The Lore of Elden Ring's Eternal Cities

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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
00:56 Chapter I: Fear the Night
04:56 Chapter II: The Three Cities
09:23 Chapter III: Reborn into Imitation
15:37 Chapter IV: Thy Defiled Blood
20:38 Chapter V: Eternal Darkness
25:10 Chapter VI: Eternal Wonders
28:23 Chapter VII: As Above, So Below
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[@skylerstook6696]

I discovered the elevator by mistake during my first playthrough. When I saw the underground night sky my mind was actually blown. I knew Elden Ring was going to be great, but the underground eternal cities really cemented how vast the open world was.

[@user-ns4zm8qe9p]

Yeah I did the same thing, after a minute started wondering why this elevator was so long then holy shit

[@Synthanicmusic]

Same. And then, mind is as blown even more when I discovered there was more

[@leagueclipper6365]

Same

[@Ostfriese93]

Well, same here.

[@actualsatanasismygt839]

Same xD i was like wtf more ? 🤣😭😭🤣 but i love it

[@VaatiVidya]

Hello. May I share with you the lore of this land?

[@VaatiVidya]

I know it's hard to believe. But we're actually standing in an-

[@AdamDonCosta]

@@VaatiVidya what

[@Azakadune]

Yesnt

[@drakenystrom1798]

@@VaatiVidya first one?

[@chall-us6de]

@@VaatiVidya I love you

[@callumbyrne4263]

The moment of taking the lift down for the first time only to see it keeps going and going and going and to them reveal the sparkly sky bois studded sky is probably my favourite moment in the entire game

[@danielsama5886]

Then you are suddenly in vietnam and arrows rain upon you.

[@Based_investor]

Blackreach from skyrim moment

[@randymanly1946]

😊

[@leobaron9417]

@@Based_investor I'd argue it's even better than BlackReach, because you generally already know how crazy the dwemer can get. Meanwhile, this is likely your first contact with the nox in elden ring

[@indiiglow]

Genuinely made my jaw drop

[@SevenEff]

When speaking of the Albinaurics my attention is always drawn to the themes of silver and gold, how alchemists obsess with turning the former into the latter, how the silver tears are an imitation of those who bask in the light of the golden order, how the theme of silver is related so closely to magic and the moon, how they mirror the sun and its miracles and how neither purest silver nor purest gold may tarnish, yet the impure of both are marred by time.

[@bubbalicious3273]

nerd

[@SevenEff]

@@bubbalicious3273 nerdn't

[@EzekielGoldbergII]

Alchemists turn lead into gold. Not silver. There would be no use in transforming one costly metal into another.

[@lainothefirst]

also, silver was used in creating mirrors in middle ages. Thats actually why vampires werent supposed to have a reflection in them. So, silver I guess silver was linked to mirroring something else way before in the real world as well

[@TheHornedKing]

@@lainothefirst That's not why vampires didn't have a reflection. The idea that vampires don't have a reflection was basically invented by Bram Stoker, and his explanation was this belief that mirrors showed a reflection of your soul, but vampires didn't have souls, and thus no reflection. The idea that it was the silver in the mirrors, is just a modern invention that people mistake for a historical fact.

[@kevinpaul9458]

I always thought that the giants on the thrones were like the “towering little sister” at the end of Latenna’s storyline. Like the Albinaurics, the Nox could have tried to create their own lords, free from the influence of the outer gods. The Finger slaying blade was probably key to their plans of removing the Golden Order’s influence.

[@BeanManolo]

That could be the reason Ranni wanted it aswell: sever any influence of the Greater Will over her and the world, so she could bring the Age of Stars without their meddling

[@Stechunderscore]

@@BeanManolo I mean isn't that exactly why she wants it? She uses it to kill her own Two Fingers, to free herself.

[@marius3165]

Fear the night = Fear the old blood = Blooborne 2 confirmed

[@1129mdw]

I think the Greater Will took fate from the stars and made the world its Marionette (puppets with strings controlled top down) controlled by its vassal Fingers. The Nox were so abhorrent to be banished far below because they dabbled in Marionette Magic or perhaps they allowed the Greater Will in (as opposed to just plain Free Will)... but there they found the ability to create Puppets (controlled from below). This would make Frenzy perhaps some distortion of Freedom due to being buried with the Grand Caravan.

[@ASpaceOstrich]

They succeeded. Marika was from the Eternal Cities, and her artificial lord is Radagon.

[@AnthonyManthony]

Small tidbit about Nox armor, Maliketh's armor actually has the same scaling motif as them, further linking Marika to them in a very subtle way

[@BeanManolo]

The Black Knife Assassins are also stated to be all Numen, and related somehow to Marika. Since Nokrom was a Numen settlement, and Marika was a Numen herself, makes sense Maliketh, being her 'shadow' has hints to it

[@Fletchling863]

Also the colors go well together great for fashion souls

[@ummche14]

29:34 letmesoloher was a nox puppet this whole time

[@superlosia1234]

How is Maliketh the half-brother of Queen Marika? Who are their parents, the Greater-Will?

[@AnthonyManthony]

@@superlosia1234 That's an easy one. Same way Blaidd is Ranni's brother. Not by blood or anything, they were just raised together and have that bond. Hope this helps!

[@TimeBucks]

I really love how interconnected everything is in Elden Ring

[@RajasthaniNewStatus]

Nice

[@mikeekim8567]

Yet none of it has any concrete frame. So many key elements are missing which makes lore and the story confusing and incomplete.

[@zenz0ha472]

It’s like a massive spider web of secrets, betrayals, ruined cities, broken family ties and old gods. It’s awesome

[@widexawake_]

@@mikeekim8567 Which is entirely by design. We don't have a complete timeline of our own history, so we can only fill in the blanks ourselves. Why is it an issue in Elden Ring?

[@william41017]

@@mikeekim8567 which is the point

[@ASpaceOstrich]

I figured out Marika was from the Eternal City months ago and I've never felt so vindicated to hear that the buildings are literally named after her in the files. Theres a reason Radagon seems to wink into existence as she begins conflict with Caria. Theres a reason Albinaurics are so opposed to sorcerers. Theres a reason Radagons crest on the Elden Ring is so at odds with all the other rune designs, appearing as an artificial grid rather than an arc like all the others. Theres a reason the Eternal Cities were fixated on creating an artificial lord, and theres a reason Radagon and Marika are somehow one being despite not sharing a will, and not being the same... Radagon is artificial. He is to Marika what Asimi would have been to us.

[@jaceyates6315]

ooooo

[@ReeperRiopel]

This is amazing. I hope @Vaatividya sees this

[@omaralajmi1551]

I think this is BS... Its the Elden Beast , the elden beast is more likely the Will of Marika and Radagon... His Sword could be the Spine of the Original Marika/Radagon imo... The Elden Beast is the Greater Will , just like Astel is the Bastard of Stars. The 3rd obvious Greater Monster would be the Serpent that merged with Rykard... I think the Elden Beast is the Will that cut ties with Death , he is the string player of Marika and Radagon with split Wills... Or else Godfrey and Rennala with their Children wouldn't made sense either. ( All of the children Morgott , Radhan , Malenia , Ranni , Mohg , Rykard etc. ). Are Abnormal entities compared to Rennala and Godfrey alone , its rather pretty vague but Truthful... Radhan can control Stars , but Godfrey cant ? its kinda sus 😅 Godfrey and Rennala are the most Basic Humanoids , while Marika/Radagon and pretty much all major bosses have abnormal feats that could make sense when you tie how Elden Beast distributed the Shattered Elden Ring Arcs. Rennala has an Elden Ring Arc as a form of Egg Shell.... While Godfrey is not an Elden Arc Lord. He's just a remembrance Elden Lord King.... Sir Gideon Ofnir the All-knowing didn't know anything behind that Gate , Godfrey guards as the 2nd Final Boss of the game. Why would Numen's kill other Numen's if there wasn't any Greater God or possibly , an Ancient Numen God which is Elden Beast... The Assassins killed Godwyn , a kin killing another kin wouldn't make sense if there wasn't a greater influence i think.... Dragons and Gransax died in Lyndell , while Godwyn might've been the Champion of the Curse that the Greater Will invoked , maybe Dragons felt the unstoppable Deathless world of the Lands Between ? Remember Godfrey and Marika are the Ones who ended the Dragons , its rather pretty manipulative action to me lol. 😅 But its speculation of course.

[@khalilrahme5227]

@@omaralajmi1551 elden beast is most certainly not the will of Marika. Marika shattered the ring after starting to distrust of the golden order, then was imprisoned by the Elden beast. And when we fight the beast, Radagon emerges to defend it

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

Radagon *is* Marika. That much is explicitly told to us in game. Use the spell you obtain from the spellbook at the top of Godfrey's arena in front the statue just down the elevator from that arena. Plus, if you'll notice the cutscene in the final bossfight, Marika's body literally turns into Radagon.

[@Ivrin3]

The exact situation you mentioned in the intro was the moment I fell in love with this game. There I was, just running away from stuff in The Lands Between, thinking to myself "dang, this world is pretty big". And then encountering this unassuming building in the middle of nowhere, entering the elevator and literally laughing out loud when I saw the magnificence and beauty of the underworld. No other game gave me such sense of exploration and discovery.

[@butternutsauce]

Play Skyrim, there’s a similar experience the first time you discover Blackreach. Combat is so outdated though

[@MemoryMori]

Me too TArnished....me too...

[@madmanwithaplan1826]

If you want a game that'll give you a really sense of exploration and discovery from start to finish play the outer wilds. Dont look up any videos or discussions on it. Any good video or discussion on the game will include a disclaimer saying play it first then come back. The games all about genuine discovery and if you read the wrong thing you might tip yourself off to things you should not know. you'll deny yourself of the discovery. Its an AMAZING game.

[@Spo0kl]

@@butternutsauce kinda get rids of that experience when you KNOW its there

[@Ivrin3]

@@madmanwithaplan1826 Oh yeah, it has been on my list for the longest time. Now I'm on a sick leave so maybe that's a good excuse to finally check it out!

[@hugehuman1]

When I first rounded a corner in Nokstella and found a seemingly sentient iron ball, I knew I would need Vaati to explain this place to me.

[@Etticos.]

I haven’t gotten to the balls in the video, but I thought the balls were just mimics transformed into balls?

[@yoel9396]

@@Etticos. correct

[@jonesbt22]

@@Etticos. mimic tears are stored in the balls

[@camerancole8433]

@@jonesbt22 insert joke about offspring here

[@morganjace1327]

the kids aren't alright

[@Illier1]

There's lots of alchemical themes in Elden Ring. The Albinaurics are Humonculi, Marika and Radagon are a Remis, just all sorts of old school alchemy lore.

[@NathanCassidy721]

Yeah, SmoughTown, an Elden Ring LoreTuber, talks a lot about these concepts in his videos on Marika and the Albinaurics.

[@jjgarcia419]

What's a remis?

[@JennyBunny0714]

i love how elden ring is basically the continuation of dark souls's story except just in a new universe now so we get to explore different but similar and progressed concepts and ideas, this game is genuinely a decade defining game

[@asherandai2633]

Now I know full well they are entirely separate, but just to run with this for a moment... Dark Souls speaks of a cycle that goes roughly: Immortal > Gods > Man > Immortal > etc. (Immortal Dragons. I'm emphasising the Immortal part for a reason) In Dark Souls the worldhas become "stuck" in the Age of Gods, and we can either keep it there or push it forward to the Age of Man. In Elden ring the world is again "stuck" in it's current age, and we can keep it there or push it forward in a variety of ways. One of these way's is to push it towards the Eternal Night. Eternal and Immortal are analogous. Therefore perhaps Elden Ring is the Age of Man after Dark Souls Age of Gods! Maybe the next game will be the Age of Immortals!!!! ;P (FYI to all who read, please don't waste time insulting my obviously incredibly flawed logic. I'm just having myself a little fun fanboy sesh)

[@KosmataBradva]

@@asherandai2633 I generally think this is bullshit. And don't believe in any shared FS universe, conceptualized by buddhist cycle believes, or similar theories. But if we follow your logic, it's quite plausible Bloodborne comes after Age of Stars. The entire point is how humans will start looking at stars and see cool shit and ancient horrors in there. Sounds like the pthumerians. Ages later, the events of Bloodborne kick in, as yharnamees find the pthumerian catacombs. People considered Bloodborne a next cycle, after DS1 Age of Dark. But Elden Ring fits that gap quite well. Now, if you are in for some really unhinged stuff I just made up, Elden Ring's endings are different start points for different cycles. - Frenzied Flame is a fire, that suddenly appears in a TREE world where only dragons are immortal > DS. Go even further, that Fire is hunted down by a death god that means to fucking kill it. And DS1/3's Age of Dark is an invitable end. Do we have a real answer on what Velka was? Because I know how Velka looks. And the crows? Like the crow tattoo on Melina's eye, c'mon man, lmao. - Age of Starts leads to Bloodborne, as mentioned. - Duskborn/Dung could lead to Demon's Souls, but I just don't wanna do the mental gymnastics about it. - Sekiro is so different, that you can just link some bullshit to anything and put it at any point in a linked-universe theory. Hell, I think Sekiro is first one. That Land of Reeds guy, you pick? Well, how old is the Land of Reeds? Maybe 500 years ago, some shit with Plasidusax's cousin started, and your ninja ass had to fix it? Imagine while Isshin is glocking you, on the other side of the world, Godfrey fraging giants or something. I think it's cool. After all, why is it called The Lands Between, really? Because I don't find a single explaination convincing. Maybe Myazaki was sitting in his CO chair thinking "Eh, I'll let the boys project lead the Armored Core's. I'm probably not directing something for a while, so might as well end it on a blast..." I've never been so invested in a game I play to primarily kill shit.

[@JEASOUA]

@@asherandai2633 it would be awesome to have a Age of Immortals (although that is almost what elden rings rebirth is going for)

[@hunglikeahorse120]

@@asherandai2633 Just speculating here but wouldnt Sekiro be under the immortal category?

[@asherandai2633]

@@hunglikeahorse120 i honestly wouldn’t know. It’s still on my to do list and I’ve avoided spoilers so far

[@_ONGBAL]

Finally! The Eternal City is the most interesting place for me in Elden Ring 🤔

[@The_Knight_Of_The_West]

Ongbal! love your videos

[@btchplease9758]

Understandable since the Soldier of Godrick isn’t there.

[@rando2190]

it's the goat

[@RobikV3]

I loved the underground areas the most so creepy yet interesting!

[@Haltboy]

deffo check out smoughtown if your into this sorta lore vids. i will promote my man until the end

[@TheHornsofValmar]

The love of Berserk is also ever present with The Band of the Hawk. The company of the Fallen Hawk were once soldiers and faced a terrible fate as well.

[@Kevin-uz5he]

Those soldiers even look like Griffith at some point

[@draxyboy]

@@Kevin-uz5he They remind me of Skull knight a bit more

[@cloudbloom]

Shoutout to berk

[@cartooncritique6625]

The Soulsborne series certainly isn't shy about paying homage to its influences.

[@noob4head]

The Elden Ring Eternal cities are some of the best designed "levels"/areas in all of gaming. I can't even count the endless hours I spend exploring these gorgeous cities. I think I spend as much time underground in these Eternal Cities than I have spend above ground. Can't wait for the DLC's to drop, I'm so hyped. honestly I should replay the game again (for like the 8th time)

[@blackstag9366]

When that first glimpse of that gorgeous, starry sky broke through the grey rock as the elevator finally began to finish it's endless descent, I think my breath left my body. It was one of those rare moments in life when you just know something happened that will stick with you for the rest of your life.

[@darkmoonmiracle]

The best thing about spending 300+ hours entirely ‘blind’ before beating the game is that all of this was an absolute shock. Everything. Was so magical. I won’t ever forget it.

[@howlingbeast3x6]

Honestly yeah. It took me over 200 hours to do my first playthrough and I did almost everything. I odn't understand how some people are at NG+5 and never went in some areas of the game. What are they doing? Rushing the game the same way everytime?

[@bergen6471]

I gotta say, it realy took a bit for me to shift my gameplay from what im used to in dark souls (mostly linear, boss rush) to a more rpg way of gaming (skyrim-esque) the only reason I was forced to change things up was because I was getting dumpstered, due to lack of level/smithing stones, since I wasnt exploring. I can imagine people that can beat those bosses at a low level could go through the game while missing the majority of the content, which seems like a shame, but to each their own.

[@rsmith8113]

I also went full blind into Elden Ring and it was the best gaming experience of my life probably. Magical is really the only way to describe it

[@PineappleTom71]

I’m so glad I went into it blind

[@mota2028]

Aaaay 300 hour plus gang Just got the plat trophy and in at 296 hours What an amazing experience this game has been. Truly. A remarkable achievement in gaming

[@corneliusdwyer1824]

This is tangential at best, but given the connection between the Nox and the Albinaurics, and Latennas quest to allow a giant Albinauric to birth more... Could the giant Nox skeletons have been something similar? A giant version that can birth more Nox? Also ties into the ant imagery that is so prevalent in the underground

[@ciarono1093]

I never considered the presence of the ants could be analogous of the nox’s biological hierarchy. Great observation!

[@aethernaut1899]

The link between the giant skeletons and the giant albinauric is something that occurred to me as well.

[@Doomroar]

This comment needs more upvotes and attention

[@carrotslayer4806]

On a tangent to your tangent: Aside from the white cloth there is only one noticeable difference between the chest armors of the Nox swordstress and night maiden sets (I only noticed it while switching between them rapidly trying to decide character fashion). The night maiden set has a slightly bigger stomach. It's only a bit more in the upper abdomen so in the end it could be absolutely nothing. But this kind of difference doesnt exist in other group of extremely similar sets. Given how rare births were for the numen it is interesting that their Nox descendants have maidens as their highest ranked priestesses with swordstresses dedicated to protect them. Given how one of the themes for the Nox is their constant tampering with life and how the cut npc/tear Asimi would have taken residence within your character, perhaps the night maidens and whatever spiritual function they serve is more central to Nox society than previously thought.

[@splder5430]

I had genuinely not thought about this, but as I lay in bed it also occurs to me how similar in skin tone, eye and hair colour the Nox/Nightfolk/Humanoid mimic variants are to female Albinaurics.

[@Uhagin]

Everything about this game, every detail, is so inextricably connected, from the smallest scale of item descriptions and enemy design up to map design and the overarching story. How do you even begin to craft a world like that, where every seemingly mundane thing has some kind of deeper meaning and connection to the lore? This game baffles me time and time again.

[@josephhausser3096]

No comments yet? ill change that. Lets talk about it. HOW DID THEY CREATE ALL OF THIS?

[@camdentractenberg3102]

On my first playthrough of Dark Souls people told me “I wish I could forget and play it again” but I never really understood it. After playing Elden Ring for the first time I felt the same. Elden Ring will forever be my favorite Souls game.

[@albertozalon8477]

This is how i feel about bloodborne.

[@KobeAndersonCactus]

You should look into Dark Souls lore. It's not quite as good as Elden Ring but it's still very good and serves as a prototype for Elden Ring and also greatly inspired games like Destiny

[@Dravianpn02]

Did you make it to Ash Lake when you first played it?

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

How is that hard to understand?

[@heckingbamboozled8097]

​@@jarlwhiterun7478because they hadn't yet experienced the feeling. Feels pretty obvious, man

[@finn9133]

Another cool connection is if during Boc’s questline you choose to rebirth him through Rennala, he’s born pale and without the use of his legs, much like first gen albinaurics and the dragonkin soldiers.

[@NottherealLucifer]

Or more specifically, like the scholars Rennala rebirths and we fight during her boss fight lol.

[@abysswicked9076]

@@NottherealLucifer I wouldn’t say fight, but more akin to slaughtering in mass if we didn’t know what the point was.

[@MarlicJr]

For all we know they could be albinaurics, she does use larval tears also

[@MrFelblood]

@@MarlicJr Everyone is albinaurics in purgatory. No really.

[@grfrjiglstan]

I think it's worth looking at enemy damage resistances to give clues about their lore. Any enemy with poor Holy damage resistance, for instance, is some kind of enemy or threat to the Erdtree, like the Fire Giant and the albinaurics.

[@raymondan4701]

Turns out that ancestral spirits are weak to holy damage too, so that’s also very interesting

[@asdergold1]

@@raymondan4701 Anything death related is weak to holy.

[@raymondan4701]

@@asdergold1 huh. I guess I never connected the dots

[@yoel9396]

No wonder the erdtree won the war when barely anything is weak to holy dmg in the game, it had no enemies

[@azazelsiad3601]

@@yoel9396 it didn’t win the war. It assimilated all life and essentially cursed anyone who opposed it, for example the Tarnished. Our whole prophecy is about bringing an end to the age of the Erdtree and establishing a new order, that inherently made us its enemies so the Erdtree and the Greater Will demanded that all tarnished were to be banished from the lands between including Horah Loux.

[@oated5820]

I was trying to do Kenneth Height's questline, and when he said the direction I headed through mist wood, only to find that. I was in absolute shock thinking that I couldn't go any deeper only to fall so deep down.

[@redpandarampage2191]

Eternal cities were some of the best areas in the game. Going down the mistwood lift the 1st time was mind blowing. And finding the mini- astel and Nokstella dragonkin boss was a wild adventure. The giant skeletons on thrones and the weird distorted bodies erupting from the floor/ buildings was so creepy and I wanna know what that's all about.

[@JJMomoida]

My first journey down one of these actually led me down Ainsel river and I just kept on exploring. I eventually hit a point where you ran out of a basilisk-filled cave and onto an awesome vista of the Lake of Rot. Of course, at that point, I didn't even know wtf rot even was. I'd never been to Caelid. I just looked around in awe, thinking "wow is this just straight up hell?"

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

I found myself in Caelid long before I made my way into the Ainsel River, and had the same view of the Lake of Rot as you. It never occurred to me that there was even a remote connection between the swamp in Caelid and that glowing red lake. I thought it was lava. Until I finally got there, at least.

[@comet_fodderyt]

Turns out - yes.

[@alexwittig2760]

I remember standing there, seeing the lake of rot from above and I was like: "I don't have to go down there, right?.....RIGHT?"

[@voxumo]

I personally really want to know why the corpses in the eternal cities look so much like the messengers from Bloodborne.

[@isaiah2696]

Honestly they might just BE from Bloodbourne. Asset reuse since the game was rushed mabye

[@voxumo]

@@isaiah2696 you know, that is something I hadn't even considered but you are likely right.

[@dontfallyoumighthurtyourse4694]

Because it’s cheaper to tweak existing assets than to make new ones

[@lechking941]

@@isaiah2696 or a decisive choice to make use of the assets to save time as ewll is an option

[@isaiah2696]

@@lechking941 yeah!

[@dylann2649]

Watching this video while commiting mass genoci- while farming in Moghwyn's palace really made me laugh😅😂

[@tralala8980]

Even ingame, I thought: "I am no different than these waring demi-god I despise. Murdering people in their sleep to get more powerfull." True humanity comes when you are tested! 😳

[@BigO161107]

The thing I thought of most was how huge elden ring is. Finding new areas so far into the game was mind blowing.

[@reubenchandy2052]

The teleporters/sending gates in Elden Ring are also made of the same material/pattern as many structures in the Eternal Cities are made from

[@asktoseducemiss434]

The best thing about spending 300+ hours entirely ‘blind’ before beating the game is that all of this was an absolute shock. Everything. Was so magical. I won’t ever forget it.

[@gtabro1337]

The underground level discovery might be one of the most WOW moments I’ve ever had in a video game

[@eldenring_area]

wow, who would have thought that how vast the open world was...

[@drphilsranch6782]

I genuinely just don’t understand how some people can say that the lore of this game is uninteresting. This is one of the few video games that makes me want to learn about and understand every aspect of its lore, it’s just so fascinating to me.

[@BandaiNamcoEurope]

Gaze into the sky below the sky above... Nice job, Vaati.

[@MostafaAhmed-bp7ce]

The elden lords at bandai namco, when shalt thee bless us with the elden ring DLC ?

[@bobgumkowski9595]

Its interesting to me that The Land Between feels less and less about geography and more and more about the state of reality itself. It is the lans between life and death, between sin and compliance, between the the dark below and the stars above, between heaven and hell. Also just connected that Rennala holds amber which is petrified tree sap that is often seen (like in Jurassic Park) holding an organism in a state of perpetual preservation.

[@choian9953]

ok

[@allengordon6929]

it's a purgatory. which means project abyss could take place in a hell, and whatever after that a paradise

[@kimngo1629]

ok

[@tamthuong4048]

ok

[@SevenEff]

So what's really interesting about this is that in Japanese when referring to 'between' things, the language points to the space itself rather than the reference objects, so like in English we say 'between this and that' but in Japanese it would be 'in the liminal space between this and that', as if the space itself is a thing. So, to me, it's always felt like 'The Lands Between' are actually the lands that exists in the space between spaces, sharing parts of every universe it touches.

[@fottombeeder35]

I’m waffling because there is a link somewhere but I’m not sure where. Sellia is an extension of the eternal city of Nokron. Therefore it makes sense that the sellians are also descendants or actually from Nokron. They wear the crowns. Everyone in Raya Lucaria academy also wear the crowns. Those in sellia / other various locations can create the black orbs also seen in Noxstella. There are black orbs leading up to Renalla’s chambers where she is rebirthing someone over and over, just like the Nox do. Raya Lucaria is also home to descendants of the eternal cities, defending Renalla who is a Nox (???).

[@Welcometotheslam5424]

It’s kinda weird tho, cuz Nokron is so far away from Sellia, since Nokron is below Limgrave, while Sellia is in Caelid.

[@yellaturd]

@@Welcometotheslam5424 isn't there another lift pretty close by to Sellia that leads down near Nokron?

[@drphilsranch6782]

@@yellaturd, Yeah, it’s in the ravine in Caelid and it leads down directly into the Siofra river area.

[@catodes1295]

So the Carian royal family are Nox

[@kingharbortv]

What you said about the age of stars being an inevitably makes me think of all the events in Ranni's questline as a return to equilibrium. All of the item descriptions and history we can pull from the game are from the perspective of those living under the golden order, and subtly skew towards the golden order's version of history. But the natural events, the star crashing, astel and ranni are all trying to remove the order's unnatural hold on the lands between.

[@IngeniousNinja]

The Greater Will/Elden Ring is absolutely enforcing some kind of stasis, the loss of death (true death) and things returning to and 'feeding' the Erdtree, at least before Marika realised and sabotaged it. Most of the endings set things back 'right' but Ranni's certainly seems the least destructive and most 'natural'.

[@DM-Oz]

@@IngeniousNinja The loss of death was not caused by the greater will or the Elden Ring. It was caused by Marika herself when she removed destined death from the elden ring.

[@duyedu3370]

Siofra River was my first big WOW moment in Elden Ring I just love the design of the Eternal Cities

[@adriansmith2639]

I really love how interconnected everything is in Elden Ring. Really feels like a moving and mutable world.

[@Raytox]

Playing Elden Ring while listening to Vaatividya lore videos. Perfect sunday.

[@neroinferni5909]

Pretty sure the fallen hawks is also a reference to berserk and the band of the hawk

[@Ryster_Roo]

100% Especially with the amount of Berserk references in souls games

[@wavez8157]

Yeah it definitely is it’s too close to be a coincidence and from software games have a history of referencing berserk which I love to see

[@tribii1]

Playing through Elden Ring for my 3rd time (NG+ 2) I'm taking a deep dive into magic, the stars, moon, Ranni's Quest, and the mystery of the Eternal Cities. This lore will really help my Carian Lord playthrough be all the more thematic. By total accident, I was wandering around with Ice Lightning, and ghost flame - in addition to my sorceries, not even reading their deeper connection to the Cities and their artificial inhabitants. God, I love this game.

[@CoffeeBrainzz]

I LOVE the detail of the Finger Slaying Blade also being a corpse/vassel that possibly harnessed some type of power from one of the Great Beings, you can even see the spiral helix design in the blade however it’s been warped and curved compared to its counterpart and also seems to have lost whatever power that was previously residing in it! Great Detail find!!!!!

[@alexandrelabrie7790]

Wouldn't be surprised if that was the god of Placidusax while he was Elden Lord.

[@Killroy007]

@@alexandrelabrie7790 i wouldve thought its the gloam eyed queen

[@khalilrahme5227]

It didn't lose its power. Ranni uses the blade to slay her own 2 fingers. Which is the intended purpose of the blade as made clear by its name

[@Dan-Dillon]

Elden Ring finally hooked me into the genre (I tried Bloodborne and bounced off hard), but the opacity of the story and quest structure always frustrated me. I am immensely grateful for your work on these videos! I love the stories, and having the scattered pieces-that I could see were there-assembled and presented coherently is delightful. Thank you!

[@qauarter034]

I always thought that Dragonkin Soldiers are what happens if you eat too much dragon hearts. The things Yura warns you about. "You must not forget though. Those who partake in Dragon Communion will one day shed their humanity. Their hunger for dragon, their yearning, only worsens. Until the floodgates burst, unleashing eternal torment. The strength of a mighty dragon. Magnificent, but deadly. Its no surprise that Dragon Communion is ruinous."

[@crunchcmacmillan]

dragonkin soldiers are the eternal cities attempting to create artificial dragons; the magma wyrms are what happens to people who partake in too much dragon communion.

[@schneakymahoo4128]

I remember going down the elevator in Liurnia my first playthrough. My eyes lit up and I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time. My favorite area in the game by far.

[@acidpain6059]

Knowing Ranni’s story is going to be covered makes me mucho happy

[@watermelonjesus1547]

I think having a questline tied to getting your mimic tear i.e. like the one mentioned in the video would be awesome and make the mimic tear feel more earned.

[@joshuabelfield7592]

I cannot help but wonder if perhaps Ranni's ending has ties with the "black moon" that used to hang over the eternal city. The moon that is shown in her ending definitely has a great deal of black in it and considering how many ties there are with Marika's descendants, the stars, and the moon in Ranni's questline, including that so much of it is tied with the Eternal Cities... You can't help but wonder how much ties the Eternal Cities have with Ranni herself.

[@plackt]

Also worth noting that Albinauric is a portmanteau of albin (white / pale, as in albino) and auric (gold, from Latin "aurum").

[@jamster8764]

It's a shame there's no in game explanation as to why the Nox armor sets are so difficult to get ahold of. Truly one of the most armors in elden ring.

[@tsukuyomiacolyte4895]

Indeed, it IS one of the armors ever.

[@fatty1040]

It's unironically better looking than most armor. Fashion Souls FTW

[@S1NOFPRID3]

On my first play through i had to stop and farm that armour set it took like an hour and i didnt even wear it💀

[@dontfallyoumighthurtyourse4694]

@@S1NOFPRID3 this games loot distribution is literally retarded sometimes

[@makenaiyomi1083]

I really wanted that 2 horned headpiece and it took me more than an hour. What's funny though all the other set pieces weren't that rare to me. I had lots of nox armor chest pieces to sell to Hewg.

[@bidsteak9696]

Fallen hawk you say 🤨

[@neda9438]

Brother I’m speechless , another freakin AMAZING VIDEO WOW. I love your elden ring videos specially the all the lore videos I watched them all because I was so intrigued with the elden ring story I found it to be masterclass story telling. Keep up the amazing work man.

[@AntoniusTertius]

1:14 Antonio Augusto is Antonius Tertius who recently broke down all Latin in Dark Souls I ;) Thanks for the mention ^^ Great video as always \[T]/

[@VaatiVidya]

Thanks for the help, as always! Link to your channel in the description for anyone interested

[@AntoniusTertius]

@@VaatiVidya You are always welcome ^^ Jolly co-operation is what makes humans thrive in this dark world :)

[@lexmortis5722]

As a day 1 player, discovering the elevator was insane. Same with things like the Ruin Greatsword, Radhan himself, the Godslayer Greatsword to just name my Caelid highlights. My absolute favorite game.

[@davidgooding3143]

Would it be possible that Radhan was actually trying to prevent the "Starry Ending" of Ranni by holding back the stars. She needs the stars of fate to come back into motion because she understands that that will open the way to the Eternal Cities and the Fingerslayer blade. So Radahn's battle against the stars is really a battle against the world that Ranni wants to create?

[@climax050]

This is what i love perhaps the most about Elden Ring, everything just sort of fits together the more you think about it. It doesn't feel like you ever have to force bits of lore together or stretch to try and make things work. Its pretty clear that most of this is as factual as you can be in a FromSoft game. Its also worth noting that Ranni has active knowledge of the underground areas, and knows their importance and doesn't let us in on that until she has to and has deemed us trustworthy. Its also pretty obvious with her ties to the night. Something that just clicked for me though, is that Ranni is literally made. She's not a living being in the traditional sense, she's a doll that had to be made, and the Nox were trying to make a lord. Combine that with Caria and Ranni's ties to the night and the moon and I would guess that perhaps they aided her in remaking herself, and perhaps even in the department of the rune of death and killing demi-gods.

[@nawkee]

It's amazing.. To think that we still have such stories waiting to be told after all that time and content

[@Kostadin_Arolski]

You must be new. He has like 10 elden ring videos and there's at least 30 more to come

[@ummche14]

29:34 letmesoloher was a nox puppet this whole time.

[@jcace13]

The Cities were my favourite locations to explore in the game, seeing the night sky underground for the first time was a big highlight of the game.

[@FluffyFractalshard]

Honestly I think you got the best narrator voice and the best narration style on all of youtube. I'm not even so much into elden ring but your lore videos are so ultimately soothing and full of wonder.. I put one on every night to fall asleep to.

[@amongersus2893]

Damn I wish I can forget Elden ring. Probably never get that type of game for a long time

[@magicwalrus4255]

The eternal cities are my absolute favorite area. They're just gorgeous and so mysterious and magical. I really hope the DLC does more with them. I've been sad ever since I did everything possible in them. Ranni's Quest is elite.

[@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem]

I find it interesting that the Fingerslayer Blade and the Black Knives look similar. Both are able to harm or kill something thought immortal, though through different means (the Black Knife because of the shard of the Rune of Death/Destined Death carried within, and the Fingerslayer Blade seems to be partially because of it being made from a body). I wonder if the Black Knives could also harm the Two Fingers or if the Fingerslayer Blade could kill a god.

[@SorowFame]

I doubt the Black Knives could do the same as the Fingerslayer. Ranni wouldn’t go to so much trouble to get the special knife if she could just get Blaidd to whack a Black Knife Assassin over the head until they stop moving and give her their knife.

[@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem]

@@SorowFame Fair point. I hadn't really thought about that.

[@SophiaLilithUwU]

@@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem Given the black knives are descended of the eternal cities i do think the design of the black knives was inspired my the finger slayer blade, which even though it doomed their society, is still an important cultural artifact to nokron, so it would make sense the Black Knife Assassins would fashion their tools of the trade after it.

[@tyroneegure6155]

I think its interesting how not just the Trolls have hollowed torsos but the valiant gargoyles as well. Also the designs in this game were cool already but when you go into lore behind those designs it becomes exponentially cooler

[@luccamedeiros]

So amazing these videos. Its great to see the story connecting in my mind with all the broken or forgotten pieces of lore from my game playthrough.

[@ThatDudePlatina]

Each time I entered a new area, I was blown away by how lived in they were. How much time was taken to make sure they had believable scale and environments. Going underground and seeing how much bigger the game is than I thought it could be. Elden Ring is truly their magnum opus. Only Bloodbourne comes close imo.

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

Wait until you realize that Stormveil, Redmane, and Raya Lucaria all have zero living spaces.

[@micha3l7]

I mean tbf the academy people assumedly live in the town below. No defense for the castles tho, besides maybe Redmane has a ton of closed off rooms which may be barracks, and both castles have mess halls.

[@ThatDudePlatina]

@@micha3l7 there are also plenty of areas in Leyndell that appear to be homes, just a lot of them are destroyed, like most of the world is. There aren’t really any “small folk” left to live in any of them now, as time went on and the world crumbled.

[@sirgideonofnirtheall-knowi7863]

Ah another lore content. Indeed the pursuit of knowledge is endless... Great content my fellow keep it up...

[@RequiredGenericUsername]

I really love how you show your sources at the bottom of the screen when you go over a topic. This is an excellent practice.

[@asktoseducemiss434]

thanks to VaatiVidya and the people that help him. These videos are always a pleasure to watch. Good job!

[@josku5]

These videos open my eyes to how much detail and love was poured into this game. What a masterpiece indeed.

[@ThatRipOff]

Going down that elevator for the first time genuinely took my breath away. I was truly in awe, something that hasn't happened from a video game for me in quite a long time. Absolutely gorgeous. Fromsoft truly are masters at what they do.

[@Monster_Sniper_]

25:48 is just a pure badass looking moment great video and I'll definitely be watching your older lore vids now cause these are very fascinating

[@bimbambummmmm]

This is one of your best videos yet Vaati, fantastic storytelling both from you and From Software.

[@elementoflight6834]

Ranni takes so many practices of the Nox into her own. For example the Mirrorhelming of Traitors, its an Nox rite/tradition/punishment that is used on Iji.

[@psycojosho]

4:15 You say that the Sacred Relic Sword is making the gesture for Outer Order, but the corpse it was made from was missing part of an arm, so it was probably making a Golden Order Totality gesture. The same may be true for the Fingerslayer Blade. Of course, considering the strong themes of completeness and incompleteness in Elden Ring, this may be intentional.

[@ldeeevs1747]

Well, the sword is Radagons corpse.

[@pallydan9k]

So Marika isn’t a silver tear who lives within Radagon like that cut quest seemed to show off

[@MadAtreides1]

I think the Nameless Eternal City is, in fact, a part of Leyndell. It's inhabited only by gargoyles (which we also find in Leyndell) and it's even home to a finger reader crone. Also, it's located directly below the missing part of Leyndell that was to be found behind the main gate (we knew there was supposed to be something behind that gate from the trailer showing an army attacking to storm it).

[@IngeniousNinja]

Given that the Nox/Numen were likely one of if not THE dominant civilisation above ground at one point, it can be both. Leyndell (as-is) is the newer part that wasn't fucked up or built after the Astel nonsense.

[@LANBobYonson]

I’ll never forget a secret underground area with a secret area at the end then another secret area at the end of that with a boss. On replays it takes a bit to get to Astel tho.

[@BioshadowX]

I think it would be a fun ending that if (somehow) your mimic is alive after the full Radagan fight and when you kill the Elden Beast, the end cut scene has it killing you and taking your place

[@justanordinaryguy._.7399]

There is scraped/cut quest where the one you mention are similar to it.

[@franlovelsimic8421]

Your growth is nothing short of spectacular. Keep raising that bar man, you're getting there. Regarding the video, excellently covered and you raise a good point. We, as fans, most of us at least can be very sheepy at times and being a game of ego as much as the body does lead to many situations, even more we are not privy too so thanks for highlighting the whole situation in a way that you did.

[@Quicksilver_Cookie]

That first elevator ride is one of the best moments in the entire game, and one of the most awe inspiring moments in gaming I've experienced. Watching cave ceilings turn into night sky, as you slowly have this vast cavernous landscape appear before you. It's really something else.

[@Tcrror]

Elden Ring is quickly climbing up my favorite games ever list. It's just absolutely massive. The exploration is better than any game I have ever played.

[@UltimaterializerX]

The sky underground is when Elden Ring truly hooked me. It was surreal.

[@eetfuk3571]

the sky underground, stunning views all over the whole world, music, and the boss fights music as well especially Radagon/Elden Beast, Radahn, Godskin Duo.

[@solidsnake9898]

Radahn and Morgott honestly deserve their own video.

[@SpiritoftheWolf28232]

I always enjoy listening to your videos. You narrations are so calm and well prepared, and help me focus on whatever task I happen to be doing.

[@chillrendbeats7592]

Finding the Eternal City for the first time was magical, it was such a drastic difference to anything you have seen so far in the game. It was beautiful. What wasn’t was that elevator cuz gah damn it’s long

[@Cezzmart67]

I mean, to be fair Nokstella and Nokron are pretty deep underground

[@paulmaloney4387]

The elevator ride down to the Eternal City was probably the most jaw-dropping experience I've ever had as a gamer. Elden Ring is the first game where I truly felt that the journey was mine and mine alone. A masterpiece in world, art, character, and sound design

[@quantum174]

I love the fact that there is legit history in these games. Like you can actually study like drawings and depictions of certain things to come to conclusion. I can't explain it well but it makes the world feel so real and less video gamey

[@jeremysato8568]

This honestly might have been one of the greatest exploration games ever made. If we are just talking about pure exploration and the excitement of seeing what’s around the corner for the first time is unmatched.

[@NicNac36]

I always look forward to your videos. You have the perfect voice for narration, and really answer some of the questions I ask while playing.

[@cheesyglizzy2809]

Hi, i would like to say that all of your lore videos make me feel comfortable and how you talk in those is really chill. I thanks you for that and continue on that your doing a really good job. ❤

[@Cwronaga216]

It's amazing how many different connected factions there are that you could have potentially allied with during the age of stars questline if only you had the option to talk to people and ask questions more like an actual RPG. Imagine arriving to fight radagon with a whole bunch of black knives, Nox, carians, a dragon, and the former followers of the Blasphemous one.

[@HM-li4et]

Incredible video as always. One big complaint I've had since completing the game has been the lack of quests set in the eternal cities. The mimic tear one would've been great but I think we needed a good 5-10 quests set in these cities, would've really solidified the lore

[@Luffa187]

In my first playthrough I didn't even know there was an underworld. It was before they patched a marker on the map for the crater so I never ended up finding it. I also missed every other opportunity to get transported to the underworld. I became Elden Lord without even knowing it existed!

[@splinter360]

Dont know how you did that. There's like 5 different opportunities to go underground throughout the game. A few of them mandatory to endings.

[@Luffa187]

@@splinter360 Yeah it's insane. I really went out of my way to explore too and wanted to see everything the game had to offer. I finished at the 150 hour mark and managed to miss all of them. I wish I didn't but it is what it is.

[@yellowsaurus4895]

@@Luffa187 nah just think about it like this: you'll have an entirely new place to explore for your next playthrough now. I lawn-mowed the hell outta the map too on my first playthrough and i honestly wish I hadn't; i just dont feel very compelled to replay the game knowing I've already seen pretty much everything. That's just me tho.

[@Luffa187]

@@yellowsaurus4895 Yeah, I played the game all over again after I found out. Was a lot of fun!

[@plipplop728]

Be proud fellow tarnished, failed to find the Undergrounds while there are a lot of entrance, and a whole major questline that actually the hardest to miss was an achievement in itself.

[@EvilMoW]

I wish I could replay Elden ring for the first time again. I stumbled on the elevator in Limgrave, went down and had no what I had found. It was such a pretty sight, seeing the false starry sky.

[@Vugen18]

can you please make more lore videos! U have that perfect voice for this .. its so nice to lay back and listen to your videos.

[@shadeofmirkwood]

Amazing video as always my friend. Your quality should be a standered for KZbin creators. Mad respect!

[@daclown86]

So much has happened in the lore it really makes me wonder just how long of a time frame is it between Marika becoming a goddess and events of the game. Even longer when I think of the Crucible knights.

[@Necrotaku999]

one important thing to note its that the carian simbol its literally their coat of arms, and the eternal citys simbol appearing in the bubble sorceries of the old dinasty could be the coat of arms of the ol dinasty, maybe linking them to the nox, in heraldry coat of arms having similar parts denotes a common origin, so both nox and carians are related

[@fergusattlee]

This might be a small thing but the audio book you recommend at the end is narrated by Rupert Degas who also voices the great Tales of the Ketty Jay series, which is really fun, think steampunk pirates and a firefly esque crew! Great video!

[@wesleybaldwin1999]

Discoving the elevator to the eternal cities was the most mind blowing moment I've ever experienced in 30 years of gaming. The detail in this amazingly vast game is unreal. It will be a long time before Elden Ring is replaced by another game as greatest game ever. Hopefully by Elden Ring 2