An Unsolved Elden Ring Mystery
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 พ.ค. 2024
- For years, Elden Ring fans and theorists haven't been able to agree on the events leading to Iji's death... until today. Here's my take on every piece of lore available regarding Ranni's War Counselor.
Ranni's Story Explained: • Ranni the Witch's Full...
Blaidd's Story Explained: • Elden Ring's Most Trag...
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00:00 - Iji's Story (Chapter 1)
08:24 - Iji's Betrayal (Chapter 2)
11:26 - Iji's Murder (Chapter 3)
#eldenring - เกม
![ถ้าเธอไม่รักทำไมไม่บอกฉัน - PAPER [ Musicvideo ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pfeBhDda7m4/mqdefault.jpg)
Did you pre-order Shadow of the Erdtree yet?
Wife said not aloud to spend the $$🥲🥲
Sure as heck.
Why would I preorder digital content
@@jonathandrummel6075bro how poor are you
@@OtherMomoto...play it when it releases?
Black Wolf Mask also clearly states that at least one assassin had previously pretended to be Blaidd himself.
My friend actually made a lot of sense to me, that assassin actually made the black wolf mask in order to pretend to be blaidd
Wow excellent
Most theories don't make sense
But is it possible that the black knives were protecting iji
As there were protecting ranni against blaidd
And it's very clear that Blaidd is going mad.
Here's the rub
1. Ijis helmet is off
- same helmet that kept his location secret from their enemies
- the golden order
- the godslayer skin assassins
Iji didn't fight back , nor did he kill himself
The black knives were protecting him
He simply removed his helmet making himself the enemies intent on killing ranni aware of his presence
A godskin assassin after ranni came to the carian manor and killed iji
The flame didn't need to change
It was always the lesser version
@@ChessheromusicI like this theory
@@Chessheromusici never thought of that, after all the Black assassins worked with Ranni. The only hole in this theory is that their ringleader is imprisoned in the Moon Altar, so it doesn't make sense why the Black assassins would still work for her.
@@Chessheromusic Iji did fight back though... There are dead black knife assassins surrounding his body, he took them down with him
Just a note, I don’t think Iji lied about Blaidd being Ranni’s half-brother, as that might be a title or some sort of category given to empyrean shadows, because Maliketh is also referred to as Marika’s half-brother on an item description
Blaidd seems like he was raised as Ranni’s adoptive brother since Iji also tells us that the two grew up together, played together, and were basically inseparable ever since Blaidd met her
@@lumenflowers OP poster is correct. The japanese term implies it's the same relationship as Maliketh and Marika.
@@dannywest8843 oh I didn’t think OP was incorrect I just think that Iji’s comment about how they were raised adds more support to that idea
A shadow is quite literal in Elden Ring. It's basically their real shadow but given life. And referring to it as a sibling wouldn't be an insane thing to do. But not a sibling literally.
This was an interesting theory but I wanna put forth another idea related to Iji's weapon's being resistant to the Scarlet Rot. What if instead of Destined Death, these weapons are imbued with the Flame of the Fell God? After all Trolls all have massive gaping holes in their chest where the face is on the fire giant and the Troll hammer talks about them being descended from the Giants. It also mentions that Smithing was once a Divine Craft practiced by the Trolls and guess who still smiths? Iji. But the relation to Destined Death is still interesting to think about as we don't know if the Knives were just normal knives before being imbued with Destined Death or if they were crafted specifically in the moment to contain it. Hard to say, but the shape of the knives does look as if the flame was trying to escape from the shell.
In fact there is a holy knife that looks very, very similar to the black knifes. So my guess is that those where used to create the black knifes and maybe to kill godwin?
@@DotTiuri The Blade of Calling is all but confirmed to be the original state of the black knives before they were altered. Melina even uses it if you summon her to fight Morgott with you. In that fight she has the fighting style of the black knife assassins. Not to mention both of their ashes of war are the same animation but with a color swap and different elemental damage types
Exactly
The blackflame is probably a phenomena that comes into existence when the rune of death and the all burning flame of ruin get combined. A flame that can burn the immortal. So if the rune is used on a troll like Iji, who arguably is close to the fell god because he loves smithing, he could combine both the rune and flame within himself to go out in a blaze of blackflame.
The troll hammer wepon also has split damage with fire on it
Looks like Sasuke invaded his world and hit him with Amaterasu.
Truly unforgivable
SASKEH PLS COME BACK TO THE CILLAGE WITH US I LOVE YOU SAUSAGE
Or Itachi*
@@buffoonustroglodytus4688lmfao
Yes please make that theory video about the gloam-eyed queen
Seconded!
THIS! Please!!!!
Good call
I’m curious as well. Personally I believe the Gloam-eyed Queen to be Ranni’s mentor Renna the snowy crone who was secretly her teacher….which I also believe is secretly Melina. Or atleast who she was before she lost all her memories and became burned and bodiless. It explains why the doll Ranni’s soul lives in who she tells us is modeled after her former teacher looks exactly like Melina as well. Because they are the same person.
@@dedicatedtomars3140 what about the extra 2 arms on the doll?
Speaking of unsolved mysteries
I think the *Lone Hero/ Surviving champion of Castle Morne* actually might be related to the Shadow Lands of the DLC based on its deacription of the Grafted Blade Greatsword.
The DLC has a voice mentioning people on the losing side of the war, miyazaki says the shadow lands have been separated
The grafted sword says the champion came from a vanished country and fought against the golden order
May be loose threads here but i think its plausible
Blaids dialogue during final encounter definitely insinuates that he's acting against his will, doesn't he even apologize for attacking? Also why can't u just leave blaidd and let that progress the story
Every time I do Ranni's questline, I feel so bad for killing Blaidd.... but dammit, his weapon is so good, and he got that drip, man!!!
You can save iji by never talking about Blaidds death.
@@likeshine22wait really?
@@Jugggernaawwt Yup. It never triggers the event if you just don't talk about it.
then...he killed himself?@@likeshine22
I like that Iji says “Neutralize” and not kill. Neutralize doesn’t always mean to kill but make someone or something no longer a threat.
15:22 And rannis corpse is protected by a godskin noble
I don't think protected is the word. I think the godskins were looking for the cursemark of death in order to remake the rune of death. They might not have known where Godwyn's was, but they could have pieced together where Ranni's is. The noble fights us so we don't get it first.
@@ChocolateBadness Makes sense too😁
@@ChocolateBadnessI mean the noble only spawns in if you approach the tower, it’s not like the other godskin in the windmill village who’s just walking around doing nothing
@dontpreorder2783 I get that, but I just interpreted that as we get there at the same time. Same way they port in at farum azula. There, the conclusion I came to was they were going to double team Malekith and just take the rune of death back in its entirety since you foiled them getting the cursemark from Ranni's body.
@@ChocolateBadnesssomething else to consider is that the tower isn't accessible until you have the necessary item to go through the library. Maybe the godskin couldn't access the tower and is waiting to ambush someone who might be able to.
There’s one very important detail you’re overlooking
Iji removed his helmet before his death. His Helmet is apparently able to ward off the influence of the greater will due to its material. After learning of Blaidd, he removes it, and by doing so, the Greater Will can now “see” him and send the Black Knives after him.
It’s only after the two fingers are killed that the Black Knives pursue Ranni’s companions and the fact Alecto is apparently imprisoned by Ranni, suggests that they aren’t in good terms.
It should also be mentioned that due to Tiche’s description, this imprisonment must’ve happened AFTER the Night of Black Knives, as she protected Alecto on that day, so despite Ranni granting them the means to their Black Knife daggers having Destined Death, something happened and they aren’t on the good terms they seemed to have been before that day.
Iji never removed his helmet, his corpse still has it on. The Night's Cavalry pursued Alecto and Tiche, they are responsible for Alecto's imprisonment, not Ranni. Alternatively, Alecto could have sealed herself in the Moonlight Evergaol to hide from the pursuing Night's Cavalry, patiently awaiting Ranni's return. Plus, Ranni was busy transferring her soul into a puppet and going into hiding, unlikely she'd just reappear solely to betray Alecto for no discernable reason. We know that the Night's Cavalry pursued the Black Knives through Liurnia after Godwyn's death because we are literally showed the Cavalry in pursuit during the he story trailer.
The literal only thing that the Greater Will has power to do in our current age of the Shattering is bypass the Grace system Marika established. The Greater Will removed the demigods' means of resurrection and gave it to the Tarnished. That's it, that's all it can do now.
Why would you assume that the Greater Will would trust the ones who brought it to heel in the first place? And why would the Black Knives trust the Greater Will? How would they even communicate? They don't seem to have Grace or Fingers, and they're clearly not prospects like the Tarnished are. There is literally no evidence that the Black Knives somehow have this deep connection to the Greater Will that not even the Tarnished have.
And what of Blackflame on Iji's corpse? So the Godskins got their grace back too? The very same Godskins who work alongside Rykard, and directly delivered the fragment of Destined Death to Ranni. The Noble on Ranni's divine bridge, surrounded by Sanctuary Stones, who is literally guarding her tower, her corpse, and her secret, is all the proof needed to directly tie Ranni to the Godskins. And when you combine all the evidence the game provides, Ranni is literally the only viable culprit
@@jeffjefferson2853 Why would she kill Iji
Ranni and the Black Knife Assassins had separate motives for the night of the black knives so it would probably be safe to assume that after the events their goals no longer aligned. Killing off Ranni would be tying up loose ends for the Black Knives.
@@MrSnrSquishywhatvwere the Black knives motives? As assassins, I would assume their motive was payment. They are from Nokstella IIRC, so may have that grudge against Leyndell, but they are also Numen, like Marika.
That’s something is them killing Godwyn.
I think the most interesting part of Iji is his helmet which reveals a lot about him (albeit more questions than answers)
"Worn by those committed to high treason, it wards off the intervention of the Greater Will and its vassal Fingers. Iji was afraid. Terrified of his own treachery."
so did he commit high treason or is he wearing it from someone who was and just wants to be granted protection from the greater will and the fingers?
It also sheds light into why he wears it, out of fear. But what treachery, against Blaidd? well no, that is a very recent event, but the fact that he would betray someone so close to him almost casually it's almost like treachery is second nature to him.
I read it as him being afraid that the greater will may take over his mind and force him to act against Ranni. Blaidd would have done well to wear one too if one might fit.
Well, as stated in the video, he most likely orchestrated Godwyns death with/for Ranni, so I imagine the helmet is how he stayed hidden from them, and was completely uncontested by any of their devout. The possibility that he may have aided the gloam-eyed queen would only strengthen that. I doubt that the Greater Will would overtake him, as that isn't really what they do. They can be fought against by mortals, just not their puppets.
Iji didn't betray Blaidd, he imprisoned him because Blaidd is first and foremost a puppet of the Greater Will.
adding to the reply above, shadows are programmed to kill their empyreans should they betray the greater will. Iji likely always knew blaidd would turn on Ranni as soon as she approached her two fingers with the knife so him locking Blaidd in the evergaol was for his own sake. What he didn’t realize was that Blaidd would maintain his loyalty, even in his madness
So its less that betrayal is second nature to Iji but more like, he always knew it would come to this and he’s had a lot of time to come to terms with it
Lots of great stuff in here! One thing I'll point out is that in the 1.00 disc version of the game, Iji’s body wasn't covered in black flames, but that was added in a patch (and it has been kept that way ever since). So the color palette choice is absolutely intentional!
I also love the idea that Iji may have forged the Godslayer’s Greatsword! There are a lot of surprising connections between the Godskins and the Carians, so Iji unaliving himself with the black flame and being the Gloam-Eyed Queen’s master blacksmith fits right in. Personally, I think Rennala was a Gloam-Eyed Queen (GEQ could be a title and refer to more than one person, like Elden Lord), so I'm definitely interested in hearing your thoughts on Ranni and the GEQ!
There isn't destined death fire animation for trolls, try it. It apears as black flame on trolls.
@@EmilKlingbergthere is
There's an *absurd* amount of people who think the flame is just a mistake that FromSoft apparently doesn't seem to care to fix.
As for Blaidd... no, he was being subsumed by the madness. Go back to that scene when he attacks you and look at his eyes. They were red. That was the giveaway.
To be fair, they never fixed the Black Flame effect on the Gargoyle Black Blade's unique skill despite it being a Destined Death weapon. I think the flame on Iji is 100% intentional, but there is a precedent for the two being mixed up.
@@KG-jd6ok
Yes they did.
I used that sword for basically the entirety of my first playthrough (which I did not too long ago) and the Weapon Art releases a red slash.
@@LEO_M1 Look at the effect it triggers on the enemy itself and compare it to the one from the Black Knife or Maliketh's Sword.
Also points for the music. Never lose your soul Bandit.
I think Ranni saying "Blaidd, and Iji both... Art willing to give too much to me.
Yet they both understand. What lieth beyond the dark path...
That I must betray everything, and rid the world of what came before." Seems pretty straightforward.
Agreed, this was the most obvious theory for me as well, however, that first theory mentioned in this video is sound as well
no it doesn’t i don’t think Ranni killed them and im glad people are moving away from that theory
@@Zach-qo1on Who do we know for a fact uses the Black Knives, only one person. I'm sorry if your waifu Ranni senpai isn't who you want her to be. Literally anything else is speculation and here she is saying it. Iji knew he was going to die soon. It all fits without adding speculation.
I know right? This is such a stupid video to make. It's not even a theory. It's straight up implied that she's the one who kills Iji. She's literally the only one with a connection to the Black Knife Assassin's and that line straight up sells the point. Blaidd goes mad because she strayed from the path destined to her, and Iji has to die because he knows too much of her plan. Iji himself is content with this.
@@DioBrandoZaWarudoMudaMudaMuda I don't mind speculation and alternative theories. The video is fine to me but the guy who refuses to acknowledge what's obvious in the comments is pretty irritating.
You are one of the first content creators who I have found that have this similar theory! My difference is that the Flame of Death was originally the red flame we see wielded by Maliketh until Marika plucked it to make the Golden Order, making it the black/white flame of God slaying. My thoughts behind this is because the Order of the world used to be considered an unalloyed gold, which would be a reddish gold in hue. Though when Marika plucked destined death from the elden ring and gave it to Maliketh it turned into alloyed gold which takes on a pure goldish hue, like is mentioned in a lot of lore dialogue.
The motives and even allegiances of the assassins are still a mystery, but many cues suggest they work as a independent group. Like, why should they become so active when Ranni slays her fingers? I think we'd understand more if we knew how the baleful shadow factors in, who is clearly not Blaidd.
Can't wait for DLC's few answers and loads of new mysteries. 😂
For every answer, we will get 2 more mysteries, lol.
@@Cman04092Exactly! 😅
i never actually knew iji could die, every time i found him he was one of the few surviving characters in the series at the end of my game, i had no idea blaidd was trapped
I love that you’re doing this too now. You are a joy to listen to and this was super interesting! Thank you.
Ranni can't be the Gloam-Eyed Queen because the Gloam-Eyed Queen was literally a rival of Marika's before the Age of the Erdtree even began.
Honestly i feel like iji was attacked by one of the godskins, as he was someone who knew where ranni’s cursemark was.
Great analysis! I don't think I'd heard the theory of Iji's connection with the godslayer's greatsword and the idea that fire imbued swords are the trick to staving off the rot.
Fascinating to ponder!!!
Love you doing these lore vids on soulsbourne games. They actually pay attention to the details and they mean things. I think it’s a good outlet for the attention to detail.
Bruh I didn't know I could feel worse about Blaidd's death, but you managed to give me a new perspective that does. Very well done, but also I'm sad now lol.
Ranni being the gloam eyed queen seems like a bad theory, especially since the gloam eyed queen was around before Marika ascended to godhood, and only after she ascended was destined death sealed and started marikas golden order. All the before having children. And choosing the frenzied flame ending kinda hints at Melina being the gloam eyed queen, she also carried torrent who Ranni knows about so they could be connected, also gloam and dusk doesn't represent Ranni, Ranni represents the night sky, which is totally different.
I've always seen it as a synthesis of your two theories in that I think Ranni may have ordered Iji's death via the black knives. Not out of hostility, but rather that this contingency was always baked into the plan. With no loose ends, and nobody able to locate Ranni but the future lord, it would be the one way to secure her victory. We know that Ranni can compel the black knives, and Iji's dialogue suggests, even without finding Blaidd in gaol, that he knows his time is at an end, though not necessarily how. Ranni knew Blaidd and Iji would both give their lives for her, but couldn't clue them in on how it would inevitably happen, so that nothing could get in the way. It's ruthless and bittersweet, but ultimately necessary for what they would have wanted, her safety and ascension.
Actually I'm fairly certain that after the Night of Black Knives Ranni and her crew were at odds with the Black Knife Assassins and far from being in her service they were in open conflict with her ever since.
Consider the placement of Alecto, the Leader of the Black Knife Assassins Evergoal on the Moonlight Altar and Tiche's ashes description and the implications that Ranni imprisoned the Leader of the Black Knife Assassins right after She fled the capital after slaying Godwyn. So if the Black Knife Assassins truly were in her service why would Ranni do that especially since they hale from the Eternal cities where the Finger Slayer Blade Ranni needs to slay her 2 fingers in located? Indeed with the Black Knife Assassins being Allies it would make no sense that she ever had issues laying her hands on the finger Slayer blade at all.
No Ranni and the Black Knife Assassins were immediately on bad terms in the aftermath of Night of Black Knives. Why? I think it comes down to who the Black Knife Assassins did not slay that Night, namely Radahn. I think Ranni knew the whole time that Radahn holding back the Star suspended her fate, I mean Jerrin knew it, Selen knew it, Iji cursed himself for not realizing it, why wouldn't Ranni know her own fate's connection to the Stars? I think the Black Knife Assassins betrayed Ranni over that point and that's why Ranni locked Alecto up.
As to why the Black Knife Assassins would betray Ranni over Radahn I think there are 2 possibilities:
1.The Black Knife Assassins did so because Radahn holding back the Stars was protecting Sellia which secretly an above ground outpost for the Eternal cities from which the Black Knife Assassins haled from (Also likely where their concealing armor was made note how all the night spells are all about concealment)
2. The Black Knife Assassins had already secretly entered into the service of the lone Empyrean in opposition to Ranni, Miquella and sabotaged Ranni's plans by sparing Radahn on the one hand while using her talents to forge the Black Knives necessary to slay Godwyn toppling the Golden order in favor of Miquella's Order of Unalloyed Gold. After all the location where the most living Black Knife Assassins are to be found along with their Armor set guarding the secret seal to the Haligtree in Ordinia Also the ant riders in Nokstella are seemingly using Miquella's bewitching magic to control the ants (who humorously will attack their riders if the spell is broken)
More over I don't see why Ranni would bother having Iji and Blaidd killed by assassins in the 1st place, she knew them to be fully loyal to the death they'd slay themselves if she but asked them to do so. Hell Ranni had more faith in Blaidd than Iji did calling him a complete failure on the part of the 2 fingers and she's proven right on that count as Blaidd chooses suicide at the hands of the Tarnished precisely because he knows 1st hand the Tarnished is strong enough to do and have thus far proven themselves loyal to Ranni. Also like you said Iji knew his death was imminent and accepted it, so why kill some of the Assassins his mistress sent to slay him? It would be pointless. No those Assassins were not sent by Ranni or Iji as far as I can gather.
@@Terminalsanity Ranni was busy transferring her soul, and in hiding, in no position to seal anyone. The Night's Cavalry, sent by Morgott and allied with the Golden Order, pursued Alecto and Tiche, killed Tiche, and sealed Alecto. Tiche's ashes do not imply Ranni did anything. Yet we see the Night's Cavalry in pursuit in Liurnia in the story trailer while Ranni is speaking of the Black Knives plot. They are chasing Alecto and Tiche.
There is little to no evidence in the game that the Black Knives are allied with Miquella (the ones in Ordina are just as likely to be prisoners as they are allies, they're in an evergaol afterall). And unlike Ranni, Miquella has a valid reason to imprison the Black Knives (he was closest to Godwyn afterall)
The point I'm trying to make is that the presence of Black Knives in evergaols in both Ranni and Miquella's territory isn't enough evidence in and of itself to prove anything either way. We need more evidence to base a solid theory on. So I came to a different conclusion.
There is no proof that Ranni sealed Alecto, only minor circumstancial evidence. There is no proof that Miquella is allied with the Black Knives, only minor circumstancial evidence (and there's definitely no proof that Miquella is allied with the Godskins). There is, however, strong evidence that the Night's Cavalry pursued and sealed Alecto. And there is direct proof that Ranni works with both the Godskins and the Black Knives, who we know were working together during Iji' assassination due to the Blackflame on his corpse.
The Godskins are directly connected to Ranni through the presence of a Noble, surrounded by Sanctuary Stones, on her divine bridge, guarding both her corpse and her secret (this is the very same Noble who delivered the stolen Fragment of Destined Death to Ranni).
Ranni is the primary suspect of Blaidd and Iji's death, and nothing can convince me otherwise
@@jeffjefferson2853 No the Golden Order absolutely did not imprison Alecto in evergoal on the Moonlight Altar only Carian royals (or at the least someone with a Carian royal ring) like Ranni can access the Moonlight Alter and Tiche's ashes definitely imply Alecto was imprisoned that shortly after the Night of Black Knives. All signs point to Ranni locking Alecto up. Even if the Golder order had locked Alecto up which is all but certainly not the case why wouldn't have Ranni freed such a useful ally? No the Golden order locking up Alecto angle of yours does not work or make sense.
The Night's Calvary have nothing to do with the Night of Black Knives they're were initially Morgott's personal shock troops used in the defense of Lyndell who later became his anti-tarnished hit squad tasked with by Morgott with eliminating any Tarnished trying to become Elden Lord throughout the lands between. Its literally why his parting words in his as Margitt the Fell Omen guise is "Fear the Night".
I'd say the 4 living Black knife assassins guarding the seal to Miquella's Haligtree is pretty strong evidence that Black Knife Assassins were aligned with Miquella as you know its direct proof that at 4 of them were in his service. Now the ant riders in Nokstella using bewitching magic on their mounts that's indirect but intriguing evidence.
There only link between Ranni and the Godskins is the Godskin Noble on the Bridge to the divine tower where her original body with the curse mark containing a fragment of destined death and its presence there probably has more to do with the fragment of destined death/the Death rune contained in the curse mark on the Ranni's body than Ranni Herself as every location the Godskins appears have a connection to destined death/the Death rune (Yes even volcano manor as Rykard too possessed fragments of Destined death/the Death rune) as far I can tell the Godskins are trying to restore the power of their Black Flame by recovering fragments destined death/the Death rune so they can resume their God hunt.
Like I said before its seems pretty redundant for Ranni to send Assassins to kill Blaidd and Iji as they both made it very clear they were both perfectly will to Die for Rani Blaidd literally chooses to die by the Tarnished hand Iji recognizes and accepts his impending death without complaint so why would Iji waste his time fighting the Assassins and killing several of them? No if Ranni wanted them dead all she had to do was ask them to die for her and they would both do it without complaint or question. Sending assassins makes no sense on her part.
Also if the Black Knives were in Ranni's service why would getting to Nokron an Eternal city from which the Black Knife Assassins haled from and obtaining the fingerslayer blade there be such a challenge for Ranni? No for all the reasons I've outlined at length that post the Night of Black Knives the Black Knife Assassins were at odds with Ranni not working with her. You can debate the particulars of why that might be that much is very clear.
@@Terminalsanity It literally shows the Night's Cavalry in Liurnia when Ranni speaks of the Black Knives. The Black Knives did not have access to Nokron either, they were based in the Leyndell Eternal City now located in Deeproot Depths. The 4 Black Knives in the evergaol were likely sent to kill Miquella, and subsequently trapped in the Evergaol trying to reach the Haligtree. As for the Moonlight Altar, the Carians themselves sealed it off after everything went down. The ring is found with Rennala, not Ranni's Rise, Divine Tower, or Renna's rise, the places you'd expect if Ranni herself placed the Moonlight Altar seal.
How can you interpret a Godskin, surrounded by fragments of Faram Azula (home to Destined Death), on Ranni's Divine Bridge (only accessible with an object given by Ranni), as anything other than what it obviously is? This Godskin came directly from Faram Azula to deliver the fragment of Destined Death to Ranni. How else did she get it? Why is he surrounded by Sanctuary Stones if not because he rode a chunk of Faram Azula down onto Ranni's bridge?
Again, we can debate for ages, but I believe my evidence is more sound
But assuming you're correct about Ranni herself sealing Alecto. So what? The Black Knives were scattered, and Tiche was the only one with Alecto. The Black Knives likely assume their leader is dead. They have no reason to assume otherwise. And we are specifically told that the two were pursued after slaying Godwyn, and we are shown the Night's Cavalry in that very pursuit, and we know that the Cavalry works for Morgott who is loyal to the Golden Order.
@@jeffjefferson2853 Dude look at the story trailer clip again 1st it not actually clear those are Night's Calvary in the trailer The riders are hooded which the Night's Calvary never are and given the line they are shown over is in reference to the night a fragment of destined death was stolen I'd say those were mostly likely Black Knife Assassins fleeing the theft scene of the rune of death or heading to assassinate Godwyn with it because you know the next thing in the clip is the sound of Godwyn being stabbed. their location is unclear given the lack of swamps its not definitively Liurnia, hell since its pre-shattering it could be Caelid for all we know more to the point there's 0 indication they're chasing anyone or anything all that's clear is they are in a hurry.
The Eternal Cites have one shared culture I have no idea how or why you would assume the Black Knife Assassins could only access one of them when they haled from all of them. Seriously the denizens there even share some their moveset the the connection is literally overtly stated by Rogier.
The 4 Black Knives in the Seal in Ordinia are plainly guarding it along side the Albanuric archers there otherwise they would be shot by the archers when they appear when they attacks player or would have escaped long ago as with their invisibility would have made breaking the seal themselves absurdly easy. Seriously the archers plainly aren't prisoners there why would you assume the Black Knife Assassins were?More over there's spirit Black Knife Assassin calmly walking the street outside of the seal not to mention Ordinia shares the exactly same architecture as Sellia the implication being they were among the original inhabitants of Ordinia and helped build it.
The inaccessibility of the Moonight alter largely refutes your interpretation full stop there's no indication anyone aside from the carian royals even could access it. Sorry you need to concede that point you literally have no evidence you support your claim that the Night's Calvary imprisoned Alecto there but baseless conjecture. All tangible evidence points to Ranni being the one who imprisoned Alecto there, there' not even a suggestion that anyone else but her could have done it.
Same way I interpret the Godskin's forcing their way into Faram Azula which is way harder to get than the Divine Tower in Liurnia: They powerful/desperate enough to get that far to try reclaim their former Godslaying power. Makes more sense and is more consistent than your take of they were powerful enough to force their way into Faram Azula but had to have a connection to Ranni to get to the Bridge to the Divine Tower or fall from above the towers were sealed not the bridge at any rate nothing you said there refutes any aspect of my own take.
That's the thing though you have cited way less actual evidence than I have and frankly have made much more conjecture some of is literally you grasping at straws like that whole bit with the night's cavalry chasing the black knife assassins through liurnia Its not clear those were night's cavalry indeed the context would suggest they were mounted black knife assassins on their way to slay Godwyn not the night's cavalry chasing them down after the fact. Also there's 0 indication they they were chasing anything.
The Significance being if Ranni did lock up Alecto there would be a reason for her to do it and a pretty compelling reason at that given Alecto's status as Leader of the black knife Assassins. We know Ranni is fully capable & willing of getting rid of former allies the fate of Seluvis/Pidia makes that clear but she didn't do that for no reason, Seluvis/Pidia betrayed her. One would presume something similar happened with Alecto or Ranni got something significant from imprisonin Alecto . At any rate I think imprisoning their leader strongly indicates that the Black Knife Assassins and Ranni were not good terms post Night of Black Knives.
No we are not shown any such pursuit, its not even clear that was the Night's Calvary since all the riders are hooded unlike the Night's Calvary indeed the context of the scene strongly indicates those were the Black Knife Assassins on the their way to slay Godwyn since you know that what follows that scene not what precedes it. Also if that was supposed to be the Night's Calvary chasing down the Black Knife Assassins wouldn't they need to be carrying Sentry torches?
12:30 It actually isn’t deliberate. It’s a known glitch when it comes to the Destined Death effect not working on troll enemies models. It will show up as black flame due to originally DD used to Black flame specifically but was then differentiated from the godskin Black flame.
Ok so I've heard this, and honestly I would like it to be true lol but is there any definitive proof??
That's possible but then it's still strange that FromSoft still hasn't fixed this, at least for Iji's body.
@@Solibraebecause it’s based on a glitch that I think they’re unsure how to fix. But yeah he was supposed to be burning with DD I believe
@@wolfiemuse Well yes but are FromSoft really so incompetent that they can't change one fire effect for another? Unless they programmed it in a very strange way then I don't see why they wouldn't be able to change it.
@@Solibrae not incompetent - a result of complicated coding shit that when you have a bunch of team members working on the same project, everyone takes different shortcuts and sometimes shit like that can happen where a small inconsequential bug happens, but because it doesn’t affect the overall game experience, it’s not on the priority list of things to fix. Like… I dunno… the Arcane stat being broken for like 6 months? 🤣 but yeah I wouldn’t call that incompetent I would call that an unfortunate oversight that FS doesnt need to pay someone to go figure out why that’s happening and fix it, only to end up causing another problem by fixing that one. It’s harmless.
Nice video! Cool to see you cover both my favourite universes!
I really like the idea that he offed himself. Though I have a more darker thought.
Iji dies in flames, but he also dies in the pose of a puppet. If we could answer who puppeteered him we might have an answer to how he got so much misinformation and had inside information.
1. There was once an assassin under the guise of Blaidd and there is a real Baleful shadow that looks like him. Iji may be an imposter these days.
2. He wears a mirror helm which is of the Nox. Nox would willingly become puppets (just like Ranni aswell). So Iji might be a puppet of Ranni that was ended willingly after his service was finished and he felt shame for his actions as War councillor. A title that most likely was a front to have access to his smithing.
Would be interesting to see your thoughts on Marika and her schemes. I believe that she is Ranni in a sense, and rune of the unborn is how she's been eternal. Plus the wordplay for Nox and the eternal cities. A clever way to get rid of the influence of the two fingers and not get her rune impaled (by Messmer?) so that she can be born anew.
amazing understanding of the lore, keep it up bud
The black corpse wax weapon skill will also animate the black flames instead of the flames of the rune of death upon hitting a target. I think that, just as with the black wax sword, the black flames on Iji were an oversight and theyre meant to be the black/red flames of the rune of death on him, since the Black Knife Assassins dont use black flame incantations
Actually Gargoyle's Blackblade is not bugged. It's just a subtle hint that Malekith is actually the Gloam-eyed queen.
@@GraatiMalekith isn’t the Gloam Eyed Queen, he was given the rune of destined death by Marika.
Keep this Elden Ring content coming Bandit. This is extremely good stuff.
Really good video. I’ve been looking for what could have happened to Iji.
13:35 always LOVED the music for the Forest Temple!
This is actually a cool theory. I appreciate the transparency with speculation and tying the story both to characterization and environmental storytelling.
I cant wait to see what you cook up with the DLC lore theories! Ngl if this didnt come out before ToTk i think TotK would have felt better. This is what I was hoping Tears was gonna be. Finally glad i picked this game back up after beating ToTk, i never beat it when it came out, got to radan and got filtered.
a lot of people want to blame Ranni for both of them dying, but from her words alone she never wanted that she actually said she loves them before she goes to her journey and i don’t think someone who said all that of unknowingly if they will survive or not would say something like that.
Could it just be since we stole the treasure of the night cities (the fingerslayer blade) that they saw that as an act of treachery so they sent the black knives who are scions of the night cities
One thing to note is Rani used the black knives in order to perform her ritual. It was also stated that Carian Manor was abandoned for quite some time only for Rani to recently return. It could have been simply the assassins still have bad blood regarding how events turned out between them and they picked up on the same rumors we did and went after Rani, Blaidd and Iji to settle the score.
the alchemy cosmology inspirations the lore comes from, is from metaphysics and is one heck of a rabbit hole. Its in Kingdom Hearts, Zelda and many others. Persona. Erd Tree is the same concept as the Lifestream in ff7 and same with kingdom hearts which is called "the anima mundi" or world soul. Ive been doing research on metaphysics and i do occasional KH and Zelda lore stuff but only as a hobby really. Def recommend you look into Metaphysics! its a cool rabbit hole to go into for sure. Cuz the Moon, sun light and dark with the DLC Shadow of the Erd Tree fits in with all what i explained before too.
Blaidd would be "a shadow"
darkness
Ranni is the moonlight which is still light in a way. a new light, different from the golden order light of gold.
Ijis weapon has 7 circles which if we look into alchemy there are 7 planets that are tied to different elements. and Elden Ring is heavy in the Alchemy like we all know.
7 sages in Zelda and 7 princess of light in kingdom hearts. Godwyn is a body with no soul... a "nobody" in kingdom hearts terminolgy.
same concepts.
If light is life, then darkness aka shadow would be...
which is tied closely to sleep
and side note the fact when we get to Ranni's temple feels VERY Forest Temple like and so great choice of music!
so what do i think? The fire makes sense losing its power if its sealed, it could alter the color, but him MAKING it? thats interesting too.
man i cannot wait for the DLC and watch some of your lore videos after it drops! Its gonna be like when the game came out all over again! im so excited! lol
Ranni's quest line and ending sound like the realm of darkness and end of the world in KH1 when you put it that way. The moon symbolism too. huh.
Wonder if Godwyns soul is somewhere in the Shadow Lands.
I wouldn't even be surprised if Iji never had *direct* Contact with the assassins and had actually planned to betray them as a way to tie up loose ends. It'd fit his behaviour of keeping secrets.
One could argue that he had planned to kill all of the assassins after they'd taken out Blaidd as a way to protect Ranni and the Player Character, but hearing the news of Blaidds loyalty in the end might have simply been too much mentally.
Another way you could see it is that, since Blaidd took out multiple assassins, if Iji knew he couldnt kill them all himself, he still knew you would be far stronger than the assassins after beating Blaidd, choosing to take out a few and then "repent" for attempting to kill blaidd through Suicide by BKA.
Blaidd being Ranni's half-brother seems to me like how the shadows are. Take Maliketh for instance, who is referred to in a similar way.
As for who killed Iji my first thought when running into his body in game was that Merika killed him. This is due to her own connections to the Black Knives.
I can't place an exact motive, maybe its because Merika is trying to find and\or kill Ranni.
Great video, awesome reflections on one of my favourite enigmas.
Tl;dr: Iji was a puppet.
To best draw conclusions, I think it's important to note his posture upon death is that of an inanimate puppet. The same position of the idle puppet corpses in Seluvis' hidden chamber.
In fact, after Ranni's departure, both Seluvis & Iji revert to this position upon their deaths.
This does not happen to Pidia. The alleged Albinauric is found dead, crumpled on the floor.. bleeding red. Albinauric blood is silver. This is also not a mistake
There are some literal puppet master, string pulling charades involved that we're only barely indirectly privy to at best.
It's my best determination that Iji was a puppet. The Black Flame was used to sever him from slavery upon death, either by himself if known, or arranged bittersweetly by someone who did.
Option 3: Iji was killed by Godskins and the Black Knives died defending him. The only person powerful enough to defeat the Godskins is Maliketh and ourselves. I do still think Iji sent the BKs to neutralize Blaidd, but it wouldn't make sense for them to turn on him for helping Ranni slay her Two Fingers. That outcome aligns with all of their actions so far. Ranni wants to bring the age of stars and dark moon, which is chill with the Nox.
The only part I'm iffy on is why the Godskins specifically target Iji. I do think Melina is more closely associated with the Gloam Eyed Queen than Ranni, who is instead closer to Renna the Snowy Crone/Witch. Iji would have been frozen instead of burned or we would have had some linking evidence if she was responsible. That said, Godskins appear all over the place. Perhaps some are being employed by the Two Fingers after their defeat to Maliketh, while others are scattered much like the Crucible Knights.
Elden Ring theories/lore? I'm here for it. I'll sub right now if you keep doing them.
I’lø sub right this fuckin instant if you swear an oath to never cease development of new videos pertaining to elden ring lore
I can't believe I never considered what kind of weapons Iji or even Hewg forged that we might have picked up from a corpse or a chest lol. Now that I've seen this video, the Godslayer's Greatsword havin no edge and just chillin' in Caelid (reminds me of Greatsword, my beloved) Tower basement, I could have faith in that theory that Iji crafted the weapon. It's very much like From to have low-profile NPCs actually turn out to be super important in ways that you think you see, you just don't see all of it until you have hindsight.
The fact that i didnt follow through with legit any quests my first playthrough and still loved the game is crazy, really wish i took my time with npcs
The weapon skill corpse wax cutter has a very similar particle effect to the death flame but applys the black flame effect when hitting an enemy. I’m not sure if there is a correlation there that may support your first idea for ijis death. May be worth looking into
One theory that most people talked about is that Ranni is the one that sended the assassins.
Iji may have said that, because he adviced her to clean up of before she takes her place as a goddess,
Including Iji himself, to both make sure he isnt a threat and to give him a peaceful death, since we don't know what scuff could be happening after the ending.
Also some people just think that black knife assassins felt like saying ''f you'' to Ranni because now Destined Death is back, meaning they are in danger of using their dagger.
I will say, another point in favor of Ranni being the Gloam-Eyed Queen is the Godskin Noble patrolling the bridge before the Divine Tower of Liurnia, where Ranni's discarded flesh and the half-wheel wound of the centipede lay. She's the one who gives you the Carian inverted statue, no one else had access to that bridge and the tower except for her.
Iji hasn't stopped being my favorite character in the game. I stopped playing the main storyline to make sure that he stayed alive and happy out where you first meet him. Seeing my brother play with no Iji was just too sad.
What about his ‘puppet pose’? Maybe Iiji was a puppet. Maybe the black knives were actually seeking the puppet master for crimes against humanity. And blithe got in the way
Iji killed himself, that's why all the things you find afterward are him lamenting his decisions.
Melina is the gloam eyed queen, or at least one of the single best candidates for it - the eye we see is not the color of the eye hidden, but the beast eye we receive from Maliketh matches it. Maliketh defeated the GEQ - probably taking an eye as a trophy. The eye quivers close to destined death - another connection to Melina and her obsession with said thing. Her being "burned and bodiless" lends to Marika's need to punish people in really poetic ways, see: nomads being forced to stay in one place and wither away into death underground, using the rune of death to kill a godkiller isn't too far off, and we know the rune of death conveys itself through flames. People seem to think the Gloam Eyed Queen was an Empyrean who went after demigods - no, she went after gods. Maliketh was the one known as death of the demigods - not GEQ. From the Godskin Swaddling Cloth - it literally says the apostles will grow to become the "death of the gods" not the demigods. This alone is a big reason why GEQ would be a threat that needed to be taken out by Marika - she could kill Marika, legitimately. She was the embodiment of the rune Marika removed from the Elden Ring. Was she a daughter of Marika? Possibly. A sister? Also possible. All we know is that she was an Empyrean outside of the influence of Marika that wielded a god slaying flame that was imbued with the power of the rune of death and it wasn't until after her defeat by Maliketh that the rune of death itself was sealed away. Now all of that is to say, this is why it's most likely that Iji killed himself - the comment about the weapons he crafted not rotting pretty much means it's the blackflame ability. Even the Redmanes can only hold back the scarlet rot with their fire, but if any fire can outright deny it, it would be the godslaying black flames.
Though we do need to keep in mind there's a reason GEQ is associated with gloam/twilight/purple/blue, the ghost flame could play a role in all of this too. But where we see legit purple flames is St. Trina :^)
St. Trina of the Cradlesong. "The Gloam-Eyed Queen cradles newborn apostles swaddled in this cloth" Idk there's some weird connections here. But you could say one is just meant to be a stand in for lullaby, which makes sense, considering the sleep connections.
I'd like to listen to your Gloam-Eyed Queen theories!
The Gloam-Eyed Queen is Melina (who is actually just a spiritual manifestation of the Demi God Miquella, Malenia's accursed twin brother)
Ooh I love that idea that he imbued his weapons with a type of destined death, perhaps by using the flame itself for his forging. Ranni did after all steal a part of the rune of destined death from maliketh to make the black knives.
I think the Black Knife assassins where there to defend Iji from whoever or whatever killed him. Black flame may have once been the same as the death flames but in the present it is not. I think the black flames make it pretty clear the black knives did not kill him.
I like how this video came out right as I finished the questline
You didnt bring it up, tho its totally and verifiably not connected, but it is interesting how Iji used a supernatural flame to forge his weapons, just like the weapons smithed in the Souls games. Obviously not the same thing, but there were key items to give to blacksmiths that were embers, just a tanjentially interesting tidbit.
Iji's death pose looks almost like he's finally at peace compared to the death poses of the BKA around him
like who dies on their knees while looking up at the sky?
someone who was murdered deliberately? or someone who chose death
just some food for thought
Regarding the black flames on Iji's corpse, here's what I think the most likely explanation is:
As you say, the source of power for the godslaying black flames was the rune of destined death, which the GEQ wielded before it was claimed and sealed in Maliketh. Throughout the text of the game, destined death is consistently and repeatedly referred to as black and not red. The *black* knife assassins. Maliketh the *black* blade. The *black* weapons of Maliketh's gargoyles.
Yet I don't think the "black flames" used to be red like destined death. Note that the incantation "black blade" claims that it "creates an illusory black blade"; yet the blade in game is very clearly red. Additionally it states that the "blade was *once* imbued with Destined Death". This indicates that, like the godslaying black flame, it no longer has the power of destined death. Yet it is still red despite being referred to as black.
So it is unlikely that the godslaying black flame used to be red and is now its current color. If it had previously been red, why wouldn't it have been known as the "godslaying red flame"?
The fact that the red color is not referenced in text anywhere leads me to speculate that early in development the godslaying flame and destined death flames were much more similar in color or maybe even used the same effect. As development continued they decided this was too confusing or kept adding pizzazz to the destined death flame until eventually it ended up with a mostly red instead of mostly black effect.
Now, why red? Specifically the destined death effect is red and black and GOLD. Now, who do these colors perfectly represent? Maliketh.
BLACK is the color of death. We see this consistently in text and every single flame associated with death features black in its effect.
GOLD is the color of order. Maliketh is of course completely devoted to the Golden Order, to the point where he is still faithfully upholding its cause despite feeling utterly abandoned by Marika.
So what is RED? Well something often overlooked when discussing Maliketh is that he is clearly a beastman. In both his beast clergy and true forms he is found in ruins associated with Farum Azula, an area filled with beastmen and ancient dragons who all use RED magic. This faction is highly associated with the crucible, and this color alignment is further strengthened through the descriptions of the crucible knights, which reference a "red tinge" to their otherwise golden armor.
So the red black and gold effect was chosen to represent Maliketh specifically, not because destined death is inherently red, but because MALIKETH is.
All of this is to say that maybe this character arc was implemented early in the development cycle when the two flames were similar. Then it simply never got updated along with the rest of the destined death effects and was not caught in time for release. As for why it hasn't been "fixed" if it were an oversight..... well, I don't think From Software is in the habit of doing that. Miyazaki's entire storytelling philosophy is to recapture the mystery of reading fantasy novels in a language you don't entirely understand. So these kinds of discrepancies are likely viewed as "happy accidents" precisely because they spur the kind of speculation and discussion we see in this video.
Interesting and thought provoking, especially when you consider that a Godskin Nobel is guarding the Divine tower that you discover Ranni’s body. I also want to note the position of Iiji’s head/neck, like it’s been broken in addition to the lingering Black Flames. The Black Knife assassins are either a clue or intentional misdirection. Keep in mind, Ranni has shown great resolve in accomplishing her goals, and I would like to speculate on some dialogue she tells the Tarnished, “Even when I turned my back upon the Two Fingers.
Blaidd remained my loyal ally.
Heh. Though he was created a vassal for an Empyrean,
He was a colossal failure, on the part of the Two Fingers.
Blaidd, and Iji both... Art willing to give too much to me.
Yet they both understand. What lieth beyond the dark path...
That I must betray everything, and rid the world of what came before.
Ah, should I add thee to the list?”
Makes me wonder if this was her tending to any loose ends. 🤔
Honestly I Always thought the Godskin Noble was there for the same reason the Godskin Duo are in Farum Azula, they're trying to find a way to restore the full power of their Black flame by retrieving fragments of the death rune, hell the Noble and Monk probably at Volcano manor for the same reason as Rykard had been gifted some fragments of the Death rune as well from Ranni.
your video made want to play the game now... there is so much lore and theory content that I have play it so I can catch up
great vid! The Seppuku by Flame take seems most plausible to me.
and yes pls Gloam-Eyed Queen vid! am wondering if corporeal-body Ranni went as Gloam-Eyed Queen when embodied vs her spectre body present "form".
what ultimately, like what hexactly burned corporeal-body Ranni to crisps, back when she ditched her mortal composure?
so much fun watching this!
I don’t think iji put the blackknife assassins up to killing Blaide. I think they wanted revenge against ranni for betraying them and throwing them to the wolves after the night of the black knives. She even has one of their leaders sealed away.
I remember being so sad when I discovered his body, being part of ranni’s crew was one of my favorite quests in the game and I was sad that by the end of it only you and ranni are alive
I think the simplest explanation is the answer. The only npc's who can use blackflame are godskin apostles (or nobles) and Gideon. Now seeing that we have a noble waiting outside Ranni's tower where her body is more likely they are behind the death of Iji. As for the black knife assassins. I think the fact that their leader in imprisoned near Ranni moonlight alter we can logically say that the black knives and Ranni aren't on good terms anymore
That being said my brain jumps to the godskins and the black knives being allied together
Also I think it's plausible that the baleful shadow invader is in fact Blaidd, though I dont necessarily believrethats the case. Invaders are implied to be separate from the the real NPC in some sense. We are in fact twice ivaded by imprisoned NPCs: Dung Eater and Vyke, the latter of which is locked up in an Evergaol just like Blaidd.
I do believe Blaidd did in fact turn (partially) mad: he has great respect for you, so he shouldn't immediately try to kill you even if he was in despair. While red eyes have pretty vague meanings in Fromsoft games, it's worth noting it's the same color as a hostile invader, and that he doesn't have red eyes when you fight him at any other time.
It's not too far fetched that he'd still be able to talk and keep his sense of self, as Maliketh also retains a semblance of sanity despite Marika for sure having triggered his failsafe
So I do believe Blaidd is in fact at Ranni's tower because he tried to kill her, going mad due to his inner conflict and being unable to fulfill his task
Love the background zelda music. Oh, and the video content itself was awesome too. :D
Okay this theory along with the ones presented at the end are like, so convincing...
I think it was Academy of Glintstone sorcerers, if you go to Sellia you fight academy students there and the Nox are guarding Lusats Staff, and considering Caria and the Academy are still fighting, it gives me clues that the Academy hired the Assassins
I could see Iji being able to use godslayer flame in his weapons for two reasons really: 1). His ancient knowledge. Similar to how we can learn spells and incants from books, his book he is always reading might contain the knowledge to be able to imbue weapons with either godslayer or destined death. Part two kinda adds onto it, his loyalty to Ranni. He sent us to get the fingerslayer blade for Ranni, before she could showing he knew she planned on killing what was (essentially) a god. If anyone (besides the BK assassins) knew how to make the flames, it would be him. Its also kinda funny in a dark way imagining he was bonking himself to set himself on fire too lol since his weapons were always blunt.
Are we sure he died fighting with them, or could he have died with them? As in he was working with them for another contract or plot and someone killed them all? Apologies if I missed something covering that. My guess would be the Godskins killed them all in an attack on Ranni, but this is based only on vague notions.
Its pretty clear he died fighting them.
I wonder if the assassins were sent by Ranni. Blaidd was mad as hell because of the betrayal and couldn’t reconcile it within himself.
Iji as war councillor suspected something wrong but instead suspected Blaidd as the threat, and wanted Blaidd put down in case he would go mad and kill Ranni.
Iji didn’t realise Ranni’s betrayal until he learned of the assassins sent to kill Blaidd. Upon learning of it he knew of the betrayal by Ranni to both he and Blaidd. He knew then of the guilt of serving her for so long and for all of the atrocities committed along the way.
Iji dispatches the assassins and knows that it’s all too much and he ends his own life.
Melina is the Gloam eyed queen. Renna (Ranni’s witch mentor) is the Gloam eyed queen, disguised as a witch, who planted Iji (her war counselor and blacksmith) by Ranni’s side.
Melina is the “brainwashed” version of the Gloam-eyed queen. Marika neutralized her and sealed her Gloam Eye shut. Marika filled the other eye with grace so that she will be guided by the grace. This is why Melina can’t remember her past or her purpose. Melina is one of Marika’s “discarded” demigod children.
In the Frenzied Flame ending, the Elden ring is destroyed, and with the loss of the Greater Will’s grasp on the Lands Between, the seal on Melina’s eye is broken and we see her gloam eye, the other eye isn’t golden anymore.
Ranni & the Gloam eyed Queen have the same exact purpose. They want to rid the Lands Between of all Outer Gods.
Yo! theory here... you say that Iji Probably imbued his weapons with fire and that's what fended off the scarlet rot but you forget one fact that unalloyed gold is also something that cures scarlet rot. I think it is very possible he also used Gold Which I believe is a very dull metal as well. Again just thought id put that out there.
Also check out the Gargoyle's Blackblade, it's Unique Skill: Corpse Wax Cutter, not an Apostole weapon but damaged enemies with the Black&White fire and normal attack looks like the Red&Black fire
It’s also cool how destined death and black flame has somewhat similar game mechanics, reducing hp over time, but destined death being more powerful plus the max hp reduction
I have a theory on why iji's weapons will dull but not wither away against the Scarlet rot. I believe it's the same as when we try to use a weapon that also uses int and/or faith but we don't have the stat to match it. But also in general, when you try to alter a weapon into a different damage type with the whetstone it's physical damage will always decrease.
can't agree
When you get Blaidd out of the evergaol, he was completely sane. He could talk, and he was confused, but he still trusted Iji and the player at that time. He went crazy because Ranni was waging war against the two fingers, and the fingers messed up Blaidd's head.
And the assassins were following the order of the fingers too, because the fingers also got them with its mind controlling power. The fingers simply did everything it could to stop Ranni when Ranni got that Fingerslayer Blade and went on her way to kill her fingers. The blade was a key, a symbol, meaning that Ranni chose to subvert the system run by the fingers. Taking the blade was her act of waging war, and also the particular point in time that the fingers started to make its attempts to stop Ranni and her staffs.
MAN Miquella being dead(?) makes me think to travel to the Shadow of the Erdtree you must die. The land of the dead which was sealed away after Marika rose to godhood and brought immortality by removing the rune of death. Miquella being talked to by Mohg makes me think he is somehow alive, and the sheer amount of dead people (average fromsoft npc questline) we may see at the DLC makes it hard to believe.
Ive always wondered if maybe melina is ranni's double. She has the other eye yeah that obvious, but both the omen twins got spectral doubles of themselves and ranni is also a child of marika who was an empyrian. If she is the gift that radagon gave to renalla than her mother could be marika which would explain a lot of melinas voice lines. And if ranni is the gloam eyed queen then it also makes sense why melina is there at the end of the flame of frenzy ending. Plus melina is the one who gave us torrent and right after that is when ranni shows up to give us the spirit calling bell. I dunno. Some stuff lines up but im sure it could all be refuted, just a cool idea.
I think Melina is the Gloam eyed queen and another secret child of Marika and was left burned and bodiless after she was defeated by Maliketh leaving her half dead on Marika's ordes to act as a part of a contingency plan along with the Tarnished and Hewg for Marika ti end her life and her order on her terms not the Greater will's consequently I don't think she's Ranni's double but her half sister whose fate and condition inspired Ranni to strike upon a similar path in opposition to Marika.
I kinda' always assumed this was like a quest thing that didn't make it into the final game but they just forgot to remove the bit where Iji dies. Kinda' felt like it just happened randomly when you were playing the game, but I guess y'all pieced together exactly what triggers it since last I played Elden Ring.
Dull is a comparison to typical weapons. They may be working as intended & the forge is significant source of fire.
I never even noticed the assassins near Iji when he died. When I spoke to him after fighting Blaidd, I rested at the nearby grace and then he was immediately on fire. I always assumed he did it to himself.
I have never come across the theory that Ranni could have been the Gloameyed Queen, besides, there's slightly more tangible evidence that it's Melina who was the Gloameyed Queen. All of the things said here are coincidental at best, though I won't go so far as to outright call it wrong. Melina acts as kindling, she herself says she's "burned and bodiless", she has scars on her hands, all giving us a clear connection to some fire, and of course there's her eye, as seen in the frenzied flame ending if you inherit that flame before sacrificing Melina and burn yourself in her stead. There's also her line, something about delivering what the Frenzied Lord deserves: Destined Death, which is something the Gloameyed Queen could wield before it was separated from the Elden Ring.
I find it more likely that the Gloameyed Queen was someone we never see anything about, rather than Ranni being her before she slayed her own empyrian flesh (though I find it even MORE likely that Melina was the Gloameyed Queen pre spirit form).
As for Iji's death, it's either just something the devs still haven't fixed (it did take quite a few patches for the map to reflect the world as seen around Jarburg), or there was a Godskin apostle/noble involved with it. Honestly, other than theories, there's no evidence that the destined death effect of the Black Knifes turns black like blackflame looks or that the assasins ever use blackflame itself.
The body Ranni uses is based off the Snow Witch Renna who was her mentor meaning it was Renna who looks like melina or Gloom eyed queen for that basis. Remember that Ranni can start out as calling herself Renna while giving the spirit caller bell and spirit wolf summon. Renna is the one who told Ranni about the Dark moon, showing some power against the Golden Order. Renna with spiritual powers, which ranni tried to emulate with the bell and wolves, can hint connection with the spirit body Melina as one is snow while the other is fire. The DLC trailer ends with a lady speaking to take the hand and they won't be far behind could be Renna playing a role like Melina guiding us into the land.
This is assuming that the snowy crone’s name is Renna. That’s not a widely accepted thing. Some people believe Ranni had other siblings we do not know about; why would the tower be on Carian property otherwise?
@@wolfiemuseBecause Ranni is royalty(and the daughter of Rennalla).
Love the OOT forest temple music in a video about elden ring
I''d like to propose another solution for the "How did Iji got the flames to use on himself"
He made the Knives.
Ranni did the Hex to inbue the knives with Destined Death but she isn't a Blacksmith. Iji is.
Also, He is using a Troll's Hammer as a Smithing Tool. The Hammer is imbued with Fire.
He didn't need to Make The Weapon of a God to have access to a God Killing Flame; (Although it is stated that the Golden Order withdrew destined death from the previous Empyrian maybe God [The Gloam-Eyed Queen] allowing for reincarnation [Maybe] therefore Alowing for Melina or Ranni or anyone else to be the reincarnation of the Gloam-eyed Queen. And If she was an Epyrian then She should be an Epyrian Now IF THEY DIDN'T KILLED HERE BEFORE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GOLDEN ORDER)
I think this makes a lot of sense overall. My one concern though is why Blaidd didn’t revolt. My theory is it’s because Ranni’s body was already dead. He was born of her body, not her soul. So when she killed her body, she could no longer betray the greaterwill freeing Blaidd from his duties.
As for Iji’s death. I think the snowy crone Ranni’s mentor and her secret teacher was the Glaom-eyed Queen meaning Ranni had ties to her and her magic. I think Iji used the black flames to kill himself and the ones around him. I am listening to your video while typing and you just said this same thing yourself. Lol would make sense if Iji forged the Black Flame Greatsword though. I totally agree with that.
The architectural and iconography all mentioned in great videos from Tarnished Archeology's channel prove that gloam eyed queen was the queen to pre-Marika era, most probably married to Placidusax (the elden lord in pre-Marika era). Who was overthrown after which Marika's new way of birth and life without death took over. Since these events happened when Godfrey was still in Marika's service and Radagon wasn't yet a thing...his daughter being gloam eyed queen doesn't fit in the timeline.
I love the use of the OOT Forest Temple Music.
Counter theory. The assassins weren't hired to kill Iji and Blaidd. They were hired by Ranni to protect them from agents of the gloam eyed queen. The greater will might have tapped the gloam eyed queen to help bring Ranni to heel. She's an emperyean too, after all. Blaidd was already mad at this point, so no nobles or apostles would have been sent after him. But in his madness, he absolutely would have turned on his own bodyguards, which explains their corpses around him. He killed them himself. Iji's mirror helm was on his anvil, not his body. This tells me he took it off himself, specifically so he could be found by the greater will and it's agents, in this case, the godskins. The noble you fight outside the divine tower in liurnia could have been directed there by the greater will or they could have pieced together the whereabouts of the cursemark of death, just like we did and we got there at the same time. They probably wanted it to repair the rune of death.
Oh boy, it’s the Shadow Temple and Under Well music.
Regarding the Black Flame, and I am aware this could be either evidence of FROM's lack of attention to detail or it could be evidence that the weakened Destined Death is just Black Flame; The Gargoyle's Black Blade has a Weapon Art; Corpse Wax Cutter which is supposedly connected to Maliketh but inflicts Black Flame instead of Destined Death. This is despite the weapon, when wielded by the Gargoyles, clearly using Destined Death.
Regarding Iji, there is one option you're not considering; He could have been murdered by the Black Knife Assassins on the orders of the Greater Will. Yes, by the time he dies Ranni's Two Fingers are dead, but All Two Fingers are explicitly in constant contact with the Greater Will. The Greater Will will feel Ranni's Fingers die, put 2 and 2 together, and then call in the hits.
Keep in mind that Iji doesn't actually die until you actually tell him about what happened to Blaidd. And one major detail is that while it is still visible on his model, you don't actually get his Mirror Helm from his body, you get it from his Anvil. And Mirror Helms are specifically crafted to ward away the awareness of the Greater Will.
I've always taken the implication to be that he took his Mirror Helm Off and walked into the middle of the path and just waited for his fate to catch up to him.
I'm very VERY certain the swords Iji smiths are the collossal greatswords. The one you have on your back the entire time, and is also sticking out of the ground right next to him. If you actually look at the sword, it does appear to look completely dull, and have a much wider angle on the "cutting" edge.
This also fits entirely with Gutsu's sword (the original inspiration for that sword), his own description of it is;
"That thing was too big to be called a sword. Too big, too thick, too heavy, and too rough, it was more like a large hunk of iron."
On top of that, the area where you find that greatsword is Caelid, which is also in line with it being able to resist the rot.
I thought Iji killed himself to meet Blaidd in the after life as he said he would see him soon when finding out he died
Make that GEQ vid! I enjoyed this video tho. I think your prediction on Iji taking his own life is sound!