#and Gideon said it after you fight Malenia

[drenched-in-sunlight]

How vexing. That the All-knowing didn't have the full story… Perhaps the Queen's sorrow was justified...

[starlitkindred]

Mogh took Miquella of his own choice

This is def an ok, hear me out, but...

I'm not trying to argue that Miquella didn't charm Mogh. But I will point out that in none of the trailers, nor the opening cinematics, does it ever say Mogh cut Miquella from the Haligtree. Gideon thinks that is what happened but here's the thing;

ALL NPCs are fallible.

This seems to be true of any Fromsoft title. The trailers do not lie, as far as I know, but you have to pay attention to where they cut the characters dialogue and where the pauses are. The best we get are item descriptions and as far as I know none say that Mogh took Miquella. That and I would argue any dialogue from NPCs within item descriptions are still fallible. They are taken from NPCs.

That and while I don't completely agree with this take, this Youtuber has several very good points as to why YOU are the bad guy in the DLC.

To be clear I do believe Ansbach is telling the truth when he said Mogh was charmed. BUT I believe he did so way later than everyone thinks. Even if he charmed Mogh before the Haligtree I doubt the charm was what people think it was. Remember all the demigods had interactions with each other but Mogh and Morgott probably least of all due to the who "being locked in the sewers" thing. I have another theory for this but I will stick to my first one for now.

So assuming that Mogh and Radhan were Miquella's first choice (which I don't believe was the case. I honestly think Godwyn was meant to be) how did Miquella end up in Caelid to heal Frejya after the Battle of Aeonia?

Below is my guess at the timeline of events;

-Miquella DID cacoon himself in the Haligtree

-He DID mean for the Eclipse to revive Godwyn, but in the Land of Shadow, not here

-Malenia was asked to fight Radhan and did so

-Miquella left the tree of his own free will (remember all we see in the trailer is Mogh carrying Miquella), but Mogh did NOT take him from it

-He went to Caelid to ease the suffering of those there

-Mogh was looking to create his own Dynasty FAR before Miquella entered the picture

-He saw an opportunity when Miquella was in Caelid, as it was close to Moghwyn Palace

-He either intercepted Miquella when he was in Caelid or in-between there and the Haligtree in the Consecrated Snowfields

-Miquella, having cocooned himself previously, was too tired to fight, and isn't one for fighting anyway

-> instead Miquella charmed Mogh to use the demigod's wants in order to get into the Land of Shadow. I truly think that Miquella was trying to become a god and ascend using the Haligtree, which we know he watered with his own blood. I believe he was trying to use the rest of his body to bring the tree to life and die in the process to enter the Land of Shadow. That failed and it's why he left. He knew he would need to find someone to help him. But hearing of the battle of Aeonia, left to find his sister and to help those in need. We KNOW that is well within his character to try to help even if he over-extends himself. So, when Mogh, who probably could not be reasoned with to let the young Empyrean go, said what he wanted, Miquella agreed, probably under vague conditions, to let Mogh be a part of a new age. Mogh did not realize what he agreed to completely (I am NOT saying Miquella is a complete 'good guy' here. Please keep that in mind) and took Miquella to Moghwyn palace and helped the Empyrean cocoon himself again. THIS is when Miquella had interactions with Ansbach.

After Mogh created his "bloody bedchamber" Miquella, whether conscious or not, refused to interact further. It specifically says so in Mogh's remembrance. I believe he did not want this. It was only the last chance he had to get to where he wanted to be. And he was making the best of a bad situation. No response does not imply consent. Mogh didn't beat allegations, please stop with that. He may have been tricked, but honestly I think a child skirting the truth in self defense is way too common in systems of abuse. Just admit that your fav is problematic and move on.

Speaking of Mogh being a fav;

I seriously feel sorry for the guy. He was locked in the sewers as a child. All he wanted was love and affection. Unfortunately he was desperate enough to turn anywhere for that. And when the Formless Mother reached out he accepted, probably without thinking. Then he went on to take power because "if education isn't liberating the oppressed can only dream of becoming the oppressors" as one of the people I listen to in Elden Ring likes to reiterate. And I honestly believe it's true.

Did Miquella have any right to control Mogh? GODS no. That is horrible considering what Mogh went through. Was Mogh just an innocent victim at that time? Also no. Dude had a blood cult and an entire swimming pool of blood outside his house. He was a terrible person. It's a shitty situation all around. There are no "good guys". But do I think Miquella deserves all the flack he gets? Definitely not.

There is no proof Miquella can charm someone from afar. The Charm would have had to be in person. Otherwise he wouldn't have had to be close to us during the final fight to charm us. And even if your argument is he can't charm the tarnished from afar but others are fair game. Why not take Ansbach and Thoillier out of the fight if they get caught? We know Fromsoft will pull shit to make fights harder. I feel like that is a mechanic that totally could have happened. Either way, there is no way to prove Miquella can charm from afar and in fact evidence to the contrary. He couldn't charm Radhan from afar. He would have had to do so earlier. And even then he only seems to use his charming abilities after someone has already agreed to help him.

Do I think that justifies his actions? Not in most cases. And not with Mogh. But I do think he didn't want to use Mogh in the first place. I can't place a ton of blame on someone who was likely using his only out in self defense. And again this is a CHILD. It's reiterated repeatedly Miquella has the body, and understanding, of a CHILD. Regardless of how old he is. And he and Malenia are still the youngest of the demigods (as far as we know).

So yes Mogh is still problematic and you can still feel for a problematic nuanced character. I don't see why every character has to be perfect for you to be ok with them. The entire point of media literacy is to look at what the story is trying to say.

And what is the story trying to say?

That whenever you help the NPCs in the DLC (meaning Miquella's group of misfits), you make things harder for yourself in the end. You have to fight them. The only two who will join you are Ansbach (who again is a BLOOD CULTIST WHO MURDERED PEOPLE) and Thoillier, the biggest SIMP in the lands between who clearly has an unhealthy obsession with St Trina. To the point where she doesn't talk to him. She talks to YOU. YOU have to choose if you will relay those words to him. And if you do? He dies in the final fight. Your actions in trying to "help" him cause his death. Which is common in Fromsoft games but still. Ansbach shows up if you provide him with the knowledge and location of the fight. Thoillier only shows up IF you go out of your way and honestly out of obsession. Like he clearly would rather drift off to forever sleep than fight.

When you help the others you make the final fight with Leda harder for yourself. And you have to be a real jerk to Moore who honestly just wants acceptance? Like he barely pushes for it. All he does is take your guidance, make his decision, and never blame you for deciding for yourself.

Now Leda. Leda is also an obsessive radical and that is made pretty clear. And Hornsent is... idk how to say this without getting banned. A theocratic fascist murderer? Have you read the caterpillar mask item? He's one f-ed up dude. But still.

Through Gameplay the game is telling you the more you help these people achieve what they want, an Age of Compassion, the harder you make it for yourself, who is standing against that age. Is that really a good thing? Are you really being a good person? Because when you choose to be shitty, yeah things get easier, but is that the right thing to do?

It's complicated and like all the other characters I don't think you are meant to be the "good guy". Please just think about that. Having complicated interesting characters who make you question their morals is GOOD. Questioning your actions is GOOD. You can still have fun playing the game and be aware of these things.

-

There's still a lot I haven't said here, like my other theory of the timeline assuming Mogh was charmed before the Haligtree (which I think is difficult since he was either in the sewers or Moghwyn, but still possible) and others. I hope to do more lore analysis with these things where I add more of the item descriptions and text. But I just feel like all the hate for Miquella over Mogh and Radhan is mostly unwarranted. He's a child with a child's understanding of the world trying to play a literal Game of Thrones with adults. There's also the question of why make a child god? What does that say? What does the contrast of Miquella/Marika say about Mogh/Radhan and Godfrey/Radagon? What is the concept of Oppression when it comes from Gods/theocracy down to the autonomy of even just those right below them? What does that say about Mogh being an oppressed person? There's a lot more affecting this dynamic than just the two character's directly interacting. Which we never see- another important point but I will not touch on that either.

Regardless I just really wish more people would be a little more media literate about this, and other media, than they are. Like I love many of the characters in Elden Ring. I really do. But like... they are meant to be complex, interesting, and all in shades of grey.

I will add that I do believe a lot of the objection to Radhan/Miquella is a bit homophbic and the fact that that seems to be a lot of people's objection? But not incest? Uuuuh... that is definitely problematic. Let's not pretend that George RR Martin didn't have a hand in writing this. He very well can and will make incestuous royals. Just cus Radhan is your favorite Chad doesn't mean he can't also be gay. It is really off-putting that THAT is your reasoning and not the fact that it's incest. Idk why people were surprised by this. Please ask yourself why you are objecting to this, is it really just cus you are mad that one of your favs is gay/bi? If so I feel like you should reflect on your own biases.

[skyred-blog]

Hmmm…

Miyazaki already said this DLC would be separate.

How can it be this SEPARATE? Can people see that the two main stories of this DLC: Marika's past and Miquella's godhood, are two people that deeply connected to the base game?

How we met and fought Messmer the Impaler, the first child of Marika who once lived in Leyndell (and not in a sewer), who undertook the biggest mission for Marika (and maybe for the Golden Order itself) in a mysterious land that has a gate to godhood, with an army composed of children from the high families of the capital, and a runaway princess from the Carian royal family…

How we met and fought Miquella the God and the Starscourge Radahn in their mightiest forms—one is the most mysterious yet revered figure, the other the most famous demigod in the land…

And yet even Gideon didn’t bat an eye? That guy keeps track of your every move!

Do people remember in the AotA DLC for Dark Souls 1 when Sif recognized us? How that moment broke our hearts?

Do people remember in The Old Hunters DLC for Bloodborne, the cutscene we received after killing the Orphan of Kos? The peaceful feeling, like not only Gehrman was released from his pain.

All of the previous DLCs weren’t perfect, there were still questions we wanted answers to, legends we wanted to fight, but they never felt empty.

You finally met Metyr and the Fingers, yet you can't say a single thing to Ranni.

Why do we need to beat Romina?

You finally beat "prime" Radahn and Miquella, and what you receive is a cutscene so impactful that if someone missed it, they’d miss nothing.

Ah yes, Malenia mentioned! What she whispered in a trailer in 2019 is actually a big deal! We should check the trailer more! Then the trailer we received for the DLC must be very important, right? We’ll ride Torrent in the Abyssal Woods? No. The Scadutree? It's beautiful, I guess. We’ll see Miquella unveiling the Land of Shadows? Not show and not even a cut content. Messmer's voice? Changed.

Sorry, I just had a very negative outburst. I really love Igon.

Having the events of the dlc occur concurrent to the base game and having everyone in the base game refuse to acknowlege anything that happens in the dlc is such a dumb move. What were they thinking.

Ranni and Miquella would surely have words for one another??? Gideon would want to know??? Hello?????

[conjoinedpubes]

Adventures of Solis - Chapter 11: Ultimate Showdown(s)

Adventures of Solis - Chapter Index Written between RL 102 +20 and 131 +25 End-game and optional bosses

Malenia, Blade of Miquella - A patience battle about choosing openings. Pretty much the opposite of Fire Giant, in that bursting with weapon arts over main moveset is the winning play.

Solis has quite poor damage and so you cannot win damage trades with her.

Projectile dodge means that most spells should not be used.

Many of the lunge/thrust weapon arts do not have hyper armour or good aim. Malenia's 'common' attacks often have side-movement and are fast - trying to aggresively swing into her will almost always fail to due to above.

On the flip side, 2 uses of Glintblade Phalanx will completely break her stance in neutral state. Do note that Malenia has hyper armour during any of her moves - if the Glintblades hit her mid swing; they will not count. Additionally, the blades can miss due to terrain.

In general...

Only use your 'all-in' moves (main-hand weapon art, Glintblades etc.) after she commits to a big lunge/grabs.

This is the one fight where you should actually count the enemy poise. Hits against her mid-action will not count toward stance break.

Balance your spacing from her. Malenia's crit window is small, so dont stand too far. On the flip side, Solis is stamina intensive - so you don't want to be too close and with no stam - incase of Waterfowl etc.

Her spell dodge reacts when a skill is used, and not when it fires at her. You can use Glintblades to 'bait' an empty action out of her.

Dragonlord Placidusax - Another 'wall fight', huge hp with elemental and status resist. Similar to Fire Giant in that spells will barely harm it, just slowly and methodically chip with a weapon.

Placidusax can be stance broken quite easily, and the crit window is *very generous* - that said, the boss has such high magic resist that criticals dont even deal that much damage.

Gideon Ofnir - cant really 'out-mage' this guy, just draw your weapon of choice and beat him down.

Godfrey - Another surprise pushover fight. Then again - Godfrey is the ultimate 'bigger than average dude'. Here, I adopted the same approach as Morgott - and despite slipping up many, many times, he still fell over easily.

IMO, just throw anything at him - it just works

Radagon - Similar to Malenia; trim down your moveset. Radagon has a very aggresive spell parry and moves in a 'slippery' manner, none of our spells are good here - save for Glintblade.

In general, prepare Glintblades and run away from him until you see his hand drop back to a neutral pose before you engage.

Most of his moves are easier to roll forward/through as opposed to away.

Dismounter moveset is very good here - wide sweeps + momentum to keep hits going after you roll through his moves.

Elden Beast - The Dismounter + Glintstone Pebble 2 part combo is your main damage move here. Spam Glintblades and swiftshard to chip poise.

The critical window is *very generous* on this boss. You can easily Glintstone Pebble combo and still have time to draw your dagger and crit.

Magic weapon infusion is an option due to status immunity. Basically - Frost in you want to burst Radagon. Magic for better damage vs Elden Beast.

Mohg, Lord of Blood - 2 main points - watch your distance, roll through not away.

Mohg's attack range/timings are very good at catching mid spellcast. You have to simply feel out the range at which various spells are safe to use at.

In phase 1, his 'countdown' ability is the biggest window for casting

You can switch back to Flamberge + Impaling Thrust. The bleed status and fast thrust are advantaged here.

As per usual - remember to Swiftshard chip.

Mohg is very tough in poise and hp, we dont have any means of burst damage - this will be a slow brawl.

Adventures of Solis

Chapter Index

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[allknowingofnir]

After waiting awhile, Mei steps into Sir Gideons room, and sits at his bedside, a solem expression on her face. She was unsure if he was awake or asleep, but she still softly spoke, hoping he'd hear her sooner or later.

"... I can't say I'm all too pleased with your confession either but... In my memories, the village leaders had to make harsh desicions such as yours, and while we grieved and even spent days ignoring them, we always came back around to forgiveness, and we learned to realize it was for the best of the village... You made a mistake, and you can't undo the past, but whether you choose to fix the future is up to you. I shall hold no hatred for you, because you're a father to me in my eyes. I'm sorry it all came down to this mess..."

He grunted, sitting up in bed hair amess, his face even worse. His eyes were redder than usual, both from the hangover of last night and the grief of what had followed. He couldn't look Mei in the eyes.

"Mm. I appreciate it, I do... just... " he shook his head. How to say it? How to explain it? He stared at the wall for several minutes, leaving them in awkward silence. He just sighed heavily finally before tossing his coverings off. He was still in his armors underclothes from the night before, never having changed after the meeting with Malenia.

No matter how awful he felt, he was still senior of the Tarnished, and of the disgraceful Roundtable Hold. He turned, planting both feet on the ground, wincing a bit at the cold of the floor. He snorted, clearing his throat and nose.

"You know, this place was a war room before it was a shelter for Tarnished, back then I mean. Either for Radagon's campaign in Raya Lucaria, the march against the Fire Giants, whatever else Godfrey needed it for. It was all planned out here. I was a younger man in those days, but when my time came, the first time I mean, I was already an old man." He looked up to the ceiling as if looking to the Erdtree for answers.

"...when I came back, I was still that old man, who had died in service to the wars and campaigns. I had banners of my own, a service of a small company of scouts who were my eyes and ears across the Lands Between. Now though? When the Grace reawakened us... they were gone by then. The Hold was a mess, worse than most find it now. I mean, before we cleaned it up." He sighed, frustrated, and tired.

"Fyra... no, more than that, you lot. You, Jarrod, Rosalind, the others, but particularly Fyra, made me realize something. Those wars were over. We're tasked with fighting something I, simply put, cannot even comprehend. It boggles my mind I stood before Malenia herself last night. There was something about her, beyond the deadliness of her abilities. Her very soul radiated that awe, that... heaviness of spirit of Marika. Even as her child, she holds that in her. Marika herself? To stand before her?"

"I'd lost the sight of Grace before even leaving the Hold. When I realized by consequence of where our path would lead us, any hope or imitation of it just fled my mind. I'd spent so so much time looking for any... loophole, trick, rite, secret or otherwise, that could give me an edge, but nothing, nothing could remove the fact that we'd be fighting a god."

"I was afraid. More than that... I gave up. The Tarnished who passed through here? They had no interest in their call and it became, like I said so many times, a shelter from the rain. For all my knowledge , for all I knew, the only thing I could do was go back to war planning. It wasn't an enemy encampment, it was a village of people who wanted a place, quiet and away to live their lives in peace. I sent what forces I could amass in this age, an Omen Killer and a Perfumer." He ran a hand through his hair, lost in recent memories.

"The order had never been to terrorize them... it was secure the Haligtree Medallion by any means necessary. I failed to account what that would actually mean. Say it or justify it anyway I want, the truth was I was so overtaken by despair already, I don't think I cared." It was only then, after telling the whole story, could he turn to look Mei in the eye.

There were no more tears, and there was no despair. He was, as he had always been, tired and empty.

"Would you still call me senior of this Hold, would you still think of me as Sir Gideon Ofnir the All-Knowing? Or am I just an old butcher who's lingered too long in this gods forsaken world?"