I absolutely love the meta-narrative idea of the world being created by moving fingers in the same way that it was coded on a computer in that way. Following that logic, The Greater Will could meta-narratively be the developers, and the reason nobody can contact The Greater Will anymore is because the game is done development.
That's my interpretation as well! I think the greater will literally is the dev/author insert, the "fingers" controlling everything from on high, until they're suddenly not anymore
Nah because under that meta lore the shadow realm wouldn’t have history predating the lands between and the dlc itself would be the greater will recommuning with the world Edit: also I think the reason fingers are used are to signify humanity or intelligence
When I first heard of the fingers, they made me think of the "Digitals" in (unofficial) Elder Scrolls lore. Floating 4th wall breaking hands that act as a stand-in for the authors and poke things back into place.
@@adawg3032its been stated that alot of cut content was re-used for the DLC, that in itself is probably more of an allegory regarding the creation of the game and it’s various incarnations in the “Crucible” with Alphas and Public Betas before they finally settled on the final product of Elden Ring and The Lands Between after the Land of Shadow. Just a hypothesis
My favorite kinds of lore videos explore what the lore "means to the player/viewer" rather than "explaining". The sequential plot of the game, like the geography of the various castles, is less important than the effect they have on the player. Excellently done.
yeah, but I'd add to more to that. For example I, don't prefer channel like Smoughtown (especially not Vaati) who are rather explaining things that you could easily would know if you played the game extensively. they are rather for people who didn't play the game. while Tarnished Archeologist channel is also listing facts and describes real world phenomenons that "you could already know", they sincerely put together videos that are beyond what you could simply reading, listening in the game. The same way this channel does provide imo. I think these make more sense and respect your time too
Every step of this explanation contains at least one statement of utter clarity and synthesis. And every step I hoped you would take next was already forming ahead. Impeccable.
@glowindark64 Funny you should say that. I think there is something there. Not the trans bit, but the part about Jesus. How Christ is 100% Man, and 100% God. The union of opposites. Marika is 100% Marika, and 100% Radagon.
@@brokemono In the World of Elden Ring, Marika IS God, 100%, the one and only. She became this God at the Gate of Divinity, where she remade the World in her Image. Radagon, driven by the flame of ambition, went through the same process as Marika in order to become a God. But becoming a God in Marika's world means the same thing as becoming Marika herself. There's no way around it, she has seen to it.
"The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; The Named is the mother of all things. Therefore let there always be non-being, so we may see their subtlety, And let there always be being, so we may see their outcome. The two are the same, But after they are produced, they have different names. They both may be called deep and profound. Deeper and more profound, The door to all subtleties!" Ch. 1 - Dao De Jing Brother I think you fuckin' nailed it with Elden Ring and motion.
finally some lore that is not already talked about 100 times over and over again, great insights, actually crazy how little loretubers focused on runes and the Elden Ring despite it being the whole point of the game lmao
Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. "Nothing gold can stay" by Robert Frost
Loved the video! This along with Nameless Singer’s recent video about Grace as an allegory for Memory have really fomented a lot of the latent ideas kicking around in my head about the meaning of Elden Ring. I love the metanarrative idea of Elden Ring itself being a world constructed of programmed words and symbols and I think this is embodied by the two and three fingers. If one likens the five physical senses to that of the fingers on a hand, Elden Ring’s world is one that can currently only be perceived by two of them: sight and sound. One cannot taste, feel, or smell the Lands Between, and in a purely digital environment these three “fingers” of human perception have essentially been sealed away. I think it’s important that the words of the two fingers are inscriptions of light, while the words of the three fingers are physical imprints engraved into stone and flesh. Just some food for thought!
I feel like it's closer that the two fingers are metanarratively representing the fingers on a mouse used by developers to craft the game & world we're experiencing, though perhaps both concepts are true. This is in the same vein of thought as the Furled Finger being well known to evoke the practice of changing your grip on the controller to Run + take actions simultaneously for seasoned players.
It's insane how many great essays have been inspired by elden ring. We've got scum mage infa, nameless singer, garalous gold mask (sp? 😅) and just so many others. So grateful to have you as part of the community! Really enjoying the video 💖
Someone pointed out that the two fingers twitching in the air as they "read" the words from The Greater Will is essentially the same as someone "reading" braille but in the air. Definitely ties into the idea of what you've defined runes to be. Really interested in future videos!
Runes are literally written into the eyes of the inhabitants in the LB, as stated by the gift of the Lands Between Rune in vers 1.0. "The gold of grace shining in the eyes of the people in the Lands Between". This means that Grace is golden script written over the eyes. This also explains how we see the Erdtree and are guided by Grace, as well as why when we take upon ourselves the Flame of Frenzy we touch Hyetta's eyes with our fingertips, inscribing her eyes with the "words of the Three Fingers". It is fingers and eyes (and turtles) all the way down.
So good to finally hear someone talk about how the world is structured like a program. The whole cipher pata=code and influence of outer wills who manipulate the world through fingers thing has been bugging me since day one. Just like the painted worlds in Dark Souls. Great work. Subscribed.
I personally never managed to put two and two, but this video finally made me realize, and convinced me to be pretty much fact, that Marika has "always" been a Rebis, at least since her ascension to godhood. That means Radagon has "always" been a part of her: he was literally another person inside her, melded to her due to her shaman flesh.
Now that line of, "You have yet to become me." Makes more sense. He was always there, in the shadows, but it wasn't until present day that he finally took over.
Well done man. I threw this on as another "background noise" video while playing Stellaris and it was around the 8:00 mark that I realized I'd completely let the game run on its own and I was staring at my 2nd monitor, chin resting on my balled-together fists, wonder in my eyes
I want to further add and confirm what you're saying by referencing a few items from the game. Two finger heirloom: "Fingers cannot speak, yet these are eloquent. Persistently they wriggle, spelling out mysteries in the air.Thus did we gain the words. The words of our faith." The two fingers created the coded sword and the cypher pata for the Tarnished. The pata explicitly says "the language of light spoken by the Two Fingers.". But there's two more, the white and blue multiplayer rings which are made from the same cryptic light language. And guess what they mention in description? "One of the lost mystic codes said to have been bestowed by the Two Fingers." What are runes in real life? Theyre nordic of origin and represent more than simple letters, they have a deeper spiritual and metaphysical meaning. Rune translates and means "secret, something hidden". A mystery. Someone who knows runes has knowledge or insight of the world. The fingers spelling mysteries in the air? And thats how the people gained the words of the faith, presumably in the greater will.
The parallels of fingers and runes to the real developers and code blew my mind. It's such an obvious parallel but I'd never realised it clicked so well. The kinetic nature of rune-lang was something I'd never quite realised either, thanks for highlighting it! As others have said, this is great and I'd love to see more, even if the whole theory doesn't quite fit once it's made, I'm hyped to see someone saying that we probably have enough to see the whole picture and taking a guess at what it might be.
This was really great quality. Came up in my recommended and watched without seeing the subs. Would never have guessed this was a new channel. New subscriber here 100%
@@Silent_Ellipsis Can confirm that while at the highest end of user engagement we can draw ire with arguably undesirable behavior-encouraging policies, I personally also uploaded a new video topic for myself in recent times & received a lot more views that I was expecting, so in that sense it does seem like the system at a low level is at least giving many people a chance at being seen.
When I first started playing 'Elden Ring', the nature of runes seemed pretty obvious. Indeed, my initial understanding of them came from the first words we ever hear spoken in the game: *_"The fallen leaves tell a story"._* I felt, and indeed still believe, that this is a poetic way of talking about runes. The runes shed from fallen warriors tell their stories, and from these stories we gain a measure of their strength. This is also why stronger enemies have more runes. Not because they're more complex as organisms (though this is sometimes true) but because they tend to be older beings with longer or more intricate stories. This is further backed by Remembrances which are said to be hewn into the Erdtree or Scadutree. Stories so important that they are literally etched into the central symbol of the trees keeping local reality together. And of course, they're worth a ton of runes should you not care about the sweet loot. And while it may seem a stretch to correlate leaves and runes like this, Elden Ring has a LOT of symbolism regarding people and things coming from or turning into trees. Indeed it seems like being absorbed into the Erdtree and birthed back out again is the standard for recycling life in the lands between. So in that sense the notion of stories and power coming from the Erdtree like fallen leaves makes a certain poetic sense. At least to me. And of course Great Runes are the literal laws of reality. Not stories like regular runes, but either the legal text as in a book of law which governs the world or else it's underlying "code" as in the way physics work. Or I guess the "game code" if you want to be a little more on the nose about it. You covered this in the video and it's one point where I just 100% agree with you. Particularly when you note that the player character can't _really_ wield the Great Runes properly. They're kinda OP and we get comparatively little power from them. Minor stat buffs, not the ability to reshape a region. But this is just my initial understanding of runes. I bring it up mainly bring it up because I think it complements your own ideas somewhat. Take or leave my notions as you see fit. I just find this sort of speculation enjoyable and have no intent of imposing my view on anyone.
Amazing video. While I relish the idea of more details being fit into this framework (Placidusax, Metyr, the Outer Gods, Gloam Eyed Queen, e.g.), and subscribed to hear your thoughts about them, I encourage you to take your time, work with the community, and not rush too much. The pursuit of a grand unified theory is a noble one, and it might be at odds with TH-cam’s preferred content release schedule. You have lightning in a bottle, here, and it’s going to take a lot of cooks and time to hone and refine it into stained glass. I look forward with genuine excitement to more videos of this high standard of quality!!
I really appreciate this, and yes, I have felt a little pressure to speed up after seeing the response to this video. I actually feel pretty ready to continue with video 2, but I'll take this heart and try to give myself time to digest between future videos.
This video briefly touches on duality being a theme. I think it is very important for the meta-narrative. The rebis, Radagon/Merika, twinblades returning as weapons, power stancing, two fingers, Miquella/Saint Trina, Miquella and Malenia being twins, Mohg and Morgott, the flask of physik, etc… It is all over the place. What I think is important is the line of dialogue from Miriel: Heresy is not native to the world, it is but a contrivance. All things can be conjoined. I think this is Miyazaki’s meta commentary on combining two things to make a more perfect thing. The souls formula combined with the open world formula. It is his magnum opus. His great work. Elden Ring is his rebis and he and Fromsoft are great alchemists. Side note: King Vindrick being a mindless hollow is meta commentary about how Miyazaki wasnt at the helm during the production for Dark Souls 2. These Fromsoft people love telling us about their endeavors through very roundabout, obscure, surreal imagery. I absolutely love it.
I was lamenting the lack of lore videos on "runes" and "levelling up" and other 'videogamey' parts of elden ring but sure enough here come this video with not only theories on them but a whole host of metatextual things that I haven't seen anywhere else! Awesome video cannot wait for the next one :)
This is my favorite Elden Ring video. Other lore videos I’ve seen generally seem to be interested in finding answers, but not meaning. I appreciated how well researched and well-thought out this video is. I also like that all the speculation within serves the purpose of producing a cohesive interpretation of Elden Ring. Great job!
This video is absolutely fantastic! It’s incredibly well-written and thought out, and I hope to see more videos like this from you in the future! That said, while I agree with 99% of what you described, there is some stuff at the end that I think needs further explanation: For one, while there could be an alchemical element to the Hornsent’s use of the Great Jars, the Japanese description does indeed clarify that the ‘saints’ they were trying to create were meant to make those placed in them become ‘good people’ rather than the Catholic Saints we might interpret in the english text. You can see one ghost in the Evergaol who pleades to avoid this, so it’s clear that the Hornsent had melded criminals and prisoners with Shaman flesh to rebirth them into pure, good people, and this emphasis on ‘purity’ plays a role in their cursed blood and nature, which content creator Last Protagonist points out in their video on the JP descriptions of the Hornsent (definitely check him out!) Also, while Marika absolutely has alchemical influence in her design, I don’t agree with the theory that she is some kind of project the Hornsent created in order for them to reach divinity. For one, the Tower of Enir-Ilim was created not by the Hornsent, but by the Ancient Civilization of Rauh, and even back then it seems they too had learned of the practice of Divine Invocation and that melding things together results in powerful beings. Remember how Melina makes us stronger: she uses Runes to increase our power, and it seems the people of the Tower and Rauh knew of this. Therefore, since Grace is the product of the Elden Ring/Crucible, obtaining more Grace and Runes could make a being more powerful the more Runes/grace they gather, and this leads me to the Divine Gate. If you look closely at the Tower of Enir-Ilim, you can see a mass congregation and amalgamation of what appears to be Hornsent, and here’s the kicker, Shamans as well. If you look around at some of the trees in Enir-Ilim you can see female figures embedded into the trees and even around the corpses seen at the Gate of Divinity. You were right in how the Divine Gate was built by the Hornsent/people of the Tower, but it is also likely that this creation relied on using the properties of Shaman flesh to do so. Therefore, it’s highly possible that the Shamans were used not to create Marika per say (remember she also has a Grandmother), but to also rebirth criminals and prisoners into ‘good people’ but also to create the Divine Gates, which contain a massive accumulation of Grace and the energy of the Crucible (hence why the Tower and Rauh are said to be at the area of the Crucible), and stepping into this Divine Gateway allows one to become a God, which is what Marika did. While it is possible that the Hornsent did plan on having Marika become a vessel for divinity, I don’t think it’s because she was created for that purpose. The Finger Ruins are right next to her village, and given how the Two Fingers can be seen on top of the Divine Towers (which seem to have been built by the same civilization as those who built Enir-Ilim due to their similar architecture), it’s likely that the worship of the Two Fingers was prominent even in Hornsent culture, and when the Two Fingers annointed Marika as Empyrean, this was them allowing Marika to reach the Divine Gate. Also, another thing to note is that entry into the Divine Gate makes one a God due to the massive amount of Grace and Runes they receive, and therefore, becoming a vessel for the Elden Ring is not required to become a God. Evidence for this is how Miquella does the same in the DLC despite not acquiring the Elden Ring or even using his own Great Rune. This plays a role into Miquella’s plan to deviate from Marika’s Order of causality. He wants to create an age that transcends fate as ordained by the Elden Ring (which seems to also control Fate via the stars). So I don’t think Marika having a Rune Arc or even a Great Rune herself was necessary for her to become a God if Miquella could do the same without either of them. Furthermore, this would also explain why Marika veiled the Lands of Shadow, and why she had Messmer exterminate the Hornsent. Her ascending to Godhood via the Divine Gate proves that anyone could go through them and become a God, and according to Goldmask via Corrhin, the Golden Order is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true God, which we know isn’t true as there was a previous God before her, and that Miquella became a God without the Elden Ring. Also, with how Marika and Miquella were once considered ‘pure’ vessels, this also explains why the Hornsent were so obsessed with purity and why they themselves were unable to use the Divine Gateway themselves to become Gods (as explained through their cursed blood listed in the JP descriptions), which was why they experimented on the Shaman and used their flesh to ‘purify’ their criminals and prisoners. So, TLDR: Marika might not have been manufactured by the Hornsent to become a God, and that the Shaman were used to both purify criminals and to create the Divine Gate, which was built on the origin point of the Crucible, and using the mass accumulation of Runes and Grace there to turn someone into a God. Still, this was an absolutely fantastic video, and I can’t wait for more!
If we work off a visual language theory, perhaps the sigils of each school of magic represent what could be called a “founding miracle,” the first/greatest event which pierced the veil so to speak, of which all useable sorceries ingame are imitation. For example, Carian Sorcery and the beckoning of the Moon
re: Gideon and ears and indirect knowledge versus widsom: During Latenna's quest, after giving her Albus' half of the Haligtree Medallion says of Gideon that he is "an all hearing fool," or similar.
PLEASE keep this series going!!! This video closely mirrored my own journey of attempting to piece together "the big picture" but your observations and conclusions really blew me away. Subbed and liked and commented !
Figuratively speaking, the true Greater Will are the Fingers that made and play the game and the Runes and Great Runes are the computer code that make up the game.
I've always thought of runes as analogous to code in a video game, except on a metaphysical level. When Marika removed death from the world, she removed the line if script that dictates death from the overall code. When ranni separated her soul from her body, she was exploiting a glitch or an oversight in the code that dictates death itself
Yes... YES! This video illustrates almost the same ideas I have about the story and then adds some. Something that that I want to add, is that FromSoft has for many years -and most notably in Elden Ring- is to make metaphors and symbols literal (and use that liberality to create something strange and fantastical). The hands are the main tools of of interaction with the world, so of course fingers are how the Greater Will interacts more directly with the Lands Between (and the One Great was fractured, so they're not a complete hand, but a fractured one). How do hands communicate? Through gestures, so the fingers do too. What are runes? Words and letters (each rune had also a specific meaning), so the laws of the world are written with literal written runes. Taking away or adding runes from/to the Elden Ring, changes its meaning.
Coming here from your shapes video and am sold on your project, very chill vibes informational. Long time fromsoft lore junkie, I can't wait for your next vid
The subtle editing decisions, music, pacing, got me feeling in a type a way that boosted my experience and engagement with the subject, and kept me in a feeling of wonder about what is being said. Today i learned something very powerful in editing, thank you my friend, this video is absolutely incradible.
This video feels like part 100 of a series, you are a total natural. The theory is incredible. I was in the shower and when you started talking about gender and alchemy I said out loud “who else but DA REBUS” and when you said it I almost fell down laughing. Motion as creation is so compelling and I’ve never heard anyone say it before
Yooo if gold and order are seperate that makes unalloyed gold which miquella makes, similar if not the same as the gold in the golden order but without the influence of the Elden Ring (aka the order of the Elden Beast/GW) and if gold has a kindness to it, it makes sense it would lead Miquella to an Order of Compassion. Great Video, really making the Brain brain. also not all the demigods are direct offspring of marika because Godrick while a related to marika is a decendent of the golden linage of demigods, thats why he is so puny.
I wonder if Placidusax pointedly having two heads spiraled together is a similar nod to a multiplicity of being that allowed him or his family to contain and use great runes. Potentially where the hornsent were inspired to create a rebis-being, and Bayle being trapped in the Land of Shadow seems to date his attack against Placidusax at the time the hornsent were experimenting with ways to attain the Elden Ring-perhaps they saw an opportunity to wrest that power from the weakened dragons. Divine power stolen from elemental dragons by humanoid demigods is a classic souls tradition, after all.
I had a similar thought about Placidusax, and if I recall correctly, Zullie pointed out that in the data there are separate labels for male and female heads on the model, so...
Genuinely incredible video, looking forward to more content from you! Criticism (hopefully constructive): the time between your sections with title cards, your breathing is still slightly audible, I would just cut/mute the voiceover completely for those sections. It also makes me wonder if you did the whole voiceover in one go, impressive if so haha
I have to say, having watched and read a lot in the past, I had given up on Elden Ring being anything more than surreal aesthetics. I had come to the conclusion that the individual parts were simply greater than the whole. This is the first video in a long time that offers a convincing unifying narrative. Excellent work! Please keep exploring!
Interesting note I haven’t seen explicitly stated by anyone: Warriors are placed into jars under Marika’s rule and it seems to work just fine, meaning we can infer most if not all humans alive under Marika are descendent of the Shamans/Numen since they’re capable of grafting/merging. We also saw this with Godrick, who not only grafted himself, but grafted random tarnished parts with each other and hung them around parts of his castle. At the bear minimum, all Tarnished are descended from Numen/Shaman. The title Mother Marika is more literal than not, it seems everyone (that she didn’t delete from the world) is related to her in some way.
Nice insight! There’s probably some implication in Marika sending her own people away from the Lands Between (and trusting them to come back to help her?). Not sure what though
I entered as a skeptic and left as a fan. Fantastic work, Silent. It's so valuable to take these disparate elements and put them together into clear ideas. That's the "synthesis" part most analysis leaves out. Subscribed, and can't wait for the rest, if you decide to make them. Well done sir!
Hi, I greatly enjoyed your video and am so happy to hear this take expressed so well! I've long believed that the fingers represent our literal real-world fingers controlling the fates of these characters in an otherwise stagnant, "painted" world. To me, the nature of the relationship between the player, their avatar, and the game world feels like a major, if not THE major, thematic backdrop upon which everything else is built. When I played Déraciné, everything kinda clicked for me: it directly (and horrifyingly/depressingly) addresses these existential issues, and that's been my blueprint for decoding all of their games.
How chief FromSoftware historian @vaatividya hasn’t come across the concept of a Rebis in the seven thousands lore videos he has made is a head scratcher, because it fits the puzzle too well and ties everything together with a neatly tied bow. But yea, I believe this is it. You cracked the case chief. Time to open up a bottle of Sake.
I just wish one of these days that the creators of the game see a video like this and go.... This, finally someone figured it out. It was so obvious but so obscure, we're so happy u found the truth But I don't think that'll ever happen. But I do like to imagine the creators see this vid and have an office party kept in secret
Great first episode. Lots of revelatory insights here. Two thoughts to spur future discussion: 1. While I agree Marika's crucifixion is a clear reference to Christianity, it's also very similar to Odin hanging himself from the World Tree, which is when he discovered RUNES and introduced written language. That seems too juicy to ignore as an Elden Ring inspiration. Maybe further research into the role of runes in Norse mythology will give us a glimpse into FromSoft's thinking? 2. The finger ruins next to the shaman village in the DLC seems to suggest that Marika met the fingers there. That connection seems really important to your theory here! What was the initial relationship between Marika and the fingers, and how did it end up with dead pairs on top of towers tied to each of her children?
This was an amazingly well thought-out and well-spoken video! I also think that, amongst the whole of the Souls-lore community, this is the idea/concept that seemed to summarize the entire game in a really complete package. So good! You got another subscriber! :)
This was a great video. And not that it impacts the video, I just think it's funny; at the start with the "George R.R. Martin must've wrote that" I mean I can absolutely see him writing lore about an advisor / group of advisors to the king being called the "Two Fingers". I can also see Miyazaki going "That's neat how about I literally make them two fingers though" xD
Interesting. I feel like runes are actually memories, since remembrances of demigods are what you take from them after defeating them and they can be turned into runes. You can’t kill them cuz the rune of death but taking their memories is essentially the same thing. Taking morgotts remembrance even cleanses him of his horns possibly.
I was so impressed how quickly you got to the point, and conveyed your message! I think this is the best explanation for the gate of divinity I saw, no way she coulda made it by herself. Betrayal at the last moment would make it sting even more.
Incredible fucking job, I'm honestly stunned at how solid of a theory has been crafted from all of the effort everyone has put into this. I can't wait to learn more about this setting & this video frankly gives me a lot more respect for FromSoftware & GRRM
Fromsoftware really are master level storystellers. Theyve always had very deep ideas hidden within their writing, but the fact that its obscured and fragmented across 50-100 hour playthroughs makes it harder for the average player to appreciate. Hell its even hard for us lore nerds, seeing as how its taken 2+ years to start to really form and understanding of the game. Like their worlds are ones I would LOVE to read about in a long novel, Elden Ring especially. Having GRRM there to help write the backstory and give the characters more life only took them over the top.
Slight correction - while real-life runes can be compared to letters, as you pointed out, it is more accurate to describe them as symbols of power. In the old Norse runic systemic, called Elder and Younger Futhark, each rune is symbolic of specific concepts or characteristics of the world. And each rune has a specific name that would help identify it in conversation. For instance, the Mannaz rune (sometimes called the “M” rune), is symbolic of mankind, humanity, and destiny. While the Mannaz rune can be literally used as a letter, it would be more common to find it by itself being indicative of the ideas it was known to represent within the culture. In Elden Ring, we see that the runes of the Elden Ring are laid out in a way that makes it look like a script that could be theoretically read, while an individual rune like the rune of Death is indicative of the concept that it is meant to represent albeit in a much more metaphysical way than the rune of Elder and Younger Futhark.
30:45 it's also the seed-planting pose that's seen in the Minor Erdtree incantation. The same pose is seen in the stake of marika statues, and those even have a small sprouting tree chiseled at the base. Those statues are to commemorate the planting of the Erdtree, which happened after her ascension
excellent analysis pretty much agree on all points. Could it be that the grace accumulates in the eyes of the people, because the language of creation is purely visible, and thus present in all forms observed? Also the group runes (e.g broken rune and heros rune) resemble an iris the more powerful they become
Usually when I hear allegorical analyses, I end up thinking "hmm, seems like a bit of a stretch". I didn't think that even once during this video. Very good.
I had never thought of Marika/Radagon being the result of a hornsent process of intentionally synthesising duality through torture. The elements were definitely there, but I always thought of Radagon of something that happened later. It makes so much sense now, it really closes the circle with the missing rune-arc: Radagon was incorporated into Marika, both conforming a Rebis, and that's why he is "yet to become her" after her apotheosis. I think you deciphered the codex, congratulations!
Fucking amazing video. I wish more people attempted more holistic interpretations of Elden Ring lore. Your delivery is great! I love the minimal script editing, it sounds very organic and genuine. You’re clearly a skilled writer and orator. Keep making videos! I’ll be here for the next one.
Elden rings Lore: like a holy books worth of history and lore info on all characters. What the game presents: go to shiny tree and hit enemies with various pointy sticks, good luck. 😂
Damn fine analysis, really appreciate your insight. Great construction on the video and thanks for not wasting our time! Can't wait for your next video!
I had to tell myself this same thing when I started writing the script. Though I'm not going to lie, I love the idea of Miyazaki stumbling across my theory and saying "Well, well, well, someone finally figured it out."
@@Silent_Ellipsis Do you think this is Miyazaki or GRRM? I like to think GRRM wrote a straighforward story and Miyazaki jumbled it to make it more akin to his own style of story telling.
This makes so much sense, i already had a good grasp on what runes were thanks to "color theory". But this deepened my understanding even more. Good stuff.
Awesome video! The idea of motion, geometry, and the rebis makes so much sense. I just have one question regarding Miquella. He would qualify as the rebis due to being both Miquella and St. Trina at the same time; but before ascending, he casts St. Trina aside, becoming just one entity instead of two. Yet, Miquella was capable of ascension. How do you think that plays into the idea of the rebis as a way of ascending into godhood? Furthermore, correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the impression that it was implied that Miquella's age of compassion was different and separate from the influence of the golden order. How is it then that Miquella is still capable of ascending into godhood without the Elden Ring?
Consider the following transliterations; Marika => Malika (Arabic for Queen) Miquella => Mikala Malika and Mikala are anagrams of Kalima (Arabic for Word) Compare with Kalameet => Kalamit Anagram of Kalimat (Arabic for Words - note also a Titanite Slab in the boss-room)
I absolutely love the meta-narrative idea of the world being created by moving fingers in the same way that it was coded on a computer in that way. Following that logic, The Greater Will could meta-narratively be the developers, and the reason nobody can contact The Greater Will anymore is because the game is done development.
That's my interpretation as well! I think the greater will literally is the dev/author insert, the "fingers" controlling everything from on high, until they're suddenly not anymore
Nah because under that meta lore the shadow realm wouldn’t have history predating the lands between and the dlc itself would be the greater will recommuning with the world
Edit: also I think the reason fingers are used are to signify humanity or intelligence
When I first heard of the fingers, they made me think of the "Digitals" in (unofficial) Elder Scrolls lore. Floating 4th wall breaking hands that act as a stand-in for the authors and poke things back into place.
i think it may also connect to the painter from dark souls. based on that one interveiw that called it a sequel somewhat
@@adawg3032its been stated that alot of cut content was re-used for the DLC, that in itself is probably more of an allegory regarding the creation of the game and it’s various incarnations in the “Crucible” with Alphas and Public Betas before they finally settled on the final product of Elden Ring and The Lands Between after the Land of Shadow. Just a hypothesis
I was skeptic before watching a video with so little views, but I am completely sold. Amazing analysis, and a subscriber earned.
Same!
I’ve noticed all the best lore content in the last year or so has been coming from channels and videos with less than around 10k views
Gotta catch em when they're still fresh
Hard agree. This was almost Tarnished Arch levels of quality. Only missing analogies to real world history and wild noclip in game camera views
i dont think she betrayed them i think she retaliated
My favorite kinds of lore videos explore what the lore "means to the player/viewer" rather than "explaining".
The sequential plot of the game, like the geography of the various castles, is less important than the effect they have on the player.
Excellently done.
Elden ring archaeology is a great channel tho imo
yeah, but I'd add to more to that. For example I, don't prefer channel like Smoughtown (especially not Vaati) who are rather explaining things that you could easily would know if you played the game extensively. they are rather for people who didn't play the game. while Tarnished Archeologist channel is also listing facts and describes real world phenomenons that "you could already know", they sincerely put together videos that are beyond what you could simply reading, listening in the game. The same way this channel does provide imo. I think these make more sense and respect your time too
Every step of this explanation contains at least one statement of utter clarity and synthesis. And every step I hoped you would take next was already forming ahead. Impeccable.
This is hands down some of the best critical analysis of Elden Ring I've seen.
In a world of ones and zeros, Marika is a two.
Wellllll, technically a 3 (programmer joke)
Ya she is trans jesus
@glowindark64 Funny you should say that. I think there is something there. Not the trans bit, but the part about Jesus. How Christ is 100% Man, and 100% God. The union of opposites.
Marika is 100% Marika, and 100% Radagon.
@@CJusticeHappen21 Why not 50/50?
@@brokemono In the World of Elden Ring, Marika IS God, 100%, the one and only. She became this God at the Gate of Divinity, where she remade the World in her Image.
Radagon, driven by the flame of ambition, went through the same process as Marika in order to become a God. But becoming a God in Marika's world means the same thing as becoming Marika herself. There's no way around it, she has seen to it.
"The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; The Named is the mother of all things.
Therefore let there always be non-being, so we may see their subtlety, And let there always be being, so we may see their outcome.
The two are the same, But after they are produced, they have different names.
They both may be called deep and profound. Deeper and more profound, The door to all subtleties!"
Ch. 1 - Dao De Jing
Brother I think you fuckin' nailed it with Elden Ring and motion.
I had chills when I got to that part.
finally some lore that is not already talked about 100 times over and over again, great insights, actually crazy how little loretubers focused on runes and the Elden Ring despite it being the whole point of the game lmao
There’s been a lot of great loretubers popping up lately. Storm King, nameless singer, scum mage infa, Goldmask and more
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
"Nothing gold can stay"
by Robert Frost
Loved the video! This along with Nameless Singer’s recent video about Grace as an allegory for Memory have really fomented a lot of the latent ideas kicking around in my head about the meaning of Elden Ring.
I love the metanarrative idea of Elden Ring itself being a world constructed of programmed words and symbols and I think this is embodied by the two and three fingers. If one likens the five physical senses to that of the fingers on a hand, Elden Ring’s world is one that can currently only be perceived by two of them: sight and sound. One cannot taste, feel, or smell the Lands Between, and in a purely digital environment these three “fingers” of human perception have essentially been sealed away. I think it’s important that the words of the two fingers are inscriptions of light, while the words of the three fingers are physical imprints engraved into stone and flesh. Just some food for thought!
I feel like it's closer that the two fingers are metanarratively representing the fingers on a mouse used by developers to craft the game & world we're experiencing, though perhaps both concepts are true.
This is in the same vein of thought as the Furled Finger being well known to evoke the practice of changing your grip on the controller to Run + take actions simultaneously for seasoned players.
Nameless Singer is the single greatest thing happened to the lore community since the Tarnished Archeologist appeared imo.
It's insane how many great essays have been inspired by elden ring. We've got scum mage infa, nameless singer, garalous gold mask (sp? 😅) and just so many others. So grateful to have you as part of the community! Really enjoying the video 💖
Someone pointed out that the two fingers twitching in the air as they "read" the words from The Greater Will is essentially the same as someone "reading" braille but in the air. Definitely ties into the idea of what you've defined runes to be. Really interested in future videos!
Runes are literally written into the eyes of the inhabitants in the LB, as stated by the gift of the Lands Between Rune in vers 1.0. "The gold of grace shining in the eyes of the people in the Lands Between". This means that Grace is golden script written over the eyes. This also explains how we see the Erdtree and are guided by Grace, as well as why when we take upon ourselves the Flame of Frenzy we touch Hyetta's eyes with our fingertips, inscribing her eyes with the "words of the Three Fingers". It is fingers and eyes (and turtles) all the way down.
I'm speechless. The meta idea of the characters not being able to escape the will of the Fingers blew my mind. I can't wait for the next video.
So good to finally hear someone talk about how the world is structured like a program. The whole cipher pata=code and influence of outer wills who manipulate the world through fingers thing has been bugging me since day one. Just like the painted worlds in Dark Souls. Great work. Subscribed.
Patter = Glib, rapid speech
And just like the meta aspect to earthsea’s world being made of words, the world of Elden Ring being made by code is very fitting lol
I personally never managed to put two and two, but this video finally made me realize, and convinced me to be pretty much fact, that Marika has "always" been a Rebis, at least since her ascension to godhood. That means Radagon has "always" been a part of her: he was literally another person inside her, melded to her due to her shaman flesh.
Now that line of, "You have yet to become me." Makes more sense.
He was always there, in the shadows, but it wasn't until present day that he finally took over.
Well done man. I threw this on as another "background noise" video while playing Stellaris and it was around the 8:00 mark that I realized I'd completely let the game run on its own and I was staring at my 2nd monitor, chin resting on my balled-together fists, wonder in my eyes
I want to further add and confirm what you're saying by referencing a few items from the game.
Two finger heirloom: "Fingers cannot speak, yet these are eloquent. Persistently they wriggle, spelling out mysteries in the air.Thus did we gain the words. The words of our faith."
The two fingers created the coded sword and the cypher pata for the Tarnished. The pata explicitly says "the language of light spoken by the Two Fingers.". But there's two more, the white and blue multiplayer rings which are made from the same cryptic light language. And guess what they mention in description? "One of the lost mystic codes said to have been bestowed by the Two Fingers."
What are runes in real life? Theyre nordic of origin and represent more than simple letters, they have a deeper spiritual and metaphysical meaning. Rune translates and means "secret, something hidden". A mystery. Someone who knows runes has knowledge or insight of the world. The fingers spelling mysteries in the air? And thats how the people gained the words of the faith, presumably in the greater will.
The parallels of fingers and runes to the real developers and code blew my mind. It's such an obvious parallel but I'd never realised it clicked so well. The kinetic nature of rune-lang was something I'd never quite realised either, thanks for highlighting it!
As others have said, this is great and I'd love to see more, even if the whole theory doesn't quite fit once it's made, I'm hyped to see someone saying that we probably have enough to see the whole picture and taking a guess at what it might be.
I had lost faith in the plot ever being clear to me until now. Patiently awaiting the rest of the series! Cheers
This was really great quality. Came up in my recommended and watched without seeing the subs. Would never have guessed this was a new channel. New subscriber here 100%
Thanks, and it's helpful to hear that people are getting to this video through the algorithm
@@Silent_Ellipsis Can confirm that while at the highest end of user engagement we can draw ire with arguably undesirable behavior-encouraging policies, I personally also uploaded a new video topic for myself in recent times & received a lot more views that I was expecting, so in that sense it does seem like the system at a low level is at least giving many people a chance at being seen.
There’s been a lot of great loretubers popping up lately. Storm King, nameless singer, scum mage infa, Goldmask and more
When I first started playing 'Elden Ring', the nature of runes seemed pretty obvious. Indeed, my initial understanding of them came from the first words we ever hear spoken in the game:
*_"The fallen leaves tell a story"._*
I felt, and indeed still believe, that this is a poetic way of talking about runes. The runes shed from fallen warriors tell their stories, and from these stories we gain a measure of their strength. This is also why stronger enemies have more runes. Not because they're more complex as organisms (though this is sometimes true) but because they tend to be older beings with longer or more intricate stories. This is further backed by Remembrances which are said to be hewn into the Erdtree or Scadutree. Stories so important that they are literally etched into the central symbol of the trees keeping local reality together. And of course, they're worth a ton of runes should you not care about the sweet loot.
And while it may seem a stretch to correlate leaves and runes like this, Elden Ring has a LOT of symbolism regarding people and things coming from or turning into trees. Indeed it seems like being absorbed into the Erdtree and birthed back out again is the standard for recycling life in the lands between. So in that sense the notion of stories and power coming from the Erdtree like fallen leaves makes a certain poetic sense. At least to me.
And of course Great Runes are the literal laws of reality. Not stories like regular runes, but either the legal text as in a book of law which governs the world or else it's underlying "code" as in the way physics work. Or I guess the "game code" if you want to be a little more on the nose about it. You covered this in the video and it's one point where I just 100% agree with you. Particularly when you note that the player character can't _really_ wield the Great Runes properly. They're kinda OP and we get comparatively little power from them. Minor stat buffs, not the ability to reshape a region.
But this is just my initial understanding of runes. I bring it up mainly bring it up because I think it complements your own ideas somewhat. Take or leave my notions as you see fit. I just find this sort of speculation enjoyable and have no intent of imposing my view on anyone.
Amazing video. While I relish the idea of more details being fit into this framework (Placidusax, Metyr, the Outer Gods, Gloam Eyed Queen, e.g.), and subscribed to hear your thoughts about them, I encourage you to take your time, work with the community, and not rush too much. The pursuit of a grand unified theory is a noble one, and it might be at odds with TH-cam’s preferred content release schedule. You have lightning in a bottle, here, and it’s going to take a lot of cooks and time to hone and refine it into stained glass. I look forward with genuine excitement to more videos of this high standard of quality!!
I really appreciate this, and yes, I have felt a little pressure to speed up after seeing the response to this video. I actually feel pretty ready to continue with video 2, but I'll take this heart and try to give myself time to digest between future videos.
This video briefly touches on duality being a theme. I think it is very important for the meta-narrative.
The rebis, Radagon/Merika, twinblades returning as weapons, power stancing, two fingers, Miquella/Saint Trina, Miquella and Malenia being twins, Mohg and Morgott, the flask of physik, etc…
It is all over the place. What I think is important is the line of dialogue from Miriel: Heresy is not native to the world, it is but a contrivance. All things can be conjoined. I think this is Miyazaki’s meta commentary on combining two things to make a more perfect thing. The souls formula combined with the open world formula. It is his magnum opus. His great work. Elden Ring is his rebis and he and Fromsoft are great alchemists.
Side note: King Vindrick being a mindless hollow is meta commentary about how Miyazaki wasnt at the helm during the production for Dark Souls 2. These Fromsoft people love telling us about their endeavors through very roundabout, obscure, surreal imagery. I absolutely love it.
I was lamenting the lack of lore videos on "runes" and "levelling up" and other 'videogamey' parts of elden ring but sure enough here come this video with not only theories on them but a whole host of metatextual things that I haven't seen anywhere else! Awesome video cannot wait for the next one :)
7:28 I don't know if more comments equals more engagement algorithm points, but this sign language code of the universe is blowing my fucking mind
30:38
Holy...wow, this...itsso obvious!
I knew that merica and radigon was an obvious nod to hermetics but ...this..wow! Brilliant!
This is my favorite Elden Ring video. Other lore videos I’ve seen generally seem to be interested in finding answers, but not meaning. I appreciated how well researched and well-thought out this video is. I also like that all the speculation within serves the purpose of producing a cohesive interpretation of Elden Ring. Great job!
This video is absolutely fantastic!
It’s incredibly well-written and thought out, and I hope to see more videos like this from you in the future!
That said, while I agree with 99% of what you described, there is some stuff at the end that I think needs further explanation:
For one, while there could be an alchemical element to the Hornsent’s use of the Great Jars, the Japanese description does indeed clarify that the ‘saints’ they were trying to create were meant to make those placed in them become ‘good people’ rather than the Catholic Saints we might interpret in the english text. You can see one ghost in the Evergaol who pleades to avoid this, so it’s clear that the Hornsent had melded criminals and prisoners with Shaman flesh to rebirth them into pure, good people, and this emphasis on ‘purity’ plays a role in their cursed blood and nature, which content creator Last Protagonist points out in their video on the JP descriptions of the Hornsent (definitely check him out!)
Also, while Marika absolutely has alchemical influence in her design, I don’t agree with the theory that she is some kind of project the Hornsent created in order for them to reach divinity.
For one, the Tower of Enir-Ilim was created not by the Hornsent, but by the Ancient Civilization of Rauh, and even back then it seems they too had learned of the practice of Divine Invocation and that melding things together results in powerful beings.
Remember how Melina makes us stronger: she uses Runes to increase our power, and it seems the people of the Tower and Rauh knew of this. Therefore, since Grace is the product of the Elden Ring/Crucible, obtaining more Grace and Runes could make a being more powerful the more Runes/grace they gather, and this leads me to the Divine Gate.
If you look closely at the Tower of Enir-Ilim, you can see a mass congregation and amalgamation of what appears to be Hornsent, and here’s the kicker, Shamans as well. If you look around at some of the trees in Enir-Ilim you can see female figures embedded into the trees and even around the corpses seen at the Gate of Divinity. You were right in how the Divine Gate was built by the Hornsent/people of the Tower, but it is also likely that this creation relied on using the properties of Shaman flesh to do so.
Therefore, it’s highly possible that the Shamans were used not to create Marika per say (remember she also has a Grandmother), but to also rebirth criminals and prisoners into ‘good people’ but also to create the Divine Gates, which contain a massive accumulation of Grace and the energy of the Crucible (hence why the Tower and Rauh are said to be at the area of the Crucible), and stepping into this Divine Gateway allows one to become a God, which is what Marika did.
While it is possible that the Hornsent did plan on having Marika become a vessel for divinity, I don’t think it’s because she was created for that purpose. The Finger Ruins are right next to her village, and given how the Two Fingers can be seen on top of the Divine Towers (which seem to have been built by the same civilization as those who built Enir-Ilim due to their similar architecture), it’s likely that the worship of the Two Fingers was prominent even in Hornsent culture, and when the Two Fingers annointed Marika as Empyrean, this was them allowing Marika to reach the Divine Gate.
Also, another thing to note is that entry into the Divine Gate makes one a God due to the massive amount of Grace and Runes they receive, and therefore, becoming a vessel for the Elden Ring is not required to become a God. Evidence for this is how Miquella does the same in the DLC despite not acquiring the Elden Ring or even using his own Great Rune. This plays a role into Miquella’s plan to deviate from Marika’s Order of causality. He wants to create an age that transcends fate as ordained by the Elden Ring (which seems to also control Fate via the stars).
So I don’t think Marika having a Rune Arc or even a Great Rune herself was necessary for her to become a God if Miquella could do the same without either of them.
Furthermore, this would also explain why Marika veiled the Lands of Shadow, and why she had Messmer exterminate the Hornsent. Her ascending to Godhood via the Divine Gate proves that anyone could go through them and become a God, and according to Goldmask via Corrhin, the Golden Order is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true God, which we know isn’t true as there was a previous God before her, and that Miquella became a God without the Elden Ring.
Also, with how Marika and Miquella were once considered ‘pure’ vessels, this also explains why the Hornsent were so obsessed with purity and why they themselves were unable to use the Divine Gateway themselves to become Gods (as explained through their cursed blood listed in the JP descriptions), which was why they experimented on the Shaman and used their flesh to ‘purify’ their criminals and prisoners.
So, TLDR: Marika might not have been manufactured by the Hornsent to become a God, and that the Shaman were used to both purify criminals and to create the Divine Gate, which was built on the origin point of the Crucible, and using the mass accumulation of Runes and Grace there to turn someone into a God.
Still, this was an absolutely fantastic video, and I can’t wait for more!
OOF this was genuinely the best Elden Ring video i've seen to date. And I've hundreds.
If we work off a visual language theory, perhaps the sigils of each school of magic represent what could be called a “founding miracle,” the first/greatest event which pierced the veil so to speak, of which all useable sorceries ingame are imitation. For example, Carian Sorcery and the beckoning of the Moon
I like this notion, I'll let it simmer.
re: Gideon and ears and indirect knowledge versus widsom:
During Latenna's quest, after giving her Albus' half of the Haligtree Medallion says of Gideon that he is "an all hearing fool," or similar.
wow please keep making videos elaborating on this theory, this was really interesting
PLEASE keep this series going!!! This video closely mirrored my own journey of attempting to piece together "the big picture" but your observations and conclusions really blew me away. Subbed and liked and commented !
Figuratively speaking, the true Greater Will are the Fingers that made and play the game and the Runes and Great Runes are the computer code that make up the game.
I've always thought of runes as analogous to code in a video game, except on a metaphysical level. When Marika removed death from the world, she removed the line if script that dictates death from the overall code. When ranni separated her soul from her body, she was exploiting a glitch or an oversight in the code that dictates death itself
Yes... YES! This video illustrates almost the same ideas I have about the story and then adds some.
Something that that I want to add, is that FromSoft has for many years -and most notably in Elden Ring- is to make metaphors and symbols literal (and use that liberality to create something strange and fantastical).
The hands are the main tools of of interaction with the world, so of course fingers are how the Greater Will interacts more directly with the Lands Between (and the One Great was fractured, so they're not a complete hand, but a fractured one). How do hands communicate? Through gestures, so the fingers do too.
What are runes? Words and letters (each rune had also a specific meaning), so the laws of the world are written with literal written runes. Taking away or adding runes from/to the Elden Ring, changes its meaning.
@@BigBadWolframio As I am going I am finding the "let's take this image very literally" strategy extremely useful.
Coming here from your shapes video and am sold on your project, very chill vibes informational. Long time fromsoft lore junkie, I can't wait for your next vid
the intro to this video is incredible, and it only goes up from there. good shit man
I remember when I learned about radagon being Marika the first thing that came to mind was the rebis, I'm glad someone else had the same thought!
The subtle editing decisions, music, pacing, got me feeling in a type a way that boosted my experience and engagement with the subject, and kept me in a feeling of wonder about what is being said. Today i learned something very powerful in editing, thank you my friend, this video is absolutely incradible.
This video feels like part 100 of a series, you are a total natural. The theory is incredible. I was in the shower and when you started talking about gender and alchemy I said out loud “who else but DA REBUS” and when you said it I almost fell down laughing. Motion as creation is so compelling and I’ve never heard anyone say it before
I rarely boost anything but, given the scant views this video currently has, I best chip in for the algo
Yooo if gold and order are seperate that makes unalloyed gold which miquella makes, similar if not the same as the gold in the golden order but without the influence of the Elden Ring (aka the order of the Elden Beast/GW) and if gold has a kindness to it, it makes sense it would lead Miquella to an Order of Compassion. Great Video, really making the Brain brain. also not all the demigods are direct offspring of marika because Godrick while a related to marika is a decendent of the golden linage of demigods, thats why he is so puny.
0:57 Thats what I said when I found out about miquella and radahn
Same. 😂
That's what I said when thinking about a person merging with a tree...
I wonder if Placidusax pointedly having two heads spiraled together is a similar nod to a multiplicity of being that allowed him or his family to contain and use great runes. Potentially where the hornsent were inspired to create a rebis-being, and Bayle being trapped in the Land of Shadow seems to date his attack against Placidusax at the time the hornsent were experimenting with ways to attain the Elden Ring-perhaps they saw an opportunity to wrest that power from the weakened dragons. Divine power stolen from elemental dragons by humanoid demigods is a classic souls tradition, after all.
I had a similar thought about Placidusax, and if I recall correctly, Zullie pointed out that in the data there are separate labels for male and female heads on the model, so...
Brilliant video, genuinely impressed with the connections you discovered.
Genuinely incredible video, looking forward to more content from you!
Criticism (hopefully constructive): the time between your sections with title cards, your breathing is still slightly audible, I would just cut/mute the voiceover completely for those sections.
It also makes me wonder if you did the whole voiceover in one go, impressive if so haha
@@Kensurashi I did do it in one go actually (except the outro), but valid feedback.
Wow! I never understood this game until now! 🤯 What genius made this?
@@DoctorPecker I can confirm he is
Great video, I loved the theory about the movement of fingers relating to coding and player inputs in the game, awesome stuff.
Runes are also like the lines of code that compose a program. Very interesting
I have to say, having watched and read a lot in the past, I had given up on Elden Ring being anything more than surreal aesthetics. I had come to the conclusion that the individual parts were simply greater than the whole. This is the first video in a long time that offers a convincing unifying narrative. Excellent work! Please keep exploring!
Interesting note I haven’t seen explicitly stated by anyone:
Warriors are placed into jars under Marika’s rule and it seems to work just fine, meaning we can infer most if not all humans alive under Marika are descendent of the Shamans/Numen since they’re capable of grafting/merging. We also saw this with Godrick, who not only grafted himself, but grafted random tarnished parts with each other and hung them around parts of his castle. At the bear minimum, all Tarnished are descended from Numen/Shaman.
The title Mother Marika is more literal than not, it seems everyone (that she didn’t delete from the world) is related to her in some way.
Nice insight! There’s probably some implication in Marika sending her own people away from the Lands Between (and trusting them to come back to help her?). Not sure what though
This is one of the best elden ring lore videos I have ever seen, incredible work.
I entered as a skeptic and left as a fan. Fantastic work, Silent. It's so valuable to take these disparate elements and put them together into clear ideas. That's the "synthesis" part most analysis leaves out. Subscribed, and can't wait for the rest, if you decide to make them. Well done sir!
Wow, things are starting to fit in all this, especially Marika's role!
Hi, I greatly enjoyed your video and am so happy to hear this take expressed so well! I've long believed that the fingers represent our literal real-world fingers controlling the fates of these characters in an otherwise stagnant, "painted" world. To me, the nature of the relationship between the player, their avatar, and the game world feels like a major, if not THE major, thematic backdrop upon which everything else is built. When I played Déraciné, everything kinda clicked for me: it directly (and horrifyingly/depressingly) addresses these existential issues, and that's been my blueprint for decoding all of their games.
How chief FromSoftware historian @vaatividya hasn’t come across the concept of a Rebis in the seven thousands lore videos he has made is a head scratcher, because it fits the puzzle too well and ties everything together with a neatly tied bow. But yea, I believe this is it. You cracked the case chief. Time to open up a bottle of Sake.
I just wish one of these days that the creators of the game see a video like this and go....
This, finally someone figured it out. It was so obvious but so obscure, we're so happy u found the truth
But I don't think that'll ever happen. But I do like to imagine the creators see this vid and have an office party kept in secret
Great first episode. Lots of revelatory insights here.
Two thoughts to spur future discussion:
1. While I agree Marika's crucifixion is a clear reference to Christianity, it's also very similar to Odin hanging himself from the World Tree, which is when he discovered RUNES and introduced written language. That seems too juicy to ignore as an Elden Ring inspiration. Maybe further research into the role of runes in Norse mythology will give us a glimpse into FromSoft's thinking?
2. The finger ruins next to the shaman village in the DLC seems to suggest that Marika met the fingers there. That connection seems really important to your theory here! What was the initial relationship between Marika and the fingers, and how did it end up with dead pairs on top of towers tied to each of her children?
Both good points, and I agree that they're potentially rich. Just still need to settle on what I want to say about it.
This was an amazingly well thought-out and well-spoken video! I also think that, amongst the whole of the Souls-lore community, this is the idea/concept that seemed to summarize the entire game in a really complete package. So good! You got another subscriber! :)
This was a great video.
And not that it impacts the video, I just think it's funny; at the start with the "George R.R. Martin must've wrote that"
I mean I can absolutely see him writing lore about an advisor / group of advisors to the king being called the "Two Fingers". I can also see Miyazaki going "That's neat how about I literally make them two fingers though" xD
Holy balls, this is such a wonderful analysis. Beautiful narration and editing
Interesting. I feel like runes are actually memories, since remembrances of demigods are what you take from them after defeating them and they can be turned into runes. You can’t kill them cuz the rune of death but taking their memories is essentially the same thing. Taking morgotts remembrance even cleanses him of his horns possibly.
I was so impressed how quickly you got to the point, and conveyed your message! I think this is the best explanation for the gate of divinity I saw, no way she coulda made it by herself. Betrayal at the last moment would make it sting even more.
Incredible fucking job, I'm honestly stunned at how solid of a theory has been crafted from all of the effort everyone has put into this. I can't wait to learn more about this setting & this video frankly gives me a lot more respect for FromSoftware & GRRM
Fromsoftware really are master level storystellers. Theyve always had very deep ideas hidden within their writing, but the fact that its obscured and fragmented across 50-100 hour playthroughs makes it harder for the average player to appreciate. Hell its even hard for us lore nerds, seeing as how its taken 2+ years to start to really form and understanding of the game.
Like their worlds are ones I would LOVE to read about in a long novel, Elden Ring especially. Having GRRM there to help write the backstory and give the characters more life only took them over the top.
Haha. Won't have many views with an insight this deep! Nicely done, thx you
Holy shit this is the best lore video Ive ever seen
Slight correction - while real-life runes can be compared to letters, as you pointed out, it is more accurate to describe them as symbols of power. In the old Norse runic systemic, called Elder and Younger Futhark, each rune is symbolic of specific concepts or characteristics of the world. And each rune has a specific name that would help identify it in conversation. For instance, the Mannaz rune (sometimes called the “M” rune), is symbolic of mankind, humanity, and destiny. While the Mannaz rune can be literally used as a letter, it would be more common to find it by itself being indicative of the ideas it was known to represent within the culture. In Elden Ring, we see that the runes of the Elden Ring are laid out in a way that makes it look like a script that could be theoretically read, while an individual rune like the rune of Death is indicative of the concept that it is meant to represent albeit in a much more metaphysical way than the rune of Elder and Younger Futhark.
This is brilliant. The key insight of the Rebis = Marika is amazing.
Sir you should start a food channel because you can COOK
This was a great watch! Appreciate all the work and thought put into this.
30:45 it's also the seed-planting pose that's seen in the Minor Erdtree incantation. The same pose is seen in the stake of marika statues, and those even have a small sprouting tree chiseled at the base. Those statues are to commemorate the planting of the Erdtree, which happened after her ascension
I'm not even fifty seconds in and I'm throwing this into favorites and subscribing. The vibes just seem right.
excellent analysis pretty much agree on all points.
Could it be that the grace accumulates in the eyes of the people, because the language of creation is purely visible, and thus present in all forms observed?
Also the group runes (e.g broken rune and heros rune)
resemble an iris the more powerful they become
This should get way more views
Usually when I hear allegorical analyses, I end up thinking "hmm, seems like a bit of a stretch". I didn't think that even once during this video. Very good.
The meta implication of fingers and code controlling a video game world is so genius
I had never thought of Marika/Radagon being the result of a hornsent process of intentionally synthesising duality through torture. The elements were definitely there, but I always thought of Radagon of something that happened later. It makes so much sense now, it really closes the circle with the missing rune-arc:
Radagon was incorporated into Marika, both conforming a Rebis, and that's why he is "yet to become her" after her apotheosis.
I think you deciphered the codex, congratulations!
Great video! first few minutes hooked me and the rest didn't disappoint. can't wait for future videos
Fucking amazing video. I wish more people attempted more holistic interpretations of Elden Ring lore.
Your delivery is great! I love the minimal script editing, it sounds very organic and genuine. You’re clearly a skilled writer and orator. Keep making videos! I’ll be here for the next one.
Elden rings Lore: like a holy books worth of history and lore info on all characters.
What the game presents: go to shiny tree and hit enemies with various pointy sticks, good luck. 😂
Damn fine analysis, really appreciate your insight. Great construction on the video and thanks for not wasting our time! Can't wait for your next video!
Its hard enough to simply parse what literally happens in these games, im glad to see someone attacking the deeper meaning of it as a unified work.
This went beyond what I imagined, please keep making more videos
This is the best lore video i have watched on Elden Ring. I dont even care if this is true to the writers original vision when creating the story.
I had to tell myself this same thing when I started writing the script. Though I'm not going to lie, I love the idea of Miyazaki stumbling across my theory and saying "Well, well, well, someone finally figured it out."
@@Silent_Ellipsis Do you think this is Miyazaki or GRRM? I like to think GRRM wrote a straighforward story and Miyazaki jumbled it to make it more akin to his own style of story telling.
Wow this was the most coherent and convincing explaination that I heard for the underling lore of the dlc. Loved it. Sorry for my english😅
Fascinating. I’d never thought about it like this before - thank you!!
Great Video dude 👌🏼
Looking forward to your upcomming Videos :)
This makes so much sense, i already had a good grasp on what runes were thanks to "color theory". But this deepened my understanding even more. Good stuff.
I'll be honest, this might be the best theory I've seen about Elden ring. I truly hope you keep it up my man, I can genuinely call myself a big fan.
Thank you. With positive feedback like this I think more videos are definitely coming.
After watching all the other lore videos, this is the first one that's ever made me go: "DAAAAAAAAMN"
Awesome video! The idea of motion, geometry, and the rebis makes so much sense. I just have one question regarding Miquella. He would qualify as the rebis due to being both Miquella and St. Trina at the same time; but before ascending, he casts St. Trina aside, becoming just one entity instead of two. Yet, Miquella was capable of ascension. How do you think that plays into the idea of the rebis as a way of ascending into godhood?
Furthermore, correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the impression that it was implied that Miquella's age of compassion was different and separate from the influence of the golden order. How is it then that Miquella is still capable of ascending into godhood without the Elden Ring?
An insightful, alternative take on the lore! Fantastic... subscribed! keep up the great work!
This was such a great deep look. Haven't seen anyone explaining like this
Consider the following transliterations;
Marika => Malika (Arabic for Queen)
Miquella => Mikala
Malika and Mikala are anagrams of Kalima (Arabic for Word)
Compare with Kalameet => Kalamit
Anagram of Kalimat (Arabic for Words - note also a Titanite Slab in the boss-room)
A great relief Im not the only one who thought of the importance of the physiology of the fingers.
I recognize this quality of this analysis…. Did you burn a thermos a few years back?
oh this is the type of lore dive I've been waiting for
I wonder how many people joked about them being literal two fingers assuming they were going to be two people. I'm guilty.