it's amazing how incomprehensible the intro is as soon as you open the game but once finished you understand that it has told you all the lore in a few images
@@griffithdidnothingwrong7117 there is enough lore ingame to figure that out, especially Goldmask's questline Or if you want to know: (spoiler warning) Radagon is the male half of Marika
@@khangle6872 that doesn't really answer anything homie I already know they're using the same body in a sense I was meaning how did they get like that and also just watched the endings and why the hell are 3 of the endings the same that's fucked lmao
@@botarc he just just said "a" from the "arise" word a bit longer it sounded like "ahhh" but u can hear him say "rise" after it making a full word "arise" Its to add more emotion and impact to the calling of "ye tarnished" to save the fractured world and become Elden lord
At the start of the first playthrough, this intro looks like the ramblings of a madman. But after playing half the game, it all makes sense. May the wisdom of the ever-brilliant Goldmask enlight us all.
This is easily my favorite intro cutscene from fromsoftware holy shit the chills when the music kicks in when he starts announcing the tarnished, the beautiful artwork, the god tier voice acting its all just so perfect
I wondered when I might find a first glimpse at R. R. Martin's writing, and when I read "Night of the Black Knives", I chuckled, understanding that he wrote the narrative frame and the world before it all went to hell. That's when FromSoft took over. What a magnificent crossover.
I have the impression that these images of the heroes depict the exact moment they awake. At least in the Goldmask and Fia ones, they seem surprised. And in the Dung Eater one, the people seem surprised that such a reviled being was called by grace.
Yes I love this detail. They’re also coming back to life at that moment, maybe that’s why we find dung eater locked inside a cell, because he kept coming back the survivors of the siege of leyndell locked him down there with the omen. He could have been bashing himself to death and reviving for ages by the start of the game. Horah Loux died in battle and in exile with his fellow tarnished warriors. Gold mask seems to have died in decrepitude while studying the golden order. Gideon seems to have received a proper burial after an unknown death (those statues look like the stone imps found in erdtree catacombs). Fia is a bit of a mystery but maybe that’s because I haven’t completed her quest line yet.
@@___.51 I hope you completed Fia’s quest since you commented, but it’s because she is a death bed companion. Her purpose is to be buried with lords in death which is where she is when she is revived. Her quest involves you helping her to complete this ritual with the monstrous corpse of Godwyn the Golden, creating the mending rune of death. Using this rune to repair the Elden Ring writes undeath into the natural order, allowing her to live in death with Godwyn.
I love how we get an epic intro to the tarnished, unlike ds 1 or 3 where the Gods and lords of cinders get their glory. Here mankind is the main character and it’s ever writhing ambitions. I haven’t passed stormveil yet so I still don’t know if my interpretation of the story is right
U r exiled not by the greater will but marika herself ages ago as she exiled godfrey the first elden lord along with his warriors from the lands between then after he marched out of the lands between along with his warriors Which is known to be the "great march" if i remember right Tarnished meaning ur status was torn apart or u r being disrespected of ur true self Aka Tarnished of all ur values (meaning stripped off ur titles and glory by marika) Since we r the descendants of godfrey it makes sense why the curse of marika still applied to us But when marika herself was imprisoned by greater will and now it takes full control over the situation It overrides her rules and gives us tarnished the grace we lost once again to rise as the elden lord Bcoz we r basically first candidates to do so since we r descendants of godfrey who used to be the elden lord Also the reason why we find him in the game return back to life to fill the seat
That voice actor is a god among men, a king of all high merely gracing us with his ethereal presence, I’ve seen this like 20 times in different places not once have I skipped it
Feel like you only truly appreciate this in journey 2 after beating all bosses and NPC quests!. . . Do all the quests and then rewatch this. . . Chills!!! Every.single.time!.
I know it’s already been said, but the voice actor NAILS this scene. This opening script, on paper, could and should make anyone cringe. It sounds like absolute fantasy nonsense. But the VA speaks with such passion, awe, and reverence you can’t help but believe the significance of what he is telling you. And just how great this world is and the stories it has to tell are
it's honestly incredible lmao. it's literally just incomprehensible nonsense when you're first playing but it's still so amazing since the dude is just going IN on it
Just now noticed that all the tarnished received a golden sprite in their paintings. I wonder if Gideon and Hoarah Loux have their own mending runes as well. I wonder if the player character can create a unique mending rune by combining all the mending runes (maybe by fusing them by inheriting the flame of frenzy?) This could make the flame of frenzy, like the moon presence. Like how you needed to consume 3 of the 1/3 umbilical cords to overcome it.
There’s still one ending in the game that hasn’t been figured out yet so either Gideon or Hoarah should be that. Most think it has to do with Nepheli’s questline since she’s Gideon’s kid and no one’s been able to finish it yet. I hope the other one gets an ending in dlc, maybe one that works off using the flame of frenzy + the needle from Millicent’s questline to save Melina without being forced into that ending, since it’s weird that the game lets you do that but doesn’t acknowledge it at all
@@voidwaiker5497 Correction, actually: Nepheli Loux is Gideon's _adopted_ kid, and Hoarah Loux's biological child. Well, assuming last names hold true, anyhow. It would also explain why she has a connection to Stormveil, why she was fit to rule Limgrave, and overall draw a parallel between her being a badlands warrior-hero and Godfrey originally being the chieftain warrior Hoarah Loux.
@@khajiitimanus7432 I mean she's certainly a desendant of Hoarhah Loux. All of Tarnished are to some degree related to Horah Loux or descended from his tribe at least.
I'm late to the party, but I'm pretty sure they don't have mending runes since they weren't part of the golden order neither took part in the shattering war
I have played and watched many games. This game, is the best game ever made, maybe not the most impactful or revolutionary. But every aspect perfected, an art form in every way. Story, voice acting, sound design, world, controls, weapons and scaling, bosses, music. It’s beautiful, I can’t imagine a more monstrous game. I’ll never forget this opening. It’s everything a game should aspire to be. For now and forever.
I find it very interesting how the only demigod not to appear in the intro is Godrick, you'd expect him to show up given how prevalent he was in marketing. (Unless he is the pale, hunched over figure at 1:45 near the center right, but it doesn't look like it) (Also we don't talk about Godefroy in this house)
I like to think the Narrator Voice Actor is the Voice of Radagon of the Golden Order. I'm still bummed we didn't get to fight and HEAR Queen Marika in her Female Marika Queen. Also would love to have some Godlike lines delivered by Radagon in the Ending. Hopefully we get some DLC with Radagon and Queen Marika in their Full Glory!
Shoot the amount of lore hinted at in just this opening is astounding, you can see so much. SPOILERS AHEAD Okay, the first two shots showing the forging or breaking of the Elden Ring shows something the game alludes to throughout. You see a female figure as smith, then a male figure. This is Marika, but it is also Radagon, both different halves of the same person, who contains the Elden Ring and serves as the penultimate boss. The scene showing Godwyn the Golden's death may just show his body being killed, as his back already has the Cursemark of Death on it. The black knives are made in that image, but don't actually carry the full power of the Cursemark. We learn later that Ranni the Witch was the true killer of Godwyn, as she stole the Cursemark of Death and used it to destroy her body (the cursemark item describes her body as discarded flesh), but it normally destroys your body and soul, so she broke it. When her body died, the other half of the cursemark appears on Godwyn, destroying his soul. It was likely that after this the Black Knives killed his body to cover up this crime on Ranni's orders (though that's just my theory, Ranni seems like she's trying to act in secret and would do her best to cover up her crime). I mean hell, his body is limp in the hands of his assassins, and he's a demigod of great power, my guess is the Black Knives just finished the job Ranni started. Showing Ranni right after Godwyn's death slide cements it to me, it also serves as a hint that Ranni (Renna when we meet her) is also a demigod. Next slide shows Margit, later revealed to be Morgott the Grace Given, fighting what looks to be a soldier of Radahn, or maybe Radahn himself after his defeat at the hands of Malenia. This slide meshes well with his role as protector and Lord of Lyndell, but also shows how Lyndell was likely besieged by demigods during the Shattering. The next still shows the optional boss, Mohg, Lord of Blood carrying the body of Miquella off to Mohgwyn palace in the Siofra river. We later see Miquella's body in a sort of chrysalis, much larger than it is here. It's likely that Mohg was using blood magic of some form to grow Miquella out of their state of eternal childhood into a grown Empyrean. The next slide shows Praetor Rykard being devoured by the snake he would later inhabit beneath Volcano Manor, an act of blasphemy and a vie for true immortality, as its said even after you defeat him that he isn't truly gone. Hell, he keeps talking for a while, there may be truth to that. The next slide just depicts a cleanrot knight, one of Malenia's dead on a battlefield, likely in her battle with Radahn. And it leads into the well shown still of Malenia and Radahn's faceoff which ended in Malenia's victory, and Radahn's corruption by her Scarlet Rot. Malenia didn't kill Radahn, but she certainly lives up to her statement of having "never known defeat." According to item descriptions, she returned to the Haligtree out of devotion to her brother Miquella, believing one day he would return as the strongest Empyrean (the children of Radagan and Marika, who are technically a single being). Of course we then see the Tarnished coming back from the dead and see the major Tarnished NPC's, many of whom will find their own way of mending the Elden Ring, for good or ill, or become bosses. Hoarah Loux is revealed to be the true name of Godfrey, the First Elden Lord. It's said Godfrey left Lyndell after becoming Tarnished. It's likely he took a new name after this to make a clean break from his time as Elden Lord. Those who remember this opening will know upon meeting Godfrey that he and Hoarah are the same person since Godfrey has the massive lion spirit with him that Hoarah has in this slide. Next is Goldmask, who never once speaks, but wishes to discover the truths of the Golden Order. His questline leads to the Age of Order after his discovery of the Mending Rune of Perfect Order. Then is Fia, who actually has a very well made questline where she uses her power as a Deathbed companion to recreate the Rune of Death which was lost when Ranni broke it to kill her flesh and Godwyn's soul. She does this by laying with the massive, bloated corpse of Godwyn in the roots beneath the Erdtree, and by you slaying a lichdragon in her dreams. This leads to the Age of the Duskborn ending when death is brought back into the world when the Elden Ring is mended. Then is the Dung Eater, probably one of the more overtly villainous characters in this game. His questline has you feed festering beds of his disease to his true body beneath Lyndell, which allows him to create the Mending Rune of the Plague. This makes it to where when the Elden Ring is restored, all of the lands between are put under a vile curse. And then last is Gideon Ofnir, leader of the Roundtable hold. He lives up to his title as All-Knowing, as he both gathers as much information as possible in regards to the rune bearing demigods and is a master of pretty much every kind of magic in the game. He later becomes a contender with you for the title of Elden Lord, but by that point, you're the one who has slain demigods, not him. And then there is you, and the story begins. I just love how much is shown in these slides (even if I wish there had been a series of cutscenes)
I agree with a lot with what you said, but I think Morgott was fighting Radahn, wasnt he? He wears the exact same Armor. I think Morgott was defending the Elden Throne and with that, pieces of the shattered Elden Ring, but ultimately failed. Which is also why he is so angry when you approach him in Leyndell, calling them traitors. I wonder why Morgott didnt give us his full power as an Omen in our first battle, if he didnt want us to become Elden Lord. Unless they want us to, but just like Godfrey, want to see if we are strong enough for that galactical task. Really cool lore and Game, I am sad that I finished it already in 80 hours, but I was surprised how the Story is Dark Souls but in another Name. Find and slay Big Souls/Demigods, bring it to Lordvessel/Ring, final boss.
@@buliwyfZrage Yeah, finishing stuff out it seems like my two biggest corrections would be that, and Malenia returned to the Haligtree out of devotion to her brother, thinking he'd return one day as the strongest Empyrean. But it tracks that Radahn would invade Lyndell. Not sure if I believe Morgott could beat him though? Radahn was easily a much harder and more powerful boss than Morgott. Maybe it happened after his fight with Malenia but before he succumbed to madness from the Scarlet Rot? And that would probably have weakened him enough for Morgott to drive him back.
I think it’s cool how before you play you don’t understand why he lists those names or what the pictures mean, but they are all the other main Tarnished you meet during the game, getting summoned back to the Lands Between. It’s something I missed, I didn’t even notice the Grace in all the pictures of each of them the first time.
I feel like this a reference to lord of the rings. In elden ring, the ring is destroyed with a hammer, in Lord of the Rings, a hammer is used to show how indestructible the ring is by the ring not being broken by it. Nice inversion.
It looks like there was a big "empty the graves and let the tarnished out" party. Though being dead doesn't seem to be a prerequisite for being tarnished. There's images of the tarnished firsts encounters with grace, some are alive, some are dead or dying.
The ever BRILLIANT gold mask! 🌝🌞🌻 I was expecting something crazy, needless to say I was surprised to see it was just a homeless dude,d!ck hanging out,high af, living on bridges. I havent finished the game though 🤔
1:19 Even though that Radahn is still superior in size to Morgott (and brute strength, I imagine) he still got him against the sword and the wall. Makes me wonder if it is because Morgott was years younger before we face him or the inexperience of Radahn in an all scale war, since the shattering was his big first war as General
@@spookytown7963 Nah, that's Radahn alright. You can tell by both the hair and the bracers on his arms. Morgott was just a unit. Radahn was considered the strongest, but perhaps this was before Radahn was the strongest. It also explains why Radahn was considered a traitor to Leyndell - he, too, attempted to siege the city. Still, I've been wondering about Radahn's motives for participating in the Shattering for 2 weeks straight, now. We know he is overall a person of good character - but we don't know why he participated in the war. Foolhardy childish dream to be like his father, Radagon, and wage war? Manipulation from another party? Or reactionary defense from another faction of the Shattering?
I still like the image of Morgott defeating a weirdly not giant sized Radagon. He’s still big because he looks to be the same size as Morgott but he’s not as big as he is in game
3:16 This sounds like we are in the big turtles no? The big stomps. The bell, the sound of it. The dead graves inside those are the unwanted childs of marika. Which makes them demigod, which makes us, demigod.
With the exception of Gideon and Hourah loux; all the other mentioned characters at that part each has an ending dedicated to them. I’d bet Hourah Loux represents the default ending, but what does Gideon represent?
Super late comment but with the game out and 100%ing I think there’s a reason that the last 2 bosses before entering the Erdtree are Tarnished, specifically the two in the intro that don’t have an ending. The greater will turned Godfrey into a tarnished and Marika banned all tarnished so they could form an army and return stronger to challenge the outer gods for the throne. It’s no secret now that she doesn’t trust the Greater Will and she wanted a tarnished to challenge for the throne. That’s why the “Final 3” are tarnished. Marika set it up so no matter who come up victorious she would get what she wanted anyways. The whole game Gideon tells us that he wanted to be Elden Lord, lying and deceiving us and even put a hit on us to get a piece of the Haligtree Medallion, but at the end of the game pulls a 180 and tells us no tarnished can become Elden Lord. Himself included and that Queen Marika must stay in charge. I think Marika manipulated all the tarnished she deemed worthy to all fight for the throne (I think Melina is a doll possessed by Marika, hence why her and Ranni’s body have similar eye markings) and I think she tried to manipulate Gideon but Gideon only played along because he knew the Erdtree would try to fight back and release Radagon and an actual god if it had too. Gideon doesn’t like doing any of the hard work that’s why he waited for you to collect all the Great Runes and he was gonna try to take them from you and become Marika’s “consort” but in reality repair the shattered ring and keep her imprisoned.
Each Endiong repressents one of the Tarnished The standard is Houarah Loux the rest are link through their runes, madness is Giddeon's since he himself has been driven mad from gazing upon marika's visage and the Age of Stars (the best ending) is where you and your waifu save the world
Ohh damn i finally realise, the intro saying marika's offspring while showing Ranni. Giving us yet another hint even before we ever seen the plot about the true identity of marika.
This is a story about how the Golden Order is leaving it up to us to choose the fate/punishment of the lands between for simply evolving in a way that meant that the god that created existence life also fractures births death etc. will eventually pass down its power to its off spring “the other outer gods.
I love the idea that given the build of the tarnished in the opening, that this would be technically in Let Me Solo Her’s world. That would be funny as he would be the top cheese at the time.
it's amazing how incomprehensible the intro is as soon as you open the game but once finished you understand that it has told you all the lore in a few images
yeah i beat the game and thought i'd watch the intro again, there's so many little details i can recognize now its insane.
I just best the game last night and I still don't quite know what's happening or why radagon and Marika are melded together
I beat the game and I still have absolutely zero fucking idea what’s going on lmao
@@griffithdidnothingwrong7117 there is enough lore ingame to figure that out, especially Goldmask's questline
Or if you want to know: (spoiler warning)
Radagon is the male half of Marika
@@khangle6872 that doesn't really answer anything homie I already know they're using the same body in a sense I was meaning how did they get like that and also just watched the endings and why the hell are 3 of the endings the same that's fucked lmao
"BEHOLD ALL THESE GREAT HEROES!!!"
"Oh and there's also that guy over there....."
*cut to akward silence*
😂lol
THE LOATHSOME DUNG EATER!!
Tarnished: I was just working at Starbucks until now. 8I
dung eater the hero
Sigma rule no#0 : Always start from nothing to become something.
"Arise now, ye Tarnished.
Ye dead, who yet live."
chills...
You forgot the "Ahhh.."
@@botarc he just just said "a" from the "arise" word a bit longer it sounded like "ahhh" but u can hear him say "rise" after it making a full word "arise"
Its to add more emotion and impact to the calling of "ye tarnished" to save the fractured world and become Elden lord
@@Kishisuke yeah but the "Ahh" is so prominent and dramatic that I thought it was another word initially. Fav part of the intro..
F***ing fax Bro! I thought I was the only one who was astonished by that passion in the voice acting in that scene.
@@botarc Can’t forget about the “Ahh 😩”
Love how the Dung Eater is held in higher regard than we are at the beginning.
if you know, the mofo is fucking scary
Oh he’s being held higher all right
i mean it makes sense even the dead are scared of him
It's because these were all Tarnished who already had titles and saw Grace. Notice how they all have the Grace Point in their images.
He's infamous. Everyone has some sort of reputation in the world while we are the obscure one.
This voice actor completely slays it
"ARISE NOW, YE TARNISHED"
Gives me chills every time
@Lу$ёя6!c if he would've held back it wouldn't have the same effect. He is trying to tell an Epic story
@@sulianperinet2947 A....Rise.... 😌
It felt overdone, borderline cringe
@@genzo_-sensei5719 And sir Gideon Ofnir...
The ALLLLL KNOOOWING !
“The fallen leaves tell a story”
*shows blonde Marika and then changes to red haired Radagon”
Like the way leaves change color
Oh shit, that actually makes sense
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRREEE
Omg didnt noticed, they basically spoil the Marika/Radagon thing at the beginning of the game!!
@@marvincr5258 Hell, they spoiled it SINCE THE FIRST TRAILER lmao
@@matheuscruz8574 I know!!! I'm fckn blind 😂😂😂
At the start of the first playthrough, this intro looks like the ramblings of a madman. But after playing half the game, it all makes sense.
May the wisdom of the ever-brilliant Goldmask enlight us all.
It was so simple
All the Elden Ring needed was a good T-pose
@@davidhong1934 it does have a T-pose tho
"Oh cool these guys must be the bosses."
2/5 ain't bad right?
@@ZiggyMandarrFor now. All hail the great DlC.
It blew my mind looking between a statue of Marika and the cover art, then realizing Marika *_was_* the Elden Ring.
I love the fervor in which he says "The loathsome Dung Eater".
faqucking dung eater
se this, i had to make a new word to describe how much i loath him...
🤣🤣🤣
the "Sir gideon ofnir the aaaaalllll knowingggg" is the best part for me.
There's so much foreshadowing you don't even realize until you finish the game in this intro cinematic its freaking beautiful!
yup
It gives me chill every time
The narrator earned his paycheck and then some. Damn.
THE LOATHSOME DUNG EATER
@@ncrranger6327 loool that made me chuckle
AND SIR GIDEON OFNIR, THE ALLLLLLL KNOWING.
This is easily my favorite intro cutscene from fromsoftware holy shit the chills when the music kicks in when he starts announcing the tarnished, the beautiful artwork, the god tier voice acting its all just so perfect
THE LOATHSOME DUNG EATER! has been stuck in my head for a solid week now
@@orochi235 me too 🤣
it sucks bro, wtf are those images
@Dulanja Dayapriya I mean the art is nice but an actual cinematic would've been cooler
Spoilers
Also the foreshadowing with marika being radagon
2:47 gave me chills
2:03 Ooooohhhh
Ahh yes, the loathsome dung eater also gave me chills.
*cums* RISE NOW
Bro the whole fuckin trailer gave me constant chills lol
The Hated Feces Ingester
2:04: "OOOOOHHHHH"
He did the thing.
He actually says "arise" in this "aaaaaa...rise" to add more emotion and impact
@@Kishisuke Thanks, I am perfectly able to read the subtitles :)
It sounded similar to the "OOOOHHHH Elden Ring" of the first trailer of the game.
"He did the thing!"
@@eliasbonafe9236 Of course he did. It wouldn't be Elden Ring if he didn't.
I wondered when I might find a first glimpse at R. R. Martin's writing, and when I read "Night of the Black Knives", I chuckled, understanding that he wrote the narrative frame and the world before it all went to hell. That's when FromSoft took over. What a magnificent crossover.
Theres also an event called "The Long March," Which is very GRRM
Exactly.
Martin made a world.
Miyazaki crushed it with a big ass hammer and made the game out of what survived.
@@axios4702 the world before the shattering is very very GRRM esque. The characters as well.
I just hope they can inspire GRRM to help finish writing the BERSERK manga...
@@Cugastratos you just had to tear this wound back open? ;'(
I have the impression that these images of the heroes depict the exact moment they awake. At least in the Goldmask and Fia ones, they seem surprised. And in the Dung Eater one, the people seem surprised that such a reviled being was called by grace.
Yes I love this detail. They’re also coming back to life at that moment, maybe that’s why we find dung eater locked inside a cell, because he kept coming back the survivors of the siege of leyndell locked him down there with the omen. He could have been bashing himself to death and reviving for ages by the start of the game.
Horah Loux died in battle and in exile with his fellow tarnished warriors.
Gold mask seems to have died in decrepitude while studying the golden order.
Gideon seems to have received a proper burial after an unknown death (those statues look like the stone imps found in erdtree catacombs).
Fia is a bit of a mystery but maybe that’s because I haven’t completed her quest line yet.
you can see grace in the artwork of Hoarah Loux, which is probably also "calling" to him
@@amwazdraws6890 so the only reason he shows up so late is because he was getting out of the tree branches
@@willtack9441 No... he wasn't even in the Land betweens, but far far away in the lands know as "The badlands".
@@___.51 I hope you completed Fia’s quest since you commented, but it’s because she is a death bed companion. Her purpose is to be buried with lords in death which is where she is when she is revived. Her quest involves you helping her to complete this ritual with the monstrous corpse of Godwyn the Golden, creating the mending rune of death. Using this rune to repair the Elden Ring writes undeath into the natural order, allowing her to live in death with Godwyn.
I like how the intro gives hints to every ending
It's amazing, beat the game and watch it again and it all comes together
Except the Frenzied flame I think
every ending? I am 40 Hours in and you are telling me there are multiple endings to the game?
@@AdrianBeuses its okay mate, i finished my 1st run in about 130 hours
@@儚いキリン150 here
I can't decide which one is my favourite: Fia the necrophiliac or the glorious Dung Eater.
“Fia, the deathbed companion”
My selective hearing: Fia, bed companion.
The disturbing and crass touch of J R R Martin is at work here.
@@SIGNOR-G G R R ... J R R is Tolkien
@@diegoolivaresgonzalez42 ITS TOLKIEN EVIL TWIN!
@@SIGNOR-G Now now, let he who has never used the doll cast the first dung pie.
the most dramatic powerpoint presentation
still one of the best intros for a game in all time
Excellent use of the dissolve left to right on slide 13.
Is it just me or does the narrator sound like he’s on the verge of tears throughout this whole thing? It’s so fucking good
he certainly sounds like he's on the verge of something at 2:04
Started to play this a few hours ago. So far I’m hooked. Limgrave is so gorgeous
It gets better later on!
My game stutters like crazy :(
I was looking forward to my weekend T.T
@@kevinmars3984 Is this on PC? People who got it on PC are having similar issues. Hopefully they get ironed out soon.
@@NervousNoodles Yes PC. I have a good gaming PC so, here's hoping they update Saturday.
It's still brings out the rage when I lose my runes
I love how we get an epic intro to the tarnished, unlike ds 1 or 3 where the Gods and lords of cinders get their glory. Here mankind is the main character and it’s ever writhing ambitions. I haven’t passed stormveil yet so I still don’t know if my interpretation of the story is right
ehhhhhhhhh kinda
You aren't a main character at all, everyone lookds down on you, because you are tarnished. You were banished by the grace previously.
U r exiled not by the greater will but marika herself ages ago as she exiled godfrey the first elden lord along with his warriors from the lands between then after he marched out of the lands between along with his warriors
Which is known to be the "great march" if i remember right
Tarnished meaning ur status was torn apart or u r being disrespected of ur true self
Aka Tarnished of all ur values (meaning stripped off ur titles and glory by marika)
Since we r the descendants of godfrey it makes sense why the curse of marika still applied to us
But when marika herself was imprisoned by greater will and now it takes full control over the situation
It overrides her rules and gives us tarnished the grace we lost once again to rise as the elden lord
Bcoz we r basically first candidates to do so since we r descendants of godfrey who used to be the elden lord
Also the reason why we find him in the game return back to life to fill the seat
@boboverlord18 they don’t you have absoluely NO renown and have to prove yourself to most of them
Nah the chosen undead is better
That voice actor is a god among men, a king of all high merely gracing us with his ethereal presence, I’ve seen this like 20 times in different places not once have I skipped it
My game been having performance issues and skipped to the cutscene before he finished naming them I literally came here to finish it😭😭
Martin created a world for From to “Shatter” it. And we get the pieces. What a combo. Love it so much.
Blows my mind that the game's ultimate twist is shown in the intro cutscene and most of us missed it
*"ARISE NOW, YE TARNISHED"*
Absoulutely love the art of Queen Marika the Eternal the most but all of this is fantastic 10/10 work on the art, story, and character names.
2:43 sent in classic Miyazaki fashion
And we love every second of it.
Feel like you only truly appreciate this in journey 2 after beating all bosses and NPC quests!. . . Do all the quests and then rewatch this. . . Chills!!! Every.single.time!.
I know it’s already been said, but the voice actor NAILS this scene.
This opening script, on paper, could and should make anyone cringe. It sounds like absolute fantasy nonsense.
But the VA speaks with such passion, awe, and reverence you can’t help but believe the significance of what he is telling you. And just how great this world is and the stories it has to tell are
it's honestly incredible lmao. it's literally just incomprehensible nonsense when you're first playing but it's still so amazing since the dude is just going IN on it
I like how the very first thing you see is Marika turning into Radagon but I didnt get it until doing the gold mask questline
1:26 Holy shit i didn't even notice Mohg the first time i watched this, plus Radagon and Marika switching places in the beginning
My testosterones hit the roof when he said 'Rise now ye Tarnished, ye dead, who yet live'
I wanna go to WAAAAAAAAR
One of the greatest intro's of all time
Thank you From Software
Just now noticed that all the tarnished received a golden sprite in their paintings.
I wonder if Gideon and Hoarah Loux have their own mending runes as well.
I wonder if the player character can create a unique mending rune by combining all the mending runes (maybe by fusing them by inheriting the flame of frenzy?)
This could make the flame of frenzy, like the moon presence. Like how you needed to consume 3 of the 1/3 umbilical cords to overcome it.
There’s still one ending in the game that hasn’t been figured out yet so either Gideon or Hoarah should be that. Most think it has to do with Nepheli’s questline since she’s Gideon’s kid and no one’s been able to finish it yet.
I hope the other one gets an ending in dlc, maybe one that works off using the flame of frenzy + the needle from Millicent’s questline to save Melina without being forced into that ending, since it’s weird that the game lets you do that but doesn’t acknowledge it at all
well done
most ppl don't notice it...
@@voidwaiker5497 Correction, actually:
Nepheli Loux is Gideon's _adopted_ kid, and Hoarah Loux's biological child.
Well, assuming last names hold true, anyhow. It would also explain why she has a connection to Stormveil, why she was fit to rule Limgrave, and overall draw a parallel between her being a badlands warrior-hero and Godfrey originally being the chieftain warrior Hoarah Loux.
@@khajiitimanus7432 I mean she's certainly a desendant of Hoarhah Loux. All of Tarnished are to some degree related to Horah Loux or descended from his tribe at least.
I'm late to the party, but I'm pretty sure they don't have mending runes since they weren't part of the golden order neither took part in the shattering war
I have played and watched many games. This game, is the best game ever made, maybe not the most impactful or revolutionary. But every aspect perfected, an art form in every way. Story, voice acting, sound design, world, controls, weapons and scaling, bosses, music. It’s beautiful, I can’t imagine a more monstrous game. I’ll never forget this opening. It’s everything a game should aspire to be. For now and forever.
It one of the games ever made
SIR GIDEON OFNIR
THE AAAAAALLL KNOWING
It took me 10 rewatches and 30 hours of gameplay to get that the five people listed are other Tarnisheds and not the five big game bosses
When a literal slide show is better than most cinematics
The loathsome Dung Eater doesnt sound too bad until you do his questline....
Then you find out that he's absolutely psychopathic.
His name is Dung Eater. That sounds bad to me.
Queen Marika, the eternal is not shown much the entire game but her importance and her name echoed throughout the game.
Especially now
I find it very interesting how the only demigod not to appear in the intro is Godrick, you'd expect him to show up given how prevalent he was in marketing. (Unless he is the pale, hunched over figure at 1:45 near the center right, but it doesn't look like it)
(Also we don't talk about Godefroy in this house)
Put some respect on Godefroy!!! He was Godrick before it was cool to be Godrick!
*thumbnail*
Queen Marika the Eternal making a T-Pose to assert dominance.
I like to think the Narrator Voice Actor is the Voice of Radagon of the Golden Order.
I'm still bummed we didn't get to fight and HEAR Queen Marika in her Female Marika Queen.
Also would love to have some Godlike lines delivered by Radagon in the Ending.
Hopefully we get some DLC with Radagon and Queen Marika in their Full Glory!
I like to imagine that the female solo vocalist in the Elden Beast track is supposed to be Marika's lament
"The call of long lost Grace speaks to US all".So Narrator is Tarnished too.
For me it would make sense to be godfrey but it would be weird calling himself to action
@@eduardotepoxteca9171 He has a different voice.
Honestly I like that the intro isn’t animated it’s kinda cool imo
2:03 chills
“Ye dead who yet live…”
I love how, in both Dark Souls and Elden Ring, a nobody garnishes great power to topple the great rulers of the world
Shoot the amount of lore hinted at in just this opening is astounding, you can see so much.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Okay, the first two shots showing the forging or breaking of the Elden Ring shows something the game alludes to throughout. You see a female figure as smith, then a male figure. This is Marika, but it is also Radagon, both different halves of the same person, who contains the Elden Ring and serves as the penultimate boss.
The scene showing Godwyn the Golden's death may just show his body being killed, as his back already has the Cursemark of Death on it. The black knives are made in that image, but don't actually carry the full power of the Cursemark. We learn later that Ranni the Witch was the true killer of Godwyn, as she stole the Cursemark of Death and used it to destroy her body (the cursemark item describes her body as discarded flesh), but it normally destroys your body and soul, so she broke it. When her body died, the other half of the cursemark appears on Godwyn, destroying his soul. It was likely that after this the Black Knives killed his body to cover up this crime on Ranni's orders (though that's just my theory, Ranni seems like she's trying to act in secret and would do her best to cover up her crime). I mean hell, his body is limp in the hands of his assassins, and he's a demigod of great power, my guess is the Black Knives just finished the job Ranni started. Showing Ranni right after Godwyn's death slide cements it to me, it also serves as a hint that Ranni (Renna when we meet her) is also a demigod.
Next slide shows Margit, later revealed to be Morgott the Grace Given, fighting what looks to be a soldier of Radahn, or maybe Radahn himself after his defeat at the hands of Malenia. This slide meshes well with his role as protector and Lord of Lyndell, but also shows how Lyndell was likely besieged by demigods during the Shattering.
The next still shows the optional boss, Mohg, Lord of Blood carrying the body of Miquella off to Mohgwyn palace in the Siofra river. We later see Miquella's body in a sort of chrysalis, much larger than it is here. It's likely that Mohg was using blood magic of some form to grow Miquella out of their state of eternal childhood into a grown Empyrean.
The next slide shows Praetor Rykard being devoured by the snake he would later inhabit beneath Volcano Manor, an act of blasphemy and a vie for true immortality, as its said even after you defeat him that he isn't truly gone. Hell, he keeps talking for a while, there may be truth to that.
The next slide just depicts a cleanrot knight, one of Malenia's dead on a battlefield, likely in her battle with Radahn. And it leads into the well shown still of Malenia and Radahn's faceoff which ended in Malenia's victory, and Radahn's corruption by her Scarlet Rot. Malenia didn't kill Radahn, but she certainly lives up to her statement of having "never known defeat." According to item descriptions, she returned to the Haligtree out of devotion to her brother Miquella, believing one day he would return as the strongest Empyrean (the children of Radagan and Marika, who are technically a single being).
Of course we then see the Tarnished coming back from the dead and see the major Tarnished NPC's, many of whom will find their own way of mending the Elden Ring, for good or ill, or become bosses.
Hoarah Loux is revealed to be the true name of Godfrey, the First Elden Lord. It's said Godfrey left Lyndell after becoming Tarnished. It's likely he took a new name after this to make a clean break from his time as Elden Lord. Those who remember this opening will know upon meeting Godfrey that he and Hoarah are the same person since Godfrey has the massive lion spirit with him that Hoarah has in this slide.
Next is Goldmask, who never once speaks, but wishes to discover the truths of the Golden Order. His questline leads to the Age of Order after his discovery of the Mending Rune of Perfect Order.
Then is Fia, who actually has a very well made questline where she uses her power as a Deathbed companion to recreate the Rune of Death which was lost when Ranni broke it to kill her flesh and Godwyn's soul. She does this by laying with the massive, bloated corpse of Godwyn in the roots beneath the Erdtree, and by you slaying a lichdragon in her dreams. This leads to the Age of the Duskborn ending when death is brought back into the world when the Elden Ring is mended.
Then is the Dung Eater, probably one of the more overtly villainous characters in this game. His questline has you feed festering beds of his disease to his true body beneath Lyndell, which allows him to create the Mending Rune of the Plague. This makes it to where when the Elden Ring is restored, all of the lands between are put under a vile curse.
And then last is Gideon Ofnir, leader of the Roundtable hold. He lives up to his title as All-Knowing, as he both gathers as much information as possible in regards to the rune bearing demigods and is a master of pretty much every kind of magic in the game. He later becomes a contender with you for the title of Elden Lord, but by that point, you're the one who has slain demigods, not him.
And then there is you, and the story begins.
I just love how much is shown in these slides (even if I wish there had been a series of cutscenes)
I agree with a lot with what you said, but I think Morgott was fighting Radahn, wasnt he? He wears the exact same Armor.
I think Morgott was defending the Elden Throne and with that, pieces of the shattered Elden Ring, but ultimately failed.
Which is also why he is so angry when you approach him in Leyndell, calling them traitors.
I wonder why Morgott didnt give us his full power as an Omen in our first battle, if he didnt want us to become Elden Lord.
Unless they want us to, but just like Godfrey, want to see if we are strong enough for that galactical task.
Really cool lore and Game, I am sad that I finished it already in 80 hours, but I was surprised how the Story is Dark Souls but in another Name.
Find and slay Big Souls/Demigods, bring it to Lordvessel/Ring, final boss.
@@buliwyfZrage Yeah, finishing stuff out it seems like my two biggest corrections would be that, and Malenia returned to the Haligtree out of devotion to her brother, thinking he'd return one day as the strongest Empyrean.
But it tracks that Radahn would invade Lyndell. Not sure if I believe Morgott could beat him though? Radahn was easily a much harder and more powerful boss than Morgott. Maybe it happened after his fight with Malenia but before he succumbed to madness from the Scarlet Rot? And that would probably have weakened him enough for Morgott to drive him back.
Replying so I can come back and read this when i beat the game
@@TheSpectralForce Definitely some things wrong here. But still got a decent amount.
Yes they do be showing a lot and I only realize it after I got a couple endings. So cool.
Poor Godwyn. He didn't deserved that.
So no one is going to talk about how dark it is that Rykard is being slowly devoured by the serpent piece by piece?
I think it’s cool how before you play you don’t understand why he lists those names or what the pictures mean, but they are all the other main Tarnished you meet during the game, getting summoned back to the Lands Between. It’s something I missed, I didn’t even notice the Grace in all the pictures of each of them the first time.
this whole game is a masterpiece.
the best thing about this intro is that it's literally a reference to demon's souls intro too, we went full circle!
How so
@@nestormelendez9005 demon's souls told the story with painting in the intro just like in elden ring
this intro hits different after completing the game. fucking epic!
Gave me goosebumps, even now.
Just finished the Game after 80+ hours. It all makes sense now.
I feel like this a reference to lord of the rings. In elden ring, the ring is destroyed with a hammer, in Lord of the Rings, a hammer is used to show how indestructible the ring is by the ring not being broken by it. Nice inversion.
It looks like there was a big "empty the graves and let the tarnished out" party. Though being dead doesn't seem to be a prerequisite for being tarnished. There's images of the tarnished firsts encounters with grace, some are alive, some are dead or dying.
From soulsborne to this game, I just love how unique the fromsoft story telling is... They have their own style but always feels new
The ever BRILLIANT gold mask! 🌝🌞🌻
I was expecting something crazy, needless to say I was surprised to see it was just a homeless dude,d!ck hanging out,high af, living on bridges.
I havent finished the game though 🤔
LOL
I can't believe how many times they showed us radagon and marika... doing the thing
"THE LOATHSOME DUNG EATER! " all right chill man we understand you like him 🤣.
2 year later. This Still gives me Goosebumps.
1:19
Even though that Radahn is still superior in size to Morgott (and brute strength, I imagine) he still got him against the sword and the wall. Makes me wonder if it is because Morgott was years younger before we face him or the inexperience of Radahn in an all scale war, since the shattering was his big first war as General
Could just be a Redmane Knight, no way Morgott could knock Radahn over.
Or maybe that's Rykard
@@khangle6872 I think Rykard is the one with the snake eating him
@@spookytown7963 Nah, that's Radahn alright. You can tell by both the hair and the bracers on his arms.
Morgott was just a unit. Radahn was considered the strongest, but perhaps this was before Radahn was the strongest. It also explains why Radahn was considered a traitor to Leyndell - he, too, attempted to siege the city. Still, I've been wondering about Radahn's motives for participating in the Shattering for 2 weeks straight, now. We know he is overall a person of good character - but we don't know why he participated in the war. Foolhardy childish dream to be like his father, Radagon, and wage war? Manipulation from another party? Or reactionary defense from another faction of the Shattering?
@@khajiitimanus7432 ye, upon further inspection, you're probably right
As much as I love this intro, I really wish it was animated like in previous souls games.
They use that in the Story trailer, in a way we got 2 openings
Yeah the trailer was better opening/introduction.
@@justanotherblackwhitemicke7817 three openings, including the 1st one with the smith
Shit taste
I prefer this style tbh. Anyone seen Fable's intro?
Very cool, still would have loved a 3D one like their other games, those were probably the most epic cutscenes in any game.
Watch the Story Trailer on YT. It’s much better as an intro
I thought the CGI story trailer was going to be the actual game intro. But this one is beautiful.
Shit taste
The illustrations are superb and feel far more vivid than any CGI could have.
Are we not gunna talk about how the music is amazing and so dramatic at 0:45
Narrator: THE LOATHSOME DUNG EATER!!
Me: THE SAVAGE STOOL SLURPER 😎
You can see Marika change to Radagon in the very first frames. Such an amazing fucking game
Sir gideon ofnir, THE ALLLLL KNOWING!!
its time. lets go
Ohhh Elden Ring!
I still like the image of Morgott defeating a weirdly not giant sized Radagon. He’s still big because he looks to be the same size as Morgott but he’s not as big as he is in game
It's Radahn
"I might take a break from Elden Ring."
2:05
"Let's fucking GO!"
Whiterun preacher guy elevated through the Moon.
I still can’t believe the narrator was able to say “The LOATHSOME DUNG EATER!” so seriously, I would’ve died laughing
The lonesome DUNG EATER!!! That kitties reaction is justified
Man really said "Mad Taint"
3:16 This sounds like we are in the big turtles no? The big stomps. The bell, the sound of it. The dead graves inside those are the unwanted childs of marika. Which makes them demigod, which makes us, demigod.
Im sorry one of the best intros to a fucking game its so hype
With the exception of Gideon and Hourah loux; all the other mentioned characters at that part each has an ending dedicated to them. I’d bet Hourah Loux represents the default ending, but what does Gideon represent?
I'd say that Gideon represents the journey, itself.
Given what Gideon does at the end, I think Gideon represents "no ending", just an eternal Shattering that slowly grinds everything to dust
Super late comment but with the game out and 100%ing I think there’s a reason that the last 2 bosses before entering the Erdtree are Tarnished, specifically the two in the intro that don’t have an ending. The greater will turned Godfrey into a tarnished and Marika banned all tarnished so they could form an army and return stronger to challenge the outer gods for the throne. It’s no secret now that she doesn’t trust the Greater Will and she wanted a tarnished to challenge for the throne. That’s why the “Final 3” are tarnished. Marika set it up so no matter who come up victorious she would get what she wanted anyways. The whole game Gideon tells us that he wanted to be Elden Lord, lying and deceiving us and even put a hit on us to get a piece of the Haligtree Medallion, but at the end of the game pulls a 180 and tells us no tarnished can become Elden Lord. Himself included and that Queen Marika must stay in charge. I think Marika manipulated all the tarnished she deemed worthy to all fight for the throne (I think Melina is a doll possessed by Marika, hence why her and Ranni’s body have similar eye markings) and I think she tried to manipulate Gideon but Gideon only played along because he knew the Erdtree would try to fight back and release Radagon and an actual god if it had too. Gideon doesn’t like doing any of the hard work that’s why he waited for you to collect all the Great Runes and he was gonna try to take them from you and become Marika’s “consort” but in reality repair the shattered ring and keep her imprisoned.
He is speaking about you, since he knows all
2:53 the first time I saw this, i shat my pants at SIR GIDION ONFNEIR
This is better than the main title music. The buildup is so great.
This narrator is going to be famous forever
why? He's just shouting?!
Looks great!! Especially in 4k.
Remember when we all thought Hoarah Loux was Godfrey long lost brother? Yeah, fun time
"And sir gideon ofnir THE ALL KNOWING !!!!!" ahh this... 😁
The perfect video game intro doesn't exi-
Finally get to watch this cinematic at a stable 60FPS
0:08 Queen Marika
0:15 Radagon
The way he said "THE LOATHSOME DUNG EATER" gave me chills unironically
just this intro
it better than Star war outlaw whole game.
Each Endiong repressents one of the Tarnished
The standard is Houarah Loux
the rest are link through their runes, madness is Giddeon's since he himself has been driven mad from gazing upon marika's visage and the Age of Stars (the best ending) is where you and your waifu save the world
Ohh damn i finally realise, the intro saying marika's offspring while showing Ranni. Giving us yet another hint even before we ever seen the plot about the true identity of marika.
Literary brought tears to my eyes 7:33 in the morning
This is a story about how the Golden Order is leaving it up to us to choose the fate/punishment of the lands between for simply evolving in a way that meant that the god that created existence life also fractures births death etc. will eventually pass down its power to its off spring “the other outer gods.
The ALLLLLL KNOWINGGGGGG
DUNG EATER!
Masterful foreshadowing.
I was wondering the whole game who tf Hoarah Lux was supposed to be.
THE EVER BRILLIANT GOLDMASK!!!
I love the idea that given the build of the tarnished in the opening, that this would be technically in Let Me Solo Her’s world. That would be funny as he would be the top cheese at the time.
Biggest twist in the damn game is spoiled within 20 seconds! if only we knew...