@@WyattStrange This is the same ending of Ranni. In Age of Stars, Ranni prevents the influence of the other Outer Gods on the Lands Between and allows humans to have their own freedom. And as a bonus, we can marry Ranni, then not being a maidenless and having a fucking sword
@@WyattStrange But you use Marika's body to imbued the seal, so you still need a god to do it and I still havent found out if the perfect order protects the land from fallingstar beasts crashing into the lands and turning into Astels, if yes, then wont it also meant that sorceries will be abolished? Also if going by the subbed ending dialogue, it kinda paints the picture of Ranni leaving deep into space far away from anyone to be able to even touch the Rune.
All the npcs did imo. Leda is presented as a kind and respectable knight, but she’s a pshycopath that’s willing to follow her lord’s mistakes to a fault. Hornsent is someone who seeks revenge for his people, even though his people are the ones that began the cycle of violence in the first place… there’s a bunch more
That's an interesting juxtaposition, now that I see them together like that. Anyone professing to be all knowing is surely a fool. All-Learning though implies a healthy review and rectifications process.
@@u-mos8820 The whole point of Gideon's character was that he knew he was not All-Knowing but always sought out more knowledge which eventually doomed him. Gideon and Ansbach are very similar characters with them both falling into despair when tasked with fighting a god. The only difference was that Ansbach was able to gather his courage again most likely thanks to his oaths to Mohg and having us as an ally two things that Gideon lacked. Ansbach also never tried to become a lord but only tried to find the right one to serve which is probably representative of him knowing his limits.
I wouldn't even compare them. Gideon searches for secrets and magic for the sake of power. He's a thief dressed as a wizard. I can't even think of a character that shares his view on Marika. Ansbach is a true scholar, seeking knowledge and wisdom for the sake of each other and not being a primp about it.
Not in the slightest, Gideon is a coward that never does any work himself, waiting for the player to slay demi-gods before learning anything from them. Ansbach had the runes to challenge the mightiest empyrrean himself, dared to dream his mortal blade could reach a demi-god.
@@witchBoi_Connor And the irony too is that Gideon from a player-stat perspective is actually kind of cracked, but his lack of real combat implementation makes his giga stats mostly irrelevant. Dude tries to fire off comet azures at point blank range with low poise. In comparison, Ansbach's combat kit isn't actually all that impressive, but he's so skilled that he elevates his modest arsenal into something that threatens gods and is proactive enough for that to matter.
A visual detail I really like about Ansbach's design is that his helmet's eye slits give the impression of someone with their eyes closed. Compare to Gideon, who has prominent imagery of open eyes and ears dotted across his armor, yet makes cruel decisions and comes to the wrong conclusions, Ansbach's eyes are closed and yet he discerns the truth, because only when we shut out distractions can we truly listen.
Something nobody talks about, Leda describes Ansbach as the COMMANDER of the Pureblood Knights. Not just one of them, but the leader. Ansbach was definitely someone akin to Moghs right hand
According to Leda, Ansbach "who cleaved open Miquella the Kind with his blood blade". Gigachad managed to actually hit Miquella before being controlled.
They literally made a better Gideon. He wants to know why Miquella is there,he actually gets off his ass to investigate the clues left behind,has pride as a knight,is sensible&he wants the player to be a better lord.
Thus why he's titled as "all-learning", not "all-knowing". There is always, ALWAYS, more to learn, regardless your age. All knowing is just the hubris before your downfall, that you no longer feel the need to learn.
@@Dancingrage Gideon never claimed to know everything in fact he was constantly trying to find more knowledge. The title of "All-Knowing" just represented his goal which of course is impossible to achieve similar to Ansbach honing his skills to kill a god, also an impossible goal from his perspective. Gideon and Ansbach are almost the same character, although I agree that Ansbach's character was better executed.
@@zacharyt.2694 The main difference between Gideon and Ansbach are approaches to learning and the result from that. Gideon is a bit of a worm who rarely does things himself, preferring to use minions and proxies to deliver to him knowledge second-hand. He's a book learner in every way down to his fighting style of staying away and slinging things at a distance without engaging directly. Ansbach in contrast goes out and learns via field work, doing the hard parts himself to gain firsthand knowledge. He's an experience-based learner in every way, which also results in having physical and martial prowess that mixes in melee and range rather than dumping all of his eggs into one or the other. This also ends up reflecting their personalities. Gideon via staying away from the hard parts as the leader figurehead has a "higher-than-thou" attitude where he finds that kind of work beneath him. Meanwhile Ansbach actually understands how difficult that work is and is much humbler and emphatic since he's gladly willing to pitch in for the difficult parts. They even both have a musclehead female friend who reflects this difference: Freyja respects Ansbach greatly despite him being a turbo nerd since he's also a respectful warrior, while Nepheli loses her respect for Gideon because he only uses his knowledge to excuse doing terrible things while throwing away everyone who becomes a slight inconvenience to him due to a sheer lack of respect for others. Though what is interesting is that Gideon isn't completely terrible, either. He does in a way care for Nepheli since he does go out of his way to thank the player for helping her out if we do so and he does get pissed at Seluvis' magic roofie for Nepheli if we reveal that scheme to him. It's just that he prioritizes his goals above his own humanity, which is a contrast to Ansbach who helps everyone else who needs it before helping himself. They have a similar surface-level knowledge seeking gimmick, but are 2 very different approaches to that gimmick.
gideon was a lazy, back-stabbing schemer and coward. he spies on you, slaughters the albinauric villages for a medallion and discards his adoptive daughter when she confronts him. gideon "a man cannot kill a god" ofnir wanted to become elden lord himself but pussies out at the end and actively fights against you. ansbach follows you in, casually banters with radahn and fights a god alongside you. the anti-hero to gideon's anti-villain and a true lord.
I see why Morgott didnt list Mohg as a willful traitor. Mohg was always for the outcast and their wellbeing without ever opposing the golden order and even left a part of himself in the underground to keep the frenzy flame locked away. I'd even wager Morgott had been informed by Ansbasch at some point in the past to explain what Miquella did before he eventually went to challenge him and lost. Morgott was holding down the Erdtree defenses for time when Miquella would arrive and would be forced to fight him and possibly Mohg
Ansbach, Igon, and Moore have to be the best NPCs. I’m glad I was right that Miquella was the real villain all along. Anyone who claims love and unification is often tyrannical at heart or in nature. Nothing else matters but “utopia” head-ahh.
I use Bloody Helice in my right hand, with Reduvia and Bloodflame incantations catalyst in my left hand. I dress in Sanguine noble garments to honour and avenge Lord Mohg's Dynasty.
The mere fact that Ansbach exists proves to me that the Mohgwyn Dynasty wasn't always a blood-soaked nightmare, and only degenerated to that while Mohg was under Miquella's spell. But he's still probably the most level-headed of the troop, as he makes the point to study the matter and find out exactly what's going on before he commits to anything fully. Plus like you said, he's the only one that sees Miquella as the monster he truly was. And he goes on about being past his fighting days, but he was still good enough to challenge an Empyrean, and doesn't think twice about fighting his former comrades so that his Lord can get his dignity back, even after death.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. All of Mohg's followers we meet in the base game make a point of senseless bloodlust and the item descriptions talking about what was done to the war doctors are pretty grim as well.
@@unbearable505 It's very likely that was all done under Miquella's influence too though. Considering their main goal is to "drench the bloody bedchamber" so Miquella can ascend to godhood is the very motive of the dynasty we know from the game. The war surgeons existed during the Shattering War and we know somewhere around that time, from the narrator in the beginning, Miquella probably bewitched Mohg to set off his plans. The war surgeons were perfect for bloodshed, so Miquella can "defile his body" to get to the Land's of Shadow, and out of the Greater Will's influence, that's why the bewitched version of Mohg probably abducted them and used them, so they can tame his blood, which might get out of control (?) if not kept in check and might make the charm less effective? Maybe that made Mohg easier to control, since it was still risky on Miquella's part, because Mohg had a very strong connection the Formless Mother and maybe she might have taken over again, if not the war surgeons spread his blood into new followers. At least that's my theory.
All that blood that they're they're trying to get a hold of in the first place is only to facilitate something Michelob once though meaning that it has to be something that Michaela caused. The whole point of being they do this for him meaning that it wouldn't make sense if he hadn't messed with them yet to cause that. The dynasty was unquestionably fucked with by him not just always bad and then used@@unbearable505
The final dialogue about you being the one to fell Mohg is his greatest character trait, it works on so many aspects; lore, story, gameplay. Because I would like to think, and so would Ansbach, that he would have been helping lead Mohg down a better route. Away from bootlickers like Varre and possible been able to save his lord. Hence why he, “blames the enchantment…”
Judging by Ansbach not having blood eyes if you remove his helmet and the fact he was pretty much Mohgs right hand man, yet he did see Mohg bring miquella to the dynasty it seems Miquella caused many wierd things in the dynasty like injecting blood onto others.
Given that the explicit purpose of the dynasty’s murder operations in the present day is just “get blood for Miquella” raises so many questions about how evil they were originally
@@draw2death421 good note, I think we are meant to blame the enchantment too, in order to make sense of some of those things I think it’s clear Ansbach and Mohg were equally persuaded by Miquella and maybe Ansbach used to have the “blood eyes” but Miquella wiped him mostly clean of it, similar to how he enchants Freyja and cures most of her scarlet rot.
@@topdeckhelix8450 Given a lot of present day operations of the dynasty are specifically to soak Miquella's cocoon in blood, I wonder if it isn't the opposite; that the blood eyes are a result of Miquella's influence.
Blaidd, Igon, Thiollier and Ansbach proven to me why they are the best NPC in Elden Ring: - Blaidd in the name of loyalty and determination, he stayed as a loyal soldier and brother and died to protect his lady sister; - Igon in the name of vengeance and fury, he finally defeated Bayle The Dread with the help of a great drake warrior and died in peace; - Thiollier in the name of love and admiration, he overcame his weaknesses and became a warrior and died to fulfill the last wish of his goddess; - And Ansbach in the name of justice and honor, he avenged his deceased lord and died in the name of the new Elden Lord, a lord who will become a leader not for the gods but for the men All they lived and died, but they taught us that goodness still exists in a chaotic world and that we must become a lord to honor their sacrifices
I think the most interesting thing about Ansbach is that even under enchantment, he is still desperately trying to discern what Miquella's goal even is. It seems like he was never completely under Miquella's control.
While Miquella can shift people's affiliations and goals, he can't turn around their personality by 180 degrees. I rather believe that it was intrinsic to Sir Ansbach's nature to want to learn and gain a deeper understanding of everything.
Ansbach say it himself he fear miquella but having his heart stolen May make him love miquella but yet he still fears him. But his personnality May play too
@@Psychx_ But Miquella did. Before the spell of the tarnished is broken Ansbach constantly doubts himself and his combat abilities, but once the spell is broken he no longer doubted himself in combat.
He was. It’s just that Miquella‘s charm does, in fact, not steal your free will, as somehow the entire community believes. It just makes you love him, that’s all.
gideon had way more wisdom than ansbach, the thing is ansbach is more humble than him. You just want to put gideon in a box, its not so simple, be less stupid.
@@Jorge-i3g1cnah Gideon was a loser and a doomer who had to be spoon fed his information by the tarnished. He didn’t really accomplish much on his own aside from needlessly harming some albinaurics
I like the contrast drawn between Ansbach and Gideon; the former is definitely the antithesis of the latter, an anti-hero to Gideon's anti-villain, and yet they share much in common. It's a pity they don't have dialogue about each other. We don't know if they ever met, or if one ever learned the other's name.
I would have loved to have seen what the first generation of the Round Table was like. Seeing characters like Gideon, Ansbach, Vyke, Bernahl, Dolores, and possibly many others all interacting with each other before Morgott crashed the party.
Thanks for the video! Ansbach really makes one wonder what kind of character Mogh was before being enchanted by Miquella, seeing how he inspires such loyalty in Ansbach.
An absolute, chad, bro, and scholar. It's not everyday you see someone in the setting of ER that actually has faith in both mankind and you. Only other ones I can think of are Rani and Godfrey.
Something I haven’t really really heard much talk of but I think is cool is, there are 13 crosses of Miquella, each one he left a piece of him behind, or rather an attachment behind, on his road to godhood. In Vedic, Buddhist, and other practices, one meditates to open and cleanse the 13 “Chakras”, places in our body where energy gathers, while meditating on, and ultimately shedding your human attachments to this world that are associated with each of the chakras. In meditation though it’s more of a process of understanding, accepting, and rising above our baser thoughts and instincts to try and connect with higher energies. In Miquellas case he seems to do this as well but more by force, perhaps his ascension was tainted from the beginning for this reason. “No matter our efforts, if the roots are rotten then we have little recourse.” -Count Ymir
“Miquella the Kind… is a monster. Pure and radiant…” is one of the scariest descriptions I’ve heard in my life. Especially coming from someone like Sir Ansbach. Even the tone he uses at different points in the description. Like he’s both enchanted and terrified.
Really makes you respect Ansbach. He knows full well how powerful Miquella is after having fought him, he knows what it's like to be controlled by Miquella, and he is absolutely terrified, rightfully so. Yet when we go to fight Radahn and Miquella, Ansbach joins us, to free his Lord, and to put an end to Miquella's evil.
The difference between Gideons title of “All-Knowing” and Ansbach’s title of “All-Learning” really shows that Ansbach is less vain and more humble about his abilities than Gideon was
Everything in the DLC really pushes the Ranni ending imo. Between Miquella, Marika and the Frenzy we see that having a god in charge is basically f**ked and we should take an offhand approach. Ansbach asks for a lord for men, and in a way, letting men rule themselves is providing him that. The Outer Gods have been playing their own games since the start at the expense of everyone, and Ranni’s ending gives you a chance to rid the world of the whole lot of them
I think when Ansbach says he “blames the enchantment more than anything” I took it to mean he believed *we* were under Miquella’s influence to slay Mohg
he wouldn't be wrong to assume that, Miquella DID bewitch thousands upon thousands of players into believing he was a genuily good character, his power is soo terrifying it transcended reality
@@sanguineregis5354 doubtful. We never interact with miquella until the dlc and he charms us in his boss fight implying that we weren't charmed to begin with. When he breaks his runes charm in shadow keep we don't change at all. Everyone else does. So while not explicitly impossible it's the significantly less likely answer
ansbach is such a chad, one of the most skilled warriors in the world of elden ring, literally managed to almost kill miquella before his heart was stolen, even under miquella charm he still was skeptical, every single character respects him as a wise but also as an extremely dangerous warrior fights to get the dignity of his master back
I think Mohg was a natural, crazy eccentric but the way the Formless Mother was worshipped in the Land's of Shadow hints at a more passive way of honoring this Goddess and it being mainly a religion for outcasts. I think it's interesting that the both flowers associated with this Outer God are roses, prominently know for love, and amaryllis, which have at tie to hurting YOURSELF - rather than others, as the bloody fingers do -, for love, and we even know Bloodfiends occasionally do that sooo ... Yeah. The bloodfiends never attack unless THEY ARE being attacked or invaded in their territory. It is said the mother was their saviour, similiar on how she presented herself to Mohg back in his youth and we do not see this Outer God being as corrupting as the Frenzied Flame for instance, and there is nothing that suggests that this God is evil per se. Blood isn't only death, it has also a strong symbolism in motherhood and birth. Honestly, the way Ansbach is represented + the new lore of the Formless Mother makes me believe, Mohg was probably fine with having his little blood cult and being his own lord, while the Formless Mother granted maternal love to his shunned followers. If you were a Tarnished you had to kill your Maiden to join, yeah, but honestly, from Mohg's POV: those were instruments of the very religion and world-order who considered his MERE EXISTENCE a mistake. It's more than questionable but yeah, I don't think Mohg was so much worse than the other demigods.
We also have to kill out maiden to join in a time when Mogh is completely screwed by Miquela. We don't see Pureblood Knights, we see Bloody Fingers. I'm sure as hell, things pre-enchantment were completely different.
With Ansbach saying essentially “what difference is there between god and man?” I believe he got from Mohg before Miqella showed up And with this I think that theres 2 different almost eras of the Mohgwyn dynasty. The age Ansbach was in where Mohg probably was similar to Miqella, excepting to all, and then there’s the one Varres in where bloody finger run about killing and killing for nothing but blood
There are the bloodfiends who were a beaten down tribe (either from Messmer's crusade or the Hornsent) and how they took to worshiping the FM in that time.
Gideon is called the all-knowing for a reason. He's intelligent, but not wise. Wisdom is something else entirely. Gideon is also quite greedy, and quite frankly, lazy. He constantly uses others to gain the knowledge he desires, rather then go looking for it himself. Ansbach is a man acting out of principles. He's loyal, honorable and whilst asking the tarnished for help with locating the crosses, he also provides you with the locations of the ones he himself already has located. Ansbach is also very upfront and honest, whilst Gideon is everything but honest up until he reveals his hand by challenging the tarnished.
I love the comparison people make between Ansbach/Gideon, because it clearly shows how similar they are as archetypes, but how differently executed they were in their titles: the all learning vs. the all knowing. Gideon's "all knowing" title does not imply hard work, only obsessive hoarding of information, while Ansbach's "all learning" implies the opposite: he works for it, boots on the ground, getting his hands dirty type of approach, which makes him actually wise and kinder to everyone around him. Unlike Gideon, who assumes what Marika's plan is, based on information without proper context.
@@UnholyWrath3277Varre's lore actually suggests he was pretty high up in the dynasty. He was the only surgeon that could actually understand Mohg's blood.
Lord Mohg got his dignity back, Sir Ansbach. thanks for everything and rest in peace, commander of pureblood knignts. I will be a lord. not for gods, but for men.
I love Sir Ansbach. I’d say confidently that I botched almost every single npc quest line in the dlc and ended up killing them all right before the final boss, except the big guy in the green armor, he attacked me randomly and idk why. But Ansbach was STILL there for me in the fight against Miquella, both of us honor bound to learn the truth of what’s happened.
The kindred of rot that don't attack you are part of his forager brood. Each one gives you a cookbook, but one is cold and needs to be warmed with a warming stone. Moore will give you a cookbook for warming it up and for finding all the kindred.
If the guy in the armor attacked you as an invader, it's because you killed a friendly pest. There are six of them in the DLC and all of them give you cook books when you talk to them.
I did every NPC questline except Thioller and holy shit that was a terrible decision. EVERY NPC that can possibly appear to fight you in the gank appeared for me while all I had to fend them off was Ansbach. Long story short, that’s the ONLY fight in all of Elden Ring I used my mimic tear for. I beat Consort Radahn with parrying (no summons/spirits) but Moore’s rot pots, Hornsent’s one-shot orb bs, and Dane’s bs infinite stamina? Yeah fuck that bs.
Its interesting to point out that even if Ansbach got brainwashed in the end Leda mentions that he actually injured Miquella and that he is also the commander of the pureblood knights and I quote: "there you are, I'm afraid Sir Ansbach will have to be next, he insists that he's nothing but a warn down over the hill soldier but in his day he was the feared commander of the pureblood knights who cleaved open Miquela the kind with his blood blade..." This not only gives us the interesting info that he was the leader of the pureblood knights but also that he cleaved Miquella open, I'm pretty confident he is the only other tarnished or even non demigod or legendary figure outside us to injure a demigod
@@square-table-gaming I doubt it, Ansbach himself says that he tried to challange Miquella to free Mohg, how would he try to fight Miquella and get bewitched by him if Miquella wasnt even councious and stuck inside the cocoon? Also, I don't think Leda would point out his status and prowess as a warrior If all he did was merely open a cocoon. Somewhere between Mohg getting bewitched and Miquella entering the cocoon and therefore the land of shadows Ansbach fought, injured Miquella and got bewitched, at least thats how I understood it
Maybe Mohg and his group had honor and chivalry pre-Miquella's meddling. Making Mohg/his followers slay fellow tarnished would be in Miquella's best interest to prevent any threat to his uprising.
Yay glad to see my suggestion became real. Honestly maybe mohg might have not been as bad as most thing as blood ritual doesn't necessarily mean they have to target innocents and it seems that mohg possibly wanted to show those who were outcasted like himself the love he never received possibly even punishing those who caused that pain by offering their blood to the formless mother
I felt bad that Ansbach died, but over time I actually am happy that Ansbach, a true noble warrior, spent his last fight against a literal god, fighting for the dignity of his lord, and fighting so that the new lord (tarnished) may be a lord of man and not gods.
@DanteThebengalobjectively? Based on what? Compare Ansbach, who is old enough to know radahn,to someone like varre. Ansbach is a pureblood from before Miquella interfered. Varre is a vile blood/invader like the reduvia dude and he comes from a time where Miquella was clearly manipulating mohg Bloodletting isn’t uncommon in real life. Neither is flagellation. It’s perfectly reasonable to assume mohg could’ve been a mostly harmless lord of blood before Miquella came along. Ansbach is an honorable and studious knight and he’s the kind of follower we know mohg used to inspire.
@DanteThebengal Leda is a crackhead and murderer. She murdered her fellow oath seeker knights for no reason. She’s not a reliable judge of character, and besides, you’re misinterpreting her words anyway. She doesn’t call him “evil” by any stretch, she just acknowledges his prowess and skill. The blood fiends are irrelevant but they do provide a clue. They only worshipped the formless mother after they were ruthlessly discriminated against. And as far as I can tell all they do is defend their homes. Also plenty of real world religions, including branches of Christianity, flagellate. So your judgement is baseless and silly.
@DanteThebengal nope, do your research better and look at her items. She’s stained(her armor and weapon) with the blood of her fellow oath seeker knights(oath seeker set) . She’s definitely not justified for trying to kill Ansbach. Ansbach is much more honorable and respectable than Leda.
Ansbach has been a good fellow I kinda actually wanted to make a whole build with his scythe. Man he’s actually a really cool character sorta like a better Gherman.
I was afraid Ansbach would turn on us. I kept it in the back of my head that the tarnished still slayed Mohg… and knowing that FromSoft NPCs who you meet more than a few times along your journey just don’t end up having a good ending, case in point Blaidd and Alexander… But Ansbach accepted his lord’s fate in regard to us. I bet FromSoft liked the character so much so they didn’t have the heart to have him end up like almost all their NPCs.
Blaidd and Alex, while both died, they both died fulfilled. Blaidd got to see his hopes and dreams realized through Ranni and the Tarnished's victories, and Alexander proved himself a great warrior beyond any doubt, being able to stand against the last giant and only falling to the Tarnished. They're not happy endings, but I'd call them good.
I don’t see enough people talking about how much of a gigachad goat that Ansbach is. He is the only and I repeat ONLY PERSON IN THE SERIES that isn’t a demigod that came SO CLOSE to slaying one of the demigods
Even without that he's a chad because he was terrified of Miquella, terrified of being charmed again, and yet when we go to face him, Ansbach joins us despite that fear, to free his lord and to end Miquella's evil.
To be fair to Mogh with allying himself with the formless mother, could you blame him? Mogh is a demigod, born from Marika and Godfrey the first Elden Lord, the Eldest among the demigods. Yet, as a Omen, such status would not matter for he and his brother Morgott would be shackled like animals deep below the sewer of the capital. And even with all this Morgott would still side with the golden order. If you had the chance to fight against the very order that see you and your brother as monsters to the point your twin brother agrees to, wouldn’t you take it in a heartbeat? Wouldn’t you take the first act of kindness given to you? Even if it’s given by a being the golden order says as evil?
Thanks for the video! Ansbach is my favorite character in the DLC. The fact that this should apply to a former Mohg supporter is a remarkable achievement of the DLC's narrative.
Coincidentally, Ansbach and Thiollier are my two of the three favorite NPCs in SOTE. I'm glad I could summon them to aid me in my last two major fights. Even if they buffed Radahn's HP and died almost immediately to him, I still summon them. I owe that to them. Fifth time I killed Radahn now and I summon them always.
Ansbach legitimizes the dynasty for me. He shows that it wasn't just madmen who inhabited it, but also Nobel people who believed in Mohg because they truly saw him as a great leader. Makes me wonder how Mohg was before Miquella seduced him...
My assumption was that given the presence of Albanirics in the lands of Mohg, that Mohg cared for his fellow outcasts, and given some of the things we know about Varre and the other surgeons, it seems likely they were abducted after Mohg's enchantment. So I imagine that the dynasty in building was a brutal but intact and coherent order making sacrifices to the formless mother, and creating wounds in their enemies as she desires. When mohg kidnapped Miquella, perhaps of his own volition looking for a most worthy sacrifice of an empearyan, perhaps as a machination of Miquella, he became entranced at that point, and his object of love and devotion changed from his outer god to him. And the dynasty fell into debauchery and rot as it became a profane place merely attempting to spill as much blood as possible to offer to miquella instead.
I always thought that the formless mother and the mother of wounds were two sides of the same coin. The bloodfiends seem to arise during a time of excess physical pain such as the scoring of the shadow lands and the formless mother makes herself know to the omen who were exposed to torturous treatment from birth. I think that “she” is the concept that life is pain. On top of the pretty clear analog of here seeking a wound, blood, and birthing things into our realm of existence, seeming to represent a vaginal connotation while The ritual both the bloodfiends and Mohg are piercing into said formless mother. Not trying to be crass, it just seemed like a narrow jump of logic.
Sir Ansbach stands as a prime example of a man of stoic honor and learning. A man to whom his oaths meant infinitely more than his fears. Who knew that the root of knowledge is learning not knowing. We should all strive the be an Ansbach.
I hate that Ansbach and Thiollier still end up dead even if I didn't summon them, when the questline of Hornsent is very particular on him being summoned for the Messmer fight
I believe that St. Trina was the reason Miquella could not grow up . She was keeping his body in a perpetual slumber . Only after he discarded her did he achieve maturity. And i completely blew Ansbachs questline . Guess that will be the next playthrough .
I read this yesterday and it blew my mind: “There is a common misconception about the curse that afflicts Kindly Miquella. He is not cursed with eternal youth, but with nascency. This means that nothing he starts will ever come to fruition. His Haligtree never grew to rival the Erd Tree, he never cured his sister Malenia, he never revived Godwyn, and he never ushered in his age of compassion. His eternal youth is merely a symbol of his inability to complete anything.”
@@korye6324 His nascency trait may not necessarily mean something bad, as it can also be interpreted that his works are for others to finish. There is a very strong indication that he suffers an inferiority complex and believes that might bring trust and only the powerful deserve to be followed, that being the reason why he bewitches his way out of most. How could he trust others if he never trusted himself to begin with? He got rid of everything that was "Miquella" because he only saw weakness in himself, always blind to the fact that his compassion was something genuine and many who followed him do so without any charm to begin with.
This makes me wonder what is the true nature of Mohg’s cult of blood before he got bewitched by miquella… Ansbach seems to think highly of Mohg and he does not seem like blood starved killer like the rest of the bloody fingers. Does mohg also believe in men over gods?
The fact that Ainsbach managed to gut Miquella like a fish before being controlled by him is impressive as hell. Imagine if Miquella was without his great runes support at that moment, theres a very real chance Miquella wouldve been killed Ainsbach was correct in that sense, the hands of mortal men can reach the gods, a true shame that Miquella was a mental threat instead of a physical one
I do like the fact that despite being charmed, Sir Ansbach still held his suspicions of Miquella. He wanted to know what Miquella was up to before pledging service.
In a world of backstabbing and betryal from NPCs, its the ones who fight until the very end in a cause not dissimilar than your own which are truly remembered.
Sir Ansbach and Igon are defo the best NPCs in the DLC. And Sir Ansbach's character suggests Mohg might have been a decent guy overall before he fell victim to Miquella.
I think Ansbach was indeed what the Dynasty could have been, but whatever that was had been lost long before Miquella's charm, with the influence of the formless mother, the blood offerings she herself required, Mogh's accursed blood and everything derived from it. Mogh's character is tragic, but as far from innocent as any other demigod in this game
I feel like Sir Ansbach definitely had his differences with Varre. Maybe Varre simply observed Ansbach from afar and hated the way he was. I do wonder what the dynasty could have been without Miquella’s influence. Maybe it really was a bunch of loyal knights banded together in the name of Mohg, wielding blood flame to protect their lord and their beliefs. I personally believe it may have been something much more fair and noble than how it is after the Elden Ring shattered. Maybe Mohg was detached from it all due to the Formless Mother, but I feel that the Mohgwyn Dynasty had beauty and righteousness to it.
its likely the objective of the bloody fingers and white masks was gathering blood to supply Miquellas cocoon, whether they knew it or not, Pureblood knights seem to be from an era before the reign of Bloody Fingers and White Masks, when Mohg was not under Miq's spell. What Mohg actually stood for is not certain, but he probably was still attempting to establish the Mohgwyn Dynasty, maybe a kingdom in opposition to the Golden Orders prejudice against Omens and "lesser" races. Miquella is actually pretty evil for upsetting that goal(Though I am sure Mohg was not innocent either, the lord of blood had his fair share of bloodshed obviously, but i think its more understandable in that context).
It actually seems like the formless mother mainly asks wounds be inflicted on her. So before Miquella's charm the Mohgwyn dynasty likely was pretty peaceful, primarily using Bloodflame to defend themselves from those who would persecute them.
It's also important to note that the worshippers of the formless mother are all outcasts. And Mohg also shelters albinaurics, who are also an outcast people. They all spray blood all over the place without any ill effect to themselves as well, so it doesn't seem like the mohgwyn's bloodletting was necessarily a harmful ritual since the blood isn't theirs, its the formless mother's. And as unpleasant as Varre is, he's still a doctor. At the beginning of the game he's really just giving us an honest diagnosis of how fucked we are and offers a way to remedy it, because he has no idea about Melina. Mohg surrounded himself with honorable warriors, and sent healers out to offer shelter to those outcast like the tarnished. Mohg's just a hardcore goth theater nerd that got brainwashed.
To have someone like ansbach follow mogh and want to save him, such loyalty, devotion and skill. It makes me believe that lord mogh was a truly a kind ruler who wanted something more then most of the demigods we see, meet and hear about. Maybe his dynasty was going to be something grand if only kindly miquella never charmed him.
I loved Sir Ansbach from the moment I met him. What a great character. Every time I hear his greeting "Righteous Tarnished..." I want to go to battle with him again.
I love how upfront ansbach is about everything. He fought a Demi god, lost, flat out tells you they took moghs body and assumes they’re using it to resurrect radahn. No vagueness. Just straight to the point
Everyone in elden ring is rude to the tarnished but ansbach always calls us “righteous” even after the knowledge that the tarnished slayed his lord Mohg. Ansbach is the biggest chad in gaming history.
Mohg was used and abandoned by Miquella the same way Messmer was by Marika. Forced to endlessly shed blood in the name of their god for some vague higher purpose, and ultimately left behind to die alone, desperate to be acknowledged by the one that left them behind.
“That’s a nice argument Sir Gideon Ofnir. Why don’t you back it up with a source?” *”My source is that I made it the fuck up.”* -A casual conversation between Ansbach and Gideon
Thank you for that video. I really enjoyed only 2 characters in this DLC: Messmer and Sir Ansbach. Wanted to learn more and you delivered! Was planning to finish NG+ after DLC as lord of frenzied, but when Ansbach asked to be a better lord for the people, i changed my mind
I got a new favorite NPC. Dude was awesome from the voice actor to the outfit to my favorite incantation. I hope he doesn't fade or go unnoticed. FromSoft made a quality character like so many others.
“Righteous tarnished, become our new lord, a lord not for gods, but for men” -A legend’s last words.
"Pick Ranni, got it."
@@WyattStrange This is the same ending of Ranni. In Age of Stars, Ranni prevents the influence of the other Outer Gods on the Lands Between and allows humans to have their own freedom. And as a bonus, we can marry Ranni, then not being a maidenless and having a fucking sword
@@WyattStrange But you use Marika's body to imbued the seal, so you still need a god to do it and I still havent found out if the perfect order protects the land from fallingstar beasts crashing into the lands and turning into Astels, if yes, then wont it also meant that sorceries will be abolished?
Also if going by the subbed ending dialogue, it kinda paints the picture of Ranni leaving deep into space far away from anyone to be able to even touch the Rune.
@@WyattStrange not a god.
Its a symbol
@@WyattStrangeperfect order is one of the worst endings. It makes all the issues of the Gods permanent, which is exactly what Ansbach didn’t want.
Ansbach & Igon really enhanced the DLC experience from a narrative perspective.
I love Igon I wish to be 1% the hater igon is
@@Gold_scuttlecrab wake up extra early
Two total chads
And florrisaxx claiming us as they're lord rather than us proving ourselves
All the npcs did imo. Leda is presented as a kind and respectable knight, but she’s a pshycopath that’s willing to follow her lord’s mistakes to a fault. Hornsent is someone who seeks revenge for his people, even though his people are the ones that began the cycle of violence in the first place… there’s a bunch more
The Virgin All-Knowing vs. the Chad All-Learning
That's an interesting juxtaposition, now that I see them together like that. Anyone professing to be all knowing is surely a fool. All-Learning though implies a healthy review and rectifications process.
@@u-mos8820 The whole point of Gideon's character was that he knew he was not All-Knowing but always sought out more knowledge which eventually doomed him. Gideon and Ansbach are very similar characters with them both falling into despair when tasked with fighting a god. The only difference was that Ansbach was able to gather his courage again most likely thanks to his oaths to Mohg and having us as an ally two things that Gideon lacked. Ansbach also never tried to become a lord but only tried to find the right one to serve which is probably representative of him knowing his limits.
The wisest men admit they do not know everything and there's always something new to learn.
I wouldn't even compare them. Gideon searches for secrets and magic for the sake of power. He's a thief dressed as a wizard. I can't even think of a character that shares his view on Marika. Ansbach is a true scholar, seeking knowledge and wisdom for the sake of each other and not being a primp about it.
virgin wouldn't be the guy with the anime photo??
-Players praising Ansbach.
Gideon: He does the exact same thing I do.
Ansbach: But better.
Ansbach also doesn't double-cross the player.
@@Psychx_ instead he help not once but twice ...what a legend
Ansbach dug deep to discern Miquella's true plan.
Gideon only assumed Marika's goal.
Not in the slightest, Gideon is a coward that never does any work himself, waiting for the player to slay demi-gods before learning anything from them. Ansbach had the runes to challenge the mightiest empyrrean himself, dared to dream his mortal blade could reach a demi-god.
@@witchBoi_Connor
And the irony too is that Gideon from a player-stat perspective is actually kind of cracked, but his lack of real combat implementation makes his giga stats mostly irrelevant. Dude tries to fire off comet azures at point blank range with low poise. In comparison, Ansbach's combat kit isn't actually all that impressive, but he's so skilled that he elevates his modest arsenal into something that threatens gods and is proactive enough for that to matter.
“I am Ansbach of the pureblood knights, I stand with blade aloft, blood afire, For the dignity of my lord and master Mohg”
Chilling
"General Radahn it is good to see you, after all this time. Those remains do not belong to you, Lord Mohg will have his dignity."
A visual detail I really like about Ansbach's design is that his helmet's eye slits give the impression of someone with their eyes closed. Compare to Gideon, who has prominent imagery of open eyes and ears dotted across his armor, yet makes cruel decisions and comes to the wrong conclusions, Ansbach's eyes are closed and yet he discerns the truth, because only when we shut out distractions can we truly listen.
Dude, wtf you cooked with that last sentence. 🔥 🔥
That is so deep. Even more cuz I’m high as a 🪁 blowing in the wind
Vagabond ahh comment 😭
Peak storytelling ahh comment
Keen observation, and well put.
Something nobody talks about, Leda describes Ansbach as the COMMANDER of the Pureblood Knights. Not just one of them, but the leader. Ansbach was definitely someone akin to Moghs right hand
According to Leda, Ansbach "who cleaved open Miquella the Kind with his blood blade". Gigachad managed to actually hit Miquella before being controlled.
It may be why Miquella has 3.5 arms instead of 4 in the final battle.
Makes me wonder when he did this? Right after Miquella was taken? During the corruption? It’s so irritatingly vague.
@@certifiedicecreamtruckmomentI think that arm is the one fallen out of the cocoon, the one still within the lands between.
They literally made a better Gideon. He wants to know why Miquella is there,he actually gets off his ass to investigate the clues left behind,has pride as a knight,is sensible&he wants the player to be a better lord.
Thus why he's titled as "all-learning", not "all-knowing". There is always, ALWAYS, more to learn, regardless your age. All knowing is just the hubris before your downfall, that you no longer feel the need to learn.
@@Dancingrage Gideon never claimed to know everything in fact he was constantly trying to find more knowledge. The title of "All-Knowing" just represented his goal which of course is impossible to achieve similar to Ansbach honing his skills to kill a god, also an impossible goal from his perspective. Gideon and Ansbach are almost the same character, although I agree that Ansbach's character was better executed.
@@zacharyt.2694
The main difference between Gideon and Ansbach are approaches to learning and the result from that. Gideon is a bit of a worm who rarely does things himself, preferring to use minions and proxies to deliver to him knowledge second-hand. He's a book learner in every way down to his fighting style of staying away and slinging things at a distance without engaging directly. Ansbach in contrast goes out and learns via field work, doing the hard parts himself to gain firsthand knowledge. He's an experience-based learner in every way, which also results in having physical and martial prowess that mixes in melee and range rather than dumping all of his eggs into one or the other.
This also ends up reflecting their personalities. Gideon via staying away from the hard parts as the leader figurehead has a "higher-than-thou" attitude where he finds that kind of work beneath him. Meanwhile Ansbach actually understands how difficult that work is and is much humbler and emphatic since he's gladly willing to pitch in for the difficult parts. They even both have a musclehead female friend who reflects this difference: Freyja respects Ansbach greatly despite him being a turbo nerd since he's also a respectful warrior, while Nepheli loses her respect for Gideon because he only uses his knowledge to excuse doing terrible things while throwing away everyone who becomes a slight inconvenience to him due to a sheer lack of respect for others.
Though what is interesting is that Gideon isn't completely terrible, either. He does in a way care for Nepheli since he does go out of his way to thank the player for helping her out if we do so and he does get pissed at Seluvis' magic roofie for Nepheli if we reveal that scheme to him. It's just that he prioritizes his goals above his own humanity, which is a contrast to Ansbach who helps everyone else who needs it before helping himself. They have a similar surface-level knowledge seeking gimmick, but are 2 very different approaches to that gimmick.
gideon was a lazy, back-stabbing schemer and coward. he spies on you, slaughters the albinauric villages for a medallion and discards his adoptive daughter when she confronts him. gideon "a man cannot kill a god" ofnir wanted to become elden lord himself but pussies out at the end and actively fights against you. ansbach follows you in, casually banters with radahn and fights a god alongside you. the anti-hero to gideon's anti-villain and a true lord.
@@Dancingrage he explains why it is all knowing, its just a title, doesn't matter. and sir ansbach is not called all learning in game as I could see
I see why Morgott didnt list Mohg as a willful traitor. Mohg was always for the outcast and their wellbeing without ever opposing the golden order and even left a part of himself in the underground to keep the frenzy flame locked away. I'd even wager Morgott had been informed by Ansbasch at some point in the past to explain what Miquella did before he eventually went to challenge him and lost. Morgott was holding down the Erdtree defenses for time when Miquella would arrive and would be forced to fight him and possibly Mohg
Gideon wishes he's as knowledgeable as Ansbach
Man carried majority of the lore on his back. And he delivered it brilliantly
Ansbach investigated and knew that Miquella was the real MOHGLESTER
Miquella the Miquellester
Miquella the tickla
@@adolfpotatoler7624 XD
I really wish people would stop being so mean to miquella
It's so rare we get femboy representation in a game this popular...
Ansbach, Igon, and Moore have to be the best NPCs. I’m glad I was right that Miquella was the real villain all along. Anyone who claims love and unification is often tyrannical at heart or in nature. Nothing else matters but “utopia” head-ahh.
This dude single handedly made me a Mogh believer. I use his Scythe in his honor. For the Dynasty!
i also use his scythe but only because i wanted an arcane scaling weapon for my Faith/Arc build
I use Bloody Helice in my right hand, with Reduvia and Bloodflame incantations catalyst in my left hand. I dress in Sanguine noble garments to honour and avenge Lord Mohg's Dynasty.
Let it rise and flow.....the true birth of his Dynasty!
@@Meem-v02man you just gave me new idea for fresh cosplay playthrough
I was allways a believer Lord Mohg was enchanted ever since that start. I continue to serve the dynasty aswell.
Sir Ansbach is now one of my favorite souls NPC's.
I just imagine Mohg in afterlife just see the golden words "Allegation felled".
The mere fact that Ansbach exists proves to me that the Mohgwyn Dynasty wasn't always a blood-soaked nightmare, and only degenerated to that while Mohg was under Miquella's spell. But he's still probably the most level-headed of the troop, as he makes the point to study the matter and find out exactly what's going on before he commits to anything fully. Plus like you said, he's the only one that sees Miquella as the monster he truly was.
And he goes on about being past his fighting days, but he was still good enough to challenge an Empyrean, and doesn't think twice about fighting his former comrades so that his Lord can get his dignity back, even after death.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. All of Mohg's followers we meet in the base game make a point of senseless bloodlust and the item descriptions talking about what was done to the war doctors are pretty grim as well.
@@unbearable505 It's very likely that was all done under Miquella's influence too though. Considering their main goal is to "drench the bloody bedchamber" so Miquella can ascend to godhood is the very motive of the dynasty we know from the game. The war surgeons existed during the Shattering War and we know somewhere around that time, from the narrator in the beginning, Miquella probably bewitched Mohg to set off his plans. The war surgeons were perfect for bloodshed, so Miquella can "defile his body" to get to the Land's of Shadow, and out of the Greater Will's influence, that's why the bewitched version of Mohg probably abducted them and used them, so they can tame his blood, which might get out of control (?) if not kept in check and might make the charm less effective? Maybe that made Mohg easier to control, since it was still risky on Miquella's part, because Mohg had a very strong connection the Formless Mother and maybe she might have taken over again, if not the war surgeons spread his blood into new followers. At least that's my theory.
@@unbearable505compare Ansbach to any of the vile bloods you meet in base game. Ansbach is a Pureblood knight for a reason
Miqella most likely made Moghs cult turn into blood thirsty psychos so people would try to willingly end him
All that blood that they're they're trying to get a hold of in the first place is only to facilitate something Michelob once though meaning that it has to be something that Michaela caused. The whole point of being they do this for him meaning that it wouldn't make sense if he hadn't messed with them yet to cause that. The dynasty was unquestionably fucked with by him not just always bad and then used@@unbearable505
The final dialogue about you being the one to fell Mohg is his greatest character trait, it works on so many aspects; lore, story, gameplay. Because I would like to think, and so would Ansbach, that he would have been helping lead Mohg down a better route. Away from bootlickers like Varre and possible been able to save his lord. Hence why he, “blames the enchantment…”
Judging by Ansbach not having blood eyes if you remove his helmet and the fact he was pretty much Mohgs right hand man, yet he did see Mohg bring miquella to the dynasty it seems Miquella caused many wierd things in the dynasty like injecting blood onto others.
Given that the explicit purpose of the dynasty’s murder operations in the present day is just “get blood for Miquella” raises so many questions about how evil they were originally
@@draw2death421 good note, I think we are meant to blame the enchantment too, in order to make sense of some of those things I think it’s clear Ansbach and Mohg were equally persuaded by Miquella and maybe Ansbach used to have the “blood eyes” but Miquella wiped him mostly clean of it, similar to how he enchants Freyja and cures most of her scarlet rot.
@@topdeckhelix8450 Given a lot of present day operations of the dynasty are specifically to soak Miquella's cocoon in blood, I wonder if it isn't the opposite; that the blood eyes are a result of Miquella's influence.
@@bigchungus6827I mean Promsied consort Radahn did also have sinister red eyes if I remember correctly, so it would check out.
Blaidd, Igon, Thiollier and Ansbach proven to me why they are the best NPC in Elden Ring:
- Blaidd in the name of loyalty and determination, he stayed as a loyal soldier and brother and died to protect his lady sister;
- Igon in the name of vengeance and fury, he finally defeated Bayle The Dread with the help of a great drake warrior and died in peace;
- Thiollier in the name of love and admiration, he overcame his weaknesses and became a warrior and died to fulfill the last wish of his goddess;
- And Ansbach in the name of justice and honor, he avenged his deceased lord and died in the name of the new Elden Lord, a lord who will become a leader not for the gods but for the men
All they lived and died, but they taught us that goodness still exists in a chaotic world and that we must become a lord to honor their sacrifices
Add Alexander to that list and i fully agree
@@nobodycares743BROOOO, I FORGOT ALEXANDER!!!! Now the shame is with me
Diallos Hoslow ?
Dude mad he got his heart stolen by a man
@@goodguyT9NOOOOOO, I FORGOT HIM TOO!!!!! Damn, his redemption arc is so beautiful in the game
If a character like Ansbach was willing to journey across planes of reality to avenge Mogh, that by proxy makes Mohg the best Demigod.
Ansbach’s questline was where I really locked tf in to the story/lore while playing the dlc
I think the most interesting thing about Ansbach is that even under enchantment, he is still desperately trying to discern what Miquella's goal even is.
It seems like he was never completely under Miquella's control.
While Miquella can shift people's affiliations and goals, he can't turn around their personality by 180 degrees.
I rather believe that it was intrinsic to Sir Ansbach's nature to want to learn and gain a deeper understanding of everything.
Ansbach say it himself he fear miquella but having his heart stolen May make him love miquella but yet he still fears him. But his personnality May play too
@@Psychx_ But Miquella did. Before the spell of the tarnished is broken Ansbach constantly doubts himself and his combat abilities, but once the spell is broken he no longer doubted himself in combat.
He was. It’s just that Miquella‘s charm does, in fact, not steal your free will, as somehow the entire community believes. It just makes you love him, that’s all.
@@Marikus_Eternal Making you love him is still against free will.
Gideon wishes he had 1% of Ansbach's wisdom
Knowledge vs. wisdom
gideon had way more wisdom than ansbach, the thing is ansbach is more humble than him. You just want to put gideon in a box, its not so simple, be less stupid.
@@Jorge-i3g1cnah Gideon was a loser and a doomer who had to be spoon fed his information by the tarnished.
@@Jorge-i3g1cnah Gideon was a loser and a doomer who had to be spoon fed his information by the tarnished.
@@Jorge-i3g1cnah Gideon was a loser and a doomer who had to be spoon fed his information by the tarnished. He didn’t really accomplish much on his own aside from needlessly harming some albinaurics
Ansbach would've been my favorite NPC had it not been for 'CURSE YOU BAYLLLLLEEEE!!!!!'
"I HEREBY VOW, YOU WILL RUE THIS DAY!!"
"BEHOLD, A TRUE DRAKE WARRIOR AND I, IGON!!!"
"YOUR FEARS MADE FLESH!"@@Dino-zg2kg
‘SOLID OF SCALE YOU MIGHT BE FOUL DRAGON!’
I like the contrast drawn between Ansbach and Gideon; the former is definitely the antithesis of the latter, an anti-hero to Gideon's anti-villain, and yet they share much in common.
It's a pity they don't have dialogue about each other. We don't know if they ever met, or if one ever learned the other's name.
I would have loved to have seen what the first generation of the Round Table was like. Seeing characters like Gideon, Ansbach, Vyke, Bernahl, Dolores, and possibly many others all interacting with each other before Morgott crashed the party.
@@zacharyt.2694 also Vargram and Alberich
indeed it's a pity
I wished that Ansbach survived simply so he could become part of our staff when we became Elden Lord, maybe a high level advisor and general.
Ansbach puts up one hell of a fight against Radahn, can’t even imagine how deadly he was in his younger years.
Find Ansbach dying: “it’s so over”
Hearing his last words: “we’re so back”
We're so ans-bach 🔥
Thanks for the video! Ansbach really makes one wonder what kind of character Mogh was before being enchanted by Miquella, seeing how he inspires such loyalty in Ansbach.
Probably ruthless but very caring and loyal to his followers- after all he talks about a dinasty and not a position for himself.
"General Radahn, a pleasure to see you after all this time, but those remains do not belong to you. Lord Mohg will have his dignity."
-Sir Ansbach
The Virgin Sir Gideon Ofnir The "All Knowing"
Vs
The Chad Sir Ansbach The All-Learning
the only virgin here is you
Ansbach is a wise man because he understood that learning is an infinite process. You will never stop learning and you will never know everything.
An absolute, chad, bro, and scholar.
It's not everyday you see someone in the setting of ER that actually has faith in both mankind and you. Only other ones I can think of are Rani and Godfrey.
Something I haven’t really really heard much talk of but I think is cool is, there are 13 crosses of Miquella, each one he left a piece of him behind, or rather an attachment behind, on his road to godhood. In Vedic, Buddhist, and other practices, one meditates to open and cleanse the 13 “Chakras”, places in our body where energy gathers, while meditating on, and ultimately shedding your human attachments to this world that are associated with each of the chakras. In meditation though it’s more of a process of understanding, accepting, and rising above our baser thoughts and instincts to try and connect with higher energies. In Miquellas case he seems to do this as well but more by force, perhaps his ascension was tainted from the beginning for this reason. “No matter our efforts, if the roots are rotten then we have little recourse.” -Count Ymir
“Miquella the Kind… is a monster. Pure and radiant…” is one of the scariest descriptions I’ve heard in my life. Especially coming from someone like Sir Ansbach. Even the tone he uses at different points in the description. Like he’s both enchanted and terrified.
Really makes you respect Ansbach. He knows full well how powerful Miquella is after having fought him, he knows what it's like to be controlled by Miquella, and he is absolutely terrified, rightfully so. Yet when we go to fight Radahn and Miquella, Ansbach joins us, to free his Lord, and to put an end to Miquella's evil.
Ansbach can only be described as ''Better Gideon''
The difference between Gideons title of “All-Knowing” and Ansbach’s title of “All-Learning” really shows that Ansbach is less vain and more humble about his abilities than Gideon was
Everything in the DLC really pushes the Ranni ending imo. Between Miquella, Marika and the Frenzy we see that having a god in charge is basically f**ked and we should take an offhand approach. Ansbach asks for a lord for men, and in a way, letting men rule themselves is providing him that. The Outer Gods have been playing their own games since the start at the expense of everyone, and Ranni’s ending gives you a chance to rid the world of the whole lot of them
Gideon proclaiming himself as all knowing ironically shows how little he actually knew
I think when Ansbach says he “blames the enchantment more than anything” I took it to mean he believed *we* were under Miquella’s influence to slay Mohg
he wouldn't be wrong to assume that, Miquella DID bewitch thousands upon thousands of players into believing he was a genuily good character, his power is soo terrifying it transcended reality
I took it more than mogh would have been a superior fighter had he been in control of his own thoughts.
@@UnholyWrath3277 could be both.
@@sanguineregis5354 doubtful. We never interact with miquella until the dlc and he charms us in his boss fight implying that we weren't charmed to begin with. When he breaks his runes charm in shadow keep we don't change at all. Everyone else does.
So while not explicitly impossible it's the significantly less likely answer
I think its more so implying we wouldnt rly fight if Mohg wasnt enchanted, as his story would be completely different
Sir Ansbach is up there with Solaire and the Onion Knights as my favorite souls npc.
Coincidentally the NPCs most notable for being chill towards the player haha
ansbach is such a chad, one of the most skilled warriors in the world of elden ring, literally managed to almost kill miquella before his heart was stolen, even under miquella charm he still was skeptical, every single character respects him as a wise but also as an extremely dangerous warrior
fights to get the dignity of his master back
It seems kind of obvious in hindsight, but I'm glad the DLC confirms that blood makes a bad lubricant.
He had the best drip in the entire DLC 😤😤😤
I think Mohg was a natural, crazy eccentric but the way the Formless Mother was worshipped in the Land's of Shadow hints at a more passive way of honoring this Goddess and it being mainly a religion for outcasts.
I think it's interesting that the both flowers associated with this Outer God are roses, prominently know for love, and amaryllis, which have at tie to hurting YOURSELF - rather than others, as the bloody fingers do -, for love, and we even know Bloodfiends occasionally do that sooo ... Yeah. The bloodfiends never attack unless THEY ARE being attacked or invaded in their territory. It is said the mother was their saviour, similiar on how she presented herself to Mohg back in his youth and we do not see this Outer God being as corrupting as the Frenzied Flame for instance, and there is nothing that suggests that this God is evil per se. Blood isn't only death, it has also a strong symbolism in motherhood and birth.
Honestly, the way Ansbach is represented + the new lore of the Formless Mother makes me believe, Mohg was probably fine with having his little blood cult and being his own lord, while the Formless Mother granted maternal love to his shunned followers. If you were a Tarnished you had to kill your Maiden to join, yeah, but honestly, from Mohg's POV: those were instruments of the very religion and world-order who considered his MERE EXISTENCE a mistake. It's more than questionable but yeah, I don't think Mohg was so much worse than the other demigods.
We also have to kill out maiden to join in a time when Mogh is completely screwed by Miquela. We don't see Pureblood Knights, we see Bloody Fingers. I'm sure as hell, things pre-enchantment were completely different.
With Ansbach saying essentially “what difference is there between god and man?” I believe he got from Mohg before Miqella showed up
And with this I think that theres 2 different almost eras of the Mohgwyn dynasty. The age Ansbach was in where Mohg probably was similar to Miqella, excepting to all, and then there’s the one Varres in where bloody finger run about killing and killing for nothing but blood
I wish we got a chance to learn more about the real Mohg (and the Formless Mother, for the matter)
There are the bloodfiends who were a beaten down tribe (either from Messmer's crusade or the Hornsent) and how they took to worshiping the FM in that time.
Gideon is called the all-knowing for a reason. He's intelligent, but not wise. Wisdom is something else entirely.
Gideon is also quite greedy, and quite frankly, lazy. He constantly uses others to gain the knowledge he desires, rather then go looking for it himself. Ansbach is a man acting out of principles. He's loyal, honorable and whilst asking the tarnished for help with locating the crosses, he also provides you with the locations of the ones he himself already has located. Ansbach is also very upfront and honest, whilst Gideon is everything but honest up until he reveals his hand by challenging the tarnished.
I love the comparison people make between Ansbach/Gideon, because it clearly shows how similar they are as archetypes, but how differently executed they were in their titles: the all learning vs. the all knowing. Gideon's "all knowing" title does not imply hard work, only obsessive hoarding of information, while Ansbach's "all learning" implies the opposite: he works for it, boots on the ground, getting his hands dirty type of approach, which makes him actually wise and kinder to everyone around him. Unlike Gideon, who assumes what Marika's plan is, based on information without proper context.
Varre was also suspiciously ‘kind’ and was likely bewitched
Nah varre is a scrub level recruiter he's probably just that manipulative and uses kindness alongside killing your maiden to try and get u on his side
@@UnholyWrath3277Varre's lore actually suggests he was pretty high up in the dynasty. He was the only surgeon that could actually understand Mohg's blood.
Lord Mohg got his dignity back, Sir Ansbach. thanks for everything and rest in peace, commander of pureblood knignts. I will be a lord. not for gods, but for men.
Justice for Mohg!!!!!
I love Sir Ansbach. I’d say confidently that I botched almost every single npc quest line in the dlc and ended up killing them all right before the final boss, except the big guy in the green armor, he attacked me randomly and idk why. But Ansbach was STILL there for me in the fight against Miquella, both of us honor bound to learn the truth of what’s happened.
I botched EVERY questline. Except for maybe Moore (I told him to move on and be happy. Is that all of his quest?).
@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem if you tell him be sad forever , he dies next to the kindred of rot next to a church and you get his armor and shield
The kindred of rot that don't attack you are part of his forager brood. Each one gives you a cookbook, but one is cold and needs to be warmed with a warming stone. Moore will give you a cookbook for warming it up and for finding all the kindred.
If the guy in the armor attacked you as an invader, it's because you killed a friendly pest. There are six of them in the DLC and all of them give you cook books when you talk to them.
I did every NPC questline except Thioller and holy shit that was a terrible decision. EVERY NPC that can possibly appear to fight you in the gank appeared for me while all I had to fend them off was Ansbach. Long story short, that’s the ONLY fight in all of Elden Ring I used my mimic tear for. I beat Consort Radahn with parrying (no summons/spirits) but Moore’s rot pots, Hornsent’s one-shot orb bs, and Dane’s bs infinite stamina? Yeah fuck that bs.
Its interesting to point out that even if Ansbach got brainwashed in the end Leda mentions that he actually injured Miquella and that he is also the commander of the pureblood knights and I quote: "there you are, I'm afraid Sir Ansbach will have to be next, he insists that he's nothing but a warn down over the hill soldier but in his day he was the feared commander of the pureblood knights who cleaved open Miquela the kind with his blood blade..."
This not only gives us the interesting info that he was the leader of the pureblood knights but also that he cleaved Miquella open, I'm pretty confident he is the only other tarnished or even non demigod or legendary figure outside us to injure a demigod
Miquella doesn't have a physical left arm, maybe it was ansbach that managed to cut it off?
I think this may be referring to opening the cocoon if that is indeed Miquella inside
@@square-table-gaming I doubt it, Ansbach himself says that he tried to challange Miquella to free Mohg, how would he try to fight Miquella and get bewitched by him if Miquella wasnt even councious and stuck inside the cocoon? Also, I don't think Leda would point out his status and prowess as a warrior If all he did was merely open a cocoon. Somewhere between Mohg getting bewitched and Miquella entering the cocoon and therefore the land of shadows Ansbach fought, injured Miquella and got bewitched, at least thats how I understood it
@@papzaire4269nah, one of the parts of himself he left at a cross was "his arm dextral".
@@jfturle dextral is the right, sinistral is the left. But you are still correct there is a cross that says "here I abandon my arm sinistral"
Maybe Mohg and his group had honor and chivalry pre-Miquella's meddling. Making Mohg/his followers slay fellow tarnished would be in Miquella's best interest to prevent any threat to his uprising.
Yay glad to see my suggestion became real.
Honestly maybe mohg might have not been as bad as most thing as blood ritual doesn't necessarily mean they have to target innocents and it seems that mohg possibly wanted to show those who were outcasted like himself the love he never received possibly even punishing those who caused that pain by offering their blood to the formless mother
As far as I understand the rituals only started after Mohg got bewitched since he actually used the blood of the rituals on Miquella's cocoon
Ansbach: badass grandpa!
Igon: badass brother in arms!
Florrisaxx: badass dragon gf!
Dragon GILF. She's been around since before Marika.
Enough internet for today
Nah anyone who has a florrisaxx summon is a freak. Bill Cosby wants his routine back.
Ofnir: A tarnished cannot become a lord, man cannot kill a God.
Ansbach: I don't know if man can kill a god, but for the sake of us all we must try.
I felt bad that Ansbach died, but over time I actually am happy that Ansbach, a true noble warrior, spent his last fight against a literal god, fighting for the dignity of his lord, and fighting so that the new lord (tarnished) may be a lord of man and not gods.
Allegations beaten.
Can't blame Mohg for falling head over heels for the Prince of Femboys
@@bagaboo4746That Empyrean bussy got Mohg nihiling all over 😩
@DanteThebengalobjectively? Based on what? Compare Ansbach, who is old enough to know radahn,to someone like varre.
Ansbach is a pureblood from before Miquella interfered. Varre is a vile blood/invader like the reduvia dude and he comes from a time where Miquella was clearly manipulating mohg
Bloodletting isn’t uncommon in real life. Neither is flagellation.
It’s perfectly reasonable to assume mohg could’ve been a mostly harmless lord of blood before Miquella came along.
Ansbach is an honorable and studious knight and he’s the kind of follower we know mohg used to inspire.
@DanteThebengal Leda is a crackhead and murderer. She murdered her fellow oath seeker knights for no reason. She’s not a reliable judge of character, and besides, you’re misinterpreting her words anyway.
She doesn’t call him “evil” by any stretch, she just acknowledges his prowess and skill.
The blood fiends are irrelevant but they do provide a clue. They only worshipped the formless mother after they were ruthlessly discriminated against. And as far as I can tell all they do is defend their homes.
Also plenty of real world religions, including branches of Christianity, flagellate. So your judgement is baseless and silly.
@DanteThebengal nope, do your research better and look at her items.
She’s stained(her armor and weapon) with the blood of her fellow oath seeker knights(oath seeker set) .
She’s definitely not justified for trying to kill Ansbach. Ansbach is much more honorable and respectable than Leda.
Ansbach has been a good fellow I kinda actually wanted to make a whole build with his scythe. Man he’s actually a really cool character sorta like a better Gherman.
I was afraid Ansbach would turn on us. I kept it in the back of my head that the tarnished still slayed Mohg… and knowing that FromSoft NPCs who you meet more than a few times along your journey just don’t end up having a good ending, case in point Blaidd and Alexander…
But Ansbach accepted his lord’s fate in regard to us.
I bet FromSoft liked the character so much so they didn’t have the heart to have him end up like almost all their NPCs.
Arguably Alexander’s ending was good because it’s what he wanted. He lived on his own terms and went the same way out.
Blaidd and Alex, while both died, they both died fulfilled. Blaidd got to see his hopes and dreams realized through Ranni and the Tarnished's victories, and Alexander proved himself a great warrior beyond any doubt, being able to stand against the last giant and only falling to the Tarnished. They're not happy endings, but I'd call them good.
I don’t see enough people talking about how much of a gigachad goat that Ansbach is. He is the only and I repeat ONLY PERSON IN THE SERIES that isn’t a demigod that came SO CLOSE to slaying one of the demigods
Even without that he's a chad because he was terrified of Miquella, terrified of being charmed again, and yet when we go to face him, Ansbach joins us despite that fear, to free his lord and to end Miquella's evil.
To be fair to Mogh with allying himself with the formless mother, could you blame him? Mogh is a demigod, born from Marika and Godfrey the first Elden Lord, the Eldest among the demigods. Yet, as a Omen, such status would not matter for he and his brother Morgott would be shackled like animals deep below the sewer of the capital. And even with all this Morgott would still side with the golden order. If you had the chance to fight against the very order that see you and your brother as monsters to the point your twin brother agrees to, wouldn’t you take it in a heartbeat? Wouldn’t you take the first act of kindness given to you? Even if it’s given by a being the golden order says as evil?
Miquella the Kind is a Monster. He wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men.
Thanks for the video!
Ansbach is my favorite character in the DLC.
The fact that this should apply to a former Mohg supporter is a remarkable achievement of the DLC's narrative.
Coincidentally, Ansbach and Thiollier are my two of the three favorite NPCs in SOTE. I'm glad I could summon them to aid me in my last two major fights. Even if they buffed Radahn's HP and died almost immediately to him, I still summon them. I owe that to them. Fifth time I killed Radahn now and I summon them always.
Ansbach legitimizes the dynasty for me. He shows that it wasn't just madmen who inhabited it, but also Nobel people who believed in Mohg because they truly saw him as a great leader.
Makes me wonder how Mohg was before Miquella seduced him...
What an excellent side character.
Gideon - Book smart
Ansbach - Book smart AND street smart
Another story where wisdom is more valuable than knowledge
My assumption was that given the presence of Albanirics in the lands of Mohg, that Mohg cared for his fellow outcasts, and given some of the things we know about Varre and the other surgeons, it seems likely they were abducted after Mohg's enchantment. So I imagine that the dynasty in building was a brutal but intact and coherent order making sacrifices to the formless mother, and creating wounds in their enemies as she desires. When mohg kidnapped Miquella, perhaps of his own volition looking for a most worthy sacrifice of an empearyan, perhaps as a machination of Miquella, he became entranced at that point, and his object of love and devotion changed from his outer god to him. And the dynasty fell into debauchery and rot as it became a profane place merely attempting to spill as much blood as possible to offer to miquella instead.
I always thought that the formless mother and the mother of wounds were two sides of the same coin. The bloodfiends seem to arise during a time of excess physical pain such as the scoring of the shadow lands and the formless mother makes herself know to the omen who were exposed to torturous treatment from birth. I think that “she” is the concept that life is pain. On top of the pretty clear analog of here seeking a wound, blood, and birthing things into our realm of existence, seeming to represent a vaginal connotation while The ritual both the bloodfiends and Mohg are piercing into said formless mother. Not trying to be crass, it just seemed like a narrow jump of logic.
Sir Ansbach stands as a prime example of a man of stoic honor and learning. A man to whom his oaths meant infinitely more than his fears. Who knew that the root of knowledge is learning not knowing. We should all strive the be an Ansbach.
Ansbach is my homie, he and I are tight.
I hate that Ansbach and Thiollier still end up dead even if I didn't summon them, when the questline of Hornsent is very particular on him being summoned for the Messmer fight
I believe that St. Trina was the reason Miquella could not grow up . She was keeping his body in a perpetual slumber . Only after he discarded her did he achieve maturity. And i completely blew Ansbachs questline . Guess that will be the next playthrough .
I read this yesterday and it blew my mind: “There is a common misconception about the curse that afflicts Kindly Miquella. He is not cursed with eternal youth, but with nascency. This means that nothing he starts will ever come to fruition. His Haligtree never grew to rival the Erd Tree, he never cured his sister Malenia, he never revived Godwyn, and he never ushered in his age of compassion. His eternal youth is merely a symbol of his inability to complete anything.”
@@korye6324so us killing him was fated to happen. Damn
@@korye6324That would explain the “Nascent” butterflies how did we not connect this before!??!!?!?
@@korye6324 His nascency trait may not necessarily mean something bad, as it can also be interpreted that his works are for others to finish. There is a very strong indication that he suffers an inferiority complex and believes that might bring trust and only the powerful deserve to be followed, that being the reason why he bewitches his way out of most. How could he trust others if he never trusted himself to begin with? He got rid of everything that was "Miquella" because he only saw weakness in himself, always blind to the fact that his compassion was something genuine and many who followed him do so without any charm to begin with.
This makes me wonder what is the true nature of Mohg’s cult of blood before he got bewitched by miquella… Ansbach seems to think highly of Mohg and he does not seem like blood starved killer like the rest of the bloody fingers. Does mohg also believe in men over gods?
The fact that Ainsbach managed to gut Miquella like a fish before being controlled by him is impressive as hell. Imagine if Miquella was without his great runes support at that moment, theres a very real chance Miquella wouldve been killed
Ainsbach was correct in that sense, the hands of mortal men can reach the gods, a true shame that Miquella was a mental threat instead of a physical one
I do like the fact that despite being charmed, Sir Ansbach still held his suspicions of Miquella. He wanted to know what Miquella was up to before pledging service.
In a world of backstabbing and betryal from NPCs, its the ones who fight until the very end in a cause not dissimilar than your own which are truly remembered.
St. Trina's theme is my favorite track from the DLC and I appreciate how much you guys have been using it in the videos.
Sir Ansbach and Igon are defo the best NPCs in the DLC. And Sir Ansbach's character suggests Mohg might have been a decent guy overall before he fell victim to Miquella.
I think Ansbach was indeed what the Dynasty could have been, but whatever that was had been lost long before Miquella's charm, with the influence of the formless mother, the blood offerings she herself required, Mogh's accursed blood and everything derived from it. Mogh's character is tragic, but as far from innocent as any other demigod in this game
Ansbach and Thiollier are like my 2 favorite NPC's in fromsoft history
This is my fav npc of the dlc
I feel like Sir Ansbach definitely had his differences with Varre. Maybe Varre simply observed Ansbach from afar and hated the way he was. I do wonder what the dynasty could have been without Miquella’s influence. Maybe it really was a bunch of loyal knights banded together in the name of Mohg, wielding blood flame to protect their lord and their beliefs. I personally believe it may have been something much more fair and noble than how it is after the Elden Ring shattered. Maybe Mohg was detached from it all due to the Formless Mother, but I feel that the Mohgwyn Dynasty had beauty and righteousness to it.
If Miquella uses charms to steal our hearts, then all Sir Ansbach needs to do is be Human.
RIP legend. You helped me kick Radahn and Miquella’s ass in your final act. You were a real one.
its likely the objective of the bloody fingers and white masks was gathering blood to supply Miquellas cocoon, whether they knew it or not, Pureblood knights seem to be from an era before the reign of Bloody Fingers and White Masks, when Mohg was not under Miq's spell. What Mohg actually stood for is not certain, but he probably was still attempting to establish the Mohgwyn Dynasty, maybe a kingdom in opposition to the Golden Orders prejudice against Omens and "lesser" races. Miquella is actually pretty evil for upsetting that goal(Though I am sure Mohg was not innocent either, the lord of blood had his fair share of bloodshed obviously, but i think its more understandable in that context).
It actually seems like the formless mother mainly asks wounds be inflicted on her. So before Miquella's charm the Mohgwyn dynasty likely was pretty peaceful, primarily using Bloodflame to defend themselves from those who would persecute them.
It's also important to note that the worshippers of the formless mother are all outcasts. And Mohg also shelters albinaurics, who are also an outcast people. They all spray blood all over the place without any ill effect to themselves as well, so it doesn't seem like the mohgwyn's bloodletting was necessarily a harmful ritual since the blood isn't theirs, its the formless mother's. And as unpleasant as Varre is, he's still a doctor. At the beginning of the game he's really just giving us an honest diagnosis of how fucked we are and offers a way to remedy it, because he has no idea about Melina. Mohg surrounded himself with honorable warriors, and sent healers out to offer shelter to those outcast like the tarnished. Mohg's just a hardcore goth theater nerd that got brainwashed.
To have someone like ansbach follow mogh and want to save him, such loyalty, devotion and skill. It makes me believe that lord mogh was a truly a kind ruler who wanted something more then most of the demigods we see, meet and hear about. Maybe his dynasty was going to be something grand if only kindly miquella never charmed him.
Jayoma and Mike have competition, no one but ansbach couldve gotten the Mohglester Allegations dropped
I loved Sir Ansbach from the moment I met him. What a great character. Every time I hear his greeting "Righteous Tarnished..." I want to go to battle with him again.
I love how upfront ansbach is about everything. He fought a Demi god, lost, flat out tells you they took moghs body and assumes they’re using it to resurrect radahn. No vagueness. Just straight to the point
Everyone in elden ring is rude to the tarnished but ansbach always calls us “righteous” even after the knowledge that the tarnished slayed his lord Mohg. Ansbach is the biggest chad in gaming history.
Mohg was used and abandoned by Miquella the same way Messmer was by Marika. Forced to endlessly shed blood in the name of their god for some vague higher purpose, and ultimately left behind to die alone, desperate to be acknowledged by the one that left them behind.
“That’s a nice argument Sir Gideon Ofnir. Why don’t you back it up with a source?”
*”My source is that I made it the fuck up.”*
-A casual conversation between Ansbach and Gideon
Thank you for that video. I really enjoyed only 2 characters in this DLC: Messmer and Sir Ansbach. Wanted to learn more and you delivered!
Was planning to finish NG+ after DLC as lord of frenzied, but when Ansbach asked to be a better lord for the people, i changed my mind
I got a new favorite NPC. Dude was awesome from the voice actor to the outfit to my favorite incantation. I hope he doesn't fade or go unnoticed. FromSoft made a quality character like so many others.
Thats the only Character ever calling us righteous, right?