Elden Ring With Ziostorm | Yggdrasil Podcast 41

[@jameshankel8219]

When the first thing Ziostorm said wasn't, "What's going on guys," ...that hurt. That really, really hurt. We deserved better.

[@NumberD2000]

i feel dirty

[@ulrix_4466]

I love these Elden ring podcasts Ratatouille. I hope the DLC answers all the confusion around Marika

[@mfgrobin9657]

a french dish (usually) cannot do that

[@OmegaMetroid93]

Autocorrect is hilarious sometimes.

[@user-zp8kj2cl9g]

Don't expect too much. There will be some answers but even more questions.

[@nopupils261]

No his name is raskall tosser you idiot

[@eser8167]

Narrator: "The DLC did not answer the confusion around Marika."

[@LAK_770]

We've come so far since The Great Hollowing of 2024, I'm glad Zio has recovered

[@glorytoukraine5524]

I remember his despair when there was no trailer at the awards

[@LAK_770]

​@@glorytoukraine5524 dude Rata's reaction video was classic, he was like "AAAHAHAHAHA THIS MF LOOK AT HIS FN FACE!!!", it was one of the most infectiously hilarious things I've seen in a long time

[@glorytoukraine5524]

@@LAK_770 PRICELESS

[@falgalhutkinsmarzcal3962]

Messmer being the GEQ's son makes sense since the statue behind him (of Marika holding a child) is just like the Abductor Virgin imagery, which are Miyazaki's favorite enemy design. If you wanted to be the Lord of Blasphemy you mock the Golden Order with their iniquitous origins. And then, of course, there is a Godskin Apostle in the Church of Eiglay. It seems like Rykard was really trying to infuriate Marika by sending a clear message that he knew something he should not know about Serpents and Infants and Virgins.

[@christiansargent6053]

Bro committed a little bit too hard to the bit 😭 Fr tho this is one of the coolest lore theories I've seen, creative stuff

[@Ziostorm]

Thanks for having me back! Only a month to go 🔥🫡

[@austin0_bandit05]

LESS than a month!

[@munkeyu4707]

What do you think about Marika's hand is reaching into a godskin hood and not a womb? To me it looks like she reaches across a dead face and pulls out the golden hair strands...

[@FSVR54]

less

[@James_Rustled]

@@austin0_bandit05 what? It’s 27 days

[@austin0_bandit05]

@@James_Rustled Whoops I meant to say month hahaha

[@artinallforms5718]

fuck, i'm over 1000 hours in, still not bored. I've had few months of not playing since launch, once the burnout came. but i'm so hyped for the DLC im enjoying playing as if it was new again.

[@jman8350]

YES! THANK YOU! I had the same thought, Ratatoskr! It looks like she's pulling the viscous, golden strands out of a baby's head, swaddled in the Swaddling cloth!

[@malicmarrow4726]

🥚 egg of rebirth…..

[@godly_potatoe69xd19]

@@malicmarrow4726ohhh shit the egg of the perfect world

[@joeywithabowie4002]

When the narrator in the trailer said "The seduction, And the betrayal" it reminded me of the item descripton of the blackflame monks armor. "The Blackflame Monks, enthralled by the god-slaying black flame, became traitors, abandoning their posts as guardians. The seduction of a taboo is never easily spurned."

[@kingjohn8980]

11:32 “Breaks my immersion” Meanwhile Godfrey deciding to loose his massive axe in order to run the hands with the Tarnished

[@DougRobertson]

When the wind starts blowing on Marika through the opening when she holds aloft the gold strands, that's the Elden Beast boss song. That moment could indicate the coming of the Elden Beast

[@havanaradio]

Totally, she thinks she pulled one over on the greater will but as soon as she creates the ring and the EB is created her fate was sealed.

[@django_freeman27]

The wind is roaring like a beast too

[@colovianhastur5962]

The Elden Beast was already there, sent long ago by the Greater Will. Remember, Placidusax predates Marika and was Elden Lord to a vessel of the Elden Ring long before Marika became the vessel herself.

[@havanaradio]

@@colovianhastur5962 indeed. I misspoke, mean to say that she gave the parasite a new host

[@fourdayz1414]

A thought: Is there a chance that the previous age was not under the Greater Will but of another god? Like at some point the Greater Will was kicked to the curb and became an _outer god_ instead of THE god for that age. Then Marika came along and returned the land’s between under its rule. It could justify the elden beast having to be sent back again

[@Jcoaerlrsiocno]

Not related to elden ring at all but jumping spiders are possibly one of the least harmful species of spiders you could have in your house. In the future I’d recommend you leave them be because: 1. They don’t make webs 2. They eat a lot of other insects 3. They are chill

[@theophany4935]

If I'm aware of any spider existing within a 100 meter radius of me, I'm sending it straight back to hell. Doesn't matter how small, lethal, environmentally-friendly etc. they may be.

[@thegreatcosmicaxolotl]

​@@theophany4935but jumping spiders are so cute!

[@heibk-2019]

@@theophany4935 Why tho? I hate spiders but even then putting them into a cup and throwing them outside is way less disgusting than squishing it.

[@Jcoaerlrsiocno]

@@theophany4935 that kind of just makes you sound like a puss ngl

[@wowitsfrostygames155]

@@heibk-2019I’m always paranoid if I squish a spider their fangs will get me through the tissue. Which is why I usually resort to complete over kill if I have to kill a spider. Though I try really hard to just let them be. Just stay in your corner and let me be thanks.

[@aleciaregister162]

I saw a video earlier today supposing that Miquella wasn't the Griffith analogue, but Merika; and the image of her ascension in the story trailer was her version of the eclipse. That's not to say Miquella can be trusted, but I do like that interpretation, it's a neat flip of expectations.

[@HeraldingHistorian]

I feel like Miquella has more of a Daenerys Targaryen thing, with some of the material being from George RR Martin, a nice figure that gains a following with their message of peace (the book version for more than the show version)

[@simonealcazar816]

Or… a stick with me here. No one is Griffith. I know it’s shocking to understand that but it’s true.

[@stakesishigh516]

@@simonealcazar816Miyazaki would absolutely troll us by crafting Miquella to seem like Griffith and then doing a complete 180 on it.

[@TrueHylianKnight]

This kind of thing is exactly why I love FromSoftware lore. It's exactly reminiscent of religious debate and philosophy, but it's about a damn vidya game. It's incredible! Great podcast

[@godly_potatoe69xd19]

@@TrueHylianKnightyeah it’s insane I’m 15 but I’ve learned so much about philosophy, alchemy, and history from this game. I rlly wanna get some of my friends into it but they won’t buy it so imma get it as a birthday present and force them to play it lmao.

[@Lidrien]

Not enough people are talking about snakes. The snakes with Messmer, Marika’s bracelet resembles a snake. The iconography of snakes is too prevalent around key figures. We’re going to get another snake revelation of some kind.

[@depalodor]

I dont see the marika snake bracelet thing at all

[@ael4n]

@@depalodor While the bracelets don't have explicitly snake-like features, the coiled shape is often associated with snakes. But we will see.

[@Lidrien]

@@depalodor Fair enough but there's gotta be more gold to mine from the snake thing. Rykard's inspiration to fuck with it etc. "The snake is viewed as a traitor to the Erdtree, and the audience delighted in seeing these bronze effigies beaten and battered." -Duelist Helm There's missing info in the history of the Erdtree and there be snakes.

[@havanaradio]

Uh... One of the space alien meteors was a snake thing. It ate rykard and wanted to eat the world. Just like the elden beast was a glowy gold thing alien meteor, and astel was a planetoid magic snake dragon alien meteor, and the formless mother was a liquid magic blood alien meteor - all the outer gods. OUTER AS IN SPACE!

[@jacobbenjamin2664]

When I look at the intro scene I see Marika pulling the golden strands out of a serpents eye. The serpent is pale. The top eye lid and brow line are facing more towards the bottom of the shot. She’s pulling them out of an eye that has rolled back in its socket. I for sure agree with the snake stuff. We’re gonna get some pretty big lore bombs about serpents for sure.

[@ElijsDima]

One thing's for sure, someone will need to go through the DLC and do *Law of Regression* everywhere (maybe even in Mesmer encounters) just on the off chance that that reveals something like "Mesmer is Miquella" or somesuch.

[@Sephirothkingdom782]

Wdym?

[@Dragonsworn864]

One guy hitting every wall

[@natk8541]

Excellent and relaxing listen. I was worried for a second but then you guys agreed on the basic and proveable facts regarding the Greattree. I find people who can't grasp Greattree lore to be very frustrating. I can't wait for the DLC to set them straight tbh. You've got a new regular listener for sure.

[@edhart8583]

So the frenzy flame ending, Melina's purple eye may indicate she is Saint Trina. She puts you to sleep when she burns the erdtree.

[@unuseableb]

Interesting note for the Maliketh discussion from 24mins-ish onward: The black and gold armor Maliketh wears shares the colors of the knights we saw in the first DLC trailer. Maybe there will be some insight on how the Empyreans shadows come to be, as both we know of are rather unique creatures.

[@oakatron]

good catch!

[@craignaylor2648]

2 of my favorite Elden ring and souls creators in one this is lit af

[@Raul_Ghost]

I'd like to point out, in regards of Márika's true intentions, that the armor of Gideon says he saw a part of her will and truly feared it, to the extreme of considering that such goal must not be fulfilled. How this links with the story trailer exactly I'm not so sure of it, not knowing what is her ulterior motive difficults the process of unrevealing the full scope of the lore.

[@orpheus3477]

That's a very important point. I've not heard anyone mention Gideon about this so far.

[@danielradcliffe9256]

Bro the final 5 minutes of this pod Zio dropped some amazing questions that have me ZOOTED FOR DLC COME ON JUNE 21

[@lordloss5464]

Don't know what it is but the hairy jumping spider being called big boy had me rolling. Great podcast as always

[@Lazenzzz]

I'm super excited for seeing what the martial arts weapon is gonna play like personally

[@ishi...]

56:37 the BENINGING mentioned in the story trailer might just be the beginning of the current era, and in the previous, the lands between and the land of shadow were one, with one tree, but then marika separated the lands and a new era began

[@SugarRayD]

I have a theory. I don't know if it could be true though. What if what we see in the beginning of the trailer was the creation of the lands between? The first lines are "Miquella the kind spoke of the beginning" and for Miquella, his beginning would be the creation of the lands between. His initial home. "The seduction, and the betrayal", that may refer to the seduction of power. The power of being a "god in truth" as the finger reader says. And the betrayal part may be how she acquired such power. It also might be how she betrayed the "shadowlands" by leaving it behind by creating a new new land/order entirely. "An affair from which gold arose" may be directly stating just what happened. The creation of the golden order which creates the elden beast, which then creates the lands between. "And so too was shadow born" is referring to not the creation, but the redefining nature of the creation of the golden order/lands between themselves. Deeming the place that we see now as the "shadowlands", a shadow of the golden order. For a shadow is behind oneself when facing the light, and Marika is leaving these lands behind her. And then the final shot before the next scene. It's quite literally a new land being created (acording to the theory) between thoes... flesh pillars? I don't know what thoes are. Irregardless, the imagery says "the lands between" to me.

[@brandonman1315]

No, the lands between predate Marika and all the current gods.

[@SugarRayD]

​@@brandonman1315yeah, my bad. Then my next guess would be that at one point, both the lands were together as one. Then we see Marika create the Golden Order in the trailer. And sometime after that for whatever reason, Marika herself, or with the help of others put a vail over the dlc land mass like some giant evergaol deeming it the "shadowlands".

[@Preston241]

One of my favourite podcasting channels. Would like to see you do more!

[@roberto9270]

I think Miquella's story will be about sacrifice, "the ends justify the means". He is going to do some crazy shit

[@SassyTheSasquatch96]

I like to spend 300 hours smashing my sword against every rock, wall and tree. Leaving no stone unturned, every secret must be found.

[@Cragdor47]

I remember missing so much stuff in my 1st Dark Souls playthrough! Unfinished quests, missing the Great Hollow and Ash Lake. Going in blind and missing stuff the first time is okay! It makes your 2nd playthrough 1000x better!!!

[@Waymanrules]

As a landscaper what the "two" erd trees remind me of is en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing it can often cause a tree to grow back with a split trunk, but it could also just as easily be a Woody vine like the Chinese Wisteria, these often grow in a spiral around an existing tree and eventually kill it by overtaking it's canopy.

[@lordofchaosinc.261]

So some more thoughts. The track at the end seems to contain the words "ave marika" so maybe not Miquella's boss theme. I also don't think we fight him as he/she's not a fighter. There's also that theory that the NPC from the screenshot aka the narrator is straight up Miquella. The garment is radiant enough. It's crazy that we have all this information and the community finds a base for the wildest speculations, the mushroom theory, the Miquella is Torrent theory, love it. With the PvP I fear it's niche and casuals don't like it. Every streamer plays offline "because hackers" but actually they just don't like PvP.

[@honest-p9893]

Great guys, can't wait for the podcast for reviewing the DLC

[@simonealcazar816]

Btw why do people think a good Fromsoft character is strange? Have people just forgotten about Artorias? Hawkeye Gough? Sif? Ivory King? Alsanna? Gael? Loretta? Rennala(idk if I would say good? However she doesn’t seem to have done anything bad and where only place that treated Trolls with respect), Loretta, etc. Like I can go on, I understand…to some degree of being cautious about Miquella but given all that we know. It doesn’t really make much sense as to why he would just heel turn into a Griffith character for no good reason. Griffith was ALWAYS a horrible and selfish person. It’s the people around him that made him not be pushed to the edge. However also was out for his self centered dream the question was if he really would go through with it. Just making Miquella some evil mind controlling psycho would need a really strong reason into this change. Story Twists is an act of equivalent exchange: You take something from the audience for someone equally as interesting. Miquella turning without a REALLY good reason would just be poor writing. Twist for twist sake is not good.

[@6Theories]

I don't think anyone's said there are no morally good characters in Fromsoft games? As for Griffith vs Miquella; Griffith was always a horrible and selfish person but, as I recall, he was perceived as good by the people around him. And to many (myself included) the situation with Miquella *seems* to be the same. There are many people (within the game) that perceive Miquella as good, but there are just as many references that imply a somewhat sinister undertone to the affections he foster. We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out in the DLC though.

[@BrandonKG]

@@6Theories People need to stop forcing the griffith comparisons, it's annoying and they most likely won't be similar.

[@6Theories]

@@BrandonKG What exactly was "forced" in the comparison I made?

[@wowitsfrostygames155]

@@6Theoriesnah the comparison is fine berserk fans are just needlessly butt hurt over elden ring fans making the comparison for some reason. The comparison makes complete sense. Whether it’ll be true or not is anyone’s guess, but to say Miyazaki isn’t consciously giving us details to make the comparison is foolish. It’s obvious Miyazaki expects us to make the comparison. Which again doesent mean we ARE right, but at minimum it’s a red herring, and at most Miquella will just do a 1 to 2 Griffith. 😊

[@dj-2k276]

The last 10 minutes was huge lore bomb

[@frankiefromky]

45:54 the quote is the opening line of the first trailer "Pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the heart's of men. There is nothing more terrifying." and when I first heard it, I got chills... my understanding is 'shrive clean' means cut or sever clean. Miquella uses love as a weapon and once you're under his spell, there's NO turning back... no way to undo it. It makes me think of Miquella's needle and how it allows you to forsake an outer god you sworn allegiance to (thru singing your skin via 3 fingers), so that you can serve Miquella. There is no bond that can withstand his power. Miquella is the most fearsome empyrean, after all...

[@cynreiusacari3163]

I’m waiting for the compulsion to be nothing more than baby schema or smol=cute and must protect to be the reason. 😂

[@Robot_Eva]

Well he's very good at it because he's my favorite character in the game

[@AntiAntBeats]

Ive been waiting for a podcast to drop lol 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@cjh.1920]

The spider situation sent me the longer he was afk. I’m dead.

[@quincykunz3481]

Clearly elden lore-folks are desperate to finish the puzzle, so they keep jamming the last couple pieces together that don't fit elsewhere. Ranni is marika is melina is miquella is trina is gloam-eyed queen is godefroy.

[@simonealcazar816]

No people are just making dumb theories ignoring multiple things in the game. It’s just the same thing they have always did since DaS1.

[@simonealcazar816]

It’s not unique to ER. Solaire is Gwyn’s son, Velka is Prisalla’s mother, etc

[@dippking4638]

Its getting really ridiculous,especially when people start dismissing timelines,which are a key part of trying to piece togheter things. Alot of the recent weird theories i keep seeing dont fit in the timeline that we know is stable except for a few secrets but thats up to the players interpretation. Anyway they are really stupid and dont fit in the lore or timeline at all.

[@FSVR54]

@@dippking4638 this x 1000. A lot of people just disregard timelines for no apparent reason

[@lukaspumo3498]

Why is this a problem? Isnt retrospection and critical thinking part of the human experience? Why are you mad lmao

[@andrewkraft2586]

Zio - “looking back I felt like an idiot” Rata- “right”

[@amirhossein1817]

35:00 I watched both your videos and it gave me the impression that malikath is talking about the act of putting godwyn on the tree. It makes sense also because he has a thing for death roots.

[@Family.guy.creepy]

The duality of the face artwork is eerie. Great chat. Can't wait for the dlc.

[@DanielGarcia-rx3kt]

Just watch and learn the covered eye is *also* a sealed eye 😂

[@DreamskyDance]

2:40 - i wish YOuTube had a system where you can blacklist content by tags for a certain amount of time, for example to blacklist "Elden Ring" and "gaming" tags for a month after dlc release, until you are done with it. XD i still remember the thumbnails of you tube recommendations with Radagon and Elden Beast side by side with "you wont believe the final boss of elden ring" a bit around 24 hours since it released. A week or two after i saw a "Radagon is Marika" thumbnail.. :P

[@connorkenney6938]

Yes!!!!!!! Man I just can not wait for this dlc. Looking forward to listening to this pod.

[@connorkenney6938]

One of my theories is the the big subduction and betrayal is will be between Marika and the golden order, which is Marika’s main motivation for ending the golden order.

[@cornthdl]

First opportunity I get to take that Knight’s gear, I’m taking it.

[@mitchellradspinner4491]

The other interpretation of the jp translation is that her plan to return the tarnished and our eventually unleashing of the rune of death is how she failed her purpose for him. We can’t see the remembrance until after we unleash it.

[@shogomakishima7224]

I think that the omen purge didn't happen right after Marika became the god. First war that happened was the war with the giants. That is because the giant wickerman has a giants head attached to its waist. I also believe that Mesmer commands the giant's flame and he could have only obtained access to it after the giants were defeated and Marika forces gained access to the Forge Of The Giants. Perhaps the whole purpose of the war with the giants was just to obtain the flame so that Marika could burn the crucible tree?

[@DanielGarcia-rx3kt]

I could see that scene with golden strands being the summoning of the Elden Beast. That's probably when the golden meteorite was shot from the Sun, flew through the summit of the Isolated Divine Tower (accessed by defeating Malenia and shows damage to the 8 pillars at the top showing a line of damage), and hitting where modern-day Farum Azula floats in-game making it an area where the Sun never sleeps.

[@moonrabbit2334]

The picture is instantly my wallpaper now

[@spacecowboy7193]

Crucible refers to a contentious time when many factions are vying for power. The crucible era is probably a time where there were many trees all vying to live, and the erd tree era is probably the time in which the erd tree won out. Although it might just be a metaphor and there weren’t many trees, just many factions vying for power. But either way, the statue of the old guy with a bunch of trees probably represents the crucible.

[@kanekitchen]

Love the creator crossover. Really enjoy both of y’all’s videos

[@Jalmerk]

Do we know how much of the original text was written in japanese? People refer to translation errors a lot but considering a large part of the history was written by GRRM I wonder how confidently we can refer to translation issues when discussing lore

[@drier_cola]

My theory when it comes to the timeline of the war in the shadowland is that it takes way after Marika became a god, because Messmer is very visibly young juxtaposed to the Rykard, Radahn, and Morgott who are visibly aged in comparison, though maybe Messmer is immortal or something. Not to mention I think Godfrey would very much not be a fan that Marika is potentially destroying the culture he hailed from being the Crucible, and the war probably happened after Godfrey was banished. Which to me means that the Crucible and Omen gave Marika a reason for them being destroyed, and something Quelag said on her channel, is that the potential reason why is because the omen wanted to burn the Erdtree when it stopped producing sap, so that’s it’s ashes can be used to fertilize a new tree as the cycle goes. The main evidence with this are the omen in the first dlc trailer who carry candles that resemble a tree in flames. Perhaps the omen themselves were the first to burn the Erdtree as said was “the first cardinal sin” and Marika sent Messmer to slaughter them.

[@Metachemist85]

For consideration, Marika realized the Greater Will would eventually replace her. Her plan with the shattering was to set up the emperyons to die so she couldn't be replaced. The Elden beast shows up to stop the tarnished from fulfilling Marikas plan

[@TheSergio1021]

The sleep arrow description talks about how Miquella's followers use the arrows to bestow his "teachings"

[@kimlee6643]

That damn Miquellan Knight art dude...

[@pgh3316]

IF (probably not) they add covenants, I think it would make sense to have the Miquella bossfight (if there is one) be like the mirror knight or spears of the church, some kind of "miquellan knights" covenant. Ofc I wanted covenants for every demigod and there's plenty enough room and reasons for them, but I doubt it'll happen

[@godly_potatoe69xd19]

Honestly if there was just a convenant for miquella it could actually make sense seeing it’s possible you could either choose to help or fight miquella

[@chesuriel1138]

I've had this theory for awhile in that Marika planned the whole thing due to her realizing godhood wasn't what she thought it was. So she wanted to free herself from it but knew she couldn't so she had all these kids and saw that maybe Ranni could be the one to reach towards the stars to get to the The Greater Will and I guess in turn free Marika of her godhood. But Marika knew all the sacrifices she needed to make, like Godwyns death and the battles that would unfold after shattering the Elden Ring.

[@Anublet90]

"Oh no, it's a jumping spider!" Second phase kicking in.

[@NocnaGlizda]

46:50 - This can be combined. The music does not indicate that Miquella is bad. If through music alone we can analyze the character. Why would we fight someone "good"? Shouldn't the music be less joyful, innocent if we are to kill Miquella? I would like to remind you of one thing. We murdered his sister whom he loved more than anything. That's enough to make someone's ass the autumn of the Middle Ages. That's a funny saying from Poland about doing great harm to someone. I just realized that Malenia is not required to complete the game after all and so she "plot-wise" can live when we meet Miquella. ---------------- My two favorite scenes from this trailer are the kneeling figure whose cape is on fire. And the music that complements the fallen civilization theme is amazing. The second scene is that moment when we see Miquella in the background and presumably his musical theme begins to resonate. Despite the fact that they talk about the rejection of everything or so it would seem and someone who has lost everything and is weak, the music completely does not indicate that it weakens him, quite the opposite! It's interesting that both of these scenes are the opposite. The first scene shows despair and collapse and the second scene also shows loss but is uplifting, heroic. I love listening to podcasts and especially your two. It has been a pleasure.

[@kristofferkjeldsen6268]

The tarnished has killed a lot... a lot of people in the lands between, demigods, dragons, and lords, we have a shitton of runes on our head. Im suspecting there is not a lot of humans left in the shadowlands, and by Marikas design no one can enter there easily. Im suspecting Miquella need the Tarnished for a great sacrifice to sustain or halt that tree for some reason.

[@gainsofglory6414]

Not enough people are talking about how that new sword shares that unique shape of the sacred relicd sword and finger slayer blade. And we already know that shape is significant and intentional, it shows the connection of the latter two already.

[@randywilliams6248]

The marketing machine is totally ramping up and I gotta say, they're doing a damn good job! Drip feeding up until release, whoever is in charge of that department deserves a medal because they're just as good as any other part of the team

[@Zach-qo1on]

yeah the fire giant head being on the wicker men kinda throws everything in chaos for lore theory. A simple theory I thought of is to think that the fire giants have always been hostile to the Crucible and Golden order fractions, and they just been skirmishing here and there for ages until Marika decided to genocide them. Waited until she got more power and realized how much of threat they are to the still growing Erdtree.

[@ShadowProject01]

On the Fingers. I think when an Empyrean is born a Two Fingers comes into being. Ranni stated she, Mequella and Malenia were all born Empyrean and given their own Two Fingers. So i do think the Fingers were present even before the Erdtree was born. Two of them specifically; Marika’s and the Gloam Eyed Queen’s. I think they are directly created by the Greater Will itself.

[@IamTheSnowman4]

Oh right, I completely forgot about weapons. Here I was thinking I only wanted talismans and armor to improve my build. Back when ashes of ariandel came out I found a weapon that was better than my go to and still felt good. I only ever play 1 build and so maybe the dlc will have a weapon that will outclass my weapons.

[@TrueUIQuan]

The birthing imagery I think is Marika reaching into the “meteor” that delivers the Elden beast, and becoming “one with it” via golden tendrils. The meteor’s material form could be the same fleshy material as the fingers. Edit: Zio’s theory at 42:00 sounds compelling too

[@exquisitedoomlapointe185]

By the way, to be an empyrean, you must be born from a God. Marika and the GEQ were both empyrean. They were both born from a God. Who is that God? Is it the same one? Hopefully that line of questioning gets resolved.

[@apolloisnotashirt]

My assumptions are that Miquella found something that is located in The Shadowlands answers to a lot of his problems as well as maybe accidentally stepping onto some of Marika's past. I assume after he's done with whatever he not only has the powers of purification but also revival so us killing Malenia may not even that big of a problem for him.

[@cjh.1920]

I feel like one of the only pro Miquella folks. Easily the most interesting character imo.

[@wyguy1712]

As someone who's played Destiny 2 since Forsaken I thought it was kinda cool to learn Zio played Destiny as well. I thought he was a Elden Ring/Souls content creator only. Btw Zio if you see this Final Shape didnt change much. The campaign was good, on par with the Witch Queen, and prismatic is kinda fun but once you do that and the raid it's back to the same old shit.

[@vikturr953]

always enjoy watching these, would love to see kosmos on an episode someday!

[@kevinsingh2815]

Marika discovered the Greater Will, till then the crucible was a set of different orders coalesced around the idea of Crucible evolution. Marika came to understand there was a Greater Will and discovered constituent parts could be formed to create order. With this new found order, the previous iteration was seen as barbaric and even inferior. Marika also learnt that Greater Will was indifferent... TBC Miquella mastered this differentiation between intelligence and faith, arcane (shadow) and light, ie. the notations of order. He could control individual aspects or amalgamate these notions of order. If you think about it Marika is Miquella

[@5N3K93]

I’ve been following the KZbinr “It’s Shatter” 100% of all missable content walkthrough. Done it on a couple characters but I agree the first playthrough should be blind. I’m in the mountaintops of the giants rn on my DLC character just getting 100% of all lands between content. I’ve been on medical leave from work since last year and will continue to be due to a bad motorcycle wreck so I’ve put over 1.5k hours in and prob going to put another 1.5k in after DLC.

[@andresperrle7984]

"The opposite of good is well-intentioned" - maybe this applies miquella as well. Miquella tries to do a lot of good stuff. He created the golden order, he created the unalloyed gold to help malenia against the rot, he gave refugee to outcasts (the albinauric). And he supposedly 'kindly' sacrificed basically himself to help the people in the shadow realm(?). But this is also his curse. The golden ordered made many outcasts, including his sister and the people believing in analoid gold. The albinaurics are murdered and tortured, because they want to protect him/he his their only hope now. Same goes for malenia, he is now fully dependent on him. But he left them, presumably because there are even more people he has to help elsewhere. At the end his soldiers are so devoted to him, because he is pure and good, but everthing he touched ultimately failed...

[@mfgrobin9657]

Interviews are strucured with purpose . its a script more so then a natural interaction if job ,tv show, movie ,or in this case game creator. There is also usually notions of politeness or pre emptive terms agreed on like dont ask that or that . i even would say chances are that miyazaki would not know it necessarly but rather the Agents or Section of people who manage these subjects. All in all , a lot of things could be the reason they dont ask better questions including being dumb or ignorant or willfully un-inquisitive.

[@TheoJay615]

I think there will be a Miquella boss fight but it probably won't be to stop him from doing something evil or going crazy. I hope it will be like Alexander's fight. He realizes that you want a challenge and he fights you out of respect as the end game super boss. If you beat him, he gives you his rune. It would be really cool if you could challenge him again or if it unlocks a boss rush mode.

[@feircy]

Never thought I would hear these two talking about destint lol. Lightfall cmpaign was awful but strand was a win. The past year has been good gameplay wise. The new stuff for this year is looking nuts

[@smorebob2418]

20:20 i’m sorry but this had me cackling lmao. The same guy who made the video about the anti-natalist philosophy of the frenzied flame just going “holy shit that is a giGANTIC spider”

[@MissAlice_646]

Nobody’s going home until Rata gets his Gloam eyed Queen

[@fastenedcarrot9570]

An interesting thing about the Confessors is that while they are stated to serve the Two Fingers they will use heretical incantations, or at least ones that Corryn considers heretical. The class starts with Assassin's Approach which is from a book that Corryn deems to be heretical. I wonder if they are loyal to the Two Fingers and/or Greater Will but predate the Golden Order and so have rather differing views on what is and isn't heretical.

[@thedarkknight221]

Does anybody think it's possible that radagon is not messmer's father, but that it's the other way around. It would explain why radagon does not like his hair, and it's not crazy to have incest in GGRM lore.

[@havanaradio]

The fingers are weird little special sprouts of the erdtree that are used to communicate the elden lords'/elden beast's commands to the denizens of the lands between, and how they communicate with the greater will (the cosmic being that sent the EB meteor) - they are antennas in that sense.

[@MikeyT2255]

30:49 about the Deep Root Depths, I always thought it was wired that the biggest tree down there is right next to the Erdtree, maybe it’s vailed and thats the tree wrapped around the erdtree or vice versa in the dlc trailer

[@aregeninotenshi6484]

Zio only has 550 and makes all this content?!? I have 1800 hours 😭 Also, saw something new today; Was near the FrenzyFlame Village and grabbed an item on a corpse in a chair and had like 15 wraith callers pop out of the ground. Never had so many wraiths chasing me even in the lake.

[@robnewhouse5995]

Nothing to say everything in the story trailer happens in the same time frame - Marika becomes a god and establishes the Erdtree first, but later during the conquest of the lands between there's a war upstairs waged by godfrey and later radagon, and a war downstairs waged by Messmer. We might have to slot the events and various time periods in the land of shadow in between the events we already know.

[@alephnole7009]

I remember my reaction to the Lyndell, & farm azula teleports early game and just going WHAT????? IM WHERE???? as well as seeing the underground map for the first time anf having the revelation of OH GOD THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING. hope we get some of that again. Helping somebody playing through blind rn and their reactions where the same. Just mind melting size.

[@fdevaa]

I'm not ready for this, I'm not ready for what's gonna happen. Fuck, why did they have to post such a beatiful picture lol

[@remissalpaca1072]

I love this podcast so much i wish it was weekly❤

[@hellogoodbye3786]

It seems the embroidery of this Knight's garments looks extremely similar to the Nox Swordstress Armor

[@eldenringpvpenthusiast1710]

Did they patch maces to do more poise damage recently? I was fighting Radagon with a morning star and kept staggering him over and over with wild strikes, he usually is the hard part of the fight for me, but that time I beat him up. lol

[@RaiderXero]

I think the overall theme of the dlc is going to go something like this. In the beginning was chaos/the crucible. It was then split in two, the gold and the shadow. The shadow was contained and sealed in the land of Shadow and everyone pretends that there is only gold. This created prejudice toward anything not golden. Miquella is the embodiment of this duality, the golden child and the shadow St Trina. He hates the suffering caused by this duality so he casts it all away. He wants to join the shadow and the gold once again to end the suffering, that's why he came to the land of Shadow. Last boss is probably true miquella, a union of both halves. Griffith moment definitely incoming.

[@johnathonsnape-mclean3457]

My thought is also that messmer is the son of radagon and the gloom eyed queen? The marika scene makes me think they maybe destroyed the crucible tree during the godskin hunt?

[@pangelsaya]

I just had a realization while watching this and listening to Rata talk about Radagon being birthed by Marika incorporating the Fell God in to her. What if, Melina aka Gloam-Eyed queen is born at the birth of the Erdtree, literally in the story trailer with the gloam in the sky she is born. This lines up with her dialogue about being born at the foot of the erdtree and Marika also being a sort of mother. Timeline wise it makes sense in some tellings. While the Erdtree grows Melina acts as Destined Death and when Marika is finished with her, seals it away and instead gives that job to the Erdtree.

[@epiccthulu]

Miquella is the eldest son. He gave up his flesh and that means his flesh is forever young. This is why his hair is GOLD. Mesmer and Melania are twins. Mesmer has red hair and would have been born with an outsider’s influence since Miquella is unalloyed gold

[@CoperliteConsumer]

5:50 I did that with ds3, but when elden ring came i went in blind other than a quick look up of what the starter classes represented and what stats were about. Other than that i just explored and it was glorious

[@minerman60101]

I don't think it's the bottom of the Elden Ring being shown at the start of the trailer, but the top: Marika's rune of life, as depicted on her scarseal, with her body being the vertical line of that rune. The bottom of the Elden Ring is where its blessings pool, so it makes sense that that would be the last part of it, formed after all of the other great runes exist

[@CosmicPotato]

I was hoping you two would do another podcast after the new trailer dropped 🙂

[@nathanchambers1639]

This war doesn't necessarily have to come before or after the war with the fire giants. Perhaps while Godfrey and his Crucible Knights are away fighting, Messmer stages a coup to wipe out the previous Crucible order

[@TheMk114]

Could it be that the shadow war happened because Queen Marika banished Godfrey? Godfrey could be from the Shadowlands, and the inhabitants there were content while he was Elden Lord, and then they rebelled when he and the tarnished was banished?

[@aidancuite6919]

I think marika became disillusioned with the golden order as time passed, omen births happened and the blessings of the tree slowed. There is the line where melina says "In Marika's own words. I declare mine intent, to search the depths of the Golden Order. Through understanding of the proper way, our faith, our grace, is increased. Those blissful early days of blind belief are long past. My comrades; why must ye falter?". I think she to some extent was following the bidding of the greater will, and as time passes realizes everything may not have been as she was lead to believe.

[@nicholashaywood7949]

My personal theory with Marika being the GEQ is that she did the god skin hunt. Then after she became the god had Maliketh seal destined death so no one could repeat her