Reacting to The Lore of Elden Ring's Slumbering Demigod by VaatiVidya

[@dougflipando]

7:00 Radagon and Rennala children were not "defective", one was just big and got infected by scarlet rot, other died in body and began to dwell in a doll's body and the last fed himself to a snake, but they were "normal" beings before all that.

[@strawberrygemz2020]

I do understand her perspective though and there is something to it to think about. All of Marika's children ended up having their own perspectives that often challenged the Golden Order's parameters and even the influence of gods and outer gods. I think, if nothing else, it's almost allegorical to the fact that Marika was a mortal of this world before having her body and soul essentially merged and commandeered by the elden beast. Its a parallel to whatever percentage of "mortal brain/will" is left in Marika. The same individual will that allows her to have her own doubts about the Greater Will and even be capable of sabotaging it.

[@marzzattak]

Completely normal yep lol

[@alangantzer5289]

I was about ot said it. The 3 children born normal and were respectable people, loved by many, with loyal followers who stay with them even after the corruption.

[@moviebad109]

You could argue that each demigod has their own tragic flaw. Just in the case of Miquella and Malenia they are physical flaws, whereas for the others, it’s character flaws (with the exception of Radahn, possibly). But his reverence of Radagon in the face of that betrayal may be considered his flaw.

[@sgttebbs]

If anyone's defective it's Marika cause Mohg and Morgott were born as omen.

[@Frostbite08]

Radagon had healthy children with Rennala, and Marika had healthy children with Godfrey (unless you count the Omen twins, which I don't. They seem healthy, just different.) The only children Marika and Radagon had that were afflicted since birth were with each other.

[@kamronspencer4910]

Even taking away the horns and strength omen have endless nightmares from birth they can’t do anything about so I’m gonna count them as afflicted

[@kishirawat97]

​@@kamronspencer4910 rather than afflicted, i think it's more appropriate to see The Omen twins (Mohg and Morgott) as rather unfortunate beings. These types of things do happen even in real-life if you observe. Not sprouting horns but birth deformities. And as for the nightmare, they come as the supernatural part of being born with this deformity. Cause Mohg and Morgott are not the only Omens born in Elden ring, there are a lot and they are not Marika and Godfrey's children. Remember, being born with horns was considered as a blessing before the order of the Erd Tree.

[@kamronspencer4910]

@@kishirawat97 I mean sure but the nightmares. I feel like your just using a different word instead of afflicted. Like I think the persecution of omen in elden ring is ridiculous but that doesn’t mean it would be good to be one even if not persecuted against.

[@kishirawat97]

@@kamronspencer4910 but then again, as i said. It was a sign of good fortune that you were an omen before the age of Erd Tree. It was only after the Age of the Erd Tree that the Omen persecution began. Somewhere there things got fucked up and the blessing of being born with Horns and having the blessings of the crucible was termed as Omen Curse by the Golden Order.

[@kamronspencer4910]

@@kishirawat97 so again it’s just word play. So I’m gonna stick with endless nightmares are bad so no matter what society calls it I don’t think people would actively want to be it. Maybe non omen used to revere it but we don’t know how they felt removed from that societal expectation.

[@stop6720]

just to note, the night of the black knives when godwyn the golden was assassinated was arranged by Ranni after she stole part of the rune of death not those who live in death. It was so she could shed her empyrean body and move into the doll by killing her flesh at the same time an empyreans soul was killed

[@bish_puddin]

Which I think was a plan created by Miquella. I think they all served Miquella who had the power to bewitch people. Didn’t Godwyn create those who live in death when he died in spirit and creating the death root?

[@Behemoth9030]

And to add, Those Who Live in Death were the result of such an incident. The Deathroot comes from Godwyn post-mortem, and spread its influence throughout the Lands Between.

[@apollyon23456]

Yeah, because Ranni is the absolute worst. I would have loved a Ranni fight.would have killed her every playthrough.

[@TheMatsuoo]

I rarely watch react content but I enjoy these more than expected. It's like hanging out while a friend learns the lore of something you've been enjoying. That second hand enjoyment of a thing you've been into, and it's very chill.

[@Emmalition]

This is so nice ❤

[@ColdJoeGaming]

that is basically react conent. a friends first look into something you enjoy. not all content creators are like that but the best ones are.

[@christiandannielmacieldeli8517]

Emma is also very good at reaction videos because she actually gets emotional from the narrative. You can say it's our own "gacious gift of tears" 😅

[@FriskyBiscuit12]

Wanted to take some time to say I really appreciate your style/approach with these videos! A lot of others just watch and comment on Vaati's ideas (which is fine and enjoyable as well) but I like that you pause and give your own ideas before continuing the video and letting Vaati clarify for you. Great job 👍🏻😊

[@fdhappy6930]

Rykard was physically normal, however he got eaten by a snake on purpose.

[@DeadLog]

The fact that Vaati was right about the DLC being in miquella's dream is actually kinda crazy

[@ArvindRajAgnosticAtheist]

The Formless Mother is not The Greater Will. They are 2 separate Outer Gods. The Greater Will has the Two Fingers as it's envoys, the Elden Beast as it's Vassal and Marika as it's chosen God. The Formless Mother has only recently started showing herself, bestowing Mohg his powers and acting through him.

[@dannychefalo432]

Emma: "I don't think Miquella wanted to be kidnapped" Vaati 5 seconds later: "It may have actually been Miquella's plan to get kidnapped by Mohg" Me: 💀💀

[@Kardam_Lucifer]

@@dannychefalo432 Vaati was right lol

[@damiester1]

I hope Vaati someday covers the Aurelia and Aureliette story (stargazing jellyfish sisters are the best NPCs)

[@gurnoorsekhon6402]

Also, all the orders of erdtree are from the outer god, not from Marika. And Marika is the one who destroyed the Elden ring for an unknown reason but still it was a rebellious act against that outergod that shunned those born out of grace. The person who might be actually evil isn't Marika but radagon since he used rennala to convince children with whom he showed no connection but also, after Marika destroyed the ring, it was Radagon who was trying to fix it i.e. bring back the order that discriminates.

[@MegaCoupie]

I'm really enjoying this series of yours you're insightful and I enjoy when you talk about your own experiences

[@Emmalition]

Thank you so much ❤

[@dess1619]

The children born between Radagon and Renala were all not cursed and "Normal" for lack of a better term. Their forms in the time you play the game are entirely of their own doing. Miquella not liking those who live in death he could simply see as an affront to his brother who's body unable to die spreads deathroot which brings these undead into being.

[@reenberg3]

I just watched your reaction and i love these videos so much, i got to say i tier up every time i watch this one because of how godwin the golden gets taken away from his unger brother and sister.. it hits me so hard because you can really see in those statues how he loved them and he was there for them give us more reactions Emmalition from VaatiVidya the are truely so wonderful the stories and music is just perfect its the only way i can describe it. Most love from Denmark

[@soeintyp9393]

My theory is still that the ritual at castle Sol to bring back Godwyns soul failed because of Radahn arresting the movement of the stars, which would also explain why Malenia fought him.

[@gurnoorsekhon6402]

None of the children of rennala were afflicted. Ranni had nothing wrong with her, radahn's only "affliction" was that he was a big guy and rykard was also completely fine until he decided to eat a snake or vice versa.

[@heron619]

I think you kinda got the Formless Mother and the Greater Will confused at the end.

[@Jinzo05]

Marika is such a complex and interesting character. I'm on the camp that the Greater Will is the main antagonist of the game and the events of the game was a result of Marika's rebelion against the golden order. There's a lot of evidence that points to this. Remember she shattered the elden ring and became prisoner of the Golden Order as consequence to her actions.

[@DM-zh2kt]

Honestly, I think Miquella is grieving his brother and want him to rest in full, but don't know how to accomplish this so he slay those who live in death in hope that it help in some way. He being afflicted with eternal youth can imply that he doesn't even fully understand death, that also is shown on his efforts to stop the rot of his sister, something that is a natural part of her being.

[@Haydentrudyjones]

The “those who live in death” part is complicated, because they are a direct result of his brothers death and the death root spreading across the land. Creating the re-animated dead. Fia chooses to serve Godwyn the prince of death, because she feels those who live in death had no choice in their existence. And so, they deserve to exist just as other beings. Whether she feels they should be guided by grace, I don’t recall. So miquella seems to be on an opposing side, as he lost his brother Godwyn the Golden. And this deathroot and those who live in death, are reminders of his brother’s demise.

[@Klausete]

When Vaati says "they" is just referring to all alter Egos of Miquella. Miquella the unallowed, the fundamentalist and Saint Trina.

[@tanukimaximus1280]

loved ur video Emma, keep up the good work. I truly enjoyed this reaction. also u got something wrong, the Formless mother is a totally different outer god than the Greater will. As Marika is the envoy of Greater will, Mohg is the envoy of Formless mother. so two different gods were mentioned

[@TazKidNoah]

Your commentary does stir the pot which is refreshing compared to other reaction channels Also Miquella and Ranni would be interesting alliance if that could be possible 🤔

[@Kmaitland89]

You are forgetting that Marika is the one who started questioning the golden order. The reason she is imprisoned in the tree is because she disobeyed the golden order and shattered the Elden Ring. She was the one who started questioning things. She isn't a great person, but she isn't all bad. She was trying to break the cycle, Radagon is the one who is the golden order extremist. IF there is a "big bad" in this game, it's the Elden Ring's god. The Formless Mother isn't the outer god of the Elden Ring. The outer gods are all different.

[@RoxxSerm]

Miquella is one of the most interesting characters in all fromsoft games. So different from all the others and written very unique, at least as far as the Lore let's us know, yet.

[@vergil8833]

You absolutely need to see the video about the Age of the Duskborn right now. It's Vaatis best.

[@liquidhype3025]

I actually love Emma's theory that Marika made her children afflicted in order for no one, not even her own children to succeed her. I've never thought about that before. Super interesting!

[@Zero-Catalyst]

From the information now speculated from dlc teasers the golden epitah with its description Miquella created it so that Godwyn could be put to rest as his soul was destroyed but not body, since it is now speculated Godwyn has something to do with the dlc malformed deathroot choking out what seems to be an erdtree, Also erdtree loosely means Earth tree while Haligtree is heavenly tree or divine tree, and only Miquella was capable are creating things weapons like this. Also That is Possibly St Trina in the dlc of Elden rings artwork, we probably find her to enter into the dreams of godwyn and Miquella or just Miquella to awake him so that we can stop the deathroot spreading.

[@CoffeeBrainzz]

37:13 The latest Gen albenorics have sided with Mohg! They are all sitting in his area which is a teleport away from the Haligtree. They could make it if they wanted but they chose Mohg for some reason 🤔

[@Kevin-uz5he]

You can also see the first gen of Albinaurics in the Haligtree as cocoons

[@14megasxlr]

Let’s not make definitive statements on wether or not Marika was a “bad person”. She’s had her finger on the pulse of everything that has happens, good and bad, in the lands between, but there’s other things to consider. For one, we’ve seen first-hand, in gameplay, that the greater will has the ability to straight up brain-hack and control people(RIP Blaidd), Ranni’s whole quest line was about her trying to find a way to resist that will ever since she was named an Empyrean, and we know that basically her whole path was set forth by Marika herself, along with the Black Knives, who are all Marika’s kinswomen. We also know that Marika and Radagon are NOT necessarily of one mind, even if they are of one body. Radagon could very well have been his own fully formed individual, he could very well have actually loved Rennala and the children he has with her, but just been controlled by the Greater Will to fulfill his purpose. Marika is represented as the feminine archetype of chaos, she’s the instigator of struggles and the birther of potential, whereas Radagon is the masculine archetype of order that will ultimately try to supersede everything with force, for the better and worse. Marika is chained up by the GW and Radagon is the one it uses to fight us when we bring in a new order. Marika is the one guiding us Tarnished with grace to replace the order with pretty much anything we want to introduce to it, even entirely destroying it, while Radagon was the one trying to FIX the Elden Ring that Marika broke. Marika herself state that she didn’t even trust the greater will, and wanted to take apart the Elden Ring to truly understand it. In her own mind, life was about struggle and ambition, while it seems all Radagon wanted was a peaceful family and a stable world to raise one in. Personally, I believe the weight of all the misery and war and death she inflicted on behalf of the GW was starting to get to Marika right around the time she decided to commit the shattering. Maybe she was an ambitious, but not very powerful or noteworthy at the start, and whatever contract she signed, whatever part of herself she gave the greater will in order to gain the influence she had, came at the cost of always having a part of herself willing to contravene everything she ever did that went against the order. Maybe that’s what Radagon truly is. I feel like there are some parallels I could make here about how modern women are fed lies by greater powers that they can be happy and have everything and do everything without any consequence. Maybe Marika was just sweet talked or coerced into believing what she was doing was good for everyone and even better for herself, and the power of the GW justified all the horrible shit she did. Then her kids came out fucked up by that stupid logic, and she had to reevaluate everything she ever did.

[@TroyeMackenzie]

12:37 What if that’s why Radagon left the great rune of the unborn with Rennala? To prevent Marika’s ability to procreate a viable empyrean? If Marika’s also behind the Night of the Black Knives, she’s responsible for Ranni’s loss of empyrean status as well.

[@1NotN]

the theory is Marika children both the omen kids and the inflicted twins where done so because of the greater will why isnt clear but most guess its because she started doing things the greater will wasnt happy about such as removing the rune of death. the theory essentially states that her children being inflicted is why Markia actually fully betrays the greater will n shatters the Elden ring. she used to be previously completely devoted to the greater will (elden beast). this is backed up by the fact when you see her she is destroyed by the greater will and imprisoned n when you enter the greater will releases her but Radgon who is still faithful to the greater will and the golden order is the one who attacks you. they share a body but have completely different personalities and just fyi it isnt clear if they always shared a body or not so no one knows that or how they had children.

[@theworstcatholic7247]

Also keep in mind when it comes to Ranni, thematically her being it in makes sense. If the DLC is about Miquella, it will be about Godwyn and the eclipse, if it's about him, then the one who caused his suffering, Ranni, makes sense as well. (Along with perhaps Melina being another big deal of death as the gloam eyed queen. Godwyn being the prince of death.) It will likely be in a dreamscape. So we ourselves could kill Ranni in it potentially to take it, making it so we can fight and take out all the demigods in game if we want. Unlike currently. Or the less interesting route, we'll likely grab it from where she discarded it, the dark moon. Also keep in mind that Great Runes do not = endings. They are just gameplay mechanics (Other than needing any of two of them to get into Lyndell and beat the game.), be it adding 5 levels to every stat with Godrick, or getting a nerfed version of the Rally system from bloodborne from Malenia, or getting a percentage boost to FP, HP and Stamina with Radahn(plus a little buff against rot). So if anything if it effected her ending it'd be strange. Also getting to see what Ranni actually looked like for the boss fight would also be neat, after all if we can't fight her she'd be the only demigod we don't fight, plus it'd be strange as she's the cause for all the current suffering caused by the shattering. She deserves a good stabbing most of her siblings.

[@Schunn]

I think you may be on to something with Radagon being the common denominator for the curses/afflictions of the children. It’s implied that after Marika succeeded in defeating the Giants, the Giants and or their God (The One-Eyed God) cursed her. The curse of the Giants is symbolized by Radagon’s red hair (which he is said to have despised). My guess is that Marika was looking for a way to be reborn and likely used the Amber Egg (that would later be given to Rennala) to create her alter ego Radagon in hopes of lifting her curse, but it didn’t quite work. All of the children Radagon and Rennala had together all have red hair, Radahn in particular would eventually grow to Giant size. Giving up, Marika/Radagon abandoned Rennala and decided to see if by merging into one being she could solve the problem and the results were arguably worse with both Miquella and Malenia having their own curses.

[@strawberrygemz2020]

I mean I was always skeptical of this perspective because I haven't heard where these implications actually come from, but the way you put it actually has me reconsidering..

[@Schunn]

@@strawberrygemz2020 honestly, my only source of evidence for the Giants cursing Marika is the Giant’s Red Braid item description. For me this interaction offers some explanation of why Marika bothered to become a different person and why so many of her kids were cursed. I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that Marika’s favorite kids seem to be Godwyn and Miquella, (they both both have her Golden hair).

[@Powerful_TDFAM]

I think miquella is stuck where he is in the cocoon because of what mohg did. He may be constantly trying to bleed and make his tree grow, but he doesn't know that he was removed from the tree already. Meanwhile, mohg was lured to him because he used his own blood to water the tree. It's a circular problem that keeps him stuck. If anything, maybe now that mohg is gone, miquella can potentially break free? I just hope DLC goes more into miquella and what he has become after the influence of mohg.

[@aranthur]

Only a couple minutes in lol, but I just thought I would put in my opinion on one thing. That I think having an empyrean child to replace her as god has been Marika's goal all along After none of her children with Godfrey were empyreans but Ranni was, she dumped Godfrey and married Radagon after all. And then there is a direct quote from her where she implores her children to become a lord or a god. The entire shattering of the Elden Ring may have been her attempting to push Miquella and/or Malenia into growing stronger and reaching their divine destiny through conflict and pain, sort of like how Gowry does with Millicent She wants to be the founder of an eternal dynasty of gods As for the afflictions, I think they may be a sort of side-effect of Marika's meddling with the forces of nature to ensure she gets what she wants

[@caluwebrendbc]

There is a theory that only women can be a god because they need to be able to birth. That's why none of the males are empyreans. Miquella is the only irregular who is chosen as empyrean, but he/she/them is often represented as a girl and st trina is also a girl who is the alter ego of miquella. So maybe that has something to do with it. Dlc will hopefully clarify a lot. The male will be the elden lord and the female the God, this could be the reason why Godwyn had to be killed because he could've been the elden lord chosen for Ranni when she would become a god. Tarnished archeologist has some nice video's on it

[@Nokotron]

Ranni was not a child of Godfrey

[@Haydentrudyjones]

Also, lastly 😂 I’m beginning to think Marika might not be so saintly either… she is called Marika the Eternal. Which supports your theory, she doesn’t want to be replaced. Her removing the rune of death and sealing it away with her shadow, ensuring that no one truly dies, also supports this theory. She wants to be able to live and rule eternally. That is just a theory out of likely many :) part of me also sort of reveres her, for her choice to shatter the ring not only in response to the death of her son, but because she had begun to doubt the Golden order. Perhaps although power hungry for the majority of her rule prior, maybe the shattering was her way of opening up the way for another Elden lord and another God of the new age

[@aundreyyakar1272]

I believe she is called "The Eternal" because she removed the great rune of death from the Elden Ring thus removing destined death. No one dies a normal death anymore they just return to the roots of the Erdtree and then are reborn.

[@Haydentrudyjones]

@@aundreyyakar1272 yes I know that as well, and that could just be the obvious lore explanation behind it. One of many likely, less obvious, *theories is the Eternal also implicates her desire (whether previous or current) to rule, eternally. Which removing the rune of death would allow her to do

[@Thatguypat]

@@Haydentrudyjones An issue with this theory is that it's implied that Marika helped Ranni with her plan to assassinate Godwin and herself during the Night of Black Knives and her aid is why Ranni was even able to secure a fragment of the rune of death in the first place. Seems like a weird action to take if Marika was totally against supporting her potential replacements, of which Ranni was one.

[@Haydentrudyjones]

@@Thatguypat ahh - I had forgotten that. I want Marika to be Benevolent, so I hope for the best

[@adammanuel3160]

@@Thatguypat Well, we do know from Maliketh's remembrance that Marika betrayed him, and we also know that Marika likely shattered the ring in an attempt to give the Demigods, and later the Tarnished, the ability to create a new order, and free herself from the control of the Greater Will. There's a bit of evidence that Ranni's theft of the Rune of Death was supported by Marika, especially considering Marika's relationship to the Black Knife Assassins.

[@JoeCoolMaveric]

27:15 Not only that, but finishing Millicent's questline is the only way to get Miquella's Needle, which can also prevent the Lord of Frenzy Flame Ending from occurring. Like, it's easy for me to like Miquella because a lot of his goals align with my own; to tell the Outer Gods to fuck off.

[@adipramana7]

3:33 it wasn’t until this precise moment that I’ve ever considered the logistics of Marika and Radagon making kids, thanks for that 😂

[@toms1313]

Same! I started to laugh and immediately went "i mean... How?"

[@caluwebrendbc]

self fertilization is a better word for it and it does exist in our world

[@DerpyBerb]

41:22 I just realized…They wanted the moon(Ranni’s whole deal) to swallow the golden sun (Golden Son Godwyn)… Sol, as in soul, and the moon would be in front, as in, what we could see much like how we can’t see a soul, but we can see bodies. Miq wanted to reverse the process of the body and soul being destroyed or he wanted them to merge, perhaps like Marika and Radagon are 1. Perhaps the moon in the sky and the sun in the sky are the result of their deaths; their dead parts.

[@forgottengames6663]

You should watch his Dark Souls 1 lore, it will immensely add to the experience of your DS1 playthrough and he has a whole video dedicated to Izalith, which I know was a major area of intrigue for you

[@Razielts1]

3:29 they were separate people that were a part of each other and could fuse at the same time. So they did i think after birthing the children.

[@Noizzed]

Miquella being a reference to Griffith is quite an understatement, he is almost the same character. -Both possess figures with androgynous features. -Both are incredible charismatic and eloquent, almost to a manipulative extent. -Both have this big, ambitious dreams that they will do anything for. -Miquella was called the mightiest of Demi-gods, and Griffith's might certainly was unmatched. -Both had someone that will give everything for them, and Griffith, ended up betraying them. -Both were trying to be reborn of an egg, Griffith managed so.

[@fa11en82]

So I understand where the confusion comes from, thinking that all of the demigod children are afflicted from birth. Technically, only the sets of twins are afflicted from birth. The Omen twins affliction may stem from the omens connection to the crucible, while the empyrean twins were parented by the same being who withdrew the rune of death from the elden ring, thus emparting different but similar afflictions related to life and death. There's lots of possibilities when it comes to the Soul's Borne story, and it's all up to interpretation. This is just how I saw it.

[@Ecch0lt]

If you are invested in elden ring's lore I highly recommend Tarnished Archeologist and Hawkshawk videos. both of them give such mindblowing visions about the game's lore that are incredible. the two videos of the two I recommend most are "Elden ring color theory" and the "Elden Ring's cycle of life Trilogy".

[@Tancred85]

Well, no need to feel guilty - I’m subbed to you and Vaati so it’s all one big community :D I’m enjoying the reaction videos though, very much here to listen to you discussing whatever comes to mind ^_^

[@aranthur]

Okay, finished the video now, and it was another great one! Excited for the next 🙂 Also, not sure if you noticed, but when you walk into her boss room, Malenia is sleeping with her hand touching the hand of the giant tree woman that Vaati pointed out

[@reenberg3]

At this moment i have not watched your video yet but I have been waiting for more reactions from you to vaatividya's elden ring Lore ❤️

[@leonlacroix2638]

19:00 miquella essentially said no zombies. Those that live in death being the skeletons, death rite birds etc. I'd agree that would make a utopia pretty hard 😂

[@marcusnoble5512]

The formless mother had no connection to Marika outside of Mohg. She didn't "send" her or anything like that. Also Ranni killed Godwyn.

[@frogpuff1910]

My theory as to why the eclipse ritual failed is that uh…… radahn. As we all know, he used gravity magic to “stop” the stars, and the sun is a star, so….. it would be kind of hard to have an eclipse if that sun is being held back right? If the timelines match up, id say thats a pretty likely reason why it failed. Or of course miquella was wrong, im just saying if he WAS right this would most likely be the reason to its failure right? Or am i reaching here

[@moviebad109]

As to how they find it, likely just finding hooks in areas that look like there’s more to them. Sometimes, and I’m being 100% serious, discovering cut content can be as simple as finding commented out code (code that the developers marked as “not active”) and uncommenting it. Sometimes it’s just finding all the active connections in the code and then trying to find functions/actors/etc that have no references in the active game code. It’s very interesting, and definitely extremely time consuming work, but as a programmer, it is a very easy process. Now…restoring it to a state that actually WORKS? That’s a whole different beast. Finding the code and getting it to run are wildly different propositions. That’s where it gets impressive to me. The fact that these people manage to reverse engineer this content back into the game. Not just locate the files and scripts and actor ls and stuff, but the ability to re-implement them is astounding to me.

[@cepcooper5986]

Godwyn was the only normal one, and he came from godfrey and marika, but morgott and mohg came from there too, i would hazard a guess that MARIKA is the problem, since she and radagon are the same

[@benjaminyang8476]

Don't know if this message will get seen but you should check out "smoughtown" channel. He has a Marika video that targets an uncommon opinion that I think is very reasonable. His content isn't as high quality as vaati but he structures the videos well. He goes over many connecting and has a lot of good speculations to fill in gaps, I high recommend you check out his Marika video. Also the newest video he has is about Godfrey and the purpose of the tarnished which is really interesting you should also check that out.

[@Nobodyandthegiant]

You need to watch Tarnished Archaeologist's stuff! He found albinaurics inside the haligtree

[@kain361]

Regarding the murder of Godwyn, it is believed, that despite being orchestrated by Ranni actually, there was a different aim. An empyrean cannot fully die. I think both Godwyn and Ranni were slain at the same time to confuse the system. So while Godwyn perished in spirit, Ranni perished only in body, thus allowing her to break free from shackles of being an empyrean, because it's what she hated the most. Technically it was a suicide.

[@oggblomskulk]

Radagon exists alright, his hammer upon my cranium confirms as much 💀

[@GsusCrust]

I know this is an old video but I wanted to say that because of the way Fromsoft incorporates their DLC into their games I can 100% see them giving us a way to find Ranni's rune without having to do her ending. We have DLC's going back in time, going forward in time, DLC's in dreams and even some teleporting us to other lands. But something they all have in common is that they are not ending adjecent. Most of the time they are supposed to be done in the later part of your playthrough ASIDE from the main quest, almost like a detour. So yeah I can see the DLC taking place in a new land, with a new goal and in between that goal we find her rune. Who knows, I'm just guessing here but maybe we go back in time and she ends up discarding the rune by giving it to us 😳

[@Vladek16]

58:00 it could be the reason, or it's just Mohg ambition. He wants to build a dynasty but he needs an empyrean who will bear the Elden Ring so that he could become her Lord

[@14megasxlr]

I always thought that the turban horn guys were related to the Albinaurics, because this game is very specific about what color blood enemies have and how it relates them. Everything the leaves silver or white blood seems to be descended from the Nox, Nightfolk, and Numem lineages. so, the Silver Tears, the 1st and 2nd Gen Albinaurics… AND this dumpy lookin horn guys that are both in Leyndell AND the Haligtree.

[@koschan7469]

think the children of Marika and Radagon were all born with some sickness or defect bc Miyazaki considered selfcest the same as incest the fact that Rennala's kids were all healthy and Godfrey's were i guess just unlucky to be born omens supports this idea

[@Alam220696]

You should definitely watch Tarnished Archaelogists videos on elden ring lore. Mind blowing amount of compelling lore and draws on real life history.

[@deschain1910]

I see Marika as a victim of the Elden Beast and the Greater Will. Most of what we see her doing that seems terrible could be argued to be either at their behest or in an attempt to weaken their influence.

[@Frostbite08]

I really think Vaati is on to something with the Miquella-Griffith connection. There's a lot of similarities. They're both androgynous/genderfluid, they're both known for using social skills to get what they want, they both put together a band of outcasts, they both attempted to cause an eclipse, and they both attempted to be reborn as something stronger than they were.

[@strawberrygemz2020]

I didn't even put together that the ppl in the haligtree could be considered a parallel to the band of the hawk... even if there's already one reference to the band of the hawk in the eternal cities.

[@strawberrygemz2020]

I still hope it doesn't go down that same road though. I almost feel like it would be too predictable for Miyazaki to straight up go for the same Berserk angle AGAIN. I would really love for this DLC story to show a new approach to his writing.

[@Frostbite08]

@@strawberrygemz2020 I would be very surprised if they did a direct 1 to 1 translation. But I'd also be surprised if they didn't have something similar in mind. You could easily write a Griffith-like character as an anti-hero instead. I'd argue that probably works even better in a Souls game, where purely good or purely evil characters are a rarity.

[@Firespec]

Exactly the video I want to see on my feed.

[@ScissorsRockinPaper]

I’ve been waiting on this since the last elden ring video

[@jakubchalupa2845]

Thinking about it, Rennala must have known that Radagon was Marika, right? If a mere sculptor, if Miriel is to be believed, saw the truth about Radagon, then Rennala, who had three kids with "him" would surely know as well. And ever since I saw that all statues of Marika in Liurnia and the academy were destroyed, presumably by order of Rennala, I wondered whether or not Rennala was in a relationship with Marika and Radagon was merely a pretense for a political union. Purely speculation of course

[@sleepyrowe]

You should check out TheTarnishedArcheologist. He does great lore videos and his newest one on what makes an empyrean is pretty wild. I’m a big lore nerd when it comes to this game and that was the most “man, let me take a seat cause wtf” lore video I’ve seen.

[@Knightiful]

Godwyn is such a cool character...

[@TehAdmireOG]

Marika wants to be replaced, she doesn't want to be conjoined to the greater will anymore, which is why she shattered the Elden Ring / Herself, she wants out. The 4 endings where we become Elden Lord, she is just stuck there, as a statue, for seemingly forever now, which is quite tragic to think about.

[@nihal.organa]

While I totally agree that Marika was a horrible person and bloodlust war-provoking queen, Melina makes me think she, to some extent, had regrets of some of her actions. Because Melina says her life's purpose was given her by her mother (and while not official we all agree it's very likely her mother was Marika), and her purpose was to burn the erdtree. If Marika did not have regrets, she would never hurt the tree she helped promote all her life. I wish we had more content for Melina, especially if she had any relationship with her supposedly brothers and sisters

[@alberthollow1786]

So the thing is about Rennala's children.When Marika declared war on the fire giants and killed them all but one,the last fire giant who you met,cursed her to have red hair like them,so when she split herself(that is working on the theory if radagon and marika were always the same person) radagon continued to have the red hair instead of her.That's why,when Radahn got older he got this big.He was actually a pretty cool guy before he fought malenia and she pulled a cheap move by blooming and nuking the entire continent of caelid(and by extension,giving Radahn what's basicly brain rot,reducing him to a wild animal) and that's why Radahn is in the state he is when you meet him.Ranni is blue and has four arms bc during the night of the black knives when Godwyn died in soul,she also used a dagger on herself and killed her own body and lived on inside a doll made in the image of her mentor(a frost witch or whatever called Renna).And Rykard,well...he is just special

[@bish_puddin]

Miquella planned all of this. It is why he had Melina give us Torrent and why Ranni trusts us after learning we go t Torrent. He was the one behind the killing of Godwyn and all I know is I can’t wait for the dlc. Miquella had the power to bewitch people and got many to follow him. Mohg and Ranni being two of the people that served him

[@Vladek16]

2:12 Miquella is a bit like dark sun gwyndolin from Dark Souls, it's a boy but treated like a girl. All empyrean in Elden Ring are girl supposedly because they have to take the Elden Ring inside them, as if it was a baby, Miquella being treated as if it was a woman goes in that direction (it wouldn't be the first time from software does that, even marika and radagon are a kind of weird magic transgender)

[@MrBedZeppelin]

Reacting to music, Movies or even Reaction Videos are FAR less taxing on your hands, physically, many people are doing them, just a thought for YOU! Thanks for the awesome vid!!

[@nellainsilfeign2592]

I believe you’re thinking that the common denominator is actually Marika not Radagon. Cos Marika and Godfrey had children that were born afflicted (Morgott and Mohg). Marika had children w herself that were born afflicted (Malenia, Miquella) but Radagon and Renala’s kids (Ranni, Radahn, Rykard) weren’t born afflicted but they became afflicted after

[@educatedlaziness3268]

Miquella's misgivings towards those who live in death might be from seeing their existance as an insult to Godwyn's memory

[@Shad0wmoses]

Its great to see you reacting to regular lore videos then maxors videos lol. the contrast between the two provides some entertainment and lulz.

[@-Zagreus-]

Im probabbly wrong but i always saw the affliction of the twins to be caused by the meddling of other outer gods trying to plant their influence and because marika fucked herself they were seen as perfect candidates such as marika had the elden beast in her

[@BlueMoonFuzz]

I suspect that the defects of children has something to do with the rune of the unborn being givin to ranala before leaving

[@theworstcatholic7247]

Rykard, Ranni, and Radahn (All children of the two R's) were f'd up by outside sources, either by their own doing(Ranni/Rykard) or someone else's(Radahn). Marika and Godfrey (The Golden Lineage) were one good egg, and two that were born screwed up due to an outside source (That being the crucible.). Whereas Malenia and Miquella were screwed up at birth. Think about it as a form of godly incest (or even further, selfcest) being Marika and Radagon, humans get human esque deformities, gods get cosmic std's and eternal moghlester bait. Keep in mind there is more than enough proof and hints that just because they are one soul, does make them one body or mind when this happened. (in fact the NPC's D really show their relationship well in my opinion in a smaller scale.) Dialogue of Marika has her outright saying Radagon is yet to become her, implied to be soon before she causes the shattering, long after the creation of the twins. So they could of easily done it the 'normal way' so to speak. This is late but hope it helps.

[@DamienTenebrous]

Just a thought but the symbolism of the eclipse restoring a demigod that has lost their soul could come from witnessing the event itself. The sun in eclipse is like a soulless demigod, once a being of light and power hollowed out and darkened; perhaps making a connection to this celestial event, whether it to be an outer god or perhaps a force of nature/natural phenomenon. With the connection made the soul of the demigod would then be restored just as the glory of the sun is restored when the eclipse ends. This plan was always doomed to fail though, because how can an eclipse occur when the movement of the heavens was stalled by the scourge.... Perhaps this is why Malenia met this menace on the battlefield with an almost desperate need for victory.

[@xandercorvin1947]

I guess the burning question is.... were Radagon and Marika two separate being while Radagon was married to Rennala and had Ranni, Radaan and Rykard and merged when he returned to the capital, or during their marriage they were merged but only Radagon was the dominant personality with red hair style....

[@cynreiusacari3163]

A good question since a number believe Ranni has no blood connection to Rennala and is from the amber egg instead to meet the requirements to be an empyrean. Likely Rennala didn’t care (science experiment).

[@kilambrown4302]

It seems more likely they are similar to the D twins, they carry the same soul, but exist in separate locations. Also Radagon was married to Renala while Godfrey was still 1st Elden Lord, and returned to Leyndel after Matika sent Godfrey away

[@xandercorvin1947]

@@kilambrown4302 Miriel mentioned something about Godfrey…after he was hounded from the lands between Radagon was called back to the Erdtree capital….he MUST have been married to Rennala already while Godfrey was still consort to Marika.

[@xandercorvin1947]

@@cynreiusacari3163 pfff….I heard some versions of this Ranni not being Rennala offspring theories….and it’s blowing my brain…

[@xandercorvin1947]

Hmmm….Ranni not being Rennala’s biological daughter is the kinda theory, I am unable to comprehend! Is she a lab rat…. Conjured by Radagon with the Queen? Seem to be far fetched…

[@DerpyBerb]

I always thought Marika became God, ruled for a bit, got too close to the source, found out a lot about the Greater Will and the Erdtree, created a group of people without the Greater Will’s golden power, made them get strong on their own. Strong enough to come back and uproot the current order. I always thought she was currently against the greater will and the Elden ring but there’s many ways to interpret this.

[@Kevin-uz5he]

We still might see Ranni in the DLC if we go to a Dream World because she's constantly "sleeping" from the weak body of the doll she controls. Maybe my buddy Rogier and Malenia too since they both are "sleeping".

[@ciaranbladezero5075]

I think Rennala's kid were born fine, they were just problematics lol specially Rykard and Ranni

[@Haydentrudyjones]

Part of me thinks that, regarding the amount of *cursed or *defective children marika has birthed… that either 1.) there is something going on within her ability to reproduce, genetically if you will. She has given birth to 2 omens, and 2 vulnerable twins. Or 2.) it is a byproduct of the inner workings of the Erd tree and the crucible, the erd tree’s power being directly expressed through Marika as she is it’s vassal. Or the vassal of the greater will more specifically.

[@caluwebrendbc]

malenia and miquella are prob the way they are because they come from marika basically have sex with herself. Incest can causes a lot of deformations. The omens could be a product from grafting the erdtree on the greattree roots. In botany when a plant is grafted on another plants roots, the roots can regrow the original plant from the roots, this is considered a bad omen for the plant which was grafted onto it, and it won't stay healthy. The omens could be the original greattree seeping through marika because the erdtree was in bad health. They are shunned because they indicate the health golden order era was in decline.

[@heron619]

The parallels between Griffith (from Berserk) and Miquella that Vaati mentions towards the end really makes it sound like if the DLC is about him that he might be the main boss that we fight in the end! There's a whole bunch more similarities between the two characters that you could count for ever such as being good at compelling affection from others, childlike nature, feminine aspects, dreamers, mentions of an eclipe at castle sol, pretty blonde boys so on and so on!

[@strawberrygemz2020]

I just hope that for once we can have a relatively positive corner of the lore where Miquella is actually just a cool fuckin homey

[@strawberrygemz2020]

Because it feels like Miquella is being written to (possibly) actually have a genuine love for all forms of life. Not to mention he is also meant to be an extension of the pure concept of abundance and flourishing, being a vessel for the rune of that literal concept..and almost born from it? It does get confusing there since.. what are the implications of a single God "creating" a new being from itself.. you could almost philosophically argue that the "child" of a sole "god" could be considered to be similar to the relationship between a brain and an idea?? I get this sounds weird but you gotta think, like.. if born of a single being.. what CAUSES their birth?? Its not like Marika, as a God, is really part of any branch of race or species anymore. Like sure she was a Numen but what REALLY is her metaphysical being anymore, right? She's not just some asexual plant now, she's a God who MADE -NEW- living beings from herself solely. Idk this stuff keeps me up at night lol

[@1NotN]

at first i was like how because Griffith is an evil self center bastard he uses people as tools because he see's himself as better but then you comparisons actually made sense personally they are very diffrent people tho griffth does try to display himself as person who acts like Miquella Miquella based on what we know was a decent being wh seek to help his sister push out the influence of outer gods n support those that will had scorn so personality wise they completely different but physically n the aspect of being alluring is definitely undeniable

[@CodeeXD]

Griffith has white hair though

[@Leothemoose]

You should make a video discussing which FromSoftware has your favourite lore/story, you could do like a top three. I'm sure we'd all love to see it !

[@Truestoned0]

Miqulla is definitely Griffith almost god-like figure to all the weak that need him but his path to get there it's probably just as brutal

[@Sydistic]

It would make sense that Miquella is also st Trina if you consider his parents being alter egos of the same person

[@MrBedZeppelin]

There are SEVEN walking mausoleums, in game. Margot, Mohg, Ranni, Radahn, Rykard, Melania and Miquella. Seven Demi Gods, coincidence.?

[@kamronspencer4910]

Rykard. Ranni, and radagn were all born normal and ended up weird later in life due to circumstances of their lives. But of all the kids born where marika is the mom only godwyn is normal. 2 are omen and two are cursed so if anyone has the children issue it’s marika not her male half radagon

[@Haydentrudyjones]

I am so fascinated with Miquella, I really hope the DLC is centered around telling us more of his story. Whether it be the past or present/future. So mysterious and beautiful, and I wonder what his idea of order was, and was it one we tarnished might have wanted to establish given the choice? Also eff Mohg *sad face*

[@ishfaqhamza6607]

Amazing as ever Emma

[@jadearbuckle4152]

The way I understood it was that marika was trying to break away from the greater will and she used everyone she could to do so. It didn't even matter to her if she was using her own children.

[@demontaco4116]

Lol I love your videos, it's always awesome to see others so interested in the lore and the stories that these games and their characters have to tell. I just find it very funny sometimes your reaction to some of the information lol like 3 mins into the video: "The school told Radaghan to go fuck himself and he took that literally. So we are definitely saying that he and Marika are the same person, just want to make sure we are on the same page here." When Vaati has said that for I think 4 videos now lol maybe 3 and you agreed in those all before. xD I'm sorry it just made me laugh and I thought it was funny.

[@sarahIcommented]

5:09 Goddamnit George!

[@nightcorewb4949]

Let's goooooo! Hope you can react to the Duskborn video soon.

[@strawberrygemz2020]

I just know that if Miquella is actually dead, then the DLC is probably gonna be super dark, creepy, and we might even end up fighting some messed up, horrifying cursed version of Miquella that almost resembles Godwyn's corpse but more like an octopus-headed, lovecraftian nightmare.... which unfortunately would also be ABSOLUTELY SICK and soooo Bloodborne