Elden Ring Lore | Night of the Black Knives Dissected 

Thank you everyone for watching my dissection on the Night of the Black Knives! Would love to hear your thoughts below! How to support the channel: Memberships (YT): ru-vid.com/show-UCcvGOIuFH6befwVyElnMI_Ajoin Patreon: www.patreon.com/SmoughTown

Brother knows so much about these games he could teach souls lore at a university

Something awesome about Godwyn I’ve noticed - many people have pointed out how he’s kind of a fungal essence spreading rot throughout the erdtree, but the fact that he has a giant growth under Stormveil is critical to me because it’s the windiest place in The Lands Between and presumably that’s spreading his spores further and further, maybe even to Farum Azula and that’s how he showed up there

I wish Rogier had more lines of dialog and lore to tell us. His voice actor and much more friendly demeanor than Ofnir's makes him one of my favorite characters.

I always felt shattering the Elden Ring was an act of suicide. Radagon spent much time trying to convince Marika to keep going, to keep being the God-Queen. But when she had lost so many children, her beloved son Godwyn’s corpse became an infectious pestilence of undeath, when her daughter was wasting away with Scarlet Rot, these things broke her steadily over time until she couldn’t handle it anymore. I always felt that Marika was meant to be different from Gwyn and other figures who ruled their worlds. She broke her world because it was the only thing that could kill her, because she suffered so much in between promising the Tarnished’s return to claim the Elden Ring, and tasking Hewg to make a weapon that could kill her.

I wonder if Iji could have been the one who carved the other half of the rune into Ranni, and that is the reason why the black knife assassins go after him. Someone had to do it for her since it was on her back, and it seems that the rest of the black knives were out doing their murders. If they really had no idea about Ranni's secret plot to shed her body, then it had to be someone in Ranni's circle and it seems unlikely Blaidd could do it and I get the idea that Ranni would not allow herself to be in such a moment of weakness with that creep Seluvis (she never seems to full trust him, or at least know he's a scheming dingus)

8:50 also when you use the ash of war of the golden epitaph you can see Miquella's sigil, the description is definitely referring to him

Another fantastic video. I have always wondered why Ranni would have to specifically kill Godwyn the Golden to get rid of her Empyrean flesh. Couldn't it have been anyone? And why kill so many other demigods as well? But after watching this video I think I finally got it. What would people think, if Ranni just abandoned her empyrean flesh? I don't think that could be interpreted as anything other than her rebelling against the Greater Will. But by having multiple demigods killed, she can essentially play it off as her just being another one of the victims. By then helping to hunt down the assassins and even imprisoning their leader, she can even earn a good deal of goodwill.

Shoutout to you, Hawkshaw, Quelaag, Zullie and of course our boy Vaati for consistently helping me understand hidden nuance in this incredible game. I especially love that you allow us to make our own assumptions about what could be going on, and still manage to educate me MASSIVELY. Props to you and the entire Soulsborne lore community.

I really wish they would release a version of GRRM's mythos. I like to think it's something similar to the style of "Fire & Blood". Kind of a recounting of history as told by an ancient noble. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

One question about godwyn is "How did he start spreading death root?" I believe that nobody understood what was happening on the Night of the Black Knives. In the aftermath someone, probably a relative like Marika, took Godwyn to the roots of the Erdtree in order to give him an erdtree burial and reincorporate his soul. His body, being unable to die due to the incomplete curse, started the process of erdtree burial, but since he couldn't be killed his body started to spread like an infection in order to protect itself. It ends up all over the lands between spreading through the erdtree's vast roots leading to the vast propagation of deathroot we see today. People probably only realized that he was soulless after they put him through erdtree burial.

The "foul" in could convenant probably refers to the fact that ranni and the black knives were allies but she obviously did something to piss them off since they kill iji and go to kill her as well. It's referring to a false/bad allegiance

Ahhhh man , my favorite group in the game , the Nox/Numen and the squad , the black knife assassins . Yes sir we here for the lore Smough

Sellia was also where Rahdan learned gravity magic from a alabaster lord. The black knife armor seems to bend light similar to how light bends around galaxies and black holes from gravitational lensing.

I'm sure others have thought this, but Godwin sounds and reminds me alot of Sanguinius from warhammer 40k. The brother that was loved by all, civilians and his siblings alike. And his death was a major blow to humanity.

Man I just wanna say I appreciate your videos I’m a computer science major and In the past with souls games I would spend all my time trying to understand the lore of the world by exploring in game but haven’t had the time. I fr appreciate the effort you put into these videos and it’s a nice escape from the day to day grind of being a student keep up the good work.

The way I’ve always thought about the “close ties with Marika” is that whoever the assassins were, she basically used to be friends with them in high school. 🤷‍♂️

I really like this kind of long form content, granted it's obviously long and a lot to take in, but it's really nice to watch on long days where it feels like you have nothing to do, also there's a lot of thought and lore implications given with no drawbacks to ideas cause there no 15/20 min time-frame to work under, and even if you can't finish the video in one sitting(at least for me) it give me something to look forward to after I get finished with a busy day. Love your content man, can't wait to see more!

I know it is a leap on my part but I assumed the reason that the other demi-gods end up soulless was because Ranni gave the Black Knives bad info. She taught them the sigil to carve into their target's flesh. It would make sense that she discerned the two halves of the now circular Rune of Death and only taught them the side she needed them to use. The positioning of the two halves of the rune on each back doesn't have either centered in a way to convey that the full circle was ever intended. Since it all happened fairly simultaneously they wouldn't be able to check in with each other to realize Ranni screwed them and only taught them half the rune. Remember Ranni stole the rune and Ranni performed the rite. The Black Knives just took their equipment and went to work.

Let's go baby more lore

Awesome as her "i do not want to be controlled by that thing" acquires a deeper meaning as you finish the game. At first, it seems she is referring to her fingers, but most ptlrobably to the Elden Beast, since she would have been the physical vessel for it And this answers another question: why specifically godwyn? Why not another unnamed demigod?

Perhaps the Elden Ring's shattering was Marika trying to commit suicide? After all, her life is supposed to be eternal, as stated in the Sacred Relic Sword description.

Here's somethign that pops into my mind from the writing standpoint - Ranni's fast and blunt confession on everything relating the Night of the Black Knives, repeating several times that "I did it all, it was me" reminds me of a writing trope of a character overemphasizing their fault because of their guilt. Ranni's is a cold character, but she shows sadness and melancholy often in her dialogue, she's not beyond emotions completely. I think while she went onto this cruel plot to free herself, I think she regrets or feels ashamed for the sorrow it brought to others, specifically Godwyn. It could be just another stepping stone on her way to freedom from the Two Fingers, there's no real reason to think anyone could've predicted Godwyn becoming the Prince of Death and creating Those Who Live in Death. After all, there are several soulless demigods in the game in the Walking Mausoleums but only Godwyn mutated into that - probably because of his Erdtree burial which backfired horribly. If she knew thats' what would happen, not giving information on how to prevent it to anyone through her many agents seems like pointless cruelty. That's all my speculation, based on the impressions of Ranni's dialogue and character, it reminds me of a character who stepped on a cruel path which caused unwanted side-effects, but keeps going because stopping now wouldn't fix anything, and would only make those sacrifices and losses meaningless. I'm sure you've seen that trope before. Also, if her dialogue only means that she stole the rune personally, that would be kind of strange - the stealing of the Rune is wide known, but it takes some effort from a scholar to learn of Ranni's name. So either she stole the rune in complete secret from Malekith himself which would be incredible, or he kept secret that it was her for no reason.

I feel like not enough ppl talk about how the black knife leg armor and the nox's are the same, just without the cloth skirt and dyed black.

As you present the story at the end, it seems almost like Ranni disguised her true identity from the Black Knives. As she did orchestrate the Night, and the plot was to cause as much damage to the Golden Order regime as possible, it would make sense if she had presented herself as ‘Renna’, the way she does with us Tarnished initially. Leading from this, perhaps Ranni/Renna had the assassins target Lunar Princess Ranni. Perhaps she, as ‘Renna’, fooled the assassins into thinking that the deaths of such prominent members of the Erdtree and Lunar houses, the ritual would enable their age of stars. But her true plan was to use the Nox and Black Knives to free herself of the Greater Will.

There is another odd loose link between Marika and Ranni, besides just the Black Knife Set. That would be Torrent and Melina. Ranni directly approaches you under the alias of Renna at the church, because of a promise she made to Torrent's original owner. The only other owner we know of for Torrent, a 'Spectral' Steed, is Melina, whom is currently burned & body less, herself. Nevermind that, Melina is heavily implied to be the Gloam Eyed Queen originally, who would align with Rani's agenda atleast to a degree. But it seems to be Marika herself who brought Melina back from her dead state. After all Melina herself says her mother gave her a purpose & she can only move freely on her own in the capital, near the Erd Tree & Marika. Furthermore, Melina leaves your side to do "something" in the capital on her own. Only being seen again to help you with Morgott at The Throne using Black Knife fighting techniques & weaponry, oddly 'past' a random Black Knife Assassin by Queen Marika's Bed Chamber & after the Erd Tree blocks you. It's entirely possible Melina, the Gloam Eyed Queen. Has something to do with the Black Knives deciding to go after Rani. Rather or not Melina was acting on her own to team up with the Black Knife Assassins or under Marika's orders for revenge or a grand plot is speculation. Meanwhile Gideon seems to believe Marika wants everyone to be stuck in a stalemate of sorts too. After-all Marika, Gideon & Melina all make odd comments. The Torrent Connection is very much a enigma.

Ever since Marcia gave her speech to the Godfrey and the tarnished about them returning to the lands between, rage war and brandish the elden Ring. That is the definitive words of some that expects the ring being shatter in the future and not some that believe the golden order will last forever. Not sure how far into the future Marcia planed or if she take actions as things happened but clearly their were many thing that didn’t go to plan. I also herd some refer the diolog from the finger reader near godwyn sounding more like she is lemmenting the fact he failed to die a true death but instead lived in death, almost as if the diologe was hidding, at least in the two finger circle, Godwyn was expected to die but for some reason his fate was not fulfilled (keeping in character for Ranni not wanting to have her fate decided by the two fingers) (fate is no longer in the stars, but the fingers can still weave it). Would like some one to double-check that diolog to see if that is true in both English and Japanese.

Finally someone talks about the article on the bandai website! So easily forgotten

Wonderful video, overall! I can't say that the outro bit about the Black Knives founding Ordina is particularly founded, though. The Black Knives found in Ordina are largely dead or sealed away, it seems more likely they assaulted Ordina to gain access to the Haligtree (possibly to kill Miquella as another demigod target) but were either killed or sealed in Ordina's evergaol. The architectural similarity to Sellia is probably better explained by the noteworthy population of Albinaurics, who also have ties to the Eternal/Nox.

Dude - amazing as always. The Black Knives and the death of Godwyn has always been an interesting bit for me

I believe the Eclipse was some kind of plan or prophesy for the death and rebirth of Godwin. This plan was interrupted by Ranni when she slew her own corpse, splitting the curse of death in half. ‘Your comrade remains soulless’ - this line shows Miquella did not intend his brother to become that which lives in death. He wanted Goldwyn to die a true death and perhaps be reborn as a dark inversion of a soul 9:26

Yes! Finally a good explanation for why more than one demigod was killed on the Night of Black Knives! There had to be multiple targets in order to overwhelm Marika and prevent her from protecting the main target of the plot: Godwyn.

Hanging out in the city with 90 min until the nightshift starts ? Smough got you covered. Thx m8

I cannot imagine how you keep all these snippets of information organized enough to make these videos. Thank you for masterfully stitching together all these interrelated but spread throughout the game bits of knowledge.

You’re the winner of the Elden Ring lore video’s contest. You get the trophy this time. Love your videos sir, thanks for dropping this one on my birthday!

I feel the simplest explanation for why the others are also called soulless is that Ranni only told them to carve that half, so they wouldn't botch her plan. If they did that same half-wheel on the others it logically would result in just the deaths of their souls as well. That's just always been my thought, and adds to the betray of Ranni to the Assassins.

Thanks again, probably some of my favorite lore videos come from you. After taking a step back and looking at the lands between in a macro lens it’s like there were a lot more people trying to kill a god then you think. Hewg promises a godslaying weapon to marika, Rykard wants to consume the gods, there were god slayers before Maliketh took care of that. Ranni is kind of along those lines with wanting to remove the gods influence. Mohg and melania are similar in they both need miquella to further they’re goals or to just have a goal in general. And radahn kind of seems like a follower not a leader. Grace almost seems to see this stale mate resting on a razors edge and bring the tarnished in. If the assassins would have had a 100% success or failure rate then a lot changes. Kind of puts into perspective how important to the storyline of the game this one event actually is.

These videos are always a highlight to my day when they drop. Thank you and the others who help gather this lore together

Not sure if this has been pointed out yet, but the one of the Tree Sentinal pair carries a sentry torch by the looks of things as well.

The assertion that “catalyst” should be translated as “trigger” is a perfect example of the extreme nitpicks self-appointed translators use to take issue with the game’s English text. Translation is much more of an art than a science given the fluidity of language. I would like to see how they’d translate “water closet.”

Great video. Really glad you and other creators reference each other's work to (in my opinion) move the understanding of the lore forward! Gives a good community feeling so we know where each content creator's lore theories stand in relation to others. Just a few points/thoughts I wanted to contribute: 1. The fingerslayer blade mentions " This blood-drenched fetish is proof of the high treason committed by the Eternal City and symbolizes its downfall." I think the key word here is "treason". Though the Nox have a separate culture but they were still embedded into the Golden Order's societal structure, hence their actions being treason. I even posit that the blade could have been made from the corpse or part of a corpse victim of the night of the black knives and this in turn caused the Golden Order to turn upon the lower quarter of the city (Nox inspired architecture like Sellia) and cause it's downfall into the Deeproot depths as the Nameless City and likely something similar to Nokron...as we see Nokron in a wrecked shape compared to Nokstella, which itself isn't in good shape. 2. I think the Nox's Age of Stars and Ranni's are different, Ranni would be the God under the Dark Moon (player would be Lord of Night) whereas the Nox would intend for something like Death to be it's main power (replacing their Black Moon), I don't know who the God would be (maybe Ranni? To get the Nox on side) but their Lord would have been an artificial creation. I see the Eternal Cities having ghostflame for illumination, feather motif on their black knife armour and their leaning to intelligence based magic (like death magic) as pointing towards this. Atleast it seems to be in line with opposites Gold/Silver, Life/Death, Day/Night, Faith/Intelligence, "natural" creations like beasts/"unnatural" creations like albinaurics and the rest. Possibly why the Godskins may ally with the Nox (to champion the cause of Death) if they weren't outright created by them. 4. After getting the fingerslayer blade, meeting Ranni then going to Ainsel river you will find her miniature doll form. She'll say something along the lines that your poking around has roused attention and she compels you to kill the Baleful shadow that is hunting her. It's likely this is what also causes the backlash from the Nox getting Iji and Blaidd attacked/killed. 5. There's a dead black knife in Ordina and they're trapped in a large ever-goal. I don't think it was safe ground for them, likely they were after the twin prodigies but got caught in the trap. Thanks again for the content!

I'm still of the opinion that Marika may have had a hand in the Night of Black Knives. Gurranq mentions being tricked by Marika if you defeat him at Farum Great Bridge: "Marika...why...wouldst thou...gull me? Why...shatter..." His remembrance mentions Marika using him to guard Destined Death, and betraying him anyways: "Marika's sole need of her shadow was a vessel to lock away Destined Death. Even then, she betrayed him." We must also remember that Marika had already planned for the Tarnished to one day return, but for what? Shattering the Elden Ring of course, not that Godwyn's death directly lead to it, especially if she already meant to shatter it. One possible motivation for her to get rid of Godwyn if you believe she's still a selfish ruler hoping to cling to power and be worshipped as the one true God would be to weaken the dragon cult since it was Godwyn's friendship with Fortissax that led to it. There's also the matter of a Black Knife assassin being in front of Marika's bedchambers out in the open, strongly suggesting to me that her presence is not some fancy of the assassin out for a stroll.

Yet another great lore video!! Your content is as well put together as the night of the black knifes itself!!

Been listening to all your content while doing a re-play. It's a great companion piece for a second go around where I don't have to pay attention as much

I really appreciate that you look at the original Japanese and different translations. It helps clarify why the language was used.

I believe that Marika wanted to kill Godwyn - both body and soul - to gestate a new rune of Death within him, and then resurrect him and wrestle the Lands Between from the state of stagnation by adding a new 'patched' rune of Death back, while not granting Godskins back their power through the Rune of the Destinied Death. Ranni, who made the knives, double crossed her at the last moment, hence the grief and shattering of the ring.

I always considered that one of the most perplexing clues to be Blaidd's madness. He is a guardian of Ranni, given to her by the Greater Will. So, if the Greater Will had finally learned of her location, it could have taken control of a tool it had created, sent it to kill her, while simultaneously alerting the Black Knives of her hiding spot. A sort of doubling down, just to make sure the job is done. What it didn't account for, is Blaidd's resistance to the Greater Will's control, and defending Ranni from the Knives, instead of assisting them. After all, Iji warns us that Blaidd could be compromised against his will, hence why he was imprisoned.

Well Maliketh's own remembrance says that Marika betrayed him. There is also that Marika had planned to shatter the Elden Ring, the tarnished were planned to return based on what she told Godfrey and his soldiers from which the tarnished are descendant from. Marika clearly had a hand in it, she was probably even the one to tell Ranni and the Black Knife Assassin's how they may steal death from Maliketh. Given that she knew the tarnished would be called back, her children would have to be killed to restore the Elden Ring, and her direct punishment from the Greater Will. Marika is clearly more involved than just having ties to the event.

You def do your research and present very complete and unique takes on all your subjects with very obscure lore sources I can dig it

Genuinely my favorite video next to the fire lore. I cant even begin to describe how relaxing yet insightful this video was for me

Videos like this really highlight how much time, effort, and well thought through creativity goes into these games. They truly create an entire universe… it’s just so mind boggling

Always look forward to these, can't wait to watch this one. Keep up the incredible lore dissection mate ❤

I'm so glad you covered the fact that the assassins were just numen and not part of a convoluted plot. Another way of looking at the plot is that Ranni was taking revenge on Radagon for leaving her mother the way he/she did and then began to plot. Might explain why Ranni's mentor was kept secret. It's just a lot happening in this lore, but yeah. Makes me wonder why Radahn wanted to protect Sellia and if it had any connection to Ranni's plans

Wow, until now I don't think I really realised how significant the night of the black knives was. You explain it really well and do a great service to putting it in proper perspective. Happy holidays to you and I can't wait to see what you discuss next!

Grown to really look forward to your videos. Keep it up man. The thoroughness is incredible.

I love your content, I can just sit back and sip tea to your lore videos 🙌🏽

I recently came to the realization that grafting is a family trait passed on from godfrey thus when Godwin's soul died and he was put in the base of the erdtree his body just insictivly grafted to it thus creating those that live in death Makes me think of the more deeper meanings of plants in the game

Aaaaahhhhhh hell! I'm gonna have to do a playthrough with daggers for once and maybe cosplay as a BKA. I'm playing as Trevor Belmont from castlevania now. I love your videos and hope you receive joy from making this content! Hope your Xmas was amazing and that your new year brings good fortune.

always manage to deliver smough hope the holiday season treats you well friend, i await the next video

One other question that comes out of this is the thought behind Ranni’s plan. Now obviously the events after the Night of Black Knives are carefully done and arrive at a singular goal with Ranni ushering in her age. But was that age always her end goal? Cause if it was then the plan is a very poor one. Because it specifically relies upon Marika shattering the Ring after the deaths of Godwyn and others. If Ranni knew Marika was likely to do so, then this would imply that some dissension against the Greater Will was already in the works even from Marika. Point being that it’s unlikely that Ranni would have been able to predict Marika’s actions when Ranni failed to even take into account how the spread of death would impact the world. If her end goal was just escaping for her own sake and the reach of outer beings and Greater Will then she cements herself further as not being any hero. Which then brings even more questions on to who exactly is the Age of Stars supposed to be good for when we do usher it in. The question being: does Ranni become empathetic and more concerned with wanting to better the world after she sees what happened in the aftermath of her plot. It’s a plausible explanation but her actions even during the present events of the game dont strike of that. Which makes her ambitions slightly more Machiavellian than anything. The more I think about this, Ranni’s actions have a bunch of parallels to Marika’s ruthlessness. In fact the way she plans and improvises with so little regard for other consequences reminds me most of Sulyvahn from Dark Souls 3. I am still not saying she is a villain. There are probably only two or three characters in the game who are full villains. But she definitely is not morally good as people make her out to be.

Excellent video! I certainly agree with you on Marika's involvement in the plot. The theories about her playing a large part in its orchestration never rang true to me. Every direct mention and reference of her in relation to it and the ensuing shattering always dripped of desperation or grief to me or a more complex variation/combination of such head spaces. One other lore note that stuck out to me in my last play through, I would love to get your thoughts on as I don't recall it being mentioned in any timeline video. When you reveal Miquella's state in the Dynasty to Gideon, he makes a comment about "the queen's grief being justified." The way he says it suggests that Marika knew of Miquella's abduction and Gideon was aware of her response following it. This suggests that Miquella was cocooned and abducted before Marika was imprisoned. Or that she was still aware of it while imprisoned and Gideon was able to interface with her somehow. In truth, this comment kinda baffled me as when I heard it, I couldn't recall hearing its mention before in any timeline video. Now, I haven't reviewed said videos to be completely sure, but is this new to anyone else?

Love your stuff man! Keep it up!

Love your vids man, perfect for background when working :)

A lengthy elden ring lore video is just what I was hoping for when I opened youtube!

Here we GOOOOO!

Great lore video, always nice to see your takes. Happy holidays and hope you have a good new year.

Thank you for this! I have had so many lingering questions about the relationship between Ranni and the Black Knife Assassins that you have answered decisively here. They were really eating at me, so I appreciate the work you put in to suss out these conclusions.

Listened along to this in the background while working. Absolutely love your videos SmoughTown. So much detail

There's one major problem I have with the idea that the Black Knife assassins are Sellian: the knives themselves scale with Faith and Dex. I feel that it was more likely that Ranni founded or tricked a group of courtiers that believed that Marika's Golden Order was perverting the way of things, with how other Empyrions were being anointed and she just would not go. Whether or not that struggle was a part of the way of things is a separate matter (I think it probably is), but while to Ranni this was all to get herself free of the Greater Will and her Two Fingers, this group wouldn't necessarily have known that she didn't intend to give up her path to divinity.

I've watched quite a few of your videos now and from what you said about Merika, I believe her to be more than capable of planning the whole thing. She may not have known every out come but as long as the greater will could be destroyed she knew all would be free from it. She is the greater good fighting for us all. That's what I like to think. I still think it's possible for a mother to sacrifice her son for such a cause. It happens all the time these days with out any benefits and they aren't even gods doing it. Good stuff though!

All your videos give me so much more knowledge on a game I thought I knew so much about. Love Elden ring and it’s world and your videos are a perfect companion piece to explain the story.

I always interpreted that more than one demi god fell that night because besides Godwin, Rani too "died" that night. But I never considered the mausoleum demigods as part of that night.. always assumed that happened during or shortly after the crucible.

I wonder if Godwyn was in on it. He seems like a real Baldur type. The super awesome, everyone loves him, would help anyone out, etc, etc, etc. What if he was part of the plot alongside Ranni to escape their fate as puppets of the Greater Will and it just happened that one of them needed to die... so naturally he insisted that he got that half of the deal. To spare the sister he loved. Ranni was pretty oddly insistent in her proclamation of "It was me! All Me! I did it all by myself!" which can be read kind of passive aggressively. She could be covering for Godwyn's roll in things. Or someone else's. Also I always thought it odd that the Black Knives could kill a demi-god. Sure they had the tools. But those guys are tough. Surely he was on the same level as Godfrey, Radahn, Melenia, etc. In game, which is a poor metric I admit, they're not that spooky. But spooky enough to stealthily steal part of the Rune of Death from under Malekiths nose (somehow... perhaps by some betrayal? Hmm?) and get all the way to Godwyn, no doubt pursued by agents of the Greater Will, successfully. At that point the killing might have been academic. He goes along with it. Finally, if Godwyn was in on it, well then, maybe it really did just go all the way to the top. There's all those implications that Marika was somehow in on it which often seems hard to jive with the idea that it then drove her to brake the ring and cause the shattering in reaction. But perhaps she had also come to realize that the Greater Will was a bad thing and in seeing her daughters desperation to not become the next vessel for it, and her sons willingness to die a terrible deathless death to ensure that didn't happen, then she indeed makes a turn herself and becomes part of the plot. The "plot" part of course simply being the doing of it under the noses of the Two Fingers and the Greater Will, who clearly have other agents in play that might have tried to stop them. Malekith for instance, who like Blaidd, no doubt has that off switch that allows the Greater Will to force them to do whatever they want even if it goes against their own wishes and loyalties. After all Ranni only wins when the Elden Ring is dissolved. Marika set that up for her. Godwyn's death then being the "trigger" that sets off the next step of the plan; Marika smashing the Elden Ring. It wasn't just Ranni betraying everyone in a selfish bid to save her own ass. It was nothing short of a total rebellion to remove the Greater Will's influence over the world by the very gods themselves! See also brother Rykard who, originally at least, was basically plan B. Or maybe not. I think Patches is responsible for the whole mess personally. The scamp.

your videos are like a drug to me bro, keep it up!!!!

Been waiting for a good one on this!!!

Something that's been driving me crazy is that the frenzy tends to appear as an eclipse. I haven't heard many people talk about this, but so many videos cover the eclipse being able to revive the soul or bring a soul back from death. The frenzied flame shows itself as an eclipse with the flame itself ringed around it. Maybe that is why shabriri is able to move his soul into a new body, and the three finger maiden seems to be a new soul inhabiting a previously dead body? Maybe the frenzied flame is a true eclipse, or at least harnesses an aspect of the eclipse. I want to think that maybe it's the "worm hole" to the end for souls, a gate that would take everything to the end of time, when regression has pulled everything back together. Maybe it's an important part of handling death and the shepherding of souls that are truly done with their time in the world, never to be reborn. Maybe it was specifically meant to usher souls to the end, but in the time of the game where everything is separate and death has been stopped up, it sees its purpose as more necessary than ever.

Can't wait to dive into this one. Thanks, as always, for your all of your continued hard work Geoff. Cheers mate, The 🐐 strikes again, crediting content creators and uncovering the lore like some kind of Elden Ring Indiana Jones. 🍻

i think it makes more sense for the black knife assassins to be on board with Ranni’s intention to escape her empyrean physical form. they seek the same goals: Ranni seeks to enter the age of stars and, it seems, to become the goddess of this age of night. The Nox are trying to create a Lord, which in many other cases (the age of the dragons, what seems to be the plan with Malenia if she were to become goddess of rot, Mohg and Miquella) the Lord of whatever age it may be marries the God and they rule together. So it makes sense to me that the Nox/Sellians would be willing to help Ranni towards her goal of bringing the age of the stars, and the Nox are attempting to create a Lord for her to rule with. (Edit adding more) Perhaps they then decided they no longer wanted Ranni as their God later on and thats why the assassins and the Nox turned on Ranni. Either they felt she was using them for selfish reasons and didn’t actually care for their vision, or they did not like that Ranni is a Carian royal, and values the moon as much as the stars (i think i remember that being one of the main conflicts other sorcerers had with the Carians.)

I love your videos! They have inspired me play Elden Ring more often as my main game... Being able to understand the lore like this contributes to a more interesting and immersive experience. Thanks so much for all the work you do, to put all these little details and references together, and then supply it on a video for people to consume is serious talent and skill.

Love the video mate. Absolutely fantastic. Been watching since the first lore video of elden ring and I will be here forever more

57:14 I wonder if Ranni is so heavily stating that it was she that stole the death-rune just because the opposite is true? I think it was Sinclair Lore that mentioned how it would make sense that Rykard is closest to Marika, giving his roll as Praetor. If it was something that would make this whole thing even more shattering for Marika that would make sense right? elden ring theories sound much better in my head on sleepless nights than they look here lol (hope i make sense, english isn't my first language)

A belated Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you too, Smoughtown! Thank you very much for your excellent videos this year (and before). To me, you always weave everything into such an engaging, compelling, and entertaining case. In this instance, I especially enjoyed it because I have a slightly different view of events*. I just really value getting to listen to new, alternative reasoning and experiences. The diversity is such a treat. Looking forward to far more! (* I don't have any firm view on Marika's involvement in the Black Knife plot itself. However, I do think she made extensive plans to facilitate the events of the game and may have seen fierce competition as a different kind of evolutionary crucible. Due to that view, I struggle to believe she acted out of grief.)

I think it's still plausible that Marika had at least some hand in the NoBK. Whether it was making "sacrifices" of children who amounted to nothing, or could even have been helping Ranni to release herself from being an Empyrean (which seemingly would benefit Marika as that makes Ranni a threat to her position). Godwyn's death & the number of her children killed could be things she didn't expect, and thus striking her even deeper with grief knowing she played an unintentional part in it. This could also work with the Black Knives who could have been consorts of Marika, but aligned with Ranni on the night, and betrayed her perhaps as revenge for what happened to the Nox. She is also kind of shown to be a schemer, but perhaps not a mastermind. Banishing Godfrey and the tarnished with the intent they would return some day for a greater plan, or even just marrying Godfrey to gain help creating her empire. The possibility Radagon was always a part of her, and used to destroy the Carians from the inside.

Great work as always, thank you! Keep up a good work!

you should do a full video on Melina, her past seems really interesting and we dont seem to know much about it. keep up the good work!

This is so amazing!

Your videos never fail smough you’re a legend thanks for continuing to make these videos

Always makes my day better when there is a new SmoughTown video! Today hasn’t been great for me so seeing this video pop up in my recommended videos cheered me up quite a bit!

Yet another masterpiece, excellent stuff. On an unrelated note - the video description seems to be the one from your previous video (the "This is an extremely expansive video that not only looks at Astel...." part). Didn't see anyone pointing it out so figured I'd make you aware if you see this.

I always think Marika has her plan for Godwyn to be the "martyr to destined death" because this title just reminds me a lot of Nito the lord of death/first of the dead, who possesses the power of death if I'm not mistaken, and in Elden Ring, power over death seems to be very crucial. Perhaps she wanted her golden boy to be a lord capable of changing the current Order that has no death at all, creating a new age/order of Godwyn's own, so she conspired the thing with Ranni because Marika's still the god of this current order (here I assume everyone knows Ranni just love her moon/stars or whatever, since she's moon princess after all, and the greater will seems to love such kind of weird battle royale by choosing her to be an empyrean), but in the end Ranni used Marika, got the death rune, and screwed Godwyn up because she had her own plan to make almost everyone on this land go f themselves. Anyways, it's just me guessing I always wonder how she managed to sort out which part of the rune is to kill soul, which to kill body though. It would be sooo sarcastic if she ended up killing her soul lol

Very excited to see this!

I just blind like your videos before seeing anything; I know you will deliver :) Thank you and keep it up!

Great video. But I'm genuinely curious, if Marika wasn't part of the plot, how exactly would she have been responsible for betraying Maliketh?

Thanks for everything in 2022, can't wait for the dlc lore videos

Great Work as usual! U are crazy and produce such good stuff since the first video. thank you!

It's a good idea to remember what a catalyst really is. In chemistry, a catalyst is a substance that triggers a chemical reaction to begin. There are a lot of reactions that simply will do nothing until they come in contact with the catalyst. I think the translation works fine, since all of the materials were in place for the reaction to begin, they just needed something to kickstart the reaction. Therefore, the night of the black knives is the catalyst to the reaction of the shattering war.

Rather uniquely, your talking about the Blade of Calling actually ends up shedding some lore on an entirely different character, and potentially disproves an idea that I've seen shared about, that Millicent's sisters just "appeared" inside the Aeonian swamp after Melania bloomed there. Polyanna, Millicent's sister, also uses the same blade, both during Millicent's questline's ending, as well as when you summon her as an NPC to fight Commander O'Neil. If the weapon was given out to Ladies in Waiting of the court, it would also imply that that Polyanna was one as well, and eventually abandoned that role in order to serve the God of Rot and help Gowry in his quest to make Millicent bloom. It might be possible the sisters did appear in the swamp, and she then grew up, became trained as a Lady in waiting before eventually leaving to work with Gowry, but it also may be possible the Rotten insignia's description is not meant to be literal, and that the sisters were once normal people. Gowry only specifies that he found Millicent in the swamp, whereas the Rotten insignia says the sisters were "born in the swap". Polyanna initially appears named as "adopted daughter" which implies that she is not officially part of the family and was adopted in, yet is clearly called Millicent's sister, meaning it's most likely she was adopted into Millicent's "family", which suggests she isn't actually connected to the Bloom in the same way Millicent is. The traveler's set she wears says it is worn by women who set off into the world to confront their fates, so it may that she and the other three "sisters" were all normal people who got caught in the Aeonean bloom and were changed by it somehow, being "born" into their new selves as followers of the Rot Goddess. The oldest sister Mary weidls a Halo scythe, which is noted to be used by the Cleanrot Knight, meaning she must have been alive before Malenia bloomed, otherwise she wouldn't have had the scythe. One of the other sisters even weilds a Tree Spear, noted to be used by the Palace Guards of Lyndell, which would imply Maureen worked directly inside the palace for some time before eventually heading to the Haligtree. It would also explain why they were "doomed never to bloom", as they weren't "purely rotten" in the way that Millicent was, who was found as a baby inside the Swamp, either directly born from the bloom, or impacted at such a young age she was transformed by the Rot in a more pure way. They had already grown up, making the Rot not able to change them in the way it did for Millicent.

Happy holidays and a grace given new year to you SmoughTown!

Super! I will definitely watch this tomorrow with my morning coffee. Can't wait!

"Ranni is not a villain..." Hard disagree. She plots the inciting action of the shattering; an assassination against her own kin and the one demigod who is generally agreed to be a good dude. Conspiracy of the murder of several political figures and familicide is textbook villainy. Her motivations are to rid herself of the fate of an Empyrean but she's not even the only Empyrean and we're shown that fate can be altered in other means anyway. So she basically choose the most violent and catastrophic way to accomplish her goals, putting the lives of others as less valuable than her own. That's pretty villainous. She abandons all of her allies and anyone who trusts her dies because of her poorly executed plans and betrayals. She even intends to abandon you as well. Even if she talks about love for Iji and Blaidd, her actions speak far louder than her words. Abandoning people close to you who do all your work for you and failing to do anything to protect your so-called loved ones against enemies you purposefully made? Not exactly a Heroic virtue. After condemning the world to having a shattered order and undead prowling the lands, what's her plan to set things right? She literally just wants to abandon the world and rescind any kind of leadership or mending as she goes to explore the cosmos. Even if all of her literal backstabbing has somehow left the Lands Between freed of the influence of the Greater Will, she's done nothing to resolve the issues of all the other Outer influences and is leaving humanity to just suffer whatever cruelties might befall them despite having the god-like power to change things for the better. Abandoning the entirety of the world to known threats and abdicating using power responsibly whatsoever because you didn't want that responsibility? Absolutely a villain move. I've come to absolutely despise Ranni, the pretender princess in her ivory tower, who has to sit on top of books to pretend to be taller than she really is, whose best friend is a dog literally made to love her, and who modelled herself and her ideals entirely off of a crazy old snow witch. The first thing she does to you in the game is lie to you and yet so many players act as if following her is the right thing to do or the 'best ending' when it is worse than even Dung Eater's.