Elden Ring - It's hidden in plain sight

[@ZullietheWitch]

This is probably my fifth or sixth draft of this video idea, and I'm glad one finally made it over the finish line. It's something I've wanted to make for a long time, but the length of it always felt absurd for this channel and I couldn't see a clean way to cut it down. I have a lot of trepidation about it, but I guess we'll find out if it was warranted in a few days when KZbin gets all the stats together. Overall, the presence of these little golden glimmers is something I noticed more and more as I examined the models, but I remember first being really struck by the prominence of it on the Fallen Hawks soldiers, of all things, and the clear divide on the Juvenile Scholars is what really made it seem like there had to be some deliberate messaging to it. How much can actually be inferred from all of this is open to a lot of debate, but I think they definitely meant something by it.

[@that_tikosh]

Thank you for your hard work, Zullie!

[@the-red-thing]

@diaz5029 the duality of Zullie the Witch fans.

[@theyoutubeprowler]

Noticed this on my first playthrough and have been patiently waiting for this video ever since. Every act I would zoom in on my pc’s face to see if I got more or less gold in my eyes, an obsessive attention to detail I apply to fromsoft games due to all the lore videos I watch hahah.

[@Goose683]

What about Radagon? what colour are his eyes? I dont think ive ever noticed what colour they are but you'd think they are fully gold. In terms of why basically everything has gold in their eyes, this could be the Erdtree being desperate for the Elden Ring to be reforged and giving everything the grace until finally giving it back to the Tarnished.

[@abeon8151]

@@diaz5029 Zullie is originally a character from Dark Souls 2.

[@zachhansen9550]

So that’s why everyone we meet is immediately “oh you’re tarnished” because they can see it in our eyes that we don’t have the gold bit.

[@antarcticaresearchprogram8349]

perhaps that's why everyone is hostile to us as well

[@evosupersonic7298]

@@antarcticaresearchprogram8349 That is probably the best reason why, I always wondered why everyone was instantly hostile even if we technically help them, I guess they see us as Invaders, or Graceless animals like Horah Loux

[@HalanHeart]

That explain mesmer taking off his eyes when he's losing tue fight 😱

[@bonitabromeliads]

wearing helmets though so it still makes no sense.

[@icyclestick178]

@@HalanHeart idts bro, that eye is actually called a soreseal which seals the serpent

[@mitchellbutler2307]

The dogs and crows in Caelid have gold in their eyes because they're carrion feeders. They eat the corpses of grace-given creatures then absorb & accumulate the grace that they consume. It's the same reason you would sometimes get humanity from rats in Dark Souls.

[@Sleepy12ftPanda]

Makes sense, but then wouldn't that mean all carnivorous animals in the Lands Between would have gold in their eyes then?

[@mitchellbutler2307]

@@Sleepy12ftPanda I think the implication is that the dogs & crows specifically consume humans.

[@Sleepy12ftPanda]

@@mitchellbutler2307 OH SHIT THAT'S WHY IT'S A RUNEBEAR!!!

[@Kodaiva]

runebears are their own thing too, they show signs of (technically) being dragons@@Sleepy12ftPanda

[@kingkh001]

@@Kodaivahow???

[@Mostenire]

I love how absolutely shocked and confused every single character looks when zoomed-in like that. The Godskin Apostle is especially hilarious.

[@Kryptonline]

And the Godskins look like Baron Harkonnen and Mark Zuckerberg

[@viljamtheninja]

I had no idea the Vulgar Militia looked so.... special.

[@Jt1Torso1Winabego]

They look like a couple of Collin Robinsons.

[@Nehfarius]

@@viljamtheninja There's a reason they're called Vulgar. :p

[@ArcRay20]

i got so thrown off with the Nox warrior face, before i read the text i was like "what is this literal baby faced enemy???"

[@TheBrixHub]

It's incredible how so many NPCs have small details that a ton of players will just never really see. Kinda reminds me of how characters like Sellen and Gideon have a proper modelled face undermeath their masks

[@Johnnyupside]

Really good looking too

[@thisisnotaustin1]

this is because human NPCs are created using the player character creator. i believe this goes back to at least dark souls 1

[@godly_potatoe69xd19]

And it’s funny knowing they know even if normal players will never see it, they know dataminers will

[@EIA-Observer]

​@thisisnotaustin1 While I hesitate to call myself a "character artist," since I haven't worked in any projects that have released (yet 🤞)... I have done character modeling and it's very common to add details that are unlikely to be noticed, reasons ranging from it simply being a fun part of the creative process to trying to fully realize a concept for the purpose of maintaining story consistency during the construction process... Also yeah, reusing assets.

[@Zorajit]

I love that you literally can’t understand the game without being a data miner.

[@LeviAckerman-cl6iy]

As someone who's at school for 3D Art, there's no way something like this is just a neat coincidence. It's such a specific thing and across so many models? Doing eye textures for a game like Elden Ring is something pretty easy because they're not a hard focus, to the point you can slap something on and be done with it to move on to important things like armor or weapons so going through that extra moment of things like how specifically the splotches are positioned, the fact they're all different grains and shapes and how deliberate the sweetlings in particular seem really symbolic and telling. There's something here for sure.

[@Onyx1987]

Hell that's not even getting into eyes being SUPER important to Fromsoft in general. There must be some intent here.

[@LeviAckerman-cl6iy]

@@Onyx1987 EXACTLY like how many times has Fromsoft gone "you know what would be fucked up" and eyes keep popping up everywhere??? This is so exciting!

[@sekira4516]

@@LeviAckerman-cl6iy ah Kos, or some say Kosm. Grant Us Eyes, GRANT US EYES!

[@NeverduskX]

I wonder if their design bible (or artist equivalent?) had some rules about eye coloring for enemies / NPCs based on their relationship to the different factions. With perhaps some shared texture to use between them. I'm not too familiar with character design for games, but that would be my wild guess.

[@LeviAckerman-cl6iy]

@@NeverduskX I wouldn't doubt it for a second, they're really smart with how they use motifs and patterns not to mention their use of colors in general for the game. It really wouldn't be a surprise if the lead artist and designers all had a set plan for this either from the start or after a while of development so in regards to a shared texture, if all of the bits of gold are actually apart of a rune or The Rune for the lands between just super zoomed in that would be something real special. If that is the case then differences in how much of the eye is gold or what part of the rune/pattern they're pulling from could have even more implications!

[@thecommentguy9380]

This actually makes sense why Melina's right eye was blinded. The Golden Order and the Erdtree died in the Frienzied Flame ending, and with Melina being the daughter born from the Erdtree, it caused her to completely lose sight in her golden eye. But with the Rune of Death being freed from Maliketh's hold, her left eye awakened

[@anstorner]

So if you use the frenzied flame to get to Farum Azula, then use the Miquella Needle on yourself, then kill Maliketh and become Elden Lord without burning everything. Does that mean she will have both eyes opened?, that would be interesting to witness.

[@DrPeculiar312]

@@anstornerdoubtful because the golden order isn’t completely destroyed in any other ending

[@watchfulwanderer6443]

@@DrPeculiar312 It is destroyed (or at least wholly replaced) in Ranni's ending.

[@KarmaSpaz12]

@@watchfulwanderer6443 Ranni seemed to a competitor to Melina in the beginning but it didn't go anywhere.

[@chairmajesty3514]

​@awhellnah__I am sure Morgott and Mohg would disagree

[@umngyr]

I think an important distinction to draw, especially in this contex, is that the Erdtree, The Greater Will and the Golden Order are not inseperable entities. The Golden order is Marika's, and then Radagon's, ruleset for reality, manifested in the Elden ring. The Erd tree was connected to the primordial crucible, which spawned the misbegotten, the beastmen and the omen, in ancient times, and while the Greater will are associated with both the erd tree and Marika's golden order, it and its servants, the fingers, clearly also have their own agendas. In that case, if we assume that grace comes from the Erd tree and/or the greater will, rather than Marika's golden order and the elden ring, it makes a lot more sense that beings like the omen and the misbegotten, and even the godskins, would have grace.

[@watchfulwanderer6443]

The Golden Order isn't just Marika's ruleset, but that of the Two Fingers. After all, Marika doesn't know the whole of it, and when she learned more of it she turned against it. Grace is also most likely the Erdtree's blessing, since every reference to it refers to it coming from the Erdtree. It also may be separate from just having golden eyes, since Morgott's Great Rune explicitly refers to Omens as graceless. Maybe the gold in the eyes of Omens, Misbegotten, and the like are remnants of the grace they had, before the Erdtree forsook them (it definitely isn't supporting them now, seeing as it explicitly did not care for Morgott).

[@jacobfreeman5444]

I have come to believe that the greater will was initially an alliance of two gods. A sun god of order and an earth god of chaos. And the events we hear Marika play out is the falling out between these gods. With the sun god trying to force its agenda despite the earth god deeming it a total failure. This even explains the elden beast and the fire god of the Giants. Elden Beast was a vassal to the sun god. The fire god served the earth god. So of course the pawn of the sun god, Marika, would seek to further bind the chaotic gods by killing off the Giants. This line of thinking even makes what are outer gods clearer. They are literal foreign gods not beholden to either of these pantheon.

[@ulasgursoy2838]

Are the omen also the product of the crucible? Everything about them implies that they are the product of a curse, obviously Dung Eater's curse. I've always assumed they were created by him.

[@psychicmane7636]

@@watchfulwanderer6443the golden order is a recent development and they are graceless in the golden order they where viewed as blessed I view the fingers we see as frauds that are completely corrupted and depleted the fingers speak in the language of light and are supposed to be brilliant and emit light and grace we see this from the two finger talisman yet the fingers we see cast no such language of light and are dull and sickly even the finger reader tells you to burn the erdtree and commit a cardinal sin right in front of the two fingers implying she doesn’t respect its authority so the words of our two fingers and its motivations are scewed at best and but are likely corrupted like gideon is he wants us to struggle onto eternity we don’t know what a true two fingers would think of marika but we know they are vassals and adherents of the greater will first off corhyn views the two fingers prayer book having no lineage from the erdtree and as heresy meaning the doctrine of the true two fingers and the erdtree conflict nexts lets observe her actions shall we she removes destined death from the elden ring an offense to the greater will because he clearly meant the rune of death to be part of the elden ring when he first cast it down into the lands between next abhorrently treating all that comes from the crucible another aspect of creation the greater will clearly intended yet marika defied since before her age gold was different more virile and full of vigor since the chaotic growths of omen and missbigotten their visage and powers come of the elden ring not of the erdtree and to marika their souls bodies and every aspect of their existence not being under her thumb is a great offense so she mistreated them we don’t see the greater will and marika clash but there is a clear distinction between what the greater will intends with his actions for the lands between and what marika wants the greater will wanted death and the crucible to be a thing marika doesn’t and lets not forget the work of the two fingers the greater wills closest vassals and servants are seen as heresy by her order same category as dragons and fire giants in fact enemies of the erdtree not of the greater will or the elden ring

[@pillarmenn1936]

@@ulasgursoy2838 The "Curse" existed long before dung eater showed up. Said curse is just being born an Omen which was seen as a blessing back at the time of the Crucible. In Marika's Golden Order however, they along with the Misbegotten are seen as abominations.

[@PajamaPantsStudios]

Morgott truly earned the gold in his eyes. What a legend.

[@youronlyrealfriend]

Morgott is a bootlicker

[@llab3903]

@@youronlyrealfriendit’s his mom and dad bro. Sorry you don’t love your family or worse that it doesn’t stand for anything

[@youronlyrealfriend]

@@llab3903 ok he licks his parents' boots

[@SalviHippo]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@llab3903what his mom and dad did to him and other Omens was horrendous. I can see where Morgott is coming from, but with a family and society like that, I’d personally want to burn it all down myself. (And yes I do hate my family and don’t believe blood means anything at all. I don’t know what you mean by “it doesn’t stand for anything” tho.)

[@Helmic]

@@llab3903 Huh? A major theme throughout the game is that the Golden Order is monstrous, they're the bad guys, and your interactions with many sympathetic NPC's is supposed to reinforce that. Boc is willing to die to just appear human because of the bigotry of the Order has taught him to hate who he is, the nice merchants you meet are buried alive with corpse piles you struggle to climb over in such a shocking display of genocide that Melina has to beg the player to not exact revenge on the world. Over and over you see the misery of the world due to their bigotries and the lengths they'll go to to secure their own power. Morgott is indeed a bootlicker, his whole tragedy is that no matter how much he played by the rules of the system and did nothing but try to be accepted they were never going to reciprocate. The game just spends so much time beating you over the head with this, how are you missing it?

[@DrDizzleFrizzle]

Huh, I never really thought about it, but I suppose that explains why Melina's normal eye looks faded, the golden order has been destroyed, grace along with it.

[@SeantommyE]

That sponsor segment comes across almost satirical given Zullie's style and the abrupt transition. Love your work Zullie! Make that paper!

[@missannethropz]

i legit thought it was a joke. good for her though, gotta get that bag.

[@AuntBibby]

im glad zullie is bein paid, she works hard she deserves to get paid

[@FaelumbreProject]

It's funny how the most jarring bit is the game SFX. I've been watching for so long and never even noticed that when Zullie does put on non-music sound, it's very quiet and just the animation she's currently showing.

[@grawlix-man463]

​​@@mitsuri3096So they can then take sponsors as well? Seriously what's with people immediately getting on a bandwagon just because someone took a sponser.

[@gmkgoat]

I legit thought she was fucking with us for a second.

[@matthewcallow8971]

One of the very first lines of dialogue we hear in the game: "You're a tarnished. I can see it." I wonder if Kale just needed a peek at our eyes to figure that out.

[@elymnir4683]

This is especially interesting regarding the fire giant. I remember the Tarnished Archeologist theorizing that Marika might be a goddess of life, with a will to eradicate death. Since she condemned the fire giant to guard the flame forever, it could mean that she forcibly granted him the golden grace to make him immortal. Some sort of forced conversion to another god. While immortality's always been one of humanity's oldest dream, it's interesting to see Marika as a villain that forcibly grant this dream to others, a wish that makes their lives miserable.

[@jamesmason7761]

The description of the clothes of the wandering nobles as like, the pathetic products of eternal life, and the bizarre contradiction in the golden seeds description makes this sound plausible. Like Marika is so obsessed with life that even a SEED, the exact thing needed for new life, is somehow an affront to people's understanding of the erdtree and life within the order..

[@taylorbrecht8049]

From Soft has a big history of "Immortality is a curse, not a blessing"

[@nonamegiven19xx]

@@taylorbrecht8049 true! that's essentially the gist of dark souls, in a way. You are undead and cannot fully die so instead you will lose your mind and forget all that makes you yourself, becoming a danger to all you ever loved

[@iotaje1]

The golden eyes could also be a sign of the Greater Will's influence, which is not the same as the Golden Order. The Greater Will follows a principle of periodic burning and rebirth, while the Golden Order follows a principle of life without death, excising the burning from the equation. The giants and their flame were the burning part of the world under the Greater Will.

[@nonamegiven19xx]

@@iotaje1 Where did you read that about the Greater Will? I don't remember hearing anything like that in any item desc or lore video. I mean, yeah, Destined Death was taken out of the Elden Ring, but that doesn't necessarily equate with the Greater Will practicing some kind of burning and regrowth. Specially as it is implied that the fire of the Fire Giants come from a different outer god based on the descs of the fire giant items.

[@L0rdLexan01]

Also; the splotches of gold typically take the form of an Arc, as in a Rune Arc, which are pieces of the Elden Ring that have fallen down the ladder into the hands of the common people (much like how Humanity ended up in Rats in Dark Souls).

[@guidofedeli851]

I got literal whiplash by seeing a sponsor all of a sudden, I'm just so used to the immersion your vids give me, and at the same time I'm super happy for you. Great work as always

[@comaiscool]

Took me by surprise as well, I can't imagine many sponsors agreeing to a voiceless spot all that often.

[@drdca8263]

*literal* whiplash? Are you alright?

[@Bridgetrollhaspizza]

Obviously not, they got literal whiplash

[@guidofedeli851]

@@drdca8263 ironically I got actual whiplash today because I have a lot of cervical pains, but it's getting better, thank you

[@guidofedeli851]

@@comaiscool that too! It speaks volumes to the quality of her stuff and I'm really glad she's getting recognition

[@everett6072]

Love these little details. I also think it reinforces the idea that atrocities like the enslavement of demi-humans and the persecution of Omens is not an inherent aspect of Golden Order but just one interpretation of it. Just like how Church doctrine changes, there could exist a world under the Golden Order without these issues.

[@prexot2341]

Is that maybe Goldmask's intent?

[@watchfulwanderer6443]

​@@prexot2341 Possibly. He's a compassionate person, even if he's not going about it the right way (making the Order accept everyone is fine, but his rune doesn't guarantee that, and it still has the problem of making everyone subordinate to a set of artificial constraints imposed by the agents of an alien deity).

[@SirSaladAss]

From the Crucible Feather Talisman: "A vestige of the crucible of primordial life. Born partially of devolution, it was considered a signifier of the divine in ancient times, but is now increasingly disdained as an impurity as civilization has advanced." Hence, it is patent that the Golden Order does not sanction the persecution of creatures showing atavistic traits of the Crucible. "Ancient times" in all likelihood also covers Placidusax' reign, and we know that he was ordained by the Greater Will since there's an effigy of the primordial Elden Ring in Maliketh's arena AND he himself was an Elden Lord. During his time then atavists, so to speak, were left to their own devices; it would only be with the advent of Marika's reign (or whatever is implied by "civilisation") that they would become oppressed. It somewhat mirrors late nineteenth-century conceptions of degeneracy, a great fear that took hold as Darwinian evolution theory was more and more embraced, and at a point where our conceptions of refinement and civilisation were ever more valued, as Western powers were exposed to peoples that they deemed especially uncivilised.

[@watchfulwanderer6443]

@@SirSaladAss Correction: the Greater Will does not inherently sanction the persecution of those blessed by the Crucible. The Golden Order is a function of the Elden Ring, the Elden Ring's wielders, and possibly other factors (Marika explicitly had to learn about it, and that made her turn against it). Plus, don't forget that the Greater Will either sent her to the Lands Between or did jack shit while she traveled there, and while there she both destroyed or conquered just about every rival power in the Lands Between, created the Golden Order (in part), etc, even though it had a direct line there through the Two Fingers, and also that it abandoned the Lands Between when Marika shattered the Elden Ring. Like, I'm not saying that Marika's blameless, but that the Golden Order isn't a good thing even when it isn't filtered through Marika or Radagon. Neither is the Greater Will. After all, the grace is not the domain of Marika (it was, and still is, granted by the Erdtree directly), and that kills people that "earn their honor". The Two Fingers are direct servants of the Greater Will, and they teach the Tarnished to reject everything but the Golden Order's path.

[@badflamer]

except the truth is what has happened. If oppression were not necessary to the golden order, then the golden order would not have engaged in oppression. This is a the tragedy that well-meaning political liberals like Corhyn and Kenneth Haight represent. They think there can be the gains of imperialism, spread evenly and for the good of all, without someone upon which to force that imperialism onto. They truly believe they can make the whole world wealthy because differing levels of wealth and privilege (yes, even the man who was thrown out of his church for his prophesies, but never killed or enslaved for it), and have never truly looked at the faces and fates of those from whom that wealth and power was violently extracted. They are the metaphor for people who think you can just 'fix' capitalism in modern society, and who do not realize that capitalists are by their nature lazy (maximum revenue for minimum investment resulting in ever-growing margins is the core ethos after all). banana republics would not have been enstated and violently ensured if they could have found a way to thrive without it-not from any moral compulsion from chiquita's board of directors against ordering the mass killings that they did, but just because it's literally easier and less of a headache when you don't have to put a bunch of armed thugs on payroll. They system >needs< exploitation in order to keep the gears turning, and any attempt at simply 'fixing' it while not resolving the core contradictions is only, at best, kicking the can down the road but, in actuality, simply demands that a more perfect class of exploitables be created and then hidden from public eye. The corrupting force in the lands between is the very institution of Lordship, and the notion that there ought to be a monopolic dictator over the very logic of reality. Such a system of governance will always result in those aligned with the ideology of that world logic being uplifted and enriched, while the farther away you deviate the lower you fall in the social hierarchy. Now, since this is magic, it would be great if we HAD the option of imposing a new world logic wherin the very nature of lordship and the accumulation of divine power was metaphysically abolished, and indeed nothing within the laws of the lands between and its magic preclude this inherently. Just like nothing precludes us all deciding that billionaires should no longer exist. but ER is a product of neoliberal capitalism and therefore will always leave its moral questions as 'too ambiguous to say', hiding behind false nuance so as to avoid stating the logical conclusion of "well clearly some form of socialism is needed"

[@thesharkster1718]

I’m noticing that the gold in all of the eyes seems to be in different locations on the Iris; I wonder if you could fit them together like a puzzle similar to how the great runes fit together to make the elden Ring

[@cranapple3367]

Notably, the *position* of the Great Runes / pieces of the Elden Ring is established to be important, with grace flowing down from the upper parts down to the Rune Arc at the bottom (probably a reference to Jewish mysticism, where the Sephirot work much the same way). So there may very well be importance to the direction of the gold.

[@lordofshades9852]

​@@cranapple3367probably with how pure their connection to the order is, the brighter and fuller the closer they are, and vice versa

[@Siendodunno]

Godwyn

[@LarusFotia]

I remember having a chat with my buddy who's a game developer, and I remember he said something along the lines of "Even if it's just a small thing, if it gets the players to wonder and speculate, it's very fun." and I imagined this is what the person/team that worked on the eyes textures. Because at the end of the day, it is just speculation, and it's possible the person behind it didn't think too much about it. But being a FromSoft game, there's chance it _does_ have some significance and that's fun.

[@Tobascodagama]

I notice that the Godskins' "grace" actually looks like a yellow flame rather than semi-circular shape (sometimes clear, sometimes smudgy) most other NPCs have. It does feel like a different kind of "grace" than that shown by NPCs with clearer connections to the Golden Order.

[@MetalCaffeine56]

The Ornamental Straight Sword (the swords that the Grafted Scions use) states that the dregs of the golden lineage sought power and purpose in the past. So they are likely VERY distantly related to Godfrey, maybe in the same way that Godrick is.

[@WanderedIn]

I think they’re his own scions - his heirs, whether cousins or his children. Just as he grafted himself for power, so too were his close relatives grafted. A rather horrific depiction of him clinging to a long-lost lineage and glory, almost like royal inbreeding inverted into monstrous theft and grafting.

[@MitridatedCarbon]

Always interpreted them as being Godrick children that he forced into grafting. Like he thought he was doing them a favour by making them "stronger" earlier in life, while he just turned them into monsters.

[@Saltysailorsea]

I always wondered how Kenneth Haight, Varre, and everyone could tell we were tarnished right off the bat but now it's obvious.

[@NrdCool]

The poor soul who had to add all these is like, "someone finally noticed!"

[@devzozo]

I imagine the fromsoft team having powerpoint presentations for all the themes and environmental storytelling that needs to be in the game, to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

[@bigvidboi4909]

as, you know, as it should be if you want to craft a narrative woven between art direction, writing & sound design

[@bartvanbeek886]

Great theory! It is also supported by Melina’s dialogue with the lingering words of Marika at the Third Church of Marika site of grace: “My Lord, and thy warriors. I divest each of thee of thy grace. With thine eyes dimmed, ye will be driven from the Lands Between.” Awesome how the devs created such amazing details!

[@azazelleblack]

Zullie, you make videos of whatever length you need to suit your content. We'll be here watching them, because your observations are keen, educated, and fascinating.

[@JABRIEL251]

Know what is interesting? Millicent has bright golden eyes, but Mary and Amy wear bandages over their eyes, Maureen's visible eye is an almost opaque white and Polyanna's is also gold (though not as bright as Millicent)

[@bakasable4857]

Everything make sense with the dlc 🤌 Omens are normal, it's just marika's ptsd that tells her to kill' em all Mogh is under miquella's control, that's why his eyes are golden

[@shockheart]

I think it's interesting that the Golden Order and the Frenzied Flame both give their followers yellow eyes, but different shades of yellow. It seems like move evidence that they may be sort reflections of one another, similar but still different. In the same way they both use fingers as their envoys, the Two Fingers for the Greater Will and the Three Fingers for the Frenzied Flame.

[@gestalt7529]

Fromsoft games having amazing amounts of detail that everyone misses, as always

[@superlosia1234]

Just because they don't provide an in-game encyclopedia or lore pages. There's a ton of detail and richness, you just gotta search harder for it as it's presented differently.

[@setiem13]

I find funny since there isnt too much to say about AC6 for now

[@MistaFinni]

This comes off as incredibly backhanded towards fromsoft players

[@purelizardmilk6598]

how is anyone supposed to catch this? a lot of players are playing 20 feet away from their televisions on a playstation (me). There's no way to pause the game while i dive in towards a hostile npc and walk up to the television to squint at their eyeballs. there's no way to pause the game at all

[@gtabro1337]

@@purelizardmilk6598Also most of these enemies are constantly moving and trying to kill you, no effin way anyone is spotting this in gameplay

[@a.r.h9919]

Like how the grace in the eyes depending on the favour of the erdtree is like an eclipse showcasing it like stages of sunlight

[@devinguy]

The little details like this and how they can change our perspective on the story is so cool. Thank you for putting so much work into digging up these tidbits!

[@danger90dave59]

I saw that sponsor and was immediately happy for you. You deserve compensation for the countless hours of work you do!

[@tarille1043]

The monstrous crows and dogs from Caelid having the grace is interesting. It suggests that they used to be something more like Radagon's Red Wolves before the Scarlet Rot changed the landscape (And likely, them too) Though, it also brings up more questions, like them retaining the grace of gold unlike the Tarnished whom notably lost it. As well as why did the Tarnished lose the grace in the first place? Was it part of the Greater Will's plan to simply discard them after they lost their purpose? Or was it something like the Tarnished simply became powerful enough to resist the influence of the Elden Ring (While notably gaining this power without use of the Elden Ring unlike the Demigods and their Great Runes)?

[@voraito]

Marika had personally removed grace from Godfrey and the tarnished. Her and Godfrey's reign was the age of plenty which ended quickly. It seems by the end of this age Marika was already disillusioned with the golden order and was planning to subvert it somehow, with the tarnished being put outside of its influence seeming like a failsafe.

[@zennim125]

we know marika herself strips the tarnished of their grace, it is just something she could do, she is an actual goddess after all

[@otakuofmine]

i think i saw a video with the theory that they were originally people.

[@DrPeculiar312]

The tarnished were stripped of grace and sent away to be safe from its influence so they could later come back and destroy it

[@TheSkyIs11]

I think the reason the crows and dogs in Caelid have that golden iris is because they are eating corpses laden with runes, similar to the process Runebears are undergoing

[@poolcu3]

It might also be worth mentioning that runes are also something you gain from either collecting them or defeating enemies - perhaps some of the mob enemies and animals simply have grace due to what they've killed or hunted? As for Mohg, in the concept art he has white eyes. It's possible the final concept came after later story drafts, so the yellow might be an earlier leftover like you mentioned. Either way, wonderful analysis.

[@flaming_granny]

10 minute Zullie video? and its a banger. Thank you for casting a veil of curiosity over the world of Elden Ring something I have continued to enjoy seeing you pick and dig through. Wow, never would have noticed this detail! The way you edit and the cinematography is truly something that I get excited to see every time you make a new video, I sit here and think what cool discrete thing has Zullie found and shared this time! Thanks for putting in the effort to not only seek these things out but to put it in a digestible entertaining format :)

[@whanowa]

5:11 wait a minute, THAT's how grafted scions look like?! I've never even paid attention to their head.

[@uwot225]

Kinda fucked up that they look like children

[@KING_PHILLIP]

Zullie i never played elden ring. everything ive learned about this game ive learned from you, and just through the behind the scenes videos and code breakdowns ive learned so much about the world and the story and all the beautiful moving pieces. if ever there was an elden ring tv show, streaming, adapted, animated, i would surely watch it, and only because of you. thank you for the lore dives, as a huge lore nerd, its exactly what im after!

[@jamescanjuggle]

literally same there should be a poll to see how many of us actually play the game

[@terezavajs4486]

What really makes me think this is onto something is the fact that if you look at art of golden Runes we pick up and can consume they look like iris of an eye and the more runes you get from it the brighter and more vivid its color is.

[@otamatonefan8996]

At this rate Miyasaki could define a world's Factions by the base of a hair's stem that we would never see in-game unless we removed the hair on things' heads. Attention to detail is top notch.

[@napoleonsrighthand]

I was surprised so many people didn't pick up on this right away. Early NPC dialogue makes it quite clear that the Tarnished have something off about their eyes, and sure enough when I messed with the camera a little I saw that the player character has dull eyes while Kenneth Haight has brightly golden eyes.

[@dennisschuchmann5541]

9:02 maybe this can also explain why Melina's eye dulls. Without the erdtree there ist also no more grace

[@venus_as_a_b0y]

this really reminds me of the glowing eyes that undead have in dark souls. people always seem to think that the dark sign is the veiny region around the heart of hollows, but I think it's meant to be in the eyes, like grace is in elden ring. in the Dark Souls 1 intro cutscene, the dark sign is shown after zooming in on an empty eye socket of a hollow, so idk might be another parallel with DS1. either way great video!

[@GameDevYal]

Dark Souls 2 has the cursemark be visible on your character's left shoulder and grow the more hollowed you get (it's easy to miss if you're always in full armor) so it seems to vary a bit between installments. Really feels like there's a divide between gameplay mechanics and lore sometimes...

[@StriderFoxGaming]

cant believe i found it right as it was posted. Love your stuff, Zullie .

[@Tankboy-uv3lp]

Same, I'm usually never here this early

[@0Blueaura]

same

[@johannessmith1369]

The fact that so many enemies still have the grace of gold in their eyes despite opposing the Erdtree, just makes Godwyn's grey eyes seem that much more unnatural.

[@RamAurelius]

I suspect this phenomenon illustrates how much influence the Elden Ring has on the world, even outside of the confines of the Golden Order. The Greater Will doesn't necessarily care what kind of order is brought upon the world, so it makes sense that it's grace could manifest in the eyes of any being present in the Lands Between.

[@enderkatze6129]

Imagine devoting your life to fighting for your order, and once you're done they banish you because "you lost the glint in your eyes"

[@unironicallylikesranger7122]

Boy, really underlines how armor and hoods kind of become their own faces in a game like this

[@Robot-Overlord]

I think if i remember correctly, Mohg is described as "mad" by a text or NPC in which case his eyes could represent the madness status effect color, considering its difference from his brothers eyes though, which have a yellow glow, his are a pale yellow meaning they could still be fading as well.

[@menik6575]

The details in this game are a rabbit hole, and I'm feeling like a rabbit.

[@LunarMuphinz]

The way Melina's gloam eye seems to be closed by what looks like a root makes me think that it is actually be a curse of the erdtree that seals her.

[@ianr7014]

As always, the choice of OST is magnificent

[@Kanjiimufu]

Never have I imagined that this is so widespread. I have noticed the golden eyes of Commoners and, especially, of Keneth and made the connection when Melina told me about the grace fading from the eyes of Godfrey and the Tarnished, but I have never looked that deep into the eyes of other enemies (because they try to kill me). It seems almost parasitic, since the influence of the Formless Mother, Mohgs cessblood, also changes the eyes. Kind of reminds me of Bloodborne, where succumbing to the Old Blood would change a Hunters Eyes as well.

[@Dolthra]

It's very cool that all the Empyreans possess eyes that have fully golden irises (barring the ones that have become otherwise corrupted). Morgott also having fully golden irises does imply that he, perhaps, was fit to take the title of Elden Lord if the Erdtree's thorns had not barred him from entry.

[@GikamesShadow]

Gotta say, I love your energy and the actionthemed commentary during the sponsorship segment Jokes aside, weirdly enough your style of video creation made me more interested in actually checking out the game than any ad from any youtuber who does sponsored segments. Dont know why. But it feels more sincere I guess is a good way of putting it.

[@raharuko]

i wonder if where it sits in the eye also means something, it doesnt seem just randomly placed, with stronger characters having more fully golden eyes

[@kingxbuu]

I know this is super late but there’s actually Gold-eyed albinaurics in west mountaintops that even throw rings of light.

[@rayh4an]

Great video and it goes to show how much detail is put into the souls games

[@jamesstraus7767]

God i love how you always use good music in your videos. Its an instant emotional flashback I swear.

[@Puffleman24]

Normally I feel like peeking behind the meta curtain runs the risk of ruining my immersion but time and time again, Zullie proves that there's always more to be found in FromSoft's games. These videos are a love letter to the games and I adore every single one of them

[@MKVProcrastinator]

The reason why the Monstrous Dogs and Crows have the gold of Grace in their eyes might be for the same reason wild pufferfish are poisonous: It comes from the food they eat. With how frequently the monstrous animals fight Radagon's forces, it's more than likely that the carrion leftover from these scuffles can lead to gold being inadvertently getting added to their diet.

[@lorenzobiraghi2545]

Love this interpretation, nice catch. I think crabs also inherited some characteristics from what they eat, like those with deathblight faces on their shells. All the more evidence that even more abstract qualities can be digested in the lands between

[@foop87]

Bwahaha that sponsor took me off guard, make your cash zulie!!! $$$

[@SheparDD1]

With Mohg having a completely golden eye, it confirms things that we learn from DLC from sir Ansbach

[@boogyboogyboogy]

I believe the Tarnished Archaeologist has a video that goes into great detail about the imagery of ‘eyes’, specifically tying the Shabriri & the Frenzied Flame with real world parasites that effect the eyes. Haven’t watched in a while so I couldn’t summarize here, but it’s worth a watch to see how the Greater Will ties into that!

[@magnuserror9305]

Id say there should be a distinction between the golden hue being texture drawn to imply refletions, the eyes having similar colors but no association with grace, and grace filled eyes. All exist and making the distinction is important.

[@hayden.8057]

Mohg does have some connection to the frenzied flame, since he guards the three fingers in the sewers

[@zeppie_]

What's interesting is that the Golden Rune items become progressively more iris-like in shape the stronger they get. I don't really know what it means, but it does seem that eyes (especially eye color) play a very important role in the world of Elden Ring

[@lennartj.8072]

Man the DLC can't come soon enough

[@ironcorey3242]

Spoiler block for the DLC in case anybody happens upon this: Coming back to this at the drop of the DLC to see that we get a lot of shots of Radahn's eyes, presumably from a time or state where he is untainted by the Scarlet Rot. Even being in Mohg's body, the transformation done to him by the Divine Gate and Miquella seems to have shot his eyes completely through with Gold. Whether or not Mohg would have completely golden eyes, comparable to the Omen Margott is still unknown. However, I think it at least confirms that not only does this theory hold a lot of merit and may be correct (As it's highlighted in cutscenes, especially ones all of us are meant to see) but also that it fans the notion that certain figures like Radahn, especially in his prime, were rightly looked up to as being the strongest in strength, and the Grace of Gold.

[@4137Swords]

These are just SUCH COOL details that the developers put in that NO player is going to see, much less piece together what it means! You can tell the dev team was committed to the lore of the game.

[@thecybersouls]

I'm a little late but the DLC is out and we don't have to hold back for spoilers finally. So i wanted to share my opinion about this eye thing. First of all we know Marika sealed away the destined death from the elden ring because of what happened to her ancestors and family,the Hornsent just putted them into Jars because they wanted to create saints, and the shamans had the ability to connect with almost everything. In the base game we see a lot of these Jars near the minor Erdtrees, all cracked. It is possible that Marika sealed away destined death so her race the numen and shamans will return to the erdtree so they can reborn in their original form. We know already that if anything dies on the Lands Between it returns to the erdtree. So maybe these golden signs in the eyes is possible because of the reborns during the story which might be more than 100 years or something. Ofc it isn't answering the demigods who didnt die before but they are mostly Marika offsprings... and other npc/mobs in the game doesnt have the same after their soul returns to the erdtree. Maybe Marika doing some selection through the erdtrees. I would like to see your opinion about this Zullie! You have very interesting vids and great content so keep it up! 😁👌👍

[@solutartxiv]

8:16 godskin apostle looks like mark zuckerberg

[@Nebuchadin]

Miyazaki just twirling his fingers and giggling while we all speculate on some 128x128 textures.

[@GreyJuggernaut]

Truly an eye opening revelation.

[@OblivionZX]

Coming across this video after having beat the DLC is eye-opening (pun partially intended)-- [SPOILERS] - - - - I think this is explained by the Golden Iris item we find; especially Godfrey. He was essentially being controlled by Marika

[@Umpern]

The Tarnished Archaeologist YT channel has an excellent theory on this in the video "Shabriri is actually a thing". In the video he says "The color of your eyes is basically diagnostic for the influence one is under during the game and visually the Rune items, especially the more valuable ones look more and more like actual eyes" and also explains that that the different eye coloration's is a type of parasitic infection caused by the two and three fingers.

[@watchfulwanderer6443]

That sounds interesting, though I think he's slightly off on the source: the Three Fingers (and Shabriri) are the ultimate source for all of the Frenzied Flame's presence in the Lands Between, but the Greater Will has far more tools than just the Two Fingers (Marika, the Elden Ring, and the Erdtree, for starters), and grace explicitly comes from the Erdtree.

[@simonealcazar816]

Think there’s a misunderstanding on about the bit where “the hue of Godfrey’s fade.” 0:27 This is not talking about the grace of Godfrey, heck Marika personally went out of her ways to do this. She told them directly. This more metaphoric thing than literal one, “He led the War against the Giants. Faced the Storm Lord, alone. And then, there came a moment. When his LAST WORTHY ENEMY Fell. And it was then, as the story is told, that the hue of Lord Godfrey's eyes faded.” This the trope of the Battle hungry warrior losing his “will”, his “passion“, Godfrey loves fighting especially strong opponents, so when he basically bet all of the strong people, he was like “Oh…That’s it. No more strong people to fight. Damn it.” That way he’s super jazz about fighting you in his Phase 2 and after death. He finally found a worthy opponent to go all out. I’m pretty this doesn’t mean he loss his grace right at that moment, the game is pretty clear when someone lost their grace.

[@kennymcintyre9186]

really good and in depth. much appreciated

[@nicholasjones6818]

Amazing analysis and presentation of your deep-dive into the gold vs. silver/gloam, light vs. darkness juxtoposition. What a superb detail to find and share! I loved the floating heads comparisons and the side bar close up of the irises. I will follow your vids until the end. Thank you!

[@hand9919]

Another video! thanks Zullie

[@this_is_Muffin]

5:43 I now understand why the nox wear those veils.

[@TheLordOfAllThatIsGolden]

Fascinating. I noticed this while looking closely at some of the enemies, and I wondered what connection it could have to story. Or if it was just a stylistic choice. I thought it odd so many humanoid enemies would have such a glint, without proper cause.

[@sxinca]

I'll never top loving the addition of Twilight Princess soundtrack in your videos

[@Controcetica]

Nice video, appreciate the exhaustive breakdown! It seems pretty clear the Golden Order is just Marika-Radagon's orthodoxy. Or in other words it is their preferred form of order. The Greater Will (God) doesn't seem to care about it at all though. It very much seems to want an order, but since it gives Mending Runes to beings that oppose the Golden Order such as Fia and Dung Eater it clearly is much more flexible about what it considers acceptable. The only thing I am not sure about is who is giving out Grace during the game. I suspect it is the Greater Will, but I believe Marika explicitly had the ability to give and take it away during her heydey, so maybe she still has that ability. Either way, many people with Grace are encouraged to fight each other. It's rather cruel. Even during the Shattering all the demigods had Grace. It seems like the bestower of Grace just wants everyone to fight. I think in Marika's case that's her end goal, like Gideon mentions. And for the Greater Will, I think it really wants only the strongest being to implement their order.

[@matiasluukkanen7718]

Any kind of order is preferable to anarchy and chaos. If denizens of the current world have such a freedom to consider what they want and gifted ability to edit reality, it heavily implies Greater Will favors autonomy. And the one enforcing Order has to be strong for the simple reason that agents of other Outer Gods will inevitably make a move against them.

[@lordanonimmo7699]

Who gives grace to the player and makes the guidance of grace is Marika,Marika herself says this and the 2 fingers think its the greater will but when you are refused by the erdtree they are confused and try to contact the greater will and will take ages to do it

[@watchfulwanderer6443]

The Golden Order certainly isn't Marika's orthodoxy, given that as soon as she learned about its inner workings she turned against it. Most likely, it is the the working of the Two Fingers, since they are the ones who most want it restored, and they are the ones who want the Tarnished to reject every path but that of the Golden Order. Also, the Greater Will has abandoned the Lands Between. The player can add runes to the Elden Ring because the Greater Will isn't paying any attention. The being that grants grace is almost certainly the Erdtree, since basically every mention of where grace comes from says as much. As for what it wants, I think it's pretty clear: it wants people to grow strong so it can feed off their bodies. That's why those blessed by the Erdtree die when they get strong enough, so they can be buried in the Erdtree's roots. It would explain why Gideon saw that when he looked in the Erdtree, but mistook it for Marika's will (it's not Marika's will, or she wouldn't have taken their grace and banished the Tarnished to return stronger than before - if they still had grace, they would have died)(also, it can't be Marika's will because Marika is dead).

[@lordanonimmo7699]

@@watchfulwanderer6443 Golden Order is Marika's creation and plan,Golden Order also refers to the present state of the elden ring,so what happens is that she sets learns how the Elden Ring actually works,and discovers something that makes she plan to shatter it and restore,maybe its for her to reign eternally or something else

[@watchfulwanderer6443]

@@lordanonimmo7699 No, she explicitly says that she is going to study the Golden Order and wants others to as well, then she turns against the Golden Order, refers to Radagon as its "hound", which implies a pretty significant level of disdain for it, and destroys it completely. It pretty clearly isn't her creation. Also, she wasn't trying to reign eternally, since she explicitly acknowledges both that her children may becomes gods, like her, and also that her plan will see her broken. Like, she explicitly acknowledges, to Radagon, that she will be shattered if she succeeds, and then she does it anyways. Even if she isn't truly dead, even the best ending for her has her as a broken statue holding the reforged Elden Ring, and she is never shown getting better.

[@0Blueaura]

7:01 that doesnt look like grace... I believe its hard to indicate, but some of those eyes could be those that are slowly getting the frenzied flame brewing within them. same goes for the fire giant, it looks less like grace and more like a fire god influence, or frienzy again...

[@adal16]

So happy you now have sponsors! Great content.

[@saedt]

I love how “in character” the ad is hahah, Zullie style subtitles and all ❤

[@Brandon999LFC]

1:12 oh hell nah

[@Banana-senpai]

In one of Melina's dialogues she says it was marika who took Godfrey's grace

[@MoonlitDesperado]

I like your videos.

[@quinnbeasley94]

I think it makes perfect sense that the prejudice against the Omens was misguided. They were powerful, and perhaps they got they strength through the Golden Order as well.

[@okatanaje1477]

a 10min vidéo lets go !

[@mhiggs8001]

0:06 lovely shot composition you’ve done here! It looks great!! Thanks as always, you bring this stranger joy when you post these fun little details. I love ‘em and thanks!! Very good video and I appreciate the length. I agree with you about the eyes. I mean it definitely was someone’s job, under someone else’s supervision. I remember being so surprised by how many eyes go over something before it’s approved when I first went to art school. It really changed the way I look at things. I mean I learned that almost every single thing is designed, manufactured, supervised, approved, going through many revisions. There’s so many people who have to look at a thing before approving a thing. Agree on a thing critique a thing before it finally is approved for the public and it’s cool too to have been informed of the process behind the scenes some.

[@josephramirez7188]

It still amazes me how much detail they put into Elden ring. taking even a 6 month break from Elden ring lore, only to find even more tiny pieces that build this beautiful game! Especially because of creators like Zullie!

[@cardboardgod]

Great vid. The bit with the omens was weirdly reassuring.

[@damiana.9544]

Congrats on getting a sponsor!

[@ApetureTestSubject]

Sometime it is a bit difficult to work out if you're looking too hard into something. Because, yes, this all seems very plausible. There is something of a pattern. Grace and gold are a powerful force in the lore of Elden Ring. But then again, maybe an art designer just thought: "Some gold would look good in there. Really make their eyes pop."

[@saalok]

I hope the artists in this company earn very well. The amount of detail and the quality on their models is absolutely mind-blowing.

[@dur7021]

Thanks!

[@realkingofantarctica]

Question: When you move around NPC's for your video backgrounds, does it feel the same as being a kid and playing with toys that don't match, but making a story around it anyway? So, Godfrey standing over a defeated Fire Giant would be the equivalent to making a Bionicle use Hot Wheels as rollerskates to fight Megatron?

[@ADDangerous]

Elden Ring is an anagram for Dinner Leg. A common dinner leg is turkey. A turkey is a flightless bird. A flightless bird is known as a ratite. Ratite is an anagram for attire. Attire is something you can wear. Wear and where are spelled differently but make the same sound when pronounced. Where is this going? I have no idea.