it's amazing how incomprehensible the intro is as soon as you open the game but once finished you understand that it has told you all the lore in a few images

"BEHOLD ALL THESE GREAT HEROES!!!" "Oh and there's also that guy over there....." *cut to akward silence*

Love how the Dung Eater is held in higher regard than we are at the beginning.

This voice actor completely slays it

"Arise now, ye Tarnished. Ye dead, who yet live." chills...

“The fallen leaves tell a story” *shows blonde Marika and then changes to red haired Radagon” Like the way leaves change color

At the start of the first playthrough, this intro looks like the ramblings of a madman. But after playing half the game, it all makes sense. May the wisdom of the ever-brilliant Goldmask enlight us all.

The narrator earned his paycheck and then some. Damn.

I love the fervor in which he says "The loathsome Dung Eater".

There's so much foreshadowing you don't even realize until you finish the game in this intro cinematic its freaking beautiful!

the most dramatic powerpoint presentation

This is easily my favorite intro cutscene from fromsoftware holy shit the chills when the music kicks in when he starts announcing the tarnished, the beautiful artwork, the god tier voice acting its all just so perfect

2:04: "OOOOOHHHHH" He did the thing.

I like how the intro gives hints to every ending

I can't decide which one is my favourite: Fia the necrophiliac or the glorious Dung Eater.

I wondered when I might find a first glimpse at R. R. Martin's writing, and when I read "Night of the Black Knives", I chuckled, understanding that he wrote the narrative frame and the world before it all went to hell. That's when FromSoft took over. What a magnificent crossover.

2:47 gave me chills

Is it just me or does the narrator sound like he’s on the verge of tears throughout this whole thing? It’s so fucking good

I have the impression that these images of the heroes depict the exact moment they awake. At least in the Goldmask and Fia ones, they seem surprised. And in the Dung Eater one, the people seem surprised that such a reviled being was called by grace.

Blows my mind that the game's ultimate twist is shown in the intro cutscene and most of us missed it

Started to play this a few hours ago. So far I’m hooked. Limgrave is so gorgeous

*"ARISE NOW, YE TARNISHED"*

I love how we get an epic intro to the tarnished, unlike ds 1 or 3 where the Gods and lords of cinders get their glory. Here mankind is the main character and it’s ever writhing ambitions. I haven’t passed stormveil yet so I still don’t know if my interpretation of the story is right

Martin created a world for From to “Shatter” it. And we get the pieces. What a combo. Love it so much.

That voice actor is a god among men, a king of all high merely gracing us with his ethereal presence, I’ve seen this like 20 times in different places not once have I skipped it

2:43 sent in classic Miyazaki fashion

Absoulutely love the art of Queen Marika the Eternal the most but all of this is fantastic 10/10 work on the art, story, and character names.

My testosterones hit the roof when he said 'Rise now ye Tarnished, ye dead, who yet live' I wanna go to WAAAAAAAAR

When a literal slide show is better than most cinematics

1:26 Holy shit i didn't even notice Mohg the first time i watched this, plus Radagon and Marika switching places in the beginning

I know it’s already been said, but the voice actor NAILS this scene. This opening script, on paper, could and should make anyone cringe. It sounds like absolute fantasy nonsense. But the VA speaks with such passion, awe, and reverence you can’t help but believe the significance of what he is telling you. And just how great this world is and the stories it has to tell are

Shoot the amount of lore hinted at in just this opening is astounding, you can see so much. SPOILERS AHEAD Okay, the first two shots showing the forging or breaking of the Elden Ring shows something the game alludes to throughout. You see a female figure as smith, then a male figure. This is Marika, but it is also Radagon, both different halves of the same person, who contains the Elden Ring and serves as the penultimate boss. The scene showing Godwyn the Golden's death may just show his body being killed, as his back already has the Cursemark of Death on it. The black knives are made in that image, but don't actually carry the full power of the Cursemark. We learn later that Ranni the Witch was the true killer of Godwyn, as she stole the Cursemark of Death and used it to destroy her body (the cursemark item describes her body as discarded flesh), but it normally destroys your body and soul, so she broke it. When her body died, the other half of the cursemark appears on Godwyn, destroying his soul. It was likely that after this the Black Knives killed his body to cover up this crime on Ranni's orders (though that's just my theory, Ranni seems like she's trying to act in secret and would do her best to cover up her crime). I mean hell, his body is limp in the hands of his assassins, and he's a demigod of great power, my guess is the Black Knives just finished the job Ranni started. Showing Ranni right after Godwyn's death slide cements it to me, it also serves as a hint that Ranni (Renna when we meet her) is also a demigod. Next slide shows Margit, later revealed to be Morgott the Grace Given, fighting what looks to be a soldier of Radahn, or maybe Radahn himself after his defeat at the hands of Malenia. This slide meshes well with his role as protector and Lord of Lyndell, but also shows how Lyndell was likely besieged by demigods during the Shattering. The next still shows the optional boss, Mohg, Lord of Blood carrying the body of Miquella off to Mohgwyn palace in the Siofra river. We later see Miquella's body in a sort of chrysalis, much larger than it is here. It's likely that Mohg was using blood magic of some form to grow Miquella out of their state of eternal childhood into a grown Empyrean. The next slide shows Praetor Rykard being devoured by the snake he would later inhabit beneath Volcano Manor, an act of blasphemy and a vie for true immortality, as its said even after you defeat him that he isn't truly gone. Hell, he keeps talking for a while, there may be truth to that. The next slide just depicts a cleanrot knight, one of Malenia's dead on a battlefield, likely in her battle with Radahn. And it leads into the well shown still of Malenia and Radahn's faceoff which ended in Malenia's victory, and Radahn's corruption by her Scarlet Rot. Malenia didn't kill Radahn, but she certainly lives up to her statement of having "never known defeat." According to item descriptions, she returned to the Haligtree out of devotion to her brother Miquella, believing one day he would return as the strongest Empyrean (the children of Radagan and Marika, who are technically a single being). Of course we then see the Tarnished coming back from the dead and see the major Tarnished NPC's, many of whom will find their own way of mending the Elden Ring, for good or ill, or become bosses. Hoarah Loux is revealed to be the true name of Godfrey, the First Elden Lord. It's said Godfrey left Lyndell after becoming Tarnished. It's likely he took a new name after this to make a clean break from his time as Elden Lord. Those who remember this opening will know upon meeting Godfrey that he and Hoarah are the same person since Godfrey has the massive lion spirit with him that Hoarah has in this slide. Next is Goldmask, who never once speaks, but wishes to discover the truths of the Golden Order. His questline leads to the Age of Order after his discovery of the Mending Rune of Perfect Order. Then is Fia, who actually has a very well made questline where she uses her power as a Deathbed companion to recreate the Rune of Death which was lost when Ranni broke it to kill her flesh and Godwyn's soul. She does this by laying with the massive, bloated corpse of Godwyn in the roots beneath the Erdtree, and by you slaying a lichdragon in her dreams. This leads to the Age of the Duskborn ending when death is brought back into the world when the Elden Ring is mended. Then is the Dung Eater, probably one of the more overtly villainous characters in this game. His questline has you feed festering beds of his disease to his true body beneath Lyndell, which allows him to create the Mending Rune of the Plague. This makes it to where when the Elden Ring is restored, all of the lands between are put under a vile curse. And then last is Gideon Ofnir, leader of the Roundtable hold. He lives up to his title as All-Knowing, as he both gathers as much information as possible in regards to the rune bearing demigods and is a master of pretty much every kind of magic in the game. He later becomes a contender with you for the title of Elden Lord, but by that point, you're the one who has slain demigods, not him. And then there is you, and the story begins. I just love how much is shown in these slides (even if I wish there had been a series of cutscenes)

*thumbnail* Queen Marika the Eternal making a T-Pose to assert dominance.

SIR GIDEON OFNIR THE AAAAAALLL KNOWING

After beating the game and watching this again, i've found so many little details. Spoiler Warning. 1- The shots of the persons shattering the Elden Ring alternate between Marika 0:10 and Radagon 0:17, as if they're the same person or taking turns. 2- 0:50 This pose that Marika takes is the one represented on every single church dedicated to her, also her skin cracks as she fades out. 3- 1:00 The wound that Godwyn receives here has the exact same shape as the cursemark of death you get from inspecting Ranni's actual body, it is also similar to the sigil that appears when you cast necromantic spells like Rancorcall or Tibia Summons. 4- 1:28 This shot of Mohg holding Miquella is disturbing to say the least especially when you know that's his little brother. 5- 2:06 I'm wondering about this shot, the person (or statue) here is in the pose of a stake of marika, is this the narrator? Could it be Radagon himself summoning all the Tarnished? 6- 2:29 Here's Godf- er I mean, Hoarah Loux, if you look closely every tarnished that gets called here has a small grace near them likely to guide them back, the grace we get however is but a speck of gold. I'm still wondering as to why Hoarah changed his name to Godfrey? Did he adopt the name of Godfrey when he married Marika? This also explains why Nepheli gets to inherit Limgrave, since she is apparently the daughter of Hoarah.

And Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing!!!!!

The fervor in his voice gives me shivers, I love it.

Just now noticed that all the tarnished received a golden sprite in their paintings. I wonder if Gideon and Hoarah Loux have their own mending runes as well. I wonder if the player character can create a unique mending rune by combining all the mending runes (maybe by fusing them by inheriting the flame of frenzy?) This could make the flame of frenzy, like the moon presence. Like how you needed to consume 3 of the 1/3 umbilical cords to overcome it.

Feel like you only truly appreciate this in journey 2 after beating all bosses and NPC quests!. . . Do all the quests and then rewatch this. . . Chills!!! Every.single.time!.

I like how the very first thing you see is Marika turning into Radagon but I didnt get it until doing the gold mask questline

I find it very interesting how the only demigod not to appear in the intro is Godrick, you'd expect him to show up given how prevalent he was in marketing. (Unless he is the pale, hunched over figure at 1:45 near the center right, but it doesn't look like it) (Also we don't talk about Godefroy in this house)

Poor Godwyn. He didn't deserved that.

One of the greatest intro's of all time Thank you From Software

It took me 10 rewatches and 30 hours of gameplay to get that the five people listed are other Tarnisheds and not the five big game bosses

The loathsome Dung Eater doesnt sound too bad until you do his questline.... Then you find out that he's absolutely psychopathic.

I feel like this a reference to lord of the rings. In elden ring, the ring is destroyed with a hammer, in Lord of the Rings, a hammer is used to show how indestructible the ring is by the ring not being broken by it. Nice inversion.

I love how, in both Dark Souls and Elden Ring, a nobody garnishes great power to topple the great rulers of the world

I have played and watched many games. This game, is the best game ever made, maybe not the most impactful or revolutionary. But every aspect perfected, an art form in every way. Story, voice acting, sound design, world, controls, weapons and scaling, bosses, music. It’s beautiful, I can’t imagine a more monstrous game. I’ll never forget this opening. It’s everything a game should aspire to be. For now and forever.

2:03 chills

1:19 Even though that Radahn is still superior in size to Morgott (and brute strength, I imagine) he still got him against the sword and the wall. Makes me wonder if it is because Morgott was years younger before we face him or the inexperience of Radahn in an all scale war, since the shattering was his big first war as General

I think it’s cool how before you play you don’t understand why he lists those names or what the pictures mean, but they are all the other main Tarnished you meet during the game, getting summoned back to the Lands Between. It’s something I missed, I didn’t even notice the Grace in all the pictures of each of them the first time.

Queen Marika, the eternal is not shown much the entire game but her importance and her name echoed throughout the game.

I like to think the Narrator Voice Actor is the Voice of Radagon of the Golden Order. I'm still bummed we didn't get to fight and HEAR Queen Marika in her Female Marika Queen. Also would love to have some Godlike lines delivered by Radagon in the Ending. Hopefully we get some DLC with Radagon and Queen Marika in their Full Glory!

It looks like there was a big "empty the graves and let the tarnished out" party. Though being dead doesn't seem to be a prerequisite for being tarnished. There's images of the tarnished firsts encounters with grace, some are alive, some are dead or dying.

Honestly I like that the intro isn’t animated it’s kinda cool imo

this intro hits different after completing the game. fucking epic!

this whole game is a masterpiece.

As much as I love this intro, I really wish it was animated like in previous souls games.

Ohhh Elden Ring!

"I might take a break from Elden Ring." 2:05 "Let's fucking GO!"

This is a story about how the Golden Order is leaving it up to us to choose the fate/punishment of the lands between for simply evolving in a way that meant that the god that created existence life also fractures births death etc. will eventually pass down its power to its off spring “the other outer gods.

I still like the image of Morgott defeating a weirdly not giant sized Radagon. He’s still big because he looks to be the same size as Morgott but he’s not as big as he is in game

So no one is going to talk about how dark it is that Rykard is being slowly devoured by the serpent piece by piece?

Gave me goosebumps, even now.

"THE LOATHSOME DUNG EATER! " all right chill man we understand you like him 🤣.

Just finished the Game after 80+ hours. It all makes sense now.

I can't believe how many times they showed us radagon and marika... doing the thing

Man really said "Mad Taint"

The way he said "THE LOATHSOME DUNG EATER" gave me chills unironically

Sir gideon ofnir, THE ALLLLL KNOWING!!

the best thing about this intro is that it's literally a reference to demon's souls intro too, we went full circle!

From soulsborne to this game, I just love how unique the fromsoft story telling is... They have their own style but always feels new

2:53 the first time I saw this, i shat my pants at SIR GIDION ONFNEIR

The ALLLLLL KNOWINGGGGGG

The lonesome DUNG EATER!!! That kitties reaction is justified

The perfect video game intro doesn't exi-

I still can’t believe the narrator was able to say “The LOATHSOME DUNG EATER!” so seriously, I would’ve died laughing

Im sorry one of the best intros to a fucking game its so hype

Very cool, still would have loved a 3D one like their other games, those were probably the most epic cutscenes in any game.

You can see Marika change to Radagon in the very first frames. Such an amazing fucking game

With the exception of Gideon and Hourah loux; all the other mentioned characters at that part each has an ending dedicated to them. I’d bet Hourah Loux represents the default ending, but what does Gideon represent?

Whiterun preacher guy elevated through the Moon.

Narrator: THE LOATHSOME DUNG EATER!! Me: THE SAVAGE STOOL SLURPER 😎

The ever BRILLIANT gold mask! 🌝🌞🌻 I was expecting something crazy, needless to say I was surprised to see it was just a homeless dude,d!ck hanging out,high af, living on bridges. I havent finished the game though 🤔

its time. lets go

Remember when we all thought Hoarah Loux was Godfrey long lost brother? Yeah, fun time

Are we not gunna talk about how the music is amazing and so dramatic at 0:45

Biggest twist in the damn game is spoiled within 20 seconds! if only we knew...

I love the idea that given the build of the tarnished in the opening, that this would be technically in Let Me Solo Her’s world. That would be funny as he would be the top cheese at the time.

"And sir gideon ofnir THE ALL KNOWING !!!!!" ahh this... 😁

Ohh damn i finally realise, the intro saying marika's offspring while showing Ranni. Giving us yet another hint even before we ever seen the plot about the true identity of marika.

yknow what I just realized, this is Godrick the Golden narrating, the same voice as the announcement trailer which was also Godrick.

This is better than the main title music. The buildup is so great.

Masterful foreshadowing. I was wondering the whole game who tf Hoarah Lux was supposed to be.

the intro gives you a hint to four of six endings

Fun fact i learned the other day. When you see "Ye tavern" "Arise ye Tarnished" the Ye is actually pronounced The because back in the day they didn't have a character for the TH sound and so the Y was used. Its literally just The tavern", "Arise The Tarnished" not yee. 😮

0:08 Queen Marika 0:15 Radagon

THE EVER BRILLIANT GOLDMASK!!!

me in the morning: arise now, ye tarnished. ye dead who yet live.

FIAAAAAAAAAAA , The Bed Companion