[Relaxing Music] Elden Ring DLC: Shaman Village / 巫子の村 - 1 Hour Ambient BGM

[@zam00132]

"Marika bathed the village of her home in gold, knowing full well that there was no one to heal."

[@FSVR54]

it's a game...

[@caramelgore]

they're quoting the game ​@@FSVR54

[@VeryCabbage]

@@FSVR54 yeah everyone's aware of that

[@madhousestudios5214]

@@FSVR54🎣

[@average4154]

Reading that hit so hard. Marika bathing her home village in gold seems to be a coping mechanism of hers. It made this beautiful village leave a bad taste even tho its beautiful. Miyazaki had to do it to us.

[@phalanx1234]

"What was her prayer? Her wish, her confession? There is no one left to answer, and Marika never returned home again."

[@ZettontheGOAT]

So Marika is the last survivor of her village?

[@damienjohnson3450]

@@ZettontheGOAT So it seems.

[@ZettontheGOAT]

@@damienjohnson3450 damn, that's why she went heartless i guess

[@phalanx1234]

@@ZettontheGOAT Yes. Unless we count the jar people we find...

[@ZettontheGOAT]

@@phalanx1234 yeah, fucked up, found those jars in Bonny Gaol and was like 🤨

[@Jay_Vee1]

Remember how the last verse of the harpies' song is "Golden One, at whom were you so angry?" Now, we know the answer.

[@gabrieldocafe8129]

HOLY SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT THAT

[@Coleman_H]

someone on reddit said in regards to the genocide of the Hornsent: "She couldn't save her people so instead got revenge."

[@하늘하늘-d3s]

이 댓글이 영상을 관통했네

[@ChocolateEffigy]

Herself for being a hypocrite 😂

[@bungiecrimes7247]

@@Coleman_H Practically she replaced them.

[@Tostilocos.]

DLC just made Marika’s story, if not the entire game, a tragedy.

[@axios4702]

It always was.

[@seanfussa3076]

it's really become clear that this story is about marika inflicting her personal trauma on as many people as possible and how that wracks her family and the lands that she ruled. All but 3 of her and radagon's children are murderers, torturers, warmongers, and fanatics.

[@giovannigiorgio831]

Marika is a tragic villain. After breaking free and becoming a god, she enacted her revenge, optimistically believing that she was building a better world, only to continually inflict pain and suffering upon others. All the while, she became more cynical and tyrannical, treating any deemed unworthy with scorn, becoming the same as her former captors. I think, at the end of it all, Marika wanted to die, to be truly free. That’s why I think Ranni’s quest line is considered the good ending because the world has been separated from the Greater Will, and Marika can finally rest in peace.

[@Selia-xm6ei]

@@giovannigiorgio831 almost right....until you just made another justificaton for the doll who murdered her brother. Like history repeating itself like marika? but as long the tarnished isnt maidenless anymore right?

[@dylans1523]

@@Selia-xm6eiI think the Ranni killing Godwyn was much like a group of individuals overthrowing a dictator to reclaim their home. A bad thing that happens so better things can hopefully come from it. It’s as good as can be gotten from that I suppose though

[@ooccttoo]

Something else to consider: that sprout has been sitting there for hundreds if not thousands of years. It's still alive and it even seems healthy, but it never grew into a tree. In the time it's been sitting there, never growing beyond a few metres tall, empires have risen and fallen, the Erdtree itself has been burned and regrown and burned again, but it still sits there as a sprout. It makes you wonder if it's a symbol of Marika herself, the part of her that will always be the child who was taken from her family.

[@silenthero2795]

Its basically a time capsule as no one is there anymore to tend to it. Other minor erdtrees grow from corpses brought into its roots serving as catacombs but this one is stunted and yet still alive. Its worth noting that most erdtrees usually has tree spirits or avatars guarding but this one has 2 tree sentinels from far away. If you think about it, this is what Godrick or D wants when they talk about "honeyed rays of gold" or "bathed in gold". This little place is their ideal home but Marika would never see it as a home anymore knowing its history.

[@dogmat8733]

I think it’s pretty neat to that despite its small stature, it glows the most brilliantly of the Minor Erdtree’s. As if without being bloated by corpses, it’s light is the most pure and sacred.

[@BloodyArchangelus]

@@dogmat8733 like Bonfire.

[@Nparalelo]

Interesting connection to her son, too, as Miquella also doesn't age or grow.

[@allenallen108]

@@silenthero2795beautifully put.

[@grantzu]

"there was no one left to answer, and marika never returned home again." how can a single sentence be so heartbreaking man

[@ComptonFunk]

I have a feeling that Marika was born a normal sweet girl, the hornsent became overconfident and greedy due to their strength, forcing the shamans to merge with pots against their will, Marika somehow managed to escape and when she gained power she took revenge through Messmer by having her son attack the hornsent however she hid Messmer from the golden order but Marika loves all her children and couldn't leave Messmer alone, or so he thought. Godwyn seemed like a child born of love and kindness, his death certainly proving that even gods can die. Marika had everything taken from her, messmer, as her first child perhaps, was the first time she was given something to live, love and die for again, but he was seen as unclean because of the snake in his eyes by the golden order, so Marika hid him because she loved all her children, the omens Margit and Mohgwyn showed Marika how her actions haunted her, even as a goddess there was something that showed her she was not perfect or infallible, she killed all hornsent except her own children, the love for them and the trauma the hornsent did to her endures, she can't forget but she can't stop loving either, godwyn seen as a golden child and probably the greatest of all Marika's loves died in the dark night, whereupon she broke the Elden Ring so that godwyn would not be purified and reborn by the golden grace, but that is exactly what led to godwyn never being able to die completely and since then she has never had another child like him no matter how many times or with whom she tried. Marika seems sad, hurt and misunderstood. She just wanted to live in peace and quiet, she seems as if she expected nothing from the world and was disappointed anyway...

[@CrescentCrusader99]

@@ComptonFunk FACTS

[@Shurashina]

You can almost see her “planting” the tree, as the wind hits her golden locks and they fight against the current of wind as she takes one last look at her village before walking away, never to return again . Honestly reading those 2 item descriptions legitimately hit my emotions

[@madeline6951]

I like how Elden Ring reflects the main conflict musically. On the title screen, you hear both of the leitmotifs, Marika's and Radagon's. Marika's motif represents the beginning of her journey, and Radagon's - the end (his boss theme is literally called "The Final Battle"). Elden Ring is all about dualities, and all of those dualities inevitably lead to Marika's duality as Mother and Father, as shaman and god, as eternal and imprisoned. All children born of one god are cursed twins, and all of them represent her failings: the burning of the Scadutree, genocide of Hornscent, persecution of Omen, imperfection and lies of her Order - her "fickleness" as Goldmask's Mending Rune puts it. Literally every single thing about her is subverted and ultimately turned against her. She presented as one true god, but was two in one being. She wanted to establish her own Order, but destroyed it. She wanted to be free from oppression, but godhood became her ultimate prison, with even her other self holding her hostage. I don't know if there's a more tragic story in From's repertoire. It's like all the symbology of the previous games poured into one character.

[@Ω3103ζ]

^ this guy gets it

[@ChrisSummers-AlienFaeRE]

It's just a lesson in matriarchal failure. That and fatherless behaviour / mommy issues.

[@AlexCatable]

Damn, man, reading your comment hit me hard... 😢

[@manzazuu97]

it's Hegel

[@CrescentCrusader99]

I’d say the closest to Queen Marika would be King Vendrick.

[@ViceroyIcarus]

the sorrow, the mourning, the anger, Marika must had felt placing this sprout must have been beyond words.

[@FSVR54]

lol, it's a game

[@ViceroyIcarus]

@@FSVR54 you have no imagination.

[@corruptVz]

@@ViceroyIcarus and you radiate autism

[@savant557]

@@FSVR54 you a bum bro i seen you say this in 2 replies who knows how many more, learn to have fun

[@gilchristdavid8473]

I would look at it differently, the Joy and pride she must feel to show her home how far she are grown. Tho the shamans can't be found her people still exist. The black knifes are all said to be numen.

[@Good_games555]

I LOVE IT when video games utilize music as one of their storyteller. This tune, for example, is gently telling us, like a mother who is reading bedtime stories to her children, *"Long, long time ago, there was a little village."*

[@colossaltitan3546]

That's true and all, but for me it just gives me PTSD of Elden beast, pre-torrent xD

[@Colesign]

"...𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱."

[@kikkidock]

Who else was travelling at night and got shocked at this place when turning from the road curve to this view? Me and a friend spent almost an hour there when we found it. I will never forget this moment. Another Fromsoftware undeletable memory.

[@IvanovSP1]

How do they do it. Time and time again?

[@iamMildlyUpsetWithMostOfYouTub]

Idk why but out of nowhere while chilling here, it hit me that this game that made quite an impact on my life, is really done. There’s no 2nd surprise dlc, there will be no ER 2, this is truly it. It’s all dwindling players and less engagement from here. Everyone will move on but will I? Just a bunch of existential stuff :p

[@latiaos11]

Im so glad I found it at night too, i could not believe my eyes

[@kikkidock]

@@iamMildlyUpsetWithMostOfYouTub when that thought dawned on me, I legit cried. I felt it heavy because to me it was like a two years long trip to an amazing world full of lore and hidden beauties and horrors...was coming to its end. Damn, it felt like going hollow when I realized I was no longer going to play Elden Ring again... I would replay it with my gf under other characters skin. I even made my canon lore revolving around Saint Trina and a draconian who was clinging to his fleeting life as he traveled and found beauty in the lands between. I was deep into godwyn's lore. And now...there is nothing more to see. I am neither ready to move on, nor to play it again. What a weird limbo to be in. My worst fear is that Fromsoft might never make something so appealing to me ever again....this thought alone makes me very sad.

[@marcusaurelius4777]

@@iamMildlyUpsetWithMostOfYouTub What do you mean? Lol. Elden Ring was a smash hit. They will absolutely do something with this Franchise. They worked really hard with George R. R. Martin to craft this world...perhaps THIS installment won't have anything new, but there absolutely will be an Elden Ring 2 or some kind of successor to it in some way shape or form.

[@maxplusothernames]

Marika's lore is fucking depressing. Knowing what happened to her village, all the garbage she endured, her reaction to Godwyn's death is even more tragic than it was before we had the DLC. People act like Godwyn was the literal golden child, but I'd like to think of her reaction as more of her being devastated that her kin can still die. My favorite part of Fromsoft's stories is what they do to flesh out gods, since having gods that can feel fear and sadness is much more compelling than uncaring/perfect ones

[@prajit1096]

It's deeper than that. Godwyn died a true death which meant he was denied Erdtree burial and hence cannot be reborn

[@anodyne-4736]

Even worse than that is having twin children born of the same people she condemned to extinction as if a sign TO HER that she cannot escape anything even as a god. A sign of prosperity turned to damnation by circumstances of her people's tragedy. RIGHT AFTER GODWYN TOO WHEN SHE MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT IT WAS ALL PERFECT AFTER ALL SHE ENDURED

[@GreyMASTA]

She made shittons of bad calls though. She was a pretty shit mum/ dad if you ask me.

[@commanderpower99]

Marika was not a good Lord/Goddess/Mother because she did horrible things to get to where she was. Despite all this, she was encaged in her divinity and she went through horrible things herself. The beauty of this is that you feel empathy and also that "she got what she deserved" feeling at the same time. She is a conflicted character as much as we are when looking at her story. And that... is genius writing.

[@SteelBallRun1890]

I mean she would be devastated considering she did all this stuff about sealing the Rune of Death to grant themselves immortality.

[@maurienvy]

What I like about this song is that it feels intimate in a way that, even though Marika is as far removed from a normal human, the song almost makes you feel like you're seeing something not meant for anyone else to see

[@jbark678]

That's a good way of putting it. The two sentinels guarding the area add to the feeling.

[@axios4702]

The village is hidden behind a fortress built by her most loyal son, an ilussory wall opened only by a gesture forgotten in a burnt village and with 2 Tree Sentinels watching over it. All of that in a region hidden by an immeasurably powerful spell. This place was not meant to be disturbed ever again.

[@riotguards]

@@axios4702 and we go in, disturb the area and loot her last offering to the grandmother

[@meisei2959]

自身のDLCプレイ時に最後に訪れることになったロケーションなんだけど、血と戦いと悲劇に塗れていた世界で唯一静けさと綺麗さのみのこの場所に、自分の中のエルデンリングというゲーム体験がもうここで終わってしまうんだなって感覚がじんわりと襲ってきて、なんというか、しばらく画面を見つめることしかできなかった

[@korye6324]

That’s so beautiful 😭

[@SilverFoxRim]

この音楽はその感情そよく表現していますね

[@LaserTractor]

Melody brings this strange emotion, it is like nostalgia for better times that have passed long ago. I didn't like this area. Got too emotional

[@sasurai]

俺も指ママに会ってからここ来れば良かった…

[@tylerasay3570]

This is basically what I did too. Just sat and listened to the music for like an hour

[@narcolepticred7376]

Stepping foot in Shaman Village for the first time. Watching the doves fly away like something out of a picture book. Like a beautiful piece of art, frozen in time. It suddenly all made sense. I understood. I understand, Marika.

[@mickel1470]

It's crazy how much a little environmental story telling, and the right music can re-contextualize a character. She did some horrible things, but she was already a broken and wounded person from the beginning. It may not exonerate her, but I think I understand her at least.

[@randomname8587]

Cycles of vengeance, swirling like a toilet bowl, eternally tho

[@SteelBallRun1890]

Makes you wonder if that's why she sought immortality (Marika the Eternal, hiding the Rune of Death, having a religion based on that immortality) because she didn't want her family to die.

[@tach-uq5tw]

Also makes it even more impacting she would conspire to have her child, Goodwin, assassinated

[@Insert_Here]

@@tach-uq5tw She def did not have him assassinated. Where did this theory even come from?

[@ArtorioVideojogos]

@@tach-uq5tw That was Ranni, not Marika

[@tach-uq5tw]

@ArtorioVideojogos im referencing a somewhat popular theory that marika helped with the conspiracy in secret. She clearly regreted becoming a god and wanted to die, so the theory goes she orquestrated it to lead to the shattering. It's obviously unconfirmed, but there is some evidence to favour it.

[@Insert_Here]

@@tach-uq5tw What evidence?

[@spencerfoote6977]

A single line explained a thousand actions taken.

[@nickhard7615]

I feel like the lore we gain from this dlc, especially this area, makes the final encounter with Radagon and the Elden Beast so much more meaningful on an emotional and narrative level. I sat in this empty village for so long, just thinking about Maria's journey and where she ended up..what a complicated life she lead.

[@alternateaccounts5134]

It adds complexity to her character. Someone who carried out atrocities in the name of order was herself a victim of atrocities in the name of someone else's order. No other word than "shattered" could encapsulate the whole of Elden Ring's world.

[@rmartinez1993]

​@alternateaccounts5134 i tend to call elden rings story a Tragedy :( it's impossible to think of a happy ending for everyone :/ Such a Tragedy that there are so many questions that may never be answered:(

[@skykid]

I knew that learning Marika's lore would endear a lot of people to her, and rightly so. But Messmer's lore also reminds you that she was kind of a monster. She was a goddess, but she was as human as anyone. She's tragic, she's sympathetic, but she was also cruel... The cycle of hatred and despair that humanity visits upon itself is the lesson to be learned, and yes it is depressing, but don't forget about the friends you've made who love you unconditionally, despite your differences. The power of gods has nothing on that, as anime as it sounds, but it's there that humanity is at its best, where despair is defeated. Conflict is inevitable, but understanding begets fellowship, and fellowship begets happiness. That is the world Marika couldn't create, but we can.

[@zen-t3w]

Beautiful comment. I will say that Messmer's lore can still be interpreted in a way that makes Marika not seem like a monster if what you mean is abandoning him as it's pretty unclear if she abandoned him intentionally or because of the shattering. If you are talking about the genocides she would commit then you are in the right.

[@pole8740]

i would condemn her but i understand her, maybe after witnessing the things the hornsent did to the shamans she distanced herself from any emotional attachment, like that level of atrocities she saw must have broken, seeing her people defiled like that, deep down she’s probably afraid that once she let her guard down, something like this might happen again which it did.

[@BigBubbaCave]

Yeah, I feel for Messemer... But fuck the hornsent

[@redmombarf]

Well said

[@Unleasheddragon]

It was just as Goldmask realized in the end, “the fickleness of gods, no greater than men. That is the fly in the ointment”

[@意気衝天]

ここでタイトル曲のイントロ流すのは反則だと思うんだ 最初に来たときマジで驚いた

[@JoeFanik]

“And one day, we’ll return to our home, bathed in rays of gold.” Godrick’s words make so much more sense now Edit: what I mean is he most likely heard these words from his lineage. They believe it to be Lindell but it is actually referring to Shaman Village

[@VDA19]

Godrick is a distant af descendant of Marika tho

[@potato1094]

​@@VDA19 I don't think that matters much, considering how easy grafting is for godrick lines up with how the shamans were easily fused together and put in jars

[@VDA19]

@@potato1094 I'm saying Godrick is too young to know about Marika's origins/the Shadow Realm.

[@madeline6951]

I thought he meant Leyndell, because he fled from there and from the Erdtree, which casts golden light

[@JoeFanik]

Marika probably said these words to her children (Godwyn, Malenia, and Miquella) as a way to describe her version of heaven/paradise. These words could’ve been passed along until it’s practically become a folk tale for the Golden lineage

[@ブラ者-y6e]

巫女村はエルデ史上最も美しい場所であり、最も闇が深い場所である

[@yapponabc]

巫女の村に祝福がないってのがまた…

[@cosmicpollo9187]

When I discovered this place for the first time and read the item description of the minor erdtree and the braid I had to take a couple minutes just listening to the music and walking around the shaman village, I felt a horrible sadness for queen marika it honestly broke me

[@theknightikins9397]

Reaching this place was such a strange feeling. I struggle to have fun in souls games. Most of the time, it is simply a brutal slog through borderline unfair fights. It just hurts to play. But then you get to something like this. Running through the hinterlands, just looking to finish what you came for, ready to go off to the next step, and suddenly coming across this place. A peaceful place with soft music, warm grass, white doves nowhere else in the game. There are no enemies, no soul crushing bosses, no grinds to waste your time. It is just simply pure. And I suppose that is what these games are. They are brutal, they are annoying, but they are pure. Untainted by the world. I sat here for a solid hour when I first discovered it because this little oasis means a lot.

[@AlexCatable]

Oh, you sweet summer child. Read other comments. This is one of the most depressing places in the game.

[@tartocitronmeringuee2113]

When I entered the village, I just killed the two sentinels and was out of flasks, and the shifting from usual ambiance to this... I just sat there, listening to the wind and the music, feeling like it was the most important moment of my journey, understanding every obscured part of what I already knew... It felt relaxing, I was calm, but somehow my perfumer's clothes were soaked in blood, and in some way it reminded me of what happened during those last hours, last days, last weeks. It reminded me of the feeling of slaying rulers and important beings, watching them lose their last spark, spit out their last words. I felt sorry for Godrick, Radhan, Morgott, Mohg, Alexander, Blaidd, Maliketh, Godfrey, the Fire Giant, Rellana, and every other ones that I have killed, regardless of what they did. But after all, letting the blood flow out of the veins, isn't that the duty of a follower of the formless mother ? And ending the life of so much people, isn't that the duty of the Elden Lord ? But for now, I have to end it all, I have to slay the last demi god from across the fog. I come for you, Miquella. I come with love too.

[@JoeFanik]

This whole comment hit pretty hard, but the last 2 sentences hit especially hard after learning about St. Trina

[@yodoleheehoo90]

It sounds EXACTLY like the Title Menu song... only, there is no epic orchestra to break the somber beginning, no voices singing a choir, no drums follow our battles against gods and monsters, no horns to heed the call of a higher purpose guided by obscure and ancient beings beyond our understanding.... Just the quiet strings and gentle winds as the music for this empty, silent, hilltop meadow filled with everlasting Golden Light that no one is left to bathe in its rays.... Marika was alone in all this, and we are her last witness to her broken departed family and kin...

[@yukiomishimafan]

The epic orchestra is Radagons theme. In this village Marika was just Marika without Radagon. The minor Erdtree incantation also reads "only the kindness of gold, without order"

[@BloodyArchangelus]

Majula

[@LuisSoto-fw3if]

@@BloodyArchangelus Majula strikes again as the best FS location

[@sweggieboi4928]

Came back to the shaman village after beating the DLC. Seemed like a beautiful spot to end things.

[@carian_knight]

タイトルBGMはこの静かな音をエルデの獣とラダゴンで塗りつぶしているって考えると曲の美しさに対してあまりにも惨すぎるな…

[@ツナマヨ-r8w]

でもラダゴンはマリカだから、自分が自分を塗りつぶしてるってことになってなんかややこしいな

[@ツナマヨ-r8w]

あ！2人合わさったってことで「エルデンリング」ってことになってそれがELDEN RING って表示されてるタイトルで流れてるのか！

[@ツナマヨ-r8w]

コメ主さんの考察も踏まえて、「エルデンリング」と表示されたタイトルであのタイトルbgmが流れる…これだけでもうエルデンリングというゲームを表してると思います！そういう結論に至りました

[@potipoti7170]

この静けさと穏やかさの中にマリカの確固たる決意を感じる エルデンリングのテーマの一つに野心があったと思うけどなるほどと

[@justadragon4844]

Something I noticed is that if we consider this song Marika's theme, the title screen music becomes yet another clue about Marika being Radagon, seeing how it combines the two characters' themes. I think it's a subtle hint that (kind of like the opening cinematic) gives another layer of complexity to the "main" characters of the story. Maybe it was obvious but I haven't heard anyone talk about it.

[@JoeFanik]

You are right but this song doesn’t just feel like Marika’s theme, but her song before she became a god. A young, kind girl who had everything ripped away from her.

[@justadragon4844]

@@JoeFanik it's definitely a stretch, but given that the final boss is radagon we could say that his other half (adult marika) was suppressed, leaving only a fragment of her former self that quickly fades away, even in the song

[@sageavery4469]

I knew that her braid was a collectable Tasliman. When I reached it, I thought to myself, "This is the last thing Marika left behind. Her last prayer. Her last bit of essence towards her home." I refused to take that away, refused to selfishly take the offering she gave as a final farewell. I will happily continue my journey in the lands-between without her golden braid. It was never mine to keep, never mine to hold.

[@kingbowser6271]

Finding this village was such a weird feeling. It felt like the only actual peaceful place in the whole game where despair has never hit. That is...until you read the item descriptions

[@sharkish0]

One of like 4 times a game has ever made me want to cry

[@kristoffersonsilverfox3923]

It is all about emotional connection to the game, proper use of music, and a sense of finality. Rain World, SOMA, this and more all have those final endings paired with amazing music after everything you and others have been through that make you at _least_ tear up a bit.

[@inugamisan9815]

あのツリーガード2体はせめて故郷だけはこれ以上壊されたく無いからってマリカが置いて行ったんやろな

[@ck171023]

そういうことか

[@dsuable_]

It's a good theory. But I wonder, what that Falling Star Beast and finger field were doing there?

[@LOVE-ih1ei]

そんなツリーガードを容赦なくぶち⚪︎しちゃうあせんちゅ…

[@fdshgl9hu]

BGMも含めてDLC屈指の情緒エリア

[@devilbed9781]

正直、自分にとってはこのエリアだけでDLCをやる価値があったと思えた。

[@noamias4897]

I teared up when I discovered this place. It just made me realized how blessed I was to get to enjoy these games

[@cjward72]

i stood in this village for a good 10 minutes just listening to the soundtrack and being sad :(

[@yeehawtaw2134]

The soundscape is so good. The crickets chittering in the distance. The wind rustling the leaves. The birds fluttering away as you walk through the village. This game has so much detail that just whips past you until a moment like this, when you really slow down and take it all in. Beautiful.

[@Spiy_Lutuna]

タイトルのイントロだと思うし、ここからエルデンリングの物語が始まったと思うと感慨深い。

[@LaserTractor]

What's more sad - it's a never ending cycle of hate. First Marika's village people were used in those unholy rituals. Then she left her son to wage war in her name. Then hornsent wanted revenge for all what Messmer has done. It's never ending. It leaves only pain. Messmer was just a son who wanted mother's love. Not every hornsent were cruel. It's sad to think of it.

[@ThePickledAuthor]

Coming here for the first time was so... somber. I sort of just stopped and listened. Then, with this music playing while reading the item descriptions made everything click. I felt for Marika. Really shows just how good FromSoft is with what they do. I've lost a lot of family in the last 8 years, my own mother included. So this really made me sit and reflect. Much like my character, there's only one path, and that path is forward!

[@danielserra292]

[@antonioguilhermecarmona8499]

I, too, lost my mother and basically my home. I'm sorry for what you've been through and I know how it feels to lose your mother. May God or the Universe bless your path my friend; let's not seek revenge like Marika did.

[@0athwood]

"One day, we'll return together To our home bathed in rays of gold There is only one tree, and only its branches That bathe in true rays of gold Not the fool Omen King, Nor the rank, malformed twins O, we are the golden ones, the true and rightful heirs Our land has grown old now, ashen and cold But look up! The Erdtree glows! One day, we'll return together To our home bathed in rays of gold And grace will surely guide us safe To our home bathed in rays of gold"

[@fdhappy6930]

You beat the DLC and look back at what your victory has cost you and others. I did feel a lot of adrenaline from that last battle, but I can't help but feel sad in the end. As always, there is no good ending. Just a more acceptable one.

[@abovearth6740]

Just one music, no NPC, no mob, like 2 items and that's the whole content of this area. You're pretty much done with all of it in like 3 minutes top. And it's still one of the best in the whole game. It says nothing but tells so much.

[@kaijuslayer3334]

After beating all of the major bosses and mini bosses in the DLC, and basically getting everything worthwhile I wanted, I stopped by the Shaman Village for the first time. And it really felt like a good final note. The feeling of finding where things started, a familiarity of when the game first came out and how we were then. That village was where Marika the Eternal begun her journey. And it’s where my Tarnished finished their journey. And with me finding the Minor Erdtree incantation, I equipped it and returned to the village at night. Using the incantation to leave the tree in the golden glow Marika left behind, before turning to the tower where Miquella sought to become a god. Popping the Light of Miquella incantation and departing as the tree continued to glow in the lonely village. Perhaps Miquella’s slain essence could follow his own light home, and seek comfort in the kindness that his Mother abandoned to reach godhood. I saw it as a memorial and honoring of both. The two fallen Empyreans who once sacrificed everything to become a god. A mother and her son, finally put to rest.

[@devinscott8680]

Hey alright

[@aftertone3146]

Similarly, my tarnished used the Minor Erdtree incantation and sat in the grass overseeing the one Marika left, reflecting about many things, I'm sure, once everything was said and done. The roleplay aspect of these games can be greatly satisfying

[@wordsoflove8787]

These games are magical. I may not have fully understood the intricacies of all the lore but when I finished the DLC I returned here and had my character sit by the tree and just soaked in the memories, I felt I was in their boots and that this place just felt right as the ending of our journey. No other game has made me have a moment like this

[@lavishlyvice]

This place makes me so sad. The fact that it's right outside Messmer's keep makes me even sadder. Still beautifully melancholic, though

[@ComptonFunk]

Could u explain why?

[@nogasa3159]

@@ComptonFunk marikas home is the only place messmer didnt invade, his mothers home

[@lavishlyvice]

​@@ComptonFunk It just makes me think of Marika and Messmer's backstory and the brutal tragedy of it all. Everything around the Shadow Keep is in shambles in the aftermath of a war, but this place remained hidden away. Protected and untouched, essentially frozen in time. Marika and Messmer are by no angels by any means, but the clear implications that Marika genuinely loved her son at one point and wanted to cure him, Messmer's loyalty for her, and the implied kindness he had towards his men (and the faith they had in him) just makes it all bittersweet

[@BloodyArchangelus]

@@lavishlyvice Messmer is a hero He is not a monster. he is doing the right thing in his eyes and eyes of his people. Is it Justified? Maybe. but look into the mirror. In the shadow lands came a... Monster.. Slayer of the Demigods. The owner of Lord Runes. The flame of ambition. And he consumed everything in his path with his own shadows from other worlds. Everything are running in his blood.

[@lavishlyvice]

​@@BloodyArchangelus Messmer literally committed genocide, he's not a hero. I wouldn't say he's a fully-fleshed villain either however, and any Hornsent who were actively involved in what happened to the Shamans and other people deserved that fate. But Messmer's crusade undoubtedly had collateral damage, as in dragging innocent people into the mess. I do believe Messmer had potential to actually turn things around if only his mommy issues didn't get in the way.

[@MegaManless]

Honestly, this is story-telling at its finest.

[@ms-fc2lg]

女王マリカの秘めたる祈祷 優しいだけの、律無き黄金 マリカは故郷の村を黄金で包んだ 癒やすべき何者も、いないと知っていても

[@StewartHiles]

I've been trying to write the longest ramble ever about how complicated Marika is, but this place and this song have a habit of stopping me in my tracks and I just get so humbled that I just shake my head in appreciation towards Elden Ring.

[@DuskMarksmen]

I want to quote some Sekiro dialogue because I think it's relevant to the theme: "There'll be more wars, there'll be more corpses, and deep-seated hatred will run wild. Where's all that hatred go? Haven't you ever wondered? Guess not. Guess you haven't. That's why I pity you, and I pitied him." God or no, in the end Marika's ambitions, and grudges, seemed very human.

[@korye6324]

One of my favorite discoveries in the FromSoft series… I still come back here sometimes, to find a little solace

[@bobbythotimus1184]

愛する人を救えないなら、神の力に何の意味があるのか

[@daddymidna]

i believe they were already dead

[@LaserTractor]

Uh...how about leaving your son to wage unholy crusade in your name? Oh wait..😂

[@caliposted5873]

Just got into fromsoftware games this year. Dark Souls trilogy and Elden Ring are one of the greatest videogames ever.😭🐐🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@danielschraven5900]

The ads every five minutes really fucking add to the relaxation.

[@dejablue9977]

You can thank KZbin for that. I'm not monetized😅

[@danielschraven5900]

@@dejablue9977 Goddamnit KZbin -_-

[@insectlover602]

A whole ass part of the map. A whole ass unique theme. A whole ass piece of lore. All dedicated to one incantation. And it heals less than a warm rock... Thanks Miyazaki.

[@BloodyArchangelus]

She was too powerfull in early build and tanked the FPS

[@residentwievle4]

@@BloodyArchangelusthey should have called it a erdtree sapling instead. I got so excited picking this spell up, thinking that it’s the one that Melina used only for it to be a glorified bundle of twigs.

[@pizzabutt5272]

"Only the kindness of gold, without Order."

[@にちゃにちゃミジンコ]

ラスボス行く前にやり残しを探していた時にこの場所を見つけれたの本当に良かった。あの髪の毛なかったらめちゃくちゃキツかった（あってもヤバいが）

[@mahuba2553]

by far, the best area ive ever seen in any fromsoftware game

[@フラン-z4h]

寂しいけど妙に聞いていたくなる曲

[@taruta3902]

ここ来た時の「こんなにも美しい世界があるんだ」の感動は未だに忘れてない

[@saijousirota4096]

ここに最初来た時のなんとも言えない感情は他のゲームでは味わえない感覚を覚えた… 足を踏み入れた時、1人くらいは誰か残ってるんじゃないか… ほんの微かでも息をしている人間が残ってるんじゃないか… そう期待せざるを得ない穏やかさを抱えながらも歩いたものの 1本の小さな木の根元にあった奇跡のテキストを見た時に理解してしまった時の衝撃、いやあれは衝撃ですら無かった覚えがある。

[@yoruxkami8695]

My favorite place in the game not only because of the song and ambience but because of the insane lore revelation. I see out there people saying that others are trying to justify Marika's actions with this revelation but I think most people are not trying to justify it. The DLC shed more light on her character and rationale behind her actions and no one expected this twist. I think it's more of a shocking revelation that everything can be traced back to this village and what the hornsent did to Marika's people, which forged her cruel side[1]. Before Marika was a vessel of unconditional hate as nobody knew exactly why she did the things she did (which all were fucked up decisions) and now you can see why everything that followed happened, making Marika a more tangible character and not an abstract tyrannic goddess figure. She was just a shaman girl once. [1] - This was cruelty for one part as she mandated a heartless and indiscriminate crusade against all hornsent. And for the other it was a deep fear of what the hornsent did to her people would ever come to pass to her again. For in Marika's eyes hornsent were not people but devils. The same way hornsent didn't view shamans as people either, but as objects of their twisted ritual. BTW the fear that Marika had is similar to what Gwyn in the Dark Souls series felt, it became an obsession and paranoia that led him to make terrible decisions and actions.

[@djimenes4909]

"What was her prayer? Her wish, her confession? There is no one left to answer, and Marika never returned home again." A talisman that increases the negation of holy damage And so she prayed, never to feel pain again.

[@berochoo955]

初めてこの場所に来た時、この悲しい曲と風景に、思わず足を止めてしまった。 浸りたくて、トレントを降りて、黄金樹の元までゆっくり歩いて近付いた。 エルデンリングは、本当世界観の作り込みを感じる箇所が沢山あって、それがめちゃくちゃ好みで、やっぱりフロムのゲームは俺にとって1番面白いゲームだと再確認した。 DLCも、その場所、ボス、曲に浸りながら、ゆっくりスローペースでプレイしたから、クリアしたのはつい数日前だわ。

[@Bakutiku_0323]

ずっとイントロ繰り返してるのが「女王」の始まりと、故郷の静けさ感じれてとても好きなbgm

[@the_agate_gate3782]

I just found this place. I spent several minutes just walking around in the flowers and taking screenshots of it. I was blown away by how beautiful and peaceful it was. ❤

[@vergil8833]

Ever since this moment I have been incapable of playing anything other than Golden Order builds. I have beat the game 3 times with the Golden Order Greatsword and tree sentinel armor.

[@netherlim]

I bought this DLC, loved each part. During my journey, I lost the love of my life. It was sudden, and something I couldn't do anything. It was late, too late. I played the DLC again, and eventually came to this place. Then the music started, the tree, and I cried everything I have. I still do when I listen to this. There isn't anything relaxing for me here, it's just sad, plenty. There is nothing more, only sadness to come. It was 6months ago, and it is as yesterday.

[@xianguan4129]

It's hard for me to listen to this without crying. This reminds me of people I lost in the past.

[@lumsey2804]

The only time in the game where I did not run, sprint or jumped. I just walked and embraced.

[@morgan145able]

This area and this music just shattered my heart. Everything suddenly made sense. I wanted to hug Marika right then.

[@Ashen_Night116]

After fighting the two sentinels to reach here, I cautiously walked up to the tree expecting to get jumped by something, but I was pleasantly surprised, so I just sat here for about an hour listening. Then it finally dawned on me where I was, and it was... Somber.

[@bakedgatorade]

Thank you a lot for this. This is a big comfort to me right now

[@camerontroscianiec5320]

I remember seeing Melina cast the Minor Erdtree incantation, and everyone wondered if they could get that spell, what it meant. Now, all this time later, we get it. Marika deserved better. Had she not been on the receiving end of such cruelty, maybe the world would have been a kinder place, like Miquella wanted

[@dump3408]

OST so calm it almost made me forget that the tree had a 70 god damn faith requirement.

[@jenbooob]

I mean you are kind of using powerful faith based magic to create something that resembles what is effectively the body of Christ to heal your nearby allies, so a 70 faith requirement is warranted imo

[@kurousagioktavia4374]

Define “Relaxing” I’ve been on a verge of tears for an hour

[@dawrence]

“No forgiveness for the Hornsents, only punishment by my tarnished hands”

[@electrickzito3436]

yknow i was just listening to another ost of the DLC, "the promised consort", and going from that to this, really is something that makes me ponder a bit just how much these games mean to me, and i am sure it means for most of us watching. IDK why it happened but one day in mid-end of 2020 i decided to play Dark Souls 3, i think i just was bored and wanted something to play it was like "yeah, lets see if this game is really so hard as everyone says". 50 hours later i beat all the bosses in the base game and DLC, and i wanted more, so i played: DS1,DS2,Sekiro, and some bloodborne on my friend´s PS4 altough never beat it. couple months pass after that, elden ring release date trailer drops, i buy it with no second thought, and the same thing happened with the SoTE DLC. It´s been 4 years since my first DS3 playtrough, and its been 4 years since i fell in love with this genre, and FromSoft, the games, the lore, the epic or the sad moments, the community, everthing was a delight to experience, to say it changed me would be a understatament, it was like a bright light on a shadowy day, it made me (and still makes me) try to keep going at life, motivated me to keep fighting and take on day to day struggles almost like a boss fight. Dont fear failing, fear losing purpose and always keep struggling because in the end of the day it will all be worth fighting for. This is prolly the most i ever written on a youtube comment, if anyone sees this, thanks for reading my rambling and hyper fixation, stay safe friend, and don´t you dare go hollow.

[@jhinpotion9230]

Cheers, dude.

[@kalk.2983]

The OST playing here was one of the more memorable moments in any game i've played. Like the second i heard it, i felt this sense of dread. But not fear that some bs boss like gaius will appear that i spent hours on before. It made me feel like i was about to uncover something i shouldn't see. Seeing the tree and reading the description was incredibly memorable.

[@tooru-kun4178]

I recentely read again monster and i found a quote that fit incredibly well: "I was born in a town that was straight out of a fairy tale. Many people died there, and when I walked away, I held hands with my other self. To me it seemed like we were the only two people in the world."

[@marcelio2k175]

i got gosebumbs when i got there , this place felt so out of place , such peacefull and quiet place among all the destruction

[@justreadberserkd1021]

The DLC also finally explains one of the wierdest parts of the main game! How can Marika and Radagon be the same being but also having children. Throughout the whole DLC and main game the concept of two is everywhere, the two fingers, the spirals in Enir-Ilim, twins , why there needs to be a lord and consort! In the secret area north-east in the DLC we can find the destroyed shaman village, the home of marika/radagon. Inside the village is a small tree created by marika but more importantly a statue. The statue looks a lot like marika and we can even find her hair there but at a closer look we can see that the supposing marika statue has no boobs suggesting its a male. This can be explained with the bioligie of the shaman. We learn that the hornsent captured the shaman and put them in the living jars, this was because they tried to create something devine. From the discription of the tooth whip and the living jars, we know that the flesh of the (still alive!) shamans wierdly mingels with another rather natural. This suggests that the shaman are a wierd primordial lifeform that are capacle of bieng mixing ones flesh with another. Remember that the primordial crucible is discriped as the single life form from which everything came from and everything was once one and the same. The three fingers tells us the same! This explains why the hornsents were oppsessed with the shamans/Numens, they are the only thing that remained of the primordial crucible. This also explains why the shamans that we find look surprisingly androgynous, they are simply made out of both female and male! That is how marika/radagon and miquella/st.trina are the same being. marika/st.trina are the female motherly loving half and radagon/miquella the masculin fatherly and loyal half! This is how they are capable of more or less ,,asexual" reproduction. The shamans/numens are the blueprint of all living things similar to the first living cell that can repreduce via mitose. The idea of shamans/numens being the only direct descendens of the primordial crucible is futher verifiable by marika being called a numen an old word for gods of nature( read the wiki for more informations)!

[@magicalgirl1296]

I felt like maybe I had caught a glimpse of the will that decided to shatter the Elden Ring.

[@桜庭小春-l4l]

なんとなくBGMとか雰囲気がダクソ2のマデューラっぽく感じる マデューラ拠点で一番好きだったな……

[@ComptonFunk]

This is perfect for studying.

[@residentwievle4]

We weren’t supposed to be here. This place was never meant for us.

[@jiangqicheng6691]

It makes me heartbroken just to think that even the god herself could used to be a desperate, helpless little girl who don't know why they take her famliy. There are must be countless painful lonely nights she pray for them untill she gradually learn that she must become the god itself to change anything.

[@Abstrahues]

This comment right here.

[@notbrandon721]

“Relaxing Music” and it’s a song that emotionally breaks you.

[@Dehrild]

Weirdly one of my favourite places in any video game, and one of my favourite video game OST. There's not much to either, they're very simple and understated, but there's smth to them. I've rarely been so hypnotized by a place in a video game. I'm usually urged to keep moving and explore and wander around, but when I found this place in the middle of exploring the area, I just... stopped. I just sat there for a moment.

[@00harveyc01]

Have mercy. For the spirited-away shamans.

[@Corazon-6]

the sentence that godrick says "And one day, we'll return together... To our home, bathed in rays of gold" makes sense but it would mean that godrick was in the kingdom of shadows before the latter was removed from the land between

[@layk]

That one honestly is just Leyndell. That was his home. Which he escaped from while dressed in women's clothing during the shattering. He also bent the knee after insulting Malenia and getting his ass beaten. The last demigod of the golden lineage. He was quite the coward. Forefathers one and all would be ashamed. What a disappointment.

[@0athwood]

i'm pretty sure he's just quoting a poem which references the shaman village.

[@jealousyxanderblood7894]

I know he is referencing Leyndell, but what if he was referencing something that Marika could have said to Messmer while she was employing him of his crusade? "For I have bore witness to the unending savagery of the hornsent. Our Home lay in ruins, our people destroyed forever more. I choose you, Messmer, Mine own loyal compatriot. To carryeth my standard for the golden order across the lands. Leaveth not one alive, and showeth no mercy. And one day, we'll return to our home..bathed in rays of gold.

[@bunnyben87]

@@layk I'm pretty sure the whole point of Godrick's character is to show how the Golden Lineage has stagnated, and is no longer the noble, proud line it once was

[@eclipsedsanity9390]

"Only the kindness of gold, without order".

[@PhoenixRider918]

sometimes you gotta take a break and look all of these beautiful landscape that fromsoftware gave to us.

[@ahmetkaytan6208]

"And one day, we'll return together. To our home, bathed in rays of gold"

[@SyKarmA1996]

Probably my favorite area in the DLC. Feels like there's few areas in the game that'll make me sit back and take it all in but this one I just slow walked all the way to the tree.

[@愛ランド-j5t]

世界は黄金の祝福に満たされているが救いがない 巫子の村はこのゲームの世界観を象徴するようなエリア

[@VDA19]

As I approached the Shaman Village I expected a Field Boss or something due to how empty the place seemed. I didn't realise I was walking into the most peaceful, beautiful place in a FromSoft game

[@gurpreet6871]

before i even understood what i was seeing lore-wise, this place made me sad. the elden beast music without the piano slowed and out of tune, the fact its so tucked away, the fact there is no grace, all of it is so sad. makes you think about everyones motivations, everyone was a victim to something

[@ぽよーん-v7j]

"優しいだけの律なき黄金" マリカの最初の印象は神秘的などこか触れ難い神なんだろうなぁと思っていたけど、マリカの過去、そして巫女村に残した小黄金樹、この事を知るとマリカは相当人間臭くて、マリカは黄金律の時代を作り優しい世界にしたかったんだろうなというのが分かるし、マリカの過去が壮絶すぎてモーゴット、モーグにした仕打ちは許されないけどもあまり責める気にはなれなくなった 壊れかけの世界でも酷く残酷な世界でもどこか切なく儚く美しいと思う

[@Chom-Chom]

One environmental detail that I don't see anyone appreciate is that throughout the Realm of Shadow we often see corpses on the ground and around them grow these vibrant flowers, similar to those seen in the Shaman Village. Perhaps, everyone is still here yet "there is no one left to heal".

[@raphaelsouza9447]

Felt like this place feels like the end of a great journey for everyone tha play this game, the place where all started is the place That we feel the end