Thank you for watching! Which ending did you get, and which one has your preference? ^^ Quick disclaimer: It was brought to my attention yesterday that a lot of Ranni's dialogue is apparanly mistranslated from Japanese. Unfortunately I was already too far into production by that time. If new revelations come out that completely contradict my theory, I can make a follow up video in the future.
I got the age of stars ending too and I’m going to get the frenzied flame ending on ng+ xD and maze also a question: will u consider making a vid focus on the shadowbound beasts like maliketh and blaidd?
@@MonsterMaze great! now I’m looking forward to it! these two are my fav characters in this game so I’m very interested in the shadowbound beasts lore xD
For me, Ranni's ending feels like a reset on a world to be one without interference from the gods, so people can live and create their own fate so what happened to the likes of Blaidd and Iji never happens again.
You're right. Your interpretation is backed up by the Japanese translation. Ranni is taking her new Order of Stars far away so it cannot be tampered with and nothing like The Shattering can ever happen again. She knows the people of the lands between are bound to order so she won't destroy it, instead it'll be taken far away from ambitious hands. To do this she will have to face the long, dark, lonely chill of the night but, at the very least, she'll have her Lord and Consort by her side.
Recently it came to light that Ranni's final dialogue at the end was mistranslated due to time crunch. Instead of what was implied in the English dub, the Japanese dub implies that the influences of the Outer Gods would be removed from the world and kept far beyond the stars so long as she and her consort lived. I'll need to find the video that discusses this in detail, but it's a much better ending than what the English mistranslation leads you to think.
The thing I like about Elden Ring and Bloodborne are that the cosmic horror aspects are not the main draw of the story. It's subtle until the curtains pull back. Both start off as innocent as Dark Fantasy and Victorian Fantasy (respectively) can be, it's only until later in the do we realize the true threats in game, how much deeper everything goes, and how screwed this world is unless someone takes a stand.
We are 100% on the same page here. I love that it's not the main focus of the story. It's a story of war between various powers trying to gain control. And a hero rising up to set things straight. Meanwhile, there are these cosmic deities using the Land Between as a chessboard. But that takes place on in the background. And for good reason. These deities are likely so far beyond human understanding, we can't really fathom what they are thinking and why they do what they do. They are not relatable from the perspective of a regular mortal. Hence, the focus lies on these different factions and characters. It's beautiful!
Normally in lovecraftian settings, even like Bloodborne, there is no escape from the power of the great ones, etc. But in this case it actually seems like the primordial void which life comes from doesn’t have to do with the outer gods, meaning shutting them out in favour of JUST life that arises from it is hypothetically possible. They must be called Outer Gods for that reason?
Yeah it's hard to know what Outer Gods do or think. They are so far beyond anything we can grasp. We don't even know if there's any emotion behind it.Only the Frenzied Flame scares me honestly. The Greater Will does have it's downsides, but at least it seems to care about order and the concept of life evolving. If anything, most of the atrocities are done by humans.
@@MonsterMaze There appears to exist one true God in the world of Elden Ring, but he has been fractured into the Greater Will, who embodies order and the Frenzied Flame of chaos. The Two and Theee Fingers are just part of a full hand
I enjoyed Ranni's ending but I LOVED the chaos ending. We've had "bad" endings before in these games but dear god the sheer scale has never been felt this intensely before. The complete lack of dialogue sold me too. Just the horror of becoming a lord of Chaos then ending it with the final image and the screaming. EVERYTHING Had just ended and I felt that more then any other ending
There is dialogue though... If Melina is still alive (ie, you burn yourself to burn the tree instead of Melina), the frenzied flame ending ends with Melina swearing to hunt you down and bring you "destined death".
I believe when the Tarnished becomes the Lord of Chaos, they become a being that can burn the world and kill all Outer Gods. It helps reset the world to when it was only influenced by the One Great/the Primordial Crucible. This was the age when there was only one group of followers: the ancient dragons. Any future lords of the Lands Between will no longer have to worry about the Greater Will nor other Outer Gods that could cause fractures/differences.
So this is what I have put together regarding the "ages", "gods" and "elden lords": The lands between are affected by multiple influences: 1) An Outer God 2) A God/Divinity Empowered/Guided by the Outer God 3) An Elden Lord who is consort to the God/Divinity Mohg wants to bring about an age guided by the Mother of Truth/Formless Mother, but as he isn't Empeyrean he cannot be the Divinity so kidnapped Miquella. He plans to replace the Greater Will with the Formless mother, raise Miquella to the God/Divinity and become consort/Elden Lord himself. Miquella rejected the Golden Order and its fundamentalism, but chose to try and reject all Outer Gods, recognising their "meddling" as being a major contributor to the suffering of the Lands Between. So he creaties the Haligtree and his needle which would prevent their meddling. Melenia is also possibly being influenced by another Outer God, but this is something she seems to be resisting as she has faith in Miquella. The Scarlet Rot will eventually transform her into a Goddess of Rot "As Miquella hopes to cure Melenia's disease with his needle, it is strongly hinted this is the case. Either that or the Greater Will is the one who has cursed/blessed Melenia with the rot. Rykard is also rebelling against the Gods, but he wants to do this by consuming them and gain their power, thus usurping them that way. The ultimate Blasphemy as it completely goes against the rules governing the powers of the Lands Between. The Frenzied Flame is pure chaos, so also doesn't follow any of the rules. It just wants to burn everything down. Its agents Shabriri and Hyetta lie and manipulate the Tarnished/Player to achieve their goals (they are both using dead bodies of other NPCs who clearly died at the end of their questlines, and pretending that they are trying to fix a mistake made by the Greater Will). It is still definitely an Outer God as Miquella's needle successfully removes its influence if used in Farum Azula. So you end up with three types of Rebellion against the Greater Will and its Age of the Erdtree: i) Bring in a new age with a new Outer God, God and Elden Lord (what Mohg is doing) ii) Turn the tables on all the Gods and banish their influence from the Lands Between (Miquella) or destroy/consume the Gods themselves (Rykard) iii) Pure destruction of everything (Frenzied Flame) Ranni's actions are in line with Mohg's - which is to establish a new divinity (in this case Ranni herself) as well as a new Elden Lord/Consort (in this case the Tarnished). What this shows is that unlike Miquella and Rykard, she is following the existing rules of the lands between in her attempt to rebell against the greater will, which means there must also be an Outer God in the equation. If she was completely rebelling against the rules, she wouldn't need to formally have a consort or become a divinity. The fact that the age of the stars would be "under the guidance" of the Moon again reinforces this - the Greater Will is ruled out as Ranni despises it, her dialog and her lore only refers to the Moon and doesn't touch on any of the other Outer Gods or their themes, so there can be no other candidates. So the ending isn't as positive as it might seem, it suggests that Ranni, and through her the Tarnished, are just pawns in a competition betwen Outer Gods and she isn't actually changing as much as she thinks. It just replaces one Outer God with another and brings about a very similar order following the same rules as the age of the Erdtree. Evidence: a) Multiple Outer Gods and at least one other age with a different outer god before the Erdtree: Dragon Lord Remembrance: " Possibly the Outer Gods of Placidusax, Deathbirds and Rot are the same one, or different. There really isn't enough in the lore as its not even a named god. b) Each age continues to follow the rules requiring an Outer God, a God/Divinity and an Elden Lord/Consort. Mohg's lore confirms that this is the case: " Placidusax's lore also suggests that previous ages also had a similar setup with Gods/Elden Lords. c) The Moon is referred to as a being anthropomorphic multiple times in Lore - which coupled with Ranni's ending shows that it possesses a personality and is very liked an Outer God " Adula, a devourer of sorcerers, was bested by Ranni and subsequently swore a knightly oath to her Dark Moon." And at Ranni's Ending
Great summary! I really hope we get some good DLC to fill in the gaps. And from what I've been told, that is usually what Fromsoft does with their DLC. Expand the story and lore. I love theorizing, but I also hope that at some point we get some conformation if our ideas are correct or not.
I read an analysis that suggested that the reason Rennala restricted the study of magic at the academy to focus just on the moon, was that it was much safer than the other forms of study. That the moon reflected the power of the stars, and was thus safer. Truth is that in game, all the magic users we meet that study the moon seem to be fairly rational, while the mages who delved into the other schools have either melded together, or have become so far gone as to be unresponsive (Azur, Lusat). Even if the moon itself is akin to the erdtree, it seems Ranni's plan is to keep the "greater will's" equivalent as far away from the lands between as possible which at least speaks to Ranni retaining some independence, which is not surprising, Marika was not a slave to the greater will, she was able to enact her own plans after all. Whether Ranni succeeds or fails I guess depends on what the moon's greater will equivalent wants, maybe its indifferent. We know different outer gods have different aspirations. Frenzy flame is chaos/destruction, the greater will's seems to be the opposite, order/structure, so who is to say what nature the moon's outer god has, maybe it's cold indifference.
@@jvaralves I don't think its a clear case of "good" or "evil". As with Dark Souls, its a case of subjective ambiguity. It is hinted however that ultimately its irrelevant and futile. Ranni has committed horrible deeds (which she herself recognises as a "dark path") justified in her mind by the end being worth it. But looking deeper into the lore makes it clear she is just playing her role in perpetuating an endless cycle that has existed before even the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There are at least 4 other Outer Gods besides the Greater Will and at least one age ruled over by one of these other Gods. Her actions are ultimately futile, and is just another turn of the cycle of the ages as with any other ending (with the exception of the frenzied flame ending). However you cut it, its ultimately quite a bleak ending - it is essentially impossible to "win" against the universal order and any agency the player seems to have in the world of the game is in actuality minor to the point of being almost illusionary. The only real alternative to the cycle is arguably equally bleak - i.e. the utter nihilism of the frenzied flame. This is quite fitting for a Miyazaki game and matches the theme of the Darksouls games - the endless cycles of the ages are impossible to prevent. Whether you choose to kindle the flame or become the Dark Lord in game 1 is ultimately irrelevant. The cycle continues regardless and big picture wise, the world ends up in the same condition we find in Dark Souls 3.
Keep in mind that a lot of Rannis words were mis translated from Japanese. When you see the videos of what she’s supposed to do this ending is one of the best
I LOVE THIS... This is such a great time to be a souls fan. Every hour there is a new lore video. People are disagreeing and understanding things differently. And the great part is that there are a lot of people creating lore videos that they never made any lore for other soulsborne
I wanted to believe that Ranni's age of stars was the beginning of our universe as we know it. But you now gave me pretty solid point to feel like it's a little bit more true than wishful thinking.
Wow, after ~ 100 hours I have just finished this game with the age of the stars ending. Best game I’ve ever played without question, my first from soft game too. Now I can finally watch all the lore videos without worrying about spoilers!!
Personally Ranni's ending was the most satisfying to me, the Erdtree and Golden Order repeatedly show itself to be horrible and like... Yeah let's rip that all down and make something better without burning the lands to cinder Also Ranni number one waifu.
The Nox were trying to reign in their dark moon lord way back before Marika's war path. I see it as the tarnished doing what was always meant to be and this "greater will" was an unwanted inturruption
I do feel the Golden Order had to go, especially when you consider many of its servants and defenders were literally abominations, monsters and horrifically mutated Humans.
I believe the Snow Witch is Renna. Not only that, I believe Renna the Snow Witch is one of Ranni's older sisters. The Carian royal family once had multiple princesses. The ice crest shield says the ice crest belonged to a Carian princesses. Ice and snow, cold magic, etc. Connections. The Snow Witch set comes from Renna's Rise, one of three towers referred to as Three Sisters. Also, the name Renna closely fits the name scheme of Rennala's family.
Great find. I thought Renna was just an alias used by Ranni. Perhaps in honor of her Mother. But if there were more princesses, that would change everything.
You know, I've been thinking to myself: "I really hope somebody makes Elden Ring Lore videos like Monster Maze does with Zelda". Looks like you read my mind, please do more of these!
Don't know if you know but it was recently discovered that a LOT of Ranni's line where misstranslated. Some lines horribly so. The original lines have COMPLETELY different meanings when compared to the English version.
I was indeed notified of this on Twitter. Unfortunately I was already too far into production to call of the whole thing. I hadn't uploaded anything for close to a month and really wanted to finally get this video up. If it turns out that it completely changes everything, I can make a follow up video in the future. Before I knew about the mistranslations, I did notice in the textdump that there is unused dialogue. In that dialogue she calls it the "Age of the Mind" instead. Which I thought was interesting.
@@Sylocat The Age of Mind is mentioned only in the textdump. Which is available if you google it. It's unused in the game itself though, so I don't know if it's canon to the story. The mistranslations I'm going to look into soon. But first I want to focus on other subjects. I'm sure the the info can be found online ^^ Sorry I can't be of more use right now
Some interesting pieces of information: Eternal Darkness is a Sellian sorcery originating from Nox. Sellia is home to the Nox Duo boss who guard Lusat's staff. Sellian sorceries are primarily focused on stealth and assassination. The Black Knife assassins were acting on Ranni's orders during the Night of Black Knives. None of the Black Knife assassins use Sellian sorcery.
Ranni's mistranslations actually make the ending worse, she meant something completely different in her original dialogue and it is very sad that they mistranslated it like that. It is not a minor thing whatsoever, so I'd recommend you all to watch a video or search the original dialogue to better understand her purpose.
I think the Dark Moon is the embodiment of the stars themselves. The very source of the wisdom of stone and precursor to sorceries. If this is true, that means the Moon is basically life itself in solid form. If we posit how the Primeval Flow creates life itself in the form of stars, what if the Moon is a result of that. A giant star containing the absolute will of life and consciousness itself.
This would explain why just focusing on studying the moon is the safe way to study sorcery, otherwise you can easily go mad by studying other schools of sorcery, as some other guy mentioned in another comment. This is what I really like about souls games lore, it takes you to some trippy philosophical theories that kinda make me feel like I'm schizoposting but in my head it makes sense but luckily it's not so lonely because so many other people are theorizing the same things. I wonder if Miyazaki really thought everything through it this, it seems a bit insane. Studying the moon is like studying the real reality that which we can genuinely experience. Studying anything else would be like studying the idea of reality/consciousness/life in its pure and rawest form without any order, thus glimpsing into infinity itself. Kinda wild.
You have an amazing voice for storytelling that is calming and lets me focus on what you are actually saying, I enjoyed learning more about this story, thank you for this.
I'd say this is the best ending, because it secures all of the godly power in the hands of someone who won't use it to dominate and dictate. Imagine living in a world like this, where you're constantly at the mercy of Outer Gods and their respective agendas. Entire civilizations and cultures used and sacrificed like pieces on a cosmic chess board, with no regard for the suffering of the small individuals caught in the middle. All of your people's beliefs and mores, derived from one unknowable cosmic being, jealously coveting absolute control. Ranni would use her power to shield the Lands Between from such influences, so that humanity can decide its own fate, for good or ill. It involves uncertainty and fear, because people were used to having grand decisions made for them by someone more powerful. Freedom is scary, but it's a right that no god should take away from us.
Very cool. I don’t know so much about Eldern Ring lore and it was very interesting. I’m really looking forward to the Zelda-Elden Ring comparison video!
This video hit all the points i've been saying. I completely agree and it's nice to know there is someone else who understood the ending exactly the way I did
I think this ending has horrifying implications, as I believe this ending leads to Blood borne. Along with Astel and the star beasts, the Stars are Horrifying . Ranni wanting to create a different better world, let’s in creatures from the void that exist far beyond our understanding.
This seems like the equivalent of a Dark Neutral ending in a Shin Megami Tensei game where humanity/mortality doesn’t side with either Law or Chaos. Really interesting.
There is also the ending because you didn't side with either you end up as collateral in their war and had no choice but survive in the battlefield and find safety elsewhere.
Honestly the various endings of Elden Ring kinda remind me of SMT in a lot of ways, whether you want to renew the old order, destroy it completely, or to take a separate path
WOW this was amazing!! I'm so happy my favorite zeldatuber is now making Elden Ring content, your theories are all so well written and explained and interesting, keep going!
It is worth noting that Ranni’s lines were mistranslated both in her ending and in the conversation where she explains what the Age of Stars is. Ziostorm does a good break down of what Ranni is actually saying during those scenes.
In the elden ring world one of the ranks you can have in raya lucaria was "witch" wich is only given for the few deemed worthy. Is says in the witch´s glintstone crown you get for challenge Sellen in her quest. So witch was the more important rank.
Someone did a post about how the translation was actually wrong it was translated from its native language, and broke down the differences if it was done the way it was meant to be read. Makes it a lot more clear of an ending
I think that when Ranni says she "would keep them [the stars] far from the earth beneath our feet" she's not really saying she'll push them further away literally (although it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case considering Radahn's feats over them), but more in a metaphorical way, saying that she'll rid the world of the destiny imposed by the stars. Her own destiny and of many others from Raya Lucaria were tied to the stars, reason why Radahn stopping them also "froze" Ranni's destiny. That way, she can essentially free everyone from all sorts of gods and higher beings and their control/influence that exist in the Lands Between, so they can all make their own paths and destinies. It's rather nihilistic, in a sense. EDIT: I see many people are saying it's not nihilistic and such. What I meant by that is that Ranni essentially pulled the "God is Dead" by Nietzsche, explained in this wisecrack video, at the 2 minute mark and beyond (th-cam.com/video/UiOTSKBy6ME/w-d-xo.html). I think it's somewhat similar to Ranni's idea of a new world devoid of divine and greater wills ruling over people's lives. This video is also why I think the Frenzied flame ending isn't as Nihilistic bas people may think it is.
true but not nihilistic instead it is more of a freedom for ranni and world itself. nihilistic means complete loss of meaning but this one doesn't represent that but just make it more like our world just like monster maze said. they can still create their future by leaning or working on something because meaning of world itself doesn't lost and they can create their own meaning by working with it. but i have one doubt that if this one means true freedom. then what age of stars means because if our assumption is right. it shouldn't bound us with something. but yeah in original translation; ranni said something about "keeping it far away, the chill night". So probably this new age means that she probably tries keep stars power away from lands between. so that, it can not bound them in their power but keep it in safe distance and human can study them without any harm like loss of fear, doubt, touch and everything which it should create but ranni would make this loss impossibility. I think frenzied flame represent nihilism more than age of stars.
Nihillistic would be the Frenzied Flame ending, to burn everything down and return to non-existence. Ranni's ending is one of freedom and independence from any higher being or order.
Awesome lore! Does Ranni the youngest demigod (she has the smallest throne, her parents both tall)? Was she born by Rennala, or by amber egg or is it actually her twin (Unborn)? Did Rennala imprisonment by involvement of Radagon (the seal on the academy gate, the red wolf, and baby cribs in the ceiling..)? How's GW choose the successor Emperyan, does true borns from single god not enough (because afflictions)? Therefore it's passed to Ranni (who prefers the moon rather than GW)?
The translation from Japanese to English got messed up you should always remember that when it comes to everyone’s storyline. She actually has more of a positive outlook than the dark one that the translation seems to invoke.
Doesn't seem that different Basically. English:There will be darkness but we'll face it. Japanese:There will be darkness but also hope. Pretty much the same thing.
I think the doll of Ranni is in fact the body of the Snow Witch. If you look at the doll it appears organic, but dismembered and tied together. The spirit side of Ranni is clearly her soul that escaped her Empyrean body. Ended up with this ending on my first run through. Was a great storyline :)
rannis wolf in sheeps clothing story and ending is fucking pure gold and yet she is honest if you listen, she doesnt hide her plans and asks you if you are sure but really she knows you cant resist her requests
I just beat Elden Ring it was my first souls game just like a lot of the people and i had a blast but unlike Zelda where i have a PHD i have no clue about the Souls lore glad you are making videos for it now.
I got this ending too but I also had the choice of 4 other endings but I read that hers was the best ending and you get an achievement from it... Kool.
I think Fia's ending is probably the cannonical one? I strongly suspect that ER is a prequel to the souls series, and her ending makes the most sense in that regard. It sets up most of the elements of the age of fire.
I still think upholding the Golden Order is the way to go. Sure they did bad things but Ranni is doing the very same, she caused The Shattering by killing Godwyn and the horrors that came with it. Becoming Elden Lord without enacting significant change is just saving that world without trying to rewrite the rules of that universe, it's their world and they should decide what to do with it
How are you saving the world when the reason the world is fucked is because of the golden order ? You do realize it caused genocide and oppression right ? Upholding that is not any better then the age of stars arguably it's worse , yea there was a lot of blood she'd to get to the age of stars but that's the case for literally anything you can't expect to gain something without losing something especially when your trying to overthrow a corrupt order , plus godwyns death didn't cause the shattering Marika wanted to go against the golden order long before he died which implies his death had nothing to do with it .
This is probably the best and most concise look at Elden Ring I’ve seen yet. Amazing!! Love this take on my favorite storyline in one of my new favorite games of all time.
i like to believe the moon is not an outer god but ranni will become the outergod & your so spot on her ending reminded me of our own universe aswell!!
Thanks for the video(also i didnt rly kbow what her ending was but i know now its just that pretty much all the other endings seemed to suck so i decided to do it)
11:40 I think what she means to do is get rid of the magic of the world, because it would seem the moon and stars are somewhat connected to the magic. Like in the case of the space rocks that "Hogwarts" uses. Now why she would do this, I have no idea. But, maybe magic somehow controls the user in a way. And Ranni wishes people to be free of that control. I don't know, its just a theory. Ps. She could also be talking about the "outer" Gods, because they are also connected to space and the abyss.
To me, Ranni's ending kinda feels like the "good ending" logically speaking. By that, I mean that we have 4 "neutral endings" (which we become the Elden Lord), one "bad ending" (which we destroy everything with the Frenzied Flame) and one good ending (which we give the Lands Between a new beginning, far detached from the previous reality)
People are sleeping on Goldmask's ending though. To sum up the philosophy you'll find from the text of his items and items relevant to him: Goldmask finds it absurd that the Gods dictate how life should be despite being no better and no less flawed than the mortals they dictate. As such, Goldmask aims to repair the Elden Ring with the key change being that he seeks to do away with godhood, thus putting all beings all an even playing field: making them normal humans like the Tarnished, by the sounds of it. In this sense, Goldmask's ending provides a certainty where you know exactly what kind of world to expect, but he'd remove the exact players responsible for the wars and struggles that threw the Lands Between into chaos in the first place. His ending is just as critical of the Gods as Ranni's is, but has more certainty and predictability to it rather than Ranni seeking "the great unknown."
@@Longknife Like a certain assassin once said. "You would see all of mankind corralled into a neatly furnished prison, safe and sober, yet dulled beyond reason and sapped of all spirit" At least the Frenzy flame killed you, The Goldmask ending would have you and everyone else being a slave to the greater will. Like how can that not be a bad ending.
@@nope-hx4xm Absolutely *ZERO* evidence for this and you are showcasing exactly why this misconception arises: people think "well other media did it that way so that must be what Goldmask's ending is too!" Actually read exactly what the text is around Goldmask's lore and you will find absolutely nothing implying anyone loses free will or anything like that. You will only find that Goldmask rationalizes that the Shattering unfolded because the Gods themselves were imperfect and just as flawed as the people they lord over, so he aims to remove Godhood from the picture and put everyone on an even playing field. Goldmask's ending is the "no rulers" ending whilst still maintaining the Elden Ring. It's infinitely safer than Ranni's.
@UC9umLWBG0opHrlc5ofvSdfw Again: zero evidence for what you are suggesting. The only truth to your statement is that yes, Goldmask would keep the Greater Will in power. The Greater Will however assigns a vassal to represent their interests, and Goldmask has a problem with those vassals. If the Greater Will were to be able to act on it's own without the need for someone like Marika, this subverts events such as the Shattering. To cite Brother Corhyn as being correct is wild, especially given the tone of how the quest ends. He murders Goldmask, and when spoken with a last time, he claims the Golden Order is already perfect and to "just look at it" whilst staring at a burning Erdtree, then laughs like a madman. You REALLY read the room on that situation and say "clearly Corhyn was right?" No, the tone is clear: the writers are telling us Corhyn failed to understand Goldmask (something made clear through the whole questline) and couldn't think outside the box of blind allegiance to the figureheads like Marika. Goldmask on the other hand begins to become critical of the demigods *exactly* after the revelation that Marika and Radagon are one and the same. He recognizes that something's fishy and Marika is utilizing Radagon to subvert some rules, and that through this, Marika is largely responsible for much of the problems the world now faces. Had the Greater Will directly had it's way, then this would not have happened, thus why Goldmask seeks a solution that cuts out the flawed middleman.
@@Longknife Just because he got crazy upon the burning doesn't mean he was wrong. Just has a fool can be right once in a while. Anyway i take it by your words then that you believe its best to be ruled by inviolable laws that affect everyone equally right? Cause if so, it goes against my own beliefs and we will never reach an accord. There is plenty of room of in this game lore for speculation, therefore different viewpoints will reach different conclusions. The fate of the Demigods for example, you believe they will lose their godhood, while i believe they will not be able to resist the Greater Will influence. Also regarding evidence, Iji Helmet and Blaidds fate tell me that it can control others. Hence my belief that the Order ending is just that, the Greater Will imposing itself on others. I simply do not believe that anyone should have this kind of power. For it always leads to abuse and injustice. Doesn't matter if its by human hands or an Outer God like the Greater Will. Also, we dont exactly know how much crap Marika did was part of the Greater Will desire or not. She was a vessel for the elden Beast afterall.
Ranni's is the best ending imo. The lands between is a relentlessly bleak world, not worth preserving and in need of reset. Ranni's quest popped up for me at a critical time, just I was asking "why am I fighting to save this wretched world?" Yet I also think life, any life, is better than no life, which is what the frenzied flame ending sounded like to me, a cleansing of all life. Plus Ranni is the only one to show kindness without wanting something in return, she gives you perhaps the most powerful tool in the game for... nothing, even telling you that you won't meet her again. The nature of the tool itself made me want to help Ranni, in this bleak, lonely world she gives you the ability to summon help, to summon others that aid you, you no longer have to struggle alone.
I have faith in Ranni just cause she uses current magic doesn't mean she won't use it for the right reason from a mental and emotional perspective like her family suffering and being oppressed by the Golden Order always being condemned by them then she takes action against Marika striking down Godwyn with Death itself and then karma hits and his lifeless undead corpse is infesting the roots of the tree. Oh Marika so much work and conquering just to have your kingdom to its knees overnight
Amazing video as always man! The edit is so clean! As a fellow editor I can truly appreciate the time you put into your videos to get this high of a quality. Keep up the great work my friend and I can’t wait for the next video! :D
I tried playing some fromsoft games like bloodbourne and dark souls 2 back in the day, never got very far with them, mostly because I had difficulty grasping the way the narrative was explained. In short I felt the story part of the games were lacking, but really, it was due my own ignorance more than anything and as a result I could never become involved with the games in a way that I was used to with western rpgs. Elden ring has changed all that though as I have found myself fully immersed not only in my character but also in the story of the lands between. I highly suggest you give it a try, if, like me, this is what was holding you back from their other titles.
I see elden ring 2 taking place after the age of stars ending, even though the lands between gets a reset, into controlling their own fate, rather than control but even with the greater will and outer gods cut off, they’re still a threat to us, so we might be going on a cosmos adventure, might fight gods beyond our imagination and through this journey we ascend to god hood
You don't get to go with Ranni, unfortunately. Much like Godfrey, you, the tarnished, are still bound. You are part of the last vestiges of the greater will as you can see its grace. You did not undergo what Ranni did ergo leaving you to stand guard in The Lands Between. You will wait until her return; no matter how long, no matter what comes. You will be the Lord of Night, gazing upon the moon and stars atop the many corpses who seek to harm Ranni.
Admittedly not an Eldin Ring player, but watched it anyway as your content is always that good. Didn't convince me to play the game, but did convince me that I'm fine watching other ER videos from you. Keep up the great work as always!
i don't see endings on souls games (and by that i mean from soft games) as good or bad. i think they managed to strip that dichotomy out of the endings chosen. it's all open to interpretation. for example, in dark souls i dont see the rekindling of the flame as a necessarily good thing, you're only postponing the inevitable. i see the age of dark as being a more fitting end to that series. imo it stops the endless artificial cycle and allows things to progress naturally according to that world's natural laws, lets the world change by itself and whatever it may bring. but other endings are equally as valid, this one just happens to be my favorite. in sekiro the most natural ending to me was the return ending, because again, it stops the continuous cycle. in elden ring the age of stars, yet again, stops the continuous cycle of outer gods interference, and so far, my favorite ending
It felt like the people would have control of their own lives, and not have them dictated by the whims of a god that they can't even talk to half the time. Fear and uncertainty are normal things when you are free, so... it's a good thing.
I really like Ranni’s ending because she’s ushering in an age in which suffering, pain, and confusion can exist thanks to the belief in a god being based on faith for once instead of the proof staring you in the face. It will be a difficult adjustment for those who were so shackled by the greater will, but it’ll allow these people to believe and do as they please without any influence, and it’ll keep any outergod and celestial influence away from the lands between, ensuring their independence and freedom to make the decisions they want to make. It’s not the “good” ending per say, because we’re allowing for strife and an age in which the strong will likely only truly thrive in at first (which she notes herself) but it’s one that’s necessary to ensure that the inhabitants of the lands between can be free to do things for themselves, and that’s a good ending to me. (Also we aren’t maidenless anymore so… if you don’t care about anything else you can do that too)
My favorite ending of the game, I've gotten pretty much almost all the endings already and seen the ones I haven't gotten on TH-cam cuz I really don't want to get the one for the dung eater, I'm good thanks
Listen, Im one of the many Ranni simps out here and yes, we are Ranni simps dont try and deny it. However hearing you actually explain what you feel the ending means is awesome, far better then what I originally thought it meant and it makes me feel less guilty about my choices. Loved the video dude, well done as usual.
I didn't think I'd enjoy Elden Ring content from my favorite Zeldatubers, but I've really come around on it! Could you do vids on the other endings too? I'm probably not going to beat the game, but I'd love to hear what happens.
Sure thing! I will look into the other endings as well. For now I want to focus on some character stories and level design. But after that, going through the other endings will be very interesting indeed.
Actually I'd go even further: The age of the stars is not like our universe. Since the stars are free again, they might move in their own speed and order. Since all certainties are gone and the stars are on the move - I'd call this more a dreamy existance where even a simpel touch can't interpreted as someone touching you. As she says: all certainties become impossible. There is nothing certain anymore, not even time, place or positivism. All becomes a dream I like this very much so.
What im getting at that ranni is trying to make a world similar to those isekai animes where god is presumably there its proof being the use of holy magic. The romans believed that the stars are gods so when they say the land between is the closest to the stars, they prob mean it is the closest to the gods. Still unsure what the dark moon stands for but essentially ranni is attempting to put distance between gods and the people and give the people their own will prob making one of those anime worlds with magic in return. Not a bad ending tbh
I personally prefer the Age of Stars ending. I just finished the game for the first time with that ending, and it fit my character arc and irl opinions best. Originally my character was all about faith and the Greater Will. It did give me life afterall. But as I progressed through the story, I steadily realized that I was not special and the Greater Will doesn't actually care about me. I am one of thousands of Tarnished who have sought the throne. And I, like the thousands before me, am just being used by the Greater Will to do its bidding. An endless cycle of death, rebirth, and war. A war over a lie: that the Greater Will is the truth. It is not. The Greater Will is a cage. There is no life without death. There is no happiness without sadness. True death is final. That's why the Age of Stars is the best. It gave mortality back to men, and with it reason to live.
I love the Age of the Stars ending. It has by far the most interesting set of characters in the entire game (Ranni, Blaidd and Iji - although I wish there was more about Master Hewg) and to quote dragonquest8ftw1who took the words right out of my mouth: "For me, Ranni's ending feels like a reset on a world to be one without interference from the gods, so people can live and create their own fate so what happened to the likes of Blaidd and Iji never happens again." My Dear Ranni ... after I got all the ending achievements I will be your lord of night eternal. Never shall you be alone again.
Thank you for watching! Which ending did you get, and which one has your preference? ^^
Quick disclaimer: It was brought to my attention yesterday that a lot of Ranni's dialogue is apparanly mistranslated from Japanese. Unfortunately I was already too far into production by that time. If new revelations come out that completely contradict my theory, I can make a follow up video in the future.
I got the age of stars ending too and I’m going to get the frenzied flame ending on ng+ xD
and maze also a question: will u consider making a vid focus on the shadowbound beasts like maliketh and blaidd?
@@vacancy959 Oh yes! Those are very interesting. I can definitely look into those
@@MonsterMaze great! now I’m looking forward to it! these two are my fav characters in this game so I’m very interested in the shadowbound beasts lore xD
@@vacancy959 Maliketh was so badass that even the demi-gods feared him!
@@MonsterMaze yea and he is def my fav boss in this game no question😆
For me, Ranni's ending feels like a reset on a world to be one without interference from the gods, so people can live and create their own fate so what happened to the likes of Blaidd and Iji never happens again.
You're right. Your interpretation is backed up by the Japanese translation.
Ranni is taking her new Order of Stars far away so it cannot be tampered with and nothing like The Shattering can ever happen again. She knows the people of the lands between are bound to order so she won't destroy it, instead it'll be taken far away from ambitious hands. To do this she will have to face the long, dark, lonely chill of the night but, at the very least, she'll have her Lord and Consort by her side.
That's actually the Frenzyflame ending
@@TheCanineContrarian The frenzyflame is less a reset and rather just an outright delete of everything that would be
@@dragonquest8ftw1 So it can start anew. The point is a total reset of all existence instead of running away and leaving things the same.
@@TheCanineContrarian if even shinji from evangelian can realize how stupid that is then you can too
Recently it came to light that Ranni's final dialogue at the end was mistranslated due to time crunch. Instead of what was implied in the English dub, the Japanese dub implies that the influences of the Outer Gods would be removed from the world and kept far beyond the stars so long as she and her consort lived. I'll need to find the video that discusses this in detail, but it's a much better ending than what the English mistranslation leads you to think.
The thing I like about Elden Ring and Bloodborne are that the cosmic horror aspects are not the main draw of the story. It's subtle until the curtains pull back.
Both start off as innocent as Dark Fantasy and Victorian Fantasy (respectively) can be, it's only until later in the do we realize the true threats in game, how much deeper everything goes, and how screwed this world is unless someone takes a stand.
We are 100% on the same page here. I love that it's not the main focus of the story. It's a story of war between various powers trying to gain control. And a hero rising up to set things straight. Meanwhile, there are these cosmic deities using the Land Between as a chessboard. But that takes place on in the background. And for good reason. These deities are likely so far beyond human understanding, we can't really fathom what they are thinking and why they do what they do. They are not relatable from the perspective of a regular mortal. Hence, the focus lies on these different factions and characters. It's beautiful!
Normally in lovecraftian settings, even like Bloodborne, there is no escape from the power of the great ones, etc. But in this case it actually seems like the primordial void which life comes from doesn’t have to do with the outer gods, meaning shutting them out in favour of JUST life that arises from it is hypothetically possible. They must be called Outer Gods for that reason?
Yeah it's hard to know what Outer Gods do or think. They are so far beyond anything we can grasp. We don't even know if there's any emotion behind it.Only the Frenzied Flame scares me honestly. The Greater Will does have it's downsides, but at least it seems to care about order and the concept of life evolving. If anything, most of the atrocities are done by humans.
It's the Demiurge theme. Several omniscient and (almost) omnipotent beings that are imperfect.
@@user-zp8kj2cl9g I'd prefer the Outer Gods being Lovecraftian in nature in ER. Gnosticism in video games is becoming stale and preachy nowadays
@@mmyr8ado.360 Sounds like you might be looking for Bloodborne then.
@@MonsterMaze There appears to exist one true God in the world of Elden Ring, but he has been fractured into the Greater Will, who embodies order and the Frenzied Flame of chaos. The Two and Theee Fingers are just part of a full hand
I enjoyed Ranni's ending but I LOVED the chaos ending. We've had "bad" endings before in these games but dear god the sheer scale has never been felt this intensely before. The complete lack of dialogue sold me too. Just the horror of becoming a lord of Chaos then ending it with the final image and the screaming. EVERYTHING Had just ended and I felt that more then any other ending
There is dialogue though... If Melina is still alive (ie, you burn yourself to burn the tree instead of Melina), the frenzied flame ending ends with Melina swearing to hunt you down and bring you "destined death".
Just like that the hero becomes the villain due to his own ambitions and desires.
I believe when the Tarnished becomes the Lord of Chaos, they become a being that can burn the world and kill all Outer Gods. It helps reset the world to when it was only influenced by the One Great/the Primordial Crucible. This was the age when there was only one group of followers: the ancient dragons. Any future lords of the Lands Between will no longer have to worry about the Greater Will nor other Outer Gods that could cause fractures/differences.
So this is what I have put together regarding the "ages", "gods" and "elden lords":
The lands between are affected by multiple influences:
1) An Outer God
2) A God/Divinity Empowered/Guided by the Outer God
3) An Elden Lord who is consort to the God/Divinity
Mohg wants to bring about an age guided by the Mother of Truth/Formless Mother, but as he isn't Empeyrean he cannot be the Divinity so kidnapped Miquella. He plans to replace the Greater Will with the Formless mother, raise Miquella to the God/Divinity and become consort/Elden Lord himself.
Miquella rejected the Golden Order and its fundamentalism, but chose to try and reject all Outer Gods, recognising their "meddling" as being a major contributor to the suffering of the Lands Between. So he creaties the Haligtree and his needle which would prevent their meddling.
Melenia is also possibly being influenced by another Outer God, but this is something she seems to be resisting as she has faith in Miquella. The Scarlet Rot will eventually transform her into a Goddess of Rot "As Miquella hopes to cure Melenia's disease with his needle, it is strongly hinted this is the case. Either that or the Greater Will is the one who has cursed/blessed Melenia with the rot.
Rykard is also rebelling against the Gods, but he wants to do this by consuming them and gain their power, thus usurping them that way. The ultimate Blasphemy as it completely goes against the rules governing the powers of the Lands Between.
The Frenzied Flame is pure chaos, so also doesn't follow any of the rules. It just wants to burn everything down. Its agents Shabriri and Hyetta lie and manipulate the Tarnished/Player to achieve their goals (they are both using dead bodies of other NPCs who clearly died at the end of their questlines, and pretending that they are trying to fix a mistake made by the Greater Will). It is still definitely an Outer God as Miquella's needle successfully removes its influence if used in Farum Azula.
So you end up with three types of Rebellion against the Greater Will and its Age of the Erdtree:
i) Bring in a new age with a new Outer God, God and Elden Lord (what Mohg is doing)
ii) Turn the tables on all the Gods and banish their influence from the Lands Between (Miquella) or destroy/consume the Gods themselves (Rykard)
iii) Pure destruction of everything (Frenzied Flame)
Ranni's actions are in line with Mohg's - which is to establish a new divinity (in this case Ranni herself) as well as a new Elden Lord/Consort (in this case the Tarnished). What this shows is that unlike Miquella and Rykard, she is following the existing rules of the lands between in her attempt to rebell against the greater will, which means there must also be an Outer God in the equation. If she was completely rebelling against the rules, she wouldn't need to formally have a consort or become a divinity. The fact that the age of the stars would be "under the guidance" of the Moon again reinforces this - the Greater Will is ruled out as Ranni despises it, her dialog and her lore only refers to the Moon and doesn't touch on any of the other Outer Gods or their themes, so there can be no other candidates.
So the ending isn't as positive as it might seem, it suggests that Ranni, and through her the Tarnished, are just pawns in a competition betwen Outer Gods and she isn't actually changing as much as she thinks. It just replaces one Outer God with another and brings about a very similar order following the same rules as the age of the Erdtree.
Evidence:
a) Multiple Outer Gods and at least one other age with a different outer god before the Erdtree:
Dragon Lord Remembrance: "
Possibly the Outer Gods of Placidusax, Deathbirds and Rot are the same one, or different. There really isn't enough in the lore as its not even a named god.
b) Each age continues to follow the rules requiring an Outer God, a God/Divinity and an Elden Lord/Consort.
Mohg's lore confirms that this is the case: "
Placidusax's lore also suggests that previous ages also had a similar setup with Gods/Elden Lords.
c) The Moon is referred to as a being anthropomorphic multiple times in Lore - which coupled with Ranni's ending shows that it possesses a personality and is very liked an Outer God
"
Adula, a devourer of sorcerers, was bested by Ranni and subsequently swore a knightly oath to her Dark Moon."
And at Ranni's Ending
Great summary! I really hope we get some good DLC to fill in the gaps. And from what I've been told, that is usually what Fromsoft does with their DLC. Expand the story and lore. I love theorizing, but I also hope that at some point we get some conformation if our ideas are correct or not.
@@MonsterMaze I think Miyazaki likes leaving them as mysteries. If Dark Souls and Bloodborne are any guide, every answer will have 10 new questions.
@@JimIBobIJones Aw jeez.. that's gonna be fun haha
I read an analysis that suggested that the reason Rennala restricted the study of magic at the academy to focus just on the moon, was that it was much safer than the other forms of study. That the moon reflected the power of the stars, and was thus safer. Truth is that in game, all the magic users we meet that study the moon seem to be fairly rational, while the mages who delved into the other schools have either melded together, or have become so far gone as to be unresponsive (Azur, Lusat). Even if the moon itself is akin to the erdtree, it seems Ranni's plan is to keep the "greater will's" equivalent as far away from the lands between as possible which at least speaks to Ranni retaining some independence, which is not surprising, Marika was not a slave to the greater will, she was able to enact her own plans after all. Whether Ranni succeeds or fails I guess depends on what the moon's greater will equivalent wants, maybe its indifferent. We know different outer gods have different aspirations. Frenzy flame is chaos/destruction, the greater will's seems to be the opposite, order/structure, so who is to say what nature the moon's outer god has, maybe it's cold indifference.
@@jvaralves I don't think its a clear case of "good" or "evil". As with Dark Souls, its a case of subjective ambiguity. It is hinted however that ultimately its irrelevant and futile.
Ranni has committed horrible deeds (which she herself recognises as a "dark path") justified in her mind by the end being worth it. But looking deeper into the lore makes it clear she is just playing her role in perpetuating an endless cycle that has existed before even the Erdtree and the Greater Will. There are at least 4 other Outer Gods besides the Greater Will and at least one age ruled over by one of these other Gods.
Her actions are ultimately futile, and is just another turn of the cycle of the ages as with any other ending (with the exception of the frenzied flame ending). However you cut it, its ultimately quite a bleak ending - it is essentially impossible to "win" against the universal order and any agency the player seems to have in the world of the game is in actuality minor to the point of being almost illusionary.
The only real alternative to the cycle is arguably equally bleak - i.e. the utter nihilism of the frenzied flame.
This is quite fitting for a Miyazaki game and matches the theme of the Darksouls games - the endless cycles of the ages are impossible to prevent. Whether you choose to kindle the flame or become the Dark Lord in game 1 is ultimately irrelevant. The cycle continues regardless and big picture wise, the world ends up in the same condition we find in Dark Souls 3.
Keep in mind that a lot of Rannis words were mis translated from Japanese. When you see the videos of what she’s supposed to do this ending is one of the best
Best ending cause no longer maidenless! Really love the analysis!
Can Confirm
@@reegyreegz blasphemy
@@reegyreegz The hat is the best thing about her. Perish.
@@Nathan_Coley Yes. Loli mage with big hat is perfection, to change it is blasphemy.
I AGREE STRONGLY
I LOVE THIS... This is such a great time to be a souls fan. Every hour there is a new lore video. People are disagreeing and understanding things differently. And the great part is that there are a lot of people creating lore videos that they never made any lore for other soulsborne
I wanted to believe that Ranni's age of stars was the beginning of our universe as we know it. But you now gave me pretty solid point to feel like it's a little bit more true than wishful thinking.
Wow, after ~ 100 hours I have just finished this game with the age of the stars ending. Best game I’ve ever played without question, my first from soft game too. Now I can finally watch all the lore videos without worrying about spoilers!!
Elden ring monster maze content? Absolutely here for this
Personally Ranni's ending was the most satisfying to me, the Erdtree and Golden Order repeatedly show itself to be horrible and like... Yeah let's rip that all down and make something better without burning the lands to cinder
Also
Ranni number one waifu.
I fully agree!
The Nox were trying to reign in their dark moon lord way back before Marika's war path. I see it as the tarnished doing what was always meant to be and this "greater will" was an unwanted inturruption
I agree with everything minus the #1 waifu. She is #2 but a solid 2. Melena is #1. Wish she ended with me like ranni did. Or both 👀
I do feel the Golden Order had to go, especially when you consider many of its servants and defenders were literally abominations, monsters and horrifically mutated Humans.
Whats the person in youre pfp they Look sick asf
I believe the Snow Witch is Renna. Not only that, I believe Renna the Snow Witch is one of Ranni's older sisters.
The Carian royal family once had multiple princesses.
The ice crest shield says the ice crest belonged to a Carian princesses. Ice and snow, cold magic, etc. Connections.
The Snow Witch set comes from Renna's Rise, one of three towers referred to as Three Sisters.
Also, the name Renna closely fits the name scheme of Rennala's family.
Great find. I thought Renna was just an alias used by Ranni. Perhaps in honor of her Mother. But if there were more princesses, that would change everything.
@@MonsterMaze I forget which items say it, but I swear there's a couple that mention there used to be many princesses though now there's only one.
This was awesome. Hope to see more 👀
You know, I've been thinking to myself: "I really hope somebody makes Elden Ring Lore videos like Monster Maze does with Zelda". Looks like you read my mind, please do more of these!
More is one the way ^^
Don't know if you know but it was recently discovered that a LOT of Ranni's line where misstranslated. Some lines horribly so. The original lines have COMPLETELY different meanings when compared to the English version.
I was indeed notified of this on Twitter. Unfortunately I was already too far into production to call of the whole thing. I hadn't uploaded anything for close to a month and really wanted to finally get this video up. If it turns out that it completely changes everything, I can make a follow up video in the future. Before I knew about the mistranslations, I did notice in the textdump that there is unused dialogue. In that dialogue she calls it the "Age of the Mind" instead. Which I thought was interesting.
Where can I read more on this?
@@Sylocat About the mistranslations? Or the Age of the Mind?
@@MonsterMaze Both, really.
@@Sylocat The Age of Mind is mentioned only in the textdump. Which is available if you google it. It's unused in the game itself though, so I don't know if it's canon to the story.
The mistranslations I'm going to look into soon. But first I want to focus on other subjects. I'm sure the the info can be found online ^^
Sorry I can't be of more use right now
Some interesting pieces of information:
Eternal Darkness is a Sellian sorcery originating from Nox.
Sellia is home to the Nox Duo boss who guard Lusat's staff.
Sellian sorceries are primarily focused on stealth and assassination.
The Black Knife assassins were acting on Ranni's orders during the Night of Black Knives.
None of the Black Knife assassins use Sellian sorcery.
Ranni's mistranslations actually make the ending worse, she meant something completely different in her original dialogue and it is very sad that they mistranslated it like that. It is not a minor thing whatsoever, so I'd recommend you all to watch a video or search the original dialogue to better understand her purpose.
I think the Dark Moon is the embodiment of the stars themselves. The very source of the wisdom of stone and precursor to sorceries. If this is true, that means the Moon is basically life itself in solid form. If we posit how the Primeval Flow creates life itself in the form of stars, what if the Moon is a result of that. A giant star containing the absolute will of life and consciousness itself.
This would explain why just focusing on studying the moon is the safe way to study sorcery, otherwise you can easily go mad by studying other schools of sorcery, as some other guy mentioned in another comment. This is what I really like about souls games lore, it takes you to some trippy philosophical theories that kinda make me feel like I'm schizoposting but in my head it makes sense but luckily it's not so lonely because so many other people are theorizing the same things. I wonder if Miyazaki really thought everything through it this, it seems a bit insane.
Studying the moon is like studying the real reality that which we can genuinely experience. Studying anything else would be like studying the idea of reality/consciousness/life in its pure and rawest form without any order, thus glimpsing into infinity itself. Kinda wild.
You have an amazing voice for storytelling that is calming and lets me focus on what you are actually saying, I enjoyed learning more about this story, thank you for this.
I'd say this is the best ending, because it secures all of the godly power in the hands of someone who won't use it to dominate and dictate.
Imagine living in a world like this, where you're constantly at the mercy of Outer Gods and their respective agendas. Entire civilizations and cultures used and sacrificed like pieces on a cosmic chess board, with no regard for the suffering of the small individuals caught in the middle. All of your people's beliefs and mores, derived from one unknowable cosmic being, jealously coveting absolute control.
Ranni would use her power to shield the Lands Between from such influences, so that humanity can decide its own fate, for good or ill. It involves uncertainty and fear, because people were used to having grand decisions made for them by someone more powerful. Freedom is scary, but it's a right that no god should take away from us.
Very cool. I don’t know so much about Eldern Ring lore and it was very interesting. I’m really looking forward to the Zelda-Elden Ring comparison video!
10:28 references the Frozen Armament, which was actually referenced earlier in the video. The actual source is from the Nox Armor Sets.
This video hit all the points i've been saying. I completely agree and it's nice to know there is someone else who understood the ending exactly the way I did
I think this ending has horrifying implications, as I believe this ending leads to Blood borne.
Along with Astel and the star beasts, the Stars are Horrifying .
Ranni wanting to create a different better world, let’s in creatures from the void that exist far beyond our understanding.
This seems like the equivalent of a Dark Neutral ending in a Shin Megami Tensei game where humanity/mortality doesn’t side with either Law or Chaos. Really interesting.
There is also the ending because you didn't side with either you end up as collateral in their war and had no choice but survive in the battlefield and find safety elsewhere.
Honestly the various endings of Elden Ring kinda remind me of SMT in a lot of ways, whether you want to renew the old order, destroy it completely, or to take a separate path
WOW this was amazing!! I'm so happy my favorite zeldatuber is now making Elden Ring content, your theories are all so well written and explained and interesting, keep going!
It is worth noting that Ranni’s lines were mistranslated both in her ending and in the conversation where she explains what the Age of Stars is. Ziostorm does a good break down of what Ranni is actually saying during those scenes.
yes and it makes her sound like it was an even better ending choice
I now want DLC that follows the age of stars ending and frenzied flame
Hear hear!
So pumped to finally be far enough in this game after a 200 hour playthru (because Im a lore freak completionist) to actually watch these!!!
In the beggining there was timeless age, but then came disparity...flame and within it lord Souls...oh wait.
In the elden ring world one of the ranks you can have in raya lucaria was "witch" wich is only given for the few deemed worthy. Is says in the witch´s glintstone crown you get for challenge Sellen in her quest. So witch was the more important rank.
Someone did a post about how the translation was actually wrong it was translated from its native language, and broke down the differences if it was done the way it was meant to be read. Makes it a lot more clear of an ending
I think Ranni's mentor is Renna, the third tower which belongs to Seluvis now actually was Melina's too.
I definitely think Melina is deeply connected to Ranni.
I think that when Ranni says she "would keep them [the stars] far from the earth beneath our feet" she's not really saying she'll push them further away literally (although it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case considering Radahn's feats over them), but more in a metaphorical way, saying that she'll rid the world of the destiny imposed by the stars. Her own destiny and of many others from Raya Lucaria were tied to the stars, reason why Radahn stopping them also "froze" Ranni's destiny. That way, she can essentially free everyone from all sorts of gods and higher beings and their control/influence that exist in the Lands Between, so they can all make their own paths and destinies. It's rather nihilistic, in a sense.
EDIT: I see many people are saying it's not nihilistic and such. What I meant by that is that Ranni essentially pulled the "God is Dead" by Nietzsche, explained in this wisecrack video, at the 2 minute mark and beyond (th-cam.com/video/UiOTSKBy6ME/w-d-xo.html). I think it's somewhat similar to Ranni's idea of a new world devoid of divine and greater wills ruling over people's lives. This video is also why I think the Frenzied flame ending isn't as Nihilistic bas people may think it is.
I love this take. It does seem like it's more of a metaphoric statement indeed.
true but not nihilistic instead it is more of a freedom for ranni and world itself. nihilistic means complete loss of meaning but this one doesn't represent that but just make it more like our world just like monster maze said. they can still create their future by leaning or working on something because meaning of world itself doesn't lost and they can create their own meaning by working with it. but i have one doubt that if this one means true freedom. then what age of stars means because if our assumption is right. it shouldn't bound us with something. but yeah in original translation; ranni said something about "keeping it far away, the chill night". So probably this new age means that she probably tries keep stars power away from lands between. so that, it can not bound them in their power but keep it in safe distance and human can study them without any harm like loss of fear, doubt, touch and everything which it should create but ranni would make this loss impossibility.
I think frenzied flame represent nihilism more than age of stars.
Nihillistic would be the Frenzied Flame ending, to burn everything down and return to non-existence. Ranni's ending is one of freedom and independence from any higher being or order.
Awesome lore!
Does Ranni the youngest demigod (she has the smallest throne, her parents both tall)?
Was she born by Rennala, or by amber egg or is it actually her twin (Unborn)?
Did Rennala imprisonment by involvement of Radagon (the seal on the academy gate, the red wolf, and baby cribs in the ceiling..)?
How's GW choose the successor Emperyan, does true borns from single god not enough (because afflictions)? Therefore it's passed to Ranni (who prefers the moon rather than GW)?
She’s born of Rennala and radagon her dead body you can’t see that she had red hair, but she actually pretty tall but her siblings became gigantic
My personal favorite ending is the Golden Age of perfect order, but I do think age of Stars is a second favorite :)
The translation from Japanese to English got messed up you should always remember that when it comes to everyone’s storyline. She actually has more of a positive outlook than the dark one that the translation seems to invoke.
Doesn't seem that different
Basically.
English:There will be darkness but we'll face it.
Japanese:There will be darkness but also hope.
Pretty much the same thing.
I think the doll of Ranni is in fact the body of the Snow Witch. If you look at the doll it appears organic, but dismembered and tied together. The spirit side of Ranni is clearly her soul that escaped her Empyrean body. Ended up with this ending on my first run through. Was a great storyline :)
This ending is basically giving everyone in the world liberty to follow any faith they choose
rannis wolf in sheeps clothing story and ending is fucking pure gold and yet she is honest if you listen, she doesnt hide her plans and asks you if you are sure
but really she knows you cant resist her requests
I just beat Elden Ring it was my first souls game just like a lot of the people and i had a blast but unlike Zelda where i have a PHD i have no clue about the Souls lore glad you are making videos for it now.
Hell yeah! I've been excited to see your coverage of Elden Ring's lore!
ohh this is before the explanation of the mistranslation of ranni's dialogue.. making the theory amazing... very nice
Our lord of lore is back with elden ring content yayyy
I got this ending too but I also had the choice of 4 other endings but I read that hers was the best ending and you get an achievement from it... Kool.
I think Fia's ending is probably the cannonical one? I strongly suspect that ER is a prequel to the souls series, and her ending makes the most sense in that regard. It sets up most of the elements of the age of fire.
I've been doing pretty well working out Elden ring lore by myself, but I have no doubt I missed tons. Looking forward to what people put together
For me the lands between become something like Hueco Mundo from bleach I always loved the atmosphere
I still think upholding the Golden Order is the way to go. Sure they did bad things but Ranni is doing the very same, she caused The Shattering by killing Godwyn and the horrors that came with it. Becoming Elden Lord without enacting significant change is just saving that world without trying to rewrite the rules of that universe, it's their world and they should decide what to do with it
How are you saving the world when the reason the world is fucked is because of the golden order ? You do realize it caused genocide and oppression right ? Upholding that is not any better then the age of stars arguably it's worse , yea there was a lot of blood she'd to get to the age of stars but that's the case for literally anything you can't expect to gain something without losing something especially when your trying to overthrow a corrupt order , plus godwyns death didn't cause the shattering Marika wanted to go against the golden order long before he died which implies his death had nothing to do with it .
This is probably the best and most concise look at Elden Ring I’ve seen yet. Amazing!! Love this take on my favorite storyline in one of my new favorite games of all time.
3:29 I think you showed the wrong Alabaster Lord there.
Bandit sent me and I might just come here from now on to touch up on all things Lore for Elden Ring
Ah thank you, and welcome aboard! More Elden Ring is on the way. Including a collab with the legendary Bandit himself
i like to believe the moon is not an outer god but ranni will become the outergod & your so spot on her ending reminded me of our own universe aswell!!
I just beat the game blind finally and this is the first ending I got so I am now tryna figure out what she means by age of the moon and all that.
Thanks for the video(also i didnt rly kbow what her ending was but i know now its just that pretty much all the other endings seemed to suck so i decided to do it)
I think a lot of people have referred to Raya Lucaria as Hogwarts lol.
Loved it! Thank you!
11:40 I think what she means to do is get rid of the magic of the world, because it would seem the moon and stars are somewhat connected to the magic. Like in the case of the space rocks that "Hogwarts" uses. Now why she would do this, I have no idea. But, maybe magic somehow controls the user in a way. And Ranni wishes people to be free of that control. I don't know, its just a theory. Ps. She could also be talking about the "outer" Gods, because they are also connected to space and the abyss.
To me, Ranni's ending kinda feels like the "good ending" logically speaking. By that, I mean that we have 4 "neutral endings" (which we become the Elden Lord), one "bad ending" (which we destroy everything with the Frenzied Flame) and one good ending (which we give the Lands Between a new beginning, far detached from the previous reality)
People are sleeping on Goldmask's ending though. To sum up the philosophy you'll find from the text of his items and items relevant to him: Goldmask finds it absurd that the Gods dictate how life should be despite being no better and no less flawed than the mortals they dictate. As such, Goldmask aims to repair the Elden Ring with the key change being that he seeks to do away with godhood, thus putting all beings all an even playing field: making them normal humans like the Tarnished, by the sounds of it.
In this sense, Goldmask's ending provides a certainty where you know exactly what kind of world to expect, but he'd remove the exact players responsible for the wars and struggles that threw the Lands Between into chaos in the first place. His ending is just as critical of the Gods as Ranni's is, but has more certainty and predictability to it rather than Ranni seeking "the great unknown."
@@Longknife Like a certain assassin once said. "You would see all of mankind corralled into a neatly furnished prison, safe and sober, yet dulled beyond reason and sapped of all spirit" At least the Frenzy flame killed you, The Goldmask ending would have you and everyone else being a slave to the greater will. Like how can that not be a bad ending.
@@nope-hx4xm Absolutely *ZERO* evidence for this and you are showcasing exactly why this misconception arises: people think "well other media did it that way so that must be what Goldmask's ending is too!"
Actually read exactly what the text is around Goldmask's lore and you will find absolutely nothing implying anyone loses free will or anything like that. You will only find that Goldmask rationalizes that the Shattering unfolded because the Gods themselves were imperfect and just as flawed as the people they lord over, so he aims to remove Godhood from the picture and put everyone on an even playing field.
Goldmask's ending is the "no rulers" ending whilst still maintaining the Elden Ring. It's infinitely safer than Ranni's.
@UC9umLWBG0opHrlc5ofvSdfw Again: zero evidence for what you are suggesting. The only truth to your statement is that yes, Goldmask would keep the Greater Will in power. The Greater Will however assigns a vassal to represent their interests, and Goldmask has a problem with those vassals. If the Greater Will were to be able to act on it's own without the need for someone like Marika, this subverts events such as the Shattering.
To cite Brother Corhyn as being correct is wild, especially given the tone of how the quest ends. He murders Goldmask, and when spoken with a last time, he claims the Golden Order is already perfect and to "just look at it" whilst staring at a burning Erdtree, then laughs like a madman. You REALLY read the room on that situation and say "clearly Corhyn was right?" No, the tone is clear: the writers are telling us Corhyn failed to understand Goldmask (something made clear through the whole questline) and couldn't think outside the box of blind allegiance to the figureheads like Marika.
Goldmask on the other hand begins to become critical of the demigods *exactly* after the revelation that Marika and Radagon are one and the same. He recognizes that something's fishy and Marika is utilizing Radagon to subvert some rules, and that through this, Marika is largely responsible for much of the problems the world now faces. Had the Greater Will directly had it's way, then this would not have happened, thus why Goldmask seeks a solution that cuts out the flawed middleman.
@@Longknife Just because he got crazy upon the burning doesn't mean he was wrong. Just has a fool can be right once in a while. Anyway i take it by your words then that you believe its best to be ruled by inviolable laws that affect everyone equally right? Cause if so, it goes against my own beliefs and we will never reach an accord.
There is plenty of room of in this game lore for speculation, therefore different viewpoints will reach different conclusions.
The fate of the Demigods for example, you believe they will lose their godhood, while i believe they will not be able to resist the Greater Will influence. Also regarding evidence, Iji Helmet and Blaidds fate tell me that it can control others. Hence my belief that the Order ending is just that, the Greater Will imposing itself on others. I simply do not believe that anyone should have this kind of power. For it always leads to abuse and injustice. Doesn't matter if its by human hands or an Outer God like the Greater Will.
Also, we dont exactly know how much crap Marika did was part of the Greater Will desire or not. She was a vessel for the elden Beast afterall.
I saw a video that says that the dialogue in the Age of the Stars ending is mistranslated or something.
Ranni's is the best ending imo. The lands between is a relentlessly bleak world, not worth preserving and in need of reset. Ranni's quest popped up for me at a critical time, just I was asking "why am I fighting to save this wretched world?" Yet I also think life, any life, is better than no life, which is what the frenzied flame ending sounded like to me, a cleansing of all life. Plus Ranni is the only one to show kindness without wanting something in return, she gives you perhaps the most powerful tool in the game for... nothing, even telling you that you won't meet her again. The nature of the tool itself made me want to help Ranni, in this bleak, lonely world she gives you the ability to summon help, to summon others that aid you, you no longer have to struggle alone.
Age of stars is just the prequel to Majora’s mask
I have faith in Ranni just cause she uses current magic doesn't mean she won't use it for the right reason from a mental and emotional perspective like her family suffering and being oppressed by the Golden Order always being condemned by them then she takes action against Marika striking down Godwyn with Death itself and then karma hits and his lifeless undead corpse is infesting the roots of the tree. Oh Marika so much work and conquering just to have your kingdom to its knees overnight
Didn't play the game but already watched the video twice! Thanks for making it. :)
Amazing video as always man! The edit is so clean! As a fellow editor I can truly appreciate the time you put into your videos to get this high of a quality. Keep up the great work my friend and I can’t wait for the next video! :D
Thanks a lot! Editors unite
I'm pretty sure the Primeval current stems from The Crucible since there's many things that say The Crucible is where all life originates from
I believe this ending is equivalent to snuffing out the first flame in dark souls
Tbh, I don't vibe with Fromsoft games, but I love this channel, and I'm totally up for learning more about a game I might never play
I tried playing some fromsoft games like bloodbourne and dark souls 2 back in the day, never got very far with them, mostly because I had difficulty grasping the way the narrative was explained. In short I felt the story part of the games were lacking, but really, it was due my own ignorance more than anything and as a result I could never become involved with the games in a way that I was used to with western rpgs. Elden ring has changed all that though as I have found myself fully immersed not only in my character but also in the story of the lands between. I highly suggest you give it a try, if, like me, this is what was holding you back from their other titles.
I see elden ring 2 taking place after the age of stars ending, even though the lands between gets a reset, into controlling their own fate, rather than control but even with the greater will and outer gods cut off, they’re still a threat to us, so we might be going on a cosmos adventure, might fight gods beyond our imagination and through this journey we ascend to god hood
You don't get to go with Ranni, unfortunately. Much like Godfrey, you, the tarnished, are still bound. You are part of the last vestiges of the greater will as you can see its grace. You did not undergo what Ranni did ergo leaving you to stand guard in The Lands Between. You will wait until her return; no matter how long, no matter what comes. You will be the Lord of Night, gazing upon the moon and stars atop the many corpses who seek to harm Ranni.
We needed a Rykard ending.
Admittedly not an Eldin Ring player, but watched it anyway as your content is always that good. Didn't convince me to play the game, but did convince me that I'm fine watching other ER videos from you. Keep up the great work as always!
Yeah, this is why her questline was so long.
means no more magic to the lands between
Ranni loves you. But she also loved Blaidd, and look what happened to him.
Me, who hasn’t even begun to finish the game: Ah, yes, I understand completely.
Ranni's Words are mistranslated.
i don't see endings on souls games (and by that i mean from soft games) as good or bad. i think they managed to strip that dichotomy out of the endings chosen. it's all open to interpretation. for example, in dark souls i dont see the rekindling of the flame as a necessarily good thing, you're only postponing the inevitable. i see the age of dark as being a more fitting end to that series. imo it stops the endless artificial cycle and allows things to progress naturally according to that world's natural laws, lets the world change by itself and whatever it may bring. but other endings are equally as valid, this one just happens to be my favorite. in sekiro the most natural ending to me was the return ending, because again, it stops the continuous cycle. in elden ring the age of stars, yet again, stops the continuous cycle of outer gods interference, and so far, my favorite ending
It felt like the people would have control of their own lives, and not have them dictated by the whims of a god that they can't even talk to half the time. Fear and uncertainty are normal things when you are free, so... it's a good thing.
In your intro you should have a deep electronic voice that says monster maze
I really like Ranni’s ending because she’s ushering in an age in which suffering, pain, and confusion can exist thanks to the belief in a god being based on faith for once instead of the proof staring you in the face. It will be a difficult adjustment for those who were so shackled by the greater will, but it’ll allow these people to believe and do as they please without any influence, and it’ll keep any outergod and celestial influence away from the lands between, ensuring their independence and freedom to make the decisions they want to make. It’s not the “good” ending per say, because we’re allowing for strife and an age in which the strong will likely only truly thrive in at first (which she notes herself) but it’s one that’s necessary to ensure that the inhabitants of the lands between can be free to do things for themselves, and that’s a good ending to me. (Also we aren’t maidenless anymore so… if you don’t care about anything else you can do that too)
My favorite ending of the game, I've gotten pretty much almost all the endings already and seen the ones I haven't gotten on TH-cam cuz I really don't want to get the one for the dung eater, I'm good thanks
Rannis words at the end are actually probably mistranslated as most confuseing things in souls games are mistranslations :(.
Omg I just realized Mio voices Ranni lol
I have a question for you. Is Elden Ring your first souls-like game if not which game was it?
My first was DS3, but I kinda played that one as a warm-up for Elden Ring. To get used to how these games work ^^
I didn't finish DS3 in time though.
I accidentally got this ending while reading messages after killing the last boss. It didnt look like a bad ending though, lol
In a Galaxy far far away.
LETS GOOO!!! NEW MAZE VID
Listen, Im one of the many Ranni simps out here and yes, we are Ranni simps dont try and deny it.
However hearing you actually explain what you feel the ending means is awesome, far better then what I originally thought it meant and it makes me feel less guilty about my choices.
Loved the video dude, well done as usual.
Thanks Nathaniel, that means a lot to hear ^^
I didn't think I'd enjoy Elden Ring content from my favorite Zeldatubers, but I've really come around on it! Could you do vids on the other endings too? I'm probably not going to beat the game, but I'd love to hear what happens.
Sure thing! I will look into the other endings as well. For now I want to focus on some character stories and level design. But after that, going through the other endings will be very interesting indeed.
@@MonsterMaze Looking forward to those videos!
Apparently the English translation of Ranni’s end game dialogue is badly translated and is actually much less ambiguous but optimistic.
Actually I'd go even further: The age of the stars is not like our universe. Since the stars are free again, they might move in their own speed and order. Since all certainties are gone and the stars are on the move - I'd call this more a dreamy existance where even a simpel touch can't interpreted as someone touching you. As she says: all certainties become impossible. There is nothing certain anymore, not even time, place or positivism. All becomes a dream I like this very much so.
Amazing! Thanks.
Lord of frenzied flame AMEM
Well the golden order was messed up .
Quite honestly, ranni s actions while horrible were the best choice.
What im getting at that ranni is trying to make a world similar to those isekai animes where god is presumably there its proof being the use of holy magic. The romans believed that the stars are gods so when they say the land between is the closest to the stars, they prob mean it is the closest to the gods. Still unsure what the dark moon stands for but essentially ranni is attempting to put distance between gods and the people and give the people their own will prob making one of those anime worlds with magic in return. Not a bad ending tbh
I personally prefer the Age of Stars ending. I just finished the game for the first time with that ending, and it fit my character arc and irl opinions best. Originally my character was all about faith and the Greater Will. It did give me life afterall. But as I progressed through the story, I steadily realized that I was not special and the Greater Will doesn't actually care about me. I am one of thousands of Tarnished who have sought the throne. And I, like the thousands before me, am just being used by the Greater Will to do its bidding. An endless cycle of death, rebirth, and war. A war over a lie: that the Greater Will is the truth. It is not. The Greater Will is a cage. There is no life without death. There is no happiness without sadness. True death is final. That's why the Age of Stars is the best. It gave mortality back to men, and with it reason to live.
I love the Age of the Stars ending.
It has by far the most interesting set of characters in the entire game (Ranni, Blaidd and Iji - although I wish there was more about Master Hewg) and to quote dragonquest8ftw1who took the words right out of my mouth:
"For me, Ranni's ending feels like a reset on a world to be one without interference from the gods, so people can live and create their own fate so what happened to the likes of Blaidd and Iji never happens again."
My Dear Ranni ... after I got all the ending achievements I will be your lord of night eternal. Never shall you be alone again.