Marika is Melina, but not in the way you think | Elden ring lore theory 

You find the blade of calling in a hidden prison cell just outside of the Old Capital.

The hilt of the blades is notably different, which I found quite interesting because the black knife pommel is quite ornately and meticulously crafted, whereas the blade of calling is rather plain and not so intricately metallurgied.

I always found these slight changes to be quite perplexing. Because it is clear there is a connection we are meant to draw between these things. But Melina also uses ONLY erdtree incantations, every single one of them are very unique to her. I think this is meant to suggest that she is definitely numen, but may actually be from a time BEFORE this group of numen women became the black knife assassins. It’s still unclear if Melina recalls words Marika has spoken through some unique access to words previously spoken by Marika in certain locations or if “Spoken echoes of Queen Marika linger here as well.” Is just memory or something else. But I think all of this suggests a closeness to Marika on a personal level. But it is so confusing. The other thing that confuses me is that the golden seeds at the foot of erdtree saplings around the world are said in the description of the seeds to have spread when the Elden ring was shattered. When it shattered, the erdtree began to die and with each strike to the Elden ring, the erdtree began launching seeds throughout the world. But there are seeds in the eternal cities as well as in Mohg’s palace approach area. This suggests that all of the underground areas used to be above ground as recently as the shattering. It’s so confusing.

Great though process my friend. The similarities between Ranni and Melina in relation to the rune of death made me speculate for a long time too, it's really confusing but I think i found a theory to explain it without conflicting with other existing lore like the rune of death being with Maliketh the entire time or Ranni being a child of Radagon.

Bold theory after the DLC trailer,I support

@@G4meplusyou mean like a reincarnation between two people such as Melania & Millicent? 2:52

Thanks for the awesome feedback, glad you enjoyed ❤️

Thanks for the awesome feedback, those comments make my day ❤️

Nice catch mentioning those 2 together.

It’s like they are saying look how they fight so similar.

An interesting theory, thanks for the feedback. My 2 problems is that first we know for sure that Maliketh is the one that killed the OG gloam eyed queen and had the rune of death since then so how did Marika give it to Melina ? It seems like quite a stretch. Second is that Ranni could be a big candidate for the gloam eyed queen as well with how much ties to the rune of death She has. Will make a video about the gloam eyed queen soon as it's a very interesting topic.

@@G4meplus It's simple, When Marika removed the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring and established the Golden Order, she first gave it to Melina. When Melina betrayed her and committed the Godskin Apostasy, Maliketh came in, defeated her, took the Rune of Death and used it to execute her and since than Maliketh is the wielder/container of Destined Death.

No i mean the original gloam eyed queen that existed before Marika, she had the entire elden ring (it wasn't directly mentioned that she had the entire elden ring but Marika removing the rune of death from the elden ring means it was already intact before, therefore the gloam eyed queen was the god of the previous age) then Maliketh killed her and retrieved the elden ring for Marika after that Marika removed the rune of death from the ER and gave it to Maliketh starting her golden order. There is no place for Melina having the rune of death as far as we know from the lore.

@@G4meplus Tf this about the Gloam Eyed Queen being the God of the previous age.

@@Varre922it says that in game I’m sure

Marika*

Super cool perspective.

Thanks for the feedback, dont worry the history of elden ring is super confusing. Will make future videos trying to explain timeline and cultures more clearly.

You are perfectly clear. I just like seeing all the many possible ways we all interpret things. Some theories are wild and some are tame. They are all fun

Thanks my friend, welcomed aboard ❤️

Miyazaki confirmed there is no time travel though, would have been crazy tho.

​@@G4meplus We'll see. He said to enter the land of shadow there was no time travel. This large DLC was once two separate DLCs and it's fitting to assume they had different starting points.

@@G4meplus Another hint that Melina is Marika, like you said she has pink hair because her soul is a mix of Marika's and Radagon's and, if you notice the song during the cutscene of Melina burning the erdtree, it's the same song as the Elden Beast's boss fight. That song is Marika's theme.

Love your feedback and support, thank you ❤️

Thank you, Messmer is truly a mystery but he also has similarities with Ranni which is quite interesting. I may have a theory explaining the shared closed eye between the 3 of them tho. Welcome aboard ❤️

She isnt mentioned by her name, but she is definitely mentioned by her role. The description of the Blade of Calling says "Dagger given to one who set out on a journey to fulfill her duty long ago. The power of its former owner, the kindling maiden, is still apparent." which is literaly the purpose she takes in the end. But not only that, it continues "The one who walks alongside flame, Shall one day meet the road of Destined Death." which is what Melina says before burning the tree. And as you pointed out, she uses this blade in combat. She is mentioned, and whoever's "voice" is the one we read in the description, they know her purpose aswell. She might be bodyless now, but she was most definitely part of the living world once. As a side note, I also wonder if the phantom we have of her when fighting against Morgott is from "this time". I mean, If the dagger is only one dagger and it happens to be in that particular hidden room, could be that Melina just left it there right before our arrival. Or it could be that she left the dagger long before she lost her memory, and the summon we find its a version of Melina from long ago, before the previous burning of the tree. In a similar way we can find both versions of Vyke, before and after the frenzied flame.

One theory channel I put a lot of stock in, Tarnished Archeologist, speculates that the only requirement to being an Empyrean is being a female demigod. (That also means Miquella is actually a woman, at least as St. Trina). So if Melina is actually a demigod, she would also be an Empyrean.

Thank you my friend, really appreciated ❤️

Thanks my friend, welcome aboard ❤️

Sure thing, tell us what you think.

@@G4meplus Ok, so I just wrote the adjustment to my theory. It’s quite long so get ready to read like crazy.

I think the Rune of the Unborn is the reason why Melina can exist. The Rune of the Unborn technically belongs to Ranni since she spoke through it in defense of Rennala when we fight her. If the Rune of Death was once part of the Elden Ring just as the Rune of the Unborn was, and Melina is connected to the GEQ whose power comes from the black flame of which the Rune of Death is its true substantive form, I think Ranni doing that ritual with Godwyn created a dual-consequence where some part of the GEQ materialized through the Rune of Death due to Ranni stealing part of it and incorporating it into her body so that her soul would be free, meanwhile, the GEQ’s attachment to Melina was indirectly through the Rune of the Unborn. I think the Elden Ring itself still contains a backwards variant of its nature to give birth to "unborn demigods". Melina would be born of such events sometime between Godwyn's death and before the shattering. I think Marika was likely pregnant with Melina as soon as Godwyn died seeing as it was the GEQ's power that killed him. The timing makes sense when you think about how both Ranni and Melina speak about certain events “long ago”: for Ranni being when she stole part of the Rune of Death, and for Melina being when she was given her purpose by her mother(where she also says she “lives” burned and bodiless. The fact that Melina can only be summoned by us through the Erdtree’s grace(unless Torrent accompanies her) I believe is Marika’s doing upon Melina’s birth(meaning not in real time). Logically Ranni should be just as bound, but I think Godwyn’s soul dying through the ritual somehow was enough to unbound Ranni to the fingers, hence why she can summon where she wants to be present on her own accord. The BKAs I believe tried to stay loyal to Marika for most of her life out of kinship, but I think since they technically lived in death, they felt like the reason for Marika making an exception of them being allowed by her side in secracy meanwhile all others who live in death are outcasts of the Golden Order probably gave them a motivation to betray her order without betraying her personally. I think Ranni knew this to be a potential motivation about them and found a way to communicate with them since she has been in Leyendell before, at least according to Morgott. Once they found that common ground, Ranni manipulated them into doing her bidding. And I think the BKAs heard what Marika had to say about encouraging her children to do as they pleased "be it a lord, be it a god" and that if they fail to amount to anything, they will only amount to sacrifices. I believe the BKAs misinterpreted that to also include Godwyn who is the only non-omen child of Marika that stayed loyal to the order. Then I think the BKAs felt dupped after Marika decided to start the war of the shattering in anger or as a consequence of her most beloved son dying, but JUST BEFORE that, Marika asked the BKAs to raise Melina with the purpose of burning the erdtree either just as or just before she was born, hence why she fought like a BKA when she helps us kill Morgott. Consequentially, I believe this is where Radagon rampaged in Fire-Giant-magical fashion in an attempt to kill Melina, and he managed to kill her body. However, due to the dual nature of runes that allowed Melina to be born, another soul was entertwined with Melina’s; the GEQ. And because Melina intertwined with the GEQ now have inhereted the same “freed soul” benefits(one of which I believe is the taking of someone’s long dead body for doll such as Renna’s) as Ranni through the Rune of the Unborn, I believe the GEQ guided Melina to “her” old body. That’s why Melina’s hair is a mixture of Radagon’s and Marika’s, but it turns blackened once the GEQ awakens in the FF ending. Until then, Melina and the GEQ are two souls fighting for control over the same corpse doll that can disappear into blue sparks(as another benefit that Ranni too has). Hence, Melina was still alive and Radagon didnt know it likely because neither he or Marika fully understood the nature of the Rune of the Unborn. That’s why Radagon doesnt send any forces to search for Melina. However, he does know of Marika’s last hope to bet on the Tarnished as Im sure the GEQ did when she wandered away with Melina’s entertwined soul. That’s why he seals the Erdtree shut at a minimum Marika’s orders for the BKAs before Melina’s body got killed off by Radagon were still clear once they found her probably shortly after the shattering. Im sure the BKAs were probably a little divided on Marika's request before her confinement seeing as one of them were stationed in front of the statue dungeon where Radagon likely had his Zamor parent(who I believe contributed to the defeating the fire giants during the war of the giants) protected. But I think the majority of the BKAs agreed to help raise Melina like a fellow Black Knife Numen, and because Melina's combat abilities were confined to Leyendell, they probably had to figure out on their own where to train her without being found by the Golden Order after the War of the Shattering where they would be branded traitorous, and I think the secret passageway on the way down of the elevator of one of Leyendell's wall towers that leads to the Forbidden lands is where they likely raised and trained her, hence why we find Melina's dagger there. How they figured that out before being found out I would think is the GEQ’s doing. Many theorists agree Leyendell’s establishment pre-dates the Golden Order, which means it’s possible the GEQ(who’s most active time was before the Golden Order) may have known Leyendell well enough to know about that secret room. And since I believe the GEQ is an on-&-off switch of consciousness with Melina(which I get into more later as to why), it’s possible the GEQ in Melina could have told them. Now I'm sure the other reason why Melina and Ranni have had interactions was due to Torrent as we've all guessed since he just seems to be the family horse (judging by Miquella riding him too in the Shadow of the Erdtree cover), and I think Ranni probably figures that meeting Melina explains, not all, but enough questions for her never to broach us the tarnished with the subject.. and then there's just the fact that Ranni is way too focused on her Dark Moon order. As for Melina herself, I still haven’t a firm explanation for how much of the GEQ actually speaks through her. I think, like Marika and Radagon, Melina and the GEQ fight for control over her doll body. What is said through Melina is not always consistent with the persona of an infamous empyrean of death who was once Marika's greatest rival as opposed to just a wandering little girl who has learned to love the Lands Between... not to mention Melina never stops the Godskins from attacking us at any time after she regains her memory in Leyendell. By that same token, she never stops the BKAs either, so I think that’s a result of the struggle between Melina and the GEQ. This is why I'm certain, Melina IS NOT the GEQ herself! Melina is her own person as the last daughter of Marika and Radagon, and the most direct sister that Malenia and Miquella have, who is capable of burning the Erdtree with the Flame of Ruin. I do, of course, believe the GEQ has a strong bodily connection with Melina, but nothing more. You see, I don't believe that a body sacrifice is sufficient to use the Giant's Forge, I believe you need to know Fire Giant magic, and you need to have the blood of a giant in you. The finger reader at the Round Table Hold basically attests to something resembling this. And although the rumor goes that any tarnished who seeks to be Elden Lord must sacrifice their maiden to burn the Erdtree to get inside, the material evidence that this is true is just not there. There are only three tarnished that have ever gotten close to burning the Erdtree: Bernahl, Vyke, and us the players. Now to be fair to Vyke, he withdrew the moment he heard that your maiden needed to be sacrificed, but Bernahl had a maiden and he lost everything, including his status as a lord(I think that's why he mooches off of us when he shows up to help and then fight us in Farum Azula). And as we all know, the Erdtree was still not burned. And his maiden is nowhere to be found, so we can assume he failed and that his maiden is gone one way or another. WE the players are the only ones who succeed, with a maiden who presumably kills our original to take her place, with a maiden who is closer to godhood than any other in Elden Ring lore, the “Kindling Maiden”. Furthermore on “kindling”, I also believe the explanation for Melina’s burnt hands (assuming it has nothing to do with the past of the GEQ) is that, using the 3 fingers, she may have been tested on whether or not she could actually burn the erdtree. I think that because Melina can govern her movements better in Leyendell, she managed to find the Frenzied Flame proscription on her own and touched it, finding out she bears some kind of affinity to the Frenzied Flame of Chaos. I think this is when she first discovered her abilities as someone who’s part Fire Giant. I believe this is also where Melina understood the nature of the Frenzied Flame and found it appalling. Melina probably didn’t need to imbue her whole doll body in the chaotic flames as we did, she probably just needed only her hands, and that’s why they were burned. In fact, it’s quite arguable that the shape of the burns are akin to that of finger prints since they look like line-burns.

Thanks, really appreciated ❤️

Thanks for the feedback. Tbh i disagree with you, why did she claim marika was her mother if she was born from the tree ? We don't even know if the tree still give birth to people after Godwyn corruption and the age of plenty was gone. Another important factor is that being born from the tree doesn't explain anything about her mysteries.

You are totally right the OG gloam eyed queen did exist, what i meant is that other people can become the gloam eyed queen. It's not just a one person and it's done.

@@G4meplus I just share my point of view my friend I don't try to argue with your thoughts and theories. I just share my thoughts as pieces to a pazzle that will let us all have a glimpse if you like of the bigger picture. As for Melina, the only thing we have that might relate her to be Gloam eyed queen as a title is the cut scene at the Lord of Frenzied flame ending. But I will share a thought about it, from what we know, gloam eyed queen is strongly recognized that is somehow related to destined death right? We also know that Godskins and death rite birds and the assassin's that use ghostflame were all related to her, my thought that comes in a form of question here is what if when marika cast aside the rune of death from the elden ring, what if a part of the gloam eyed queens essence took a form that we still we all miss in the bigger picture? In the main gameplay cinematic intro we hear the narrator say clearly "Oh.. Arise no Ye Tarnished, Ye dead who yet lived" what if the grace we follow were never MARIKA'S grace on first place, what if Gloam eyed queen somehow, arise the tarnished and as of that they start the journey to become elden lords in her name?

Actually i did read it a couple of hours after you posted it but got stuck at work 😢

@@G4meplus Oh that’s ok. So what do you think?

Marika is the one that shattered it, Radagon tried to repair it and yes he sealed the Erdtree to stop anyone from becoming the lord and prolonging the golden order as he was a fundamentalist.

@@G4meplus that sounds suspicious to me, I don't forget that Radagon was also married to Renalla the Queen of the Full moon, Radagon is the father of Radahn, Ranni and Rykard also, also he was the one that gave Renalla the rune of the unborn in first place. To me my friend Radagon is the more suspicious character in the lore. Radagon is Marika as we know, but when we enter the Erdtree, he was the first one to fight ( I hoped we might have a cutscene with marika explain to us some of her actions, but no Radagon decides to take over and fight, that to me is an action from someone that has many secrets to hid or as they say Radagon might have many skeletons in the closet that he does not willing to reveal

Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciated. I could be wrong and Melina isn't an Empyrean ofc, but i still think she is an Empyrean. As you said we have 5 Empyreans that we know of but there are 2 ways to be an Empyrean as i understood from lore. First is you being chosen by the fingers like Ranni or second is that you are born from a single God like Miquella and Malenia. In the second case i don't think you need to be chosen as you are practically a god yourself not just a demigod ( you don't have a mortal side ) as i said in the video i believe this due to the remembrance of Malenia. This is us trying to understand Elden ring lore not 100% facts ofc.

@@G4meplusThanks for repliying!! I do understand what you mean of course. And that description, as many others, is a bit ambiguous XD What I get from it is that beign 100% God's children makes the 2 fingers to choose you as you are very obviously powerfull, but the other mentions of Empyreans seem to point out that you have to be chosen by the 2 fingers. I think there is a discussion here about what happens if other outer gods choose you as their "empyrean". We know if chosen by the greater will, you will be chosen by the fingers, alright. Could it be possible that both Malenia and Miquella where chosen by different gods and therefore not by the fingers? we know Malenia was...that would also mean a different selection process for the Gloamed-eye queen most likely. Obviposuly, this is 100% especulation XD

Actually Elden ring is heavily influenced by Christianity so it's a cool perspective especially to me because it gives more depth to my theory that they are the same, awesome perspective ❤️

What's the meaning of gsp ?

@G4meplus goerges St-pierre. Ufc fighter

If you haven't played then yea go play it. 🤣 Then you'll realize you need to rethink your statement.

You know who Radagon is right? LMAO