The Shadowlands Keeps Me Up At Night

[@Rusty_Spy]

The allusions to Valhalla, the realm of shadow as an afterlife in general, and the presence of a character named Freya really helped validate my belief in Radahn's willingness to be Miquella's consort and the battle with Malenia being part of that vow. It genuinely recontextualizes the entire fight as Radahn being given a death in battle so he can be ushered into Valhalla by the Valkyries (Malenia and the Cleanrot knights)

[@quelaag]

AGREED! Freyja's line: "Yes of course, I see, as the festival of war concluded, general Radahn's soul met an honorable end, but kindly Miquella wishes to revive it? which is fine by me, i know it would pain old Jerren but war has always suited general Radahn best. and certainly far more than any honorable death, endless war to invigorate the soul, as befits general Radahn, the Great Lion." makes me feel like the Festival of War was a celebration of Radhan's vow, and Malenia / Us killing him allowed him to transcend to godhood via a festival battle.

[@lastlunarrun6418]

"As I awaited his return" feels different now

[@veridis_qu0]

That was kinda my first thought but then what I don't understand is why Malenia needed to nuke all of caelid in the process. Is it because she couldn't beat Radahn otherwise?

[@Donovaneagle2098]

It's further added by the fact that the Valkyries weren't glorified in most Norse texts, they were something to be fought against. Some older texts call them "corpse stealing witches". Some translations of Freyja also translate to "Lady of the Slain" though later translations make her name out to simply mean "Lady"

[@GodWarsX]

Holy shit

[@Kiloparsecs786]

12:10 Placidusax is also shown with his remaining heads held in a Spiral-like position while awaiting his god’s return.

[@HeevaEgo]

Makes me wonder that if the “God” that “fled”, in question, was actually the Greater Will. His heads are twisting in the same way Metyr’s two fingers are. And now that we know that Metyr is attempting to contact the Greater Will - which fled from her call too - it would make sense that Placidusax is trying to make contact.

[@Kiloparsecs786]

Yeah that is what I was thinking as well.

[@quelaag]

EVERYONES CELLPHONE IS BROKEN SOMEONE HELP

[@Kiloparsecs786]

😂😂😂

[@weebro55]

@@quelaag With the whole "fingers communicate by light", connection of faith/int, celestial entities and outer gods, and communication with the greater will being cut off: the item description "The hat of Count Ymir, High Priest. The circular design at the top represents the Greater Will and its lightless abyss, imparting increased intelligence and arcane to the wearer" supports the idea that the greater will went from visible light to invisible. Metyr has an attack that looks like a pulsar, a type of young neutron star that reliably pluses light like a signal. These neutron stars quickly (in a cosmic scale) stop rotating, and cool down to stop emitting light. The Greater Will may be a pulsar that just aged out of sight of the land between

[@quelaag]

I know you will all walk away from this video with more questions and I PROMISE I'll go into everything more in depth as a publish more videos. I'm going to do them ROUGHLY in this order: - Rauh Regional Lore - Belurat / Bonny Village / Shaman Village Regional lore - Miquella and St Trina Video - Marika and Messmer video

[@tangledfish]

Will there be a St Romina video? Is she perhaps Malenia's shadow? I'm really curious about her.

[@Stuffystufferfield]

thank you

[@quelaag]

@@tangledfish Yes there will be! I want to make sure I tackle those larger ones first :>

[@hoflax24]

1hr long video analyzing the Dragon Priestess' (my beloved) pronunciation of Placidusax pls (Kidding, excellent video and I can't wait for the others!)

[@johndavis29209]

Any timeline for the new crab lore? Genuinely crazy stuff.

[@pedromenezes3917]

It's starting to worry how you even sleep with all these things keeping you up at night.

[@quelaag]

i dont

[@pedromenezes3917]

@@quelaag Fun!

[@TheBlaringBlue]

This is why Quelaag is a must-follow if you're into souls/elden ring lore. No other lore content creator is doing this stuff, no one's coming at it from this kind of angle. Other creators are probably working on videos trying to hash out who Charo is - when that was never the point. Quelaag just gets it, man.

[@2265Hello]

Quelaag and Tarnished Archeologist my go to souls lore tubers. Both do things that I wish more lore tubers did instead of just giving lore summaries.

[@crunchysalmons]

quelaag you’re very inspiring to me in how well spoken you are and how well informed u are. never get discouraged

[@anonfinally1692]

13:47 I always thought Malenia stabbed herself to break Miquella's needle that's why we find it broken in Caelid where they fought.

[@lichkingsservant4111]

I like how you called the pillars the “J and B” pillars to prevent a repeat of what happened on stream, where everyone was asking about Queen Marikas BJ pillars

[@xilh42]

I love your dives into the Helphen lore. Feels like an ancient culture that was there before even the Hornsent. Forgotten, but with whispers of it still around in the form of mariners and deathbirds. So damn cool, and it’s crazy how deep into the mythology FromSoft thought about.

[@Grimsly3736]

I wonder how Ravenmount fits into that

[@aramkaizer7903]

"Babel" has the etymology of "God's Door" Bab-El. AKA Gate of Divinity Enir Ilim and Belurat also generally has some near-eastern inspired vibes. With the name "Enir Ilim" sounding vaguely Akkadian, or generally Semitic, but also Sumerian, "Enlil" or "Elohim"

[@crown_clown]

I read on some reddit post that enir ilim can possibly mean "temple of a lord or god", which fits it pretty well.

[@aramkaizer7903]

@@crown_clown Could make sense, I just assumed that the word was nonsense since I doubted FS would actually use some real Semitic word for it

[@MrMarkT007]

12:10 On that note, the Relic Sword (made from Radagons spine) is also spiral-themed, and held up by the Elden Beast pointing towards the stars Anyway thought this was a great video despite the headache! Tbh as a fellow social worker with a day job your work ethic to make these after a 9-5 is lowkey inspiring

[@astron1973]

one thing ive noticed its, in the base game, Miquella is supposed to be at the very base/bottom of a citadel, while in the dlc he is at the very top of one. its a nice parallel, maybe simbolizes his "rise"

[@michaelfratt9574]

One cool thing I saw on Reddit - the shape of the blue and red groves of flowers in cerulean/charon looks like the twin birds when you look at it from the dragon

[@MarsBo2]

🤯 woah

[@allthe1]

Omg I'm running back to my PC I manna see that

[@Golden284-fan]

The red and blue flowers also match the color scheme of the red&blue feathered brachsword talismans as well as the twinbird kite shield.

[@dimosdimakopoulos3884]

One of my first speculations when reaching the blue and red fields was: "Blue and red make purple. In here we'll find the two halves of St. Trina". Still thinking that could be a nice touch. The red fields were a bit under-utilised...

[@Golden284-fan]

@dimosdimakopoulos3884 my dream is that they release a mini dlc that expands on fissure depths. Something about the size of the Siofra River area. That leads to under the suppressing pillar, where all of our questions will be answered. That area seemed so big, but it turned out to be so small; it didn't even have a map. I'm also confused ass hell by this dlc, and need more lore.

[@evafox9696]

I NEED your St Trina video. I am so fascinated by St. Trina that I'm basically Thiollier fr fr. The idea that she is Miquella's 'love' cast away, and she seems like she is genuinely a benevolent being (especially given the game's insinuation that she brought peace to the Merchants below Leyndell by singing them a lullaby). This also explains why Miquella becomes so cold and devoid of the concept of 'love' by the end (he can't tell the difference between forced subjugation of the heart vs actual love).

[@phantasmx_]

*starts break dancing as you’re breaking down lore*

[@lilium5548]

11:40 its fun that this is shown in mechanics too. miquella's incantations only require faith now and dont keep skeletons from resurrecting.

[@mudkip7251]

Jerma reference 10/10 video

[@GenePark]

Hell yes!!!!

[@augmentgear297]

i followed Gene here

[@alexaprokop6648]

4:41 those boats are also beside the secret passage to abyssal woods! It’s a coffin like the ones between waterways below the lands between (and the coffin ships on cerulean coast), and I think that passage was used to ferry the burned ashes down into the abyssal woods. The dlc revealed that the frenzied flame melts away spirits, so this may be their attempt to halt the formation of those who live in death! It would go some way to explaining why D’s cape is decorated with two snakes when they’re typically considered enemies of the golden order

[@jtillman8251]

The spiral columns are a frequent element in baroque opera set design, which given the divine stage setting for the Lion dancer fight might be relevant. Also, I personally think the Formless Mother is supposed to represent a sort of liminal goddess of transgression and opening of forbidden paths to knowledge or other esoteric truth as much as one of violence and bloodshed, which makes Mohg's chamber as the entry into the shadowlands make a lot of sense, as well as perhaps explaining in part why his body is able to be transported there and Radahn's is not (assuming there's a reason beyond just the fact that it's wracked with scarlet rot.)

[@IngeniousNinja]

On asceticism and suffering bringing connection to divinity - the bloodfiends in the DLC also find the Mother Of Truth in the "shadow" of their local tutelary dietty (hornsent asthetic religious leader) after being burned in the crusade. Notably too, the Hornsent ascetics ritually bloodlet (Curseblade description) as part of their attempt to become or invoke divine power.

[@DanielGarcia-rx3kt]

Ok, so the Mariner we fight in the Hidden Grave of Charo is likely Charo itself seeing as it drops a Cookbook that lets us craft an item that allows us to summon Those Who Live in Death. Cool stuff!

[@ethanlennon7721]

Not sure what to conclude from it, but Morgott has a lot of connections to the Curseblades. Obviously they dress similarly and both have horns, but Morgott wields his cursed sword when we fight him, the curseblade mask boosts dexterity (which Morgott sword sword requires a lot of), and both jump around like maniacs in combat. What really stood out to me was the Curseblade mask description stating “causes the blessing of the Erdtree to become nauseating”, which none of the other hornsent helmets state, and Morgott literally begins retching during his fight. There might not be too much behind this aside from the obvious parallels, but haven’t seen anyone else make this observation yet

[@beastren]

I WAS GONNA SAY!!!! also the idea of being ascetic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! morgott wears rags and deprives himself of like every sort of comfort or pleasure or desire and self flagellates, both emotionally and potentially physically. he is literally an ascetic... which is what the curseblades were also called.... i don't think he took practices directly from them or is actually connected to them, but it made me crazy bc it feels like an effect of generational trauma that he happens to parallel them

[@arealhumanbean3058]

Omens have nightmares about "horned ancients" acording to Omen Killer set, which I believe means that they dream about the hornsent in general Maybe Morgott's dreams were particularly haunted by the curseblades, and even if subconsciously, he started mimicking their style

[@PilesofSecrets]

Speaking of columns: the outer god heirloom (talisman) also reminds me of the Priestess tarot you mentioned. It seems to depict a tutelary deity posed in front of an archway with columns, except that there's something sinister about the background of the archway (looks like roots taking hold of it). Yeah, the Outer Gods seem to be able to manifest through feelings of extreme suffering, which is sort of Berserk-esque (shock!). Great video - already so much to revisit on my next jaunt to the Shadow Lands.

This video was such a joy. I'd already made the connection of the tibia mariner's boats in the shadow keep, but never thought the the keep might itself be the Helphen. Now I have the need to check each and everyone of its rooftops until I see the one depicted in the sword. Thank you, Quelaag.

[@IngeniousNinja]

On why Mohg's body specifically - Omens are haunted by spirits, plausibly angry/vengeful Hornsent spirits, and I believe the JP text describes them as being particularly sensitive to spirits (struggling to find the source for this now, though). Also as you touch on, the Hornsent were the ones using if not constructing the gate prior, so using a Horned vessel certainly makes sense, with its association with the divine of the crucible and gate.

[@saforia1827]

The editing on this is great, loving the new format!!

[@Sidhehex]

Hey Quelaag, I absolutely enjoy your lore content. Its by far my favourite since you're kinda very close to how an art team usually works with all those references and brainstorming. I've been working in agencies exactly like you're doing in Miro to create concepts. You're analysing a piece of art as I've learned when I studied design, reading symbols and putting it into context. I'm a hardcore nerd for mythological stuff privately and a rather quiet lore enjoyer. But your historical/mythological/theological analysis are always astonishing and so much on point. What I want to say is: Your videos keep me up at night :) Keep up your awesome work!

[@kae5717]

The otherworld rebirth cycle reminded me of specific lore from Ireland, too. I remember a few tales where it's said that when faeries die, they are reborn in the human world, and vice versa. There's one story where a man takes a faerie wife, and she cries at births and laughs at funerals because of this.

[@esbendit]

another example of boat burial in the lands between is found beneeth stormveil. Near the lesser Godwyn husk is found the remnants of small boats as well as gravestones and a scarab with a rancor spell.

[@dylanvickers7953]

Oh my god it’s a Helphen video!!!!! Now I can shut up about my stupid helphen-tree theory. Never been so excited to be dead wrong.

[@vishnugopakumar8807]

explain your theory? do you mean you think there's a helphentree similar to the erdtree and scadutree?

[@angelus_lucifero]

I want to hear your stupid Helphen tree theory, because I've had a stupid Helphen tree theory for so long but I'm also not entirely convinced it's been put to rest yet

[@angelus_lucifero]

Would it have anything to do with it looking like a conifer? Because I sure think it does

[@curtisfarley6558]

In one statue, we see a woman who seems to be burning, pulling a tree like thing out a tree stump that's been grafted on. Didn't know what to make of that one. Symbolism of merica removing death?

[@rabidporcupine0]

@@curtisfarley6558 Good ol' 'Merica, removing both death AND communism from the lands between...

[@rikley8153]

I love the idea that suffering allows to commune with outer gods. I found that it's weird that we get 2 instances of a burned down place and a "new" finding of a god. Romina is one example, but there is the sigil that boosts arcane, that also states they found in the burned corpse their new god. I believe that is linked to the formless mother, as the location is full of bloodherolds. Which to me is a nod to fromsoft's usual idea, that fire brings a new age, like in darksouls.

[@lunastough3048]

Love that you used Charon imagery from the game Hades , such a beautiful art style. Great video quelaag

[@quelaag]

My editor is the best! They chose most of the visual depictions but I love that interpretation of Charon too

[@vavakxnonexus]

This DLC has given me so so much to chew on theme-wise, the sheer amount of mothers and especially children reacting to being abandoned by their mothers and either being lost or resolving to become new mothers just kills me. Both Messmer and Miquella have this towards Marika, Metyr and Ymir have this towards the Greater Will, even Romina becomes a surrogate mother for the children of the scarlet rot. It's so insanely cohesive in building up what grace & kindness & night all mean and it contextualizes the thousand-year voyages (Miquella & Ranni) so much. Also, I'm still so thrown by the Blackflame sigil being *really close* to Metyr's face/main finger? It's absolutely buck wild. I don't think Metyr was the Gloam-Eyed Queen, but maybe it's like a Marika/Two Fingers situation with her guiding them. Also, like, the five-fingered hand??? Did Metyr do that??? It would explain why she's dysfunctional, she's not making proper five-fingered hands anymore, and it'd give a reasonably long timeframe for her to work and then be abandoned. I'm just like, chomping at the bit on this one. So much juicy stuff.

[@HeliusLux]

Its just a thought but I always wondered why Mogh announced his dynasty at his end as Moghwyn as if he knew what his role was within Miquella's plan was (obviously he was under his control but aware of the plan as Miquella's puppet) But I believe that he was under the impression that it would be his soul that would reside within a new host body more specifically his brothers Godwyn, hence Moghwyn. Its a stretch and I doubt this is the case but I think there is strong president for it.

[@SyntheticWitch]

You pointing out that the sealing tower marks the very centre of the lands between gave me a huge realisation. Looking at the map of the lands between, what is in the centre? Nothing. Just ocean. A big gap. If you filled in that ocean, you'd get a landmass with the Erdtree just off its northern shore. And sure enough the Shadowlands map is a single landmass, with the Scadutree just off its northern shore...

[@whatever3912-h7e]

There is a post on reddit where someone overlayed both maps this very way (with the pillar between the divine towers). And well, it fits almost perfectly. After taking into the account that parts of the land may have crumbled after being separated (and a lot of time that passed) then we can safely assume that the Land of Shadow was in that gap

[@Planetthegreat]

Another instance of Divine Suffering is the Blood Fiends in the Land of Shadow. They saw the Formless Mother in the corpse of one of their kin during a great tragedy. It's also possible that the Blood Fiends are transformed Demi-Humans because they drop String and they get red eyes at night! So they may be a splinter of Demi-Humans who found the Formless Mother during divine suffering!

[@typhonyx_was_taken]

Maybe the suffering of those who were sacrificed to create the Divine Gate is what allows it to have those divine properties to begin with

[@Str1king_c0bra]

14:00 Midras sword also looks a lot like miquellas needle, midra is also another example of suffering having an affect of an outer god/godly power. Also doesn't miquellas needle cure you of the frenzy ending? could his needle be inspired by that sword?

[@jillsandwitch67]

just wanna say i love the jerma tibia mariner voice clip. OH DUDE SICK BOAT ENCOUNTER

[@themorrow3547]

It's fascinating to see someone explain fiction like this.

[@Miahren15]

Another thing that you have mentioned before on stream is that the tower in Belurat and the spiral motif is very reminiscent of the Tower of Babel. In a lot of artistic depictions of the Tower of Babel it’s shown as a spiral; reaching towards heaven. That seems to be why spiral objects, like Metyr’s tail, are able to communicate with the outer gods.

[@williamrobertson892]

Another point to add to the argument made at 1:00. The Realm of Shadow fits perfectly in the ocean in the center of The Lands Between if you compare the maps. The Trees even match up.

[@Bukwheat]

After all this time, we really did go to the center cloud in the DLC

[@BackwardsPancake]

Adds up with the suppressing tower inscription too, which says that it's at "the very center of The Lands Between".

[@andrewbowen2837]

No it doesn't

[@SolaireIntensifies]

oh my god 50 seconds in and you're already blowing my mind. How did I never make the connection between that massive gate and sealing off the two realms from each other?? It seems so obvious in retrospect but up until right now I was constantly wondering how the shadow realm and lands between were connected. That is connecting so many puzzle pieces in my head now. I always thought the trailer was showing her *opening* the gate to the lands between, but I had never considered it was the opposite.

[@phantasmx_]

“oh wait ew stinky” HAHAHAHA cuteee

[@lucaspassos8246]

I meam...Messmer is the "king" of the shadow lands, only has one eye and uses a spear. Kinda like odin

[@jacobwydareny24]

Really enjoy your videos. You do such a good job of picking up on these overlooked threads and details and tying them together in a compelling and engaging theory

[@IngeniousNinja]

3rd comment in a row but- Something I noticed that was quite visually distinct is that Enir-Lilm also has many steeples of similar design to "Helphen" and the Black Keep. They're not black, of course, but they're architecturally similar. The Nox's architecture actually also uses this motif a fair bit, but its not quite as similar looking?

[@Wallook]

Melina is an alter ego to Messmer. Like st. Trina to Miquella, like Radagon to Marika. There. ER explained. Thank You, I'll be here all week.

[@Frank-kq4te]

About the suffering, i think you were mislead by the ascetic practice of the hornsent, since the giant fire god specifically required a sacrifice, and Malenia clearly spavbed the needle to release the flower. That was not about the suffering, it was about removong the needle, in fact we find the broken needle in the center of aeonia.

[@cairosene]

i've seen your username in other videos and online in reference to lore but never checked you out before. i'm so glad i finally did!! i could listen to you talk about lore forever, if your videos were hours long i would continue to listen. time to go back and watch everything i've missed!!

[@cobleen3982]

I love your videos. They are my favorite way to consume Elden Ring lore, archaeology, architecture, and connections to history. Your voice is lovely and you have such a chill way of presenting things. I think people reading scripts gets old. I feel like you’re just chatting with me. You’re the best!

[@shoopah92]

the jerma tibia mariner throwback really makes this video for me the lore is great too

[@xdd4822]

Regarding the suffering part, I think it's interesting that the lamenter is described as "the state of a denizen of paradise." The upside down buildings in Enir-Ilim also remind me of the Eternal Cities.

[@AetheriusSolvanus]

I love your videos; they're always so engaging and thought-provoking. Also, Signalis OST is amazing

[@ql1ppoth]

Finally a channel that paints all of the esoteric and occult themes behind ER lore! YESSS!!! I found it cool that you mentioned the two pillars, as in a lot of Kabalistic guided dogmas and magic circles that come in touch with Hermeticism even, the foundations of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life is comprised of a Right Black Pillar of Severity and a Left White Pillar of Mercy (respectively represented by the letter J & B sometimes, which you depicted in the Tarot card, that should read 'Jachin' and 'Boaz', the main outter pillars of the Solomonic temple). Lastly there is also a third middle pillar representing the self / self-highness, thus the connection of the mundane with god.

[@EveliaInfinity]

the center of the faram elden ring, the fingerslayer blade and the radagon sword in elden beasts hand are spirals

[@EveliaInfinity]

and the scadutree too

[@KingWhoShallReturn]

Babe wake up Quelaag talked about Helphen!

[@irydescence]

Babe wake up new Quelaag lore has dropped

[@masterofnothing4938]

Marinas chambers looking like the veil could be a symbol to show that she’s revels in her victory over the hornsent

[@JohnDoe00107]

Is this the same Queelag from waaaaaay back in the Dark Souls 1 days? I never knew she stuck around.

[@faman00]

The fates of the Carian royals (not just Carian Empyrians) is determined by the stars. The stars are "promising" that the fate of Raddahn is that of Miquella's consort, whether Raddahn likes it or not. He clearly doesn't, since he stops the stars and therefore his fate as Miquella's consort, so Miquella sends Malenia to kill him making all the star-stopping pointless.

[@TheBboySpooky]

I know I've commented like 5 times on this video already but I just want to say I think you have the most coherent explanation for how the Land of Shadow works, no hate to other creators but I've seen a lot of them just assuming that it was kind of always a separate dimension when it seems pretty clear that it was separated from the rest of the Lands Between much more recently.

[@mcsquared5005]

I just want to know more about Romina. How did she go from being a regular Woman in the theatrical trailer to a woman/centipede/scorpion/butterfly hybrid? Why does her music have Mallenias theme with in it?

[@nicholassanders2152]

The Divine Gate reminds me a lot of Rodin's masterpiece sculpture, the Gates of Hell. It's a big gate with depictions of Dante's Inferno. It's where the Thinker comes from. It's also interesting that the Gradham mentions sculpters a lot. That's probably a reference to the bodies that build the city. Also, the bodies at the Divine Gate appear to be the same kind of stone that Fractured Marika is at the end of the game. Assuming the bodies are Shaman bodies, this would make sense. A lot different than the red bodies seen in the trailer.

[@JoeDower101]

The bodies in the divine gate have horns so they're Hornsent and not Shamans

[@HeevaEgo]

@@JoeDower101 no, they’re a mix. It seemed like a cultural practice where they would willing sacrifice their own people (Hornsent), but also use any foreigners whose flesh they’d deem as worthy of being able to meld flesh together (Shamans)

[@BackwardsPancake]

The most interesting thing to me is how the inside of the gate forms Marika's rune. And how that rune is kind of similar to Metyr's microcosm-holding appendage. Perhaps it symbolizes contact with the Greater Will. Or, if the Greater Will really is gone/silent, perhaps it symbolizes drawing power from it/the plane in which it exists. The shape is also kind of like a funnel, after all.

[@HannyaBoi]

As someone who cannot even hold a functional conversation when my cluster headaches start up, you recording a whole video about complex lore and being able to organize your thoughts is inspirational af.

[@spaghetto_depressi]

This video has everything, smooth ambience, BJ Pillars, even a Jeremy jumpscare, Lore is back baybeeey!

[@TheBboySpooky]

One thing I found interesting that isn't necessarily apparently until you defeat Gaius and view the Shadow Keep from the back, is that there appear to be at least 2 distinct architectural styles in the Keep's towers, with the area that is the Specimen Storehouse looks much older, like a medieval castle, while the parts that have all of the snake iconography and Messmer insignias appears to be almost gothic in design (I am not a huge architecture buff so I mainly know the distinctions from your other videos). The older-looking part is connected to the ruins of Rauh and has the Specimen Storehouse, so all the stuff in there makes me think that the Keep was at one point in time a Hornsent castle, which was eventually taken over by Messmer's forces who added the newer, gothic architecture with the flying buttresses. I also feel like that makes sense since that style of architecture in Elden Ring is linked to the Eternal Cities, which have connections to Marika as well. The DLC has if anything made the timeline EVEN MORE CONFUSING to me but this seems to make sense to me idk

[@meep9873]

I saw someone reference this in another video but the spiral imagery also harkens to DNA double helix 🧬 and the crucible ritual of having combatants fight to death and spill their primordial fluids (blood) in order to activate the Divine Gate. We see Marika walking on bloodied corpses in her ascension to Godhood. The divine gate is riddled with corpses. So it made me think of how did Miquella achieve this? Well he compelled a band of followers to come to the land of shadow. And upon having the bewitchment break, we all conveniently slaughter eachother in the sand pits right before Miquella ascends to godhood. So it makes you wonder if this was the motive for him bewitching all of these people for this sole purpose, and he knew they would fight one another upon regaining their memories

[@DroneCorpse]

this is a lot! I like the shorter form videos since I get easily overwhelmed. thank u

[@ebrietas-biscuit]

Hey did you noticed the Elden ring in Malikeths boss arena looks eerily like Miquella on Radahn’s back?

[@hush5717]

OHHHHH THE HORNS OF THE CRUCIBLE MIGHT BE THE LINK THAT WAS REQUIRED TO BRING ANOTHER SOUL INTO THE BODY

[@hush5717]

Since they’re heavily tied to evolution and constant change the omen might just be the perfect vessels

[@eldonhill4840]

Amazing video and I love the format, can’t wait for the rest of the series

[@ijlsk3158]

So edited, so charming. I'm always gonna watch any random lore video from Quel but I hope these tightly edited vids bring more people in. Like, there's good, good Soulslike stuff to be had here. It's worth the hr+ vids. Trust her.

[@MrGrayle]

I absolutely love how the spiral imagery seems to have percolated down from the cosmos or the divine, through almost every aspect of life in The Lands Between. It reminds me of the Fibonacci sequence in real life, and how patterns, currents and symbols in nature are connected even when they don't appear to be, and in reality this is due to the underlying fabric of the structure of the universe (mathematics as we know it). The spiral seems to function in the same way in The Lands Between, a natural groove for energy to take. The fact that gazing upon the Primeval current also drives one mad with overwhelming insight and cosmic knowledge ties into this I think, the idea that trying to fully understand the true nature of the universe is too great for any one mind to comprehend.

[@nawi6598]

I humbly disagree with some points made about Radahn's characterisation. To me, the notion that he wanted a warrior's death doesn't adequately explain why he went to war with the stars in the first place, and why he seems to continue holding back fate and surviving the scarlet rot for untold thousands of years after his clash with Malenia, when he could have chosen to succumb to his wounds and die a warrior's death at Malenia's hands. I believe that Radahn made a vow to Miquella when they were both very young*, and that he would go on to change his mind before or around the time of the Shattering. But because of the vow, his fate was already sealed. *(Consider why it's the "Young Lion" armour set - this is telling us about Radahn's age when he made the vow, as well as the fact that the swords gained from the Remembrance of a God and Lord explicitly date themselves to BEFORE the conquering of the stars) Like Ranni says, the fate of the Carian Royals is bound to the stars. At the time, she's referring to herself, but I think we shouldn't discount the fact that Radahn is just as much of a Carian Royal as she is. He's literally gone to war with the stars to hold back his own fate - does that seem like the actions of a man who's consented to everything that's happened to him in the DLC? It seems thematically consistent with the bewitched NPCs in the DLC at least, that Miquella is strongly characterised to not care about the consent of those who serve him. "He wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. There is nothing more terrifying." In addition to this, we finally know what Malenia whispered to him right before blooming. "Miquella awaits thee, O promised consort". We know from her own cutscene dialogue ("I have never known defeat") that she's extremely proud of not failing in the missions given to her. To me, the new dialogue, spoken after the blooming has already begun, reads more like she's smugly announcing that she's won, even at the cost of her own life (We know she would have died after the bloom without Finlay's intervention). She's telling Radahn that Miquella will have his promised consort despite his best efforts to deny fate. He would go on to continue holding back the stars even as the Scarlet Rot consumed him, because he on some level, even after his sense of self was completely obliterated by the rot, he knew that he had to keep on living, that if he let fate resume, or died, Miquella would have his way with him. Would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

[@fierygamingzilla69]

13:58 another example of suffering being the catalyst for communication with the outer gods is mogh and the blood fiends

[@cameronjpatrick]

Love the new fancy video style and your insights into Elden Ring lore - you're super knowledgeable about the historical context and I always learn so much about the real world as well as ER/Souls from your vids!

[@augustinefouts-lopez8833]

Quelaag, idk if you've heard anyone else say this (haven't caught up to your streams too), but Enir-Ilim gave off huge Tower of Babel vibes for me. Like, the hubris of people constructing a divine tower to reach Heaven in order to ascend to godhood, much like Miquella and Marika had done I'm not as well versed in other lore as you or your audience so I could be totally wrong, but I thought it was a neat allusion :)

[@mr_jyggalag]

That tower with the note that claims to be "the very center of the Lands Between" is my white whale of lore now because of the second part of the note: "All manners of Death wash up there, only to be suppresed." It refers to the Lands Between as the place where "All manners of Death wash up," at least at the time when the tower was built (which is presumably before removal of the DD from Elden Ring and before separation between TLB and Shadowrealm). It recontextualizes so much of the lore and certainly keeps me up at night.

[@TheBlaringBlue]

Naw. "All manners of Death wash up here" where "here" refers to the land of shadow. It's explained in this very video. TLB is not where all manners of death wash up, TLS is.

[@mr_jyggalag]

@@TheBlaringBlue why then does the first part of the sentence refer to the tower as the center of the Lands Between, if in the very next sentence it talks just about the Lands of Shadow without referring to it by name? If tower was built after the separation of TLB and the realm of shadow, it doesn't make sense to refer to itself as "the very center of the Lands Between." If it was built before separation, the second sentence should refer to the Lands Between as a place where "all manners of Death wash up."

[@meep9873]

@@mr_jyggalagI agree with your assessment and it does indeed recontextualize many things. TLoS is or was part of TLB. It was “phased” out with the veil that Marika places over it. But yes at one point they were all on the same plain

[@thanosmat]

@@TheBlaringBlue No. The message refers to the Lands Between not the Land of Shadows

[@TheBlaringBlue]

@@mr_jyggalag you see any death “washing up” in TLB? You see any death washing up in TLS? This should answer your question

[@ravendelacour1917]

Extreme sensation, either pain or pleasure, that disrupts the ego's sense of self and allows contact to greater cosmic forces is known as ekstasis in Hermetic/Hellenic mysticism. The use of hallucinogens, self-flagellation, fasting, exposure to hash elements, esoteric rites of pleasure, all of these and more have been used in RL mysticism to achieve this state of temporary transcendence for a variety of reasons.

[@sirjeanpepper2492]

This is the one. The production on this is so great and I can tell it took a lot of work. Fantastic!

[@billkowalsky]

You make some of the best lore content out there. Thanks so much! Can't wait to hear your continuing thoughts on the DLC lore!

[@SunnyCelestial]

Another possible nod to the afterlife theming can be found around the shores of the Cerulean Coast. You can come across some hornsent stacking stones into cairns. This could be in reference to a part of the Buddhist hells where children who die before their parents go. They stack stones to try and climb out of hell, but the stones always get knocked down by demons. This was actually referenced before in Bloodborne, at the entrance to the Fishing Hamlet.

[@GrieveIV]

4:00 just realized to add to the Valhalla bit. Messmer is one eyed like Odin. And spear wielding. Which I’m unsure of the implications, as he doesn’t really seem all THAT coded like Odin, as he’s not particularly manipulative or clever. But it does make me wonder if there are equivalents to the “9 realms” in Elden Ring.

[@LootPowered]

This feels like a new era for your channel! Amazing video and excited for more

[@ethanharris6226]

Something I still don't get: Whose body is in the cocoon in Mohg's palace? Because we know the Land of Shadow is a physical place as stated by Miyazaki, even though it's become like the drain of all things death. On top of that, Miquella is abandoning parts of their body as they travel the land. Unless this is meant to suggest his like spiritual body or something, this would suggest Miquella physically travelled to the LoS, discarded his body, his fears, St. Trina, etc, until he was a pure soul that could be reincarnated as a God once his promised consort arrives. So, again, whose body is inside the cocoon? Unless the definition of the LoS as a physical place is simply misleading, i feel like this tidbit is quite confusing. P.S. Or is it the idea that once you die and you aren't worthy of grace or whatever, you're reincarnated into the LoS? Meanwhile, people can still travel to and from the LoS, albeit they'd have to find a way to do so. Edit: The more i think about the reincarnation bit, the more it makes sense. Everything in this reality is made up of runes, if I remember correctly. And we know from the base game that people who die get buried at the Erdtree's roots so that they may be reborn again. I guess with that logic in mind, it'd make sense for Marika to reject any and all "runes" or "souls" that aren't aligned with her order and ideals, and to banish them to elsewhere. So in the LoS, all the runes there aren't touched by grace, they're not approved. Otherwise, since the rune of death is removed from the Elden Ring, these same runes devoid of grace could just pop up again in the Lands Between. So, it'd make sense that Marika is banishing any and all runes devoid of grace to the LoS such that creatures of the Hornsent and what-have-you don't manifest again in the Lands Between. And that could explain as to why Miquella was sent to the LoS rather than remain in the LB. His runes/body were infused with omen blood, hornsent blood, and became unable to remain in the LB, thus his reincarnated form was instead manifested in the LoS.

[@AJtehJetPlane]

I recently saw a video suggesting that Radagon is a parallel to Loki with the possible connection to giants and with his children having parallels to Loki’s children. With that train of thought he suggested that Radagon may be a shapeshifter who possibly imitated Marika to orchestrate some of the conflicts like the war against the giants and banishing Godfrey

[@micheleallocca9366]

It's actually Amazing how a lot of the game items have a spiral on them, starting with the elden star incantation. Even the elden ring depiction in Farum azula has something similar in the middle

[@TanksyTube]

The only thing that casts doubt on the spiral shape needed to communicate in my mind is the Two Fingers stand straight up when they're trying to commune with the Greater Will.

[@xenon7617]

This video made my first run of the DLC all the more special. I defeated Mogh and entered the DLC using the Helphen Steeple. Even though I knew the weapon's description and that the Land of Shadow was sort of a dark reflexion of the Lands Between, I never made any conection and played with it just for fun. This is so cool.

[@carlcast-pr5oy]

oh about the pain and despair need to contact the outer gods reminds me of the beherits in berserk

[@valentai_777]

Also, the spirals being methods of divine information makes a ton of sense when you consider their similarity to the double helix structure of DNA. The Crucible is the source of all organic material, thus it makes sense for it be depicted (or perhaps literally take the shape of) a double helix. There are some implications that the Greater Will what was planted the Crucible, making it the progenitor of all life. This ties back into the spiral or double helix structure of Metyr’s tail staff and the Elden Beast Sacred Sword (which pairs the heaviest resemblance to a literal double helix)

[@prinnydadnope5768]

Chibi Quelaag and the editing in general were awesome Thanks for this + the content of the video

[@snefansson]

I’ve been longing for a video from you eagerly ever since the dlc came out. Went in with the helphen great sword as my main weapon so this couldn’t have been a better topic

[@mrzman150]

I've been thinking that with Marika that she was the only shaman to successfully become a saint from being jar'd. That would make sense than she was able to be trusted (besides her beauty) and be able to rise to any status to the point she was able to start her own faith. Plus would also make sense to why her children are so easily influenced by other divine encounters ( cures, and outer gods) as well as dual beingship, while all other races seem to struggle to touch any divine influences including other numan offshoots. Mix that with meeting the 2 fingers and boom everything you need to become divine.

[@AlexReyn888]

As I understand it, the Land of Shadow fit perfectly into the central part of the map of the Lands Between. I understand it in such a way that although the Erdtree gives light to the whole world - it is also not perfect and casts a shadow, and in its shadow are the lands of death and this shadow is exactly in the middle of the continent - the living do not see it and for them this part of the world has simply disappeared.

[@bluenewwave13]

excellent video as always! i would love to see you explore the suppression tower more; i think there's more to unpack about why these differing forms of death are suppressed. perhaps its simply a marker; a reminder that the golden order and the crucible before it are simply one version of rebirth?

[@Cal-Bob]

Really digging the Jerma soundbyte at 5:00

[@shiXlongXlang]

Notably, the staff of the great beyond and other divinity-invoking spiral imagery depicts spirals in unison. Their spines wind parallel. But the needle of Miquella, which blocks the influence of divinity, winds in opposition. The spines intersect, creating a distinctly different shape. It's important to not get the two confused. I wonder where else we could find these spiral motifs?