Shadow Of The Erdtree Spoilers

thinking long and hard about Godwyn and Fortissax's friendship like

>the dragons begin a war with the golden order

>Godwyn and Fortissax become “good friends” which brings an era of peace between the golden order and the dragons

>Godwyn goes on to begin the golden lineage with a completely unmentioned partner

>dragons are known to take the form of humans and even have relations with them, as seen with Vyke and Fortissax's sister Lanssax

>One of Godwyn’s many descendants is Godrick, who refers to the dragon in his arena as “kindred one”

>While Godwyn was the first demigod to fall during the night of the black knives, it’s implied that many others followed at the hands of the assassins. Due to the rest of the known descendants of Marika being alive, and no one else having a child pre-shattering it can be inferred that Godwyn's bloodline was specifically targeted for some reason. Since those are the only other demigods that existed at the time.

>Godwyn is assassinated and because him and Fortissax are such “Good friends” Fortissax proceeds to enter godwyns mind and spends decades, possibly centuries attempting to fight off the deathblight from within him, eventually succumbing to it themselves but still unwilling to abandon their “good friend” regardless.

Absolutely bewildered that people think Kris is a parallel for Frisk and not Chara because like

First adoptive child of the Dreemurs

Close in age to Asriel

Constantly covers their face with their hair like Chara did

Has a deep love for their family/monsters in general

Very loyal/self sacrificial

Loves chocolate

Scares people for fun

Has an affinity for/carries around a knife

Has some emotional issues going on

Like hello? They’re almost 1 to 1 the same characteristically except for a few details that can be explained by the differences in the timelines.

Honestly I’m surprised by the amount of people who think Mohg’s character was at all reduced by the DLC— if anything, the introduction of a character like Ansbach and the reveal that he was bewitched adds a lot to his story.

I wonder if there’s any correlation between those who believe his character was taken away from and those who very staunchly believed that he kidnapped Miquella all on his own? Because in my personal experience, I’m someone who always thought it was more likely that it was either a mutual agreement or manipulation + bewitchment on Miquella’s end rather than kidnapping— otherwise, there’s a lot going on in terms of the environment and story details that just don’t make sense (IE; why is nobody at the Haligtree concerned about there being a kidnapping, and are simply waiting for Miquella to come back)! And also, since GRRM has a quote discussing how he’s not fond of the “here’s the good guys, they dress in white and look pretty while the bad guys dress in black and are ugly” trope, I would’ve been more shocked if that was played straight and it WAS a kidnapping.

Another thing, I fell in love with his character before I knew anything about his involvement with Miquella. Varré’s quest, the subtle buildup of his presence you see throughout the world of the game and the characterization it provides! As soon as I saw the Bloodroses for the first time, I knew he was going to be a favorite of mine. They alone clue us in on so much about him as a character, painting this mysterious Lord of Blood as a romantic, but morbid figure.

He has so much character without Miquella, he has a fully fleshed out backstory that I can’t help but to adore. Then, the DLC comes in and makes you confront any pre-conceived notions of what Mohgwyn was like prior to Miquella, it makes you ask what this blood cult was like before it got extra bloody, it makes you ask where this love for Miquella came from, and so on. I personally subscribe to “it was a combination of genuine manipulation from Miq’s end along with bewitchment— which played horribly well with Mohg’s idea of and need for love”, but there’s so many ways you can go about it! So many fun possibilities to explore that add further depth to these characters and their relationship!

So I find it surprising as hell that people would think the DLC took anything away from his character, when it really just fleshed him out further.

y'know with all the courage motifs going on in deltarune, seemingly replacing determination for Kris I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that Kris' soul was actually a bravery one before we were super imposed onto them.

I think it'd be a pretty cool twist all things considered. We're so used to playing as a red soul so we don't question it, but in reality we have no idea if that was always Kris' soul. If it turns out that Kris' soul was replaced with ours then I wouldn't be shocked if it's a different type all together.

I'm not sure what the general concensus on the "Melina is the Gloam-Eyed Queen" theory is here, but I think it would be pretty cool considering that Melina helped our tarnished to grow and become the death of the gods, much like the GEQ did for her apostles.

Even while stripped of her power, her memories and her very body she was still unwavering in her own convictions. Even if she didn't fully remember what they were for a lot of her journey with us.

Thinking about the badeline boss fight and how it manifested out of fear rather than pure anger. How Badeline was convinced that Madeline’s goal was to leave her to die on the mountain and go home feeling empty and worthless and she was really was just trying to help her but she could see that she was only damaging madeline in the long run and Madeline only saw an enemy in Badeline and that fear of abandonment is what drives Badeline to lash out and turn into a monster and make the environment SO hostile and the music is powerful and erratic which reflects Badeline’s hostile fear but Madeline KEEPS fighting and Badeline doesn’t know what to do but keep digging deeper and deeper into the cave as the environment grows darker and more wild reflecting the chaotic nature of Badeline’s true fear until suddenly she stops and she is shocked to discover that Madeline was just trying to help her all along and despite the defeat they come together and make each other that much more powerful PLUS the fact that the chapter is called “Reflection” which is a play on words that both reinforces the mirror motif of the game AND meaning to look back on oneself and their choices and feelings and and aAND

that's a really interesting interpretation! I could totally see that being the answer

Y'know, I've been thinking about the vow between Miquella and Radahn a lot recently, and I feel like I've come up with a possible explanation for why Radahn seemingly agreed at first but later backed out of the deal.

If Radahn truly did agree to become Miquella's consort, what are the chances that it was made under the pretense that he'd be the next elden lord in the golden order? Continuing the legacy and age of both his personal hero and father, alongside Miquella as the new god of the age, but things remaining overall the same.

Once Miquella became disillusioned with Marika's age and decided to do his own thing, and create his own age, Radahn probably lost interest in becoming his consort because he wouldn't be the lord of the age he loved anymore, infact he would be a major factor in it ending. Something that he historically does not stand for.

This probably lead to a disagreement between the two that lead to Malenia invading Selia. Miquella feeling betrayed because Radahn was now refusing to uphold his promise, and Radahn feeling betrayed because Miquella turned his back on the golden order he loved and was now trying to bring it to an end.

y'know, it only just hit me recently but like... Marika would definitely have fucking hated modern Godrick right?

Forcing weaker and more vulnerable individuals into horrific experiments of fusing flesh is basically exactly the sort of thing she dealt with growing up under the Hornsent. The practice of grafting would have been a really sore spot for Marika, which is probably why it seems like it only came into practice during the shattering.

Godrick is lucky he started experimenting with grafting after Marika was imprisoned because if she was still around she probably would have come crashing through his roof with her hammer and make Radagon's grab attack look soft.

I’ve touched upon this in the past, but there’s a couple reasons I don’t believe the vow was mutually upheld by the end.

Radahn loved war and the glory of battle, but he was also a deeply sentimental person, as we can see with a lot of his history. He initially learned gravity magic so he could keep Leonard as his mount, and he later used that very same magic to freeze the stars in place to protect Selia. When he cares about something he cares hard and clings onto it as much as he can. And the battle of Aionia destroyed all of that. All that he held so dear that he challenged fate itself to protect it. It infected his horse and decimated Selia and all surrounding locations.

He desperately clung to life, even past the point of being driven insane by the scarlet rot. It’s possible to read this as him just wanting to be put down in a worthy fight, but personally I feel like it goes further. That motherfucker did not want to die.

Presumably none of Radahn’s followers had any idea about the vow with Miquella. On Miq’s side at least Malenia knew, but none of the Redmanes had even the faintest clue. Not even his closest allies knew what the fight was about, which is odd considering how glorious a final honourable battle for Radahn to become the lord of a new age would be. It was just kept incredibly secret for some reason. Even when it comes time for the Radahn festivals, they’re specifically to put Radahn to rest in an honourable duel. Not to uphold any sort of vow he might have had.

Going off of the previous point about their respective followers. The Redmanes and The Cleanrot knights fucking hate eachother, to the point where their spirits continue to battle in the wardead catacombs to this very day. This, to me, doesn’t read as a mutually agreed upon and honourable duel to the death. It comes off as there being extremely bad blood between the two groups. The malice between them is so palpable that they won't stop fighting each other even in death.

Radahn doesn’t really come off as being “present” in his promised consort bossfight. When it comes to every other major demigod in the game, they all have something to say. Every single one of them talks to the player before, during and after their boss fights. Radahn however, says nothing. He barely makes a sound throughout his entire fight. It’s like he’s just going through the motions. Like a spirit ash, or a puppet. He’s even able to make use of some of Mohg’s bloodflame abilities, which he shouldn’t be able to do if it was actually just Radahn.

Y'know, I've been thinking about the vow between Miquella and Radahn a lot recently, and I feel like I've come up with a possible explanation for why Radahn seemingly agreed at first but later backed out of the deal.

If Radahn truly did agree to become Miquella's consort, what are the chances that it was made under the pretense that he'd be the next elden lord in the golden order? Continuing the legacy and age of both his personal hero and father, alongside Miquella as the new god of the age, but things remaining overall the same.

Once Miquella became disillusioned with Marika's age and decided to do his own thing, and create his own age, Radahn probably lost interest in becoming his consort because he wouldn't be the lord of the age he loved anymore, infact he would be a major factor in it ending. Something that he historically does not stand for.

This probably lead to a disagreement between the two that lead to Malenia invading Selia. Miquella feeling betrayed because Radahn was now refusing to uphold his promise, and Radahn feeling betrayed because Miquella turned his back on the golden order he loved and was now trying to bring it to an end.

It’s such a shame honestly. She’s travelling with us for the entirety of the game, across this massive world with so much to discover and talk about (barring farum azula and onward) and I’m pretty sure she has less unique dialogue (not counting Marika’s spoken echos as actual interactions with her as a character) than Ranni, who only really interacts with us within her specific questline.

Hell, Even Latenna has some pretty good travelling dialogue when we’re doing the Haligtree quest.

I felt more connected to both of these characters as travelling companions than I ever did with Melina, which is really sad because I also really like Melina but I just tend to forget she’s there most of the time. It feels like the biggest contribution she makes to the story is being a talking piece for other characters, explaining Torrent's motivations to us and being a scribe for Marika but like… I want to know about you Meli!

I am glad we’re of one mind that Melina is a character whose potential was sorely wasted in Elden Ring. I mean, it’s probably why I can’t get too invested in her.