Millicent and The Pope Of Pests - Elden Ring

#eldenring #lore #fromsoftware
a rambly video where i go over the lore of millicent and gowrys relationship as well as the cult of pests known as the servants of rot, i probably repeat myself a few times but its fun

[@StarmenRock]

sound goes wonky at 13:52

[@TheHonoredMadman]

Fuck ima have to fix that. Thanks chief

[@StarmenRock]

@@TheHonoredMadman beyond that the video is fantastic, you nailed it as always

[@GrieveIV]

So when Malenia says “I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella”, that’s her most core memory of her identity. If the daughters are other scattered lost memories in clone bodies, and Malenia isn’t doing anything, maybe it’s not out of a choice. Maybe she doesn’t know anything else, other than to reside in the roots of the Haligtree with Miquella as his blade.

[@TheHonoredMadman]

That makes alot of fucking sense i like it

[@glorytoukraine5524]

Probably why one of Millicent's sisters is trying to kill O'Neil. If it was Gowry's device, they would all go and kill him, to ensure Millicent gets the needle. However, what if it's because, in Polyanna, there is a memory that tells her she needs the needle to stave off the rot?

[@nnnnnnnnn8888]

You so close but those are malenias lost traits or personalities Millicent says something about wanting to give malenia back the “pride” that she abandoned during her war with radhan . And if you want to go crazy there is a theory by quelaag about the five aspects of shen and the three flowers that explain malenia and the rot bloom.

[@xXLunatikxXlul]

@@nnnnnnnnn8888 true.

[@alastor8091]

​@@nnnnnnnnn8888so if we send Milli back but throw the other ones in the trash we could get a cute upbeat Malenia gf?

[@TheBigHatLegion]

My favorite part was when Millicent showed up and said "It's Millin' time", and then just stood around.

[@thebeardedmugiwara]

My favorite part of this joke is when it died

[@Rich_P_Anya]

This fanbase truly has the worst sense of humor.

[@BeefHammer1]

...

[@finlay9616]

​@@thebeardedmugiwaraso glad you could be a salty bish for literally no reason lol. Don't like the joke, don't laugh. It's not like it's offensive bro. Just chill out and maybe touch grass

[@KATinBLACK]

@@thebeardedmugiwara I always laugh at her last line: “finally, I am Milli-rockin’”

[@craig-machine8137]

Millicent is definitely one of the most tragic characters in Elden Ring. Not being able to save her was one of the saddest moments in the game for me.

[@TheHonoredMadman]

Bums me out every time

[@Tokito935]

Fromsoft moment

[@cgzepp]

I try to think that allowing her to go on her own terms and after fulfilling her goal is a good way to go

[@global-sequence]

Madman, you might be the only person who hates when you ramble ha. The rambling is the cherry on top.

[@MrPuddle30]

I come here for the ramble, that’s what makes these legit lol that outro 🔥

[@LoganardoDVinci]

Elden Ring lore, Aquatic Ambience, AND Twin Peaks terminology?!? Marry me! (Also, subbed.)

[@notnt3401]

I suggest taking a look at the story/poem "The Insect God" by Edward Gorey(!) if interested in the inspiration for this quest. A young girl named Millicent is lured by insectoid creatures to be sacrificed to their god.

[@minespatch]

Did not expect to see you talk about Garris! Neat! 6:54 the Elden Ring manga implies that the invasion was her dream that we woke her from. I missed her invasion in ng so I never got the implication until the manga.

[@TheHonoredMadman]

That makes alot of sense. Shes sleep invading

[@oup6009]

Oh the Eldritch Rot God was sealed a MELANIA ago you say?!?!!?

[@brianbrianbification]

You are my favorite souls channel out

[@captainlovebug]

YES LETS GO! I love your channel and style so much. I'm so happy folks like you and onlywaifu are getting traction. You guys are such a a breath of fresh air I love it.

[@GenDrake3]

I like how vaatividya has cinematic videos with large amounts of editing while you just have what feels likebone giant run on sentence😂

[@OG_McLovin]

I fucking love the laid-back presentation style. The dry jokes are great too

[@nickbooze9766]

Hope you know that everytime the bell rings for your channel I smile like a fuckin' idiot.

[@Kid_Naps]

when i played the ER for the first time, I thought she was Malenia who lost her memory. When I eventually met Malenia I was like "Heey love to see you again, do you remember how I helped you ..." *waterfowl dance onto my skull*

[@aquazamm4926]

Hopefully shadow of the erdtree drops soon so we can get the year of the madman. Excited to get into this one especially after starting a new playthrough. Good to have a madman video in my feed again.

[@lunar2328]

Thats funny. I just came off a long Elden Ring hiatus, so naturally I'm working on my backlog of lore vids. And I added a bunch of your vids to my "watch later" and you uploaded this right after 😁

[@exiledark6573]

Love your content man. Keep it up.

[@alastor8091]

Every time you call Millicent a "Bud", I imagine taking Malenia's new sprouted flower, grinding it up, and packing it into a bowl. Ise Ghost Flame for an icy chill, Frenzied Flame for a tangy peppery hit, Giants Flame for a taste similar to a savory chili dish.

[@theemerdareloth]

Been really enjoying the channel! I did want to mention that Malenia doesn't leave the Aeonia of her own free will. She passes out after her bloom and is carried back to the Haligtree by that one Cleanrot Knight. Without the needle in her to stave off the rot, she's been recuperating at the base of the Haligtree basically since the bloom. This is why Mohg was able to steal Miquella, because Malenia was knocked the fuck out. But, I think it is safe to say that Malenia wants nothing to do with the Scarlet Rot or its followers.

[@nutherefurlong]

Yeah, this is compelling stuff, enjoyed your coverage. I made sure to follow her quest as best I could, had to, you know, look up a few things to make sure I didn't mess it up. Heartbreaking, though not the only heartbreaking story in Elden RIng. They really upped their NPC game in this one

[@alex_pearl]

You had me at the Twin Peaks music. 🖤🤍🖤🤍

[@alyseleem2692]

Great to have you back! I have only one note: I don't think Milicent or any of her sisters were intended to replace Malenia. If that were the whole story, then they've already succeeded; as you noted, one of them has bloomed right outside Malenia's boss room. Mission accomplished. So why do they need Milicent to bloom? Did the other one somehow fail? And what about Malenia being killed by us? Well, you remember who else blooms? Malenia. Even after all your efforts to kill her, Malenia will heal inside that flower and be reborn. Again. And again. And again. And there is nothing you or I can do about it. It's why the last Rot God, the one from which the Scorpion Stinger was made, had to be sealed off; there was really no other way to deal with it. That still leaves the question: What the ### does Gowry think he's doing? "According to pagan belief, white-winged maidens are said to be Death's gentle envoys. " One of the sisters wields this, if I remember correctly; it's a strange thing to recall. Even if they don't, it still reminds me of their situation quite a bit. See, the sisters aren't meant to become gods. They're angels. Or rather, " valkyries". _ There is something one should note: No Empyrean is free. As long as one possesses their own Empyrean flesh, they will never be freed from their fate as Empyreans. We know this from Ranni's story, and the lengths she went to just to be seemingly " free" of it. And even then, she is still under the power of the Dark Moon, so I doubt she succeeded that much. But anyway, this is important because Malenia, regardless of her abandonment of the Kindred, regardless of her refusal of that fact, is STILL meant to become the Goddess Of Rot. Her input is not part of the equation, and the Rot god has clearly not moved on, if what you experienced as her second phase happened. No. The sisters are pivotal to the Age Of Rot because each of them serves as a divine " emanation" of Malenia herself. They will be her scarlet valkyries; her messengers. Each of them already embodied an aspect she'd lost of herself; in the new Age Of Rot, they will come to embody Her will. Or rather, the will of the Goddess. For what Malenia was and what Malenia will become are two very different things. As such, I do think that, in his own twisted way, Gowry is truly mourning Milicent, as there is in fact something to grieve; Unlike her sisters( who are likely still alive, as they were just invading as phantoms, presumably ), she will never be reborn. She will never come back. This is likely why Milicent's sisters were so ready for the plan; the only other option, as you can see, is letting herself die to the Rot and never live again. They're not going to let her do that, are they?

[@808nzaro]

so... malenia.... will be back😮

[@TheHonoredMadman]

Always got the best comments, but youre right and i think i started to realize that as i was making this that gowry might not be entirely sure what exactly hes doing because if you go his route, millicent and the unnamed aister that made it almost to malenias boss room ahould rise as scarlet valkyries but that could just be because millicent hasnt blossomed three times yet

[@alyseleem2692]

@@TheHonoredMadman You're right. There could be stages to the process. And thank you!

[@TheHonoredMadman]

Theyre meant to become here divine attendant or perhaps something else. Presumably malenia blooming 3 times would change her into something like one of the god hand from berserk and for millicent and the scarlet valkyries i dont think theyre gonna possess any of their old identities in there new ascended for. Same with malenia herself when she becomes full goddess

[@alyseleem2692]

@@808nzaro Most likely, yes. Miyazaki has high hopes for us; that we continue to struggle. Unto eternity.

[@topcat59]

Honestly it makes me wonder if Commander O’Neil was planning on using that needle to cure Radahn of the rot that flows through his veins.🐱

[@HeyGuy4321]

He's a part of Malenia's army.

[@alyseleem2692]

@@HeyGuy4321Maybe. Still, look at his flag; doesn't look Haligtree to me.

[@ramoraid]

@@alyseleem2692 He is part of Miquella/ Malenia army commanders like the commander in sol castle.

[@alyseleem2692]

@@ramoraid Yeah... That's a bit of an assumption, though. The commander in Sol had an army that was" of no nation". He's the exception; not the rule. He's there because he's genuinely interested in Miquella's cause, but technically has no allegiance. Is the same true of the guy down in Caelid? Does he no longer serve anyone? Then, who is he standing in the Aeonia for?

[@ramoraid]

@@alyseleem2692 I don't think so, we know that since commander niall holds part of the medallion to haligtree than he must have been an entrusted individual by miquela and millenia. Miquella made the unalloyed needle and several other items with that material for him Oneil to hold it than he must have had knowledge of it existance and that malenia removed that needle. It points more towards that both commanders were part of miquella/ malenia army in some way maybe mercenaries since that what oneil summons.

[@markperry4478]

Gangstar reference top tier

[@psevdhome]

I like Tarnished Archeologist's theory that Millicent and her sisters are buds of the great flower that bloomed out of Caelid. It assumes his theory that all people born of the Erdtree are born of it and Millicent's sisters are born of the flower in Caelid. The tragedy of choosing whether to betray her to bring about her true power, or save her so she can choose to die is an excellent dilemma. I would choose letting her go out on her own terms because I think letting people choose their own way rather than forcing them to act "for the greater good" is the more interesting and satisfying solution. I think the whole theme of Gods and Fingers manipulating men to get their way is such a sad state of affairs. Following this, I think Gowry might be to the rot god what the fingers are to the Greater Will, He is that god's agent and tries to manipulate events to play out in the direction that the rot god wants. It seems to me that if you kill him, that rot body is left over, which means that whatever Gowry is now, is not actuall at that hut. He is sort of puppeting the kindred from afar to appear, he's an entity that has ascended past the need for a body. The numerous bodies of the two fingers suggest to me a similar relationship: they are only the puppet of whatever will inhabits them, they are "finger puppets". It might even just be the greater will pretending to be this sage that knows magic and teaches the lessons of the greater will, but it's just the greater will using these fingerpuppets to get around. Anyway, whatever the fingers are, their body is made of wood. Whether Marika or another entity, the fingers are just puppets to the entity that controls them. Similarly the three fingers is an obvious fake and doesn't actually do anyhing, it just burns away and doesn't pretend to be a sage. I think the two fingers is the same, except it went too far with the scherade of being a finger puppet and now it can't drop the act. I think the three fingers is a parody on the two, saying you need us to make five fingers, i.e. an actual useful hand.

[@cjsdizzy]

Ive actually been binging youre lore videos while i smoke and play this new character lol love your shit dude 🤘

[@cross-eyedhollow]

Fuck yeah more Honored Madman and it's on a sick topic! WOOOOOOOOOO

[@Qu33phTMManiaXMrEnvy]

I had no clue that’s how you started. That’s pretty cool man!

[@zosozoso6760]

Really enjoyable video! Thanks for all the lore.

[@michaelosborne3113]

Great as always, my guy!

[@willkropp97]

Very thoughtful analysis as usual madman

[@Coast2CoastFlyin]

So there was a late-development change to the game, for reasons unknown. From what I can tell, these changes have all been for the worse vs what we could have had, often leaving bits of lackluster quests or interactions. Like, swapping the Kale quest out for Hyetta, while keeping the lore about the merchants, stands out in my mind as a bad choice. Inexplicable golden Mohg illusion is another. One of these changes was a big one, and it was to Millicent and Melania. Originally, Millicent WAS Melania, just suffering amnesia. Upon helping her return to the Haligtree and replace her lost prosthesis and needle, she remembers who she is. Which is when she uses some of her cut dialogue about the "dear tarnished," and adds a ton of emotional impact and that classic From tragedy to Malenia in a way we as a player would feel, and also stops Millicent from playing the Padme card. Also, for the quest we got in game, Gowry says Millicent NEEDS to experience the heartbreak of betrayal from one she absolutely trusted in. Its apparently a key ingredient in creating a true Valkyrie. Its very confusing, the original idea was a much cleaner story. Oh, also, her fight was somehow WAYY crazier, with her pre-bloom phase actually being a 2 phase fight, in addition to a much more aggressive second phase that combined the scarlet aeonia bloom attack with her summoning the flower clones of herself, which also attacked in a different pattern AND could become the actual Melania, which means she could basically teleport similar fashion to her father. It would have been a fight that would fully show why she was one par or better than Radahn at his peak, albeit one that wouldve been borderline-impossible for like 90%+ of players to beat, even with mimic tear

[@Time4theJuice]

I GOT AN IDEA MAAAAAAAAAAAANNNN YOU TAKE ME FOR A WAAAAAAALLLKK nice song choice. Love the vids Madman!

[@BasedWizard-j9f]

Lodge entity is the perfect way to describe him. Love the twin peaks reference.

[@ThommyofThenn]

This is going to be a macabre video. What a beautifully dark quest in the game. Interested to see where you go with this. Edit: Another thing ive always appreciated in your videos is how much empathy you show, even for the pests, creatures most would consider an abomination. Yet you make note of how they are pitiable. I really respect that attitude these days, even if they're an entirely fictional enemy in a game

[@TheHonoredMadman]

Whats interesting is it usually comes in the more i understand them, at first i was like grossed out by em but then you see how gowry sort of condescends when speaking about them and its like damn rven he kinda mocks them but that probably comes from frustration at his goals not yet coming into fruition plus hes way more sinister than the individual pests, but his goals are ultimately noble for the pests, im not even convinced that gowry is really gowry anymore, could just be the swamp possessing his powerful corpse using it as a vehicle but anywho i started seeing things from their perspective even tho as you said theyre these things most would consider abominations but damn now i feel like i need to make another video about pests because i didnt realize how much more i had to say

[@eldenringpvpenthusiast1710]

The way he gazes at that thing growing near the broken needle, reminds me a bit of the statue of the older looking person holding a flower and looking upwards. The twisty roots near their feet in some statues look similar to the roots growing near the broken needle too. I know the color of flower is different, but I remember mention of gold losing a red tint, and the area has dead dragons around. I wonder if the younger flower was gold but absorbed everything from the nearby wars, and similar to deathroot, has its own beings that live in rot. The church millicent is being praised in is sealed by sorcerers working with nox, keeping her at the hardest point to reach. But unless you ride by on horse which is smart, you have to fight a decent amount of undead squads up to the church, with a magic ball also trying to roll into you. I feel like the servants of death protect her since she isn't so different in what they want in a leader. They put a lot of resources into keeping her "safe", but the sorcerers themselves are hiding a spell called eternal darkness, and it looks like bats and beast folk are spreading around because of it. I think eternal darkness is not only being used to draw in meteors and the like, but also to fuse beings together like nuclear fusion. Using gravity to shatter beings together, creating a greater being(vitality of the gods), and releasing what does not fit in an explosion of stars(residual life). I could be wrong about this, but the stone tablets downstairs near nokron that you can light. I think the origional inhabitants read it bottom to up like rising flames, and it is the way they ascend into stars after they pass on in a multi step ascension. But hunters and pillagers from a foreign land that read the opposite way, read the stone tablets downward and created the opposite theology from the stones. That enough power can be gathered to become a god. Rather I think the statues of "elden john" left behind the tablets for the ancestral followers to keep on after his/her passing. If you look where ancestral followers are, they are usually looking up at something, or near broken statues that would be much bigger than them.

[@spiralunity]

Elden ring lore smoke sesh. thatd be sick.

[@christiangourdine6021]

The dlc coming out your my favorite yt when it comes to elden 1000% we goin need a vid on that trailer brother

[@ABrickinTime]

I’m always thought of Millicent and her sisters role was to be “awaken” Malenia into her god status and then to serve as her Valkyrie in their new age of rot

[@christiangourdine6021]

Ngl people been saying since the game came out that meliena abandon or left the rot followers but she legit did not even kno nothing about them like at all she use rot bloom n literally got knocked out and was sleep until the tarnished comes and wakes her up for the fight so everything before that she’s completely lost don’t even know they even exist and never finds out cause you literally kill her🤣😭😭

[@TheHonoredMadman]

I think in my first video i mentioned that she probably had no idea she created all the peats and changed caelid because she had to be carried back to the haligtree by finlay, i just totally forgot about it until you commented this, but youre totally right

[@briannenurse4640]

That's true, but she *did* abandon the rot itself, by resisting it her whole life. Her choice to go against the rot within could be the abandonment they're talking about.

[@christiangourdine6021]

@@TheHonoredMadman then if you did say that then your 10x ahead of these KZbinrs brother 🙏🏽

[@specialnewb9821]

If the Rot lord wants more success maybe it should not make things such a nightmare hellscape. Now the Rat King, there's a lord of decay I can back.

[@geordiejones5618]

Was just thinking I haven't checked into your channel in a while and whaddya know.

[@Nell_Tanya]

rot is love rot is life

[@ornu01]

I call BS, Gowry can't be the pest pope because he doesn't have a big hat.

[@808nzaro]

i go out my way to make sure gowry dies everyolaythrough

[@yawnhiccup]

21:15 if you kill gowry it's revealed that he is just one of the pests

[@killervic7379]

Great work as always bro

[@thebarbecube317]

The most honorable madman has blessed us again

[@blakebailey22]

Dropping a like for the Billy and Mandy reference

[@mysteryneophyte]

Got to love how folks Put together lore for from software video games. talking about gowery and his Ambitions, his plans and even what he is thinking when first meeting you. then, in reality, when it cuts to a clip of dude it just shows that he is just some old dude....sitting in a very odd position....Motionless in a chair... the way he stays throughout the whole game, Motionless. With a dumb look froozen on his dumb face.

[@mysteryneophyte]

He could be a rock laying on the ground that has a disembodied voice for all of his actual interactions in the game but if you watch one of these videos you have some super intricate awesome story like something actually happened

[@Santo_Buzo_89]

I agreed with the theory posed in your first video in that the masked dude clapped Malenia cheeks and was the dad. It just made sense. Plus, if she was marching from Haligtree to Caelid then his castle could be a stop. And Martin loved that sh*t in ASOFI series, stopping at castles and chilling so idk it just added up

[@Fullmetalnyuu0]

I would consider that, but there's a huge precedent for unnatural births in Elden Ring, like the implication that most living people are quite literally born from the erdtree itself, or its sap. Also, given how devoted Malenia was to protecting Miquella and furthering his goals I don't know if she'd have been interested in getting some, lmao

[@anjeljasso8979]

Fire thumbnail, wonder if you watched that thorhighheels video

[@lemonlefleur6236]

Pest Pope ain’t got nothing on Turtle Pope. So Great is Turtle Pope’s power that he’s the only creature I call Turtle and not Dog

[@bacon2359]

Aldia is one of the best so I cant wait

[@ChanchoWins]

I missed the bong :c

[@InvasionEnjoyer]

And I'll see you And you'll see me And I'll see you in the branches that bow I'm the wind... Love the song intro

[@TheHonoredMadman]

I love twin peaks man it put me onto so much

[@Alexmw777]

background music is so good. is that something from donkey kong?

[@Lucious_Skywalker]

The things a Tarnished will do for a little rotussy…

[@MidnightatMidian]

You should do a video about bong tips and videogames, like which is the perfect strain to play ER?

[@spooky8662]

This thumbnail goes hard

[@AutismGaming489]

Another ER vid! Lesss goooo!

[@Coast2CoastFlyin]

Oh snap, i wionder if Gowry is actually a Marais? His name doesnt align with 2 known Marais..es, Maleigh and (most likely) Rileigh, but assuming Rileigh is pronounced like Riley, and that Maleigh rhymes with Rileigh, theyd all rhyme. George did say he made the names of related characters fairly similar, something like a hint between otherwise seemingly unrelated characters. Basically, i wonder if Gowry is the father of the younger Maleigh. Theyre descendent from the old Rot lords from the era when the Rot god was physically in the lands between. Some secretly continued their heretical worship, and this was obviously the Maraises's true faith, practiced in secret until I guess the shattering opened the door to being open about it. I mean, its all speculative, but perhaps the sickly lord that worshiped mel as a godess wasnt Maleigh,but his father Gowry? After all, when Elemer snatched the Marais family sword and started doing his red jedi magic with it, Maleigh got exiled from his own castle. Meanwhile, we find Elemer staring in rapture at a painting of Melania, implying he at least holds her in high esteem, if not outright as a goddess. If Maleigh felt the same, you'd think theyd maybe have seen eye to eye and teamed up. Either that, or theres only one painting of Mel, and Elemer and Maleigh couldnt come to agreement on a schedule for sharing access to the masturbatorium that eventually serves as Elemer's final resting place.

[@alithib]

Awesome video!! Something about the scarlet valkyries always eluded me. Ive been trying to understand what exactly the setup requirements are for them to succumb to the rot vs. bloom into a scarlet valkyrie. Millicent takes out her needle to die on her own terms, but needs to be betrayed and/or killed to bloom (no idea if she still has needle intact or not). Malenia seemingly killed herself and broke the needle in her fight w Radhan in order to bloom (and then blooms again when we kill her, supposedly still without a needle). Im not noticing a strict pattern here lol. I can only guess that they need to undergo extreme mental pressure first, but what about the needle, does it even matter? Do they just need to die after their ego is destroyed? I gotta knowww >_

[@MaleniaScarletGoddess]

Could you do a video on pontiff sulyvahn next? That'd be awesome good video though man

[@TheHonoredMadman]

Aldia is next but pontiff will be coning

[@kevinsimmons7645]

The Donkey Kong Country water level remix does not fit with this video....

[@ABrickinTime]

Hey @Madman: do you have a theory about the statues at the shaded castle (where they came from; are they people, etc.)?

[@chitchad4391]

fuck ya i love a good milly vid

[@mrpuggerson]

Mellania fell unconscious after blooming, so how would she even know about anything she created? I doubt she has any knowledge of anything that happened post-bloom. Gowry getting salty about her “abandoning her creations” is dumb and he needs to get over it.

[@ThommyofThenn]

Edit: trying to think of the lesser pests. Are those the "baby" ones that crawl around in sap of the Haligtree when you platform alomg the roots? And I first came to this channel from stuff like the pest and rare item drop videos.

[@TheHonoredMadman]

Yeah the less kindred of rot, i couldnt find my footage of em when i was editing this

[@mabonman]

Any chance you could list the music used in this one? :)

[@lazymanwonderland1408]

New post lfg

[@bottomfraggerxxx]

Gamgstar 😂😂

[@SSJGaelY0]

i don’t mean to pit 2 goats against each other, but i honestly prefer your style of videos and topics to Vaatis