The Eternal Struggle of Queen Marika - Elden Ring Lore
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- S4E2
The Shaman Village was not the first home of Queen Marika, nor was Bonny Village the first place her people had been exploited. Follow with me as we begin to look at the Spiral of Causality that Shadow of the Erdtree has revealed to us!
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Us in base game: “I’ll be your potentate, jar village!”
Us in DLC: “I don’t want to be a potentate.”
Or... "I'll be better than all the old potentates"
It also explain why they choose Oslow to be their potentate. The guy has some serious whips!!!
@@MidnightatMidian Oh fuck
@@MidnightatMidian Goddamn it.
@@MidnightatMidianSoiled it! Soiled it!
As a mythology enthusiast I'm so excited by the fact that Elden Ring shares so many similarities with the Norse mythology, like the Numens and dragons, giants and the world tree. Even the death of Godwyn triggering the end of the Golden Era is parallel with Baldur's death triggering Ragnarok.
how are the numen related to Norse mythology? Numen are a concept originating in Greco-Roman mythology and philosophy, long before the eddas were ever conceived.
In Martin's writing, there's often no distinction between hero and villain. I think Marika is exemplary of this.
I still have no idea what Marika's goals are or what she was trying to accomplish by shattering the Elden Ring.
@@gamera5160An angry mother who lost her perfect child.
@@diegorodriguez8006 So she decided it was time to pit her remaining children against each other in an apocalyptic war that left them all twisted and broken?
@@gamera5160it's clear she was rebelling against the greater Will and had hoped one of her children could become the Elden lord. What happens afterwards? I have no idea. She clearly had some sort of plan.
I'd call Marika an Antihero. I don't see her as a straight up villain at all.
"Is Marika the hero or the villian of the story?"
"Yes."
both
in my point of view, she did good, made an glorius ages (golden age) for such a long long time, any way the no party that last forever, we just travel to the LandBetween at it's worst.
the spirit itself born in the deep underground and have to travel a long way to the surface to become a new life (infomation from the budding horn) ( these was at least 4 kind of burial before the ErdTree burial, mosly trying to return to the deep though Anssel River: stone coffin, boat coffin)
The ErdTree age change it all: they just to have to come to ErdTree roots to be born again: how convenient!
that 's how ErdTree dominant the life-death circle. still the Erdtree itself not forever (Zullie the witch show the Erdtree is sick in her video), so we need to burn them to plant new tree at the beginning of the new ages even in DLC.
@@phanlee4621 I prefer to go with Ranni's plan and remove the Erd Tree and let the natural cycles of life and death return. Nature tends to work best when left to Her own devices.
She's obviously the hero
Depends on when you ask.
The flowers in the shaman village and jarburg are so similar. I am crying openly, literally. The poor shamans. It hurts.
Holy cringe
Eternal recurrence.
i'm crying too---- >😂😂😂
Man if this makes you cry you need some therapies
@@李飛飛大燒B Or perhaps you need a soul.
I always felt it in my bones that Marikas story must be a rather tragic one... :[ Even the Pots.. ahh, i knew it was a dark and bloody business, but i didn't expect to see her own people tortured and stuffed into them to reach "sainthood". Then again, it makes sense now, as the crucible itself is a divine "melting pot", and pots always had these interesting abilities to give life to all types of flowers, and store any magic in them.
Even Alexanders quote during his fight "Let us become one champion, together!" hits different after seeing the Shamans meld together like that. In a way, Marika, instead of becoming the filling of a Pot, became a divine Vessel; and cracked until she broke, just like Alexander. Argh, this game!
EIther way, amaaazing video!! I've been excitedly anticipating your view on the DLC, and i can't wait for your next videos!!
Me before playing DLC: Why did Messmer commit genocide on Marika's behalf?
Me after playing DLC: Bring me a jar for every hornsent!
Exactly. Hornsent genocide playthrough begins.
@@balmain2496yes with golden order fundamentalist build
I always knew marika did nothing wrong
@@glowindark64Marika did everything wrong
The hornsent are a evil hypocritical crucible society. They banished curseblades even though they are also hornsent. Also the fly people which have crucible features are abandoned by the hornsent.
Hmmmm the “maidens in blue dancing,” and the dancing Blue Dancer Charm. I never drew the connection. Is it possible Marika, being a shaman, was the dancer the Charm is referring too. What better way to seal away the rot, than to seal it away, into herself using her Numan blood. Thereby giving birth to Melania, who was under control of Marika. Maybe Marika’s plan was to absorb all the vessels of the outer gods and have them reborn as her children. Conquest through spiritual unification/spiritual marriage.
Maidens in…blue?
@@NoahKuninblue festive hood description. This isn’t a perfect link, but with other item descriptions I find it reasonable to link the dancing women with the Shaman.
@@NoahKunin The Ranah dancer garb can be altered to become blue.
Law of Casuality, and all things can be conjoined. I wonder if Radagon is somewhat an avatar of the Giants' god.
That's a really cool idea (:
Knocked it out of the park! Perfect chapter 1 for what's to follow. THE SPIRAL!
It was like pure liquid gold washing over me to suddenly hear your lovely voice in the end!!! BEAUTIFUL!!!!💜💜💜💜💜
@@K8theKind Awwww my darling friend thank you so much!! 🥰🙏 Although I’ve now realized I don’t know how to read mangas because I recorded that in the wrong order! Thankfully clever editing hides all errors 😆
Hey great job on the read from Berserk at the end! Knowing you and Jack are working together on this series is awesome!
@@D_ROK_719 DROK!! Hi buddy!! Love seeing a familiar face! Jack did some really awesome little ghost voices for my video too can’t wait to show those off!
You know, I think I now understand or rather have a theory why the hornsent were creating jars. They were trying to create artificial life imitating the Numen of old by using the descendants of those Numen as a secret ingredient, which is, while awful and gruesome, is also surprisingly ironic. The hornsent were and, by the time our Tarnished comes along, still are a cargo cult, in a way. And this "cargo cult" is still leagues more advanced in a lot of ways than the current Order.
Exactly that!
@@JackisaMimic What if they didn't fail at creating a Saint? What if, Marika was the final result of their jar rituals?
It's stated they're trying to make saints and mostly used prisoners to do this. Talking to Alexander and Jarbairn, do they not seem downright saintly to you? Wicked men are reborn as joyous jars without an evil thought in their mind. However, before the person inside dies, they unleash their trauma violently on anyone who comes close.
@@Based_investorJars in lands between and shadow lands aren't the same. Those in lands between are only created by collected dead bodies (and jar itself might be sentient to begin with) and they collect bodies for 2 reasons either to become great warriors or to take bodies to minor erdtrees so they can be smashed and bodies returned to erdtree.
Meanwhile those in lands of shadows are created from shamans who before hand are abused so that their bodies swell and shamans are used because they "melt" those bodies together and they to that so shamans become saints.
And because of those factors jars in lands between can be passive, they can try to become great warriors, or if luck has it they can live relatively peaceful lives and happy lives; in opositon jars in lands of shadows are made from mutilayed shamans who might be in constant state of agony and they don't even have respite in death
Yeah, it's a nice parallel to the nox's goal of creating a lord.
"The flesh of saints melds harmoniously with others"
Am I the only one who's reminded by the concept of grafting by this line? It very much seems like, whoever first came upon the concept of grafting limbs onto yourself, was inspired by the origins of the jars. The fact that Godrick (and Godefroy i guess, but I refuse to acknowledge his existence) is the only one to be seen actually engaging in this practice makes me think it's because of his (distant) relation to Marika that this works at all.
I find it interesting how often the "cruelty" and "inhuman strength" is being invoked when talking about the Tower Folk / Hornsent. It is quite evident they were both a deeply ritualistic, as well as completely martial culture. Note how all warriors associated with the Hornsent and the Crucible - with the exception of the Crucible Knights - use very dance-like motions or dance outright, like the sculpted keepers, or those annoying Horned dancer guys with the circular blades.
It is clear that, whoever the hornsent really were, they were a culture that worshipped death. And not in the way we do, as an inevitability - rather, I think they regard death as the most divine thing there is. The architecture, sculptures, art and just general culture reek of a death cult, with the imagery of death quite literally EVERYWHERE you go. Meanwhile, the Lands Between seem almost sanitised from the imagery of death, comparatively speaking. You get lots of imagery related to immortality, abundance, life, thriving greenery and such, but the image of death seems to only be allowed to exist in the Mountaintops.
Anyways, sorry for rambling like this. Once again you're the most interesting lore youtuber out there, with the most unique takes that somehow all feel like you're tapping directly into the mindset that both Miyazaki and GRRM were in when they wrote this story. So glad I finally found a channel that seems to operate with a methodology I can get behind.
Grafting is based on... grafting, a horticultural technique. It's honestly a pretty natural development for a family of tree people. You're right that the process is principally similar, but it almost certainly predates the use of living jars, given that the shamans have had this tree thing going on since long before their persecution.
@@UltraStarWarsFanatic Yes, thank you, I obviously know that grafting is a real world practice. I was talking diegetically, in the actual lore of the game.
As for "long before their persecution" - we don't know if that's true. It's probably true that their taking on a more arboreal form likely predates the hornsent's abuse of them. Also, we know that the sealing away of the Shadow lands happened a good deal before the shattering, so it's very likely no one knew about this practice for a while, considering that - outside of Godefroy and Godrick - there are no other people practicing this forgotten art. Godrick generally seems like he knows a lot more than he lets on.
@@DJYungHoxha I'm not lecturing you on real world references. It's as simple as : they're tree people, so it's natural for them to do tree things. In the "actual lore of the game," as you put it. Grafting is by no means an exclusive practice of the modern world.
I really like your interpretation! However, another reason for all the death imagery might be that death is being sent to the Land of Shadow since Marika banished it from the Lands between. Also, in my head at least, the Hornsent worship the Crucible, which is a life giving force. But who is to say that their culture hasn't changed after the creation of the Erdtree and their confinement in this pocket dimension, where a large part of all the death in the world now accumulates.
Definitely seeing a connection between jars and grafting. Overall among the lands between there seems to be an association of human sacrifices, the melding of life forces (aka the crucible), and the great godly powers. The dlc story cutscene indicates that marika’s ascension to godhood was literally achieved among piles of bloody corpses, likely used as sacrifice to open the divine gate. With this in mind so many things in the land between can start to make sense, Not just godfrey and his grafting is repeating the same theme, so is Rykard who does so by devouring countless lives, and Mohg by pooling an ancient city worth of blood. They’re all trying to repeat a rite seen before in time, one that created the world of lands between as is today, one built upon the combine of countless sacrificed lives and souls, the real fruition of the ancient crucible of life. A very GRRM consistent theme, as well!
"A story about how one woman fought against eternal bondage, her crimes, her punishment and the sacrifices she made to remake the world, for better or for worse"
That gave chills.
An interesting part that I couldn’t figure out in the base game, was why the art of grafting was seen as horrible, after all, Godrick was grafting the limbs of the tarnisheds that challenged him, it’s bad, but there’s lots of worse stuff around BY FAR, yet Nepheli was disgusted by it.
Looking at the Shaman village, a thought came to my mind: the art of grafting was a reminder of Marika’s trauma, and that’s why it’s forbidden.
so what you’re saying is:
- numen come to shadow realm on stone coffins/‘boats’ fleeing whatever calamity hit their homeworld
- they eventually go on to form the ancient dynasty which later begins crucible/great tree worship (as evidence by the tablet the dynast is holding… ive also heard the theory that this tablet indicates the ancient dynasty were early greater will worshippers but with the new lore on the finges idk anymore)
- hornsent interpret the arriving numen as gods and begin to worship them
- over time, some numen branch off and become the shamans
- time progresses until the ancient dynasty collapses, the shaman become oppressed by the hornsent, who use them in their rituals
lmk if i got this right. im curious to see where marika fits into all of this… really fascinating stuff revealed in the dlc!!!
Yep you got it! This is a pattern in GRRM’s lore
Great example is in ASOIAF, with the Doom of Valyria and the Targaryens being one of the surviving houses that becomes kings in a foreign land
@@JackisaMimic awesome, thanks! never knew GRRM was drawing from his other works to craft the story in elden ring- appreciate all you’re doing!
Amazing video! I want to point out that the "statue" at the tree in Shaman village is likely someone who actually grew into the tree. The branches growing off the arms and the appearance of the withered flesh make it seem so. The shaman seem to be a literal "plant people" as they bud, branch, graft, and meld. Considering the Nox don't necessarily share these traits, it's safe to assume the Numen are a common ancestor or the Nox being an offshoot. I think the scales of time are causing a great deal of confusion.
Empyrean grandam's words "from higher sphere deliver'd", the Numen's arrival from another world, Metyr's microcosm are evidence for a Norse styled universe. Amongst the Nine Realms, the Numen experienced their own ragnarok and had to flee their Asgard. The serpents came along with the Numen (think Nidhogg serpent) and they are the enemy of all who worship Gods. They land in the Ancient Dynasty and integrate into the ongoing beastmen led civilization. The horn-based culture arises and causes the Numen descendants to be considered lower and begin to become subjugated. The Nox have already been banished underground at this point. Marika wishes to be Empyrean/Gain access to the Divine Gate and is chosen at the same time GEQ is an empyrean. Whether Marika has children at this point is uncertain as well as the start of Godfrey/Horah Loux's involvement. The suffering of Marika's people leads her to betray the hornsent or GEQ in order to use the Divine Gate for herself. She creates the world trees and purges the hornsent culture away. Leaving Marika the God of the Lands Between and holder of the Elden Ring. This is my head canon, feel free to comment.
It's interesting that there's little to no mention of the GEQ in the DLC. You'd think the hornsent would talk about her more if she was their god at some point, especially if she was betrayed by Marika.
Gloam-eyed queen remains the biggest mystery in ER lore 😓
Take your meds
I fucking hate that the gloam eyed queen got nothing in the dlc! I was really looking forward to getting more lore about her or fighting some kind of memory or fragment left behind of her. But nope. We got zero mention.
I think the Erdtree jars that comes alive in the lands between are because some Golden Lineage nobles were stuffed in there. So the shaman-numen aggregating properties were triggered in the same way that they animated the jars in the shadow realm. It also explain why Godrick, Godefroy, the Golden Lineage, were able to graft limbs onto themselves, they have shaman blood.
my thoughts exactly. Grafting is finally explained, as it is the whole "things with souls" like sculptures and stuff. Im confident Godfrey met Marika in the shadow lands when she already had Messmer and Melina. I see no other reason why in one of the talismans it says that Godfrey accepted to be lord "stoically". Why would you accept something as a stoic, if you weren't worried about what you're dealing with and the weirdness of the situation.
also could be why rykard was able to meld so effortlessly with the great serpent… still strange to me that the great serpent skin is located north of bonny village… and inside the snake is a crucible like structure. To me it seems almost as if the hornsent were trying to create this great serpent as a form of a living crucible and the jars were just for the collection and formation of this serpent.
@@retlr_ Well I think the Hornsent were trying to make some new ''saints'' by meddling their people with the shaman's flesh. Because somehow, their method to bring a new ''Hornsent god'' was flawed. They could not get the divinity to come down on them, that's why they were becoming flies and why they were doing the dancing lions, some kind of parody. Or maybe Serosh, their regent, would have took the role of Empyrean, but was betrayed by Marika, and his soul Grafted onto Godfrey's back.
In a Miyasaki Interview he said that he draw an Pot as an new enemy and the team took it, and it was kinda like a joke, its amazing how they manage to put one of the main plots of the game behind the pots now in SoTE i guess Martin wrote the whole horsent and shaman (maybe with other names) as the backstory of Marika and Miyasaki implemented the pots as a form of torture to complement it. Beautiful writing
Great video as always! Can't wait to see what comes next! Thanks for the shout out too:)
This is one of my favorite lore videos, I just spent 10 minutes going through my whole watch history looking for this again. I love so much the way you tied in the Berserk quote at the end, that is actually such a brilliant takeaway from the whole artistic endeavor of the games story especially knowing what a fan of Miuras work Miyazaki is/was(rest in peace).. From the Spira incantation item description; “The spiral is a normalized Crucible current that, one day, will form a column that stretches to the gods.” The Crucible being an abstract/symbolic representation of the current of pure “golden” energy flowing through all lifeforms(which I believe is why we don’t get much about The Sun in Elden Ring lore, the boundless energy that it represents is instead placed within “the grace of gold”)… but then tying that idea to something even higher within intelligent beings, Karma, and Marikas eternal struggle, just amazing amazing observations.
Awesome video! Some of the Nox lore introduced in SotE has been hard for me to parse, but this is a compelling theory. Excellent research here, especially with the attention to environmental details!
Oh the Nox lore is coming. The silence of their inclusion in the DLC spoke volumes, and I have many unreleased theories on them that only need some retooling
Really enjoyed it. Great narration and thought-provoking analysis as always Jack. Really liked how you connected the eternal cities, the clayman, albinaurics and the congealed putrescence.
Marika's story here reminds me a lot of Season 7 and Season 8 Dany T. To break a wheel, only to be broken by it.
Great video, Jack. I’m still struggling to see how some of these things connect, but I’m really glad there are people like you out there guiding the way!
This is just the beginning! All things are linked in a chain of relation!
"Queen Marika has high hopes for us. That we continue to struggle, unto eternity." So excited for new videos and loved the Kite Cameo!😀
Literally had to stop playing and just sit there processing once I got to shaman village and put two and two together. Easily one of the most impactful moments of environmental storytelling Fromsoft has pulled off.
That being said I think I might need a whole video on the wormface/hornsent mask connection! Very interesting take
in the Curseblade Meera ash description it says that the hornsent didn't like anything that was too close to divinity (the reason why they didn't like the curseblades). It seems they preferred moderation, which might explain why instead of rising to adore the numens, they tried to bring them down and call them saints instead. I have my doubts regarding the tree and branches we see in Enir Elim, I'm not sure those are shamans. I thought it was just the crucible, origin of life, and the trees around the place just ramifications displaying some of that life, because some of those creatures have horns. My question is why the inquisitors have golden-order like incantations. Im starting to think somehow Marika/Radagon became part of their culture, showed them a few tricks, only to use it to rise to godhood, drying the crucible in the process
Jack your videos and channel are criminally underrated, you’ll get the recognition you deserve! Thank you for expressing this game so well
Thank you! Doesn't matter the views, Im going to still make the videos!
Great video jack. One thing ive been thinking is the divine gate is also made from shamans since they appear pretty melded otherwise I have no idea who was sacrificed for it.
This is a good narrative but I feel there is an important detail missed about Dominula village. That being that the “delightful” festival involved skinning people as depicted by the spirit there. And the festive grease grants runes (gold) as you strike with weapons coated with it. And when we see the divine gateway in the story trailer for SotE, we see nothing but flayed bodies as she ascends stairs covered in viscera. Marika may very well have coherent motivations, but she remains monstrous.
We will talk more about Dominula in the future when we get to the Godskins, couldn’t fit everything in this introductory video!
Your best video yet. Keep it up, Jack. Can't wait for Part 2 🎉
ARTHUR C. CLARKE QUOTE!!!!!
(That was the moment you had a subscriber in me 10000%.)
I also loved the theories but the magic and technology quote did it for sure
With this some of the Flame of Frenzy Lore also makes more sense.
If the order is built upon stuffing multiple people into jars, then the flame of frenzy mocks this process by feeding the eyes of many to a Finger Maiden.
It is almost as if molding multiple people together in whatever kind of way is a fundamental rule of this world, if you want be bring an order or grow in power. The jars, grafting, ryakrd, frenzy etc.
You’re cooking some fantastic stuff here. Keep it up! I hope other creators look at this.
2:10 Why does everyone keep calling it a "statue?"
I don't think that's supposed to be a statue... show me any other statue that has "actual hair" instead of "sculpted hair."
There's an ancient Buddhist pratice/ tradition of "Self Mumfication" (Sokushinbutsu), I'm sure that's the kind of thing that is being depicted here... it's the mummified remains of "Grandmother."
What do you make of the body on the outskirts of Bonny Village? They seem rather similar, and we get the O' Mother gesture 🤯
@@justkubz Yeah, it's definitely another "mummified corpse," and what's up with the "twigs/ branches/ vines" growing out of it? Does it have something to do with the whole "family tree"/ people from trees (Crucible/ Erdtree, etc.) Theory? And it's strange/ interesting that its head is loppedoff (like the Merika statues)... maybe it fits in with the theoretical Iconoclasm carried out against Merika (and her bloodline/ Order?) that we see in the shadowlands.
-
I'd also like to voice my thoughts/impressions on the terminology used ("Grandmother, Mother")... I'd like to know if there is more subtext/ context between the English and Japanese versions of the game.
But my thoughts are "is this lore from the western J.R.R. Martin, or the eastern/ Japanese writers?"
Either way, I question if we are meant to take it as "actually/ literally Merika's Grandmother and Mother," or as something like how Queen Elizabeth II was referred to "Queen Mother" (Like a collectivist culture vs an individualist culture). Kind of like "Elder" (Japanese culture has a long tradition of "village elder/s" being the leaders/ authority of the community, maybe these two figures are something similar: like a Matriarchal community led by a Mother "kōhai" and a Grandmother "Senpai?" Like maybe they are "ranks/ positions" within the "shrine maiden" cast system of the "Sages?"). 🤔
@@Visigoth_ theres also Empyrean Grandam of the hornsent who despises marika for being a betraying whore.
Grandam is archaic for grandmother. So could also be reffering to this character
@@empyrealcultist1992 yeah... probably not.
*Such Heresy*
=][=
Theres also the talisman pouch that says a finger reader acted as wetnurse to divinity and ymir says marikas fingers were delusional from the off and grandam looks a lot like a hornsent finger reader.
To many loose ends, needs more conclusiveness 😅
The character depicted at the female statues at the Ruah Ancient Ruins may be Marika's grandmother
I have been waiting to hear the next steps in the story you are discovering and weaving for us, and I am not disappointed. Excellent work as usual, you wonderful mimic, you.
I really appreciate the way you craft and tell your stories. Seriously, you do excellent work. They're compelling, well researched, use a healthy amount of imagination, and contain an incredible amount of heart. It is clear that you are a genuine fan of the game stories you cover, but the inspirations behind the works as well. Allowing these works of art to inspire you has only done you good, I think ☺Keep it up!!
We’re just getting started, thank you for the kind words!
Hornsent really did go down a Hellraiser path of divinity (power) through pain.
I’ve always tried to put Merika in an Itachi archetype. She always gave grace, that was her tool. She took it away knowing what we were before we were called tarnished, Godfrey’s men. And knowing the greater will might panic and give it back to try and establish an order or from the abandonment of the greater will. We are sleeper agents using the guidance of grace. Similar to Miquella’s influence? Merika won’t be our living consort, but she definitely ruined the greater will’s plans.
This is an insane lore video,very good. Please continue
The dlc just reinforced the fact that Elden Ring is a master piece
Cannot way for you to discuss the Grandmother ritual and snake skin in Bonny village.
The flowers in the shaman village look suspiciously familiar to those depicted on the big painting of Midra’s manse, as if abyssal forest was very much flowery and bright long ago
Giving me chills, man.
I don't know how you managed to beat all those bosses, crafted all that theory, wrote all that script, and edited all that video so quick!
Now that I've beaten the end boss of the DLC I am HYPED to dig out and sculpt this incredible game's lore!
I could watch your videos even without the voiceover, and I mean it as a huge compliment 👏
Great videos man keep it up
Narration is so buttery
Great video! I have been pondering the timeline of Marika and the Numen's progress in the Lands of Shadow and Lands Between and I am hoping your follow-up will shed light on the topic. It seems like the coffins landing came first, then sometime later we have the Shaman Village and eventually the persecution of the these people. But where would you place the Ancient Dynasty? Is there overlap between those two periods? Did Marika already ascend to Godhood back then? When did the Numen turn into Nox? Was there a split in their civilisation, perhaps over the question of following the fingers v.s. following the stars?
Yet another fantastic video! When I got to the Cerulean Coast and made my way into Stone Coffin Fissure I immediately thought of the stone coffins in the enteral city, drifting up and down the water falls.
I'm a challenge runner at heart so I spent the last week grinding these new bosses and learning all the fights. Your video is very timely because I'm ready to go back in with another character and pay more attention to the lore this time. These shadow realm jars are giving me PTSD. Also it's amazing how I can feel both sympathy and utter revulsion for every character in Elden Ring. The lore is horrific.
Whats crazy to me is that the village as we see it is like 4 buildings. And we saw countless bodies in the various gaols... I feel like they lived more harmoniously with the Hornsent at one point. Especially since there were so many Shamans and they are seldom born. It must have taken years for there to be so many.
Also, who was Midra and Nanaya? Were they Numen? I assume she was but was he just a random guy? The painting that turns into a passageway showcased what the area looked like prior to the Frenzy Flame... It looked very similar to the Shaman village. Covered in flowers. Judging by the spirits that give us lore around Midra's Manse, it appears they both even had hornsent working for them. Hornsent who respected Midra and were shocked about the Inquisition.
I wonder if the Scadutree was vibrant like the Erdtree and the Shamans and Hornsent lived harmoniously until Midra and Nanaya did what they did... I feel like the Frenzy flame began corrupting the roots and that's why the tree looks like it does. Might be why the hornsents view of the Numen changed.
I just find it odd that there would be statues of what appears to be a hornless young girl all over the ruins in Ruah. I just assumed it's a young Marika and that the hornsent in the ruins are begging for Mercy/Forgiveness.
I feel as thought the massacre of the Shamans happened shortly after Marika had first journeyed to the lands between. She maybe caught wind or visited and decided to just unleash hell on everyone.
I also wonder what this means for the Black Knife assassins as they're said to be Numen with ties to Marika. Are they perhaps the only survivors from the village and went with Marika? It's interesting to think about for sure
Man it’s brutal what the shamans had to endure. Makes sense why marika had messmer and his boys go so ham in response
When I saw everything in the DLC I was excited to hear what this channel had to say, great video!
Keep it up Jack, love hearing your ideas on the lore
May algorithm take the vid! MAY ALGORITHM TAKE THE VID!!!
I noticed in the cut scenes marika is always topless the horsent grandma didn't lie when she said that she's a strumpet
"It's not a loop. It's a spiral!" - Alan Wake
If the Marika-jar theory is true (not quite sure about it), then I suppose she would be a shaman mixed with giant parts (Radagon) and perhaps even some kind of hornsent or horn fragments (the omen kids).
Marika lost her son Godwyn, her other two sons were omens and forced to be relegated, her other sons had curses and she was a puppet of the great will. No wonder she shattered the elden ring, everything she had was stripped from her for the religious order.
Between Bonney Village and the Abyssal Woods, I felt like I was back playing Fatal Frame. The whole setting is so spooky, sullen, and gloomy.
The jars remind me of Kuon's wicker basket ritual, too.
After going through that ice cave in the DLC full of those jar flesh abominations….No. No Jar Baron I don’t want to be Potentate 😬
Insanely good and inspiring. You put together so much already!
I love the emotion in the voice acting. Great video!
6:39 *World* not "planet," what's the Japanes (what does it say in the Japanese version)... because in english we say things like "New World, Old World, First World, Third World;" and we aren't referring to "different planets" that's not what World means in english.
Since that statue in Rauh looks like Marika, I wonder if it's her or if it's the shaman women that are depicted. I also wonder if they may be a diffrent group within the Dynasty since we do not see the Dynast, and yet, the architecture is very close. Perhaps that is a statue of the Grandmother.
I think this timeline really nails it. The DLC clairified alot by giving us a character study of Marika.
Very well written! I liked this a lot.
People say those that goes into the roots will be reborn, but I never see it happening...
It seems like the Rauh Burrow and the Bondstone could be a physical representation of the Crucible and the substance of creation. The pot that contains all life and the life force itself. It could also be synonymous with the Vessel and Soul themes present throughout this DLC.
this game just keeps getting better
Nah I love these kind of lord videos please make more‼️‼️‼️‼️
Great video! I think the Numen probably predate the Erdtree by quite a bit though.
Then we agree! I said Great-tree, not Erdtree 😉
Great job on this!
2 interesting things I noticed:
1: Some, if not most, statues of Marika in the Lands Between depict her with the one cut braid, giving us a solid point in the timeline when the statues were built and telling us that the cut braid was a significant moment that’s depicted in statues.
2: The Dragonkin of the Eternal Cities always stood out as strange to me. Dragons in areas that otherwise don’t seem to depict them. And they wield frost…lightning. Weird combo. But now with the Dancing Lion being some kind of avatar for storms, wielding lightning and ice, I feel as though the Dragonkin are the Nox’s equivalent to the old Divine Beast practice, tying them to the previous culture in some way. The Dragonkin can harness the lightning and frost, but notably not the storm. This also explains their appearance as they retroactively look like they’d fit more in Belurat. WHY the Nox were using a Belurat ritual to make soldiers I have no idea.
amazing video yo, I do want to bring up something about that tablet with the ships on top. I believe the hunters/pillagers that come down the wells read the tablet top to bottom, and it would describe their own coming to the land. But I believe the ancestor followers read bottom to top! The stone pillars on the bottom look like the stone trees that should rise up to the ceiling, I've come to believe the followers bodies turn into trees as they die, and rise up, ascending eventually to the stars. Those ships are the spaceships I have been thinking about, I think they used to ascend to the stars, but with the veiling of the shadowlands and something catastrophic the happened aroung mohgwin mausoleum, the ships are crash landing on the cerulean coast and down in the rift. The boss down there has very interesting anatomy for a knight, and there is a little spot you can find deer and some animals bowing their heads, similar to how the ancestrals would sing their death songs(I think it sounds like they've heard the elden beast song or something similar) and the animals would just watch. There are also big fellas with rat mouths, the ancestors are also called shaman, seems in becoming dreggs they have melded with the animals, descending to a place more like an abyssal sewer. Their culture would have potentially ascended them to farum azula, before being put to some sort of flame that the gloam eyed queen may have had a part in. Above the ships in the tablet is a flame you can light, but down there the ancestors don't like using wood for fires, only oil and bodies... there is even a merchant down there that sounds pretty spooked. you learn oil pot crafting from him and he has put out his own campfire in favor for the big oil lights and even has oil pots stocked up. The fallen hawks are what happens to those punished for bringing light into a place where it should not be, burning themselves in ghostflame, but you can find the soldiers they used to be, the inverted hawks, all dead near campsites with snuffed out fires. someone or something is also still stuffing the ancestrals in pots and bringing them to the arena in caelid, but I think Marika has been trying to redeem the shaman, I've been looking at the nox doing it in revenge for banishment or something. Last cool thing I noticed, the ancestor followers seem to have their own church of the bud, and the Miranda flowers might have a solid origin now. There had to have been someone named Miranda that melded with a flower
Masterclass vid 👏 I really loved the voice over especially of the ghost cursing the shamans ❤ on a side note, my gut tells me this DLC lore seems ad hoc for some strange reason idk
Could the jar ritual be tied to the formless mother?
It’s tenuous and I don’t have a full grasp yet, but I mean the blindfold, using sinners - makes me think of the bloody thorns and the blood Star even tho they don’t use thorns.
My understanding of the whip is they horribly wound someone and hope they blend with other life - the formless mother requires a wound, and who else wounds themselves to blend with other life? Godrick who has the “curse of grafting”.
Im fully tinfoil hat over here and need to do a lot more investigation of grafting, the omen, the blood fiends, the albinaurics etc - but AFAIK we don’t see a successful “Saint” in the dlc - what if they Saints they were trying to make are the omen? What if that’s why grafting is so reviled? What if being whipped into the jar was an offering to the formless mother? What if Marika despises the Omen because they’re a harsh, harsh reminded of the horrors the Hornsent visited upon her people?
The blood fiend arm says it was “SANCTIFIED BY A BLOODY RITUAL” - what if they are Saints?
I wonder if the hornsent rituals caused the omen twins horns. A way of attacking marika from beyond. And that’s why she hid them away for they reminded her of the past, what they did to her and why she did to them.
So how tangled is your charlie day conspiracy wall after the dlc lmao
It’s much more untangled now! The DLC made a lot of things make sense, I think we can crack this egg wide open!
You know, even playing the DLC I was like "yeah Marika had her reasons, but the crusade seems like it was a bit much" then... Well yeah your dramatic reading of dialogue made me go "yeah no, she was very generous in not going further" 😂😂
your delivery is poetic
has anyone tried casting minor erdtree at the windmill village?
Loved this. In an abstract way we came to similar conclusions when it comes to most of the things adressed in this vid. I've been wondering about the significance of the Lamenter's mask, since the Lamenters may be the end result of the Shaman's transformation through the Jarring process. Like most things this is probably false though. But if this is correct than a few questions arise, like why do the hornsent keep the lamenters in secrecy? Do they reveal something about the nature of their origin(their horns specifically) and perhaps debunk their own notion of being divine?
Also i find the secret weapon in the tower to be quiet intriguing. It's name is Euporia. Does it's secrecy hint towards something big? Enough yapping from me. Amazing video.
EDIT: Autocorrect f'd me word, diving to divine
There are many great content creators that talk about the lore of these games here but none of them have the ability to convey the poetry of these stories and worlds such as you do. You're a great storyteller and I appreciate your videos greatly!
i second this. most content creators merely regurgitate what is plain to see but the way jack links everything together is phenomenal.
Great content , I must say I think you was absolutely right about the godwyn theory / miquella crime . In fact you were so right .. they may have had to come up with a new script for us at the end of the story .made so much sense ..
I think the Godwyn theory is still very much in play, the only change to theory would be Miquella's involvement. He doesn't need to be involved, but if he was involved, then it would be to get a Radahn situation. Unfortunately, Godwyn's soul perished and Miquella expressly needed Radahn's soul.
why didnt marika made the jars higher up in her society now that shes in position and know that the contents of the jars are her people i would expect at least in their death she would honor them by protecting or put them in higher position in her cour atleast
If anyone got any answers I would like to know. Where is the erdtree in relation to the scadutree? How are they related? I can’t find any good lore about them
So....are we going to get another history lesson from Jackivus Mimicus? I'm still missing 4 credits this semester
Okay what was that flying coffin at 6:55? I have never seen that before. Is it a mod or an actual thing in game?
This needs more attention
the grand unified headcanon
Many people have thought about Elden Ring probably longer than I have and have been making videos on it longer than I have, but I don’t know how many people have also played all of Miyazaki’s games, read all of Berserk, and read all of GRRM’s books. I can confidently say that my headcanon might have the most artillery. (Get it, head-cannon)
Everyone :
Hornsent : Get in the jar
#justiceforMarika ! grand job guys and i am eagerly looking forward to your deep dives, Mimijacquse 💜
Shes crazy
the hero to one is an enemy to an other, @@sageex3931
I suspect that crowned statue of a women is of remina saint of the bud.
WONDERFUL
Little mistake but at 10:45 ypu say "the bmue fairy that sealed outer god" but it's not the fairy, it's the blind swordsman
Yeah I meant to say "thanks to the blue fairy, a blind swordsman yadda yada". I didn't proof read my script well enough, thanks for letting me know!
2:38
"...Grandmother of the village..."
Where did the whole "of the village" come from sir? THAT'S a grand assumption.
Marika could have confessed vengeance to the horned Grandmother in Belurat.
Great video
in the 2nd dimension a circle is a circle but in the 3rd dimension a circle can be a spiral.
Just gotta say viscous like couscous not vicious, although the knight might say otherwise
Like most of my videos I say at least one word wrong. If you were to play a drinking game out of it you might need to go to the hospital.
When I first found the Shaman Village I felt a deep sympathy for Marika, that was always only a fleeting thought in the base game. It makes me feel like Marika only wanted to grow a beautiful tree, free of the suffering of death and a with a deeper understanding of the question, "why." She seems ever more of a character longing for trues with what I've seen in the DLC.
Best one I’ve seen yet