Something to note about Rennala is her similarity to the Japanese myth Ubume, women who died during childbirth and are too devastated to pass onto the afterlife. They're usually depicted as hunched over and clutching a baby much like how Rennala holds and obssesses over the egg. The thematic ties she has to childbirth make me pretty confident this is the inspiration. What got me was realizing the depiction of the Ubume in Nioh is clutching a large chunk of amrita (Nioh's magic stones everyone is fighting over) instead of a child, and it looks exactly like Rennala's amber egg. Maybe it's coincidence, but what if?
Ooooh that's an awesome comparison! I just did some reading on this yokai and i agree with the similarities you drew ! How heartbreaking the delusions of a grieving mother are. Thank you for sharing this with me and everyone
Based on tarnished archeologist's findings, it wouldn't surprise me if rennala's behavior was taken directly from a human legend. It seems all of the inspiration for the game was taken directly from real human history
Tragic, she was a queen, she was cold and powerful like the moon, but when she was with Radagon, when she had children with him, she was so happy, she was warmed up by the stars that joined her in the night sky Then Radagon left to become Marika’s next consort, her children going with him, the stars leaving the moon alone in the cold night sky
I love these little details in Elden Ring that tell a story, like the NPC that would have been a missing class, the wolf that defends Renalla, and things like that. I think it's incredibly amazing! We don't always notice them, but thankfully we have someone wonderful like you to tell us about them in the best possible way
Good stuff to listen to while painting miniatures. Also, about the juvenile scholars at 23:00, my own take on them is Rennala's failed attempts at duplicating her own genetic code into rebirthing her own self, a better self.
do you have any plans of making a playthrough series? i would really enjoy someone with a lot of knowledge playing through the game, maybe making some comments about the lore of each new area and npc, it would be really fun!
I use your lore to fall asleep. Nice and soothing voice of yours reminds me the time I was little and I was read bed stories. Thank you for doing this!
at about 7:38, you mentioned the rule of parliamentary entitlement; I think Rennala's ascension speaks to an older theme from western mythology, which is the idea of hubris committed by sovereign royalty against the divine (e.g., the Judgement of Paris in the Illiad.) Rennala was not a queen, but did eventually ascend to Queendom, but this goes against the the Golden Order's fundamental divine command, which is hosted by God-Queen Marika the Eternal. I personally believe her ascension to the title of Queen occurred when she married Radagon and had her three kids by him (Rykard, Ranni, and Radahn). What this also reflects, however, is the symbol of a dooming omen: the Eclipse. Queen of the Full Moon, and the eventual Elden Lord of the Erdtree (which is also heavily coded as the Sun), in the moment of her ascension to Queendom, she became grafted to the Erdtree's power (and we can see this because her lucidity and memory of the divine cosmos [which she gained from being an astrologer] can be seen in the Elden Beast. Her "grafting" was cemented within the golden armament that has seal her mind in a finger trap-like Eboshi (I think it's specifically a Nae-Eboshi, which is a type worn by common guests in Japanese scholarly spaces, which is why the sorcerers of the academy claimed of Rennala that she was naught but a fraud.) By the nature of the exchanging hubris of the Erdtree, we can see what Rennala's mind has been replaced with: the mind of a divinely graceful goddess mothering the egg (similar to Filianore/the Angel & the Egg film) This timeline might be shaky, but like most things in Elden Ring, I think time has been converging in on itself, so the "timeline" between Rennala's ascension and later events like the Night of Black Knives are happening simultaneously. It also recontextualizes what Ranni says during her second phase, when the vision of the "real" Rennala is revealed. (p.s., a hint for when events in the timeline shift are when characters open and close their eyes)
I just got a scam reply from an account using your name Miss Chalice. It always seems to be related to whatsapp... Please folks just report those scam bots and never click on their links! Stay safe out there fam!
That last carian knight might be a traitor, there's a way up to where the boulder drops. A little platforming is required to get up there and there's a chest with a scarab helmet. Guarded by 3 sorcerers and a pumpkin head, guessing they enslaved it. Cause I don't know why else it would be in the academy
blaidd has blue and gold eyes 🤔 She also is kicked out by Sellen, but then comes back after you rest at the site of grace - implying that she came back to the library of her own free will
My biggest question in regards to radagon/rennala is was marika at least partially in control of radagon at the time? Because if i remember the lore right during the liurnian wars marika remained hidden.
The amber egg has been theorised to be what birthed Ranni after Radagon left so mabye it was in fact a plan from Marika to have an Empyrean raised not by herself but by the Carian Queen in hate of the Greater Will who took back her precious Radagon... Not a parting gift from a carefull lover...
The most overlooked fact and tidbit about Rennala is that in her youth, she was as much a warrior as Godfrey in his heyday. She founded the Carian Royal Knights and conquered Liunaria with both charm and might.
@@shiny_edin Marika is the reason Radagon had to leave Rennala in the first place. That is, if he has a will if his own at all. It could be Marika used Radagon just to take Rennala out, but idk. Either way, Marika sucks
I love the poem at the end, that is such a great touch! I like to think Radagon truly loved Rennala both because it is more romantic and because, otherwise, Rennala looks like a complete fool for someone so incredibly intelligent. Radagon seemed to really love parts of his life in Liurnia too, considering all his work with sorceries, creating the Radagon Icon, and having his own magic dog. Radagon is just eternally loyal to the Golden Order, so he put his belief in it over his love of Renalla, no matter how deep it was. This is understandably heart-breaking enough to cause the kind of grief we see in Rennala, and it was probably not helped by all of her children lost to her (Radahn's rot, Ranni's bodily death, and Rykard's vore). Radagon could have given the amber egg completely out of kindness, and it just backfired horribly as this magic combined with her grief to completely drive her mad. So he sent his loyal dog to help guard Rennala, and bent himself completely into the Golden Order, turning his love for sorceries and philosophy into the fundamentalist school. This is just my headcanon. With a world a vast (and a timeline as long and fuzzy) as in this game, there is room for many interpretations
I think from Miriel's dialogue alone it is kind of explicitly said that Renalla and Radagon truly did love each other at some point. Maybe he still loves her to some extent if he has any will of his own left anymore.
No he did not. He legit left her with an egg that gave birth to useless "sweetings" that can't walk and act retarded. And he loves her so much he has a statue built of himself to remember him by. It sounds more like he loved himself, as all God's do.
I like this. I refuse to believe Marika/Radagon just came up with this plan of having Radagon sweep Rennala off her feet just to break her heart. I want to believe Radagon did love her.
The idea of Rennala rebirthing Radagon is an interesting one, like what if he wants to be separate from Marika and this will finally give him the means?
What evidence do we actually have for his simpage? The GO Fundamentalists were originally a sect based upon Scholarship, and the Sealing of the Erdtree directly goes against the Two Fingers- and if their word is to be trusted- The Greater Will. The Golden Order Greatsword is a good counter to this, what with it being potentially a reforged Moonlight Greatsword. Though that could be him remaking it to keep it, and the Japanese is more ambiguous- stating it could be made to mimic the sword instead
I'm pretty positive that Rennala is trying to rebirth Ranni, but she keeps failing because her soul is trapped in the puppet. The red hairs in the egg are probably hers.
This woman could have been casted to voice act in this game. Her voice is so soothing and soft. It brings something to these Elden ring lore videos that are unmatched 💛 it’s like listening to Ranni
Always a wonderful day when your lore and voice graces my algorithm 😁 wonderful video as always Chalice! I’ve always been fascinated by Rennala’s backstory and I think you did a great job exploring one of my personal favorite Fromsoft characters.
There's a fun theory mentioning how Radagon is working like a Cuckoo bird. He has the Cuckoo Army after all. A Cuckoo bird will go to a nest, destroy the Eggs and replace it with its own. Leaving the victim to raise the Cuckoo as her own. Radagon did sir 3 redhead children and gave Rennalla an egg. You could see it as a form of infiltration. Though there's no mention of the lore describing Radagon as a particularly evil person.
I like this theory. I also saw someone mentioning that if he wanted he could have used the celestial dew when he left Renalla to not leave her devastated. Instead he gave her the amber egg to obsess over, essentially taking her out as a player in the politics and power of The Lands Between
True, but if we think about radagon as marika, marika might have cuckoo'd/wanted to use rennala to birth her children since rennala was the most highly regarded sorceress.
It’s a cool theory, though I believe the Cuckoo Knights actually belong to Raya Lucaria itself, if not once Caria. The heraldry mostly refers to Carian / Astrologer Belief, not Golden Order Beliefs.
Great video, I loved learning about this other possible class before the official release, very interesting! The video is VERY comprehensive and well done, congratulations ♥♥
I was super interested to discover the completely different class! I didn't really pay attention during the Closed Network Test so it was a pleasant surprise and glad you enjoyed me sharing it with you! It's always so rewarding for me to know that my points come across clearly. Thank you for your lovely feedback :)
@@miss_chalice I followed thr beta closely, and boy was I disappointed when Enchanted Knight didn't make it to the game. Was I ever excited when I got the armor, then consequently sour again when Moongrum pushed my shit in lmao
Here's a thought that came to mind about the amber egg. As we all know, Radagon is Marika, but there is a theory that during the war with the giants, Marika was cursed by the giants and the mark of this curse is her golden hair turning red. Perhaps in an attempt to free herself of the curse, Marika used the rune of the unborn in the amber egg and created a being from her own flesh who would be the carrier of the curse. That would explain why some of Radagon's hair is within the amber egg, because he was born of it. That's just my theory and I could be wrong, but it would make a little bit of sense.
In my opinon, the gift of the amber egg is actually kind of a white elephant. Radagon gifted it to Rennala to keep her obedient to the golden order and to distract her from her true destiny as Queen of the Moon. It has literally made her mind go soft and she has become a shell of the person she once was, rebirthing her scholars over and over into puddles of nascent, obedient children. Zullie the witch has a video analyzing the egg too, there are actually bug eggs in the egg itself which might elude to corruption involving the scarlet rot adherents (spitballing here, I think there needs to be more analysis.) Just some extra food for thought, great video but I wanted to add this!
It is worth noting that there is another interpretation of that Red Hound in the debate parlour. That parlour is full of bones, and doesn't seem to be in active use for its presumed purpose... the wolf almost seems like an occupying force in that context, there not as Rennala's protector, but her Warden. It certainly didn't seem to do anything to prevent her imprisonment at the very least. Likewise, the Amber Egg could be seen as a curse of sorts, fostering an obsession, could such a thing have been intentional? Neutralizing a potential Political Rival in the Lands Between, who had once fought his armies to a standstill could indeed be a cynical act of manipulation. Considering what we know of Radagon's other actions, choices and beliefs, I find it hard to imagine him acting in such a genuine fashion.
I look forward to your lore videos. Your voice is so relaxing and has put me me at ease when the world makes me want to break something. Cant wait for the DLC and more lore theory crafting.
Just to note the hair in the egg is actually from the sweetings, the light just makes it look red. Originally rennalad egg was going to have fetus like sweetings in the egg, but it was removed. However, the can still be seen in the cutscene model.
I like how the story at the end depicts a moon and sun rarely seeing each other, but in reality the moon has to be illuminated by the sun or else we don’t see it, which happens more often than not. Not to mention the moon being visible during the day quite often
@@MikaelTheRedeemed Moonlight is actually just the light from the sun bouncing off the moon. No sunlight = no moonlight. Like a crescent shaped moon, that's just partial blockage of the sunlight from our planet being in the way. ✌️
I think things become a lot more obvious once you go down the Goldmask side quest and reveal the truth about Radagon. At this point using the rule of Occam's Razor, this whole thing was a giant manipulation by Marika. First she creates the idea of Radagon out of whole cloth. She uses the guise of him to fight the war herself while allowing her people to be secure in her safety. She sees an opportunity to not only end the war, but to learn all of the Carian family secrets by having her made up champion marry Rennala. She secretly uses the egg's energy to give Rennala her children to create a permanent bond between her royal bloodline and Radagon. Then when she is finished getting what she wants, "Radagon" leaves her to "marry Marika" to end the illusion and consolidate her power base. Not needing the amber anymore, she leaves it with Rennala as a parting gift in order to pacify her with an obsession. It's devious to be sure, but it worked. And the entire charade continues to be held up by the ongoing illusion of Radagon's existence.
I do like your idea of Marika becoming Radagon to possibly pacify the threat posed by Liurnia. However, the idea of the egg is the cause of the families creation i dont think it makes sense. The egg is definitely the amber of the erdtree, it contains a great rune. I also believe Radagon did love Rennala. I also believe that Radagon and Marika are two different identities that are both creations of the greater will and the elden beast. So even if Radagon didn't want to leave, he was forced to return to further the whims of the greater will. If he truly didn't love her and only had intentions of stealing power and deception, then creating a family would be pointless, and the time spent just seems unnecessary. Also, the children that came from all this ended up backfiring on Marika, leading to the shattering and war. I do like your idea it just seems like it brought so many issues, changes, and time loss that only served to harm Marika more.
Radagon and Marika share a body yes, but they do seem to be two distinct beings with different motivations and goals, otherwise one breaking and the other attempting to repair the Elden Ring would make no sense, to say nothing of other points of distinction. it is unclear whether the Greater Will smashed two separate people together, awoke a second, more compliant self within Marika once she began to express insubordination, or if the pair were born and existed as a dual-natured entity all along. I do not think we can conclusively say much of anything there as it's one of the biggest lingering mysteries.
@@leviadragon99 I think it's more possible that Marika shattered the ring for one purpose, and then Radagon tried to restore it because of something horrible that followed. Considering how we find them in the form of Marika, practically crucified on the remnant of the ring, with what looks like a red lightning spear through her gut? I think narratively we aren't being given the entire picture (hopefully the DLC gives us the rest). It really looks like there is another party involved who tried to make sure Radagon couldn't undo what Marika did. And that party could be WHY Radagon tried in the first place.
@@dj_daem0n The red spear strongly resembled the energy of the Rune of Death, the one bound to Marika's Loyal Hound, one loyal to her and not Radagon. It *especially* resembles the wound upon the air that formed when Maliketh perished and the rune was unbound. So, either Maliketh intervened to prevent Radagon from repairing the Elden Ring, giving Radagon a very pressing reason to put up the impenetrable thornwall, *Or* the spear was a recent development, caused by You when you unbound the rune of death from its host and caused a great deal of long-defied Inevitable Doom to be unleashed upon both the tree and the one responsible for restraining such an elemental force in the first place. the crucifixion is almost certainly due to the power of the Elden Beast, given that it uses a similar technique against you, the the other damage to radagon/marika's body is likely a consequence of one of these potential scuffles, or just the Elden Ring blowing up in their face when Marika shattered it.
Thank you for this one, Chalice! Always love your lore insights. I really like Rennala and the drama surrounding her relationship with Radagon, and your examination of it was super interesting! On that note, I think the fact that he gave her the amber egg may well have been a curse, rather than a blessing - perhaps a deliberate way of undermining the power of Carian royals through Rennala's grief. The conflict between Caria and the Academy may never have come to pass if not for Radagon leaving, and we know Radagon is himself a very strong supporter of the Golden Order, so it makes sense for him to rid himself of the Academy, who was setting up to become a strong force at play and whose magic was against the Order's (as mentioned in the video!)...
What if Radagon didn’t leave Renalla of his own free will but as a way to hopefully keep her and her family safe. It could have been a choice of marry me or I destroy your queen and the children you love. Marry me and I’ll even take them in as my own. Just a thought.
Make sense when someone is on their shoes or position of been force to choose when been threatened by someone in exchange for something or a malicious purpose aka Marika forcing her/his other self half Radagon.
I noticed that there is a theme of parentage, especially motherhood, in Elden Ring. Rennala is obsessed with rebirth. Fia wishes to rebirth Godwyn. Radagon left for the milk. Gideon disowns Nepheli. Edgar regrets putting his duty over his daughter.
Well, the hair we see in the Amber egg is left over bits of the lullaby singers model (the reborn singers in her boss room) that used to be stuffed In it. That is cut content so make of it what you will. Source: Zullie the witch
What if, instead of the egg allowing Rennala to re-birth a child or Raddagon, Raddagon gave it to her so she could renew herself? Out of love, to start life again without the heartbreak of him leaving? Or, even a different angle, a gift that would allow her to survive any catastrophic changes that might occur due to him mending/failing to mend the great rune? It could be a gift of his love, something that allows the one so precious to him to remain forever?
so basically radagon had to leave the cute alt girl who like witchcraft and loved him, for a crazy and manipulative blonde because she was his boss, not gonna lie i feel bad for the guy.
I find it interesting that all artificial life (I.e. albanurics, rennalas rebirths, and I think dragonkin solders) don't have functioning legs, I'm not sure what this could represent, but I find it cool.
Yeah like even in Bloodborne early on in the sewer area, there's those long arm crawly guys whose legs are all messed up and no longer able to walk. Something mentioned about the curse starting through the legs during early stages of ailment. Kinda cool seeing these similar things.
Great video as always Chalice! Congrats on the full-time!! Always loved the visual motifs and symbolisms of Rennala's boss fight(s) - I personally think it shows exactly how far From Software has come as a company, when you look at the pure artisty that goes into some of the spectacles and the gorgeously realised cutscenes, and this was just one of many examples in Elden Ring! I have a question: any other games/franchises other than The Witcher & Elden Ring that you'd be interested in covering? Blessings, Gen
As I've gotten more and more knowledgeable on the world and lore of Elden Ring, I've come to realize how fitting the name "the Lands Between" really is. There is no one greater power, there is no one solution, everyone is struggling and everyone has some outer god they follow looking for a solution. All have good reasoning, yet all have great consequences. It's a great depiction of how unfair and vast life is.
Off-topic but between the quality of the videos content creators like you put into videos, and also spreading awareness of lore in gaming, I'd love to see you guys get your own panels at anime and gaming conventions one day.
I’ve always wondered why Ranni hated the Two Fingers. Maybe what happened to her mother contributed to that. I’ve been binging your videos recently and enjoying them. I havent finished the game so I’m skipping some to avoid spoilers, but will definitely come back once I’m ready. Thanks for the good content!
Please don't misunderstand, your soothing voice makes me calm and sleepy, which is a dicotomy by itself because your lore videos are the best out there! cheers and congratulations on such a work of art!
Personally, I'm skeptical of the English translation of the game. I remember that on release, there was at least one huge mistranslation in the Ranni ending. I don't know if the errors were fixed or not, but I don't think I can get fully invested in this game's lore without learning Japanese.
Marika bestowed the Rune of Destined Death to Maliketh for safekeeping sealed within a sword. It makes me wonder if there is something similar going on with the amber egg. There are many parallel to draw from: Radagon a reflection of Marika, the Unborn a reflection of Destined Death, a sword being a phallic symbol of masculinity and an egg that of maternity. If these were similarly pivotal moments in the history of the lands between it certainly isnt presented that way in the records left behind. It may be that the circumstances were not at all similar and one just echoes the other in symbolism or it could be another case where parts of Radagon's past was purposefully obfuscated from the world's inhabitants.
I really think Marika led personally armies of the Golden Order against Liurnia and Caria under guise of Radagon. Godwyn was still around at this time, but there is no mention of Godwyn in Liurnian wars, even though he would have made much more logical commander of Marika´s armies than the relative nobody like Radagon. This is why I think Godwyn was left as a regent in Leyndell, while Marika took on her male persona and then led armies personally and in secret. Sorcerers are very powerful, and Marika had to be there in person (even if disguised) to give her troops the fighting edge. There is never indication that Marika and Radagon are separate people as everything in the game suggests they are single entity that regularly changes between each other. And Radagon was able to give Rennala piece of Elden Ring (Rune of the Unborn, rune belonging to unborn daughter of Rennala). This is feat that only vessel of the Elden Ring, Marika, could do, because Runes are part of the world-order. If they are removed from the Elden Ring, then so are also the concepts which they represent. I believe Ranni is not Rennala´s biological daughter, but literal cuckoo´s chick in the family nest. Cuckoo symbolism is rife with Carian family. And we know what happens to original nestlings that Cuckoo birds choose to invade. They are killed, though I don´t think Ranni did the killing in this situation. On the contrary, I think that Ranni and Rennala loved each other as subversion the cuckoo trope. But I think Rennala´s biological daughter was killed (by Radagon or by his orders) and trapped in a limbo of unborn state, unable to be reborn. And Ranni, self-conceived children of Radagon/Marika replaced her. Ranni is Empyrean, and only reason she can be Empyrean, is that she is child of a single god like Malenia and Miquella. I believe Ranni was also Marika´s experiment, prototype, if she could actually conceive children with herself/himself alone. When it was success, she then resolved to carry out her plan (marry herself/himself). In the end, Radagon/Marika revealed the horrible truth to Rennala when they gave her the amber egg, and Rennala is desperately trying to incarnate her unborn daughter suspended within. Amber is crystallized life-force, and golden amber egg is literally crystallized life-force of the unborn demigod daughter. But Rennala does not have Marika´s power and authority as a birthing goddess, and her attempts fail instead. Marika/Radagon knew that Rennala would be debilitated by the reveal, weakening Caria and Liurnia, and I feel that the grief over being betrayed by her "husband" and deathless limbo of her child is more compelling reason to drive her into depression than simply being heartbroken over Radagon. I think Marika might be just sadistic/cruel enough to reveal to Rennala who she is and what she did, and that she did not take kindly being defeated by Caria and Rennala in First Liurnian War. Also, about the wolf... They seem to be Ranni´s servants that have dealt surgical strike against rebelling Academy. There is even Bloodhound Knight clinging to Academy gates that has been killing fleeing sorcerers, one of which desperately clings to celestial dew, as if begging from forgiveness and trying to acquire absolution. Moongrum and Carian task-force has nearly fully taken control of the Academy when we enter it, which is why Sellen wants to return there in the first place. Sellen was the governess that was ousted by Ranni´s servants, and her portrait is hanging in Debate Parlour. My guess is that Red-Wolf attacked the debating sorcerers and killed them.
The Japanese description of this rune says something along the lines of "The rune belonging to the not born Demigod" No plural in the Japanese, and the rune BELONGS to the demigod. And the demigod is not born so either dead or concieved by an unnatural means, mabye birthed from the Amber Egg ? It's likely Ranni's great rune, that also explains why Ranni intervenes in your fight to against Renala, she protects her mother, and her great rune.
I always thought the symbol on the apron worn by the grandmasters symbolized the primeval current. It’s a hash pattern of weaving lines and Renalla does cast comet Azur. I think this is worth considering because I think it was Renalla who banned the primeval current. But that’s not as fascinating as her tragic story tho . My theory is radagon convinced her to ban it before he left or when they married
Are you of the opinion then that Radagon was a seperate entity during the war and marriage and got absorbed into Marika upon his recall? My reading was that Marika had shifted form into Radagon and the who!e marriage was a long con to get access to Carian magic and political secrets, emotionally destroy a leader when she/he could not do so in battle, insitgated the coup, and left a defective rune that was designed to drive her mad. What Marika could not take by force, she took by guile.
My head Canon time line: *Raya lucaria established *Renala joins and ages *Radagon is sent to destroy *Raya lucaria can hold it's own against the order *The order (or Radagon) try a new plan of integration *Radagon despite marrying for duty actually falls in love *The three kids are born and age *Ranni becomes aware of what's suppose to happen to her *Ranni forms plan to change everything (ultimately for selfish reasons but understandable) *the shattering happens *Godwyn now "dead" alerting the order *the order calls Radagon back who at this point, knows his daughter is also dead. *Renala is doubly upset because of loss of husband and child *Radagon, with remorse and sorrow gives Renala the amber egg so that she may bear another child in Ranni's stead. Also if I recall correctly, Ranni is the youngest. while rykard and Radhan are older than her. I think Ranni was the only one left at caria manor So we are looking at a messed up version of empty nest syndrome. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk 😅
I do think Radagon loved Rennela. He was with her for an extreme amount of time, had three children with her (whom they both raised equally as seen by their children), and gave her gifts as condolences for his sudden departure. And it seems 2/3 of their children were not pleased about their family being torn apart due to Marika. Especially after they were basically forced to go live with their step-mom and leave their mother in disarray. In fact-it seems as though after Radagon married Marika. Ranni and Snake-Man distanced themselves emotionally from their father. As they make little to no mention about him probably because they were bitter about the whole thing and blamed him for their family’s downfall. But it also seems Radagon felt guilty for his two children’s despise of him as he spent a considerable amount of time doting on his two new children. Something I imagine made his other two children even more bitter than they already were. 😂 All in all-I feel like the Carian family did not win the game of life. Their lineage is dead on impact all because of a truce with the golden order. And the only “good ending” for the family is Ranni’s ending because she literally states that the Carian line ends with her mother. Who is trapped in both a physical and mental prison.
I think that what people associate with madness in Renalla (Lunacy jokes aside) is that Radagon has opened her mind to understanding the nature of the power that she has. The potential that she possesses, not only as a woman, but as a person. That power is why the Erd Tree, why the Greater Will, has imposed itself upon the world. It needs whatever promise the lands between (vagina metaphor?) possesses.
Loved it! I enjoyed the Rennala battle as well. Visually beautiful. Loved the dress as well, very proper emulating the night and stars, right? I'll go watch Rellana's now, one of my favorite lore plays. Thank you Chalice
Hey love. Can you do the windmill village lore. And the giant dragon in the city aka the biggest creature in the game? 2 separate vids? I love you. You are beautiful and I wanna marry you lol I give you. My bloody fingers.
For the kid that’s actually being re-birthed, it’s always been my opinion that it’s Ranni. In the opening cutscene for Rennala’s boss fight, the little ankle biter that grabs the Tarnished’s attention has central heterochromatic eyes of gold and a vaguely blue colour, signifying the conjunction of The Moon and The Golden Order. As a few extra tidbits: As seen by Ranni’s corpse on the Divine Tower or Liurnia, she had red hair like Radagon which explains the strands in the Amber Egg. It was likely that Ranni was the closest to her mother out of the three children because Rykard and Radahn effectively ‘had something else’ - Radahn had gravitational sorceries instead of Carian/Moon sorceries and idolised the Golden Order and Godfrey whilst Rykard had the whole Magma sorceries, Volcano Manor and the God-Devouring Serpent - Ranni was the only one that ‘stayed true’ to the Moon, in a sense and it was her that made the protective illusion which serves as Rennala’s second phase, proving that she loved her mother to such an extent that she wouldn’t take any half-measures with her safety. Of the Demi-Gods to ‘die’ in Elden Ring, Ranni’s is the only one to directly affect the Carian side of the giant family (Erd)tree; this would’ve undoubtedly been the final straw to effectively smash Rennala’s mental state into sand and with the rebirthing capabilities of the Amber Egg, it makes sense that Rennala would try over and over to bring Ranni back, unaware that whilst her daughter’s body was dead, her soul wasn’t and thus couldn’t complete the rebirth, leading to physical differentiations when the scholars were born against what would’ve been expected at Ranni’s rebirth - such as the fiery red hair being black or just the outright failure of some bodily functions, such as the legs. There are a few final notes I have just to add on to the whole ‘it’s almost certainly Ranni’ notion, those being that the Dark Moon Ring - the ring used to propose to Ranni - is locked up in Rennala’s boss room, meaning that Ranni trusted her mother enough to keep ahold of such a thing and that Ranni’s Dark Moon is almost certainly the successor to the Full Moon, if not a ‘sibling’ of some kind, reinforcing the connection between Ranni and Rennala once again.
The Elden Ring was shattered long ago! The Rune of Death and the Rune of the Unborn are both supposed to be part of the Elden Ring itself, but both were removed before Marika's well-known shattering. Lord's Divine Fortification - taught to Gideon by the Two Fingers and the strongest defense against holy (godly) damage - tells us, "all had been broken long ago" ("all" being the functions of the Greater Will, from the Erdtree to the Two Fingers, and, of course, core functions like death and (re)birth.) Radagon is, possibly, a "Golden Tear" created by Marika, a literal cuckoo who leaves his egg in Rennala's "nest" (or, cage). Radagon is basically showing her where he comes from, being a homunculus, which fits his obsession with seeking to become complete and perfect. He's then "reborn" when he is absolved of his sins through Absolution by the Celestial Dew at the Church of Vows, a ritual created by the Nox of the Eternal Cities, who also invented the Silver Tears, and who are related to the Black Knives, who have ties to Queen Marika, the Eternal.
A youtuber called T-L-G-T-W theorized that Ranni came from the amber egg, and its NOT a child of Rennala, but purely of Radagon/Merika. His video is here, sorry but its almost 5 hours long: ruclips.net/video/CKIPh9H0DKk/видео.html Melenia rememberence say this: "Miquella and Malenia are both the children of a single god. As such they are both Empyreans..." but Ranni is also an empyrean... This theory can make Rennalas fate even worst.
When clipping trough the model of the Amber Egg when it is on the ground and not part of Renala's model, you can see 3 juvenile scholars within it. The strands of hair are on those scholars so it is likely that they were left as a mistake when removing the scholars to create the 2nd model.
A theory I've had and seen be brought up was that the egg might represent a stillborn fourth child between Renalla and Radagon and Renalla's obsession with rebirth is that she feels it was that event that led to the dissolvement of their marriage.
I don't think it was 'Radagon' s Army. Since Radagon was a mere Champion of the Golden Order. Champion is not a Military Ranking. it is just a oral title for accomplishments. WHEN leyndell gives out military rankings, they are explicitly used on the characters (eg. General, Praetor, Commander) Radagon was most likely an accomplished soldier(most likely not even a knight) of the Leyndell army with strong ambition to advance the hierarchy.
Are Gods/Demigods born from Eggs, maybe made of Amber? We never are shown a depiction of any pregnant Goddesses, as far as I have seen. (I am late to the party, only recently got a copy >
![Yailin La Mas Viral, @kreizyk.official - Dale 2 (Remix) [Video Oficial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JaYHBzgqz94/mqdefault.jpg)
Something to note about Rennala is her similarity to the Japanese myth Ubume, women who died during childbirth and are too devastated to pass onto the afterlife. They're usually depicted as hunched over and clutching a baby much like how Rennala holds and obssesses over the egg. The thematic ties she has to childbirth make me pretty confident this is the inspiration.
What got me was realizing the depiction of the Ubume in Nioh is clutching a large chunk of amrita (Nioh's magic stones everyone is fighting over) instead of a child, and it looks exactly like Rennala's amber egg. Maybe it's coincidence, but what if?
Ooooh that's an awesome comparison! I just did some reading on this yokai and i agree with the similarities you drew ! How heartbreaking the delusions of a grieving mother are. Thank you for sharing this with me and everyone
wow 😮
I thought of that mob from Nioh 2 as I read this and saw you mentioned it.
Based on tarnished archeologist's findings, it wouldn't surprise me if rennala's behavior was taken directly from a human legend. It seems all of the inspiration for the game was taken directly from real human history
I think it has some similarity and inspiration from Artemisia queen of the Carians, from real world history
Tragic, she was a queen, she was cold and powerful like the moon, but when she was with Radagon, when she had children with him, she was so happy, she was warmed up by the stars that joined her in the night sky
Then Radagon left to become Marika’s next consort, her children going with him, the stars leaving the moon alone in the cold night sky
I love these little details in Elden Ring that tell a story, like the NPC that would have been a missing class, the wolf that defends Renalla, and things like that. I think it's incredibly amazing! We don't always notice them, but thankfully we have someone wonderful like you to tell us about them in the best possible way
Good stuff to listen to while painting miniatures. Also, about the juvenile scholars at 23:00, my own take on them is Rennala's failed attempts at duplicating her own genetic code into rebirthing her own self, a better self.
L pfp
do you have any plans of making a playthrough series? i would really enjoy someone with a lot of knowledge playing through the game, maybe making some comments about the lore of each new area and npc, it would be really fun!
I use your lore to fall asleep. Nice and soothing voice of yours reminds me the time I was little and I was read bed stories. Thank you for doing this!
25:40 Haven’t read this Romeo & Juliet fanfic before, haha.
Love lore videos only way for me to understand the lore of any game😂
at about 7:38, you mentioned the rule of parliamentary entitlement; I think Rennala's ascension speaks to an older theme from western mythology, which is the idea of hubris committed by sovereign royalty against the divine (e.g., the Judgement of Paris in the Illiad.) Rennala was not a queen, but did eventually ascend to Queendom, but this goes against the the Golden Order's fundamental divine command, which is hosted by God-Queen Marika the Eternal. I personally believe her ascension to the title of Queen occurred when she married Radagon and had her three kids by him (Rykard, Ranni, and Radahn). What this also reflects, however, is the symbol of a dooming omen: the Eclipse. Queen of the Full Moon, and the eventual Elden Lord of the Erdtree (which is also heavily coded as the Sun), in the moment of her ascension to Queendom, she became grafted to the Erdtree's power (and we can see this because her lucidity and memory of the divine cosmos [which she gained from being an astrologer] can be seen in the Elden Beast. Her "grafting" was cemented within the golden armament that has seal her mind in a finger trap-like Eboshi (I think it's specifically a Nae-Eboshi, which is a type worn by common guests in Japanese scholarly spaces, which is why the sorcerers of the academy claimed of Rennala that she was naught but a fraud.) By the nature of the exchanging hubris of the Erdtree, we can see what Rennala's mind has been replaced with: the mind of a divinely graceful goddess mothering the egg (similar to Filianore/the Angel & the Egg film)
This timeline might be shaky, but like most things in Elden Ring, I think time has been converging in on itself, so the "timeline" between Rennala's ascension and later events like the Night of Black Knives are happening simultaneously. It also recontextualizes what Ranni says during her second phase, when the vision of the "real" Rennala is revealed.
(p.s., a hint for when events in the timeline shift are when characters open and close their eyes)
no shot its already been a year. congrats and looking forward to another ❤
I just got a scam reply from an account using your name Miss Chalice. It always seems to be related to whatsapp... Please folks just report those scam bots and never click on their links! Stay safe out there fam!
That last carian knight might be a traitor, there's a way up to where the boulder drops. A little platforming is required to get up there and there's a chest with a scarab helmet. Guarded by 3 sorcerers and a pumpkin head, guessing they enslaved it. Cause I don't know why else it would be in the academy
Where can I find that sun and moon poem? I wanna use that for my d&d campaign!
blaidd has blue and gold eyes 🤔 She also is kicked out by Sellen, but then comes back after you rest at the site of grace - implying that she came back to the library of her own free will
My biggest question in regards to radagon/rennala is was marika at least partially in control of radagon at the time? Because if i remember the lore right during the liurnian wars marika remained hidden.
The amber egg has been theorised to be what birthed Ranni after Radagon left so mabye it was in fact a plan from Marika to have an Empyrean raised not by herself but by the Carian Queen in hate of the Greater Will who took back her precious Radagon...
Not a parting gift from a carefull lover...
I love hearing you read lore. Honestly I would pay for audio books that you are reading.
is it possible the moon or an entity outside the lands between correlated with the moon is an outer god? kind of like the moon presence in bloodborne
your voice has a mesmerizing effect on me 😌
The most overlooked fact and tidbit about Rennala is that in her youth, she was as much a warrior as Godfrey in his heyday. She founded the Carian Royal Knights and conquered Liunaria with both charm and might.
Kind of sad that she was reduced to a shadow of her former self by Marika. I hate Marika.
@@jungtothehuimanglmao what
@@shiny_edin Marika is the reason Radagon had to leave Rennala in the first place. That is, if he has a will if his own at all. It could be Marika used Radagon just to take Rennala out, but idk. Either way, Marika sucks
@@shiny_edinlmao are you slow
But radagon is marika
I love the poem at the end, that is such a great touch!
I like to think Radagon truly loved Rennala both because it is more romantic and because, otherwise, Rennala looks like a complete fool for someone so incredibly intelligent. Radagon seemed to really love parts of his life in Liurnia too, considering all his work with sorceries, creating the Radagon Icon, and having his own magic dog. Radagon is just eternally loyal to the Golden Order, so he put his belief in it over his love of Renalla, no matter how deep it was. This is understandably heart-breaking enough to cause the kind of grief we see in Rennala, and it was probably not helped by all of her children lost to her (Radahn's rot, Ranni's bodily death, and Rykard's vore).
Radagon could have given the amber egg completely out of kindness, and it just backfired horribly as this magic combined with her grief to completely drive her mad. So he sent his loyal dog to help guard Rennala, and bent himself completely into the Golden Order, turning his love for sorceries and philosophy into the fundamentalist school.
This is just my headcanon. With a world a vast (and a timeline as long and fuzzy) as in this game, there is room for many interpretations
Sadly, intelligent people are not immune to abusive relationships. no-one is immune to being manipulated under the right circumstances...
I think from Miriel's dialogue alone it is kind of explicitly said that Renalla and Radagon truly did love each other at some point. Maybe he still loves her to some extent if he has any will of his own left anymore.
No he did not. He legit left her with an egg that gave birth to useless "sweetings" that can't walk and act retarded. And he loves her so much he has a statue built of himself to remember him by. It sounds more like he loved himself, as all God's do.
I like this. I refuse to believe Marika/Radagon just came up with this plan of having Radagon sweep Rennala off her feet just to break her heart. I want to believe Radagon did love her.
I always thought the juveniles inability to walk is an indication of infancy and they don’t live long enough to learn how to walk
The idea of Rennala rebirthing Radagon is an interesting one, like what if he wants to be separate from Marika and this will finally give him the means?
like how ranni needed to be reborn to escape the greater will, radagon wanted to do the same but couldnt for whatever reason
Ehh, I don't see it, he was the one simping harder for the greater will, and clearly the one in Control of that body by the time we encounter them.
Seems more likely that the Greater Will called him back and forced them together to reel Marika in
What evidence do we actually have for his simpage?
The GO Fundamentalists were originally a sect based upon Scholarship, and the Sealing of the Erdtree directly goes against the Two Fingers- and if their word is to be trusted- The Greater Will.
The Golden Order Greatsword is a good counter to this, what with it being potentially a reforged Moonlight Greatsword. Though that could be him remaking it to keep it, and the Japanese is more ambiguous- stating it could be made to mimic the sword instead
@@leviadragon99An empyrean can't just decide to disobey the greater will
Renalla = Moon Mommy
It's true. The fandom has a point when they call her a MILF.
@@samf.s.7731 cringe
@@jarlwhiterun7478Fringe.
Fia = Death Mommy
Malenia = Rot Mommy
Sellen = Witch Mommy
Moony or moomy 😂
radagon belongs to the streets
I'm pretty positive that Rennala is trying to rebirth Ranni, but she keeps failing because her soul is trapped in the puppet. The red hairs in the egg are probably hers.
They already peel the skin from the egg model, whatever details there are just left over from the other egg models with the scholars children in it.
Ranni's body is on top of the Liurnia Divine Tower, though.
Ranni hasn't died yet when radagon leftm
@maxmazza2987 at this time I believe it's because from rennalas pov, ranni had killed herself but doesn't know that she's a puppet now
She knows that Ranni is alive. When Rennala is defeated, her last sane words were "little Ranni, my dear daughter....weave thy night into being"
This woman could have been casted to voice act in this game. Her voice is so soothing and soft. It brings something to these Elden ring lore videos that are unmatched 💛 it’s like listening to Ranni
Always a wonderful day when your lore and voice graces my algorithm 😁 wonderful video as always Chalice! I’ve always been fascinated by Rennala’s backstory and I think you did a great job exploring one of my personal favorite Fromsoft characters.
There's a fun theory mentioning how Radagon is working like a Cuckoo bird. He has the Cuckoo Army after all.
A Cuckoo bird will go to a nest, destroy the Eggs and replace it with its own. Leaving the victim to raise the Cuckoo as her own.
Radagon did sir 3 redhead children and gave Rennalla an egg. You could see it as a form of infiltration. Though there's no mention of the lore describing Radagon as a particularly evil person.
I like this theory. I also saw someone mentioning that if he wanted he could have used the celestial dew when he left Renalla to not leave her devastated. Instead he gave her the amber egg to obsess over, essentially taking her out as a player in the politics and power of The Lands Between
True, but if we think about radagon as marika, marika might have cuckoo'd/wanted to use rennala to birth her children since rennala was the most highly regarded sorceress.
The cuckoo night were not Radagon's but Raya's lucaria, which wanted it's own version of a Carian Knight before Rennala bewitched them with her moon
It’s a cool theory, though I believe the Cuckoo Knights actually belong to Raya Lucaria itself, if not once Caria. The heraldry mostly refers to Carian / Astrologer Belief, not Golden Order Beliefs.
Great video, I loved learning about this other possible class before the official release, very interesting! The video is VERY comprehensive and well done, congratulations ♥♥
I was super interested to discover the completely different class! I didn't really pay attention during the Closed Network Test so it was a pleasant surprise and glad you enjoyed me sharing it with you! It's always so rewarding for me to know that my points come across clearly. Thank you for your lovely feedback :)
@@miss_chalice I followed thr beta closely, and boy was I disappointed when Enchanted Knight didn't make it to the game.
Was I ever excited when I got the armor, then consequently sour again when Moongrum pushed my shit in lmao
Here's a thought that came to mind about the amber egg. As we all know, Radagon is Marika, but there is a theory that during the war with the giants, Marika was cursed by the giants and the mark of this curse is her golden hair turning red. Perhaps in an attempt to free herself of the curse, Marika used the rune of the unborn in the amber egg and created a being from her own flesh who would be the carrier of the curse. That would explain why some of Radagon's hair is within the amber egg, because he was born of it. That's just my theory and I could be wrong, but it would make a little bit of sense.
Your lore videos are so great... you should seriously consider doing audiobooks. You've got the voice that can tell lullaby stories to adults
In my opinon, the gift of the amber egg is actually kind of a white elephant. Radagon gifted it to Rennala to keep her obedient to the golden order and to distract her from her true destiny as Queen of the Moon. It has literally made her mind go soft and she has become a shell of the person she once was, rebirthing her scholars over and over into puddles of nascent, obedient children. Zullie the witch has a video analyzing the egg too, there are actually bug eggs in the egg itself which might elude to corruption involving the scarlet rot adherents (spitballing here, I think there needs to be more analysis.) Just some extra food for thought, great video but I wanted to add this!
It is worth noting that there is another interpretation of that Red Hound in the debate parlour. That parlour is full of bones, and doesn't seem to be in active use for its presumed purpose... the wolf almost seems like an occupying force in that context, there not as Rennala's protector, but her Warden. It certainly didn't seem to do anything to prevent her imprisonment at the very least.
Likewise, the Amber Egg could be seen as a curse of sorts, fostering an obsession, could such a thing have been intentional? Neutralizing a potential Political Rival in the Lands Between, who had once fought his armies to a standstill could indeed be a cynical act of manipulation. Considering what we know of Radagon's other actions, choices and beliefs, I find it hard to imagine him acting in such a genuine fashion.
I look forward to your lore videos. Your voice is so relaxing and has put me me at ease when the world makes me want to break something. Cant wait for the DLC and more lore theory crafting.
Just to note the hair in the egg is actually from the sweetings, the light just makes it look red. Originally rennalad egg was going to have fetus like sweetings in the egg, but it was removed. However, the can still be seen in the cutscene model.
Wake up babe, a new video from lore mommy just dropped.
I like how the story at the end depicts a moon and sun rarely seeing each other, but in reality the moon has to be illuminated by the sun or else we don’t see it, which happens more often than not. Not to mention the moon being visible during the day quite often
But the moon has it's own light. What do you mean?
@@MikaelTheRedeemed Moonlight is actually just the light from the sun bouncing off the moon. No sunlight = no moonlight.
Like a crescent shaped moon, that's just partial blockage of the sunlight from our planet being in the way. ✌️
The moon directly impacts the seas too or there’s no life
@@MikaelTheRedeemedBrother, I hope this comment is sarcasm.
I think things become a lot more obvious once you go down the Goldmask side quest and reveal the truth about Radagon.
At this point using the rule of Occam's Razor, this whole thing was a giant manipulation by Marika.
First she creates the idea of Radagon out of whole cloth. She uses the guise of him to fight the war herself while allowing her people to be secure in her safety. She sees an opportunity to not only end the war, but to learn all of the Carian family secrets by having her made up champion marry Rennala. She secretly uses the egg's energy to give Rennala her children to create a permanent bond between her royal bloodline and Radagon. Then when she is finished getting what she wants, "Radagon" leaves her to "marry Marika" to end the illusion and consolidate her power base. Not needing the amber anymore, she leaves it with Rennala as a parting gift in order to pacify her with an obsession.
It's devious to be sure, but it worked. And the entire charade continues to be held up by the ongoing illusion of Radagon's existence.
I do like your idea of Marika becoming Radagon to possibly pacify the threat posed by Liurnia. However, the idea of the egg is the cause of the families creation i dont think it makes sense. The egg is definitely the amber of the erdtree, it contains a great rune. I also believe Radagon did love Rennala. I also believe that Radagon and Marika are two different identities that are both creations of the greater will and the elden beast. So even if Radagon didn't want to leave, he was forced to return to further the whims of the greater will. If he truly didn't love her and only had intentions of stealing power and deception, then creating a family would be pointless, and the time spent just seems unnecessary. Also, the children that came from all this ended up backfiring on Marika, leading to the shattering and war. I do like your idea it just seems like it brought so many issues, changes, and time loss that only served to harm Marika more.
@@Lord_Nikon33 The end of the game confirms that Marika and Radagon are the same being. You literally see her transform into him.
Radagon and Marika share a body yes, but they do seem to be two distinct beings with different motivations and goals, otherwise one breaking and the other attempting to repair the Elden Ring would make no sense, to say nothing of other points of distinction. it is unclear whether the Greater Will smashed two separate people together, awoke a second, more compliant self within Marika once she began to express insubordination, or if the pair were born and existed as a dual-natured entity all along. I do not think we can conclusively say much of anything there as it's one of the biggest lingering mysteries.
@@leviadragon99 I think it's more possible that Marika shattered the ring for one purpose, and then Radagon tried to restore it because of something horrible that followed. Considering how we find them in the form of Marika, practically crucified on the remnant of the ring, with what looks like a red lightning spear through her gut? I think narratively we aren't being given the entire picture (hopefully the DLC gives us the rest). It really looks like there is another party involved who tried to make sure Radagon couldn't undo what Marika did. And that party could be WHY Radagon tried in the first place.
@@dj_daem0n The red spear strongly resembled the energy of the Rune of Death, the one bound to Marika's Loyal Hound, one loyal to her and not Radagon. It *especially* resembles the wound upon the air that formed when Maliketh perished and the rune was unbound.
So, either Maliketh intervened to prevent Radagon from repairing the Elden Ring, giving Radagon a very pressing reason to put up the impenetrable thornwall, *Or* the spear was a recent development, caused by You when you unbound the rune of death from its host and caused a great deal of long-defied Inevitable Doom to be unleashed upon both the tree and the one responsible for restraining such an elemental force in the first place.
the crucifixion is almost certainly due to the power of the Elden Beast, given that it uses a similar technique against you, the the other damage to radagon/marika's body is likely a consequence of one of these potential scuffles, or just the Elden Ring blowing up in their face when Marika shattered it.
Thank you for this one, Chalice! Always love your lore insights. I really like Rennala and the drama surrounding her relationship with Radagon, and your examination of it was super interesting!
On that note, I think the fact that he gave her the amber egg may well have been a curse, rather than a blessing - perhaps a deliberate way of undermining the power of Carian royals through Rennala's grief. The conflict between Caria and the Academy may never have come to pass if not for Radagon leaving, and we know Radagon is himself a very strong supporter of the Golden Order, so it makes sense for him to rid himself of the Academy, who was setting up to become a strong force at play and whose magic was against the Order's (as mentioned in the video!)...
that last bit was beautifully said, your voice is so soothing, love your vid. I feel like Rennala has that postpartum depression.
What if Radagon didn’t leave Renalla of his own free will but as a way to hopefully keep her and her family safe. It could have been a choice of marry me or I destroy your queen and the children you love. Marry me and I’ll even take them in as my own. Just a thought.
Make sense when someone is on their shoes or position of been force to choose when been threatened by someone in exchange for something or a malicious purpose aka Marika forcing her/his other self half Radagon.
I noticed that there is a theme of parentage, especially motherhood, in Elden Ring. Rennala is obsessed with rebirth. Fia wishes to rebirth Godwyn. Radagon left for the milk. Gideon disowns Nepheli. Edgar regrets putting his duty over his daughter.
lmao at the radagon part
Your voice is so calming. You should do guided meditation videos, or do readings of audiobooks for real. Love your "Loreplay" videos 💚💜
Something good after a tough week. A most welcome end to a Sunday :D
So glad I could help! I promised to deliver this weekend so I stayed up to get this out in time for you all!
@@miss_chalice thanks Chalice! Hope you love making them as much as we love watching them
Well, the hair we see in the Amber egg is left over bits of the lullaby singers model (the reborn singers in her boss room) that used to be stuffed In it.
That is cut content so make of it what you will.
Source: Zullie the witch
Patiently awaiting the day Chalice realizes her calling as a VA. Seriously that voice would fit into a FromSoft NPC perfectly!
Lore Mommy, all you need to do is title your vids "Elden Ring lore asmr" and you will absolutely pop off in the algo. People love that shit.
What if, instead of the egg allowing Rennala to re-birth a child or Raddagon, Raddagon gave it to her so she could renew herself?
Out of love, to start life again without the heartbreak of him leaving? Or, even a different angle, a gift that would allow her to survive any catastrophic changes that might occur due to him mending/failing to mend the great rune?
It could be a gift of his love, something that allows the one so precious to him to remain forever?
What if the Moon is an outer god, and by doing Ranni's quest, we did the same thing as when we didn't kindle in DS1?
so basically radagon had to leave the cute alt girl who like witchcraft and loved him, for a crazy and manipulative blonde because she was his boss, not gonna lie i feel bad for the guy.
I find it interesting that all artificial life (I.e. albanurics, rennalas rebirths, and I think dragonkin solders) don't have functioning legs, I'm not sure what this could represent, but I find it cool.
Yeah like even in Bloodborne early on in the sewer area, there's those long arm crawly guys whose legs are all messed up and no longer able to walk. Something mentioned about the curse starting through the legs during early stages of ailment. Kinda cool seeing these similar things.
@DragoonPaladin fromsoft loves references and so do we
Great video as always Chalice!
Congrats on the full-time!!
Always loved the visual motifs and symbolisms of Rennala's boss fight(s) - I personally think it shows exactly how far From Software has come as a company, when you look at the pure artisty that goes into some of the spectacles and the gorgeously realised cutscenes, and this was just one of many examples in Elden Ring!
I have a question: any other games/franchises other than The Witcher & Elden Ring that you'd be interested in covering?
Blessings,
Gen
Alright, this is gonna be cringe, but try this:
"My fate lieth under thine moons"
25:09 "Lunacy" - perfect word choice!
As I've gotten more and more knowledgeable on the world and lore of Elden Ring, I've come to realize how fitting the name "the Lands Between" really is. There is no one greater power, there is no one solution, everyone is struggling and everyone has some outer god they follow looking for a solution. All have good reasoning, yet all have great consequences. It's a great depiction of how unfair and vast life is.
The "scholars" around Rennala are clones of Ranni's human form. If you look at the portrait of her it becomes obvious. So lonely
Moon groom aint summoning the balls. Its a punpkin head and a glint guy
Off-topic but between the quality of the videos content creators like you put into videos, and also spreading awareness of lore in gaming, I'd love to see you guys get your own panels at anime and gaming conventions one day.
I’ve always wondered why Ranni hated the Two Fingers. Maybe what happened to her mother contributed to that.
I’ve been binging your videos recently and enjoying them. I havent finished the game so I’m skipping some to avoid spoilers, but will definitely come back once I’m ready.
Thanks for the good content!
Jesus, the poem about the moon and the sun rocked me to my core. This is a beautiful channel.
Please don't misunderstand, your soothing voice makes me calm and sleepy, which is a dicotomy by itself because your lore videos are the best out there! cheers and congratulations on such a work of art!
Personally, I'm skeptical of the English translation of the game. I remember that on release, there was at least one huge mistranslation in the Ranni ending. I don't know if the errors were fixed or not, but I don't think I can get fully invested in this game's lore without learning Japanese.
congratulations on going full time with your content.
Early Chalice gang lets goooo
Welcome in!!! Thanks for being here
Marika bestowed the Rune of Destined Death to Maliketh for safekeeping sealed within a sword. It makes me wonder if there is something similar going on with the amber egg.
There are many parallel to draw from: Radagon a reflection of Marika, the Unborn a reflection of Destined Death, a sword being a phallic symbol of masculinity and an egg that of maternity.
If these were similarly pivotal moments in the history of the lands between it certainly isnt presented that way in the records left behind. It may be that the circumstances were not at all similar and one just echoes the other in symbolism or it could be another case where parts of Radagon's past was purposefully obfuscated from the world's inhabitants.
Wow I've been wondering who those hooded statues were for a while. They're found at the shaded castle too. Why'd you think that is?
I really think Marika led personally armies of the Golden Order against Liurnia and Caria under guise of Radagon. Godwyn was still around at this time, but there is no mention of Godwyn in Liurnian wars, even though he would have made much more logical commander of Marika´s armies than the relative nobody like Radagon. This is why I think Godwyn was left as a regent in Leyndell, while Marika took on her male persona and then led armies personally and in secret. Sorcerers are very powerful, and Marika had to be there in person (even if disguised) to give her troops the fighting edge.
There is never indication that Marika and Radagon are separate people as everything in the game suggests they are single entity that regularly changes between each other. And Radagon was able to give Rennala piece of Elden Ring (Rune of the Unborn, rune belonging to unborn daughter of Rennala). This is feat that only vessel of the Elden Ring, Marika, could do, because Runes are part of the world-order. If they are removed from the Elden Ring, then so are also the concepts which they represent.
I believe Ranni is not Rennala´s biological daughter, but literal cuckoo´s chick in the family nest. Cuckoo symbolism is rife with Carian family. And we know what happens to original nestlings that Cuckoo birds choose to invade. They are killed, though I don´t think Ranni did the killing in this situation. On the contrary, I think that Ranni and Rennala loved each other as subversion the cuckoo trope.
But I think Rennala´s biological daughter was killed (by Radagon or by his orders) and trapped in a limbo of unborn state, unable to be reborn. And Ranni, self-conceived children of Radagon/Marika replaced her. Ranni is Empyrean, and only reason she can be Empyrean, is that she is child of a single god like Malenia and Miquella. I believe Ranni was also Marika´s experiment, prototype, if she could actually conceive children with herself/himself alone. When it was success, she then resolved to carry out her plan (marry herself/himself).
In the end, Radagon/Marika revealed the horrible truth to Rennala when they gave her the amber egg, and Rennala is desperately trying to incarnate her unborn daughter suspended within.
Amber is crystallized life-force, and golden amber egg is literally crystallized life-force of the unborn demigod daughter.
But Rennala does not have Marika´s power and authority as a birthing goddess, and her attempts fail instead.
Marika/Radagon knew that Rennala would be debilitated by the reveal, weakening Caria and Liurnia, and I feel that the grief over being betrayed by her "husband" and deathless limbo of her child is more compelling reason to drive her into depression than simply being heartbroken over Radagon.
I think Marika might be just sadistic/cruel enough to reveal to Rennala who she is and what she did, and that she did not take kindly being defeated by Caria and Rennala in First Liurnian War.
Also, about the wolf...
They seem to be Ranni´s servants that have dealt surgical strike against rebelling Academy. There is even Bloodhound Knight clinging to Academy gates that has been killing fleeing sorcerers, one of which desperately clings to celestial dew, as if begging from forgiveness and trying to acquire absolution.
Moongrum and Carian task-force has nearly fully taken control of the Academy when we enter it, which is why Sellen wants to return there in the first place. Sellen was the governess that was ousted by Ranni´s servants, and her portrait is hanging in Debate Parlour.
My guess is that Red-Wolf attacked the debating sorcerers and killed them.
The Japanese description of this rune says something along the lines of "The rune belonging to the not born Demigod"
No plural in the Japanese, and the rune BELONGS to the demigod. And the demigod is not born so either dead or concieved by an unnatural means, mabye birthed from the Amber Egg ?
It's likely Ranni's great rune, that also explains why Ranni intervenes in your fight to against Renala, she protects her mother, and her great rune.
Is it possible for a woman on the internet not to do anything nsfw mate I just checked out the links and ofc that stuff is there lmao 💀
She's just another girl taking advantage of simps. Can't really fault her for going where the money is. Nerds like boobs as much as the next guy.
I always thought the symbol on the apron worn by the grandmasters symbolized the primeval current. It’s a hash pattern of weaving lines and Renalla does cast comet Azur. I think this is worth considering because I think it was Renalla who banned the primeval current. But that’s not as fascinating as her tragic story tho . My theory is radagon convinced her to ban it before he left or when they married
Yeah I'm here to simp so what, She seems nice.
So much story I missed in my playthrough, but I'm glad you're keeping up with the stories. Beautifully done. Keep it up😉
your voice is so serene and soothing I actually opened up this video not only to learn but to help me catch up with sleep ❤️ I love these lore videos!
God I love women
Frfrfr
Are you of the opinion then that Radagon was a seperate entity during the war and marriage and got absorbed into Marika upon his recall? My reading was that Marika had shifted form into Radagon and the who!e marriage was a long con to get access to Carian magic and political secrets, emotionally destroy a leader when she/he could not do so in battle, insitgated the coup, and left a defective rune that was designed to drive her mad. What Marika could not take by force, she took by guile.
I definitely thought it was a Marika plot to throw the lands between back into chaos because Marika was just over her role.
@@anthonywatkins462 Or seeking to destroy the only potential threat to her rule.
Asmr
I love your voice, gives me chills.
Loving these vids, they're very relaxing
Thank you!! And glad you like the style :)
Happy aniversary Challice 🥰, thanks for bringing such amazing content and creating so many interesting theories
You should make some Divinity: Original Sin 2 lore vids, that game is slept on way too hard.
Say no more. It's in my top 3 games of all time LOVE IT. Thank you for your very great suggestion :)
@@miss_chalice We are so back.
These make perfect bedtime stories
I can’t play these but love the lore so much. Thank you for making it accessible.
My head Canon time line:
*Raya lucaria established
*Renala joins and ages
*Radagon is sent to destroy
*Raya lucaria can hold it's own against the order
*The order (or Radagon) try a new plan of integration
*Radagon despite marrying for duty actually falls in love
*The three kids are born and age
*Ranni becomes aware of what's suppose to happen to her
*Ranni forms plan to change everything (ultimately for selfish reasons but understandable)
*the shattering happens
*Godwyn now "dead" alerting the order
*the order calls Radagon back who at this point, knows his daughter is also dead.
*Renala is doubly upset because of loss of husband and child
*Radagon, with remorse and sorrow gives Renala the amber egg so that she may bear another child in Ranni's stead.
Also if I recall correctly, Ranni is the youngest.
while rykard and Radhan are older than her.
I think Ranni was the only one left at caria manor
So we are looking at a messed up version of empty nest syndrome.
Thank you for coming to my Ted talk 😅
The background is so bright >.> that goldmask is putting in work. But keep up the work Chalice. Lilith cosplay D4 huh huh huh :P
I do think Radagon loved Rennela. He was with her for an extreme amount of time, had three children with her (whom they both raised equally as seen by their children), and gave her gifts as condolences for his sudden departure. And it seems 2/3 of their children were not pleased about their family being torn apart due to Marika. Especially after they were basically forced to go live with their step-mom and leave their mother in disarray.
In fact-it seems as though after Radagon married Marika. Ranni and Snake-Man distanced themselves emotionally from their father. As they make little to no mention about him probably because they were bitter about the whole thing and blamed him for their family’s downfall. But it also seems Radagon felt guilty for his two children’s despise of him as he spent a considerable amount of time doting on his two new children. Something I imagine made his other two children even more bitter than they already were. 😂 All in all-I feel like the Carian family did not win the game of life. Their lineage is dead on impact all because of a truce with the golden order. And the only “good ending” for the family is Ranni’s ending because she literally states that the Carian line ends with her mother. Who is trapped in both a physical and mental prison.
Ahhh really wish From added more to her not gonna lie, Ranni and her moon momma.
Me too, they’re like the whole other side of the lore but golden order fanboys just don’t care about the moon or something
Yes The Moon Presence made first contact confirmed 🙏
I think that what people associate with madness in Renalla (Lunacy jokes aside) is that Radagon has opened her mind to understanding the nature of the power that she has. The potential that she possesses, not only as a woman, but as a person. That power is why the Erd Tree, why the Greater Will, has imposed itself upon the world. It needs whatever promise the lands between (vagina metaphor?) possesses.
Loved it! I enjoyed the Rennala battle as well. Visually beautiful. Loved the dress as well, very proper emulating the night and stars, right? I'll go watch Rellana's now, one of my favorite lore plays. Thank you Chalice
Hey love. Can you do the windmill village lore. And the giant dragon in the city aka the biggest creature in the game? 2 separate vids? I love you. You are beautiful and I wanna marry you lol I give you. My bloody fingers.
Happy Birthday. !🎉. Wow, this channel has grown a lot un one year. !
Omg i can’t believe it’s been a year already ! So happy you continued to make videos can’t wait to see you cover the DLC ❤️
For the kid that’s actually being re-birthed, it’s always been my opinion that it’s Ranni.
In the opening cutscene for Rennala’s boss fight, the little ankle biter that grabs the Tarnished’s attention has central heterochromatic eyes of gold and a vaguely blue colour, signifying the conjunction of The Moon and The Golden Order.
As a few extra tidbits:
As seen by Ranni’s corpse on the Divine Tower or Liurnia, she had red hair like Radagon which explains the strands in the Amber Egg.
It was likely that Ranni was the closest to her mother out of the three children because Rykard and Radahn effectively ‘had something else’ - Radahn had gravitational sorceries instead of Carian/Moon sorceries and idolised the Golden Order and Godfrey whilst Rykard had the whole Magma sorceries, Volcano Manor and the God-Devouring Serpent - Ranni was the only one that ‘stayed true’ to the Moon, in a sense and it was her that made the protective illusion which serves as Rennala’s second phase, proving that she loved her mother to such an extent that she wouldn’t take any half-measures with her safety.
Of the Demi-Gods to ‘die’ in Elden Ring, Ranni’s is the only one to directly affect the Carian side of the giant family (Erd)tree; this would’ve undoubtedly been the final straw to effectively smash Rennala’s mental state into sand and with the rebirthing capabilities of the Amber Egg, it makes sense that Rennala would try over and over to bring Ranni back, unaware that whilst her daughter’s body was dead, her soul wasn’t and thus couldn’t complete the rebirth, leading to physical differentiations when the scholars were born against what would’ve been expected at Ranni’s rebirth - such as the fiery red hair being black or just the outright failure of some bodily functions, such as the legs.
There are a few final notes I have just to add on to the whole ‘it’s almost certainly Ranni’ notion, those being that the Dark Moon Ring - the ring used to propose to Ranni - is locked up in Rennala’s boss room, meaning that Ranni trusted her mother enough to keep ahold of such a thing and that Ranni’s Dark Moon is almost certainly the successor to the Full Moon, if not a ‘sibling’ of some kind, reinforcing the connection between Ranni and Rennala once again.
The Elden Ring was shattered long ago! The Rune of Death and the Rune of the Unborn are both supposed to be part of the Elden Ring itself, but both were removed before Marika's well-known shattering. Lord's Divine Fortification - taught to Gideon by the Two Fingers and the strongest defense against holy (godly) damage - tells us, "all had been broken long ago" ("all" being the functions of the Greater Will, from the Erdtree to the Two Fingers, and, of course, core functions like death and (re)birth.) Radagon is, possibly, a "Golden Tear" created by Marika, a literal cuckoo who leaves his egg in Rennala's "nest" (or, cage). Radagon is basically showing her where he comes from, being a homunculus, which fits his obsession with seeking to become complete and perfect. He's then "reborn" when he is absolved of his sins through Absolution by the Celestial Dew at the Church of Vows, a ritual created by the Nox of the Eternal Cities, who also invented the Silver Tears, and who are related to the Black Knives, who have ties to Queen Marika, the Eternal.
A youtuber called T-L-G-T-W theorized that Ranni came from the amber egg, and its NOT a child of Rennala, but purely of Radagon/Merika. His video is here, sorry but its almost 5 hours long:
ruclips.net/video/CKIPh9H0DKk/видео.html
Melenia rememberence say this: "Miquella and Malenia are both the children of a single god. As such they are both Empyreans..." but Ranni is also an empyrean... This theory can make Rennalas fate even worst.
When clipping trough the model of the Amber Egg when it is on the ground and not part of Renala's model, you can see 3 juvenile scholars within it. The strands of hair are on those scholars so it is likely that they were left as a mistake when removing the scholars to create the 2nd model.
A theory I've had and seen be brought up was that the egg might represent a stillborn fourth child between Renalla and Radagon and Renalla's obsession with rebirth is that she feels it was that event that led to the dissolvement of their marriage.
I don't think it was 'Radagon' s Army. Since Radagon was a mere Champion of the Golden Order. Champion is not a Military Ranking. it is just a oral title for accomplishments. WHEN leyndell gives out military rankings, they are explicitly used on the characters (eg. General, Praetor, Commander) Radagon was most likely an accomplished soldier(most likely not even a knight) of the Leyndell army with strong ambition to advance the hierarchy.
Are Gods/Demigods born from Eggs, maybe made of Amber? We never are shown a depiction of any pregnant Goddesses, as far as I have seen. (I am late to the party, only recently got a copy >