Elden Ring Lore - Miriel, And The History Of Turtles

[@square-table-gaming]

Update! Miriel's canonical gender has been confirmed as Male by the Lands Between Books of Knowledge

[@seandelaney4421]

Duh, females can’t be popes. That would just be ridiculous

[@DiegoRodriguez-qs6gv]

Male or Female, he's "Dog"

[@antoniorivolta783]

Can you imagine Miyazaki saying "Yes a turtle with a pope hat is the right design" lol

[@square-table-gaming]

Yes. I absolutely can.

[@muninrob]

"no, nono, NOT a top hat - a Miter, like the one the pope wears"

[@Golghrom]

I mean... Once you look at him... It's simply a: YES!

[@elvingearmasterirma7241]

And he was god damn right

[@Cman04092]

This is why miyazaki is a damned genius. People probably did question him, but turns out turtle pope is a damned hit. He's probably the least divisive thing in the entire game. Almost everyone loves our beloved king of the shell dogs.

[@doctorreed_]

for me, miriel alone makes the lands between worth protecting and fighting for

[@MyPhobo]

I wish giant talking turtles were real. I would hang out with them and talk to them and hopefully we would be best friends.

[@meaningfulmindfulness15]

This is wholesome. Imagine, a giant turtle buddy you could hitch a ride on for a stroll, teaching you magic and shit. 🤘

[@disgruntledbob2812]

That would truely be wonderful. Until that day however, you can always strap an Alexa to a turtle friend.

[@wayward5219]

Give them pope hat Dog oh dog Love the dog

[@Mightymajin]

If only the world was that perfect....

[@homoe7976]

I would be a mighty Turtle Knight!

[@wij2012Gaming]

Me, sees a lore video about the turtle pope himself: Very well. Let us both learn together.

[@square-table-gaming]

All things can be conjoined

[@LloydsSky9]

I believe the Tortoises you see in the land between are very young and grow old, one day gaining the ability to talk and so on. Because humans kill them for consumables, they can't grow to be wise.

[@Garl_Vinland]

They’re so fucking delicious tho

[@LloydsSky9]

@@Garl_Vinland Filthy low born.

[@logancade342]

I don't have the stamina for this right now.

[@ACompletelynormalMonster]

Dogs are for petting not eating

[@RoshDroz]

@@LloydsSky9 lol, everyone hated your comment apparently. It made me do a haha

[@maidenreligion12]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Miriel's dialogue in the event you could be so cold hearted as to attack him. Where he basically scolds you for acting so rash with emotions and that some people would not be as forgiving as he is. A Tarnished must handle their emotions maturely, lest these bonds be broken.

[@eliaspanayi3465]

Also you can't bring him back with absolution because he already holds no grudge against you

[@TK-7193]

@@eliaspanayi3465 there is no punishment worse than disapointment from who you hold dearly.

[@gelsept]

Maybe because he didn't have the heart to hurt the cutest dog in Elden Ring

[@josedorsaith5261]

"I like turtles" - Elden Lord formally known as 'Tarnished one'

[@Krispiikhan]

One story I was told long ago was most turtles have 13 plates on their shell, representing the 13 full moons of the year.

[@wayward5219]

The light side of the moon is actually a turtle shell, a giant turtle spinning around the earth Edit: *Dog

[@boisuke129]

Miriel is one of the best dog characters I’ve seen in my life next to the incredible franklin the dog

[@xXRickTrolledXx]

My favorite was the one from “The Dog and the Hare.” He crushed that race.

[@wayward5219]

Dog

[@Tjt1017]

Don’t forget the teenage mutant ninja dogs

[@ironbadger8985]

STG: We're talking about dogs... no turtles, we're talking about turtles. Me: excuse me, good sir, but you had it right the first time.

[@lucyx3008]

you know, the line about "all things can be conjoined" *does* seem like the kind of thing someone would say if they remembered what the Crucible was like

[@troythefrog4084]

Miriel is the true Elden lord.

[@ongkhuongduy3498]

If anyone could mend that broken world, it would be our beloved benevolent tortoise.

[@wayward5219]

​@@ongkhuongduy3498 Dog pope

[@partymantis3421]

"the fallen leaves tell a story, this is the age of the turtle pope!"

[@nseven1117]

if only if we could somehow take him to the throne with a giant cart or something

[@TheeGentleFist]

Since I met turtle pope I stopped slaying turtles off the strength, I felt like towards the end of the game it would come back to haunt me.

[@sp00kyd4ddy6]

My first encounter with a little turtle that had a message saying "strong foe ahead" but it never attacked me so I let it go lmao

[@TheDaveBloom]

I killed one and felt bad and I leave them alone now.

[@mmixo]

The dog joke never gets old

[@Rooster_Ric]

Hot take: it wasn't funny in the first place

[@MargotDobbie]

@@Rooster_Ric it was tho so shush

[@wayward5219]

​@@Rooster_Ric DEMON SORT AHEAD

[@wayward5219]

Its not a joke

[@Camaraocompao]

​@@Rooster_Richot take: youre bitter

[@SophiaLilithUwU]

Personally I think the closest ending to the one miriel envisions is Ranni's age of stars, given it again encompasses a union between a carian queen and a lord of the erdtree. You can even use celestial dew as part of her questline, should you take up seluvis on his scheme to feed ranni his amber draught. It also notable that celestial dew and the church of vows are very likely relics of the eternal cities, who long for a Lord of Night and an Age of Stars, both of which Ranni's ending produce. So as far as endings that involve reconciliation, which seems to be the theme in miriel's dialogue, Ranni's Ending would likely the best candidate, as it conjoins the moon and erdtree again, and reconciles three different factions with each other.

[@XonixDerps]

I need to look it up again but there are twon entites tied to the moon if i recall and the problem with rannis which i guess she states herself with not being sure is that shes setting it up for the brother and not fullmoon which she was even warned about by her teacher yeah?

[@rocki_bb]

I agree with your take on this. The description of Celestial Dew even says, "Once upon a time, the stars of the night sky guided fate, and this is a recollection of those times." Ranni's questline returns fate to the guidance of the stars of the night sky.

[@supergastonh]

But Ranni makes the Elden ring be banished and put the moon instead

[@SophiaLilithUwU]

@@supergastonhdamn i hate it when ranni puta the moon :(

[@Rooster_Ric]

Except he asks you to become elden lord and utilize the church

[@Giant1470]

It get's more interesting when you realise that chelona means tortoise. Perhaps there were more great turtles, like Miriel and one of those was a great sorcerer. Renown enough to be close to the Carian family and beeing entrusted with such an important spell (ranni's half moon) in its personal rise tower. Chelona might be indeed a tortoise just like the messegers of the great will Fingers , are literaly fingers.

[@SophiaLilithUwU]

Testu means tortoise in latin as well. Not sure if Oridys means turtle in another languae as well, but it would make sense.

[@Preston241]

@@SophiaLilithUwU I noticed that too. I tried looking up oridys but couldn’t find anything. It’s a stretch but it could be a contraction of tortoise. Oridys. T’oridis.

[@SophiaLilithUwU]

@@Preston241 Lol, i like your reasoning! I think it might be true!

[@dogemabulletjunior2775]

"turtle necks were used as sort of aphrodisiac" Steve jobs knew what he was doin

[@jordanmbryan26]

finally REAL LORE

[@Lazymindflayerwithcofffee]

fiinaly *THE* best waifu

[@letstec]

Considering Miriel says that there is no herecy and everything can be connected, it could be theorized that he is older than the Erdtree, considering before it's time "everything was one"

[@NickCombs]

Wise turtles are the ultimate form of intelligence and thus the Greater Will. So wise are they, that they practice non-aggression and remain neutral to any of the warring factions in the Lands Between. When you live long enough to see civilizations rise and fall, you see no value in tying yourself to their fates.

[@jameslaverty3515]

Dog ahead, therefore seek comfort.

[@anthonydavix]

If only Miriel could make a mending rune.

[@Haveldorf]

I love that you're tackling more obscure elements of the lore... maybe you could cover the expansive dialogue of the edge, so to speak lord Ensha; The All Hearing brute next.

[@codypatton2859]

I wanna say he already did

[@tetsusiega2]

Old-age Mutant Catholic Turtles Catholics in a sad hell, papal power!

[@Thefunnycustodian]

I don't think radagon really wanted to break Rennala's heart but due to the fact he and Marika are the same I think he was forced to by her because maybe she had some amount of control over him to do those things

[@deadseven3474]

I just assumed the turtles being around the rise towers was just the common association of turtles being wise and ancient like the common wizard stereotype. Fun listen as always.

[@thevo4100]

It's interesting to think about when the urge to reproduce faded from the inhabitants of the Lands Between. It may be because the Erdtree has replaced this function. It may have something to do with the fact that The Great Rune of the Unborn is no longer part of the Elden Ring. Also, I think that Muriel's thoughts on heresy and convergence show that all of the different curses, powers etc. that we encounter are all actually aspects of the Elden Ring and the Greater Will. There's been a few lore hunters recently who have argued, quite compellingly, that the various Outer Gods are not equivalents or alternatives to the Greater Will but are more like a secondary pantheon. This little snippet from Muriel fits this perfectly.

[@toms1313]

The "we are talking about dogs" was so perfectly delivered it had me chuckling like an idiot

[@collinraley7578]

We're talking of course about dogs. Made me laugh

[@pizzaguy8844]

If you've killed a singular turtle in your playthrough of Elden Ring you're horrible!!

[@o.gparamount3099]

Ikr? Theyre so defenseless and all they can do is hide n the shell, only bad people harm 🐢

[@TheDaveBloom]

What if I killed one of the numerous little hopping bunny guys?

[@legendaysupersaiyan]

Then you should lock your doors at night and make sure none comes in through your windows.​@@TheDaveBloom

[@AlexanderJoneshttps]

GRRM is a big Turtles lover aswell I think that's why Fromsoftware included them not just for lore aswell

[@liamcastro9896]

When I first played Elden ring I thought the turtles were special and it would mess up my relationship with Miriel. So I religiously stayed away from them and refused to kill them

[@headecas]

I legit stopped watching a one hour long time-line thesis on Ellen ring to ofcourse watch something about the deepest lore

[@Yaegz05]

The SmoughTown one? Cause same

[@dragonlord498]

Wish he had a quest line couldve been very interesting and maybe potentially one of more wholesome ones sort of like boc can be if get his good ending

[@TristanTodd-kk9um]

Miriel. The one who gives demi gods therapy.

[@corwin32]

Love the vids of Miriel and the Chosen Tarnished hanging out together.

[@FranTheMan78]

That mausoleum theory blew my fucking mind!

[@Reybackk]

I love that you can make interesting contect even about turtles in Elden Ring

[@Emerald_Raven08]

I love that ranni canonically likes turtles

[@Nemo12417]

I personally believe that when Radagon swore love to Renalla, he was sincere. Much like Blaidd going insane, however, his own will ultimately held no sway. Radagon's secret is revealed by using a spell called Law of Regression, which states that all things eternally yearn to reconverge. Radagon may have wanted to become complete, to become more than simply the leal hound of the Golden Order, but he could not defy his own nature indefinitely.

[@Nemo12417]

The game goes out of its way on numerous occasions to remind us of Radagon's hair being red, and also that the fire giants had red hair. This, I think, is where the mystery is laid bare. Marika eventually had doubts about her Golden Order, but during the campaign against the Fire Giants, she was a true believer. I think Radagon might have emerged as an alter ego as a result of Marika fighting the Fell God, the embodiment of her Golden Order fanaticism. Eventually, he gained his own body and sought to chart his own path, but the Greater Will had other plans.

[@DevilyKnight]

Thank god turtles here are respected animals. I have a picture of the pope and me just sitting and resting under the night sky and put that as a background for my Xbox. Maybe I’ll take another one that better.

[@SnuSnuDungeon]

I wish the game gave us the option of grabbing the Santa merchant and living with turtle pope, saying to hell with the Order

[@Tannershide]

I never even thought to kill and eat the dogs in Elden Ring. Didn't even occur to me they could be fought.

[@square-table-gaming]

This guy gets maidens

[@thebronzeshadow]

a mending rune of vows would be interesting…sad a turtle lord ending wasn’t possible 😔

[@picklejho69]

Why do Tortoises drop Turtle meat? This is the question that keeps me up at night.

[@square-table-gaming]

In the Lands Between turtles and tortoises are synonymous

[@nimblejarl7635]

Whenever I needed a break from the struggles of thw lands between, I would always come to this place and chill next to the great dog pope

[@brandonwoodhouse358]

I think the turtles symbolize benevolent longevity, and once symbolized union and the long standing age of goldenness, and the Erdtree. The neck meat originally being an aphrodisiac also suggests this to promote the creation and sustaining of life itself. And after the shattering, turtles simply became another byproduct use for war. In short, every once beautiful or tragic meaning in the world, all became forgotten in the quest for power and the death of both innocents and guilty alike.

[@corwin32]

I _adore_ the picture of the Turtle Pope! GG, Pat Gee!

[@partymantis3421]

i wonder if the voice actor ever was told that his character was a giant turtle , i can imagine him getting the role of "Miriel, pastor of vows" ,recorded the lines. & then when the game comes out & hes like: " was i playing a turtle pope?"

[@darrinlaw2832]

Who would have thought the greatest character design ever created was a turtle with a pope hat

[@seratoxin3825]

this one is a lotttt of speculation, from the timeline stuff to the reincarnation, to the nature of Radagon, etc...and the Radagon stuff is the bit i think is particularly contentious...it's clear Radagon is somehow connected to the fire giants and/or the Fell God, given the fact that he's mentioned in the red braid description, and his red hair is pointed out so often...if he did originally split off of Marika, i'm guessing it was because of the Fell God cursing her when they fought - that's my theory - but i've also seen the theory that he's just a half-giant who sided with the Golden Order, or something similar

[@darkvioletcloud]

Y'know the underground part of Summonwater Village with the chest with the Green Dog Talisman? There was a message there that said "dog city!" and I was delighted to be greeted by half a dozen dogs.

[@mcprawn]

New ending : Age of dogs

[@dreggywegs]

@@mcprawn this is the best ending.

[@MobileSuitAce91]

I feel the closest ending to what Miriel wanted was the Perfected Order ending. I have my own belief on the ending largely based on the fact that turtle pope and the law of regression agree that all things can be conjoined. My theory even adds that Goldmask believes this too since he is a scholar first, believer second.

[@nunull6427]

Still sitting on stacks of turtle necks crying, refusing to use them

[@jaketerpening3284]

"All things can be conjoined" sounds like we should burn away all that divides and distinguishes. MAY CHAOS TAKE THE WORLD!

[@dreggywegs]

@@jaketerpening3284 no

[@wolfiemuse]

Excellent art, Pat. Very glad you included the dog joke. People in the ER community got tired of it for a while, but I don’t see that joke ever dying. 😅 And excellent script, Zach. I dig the intro, as well. The purple STG logo with the Japanese above it. I’m not sure I ever really noticed it before. Good job, gents! Always making me want to play ER ❤

[@nseven1117]

funny how people jokingly call the turtles dogs when they aren't even turtles to begin with. they are tortoises

[@jax6815]

I still want to summon my turtle master. Would be cool if he could do all the spells you give to him. I could also see him being a very passive tank though.

[@justingoldman5018]

I need to try and see what happens, when after you become elden lord, (maybe with a specific ending or something), but before new game plus, if you went back to the Church of Vows and tried to use the celestial dew, of anything would happen....

[@tkong6465]

I think like the grafted sword is just a nod to George he loves turtles they actually have many thrones references in Elden ring the blood hound knights cape crest is similar to house Cleganes in Westeros they are subtle but a lot do Westeros references are here even the forbidden lands it’s kinda a nod to beyond the wall of the north …. I think it’s very cool the Easter eggs left in honor of Geroge

[@aceundead4750]

Imagine being so cold and cruel as to eat turtle neck meat in front of Miriel. Not saying id ever do such a thing, mind you.

[@headecas]

I don't think the stamina boost was for battle

[@AegisKHAOS]

I don't think so, either.

[@dreggywegs]

@@headecas it was for when you slide into Fia's DM's

[@uraserdemergel1191]

Great video but anyway what is the chest armor with yellow cape u are wearing

[@square-table-gaming]

Vagabond set!

[@FullCaber]

HONESTLY I WOULD HAVE LOVED A SECRET TURTLE ENDING OF HAPPYNESS

[@epiccthulu]

My thing is that Marika, through Radagon, gave Rennala the Greater Rune of Rebirth. Given the other lore of Marika, wanting people to struggle and become stronger, I feel like Marika made Rennala an essential part of her plan that ends up surviving aslong as the frenzied flame isn’t chosen. It’s those aspects that have me on thinking the treatment of Rennala wasn’t exactly cold.

[@miliflight]

Miriel model make me think of Lonesome George a Galapagos turtle that went instinct, he was the last of is kind and live in a zoo most of is live and past at the age of 100 years old.

[@darkangel5403]

My theory: Marika did the thing with rennala for ranni imo. A ghost calls godwyn the unwanted child so maybe Radagon had A duel purpose , creating an offspring that wasn't cursed and could be strong enough to change the lands between and completely remove the greater will. Radagon might have agreed and put up thorns to wait for idk Ranni, or he objected to the plan and put the thorns up, kinda works either way. It didn't make sense imo for a mother to not have a favorite child. So it got me Thinking. If marika really got tired of the greater will everything fits. She couldn't outright defy the golden order so thats why even the words from Melina of hers make Marika seem indifferent, could be completely wrong share your thoughts?

[@square-table-gaming]

Not sure if I think this all lines up but I do agree that Ranni and Marika were working together during the night of black knives. It makes a lot of sense if you follow all the clues.

[@TheFruitofTruth]

Turtle pope is my favorite character I love to hang out with him and bring him every book and scroll

[@nathanb5579]

Miriel is final boss of DLC. He was pulling the strings all along.

[@ElvinHansson-xc9ny]

Fun fact, the voice actor to Miriel is the same as the voice actor for Al-An in Subnautica Below Zero

[@ukrainiangigachad]

wise mystical dog

[@wayward5219]

DOG, OH DOG PRAISE THE DOG!

[@_ariosto1519]

Thanks for this great video man! Miriel is the 🐐 of this game!

[@thewolfofmaedwyn03]

No, he is the 🐕 of this game.

[@timelineenjoyer]

endurance brothers rise, we have been elevated to godhood with the dlc also “all things can be conjoined” sounds like something the hornsent were told but took a bit literally

[@bh24x]

Imagine, if fromsoft had just had the foresight to include turtle amongst the list of runes one can write how much dimmer the world would be today.

[@Stubbled]

The goodest boy, such a great dog.

[@prophetofpuppets]

WOOO YEAH BABY THATS WHAT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR

[@Sim-sq2hu]

I'm still up in the air about them being tortoises, they walk on land, but they don't seem to walk on their toes like tortoises, make me think more of box turtles.

[@TheCronesEye]

Terrific as usual, STG. 🎉😊 Your insight about the possible origins of the Walking Mausoleums is brilliant and terrifying. 😱 I’m glad you’ve put all these Elden Ring lore videos into a playlist. While I love the lore content, you also have the perfect voice for drifting off to sleep. Don’t worry, though, I always rewind and then pick up where I left off. Nice work. Nice long playlist. Thanks! 🙏😊

[@square-table-gaming]

Hahaha happy to accommodate you. Let us know if there's any non-elden ring lore content youd want to fall asleep to

[@ZugzugZugzugson]

dog! we need a spirit summon that summons a turtle which does nothing but hide in its shell and be tanky af at +10.

[@Kraziel797]

Turtles are my favorite animals since I was a child, Gorillas and other Primates fascinated me as well which inspired me to do the Unga Bunga build with the Demi human spirit aids.

[@TiberiusRex182]

Lets gooooo! I love a good pupper vid!

[@DAKGOD4EVER]

Just dawned on me I wonder if he has lines if you each turtle in front of him.

[@dreggywegs]

In Elden Ring, all good dogs go to heaven.

[@fishyboy2140]

Miriel is best and wisest dog

[@austinmonroe5551]

I think Rennala is obsessed with the egg, not just because of Radigon. But but of Ranni. She's practicing reincarnation magic to bring her daughter back. She clearly loves her daughter very much so, i think the Amber egg has more to do with bringing Ronnie back, then it does with radigon.

[@Volti-Vagra]

13:31 Lord of the Cleansing Droplet ending? A world of stagnation, where curses can flow freely again finally dissipating back to a natural state (and due to being flooded, more animalistic life is able to resurge?)

[@henrywenn]

Just found out that this dog has the same voice actor as Al-An from Subnautica BZ

[@tkjohnson1988]

Damn I never even notice the wolf tie in

[@Scott_Inksmith]

He my favorite dog in game. Very a cute and a great for petting

[@ezal8372]

Using the Turtle talisman 👍🏾😇💯 Consuming Turtle neck meat maidenless behavior

[@Tatertot_fan47]

0:45 YES

[@itsok6640]

I never thought I would need further explanation beyond "turtle Pope" but here we are

[@square-table-gaming]

Happy to be of service

[@cameranwall]

Water in general needs an explanation in the game. Formless mother connection? Blood is mostly water.

[@MrSmido1]

After meeting muriel i stopped killing turtles. Hardly felt right since they dont attack. Then i met him and was like aw hell these are good bois

[@dolanysmooth4507]

I can’t wait to hear about the history of tortoises

[@notthespy7171]

Now THIS is quality content!

[@dominiclane8538]

I really do love the lands between , elden ring is so awsome and I can not wait for the dlc