4:10 I think it's clear to me now. It's not that the runes are only in the physical eye, as represented by the gold in the iris. But they are also in the "third eye" or "inner eye". Which is a concept introduced in Bloodborne as 'eyes on the inside'. The symbol in the preceptor's mask, and lusat's and azur's crown thing are also representing the third eye.
It certainly reframes Ranni's ending - the Age of Stars, which if people are memories and memories are runes and runes are stars and stars are runes then the Age of Stars means the Age of People. But it's also interesting that Ranni says the opposite - that she intends to put "certainty" away, that the Age of Stars - the Age of Meaning would also equal going into "doubt" and "loneliness" which is the opposite, especially the loneliness part which implies solitude, the lack of attraction etc. It's kinda like the end of a Big Bang? if the Elden Ring contains within it all the meaning, if the Tree has a monopoly of memories then what Ranni does is essentially scatter all that memory and meaning and matter, creating distance? i suppose there can only be stars when the sun is below the horizon so maybe there can only be people when the gods have set
Good job, it's a story full of plot holes, inconsistencies, and contradictions, yet some in the lore community want absolute certainty and consistency from you entertainers who tell us good stories.
@ I think what it might imply is the removal of personhood from stars. The law of regression basically states that we are stars, if we are star dust and we yearn to return to stars and Ranni brings about this age, perhaps it is the removal of personhood and consciousness and faith. All of these are impossible for stars. The reside there in the epic expanse of darkness which some might call fear, doubt and loneliness. Others may call it wonder.
Fantastic stuff. You and Infa have been redefining so many things I thought I knew about this game years after its release, and I can't get enough of it. Really glad Vaati shouted you out in the Rauh video, because the content you make is fantastic and more people need to see it. Keep it up!
Gamers getting introduced to Hermeticism through Elden Ring is the best part of the 2020's Thank you Nameless and friends for these magnificent breakdowns.
1:50 Didn’t finish watching the video yet, but immediately got thinking that if that’s true then artificial stars of eternal cities are probably created from the souls of their citizens 🤯
That's totally fascinating, because i dont think there is any life whatsoever in the eternal cities. if you look closely especially at Nokron, you cannot summon torrent ( a spirit animal) while within Nokron, but you can when you reach the ancient ruins just after defeating the mimic tear, which i do not think is a coincidence. Within the eternal cities, all you find is silver life, and the monks who tend to their holy sites. Even the plants, if you want to look at the vines and bushes, are silver for the most part. These places are devoid of life, the true inhabitants long dead, only being mimicked by the formless silver or have abandoned the obsession with silver and mimicry to become followers of the ancestral spirit, in order to survive, inverting their ways and seeking to rejoin the cycle of life and death by divesting completely the technology and sophistication that doomed their predecessors. The idea that the Nox sacrificed themselves in a vain attempt to create a night sky is pretty wild, but would totally fit the sort of dead-end theme of their culture. i always love the feeling of insight and connection when thinking about this game, this is a really interesting one!
Amazing! You made so much connections not just in game but between cosmology and neuroscience, and your personal life experience and way of thinking about the nature of consciousness. Very excited for more black hole theory! Hoping this video gets more traction, and able to pull more people in with its gravitational influence far and wide.
I hope it does too 😭 I am making a Reddit post and tweaked the thumbnail/title, which may help. Even if not, I will advertise this video in all future videos because I LOVE IT. This video was like, THE video for me. One of the big ones for me. Realizing that our brains are energy and we function akin to the stars not only made me feel more connected with the universe, but has opened up my mind to new possibilities to how we interact with reality. Fun quantum ideas and all that.
10:39 This explains the whole bigger = stronger = more runes dropped trend in ER. It also aligns with that old Greek idea that things have become smaller and weaker over time (like how the Giant -Crusher describes humans becoming feedble over time). It *also* explains why Radahn got so much bigger with his Great Rune. More runes = more mass
yeah I wonder if we need to grow in size in order to become larger vessels for more runes. Like how one needs bigger and bigger pots to fit more water/soil, that kinda thing. I am down with this trend. And great point about the Radahn connection. I KNOW he fits into all this something crazy but I haven't totally cracked the code yet. His gravity swords have the gravity sigil and in the middle it kinda looks like a Rune/Fire Giant's Eye.
This is so wild... like, I know as humans we like patterns and connections to make sense of things that may not be clear or tangible to us, and I often wonder how much of these deep lore explorations and theories are from us just craving meaning. However, as you've proven in your work, I can't imagine this is all coincidence and accidental from the developers, right? There's just too many connections and logical building blocks that all seem to fit together. It's almost unbelievable that a game studio and team of artists and developers could all work together with such a perfect vision on a world so complex and deep as to have entire careers built upon deciphering and theorizing on the intent and meaning. It's truly incredible! Thanks for another amazing video!
I think that Mitizaki just starts with basic ideas, and then not outright stating things but instead giving cryptic hints through different mediums gives it a deeper feeling of depth than is actually there.
This also echoes the jar process, especially the Hornsent, by amassing together people in order to create a grander soul, or a Saint or God. I also straight up called Ymir Carl Sagan when I met him in game for the first time.
This is good as hell. I think you're spot on with the connection between regression (law) and regression (math), especially when the Elden Ring itself is also lines that describe everything. Really like the many connections of the word "pull."
Some of this reminds me of Tron Legacy. When Quorra gets damaged, Flynn pulls up a little screen where he can see her code. And it's like DNA. He gets rid of the damage and then it repairs itself. The Runes are programing language. The Great Runes are complexly written and powerful programs that can alter both the people wielding them, and the physics of the world.
yeah that's why I like the "runes are memories" so much. because what is software/code but structures of memories loaded into RAM? our brains are the same way. our memories are stored in the hard coded structures of neurons, but then loaded into "consciousness"/"RAM" when we access those memories.
Lord of Chaos, Supernova a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star. Maybe the Greatsword of Damnations barbs held together Midra's body preventing him going supernova and/or his last evolutionary stage. The original object, called the progenitor, either collapses to a neutron star or black hole, or is completely destroyed to form a diffuse nebula. Chaos being the "progenitor" of these big cosmic phenomena. maybe.. who knows, haha!
scum mage infa wasn't lying, as I saw in his new video that you were releasing a new video it was up within 30 mins! Very excited to finish watching both
To add to the whole 'Third Eye' symbolism -- Godwyn being a 'lifeform' whose soul has been cut away, there's a strange hole / growth above the eye holes of their 'bodies' wherever they appear, in Stormveil, in the Nameless Eternal City, and in the cadaver surrogates in the Shadow Catacombs
Oh yeah hmmm totally. I will need to look into this more and try and figure out what is missing. If it's legit just a hole then that supports that it symbolizes that his soul is missing. I will look at the places you suggested and if I find relevant stuff I will be sure to give you credit. Thank you for the info!
that note about the preceprots hat and mask at 12:42 is Brilliant because in the game and in reality, each individual mind is the exact center of the universe
Excellent video. Truly monumental work. Runes also look like tree slices, with the larger runes resembling older trees with hollow insides. They also look like eyes, irises included. The Erdtree indeed is a tree of memories, but also a tree of vision, as it seems from Boc's dialogue that he cannot actually see the golden Tree. The golden Tree (not the woodden part) seems to be similar to phantoms, the Seed descriptions also say it's an Illusory Tree. We can also see that only characters with Golden Eyes can see the Guidance of Grace, with other characters clearly saying they cannot see the trail. And yes, it's also tied to Stars. The Elden Beast clearly shoes a cosmic motiff.
This video is so satisfying on so many levels to watch! Thank you for your fantastic work! My mouth was agape when you showed the "Cosmos" clip because me and my fiancé binge-watched the series and both was convinced the whole show had inspired so many of the themes in the game. We both had had a wonderful trip the day before inspired by Albert Hoffman so no wonder the connection :)
Cosmos is actually AMAZING and it totally holds up, even so many years later. I knew I needed the Carl Sagan clip in here. Because it conveys the WONDER of all of these things. I was also pleased that I was able to include the Miriel AND Ymir quotes at the beginning and end. Everything came together quite nicely :')
I would love it if the light around the rune is what milena says while you are leveling up when she is around... "Share them with me, Your Thoughts, Your Ambitions, The Principles you would follow" also "grant us eyes" from bloodborne could also tie into it. Cheers
There is an incredibly strong chance this is my favorite video I’ve ever watched. As a science/math/fantasy nerd I can’t say I’ve ever been so inspired. Incredible work friend 💪🏻
In my interpretation, different masses having different, but simular nature's is due to the different experiences (memories / runes) that make up all the parts of the whole mass. A Lord of Frenzied flame is made of experiences of suffering. A mass of sorcerers is made of experiences of learning A Lord of Gold is made up of experiences of pride and conquest. And the one great would be if you made a mass including all experiences / memories / knowledge / runes. This interpretation is helped along if you agree that to be a "Lord" is to have collected enough mass. (mass being synonymous with runes, memories, experiences, suffering, knowledge, ect.. All things contained within the mind.)
Once again an amazing video!!! This one was very well scripted and so easy to understand! I was a bit worried that it would be harder to follow but my goddess you explained it so well. This might be my fave video so far!!! I was legit sad when it ended, I could listen to this for hours. I especially loved the personal experience and mentions of other articles on real world studies. As always loved listening to you and your pacing is so perfectly done ♥ Great video!
"so easy to understand" 😭🥲 I'm so happy. I tried so hard. For how complicated of a video it was, the fact that it came across as easy to understand is the BIGGEST compliment. Thank you.
@NamelessSingerEldenRing I can always tell you put a lot of care into your videos! For how new you are at this, I love seeing you getting better and better ♡
I always thought that Elden ring was somewhat an allegory of the microcosm/macrocosm theory that basically says that truths about the nature of the cosmos as a whole can be inferred from truths about human nature, and vice versa. This video just proved me right
I believe the same thing. 100%. I didn't get too into the microcosm/macrocosm stuff in this essay but that's the basic gist. Before we can totally prove the micro/macrocosm we need to better understand the nature of the Greater Will/etc.
@ I love so much how you focus your lore essays into the metaphysical principles that rule everything and then build from there. Also the details you’re able to gather for all of us omg
And I put my like, comment and subscribe into this video. Really excited to hear that this is part of a series. I've always wondered why black holes seem to be so prominent in this game, and I too had resigned myself to "The rune is an eye", but no. More black holes. You're on to something here, and I'm excited to hear what it is. Regression and causality. Truly fascinating concepts.
Yes, Scum Mage Infa phrased it well in his latest video "the Black Hole is the ultimate form of regression", and I think this is exactly it. Using the black hole as that interpretation, we can make sense of a LOT of ideas in the game. That is what I hope to explore with the series as we continue. But they'll be uploaded whenever I am able to get to them. We also need to return to the architecture!
absolutey brilliant. As someone who has a burgeoning interest in psychology, neurology, anthropology and basically anything related to the human experience, this was fascinating.
Thank you!!! I got new shaders from ReShade v.6.3.3 and it made the BIGGEST difference (the Colorfulness shader is everything). I also put a LOT of effort into this video because I wanted this one to be like a movie.
15:57 all phenomena are epiphenomena. consciousness emerges atop a delicate synphony of phenomena, that themselves emerge from the interactions of other phenomena. 'energy' is just a word we use for all sorts of things, a word without a clear definition and as such one without meaning 'the mind is energy' just like poop is. the significant thing is the cascade. the pattern. the shape. the structure of the phenomena that beget the epiphenomena at the peak of their interactions Is elden ring the wires and electricity in the console? or is is a complicated high order process that only ever emerges when the exact synphony of interacting phenomena allow it to? Great stuff Nameless
Whether or not this is true, what IS true is that Runes inhabit the eyes. This is stated explicitly in 1.0 with the gift of a Lands Between Rune. It is further corroborated by Leda's Rune in the dlc. This is also why our eyes change depending upon how much we "taint" ourselves with the rituals and powers of various factions (Blood, Frenzied Flame, Dragon Communion, etc.) This, too, is reflected in the Great Runes we get from the demigods. Rykard's Rune is influenced by the Great Serpent. Malenia's is infected by the Scarlet Rot. Etc. Since Runes are, in fact Grace, they are "visions" that pull us in various directions, much like how stars were thought to guide people in the past.
yeah so as someone else pointed out, in Bloodborne they introduce the concept of "inner eyes", which is your third eye. That is why there is so much forehead Rune/star symbolism. So everything I talk about the brain I should have gone more into the Third Eye = Brain stuff in this video, but I was saving it for next video and I didn't realize that so many people were so big on the "Runes are Eyes", since for such a long time now for me the Rune = Soul/Brain. We'll dive into the "Runes are Eyes" thing waaaaaaay more in the next video.
@NamelessSingerEldenRing well, for me the themes of being led by Grace, and the Runes being made of Grace, and the overall notion of "Marika's Vision" makes more sense for the literal eyes with which everyone normally sees, but I suppose it could be a Third Eye, especially since Astel has a giant Eye growing out of his forehead and it is like a Rune with the colors inverted. Astel's smaller eyes are melted, too, I suppose, not unlike how Hyetta's eyes melt when we give her the Frenzied Flame (opening her Third Eye, I guess). I just do not know why they would go through so much trouble to show the Scarseals and Soreseals and Messmer's Eyeseal if Runes had nothing to do with the lesser eyes. Leda's Rune even states that Miquella gave it to her to put in her eyes to replace the faded color of her eyes. And I get the Bloodborne references, especially with the Lanterns and their heads being abloom with Shabriri grapes (eyes). Meanwhile I think From really mangled their own lore when they cut out the dlc elements from the base game and shifted things around to accommodate the surgery. For instance, the Realm of Shadow is callsd Tenebrae in vers 1.0, which makes a lot of sense, but it was dropped. In vers 1.0 the Bewitching Branches are said to have been made using magic that Miquella himself created, too, and Miquella was named "Scion of the Vision", meaning he was likely to be a rival to his mother. This would also explain why he made the Haligtree and why Radagon gifted him Loretta as his personal guard. St Trina would have likely factored more heavily in the story and her Third Eye would have been more pertinent to the story as the Cradlesong (linking her to the GEQ and Godskins). As she is, she is an afterthought and Miquella is not so interesting.
wtaf, this is the DEEPEST goddamn video and its about a fuggin video game. Brava! literally 10 seconds in and I feel like you revealed a secret of the universe lol.
This game has revealed many secrets to me, and this is one of them! One of my biggest reasons for doing RUclips is to share some of these perspectives with others 😊
The difference between the Elden Lord and the Lord of Frenzied Flame's singularity is stability. The Elden Lord's gravitional pull is a stable one that provides the mass shadow structure required for a stable reality to exist. Their singularity is like the Sun in our solar system providing the gravitionl center required for the other planets to rotate around. The Frenzied Flame's singularity is an unstable one that tears apart the mass shadow stability so that nothing can remain intact. The fundemental intrinsic fields seperating objects collapse and objects return to the undifferented quantum foam all things once spring from.
yes it definitely has something to do with this. stability. I don't know enough about physics to phrase it that well. Like what makes something stable vs. unstable? what causes the breaking of the FF's singularity vs. the Elden Lord's? Suffering is connected to Frenzy and from what the DLC goes into, it seems like suffering is related to "twisting". I am working on a theory that the "twisting" of the black hole/gravitational center causes more pull, but when the twisting gets out of control, you get Frenzy. I think part of the stability is in the outer ring around the Runes. the golden ring that we see around Golden Rune [1] for example. What do you mean by "mass shadow structure"?
@@NamelessSingerEldenRing One of the key components of this level of physics is harmonics. Both the physical and metaphysical sciences understand that the key to manifestation of reality is vibration. All objects from atoms to stars vibrate at specific frequencies which create waves within the fluid structure of quantum foam. These vibrations shape the foam into specific forms that then attract matter to them to form the material objects we perceive. This vibrational structure is what I refer to as the mass shadow, though I think the more popular but less accurate term is Dark Matter/Force. In order for objects to exist together, they must vibrate within a narrow range of compatible frequencies. In other words they must exist in literal harmony. If the frequencies do not exist within harmony, this dissonance will tear the structures apart. This is the difference between the harmony once created by the Elden Ring with the God and Lord as its Vessels projecting this once harmonic resonant "song" and the Lord of Frenzied Flame who projects a chaotic disruptive dissonance designed to break down the structure of reality back into formless Chaos. As for the runes, they are a manifestation of the vibrational structure of each object. Think of them as the 3D and 2D representations of the 4+D structure of the mass shadow created by vibration.They are the energetic DNA shaping a portion of formless Chaos into an individual object with its own intrinsic field seperating it from all other objects. "That which distinguishes and divides". This is the fracturing of the One Great by the Greater Will into the world as the Tarnished perceives it. This is also what provides consciousness as the first stage of self-awareness is to ability to distinguish one's self from the rest of the world. The mass shadow structure, the runic structure, is the container for this individual consciousness that arises from this separation. When the Tarnished destroys an individual object ranging from a radiant skull to the Elden Beast itself, the intrinsic field collapses and the energy contained formerly contained within the runic structure of the now destroyed object and is consumed by the Tarnished to increase the strength of their own runic structure. The stated goal of Marika is for the Tarnished to increase their runic strength to the point where they can contain the Elden Ring safely as the new Elden Lord and once again broadcast the Elden Ring's vibrational "song" containing the rules of reality the Ring imposes on the Lands Between and restore the Lands to a functional - if not pleasant - state of being. Of courses the Tarnished can subvert Marika's stated goals and use their new runic strength to destroy the Lands Between's vibrational mass shadow with the dissonant frequencies of the Frenzied Flame. This is the twisting that you refered to. As the Elden Ring's song is no longer broadcasting a harmonic signal, the Lands Between have been reverting back to the primal Chaos from which it and all things emerged from. In-game this manifests as the Frenzied Flame. The "flame" in reality is the manifestation of this chaotic primordial original energetic state of existence the One Great existed within as best as the Tarnished can perceive it, just as the runes are the manifestation of the organized and Ordered vibrational pattern that gives an object their individual shape. The Flame twists the runic structure through dissonant vibrations into distorted and corrupted version of their previous selves. This why people afflicted by the Flame go mad. Their consciousness within the now twisted runic structure is in great pain. When external trauma twists a once healthy consciousness into a pain ridden one, the process happens in reverse. Their now trauma damaged runic structure no long is in harmony with the rest of the objects within the Lands Between and now resonates with the chaotic energies of the Frenzied Flame and becomes its Vessel. A Vessel that attempts to accelerate the heat death of the Land Between to end its pain. There's a lot more I could go into if you are interested, including what this means for the Age of Stars, if you want but this isn't the best platform for long form entries. I have a X/Twitter account with my direct messages open called Raven Delacour if you'd like to continue this conversation.
My brain, soul, and Rune are truly united in bliss when both Nameless Singer and Scum Mage post a video in the same day. 🖤 All of your videos are so well thought out and insightful.
at a certain point I found myself thinking, man I feel like "Alpha" by Vangelis would hit so hard right now...then you literally end by referencing Cosmos!
Idk, the analogy of "your brain is hardware, your consciousness is software" is precisely the antithesis of "you are energy". Energy, be it electricity or any other form, is either potential or material. Consciousness is the pattern of electricity, not the electricity itself. Consciousness is an emergent property of the specific *ordering* of that electricity through space and time, not the electricity itself.
For another analogy, a chair is not a chair because it is wood. A chair can be wood, plastic, metal, etc... The important part is the shape, the arrangement. A working clock can be analog, digital, made of a multitude of materials and mechanisms, or even be an idealized clock in a thought experiment. The important part is how it moves in a specific way through time. Consciousness is the same kind of deal.
Yeah you're not wrong, and I could have emphasized this more. But the point of that analogy was to say that consciousness is not exactly this hard, physical thing, but something more "magical". Less "earth"-like and more "water"-like or "light"-like. To emphasize that consciousness is something that flows through us, through the structures of our neurons, not something that is like, static and unmoving like a concrete building. Like you said "how it moves in a specific way through time." For this video, we just needed to establish something real basic, which did involve sacrificing some of the details.
Really fantastic video! Overall I agree with your analysis, there's just a sticking point for me in the leap from "law of regression" to our experienced reality. Though this is likely out of scope for the video. While the mechanics of regressive networks are part of the orderly workings of neurons, to say that is the behavior leading to our internal experience is missing a few steps. There are mechanics such as suppression at play to direct these networks, chunking and layers of abstraction that enable efficient usage of the network resources, etc. Really, this is to say that the step which is missing is emergence. Our experience is not an average of inputs, more of an integral. The information network produces a system of higher-order complexity and novel behaviors thanks to the density of interactions within it. The "output" is more complex relative to our "input". Our lives are fractal-like, expansive and infinitely detailed. We may "experience" a world with three dimensions and time, but we are compact, dense bursts of entropic energy, forever unfolding and expanding. A singularity in our eyes is quite the apt metaphor in many ways. To stop the analysis at the law of regression fits the video, though it doesn't feel like it has a spiritual impact without the connective tissue that takes it all the way to human consciousness. That may be just me. It seems that we likely agree on the mechanics anyway. Have a good one!
I am totally down with the "emergence" aspect of what you said. That is what I was trying to convey with the notion of the layer getting into more and more "complex meanings", but it would have been sublime if I had used the word "emergence". But also this was a SUPER complicated video that covered SO MUCH and I had to leave some details on the cutting room floor in order to just get through everything and not have the video be too long. Because it already seemed dense. I think I will eventually do a "The Theory of Consciousness Hidden in Elden Ring" video that will mainly focus on the back half of the vid and get into more detail
😭 🥲 You know there are some effects you won't realize you have on the world, and this is one of the unexpected ones, but also one of the most lovely I have heard. I wish you the best of luck and jolly cooperation as you journey together through the Lands Between!!!
Your videos are amazing because you present such original ideas that the other lore tubers couldn't think of. Nothing of the math and concepts you presented in the video are boring. Your videos are must watch in the lore community now with the likes of Tarnished Archeologist, unlike that hack jack is a mimic
Thank you so much. I am really glad that the math wasn't boring, some people just don't like it, so I tried to dress it up with animations and pretty pictures as much as I could. it seems I was successful! Thank you for the comment.
@ it was worth the wait. What a heartfelt and beautiful narrative! Plus, I got to hear someone same “principia” properly like a dozen times! 😂 Seriously tho - great work. Compelling for the lore community. Enjoy the accomplishment and take your time!
So thought provoking!! Quelaag talked about ER relating eastern and western alchemy, especially the transmutation of elements into gold and the neidan 'inner alchemy' of self-perfection. Your noting that gold is forged within stars (inside our heads!) really solidified that for me. Also, idk if this was in fromsoft's set of references, but Bakhtin's semiotics leans heavily on the idea of "centrifugal" and "centripetal" functions, where a text wants to bring things (ideas, readers, meanings, other texts) closer together to convergence in the former and yearns to differentiate itself and others in the latter. The interplay between them is dialogic and creative. Another instance of physics-ish ideas being related to meaning, and for me resonated with regression/causality, or e.g. Miquellas quest to differentiate himself in a new universal order that nonetheless converges to his mother's mistakes. Thanks for the video!!
OMG this is an amazing analysis!!!! Connecting fantasy to science my nerd brain just exploded. Plz keep it up, this is my first vid of yours and I am so happy I found it!
I stopped watching lore videos out of despair, as after the DLC released they became incredibly stale. All anyone talked about for months after SOTE was the stupid jars. There were so many interesting things going on that no one was talking about and I became frustrated. This video is the first one I have watched in awhile and it's a total breath of fresh air. This is a super interesting theory and I can't wait to hear more about in your future videos. Well done, it's really great! It seems like these new, smaller channels popping up might be the ones to finally crack this game wide open.
I think the whole lore discussion surrounding Elden Ring has been kinda shit until recently tbh, with channels like this, Firelink Conspiracy and Scum Mage Infa finally starting to put it all together into a coherent picture. I wont name names but so many of the bigger lore channels seem content to just keep rehashing the same surface-level info and aren't trying to go deeper
Great video. I feel like the lore community oscillates between the rune icons looking like the cross section of a tree or the iris of an eye. The interpretation you laid out is new to me but I love the evidence you put together. Keep it up!
@@gudmundur-heimisson i definitely underestimated how much the community is about the Runes = Eyes idea. So I'm making the whole next video all about that and we'll investigate it more :)
Excellent video . I would like to add a small observation and the mythological tradition to it, as all things can be conjoined : First , when the game starts we can observe outside that sometimes crucifixion leads the rune of a body to drop to earth. I think this is marikas punishment. She gets slowly extracted her rune, and as such, Radagons body is partially shadow and brittle and thus the next gravitational step is meeting the Beast of the Tree as we shattered the vessel of Radagon. Second : Elden Ring also represents two concepts in mythological / religious tradition. The old pagans used predominantly straight lines to explain concepts, the monotheistic tradition uses mostly circles. The rune of Ing represents earth or the meditating god with Is as a straight line as ice or stagnation as a different defining angle , and combined it branches out in different variations, expressions . The idea of intersection is also represented in for example the christian tradition with two circles intersecting becoming the pisces ichthys (or in the astrological tradition : Pisces). Note that in the dlc we find Marika in the shamans village inside a tree, sitting... like Ing.A tree is like Is in a way. As our souls fall to earth , it becomes a rod, a young tree, aiming upwards as it tries to connect. In the snowy areas of Elden Ring we see ghost trees and the symbol of the rod and the cultivation of trees is quite omnipresent in the lore and statues. Consequently , one tradition (the giants) is primordial, fiery and of cloth (as such was an important tasks by women in nordern countries , which made value by the craft of knots and sewing, or destiny weaving in a grandious context) meets a new one , the observation of patters that we already know on the outer sphere - this is what you demonstrate in the video. Or as described in the esoteric traditions, as above so below. I suspect that the flame of frenzy represents partially what happened in ww2. Before that war the wheel of fortune was a very normal public symbol of happiness, spread among all cultures, as the sun is blessing and the basis of Deus (Zeus, Ziuwari, Sunfather). During and after the war the wheel was now seen as a wheel of frenzied anger, of brutality. Likewise depending on the region you research mythology and religion, we can find historically speaking two different interpretations of the sun : In regions with winter, the sun is grace, nurturing. In deserts, the sun is a tyrant, an unrelenting all consuming tyrannical force. Looping back to the testament : Here the tyrannical father becomes the graceful light. If you observe the saturation , the golden order is not fully saturated. It has a balance and a mercy to its force, despite its tendency to slip into tyranny . The flame of frenzy is a full saturation. A blistering , screaming burning yellow. It is too much of its own nature.
To add to that : Light can be warm and give us Vitamin ...D in Reaction, or harmful radiation and all colors, harm and benefit are the spectrum of that light depending . In Elden Ring, Saturation and color represent those qualities and tendencies as other videos analysed. Ironically this also represents Game design. We split the colors up to make up qualities. If we observe it long enough, it all bleeds into each other once we think how lets say blue can be water, and mist and crystals, and so can be brown, which is earth, crystal and metal. The more we try to make up a game design system and look at the real world, the fuzzier it gets. Miyazaki took that conundrum and expressed it in all its variety and intersections through the variation of hues AND saturation. That is why the unseen mother has the vericious primordial bleed effect, yet when it fades it gives still birth to life, but one that is full of rot and alien form. I believe the female anatomy is underanalysed in this context as it is clearly seen that Miquella stole something out of someones giant..female form in the dlc story video online. Marikas nebulous shape of somethign swirling could also be that. Something both resembling the female genitalia , cloth, and flower at the same time. Interestingly enough, flowers biology is quite like Radagan / Marika and of course her/his village is full of flowers. Everything can be conjoined. T his is from a mythological standpoint also one of the oldest reappearing conflicts between cultures, often internally . The order of the dream/cosmos dragon / female matriarch ruling through drugs , sex and selection and the order of rebellion / new order / logic ruling through observation, war, and sexual mischief (seen in Wodans and Zeus escapades with women for example). If we observe god as something like a (Lotus !) flower, this means those rythms are inert to god, there is no conflicting culture war, only emanations of god confusing and fooling people for the ways a normal human usually does not understand as the rythm and nature of god is different. There is also mythology saying that man and women were once one conjoined being, then torn apart, and thus always in pursuit of each other (externally, or sometimes internally). This goes hand in hand with the idea in kabbalah where they saw god as something different than the original primordial nothing and nothing-nothing, eventually splitting (FALLING) into materia and principles, or in some cases, into something dark.
There is also a possible anthropological spin. A male in old times was more likely to observe the MOVEMENT and POSITION of stars for seafaring and navigating during a long hunt. Women of course observed the sky as well , but it was imho more likely that they observed the influence of the PHASE of the Moon (cough) to understand the growth of plants, orientation of the year for rituals or maybe even to track their own fertility (speculating there). Of course as time went on those roles mixed up, such as astrologers of egypt probably already went through several religious revolutions since times old or nowadays having plenty of women in Space.
This is a great example of how much the Lands Between's world works in a surprisingly similar fashion to the real Universe. The backstory of Dark Souls also reflects the "Big Bang" and the formation of consciousness in life forms, so this is definitely not the first time From Soft have been inspired by real science and history. Marika becoming God made the whole world revolve around her. In this case the phrase can be used almost literally!
Love this comment and I agree with ALL of it. I really believe there is a grand unified theory hidden in here. and I LOVE this line: "Marika becoming God made the whole world revolve around her." Saving this line and hope to be able to reference it in a future video!!
Filth creatures/entities: Aaanimaa, Animaaa!!!" Emma/Anima: "What do you want? I'm so small... you eat stars..." Filth creatures/entities:"You are all made of stars..." - Game: The Secret World
There's a finger maider in the game that goes on about how me the tarnished can now see the Great Erd Tree! She says it in a way that implies not everyone can see it. Or I wasn't always able to see it. The giant golden tree in the middle of everything. Can you see it now Tarnished? We all aren't as old and blind as you finger maiden!
I ADORE this video (it was a default win since it was you who posted it but regardless) so eloquently put and such a masterpiece visually ❤ I was thinking while watching your video and the purple nature of gravity that it is funny how sleep is purple as well and sleep, as we see with St Trina, is as close as you can get to death in a land without it. (And the mercy she granted those seeking death that I imagine awarded her the title of Saint). Sleep is just a smaller rune on the journey to the lords rune /souls black hole (of death). So death is essentially a black hole for your soul, and both the gloam eye of destined death, hue of ghostflame which burns away death, and st strina / sleep also both also being purple just makes me more sure 😂 That causality spell and the idea of it being a black hole in the middle was GORGEOUS, you KNOW why I would love that imagry. So glad you also have posted that representation of the runes now, its been living rent free in my head. In terms of runes being the accrued meaning thus soul if the individual, I would say that meaning is derived from their EXPERIENCE (as is ours).... so.. EXP 😅😂 PS So runes are brains, we are brain eaters and we come back from the dead so tarnished are star zombies confirmed. Amazing watch ♡
Stars fall or shine leaving glintstones and starlight shards. Then the people interact with them and become sorcerers tempted into more power... they amass. The star seeds return to the sky completing the cycle or is this how the Nox gave up their souls to create false night skies?
In the image of Rykard being eaten by the snake, the snake is chomping down right where Rykard's rune would be, too. Just another observation that supports this.
I think that creative folks like GRRM & Miyazaki, as well as others at Fromsoft, use these games as vehicles to discuss "the big questions". After all, they are humans like us who think about these questions, and they have a huge platform with which to not only put out their ideas, but to offer us a language of visuals, text, and references which allow us to discuss these ideas as a community. There is so much mythology, religion, and philosophy in these games, and these big questions are what THOSE fields discuss. Why not a video game as well? 😊
Oooo love this. So to piggyback off this “what if runes are stars and eventually black holes aka voids” logic: what if the “arcs” the literal line of light is visually the moment of the Big Bang happening, and that’s why it’s such a holy “rebirth/creation” symbol often wielded by faith builds.
I love astronomy and architecture and history so much to be blessed with a video game, of all mediums!, to properly confront and convey all these different -ologies in the maze that is the lore of the world it’s created….baffles me every time. Ffs there’s stuff in here a marine biologist would find fascinating! Elden Ring is a game about the universe and everything in it….Truly a masterpiece of our time and I’m honestly just blessed to live at the same time as it…and black holes…, and Carl Sagan and JWST and the first picture of a goddang black hole, GOD, I just. I just really love this game. And all the fans who continue even years after release to explore its story fully, with the dedication and academic analysis it deserves. You, scum mage, kitetales, Quelaag & Tarnished Archaeology have cracked this games lore wide open it’s incredible to think so many ppl set this game down and forgot about it by now 😅 like combat is barely a blip on my radar as far as what this game offers you….(anyways have a good New year❤)
I saw this RUclips video about string Theory. It was about how there are things called “cosmic strings”. I revisited the first trailer and you see the same strings of light around the erdtree. I actually think Radagon made fixing the Erdtree worse. Honestly I think they wanted to create a weapon out of it. The trollhammer says that hammers are divine and the act of using them is a divine rite. Anyways, in the DLC it’s a lot and I mean a lot of weapons from parts of people or a person head. Marika is someone crated from occult practices. So that’s really what the whole “roots are spoiled and it falls on the mom”. Marika is such a tragic character just trying to figure things out and be created into life. The missing braid is noticeably in basically all her artwork. It finally makes sense where it is. I was looking at videos about gods left and right hand. Marikas/Radagon left half is broken off in the boss fight. That’s the part that uses holy energy. The first trailer shows us Radagon trying to “fix” the Elden ring. You see one shot of the hammer being held with two hands from an angle looking up and you see the hammer with the strings of gold. You see Marika holding the hammer with both hands. It was so many things in the base game and what we first saw that is shown in the DLC. We never thought why one of her braids was cut. We know now.
It's a good analysis. Japanese anime, manga and games almost always have the same logic. Energy can turn into matter, matter can turn into energy. Whether you call this energy chakra, chi, ki, soul or spirit, it is all the same thing. For example, Naruto makes rasengan with his own chakra, that is, he materializes it. Or Dante defeats Cerberus and takes his soul, and that soul becomes a weapon in Dante's hands.
yes, this is exactly what I was getting at with the "electricity is energy" thing. it's chi, ki, soul, spirit. Exactly what you said. And the whole universe is made of the same stuff.
I may be anticipating your next/a future video, but the talk of stars, gravity, and consciousness popped 3 words into my head: Sir Roger (mafakken) Penrose. He's the IRL mathmatician/theoretical physicist/friend of neuroscientists doing to the leg work for the Mxyzptlk Conjecture: that imagination IS the 5th dimension. I'm now SUPER curious as to whether microtubules are represented somewhere in the game, either/both asset design-wise and/or via a parallel in the plant/tree world.
I was watching some videos about this while I was making this video! I would love it if the 5th dimension is imagination. I really like to think so. I do buy the quantum consciousness theory, and this video is definitely getting at that without going all the way there. Maybe in another video. Love the comment, thank you.
Yeah I definitely did not figure out everything about this. The "flame flowing outward" could also be a supernova. Going to look more into this for the future, for sure.
13:01 what’s interesting is that silhouette *also* looks like the gravity well you mention earlier in the video. The first thing I can’t get out of my head now is just the basic fact that Radahn had a mastery of Gravity magic, which dovetails nicely into this theory. The second is that I believe it’s established that the Lands Between is cyclical, with a new Age being the start of a new cycle. The lifecycle of (at least massive stars) is also very cyclical, starting with a nebulous cloud of gas and dust and ends in a supernova that results in new clouds of dust and gas. Now for the crackpot theory; one of the final stages of that massive stars is a Red Giant. Which, conveniently enough, is a fitting description for Radahn. So what if the lifecycle of the Lands Between parallels the lifecycle of a star? What if, and maybe I’m missing something, the fusion of an incorporeal being like Miquella and a red giant like Radahn causes the supernova that ushers in a new cycle? To throw fuel on this crackpot fire, the lifecycle of a star that isn’t massive ends in them becoming a white dwarf and burning out. Which feels (sort of) applicable to Godfrey who went from being a Lord to becoming an old grey Tarnished. And for one last spritz of fuel on this conspiratorial fire, what if the Lands Between is called that because these are the lands that exist *between* Ages?
@NamelessSingerEldenRing yeah, when I heard you say it, I looked up to see what's it's definition was. Found more about newton, so thanks. Fascinating how you randomly learned and implemented into elden lore. Lol cool, love ya work. Excited for more. Thanks
You mentioned the lord of frenzied flame and i think you may have overlooked that a bit especially when it came to the discussion of the law of regression. In the lore, the frenzied flame wants to burn everything back into one, and after this video, i think the conscious design choice to have the black hole at the center of the burning “head” tells that it may be a paragon or personification of the law of regression, forcibly pulling everything back into one, similarly to how a real black hole forces everything into its own singularity. The discussion of creation of heavier elements brought another interesting thought, any element heavier than iron cannot be formed by a star under normal circumstances, fusing iron is the death sentence for a star, anything heavier must be created by a supernova in which the star collapses in on itself when the energy produced from fusion reactions cannot push back against the stars own gravity anymore leading to the creation of a neutron star, or black hole if the star is massive enough. While i feel this is important to the games lore and possibly to the lord of frenzied flame, i find myself stretching for meaning here, but keep coming back to the lord of frenzied flame for the meaning to this. While it could indicate that the frenzied flame seeks to collapse everything in on itself as it believes doing so the frenzied flame and greater will can be recreated into the one great, if we use the supernova as a foil, there are always two outcomes, neutron star or black hole, as is the case with the flame’s goal it succeeds and becomes the one great again, or purges everything and still fails.
Heres another thought i had that was more an interesting addition not as related to my original comment (at least i think its not related let me know what you think). Quasi-stars are a theoretical star types that houses a black hole at its core rather a standard stars fusion reactions. While this is not a proven fact, it has been used to in models to better understand the earliest formation of the universe and possibly how the supermassive black holes found at the center of galaxies were originally formed. If my connection between the frenzied flame and supernova was a stretch, connecting this back to the lore seems even more challenging and less likely to produce anything beneficial, so i will be leaving this there.
1.0 description for I believe Carian Sovereignty states that it 'imbues the weapon with rune energy' This strengthens the idea that star stuff is runes, and runes are life. I think in Elden Rings world, life is found in almost anything, given enough of the right combination of rune energies. Gold or glintstone/blue or gravity/purple, even death can sprout life in this world. Such is the way of the living
I've felt that people have not thought about the role of runes enough and you're one of the few who have drilled down on this topic. Myself, I usually look to ancient Egypt first and they used to call gold the body of the gods, with silver being their bones. The sun god, Ra was sometimes also called a mountain of gold. Ra was also the god of the power of the pharaoh and the white casing stones on Egyptian pyramids were made to reflect the sun back, often making them look god. So I can see how a mountain of apparent gold could be a good symbol of pharaohic power. Turn to the Norse and their talk of runes. To them, runes were seen as very much essence of existence or maybe like the assembly programming language of fate. So here is a segment from an article on how Odin discovered the runes and I think you will find a lot of compelling if not direct parallels. Odin’s Discovery of the Runes At the center of the Norse cosmos stands the great tree Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil’s upper branches cradle Asgard, the home and fortress of the Aesir gods and goddesses, of whom Odin is the chief. Yggdrasil grows out of the Well of Urd, a pool whose fathomless depths hold many of the most powerful forces and beings in the cosmos. Among these beings are the Norns, three sagacious maidens who create the fates of all beings. One of the foremost techniques they use to shape fate is carving runes into Yggdrasil’s trunk. The symbols then carry these intentions throughout the tree, affecting everything in the Nine Worlds. Odin watched the Norns from his seat in Asgard and envied their powers and their wisdom. And he bent his will toward the task of coming to know the runes. Since the runes’ native home is in the Well of Urd with the Norns, and since the runes do not reveal themselves to any but those who prove themselves worthy of such fearful insights and abilities, Odin hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil, pierced himself with his spear, and peered downward into the shadowy waters below. He forbade any of the other gods to grant him the slightest aid, not even a sip of water. And he stared downward, and stared downward, and called to the runes. He survived in this state, teetering on the precipice that separates the living from the dead, for no less than nine days and nights. At the end of the ninth night, he at last perceived shapes in the depths: the runes! They had accepted his sacrifice and shown themselves to him, revealing to him not only their forms, but also the secrets that lie within them. Having fixed this knowledge in his formidable memory, Odin ended his ordeal with a scream of exultation. Having been initiated into the mysteries of the runes, Odin recounted: Then I was fertilized and became wise; I truly grew and thrived. From a word to a word I was led to a word, From a work to a work I was led to a work.
4:10
I think it's clear to me now. It's not that the runes are only in the physical eye, as represented by the gold in the iris. But they are also in the "third eye" or "inner eye". Which is a concept introduced in Bloodborne as 'eyes on the inside'.
The symbol in the preceptor's mask, and lusat's and azur's crown thing are also representing the third eye.
You nailed it. This is the perfect explanation
I put my brain, soul and Rune into this one. I hope you enjoy.
Watching this gorgeous masterpiece. 💜☕️
It certainly reframes Ranni's ending - the Age of Stars, which if people are memories and memories are runes and runes are stars and stars are runes then the Age of Stars means the Age of People. But it's also interesting that Ranni says the opposite - that she intends to put "certainty" away, that the Age of Stars - the Age of Meaning would also equal going into "doubt" and "loneliness" which is the opposite, especially the loneliness part which implies solitude, the lack of attraction etc. It's kinda like the end of a Big Bang? if the Elden Ring contains within it all the meaning, if the Tree has a monopoly of memories then what Ranni does is essentially scatter all that memory and meaning and matter, creating distance? i suppose there can only be stars when the sun is below the horizon so maybe there can only be people when the gods have set
Nice work. Thank you.
Good job, it's a story full of plot holes, inconsistencies, and contradictions, yet some in the lore community want absolute certainty and consistency from you entertainers who tell us good stories.
@ I think what it might imply is the removal of personhood from stars. The law of regression basically states that we are stars, if we are star dust and we yearn to return to stars and Ranni brings about this age, perhaps it is the removal of personhood and consciousness and faith. All of these are impossible for stars. The reside there in the epic expanse of darkness which some might call fear, doubt and loneliness. Others may call it wonder.
Fantastic stuff. You and Infa have been redefining so many things I thought I knew about this game years after its release, and I can't get enough of it. Really glad Vaati shouted you out in the Rauh video, because the content you make is fantastic and more people need to see it. Keep it up!
Gamers getting introduced to Hermeticism through Elden Ring is the best part of the 2020's
Thank you Nameless and friends for these magnificent breakdowns.
1:50 Didn’t finish watching the video yet, but immediately got thinking that if that’s true then artificial stars of eternal cities are probably created from the souls of their citizens 🤯
@@pupely 🤯
...which would explain all of the horrified skeletons looking up to the sky down there.
That's totally fascinating, because i dont think there is any life whatsoever in the eternal cities. if you look closely especially at Nokron, you cannot summon torrent ( a spirit animal) while within Nokron, but you can when you reach the ancient ruins just after defeating the mimic tear, which i do not think is a coincidence. Within the eternal cities, all you find is silver life, and the monks who tend to their holy sites. Even the plants, if you want to look at the vines and bushes, are silver for the most part.
These places are devoid of life, the true inhabitants long dead, only being mimicked by the formless silver or have abandoned the obsession with silver and mimicry to become followers of the ancestral spirit, in order to survive, inverting their ways and seeking to rejoin the cycle of life and death by divesting completely the technology and sophistication that doomed their predecessors. The idea that the Nox sacrificed themselves in a vain attempt to create a night sky is pretty wild, but would totally fit the sort of dead-end theme of their culture. i always love the feeling of insight and connection when thinking about this game, this is a really interesting one!
Love it. It's also fun because in ASOIAF the Dothraki have a belief that when you die, you become a star in the night sky.
Amazing! You made so much connections not just in game but between cosmology and neuroscience, and your personal life experience and way of thinking about the nature of consciousness. Very excited for more black hole theory!
Hoping this video gets more traction, and able to pull more people in with its gravitational influence far and wide.
I hope it does too 😭 I am making a Reddit post and tweaked the thumbnail/title, which may help. Even if not, I will advertise this video in all future videos because I LOVE IT.
This video was like, THE video for me. One of the big ones for me. Realizing that our brains are energy and we function akin to the stars not only made me feel more connected with the universe, but has opened up my mind to new possibilities to how we interact with reality. Fun quantum ideas and all that.
10:39 This explains the whole bigger = stronger = more runes dropped trend in ER. It also aligns with that old Greek idea that things have become smaller and weaker over time (like how the Giant -Crusher describes humans becoming feedble over time).
It *also* explains why Radahn got so much bigger with his Great Rune. More runes = more mass
Oooh snap, this makes sense
yeah I wonder if we need to grow in size in order to become larger vessels for more runes. Like how one needs bigger and bigger pots to fit more water/soil, that kinda thing. I am down with this trend. And great point about the Radahn connection. I KNOW he fits into all this something crazy but I haven't totally cracked the code yet. His gravity swords have the gravity sigil and in the middle it kinda looks like a Rune/Fire Giant's Eye.
This is so wild... like, I know as humans we like patterns and connections to make sense of things that may not be clear or tangible to us, and I often wonder how much of these deep lore explorations and theories are from us just craving meaning. However, as you've proven in your work, I can't imagine this is all coincidence and accidental from the developers, right? There's just too many connections and logical building blocks that all seem to fit together.
It's almost unbelievable that a game studio and team of artists and developers could all work together with such a perfect vision on a world so complex and deep as to have entire careers built upon deciphering and theorizing on the intent and meaning. It's truly incredible! Thanks for another amazing video!
I think that Mitizaki just starts with basic ideas, and then not outright stating things but instead giving cryptic hints through different mediums gives it a deeper feeling of depth than is actually there.
This also echoes the jar process, especially the Hornsent, by amassing together people in order to create a grander soul, or a Saint or God.
I also straight up called Ymir Carl Sagan when I met him in game for the first time.
This is good as hell. I think you're spot on with the connection between regression (law) and regression (math), especially when the Elden Ring itself is also lines that describe everything. Really like the many connections of the word "pull."
The word "pull" was the key to unlocking the secrets! I 100% believe in the regression-math direction. It all just makes so much sense
Some of this reminds me of Tron Legacy. When Quorra gets damaged, Flynn pulls up a little screen where he can see her code. And it's like DNA. He gets rid of the damage and then it repairs itself. The Runes are programing language. The Great Runes are complexly written and powerful programs that can alter both the people wielding them, and the physics of the world.
yeah that's why I like the "runes are memories" so much. because what is software/code but structures of memories loaded into RAM? our brains are the same way. our memories are stored in the hard coded structures of neurons, but then loaded into "consciousness"/"RAM" when we access those memories.
you make your upload day feel like a second birthday nameless singer
:') thank you. I'm pretty proud of this one, I hope you enjoy
Lord of Chaos, Supernova a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star. Maybe the Greatsword of Damnations barbs held together Midra's body preventing him going supernova and/or his last evolutionary stage.
The original object, called the progenitor, either collapses to a neutron star or black hole, or is completely destroyed to form a diffuse nebula. Chaos being the "progenitor" of these big cosmic phenomena.
maybe.. who knows, haha!
@@MicK4HB I like the supernova idea!! I kinda like that more than the black hole but because the flames are flying out and away from the FF head
scum mage infa wasn't lying, as I saw in his new video that you were releasing a new video it was up within 30 mins! Very excited to finish watching both
I am SCUM mage Infa not LYING mage Infa 😂❤
Cheers to Scum! We have become good friends
To add to the whole 'Third Eye' symbolism -- Godwyn being a 'lifeform' whose soul has been cut away, there's a strange hole / growth above the eye holes of their 'bodies' wherever they appear, in Stormveil, in the Nameless Eternal City, and in the cadaver surrogates in the Shadow Catacombs
Oh yeah hmmm totally. I will need to look into this more and try and figure out what is missing. If it's legit just a hole then that supports that it symbolizes that his soul is missing. I will look at the places you suggested and if I find relevant stuff I will be sure to give you credit. Thank you for the info!
Mighty Nameless, thou’rt a trueborn heir.
Lend me thy lore, o kindred.
Working on it ASAP!
Every video you post is so insane in the best way!
🥲 thank you. I tried really, really, hard on this one especially.
@@NamelessSingerEldenRing It definitely shows.
This is fascinating. Never thought of the black hole/star aspect of the runes, but it makes sense
Fantastic work, Nameless! Blown away by your revelations!
that note about the preceprots hat and mask at 12:42 is Brilliant
because in the game and in reality, each individual mind is the exact center of the universe
Excellent video. Truly monumental work.
Runes also look like tree slices, with the larger runes resembling older trees with hollow insides.
They also look like eyes, irises included.
The Erdtree indeed is a tree of memories, but also a tree of vision, as it seems from Boc's dialogue that he cannot actually see the golden Tree.
The golden Tree (not the woodden part) seems to be similar to phantoms, the Seed descriptions also say it's an Illusory Tree.
We can also see that only characters with Golden Eyes can see the Guidance of Grace, with other characters clearly saying they cannot see the trail.
And yes, it's also tied to Stars. The Elden Beast clearly shoes a cosmic motiff.
Damn. Tree slice - excellent catch!
Wow, I did not expect to have my concept of the universe shift from just watching an Elden Ring lore video, but thank you for that!
🥲 😁 😊 This is exactly what I was hoping for!!!
I wonder if any fromsoft devs watch these yt lore videos and think "damn how did they figure out that reference"
They probably thinking "Lol, it's just a hole, wth are these theorists drinking?"
19:48, I might be reading too heavily into it, but the shape runes make before they become heroes looks a lot like the Erdtree design in incantations.
This video is so satisfying on so many levels to watch! Thank you for your fantastic work!
My mouth was agape when you showed the "Cosmos" clip because me and my fiancé binge-watched the series and both was convinced the whole show had inspired so many of the themes in the game. We both had had a wonderful trip the day before inspired by Albert Hoffman so no wonder the connection :)
Cosmos is actually AMAZING and it totally holds up, even so many years later. I knew I needed the Carl Sagan clip in here. Because it conveys the WONDER of all of these things. I was also pleased that I was able to include the Miriel AND Ymir quotes at the beginning and end. Everything came together quite nicely :')
1 minute into the video and im already hooked i love when you post
Another video, another pure gold. You really did become my favorite loretuber. Incredible work!
Thanks so much!! I will hopefully be getting out more vids soon for you to enjoy!
I would love it if the light around the rune is what milena says while you are leveling up when she is around... "Share them with me, Your Thoughts, Your Ambitions, The Principles you would follow"
also "grant us eyes" from bloodborne could also tie into it.
Cheers
@@vashsinn173 love the Bloodborne reference. I gotta look deeper into that for sure for the next video. Thanks for the tip!
There is an incredibly strong chance this is my favorite video I’ve ever watched. As a science/math/fantasy nerd I can’t say I’ve ever been so inspired. Incredible work friend 💪🏻
🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲 this makes me so happy, thank you!!!!
This is brilliant. You are an absolute gem in the elden ring lore community. I look forward to your future output. Keep it up >:0
🥲 I shall
we are eating good today with the lore videos
and becoming bigger and stronger
In my interpretation, different masses having different, but simular nature's is due to the different experiences (memories / runes) that make up all the parts of the whole mass.
A Lord of Frenzied flame is made of experiences of suffering.
A mass of sorcerers is made of experiences of learning
A Lord of Gold is made up of experiences of pride and conquest.
And the one great would be if you made a mass including all experiences / memories / knowledge / runes.
This interpretation is helped along if you agree that to be a "Lord" is to have collected enough mass. (mass being synonymous with runes, memories, experiences, suffering, knowledge, ect.. All things contained within the mind.)
Once again an amazing video!!!
This one was very well scripted and so easy to understand! I was a bit worried that it would be harder to follow but my goddess you explained it so well. This might be my fave video so far!!! I was legit sad when it ended, I could listen to this for hours. I especially loved the personal experience and mentions of other articles on real world studies.
As always loved listening to you and your pacing is so perfectly done ♥ Great video!
"so easy to understand" 😭🥲 I'm so happy. I tried so hard. For how complicated of a video it was, the fact that it came across as easy to understand is the BIGGEST compliment. Thank you.
@NamelessSingerEldenRing I can always tell you put a lot of care into your videos! For how new you are at this, I love seeing you getting better and better ♡
I always thought that Elden ring was somewhat an allegory of the microcosm/macrocosm theory that basically says that truths about the nature of the cosmos as a whole can be inferred from truths about human nature, and vice versa. This video just proved me right
I believe the same thing. 100%. I didn't get too into the microcosm/macrocosm stuff in this essay but that's the basic gist. Before we can totally prove the micro/macrocosm we need to better understand the nature of the Greater Will/etc.
@ I love so much how you focus your lore essays into the metaphysical principles that rule everything and then build from there. Also the details you’re able to gather for all of us omg
And I put my like, comment and subscribe into this video.
Really excited to hear that this is part of a series. I've always wondered why black holes seem to be so prominent in this game, and I too had resigned myself to "The rune is an eye", but no. More black holes. You're on to something here, and I'm excited to hear what it is.
Regression and causality. Truly fascinating concepts.
Yes, Scum Mage Infa phrased it well in his latest video "the Black Hole is the ultimate form of regression", and I think this is exactly it. Using the black hole as that interpretation, we can make sense of a LOT of ideas in the game. That is what I hope to explore with the series as we continue. But they'll be uploaded whenever I am able to get to them. We also need to return to the architecture!
IDK how but i shed a silver tear to this one 🤍
I did too 🥲
absolutey brilliant. As someone who has a burgeoning interest in psychology, neurology, anthropology and basically anything related to the human experience, this was fascinating.
You and I share some very similar interests. Glad you enjoyed!!!
This is one of the nicest looking lore videos I've seen, really nice shots!
Ahhhh the color balance is so on point isn’t it?
Thank you!!! I got new shaders from ReShade v.6.3.3 and it made the BIGGEST difference (the Colorfulness shader is everything). I also put a LOT of effort into this video because I wanted this one to be like a movie.
15:57
all phenomena are epiphenomena.
consciousness emerges atop a delicate synphony of phenomena, that themselves emerge from the interactions of other phenomena.
'energy' is just a word we use for all sorts of things, a word without a clear definition and as such one without meaning
'the mind is energy' just like poop is. the significant thing is the cascade. the pattern. the shape. the structure of the phenomena that beget the epiphenomena at the peak of their interactions
Is elden ring the wires and electricity in the console? or is is a complicated high order process that only ever emerges when the exact synphony of interacting phenomena allow it to?
Great stuff Nameless
oh, and ER was made by Fingers.
Fascinating! Amazing work! Also, regarding runes being eyes but also being the soul -- eyes on the inside!!
YES THIS IS TOTALLY IT!! I wish i had put this in the video!! I will for one of the next ones!
Whether or not this is true, what IS true is that Runes inhabit the eyes. This is stated explicitly in 1.0 with the gift of a Lands Between Rune. It is further corroborated by Leda's Rune in the dlc. This is also why our eyes change depending upon how much we "taint" ourselves with the rituals and powers of various factions (Blood, Frenzied Flame, Dragon Communion, etc.) This, too, is reflected in the Great Runes we get from the demigods. Rykard's Rune is influenced by the Great Serpent. Malenia's is infected by the Scarlet Rot. Etc. Since Runes are, in fact Grace, they are "visions" that pull us in various directions, much like how stars were thought to guide people in the past.
yeah so as someone else pointed out, in Bloodborne they introduce the concept of "inner eyes", which is your third eye. That is why there is so much forehead Rune/star symbolism. So everything I talk about the brain
I should have gone more into the Third Eye = Brain stuff in this video, but I was saving it for next video and I didn't realize that so many people were so big on the "Runes are Eyes", since for such a long time now for me the Rune = Soul/Brain. We'll dive into the "Runes are Eyes" thing waaaaaaay more in the next video.
@NamelessSingerEldenRing well, for me the themes of being led by Grace, and the Runes being made of Grace, and the overall notion of "Marika's Vision" makes more sense for the literal eyes with which everyone normally sees, but I suppose it could be a Third Eye, especially since Astel has a giant Eye growing out of his forehead and it is like a Rune with the colors inverted. Astel's smaller eyes are melted, too, I suppose, not unlike how Hyetta's eyes melt when we give her the Frenzied Flame (opening her Third Eye, I guess). I just do not know why they would go through so much trouble to show the Scarseals and Soreseals and Messmer's Eyeseal if Runes had nothing to do with the lesser eyes. Leda's Rune even states that Miquella gave it to her to put in her eyes to replace the faded color of her eyes. And I get the Bloodborne references, especially with the Lanterns and their heads being abloom with Shabriri grapes (eyes). Meanwhile I think From really mangled their own lore when they cut out the dlc elements from the base game and shifted things around to accommodate the surgery. For instance, the Realm of Shadow is callsd Tenebrae in vers 1.0, which makes a lot of sense, but it was dropped. In vers 1.0 the Bewitching Branches are said to have been made using magic that Miquella himself created, too, and Miquella was named "Scion of the Vision", meaning he was likely to be a rival to his mother. This would also explain why he made the Haligtree and why Radagon gifted him Loretta as his personal guard. St Trina would have likely factored more heavily in the story and her Third Eye would have been more pertinent to the story as the Cradlesong (linking her to the GEQ and Godskins). As she is, she is an afterthought and Miquella is not so interesting.
wtaf, this is the DEEPEST goddamn video and its about a fuggin video game. Brava! literally 10 seconds in and I feel like you revealed a secret of the universe lol.
This game has revealed many secrets to me, and this is one of them! One of my biggest reasons for doing RUclips is to share some of these perspectives with others 😊
This is some damn fine critical analysis, Nameless. Well done! I can't wait for the rest of the series.
We'll get there bit by bit!! I wish i had out "the black hole theory" in the title page, but i forgot hahaha
That was amazing! Love the way your brain works!
The difference between the Elden Lord and the Lord of Frenzied Flame's singularity is stability. The Elden Lord's gravitional pull is a stable one that provides the mass shadow structure required for a stable reality to exist. Their singularity is like the Sun in our solar system providing the gravitionl center required for the other planets to rotate around. The Frenzied Flame's singularity is an unstable one that tears apart the mass shadow stability so that nothing can remain intact. The fundemental intrinsic fields seperating objects collapse and objects return to the undifferented quantum foam all things once spring from.
yes it definitely has something to do with this. stability. I don't know enough about physics to phrase it that well. Like what makes something stable vs. unstable? what causes the breaking of the FF's singularity vs. the Elden Lord's? Suffering is connected to Frenzy and from what the DLC goes into, it seems like suffering is related to "twisting". I am working on a theory that the "twisting" of the black hole/gravitational center causes more pull, but when the twisting gets out of control, you get Frenzy.
I think part of the stability is in the outer ring around the Runes. the golden ring that we see around Golden Rune [1] for example.
What do you mean by "mass shadow structure"?
@@NamelessSingerEldenRing One of the key components of this level of physics is harmonics. Both the physical and metaphysical sciences understand that the key to manifestation of reality is vibration. All objects from atoms to stars vibrate at specific frequencies which create waves within the fluid structure of quantum foam. These vibrations shape the foam into specific forms that then attract matter to them to form the material objects we perceive. This vibrational structure is what I refer to as the mass shadow, though I think the more popular but less accurate term is Dark Matter/Force. In order for objects to exist together, they must vibrate within a narrow range of compatible frequencies. In other words they must exist in literal harmony. If the frequencies do not exist within harmony, this dissonance will tear the structures apart. This is the difference between the harmony once created by the Elden Ring with the God and Lord as its Vessels projecting this once harmonic resonant "song" and the Lord of Frenzied Flame who projects a chaotic disruptive dissonance designed to break down the structure of reality back into formless Chaos.
As for the runes, they are a manifestation of the vibrational structure of each object. Think of them as the 3D and 2D representations of the 4+D structure of the mass shadow created by vibration.They are the energetic DNA shaping a portion of formless Chaos into an individual object with its own intrinsic field seperating it from all other objects. "That which distinguishes and divides". This is the fracturing of the One Great by the Greater Will into the world as the Tarnished perceives it. This is also what provides consciousness as the first stage of self-awareness is to ability to distinguish one's self from the rest of the world. The mass shadow structure, the runic structure, is the container for this individual consciousness that arises from this separation. When the Tarnished destroys an individual object ranging from a radiant skull to the Elden Beast itself, the intrinsic field collapses and the energy contained formerly contained within the runic structure of the now destroyed object and is consumed by the Tarnished to increase the strength of their own runic structure. The stated goal of Marika is for the Tarnished to increase their runic strength to the point where they can contain the Elden Ring safely as the new Elden Lord and once again broadcast the Elden Ring's vibrational "song" containing the rules of reality the Ring imposes on the Lands Between and restore the Lands to a functional - if not pleasant - state of being.
Of courses the Tarnished can subvert Marika's stated goals and use their new runic strength to destroy the Lands Between's vibrational mass shadow with the dissonant frequencies of the Frenzied Flame. This is the twisting that you refered to. As the Elden Ring's song is no longer broadcasting a harmonic signal, the Lands Between have been reverting back to the primal Chaos from which it and all things emerged from. In-game this manifests as the Frenzied Flame. The "flame" in reality is the manifestation of this chaotic primordial original energetic state of existence the One Great existed within as best as the Tarnished can perceive it, just as the runes are the manifestation of the organized and Ordered vibrational pattern that gives an object their individual shape. The Flame twists the runic structure through dissonant vibrations into distorted and corrupted version of their previous selves. This why people afflicted by the Flame go mad. Their consciousness within the now twisted runic structure is in great pain. When external trauma twists a once healthy consciousness into a pain ridden one, the process happens in reverse. Their now trauma damaged runic structure no long is in harmony with the rest of the objects within the Lands Between and now resonates with the chaotic energies of the Frenzied Flame and becomes its Vessel. A Vessel that attempts to accelerate the heat death of the Land Between to end its pain.
There's a lot more I could go into if you are interested, including what this means for the Age of Stars, if you want but this isn't the best platform for long form entries. I have a X/Twitter account with my direct messages open called Raven Delacour if you'd like to continue this conversation.
My brain, soul, and Rune are truly united in bliss when both Nameless Singer and Scum Mage post a video in the same day. 🖤 All of your videos are so well thought out and insightful.
Thank you so much!! We may try to coordinate videos in the future as well!!
That scum Mage mentioned this release. So glad I've been waiting!!!
i'm a few hours late!!!!
at a certain point I found myself thinking, man I feel like "Alpha" by Vangelis would hit so hard right now...then you literally end by referencing Cosmos!
There's more to come!!!! 😁 Thank you for the lovely comment.
Idk, the analogy of "your brain is hardware, your consciousness is software" is precisely the antithesis of "you are energy". Energy, be it electricity or any other form, is either potential or material. Consciousness is the pattern of electricity, not the electricity itself. Consciousness is an emergent property of the specific *ordering* of that electricity through space and time, not the electricity itself.
For another analogy, a chair is not a chair because it is wood. A chair can be wood, plastic, metal, etc... The important part is the shape, the arrangement. A working clock can be analog, digital, made of a multitude of materials and mechanisms, or even be an idealized clock in a thought experiment. The important part is how it moves in a specific way through time. Consciousness is the same kind of deal.
Yeah you're not wrong, and I could have emphasized this more. But the point of that analogy was to say that consciousness is not exactly this hard, physical thing, but something more "magical". Less "earth"-like and more "water"-like or "light"-like. To emphasize that consciousness is something that flows through us, through the structures of our neurons, not something that is like, static and unmoving like a concrete building. Like you said "how it moves in a specific way through time." For this video, we just needed to establish something real basic, which did involve sacrificing some of the details.
Really fantastic video! Overall I agree with your analysis, there's just a sticking point for me in the leap from "law of regression" to our experienced reality. Though this is likely out of scope for the video.
While the mechanics of regressive networks are part of the orderly workings of neurons, to say that is the behavior leading to our internal experience is missing a few steps. There are mechanics such as suppression at play to direct these networks, chunking and layers of abstraction that enable efficient usage of the network resources, etc.
Really, this is to say that the step which is missing is emergence.
Our experience is not an average of inputs, more of an integral. The information network produces a system of higher-order complexity and novel behaviors thanks to the density of interactions within it. The "output" is more complex relative to our "input".
Our lives are fractal-like, expansive and infinitely detailed. We may "experience" a world with three dimensions and time, but we are compact, dense bursts of entropic energy, forever unfolding and expanding. A singularity in our eyes is quite the apt metaphor in many ways.
To stop the analysis at the law of regression fits the video, though it doesn't feel like it has a spiritual impact without the connective tissue that takes it all the way to human consciousness.
That may be just me. It seems that we likely agree on the mechanics anyway.
Have a good one!
I am totally down with the "emergence" aspect of what you said. That is what I was trying to convey with the notion of the layer getting into more and more "complex meanings", but it would have been sublime if I had used the word "emergence". But also this was a SUPER complicated video that covered SO MUCH and I had to leave some details on the cutting room floor in order to just get through everything and not have the video be too long. Because it already seemed dense. I think I will eventually do a "The Theory of Consciousness Hidden in Elden Ring" video that will mainly focus on the back half of the vid and get into more detail
"Everybody is a star, one big circle going round and round" -Sly and the Family Stone
I was sent to today's vid by Scum Mage Infa. Amazing work as always, Nameless Singer
🔥 This is so well narrated and edited. Can’t wait for the next one 🎉
Thanks Moxie!!! Banuune definitely helped me out :D
Yessss peak, I'm excited to watch this and then rewatch it again to help sleep for a while, thank you singer
Every single video you done is amazing. My girlfriend started to play ER because of your videos. Keep up the great work !
😭 🥲 You know there are some effects you won't realize you have on the world, and this is one of the unexpected ones, but also one of the most lovely I have heard. I wish you the best of luck and jolly cooperation as you journey together through the Lands Between!!!
as above; so below!!
every single video dropped has been a banger
😁 Thanks so much!!
Your videos are amazing because you present such original ideas that the other lore tubers couldn't think of. Nothing of the math and concepts you presented in the video are boring. Your videos are must watch in the lore community now with the likes of Tarnished Archeologist, unlike that hack jack is a mimic
Thank you so much. I am really glad that the math wasn't boring, some people just don't like it, so I tried to dress it up with animations and pretty pictures as much as I could. it seems I was successful! Thank you for the comment.
Liking and commenting right up front. Glad to see a new video. ❤
Gonna try to be faster next time!!!
@ it was worth the wait. What a heartfelt and beautiful narrative! Plus, I got to hear someone same “principia” properly like a dozen times! 😂 Seriously tho - great work. Compelling for the lore community. Enjoy the accomplishment and take your time!
So thought provoking!! Quelaag talked about ER relating eastern and western alchemy, especially the transmutation of elements into gold and the neidan 'inner alchemy' of self-perfection. Your noting that gold is forged within stars (inside our heads!) really solidified that for me.
Also, idk if this was in fromsoft's set of references, but Bakhtin's semiotics leans heavily on the idea of "centrifugal" and "centripetal" functions, where a text wants to bring things (ideas, readers, meanings, other texts) closer together to convergence in the former and yearns to differentiate itself and others in the latter. The interplay between them is dialogic and creative. Another instance of physics-ish ideas being related to meaning, and for me resonated with regression/causality, or e.g. Miquellas quest to differentiate himself in a new universal order that nonetheless converges to his mother's mistakes. Thanks for the video!!
this game is like a fractal, more you look closely the more detailed it gets
OMG this is an amazing analysis!!!! Connecting fantasy to science my nerd brain just exploded. Plz keep it up, this is my first vid of yours and I am so happy I found it!
Wow this video is a work of art! You’ve completely changed the way I think about Universe and Elden Ring.
Another fun detail is that the symbol on Seluvis’s mask is reminiscent of the astrological symbol of the sun.
Yes!!! I kinda wish that I had brought that up in this video. Super relevant. Ah well! Will save it for a future video.
less than 30 seconds in and i’m already mind blown
I stopped watching lore videos out of despair, as after the DLC released they became incredibly stale. All anyone talked about for months after SOTE was the stupid jars. There were so many interesting things going on that no one was talking about and I became frustrated.
This video is the first one I have watched in awhile and it's a total breath of fresh air. This is a super interesting theory and I can't wait to hear more about in your future videos. Well done, it's really great!
It seems like these new, smaller channels popping up might be the ones to finally crack this game wide open.
Facts lol
I think the whole lore discussion surrounding Elden Ring has been kinda shit until recently tbh, with channels like this, Firelink Conspiracy and Scum Mage Infa finally starting to put it all together into a coherent picture. I wont name names but so many of the bigger lore channels seem content to just keep rehashing the same surface-level info and aren't trying to go deeper
@@coreyrachar9694 thank you for the kind words! I've got more I am hoping to bring to light very soon!
@@NamelessSingerEldenRing >:D *rubs hands and cackles maniacally*
Great video. I feel like the lore community oscillates between the rune icons looking like the cross section of a tree or the iris of an eye. The interpretation you laid out is new to me but I love the evidence you put together. Keep it up!
@@gudmundur-heimisson i definitely underestimated how much the community is about the Runes = Eyes idea. So I'm making the whole next video all about that and we'll investigate it more :)
Excellent video . I would like to add a small observation and the mythological tradition to it, as all things can be conjoined : First , when the game starts we can observe outside that sometimes crucifixion leads the rune of a body to drop to earth. I think this is marikas punishment. She gets slowly extracted her rune, and as such, Radagons body is partially shadow and brittle and thus the next gravitational step is meeting the Beast of the Tree as we shattered the vessel of Radagon.
Second : Elden Ring also represents two concepts in mythological / religious tradition. The old pagans used predominantly straight lines to explain concepts, the monotheistic tradition uses mostly circles. The rune of Ing represents earth or the meditating god with Is as a straight line as ice or stagnation as a different defining angle , and combined it branches out in different variations, expressions .
The idea of intersection is also represented in for example the christian tradition with two circles intersecting becoming the pisces ichthys (or in the astrological tradition : Pisces). Note that in the dlc we find Marika in the shamans village inside a tree, sitting... like Ing.A tree is like Is in a way. As our souls fall to earth , it becomes a rod, a young tree, aiming upwards as it tries to connect. In the snowy areas of Elden Ring we see ghost trees and the symbol of the rod and the cultivation of trees is quite omnipresent in the lore and statues. Consequently , one tradition (the giants) is primordial, fiery and of cloth (as such was an important tasks by women in nordern countries , which made value by the craft of knots and sewing, or destiny weaving in a grandious context) meets a new one , the observation of patters that we already know on the outer sphere - this is what you demonstrate in the video. Or as described in the esoteric traditions, as above so below.
I suspect that the flame of frenzy represents partially what happened in ww2. Before that war the wheel of fortune was a very normal public symbol of happiness, spread among all cultures, as the sun is blessing and the basis of Deus (Zeus, Ziuwari, Sunfather). During and after the war the wheel was now seen as a wheel of frenzied anger, of brutality. Likewise depending on the region you research mythology and religion, we can find historically speaking two different interpretations of the sun : In regions with winter, the sun is grace, nurturing. In deserts, the sun is a tyrant, an unrelenting all consuming tyrannical force. Looping back to the testament : Here the tyrannical father becomes the graceful light. If you observe the saturation , the golden order is not fully saturated. It has a balance and a mercy to its force, despite its tendency to slip into tyranny . The flame of frenzy is a full saturation. A blistering , screaming burning yellow. It is too much of its own nature.
To add to that : Light can be warm and give us Vitamin ...D in Reaction, or harmful radiation and all colors, harm and benefit are the spectrum of that light depending . In Elden Ring, Saturation and color represent those qualities and tendencies as other videos analysed. Ironically this also represents Game design. We split the colors up to make up qualities. If we observe it long enough, it all bleeds into each other once we think how lets say blue can be water, and mist and crystals, and so can be brown, which is earth, crystal and metal. The more we try to make up a game design system and look at the real world, the fuzzier it gets. Miyazaki took that conundrum and expressed it in all its variety and intersections through the variation of hues AND saturation. That is why the unseen mother has the vericious primordial bleed effect, yet when it fades it gives still birth to life, but one that is full of rot and alien form. I believe the female anatomy is underanalysed in this context as it is clearly seen that Miquella stole something out of someones giant..female form in the dlc story video online. Marikas nebulous shape of somethign swirling could also be that. Something both resembling the female genitalia , cloth, and flower at the same time. Interestingly enough, flowers biology is quite like Radagan / Marika and of course her/his village is full of flowers. Everything can be conjoined. T
his is from a mythological standpoint also one of the oldest reappearing conflicts between cultures, often internally . The order of the dream/cosmos dragon / female matriarch ruling through drugs , sex and selection and the order of rebellion / new order / logic ruling through observation, war, and sexual mischief (seen in Wodans and Zeus escapades with women for example). If we observe god as something like a (Lotus !) flower, this means those rythms are inert to god, there is no conflicting culture war, only emanations of god confusing and fooling people for the ways a normal human usually does not understand as the rythm and nature of god is different. There is also mythology saying that man and women were once one conjoined being, then torn apart, and thus always in pursuit of each other (externally, or sometimes internally). This goes hand in hand with the idea in kabbalah where they saw god as something different than the original primordial nothing and nothing-nothing, eventually splitting (FALLING) into materia and principles, or in some cases, into something dark.
There is also a possible anthropological spin. A male in old times was more likely to observe the MOVEMENT and POSITION of stars for seafaring and navigating during a long hunt. Women of course observed the sky as well , but it was imho more likely that they observed the influence of the PHASE of the Moon (cough) to understand the growth of plants, orientation of the year for rituals or maybe even to track their own fertility (speculating there). Of course as time went on those roles mixed up, such as astrologers of egypt probably already went through several religious revolutions since times old or nowadays having plenty of women in Space.
Not the shoutout to my favourite modern philosophers Campbell and Sagan! Video was a treat excited for more of your work
This is a great example of how much the Lands Between's world works in a surprisingly similar fashion to the real Universe. The backstory of Dark Souls also reflects the "Big Bang" and the formation of consciousness in life forms, so this is definitely not the first time From Soft have been inspired by real science and history.
Marika becoming God made the whole world revolve around her. In this case the phrase can be used almost literally!
Love this comment and I agree with ALL of it. I really believe there is a grand unified theory hidden in here. and I LOVE this line: "Marika becoming God made the whole world revolve around her." Saving this line and hope to be able to reference it in a future video!!
Filth creatures/entities: Aaanimaa, Animaaa!!!"
Emma/Anima: "What do you want? I'm so small... you eat stars..."
Filth creatures/entities:"You are all made of stars..."
- Game: The Secret World
LOVE IT
There's a finger maider in the game that goes on about how me the tarnished can now see the Great Erd Tree! She says it in a way that implies not everyone can see it. Or I wasn't always able to see it. The giant golden tree in the middle of everything. Can you see it now Tarnished?
We all aren't as old and blind as you finger maiden!
I ADORE this video (it was a default win since it was you who posted it but regardless) so eloquently put and such a masterpiece visually ❤
I was thinking while watching your video and the purple nature of gravity that it is funny how sleep is purple as well and sleep, as we see with St Trina, is as close as you can get to death in a land without it. (And the mercy she granted those seeking death that I imagine awarded her the title of Saint). Sleep is just a smaller rune on the journey to the lords rune /souls black hole (of death).
So death is essentially a black hole for your soul, and both the gloam eye of destined death, hue of ghostflame which burns away death, and st strina / sleep also both also being purple just makes me more sure 😂
That causality spell and the idea of it being a black hole in the middle was GORGEOUS, you KNOW why I would love that imagry. So glad you also have posted that representation of the runes now, its been living rent free in my head.
In terms of runes being the accrued meaning thus soul if the individual, I would say that meaning is derived from their EXPERIENCE (as is ours).... so.. EXP 😅😂
PS So runes are brains, we are brain eaters and we come back from the dead so tarnished are star zombies confirmed.
Amazing watch ♡
Star Zombies? No wonder Tarnished are looked down upon in the Lands Between. ;)
@@ScumMageInfa I hope “star zombies” gets meme’d 💯 that’s so much fun 😂
So well done and narrated!
Stars fall or shine leaving glintstones and starlight shards. Then the people interact with them and become sorcerers tempted into more power... they amass. The star seeds return to the sky completing the cycle or is this how the Nox gave up their souls to create false night skies?
Best video yet!
I tried REALLY HARD with this one lol. Also I got new Reshade shaders which just make everything look sooooo much better.
Thanks for the compliment!!
In the image of Rykard being eaten by the snake, the snake is chomping down right where Rykard's rune would be, too. Just another observation that supports this.
👀 👀 👀
oooooh that is so good. including that for the next video. will give you credit. Thank you!!!
@@TheGuestRoomCult that’s such a cool find
My headcannon is now this: Elden ring is Miyazakis microcosm for the universe through fantasy elements with real world connections.
100% agree and I LOVE this idea.
Nameless and Scum are starting a cult with these drops
100%.
Also love the profile pic/name. Ali Brosh is amazing!!!
Alchemical, Hermetic, Gnostic symbolism. This game is the most occult game I have ever seen.
Can't wait to hear more! I really liked the connection of mass from physics to religion. Mind blowing.
I think that creative folks like GRRM & Miyazaki, as well as others at Fromsoft, use these games as vehicles to discuss "the big questions". After all, they are humans like us who think about these questions, and they have a huge platform with which to not only put out their ideas, but to offer us a language of visuals, text, and references which allow us to discuss these ideas as a community. There is so much mythology, religion, and philosophy in these games, and these big questions are what THOSE fields discuss. Why not a video game as well? 😊
Oooo love this. So to piggyback off this “what if runes are stars and eventually black holes aka voids” logic: what if the “arcs” the literal line of light is visually the moment of the Big Bang happening, and that’s why it’s such a holy “rebirth/creation” symbol often wielded by faith builds.
I love astronomy and architecture and history so much to be blessed with a video game, of all mediums!, to properly confront and convey all these different -ologies in the maze that is the lore of the world it’s created….baffles me every time. Ffs there’s stuff in here a marine biologist would find fascinating! Elden Ring is a game about the universe and everything in it….Truly a masterpiece of our time and I’m honestly just blessed to live at the same time as it…and black holes…, and Carl Sagan and JWST and the first picture of a goddang black hole, GOD, I just. I just really love this game. And all the fans who continue even years after release to explore its story fully, with the dedication and academic analysis it deserves. You, scum mage, kitetales, Quelaag & Tarnished Archaeology have cracked this games lore wide open it’s incredible to think so many ppl set this game down and forgot about it by now 😅 like combat is barely a blip on my radar as far as what this game offers you….(anyways have a good New year❤)
As Above, So Below.
This was SO SICK
😁
I saw this RUclips video about string Theory. It was about how there are things called “cosmic strings”. I revisited the first trailer and you see the same strings of light around the erdtree. I actually think Radagon made fixing the Erdtree worse. Honestly I think they wanted to create a weapon out of it. The trollhammer says that hammers are divine and the act of using them is a divine rite. Anyways, in the DLC it’s a lot and I mean a lot of weapons from parts of people or a person head. Marika is someone crated from occult practices. So that’s really what the whole “roots are spoiled and it falls on the mom”. Marika is such a tragic character just trying to figure things out and be created into life. The missing braid is noticeably in basically all her artwork. It finally makes sense where it is. I was looking at videos about gods left and right hand. Marikas/Radagon left half is broken off in the boss fight. That’s the part that uses holy energy. The first trailer shows us Radagon trying to “fix” the Elden ring. You see one shot of the hammer being held with two hands from an angle looking up and you see the hammer with the strings of gold. You see Marika holding the hammer with both hands. It was so many things in the base game and what we first saw that is shown in the DLC. We never thought why one of her braids was cut. We know now.
Yooo sick, thanks Nameless ❤
Wow that was mind blowing!
It's a good analysis. Japanese anime, manga and games almost always have the same logic. Energy can turn into matter, matter can turn into energy. Whether you call this energy chakra, chi, ki, soul or spirit, it is all the same thing. For example, Naruto makes rasengan with his own chakra, that is, he materializes it. Or Dante defeats Cerberus and takes his soul, and that soul becomes a weapon in Dante's hands.
yes, this is exactly what I was getting at with the "electricity is energy" thing. it's chi, ki, soul, spirit. Exactly what you said. And the whole universe is made of the same stuff.
I may be anticipating your next/a future video, but the talk of stars, gravity, and consciousness popped 3 words into my head:
Sir Roger (mafakken) Penrose.
He's the IRL mathmatician/theoretical physicist/friend of neuroscientists doing to the leg work for the Mxyzptlk Conjecture: that imagination IS the 5th dimension.
I'm now SUPER curious as to whether microtubules are represented somewhere in the game, either/both asset design-wise and/or via a parallel in the plant/tree world.
Do you recall Metyr’s Arena?
@grantgoodwin1668 Hot. Damn.
👀 👀 👀 yooooooooo!!!!!!
I was watching some videos about this while I was making this video! I would love it if the 5th dimension is imagination. I really like to think so. I do buy the quantum consciousness theory, and this video is definitely getting at that without going all the way there. Maybe in another video. Love the comment, thank you.
8:31 Looking forward to more on the Lord of Frenzied Flame through this lens. The visual of the flame flowing outward seems apt for it.
Yeah I definitely did not figure out everything about this. The "flame flowing outward" could also be a supernova. Going to look more into this for the future, for sure.
13:01 what’s interesting is that silhouette *also* looks like the gravity well you mention earlier in the video.
The first thing I can’t get out of my head now is just the basic fact that Radahn had a mastery of Gravity magic, which dovetails nicely into this theory.
The second is that I believe it’s established that the Lands Between is cyclical, with a new Age being the start of a new cycle. The lifecycle of (at least massive stars) is also very cyclical, starting with a nebulous cloud of gas and dust and ends in a supernova that results in new clouds of dust and gas.
Now for the crackpot theory; one of the final stages of that massive stars is a Red Giant. Which, conveniently enough, is a fitting description for Radahn. So what if the lifecycle of the Lands Between parallels the lifecycle of a star? What if, and maybe I’m missing something, the fusion of an incorporeal being like Miquella and a red giant like Radahn causes the supernova that ushers in a new cycle?
To throw fuel on this crackpot fire, the lifecycle of a star that isn’t massive ends in them becoming a white dwarf and burning out. Which feels (sort of) applicable to Godfrey who went from being a Lord to becoming an old grey Tarnished.
And for one last spritz of fuel on this conspiratorial fire, what if the Lands Between is called that because these are the lands that exist *between* Ages?
Oh shit. excited for this! be ready for more comments and messages lol
xD
25:49 that exact symbol appears when casting 'wave of gold' on the radagon sword
How the hell does one
discover the word principia.
Also this would be enlightening to watch high.
I had heard of Newton's Principia before! Probably some RUclips video somewhere at some point. I watched a lot of random shit during the pandemic lol
@NamelessSingerEldenRing yeah, when I heard you say it, I looked up to see what's it's definition was. Found more about newton, so thanks. Fascinating how you randomly learned and implemented into elden lore. Lol cool, love ya work. Excited for more. Thanks
YAS!!!! New video! Lets GO!!!!
You mentioned the lord of frenzied flame and i think you may have overlooked that a bit especially when it came to the discussion of the law of regression. In the lore, the frenzied flame wants to burn everything back into one, and after this video, i think the conscious design choice to have the black hole at the center of the burning “head” tells that it may be a paragon or personification of the law of regression, forcibly pulling everything back into one, similarly to how a real black hole forces everything into its own singularity.
The discussion of creation of heavier elements brought another interesting thought, any element heavier than iron cannot be formed by a star under normal circumstances, fusing iron is the death sentence for a star, anything heavier must be created by a supernova in which the star collapses in on itself when the energy produced from fusion reactions cannot push back against the stars own gravity anymore leading to the creation of a neutron star, or black hole if the star is massive enough. While i feel this is important to the games lore and possibly to the lord of frenzied flame, i find myself stretching for meaning here, but keep coming back to the lord of frenzied flame for the meaning to this. While it could indicate that the frenzied flame seeks to collapse everything in on itself as it believes doing so the frenzied flame and greater will can be recreated into the one great, if we use the supernova as a foil, there are always two outcomes, neutron star or black hole, as is the case with the flame’s goal it succeeds and becomes the one great again, or purges everything and still fails.
Heres another thought i had that was more an interesting addition not as related to my original comment (at least i think its not related let me know what you think). Quasi-stars are a theoretical star types that houses a black hole at its core rather a standard stars fusion reactions. While this is not a proven fact, it has been used to in models to better understand the earliest formation of the universe and possibly how the supermassive black holes found at the center of galaxies were originally formed. If my connection between the frenzied flame and supernova was a stretch, connecting this back to the lore seems even more challenging and less likely to produce anything beneficial, so i will be leaving this there.
1.0 description for I believe Carian Sovereignty states that it 'imbues the weapon with rune energy'
This strengthens the idea that star stuff is runes, and runes are life. I think in Elden Rings world, life is found in almost anything, given enough of the right combination of rune energies. Gold or glintstone/blue or gravity/purple, even death can sprout life in this world. Such is the way of the living
maybe the real stars were the merchants we met along the way
I've felt that people have not thought about the role of runes enough and you're one of the few who have drilled down on this topic.
Myself, I usually look to ancient Egypt first and they used to call gold the body of the gods, with silver being their bones. The sun god, Ra was sometimes also called a mountain of gold. Ra was also the god of the power of the pharaoh and the white casing stones on Egyptian pyramids were made to reflect the sun back, often making them look god. So I can see how a mountain of apparent gold could be a good symbol of pharaohic power.
Turn to the Norse and their talk of runes. To them, runes were seen as very much essence of existence or maybe like the assembly programming language of fate. So here is a segment from an article on how Odin discovered the runes and I think you will find a lot of compelling if not direct parallels.
Odin’s Discovery of the Runes
At the center of the Norse cosmos stands the great tree Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil’s upper branches cradle Asgard, the home and fortress of the Aesir gods and goddesses, of whom Odin is the chief.
Yggdrasil grows out of the Well of Urd, a pool whose fathomless depths hold many of the most powerful forces and beings in the cosmos. Among these beings are the Norns, three sagacious maidens who create the fates of all beings. One of the foremost techniques they use to shape fate is carving runes into Yggdrasil’s trunk. The symbols then carry these intentions throughout the tree, affecting everything in the Nine Worlds.
Odin watched the Norns from his seat in Asgard and envied their powers and their wisdom. And he bent his will toward the task of coming to know the runes.
Since the runes’ native home is in the Well of Urd with the Norns, and since the runes do not reveal themselves to any but those who prove themselves worthy of such fearful insights and abilities, Odin hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil, pierced himself with his spear, and peered downward into the shadowy waters below. He forbade any of the other gods to grant him the slightest aid, not even a sip of water. And he stared downward, and stared downward, and called to the runes.
He survived in this state, teetering on the precipice that separates the living from the dead, for no less than nine days and nights. At the end of the ninth night, he at last perceived shapes in the depths: the runes! They had accepted his sacrifice and shown themselves to him, revealing to him not only their forms, but also the secrets that lie within them. Having fixed this knowledge in his formidable memory, Odin ended his ordeal with a scream of exultation.
Having been initiated into the mysteries of the runes, Odin recounted:
Then I was fertilized and became wise;
I truly grew and thrived.
From a word to a word I was led to a word,
From a work to a work I was led to a work.
i may or may not have cried watching this
You are not the only one 🥲
Another good upload, aye