Queen Marika's Perfect Plan

You made a mistake man. There's no such thing as a Turtle Pope in this game. Miriel is obviously a Dog Pope.

Plot twist : Marika never shattered the ring. She just dropped it coming down the stairs and played it off

I always theorized that the Numen were a reference to Tolkien's Numenoreans. The (Better) men. Men who were strong and tall and lived exceedingly long life but never immortal.

So, before his death, who was Godwyn the Golden? What aspect did he embody before inheriting the rune of death? Who are his loyal knights? I think I have it figured out thanks to a ghost in Castle Sol. Godwyn was the Sun. Despite a huge focus on celestial bodies in the Lands Between, there is no sunlight to be seen, only the Grace of the Erdtree. In fact, the main symbol we come across is that of an eclipsed sun, with very old references to a full sun on the Omen Armor. Headless Knights are usually found around Walking Belltowers, and bear the symbol of the Eclipse, yet we don't really know who they serve. The Eclipse Shotel, a symbol of the Sun, inflicts DEATHBLIGHT. Something only associated with Godwyn (and basilisks). This leaves me with either two conclusions. 1. Following the most direct implication of the Ghost in Castle Sol, the sun was 'killed' in an attempt to bring Godwyn back to life, 'to bring life to the soulless'. 2. The act of killing Godwyn also killed the Sun. The Eclipse itself resembles the Dark Sign, and can easily be an allegory for the death of the sun. Ranni is associated with the Moon, so that adds a layer of Duality with the Sun and Moon being killed together. Scions of Gold and Silver each. Praise the Sun!

Japanese translator here. Your comment about mistranslation of Japanese text got me interested so I decided to load up my game in Japanese and here's some interesting points: 1. Numen Race is referred to as 稀人. 稀 meaning Rare and 人 meaning person. There is also a japanese horror movie titled 稀人 - read as "Marebito" and the movie's English version is translated as "Unique One". 2. "Numen are the same race as Marika and came from outside The Lands Between." - Numen Rune description. The "outside" kanji is 外. In our world this kanji is used for foreigners. So if a foreigner visits your country, you can refer to them as "外人" / Outside Person. In the game, I don't think it is necessarily referring to outer space since the kanji for anything related with space uses "宇宙"..... "宇宙人" is aliens. Although, since real world rules aren't really followed in the game, 'outside' may refer to 'outer space' in the context of the game. I think it totally depends on exactly what exists outside The Lands Between. If there are other places on the planet, then I'd say the game is NOT referring to outer space. One thing I can say with 100% confidence is that Numen did not come from "Outside World" as you said in the video, there's a very specific way of saying that in Japanese and in the game Numen's homeland is always referred to as "Outside The Lands Between" rather than "Outside World". The difference here being that whatever is outside Lands Between is not an entirely different world but rather part of a whole. 3. While we're at it, The Lands Between is written as "狭間の地". It is a bit difficult to explain tho, but I'll try. 狭間 could have several meanings: interval, space (as in space between things, NOT outer space), Embrasure (Google it). の is pretty much 's equivalent. So if you say Kenのclothes, it would mean Ken's Clothes. 地 means Land / Ground / Place. If you google the word "Embrasure", it will show you pictures of what it is and that makes it really easy to picture what The Lands Between translation really comes from. In general, there's things outside and Lands Between is just a minor piece of a big whole. Also, Lands Between is not necessarily horizontal but can also be vertical. Meaning, Elden Gods realm being on top, Lands Between in the between and then whatever else is below.

I really want people to give Goldmask a chance. He literally does all that Marika wanted to achieve by himself. His rune rids the world of all gods, yet he is rarely mentioned.

I have to say, I like your lore videos but I strongly disagree with the idea that the erdtree thrives off struggle. Gideon's armor set says that it's Marika who wants us to struggle eternally, and we know that she is opposed to the golden order, and thus would only want us to struggle if it harmed the greater will. I believe the reasons bodies are tangled in the erdtree roots is because it's noted in-game that burial at the erdtree is seen as an honor. And maybe because it helps speed up the process of your ashes returning to the tree so you can live again. Not to mention that the lands between ARE struggling, now more than ever. If the erdtree survived off struggle, it should be thriving. But many item descriptions hint at the tree being a shadow of its former self, no longer bestowing blessings of amber to its people. I believe that Marika wants us to struggle because it will make us stronger. By ridding the world of the rune of death, we can come back again and again to fight, grow, and learn, eventually becoming strong enough to kill the god holding her captive. I also believe that's why she divested Godfrey and his men of their grace, because they needed to struggle so as not to become complacent and weak in the world of the golden order. You could also say she wants us to struggle so we grow to resent the golden order, because if the people thrived, they'd feel no need to change. But that's just my two cents.

Do you think Marika would sacrifice Godwin for her own ambitions you ask? Marika, your thoughts? "Hear me, Demigods. My children beloved. Make of thyselves that which ye desire. Be it a Lord. Be it a God. But should ye fail to become aught at all, ye will be forsaken. Amounting only to sacrifices."

When it comes to Marika and Radagon, I believe they started a two separate beings at first. My theory is that the Greater Will suspected Marikas betrayal and that was why Radagon was summoned to marry and become one with Marika. He was unflinchingly loyal to the Golden Order and they believed he would be able to keep Marika under control

The shattering of the Elden Ring isn't the same as the Shattering War, although one is the trigger that caused the other 😉 the Elden Ring was shattered by the queen, the demigod children each got one great rune, and then in their lust for more power, started the Shattering War, which they all basically took all their forces and attacked each other to try and take more great runes.

Marika said from the beginning to Godfrey to LEAVE AND COME BACK. “Return to the Lands between, wage war, and brandish the Elden Ring. Grow strong in the face of death.” By sending away the tarnished she would strengthen them enough to destroy the Elden Beast and get rid of the Greater Will.

There is the shattering (the event, breaking the ring), and the Shattering (the war that ensued). Capital S. The runes then were claimed by the demigods and their urge for power led to the Shattering (war).

I personally think Radagon was a Greater Will creation as part of Marika (like Adam and Eve but inversed) to finish the war against the Carian, but it backfired due to Marika starting getting doubts, since Radagon was the part of Marika who believed in the Golden Lore. And also, Godfrey and his Tarnished going outside the Lands Between was part of Marika plan as well. She took the grace out of them and send them to "die" out there to feel the freedom and become strong on their own, enough to fight the Elden Beast (God) when the time is right.

Also, as an aside I believe it was Rykard, a delusional but bonafide genius, who helped Ranni create the relics of Death (the knives and the stones of protection) so she could enact her plot. Their own personal desires intersected at this point, but I doubt Ranni, who wanted to rid the world of Outer Gods (as did Miquella in his own way, via trying to help Malenia) knew what Rykard's true motive was - to become god itself.

I've had similar thoughts that Marika intended all of this. So many things she did ended up setting up dominos that eventually fell over to result in the player destroying Radagon and the Elden Beast. -Sending away the Tarnished -Cursing the Fire Giant to tend the flame that burns the Erdtree -Cursing Hewg to make a god-killing weapon -Setting up Ranni and Renala as an opposing force At some point it stops becoming tragic irony and becomes a plan

The word Scion plants the origins of the Numen quite squarely in the Eternal Cities, not another planet or plane of existence. The word Scion has two meanings, the first describing a young twig or offshoot of a tree, and the second being "descendant". The game implies that the Numen are what became of the last of the people of at least one of the Eternal Cities (Potentially the Nameless City within Deeproot Depths, directly beneath Leyndell) with a rock solid double entendre, there's no way it's a coincidence. Similar to Godrick's "Grafting" being a literal description of what he's doing but also an allusion to the actual art of Grafting branches of one tree to another.

Maliketh sealed the Rune of death long before Godfrey was banished, the Golden Order was created after this very act

Marika’s true goal has always been clearly told to us, that her people and the tarnished would “struggle onto eternity”. All of her plans and schemes lead to this singular goal. The golden order was leading to stagnation as it became the strongest force in the lands between, and Marika, who used to support the golden order as it was the underdog in the beginning with “all of creation opposed to it”, started to look for other opposing forces to test it. It makes so much sense that she set up all these moving parts so that struggle and strife would continue and eventually a new age would be born under the strongest to come from the prior age. If it were up to her, this cycle would continue forever, “onto eternity”

I think the relationship between Radagon and Marika is like the relationship between Malenia and Millicent. Millicent's is heavily implied to be tied to the breaking of the unalloyed gold needle. Gowry also says that the craftsman is someone who 'understood life'. When we see Marika, she is tied to a rune arc and pierced by something. I believe this thing is a needle. Not of unalloyed gold, but of amber starlight shards that have been 'reddened'. This 'reddening', I believe is due to it containing the curse of the fire giants inflicted on Marika after their war. Hence Radagon was 'possessed of flowing red locks'. When Marika transforms into Radagon, the needle disappears. This could've been what inspired Miquella's work with needles. The needles might infact just be redirecting the curse into a surrogate (like the purging stone from dark souls 1), except Miquella's unfinished needle, which actually hoped to thwart the meddling of outer gods.

man i thought i was watching peaky blinders listening to Ranni speak. Her voice actor is such a good actress in real life too 10/10 recommend her other works