LORE Breakdown | Shadow of the Erdtree Trailer 

So excited for this, tytyty

My pleasure! Enjoy@@poopmachine71

Hey ST! I wanted to note that based on the visuals for Messmer (with two snakes seeming coming out of his shoulders) I would recommend you and other Elden Ring fans check out the mythological story of Zahak, The Snake King! There's a great OSP video about him here on RU-vid, and I think said mythology could be a major clue about the sort of character Messmer might be. In your own video you mention Dragon communion, and a major part of The Serpent King’s turn to evil was the eating of something he shouldn’t have (in the myth’s case, brains). Just wanted to let you know about this idea because I’ve not seen anyone else bring up this idea in other breakdown videos.

Hey buddy! Thanks for letting me know, I will investigate as I plan to do an EVEN deeper dive in the future@@morcbus123

I wanted to deposit my thoughts here about the origins of Marika and Radagon, I think the DLC will most likely show Marika's origins and how she became a goddess, I was wondering if the old man and the apparently pregnant woman with her hand on her stomach in the painting (who is clearly not Marika since you can clearly see that she has very well hidden but visibly black hair) are Marika's parents and the DLC has already confirmed that this is where she became a goddess, I was theorizing about Radagon always being Marika and I think it's very plausible that they were always the same thing, the only thing that seems to contradict this is that Marika says that Radagon hasn't become her yet, he hasn't become a god yet, I'll get to it about this later but I think this is not saying that Radagon was always a separate entity but rather that at that moment he was physically separated from Marika and would become her again, the preceptor's mask says that it has the representation of a sewn mouth, to symbolize that they would be keeping all of their lord's secrets, but what secrets Radagon could possibly have that he wanted them to keep secret, it only makes sense if he wanted to keep the fact that he was Marika even if possibly physically separated from her at that moment, and the death texts of Marika's Relatives appears as a defeated demigod for Rykard and Radahn, but only appears as a defeated legend for Rennala Godfrey and Malekith who could also be considered as Marika's Family, implying that they are not demigods simply for family considerations, the fact that Miquella and Malenia were born Empyreans because they were born from a single god and the Japanese text says that their birth was vulnerable may indicate that this is due to the fact that Marika and Radagon share the same DNA and that is why they are born Empyreans already that therefore they would have 100% divine blood, which, being from the same person, would be the same as incest, making their births vulnerable,

Common Mohglester L

When Mogh results to be the actual victim lmao

I feel like mohg was also in the shadow realm. He comes out of miquella in the bossfight cutscene. Assuming we enter the dlc via his hand, mohg might have done the same..

Trying to be consort to a discarded corpse basically.

@@cyrus2306i thought that was him communing with his blood goddess or something

That’s a great theory!

Totally agree

True. And this is probably also why in the Lands of Shadow there's a leveling up system different from the main game that only exists here, this might also be under the influence of Miquella as well.

How do you know they have a different leveling system? And what kind of system would it be? Just curious

Lovely !

Genius, pure genius

God people online are so dumb and praise literally anything..😂

I had this thought too. We don't know that Miquella is definitely a good guy. How do you fight someone you're compelled to love or worship? How do you even question their motives? That is a scary power if they don't have the purest intentions.

maybe that's why the tarnished are so important, they are untouched by grace and maybe have a resistance to miquella's compulsion.

We know he grew disillusioned with the golden order because it couldn’t help Melania, and so he sought other methods and that’s how Unalloyed Gold came about. Unalloyed Gold doesn’t seem to be compatible with the Golden Order so while he may not be antagonistic he most certainly wasn’t compatible with the ruling power at the time.

he does seem to have peoples' best interests at heart given his empathy towards those spurned by the golden order, but you can definitely get the impression that he's willing to go to great lengths to see his goals realized. You have to wonder if the Haligtree footsoldiers who blow themselves up to "light his way home" came to that idea of their own volition...

It'd be one of the most terrifying and hilarious things ever if Miyazaki went full berserk and makes miquella who's essentially Griffith in looks and in description, cause an eclipse(which essentially casts a shadow on the world) and commences his path to God hood. I mean it's all there for the taking

I'm a gaymer

"bros"

We beat Mogh phisically and emotionally Cool

Shoutout to all the women playing the game 🙃

Miyazaki said the DLC won't add a new ending to the game, but who knows, maybe it could change an existing ending.

Y'all come up with the dumbest shit sometimes I swear

@@dustincarroll7296😂😂😂

I love Crucible stuff, time to master the bonk and the beast within

Awesome analogies and I believe you're on the right track because I have been noticing the same things. I believe Miquella is Mycelia from Mycology and Helphen's Steeple etymologies go back to/translate as Hyphae's Temple, which are trees and mycelium. The Two Fingers also look like Hypha/Chromosome

I did an interesting observation today, if you have a chance go to a walking mausoleum and take a really good look at the dead tree they have all of them share the same model of dead tree and is identical to the shadow of the eardtree.Are the mausoleum connected to the land of shadow? Is the eclipse not an event that has to happen in the lands between but a the actual shadow lands after all what is an eclipse but the moon obscuring the sun, and lest remember that the sun in the LB has relations with sin and curses so the been in the shadow of the eardtree may symbolize been in the eclipsed lands.

H@@marcoasierrabernal4893 HOLY SHIT, that's a awesome observation! They're definitely connected to Miquella, on some level! I've got to search the eclipse fortress for lore clues too!

I'm also super excited for the crucible stuff (actually currently prepping a crucible knight build for the DLC). But I think the bear incantation specifically might be more related to dragon communion, since runebears have visual connection to dragon communion (they even used to drop dragon hearts before release) and also it just looks like a dragon communion incantation.

Sounds as blasphemous as Rykard 😂

Fr 😂

Lol absolutely no hesitation. SmoughTown and Vaati are always immediate clicks

Facts I been watching them 12 hour videos for bedtime 💀💀

Hahahahaha I did the same thing as soon as it came on my feed

Same.

This is an interesting parallel I wonder if there's more that will be revealed when the dlc drops

​@@kt2official597 Messmer=Marika+Placidusax

Hahah thanks bud! Appreciate the kind words and glad you enjoyed. Re a book - I'll have a think about that!

Oh, I thought that that was a given. We could be wrong, but I never thought that it was something encouraging towards those "bereft of light". It just seems like he's saying "mother, isn't this person too unworthy to be lord? Are your standards really that low?"

@@mastermarkus5307 oh yeah, he definitely thinks that we're unworthy in either instance. What im saying is that in this dialogue he's making fun of marika rather than expressing concern for her "poor" choices.

That is hard to believe when he has a stone wall with her image on it...and not in a 'mocking' or 'ironic' image...

That ghost is outside the church of pilgrimage and is looking towards the wandering mausoleum and it also says that the mausoleum is cradling said unwanted child. The only things outside the impaler's catacombs are 3 dragonflies and a trina's lilly

Murica*

There’s also a random patch of an abnormally large amount of smoldering butterflies behind the nearby minor erdtree

@@gnarcissist7669 the catacombs you are referring to are called tombsward catacombs. The impaler's catacombs are southeast of the bridge of sacrifice, close to where you fight the alabaster lord.

@@Volition366 TRINA = MIQUELLA. Miquella is related to Messmer, Messmer is in the The Impaler being referenced by the catacombs. MIYAZAKI IS A GENIUS!!!!!

What if the omen curse used to be seen as a blessing because of its crucible resembling thorns?

​@Bennieboy918 holy shit, it would add to why omens are shunned so much, there was really a power there that Marika was scared or jealous of

@@brandoncochran5318what’s so odd is that mogh kidnapped miquella (we still don’t know exactly why) and the blood flame which is oddly similiar to the flame in the trailer is a “blood oath incantation, granted by the lord of blood” according to the description from the blood flame incantation

The crawling porcupine/rhino beast also have the same sound effect and particles when it uses its spikes than when we uses crucible incantations. I bet it will be called "Aspect of the Crucible: Thorns"

This was my first thought. He couldn't tell us the name of the giant fire enemy because it has most likely the name Crucible in it. Maybe Crucible Golem? Howewer, due to the timeline, before the age of the erdtree there was the age of the Crucible. If the Land of Shadows is the place where Marika set food and if Marika disconnected this realm from the lands between to start the age of the erdtree, I would go as far as saying that this culture has to be the crucible.

Don't you mean Godrick? Morgott never mentions Godwyn

@@MinerDineryeah and he wouldn’t mention Godwyn because Godwyn died before the shattering and couldn’t have been a willful traitor.

@@MinerDiner Yes he does. When Morgott is descending the steps, he cites the names of each Demigod that sat on the various thrones. First one he mentions is "Godwyn the Golden".

@@lordtrinen2249 You're literally mis-remembering who he mentions. Morgott says "Godrick the Golden", not "Godwyn the Golden".

@@MinerDiner I just rewatched the cutscene. Turns out, you're right. Though I'm surprised in hindsight that it's Godrick and not Godwyn, seeing as how he's basically Marika's grandchild while the rest are her direct children. Also I think that's the only time Godrick is ever referred to as "the Golden". Normally that's Godwyn.

hands down best theory i’ve seen about the dlc

I love this but idk it feels like it be too much like the plot of Dark Souls. Or maybe it's 3 where it's specifically different lands squeezed together

You could say Mesmer is... mesmerizing

I hope there’s a lot more to him than meets the eye. Like maybe, he was sent to the Land of Shadow both as a form of exile and a duty foisted upon him by Marika to oversee its denizens and the Shadow Tree.

I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't marika and radagon the same person? Lol

Yeah they are the same person idk what this guy is yapping about

@@JohnMcFallumthelordof marika and radagon share the same body, but they are clearly different in regards to mind and beliefs, and it is unclear when radagon came into being, whether he always was a part of marika and it just didn't show, or if he only appeared during the war against the carians. If marika and radagon are the same person, why does marika shatter the elden ring while radagon tries to repair it? Are they just stupid? Doing it for shits and giggles? Also, radagon has red hair which is related to the giants, so maybe he was created as a result of marika defeating the giants, perhaps a side effect of cursing the last fire giant to protect the flame for eternity. You know, Smough actually has a great video on this topic. You should watch it, and if you already watched it, watch it again because you clearly didn't pay attention.

​@@TheXientistI was gonna say something similar I was curious why would Radagon have giant traits if they hate the giants.

They found that him opposing the erdtree was a mistranslation and that Marika actually supported miquella

It’d also explain the absence of of grace, the sky being all dark, maybe marika’s bed chamber is supposed to be a call back to her origins or representative of how the erdtree literally veils over the land of shadows, obscuring it from history

It's like what she did with the Nox: she made their cities crash underground after they betrayed her. And maybe that's why Fia had that fricked dream in the Darkroot depthswith a rather similiar sky, which would be close to the Shadowland then. And that could also be why Godwyn's flies of death appear around the crippled tree, like you see in the first artwork. I'm torn now on whether or not the Shadow tree is the remains of the crucible or just the Helphen.

I love this because many aspects outlawed by the Golden Order are found underground. Scarlet Rot has an ocean down there, for all we know Godwyns body only started to mutating after possibly being buried being placed closer to the Land of Shadows. Also what if it wasn't just there suffering that caused the underground merchants to fall to the Frenzy Flame but also the fact they were also placed closer to the LOS

tbh I think it’s literally in the center of the map, each of the sky colors shrouded in shadow we see in the trailer representing the areas in the dlc that are closest to the main games landmass. red caelid, blue liurna, gold atlus. if you zoom in on the erd trees base on the map that would be where the end of the dlc is and the veil is literally disguising it as an ocean. I only think this because Miyazaki talks about it as this physical place in the lands between that’s been separated, and veiled it’s possible each divine tower also corresponds to the location of a major dlc boss.

The timeline does not add up. He is a child of marika and Radagon going by the color of his hair. Radagon married Marika long after the war of the giants

​@@giacomorinaldi8803that's with the assumption that Radagon didn't always exist. Also possibly Radagon was cursed with Red Hair for what Marika did to the Giants so Mezzmer was as well

@@jeambeam3173 To be honest, the japanese wording for Giant Red braid is somewhat ambiguous: it is not clear wether it is talking about a curse FROM the giants or if it is actually referring to Marika cursing the last fire giant to slavery to guard the Flame of ruin. If it is the latter (which is most likely since Marika DID unambiguously curse the last giant according to his incantation description) then Radagon despises his natural red hair because it is a reminder of their shared cursed fate in servitude of Marika

@@giacomorinaldi8803 trust me I know everything is very speculative unless very specifically said otherwise

Agreed. Messmer is the result of Mogh's interference.

Consider instead that perhaps the reason it seems to be Messmer's arm is because he's somehow taken control of the transformation, reaching out from the Land of Shadow and using Mohg's accursed blood to transform Miquella's discarded husk for his own ends. According to the flavor text poem, Miquella divested himself of his flesh; I really do think that this is meant to be taken literally, and that Miquella no longer has any use for, or interest in, his physical body- or at least *that* physical body. Perhaps Messmer took advantage of this, and has been guiding Mohg's forced metamorphosis of Miquella's remains in an attempt to return to the Lands Between from his exile, allowing him to pursue his own Age. Perhaps Mohg has been tricked- not by Miquella, but by *Messmer,* who seems to have some sort of association with the Formless Mother that I propose predates Mohg's own. Perhaps that's why the withered arm will allow us to travel to the Land of Shadow, despite Miquella having divested himself of it (and presumably thus no longer having a connection to it, spiritually). Perhaps it's actually *Messmer* whose connection to the Land of Shadow we are commandeering to use that place. Consider as well that the cocoon's site of grace is called the *Cocoon of the Empyrean.* Not of Miquella. Of *the Empyrean.*

@@corvisqueerI like this theory but the last point doesnt stand, all the empyreans are women/androgynous (Miquella) and need a womb to house the elden ring

​@@corvisqueerI really love this take. I think Miquella being Mezzmer was too obvious but some of the few bits of evidence for it is rly the fact Miquellas body is becoming like a vessel for Mezzmer is so much better

​@@Monsterassassin3there's zero evidence you need to be female to be an Emperyean

💯 and the divine towers surround it perhaps the curtain rails of the drapes

Yeh defo a possibility re Messmer - at this stage I think he was 'initially' granted lordship by her but has become twisted over time.

But who is he critical of being Elden Lord then? Mohg?

Most likely correct!

Cheers Patrick - so grateful for your support.

Just noticed that some of Rykard’s stuff (Rykard’s Rancor) is black and red. However, the hue is different. Destined death is still a closer match.

I'm starting to believe that serpents are descended from dragons, specifically one of the theee missing heads of paarthurnax, thus possibly making them connected to the three fingers

Thanks so much - really pleased you enjoyed it I cant wait either!

My pleasure - hope you enjoyed

Thanks as always for being here Wesley!

Hahaha thank you so much! I'm sorry I let the Albinauric Bloodclot crew down :(

@@SmoughTown hey we still got 40 minutes of killer lore. Right as you were talking about the Haligtree it hit me that Malenia probably knew based on her "As I awaited his return" dialogue. I cannot wait for this dlc!!

That ghost is on the complete other end of the region (in weeping peninsula actually too) and is at a completely different catacombs.

@@euclidYT Plus, that stupid tomb is named after the spike trap on the ceiling. People really should stop copy-pasting every theory they find online

My pleasure my friend and thank you for the kind words!

Also, if I am not mistaken, St. Trina is depicted as having one eye. The evidence is stacking up.

I bet mesmer is miquellas counterpart as radagon is marikas.

Idk some crazy shit would have to happen for Marika to go from being a puppet to the Elden Beast to going to the Land of Shadows. Also with how the cannon is I don't think that's possible you would have to have defeating the Elden Beast be a requirement to start the dlc and it isn't. Unless while under control there dreaming and can be in the Land of Shadows but that's if it's even connected with dreams like that