#jerren

[blasphemousclaw]

when your brother wants to help but he’s a bit of a freak

[winter-wise]

so I've found the greatest elden ring fanfic of all time:

Things Tarnished Are No Longer Allowed To Do In The Lands Between

[eldenringslut]

There’s an interesting piece of DLC lore I don’t think I’ve seen anyone discuss in detail yet. Namely that Freyja and Jerren both want what’s best for Radahn, but each have very different ideas of what that entails.

Both of them consider Radahn’s death at your hands to be a good and honourable one. But upon learning of Miquella’s plans, Frejya says this:

She seems to fully buy into the image Radahn portrays of being a warrior who lives and thrives in war. And to some extent she’s correct, with Radahn modelling himself after Godfrey (a warlord and conquerer) and even attempting to invade Leyndell during the Shattering Wars.

Jerren on the other hand, would rather Radahn be left in peace after being given an honourable death. The description of Jerren’s helmet reads:

The wording here is very important, implying both a very close relationship between Radahn and Jerren (which is also supported by how intimately Jerren speaks about Radahn) and that Radahn himself wished for an honourable death. This means that Radahn’s preferences likely align more with Jerren’s than with Freyja’s, and that he never wanted to be revived as Miquella’s consort.

One could still argue that Radahn simply wished to have an honourable death before becoming consort, but I think that doesn’t make much sense. If he were willing, it seems strange and convuluted that Radahn would ask to be killed in battle before becoming Lord rather than just becoming Lord immediately.

Additionally, the story makes more thematic sense if Radahn is brainwashed. Remember, Fromsoftware loves to give characters ironic or contrary fates. Radahn represents stagnation. He holds the stars and fate in stasis, styles himself in reference to past Elden Lords and refuses to leave his scrawny horse despite how cruel it is for him to still ride his sickly steed.

In the base game, this is brought to an ironic conclusion with him being infected by the scarlet rot, a more literal representation of stagnation and decay. But the DLC takes it even further. Ironically given his goal of bringing about a new Age of Compassion, Miquella too is unable to move on from the past. He clings to his (probably one sided) vow with Radahn and forces him to become his consort.

The God of a new age unable to let go of the past, and a Lord of stagnation forced to participate in bringing about a new era. These fates are the height of dramatic irony, and honestly I think Fromsoftware’s only mistake here was not foreshadowing it enough in the base game beforehand.

[mustyscrimblo]

Elden Ring interviews

[snarp]

"What evidence in the base game even suggested that Radahn was a Schemer?"

It could be more obvious, but it's there:

* Radahn's siblings are world-champion schemers Ranni and Rykard... and he's fucking up Ranni's schemes.

* Jerren. Most Elden Ring story bosses have an interactable NPC an hanging around them who acts as kind of their proxy, with similar motivations and personality traits. Mohg has Varre; Rykard, Tanith; Malenia, Millicent; Maliketh, D; etc.

And Radahn's proxy is Jerren: creator of the "Radahn Festival" - a big fun party where everyone gets together to kill Radahn and feel good about themselves! He's good at using spectacle and colorful imagery to manipulate crowds.

Even if Radahn didn't have those skills himself, he valued them. He wanted a campaign manager.

* Radahn's gear and weapons are explicitly a kind of Godfrey-Radagon-fusion cosplay. Yeah, this can be read as "daddy issues"... but those guys are also the previous Elden Lords.

If Radahn knows what he's doing, he knows what he's doing is political. He's making a pitch: "I am the natural heir to both Radagon and Godfrey (and thus, the throne)."

* Millicent and Gowry. Malenia's proxy is manipulated and betrayed by a Carian sorcerer. If Millicent's situation is a mirror of something that happened to her "mother", then who was Malenia's Carian creep? (The guy she dueled, thereby destroying Caelid and bringing Millicent into existence.)

...I think GRRM's conception of Radahn may have been a character type that FromSoft doesn't handle well. I feel like Soulsborne games tend to treat insincerity as contemptible, shameful, and obvious. If a Radahn characterized as "huge muscle guy carefully planning his outfit for purposes of political theatre" were allowed to talk, he'd probably just end up sounding like Patches. Same problem with Radagon. Bullshitters must shut up or shave their heads.

[eghostsofdeadchildren]

Eccentric's Armour Set.

[blaiddfailcam]

The Radahn Festival

— FIGHTER SELECT —

Finger Maiden Therolina

Blaidd the Half-Wolf

Iron Fist Alexander

Castellan Jerren

Patches the Untethered

[wraith-caller]

All he wanted was an honorable death.

[nuadha-airgeadlamh]

something about Iji and Jerren… the servants of two siblings pulled in different directions… the way they wistfully think of each other and the old days… Iji helping make weapons for Jerren and Radahn’s soldiers… the implication from Jerren's dialogue that they reunited after Radahn was defeated… Jerren upon being killed saying “You...are a menace... Iji...beware…”. i am looking directly at it...

[how-and-why-do-i-know-this]

I hear Jerren has a questline, so I'm gonna see what it has in store for me.

[blasphemousclaw]

even more Carian family meme redraws

[troythecatfish]

[ganondoodle]

jerren on his way to beat miquellas ass once he learns what he did to radahn

(Elden Ring)

[mustyscrimblo]

This is one of my fave Elden Ring fanarts, I love it so so so so mucb

After battle.

[snarp]

Once she's done telling you the above lies, Sellen hands you this:

(This thing's skill's animation looks like a sneak attack/backstab.)

The specific nature of the symbolism of the "undulating blade" is explained by Jerren's sword:

(This one's default skill's animation is "attacking something looming over you.")

They both symbolize starting fires - which is, itself, treason - but the Kris very specifically says "setting the Erdtree on fire and betraying you." Rennala gave this thing to Marika for the same reason Sellen gives it to the player.

[blaiddfailcam]

So Jerren mentions that Iji's weapons were always blunt, but never rusted even when challenging Malenia's rot... but who among Radahn's ranks carried weapons forged by Iji?

Neither Caria nor Raya Lucaria intervened in Malenia's southward march, as far as we know. I doubt Iji forged Radahn's weapons, as the onyx blades suggest they perhaps gifted by Radahn's tutor in gravity manipulation. Besides, the weapons littering the Swamp of Aeonia and the Wailing Dunes appear to be slighter versions of his paired swords. It probably also wasn't Jerren's own sword, as the undulating flame motif symbolizes the Redmanes' resistance to the Scarlet Rot through purifying flame.

I suppose during previous festivals, Carian knights might have tried their hand against their long lost prince? At the very least, Jerren's description aptly describes Blaidd's sword, seeing as it's rather dull-edged, but has clearly retained its effectiveness over the ages, scarred and bloodied though it is. (Let's be real, Blaidd isn't cleaning that thing.)