IMPORTANT EXTRA NOTES will be posted here! Even if you don't agree with everything (or anything lol) I say in this video, I am sure you will at least see something new or of interest in here! I found quite a few little gems on my journey! I hope the teaser at the end has you excited for the next long video, I am very excited for it personally :D PS. Sorry if my voice is jarring in certain parts, I had to re-record parts as the pop-filter I have is trash and I had already been speaking for hours and hours, so I was a bit raspy! EXTRA NOTES: -
Just.. a tiny thing to point out/ask. If there was a great tree at the highest north, and a great tree and the furthest south, before Marika tried to establish a tree in the middle.. Would that finally explain why it is called "The Lands Between"? Because it would be describing a holy land situated between the two Great Trees of the One Great.
I have nothing but respect for the amount of time it must have taken for you to comb through every piece of scattered imagery from the Lands Between and beyond, great work!
I thought the Erdtree we see in game is nothing but a hologram of it's former self, because the Erdtree died when Godwyn was buried at it's roots? Either way I agree with a lot that is being said here, I believe that there were at least two trees before the Erdtree.
I think the spread of deathroot via the Greattree network ended the Erdtree's age of plenty and the Erdtree as it was known, for sure. Hence the roots USED to be connected to the erdtree :D Same on AT LEAST two trees, I had to restrain myself from going fully fringe about my... multiple tree theory :')
Single best lore channel on RU-vid. I thought I had already made all the connections I could but here you are putting literally everything together. The trees are truly Great.
I just KNOW the mfs responsible for this story are sitting in their evil ass villain chairs, rubbing their hands together and laughing while watching people piece the lore together. Thanks for taking the time to make this!
I'm very grateful you immediately address that some people think the Great Tree is a misunderstanding; I personally trust so little of Elden Ring's verbiage and with all the cut content, last minute dev changes, and mixing of GRRM vision and Micheal Zaki-isms - this game is FAR HARDER to find "the truth" in than Dark Souls. But educated, intelligent, and researched attempts like yours get us steps closer to the ELDEN TRUTH... that we need ER2 hahaha
I was slightly salty with you for the delay on this video (sorry) but I gotta say, it did not disappoint. This is probably the most revelatory Elden ring lore video ive yet seen. Bravo
Oh yeah! Also, Aphrodite is reflective of Marika. Aphrodite was originally the goddess of love and war Ishtar, until moving over to Greece and being split into Aphrodite and Ares, gold and red, and then making Ares the chief deity of Sparta.
All over it. I was inspired heavily by such mythologies in my youth, thanks to otep and, so many of their songs simply SERVE marika (listen to unveiled and ghost flowers) Isis, Ishtar Hecate, Kali Isis, Ishtar Hecate, Kali Isis, Ishtar Hecate, come to me... I'm sharpening my halo. Into forest horns. I'm sanctifying pages in the protocols of war ❤🥰
Excellent video. I think everyone who sees this video will agree you absolutely cooked. Also, gonna steal your "fruit from the tree of knowledge theory" to explain what the Sellian Nox fed to Starscourge Radahn to help him grow in size and gain insight into the gravity/the stars, it fits too perfectly.
Stayed up late after work just to watch this with my buddy. I was on the edge of my seat the entire video, thank you for your absurdly extensive work! So glad I waited and I'm so excited for the next one!
brilliant lore and sources aside, eight times the clip of Godfrey turning around came up when he was mentioned. it got me every single time, please keep using it lmfao
So, my theory is that there are 2 versions of the Erdtree, before and after the lightning strike. The glowing tree is the "more of a symbol of worship" part that is mentioned.
Interesting note: some of the Banished Knights can actually perform Artorias's flip attack combo in vers 1.0, making them more dangerous. Another interesting observation from vers 1.0: Miquella is called the "Scion Empyrean". This is interesting because the Grafted Scions all have the faces of a CHILD, which might have meant that Miquella originally was involved in Grafting and, perhaps, the Grafted Scions were his attempt to "mature". This is further evidenced by the fact that the "Chrysalid memento" we find in vers 1.0 of Stormveil actually mentions "pupae", which is the plural form of "pupa", the stage between a larva and a mature insect when it is COCOONED. In the original story,I believe, the Haligtree was in opposition to the Erdtree. Miquella is gifted Loretta by Radagon to help guard Miquella's opposing Vision (per Loretta's armor set). This is supported by the fact that Vers 1.0 states that Radagon gave a warning that the Tarnished would return for the Elden Ring. See, Miquella was much more actively involved in the OG story as an Insect Queen. This explains his insect wings in the official art, his cocoons at the Haligtree, the insect wings of the Cleanrot Knights, and the Kindred of Rot born from his sister. This would also explain his Bewitching Branches (which are outright stated to be Miquella's in 1.0) and it explains his "allure"; like an insect pheromone compelling the drones to obey him. His other self, St Trina, is even a flower, and flowers attract insects.
There are many other mistranslations that have yet to be patched. For example, the menus still mention that simply equipping a great rune will give you some of its benefits, and getting the full benefits requires a rune arc. The great tree = The erdtree It's the same Kanji. like... come on... No room for interpretation there.
That example is way too vague for me to accept lol that's a technical thing not a fundamental concept on multiple items Then you'd have to explain the giant Stump and its colour, you'd need to explain the giant trees depicted on reliefs before the time of the erdtree, you'd have to explain the depictions of the unmentioned fruit, you'd have to explain the giant kings on the dectus medallion with the singular giant tree on the one that takes you to elphael- who are they, even who are they to miquella? Why isn't it miquella on the medallion instead etc etc The kanji being the same means little to me in the face of all of the evidence - and even if it is the same, that technically is true- its the same thing, but it's not. I dont know how the Japanese would convey that, so I can only work with that I have and what I have has some pretty compelling evidence to coincide with it. Also, the games in English. You'd think they know intimately what they are trying to convey. Either they have sharp attention to detail and are meticulous, or are not. There isn't an in-between.
Devils Advocate on the patterns repeating from the divine towers: if these towers are seen as divine and exist in the lands pre current civilizations, wouldn't it be reasonable that they might copy or iterate on prior cultures? In the same way the Renaissance architecture built on Roman and Greek designs
Who would have access to these DIVINE towers to copy the architecture? How would they even open them when we can't? Unless they were part of the same culture. Yeah we see copies / homages between civilisations however when we do they are most certainly not an EXACT match I considered what you said quite early on and after seeing examples of homages in the very game between locations and time periods, as well as the material used, the tarnish, location, and most importantly accompanying iconography (like the hero Graves and elphael) Like the difference between upper and lower elphael- THAT is a homage and the original, for example, as seen in the condition and materials used and iconography near / around it 😁
I'm starting to think that the yellow of the chaos flame is related to the gold of the golden order, and the link is partially shown by the law of regression connecting to the desire to melt together back into the one great. The gold of the golden order could just be what's left over when you take the flame out of chaos
THIS VIDEO IS FUCKING MINDBLOWING I shit u not, i had chills for like an hour throughout the video the stuff u say and show in combination of the shit that just pops into my mind at any moment just makes me so excited the first grandmother video was a treat, can't wait for the full on long version of it all Incredible job
Tree of death? WOW. You really made my theory full circle with this. Mabey its the Helphen? And the one great was before it was splitt into helphen and erd tree. Helphen being cold and white, hvile erd tree being gold and warm. I dono.
I think the Golden Erdtree is a projection of the Great Tree much like how Golden Godfrey the piss ghost is a projection of Godfrey Real, but not real.
I always thought that they were a helix tree in the beginning but Malenia's rot influence cut her from the greater will, thus rotting her tree. And since Miquella had cocooned himself in his it continued to grow. I do agree with the offshoot thing though, maybe him taking what was left of her tree and making it his own as a support.
Another comment, because I'm weird like that and am already watching a second time. Your comments on the deathrite birds, grave birds, etc, makes me think of the chanting winged dames. I wonder if they're from the same era, and their lament has something to do with the loss of their age & god. They've always fascinated me with their haunting sad songs.
I listen to like 40 hours of Elden Ring lore a week at work. When I first came across your videos I thought you were crazy. Lol After about 2 videos I thought you were onto something. Now I think you're a fucking genius. Also going through ALL that iconography?? Omg what a feat. Congratulations. I think you may be the GOAT of Elden Ring lore. HIGHLY anticipating your Grandmother video.
😂😂😂 Such a reassuring comment ♡ I too thought I was crazy, and then I noticed ranni sitting like the grandmother and I was no longer crazy- simply obsessed. 😂
49:58 Important to note that this wasn't a bespoke asset made for PoE that was crammed into Elden Ring, rather it's probably from an asset pack of some kind. Also, the face on it is very blatantly a depiction of the "green man," a European architectural motif representing life & rebirth.
The game Fear and Hunger uses the pinecone symbol. That was great. Great job 👍 I generally see Elden Ring as a Gnostic cosmology. Dark Souls is very Gnostic. I wonder if Fellened John could conceivably repeat the Abraxas concept in Gnosticism. Missing right eye is Eye of Ra/Sun God and parallels with the rooster head. Missing leg replaces by tree roots parallel with the snakes. I'm very onboard with the two great trees of Life and Knowledge of Good and Evil. Lots to think about. Very impressive video.
Woke up with a cold…. About to mealplan for the week and do all my laundry, and lo…. This video falls upon my head like lightning. Thank you for being the goat
I've always thought there was a strong connection between the erdtree and quaking aspen too. Great video! Edit: THE CLIFFHANGER AT THE END! AHH! Please instantly release the next video, thanks. 😩 This was truly your best work yet. One nitpick, I noticed you referenced Zullie's video about the hand - how do you feel about her conclusion that they aren't part of a larger whole based on their anatomy? Personally I feel like it's a stylistic choice, and that your conclusion is correct, but I'm curious as you didn't directly address this. Lastly, love the Nameless Singer plug! They are so talented - I love all of their writeups and videos so far. I'm pumped for whatever you're hinting at!
Hhahahahaha I WANT to release it now but that would consume the smoldering ambers of my soul that remains after THIS video so, I shall restoke the fire and get back to it asap but a few smaller videos before then! I think the comparison between the giants hand and that whole hand is uncanny asf- even the way the fingers bend (Kinda like the GEQ and aphrodite/venus). I find it difficult to reconcile them not having anything to do with each other, and that 2 + 3 fingers = 5 is so overt it couldn't possibly be covertly nothing lol But again, I could be wrong. There are just soooooooooo many coincidences :P
The lore communities for FromSoftware games have surpassed every other fanbase for me. It's the combination of depth and sophistication of discussion that's backed up by the range and scope of detail that these games boast.
If the Greatree stump has the Erdtree growing out of it after it was felled, surely such an important piece would be present on the model, or even on the map where it shows the stump.
Human psychology 101, used in other games like the Final Fantasy franchise (7,8,9,10,12), the Persona franchise, the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, Majora's Mask, Silent Hill, Genshin Impact, Hunger and Fear, ect. The tree, the lands between, and the land of shadows, represent the self, the conscious and the unconscious. The Erdtree is a persona. As above, so below. The self is undergoing ego-death, struggling to deal with a traumatic event. This traumatic event is the loss of a loved one. Going by all the clues, it's the loss of a child, and she's refusing to confront her emotions. The great tree's stump, where Marika shatters the Elden Ring, represents the moment when everything has become too much for her. Her mask/persona is starting to slip, everybody is aware of what's going on, and she doesn't know how to deal with it. You have the primordial archetypes, like the ego, the shadow, the self, the persona, the animus... and the demi-gods represent the archetypes; like the rebel, the hero, the false hero, the mother, the wise old man, the outcast, the tyrant, the wounded warrior, divine child... It's the inner world, with the ignorant fake god/demiurge/creature... Red invaders represent intrusive thoughts, blue represent suppressed memories, feeling and emotions. Tarnished seem to represent determination, and the maidens seem to represent willpower. Albinaurics, Nox and mimics represent the concept of trying to find a way to fill the hole, due to the loss of a loved one. By not wanting to deal with death, the cycle of life/mind, death/body and rebirth/soul is broken. Why is the frenzied flame a bad ending? We burn down the tree, it's something Marika has to do herself... Only you yourself can overcome your inner demons, that's why we see an angry Melina at the frenzied flame ending. Ranni's ending is nihilism. Radagon represents the muscular traits of a woman, but also represents the fallen angels... which, are dragons. And, just like the caduceus, the wings and gold represent everything in the conscious and snake aspects represent everything in the unconscious. So, what's happening? Why are things starting to move into other realms? Conscious things are things you are aware of, unconscious things are things you're unaware of... but you can become aware of things you were unaware of. A long of things dwell in the unconscious until you address them. Things you are aware of, and don't like... you suppress. What if moments, are intrusive thoughts. You actually confront a lot of your issues in your sleep... or knocked the fuck out. Twin Peaks, the dancing man...
40:25 Not to subtract from your great work, but the bottom layer is repurposed from Lothric in DS3, it represents "the cross" which is a Fromsoft signature (ex is the Latin word for From). In Dark Souls, it also symbolises Maya (falsehood/presence/fire), in contradistinction to the "ring" symbolising Atma (truth/absence/dark). 41:50 is also from DS3; The Cathedral of the Deep and The Ringed City. It think it somewhat resembles a butterfly, symbolising impermanence (c.f. Malenia).
Demon souls and the old one represent something of a start for elden ring. With many of the ideas revolving around the Fog and the old one in Demon souls. The fog persists in every souls borne and the old ones or great one seem to come from the lineages born of such a formless power. The old One is a Great Tree with a bottomless vortex like black hole in it. resembling the same imagery of metry and the greater will represting the black hole on her crux. The arch trees across each game are like the old ones power separated upon defeat each arch tree holding a portion of reality itself after the fog and the old one before devoured most of the lands. Hungry like a child "From where does that howl come? That is no demon. It sounds more like a poor hungry child." This imagery is spot on with metyr and the greater will. Only the old one seems to be The first creation without order. As it devoured the lands. Leading fog and arch trees. The one Great may Just The Old one from demon souls who upon devouring reality itself was separated after defeat leaving the world corrupted abandoned & shrouded in fog. Its essense holding the very worlds of these lands cursed like atlas to hold the world. These trees even appear in the dream in Bloodborne. Holding each Dreamscaped reality upon its petrified arch trees because it devored and shrouded the very fabric of reality separating lands and worlds. Which is also a weird connection to marika using fogs one of those trees connected to the Archs foundations to seperate and shroud the lands of shadow from reality. Its very mind boggling
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how Elphael comes from the same time period as Farum Azula? Elphael is known as the "Brace of the Haligtree." The Haligtree came after Farum Azula, and Elphael looks like it was built around the tree not the other way around?
90% of this felt like that detective board meme lol. TBH I don't entirely understand what your main conclusion even is. Are you saying Farum + Elphael were the original civilization? Also if the Mountaintops only become winter-y after the nuclear fallout of the Yelough Astel meteor, why would the mountaintops already be ruled by ice dragons? That's one of the few definitive Fire Giant timeline things we have, that they took over the Mountaintops by kicking the ice dragons out. Did you actually shove your camera into every single wall and pot and compare all their carvings? Or did you get a dump of the game's textures? Really nice catch on the 2 types of fruit, and on the flasks have different insides. Also never knew pinecones had deep lore.
It was looool 1) Yes, like the kings and queens- and the pope [or respective religious leader] (basically) 2) I left this out as its in the next video sorry :') *zips lips* 3) I really shoved the camera into every single wall and pot to compare them (And I left a LOT out for the next video) IKR, on both counts. finding them both stopped me in my tracks- the pinecone stuff too. I audible went "Huh?"
