Elden Ring Lore - The Tale of Messmer 

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I just noticed that Messmer is actually a great foil to Miquella. All the trailers made Messmer look like a diabolical, genoocidal psychopath whose actions were so evil that he was erased from history. But in game he’s actually a pretty chill dude who was well liked and inspired loyalty from the people around him like Rellana and Commander Gaius, Radahn even looked up to him as a big brother. When one of his Black knights betrays him, he doesn’t have him tortured or killed like a typical villian would, he just imprisons him and mourns the loss of a brother at arms. He even has an entire clinic in his castle for treating and trying to cure the shaman jars. That same castle is also built in a way that hides and protects his mother’s village. It’s clear he only did evil things because Marika ordered him to, and it becomes really tragic that he was essentially abandoned by her and only realized it upon death. If he was actually allowed to be his own person and pursue his own goals and ambitions, I feel like he could have been one of the most revered demi gods, right up there with Radahn and Godwyn. He instead ends up dying alone and abandoned with no legacy to leave behind since he was erased from history. A fate that not even the omen brothers suffered. Meanwhile Miquella is said to be a beautiful kind hearted savior who in reality is a monster who only inspires loyalty because it’s literally his ability to enchant and manipulate people. He casts aside his humanity in order to become a god and seeks to enslave everyone beneath him under the guise of love. Fantastic Juxtaposition and misdirection on Fromsoft’s part.

He may have a sad backstory, but that is NOT an excuse to bully me for 10 hours 😭😭🙏

Marika's enemies: Fire giants and the Fell god. Dragons, beasts and the hornsents. Whatever is associated with the rune of Death. Messmer and Melina, cursed by the fire giants and fell god, depicted by them being fire kindlings and only having a single eye (symbol of the fell god). Morgott and Mohg, cursed by the hornsent, to grow horns, tails, wings - The looks that Marika despised since her shaman tribe was slaughtered by them. Malenia and Miquella, cursed by the absence of death and cycle of life, resembled by one rotting(eternally in the late stage of life) and one in childhood.

"Oh mother, this guy STINKS!" - Messmer

M O N G R E L I N T R U D E R

Messmer is basically the "Nameless King" of Elden Ring.

The suprise in his voice when he say "thou'rt... tarnished!". It conveys his feelings of being betrayed by his mother. Some graceless tarnished is Elden Lord while I, your son, have been abandoned.

I like how he starts off doing some big villain speech to the intruder, only to stop and go "O-Oh. You're... a Tarnished?" Like he's been completely thrown off.

Messmer’s younger sister is clearly Bayle the Dread

It’s interesting that you can find one of Miquella’s crosses inside the Shadow Keep, implying that for whatever reason, Miquella entered the keep and may or may not have interacted with Messmer. Kinda weird how Messmer was just chilling next door as one of his demigod siblings is ascending to godhood with someone he was buddies with in the past becoming his consort.

He's no doubt my favourite character in elden ring now. Such a tragic figure, used by marika in a crusade and then cast aside and hidden because of a curse he was born with. All Messmer wanted was love and acceptance from his mother which she never gave him. Fighting him is very fun as well (even though he killed me about 15 times at this point)

Messmer being the oldest Demigod makes sense. I’ve been thinking Marika just shipped him off to the shadowlands after he was born, but this makes more sense

It's pretty interesting to compare and contrast Messmer and Miquella when it comes to the loyalty and trust of their followers because while Miquella can earn genuine loyalty from people like Leda and Malenia, he's prone to using his powers of compulsion to maintain his followers' loyalty. On the other hand, Messmer seems to inspire genuine loyalty from his followers without resorting to power or coercion despite seeming like a grim, sullen demigod who knows nothing but war and slaughter. - Rellana renounced her royal title to swear fealty to him along with some Carian knights and sorcerers, becoming known as his loyal “Sword”. - Commander Gaius is one of his close friends who leads his ground forces. Despite being an albinauric who would normally be shunned by the Golden Order, he remains loyal to Messmer and holds a high ranking and respected position. - His Lordsworn soldiers and knights are devoted to him (With spirit of one going as far as being outraged that Marika has never embraced him). They've proven to be difficult enemies with many tricks up their sleeve, implying a level of training and discipline higher than even some knights in the Lands Between. - The Fire Knights, his personal guard, came from Leyndell’s upper echelons and noble families. It's stated they didn't mind being ostracized and disowned by their noble families back in Leyndell if it meant being at their lord's side, and tried to put Messmer's flame into themselves, to show their unwavering support. On top of all that, they did all of this knowing they’ll be shunned by society and erased from record with their deeds unsung and forced to wage an unending war without mercy or honor. They also have no real reason to stay in the Land of Shadow anymore. While indeed, they're trapped with having no way of knowing how to get out and despite being war weary in what amounts to uncounted ages of genocidal slaughter, Messmer's army remains rather organized in the Land of Shadow despite major events happening outside their reach. The Golden Order has collapsed, Queen Marika is imprisoned in the Erdtree and the Lands Between was ravaged in the Shattering, all before the Tarnished comes to kill any and all remaining demigods left. Messmer and his army could’ve deserted the Golden Order, splinter up and resort to banditry. Yet, even after all this time, they remained at their posts, unaware of the developments in the Lands Between, with little to no hint of any rebellion or mutiny aside from a few black knights such as father and son duo Andreas and Huw, respectively, who rebelled Messmer after discovering his “serpentine nature” and was imprisoned for it. Even after Messmer quashed their rebellion, he gave them an honorable burial and mourned for their loss. Not saying that their deeds should necessarily be seen as justified and honorable but it's certainly an interesting look into Messmer's character.

Messmer just wanted a hug 😢

the confirmation of Melina being Messmer's sister also ties into the gloam eyed queen. Both siblings would have been born with defects, and Melina's vision of fire may have been the flame of destined death, which was gloamish purple (not blue like current ghost flame) until the rune of death (red) was removed. Melina, perhaps for similar reasons to why Messmer resented Marika, rebelled against her parents and was perhaps put down by Messmer alongside malikith.

Messmer was definitely the coolest out of all the bosses in Elden Ring. His design was also spot on.

Is it possible that when Godfrey was stripped from grace and marched for the badlands, he travelled through the realm of shadow and messmer killed him and that is why we see him impaled and crucified in the opening dialogue of the game

Marika shouldve sent Rykard. He had no problem with mounds of corpses, was a Praetor and judging from the wepon he gives to Inquisitor Ghiza, he’s got no issue with toruture.

Great video as always but I think you forgot to mention He’s guarding the secret of the Shaman village and the origins of his mother and the horrors they seen before her ascension. To me he’s the most tragic character in the game; more than Morgott

You know i would hate the be an enemy of Messmer, impaled, can't die, just hanging around wishing i could move on to my next life, heck with the rune of death removed I'm sure every victim of Messmer was and probably still is in massive pain that will never end...ever, I'm surprised the Frienzed flame hasn't taken the entire land of shadow, only one small section of it

Did anyone else pick up how surprised he seemed that the player was Tarnished?

the dude is extremely powerful. He has no great runes whatsoever, yet he is this strong

There are a lot of questions that were answered in the DLC but i still have one unanswered question.....Turtle Pope, why is he the only one that can talk, why is he the only one we see, no pictures, no one talking about him, nothing (that i could find so far in the dlc) at all on him, Miriel the Unknown

See I didn't think Messmer was the son of Radigon, I was under the impression that she laid down with the Serpent from Mt. Gelmir. Like the Bible, her original sin was to be tempted by the snake. She performed the profane birthing ritual we discover in the curch of Eiglay. That's why Messmer's true form is the base Serpent. That's why Merika banished him and that's why snakes are considered blasphemous.

So all of Marika's children bar one, was born cursed; Mesmer, Melina, Margot, Mogh, Melania and Miquella. I guess she hated the letter "M" and only used it for her cursed children. Godwyn was the only one it seems that wasn't cursed. If she wasn't involved in his death, losing her only uncursed child was probably a tough blow and would further explain why it sent her mad.

Amazingly, you're the first person I've seen make the possible connection between the text in the scroll and the relationship between Marika and Radagon. I've been following that thread as well, but I feel there's a lot more potential depth to it to dig into.

Just woke up to this. Gonna be a good day.

Messmer lore is as sad and tragic as Godwyn and Radahn. These three characters were good loyal sons to Marika and the Golden Order. All of them have their own heroic legendary tales that helped establish the Golden Order and made a name for themselves yet each one of them met an awful ending. Godwyn was assassinated in Ranni plot turning him into a hideous monster ever-evolving, Radhan fell into Miquella plot becoming a shallow puppet for Miquella to be a god and Messmer obeying his mother order crusading and genociding not knowing he was abandoned and erased from the history books. he looks tired just sitting there, he drag his feet to fight you. he's sad lonely and doubtful. like he's questioning if his mother will ever answer him back waiting on her signal for eternity.

Just beat him today. Another in a long line of great, sympathetic, and tragic characters dreamed up by Miyazaki and his team. Bravo!

Messmer fighting along side Godfrey must have been a humbling moment for him. He's impaling all of those giants and he just see's his Father in law duking it out solo with the other ones.

I wouldn't say Marika banished Messmer for selfish reasons, the remembrance said she was afraid of Messmer snake

I wonder if Messmer and Melina inherited their vision of fire from Radagon with his giant heritage? But if that’s the case, why didn’t Miquella and Melenia? The Fell God must be playing a bigger role in sote than we’re seeing (or at least I’ve found) (spelling)

What an amazing short and very very informative video about Messmer, THOSE STRIPPED OF THE GRACE OF GOLD SHALL ALL MEET DEATH IN THE EMBRACE OF MESSSSSSSSSSMER'S FLAME

The naming convention of the Demi gods are hints at the lineage. That’s a George R R Martin staple

Him and the nameless king would be great friends.

Im gonna assume melina and mesmers dad is radagon, it fits too well. Mesmer, cursed by serpents. Melina, burnt and bodiless. Melania, rot. Miquella, forever child. Also, assuming melina is the GEQ, which is likely imo that makes 3 of the 4 empyrians. I'm betting mesmer is a secret empyrian.

messmers kindling descibes his younger sister who also embodied a form of flame. Assuming melina is the gloam eyed queen, which is still basically confirmed by the frenzied flame ending, it would make her not only a daughter of marika but also the wielder of the black flame. This would make it highly likely for melina to be the person meant in the describtion.

Been following for awhile now, your team never disappoints!

It was never a question for me who the father was, only a question of when Messmer was born. The fact Radahn was looked as being younger, despite seeing some proof in the Mountaintop of the Giants, was a bit of a surprise. Nevertheless, I always figured that Radagon was his father, no matter when in the timeline he was born. Also in the camp of Melina being his sister as well. The trailers made Messmer out to be a tyrant, yet between the lore we read and the cinematics in his boss fight, he seemed more like a man crushed by burden. So now I can see how he would be considered a legend and a heroic figure in the game, and like the other demigods, Miyazaki did too good of a job in tearing him down.

maybe messmer is where rykard got the idea of the serpent

Messmer’s origins throw a wrench into the events leading to Marika’s ascension to godhood. it makes more sense of Hoarah Loux was the lord that conquered Balurat and Enir-Ilim in Marika’s name as it is mentioned he “faced the storm lord alone” and “took Serosh as his aged counsellor” both implying that maybe Serosh was a divine beast, possibly the one the Dancing Lion costume was modelled after, that Hoarah Loux defeated “when he *vowed* to become a lord” so Marika could reach the divine gateway. But that damned red hair.. maybe in his crusade along side Godfrey against the fire giants he was cursed with their red hair and their fire, as the Giant’s Red Braid tells us “perhaps that was a curse of their kind” side note, what if those who seek the Flame of the Fell God end up becoming cursed to tend to it? the environment shows Messmer sought the flame & had a fire burning within him and Marika too chased after it, unable to extinguish it & then along comes Radagon with matching red hair - "[....] still they were defeated. Yet their failure released them from their solitary curse: to serve as keepers of the Flame for eternity."

I think a lot of people miss something. "Base" Serpent has a lot of potential meanings. Base can mean reviled or a lack of decency, but it also means _"ILLEGITIMATE"_ In this sense, I feel this is very, VERY critical to understanding Messmer as a whole. *He's a bastard,* literally in definition. Created out of wedlock (whatever that may mean for a God such as Marika) and unclaimed. This is why the Abductor Virgins show the iconography of Marika holding a bundled infant while being surrounded by snakes. Messmer, to me, was always more of a craftsman Demigod; having hand in making those gigantic Furnace Golems (most likely the Iron Golems we see in base game too) as well as the Smithscript weapons and other Black Iron armaments for his army. It would make sense that because we see the Abductor Virgins at the Fort of Reprimand _Messmer made those too._ However, the design portrays his critical wish: _He wants to be embraced by his mother._ This also potentially has some very striking concepts that Marika also, in one way or another, had a serpent within her in some manner too (considering the golem catches people with snakes). Possibly placing the serpent that was once within her into Messmer. Marika had a child with _something_ out of her bond with another greater being. Possibly infidelity on a godly level. This something also possibly sired Melina too. This _something_ appears to be tied to Fire and Snakes. Considering when this happened, this may also deal with the Original Sin.

If we take into account that Melina really is his sister then both 1st and 2nd child is basically taking care of Shadowland and Land Between respectively. They really both got the short end of the stick In frenzied ending, Melina released her outer god while Messmer when he destroys Marika's seal. They only released it when shit hits the fan too.

Messmer has the same backstory as Hela from Thor: Ragnarok.

A crack theory I randomly though of is that "Radagon" is not originally Radagon. He was Marika's lover before fully ascending to godhood and the original father of Messmer, who I am going to assume is the eldest, which explains why the statue of Marika holding Messmer is her smiling, as she hasn't become as cold as she was yet. Due to the Numen's/Shaman's ability of what seems to be grafting or something similar to it, Marika combines herself with Radagon's body, and ends up sort of like godwyn, just as part of Marika. But due to the greater will's influence on Marika, this also influenced the soulless Radagon, making him a completely new person that was loyal to the golden order, hence the disagreement with him and Marika during the shattering. I still haven't read all of the item descriptions yet though so I probably got some stuff dead wrong.

When i get ahold of this game and finally beat him I WILL RP the rest of the game as Mesmer going after revenge on his Mom.

Been waiting on your dlc lore vids.

It’s so disappointing to have Messmer have so little screentime

I love this theory but the burning question is- what IS the Base serpent? If it’s the immortal serpent, how did this happen? Did Marika perform a ritual? I think it’s beyond interesting that Numen have a “moldable” flesh. If Marika created the Erdtree and became the de facto Goddess of the Lands Between, I wonder if her children being afflicted is just the Numen side being imbued by all the Gods/Powerful entities that are also influencing the Lands Between. The best way to defeat something is to utterly control it. How do you truly control something without first taking it into yourself? Or if the Erdtree is truly what is giving power….then the roots itself could be what is causing the corruption in her bloodline.

8:00 other cursed children? All of her children are cursed. ranni, Radahn and Rykard aren’t because they are not the children that she birthed. Anyone that she delivered was born afflicted With one notable known exception. All the afflicted are Mohg, Morgott, Melana, Malenia, Messmer and Miquella. Also they all have names that start with the letter M. Godwyn didn’t which is a key point because I genuinely believe she viewed him as special because he was the only one who was born without a curse (but definitely has one now).. he’s also the only one whose name doesn’t start with an M….

Are you gonna explain about the Jar People? And their sick bays?

Also, they really missed an opportunity to make Miquella’s chosen consort Godwyn so we could have fought him instead.

I wonder if Marika also wiped Melina’s memory to remove any chance that she would mention her brother to the tarnished.

Wait! So Radagon was the snake Marika killed in the story dlc trailer! (There's a video from timdiggity speculating she's taking those golden strands from a snake head, and Radagon is an anagram for "a dragon). She killed Radagon, took her soul and became the vessel for him, her Lord! "A lord will usher in a God's return, and the Lord's soul will require a vessel"!!!!

So him impaling the fire giants makes sense, but the fire giants had thorns wrapped around them was that from the scadutree avatar, or was that from the fire monks who use blood thorn magic?

I reckon what happened was Marika fell in love with her twin brother radagon. (If you know how biology works then a parent who is a twin is more likely to have twins. And it doubles with 2twin parents. Which explains marika having so many twins) And secretly chose to have him as her consort against his will or say. So she could ascend to god hood. Binding them. (Not in the same body though. That happens as a punishment when she shatters the Elden ring) But she was pregnant at the same time so there children were born demigods. But cursed Demi gods. Mesmer born with the abyss snake outer god inside him. Andhe killed his sister in the womb but marika preserved her somehow. And well radagon being pissed off at marika for binding them without his say so he left her and chose to not be Elden lord. But they were still bonded in a way. But this still left her with a true consort so she chose Godfrey.

"upon meeting us, messmer has a distaste for our kind, the tarnished" Shocker.

sorry to keep asking for more topics lol but also a video about marlka and her life before and after she left the land of shadow, your by far my favorite lore channel and i love listening to your videos while i play or even at work if im not busy, have a great rest of your day brother, blessings to you and your family

I really loved the delivery of his line in the trailer! I don't know if it's a different actor or different take but I wished they kept his original tone from the trailer, it sounded more terrifying and confident than the final game

Amazing lore analysis on this character after finally beating him

"Really? This schmuck is gonna be my new step-dad?"

Loved this. I feel like you summarized the story of Messmer beautifully. Would it be too much to ask if y’all could put out a video on the Lion dancers and the dancer-to-be Lion warriors? I just love the culture they got going on and I think you guys would do great job at presenting it. Pretty please??? As always, please don’t eat me and I’ll stick around to watch the next video no matter what it is ❤ I hope y’all have a good rest of your weekend 😊

His cloak is... interesting... It really puts enthesis on his skinny legs. Or at least they look skinny because of the cloak.

STG's videos keep getting better and better. I would I be able to relax and fall asleep without you guys? Nothing like some elden lore to listen to before drifting off to the land of sleep 🤘

The thorns you get on the floor before him tear him apart lol

Marika is like the Serpent Queen, played by all and none. She played them all, though.

Marika and radagon third child backstory is so tragic. He just went to please his mother

Messmer kinda reminds me of Zahak the Serpent King, mainly because of the snakes.

Messmer is the Lord of Light in Game of Thrones. Cant tell me otherwise 😂😂😂

Messmer is lowkey the goat. Imagine unintentionally striking fear in your mom, so much so she was like “yeahhhhhh he might be a menace to anything that breathes in Elden Ring society…I’m gonna send him away and let him cook…literally” In my opinion the edgiest and coolest character in the game but also maybe the most tragic. Long live the shadow King.

Messmer has one of the cooler introductory cutscenes. I always prefer the cutscenes where we actually get to see our character interacting with others.

How much of that guy do you have to be to not say my name but “Messemer’s Flame” like what😭

The fact that Messmer dies cursing his mother's name speaks volumes to me. It really makes me view him as more of a tragic villain, that he's this shameful part of Marika's past that she abandoned and wanted sequestered away.

I don't think Radagon was Messmer's father. I'm pretty certain it was actually Patches.

Messmer might have not been the only or last one of the demigod-children to have had it rough to say the least, but Marika really screwed him over like he seemed scapegoated is the worst ways possible.

Have you or anyone ever done lore about the smaller enemies practicing gravity magic at the Crater-Pocked Glade north of Oridys’s Rise? They have odd clothes and mask that no one else wears, unless I’m mistaken it is not droppable either. They are obviously followers of one of those big space guys but thought the glade itself may be also a lore point possibly. They use an almost Radahn style buff sticking their sickle in the ground and collecting rocks. Who are they, what are they doing, how and why are they there?

The battle was interesting. He both begs forgiveness from his mother while also cursing her at the end when a "lesser" beats him.

I always thought the term “consort” was interesting. Not spouse. Not king or queen. Just consort. I tend to agree that Marika was married off to someone long ago whether or not it was of her choosing. Perhaps her first marriage candidate is still in the land of shadow, impaled and burning somewhere. Or that the Shaman women weren’t supposed to marry. Then she is forced to work with both Goldwyn and Radagon. That is why there aren’t true marriages only consorts and all of her children are cursed perhaps except Godwyn- because they are bastards. Tho maybe he just had a curse the world doesn’t know about.

I have a different theory about Radagon. I think Miquella and St. Trina are deliberately set up as a parallel to Marika and Radagon, and what we see there is that St.Trina was a part of Miquella, who he cast aside along with all the other parts of himself (calling her “my love”, which I think is interesting considering Marika and Radagon’s relationship) before ascending to godhood. I think the implication is that Radagon was always a part of Marika, who developed into his own identity when she was still an Empyrean. My theory is that Radagon was indeed the Lord that ushered Marika into godhood, but to do so, as the Secret Rite Scroll says, he needed his own body, his own vessel. Thus, I think someone else’s body was used as a vessel for Radagon’s soul, and I think that body may have belonged to a giant or giant descendant. Thus, Radagon has red hair, a remnant of his body’s original occupant, just as Radahn’s resurrected form has Omen horns due to being in Mohg’s body, and this is why Radagon hates his red hair so much. Now in two bodies, Marika and Radagon were able to have children together, and so had Messmer and Melina, both born cursed just like Miquella and Malenia. Both were born with kindling and a vision of fire, perhaps due to their father’s body being that of a fire giant/fire giant relative, and thus both had the power to burn the Erdtree. (I find myself wondering if Radahn might have been born with some fire in him too, since Great Runes take on the attributes of their holders and Radahn’s started to burn to resist the Scarlet Rot.) As if that wasn’t bad enough, Messmer was also born with the Abyssal Serpent inside him (if Messmer and Melina are indeed the children of Marika and Radagon, the single god, their births would have been just as auspicious as Miquella and Malenia’s, so the Serpent might have been drawn to Messmer the way the Rot God was drawn to Malenia), and Melina may have been chosen as an Empyrean (again, like Miquella and Malenia) and eventually come to the conclusion that Death needed to be restored to the world, becoming the Gloam-Eyed Queen. I found myself wondering why Marika would have needed Godfrey, if she already had Radagon, a champion in his own right. It may just be that Godfrey was stronger, but I wonder if Marika’s first children with Radagon being so cursed and potentially dangerous to her order might have had something to do with it- Godfrey might have seemed like a safer option. As for why she eventually sent Godfrey away and (re?)married Radagon, while, again, it might be that she simply no longer needed him and this might have always been the plan, we know that Radagon “aspired to be complete”, so I wonder if Marika might have also felt incomplete without her other half, as well as wanting Godfrey and the other Tarnished to grow stronger and eventually return.

It took me 2 tries on him and by phase 2 i felt like a complete villain i was like wait what hes in pain his eye the snakes while also fighting him he died so fast i was left there alone like what did i just do

Messmer plucked out a Yellow Eye and uses a unique flame spells. Potentially he was inflicted with the Frenzied Flame, the flames are a different colour from faith flames and from frenzied flame, maybe because its the first time it corrupted a Demi-God. Which also explains why Melina and Messmer are linked, also the snake could be feeding on the frenzied flame itself. Messmer's Abyssal Serpent, and the Abyssal Woods?

That was really well put together and easy to follow... thanks for your work, thoroughly enjoyed it !

Radagon gotta be his dad look at his hair

messmer should know about the shattering since it’s said everyone in the shadow realm felt it when marika broke the elden ring

such a great boss fight. love the dialogue as well

Hello! I just want to preface by saying I love your videos and it's been awesome listening to them while I'm working, but I do disagree with some things about the crusade and Marika's feelings towards Messmer. This is just my interpretation of the dialogue and item descriptions and I will try to keep it as put together as possible lol. While Messmer's story is very tragic, I don't think he lead the crusade out of some desperation for approval from Marika and I believe that Marika had always loved her son. She bestowed upon him essentially permanent grace and crafted the divine blessings just for him. I think the 'fear' that's mentioned in his remembrance isn't her fear of the Base Serpent, it's the fear of what would happen to him if everyone found out about his nature and also how that would affect the whole of the Golden Order. It would probably make Marika and her entire doctrine look hypocritical while bringing harm to her son. The armor of Messmer's fire knights say that they truly knew him, 'his flames, like serpents...his accursed nature.' This was the reason why they were shunned from their families when they pledged their allegiances to him. It's why Black Knights Andreas and Huw rebelled after they left with him. Marika knew the consequences would be grave if this became common knowledge. Also, we've seen how she has treated her omen children. She could have easily hidden Messmer away somewhere to become a lost secret, especially if he was her first child. Him pining for his mother's love also insults his emotional intelligence, imo. We learn that he earned the fierce loyalty of his troops, befriended Gaius (who was probably very suspicious of the royal family as an albinauric), and possibly charmed Rellana, leaving her own royal lineage behind for him (I have no reason to think she had any incentive to fight the hornsent?). He controlled the narrative of the crusade to be his own personal form of revenge, not Marika's. I also think the crusade didn't begin on the day of his exile. Logistically, idk how Messmer and his troops would begin their assault on the hornsent without being utterly crushed without an already existing foothold in the LoS. Things like food, housing, weapon procurement, creating the furnace golems without being completely vulnerable. It must have taken many years for them to start the attacks seen in the story trailers. Imo, I think this all began with Godfrey still in place as Elden Lord, with Messmer's exile being just after the death of Godwyn. We even find the Serpent Crest Shield that was made to 'commemorate' the crusade. This implies that Messmer's assault was once seen in a positive light. Also, the stone tablets that are found in his storehouse are the same tablets found in Marika's bedchamber. These assets aren't found anywhere else in the game (last time I checked, pls correct me if I'm wrong), implying that information was being traded between them. I'm sure Marika wanted to know what the hornsent had been doing, especially if she sealed the LoS long ago. Likewise, Messmer would have surely informed Marika that the jar saints were still alive after being jarred. Messmer isn't known to have any healing capabilities, but Marika does. He must have set up that clinic to work with her on finding cures for them. As for why there are no signs of Messmer left in the LB, I think that is bc of Radagon. Besides the golden shade of Godfrey, there is surprisingly little very little presence of him in Leyndell. Which is strange bc he the first Elden Lord, the beginning of the Golden Lineage. Same could be said with Godwyn. The Leyndell knights still use his dragon cult incants, so why isn't there a statue or painting anywhere of him and his father in the capital? If it was so easy for him to erase their imagery, deleting Messmer's presence wouldn't be a problem. Alternatively, we do find a nice statue of Radagon on the way to the Erd Tree. Maybe he had a personal resentment for Marika's previous relationships? This is my personal speculation and I do believe Radagon's doctrine vastly differs from Marika's (ex. closing the colosseums; a tradition kept alive by Messmer btw), but this video isn't about him lmao. Sorry this was so long and I don't blame you if you didn't read this all the way. I just needed to get my thoughts out about this before they were lost forever from my brain. Again, thanks for your great videos. :)

I find it fascinating that every single child of Marika that starts with M has some kind of curse. Messmer, Mohg, Morgott, Malenia, and Miquella. All cursed. Strange

I love it and find it still sad how it the end Messmer finally see and accepcts who Marika really is and instead of just calling her Mother like he usually does he calls her by name and curses her.

Radagon was always Marika. That’s why Messmer was born cursed by the serpent. Just like Malenia and Miquella were also cursed. It’s because they’re all born of one entity.

The fact that Godrick has a grate rune and that messemer dont have one pisses me off 😔

In surprised there are not more links between Messmer and Rykard

Messmer knows who Miquella is so he was probably sent to the land of shadows sometime after Merika married Radagon but before the shattering. We don't really find those that live in death in the land of shadow so it most likely also happened and was sealed away before Godwyn died as well.

Using blasphemous blade too because not just me had trouble. Didn’t even have the strength to not two hand the thing

So what the heck is the abyssal serpent shorn of light? Maybe a video on that could be fascinating

Messmer did for Marika what Rykard did for the golden order. Hiding and working in the shadows so that everyone can live in the light.

14:31 I feel sad he didn’t even have a great rune

could you make a video based around miquellas overall plan and the steps he took and the goals he wished to achieve

Messmer apologizes to Marika and then plucks out his eye, which is shown to be a false eye glimmering with grace: an Iris of Grace. These are given to Queelign and Jolan to make them into spirit ashes. Messmer was Marika's puppet. We push him to overcome it through battle, and he shatters the Iris of Grace just as we do when we use it. And similar to how we become empowered by our Great Rune activation, so too is Messmer's flame empowered and his true form is revealed. He goes from serving her and apologizing to her before plucking out his eye, to then cursing her with his dying breath after shattering his eye. I theorize that it is because he's disillusioned after shattering the Iris of Grace, which were akin to Miquella's bewitching enchantments for Marika. She gave him this to quell his fears, I'm just not sure what fears thoe were and how those fears being suppressed aids her. He goes on a crusade of slaughter, so it makes me think of Omenkillers dulling their senses to fulfill their duties. Rykard also seems to fit in somehow. I'm unsure how he and Messmer are related beyond just "snake and fire," though. We might be able to make certain inferences involving untold parts of Messmer's character by looking at Rykard in the same way we can do so with Marika and Miquella...

I was kind of hoping Mesmer would be brother to Mogh and Morgott because it would make it 3 sets of 3 children. First generation (Marika/Godfrey): Mogh, Morgott, Mesmer Second generation (radagon/renala): Radahn, Rykard, Ranni Third Generation (Marika/Radagon): malenia, miquela, melina