We also have to remember that the world is actually in lore a lot larger than it appears in game as far as we know, so in lore the act of walking all the way back to the haligtree is less like walking across a few cities worth of distance and much more like walking across an entire empire with multiple kingdoms spanning the distance.
Caelid is referred to as a continent multiple times in game. So it could as far as going from Argentina to Canada or from South Korea to Moscow, insane to think about
Yeah, a game world can only be so large before it becomes unmanageable to actually create, so most games I kind of imagine the version of the land the characters are actually inhabiting is way bigger than it feels to me as a player
Dont you love how the Cleanrot Knights weapons setup suggests a very “get over here so i can stab you!” feel. Then “youre getting really far away, have a near infinite range, high accuracy disc of light!”
i strongly believe that the cleanrot knights' campaign started _after_ the abduction of Miquella. They seemingly made a beeline directly towards caelid, only engaging godrick because he picked a fight. caelid is _directly above_ the moghwyn palace, so she might have had some means of tracking him but not realized he was below ground. Radahn, meanwhile, understandably thought he was under attack, since she's heading right for him and there's nothing really _past_ caelid for her to be aiming for. It's also possible that Mogh framed Radahn for the abduction somehow, it seems as if nobody but godfrey, marika, and possibly morgott knew mogh even _exists_ so he wouldn't even be on the suspect list. In either case, all that blood being shed directly above his base of operations could only have been helpful for mogh's efforts to establish his power base, which seems awfully convenient for him. Otherwise i just don't see any reason for Malenia to pick a fight with Radahn when he's literally the furthest shardbearer from the haligtree and isn't even necessarily opposed to miquella's goals
Miquella needed an eclipse to happen because he was somehow trying to bring Godwyn back (which is the point of all the Wandering Mausoleums). Radahn was halting the stars, so no eclipse. I like your theory, but I think the reason Malenia went after Radahn is because he was directly interfering with Miquella's plan. Also, it would make more sense chronologically that Miquella was abducted while Malenia was away, because nobody knew it was Mohg. Malenia was unconscious and would've most likely died in Caelid it wasn't for Finlay. She first wakes up when we fight her, which means she has been out cold the entire time and had no idea where Miquella was. The only poor bastards who tried to go after Mohg were the Albinaurics in the snowfields because they most likely saw him entering the portal, but even then they got enslaved by Mohg.
Mogh quietly playing the others as fools would be a twist, but it's hard to say if he's that smart. Let's be honest, we don't even know how he got Miquella; Only that he walked off with the guy at some point, somehow.
@@Umbra_Ursuspretty sure Mohg entered the Haligtree while Malenia and her forces were on their campaign south. Given he’s a demigod and Omen, he probably waltzed through the defenses present and after battering any resistance aside, ripped Miquella’s cocoon out of the Tree and took it underground.
Finlay and the cleanrot knights oddly enough mirror malenia, since her men are always willing to sacrifice everything in order to make hers and her brothers dreams come to fruition even knowing that they would suffer greatly for following them.🐱
I'd like to provide some additional input as well. The 1.00 version of the game straight up calls them the strongest knights of the shattering. Also, an interesting detail in the abandoned cave in caelid near dragonbarrow, you can find 2 cleanrot knights, one is a commander who uses the halo scythe while other uses a spear have wrecked 9-10 of rykard's iron virgins who were sent to help radahn out. It shows a single cleanrot knight was a force to be reckoned with despite being consumed by the scarlet rot. As to why they were celebrated for their undefeated campaign, It is because they were fighting to ensure that Miquella would bring about the age of Unalloyed Gold after growing his new body. While Radahn didn't die, he was left out of commission to become Elden Lord. Malenia wasn't after great runes, otherwise she would have killed godrick. This is at the same time quite depressing that despite the huge efforts from these knights, it would ultimately prove to be pointless as Miquella was abducted by Mohg and the Haligtree failed to grow to its full potential.
@@itmejac6945 They were called strongest knights of the shattering. Crucible knights didn't participate in the war. Ofcourse Crucible knights would beat them lol as they are OP af.
While you're right that miquella was kidnapped and the haligtree started dying, I don't fully agree that it would have all been for nothing. Those weird white bubble dudes with the trumpets (cannot on the life of me remember what they're called) are oracles of a new age. That's why they can be found in leyndell due to the potential coming of a new elden lord. But they are also still at the haligtree, which to me signifies that the age of the haligtree wasn't yet out of the question. I must admit that it can also imply an age of rot, but at that point it just becomes pure speculation like most things FromSoft.
whenever you fight the Cleanrot Knights its just clear how above and beyond they are compared to Radhans forces that it must of been a slaughter whenever they went against regular troops, not to mention how haligtree knights are also still rather powerful, having magic, powerful healing, and buffs. being a mere mortal soldier must of been truly terrifying
I disagree on this, cleanrot knights propably were little bit more powerful than redmanes but redmanes are no joke. They survived to this day and they still keep fighting big ass dogs and other monsters while the cleanrot knights just left. Actually on the topic of leaving, notice how we only hear about 1 cleanrot knight that returned, if they won they would have had a giant escort for uncoscious malenia. Or that theres barely any cleanrot knights left in caelid fighting redmanes anymore. Redmanes are heavily underrated
It's fantastic to see someone give acknowledgement to, and show admiration for the most incredible character in the lore, Finlay!! She was my companion when the going got tough in my first playthrough and the more I learned about the lore, the more I appreciated her as a character with only a few sentences worth of storytelling which tells so much!
Hey just want to say thanks Elden Ring is my first soul game and it gives me the same feeling as witcher 3 (with dlc) when I finish it meaning the game was good and immersive enough to make me feel like that was one hell of a journey. And thanks to many of your videos about its lore they really make me love the world from this game even more 😀. I know it's not much but please keep up the good work.
something i want to point to finlay journey is that we can see the path she took to bring melenia to the heligh tree, the corruption of the scarlet rot affect animals like the giant tyranodogs, it seems that finaly started in aeonia, went north where she crossed the sea maybe in one of those ships we see form raddan arena, climbed the mountains and reached the heligtree, she took the most dangerous path but at the same time the shortest to keep malenia safe
I can imagine her stumbling into the prayer room and dropping to her knees with malenias body on her back as her fellow knights rush to her aid, amazed not only that either of them were still alive but that she traversed an entire continent across multiple battlefields by herself. No doubt when she succumbed to her fatigue and injuries they gave her a heroes burial on the spot. Hell they even have an entire shrine to her that's personally guarded by other knights.
Thank you for this video. Finlay, to me, is one of the most interesting characters in the whole game. By the description of her ashes, and what we know about the regions in the game, we can figure out how epic her journey was. That is master environmental storytelling.
Well, the reason Melenia was in Caelid was to kill Radahn because his halting of the stars prevented the eclipse that Miquella needed to grant Godwyn a true death. Ironically Miquella and Ranni both need to kill Radahn, so when we kill Radahn Miquella would have been able to do their plan, except Miquella got taken by Mogh during Malenia’s absence.
All they had to do was kindly ask him to not hold the stars back for like 2 minutes and then everything would be okay (preferably a messenger would pass on this to radahn bc rot)
@@nathancretsinger970I agree, that kind of role-playing, even a little bit, would be awesome... "Manus, I swear to bring about the Age of Dark" - the chosen undead
Cleanrot knights made me suffer in my first run, I was scared of them, and yet they were my favourite enemies. Reading about Finlay when I found her ash of war made think of her as the coolest summon of all. In fact the entirety of Malenia, Miquella, the Haligtree and their followers lore is so good that I really want a DLC about Miquella. Wonder what his age of unalloyed gold would have been
Best story of Knight I have heard… they must really love their little lords… even in those cave the name of Bosses are called ‘Malenia’s Clean rot knight’😢
Been wanting to see u cover the story of the cleanrot knights!! And its crazy how finlay fought through to carry malenia all the way to the haligtree like that's a long way to get thefe
Don’t worry, as clean rot knight‘s mesh in game are still taller then Malenia.😅 Malenia -- a little lord for their knights. Also Miquella is even smaller haha
@@cozmic7978 Miquella is a little kid until mohg takes him. He could even be construed as an infant in appearance based on his eternal youth not really being specified. This doesn’t apply to the one we find in mohgwyn because that one has been altered. Roided up so to speak
I love the Cleanrot knights! The armor, the weapons, the lore, their home and their leaders! Most of all their spirit! It reminds me of Prussians! An army of professionals who are above all efficient at what they do! Beautiful!
I have a special place in my heart for the one in the Haligtree guarding the chest with the Finlay summon. I kill that one a 'few' times for throwing me off the roof the first time.
My one disagreement with Finlay's journey is I highly doubt she had to go through Lyndell to get there, there must be a back entrance or something that Miquella put in for them and Melania + their armies because I can't imagine Morgott was just chill with letting Melania and her army march through the whole city to get to Caelid in the first place, and if they fought their way through, I feel like we would see evidence of it in lore or at least some scarlet rot infection in Lyndell.
I imagine Morgott would have no issue with them marching through if they had no intention of taking the throne and were going to stop Radahn before he reached the gates. It's possible during this time Malenia and Miquella we're not yet considered traitors as Miquellas plans and schemes were all secret.
@@square-table-gaming Ah right, I forgot that Malenia wasn't actually after great runes, she just wanted to kill Radahn, which now thinking about it Morgott would have totally approved of given he was probably the throne's biggest threat at ths time lol
Love these lore videos! Some point would you do lore vids focusing on Malenia herself and Radahn? Be cool to see you cover the Redmane soldiers and knights now that you have covered the Cleanrot Knights. 👍
I don’t know how many words a comment is supposed to have on RUclips to help you out, so I’m just going to keep typing. Love you and your dedication to this game. Thank you for entertaining and informing us so much in this last year.
I've always imagined Finlay meeting up with some other survivors from the battle of aeonia part way through her journey back to the Halig tree which allowed them to get back untouched with an unconscious Malenia
Great video, i would be so interested in one of these videos on the carian knights! they seem so interesting but there doesnt seem to be a lot of info on them
Imagine if the rule of Godfrey was still here (or at least still around not exiled) when the shattering happened, would’ve loved to see Godfrey’s crucible knights potentially help radahn out in the war
I honestly think its the pest bugs underneath their cleanrot armor. The awkward way they stand, the bug like wings that come down near the legs, they don't look like normal humans.
Never noticed but when the player two hands a spear both hands switch place when they swing from left to right 😂, meaning they let go with both hands for a moment
I was wondering if you would consider doing some sekiro content. I think story content for the game is overlooked because it's presented so directly, but there's a lot of subtle and environmental storytelling in typical souls fashion.
It's a possibility. There's some outstanding senior content out there already but if we find anything we want to say that hasn't been done well definitely make that video!
Great video as always! Has anyone gone in depth explaining the sanguine nobles? I've heard plenty about the bloody fingers buy they seem separate from the nobles.
Me personally thinks that Radahn is more powerful then Malenia beacuse he tanked the scarlet rot, sure his mind got messed up in the process but he still survived. But Malenia's knights wins over the redmains, those guys are insane.
I'm not sure about this, the game is fairly clear that him "surviving" wasn't a positive. he basically been put in a mindless state without even being able to leave the battlefield, meanwhile Malenia not only got what she wanted but also kept her sanity. it was a close fight for sure but Malenia was definitely the winner
radahn's forces in the catacombs are mostly of lower ranking soldier rather than actual knights, someone did a test and in a one on one battle redmane knights won a little more often
not sure if it's true that a single cleanrot knight can take down multiple redmanes, if just normal footsoldiers sure, but the more powerful Gravity Knight's im sure they could 1v1
I'm guessing Morgott didn't really care as long as the erdtree was safe so he probably just let them right through unless him and Malenia fought I don't see a reason for him to attack for no reason unless it causes direct harm to the erdtree
While the quality of the video is quite good and I like the vast majority of the videos on this channel...a lot of things said that are not from the lore itself seem to be frankly massive leaps of logic that I do not agree with. These points are going to come off as a bit harsh so let me preface with that this is not an attack on the creator's character nor their content as a whole. I've watched a considerable amount of their content and by and large enjoy it. However, some of the things said here come off as biased to say the least. 1. The Redmane Knight armor does not support the idea the Cleanrots defeated the Redmanes in battle in the least. It said that they were driven to defeat by *Malenia's* rot. If they were defeated by the Cleanrot Knights it should've said so. Without that definitive statement that was pure speculation to claim that "driven to defeat by Malenia's rot" somehow translates to "the Cleanrot Knights defeated the Redmanes on the field of battle". Given what else their armor tells us the defeat mentioned is far more likely the loss of their homeland to Malenia's rot and not a definitive statement on their battle. 2. Despite having a claimed "undefeated" campaign that does not confirm that the Cleanrots won every battle they participated it, it simply means they never lost. Those things are not necessarily the same thing. Not losing encapsulates draws as well. It's why Malenia can still logically claim to have never known defeat even if her fight with Radahn was a draw, because in that case neither won and neither lost. 3. 3:30 I'm sorry but this statement just comes off as unapologetically biased as if you actually spend time observing the battles held in this area the only enemies the Cleanrot Knight spirits are fighting here are Radahn Soldiers not Redmane Knights so to make the blanket statement that "any of Radahn's forces" would need numbers on their side to win against a Cleanrot Knight is thoroughly unsupported conjecture. It is common sense that any standard Soldier would struggle against a Knight but this statement acts like it applies to the Redmane Knights as well when we have no reason to believe that. The only Redmane Knights we find in the entirety of the War-Dead Catacombs appear and attack us away from where the Cleanrot Knights are fighting and are never seen fighting the Cleanrot Knights.
Update: Regarding my third point, I'm not certain if this was a product of an update but I have seen Redmane Knights more frequently fighting Cleanrots in the main path to the boss than before. At the time I had originally written this comment I had just done another playthrough of this particular Catacomb because Ogha has long been my second favorite ash and I pick him up in all of my playthroughs. In this recent playthrough after most of the Soldiers had been killed the Redmane Knight that usually ambushes you with a bow as you make your way off the main path had teleported down and began to fight with the Cleanrots before dying itself. I assume this is because the Cleanrot Knights in this area only have between 1,900 and 3,000 HP while all Redmane Knights have a standardized 3,850 and a greatshield to block incoming damage with.
As far as Finlay's journey goes, I personally think it's exaggerated. I.e, Cailed, as much as it is dangerous to the tarnished, I doubt creatures of rot would attack others already afflicted with it, at least, not on purpose. Not to mention, while the trek itself is impressive, it's unlikely that anyone would be in a position to stop her, save perhaps Morgott, but it seems there may be other ways to the Hailigtree than we know about. (Like how Millicent beats us there) Not to mention, it seems she wasn't the only knight to leave, as we find several trapped in caves, while three others guard the shaded castle. (Which seems to have a deep connection to Malenia) Not to mention the prosthesis, which I personally think was the one Radahn destroyed, somehow made it's way there before being repaired.
It lowkey kinda sucks that finlay doesnt have anything outside that description to support that Like itd be cool if you could connect him to some scene in the open world Maybe hints of scarlet rot Throughout the lands forming a kind of trail to the haligtree
Any thoughts on the half-halo scythe also appearing similar to the halo rings of the sun during an eclipse? Could this also be a sign of Miquellas influence on the clean-rot knights?
it is these knights who remind me of a quote "The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose" and i feel this sums up the cleanrot knights perfectly also a little head canon of mine is the thing that kept finlay going was pure spite and lesbian energy
Comparing a redmane soldier against a cleanrott Knight is kind of pointless, if you compared a redmane Knight against a cleanrott Knight then fair enough, key word being knights
We do, through the video. When we say, "The Redmanes" it refers to the entire faction, as the Redmane soldiers were also seen as particularly fearsome for their status.
My personal theory on why Malenia invaded Calid is because she knew that she could not hold back the first scarlett bloom for much longer and decided to go to the farthest place from the Haligtree in order to protect it from being infected by the Scarlett Rot and somehow Radhan caught wind of this and tried to prevent it. Tried.
Interesting theory. Other theories are Radahn holding off the stars and preventing the eclipse. Also him blocking access to Farum Azula and the rune of death for Godwyn.
I strongly disliked the Cleanrot Knights my first playthrough. Probably because they were hella difficult as a first time Souls player using a basic melee build; but also I just assumed Malenia/Scarlet Rot = “bad”. But now that I know more about the world I respect them for following their leaders no matter the cost. Super excited for the DLC and potential return of Miquella now.
In the back of my head, every time i hear your voice. I hear “tamriel, dawns beauty, Taazokaan in the dragon’s tounge” so many memories from that series, and its soothing to hear that same voice give just as an in depth analysis on a whole new series. Cheers brother 🙏🏽
@@square-table-gaming The channel is called shoddycast. They used to do elder scrolls lore back in the day when skyrim was more newish. Going back now i can tell it’s definitely not you, but man you two sound very similar
I would just like to know where you get off on this "undefeated" story just because it says so in one description? There is like LESS THAN TEN OF THEM left in Caelid, and a handful elsewhere. They ran with their tail between their legs carrying Malenia off - the same Malenia, who without her rot aids would have lost the damn battle to Radahn. Yeah, individually, Radahn's soldiers are nothing special, but you are not gonna tell me it takes three of those knight dudes with the epic greatbows to take out one cleanrot knight - and there are pretty much as many of those guys left around, as there are cleanrots PLUS way more other fodder troops. I like these guys, they are one of the if not the coolest knights, but they did NOT win in Caelid, ffs.
She not only had To abandon her pride basically admitting defeat as A swordswoman but was also knocked out herself by the explosion while failing To achieve her objective. "Ruining everything for radahn" hardly benefit anyone In any way as she was the attacker In the first place and radahn hadnt done anything To call for that.
And yet his land is corrupted forever. Without her Radahn would have kept caelid and all its resources. As it stands there's noone strong enough to threaten the haligtree but her.@@t0q14s9
10:15 was a nice addition to the video as the fellow knight rushed to “aid” Finlay
We also have to remember that the world is actually in lore a lot larger than it appears in game as far as we know, so in lore the act of walking all the way back to the haligtree is less like walking across a few cities worth of distance and much more like walking across an entire empire with multiple kingdoms spanning the distance.
I didn't know that. Super cool to think about
At the very minimum like going from France to Denmark, if you're starting from Weeping Peninsula
@@benadrylcumbersplatch6448 That's a better idea of the scale of what I was going for
Caelid is referred to as a continent multiple times in game. So it could as far as going from Argentina to Canada or from South Korea to Moscow, insane to think about
Yeah, a game world can only be so large before it becomes unmanageable to actually create, so most games I kind of imagine the version of the land the characters are actually inhabiting is way bigger than it feels to me as a player
Dont you love how the Cleanrot Knights weapons setup suggests a very “get over here so i can stab you!” feel. Then “youre getting really far away, have a near infinite range, high accuracy disc of light!”
i strongly believe that the cleanrot knights' campaign started _after_ the abduction of Miquella. They seemingly made a beeline directly towards caelid, only engaging godrick because he picked a fight. caelid is _directly above_ the moghwyn palace, so she might have had some means of tracking him but not realized he was below ground.
Radahn, meanwhile, understandably thought he was under attack, since she's heading right for him and there's nothing really _past_ caelid for her to be aiming for.
It's also possible that Mogh framed Radahn for the abduction somehow, it seems as if nobody but godfrey, marika, and possibly morgott knew mogh even _exists_ so he wouldn't even be on the suspect list. In either case, all that blood being shed directly above his base of operations could only have been helpful for mogh's efforts to establish his power base, which seems awfully convenient for him.
Otherwise i just don't see any reason for Malenia to pick a fight with Radahn when he's literally the furthest shardbearer from the haligtree and isn't even necessarily opposed to miquella's goals
REALLY good points here
Miquella needed an eclipse to happen because he was somehow trying to bring Godwyn back (which is the point of all the Wandering Mausoleums).
Radahn was halting the stars, so no eclipse.
I like your theory, but I think the reason Malenia went after Radahn is because he was directly interfering with Miquella's plan.
Also, it would make more sense chronologically that Miquella was abducted while Malenia was away, because nobody knew it was Mohg.
Malenia was unconscious and would've most likely died in Caelid it wasn't for Finlay. She first wakes up when we fight her, which means she has been out cold the entire time and had no idea where Miquella was.
The only poor bastards who tried to go after Mohg were the Albinaurics in the snowfields because they most likely saw him entering the portal, but even then they got enslaved by Mohg.
Mogh quietly playing the others as fools would be a twist, but it's hard to say if he's that smart. Let's be honest, we don't even know how he got Miquella; Only that he walked off with the guy at some point, somehow.
@@Umbra_Ursuspretty sure Mohg entered the Haligtree while Malenia and her forces were on their campaign south. Given he’s a demigod and Omen, he probably waltzed through the defenses present and after battering any resistance aside, ripped Miquella’s cocoon out of the Tree and took it underground.
Finlay and the cleanrot knights oddly enough mirror malenia, since her men are always willing to sacrifice everything in order to make hers and her brothers dreams come to fruition even knowing that they would suffer greatly for following them.🐱
I'd like to provide some additional input as well. The 1.00 version of the game straight up calls them the strongest knights of the shattering. Also, an interesting detail in the abandoned cave in caelid near dragonbarrow, you can find 2 cleanrot knights, one is a commander who uses the halo scythe while other uses a spear have wrecked 9-10 of rykard's iron virgins who were sent to help radahn out. It shows a single cleanrot knight was a force to be reckoned with despite being consumed by the scarlet rot.
As to why they were celebrated for their undefeated campaign, It is because they were fighting to ensure that Miquella would bring about the age of Unalloyed Gold after growing his new body. While Radahn didn't die, he was left out of commission to become Elden Lord. Malenia wasn't after great runes, otherwise she would have killed godrick. This is at the same time quite depressing that despite the huge efforts from these knights, it would ultimately prove to be pointless as Miquella was abducted by Mohg and the Haligtree failed to grow to its full potential.
There’re definitely super strong but I feel like crucible knights would beat them
@@itmejac6945 They were called strongest knights of the shattering. Crucible knights didn't participate in the war. Ofcourse Crucible knights would beat them lol as they are OP af.
@@pushpitkumar99 ooooh I didn’t know that
While you're right that miquella was kidnapped and the haligtree started dying, I don't fully agree that it would have all been for nothing. Those weird white bubble dudes with the trumpets (cannot on the life of me remember what they're called) are oracles of a new age. That's why they can be found in leyndell due to the potential coming of a new elden lord. But they are also still at the haligtree, which to me signifies that the age of the haligtree wasn't yet out of the question. I must admit that it can also imply an age of rot, but at that point it just becomes pure speculation like most things FromSoft.
@@itmejac6945 Crucible knights didn’t partake in the shattering, but yeah for sure crucible would win. Their f’ing immune to rot and have hp of God
whenever you fight the Cleanrot Knights its just clear how above and beyond they are compared to Radhans forces that it must of been a slaughter whenever they went against regular troops, not to mention how haligtree knights are also still rather powerful, having magic, powerful healing, and buffs.
being a mere mortal soldier must of been truly terrifying
I disagree on this, cleanrot knights propably were little bit more powerful than redmanes but redmanes are no joke. They survived to this day and they still keep fighting big ass dogs and other monsters while the cleanrot knights just left. Actually on the topic of leaving, notice how we only hear about 1 cleanrot knight that returned, if they won they would have had a giant escort for uncoscious malenia. Or that theres barely any cleanrot knights left in caelid fighting redmanes anymore. Redmanes are heavily underrated
Cleanrot knights were my favorites. A true display of strength, loyalty and courage to do what is necessary. Love their armor design as well.
The cleanrot knights had such a terrifying enemy design for just being common enemy knights.
Closest ones to the cleanrots in that intimidation factor for knights are the carian knights
@@ICECAPPEDSKYCrucible Knights intimidate me the most.
It's fantastic to see someone give acknowledgement to, and show admiration for the most incredible character in the lore, Finlay!! She was my companion when the going got tough in my first playthrough and the more I learned about the lore, the more I appreciated her as a character with only a few sentences worth of storytelling which tells so much!
Hey just want to say thanks Elden Ring is my first soul game and it gives me the same feeling as witcher 3 (with dlc) when I finish it meaning the game was good and immersive enough to make me feel like that was one hell of a journey. And thanks to many of your videos about its lore they really make me love the world from this game even more 😀. I know it's not much but please keep up the good work.
something i want to point to finlay journey is that we can see the path she took to bring melenia to the heligh tree, the corruption of the scarlet rot affect animals like the giant tyranodogs, it seems that finaly started in aeonia, went north where she crossed the sea maybe in one of those ships we see form raddan arena, climbed the mountains and reached the heligtree, she took the most dangerous path but at the same time the shortest to keep malenia safe
10:19 perfect way of showing us how tired she was even the knight towards you to help 👀
Thank you! Was tryng to get creative there
I can imagine her stumbling into the prayer room and dropping to her knees with malenias body on her back as her fellow knights rush to her aid, amazed not only that either of them were still alive but that she traversed an entire continent across multiple battlefields by herself. No doubt when she succumbed to her fatigue and injuries they gave her a heroes burial on the spot. Hell they even have an entire shrine to her that's personally guarded by other knights.
Thank you for this video. Finlay, to me, is one of the most interesting characters in the whole game. By the description of her ashes, and what we know about the regions in the game, we can figure out how epic her journey was. That is master environmental storytelling.
Don't forget badass
A small detail I noticed while watching the video was the prosthetics in the shaded castle next to the malenia painting.
Well, the reason Melenia was in Caelid was to kill Radahn because his halting of the stars prevented the eclipse that Miquella needed to grant Godwyn a true death. Ironically Miquella and Ranni both need to kill Radahn, so when we kill Radahn Miquella would have been able to do their plan, except Miquella got taken by Mogh during Malenia’s absence.
Where does it state that? I agree with it but im gonna assume its just the thought of: Oh, right. Everything is kinda stuck huh
I wish we could tell melenia about how we defeated mogh and give her the location of her brother
@@XonixDerps Ranni's Questline states this, as well as the item description for Eclipse items and the Mogh boss fight, they all factor in
All they had to do was kindly ask him to not hold the stars back for like 2 minutes and then everything would be okay (preferably a messenger would pass on this to radahn bc rot)
@@nathancretsinger970I agree, that kind of role-playing, even a little bit, would be awesome...
"Manus, I swear to bring about the Age of Dark" - the chosen undead
Cleanrot knights made me suffer in my first run, I was scared of them, and yet they were my favourite enemies. Reading about Finlay when I found her ash of war made think of her as the coolest summon of all. In fact the entirety of Malenia, Miquella, the Haligtree and their followers lore is so good that I really want a DLC about Miquella. Wonder what his age of unalloyed gold would have been
The cleanrot knights and the banished knights are both my favorites. I love their armor and I love fighting them.
Congratulations, you are a time traveler and will be executed on sight!
Good thinking, though.
@@davidpavel5017 yeah, I know haha
Welp you’re getting a dlc, I’m thinking about using Finlay in it and maybe the spear or scythe
Best story of Knight I have heard… they must really love their little lords… even in those cave the name of Bosses are called ‘Malenia’s Clean rot knight’😢
Been wanting to see u cover the story of the cleanrot knights!! And its crazy how finlay fought through to carry malenia all the way to the haligtree like that's a long way to get thefe
Also keep in mind that malenia is like 7 feet tall and finlay had her on her back the whole Time what a legend
Don’t worry, as clean rot knight‘s mesh in game are still taller then Malenia.😅 Malenia -- a little lord for their knights. Also Miquella is even smaller haha
@@cozmic7978 Miquella is a little kid until mohg takes him. He could even be construed as an infant in appearance based on his eternal youth not really being specified. This doesn’t apply to the one we find in mohgwyn because that one has been altered. Roided up so to speak
Malenia is 8 and half feet tall
And two limbs made of solid fucking gold
@@micholitzia5726where did you see Malenia was this tall?
i've always wondered how miquella never contracted the scarlet rot when being around his sister for so long or maybe i missed something
Maybe it has something to do with his rune? Maybe because he was her twin? But I think it was because he used unalloyed gold
I genuinely love your channel. It amazes me you don’t have thousands more subs with this caliber of content.
We seriously appreciate it! Feel free to signal boost us, haha, we are at the mercy of the algorithm.
Omg they really went all out for elden ring lore and i just love it 💕
Thank you!
I love the Cleanrot knights!
The armor, the weapons, the lore, their home and their leaders! Most of all their spirit! It reminds me of Prussians!
An army of professionals who are above all efficient at what they do! Beautiful!
I have a special place in my heart for the one in the Haligtree guarding the chest with the Finlay summon. I kill that one a 'few' times for throwing me off the roof the first time.
6:59 😮😂 there a giant face in background 😂
I wish there was a power stance when you dual wield cleanrot sword and spear
a movie about finlays journey would be epic
My one disagreement with Finlay's journey is I highly doubt she had to go through Lyndell to get there, there must be a back entrance or something that Miquella put in for them and Melania + their armies because I can't imagine Morgott was just chill with letting Melania and her army march through the whole city to get to Caelid in the first place, and if they fought their way through, I feel like we would see evidence of it in lore or at least some scarlet rot infection in Lyndell.
I imagine Morgott would have no issue with them marching through if they had no intention of taking the throne and were going to stop Radahn before he reached the gates. It's possible during this time Malenia and Miquella we're not yet considered traitors as Miquellas plans and schemes were all secret.
@@square-table-gaming Ah right, I forgot that Malenia wasn't actually after great runes, she just wanted to kill Radahn, which now thinking about it Morgott would have totally approved of given he was probably the throne's biggest threat at ths time lol
this is great stuff! thanks for making these
Love these lore videos! Some point would you do lore vids focusing on Malenia herself and Radahn?
Be cool to see you cover the Redmane soldiers and knights now that you have covered the Cleanrot Knights. 👍
We actually have a Malenia/Radahn video!
@@square-table-gaming oh you do ? I’ll check it out now
I don’t know how many words a comment is supposed to have on RUclips to help you out, so I’m just going to keep typing. Love you and your dedication to this game. Thank you for entertaining and informing us so much in this last year.
Thank you, seriously, this community is amazing. We love you guys.
I just wish someone would tell me what one was doing in that one poison themed cave in the weeping peninsula
I've always imagined Finlay meeting up with some other survivors from the battle of aeonia part way through her journey back to the Halig tree which allowed them to get back untouched with an unconscious Malenia
Finlay deserves a statue in Haligtree. Such a great woman.
Great video, i would be so interested in one of these videos on the carian knights! they seem so interesting but there doesnt seem to be a lot of info on them
pretty much predicted the lore good job
Literally forgot about this, thank you!
These videos are fantastic. I love the CRK's
Thank you!
Imagine if the rule of Godfrey was still here (or at least still around not exiled) when the shattering happened, would’ve loved to see Godfrey’s crucible knights potentially help radahn out in the war
They would have protected Leyndell
Why would they help Radahn?
I honestly think its the pest bugs underneath their cleanrot armor. The awkward way they stand, the bug like wings that come down near the legs, they don't look like normal humans.
This comment!
Never noticed but when the player two hands a spear both hands switch place when they swing from left to right 😂, meaning they let go with both hands for a moment
I was wondering if you would consider doing some sekiro content. I think story content for the game is overlooked because it's presented so directly, but there's a lot of subtle and environmental storytelling in typical souls fashion.
It's a possibility. There's some outstanding senior content out there already but if we find anything we want to say that hasn't been done well definitely make that video!
@@square-table-gaming that's fair enough. whatever you do i'll be watching the vids :)
Finlay is a total giga chad
Agreed
Agreed
@demonhunter6247 and?
Great video as always!
Has anyone gone in depth explaining the sanguine nobles? I've heard plenty about the bloody fingers buy they seem separate from the nobles.
Not that I'm aware of! I'll do some digging
Id love to do a clean rot knight build!
@10:25 homie be like "where the hell have you been bro"
Me personally thinks that Radahn is more powerful then Malenia beacuse he tanked the scarlet rot, sure his mind got messed up in the process but he still survived. But Malenia's knights wins over the redmains, those guys are insane.
I'm not sure about this, the game is fairly clear that him "surviving" wasn't a positive. he basically been put in a mindless state without even being able to leave the battlefield, meanwhile Malenia not only got what she wanted but also kept her sanity. it was a close fight for sure but Malenia was definitely the winner
@@joedatius it was 100% a draw
@@taistelusammakko5088 i mean there's literally nothing that would suggest that.
thanks for the lore videos!
Happy to provide!
A sellen video would be cool.
Ignore this humble offering for the fickle algorithm.
It truly is fickle, we appreciate you
Dang it. I should have guessed during the livestream that it either had to do with Malenia v Radahn or the Cleanrot Knights! I had a feeling! ❤
radahn's forces in the catacombs are mostly of lower ranking soldier rather than actual knights, someone did a test and in a one on one battle redmane knights won a little more often
not sure if it's true that a single cleanrot knight can take down multiple redmanes, if just normal footsoldiers sure, but the more powerful Gravity Knight's im sure they could 1v1
Hell yeah this guys voice is the best
Thank you!
I'm guessing Morgott didn't really care as long as the erdtree was safe so he probably just let them right through unless him and Malenia fought I don't see a reason for him to attack for no reason unless it causes direct harm to the erdtree
There’s nothing valor-ableabout the clean rot spear charge attack… lmao
While the quality of the video is quite good and I like the vast majority of the videos on this channel...a lot of things said that are not from the lore itself seem to be frankly massive leaps of logic that I do not agree with.
These points are going to come off as a bit harsh so let me preface with that this is not an attack on the creator's character nor their content as a whole. I've watched a considerable amount of their content and by and large enjoy it. However, some of the things said here come off as biased to say the least.
1. The Redmane Knight armor does not support the idea the Cleanrots defeated the Redmanes in battle in the least. It said that they were driven to defeat by *Malenia's* rot. If they were defeated by the Cleanrot Knights it should've said so. Without that definitive statement that was pure speculation to claim that "driven to defeat by Malenia's rot" somehow translates to "the Cleanrot Knights defeated the Redmanes on the field of battle". Given what else their armor tells us the defeat mentioned is far more likely the loss of their homeland to Malenia's rot and not a definitive statement on their battle.
2. Despite having a claimed "undefeated" campaign that does not confirm that the Cleanrots won every battle they participated it, it simply means they never lost. Those things are not necessarily the same thing. Not losing encapsulates draws as well. It's why Malenia can still logically claim to have never known defeat even if her fight with Radahn was a draw, because in that case neither won and neither lost.
3. 3:30 I'm sorry but this statement just comes off as unapologetically biased as if you actually spend time observing the battles held in this area the only enemies the Cleanrot Knight spirits are fighting here are Radahn Soldiers not Redmane Knights so to make the blanket statement that "any of Radahn's forces" would need numbers on their side to win against a Cleanrot Knight is thoroughly unsupported conjecture. It is common sense that any standard Soldier would struggle against a Knight but this statement acts like it applies to the Redmane Knights as well when we have no reason to believe that. The only Redmane Knights we find in the entirety of the War-Dead Catacombs appear and attack us away from where the Cleanrot Knights are fighting and are never seen fighting the Cleanrot Knights.
Update: Regarding my third point, I'm not certain if this was a product of an update but I have seen Redmane Knights more frequently fighting Cleanrots in the main path to the boss than before. At the time I had originally written this comment I had just done another playthrough of this particular Catacomb because Ogha has long been my second favorite ash and I pick him up in all of my playthroughs. In this recent playthrough after most of the Soldiers had been killed the Redmane Knight that usually ambushes you with a bow as you make your way off the main path had teleported down and began to fight with the Cleanrots before dying itself.
I assume this is because the Cleanrot Knights in this area only have between 1,900 and 3,000 HP while all Redmane Knights have a standardized 3,850 and a greatshield to block incoming damage with.
As far as Finlay's journey goes, I personally think it's exaggerated. I.e, Cailed, as much as it is dangerous to the tarnished, I doubt creatures of rot would attack others already afflicted with it, at least, not on purpose. Not to mention, while the trek itself is impressive, it's unlikely that anyone would be in a position to stop her, save perhaps Morgott, but it seems there may be other ways to the Hailigtree than we know about. (Like how Millicent beats us there) Not to mention, it seems she wasn't the only knight to leave, as we find several trapped in caves, while three others guard the shaded castle. (Which seems to have a deep connection to Malenia) Not to mention the prosthesis, which I personally think was the one Radahn destroyed, somehow made it's way there before being repaired.
It lowkey kinda sucks that finlay doesnt have anything outside that description to support that
Like itd be cool if you could connect him to some scene in the open world
Maybe hints of scarlet rot
Throughout the lands forming a kind of trail to the haligtree
Presumably the path Finlay walked is the one Milicent follows
@@square-table-gaming yeah but it you dont feel it
Your just told that
Kinda defeats the point of environmental storytelling yknow
Any thoughts on the half-halo scythe also appearing similar to the halo rings of the sun during an eclipse? Could this also be a sign of Miquellas influence on the clean-rot knights?
It absolutely could be. The night served Melania but Melania served Miquella, so really they fell under his command
it is these knights who remind me of a quote
"The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose" and i feel this sums up the cleanrot knights perfectly
also a little head canon of mine is the thing that kept finlay going was pure spite and lesbian energy
Amazing videos!
Which sword is the one you always use in your videos?
In the older ones I use the royal greatsword, now I use the dark moon greatsword
@@square-table-gaming Thank you so much! And keep up the good work ^^
The trauma from farming them, for a halo scythe 😨
Strength and valor? Huh, I thought their equipment was more dexterity and faith =P
Greetings from the Carrot-Man
My liege
My oldest daughter’s name is Finley.
Proud dad.
Comparing a redmane soldier against a cleanrott Knight is kind of pointless, if you compared a redmane Knight against a cleanrott Knight then fair enough, key word being knights
We do, through the video. When we say, "The Redmanes" it refers to the entire faction, as the Redmane soldiers were also seen as particularly fearsome for their status.
Finlay flew on insect wings
That would be interesting. We didn't find any in-game info to back this up, anywhere you can point us?
My personal theory on why Malenia invaded Calid is because she knew that she could not hold back the first scarlett bloom for much longer and decided to go to the farthest place from the Haligtree in order to protect it from being infected by the Scarlett Rot and somehow Radhan caught wind of this and tried to prevent it. Tried.
Interesting theory. Other theories are Radahn holding off the stars and preventing the eclipse. Also him blocking access to Farum Azula and the rune of death for Godwyn.
Well it is stated In the game that malenia had To abandon her bride by unleashing the rot To meet radahn's match which sounds contradictory To this
did malenia ever thank finlay?
She never got the chance... When we find her that's the first time she's woken up since the aeonias spawn
@@square-table-gaming SO SHE WAS IN THE COMA THE WHOLEEE TIME???? YEESH
I strongly disliked the Cleanrot Knights my first playthrough. Probably because they were hella difficult as a first time Souls player using a basic melee build; but also I just assumed Malenia/Scarlet Rot = “bad”. But now that I know more about the world I respect them for following their leaders no matter the cost. Super excited for the DLC and potential return of Miquella now.
In the back of my head, every time i hear your voice. I hear “tamriel, dawns beauty, Taazokaan in the dragon’s tounge” so many memories from that series, and its soothing to hear that same voice give just as an in depth analysis on a whole new series. Cheers brother 🙏🏽
That's actually not me, haha. This is my first RUclips channel :)
@@square-table-gaming there is no way…. You sound EXACTLY the same.
@@P1A48VO8 what's the channel name? I'll have to check it out
@@square-table-gaming The channel is called shoddycast. They used to do elder scrolls lore back in the day when skyrim was more newish. Going back now i can tell it’s definitely not you, but man you two sound very similar
Are cleanrot knights all ladies?
Presumably yes
so summarized these knights are absolute simps
wow, Todd Howard really fell far hey
they literally carry malenia
her ass got bodied by radahn and her knights had to finish the fight
Great vid, but seriously man clean up your inventory, THERES AN INFINITE STORAGE CHEST!!!!
Yeah, recently did this. Just too much stuff from all this lore hunting
I would just like to know where you get off on this "undefeated" story just because it says so in one description? There is like LESS THAN TEN OF THEM left in Caelid, and a handful elsewhere. They ran with their tail between their legs carrying Malenia off - the same Malenia, who without her rot aids would have lost the damn battle to Radahn. Yeah, individually, Radahn's soldiers are nothing special, but you are not gonna tell me it takes three of those knight dudes with the epic greatbows to take out one cleanrot knight - and there are pretty much as many of those guys left around, as there are cleanrots PLUS way more other fodder troops. I like these guys, they are one of the if not the coolest knights, but they did NOT win in Caelid, ffs.
Finlay is the lesbian retainer malenia deserves. I love her so much!
Finlay x Malenia forever 😌❤️
Malenia won. Yeah she used the worst WMD known to the lands between but she did irrevocably ruin everything for Radahn.
She not only had To abandon her pride basically admitting defeat as A swordswoman but was also knocked out herself by the explosion while failing To achieve her objective. "Ruining everything for radahn" hardly benefit anyone In any way as she was the attacker In the first place and radahn hadnt done anything To call for that.
And yet his land is corrupted forever. Without her Radahn would have kept caelid and all its resources. As it stands there's noone strong enough to threaten the haligtree but her.@@t0q14s9
Total wimps compared to crucible knights.
true but the crucible knights are also vary few in number with there only being 16 so ehh not really a good comparison