Very nice dive into what it all means. All the lore of this game just seems to swirl around in my head and I can barely grasp its concepts. But I love learning more about it and absolutely loving the DLC. Getting close to the end of it, and I think the DLC is solidifying how great this game really is. Thanks for the video! Always enjoy your content.
I think you really hit on something that I haven’t heard discussed, and that is Miyazaki’s desire to recreate a microcosm of what he views to be of importance. Japanese culture has a much stronger connection to the idea of cycles, whereas here in Judeo-Christian beliefs focus on a beginning on earth and end in heaven. Existentially, this cycle, the cycle of life and death, can be a rewarding philosophical idea. It is life affirming and gives true purpose in death without resorting to mysticism. Miyazaki is hammering us over the head with the fact that our great order, this society, world, etc. is doomed to end and be reborn and we walk around as if this couldn’t happen at any moment.
The irony with the Hornsent is that their babel-like attempt to build a tower reaching heaven did result in the kingdom of heaven being brought to (literally rooted into) the earth, but it was not theirs and was ultimately founded on their destruction. I think this is why the Greatsword of Damnation says there is something of the golden order in it, despite the fact that Midra’s persecution was the doing of the Hornsent. By the way, great video. I really appreciated all the references to Plato and Neoplatonism. I really think everything about the One Great is meant to evoke the emanation of all things from the One, and the frenzied flame the world- and life-denying tendency of this way of thinking. Everything about Metyr and the fingers revealed in the DLC indicates there is no “going back” to this primordial cosmic unity, if it ever really existed, and the real question is how we deal with our cosmic abandonment.
Really interesting.. You opted to explain the lore by bringing onto it cultural aspects outside of it.. That is exactly the conclusion i came with when confronted by the layers of confusion surrounding the understanding of elden ring story.. The confusion in the storytelling is volontary i believe and can only be eluded through a greater scope or multiple sources outside of it like you intuit.. And about it i have some very good elements/hypotheses that may explain why the story the tarnished find himself in is in such a stalemate and not developing at all. The answer lies in Marika's very being which seems like a complex matter yet is actually simple when we grasp the source of the inspiration. My stance in regard to this is that the theory that Marika is Radagon and are actually two separates 'beings' or rather concept/ideas are both true. I will explain how this is both the case later.. But first let us make a detour and take example of a Bible chapter that encompass everything there is to know about Marika herself. What is her true equivalent in the Bible, i may ask (?) You quoted Revelation 13 in the video, i will answer you by quoting Revelation 17, i want you also to notice the title of the chapter, i quote : Revelation 17 : 1-5 "The Woman on the Beast 1Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. 2The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were INTOXICATED with the wine of her immorality.” 3And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw A WOMAN SITTING ON A SCARLET BEAST that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was dressed in PURPLE and scarlet, and adorned with GOLD and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a GOLDEN CUP full of abominations and the impurities of HER SEXUAL IMMORALITY. 5And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." The woman on the Beast is reminiscent of all of Marika's actions throughout elden ring story : - being the vessel of the Elden Beast/ like the woman on the Beast being an agent of it - intoxicating those who dwell on the earth/ meaning deceiving greatly the people of the land between by lies and pseudo-truths - commiting sexual immoralities/multiples relationships with elden lords to consolidate her power The scarlet woman in the Bible is said to be dressed with PURPLE. Like one of those images where we see Marika's dress is in purple with golden leafs, she is also adorned with GOLD and highly connected to it as the golden order and her God is none other than herself.. The revelation woman also possesses a Golden CUP.. Hmm.. These colors scarlet and purple made me think of marika's golden flask which are the cerulean and crimson flask tear we use in the game.. Let us read further this chapter and see that there is everything in it already to make this incredible parallel between the scarlet woman and Marika and that this is not a mere coincidence, i quote : Revelation 17 : 6-7 "6I could see that THE WOMAN WAS DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS AND WITNESSES FOR JESUS. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her. 7“Why are you so amazed?” said the angel. “I will tell you the mystery of THE WOMAN AND OF THE BEAST that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns." Now listen, directly in the trailer of the DLC we see a woman walking on a pile of corpses with blood surrounding her all around.. These corpses as we all know are the sacrifices conducted by Marika to erect her order as well as her tree.. This is exactly the parallel of the woman drunk with the blood of all the saints of the earth which are the shamans in the lands between i believe that's why i've mentioned it.. Also we see in the game multiple references to shamans being sacrificed and put into jars in order to become saints, this is not hazardous as this is a hint again that fromsoftware left you to see if you will catch the source of inspiration or not.. With all of these, how can i be so sure that the beast associated with the woman is the elden beast in elden ring(?) Simple it is mentioned in one of elden ring incantations, the elden stars, an important clue, that i quote : "the Greater Will sent a golden star bearing a beast into the Lands Between, which would later become the Elden Ring." Thus the golden star = the elden beast = the elden ring Therefore that golden star is like that star that was cast out from heaven to the abyss : Revelation 9 : 1 "1Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw A STAR THAT HAD FALLEN FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH, and it was given the key to the pit of the ABYSS." Revelation 11 : 7 "7When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the BEAST THAT COMES UP FROM THE ABYSS will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them." Who is the beast that comes up from the abyss like the elden beast in elden ring.. Now what if i say to you that this beast is simply an allegory for the dragon's action aka Marika undesirable other self aka Radagon the Dra'a'gon in elden ring.. I quote the Bible again : Revelation 12 : 3 "3Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads." Compare this passage with this one : Revelation 13 : 1 "1Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea. There were ten royal crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads." Notice that both the dragon and the beast shares some key characteristics : Same number of heads and horns meaning they represent a same concept highlighted under multiple aspects. The topic of the horns is also prevalent in the game with the spirits idolaters, the reprobates/omen in the original game. In the DLC some of the enemies we encounter are called hornsents and are considered as inquisitors. These inquisitors, i intuit are sent by the Dragon/Beast aka Radagon/Messmer to persecute any opponent who dare to oppose the order in the shadow land.. What i believe is that Radagon aka the Dragon is the ideologist while the Elden Beast represents the system/ideology put in place/manifested by him in the lands between.. So now with all these elements where am i going at(?) What is the point ? First of all to show you that elden ring takes his inspiration deeply into others lores. Secondly to portray through these bible extracts the true dynamic between Marika and Radagon. And finally to understand what is truly happening in the lands between and why everything seems so shockingly dead, immovable.. So here comes my conclusion with this last Bible verse.. Everything happening in the lands between can be explained by this chapter, i quote : Revelation 12 : 13 "The Woman Persecuted 13And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child." Once Marika divested from her other self aka Radagon by shattering the elden ring, the Dragon never ceased to pursue her in a will to be whole again with her.. During that time she is literally trying everything in her power to make the tarnished which is you, her consort but as the game shows in the end to no avail.. Since we know that Radagon is associated with the law of regression, if not to say to Karma. Radagon simply is Marika's flesh and karma. Marika is the spirit who wanted to divest himself from the material, the body symbolized by Radagon. We see in the cinematic intro that while Marika shattered the elden ring to divest herself, Radagon's will is the total opposite, to repair it.. As this is a common theme in the Bible, that the will of the spirit is opposite to that of the flesh.. Radagon's hammer is reminiscent to forgery, he is like Marika a trickster, if not to say a deceiver, a craftmen. The veil we see in shadow of the erdtree is everything Marika/Radagon wanted to conceal from the surface.. Radagon's treachery and the flaw of his 'perfect' system of order is represented at the core by Messmer in the DLC aka that great serpent, the dragon who never stop to accuse the brethren day and night, the people of the lands between, those on the surface/the earth, to judge them, to prosecute them for the perpetual sustainance of Radagon's Golden order aka the Dragon's great deception which was the betrayal of the Greater Will behind the veil(!) At the core of Radagon sound system of order or pretense of Justice, we see true corruption manifested by Messmer relentless acts of discrimination conducted without distinction of what is actually right from what is wrong.. In parallel, we see the antichrist in the person of Miquella who subverted his love in the person of St Trina, whose sole purpose is to become a God, to supplant the Greater will to usher a said age of compassion where he is implicitly the only One God.. Alas with all of this, what do we see in the end(?) A Radagon who achieved to be whole again and usurp/sabotage Marika original will which was for her to be completely her own being separated from the law of regression and the chaotic trickster being at the core of the corrupt system of Order/Justice : Radagon/Messmer the Devil.. And his representative in the person of the antichrist Miquella who achieved to subvert everyone hearts being introduced in the temple of God=Gate of Divinity as the abomination of desolation spoken off in Daniel's Bible prophecy preventing even further the 'tarnished' Elden Lord once again from restauring God's temple thus the difficulty of the last fight.. Marika's end is indeed a tragedy as the tarnished is already preempted/overshadowed by Radagon veiled actions from becoming Marika's desired Elden Lord since the very beginning of the game.. בֶּ֙רַע֙
finally someone explains why I enjoy the unending ego death that Elden Ring constantly provides me.
An eternal recurrence of rough drafts of prior selves leading to a more refined new self.
Best comment ever
Very nice dive into what it all means. All the lore of this game just seems to swirl around in my head and I can barely grasp its concepts. But I love learning more about it and absolutely loving the DLC. Getting close to the end of it, and I think the DLC is solidifying how great this game really is.
Thanks for the video! Always enjoy your content.
I think you really hit on something that I haven’t heard discussed, and that is Miyazaki’s desire to recreate a microcosm of what he views to be of importance. Japanese culture has a much stronger connection to the idea of cycles, whereas here in Judeo-Christian beliefs focus on a beginning on earth and end in heaven.
Existentially, this cycle, the cycle of life and death, can be a rewarding philosophical idea. It is life affirming and gives true purpose in death without resorting to mysticism. Miyazaki is hammering us over the head with the fact that our great order, this society, world, etc. is doomed to end and be reborn and we walk around as if this couldn’t happen at any moment.
The irony with the Hornsent is that their babel-like attempt to build a tower reaching heaven did result in the kingdom of heaven being brought to (literally rooted into) the earth, but it was not theirs and was ultimately founded on their destruction. I think this is why the Greatsword of Damnation says there is something of the golden order in it, despite the fact that Midra’s persecution was the doing of the Hornsent.
By the way, great video. I really appreciated all the references to Plato and Neoplatonism. I really think everything about the One Great is meant to evoke the emanation of all things from the One, and the frenzied flame the world- and life-denying tendency of this way of thinking. Everything about Metyr and the fingers revealed in the DLC indicates there is no “going back” to this primordial cosmic unity, if it ever really existed, and the real question is how we deal with our cosmic abandonment.
One of the most enjoyable analysis of this game I’ve heard. Great work.
welcome back friend.
No fucking way my favourite niche youtuber makes a video on my favourite game holy shit!!! Absolutely loved your vid on rust cohle dude
Really interesting..
You opted to explain the lore by bringing onto it cultural aspects outside of it..
That is exactly the conclusion i came with when confronted by the layers of confusion surrounding the understanding of elden ring story..
The confusion in the storytelling is volontary i believe and can only be eluded through a greater scope or multiple sources outside of it like you intuit..
And about it i have some very good elements/hypotheses that may explain why the story the tarnished find himself in is in such a stalemate and not developing at all.
The answer lies in Marika's very being which seems like a complex matter yet is actually simple when we grasp the source of the inspiration.
My stance in regard to this is that the theory that Marika is Radagon and are actually two separates 'beings' or rather concept/ideas are both true.
I will explain how this is both the case later..
But first let us make a detour and take example of a Bible chapter that encompass everything there is to know about Marika herself.
What is her true equivalent in the Bible, i may ask (?)
You quoted Revelation 13 in the video, i will answer you by quoting Revelation 17, i want you also to notice the title of the chapter, i quote :
Revelation 17 : 1-5
"The Woman on the Beast
1Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. 2The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were INTOXICATED with the wine of her immorality.”
3And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw A WOMAN SITTING ON A SCARLET BEAST that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was dressed in PURPLE and scarlet, and adorned with GOLD and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a GOLDEN CUP full of abominations and the impurities of HER SEXUAL IMMORALITY. 5And on her forehead a mysterious name was written:
BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."
The woman on the Beast is reminiscent of all of Marika's actions throughout elden ring story :
- being the vessel of the Elden Beast/ like the woman on the Beast being an agent of it
- intoxicating those who dwell on the earth/ meaning deceiving greatly the people of the land between by lies and pseudo-truths
- commiting sexual immoralities/multiples relationships with elden lords to consolidate her power
The scarlet woman in the Bible is said to be dressed with PURPLE.
Like one of those images where we see Marika's dress is in purple with golden leafs, she is also adorned with GOLD and highly connected to it as the golden order and her God is none other than herself..
The revelation woman also possesses a Golden CUP..
Hmm..
These colors scarlet and purple made me think of marika's golden flask which are the cerulean and crimson flask tear we use in the game..
Let us read further this chapter and see that there is everything in it already to make this incredible parallel between the scarlet woman and Marika and that this is not a mere coincidence, i quote :
Revelation 17 : 6-7
"6I could see that THE WOMAN WAS DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS AND WITNESSES FOR JESUS. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
7“Why are you so amazed?” said the angel. “I will tell you the mystery of THE WOMAN AND OF THE BEAST that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns."
Now listen, directly in the trailer of the DLC we see a woman walking on a pile of corpses with blood surrounding her all around..
These corpses as we all know are the sacrifices conducted by Marika to erect her order as well as her tree..
This is exactly the parallel of the woman drunk with the blood of all the saints of the earth which are the shamans in the lands between i believe that's why i've mentioned it..
Also we see in the game multiple references to shamans being sacrificed and put into jars in order to become saints, this is not hazardous as this is a hint again that fromsoftware left you to see if you will catch the source of inspiration or not..
With all of these, how can i be so sure that the beast associated with the woman is the elden beast in elden ring(?)
Simple it is mentioned in one of elden ring incantations, the elden stars, an important clue, that i quote :
"the Greater Will sent a golden star bearing a beast into the Lands Between,
which would later become the Elden Ring."
Thus the golden star = the elden beast = the elden ring
Therefore that golden star is like that star that was cast out from heaven to the abyss :
Revelation 9 : 1
"1Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw A STAR THAT HAD FALLEN FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH, and it was given the key to the pit of the ABYSS."
Revelation 11 : 7
"7When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the BEAST THAT COMES UP FROM THE ABYSS will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them."
Who is the beast that comes up from the abyss like the elden beast in elden ring..
Now what if i say to you that this beast is simply an allegory for the dragon's action aka Marika undesirable other self aka Radagon the Dra'a'gon in elden ring..
I quote the Bible again :
Revelation 12 : 3
"3Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads."
Compare this passage with this one :
Revelation 13 : 1
"1Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea. There were ten royal crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads."
Notice that both the dragon and the beast shares some key characteristics :
Same number of heads and horns meaning they represent a same concept highlighted under multiple aspects.
The topic of the horns is also prevalent in the game with the spirits idolaters, the reprobates/omen in the original game.
In the DLC some of the enemies we encounter are called hornsents and are considered as inquisitors.
These inquisitors, i intuit are sent by the Dragon/Beast aka Radagon/Messmer to persecute any opponent who dare to oppose the order in the shadow land..
What i believe is that Radagon aka the Dragon is the ideologist while the Elden Beast represents the system/ideology put in place/manifested by him in the lands between..
So now with all these elements where am i going at(?)
What is the point ?
First of all to show you that elden ring takes his inspiration deeply into others lores.
Secondly to portray through these bible extracts the true dynamic between Marika and Radagon.
And finally to understand what is truly happening in the lands between and why everything seems so shockingly dead, immovable..
So here comes my conclusion with this last Bible verse..
Everything happening in the lands between can be explained by this chapter, i quote :
Revelation 12 : 13
"The Woman Persecuted
13And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child."
Once Marika divested from her other self aka Radagon by shattering the elden ring, the Dragon never ceased to pursue her in a will to be whole again with her..
During that time she is literally trying everything in her power to make the tarnished which is you, her consort but as the game shows in the end to no avail..
Since we know that Radagon is associated with the law of regression, if not to say to Karma.
Radagon simply is Marika's flesh and karma.
Marika is the spirit who wanted to divest himself from the material, the body symbolized by Radagon.
We see in the cinematic intro that while Marika shattered the elden ring to divest herself, Radagon's will is the total opposite, to repair it..
As this is a common theme in the Bible, that the will of the spirit is opposite to that of the flesh..
Radagon's hammer is reminiscent to forgery, he is like Marika a trickster, if not to say a deceiver, a craftmen.
The veil we see in shadow of the erdtree is everything Marika/Radagon wanted to conceal from the surface..
Radagon's treachery and the flaw of his 'perfect' system of order is represented at the core by Messmer in the DLC aka that great serpent, the dragon who never stop to accuse the brethren day and night, the people of the lands between, those on the surface/the earth, to judge them, to prosecute them for the perpetual sustainance of Radagon's Golden order aka the Dragon's great deception which was the betrayal of the Greater Will behind the veil(!)
At the core of Radagon sound system of order or pretense of Justice, we see true corruption manifested by Messmer relentless acts of discrimination conducted without distinction of what is actually right from what is wrong..
In parallel, we see the antichrist in the person of Miquella who subverted his love in the person of St Trina, whose sole purpose is to become a God, to supplant the Greater will to usher a said age of compassion where he is implicitly the only One God..
Alas with all of this, what do we see in the end(?)
A Radagon who achieved to be whole again and usurp/sabotage Marika original will which was for her to be completely her own being separated from the law of regression and the chaotic trickster being at the core of the corrupt system of Order/Justice : Radagon/Messmer the Devil..
And his representative in the person of the antichrist Miquella who achieved to subvert everyone hearts being introduced in the temple of God=Gate of Divinity as the abomination of desolation spoken off in Daniel's Bible prophecy preventing even further the 'tarnished' Elden Lord once again from restauring God's temple thus the difficulty of the last fight..
Marika's end is indeed a tragedy as the tarnished is already preempted/overshadowed by Radagon veiled actions from becoming Marika's desired Elden Lord since the very beginning of the game..
בֶּ֙רַע֙
Thank you for this video.
Excellent video!
I didn't even play this game and this video sparked something in me
Great video!
I figured this out after I killed the Mother of Fingers. But good video! Earns my like!
"Every success is built on top of a mountain of failures,"
Hot damn!
Jesus did bring us a "sword".
Huh, I now have to contemplate a "personal" God versus a "pantheistic" God in Elden Ring
What is the name of the painting at 13:25?
Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych by Jan van eyck
@@the_projectionist Thanks!
As in game as in reality