Elden Ring - What was this giant skull?
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- Опубликовано: 23 дек 2023
- There are many dragons with many different forms, and even their bones raise a lot of questions, with this giant skull in the Dragon Temple altar standing out in particular. It may be possible to unearth some answers with a bit of archaeology though.
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The question of what exactly happened to Placidusax's heads is a surprisingly popular topic of speculation. Some think they became Gransax, Fortissax, and Lansseax, but the heads of the Ancient Dragons are significantly different from Placidusax's own. The giant skull in the Dragon Altar was also a frequent guess, but aside from just the difference in appearance, it's also pretty much as big as Placidusax's whole body. Nothing ingame really suggests the heads went anywhere or did anything in particular after being severed, but I imagine it'll still be a common concept.
I’d love to know, but I pretty sure we never will. Still, it’s so much fun to speculate about. Honestly, and especially in the last 10 years or so, I e come to really love any media that fuels speculation and mysteries. Madoka Magica was the first piece of media that had me rabidly searching for clues and posting theories and so when I finally started playing fromsoft titles I was hooked on the lore instantly.
Thank you for another in depth video on this beloved game!😅 Placidusax’ talisman shows 4 heads; is it possible it’s a design mistake? 🎉❤
"Some think they became Gransax, Fortissax, and Lansseax"
I stan this theory. They're the only named and important ancient dragons besides Placi, and they fit well with the missing heads (one big stump, and two smaller ones). It's totally speculative and there's no way to really prove it tho.
How many of the dragonkin knights are there? From my memory there are three. One below the well in Caelid, one in the lake of rot and one at the foot of the ancient skeleton in Nokron. I know it's said that the dragonkin were the failed transformation of men into dragons, but maybe they had some kind of catalyst to get there. Or idk. You fight Plucidusax in a dream anyway, so maybe none of it really means anything.
This is most likely another one of Miyazaki's "Let the player fill in the rest" plots. I bet they had ideas for what happened to them or a base story, but it was either cut or deliberately left out to add to the mystery.
I’m gonna be honest I never noticed that skull. I think I was too busy trying not to die
Yeah those beastmen hit hard man
Good strategy.
What? Can't appreciate the set pieces while trying not to get ass blasted? Sounds like a skill issue
@@ItsJustAGuy💀💀💀💀💀
BHF at +10 kills them in 2-3 hits
Miyazaki has a personal grudge against dragons and tall people.
and footwear
Really stoked to know how he's gonna give the giants the D next time.
And dogs. And old people.
let's be honest.. there are never any happy endings in any of the soulborne games. Everyone gets tortured, killed, extinct, etc.
@@WyvernLPDemon's Souls good ending has a happy ending :)
Indentifying a new dragon species because of missing frills is some real paleontology shit lol
Best dragon paleontologist on youtube IMO
Indeed what I like about dragons in Elden Ring there is not in Dark souls series is that their past is not discovered, it's all left to interpretation and study of the remnants of what was before the Erdtree, and I'm studying geology 🙃🙃
It is perhaps worth mentioning that the theory of the Ancient Dragons being a generational step down from the fossilized dragons and Placidusax might've been more strongly supported during earlier development, since in 1.0 Lansseax was referred to as "Ancient Dragon Progeny", a descendant. Placidusax also doesn't receive bonus damage from the anti-Dragon items, which do effect Ancient Dragons, albeit less so than their modern cousins.
Placidusax's weapon also does bonus damage against all kinds of Dragons. It's possible he was the fore-father of all Dragon kind. Hence the corpses look similar and then degrade every generation as their god is no longer present or because Placidusax is sitting beyond time and no longer leads them. His many heads could've been a result of his bond with his god.
Yeah, I kind of thought this granted how notably different these ancient dragons (buried and alive) are.
Rube in the wild
hey rubedo (you know me but not by this name)
hello rube
Doesn’t mean a whole lot for this discussion, but I like how the modern Wyverns are distinguished from the Ancient Dragons by the lack of sophistication in their attacks. The Ancient Dragons summon lightning through Incantations, which they then wield as proper weapons. The Wyverns’ magic is almost entirely biological, using barbaric breath attacks that are easily influenced by their environment. Just a cool detail, I think.
The modern dragons don't have buffed claws or lightning weapons, but Adula proves that they can still manifest and wield weapons from thin air, so the art might not be lost. Also, the modern dragons have some other unique attacks, like Ekzykes' Scarlet Rot cloud (perhaps based on a technique he used pre-rot), Borealis' super roars, Smarag's use of Comet, etc.
@nightscout9979 This would tie well enough into the idea of wyvernic dragons as analogous to Misbegotten - they still have the means for sophisticated fighting technique, but more bestial tendencies manifest alongside them.
@@sphenodonpunctuatus7253 The modern dragons are pretty uniform in appearance though, not sprouting the features of a myriad of creatures like the Misbegotten do. The modern dragons with Glintstones on them acquired those specifically from eating sorcerers, not per a mutation, Ekzykes is afflicted with the Scarlet Rot, and Borealis appears to be badly frostbitten by the weather on the Mountaintops of the Giants. The modern dragons also are inventing unique techniques, some that even forge weapons just like ancient dragons can do, whereas the Misbegotten have no invented techniques like that. Heck, three of the ancient dragons found in Farum Azula don't even use lightning, so that might not be inherent to ancient dragons as a whole.
@@nightscout9979there are only 2 types of misbegotten
@@youngbreadwinner2780 I was saying that the Misbegotten have traits from several different animals at once. Also, there are more than two varieties of Misbegotten, considering the standard ones, the larger and particularly scaly ones, the flying ones, the leonine ones, Hewg, etc.
I wonder if the degradation of the dragons is a result of the Erdtree growing over the Crucible, since Placidusax ruled over that when he was Elden Lord, with out that power they might not have the magic to maintain their species, leading to a slow devolution as the adapt to the new world they find themselves in
there’s a cool irony behind this that I like
In the age of the crucible, the Dragon’s structural definition were much more normal, standard, human even (5 fingers, arms separate from wings, they could even turn into humans).
In the Age of the Golden Order, Dragons are much more primal, beast-like, amalgamation (feathers, arm-wings, etc) and crucible-like
@@Scadu_Orhyn My thinking is that the Elden Lord clearly has some control over the immense power of the Erd Tree, so the Crucible was likely the same, I think that's why the older Dragons are less bestial than their modern relatives
If this has LOTR influence, everything fantasy does. It has to be the slow march into the mundane. While dragons have the most visual transformation, humans are also being degraded. Remember that the "gods" are basically ancient humans and / or humans that mantle the power of a Great Rune/Elden Ring and that they are shells of what they used to be.
As far as we know these theories couldn't quite be the case, the timeline doesn't quite match up.
The dragons came from the time of the Great Tree, before the Crucible, and would have all been born of the Great Tree at that time. It is possible though that the Great Tree died and regrew several times, or simply as it got older dragons changed to their newer forms as it slowly aged and died. The dragons reign and the age of the Great tree inevitably came to an end, bringing about the age of the Crucible.
@@transcendkira The "Great Tree" doesn't exist. It was a misinterpretation of a mistranslation that was popularized by Vaati. It was never actually canon.
A friend of mine put the models of each big dragon side by side a while back, and seeing this one’s head being larger than Placidusax’s entire torso yet not having any lore surrounding it was wild
just like the giant skeletons peeking out of the ground in caelid and the smaller yet still giant skeletons on the mountain tops
@@blitzergeldertsometimes I remember what some guy said back in one of the dark souls 3 videos. Sometimes they just put in there because it’s kinda funny watching people work it out when it’s just “big skull funny” 😂
I have a theory that Elden Ring’s modern dragons are essentially dragon versions of Omen and Misbegotten. They have wilder, less streamlined features that seem almost mismatched at times, and seem to be an overall mutation or devolution from their ancient counterparts, much like what Omen and Misbegotten are to humans.
I think that at some point, there came to be a cursed strain of dragon blood. The existence of Eleonora, drakeblood knight turned Bloody Finger hints at this. Both Dragon Communion and Bloodboon incantations scale with faith as well as arcane. Also, this is a seemingly random and weird detail, but the sigil of the Dragon Communion seal has an uncanny resemblance to Morgott’s horned tail
Edit: there’s also another line of evidence pointing at this theory. In order to even be able to use Dragon Communion incants, we are required to eat a dragon heart, aka, the primary organ responsible for pumping the dragon’s cursed blood through its body
The modern dragons also potentially serve as the evolutionary link between dragons and the Stormhawks as their appearance is decidedly bird-like, boasting feathers and beaky heads.
@@MrJordwalk there's definitely the potential for that. If dragons are analogous to dinosaurs in the real world, then that is exactly what happened. Modern birds evolved from Archaeopteryx, which was evolutionally speaking the in-between point for birds and dinosaurs
That theory can potentially imply that the modern dragons are not a product of the god of dragons fleeing the Lands Between, but rather a part of the dragon population chose to migrate to the inland and somehow got influenced by the crucible (the only thing that can make you wilder is the crucible or the Regal Ancestor things, the dragon likely had no access to the latter gods tho).
But again, the ancient dragons seem to have been created by the crucible itself, given that Placidusaxx is the previous lord of the land, and the age before the age of order is ruled by the crucible.
@@cottonandballs I don’t think it’s necessarily an overt influence of the Crucible that caused their mutations, but rather its sudden removal. Omen and Misbegotten are described as having been “touched” upon by the Crucible, and as a result are left in this weird in-between state of man and beast. If you look at the Crucible Knights, however, they still overtly retain a connection to the Crucible’s power, and although their design is much more ornate and flowing than almost anything the Golden Order can produce, they manifest the Crucible in brief flashes of power. They’re controlled mutations that can be reverted at will.
Returning to Farum Azula, the design of its Elden Ring suggests that the Crucible was once inextricably linked to it, only for its influence to be removed at the dawn of the Erdtree. If we can look at the Erdtree as a means of rebirth in a world devoid of true death, then perhaps the Crucible was the ontological embodiment of life springing from death, as it existed in a time where Destined Death was still part of the Elden Ring. Perhaps when the rune was removed, creatures born from the Crucible’s recycling of death suffered as the new age of unending life began, and the latent Crucible energies in their bodies went wild. Cut off from the source that birthed them and left with no proper place in the new order, their blood began to stagnate, festering with the pain and wrathful spirits of those doomed to a half-existence at the fringes of the world
The only thing that doesn't match is that crucible-related creatures like omens and misbegotten are "more" than what otherwise would be. Many skin protrusions of various kinds, additional limbs etc, while the new dragons, while having some traits that the ancient ones didn't have, mostly are "less" than them, so kind of the opposite.
I think this is a good example of how a localization adds a weird depth to the world. Like, we can interpolate that she isn't the mother of all dragons, just all the dragons on the continent. But just as we might be led to believe it, so too could the inhabitants of The Lands Between.
Merry Christmas Zullie!
Merry Christmas
I remember seeing that skull, thinking "Oh that's cool" and then never questioning it at all
Once saw a thing where Greyoll is the supposed mother of all the “modern” dragons, such as Ekzykes, Agheel, Greyll, and the lesser dragons in Caelid, and that she was evolved from the Ancient Dragons. The model you showed of the “Greyoll” with four legs and four wings backs that up, so I think it’s probably accurate in some form. I couldn’t tell you where I got this from, I’m pretty sure it was from Vaati but I could very much be wrong
Concept art is not supporting evidence, and even if it was, a visual similarity isn't enough to form anything more than speculation.
This holds even less weight when you consider how the design process works and that there would have been multiple iterations of dragon and wyvern design. Anything chosen to be displayed as concept art is chosen for visual impact, not storytelling.
This is exactly why you should be cautious when examining cut content in regards to lore.
It can help give an insight into the creators thought process and help you look in the right direction, but don't forget that it was chosen to be excluded. It's not part of the story, and that is 100% intentional.
I think that concept art dragon was from the Leyndell section of the art book, so the art is likely for a beta design of Gransax.
@@jotarokujo3603 Ignoring the cut content piece, the idea of Greyoll being the mother of modern wyverns isn't that far fetched.
A personal theory of mine is the idea of every creature follows a reverse evolution like they all start as god like fantasy creatures and eventually they decline into a more grounded and realistic creature...
Just think about it like this the dragons start with 4 wings and 4 legs capable of summoning lightning storms and literally wielding lightning as swords or spears which is completely non sensical since they were literally created by the god of that era and so they can be whatever that god wanted them to be... But their god "fled" so it's no longer there... So now they have to follow the rules of nature so over time they became more grounded with only 2 legs and 2 wings like a dinosaur or a bird and lost the lightning powers
The same goes for the fire giants that became smaller and lost the literal inferno in their belly, the storm hawks became smaller and lost the ability to create a literal storm and even humans lost their impossible strength and size and reverted to just normal humans while keeping only a fraction of their insane power
Yes, the Giant Crusher reflects this idea of powerful beings diminishing with time. Interesting to think about
Some people would just simply theorized that it's one of placi's severed head
You went ahead and beyond by connecting it to greyoll's old concept art, and also those dragon corpses embedded in bedrock
Well done!
That might actually be Gransax's old concept art, but Zullie created a thorough video nonetheless, and clarified that Greyoll isn't necessarily the singular mother of all modern dragon variants in the Lands Between. This is great work.
@@nightscout9979 yeah that's pretty cool
Thank you all the amazing content you make, you are truly a wonderful stand out creator that helps elevate these already fantastic games. Thank you for all the effort you put in.
Elden Ring was the only thing keeping me going throughout 2022, not even joking, meant the world to me
If I could I'd give Miyazaki a hug
Miyazaki: Begone thot. I’d like to keep my maximum health at 100% thank you very much.
This but dark souls 1
Same, made the latter half of 2022. Brought me out of a very dark place in life.
Perhaps multiple clans of dragons formed all over, just as there were multiple clans of humans, and in Farum Azula was the ruling clan because that was where Placidusax resided
Dragons in Souls games are just one big metaphor for parental disappointment.
Cool Dragon Facts: "Draco" refers to pythons and other large snakes, while "wyvere" refers to vipers. If creating your own fantasy setting, consider making drakes more physically imposing while giving wyverns a venomous bite.
huh, i didnt know that. i wonder if that's why rathian and rathalos have poisonous tails/talons in monster hunter.
@@kaden-sd6vb Wyverns classically have a poisonous tail
Dragon in Fantasy usually have 4 limps plus wings. While wyverns have 4 limps that include the wings.
Quite ironic since nowadays in english "dragons" are usually linked to species of lizards, like the komodo dragon, bearded dragon, frilled dragon, etc.
Wouldn't this be a way to tie in the Great Serpent to the dragon family tree as well?
I actually only noticed the dragons I. The bedrock of farum azula recently. I’ve STILL not completed my first play through, I’m at around 376 hours and really delayed farum for as long as possible. Thanks for sharing this because I was super intrigued by the corpses in the cliff faces. Also happy to see a new video from you! Thanks again and happy holiday to you!!
Yeah, 370+ hours tracks, that's probably about how long it took me to finish my first playthrough. I did have a few aborted starts before I started the run where I actually finished the game, and I did try my best to 100% the game, exploring everywhere, doing all the minor dungeons, completing as many NPC questlines as I could, and beating every optional boss. This game is simply massive. In fact, it's too big. In all subsequent playthroughs I haven't even tried to 100% the game, which is not typical for me. In every Dark Souls game, I typically explore every nook, collect every item, and beat every boss, regardless of the build I'm running. But ER is just too big, I get halfway through the game and I'm ready to start over with another build.
@@Greywander87 You know you can respec in the game right? You don't need to start over to get a different build, or even look different.
@@Camazotz-kz9wr Oh I know, I just like to start from the beginning if I'm trying a new build. If you radically switch builds in the middle of a run, it can leave you fighting difficult enemies with a playstyle you're not yet familiar with. I think if it was a matter of switching between builds I was already familiar with I would be fine with it, but if I'm trying a build for the first time then I like to start from the beginning. It also gives a more "complete" experience with that build, i.e. you get to see how it does against the earlier bosses as well as the later ones.
Damn. I'm in my 8th playthrough with 350 hours
@@Greywander87 lol no game is ever too big for me haha. I’m of the mindset of more is always better, so long as it’s quality stuff and with ER I think it’s all quality. 😁
To be fair, the dragonkin soldiers and those things in the Irithyll dungeons aren’t a natural occurrence, but rather mankind’s horrific failures to become dragons. The dragons in these series, while seemingly devolving from their ancient form, are in fact better adapted to their environments. Real life has shown that evolution is not a Pokémon process of gaining increasing power stats, but an adaptation to change in living conditions
I like the Missing Link theory, but would also add in a factor of interbreeding, since it certainly seems reflected in the Beastmen (which also have a few different iterations) Demi-Humans, and Humans. It's a good way to demonstrate the EXTENSIVE history of the LB, and how the boundaries between species looks to be particularly permeable there. It's much the same in ASOIAF's world. Like, Placidusax is the ultimate origin of the traits we attribute to Ancient Dragons, while the Wyverns' ancestor, perhaps represented by the entombed skull, bred with him to create hybrids, like Marika and Godfrey did. But as the Ancient Dragons died out for whatever reason, their bloodline diluted down to the modern wyverns. And the same with the Beastmen-to-Human lineage, since the ones we see mummified are much more animal than the Skeleton and Undead ones, while the Demi-Humans are a clear cross between ape and canine, a mixing of early humans with the Beastmen, who still exist thanks to the time/aging shenanigans Marika caused by sealing Destined Death.
Oh! Even the bats and harpy gals are in a similar "degeneration" predicament!
"We even got this skull! The hell if I know where it came from. This really is the high life"
AIN'T EVEN GOT LEGS
I love that Zullie just birthed a new race of dragons: the Concept Art dragons
I have a theory on this. What if what we call ancient dragons are the demigods of their era? But there had to be original dragons too. This is probably what the wyverns are descended from. So the difference isn't all a decline of the species but also the difference between commoner and noble. With commoners have a variety of powers but being more fleshy and nobles all having the stony bodies and strong association with lightning. With Placi taking it a step further and actually able to channel divine flames and literally become the storm.
This would also be consistent with the stony and shattered body of Radagon and Marika. Perhaps turning to stone is a side effect of losing the power of the Elden Ring, which as we know Placidusax once held as Elden Lord. Thus the "demigod" ancient dragons are turned to stone while the "commoner" wyverns aren't affected.
@@badabomb9946 Don't think they lost anything but their place in deciding things. The power comes from the elden ring, which is still in existence even after Marika shattered it. Even the wyverns have gravel stone in their hearts. But it does seem like becoming like a living statue is part of what happens to those blessed by the Elden Ring
I.. have never noticed the giant dragon skull in the Dragon Temple :O
Thank you Zullie for all of your hard work. You have one of the best channels on RUclips. I’m consistently blown away by the effort you put into your videos. The number of big discoveries you have brought to lore enthusiasts like me is very humbling. Happy holidays! I hope the world finds you well!
"Digging them from the rock" lol I love it. Great as always, Zullie
All i want is a Placidusax boss fight against him in his Majestic Prime. Just imagine how epic of a boss fight itd be
I love this channel. Because it explains lore, design, and concept all in one. My favorite part of this video is how Zullie explains how there is a common theme with dragons having a peak and gradual decline, yet explains this is a concept within all of FromSoft's games! Masterfully done!
I love your videos keep up the good work and merry Christmas!
merry christmas ✨️
When you mentioned how the Shrine Skull looks like Greyrol, my first thought was: "Maybe if Greyrol is the mother, this is the father?"
I always assumed Placidusax’s missing heads were a scar from his subjugation, as the primal Elden Lord title was literally ripped from him to make a new era.
However, in the same breath, the two remaining heads are held in the pose of the “Two Fingers”, either reinforcing his subjugation to the new order, or showing that he brought himself into their alignment.
The two fingers pose is asociated with vassals of the greater will, not necesarily the erdtree
I think the two fingers pose is the important takeaway. At one point it had five heads like there was five fingers and there was a schizm which saw the two fingers faction victorious.
@@jotasietesiete4397 Considering that Elden Stars uses an Erdtree sigil (the Crucible variant, but it's solid gold and the same tree anyway), and the Elden Beast wields Elden Stars, the vassals of the Greater Will are likely affiliated with the Erdtree. The Erdtree is probably a creation of the Greater Will, hence why so many exist across space in the Elden Beast's boss arena.
given the games fixation on grafting, be it basic godrick style, being eaten by a snake, being combined with a tree(guardians) i think placidusax is a prodct of dragon heads being grafted together. ESPECIALLY as the first major boss cutscene shows us a dragon head being grafted to another creature and coming to life.
Thank you so much for this video !! you've answered all my question from my comment in the last video and went event further with theories !!
Great work !!
I like how the patterns on the ancient dragon's wings look like form a series of circles.
If you look at one of the generic ruin texture you can find what i think looks like a baby dragon. If I recall correctly you find it in maliketh boss arena and in several other places, but it is hard to see as sometimes the motif is mirrored and rotated to fill the walls. (I might also be a victim of pareidolia from trying to make sense of the reliefs in farum azula)
Merry Christmas Zullie!
Thank you for all your brilliant videos!
I am 95% sure that the concept art is not of Greyoll, but instead Gransax.
Additional important context for the concept art shown at 2:00; it's found in volume 1 of 2 official artbooks and vol 1 primarily covers concept art for environments. This particular piece of concept art is specifically found in the section showing off Leyndell concept art, which is why I think it makes more sense for it to have originally been Gransax due to it's association with the city.
I'm also happy to see the topic covered. I made a request a little over a week ago, and regardless of whether it reached you or not, thank you.
I’ve noted for a long time that Placidusax’s own skulls look like a cross between the ancient dragons and the 4-limbed dragons
Shadow of the Erdtree has pretty much solved this little riddle.
All of the "wyvern-like" dragons descend from Bayle, who betrayed Placidusax, and as such, they are hunted and feasted upon in the Dragon Communion.
So that dragon in Farum Azula was most likely one of those.
Glad you are still making lore videos on this game
Thank you for the great insight as always, Merry Christmas Zullie!
I remember a funny story. In textures of ER, they were some images that seemed to make references to Miquella and the Elden Ring. So people started teorizing about what conexion could actually happen?
Why is it here? But why with this caracther specifically?
People were tearing their hair.
Turned out that those textures were bought, is pretty common to buy assets in order to save resources to another things.
So we were fighting about the lore of stock textures. Funny.
Kinda reminds me of the car wheel and can of beer in the Gutter's wall textures in Ds2
@@Rigel_6 That was certainly Iconic. Imagine being trapped surviving for poison damage and then seeing "H E I S E N B E R G"
I never noticed the dragons embedded in the ground of Farum Azula until this video. I'll have to check that sometime during my Bloodborne trips.
I can't believe people are **STILL** finding out new things about this game.
judging by how it works with Souls games, there are things we will scratch our heads and guess at for 8-10 years. I remember playing DS2 at launch and some things the community have only deciphered in the last couple years!
I always read “Mother of Dragons,” as mother to the dragon rather than to ancient dragons.
Ya’ know, interpreting Greyoll as the identifiable dragon from which the other modern dragons descend. It’s possible there were other dragons and they simply didn’t leave a lasting bloodline.
The degradation of the dragons does seem in line with the Misbegotten and it’s wholly possible that this change was born out the birth of the Erdtree.
That is as the primordial crucible was made different yet again its flaws were imparted onto all living things not shunned by grace.
Love these videos. Thank you.
Merry Christmas (eve) Zullie and thanks for all the super interesting videos as always!
Zullie thank you for bringing knowledge and joy. Keep up the good work.
The work and thought that went into this game... god its astounding
Thank you for all the informative and at the same time entertaining and relaxing content, Zulli. Merry Christmas and enjoy the holidays!
Glad to see u back it ❤
Normal people: I like Souls games because they're brutal
Me, thinking about the downfall of the dragons: I like Souls games because they're *sad*
I really like your videos, keep it up
I like the idea of these dragons with the frills being ancient ancestors bc it really fits with them being in the literal foundation of farum azula
Dragons are definitely the most interesting part of Elden Ring's missing history. If we believe that the draconic civilization had its own version of the ring and the tree/crucible that was later altered by Marika and the order, perhaps the wyvern family is the result of true dragons using the power of the crucible to quickly evolve and adapt better to the Lands Between after the fall of Farum Azula being lost to time?
This is some quality archeology work!
Always enjoy your videos even though I’ve never played any Souls games! Happy Holidays 🥰🥰
Considering the constant exploring the past and fighting a super duper dragon in the DLCs, I wouldn't be surprised if one of those corpses make an appearance to wipe the floor with us.
Something interesting you brought up was the missing link between Wyverns and Ancient Dragons. I was thinking about that as the video transitioned to discussing Placidusax and noticed that aside from the head you presented in the video, Placidusax's is a dead ringer for a missing link.
They're stony like the ancient dragons but have hair like the wyverns. The shape of their heads is actually between the new and old dragon styles. The way their back legs, wings, and hips are so small, I assumed was entropy. But in light of this thought what if that was just how they were because the generation that would follow them would eventually lose those back legs, wings and hips.
I guess to make this theory work we should assume the following: Placidusax is ancient compared to Marika and the Golden Order. Placidusax is younger compared to the race of Ancient Dragons as a whole, being born on the edge of their evolution (Even with this in play they may still be older and regarded as an elder to Gransax, Fortissax, and Lansseax, since evolution is NOT an all at once process).
This is so cool and insightful! Thank you!!
I love when people do this kinda stuff with the things they make. Like, they didn’t necessarily “have to,” but they DID, and that shows such PASSION for their work!
Unexpected Christmas Zullie upload!
Happy Holidays 🎄🎁
Some good old fashioned tarnished archeology
I like the visual analogy being drawn through Placidusax's design in that he is like a geological core sample of an older era. There are veins of gold in the gray strata of the rest of his body.
Something I considered was in concert with the theory that Farum Azula is displaced from Caelid (Specifically, the great waste that serves as Radahn's arena); that perhaps where Greyoll is a great mother of dragons, this is the *father* we see here. Greyoll herself may well be as old as Farum, given her size and decrepitude, and we've not seen another dragon that could serve as her mate. The flock of wyverns surrounding the unnamed Farum dragon also feels reminiscent of Greyoll's children around her. This could also explain the difference in the frills- an aspect sexual dimorphism between the two. It also does seem in Fromsoft's vein of melancholy to have an ancient family of dragons, split not only between time and space, leaving the mother flightless and mourning, waiting for the dead father to return.
Can I just say this is a really good theory, and I love the last line
Relaxing time to curl up with some egg nog, and watch this on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas 🎁🎄
It could reasonably be said that Ancient Dragons and Dragons are treated as separate but still closely related species, making Greyoll's description as "Mother of all Dragons" still fit
The concept art for farum azula is amazing , I love the lighting
I always thought of Placidusax as the oldest living ancestor to all dragons AND wyverns. Placidusax is destinct from both and doesn't suffer at all from the bonus damage from dragon weapons. Additionally, Placidusax's Ruin isn't buffed by gravelstone seal or dragon communion seal, implying that Placidusax is SO old that they could be considered not a dragon at all, but something that came before. I personally believe the skull in Farum Azula is just a leftover model, hence the slight differences to the other Wyvern skulls/heads in the game, but it's fun to believe that this dragon IS the missing link between Placidusax and the Wyverns, dating back to some point along the evolution timeline of Placi to Wyvern.
So from Dragonlords to Ancient Dragons, and from Dragons to Wyverns.
I wonder if the gold tint to their skin underneath their stone scales were their ancient version of Grace.
I think it should be interpreted as a 1:1 parallel to Dark Souls dragons, with ancient dragons that ruled everything initially but later devolved into wyverns.
Probably Placidusax is the most ancient, with the other ancient dragons we fight as bosses being pure blood descendants and the wyverns like Greyoll being less pure.
I “knew” it didn’t make sense for her to be literally all dragons’ mother.
Since she’s clearly not Elder, I sort of believed (without really thinking about it) that she was mother to all the lesser dragons.
Her being A mother to a bunch of them rather than THE mother makes SO much more sense.
At last someone who knows the difference between Wyverns and Dragons.
Dergs are such a glorious staple of fantasy games. And wherever they appear - they are always amazing
Id like to think the corpses ARE placiduseax, just at different points in time. The vague and poorly described time travel properties of farum azula could be an explanation for alot of that regions oddities.
I'm more interested how no one's drawing any parallels to the Two/Three Fingers. Maybe he was Elden Lord during the Great Whole and lost 3 of his heads during the split when Greater Will came into power. Maybe Greater Will did it in order to erase the reminder of such age and essentially locked him away.
What a blessed day! Zullie the Witch has uploaded!
from soft's dragons are always the most heart-breaking
These videos are the sole thing keeping me from Hollowing before the release of Shadow of the Erdtree 💀
another fantastic zullie video. never a single miss
Merry Christmas zullie may your stockings stuffed with plenty of pickled turtle meat and your hearth warm both tarnished and undead!
New Zullie upload. You love to see it
This is my speculation: I think one of the themes of elden ring is grafting and the dragons are part of that theme. Placidusax is 5 dragons grafted together which would explain the "bedrock" dragons having only one head. They weren't grafted to other dragons. This would mean that history repeated itself when Godrick grafted himself (also with a dragon head).
Ever notice how placidusax's three missing heads make him look like a hand with two fingers?
I am sick and tired of concept art being more interesting then what finished games deliver.
Informative, thank you.
Prime Placi daddy would be the best boss fight ever.
i'm not the only one who really likes ALL dragons in souls games?
"Dragons don't do well in captivity" - some guys in Game of Thrones. Also what if those fossilized placidusax look alike are his children?
Interesting, I always assumed it was one of Placidusax's missing heads.
I would really like to see what Placidusax looked like at their prime.
Zullie i love you man lol these videos are great
poor dragons can't catch a break
It's also a pretty common theme with Souls games in general for the world to be in a general state of decline from its glory days.
This goes for everything from the dragons to magic, humans, and the land itself.
When I thought the title digging up past I thought it was digging up my internet history from 2017-2018
Doooood the detail with the Ancient Dragons being inside the mountains is so surreal, In game items describe how the Ancient dragons would use themselves as impenetrable stone wall to protect their lord.. YOU LITERALLY SEE THEM AS STONE WALLS CRAZY
I tought this video would be about the giant skull just before the fire giant fight. I would love it if you did a video on that aswell.
My apologies i didn't realise you did a video about the ones in caelid and they are likely of a similar origin.