Likely it’s possible Godwyn’s souls is not destroyed but shattered. Since it would make sense why the blight would be so effective against tarnished likely there is a specific reason for that but it’s just a theory.🤔🐱
maybe godwyns soul was bansihed to the moon? An eclipse is the moon moving in front to the sun, and ranni, who planned godwyns murder is associated with he moon. In an eclipse the dark side of the moon would be directly shone upon by the sun, aka the "rays of gold" associated with the golden lineage, maybe the inhabitants of castle sol believed the sunlight would break the moons's curse and restore godwyn.
It's cool how Niall and O'Neill somewhat mimic Banished Knights Oleg and Engvall, how one stays to protect their masters castle while one leaves to pursue further glory in battle under a new master
Another thing worth mentioning is that “O’Neil” means “Son of Neil,” while “Niall” is simply an archaic form of the former. I’d say that O’Neil is Niall’s son, both of whom were in service to Godwyn, alongside their banished and exiled soldiers. Not only is Castle Sol heavily related to Godwyn, but so is Stormveil, where we meet their soldiers as well, though in allegiance to Godrick, this time. I think that after Godwyn’s passing, the commanders went on to serve Malenia and Miquella, with a chunk of the soldiers either being left back in Limgrave when Godrick swore vassalage to Malenia when she defeated him on her march, or fleeing there from the battlefield of Aeonia while the Neils were left with naught but spectres to lead.
Perhaps the moon since it’s closely tied to Ranni? Or maybe this is a hint to the “shadow of the erdtree” dlc and we learn about the eclipse through that
I thought Niall was going to be similar to O'Neil, and the first phase with his phantom summons was annoying (seriously, those Banished Knight phantoms in Castle Sol are ridiculous enough as regular enemies, never mind in a boss fight) but then phase two comes and suddenly he whips out a bladed prosthetic foot that's charged with lightning and starts hurling himself across the arena at you. Badass old man.
Surprisingly enough you can actually bewitched one of the banished knights to fight with you. I thought that was pretty cool, didn’t know you could do that.😺
The Icrerind Hatchet is also said to have been a gift from Castle Sol to someone else unknown, and is also said to be the scale of a dragon, specifically a frost dragon like Borealis, the Freezing Fog, which were said to inhabit the Mountaintops of the Giants before being driven from their home by the Fire Giants in ancient times. That’s a direct link between Godwyn’s Dragon Cult, Castle Sol, and the rest of the Mountaintops of the Giants
IMO that links them the the Carian royal family. The Sword of Night and Flame was a relic from a time they lived in the Mountaintops and practiced sorcery and flame magic. Its mentioned that Rennala was the founder of the house. So who is the Family? Rennala doesnt marry and have children until she moves to Raya Lucaria. But... She may have a sister. One who practiced flame magic. (I decided sister, but a brother works too) Just my theory on the matter
@@darkhobo It’s a relic from when the astrologers and the Fire Giants both inhabited the Mountaintops and considered each other neighbors. The sword itself has little to do with Caria other that it’s in the possession of the Carian royals. The sword is actually meant to represent a covenant between the astrologers and the giants
@@MeanAndPristine ... Bro why are you gonna contradict what the item says to downplay it? Its a legendary item. Its important. Its not "just a whatever man don't think about it its nothing" Maybe you should pay MORE attention to the extremely obscure lore around the legendary items in particular... Just saying. Instead of being like " eh idk it must be nothing"
@@darkhobo I’m not downplaying its importance, I’m telling you it’s not important in the way you think it is. The idea that Renalla has a sister who uses flame magic is baseless and utterly ridiculous. Absolutely no idea where you pulled that out of
@@darkhobo the idea that the astrologers and the giants had a good relationship at one point is groundbreaking enough, there’s no reason for you to pull rootless claims out of nowhere. All the item says is that Caria possesses it, its actual lore has little do with Caria but everything to do with the ancient times of the Lands Between
There's a weapon called Golden Epitaph that also shows the bond between Miquella and his Older Step-Brother Godwyn. It seems Miquella is close to his father Radagon and his Step brother Godwyn so it kinda makes sense that he'll make alliance with his brothers army. In my head cannon, the reason Miquella became disillusioned with the golden order is because it can't heal malenia and it can't give Godwyn a true death which is why he gave up the golden order's fundamentalism and created his own tree.
Its also nice how miquella created the ring of light incantation and radagon created his own version. All lore points how big miquellas potential was and how tragic the situation devolved
Miquella is easily the most terrifying of the demigods imo. He has this incredible sway over all but maybe the very strongest of wills. Ranni is the only other major threat who was able to position herself as strategically, and Miquella might very well still be a step ahead of even her, though I feel ultimately Ranni gave herself the greatest advantage on the Night of Black Knives.
I think sleep is close to death. Right before Rogier succumbs to deathblight he tells you he's going to fall into a deep slumber. It could be a metaphor, but the St Trina's Arrows also refer to sleep as a sweet oblivion, which pretty much just sounds like death. So maybe the world of sleep is also the afterlife or close to it. Like when you sleep you near the world of death and come back out when you awake. There's also Fia's deathbed dream, where the corrupted Fortissax lives and he had previously somehow entered into Godwyn to try and fight the death in Godwyn. Perhaps the reason why Miquella is sleeping is because he's also in that world of death, trying to bring his brother back, similar to what fortissax was trying to do
@@square-table-gaming maybe the connection between sleep and death and the eclipse was inspired by Thanatos and Hypnos, the greek gods of death and sleep, who reside in the underworld where sunlight does not reach. An eclipse would sort of make the lands between like the underworld, where sunlight cannot reach. Like you said the Eclipse Shotel seems to connect the eclipse with death, or at least Godwyn. The Tibia Mariner is also clearly based on Charon so I think there's an entire greek thing when it comes to the afterlife in Elden Ring.
isnt Miquella also st trina? at least in cut content, also he's bewitching ability may also have to deal with dreams, as he manipulates the "dreams" of his followers and enemies alike to centre around himself and become enthralled by him
to support Neill serving Malenia is the fact that surrounding his boss arena there are many cleanrot knights including 2 nearly right outside his arena. a big note i think to take into account though is from Niall's armor set and his Prosthetic it seems like Niall may have functioned as a mercenary with his soldiers ( an army with no nation implies they had no greater loyalties ) this is further compounded that his armor set is functionally a suped up banished knight set, ( having thought on the Origin of the banished knights more they may function similarly to historical mercenary groups like the Landsknecht in that while they all didn't share a single origin they shared a new identity and visual similarity ) . His long fallen lord also reinforces this line, in japanese culture theres the concept of Samurai outliving their masters going on to be bandits, brigands or mercenaries so it may be a cultural nod that he's leading an army with no loyalties after outliving his former master ( what with the common mental connections between western knights and samurai ) another detail that i might be grasping at straws for though is that both Commander Niall and Commander Neill both wield the same banners with the same flags and both work to forward the goals of the same pair of Demi-gods , Miquella & Melania. Niall watching over castle sol where they try to save, heal or control those who live in death via the eclipse ( the road to castle sol is littered with giant skeletons, a tibia mariner and a death bird after all ! ) and Commander Neill was a sub commander of Malenia who fought for her in the battle for Aeonia, he does use the rot himself and is standing at the heart of Aeonia ! a tiny sidenote but its noted that Miquella drew the outcasts from across the Lands Between , omen , misbegotten, thos ewho live in death, with this idea of using outcast groups it makes sense he'd try to utilize the commanders of the Banished Knight and exile forces. the exile troops both use having come from being imprisoned in distant lands ( comes from the exile armor set ). last tangent if the Banished Knights and Exile soldiers are mercenaries it also helps explain why we find them defending stormveil in the service of godrick as we know he uses mercenaries via the Kaiden as well. sorry for the huge blocks of text, I love you videos and it really gets my ideas going !
In a Golden Epitapth sword wrote the following: A sword made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, first of the demigods to die. Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death." We know that there is only a young boy tied to creations and the youngest of all Demigods: Miquella. This cements the idea that before the shaterring, Miquella and Godwyn had a good relationship with each other. Their relationship blooms further down to their followers who would rather serve their lord's allies even in death, and possibly receives military support on both sides. And we also know the fact that Malenia serves her brother Miquella as his general/personal bodyguard.
O'Neil i thought was a Radahn General but it would make sense he is working for Malenia seemingly unaffected by the Scarlet Rot, and he is in possession of Miquella's unalloyed needle he gave to Malenia to inhibit the Scarlet Rot. it'd make more sense Malenia's higher ranking officers would be in possession of such an important thing after she removed it to Nuke Caelid, as opposed to a general of Radahn whom would be more concerned about their castl and their own Lord rather than an unimposing needle.
Also something I just realized... the altered banished knight helmet has a dragon on top of it. Seeing Godwyns affiliation with dragons and lightning this might be a small hint as well.
Another thing that I think reinforces this is the two banished knight ashes One of the two knights dubbed the Wings of the Storm. Despite his banishment, he rejected the invitation of the Grace-Given Lord, instead keeping watch over a masterless castle for many years, gaining renown as a hero of the fringes. One of the two knights known as the Wings of the Storm. After his banishment, he attracted the notice of the Grace-Given Lord and later, having slain a hundred traitors as the Lord's hand, Oleg earned the hero's honor of Erdtree Burial. Wings and storms reinforcing the dragon motif and the white hair/manes of the banished knights a symbol of Godfrey much in the vain of Radahns mane
@@SophiaLilithUwU I think that’s is a fair point but if you take into account all of Godfrey’s kids. The one who would have been a grace given child would be Godwyn the Golden. Much like his father had to come from outside the graces touch
I don't think the storm is directly tied to the lightning of the ancient dragons. Every dragon cult incantation mention lightning but doesn't say anything about storm, neither they are labelled as such, on the other hand, the ashes of war labelled with storm don't have lightning whatsoever, instead looking more like wind control. And about the wings, I believe they could be referencing the hawks, which were the symbol of Stormveil, where this storm technique was probably born and where the stormlord lived
It may have been brought up already, but pretty sure the seat of the sun was the beast man culture. The beastmen who live in death carry sun realm shields in Farum Azula
I think the soulless comrade may actually be Ensha - not the Ensha we encounter in the game, but the real Ensha, whose bones that person wears in his armor (i.e. the Royal Remains set). The Royal Remains set description reads: "Armor graced with gold human bones... It is said that the bones belong to an ancient lord - the soulless king. The lord of the lost and desperate, who was known as Ensha." I think the Ensha we meet in the game is specifically interested in returning to the Haligtree because he wants to deliver the remains of the real Ensha there, in order to complete some kind of ritual tied to the Eclipse. That's why he "gets ahead of himself", as Gideon puts it, and attacks you the moment you obtain the first half of the secret medallion. He's not REALLY working for Gideon. He has his own purpose in mind.
@@MeanAndPristine I don't see why they're mutually exclusive. Godwyn and Ensha are both described as "soulless". It's possible that the denizens of Castle Sol were attempting, through Miquella's guidance (or perhaps in an attempt to win his favor) to call forth an eclipse to restore all soulless beings. It's also possible that Sol was once the domain of Ensha and the Shotel was brought there because it was believed to be a key to whatever ritual they were attempting on site there.
@@entroponetics Well the Golden Epitaph item description actually recites a prayer from Miquella for Godwyn, praying that he “die a true death.” The Golden Epitaph blade also shows a depiction of the sun, and a corpse, namely Godwyn’s corpse, as the blade commemorates his death. There is never any mention of Ensha beyond his armor set.
@@MeanAndPristine Couple of things 1. The Golden Epitaph doesn't mention Miquella by name. And I would say the description leaves significant room for ambiguity. 2. Again, whatever affinity Miquella may have had for Godwyn doesn't rule out the possibility that Ensha, the Soulless King was also a comrade of his. After all, Ensha does get referred to as "The Lord of the Lost and Desperate", and Miquella's whole project with the Haligtree was to create a haven where those cast aside by the Erdtree (i.e. the lost and desperate) could flourish.
In many FROM games there are many ages with events, figures, and themes that mirror the more somewhat relatively recent and explicit lore events. Just like how the godskin apostles / nobles are insinuated to have a history and motive predating the events of the shattering and death of godwyn to indicate that, even before the erdtree was around, there were figures trying to bring about an age of death. So, Ensha's theming and and Miquella's mission aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. They describe a motive that has likely existed throughout an unknown amount of cycles and ages.
My theory is that the dead former master is actually Placidusax. Niall/O'Neil's set actually shares a lot with the Banished Knight set, in particular the feet and gauntlets, Niall actually commands Banished Knights too so there is a link established. The Veterans use storm arts, like banished knights, and as a comment here has pointed out, their stories parallel Oleg and Engavall's. Speaking of them, in the Japanese version, their title of wings of the storm is actually wings of the storm *lord.* There is some confusion on who the Storm lord actually is but I make the case its placidusax, firstly we know Placidusax was elden lord, and the area he resides in is called the eye of the storm, so the title of Storm Lord makes a lot of sense for him. We also see Banished Knights and Stormhawks all over Farum Azula, and lastly I think we see Banished Knights use a more subdued, in-tune version of Dragon Communion which doesn't run the risk of turning into a Magma Wyrm, which tells me Banished Knights have a more intimate connection with Dragons, and use it with care. Like a shaman using ayahuasca vs a stoner using ayahuasca for an example. I think with all the concrete connections between Veterans and Banished Knights, and the connections between Banished knights and Placidusax, I can safely assume Veterans served Placidusax at some point.
It would be cool if we get a Goldwyn dlc where he’s brought back to life or we play in a memory (like Sekiro) where we get to kill him with the black knife assassins
Also, I would’ve mentioned this on your Zamor Knights video had I known at the time, but the fact that the frost dragons used to inhabit the Mountaintops before being driven from their home by the Giants leads to another theory; the Zamor Knights are sworn enemies of the Fire Giants because they were formerly aligned with the frost dragons and/or Godwyn’s Dragon Cult. There are a few consistencies to this theory; 1) their weakness to fire and lightning is consistent with other Dragon Cult incantations, as Dragonbolt Blessing makes the player weaker to lightning as “Only those loved by dragons can survive the ordeal of cladding their bodies in lightning.” 2) despite weilding frost abilites, they possess no catalysts. Their swords require no intelligence to weild. Their abilities are not from the snow witch like Ranni’s spells, rather, they are more similar to the kind used by the Banished Knights and their commanders. Their abilities are said to “channel the tempests of Stormveil” which was an ability taught by the dragons and as seen on the Storm Blade ash of war, emit the crest of Stormveil when used, much like an incantation. Hope this was enlightening
But the fire giant war wasn't before the Ancient dragon one's ? It was Godfrey who fought in the first while it's said to be Godwyn who mostly faught during the dragon one
@@Sir-Pleiades Godwyn doesn’t necessarily have to be involved. There was a whole dragon Elden Lord at one point, the entire city of Farum Azula predates even Marika. Dragon worship began as soon as the beasts gained intelligence. Suffice to say it isn’t outside the realm of plausibility for a town in the Age of the Erdtree to be affiliated with the local dragons
He could be working with Miquella to bring Godwyn back to life as he Miquella did care for his brother he’s probably the most loving of the Demigods even to his half sibling
The fact that O'Neil does not attack neither gets attacked by the cleanrot knights if yo lure the two together during their fight think also cements the theory that booth commanders at least had an alliance with the Halig tree forces
This is a great theory and the shotel is a big hint that it might be true. I always thought Nial, O Neil and the exiled knights and soldiers were in league with miquella and Malenia but couldn't figure out how. This makes a lot of sense now... Miquella wants to save Godwyns soul, so they help him and fought with Malenia against Radahn. Their battle standart is seen and mentioned as Red, we know from Godricks banner in green and red, that the red part is the symbol of godwyns golden lineage! It also makes sense that some of the exiled soldiers choose to serve Godrick as the next in line and whom he trusts more than his regular soldiers, so that these are the only ones in stormveil. It actually seems that his regular soldiers tend to desert, as seen by the countless hanging soldiers , their count seems to be especially high in limgrave. It could also be that Godrick attacked Malenia on her march to Caelid because of that, hoping that the exiled knights that were marching with her turn to his side, because of his lineage.
I believe that multiple "Suns" exist and the one mentioned here specifically is The Greater Will. So, in my view, Miquella's plan was that of either severing the GW's connection to the Lands Between or outright killing the GW.
My guess would be severing. He seems to of been one of them had good conscious about things, but don’t get sense based on what I know at least from lore bits here and there that he was out to harm anything, almost opposite. Also see him as cosmic opposite to chaos flame, and the scarlet rot. Literally anti thesis in existence to concepts of destruction and corruption
There actually isn't a "sun" in elden ring other then the erdtree which gives the game all it's light. It's been shown using mods that in game you cannot actually find a sun
I think it is always important to remember that Miquilla and St, Trina are one and the same. St. Trina is a sort of dream walker version of Miquilla. Which means Miquilla is one of or was one of the most active gods in the world manipulating all who sleep not wasting his long slumber. I'm sure it's through St. Trina that Miquilla manipulated Mohgwyn to take his body and gain power and grown though the Formless Mother. While I think Godwyn the Golden was also the God of the Sun and trying to create eternal night ruled over by the moon Ranni killed him. in doing so killing the sun. However the broken mechanics of the world allowed Godwyn the Golden lord of the sun to live again becoming bound to death and allowing the sun to remain but weak. It it so hard to see the sun in the game and it is dominated by the moon. I don't think Miquilla has any problems with the Duskborn ending leading to death eternal for all because that doesn't oppose his new sources of strength and power. Aslo why there probably isn't a Age of Blood ending and Mohgwyn left part of himself to keep others form the Frenzied Flame. It was the only ending that wouldn't benefit from either Dream Walking or Blood.
I don't think Miquella intended Mohg to kidnap him, that was more of a plan by the formless mother, since even if the formless mother had chosen Miquella to be his new god, Miquella was clearly in opposition to her, the same way Malenia was fighting against the god of rot who had chosen her as his goddess
If getting Godwyns soul back is somehow connected to an eclipse of the sun, I wonder if Ranni and her age of stars has something to do with that as well, since a solar eclipse would of course, at least in our world, be caused by a moon. Great video!
Nice theory!! There is one thing that's been bugging me lately tho - for some reason Niall's set has swirly horns, very similar to the Omen horns.. Just an interesting observation!!
okay wait bear with me. Was Godwyn the Champion of the Sun? I mean Rennala has the moon. And i could be wrong but i don't think we ever actually SEE a sun in game. Best i ever saw were light rays through clouds in the distance. I know what an eclipse is in reality, but there's no reason to assume its the same thing in Elden Ring. But wow does all this speculation really make me excited! The amount of info this implies about Godwyn alone is so cool! (the video, not my random thought lol)
so...one thing i am not seeing people mention....there isnt a sun in elden ring. Not in the sky. The light appears to come from the erdtree alone. I think that godwin was somehow the sun
Why does Niall’s helm (the veterans helm) the only one that almost mimics radahns helm…. And Oneil is in the aeonia swamp… gotta be a connection there lol
O'Neil is Niall's son. Their Irish names basically confirm this. they most likely both served Miquella as Castle Sol is directly tied to Miquella and O'Niel carries the broken needle. Fun fact, O'Niel also cannot be aggro'd by the Cleanrot Knights and vice versa.
I dont think o'nell served melania, his domain of scarlet rot stands from usindo de currupeted winds of calid, drawing rot from the ground, just like the knight of souls who draw cold winds to inflict frostbite
Curious, I passed Niall again a few days ago. And, based on the video, Maybe Niall and O'Neil serve Malenia and Miquella to bring Godwyn back. O'Neil seems more detached, since he is in Caelid, in what would be the "heart of the rot", he may have a link with Malenia. I think the simplest answer is "O'Neil helped Miquella and Malenia in the Invasion of Aeonia, looking for the Rune of Radahn". Perhaps, the Empyrean twins' plan was to revive Godwyn as Miquella's consort/companion and merge the Great Runes so that Miquella would be the new Elden Lord.
I think he served general Radhan. The demigod has passed away virtually, and he wants to surpass him and put him to rest in respect. Radhan is souless too virtually due to rot. Also the most militarily influenced demigod is Radhan , he is not mentioned as a Hero or champion, it is General Radhan, so logically he is the one with lieutenants and generals under him.
Radahn is not soulless though. The scarlet rot took his mind, not his body or soul. Consistently Godwyn is refered to as the soulless demigod, also, as far as the lore states, Miquella and Radahn do not have any kind of relationship.
Huh. Great work. I was always under the impression both Niall and Oneil served (or descended from those who served) the ancient Stormlord, due to their command over wind, exiles and banished knights. However this theory makes more sense when the eclipse shotel and ghost lines are included. It wouldn’t be out of the question to suggest that Banished Knights and Exiles that are at Stormveil were also part of Godwyn’s army, as I’m fairly sure Stormveil used to belong to Godwyn based on the presence of his corruption there.
Yeah for real with the black knifes but I don’t think Ranni intended for Godwyn to die. Marika was also involved in the Night of the Black Knifes, Ranni simply forged the knife. She’s clearly not as in control as she wants to think, Iji ends up getting killed by Black Knifes, Blaidd ends up going completely insane and she doesn’t even get what she wants unless you decide not to forge the Elden ring and don’t become the Lord of chaos.
I believe the banished knights and exiled soldiers once served the ancient empire that was there before the Erdtree, the one of the stormlord, since they all weird the storm as well, and since those are the ones who serve Niall and O'Neil and the armor of their commanders is similar to theirs, I believe they also once served that empire, but after the fall of their empire the commanders went on to serve Godwyn
This is my main for role playing and PvP it’s a strength build with full veterans with giant crusher and turtle shell on back his name is veteran havokk and he’s a banished knight commander who has returned to the lands between after becoming tarnished and waging war in far away lands he returned after seeing the guidance of grace to become Elden lord and help bring order to a war torn world and bring natural death to warriors who crave it. Build is 60 vigor 66 strength 52 endurance with giant crusher turtle shell on back 2 curved swords and auto crossbow
I forgot which weapon it was the the description says something along the lines of miquella giving a prayer for Godwyn which states "oh brother oh Lord please die a true death
I wonder what's the connection of the eclipse and moon that rennala gazed upon in the mountain top of the giants. The greathood armour description talks about a "burial" of some sorts and randomly just name drops rennala's name by the end quote.
Holy shit, I told a guy with the same last name and he was impressed. Also from what I was told by him O'Neil can mean "grandson of Neil' as well, just like Riddlie said. Edit: He also said he knows an O'Neill and those with different variations. From what he told me is the spellings are from different "branches" of Neil from blood relations and adoptions. Jokingly he also said the family trees are mostly bullheaded but with a large heart. That I can confirm. Edit 2: I found something that is connected to Godrick and Neils, you might want to look at there familiy crest and the story behind it.
Interestingly for the commander O’Neil fight we can summon Pollyanna to help us with that fight, I suppose to help her sister Millicent. So makes me wonder did we really work for Maleina and how the sisters knew he had it?
Others have mentioned I think, but the name Niall is pronounced is identically to Neil (i.e., it's a homophone of "kneel"). As always, this was a wonderful video and I appreciate the in-depth research that went into this lore deep dive!
I always wished that instead of being a weapon Commander’s Prosthesis was a unique armor piece that provided little to no defense but imbued your attacks with lightning.
Here's my theory, Godwyn is Miquella and Malenia's father. Niall is O'Neil's father, and O'Neil is a servent of Malenia. Exile Soldiers and Banished Knights once served Godwyn but were cast out after his death as failures for not being able to protect their lord. As to why they don't serve Miquella or Malenia directly, they already have servents in the form of Cleanrot Knights and Bell Bearing Hunters, both of which answer to Malenia, Blade of Miquella. Which to me translates to Malenia being Miquella's right hand servent who is in debted to him for helping prevent her illness a.k.a. the scarlet rot. Miquella and Malenia I believe are also responsible for both versions of Erdtree avatars, normal ones born of Miquella's power and the putrid ones corrupted by Malenia's rot. The Shattering was triggered due to Godwyn's death which was caused from Ranni stealing the Rune of Death from Maliketh, enabling the Night of the Black Knives. Radahn was Ranni's father and brother of Radagon, who I believe secretly caused the Night of the Black Knives but used the Elden Ring's power to erase any connection he had to it and taking on the guise of Queen Marika. This action shifted the blame to his brother Radahn, which lead to his showdown against Malenia. After the fate that befell Radahn, his other brother (or father) Rykard turned against the Erdtree creating the blasphamous faction of the Volcano Manor. The after events of the Shattering however Radagon sealed himself inside the Erdtree still in the guise of Queen Marika, playing as a god while the rest of the world was left to it's devices.
I'm sure this can easily be disproven, but I actually think O'Neil is apart of Godrick's army. He summons Exile Soldiers, and of course has the Banished Knight-like armor. Both of these enemies are very common in Stormveil, and it says his lord retreated. Knowing Godrick he'd 100% do something like this. I'm also fairly sure that if his lord was Malenia the game would refer to her as "lady". Also I think this explains his wind attacks. I guess they've been tainted by scarlet rot. This might've been covered in the video though.
@@square-table-gaming Could be because Malenia beat Godrick at stormveil before coming to Radahn. I heard that the context of Godrick insulting Malenia was because of her passing trough his lands with a army to reach Caleid, idk if this is true or not. Would explain why both of them are able to summon exiled soliders. Edit: but i still think that O'Neils lord is still Malenia since the term was ''was fled'' not ''did flee'' or something like that, so its saying she was carried away, im pretty shure ive heard that women bear the title lord in some other situations aswell, even during real history.
For some reason he reminds me a lot of Champion Gundyr, and that's why I enjoy his fight more than Malenia or any other main boss (except maybe for Radahn).
Because the only way to truly burn the tree is to unleash destined death. We are transported there as part of melinas plan. Anyone who commits a cardinal sin is sent to farum azula. We're teleported back down to leyndell because it's the seat of the erdtree. Again, likely melinas will putting us where we need to be.
Really interesting that these commanders could have served Godwyn. Both the commanders and banished knights seem to have some connections to dragons via their armor and abilities, and Godwyn began the dragon cult
So from everything we've found and evidence presented by our audience, the banished knights likely served the storm lord. It seems Niall recruiting the banished knights was coincidental due to the descriptions in the veterans set. He recruited knights who were captured.
It be scary if there were a god of rot ending that gets triggered if you use rot to kill too many main story bosses. As I say this as a way to have consequences for cheesing too many bosses so far the main story bosses are the easiest in the game. I'd rather fight Godrick and the first boss at the same time then fight the Gargoyle duos or Astel because fuck those bosses
@@somebodyoncetoldme5203 Cleanrots and O'Neill coded to not attack each other.They are buffing each other and attacking to you together.They are allied with Malenia.
@@square-table-gaming thanks for answering my questions, I just have one more (keep in mind, I don't know much about the lore). I know Radahn was big on honor, so why did he accept O'Niel? You would think that Radahn wouldn't accept someone whose nation fell, and chose self preservation instead of dying with honor to protect his homeland. After all, what would prevent him from deserting if the redmanes fell.
@@kaptinkanoodle5039 he didn't, O'Niel fought for Malenia's side. We know this because he carries the unalloyed gold needle. Also, if you keep in mind that he's surrounded by cleanrot knights, it would make sense they don't attack their own. It's likely O'Neil is the son of Commander Niall, who fought for Miquella which furthers this line of thinking.
Unfortunately, I can't find the proof right now, but the description of the weapon says (in the Japanese version) that his master did not escape, but died. So it wasn't Malenia. I'm sure he, like the exiled soldiers, served Storm Lord
@@square-table-gaming I was wrong, it's not in the description of the weapon, but in the description of the helmet. Now I'll explain: Niall could really serve Malenia (or rather, I think he served Miquella). But he is the commander of the exiled knights who served different masters after the death of their lord. But considering that they all possess storm magic, they were originally StormLord soldiers. Then they could serve and Miquela, and even Godwyn (Niall controls the lightning)
@@maestrrsantarael6590 oh yeah, the banished knights could have served the Stormlord, but in the description of the prosthetic leg, we learn he made his army out of captured knights, so he isn't associated with the Stormlord, just the knights he recruited
The second worst boss fight ever made in a souls game. That's who he is. I would rather fight the bed of chaos over and over rather then fight him or the god skin duo.
The prince of death is Godwyn. Maliketh is not actually a prince. While he is considered Marika's "brother" he is not royalty, he's a shadow like Blaidd.
There’s a surprising number of things that suggest that bringing about an eclipse will give Godwyn back his soul… somehow…
Likely it’s possible Godwyn’s souls is not destroyed but shattered. Since it would make sense why the blight would be so effective against tarnished likely there is a specific reason for that but it’s just a theory.🤔🐱
Ima be real, have you seen Godwyn’s body? I don’t think he’d wanna come back 💀
Or help miquella awake from his cocoon
maybe godwyns soul was bansihed to the moon? An eclipse is the moon moving in front to the sun, and ranni, who planned godwyns murder is associated with he moon.
In an eclipse the dark side of the moon would be directly shone upon by the sun, aka the "rays of gold" associated with the golden lineage, maybe the inhabitants of castle sol believed the sunlight would break the moons's curse and restore godwyn.
Why am I getting heavy Griffith and Godhand vibes from this talk about an eclipse with Godwyn...
It's cool how Niall and O'Neill somewhat mimic Banished Knights Oleg and Engvall, how one stays to protect their masters castle while one leaves to pursue further glory in battle under a new master
Another thing worth mentioning is that “O’Neil” means “Son of Neil,” while “Niall” is simply an archaic form of the former.
I’d say that O’Neil is Niall’s son, both of whom were in service to Godwyn, alongside their banished and exiled soldiers. Not only is Castle Sol heavily related to Godwyn, but so is Stormveil, where we meet their soldiers as well, though in allegiance to Godrick, this time.
I think that after Godwyn’s passing, the commanders went on to serve Malenia and Miquella, with a chunk of the soldiers either being left back in Limgrave when Godrick swore vassalage to Malenia when she defeated him on her march, or fleeing there from the battlefield of Aeonia while the Neils were left with naught but spectres to lead.
Based thoughts…I like it
I wouldn't call Niall archaic it's a very common name in modern Ireland
@@conorkearney1422 You people are an exception
@@conorkearney1422 COME OUT YE CLEANROT KNIGHTS, COME AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN
@@Eyecyou64 Lol well it's an Irish name so it's also the place were it would be archaic if that was the case.
A big thing about the supposed eclipse is there is no sun in game. The erdtree gives us all the light and it's been shown with mods.
Perhaps the moon since it’s closely tied to Ranni? Or maybe this is a hint to the “shadow of the erdtree” dlc and we learn about the eclipse through that
there is absolutely a sun in-game, thats how we get day/night cycles
@@riverfern458 all the light comes from the tree. There is no sun anywhere in the sky. This has been proven by several people floating the camera
I thought Niall was going to be similar to O'Neil, and the first phase with his phantom summons was annoying (seriously, those Banished Knight phantoms in Castle Sol are ridiculous enough as regular enemies, never mind in a boss fight) but then phase two comes and suddenly he whips out a bladed prosthetic foot that's charged with lightning and starts hurling himself across the arena at you. Badass old man.
The Banished Knights are a cake walk for strength builds. Just jump attack them and they stagger every time.
Bewitching branches are your best friends against O'Neil
Surprisingly enough you can actually bewitched one of the banished knights to fight with you. I thought that was pretty cool, didn’t know you could do that.😺
A bit younger than O'Niel I think.
@@topcat59 you can actually bewitch both
The Icrerind Hatchet is also said to have been a gift from Castle Sol to someone else unknown, and is also said to be the scale of a dragon, specifically a frost dragon like Borealis, the Freezing Fog, which were said to inhabit the Mountaintops of the Giants before being driven from their home by the Fire Giants in ancient times. That’s a direct link between Godwyn’s Dragon Cult, Castle Sol, and the rest of the Mountaintops of the Giants
IMO that links them the the Carian royal family. The Sword of Night and Flame was a relic from a time they lived in the Mountaintops and practiced sorcery and flame magic. Its mentioned that Rennala was the founder of the house. So who is the Family? Rennala doesnt marry and have children until she moves to Raya Lucaria. But... She may have a sister. One who practiced flame magic. (I decided sister, but a brother works too)
Just my theory on the matter
@@darkhobo It’s a relic from when the astrologers and the Fire Giants both inhabited the Mountaintops and considered each other neighbors. The sword itself has little to do with Caria other that it’s in the possession of the Carian royals. The sword is actually meant to represent a covenant between the astrologers and the giants
@@MeanAndPristine ... Bro why are you gonna contradict what the item says to downplay it?
Its a legendary item. Its important. Its not "just a whatever man don't think about it its nothing"
Maybe you should pay MORE attention to the extremely obscure lore around the legendary items in particular... Just saying.
Instead of being like " eh idk it must be nothing"
@@darkhobo I’m not downplaying its importance, I’m telling you it’s not important in the way you think it is. The idea that Renalla has a sister who uses flame magic is baseless and utterly ridiculous. Absolutely no idea where you pulled that out of
@@darkhobo the idea that the astrologers and the giants had a good relationship at one point is groundbreaking enough, there’s no reason for you to pull rootless claims out of nowhere. All the item says is that Caria possesses it, its actual lore has little do with Caria but everything to do with the ancient times of the Lands Between
There's a weapon called Golden Epitaph that also shows the bond between Miquella and his Older Step-Brother Godwyn. It seems Miquella is close to his father Radagon and his Step brother Godwyn so it kinda makes sense that he'll make alliance with his brothers army. In my head cannon, the reason Miquella became disillusioned with the golden order is because it can't heal malenia and it can't give Godwyn a true death which is why he gave up the golden order's fundamentalism and created his own tree.
Its also nice how miquella created the ring of light incantation and radagon created his own version. All lore points how big miquellas potential was and how tragic the situation devolved
Miquella is easily the most terrifying of the demigods imo. He has this incredible sway over all but maybe the very strongest of wills. Ranni is the only other major threat who was able to position herself as strategically, and Miquella might very well still be a step ahead of even her, though I feel ultimately Ranni gave herself the greatest advantage on the Night of Black Knives.
*Half Brother. They share the same mother.
I think sleep is close to death. Right before Rogier succumbs to deathblight he tells you he's going to fall into a deep slumber. It could be a metaphor, but the St Trina's Arrows also refer to sleep as a sweet oblivion, which pretty much just sounds like death. So maybe the world of sleep is also the afterlife or close to it. Like when you sleep you near the world of death and come back out when you awake. There's also Fia's deathbed dream, where the corrupted Fortissax lives and he had previously somehow entered into Godwyn to try and fight the death in Godwyn. Perhaps the reason why Miquella is sleeping is because he's also in that world of death, trying to bring his brother back, similar to what fortissax was trying to do
This is a really good point, perhaps Miquella using sleep to break his curse has something to do with bringing Godwyn back
@@square-table-gaming "Nicola" LMAO
@@filippogrimaldi7228 voice-to-text at its finest
@@square-table-gaming maybe the connection between sleep and death and the eclipse was inspired by Thanatos and Hypnos, the greek gods of death and sleep, who reside in the underworld where sunlight does not reach. An eclipse would sort of make the lands between like the underworld, where sunlight cannot reach. Like you said the Eclipse Shotel seems to connect the eclipse with death, or at least Godwyn. The Tibia Mariner is also clearly based on Charon so I think there's an entire greek thing when it comes to the afterlife in Elden Ring.
isnt Miquella also st trina? at least in cut content, also he's bewitching ability may also have to deal with dreams, as he manipulates the "dreams" of his followers and enemies alike to centre around himself and become enthralled by him
to support Neill serving Malenia is the fact that surrounding his boss arena there are many cleanrot knights including 2 nearly right outside his arena. a big note i think to take into account though is from Niall's armor set and his Prosthetic it seems like Niall may have functioned as a mercenary with his soldiers ( an army with no nation implies they had no greater loyalties ) this is further compounded that his armor set is functionally a suped up banished knight set, ( having thought on the Origin of the banished knights more they may function similarly to historical mercenary groups like the Landsknecht in that while they all didn't share a single origin they shared a new identity and visual similarity ) . His long fallen lord also reinforces this line, in japanese culture theres the concept of Samurai outliving their masters going on to be bandits, brigands or mercenaries so it may be a cultural nod that he's leading an army with no loyalties after outliving his former master ( what with the common mental connections between western knights and samurai )
another detail that i might be grasping at straws for though is that both Commander Niall and Commander Neill both wield the same banners with the same flags and both work to forward the goals of the same pair of Demi-gods , Miquella & Melania. Niall watching over castle sol where they try to save, heal or control those who live in death via the eclipse ( the road to castle sol is littered with giant skeletons, a tibia mariner and a death bird after all ! ) and Commander Neill was a sub commander of Malenia who fought for her in the battle for Aeonia, he does use the rot himself and is standing at the heart of Aeonia !
a tiny sidenote but its noted that Miquella drew the outcasts from across the Lands Between , omen , misbegotten, thos ewho live in death, with this idea of using outcast groups it makes sense he'd try to utilize the commanders of the Banished Knight and exile forces. the exile troops both use having come from being imprisoned in distant lands ( comes from the exile armor set ).
last tangent if the Banished Knights and Exile soldiers are mercenaries it also helps explain why we find them defending stormveil in the service of godrick as we know he uses mercenaries via the Kaiden as well.
sorry for the huge blocks of text, I love you videos and it really gets my ideas going !
Blocks of text are always welcome, we love reading the communities theories
Shit is all over the place
In a Golden Epitapth sword wrote the following: A sword made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, first of the demigods to die.
Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death."
We know that there is only a young boy tied to creations and the youngest of all Demigods: Miquella. This cements the idea that before the shaterring, Miquella and Godwyn had a good relationship with each other. Their relationship blooms further down to their followers who would rather serve their lord's allies even in death, and possibly receives military support on both sides. And we also know the fact that Malenia serves her brother Miquella as his general/personal bodyguard.
O'Neil i thought was a Radahn General
but it would make sense he is working for Malenia
seemingly unaffected by the Scarlet Rot, and he is in possession of Miquella's unalloyed needle he gave to Malenia to inhibit the Scarlet Rot.
it'd make more sense Malenia's higher ranking officers would be in possession of such an important thing after she removed it to Nuke Caelid, as opposed to a general of Radahn whom would be more concerned about their castl and their own Lord rather than an unimposing needle.
Imagine if you could somehow give the needle to general Radahn and it make him a bit more sane or something.
@@syn9669 that would be cool!
Also something I just realized... the altered banished knight helmet has a dragon on top of it. Seeing Godwyns affiliation with dragons and lightning this might be a small hint as well.
Another thing that I think reinforces this is the two banished knight ashes
One of the two knights dubbed the Wings of the Storm. Despite his banishment, he rejected the invitation of the Grace-Given Lord, instead keeping watch over a masterless castle for many years, gaining renown as a hero of the fringes.
One of the two knights known as the Wings of the Storm. After his banishment, he attracted the notice of the Grace-Given Lord
and later, having slain a hundred traitors as the Lord's hand, Oleg earned the hero's honor of Erdtree Burial.
Wings and storms reinforcing the dragon motif and the white hair/manes of the banished knights a symbol of Godfrey much in the vain of Radahns mane
isnt "grace-given" the moniker of Morgott though?
@@SophiaLilithUwU I think that’s is a fair point but if you take into account all of Godfrey’s kids. The one who would have been a grace given child would be Godwyn the Golden. Much like his father had to come from outside the graces touch
I don't think the storm is directly tied to the lightning of the ancient dragons. Every dragon cult incantation mention lightning but doesn't say anything about storm, neither they are labelled as such, on the other hand, the ashes of war labelled with storm don't have lightning whatsoever, instead looking more like wind control. And about the wings, I believe they could be referencing the hawks, which were the symbol of Stormveil, where this storm technique was probably born and where the stormlord lived
Commander Niall is such a badass, by far my favorite in Elden Ring.
It may have been brought up already, but pretty sure the seat of the sun was the beast man culture. The beastmen who live in death carry sun realm shields in Farum Azula
I think the soulless comrade may actually be Ensha - not the Ensha we encounter in the game, but the real Ensha, whose bones that person wears in his armor (i.e. the Royal Remains set).
The Royal Remains set description reads: "Armor graced with gold human bones... It is said that the bones belong to an ancient lord - the soulless king. The lord of the lost and desperate, who was known as Ensha."
I think the Ensha we meet in the game is specifically interested in returning to the Haligtree because he wants to deliver the remains of the real Ensha there, in order to complete some kind of ritual tied to the Eclipse. That's why he "gets ahead of himself", as Gideon puts it, and attacks you the moment you obtain the first half of the secret medallion. He's not REALLY working for Gideon. He has his own purpose in mind.
The presence of the Eclipse Shotel and the fact that it deals Death Blight, a status heavily associated with Godwyn, calls that theory into question.
@@MeanAndPristine I don't see why they're mutually exclusive. Godwyn and Ensha are both described as "soulless". It's possible that the denizens of Castle Sol were attempting, through Miquella's guidance (or perhaps in an attempt to win his favor) to call forth an eclipse to restore all soulless beings.
It's also possible that Sol was once the domain of Ensha and the Shotel was brought there because it was believed to be a key to whatever ritual they were attempting on site there.
@@entroponetics Well the Golden Epitaph item description actually recites a prayer from Miquella for Godwyn, praying that he “die a true death.” The Golden Epitaph blade also shows a depiction of the sun, and a corpse, namely Godwyn’s corpse, as the blade commemorates his death. There is never any mention of Ensha beyond his armor set.
@@MeanAndPristine Couple of things
1. The Golden Epitaph doesn't mention Miquella by name. And I would say the description leaves significant room for ambiguity.
2. Again, whatever affinity Miquella may have had for Godwyn doesn't rule out the possibility that Ensha, the Soulless King was also a comrade of his. After all, Ensha does get referred to as "The Lord of the Lost and Desperate", and Miquella's whole project with the Haligtree was to create a haven where those cast aside by the Erdtree (i.e. the lost and desperate) could flourish.
In many FROM games there are many ages with events, figures, and themes that mirror the more somewhat relatively recent and explicit lore events. Just like how the godskin apostles / nobles are insinuated to have a history and motive predating the events of the shattering and death of godwyn to indicate that, even before the erdtree was around, there were figures trying to bring about an age of death. So, Ensha's theming and and Miquella's mission aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. They describe a motive that has likely existed throughout an unknown amount of cycles and ages.
My theory is that the dead former master is actually Placidusax. Niall/O'Neil's set actually shares a lot with the Banished Knight set, in particular the feet and gauntlets, Niall actually commands Banished Knights too so there is a link established. The Veterans use storm arts, like banished knights, and as a comment here has pointed out, their stories parallel Oleg and Engavall's. Speaking of them, in the Japanese version, their title of wings of the storm is actually wings of the storm *lord.*
There is some confusion on who the Storm lord actually is but I make the case its placidusax, firstly we know Placidusax was elden lord, and the area he resides in is called the eye of the storm, so the title of Storm Lord makes a lot of sense for him. We also see Banished Knights and Stormhawks all over Farum Azula, and lastly I think we see Banished Knights use a more subdued, in-tune version of Dragon Communion which doesn't run the risk of turning into a Magma Wyrm, which tells me Banished Knights have a more intimate connection with Dragons, and use it with care. Like a shaman using ayahuasca vs a stoner using ayahuasca for an example.
I think with all the concrete connections between Veterans and Banished Knights, and the connections between Banished knights and Placidusax, I can safely assume Veterans served Placidusax at some point.
I love Elden Ring, but these lore videos are even better. Nice work!
Felt good using Bewitching Branches to turn Oleg and Engvall on Niall
It would be cool if we get a Goldwyn dlc where he’s brought back to life or we play in a memory (like Sekiro) where we get to kill him with the black knife assassins
We should get to explore the lands between in it's prime
I believe Godwyn will play an important role in the dlc, along with Miquella
Very interesting lore. Commander Niall is the commander of the Law.
Miquella also made a sword in memory of Goldwyn further showing their relationship
Also, I would’ve mentioned this on your Zamor Knights video had I known at the time, but the fact that the frost dragons used to inhabit the Mountaintops before being driven from their home by the Giants leads to another theory; the Zamor Knights are sworn enemies of the Fire Giants because they were formerly aligned with the frost dragons and/or Godwyn’s Dragon Cult.
There are a few consistencies to this theory;
1) their weakness to fire and lightning is consistent with other Dragon Cult incantations, as Dragonbolt Blessing makes the player weaker to lightning as “Only those loved by dragons can survive the ordeal of cladding their bodies in lightning.”
2) despite weilding frost abilites, they possess no catalysts. Their swords require no intelligence to weild. Their abilities are not from the snow witch like Ranni’s spells, rather, they are more similar to the kind used by the Banished Knights and their commanders. Their abilities are said to “channel the tempests of Stormveil” which was an ability taught by the dragons and as seen on the Storm Blade ash of war, emit the crest of Stormveil when used, much like an incantation.
Hope this was enlightening
But the fire giant war wasn't before the Ancient dragon one's ? It was Godfrey who fought in the first while it's said to be Godwyn who mostly faught during the dragon one
@@Sir-Pleiades Godwyn doesn’t necessarily have to be involved. There was a whole dragon Elden Lord at one point, the entire city of Farum Azula predates even Marika. Dragon worship began as soon as the beasts gained intelligence. Suffice to say it isn’t outside the realm of plausibility for a town in the Age of the Erdtree to be affiliated with the local dragons
Fell in love with his armor and he was damn durable enemy, even though had tree sentinel armor I adopted Nial LMAO.
He could be working with Miquella to bring Godwyn back to life as he Miquella did care for his brother he’s probably the most loving of the Demigods even to his half sibling
Great content! I can always expect a good video coming from you.
Thank you! We work really hard on the Elden lore series
The fact that O'Neil does not attack neither gets attacked by the cleanrot knights if yo lure the two together during their fight think also cements the theory that booth commanders at least had an alliance with the Halig tree forces
Melania and O'neil both have the Eclipse on their capes.
i like the theory not sure if its true but that Niall has a prosthetic and godrick has a storm stomp leg on the same leg that niall is missing
Man I feel dumb O’niel and Nial are two different guys. I thought they were the same guy . Great video learned some new things haha
This is a great theory and the shotel is a big hint that it might be true. I always thought Nial, O Neil and the exiled knights and soldiers were in league with miquella and Malenia but couldn't figure out how. This makes a lot of sense now... Miquella wants to save Godwyns soul, so they help him and fought with Malenia against Radahn. Their battle standart is seen and mentioned as Red, we know from Godricks banner in green and red, that the red part is the symbol of godwyns golden lineage! It also makes sense that some of the exiled soldiers choose to serve Godrick as the next in line and whom he trusts more than his regular soldiers, so that these are the only ones in stormveil. It actually seems that his regular soldiers tend to desert, as seen by the countless hanging soldiers , their count seems to be especially high in limgrave. It could also be that Godrick attacked Malenia on her march to Caelid because of that, hoping that the exiled knights that were marching with her turn to his side, because of his lineage.
I believe that multiple "Suns" exist and the one mentioned here specifically is The Greater Will.
So, in my view, Miquella's plan was that of either severing the GW's connection to the Lands Between or outright killing the GW.
My guess would be severing. He seems to of been one of them had good conscious about things, but don’t get sense based on what I know at least from lore bits here and there that he was out to harm anything, almost opposite.
Also see him as cosmic opposite to chaos flame, and the scarlet rot. Literally anti thesis in existence to concepts of destruction and corruption
There actually isn't a "sun" in elden ring other then the erdtree which gives the game all it's light. It's been shown using mods that in game you cannot actually find a sun
"Army of no nation."
Big Boss?
I think it is always important to remember that Miquilla and St, Trina are one and the same. St. Trina is a sort of dream walker version of Miquilla. Which means Miquilla is one of or was one of the most active gods in the world manipulating all who sleep not wasting his long slumber. I'm sure it's through St. Trina that Miquilla manipulated Mohgwyn to take his body and gain power and grown though the Formless Mother. While I think Godwyn the Golden was also the God of the Sun and trying to create eternal night ruled over by the moon Ranni killed him. in doing so killing the sun. However the broken mechanics of the world allowed Godwyn the Golden lord of the sun to live again becoming bound to death and allowing the sun to remain but weak. It it so hard to see the sun in the game and it is dominated by the moon. I don't think Miquilla has any problems with the Duskborn ending leading to death eternal for all because that doesn't oppose his new sources of strength and power. Aslo why there probably isn't a Age of Blood ending and Mohgwyn left part of himself to keep others form the Frenzied Flame. It was the only ending that wouldn't benefit from either Dream Walking or Blood.
@Not a weeb the quest is. However the link between the two of them still stands. In particular thier flowers.
I don't think Miquella intended Mohg to kidnap him, that was more of a plan by the formless mother, since even if the formless mother had chosen Miquella to be his new god, Miquella was clearly in opposition to her, the same way Malenia was fighting against the god of rot who had chosen her as his goddess
If getting Godwyns soul back is somehow connected to an eclipse of the sun, I wonder if Ranni and her age of stars has something to do with that as well, since a solar eclipse would of course, at least in our world, be caused by a moon.
Great video!
Nice theory!! There is one thing that's been bugging me lately tho - for some reason Niall's set has swirly horns, very similar to the Omen horns.. Just an interesting observation!!
okay wait bear with me. Was Godwyn the Champion of the Sun? I mean Rennala has the moon. And i could be wrong but i don't think we ever actually SEE a sun in game. Best i ever saw were light rays through clouds in the distance. I know what an eclipse is in reality, but there's no reason to assume its the same thing in Elden Ring.
But wow does all this speculation really make me excited! The amount of info this implies about Godwyn alone is so cool! (the video, not my random thought lol)
I heard that Niall and O'Neill are from a hidden cabin in the woods, they say it has the ability to make you fall asleep
so...one thing i am not seeing people mention....there isnt a sun in elden ring. Not in the sky. The light appears to come from the erdtree alone. I think that godwin was somehow the sun
Why does Niall’s helm (the veterans helm) the only one that almost mimics radahns helm…. And Oneil is in the aeonia swamp… gotta be a connection there lol
O'Neil is Niall's son. Their Irish names basically confirm this. they most likely both served Miquella as Castle Sol is directly tied to Miquella and O'Niel carries the broken needle. Fun fact, O'Niel also cannot be aggro'd by the Cleanrot Knights and vice versa.
Commander Gank squad Neil
I dont think o'nell served melania, his domain of scarlet rot stands from usindo de currupeted winds of calid, drawing rot from the ground, just like the knight of souls who draw cold winds to inflict frostbite
Curious, I passed Niall again a few days ago. And, based on the video, Maybe Niall and O'Neil serve Malenia and Miquella to bring Godwyn back. O'Neil seems more detached, since he is in Caelid, in what would be the "heart of the rot", he may have a link with Malenia.
I think the simplest answer is "O'Neil helped Miquella and Malenia in the Invasion of Aeonia, looking for the Rune of Radahn". Perhaps, the Empyrean twins' plan was to revive Godwyn as Miquella's consort/companion and merge the Great Runes so that Miquella would be the new Elden Lord.
I think he served general Radhan. The demigod has passed away virtually, and he wants to surpass him and put him to rest in respect. Radhan is souless too virtually due to rot. Also the most militarily influenced demigod is Radhan , he is not mentioned as a Hero or champion, it is General Radhan, so logically he is the one with lieutenants and generals under him.
Radahn is not soulless though. The scarlet rot took his mind, not his body or soul. Consistently Godwyn is refered to as the soulless demigod, also, as far as the lore states, Miquella and Radahn do not have any kind of relationship.
Imagine Godwyn being a DLC boss and every attack inflicts Death because lore.
Huh. Great work. I was always under the impression both Niall and Oneil served (or descended from those who served) the ancient Stormlord, due to their command over wind, exiles and banished knights. However this theory makes more sense when the eclipse shotel and ghost lines are included.
It wouldn’t be out of the question to suggest that Banished Knights and Exiles that are at Stormveil were also part of Godwyn’s army, as I’m fairly sure Stormveil used to belong to Godwyn based on the presence of his corruption there.
Godwyn was done dirty as hell
Man F- the black knives and Ranni
Yeah for real with the black knifes but I don’t think Ranni intended for Godwyn to die. Marika was also involved in the Night of the Black Knifes, Ranni simply forged the knife. She’s clearly not as in control as she wants to think, Iji ends up getting killed by Black Knifes, Blaidd ends up going completely insane and she doesn’t even get what she wants unless you decide not to forge the Elden ring and don’t become the Lord of chaos.
He strikes me as a WWE wrestler thrown into Elden Ring
Not me who thought o’neil and neill were the same person
I believe the banished knights and exiled soldiers once served the ancient empire that was there before the Erdtree, the one of the stormlord, since they all weird the storm as well, and since those are the ones who serve Niall and O'Neil and the armor of their commanders is similar to theirs, I believe they also once served that empire, but after the fall of their empire the commanders went on to serve Godwyn
They wanted to eclipse the sun maybe with the moon and the moon could mean they were working with ranni
Yo this is a great video! I didnt know any of this but it makes a lot of sense!
Thank you! Spread the word haha
Amazing video, thank you!
This is my main for role playing and PvP it’s a strength build with full veterans with giant crusher and turtle shell on back his name is veteran havokk and he’s a banished knight commander who has returned to the lands between after becoming tarnished and waging war in far away lands he returned after seeing the guidance of grace to become Elden lord and help bring order to a war torn world and bring natural death to warriors who crave it. Build is 60 vigor 66 strength 52 endurance with giant crusher turtle shell on back 2 curved swords and auto crossbow
Found the commanders cool especially the way they suck the air around them and throw it back at you.
O'Neal is another aspect of Niall. This sort of duality is common in Elden Ring.
The meaning of their names points to a father-son relationship. There definitely isn't enough info to assume that one is an aspect of the other.
I forgot which weapon it was the the description says something along the lines of miquella giving a prayer for Godwyn which states "oh brother oh Lord please die a true death
I heard he summons wasps to those will long black hair...
Another interesting point here is that if you translate o'neil from irish into english it means "grandson of niall".
We can across this too! It didn't speak directly to the story we were telling but it's a really cool tidbit none the less
@@square-table-gaming It could mean something given the influence of Celtic mythology in elden ring
I wonder what's the connection of the eclipse and moon that rennala gazed upon in the mountain top of the giants.
The greathood armour description talks about a "burial" of some sorts and randomly just name drops rennala's name by the end quote.
Holy shit, I told a guy with the same last name and he was impressed. Also from what I was told by him O'Neil can mean "grandson of Neil' as well, just like Riddlie said. Edit: He also said he knows an O'Neill and those with different variations. From what he told me is the spellings are from different "branches" of Neil from blood relations and adoptions. Jokingly he also said the family trees are mostly bullheaded but with a large heart. That I can confirm. Edit 2: I found something that is connected to Godrick and Neils, you might want to look at there familiy crest and the story behind it.
O' means son of when speaking about Irish names
Interestingly for the commander O’Neil fight we can summon Pollyanna to help us with that fight, I suppose to help her sister Millicent. So makes me wonder did we really work for Maleina and how the sisters knew he had it?
It's likely that the sisters were looking for the needle and just discovered he was the one who picked it up
This guy killed me more times than Malenia
This was great
Thank you!
Others have mentioned I think, but the name Niall is pronounced is identically to Neil (i.e., it's a homophone of "kneel"). As always, this was a wonderful video and I appreciate the in-depth research that went into this lore deep dive!
No, he's pronouncing it correctly. It's a common name in Ireland
It really isn't, he is one of the few that pronounces it the correct way as someone in Ireland would have.
No
I always wished that instead of being a weapon Commander’s Prosthesis was a unique armor piece that provided little to no defense but imbued your attacks with lightning.
Niall looks a bit like the cut knight boss from Bloodborne
A pain in the ass. That’s what he is.
this video is funny if you think of it as what Niall does around the castle when hes bored. just goes around defeating his comrades
"you'd serve me better as a ghost" "wha?" *bonk*
@@square-table-gaming hahahaha
woah this is neat!
+1sub
This is my first fromsoft game and I'm fully invested
He definitely serves Miquella
Very informative
What I don't get is how eclipses are even a thing in a world without a sun
sol is sun in most Scandinavian languages. just a bit of food for thought
Here's my theory, Godwyn is Miquella and Malenia's father. Niall is O'Neil's father, and O'Neil is a servent of Malenia. Exile Soldiers and Banished Knights once served Godwyn but were cast out after his death as failures for not being able to protect their lord. As to why they don't serve Miquella or Malenia directly, they already have servents in the form of Cleanrot Knights and Bell Bearing Hunters, both of which answer to Malenia, Blade of Miquella. Which to me translates to Malenia being Miquella's right hand servent who is in debted to him for helping prevent her illness a.k.a. the scarlet rot. Miquella and Malenia I believe are also responsible for both versions of Erdtree avatars, normal ones born of Miquella's power and the putrid ones corrupted by Malenia's rot. The Shattering was triggered due to Godwyn's death which was caused from Ranni stealing the Rune of Death from Maliketh, enabling the Night of the Black Knives. Radahn was Ranni's father and brother of Radagon, who I believe secretly caused the Night of the Black Knives but used the Elden Ring's power to erase any connection he had to it and taking on the guise of Queen Marika. This action shifted the blame to his brother Radahn, which lead to his showdown against Malenia. After the fate that befell Radahn, his other brother (or father) Rykard turned against the Erdtree creating the blasphamous faction of the Volcano Manor. The after events of the Shattering however Radagon sealed himself inside the Erdtree still in the guise of Queen Marika, playing as a god while the rest of the world was left to it's devices.
He's kicking my ass right now, I can't even kill his summons. On my last playthrough I one shot him with comet azur so I guess it's karma for me .
I'm sure this can easily be disproven, but I actually think O'Neil is apart of Godrick's army. He summons Exile Soldiers, and of course has the Banished Knight-like armor. Both of these enemies are very common in Stormveil, and it says his lord retreated. Knowing Godrick he'd 100% do something like this. I'm also fairly sure that if his lord was Malenia the game would refer to her as "lady".
Also I think this explains his wind attacks. I guess they've been tainted by scarlet rot.
This might've been covered in the video though.
My only question would be, why would godricks army be at the battle between malenia and radahn?
@@square-table-gaming Yeah I don't have an answer. I thought a bit about this. I guess it'd be one of those things to disprove the theory.
@@square-table-gaming Could be because Malenia beat Godrick at stormveil before coming to Radahn. I heard that the context of Godrick insulting Malenia was because of her passing trough his lands with a army to reach Caleid, idk if this is true or not. Would explain why both of them are able to summon exiled soliders.
Edit: but i still think that O'Neils lord is still Malenia since the term was ''was fled'' not ''did flee'' or something like that, so its saying she was carried away, im pretty shure ive heard that women bear the title lord in some other situations aswell, even during real history.
you've done it, you've made the bad take
Great vid.😺
For some reason he reminds me a lot of Champion Gundyr, and that's why I enjoy his fight more than Malenia or any other main boss (except maybe for Radahn).
Better Call Sol
Now explain why we wake up in farum zula after Melina burns the erdtree, and why we wake up in leyndell after dark flames burn farum azula
Because the only way to truly burn the tree is to unleash destined death. We are transported there as part of melinas plan. Anyone who commits a cardinal sin is sent to farum azula. We're teleported back down to leyndell because it's the seat of the erdtree. Again, likely melinas will putting us where we need to be.
Really interesting that these commanders could have served Godwyn. Both the commanders and banished knights seem to have some connections to dragons via their armor and abilities, and Godwyn began the dragon cult
So from everything we've found and evidence presented by our audience, the banished knights likely served the storm lord. It seems Niall recruiting the banished knights was coincidental due to the descriptions in the veterans set. He recruited knights who were captured.
It be scary if there were a god of rot ending that gets triggered if you use rot to kill too many main story bosses. As I say this as a way to have consequences for cheesing too many bosses so far the main story bosses are the easiest in the game. I'd rather fight Godrick and the first boss at the same time then fight the Gargoyle duos or Astel because fuck those bosses
nice moonveil (points down)
Sometimes. After fighting a boss for the 4th time. You just wanna wreck them.
6:00 I think that's a typo and is supposed to say felled rather than fled
It's possible, but technically neither was felled as they both survived
@@square-table-gaming unless his master was indeed Godwyn in which case he was
@@somebodyoncetoldme5203 Cleanrots and O'Neill coded to not attack each other.They are buffing each other and attacking to you together.They are allied with Malenia.
How do you think Niall learned wind magic? Could he have affiliation with banished knights before he served demigods?
A lot of theories place him as the leader of the Storm Kings army
@@square-table-gaming that's what I thought, but I didn't know for sure. Do you think there were more generals that died during Godfrey's invasion?
@@kaptinkanoodle5039 most likely but no one of note
@@square-table-gaming thanks for answering my questions, I just have one more (keep in mind, I don't know much about the lore). I know Radahn was big on honor, so why did he accept O'Niel? You would think that Radahn wouldn't accept someone whose nation fell, and chose self preservation instead of dying with honor to protect his homeland. After all, what would prevent him from deserting if the redmanes fell.
@@kaptinkanoodle5039 he didn't, O'Niel fought for Malenia's side. We know this because he carries the unalloyed gold needle. Also, if you keep in mind that he's surrounded by cleanrot knights, it would make sense they don't attack their own. It's likely O'Neil is the son of Commander Niall, who fought for Miquella which furthers this line of thinking.
This comment section easily tops reddit thread. Well done guys 👏🏻
What is exactly the soundtrack you use ? i cant remember in which zone I heard it
It's the character creation screen
Interesting..🗞
Anyone know what song the bgm is?
It's the character creation music!
Unfortunately, I can't find the proof right now, but the description of the weapon says (in the Japanese version) that his master did not escape, but died. So it wasn't Malenia. I'm sure he, like the exiled soldiers, served Storm Lord
Someone else posted the translation and it does not say they died. It only says, "the Lord is no longer here"
@@square-table-gaming I was wrong, it's not in the description of the weapon, but in the description of the helmet. Now I'll explain: Niall could really serve Malenia (or rather, I think he served Miquella). But he is the commander of the exiled knights who served different masters after the death of their lord. But considering that they all possess storm magic, they were originally StormLord soldiers. Then they could serve and Miquela, and even Godwyn (Niall controls the lightning)
@@maestrrsantarael6590 oh yeah, the banished knights could have served the Stormlord, but in the description of the prosthetic leg, we learn he made his army out of captured knights, so he isn't associated with the Stormlord, just the knights he recruited
I'm just leaving a comment for the algorithm
Always appreciated
@Square Table Gaming anything for you my friend
It’s quite simple. He was a POS boss that spawned two mobs that are almost as annoying as he is.
skill issue?
Boy
Yeah I cheese this boss and I thought I would feel bad after the backstory but no still one of the most annoying boss in the game
Comment for statistics 🤌
Always appreciated
Weird
The second worst boss fight ever made in a souls game. That's who he is. I would rather fight the bed of chaos over and over rather then fight him or the god skin duo.
But the Prince of Death is Maliketh….
The prince of death is Godwyn. Maliketh is not actually a prince. While he is considered Marika's "brother" he is not royalty, he's a shadow like Blaidd.
Malekith is not an prince of death, sure he wields the rune of DESTINED death but that doesn't make him an prince of death,