The Banished Knights' Civilization
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 เม.ย. 2023
- #eldenring #eldenringlore #banishedknights
This video is about the culture of the banished knights, exiles, and commanders. It's an attempt to plumb the history of this mysterious civilization.
Music used:
Jim Kirkwood- Knight of a Dark Grail(1992)
![🎮เกมยิงปืนใหม่ ภาพสวย และ สมจริงที่สุดในโลก [ BODYCAM ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/My3l1owRY9I/mqdefault.jpg)
I love the Banished Knights. They have become my favorite Knights. So many interesting details about them and mysteries to be solved.
Imo they have by far the best fashion except for the ducktoe boots.
Funnily enough, that was actually the fashion during the time armour like their's was being made. For example, the Cleanrot's have 15th century style sabatons while the Banished knights wear 16th century style.
I just want to share something I learned recently.
The Stormhawk Clan sigil is a real life archeological find on a coin from excavations at York in England: A city founded by the romans, conquered by the vikings and then the normans. Originally named Eboracum, "place of yew trees", one chronicler thought it was named for legendary king Ebraucus who founded pre-roman Eboracum and Edinburgh castle (Roundtable Hold?).
I think the choice of this sigil is very deliberate.
That's really cool. I'm gonna look that up. I hope Tarnished Archaeologist has some kind of insight concerning that, it seems right up his alley.
@@theeldenconspiracy9451just about the commanders niall(pronounced nile) and O'Neill are Irish and O'Neill is a decendant of Niall that's how old Irish family names work something worth looking up is Niall of the nine hostages and the O'Neill line of Kings the banished knights themselves seem to be loosely based off the fianna just worth having a look
The storm lord being a wolf bird would explain the air dropping wolves in limgrave.
That always confused me.
That's so interesting, since we hear and see a storm wind when they appear out of the air, and the first place you usually see them do that is right when you get to the foot of Stormveil castle, near the Storm Hill Shack. They also do it not far from Storm Hill, near the Warmaster's Shack. Weirdly though the only other time I can remember them appearing like that was just outside Gelmir Hero's Grave. There has to be a reason for that - maybe the hero's graves go back to the time of the Storm Lord. Would explain their unique architecture, but then why is it different from the Roundtable Hold's, which was also likely built by the Storm Clan...
Wolf bird is a crazy way ro say Dragon. they're decked in dragon iconography, have overt connection to the Golden Lineage with holdings all over the map from sourced from the Old Lyndell Roundtable Hold, use wind, lightning, and dragon techniques that no other force uses.
The only plausible explanation for all this is they were Godwyn's army, disgraced and banished at his cursed death.
Restraint IS a trait lions are known for.
Male lions are protectors, they don't hunt, they just rest all day and only ever act against others to protect their territory.
Tons of good analysis here! The Banished Knights have always been fascinating to me and I’m glad someone is giving them more attention. I really like how much actual evidence you put forward to back up your claims, as I feel a lot of lore channels tend to rely on speculation very heavily.
I’m unsure if you’re aware but I remember seeing a Reddit post a while back showing that commander Nail’s lost leg can actually be found grafted to Godrick, which when paired with a more accurate Japanese translation suggests that Commander Nial sacrificed his leg to Godrick for the lives of his troops. Possibly spawning the distinction between the red hooded and normal Banished Knights.
That is very interesting. I've been talking about that theory with people on Discord. Him giving away the prosthetic makes no sense, given he has it when you fight him.
This would mean Godrick held some of his knights prisoner, or he got the leg some other way....
@@theeldenconspiracy9451 to clarify, OP here meant that Niall gave Godrick his ACTUAL leg, and the prosthetic came after. This lines up well with what we know of Niall and the character model evidence. (Love the videos btw, keep it up!)
It's more likely that Godrick has used a random Banished Knight's leg, as the leg in question is on Godrick's left leg. While Godrick has grafted some limbs in odd places on his body, this particular leg looks like one of the main limbs he utilizes, rather than, say, the extra limbs on his back that stretch every which way. As such, he might need that leg to actually match his respective side of his body.
Have you looked closer at Farum Azula? Banished knights used storm abilities. Farum Azula is filled with tornadoes (storm). Maybe they were banished from Farum Azula. It would also make sense that Placidusax is the legendary storm lord since many of his moves appear like storms. The many banished knights residing there could be ones that returned after the theft of destined death weakened Maliketh.
A minor note on the exiles. The thorns might be the mark of the guilty and be unrelated to Godwyn's curse.
We see that also on the thorn sorcerers, right?
They don't look like Godwyn thorns, but on the other hand the degredation of the castle and its inhabitants doesn't seem to have a parallel in the world. The stone looks melted, but from exposed wood it is clear it's not burnt.
Yeah, this makes me think the exiles are guilty of something. Like they had a hand in the Night of the Black Knives. That's just speculation. It could be the same reason the hawk sigil became "fallen" or "inverted."
But the Fallen Hawk guys seem to be suffering from a completely different condition, so idk.
@@theeldenconspiracy9451 They are mysteriously associated with the moon, so a black knives connection as surprisingly plausible. Or maybe they just have some ties to the Numen, or the nox.
@@theeldenconspiracy9451could ve that they're guilty of not failing to protect their lord, Godwyn. Why else have aom the dragon iconography, the imitation of his hair, protecting his old holdings, and assisting Miquella's plot to either revive or end his suffering?
They're Godwyn's boys, banished from Old Lyndell and the Round Table, where many of their armors and weapons still are, because Godwyn's assassination.
Banished knights will always be my favorite knights in elden ring ive always felt like the unaltered set was like a coat a higher ranking knight would wear
When you mentioned penal colonies, I immediately thought about the ships on the coast of radahns boss area. Boats were commonly areas made for storing prisoners.
My honest theory is that the banished knights were loyal both to the StormHawk King and Placidusax during their reign of their own order. As for why they are literally everywhere in the lands between, they could’ve landed there thanks to the rumble from “Crumbling” Faraam Azula after the elden beast smashed through the floating city and embedded itself into the lands between within a erdtree. Which would not only explain why some banished knights have the dragon statue on their helms but also the stormhawk banners wrapped around the helms of other banished knights. Once they landed with the rumble so far away from home, they were conscripted as mercenaries by different Demi gods and lords like Melania, Godrick, etc. As for the dragon incantations, they most likely either learned them the ancient dragons themselves or made them out of respect and honor toward the alliance made between the storm hawk king and Placidusax.
You know, I've grown very bored of most lore videos as a whole. They haven't felt the same. Not like they did back in the DS1 days.
But this video was enjoyable. Something about the way you're doing it.
My overall niche is PVP. I do invasions and make builds to show other people.
But I've always been a lore nerd. A lot of my builds have dumb lore I made up in my head LMAO.
Thanks! I actually wasn't watching TH-cam a lot back when DS1 came out. Good to hear.
At this point i'm thinking the real origin of Banished Knights, or atleast their roots are from the Great Tree era, and their supreme commander (or atleast a notable faction among them) was the Storm Lord, wether or not that was Placidusaxx, Placidusaxx was the Elden Lord of this era anyway.
Which means they potentially date even further back than Crucible Knights, or maybe Crucible Knights were an upgraded troop, since the Crucible Era is more of an intermediary stage, after the Great Tree was cut down and the competition between sprouts (and the Golden Erdtree sprout) started. And we know Godfrey's personal warband was comprised of Crucible Knights, their old gear and Godfrey's old Axe are in the table of the Roundtable.
But the Banished Knights themselves definetly seem to have been merely conquered and co-opted by Godfrey, made to serve the new Order that took over their homes, their heraldic symbols also pop up in Volcano Manor, indicating this Manor used to be owned by completely different people unlike today's snake-worshippers.
It also fits right in with Godfrey co-opting former adversaries into his own troops, like he did with Serrosh.
Since the Banished Knight armor seems to match in material and styling with Godfrey's I figured that the Banished Knights were those Tarnished that didn't leave the Lands Between with him.
I always thought that banished knight was mourning and praying for one of his fallen storm hawks.
“He could not die” sounds more like he was undefeated to me tbh :P
Possibly by running out of opponents to fight
i love your intro so much
Thanks!
Only tangentially related, and definitely not in line with how the majority thinks about Stormveil, but I don’t think Godwyn and Deathroot are the primary players in the curse of Stormveil. If you actually look at the thorns enveloping the castle and the exiles, they look nothing like the deathroot briars found in Fortissax’s arena or the growths we can find in the catacombs. Instead, they’re much more visually similar to the thorns Radagon uses to block access to the Erdtree. Add on top of this the strange, charred gashes all along the castle wall. If you watch the Lord of Chaos cutscene, many similar marks can be seen, albeit burning with the Flame of Frenzy, all over Leyndell. And guess what we find by Stormveil’s back exit? Hyetta, Maiden of the Three Fingers, and what is likely our first Shabriri Grape in the dungeon.
The plot thickens when we consider Stormveil was likely a penal colony. We know a slave revolt occurred there, possibly even led by Radagon. Would it not also be possible for one such as Shabriri, convicted of slander, would’ve been there as well?
That's really interesting. I'll take another look at that cutscene.
I've always found it really weird that Godwyn is associated with two entirely separate, plant-based curses.
@@theeldenconspiracy9451 I do think that Stormveil is likely where Godwin’s murder actually took place. We don’t find the same level of Deathroot corruption there as in parts of Farum Azula or the Nameless Eternal City, which would line up with Godwyn’s body being moved to Leyndell shortly afterwards. It would also explain Rogier’s fascination with the place, as well as the random Rancorcall spell we can find. It’s strongly implied that Necromancer Garris had a hand in making the Black Knives
This is a fabulously thorough and well-researched investigation on the Banished Knights and their culture! You also had a great approach when observing heraldry to assess whether different factions of these people existed. Talk of the Golden Order's conquests never seems to mention felling a prior empire, nor would the Golden Order have any apparent reason to fear acknowledging such a nation, so the scattered societies idea is one that I find well-supported and reasonable.
You also managed to take excellent footage of the various different banners and embossed armor designs! Conveying what was depicted on the head scarf must have been difficult, but the effort is appreciated. The "wolf-bird" in particular is quite bizarre, and some fans who analyze symbols and lore think that's a tremendously stylized lion. I think the "wolf-bird" looks more like a capricorn, as it doesn't appear to have hind legs and its body instead stretches into several thick "tongues" of hair.
These tufts of hair wind and branch as though the creature has multiple very long tails, some splitting off of each other, or otherwise has something akin to fins or jellyfish tendrils. The design even reminds me of a plant, which could match the almost blooming lion tails on the mural seen at 14:57. Perhaps the "wolf-bird" actually does have several tails, based on the possible dual tails seen on the Tree-and-Beast Surcoat at 6:14. The "wolf-bird" might also be a chimera due to the horns seen on the imprisoned lions, such as the one seen at 14:21, akin to the Misbegotten, whose era of being seen as blessed may have overlapped with these earlier cultures in the Lands Between. Honestly, the "wolf-bird" is so strange that it's difficult to even locate its head and front leg.
While it's true that Liurnia doesn't seem to depict many (if any) Banished Knight weapons, some fans speculate that the Caria Manor was a former Banished Knight fortress that Liurnia conquered. Erdtrees can still be found over gateways in the manor, and a carpet in one church section has a lion, albeit a Golden Order lion, on it. However, it could be that the Caria Manor was built after the Liurnian Wars to celebrate Rennala and Radagon's marriage, or it was a fortress Leyndell built during one of the Liurnian Wars.
I think that the weapons can indicate some Banished Knight presence in an area. However, at some point the weapons might just be reused as signs of common warfare in general, particularly since it'd be odd if the Golden Order and subsequent Shattering factions weren't storing and forging their own weapons. Also, as to the fire-breathing Banished Knights, the sigil they use is that of dragon communion, perhaps implying that they've eaten the remains of dragons. This could further indicate a divide within Banished Knight culture, though one they've apparently come to begrudingly tolerate during the Shattering.
The only thing I feel needs a correction is the matter of Banished Knight armor seen scattered across Leyndell's battlefields. You say that the helmets don't depict dragons, but the helm at 6:33 does feature a dragon, namely the coiled tail.
Overall, your observations are great, including the possibility of the "nostalgic" crescent referring to the 24/7 mountaintop view of the moon and cultures assigning new meanings to lion imagery. Thanks again for the thoughtful, nuanced video!
The dragon dancer from the dlc kinda looks like that capricorn you spoke of. Supposedly it drops a Talisman that boosts “storm damage” as well. Maybe some of these persisting questions will be answered in the DLC, but even if not I think this video was an exceptional overview of what we see of the Banished Knights in game. I’m sated.
Please don't mention anything from previews, I've been trying to steer clear of info before I play the dlc. Thanks for commenting.
@@theeldenconspiracy9451 Then you might want to take a break from looking at comments these next two weeks. I only know this because another commenter told me. Seemed harmless enough but my bad regardless.
There's twin lion iconography in some tablets of the Uhl Dynasty tho Idk if it's related to anything or not.
This is fucking fantastic.
EVERYONE ELSE OUT OF THE WAY IM FIRST IN LINE FOR A NEW ELDEN CONSPIRACY YEEEEEEHHHHAAAWWW🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Some of the ghosts in castle sol and the eclipse shotel hint that the banished knights and exiles used to work for godwyn, which could explain why the exiles all seem to be infected with his curse
maybe the banished knights were not a civilization, and rather all knights who lost territory were all declared banished knights, so its just like a tital
an interesting thing id like to point out is farum azula. We know that Malikith banished himself to the area so that no one could steal destined death again, and that the godskin duo is there in pursuit of him. i think the crucible knight and draconic tree sentinel were brought with maliketh to serve as extra defense, however i dont think the same is true of the banished knights. Considering they are characterized with the worship of dragons (their lightning abilities, the flames they can produce, etc) i think that they are there in pursuit of dragon communion.
the vibe i had gotten was that whichever clan they did belong too, it spanned the entirety of the lands between, with different provinces having different banners as a way of distinguishing them. This clan partook in dragon communion and may have been some of the first magma wyrms to exist. when the golden order rose however, the majority of them were pushed into stormveil castle, with all that exists of them elsewhere being either ghosts or solitary soldiers.
I find the baished knights the most interesting. I'm pretty sure they are Draconian's (the dragon humans) and it would explain all the dragon imagery on their armor. Considering they are part dragon (assuming what ive heard is true) plus there is evidence to support it. Such as their strength the carry their things, the dragon imagery on their armor, their models under the armor, and the spells they use.
That's actually a super-interesting theory. The ancient dragons themselves are featured heavily in Farum Azula, but there isn't a lot of clues to suggest FA is the "Land of ancient dragons."
The ancient dragons could have migrated from their homeland to FA. Perhaps the draconian banished knights are there because they view the followers of Placidusax as 'apostates' of some kind. Intriguing.
@@theeldenconspiracy9451 they could also be there due to the fact they use dragon magic. I doubt people in the lands between don't know the side effects of dragon magic. Maybe these Draconian knights where a small army of warriors. Then they started to go back and learn their bloods history and decided to explore more. Maybe where ever they where at the time (in the lands between or out of it) the people saw it as heretical and they where given the boot due to the dangers of dragon communion. Would give some reason for their love for wind looking magic and fire. Maybe in the future they will prefect their arts and use red lightning. That'd be neat, but who knows. It would also explain where they are. At the dragon commune site and stormveil. Maybe by serving "The Spider" they get access to new dragon hearts, along with possibly anything else Mr let me slap on a dragon head can get that relates to the ancient dragons. Would give em a reason for their service. And would explain their armors description.
Despite being a light-roller and not really being able to make much use for it, the unaltered Banished Knight set is maybe the dopest looking armor set in the game. That scarf is incredible.
There's another question though - why is Stormveil Castle exclusively patrolled by Banished Knights and Exiles, and not Godrick's soldiers? It's almost like he doesn't trust his own men to guard him, and would rather rely on Banished Knight mercenaries.
I think there are different factions of Banished Knights. The ones with dragons on their helms are loyal to Godrick. The ones with scarves seem to be more independent.
@@theeldenconspiracy9451 I think you’re right! But the question is… why?! Godrick soldiers are nowhere to be found in his own castle, but the place is crawling with an entire company of Banished Knights and Exiles! It’s very odd.
Love your insights. I didn’t know you have discord. Would you ever consider making it public?
I don't "have" a discord. I'm just a member of multiple Elden Ring related Discords. Of course I could create a discord specifically for this channel. I'll consider it.
@@theeldenconspiracy9451 I’ve been looking more into Nepheli since your last video. I’ve noticed that when you first meet her she’s standing over one of the banished knights, commenting about their “choice of master”. It brings up questions because the rulers of Stormveil would inevitably be Godfrey’s Golden Lineage after their conquest, but if the seat of the Golden Lineage must also be Stormveil and Godrick is confirmed to be the blood of Godfrey, how could he not be the heir to Stormveil? Kenneth calls Godrick a usurper and there is something about how Godrick only came to Stormveil after the shattering? How could Godrick be a usurper unless Godfrey’s descendants weren’t the rightful rulers of Stormveil? Nepheli also doesn’t help us anywhere else except Godrick and Godfrey - not against any other demigod, or Morgott, or the Fire Giant or even Gideon himself. Why would she appear specifically to kill her “ascendant” Hoarah Loux and recognise you as Elden Lord over someone with her surname and, in all honesty, rightful Elden Lord? It’s my working theory but I believe Nepheli loux is not Godfreys descendant but shes one of last descendant of the stormhawk clan that built Stormveil, reinforced by her dialogue of “reminds me of my first hawk”, of which lineage is the rightful by which Haight supports her claim to rule Stormveil. Not as a descendant of Godfrey - Godfrey might’ve been the cause of the terrible massacre she described witnessing as a child whilst he was still untamed by Serosh, with her real ascendant being the lone revenger of Castle Morne who rode out to fight Godfrey which was likely the Storm Lord after the transition of power between him and Godfrey. The identity of who that is still up in the air but I will say that in all of the Banished Knight armor variations there is ornamentation of dragons most notably on the helm and decorations of thorns on the plate, particularly the gauntlets. These two are both associated with Godwyn judging from him founding the dragon cult and the description of the Marred Leather Shield. Another connection is that the oldest remnants of the Stormveil/Stormclan culture manifest Golden Lightning, such as Commander Niall and the Art of War seen on the Stormhawk Axe used by Nepheli herself was Godwyns trademark lightning judging from the Death Lightning description. It further connects Godwyn to the storm because the same golden lightning can also be seen in “the heart of the storm”. I think it’s for this reason that in the Duskborn ending, you can see a storm start to weather again likely because Godwyn has been resurrected.
In version 1.00 the armor description actually tells you their origin
You forgot the symbol of Godfrey at castle sol
My favorite faction
5:46 the stormhawke banner also appears under the giant face of the chariots used by the fire monk, thou I really don't know what it could mean
I've heard that before. I should really get the evidence for myself.
Theyre most prominent in lendyll, stormveil and castle sol. Theres less remnants of them in redmane,volcano manor and catle morne. It seems it was very brief in volcano manor as theres one room left.
It feels like they were under the ancient dragons not directly but indirectly. The dragons ruledit seems like leyndell was the place they were from and were beaten and spread out from there. Stormveil being in limgrave which is home to the fringefolk heros grave. The tree imagery that's shown on the banner isnt the erdtree and was probably the predecessor of the erd tree. The saint imagery with the swords in divine towers and the churches in stormveil,redmane and catle sol gave maidens giving tears away except stormveil was renovated to crucible statues but still has one maiden in the outside.
I think they were under the saint and tree regime until it was toppled from inside leyndell when a new hidden religion. We can find evidence of that in leyndell by the omen cleaver next to the church with lionels garb
Good video but gotta disagree that they're just a slave army that aligned with Godrick because he's in control of one of their old cultural bastions. They're in places that connect to Godwyn except for the Nameless City where the body is, but they're banished so that makes sense, let me break it down more.
I always thought of the Banished as the disgraced armies of Godwyn. He was all about Dragons and convergence of the power of Grace dating back to the Crucible era he was born in. One of the most iconic things about Godwyn is mimicked by the knights , his long flowing hair on their helmets and the all the dragon iconography on their healm, and apparel, the thing you called a wolf bird stitched into their scarves and the "Capricorn " embossed into their armor are imho stylized Dragons.
I think when Godwyn died, his portions of Lyndell sank into the Nameless Eternal City where his mutated body now lies; his territory lost in catalyism of Marika shattering the Elden Ring in dispair of his death, and his people banished to the fringes of Lymgrave for failing to protect Godwyn.
Tha Banished Knights having served Godwyn, and looking for redemption align with Godrick as the heir to the Golden Lineage. Godwyn's blight affects them no matter where they go because they still serve him above all others, even in Death.
Yeah i agree with this. We also see the combo of lightning and storm in vyke, nepheli and niall. You also find godwyn related items in stormcaller church.
The civilization of all time!
Very interesting stuff, love your videos. Just came across your channel today.
FYI 'Niall' is an Irish name and it is pronounced the same way as the River 'Nile'.
The dragon banished knights were stolen from castle sol where sol offered his leg
I might be able to answer one of the mysteries. In the section where you mention the two Banished Knights "squaring off" with several Exile corpses in front of them, there actually is a hint at what this was in the data and in an old trailer. Initially, the Knights were not there, but the corpses were, and when the player approached it would initiate a mini-boss fight with the Bell Bearing Hunter appearing, suggesting he had killed those Exiles. This can be found both in the data as he has a defunct spawn point there, and one of the older trailers shows this happening. Not sure why they changed it, and since they did I have no idea why they didn't remove the bodies, so I suppose that requires a bit of headcanoning...
That's actually a really cool explanation, thanks! The Bell Bearing Hunters are something I don't think we'll ever figure out.
@The Elden Conspiracy theyre just Elemer invading in different spots from his crash pad at Shaded Castle, seems pretty basic. Even though they still show up if you kill the real him, body death hasnt stopped invading phantoms before
@@PETHRIS How can you be entirely sure? NPC invaders appear pretty consistently if not entirely consistently, just like player invaders: with their name in red above their heads. Bell-bearing hunters are unnamed and just have a regular boss bar. Maybe Elemer is doing a kind of shade projection like Godfrey and Morgott do, but as you've mentioned, they continue to appear even after you defeat him and take his remembrance. And we know that if you kill Morgott before Margit, he doesn't actually appear in Stormveil, meaning he is unable to project his form after defeat. I'm not saying it's impossible, just wondering what evidence there is other than that they have the same armor and weapon. It could be that they are just "of the Briar" like Elemer is, just different people.
Man, easily the banished knight could be the secundaria defens of Leyndell while godrick was the first one
Elden Ring? More like Alllegory for the west Ring.
It's wild to me how few people seem to see the obvious and constant parallels to the history of the Christian religion and its primary empires. This is a story about a religious order run by a monarch and their royal line, which claimed to speak for God, and then spread through conquering other nations and deliberately co-opting the traditions and iconography of their defeated cultures in order to pacify them. That is the history of Christianity in the world, something Martin is very much educated on and interested in. Tarnished Archaeologist has touched on this only briefly but I have yet to see anyone truly make all the connections.
@@theghosty99 I’m slowly compiling them as this has been the first game to truly stimulate me intellectually through its commentary and allusions. The struggle starts when being a non Japanese native and trying to decipher the domestic and foreign messaging and commentary from a Japanese P.O.V.