Elden Ring - They made it weirder

[@ZullietheWitch]

I'm sure a lot of people expected a Nightreign trailer video, but I haven't really enjoyed trying to fit a trailer analysis into my style of videos. With everyone else already covering pretty much everything that's been publicly shared, I don't think it would add much for me to make one as well.

[@emeraldzack910]

It's ight bro

[@deividrodrigues8819]

👍

[@Managarm]

I was wondering if Metyr's body has any resemblance to Rani's two fingers, given the apparent connection between the cathedrals?

[@vasculartapestry]

Do you think it'll be any good?

[@dylanjones7767]

All good G

[@GODZILLAmonsoon]

Stare not long into the abyss, for the abyss may squirt out a maternal finger beast capable of firing ionized vaporization beams at you.

[@redwitch12]

a pertinent yet uncomfortably specific piece of advice

[@juststoppingby9259]

When you piss into the Abyss, the Abyss pisses back

[@mirrorblade6268]

Thats not quite like I remember it...

[@TheVenerableMrKrieg]

...Don't threaten me with a good time.

[@eetfuk3571]

LMFAO.

[@NoLifeKing_607]

i think metyr is also wounded. there is a spot on her that resembles a stab wound. and the finger slayer blade you retrieve for ranni says that it has been used before and that nocron was wiped out for it. also the names of the only two cathedrals in the game are kind of telling. the cathedral of manus celes (maybe translated as celestial hand [manus = Hand, celes = celestial]) where rannis two fingers are hiding and the chathedral of manus metyr ( translated as mother of hands [ manus = hands, metyr = mother]) where metyr is residing.

[@Knights_of_the_Nine]

The giant chairs in the cathedral also has the Elden Beast on it.

[@addemiusinksoul8655]

In the story trailer we see Marika retrieve golden threads from what looks like an injury and then she holds them aloft as she Ascends to godhood. I’m like 80% she stole the Elden Ring or perhaps some connection to the Elden Ring from Metyr

[@redwitch95]

What language does celes and metyr mean celestial and mother? Manus is Latin for hand, but celes in Latin is "you hide/conceal [something]", so Manus Celes mean "the hand you hide". And metyr means nothing at all in Latin, so that doesn't work either.

[@mr.hanfblatt9152]

@@redwitch95 ancient greek is what i could find. however, while metyr/metre does mean "mother" but i couldnt find celes in ancient greek as well, and rather in latin as you meantioned

[@Sekiro_lover]

@@NoLifeKing_607 this is pretty cool if real are there any clues in the game about who used the finger slayer blade before feels kinda important

[@benboucher592]

Give it to the optional hidden boss to upend the entire lore of the game

[@kaden-sd6vb]

fromsoftware moment

[@XDarkGreyX]

Satisfying enough, innit

[@KingLich451]

​@@XDarkGreyXnot really

[@user-zp8kj2cl9g]

​@@KingLich451 Speak for yourself. Most of us actually love being rewarded with this kinda stuff after exploring and engaging with a game-world

[@theformation3781]

She doesn't really upend much, but rather confirms a bunch of it tbh

[@talongreenlee7704]

It’s interesting that you didn’t mention Varre. When you meet him at the Rose Church he tells you that he believes the guidance of the two fingers is skewed and is not representative of the Greater Will. At first, I thought this was just part of his scam to get the tarnished on board with joining the Bloody Fingers, but now I’m not so sure.

[@kaden-sd6vb]

more evidence towards mohg and his followers being... less horrible, i guess?

[@sunbleachedangel]

he couldn't know

[@Umbra_Ursus]

Either he was bullcrapping, and happened to be right by total accident, or the Formless Mother is aware of these things, and has been filling in her followers on the latest cosmic gossip.

[@oomenacka]

Just another faction that grasps some portion of the truth but then prescribes its own problematic solution as the true answer.

[@ethanpadwick6943]

​@@Umbra_Ursusi love the concept of the formless mother being a gossipy mom telling her kids that the other mothers are doing a shit job

[@Godslayer96]

I don't know what is more terrifying. God distancing himself from the people or finding out that even his messengers haven't heard from him for eons. And I really like how finding out about how blind the Two Fingers are isn't even the worst part of it. We get interpretations from the Greater Will, to the Two Fingers, to Finger Readers, which already is iffy. Then we find out that the Two Fingers are blind and aimless. And THEN we find out that they are not only not the sole existing messenger but actually considered children. It's basically a convoluted game of telephone in which almost every participant is playing god without the player, or even some of the oracles, realizing it.

[@BoisegangGaming]

What might be even more interesting is if the Greater Will is gone, it's influence faded as it splits further and further into individual forms of life-- echoes of a singularity-turned-mulitplicity.

[@VVVHHHSSS]

Demiurge moment

[@osric190]

Exactly! Even if for arguments sake the Greater Will is alive and well and sending out messages these are coming to the Two Fingers. They are children of his actual Messenger - Metyr. So the message they receive, they may not fully understand, and then it's being interpreted by the Finger Readers. It's like a grand game of Chinese Whispers so inevitably something is going to get lost in translation. It's Moses passing the tablets with the Ten Commandments on to somebody who can't speak his language, and they just have a wild stab at what have may have noted down from what God told him. The big question is - has the Greater Will abandoned the Lands Between, or is he being blocked from making contact/dead/held captive?

[@nikopope1831]

Personal theory/ head canon: I believe Goldmask is the only one the Greater Will has been in recent contact with. It is unique that Goldmask discovered his rune through a vision and only with his unique and incomprehensible way of thinking was he able to create it with your help. His ending was the only one where leaves do not fall from the erdtree.

[@justinhowe3878]

I don't feel like the game gives us a good reason to believe in the Greater Will at all. It didn't before the DLC, and the DLC only multiplies the reasons for skepticism. All we have are power hungry lunatics who each want to justify their behavior by reference to a distant principle.

[@pedroparamodelvalle6751]

I think the funniest thing is that despite the greater will not having communicated with the elden best metyr or the the fingers other outer gods are definitely chatty and responsive like the god of rot and blood god. Maybe they saw the greater will not caring wbout that section and went it to swoop it?

[@skrubknight884]

it definitely seems like the Greater Will has the lion's share of power in the cosmos if the Erdtree, the Elden Beast, Metyr and the Fingers, and the entire Golden Order and appointed demigods are just the remains that the GW left behind eons ago. The underdogs likely covet that power and the influence that it has over mortal realms.

[@blizzardgaming7070]

They saw it leave and have since moved to usurp it's power, the rot god through Malenia, the formless mother through Mogh and the Frenzied Flame through Vyke, Midra and the player.

[@srjgemo834]

The Rot God has been around for much longer before the age of erdtree. Check out vaati's new video about ancient ruins of rauh.

[@SonKunSama]

Punctuation mf, use it

[@apomk2]

Don't think there's really anything in the game that really suggests that the outer gods are at odds with the Greater Will (except for the three fingers). There's a quite a few rebellions going on against the Fingers, but that's not surprising given that they've lost their official sanction. Matter of fact, seems like the Outer Gods only really have become "outer" with the onset of the Golden Order, what with Rauh seemingly having had quite the connection to the God of Rot. But the Golden Order is not indicative of the Greater Will. It was created by Marika and the Fingers. Could be that it was nothing more than an attempt by the Fingers to hold on to their slipping authority by pushing out anyone who could challenge them. God of Rot and the Formless Mother still seem to follow the general plan of the Greater Will, which is to produce a god to become vessel of the Elden Ring, which seems to be only thing the GW is really partial to.

[@level5650]

There’s something paradoxical in a really captivating way about a lovecraftian alien that was born in conditions completely and utterly removed from the human condition inexplicably taking the form of a hand, the oldest human symbol. Cosmic horror isn’t just the mere presence of something unfathomable and unknowable, it’s the inability of humanity to ever cease seeking to tame the infinite despite knowing fully the futility of their endeavours. Metyr strongly encourages that kind of thinking the same way the Orphan of Kos does; if they’re something totally alien to our existence, why do they look so much like us?

[@spyguy318]

Also how the hands and fingers that Metyr produces aren't really human hands or fingers, they're wrong or distorted somehow. The Two Fingers are huge, hairy, have too many joints, and don't look like they're part of a hand at all. Metyr only has four fingers on her own hands, and the other fingers that make up her body are similarly elongated and multi-jointed. The finger-creepers have way too many fingers and look like multiple hands stuck together. It's the oldest human symbol, but distinctly non-human and distorted.

[@DreamersOfReality]

Oh no. Humans are made in the image of the eldritch entities, not the other way around. The hand does not belong to us, we were shaped by it.

[@TwighlightLugia]

The Tarnished Archeologist is a real good purveyor of this design choice, but it's another observation of Miyazaki's habit of taking real-world religious metaphors and literalizing them, like how Bloodborne's plot centers on a liberalization of the idea of communion wine and theophagy. In that way, Metyr, the Two/Three Fingers are kind of a literalization of the "hand of God" as it were. That, and the notion of mankind being made in the Christian God's image. Which is to say, well, humanity largely relying on the use of their hands to exist as a people, and having their hands as a universal symbol.

[@zirkon5128]

@@spyguy318Aliens in ER seems to mimic life like Astel with some randoms species pattern, such a human skull or the dragonfly wings. Same for falling stars beast that look like any 4 legs mammal animal. Same again for those humanoids aliens such as Onyx or Alabaster Lord. I think Zullie made a video about it o/ So what if Metyr and the fingerhands are trying to mimic human hands since she arrived ? Even more since its, indeed, one of the oldest human symbol ? It would also maybe mean that Metyr did not looked like she does in the game right now. Wich is creepy. And what is even more scary is that we are facing a sort of alien invasion since ages ago without noticing it. Even worse, it tried to mimic our society and our religions, our cult. And by it i mean the "greater will" who is just a name for a eldritch alien that we have no idea what, where, when, how, why about it. But its just a theory

[@codydagg2259]

Banger end line you did there.

[@LanguidWyvern]

Metyr being an "abandoned daughter" of the Greater Will is interesting, it made me think of Ebrietas and how she was abandoned by the cosmos and and left on a lower plane of existence.

[@themaniae4803]

More Ebry was left behind, but yeah, cosmos and daughters again

[@Axius27]

On a similar note... Metyr's arena looks a lot like Rom's, and Rom was placed between the 'surface of the lake' and the terrible secret knowledge hidden deep below, forever obscuring the Great Ones for sight for as long as Rom lived. Can't help but wonder if it's a similar situation with Metyr, with her standing between the mortals of the lands between and the divinity of the Greater Will, providing a link between the two.

[@citizenvulpes4562]

@@Axius27 It's stated in the quest to even fight her, that the greater will has long since abandoned the fingers and their mother. Metyr can't be a connection, because she no longer has connection to the greater will herself, being abandoned by it shortly after landing in the lands between. OP had it right when comparing Metyr with Ebrietas.

[@Axius27]

@@citizenvulpes4562 I'm aware, don't worry. The thematic similarities remain, all the same.

[@themaniae4803]

@@Axius27 There are indeed similarities, even if opposite. Both are broken creatures with too many appendices and a very strange head who summons cosmos powers and spider-like creature, hidden in a possible higher dimention that looks like under the surface of water. And the fact about the connection between Ebrietas and Rom makes the call even more clear. With big differences of course. While Rom was used by the Choir to hide Mergo and Mensis' ritual to Flora, as you said Metyr was supposed to be a connection between GW and the world, then something gone terribly wrong. I like the theory that those tubes let her speak with the Fingers, at least once.

[@ExcellentU]

For those of us who dork out about astrophysics, Metyr is a pretty interesting boss. It pretty clear that her spells are based on some of the most EXTREME cosmological phenomena. The "sun" she holds between her fingers is almost certainly supposed to be a _gravastar_ (a.k.a. gravitational vacuum star), which is a hypothesized object in space that breaks the rules of our universe in ways that make black holes seem pretty basic. Also, the beam emitted by the microcosm represents a real phenomenon called an _astrophysical jet_ (or _relativistic jet_ if things get real weird) where a high-energy astronomical source produces a jet of ionized matter that is emitted as a beam along the object's axis of rotation. Typical culprits behind these astrophysical jets include black holes, neutron stars, pulsars, and quasars.

[@tezalliazul7974]

Would you mind explaining the basics and implications of a gravastar?

[@SeveralRatsEachWithArcanePower]

nuh uh

[@TheEloheim]

What makes you think it's a gravastar and not just a regular black hole/quasar? Just based on the wikipedia entry the gravastar seems to be a fairly obscure idea

[@ExcellentU]

@@tezalliazul7974 I can try. You'll still probably be better off reading a Wikipedia article instead, but here's how I understand it: When a really massive star dies in a supernova, its core collapses. The star's own gravity pulls its entire mass toward its center and the whole thing explodes because it can't take the stress of that compression. Normally the end product of a supernova is either a neutron star or a black hole. A neutron star is the entire mass of the original star condensed to basically the physical limit of how dense matter can get. And a black hole is formed when the density goes beyond that physical limit and the whole thing collapses into a singularity, an infinitely dense point with no dimensions at all. A gravastar is a theoretical third outcome where the collapsing star is too dense to keep existing as a neutron star, but not dense enough to collapse into a black hole. Instead, all the matter in the star's core breaks down into pure energy that wants to expand outward. But at the same time, the star's near-infinite gravity pulls that expanding energy inward. And the star gets stuck in this state where all the energy that wants to explode outwards can't overcome the pull of gravity, but the gravity also can't overcome the expanding energy inside and collapse into a black hole. The gravastar would have a shell made of a theoretical matter that hasn't even been named yet, but it would be of near-infinite density and it's temperature would be absolute zero.

[@EliteCPR]

@@tezalliazul7974 Kurzgesagt has a recent video on them

[@ThePopeOfAllDope]

So coming from a physics background. The polar jets attack felt absurdly cool. Just about the most energetic continuous events in the universe. If any attack should be undodgable, kinda has to be this one.

[@irenafarm]

I squee'd when I saw that attack. And....insta-died. Worth it.

[@XDarkGreyX]

Thanks physics pope. Ya dope

[@user-zp8kj2cl9g]

*deflects your cosmic radiation

[@amannamedsquid313]

Brings Pulsars and Quasars to mind, at least for me.

[@Sekiro_lover]

Raptor of mist on its way to defy physics 🚶‍➡️😭

[@31Moth13]

The Two Finger's lack of true guidance was hinted at even in the base game. When you tell them about the thorns blocking the Erdtree the fingers are shaken and try to consult the greater will, with Enia saying that it might take centuries for their message to reach the Greater Will. In other words, the fingers have merely been following a script this whole time with no true communication.

[@darthash18]

And now something unprecedented has happened and they’re panicking cause they have no idea what to do

[@scutterybuttery449]

@@darthash18 I don't think the fingers are panicking, I'm not sure they're even sapient. They're probably just short circuiting because theres no script for them to follow. They're like ants cut off from the queen, just aimlessly throwing out instructions for a greater plan that is no longer being communicated by the maker

[@filippomaranitassinari2529]

That’s the horrible truth that Gideon discovered and shook him to the core

[@MexiFryStains]

@@scutterybuttery449 I mean they do shiver in response to your conversation with enia, and they supposidely can communicate with you direclty through enia. She also says that they're 'shaken by the turn of events'

[@okname5335]

sounds more like they take centuries to talk to the greater will, leaving everyone without guidence for hundreds of years, which is a problem because that means u have no help from them FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, which is why volcano manner hates them

[@ParanoidPacific]

I find it really interesting that Metyr's proper hands only have four fingers. With the Cinquedia staring that five fingers is a sign if intelligence, the missing thumb implies she's not entirely sapient.

[@trippingthelight]

this stood out to me as well. -(I'm assuming you mean -_-sentient-_- )- I'm very interested in hearing people's take on the implications. For one, it would imply she's less evolved than the Elden Beast as well. Maybe she was abandoned _because_ she wasn't -sentient- sapient? edit: I got my definitions wrong, sapient is indeed the more correct term. thank you to those who explained it to me rather than being a complete ass and saying something like "bruh get a dictionary". I mean, only a cretin would do that.

[@FyruHawk]

@@trippingthelight Sapience is the correct term here. Everything that can perceive the world has sentience, like cats and dogs, but sapience is specifically about human levels of intelligence and understanding. I never knew the difference between sentience and sapience until a couple months ago either. Was really cool learning the actual difference.

[@ATC43]

This is a fact that many people are not honing in on and I think its the biggest clue to the question of whether Metyr was every REALLY in contact with the Greater Will. If 5 fingers are a sign of intelligence but a being like Metyr only has 4 who is to say the "Signs" she believed she was getting from her creator were not just natural happenings of the Universe that she herself interpreted to be messages from God? If we looked at our own human ancestors and how they perceived signs in the stars we would all say that they are fools for trying to divine understanding through such an act. So why in Elden Ring do we believe that Metyr, a 4 fingered entity in a game where 5 fingers are the sign of intelligence, actually understands ANYTHING about The Universe/God/Her existence.

[@SkaerKrow]

Consider that the Two Fingers and Three Fingers are also lacking the required number of digits to reflect proper sapience.

[@aaronward6205]

​@@trippingthelight bruh. Dictionary Use it.

[@rexshurathegod200]

Someone mentioned her arms look like they are each one 2 arms with only two fingers wrapped together.

[@XDarkGreyX]

Yeah, I took them as twisted tree trunks in arm form too. Not that easily missable, I think...

[@NeumaghAnon]

1. It’s weird how her face is so close to the black flame godskin spell symbol 2. The way she “gives birth” and how she’s the first of two “impacts” makes me think of Lillith from Neon Genesis Evangelion

[@irenafarm]

That's based on MUCH older Judaic legend about the first parents.

[@Mr_Thinks-0k]

It's weird but considering the tie to the frenzied flame that the 3 fingers have, the connection is there.

[@WretchedRedoran]

Yo, you're right about the blackflame connection! Kinda funny, I always thought that the blackflame fit really well with the confessor's aesthetic, and to find out that the mother of the two fingers herself resembles the blackflame sigil in such a way is pretty cool!

[@MitridatedCarbon]

elden ring has so many connections to eva it wouldn't surprise me metyr wasn't a nod to her.

[@joshuagroom7068]

The resemblance to the black flame symbol might actually be intentional. Keep in mind that after Marika's reign, the Two Fingers elected to introduce a new candidate for godhood, which was the Gloam-Eyed Queen. It was due to Marika's refusal to bend her knee that the age of the Black Flame never came into existence.

[@exbelion3543]

Bloodborne and this game really made cosmic horror true justice. Eldritch bosses such as Astel and Metyr are the most elaborate lore-wise, complex and epic bosses in the series

[@KitVT]

And just like cosmic horror, we're going absolutely insane over whatever knowledge we can scrap together, only to get further into madness

[@lexmarovsky6667]

Perhaps Fromsoft is the only game developer who understands and implements lovecraftian unknowability and indescribability right.

[@iamMildlyUpsetWithMostOfYouTub]

That lore bomb drop telling you that everything was bs and that the greater will fucked off eons ago (or possibly never was there to begin with) was fr overwhelming. I Felt like some character going crazy after learning something they shouldn’t have.

[@rafsandomierz5313]

@@iamMildlyUpsetWithMostOfYouTub To me it's just funny but also weird that Ranni did everything for the specific outer god to fuck off, but the truth was more twisted than anything else. The vassals that supposed to serve have been corrupted the moment they set their foot in Lands between.

[@LordDragox412]

@@iamMildlyUpsetWithMostOfYouTub Scroll of forbidden wisdom: OG Astel backwards is Letsa go. Character: **Frenzy meter maxing out**

[@Er404ChannelNotFound]

I like how they respected the fact the base game establishes that the Finger-slayer blade is required to slay such beings, so Metyr is instead shown to teleport away rather than die like other bosses.

[@mezeporta]

I wonder where she teleported to

[@screech5212]

@@mezeportashe’s at my house rn. We are drinking tea.

[@SaHaRaSquad]

Metyr is injured and sick and the game says the fingerslayer blade was already used once, so it's possible Metyr was the target. And even if the fingerslayer blade couldn't finish the job, maybe it made her mortal or something? After all she can now only birth fingercreepers which definitely do not need special weapons.

[@Er404ChannelNotFound]

@SaHaRaSquad The specific wording used in the Finger Slayer Blade is that it "harms the agents of the Greater Will", to me it seems as though the implication is Finger Creepers are not such agents, born from the damaged Metyr and bearing no connection to her role as the messenger of the Greater Will. Regardless of that I defo think she herself still qualified and she survived as the "death" animation is very much unique to her even among cosmic bosses.

[@SaHaRaSquad]

@@Er404ChannelNotFound "able" doesn't mean "required", though. So Metyr dies no matter what as the blade isn't actually needed. Just like it's not needed for the elden beast.

[@brennanharris6739]

The aquatic setting of Metyr's arena really reminded me of a womb, emphasizing Metyr's motherhood. If there's one thing the gods in Elden Ring are really good at, it's procreating. The DLC seems to emphasize this wild, procreative activity as the main drive of the gods, while their authority and insight turn out to be a sham- perhaps something they never had in the first place.

[@CoratMcRed]

Reminds me of a similair theme Bloodborne had going on with childbirth popping up in places and characters like Mergo’s Wet Nurse

[@pikamario99]

"If there's one thing the gods in Elden Ring are really good at, it's procreating" Oogh way to make the Bloodborne Great Ones feel worse

[@kylecooper4812]

“Every child deserves a parent, but not every parent deserves a child.”

[@citizenvulpes4562]

So the opposite of bloodborne? The Gods in BB being infertile and needing surrogates to carry their children, but tragically after even their offspring are birthed from surrogate mothers they perish or are abandoned.

[@Knights_of_the_Nine]

It also follows the pillars themes in Fromsoft games that's a reference to Naustica of the Valley of the Wind.

[@awd3n]

1:13 ironic and funny how this frame made me realise how isopod/anomalocaris-like she is..

[@irenafarm]

Ew. Now all I can see is one of those fish tongue parasites....

[@mimisezlol]

​@@irenafarmyou gotta think about the roomba ones instead

[@bookwormaf1471]

The microcosm when smaller looks kinda like a cloudy, blinded eye.

[@klawschafer7425]

My exact thought, that seems like a very literal way of saying they’re blind and without direction

[@naysayerck5971]

almost as if thats intentional and is mentioned in video??????

[@klawschafer7425]

@@naysayerck5971 It's not. It says eye, it does not say a cloudy eye that could be seen as blinded.

[@Daktangle]

"Doesn't seem particularly aquatic..." *Looks like something from the Cambrian explosion* Which were all aquatic. And those beams remind me of pulsars and quasars, which fits the celestial body link.

[@Aeonah]

Just makes me think of a crab.

[@MsVilecat]

​@@AeonahCarcinization, baby!

[@spilledink849]

TRUE I was just thinking Hallucigenia!

[@Sorrowdusk]

Hallucigenia (500 Million Years old)

[@melkor6618]

Honestly i don't think she dies when we defeat her, i've always seen it as her just teleporting elsewhere to hide again and wait for a message from the Greater Will

[@frogman6346]

Exactly what I said, she just went back to wherever tf she came from.

[@sunbleachedangel]

it sure is something

[@shimmymod]

I disagree, she has the same fade out animation other bosses have when killed and you get souls when you kill her. The animation for her orb "overloading" is pretty large but it doesnt look like she is teleporting.

[@user-zp8kj2cl9g]

​@@shimmymodyeah I don't know why people insist that it didn't died. Like you said, she literally faded away BEFORE opening the black hole

[@TheLegion1349]

@@user-zp8kj2cl9g and we get his head

[@highwaytoheaven99]

Its amazing how NOBODY is talking about Metyr's lore being pretty much the biggest lore bomb of Elden Ring since "Marika is Radagon". "So yeah, you know how Marika's actions, that were the entire REASON for the game to being with, were guided by the Greater Will? Yeah, that was all a lie. The Greater Will is gone." Ymir pretty much said "God has forsaken us" and nobody bats an eye?? This changes EVERYTHING!! Am I weird for losing my shit over this revelation???

[@marhawkman303]

a lot of people had guessed part of this already so it's mostly confirming what they suspected.

[@VapidFart]

When the game begins, the "guiding words of grace" state that the lands between have been abandoned by the greater will. Start a new character and listen in again.

[@pedro_mab]

@@VapidFart sure, but it's implied that that happened after the shattering as punishment against Marika, and not way before like we learn from Metyr

[@okname5335]

you people are so stupid cant u remember the opening cutscene saying the greater will only left after the shattering

[@highwaytoheaven99]

@@VapidFart If I'm not mistaken, it says that the DEMIGODS were abandoned by the Greater Will, not the world itself.

[@pockystyx4087]

Wasn't expecting to fight a very anatomical boss again; but the gaping dragon prepared me for this. Although, the fingers were new. . .

[@CodeNameX001]

So I'm going to drop my weird theory here: When Irina tells us what she learned about the beginning of the universe she describes everything being One, that was divided by the greater will. I believe that the Greater Will WAS what divided to create all life, and that Grace are just particles of the Will's power. That's why when you look at Innard Meat you can see a thread of gold, because these fused people have all their Grace fused along with them. And these are the same threads we see Marika hold up at the Divine Gates in the trailer. The Divine Gates themselves are made of merged people, so imagine how much Grace must have been forced into Marika at that moment. In addition, whether they know it or not, many groups throughout the Lands Between have been replicating this ritual: the Grafted fused with the parts of others, Rykard seems to fuse with those he devours, Raya Lucaria has the School of Graven Mages, we even see bodies fused into the walls of Farum Azula. Even the Golden Order's highest honor is the Erdtree Burial, where bodies clump together at the roots of the Erdtree, and they merge with it. I think this is what gives the Erdtree it's power, and I think that without destined death, the bodies being reborn are doing so without Grace, which is why the Tarnished have come into being. The Elden Beast isn't a cosmic entity, but a creation of the deified Erdtree to protect itself. And it's due to the increasing lack of Grace in all things, that Metyr has lost her ability to speak with the Great Will: because the Will has been remade into something else.

[@Skystrike12]

that fits together with a couple other theories i'd seen a while back too, regarding the setting as an allegory or something about decomposition and recomposition, and my own about how every faction essentially parallels each other. Presently my thoughts are on how several flames have finger related bases. Blackflame with the single fringerprint emblem, the two fingers and their holiness shown in a fiery manner, the three finger CHAOS.exe, and although i don't have a direct hand link, bloodflame, ghostflame, and giants flame are all connected to deities, so it's not unreasonable to think they also have a relation. Perhaps Metyr is the first fracture, from which rest broke off? The Edlen Beast's origin makes a lot of sense since it seems the least related to all the others, despite being the most related. Also possibly a theme of distilling forces. The violent cosmic power Metyr displays from the microcosm, down to all the various flames of the other gods, to just raw light of the Elden Beast's. idk i ramble cause this lore be all over the place.

[@realkingofantarctica]

If I knew how to mod, I would change the skybox in Metyr's arena to look like SpongeBob's.

[@MrCat-zz5eo]

...and now I'm remembering the scene where Spongebob eats popcorn bucketfuls of his own hands in Graveyard Shift episode.

[@mrcrowe1848]

Metyr's boss weapon the Gazing Finger has the weapon ash called "Kowtower's Resentment" "Skill performed as a violent bow using a finger's foremost protrusion. Resentment builds as it is forced to bow, making it explode with anger." definition of Kowtow- 1: to show obsequious deference 2: to kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in token of homage, worship, or deep respect i personally believe Metyr is currently, and possibly has been for a long time, meddling in the Greater Will's plans and so has been abandoned entirely by it. i think she was an unwilling participant all along, and the reference to "resentment" is an indication to her dismay at having been made servile.

[@okname5335]

that would explain why greater will moved on to the elden beast

[@LeadHerring]

That would give her an interesting parallel with Marika

[@nmanhgn]

Very cool interpretation I always wondered what they meant by that

[@user-zp8kj2cl9g]

I love how From and Miyazaki use "Deep sea" imagery to represent deep knowledge and dark secrets "deep within the world", like in Bloodborne. It's an amazing metaphor, and in actual good fantasy, metaphors and reality are one and the same.

[@Lazarus171]

So fantasy is not merely fiction?

[@GaussianEntity]

It's not just deep knowledge. This is the third game that sea creatures are used to represent the divine, Sekiro being the other game. Makes you wonder about Godwin and the other sea adjacent creatures in the game. Are they supposed to be divine as well?

[@indejcriptible]

even featured on The Moon arcana from tarot decks, the lobster represents that

[@infamoushacker4chan883]

2:38 Love the detail of the jets indicating rotation, much like in a neutron star.

[@topcat59]

Honestly I believe those coral structures are Metyr’s way of communicating with every single fingers she conceived into the world.🐱

[@Armameteus]

I agree. I like to think they're the bases of every set of Two Fingers in the Lands Between, like a snaking network of roots that all start at Metyr and end at a Two Fingers (much like the roots of a tree, which would fit thematically).

[@rainbowkrampus]

Possibly. But notably, the Two Fingers don't react if you kill Metyr before they go catatonic. Personally, I don't think they've been in contact with each other for a long time. Likely point of severing was when Metyr was attacked with the Fingerslayer Blade. But it's fairly likely that this whole "cosmic communication" business was always complete rubbish. So it's kinda hard to say what was happening beyond, the Two Fingers are acting just as independently as Metyr has been. For how long and to what degree is hard to nail down.

[@nmanhgn]

I thought that's how she sends her finger babies out into the lands between, how else do they leave that area? I mean we had to teleport with the whistle necklace to get there ourselves

[@Friedbaboons]

2:39 I hadn’t noticed it before, but this attack definitely looks like a gamma ray burst

[@mistermeow527]

Though this seems highly unusual to have the idea of an alien incursion into fantasy pulling all the strings in a lot of ways it's actually quite classical to fantasy. I wouldn't be surprised if this was part of designers nods to their inspirations from things beyond Berserk with the likes of Fighting Fantasy, D&D, Wizardry, Might & Magic, Ultima, and so on. For example in D&D one of the older campaigns from the late 1970s was a revelation that the fantasy worlds of D&D were long since manipulated by aliens with Expedition to the Barrier Peaks revealing an ancient alien ship buried beneath the Barrier Peaks.

[@sofija1996]

Well, Miyazaki is a huge fan of Fighting Fantasy and MtG, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone else on the team either played a ton of Ultima/Wizardry/M&M back in the 1980s-1990s or was inspired by proxy due to the massive impact they've had on early JRPGs.

[@Ravenicus]

GRRM loves Conan and HP Lovecraft so I wouldn't be surprised if it came from him. Those two series are all about ancient aliens intermingling with and controlling men.

[@dordohronkey3955]

i just realised that the staff at 0:11 uses the head piece of the heysel pick from DS3

[@Red_Boar]

Wait what is that staff ??

[@SethKeltoi]

I wonder how similar a space creature like Metyr that's used to flying through vacuum finds having to move through atmosphere to us having to swim underwater.

[@RainDaemonic]

I think it's kinda the opposite. Bloodborne also likened space and the ocean constantly.

[@citizenvulpes4562]

@@RainDaemonic If you think about it logically though, space and the deep ocean are kind of opposite of one another, in space everything is so expanded outward that you'd have to travel millions to BILLIONS of light years to maybe even get into visual distance of another planet like earth. While in the deep ocean everything is so condensed that if we don't have certain vehicles we would quite literally be crushed to death underneath the force of what we are currently underneath. One is so empty that it can rip you in half from it's vacuum like properties, while the other is so full of substance that we'll be crushed for trying to go deep into it.l What op is saying is, imagine what it must feel like to be an entity from outer space, literally NOTHING is pushing against you, only to land on a planet with an atmosphere full of gas molecules touching your skin, OP is saying that he imagines the feeling to be like us entering a body of water when we were originally just use to walking through air.

[@Cybershroom]

Seeing as Metyr and the two fingers were just blind leading the blind, it just makes Ranni's ending that much better.

[@MennydorgesERArchive]

But Ranni is just as blind. She wants to break free of the Greater Will’s control, turns out, she was just paranoid and ill informed because the GW abandoned the place a long time ago, yet she entered a covenant with the Dark Moon, an Outer God her teacher told her to fear.

[@thepublicpotato3887]

An interesting connection with Metyr is the finger slayer blade. We know for a fact it was used at some point and it led to retaliation from the greater will. What if the Nox used the finger slayer blade on Metyr and their act led to the greater will retaliating against them. We know Astel came from a lightless void and the greater will himself has a lightless void according to Ymir headpiece. Also the greater will abandoned the lands between because of the shattering as stated at the opening cutscene the fingers weren’t faking it when they tried communing with it. Metyr shows that it was Marika controlling the grace and not the greater will.

[@okname5335]

i never realized that but it makes sense, given that the golden order recognizes marika as their god and not the greater will, and that marika bestows the grace of gold despite never being called the source of gold. i guess the sun is a source of gold and so is the erdtree and a lightless void is probably the source of dark like the sword of darkness uses and i guess the scadutree too even tho its also gold, dark and light and gold and shadow dont really make alot of sense so far

[@nmanhgn]

Do you think maybe the Greater Will is like living physical space before the stars and everything were created. But then it kind of sounds like the formless mother territory which I never understood either haha

[@thepublicpotato3887]

@@nmanhgn if we look at Ymir headpiece the greater will is depicted as a finger print entity with a black void on in its body. It clearly has a form

[@taylorbrecht8049]

I assumed that the other end of those tube coral things in the sky were the big fingers we see dotted all around the shadow realm and she uses them to communicate. Them being hollow is a symbol that the fingers seem important but inside, there's nothing there

[@justanotherman6419]

Interesting that that orb is labeled as "sun" in the data considering that in the game there are no suns that can be seen, considering that both the erdtree, and scadutree take that role, it also oddly looks like an eye, maybe implying that both trees hide the fact that there is something that is watching us

[@KissyKaede]

I think the way the Fingers are explained is pretty simple. You know all the Fingers and puppet stuff going on in the game? How Ranni turned herself into a literal puppet? It's super simple symbolism. Puppets and puppetmasters. The Fingers are the ones who wish to control the puppets (their chosen gods). It's all a play. All the world's a stage. Except something went wrong and the puppetmasters stopped receiving direction and financial support from the director and producer (the Greater Will), so the puppets began to rebel.

[@Digitize27]

Given Metyr's model has a gaping wound on her front, and we know the Fingerslayer blade has been used before (the action resulting in the Nox being exiled to the underground) it seems like the game is hinting the Nox wounded Metyr, which interfered with her ability to communicate with the Greater Will.

[@undine5938]

@@Digitize27 maybe that was the sin, Marika took the guidance of grace from metyr and made her own connection

[@Rainbowboy-sv5fw]

When I finished this part of the dlc and started connecting the dots between Metyr and all the finger related lore, I was blown away. I wish we had more info on the finger ruins, though. Or, maybe I missed something. Thanks, Zullie, I love your videos! ❤

[@rianaustana6619]

Makes me wonder how much Radahn halting the stars messed with everything...

[@warpstorm1988]

0:29 the legs on the Elden Beast remind me so much of the legs on the spirit eels so I wonder if there’s a connection between them?

[@vrmohanakrishnan2003]

Looks like the story of Demiurge. Lost without parents guide, but still tries to influence with its knowledge.

[@justinhowe3878]

I have to say, as janky and frustrating as Metyr is from a gameplay perspective, from the POV of art design, the whole encounter is an outstanding achievement. Her model, the arena, the music, the lore implications. Encountering her for the first time was one of the best moments I've had in a FS game.

[@NobenStudio]

I still stand on my own interpretation. All examples of the Two Fingers in the lands between pale in power compared to my own, transferring my greater will, that of a player, into controlling yet one more tarnished. Of all Fingers present in elden ring, the players are the only ones that truly controls a being in the lands between from beyond their universe.

[@danser_theplayer01]

Ok this is very quickly turning from religious mythological epic into alien invasion scifi. They're basically saying "there's no god, and you've all been worshipping some aliens that fingered you your entire lives".

[@ricardorocha5420]

A blind hand of a divinity might be useful for a shaman trying to avoid some desires of godhood

[@kaden-sd6vb]

wasn't as blind as they thought, though, judging by the whole crucifix situation we find them in.

[@ricardorocha5420]

@kaden-sd6vb yeah but there is things that make me think... Like... it the end, the faithful dog of the golden order is dead, the all knowing master mind of the golden order is dead, the useful elden lord, dead again... The avatar of that power, dead... Those things make me wonder. And... There is also... The perfect heir was killed at the beginning and the cursed corpse is keep very close to the source of the power... And the heir mother might be the one who planned that. One of her daughters might send that power to some kind of abyss... Another daughter has powers from some primitive power and fire within... And the youngest daughter might become a goddess without sacrifice of other and Romina would say "go, go, sweety" Marika, the eternal, does not need heir, and she has heir anyway... and most of the children are big problems to the golden order... I don't know yet what to think but there is a lot of space to speculation. After the DLC, my question "Who is the one controlling my character?": 70% before dlc: Marika, now is 89% Marika. Anyway... It is just a random guy thinking about many things here... I don't want to have answers, I just want to keep thinking about it...

[@hitlord]

Man, what the fuck. Right as the video got to the part about the birth of the fingers tearing out of the flesh, some kids started screaming far away enough to be undiscernible and feel like it was and wasn't coming from the video and it made the whole thing creepy as all absolute hell. I got shivers and everything. Had to pause to write this and calm myself down.

[@FOXY_SPHYNX]

Zullie back and we eating good!!

[@colt4505]

Are we, though? Every video from Zullie just leaves me feeling like... "K?" 🤨

[@FireOutOfMonkeysHead]

Awesome series love the way you do it man

[@azearah6842]

As someone with Chirophobia, the fingercreepers were bad enough. Metyr's fight was basically a horror game for me.

[@naysayerck5971]

BOO SCARY FINGERS AHHHHHHHH

[@aguywearingonlyshorts]

You got the real "gazing into the horrors of a lovecraftian elder god" experience

[@misfortunecookiedragon]

HAND JUMPSCARE 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚✋️ 🤚

[@trippingthelight]

totally creeped me out too. I actually went "ew!" out loud. but then she did the tippy-tap attack and now it's just kinda endearing.

[@Kromosios]

I just now realised how Ranni's two fingers are far closer to Metyr in design than the others

[@LoafOfToph123]

Hey Zullie, great video! This is a little unrelated but I have a question for you about something I discovered with the scale armor(not to be confused with the scaled armor). The scale armor has a cape that I noticed disappears when hit by certain attacks. The scale armor cannot be altered like normal, so this is the only method to remove its cape. My curiosity as to what causes this has been killing me, so does anyone know what causes this? I think it suggests that there may have been some sort of scrapped battle damage mechanic at some point in Elden Ring’s development. I actually have videos of the cape disappearing from a black stormhawk fire breathing attack and Godrick’s stormcaller on my channel if anyone wants to see it for themselves.

[@undine5938]

the physics of cloth get blown so fast and far it just poofs, I think its a normal bug, it happens in all games but cool that there's a way to do it

[@LoafOfToph123]

@@undine5938That might be what causes it, but most physics bugs don’t do something so extreme as completely deleting a small part of armor. You also need to manually remove and reequip the armor or restart the game in order to fix it. On top of that, the armor looks as if the cape was intended to be removable but they forgot to make it alterable. Multiple attacks similar to those two I found don’t destroy the cape as well. I don’t know, it seems too purposeful to be chopped up to a physics bug especially when no other armors have capes that behave like this that I know of. Edit: I should note that I am able to replicate the cape disappearing with 100% consistency on my PS5, but on PC for some reason it doesn’t happen whatsoever. It’s really bizarre.

[@undine5938]

@ it’s def a performance physics bug then, you might have just found a special drip glitch on PlayStation lol, im gonna try it and see, also change the modes from performance to quality

[@LoafOfToph123]

@@undine5938 I’m definitely leaning towards it being a physics bug because the hardware change fixes it. I tried doing it in quality mode on PS5 and it still works. I will add, that my PC is running the game at 60 fps like performance mode on PS5 does but the glitch doesn’t happen. That doesn’t mean that the hardware isn’t responsible though. I think you’re probably right about it being a physics bug, but it definitely one of the weirdest physics bugs I’ve ever seen. Most cloth physics based bugs are like the clothing clipping through the player or just freaking out, not outright disappearing. Maybe I’m just being bias against the possibility of it being a physics bug because the thought of it being the result of an abandoned mechanic that FromSoftware forgot to remove, on this otherwise forgettable armor, is just so much cooler to me. Edit: I still don’t know if it happens on Xbox. I don’t have a way of testing that myself. I would assume that if PS5 has the bug, Xbox probably does too. Also, resting at a grace does not fix the bug but warping does, if that is relevant.

[@undine5938]

@@LoafOfToph123 I've found many cloth physics bugs that too that in multiple games, I think it gets moved so far off the anchor it just disappears till the model is changed

[@wvolfkoenig]

Oh, hey. The Two Fingers communicate through Braille. The blind leading the blind. Ha.

[@BCTheEntity]

The microcos, or some say microcosm, has some neat tricks tied to it for sure. Not often you see weaponised black holes.

[@Twenty_Third_Nerd2347]

I firmly believe at least part of the reason they created this boss was a random developer seeing the 74th ‘Try Finger’ message in a row and saying ‘OKAY FINE’

[@vVAstrAVv]

"I'll show them 'try finger but hole' damnit" lol

[@jarrakul]

I kinda figured the fingers weren't getting through to the Greater Will when the one in Roundtable Hold starts "communing" for potentially decades. It just felt so much like a "signal not found" moment.

[@Werebud63]

I remember when I first played I assumed it was just the natural process of communicating with a god. A being of such supreme influence and unknowable power probably wouldn't operate on our own timescales. It made sense to me that it might take centuries or even millennia to say a single thing. Also, it hammered home the idea that maybe a god that was so distant wasn't the best thing for this world. I do love the twist tho. That the fingers are blind and haven't received a message in who knows how long. That the Greater Will is out there, but choosing not to commune. That our actions in the game were so world-shattering that they forced the two fingers to abandon the illusion they'd been trying to maintain, and force them to call for their long gone creator in a desperate plea for guidance. Awesome.

[@MitridatedCarbon]

i like to think metyr's arena, unlike the elden beast or the rennala's, is at the very bottom of the lands between, considering we can teleport there. like the deepest point of the planet. the "waters" serve to show that she is literally under the great lake and even under the waters of the eternal city. the corals are the tips of the roots of any of the great trees like the erdtree, scadutree, minor erdtrees, etc. she receives messages and energy from the surface from those, sends her children through those and communicate also through those.

[@felstalker]

0:20 how did I not realize the fallen star beasts were immature versions of whatever Astel is 😮

[@moonlightning8269]

I had that thought before, but one of them is called a “fully-grown fallingstar beast” so it’s probably that they just have similar biology being from similar origins

[@greatcoldemptiness]

Are you blind?

[@shaktosh524]

In some subreddits, people have pointed out that the life-cycle of an antlion is basically Astel's. The sorcerers whose head became big eyes are eggs. Fallingstar beasts look very similar to antlion larvae, whereas full-grown antlion looks like Astel.

[@felstalker]

@@shaktosh524 interesting!

[@Zinras]

Interesting that Fromsoft keeps its water = alien theme. The Elden Beast has a water arena and a body made of galaxies (it basically has an image of the cosmic web on its body) and Metyr has a water theme while being connected to the Greater Will and directing the fingers. The same thing happened in Bloodborne, where the city is under the water and Kos is birthed from an aquatic creature on the beach above. You also plunge into water to defeat Rom, who also hangs out in a water arena. The Great Ones are also pretty aquatic-themed in general. I wonder if "space" in ER is closer to water than an empty void.

[@patdier5498]

It makes me wonder if soulborne in general uses water/oceans as a metaphor for space/the unknown

[@duvetboa]

Oceans are deceptively empty, yet teeming with life. Its a scary thought.

[@shaktosh524]

We as human are earthly creatures, water is just not our realm, as is the sky. So, it's easy to imagine alien creatures that comes from water and the sky and beyond.

[@vVAstrAVv]

The connection of space to water isn't that mysterious is it?We spent centuries sailing the oceans guiding ourselves by the stars. It's natural for them to be combined in our imagination

[@tarille1043]

Metyr has me question the origin of the 3 fingers. Are the 3 fingers born from Metyr and simply corrupted by the Frenzied Flame? Or is there another Metyr like entity out there somewhere created by the Frenzied Flame that can birth the frenzied fingers?

[@amannamedsquid313]

An interesting question. Perhaps a mockery of the fingers made by the frenzied flame, or maybe a malformed offspring of Metyr that heard the call of something that wasn't the Greater Will...

[@vVAstrAVv]

There's a thread of duality throughout the divines in elden ring. But not really a clear origin most of the time. 3F exists because it's the dual aspect of 2F. Like the frenzy flame is to the GW, or methyl to the elden beast, marika to radagon, Trina to miquela. That's really all there is to it. These things might simply be because godhood requires a counterpart

[@tarille1043]

@@vVAstrAVv Frenzied Flame isn't a "Counterpart" to the Greater Will. Since there's way more than just those 2 Outer Gods. There's also the Formless Mother (Moghwyn), the Black Flame god (Godslayers), Fel God (Giants), Goddess of Rot, Deathrite God (Deathrite Birds). Those are just the ones we know of. There could be more (Like Dragon God, Deathblight God, Moon Goddess, Omen God, Crucible God etc) Frenzied Flame isn't linked to the Greater Will at all and is simply the influence of another god, one that was brought to the Lands Between by the merchants after they were discriminated against by those following the Golden Order.

[@vVAstrAVv]

@tarille1043 Irina describes the frenzied flame as part of the "one great" and describes its fracture as a mistake of the greater will. I think that and the 2 and 3 fingers being OBVIOUS parallels supports them being opposing aspects of what was a bigger whole. The paired nature's aren't an immediate component for outer gods because they aren't in power. They are still vying for that power though, requiring an avatar first and foremost.

[@tarille1043]

@@vVAstrAVv Irina says no such thing. Hyetta is the only person in the game who references the One Great. She also doesn't say anything about the fracture being a mistake of the Greater Will. She says that AFTER the fractures and the creation of life, the Greater Will made a mistake which was to cause people to be able to suffer (Likely referencing its attempt to enact order unto what the Crucible was producing) Whereby the Frenzied Flame is trying to wipe out suffering by wiping out all life. It doesn't necessarily make these 2 counterparts to each other (Especially as "Fractures" likely refers to all the Outer Gods not just these 2) Whilst any parallels between "2 fingers" and "3 fingers" simply leads back to my original comment. Are the 3 fingers simply one of Metyr's children which was simply taken over by the Frenzied Flame like literally every other depiction we see (Shabiri takes over Yura's body. Midra and the Lord of Chaos ending show someone's head being replaced by the fires of chaos)? Or, are the 3 fingers we encounter specifically created by the Frenzied Flame in their own counterpart to Metyr? Neither one is "OBVIOUS". Even more so when you factor in that Metyr herself is made of tons of fingers and the Fingercreepers she spawns also have tons of tingers so it's not like having more than 2 fingers is necessarily significant in this regard (It could be that the 3rd finger deformity is what caused it to be susceptible to the Frenzied Flame corruption)

[@__eevee]

I didn't know I needed the image of Metyr as the Nevermind baby but now it's there in my head forever, thank you for this.

[@Valavinge]

Ranni was right all along. She was the only one with a vision for the future and a plan outside the Fingers authority.

[@knatspray]

Metyr being the mother of fingers is so fitting. There’s no better way to convey that the fingers are the hands of god

[@Jonkenstonk]

INSANE OPENING SHOT

[@MichaelTMeunier]

Love these videos so much. Quick, simple, always super interesting. Could watch for hours

[@ImarBenIsrael]

As. Head Canon and theory in my thoughts is that she went back to her father wherever it was .

[@arkonomus]

I LOVE how every time we get a revelation to one of the mysteries in the game, we just end up with more questions than answers

[@theomnitorium7476]

1:23 Wow, that sure looks like... uhhmmm... motherly features... you know.

[@tedbobinski5537]

Looks like the entrance of a cervix, if you look up "Cervix Entrance Medical" you'll definitely concur.

[@XDarkGreyX]

Yeh but... may I point you at that front area where all the children are coming out from.

[@theomnitorium7476]

@@XDarkGreyX good point, good point. It was more the shape, less the functionality, that sparked the comparisson.

[@Flamefreeze1]

At this point I almost associate the Palace of Twilight song with your videos instead of the original game. Thanks for the great video!

[@JiyakuBuraku]

sup fellow twilight princess enjoyer

[@agxryt]

The laser attack is quite reminiscent of the polar jets emanating from black holes and quasars (big, active black holes) - the rotating analogous to the rotation of the quasar. I believe there's actual animations you can find online if quasars doing exactly that. In my interpretation, the microcosm is a effectively a wormhole, allowing interaction over great distances - and though these likely do not really exist (and can never exist) is HAS been popularly theorized that such a thing MAY be possible within a black hole / quasar. Hence why the microcosm behaves like one. It IS one. Elden ring is inspired by true cosmology. It's no wonder there are such deep anti-religious themes within it. Metyr is simply a prophet (like Jesus or Muhammad), while the Fingers are their respective clergy. like irl, many innocents are scorned at the behest of those who claim to speak for the Greater Will, despite its obvious absence. Those born without grace or touched by the crucible - much like those born into the wrong religion, or with minority traits (sexuality, disability, etc) - are treated with contempt and denied salvation - erdtree burial/heaven/everlasting life. Like IRL, fundamentalism is claimed to be the solution to all of life's problems - and yet it's rigidity makes it completely useless in any non-standard situation - or worse, actively cruel. And like IRL, these tenets of false prophets CLAIM to be the original authority.. and yet, fragments of older rituals and beliefs still exist, scorned by the mainstream because they conflict with the narrative of "original authority". Many of the sufferings of the lands between stem directly from the false prophets, who claim to speak for the greater will, but have truly been abandoned. The religious influence in Elden ring is clear - many lore videos have pointed out the various connections to different mythologies and histories. Even the two/three fingers has an associated IRL inspiration. But not a lot of people will touch on the obvious message - that we WERE born of a rupture across the sky, that we ARE star stuff.. but that everything beyond that point is unknown, and everyone who claims to speak for the greater will - that is, god - is lying, and their instructions bring misery to the unlucky - those who happened to roll misbegotten, omen, gay, poor, or otherwise - in the lottery of life. I'm not sure it's some weird religious resurgence, or just the younger generations have lost the capacity for deep analysis (thanks tiktok and Twitter) - but the message is clear. Elden Ring is, among many things, an analogy for real world religion - the lies that sustain it, the cruelty it commits, and the one single truth - that no one really speaks for the greater will. What both Ranni and Miquella and sir blood-daddy want is a secular world.

[@patdier5498]

Nice analysis. You are correct about the real-life parallel

[@Pupiot]

What do you mean Metyr isn’t aquatic? They’re a lobster! They have the claws/arms and tail, just made out of fingers

[@arathar24l]

I love how Elden Ring's lore starts with a guy who grafts limbs on his body for more strength and ends with cosmic horrors beyond our comprehension

[@monbub]

Exactly why I love this game so much. Starts off simple and turns into something completely beyond our expectations. This game's story is such a masterpiece.

[@notneen]

Zullie you create some really beautiful backdrops in your videos, you have a wonderful eye for conveying a topic through imagery

[@rude6371]

Goldmask's ending just keeps getting more based with every new piece of information we get about the greater wills.

[@nate_venture]

Goldmasks ending of “fixing” the Golden Order by removing any bit of free will for “gods” like Marika, thus removing the only avenue to free the Lands from being dominated by the Greater Will? That ending? The one that dooms the Lands to be trapped in the Golden Order for good by getting rid of the loophole Marika was using to set things up for a chance for Ranni to subvert the Greater Will’s intention of replacing Marika with an Empyrean puppet who never knew a world without the Greater Will and Golden Order? That ending? Wouldn’t call that based.

[@rafsandomierz5313]

@@nate_venture It's still based because Greater Will didn't have influence over Marika's actions. It's not like it told her to genocide other people that belonged to other outer gods, nor to genocide the hornset and put those afflicted by curses (that were basically consequences of her actions) into the sewers and if they escape to outright killing them with new formed forces that specified in that task. Limiting Marika's will is a fix Greater Will needs to fix all the wrongdoing that Marika caused. Like Gold mask himself said "gods are fickle" in a sense that she as god in the flesh isn't immune to emotions and lies like Mortals she rules over.

[@vVAstrAVv]

Goldmask is a proletarian hero lol

[@zess_t5952]

@@vVAstrAVvnot really. He’s not vouching for no masters, but rather only one master (the greater will) and to have no more in between communicators such as the fingers

[@vVAstrAVv]

@@zess_t5952 that sounds like a classless society to me comrade

[@jhoch5]

Thank you for making short videos, these are perfect for laying in bed before sleep videos

[@Mene0]

The idea that the Greater Will completely abandoned the Lands Between is a bit unnerving...I wonder if Marika is aware of this to an extent

[@Nemo12417]

Count Ymir seems to be the only one who even acknowledges the existence of Metyr, and given that Carian sorcery was only permitted under the Golden Order after the Liurnian Wars, it seems unlikely that Marika would have known before then. Although, her echoes at the Minor Erdtree Church indicate that at some point she did have a crisis of faith.

[@Sinhsseax]

Think about something even more unnerving: What if something killed the Greater Will? What power could possibly be able to do that? If that is what lurks in the reaches of outer space, what if it ever comes to the lands between?

[@trustmeits610pm2]

If a reclusive sorcerer knew about it, then Marika almost certainly did. Some people have theorized that Marika shattered the Elden Ring as an act of rebellion because the Greater Will was actually evil... but how exactly did Marika come to that conclusion? What if she really did it just to get the Greater Will's attention?

[@amannamedsquid313]

@@Sinhsseax Only thing that I can think of that could do that is another God. And we do know that there are certainly other Gods out there that have their own plans for the lands between. And we know that the world would probably be worse off for it were one of them were to claim the Elden Ring through a proxy.

[@serevine9730]

Side note, I really appreciate how Zulie's English and diction is is fantastic, making me break out the dictionary with missives and microcosms. (I am not a native English speaker so this is amazing to me.) Love the vids

[@wraith-cat]

we were *_this_* close to the elden ring being a space station or a satellite

[@ShadowEclipse777]

Xenoring Chronicles

[@trustmeits610pm2]

The Elden Ring is a sephiroth tree. An important series of symbols in alchemy.

[@wraith-cat]

@@trustmeits610pm2 ya I know, but before release there were theories suggesting it was a space station, it turned out to not be a space station, but there is a lot of sci fi elements and aliens in elden ring so it's funny how there straight up could've been some sort of spacecraft or thing that all these aliens come from

[@heirapparent8217]

I genuinely thought it was gonna go fantasy into sci-fi from the first trailer. The voice over being all ‘the ring has shattered, don’t tell me you can’t see it?’. I’m not disappointed exactly, but I was hoping for less subtly in the alien aspect.

[@luisyanez6261]

Something that just crossed me mind is that Metyr and the fingers have a similar story to florisax, and that begs a question. If you kill placidusax before meeting florisax, she does not recieve messages from her lord. As such, Metyr may not be able to recive instructions from the Greater Will because that outer god... May be dead? Of course I see a bunch of arguments against it, such as when did that happed. Before or after Marika's ascension? But still, is an interesting thought

[@Floodsye]

I love FromSoft's game so much. To take something as quintessentially human as the use of divine intent to carry out atrocities and display it in such a otherworldly and alien way is just amazing. The games, without having nearly any traditional linear storytelling, offer up some of the most impactful social, historical, and psychological commentary about human society for those who dig into the lore and find out its secrets while also, in an ironic but likely designed way, leaving those who refuse to engage with the lore in the dark about the story and its deeper messages.

[@undine5938]

they continue to create deep worlds and experiences that are made from passion I am happy to have grown up with their videogames Daisuki

[@Neminum]

Interestingly I haven't seen many people talk about this and tie it back to one of the most discussed points about Elden Ring lore when it came out. Assuming that this was the the story from the very beginning, this feel much more in line with GRRMs works now. Everything from false gods, power coming solely from individuals and their own common desires, the absence of actual authoritative guidance, all of it hearkens back to his earlier stories.

[@XDarkGreyX]

Imagine some hero on the Greater Will's homeworld doing the usual JRPG quest where they kill a god in the end. All is well there, but they have no idea how much they fked all the other worlds. The emissaries across space are desperately waiting for a call from home.

[@deaddan2148]

YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME, IT WAS ALIENS ALL ALONG?!?!

[@wealthybone2990]

Yeah she's an odd boss but reminds me of bloodborne

[@HenryGreenEngine3]

bloodborne mentioned

[@Cthulhubot]

She is very Ebrietas coded

[@manvslife271]

Bloodborne fans when they see anything that can be considered eldritch (They think Bloodborne invented the genre)

[@Eric-wj8tn]

This makes the Fingers going, "Uhh, see you in a thousand years" hilarious

[@monbub]

Fr it's so funny when you realize it's bc their prophet mom is currently freaking out and can't find answers for them anymore. Reminds me of that scene in spongebob where the magician was just a guy behind a curtain talking in a microphone.

[@microwave9551]

Another fun thing about how Metyr and the Fingers technically may be acting on their own volition, and not actually following out the will of the Greater Will is that, well Goldmask really is just, better. He did it alone, no help, no guidance, just sheer genius and devotion, he can communicate with the Greater Will successfully when even Metyr and the Fingers cannot. Really is Ever-Brilliant.

[@ItsmeInternetStranger]

In the base game, we can see the two fingers attempting to commune with the Greater Will, but Enia says it may take ages to get a response. Since we can't just wait for decades, we never find out if this is true or not. But in the DLC we find Metyr who has been attempting to contact the Greater Will for eons and has had no response, making it more likely that it simply can't be contacted at all anymore (or is intentionally ghosting them).

[@alpharanma]

The original sin was Metyr's. Stars belong in the sky and she fell to earth like a hand reaching out. The Gods can only influence indirectly. When Gods make direct action it leads to ruin. Reflected in Metyr, Marika, and Miquella. All would end broken and abandoned.

[@rafsandomierz5313]

The reason why Metyr was ruined is because of the Nox who rebelled against Greater Will and decided to wound her. Severing all the connection and order of the world leading to ruin and stagnation while also being punished in the process. The original sin might relate to something else. Maybe her fickleness before the godhood that she's been guilty of? Gold mask's quest explains many things.

[@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

I still have literally no idea what’s going on in elden ring and yet still watch these

[@alinithon361]

I haven't seen the video but I will still hate metyr after this.

[@aguy216]

I didn't know that so many people hated metyr tbh

[@esi__et]

​@@aguy216 on higher game cycles, which I assume most people played when the dlc was released Metyr is a nightmare to fight.

[@aguy216]

@@esi__et is beacuse the black hole beam always hits no? Or is the melee attacks?

[@esi__et]

@@aguy216 Black hole beam seems to be only avoidable with Vow of Indominable or Raptor's mist. She has a lot of movements with awkward timing and weird hitboxes. Visually she is amazing but the fight is a pain in the butt

[@neoturtle1753]

Another thing is the long cut along Metyr's stomach, pulling forth her insides. It seems to suggest that Metyr has fought someone before, and was seriously injured. I'd assume the blade used to form this opening is none other than the Finger Slayer Blade from Nokron.

[@rogerlost5851]

1:27 I don't know bro, that looks more like a different type of anatomy than an eye lol

[@tedbobinski5537]

Looks like a cervix entrance.

[@danzixx6]

I like how the sun if u look closely it will look like the pictures of the edge of the universe when she summon the sun in her fingers and after she dies she get sucks like a black hole implosion these aliens know how to mess with others and impose their own idea of order

[@specialnewb9821]

This is a reminder that Ymir is well, bonkers. For instance we know the Elden Ring existed in Placi's dragon era, and there is no association with fingers for dragons. The closest is the beast/fingers/int thing, which might suggest Metyr's group was ignored by the dragons so they tried to find someone to overthrow Placidusax's order. Not the Hornsent, they have a spiral motif from the crucible but not much for Fingers either. So Metyr likely existed for some time marginalized. So Ymir could be right in that Marika's order was flawed from inception but the existence of the Elden Beast a vassal of the GW, suggests that the GW did send emissaries with authority not failures like Metyr.

[@gioeleserra5370]

I always thougth that the frenzied flame used Bayle (since Bayle's flame ligthning is yellow, just like the frenzied flame unlike later golden ligthing, which was of the golden order) to attempt and seize the elden ring and bring the destruction of the world. Although he failed, this made the greater will leave (Placidusax was leaved by his god and the greater will was as a god that left, so the GW seems like the most likely culprit) and since the ancient dragons were so heavily wuonded that either the elden beast or Metyr used a young Marika to pretend to be an hornsent (Marika's Mischief and the statue in the specimen storehouse looks a lot like an hornsent Marika) so that se could overthrow them from the inside and create the erdtree (a safer place to keep the elden ring).

[@TheHonoredMadman]

Its honestly alot like the Harold and the treeminders quest in fallout 3 So theres this mutated tree guy who some hippies started worshipping as a god because of all the plantlife that grew around him, an oasis of green in a broken rocky mountain range. Eventually the mutated guy wants to die because hes tired of living and he asks the two leaders of this cult of hippies that have devoted themselves to him, to kill him and both of them interpret this in a different way as some divine coded message but really theyre just twisting it to suit their visions of what they want this god to be. One wants the influence to spread and the other wants it to stay confined in the oasis and both of their solutions reguire the tree man to be alive when he very clearly just wants to die. In the end its up to the player to decide. This situation with metyr and the fingers fabricating or twisting the "signs of the divine" really reminded me of that. And i wonder what that single message that metyr got from the greater will was? Could it have been what led to marika doing waht she did in the trailer? "The seduction that resulted in the birth of gold"

[@melomet3789]

I was kind of hoping the fingercreepers were some kind of experiment using severed fire giant hands. The two fingers definitely look like they are born of Metyr, but I feel like there's a lot of lore implications for someone trying to make their own fingers by using the powerful hands of the felled fire giants. For instance, I thought Rykard somehow made them for the Golden Order with his messed up magic and put rings on them to control them. I was a little disappointed to see fingercreepers come out of Metyr looking the way they did. Great video, as always!

[@UseZapCannon]

People don't appreciate the significance of Ymir saying the fingers were "unhinged from the start". Varré's theory was that the fingers went insane, and became untrustworthy, when the Elden Ring shattered - but what Ymir reveals is that they were _always_ insane and untrustworthy, even when the Elden Ring was intact, even when they were advising gods. When the fingers in the Roundtable tell us our mission, how much of it were they making up?

[@johnoneil9188]

I have never even heard of this thing. The DLC goes places, man.

[@mellow_mallow]

Interested in the fact that the two "normal" hands on Metyr's body only have four fingers each, when five-fingered hands seem to be associated with enlightenment and sapience.