Nowadays Unless I'm Doing An Evil Character Run, Edgar From Castle Morne Has Been Put Alongside The Dung

I hate when people are like "What do you mean I should spoiler tag this massive plot twist? This thing has been out for years you should have experienced it already!" As if completely oblivious to the fact that new people... exist?

Shockingly enough someone that's 15 may not have had the chance to experience this game that came out 7 years ago yet. God forbid young people get the chance to experience old content too.

One detail I really like about Shadow of the Erdtree's final boss is that you can tell he's not fully there... (lore analysis under the cut)

...because his horse isn't with him! What you learn in the base game is that Radahn would never willingly separate from his horse. This man mastered a new school of magic fully so he could keep his horse with him at all times. He's the prime horse girl of the lands between. And yet when we meet him he is on his own, no horse in sight.

For the people saying Radahn being the final boss is somehow a cop-out, i vehemently disagree. This part of the lore was always going to be present, and it was clearly planned out since the start. There's a lore reason Malenia and Radahn fought now. Miquella was always going to be an evil little shit. Long before the DLC came out people had already figured out that Miquella as a character is heavily inspired by Griffith from berserk. Griffith, the quintessential betrayer of hopes in modern Japanese fiction. The guy who murdered everyone he ever loved for a shot at godhood. Sorry Miquella simps, but Miquella is right: it was his very fate to betray you.

Speaking of which! I really like the contrast between Miquella and Ranni in that aspect. Someone else already discussed how they mirror each other in terms of love and how they treat those who love them, but fate is another really interesting contrast between the two. Where Ranni in the base game goes to absurd lengths to escape her fated godhood, to the point of killing the most beloved man in the lands between just to get a shot at killing herself too; Miquella goes to even more absurd lengths to achieve his. Ironically, this, too involves getting rid of his body.

And the narrative supports Ranni over Miquella. She's right to escape her fate, she's right to value the love of others as much as she does, she's right in her attempts to stop people from sacrificing themselves on her altar. But she also deserves to not be alone. She deserves to have trustworthy companions at her side. If you choose to stick with her, she ends the game victorious, with a trusted consort of any gender at her side*.

Miquella meanwhile uses those who love him as tools and sacrifices everyone who ever valued him in his bid to follow the path fate laid out for him. He gets rightfully stomped into the ground at the end of the DLC for his troubles. zombie spouse and all.

*=unless you got the frenzied flame ending, you naked maniac!

I just realised that this idea also tracks with their remembrance. The remembrance we receive from beating them isn’t “remembrance of the promised consort” or “remembrance of the kind” it's “remembrance of a god and a lord” it’s Radahn(Mohg) and Miquella together, as one.

It’s the only remembrance in the entire game that names multiple beings in its title, and to my knowledge, the only one that grants items related to different characters.

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This is sort of an unrelated thought but It’s also worth mentioning that in its description it refers to its owner as “Radahn, consort of Miquella” as if it were one being it was related to, despite it clearly being two. Which reminds me of how Godfrey is in some capacity, Serosh and Hoarah Loux together as one. Neither is ultimately more or less important in making up “Godfrey” as the other. Which could also further explain the striking similarities between Godfrey and Consort of Miquella.

Thinking about how Miquella and Radahn as a single boss are the perfect representation of all 3 demigod sibling groups.

Miquella - Marika & Radagon

Radahn - Rennala & Radagon

Mohg - Marika & Godfrey

Not only that but they also represent all 3 magic types. 

Faith - Miquella’s holy magic

Intelligence  - Radahn’s gravity magic

Arcane - Mohg’s bloodflame magic

The 3 of them converge into one being. Mohg’s body, Radahn’s soul and Miquella’s mind all working in perfect harmony. To become one.

Thinking about how despite all the suffering Leonard has gone through, he never abandoned Radahn. He never left or stopped carrying him around. And even after all of this time he’s still just as willing to fight by his master's side as he was during the shattering. Leonard isn’t some poor old steed forced to carry a giant, and I think his actions in the fight paint a very particular picture. The first opportunity he gets in our fight he fucking charges at us, the two move so harmoniously that it’s sometimes hard to remember that they’re two separate entities. I wouldn’t be surprised if he enjoyed combat just as much as Radahn tbh.

Thinking about how despite being driven mad by the scarlet rot and long since having lost his mind, Radahn never stopped using his gravity magic to make himself lighter for his steed. How he’s gone so far that he’s cannibalised both his enemies and allies but never laid a finger on Leonard. How despite being a hulking mindless beast, the frail creature eternally beneath him doesn’t seem to have any injuries. He’s definitely exhausted and starving but he’s doing surprisingly well for himself for a steed that has seen multiple Radahn festivals and the battle of Aionia, especially when compared to how many injuries Radahn himself has.

The two of them were inseparable until the very end.

I always find it super weird in the new doctor who seasons whenever they try to push the idea that the doctor has never settled down in one place for an extended period of time because… well he has. Quite a lot actually.

Just off the top of my head I can think of quite a few.

The weeks its implied that 11 spends with the Ponds in ‘The power of three’

The unknown amount of time he spends grieving in the sky of 1980’s London in ‘the snowmen’

The centuries he spent protecting Trenzalore in ‘the time of the doctor’

12’s 24 years living alongside River on Darillium in ‘the husbands of River Song’

And 12’s retired life as a professor watching over Missy in his final season

It’s not overly common but it happens just enough that it always makes me raise an eyebrow whenever they try to do the “the one adventure you’ve never had before” stuff again. Like, some of these are incredibly important to the doctor’s story and it’s always weird when they try to pretend they never happened.

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

Honestly when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense that the lands between and land of shadow don't connect perfectly when you try to overlay the maps, even though they were once part of the same landmass.

The two have been separated for many years by the time the game takes place, and have both developed independently through untold years of turmoil, war, natural disasters and weathering.

I'd be more surprised if they did connect properly after all of that.

The quiet tragedy of shadow of the erdtree is playing through the DLC, encountering cross after cross along your journey and slowly coming to the haunting realisation that Miquella, the person you’ve been tailing throughout the entirety of the DLC, the creator of the Haligtree and protector of its denizens, the most fearsome and kind demigod of them all… Is long dead.

He’s not at the divine gates seeking godhood. Not really. The person known as Miquella is buried at the base of each and every cross in the land. Survived only by a few select ailing entities. St. Trina, slowly wilting at the bottom of the world, The Scadutree avatar who inherited his greatrune, and Miquella the Kind at the very peak of Enir-Ilim.

He not only abandoned his flesh, but went so far as to fracture his very soul. His doubts, his fear, his love. All abandoned in an attempt to fashion a perfect god. To right the wrongs of his mother and people and finally bring the world peace.

His flesh, his power, his birthright, his fate, his fear, his doubts, his love… after leaving all that behind, how much of what’s left is actually Miquella?

Miquella may have hurt many people in his quest for godhood, but he himself was never spared from that very same pain. He may have stripped Radahn and Mohg of their dignity and sense of self to fashion into the perfect consort, but he was just as willing to do the same to himself to fashion into the perfect god.

One of my biggest pet peeves in media is when a character refuses to kill the big bad due to moral reasons but is perfectly happy condemning them to a fate far worse than death instead. It annoys me so much because if anyone thinks about it for more than 2 seconds, the narrative begins to collapse in on itself because doing that to someone is so so much worse than just killing them! In like, every conceivable way!

And it happens a lot too, which is baffling to think about. How has media got so many people convinced that imprisoning someone in a horrifically inhumane way, or literally sending them to the nightmare dimension™ is morally better than just killing them?

It ironically makes the characters seem way more vindictive and cruel than if they'd just killed the villain. It's no longer about protecting the innocent, or even just revenge. It's now about prolonging the villains suffering as much as possible. And I don't like how that's so commonly cited as the morally righteous decision.

It’s all good, I’m happy to answer them!

Marika very much does seem to be incredibly distant with her family (even her golden child Godwyn) which is rather interesting. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was hardly present, which would also explain why no one caught on to her and Radagon being the same person.

Radagon seems to be more connected with his children (at least in the past) but the only other connection I remember being explicitly mentioned other than Miquella is Radahn, who despite heavily looking up to Godfrey, still wore the red hair he inherited from his father with great pride.

Rykard and Ranni however seem to be mama’s boys/girls respectively so Radagon breaking Renalla’s heart and leaving abruptly very likely struck a wedge in their relationship with him, which is probably why he’s hardly mentioned in their history’s.

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As far as I’m aware the wandering mausoleums house some of the demigods slain in the night of the black knives. The beings inside are described as “soulless” in a few places, which makes me think they were other victims targeted during the assassination, but due to not dying at the same time as Ranni, were lucky enough to just fully die.

They also seem to be somewhat possessed by a great deal of spirits, as they have glowing face shaped rocks littering their bodies, which makes me believe they’ve been animated through restless souls residing in them. Bells in elden ring are also pretty synonymous with raising the dead (spirit tuning bells specifically) so I wouldn’t be surprised if they had something to do with it too.

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The Nox are incredibly interesting. They seem to be one of the first civilisations that caught on to the finger’s corruption and forged the finger slayer blade in order to rebel, but unfortunately they were found out and literally buried beneath the lands between as punishment before they could ever use it (which would have been extra awful for them as much like the modern day Carians, they too used to worship and chart the night sky). The only remnants of their society left on the surface are a handful of ruins and the town of Selia in caelid. Which funnily enough Radahn is very closely tied too.

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As for your final question, unfortunately it’s anyone’s guess. I can’t say for certain how Marika and the Nox connect. However I do think it’s likely that the Nox and Carians have some sort of inherent link due to their similar cultures regarding the night sky and moons, how Radahn was so protective of Selia and how Ranni uses the Nox’s finger slayer blade to slay her fingers and bring forth the “age of night” that the Nox are said to be waiting for.

I don’t think I ‘hate’ a single Elden Ring character. Each and every one is designed so compellingly, their stories are so varied, their interactions while sparse are the type to carry magnitudes of meaning.

Example:

For the longest time I did not realize that the scene we stroll into at Castle Morne is a slave rebellion. The misbegotten are treated as chattel. My first go around I assumed “ah yes, monster attack castle, understand”

It wasn’t until I watched a random lore video that only referenced it that I got it. I went back and read the descriptions of stuff and I’ll be damned.

There’s a lot of little tidbits hidden here and there that flip entire perspectives on their heads. Preaching to the choir on this point.

Even the characters that I generally dislike/disregard (dung-eater, (hot take) Varre, selvus) I still find fascinating. One of the cool parts about the game is you can just kill the character you don’t like. If you’re doing a run and you want to get a little roleplay in, sometimes murder freak be murdering.

Personally, I’m not on twitter, instagram (used to be), deviant art (do people still use that), or anywhere else ((I Do have a blue sky but I think I’m too dim to use it just yet)) . I’d love to be in a space where people talk more about lore or art things! I haven’t the foggiest clue where to go though. When I hear people say “everyone hates on xyz character” or “this fandom is so nuts” or whatever I am genuinely confused. I’m only seeing a portion of the stuff here, and so far it’s been more than pleasant! Big ups to the people on here, so far you’ve all been very kind 😊

So I guess, could I ask anybody to fill me in? Or where to go to get filled in?

In the meantime I want you to know I’ve started working on a pair of drawings centered around Malenia and Miquella - ooooo be so tragic oooooo