Elden Ring Lore | The Flame of Frenzy 

Thanks to everyone for supporting this video, let me know your thoughts below

I am also very intrigued by the fact that the "fingers" of the Greater Will were only Two Fingers, which by themselves cannot interfere because they cannot grasp. But the "fingers" of the Frenzied Flame are Three Fingers and they can grasp and interfere. It's an idea that's been running through my head since my first encounter with the Three Fingers.

You know, if they had kept Kale's questline, I would have absolutely gone with the frenzied flame ending. Because I kept RPing going back to that crumbling church to visit my first friend in the lands between. I would have burned the world for my boy.

Kale's voice actor really did a great job with his cut dialogue.

I'm surprised you never brought up the soldiers on the mountain leading to Volcano Manor. As they too are afflicted with Frenzy, possibly from how horrible the fighting was against Rykard's forces.

Two things I would like to mention about Shabirri and Vyke. Shabirri is easily one of the best manipulators. I mean who can resist that upturn flirtatious smile. He looks trustworthy, right? Also Vyke probably couldn’t become lord because he didn’t strip off his armor which means that he could only partially contained the flame.

Frenzied Flame is definitely second favorite ending, the final scene where you turn around with your face turned into a lord of the rings looking thing just gave me chills.

I love listening to the merchants play, especially with that ambiance.

The merchant song is just to good. Can't help but be fascinated by the yellow flame bc of it

Great ideas all around. There's just one significant detail I would have liked to explore: the nomadic merchants all have a five-fingered hand on the bow of their instruments. I think this may hint at what their "heretical beliefs" are. The followers of the Golden Order revere the Two Fingers, as a sign of order. Whereas the Three Fingers are a sign of chaos. And order and chaos both allegedly came from the One Great, so they're two halves of the whole. I think the five fingered hand of the nomadic merchants hints that they may have recognized this, and rather than embracing order and shunning chaos, their beliefs were essentially dualistic. Thus, Shabriri (or whoever) accusing them of heresy is kind of like the Christian persecution of the Manichaeans. Their belief in balance was deliberately misconstrued into devil worship.

(cw: talk of suicide) Personally I found the story line of the Frenzied Flame to be deeply emotionally compelling. It's reminiscent of the distortion of logic that leads to suicide, when one is suffering so much and so deeply they wish for something, anything to make it stop, even if it means death. Feeling that it is better than continuing to exist in agony in its own twisted form of hope. Its all so gut wrenchingly real that I couldn't help but sympathize and feel moved by it. I also really like how the game frames and encourages you to accept the frenzied flame. When you encounter the Frenzied Flame Proscription, you are greeted with a horrific and frankly enraging sight of the Great Caravan entombed and yet still alive, punctuated by one playing a somber melody unique to the area. Then, with Kale's cut questline, you would find him despairing at the fate of his people (props to the VA by the way, he really sells the emotion). With all of that presented, you just might on impulse open the door to the three fingers, whether out of rage at the world of grace or sympathy for the merchant's plight. Of course by then its too late. Even if you come to your senses and regret your choice, you are locked in to the path of self destruction with only one arduous way to escape it. On one final note, I also love how the game makes the player doff their armor, "divesting themselves of everything" before the doors to the three fingers will open. Its an excellent metaphor for whom the frenzied flame manifests in: those who have lost everything.

I really like the idea of the Three Fingers not being vessels of the Frenzied Flame, but the Outer God itself who took such form to symbolise its opposing nature towards the Greater Will's Order. It never crossed my mind, but it makes sense! With this, the only thing I still can't really explain about Fingers are Ranni Two Fingers. They differ in form, color and size from the normal fingers, and more importantly: they are alive - contrary to all other Demigods' ones. I've read the interesting idea that Ranni was not chosen as an Empyrean by the Greater Will, but by the Moon, of which her Fingers are emissary - this would also explain why Ranni was chosen despite not having any distinctive quality contrary to Malenia and Miquella, and would give context to all the meteoric shards near Manus Celes, as the Fingers could've been sent on earth by the satellite from space. It's also really interesting Ranni never mentions the Greater Will at all, despite all her plot.

I'm starting to like the idea of the outer gods being kami because it explains how the outer gods apparently aren't bound by space. They can appear wherever they want because they are aspects of life itself, not just beings.

The eyes are said to be the window to the soul. Like you said, we use our eyes to see and take in all the pain and suffering that we go through, but it's also possible for others to see that same pain and suffering when we look each other in the eyes. When we're sad or in pain we either look to each other for comfort, or we look away keep it to ourselves. We can see despair as well, when we look into someone's eyes and see that they don't see us, or that they see through us, or see nothing at all.

Could the flames in someone's eyes show them the truth of the world? The madness could be similar to frenzy in Bloodborne, where someone gains knowledge beyond their understanding and are harmed from it. The flames could show a person the fractured nature of the world and the horrors that come from it, driving them mad and eventually pushing them to spread it to others

Being a huge King in Yellow fan, I saw the inspiration in the yellow frenzied flame. My favorite story line to follow, in the game! Great video, as always!

Notice the similarities between Gowry and Shabriri. They both seem more than human, can possess other bodies, and speak in favor of an outer God. I have a video in the works myself on the similarities of them and that archetype within the lands between Edit: going more along with your video and eyes (or the lack their of), check out all of the finger reading crones, who have empty sockets. And you also have the briar channeling sorcerer-prisoners, who are said to have their eyes gouged out by the briars, and like those afflicted with frenzy flame and it manifesting in the eyes of those infected, the briar prisoners see the bloodstar in a similar manor.

There is one other thing regarding the theme of eyes in Elden Ring is that, despite them being mainly associated with the Frenzied Flame, they are also related to Marika and Radagon through their Sore and Scar Seals. And there’s the fact that in the promotional material and in game, Marika’s eyes are also suspiciously never shown. This is seen across the board in her statuary, paintings, her image in the prologue cinematic and when you finally see her crucified within the Erdtree.

My first ending was the frenzied flame ending. Completely blind I followed Hyettas questline, and very early I got to the frenzied flame village and found the frenzied Lord note. I spent the game obsessing over it. And my initial time in Leyndell was searching everywhere for the sewers. And the more the game tried to keep me from going deeper, I just wanted it more. I gotta say. I think the reason why Elden ring is one of my favorite games is because that happened. It really set in on my second playthrough how special that experience was, encountering the three fingers and the sting of Melina saying that she was going to kill me now. Shit was fucking awesome lmao

I usually don't comment, but you deserve it. I really appreciate how well researched and entertaining these lore videos are. Also, your work ethic makes me want to push myself to do more. The fact that you're able to research, write, capture footage, and edit a 1 hour video essay every couple weeks is incredibly inspiring. Keep it up! Take care of yourself too though. Take a break if you need to. Can't wait to see more!

I have a theory about how the agents of the Three Fingers come about. The acolytes of the Frenzied Flame appear to people in the form of someone that once greatly mattered to the intended target. The Irina/Hyetta dynamic is a proof of my theory, as it seems that Irina's plight might have drawn sympathy from the Tarnished. Yura/Shabiri dynamic follows the same logic. Shabiri asks why the Tarnished seems sad upon seeing him, and tries to gain the Tarnished's favor by suggesting an avoidance of Melina's eventual sacrifice by absorbing the Frenzied Flame. Both Hyetta and Shabiri do not appear until Irina and Yura are dead. These agents of the Flame take the form of someone dear to them in order to gain their trust, like some kind of cruel joke. Let's say you have someone you hold dear, and one day, they die. You feel sad, knowing that they're gone, and life becomes more dreary. Then one day, you are approached by someone familiar, it's that person who died, but something's wrong, they have a totally different personality, and go by a different name. They encourage you to engage with some process that allowed their body to live again, all the while commenting about your show of sadness upon seeing them. These acolytes of Chaos take the form of the person who mattered to you to spread the Frenzied Flame further, exploiting your feelings, your relationship to the person you once held dear to you.

Something I thought of when I found the merchants sealed below the capital was how people with memory loss tend to remember music. I used to work in an industry adjacent to people with alzheimers/dementia (not as a caregiver, just in a connected business) and had a musician in the family who died to some form of memory loss. It's a commonly accepted concept that for whatever reason, the brain can deteriorate beyond the point of recognizing faces but music will still be remembered. That musician in my family could play his instrument incredibly well even while he started mistaking his electric razor for the TV remote.

Lately I’ve been fascinated with the door to the Three Fingers. I’ve been trying to figure out what it’s made of and the one I’ve concluded to is Flesh. I know it sounds crazy but what sells this are the hints of red seen on the surfaces of trolls and many of the inhabitants in the Lands Between, possibly being dried blood. There is a prominent theme of skinning or flaying being a form of punishment. It’s mostly evident in the crucifixions, eternal city slaves, the trolls etc. Also interesting to note is all of buried merchants look nothing like the ones above ground, possibly because they’re missing their flesh which would explain their reddish exterior also being dried blood. We know from Shabriri and Hyetta that spirits that seek the Flame of Frenzy need only flesh so this actually makes a lot of sense that all the flesh would be used to seal this door. This could also explain why we need to be unburdened and unclothed since an audience with the Three Fingers needs flesh… Not that I think of it, maybe even Godwyn might’ve been flayed since there’s another of him under Stormveil with missing eyes since the black knives design are similar to Melina’s Blade of Calling which has the same shotel like design, similar to the Godskin Peelers. Queen Marika’s reign just got a lot more sinister….

Can we just appreciate the fact that the thumbnails on this channel have been fire the last couple of months

I ended up meeting several other lore youtubers thanks to you, also I like that you don't get tired of trying to understand the lore from many different perspectives and angles

I wonder if outer should actually be translated as outsider. Edit: the ironic part is that in the end we still sacrificed a maiden. So was it really worth it. Shabriri is a liar through and through.

So, maybe one more perspective worth taking that combines the dialogues of the two and three fingers is that the One Great was shattered into many pieces, and the Greater Will is the greatest size or power of the sentiences from this split, the others being the Outer Gods. The Flame of Frenzy, then, is also a fragment of the One Great, but the one that doesn't approve of the fragmentation and desires to return. It is so evocative of the Old One in Demon's Souls - that a piece of the One Great did not want to fragment.

another great video as always! I gotta say, finding the frenzied merchant in the subterranean shunning grounds was probably the most immersive experience I've had with this game. i had just finished an intense fight with fake mohg and i was progressing downwards when i heard the sweet sound of that instrument they play. i eventually found the guy just sitting there, completely empty, seemingly clinging on to the last memory he had from his old life. he was almost entirely alone, save for the mountains of corpses from his dead people. for the first time in the game, i used an emote (other than finger snap) to sit down next to him for about 5 minutes and just listen to him play his song. he never reacted to my presence, but i hope that he noticed i was there, and if only for those 5 minutes, didn't feel so alone. to this day every time I hear that song i think about him and nearly cry.

The slander, spoken by Shabriri, was slander according to the order. He was blinded and punished for not abiding by their rules. His anger and his hatred magnified after being silenced and blinded by those who would not listen to the truth. The three fingers have another finger because they are the truth and speak from more than 2 perspectives, but from all. The reason the two fingers only have two fingers is because of a physical representation of communicating and hearing from 2 outer gods. The only one who chose to listen to 3 was shunned as well. The Order is a lie, they have silenced those with the truth, and because of this, true wrath will fall upon all. It was because of the lack of inclusion of the 3rd that sickness and curses existed. Had there been openness to the third, all matter would have been considered. There was a place for all.

The frenzy ending with the tree on fire always looked like a brain cell to me

The sheer breadth of expansive research and effort put into all of these videos, in their baffling frequency, warms our days and deepens our understanding of this beautiful game. Please never stop. 👑 #PraiseTheResearch

Did this person really just manage to dedicate 1 hour of lore video material to a topic where I am happy to find 6 lines of text for? Great job~

I have yet to watch the video but one thing I have always found interesting, (even if not related to the story) is that the ending of the flame of frenzy shows a tree and a flame with dark inside it Ds1 begins precisely with a tree from which a fire is released from which even darkness is born.. However, You really are a Lore Hunter.

The idea of opposites really fits in with the 3 fingers. While the Order is represented by the dieific Erd Tree, Chaos is but a simple servant.

This was a very much needed explanation of The Frenzy Flame very much needed for such a mysterious outer god doesn’t matter the lore we have it is still a mystery so this lore explanation helps out a lot, Incredible Lore explanation Smough of The Flame Of Frenzy have a marvelous day

I desperately hope Fromsoft restores some of the cut quests like Kale's in some form at some point. It serves as a point of justification for the player to go down the path of chaos beyond saving Melina. Incredible breakdown as always. As I've said before, I've been looking forward to this video since I started watching your stuff and you did not disappoint.

one of my favourite pieces of lore in game... the merchants, the three fingers, vyke... ah hearing that music is so powerful... the frenzied flame ending is by far my favourite ending

The Eyes of Yelough make me think of something else too..With the healing , plus intoxicating, maybe it's a type of hallucinogen that's also toxic like a "magic mush"? Brings to mind bad trips, and losing one's sanity to "ideas beyond comprehensibility" which "seeing" (leading to the eyes) might be too much for, but having also been used as a powerful medicine by people for hundreds of years to heal the mind..You can kind of say that for most "intoxicants" so maybe it just means any kind in general like a vice? Just a thought.

Ive known you since your collabs with sinclair lore and i gotta say, youve become my favorite lore channel.

I'm also not sure how relevant Bloodbornes ideas are to Elden Ring overall, but the recurrence of eyes feel direct to me - the eyes of insight in that game showed the gaining of cursed knowledge one cannot escape. To me, the eyes of frenzy communicate the same notion: once you see the world as endless and pointless suffering, you cannot unsee it. You've gained insight into something best left unconsidered, and also the usage of "frenzy" implies to me the same state of madness from this insight. In regard to Hyetta/Irene being the vessel for chaos, I think she's chosen becauses she's both impaired and possibly suffering and isolated from others because of this, and also because of the literary notion of blindness giving you greater clarity and freedom from the world's illusions. As someone who is suffering for no reason besides genetic randomness and who died violently at the hands of meaningless revenge, she is capable of seeing the world as it truly is: an endless cycle of malignantly pointless torment and death

The lore scene for elden ring has been robust, but for me, Smoughtown has floated to the top. The presentation, choice of topics, and the sheer amount in such a short time has been so great. Thanks Smoughtown!

"...and have a wonderful oblivion." 😂😂 Love it~

I dont think the possibility of a five-fingered hand should be counted out tbh. Just looking at their design it seems quite obvious that the two and three fingers would form a complete hand if combined; the two fingers being the pointer and ring finger and the three fingers being the thumb, pinky and middle. To me it doesnt really make sense that From would design these entities with such a clear visual metaphor if it didn't actually mean anything. EDIT: Thematically this makes a lot of sense as well; the two fingers of the greater will symbolize order, the three fingers symbolize chaos. They are two sides of the same coin. There's also the reference to a five fingered hand representing the beastmen's intelligence in the cinquedea item description, which again seems like a needless and out-of-place detail if there never was a five fingered hand. Furthermore, the two fingers are just messengers of the greater will, so i dont think there being more than one of them really matters as far as the math not adding up (though it is odd that different two fingers have chosen different empyreans, so it seems they do have a certain degree of agency). For all we know there could've been multiple three fingers as well; after all we know that the two fingers can in fact be killed, evidently even without something like the fingerslayer blade, since we find their corpses at the divine towers. What really perplexes me is Hyetta's dialogue (no doubt it was purposely left ambiguous in typical From Software fashion), which as far as i know is the only reference to "The One Great" in the entire game. Having done a little digging, it seems that the japanese describes this as more of a "great oneness" like the prima materia/crucible as opposed to a single deity. "All that there is came from the One Great, then came fractures and births." To me, this seems to directly contradict the notion that the Greater Will created all life, and is further supported by the fact that there are places beyond the Lands Between which are supposedly free of, or at least less affected by the Greater Will's influence. There's also the item description (cant remember which item, maybe someone will remind me) stating that originally the Erdtree was "in opposition to everything." Surely if the Greater Will was the source of all life this wouldn't be the case, no? If we accept that everything was created by The One Great and not the GW, it would make a lot of sense for it to be represented by a hand. After all, what do we as humans use to create? Our hands... Im starting to ramble so I'll end it here, but these are just a few ideas that've been troubling me in regards to the relationship between the GW/two fingers, the three fingers, and whatever the hell the One Great actually is.

There are some very close parallels between the forsaken depths where the caravan was locked away and the tower of rebirth from Berserk, kind of like the tower you drop down to meet the four kings in DS1. The tower was built on top of a ruined kingdom and became a prison for heretics. At the bottom are a mass of corpses with the brand of sacrifice, implying that the first eclipse happened in the area at the bottom of the tower. Pretty similar story to the frenzied flame, especially considering that a behelit activates whenever a person is experiencing complete despair. Another parallel I just had to edit in is the fact that the sewers and Leyndell were built on top of tomb of the frenzied flame just as the tower of rebirth in Berserk was built over the massacres committed years ago by the founder of the kingdom, king gaiseric. Almost in an effort to erase history. Maybe marika and the golden order built the capital on top of the tomb to cover up the horrid things they did to the nomads and merchants who once traded goods at the foot of the erdtree.

This was the first ending I recieved. It was my first souls game. By the time I talked to Melina down there i wasnt sure I could trust her. Hyettas dialogue was sufficiently manipulative to me, 100 hours in still learning and completely naive, and having already relied on frenzied flame spells. The point is I realized how good the game is after the ending and feeling regret. Really thoughtful and sneaking writing i cant help but feel it played perfectly into how i was feeling at the time. I think the writing pushed me in that direction.

i still can't help but think that the frenzied flame is a primal form of what would later become the first flame of the dark souls timeline...

The good ending.

Frenzied flame ending certainly reminds me a good bit of the end goal of Eva's Human Instrumentality Project, except instead of melting into liquid LCL everything is melted into the Frenzied Flame. Both driving everything they encounter to madness before subsuming them

I don't recall you offering an explaination as to why we need to strip our armor in order to gain audience with the 3 fingers. If I missed it I apologize, but 2 reasons I can think of: for the 3 fingers to imprint on our flesh we need to be exposed. Of course, Vyke seems to have had his armor on when he met with Them. Maybe this was seen afterward as an error, as if his dedication was deemed lacking for keeping his armor on, or his contact with them was weaker with a buffer, and afterward the 3 fingers decided its fingerprints must be scarred directly onto a candidate's skin. The other reason perhaps is more symbolic. We exhibit our individuality in these games through fashion, so maybe being naked expresses our willingness to sacrifice our uniqueness and face the 3 fingers at our most basic.

finally a new hour long elden ring video by my favorite lore guy, and its on my favorite topic in elden ring. LETSS GOOOO SMOUGHTOWN KEEP IT UP!!!

your quality is as high as ever and you are by far my favorite elden ring lore tuber. very well done!

This video is awesome. I love the long-form content, and the way you present information is great--sometimes when it comes to Elden Ring lore videos I can get to the end of the vid and still feel like I only have a vague sense of what's happened.

Watched this during the day and i gotta say it's one of your best videos. Keep up the good work Smough!

Wonderful, was looking forward to this. One of the most interesting parts of the lore for me, can't wait to hear your take on it. Cheers as always, Smough!

I like to think that the emphasis on yellow is more kin to the fact yellow is kin to a fake gold.

I recently took interest in the frenzied flame and was about to start looking into it and found this video! The timing was perfect. Thx!!

My day is complete! Playing the new RE8 dlc and listening to the best lore channel on RU-vid! Hope you have a wonderful weekend bud!

Thank you for yet another amazing video. I have a few thoughts on why Vyke failed to become the lord of frenzied flame: To meet the three fingers and become the lord of frenzied flame the player character has to take off their armor. This can be interpreted as a symbolic act. Leaving one's protection behind, one's former believes about power, security and order. After the players meeting with the three fingers their message is inscribed upon the players very skin. Vyjes armor has similar fingerprint markings. As if the metal of the armor was melted by the touch of the three fingers. So I'd suggest that Vyke did NOT leave behind his armor (his former believes about order and so on). The three fingers couldn't inscribe their message on his skin which made him unfit to be the lord of frenzied flame. Another clue to Vyke holding on to his believes about order and control could be the description of the madness sniping incantation which says that this incantation is an ATTEMPT to CONTROL chaos, which for me is in itself a contradiction. There is no controlling chaos. Let me know what you think guys.

Absolute gem as always! And thanks for recommending The Red Book channel! I’ve enjoyed it a lot as a companion to my read through of Tolkien material.

I've never learned this much about anything about elden ring more than this here, definitely checking out the rest of ur videos cuz elden ring lore is so fascinating

I love the thumbnail art one of the artists best imo

I requested this video and I am STOKED it came to fruition! Keep being the best source of knowledge on the ring, and any other games you want to explore with us king!

Smough, you make compelling points about why the Two and Three Fingers were never one, but one thing that interests me is Placidusax. He clearly once had 5 heads, but now only has 2 left. That seems significant given he was once Elden Lord but I'm not sure how that all fits into this. Any ideas?

What if the tomb of the frenzied flame is in another in place? The tablet's description doesn't state that the proscription is the actual tomb. The Great Caravan only summoned it there. The Fingerprint Shield might have been a relic the Great Caravan brought with them from the actual tomb of the Frenzied Flame.

Very cool video man, thank you! Great channel by the way. Flame of Frenzy is my favorite ending. 🔥 👁

Great video! I always have too many thoughts to comment, but appreciate how many new idea rabbit holes your videos lead to. Even if we don't reach the same conclusion, the way your videos connect the threads is very insightful, and a major boon to the lore community

What if the reason for the Three fingers being what they are is even more terrifying, that a set of Two Fingers got infected by Chaos, just like Yura or Hyetta can. That the god of Chaos is so powerful he can fuck with the Greater Will's envoys as well.

Ah yes the flame of frenzy... Finally a definite lore about the yellow flames that only knows one thing to bring total ruination upon these lands... As always you elaborate this very well. Excellent work as always...

This lore video kicks ass. Thank you my man.

Let's go new smough vid! 🙏 these elden ring documentaries are one of a few things I look forward to, thank you 🥺

love your takes on the lore another great video!

Great work man

My favourite ending is the flame of frenzy… it’s Soo ominous and an eye opener. The traveling merchants story and shabriri being the reason for them being persecuted based on a lie is deep. Great video as always Smough!

Definitely my favourite topic in the game, very glad you're covering it!

This was a delightful video to watch. Thanks!

In the Mountaintops of the Giants in the Shack of the Lofty is a burned figure, and next to it a chest that holds the bloodied Traveling Maiden outfit of Irina/Hyetta. This is where you can invade Juno Hoslow for a Volcano Manor task. I wonder if the burned figure was an earlier iteration of Hyetta, sent by Shabriri to act as a Maiden in an ultimately failed attempt to lead Hoslow to the Three Fingers?

MAY CHAOS TAKE THE WORLD!!!

I like that you bring up the expression of covering your eyes, it makes sense. It’s also interesting to me that hyetta says her eyes are melting, meaning her eyes are burning in the flame and they all feel it

Ahhh my favorite part of Elden Ring!!! I have been hyped for more frenzied content. Thank you Smough :D

After your new perspective on the Outer God's, I'm interested to hear your interpretation of Rani's ending

Where there is division, there must once have been union. Where there is separation, there must also be cooperation. Where there is loneliness, there must also be connection. Without the Dark, the light would know not what it is. To define is to divide, to divide is to control, to control is to define. Thus is the nature of order, and so Regression is born. The creation of the world progressed from God to lesser, but objective of the Fenzied flame seems to be the inverse. To combine from the lesser to achieve a divine union. The god of the Frenzied Flame is found in the hearts of all that live, and so the three fingers heed _our_ call when _we_ cry out in despair. The lord of Frenzied Flame is no vassal, no vessel, no intermediary. They do not wield the flame, nor do they fear it. They offer themselves to the flame in full, their agony the _proof_ of their apotheosis as their flesh is consumed and they become one with the flame. We are the god of Frenzy, and the god the Frenzied Flame is us. The choir of damned souls singing out in one voice, all in perfect union once more.

I so very much enjoy this channel. The Flame of Frenzy is such an interesting story/questline. Cheers.

I have been waiting for the Frenzied Flame Flame video for months. Thank you

Maybe the frenzied flame and chaos once fit into the greater order but after the golden order was created he was booted out and he's going against the greater will out of spite

Keep in mind that, all throughout Hyetta’s questline, Irina’s corpse is still there the entire time and still is after her quest. 🤔

I've veen waiting for this video on pins and needles! Superb as always!

Im sort of obsessed with the Frenzied Flame. This is a feeling I haven't felt since I first read Game of Thrones back in the late nineties, that realization of a huge and sprawling lore, and an intense sacrifice by an individual that so strongly influences the narrative

Excellent stuff as always, I do prefer to think that the Three Fingers are a Lord to an undepicted chaos incarnate like Lovecraft's Azathoth, because the Merchant note specifically calls them Lord and not God, and all the other outer gods are ethereal and unable to take physical form

"Dang, this flame really puts me in a frenzy." "Dang, this type of frenzy really gets me flaming." "Dang, this flame of frenzy really makes me hotter than a frenzied flame." "This really puts the flame in my frenzy." "Tell me you frenzying without telling me you're flaming." "Fr-fr-fr-frenzy fl-fl-fl-flame?!?!?" "There's a million ways to be a frenzy -- so why don't you be my flame, girl." "When you have a dream, you've got to frenzy flame it and never let it go."

top tier content as always, loving the work smough!

My man. Hearing the music at the beginning I knew this was going to be good.

I’ve been looking forward to this

Do you think it’s possible that the Frenzied Flame and the Greater Will are kind of two sides of the same coin? One wants to destroy everything into nothing and turn it into one while the other wants to unite everything into one?

An easy reading of the Frenzied Flame is to see it as a "wrath of God" type deal. Shabriri was a dissenter against the Order, got his eyes gouged out, and THEN a true opponent for the Order was actually created. Same with the buried nomads: they were destroyed for being seen as heretical, and THEN they came to embody the Flame. As a story, it's a rebuke against zealotry, basically. Evil is the eye that sees evil everywhere, and so on.

Beautiful take on everything you said. With the small tiny bits of lore we have to speculate on this stuff, everything you've said especially on shabriri and the great caravan make literally the most sense out if anything else that could have happened. Thank god for this community else we would never have any way to explain main chunks of the story. Thank you.

It kinda bums me out that even after taming the frenzyd flame within us with the needle, we never see Melina again as if using it's power to save her life is enough to despise us forever...

Greater will: Ultimate Causality Frenzied Flame: Ultimate Regression Edit: Well, at least I think

Prepare to cry, I love all the lore video coolabs. Friendship is nice

Amazing vid as always Smough! Again, no comment to add on this, you are doing these faster then I can even begin to think about these topics... By far the best and fastest lore content out there, cant wait for more! (the one video I await draws nearer, but will my shriveled legs hold on long enough for it...? or will I embrace frenzy even before that...? ;) )

Finally. Been waiting all week for this. As you all know we must destroy all that divides and distinguishes. MAY CHAOS TAKE THE WORLD!!!! Also I can listen to the merchant tune on repeat for so long LMAO. I just really dig it's creepy yet soothing vibe.