The BIG DLC Mystery of the Godskins | Elden Ring Lore 

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7 faces on the Noble's robe, 7 walking mausoleum with headless children of Markia

Those Eternal Cities underground were incredible seeing them the first time. I wish we got something that was a fully fledged city underground similar to them to explore. First time seeing those underground cities was just pure awe and amazement. Man I hope the DLC has as much hidden in it as the base game.

I'm calling it right now, Messmer is the original owner of volcano manor, before he was banished to the shadow lands, making snakes a blasphemous symbol

I really like the idea of Melina/Messmer being twins, sharing the flame butterfly. Both histories seem to predate known events, both are connected to flame (and perhaps death too). Seems quite likely

There are more dead demigods we know about. The unwanted childs of Marika at the mausoleums. Maybe it's thier skin, because they whoreshiped Messmer and not Marika. We don't know what they looked like. Maybe the had also a connection with snakes like Messmer, if they were part of his faction.

The Melina we see at the end of the Frenzied Flame ending could very well be someone who had something split from her but brought back together thanks to that flame melting all that divided and distinguishes. I personally believe there is a connection between her and Ranni because of it. Ranni's corpse is fascinating with the feet missing making me think of first generation Albinaurics. And if her body was artificial, maybe it was a container? And maybe the Godskin Noble was there because of what was previously contained? Random thoughts I have. But anyways, fantastic video as always!

10:34 crucible eldenbeast, gloam eyed queen, fled god of placidusax, five fingers united, the last firegiant ?

The picture of the godskin noble’s robe reminds me of the artificial behelit in berserk. Maybe the godskin nobles patched together demigods (as opposed to apostles) in order to artificially ascend to an artificial demigod-hood.

The figure on the Noble's Presence incantation is caked up...

dont forget that the finger slayer blade looks like a sinister distorted version of the great sword made from radagons corpse.

Also the Cailid Devine Tower is related to Radahn. His soldiers also guard the Godslayer Greatsword. I hold that whatever the connection, the GEQ and her minions are heavily connected with the Carian family.

All of the Godskin locations baring the Windmill village are tied to destined death directly or indirectly .The Noble on the Divine Tower in Liurnia may be trying to claim the half of the curse mark on Ranni's corpse that contains destined death. The Apostle in Caelid gauard the Godslaying sword that once channelled the full power of their Black Flame. The Noble in the Church of Egleith may have aligned with Rykard because Ranni gifted Rykard with fragments of the rune death which he forged into the Blasphemous claw, the Duo's presence in Farum Azula my be an attempt to recover the death Rune from Maliketh/Gurrank. I think the Godskins in game are mostly looking to restore the power of their Black Flame to resume their Godskin hunt.

Thank you for this video! Godskins, The Gloam-Eyed Queen and Blackflame/DD are my favorite part of the lore tbh, first build i made was a Godslayer’s Greatsword build and I been remaking it recently!

I had noticed a while ago that the Apostles and Snake Men in Volcano Manor have similar move sets. Might actually mean something, sick

lol the Frieren character. cute

🤔 that segue into the watch sponsor bit was slick. 👍

One of the more fun ways I've picked apart Messmer's possible background is what could verify him as a traitor to the Erdtree. The list that I have so far is as follows: Slaying his Two Fingers Attempting to burn the tree Accepting power of serpents Alligning with the Gloam Eyed Queen Rivalry with the Erdtree Turning the dragons against the tree Opposing the Greater Will Sabotaging the Age of Plenty Leading Erdtree opposition Opposition to the Golden Order's modernization

Now some randon tinfoil-hat theory: Messmer and Melina are siblings and children of the Gloam-eyed Queen who is Marica's sister and dragonlord's wife.

Smooth transition into that ad 👌

Besides the seven mausoleums/seven face aprons reference, a very important detail lies with the descriptions of wrath of gold and noble presence. The first one was discovered during the Shattering as a sign of the erdtree’s wrath, and noble presence states that it was originally a sign of the gods’ wrath but the nobles took it as a trophy of their hunt. So that pretty much shows me the godskins participated during the shattering

Rennalla has a purple pendant around her neck similar to that of the Godskins. A small detail that may just be a coincidence but worth mentioning.

I guess in the DLC we seek puzzle that says - Mesmer is Melina.

The drip is indeed-- always important. Great video! And you know I'm always here for that Torvus Bog OST

Spinning Weapon: Defensive skill employed by Carian princesses.

Dusk eyed queen being the actual final boss of the DLC would be perfect. Since Shadow Lands is the sight of Marika's first war and requires you to divest your flesh, I can see Messmer being a son who was skinned when the dusk eyed queen was defeated, and he remains as a mid way necessary boss, but not the final. Now imagine Miquella is there to get the black flame to kill the Rot God and make a new tree following in his mother's footsteps.

Keeping Melina alive and not have her burn the erdtree is a must for this DLC I would say. So much potentially interesting dialogue and lore to uncover here.

Something to think about with the godskin hunt and its timing is also the founding principals of the Golden Order. The Golden Order begins with the declaration that Marika is the one and only god as well as with the removal of Destined Death. This reads to me that basically, the GEQ and the Godskins did their job, they killed the gods. Then Marika had Malekith "sunset" that operation since its very nature is a threat to her. Once the deed was done we get her public decree of the start of the Golden Order with Hourah Loux now calling himself Godfrey as Elden Lord.

frieren cosplay so good i have to go and make one lmao amazing video again!

Gotta let smough town know he likes the godskins

"Made from the largely unaltered hide of a young Albinauric. Raises arcane, but reduces the HP recovery effects of the Flask of Crimson Tears. A far cry from godskin, this Albinauric hide mask is the product of malicious mockery." (1) "godskin" used here is a generic noun (it's not capitalized, it's not plural, it's compared to a singular object produced in game) from that we know it was something which was produced in mass. (2) godskin is produced in a way that is a "far cry" from the "malicious mockery" which produces the Albinoric Mask

Great video! Always loved the design of the Godskins

All right, what's going on Ziostorm? Nice vid btw, can't wait for DLC

I still think that it's a possibility, maybe even highly likely that Mesmer and Melina are connected closely. I commented this already a few month ago when the first DLC trailer dropped. The similarities both in appearance and burning of the Erdtree are just striking. They could either be twins (another version of one "being split into two parts") or even be the same entity. Since all Empyreans are basically split beings (literally having a trans-identity), with many of them being split into body and soul, Mesmer's "true self" could have been banished into the Land of Shadow by Marika, while Melina is his/their spirit part (a part of their soul!?) that resides in the Lands Between. Possibly their only way of existing in and influencing the Lands Between. Since Mesmer is probably not evil but has more complex motives, him helping the player defeating and (quite literally) uprooting Marika's reign by burning (a part) of the Erdtree would fit too well.

Melina and messmer both have the M in their name woaaaaaa -madness buildup-

Take a good look at the sky at the Liurnia divine tower right before the godskin fight on the bridge. Looks pretty close to DLC sky/look IMO. Also. My money is on Melina being the child of Rennala and Radagon. Here are some things that keep me thinking... Mother's rich slumber shall not be disturbed by thee.- Ranni during Rennala fight- if we get to fight the 'real' version of big momma moon i will be so happy. Her fight feels waaay too easy currently for her lore impact. Or will ye be gravestones? To be better born anew? - i often think about how birth or reincarnation works in the lands between. It seems there is a sort of 'soul recycling' going on - like reincarnation. Do things birth out of the earth itself? Do people/spirits sometimes fall from the tree like sap/seeds? DLC pic looks like they might be burning spirits/sap from the tree. Are they physically altering this reincarnation process? Did marika wage war in hades itself and actually win? Is that why the deathbirds are in the main world now? Boss rush mode would be nice. Also a huge pool of 'random' dungeons a la Bloodborne would send me over the moon 😂 Cant wait to find out all my theories are wrong and hopefully FS actually surprises us with some twists

I love this because my crackpot theory has been Messmer and Melina are more than just siblings but maybe twins like some of other Marika’s kids. Or maybe even shared a body like Marika and Radagon. I just feel like there’s a lot of potential links between the two (like this video or the butterfly theories) and I’m on major copium we get more Melina lore

Their really about their drip😎🤣

1 second in and i see a frieren cosplay i didn't expect that

I believe the Godskin have small, smooth and oily scales like that simply because theyre less like the Misbegotten's crude expression of the crucible, and more of a perfect fusion of human skin and snake scales.

Amazing video as always. I definitely hope that there’s more of an expansion on the Godskins, Maliketh, and Melina being the Gloam Eyed Queen. I just hope that there’s no boss fight against her but this is a FromSoftware game so I’m sure there’s going to be a showdown with her. Hopefully, in the intact Farum Azula. I still feel like there’s a good possibility that Messmer and Miquella are one and the same, just his physical existence in the shadow realm. Which, hopefully includes another showdown with Malenia in her final form as she awakens from her bloom.

Can't wait for Godskin trio fight 🔥🔥🔥

I agree that Melina may be the gloam eyed queen, but I think she may be connected to Messmer in the same way that Rhadagon and Marika are connected.

Gotta have God's to have godskin 🤫🤫

Expansion. Mesmmers cardinal sin was not burning the Erdtree.. It was crafting the Hailig tree.

the one thing I want the most, Their ost is so good.

I have a theory that the Gloom eyed Queen went to war with Marika. She lost and was wiped from history but Marika kept her dead body as a trophy. Years later when Marika realized her own failures, she shattered the Elden Ring. Unable to wander the lands herself, Marika breathed life into the body of the Gloom Eyed Queen and revived her to do her bidding.

The GEQ, the scorpion rot god and more info on the Helphen have been some of my most wanted lore continuation. Plus miquella and godwyn of course but it looks like we’re for sure getting miquella lore. Keeping my fingers crossed for some DLC hints toward the others.

I've been thinking on it. Maybe Melina isn't THE gloam-eyed queen, but maybe a Gloam-eyed princess. She was given her purpose at birth by her mother. Maybe some kind of birth ritual thing happened where in death, Melina was born, unless she comes from the show realm and the Erdtree isn't the tree that she is referring to

I saw that sneaky cut in of the many unresolved bosses/gods in that one collection of boss health bars. XD

What if Melina and messmer are children of the gloam eyed queen

The godskin apostle casts black flame tornado the ashe of war version which appears to me to work by having some black flame and then amping the fuel/intensity by creating a wind funnel when spinning the weapon around. The godskin noble casts black flame ritual the incantation by casting it. They look similar imo. The solo godskin noble boss fights (I think?) are all tagged as "legend defeated" not "enemy".

For the god hunt I wonder if that is why Placidusax escaped to his pocket of time to wait for his lost god. Placidusax’s ancient dragon scales are said to be able to lightly twist time in order to create weapons which can slay a god. Interesting parallels with his story. His god fled (or was killed), he escaped into a pocket of time to wait for his lost god as the ancient dragons were rendered mortal. Godslayers seem to be entities that keep the cycle of life/death going, even the lives/deaths of gods. Messmer could *be* Destined Death with the Gloam Eyed Queen as his other aspect. Melina says even in her usual form that those who walk aside flame are on the path to Destined Death. They are a painful necessity for balance.

Marika also states that her children, the demigods are to become gods or lords, and if they fail to become something, that they will become sacrifices. This could be part of how the erdtree was fertilized, but either way there are also plenty of nameless, soulless demigods in the walking mausoleums, so I think it's safe to say there were plenty of umentioned demigods slain, and the Godskin Apostles set probably uses real godskin if the description doesn't already say it.

10:35 Crucible Elden Beast, Gloam Eyed Queen, Fled God of Placidusax, Five Fingers United, The Last Fire Giant

A few things: The Caelid Tower Apostle is there not because of Maliketh, but because of the Queen's greatsword. Nobles having draconic features is because their father/patriarch is Placidusax, the Gloameyed Queen's husband. The original Japanese can give you a better grasp of how the "godskin" of theirs stems from demigods, as the divine family is the mark of a "god"... even though only the Queen is a God. This is the same reason Maliketh, killer of the Gloameyed Queen's children, bears the moniker of demigodslayer.

Did you look into the fire monks at all for this? The blackflame monks in particular, like the one in front of the church of eiglay, have their armor say this: The Blackflame Monks, enthralled by the god-slaying black flame, became traitors, abandoning their posts as guardians. The seduction of a taboo is never easily spurned.

Not the Frieren Cosplay 😂😂 looks good bro didn’t even consider it

Welp, get ready for god skin duo duo

in reality it probably means nothing as the menu exposition doesn't really have any effect or relevance what so ever to what happens. it like TV such as lost, were told their this incredible mystery and it super interesting, but were not supposed to ask why that's relevant at all.

Messmer makes me think of Quetzalcoatl at least in terms of the feathered serpents and Godwyn and Miquella make me think of Xolotl. Xolotl was the god of lightning, fire, and death. He is also considered to be the god of twins, diseases, deformities, and misfortune. He served as a guide for the souls of the dead as they passed through the nine layers of Mictlan, the Aztec form of the underworld.

I will proudly claim Godskin duo is one of my favorite souls bosses of all time.

a few of the gods seem to be in the body of someone like marika/radigon with the elden ring, the fire giants with the face, rykard kinda did the opposite lol, but makes sense the snake in messmers chest, was thinking messmer got red hair like radigon. radigon wanted to be whole taking in others into the golden order, and seems me messmer took that idea to the next level and took on all aspects of outer gods and dragons (truest of hairs as godrick says) i'm thinking the snake has been grafted as that's also herrisy i really think the lands of shadow is under the erdtree in a way (like layers of reality) and is another more spiky tree above the erdtree, can see a visual of it literally on the erdtree entrance, plus is 3 different trees or halo looking things coming from 3 sides the some in the incantations / seals artwork another thing the tower that has morg and morgoth fighters on top is covered by a shroud of shadow, as is the forbidden lands, also in the forbidden lands the trees are growing together and look totally different from all other trees, they look like the crucible statues with the guy holding the flower among the other offshoots, looks too similar to be a coincidence to me melina really needs more lore added, seems she learnt about her role from a book in layndell in one of the rare jump off a elevator rooms (you find her weapon there) seems she had a official role and private room, she also got a golden eye, the gloam eye queen and snake both considered traitors and fire is also a sin seems they are connected to each other and the golden order in some kinda way, they might even be Marikas siblings, and the voice line over messmer a red herring and not even his voice another connection is ranni and miquella, seems torrent was miquellas stead, but ranni gives it to us, and when she does she puts cali to sleep, a power associated with st trina, also it can't just be me that finds it weird ranni and melina kinda look the same? got the same face and got one eye shut, aslo why is rannis soul only half in the doll? seems too similar to melina having one half gold one purple (the colour also connected to sleep) ranni, melinia and marika/radigon have 1 or more missing eyes, so does messmer and melina, st trina is pictured having one eye as well find that interesting as well

messmers flame also the same as dragon communion flame where you buy spells

Godskin Trio confirmed.

Idea outta nowhere What if Melina is Messmer's alter ego, just like St. Trina/Miquella and Radagon/Marika? They would be the being that burned the Erdtree twice. Another similarity between them could be how Messmer clings to everything, any heresy that exists, while Melina's archnemesis are the Three Fingers, which represent the end of everything and anything. Maybe the sealed eye is supposed to keep Messmer away from control?

Zio, question for you, have you done any research into the god-slaying weapon that the blacksmith said he was crafting?

10:21 spitballing here but: maybe if the godskins are from the shadowlands, maybe that’s why they have the black/white fire because it’s flame born of shadow?

Hey Ziostorm, can you check the scene where Marika is being impaled by red spear through her stomach in Radagon Boss fight cutscene? Do you think the spear is very similar to mesmer in context of the colour?

I would pay stupid money for a pair of godskin boots..

Whats the pop up at 10:34? Says Crucible Elden Beast and Gloam Eyed Queen and more. Is this a modded gameplay screenshot?

Bam. Love you man

No shot bro made Frieren that's amazing

Like a particle & a 🌊

I may be wrong in this but I think that the gloameyed queen is cryptically said to have been chosen by the fingers, not the two fingers, just the fingers, which is a weird difference for fromsoft to make right? If I recall its in the description of the godslaying greatsword.

I think its possible melina is a golden projection of queen marika. She apparates in gold just like marget and the finger reader in the round table hold mentions that even though she is locked away she stull imposes influence on the world.

I have literally predicted Messmer might be the GEQ ever since I saw him. The snakes, the fire, the style, the physiology, the eye. It’s said that Maliketh only “defeated the Gloam Eyed Queen”. Messmer and GEQ are Empyreans. The one thing nobody I’ve seen come to theorize is Messmer is the first child of Marika, born out of wedlock. The secret child that rebelled

I suspect the eye may be a general thing that happens to the demigods seperated from order, a scar from the process regardless of the reason. Explaining why Ranni has it aswell since while twins are a common for Marika, triplets are not. I will say that the twin argument on it's own still suggests that melena and messmer were twins, nameing scheme even tracks for merikas kids, specifically merikas kinds with radagon. Godfrey X Merika = God-insert rest of name here. Radagon X Renalla = R names. Marika X Radagon = M names.

Anybody else think that it's sneaky that George R. R. Martin's starting initials are the most commonly named figures? Godwyn, Godfrey, Godrick, etc. Radagon, Ranni, Rykard, etc. Miquella, Melina, etc....I've underestimated the sneakiness.

is that a reference to the wrath of the gods miracle from dark souls on the noble presence incantation?

The only thing that turns me off the Melina=GEQ theory is that you should technically be able to finish the DLC before getting to the Mountaintop of Giants. You need Melina (without frenzy flame which is really hard to find/figure out on your own) to burn the Erdtree. I don't see why the Devs would make us kill an npc in the dlc when we could potentially still see them in the main game afterwards.

I hope their story gets expanded in the DLC. Also, if snakes are symbols of blasphemy, why dies Matika have bracelets in the shape of two header snakes, made of gold?

Is there any chance that Melina is, in a way, Messmer? Like their possible parentage's duality? Love the channel!

I think Melina may be the daughter of the gloam eyed queen instead of actually her. She mentions her mother during the game

Could the godskins have a connection to the carian royal family… there is one in volcano manor with Rykard, one in the basement of radon’s tower and one in front of rani’s tower that’s seems like a pattern also I think the gloam eyed queen is a carian only other people called queen are ranala and marika so maybe she is a carian queen idk

at 10:34 I saw a screenshot of the Demon Warrior Fighting Player thing! Why is that lol

Me playing Elden Ring : “haha there’s a fat one and a skinny one” The Lore:

Theory as to why they show up in Farum: -The dragon head is the third head of Placidusax -Radagon went to get a dragon scale to kill Marika and the apostles showed to stop him Or -Radagon sent them to retrieve the scale (Assumes Marika was the GEQ)

Godskin Trio

Damn! Again I feel like a little piece of connection is missing. I'm SURE that Skeleton-horse thing is related to the Godskins somehow. It's head is very similar to the Opal in the center of the Aplostles' chestpieces and the creature's entire physiology represents both the mix between beasts and men, like the Crucible, as well as the general idea of "living in death", just like the dead skins worn by the Apostles are also alive, being part of their very beings

The will. When we travel to the past, we will kill, among others, the 2 godskin apostles that we find in the spiritcaller cave, called by the snail with the spirit bell. Ironic fate for those two goons.

Yooo @Ziostorm have you taken a look at the Faithfuls Canvas Tailsman? Looks similar to the veil hiding the shadow realm 👀 mask wearing people too

What if Melina as the Gloam-Eyed queen was actually Marika's sister (we all know how she likes to use her family in her plans), and after Maliketh defeated Melina she was forced by Marika to become the Kindling Maiden for the tarnished?

If Mesmer is related to the Godskins, then the dialogue (IF it does not belong to Miquella) is Mesmer asking his mother, Melina the Gloam Eyes Queen, why she chose our tarnished.

I have a theory, I believe that Messer’s Flame may be destined Death flame or similar to it due to how similar it looks to Maliketh’s Black blades flame and to how his flame starts as a black flame then grows a dark red flame

Zio vid let's goooo

Naw I can already smell the Godskin trio😭🙏

What about this, Melina and messmer are counter parts. We don't know the lineage of Melina but the lore heavily implies it's queen markia. They'd be the children of markia and radagon keeping the m naming scheme. Malenia and miquela have alter egos just like their parents, but children born from rennala do not. I feel like they always inhabit opposing forces. Miquela is a dreamer who is forced to stay young and never be able to reach their dreams. Where st. Trina controls sleep where dreams are created. Melinas goal is to burn the erdtree, messmers goal is to heal the erdtree. He seems to be based on nidhogg who eats the roots of yggdrasil in norse mythology allowing the tree to grow and stay healthy. The previous video you did was about how messmers based on a messopatamian god, who was the god of snakes and agriculture. This would be why we see Melina primarily in spirit form as she's predominantly in the land of shadows as a counter to messmer.

What’s that flash on screen @10:35 ish

Just noticed the shadow tree isn’t two trees it’s actually one tree with a giant tree like arm reaching around it with the fingers curled in the same shape draining the sap as the Miquella holds up at the end of the trailer 😮 how did any of us miss this! Zio thoughts!