My Favourite Crackpot Elden Ring Theory Is That The Gloam Eyed Queen Was A Demi-human And Also Boc’s

oh this dlc is gonna be so fucking good, prepare for me to be very normal about this for the following weeks

DLCs got me having depressing Varré thoughts.

The Mohg he believed in was the same that Ansbach knew and respected. He didn't know Mohg had been bewitched. He would not have died begging Mohg to answer him. He knew the Mohg that was devoted to his dynasty and his people and after years of service to him, when he needed him, he wasnt there and he'll never understand why. I literally cannot even fathom how much that broke him, how betrayed he felt. he's so fucking tragic and so is Mohg. I truly believe that Mohg was the only demigod who had it right. He was so cast aside by the greater will and golden order that he was free of the cycle and their watchful eyes. He found strength in an outer god who didnt care to meddle with the lands between and he fucked off to create his own new dynasty completely hidden from everyone else where any being that had previously been mistreated could go and find power and a home. He only had good intentions

Mohg and Varré and Ansbach deserved better.

Isn’t it crazy how Link is like, almost definitely sick throughout most of TOTK? I mean, gloom canonically makes you very ill just by walking in it for a while, hell just getting close to it is enough to render you bed ridden and Link ended up touching enough of it to lose his entire arm. He’s so infected with gloom that normal anti gloom remedies do nothing to bring him back to his former strength, while they’re capable of completely revitalising others.

I’m not sure if I’m reading this wrong or not but by all accounts and purposes link should probably be bed ridden after his encounter with the gloom that sapped his strength to nearly nothing under Hyrule castle. But instead of resting he’s much more concerned with finding Zelda and saving Hyrule again.

Poor guy's really been through a lot.

Personally I think Radahn is now acting in a similar vein to spirit ash. As Ranni says while handing us the bell for it (which she got from torrents former master aka miquella/st trina) spirit ashes fight by the users side based on instinct installed in prior battles, which is why they'll fight anything and everything without hesitation, which seems to be exactly what's happening with radahn. Either that or Miquella could just inherently bewitch radahn easily after acquiring his soul

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.

Really not a fan of the elden ring convergence talismans that give you full immunity to certain status effects. It feels like they’re not particularly balanced well at all, especially when paired with spells that build up those status effects to offset all the positive effects they give, like the deranged fury incantation in the frenzied flame class. With the ability to nullify all madness build up it just becomes an incredibly powerful buffing spell with no downsides (which lasts for two minutes).

Not to mention how the rot immunity talisman completely trivialises areas like caelid’s swamp and the lake of rot, which is an area that’s actually worth exploring and spending quite a bit of time in now because of the changes the mod also makes to the area. Having full immunity to rot turns a very hostile and tricky area to traverse without taking too much damage into a much less interesting location to explore.

I could also go into how I think it effects the new bossfight "Scion of the rot god" but it's basically just my opinion on the rot lakes. By allowing the player to essentially "turn off" the boss' unique feature, it just makes it a far less interesting fight overall.

One small part of elden ring I find really interesting is Millicent's prosthesis and how you go about getting it.

I find it incredibly interesting to have such a good item locked behind doing something horrible during a questline. It's an entirely needless act of evil as well. Millicent trusts you wholeheartedly and never gives you a reason to attack her. The only way to get this item is through actively betraying her completely unprovoked.

The game gives you a pretty interesting ultimatum. What's more important to you? An incredibly useful and powerful talisman? Or the life of one of the very few friendly faces throughout the lands between? Does the answer change knowing that she's doomed to fall either way?

It's also good that this time around, there isn't an achievement for collecting every talisman. Only the legendary ones. So there's not even an achievement based incentive for the talisman. If you want the talisman, you want it for entirely self imposed reasons, and you're going to have to go through Millicent to get it.

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.

Personnal storyboard based on my favorite scene of @eldenring shadow of the erdtree, the tragic confrontation with former comrades… The music of the fight (Those United In Common Cause - Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree OST) is so beautiful I had to do something with it. It was a totally different exercise than the previous storyboard, with one simple arena but many different characters.

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

My take on the promised consort.

I believe that Radahn held the stars in place when Ranni began fearing her fate. She never wanted to become a puppet to the two fingers, and Radahn knowing this attempted to hold off her destiny for as long as possible. Though he likely knew that it would be an inevitability. The only other two living empyreans were cursed afterall. 

There was no way that Miquella or Malenia would be able to take Marika’s place, the two fingers weren’t even the slightest bit interested in either of them. Malenia was already claimed by the God of Rot and Miquella was perpetually in a state of adolescence. Ranni seems to be the only one who was ever actively bothered by her fingers and I believe this is because they had an intense desire for her to be the next god, assuming Miquella and Malenia as lost causes due to their curse.

I think this is when Miquella came to Radahn with a proposition. He will be seeking godhood. Even if the two fingers had no interest in him, even if the world thought him too small and frail to ascend, he was going to find a way, no matter the consequences. He was determined to become the next God and lead the world into an era of abundance and peace. To fix the mistakes of the past.

He only had one simple request.

“Promise me, you’ll be my consort.”

If Miquella were to ascend then Ranni would be free of her duty. She’d be able to live in peace knowing that she’d never have to be controlled by another's will. She wouldn’t have to become a god, she wouldn’t have to succeed queen Marika. And to top it all off, Radahn would get to play the role of his hero Godfrey. Ushering in a new era alongside a new god.

It was perfect.

That was, until the night of the black knives. The night the world was thrown into chaos. The night that the first demigods fell. And the night that he lost his sister.

Radahn likely wouldn’t have known about Ranni’s plot and would have thought her dead alongside the other victims of the night. Ranni was gone, and with her, so too was Radahns need for Miquella’s age.

I believe Radahn, fueled by grief, rage and the mad taint of his greatrune, denounced Miquella and struck out on his own as a warrior of the shattering. He didn’t need peace, he didn’t need Miquella. All he wanted was to fight. All he wanted now was endless war.

Maybe that would be enough to dull the pain of his loss? Not only the loss of his sibling and father, but also the loss of his purpose.

-

Now picture Miquella. Making the final preparations to begin his ascension. Only there’s one problem. His consort has abandoned him at the very last moment. As it turns out, it seems Radahn never really cared for Miquella or his visions for a new age, he was only really in it for his own gain. 

Imagine how devastated Miquella would be. Knowing that yet another one of his plans had fallen apart at the finish line. That the person he trusted to rule alongside him didn’t even hesitate to abandon him when it was no longer convenient for him.

His ascension to godhood would never happen. He would never be able to heal his sister. He would never be able to bring forth an age of compassion. He would never be able to right the wrongs of the past.

He had failed again.

Now imagine how furious this would make his people. How angry his followers and his sister would be to see Miquella rejected at such a pivotal moment. To see him mourning a consortship and an age that would never come to pass.

Is there really any wonder that they chose to march towards Caelid and deliver the promised consort by force?