Elden Ring - A subtle influence 

Special thanks to Maleedy and Tak3thisLif3, who both tested the interaction between Spirit Ashes and Bewitching Branches in the arena and recorded footage of it, since I obviously don't have the game in a suitable condition for going online myself. We were all quite surprised actually to learn how the Ashes behaved, since it seems like something that FromSoftware may not have really planned for or extensively checked themselves, given the mixed results.

"compelled affection" is actually such an insane euphemism. No wonder Miquella is called the most fearsome.

Ah yes, a boss capable of charming spirit summons. Can't imagine the chaos that would unfold if they charm mimic tear, for sure a unique experience

*Summons Tiche like always* *Boss uses charm and Tiche looks at me* Me: Oh no

Bewitching Branches are helpful against spirit summons in PvE for the Commander Niall boss fight when he summons two banished knights.

Imagine there's this leader. He's brilliant. He's talented. He's determined. He's compassionate. He's selfless. He knows and wants what's best for you. He cares about you, legitimately. There's nothing about him to dislike. The catch is... You have to love him. You don't have a choice. You probably would have, anyway, but now nothing you can do, and nothing he does, can stop you loving him. Even if he isn't willingly causing this, even if he never takes advantage of it intentionally, that's still terrifying. Even if he is exactly what he appears to be on the surface, he's scary.

Honestly, this whole manipulation/bewitching thing feels even more off when you consider, that some of Miquellas soldiers are literally suicide-bombing themselves for their lord...

Everybody gangster till Miquella turns your +10 Mimic Tear that beat the game by itself against you

3:17 "Ok, time to beat this Miquella boss fight. Let's go, Tiche! ...Tiche? What's wrong?" "Finally. I've been carrying you through every boss fight for so long. Now it is time for payback"

Miquella turning your spirit ashes against you for his boss fight, if he gets one, would make a hilarious first encounter

No, Mimic Tear! You were supposed to destroy the sith, not join them!

The Nox Antriders' mounts also have cloudy pink eyes btw, which they lose if you cast Sleep on them, causing them to attack their riders. Same color as the mist the Bewitching Branch uses. There's a very clear visual sign when the "Charm" effect is in place, which is obviously deliberate, and we never see it on anyone unless we use the branches ourselves... except for the pink ant eyes.

Niall's spirits are charmable too. Which suggests it was intended as a game/boss mechanic but got bugged in pvp when the summons were introduced.

The quote from Miyazaki about the shardbearers having their heroic qualities eventually turn into their reason of downfall makes me fear Miquella isnt immune to this fact. What may start as excused bewitching for the desperate and needy, might start to turn sour. The first line in the trailer "-he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. There is nothing more terrifying." Im just saying there doesn't seem to be a much more beloved person than Miquella in the lands between. The fact he could be the reason we have Torrent, and the reason we go the the land of shadow terrifies me. Heck, most of the community views him as a saint and the most morally good shardbearer, even me. Maybe Malenia was right.

"He wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men, there is nothing more terrifying." With the bewitching branch compelling affection, it's starting to become clear why Malenia called him "the most fearsome empyrean."

The opening line to the trailer, "Pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. There is nothing more terrifying." Kinda reminds me of the concept from C. S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces that the divine is so attractive and polarizing based on its innate goodness. Maybe the way Miquella is attactive is in his sheer goodness, so that people can't help but be compelled to follow him. Like how people can be naturally compelled to care for a baby or child as we are instincually drawn to protect those, even if the child isn't necesarily programming that affection. Really excited to see Miquella's true nature in the DLC.

Another example of how terrifying Miquella's power is that he doesn't even will it or cast it, just being in proximity to him is enough for him to beguile you. evidence of this is Mohg, pay attention to the way he carefully addresses Miquella compared to how he addresses a 'supposed' member of the dynasty.

The idea that Miquella compelled the affection of ALL around him, and that eventually resulted in someone going too far and kidnapping him.. thats actually kind of terrifying. Seems like a cautionary tale honestly.

What really makes Miquella as a character to me is the fact he's so very specifically tied to incredibly weird effects and concepts. Sleep, Youth and Love, both the Albinaurics and the Oracle Envoys, even the concept of a double-identity as both St. Trina and Miquella, though shared with his parent, makes him appear incredibly influential in a great variety of ways that other gods seem to just not be interested in.

I've been saying for a while that Miquella's whole deal screams "cult leader" to me. He even has his own Jonestown-esque compound in the middle of nowhere with goddamn suicide bombers. Imagine if bro manages to turn certain NPCs against us as we progress through the DLC. You show up to trade something with a merchant but instead of trading they get up with the charm effect and start attacking you.

The first line in the DLC trailer itself is "He wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men... there is nothing more terrifying" so it is possible that his charms go much beyond simply being charismatic. This doesn't necessarily have to be malicious though, as he does genuinely seem to have done good in the Lands Between because if he can bewitch people into following him then why focus on those shunned by the Golden Order rather than try to take over it? It could be possible that MIquella is not that malicious but is much more neutral likes Ranni as in he is willing to resort to manipulating or using others if it still serves his overall "good" goal.

I can picture it now: You enter the giant lion puppet's arena and immediately summon your faithful mimic tear to help you against the boss. But then an extra arm emerges from the great foe, holding a peculiar branch...

Bewitching enemies to fight for you: 🤚 Bewitching wild tortoise to fight with you: 👌

Zullie over here prepping us for a DLC boss like a boss. Thank you!

At this point, it’ll be an even bigger plot twist if Miquella really was being genuine with his altruistic goals and motivations.

As cool as the branches are in appearance, they pale in terms of usefulness to rapport. Luckily the pink butterfly spell seen in the dlc trailer looks like an aoe version of rapport.

I’m predicting Miquella will be like the final boss of Persona 5 Royal: he has genuinely altruistic and kind goals, but he doesn’t care if you want his ideal world or not, it WILL happen and he will treat you as the villain if you get in his way.

"The Empyrean Miquella is loved by many people. Indeed, he has learned very well how to compel such affection." - Bewitching Branch "Pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. There's nothing more terrifying." - ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree | Official Gameplay Reveal Trailer "My brother will keep his promise. He possesses the wisdom, the allure, of a god - he is the most fearsome Empyrean of all." - Malenia's Set I predict Miquella being either "neutral" or evil in the DLC

I do think that it’s worth considering that Malenia’s unflinching loyalty to Miquella could be a result of this ability to “compel affection”. Obviously Malenia has countless reasons to be totally devoted to Miquella, and I do believe that she is simply devoted out of sisterly love for her brother. But, it’s fun to think that something more sinister might be at play, even if it is a long shot.

FWIW, Dark and Humanity in Dark Souls were regarded equally symbolic of intense human emotions, such as fear, hatred, envy, and even love. The Pursuers spell obtained through Manus's soul was specifically born of love and attachment; Manus's soul itself was referred to as a "viscous, lukewarm lump of gentle humanity," contrasting his frightful and violent appearance. Dark Souls II expands on this theme with the Sisters of Dark. They are the shards of Manus, and through marriage to the kings of Drangleic, they each acted as harbingers of their respectful kingdoms' tragic downfall. My guess is that Miquella's love is feared by some not just for his ability to coerce, but to potentially fell entire kingdoms with love, exposing their weaknesses. After all, this was how his own father managed to fetter the fate of the stars to the Golden Order before abandoning Rennala, reducing her to a shade of her former glory. By the way... have you ever noticed that from Rennala's chamber and the Church of Vows, the Erdtree eclipses the moon in such a way that resembles Rykard and Radahn's Great Runes?

2:12 Technically, spirit ashes could be seen to be affected prior to the coliseum's opening. Commander Niall summons two spirit ashes during his fight, and I recall using tbe branches to help me with the first phase of the fight.

Not to mention some people are considering Miquella is based on Griffith from Berserk, and well all know how charming Griffith was....

If a boss is able to charm your summons, like in the arena, I'm sure you'd be able to dispel the charm with Law of Regression.

The Bewitching Branch use I still love the most is the one Gino discovered, where you can shoot a greatbow outside Esgar's arena to draw out the dogs, Bewitching Branch them, and they will tear Esgar to shreds for you.

rizz stick

I get a very strong Griffith vibe from Miquella, a beatiful yet terrifying god that charms those around him.

"Among thousands of comrades and ten thousand enemies, only you... only you made me forget my dream."- Miquella to the Tarnished.

The more i hear of Miquellas power, the more i wonder who is really in control with regards to his relationship with Mohg

Imagine if Miquella has a boss fight, and not only can he turn your Spirit Ashes against you with a branch attack, he can even use it on SUMMONED PLAYERS to at least enable friendly fire, similar to how Host Spirit Ashes in the arena work.

I'm also hopeful for a Mohg storyline extension. Varre gives you the invitation but tells you not to use it yet, saying something about waiting for Mohg to finish what he's doing. With luck, we'll be able to follow that line into the dlc, and unlock the bloodborne ending.

I think the art book needs a looking at on this channel. I own it myself and even my untrained eyes noticed some weird oddities. The biggest one I noticed is the art of Gurranq has him fully upright and humanoid in a way that suggests he might not have even originally been Maliketh. Also the art for Hewg has him as a normal, barely changed misbegotten. These are notable cause the majority of the named npcs (particularly the ones that are the player model) are grouped together under their armor sets and aren’t even named after the characters.

Calling it now, Miquella's boss fight will use these bewitching branches if we ever try summoning against him, forcing either a fair 1v1 or a gank of our own fault.

Bosses being able to turn spirt summons against you is an awesome concept and unique

The idea Mohg might've been supernaturally compelled to do what he did is some fascinating implication. Like he was just hanging out in the Shunning Grounds perhaps intending to never leave and Miquella joyous to hear he had a brother who hed never heard of, who was part of the spurned he so empathized for decided to go for a visit and that was the nudge Mohg needed to snap is so fascinating.

A boss that turns spirit ashes against players would be fun to see :)

"Disturbing implications" indeed. I know I ain't lowering my guard/suspicions towards the Griffith-like character of Miquella.

Turning your summoned spirit against you would be a very well made design, hope we see something like this, its a nice prediction.

Miquella took the concept of “I have no enemies” to a new level.

Good thing you can unsummon your spirit turned hostile. I can't imagine my panick if I was to end up fighting both the boss and the Dung Eater of mine.

I've been saying since the first time I saw this item back when the game first launched and I'll always say it: Miquella is WAY more than meets the eye, and people that are sure he is lawful good may be ignoring a big part of context. Even Malenia says he is THE fiercest of the Empyrean. Im really looking forward for the DLC and seeing if these suspicions are true.

Imagine fighting a field boss and he turns your mimic tear against you lmao

he just makes me think of Griffith. That inhuman Charisma he has is alluring and deadly for all involved.

Fascinating stuff. Looks like I picked the right time for my current no-summons run!

Miquella is FOR SURE gonna turn our ashes against us

i have no clue where you keep finding these details, and their meanings, keep up the good work!

Having the mimic tear turn against the player in miquellas boss fight would be peak fromsoft. Looking forward to it. Also the more and more I read and hear about miquella, the more and more griffith comes to mind. He's not just a charmer but "the" charmer and with apart from that the most fearsome of all. Let's find out what miquella has truly done.

That would be the coolest Mimic Tear nerf they could possibly make

Great video as always Zullie!

I really do hope that the DLC really dives into the whole charm, and even sleep, side of status effects, as the base game neglects them like crazy. Like, the only enemy I can think of that does sleep buildup to the player is a giant crab somewhere (I think the one in raya lucaria) and that's it. I'm assuming it will get branched out more, considering Miquella seems to be behind these somewhat passive/neutral statuses.

I love your videos! May be short, but shows your committment to keep uncovering secrets and hidden mechanichs in souls games. Hugs from Italy!

What if Miquella used his charm on Mohg, and it was not him wanting to steal Miquella to achieve the state of Empyrean, but actually Miquella using him for something. After all in Malenia's Armor description we get a quote from her saying "My brother will keep his promise. He possesses the wisdom, the *allure*, of a god - he is the most fearsome Empyrean of all." Not only that but we know through Millicent's questline that she was trying to return something to Malenia, which was her own will so to speak, rejecting the outer goddes of rot. So Malenia and Miquella could either have been against the Golden order all along, or they were corrupted by rot somehow, or anything in between. It could even mean the only reason Malenia used the scarlet rot and gave up to it was because she was charmed by Miquella.

The line "Wielding love, he strives to clean the hearts of men." Is so terrifying.

I imagine we'll fight St. Trina more than Miquella if anything. If Trina only exists in dreams, then it would make sense for Trina to want Miquella to keep sleeping in his cocoon. Would also explain why Miquella had no reaction to Mohg's offerings of blood, Trina has been the one receiving them. Going into Miquella's dream could be him in fact asking for help. I just hope he doesn't fall into the trope of being a tyrant/cult leader/villain what with the whole "universally praised good being who turns out evil", and for once is an actually good force in the Lands Between, kind of like the Burnt Ivory King in DS2.

Someone highlighting that Miquella was not, in fact, a good guy. Love to see it. The demi gods are all terrifying and power hungry warlords that led thousands to their deaths. They're all monsters.

Something about the way Zullie is posed throughout this video just varies from silly to striking to just very nice.

another banger as always

Having a boss that turns summons against the player sounds exactly like something Fromsoft would pull 100%. I'mma laugh if the DLC has a boss that does this.

men i love ur work !

I feel like we will find out Mohg was bewitched this entire time, under the influence of Miquella.

The banished knight in Nialls arena has my affection.

Undead rapport raised an interesting question. There's a rumor that Sieglinde isn't undead. Could we check that by looking for the rapport flag? If she doesn't have it and other NPCs do, that would confirm that she's still alive.

My wife is always so quick to identify the music in your videos when I put them on; it's very precious

Just realized something: the glyph appearing when using Bewitching Branch seems to be a combination of tree and the seven-armed candlestick. The same candlestick that was recently found to appear on a shield and be similar to those wielded by enemies in DLC trailer

That’s a surprisingly good insight about how pvp summons work

So the incantation cast on a group of undead we see in the trailer IS basically a mass bewitching branch spell? Anybody else thought the particle effects looked exactly like the brach?

that charm effect is a good way to fight Nial

I'm literally going crazy with this music

In the dlc trailer you can see what is most likely a wide area spell version of bewitching branch.

Ahhh. His rune is love

I've never used the branch before in my two and half playthroughs, so I'm only just now noticing the similarities in how the Haligtree crest and the Candletree crest look.

This could completely change the War Dead Catacombs

I love the fact you used the wacky wavy arm-flailing inflatable slinky as an example. That's my favorite summon in the game.

pretty interesting, seems to be a overlooked bug, i guess not many people thought to use the branch in pvp, did you try it on Rennala's spirit ash summons?

Thank you, Zullie. Very cool.

Love your videos Zullie! Hope you’re doing good today!

You know the big bulbous guys with the gold toot horns? The section of the game that has a giant one, a medium sized one, and a tiny one, all facing away; I like to sneak up behind them, then rush the big one and beguile him. They'll all fight and then you can mop up.

This might be one of those times when players find an unintended interaction by accident and the Devs go “Write that down, WRITE THAT DOWN!”

Some weeks ago I used bewitching branch on the giant oracle envoy and it worked, but I don’t see the name there. The large oracle envoy is actually the slim one.

Theres something i always enjoy hearing From Soft games and Zelda music, ive had a couple unique experiences with the branches.

The bewitching branch says it is blessed with unalloyed gold. And then his soldiers have crowns "blessed with an incantation of unalloyed gold" I always assumed it to mean many if not all of his knights were under a similar effect to the bewitching branch. It is the only knight's helmet that increases a stat. And it's faith, faith is connection to your God. So it increases their connection to miquella (possibly making the mind control stronger?)

Yay always happy to see a new video from you! The implications of this could be really interesting and punishing for players who rely on spirit ashes. I’ll not lie and say I don’t use them lol Miquella is starting to feel less benevolent than I thought.

So I definitely need to get better at not summoning my Mimic Tear for every fight, got it.

My guess is if there is a Miquella boss fight or maybe a disciple of Miquella he will make it impossible to use Spirit Summons. Imagine you thinking it's going to be an easy fight by summoning Tiche or Mimic Tear and it just turning on you the instant they are summoned. Or maybe a mechanic similar to Old Monk from Demon's Souls where an invader can fight on behalf of Miquella almost if they were persuaded to join his side.

It just now hits me that lore-wise Miquella would be perfect for summoning an invader like DeS Monk and DS3 spear of the church.

I suspect theres going to be a huge amount of bewitching going on in spirit ash enabled colosseum fights now, lol.

Miquellia bossfight I'm calling it now

If Miquella actually will be a final boss of dlc - would be cool if he could use branches to turn your spirits against you, like Mimic Tear or Tiche

There is also spirit ashes being summoned in O'neil and Niall fights, so it kinda has a usage

In the dlc trailer we can see a spell being cast by the player character which is colored pink same as the mist coming from the bewitching branch, so it's likely one of Miquella's charm spells. Also there are butterflies circling the caster, likely to reference the spell's connection to Miquellla as Malenia's abilities also had butterflies surrounding them.

What if Miquella charmed us at the beginning so we see the lands between in other way than others? And this is why we fight all of them