It happened an age ago. She's talking about the shattering of the Elden Ring. An entire age has passed, since then.
But when I recall, I see it true. This character with four arms, and pale, brittle skin, was a witness. On a night of wint'ry fog.
In a shot surely inspired by the Lord of the Rings, four shrouded riders flee the scene. . .
and If you played the network test, you might have even faced one of them. At night, on a bridge, this exact same shrouded horse and rider, can be found. The Rune of Death was stolen.
But here's where things get interesting: So runes are letters of a runic alphabet. . and in fantasy, they're often markings of great power.
The Elden Ring is actually made up of runes - its tiniest pieces are a currency like Souls. . but its larger shards are called "Great Runes" , and they are far more significant.
Together, these Great Runes of the Elden Ring spell out a Golden Order for the world. Japanese descriptions call it a Golden Law. A logic, for life to follow.
Now, this Golden Order is broken to its core. . and it all began, when the Rune of Death of stolen.
So what was the Rune of Death, and why was its theft important enough to spark The Shattering? Well. .
I think items in the Network Test hold the clue. In Elden Ring, there's an item called a Holy Pot, something you can throw at undead enemies to prevent them from rising after death. It reads "Incantations of the Golden Order have been stored inside", "The Golden Order has no mercy for those who trespass beyond life's bounds", and its Japanese description clarifies that "The Golden Law does not permit the logic to live in death".
With the Rune of Death stolen from the Elden Ring, nothing is keeping the dead in their graves. That law doesn't bind undeath. .
not any more. Now, spirits are found all throughout the Lands between. Now, skeletons stand from their graves.
Even you, the Tarnished are called "ye dead who yet live". This lawless world has given rise to a group called the "Golden Order Fundamentalists" who try to enforce the old laws of the Elden Ring. One of their spells is "Litany of Proper Death", an incantation that prevents undead enemies from coming back to life.
So this Golden Law can still be applied. . it's just not a universal truth any more.
Before the Shattering, the Lands Between were ruled by Queen Marika "the Eternal". Her being "Eternal", suggests that the Elden Ring wasn't applying death to the Queen or her Demigod children. However, now that seems set to change - because the Rune of Death has been stolen, And the demigods began to fall.
Surely it's no coincidence that only now, death is being served to Marika's demi-god children. A thief holds the Rune of Death. .
and it's being used - Starting with Godwyn the Golden. In Dark Souls, all of Gwyn's children, start with the same name prefix. .
you know, Gwyndolin, Gwynevere. . just so, all of Queen Marika's children appear to have names that start with the "God" prefix.
So far we know of two others: Goddrick, the demi-god boss at the end of Stormveil Castle. . Godfrey, who we haven't seen yet, but who ruled over his own age.
. and now. .
Godwyn the Golden. A shadow looms over Godwyn - and it kind of looks like a person holding a large weapon. When they retreat, they take the light with them, and in the darkness, emerging from the strangely shaped wound on their back, a writhing force worms its way around their body, and towards their eyes.
With this, Godwyn seems to live again after death. As we mentioned earlier, undeath is possible now. .
though we have no idea who he serves. And while all this is going on. .
. Queen Marika was driven to the brink. But she doesn't seem to have been killed.
Yet. We, as "Tarnished" are even able to resurrect at her statues. .
suggesting that she's still a force in the world, and that she has an affection, or at least a use, for us. In the scene to follow, her crown is set upon an empty throne. I say its hers, because this main throne is surrounded by five.
. maybe 6 other, smaller thrones - likely those of her demi-god children. The throne itself is embossed with countless depictions of the Erdtree.
And we need to talk about the Erdtree. . because it's a symbol of Queen Marika's power way more than the Elden Ring is.
The age before the Shattering is called "The Age of the Erdtree", after all [Source: Telescope description]. It's not called the age of the Elden Ring. The Elden Ring is just the source of the Erdtree's power - and it's the Erdtree and Marika's family that seems to direct that power, delivering Golden Grace to certain folk of the Lands Between.
But again, we talk about that more in another video. This scene is clearly meant to symbolise an absence of that power now that the shattering war has begun. And the last to leave this throne room.
. is Margitt the Fell Omen. This is clearly him - The main boss of Elden Ring's network test, guardian of Stormveil castle.
. and now perhaps. .
a servant of Marika's Royal Family? The Elden Ring Twitter revealed that "The cursemarks he bore from birth were another ominous sign for the royal family". This proves he was close to them, and explains his name - Margitt was a fell omen for Marika's royal family.
. a sign of the terrible things to come. The Shattering ensued; a war that wrought only darkness.
The Elden Ring was broken, but by whom? And why? So whoever broke the Elden Ring.
. hasn't publicly revealed themselves, or made a play for its power, even now. It follows then, that their goal might have just been to watch chaos unfold.
The Great Rune of Death is just one part of the puzzle - imagine how many other Laws have been thrown into disarray. Now, estranged demi-gods holding other Great Runes [source: official website] are warring amongst eachother. Why interfere?
What could the demigods ever hope to win by warring? This scene is so incredible. .
the absolute scale of it. Under the shadow of a very sad-looking Erdtree, besieging a fortress with statues of Tree Sentinels. .
is a force familiar to any who played the Network Test. These soldiers and giants are seen all throughout Limgrave, and their lion heraldry likely marks them as warriors of Godrick, one of Marika's demi-god children, and the ruler of Stormveil castle. He's clearly waging war against a city of the Erdtree - something that would have been his former home.
According to the Elden Ring Twitter, Godrick was "born a weakling child, and coveted the strength of his kin". His "kingdom is still at war long past the shattering". .
and he "clings to his ruined legacy, the ruler of a husk wrung dry by war". Clearly he wields a lot of power. .
but that power is waning - "Godrick's claim as the rightful golden king is not wholly uncontested. There are those who plot to see his crown pass into more worthy hands". Even after the shattering, powerful individuals remain.
Like these two. The conqueror of the stars, General Radahn, And the Blade of Miquella, Malenia the Severed First thing here. .
very important. . General Radahn has a goddamn horse between his legs.
Yup. That is one sad fucking horse. I know From Software tell some tragic stories, but man.
. this is on another level. Lucky for the horse, Radahn appears to have gravitational powers.
. so hopefully he's using these powers on himself. Let me explain how I know that: when you cast spells in Elden Ring, the class of spell is revealed by the symbol that pops up.
. and the symbol for gravitational sorcery is revealed - here. And look.
. It's the exact same symbol embossed onto his blades. The purple glow between his blades is even the same that purple gravitational sorcery gets.
For example, this is the meteorite spell. The meteorite item description reads "meteorites held the same import as stars". .
and Radahn is clearly capable of channeling that cosmic power. Remember the first trailer, we ever saw? Ohh elden ring.
That which commanded the stars. The Elden Ring commanded the stars. .
and Radahn conquered them. I guess that would make him a warrior of the Elden Ring, right? In another video, we'll talk about the age of cosmic power that came before the Age of the Erdtree.
. but for now, just know that this age did exist long ago, before the Elden Ring commanded the stars. This completes our rough timeline.
Anyway, back to the shattering. These two were the mightiest to remain, and locked horns in combat. He hacks off Miquela's prosthetic arm.
. but she snatches the blade attached to that arm out of thin air, and uses her own body weight to force it deeper into Radahn's flesh. While doing this.
. she's muttering something - an incantation maybe? I do think it's Miquela who summons this orange lotus - it snakes in from behind her, and probably teleports her away.
But there would be no victor. We get to fight Miquela later on, so obviously she survives this encounter - though I'm not so sure about Radahn. While the dialogue implies that neither one of them lost this fight.
. remember - in the first trailer, we see Radahn get struck by this lance knight on horseback. .
so perhaps there's more to this cutscene that we haven't yet seen. For now, here's the finale. And so, we inhabit a fractured world.
This character, is the storyteller. Wait that's my job - anyway. .
on her right is a projection of her self - a mirror image that shares her right eye. What's fascinating about this. .
is that Melina, our maiden. . also has a closed eye with a marking.
Some people have pointed out that this marking is on Melina's left eye. . whereas this storyteller has the marking on her right - but remember - the Melina we see is an apparition.
She appears out of a blue, ghostly form. . meaning she's actually closer to this phantom storyteller.
. rather than the real one. Therefore, the marking might actually be on the right side for both of them.
. if that makes sense. Anyway.
. the world has been fractured. Even characters.
. like Melina and the Storyteller. .
are stuck in a sort of limbo between life and death. Fractured. Awaiting the arrival of the Elden Lord.
Unless of course, Thou shouldst take the crown? The last thing the Storyteller suggests is that we might take the crown, and the title of the Elden Lord. Now.
. I have two upcoming lore videos talking about Melina's eye marking. .
what the title of Elden Lord means. . and so, so much more.
The lore of Elden Ring is absolutely fascinating. . so please do subscribe, because I can't wait to share it with you.
If you're a $3 patron, keep an eye out - i'll be uploading an early-access, audio-only version of these videos in the coming days. So if that's something you'd like to see, consider becoming a patron. .
and if not, subscribe, because those videos should be edited in a couple of weeks. I'll see you then.
