The Philosophy of Elden Ring

[@WisecrackEDU]

Be honest with us...How many times have you rage quit Elden Ring so far? Use my code WISECRACK10 and link: bit.ly/WisecrackBKMar22 to get 10% off (save up to $47!) your own authentic Japanese subscription box from Bokksu! Don't miss out on this amazing snack-journey through Japan!

[@TalesNT]

Around 5 times. Like three of those are because of Malenia, Blade of Miquella and I refused to use summons and blind playthrough meant no meta builds. But that boss is such bullshit.

[@xXRickTrolledXx]

A bloodborne boss in a Sekiro style souls game.

[@VirtousStoic]

You should put a spoiler at the end of your video before you show the ending clips (at the begining isnt enough). Love your videos, beat this game, lots of fun and it's not hard when you level up. It's actually very fair compared to previous games in the genre

[@ThecoolATDB]

Never, there is ALWAYS somewhere else to go in the game. Everytime I got clapped, I went elsewhere.

[@VirtousStoic]

@@TalesNT so you are upset that a boss was hard because you choose to make the game hard for yourself (no summons NPC nor coop, and no googling builds). You choose to play with those roles/handicaps so accept your choices. No one is telling you to play that way except your ego. Plus speed runners beat the entire game under leveled and super deficits. So the game is totally fair. You can play the game anyway you like, then on your second playthrough play a different way I guess. Good luck. And I played the entire game solo without coop and was fine. This game is balanced becsuse they put things for every build to make it viable (especially after the patch fixes and balance changes)

[@JusticeJanitor]

Minor Correction : Radahn didn't organize the festival himself to re-live his glory days. He's gone completely mad due to Scarlet Rot and his men organize the festival in order to give him an honorable death. Also, he first learned how to use Gravity magic in order to still be able to ride his tiny horse named Leonard and I love him for it.

[@insu_na]

Was about to say this. This is a very important fact about Radahn

[@S7ayMelo]

I also was coming down here to bring that up, seems that they just skipped that fact to drive their hauntology narrative cuz theirs no way u don’t know these fact if u watch the intro cutscene before fighting Radahn

[@TheDSasterX]

Doesn't really seem to change the reading

[@alonewanderer4697]

@@S7ayMelo that doesn't really kill the narrative though. just change "his past haunting him" to "his glorious past hauting his men who want him to have an honorable death instead of dying like a madman"

[@CynicalNaivety]

@@alonewanderer4697 That's a bit of a reach though. Referring to the respect his men hold for him as 'his glorious past haunting them' is twisting words into a pretzel.

[@Darkshadow1534]

Good thing I totally understood all of that when choosing Ranni's ending, and totally did not choose her because she was my 4 armed waifu

[@HanmaHeiro]

Lmao still a valid reason for the choice. Greater men and women have made choices with similar reasonings

[@southparkking2]

To be fair, I choose her because of her mama .3.

[@Kagetenshi666]

Not so maidenless now huh?

[@thecactusman17]

I chose Ranni because she was the only one who seemed to have anything like an actual narrative or emotional progression.

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

Hope you know that Ranni’s ending and most of her dialogue was very mistranslated.

[@pyrosianheir]

"Maybe we'll come back to it once anyone understands the whole story." So in a year and a half, when Vaati Vidya uploads his lore/story explainers.

[@TheShadowHatter]

there's already lore videos though. Vaati doesn't have a patent on it lol someone already posted a video of the story you play while others are posting lore of characters and past events.

[@berrychad3840]

Cool cinematic elden ring video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6SsaWyfq7GAoaM

[@pyrosianheir]

@@TheShadowHatter I mean, I was just making a joke using the guy whose channel is - so far as I'm aware - the biggest. Might be that that title goes to someone else, but idk them. Apologies that the goof didn't come through well enough.

[@Mangofett23]

​@@pyrosianheir do you think Vaati will even dare to address the developer's notion that the messages are in-game lore?

[@cjmoss51]

Even Vaati gets shit wrong. I cant tell you how many Dark Souls 1 videos he deleted or remade when he realized there was something wrong in them (good on them too). The vagueness of Souls games and lore is the point.

[@forrestsatterfield]

Y’all messed up on some the lore. Radahn is mindless now and his men are holding a festival in his honor to kill him. He is severely brain damaged and yet still his magic holding the stars back persists.

[@S7ayMelo]

Also Rani says all that but in reality she is just ushering a new order where instead of serving the two fingers the people are to serve the moon another body of choice

[@TheDSasterX]

Doesn't really seem to change the reading

[@Chris3s]

@@S7ayMelo people are not serving the moon, Ranni would remove herself and her order from the lands between and come back after 100 years and see if people managed by themselves. There are a few lore videos on the age of stars ending (there is also an alternative translation from japanese, which might or not be better)

[@dionysus326]

@@S7ayMelo Well that Ranni part is ambiguous and haven't well verified. There are some debates about whether the moon is an outer god and whether the promise would be fulfilled by outer god. But I personally think the ending is just like classic physics transition to modern physics.

[@0395gabe]

@@S7ayMelo Rannis ending has a bit of a mistranslation. The moon and stars are supposed to block out all the outer gods allowing people to live free from their influence.

[@_emory]

So one thing, Rennala’s amber egg was a gift from her husband, Radagon. It was Radagon leaving her to be with Marika that broke her heart, not Ranni’s bodily death Though this still lines up with nostalgia/cancellation of the future theme

[@cannibalfan01]

This line from Marx's The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoleon seems applicable: "The traditions of dead generations weight like a nightmare on the minds of the living."

[@thevanbeard]

Sure. But just the part that is a nightmare.

[@GenesiisDavid]

Rykard's voice actor fucking killed it. I've watched that cutscene several times. Just captures the grotesque nature and descent into blasphemy of Rykard.

[@XpsyZ]

TOGETHAAAAA

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

Tarnished: “So, uh… Radahn, why the hell did you even want the power to freeze the celestial heavens themselves in place?” Radahn: “Look, I just got real big but I still wanted to ride my old horse, and you know how things get out of hand sometimes.”

[@SobeCrunkMonster]

if i had a nickel for every time i see people keep repeating the lore of him and his little horse over and over and over again, i would be able to buy a new car. my god.

[@Gilgamoth]

@@SobeCrunkMonster Hey how about Radahn Idolizing Hoarah Loux or Godfrey so much that he fashioned his armor after him and named his horse leonard, you've never heard of that right?

[@36shadowboy]

@@SobeCrunkMonster Its good writing tbh, you have to hit bold evocative ideas when you want a character to stick.

[@randyjax09]

Leonard: “Plz just kill me”

[@flarelord8425]

Annnd the very first thing he says about the lore is mistaken - Marika *did* remove the rune of Death from the ring, but what prompted the Night of Black Knives was it being stolen from its caretaker by someone... not spoiling the specifics. Just missing key details.

[@TheScratcherStudios]

the first? everything he says about anything in ER is wrong. EVERYTHING. i just posted a huge comment, noting every mistake.

[@codeman7780]

He makes more than a few errors regarding the lore :/...especially saying that Radahn organized the festival himself and tying it into him longing for the his bygone glory days. Radahn's mind is completely gone, all that's left is raw instinct. The festival is the equivalent of a viking funeral for the man...so he can die with dignity.

[@HenriqueErzinger]

Also, there wasn't "countless demigods" killed in the night of the black knifes, just one in soul and another in body. And os of the two was self-inflicted. Also also, renala isn't q demigod, and what broke her will want Ranni's "death", but Radagon leaving her. There's a whole bunch of mistakes about the lore in the video...

[@magvad6472]

@@HenriqueErzinger mmmm, you're wrong about some of this...Renalla was broken by Ranni's death...her entire plot, everything she says, the symbolism of the children beneath her...have jack SHIT to do with Radagon and everything to do with Ranni dieing.

[@magvad6472]

I don't see why Spoilers matter when they literally talked about every fuckin ending. And this weird "I won't spoil this plot" stuff is kinda weird in that context...as if there is some great revelation when they again also mentioned what happened...Ranni killed Herself with it. Godwyn dies by assassins. As for marika removing the death rune from the Elden Ring...well...you could also kind of argue that by removing it she provoked the assassins in the first place. Because gods couldn't die she presented the prerequisites for which they needed to be killed instead. Therefor, Ranni had to take it to kill herself, and the assassins used this chance to kill Godwyn...why? I'm not entirely sure. Maybe they knew it would lead to Marika doing something brash but I feel like I'm just missing a piece about who Godwyn is and what he represents. I know he killed lots of dragons so maybe he's the golden warrior who has genocided lots of people and so if they are to take on Marika he had to go...but like, he was never stated as being any more powerful than Malenia or Radahn.

[@TheBlackMagic91]

You are missing another part for Rannala. She was also married to Radogan, but he left her for Marika after the death of her first husband. Turtle Pope talks about how that devastated her and she locked herself in the Academy. EDIT: Her husband was banished after the golden light faded from his eyes. I got him confused with another character with a similar name that was killed instead.

[@MrXav94]

But Godfrey never died? She actually exiled him

[@Gilgamoth]

@@MrXav94 To the badlands yeah, and he became the first tarnished Hoarah Loux.

[@TheBlackMagic91]

@@MrXav94 You're right! I get Godfrey, Godrick, and Godwyn confused alot.

[@maallos334mi8]

And she was locked up by the academy in rebellion. She does become a recluse

[@vault29a]

Also, Radagon IS Marika.

[@reii1812]

Can’t wait to finish Elden Ring and watch this, although at the rate I’m playing it might be a few years…

[@SobeCrunkMonster]

why do you click on videos to talk about not watching the video, weirdo

[@Feefa99]

Do not die

[@kashinovirus7278]

Same

[@thepikminbrawler1746]

15 minutes in and there aren’t really any big spoilers

[@kashinovirus7278]

@@thepikminbrawler1746 OMG THX FOR TELLING ME

[@Dsonsee]

I never expected Fisher's "Capitalist Realism" to be mentioned when analysing a videogame. I loved the focus of the video, but I think an inclusion of "The German Ideology" could have been beneficial, as I think, despite it being an older book, that it does a better job at penetrating the conception of eternal principles and values than Fisher's does. Though, granted, the focus on hauntology is Fisher's main thing

[@Varizen87]

If you want information on the story, a lot of us in the Reddit Community have assembled large swathes of it. Sure Vaatividya will eventually put it all together with help from Zulie The Witch... but for the most part, we have a strong understanding of what's going on... The main mysteries remaining involve what Markia's plan was and if Radagon was with her or against her as there's evidence for both, and if Marika knew of Ranni's plan and was in on it or not. Rememberance of Malekath suggests she was. But the Elden Ring story is honestly one of the far easier ones to piece together... as long as you're reading your item descriptions. Also... It's Marika, like how we say 'Murica when we make sarcastic comments about the US. They say her name only a billion times in the game. Hewg says is... Big Boggart, the Blackguard even uses the expletive "Marika's Tits!" Gideon Ofnir says it a few dozen times.... Turtle Pope says it.... Your information isn't quite correct on Radahn and the Festival of War. Radahn has NO concept of what is going on. The Scarlet Rot destroyed his mind. He is not the one holding the Festival. Instead, it is Witch-Hunter Jerren who holds it out of a sense of duty to Radahn, wanting to bring Radahn an honorable death in battle instead of allowing him to wander the wilds as a mindless beast. Radahn is incapable of nostalgia as his mind is too far gone for him to be capable of thought. He acts only out of instinct. He was holding back the stars when he lost his mind and doesn't know why he continues to do so. And he loves his horse, Leonard (Credit to Zulie for discovering that one weeks ago). He learned gravity magic to be able to keep riding Leonard and even in his mindless state does what he can to protect Leonard. He will shove him into the sand to protect him from both yours and his own attacks. Instead, you might alter your premise to focus on Jerren holding the festival out of a memory of the greatness Radahn once was.

[@magvad6472]

No, I think Radahn still embodies this premise and this weird "chadification" of him is deeply missing the point...specifically around the horse. What's the first thing we see in the cutscene of Radahn? His immaciated dieing horse. You think he ACTUALLY cares about that horse? Or do you think he only cares about how he felt when he rode it as a child and latched onto it? What he cares about is the preservation of his childhood. He only pushed himself to learn "cursed knowledge" in order to MAINTAIN the status quo. He glorifies his father who abandoned him. To the point that he held the very stars (which end up being the only way to progress the world beyond the Erdtree through the Ranni ending and facing the past underneath the Erdtree through the stories of Nokron and Nokstella and so on). The only thing I don't know is WHY Radahn fought and what for...which would maybe help denote what Miyazaki is trying to say with the character.

[@danfinch5692]

I'd assume Radagon was with Marika, considering Radagon is Marika, which you learn by following Corhyn's and Goldmask's story. Which also explains why you fight Radagon at the end and not Marika.

[@Varizen87]

@@magvad6472 So... I actually do agree with you that people have gone way too far with Radahn in glorifying him. One thing I've thought about is... Why did he and Malenia fight to begin with? Perhaps Mohg left evidence pointing her toward Radahn when he took Miquella? I think there's more to it than specifically warring over runes. There is some evidence of Ranni and Rykkard having collaborated in their attempt to get rid of the others, as Rykkard had planned to use his powers from being devoured by the serpent to eliminate the other gods as a back-up should Ranni's plan fail. A lot of the faction divides tend to come from loyalty to the Golden Order. Radahn is a loyalist, Ranni and Rykkard wish to try an entirely different path, and Malenia and Miquella wished to liberate the world from the manipulation of the Outer Gods. Hence Miquella's investments in Unalloyed Gold and making Malenia's armor and prosthetic out of it while trying to cure her of Scarlet Rot and the Rot God's control of her. However... about Leonard... Leonard was always scrawny. Item descriptions say as much. Even in the opening cutscene before Radahn's mind was lost to Scarlet Rot, Leonard was scrawny.

[@Varizen87]

@@danfinch5692 What is important in the bits about Marika and Radagon is where they always 1 entity, or were they at some point separate? Some propose that Radagon is a creation of Marika using the Elden Ring and he was a portion of her that she split off and allowed to act independently, but he returned and remerged with her after she cast out Godfrey. Some of this is evidenced with Melenia's dialog in the Queen's Bed Chamber. While they are One now, it is likely they were not always One. But when did Radagon come into existence? Was he a creation of Marika from herself or was he a different person that merged with her later? Also, he seems to be associated with the Cross-hatched rune in the background of The Elden Ring. Just as the Destined Death you touch and unleash after Malekath is the Rune of Death, but what is interesting is how the crescent on it is turned, leading to discussion of where it belonged in the original configuration of The Elden Ring.

[@climax050]

@@Varizen87 i could be wrong, but i think the aggressor in the Malenia/Redahn duel is likely Redahn. We know Melenia was born with the scarlet rot, and from my fuzzy memory i believe the game mentions that she has "flowered" twice before. After some digging, its the spell you get from her remembrance. If you take this to mean its flowered twice before your duel with her (which the description saying that she'll become a rot goddess if it flowers again and her name changing to "goddess of rot" would lead you to believe) its possible theres a flowering we don't know about. Meaning Redahn could've been attempting to hold the spread of her first flowering come their duel and her needing to flower yet again in order to overcome him. Caelid is also Redahn's home region, or otherwise the castles and forts were built there in order to perpetually wage war on the rot in an attempt to contain it, its why so many of his men carry fire weapons, in order to cleanse the rot. As for exact reasons why Melania went there in the first place its hard to say past warring over runes, but it doesn't seem to quite fit together. It might've been lost in translation or something but i always got the idea that Melania and Miquella was sort of morally grey and removed from the power grab that came after the shattering, each really just trying to protect/cure the other.

[@mnopinion]

Some correction: Radahn didn’t organize the festival himself. He was a great warrior and still is but because of the scarlet rot that Malenia gave him during the war in Caelid. His mind went ravage and completely lost all his humanity. His loyal soldiers - who still put their General in a very high regard wanted to give him a warrior’s death. And thus the Radahn Festival was created… in hopes of finding the tarnished who will finally be able to best the great general in combat and give him that much deserved death.

[@kelseymoorelisse10]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/n33SgZd_hqZgl5Y

[@TheKeyser94]

There is a little detail, that the Erdeen Tree is not the original Tree, more like a parasite that grow over the carcass of the old one, that he destroyed and only are remains underground.

[@That_Ifrit_Guy]

Cool Video! Thank you again for using my footage ^^

[@grayrook8637]

Gotta appreciate their respect for the KZbin meta, Elden Waifu Ranni is gonna get clicks.

[@AdiusOmega]

Sometimes you don't understand the story of Elden Ring but when you're playing it you "feel" it that's for sure.

[@jacoblevenson7934]

Poetic story telling. No literal understand, but emotional understanding.

[@MrTonyman79]

I did all the stuff for Rannis quest and forgot to summon her at the end.

[@NoJobRob]

SAME

[@violatorut2003]

Do you have to summon her to get the ending?

[@NoJobRob]

@@violatorut2003 yeah

[@MrTonyman79]

@@violatorut2003 I didn't see it on the ground. Just totally missed it.

[@craxnor]

The age of dusk ending is interesting because while everyone dies, it also implies everyone is free from the current world. They aren’t shackled to it and the Golden Order anymore and the souls of the world can move on. However the golden order ending is the actual oration of the mythic past as it forces the gods and powers of the world to act responsibly with their power and brings about a true good age.

[@magvad6472]

Nah, because the core dilemma is that the Greater Will is in control...and as long as their is no choice, there is no freedom. Marika and the other gods had freedom, but that was it. The Greater Will (or the invisible hand so to speak) controlling the gods as well just means NOBODY has freedom, and the choices of the Greater Will are what caused the shattering in the first place by continuely banishing people, killing off races that weren't under its control, etc.

[@_emory]

Apparently the age of dusk ending was poorly translated, and a more accurate translation is that nobody dies, but ranni goes among the stars to dictate a new order that is out of reach of the meddling of those in the lands between *whoops just realized age of dusk and age of stars are two completely different endings my bad

[@jamesweiner5288]

@@magvad6472 There is a choice, even with the greater will empowered. Marika went against the Greater Will when she shattered the Elden Ring, which is why the Tarnished are returned to Grave. The Greater Will is not as all powerful as this would suggest. If that were the case, Marika would’ve never broken the ring.

[@FelisImpurrator]

All technically incorrect. First off, what is the order? The order is that which governs the cycle of life, death, and reincarnation; the force that allows souls to exist. It's necessary for life to function. It's manifested in physical form as the Elden Ring. The Age of Duskborn is one where Those Who Live in Death are elevated from being unnatural creatures outside of the natural order to being part of the natural life cycle. So it can be inferred that those who die will likely become undead beings governed by the rune of the Death-Prince, and as such the land becomes covered in the mists of death. The Age of Order is one in which the order imposed by the Greater Will and enshrined in the Elden Ring is "perfected", removing all possibility of any future rebellion against it. What does this mean? It implies that the thing which allowed the gods to rebel against the Greater Will - free will itself - is eliminated, turning the world into an infallible machine according to the perfect mathematical calculations of the Goldmask. There's no question of responsibility. Merely the absolute rule of the Greater Will. The Age of the Stars (in the correct translation) is one where Ranni takes away the order into the night sky, while swearing to keep the chill night infinitely far away. The most likely meaning of this is that she'll keep the Voidspawn monsters such as Astel away from the world. As for the order, she believes (correctly) that its physical presence in the world causes endless strife as gods vie for its power, but also that it can't be completely unmade (which is what the Frenzied Flame wants, incidentally - to unmake creation and return it all to the formless One from which the Fingers split) without killing all life. As such, it would be better if no one could see, feel, worship, or touch the order - if no one could physically interact with the Elden Ring or the Erdtree, and if the Outer Gods could no longer directly control people's fates (as the Fingers do with the Maidens). In essence, people should live their lives free to self-determine, as Ranni herself once wished to be. She was willing to undertake a thousand year journey full of fear, doubt, and loneliness by herself to ensure that future, and even tried to discourage others from following; but in choosing her, you volunteer to become her sole companion. Life and death may thus continue on, free and unimpeded.

[@_emory]

@@FelisImpurrator thank you for this

[@viggiestrikes]

One of the overarching themes in the game is everything unfolding on the whims of external forces or outer gods where at best you serve as a pawn to unknowable motives. The average character goes about functioning as part of a system taking cues from people a little more familiar with the world. In real life, an average person pretty much does the same with very few reaching positions of power that influence the ever changing machine of culture, uncertain till death of the nature of the world. That's what i appreciate about the vagueness and structure of these games, the freedom to assign your role in the world and after all is said and done, still probably a tool to something you will never understand.

[@robertrohm3559]

I really like the anaylsis but it still feels incredibly shallow. There is so much Shinto philosophy that has correlative symbolism with so many different characters in game. Has he even played the game? Also

[@jameshilden8592]

Doubt it, as he got Radahn completely wrong.

[@melvinklark4088]

I mean it's a wisecrack video it kinda has to be

[@iridium1118]

Dude saw an opportunity to bash capitalism yet again and took it without a second thought. It's formulaic at this point.

[@melvinklark4088]

@@iridium1118 yep lol

[@violatorut2003]

@@iridium1118 yup, on top of that he takes 5 seconds to mention a secret boss fight, that he could have just as easily ignored. This guy is ridiculous

[@fnl90]

An important note is the two fundamental laws of the Golden order: the law of regression everything goes back to what they came from, and the law of causality - everything most move forward. The Golden order didn't anticipate stagnation. Thus when Marika removed destined death, and made the first cardinal sin burning the erdtree. She effectively stagnated everything, with Radahn conquering the stars ( before the shattering it seems like), not even fate could progress. Ranni and Rykard rebelled against the whole system and Marika lost her shit when her son died. The Shattering commences.

[@jamesweiner5288]

Right, Marika is not a simple pawn of the Greater Will people are making her out to be. She is acting on her own, which is why the Greater Will needs Tarnished to brandish the Elden Ring.

[@Gilgamoth]

@@jamesweiner5288 Yeah she exiled Godfrey after realizing she can't use him anymore because he's done fighting, which is the only reason he helped to conquers other kingdoms. She's a conformist as well for marrying Radagan which is herself, now that I think about it. So the world moves, after the tarnished renewed the elden ring.

[@fnl90]

@@Gilgamoth both good notes!

[@pablonngi]

What I'm taking from here: "Visions of the future are not dictated by myths of the past" Unfortunately we are living under an old-man regime of people that know the myths but have no ideas about the future.

[@ncolvin05]

"Nobody really knows what's going on" *Vaatividya has entered the chat

[@flub916]

I think this game is about bouncing back from pain and finding the will to keep on pushing forward past any form of comfortability that you think your past has. Even if it may be scary and confusing, having a willingness to go through that failure, learning from it, and accepting the freedom you have instead of accepting complacency for the only reason being that it's comfortable will breed a better future for you and the people you touch with this sentiment. This game means a lot to me, one of these days I want to make a big old video essay on it. Maybe when I'm done with school.

[@GranMaj]

Regarding of Radahn and his knight, the battle still going on to this day to him and for the knight, his knight and soldier still fighting the spread of scarlet rot and the cleanrot knight that was plaguing the land. and for radahn, he still holding out the stars since he still believes in that the star is a threat for the golden order.

[@chowbox87]

Your discussion of retrofuturism and this general philosophy makes me think of Fallout so much. A lot more spelled out than elden ring, but obviously a world where technology boomed in the 1950’s then set the world on fire 120 years later, then added 200 years of decay end up being all aspects of the ghosts of possible futures

[@juanpabueno]

It is important to note that the English translation of the ending is wrong and in the Japanese version she says a very different thing

[@eliudcdelgado]

It's ironic how a game that visually relies heavily on prerafaelite -and other nineteenth century- aesthetics that idealize middle ages is actually about the urgency to let go of the past. Miyazaki and G. R. R. Martin are genius.

[@odedil87]

This might be reaching out but I have a point to make: Take into consideration the fact it's, in the end, a Japanese action RPG. The concept of facing an old order (especially gods & godlike beings) in order to go to the unknown is a concept that is explored almost obsessively by the genre. In every souls game and many JRPGs, a deep flaw is recognized quickly in a world that is ruled by a god\s. The hero\s always set out to depose the god\s in order to have a possibility for a different future. Not necessarily a good one btw, just different. Perhaps one of the best things about Elden ring endings is that it recognizes that with NO god\godlike order, the world cannot exist. But you get to move it forward however you see fit. Essentially this is for real becoming a god, unlike the previous souls game. P.S- long live Mohgwin dynasty

[@jacksonhoerster3966]

When I finished the age of stars ending I thought back to Nietzsche’s death of God and I thought about what finding our way might look like. It looked like a cold and dark journey into the void. Ranni is right

[@jimbostreamz]

it's amazing to see how many people are now picking up on these games. they've existed since demon's souls on ps3 in 2009, and they have the deepest lore, best combat and build systems, and immense replayability of any other game i've touched since i've started. they are just now hitting that mainstream. they are no longer niche. very well deserved for from soft... i'm just so jealous that a ton of the people playing this game heard of it when it had just launched. like bruh i had to wait 3 years for this bad boy. they went literally silent for 2 of those years after dropping the trailer... and an actual community formed just around the hype of this games release. now i'm watching a bunch of people being like "yea i heard this game was good so ima get it". like lawd do you have any idea the agony the souls community suffered waiting for this game? sekiro was amazing but it had no build variety so we basically waited for a new game since ringed city dlc for ds3. anyways... im ranting but i am happy from soft is getting the recognition it deserves.

[@thepikminbrawler1746]

This comment actually mirrors the philosophy in the video, not sure if that was intentional

[@orangedude8013]

1Q

[@TheMrJogador]

This is honestly exactly what also happened in Dark Souls II (at least in the Scholar of the First Sin edition). When you reach the end, you don't really have to choose between the same two options as in Dark Souls 1 (link the fire or let it die out), but between two much more ambigous options: a) Take the Throne of Want, a.k.a., take control of the First Flame, although you don't really get to choose what you do with it. Whether you link the fire or not, it's up to your character and not to you, the player, since you're never really given any of those options. This is the "expected ending", where you play into the same role as all of your predecessors, as King Vendrick. No matter if you actively perpetuate the cycle or if you try and stop it, you still participate in it and that's exactly what allows it to continue. b) Forego the Throne and seek a different path. This is the most interesting choice because you reject the idea of building up any sort of Status Quo. You leave the matter completely, outright refusing to take part in the cycle, instead choosing to find any alternative that doesn't involve what you've been told is the only way. It's kind of "optimistic" in its own way, since you resort to following your own decisions to try and be better. That's the reason it's my favorite Souls game and I think Elden Ring takes a lot more from it than it seems.

[@Dark_Tesla]

You took several liberties and missed points in the lore but hey, it makes a more streamlined video. Fun watch.

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

Well, he DID get Ranni’s ending right, despite the mistranslation of her dialog in the localized version of the game. That’s definitely worth something.

[@spencerdokes6056]

This channel in a nutshell

[@SobeCrunkMonster]

@sixstringpsycho i dont think he got rannis ending right, the dark moon is replacing the greater will, not working in tandem with it. if im wrong i would love to see a source that defends you and wisecrack, i dont want to spread bad info

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

@@SobeCrunkMonster My main concern is that people don't take the game's English dialog from Ranni at face value, because it suggests what she intends is to literally plunge the world into total darkness and obliterate all spirit.

[@Dark_Tesla]

@@2yoyoyo1Unplugged doesn’t she want the age of stars, that thing Radahn was clicking her on? She was Astel and Fallingstar Beasts to take over right?

[@dawnmosy4538]

Elden ring lore: SPOILER WARNING!!!!! the greater will an outer god created the two fingers and made Marika queen of the lands between she and her husband Godrick the first Elden lord took control. Marika removed the death tube long before the start of Elden ring. When Godrick had served his purpose she cast him out of the lands between making him the first tarnished. Radaghon married queen Renala but left her to be with Marika once Godrick was gone. That was why Renala was so upset. Radaghon gave her the egg by the way. Marika shattered the ring because during the night of the black knives her favorite child Godwyn was assassinated. Ranni has ordered it so her body could die but not her soul. Also General Radhan kept the stars at bay to prevent other gods to rival the greater will.

[@JavierGonzalez-qg5el]

This makes me incredibly happy that you guys looked into this. Hahah praise the Sun!!

[@ncolvin05]

Praise to the tree, you heathen!

[@dmaxcustom]

Ranni's quest is the longest, and arguable the most painful, since you have to let go even of the good people that carried her and you to that ending, since they represent the very same past you are trying to overcome. Hence why I like to think is the cannon ending of the game. While fully admitting that this is a game where you can interpret it as you see fit. Hence everyone's experience is different and that's a beautiful thing.

[@rishg134]

“We don’t understand the story or underlying lore, but here’s an analysis of its philosophy.”

[@tristengodfrey1529]

Long story short, dark souls was always optimistically nihilistically good, it just took everyone forever to get Gud

[@Vandreand]

Radan's mind is stated to be lost to the scarlet rot that infests him. And the festivals are held by a loyal friend who wants to give him a proper warriors dead. Also Ranni the witch ending changes the golden order for the ancient stars so it is not returning to the old world at all.

[@Aviv704]

"ancient" - > old world

[@Vandreand]

@@Aviv704 well and also it is radan's friend trying to give him what he would have wanted, hounded by the past. The idea stands. The ancient stars is a world unknown and studied by the people of Raya Lucaria it was more of a dream, a posible new future than they trying to recreate something for the past.

[@Aviv704]

@@VandreandIt's reinstating the Carian Monarchy. It's more similar to “Linking The First Flame” or “Usurpation of Fire” than to “The End of Fire”

[@TheCreepypro]

as a guy who loves lore in games this was great i hope you do more like it

[@Krotas_DeityofConflicts]

He made lots of mistakes though

[@36shadowboy]

@@Krotas_DeityofConflicts I think in a 21 minute video about the general themes of a game as convoluted as Elden Ring its okay to make a few small mistakes about the details. Like does it really matter whether Radahn started the festival or his men did? The reading of him as an old, ruined vestige of past greatness, trapped in the past, still makes sense.

[@GtheMVP]

This is a consistent theme in all Miyazaki lead From games. It's tantalizing, as you imagine the grandeur of the worlds in their prime. Btw, Rhadan isnt hosting the fights, he''s completely mad. It's his loyal soldiers trying to give him an honourable death. When you tie in the fact that he still holds back meteors, while making himself light enough for his beloved horse (gravity magic) it's beautiful tragedy all around.

[@KeithFraser82]

Very interesting analysis! It occurs to me that you could interpret the endings using the "____ pill" concept popular in, uh, certain quarters on the Internet after being inspired by The Matrix. Becoming a new Elden Lord is the "blue pill" - returning to the illusion of a "glorious past". Siding with Ranni (the Age of the Stars ending) is the "red pill" - abandoning illusion for an uncertain future. The Lord of Chaos ending (using the Frenzied Flame to burn everything) is the "black pill" - nihilistic destruction.

[@caseyimiller]

Good to know the maiden ending was the philosophically wholesome ending too xD

[@a_e_hilton]

When speaking of visions of the future, you guys compare how people in the '50s imagined it vs. how we do - stating they saw the future as bright, and we don't. This might be falling into the same "imagined past" trap as you're exploring in the video. You mention The Jetsons, but not 1984 (published in 1949) or Fahrenheit 451 (1953). Thoughts?

[@melvinklark4088]

Was gonna bring this up they talk about how people were afraid of nuclear war but then forget to say that later On an related not they didn't really use communism as an example as much as they could have for example instead if giving it the same treatment they gave the 1950s in showing all the ways life was actually worse they just forget about it for the rest of the video

[@julienrodriguez4439]

I see those books as warnings, not pessimism

[@scubasteveop3594]

6:45 WAGE GAP HAS BEEN DEBUNKED! Seriously I want to enjoy this channel like I used to but I have to doubt your philosophical intelligence if you can’t even get this simple fact right.

[@36shadowboy]

The wage gap has been partially debunked. Its not because of any sort of discrimination but differences in labor patterns which hurt womens earning potentials. It is undeniable that the wage gap would be less prominent today if not for the traditionalist revival of postwar america

[@Archontasil]

It's an allegory of how hard it is to find a waifu. Will it be the doll waifu? The crazy divorced half man waifu? The religious fanatic waifu? The hug waifu? Or THE LOATHSOME DUNG EATER waifu?

[@asdfaaa1000]

if you consider Hyetta religious fanatic then you certainly missed the link between Irina-Hyetta and Yura-Shabriri

[@1whitedan]

dont forget the jar waifu

[@aidanschuttler4371]

i think it's also interesting how there's a lot of stuff in the game that points to the idea that the Golden Order itself knew that it's time had passed. Like there's things talking about how the Two Fingers are all old and wizened, their vigor gone, and that even the Erdtree was old and essentially dead, and that it's time had passed long ago. Like the fundamental aspect of the universe is aware that it shouldn't exist anymore

[@josetapia9714]

A great video, and an interesting topic. But quick correction about Radahn Radahn by defenition, is not "Nostalgic". He was driven mad by the Scarlet Rot into a feral beast what literally eat the corpses of his enemies and friends alike. The SOLDIERS of Radahn are the ones who made the tournament, to gatter warriors who could kill Radahn and grant him a honorable death rather then let him continue live as a beast. Also, He learned gravity Gravity magic so his weight wouldnt hurt his beloved horse, and still ride togheter into battle. Also the Soldiers of Radahn are staying there to CONMTAIN the Scarlet Rot in Caelid. They have bascically become an antizombie unit at this point, figthing a hopless war agaisnt the Scarlet Rot. As for the Stars.....Let say the "Stars" in Elden Ring are less the wise type and more of the Lovecraftian type. Literally. They're lovecraft space monsters. As well all the "Gods".

[@carzyhawnguy]

Wait, I thought Rennala went mad because Radagon left her to become Marika's second consort. The egg was the rune that Radagon left for Renala to show his love for her? I thought that a big thing was that the Golden Order took out destined death from the logic of the world and so the erdtree and the elden beast that resides within can now feed on the souls that return to the tree so that it becomes stronger in its own cosmic journey against the other cosmic entities e.g. the Formless Mother, the Frenzied Flame etc? Cant wait for the DLC to come out!

[@kelseymoorelisse10]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/n33SgZd_hqZgl5Y

[@S7ayMelo]

U got it all right they slipped a lot of important lore imo

[@TheShadowHatter]

Correct! idk why these guys got the lore wrong but it felt obvious and I figured they'd do their research before making the video but I guess not enough research.

[@TheScratcherStudios]

they actually got everything they said about all the other characters and concepts wrong as well, you are correct ;)

[@grant5758]

It’s worth noting that Ranni pretty much orchestrated the shattering. She enabled to theft of the rune of death and presumably has demigods killed in order to get her new doll body.

[@JohnSmith-ty4yt]

Just got around to watching this and it reminded me of something I told to someone once. "The majority of people who identify with a certain ideology on either sides of any argument are only enthralled by "the idea of the ideas". They would appeal to other authorities instead of trying to explain the ideas themselves and would quite often point to material to "educate yourself" with before a dialogue can even happen. So instead of ideas being discussed and debated, it's either side's intelligence, intellect and demeanour being elucidated falsely upon any particular subject. Not only is it that people don't argue ideas and don't get to the nucleus of any points brought forward but a complete statement isn't made, as in; we need in a full descriptive statement to have a "who" "what" "where" "when" "how" and "why" the issue is that "what" and "why" are never resolved in modern debate they are always answered with a "how" and "who" most of the time and "wheres" and "whens" are given as suggestions and because of this, the wrong truths are used to explain "whats" and "whys" which ultimately leave the solution as totally wrong for example, both the anti and pro gun sides agree on the exact same thing and when you really boil it down and cut it away into it's skeletal remains it's always usually the same argument"

[@franciscoadasilvajr4514]

I always get curious about HOW MUCH Martin did. The demigos, all of their histories and legends, from Marika until Radahn and Malenia deeds of greater strength before the Shattering, was that him? Because the whole royal family and the demigods, in general, really feel as something Martin would have done.

[@_emory]

Yeah I think he created the entire pantheon, the shattering, all of that. Fromsoft gave it a physical form and structured quest lines to follow different possible outcomes into endings. But his hands are all over the story. All over it. Fromsoft surely put minor characters in, like I don’t think Martin was actively trying to weave an invader covenant into his world. Miyazaki probably gave him the mission of creating a fractured and broken fantasy world with different entities vying for power, because that’s what both of them do best

[@franciscoadasilvajr4514]

@@_emory yeah, really well said. Godrick feels so much as something he would have wrote, but the whole questlines and NPCs around him probably were done by Fromsoft

[@wonkyscroll2529]

Hey Wisecrack I usually find your video’s insightful and a great way to increase my Int. But this video has several inconsistencies when it comes to the lore. Such lore is surface level and not buried in item descriptions. Please do further research into lore dense games like this before making a video as it makes it seem as if Wisecrack wants to twist the narrative.

[@HittingBandy]

Radahn was not the one to old the festival but his men. He was driven insane by the scarlet rot and his men wanted to give him an honorable death.

[@GoblinTinkerer]

I think you are a little off base with Radahn. He isn't the one holding the festival. We are led to believe that he lost all sense and is an instinctually driven animal basically. That's what the lore would suggest anyway, even though of course the first thing that supposed 'animal' does when you enter his arena is snipe you from across the desert with a greatbow.

[@mapleandsteel]

Absolute Chad move referring to Jacked-Derrida. BASED.

[@damienpeters6004]

What's interesting is that really *all* From games have an emphasis on cycles. Elden Ring is no exception here. But one of the reasons for Western audiences reacting the way we do to that is that Western folklore focuses either on beginnings and endings or journies without them. Eastern folklore on the other hand is full of cycles. (Irish folklore is too, but the primary influencer behind the game wasn't Irish.) I think that honestly out of every From game Elden Ring has perhaps the most easily accessible lore. The characters are more empathetic, human, diverse, and prevalent. The history has a more definitive sequence of events. The paths we choose carry more weight. All of this makes Elden Ring play as a far more personal journey while simultaneously juxtaposed to an expansive and breathing world. The game makes you feel small in the best way.

[@doomcool7960]

The Tarnish the player character is living proof of how the world wasn't as great as it seems considering everything is attacking you on sight due to the fact that they are Tarnished

[@HenriqueErzinger]

Kinda. The tarnished are the one the order just banished, the trash under the carpet. Maybe the lands between were great for the majority, but the existence of tarnished is the clue that the greater will is not the all benevolent force the order wants it to seem like. I don't think we get attacked on sight specifically for being tarnished, tho. On the contrary, we and the others on the roundtable are brought back exactly to go he do the two fingers biding, following the guidance of grace, and as such we are welcome up until we decide to burn down the tree. The bosses fight us mainly because we were sent to kill them and extract their runes, for instance.

[@brandonpiel8789]

This video keeps referencing the Jetsons as a retro-futuristic utopia, but fun fact: the 1990 Jetsons movie revealed that the reason everyone lives up in the sky is to escape the immense pollution on the ground.

[@merci2623]

My new comfort video for the year

[@Vapor.Steve77]

I dont thinks is necesarly about letting go the past, its the recurring theme of the series as a whole but in this iteration they offer a "solution". Everything decays, everything that decides to exist past its expiration date inevitably gets corrupted. Its the nature of corruption, not letting go. BUT and this is very meta about elden ring as a reference to the whole soulsbourne series as a whole, there is a process of maintenance, there is as Ranni the witch exemplifies, existencial death, not letting go the past, but letting go the parts of you that are starting to corrupt, at the same time we have the goddess of rot which is basically a force of decay, disease and corruption Malenia and most important her counterpart Milicent who rejects the rot itself and dies because of it in opposite to Malenia who accepts the "curse" of her destiny which leads her to literally blossom in to something else, couldnt say if something better or worse but something different, every demigod or ending is one of the many directions fromsoftware is trying to lead their own stories. Boom *drops the mic

[@andrewcutlip1412]

You had me right up until you said Radahn was just fighting to “relive his glory days” and wrote his name as “Radon”. He fights because he’s lost his mind and has gone feral, not because he’s reliving his glory days. His soldiers put on the tournament in order to give him a dignified death and end his torment.

[@Kazuma11290]

Philosophy of all From games in a nutshell: big monster kills you repeatedly, while you deny obviously being a masochist.

[@korawega6293]

Wisecrack these days is that everything is a critique of capitalisim

[@Thisisthegreatestatofalltime]

Cut to Vaati with a massive wall of pictures of all the characters being connected by gold string. He’ll clear up everything in time.

[@maallos334mi8]

Btw, I wouldn’t really blame them for getting some core information wrong. Chances are the script was written and recorded soon after its release, probably before the first person completed the game.

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

Hope they cover that Ranni’s ending and most of her dialogue was very mistranslated. EDIT: Wait, nvm. They got the actual meaning here. Good on you, Wisecrack.

[@tennoakahi]

Not everyone dies in Duskborn, well, not immediately, Death is restored, so no more Tarnished and no more undead, so no more violent persecution of them.

[@emmacatte]

radahn isn't fighting for his past, he literally just wants the death of a warrior because not dying on the battlefield was the greatest dishonor and its the least his warriors can do for him.

[@GeahkBurchill]

One person who didn’t imagine a future quite well enough was Mark Fisher

[@magvad6472]

Allegedly.

[@mrlucy7197]

I do like that all of the current events and the catalyst for change was set in motion by Marika herself. In prior games the presiding lord of the world tried far too hard to preserve their idea of a perfect world and order, and they wind up being completely in the wrong and usually the final boss (Gwyn, Gherman/Moon Presence/Genichiro). -But Marika, at some point, understood that what she had done to the world was wrong, and shattered the Elden Ring herself, causing everything to follow. I appreciate that extra layer of depth to our usual "lord who ruined the world" character.

[@limb-o7180]

Marika shattered the ring out of grief from Godwyn's death

[@PhillKaggitz]

Just a quick note, Radhan is crazy and can no longer think, it’s his soldiers the ones that want to give their general a warriors death. Same difference though

[@PeacefulSerb]

Epic video, I really appreciate this kind of content. Thank you

[@1rotzy]

I like Ranni’s ending because it reminds me of a saying. “No Gods. No Kings. Just Men.” Because that is all that remains in this world. The Player has killed monsters, heroes, villains, usurpers, gods, legends, and more. While the character and Ranni are still their, in their god like powers, they set Man free. Free to love, and hate. Free to fight, or die. Free to live, and create a future that is designed for them by a higher power.

[@Kar-Kan]

20:02 And how to know that "past as it actually was"? Knowing is always connected with being a subject. So how to know "as it actually" if every variation of it, will be your subjective view, or your personal myth, of it (past in this case).

[@Cslice1016]

Came to comments to point out the various inconsistencies and misinterpretations in lore; glad everyone else caught on quickly.

[@boblong5886]

Loved this video. Please more break downs of video games!!!

[@dbiii231]

Chrono Cross literally talks about futures that were canceled

[@jayvhoncalma3458]

0:33 don't forget Ranni

[@moshyura]

Another masterful video essay

[@RallzGuitar]

This has to be the worst philosophy of episode I’ve ever seen. Renalla’s obsession with the egg stems from it being a gift given to her from Radagon, with whom she was madly in love with and came undone after being left by. This episode has literally nothing to do with the actual Elden Ring lore, it looks much like an excuse to make forced parallels between some philosophers that aren’t keen on capitalism, all the while dissing on capitalism itself.

[@PurpleYoshiEgg]

I don't think you understood the video.

[@alquosfinn2980]

I love this channel, but this was so far off base, not lore accurate, and pointlessly equated the lore to American racism, as one does.

[@BIG_GUY420]

Yeah definitely cringe marx fanboy mode

[@InquisitionL6]

That's not why Radahn is in Caelid he doesn't organize the festival. His buddy does to make sure he dies an honorable death. Radahn holds the stars in place because even in death he was loyal to the Golden order and ensures that his entire families fates are stuck in place unable to move on. In fact the only character who wants to stay in the past is Morgott the Omen King. Because he came out from his place to mete out justice and slaughter all Tarnished that dared held ambition for the Elden throne.

[@ThePageTurnerPT]

I can feel Gaijin Goomba screaming at the pronunciation of the sponsor

[@omeraricha9889]

can god create something which wisecrack wont shove capitalism into? i am doubtful

[@logankelly4794]

Definitely needs a revisit after a month

[@azimnazlen8564]

Way better than the Dark Souls Video you made way back. Actually talking about the game than what the game looks like.

[@TanixKington]

Still works

[@jereeskola7117]

Radahn isn't trying to live his glory days. He has become mad and gone insane because of the scarlet rot. The festival is being held because Radahns army wants him to have an honorable death.

[@Idiotvera]

I think Benjamin's Theses on the Philosophy of History deserves discussion when talking about History and the past, but I did like this a lot. Also please post your bibliography in the description so we can look at your references

[@alekseimutovkin]

Wow! Someone has really done it! I am a soviet person in my 40's and I never played this game. But the moment I saw trailer and some walkthroughs I immediately understood that Marx is involved... In any case, bourgeois philosophers will say anything to make us believe that socialism is impossible.

[@Krotas_DeityofConflicts]

**cough in 20th Century

[@Headshots4Hope]

Without contradicting this video's hypothesis, Elden Ring, like all of the Soulsborne games, has a strong philosophy of overcoming adversity. The games are hard as hell, but highly fair; enemies all have fixed health, tactics, moves, placements, etc., which allows the player to learn, grow and overcome. Also, i believe that death in the Soulsborne games is relatively trivial; you just wake up back at a checkpoint, your points lost, but thats it. The game only ends when YOU THE PLAYER choose to actually quit the game. With all this in mind, it means that the game is essentially a test of the PLAYER's own skill, cunning and, most importantly, determination. The games dare you to come back to that big scary boss fight and try again, pulling no punches. A consequence of this formula is that your victories have high value and are big confidence boosters. It is highly unlikely that someone can derp their way thru a Soulsborne game, so their victories can only be attributed to the player's choices/skills. This is a huge confidence booster which helps drive home the main point that any problem will fall before sufficient energy and persistence. Keep fighting, and dont you dare go hollow, friends.

[@Discovery_Nuggets]

Amazing review!

[@a55a551nxki114x]

Pretty sure radahn isn't the one holding the festival. Its held in his honor.

[@alexspain9103]

I think you misunderstood some of the themes of the prior souls games. It's not about the futility of trying, its about the strength to keep trying even when it all *seems* futile.

[@GrandNoble]

It's obvious he's never actually played the game before. He's just reading a script someone else wrote. You can tell because he never stops even once to say Damn this game is amazing ok back to the video.

[@tongatapu7325]

You guys definetely need to watch Angels Egg from Mamuro Oshii.