Miquella is many things. A fundamentalist. The unalloyed.
Creator of the Haligtree. Lord of the Eclipse. St.
Trina of the Cradle Song. And not just a demigod, but a fearsome empyrean who has been captured, but is unresponsive for now. And after watching this video, I think you'll agree that Miquella is a topic that almost has to be explored further in some upcoming DLC for how could they not be?
Their character is surely too major, too foreshadowed and too intriguing to just ignore. So let's learn everything that there is to know. For starters, Miquella is the demigod child of Queen Marika and King consort Radagon, who, as I'm sure you're well aware at this point, are the same being.
You can learn more about the timeline of events from my other videos. But basically, after Radagon left Rennala, the Academy told Radagon to go f*** himself, basically. But Radagon took that literally, and he sired a third set of demigod children all on his own.
Who were the twins Miquella and Malenia. These children appear to be represented by the butterfly items in the game, and the nascent butterfly appears to represent Miquella. Its description elaborates on his state of eternal childhood, stating that it "appears as if it's just emerged from its cocoon for its entire life.
" Indeed, the word nascent means that something is just coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential, and that naissance is eternal for Miquella. And I think that this eternal naissance is incredibly important for his character. For Miquella and Malenia both seem to occupy different sides of the life and death cycle.
That's not to say that Miquella represents life and Malenia represents death. Rather, it seems like both land somewhere in the middle of each process. Malenia is constantly resisting her Scarlet Rot and is in this perpetual state of dying, and Miquella is in this constant state of naissance.
He is newly born and showing an abundance of life and burgeoning potential. Special thanks to Quelaag for making this clear to me. So Miquella is nascent but is also abundant, and I think that's another extremely key word for him.
For example, there's this cut weapon called the Abundance and Decay Twinblade, which symbolizes the twins and suggests that the twins were born from an inseparable fate and hold the runes of both abundance and decay between them. Not to mention the word abundance is also literally spoken by Miquella in his cut content. And thanks to a very recent discovery by Sekiro Dubi, we know this cut dialog I'm about to voice is Miquella speaking and here he appears to be leading you towards a unique ending for the game and he talks about his ability to make life flourish, stating this is for thee.
Mind abundance. My drop of dew. Quench thy thirst, throughout thy frame.
blossom and burgeon, time and again. Grow larger, stronger. Until the day cometh.
When thou canst share in my dream. Elden Ring. O Elden Ring.
Begets order most elegant. From my tender reverie. and before I go on, I do want to say that Miquella talking about his abundance is cut content, and you shouldn't really take it as canon, but I think it does give us a deeper look at not only the powers that Miquella might have had, but also the world that he could create.
He goes on to say, If thou covetest the throne, impress my vision upon thine heart. In the new world of thy making all things will flourish, whether graceful, or malign. And I love that final line.
all things will flourish, whether graceful, or malign. because Miquella isn't enforcing any real notions of good or evil here. Instead, in the new world of his making, he simply wants all things to flourish.
And I feel like that is a very unique viewpoint for a character in a Souls game. Not to mention, Miquella is certainly one of the few beings that is capable of creating this new world. That's because he is an empyrean.
He is one of the very few who were candidates chosen by the Two Fingers to succeed Queen Marika and to become a god to usher in a new age. Now, we could go into an entire debate about why the twins are valid empyreans and why they were born afflicted. But honestly, that could almost be an entire video of its own.
So for now, I'll just give the simple answer, which is that these twins were probably valid empyreans because they have singular parentage from a god, but that this singular parentage was probably also responsible for their afflictions as well, due to the almost incestual implications of such a thing. Why do I feel like it was George R. R.
Martin that wrote this part? Anyway, let's move into the early childhood years of Miquella's eternal childhood. Miquella's early years were clearly quite inspired by their father, Radagon, who fostered a bit of a fundamentalist streak in his prodigal son.
And Miquella would go on to invent fundamentalist incantations of his own, dubbed Discus of Light and Triple Rings of Light, which he gave as gifts to his father. These gifts reveal that Radagon and Miquella had a good relationship, and Radagon must have been proud of his son, because these two spells do represent those two key fundamentals of the golden order, namely that there is a law of causality, which is a branching cause and effect that goes outwards, but also that there is a law of regression, that all things yearn eternally to converge once again. And in gratitude, Radagon countered with a gift of his own showing Miquella Radagon's Rings of light.
These incantations would go on to become core fundamentalist spells, as they are true to those two concepts that form the basis of the Golden Order. But there is another aspect of Golden Order fundamentalism, and that is the persecution of Those Who Live in Death hunters of these undead would attempt to stamp them out with spells such as Orders Blade and Litany of Proper Death, which deal additional damage against Those Who Live in Death and prevent them from resurrecting. To recap, Those Who Live in Death exist because of Godwyn the Golden, who was one of the early Sons of Marika and Godfrey, who was eventually killed with a fragment of the Rune of Death, and then the rune of death, which eventually spread its undeath throughout the Lands Between via deathroot.
And there is an entire debate that we could have here about whether the persecution of those who live in death is even true to the core principles of fundamentalism. Goldmask certainly doesn't seem to think so. In fact, according to the Order Healing spell, Goldmask laments the hunters of Those Who Live in Death, deeming them to be fanatics who wanted nothing more than an absolute evil to contend with.
And the reason I bring up this debate at all is because you could argue that Miquella was on the side of these fanatic hunters as he created multiple weapons that were capable of effectively slaying Those Who Live in Death. For example, this is Golden Epitaph and it is "a sword that was made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, And first of the demigods to die. " It is "infused with the humble prayer of a young boy" and reads, O brother, Lord brother, please die a true death.
" So this weapon is an effective tool of killing Those Who Live in Death permanently. And clearly, the young boy who created it was Miquella. We can infer this because the sigil that appears when you use this blade's skill is the Haligtree sigil.
And once activated, this ability called Last Rites imbues the sword with a holy power that prevents Those Who Live in Death from reviving. But beyond this being a potential tool to slay Those Who Live in Death is that this weapon points towards an early kinship between Miquella and Godwyn, a relationship that might have made it all the more painful when Godwyn's Soul would perish, but his body would remain spawning deathroot. This is interesting as it gives Miquella a legitimate emotional grievance against Those Who Live in Death.
And it's almost a bit hypocritical, I think, for what I believe to be Miquella's character, as we previously established that he might have been this character who wants all life to flourish. But I guess that principle might not extend to Those Who Live in Death For him. This sword might not be the only representation of Miquella's relationship with Godwyn.
That relationship is potentially strengthened even more when we consider this statue found in Elphael before the Haligtree. It depicts a larger figure who is clearly embracing the two empyrean twins, Miquella and Malenia. But then who is this larger figure?
It could be their parent, Marika or Radagon, but then it doesn't have their signature hair braid and instead it has this long wavy hair. What's more, the statue asset is flat chested, which appears to rule out Marika at least. And after reading a good amount of debate online about this, I think it's a fair conclusion to say that this statue represents Godwyn, who himself does seem to have long wavy hair.
And this statue being enshrined here really tells a story. It's a story of two gifted but afflicted siblings who were supported by their older brother. But then they were left alone as the older brother would become the first demigod to die.
And this isn't the only statue in this location. far more prominent in the area are these statues, which depict two siblings left alone after their brother died. There was one sibling, Miquella, who was forced to remain as a young child and another who grew up in great pain, eventually losing vision and limbs to rot and decay.
These statues are everywhere in the Haligtree, and they tell that sorrowful story. They are an early sign of Miquella's extreme empathy for his sister, and they foreshadow his desperate attempts to give her relief from her terrifying condition. And so the young Miquella abandoned fundamentalism the some for it could do nothing to treat Malenia's accursed rot.
This was the beginning of unalloyed gold. So what is unalloyed gold? Well, an alloy is something that's created when you combine metals, usually because you want to create a stronger compound at the expense of its purity.
So if we were to view Marika's Golden Order as if it were a metal, which I think is something that the lore wants you to do, considering the implications of the tarnished and everything like that, then Marika's Golden Order would definitely be an alloyed metal. Just think of all the foreign powers that it's absorbed in the interest of strength. For example, Godfrey and his Crucible Knights were enlisted to devastate Marika's enemies and the ancient dragons were won over and eventually became a part of Leyndell's forces.
Even the house of the Erdtree and the moon were married at one point, literally. After all, as Miriel puts it, all things can be conjoined under the Golden Order. So I think Marika was definitely open to fusing factions and ideologies to an extent, as long as it made her treasured Golden Order alloy stronger.
So hopefully now you understand what I mean when I say that Miquella's gold is unalloyed. It is pure. It is untainted.
And it is perhaps a singular ideology. And if you subscribe to the idea that the cut content is still representative of Miquella, then I would say that his ideology is what I had Miquella quote earlier that in his new world, all things should be allowed to flourish, whether graceful or malign. And that that is his pure ideology.
Though, of course, that is my speculation based on cut content as well. So please keep that in mind. But Miquella's unalloyed gold couldn't have just been this metaphysical concept of pure ideology.
It was a physical material as well. For example, this is an unalloyed gold waterlily said to have been beloved by Miquella. This is a bewitching branch blessed with an incantation of unalloyed gold.
Unalloyed gold Decorated the armor and shields of his soldiers. It was inserted into their weapons. And most importantly, perhaps, it was forged into a set of armor for his sister Malenia.
Because remember the whole reason Miquella embraced unalloyed gold in the first place, it seems, was because he thought that it could treat his sister's accursed rot, while fundamentalism could not. And he was right. For Malenia's Scarlet Rot is no mere disease.
It's literally the divine essence of an outer god. And Malenia is its vessel that will one day bloom into a true goddess, but unalloyed gold is one of the few materials in the game that can ward away such meddling of the outer gods. Another example of Mirror Helms, like the one that Iji wears, which literally reflects the influence of the outer gods.
Personally, I think the reason that unalloyed gold inhibits the meddling of the outer gods is because it is a pure metal and potentially a pure ideology. But if that's not enough reason for you, then Quelaag actually has a great video where she breaks down potential reasons at a chemical level. But at any rate, reasons aside, Miquella crafted needles of unalloyed gold which could be inserted into the tortured flesh of one afflicted by rot to alleviate the suffering and forestall the effects of the rot.
And true to the needles descriptions, the Outer God of Rot isn't the only one affected by this. Our character actually uses the final version of this unalloyed gold needle to subdue the Outer God of Frenzy, which is something you might want if you decided to be a terrible person and burn down the world. Anyway, when we first find Miquella's needle, it's been broken, snapped in half and picked up by a commander at the very center of the Scarlet swamp.
But once this needle has been prepared, we can give the golden needle to Millicent, proving that it does indeed work to forestall the rotting sickness, to remove pain and nightmares from the afflicted. It is after all, lovingly crafted by Miquella himself. [Gowry] Well.
Well, this is a marvel indeed. The work of a true artisan. A meticulous, bold craftsman who grasps the essence of life [Vaati] in crafting these needles and pursuing unalloyed gold.
Miquella is attempting to save his sister from her affliction. It seems like this objectively good deed, which is a rare sight in Elden Ring, especially for a demigod whose strengths have been known to tip them towards madness. And that is what makes Miquella such a pure and likable character in Elden Ring.
So it's no wonder, really, that Malenia venerated her brother. She is a character of undefeated prowess, and she's an empyrean, no less. And yet she dedicated her blade to Miquella and Miquella alone, for she believes that he possesses the wisdom, the allure of a god, and that he is the most fearsome empyrean of all.
The story of their bond and duty to one another is legendary, and that's something that becomes quite clear when we explore Miquella's Haligtree and see these statues depicting their embrace all around. And if you were one of the many defiled outcasts in Elden Ring, you too might have felt inspired by this story, and you might have felt inclined to earn Miquella's favor and make the long pilgrimage towards your salvation, towards the distant divine Haligtree and its brace That was Miquella's Domain. So first, what even is the Haligtree?
Well, it's pretty obvious that it's a sort of Erdtree for one, Erdtree avatars have clearly emerged from it, which they only do in order to protect the Erdtree's own offspring. And then there's the Haligree knight armor, which confirms that the Haligtree ultimately failed to grow into an Erdtree. And one thing I've been wondering is when exactly was the Haligtree planted then?
If we knew when, then we might be able to guess at its purpose. Was it planted before or after the shattering of the Elden ring? Because when the Elden ring was shattered, golden seeds flew from the Erdtree, scattering across the various lands as if life itself knew that its end had come.
These seeds create these little illusory trees and likely spawned the minor Erdtrees as well. So I think it's a fair assumption that Miquella might have planted the Haligtree from an Erdtree seed. And if that was indeed the case, then it should have happened after the shattering for before that, the Erdtree was considered perfect and eternal, and it wasn't even believed that Erdtree seeds could exist.
But on the flip side, the Golden Epitaph Sword that we mentioned earlier likely existed before the shattering as it was created to commemorate Godwyn's death. And this sword displays the Haligtree sigil when its weapon art is activated. So one could infer that the Haligtree must have existed at this point too, Right?
So I guess it's always possible that Miquella somehow procured an Erdtree seed before the shattering, or simply grew it from his own being as he is a scion of the Golden Bough, after all. But whatever the case, Miquella clearly decided that growing such a tree was important, and he even went so far as to water it with his own blood. This confirms that the Erdtree is indeed a bloodsucking parasite.
Just kidding. Sort of. I mean, you have to admit, it is pretty disturbing that an Erdtree could flourish in such a manner.
But this does lead us to the final question, which is why was the Haligtree planted? What was the point of it? And at the end of the day, the main reason is always going to be because it's like the Erdtree.
It's natural to compare them, and the item descriptions seem to want you to compare them as well. The Erdtree is this enormous icon of power and faith in the Lands Between. So evoking that and inspiring worship is clearly a valuable thing.
But the Erdtree was only really an icon of faith in its later years. Before that, it was a symbol of abundance, with light as warm as the gentle sun that could gradually heal all those who bathed in its rays. But perhaps most importantly, during this time of abundance, it would drip sacred dew, sap or tears that could bestow blessings, form crystal tears and even be embedded into talismans.
These were treasured things, and naturally this was an extremely valuable symbol for Miquella to evoke. Since he is himself associated with dew and abundance in the cut content. And his Haligtree did drip with dew, the greenish amber of the Haligtree can even be seen in cut content items.
It even looks as if it's mingled with a bit of Miquella's own blood and that signature green hue of Haligtree Amber is also seen in the Haligtree Knight's sword, which is not a cut weapon. And this was modeled after the Carian Knight's own swords, except it was embedded with Amber from the Haligtree instead of Glintstone. Okay, so the Haligtree is a great symbol of faith and power and abundance.
And Miquella is related to abundance in the cut content. But what else does the Haligtree add in terms of value? Well, the Haligtree itself is something of a vessel fit for a god.
Miquella plants himself inside it. Later on, Malenia returns home to it. And speaking of it being a home, many of the creatures have made their home within the tree and within the brace that supports it as well.
And I guess you could also argue that the Haligtree might be a sort of a tool to be used. After all, Marika puts the Erdtree to use in such a way, using its roots to absorb people after their death, and perhaps even its branches to rebirth life and then the Erdtree is later used as a prison with thorns that are almost entirely impenetrable. But I don't think Miquella's planned to use the Haligtree in such a way.
Perhaps the biggest difference between the Haligtree and the Erdtree is that the Haligtree was built in a largely inhospitable region. It is extremely difficult to reach, and unlike the Erdtree, it might not really be designed for the benefit of the vast majority of the world. As it stands, the Haligtree strikes me as being more like the Painted World from Dark Souls.
It's a place for the outcasts, the heretical and the malign. Not to mention the low and the meek who are specifically named in the description of the Sacred Crown Helm. While many of the Scarlet Rot afflicted seem to be here because of the eventual decay of the Haligtree, I think that there are a number of refugees here that would have been here before that, namely the misbegotten, the crystalian, These astray mages of Raya Lucaria.
And of course, Loretta, who deemed this place to be a great haven for the despised Albinaurics. The second generation Albinaurics even carry a weapon called the Ivory Sickle, which reads "These weapons are evidence of their dedication to the Haligtree. Despite never having entered its presence.
" And we really don't find a single Albinauric within the Haligtree. I'll admit I do find this a bit strange. You do find quite a few Albinaurics so close to the Haligtree.
It's a bit strange to me They don't go just that little bit further. The reason given for the first generation of Albinaurics not being at the Halig- tree is given by Albus, who says that their faded legs are the reason for that. But yeah, we find them defending Miquella and his Haligtree all the same at the ordinary liturgical town, which takes us to the Haligtree via a puzzle within an evergaol The word liturgical means relating to public worship, and this town is fittingly filled with many statues of Miquella sitting alone, cradling what might have become the Haligtree back when it was still just a sapling.
I also find it interesting that the Haligtree is never called out as competing with the Erdtree, or never called out for housing all these undesirables. Perhaps the house of the Erdtree was happy to see ungraceful folk leave their lands. Perhaps the Haligtree was extremely well hidden from everyone, and they didn't know.
Or perhaps Miquella could just get away with it because he was beloved by all. For example, the bewitching branch is an item that you can create from Miquella's Lilies, and it is blessed with an incantation of unalloyed gold, and reads "The empyrean Miquella is loved by many people. Indeed, he has learned very well how to compel such affection," and that second part that says he has learned how to compel affection.
To me, that's saying that Miquella is very good at knowing how to inspire others affection to his own advantage. And nowhere is this more clear, I think, than at Castle Sol. This is the Haligtree secret medallion.
It's furnished with that signature green amber and it features the Haligtree in the background, for it allows you to access a secret lower level of the Grand Lift of Rold and to progress through the consecrated snowfields to this sacred place. Having both halves of this secret medallion is therefore extremely desirable, for the medallion has another name. It's called Miquella's Favour.
[Finger Reader] Miquella's Favour can be yours. . .
Slaughter. . .
Slaughter. . .
Slaughter. . .
to all-hearing, slaughtered but alas, it was for naught. But all you need do. .
. snatch it from the big pot [Vaati] Gideon is the "all-hearing man" in this dialogue and he slaughtered an entire village just for one half of this medallion. But he did not find it in Albus's possession.
But you can. And the other half is at Castle Sol, right before a nameless phantom who says this. "Lord Miquella, forgive me.
The son has not been swallowed. Our prayers were lacking. Your comrade remains soulless.
I will never set my eyes upon it now. Your divine Haligtree. " So this phantom seemingly has or I guess, had one half of the medallion.
And yet he laments that he will now never set eyes upon the Haligtree. To me, this suggests that Miquella might have been withholding the second half of the medallion from him, or that this phantom believed that he could solicit the second half of the medallion from Miquella and make it to the Haligtree. If he achieved his goal here at Castle Sol and basically earned Miquella's Favour.
What exactly was supposed to happen here at Castle Sol? What does it mean when the Phantom says the sun has not been swallowed? Our prayers were lacking.
Your comrade remains soulless. It means, I think, that the residents of Castle Sol and Miquella were attempting to restore the dead soul of Godwyn the Golden. And just to refresh your memory, when a fragment of the Rune of Death was used to kill Godwyn, it was also being used at the exact same time to kill Ranni.
And since they perished at the same time, Ranni lost her body, And Miquella's demigod brother Godwyn perished in soul alone. And despite this death seeming so final, Miquella clearly believes that some sort of ritual performed here could restore the soul of his comrade. For example, here's some more dialogue from a different phantom that reads.
"O great son, Frigid son of sol! Surrender yourself to the eclipse! Grant life to the soulless bones!
" But the question is how, How does that work? How does an eclipse restore life to Godwyn? Now you can just take Miquella at face value and trust that he knows what he's doing.
Or we can try to learn as much as we can about the eclipse and see if we can reason out the mechanism behind this process. So at Castle Sol, we find the Eclipse Shotel, which reads "Storied sword and treasure of Castle Sol that depicts an eclipsed sun drained of color. In Sol The sight of an eclipse inspires a dreadful awe, preventing an onlooker from averting his gaze.
" The most important part of this description, though, is the part that says it's the storied sword of Castle Sol as this proves that the veneration of the eclipse here goes back a long way. But what does an eclipse represent? So according to the Eclipse Crest Shields, "the eclipsed sun, drained of color is the protective star of soulless demigods.
" Honestly, I think calling it a protective star is kind of the closest we come to understanding the mechanism here, because you could reason that a protective star might be a sort of outer god that lends them power. Though that is just speculation. The description goes on to say that "the sun in Eclipse is said to be the symbol of the wandering mausoleum where the soulless demigods slumber.
" So note that it says demigods, plural here. Now, this could be because the wandering mausoleums come to house many demigods. From a gameplay point of view, because you can take their remembrances here, but it could be a word that is slightly lost in translation as the Japanese version of the word demigods does not specify whether it's a plural or whether it's a singular word.
So my take on this is that I think the wandering mausoleums became necessary when Godwyn died. I think that the mausoleum was intended to be a resting place for him initially, but then also for any future demigods. As all of a sudden all of their true deaths had become possible as well, with the theft of a fragment of the Rune of Death.
The mausoleum knights themselves are these headless soldiers who behead themselves, willingly following their master into death. As such, they become these headless spirits tied to the land so that they might better defend the walking mausoleums. They also carry eclipse crested shields, and the eclipse is said to aid the mausoleum knights by keeping Destined Death at bay.
It is their symbol and by keeping Destined Death at bay. Maybe it's helping to keep their souls tied to the land. We could speculate for a long time on how the eclipse has this power.
And I've done my best. Maybe other people have a better take on it. And maybe you guys do in the comments.
But in the end, it's simpler just to trust that Miquella knew what he was doing with the eclipse at Castle Sol, where he wanted to block out the sun and restore Godwyn's soul. Well, that said, We can't trust him too much, I guess, because it's important to remember that this ritual failed. According to this phantom, the sun was not swallowed.
But I guess the protective star of the soulless demigods did not listen to their prayers, And it did not appear. But it is really fascinating to learn that such a thing might even be possible. But Godwyn, whose soul seems to be as dead as Ranni's body, might actually not be so.
If his soul is somewhere, then where has it fled to? A part of me wonders if his soul is lost, Then maybe it's lost within a dream. One theory I did come up with regarding the mechanism by which Godwyn Soul is brought back by the eclipse is that his soul might be brought back by bringing about a sort of artificial dusk with the eclipse.
That's because Those Who Live in Death are called the duskborn, after all. So there is an association between night and death, to be sure. And there's also an association between death and sleep.
For example, when you pursue Fia's questline, you use her as a medium to enter Godwyn's deathbed dream, which is an entire dreamscape where the Drgon Fortissax is futilely fighting against the death in his companion. And then there's Rogier, who speaks this line of dialogue as he is on the precipice of succumbing to deathroot. [Rogier] Maybe I should tell you.
Lately, I feel I'm on the precipice of falling into a deep. . .
fathomless slumber. [Rogier] He does say he's about to fall into sleep. So in conclusion, a realm of death does seem accessible through dream.
And I think this is the perfect time to mention that Miquella has an alter ego. Some say she is a comely young girl. Others are sure she is a boy.
This is where we have to talk about the enigmatic figure named St. Trina. Perhaps the biggest in-game clue about St.
Trina's true identity is Trina's Lily, which bears this undeniable resemblance to Miquella's Lily of Unalloyed Gold. Its description reveals that it is "a symbol of faith in St. Trina.
dulls the senses, preventing agitation. " Naturally, it can be used to craft a bunch of sleep afflicting items like St. Trina's Arrow which states that this "sweet oblivion of sleep can become quite the habit.
" And it tells of the priests of St. Trina who use these arrows to spread their teachings. Though the Japanese description seems to specify that these were more of a tool used for their rituals, so it's largely left to your imagination as to what rituals these priests might have been performing.
Though I will mention that it seems St. Trina might actually be able to be found somewhere within sleep. This is suggested by Fevor's cookbook, which reads "a record of crafting techniques left by a man who was utterly captivated by St.
Trina. He continued the search for her in his slumber. " We get a side profile of her in the hilt of St.
Trina's Sword, which hints at that flowing astray hair that she has. And then we get a much better front on view of this feminine adult form Upon St. Trina's torch "the carvings depict St.
Trina, but in adult form, somewhat unnervingly. " The carving is indeed unnerving, and it's certainly strange considering Miquella is supposed to be eternally a child. It raises the question what has to happen for Miquella to grow up into this and why is this bizarre creature, the adult form that he takes?
Another question worth asking, I think, is whether Miquella even has total control of St. Trina. What if he's in a similar situation to Marika/Radagon, where the alter ego is an opposite of sorts and able to act almost as if they have their own free will.
So all of this is definitely a little bit of a disturbing view of what St. Trina could be. But I guess we do have cut content that does somewhat reassure me that the alter ego is still a benevolent person.
This cut content was first showcased by Sekiro Dubi, and this cut content is truly ancient. It exists in one of the oldest versions of the game that we know about. So a lot has probably changed since then.
But regardless here we can learn about St Trina's crystal ball, which once read "a crystal ball full of mist. symbol of St. Trina of the Cradlesong.
Copies Dram missed from a sleeping being. Dram mist was once used as an ingredient in rare and potent physicks. May the quietude of slumber come to all and sundry, even to those whose red eyes burn with the flames of frenzy.
" So this reveals that this cut version of St. Trina even once had sympathy for those afflicted by the flame of frenzy. They even went so far as to teach the merchants their songs.
[Kale] Our song derives from an old lullaby. sung for us, long ago, deep inside our tomb. But whoever it was sings no longer.
Its melody allowed us to sleep, despite the cursed flame. [Vaati] the description of Miquella's songs as a lullaby is referenced by the modern day sleep pot description, which reads "like a lullaby, or a quagmire. Its light purple haze irresistibly draws its victims down into sleep.
Sweet dreams. " This is the closest thing we have to Dram Mist as well, which was an item that you could again once collect from sleeping enemies. And after you did this, you were supposed to sell this dream mist to the merchants who used it to quell their flame of frenzy.
But as the merchants once said, whoever it was that sings now sings no longer. And this is a detail that has remained intact, even in the final version of Elden Ring. With St.
Trina's Sword stating that St. Trina's "appearance was a sudden as their disappearance. " Something clearly happened to Miquella that prevented them from continuing their work as St.
Trina. And that is what we will discuss next. At some point, Miquella embedded himself into the Haligtree.
Why he did this is never explicitly stated, but I think we can make a good attempt at puzzling it out. So Miquella famously watered the Haligtree with his own blood since it was a sapling so I guess you could argue that he embedded himself in it to simply feed the tree more. Which I guess is possible because the tree does eventually wither without Miquella inside it.
And Gideon seems to tie his removal with the death of the Haligtree, or it's turning into a husk. But I don't think that can be the only reason why he embedded himself. For instance, look closely at the Haligtree roots and you'll see the form of a tree- like woman and where her womb should be.
There's a gap. A gap that once contained Miquella's cocoon cradled by the Haligtree. Now, either Miquella was attempting to fuse into and become this woman like figure who might even be the adult form shown on the St.
Trina's torch or there was a rebirth occurring here. This is a cocoon within a womb after all. So rebirth could have been the intent here.
But regardless, it seems things ended prematurely for Miquella would eventually be ripped out of the womb and the Haligtree would split and decay. And so when we arrive at the Haligtree and the town of Elphael that is built into the brace that supports it, the music here hits extremely hard. This place is just so sorrowful for the Haligtree and Miquella's Lilies and even St.
Trina's Lilies are all wilting and all who live here are just hoping and praying for their Lord to return. I love the little detail of the guards looking outwards and sitting dejectedly. to make matters worse for them It was here that they realized that the sacred light inside them would explode upon their imminent deaths.
And yet, spite of this, their spirit ashes show their faith, and state "May the flesh of our deaths Guide Miquella's return. " And Malenia is here too, holding to the husk of Miquella, dreaming and waiting for Miquella to return and believing full well that he will [Malenia] corpse after corpse, left in my wake. as I awaited.
. . his return.
[Vaati] Malenia's set reveals that she believes her brother will keep his promise. So what was that promise, I wonder? Or was it merely to return or was it something more?
How much does Malenia know? Why did she fight Radahn? We'll have to talk about all of that in another video.
So there is still faith. There's even this one Phantom in the consecrated snowfields who has somehow puzzled out who took Miquella, and even where they are. He is pointed towards the portal that takes you to Mohngwyn Palace and Mohg The Omen.
So indeed, it was the demigod Mohg who somehow broke into the Haligtree and absconded with Miquella's infant form. And it's with him that the story ends. Or maybe it's where this story truly begins.
So if you're not familiar, Mohg is The Omen son of Godfrey and Marika, and being an omen of royalty, he was born into a wretched mire of filth in the Subterranean Shunning Grounds below Leyndell Capital. But unlike his brother, Morgott, who reviled his accursed blood, Mohg reveled in it. And it was assumedly because of this accursed blood that he chanced a meeting with an outer god called the Mother of Truth.
And as Mohg stood before her deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire. And he was truly besotted with the defilement that he was born into. Mohg is just one of many characters who discovers a new identity in the ways that they have been discarded by the world.
And how could he not? For his defilement was validated by nothing less than an outer god. And as always, we know very little about this outer god.
We know she is called the Mother of Truth and the Formless Mother. We know that she desires wounds and bestows power upon accursed blood. Her followers can thrust their arms into her body to scatter Blood flame.
And followers of Mohg can share in the Lord of Blood's power and send blood flies before them. There's even been some speculation in my recent shorts, and my tiktoks as well, that the Formless Mother is also an outer God called the Blood Star. But the one thing that all outer gods seem to have in common is that they all require vessels to move through.
So in this case, the Formless Mother's vessel was Mohg, for example, the sacred spear that he wields is a weapon, but it's also an instrument of communion. And Mohg may well be doing her bidding with his actions. These actions included him starting a new dynasty called Mohgwyn, deep below the earth in the grounds of these ancient dynastic remains.
This is a secret place, difficult to reach. And it was here that Mohg brought the infant Miquella. Torn as he was from his cocoon.
I mean, that's how we see him in his opening cut scene. But in game, Miquella seems to be back with a new cocoon here. You can even see it sat upon this giant pelvic bone, which seems to be a reference to the womb of the Haligtree woman That he was literally ripped from.
And it's from the Remembrance of the Blood Lord, that we can learn of Mohg's intent here. He wished to raise Miquella to full godhood and become his consort. Taking the role of Monarch.
To this end, Mohg has begun soliciting blood offerings to Miquella, and that certainly explains the state of so many who reside here. According to the Lord of Blood's Exaltation talisman, he proclaimed "Render up your offerings of to your Lord. Drnch my consort's chamber.
slake his cocoons thirst. His awakening shall herald the dawn of our dynasty. " And then to return to Mohg's Remembrance.
It stated that "so far this has all been in vain. " For no matter how much of his bloody bedchamber Mohg tried to share, he received no response from the young empyrean. So maybe nothing will happen.
Or maybe, according to the Pure-Blood Knights Medal, it is not yet time for Mohg yet slumbers beside the divinity. Be patient. The new dynasty is nigh.
What do you think? I mean, it's kind of hard to know. Even Gideon has no clue.
But something does seem to be happening to Miquella in their, He has clearly grown for one since being taken. So maybe his adult form is manifesting. And personally, this is really speculation, but this reminds me a lot of berserk, which we know Miyazaki is always inspired by.
Spoiler warning. Really, You should watch that show. But there's this moment at the very end of the first chapter where Griffiths betrays his companions in this sacrificial ceremony of carnage and bloodshed in order to be inaugurated and reborn as a god within an egg of sorts.
This really reminds me of that. It also reminds me of a scene with Griffith where he allows himself to be abused, basically, in order to get what he wants. So I wonder what if this was also what Miquella wanted?
We know that he is extremely proficient at compelling others to love him, and Mohg is clearly enraptured. We know that Miquella is an empyrean prodigy, and we know that his sister, who knows him best, has total faith that he will return. So you'd think he's still in control of the situation somehow, But that could be a part of the tragedy.
And Miquella, this benevolent being, might not have predicted this at all and is now being completely taken advantage of. Or maybe he did intend to be taken, but he is going to get more than he bargained for with the Mother of Truth. Or, maybe Miquella's fate really is long gone.
There's one other thing I want to mention. There is this place called Miquella's Hideaway in the Altus Plateau. And here we can loot Amber Starlight, which Seluvis mentions is the very fate of a demigod.
Clearly, since it's here, you'd think it's Miquella's fate, right? And then you also have to consider that the cut content that we are basing so much of this video on is very much removed from the game because it might not fit the developer's intent. That's always possible.
So I really do hope you all bear that in mind as I would really hate to promote ideas that are against the developer's vision for this character. But I really do think that it's a possibility that we're going to one day enter the dream of this slumbering demigod. After all, there was once a cut character called Rhico, who was supposed to say the following.
Standing before Miquella's Cocoon at Mohgwyn's Palace, he says, "Finally, I have found it. St. Trina's.
No. Lord Miquella's Cadaver. such that I may aid you, O Lord.
So, please, I hope you welcome your humble servant, Rhico. . .
into your dream, The world of your heart. . .
. Indeed, I beg you grant my wish, that when you transcend from empyrean to god, allow me a place by your side. " Plus, if we do get DLC, it's going to need a new great rune to acquire.
Right? That's a huge gameplay mechanic in these games, and it'd be weird if DLC came and you couldn't get more great runes. Apart from Miquella's Great Rune.
The only one we don't know about also is Ranni's Great Rune, which was allegedly cast aside, so there's always that to consider. But hopefully we get some DLC to answer these questions or more likely we'll get DLC that will give us more questions than we started with. That's always how it seems to go, but I really hope they throw us some good curveballs with this one, as they always do.
But regardless, it's always a ton of fun to speculate with you all. So if you're still listening to this extremely long video, thank you for giving me your time today. Thank you to Quelaag for reviewing the script for me.
Thank you, MisPap1, for the incredible visuals, as always. And I also want to give a sincere and really reverential shout out to Eugenia Lysa, who created the speculative visuals of St. Trina.
Please follow her work in the description. She's one of the most talented artists that I've ever known. And yeah, thank you as always, of course, for watching my videos and I'll see you next time.
