Elden Ring Lore: Malenia & Scarlet Rot Explained
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 เม.ย. 2022
- Zoe Delahunty-Light is back with more #EldenRing lore, this time about our dear decaying Goddess of Rot and Blade of Miquella, Malenia. From her origins to why she's found at the foot of the haligtree, this video follows her story and uncovers what happened to her before she let her scarlet blossom bloom in the Caelid battle with General Radahn. If you've got your fill of Elden Ring gameplay and are aching to find out the stories of the key characters, check out the other videos in the Elden Ring lore playlist! #Eurogamer
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Malenia's mentor in swordplay was the blue-clothed blind swordsman that was told to seal away the god/goddess of rot. Look at the prosthesis-wearer heirloom that has the description "Though born into the accursed rot, when the young girl encountered her mentor and his flowing blade, she gained wings of unparalleled strength".
Was just about to say that
so ironic that he ended up teaching the next rot goddess.
to support this, there's a ghost in the Aeonia Swamp that tells you how he saw the blue warrior dancing sword. actually if her master imprisoned the rot god and the beheast of marika, the curse of both Miquella and Malenia is sort of a price for that: the sister would rot and the brother would never rot
@@Leon-yg5gm I wonder why he taught her given everyone knew she was born with rot right?
Imagine if we get to fight Malenia's mentor in the DLC
“Let me solo her” is the water swordsman, this is canon now
I love the decision to make the goddess of rot surrounded by and giving off butterflies. It really does hammer home that decay isn't necessarily something to hate or be afraid of
Absolutely :) Zoe
Then she turns you into a corpse, and you remember that actually, yes it is.
its butterflies to make reference of The concept of metamorphosis
I mean butterflies often eat dead and decaying flesh, so it’s really a very logical decision from that perspective too.
Then you remember that she is Malenia, Blade of Miquella
Scarlet rot is all physical damage unlike most incantation and spells, this leans more towards an infection from breathing in spores rather than being cursed and is clearly not poison. Also, Scarlet rot deals damage based on Max HP. Hp is based on vigor is his tied to ones heart.
Aspergillosis is an infection, usually of the lungs, caused by the fungus Aspergillus. A ball of fungus fibers, blood clots, and white blood cells may form in the lungs or sinuses. People may have no symptoms or may cough up blood or have a fever, chest pain, and difficulty breathing.
This is hinted at when players and some npcs die from scarlet rot. As they will cough and clinch their chest.
I think the bloom by her boss room is actually her first one, probably when she was a child and hence didn't have as much of an impact as the second.
It’s definitely one of Millicent sisters her clothes are on the ground. Malenia only bloomed 2 twice when she fought Radahn and when she fought your character. She’s been asleep the whole time since the first bloom.
@@unknownd5679 that's a good point, I forgot about the clothes! At first I thought it was Millicent's.
@@dear_saturn thanks, and she bloomed where you fight her sisters at. They all wear the same thing so it was either a clone we didn’t fight or one of them idk 🤷🏾♂️ I just know for sure that Malenia only bloomed twice because she was sleeping up until you walk into the boss room.
I mean she must've used it before she fought Radahn otherwise how would she know she had such an attack in her arsenal??
@@unknownd5679 This bloom is her third. It was said that in her third, she becomes a true goddess
The aeonia flower you find before fighting Malenia is probably NOT one of hers but one of Millicent's sisters'. Millicent turns into a flower of that size on completion of her storyline. And you can find a set of clothes identical to Millicent's travelling clothes at its base. Malenia's aeonias are MUCH larger.
No they are not necessarily much larger as we see the same sized flower after we defeat her in her boss room if you rest at a grace.
The Rotten Sword Insignia mentions that Millicents Sisters never blossomed so it is likely Malenia's Aeonia:
"The Four sister were born in the swamp of Aeonia, and came to the Haligtree under the aegis of Gowry. And yet, those buds were doomed to never blossom"
@@envoyofrot7046 I think the four sisters Millicent fights aren't the only batch. You only fight four but I suspect others made it up to the haligtree before. To me, the Traveller clothes are the giveaway there. I'd need to check again but I'm pretty sure Malenia's was huge, bigger than the one outside. I took the miquellas needle route
@@PatrickLongblkwhtrbbt There is nothing that mentions that Millicent had more than the four sister we fight unless you found something and Gowry even says that he has the highest hopes for Millicent "In truth, before her, I'd never seen a bud of such superior quality. She might very well outshine her sisters."
Which makes me believe in addition to the rotten winged insignia she is the only one so far who ever "bloomed" of her sister. The set is the same one Melina wears btw.
If that scarlet aeonia wasn't Malenia's, perhaps it was Finlay? She was the knight that brought Malenia there, and it would have been likely her knights contracted scarlet rot during the battles in Caelid. Especially since Finlay brought Malenia, who had infected Radahn, all the way from Caelid to the Haligtree. There's no evidence of it that I know of, but it would make some sense as the only other person we canonically know had been there with Malenia. 🤔
@@korihime It's beautiful if it's Finley's. Her honorable quest for dragging Malenia back to the Haligtree is the best story among other support characters. Can't imagine how hard it is to drag someone with Scarlet rot from the Southest of Caelid back to The upper north. (I think passing through Lyndell, that's turn to become a war zone already, to reach the grand lift is quite a hard effort...)
I'm in awe of your ability to make all of this lore understandable! I can't imagine how much work this takes, but I appreciate it !
I swear to god, if FromSoft adds Miquella as a crazy secret DLC boss in the future and has a phase where Malenia is brought in to fight alongside Miquella against the player....
I will cry
I am Miquella, brother of Malenia.
And my sister has not know defeat.
While I strongly believe miquella will be the focus of a dlc it would kinda break immersion to have her reappear after you already kill her.
@@UnholyWrath3277 she can exist in his “dream world” maybe?
@@ZetaMoolah while not impossible I'd say it's highly unlikely
@@UnholyWrath3277 I don't think she is dead. Malenia's spell the scarlet Aeonia states that she has only bloomed twice and that IN THE FUTURE she will become a TRUE goddess of rot.
I love all the lore videos, I always get lost down rabbit holes for Soulsbourne lore and Zoe’s videos help so much
I wonder what would have happened if Malenia used Miquella's Needle in the heart of the Storm beyond time.
Maybe she would have successfully repelled the outer god of rot her mentor sealed away long ago.
It is enough to free us of the God of the Frenzy Flame. In similar fashion it would probably neutralize the rot so that should she fall in battle, she wouldn't bloom and further inch towards becoming the true Rot Goddess.
Scarlet rot is a carried over theme from Bloodborne: it's an alien infestation.
Caelid has been terraformed by it.
The kindred of rot are the same as Bloodbornes celestial emissaries: altered to commune with an extra terrestrial species.
The grand cloister looks like a refuge for these creatures and further below it is astel...with those mandibles appears to be a burrowing space parasite just like all the other falling star beasts.
So in closing: it's aliens.
It's all Aliens.
All the Outer Gods. That's why they're called that. OUTER Gods.
The Greater Will is hundreds or thousands of light years away, that's why it takes so long for the Two Fingers to get an answer from it.
The Frenzied Flame is also an alien, carrying with it a truth that drives almost everyone who sees that truth insane - like the truth of the Ancient Ones in Lovecraft's tales.
And yes, the Goddess of Rot also came from outer space and was eventually sealed within Malenia to contain its destructive properties.
Absolutely loving this series of videos!
Thank you. Brilliant 👍
been loving these videos! I've bingewatched this whole lore story :)
That makes my heart sing! More are coming. Zoe
Love this character more than any other in the game so thank you for the lore! Would a there be enough lore on the three fingers and frenzied flame to warrant a whole video?
Awesome video!
Amazingly professional video. I just want to point out that in the grand cloister, the bug peope are worshipping not only that scorpion tail, but also the statue above it. It's a statue of a friendly looking old man with long and imo feminine legs. The same statue can be found in mohgwyn palace worshipped by 2nd generation albanaurics with an ancient somber dragonstone and all around the mohg fight. Theres some in other ancient underground areas too but not in places run by nox. In fact I believe the grand cloister is the eternal city punished by the star god since it has no stars like the other eternal cities. But the statues in this place I believe are wearing the same robes as younger looking statues rite befor melania's boss area. And I believe the one with a dragon stone near it represents not only immortality, but the passing of time for miquella to become a god. Sorry for the paragraph lmao!
The fact that you mentioned that there's another lore video already on the way made me super excited lmao, these are some of my favourite videos
The blue warrior isnt a legend, there's actually ghost in the shores of the rot swamp that tells you how he saw the blue warrior fighting
I saw another video explaining that the blind blue dancer was a ctualy a mentor to Melania and taught her how to control her internal rot.
Looking into that now, takk! Zoe
More videos like this please!
I love these videos so much, thank you! Not sure if there is any lore about it, but finding the empty/broken down Roundtable castle really blew my mind, but I still don't really get what it means? Would love to hear your thoughts on it :)
I'll look into it! Zoe
Actually it’s debated heavily the number of blooms she is on now. Some say she bloomed three times already. Others, like myself, she hasn’t truly become the goddess of rot, still needing one more bloom. This is because the one outside the boss room was found not to be from Malenia but one of her sisters who also had been afflicted. Perhaps the final bloom is the one after her fight. We don’t know for sure but it’s interesting.
Malenia has my favorite story and fight in all the souls games so far except Lady Maria because her fight was a really fun skill fight
Maria is just Bloodborne’s Malenia, except she’s a fair fight.
GREAT VIDEO!! AMAZING!
Great video
12:23 I feel like this isn’t her bloom because we find the travelers set next to it. The same set that Millicent and her sisters wear. If it is or isn’t I guess we’ll never know because now she’s dead. But I assumed her 3rd bloom would keep her in her goddess of rot form permanently. I could be wrong. That’s just my interpretation.
Will you be making a video that covers Goldmask? I'd love to know more about him!
For sure! Zoe
@@eurogamer You absolute hero 👍
12:32 that is not the second bloom and i implied to be a traveller that has died sine the only other times we see a flower is after a character has died such as with Millicent and Malenia
People who worshipped the Rot wore mushrooms on their heads. Malenia is Princess Peach confirmed.
Another great lore video, thank you Zoe 🧡
"B*tch is rotten to the core." In human form. 😂
3:28 I'm going to say that this applies to the higher canon, and the blade is the 'Darkmoon Greatsword', that is received from Seath the Scaleless.
Rhadan soul was removed, but his body lived on, which explains his madness.
I think Malenia is the child of the Outer God of Rot. It could be that Queen Marika, upset with the Greater Will, made a deal with the Outer God of Rot. I bet that Malenia will become the goddess of the scarlet rot. I think we stopped her transformation and that she will return even more poweful. Her blossom is still there and has not faded, that gives me evidence that she will return.
Miquella, I think he will be birthed by the Formless Mother. She will then make him her herald or maybe the Formless Mother is Miquella's true mother. It could be that Queen Marika made a deal with other gods to have their children.
whos the person in the tree in her boss area? you see during the transition cut scene
That's probably from when Miquella was attached to it inside his cocoon.
It's the shape of Miquella, who created the Haligtree.
Flowing curved sword and nox flowing sword could be the blind swordsman’s swords?
Yep it is! Here’s the flavor text. “Legends speak of a master of the sword garbed in blue, and his curved blade that was patterned after flowing water.
Strong attack unleashes a series of strikes akin to a dance, offering a glimpse into the legend.
Skill: Spinning Slash
Skill favored by dexterous warriors. Slash foes as your body spins. Additional input allows for a follow-up attack.”
One of the characters in this video had on a fine looking, wide-brimmed wizard hat and I love it. Where can I get that!?
It looks to me like Preceptor Seluvis' hat. I know he had a hat very similar to that one. His quest is available after dealing with part of Rannis questline
There is speculation that Malenia lost her limbs in either combat or to rot. Why not a combination of both?
Let me explain.
When I was a teenager I had a terrible combination of eczema which causes exceptionally dry skin and HPV, which is the virus that causes warts. What would happen is that eczema would cause the skin to dry and crack open which the HPV virus would then infect. So, naturally, I had a lot of warts. I don't anymore. I still have HPV, but I managed to control my eczema by not using so much antibacterial soap.
It's possible something similar is happening to Malenia. She describes her blood as being "rotted" which indicates that any time she's wounded, it can cause the scarlet rot to leak out. That's why she had to stab herself in order to infect Radahn. That's why she has to have unalloyed gold woven into her skin in order to keep more of it from leaking out. Regular bandages wouldn't work. She needs to have something that could resist the rot. That's why her eyes are all scabbed over. In the cinematic trailer, she's been cut on her forehead.
if you end up killing millicent, she turns into one of those scarlet flowers at the site of the battle. maybe the smaller flower we see near malenia was another one of her spore clones?
I wonder if you could see if there is a lore friendly way to kill malenia? Her attacks seem so specific and I wonder if her boss fight is meant to be similar to Rykard's. It could also be that they introduce this way to kill her with a Blade of Miquella dlc, so maybe I will just have to wait.
She only boomed twice i thought? Once fighting radahn and then fighting the player? Never mentions her having more then 2 blooms other then if she was to bloom a 3rd time she would achieve god hood an become goddess of rot
Really interesting video. All those statues in the Marais Manor creeped me out. I don't know the lore behind them but I assume they're former inhabitants turned to stone - based on zero evidence
Well in a game with environmental storytelling... what something looks like IS evidence.
love the philosophy behind it all, may it be the red wine in my veins but this all is wondrously beautiful
This is really really great! I have no idea about the game, yet the storyteling is so awesome
The blind swordsman was her mentor
So wait, that flower bloom in the room beside Malenias boss room is Finlay's?
Probably Malenia's flower
@@heartlesscapitalist5985 you think it's her second bloom? Cause she had the first one during her fight with Radhan and then that would make the one she blooms after fighting us the third one.
Isn't Malenia's lack of sight also part of her curse or is it a side effect of the scarlet rot?
@@bobbyfernando Thanks for the answer.
It is the rot eating away at her body
10:07 - 10:27
Where the hell did you get that information? I'm genuinely curious as to where this information is gathered.
The Aenoian Sword Monument states they were locked in a stalemate until the rot bloomed.
Also, her Aeonia only bloomed twice throughout the game....the spell you get AFTER killing her states that she's bloomed twice and that the third bloom will turn her into a "True" Goddess. The devs made sure the wording accentuated the present from the future and made it clear to distinctly write "true" goddess as to let the player know she wasn't one before hand....Also the big fucking chrysalis in her arena after you beat her a second time....just like Millicent's chrysalis as she starts turning into a Scarlet Valkyrie.
I know Fromsoft lore isn't necessarily easy to get down....but these mistakes....
you can tell Zoe is into it.
one of the most badass bosses ever created by Miyazaki. i love more 1 on 1 humanoid fights in souls games. yes she has a second phase but its still not the fucking tree dragon or whatever.
I've always liked watching (I don't play the games) the humanoid boss fights like Maria, Gehrman, Artorias, Gwyn, or the second phase of the Abyss Watchers.
I wonder if the dlc would be altered and you could befriend Malenia if you never defeated her...I never wanted to other than to have the best and most challenging fight I've had since the damned bridge dragon in ds1 lmao
Side note: unalloyed gold dual Kodachi sounds like a fun weapon...just saying
Where’s the Millicent video?
@eurogame This might have been already commented plus this might be the least important to the lore lol, but flowers have no spores. I would think it's pollen. P.S. Also, I'm not a biologist.
Might sound like a a stupid question but Does anyone why she fights you? Like what her motivation to do so
You woke her up.
You break into her home, kill alot of the beings living there, approach her armed, who wouldn't think of fighting then...
Imagine someone doing that to you and your home.
@@Ravagerblade yeah that does make sense but like how would she know wasn't she asleep that whole time because if she wasn't asleep wouldn't she have already come and try and stop you
@@gameamg9451 yeah I don't know. If you think about it, alot of times in games fights happen regardless of Taking logical steps first.
@@Ravagerblade yeah but I thought there might be more to it
So when the gold dust is leaving Radhan, is that the grace of the greater will leaving him? Similar to when grace left "The first elden lord"
Interesting note about the nomadic blind swordsman that sealed away the God of Rot. The Nomadic Merchants appear to be blind, and appear to travel to and from the lands between. I think it's likely they are the remnants of the people's discussed in this video
The merchants are of a entirely different guild. They were part of a nomadic tribe that were buried alive. They then all screamed out a curse that birthed the madness effect. You can find this information for yourself in game on a certain set of armor that has the story i described. The blind swordsman however.. was Melanias teacher and mentor.
Merchants are technically associated with the three fingers and madness
The Nomadic Merchants are blind because they can shoot lasers out of their eyes and serve a different outer god than the scarlet rot.
So there is a scarlet rot has an outer god aswell
are we sure malenia is dead after we defeat her? after all, once we rest we see her bloom in the boss room, and if you know one of the endings of millicent's quest, that bloom is not unique to malenia it seems, and the bloom was hinted to be something waiting to transform back into another being, so is malenia's bloom the same thing?
I read that she was originally going to have a bigger role, than just be a boss at the end of a secret area within a secret area.
It did seem that way from the various trailers, but alas shes a secret/ optional boss, unfortunately?
@@LewdGyrations Apparently she would be in place of Millicent and we had to escort her back to the Haligtree, as addresses us as "companion" in unused voice files .
Theres a talisman wich tells Malenia story,and how she had a mentor and developed the waterflown attack amd created wings of strenght.
กดไลค์ก่อนกดเล่นวิดีโอมีอยู่จริง วางใจได้กับฝีมือตำนานต่างๆ ของคุณโซอี้
Ok I dont got time to watch this atm , bit can someone give me the time stamp that explains why THE FUCK she heals when she hurts you cuz I've seen no explanation lore wise
Pretty sure it’s just bc that’s the power her great rune gives her
Her arm was cut off by radahn
These games just make me wonder how there can be so many hostile things just hanging out everywhere with no ecology or economy. They feel like they have about the same life purpose as a Goomba. "Just wait here doing nothing but wander back and forth for god knows how long until this one specific guy shows up trying to get past you, then try and kill him."
I've been working from the assumption that Radahn is the second bloom, not the first. And that the bloom at the base of the Haligtree was actually the first. It makes sense, given that Miquella devoted himself to trying to halt his sister's rot, that his work started from somewhere. Given the outfit you find in front of the blossom is the same set that Millicent wears, and Millicent is implied heavily to be a daughter/sister or some kind of offshoot of Malenia, I think it makes sense that it's an outfit Malenia wore before she became the legendary swordmaster that we see later. The first bloom is the reason she developed the pride that Millicent inherited, allowing her to fight off the Rot. The second saw her abandon that sense of self in a prideful bid to stroke her own ego. And the third sees her finally accept that she will Rot anybody who gets in her way, because she's too stubborn and prideful to accept defeat. Symmetry. Tragedy. Classic From.
so many references to human psychology.
Is it possible that Miquella and Malenia are cursed because of Radagon and Marika are the same being? Like they are pretty close to incest?
Does it not describe in her prosthesis that her limbs fell off with the rot
Malenia is the reason Let Me Solo Her came into existence.
So why does the Tarnished want to fight/kill Malenia? She seems to be out of the way and no longer involved in the world since she is resting.
Ima leave malenia alone. I just feel bad, it’s not like I’m scared or anything. 🙄
Also this just hypes me on the belief that "the blue warrior" will be fundamental to the DLC coming out soon.
Everyone out there simping for the blueberry and huggy wuggy, and I'm here throwing twitch bits at the miss understood, redheaded, emo amazon.
I think what I loved/hated most about the introduction of the scarlet rot was just that, it's introduction. I know I'm not the only one who felt that weird and cool gamer vibe encountering the scarlet rot the first time and just instantly running to google like, "WTF IS THIS??". It being it's own profound and brutally difficult damage type made it's presence so awesome. Even in hating it I enjoyed it just being in the universe as it's own living breathing staple of lore. Even the game itself responds sourly to the rot. Showing that even in this already messed up world there are far worse fates awaiting all of us when we slip up or mess around in things we shouldn't.
Scarlet Rot in Elden Ring is it's own eldritch horror. I love it.
This game is also….crash Bandicoot…y’all ever got blown up in the middle of a bunch of explosive crates
Anyone else see a lot of parallels with Warhammer 40k an all powerful being creates demi god offspring who are influenced and corrupted by God's from another realm who all want them as their champions to usher in their respective ages
About 12:37 she bloomed on Radahns head in 10:24 , then in 12:24 and in the boss fight for the 3rd time
Malenia was trained by the flowing water curved sword's owner.
If you beat her before you progress the story too far Ofnir will tell you that the Flower should be destroyed so that she can’t come back.
Eventually she will come back.
I think that’s why she didn’t want to give into the Rot either because she doesn’t know what will happen when she comes back. I think the DLC with Miquella will shed some light onto that.
She definitely will come back, hopefully as an ally of sorts.
She's important imo, as well as just imagine if she could get full control of the Scarlet Rot, she could stop its influence etc... could she re-heal her destroyed body...
Damn thats just tragic, waitin so long for a brother that would never come
So dedicated, so persistent, so sad..
Nope. The flower before her boss arena is one of Millicent's sisters. And you're only told she's now bloomed twice after the boss fight.
Malenia is a blind swordsman who seeks a cure for scarlet rot. Perhaps she is the blind swordsman
is the gowry video still being worked on?
I strongly believe merika/ratigan are one that turn into the other in extreme times for desperate measures, everytime one does something the other is the cause of it.
Plus the other is seemingly never around…? They can’t “split” but just switch into like adam warlock/the magus
She allowed her rot to bloom and corrupt Caelid to stop Radahn, but instead Radahn became corrupted lusting for power, and Caelid is never the same like impossible to survive in if you're a normal individual. I'm still in the middle of Elden Ring I was curious about the origin of Scarlet Rot and how Caelid became the way it is known as.
Malenia is the ultimate villain of the setting actually
No. Not even close.
f, didn’t research that the blind swordsman trained malenia 😭
f, has never known love or human touch and has a miserable life
Melania is a baddie she could get it.
Just saying
Do Malenia blind?
I killed Malenia as a level 1 without taking a hit a few days ago 🥲 I love this boss. So unbalanced yet so fun.
First
Ew
"I am Malenia , Blade of Miquella , and i have never known defeat"
We just not gonna talk abt how you just left radahn more pissed off than when u found him. Meanwhile your ragdoll was dragged off the field by a cleanrot knight. Yikes liar
So she was upset that Radahn had defeated her and decided to release a pathogen that would destroy both him and his kingdom. How pathetic. Just pathetic.
Don't make your own damn lore.
Radahn never defeated her, neither did she release rot in the fear of being defeated. It was a slatemate and the game is very clear regarding it.
Sorry, but I can't forgive her for what she did to Rahdan. He didn't deserve that.
If you guys are going to come in with these lore videos a week or more after everyone else, seemingly copied from the other 10 videos recorded last week...Please at least try to get the lore right... you completely missed the fact that Her teacher was the bl ue swordsman. And the reason she tried so hard to keep thr rot in check, was the fact the her very own mentor had beaten and sealed away the creature the brought Scarlett Rot to the lands between to begin with. The evidence to this is in two talismans you can find in game, the prostheses heirloom, and blue dancer. Both of which paint the very clear picture of the huge point you missed here. Normally you guys do a decent job, but you missed the mark here.
Then why don't you make a lore video and do a better job, hmmm?
A dlc with Caelid pre-rot…?