Elden Ring Lore - The Truth Behind The Living Jars

[@fishyboy2140]

I don’t think Alexander got pieces of radahn only. I think it’s likely he only got the fire giant as he uses fiery attacks in his fight and not gravity magic.

[@BlueMagicONISUPERNOVA]

Wouldn’t that mean he would need pieces of the giant after its dead? Because he clearly uses that ability during that fight but I also noticed that he only seems to do it in 2nd phase so maybe he takes some of the fire giant’s flesh after he ripped his own leg off.

[@kiban_]

I don’t think he gets his abilities specifically from the warriors he consumes, since he’s generally associated with fire (the whole point of fighting the Fire Giant was to bake himself in the giantsflame). He may have gotten some power from the Fire Giant, but I definitely think he got some from Radahn as well.

[@heckle9408]

He had his fire attacks before you beat the fire giant though

[@zacharytaylor5360]

He uses the fire uppercut against the giant, something he doesn’t do against radahn I believe. It’s redahns red hair as well

[@nothanks9503]

@@kiban_that’s after he spends a while bathing in the lava of mount gelmir right

[@TiberiusRex182]

So i personally believe that the jars come to life as a sort of mutation, adapting around the loss of Death in the Lands Between. I think its the trickle down nature of Runes that are animating them, and thats why its the “caliber of warrior” alexander is stuffing in him from the Shattering War and why the personalities and characters themselves dont matter. I believe we are seeing Alexander “collect runes” like we do when we kill.

[@yungpark6435]

I had always assumed that the living jars were used as a means to bring the age (peaple, dead, misbegotten) of the crucible, and age of the great tree, to the “current” age of the Erdtree (Golden Order).

[@yungpark6435]

Like a fermentation process to make something into another, cabbage to sauerkraut or honey into mead.

[@enxman7697]

Another indication of being of Carian origin is Alexanders exclamation, in the first meeting "Oh, my stars!" then you appear and talk to him.

[@ivanstrydom8417]

I think the perfect Ending would be to have GoldMask rule as Elden Lord over the purgatory that is The Lands Between and to have the Jars as his servants/followers. To help all those in the Lands between to find their way to the afterlife.

[@plumbus7253]

That’s makes sense since it’s the “perfect order” so I doubt it would leave anyone out

[@PhileasLiebmann]

I think the jars were probably created during ancient wars to collect soldiers' corpses from battlefields and transport them back for Erdtree burial, their sentience being an unintentional side effect of constantly being loaded with the souls of the dead. The Greatjar was likely designed to collect the bodies of trolls or similarly massive beings. Firejars were probably a later development, created as insidious living weapons, when the tide of war had turned against the Erdtree's forces. Also I think that what Perfumers are actually after are not the clay shards of the jars bodies themselves, but rather the fatty deposits and oil released by the corpses inside over time, which can be scraped off the inside.

[@narniaphuket]

literally none of that is accurate

[@kizami3]

Another interesting theory that fits up with yours quite nicely. Miquella watere his Haligtree with his own blood. What if Minor Erdtrees require blood to water their roots, in order for them to grow just like the Haligtree? Hell, what if the Erdtree itself required required blood? It would make sense then why the jars collect corpses and bring them to the minor erdtrees, giving both blood for them to bloom, and a final resting place for those not granted erdtree burials?

[@doctorc.1442]

An important take may be that the normal jars bring to the minor erdtrees not the remnant of commoners, but the remnant of criminals. That would explain why the jars themselves are described to be "better than their innards", and why some of them are selected to be warriors in coliseums. The best of them got the chance to redeem themselves in battle, and serve a different purpose than just to be buried away under some minor erdtree - by becoming selected warriors that serve the Golden Order. It is somehow interesting to note how many of the warriors summoned by the Great Jar do, in fact, look like some kind of renegades or past criminals rather than just ordinary warriors or soldiers.

[@swordmastersam483]

Probably no lore implication, but don't forget you can also find Living Jars in Volcano Manor. It takes some parkour to get there, but there's a group of them next to a lava flow, along with a small shield

[@dr.menyac6499]

theres a group surrounded by lava, 3 of them, who explode on contact to

[@MohidPvE]

Watching this whilst exploring Belarut Gaol in the DLC with hundreds of jars and even spirits talking about "please don't put me in the jar"..

[@square-table-gaming]

There are definitely darker things happening related to jars in the Land of Shadows. From what I've gathered, the jars are meant to house the dead, and people in the Land of Shadows were placing living people in jars.

[@MohidPvE]

@@square-table-gaming your video made the perfect ambience whilst I was exploring the gaol, it literally took me an hour to finish maybe a 20 minute dungeon cause of all the things I was thinking in my head and the jar god and the mangled insides of the jars we saw, I make notes in a notebook whilst I play for quests n lores and theories and your video helped me a ton even now with so many crazy ideas and theories I wrote down so thank you so much and I love all your videos I can't wait to listen to all the shadow of the erd tree ones!!!

[@topcat59]

I still believe that the living jars were another method on burying the dead by the golden order before the ruin of Godfrey was at its end.🤔🐱

[@AegisKHAOS]

Let Me Solo Her succeeded where Jarwight Puppet did not.

[@troythefrog4084]

Alexander and the jars are the heirs to the onion knights of Catarina 😃😁😄🤩

[@Mistercodmobilefan8378]

Man im always loving these lore videos so much and i like how u cover the lore of the living jars of elden ring!! I thought the depraved perfumers were hunting them for their insides but for their outsides u said that's crazy! And can you do the lore of the cathedral of the dragon communion and the dragon hearts??

[@mollifier]

I remember hearing a while ago that corpse wax is a real thing, created when a body decomposes in an environment that's low in oxygen but high in moisture. I can't remember where I read this, so I don't know who to credit, but the person was arguing that the jar-folk seem like a perfect place to make corpse wax and blackened corpse wax, which would then go on to make the gargoyles, their weapons, and the different summoning fingers. Maybe that's what the warrior jars were collecting warriors for, instead of for Erdtree burial?

[@darklordauron]

I assumed that the jars were made for erdtree burial in general. That the jars were designed to pick up the dead from across the world, convey them to the nearest erdtree once full, and be smashed open to release the bodies. That in the beginning they were mindless drones. Then later, they developed a caste system for the jars. The peaceful mundane jars carried the common people. The warrior jars carried the warriors. The fire jars carried the heretics that saw the forbidden flames and were fated to destroy themselves and forbid those within from returning to the erdtree. Later, these jars developed into people with personalities. The remains inside them forming gestalt entities that lived on in new peaceful bodies, warrior bodies, and selfless but suicidal bodies without the draw of rebirth through the erdtree. Life in the lands between without the pain of its cycles.

[@drakmendoa]

What I would love to see is a lore video about the Mount Gelmir. It is such a fascinating place with so much going on there and I think there are at least 3 wars taking place at the same time on different places of the mountain and even more in it's past. There are the ruins at the base of the Gelmir where the most powerful of the Tibia Mariners can be found. Then there is Fort Laiedd that is sieged by Fire Monks but also has some connections to House Vulcano. Then there is hermits village where I am not sure if the halfhumans are attacking this place or are living there. There are pretty strong fortifications for such a lonley and small town at least. Then there is a the attack of the soldiers of Lendyell at what I don't really know. It seams nearly the entire mountain is attack by them and we see on the other side of the cliff there are more soldiers coming but I don't know what the nobels are doing there. But the soldiers definitly are fighting all sorts of construct enemys so it is hard to say who sent them. But whoever it is there are nearly every overworld construct to find. The finger creepers, the marionetts and the abductor virgins. Some soldiers feast on there fallen comrads and some even got taken by the frenzied flame. A troll at the gates of House Vulcano is also possessed by the frenzied flame. There are so many crucified troops and the minor erdtree is also burned. And there are also no soldiers of House Vulcano any more as we know there once was from a ghost. So I really wonder what happend at the Mount Gelmir before we arrive.

[@holyspear26]

I’ll help. Caria and Gelmir are Allies and Ranni/Rykard are siblings who conspired together to steal the Rune of death according to blasphemous claw. So naturally we see some Carian marionette soldiers defending the Mount during the siege. The Iron Maidens are automatons created by Inquisitor Ghiza, who served Rykard. It seems Rykard, is purging his own people from the mountain and replacing them with snake people in his city. *There is a hidden city inside Volcano manor you may have missed.* And it is full of corpses along with snake people, Iron Maidens, Godskins priest and even an omen killer. Depraved perfumers have snakes taking the erdtree on their armor. It makes sense that they may serve Rykard and for their Omen Killer to help in the inquisition. It seems Rykard attracts all sorts of people from all walks, even a crucible knight, frenzied giant and a black flame monk. I’m not sure why the normal monks are attacking Fort Laid. They may be looking for the black flame monk who betrayed them. The fire monks serve the Golden Order and so they may simply be helping Lleyndel during the siege. The village overrun by Demi humans and mages seems to have been a quiet place of learning and spirituality for the Golden Order. We find Lusat there, golden order inventions such as triple crossbow and we find errant sorcerer outfit. I suspect this was the first place purged by Rykard, rather than by Lleyndel, as they were Fundamentalists. The mages are there to find Lusat, or to make sure his corpse is not taken by graven scholars. Rykards seems very tolerant of Demi humans presence all over the mountain and wouldn’t mind them having the village. Maybe the sorcerers are teaching them too. And those 6 fingered hands around the mountain are clearly some sort of spawn of Rykards blasphemy where he copied his hands. I suspect, with no evidence, the hands are what’s left of his men. I like to think he somehow turned Gelmir Soldiers into those hands that defend his home and the carian manor. It is also worth noting the hands seem to be scouting out the Giants flame, where the fire monks reside.

[@drakmendoa]

@@holyspear26 Thanks for the theorys. Some points to that: - I know about the secret part of Vulcano Manor. Better I know about both secret parts of Vulcano Manor. - As far as I know Rykard and Ranni did not conspire together against the golden order. Ranni tried to seperate herself from the greater will and Rykard tried to devour the gods themselve. - Fort Laaid is held by Llendyl, so the fire monks did not support the capitol. That's even more of a point that makes me wonder about there presence.

[@Neopulse00]

10:30 - What I find shocking is that Alexander was not afflicted by the Scarlet Rot when having the innards of Radahn inside of him. Even Crystallians could be afflicted by the illness which are made of non-living tissue. Are Living Jars immune then to such an illness due to magic that was used to create them? Wonder if Living Jars were the result of experiments the Carian Family or Raya Lucaria did since the Lake of Rot was located directly below their land. In order to combat the Scarlet Rot if the Blind Swordsman was not able to protect the Lands Between again from it.

[@humorm4152]

The truth is Alexander in a CHAD

[@TheFriendlyMaverick]

Watched the video on the dragonkin soldiers and it got me wondering if there is any more lore about the draconic folk race you can choose in character creation? Been hooked on these videos for a week now, looking forward to more!

[@cheesaliciousable]

I accidentally got Alexander killed by a mother land octopus... It smacked him like a damn ball and he shattered

[@josephyounger660]

Sorry if it's been stated already, I like the theory, but do have to note that minor erdtrees and golden seeds were not present pre-shattering, in fact that was the event that created the golden seeds. Point of reference is the Golden Seed item description. I too have been wondering about the jars actual purpose for some time. Alexander himself reminds me a lot of Siegmeyer of Catarina from DS with his spirit, attitude, and even his journey to some extent is fueled by a love for adventure (as well as fulfilling his purpose as a warrior jar)

[@square-table-gaming]

I think it's important to know that the golden seed only refers to the illusory trees, not the minor erdtrees

[@josephyounger660]

@@square-table-gaming The Erdtree itself is an illusory tree, but I also follow the idea presented by The Tarnished Archaeologist in which he states the Erdtree was once burned before, or the cardinal sin was at least attempted by Melina at an indistinct time, hence her referencing herself as being "burned and bodiless" and you can see the only corporeal remnants of the Erdtree are that of the entrance past Morgott's arena. Also the Shattering triggering these Golden seeds to spread, would also indicate that minor erdtrees are the corporeal young trees much like the Erdtree before it's initial attempted burning, you can see the basins in which sacred tears are collected for physicks, at the base of these minor erdtrees, which are blessings much like the blessings of the Erdtree in the age of plenty. I personally wonder about the small illusory trees which you do find golden seeds by, but I personally think of those as the literal ethereal sprout that will one day become actual wood.

[@LostInTheFloatingWorld]

Jarheads, caught with hands in their cookie jars 🤔

[@mrmaxin53]

Thank you. I was just wondering the same thing seeing how many big jars by the erdtree

[@bchase999]

Finally ceramic lore

[@agm5424]

My original theory was that the jars were made to create a new type of being out of the amalgamation of different corpses. Like a new version of Albinaurics but made out of blood instead of the silver liquids from were the latter were made off. And the warrior jars were ment to gather the remains of warriors in order to create a new super warrior specimen. But when considering the visual clues I think that the theory of them being used to feed the minor trees is closer to the truth of the matter.

[@tlx4122]

Dude, I've been wondering why would de Golden Order deny Erdtree Burial to common folk when it seem to be counterproductive to itself. I had some ideas but I really like how this explain both this and the existence of the jars.

[@frankiefromky]

exellent lore video!

[@mlmii1933]

Minor quibble, I don't think there is anything that suggests the Jars were not always self aware and intelligent even during the height of the Golden Order. ... In fact I think them always having self awareness but bound by duty to sacrifice themselves for the Erdtrees fits perfectly with the themes of the game.

[@Manahyde]

And today we know: 1. Living jars originate from the Bonny Village and its gaols. 2. They were meant as a "cleansing" process for sinners (or whatever the people of Bonny Village perceived as "sin" i.E. being a shaman) 3. People were tenderized and cut up to be placed in the jars, where their flesh (and probably minds) melded together. In the gaols we see some jars in mid-process, while we also meet living jars who's process is completed. 4. Since Bonny Village and its gaols are the only real living jars factories we see in the entire game, it is likely that either the jars were allowed to leave once the process was finished, or they were sold by Bonny Village to the outside world, which would explain why they are freaking everywhere, or the jars broke out (we see some sort of now-sealed up escape route under one of the gaols) and then spread across the lands. 5.Copium aside, there is nothing in the game that suggests that the Lands Between had a different process for creating living jars. It's much more likely that this is meant to be the big, gruesome reveal, rather than "oh, look how ghastly THEY did it, am I glad we got the whimsical, magical fair-trade jars in the Lands Between." 6. The jars wo aspire to be warriors like to "enhance" their innards with the flesh of strong warriors. They seem to be able to transfer their meat to others and, going by the Great Jar, can transfer themselves to bigger vessels if needed. Either that or the Great Jar was the Guiness record project of Bonny Village. 7. As a result of the melding, the jars seem to take on a new, singular personality, since every jar, that we meet and can talk to, has only one personality. 8. The reason for the high concentration of magical power, within the shards of the jars, is probably a result of melding shamans together. Bonny village and it's inhabitants seem more like potters and butchers (and possibly dentists T_T) rather than wizards, suggesting that the magic comes entirely from the "materials" they use. 9. New implications for the small jars... or maybe they just put like two or three people in there.

[@hennysworld2382]

It’s crazy but makes sense now. That the Great Jar in Caelid where you have to the 3 or 4 invasions back to back…is made up of all the warriors you fight. Hence being so big. Never thought of that. (I think that’s what you’re saying) lol kind of mind blowing when I seen that when I first played the DLC and came across that.

[@MukiMuki688]

Never understood why living jars attacked you. They were the only things in the game that still had their wits about them.

[@square-table-gaming]

They probably think we're poachers

[@figo3554]

I remember there being jars under volcano manor of different seal colors than usual. Don't know what that implies.

[@PETHRIS]

the jars with the yellow lids are the ones that explode on you

[@hhowdy]

DLC trailer may be released on December 8th MORE ELDEN LORRRRRRRRE

[@djwolf3810]

I refuse to trigger the event that destroys the Jars village

[@shogomakishima7224]

There are three types of jars. Each one of them has a different lid color. Ones with the red lid do not explode. Other two types do. One of them goes kamikaze, the other one explodes only when defeated. The jars under the minor eardtrees are one of those without a red lid. If we assume that the purpose of the jars is to deliver corpses to the eardtrees then they had to be created after the shattering of the elden ring. The minor eardtrees grew out of the seeds that flew out of the eardtree when the elden ring was shattered.

[@robrib2682]

Personally I'm over the opinion that the jars probably weren't necessarily been to be a sacrificial role for the golden order. The reason why I say this is that there would be most likely will more shards halfway poking up out of the Earth itself if that were such a case because by your theory they were used for a long time. However what I would believe is more likely is that since the old golden order is basically going haywire because of what radagon is doing, it might have caused a affect where a manifestation of the Eardtree itself would be at odds with the workings of the golden order. Therefore causing there to be probably an incident in each of these Eardtrees that was a bunch of jars showing up and being smashed, because the trees themselves once what is in the jars but they are at odds with the masters of the jars. So they decide to take their displeasure out on the jars as do not allow them to be used by the golden order.

[@mycoffeequest6634]

Like pretty much everything else in this game, their purpose is up to interpretation. I think they get their sentience from the corpses inside of them, which are likely not intact (by that, I mean bits of the bodies were lost due to the means by which they died, say, if it was in war, or if the body has already undergone decomposition). So they craft a consciousness from what they can work with. It sort of reminds me of the Creature from Frankstein, who was made from random body parts of different people, yet had a distinct personality, rather than multiple, fractured psyches competing for dominance over the others, if that makes sense.

[@reissroony2677]

Maybe the jars used to collect the dead on battlefield and bring them to erdtree roots

[@LunaPendragon1988]

Idk if anyone else has seen it, but i was looking at the giant jar at caelid's coliseum and if you move a certain way right at it you can see inside it. Well it looks kinda like some kind of hand with only 3 fingers in there. Idk what it is, but it's certainly weird.

[@TiberiusRex182]

Lets goooo!

[@spazemunky]

They are an ossuary/mass grave/recycling plant with self awareness.

[@___Bandit___]

These pots give me hella gnome from Little Nightmares vibes. Which is a good thing. If you’ve ever played that game you know what I mean :)

[@mikeclarke3990]

Always figured the Jars were fertiliser for the minor Erdtrees

[@mysterin5061]

What if, now hear me out, the reason they have dragon-like features started when Godwyn (the admirable) started putting his soldiers into them? Idk, just rolling ideas here at this point.

[@MyPhobo]

They kinda remind me of the little robot dudes from Nier Automata.

[@nightshadehelis9821]

I just want to know how Alexander made it to Farum Azula...

[@square-table-gaming]

Seemingly anyone could get there after we open the portal

[@tenthshadow3764]

Hmm I have a theory that the jars goes around and gather the dead warrior remains and once they gather they enough they go to the Erdtree Avatar and get smash so the remains that is in the jars feed the minor Erdtree so that it can grow and I think the reason why they only gather warriors because they have a stronger life force because they are warriors. Just a theory.

[@IrisDImtv]

Man, how comes that one becomes sentimental for a jar...

[@xanderroberson2029]

This would be a perfect subject for a dlc lore retrospective. We now know that the hornsent created the jars from the numen shamens in order to become saints so how did it go from that to this?

[@square-table-gaming]

It's a great question. It's clear they've been repurposed in the Lands Between but why have them at all? Convenience?

[@troythefrog4084]

This video is awesome!!!! Keep up the incredible work!!! 😊😄😁😃🤩👍👍

[@levampblaze6312]

so basically, the living jars takes bodies of warriors who are worthy,eh?

[@johnfinklestein6910]

Yet the truth ofnthr living jars is so much more sad and gross than we thought 😢

[@square-table-gaming]

If you're referring to the dlc, those jars aren't quite the same. Those are created with living people rather than dead people.

[@viktor_v-ughnda_vaudville_476]

Wow I’m early great video as always keep up the good work

[@Tatertot_fan47]

These videos are too interesting

[@DN-yv3gq]

The backstory of the jars is that this game was designed by the Japanese.

[@DaStupidGoose]

What if it's not radahn and he actually has a piece of Melania? We know she lost an arm from the rot I wonder if it fell off and was picked up by Alexander?

[@square-table-gaming]

Given that we know Alexander watched us battle Radahn and was gathering corpse parts after it seems much more likely it's Radahn, however, Malenias army matched through Caelid so who knows!

[@DaStupidGoose]

@@square-table-gaming It's more than likely not Melania but a fun idea for sure

[@ElimGarakSpoonHead]

All hail pot lord

[@georgeavant314]

I think they are living. I think they are jars.

[@square-table-gaming]

We'd have to agree

[@Bender_B._Rodriguez]

the royal family was against the golden order, radahn was a golden order child but used magic outside the golden order in the form of gravity/earth and held back the royal family magic because it was against the golden order.

[@square-table-gaming]

Caria served the Golden Order after the marriage between Rennala and Radagon. The heads of family may have had their own ideas, but the sorcerers and the academy fell in-line for the most part.

[@CatChaos369]

How do unlock the ending living with the Jars and keeping them safe?! Like Elden lord? 👎 protector of jars? 👍🏻

[@ghreqerhoah138]

me thruought the whole video :< - - - - - :> (7:13)- - - - :

[@square-table-gaming]

Waiting on those Soljars of Fortune?

[@michaelleon2275]

The jars are Mericas my little pony jars

[@Carrot-Man1876]

Hi

[@square-table-gaming]

Sup

[@TheCucuyo9779]

An excellent analysis and video. It's always great to see videos about the loveable jar bois. 🏺❤ I would love to see an addendum to this now that the DLC has been released. I've been trying to parse the connection between the Living Jars of The Lands Between and the Jars we find in the Land of Shadow, and why Marika would tolerate the former existing in her Golden Order.

[@square-table-gaming]

Im currently working under the assumption that the jars of the lands between are different in that they only utilize the remains of the dead and use them to essentially fertilize the minor erdtrees. It's a significantly more tame version of the land of shadow's pots.

[@TheCucuyo9779]

​@square-table-gaming I wholeheartedly agree. There are many differences between the two jar types, including color, lid patterns, etc. I guess my question is why did Jars become such an important part of the Golden Order? Erd Tree burial and all that? Surely Marika could've come up with some other way to fertilize the Minor Erd Trees. 🤔 Maybe she gets some kind of catharsis seeing them smashed open.