@@khususgabut5727 ok but my D is for ranni since I knew she lied saying that she was going to be my maiden but I'm no longer a maidenless thx to ranni lol
It was depressing to see all the Roundtable NPCs either die or disappear throughout the course of the game, but once Melina sacrificed herself, it felt truly lonely.
At least hewg and roderika stay, but who knows for how long the roundtable will survive, because i at one Point in the game roderika decides to stay with hewg... And even the volcano manor at one Point will be abondened if you killed rykard.
That was the moment I realized what she was about to do and that there was nothing I or the Tarnished could do to stop it. 10/10 voice acting, would cry again.
I thought in the beginning that she was gonna be evil and turn on us for her own benefit. Then I saw this scene and I was brought to tears. Definitely one of the most gut-punching scenes Fromsoft has made
@@juju0K_ they are, a lot of the game is. But the story honestly is not. But that goes for most from software games for me. They are always the exact same thing. Once good world, now ruined world, you are one of many, but you are better than the rest, now go light some fires. That's it. Pretending that is an awesome storytelling is just fanboy talk
@@MrHardstylefever yeah. The story feels not that much awesome. But particular moment like these with some background music makes that moment emotional.
Straight. No doubt anymore. Gaming has found it's Tolkien(s). First time in 30 years of Gaming, that I feel proud to be a fanboy. Who would have thought...thanks for this!
That "goodbye" broke my heart. I knew I couldn't save her without destroying the world in the process, but still, when she thanked me for bringing her there, I felt a deep need to be able to move my character and do something to prevent her from sacrificing herself, find a way to save her, I even pressed some of my buttons being careful not to skip the cutscene, but I really wanted to save her. I felt that I was not only losing my maiden, I was losing a companion... A Friend. Excellent cinematic, it really made me cry. An absolutely fantastic game, the best game of the year hands down. And one of the best games I've ever played. 10/10
@@raphaelcordero2900 pretty sure she said that she'd grant us destined death if we take up as the lord of frenzy flame. If we use miquella needle and choose elden lord instead, wouldn't it be different? Might be wrong tho idunno.
Too bad we can't move our characters during that cutscene. I honestly would have loved it if at least we could grab her hand as hers was approaching ours, to properly say goodbye.
@@lost4945 Only if you still go for the frenzied flame. But if you remove it with the needle you won't get it. As enemyboat spotted pointed, the devs did not care if the player chosed a path were the player sacrifice himself to burn the tree, then remove the flame, then having an other ending.
If you hunt all of VYKES item, you can tell his story is almost the same as us He is the strongest candidate to become the Elden Lord, but when it is time to sacrifice his Maiden to the fire, he can't To find another way to progress and to save his maiden, he got branded by the 3 fingers to save his maiden, tricked by Shabriri, but he became mad and probably killed his own maiden Prove: 1. Vykes on the church on top of the village filled with 3 fingers madness people 2. There's a dead maiden on the church 3. Vykes can be found inside of an evergaol in the mountain 4. The Shabriri knows about sacrificing maiden to fire 5. Shabriri keeps talking how to save everyone, and how sad it is to sacrifice your own maiden (Vykes probably fell to this) 6. You can listen to what Shabriri said in the mountain area, and it sounds so similar to what Vykes probably went through Where Vykes failed, we succeed, but at a great cost
This could also explain why Melina could always been with us but at the same time she is distant. I believe maidens used to travel alongside their tarnished but in the end developing some connection only them would understand but because of that they do try to protect their maidens but in the end ultimately fail. Melina is being distant for a reason i believe it is not a flaw of design but rather it is her character to try to be distant so that burning her wouldn't hurt so much and so that we wouldn't end up like Vyke and or Bernahl. I really wish there is another cutscene after we burnt the tree, neutralise the flame of frenzy and become the elden lord.
Well noted, Vyke was the first one to discover you have to burn your maiden. He got tricked by Shabriri who didn't care about his maiden but he wanted the 3 fingers unleashed. And it makes total sense he did the entire road we did until fire giant, because all gods can be reborn if the rune of death isn't unleashed, which it wasn't, he never got to Maliketh. He truly is like us, and that's very cool. Although he got mad before he reached the Erdtree, we don't in the frenzied flame ending.
I believe, Vyke's maiden threw herself into the fire... but not to kindle it, just to kill herself. Or maybe she tried kindling but failed. It's unclear in the story.
Legitimately starting tearing up when she turns and says "Thank you, for guiding me here" Souls games made me fall in love with video games in a depressed period of my life when I really needed an escape and I was just so damn proud of Fromsoft in this moment for creating this masterpiece. Thank you Miyazaki and everyone who worked on this masterpiece.
@@george0287 Actually never took antidepressants. My meds were a bottle of whiskey and beer but thankfully I'm over that now haven't had a drink since 2019.
@@Meshifuari yes there are. but they're in some kind of spiritual realms which still can be touched like the Dream and the Nightmare in Bloodborne. for Melina she is likely transcended into something much more higher, maybe close to how the Demigods or Lords died
This scene really hit hard. Melina was one of the Tarnished’s only friends, and we all became attached to her. I accepted her accord for the sole reason of being able to level up and to play the game normally, but she really grew on me and I began to care about her. During the fight against Morgott I made sure to summon her, and it’s my head canon that we fought side by side like the companions and friends we were. Her death still stings even after my Tarnished went with Ranni to leave the Lands Between. Melina will always be in our memories.
(if only she appeared on screen more often, like how all other maidens/firekeepers in other Souls games are always available at the Hub for the player to interact with. I never really bonded with her because there is so little interaction with her. I think she should be available to summon at any grace, repeating the last dialogue she has.)
@@artyomnikulenko7096 exactly like if she appeared when we get to the graces and talked cuz in reality I can probably count on my fingers the amount of times I saw her during my playthrough
@@artyomnikulenko7096eh I think it'd easily become too much. A lot of the games atmosphere is the feeling of just you, Torrent, and the spirit jellyfish
@@buffoonustroglodytus4688 You can meet her several times before this moment and speak to her in a lot of sites of grace. I do agree that she could have been more present, but she was indeed there and she had a prominent role.
@@dinorex3464 yes she has a prominent role but she’s very underdeveloped and underutilized. Like there’s a couple glimpses into her character and she talks a tiny bit about her goal but it’s very cryptic and obtuse. The rest of her dialogue is literally just exposition that has very little to do with her as a character. I like her design and voice but there’s really nothing to her character that’ll make me emotionally invested in her. Makes this whole scene seem kind of silly.
The thing that killed me was the harp notes; Those first two are featured in Gwyn's famous "Plin-plin-plon", an emotional gutwrench they programmed into me. It also takes this entire act to the next level; for those that are experienced with their games, and who will, on the off chance, recognize those notes, we'll be instantly transported back to DkS1 and DkS3, to the acts of Kindling the Flame and the final fights with Gwyn, who kindled the flame out of desperation with his own soul, and to the Soul of Cinder, a amalgam of all those who kindled the flame before hand, including that scared old man. This is an act we've never been on the other side of. Our characters make that decision to be martyrs, the ones that do, but its an entirely different feeling being on the opposite end of the gun. To be the burned for, as opposed to the one who burns. Melina effectively plays the role of our chosen undead, our ashen one, or very plainly, our hero. We will be able to do what needs to be done with her sacrifice and give the world a new chance, with a new ruler, with destined death put back into place. It was her decision to make, and we will have to live with that. It is a worthy sacrifice by itself, without this context, without dragging other games into this, for just it's own contexts, but its those two notes, those two, missable notes, that sends this over the top for me. It is a very clever way of mirroring the context for those who'd recognize it.
Yes, it's normal. Humans are social creatures, and we are wired to like interaction with other humans. Even if they are characters in a game. Even if the interaction is just an animation. Besides, Melina appears too little during the game. I wish we could summon her at every Grace.
@@artyomnikulenko7096 yeah I wish they made her appear riding with us on torrent or when exploring new stuff from time to time and say lore stuff or something like that she could've been so much better
@@Deflamed_Sphere haven't seen this scene in 2 years or so but still remember the pain of losing her. I remember looking up ways to save her and the whole 9 yards I wish she came back somehow in the DLC
I think what got me the most was when she looks at the tarnished and then raises her gaze at the player before she thanks us. It feels likes shes looking thru the screen and knows we are there and thanks us personally
We're told by Shabriri that for the Erdtree to burn, the maiden must immolate herself to kindle the flame of giants - a horrible, unjust cruelty. Yet when the moment comes, Melina embraces it with perfect composure. She's one with her chosen purpose, and she thanks us for having brought her this far. There's gentleness in the way the fire embraces her too.
@@Antifinity yeah I did that by accident by letting my curiosity get the better of me. I genuinely felt like shit for a day or so when I realised there was nothing I could do to get her back - less so when I realised I'd have lost her anyway within a few hours of gameplay
this game is evil.. i liked blaidd, had to kill him. i liked the giant blacksmith, he killed himself. i got attached to melina and here i am, sitting alone at a bonfire, thinking about was it all worth it.
She was a real homie, she sacrificed herself so we could become Lord and hopefully restore the Lands Between to their former glory. It felt very emotional watching this cutscene realising that I was losing my most precious ally in this game. Thanks for having me as your champion, Melina.
If I you want my opinion, I think she fell in love with the Tarnished. The way she reaches for you, but then stops herself before accepting her fate and purpose. I love the game's subtleness with all the characters. A lot being said in so little.
@@AlexCatableYeah, unless I’m missing something, that gesture really did look like a small display of affection. She even hesitates and stops her hand at the end. Honestly her realizing she’ll never see the tarnished again, and feeling a brief stab of emotion, only to suppress it really fits well with how she acts here.
@Eternal_Placidity A lot people mistaken her seemingly lack of emotions and matter of fact way of stating things as a lack of personality. She's the most compassionate character in the game. The way she asks you to talk to Boc because it make him so happy and she likes seeing Boc happy. How she muses about having a mother while simultaneously talking about her own mother.
@@TheRisky9 Yeah, I think her "lack" of emotions and matter-of-fact speech is just leftover from her years upon years of serving as a front line fighter and assassin when she held the Rune of Death. She's actually a good person under the surface, far more caring than the other demigods that were only obsessed with their own power and that of their siblings. There's even lore that seems to point toward Melina being the Gloam-Eyed Queen, the mentor and trainer of the Black Knife Assassins, so she knows how to encourage broken individuals and is able to genuinely care for them.
@@comictitan4509 She's also the most selfless. Throughout my first playthrough, I was waiting for her betrayal. But she never does. You can betray her though.
After that the Tarnished was not the same: Fracture/Duskborn: He started to reject all the princesses from other kingdoms. Marrying with Ranni: He decides if he has a Daughter he will named her Melina, in honour for her.
@@san-zangorn3721 if you play any of the Soul like games, that won’t matter how he will have an daughter with ranni, like we are talking about gods here that shape reality and you think about the old way of mortal sex looooll
in lord of Chaos ending, it clearly our finger maiden also one of the most strongest god. honestly it look like she can't be kill. this sacrifice is more like her role here is end. when her true form still some where each, and only come here when the chaos lord born. then she will kill that lord.
@@thetolltroll2019 I prefer the opposite, let her die then take the frenzied flame and rule uncontested. No destined death for this tarnished. She gets to achieve her life goal, I get to become an elder god and she can't attempt to kill me later, it's a win-win-win.
Just played this part. It was very sad, I wish he had the chance to talk to her more often and learn more about her, it was a very interesting character, but I felt she wasn't explored enough
Yeah, I wish we got to see her more. She is so absent that in my first playthrough I completely forgot she exists until she appeared again when I reached Altus. And sadly this scene wasn't as impactful for me, since I wasn't invested in her character at all. I wish that instead of being able to just level up yourself, you would have to summon at site of grace and level up with her and perhaps engage in a small talk of sorts. This way she would actually feel like your travel companion and made you invested in her character. Just look at Alexander, the guy is so sweet and jolly you can't help but love him. I wish Melina got the same treatment and appeared way more with actually meaningful dialogue to her character, instead of just parroting Marika's word in the churches.
After this cutscene i just sat and stared at the screen for a few minutes. I knew it was coming, i knew it would hurt, but i was not ready. Elden Ring helped me through some rough times. Melina's words were so comforting, her presence so warm--I just felt gutted after this. And the only way to save her is to betray her. And i just couldnt do that. She would rather be dead than hate the Tarnished. Whether romantically or platonically, she loves you. She probably didnt even want to. She probably wanted to keep you at arm's length because she knew how the accord would end. But she ends up loving you anyway. Anyhow, im gonna go cry now lol
“oh melina our beloved. i still long to see you to this day. and i must say…even in your last moments…you were as charming and gorgeous as the day we met you…”
Its sad to think that she used her spell to knock us out only so that the tarnished wouldn’t see her sacrifice herself so that they would become Elden Lord
Melina: "Are you ready to commit a cardinal sin?" Tarnished: "You bet. I hit up the Three Fingers so you wouldn't have to do this!" Melina: "... Get out." Tarnished: "No, it's okay! I got the needle to fix myself too!" Melina: "... okay that's fine."
Melina: Wait, what needle? Tarnished: Miquella's needle. The one I got after I killed Malenia in battle. Melina: Malenia was my sister, you asshole. Get out.
@@BazzableYes, she is, she is Marika's daughter, and Malenia, Miquella, Ranni, Rykard, Radahn, Mogh, and Morgott are her siblings. Remember that Marika and Radagon are the same person.
When I ascended to this hell pot, I knew I couldn’t do much but witness as my dearest child burned herself for me, for me to take the seat of Elden Lord. It’s such a gut wrenching moment because they decided to make her look at us, the players, right into our eyes when saying “Thank you” to us. My baby. My poor baby.
This is what Morgott meant all along, and the reason he constantly refer to whatever lead the Tarnished to become the Elden Lord as 'Flame of Ambition'. In fact, the Flame of Ambition is probably Melina herself. If that is the case, then Morgott is probably the only one besides Godfrey who knows about Marika's plan to rebel against Greater Will, but while Godfrey was in league with her, Morgott chose to stay loyal to the Golden Order.
It was so nice hearing her talk about the world and Marika from time to time. It gave the game a much needed calmness during all the crazy fights. Losing her actually did feel like a turning point. Wish they wouldn't just teleport us to a random ass island afterwards.
I mean, its theorized that Ranni and melina are one of the same so....I mean technically, we became Ranni's spouse in the age of the stars ending, so that's a win in my books
They are not. Melina is more likely to be (related) to the Gloom-eyed Queen of the Godskin. The Queen was described to have dark blue eyes, which is Melina’s left eye color and she is said to be the original wielder of Destine Death, something that Melina is hinted to be related to
@@theoldone689 Yes, melina is born from the elden beast by marika (vassle of the greater will) to be replacement. Ranni is born from the moon (vassle of the stars) with the help of radagon and rennalas egg to bring about the age of stars and darkness. Which explains why ranni is empyrean (born from one god). Radagon and Marika are the same person so yes they are technically sisters. this game is hella confusing lol.
“I knew the day that I took the fire for my own, you will despise my existence for an eternity, but a universe without you is a universe not worth living. I will not lose you, not again. I will make this right, I swear it.” - A maidenless Melina simp on NG+
i opened my game when watching this and the intro music started around 1:52 and it fits so well with the scene wtf, it made the scene extra dramatic xD
I’ve come to this video to watch this scene because I couldn’t bring myself to sacrifice Melina. Once playthrough I took the flame and quelled it, to make sure she wouldn’t sacrifice herself but she didn’t come back :(. Second one for the frenzy flame ending I was proud of her
It s funny because later you find an armor piece on a mini boss i believe where it says something like “ he was supposed to be next elden lord untill her maiden burned herself “ so letting her burn is not good .
@@givani30 Not an actual Finger Maiden, but a fine maiden nonetheless. I’d take that over simping over a possessed doll worshipping some shady moon god 😁
So taking the frenzied flame, burn the flame yourself because melina hates you for doing it (because you just literally took her all of her duty itself), then stab yourself with the miquella needle to undo the frenzied flame, and finally take the elden lord throne is the right thing to do afterall. Sadly no special ending for that
If you're talking about Vyke, that's not it at all, he burned himself with the frenzied flame so his maiden wouldn't have to sacrifice herself, but he got locked therefore couldn't burn the tree and become Elden Lord
@@personne2122 Pretty sure they're referencing Bernahl, the guy at the Warmasters Shack who then moves to Volcano Manor, his Maiden sacrificed herself and he couldn't handle it, his armor description says he was destined to become Elden Lord, until his Maiden sacrificed herself.
I heard that there's another ending called the age of the perfect order or something by completing the goldmask npc questline and using his Mending Rune Of Restoration. Can you try and do it?
I am pretty sure that there are multiple more endings besides the 3/4 ones that people have already found, I'm looking forward to seeing them on the internet
@@DannyR121 yeah in this ending. her death her is questionable. it more like her true form is some kind of god that first take the role of observer. then take the role of hunter hunt down the next lord of chaos with her true power.
@@boneknockgrit2695 The thing is, even if Melina got to kill you, the Greater Will get replaced by the God of the Frenzied flame so yeah, that wouldn't change very much about the chaos you brought with you lmao
This scene was the first time i got teary eyed in the souls series. Ive been playing all of them as they came out starting with demons souls. This scene was just... *impactful* .
honestly ive found fromsofts execution of the story very lackluster (as someone who never played a fromsoft game). I wasn't a big fan of how the story was delivered as it was all very piecemeal, there is a infinite well of worldbuilding but the actual in-game execution of the story is incredibly shallow. That being said, I couldn't help but get emotional during this scene. The only character in the game who gives the player unfiltered, pure encouragement, ultimately sacrificing themselves so they can fulfill their purpose and open the gates for our rise to lordship. I just wish she gave her input more often throughout the journey, the game could really have used more "talk to melina" scenes, and I also wish that she appeared every time we rested at a grace site instead of only doing that when we can initiate a new dialogue with her. That would have made her sacrifice even more meaningful; throughout the entire game you have a campside companion and now all of a sudden you are completely alone, but for most of the game it feels like you are alone anyway
Have you done the Sif boss fight after going through the DLC first and saving Sif when he was a puppy in Oolacile? Because you get a different cinematic at the start of the fight if you do and oh man is it tragic.
Fourth time for me: - last toast of Siegward and then ... you know what - I didn't play the game but I watched a playthrough, knew the backstop, so, the scene with Sif sniffing at the chosen undead, willing and howling had me fighting back tears - "Asen one. Hearest thou my voice still?" And now this: -"Thank you. For guiding me here".
I believe that melina was born or changed to have no emotions and seeks to be at the erdtree to find meaning, but also knows she has to power to posess the flame, and i believe that throughout our journey that she starts to have emotions for us, as when we first meet her she is lifeless and doesnt talk much, but when she burns herself she has a moment where she looks back at us, even before burning the tree, and then while burning she goes to look at us and touch us once more, but understands what she needs to do, and closes her heart out so that she can do what she must and we can become lord, at first helping us in order to get her to the erdtree, but at the end she sacrifices herself due to a unknown love and want for us to succeed
I am soo happy as a Vetran souls player that soo many people are appreciating Elden ring. Even tho we lost a Maiden and a friend today she will live in new game ++++++ xD
She basically put us to sleep so we wouldn't stop her...and when she extended her Hand to us and took it back she knew if she touched us we would burn like her. She really did care for us. We just didn't see that
Thorns block the way to the heart of the erdtree so we need the flame of the Giant's forge to burn them. No idea why we're sent to Farum Azula straight after tho.
@@D1ab0lical Our ultimate objective to become the Elden Lord involves killing Marika, since she is the one who is behind the shattering and would be opposed to us attempting to repair it. To be able to kill her, we need the Rune of Death as it is the only rune capable of allowing a mortal to kill a god.
@@rafsandomierz5313 Yeah, letting Gehrman free you is a happy ending for you, freeing Gehrman is a happy ending for him, becoming a squid is... majestic?
@@rafsandomierz5313 it won’t wake him up as he has no body he can wake up to. It will kill the last piece of consciousness that existed of him. But he obviously suffered a great deal so it basically a mercy kill.
I dont think anyone else mentioned this, but I think Melina knocked us out so that we wont disturb her sacrificing herself, maybe she saw how Vyke reacted when his maiden was gonna be sacrified or was starting to sacrifice herself, so that we wont have to go through the path of frenzied flame. Just my two cents theory 😁
It sad that she try to reach her hand out and touch us but she hesitated. somehow fromsoft show the bounds, friendship between melina and the tarnished, maybe she does wanted us to be her consort but her duty awaits to fullfil her purpose and help us reach to the end.
It was only during this cutscene I realized how incredible the voice actors in ER are. “Thank you, for guiding me here” was such an incredible delivery for a character I hardly felt anything for until now. After this I’ve made it my goal to always take the frenzied flame and finish Millicent’s quest to save Melina but burn the erdtree
I don't understand how Melina can put you to sleep by touching you. I mean the Tarnished is the strongest lord that has ever walked the lands between, strong enough to kill a God yet she puts you to sleep. Maybe you let her do it willingly or maybe maidens have some sort of control over their Tarnished. Not to mention how confident she is about killing you after the Lord of the Frenzied ending.
The entire point of Fromsofts games is that the player isnt particularly strong. Everyone else does more damage and has more health and knows more and moves faster. Even if we do look at it like a pure powerscaling contest (which is ridiculous to do with any piece of media), this isn't particularly out of place for the Tarnished.
@@tTasericthe tarnished beat the fucking Elden beast lmao, lore wise pretty much every souls MC is insane. Like take the bloodborne hunter for example, we just kill shit like the moon presence and orphan of kos like it’s nothing, decapitate legendary enemies like Ludwig, and become a great one. Realistically, the tarnished is an Elden ring top tier next to radagon (marika) and radahn (with miquella)
@@Vertix07911 Even if you're right (you're not), I think applying that silly type of powerscaling to this scene is ridiculous. In the lore, the Tarnished doesn't apply 7 buffs, summon mimic, and prepare to dodge roll Melina's hand every time they talk, dude. In this scene, Melina is not presented as a killable enemy, therefore the Tarnished wouldn't win. It's a video game. That's how video game logic works and its how Souls games always present their narratives, especially Elden Ring. For the sake of argument, lets say we did apply this ridiculous power-scaling to this interaction. Melina is the spirit of a dead Empyrean who was cursed with Destined Death. The game presents her killing the Tarnished as a serious, genuine thing that could actually happen to the strongest possible version of the Tarnished. Needless to say, I think Melina putting an unguarded friend with complete trust in her to sleep isn't exactly outlandish.
@@tTaseric in lore the tarnished could do that though, there isn't any real confirmed killing methods the tarnished uses in lore. Regardless the tarnished still beats said opponents, the tarnished in lore is capable of killing them, no questions asked. Video game logic isn't an argument, she isn't exactly prevented as 'unkillable' either. Just a cutscene where she declares her determination to kill us and then cut to black. The argument that melina isn't a boss and therefore could beat the tarnished (who's stronger than the fucking elden beast by this point) is ridiculous frankly. The lore is a stronger basis than your interpretation of the short post game cutscene of her declaring her intent to kill us. Melina (heavily implied to be the gloam eyed queen) cannot beat maliketh, the tarnished can beat not only maliketh, but radagon immediately followed by the elden beast. From a lore perspective melina stands 0 chance of beating the tarnished. Putting an unguarded friend to sleep makes sense though, i was just arguing against the idea that melina could kill the tarnished
@@Vertix07911 I'm gonna be real with you, I don't wanna disrespect your time so I'm just not gonna keep arguing about this, because I straight up have a completely different perspective of this game. The Tarnished simply doesn't exist from a "lore perspective", to me. As in, they only exist in a game medium and everything they do to and their precense in the story is dictated by the game. I think if Fromsoft wanted us to view the Tarnished as a "lore character", Elden Ring would be a novel instead. It's possible you're right from your perspective, but I simply don't hold that perspective and I have no desire to.
I refuse to let Melina go I will try to go for the LORD OF THE FRENZIED FLAME ending that way she will still live even tho she will hate me but is okay 🥲 she is more important 😆💖✨
@@TempestaDominus yep, sadly the game doesn’t acknowledge it though. She doesn’t show up again or anything, hopefully dlc will maybe add something for those of us who go that route
The piano notes in the background really made tied this sad scene together. I felt so disappointed when she sacrificed herself, like I wanted to take another path to avoid this from happening
The follow-up of finally landing on the fabled crumbling city of Farum Azula is incredible. Lots of very high-end enemies that require equally high-end hardware, stats and spells.
There is no such thing as "Destined Death". I inherit the Frenzied Flame so that i can replace Melina by sacrificing myself instead. Even though she will bid her farewell to me, hate me and threaten to kill me if i become Lord of Chaos (Bad-Ending), i still find it absolutely worth it as long as Melina can live. As for the the threat, i will kick Malenia's ass to get the Needle required to undo the Frenzied Flame, done, problem solved. Happy to me!
at some point we were but undead and ashes, hunters of beast and men now we are tarnished accompanied by a fair maiden, through our numerous failures and death she stood alongside us giving us comfort by simply knowing she is watching us and travelling alongside us, but all good things must end and end it did, sacrificing herself to burn the golden tree to clear a path towards our lordship, and finally fulfilling her duty given by her mother unknown she departs and leaves us alone, truly she is a maiden and a companion unlike any other,
When she sacrificed herself, I felt empty and maidenless.
Somewhere up there she is looking down at us
NO MAIDENS
playing in the chaos route. make her death questionable.
I’m not maidenless I got the witch ending. 😂😂😂
"Thank you. For guiding me here"
"Goodbye"
Me : YAMEROOOOOOOO!
Who need her when you can married her Witch counterpart
Melina : "i can play the role of maiden"
me: " *so that was a fuckin lie* "
It was just cosplay homie
@@reesejohnson2788 but it still hurts anyway I still got ranni
@@Andy-jt2ww funny is not it? Both Melina and Ranni wanted to free so badly and you can save both. But only Melina would hate you
@@khususgabut5727 ok but my D is for ranni since I knew she lied saying that she was going to be my maiden but I'm no longer a maidenless thx to ranni lol
Well there is the theory that Ranni is Melina and if thats true then 🤷♂️
It was depressing to see all the Roundtable NPCs either die or disappear throughout the course of the game, but once Melina sacrificed herself, it felt truly lonely.
At least hewg and roderika stay, but who knows for how long the roundtable will survive, because i at one Point in the game roderika decides to stay with hewg... And even the volcano manor at one Point will be abondened if you killed rykard.
@@B1g_B0sssss in my game she left and hewg stayed how do you have it so she stays?
@@vicioussatire482 you gotta complete her quest.
As someone who just started playing elden ring and seeing them die or left the roundtable, i can confirmed i felt the same as you.
Same
We might not have had a maiden but we sure had a waifu, and a friend
err she didn't die duhh.
no, maidenless. no
@@boneknockgrit2695 huh? She definitely did.
yes but I have ranni
@@boneknockgrit2695 she died
The amount of emotion she but into that "Thank you" is what got me. I felt super sad after that.
Ah fyelt sooper sayd afta dat. Mah wafuh sniff sniff.
That was the moment I realized what she was about to do and that there was nothing I or the Tarnished could do to stop it. 10/10 voice acting, would cry again.
I thought in the beginning that she was gonna be evil and turn on us for her own benefit. Then I saw this scene and I was brought to tears. Definitely one of the most gut-punching scenes Fromsoft has made
I mean... it was okay? The Story was not really all that deep.
Nothing one could even consider emotional at best.
@@MrHardstylefever but the bosses, they are memorable
@@juju0K_ they are, a lot of the game is.
But the story honestly is not. But that goes for most from software games for me. They are always the exact same thing.
Once good world, now ruined world, you are one of many, but you are better than the rest, now go light some fires.
That's it. Pretending that is an awesome storytelling is just fanboy talk
@@MrHardstylefever I agree
@@MrHardstylefever yeah. The story feels not that much awesome. But particular moment like these with some background music makes that moment emotional.
This and Malenia's cutscenes are beautiful. Felt like I was looking at fine art.
Because you were.
Just a warning, don't look at the R34 of this game if you don't want to be cursed!
@@blipblop1112 I second this. A lot of them aren't even good!
bro the game is fine art, no exaggeration. Videogames are art and Elden Ring is the evidence
Straight. No doubt anymore.
Gaming has found it's Tolkien(s). First time in 30 years of Gaming, that I feel proud to be a fanboy. Who would have thought...thanks for this!
That "goodbye" broke my heart. I knew I couldn't save her without destroying the world in the process, but still, when she thanked me for bringing her there, I felt a deep need to be able to move my character and do something to prevent her from sacrificing herself, find a way to save her, I even pressed some of my buttons being careful not to skip the cutscene, but I really wanted to save her. I felt that I was not only losing my maiden, I was losing a companion... A Friend. Excellent cinematic, it really made me cry. An absolutely fantastic game, the best game of the year hands down. And one of the best games I've ever played. 10/10
you know there is actually a way to save her without having the frenzy flame ending right?
@@masgondi1 but wouldn’t that make her hostile to you? Lore wise?
Maybe in the future dlc we can bring her back again like we did to Ranni after Ranni died killing the two fingers
@@raphaelcordero2900 pretty sure she said that she'd grant us destined death if we take up as the lord of frenzy flame. If we use miquella needle and choose elden lord instead, wouldn't it be different? Might be wrong tho idunno.
Too bad we can't move our characters during that cutscene. I honestly would have loved it if at least we could grab her hand as hers was approaching ours, to properly say goodbye.
I saved her by accepting the frenzied flame so I could burn the tree. Then I removed it with the needle. Yet, I never saw Melina again...
Ye missed opportunity from the devs
You get a new cutscene with her at the end of the game
@@lost4945 Only if you still go for the frenzied flame. But if you remove it with the needle you won't get it. As enemyboat spotted pointed, the devs did not care if the player chosed a path were the player sacrifice himself to burn the tree, then remove the flame, then having an other ending.
Yeah I’m sure she still hates you anyways
I assume you taking away her life's purpose got her feeling some type of way regardless of if you didn't choose the psycho flame ending.
The way she says. "Thank you, for guiding me here". Really brought me in tears.
And the way she puts her hand out almost beckoning for us to take it added a little more emotional punch to the equation
If you hunt all of VYKES item, you can tell his story is almost the same as us
He is the strongest candidate to become the Elden Lord, but when it is time to sacrifice his Maiden to the fire, he can't
To find another way to progress and to save his maiden, he got branded by the 3 fingers to save his maiden, tricked by Shabriri, but he became mad and probably killed his own maiden
Prove:
1. Vykes on the church on top of the village filled with 3 fingers madness people
2. There's a dead maiden on the church
3. Vykes can be found inside of an evergaol in the mountain
4. The Shabriri knows about sacrificing maiden to fire
5. Shabriri keeps talking how to save everyone, and how sad it is to sacrifice your own maiden (Vykes probably fell to this)
6. You can listen to what Shabriri said in the mountain area, and it sounds so similar to what Vykes probably went through
Where Vykes failed, we succeed, but at a great cost
Damn
This could also explain why Melina could always been with us but at the same time she is distant. I believe maidens used to travel alongside their tarnished but in the end developing some connection only them would understand but because of that they do try to protect their maidens but in the end ultimately fail. Melina is being distant for a reason i believe it is not a flaw of design but rather it is her character to try to be distant so that burning her wouldn't hurt so much and so that we wouldn't end up like Vyke and or Bernahl. I really wish there is another cutscene after we burnt the tree, neutralise the flame of frenzy and become the elden lord.
Well noted, Vyke was the first one to discover you have to burn your maiden. He got tricked by Shabriri who didn't care about his maiden but he wanted the 3 fingers unleashed.
And it makes total sense he did the entire road we did until fire giant, because all gods can be reborn if the rune of death isn't unleashed, which it wasn't, he never got to Maliketh. He truly is like us, and that's very cool. Although he got mad before he reached the Erdtree, we don't in the frenzied flame ending.
Vyke failed to inherit the flame because the 3 fingers touched him with his armor on
I believe, Vyke's maiden threw herself into the fire... but not to kindle it, just to kill herself. Or maybe she tried kindling but failed. It's unclear in the story.
She touches the fire and that piano plays the first and third note of Gwyn's theme.
Yep, just noticed that
Plin plon
It's also a motif used throughout the game, e.g. the main menu and final boss.
Yeah don’t think it’s an homage to that, it’s used everywhere in the game. Even the trailer.
It also sounds more like a guitar than a piano, there’s a twang to the notes
Legitimately starting tearing up when she turns and says "Thank you, for guiding me here"
Souls games made me fall in love with video games in a depressed period of my life when I really needed an escape and I was just so damn proud of Fromsoft in this moment for creating this masterpiece. Thank you Miyazaki and everyone who worked on this masterpiece.
@@VincentVanGirth bro you can't say that they were probably on antidepressants
At least it's one good stuff out of the 99999 depressing scenarios FromSoft created in Elden Ring.
@@george0287 Actually never took antidepressants. My meds were a bottle of whiskey and beer but thankfully I'm over that now haven't had a drink since 2019.
hopefully they work on their masterpiece so it's not a bugged piece of sh it
@@george0287 Even more important that they take them.
Going off of antidepressants is a special kind of hell that I wouldn't wish on anyone.
3:32 this specific scene when the music gets a tad louder as she starts talking gave me goosebumps man
she's not dead, she's just transcended into something higher
Yes, she died lol. Giving you the stinky eye too.
@@Kopie0830 physically she died, spiritually she transcended. it's a souls themed world after all
@@HazDev56 Ain't there like... afterlife themed boss?
Like Sunbro, and both the Onion Bros, she has gone to the Sun.
@@Meshifuari yes there are. but they're in some kind of spiritual realms which still can be touched like the Dream and the Nightmare in Bloodborne. for Melina she is likely transcended into something much more higher, maybe close to how the Demigods or Lords died
Her soft voice while the erdtree burns loudly is my favorite part, plus the music.... great scene
love the little detail when melina tries to reache out to you, but then lifts her hand up
This scene really hit hard. Melina was one of the Tarnished’s only friends, and we all became attached to her. I accepted her accord for the sole reason of being able to level up and to play the game normally, but she really grew on me and I began to care about her. During the fight against Morgott I made sure to summon her, and it’s my head canon that we fought side by side like the companions and friends we were. Her death still stings even after my Tarnished went with Ranni to leave the Lands Between. Melina will always be in our memories.
(if only she appeared on screen more often, like how all other maidens/firekeepers in other Souls games are always available at the Hub for the player to interact with. I never really bonded with her because there is so little interaction with her. I think she should be available to summon at any grace, repeating the last dialogue she has.)
@@artyomnikulenko7096 exactly like if she appeared when we get to the graces and talked cuz in reality I can probably count on my fingers the amount of times I saw her during my playthrough
What? I think you talk to her about 10 times on your way. Isn't it enough?
Big baby
@@artyomnikulenko7096eh I think it'd easily become too much. A lot of the games atmosphere is the feeling of just you, Torrent, and the spirit jellyfish
Tarnished: "No dont do this Melina! I love You!"
Melina: "Shut up Simp"
the realistic ending
lmao
No pride?
Tarnished: than i am doing the dung eater ending!
Melina: well.... Shit... *Burns*
😂😂😂
I can’t believe both siblings were ultimately used to burn down trees
Real
"No...no.... we were suppose to finish this together"
This scene was an emotional punch in the gut.
This game is a Masterpiece.
Yeah I felt devestated by the loss of the npc I only saw twice in the beginning of the game and who killed herself 80 hours later
@@buffoonustroglodytus4688 You can meet her several times before this moment and speak to her in a lot of sites of grace.
I do agree that she could have been more present, but she was indeed there and she had a prominent role.
@@dinorex3464 yes she has a prominent role but she’s very underdeveloped and underutilized. Like there’s a couple glimpses into her character and she talks a tiny bit about her goal but it’s very cryptic and obtuse. The rest of her dialogue is literally just exposition that has very little to do with her as a character.
I like her design and voice but there’s really nothing to her character that’ll make me emotionally invested in her. Makes this whole scene seem kind of silly.
The thing that killed me was the harp notes; Those first two are featured in Gwyn's famous "Plin-plin-plon", an emotional gutwrench they programmed into me.
It also takes this entire act to the next level; for those that are experienced with their games, and who will, on the off chance, recognize those notes, we'll be instantly transported back to DkS1 and DkS3, to the acts of Kindling the Flame and the final fights with Gwyn, who kindled the flame out of desperation with his own soul, and to the Soul of Cinder, a amalgam of all those who kindled the flame before hand, including that scared old man. This is an act we've never been on the other side of. Our characters make that decision to be martyrs, the ones that do, but its an entirely different feeling being on the opposite end of the gun.
To be the burned for, as opposed to the one who burns.
Melina effectively plays the role of our chosen undead, our ashen one, or very plainly, our hero. We will be able to do what needs to be done with her sacrifice and give the world a new chance, with a new ruler, with destined death put back into place. It was her decision to make, and we will have to live with that. It is a worthy sacrifice by itself, without this context, without dragging other games into this, for just it's own contexts, but its those two notes, those two, missable notes, that sends this over the top for me. It is a very clever way of mirroring the context for those who'd recognize it.
Bravo Vince
I love how I'm not the only one who just wants to hold Melina's hand like a weirdo even if I have 0 runes
Yes, it's normal. Humans are social creatures, and we are wired to like interaction with other humans. Even if they are characters in a game. Even if the interaction is just an animation.
Besides, Melina appears too little during the game. I wish we could summon her at every Grace.
@@artyomnikulenko7096 yeah I wish they made her appear riding with us on torrent or when exploring new stuff from time to time and say lore stuff or something like that she could've been so much better
No doubt. Only 333 runes but had to hold her hand one more time.
@@smolchungus9213 Agreed
@@Deflamed_Sphere haven't seen this scene in 2 years or so but still remember the pain of losing her. I remember looking up ways to save her and the whole 9 yards I wish she came back somehow in the DLC
I think what got me the most was when she looks at the tarnished and then raises her gaze at the player before she thanks us. It feels likes shes looking thru the screen and knows we are there and thanks us personally
We're told by Shabriri that for the Erdtree to burn, the maiden must immolate herself to kindle the flame of giants - a horrible, unjust cruelty. Yet when the moment comes, Melina embraces it with perfect composure. She's one with her chosen purpose, and she thanks us for having brought her this far. There's gentleness in the way the fire embraces her too.
Man she was the only NPC in the game I was attached to. This scene hurt just as much as Aerith’s death.
You can keep her from dying, but only by making her hate you and leave you anyway.
@@Antifinity yeah I did that by accident by letting my curiosity get the better of me. I genuinely felt like shit for a day or so when I realised there was nothing I could do to get her back - less so when I realised I'd have lost her anyway within a few hours of gameplay
this game is evil.. i liked blaidd, had to kill him. i liked the giant blacksmith, he killed himself. i got attached to melina and here i am, sitting alone at a bonfire, thinking about was it all worth it.
@@seanmacguire8148 You may wanna search for the guy who wrote this game's story that's what he likes to do.
OMG AERITH DIES?!
The harp is such a powerful instrument. Absolutely lovely music.
Whats the name?
@@goldengamerverse how do you mean?
@@WilleViberg i meant whats the name of the music
@@goldengamerverse I don't know. I've been trying to figure out but no luck so far.
@@WilleViberg someone uploaded the song "the burning of the erdtree ost"
She was a real homie, she sacrificed herself so we could become Lord and hopefully restore the Lands Between to their former glory.
It felt very emotional watching this cutscene realising that I was losing my most precious ally in this game. Thanks for having me as your champion, Melina.
If I you want my opinion, I think she fell in love with the Tarnished. The way she reaches for you, but then stops herself before accepting her fate and purpose. I love the game's subtleness with all the characters. A lot being said in so little.
That's actually very valid point. Why did she reach for Tarnished?
@@AlexCatableYeah, unless I’m missing something, that gesture really did look like a small display of affection. She even hesitates and stops her hand at the end. Honestly her realizing she’ll never see the tarnished again, and feeling a brief stab of emotion, only to suppress it really fits well with how she acts here.
@Eternal_Placidity A lot people mistaken her seemingly lack of emotions and matter of fact way of stating things as a lack of personality. She's the most compassionate character in the game.
The way she asks you to talk to Boc because it make him so happy and she likes seeing Boc happy. How she muses about having a mother while simultaneously talking about her own mother.
@@TheRisky9 Yeah, I think her "lack" of emotions and matter-of-fact speech is just leftover from her years upon years of serving as a front line fighter and assassin when she held the Rune of Death. She's actually a good person under the surface, far more caring than the other demigods that were only obsessed with their own power and that of their siblings. There's even lore that seems to point toward Melina being the Gloam-Eyed Queen, the mentor and trainer of the Black Knife Assassins, so she knows how to encourage broken individuals and is able to genuinely care for them.
@@comictitan4509 She's also the most selfless. Throughout my first playthrough, I was waiting for her betrayal. But she never does. You can betray her though.
This whole sequence is utterly *Chef's kiss* with the hints of gwyn's theme and the scenery makes it amazing
After that the Tarnished was not the same:
Fracture/Duskborn: He started to reject all the princesses from other kingdoms.
Marrying with Ranni: He decides if he has a Daughter he will named her Melina, in honour for her.
Ranni is actually a literal doll made from string...
@@san-zangorn3721 if you play any of the Soul like games, that won’t matter how he will have an daughter with ranni, like we are talking about gods here that shape reality and you think about the old way of mortal sex looooll
@@RavenL1337 well Marika pregnate herself do I don't think Tarnished and Ranni will be having sex lol
@@san-zangorn3721 she isn't.... she put her soul into a doll
in lord of Chaos ending, it clearly our finger maiden also one of the most strongest god. honestly it look like she can't be kill. this sacrifice is more like her role here is end. when her true form still some where each, and only come here when the chaos lord born. then she will kill that lord.
the fact they made it to where she was looking at YOU while saying thankyou
And with this, we are once more maidenless.
Age of stars ending!
@@hyperDarklord13 I wanted Melina not floppy hat
It's not our choice to make, no matter how many times the ruinous powers tempt you to save her. She'd rather die than see you become a chaos lord
No one is gonna mention that SHE PRAISED THE SUN ????
And thus the Age of Fire flourished once more!
Man, perfect intro for Dark Souls 4 🤣
@@evelinodavidarevalo1692 Yup lol
Once again, we are left maidenless
The only way she could survive, is for you to become her enamy and destroy everything she stood for.
From is so good with ironies and tragedies.
Technically she can survive without you betraying her, if you use the golden needle to remove the frenzied flame.
The Toll Troll But she will not show up again anyways
@@axiemeisterl6645 At least you saved her.
@@axiemeisterl6645 but she's still alive
@@thetolltroll2019 I prefer the opposite, let her die then take the frenzied flame and rule uncontested. No destined death for this tarnished. She gets to achieve her life goal, I get to become an elder god and she can't attempt to kill me later, it's a win-win-win.
Just played this part. It was very sad, I wish he had the chance to talk to her more often and learn more about her, it was a very interesting character, but I felt she wasn't explored enough
Yeah, I wish we got to see her more. She is so absent that in my first playthrough I completely forgot she exists until she appeared again when I reached Altus. And sadly this scene wasn't as impactful for me, since I wasn't invested in her character at all. I wish that instead of being able to just level up yourself, you would have to summon at site of grace and level up with her and perhaps engage in a small talk of sorts. This way she would actually feel like your travel companion and made you invested in her character. Just look at Alexander, the guy is so sweet and jolly you can't help but love him. I wish Melina got the same treatment and appeared way more with actually meaningful dialogue to her character, instead of just parroting Marika's word in the churches.
She didn’t want to hurt us by burning us, so she stopped midway…
i was about to say that bro😢
"Thank you for guiding me here". 😢
😭
After this cutscene i just sat and stared at the screen for a few minutes. I knew it was coming, i knew it would hurt, but i was not ready. Elden Ring helped me through some rough times. Melina's words were so comforting, her presence so warm--I just felt gutted after this.
And the only way to save her is to betray her. And i just couldnt do that. She would rather be dead than hate the Tarnished. Whether romantically or platonically, she loves you. She probably didnt even want to. She probably wanted to keep you at arm's length because she knew how the accord would end. But she ends up loving you anyway.
Anyhow, im gonna go cry now lol
Ugh. That's deep, bro.
“oh melina our beloved. i still long to see you to this day. and i must say…even in your last moments…you were as charming and gorgeous as the day we met you…”
I would instantly buy a dlc if they let me revive and Marry her lol
Reminds me of
Lady Aribeth de Tylmarande
from Neverwinter Nights
Down terrible
@@jayjuarez2753 just lonely man 😔
Maidenless behaviour
you marry ranni isnt that enought?^^
Its sad to think that she used her spell to knock us out only so that the tarnished wouldn’t see her sacrifice herself so that they would become Elden Lord
She was not just our maiden
She was our friend
There is a now a Melina sized hole in my heart
it was more than a friend to me
Melina: "Are you ready to commit a cardinal sin?"
Tarnished: "You bet. I hit up the Three Fingers so you wouldn't have to do this!"
Melina: "... Get out."
Tarnished: "No, it's okay! I got the needle to fix myself too!"
Melina: "... okay that's fine."
How this isn't an actual secret ending I don't know
Melina: Wait, what needle?
Tarnished: Miquella's needle. The one I got after I killed Malenia in battle.
Melina: Malenia was my sister, you asshole. Get out.
@@AndreB23 haha, but she isnt
@@BazzableYes, she is, she is Marika's daughter, and Malenia, Miquella, Ranni, Rykard, Radahn, Mogh, and Morgott are her siblings. Remember that Marika and Radagon are the same person.
@@ThePalebloodHunter melina is not related to the golden order, she is a child of the black flame
When I ascended to this hell pot, I knew I couldn’t do much but witness as my dearest child burned herself for me, for me to take the seat of Elden Lord. It’s such a gut wrenching moment because they decided to make her look at us, the players, right into our eyes when saying “Thank you” to us.
My baby. My poor baby.
@Ornithocheirus I did! And all I got was getting my body burned, my flesh now taken by Shabriri and Melina wants to kill me lol
@Ornithocheirus I did that too, in another run! Haha
That part really made me cry and it was very emotional.
Thanks for the all your support through the journey, my Maiden…
Go in peace.
Cringe
@@MarluxiaX2 That’s the intention
The soundtrack, the voice, the art, her. This game is a masterpiece.
It really is. It blows my expectations over and over as i travel through the story somehow. Idk how you can create something this good.
This is what Morgott meant all along, and the reason he constantly refer to whatever lead the Tarnished to become the Elden Lord as 'Flame of Ambition'. In fact, the Flame of Ambition is probably Melina herself. If that is the case, then Morgott is probably the only one besides Godfrey who knows about Marika's plan to rebel against Greater Will, but while Godfrey was in league with her, Morgott chose to stay loyal to the Golden Order.
It was so nice hearing her talk about the world and Marika from time to time. It gave the game a much needed calmness during all the crazy fights. Losing her actually did feel like a turning point. Wish they wouldn't just teleport us to a random ass island afterwards.
I mean, its theorized that Ranni and melina are one of the same so....I mean technically, we became Ranni's spouse in the age of the stars ending, so that's a win in my books
They are not. They're mirror images. Light and dark. the clue is in the blind eye. Melina's is on the left. Ranni's is on the right.
@@theo-jamesmoulton2000 hey that's still a win in my book, I can just imagine and pretend that ranni is Melina🙃
Three some is better than vanilla sex
They are not. Melina is more likely to be (related) to the Gloom-eyed Queen of the Godskin. The Queen was described to have dark blue eyes, which is Melina’s left eye color and she is said to be the original wielder of Destine Death, something that Melina is hinted to be related to
@@theoldone689 Yes, melina is born from the elden beast by marika (vassle of the greater will) to be replacement. Ranni is born from the moon (vassle of the stars) with the help of radagon and rennalas egg to bring about the age of stars and darkness. Which explains why ranni is empyrean (born from one god).
Radagon and Marika are the same person so yes they are technically sisters. this game is hella confusing lol.
I wore the raging wolf set during this cutscene.
Just felt perfect
“I knew the day that I took the fire for my own, you will despise my existence for an eternity, but a universe without you is a universe not worth living.
I will not lose you, not again. I will make this right, I swear it.”
- A maidenless Melina simp on NG+
i opened my game when watching this and the intro music started around 1:52 and it fits so well with the scene wtf, it made the scene extra dramatic xD
I’ve come to this video to watch this scene because I couldn’t bring myself to sacrifice Melina. Once playthrough I took the flame and quelled it, to make sure she wouldn’t sacrifice herself but she didn’t come back :(. Second one for the frenzy flame ending I was proud of her
It s funny because later you find an armor piece on a mini boss i believe where it says something like “ he was supposed to be next elden lord untill her maiden burned herself “ so letting her burn is not good .
She was not really our maiden though
@@givani30 Not an actual Finger Maiden, but a fine maiden nonetheless. I’d take that over simping over a possessed doll worshipping some shady moon god 😁
So taking the frenzied flame, burn the flame yourself because melina hates you for doing it (because you just literally took her all of her duty itself), then stab yourself with the miquella needle to undo the frenzied flame, and finally take the elden lord throne is the right thing to do afterall. Sadly no special ending for that
If you're talking about Vyke, that's not it at all, he burned himself with the frenzied flame so his maiden wouldn't have to sacrifice herself, but he got locked therefore couldn't burn the tree and become Elden Lord
@@personne2122 Pretty sure they're referencing Bernahl, the guy at the Warmasters Shack who then moves to Volcano Manor, his Maiden sacrificed herself and he couldn't handle it, his armor description says he was destined to become Elden Lord, until his Maiden sacrificed herself.
At that moment, my dear Melina became Agni
Fire punch?
I heard that there's another ending called the age of the perfect order or something by completing the goldmask npc questline and using his Mending Rune Of Restoration. Can you try and do it?
I am pretty sure that there are multiple more endings besides the 3/4 ones that people have already found, I'm looking forward to seeing them on the internet
@@TimberlyPL you can find it in this account
There are 7 known endings so far. You can also light the flame your self and cure the Flame of Frenzy using Miquella's needle.
@@DannyR121 yeah in this ending. her death her is questionable. it more like her true form is some kind of god that first take the role of observer. then take the role of hunter hunt down the next lord of chaos with her true power.
@@boneknockgrit2695 The thing is, even if Melina got to kill you, the Greater Will get replaced by the God of the Frenzied flame so yeah, that wouldn't change very much about the chaos you brought with you lmao
4:01 is that really an achievement? I won but at what cost?
This scene was the first time i got teary eyed in the souls series. Ive been playing all of them as they came out starting with demons souls. This scene was just... *impactful* .
honestly ive found fromsofts execution of the story very lackluster (as someone who never played a fromsoft game). I wasn't a big fan of how the story was delivered as it was all very piecemeal, there is a infinite well of worldbuilding but the actual in-game execution of the story is incredibly shallow. That being said, I couldn't help but get emotional during this scene. The only character in the game who gives the player unfiltered, pure encouragement, ultimately sacrificing themselves so they can fulfill their purpose and open the gates for our rise to lordship.
I just wish she gave her input more often throughout the journey, the game could really have used more "talk to melina" scenes, and I also wish that she appeared every time we rested at a grace site instead of only doing that when we can initiate a new dialogue with her. That would have made her sacrifice even more meaningful; throughout the entire game you have a campside companion and now all of a sudden you are completely alone, but for most of the game it feels like you are alone anyway
Agreed
First time a FromSoft cutscene has ever got me emotional, honestly don’t know why. This cutscene was just absolutely incredible
She burns it out of Love for Life. And because she believes in You.
Feels like the reason for me at least.
Have you done the Sif boss fight after going through the DLC first and saving Sif when he was a puppy in Oolacile? Because you get a different cinematic at the start of the fight if you do and oh man is it tragic.
Fourth time for me:
- last toast of Siegward and then ... you know what
- I didn't play the game but I watched a playthrough, knew the backstop, so, the scene with Sif sniffing at the chosen undead, willing and howling had me fighting back tears
- "Asen one. Hearest thou my voice still?"
And now this:
-"Thank you. For guiding me here".
I believe that melina was born or changed to have no emotions and seeks to be at the erdtree to find meaning, but also knows she has to power to posess the flame, and i believe that throughout our journey that she starts to have emotions for us, as when we first meet her she is lifeless and doesnt talk much, but when she burns herself she has a moment where she looks back at us, even before burning the tree, and then while burning she goes to look at us and touch us once more, but understands what she needs to do, and closes her heart out so that she can do what she must and we can become lord, at first helping us in order to get her to the erdtree, but at the end she sacrifices herself due to a unknown love and want for us to succeed
No maiden fr this time 😭
Best"thank you" I could ever get
Nothing in gaming will come close to this in our generation a complete masterpiece
I am soo happy as a Vetran souls player that soo many people are appreciating Elden ring. Even tho we lost a Maiden and a friend today she will live in new game ++++++ xD
"Thank you for guidng me here"
Thank you for being a friend
She basically put us to sleep so we wouldn't stop her...and when she extended her Hand to us and took it back she knew if she touched us we would burn like her. She really did care for us. We just didn't see that
this cutscene never fails to break my heart. i get goosebumps every time
So, the cardinal sin is burning the Erdtree? Why must it burn for our sake? I’m so confused. VAATI.
Thorns block the way to the heart of the erdtree so we need the flame of the Giant's forge to burn them. No idea why we're sent to Farum Azula straight after tho.
@@D1ab0lical Interesting
@@D1ab0lical to get the tune of death to slay a god, because your objective is to kill marika from what I gather
@@D1ab0lical Our ultimate objective to become the Elden Lord involves killing Marika, since she is the one who is behind the shattering and would be opposed to us attempting to repair it. To be able to kill her, we need the Rune of Death as it is the only rune capable of allowing a mortal to kill a god.
@@MrZalgo-ml2iw So if we perchance get through the thorns we could achieve the end without her sacrifice
It's so sad and scary at the same time, it's like we're reigniting the Age of Fire.
Because in many theories out there, we fcking are. The world at the end? See the familiarity?
Literally every souls game has the same plot at the end of the day.
Continue the cycle
i dont let her die, i quit the game after the tree guardian
I found out, i can find frenzied flame to burn the golden tree, melina will hate me, but she dont need to die
shit, i quit bloodborne and let german cut off my head. i dont want to be a slug monster god in a nightmare.
@@TheRogueEmpire Well if you kill gehrman in BB he will wake up from the dream bruh.
@@rafsandomierz5313 Yeah, letting Gehrman free you is a happy ending for you, freeing Gehrman is a happy ending for him, becoming a squid is... majestic?
@@rafsandomierz5313 it won’t wake him up as he has no body he can wake up to. It will kill the last piece of consciousness that existed of him. But he obviously suffered a great deal so it basically a mercy kill.
The thank you for guiding me here and looking directly at us, my God this is art
When the piano bit started playing, did anybody else thought that it's going to be somewhat similar to Gwyn's theme?
prob one of my favorite cutscenes oat. the music and game design r insane.
I dont think anyone else mentioned this, but I think Melina knocked us out so that we wont disturb her sacrificing herself, maybe she saw how Vyke reacted when his maiden was gonna be sacrified or was starting to sacrifice herself, so that we wont have to go through the path of frenzied flame. Just my two cents theory 😁
It sad that she try to reach her hand out and touch us but she hesitated. somehow fromsoft show the bounds, friendship between melina and the tarnished, maybe she does wanted us to be her consort but her duty awaits to fullfil her purpose and help us reach to the end.
if you think about it
she is making sure that we are truly maidenless(except the marrying Ranni ending)
Plin Plon. Such a beautiful little reference right there when she starts to burn.
Sure I can get any waifu I like including the top tier Tsundere Ranni but Melina was the one who got away and broke the Tarnished's heart.
It was only during this cutscene I realized how incredible the voice actors in ER are.
“Thank you, for guiding me here” was such an incredible delivery for a character I hardly felt anything for until now.
After this I’ve made it my goal to always take the frenzied flame and finish Millicent’s quest to save Melina but burn the erdtree
I don't understand how Melina can put you to sleep by touching you. I mean the Tarnished is the strongest lord that has ever walked the lands between, strong enough to kill a God yet she puts you to sleep. Maybe you let her do it willingly or maybe maidens have some sort of control over their Tarnished. Not to mention how confident she is about killing you after the Lord of the Frenzied ending.
The entire point of Fromsofts games is that the player isnt particularly strong. Everyone else does more damage and has more health and knows more and moves faster. Even if we do look at it like a pure powerscaling contest (which is ridiculous to do with any piece of media), this isn't particularly out of place for the Tarnished.
@@tTasericthe tarnished beat the fucking Elden beast lmao, lore wise pretty much every souls MC is insane. Like take the bloodborne hunter for example, we just kill shit like the moon presence and orphan of kos like it’s nothing, decapitate legendary enemies like Ludwig, and become a great one.
Realistically, the tarnished is an Elden ring top tier next to radagon (marika) and radahn (with miquella)
@@Vertix07911 Even if you're right (you're not), I think applying that silly type of powerscaling to this scene is ridiculous.
In the lore, the Tarnished doesn't apply 7 buffs, summon mimic, and prepare to dodge roll Melina's hand every time they talk, dude. In this scene, Melina is not presented as a killable enemy, therefore the Tarnished wouldn't win. It's a video game. That's how video game logic works and its how Souls games always present their narratives, especially Elden Ring.
For the sake of argument, lets say we did apply this ridiculous power-scaling to this interaction. Melina is the spirit of a dead Empyrean who was cursed with Destined Death. The game presents her killing the Tarnished as a serious, genuine thing that could actually happen to the strongest possible version of the Tarnished.
Needless to say, I think Melina putting an unguarded friend with complete trust in her to sleep isn't exactly outlandish.
@@tTaseric in lore the tarnished could do that though, there isn't any real confirmed killing methods the tarnished uses in lore. Regardless the tarnished still beats said opponents, the tarnished in lore is capable of killing them, no questions asked.
Video game logic isn't an argument, she isn't exactly prevented as 'unkillable' either. Just a cutscene where she declares her determination to kill us and then cut to black. The argument that melina isn't a boss and therefore could beat the tarnished (who's stronger than the fucking elden beast by this point) is ridiculous frankly.
The lore is a stronger basis than your interpretation of the short post game cutscene of her declaring her intent to kill us. Melina (heavily implied to be the gloam eyed queen) cannot beat maliketh, the tarnished can beat not only maliketh, but radagon immediately followed by the elden beast. From a lore perspective melina stands 0 chance of beating the tarnished.
Putting an unguarded friend to sleep makes sense though, i was just arguing against the idea that melina could kill the tarnished
@@Vertix07911 I'm gonna be real with you, I don't wanna disrespect your time so I'm just not gonna keep arguing about this, because I straight up have a completely different perspective of this game. The Tarnished simply doesn't exist from a "lore perspective", to me. As in, they only exist in a game medium and everything they do to and their precense in the story is dictated by the game. I think if Fromsoft wanted us to view the Tarnished as a "lore character", Elden Ring would be a novel instead.
It's possible you're right from your perspective, but I simply don't hold that perspective and I have no desire to.
They can never make me hate you Melina
Nice gameplay mate! 🤜🤛👍👍👍
When she said cardinal sin... Thought it was something else
I refuse to let Melina go I will try to go for the LORD OF THE FRENZIED FLAME ending that way she will still live even tho she will hate me but is okay 🥲 she is more important 😆💖✨
And this is how every morally gray antagonist in anime and jrpg is born, becoming the devil because of a loved one.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
Pretty sure you can save her by doing Milicent quest? Don't quote me on tat though
And now she will find the way to kill you
@@TempestaDominus yep, sadly the game doesn’t acknowledge it though. She doesn’t show up again or anything, hopefully dlc will maybe add something for those of us who go that route
The piano notes in the background really made tied this sad scene together. I felt so disappointed when she sacrificed herself, like I wanted to take another path to avoid this from happening
that was so sad in my gameplay, i love melina, she's sacrifice was so sad and i dont know at the first part of Elden Ring that this will happen
The follow-up of finally landing on the fabled crumbling city of Farum Azula is incredible. Lots of very high-end enemies that require equally high-end hardware, stats and spells.
There is no such thing as "Destined Death". I inherit the Frenzied Flame so that i can replace Melina by sacrificing myself instead. Even though she will bid her farewell to me, hate me and threaten to kill me if i become Lord of Chaos (Bad-Ending), i still find it absolutely worth it as long as Melina can live. As for the the threat, i will kick Malenia's ass to get the Needle required to undo the Frenzied Flame, done, problem solved. Happy to me!
gigachad ending
Hoes mad
... the trick is to get it on the first try. Without guides.
3:18 when she forwards her hand... It made me sad.
When she died I straight up started crying cause of how interesting and eye-catching the story is.
This unexpectedly hurt me more than any boss in the game :
at some point we were but undead and ashes, hunters of beast and men now we are tarnished accompanied by a fair maiden, through our numerous failures and death she stood alongside us giving us comfort by simply knowing she is watching us and travelling alongside us, but all good things must end and end it did, sacrificing herself to burn the golden tree to clear a path towards our lordship, and finally fulfilling her duty given by her mother unknown she departs and leaves us alone, truly she is a maiden and a companion unlike any other,
Unpopular opinion: Melina > Ranni
Man I'm just in love with her deep and sad eye
I knew it was coming but I couldn’t help but feel so lonely once she was gone.