Understanding Queen Marika | Elden Ring Lore 

Hope you all enjoyed this video! As usual your feedback in the comments is very much appreciated, so let me know what you think. Next video will explore the events surounding the destruction of the eternal cities and their ties to the numen.

Here's my final interpretation of Elden Ring's backstory: I have absolutely no idea what happened.

I never thought of Marika "The Eternal" as a name for a place of Origin but it's literally so simple that it becomes overlooked. Brilliant.

Holy hell. I've always been of the opinion that Marika did indeed have a hand in the Night of the Black Knives, but recontextualizing the "My Comrades" dialogue towards Radagon shook the entire foundation of why I thought so. Damn dude. Mind literally chaos blown and on fire right now. Once I thought Marika had a crisis of faith. Now I am more than willing to buy that she waged war on fate, and that she was never loyal to the Greater Will. I am so looking forward to your other videos because damn. This one...this one is going to need some time to fully sink in.

Damn, the connection between "Marika's unwanted children" and her involvement in the Night of Black Knives is SUCH a good point!

When you mentioned the part about Marika not really being too attached to her "unwanted" children, I began recalling a thought I had recently. About how the Lands Between really seems to have a massive lack of any sorts of empathy. Out of all the characters, events, names, and things in Elden Ring very few seem to really believe or practice any form of kindness. Despite whatever Marikas meddling, demigods rampaging, monsters hunting, and ring breaking did in damage, I get the impression that the Lands Between could still have avoided falling into utter silent dead decay had the remaining peoples been able to work together and talk over falling into even more factionalism and killing. In essence, by choosing poorly, they sealed the deal. Not really too surprising that the whole place fell apart and is a mere husk. Even re-assembling the Elden Ring seems kinda pointless, as it's just a continuation of the cycle of violence, with hardly anyone left to form anything new with.

the only thing missing is the most important of all "why" marika having eternal as a surname, instead of a tittle, envisioning the age of the stars, and building the blocks to allow it to happens are very plausible, but lack pragmatism marika order assimilated multiple different factions into its fold; the misbigotten, the cruscible, carians, perfurmers, trolls and dragons marika expanded her society multiple times, she acted the same way the romans did the prophecy of the cardinal sin existed before the war against the fire giants, it was an attempt to prevent it from happening marika plucked destined death from the elden ring and sealed it within maliketh, creating the golden order everything she does is always towards protecting the golden order, and she was both ruthless and pragmatic about it she is also very pragmatic when sending godfrey and the tarnished away, it had to be something she planned to protect her order but shattering the ring spelled her death, she has a shard of the rune of death lodged on her body, she is falling apart, we mend the elden ring inside her corpse why? why did she sacrifice herself like that? was the aim to fight the Will? why? the will wanted to replace her with ranni, but she seems to be in league with the moon witch, and if she is colluding with the eternals of nokron, she should be able to use the blade forged to kill the fingers, she should be able to use the elden ring to fight against the greater will if that was the goal the greater will is clearly an antagonist for marika, but if she dies in the process to fight it, what was the actual goal?

It's why I love the goldmask ending since it completely screws over Marika and her scheming because no matter what outcome you choose Deathroot is still going to consume the world. Even if Ranni's ending sounds nice on paper you are just basicallly leaving the world in total anarchy with Deathroot and those who live in death still haunting the world.

I’m guessing Radagon fully trusted The Greater Will, whereas Marika began to lose faith. The Greater Will combined Radagon and Marika in order for Radagon to take over her body and maintain the Elden Ring.

So Marika is Numen, and she might have founded the eternal cities inhabited by the Nox people, then for some reason the Greater Will sent Astel to sink all the eternal cities. The Nox wanted the Age of Stars, so the Greater Will literally took their sky away. This is extremely cruel and genocidal on the Greater Will's part. If Marika was indeed the founder, or at least an important leading member of the eternal cities, she would want revenge by any means necessary. I speculate that her sinister plan all along is to destroy everything the Greater Will hold dear to, no matter lands, order or people, in retaliation to the decimation of her own people.

All the pieces just fell into place with this vid. The history and relationship between the Numen and Golden Order, Marika's name "The Eternal!" It makes so much sense. Marika was acting as saboteur on behalf of the Numen and Eternal City!

One of the most impact full ER lore videos I've seen. It even got me to create a timeline on miro.

U make a good point that i think pretty much everyone glosses over, sure maybe the death of Godwyn and/or kidnapping of Miquella may have changed or expedited the plan she always intended on the tarnished returning

I always felt creeped out by the Numen and their Nox Civilization, it is even more horrible when you consider that both the creation of albinauric slaves, and puppet technology Seluvis and Carians use (one for sick pleasure, and the other to enslave the cuckoo knights) is directly created by rediscovering nox technology (the silver tear race created to be used as slaves, and the nox puppets showing the technology originated by them) it doesn’t help that Ranni’s cathedral is full of starlight shards, which is what’s used to enslave people! The more you look at it, the more their imposing presence is revealed, starting by Marika herself, and her children by bloodline being Numen, it’s not the perfect solution, but at least Goldmask’s ending prevents her from further tampering the Elden Ring, and someone like Ranni is even less trustworthy than Marika with her talk about freedom, then dabbling in this stuff. Good catch with Celestial Dew, the effect seems to also affect DemiGods and Empyrean as seen with Ranni, I would not be surprised if it’s an offshoot of starlight shards.

The Muslim GOLDen age comparison was honestly impressive. The analysis of one of Marika's echoes and your interpretation of it as being Radagon's instead is also very impressive. I enjoyed this video from start to finish, excellent work my guy.

ya im going to wake up early for this... the elden lore is ramping back up, DLC around the corner (hopefully)...things are looking up!!

Really good video, thank you! EldenTales has come out with a video that his theory is Radagon is a Champion misbegotten that was reborn essentially like a golden mimic tear using the amber egg. I’ll definitely watch rewatch your Radagon mimic video and see what differs/similarities.

I've waited for this video months bro, needless to say the long wait was well worth it; you outdid yourself with this one Love all the tie-ings you made and the simple, no bs editing and production You, Crunchyy, Last Protagonist and Honored Madman are carrying actual lore videos, keep at it man

I thougth Radagon made his first appearence as a laborer who became a champion only to fall at the hands of Godfrey at the fort in Whepping Peninsula

can't wait for the video that ties it all together

Video flowed by quickly, I barely noticed a hour pass.

This is the first video I’ve watched that FULLY blew my mind.

12:41 now that’s a take I haven’t heard before. The age of abundance was a direct consequence of the wars preceding it. Life energy/souls/runes glutted the tree and, at the cost of the many, a few had abundance for a time. But it was ultimately unsustainable. Is there a metaphor in that? *cough imperialism cough* nah probably not

I'm glad I found your channel, you deserve more recognition. Great videos!!

Great job Kos ! I found a somewhat probable inspiration for Marika which connect to her personality, Star/numerology and the "Hebrew" inspired Moses holding a stone tablet from the ancient dynasty who may have been a Numen. According to namesfolder : "Marika is Hebrew Girl name and meaning of this name is "Rebellious Woman, Bitter, Star". Based on numerology value 8, Marika is Practical, status loving, power-seeking, materialistic, fair, self-sufficient, loves controlling other, short tempered, stressful, cunning,Ambitious, Realistic, Powerful, Authoritative, Courageous and Leading. I'm eagerly looking forward to your next videos 😊

I have seen a lot of ER lore videos and yours is the one i found myself agreeing with the most. Great job. I would have liked to hear you talk about some other things as well tho. Like how in the dialogue with the finger-reader in deeproot depths, she mentions that Godwyn was supposed to die a "true" death and serve as a martyr. That leaves us to believe that while Marika did orchestrate the night of the black knives, it didnt go exactly as she had planned. Ranni possibly went with the plan at first, but then acted on her own to discard her old body without losing her soul, thus "giving" Godwyn's in her place. Also, Gideon's dialogue before and after his boss fight seems really important. To me, Gideon is not really the All-knowing as he is portrayed, cause while he apparently glimpsed at Marika's true will, he didnt really understand it. He says marika wants the tarnished to struggle, but you wouldnt actively equip someone with all the tools to succeed (Melina for kindling and Hewg for god-slaying weapon), if you wanted them to only struggle.

I think this might be my favorite theory out there. I’ve always had trouble reconciling a lot of the events being appropriately timed or not making sense to her personality. But this hits all the major parts I feel. Well done. 🥹

wow, this is really compelling. Fantastic job!

Very good theory. Though I'm not quite sure why the endings other than Ranni's play into Marika's hands? Seems like the Greater Will remains in control in all endings except for Frenzied Flame (which Marika surely didn't intend) and Age of Stars (which seems like the end goal of Numen and Nox legacy).

So picking Marika is the greater will's mistake as the three fingers put it...

as a non native english speaker i find it a bit difficult to follow all those concepts and explanation but i'm watching it 0.25 speed pausing the video every 20 seconds to elaborate and MAN that's an amazing video. There are a 90% of things I thought by myself and i haven't found any channel explaining in my same way, and here you did. and a 10% that are things i didn't think/know, and some of them i don't agree with, but still an amazing video!

This is hype. Love your other lore videos, youre the only one really on the Radagon is a mimic trip and the closest to what i think is right on the GEQ stuff.

I really liked this video, I was originally able to piece together the world shattering sheme of the Goddess, but it always fell short when it came to the why, then I stopped playing and hadnt come back to it until this month; as I keep on rediscovering the lands between, I'll keep in mind your words of wisdom

ALAS YOU HAVE RETURNED!!! to grace us with more theories... yay XD

This might be your best video

I really like your theory it makes so much sense to me

you tell the story very well. thank you

I HEAR THAT DIVINITY OS2 SOUNDTRACK ❤❤

Clicked this video SO fast. Welcome back brother!

Let’s gooooo goooood content has been uploaded

She said she wanted to increase grace,find out how to do the right thing basically as she started seeing what she had done was her own mess,and she needs us to go to the shadow lands after brandishing the ring to stop messmer who has gone insane.Pulling death from the ring caused the lands of shadow or something to do with it.

I do think you're overlooking some sources to create your own narrative but you make some interesting points as well: Night of the Black Knives. The text that was released before the launch of the game (linked to Ranni but no proof, could also be Ofnir). Explains how Marika because of the assassination made her destroy the ring. Gloam eyed Queen was an empyrean (remember, they're chosen by the Greater Will) that threatened the demigods with destined death. The comet that hit her "hometown" in the nox area. Why would the Nox be fighting for a new god if their kin was ruling the order? And why would her kin be banished if she was their god? I personally believe that Marika fought the crucible, to raise the erdtree, fought the giants to make the erdtree invincible and then got "betrayed" by the Greater Will multiple times. I think this has been a power struggle for millenniums between Marika the God and the Greater Will. Marika was loyal but realised the Erdtree wasn't an ally but all her powers stemmed from the Erdtree so she couldn't bring an end to it, therefore either Lords or Tarnished, whoever was strong enough would make a new order. This is what the Golden Mask realised; the gods are imperfect and brings chaos to the greater will. Ranni also disagreed with this premise: there shouldn't be any greater influence over life, that we should all be stars fleeting in the galaxy. And Marika didn't care, she knew that we needed a new age and whoever was strong enough to best all of them was the only one worthy of bringing in the new age.

You mentioned how Marika has no problem sacrificing her children for her goals.. I have been watching a number of lore videos lately and have noticed that Marika gets around. She may have been popping out babies for the sole purpose of sacrificing the divines. Even changing herself into Radagon to conceive with Renala.. If this was all intentionally to serve an elaborate purpose, perhaps she needed a more chimeric bloodline to ascend and oppose the Greater Will? Cross referencing this video with the one that had a translated Japanese theory of our tarnished being a demigod

You returned! May I ask what are you most looking forward in the DLC Kosmos or some say Kosm?

Few thoughts 1) I do agree that Marika had a master plan because of what Gideon armor set description tell us, Marika achieved "end of knowledge, something that should not be", which scared Gideon and he was sure we are set to fail (Maybe I am looking too much into it, but maybe Marika's original plan was to fell Greater Will somehow and she failed in that ambition? She as a "man" could not slay a "God" and thus whatever ending we choose, Greater Will is still out there, even in frenzied flame ending, because that Melina scene clearly implies that situation is truly dire but still salvagable) 2) I think all trios of kids have the same role for them in this story - the Golden lineage are to preserve golden order (Godwyn being initial succesor, Morgot being defender of Leyndell, Mohg by thwarting Miquella's plan), Radagon kids are to oppose it (Rykard's heresy, Radahn's war on stars, Ranni's plot) and finally Marika lineage, and I think its right as tarnished arheologist said, their role to be actuall successors of the order beyond original root system (Melina will burn the old tree, Malenia will defend Miquella and Miquella will bring new age) but all of them were born cursed and crippled and probably that the reason why it was never actually happened in time Marika had planned it 3) Black knives do not share same goal with Ranni, their leader is imprison near her place, they try to assassinate her and all of her followers, her age of stars is removal of the order while Nox wanted only rule of stars (also I think their symbolic moon descriptions is different), she co-conspired with them but ultimately used them and they were not pleased as if they didnt actually achieved anything meaningful. While Marika could still be at the top of this conspiracy its not so crystal clear and becomes contrived. 4) There are also few loose threads like third eternal city beyond Leyndell main gate, which was obviously dropped down much later than previous two and not by Greater Will ire, timeline of old dynasty, great tree and nox empire, GEQ and her connection to Melina or Marika and etc. In overall my feelings of current elden ring lore landscape that we have most of its symbolism, real life world history and religion analogies and actuall events mapped out in this puzzle but we are missing very few small points to finally for everything to "click" and fall into its place. Sorry for bad grammar.

This is interesting and makes sense. I've always thought that Marika shattered the ER because of what happened to Godwyn. Great video!

An example of how her plans were fated and prophesied which NO ONE has spoken about: all of the statues of Marika are in the pose she ended up in: crucified on the remains of the Elden ring. Why would they have made all the statues in this pose? Long before it happened? With no one really knowing this happened to her?

Very much looking forward to the argument as to how/why the endings fit into Marika's desires. The default ending certainly doesn't feel like Marika is free or the Greater Will defeated/punished.

Thanks for the HDR!

I like your connection between the Erdtree bounty and “bounty” of blood from Godfrey’s campaign and colosseums. I’m curious if we can see any signs of pot collectors for dead opponents or spots for blood collection in the arenas themselves during the pvp battles.

Amazing theory! One that i probably will subscirbe to ngl

I think there is more proof than not that Marika is an avatar of the Erdtree, and despite Radagon being Marika, Marika is not Radagon. She lured him into the Erdtree, appeared before him, looked him in the eyes, and said "lets us be shattered, my other self." In doing so, she sacrificed herself to imprison him until some lowly Tarnished of no repute could finish him off. She became the formless mother. She sent Godfrey away because she did not want them to become part of the Erdtree, and the signal to come back was the shattering of the Elden Ring throwing remnants of grace everywhere.

I kinda feel like marika never called radagon to be her consort, but that he kinda forced himself into royalty by having the upper hand on her in some way and threatening marika. And i also believe that radagon and marika weren’t always one person, but rather they merged together (probably after the shattering), maybe the greater will even merged them, so radagon‘s order can keep marika‘s rebelliousness in check. (In this case it also could‘ve been the greater will, not marika, who called radagon to the erdtree)

Thanks!

Why did the golden order choose an enemy to be elden lord? I didnt understand the connection you made between the celestial dew rite and then choosing Marika, someone who probably harbors animosity.

6:45 This line tells me Marika might've been specifically trying to utilized death rite birds powers, as in the source of the Red and Blue-Feathered Branchswords. As in she's confident that this power is necessary slay an eternal god. The fact that this may have been included in her plans all along, is just interesting to me considering she's the one who sealed away destined death in the first place.

i wonder how plasticbolsax and the chaos flame fits into all dis

PART 2 PLZ ❤

I love you for using Shadow of the Colossus OST

This is a reply I made to someone who had commented on the video and figured I'd throw it in as a regular comment (Not trying to discredit or dismiss Kosmos or there awesome emancipation theory, and maybe this could help add to it): I think Hawkshaw has the theory that Melina is a sort of offshoot of Ranni, in the same way that Millicent is an offshoot of Melania. And the idea that they are a part of Ranni's/Melania's whole being or personality removed from there whole, and seemingly their own person. And maybe Radagon is similar, only for one reason or another, they still occupy the same body. Perhaps it's Marikas doing and she intentionally took Melania from Ranni (Melania being the essence that possibly schemed with Marika, or the embodiment of the memories of such) or perhaps the doing of the greater will (Radagon is seemingly trying to repair the Elden Ring and perhaps is the part of Marika that wishes to remain loyal). And Saint Trina may similarly be an offshoot of Miquella. I might be wrong, but it seems to be a phenomenon only present in Empyreans. Also, Ranni burnt her body and Melina has burns and doesn't understand why. Which supports the idea of her being a part of Ranni. It might also be that Ranni is unknowingly being manipulated by Marika. Sorry for the book length reply, lol.

Very convincing theory. It was very frustrating, during my first playthrough, to not know the reason for the cause of basically the entire game's story. I had hoped that they were saving the reveal for the very end of the game, but I clearly underestimated Fromsoft's commitment to keeping the story ambiguous, down to even the most crucial plot points. I can't say though that I don't respect Miyazaki's resolve in recreating his childhood experiences like this, even if I personally didn't enjoy it.

As for what I said "Tarnished the dead you yet lived" what if the grace we tarnished had was NONE Maria's grace but from one that somehow related to death, yet is long before gone?

Interesting theory, lends more depth to Marikas motive 👍

I thoroughly believe that Marika wants to be free from the control of the Greater Will. Although not by her directly, we hear from Ranni, how fearsome and controlling the Great God can be - since she stripped off her own body to rid herself of his envoys, the Two Fingers, to 'not be controlled by that thing'. I really missed the Scarseal/Soreseal Talismans from Radagon and Marika in this video - they are maybe the most direct (though still very indirect) clues on what Marika/Radagons relationship with the Greater Will was - and thus a sprouting point of her motivation to rebel against it or emancipate herself. The Scarseals, engraved into eyes, 'represent the lifelong duty of those chosen by the gods' and the Soreseals, to which they likely evolve, color this solemn duty as 'weighing upon the one beholden; not unlike a gnawing curse from which there is no deliverance'. Ranni might have surmised as much as Marika experienced by first hand, when she was chosen as an Empyrean. However a holy duty of a chosen one to a god might be - if there is no deliverance from it, it is just like a curse. If that is a short glimpe into Marikas perspective on her own duty as a god of the Greater Will, bound by the Elden Beast, it would become quite understandable why she would go to such lengths as sending her first husband on a crusade, enslaving master craftsmen and former enemies as guards, leashing her Shadowbound Beast onto a deformity of the Elden Ring, shattering said Elden Ring and maybe even turning her children against each other and birthing a Kindling Maiden from the remains of an old god she once had defeated. What I just can't fit into that theory are the words of Gideon Ofnir, when we encounter him as an adversary in the Erdtree Sanctuary. He seems to believe that Marikas Plan does not have Telos but strives towards a form of Regression or new state of Perpetuity: a 'continued struggle, unto eternity'. Are those the words of a fool, some scholar who found some clues and grossly misunderstood them? Or is there even more to Marikas Plan he hints at?

30:20 Can you clarify on the perfumer/chemist connection to the eternal cities

I can't believe it's already been 69 weeks!

I call this one the Marika’s S-cide Theory, which expands even more to the idea that she herself, was the GEQ.. A holder of death before she was convinced to become eternal. It wouldn’t be the first time a mother would abandon her children with it?

man, that shadow of the erdtree trailer at the game awards was fire ;)

Your thoughts on this topic are definitely interesting, and I've been suspecting for a while that Marika [or Radagon] had the vision of the tree burning- though, my ideas about the story come out differently from what you're eluding to here. Either way, the forbidden vision definitely seems like it ties in somewhere.

HDR is not working on this video. Just a sidenote. Quality is still amazing though!

I've always assumed that line by Marika about making something of yourself or become sacrifices was talking about us killing them, and on that note I find it notable that Ranni and Miquella are unkillable by us. Renalla isn't a demigod so we shouldn't count her for being unkillable

The Lands between are such a beautiful Dystopia . Eldenring is a work of art .

The Code is Cracked! Travel to Maliketh, The Black Blade Site of Grace after you defeat him and aquire The Rune of Death. The Elden Ring with the statues and the floor decor is the Decoder for Weapons, Poses, Attire, Everything! Try wearing Gideon Offnirs attire, walk up to the candles, turn your back to the Elden Ring and start lining everything up! It has worked with everything I've tried so far. Also Marika is more than likely the witch that Sellen's Mask is based off of. The statue looks like a younger witch, the mask is a more mature witch. Happy Holidays and Happy Lore Hunting!

I think the question we need too ask is “what or who does Marika love” before lore deep dives and still some general consensus, it’s thought she shattered it out of grief that Godwyn was killed, but he was the greatest champion the golden order had so he had too be the first to go(Marika being the biggest figure in the plot that took him) so she held no maternal love for Godwyn neither do I believe for any of her kids(as shown by the echo) and oddly enough I feel she either respects, admires or at least has some affection for Ranni as she actively works against everything Marika should stand for yet is Ranni’s(except for Renala) biggest supporter from the shadows. Just some thoughts

What if Radagon was made in the same way that the player character was supposed to take the mimic tear inside them/make a copy in the cut content…

This video was mind-blowing and made me think - what if the commonly thought timeline of the sinking of the Eternal Cities is also wrong? What if the Eternal Cities were above ground until after Goldwyn was murdered and the Shattering War broke out? We know that this is at least true for the Unnamed Eternal City that occupied the area near the main entrance to Leyndell (which is now a giant chasm in-game), as we see this entrance being assailed in the trailer cinematic’s depiction of the First Defense of Leyndell. Your video has made me think that in fact the sinking of the Eternal Cities took place much later in the timeline, after the Shattering and perhaps around the time that Marika herself was imprisoned.

The end of the video with Marisa loyalty to a people “crushed” by the Golden Order is kinda ironic considering what happened to the The Great Caravan.😢

I approve of this theory. Two thumbs up from this guy

If Marika really did originate from the Eternal Cities and always planned to hijake and destroy the Greater Will's order, than his real mistake was not killing all the Numen instead of imprisoning them underground. Come to think of it, it's a surprisingly tame and merciful punishment for dealing with troublemakers that threaten his order, since he really just gave the Numen a different realm to inhabite and rule over. Marika sure loved to resort to violence for solving her problems though, and her hatred of the Greater Will is probably the reason why the Omen and Misbegotten were mistreated. She's definitely evil for the mistreatment part to be real.

the only hole that I can poke through this theory is that we don't really know WHEN the Nox were banished into living underground. if it's after or during the time of the crucible, then it must have been by Marika herself. which doesn't make much sense, I do believe that Marika isn't really motivated by faith or agenda but by power. the golden order's founding took out destined death from the Elden ring, the Elden ring that theoretically should be the desire of the greater will, making Marika defying the greater will the very founding point of the order. getting rid of death and the shadow that will punish her for it in one fell swoop. but I don't think that would implicate her getting rid of Godwyn, only Ranni has something to gain from killing him, as an empyrean (the only eligible one since Mikella is permanently prepubescent and Malenia is the vessel for another outer God that shown it's capability to infect the great runes of the elden ring) she would become the new vessel for the elden beast needing a consort, and that role's perfect candidate was Godwyn, adding to that Ranni and Godwyn being the only characters ever reffered to as prince or princess and that Godwyn is called the "Golden Bough" as in the next in line. also if Marika wanted to start some might makes right ritual between her children it wouldn't really make sense to kill THE GUY THAT DEFENDED LEYNDELL FROM GRANSAX, FORTISSAX AND LANSSEAX. so I do think that Godwyn's death wasn't planned by her since she seemed to have all her eggs in that basket, Gideon also peered into the will of Marika and recognized she feels grief. now, wether it's marika, radagon or the elden beast we really don't know since that distinction is not made by any characters other than Goldmask. And I do believe it's intentional having Marika's actions be kind of contradictory when she's constantly wrestling control from Radagon who locked her up in the tree and the elden beast who had her crucified and her belly pierced by spear.

i love when i play elden ring and see the ghost of the fat man armor i always laugh, i like seeing the pumpkin heads too lol

Ranni explicitly says in the trailer that Marika shattered the ring out of grief for Godwyn. So it's not just a fan theory.

Take a comment for the Greater Algorithmic Will for now. This video is gonna be in my bedtime playlist for a while and I'll digest this this 15 minutes at a time. Enjoy the 3-4 full rewatches!

Got some amusing elden ring shorts in my feed. Wanted to look up the lore and catch up real quick. Apparently quick isnt a possibility. *Makes Elder Scrolls lore seem simple

Maybe it's because I was playing this alongside watching Succession but Marika gives off Logan vibes to me. Logan was ok with sacrificing his son Kendall and even mentioned to Romulus that "there is going to be a night of the long knives". Which for anyone who knows what that's about, strength lens the theory of Marika being involved in the assassin's plot. Why the assassins would turn on Ranni and Iji I don't quite understand tho...

That is pretty much the conclusion I also came to. I don't get why some fall for Marika and even call her the "hero", that just wanted to throw the greater will out of the lands between. But I have still one thing that doesn't fit for me in this chain of events. And that is the role of Ranni. She drives forward the ending that Marika wants to achieve, but is in everything else completely opposing Marika in her core. Especially with what Marika did to Rannis mother, which Ranni clearly holds very dear as we see with her illusion protecting Rennela. And there are the attacks of the black knifes assassins on Rannis allies, pretty much in an attempt to get to her. From the armor description from Blaidds helmet we even know, that there were other attemps of assassins to kill Ranni before. As no one knows that Ranni was behind the night of the black knifes except for the assassins and Marika herself, it is pretty save to say, that these also where black knife assassins. So why would Ranni still work for Marikas plan even she gets betrayed constantly from Marika? Is Ranni maybe more of a puppet than we thought all the time? Like Servius and Pidia? Maybe that is why the eyes of Ranni and Melina are so similar? I am not sure at this point and I hope the DLC gives us her more clarity.

w8, but what was her ultimate goal? great video btw!

Any thoughts on the Lux ruins connections to the Nox and Marika?

This means that going full chaos and showing middle finger to Melina is the most based thing you can do.

It’s worth pointing out who is decrepit and who isn’t to better understand the conspiracy. Decrepit like the wandering nobles, commoners, zombies, crucified bodies, soldiers, and their dogs, cursed with eternal life without rejuvenation. The Nox in nokron and nokstella, as far as I can tell, are not decrepit. Their cities seem to lie below the deepest roots. The scholars of raya lucaria are likely not decrepit, given the physical appearance of Thops, a RL scholar without without a stone crown. Elevated from the ground by a rocky cliff, the academy is also clearly protected by a magical barrier from the outside world. It is never daytime inside the academy’s magical barrier. The natural world is not decrepit. Wildlife continues on and is only corrupted when it comes into contact with magic of a kind, like the runebear and rot crows.

Wow! What a video!

In a way, Marika's fate, is what would happen to Ranni if she hadn't discarded her flesh. Both Ranni and Melina seem to be able to circunvent the greater will's power after becoming "bodiless"

Shadow of the Colossus music

I was wondering if you had any idea what the deal is with the Jesus imagery marika seems to be drawing from? As a Christian there’s a few things that just stick out to me. Depictions of marika show her with her hands stretched out, and while at first I thought it was just a pose they thought was cool, when you actually get to her boss room, it’s very obvious she’s been crucified and stabbed in her side. This is very similar to the crucifixion imagery of Jesus, who is also crucified and stabbed in his side. It’s also curious then that in hind sight it’s “grace” that guides the tarnished, when all forms of Christianity recognize the grace of God is a very important concept. The churches dedicated to Marika around the map also start to become curious given these little tidbits. I doubt these are all coincidence however I cannot for the life of me figure out HOW the Christian imagery is being used, and how it connects to everything else.

My thought that it is not Marika but her elder sister, the Gloam-Eyed Queen who founded and ruled the Nox civilization and was the god of the previous Age and she did not follow the Greater Will but another Outer God. Marika envied her sister's power but feared her sisters command of Death. The Greater Will saw an opportunity to usurp power through Marika and empowered and instructed her to overthrow her sister the GEQ with the help of her Greater Will provided shadow, Maliketh who eliminated the GEQ's power by sealing the rune of Death away. Once Marika assumed godhood she discovered she was a puppet of an uncaring god of strict order who she grew to hate them. This is the theme of seduction and betrayal around Marika that the Shadow of the Elden Tree trailer refers to. The seduction of Marika by the Greater Will, the betrayal of the GEQ by her sister Marika, the betrayal of Marika by the Greater Will, the betrayal of the Greater Will by Marika shattering the Elden Ring. This would make the Age of Stars the preferred ending by Marika as it ends her suffering and gives the Greater Will the middle finger. That it involves killing her family and the suffering of million is of no importance to her as she is already a kinslayer, tyrant, and monster when she hatched the plan.

Let me share my perspective by saying "Tarnished, three dead who yet lived" So we the players or Tarnished as soldiers of Godfrey (he is the first Tarnished) were dead but then we live, think about it and keep it in mind. Godfrey the 1st Elden Lord. We know that Godfrey was the lord of Crucible knights, why we know so? Because when we fought crucible knights in game all of them mastered Godfrey's stomp attack. We know that Godfrey was bestowed by a LION (keep it mind also) Serosh as his advisor and a tool to keep Godfrey at bay and not letting him to give in to his thrust for battle. When in game we approach Fortified manor (a.k.a first ever roundtable hold) in a section of the capital that is ISOLATED from the others on the table we see weapons from crucible knights and a bronze axe which it's hilt points to the throne room (That axe on the table was and is Godfrey's axe) outside the Fortified manor we see that is encraved with lion emblems, what made me think is that whoever done the encravemt there was trying to depict the lion as a GOLDEN LION. And the only lion we know that is related somehow to Godfrey is none other than SEROSH. Serosh also, when we fight Godfrey where we fought morgot, Serosh wears a CROWN on his head and has a wound on his face. A golden lion with a crown, crown was given only to lords, so we may call Serosh the Lord of Beasts. According to an item description at Ferum Azula, in its description we read that in a time before the afmge of Erdtree, beasts were given intelligence. We also know that beasts serve their dragon lords. So the Lord of the Beasts, the Golden Lion Serosh was bestowed upon Godfrey, and that was the reason that Godfrey era and lineage was given the name Golden era, and Golden Lineage. Now on to Marika, despite the common believe that was Marika that shatters the ring, in the first scene of the game we see a RED HAIR MAN WITH A HAMMER TO SHATTER THE RING, I know I know that Marika and Radagon are the same person BUT they differ, so what if Radagon was the one that Shatter the Elden Ring, heck he was the one to SEAL THE ERDTREE ENTRANCE also. Radagon as Elden Lord tried and accomplished isolate and erase what Godfrey tried to leave behind, fisrts dispatched and disgraced Godfrey's crucible knights making all believe that they resemble chaos DESPITE THE FACT THAT WAS CRUCIBLE KNIGHTS WHO FOUGHT AGAINST DRAGONS AND GIANTS in firstplace while Radagon that time has his fun time with Ranala. Then HE was the one that start spreading the hate, the doubt and arrogance against the TARNISHED. If we see Radagon movements and motives when he vmbecame elden lord took all the measures that not only all his subjects will forget the previous elden lord BUT also that there will be no other Elden lord after him. So I don't buy the story that Radagon was the good guy.

But even with her plans, isn't the Higher Will still wining in the end ?

Interesting take, but I have extreme doubt of the Marika's involvement with the death of Godwyn. And I think you miss the mark by not accounting for two things: 1) The Original Elden Lord (and thus husband to the original God-Queen that Marika replaced as owner/user of the Elden Ring) being usurped *before* the subjugation of the giants and their flame. (And thus the implied destruction of the physical Erdtree during that war.) 2) Marika's blessing of and planning thereof for Miquella's Heiligtree. (The fact that Miquella seems to be relevant to the upcoming DLC will likely delve more into his Erdtree replacement plan.) A tree grown without the divination of the Great Will... Made by man alone... Made to replace the sun aka the (spirit) Erdtree. The Elden Ring was *always* shattered ever since Marika first claimed it from The Gloameyed Queen. She broke Destined Death out of it. The subsequent further shattering and intended reforging (and inheritance) for Miquella was the intended outcome. You can see this from the iconography of both the Heiligtree, the Erdtree's thorn seal, and original Gloameyed Queen's sigil of the Elden Ring in Farum Azula. Each grows out of the one that came before it, and ends with the double helix of the Heiligtree at the top. So while it is clear Marika is trying to rebel against the Greater Will in some form... It seems more to me that she simply is trying to usurp her role of living god in order to maintain control without the fetters of the Greater Will.

Has something to do with shadow tree obviously.

YEEEEEEE