Elden Ring Story & Endings Explained

this video is about the story of elven ring this  will cover all the important characters relevant   to the main story including most bosses and  some npcs as well as explain what happened   before we arrive in the lands between who we  play as and what the endings of the game mean   sections of this video are separated via  chapters located on the timeline should   you need to re-watch a specific section again  as always spoiler warning ahead if you haven't   beaten Elden Ring i highly recommend you do that  and then come back as everything after this point   will be spoiler territory with that out of the way  like the video if you enjoy and let's get started so the location of Elden Ring is in a place called  the lands between this is a land ruled by a Queen   Marika it was once ruled by a dragonlord but it  said that when its god abandoned them they sat in   slumber awaiting their return which left the spot  for the ruler open this title was given to her by   someone known as the greater will when you become  the ruler of the lands between you also become a   vessel for the Elden Ring the Elden Ring is the  single most powerful thing in the lands between   its power is what created the Erdtree and it is  meant to uphold different concepts like life death   space and many others it also defines the logic  of the world called the golden order which is a   law the residents of the lands between abide by  the greater will is an outer god and it's said   to have sent down a star that held a beast that  would later become the elden ring the elden beast   the final boss of the game is defined as a vassal  for the greater will and the living embodiment of   the concept of order to become the ruler of the  lands between the ruler will need three things   they need to be an emperian and must have a  consort and a shadow a consort is just the   spouse that they marry who in Marika's case  was godfrey a shadow is the protector of that   ruler and an emperian is someone who is born  from a single god talking with Ranni towards   the end of her questline reveals that her  Miquella and Malenia are considered emperians   let us speak of the past a while i was  once an emperian of the demigods only i   Miquella and Malenia could claim that title  each of us was chosen by our own two fingers   as a candidate to succeed Queen Marika to become  the new god of the coming age that means there is   a clear distinction between a demigod like Godrick  and an empyrean like Malenia, Malenia Miquella and   Ranni are still considered demigods but there is  that empyrean part of them that separates them   from the rest the question though is how is this  possible so when Marika became the first ruler she   wasn't fond of the idea of death in her land so  she removed the rune of death from the Elden Ring   and forced it onto her shadow who was Maliketh  instead of protecting her as the shadow would she   betrayed him and just used him as a way to keep  the death away from her land with the rune of   death out of the elden ring it allowed Marika and  many others to gain immortality shortly after this   she needed a consort who would then be Godfrey and  now that Godfrey was her husband he also received   the title of Elden Lord making him the first Elden  Lord this isn't entirely true as there is a lore   that does suggest the very first elden lord was  possibly Dragonlord Placidusax that we fight in   Farum Azula but i think either no one knew of  the dragonlord or Godfrey was the first Elden   Lord during his own age which was the age of the  Erdtree which was much later than when Placidusax   was Elden Lord regardless Godfrey and Marika had  two kids which were Godwyn and Godrick this is   easily identifiable thanks to the god prefix  and their names there were more kids besides   them but more on them later during this time war  had been going on against the golden order and   another person named Radagon had been involved  in the conflict but decided to usher peace by   marrying Lady Rennala Queen of the Carian royal  family when the two were together they ended up   having children as well being named Radahn Rykard  and Ranni once again all of them start with an   r just like Radagon and Rennala's first name after  the war had finished it was said that the hue of   Godfrey's eyes had faded possibly meaning he had  served his purpose and was no longer needed as   soon after he was exiled and became the very first  tarnished but now Marika is without a consort so   she sought out Radagon Radagon then left Rennala  and joined Marika at the Erdtree and became her   new husband and the new Elden Lord and since  he was an Elden Lord his children by proxy were   allowed to be a part of the royal family which  is why they have thrones at the royal capital   despite not being Marika's offspring once again  Radagon and Marika were together and they had   even more kids that being the twins Miquella and  Malenia this may stir up some confusion as i just   mentioned that an empyrean has to be born from  a single god yet Ranni Miquella & Malenia were   all born by two parents well as we discover later  in the game Marika is Radagon there's a statue in   Leyndell that has a riddle that says regression  alone reveals secrets by using the spell laws of   regression in front of the statue it changes its  form and the text changes to Radagon is Marika now   i'll be completely honest it has never explained  how this happened and what exactly this means and   it's probably the biggest question that has been  unanswered so far in the community some have come   up with some theories regarding this such as the  two being separate entities who refuse together   somehow or it's one body that suffers from  dissociative identity disorder however the other   question that remains is who was first although  i do believe there is an answer to this given the   empyrean status and the greater will giving her  the lands between i think Queen Marika was first   but this riddle now explains why Radagon left  Rennala for Marika and why Miquella and Malenia   are considered empyrean since their parents are  the same person which then fits the rules of   that one god stipulation this has been quite the  family tree so a huge shout out to JustamBlingon   on reddit for creating this easy to read graphic  the only outliers here at the moment are Marika's   parents but seeing as she's an empyrean it's not  as simple to answer plus we get zero info on her   parents anyway but besides them the only one left  is Maliketh Marika's shadow and the keeper of the   rune of death according to his armor description  Maliketh is actually her half-brother who wielded   a blade imbued with the rune of death this is a  good time to explain this as if you noticed from   the actual description it says destined death  well the finger reader at the round table hold   clarifies that the rune of death goes by two names  and the other is destined death the rune of death   goes by two names the other is destined death the  forbidden shadow plucked from the golden order   upon its creation for simplicity's sake unless  entirely necessary i will refer to it as just   the rune of death to avoid any further confusion  the final character of this family tree we haven't   thoroughly talked about is Ranni earlier in the  game a witch known as Renna meets with us however   this is Ranni she's just using a different name  in order to disguise her identity Ranni was born   under Rennala & Radagon two separate people yet is  considered an empyrean it's still not clear as to   why this is the case but my only working theory  is that Rennala is her adoptive mother but we'll   discuss that in the boss's chapter regardless  it's not that big of a deal anyway since she   didn't want to be an empyrean this sequence of  events would eventually lead to the shattering depending on who you ask the shattering  might be considered the greatest war   ever fought or the worst tragedy the land has  ever seen Ranni wanting to be anything but an   empyrean worked against marika the greater  will and the two fingers and devised a plan   one day she stole the rune of death from Maliketh  with that power she created daggers able to kill   the demi-gods on that same night called the  knight of the black knives a group of assassins   called the black knife assassins would kill the  first demigod Godwyn it's also interesting to   note here that according to the black knife armor  description all of the members of this group were   women and they're all rumored to be Numen which  you may remember as one of the default races in   the character creation they also have close ties  to Marika which may mean that Marika is of Numen   descent it doesn't really give us much regarding  her backstory but it is worth knowing anyway   back to the intro when Godwyn was killed he had  a mark on his body this is considered the curse   mark of death an item we could receive during  Ranni's questline this curse mark appeared   the moment Godwyn was killed but this symbol  however is incomplete as it should have been   a full circle the reason it's only half is  because two demigods died at the same time   breaking the curse into half circles the other  god was Ranni herself as Ranni says she wanted to   strip away her empyrean flesh so that nothing of  her was related to the two fingers both of these   demigods had the opposite happen to them Ranni's  body was dead but her soul lived on and Godwyns   soul was destroyed but his body survived this not  only explains why Ranni's new body is a doll but   also why Godwyn was seemingly reborn after he was  killed godwin was given the name the prince of   death because of this encounter and is related to  Fia's questline where she tries to resurrect him   after hearing the news of Godwyn's death Marika  possibly in a fit of rage shattered the Elden Ring   one thing to remember of course is the distinction  between Radagon & Marika because Marika's hammer   reads the tool with which Queen Marika shattered  the Elden Ring and Radagon attempted to repair it   this is once again left up to the community to  decide as it's never explained but my working   theory and furthermore my theory between Radagon  & Marika is that originally they were separate   people but something fused them together possibly  the greater will in regards to the shattering   situation i think each of them despite being  the same person act differently which explains   why Marika specifically broke the ring and why  Radagon specifically is trying to repair it with   the shards of the Elden Ring scattered everywhere  across the lands between all the demigods were   attempting to gather all the shards the intro  then shows a slideshow of some of the demigods   like Mogh the lord of blood taking Miquella away a  serpent biting a helmet which is related to Rykard   symbolizing how he became the lord's serpent and  then the iconic fight between Malenia & Radahn the   problem is that during this war nobody won the  land was stuck in a stalemate with the demigods   that were left standing holding pieces of the  Elden Ring but nobody was close to owning all   of them this stalemate left things unchanged  and the land was covered in ruins with some   areas like Caelid being covered in rot and disease  furthermore none of the demigods are making moves   on each other as they preferred to defend their  land rather than fight to take others land and   subsequently the shards so something was needed  to break this stalemate which is where we come in   we are called Tarnished during the age before  the shattering called the Age of the Erdtree the   golden power of the Erdtree would drop down from  its branches and spread across the Lands Between   it blessed many throughout the land but also  refused to bless others for an unknown reason   these people were considered tarnished those who  aren't worthy of the Erdtree and are looked down   upon by the eyes of the Golden Order this exile we  received is similar to Godfrey's exile as he was   deemed useless by the greater will and the Golden  Order which is symbolized by him losing the golden   color in his eyes we are deemed unworthy by the  greater will so it has no use for us in the Lands   Between which means we're considered Tarnished  and are forced to leave but when the shattering   occurred the Lands Between was in disarray and  because it still wanted to hold onto its power   the Greater Will bless the previously exiled  Tarnished in hopes that it will return and   restore the Golden Order it was even able to bless  many Tarnished who are dead like us of the other   tarnished the important ones listed in the intro  are Hoarah Loux chieftain of the badlands the   brilliant Gold Mask Fia the deathbed companion  the loathsome dung eater and Gideon Ofnir the   all-knowing our objective as this new Tarnished is  to cross the fog back into the Lands Between stand   before the Elden Ring and become the Elden Lord  the key here however is Elden Lord not the ruler   meaning we are never meant to usurp Marika from  her position merely bring the runes together so   that everything can go back to normal confer great  rules to become Elden Lord and join Queen Marika   as her consort the fingers have willed it so this  however did not happen thanks to us committing the   very first cardinal sin later in the game which  was the burning of the Erdtree and more on that   a bit later so as a tarnished resident of the  lands between we are eagerly ready to take on the   demigods until we're killed by the first enemy we  face but we are somehow able to get back up again   avare right at the beginning of the game explains  that the guidance of grace the same light that   guides us towards the bosses in game is what gives  us tarnished life meaning it can revive us it's   also possible that the rune of death also affects  us too since the removal of the rune made people   immortal in the lands between which may explain  our revival for those who don't know most if not   all the soulsborne games always had a reason as  to why death was canon so it's hard to believe   that it wouldn't exist in Elden Ring too. after  exploring the lands between will run into Melina   the girl from earlier in the intro she tells us  that she will become our finger maiden since we   are maidenless except later she apologizes that  she isn't actually a maiden so she offers us a   deal if we can continue to work with her and bring  her to the foot of the Erdtree so that she can   meet with her mother and discover her purpose she  will continue to act as our maiden and allow us   to level up there's a lot more to melania's story  but i'll save that for later when we discuss the   endings after some time she will then introduce us  to the round table hold the covert operation base   for the two fingers and a place where tarnished  champions guided by grace can reside most of them   however don't seem too keen on becoming elden lord  in fact it only really feels like us and gideon   are really working towards that goal many of them  just seem to want to save shelter away from the   danger outside according to Gideon we aren't  going to get a proper welcome into the round   table though until we defeat a shardbearer and the  first one we can defeat is Godrick but before we   meet Godrick we have to talk about Margit Margit  The Fell Omen is a recurring character in the game   as he not only shows up again in the altus plateau  but also shows up at the foot of the Erdtree under   the name Morgott The Omen King earlier i talked  about children we haven't discussed yet and that   is Morgott & Mogh if you remember from before  we talked about how Miquella & Malenia are twins   this is the same with Morgott & Mogh Godrick's  great rune says that Elden Lord Godfrey and his   offspring were the very first demigods and that  line of children was known as the golden lineage   Morgott's rune says that he was a part of this  golden lineage and Mogh's grey rune says that   him and morgan are twins so it makes sense that  they're a part of the lineage together however a   curse inflicted both of them omen babies born of  royalty do not have their horns cut but instead   are kept underground and imprisoned for eternity  it seems that they were permanently chained as we   can find an item called market shackle which is a  small part of a few larger shackles that were made   to bind Margit Morgott once again also known as  Margit was cursed but it seems like he didn't hold   any ill will against the golden order as despite  never being loved by anyone he still continued   to give out his own love and become the Erdtree's  protector as for his twin during his imprisonment   Mogh was sought out by someone only known as  the formless mother the formless mother is an   outer god similar to the greater will but with  more sinister plans he by the will of the formless   mother was attempting to make Miqeulla the new  ruler of the lands between he would then rule   as his consort and the formless mother would then  be able to control the lands between just as the   greater will can now Miquella and Malenia once  again were twins born from Radagon & Marika and   since they're the same person this fit within the  rules of them being an empyrean this explains why   Mogh wants Miquella as the ruler and not himself  because he isn't an empyrean according to more   item descriptions the formless mother only seeks  out those of a cursed blood which is why he was   chosen it also seems like he couldn't just make  Miquella become the ruler right away because   Miquella hasn't achieved full godhood yet it's  unclear why but it could be related to Miquella's   own curse something we'll discuss a bit later  getting back on track after Margit we can meet   with Godrick the grafted Godrick grows to power  through the act of grafting according to Rogier   he states that there are tarnished hunters in  this castle that will take our corpse to Godrick   so that we can be grafted to him it's clear that  Godrick ruled his castle with fear as not many   would dare oppose him out of fear of becoming  a part of him so it's quite hilarious when you   return to his arena and find one of his servants  kicking his corpse repeatedly Godrick was a feeble   old man with no real power but he wanted to prove  to the others that he deserved the title of lord   by using fear and manipulation to get his way but  it's quite obvious that he's bluffing as without   the grafting he's barely even a competent fighter  our next boss we meet is the Lady Rennala Queen of   The Full Moon The Academy of Raya Lucaria was at  odds with a group called the Carian royal family   both practiced different versions of Glintstone  magic and attempted to be the better sorcerers   but due to the age of the Erdtree many of its  residents in the lands between found power   and hope in the golden order making glintstone  sorcery useless the royal family then withered   away during this time and so did the academy but  it wasn't until the shattering that the academy   had a resurgence in power in her youth Rennala  became a prominent champion who charmed the   academy with her lunar magic she also commanded  the glintstone knights and established the House   of Caria as royalty however despite being a  champion and a renowned sorceress she became   heartbroken thanks to Radagon leaving her she  then became a shell of her former self and it was   only then that the academy members discovered  that she wasn't a champion after all later the   academy would then rebel against the Carian royal  family then lock her away in the grand library   shortly after this the shattering would occur so  the academy was permanently locked down as no one   wanted to participate in the shattering so they  were left out of the destruction upon entering   the grand library we can see a ton of kids as well  as Lady Rennala holding an amber egg in her arms   after defeating her first phase Ranni starts  speaking saying that we're trespassing and are   not allowed to disturb her as we know Ranni is  the daughter of Rennala but this doesn't make a   whole lot of sense though as Ranni is an empyrean  who was born from two parents which leads me to   believe that Rennala is the adoptive mother  and not the birth mother of Rennala regarding   this whole sequence i also think this was a spell  casted by Ranni just in case anyone had intentions   of harming Rennala not only is the boss arena  completely different but right after defeating   her again we can see that she is just lying on the  ground this leads me to believe that this spell   was an illusion made by Ranni so that she could  protect her that egg she carries however is the   last thing ever given to her by Radagon before he  left it seems to also have the power of rebirth so   either she is holding on to this item because he  gave it to her and it's quite precious to her or   she's possibly waiting for the eventual rebirth  of Radagon through this egg i hope it's not the   latter as that wish won't come true since Radagon  is clearly alive regardless of its significance   it's clear that Rennala still hasn't gotten over  her ex-husband and has been ruined because of it   she is no longer the queen of the full moon and  is barely even a sorcerer anymore during her boss   fight the kids are actually more troublesome than  she is with her only attack being the occasional   chandelier falling after fending off the illusion  we then can return to Rennala who gives up her   great rune and offers us a chance to respec our  stats seeing as we have the great rune and she   is clearly in no state to fight there's no reason  to kill her so we just let her live our third boss   is Radahn who resides in Caelid a land that has  been infested with scarlet rot thanks to Malenia   and her curse Radahn is considered a champion  of the shattering and may have one of the best   backstories in this whole game when Radahn was  younger he looked up to Godfrey as he loved how   strong he was in battle so when Radahn was able  to wear his own personal armor he had a chess   piece made with a line on the front to symbolize  Godfrey's beast region Serosh he also looked up   to his father who was proud of his accomplishments  so he grew out his long red hair and wore it with   pride as he grew older he started taking after  these two figures in his life and wanted to   become as strong as they were but whether it was  because of genetics or the amount of strength he   received during this he started growing in size  this troubled him as due to his size and weight   he wouldn't be able to ride his horse that he's  had for his whole life so he went to Sellia in   Caelid which is called the town of sorcery it  was there where he learned gravitational magic   and was able to manipulate the ground around  him and be able to call swords to his hands   but more importantly he was also able to affect  his own body weight meaning he could ride his   horse without crushing it we know this not only  because we can see him do many attacks while using   gravity but the symbol for gravity magic is the  same symbol on his swords furthermore it's known   that the elden ring commands the stars just as  it commands the other concepts of the world like   life and death but general Radahn is considered  the star scourge and seems to be able to control   the stars this is because the cutscene after his  death has all the previous stars held in the sky   by him come crashing down one of which actually  lands right near us causing a massive explosion   but the difference between general Radahn and many  of the other boss fights is that it's not a normal   boss fight as upon entering Caelid making our way  to the back of the castle we can see that there is   other people here Blaidd and Alexander are here  assuming you met with them prior as well as other   characters we may meet in the future like Okina  Lionel and Targoth the reason they are here is   because they're all participating in the radon  festival a once in a lifetime opportunity where   you can face general Radahn in battle and claim  his great rune we can summon all these people   to fight with us including many people who weren't  there for the festival such as a finger maiden and   even patches the organizer of the festival gives  us a backstory of Radahn and his current state is   not too great if you recall from an old trailer  Malenia & Radahn fought at this very place   well during this fight Malenia pierced Radahn injecting scarlet rot into his body do you   remember earlier when i said that the twins  were cursed well whereas Miquella is cursed to   an eternal childhood never becoming anything older  than a boy Malenia is cursed by being forced to   harbor a rot with inside her body all the rot in  Caelid is most likely because of her we can see the   effect that it has on her face in limbs but when  we get to phase two of the boss fight we can not   only see how much of her body's been affected but  also how much control she has over this disease   getting back to Radahn she ended up using this rot  to corrupt him now he is just a blood-hungry beast   but the only thing on his mind about what his next  meal is going to be and what the next kill will be   this festival seems to have been created by  Radahn himself or by an organizer trying to   help Radahn Jirren is the name of the organizer  here at the castle and after defeating radon   he thanks us for the fight as not only was that a  spectacular battle but we were able to give Radahn  his final wish which was to die an honorable death  he couldn't stand the current state he was living   in and wanted someone to end his life but it would  be dishonorable for a general like him to die from   suicide or surrender so an honorable fight to the  death was the only way for him to feel at peace   but now that general Radahn is dead there is only  one rune left Praetor Rykard is a unique case in   the world of the lands between he lies at the  bottom of Mt. Gemlir the location of the   most appalling battle in the shattering Rykard committed the grave sin of blasphemy he spoke out   against the golden order as he was bothered by the  greater will and the golden order's willingness   to just cast aside those deemed unworthy for no  reason many people would flock to reichard in his   castle the volcano manor but people started having  doubts about his decision a spirit near the castle   is seen atop a pile of bodies in pain and says  that if he had known that this blasphemy would   have caused this much destruction he wouldn't  have tolerated his decision given that many of   those in the land between believe in the golden  order it's quite obvious why many would hate   Rykard and his followers as they're actively going  against what they preach this probably led to many   crusades against Rykard which negatively  impacted the livelihoods of all his people   upon entering the manor we can meet Tanith she  then asks us if we've ever harbored any doubts   about the guidance of grace and the golden  order and if we do say yes then she'll invite   us to the volcano manor family she goes on to  explain that the tarnished were blessed with grace   like everyone else in the lands between but it's  clear that the tarnished didn't get their fair share   record refused to bow down to this and believes  that if the Erdtree would debase them then they're   willing to go against the golden order even if  it's considered heresy so as a member our job   is to seek out those who are aligned with the urge  tree and the golden order this is in the form of a   few npcs we are tasked with invading but the manor  also gives us a recusant finger which allows us to   invade other players worlds so all the players we  invade are technically the tarnish he speaks of   which is why we're tasked with eliminating them  after a few contracts have been completed upon   coming back we see a spirit sitting in the corner  he's preaching to the manor and in hopes someone will   heed his words he wants us to eliminate the great  serpent the one who devoured prater Rykard seeing as it was him against the whole kingdom  since everyone disagreed with him and continued   to align with the golden order printer record  required more powers that he may fight on an even   level this is when he met the great serpent it  seems that the serpent promised him power as long   as record was willing to be eaten by him record  agreed and became the lord's serpent thankfully   this spirit has given us a way to defeat him by  letting us know of the power that resides in the   serpent hunter a weapon specifically designed to  kill the serpent the fight is quite trivial with   this weapon as it should be but during his second  phase he pulls out a sword and as we can see from   the weapon it has moving hands which were all  from his previous victims it's quite sad to   think about all the people in their past lives  and accomplishments now being withered down to   nothing as now they're just a part of the serpent  family stuck in this hell forever we can actually   talk to some of the members of the volcano  matter after defeating Rykard and none of them   seem upset Bernahl believes that the strong take in  the weak suffer so by killing him we proved that   Rykard was weak Tanith even agrees and thanks  us for showing them how weak a record really was   the only problem is that record's immortal it just  takes time for him to get back to full strength   and should we return to the boss arena we can see  Rykard's body repairing itself while Tanith holds   him so it seems that riker will eventually come  back how long that will take is unknown but just   like before we have the great rune so currently  our job is done with all the great runes in our   possession we can travel to Leyndell the royal  capital and go to the Erdtree here is where   we meet numerous knights and tree sentinels  truly showing how powerful this army really is   there is also a one-to-one version of the round  table hold in here this is most likely the real   round table and the one we're taken to is just a  copy since the shattering ruined much of the land   and caused this residence to close off its walls  as we remember only certain people can enter the   round table it's not a building that people can  just waltz right into which may explain why on   the map the round table hold is off to the very  side symbolizing that it's separate than the one   in the lands between on top of this since we made  it to the capitol Melina leaves our side since we   fulfilled our deal and brought her to the Erdtree but when we ourselves get close to the Erdtree godfrey attempts to stop us this is clearly a  spirit version of him and it's possible given the   golden color that it's godfrey's remembrance from  during the war before he was tarnished all the   remembrances we gather in game are memories of the  bosses and these memories are all a part of the   erd tree later in the game we will actually end  up fighting godfrey in his actual form but when   we defeat him he drops the remembrance of Horoah Loux not the remembrance of godfrey which leads me to   my previous conclusion after him is when we meet  Morgott and since we already discussed him quite   a bit i won't repeat myself however he does let  us know who the thrones are for which was Godrick   Miquella Malenia Radahn Rykard and Ranni he also  calls them all traitors which is quite interesting   i think it's because Morgott believes that they are  fighting so they can claim the power of the Elden Ring for themselves and become the new Elden Lord but Morgott being the protector of the Erdtree finds   this a disgraceful act as it's clear that they  only really care about the power that comes with   the Elden Lord title and not about protecting the  Erdtree and the golden order after defeating   Morgott we can talk to him momentarily and he calls  us a fool saying that the Erdtree doesn't open   for anyone and that no one will be able to claim  the title of Elden Lord and it seems that Morgott himself tried to attempt this and wasn't allowed  inside to prove his statement we walk up the steps   and discover we can't enter the earth tree has  rejected us the year tree is covered by impassable   thorns that cannot be cut Melina then arrives  again and explains to be elden lord we must pass   through the thorns and the only way to burn them  is to go to the snowy mountaintops of the giants   and use its smoldering flame to set the er tree on  fire we can then talk to the finger reader back at   the round table hold to get more insight on this  and she goes on to explain that because of this   sudden turn of events which is us being rejected  by the Erdtree the two fingers is currently   consulting with the greater will but we likely  won't get an answer for thousands of years we then   tell her our immediate plan to burn the thorns  and is shocked by the idea claiming that the snowy   mountains is not a place for mere men and that  burning the Erdtree is the first cardinal sin   something the fingers and the greater will will  never agree to furthermore we then explain our   next step in the process which is to unleash the  rune of death when we make it to the highest point   in the mountains, we talk with Melina who tells us  that she will be the kindling required to burn the   tree earlier the finger reader told us that this  ritual requires a sacrifice and Melina is willing   to be that sacrifice before she disappears though  she does deliver a few words and goes on to say   that throughout her life she has seen death and  discrimination everywhere convincing her that   the lands between is in dire need of repair this  sort of implies that she has lived quite a long   life something that connects to a theory of mine  later in the game as we touch hands once more she   takes our power and uses it and the smoldering  flames nearby to create a flame big enough to   set her and the tree ablaze afterwards we wake up  in Farum Azula not much is known about this   place but i believe this was the temple in the sky  throughout the lands between are ruins of a fallen   city the ruined fragments we pick up are believed  to be a part of a temple in the sky and the only   place in game that fits that description would be  Farum Azula as we explore the area we run into   the beast clergyman again the same one in Caelid who we give the deathroot to assuming you've   followed through with that quest line he then  attacks us since we are clearly here to steal   the rune of death from him and he doesn't want it  stolen again this is a nice piece of foreshadowing   as soon after defeating him he reveals his true  form to be Maliketh the black blade the shadow of   Marika and the owner of the rune of death now it  makes sense why we were feeding him deathroot  during his questline as the description reads  after the death of Godwyn the rune of death spread   across the lands between through the underground  roots of the great tree sprouting in the form of   death root Maliketh being the owner of the rune  of death would obviously want his power back so   by consuming the death root we are giving it back  to him upon his death a weird object sprouts from   his shadowy ashes this is the rune of death  and because it's unbound the lands between   are now shrouded in a dark fate and the greater  will is not happy about that we pass out again   and awake in Leyndell but now it's covered in  ashes it seems like we have a straight path to   the Erdtree now but nothing is ever simple in  this game blocking our path is Gideon & Godfrey  Gideon appears in Godfrey's chamber and the  long-awaited fight ensues Gideon and us have been   gunning for the elden lord position all game so  it was only a matter of time before we faced off   together except that's not what's happening gideon  immediately says that nobody will become the elden   lord and that Marika has plans for all of us and  that plan being that we struggle for eternity so   why this sudden change of heart Gideon during his  journey to obtain all knowledge may have uncovered   some details about merica that changed his mind  the all-knowing helmet description reads knowledge   begins with the recognition of one's ignorance  the realization that the search of knowledge is   unending but when Gideon glimpsed into the will  of Queen Marika he shuddered in fear at the end   that should not be something terrified Gideon  so much that completely changed his mind about   being the elden lord my guess was most likely the  relationship between the greater will and Marika   or maybe even the Elden Beast as well as for  Godfrey he appears in normal human form this   time and we can see him holding more god in his  arms Godfrey then spots us and recognizes us   immediately as the tarnished warrior the one who's  been conquering many before him Godfrey wants to   obtain the Elden Lord title again and since that  conflicts with our goals we have to fight him   after half his health is gone he uses Serosh to  gain more power and reveals that his true form   is Horoah Loux the chieftain of the badlands when  Godfrey and the other tarnished had been forced   out of the lands between this act was called the  long march and when the long march had finished   Godfrey and the other tarnished had started their  own civilization and it was during this time that   godfrey possibly wanted to cut all ties away from  him in the lands between so he adopted the name   Horoah Loux however with Godfrey finished nothing  stands in our way when we enter the room we see   Marika chained to a part of the elven ring  but eventually, she breaks free but her hair   turns red and we realize that Radagon is now in  control it seems to me that their bodies change   when one takes control as Marika and Radagon seem  to have different physiques when viewed up close   like Marika having a skinnier body in the absence  of breasts when Radagon is in control this may not   be entirely true however since it's quite hard to  look at their bodies while you're being attacked   but this at least confirms that there are two  people in one body however we still don't know   if they were two separate people that then became  one or if it was always one body to begin with   after the fight is over Radagon starts becoming  engulfed in a black mist as a hand reaches out   and takes him underneath the pool of sludge out of  this sludge arises the Elden beast probably one of   the coolest looking bosses in the soulsborne  franchise we've already discussed the Elden   Beast in detail earlier but as a reminder the  Elden Beast is the vassal for the greater will   and is the living embodiment of the concept of  order but the question is why are we fighting   Radagon and the Elden Beast in the first place  remember the point of our journey was to become   the Elden Lord and be a consort for Marika so  why are they killing the one person who was able   to fill that role one is possibly due to the  fact that we are tarnished and even attempting   to become elden lord does go against the golden  order but it may also have to do with the greater   will and a secret agenda that it has it's clear  that the greater will wants Marika as the ruler   of the lands between and to have the elden ring  repaired to the golden order can be stable again   but since that stalemate occurred it needed help  which is why it called the tarnished back to the   lands between the greater will more than likely  had a plan in mind but since we burned the Erdtree  and unbound the rune of death it most  likely casted all of that aside and just   opted to kill us as we committed a cardinal sin  regardless of its intentions the elden beast is   defeated and the greater will seems to have  no power over the lands between anymore it's   unclear whether or not the greater will is truly  dead though or if its power is truly gone as the   elden beast is just a vassal for the greater will  which is much different than a vessel Marika is a   vessel for the elden ring whereas the elden  beast is a vassal for the greater will so it   acts in accordance to the greater will's wishes so  i think the greater will still does exist in some   way but doesn't really have as much control over  the lens betweens as it used to with the elden   beast slain we now reach the ending of the game  and it's here where i have to be a bit honest with   all of you i don't know all the endings of elden  ring and depending on when you watch this video   you don't either despite what many believe there  is in fact more than four endings in the game   and at the time of making this video there is a  total of six confirmed endings with a seven still   under investigation, i normally don't make these  videos until everything has been discovered so   we can get the full picture but this could take  an undetermined amount of time to figure out so   if you'll forgive me i'd like to discuss these  endings with all of you anyway so the very first   ending is the default one that all players will be  able to obtain which is the age of fracture this   shows the player mending the body and runes back  together and becoming the elden lord like we set   out to do the lands between seems to go back  to normal but is a fractured version of what   it once was thanks to the shattering and all the  demi-gods we slayed on our path here the next three   endings are all tied to character quests and are  the same ending but with slight alterations in two   different places the age of duskborn is from  fia's questline where we use the mending rune   of the death prince she provides us at the end of  her questline as a way to mend all the runes back   together but instead of it being a normal looking  pattern the curse mark appears at the bottom   and instead of a normal looking sky there's a  grey mist that covers the land this seems to imply   that the rune of death is back in the elden ring  which hasn't happened since before Marika's reign   meaning the death will come to the lands between  once more and immortality is a thing of the past   the blessing of despair is the third version of  this ending and is activated upon completion of   the dung eater questline and using the mending  rune of the fell curse which leaves a sizable   clump of disease on Marika's body the land once  again changes but to a brown and reddish tint   and possibly implies that the dung eater got  his wish he has a dream of blessing the people   with a curse that starts with all the people he's  defiled and killed they will then be reborn and   create children who harbor their curse and those  children will have their own children who harbor   that curse until everyone is afflicted by it the  fourth variation of this ending that we know of is   the age of order which is done by completing  brother Corhyn and the Gold Mask questline   where on the body of the gold mask will be the  mending rune of perfect order needed to complete   this ending just as before it's the exact same  ending with the same differences this rune is   of a transcensional ideology that will attempt  to perfect the golden order this is symbolized   in the pattern being the same as before but with a  large circle around it as for the differences the   sky seems to be the same golden color but now the  erd tree is golden once again our last two endings   are different from the ones we have discussed so  far the lord of frenzied flame is the opposite   of the other endings that we just discussed  where the tarnish will become the lord of chaos   they then burn the Erdtree and most likely leave  the lands between to do this you must complete the   quest route of the three fingers which ends with  the three fingers grabbing and marking you however   depending on when you do this another cutscene  will play it's done after Melina sacrifices   herself then the ending plays out like normal but  if you're marked upon arriving Melina leaves your   side and promises that if you go down this path  she will have no choice but to hunt you down now   if you choose this ending every other ending is  locked unless you use an item called Miquella's needle which reverts the marking allowing you to  choose the other endings again this is why she   mentions that part about going down the current  path is we do have the option to change our mind   but assuming we don't and Melina knows that we're  marked a second cutscene will play where Melina   grabs what is presumed to be the whistle we use  to summon torrent and then vows to hunt us down   we also see that her left eye is now open and has  a purple color to it whereas the right eye that   is used to be yellow is now faded this has led  many to believe including me that Melina in some   way is related to Ranni in the story trailer for  the game Ranni is seen with the right eye closed   then the left one open and the spirit form next to  her has her left eye shut and the right eye open   but it's the same eye which is the trailer  possibly telling us that these two beings   are related and the only person with her left eye  shut throughout the game is Melina this could also   explain why Melina seemingly appears wherever  we are as the spirit form she is just able to   teleport in and out of existence the final ending  is called the age of stars and it's available upon   the completion of Ranni's questline we summon  Ranni from inside the Erdtree where she then   picks up and places Marikahead onto her body  just like we have done in the previous endings   she then goes on to make a promise to all the  living beings and souls that exist in the world   and says that the age of stars has commenced and  that the one thousand year voyage underneath the   wisdom of the moon is about to begin possibly  meaning that the people are no longer bound by   the forces of a god and can act on their own free  will we then become her spouse and she becomes the   new ruler but you may be asking how was that  possible as while ronnie was an empyrean she   claimed to have stripped away her impurian flesh  so that can't make her a ruler well there is a lot   to unpack with this ending and is quite difficult  to interpret given how little we actually have to   go off of but it seems that ronnie wants to have  the moon and stars under control again as it's   possible this was the large governing force  of the world before the greater will arrived   this would make sense given that she wanted to  break away from her empyrean body and since the   greater will is out of the picture this concept of  empyreans is unnecessary now this is what leads me   to my previous conclusion that the people of the  world will no longer be bound by the influence of   a higher power and can think on their own these  are all the endings we have so far the seventh   one dubbed the age of absolute is still under  investigation others are also trying to figure   out if it's possible to do the age of star ending  with Melina still alive just to see if something   changes since of course the growing theory is  that they are related however at the time of   making this video none of this has gotten anywhere  so we'll have to wait and see with that however we   come to the end of Elden Ring and subsequently  the end of the video the amount of lore in the   soulsborne games is astronomical and trying to  catalog all of it then repeat it to an audience   is incredibly challenging but i think i did a  good job providing a clear and simple timeline   of events for all of you feel free to watch any of  my other story explained videos on different games   in the industry or if you prefer to listen to a  review rather than a retelling i made a few videos   discussing the stories of specific games like the  bioshock series and fallout 4 that you may enjoy   with that like the video if you enjoy and  subscribe if you're new and thank you as   always to my returning viewers for coming back  to another video take care everyone and goodbye

Channel: Gingy

Views: 3,117,016

Keywords: elden ring, elden ring story, elden ring ending, elden ring bosses, elden ring all bosses, elden ring story explained, elden ring ending explained, elden ring end boss, elden ring lore, elden ring lore explained, elden ring builds, elden ring gameplay, marika, radagon, elden beast, radahn, rykard, margit, godrick, rennala, gingy

Id: kblqhg_qbtQ

Length: 39min 16sec (2356 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 06 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/Peachmuffin91]

If you’re like me and have beaten the game but have not followed the lore well enough to know the story, this is for you.