Marika Seduced the Crucible | Elden Ring DLC Story Trailer Breakdown and Speculation 

I also just realized the long hair on St. Trina is totally just a veil of some kind. The Melina theory's still alive baby

Crack theory, Marika seduced the Gloam Eyed Queen in her Radagon form and the result was Messmer. The corpse she pulls the gold thing from in the beginning of the trailer is the GEQ after Maliketh defeated her, signifying the betrayal. She then sends Messmer to wage war against the godskins/crucible forces in the Shadow Lands while she establishes the Erdtree in the Lands Between.

The dialogue about Miquella abandoning his flesh, strength, and fate reminds me of how Ranni separated herself from the Golden Order with the night of the Black Knives.

When Marika holds up that gold thread she's basically making the pose of her rune seen on the scarseal.

Seriously, I think Marika has seduced everyone. In canon, she (as Radagon) seduced Rennala to end the stalemate with the Carians. She also used her marriage with Godfrey to make use of his warriors as she wiped out any challenger to her power, and later used the Tarnished as backup Lords. I think Marika is also the god who abandoned Placidusax - her moniker of The Eternal fits with the timeless nature of Faram Azula, and dragon parentage would explain why Messmer has a dragon eye, and why Godwyn had lightning powers along with a friendly rapport with the dragons even after his partial death. It could also explain why Granssax attacked Leyndell - perhaps he learned of Marika's betrayal of his kin and wanted revenge. With the new trailer speaking again of seduction, affairs, and betrayal, I can't help but see Marika up to her old tricks again. It looks as though she is pulling golden strands out of stitched skin, and walking atop a mountain of flayed bodies. To the left, the sky is a rich purple color, and to the right, through the gap of the stacked bodies the sky is gold. To me, this looks as though she is stealing a vital golden force (the Elden Ring?) from its rightful owner/vessel, indicated by the stitched skin to be potentially the Gloam Eyed Queen. I think this is who was seduced and betrayed. This is why the bodies are skinned, and why the purple sky is left behind as Marika ascends toward gold. As others have mentioned, the shape of the bodies is similar to the shape of the opening in the base of the erdtree when we enter at the end of the game. As for the burning hooded figure - I think this is the death of the product of the seduction, born of the Gloam Eyed Queen and Marika. There is a character that has both a golden eye of grace, and a purple eye of gloam. A character that struggles to conceptualize Boc's affection for his mother, because she was born to one who had no trouble thinking of her children as "naught but sacrifices" if they did not fulfill the purpose she gave them. One who makes her way through the Lands Between as a "burnt and bodiless" person, and decides to commit a cardinal sin... Just my theory, though.

Whatever Marika is grabbing those strands from looks almost godskin-like.

In that first scene, Marika was stepping into the Erdtree. The opening looks the same. The Erdtree has a lining of gold around it. The Ertree roots always have bodies embedded in them. The Erdtree is made up of bodies, possibly from the war in the land of shadows. The bodies are concealed with Marika's gold.

"New waifu perhaps?" timdiggity says calmly

The mass of writing red flesh topless Marika is between reminds me of the World Tree from Berserk. Interestingly, the World Tree combines both the physical world and the Astral World together. Knowing Miyazaki loves referencing Berserk in his Souls games, I wouldn't be surprised if it was intentional.

i was struck on my first watch by how much the "crucible" reminded me of mt. gelmir and rykard. it feels like to me rykard is trying to recreate this moment, piling bodies, incorporating them into one being as well as following in the footsteps of messmer. im waiting for this all to come together more coherently.

The entrance to the crucible, looks like the sun set in the Elden beast arena, also the Elden beast’s theme is playing, this could be marika when she first met the Elden beast and became a god after entering its realm

That scene of Marika holding up that golden thing looks straight up like the eclipse scene from berserk when the god hand appears

Your Melina = Miquella theory made me a fan, the Neon White OST turned me into an air conditioner

Another great video; I like how you didn't shy away from going for GEQ with the woman in the flames! ...and your voice is so calming man.

Lovely to see you drop another video. Keep it up

I think that line about miquela divesting himself of his flesh supports the Mequela theory. Doesnt melina say shes burnt and bodiless or something? Maybe miquela burnt alive by mesmers flame?

The unknown character might be the lady that appears on a painting next to an old man in the previous trailer. This old man, later in the trailer, is seen having a golden stake through his body and it seems he's ripping it out. The weapon and the lady mourning over it in this trailer might be related to them. I'd also say that he might be Milos, but the weapon shown here doesn't have a similar design, though the hilt is similar to the Elden Beast's sword.

Miyazaki starting to refer to his own previous narratives to create a new layered narrative that's further thickened by this very effect sounds about right. "Remember Gwyn? Nice. This is not that... mostly not lol" That first scene was so striking that it actually obscured Miquella's segment for me, which is much grander sound/music-wise, somewhat in stark opposition. Even though I've rewatched it repeatedly, I still can't shake off that picturesque shot of gold birthed from blood, it's so peculiarly alluring. It's so unusually visceral for ER that it's entering BB territory. I kinda can't believe the core and bait is Miquella, yet I'm now more interested in Marika than ever before lol And yes, extreme copium. Do not pull a Charred Thermos yet though, you need more vids.

"Whoever it is, I think this is going to be an important character" Oh no, you said. You jinxed it. Now this character will only be referenced by a single item

In breakfown videos of the first trailer youtubers talk about the dancing lion boss possibly being 3 people under the cloak. Nkw in this trailer, we see the lion boss attack messmer, and then a few clips later we see 3 dead omen impaled.

You had me sold on the Melina=Miquella when you brought up the great point that St Trina could have gotten a haircut

Editing, music, and theories on point

Yap warning, but I would love to hear everyones thoughts: The formless mother is the one seduced and betrayed by Marika. She is also the crucible (the primordial form of the erdtree, the erdtree is an object of faith, and so are gods). She used to have a form but she now exists solely in the shadowlands (divested of flesh - bodiless). Messmer is their child, groomed by Marika to become the "tyrant" that conquered the shadowlands faction with Marika, enabling her ascenscion to godhood. Why dont we know how the crucible "looks"? The crucible is this formless mother. This betrayed formless mother craves wounds... and what do we know about Marika, after her golden son dies and her order starts collapsing - she has high hopes "we continue to struggle" - neat parallel. The formless mother/crucible is the mother of truth. Marika is hiding the omen, hiding the truth. And the crucible is the formless mother of omen. Now... i dont know who this formless mother couldve been. Maybe placidusaxs god-queen? Makes sense we know nothing about her identity seeing as the victors write and rewrite history Also one note - Messmer being the child of this other party explains the possible coexistence of his blasphemous aspects, on one hand, and the alignance with Marika, on the other.

Love these!

Please keep it up. Great work. I’d like more theories on Melina if possible. Have a great day sir!

3:19 Mesmer body looks kinda similar to the body inside the cocoon in Mogh's Arena. Also, watching the soldiers walking perfectly synchronized plus Messmer's poise looks like he is controlling them as a puppeteer. Messmer name itself sounds as 'mesmerize', which is similar to the ability of the Bewitching Branch.

100% amazing analysis once again!! LOVE IT.

nice adjustments to the music my man, now your voice is so clear and the music volume is just right!

Your Videos show that you are one of the best Elden Ring content creators. Thanks for sharing. Keep up the good work.

amazing video, also loved the music from neon white!

You are a legend now

Random things I'm thinking after watching and rewatching the video: - From an affair and betrayal, gold and shadow were born: maybe the Erdtree and the Land of Shadow..., but maybe also Godwyn and Messmer? They fit that duality and would place Godwyn's birth somewhere in the timeline. As Marika's firstborn, it was assumed he was born of her union with Godfrey, but nowhere he's stated to be his son. - The weirdly flaccid and stitched skin from that eye Marika (in male form? She's not wearing her signature braid and dress, she's wearing her hair and skirt exactly like Godwyn) takes the golden threads from, plus the purple sky and flayed bodies, screams GEQ to me. - After witnessing that bloody horror, it's easier to understand Marika's motivations and extreme measures in sealing death away. -Are those bodies the precursor of the Erdtree? Bodies are fed back to the Erdtree, and Miquella uses his own blood to grow the Haligtree. This amount of death could surely grow a powerful tree that bestows many blessings. The shine coming from inside, is it the Elden Beast? - Miquella is what Gideon Ofnir would what to be: someone truly curious about the world, who is capable of leaving his presumptions (the Golden Order) and his position (his Golden flesh, his fate) behind in pursuit of the truth. -St Trina appears just when the narrator talks about Miquella's fate... As all empyreans except for him are women, is St Trina what gave him right to ascend to godhood? With that obscuring veil, it could still be Melina, don't worry 😋

amazing vid

I think the light purple is peak St Trina is Miquella is Melina, purple means dreams, and also I don't think thats hair, looks like cloth/a veil to me.

Nobody is mentioning that the shot at 5:25 looks EXACTLY like the wing of a nascent butterfly?

I think the narrator is the knight in front of the rest of Miquellas followers. She seems to be the leader of all of them and obviously has some importance

I still believe in your "Melina is St. Trina" theory. Even in this shot: 5:24 those are not hairs. This is some kind of veil, and we dont know what is underneath it. They obviously hiding his/her face for a reason. When we meet Melina in front of Gatefront Ruins side of Grace, she is surounded by pale purple mist. And when she appears, our character is reacting like he/she is waking up from a sleep. Now when I look at it, your theory seems so damn obvious. You are right in my opinion. I mean, even her hairs have this purple'ish hue.

Fuck yess more lore

I can't wait for this channel to double back on all the theories after the DLC.

“New waifu” ☠️ 6:41 best prediction so far

06:18 I'm pretty sure the girl knight with the cape is the one that is at Mohg's arena. She seems to be their ''leader'' of some sorts. So having her guide us to the shadowlands makes the most sense. 06:18 If you look carefully you can see that she is wearing greaves, and no one else has that color of cape but the female knight.

This dude!!!! Yes!

the falling St. Trina image looks like a Nascent Butterfly if you put it upside down

Where Marika is standing looks like the entrance to the erdtree. Where there is a white-gold barrier...

Sounds like ds2. The seduction and betrayal. The crazed queen and the king.

oh baby

Marika and GEQ were sisters, GEQ had the rune of death, and Marika the rune of life The painting in the gameplay trailer is a family photo (they are twins with whom the woman in the painting is pregnant with) GEQ rid herself of her burning body in her dying moments, allowing Marika to control life and death in the Lands Between making her a god

The threads Marika holds up start to grow. In a similar shape to her rune.

I still really want to believe the Helphen has a part in this DLC 😭😭😭

Here are some of my thoughts about the trailer. 1. When the narrator states " and so to was shadow born" could allude to not only the creation of the golden order but also the creation of maliketh as it was stated before in the main game that the plucking of desitned death brought about the golden order and marika needed a vessel to place destined death. Maliketh is also her shadow. 2. It could also mean the weaving together of the elden ring from the strands of grace and runes that marika joined together. 3. The betrayal could be a coup d etat that marika instigated to brought forth a war that will lead to alot of death and bloodshed needed to offer up to the formation of the erde tree or its creation. She may have had to isolate true death to propagate the cycle of rebirth via the erde tree. 4. The lion dancer seems to be a symbol of the crucible because of its physical traits. Marika like she did before orchestrated a genocide to put forth the necessary ingridients to put her plan into fruition.

Ya boi don’t miss! “anotha one”

The Elden Sniper strikes again

St Trina, Miquela, the Gloam Queen. the Holy trinity. ER is literally the story of the passage from duality to triality

Marika seduced the dragons to find out how to overtake the Crucible (pull strands of gold out of _____), then betrayed them all.

HEY someone reacting to your vid really got me thinking after the new trailer release... here's a thought I had after an overdose on theory lately I'm thinking the Erdtree was grown by Marika (with Messmer providing the raw material through the Purge) to distill and siphon off the light (Grace) from the Land, creating a gold-lit but fading Lands Between, to which the only gateway is the Erdtree itself, leaving that land with only darkness (Shadow) and making herself the Goddess of the new world. The only way to pass through that gate is divesting yourself of your power and your body ... unless of course you're the bearer of the Elden Ring itself. (As a side note, I think the Erdtree is like a grand set of stairs to the second story of a house - the first floor being the Lands of Shadow, and the new second story which Marika just brute-forced access to is the Lands Between. The burned body of Miquella is kinda like a drop-down attic staircase, but you need to be dead to climb it.) Towards the end of the main game, Melina needed to burn herself by burning the Erdtree so that she could BOTH create a path for you to become Elden Lord, AND return to the Land of Shadow through the Erdtree and be reunited with the other half of her persona, Miquella. Which explains why she's rather put out if you burn the Ertree yourself with the Frenzied Flame. She's "burned and bodiless" because Miquella already burned his body to enter the Land of Shadow through the Erdtree, but to send part of himself back to orchestrate a coup against Messmer (the precept of the Land of Shadow), and having already divested himself of his body, he needed to divest himself of himself. Melina doesn't know she's Miquella because she's only a shadow of him. She doesn't know her destiny or purpose, only that she's supposed to guide the Tarnished to become Elden Lord so that that Tarnished could both return his emissary (Melina) to the Land of Shadow to be reintegrated back to Miquella AND help him conquer Messmer. St. Trina is the same kind of alter ego of Miquella, but she was his alter ego while he still had a body in the Lands Between. And for all I know, The Gloam-Eyed Queen is the same type of shadow-emissary of Marika (or better yet, Radagon)- a divested part of herself to help form the cult of Messmer and the Godskin Hunters to play both sides against the middle and get her way, or something like that... (I'm sure that loosely could cover a good amount of "seduction and betrayal") With the level of story developement that she gets in both the base game and apparently the DLC, there's no way a figure like Marika gets a single boss fight in the base game with no dialog. The real Marika is the Gloam-eyed Queen, and the mother of Messmer is still pulling the strings in the Land of Shadow. I'll leave someone else to figure out the dang butterflies. Hope that's schizo enough ya.

The golden threads Marika holds up in the beginning made me think of the way she's crucified/hung up in the base game, and it made me think of the shape of her rune (or at least what I thiiiink the shape of her rune is supposed to be?), and in the shot later in the trailer, where the camera pans upwards from the city aflame to the tree, the crucified Marika shape is seen again, in gold. This made me think that it's symbolic of Marika "watching over" Messmer and his actions in the Land of Shadow, or somehow sanctioning what he's doing, that she very much is part of his plan or that he's doing it on her behalf? Also the new sites of grace, are what I assume to be in the shape of Miquellas rune? if so, his rune's outer arc very much resembles (to me at least) the shape of the crescent moon 🌙 - or, more fitting for what we learn of him in the base game lore - a crescent sun, which could be a tie in to his plans to eclipse the sun? Furthermore, I'm inclined to side with those who ponder if maybe Messmer is Godwyns twin - and they were the Gold and Shadow the voice in the trailer references. Godwyn is after all said to be Marikas firstborn, and it's incredibly unclear if his other parent is actually Godfrey, so he and Messmer then may be the result of Marikas "affair" the trailer mentions, if the affair is a literal reference to a sexual affair. And since Messmer is heavily linked to snakes, it also made me think of how Godwyn (at least after he "dies", though maybe also before that?) has a fishtail - not exactly a snake but definitely scaley - could be another hint to a possible connection between the two, and whoever their non-Marika parent then would be?

Tim, what are your thoughts on Blade of Calling's description. Its clearly refering to Melina right? Meaning she was intentionally hidden away too. I love your theory abour Melina being St.Trina but the Blade of Calling might suggest that Melina was a separate existence that was hidden away rather than just a spirit for travelling b/w the Lands Between and the Land of Shadows. And since there is a dead Official outside the the isolated secret room, it would mean that her existence was a very tightly guarded secret.

If you look closely, the building isn't decomposing into fragments, those are people.

What if miquella also tried the betrayal method by promising all the albanorics that they'll be reborn with him when the haligtree is complete. But in reality, he was using them to feed it along with his blood!! Just like how marika looks like she's making the erdtree in this trailer out of a mountain of corpses!

This video goes hard with Neon White music ngl

@timdiggity 5:41 that’s not hair it’s probably some kind of headdress the end of it looks cloth-like. It’s also looks a bit transparent and the dress reminds me a bit of the nascent butterfly.

My first thought seeing the person in the fire, cradling what might be a spear or ceremonial weapon, was that it's a deathbed companion. Perhaps she's mourning the loss of someone where all that's left is their weapon.

4:33 Might be madly wrong, but what if the seduction and betrayal being talked about is Marika seducing the god Placidusax is waiting for still ? We know that dragons can take human forms, so for all we know Messmer is literally half-dragon, which would explain the flames and communion traits.

I like how the first line is about Miquella the kind. Take this, all you, who thinks Miquella is some sort of evil and should not be trusted! I am with Malenia who believes in her brother.

crazy theory(im just bored): In the first scene, Marika holds blonde hairs while standing in a place that looks like a portal between The Shadows Lands and the lands between. Melina said she was born next to the golden tree, right? And by the golden hairs, perhaps we are witnessing the birth of Miquella, curiously being born on the border of two different worlds.

4:27 So this will make your hair stand. Rykard also has yellow eyes, so maybe Mesmer's yellow eye is not related to dragons but to snakes.

The golden strands pulled from the corpse are obviously foundation for the Elden Ring. After all, in the very first announcement trailer, when Radagon/Marika did their thing with the ring, there were many similar strands before. These strands are the laws, what connects and influences the world.

The “rune of death” is DNA. 🧬

love your videos but one critiscism that I have is to use songs in the background that go well with elden ring's theme rather than electronic dnb and such

My theory is that Marika created Erdtree with the corpses and the rune that appear at the beginning, giving rise to the Golden Order and at the same time to the veil (the shadow that was born) that hides the Land of Shadows. Messmer was born from some relationship that Marika had before entering the Lands Between that resulted in a betrayal on her part that was necessary for the creation of the Golden Order. Perhaps Marika left Messmer in the Land of Shadows so he could begin a purge of that civilization (an Omen civilization who worshiped the Crucible, maybe??), promising that he would see her again one day or some other promise. Miquella wanted to know the truth about his mother because this truth could be fundamental to his personal goals, which is why he enters the Land of Shadows.

Maybe melina and mesmer are the children of marika and the gloam eyed queen, from the seduction they talk about?

I wonder if the tarnished went to the DLC as the vassal for frenzied flame will characters (NPCs) Treat him differently and have different dialogue with him or some events will play different, like for example we know that Miqula is against the outer gods because he has his own plans, how will he react when he meets the tarnished who yet to become the lord of frenzied flame

The person holding the grace in the trailer is Radigan before his hair turned red - it's a man's body

Yo wtf I've been spamming Neon White to get White's Hell Rush and the video started it that OST haha I have PTSD now

Ever thought of the possibility that St Trina and the Blind Swordsmen are in reality the shadows of Miquella and Malenia because in the backstories and more they are only ever mentioned with them never truly alone and Melina is maybe the Shadow of the Gloam Eyed Queen?

Marika used Messmer to go on a conquest and even exiled him afterwards. Kinda like Hela and Odin in Thor Ragnarok

In the Trailer there is this Woman burning in the war scenes. I think that is Melina! The Moment she gut burned and bodyless.

What I want to know is what was all that flesh laying everywhere almost like the world was made of flesh

The robe in the first trailer is Melina, it has the exact same pattern on her robe

Hey can you explain why you think the losing side of the war are crucible/omen aligned, and not any other faction? Afaik the only one of their troops we see for certain is the lion dancer, and we're not even sure what exactly they are yet. I feel like Im missing something obvious

5.52 Why is nobody mentioning the eye of Sauron casually sitting under the tree? Souron is the dlc main villain im telling ya!!!

Messmer is Godwyn the Golden's twin brother. Every other child she had had a twin of which was in many ways a far opposite.

I think the thing Marika put her hand in and extracted grace from might be the formless mother

Since we are speculating…. Just realized that destined death was hidden with maliketh because they wanted to prevent that new souls went to the dreamworld… I believe that to go to the dreamworld u must die… that could lead to think that instead of Melina put us to “sleep” we were “killed” in a way that we came back before destined death was released with maliketh’s death… since death could not happen in the lands between… also I believe that each demigod has a counterpart in the land of death, being Mesmer sent there by dying and being put in.. well I don’t know.. a cocoon… we’ll just being crazy here

Just had a random thought about Elden ring. What if Mesmer is Godwyns twin. Godwyn is the only sibling who isn’t paired with another in the base game. And we know that he’s one of the oldest of all the siblings. And with the shadow realm being Marikas first steps to Queenhood she probably had the birth of both Godwyn and Mesmer here. And the two almost play out like Margot and and Mohg. One who is the literal golden child for the Elden Ring and wants to preserve it and the other who wants to replace it with their own rule and fundamentals.

Neon White soundtrack going hard for this lore!!

Messmer's clothes look much more like the Dragonkin Warriors' imo, with their red capes embroidered with gold and crudely hammered plate armour. Though the Dragonkin Soldiers look worn and ragged and are covered in bandages. Possibly from being cast out for centuries at this point. But I want to make it absolutely clear that Messmer's clothes look nothing like the Drake Knight set. I hate that rumour so much. People just pass it on without actually looking to see that the two are entirely different. The drake set is composed of fluted steel cuisses, bracers, pauldrons and helmet, inlaid with orange runes and horns, with a red scarf featuring bright red feathers, a full dragon wing cape, brown leather belts and boots and a stained chainmail tunic. The whole ensemble has a feel of late Germanic armour sets, with its mix of materials and precise shapes of the curved steel. Messmer is styled as a Roman general of antiquity. He's wearing sandals. He is wearing a plate cuirass, greaves and a single bracer. He appears to have a loose chain/scalemail tunic under the cuirass and a red cape and skirt over. The Cape has golden fringe and embroidery that resembles banners of Roman legionnaires. It's a completely different set of materials, designs and eras of armour.

Do you think it’s relevant that Gold/ Yellow is the opposite on the color wheel from Gloam/ Purple?

i really strongly think that Messmer looks more like a godskin than a dragon communion user, and he also never uses anything even remotely resembling a dragon spell as of what we know currently. I think him and his unusual flame/powers will be tied to this "affair" marika had, likely with the gloam eyed queen, as radagon, but could be more nuanced than this. his flame does vaguely resemble the dragon communion symbol, but this could easily be superficial as it is absolutely not a 100% match, and it is more akin to our human senses finding patterns where there may not be any

my crack theory is that mesmer is the child of gloomed eye queen, and marika seduced him. he was her 1st elden lord, and then she made him betray his mother, thus the war/invasion anad etc. marika didnt like the way he did things and then locked him and the land of shadows behind the veil

so, if there was a guardin or a being from which marika stole the grace, could then mesmer be the son of marika and said entity before it was slain? (serpent like related, like an uroboros)

There's something going on with the colours. It's like, Ranni is Cyan, Miquella is unalloyed gold (Yellow) and Saint Trina is Magenta. Is that significant?

One of the biggest things that still sticks with me... "There never were any saints, just the losing side of a war." from the first trailer. Miquella is *Saint* Trina.

The affair is the reason Godfrey was banished and Morgott and Mohg are Omen.

My guess is Marika and Messmer went to war, and by showing us the brutal war, we know that messmer's side weren't saints. The timing of the dialogue in the original trailer fits that concept.

The body’s are the crucible, the gold strands become the Elden Ring, Marikas is Messmirs mother, Melina is either the GEQ or the spawn of the GEQ. Lock those answers in for sure.

Marika the Griffith analog, not our boy Mickie?

It definitely seems like it’s the crucible faction that’s the loosing side. The lion dancer attacking Messemer looks like a celebration/glorification of everything Omen/crucible

"They were never saints, they just happened to be on the losing side of the war" Perhaps... Marika was losing the war, robbed the Gloam Eyed Queens victory by ambushing her (Messmer helped Marika and got betrayed), and became the new ruler, deeming her as Saint of the new Order (Golden Order).

The flesh wall looks kinda like the blasphemous blade.