Edit: I've seen many people saying this. I said here 0:29, "The Prisoner Iron Mask has only its left eye." This was meant to mean "Has only it's left eye shut" as it succeds me talking about fully blind characters. I should've been clearer on this point though, so I wanted to pin this here to clarify. Also, Irina, Hyetta, and Brother Corhyn are in the video, they're just at the end. Thank you all. This is my first video on Elden Ring. Please let me know how you liked it. I know the audio might be an issue in a few places as my mic picks up literally everything I do when I'm recording, so I apologize about that. The next Elder Scrolls Lore video will be up within the next month, and the topic will be on the Thalmor. Thanks for your pateince with me!

You're probably aware of this, but the missing eye trope is borrowed from Odin from Norse mythology. In short, Odin gave his eye for divine knowledge-meaning that the missing eyes in the demigods may allude to some kind of insight or glimpse into the greater truths of the world. This makes some sense if you consider Morgott is one of the few with both eyes-and is completely brainwashed/devoted to the golden order. Both eyes being missing may imply some kind of deeper enlightenment or acceptance of deeper truths. Miquellas eyes being closed makes sense as a god, as does Marika. Malenia and Messmer's blindness seems a bit more traumatic; maybe alluding to a glimpse into the horrifying truths associated with the scarlet rot or abysmal serpent.

Getting clotheslined by "Miquella the Tickela'" 48 minutes into a densely packed and otherwise relatively serious Elden Ring lore video after having paid attention for the entire video is a true combo LOL

Oh hell yeah a one hour long Elden Ring video arguing a theory I've never actually thought about before, I'm so excited for this

Since the base game i had the theory (don't know if this is explained in the game itself) that characters who commune with gods, whichever those might be, always have at least 1 eye closed/damaged. Almost like it's a requirement for them to appreciate the message those gods are sending to them, and those with their eyes totally shut/damaged are the ones who are most in touch with their gods, it's not a coincidence that people like Malenia being totally blind can almost become a goddess of rot, short of 1 bloom. Miquella appears with both eyes closed at the end aswell, having achieved actual godhood. Messmer having 1 eye open remains the same as all the others until he crushes it at lets the Abyssal snake take hold of his body, letting what is almost a divine entity take control after both his eyes are gone. There's a reason too as to why the Finger Crones have no eyes and are the only ones capable of understanding what the Fingers say. Also Mohg being able to commune with the Formless mother and so on, i don't think he'd be capable of that if he did have both his eyes. Madness ridden people literally have no eyes yet still fire Frenzy Flames out of the sockets and so on. The prophets blindfolding themselves are just trying to get as close as possible to the real thing, not realizing they have to become literally blind for that to happen. Maybe Prisioners themselves having their helmet with one eye shut may indicate they became prisioners for adressing the "wrong" god and since they have to have at least 1 eye missing for that there's no point in the helmet having 2 eyeholes, either that or the helmet itself is a mockery of those "one eyed" believers.

Im John F Kennedy and I approve this message.

Actually the note by Midra also decribes how you can defeat the frenzy monsters in the woods, they grab the player using their staff, brushing it aside is basically "parrying it" .. if you manage to do that you can actually "touch them" .. as in physically beat them and kill them using regular attacks. It's cool that the note serves both a lore and a gameplay purpose.

So your telling ME. The flame of frenzy is called upon by GREAT SUFFERING and the hornsent genius idea to keep it at bay was to impail him with this barb sword that tortures him for eternity? AND IT WORKED?!?

Miquella also had the unfortunate curse of nascency - nothing major he ever starts will finish; he never finished finding a cure for Malenia's scarlet rot, let alone finish the needle. He never finished his plan to carry out his age of compassion - becoming a god was the first step. In a sense, his curse of nascence was another prison.

Egon could have considered himself a noble knight of dragon lineage, such as the banished knights

"sir ansbach, who I will continue to glaze..." lmao

melina seems to say the words destined death more than anybody else in the game too. almost like they're putting it right in front of our face

First, they took the left eye as in "there's nothing left here"; then they took the right eye too as in, "now as you can see, you have no right"

On Malenia: The belief that Malenia broke the Unalloyed Needle to allow her to bloom in Caelid is only supported by the needle's location and the idea that the needle seals away rot. As far as I know, there is no further evidence that proves that the Unalloyed Needle was even inside Malenia during her battle against Radahn, nevermind that she broke it in order to be able to bloom. Consider the times we do see Millicent and Malenia bloom in game. Millicent blooms after she is killed by the player, notably with the Unalloyed Needle left in her flesh. Contrast this to the other end of Millicent's questline, where she decides to take out the needle and as a result she rots away. Now, after we defeat Malenia in battle and reload the area, we can see that she has bloomed. In order to obtain Miquella's Needle, we must trade in the Unalloyed Needle from Millicent's questline at Malenia's bloom. This implies that the bloom has Miquella's Needle in it, and that even before we defeated Malenia she had Miquella's Needle in her flesh. If we consider the fact that she was asleep from all the way back when she bloomed in Caelid to when we as the player meet her, it seems that Miquella's Needle could have been in her body even before the fight with Radahn. Before we used to think that the needles combat the rot, but in every instance we see Malenia or Millicent bloom, they seem to have a needle within them. The one time Millicent doesn't bloom is when she takes the needle out. This leads me to believe that the needles actually promote blooming. Furthermore, I think Miquella's Needle was an instrument to charm Malenia. Malenia bloomed in her fight against Radahn not because it helped her, but because it helps Miquella. This parallels how people charmed by Miquella would suicide bomb for his sake (Haligtree Soldier Ashes) and how Millicent can be manipulated into blooming, not because she wants to but because it furthers Gowry's interests.

On why they didn't just kill Midra Inthink its because vessels for the Frenzied flame can come back to life and of they weren't fully under the flames control before they are after they come me back. Just look at how shibri and the finger maiden are controlling dead people. Midra basically kills himself and becomes a lord of frenzy. Keeping him alive was probably a measure to ensure the problem didn't get any worse.

One thing you seemingly missed so far is the fact that the appointed beasts like blaidd and maliketh were adopted into their respective families and became step/adopted siblings of their respective empyreans

The concept of closed eyes has mostly been nebulous so far, and still is of course. Now being able to articulate how being a prisoner is a parallel we can draw is very valuable! Thank you for the video! Well done!

Eyes in ER are certainly of great importance, but I can't say I'm fully convinced that this is the intended meaning of it all, the reasoning on some of the characters seems like a stretch, like at a certain point you could say that anyone with enough determination becomes a prisoner of their own ambitions, rather than simply being a person with a clear, but hard to reach goal in mind. On the other hand, Rennala, Fire Giant and several NPCs can easily be considered prisoners but have their eyes intact. Such is the nature of Miyazaki's worlds, where it's hard to distinguish between hidden meanings, unfinished ideas that got scrapped, and just unintentional coincidences. Nevertheless, the vid was well put together and all ideas clearly communicated, so I enjoyed it very much, thanks for making it!

One must imagine Hewg happy

1:30 Messmer is technically missing both eyes, but has a sealed eye and a false eye seal made of grace. My theory for the tattooed seal is that it is a mark of an empyrean and the remaining eye is removed/replaced when an outer god takes hold (evidenced by Messmer's Abyssal serpent in phase 2 and Melania as the Goddess of Rot). With the exception of Messmer who I don't think is outright called an empyrean and assuming Melina is the Gloam-Eyed Queen, all the charecters that have that sealed left eye are empyreans.

I believe Nanaya was a Deathbed Companion. She was cradling the child who was once, destined as an exalted noble to become the Lord of Frenzied Flame “in an age long past and a distant land.” Midra became a Lord of Frenzy after probably centuries of suffering, becoming one not because he was touched by the Three Fingers but because he suffered for so long he was found to be a perfect vessel for the Frenzied Flame. So basically, Nanaya showed up at his house, Midra wanted to help a pregnant lady and when the Inquisitors understood that the Frenzied Flame was coming they wanted to find the source and destroy it. Midra understood that Nanaya’s child was the source and he probably wished to defend her and the child she was expecting and told the Inquisitors to go away from his land. The Inquisitors killed his servants and scholars, tortured him to death since he didn’t confess while Nanaya was hidden away, gave birth to her child as is duty for a Deathbed Companion but the child was stillborn and that’s how the torch was made: the fading or “feeble” Frenzied Flame burned the child’s body away to the bone, expect for its spine. I feel this theory just fits better with the Frenzied Flame torch.

I feel like it could be argued that the fact Malenia's cutscene doesn't change after Miquella's death is just something the devs didn't think about. You'd expect her to be at least a little bit cranky you killed her little brother, who it seems like she spent a lot of her life catering to [if the 'Malenia was in on it theory' is real]. But, no. There are a lot of alterations that occur within the the DLC that feel like they should minutely change certain details in the base game.

i literally was like”he doesnt have a bayle part”BAYLEEEE

Nanaya I feel showed up to the manse playing the same role as shabriri. We never see her eyes, and Midra we know was held in high regard with the hornsent prior to the events that unfold. With the whole dlc basically being about motherhood it makes a lot of sense that she was trying to birth a lord of frenzy, and the hornsent dealt with the child and punished midra. Nanaya and midra I think were not put to death due to midra's standing or just punishment instead of fear of a lord being born of them due how the people in front of manse were dealt with. Nanaya died not near midra but near the stairs, guarded heavily, as to not escape. Her last words were the curse on midra that inevitably caused him to become a lord instead

the prisoner has his right eye open, not his left

Igon? More like Eyegone

When Hewg starts off with the "naw pump your brakes", I figured that was just him pre-empting any doubts or worry that he'd be some kind of terror in waiting, about to burst free and wreak havoc. Don't look to me for peril, I gotta forge.

In defense of Malenia, literally no one in the Lands Between is able to speak about any of the events we've taken place in within the Land of Shadow. The closest we get is Enia offering new remembrance stuff, but she's obviously not got any specific dialogue. For all we know, they may be prevented from recognizing anything that happens under the baldachin spell from outside.

I love theories like that this. It doesn't change anything but adds another. Lens with which to view the work itself. Great video, love it.

Just a note on Blaidd. When he attacks us the tarnished, i don't think that's him giving in to the greater will. He is still protecting Ranni, the assassin's whatever their motive might be were approaching their HQ and Blaidd wanted to protect Ranni, in Ranni's rise where he'd presume she is (cause where else). But being in this sudden state where he has to endure the call the most, forcing himself into a bloodlust filled rage against the assailants, the tarnished just fall into his radar of "threat" unable to discern true friend from foe.

hewg says "nah" as part of the sentence. he isn't giving a negative answer to our question he refuses the question or rather he addresses the implication that since we belong to the hold he is our prisoner as well. He wants us to know he doesn't take it personally. all this does give credence to your idea that he is very aware. For an imprisoned member of a racial minority that likely didn't get much of an education addressing the subtext of our question seems quite intelligent of him. besides if I remember correctly first we ask about the chains, he says he's a prisoner and these are his chains, and then we ask again where he says "nah, don't read to much into it", since we asked twice it shows that it's troubling us and he wants to ease that worry

This is the first time I've seen another (besides myself) that mentioned Malenia was also possibly charmed by Miquella. I really like this idea and would love to explore it more. I think it is possible, considering the knights was charmed in the Haligtree and how many other characters he ended up also controlling. The pride that she abandoned and the actions that she made gives off the impression that she was not quite herself. Even though it seemed like the love and care was mutually expressed between both siblings, maybe perhaps after Miquella abandoned his love (St. Trina) and proceeded onto his plans he abandoned Malenia. After framing Mohg as kidnapping him and leaving Malenia alone and without his controlling abilities it left Malenia broken (and perhaps confused?) as we see her sitting waiting beside the last place that she believes he was taken from. It also seemed like she didn't know his full plans either, because it came off as she thought Mohg had also kidnapped him at the time, meaning Miquella had either left her out of that part of the plan or she simply wasn't aware because she was being charmed during that whole period. I really enjoyed this video. The length as well as the different perspectives offered in it. Watched the entire thing.

Hewg also voluntarily stays in the roundtable hold as it's burning and Roderika can't convince him to go. Indicating that he may have been a prisoner but his purpose still means a lot to him, and perhaps having the opportunity to smith a weapon that can slay a god and see it wielded by the next elden lord was all he wanted in life as a blacksmith. Maybe he was one of those people obsessed with something to a point it would prevent them from pursuing other things in life, but still something done voluntarily.

For your first video on Elden ring, it’s great and have to say you should keep it up. Once your channel grows, definitely get a less high frequency microphone but your breakdown and passion as well as your perspective are on point! Plus the royale with cheese chapter title got me geekin

In defense of Malenia: she was closest with Miquella, and he was the only one with any sort of answer to her condition. We didn’t see that she was close with any of her other siblings, only really Miquella. Of course she would go along with whatever his plan was because he was all she had. Even if she wasn’t charmed literally, I think Miquella absolutely knew she was dependent on him, and absolutely used that to his advantage. She’s still at fault but not as much as he was.

I feel like Melina is to Marika as Millicent is to Malenia. Millicent was Malenia's pride, shed in Caelid during the battle with Radahn. Maybe Melina was a similar part of Marika - maybe her sense of self, or ambition - that was shed at the foot of the Erdtree (where she was "born"). Just a thought.

I have a differnt theory for Ranni as she is prisoner to 3 things. 1st she was prisoner to her fate as fate is told be the stars if I am remembering correctly. 2nd she was a prisoner to Radahn as he held her fate in stasis and stopped ot from progressing. And lastly she was a prisoner to the fingers as she was an empyrian and had a two fingers. She seemed to be a willing prisoner to her fate in the stars and to her moon, but would not accept her fate to be controlled by the greater will/two fingers and so rebelled by casting off her body.

the significance of the prisoner mask being a reference to griffith is that griffith reached a point where his group lived among royalty. Following the character Guts deciding to leave Griffith snuck into the princesses room to make love to her (the great crime referenced in the item description)

Hey you, Dareloth. You're finally awake..

He was a Glintstone sorcerer from Carian nobility. The ''one eyed'' mask is also to make the wearer unable to properly watch the stars. Indeed, you need to have both eyes to have ''stereoscopic vision'' which allow your brain to evaluate distances. Pretty nasty for a sorcerer in the lands between to be unable to correctly watch the stars...

Within the first 30 seconds I knew you're barking up the same tree I have been for months. Well done articulating what i've been trying to.

Everyone a slave to something - Kenny ‘Attack on titan’

"General Chadahn, Traitor Rykard, and Lunar Waitress Ranni." - Morgott, Rune King of the Gold Standard

Drives me crazy he switches between “stage left” and “audience left” without specifying

Socks weren't invented back then so messmer had no sock to tuck his snake in. Must have been uncomfortable.

*_"MIQUELLA THE TICKLER."_* 😂😂😂

Godwyn the Prince of Death is actually a prisoner too. Prisoner of his own body. If you attack Fia near his so-called corpse, he will cast a Death Rancor. In some item description it states that MIND and SOUL in the Lands Between are separated. So yes, Godwyn died in SOUL alone and remained caged, prisoned in his decaying body. He has a lot of eyes in the Lands thanks to the Deathroot, so yeah, just note for your essay

You went too deep on this one. You've become a prisoner to your brain's propensity for pattern recognition.

I haven't finished the video yet but the reference to the elder scrolls games at the start is really thematic. Outside of daggerfall all of the player characters start out as prisoners. Aside from that the idea of the prisoner is a massive part of the lore as the fourth member of the warrior, thief, mage trio. Its rather complicated but the elder scrolls has a story telling mechanism based around those three with the the warrior/king residing in a tower that the thief wants into. They do battle and such with the mage as witness. The prisoner is the most complicated aspect and I don't entirely understand it but basically they they are special because they exist within the tower and are the player characters. I don't really do justice to the prospect but I think you'd find it interesting

You should read Berserk :p Not because it helps you understand Elden Ring but because it's really good!

I quite liked this video. A lot of video essayists are very up their own ass and produce completely serious content, but the little bits of humor thrown around really help elevate this. I also agree with most of the ideas presented, except with Ranni's conclusion. The greater will wanted her to become a god of IT, not just a god in general. Ranni's big plan built a great, moon-shaped wall all around the lands between, and booted out all the other gods/outer influences, presumably including the great will. I can't imagine it liked that very much.

I'm not sure Malenia was a willing participant to the grand plan, but I think she fully understood what he was capable of with his abilities. In some ways, I think she might even have been intended to serve Miquella in the place that dog guardians served her mother and sister. Be it love, guilt, devotion through force or choice; she was his most loyal protector, and the one he tasked with the supremely important battle against Radahn. Although, that admittedly also shows Miquella's degree of callousness. It was her knight that carried Melania to Miquella's tree rather than any plans he made. He used her like the blade she calls herself, and discarded her when her purpose was complete. I also think St Trina knew that without her and that compassion that came from love, Miquella would be a cold god who used his "devoted" followers with the same thoughtlessness. There to serve the purpose he gave them, and destroyed if they opposed. He probably thought he could even enchant the greater will by the time he's killed. I mean, at least Marika's decisions and actions come across as a kind of traumatized naivety. It's pretty obvious she COULD strategize very well, but I think she also fell for plenty of things that she should have questioned. Like she would see something that should have made her suspicious, but decided it was a Future-Merika problem. Only to realize that Past-Merika was an asshole, and should have handled it back then. Miquella's strategy to become a god like his mother prove layers on layers of diabolical preparation and execution. Maybe because of his ability to compel devotion and obedience, he never learned actual compassion. All he had to do was turn on the sparkle and anyone's problems disappeared. It's the same cruelty children show before they learn they're being cruel. So long as they get what they want, it doesn't matter what they did to get it. Mixed with a bit of the "EVERYONE feels better when they're loving ME" rationalization. At any rate, the moral of the story is probably don't commit systematic genocide through torture and butchery and stuff all the squishy parts in jars. (Which you'd think would be common sense, but apparently not.)

"Grant us eyes, Grant us eyes! Plant eyes on our brains to cleanse our beastly idiocy! A grand lake of mud... Hidden now from sight." - Micolash, Host of the Nightmare (Bloodborne). I always enjoy FromSoft's uses of themes inbolving eyes.

the diary you mentioned about the untouchables also implies how untouchables can be defeated, by parrying. that's why midra touched one when he brushed off one.

Midra: unbelievable sad and painful backstory hinted at in descriptions Players: didn't expect old codger

I like that you literally said "And I'm quoting here: NAH" made my day so much better, thank you lol

That feeling when even philosophical analysis of Elden Ring is more fun than the PvP

To my ear, I see Melania infecting Radahn with Scarlet Rot as something that screwed up Miquella's plans. Radahn was supposed to die in that confrontation, but failing to finish the job with her own strength forced Melania gave in to the rot to gain the upper-hand. But this massively delayed her brother's plans since Radahn perseveres through the rot for thousands of years. Had Melania been strong enough without embracing the Rot, perhaps Miquella would have stayed by her side.

this is such a great capsulation on the idea of st trina, thanks for making such a detail video!

I hate when videos like this end, they're so good to watch and i want more

Really love the video and the humor in it too. Poor Mogh having to deal with the Miquellester...

Don't forget Irina/Hyetta, also blind. I'm just gonna say it. Blindness in ER seems to be a metaphor for faith. It's pretty on the nose when you think about it. The half-blindness is probably indicative that the character is either of partial faith, is peeking beyond their previous blind faith, or is being shackled by faith in some way. The connections to royalty are cool though!

Love the fkin "ALLEGATIONS BEATEN" edit with Mohg. (Jeez, imagined it being a fkin Ace Attorney but Elden Ring, and the idea for Miquella going to jail for ooooooooooooh-long time after the trail is extremally ammusing)

That opening quote almost made it into my wedding when my wife and i were planning the ceremony 😂😂😂❤

Thank you for the Berserk mention. You'd be hearing from me if you hadn't 😡

I think she removed the needle precisely to be able to unleash the scarlet rot against radahn

One thing I would like to note regarding the Prisoner, is that it’s possible that he was sentenced by a group outside of Raya Lucaria’s jurisdiction, since they are tarnished outside the Lands Between, possibly some religious related order due to the low faith. Sorcerers at Raya Lucaria and Carian related, construct marionette soldiers as helpers, to do this, they use the doll technology they discovered by studying the ancient Nox dynasty (the guys Ranni is interested because they created the fingerslayer blade), this consists in them subduing the spirits into servitude through starlight shards (the questline of Seluvis) and then use the art of grafting for additional limbs. This would definitely fit the crime being appalling

One thing that is very important in the base game that is easy to miss is Castle Sol's ghosts and the lore implications. The ghosts speak of their Lord Miquella in a very familiar way and their attitudes just reek of bewitching, but this is an important observation to make because it implies that Miquella's bewitching is something that strikes deeper than the flesh, the soul. Secondly, all of Miquella's brothers die enacting his schemes except Godwyn; when you hear the final cut scene, Miquella pleas with his brother, but importantly, no name is dropped and to me this implies that Miquella said this same thing to all his brothers... So if this is true, if the Shadow Realm was the place where Merika ascended, was Miquella attempting to do what he did with Radahn, to Godwyn? Ranni betrays him and kills him entirely, removing his consort. Ranni tells us that the fingers will kill her, but as we come to understand, the fingers haven't heard anything in a long time... Is the power that Ranni attributed to the fingers actually just Miquella bewitching them and Blithe by extension? If all of this is true, then it would stand to reason that it actually wasn't Merika that shattered the Elden ring, but rather Miquella; by removing destined death, those Bewitched will effectively stay bewitched just as we saw at Castle Sol, effectively making Miquella Elden Lord by default. So in closing, my theory is that Miquella just literally bewitched everybody; when he bewitched Merika, Radagon was created and Miquella would effectively become in control of all Merika's power without her consciousness attached and possibly even realized that the Greater Will was just gone, either the fingers happened first or Merika bewitched did, but once he did one, he knew he could do the other due to the Greater Will's absence.

I think the thing with Ranni still becoming a god is different than what the two fingers would have wanted, the fate itself wasn't changed, but the reason and the consequence of the ascension were, witch is why we needed to kill Radahn and get the finger-slaying weapon, she wants to become a god that is not bossed around by the greater will, and to give that freedom to others

Great content man can’t wait to see more from you

most definitely one of the more original and interesting ER videos I've seen lately. Great job, hope to see more from you!

lol royale with cheese cracked me up. classic.

I like what I see gimme more dareloth I am addicted

i love this video so much already 👏i👏agree👏wholeheartedly👏 kudos for doing so much research and having the attention span to connect all these dots, let alone edit it all too, goodness gracious

I usually get a bit bored of longer lore videos, since i've started watching vaati (with his crazy editing and movie like videos) but this one was super intriguing, and ofc you can never turn down some miquella the ticklla jokes. Gotta say this video really reminded me of charred thermos' videos (like the editing). Great job !

Something I don't understand about Melina being the Gloam Eyed Queen is that Melina is a child of Marika but I struggle to see anything that points to the Gloam Eyed Queen being related to Marika. Especially since the whole point of Marika's Golden Order was a world without Destined Death. Having a daughter with a faction all about bringing Destined Death to the divine seems like a complete contradiction to Marika's will. If Messimer merely being cursed with a fire serpent was enough to scare Marika to sealing him away with the Land of Shadow. I assume a daughter with a god killing black flame would scare Marika worse than Messmer.

Obviously its a shout out to lisa (left eye) lopez... Rest in peace queen

Amazing video, I enjoyed the connections you made and I really hope you make more, you deserve way more subs

Halfway through the video and just wanna say that I'm enjoying it sooo much so far!! And always fun to see new theories when the community starts to think that everything's covered already

I always wondered who was Malenia and Miquellas Shadow

messmer “using gods name in vain” is another reason why i’m married to him in my head

You should keep making Elden Ring videos. This was solid 👍

I don't condone Malenia's actions, but it's VERY obvious that she is under Miquella's charm to some extent. Her telling Radahn that Miquella awaits him does not discredit that in any way. We know that Mohg was charmed and he still could talk and do things on Miquella's behalf. Hell, he was obsessed with Miquella...which Malenia also seems to be. If anything, it seems like evidence to me. Why would an empyrean as mighty as Malenia who is the 2nd strongest demigod sacrifice herself and unleash scarlet rot willingly just so her twin can marry her half-brother? It's nonsensical and I can't imagine her making that decision with any sort of rationality. She's literally dying when we find her and all she can talk about is being Miquella's blade and waiting for him. Ranni and Miquella are also empyreans and they are without question very intelligent and individualistic in the pantheon, and both want to be gods of their own ages. Malenia seems a little too passive and too obsessed with being Miquella's enforcer when as his twin she should consider him an equal in some way. I mean if Miquella can charm demigods like Mohg and presumably Radahn, then why wouldn't he charm his super powerful sister and use her as his military power? I refuse to believe that Malenia actually wanted to bloom given the context of her master that sealed away Scarlet Rot. I also believe the unalloyed gold needle is more sinister than it seems. Millicent can bloom with the needle in her after being killed by the player. I think the needle actually helps with blooming. It works in the short term to delay scarlet rot and builds it up into a massive bomb. Millicent probably realized that and took the needle out so she wouldn't end up like Malenia after Caelid. Plus, don't you think it's bizarre that Gowry, a kindred of rot wanted Millicent to quell the Scarlet Rot in her with that needle, when the rot kindred worship Scarlet Rot? That's way too coincidental for me to overlook. Plus, let's not overlook the fact that Miquella abandoned Malenia and the whole Haligtree after he got what he wanted with Radahn and Mohg. He left her there to die...and that would imply she was seen as his tool the whole time and she sacrificed herself to defeat Radahn for his sake. Why would Malenia willingly do that when her life prior to the Shattering revolved around trying to cure scarlet rot? There's no proof Miquella charmed her, but we know he CAN and given the horrible things Miquella did, I'm willing to believe that he would do it. I know I'm coming across as a Malenia shill by saying all of this, but logically it just makes sense given the wider context of what we learned from this DLC. Prior to that, I held Malenia and Mohg accountable for being terrible people...Ranni too...but I'm starting to wonder if Ranni wanted to get rid of her empyrean flesh so she wouldn't be enslaved to Miquella's charms as well. Feel free to refute my reasoning if you want, but that does seem like the most logical analysis of this situation.

For igon you could say he is a "prisoner Within his obsession"

Instant click as this was my starting class (cool helmet) the first time i played elden ring. It was going reasonably well until I got to Rennalla, then it was pain 😅

What a fantastic video! I am a sub now. Please more content on Elden Ring lore and theories!

I just watched a really good midra theory that sounds really plausible, the theory says nanaya brought the frenzy and midra tried to seal himself off doing his best to keep the madness at bay through sheer will and that's why he's a failure

Brother Read Berserk

Metaphysics of being a prisoner? Yeah this guy's an Elder Scrolls goon. I'm eating good with this one.

The "living among the elite" and "commit an appalling crime" can also be Griffith motifs honestly.. that's basically how he got imprisoned and all that

I love videos like this that argue for a new theory with a lot of hard evidence. Regardless of if the theory holds up or not doesn't matter because the discussion is so interesting regardless

I think its one of the most clear references from berserk. It's not just the recemblance to the helmet, but also the description of how they were an elite prior to their sentence and the starting weapon.

This is a fascinating theory, especially since most other lore videos might mention Miquella and Marika paralleling each other and being trapped by their godhood, but you don’t really see other characters talked about in that same sense very often. Well done! I would say that for Ranni’s section, I think it’s less Ranni wants to escape godhood, and more like she wants to escape being molded by the Greater Will and Two Fingers into the god they want. Which is why her line of being chosen by the Two Fingers is immediately followed by, “I would not be controlled by that thing.” And yes, she ascends into godhood in the Age of Stars ending…only to immediately leave the Lands Between. The whole point of her ending is to free the Lands Between of being ruled over by a god, constantly manipulating and stripping people of their choices. The only higher power to guide the people in this Age of Stars would not be Ranni or even the Tarnished player, but the light of the moon and the night sky. Ranni, at least, is able to free herself from her prison.

Love this theory. However, I think the fingers probably didn’t like Ranni considering they sent Shadows to kill her

2:45 If I make an Elden Ring Lore Video Bingo card, citing Merriam Webster is going on there😂 Just razzing ya! I love the breakdown on less focused on topics, like starting classes, it's just funny how many times I've seen it while binging lore videos from different channels the past couple weeks😂

The room Melena may have been imprisoned in is actually decorated pretty nice. Bookshelves, a desk, etc…definitely NOT a standard prison cell. Years ago when royalty would be imprisoned, it was typically in pretty luxurious accommodations. Anne Boleyn even had handmaids in her quarters as she awaited death. I think if a child of Marika were to be a prisoner, it would be in a cell like that one. Also, maybe the reason Marina sealed the rune of death was to weaken her…as the gloam-eyed queen?

I was going to play as the prisoner because I've been to prison, but I don't do magic because I am unfathomably based.

“The prisoner has only it’s right eye”

Best, new elden ring lore video I've seen in a while 💪💪💪

Fascinatingly, both Messmer and Melina have an eye closed AND an eye only lit by Grace (a Sore/Scarseal for Messmer and a purely golden eye that becomes dull in the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending for Melina). It seems that somehow the ritual to seal a God or a potential God's influence can only force Grace on one of their eyes. On another topic, it is also fascinating that, if the theory that the Gloam Eyed Queen being intended to be the next God after Marika is right, despite the Lands Between and the Lands of Shadow being very death/afterlife oriented, Marika was a God of Life, and was to be followed by a God of Death.