#Shadow of the Erdtree spoilers

[iambrengo]

I love the explanation of Miquella's demise here. The point of people's frustration with the (lack of) story is tied to them rushing the game is very interesting to me, someone who's played every game from Dark souls 1 onwards.

It is interesting to me because all of Fromsoftware's games are told vaguely through world geography, item descriptions, character dialogue, and subtle in-game events. You hardly get a moment where the story is explicitly told to you. The people who know the premise of the story are the people who spent a lot of time reading and examining all of the aforementioned clues in-game.

The most interesting thing about that is the existence of this type of storytelling in a game like Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Demon's Souls, and even Sekiro. You learn the story by patiently examining the world around you, but this is also a game where moments of respite are few and far between. New players are more likely to use these brief moments of rest to get stronger and organize their gear instead of catching up on the latest season of "Item descriptions."

It can be frustrating to see people gloss over the lore and completely get it incorrect. Basically, because of how the game encourages you to make every second of peace count, I can't truly blame them for thinking that. I love Elden Ring's lore, DLC included, and I'm happy to have taken my own time to learn it through lore-scholars on YT. But I will be honest when I say I was utterly clueless on my first few runs through the game.

Alright I'm done yapping, I'm going to slep

I dunno very long spoiler-filled rant ahead! I love Miquella!

I genuinely think Miquella’s story is one of the best told ones in Elden Ring. Completely seriously. It’s no secret that I think most people who hate SOTE for his characterization are willfully ignoring or misinterpreting his tale in the most unflattering light they can muster. But every time I think on my own experience, it’s just so satisfyingly heartbreaking.

Of course if you the player make a beeline for the end goal, you’ll miss context. I don’t think that’s a failure of Fromsoft storytelling at all but of the impatience of said player. It’s an open world meant to be explored. If you don’t explore you’ll miss out!

Plus, nothing about Miquella’s story is meant to be a surprise twist. ‘Miquella is an evil manipulative monster’ is not the end-all of his character lmao.

It begins with you meeting his followers. The game corrals you towards most of them- 5/7 can be found in very close together at the beginning. We learn they are people with very different goals compelled to work together for their shared love of Miquella. Neat!

Ansbach directs us to seek out more crosses. We are asked explicitly to look around. We can find miquellas discarded eye. Where he abandoned his doubt and vascilation with purple versions of Empyrean blood flowers. Ansbach grows weary. Miquella is severing his grace. He has shorn away Trina. We are seeing the cracks in Miquella’s plan. Explore a bit more, and you find a cave sealed by Miquella. hmm.

We pass through Castle Ensis and find another cross: “I abandon here my heart”. Personally, this rocked me pretty hard my first playthrough. While it’s terrible enough to imagine someone tearing away their own flesh, the heart is an organ someone cannot live without. Now more than ever, we are assured he is destroying himself.

Then you approach the Shadow Keep, and the Great Rune breaks. This is another deep blow: the Great Runes are pieces of the Elden Ring manifest. They have been the macGuffin of our quest. And Miquella destroyed his. Things are getting out of hand.

Return to your new friends, and the facade is truly unraveling. Ansbach reveals he tried to murder Miquella, and was charmed into complacency to forget his loyalties to Mohg. Leda reveals herself to be a paranoid serial killer (the point driven home if you found the Oathseeker armor earlier in the game). Hornsent has committed to his quest for bloody revenge. Thiollier’s love was always for Trina. Moore is deeply sad- having been abandoned by his ‘mother’ (Malenia). We come to understand that Miquella’s peace comes at a cost, but we are not yet quite challenged to question it. Miquellas followers are violent or miserable. Perhaps it was best for them to be charmed.

Now, we can find Trina if we follow Thiollier. Miquella hid her away. She was his love. The horror mounts. Trina tells us in secret dialgoue to kill Miquella to spare him Godhood. He is nearly too far gone.

Now, we can either enter the Keep or explore further. We can meet a Carian sorcerer who understands the connections between the Greater Will and the Stars. He speaks of Miquella feeling duty-bound to right Marika’s wrongs. Ymir sympathizes, but hints the endeavor was doomed from the start.

In the Shadow Keep, we can learn the full extent of Miquella’s plan. He orchestrated (at least in part) Mohg’s demise. Then he desecrated his body to ensure his ascension- a mirror to what we encountered in the base game of Mohg using Miquellas body to raise his own god. We are now challenged formally to consider Miquella’s goals: Can Miquella’s Age of Compassion be just if it is also built on control and iniquity? How much of Mohg’s madness was Miquella’s fault, and was it okay? We are also, in hindsight, point blank told Miquella is using Mohg to revive Radahn. Radahn is not a twist either if you’re paying attention.

The story concludes at Enir Illum. We face down Miquella’s desperate and angry faithful. We confront their pain and want for a kinder world. We ally with people who represent those that suffered for that peace to be achieved (Mohg and Trina). We see Miquella discarded his fears, and know to the end he was terrified of Godhood. This was never about power for him. He wanted to do what was right. He sacrificed himself, too.

Yes, a lot of this can be missed. But it’s our job as guests in this story to give it its due. It’s our own fault if we rush through everything and miss the side quests and character beats. No one piece of lore is the vital ‘twist’ of the tale. All of it builds a narrative of tragic sacrifice and good intentions gone awry. It’s beautiful. Reducing it to ‘Miquella was the bad guy all along’ betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of what is being portrayed imo.

[cheseely]

Mother Marika

[stayatsam]

You are a wretched, wretched soul. A nightmare come to plague me.

[captain-price-unofficially]

[yumykon]

Queen Marika, the Eternal ⌛🔥

[eurodynamic]

CERULEAN COAST Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (2024) dev. FromSoftware

[theribbajack]

"Now, the vow will be honoured, and my Lord brother's soul will return."

Radahn stans keep winning, but I personally am in Miyazaki's walls rn

[thewisecheerio]

Based on the INT requirements for the sorceries they can cast, Rennala and Rellana are canonically two of the most intelligent characters in Elden Ring. And the fact that they both fell for unhinged, genocidal redheads is proof that intelligence is not the same as wisdom.

[eggslamwich]

shitposting is how i cope

[blasphemousclaw]

they simply hate to see a girlboss winning

(DLC edition of this post)

[amygdalae]

I love you

[pigeon-butch]

they pet the slimes 🥺

[skrankku]

Poor guy

[stayatsam]

Weak as a kitten and thick as two planks

[angelhht]

Their designs are 🔥🔥🔥

[potatogirlll]

in light of recent events