Something that was sort of a big reveal, but probably should've felt obvious in retrospect was that not everything George R.R. Martin wrote was used for the main game. Messmer has apparently been secretly hidden in the backstory this entire time, and only now do we have any perspective to see where they hinted at him. This means, no matter how thoroughly we examine the game, we can never be certain we have the full story. It also raises the question of just how much else there is still waiting in the wings, and what more they might be able to do with it.

Miyazaki outright called the weird lion boss a "dancing lion" implying that it's shape and design are based on the Chinese Lion or Dragon Parade Dancer costumes.

You must be this tall to be a boss Lion Dancer: *Proceeds to stack people underneath like he's trying to sneak into the movies as an adult*

The Aeonian and Nascent butterflies map to Malenia and Miquella. The third type, the smouldering butterfly, was speculated to tie Melina in as a third sibling. But perhaps it actually was a reference to Messmer the entire time!

Miyazaki has done it again, adding both a Deathblight swamp AND a sleep swamp. Marika has truly forsaken us

The fact that the smoldering butterflies might've just been tied to Messmer the entire time blows my mind.

"Could just be a group of people in a costume" Incredible optimism

Me: "So there's another poison swamp?" Lord Miyazaki: "There will always be another poison swamp."

I think its weird that very few seem to be talking about Messmer's title as the Impaler. Not only does this tie him towards a real life figure from history, but we have seen people being impaled in Elden Ring quite a few times before, even in the opening images of Hoarah Loux and at the end with Marika. We also see this old man being impaled by this golden branch looking weapon.

Messmer being the character featured most prominently in the trailer as a "big bad" we'll have to fight is, unsurprisingly, dripping with evocative references. He's encoiled by a snake with two heads on each side of its tail, and when he stands menacingly to face the player, it's made clear that he's wielding a caduceus. The caduceus is commonly seen today as a symbol of medicine, but in alchemy, it is a symbol of authority of Hermes Trismagistos, the quasi-divine mythical figure, said to be the very originator of alchemy, and credited with the creation of the Emerald Tablet. Essentially the blueprint outlining what alchemy is and how it's performed. He also smugly mentions someone (likely the player character) being unworthy of lordship due to being "bereft of light". That too is an alchemical reference, specifically to the third stage of alchemical purification, "Citrinas". That stage, the penultimate stage, is considered to be akin to "being filled with solar light", and is referred to as an alchemist reaching enlightenment by being filled with sun's light. In physical practice, that stage involves light and heat. And after that stage, comes Rubedo, the final stage in alchemical purification, which results in deep crimson, and the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. So it looks like Messmer might _be_ the Philosopher's Stone himself, reaching the state of "deep crimson" through the practice of alchemy. He's seen wielding red flame that is definitively distinct, it is kind of similar to bloodflame, the flame of the Blasphemous Blade, and even the red fire of the Rune of Death, but it seems to still be distinct. More refined, you could say.

One thing I want to say is that the way the omen-misbegotten-lion boss at 3:07 moves really evokes the traditional lion dance you might see in Chinese cities at the lunar new year, right down to its wide, puppet-like mouth with perfectly flat teeth. There's not a doubt in my mind that that was a point of inspiration for that boss's design and animation

The amount of intricate details and symbolism in Messmer's design is mind-blowing. Definitely adds a whole new layer to the lore of Elden Ring.

3:26 In the first image we see of the Lion Chimera, a omen-looking hand is seen grasping the lion's lower jaw and raising it, which i think leads credence to it being a costume puppeteered by mutiple people.

That bizarre skeletal horse rider is probably a (or based on the) nuckelavee, which are monsters from orcadian folklore. They are described as monstrously decrepit humanoids with warped/oversized heads that rock back and forth, and their torsos are seemingly fused to an equally disgusting equine.

Messmer looks like he's wielding elements from all of the Erdtree's historical enemies into his design. Dragons, Snakes,fire giants, the exiled knights, etc... anyone who ever had beef with Marika. If Miquella was harboring anyone and everyone the Erdtree rejected, his shadow (Messmer) is probably doing something similar but much darker.

One thing about messmer, is that the snake coiling around his weapon in the dlc image makes the shape of a great rune

I think the “Lion dancer” or whatever the puppet is, is meant to be a mockery of the Golden Lineage. Its lion-esque head is reminiscent of Serosh, and the pale blonde hair is a hallmark of the Golden Lineage’s most reputable - Marika and Godwyn; yet the omen horns are reminiscent of the two disowned members of said lineage - Morgott and Mohg. The puppet also wields golden lightning which was said to be wielded by Godwyn (death lightning incantation). The greenish eyes also aren’t far off the colour of Roderika’s, whose eye colour is said by Hewg to mark her as being gifted in spirit tuning; I’ve seen it theorized that Marika was the spirit tuner that Hewg was indebted to (I find it unlikely, but not impossible). The possible implication of the puppet is that Marika’s proud line of descent is defiled and that even its proud face is not so far removed from that corrupted truth. It could also just be a mishmash of Crucible-adjacent things, as lightning (wielded by ancient dragons), horns (omens) and beasts are all tied to the Crucible and instead be something celebratory. Edit: Apparently there’s an interview where Miyazaki states that the lion dancer is a practice from a pre-Marika culture. Hadn’t read the article, but I guess that confirms its not a mockery. Within the context of the current Golden Order that shuns things such as omen, it might’ve been, which was my assumption, but if its a practice that predates it the only thing that might make it a “mockery” is its continued existence while the main culture of the Lands Between shuns such things. The Golden barb impaling the old man and piercing/replacing his ribs, looks like the candlesticks held by the horned (omen?) figures the player attacks while showcasing the new dual swords and their AoW. Quelaag also noted that the character shown in the Carian-esque room bears a resemblance to the figure in the Carian inverted statue (used to invert the Liurnia tower) as you pointed out. There’s a Carian statue in Raya Lucaria at the altar in the entrance hall that cannot currently be interacted with, so its possible that this character resides in some inverted form of Raya Lucaria.

Zullie idk if you noticed but that guy from the painting pulling the branch out of his head, if you look at the “branch” or whatever it is and look at it’s shape throughout his body, it actually resembles the completed Elden Ring rune, or at least a damaged version of it, with the curved spikes out the side. Also really looking forward to all of your. upcoming regarding this DLC.

Great analysis! But you missed two details: Melina’s voice can be heard in trailer, so we may meet her again. Mesmer - is Intentionally forgotten brother of Malenia and Mikella, but there is one sign of his presence early - thrones in cutscene before Morgot boss fight. There are three thrones left from Morgot: for Ranni, Radan and Rickard, distance between thrones is the same. But distance between thrones on Morgot’s right hand is different - Malenia’s and Mikella’s thrones stands close together while Godrik’s throne is so far that exactly one throne for missing brother can be placed right between. I’ve noticed it in my very first play and only now I saw the reason.

There is some pretty notable symbolism to Messmer's snakes having dragon wings, especially within the context of him possibly being an empyrean. In several mythologies, including east Asian ones, snakes are lesser forms of dragons, and the transformation of the former to the latter is a popular concept symbolizing various forms of evolution, including a transition from mortal to divine. If we accept Messmer as being an empyrean, the dragon-winged snakes can be seen as representing a desire for him to become a full-fledged god like his mother. It could also, however, represent the denial of what Messmer saw as his rightful fate, probably by Marika herself if the "unsung battle" from the trailer's description is anything to go by. One of my wilder theories is that Messmer might be Melina's alter ego, the same way Radagon is to Marika. I'm sure that the flames Messmer is using are imbued with Destined Death, due to the black highlights and wisps encasing them, which we see when Maliketh unleashes the rune himself. I'm still also convinced that Melina is/was the Gloam-Eyed Queen, as there are far too many hints pointing at it, and it is stated that she herself used Destined Death. They might've become separated when Messmer was banished, or maybe when Marika created Melina as a guide for the Tarnished. Messmer might even just be the godly, empyrean aspect of Melina separated from her being.

Messmer kind of seems to me like a drake knight of some type

Crackpot theory - the coiled tree was from the age of the crucible and golden tree sprouted through it when Marika ascended. The shot of what is presumably Miquella shows what looks like a lot of pieces falling from the coiled tree.

I believe that Messmer is the firstborn of Marika and Radagon but was hidden way or disowned. If you think about it we didn't know about Gwyn's firstborn until Dark Souls 3 who was the Nameless King. Miquella seeking out his long lost older brother is a motive. Its possible that because Messmer partook in dragon communion as well as snake blasphemy led to him being hidden away like Morgott and Mohg and we see him sitting on an throne similar to the Elden Throne in Lyndell with Morgott. The 2 Great Shadow Trees are significantly smaller than the Great Erdtree too but still bigger than the Haligtree.

Oh yes, text analysis with relaxing zelda music, the finest form of art. Exacly what i needed.

i agree that the "parasite" tree seems to coil around the main one like a snake, and it may also be a reference to strangler vines that grow on and around trees and eventually kill and "replace" them

I’m really interested by the dialogue lines we hear in the trailer. Who is describing Miquella’s power at the beginning as something so terrifying? “They were never saints… they just happened to be on the losing side of a war.” Who exactly is this referring to? Presumably the war refers to the Shattering, but could it be the war against the giants, given Messmer’s potential involvement in that? “Mother, wouldst thou truly Lordship sanction, in one so bereft of light?” This is shown with Messmer’s appearance, so a lot of people assume it’s him talking about… someone… maybe the player. But I actually assumed it was someone else, maybe Miquella, talking about Messmer. I think a lot of the dialogue also makes it unlikely Miquella is our guide. Someone refers to him as terrifying in a far-off manner, and later someone says they presume you are keen to know what Miquella is doing in the Land of Shadows.

Reject dragon communion, become Rune Bear

You, Vaati, Lobos, FightingCowboy and Smough are part of my nostalgia. The memory wouldnt be complete without your videos. I'm so glad to be a part of this community and make memories with you homies ⚔️

I love the idea that the Smoldering Butterflies are related to Messmer, after we've assumed with near certainty that it was Melena from week 1 because nobody else *really* made sense. Miyazaki said they aren't currently working on a second DLC, but this really is a game you could expand on forever. The vagueness gives so much room. Even the most insignificant details seem to change the whole world in some way, while not breaking any other storylines at the same time. Outdid yourself on this one Zullie

I just realized something, there are 6 veils that are places suspiciously in a hexagon like the 6 divine towers It would explain why there was nothing in the middle of them in the base game if this is kind of a gate between these 2 lands Also my wild theory is that Miquella, at the end of the trailer, points to the glowing top of the Dark Erdtree, I think he wants to grow the tree through that veil and back to the very Centerpoint of the Lands Between idk but would be cool duality with golden Erdtree and this one joining together as one and truly joining all of the people of this world into a new era

finally we see miyazaki return to his roots as he gives us the long awaited poison swamp area

Messmer pose in the figure is exactly like a cleanrot knight

Messmer could be the 'Shadow' of everything anti-Erdtree, focused mainly on the biggest shade points for Miquella, Mogh (Messmer's winged snakes representing a shadow of Moghs floating blood, slithering in the cocoon with Miquella's body) and Rykard (A known ((to Miquella)) opponent of the Golden Order). Everything in the Shadow Realm is likely to be a visage or shadow of something else in the Lands Between in this way.

6:31 This reminded me of a Kelpie. It is a horse-like water spirit creature from Irish and Scottish folklore. Myths says that kelpie can turn into a human or horse, inviting travelers to join their company, touching Kelpie will make you stick to it, so it can drown with you. In trailer we can see that kelpie found its victim and conjoined with it.

The lion head needing the hand to relocate its jaw makes me think is a grafted version of Serosh, relating him to the Hoarah loux/Godrick lineage (Godrick Rune) The person in Raya Lucaria outfit echoes Renala (rune of the unborn) Messmer seems to be a child of Rykard (Rykard's rune) The droopy horse remind me of Leonard (Radahn's rune) My guess is the bosses in the DLC will echo the great rune bosses; which leaves the twin omen Great Runes and Melania's rune unaccounted for in the trailer. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

a theory about Messmer is that he's a character like Satan. He is a child of Marika that no one knows about. he's in charge of the Land of Shadows that are a sort of "dark version" of the Lands Between, he use all the powers considered blasphemy by the Golden Order and his duty is to ablaze the lands and whoever is inside of them. He seems to be like the lord of hell or something like that

You were right about those damn Runbears all along. They are turning into dragons after all.

one thing of note is the crucible, the hippo's spike attack has the same sound effect as the knights phase 2 , we also see the player getting some crucible wings in some form

The lion boss is a reference of the Chinese festival performance “舞獅（Wu Shi)”, aka “Dancing Lion” or “Lion Dance”. It’s perform by two people covering in a custom that takes image of a lion. The mask part is the main feature of the custom, which contains some moving parts capable of making expressions. The dancer can be very nimble and are often asked jump between tall bamboo poles. It’s a highlight of several eastern festivals and is even performed nowadays. Sorry for the flawed English. I’ve tried my best 😂

The bizarre skeletal creature is very reminiscent of VaatiVidya's Elden Ring Boss Art Competition. It's called the Nuckelavee from Scottish Lore and is a horse like creature like a centaur with two heads. The Nuckelavee's breath was thought to wilt crops and sicken livestock, and the creature was held responsible for droughts and epidemics on land despite being predominantly a sea-dweller.

To add to the observations; The figure seen overlooking Miquella's cocoon at the start of the trailer seems to be the same person later on in the helmet that looks similar to the Lucarian Knight helmet. The cape is the same.

The naming makes me wonder. Lands of Shadow. And the regular Elden Ring game takes place in The Lands Between. Which makes me wonder if there's another Land somewhere that's associated with Light or brightness in some way. Lands of Light, the Lands Between as the literal middle-ground, and the Lands of Shadow. That's just me musing though.

Something to note: that skeletal creature on horseback in the trailer seems to be inspired by the Nuckelavee. I’ve always wanted to see one of those in Elden Ring, it would be such a cool enemy to fight. They kidnap children and take them to the spirit world, but they also destroy villages and fields with their foul breath and their gaze

I've been waiting for your videos about this DLC, the way you videos are prepared and orchestrated is amazing!

Fuck the lore, it's BONE FIST TIME! GET IN THE BONE ZONE

2:58 I personally think these are what wormfaces originally looked like or a variant thereof, as they have the same long body, succing attack and think arms. They do miss legs but i am not sure what to make of it. 3:43 I think mesmer might have some connections with the formless mother of mogh, as he wields something akin to bloodflame, most common with mogh and the theme of impalement would be close to the thorns sorceries being about penance.

I like your videos a lot! They are informative, short, dynamic and very calming!

Been waiting for this and holding off on other trailer breakdown videos and such to see yours first Zullie. Thanks for the wonderful content and hard work.

that Zoras Domain over the vid is NASTY WORK. good stuff.

My running theory (for fun, not the most lore educated) is that Messmer is the other half of Malenia. Since Miquella has St Trina (and Marika has Radagon) it would then follow that Malenia has a male other half that has not yet been revealed. There's plenty of possible speculation as to how he has become who he is or why he is there, but I feel like there's several explanations that could have it add up. Like the other 'dual' characters Malenia and Messmer share a similar body type and even a somewhat similar posture. Malenia was the collector's edition statue and one of the main focuses in the lead up to ER's release and now Messmer is for SOTE. There's also obviously the very close constant connection of Malenia to Miquella so part of her existing within him to some degree makes a lot of sense, she may have even given her other half to him in some way. Maybe to protect him, or maybe even for Miquella to try and help her. I feel like there's a lot more speculation and connections that could be drawn, but I just don't remember enough to confidently make those connections.

I'm always glad to see your analysis and this trailer really has given you so much to work with. Thanks for picking up on some small details I missed. June can't come soon enough!

your channel is the only one that i’ll watch through entirely despite having no audio besides music. love your work!!

The lion dancer could be a practitioner of the art of grafting, Miyazaki did say something about other cultures of the dlc.

Anyone else getting the vibe that the body in the cocoon in Mohg's palace actually isn't Miquella, but instead was Messmer all along, and we all just assumed it was Miquella? I mean, yeah, Mohg calls it Miquella, but maybe he's talking to Miquella in the shadow realm THROUGH Messmer's body as a conduit!

One intriguing aspect of Messmer's design is his power to summon spears from the ground. Something we only ever see Cleanrot Knights perform. Though judging the frozen corpses of giants on the mountaintops could imply that the lands between have seen similar powers in the past

Thank you as always Zullie! You are so good at analyzing and theory crafting it’s crazy…

One thing that deserves mention is what the Collector's edition states about Miquella: "Divesting himself of his flesh, his strength, his lineage. Of all things Golden. And now Miquella awaits the return of his promised Lord." To me, this really rhymes with Ranni's predicament and since they are now comparable, I think it's more than safe to assume that Miquella will have his own ending. Consequently, I doubt we will fight him.

My pet theory is that Messmer is a dark/alternative version of Miquella. His gangly figure looks very similar to the dead body in Mogh's arena, and his name "Messmer" is reminiscent of "mesmerize" which ties in to Miquella's abilities to "compel affection."

Beautifully assembled content as always - very thoughtful and thorough!

Bro this is the analysis I’ve been waiting for tysm🤩🤩

honestly stumbled upon ur channel some time ago but ur channel really is a hidden gem on yt, ur vids are rlly detailed despite how short some of them may be , keep up the work 🎉

Love your content Zulie! Hope you are feeling better!!

Your video is the only “trailer release” video I’ve been looking forward to

The quality of these videos are always unmatched!

I’ve been waiting for either you or Vaati to give your impressions, cool.

HECK YES! *This* is the trailer analysis I've been the most excited about.

This is the best trailer breakdown I've seen so far.

Now this is the analysis I was waiting for!

Another great and insightful video👏🏽💯

Honestly you're the best in the game with this stuff, appreciate the work of finding solid connections to in game details as well as irl mythology without speculating too wildly out of turn.

Was looking forward to seeing this videos :D

You make fantastic work.

I've been waiting for this video for what feels like a lifetime

Can't wait for your videos once DLC drops- this'll be a treat

I was waiting for a video of this from you. Tbh, when I saw the trailer, the next thing I've thought was this channel.

@ZullieTheWitch When I saw the new type of incantation as shown at 5:23 in the video… I was immediately reminded of the video you had made regarding the similarities and parallels between the RuneBears and the Dwagons in the Lands Between… how spot on you were with your keen observations way back when you first published that particular video about the RuneBears and Dwagons. I just CANNOT wait for all of the new videos that you’ll be publishing revolving around the Shadow of the Erdtwee DLC and all of the ways that they tie back to the vanilla game. Keep up the impeccably stellar content you have become renowned for… just please be sure to give yourself time for some self-care and don’t burn yourself out. All the best to you and yours!,,!,

Whatever you are using to soundtrack this is beautiful. Sucker for pretty piano tinkling. Heard a lot about you through your peers reverentially bringing your ideas/opinions into their content, so new to your channel. Great work.

I told myself I wasn't going to watch a single analysis video until yours came out. Here we are.

perfect music for this, great video, ty!

The one thing I noticed when skimming through the trailer is about the Moon. The Moon only shows up in 2 scenes throughout the entire trailer, once when battling the Hippo like monster and the second time when the Leech thing is on screen. When the Hippo monster is on screen it is likely day time, but still you cannot see the line in the moon signifying that Ranni's great rune is embedded within it, it is not even unclear or something due to it being daytime, the line is just not there. When the Leech monster attacks the moon can be seen in really clear view, along with the diagonal line going through it showing the Great rune embedded within, while in the Hippo scene it is obvious that the moon is not supposed to be a focus of the scene, the Leech scene very clearly emphasizes the moon behind the battle happening on screen. The most this could likely mean is that we will somehow be able to obtain Ranni's great rune, removing it from the moon. The least this means is probably that the Leech monster is a night time boss and all of what I just analysed has no importance to the lore at all.

The next biggest thing I looked forward to after the trailer was Zullie's take on it! Thank you!

No one else's theories have been as satisfying as yours so far. You understand the lore and games so much more deeply than most other content creators

Who else watches these to relax? Insightful and beautiful as always, Z 🙏

The veil sky looks sick and I love the look of the shield with a spike on both ends like a dueling spear used against the snake guy.

The only trailer breakdown I'd watch.

The horns on that bear look more like the horns on the Omensmirk mask or even the Omen themselves rather than something draconic. That's just my opinion, though.

I’m psyched. Time to do another run in prep for the expansion.

mesmerize - To spellbind; enthrall. To hypnotize. Could be it be that Mesmer is some 3rd face of Mikuela?

Happy that Zulie thought of Northern Limit stuff too, 'cause I was thinking of that in regards to the attire of the scholarly fellow. Love that detail about it matching hte hourglass, I never would've known!!

Very interesting. Especially the two trees! I haven’t noticed that

The quills emerging from the hippo look like the small growing branches of the crucible to me. The gold color may even hint that it's using a crucible incantation and that we could learn it ourselves

3:11 The enemy resembles that of a Chinese lion dancer. It is a way of traditional ceremony where two performers wear a lion costume and dance according to music to perform rituals that often involve purging evils and bringing wealth and prosperity. In different regions there are different kind of lions, and they carry different symbolism too. You can still see them perform around Lunar New Year these days.

1:39 in case nobody has made note of it, this can also be obtained normally in the DLC. all store fronts say: "Bonus content will be available in-game when the expansion releases. The player can *also unlock this later in the expansion* ."

The only analysis worth watching

hi zullie, i appreciate the content and i really want you to continue to make vids. for me tho, i dont want any spoilers into any aspect of the dlc so im not gonna watch for a bit. after dlc releases you bet im gonna binge all the new vids so im hype for that

The extensive knowledge the community has always impresses me so much. Thanks for the analysis :)

The only thing that's truly confirmed so far is that the chosen undead goes to Burning Man

If I remember correctly, in a recent interview with Miyazaki, the player will be going through the steps of Miquella in the Land of Shadows. He also mentioned that the entrance to the DLC is through the throne of Mogh's Palace. I believe, we as the player, will be entering the Land of Shadows via Miquella's dream. Of course, we have to wait until the DLC arrive to see if this is going to be the case.

I have watched quite a few trailer breakdown videos now. not one gives the insights that this does. 10/10

The carian inverted statue detail was very well spotted.