What "race" did you start as in Elden Ring?

ive always imagined the lands between as a literal place between different world (like betwixt area from DS2 or, simply put, kind of like a trainstation connecting to other ”stations”). it would explain why so many outer gods are focusing on the lands between, its strategically important

There is one thing that's been bugging me about Iji's death: he was covered in blackflame. The Black Knife Assassins don't use blackflame, or at least not the same kind. Iji was covered in black and white fire; Black Knifes make black and red. What if they didn't kill Iji, but instead tried to help him, still being in service to Ranni and thus being his allies, but the enemy, quite possibly a Godskin or even Gideon (he does know at least one blackflame spell), was too much for all of them? That would explain the ones you find near Blaidd, too; they knew from Iji that Blaidd had gone mad and would probably hurt Ranni, so tried to stop him when he came for her.

The "stars" in the Eternal City are not true stars. The greater will banished the twin eternal cities below and cursed them with a false night-sky. Never again would they see a true star. (Read: Moon of Nokstella, Nox set)

13:22 if the Eternal Cities are “The Lands Underneath”, the lands on the surface are “The Lands Between”, could there be a “Lands Above”? Even space itself might be its own land for the Outer Gods. It would fit some of the other alchemical parallels throughout the game, with a theme of “as above so below” and even some elements of hermeticism.

Erdtree isn't the Greattree. The Root Resin description reads: "The roots of the Greattree were once linked to those of the Erdtree, or so they say, and it is for this reason catacombs are built around Greattree roots." Seems like Great Tree was somehow removed/destroyed/cut so only its roots remained, possibly the Erdtree was grafted onto its stump - hijacking its root system and feeding with souls from the catacombs. Godwyn's death turning him into Death Prince infected Greattree roots with Deathroot, and severed their connection with the Erdtree. A good motive for Marika to have Godwyn killed that way, cutting/poisoning the Erdtree's greatest supply of souls, a heavy blow to the Greater Will, but Ranni taking the blame gave Marika an alibi and a chance to continue the sabotage; she only got caught with shattering the ring, the excuse of grief after losing her first son no longer working.

Numen is also an English word for: 1. A divinity, especially a local or presiding god. 2. An influence or phenomenon at once mystical and transcendant.

I've started to think of the "lands between" as the lands between the eternal city and the flying city.

Also, further evidence that Marika comes from the Eternal Cities is that her epitaph is Marika: the Eternal as in Marika of the Eternal Cities. It’s pretty rare in Soulsbourne lore that things share names if they aren’t connected. At least, that’s my take.

Worth noting that in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings mythology, Numenor was where the race of men originally came from, and those who could trace their ancestry back to Numenor, like Aragorn, had the ‘blood of Numenor’ in their veins, granting them extraordinarily long lifespans. I wonder if the use of “Numen” in Elden Ring is a tribute to Tolkien.

Fun fact: “numen” has a more literal translation. “Face/identity.” The Numen of Death would be THE embodiment of death, for example. That’s why I picked Numen for my character last month.

Another great video! Love all of them. Though I would argue that Marika's betrayal of Maliketh might be more easily explained by the fact that he was a shadow: a being magically bound to Marika by the Greater Will through the Fingers (as Ranni's quest explains). This means that once Marika shattered the Elden Ring he went crazy and lost himself - just like Blaidd does once Ranni kills her Fingers. This might be easily interpreted as her betraying him, specifically.

It's also possible that the assassins were always loyal to Marika, and they only worked with Ranni on the Night of the Black Knives because Marika asked them to! They had different reasons but both wanted the world to end up the way it currently is, setting up the eventual success of their separate plans And for many years after, they were happy to just ignore her, because even though Ranni's end goals were very different from theirs, they were also unlikely to succeed... until the player allies with Ranni, of course. It's only after that happens and the Age of Stars comes close to becoming a reality that the assassins begin to see Ranni's faction as a threat and start taking them out. Though by that time it's too little, too late

The Erdtree and Greattree aren't the same thing as they once had their roots entwined. The Greattree seems to have faded, possibly died. Also, there seems to be two groups of assassins that are often conflated, though they have different goals: the Black Knives and the Ravensmount. They are related, as a Black Knife is also hiding the Ravensmount set in the Sage's Cave, but the Ravensmount follow the Death Birds.

14:07 Actually, the Black Knife assassins showed up to kill Ranni, and Blaidd shows up to protect her, but due to the curse placed on him, he went mad as commanded by the Greater Will, to try to kill Ranni. Ijji meanwhile, realizing he was wrong about Blaidd, and that the plan was nearing it's end, his use was no more, and could not follow Ranni, and accepted his death. Ranni would never kill Ijji herself as he was her guardian, her mentor, her war councilor and tatician, and she knew about the curse Blaidd had, as much as she cared for him, she knew he could not follow due to that, which is why she has you kill the Baleful Shadow. If anything, is seems like the Black-Knife assassins themselves seem to have lost purpose and gained some new master at some point, guarding graves of the dead, hiding in caves, all of them their own forms of bosses. Killing Godwyn, we may never get a for sure answer about, was it willing or not, was there a reason or was it a contract thing. Ranni stole a piece of the rune of death, to kill herself, to free herself from the bindings to the Two Fingers, as it was in her very blood and resisting it was hard, so destroying her body and transferring her soul to a doll, using magic to appear like Morgott did as Margit both times. The Two Fingers wanted her dead, which is why the Baleful Shadow shows up, looking like Blaidd, but only after it knows where Ranni's soul is. It really does make things very confusing, given how far things go, where and why things happen, the very existence of the Erdtree and the it's origins, and how far it goes to ensure it's the ultimate power in charge.

Come to think of it, the lands between might just refer to how the overworld is between the underground area, and the stars where the greater will is from. So the surface being called the lands between might just be a description that naturally excludes the underground area, and that is the definition of the lands between in the first place.

The Numen started underground, but The Greater Will destroyed their Cities with falling stars, and that's probably when The Elden Beast took Marika as a vessel. If you follow Rennala's footsteps throughout her life, you can see that she went from being nearby the Zamor, who are likely descendants of the Numen, and who had probably tried to usurp the power of the Crucible from The Giants, so that they could create their new life. The Stargazer's Ruins hold an item that talks about their primeval glintstone rituals that separated their hearts/spirits from their bodies. Also nearby is Ordina, and the First Albinaurics, which were likely people who were made to exist outside of the influence of The Greater Will, meaning they'd be able to oppose The Greater Will. Ordina's gaol has more Black Knives. You then see traces of them going to Liurnia, residing at the Moonlight Altar and the Moonfolk Ruins, but it would appear that The Greater Will attacked the Moonfolk/Lunar Estate to quell their progress. Perhaps this is what Radahn was hoping to avoid when he arrested the stars themselves. At the Cathedral of Manus Celes, you can even find an altar similar to that found in the Eternal Cities. Then finally you have Rennala ending up in The Academy and the Carian Manor/etc, after what seems to be a very long journey. So long story short, maybe the whole thing was one big journey to recoup the numbers of the Numen in a shorter amount of time? And to restore the cosmic balance that The Greater Will had disrupted.

Still wonder why black knives coop with Ranni first then attack Blaidd and Igi

If Empyreans are always Numen, and Empyreans are the ones chosen by greater will/2 fingers... Then the Greater Will is a genious, only picks members of a race it all but destroyed to give power over it's land. Seems like the best way to guarantee you'll be betrayed tbh 😅

In the description you showed for the Nox mirrorhelm (i think it was), it read that the Nox are awaiting their Lord of Night and their AGE OF THE STARS. To me that would justify why they would follow Ranni, as she promises exactly that.

If Ranni is Numen before being a puppet, couldn't she have infiltrated the black knife assassins and then stolen a part of the mark of death. And that would be why when she starts going forward with her plan, we see the black knife assassins taking out her companions. just a thought :D great video !

Hey man... Just want to point out something for Maliketh : He's a shadow. So technically, we can assume that all of Blaidd's lore as a shadow applies to Maliketh. Which means that he's also meant to go insane and turn against Marika if she turns against the order, as shadows are "failsafes" of sorts. So technically, Maliketh's madness may have nothing to do with deathroot or desitined death. Case in point : Read Gurranq's dialogue. The more you feed him, the more cogent he is, the longer his sentences are. He's never more eloquent than as Maliketh after eating all 9 deathroots. So I think that eating deathroots actually partially heals his mind and helps, and Marika's betrayal (of the golden order) is what actually set him off. But unlike Blaidd, who we kill immediately, Maliketh has been in this state for "an age" 1000+ years, and Marika is in statis, so who knows how that affects his condition?

This video is sooooooo good. Thank you for all the time you put into this!

Broo, I just found out your channel and I cant stop watching your videos. Keep up the great job

I haven't played Eldin Ring yet, but I love your lore videos. You clearly do your research and present it in an interesting and engaging way. Keep it up!

You are my favourite loretuber! Keep up the awesome work bandit!

This is good, it really makes sense when you lay it all out like this!

that point about every empyrian being numen is so good i love you now

There's something I want to add from reaching the Leyndell throne room several times in the past 2 days in order to start new journeys to get certain items. There were a whole lot of dead finger readers behind Gideon's room, and I had thought Gideon was the culprit, the monster! But then redoing another journey I realised the finger readers were dead before Gideon appeared there after the tree-burning. It was the black-knife assassin, sitting beside the entrance to the throne room, she killed them all and was either waiting for something, or thinking of a way to get inside the erdtree. What I can't fathom was, the throne room was theoretically for Margott? Which means he would have known about the dead finger readers, but he didn't do a thing. It's weird. That, or the assassin was waiting for Margott to return to the throne room to kill him too, but he was busy possessing a soldier in front of the palace gates trying to kill us (pulling a Gowry, but on soliders). With regards to how many users saying that being empyrean was not due to being birthed from a single god but being chosen by a two-finger (presumably to be the next god), and yet they say the gloam-eyed queen was an empyrean. Doesn't this mean the gloam-eyed queen was under the influence of the Greater Will? Why would Maliketh kill her and remove destined death from her then? Finally, we all know Hewg prayed to Marika in secret and was crafting a god-slaying weapon for her, but when I spoke to Rodericka at the end after Hewg lost his wits, I realised Marika had asked Hewg to create a god-slaying weapon to kill none other than Marika herself!

Your theory is (wonderfully) the closest to what may actually be the answer to Marika's actions. I don't think anyone's been as close (and if they had, I missed it). I knew this channel was great at lore and theories. My sub to you was worth it. :thumbsup:

Wow, you raise some really interesting points in this video.

Great video, sir. This is one of the aspects that feels particularly Norse to me. I almost think about the Numen being like the Aesir.

Wow this lore content was amazing it makes a lot of sense I love it

Coming back to this channel after a little while. Thought I stepped into the twilight zone lol. Love to see bandit branching out!

Hence the word of the ancient golden order battle chant; "Numen numen yea Numen numen numen yea Ma-ria-he, Ma-ria-hu, Ma-ria-ho, Ma-ri-ka-a"

The whole “Eternal cities are Numen” is flimsy at best, because it doesn’t really make sense. If they are the ones (and from what I understand of your theory, ONLY ones) that can become Empyreans, then why would they willingly submit a host for the Elden Beast? And if it is indeed part of a larger plan, why go against the Greater Will in the first place? The void creatures (Astel specifically) were said to have been sent down by the Greater Will to punish the defiance of the Eternal Cities. This could also only happen AFTER Marika arises to power as a god. So it doesn’t make sense to defy the GW if they already have an inside man (or woman in this case). Also why would Marika willingly submit her own people to banishment and isolation? It’s an interesting idea, but it requires to make too many assumptions and logical leaps for it to be possible.

Great video keep up the good work

Regarding Maliketh's betrayal and the assassins killing Blidd and Iji, I think this might be due to the nature of how "Shadows" work in this world. I think I remember Iji mentioning that shadows, like Blaidd and Maloketh, (and maybe also Godfrey's lion, but I'm not sure) were bestowed upon their respective master, and due to the nature of them being shadows, are physically unable to betray their masters. Iji also mentions that the shadows were also suppost to act as a sort of "insurance" to the Greater will. If the master of one of the shadows were to go against the Will, then the shadow would go mad and try to kill them. This is why Iji puts Blaidd in the evergoal and why Blaidd is missing for a good chunk of Ranni's questline, so that him going mad won't interfere with Ranni, whose going pretty explicitly against the Will. I think this explains why the assassins tried to kill Blaidd. Ranni has pretty good control over them, and she needed to get rid of a liability. As for them killing Iji, it could be that he may have been in a similar situation to Blaidd, though this is pure speculation with the only supporting evidence being his helmet, which apparently keeps the Greater will out. As for Seluvis, (pretty sure that's his name) I think I heard somewhere that he wanted to do some bad things to Ranni, so Ranni probably tied off that lose end while she had the assassins out. As for Maloketh, there could be a number of ways to interpret "betrayal". He could mean it as his desire to stay by Marika's side. I remember when Blaidd was imprisoned in the evergoal, I think he mentioned something like how he really wanted to be back by Ranni's side, expressing confusion as to why he needed to be there, and asks us to free him. Maybe all shadows have similar feelings about their masters, wanting to be by their side at all times. Maloketh could also mean betrayal simply with his (probably) siding with the Greater will, so a betrayal to the Will (shattering the ring) would be a betrayal againsed him. It should be noted that most of this is based off of my vague memories of Blaidd and Iji's diologue and item descriptions, so I reccomend checking those out to confirm.

Ur top 3 of my favorite lore guys . Keep it up

Really good insight about the Numens living underground especially when you consider that it may be reference to the Pthumerans in bloodborne who were godlike people whose city was under the ground of Yharnam

Interesting theory! Maybe we can see a theory on everyone's favorite sword-wielding half-wolf one day?

You should definitely do a theory on us the player and why we were chosen and how the greater will knew to revive us. (Love the vids)👍🤘

Wow great video Everything makes sense... subscribed

I actually have to say I enjoyed your videos so far more than Vaati's. Great work man!

8:00 If you do Ranni's questline, she admits to having planned the night of black blades after having stolen the rune of death herself

Was waiting for this

2:36 I lost it at the stuff at the search bar.

yeee~ as always loving the content brother. kinda having me pull from wanting to play ffxiv and elden ring to finish out that story. so many options in each. e.e lol continue doing your thing, look into the good lore bit. :D i shall be one of the many in the masses awaiting for your next video~

I just wanna know why that specific Black knife assassin starts with half health.

I like how you make theories

I equipped the spinning ash of war with cold added on my Uchigatana, and waited for her to get close. I also released a summons when I got into the fight.

Hell yeah . I have been suspicious about marika and black knives connection from the beginning . I just could not find all the pieces. Awesome job!!

I love how much inspiration that the Black Knives took from the Ring Wraiths from The Lord of the Rings: Riders in Black Faces are perpetually concealed Assassins of a greater power

1. The Numen and the Nox were the same race in the beginning, the only difference made to them would be that the Numen submitted to the Golden Order while the Nox refused and were banished underground, then the Eternal Cities were built, later being punished for treason against the Greater Will which we can see via Nameless City and it's sky-less roof. - Grand Lift of Dectus: "The Erdtree governs all. The choice is thine. Become one with the Order. Or divest thyself of it. To wallow at the fringes; a powerless upstart" 2. Marika is first seen rebelling against the Greater Will after vowing to search deeper into the Greater Will, she presumably found out something she didn't like, ie: Erdtree is a parasite, and then sent Godfrey away to another land as reserves for whatever future plan she had. - Minor Erdtree Church: "I declare mine intent, to search the depths of the Golden Order. Through understanding of the proper way, our faith, our grace, is increased. Those blissful early days of blind belief are long past. My comrades; why must ye falter?" - Third Chuch of Marika: "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. Ye will wage war in a land afar, where ye will live, and die." - Church of Pilgrimage: "Then, after thy death, I will give back what I once claimed. Return to the Lands Between, wage war, and brandish the Elden Ring. Grow strong in the face of death. Warriors of my lord. Lord Godfrey." 3. Marika seems to have been in the plan with Ranni with having Godwyn as the target as opposed to only potentially providing the Rune of Death, the reason for Godwyn specifically still being a big question in the air but Marika claims her children are capable of being sacrificed despite being beloved by her, showing the demigods to die that night were probably more selected than random. - Capital Outskirts: "Hear me, Demigods. My children beloved. Make of thyselves that which ye desire. Be it a Lord. Be it a God. But should ye fail to become aught at all, ye will be forsaken. Amounting only to sacrifices..." Echoes of Marika really reveals most of her actions and makes you see what she was actually thinking throughout the story, this reddit post of the complete timeline still holds up pretty strong for majority of main events www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/tvd1s2/loretheory_on_the_timeline_of_elden_ring/?context=3

My interpretation was that the Numen migrated from elsewhere and settled in the lands between. And since they are a long lived race, they have a long history in the lands between that includes some offense against the greater will and banishment to the eternal city. Perhaps Marika separated herself through her relationship to the greater will, becoming queen of the land and subjugating all of the inhabitants. But when she decides to cut ties and rebel against the greater will, she was able to return to her people and ask for their support. Not sure if this holds up but it’s how I was able to make sense of the numen.

Great video again

The black knives killing Iji and trying to kill Blaidd is definitely Ranni just tying up loose ends.

Oh Dudes... that makes lots of sense. Wish I noticed too.😅 I just by accident found one of the hidden city.... this is mind blowing. 🤔

This is a good lore vid, I was thinking the gloom eyed queen was working with the black knife assassins, but it seemed iji and blaidd were always going to die with ranni pretty much saying "they give her so much,yet they both understand what lies down the dark path" and iji pretty much saying it to. The dark path which may be in conjunction with walking the path of flames a path which the 2 fingers or the greater will didn't want you to go on,in which you will die but just a theory

I'd be interested if anyone could explain the significance of the church when we hear the dialogue from Marika stating that they could no longer have blind faith, at the place where the first erdtree seed was found. Its surrounded by golden centipedes, which have been a symbol of stagnation and rot and undeath in previous from games. I can't figure out what this could mean, but it's clear that the spouting of seeds is a turning point for Marika and the GO, and it appears to be pretty ominous.

You have probably already heard this but ranni straight up tells you she orchestrated the night. Not just taking the idea.

Perhaps there was a division between the order of assassins? Some stayed true to Marika while some flipped to Ranni. Although i do feel like this would have been mentioned somewhere in-game. One other thing I find fascinating is just how fallible the Greater Will seems to be. When I think of a god I think of something practically omnipotent. If Marika was able to manipulate the Greater Will that really shows how tenuous the GW’s grasp on this world is. Really says something about all Outer Gods i’d say. The formless mother depends on mohg to progress her dynasty, the rot god was defeated and sealed by a lone swordsman, the frenzied god is locked away, and i don’t know jack about the deathbirds….anyway i love this game and i am fascinated by the lore.

Marika might have plotted the death of Godwyn because his Great Rune served as the anchor ring of the Elden Ring. The thing is, Marika probably didn't plan on Godwyn's death being corrupted in the way that it was. He was supposed to die a Destined Death, in which he would simply return to The Erdtree, but instead he only had his soul killed. Ranni usurped the plot to abandon her own shackled body, so that she could not only end the reign of The Order, but also move the New Order beyond the lands themselves.

With this line of thinking Numen kept the faith with Marika, and she failed or betrayed them, not because she stalled but more likely that they saw Radagon. Radagons presence would signal to them that she was compromised. The Greater Will now had an avatar inside Marika, their hopes would be destroyed. But there are lines of Marika goading Radagon because he/the will did not have full control over it's host. With this we can logically believe that Marika had passed the plan to Ranni. Because Ranni, had knowledge of everything needed to kill The Greater Will, and what the Greater Will was doing but she also had her own plan and purpose. What's more Ranni had conspired with Rhykard, as she gave him a shard needed to defend against Malaketh. Marika would've 5D Chess and big brained this too by sowing discord and chaos, she also told all of her children to go nuts and have ambition, which would foment their rebellion and the shattered state of the Kingdom the Will had established. What I also noticed that you didn't talk about or mention was Radahn and Melania. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why Melania attacked Radahn because she was so infatuated with Miquella. Then it hit me, a throw away line for Radagon, his hair was red because he was cursed, it's such a minor detail but it's implications are huge when you consider fate and Destiny, and how it when weaponized is a curse. Radagon married Renalla, their children and their fates all bound by the stars, a fate which would be denied, by not only the loss of Destined Death but their fates as a whole by the Starscourge Radahn. What if, because of how powerful a vow could be, especially by a god, that their children would be bound by another family? It would explain why everything is at a standstill when we return and nothing can progress without an outsider not bound by The Greater Will a complete stalemate. Melania couldn't achieve her dreams so long as Radahn lived, nor could she ascend to Godhood herself, a fate she herself hoped to deny. It could explain why the Numen were outside the Throne room, to assassinate Morgott and dwindle Radahns allies but it's not something that could ever happen because they can't experience death, if it's destined by fate or design. It would explain Ranni's conspirators killed, by the Black Knives as her story progresses, because they're not Ranni's, but Melanias because she also failed and so they need to settle up with what's most likely to kill God. The only two challengers that had hoped to create a god to replace the current one. If Marika knew this, and Radagon/the Will also knew this and it may be why he Married Renalla, a marriage so odd.

Fia is also a Numen, it is worth mentioning. She tells you this when you get hugs.

Maybe Merica and Ranni were working together. if they are both Numen and wanted to get rid of the will then they both wanted the age of stars

I really loved this video! I think it's collected quite a lot of incredibly helpful information. However some things I want to point out in general that could help further discussion, or be little insights. In regards to Ijis death, his corpse is covered in Black Flames, something I think is an incredibly important distinction to make compared to the Destined Death effect on the Black knife itself, which is a black and red flame effect. This could point that these specific Black Knives were actually working alongside the Godskin Nobles, who wield a very similar Godslaying black flame. it could be that these Black Knives planned to betray Ranni, seeing as she was going to become a new God or usher in the control of another Outer God, they might have taken it upon themselves to join with the Godskin Nobles and slay Ranni. Another thing, and this is something that will bother me and everyone else until we have any semblance of total proof, but what about Radagon? While we know for a fact that he attempted to repair the Elden Ring while shattering it, meaning by that point in time they must have been fused- but what of when the Rune of Death was snatched away? We can tell that Radagon *seems* to have his own sort of great rune, that hex like mesh that possibly knits all of the great runes back into the Elden Ring to complete it, but it's still difficult to gauge how Marikas betrayal could in any way be possible if she has always been fused with Radagon. Part of me is convinced that Radagon was merely an extension of Marika somehow, that the "identity" known as Radagon was truthfully in on the plan with Marika the entire time, seeing as they would have to be fused together before the shattering, and possibly before the Night of Black Knives. I just can't buy Radagon never being able to tell that Marika wasn't going to betray the Greater Will if they shared the same body for any extended amount of time. My first thought was that Radagon would be either a persona attached to the Elden Ring as an entity for the Greater Will to actively contain it, but then what would the point of Marika be? And finally, I feel like Ranni and Marika in some way or another both must have been in on the Night of Black Knives. If Marika were to betray the Greater Will by ultimately trying to sever our connection with it, or even destroy it, and Ranni somehow found out- I feel like there is no conceivable way a secret this important could just slip out like that to even Ranni, no? While Ranni ultimately had an ulterior motive to that of Marika, they both had the same mutual goal of removing the influence of the Outer Gods and the Greater Will. I think Marika willingly took trusting Ranni with the Night of Black Knives, seeing as we know she is part responsible. Marika doesn't really seem to care about the means whatsoever, as long as it accomplishes her goal of severing our connection to the Outer Gods and take our place once more as the true inhabitants of the Lands Between/revenge for her ancestors. Super short side note, but that could even be why Marika and the Greater Will lend aid to the Tarnished. Marika banks on a Tarnished or two, including Godfrey, to return in order to claim the Elden Ring, destroy the Elden beast, and rule eternally as our own people. The Tarnished suffer a similar fate of being outsiders to the Lands Between that the Numen do, hell you can even choose Numen as your starting race, even if that comes with the risk of a servant of the Golden Order becoming one to inherit the Elden Ring. I get the feeling this has to be correlated.

Since there seem to be many Black Knife Assassins[like they are an order of warriors i think] I would not be surprised if there where multiple factions, some remaining loyal to Marika while others chose to align themselves with Ranni. There is even at least one who appears to have aligned herself with the Haligtree, as she's within the evergaol that acts as the key to that place, preventing it from being unlocked but not fighting against the albanuric women there

Some things missed (I think) is that you can find a Nox weapon in the Carian manor and of course theres entrances to the Nox underground/underground on Carian family land. Kinda points to the Carians being Nox. As for the black knives killing Iji and trying to kill Blaidd best guess is either it was commaned by the greater will in some way as revenge or Radagon (though being a part of Marika) commanded it to try and stop Ranni cause he supported the greater will and seeded to want to stop Marikas plans.

I know im late but you also have to understand that distance isn't necessarily to scale in fromsoft games. Ds2 takes place in several countries for example. The games usually use time dialation to explain it so places like nokron could be an entirely different space.

This information could lead to why ranni wants an age of stars, as the theorized world of the numens is full of stars

Just wanted to comment on the Black Knife’s rebelling against Ranni. Like you said I haven’t found any lore supporting that they switched sides back to Marika but I found it interesting that when you get to the capital past Godfrey’s first fight there’s a black knife waiting for you at the door before you’d fight Morgott and I thought that was strange that they’d be protecting the bedchamber of the capital after they killed Godwin but it’s clearly all connected now that I’m putting the pieces together. Decided to not do Rannis Quest for NG+ cause I didn’t want a dead Blaidd and Iji on my hands.

Great video.

Could you do a lore video on the Night folk? Would love to learn more about them

It is also strange that Marika's rune seems to be the Rune of Death, you can see it by looking at Marika's Soreseal and Scarseal.

Interestingly we get those numen runes from ant queens, and we also see nox ant riders.

It is just me, or the Black Knifes are a mini version of the Dancer of the Boreal Valley? I mean think about it, they kinda have similarly. They both know how to dance while attacking us, and they both have an incredible bendy back, or a jelly spine that won't snap anytime soon.

Not sure if anyone else mentioned this, but to further the connection between the Nox and Ronni: In the description of the Nightmaiden & Swordstress Puppet it mentions “These sisters, … , became puppets of their own volition,” just like Ronni. :)

Fun Fact: The Night of Black Knives are actually using an African blade type called the Mambele. It was often coated in poison and used for throwing or in close range.

It's literally the lands between Farum Azula in the sky, another world underground.

So this video leads me to the question of was there a rotation of outer gods who ruled the lands between for a set period of time and then rule went to the next one and the greater will wanted to break the cycle while marika was trying to thwart the breaking of the cycle?

thank you for the quality lore video sir 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Numen race is most probably a reference to JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion. Not only for the name, but also because their description matches perfectly this race from the Middle Earth. Which is further reinforced by the fact that Martin is known for having declared himself a loyal fan of JRR Tolkien universe AND is easy to find other ideas related to the Silmarillion in-game. For whose haven't read about this, numenoreans in Tolkien's universe end up being either great (almost divine) kings e.g. Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings or "dark numenoreans". At least one of which -guess what - ends up as a Ringwraith. That also looks almost the same as the Black Knife assassins. Would be interesting to keep this references in mind to further explore Elden Ring lore.

Great video but I feel calling Numen another world is a bit of a reach. It is another part of the world, as the Tarnished are banished and literally walk to other lands and leave the lands between. Additionally Iji and Blaidd arent attacked by Black Knife assassins, they are attacked by Baleful Shadows. The corpse of one is right by Blaidd where he killed it outside Rannis Rise and it is clearly not a Black Knife.

The eternal cities are not outside the lands between. The Knox were Numen who travelled to the Lands between a long time ago and after commiting some sort of offence against the Greater will they were banished underground, but that means they were above before . The stars underground is a fake sky also

It's also possible that the nox are a sect or group composed of numen. Like a group of priestess or something.

It’s said that Godwyn was supposed to die as a sacrifice or better said as a martyr. Merika most likely already had Godwyn’s death planned out but in a different way.

I think we are going to go into the world of dreams for dlc. I’m calling it! BET!

This also explains Astel, Naturalborn of the void. It was said somewhere that the greater will destroyed the eternal city's night sky for what they had done. Godwyns body is in the only eternal city without a night sky. Astel's boss room has the stars from mentioned sky. Yet, the Astel in the concecrated snowfield doesn't have them.

This exemplifies my hate/love with Formsoft's vague style of storytelling. I've had the facts for about a month now, and like an itchy spot on your back, the connections have stayed tantalizingly out of reach. This video scratches the shit out of that spot, so to speak. Marka hailing from the eternal cities could be alluded in her title, too. "Marika The Eternal" Right?

Small aside for this video, the Great Tree was specifically before the Erdtree

Honestly I think this Theory serves a lot better than the Numen people being from a different planet. It would make a lot more sense for everything to be contained within the same Realm

My guess would be that the Eternal Cities was originally home to the Numen, were almost completely wiped out, the Lands Between was built on top of their home (Marika becomes Queen after this point), then the Nox were banished to the Eternal Cities (which is why they seem to serve the Black Knives).

The only thing I know about the Black Knife Assassins is that you get stuck in a boss, you summon Tiche and watch her go to town lol

The finger slayer build is already blood stained when you find it which leads me to believe that the Numen actually lived above ground initially and were likely exiled for their treason in killing a two-fingers.

That was a fantastic video. I'm not enough comfortable in english to expose my personnal idea about the lore but thanks for this video :)

I hope the story of the Black Knifes and their murder will be more intensly discussed in a future DLC

This is one of my favorite interpretations of being an Empyrean so far as the most elegant explanation of "born of a single god" thing. Yet there is a theory where being an Empyrean means being born under influence of one of the outer gods. So maybe Empyrean are some special breed of Numen or something like that

Ranni's black knife assassins killing her servants is in fact explained in the game. Both Iji and Blaidd we're cursed by the greater will to turn on her if she were to commit treachery. Iji actually explains this when talking about Blaidd and says he will soon fallow. The black knife assassins were sent to put them down and end their suffering. ( also little side note it seems the giant was killed using God slaying black Flame)

Great video man I think you might be right