Fun fact: in old English, "sc" was pronounced like "sh", so the "Scadutree" is pronounced like "Shadutree". IfI'mwrongplzbenicetome

I’ve always felt a lot of marika’s actions in the base game felt weird for a god like being, but finding out she basically entered a slave contract with the greater will in exchange for the safety of her loved ones (getting rid of death) after her people were slaughtered changes a lot. It makes her going 0-100 immediately on her sons death make a lot more sense. She basically viewed the greater will as having lied to her and betrayed her by letting him die

I just realized that the omen are being treated the way they are due to Marikas history with the horsent. This whole chapter 4 part is stunning. Using her tormentors own power to achieve godhood, bathing her new world in light while condemning the hornsents world in shadow and then stealing the rune of death to make them suffer eternally by her own sons hand, thus creating the curse of the omen. Although I still don’t get how she achieved godhood to begin with. Why weren’t the hornsents able to do that themselves but a random shaman was? Did it have to do something with the two fingers helping her?

I think it's possible the hornsent would have raised one of their own to godhood, if not for Marika's intervention. The old woman in Belurat is referred to in one item description as the "Empyrean grandam," which at the very least means the towerfolk knew about Empyreans and this lady was in charge of finding and/or training them So I have a theory that in that moment with Marika in the trailer the hornsent were one step away from successfully creating a god of the Crucible. They'd constructed the Divine Gate, they had the primordial gold that would become the Elden Ring, and they had an Empyrean... And then Marika, who had been pretending to be their ally up until this point, killed that person, stole the Elden Ring, and ascended to godhood herself "The seduction and the betrayal"

Since we know the Jars can create a meshed personality of sorts, I think it is possible that "Marika" is a successful saint of the shaman jars. That is the reason she became an Empyrean and was able to rise to godhood. Radagon can be a second "personality" created by the Jars who embodies order and honour. Also there are mentions of Marika betraying the Hornsent. Maybe the Saint Marika was prayed to by the hornsent and she used her status as a saint to raise an army somehow and then turned on the Hornsent for revenge. Later she went on to become a God after being contacted by the Greater Will/Two Fingers. Also its pretty much confirmed that Messmer is son of Radagon and MArika due to the red hair

On a related note, The design of the furnace golems seems to be a sort of twisted karmic retribution towards the Hornsent approved by Messmer and Marika. The shamans were mutilated, then stuffed into jars to become saints by the Hornsent so in response, Marika orders her son Messmer to wage a brutal, genocidal war against the Land of Shadow with his most prominent war machine being the massive furnace golems where the Hornsent themselves are rounded up in droves, dead or alive (but most likely still alive for extra cruelty), to be stuffed in the golems and lit aflame to bring it to life. Imagine the screams and howls of terror and agony and the smell of burning flesh as the golem surges to life; An instrument of death’s first gasps of “life” brought forth by the deaths of so many within its frame to serve as fuel for the golem as it marches over the land as an instrument of terror, destruction and mockery as it wears the horned mask of the fell god of fire the Hornsent so feared.

I feel that Radagon and Marika are like St. Trina and Miquella. Like St. Trina is Miquella's "Love". So, Radragon is an aspect of Marika broken off so she could become a God. But everything eventually will move to recombined back together. So, when Radragon merges back, He will become the God Marika became by losing him.

I wonder if that specific Hornsent who said these cruel words to the shamans in Bonny Village lived long enough to be subject to similar cruelties by Messmer’s crusaders when they invaded. I don’t know how long Hornsent lived but assuming he lived to see the crusade take place, I can only imagine it shifting from him whipping shamans with tooth whips and shoving them in jars like it's an ordinary day to him being captured by the crusaders before enduring days of being beaten and branded by serpent flails while being yelled at with slurs and obscenities by them such as being “Graceless scum” who’s only purpose is to be hunted, dehorned, impaled and burned before being forced to march alongside fellow Hornsent who’ve been rounded up, beaten, branded and dehorned to a furnace golem that has yet to come to life. As the Hornsent are being pushed and crammed inside the golem to the point where’s it’s getting hard to breathe, they are given a speech by a Black Knight captain who says that though they are graceless vermin with no place in the order, their lives will at least serve one purpose: as kindling for their holy crusade. The Hornsent suddenly reminisces on those shamans back in Bonny Village and realizes that he has become a victim to the same cruelties he inflicted on them. However, he has no time to think of his current predicament as the crusaders set the golem aflame and the screams of countless Hornsent and the stench of their burning flesh fill the air as the golem comes to life. So ends the life of one Hornsent among thousands, now used to fuel a lifeless machine of death and murder as it marches onto the battlefield. And so, the crusade continues.

Just a theory, but considering that Melina is messmers little sister. Notice how his right eye has the seal, Melina has a birds foot (death bird) tattoo over her left eye. Maybe confirming that her curse was to be inhabited by a death bird queen. The gloam eyed queen.

The shape of the Divine Gate is very reminiscent of a crucible. If you look at the negative space, it looks like light being poured out of a bowl of some kind... Or metal being poured out of a crucible.

There's a theory which states that the Land of Shadow and the Lands-Between were once part of the same landmass, but became separated due to Marika sealing the Land of Shadow after ascending to godhood. This theory also states that Leyndell was once connected to the ancient ruins of Rauth by a massive bridge which started at the divine bridge in the southwestern part of the city.

To me, the dlc explains to us that Radagon is Marika's divested self through the journey of Miquella.

I think Marikas seduction and betrayal is related to whoever the father of Melina and Messmer was.

My Crucible theory: The tower folk alternately describe it as a spiral, a pair of twin trees, and also as a current that reaches up toward the heavens... But that last one at least is not a new concept to us. We've seen plenty of currents shooting up toward the heavens both in the DLC and in the base game. The spirit springs I think that in the place where the Erdtree is now, there used to be a massive spirit spring that rose up in two streams spiraling around each other, most likely taking with them a great fountain of water since the Erdtree's roots are right above the source of the two underground rivers. Perhaps these waters even at one point had healing abilities similar to the sap of the Erdtree, before Marika transformed this fountain of life into a tree of life Her biggest mistake was separating the two trees, because she wanted a world of order and light, without chaos and shadow. The Erdtree and Scadutree SHOULD have been together, twined around each other like a spiral and in balance with one another But that aside, if the Crucible is a miraculous spirit stream where all life is blended together, where does its power come from? From spirits of course. We learn from the Suppressing Pillar that when the Lands Between and the Land of Shadow were one, it was a place where all forms of death "washed ashore." It was a place where all the world's dead were inexorably drawn, where their spirits would gather and blend in a single great melting pot, a crucible you might say, and then eventually burst up from the ground and bring new life to the world Death was the source of the Crucible's life, and this might explain why the sap of the Erdtree dried up so quickly after Marika sealed the Rune of Death

Knowing that she was a Shaman and that Shaman's bodies meld together with the bodies of others, it makes sense that Radagon was his own person but became part of her, whether by choice or not

I don't think the Hornsent created the Gate of Divinity. In the story trailer, the bodies of the Gate are still fresh as Marika walks through them. It makes more sense to me that this was Marika's "original sin", as they call it. She used the sacrifice of countless Hornsent to rise to godhood.

2 items, a couple lines and an empty village, all it took to understand all the intentions of Marika, turning her from a villain, to a tragic character

I was of a mind that Radagon was a mimic tear, but now I think he is Marika's discarded Faith in the GW, much like how St Trina is Miquella's discarded Love. This might be why she calls him "leal hound of the GO" and why she gives a speech speaking of no longer relying on "blind faith" in their future.

I don't think that Marika wed herself to Godfry until well after she had become a God and it was this mysterious Serpent entity who keeps popping up that was her original Lord Consort as she became a god

Messmer's snakes are the same color as the dead one in the gate trailer. That's his pops yo😂

20:35 this can somehow explain how Marika and Radagon, Miquella and Trina were able to “mend together”. Which could also explain how Miquella just left parts of his body away and Godrick grafting abilities

These lore videos are hitting like crack from the whole community love to see it!

Imagine if Rani had just chosen someone else, like Mohg

One more thing I noticed in Bonny Gaol, in the areas where there are Shaman Pots and living Innards there are no Warrior Jars, but in the areas that has only corpses there are actual Warrior Jars.

you can find white snake skin in Bonny village in bushes not far from "O mother"

Her removal of the rune of death to punish the hornsent eternally is great. Great lore video. There’s still so much of this story to tell. I want a sequel damnit.

I feel like Marika and Radagon were once one person. Then they split, as Miquella split from St.Trina. Then they recombined after Godfrey was banished and the ring was shattered.

WHO THE FUCK WORKED OUT MOVING THAT STATUE?! Absolutely baffles me how some things are found in Elden ring

Very well done! As someone who's watched at least 100 of these lore videos, I have to say this one has been the best. You have thoroughly covered this topic.

This raises a lot of questions regarding her first marriage with Godfry. Was he part of the hornsent culture? We know the crucible Knights were his warriors or connected with him, so they had some connection to the power or admiration of the crucible.

I love when there are spoiler warnings in Fromsoft game videos as if anyone thinks they’d be able to figure the lore out by themselves in game 😂

Holy moly I’m early, just in time too. I haven’t been able to sleep tonight. Congrats on 300k btw

You mess up the timeline quite a bit. Messmers crusade in the shadowrealm happened well into Marikas age since we know he was a friend of Radahn. So there was Marikas initial seduction and betrayal with her becoming a god and creating the erd and scadur trees, then she set out to conquer the lands between and only sent Messmer back to the shadowlands after she banished Godfrey and Radagon was the new lord. The precise reason for Messmers crusade seems elusive, it sounds like she was trying to get rid of Messmer more than achieve anything in the shadowlands.

Crucible reminds me of Sailor Moon, the ending using a Cauldron as a place where everything is born.

oooooh! "Have mercy. For the spirited-away shamans." is her wish! I like that!

Goddamn dude...your lore is so imprecise. Marika statues are almost all near mesmer soldiers, which means it was mesmers forces that broke marikas heads. Also, marika refers to radagon as her other self. That means he's always been with her. He is her alter ego.

When we think that the Nox are Numen a few things start to make sense. We know that the lands of shadow didn't use to be disconnected. Maybe she saved them and told them to create a world underground to protect them from the hornsent. She then said they committed a sin to make interaction with her kin something like treason to deter trespassers.

>DLC drops >justifies Marika's Omen discrimination through lore >leaves Miyazaki BEEN the GOAT

I do think that Marika probably did a lot of what we see Miquella do in this DLC. I think she travelled and left part of herself across the land. What if Radagon was her St. Trina, just not her heart/love, maybe her fanaticism or yearn for perfection. Radagon sought more knowledge as a champion, going so far as to learn sorcery from the best sorcerer of his age, Rennala, and yearned to create perfect order as Elden Lord. Marika could have cut him out and then became a God. I also wonder if the Gloam Eyed Queen was also originally another aspect of Marika that she cut out, explaining why Melina may evoke ideas of the GEQ in the frenzy ending if you don't use her as kindling. I think Marika wanted to be a God of abundance, of life, in order to combat the death that her people the Numen/Shamans experienced at the hands of the Hornsent. It would make sense later on then when Godwyn dies that she, in severe grief, shatters the elden ring and locks away the realm of shadow as it is a land associated with death. I think Radagon reappeared during the Liurnian Wars under the guise of being on Marika's side, but was actually only working with the Greater Will and the Two Fingers to eventually supplant Marika as the vessel of the Elden Ring and become God. That could explain the dialogue from Marika later on, she realizes who Radagon is at the point of his betrayal, proving to be her other self, like St Trina and Miquella, and yet to become a God. We see the Two Fingers try to stop Ranni, they send a Baleful Shadow after her, but we never see the fingers ever try to stop Miquella, or at the very least no evidence is found yet showing any interruption, so what if they don't care if Miquella becomes a God, because they just need a new vessel for the next age. Miquella doesn't seem to want to stop the continuation of the Elden Ring, he is a fundamentalist, he just wants to stop pain and suffering, like Marika except that he is going to basically control or compel everyone to do so. Marika's story is tragic, not just the sad backstory but because of how she became what she hated in her past life. The forces of the Erdtree committed genocide against the giants, went to war against the Carians and the Ancient Dragons. She caused suffering and she sees this all come to fruition when one of her family (extended) rebels against her order by murdering her son. Shattering the Elden Ring is something akin to her last defiance against the Greater Will, who she possibly has viewed as the progenitor of the cycle of suffering she was the victim and perpetrator of. She still was a tool and perpetrator of genocide, so the people saying she is a hero is a bit off, but it doesn't mean her act of shattering the Elden Ring and trying to end the cycle isn't a heroic act. I don't think Marika would call herself a hero

that was really good man

Wow! so many dots connected! Thanks man❤🙏🏾

Well done

Suddenly the moniker of "Omen" makes sense. 🤔

that makes so much sense especially with all minus godwin being cursed and deformed

Also Messmer is obviously Radagon's and Marika's first child. All of their children's name starts with an M; Miquella, Malenia, Melina, and Messmer. And all 4 are represented by each butterflies we see in game; Nascent butterfly = Miquella, Aeonian Butterfly = Malenia, Smoldering Butterfly = Melina, and Black pyrefly = Messmer. And also the Hornsent Grandam being the gloam-eyed queen is so far fetched. It's already been established at the Frenzied Flame ending that Melina is the empyrean host for destined death, making her the gloam-eyed queen. If you don't use her to burn the Erdtree, after defeating Maliketh, you release destined death to the world, returning Melina's powers to her.

The woman in the portrait with Midra has spiral braids and Marika leaves a spiral braid at the statue in Bonny village. Could they be the same person?

We really have no idea about what the actual seduction and betrayal are 😂 can only speculate! Thanks Michael Zaki!

I definitely don’t think we can forgive Marika for everything she’s responsible for, but I’m certainly not gonna blame her for wanting to wipe out the hornsent. Can’t exactly say they didn’t have it coming

Came out right before bed perfect!

30:30 There's nothing in the game that refers that Ranni murdered Godwyn. Ranni only made the Black knives, the ones who actually did the deed were closely related to Marika herself. Plus, she went to the very same forge the black knives were created to make the hammer that shattered the elden ring.

with the talk of messmers base serpent and the crimes of bonny village, im kinda surprised you did even mentioned the eiglay shed snake skin in the north of the village

Well done, really got in there. Checked the japanese translations. Got some stuff I hadn't seen mentioned anywhere else. 10/10 good video.

I think each of different curses of Marika's children were all from beings. After all outside of Godwyn, all of children we know were cursed. And Godwyn also could have curse that was just not outwardly visible. Mesmer was cursed by Englay so he was born as base serpent with humanoid shell/skin. Omen twins and other Omens in sewers from are cursed by Hornsent. Malenia from curse by Romina, after Marika/Mesmer destroyed Church of the Bud. Miquella could be cursed by Plasudisax or his god by stopping his time, so he never grows up. Melina could be cursed by Gloam-Eyed Queen so her body combusted with half of destined death (same as Ranni), or by fell god of fire giants (but I think Radagon was recipient of Fire Giant curse). Or Marika could have been cursed directly and she just passed her curses on her children (other than Omens as hornsent seemed to curse her progeny).

Man this DLC can be called a whole game it's so big and it revealed so many things and still there is so many questions .... i hope it doesn't end up like some other stories where they end up leaving it half assed

Marikas symbol that we can see on the marika soreseal and many other areas happens to match the outline of the divine gateway.

the road from bonny village to the cathedral of manus metyr is full of wolves，unnaturally. i can't help but thinking these wolves must mean something，then i realize there is a statue of a girl and three wolves in Farum Azula. i imagine young marika was once in bonny village then she run away，on the road she somehow made the wolves to help her，eventually she hided in the cathedral of manus metyr the people there helped her and guided her to became a god

Im convinced that Messmer is child of Marika and Radagon, simillar to Malenia and Miquela. They share a trait of curse, trait of names and trait of haveing own butterflies. What is more, Messmer strongly suggests that Melina is also child of Marika and Radagon shareing same traits

it's incredible darks souls music is still used widely for any video regarding from softwares games. Iconic soundtrack!

now we sorta understand why kids like morgott and mogh were looked down upon as they were constant reminders of her original sin

I noticed something interesting about the jar people: they have similar posture and movement to the Black Knife Assasins, kind of hunched over with their knees turned inwards. I wonder if the Black Knife Assassins are what remain of Marika's people who were stuffed in jars, perhaps after being excised from the rest of the flesh in Messmer's hospital wing. Perhaps that is why the Black Knives appear injured. There's even a Black Knife who begins the fight with missing health in the base game.

Radagon is marika, the dialogue you showed was literally her saying my other self at the ending when she was talking about merging into one body before that they were separate at one point when he was with rannala but when we fight radagon marika is shown to be the same body but one point their bodies were separate, also the reason their children were cursed is because of them being the same person.

The crucible sounds a lot like the many concepts that are brought up at different points. The Law of Regression and Casuality. The One Great, the primeval current, the jarring rituals, and in fact the forge of the giants resembles a giant crucible.

Grandam's curse is just the horns on Morgott and Mohg

I was just watching through the cutscenes and noticed how Godfrey the grafted severed his arm so that the dragon head would attach to it. I wonder if Godfrey is able to do that because he is from Merikas line which would adhere to other corpse/flesh

In the last of ziostorm's video it was shown that there's a huge shedded snake skin that can be found in shaman village that looks similar to the snake skin that can be found in the arena were we fight the Godskinn noble in Volcano Manor. There's no explanation why it's there. My only guess is that it may have been planned to be part of an abandoned storyline that may explain the origin of Marika's aversion to snakes.

Miquella infected Radahn with scarlet rot, then put his soul in an omen body with blood powers from the Formless Mother. Miquella is just as bad as the tower folk

9:37 lol

So Marika is basically the Land Between equivalent of Zeus with a dash of Kingdom Hearts logic.

Frame of flenzy, the flenzied frame.

Marika’s people be like: From numen to shaman to “nah man” 😢

Best thing about Elden Ring is knowing our Tarnished is actually the main character because we unalive all the power hungry monsters that live in the Lands Between and The Shadow Realm. Jealous Gideon? Gone. Atrocious Hornsent? In the grave. Queen Marika? Stuffed in the Erdtree like the Shaman she is. This makes me truly believe that the Fia questline is the true ending. We bring death back, so all those who suffer can finally pass on.

After dlc trailer: Marika really was just a warmonger After dlc: without condoning nor condemning I understand

this is a great video. here's what I think. I believe that snakes used to be quite integral to the crucible, and to the erdtree. but now, they have done something so terrible that they are seen as traitors to the erdtree. you may think this is just because of messmer, but it thinks it goes deeper than that. I believe messmers father was a serpent god. I believe the serpent tempted Marika to commit the original sin, just like Eve in the garden of Eden. and then she burnt down the erdtree with messmers flame. the scadutree looks like a burnt tree, without any leaves. the burning of the erdtree is described as the cardinal sin, and I believe that the original sin was the first time the erdtree was burnt. the item description for "messmers kindling" says that he keeps company with the original sin, and he literally does keep company with the base abyssal serpent, and his flame. miquella is definitely a kind of christ-figure, and wishes to atone for the original sin, as it says in his great rune. I think the original sin is an extremely important factor in marikas rise to power, and is also probably the reason why the lands are shrouded in shadow now. but that's just my theory, I may be wrong. still looking into it, and I may end up making a video about it if I get enough information together.

Blood and Wine is still the top dog for me, but this DLC is up there for sure.

Great video and great explanation for a lot of stuff in the DLC. But there is one thing I've been wondering for quite some time now and suprisingly it seems that no one really talked about yet. Or at least, I haven't seen any videos or discussions about this topic about Marikas seduction, betrayal and what her connections with the Fingers (and in turn Greater Will) is. To me the location of Shaman Village is very interesting since it seems to be quite secluded and strangly close to the Finger Ruins of Dheo. So isn't it possible that Marika, in a desperate attempt to save her people found Metyr (which we learned was the first shooting star to fall upon the Lands Between) and made a deal/pact to gain power and followers to go against the Hornsent. Maybe she even stumbled upon Metyr on accident and got seduced by her by promising Marika revenge and a better future. Marika realised her mistake and later in a another desperate attempt shattered the ring and tried to bring it all down to try and remove the influence of the Fingers and Greater Will that she was responsible for. This would also explain what Count Ymir told us.

miquella's gentle world = "benevolent" dictatorship/monarchy which ofc is an oxymoron.

Waiting for your take on Messmer!

I had a thought. We obviously know that the Hornsent of Bonny Village (I'm not entirely convinced Bonny Village wasn't considered somewhat radical, even by Hornsent standards) valued the Shamans strictly for their use in pots, but presumably their capacity for melding with others could be utilized outside of pots as well Such as in the creation of the Divine Gate, for example

I'm really interested on her relationship with Morgot and Mohg, then being "omen" must have been a difficult situation

I do think Messmer was cursed from birth, and that's why Marika felt so comfortable using him as a general and then completely abandoning him in the land of shadow. She just never saw him as a full son.

Marikas symbol, the rune of death and the divine gateway I see them as all the same shape. All linked to whatever happened on the top of that corpse pile

Elden Ring Lore - The Tower Priests Worship "The Spiral" My headass - Row Row Fight the Powa

The furnace golems are torture chambers and weapons at the same time. Miyazaki tier stuff.

I believe Marika's seduction was related to the the hornsent and some kind of promise to bring them to divinity. The Betrayal was after they helped or were sacrificed to help her ascend, the unending crusade on them

ayo what's the OST in the background @ 11:52 ? so trippy lol, great video also

The simple solution to Messmers curse is that Messmer was born after the cursing and that the Grandam cursed Marika upon her ascension not the crusade. Messmers dad is also probably Radagon and Marika and Radagon could have been like Miquella and Trina.

There is an interesting theory where radagon and merika are like miquella and st Trina where they were always one person split in two so the main personality becomes a god while the other one becomes another being altogether

17:23 that's the Dark Souls 3 fire keeper.

if the devine gate is a big mesh of hornsent people. perhaps it was merica that made that to reflect what the hornset has done to her people.

We see the actual crucible guarded by the commander riding a pig. It means the life came from the sap of those trees. In Leyndel, it seems that an equivalent of the crucible in the Shadow Lands is placed in Marika's bedchamber. There are other minor crucibles in this area.

now we know to whom the golden one mad at

Want to note that the english translation has some mistakes regarding the jar innards. The original translation says stuffing like it is some ritual for people in the jars to become saints, like it is some sort of ascension ritual. but the original japanese text is trying to say it is a sort of punishment so sinners can become 'good'.

I think Marika was at one point at the head of the Horncent civilization. You find statues of her all over Enir Elim which is still predominantly populated by the Horncent. You can tell this is her because another one of these statues is present in Castle Ensis being prayed to by one of Messmer’s soldiers, praying that Marika would grant Messmer grace. I also think at one point she was communing with a God that they worshipped that we don’t know but can be seen in other statues in Enir Elim with a massive horned crown. There are also statues depicting a male and female figure together wrapped in a horned spiral, I would imagine this is the two mentioned above. This as well as the trailer dialogue mentioning a “seduction” is what leads me to believe that Marika was communing with this other God at some point during the Horncent civilization’s reign.

I believe that the reason Rykard is able to meld with the God-devouring serpent and retain his consciousness, when it’s implied that nobody else was able to do so, isn’t just because he’s a demi-god, but perhaps because he carries Shaman blood in him. Perhaps Radagon was also a Shaman, since he is described as Marika’s “other self”. On this same note, this explains why Godrick is able to perform grafting, since his flesh is also that of a Shaman due to his heritage in the Golden Lineage. Marika becoming a god at the Crucible explains why Morgot and Mogh are Omen. They aren’t really Omen, they’re Hornsent, and they are that because of Marika’s contact with the Crucible. The curse you mentioned that one Hornsent Grandam placed on them probably also had something to do with it. At any rate, they’re “cursed” not because of their blood, but because of what they remind Marika of. Since she wouldn’t be able to kill them, being their mother, she instead decided to hide them away where she’d never be reminded of them and their connection to her tormentors, deep within the Leyndell sewers. This also explains why it was common practice to “dehorn” the Omen. It all stems from an inherited and passed-down hatred of the Hornsent.

I've been wondering for a while now if Godwin really is the perfect golden child, or if he was just good enough at illusion magic to look like it. Given what we know, it would make sense that he was born cursed too.

27:00 nah that doesnt seem to line up with the timeline. 1. he already has the marika sealed eye in the trailer when he burns and ravages Belurat. 2. it is heavily implied he was either born with the serpent or it was actively sealed into him by Marika herself.

I still dont know what marika took out of that slimy mass in the intro cinematic

maybe the snake possessing's messmers body is why he has red hair and can produce fire.

I don't think radagon was ever his own person. I think like St.Trina when miquellia became a god, Radagon was Marika sheading her flesh in the same way.

Radagon is Ratigan confirmed