#We never even get to see what weapon Godwyn used to use!

[tlgtw]

Man that DLC's final boss has got me feeling kinda fucked. I'm kinda depressed about it now that I'm done. Everything else is, was, so good. But I do not like that plot development. I honestly think it is bad. Why did they choose not to foreshadow this in literally any way? Why did Miquella attempt to resurrect Godwyn at all in the first place, then? Practice? Was this really what was originally planned? There's no actual evidence to the contrary so you gotta assume it must've been.

So yeowch...

[landoftheway]

Finished Shadow of the Erdtree! Thoughts are below the cut but TL;DR it's a mixed bag leaning positive.

First of all here's how I feel about all the bosses (save for the Enir-Ilim Royal Rumble which ranks as Very Fun)

Special mention goes to Radahn cause phase 1 of that fight is fun enough to go in the top tier, but phase 2 is downright miserable between the headache-inducing flashbangs and PS4 lag.

Broadly I think the whole area is pretty fun to play in. There's a LOT of cool new weapons and spells and the areas are mostly fun to navigate, with special mention going to the Abyssal Woods and the Shadowkeep for keeping things fresh and fun. That said the roaming Furnace Golems fucking suck and were always tedious and shitty to deal with and quite a few sub-areas, dungeons, and bosses never really rose above the level of just Kinda Fun.

Narratively I really like the themes explored but I feel like we could have gotten a bit more characterization in a few places. Some things are obviously left vague on purpose and I think those work for the most part, and the characterization we get for Miquella is quite good in spite of its indirect presentation, but I feel like certain figures like Rellana, Gaius, Romina, and the denizens of Enir-Ilim could have done with a little more direct characterization.

Hot take (I think based on what I've seen of others' opinions) is that I actually like getting to fight Radahn in his prime even if the previously mentioned mechanics are bullshit; there's some specific stuff related to my Tarnished I like that I'll mention in a different post but I think it serves a good narrative role and lets us see what one of the toughest dudes in the land was really like at their best. That said I do kinda wish Godwyn had gotten to be Miquella's consort instead if only so we could have had a single proper fight with him. Also wish the Gloam-Eyed Queen and the Godskin Apostles could have gotten some relevance to the proceedings.

So yeah, definitely got some flaws but overall I had a good time.

[nerendus]

Okay, chances are we will be getting a DLC trailer soon (my bet is on a Thursday....because my dreams told me so), and I am just going to get myself unnecessarily hyped by listing some things I want to see. Please, Fromsoft, don't let me go hollow....

Obvious one first, Miquella boss fight. But specifically I would really like him to be like Gael and Friede where he starts first as an NPC, maybe even do an optional quest for him, before fighting him in hell. I think it would be cool.

New scythe weapons. Base game scythes are...pretty mid in terms of appearance. I want some really pretty scythes.

No new information on the Dusk Eyed Queen. I just really like my personal vision of her, and I really don't want Melina being the queen to be canon. Aesthetically, she just....doesn't make the cut.

New covenants. I know ER doesn't have covenants in the way that Bloodborne and Dark Souls has them, but we only have Volcano Manor and Bloody Fingers as covenants and I just...want something new and significantly sexier.

Black Knife NPC or a Nox NPC. I am obsessed with these people so much, I just want to be able to talk to one of them.

More cute girly dresses. The world can never have too much of them.

Another NPC that we have this weird romantic thing going on with them (think Ranni or Varre....but preferably on the creepier side like Varre.)

Godwyn's normal face. He doesn't have to show up in the flesh as a normal man, it can easily just be a painting of him, I just want to see what his beautiful face looks like.

A new ending isn't necessary, but it would be nice. I'm keeping one of my PCs right before the fight with the Fire Giant because I couldn't defeat him just in the event new things occur in the endgame.

A proper Frenzied Flame boss fight. I'm sorry, Vyke, I need something more exciting.

That's about it in terms of hopes, but one last prediction I have is based on how we enter the DLC. My bets are on that little alcove where you get the amber for Seluvis's questline. The fact that they use a statue that's only otherwise seen at the Haligtree feels a little too intentional to just be an aesthetic piece. To me, at least. Hell, for all I know it's in Random Cave #124 past an illusory wall.

[unnounblr]

I was not saying that Marika and other Demigods had to be related to the Ancient Dragons!

Sorry, that's not what I'm getting at with that point at at all.

The Gloam Eyed Queen's servants are the Godskin Apostles and Godskin Nobles, who also wield her black flame of Destined Death. But the thing that they do is hunt gods, skin them, and make the skin into clothing, which she swaddled them in.

And, like, in-game, if we look at their models, and when we get their armor sets. Yeah, they're wearing human (or, at least, human-like) skin. Sometimes there's just a big hollowed-out face.

What I was getting at is that the skin worn by the Godskins. Looks like human skin. And Marika (and her progeny) is/are the first god/s in the setting to have human skin.

So, like, therefore, the Gloam Eyed Queen and her Godskins. Have to be active after Marika is a god. And the gods they were hunting couldn't have been the dragons, because dragon skin would look different. Dragon gods wouldn't be intimidated by people wearing human skin, because it wouldn't feel like a threat to them.

Godwyn was the FIRST (!) Demigod known be slain by Destined Death, even if it was not finalised and it were the other Demigods buried in Mausoleums who actually died by Destined Death! But everyone buried in Mausoleums died during Night of the Black Knives!

Followed into Death, with capital D! Implying that Demigods died by Destined Death, except not in the half-assed way as Godwyn! Well..... Mausoleum Guardians also wield Deathblight, which became a problem after Night of the Black Knives too. Maliketh never killed a Demigod, because the first Demigod to die was a thing after his rune got stolen!

I mean. Those mausoleum soldier ashes don't specify when their demigod died actually, but you're right, the capitalization does at least imply it was after Godwyn, probably.

But. Perhaps this is a concept too complicated to explain, but I'll try anyway: You're right, Maliketh couldn't have killed a demigod with Destined Death before Godwyn, but. Just because Maliketh "killed" the Gloam Eyed Queen, doesn't mean she "died".

Example: We kill demigods before Destined Death is released and we dont need destined death weapons or techniques to do it. Godrick (and Godefroy) and Radahn and Rykard and Morgott and Mohg and Malenia.

Rykard's plan revolves around being eaten by a snake and then not dying from that. His soul and mind binds itself to the serpent forever. And, even when we kill him, he doesn't seem to actually die, his head is still writhing, and Tanith eats it because she thinks he just needs more mass. "A serpent never dies"

In Shadow of the Erdtree, Miquella's plan revolves around how. We defeated and "killed" Radahn in the Radahn Festival, but Radahn's soul is still around, and just needs a new body. And while we never see Mohg's dead body, or how Miquella gets it, because Mohg just sorta vanishes like most bosses, Mohg's body was apparently still capable of life, if a soul got put in it.

And when we fight Morgott. Morgott actually survives the boss fight, and leaves a tiny body that looks like an old man, and he actually talks to us at first and tells us we can't get in the Erdtree. But even after he stops talking to us his body is still there. Same way Godrick's body stays where it is the whole game.

But then, at the end of the game, when we meet Godfrey, he cradles Morgott in his arms, until Morgott's body fades away and vanishes.

And when we meet Godfrey, it's always after we beat Maliketh and freed Destined Death. And we freed Destined Death because while the flame of ruin (or the frenzied flame) can ignite the Erdtree, it's already burning, Destined Death is necessary to actually kill it.

And, if Melina is the Gloam Eyed Queen, well, she's not "dead", but she is "burnt and bodiless".

Though that phrasing is actually one piece of evidence for Melina not being the Queen. In some of the item descriptions, Messmer's flames are said to burn away the body and the soul, except that's a mistranslation, and in Japanese what it says is that Messmer's flames burn away the body and leave the soul. Which does describe Melina.

Every account seems to indicate Maliketh fought the Gloam Eyed Queen solo, so wouldn't have had messmerflame. But he wouldn't have Destined Death when he fought her either, so he couldn't have used it in the fight.

Okay Lore Queen

What are your thoughts on Melina being the GEQ? Is there real evidence for it or was this another overblown “Miquella is Griffith” theory trend?

Awww, am I Lore Queen? 🥺

Okay, to be honest.. not only I am sure there is no solid evidence in the game itself for this, but also I completely missed the spreading of this theory, apparently fdhhfdfds The first time I ever heard that it exists and is popular was a video from Zullie! I don't remember which, but the line that 'many people suggested she might be Gloam-Eyed Queen herself' surprised me! Until that point I did not even consider the connection, I just thought that she was given Destined Death long ago just in case if things go BAD, or something along those lines?

As for the reasoning, there are a few things:

Maliketh is said to have sealed Destined Death, Gloam-Eyed Queen's power, and the seal on her eye DOES look like a clawmark! Melina only mentions that she will "give Destined Death" in Frenzied Flame ending, when this eye is unsealed, helping the assumption that the power of Destined Death was what got sealed in her until this point!

Her sealed eye is also pretty 'gloam'! More than that: her Japanese name is 宵眼の女王, and 宵 more specifically means nightfall, early night, late evening, twilight or dusk. Fun fact: her eye is similar to literal color 'Dusk'!

( x ) Not only pre-patched version mentioned her as Dusk-Eyed Queen first, but it also makes sense to name Fia's ending as 'Age of Duskborn'! Granted, I am not sure people thought under this angle, but even then, gloam means dark and Melina's eye still qualified :p

There is also that besides Marika, only her children got to be chosen as Empyreans: Ranni, Malenia and Miquella! So whereas some people believed GEQ was chosen by the Two Fingers as Greater Will grew dissatisfied with Marika (oh those pre-SOTE times...), others believed GEQ was a daughter of Marika who rebelled! Melina being daughter of Marika but strikingly "underwhelming" for a Demigod for the lack of better term could also mean that she had her true power taken! The Godskin prayerbook is also oddly found in Stormveil, so if we assume it was one of the treasures Godrick stole from Leyendell, what exactly was it doing in Leyendell to begin with? :p

Finally, the DLC added this bit:

So now we know Melina, rather than being given some sort of fire powers by Marika, was more likely naturally possessing "vision of fire"! Maybe cursed, or maybe it was just her nature connecting with the burning of the Erdtree!

So... yeah, these clues feel more like 'material for interpretation and speculation' than as a solid evidence that there IS something here, right? I think GEQ also feeling "too important" played its role! Fromsoft does have a strange brand of mentioned characters, so for me it was simpler to skip this theory as Elden Ring was not my first game from them! But they like to drop that mentioned character who feels so significant that the audience just CAN'T believe they only exist in memories and description but never were encountered in the game! Off the top of my head, Bloodborne for example has 'Suspicious Beggar is Izzy', and sometimes EVEN 'Rom is Caryll'! Again, as someone used to them doing the thing, I'd not be surprised that we never would meet GEQ!

OKAY you wanted my THOUGHTS, not just analysis, right? I think this idea is cool! It has to deal with several assumptions, but... most Elden Ring theories do anyway... 🙄 It would also make Marika giving Melina her purpose so funny fdfdsdh Just going "Hey, you wanted to slay gods once? Well I have good news-" before the Shattering fdshfhfds Personally, I go back and forth about it, and recently I am stronger on the side of not believing that Melina is GEQ!

My impression from GEQ is that she was an equal of Marika, chosen at the same time as her and on the same terms as her! Ancient Elden Ring not only featured Crucible and Divine Spiral, but also Destined Death Rune! Needless to mention that Destined Death Rune is opposite of Marika's Rune by concept, color and design!

This makes me feel as though GEQ and Marika were some sort of balance for one another: Marika was day, light and life and GEQ was night, darkness and death! GEQ's fire is God-Slaying Flame, something to ensure that nothing and no one can live forever. GEQ being a daughter of Marika does not have a very "equal" vibe to it. However, Marika wanted to be 'eternal' and believed herself to be worthy of seizing that power! She would decide who dies 'a true death' and how, and it sure would NOT be her or her children!

So, Melina was born with a curse for the same reason why Messmer was born with a curse. Karmic retributions for destroying GEQ, Fell God and what happened to Belurat where Romina is from respectively! Marika tried to deceive the fate and make a better world, but unfortunately as far as Greater Will was concerned back then, it made the world capable of "self-correcting". On the other hand, Romina is survivor of Belurat and it backfired on Malenia, whereas wraiths that haunt Omens are horned spirits so maybe Mohg and Morgott were result of victims of the Crusade cursing everyone living under Marika's light. No matter how much she tries, she can't remove 'dangerous', 'destructive', 'evil' things from nature.

Melina's eye also could imply something else!

(Images by Zlofsky) Shadowbeasts (Maliketh and Blaidd) do have this eye color as well! Maliketh doesn't have eyes, however Beast Eye he gives us as Gurranq is most likely his own! So, ignoring 'dusk-eyed' thing, what if his second eye was used to replace Melina's real one, similarly to how Marika used her seal to replace Messmer's real eye?

Alternatively, since Shadowbeasts are not just vassals of Empyreans, but also assassins in the situation if Empyrean resists the will of the Two Fingers, the similar coloration might be because conceptually Melina and Shadowbeasts are similar! Melina is our friend, helping us to grow stronger, but at the same time she is the one to come assassinate us if we fuck up big time, right?

I also agree with the idea that this statue likely depicts GEQ herself! Not just because non-optional Godskin Apostles, Wormfaces and actually guarded Destined Death itself are in Farum Azula! But also because these three wolves appear to be conjoined, which makes me think of a youkai Kamaitachi!

There is a youkai, Kamaitachi - a flying weasel spinning in whirlwhind and associated with strong winds in general that delivers sharp cut wounds but there is no bleeding or pain! Already sounds a bit like how Destined Death hurts in my opinion, especially seeing how some attacks of Godskins are also whirlwind-like! Kamaitachi's claws are also sickle-like! This is literally a name: kama is sickle and itachi is weasel.

So, unusual Shadowbeast for her! I also like to think that she had Scadutree like Marika had Erdtree. Removing Destined Death from the Elden Ring, and removing Shadow Realm, that IS the death realm, from the world's map..

I also question whether this statue's aesthetic is more akin to Rauh than it is to.. well, anything else:

There is an option Divine Beast boss fight in Rauh who, inexplicably, uses Deathblight in Phase 2 instead of storm-blizzard-lightning but there is NO Deathroot or Godwyn eyes in sight, so who knows?

______________________

So yeah, the theory does hold some weight and I can see that it is something fans could eventually come to even without communication with each other! It is not really just a fandom invention that became too popular! I just skipped through it because of how I read Fromsoft's lore personally, and now I bounce back and forth! I had a middle ground idea sort of, that it was not possible to kill GEQ but she became a baby and Marika raised her in order to control! (feel weaker on this one after Melina was called Messmer's just sister, not adopted or anything like that)

[dragon-communion]

Okay, the anthropology degree is clawing at the inside of my bones. I haven’t seen anyone study the Blasphemous Serpent to a satisfying degree and I might just teach myself how editing works explicitly to explain at length why it’s fascinating as hell.

Like. Basic recap:

Mentions we have of living gods include Marika/Radagon as emissaries of the Greater Will; the Twinbird, mother of the Deathbirds; the Scorpion God sealed under the Lake of Rot, succeeded by Malenia; and potentially Shabriri. I would also argue that Godwyn’s corpse counts, at least as a figure of worship and the main vessel of Death Blight.

The Blasphemous Serpent isn’t as abstract as the Greater Will, the Scarlet Rot, or even the Moon- people enact the theoretical will of these things, but we never see them except through representations. You could argue that all Rot is the Rot god, for example. But the Serpent is a singular entity with agency, plans, and perhaps even actual emotions to some degree. You can find its skin in Mt. Gelmir. When we face the lord of the manor, it’s a combination of Rykard and the Serpent. How much is left of Rykard is debatable, but considering we talk to his face in its throat rather than the snake itself, I feel like he’s definitely still present in some sort of partnership.

Then there’s the gladiators to consider, the Formless Serpents, and the Serpent God’s Curved Sword.

Most armor and weapons we have that directly reference the Serpent talk about Rykard, his devouring, and the reaction of his men. After that comes the man-serpents and their own innovations in magic and lava-forged weaponry. There isn’t a lot of content about before Rykard made his bargain, and the culture of Mt. Gelmir before a wayward son of Caria got it into his head to kill the gods by becoming one. Why he thought that was a good plan is its own topic.

But we have clear indications of Leyndell’s attitude towards the Serpent, what it might have been up to, and the behavior of the people loyal to it. Heck, it’s called the Blasphemous Serpent. If we assume the blasphemy is against the Golden Order, what does that look like? What does that mean?

Before I run away with that, let me show you why I’m so fixated on this.

I am haunted. I’m obsessed. The only other weapon I know of off the top of my head that’s blatantly stated to be used for sacrifices is the Sacrificial Axe, which depicts a Deathbird.

Both of them restore a bar- the Curved Sword restores HP, the Sacrificial Axe restores FP. I’m also very interested in comparing this sword to the Blasphemous Blade, which we get right out of the gullet of the Serpent itself, which is covered in the still-living remnants of previous sacrifices and also restores HP.

Some comparisons could be drawn between the idea of the Crucible and what the Serpent is doing- Rykard prattles on about the idea of joining together as family, bound together by blood, and through that union devouring the gods too. If devouring isn’t destruction, but unification, that matches up with what we hear from Shabriri and Hyetta about the Frenzied Flame wanting everything broken down into the great One again.

And the topic of blasphemy- particularly the gladiators and their armor. Like the heel in wrestling, it seems some prisoners might have been dressed in Serpent imagery and then sent into the arena for not just entertaining bloodletting, but perhaps particularly vengeful and politically-minded bloodletting showing the superiority of Leyndell’s might over the barbaric followers of the Serpent. There’s an interesting video on YouTube showing that the serpent armor might not just be superficial- it could be piercing into the flesh of the gladiators, or worse. I’ll have to study them again to see if any serpents come out of them.

That speaks of an old hate, targeted. Granted, it’s always nice to have a scapegoat to shake a fist at to distract the populace from your failing regime, but the inescapable Satan analog is almost too easy. What’s going on here? Who lived on Gelmir, what was compelling about the Serpent as opposed to the Erdtree, what was it like before Rykard, what exactly is the blasphemy being reviled here?

I’m going to do something about this at some point, just black out and wake up with a video essay on ancient serpent cults, and then I will finally have sweet release from my hyperfixation. Maybe.

There’s always the rune on the Moon and the ghost-banners around Leyndell after that.