Elden Ring Lore - The Cleanrot Knights: Strength & Valor 

We also have to remember that the world is actually in lore a lot larger than it appears in game as far as we know, so in lore the act of walking all the way back to the haligtree is less like walking across a few cities worth of distance and much more like walking across an entire empire with multiple kingdoms spanning the distance.

10:15 was a nice addition to the video as the fellow knight rushed to “aid” Finlay

Finlay and the cleanrot knights oddly enough mirror malenia, since her men are always willing to sacrifice everything in order to make hers and her brothers dreams come to fruition even knowing that they would suffer greatly for following them.🐱

Dont you love how the Cleanrot Knights weapons setup suggests a very “get over here so i can stab you!” feel. Then “youre getting really far away, have a near infinite range, high accuracy disc of light!”

I'd like to provide some additional input as well. The 1.00 version of the game straight up calls them the strongest knights of the shattering. Also, an interesting detail in the abandoned cave in caelid near dragonbarrow, you can find 2 cleanrot knights, one is a commander who uses the halo scythe while other uses a spear have wrecked 9-10 of rykard's iron virgins who were sent to help radahn out. It shows a single cleanrot knight was a force to be reckoned with despite being consumed by the scarlet rot. As to why they were celebrated for their undefeated campaign, It is because they were fighting to ensure that Miquella would bring about the age of Unalloyed Gold after growing his new body. While Radahn didn't die, he was left out of commission to become Elden Lord. Malenia wasn't after great runes, otherwise she would have killed godrick. This is at the same time quite depressing that despite the huge efforts from these knights, it would ultimately prove to be pointless as Miquella was abducted by Mohg and the Haligtree failed to grow to its full potential.

i strongly believe that the cleanrot knights' campaign started _after_ the abduction of Miquella. They seemingly made a beeline directly towards caelid, only engaging godrick because he picked a fight. caelid is _directly above_ the moghwyn palace, so she might have had some means of tracking him but not realized he was below ground. Radahn, meanwhile, understandably thought he was under attack, since she's heading right for him and there's nothing really _past_ caelid for her to be aiming for. It's also possible that Mogh framed Radahn for the abduction somehow, it seems as if nobody but godfrey, marika, and possibly morgott knew mogh even _exists_ so he wouldn't even be on the suspect list. In either case, all that blood being shed directly above his base of operations could only have been helpful for mogh's efforts to establish his power base, which seems awfully convenient for him. Otherwise i just don't see any reason for Malenia to pick a fight with Radahn when he's literally the furthest shardbearer from the haligtree and isn't even necessarily opposed to miquella's goals

Cleanrot knights made me suffer in my first run, I was scared of them, and yet they were my favourite enemies. Reading about Finlay when I found her ash of war made think of her as the coolest summon of all. In fact the entirety of Malenia, Miquella, the Haligtree and their followers lore is so good that I really want a DLC about Miquella. Wonder what his age of unalloyed gold would have been

Cleanrot knights were my favorites. A true display of strength, loyalty and courage to do what is necessary. Love their armor design as well.

The cleanrot knights had such a terrifying enemy design for just being common enemy knights.

whenever you fight the Cleanrot Knights its just clear how above and beyond they are compared to Radhans forces that it must of been a slaughter whenever they went against regular troops, not to mention how haligtree knights are also still rather powerful, having magic, powerful healing, and buffs. being a mere mortal soldier must of been truly terrifying

Thank you for this video. Finlay, to me, is one of the most interesting characters in the whole game. By the description of her ashes, and what we know about the regions in the game, we can figure out how epic her journey was. That is master environmental storytelling.

Best story of Knight I have heard… they must really love their little lords… even in those cave the name of Bosses are called ‘Malenia’s Clean rot knight’😢

Also keep in mind that malenia is like 7 feet tall and finlay had her on her back the whole Time what a legend

Well, the reason Melenia was in Caelid was to kill Radahn because his halting of the stars prevented the eclipse that Miquella needed to grant Godwyn a true death. Ironically Miquella and Ranni both need to kill Radahn, so when we kill Radahn Miquella would have been able to do their plan, except Miquella got taken by Mogh during Malenia’s absence.

something i want to point to finlay journey is that we can see the path she took to bring melenia to the heligh tree, the corruption of the scarlet rot affect animals like the giant tyranodogs, it seems that finaly started in aeonia, went north where she crossed the sea maybe in one of those ships we see form raddan arena, climbed the mountains and reached the heligtree, she took the most dangerous path but at the same time the shortest to keep malenia safe

10:19 perfect way of showing us how tired she was even the knight towards you to help 👀

i've always wondered how miquella never contracted the scarlet rot when being around his sister for so long or maybe i missed something

It's fantastic to see someone give acknowledgement to, and show admiration for the most incredible character in the lore, Finlay!! She was my companion when the going got tough in my first playthrough and the more I learned about the lore, the more I appreciated her as a character with only a few sentences worth of storytelling which tells so much!

A small detail I noticed while watching the video was the prosthetics in the shaded castle next to the malenia painting.

I have a special place in my heart for the one in the Haligtree guarding the chest with the Finlay summon. I kill that one a 'few' times for throwing me off the roof the first time.

Been wanting to see u cover the story of the cleanrot knights!! And its crazy how finlay fought through to carry malenia all the way to the haligtree like that's a long way to get thefe

In my opinion, Cleanrot Knights are the coolest looking knights in Elden ring. I really love their armour design and lore. ❤ I wish they’re as hard as Crucible Knights though. 🤔 I wouldn’t mind suffering from fighting them just so I could feel fear and awe every time I see them around.

Hey just want to say thanks Elden Ring is my first soul game and it gives me the same feeling as witcher 3 (with dlc) when I finish it meaning the game was good and immersive enough to make me feel like that was one hell of a journey. And thanks to many of your videos about its lore they really make me love the world from this game even more 😀. I know it's not much but please keep up the good work.

I genuinely love your channel. It amazes me you don’t have thousands more subs with this caliber of content.

I honestly think its the pest bugs underneath their cleanrot armor. The awkward way they stand, the bug like wings that come down near the legs, they don't look like normal humans.

Imagine if the rule of Godfrey was still here (or at least still around not exiled) when the shattering happened, would’ve loved to see Godfrey’s crucible knights potentially help radahn out in the war

I love the Cleanrot knights! The armor, the weapons, the lore, their home and their leaders! Most of all their spirit! It reminds me of Prussians! An army of professionals who are above all efficient at what they do! Beautiful!

Omg they really went all out for elden ring lore and i just love it 💕

this is great stuff! thanks for making these

not sure if it's true that a single cleanrot knight can take down multiple redmanes, if just normal footsoldiers sure, but the more powerful Gravity Knight's im sure they could 1v1

Love these lore videos! Some point would you do lore vids focusing on Malenia herself and Radahn? Be cool to see you cover the Redmane soldiers and knights now that you have covered the Cleanrot Knights. 👍

6:59 😮😂 there a giant face in background 😂

Finlay is a total giga chad

Great video, i would be so interested in one of these videos on the carian knights! they seem so interesting but there doesnt seem to be a lot of info on them

Ignore this humble offering for the fickle algorithm.

I don’t know how many words a comment is supposed to have on RU-vid to help you out, so I’m just going to keep typing. Love you and your dedication to this game. Thank you for entertaining and informing us so much in this last year.

a movie about finlays journey would be epic

I wish there was a power stance when you dual wield cleanrot sword and spear

These videos are fantastic. I love the CRK's

I just wish someone would tell me what one was doing in that one poison themed cave in the weeping peninsula

Me personally thinks that Radahn is more powerful then Malenia beacuse he tanked the scarlet rot, sure his mind got messed up in the process but he still survived. But Malenia's knights wins over the redmains, those guys are insane.

thanks for the lore videos!

@10:25 homie be like "where the hell have you been bro"

Great video as always! Has anyone gone in depth explaining the sanguine nobles? I've heard plenty about the bloody fingers buy they seem separate from the nobles.

Dang it. I should have guessed during the livestream that it either had to do with Malenia v Radahn or the Cleanrot Knights! I had a feeling! ❤

Never noticed but when the player two hands a spear both hands switch place when they swing from left to right 😂, meaning they let go with both hands for a moment

I've always imagined Finlay meeting up with some other survivors from the battle of aeonia part way through her journey back to the Halig tree which allowed them to get back untouched with an unconscious Malenia

A sellen video would be cool.

I was wondering if you would consider doing some sekiro content. I think story content for the game is overlooked because it's presented so directly, but there's a lot of subtle and environmental storytelling in typical souls fashion.

Amazing videos! Which sword is the one you always use in your videos?

My one disagreement with Finlay's journey is I highly doubt she had to go through Lyndell to get there, there must be a back entrance or something that Miquella put in for them and Melania + their armies because I can't imagine Morgott was just chill with letting Melania and her army march through the whole city to get to Caelid in the first place, and if they fought their way through, I feel like we would see evidence of it in lore or at least some scarlet rot infection in Lyndell.

The trauma from farming them, for a halo scythe 😨

it is these knights who remind me of a quote "The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose" and i feel this sums up the cleanrot knights perfectly also a little head canon of mine is the thing that kept finlay going was pure spite and lesbian energy

radahn's forces in the catacombs are mostly of lower ranking soldier rather than actual knights, someone did a test and in a one on one battle redmane knights won a little more often

My personal theory on why Malenia invaded Calid is because she knew that she could not hold back the first scarlett bloom for much longer and decided to go to the farthest place from the Haligtree in order to protect it from being infected by the Scarlett Rot and somehow Radhan caught wind of this and tried to prevent it. Tried.

There’s nothing valor-ableabout the clean rot spear charge attack… lmao

Hell yeah this guys voice is the best

I'm guessing Morgott didn't really care as long as the erdtree was safe so he probably just let them right through unless him and Malenia fought I don't see a reason for him to attack for no reason unless it causes direct harm to the erdtree

It lowkey kinda sucks that finlay doesnt have anything outside that description to support that Like itd be cool if you could connect him to some scene in the open world Maybe hints of scarlet rot Throughout the lands forming a kind of trail to the haligtree

Any thoughts on the half-halo scythe also appearing similar to the halo rings of the sun during an eclipse? Could this also be a sign of Miquellas influence on the clean-rot knights?

As far as Finlay's journey goes, I personally think it's exaggerated. I.e, Cailed, as much as it is dangerous to the tarnished, I doubt creatures of rot would attack others already afflicted with it, at least, not on purpose. Not to mention, while the trek itself is impressive, it's unlikely that anyone would be in a position to stop her, save perhaps Morgott, but it seems there may be other ways to the Hailigtree than we know about. (Like how Millicent beats us there) Not to mention, it seems she wasn't the only knight to leave, as we find several trapped in caves, while three others guard the shaded castle. (Which seems to have a deep connection to Malenia) Not to mention the prosthesis, which I personally think was the one Radahn destroyed, somehow made it's way there before being repaired.

My oldest daughter’s name is Finley. Proud dad.

Greetings from the Carrot-Man

While the quality of the video is quite good and I like the vast majority of the videos on this channel...a lot of things said that are not from the lore itself seem to be frankly massive leaps of logic that I do not agree with. These points are going to come off as a bit harsh so let me preface with that this is not an attack on the creator's character nor their content as a whole. I've watched a considerable amount of their content and by and large enjoy it. However, some of the things said here come off as biased to say the least. 1. The Redmane Knight armor does not support the idea the Cleanrots defeated the Redmanes in battle in the least. It said that they were driven to defeat by *Malenia's* rot. If they were defeated by the Cleanrot Knights it should've said so. Without that definitive statement that was pure speculation to claim that "driven to defeat by Malenia's rot" somehow translates to "the Cleanrot Knights defeated the Redmanes on the field of battle". Given what else their armor tells us the defeat mentioned is far more likely the loss of their homeland to Malenia's rot and not a definitive statement on their battle. 2. Despite having a claimed "undefeated" campaign that does not confirm that the Cleanrots won every battle they participated it, it simply means they never lost. Those things are not necessarily the same thing. Not losing encapsulates draws as well. It's why Malenia can still logically claim to have never known defeat even if her fight with Radahn was a draw, because in that case neither won and neither lost. 3. 3:30 I'm sorry but this statement just comes off as unapologetically biased as if you actually spend time observing the battles held in this area the only enemies the Cleanrot Knight spirits are fighting here are Radahn Soldiers not Redmane Knights so to make the blanket statement that "any of Radahn's forces" would need numbers on their side to win against a Cleanrot Knight is thoroughly unsupported conjecture. It is common sense that any standard Soldier would struggle against a Knight but this statement acts like it applies to the Redmane Knights as well when we have no reason to believe that. The only Redmane Knights we find in the entirety of the War-Dead Catacombs appear and attack us away from where the Cleanrot Knights are fighting and are never seen fighting the Cleanrot Knights.

Finlay flew on insect wings

I strongly disliked the Cleanrot Knights my first playthrough. Probably because they were hella difficult as a first time Souls player using a basic melee build; but also I just assumed Malenia/Scarlet Rot = “bad”. But now that I know more about the world I respect them for following their leaders no matter the cost. Super excited for the DLC and potential return of Miquella now.

did malenia ever thank finlay?

Comparing a redmane soldier against a cleanrott Knight is kind of pointless, if you compared a redmane Knight against a cleanrott Knight then fair enough, key word being knights

so summarized these knights are absolute simps

Are cleanrot knights all ladies?

Obligatory comment to boost the content.

Great vid, but seriously man clean up your inventory, THERES AN INFINITE STORAGE CHEST!!!!

they literally carry malenia her ass got bodied by radahn and her knights had to finish the fight

Finlay is the lesbian retainer malenia deserves. I love her so much!

Finlay x Malenia forever 😌❤️

Malenia won. Yeah she used the worst WMD known to the lands between but she did irrevocably ruin everything for Radahn.

In the back of my head, every time i hear your voice. I hear “tamriel, dawns beauty, Taazokaan in the dragon’s tounge” so many memories from that series, and its soothing to hear that same voice give just as an in depth analysis on a whole new series. Cheers brother 🙏🏽

Total wimps compared to crucible knights.