Very well written! I'm convinced. Burying Godwyn in the roots and him transforming and infecting the roots and the world through them seems like a very simple and concise way to tie all of this together.
To expand on your fantastic idea, I would say Godwyn severing the Erdtree from the Great tree is what starved the golden order to the point of summoning the tarnished back to the lands between.
Super late, but one thing has left me a bit confused: If Marika, who started the Golden Order, knew the Erdtree is disconnected from it's roots, then why would she bury Godwyn in a place that she knows doesn't have power anymore?
Long lore post ahead: It is my belief that the sealing away of the Rune of Death and the seperation of the Erdtree from its roots to create the Golden Order are one and the same action. That is because I consider the Roots of the Erdtree to be the physically, naturally embodied place where the Rune of Death held dominion, where it's function was executed. There is much concrete evidence to support this: the Erdtree roots are connected to the various catacombs throughout the lands between. It is in these places that the dead would be returned to the roots, returned to the Erdtree, in a cycle of life and death. We know that, as you say, at the removal of the Rune of Death this became impossible. We also know that if the roots of the Erdtree are no longer connected to it's trunk, that there is no longer any pathway for the souls to re-enter the Erdtree and emerge as Grace which ensouls new life. They are stuck in the roots, unable to enter the trunk, much less the branches. There is more evidence to back the theory of association between the Erdtree roots and Destined Death. This is because, when Ranni has a shard of the Rune of Death stolen to perpetrate the Night of the Black Knives, this shard is afterwards let loose. And where does it go, where is this incomplete shard of death manifested in the world? In the Erdtree roots, as the Deathroot, the same Deathroot that you feed to Gurraq in order to recover the lost Rune of Death. This brings me to my final point. When we defeat Malekith, we release the Rune of Death: it looks like a Rune alright, but it is jagged, black, but also strikingly red. It is, simply, a vertical line with an arc at the top, with the top arc angled downward instead of upward, like the various arcs on the Elden Ring. It is my belief that, when the Rune of Death was part of the Elden Ring, it occupied a space below the Lower Arc of the Elden Ring we have today. This is for two reasons: firstly, that in the Mending Rune of the Deathprince ending, the location that this mending rune occupies on the Elden Ring is intersecting with the Lower Arc of the Ring. Because this Mending Rune is explicit that it's introduction to the Elden Ring is a restoration of Death as a part of the world Order (albiet in a different form, with the affirmation of Undeath as part of the Order), I associate the position of the Mending Rune with the former position of the Rune of Death. However, there is a much, much more important reason: That important reason is that the Elden Ring actually depicts the Erdtree in symbolic form as a piece of it. Specifically, the Erdtree is Marika's Seal: the Upper Arc coupled with the Vertical Line. This symbol is evocative of the Erdtree with it's outstretched branches and vertical trunk, and is mimicked by Marika herself and the various crucifixes throughout the land. Because Marika is the recipient of Grace from the Greater Will, and is also the provider of Grace for the world, just as trees are the recipients of light from the sun and of fruits for animals to eat. There is plenty of tree/crucifix symbolism in Christianity that I am also drawing on to make this association. Anyways, because of the Seal of Marika depicting the Erdtree, I find it wholely appropriate that the Rune of Death should find it's place under/in intersection with the Lower Arc of the Elden Ring, extending below it, stabilizing the tree and drawing on the power of Death in much the same way as the Erdtree branches can be understood as drawing on the grace (light) of the Greater Will. This new, combined Elden Ring would fuse both the deep red of the Death Rune with the bright gold of the Golden Order, leading to a complete ring which would be the color of the Crucible knight armor: red mixed with gold. Am I then suggesting, that the shape of the primordial Erdtree, the Crucible itself, is yielded with the fusion of the current Elden Ring and the Rune of Death? Maybe. There's one wrinkle here: the proto-Elden Ring design in the Malikith boss room at Faram Azula. This seems to me to be the shape of the Crucible referenced in Siliura's Spear. It is a unified whole, unlike the relatively artificial and divided Elden Ring of the Golden Order. I'm not sure if it's the color of the Crucible knight armor? It's a matter I'd like to try to settle, really. I'm unsure. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! I'm enthusiastic about interpreting the Elden Ring as a symbol on a way that sheds light in the lore.
Yes, the proto-Elden Ring symbol in Farum Azula is quite troublesome indeed. There's also the chance that the Crucible is the "Helphen" tree which guides the spirits of the dead. (Think spirit trees with ghosts that guide us to catacombs.) I'm not sure how I feel about this though because these "candletrees" already have fire coming out of them, and the Giants' Flame was supposed to be anathema to the Erdtree. Then again, the Siluria Tree does resemble them more closely than the current Erdtree, and so do the Putrid Erdtree Avatars' staves.
Wow, this comment was great. By the way, the tilting of the Erdtree as a result of its severing from its roots would explain why the Haligtree was braced.
@Flavertex What you said about Marika's seal made me think of another way in which this position is related to trees. She is suspended in a crucifixion pose, and it is often said that Jesus was crucified on a tree. 'Tree' and 'cross' seem to be interchangeable in Christianity. Most people interpret the "tree" to just mean a cross made of wood. Then again there actually is a Jewish, seemingly anti-Christian text called the Toledot Yeshu in which the account is that Jesus was hanged (like with a noose, I think) on what I believed was described as an actual, still-living tree. (On the other hand, if he was actually hanged from a noose, this would interfere with what is already presented to us in game: the crucifixion pose). This theory probably isn't true but it wouldn't surprise me if the developers were aware of this story, since they seem to take influence from less orthodox mythologies. A second thing I wanted to mention. I was totally convinced by your theory, but upon rewatching this video, I found a line in this video that seems to pose a problem for it. D says to the dead person he's standing over, "Your soul will return to the Erdtree, in time." If we emphasize the "in time" part of this statement, then maybe he just means that if the roots of the Erdtree/Crucible were to reconnect with the Erdtree itself, then the person's soul will be able to return to the Erdtree. However, we know that D is a devoted follower of the Golden Order, in which Destined Death is absent. So unless he anticipates that Destined Death will be restored, this line and your theory don't completely fit together.
Oh, something else came to mind that I'd like to share. Maybe when D says that souls will be returned to the Erdtree "in time," he means after deathroot has been removed from the Lands Between, and after Godwyn is completely killed. Supposing that Godwyn is actually the cause of souls not being able to return to the Erdtree, rather than the roots being separated, then this would make some sense. D might be saying that people's souls WILL return to the Erdtree, once he makes it to deeproot depths and kills Godwyn completely. But the problem with this is that Godwyn's corpse is actually *not* obstructing the entry of souls through the roots, as far as we know. Why? Because his body is not actually at the base of the Erdtree. It is at the base of the minor Erdtree, right outside Leyndell. So theoretically, Godwyn's corpse should not be preventing anyone from returning to the roots.
@@crowstakingoff That's an interesting point to consider. I'm not sure what to make of the "not under the Erdtree" wrinkle here, I'm actually of a mind to say that this is where level design may have gotten sloppy with respect to the lore, and that he's supposed to be at the Erdtree base but isn't when we compare the geography. But regarding D: in my view, D is acting from a state of ignorance about the nature of the current state of the world and of the schemes of the demigods. What he sees is this: that Godwyn never died a true death, that his corpse seems to be the source of the Deathroot contagion and of Those Who Live in Death, and that he has been entrusted to destroy TWLiD and collect Deathroot for Gurraq. What he may or may not be aware of (I can't recall, I know Gurraq is aware though) is that Deathroot is a physical manifestation of the fragments of the Rune of Death which Ranni had stolen and used to half-kill Godwyn in the first place. Ranni seems not to have intended to create TWLiD: the whole Godwyn dying and Deathroot and all of that was more or less an incidental consequence of Ranni's actions to defy the Two Fingers and initiate her own age. She seems, at the very least, to see these things as the necessary eggs broken to make her omelette. So this gives us something very interesting to consider: of Godwyn's spirit is dead, but his body still in some sense ""lives,"" then... Is the same true of TWLiD? It would be reasonable to suspect that this would be the case, as one might expect the nature of TWLiD to confirm to Godwyn, the original undead. But what would that mean of Fia? Is she.... soulless? That wouldn't track with what we know of her, which is that she seems intelligent and to have a personality, dreams and compassion for the plight of her people. It seems to me that there is some spirit, some Grace however "corrupted," which yet animates her as a true person. This world track nicely with the view of Godwyn as the physical release point for spirits traveling to the Erdtree roots after death: if he imagine the Erdtree as a pump, taking the spirits of the dead through it's roots like a liquid and shining grace out from the branches to bless life in the Lands Between with soul, then if the "pipe" (Erdtree) is blocked and "water" (spirit) is still flowing we should expect a "leak" to emerge where soul is creating life in an unintended place and an unintended way: this leak is Godwyn, his presence is the unintended outlet of the souls of the dead that would be reincarnated normally having no place to go but to be incarnated as necrotic corpse people.
Nice video! I think it's fair to treat "Erdtree" and "Greattree" as synonymous in the larger scheme of things. They are different, but the same, just like Marika and Radagon are. If you took a branch from a tree, then cut down the tree and grafted the branch back onto the stump, it would still be the same organism, but you could also see it as a "new tree" in a more abstract sort of sense. I think that's what's going on here. As far as the reason between the disconnect between different parts of the Erdtree, I always come back to the idea of it being the previous "end of an age" where the Erdtree was burned before (one cycle before the current one where the Shattering happens). The Frenzied Flame ending shows a remaining stump, there's a discolored "crack" (or rather shard) in the current Erdtree that's not gold like the rest of it, and the relief over the entrance shows a tree sprouting from another tree. This, to me, seems to point to a previous mending cycle. For some reason, the parts were not able to grow back together properly, maybe for the same reason the union of Radagon and Marika produced "cursed" offspring. Trying to go against the cycle of life and death and establishing a perfect and eternal state/being etc. goes against the fundamental laws of nature, so it's always bound to fail in some way.
4:59 I'd say more than rudimentary, considering that Demi-Human Queen Maggie can cast Crystal Burst which is 18 INT. They are at least twice as smart as my 9 INT Confessor, lol
I think the Greattree might simply be all other trees in the Lands Between. There are real world forests where all trees within are connected by their roots. The world’s largest living organism is technically an aspen forest in Utah
One thing of note: the beastmen are actually an advanced and intelligent species, who as stated in the description of the beastman cleaver have technologies which are beyond the scope of mankind.
It's not just the fact that there's sometimes a space in between. It's the fact that it isn't always capitalised that threw me off i.e. it isn't always presented as a proper noun. So I just thought that they were merely describing the Erdtree as a great tree.
I hadn't thought that the Erdtree could be separated from its roots, but that does make sense. If Godwyn were to corrupt it at its roots, then it might threaten its power, so it was separated and isolated(Radagon's Thorns) at the same time, I'd suppose.
The genetics of regression toward the mean are pretty easy to understand- For example, there are a million minute changes in your development that can make you tall, but it's unlikely that your partner has the same mutations, so your kid will have a mish-mash of different mutations that probably don't synergize the same way.
The Erdtree-Crucible relation and what the crucible actually was is one of the things I've been wondering about the most in terms of lore, also here because SmoughTown's shoutout.
I thank you for this. Though I have to refute a single detail: t'is not the Principals of the Golden Order which keep Godwyn alive on the Night of Black Knives. Godwyn failed to die utterly because of Ranni's simultaneous destruction of her body when Godwyn's soul, his spirit was killed, and to fight off the encroachment of Destined Death, Ancient Dragon Fortissax gave up his existence to mire in an unending struggle against it within his fallen companion, becoming the Lichdragon Fortissax, and Godwyn, the Empyrean Prince of Death.
I believe Marika's goal (for whatever reason) is eternal war. All actions she made by herself either resulted in some war or sustained it. Godefrey at first was fighting Marika's war and then was exiled by her, but after that he was known as Hoarah Loux, warrior. I doubt you get such a nickname by promoting peace. We as players follow the Grace but Godfrey follows one too, and we see his Grace directed on us after fight the with Morgot (and because of that intersection of Graces directions and results, I believe that Graces are given and taken by Marika only. We also know Radagon and Enden Beast don't do that, as Melina in the intro says that the Tarnished are to seek the Elden Ring even if it is against the Golden Order, and Graces direct us towards the Elden Ring). On the other hand, Radagon was send to fight Rennala, but he did find a peacefull solution, marriage. Which is when Marika called him in and made him her consort, what again resulted in Carian war. She also shattered the Elden Ring and that resulted in a war even named after that event, the Shattering, a war of all demigods for shards of power. It's very consistent result that whenever Marika takes an action there is some conflict. Her being a warlord would also explain Gideon's betrayal and why she parted ways with Radagon. We know Gideon crossed you specificly because he saw what Marika wanted, and eternal war doesn't really sound as something desireable. And as said previously with Rennala, Radagon was open for peace. After the conquest and establishment of the Golden Order, it would be the time to stop fighting and start ruling, what would some kind of peace even on conquered land. Also a small thing, Radagon doesn't really want to fight you. He sealed himself and the Elden Ring away, you force yourself in by burning the Erdtree.
In addition, in the age of King Consort Radagon, the ritual battles in the colosseum were abolished. And in the war with the dragons, even despite their victory, Leyndell ended up making peace with them.
You've got a point but it does seem to some degree that she was about peace once Godfrey left the lands between it doesn't seem like they had any other wars other than the war with Raya Lucaria whether it be the golden order or the sorcerers who start at the war first
This helps make sense of so many of my questions! Now I just have more questions though!! But they are better questions, as we fall deeper into the rabbit hole of course
I always thought Melina was just a fan of some emo rock band and the lead singer was named "Dustin Death", they usually play at the same gigs as that group of Perfumer's that started a "My Chemical Romance" cover band.
Just found the channel and enjoyed it all. Also having looked at translating different things before. I find it surprising how a literal translation can vary greatly from what it's meaning translates into.
This was a fantastic video! Really great insight and thoughts. This game really has been the culmination of everything Fromsoftware has been creating for a decade now mixed with G. R. R. M.'s style as well. There's not just one thing or theme that ties ER into a sentence. There's layers, themes and depth to this game' s world and story that take a while to unpack. Which is something I've always loved about the Souls games; they've lead me to learn more about other philosophys and cultures, all while having a hellava good time.
Nice to see you discussing Elden Ring lore - you give a fresh and well researched perspective alternative to most mainstream lore discussions. You have interesting insights and also seem to understand the tone of the game much better than most people who see it as a black and white story about fighting authorithies. Although with all lore youtubers I try to take what they say with a grain of salt and have my own interpretations (unless I have no idea what to think about a subject, then I take someone's interpretation and then confront it with data in my later playthroughs). Anyways, there is a very important factor when discussing translating Elden Ring from japanese - that is GRRM's input. From what I've gathered it seems that his short story was the base for From Software but he mostly set up the large scale framework of the world which then FS gave more details. That means in some cases English would be the original language. We don't know what was the exact process and how much From Software altered from GRRM's draft and probably most of the stuff we encounter in games comes more from FS than GRRM but we need to account for that. Also Shattering is confusingly not the shattering of the Elden Ring, but the war that followed it (intro cinematic)
Agreed! However, there are definitely elements that are pure FromSoft, and Miyazaki has said he's hoped some of the changes to the world would surprise even GRRM. Nonetheless, I think this is valid criticism, and something that I don't think should be overlooked. Ideally, we'd be able to tell what came from whom. This is part of why I try to be exact with my use of language and make it clear when I'm speculating or extrapolating things from the text.
Amazing content! It’s so frustrating how they’ve created such a fascinating world but outright refused to tell us anything about it. We have literally no way to make a consistent story out of the lore than to leave it to our imagination to fill the huge gaps between the few hints we are given. Many lore hunters conclude by saying we might learn more in another DLC but I’m not optimistic. We might not get a DCL, and even if we do we’ll likely get more subtle hints without enough information to form a cohesive story (I’ll still play the hell out of it though)
So I agree with you for the most part, but I’m not sure I quite by the idea that everyone is unable to die during the Golden Order. Erdtree Burial still existed during the golden age before the Shattering, so most people were in fact dying during this era. What exactly is up with the Hollow-esque enemies and the references to “unending life” are an intriguing mystery, but I do not believe immortality is something conferred on everyone during the golden age of the Golden Order. Perhaps the Shattering messed things up in this regard? I am also not sure if Marika’s goal really is to kill the Elden Beast. It’s definitely a possibility, but we certainly do not accomplish that goal in the game since while we do slay it, we put the Ring back together immediately after defeating it in the Elden Lord endings. There is some good evidence for it though from both Hewg and Gideon Ofnir. I also think the reason she removed the Rune of Death was simply because of her obsession with eternity and refusal to give up her seat as the current god.
I understand where you're coming from. One thing I asked myself before making the video was about Erdtree burial and when it was no longer effective. Unfortunately, none of the spirit ashes firmly establish if they were created before the Shattering. The thing which tipped me into the direction of immortality being a product of sealing Destined Death came from Miyazaki's Overture of Elden Ring interview: www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/sdfxsi/miyazaki_on_immortality_in_elden_ring_from/ "I don’t think this is the right time to talk about these details, but the immortality of the demigods is associated with the removal of fate’s death from the Elden Ring. At the moment you won’t know what I’m talking about but as you play the game this should become clearer." This might only be meant to be applied to the Demigods, but I think it's that the Tarnished who are specifically different. But for what it's worth, most enemies in the world aren't actually Tarnished themselves, so their immortality may be similar to that of the Demigods' as well.
@@LastProtagonist Aren’t the wandering nobles the only enemies said to be immortal? Others like the Raya Lucaria sorcerers merely have extended natural lives and still die
@@soarel325 No, the Veteran's set also makes it clear the Commanders can't die. There's nothing that says the Raya Lucarians die naturally, and I'd argue the Raya Lucarian robes imply they lose their minds in a similar fashion to a Hollow in Dark Souls
@@LastProtagonist The Raya Lucaria robes only state that the sorcerers have “extended” life, not immortal, eternal, or unending. Unlike the shambling nobles, the sorcerers also seem to be totally lucid, though we can’t tell the state of their faces due to the masks. If Thops is any indication, they look like regular humans. As for the Veteran’s Set, the way I read it, deathlessness seems to be a particular characteristic of Commander Niall, not everyone in general. It COULD be a product everyone has, but the armor on its own doesn’t really indicate that. Also, another question - where do all the ghosts come from if bodies aren’t perishing? Similarly, how are skeletons buried in graves or entombed in catacombs before they were reanimated as Those Who Live in Death?
@@soarel325 Thops is actually Tarnished, so he's not the same as the sorcerers of the academy. The ghosts existing at all is part of the problem with the Golden Order; their spirits aren't being absorbed by the Erdtree. Roderika has a line about how she's coming to understand the undying nature of spirits under the Golden Order. This implies to me it's the Golden Order which has instituted pseudo-immortality onto the world rather than it being a byproduct of the Shattering. Murder and death still happen in the Lands Between, but "Destined Death" has been removed
I have a little hypothesis that since Marika/Radogan basically embody the Elden Ring that this could mean that shattering the ring could be interpreted as a suicide attempt brought on by the loss of Godwyn and that, perhaps, the Radogan aspect was not in favour of this and tried to prevent it.
I used to think this too, until I read that Marika described Godwyn as “unwanted.” I think it’s from a ghost on the weeping peninsula. There’s also good evidence that Marika orchestrated the death of godwyn by helping Ranni steal the fragment of death - the black knife assassins are Numen women like Marika, and the fact that Marika is stated as having betrayed Malekith. I think Marika actually hated Godwyn, possibly because she never wanted to marry Godfrey in the first place and was forced to do so by the Greater Will.
@@tyzombie89 I thought that the ghost was referring to Marika's child in the walking mausoleum? Also, I'm not 100% convinced that Marika is in on the assassination simply because she is of the same race as the assassins. It could be the case that Marika is seen as a traitor by the Numen for cooperating with the Greater Will that was responsible for their destruction. Ranni has her own reasons to have beef with Marika. I'm not fully convinced either way, tbh.
@@thevo4100 i thought the child in the mausoleum was supposed to be symbolic of Godwyn. If that’s not the case let me know the evidence because if she has other dead children that would be kind of interesting. And you’re right, the Numen connection isn’t ironclad, but we do know she betrayed Malekith somehow. Helping Ranni steal the fragment would definitely fit the bill. Since we’re told “the greater will would never allow” the Rune of Death to be reincorporated into the Elden Ring, it makes sense that Marika would want to subvert the GW and unleash it. Plus, Marika would have had access to Malekith and known when and how to steal the fragment, seeing as how he was always close to her as her shadowbound beast. It seems likely she at least tacitly allowed the plot, and at most orchestrated it.
@@tyzombie89 The full quote from the ghost is, 'The mausoleum prowls. Cradling the soulless demigod. O Marika, Queen Eternal. He is your unwanted child.' No mention of Godwyn. The Mausoleum Soldier Ashes say, 'The mausoleum is where the bodies of soulless demigods are lain to rest, and these soldiers followed their masters into Death by severing their own heads from their bodies.' Soulless demigods is plural. Godwyn was the first to die but it doesn't say he was the only one. Mausoleum Armour says, 'The surcoat depicts the mausoleum bell, which rings in constant mourning for the soulless demigods. The eclipsed sun, drained of color, is the protective star of soulless demigods. It aids the mausoleum knights by keeping Destined Death at bay.' Demigods is plural, again. Finally, the Eclipse Shield, 'The sun in eclipse is said to be the symbol of the Wandering Mausoleum where the soulless demigods slumber.' Again, demigods is plural. Another item relating to the Mausoleum Soldiers says that the adornments are a nod to the Death Rite Birds but I can't find it. So, it seems that the Mausoleums are there to shelter the souless demigods from Destined Death and to prevent them from returning to the Erdtree. I don't know why. The best clue is when Melina quotes Marika as saying, 'In Marika's own words. 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...' I'm not sure what it means to be sacrificed in this context but it seems that many of her children fell short. There are seven mausoleums in total. Sorry for the wall of text. I hope this helps to explain my thinking.
@@thevo4100 it definitely does, thanks! I didn’t realize there were so many uses of the plural “soulless demigods.” I just assumed that the ghost on the weeping peninsula was referencing Godwyn since he is the most prominent demigod without a soul, but if there are more that definitely has some interesting implications.
I still don't why the whole "Erdtree is a parasite" theory was so popular. I mean, nothing in the game even remotely hints at it and the stuff that is there outright contradicts that theory. The game states that the the Erdtree is the Crucible where all life originated from. Why would it parasite off of something that originated from it to begin with?
Its my belief that (Elden Ring)'s entire theme is about simultaneously fighting and meeting destiny. That; Regardless of your own actions, free-will was always an illusion. You fight destiny in conceptual manifestation as (The Elden beast) boss. The game has predetermined endings, thus proving my point. Become Elden Lord. A Tarnished will again one day become Elden lord etc... and whichever questline or path you choose. You litterally fulfill whichever (destiny/fate/design/path) was divinely (or designed) for you. It is a theme in both West and Estern cultures to have self-fulfilling prophecies. Oracles. And/or the tragedies of heroes/villains meeting their: destiny and/or acheiving their fated future (glory or end). Woven throughout the narrative of this story is "destined death" "future and fates dictated by stars", "prophecies of the return of the Tarnished", guidance, paths and innevitabilities, etc... Essentially- if the GreaterWill itself symbolises ordered fate. Then must itself meet its end by its own hand. In a paradoxical - way, this does happen. Defying and denying fate, essentially creating the exact elements and situation that leads to you (A Tarnished of no reknown). To deal the 'End'. The guidance of grace - is some wierd way. Being the conceptual (string) of fate,destiny,prophecy etc...
I have been interpreting it as the Greattree is the Erd tree before the Elden Beast came. The Erd tree encases the great tree, you can see the normal bark and the doorway into the tree when going in. Also in each ending the color of the outside Erd tree changes based on your choice but the tree itself stays the same. My thinking was that the great tree became encased by the Elden Beast so they are the same but are now two yet one. Now that I think about it, it's not that different between Marika and Radagon in a way.
I have a question about Radagon studying magic in an effort to be complete. I have seen the interpretation many times that here the word complete means not so much "perfect" as "whole, full". In addition to Carian sorcery, he also studied incantations with Marika. As far as I understand, when Marika calls him "my other self", in the original Japanese, it has a slightly different meaning 我が半身よ(My half body). Also, if look at the properties of such talismans as the seals of Radagon and Marika, it looks like they complement each other and together represent one whole. And half of Radagon just lacks those characteristics on which sorcery and incantations depend. That is, he did it more for personal purposes than in an attempt to improve the Golden Order.
I was speaking a bit metaphorically there, but 完全 *kanzen* can have connotations of both being complete or being without defect. I'm not sure if that answers your question; you didn't actually say what it was
@@LastProtagonist My question was whether it was correct to refer to Radagon as Marika's half and not "her other self" as it was said in the English version. And how it is connected with the description of his icon, which says that he aspired to be completed. I am interested in the primary and literal meaning of these moments.
@@Xgenstudioz777 It's a bit hard to say because while 半身 hanshin can literally mean "half-self," it's not fully clear what that means within the context of Elden Ring. Latenna refers to Lobo the same way, and it says she can't move from her summoned spot without him. Are Radagon and Marika meant to be similar? :shrug: Radagon's Icon can potentially be taken both metaphorically and literally that he wanted to either be perfect or complete
I've often wondered why nobody was talking about the likely connection between Omens and the Crucible, I think you raise a lot of points I've seen under-discussed but that one particularly seems significant to me. I don't fully understand how the removal of "Death" works, because some of the Spirit Ashes are clearly of people who existed after Marika had Malekith do his thing. If "Erdtree Burial" exists as a concept, how is death truly gone from the Lands Between? Is it something like they can't be touched by old age, but it's still possible for them to be killed? Until I saw other fans talking I almost thought the shackling only applied to the demigods, but there's got to be something about this concept I'm missing, I guess, because it sure seems like a lot of people have died even after Marika took over.
I couldn't fit it into the video, but there still seems to be death to a degree, but perhaps no more death to "natural causes." One of the ways to work around souls returning to the Erdtree is to burn corpses (ala ghostflame) or consuming things (ala snakes, scarlet rot, jar bairns.) Without the Erdtree Burial, it seems like spirits are forced to remain in the world (like Spirit Ashes,) or they can't "pass on" into their next life via reincarnation (through the Erdtree.) I wanted to talk about Spirit Ashes more, particularly since we don't have any confirmation of any of these Spirit Ashes being created before the Shattering or during the time of the Crucible, but it's a bit too nebulous with the lack of information. I wish I could offer more insight into how "death" works, but it all comes down to individual interpretation.
Way I see it, within the golden order, and thus without the rune of death, you can absolutely destroy a being, and "kill it" by all general criteria, but you won't destroy its essence, its soul, or its "power", whatever you wanna call it, everything eventually just goes back to the erdtree, which is the heart,of the golden order. But in a more concrete sense, that means that single individuals, champions or lords, can last forever, and accrue almost boundless power within themselves compared to other living beings, and more than that, it means that you can usurp a being's power by destroying it. As Marika said to her children, "make thyselves that which ye' desire, but if you fail to become aught at all, you'll be serving only as sacrifices". The state of the world during the reign of the golden order is in a sort of timeless state of glory/grace, wherein champions and lords not only grow their armies, their glory and their influence, but actual literal godlike powers over the forces of the world, each capable of establishing their own order, with their own claim to the throne. It is a materialized, unending age of heroes and legends that clash and die under the branches of the erdtree, which is fed by the cycle of eternally returning souls. With the shattering, more and more "aspects" on the state of death in lands between are present and vary, sometimes it's remembrances of spectres that recant events or thoughts in that spot, or spectral images of once living trees or even ancient banners and then if course those who live in death are another category alltogether, but that is mostly where the difference lies before and after the shattering. Everything fundamentally can be translated in runes, so breaking the golden order, shattering the elden ring, meant scattering "the power", from the heart of the order to then out for the taking, thus, what the great runes represent on a narrative and mechanical level. The shattering essentially gave you the leveling system, as the power to mold the world by your liking is spread in an endless number of fragments. The tarnish come to the lands between because NOW they can challenge the fallen lords still clinging to power by gathering their own, becoming true champions. All of this works because the rune of death is not there, and as such this is how the laws of nature work, making the mythical into the literal as game world and mechanics are concerned
Interesting... the Erdtree is growing completely normally for an oak tree by the way, it's not 'tilted'. If it 'weren't anchored to its base' it would simply fall over, like any other tree. It and its roots are also entirely connected from everything we see in the game and they seem to be a crucial structural/geological element in and under Lleyndell. What it is disconnected from is the far far larger root system that covers the entirety of the Lands Between, being present on the surface and in the deepest depths even at the farthest points from the Erdtree. IMO that larger system is of the Greattree, and it is how Godwyn is spreading deathroot beyond the reach of the Erdtree's roots. It's also hinted that all of the normal trees are growing out of the Greattree, through things like the root resin - it seems it might be closer to an actual 'world tree' than anything else we've seen in the souls games, and possibly the original source of terrestrial life that the primordial crucible 'melted down'. I have a feeling the Greattree is the missing piece of a lot of the obscured history of the Lands Between, and that its obfuscation in the game as a text is in accord with its in-universe historiographical obfuscation by the Greater Will and its vassals.
I forgot to mention perhaps the most significant evidence, which is that the giant relief on the door of the Erdtree itself clearly depicts itself - the Erdtree - and the Elden Ring existing at the center of a much larger tree - more abstract in its design but far from being a mere motif - that continues down through the surface the Erdtree is depicted growing out of (and extending at least as far overhead with its trunk and canopy), where it continues down past the extent of the Erdtree's root system and terminates in its own much larger root system, most of which is missing from the extensive damage to the door's bottom . Enough remains to identify it as roots, while enough is gone to be plenty mysterious and intriguing.
Nice video, as always!! I was waiting for someone with knowledge of the Japanese text to clarify the lore of Elden Ring and finally there's a video that gives me more clues and clear explanations! One question I would like to ask you, if you can answer, is: what are runes, in your opinion? They are the core of the level up system, and yet there's very little explanation of what they are in the lore. Are they all part of the Elden ring? If you answer, thank you! And again, nice video! Keep going like that!
I think you can say that runes were once part of the Elden Ring. The Golden Runes imply as much if you take "gold" being related to the Elden Ring: "Grace that dwells within the inhabitants of the Lands Between; the lingering trace of gold." I'm pretty sure Miyazaki talks briefly about the Elden Ring in an interview about how it embodies the Order of the universe, which governs all life. The way the runes are placed together can influence that "Order" and based on the game's endings, it seems more can be added or taken away from the "Order."
The red tint of the crucible symbolises life, not death, as some items explicitly state. The erdtree never tilted, the door carved into it is straight and seems to be as old as the age of plenty.
Wouldn't it make sense that the Erdtree was cut off from its roots IN ORDER TO stop the spread of Deathroot up its body? That also makes some sense of the stigma around the Omens, because of what it would make them omens OF: A presumed-impossible continued connection to the Erdtree's roots, and the fear of death that comes with it.
I buy the theory that the Erdtree is a parasite feeding off the Greattree. The Crucible Knights' armor depict the Greattree with branches jutting in all directions, while the Erdtree more closely resembles a mushroom. The Erdtree's door at the Elden Throne also shows it seemingly speering through the Greattree and latching onto its roots.
It seems to me like the golden exterior of the tree could be a taking over or parasitaiton of the greattree, such that the regular looking parts of the tree reporesent what was there before. Still a tree, but with no 'will'. We know the lands between already existed pre-erdtree, and life along with it. In this manner, great trees could represent the raw nature of how these worlds in the setting work, or part of how they come to be, and the golden eardtree the taking over and re-structuring of that system by the greater will. The greater will itself, it seems, is just one of several outer gods competing for control over realm-spaces such as the lands between. For whatever cosmic reason. Maybe to do with absorbing the dead. Anyhow, if you're willing to entertain wild speculation...any evdence to the contrary comes to mind?
Total misunderstanding of regression to the mean. Yes, two taller parents will likely have a shorter child, but this Does Not mean that life's "extreme traits slowly regress" because the Total average variance does not change generation to generation. Regression to the mean is almost like a statistical illusion in this way: when you focus on the extreme's themselves it seems like the population is getting less extreme, but when you look at the population as a whole this is not the case. One way to think about this is as a signal and noise issue. If subject A in trial 1 gives a the most extreme value, it's probably the case that it has a very extreme value that carries over to generation 2, but it also is likely that whatever random noise doesn't carry over to trial 2 was also extreme in the same direction, so, in trial 2, subject A will most likely have a less extreme value. Again, this is a property of the "extremes" of a single trial, Not of the "extremeness" of the population.
Hey nice video! Just one thing, english isn't my first language but usually I don't have a problem understanding videos, don't take this the wrong way but I think It would be nice if you could speak a bit slower. It might just be me but regardless wanted to let you know. You got a new sub btw
Hey man great video. Can I ask a specific thing? What's the meaning, in Japanese, of the "grace of gold"? I'm intrigued about the significance of grace, especially because it looks a lot like a humanity sprite
This is a bit of a weird one. Most of the time it's just 祝福 shukufuku, which means "blessing/grace." Cut Kale/Nomadic Merchant dialogue has it as 黄金の祝福 ougon no shukufuku - "grace of gold," whereas the Golden Rune [10] has it as 黄金樹の祝福 ougonju no shukufuku - "grace of the golden tree" aka grace of the Erdtree
@@LastProtagonist thank you!! very interesting. Still clueless of why it has to be that shape, but there seems to be no connection from grace and humanity except that. Oh well, thanks again for the answer and do keep the great videos coming!
I heard that the great tree roots being severed from the Erdtree refers to the Minor Erdtrees, so it means the roots of the minor trees are no longer connected to the Erdtree. Could this be correct?
This could be splitting hairs, or the meme where two dudes are arguing over whether what they're looking at is a 6 or a 9. It's possible the "Greattree" is specifically the gigantic Erdtree in Leyndell, and if it's been disconnected from its roots, it'd follow that the Minor Erdtrees are no longer connected to the "Greattree."
Nice finds. The Great Tree and Erd Tree are dragon nests Everything is in service of the dragons, the OLDER gods, also the Outer gods because they did not come from the lands between. Marika the Eternal DRAGON Queen was always a god and the Numen are the new human dragon hybrids created by the prior elden ring(s) Radagon anagram for Dragon(s) Amber = Yellow (Marika) + Red (Radagon) Also fire has yellow and red hues Amber DRAGON (Numen) egg Marika and Radagon were twins, she has twin trait, twin children Miquella Malenia Malekeith Morgott Mohg (as Marika) Ranni , Radhn, Rykard (As Radagon) Marika = 53 in Gematria (5 kids as Marika 3 as Radagon) children born of a SINGLE god
Urghhh, not this again... We know the Erdtree was born at the same time as the War against the Giants thanks to the text of the Smithing Stone 7. Isn't it sooooooo much easier to simply assume that this coincides with the creation of the Golden Order ? During the war, Marika makes this speech to her troops mentioning "a new epoch glistening with life" which seems like a pretty straightforward definition of what the Golden Order is. I don't see any strong indication that there was a big lapse of time between the birth of the Erdtree and the creation of the Golden Order. And the birth of a gargantuan tree seems quite in line with the foundation of an epoch glistening with life. And while, yes, people seem to be immortal under the Golden Order, they can obviously still be killed or perform suicide, so Erdtree burial would still have a role to play.
I appreciate the effort you're putting in but the game's story is just incomprehensible even with accurate translation. In comparison to the Souls series, words or sentences might be missing from the branches but here it feels like whole pages and chapters are torn out from the roots and trunk.
People have complained that deeproot depths is not aligned with the Erdtree on the map, which is obvious when flipping between the world map undergroung and aboveground levels. This revelation that the erdtree is disconnected to its roots and tilted shows that they are misaligned on purpose, as a consequence of the erdtree being tilted. This brings into question that the current door and palace of the erdtree is newer because the erdtree moved, but then when you flip between above and below ground maps you realize that the location of the trunk of the erdtree in deeprott depths corresponds to the Roundtable Hold in Leyndell. As in the Roundtable Hold was the original entrance to the erdtree before it fell sideways.
Can somebody explain why the erdtree has a huge gap not covered in gold where they installed the doors? Also why there is a whole branch not covered in gold in its top?
