of cut, broken or unfinished (or worse, barren, like 90% of Radahn's arena) content is just sad, especially on the release. On release, I thought that half the NPCs just had their stories end like a third into the game, and half of the remaining just 2/3rds in.

[@squeezy8414]

@@Valanway I don't really get this take, sure this specific quest might not be as satisfying as we could've wished, but it doesn't reflect on the game as a whole. The frenzied-flame, Ranni's, and Fia's questlines are all way more fleshed out than quests in any other souls game I feel, not to mention the amount of areas the are legitimately optional. Just sounds like you're taking an "new means bad" approach this game is super fleshed out even by the normal souls standard

[@SteakfulDead]

squeezy for real. Ranni’s quest is the best quest in any game I’ve ever played.

[@Squiggly6942]

I hope they bring in the open ended nature of that quest, if it exists or if it can. That sounds very GRRM and would add yet another layer to the interesting interactions of these characters.

[@_Kodiak]

I was so confused when I lost about 2k runes when dying while running through stormveil. Thanks for the info that's a really cool detail

[@g.b.c.3595]

After watching this I went against Godrick in a roleplay run as a Godrick Knight. The Gostoc dialogue, full of anger, felt different this time, it felt like he had a more personal grudge against his father Godrick. It brought tears to my eyes literally. This happened thanks to you and your contribution Zullie. Amazing moment, really, thank you!

[@MVCx_xB]

The fact that the grafted scions are implicitly children of Godrick's lineage and Gostoc doesn't have an arm, it honestly seems like Gostoc being Godrick's son and Godrick treating him like shit implies that Gostoc chickened out of being a grafted scion and Godrick was like "oh youre just a coward then" and makes him the door keeper

[@mish8753]

This is why i want an elden ring show (or at least a lot of unanswered lore to be in the dlc) cos this shit is subtle but cool. Like there's so much lore even just in limgrave

[@PABGVRG]

LOVE the King's Field OST as well as your videos, keep up!

[@jacobnavarro3675]

Godrick has cut dialogue after his defeat that sounded a lot like the "lament of gold" recited by a ghost not far from the castle. But it wasn't very focused. You could tell it was Godrick's voice actor but the take felt unpolished and was definitely not touched up digitally. Almost like it was meant more for placeholding potential dialogue that they ended up giving to another character (the ghost looking at the castle).

[@realkingofantarctica]

I feel like his tone insinuates that he may be delusional about the whole thing, and possibly used his grafting as a further connection between him and his master, both resenting him yet having that resentment stem from a yearning to be more than just a lowly gatekeeper, and possibly more like the respected Tarnished warriors he interacts with time and again.

[@quint3ssent1a]

I think it's like in 2019's Joker: both claims seem plausible. He can be a delusional little guy who wanted to be someone big, or... he could be an illegitimate child of the lord, who in jest made him a gatekeeper to remind him that he'll never get what he guards.

[@nelyeth1]

His name starts with G. All descendants of Marika and Godfrey have a name that starts with G, and almost* all named NPCs that have a name starting in G, R or M are gods or demigod. Of course, it doesn't make anything certain, but it certainly is a big coincidence. *Except Gideon, which seems like a weird oversight, since he likely has no ties with Godfrey.

[@TheBlackLobo]

@@nelyeth1 oh yeah. GRRM.

[@iFeelGlee]

i would have loved to see Gostoc do a cool redemption arc where he ends up refusing to graft and becomes a one armed swordsman akin to Artorias. it seems like Gostoc at certain points is inspecting bodies for healthy limbs as if he wanted to have grafted limbs, or at least a new arm.

[@hexthehardcorecasual]

Akin to Artorias? That's a leap. How about: he tags along with Boc and collects runes to give back as way of apology. Or decides to work under Kenneth Haight as a respectable helping hand or merchant.

[@Skyflakes05]

ah yes, guy has one arm? he needs to be related with artorias. artorias artorias artorias artorias

[@iFeelGlee]

@@hexthehardcorecasual even tho itd be incredibly distant, i just like to think that some tiny part of a bastard offshoot of the golden lineage would have the honor to try to be come an actual warrior like godfrey was by honest rather than cheap means. i think the artorias thing is definitely a leap, but in my head i meant more the style of swordplay, and then only somewhat.

[@eetfuk3571]

@@Skyflakes05 people seems to ignore Sekiro and immediately refer to Artorias lol.

[@seliamila1005]

Not everyone need redemption

[@veggiedragon1000]

Interesting! I completely forgot about this (after doing Limgrave and the peninsula I went onto Liurnia without coming back for the most part). I shall have to go see if this quest is still active.

[@Tim_593]

You can actually only progress it after killing the Main Boss of the Capital, so you can only backtrack for it, but then its open for the rest of the game

[@Kasaaz]

Some of the quest parts involving Kenneth at the fort or Nepheli weren't even implemented until, I believe, Patch 1.03 or so. Was easy to miss before then.

[@veggiedragon1000]

@@Tim_593 Oh alright. Thanks! Is Gostoc in the boss room before then with that dialogue? I'll probably backtrack for that alone to start, completely missed him following me through the castle.

[@madox4254]

@@veggiedragon1000 it seems at some part of the game you can't finish this quest. Learned about it later on and when I went to find Nepheli in the Albinauric Village all I found was her weapon she drops when killed

[@veggiedragon1000]

@@Tim_593 Nice, that's all I need to know. Thanks a lot. I actually already gave Nephali the Hawk and did Kenneth's questline, so it sounds like I'm 2 out of 3 already. :3 I like to look at the wikis as little as possible to avoid too many overt spoilers, but vague hints are very much appreciated.

[@einomarttila5184]

Alexander is the true heir of limgrave

[@InternetHydra]

Special thanks for telling in two minutes what everyone else would do in twenty or more…

[@emceelucas9296]

Great video. Given that the end of Nepheli's quest was patched in after launch, I'd say your speculation about it originally being open-ended is spot-on. But let's be real, Nepheli deserves it.

[@TrixterBambi]

I thought that his missing arm was some sort of punishment with just the added bonus of grafting (being a kleptomaniac and all). I do like the open-ended version of this quest, makes me chuckle that you can put Gostoc of all people as the ruler of Stormveil, considering there's not much to rule anyway.

[@TrashbashMan]

I never noticed Gostoc was missing one of his arms until an hour ago, that's wild

[@bobvagana5443]

i love this style of lore videos from you, wish you made more

[@youtubeuser4943]

I knew there had to have been more to Gostoc than initially believed. There’s a focus on him at the early game that made me think there’s definitely more to what we already knew

[@SANDVlCH]

I’ve got an inkling that a lot of the names in elden ring are devolved versions of their namesakes, similar to how Folk English dialects comprise millennia of slurred words and a relaxed attitude to anunciation Similar to how leyndell is likely derived from legendwell, or place of legendary figures, could gostoc’s name be a drudgery of god-stock - as in, of the blood of gods?

[@nathanielsearle9822]

You honestly could be onto something there. Sort of sounds like it makes sense, at least concerning those two examples

[@abaddon130]

Godrick is just a god called Rick, that's cannon now.

[@montgomeryfortenberry]

@@abaddon130 never gonna give you up

[@Rantourus]

@@montgomeryfortenberry never gonna let you down, Just gonna turn around and graft you.

[@SANDVlCH]

@Kermit with an AK it's not that farfetched when you consider the fistfight of written phonemes when associating them to verbal equivalence that was middle english, but tbf some of the writing JRR's done previously isn't anything stellar either lol

[@GreatlyLovable]

I have bit of a wild theory. Gastoc is missing his left arm, the grafted scions left arm is an amalgam of grafted parts while the right is normal. Gastoc in the deleted line mentions being denied a crown, the grafted scions wear a gold crown. Perhaps Godefrey and his bloodline are the only ones who can graft parts onto themselves. Gastoc could have been suspected of being part of Godric's bloodline but when the grafting failed he was left rejected and betrayed, fueling his revenge. This also explains why the grafted scions where crowns, they are Princes to Godric's kingdom. A recurring theme in George R.R. Martin's works is the power of King's blood and it's magical properties like in Game Of Thrones.

[@BroccoliBeat]

Even if there was the option to give the crown to one of them, I probably still would have given it to Nepheli

[@buffoonustroglodytus4688]

Nepheli is such a boring character tho.

[@TheStickMachine]

@@buffoonustroglodytus4688 Yeah but Gostoc isn't boring at all... wait.

[@flatlo]

Boring? She’s a fantastic warrior, one of the few decent people in the game, she stands by her principles to the point where she parts ways with her adopted father because she won’t be complicit to slaughtering innocents, she’s also the descendant or Hoarah Loux/Godfrey the first Elden Lord. Like her true father, she’s competent and respectful. And she’s hot.

[@Canadish]

Yeah, I'm guessing she was meant to be the 'Coin on its edge' option over pompous Kenneth or the backstabbing gatekeeper. Fromsoft obviously didn't finish it and I'm guessing they threw the ending we got together post release just to wrap those 3 NPCs up and distribute the items. Guessing Nephali was chosen as they guessed everyone would choose her anyway.

[@NoName-ns6xr]

@@buffoonustroglodytus4688 Your name is very fitting considering how terrible of a take this was

[@jg7630]

I wondered about him from the start. His grudge seemed a little more personal than just some random guy's would be

[@someguyonyt2831]

In my opinion, it’s no longer canon because his “son of godrick” line was scrapped. Still, even if it was used in the game, I still think he’s not Godrick’s son because he strikes me as a liar. I mean he tried to get me killed by locking me in a room to fight Banished Knight.

[@Mendoza-yi6qk]

Do you think Godrick would not do that if he could? The people in Stormveil are all insane.

[@someguyonyt2831]

@@Mendoza-yi6qk I'd say most people in The Lands Between are insane. Probably because of the Shattering.

[@Hummeldon]

Subterranean Graveyard is such a good song for your "uncovering mysteries" videos.

[@michaelmannix1604]

And here I am still perplexed by Godefroy's implications, lol. That aside, it's interesting how Godfrey/Hoarah Loux seems almost like this Attila the Hun -type of warrior, being a direct progenitor of such a wide cast of characters. I get the sense that Hoarah Loux is his true persona from prior to his arrival in the Lands Between and the conquerer of "the Badlands," where he sired previous offspring, and Godfrey was simply his rebranding as a noble king before siring the Golden Lineage (as well as Morgott and Mohg). It wouldn't surprise me if Gostoc, Nepheli, and Kenneth are all distantly related under this ancient ancestor.

[@patrickripleyiii134]

Nah godefroy is easy, hes just an ancestor of godrick who also used grafting

[@michaelmannix1604]

@@patrickripleyiii134 Godfrey hatched a bunch a little freaklings, that's for sure. No wonder Marika filed a divorce lmao

[@patrickripleyiii134]

Actually I'm pretty sure they were descended from godwyn the chad

[@michaelmannix1604]

@@patrickripleyiii134 Well, technically that's still Godfrey's lineage then lol

[@patrickripleyiii134]

Yeah but it wasn't godfrey that cheated on marika it was the chad godwyn spread the seed far and wide

[@brockmadden9510]

Damn, I love your videos! My jaw is always on the floor on these. Brava!

[@Dsonsee]

It pains me greatly to imagine all the questlines that were cut. So much world substance lost due to the constraints of development

[@Barnaclebeard]

They should have broken it into multiple releases. The quality drops off so much as the game drags on. They bit off more than they could chew.

[@millerthomas4331]

@@Barnaclebeard im new to from games but people explained to me that this is how from games are, its always great at the start(end of stormveil), good at the middle(end of leyndell) and then starts to take a nosedive and becomes average after that if the community is right then the dlc should be better than the base game in quality

[@carsonnesbit1178]

His name starts with a G, it was right in front of us the whole time and we didn’t see it…

[@e.x.nihilo]

I never even realized that Gostoc follows you and steals your runes when you die 💀💀💀

[@FreedomAndPeaceOnly]

I am so annoyed to not know when Nepheli starts *STAND* -ing in front of the throne. But I suppose she teleports there when those two other guys are still alive and you free Maliketh from his pelt.

[@lorenzolama6436]

after you kill morgott. Teleport to godrick grace, go to the previous one, rest, and go back to the throne on foot

[@RorickSkyve]

She starts appearing there after you defeat Morgott

[@FreedomAndPeaceOnly]

@@RorickSkyve I thought so too but she didn't. I had Gostoc & Kennet Height in place and even when I croused Farum Azula, I was horny for that one special smithing stone Gostoc sells you, so I teleported back occassionally and... nothing. °sigh° Well - now I've got it.

[@RorickSkyve]

@@FreedomAndPeaceOnly The trigger is really odd. You have to sometimes repeatedly rest at the grace site inside Godrick's boss arena until they move to the throne room

[@Tim_593]

@@FreedomAndPeaceOnly I am guessing you have all the prerequisites? Gideon threw Nepheli out and you gave her the hawk? Did you talk to Kenneth Haight in his fort? I also believe the trigger applies only when you rested at the Godrick Grace after teleporting, similar to how the Bell Bearing Hunters only appear after resting

[@KRIMZONMEKANISM]

Limgrave: "I wanna rule that!" Liurnia: *has queen Rennala* Altus Plateau: *has Morgott* Weeping Peninsula and Caelid: *looks at state of the place* "... yeah... no thanks, I'm good..."

[@thefreshestslice4105]

The Weeping Peninsula is a part of Limgrave.

[@KRIMZONMEKANISM]

@@thefreshestslice4105 It may well be "on paper", but I have some serious doubts it will be claimed back any time soon lmao xD

[@eetfuk3571]

I mean, why would you try to conquer Caelid? minus the rotting ground zero after Malenia decimated it, you have to fight General Radahn which is a suicidal mission lol

[@lebarondeminuit3580]

I've always assumed the Grafted Scions were his offsprings

[@Αστερίων13]

That's really interesting, and I personally think that the grafted scions are Godrick's children too

[@timmywaye4302]

Makes sense, they are scions after all

[@bulimah9686]

They actually are children that came with the spirit tuning girl to the lands between. She tells you when you first meet her. Saying "they all came with me, they all died for me." Then going on about the spider and how they've been grafted and become chrysalids. If you take off the hood of a grafted Scion you see a child's face. And the grafted Scion boss has a tag called grafted spider or something referring back to what the spirit tuning girl said therefore it's safe to say the grafted scions are the kids that came with the spirit tuning girl.

[@VonBismarkus]

@@bulimah9686 I think it’s a mix of both of these theories. I believe the ‘main’ body/head of the scions are Godrick’s various children. Roderika’s companions on the other hand have been merely grafted onto Godrick’s heirs to make them more powerful, just like their father. We find the red hood on a pile of disused body parts which are presumably the left overs from when they were stripped for parts, so to speak. Curious why Gostoc, if we assume him being Godrick’s son is still canon, wasn’t treated to this process. Perhaps he was considered too weak, a runt, and was himself partly grafted to a stronger sibling. This would explain pretty well his hatred of for his father. What I’m curious about now is who did Godrick have all these children with? Where is she?

[@bulimah9686]

@@VonBismarkus he could be a bastard making gostoc a servant pretty much to hide the fact he is his son.

[@bulimah9686]

I mean him being a bastard could explain why his pretty much neglected as a ruler and put him in a low class role thereby eliminating all rights to the throne gostoc could have and it could also explain why gostoc has so much hatred for his father.

[@yanwain9454]

the grafted scion seems like he would be godrick's heir. he even has a crown.

[@eduardoandresserrato6189]

So many quests were cut or severely reduced on scope, and the quests on the game have been incomplete until recently, definetely one of the wakest points of the game in my opinion. This one in particular made no sense to me, you never inform kenneth of the existance of nepheli, nepheli doesn't seem to know she is daughter to godfrey, and she just appears on stormveil unprompted

[@colorpg152]

I know you could get the info about nepheli from gostoc in a cut dialog so its possible, sadly so much was changed or removed

[@TheSoldierOfGodrick]

Reject the false trichotomy and choose me, The Soldier of Godrick, as the rightful heir to the throne.

[@Ilgazzoo]

I am worried for Nepheli. Having Gostoc as an "advisor" will lead to no good. I wish there was a way to warn her :(

[@mediocremason]

Gostoc is rather harmless really, all he wants is to scavenge and steal runes is all.

[@Ilgazzoo]

@@mediocremason Well he did try to kill us by locking us in that room in Stormveil. I'm sure he would betray Nepheli in some shape or form. He is like a walmart Patches after all

[@SonGokuSSj23]

@@mediocremason He's an envious little leech with a lust for power because of how he was treated by his own father, I would expect him to be traitorous . Put him in the ground where he belongs and finish the questline with Kenneth and Nepheli

[@visceraeyes525]

@@Ilgazzoo if hes so powerful then why didnt he betray and kill godrick already?

[@InternetHydra]

@@mediocremason And he does lead you to safer paths and warn you of legit dangers…. Kinda reminds me of someone…

[@kenparrish3039]

Hearing "The Ancient City" OST gives me goosebumps and insane amounts of nostalgia.

[@codeine69]

imagine a questline for every major region with NPCs vying for control after the defeat of whichever demigod, it would be like fallout new vegas where you shape the lands between as you see fit for your eventual rule as elden lord

[@azu1394]

well, godrick gets replaced by nephili, sellen tries to replace rennala, rykard by tanneth, and morgott by you, so it happens quite often id

[@azu1394]

it happens quite often id say

[@Valanway]

That would have been sick, and was what I thought they were going for with the intro and the entire Stormveil story. If only the game world actually had any consequences or change going through the story, and no, I barely count the capitol turning into dust removing 90% of the detail and zone at the very finale

[@Stalutes64]

Kenneth IS actually the proper heir to limgrave, but not the heir to stormveil and the surrounding lands as a whole. It is likely he was one of stormveil’s vassals from before the shattering. Hence the seperate fort in limgrave called “fort haight” It begs the question what happened to the vassal in Caelid and the faroth family. Also Godrick was originally the lord of castle Morne, and godefroy the ruler of stormveil. There is substantial evidence for this in dialogue and item descriptions. During the shattering godefroy took his troops to invade the capital but was captured and imprisoned in the Evergaol, and while he and his army were gone godrick moved his entire army into stormveil stole his brother’s great rune and proclaimed himself ruler. Kenneth was cool with this because Godrick still had a legitimate claim to the throne by birth. Also the grafted blade was godrick’s original weapon and he forged it after getting whooped by malenia in the shattering. He probably tried to fight her while she was crossing limgrave to go into Caelid, but I haven’t found any hard evidence for this yet. Note that the buff provided by the grafted blade is identical to godrick’s great rune. Godrick moving all his soldiers to stormveil is additionally what enabled the misbegotten to overrun castle Morne and slaughter all of godrick’s retainers.

[@PaperFlare]

This would definitely explain why the questline was so fucking borked at launch. If their questlines converged around the moment you found this mysterious removed crown item, letting you crown your choice of ruler, then it would absolutely make sense why the mysterious trigger was never found before the patch. It definitely feels...off...that Morgott's death is the seemingly arbitrary moment all 3 just go to the throne room for no reason and the questline just ends there. Also given the fact that it seems to be the "perfect" ending (Nepheli gives you a dragon stone and is happy with her new position, Gostoc sells you a dragon stone and seems happy with his new lord, and Haight seems pleased with your pick of lord), my guess is that Gostoc would have been a "bad" ending, in that while he does meet the requirements for lordship, Nepheli would be left a lost soul and Haight would probably be disappointing in the mangled son of Godrick becoming the new lord. Plus this DOES give the questline an "ending" even if you were to give Nepheli the potion. Plus, From has had a history of making the straight forward option the worse of two choices (Gostoc asks for the crown) vs figuring out Nepheli is the daughter of Godfrey because he's Hourah Loux and, thus, she has claim to the throne that even she isn't aware of. Of course, this is all simply speculation on my part. As always, interesting stuff.

[@getyourderpfaceon]

since no one gets godricks crown, i really wish we could have gotten it to wear, i love how it looks

[@KissyKaede]

It's the same as the Aristocrat's Headband pretty much. You can get those from the wandering nobles with the glintstone staves as a pretty rare drop.

[@eclecticspaghetti]

There’s a not-insignificant chance this might be added later, considering the state of the entire “Limgrave Heir” questline at launch had it end with Kenneth just kinda standing there.

[@aaronwillets1172]

Excellent as always, Zullie!

[@waveexistence5742]

Just found your channel and I've been perusing all the videos. Just wanted to say that on top of the content being all-around awesome, the music is just fantastic. The selected tracks frequently remind me of the old jrpgs of yore.

[@dongodongo12]

damn this game has so much cut content that is so interesting, i hope they add it back or something, but better than the patches questline that just sort of ends with him just not caring about what happened previously

[@Kasaaz]

They usually just use it for DLC stuff or even in later games. This game definitely has a higher amount of cut, basically finished content than most. I wish they would use it to make NG+ more interesting. This has to be their least replayable game as it stands.

[@chiikkenn]

another instance of good old cut contentsoft storytelling

[@axrye800]

I'd say Nepheli's claim is even stronger than Godrick's to begin with, so her claiming the throne over the heir of Godrick would make more sense.

[@arcyine]

How? Isn't nepheli a bastard while while godrick is a child of both godfrey and marika?

[@MazrimTaim]

@@arcyine Godrick isn't Godfrey's son. He's a descendent, same as Nepheli. It's just that he claims to be descended from "Godfrey the Golden" while Nephelli carries the name "Loux" instead. Let's be honest, if Godfrey himself were to pick one of them it'd be Nepheli every time.

[@arcyine]

@@MazrimTaim but as he's a demigod he's still descending from Queen Marika. I forgot if godfrey had nepheli before or after his exile, but either of those mean that nepheli isn't more eligible for royalty. As it was Hourah loux the warrior cheiftan who had her, not Godfrey the first Elden lord. Godfrey would definitely choose nepheli but godrick seems way closer to royalty no matter the prick he is.

[@MazrimTaim]

@@arcyine He's only a demigod because he has a Great Rune. By that definition, the player is descended from Marika as well, as soon as they kill him. What about Vyke then?

[@arcyine]

@@MazrimTaim he's from the golden lineage. He's explicitly considered demigod NOT because he has a great rune but because he's descended from the lineage. And yes you've answered your own question, the tarnished is not a demigod even having possession of a great rune. Because being in possession of a great rune doesn't make you be half god. Descending from a god however you can be considered to be.

[@Rageikari]

Every single one of your videos is so interesting, Keep up the good work Zullie!

[@LG-ii7gl]

Tbh it seems like a Gostoc move to lie about his relation with Godrick so that you'll hand over that pricy golden crown. Funny how he doesn't mention it when you don't have the crown on your person.

[@Hotshot2k4]

We can always count on Kenneth Haight to do what's right.

[@tomasz3122]

I really loved the Limgrave and it left a great impression on me. I was greatly underwhelmed by next locations, they seemed a bit empty and monotonous... I wish From Software had a bit more manpower.

[@eetfuk3571]

Liurnia is definitely monotonous til you find Raya Lucaria Academy.

[@tomasz3122]

@@eetfuk3571 To be honest all of the locations apart from Limgrave are. Lots of similarly looking empty space and copy-paste content. But it's a great game nonetheless.

[@eetfuk3571]

@@tomasz3122 you also talking about Leyndell? Leyndell is definitely one of the most unique and greatest location that From ever made.

[@DLTyrus]

They definitely heavily front-loaded the quest content into Limgrave, but I think the other regions are as good or better in terms of geography and overall layout. I mean okay, Liurna's namesake lake is a bit samey but the whole perimeter is very diverse, and the regions only get better from there IMO other than the lack of meaningful NPCs.

[@DillonMeyer]

Makes sense as the quest itself was "cut content" on release, restored along with the Jarberg quest in the first patch.

[@martskaichow]

Oh so that's why i was noticing missing runes everytime i died at Stormveil, huh... It just went over my head as a weird glitch or hidden mechanic of sorts

[@SlayerSeraph]

I can't believe that bastard Gastoc survives, lives through everything like it was nothing, never gets punishment that he deserves, never faces retribution nor answer for his crimes - While SO MANY OTHER good and interesting NPCs either die horribly, deform or go mad... (Blaidd, Selen, Millicent, Yura, Thopps, Hewg, D, Rogier, Fia, and more...). And worst part is he moves into a Safe Zone permanently, so you can't kill the scumbag.

[@serioussam909]

You can kill him earlier, if you want to.

[@harrigan4162]

I was so confused by Kenneth’s quest line because he just completely abandons ambitions of being ruler of limgrave. Not even an explanation for why he needs to find a “proper” ruler

[@chrisdaughen5257]

It's common for these kinds of stories to have people willing to serve people with a royal/noble lineage, especially minor nobles.

[@mimimalloc]

I think the implication is that he's dismayed he couldn't properly negotiate with the demihumans and that leads him to realize that he'd rather be an ineffectual lord of a fort than have actual difficult responsibilities. But it's not exactly spelled out.

[@Valanway]

He was sad that his miniscule hovel of a copypasted "fort" got sacked by sub-Neanderthal level demi-humans that he for some reason thought he had a silver tongue to communicate with and jumped an entire character arc over to wanting to find a somehow more legitimate ruler than his own self-proclaimed legitimacy to be heir to the throne.

[@Laurell_Silentshade]

@@Valanway Right? I just thought it funny Kenneth and Edgar would be shocked after referring to the Demi-humans as menials and treating them as such. I'm like, well there's your problem! It's tempting just to let them fail to clean up their own damn mess.

[@alexanderforbes1452]

I just don't want to think about that guy getting freaking with a lady to be perfectly honest...

[@liefericson6496]

Is it outright confirmed that Nepheli was Hoarah's child? I thought I'd recalled reading that Loux was a clan name, and so I'd assumed that she just was part of his warrior clan, like a tribe, rather than directly descended from him.

[@Valanway]

I'd say part of his clan, or a direct descendent. Guess it helps to have that demi-god blood in you, no matter the percentage.

[@saifulfarhan5384]

Didn't expect to see a lore video from you but I like it

[@ZullietheWitch]

I've done some lore adjacent videos.

[@Dreska_]

Aren't there enemies that have the same character model as Gostoc? I thought if he was that important he'd look unique. Or are the enemies slightly different? Also is it possible to identify on Godrick's character model which hand is Gostoc's? Or perhaps it ended up on the Scion. Would be a neat easter egg if you could actually tell with reasonable certainty which arm it is somehow.

[@Cricket0021]

The only unique trait that gostoc has is the missing arm. Other than that, he looks similar to the other cannon fodder enemies in stormveil

[@PronteCo]

HOLY COW Zullie I never realized the "Loux" connection.. very cool!

[@ixinor]

Nice find Zullie! I wonder if that means Gostroc denied the path of the grafting or only a Rune wielder can? Also makes me wonder where that hand went to, maybe you can find it dangling from Godrick.

[@nathanielsearle9822]

Personally, I think if it was grafted, it probably wasn’t grafted to Godrick. He seems particular about what gets grafted to him, and Gostoc isn’t really anything special other than possibly being true heir to the throne. I’d say he either got it cut off as punishment for stealing, or if he did get it removed for grafting, it was to one of the scions or is perhaps hanging in the hall you fight the scion in in stormveil. I feel like I remember seeing limbs hanging around in there.

[@emmetritch3287]

I love the music you use for your videos always excellent

[@handan3786]

This is actually really interesting, I hope they patch in an extension/alt route for the quest. Also I've been wondering about this noble's spirit in the weeping peninsula, near the mausoleum, that talks about a soulless demigod in a mausoleum. Really I've been curious about that soulless demigod, do we know who it is? Have they been named or are they nameless currently? Is there anymore hints to this demigod that I've missed? Idk it just peaked my interest and Gostoc possibly being of demigod lineage reminded me of it.

[@sirlordcapybara801]

I believe that refers to (Spoilers Ahead) The remains of Godwyn in Deeproot Depths. He doesn't have a soul anymore, right?

[@Gamer_kitteh]

@@sirlordcapybara801 It makes sense to think that as Godwyn gets referenced as "soulless demigod" directly somewhere else, but his body is obviously not in the nearby mausoleum (and there's multiple walking mausoleums as well, all with "soulless demigods"). Fairly certain none of the Mausoleum ones are Godwyn, and are all currently unnamed.

[@Gamer_kitteh]

Also to add to the main post, in the Tombsward Catacombs (near that noble's spirit) you get a Spirit Ashes from the boss which expands a bit on that lore: Spirit of a headless knight who leads the mausoleum soldiers. Lhutel sacrificed her life so that in Death she could continue to protect a soulless demigod until their revival, earning her the hero's honor of Erdtree Burial.

[@Rincewindus]

There's definitely something weird going on with the Soulless demigods, they're sometimes talked about as if they're the same entity as Godwyn (who is also a soulless demigod, albeit he's not in a Mausoleum) and both them and godwyn are called the "unwanted child(ren) of Marika" - and that's a term that's had a long history in soulsborne games of being ambiguous and being translated multple ways.

[@Omicron716]

0:50 I just want you to know the sense of revulsion I felt as you panned over from Nepheli to Gostoc.

[@AlbertusSalvatierra]

If what he says is true, then what of the Grafted Scions? They are of the Golden Lineage as well. Meaning, this would be the Golden Lineage: Morgott, Mohg, Godwyn, and the seven soulless demigods who dwell within the walking mausoleums. From Godwyn, to Godefroy, to Godrick, to Gostoc and the Grafted Scions.

[@Rincewindus]

Strong chance of the Tarnished in general being in it , too. "Warrior blood must truly run through thy veins."

[@AlbertusSalvatierra]

@@Rincewindus I mean, maybe.

[@autisticbraindamagedmoron]

@@Rincewindus - you're good at fighting man - OMG am I your descendant?

[@spearsage]

It's also possible that Gostoc was originally meant to be Godrick's bastard son. Therefore has no same grafting ability.

[@aniforprez]

the grafted scions are probably not meant to be the true successors. when you graft plants, a "scion" is the fresh new plant that you attach to the "root". just a theory but the scions are essentially just pokemon collectors who will probably be used to get mats to graft onto godrick himself later. they're not meant to be alive for particularly long

[@Atercor-kx8hs]

So much cut and interesting content...that pains me to no end, i feel like we got 2/3 of the game so far with all the patches!

[@artisticcannibalism1350]

Maybe they cut it because they realized that no player would ever willingly give him the crown unless it was to see what reward was. To make this choice even a choice they would have to rewrite his character so that to make him less hateable but that would end up changing his role within the game. He's not worth it.

[@TriforceWisdom64]

Counterpoint: FromSoft games often encourage ludicrous behavior. Such as helping the mad doctor in Ashina Dungeon in Sekiro, or noted serial killer Creighton the Wanderer in Dark Souls 2, or even giving Nepheli the potion from Seluvis in this game.

[@artisticcannibalism1350]

@@TriforceWisdom64 But are you doing that because you actually agree with them or are you doing it because you want the reward?

[@yorak13]

Well I wonder if opinions would’ve changed if they also kept in this plot line + the St. Trina one? Perhaps we would’ve found out this cut line plus more about Gostoc when entering his dreams with the sleeping draught we would’ve made with Rhico

[@merlith4650]

I mean the questline in itself is barely finished. It was broken on release and even now when it's patched it feels like it's still missing several portions and context

[@Valanway]

@@TriforceWisdom64 Creighton did nothing wrong, and I won't take any slander against him standing!

[@MettanAtem]

The option of alternative successors would be a nice fallback for a playthrough where you really want that Magic Scorpion Charm.

[@memelordmctasty3285]

You don't have to actually give Nepheli the potion to progress in Seluvis's questline, you can give it to Gideon (who will dispose of it) or to the Dung Eater (who will be turned into a puppet in place of Nepheli).

[@LichPenguin]

I would've prefered to finish the Kenneth questline by having Boc be the proposed lord. After using one of the Pratling Pate carvings Boc says he heard his mum's voice, and I'd adore if he was a child to one of the Demi-Human Queens (Maybe Maggie as she's the queen located at the Hermit Village where the Pratling Pate is found) This would also conclude Kenneth seeking to unite humans and Demi-human.

[@Wrat_]

My favorite part of this is that it's entirely possible this could be added to the game later

[@arcflashhazard_]

So that's where my runes kept going! Learn new things every day. Thanks.

[@Sinphanius]

Between this, Sellen's questline involving the (attempted) usurpation of control of Liurnia, and the family drama of Tannith/Rya in Gelmir, it makes me wonder if earlier in development there had been plans for there to be more to becoming Elden Lord. Right now it's just "Claim Throne, Bear Seek Seek Lest" and whadabadabing you're Elden Lord and everything depends purely on what Rune you decide to go with. But 3 of the 7 major regions have dangling plotlines that could have been woven into a more elaborate story of not only claiming the throne but establishing an actual council to aid you in ruling after the dust had settled, and it's not hard to see places where similar plotlines could have been in the other regions. Caelid could have had maybe Gowry-vs-Jerren as a culmination of the Rot-vs-Redmane story. The Mountaintops of Giants isn't really settled so probably doesn't need to be dealt with but could have had an NPC who lays claim to Castle Sol vs perhaps a surviving Giant who was willing to talk things out. Farum Azula could probably be similarly ignored by your new order, but it has the Beastmen fighting the Crucible Knights in some areas, and the Banished Knights are just kind of there, so maybe a named Crucible/Banished Knight-vs-Beast Clergyman could have happened. Lyndell would presumably be ruled directly by the Player Character after becoming Lord. My guess is that part of the reason this may have been cut is because your choices at the end of the game would produce such a significant change that it would be incredibly difficult to actually adjust the world to account for them, so they would have had to force characters directly into NG+. Like suppose Sellen does take control of the Academy and swear fealty, is it okay for me to just keep murdering the sorcerers over and over again trying to get their armor? Elden Ring has the most detailed and sophisticated dialogue system and questlines in any Souls Game, and even with those improvements I think it would struggle to handle these sorts of developments. But who knows, we got more stages of NPC questlines and even new NPCs in a patch which I think is unheard of, maybe later patches or DLC will add more questlines and even ending scenes.

[@matthewsimon6170]

Honestly, I'm wondering if there would've been world events that could happen if one of the three is picked by the player, Between Nepheli, Kenneth, and Gostoc. Like, if you pick Kenneth, Demi-humans are no longer hostile, and you can just walk around them and stuff. And maybe Gostoc gets taken out, because he's just a downright horrible leader, so his own people turn on him. Idk, just seems like a cool concept, wonder how it would've worked

[@kibouw9612]

I was literally reading about the known members of the Golden Lineage because I wondered about it ! I also believe that Godefroy could've been (lorewise) a candidate for the throne if he wasn't emprisonned (I also believe that he doesn't have a great rune because of it lol)

[@Norvolo]

And then they realized nobody was going to give the crown to anybody other than Nepheli, so they trimmed the unnecessary options.

[@TheThunderbirdRising]

This backs up my theory that there were massive aspects of Elden Ring that had to be completely cut down (the numerous delays were probably them trying to get more time to implement it all before having to drop it just to ship a product) and that a major aspect of the game was installing rulers to all the main areas of the game. Nepheli is made Lord of Stormveil, but that doesn't really go anywhere, and now it seems like you could have alternately picked Gostoc to rule. Sellen has her whole questline about taking over Raya Lucaria, but that all gets undone at the last second of her quest. The Altus plateau and Caleid are less obvious, but the Volcano Manor's whole thing is usurping power from the Capital, and Tanith never really got a solid resolution. And you can easily imagine having someone take charge of Castle Redmane after you beat Radahn (Alexander? Jerren?).

[@ahealthkit2745]

Definitely strikes me as a concept too ambitious for a game with over 70 bosses, they probably had to cut these concepts before a lot of the later content was finished. There's also the dream brew content that was cut, alongside the theorized meaning of the lava-y fire heads found across the landscape in the open beta, which are no nowhere to be seen in the final game. (Another cut bit of content perhaps?)

[@malum9478]

big time. this has been my takeaway as well 100%. it's kind of disappointing actually.

[@TheRealFritty]

I think with "I am son of Godfrey" they mean he's a descendant, therefore Tarnished. And it was cut because it could be misinterpreted perhaps?

[@LautrecOfCarim]

The fact that the option to support the claim of the great Kenneth Haight was not implemented is one of the biggest missteps in From Software's history, plain and simple. Heh...