I'm Ontos. Thank you for reacting my video, Ziostorm. As a long time follower of your channel, I was very happy to get this notification. If you watch my 'Elden Ring's Metaphysics' video, you'll get a much better context for the timeline I'm proposing. Especially the GEQ angle you brought up. GEQ is appointed by GW's fingers which is written in the 'Black Flame Ritual' item description, setting the timeline post-Erdtree where the Greater will is the dominant theocracy in the realm. At least that's my reading. Also RoD is plucked from the 'ring' after Golden order was created which is how GEQ was able to wield it in the first place. I hope you also react to the metaphysics video and find value in the insights I try to bring to the table. Much love,

@Ziostorm

2 ай бұрын

Great video! I will absolutely check out your metaphysics video. You made some great observations here that I had no idea about.

@dreamsleeper1568

2 ай бұрын

Did anyone ever notice castle morne is full of messimers butterflies and a large commoner burning on a stake?

@fakeaccountzs

2 ай бұрын

Are empyreans only Marikas children? Might have placidasax gave birth to a snake/drake empyrean?

@johncrondis4563

2 ай бұрын

Well, the Greater Will most likely existed before the erdtree "It is said that long ago, the Greater Will sent a golden star bearing a beast into the Lands Between, which would later become the Elden Ring" This seems to say greater will came before elden beast (or some such alien beast) and then elden ring was created. However, I think you bringing up the description of the smithing stone really shakes up the timeline many people are thinking, so kudos.

@raymondcaswell5622

2 ай бұрын

Ontos is the GOAT, we agree on nearly everything. Very deep lore guy, everything he says is based on items in the game, not wild in the middle of the night click-bait theories. We've had some very good discussions.

miyazaki must be giggling to himself looking at all these theories

@Nathan_Coley

2 ай бұрын

Tomdiggity dropped another video yesterday

@epiccthulu

2 ай бұрын

More like George RR Martin, don’t forget Miyazaki stated himself that Martin wrote everything except the player character

@godly_potatoe69xd19

2 ай бұрын

⁠@@epiccthulu nah he said Martin wrote the background world and the basic ideas for characters such as Marika shattering the elden ring and being Radagon or radahn once being a great warrior who held back the stars. Miyazaki specifically said that a mythos for a small part of the past and those main characters was created, but most of that was changed to fit the game so every character and their lore got a big makeover to become more warped, and then everything else was just lore they wrote around what he wrote. George RR Martin himself even said he didn’t write that much and was under stipulations by Miyazaki of what it could be. Specifics like the eternal cities and the nox and miquella’s full plan would not be included in that

@epiccthulu

2 ай бұрын

@@godly_potatoe69xd19 Wrong, wrong, and wrong. Thankfully Jack Mimic did a video of every interview referencing Martin’s work with citations. Martin wrote 90%

@godly_potatoe69xd19

2 ай бұрын

@@epiccthulu I swear in an interview he said “they asked me to write a mythos for before the events of the game as a setting” but kk

Something I haven't seen anybody mention, if you look at the bodies forming the tree next to Marika they are huge compared to her. Look how big the limbs are that are coming out the side compared to Marika's size, they are giants.

@stuckwchuck

2 ай бұрын

I want to agree with you, but Marika/Radagon wasn't that much taller than the Tarnished, and almost everything was big compared to us lol. The bodies could easily be anything in the verse

@JayBandit2

2 ай бұрын

Except miraka in this trailer is before the giants being killed off

Finding it weird seeing Ziostorms face. His voice is so deep I pictured a house-sized stone Olmec head.

@NefariousTV

Ай бұрын

I fucking BURST out laughing at this 😂😂😂😂😂

I didn't take the "abandoning his fate" bit as he (Miquella) cast aside St. Trina. I had the impression that he cast aside his empyrean/golden side. So, we are seeing his literal fall from "grace" and his becoming St. Trina.

@ThatRunnerAaron

2 ай бұрын

I agree with this! Good pointb

@nakiuzuaya

2 ай бұрын

I mean the trailer straight up says that's what he divested himself of. So we (they) are theorizing from that. We still know she casts aside her golden side as it is directly said

@nicholasheine6134

2 ай бұрын

@@nakiuzuaya I agree that the trailer explicitly states that he cast aside his “golden skin, blinding strength and even his fate”, my point is that while we can reasonably interpret what is meant by him divesting himself of the first two things, we cannot say for certain what is meant by fate. Sure, the imagery goes to St. Trina falling but both Zio and Ontos would agree that imagery in FromSoft cinematics is intentionally obscure or misleading. I just believe that Miquella was the most likely candidate to succeed Marika due to him being the most similar to her. They were both incredibly influential empyreans that had a dual nature. That is why I assume that the fate he is casting aside was that of taking up Marika’s mantle…instead he seems to be forging his own path.

@FSVR54

2 ай бұрын

@@nicholasheine6134 Falling down can never be misleading? Down only means one thing.

@nicholasheine6134

2 ай бұрын

@@FSVR54 Yes it can. Down is relative. I'm happy to hear you out though. In your own words, what exactly is happening in that image with St. Trina.

I think Miquella would’ve accepted Omens, the problem was that most Omens are spawn-killed, used as slave soldiers, or trapped in a concentration camp underneath Leyndell. There’s simply no opportunity for them to be taken to the Haligtree.

@Quoisboy

2 ай бұрын

I cant help but think in the first gameplay trailer when the woman says “they were never saints they just happened to be on the losing side of a war.” That she was talking about the omen empire.

@imackamoo2

2 ай бұрын

it would be cool if he had a secret underground tunnel from the sewers where they had an opportunity to seek refuge in the Haligtree

@Mario-SunshineGalaxy64

2 ай бұрын

@@imackamoo2That’d be a very long tunnel, maybe a waygate would been better. But there’s also the fact that Omens have magical shackles on them and that probably prevents them from escaping.

@Odin_Oracle

2 ай бұрын

@@Mario-SunshineGalaxy64 yeah, if you look at every omen enemy placement, it’s always due to them being forced to be there. Even the Omen in the Stormveil courtyard, it’s covered in chains and looks like a bodyguard. There isn’t a single omen that looks comfortably free in the Lands Between. Even the ones inside outcamps in Altus Plateau, they have weapons - of which the description states that these are given to Omen’s by their owners

@ethanware7992

2 ай бұрын

@@Quoisboyshe was 1000% talking about beings of the crucible. I don’t think omens are the name for them though since omens are humans with aspects of the crucible. They are just primordial beings. The lion dancers, the horned enemy in the picture on Twitter, etc.

i like the way ziostrom seems to operates, Not trying to debunk or invalidate the theories, Rather builds off them or finds minor inconsistencies in them that contradicts the lore in a positive way. Good video

4:49 Maybe that’s why is “the lands between” because she placed it between the Sunlight Realm and the Sun itself, obscuring it in shadow.

@frankcaggiano8282

2 ай бұрын

I think it's the "Lands between" all the other lands, like the Land of Reeds, etc.

Biggest Theory: -All Outer Gods are just Demi God's from the Land of Shadows during the time of the Crucible, and oppose the Golden Order due to Marikas sins against them. -Miqualleas fate was to suppress all the Outer Gods from the Land of Shadows, but finding out Marikas sins, he opposed that fate and separated himself from it, creating St. Trina. -Messmer seeks revenge because Marika abandoned him in the Land of Shadows after some broken promise. He too wishes to escape the Land of Shadows to claim the Lands Between as his, of which Miquallea was fated to stop. -The reason why we must stop Messmer is entirely based off his ruthlessness, he has no other motives but to claim what he believes is his Birth right.

@nayyarrashid4661

2 ай бұрын

That all makes it seems that Land of shadow is something that existed in a previous time or may be existing in a separate time bubble itself like Farum Azula. Marika went to land of shadow to get her demigod status. Hopefully From Soft makes it pretty clear. So far this game has the most coherent lore of all souls games.

@FSVR54

2 ай бұрын

Nah, Outer Gods are something greater and more universal. The human brain can't even fully comprehend them, hence "outer"

@briquesbts

2 ай бұрын

Miquallea

@RadAlarm

2 ай бұрын

By your theory's logic...Messmer is the Frenzy flame god. That's why melina reveals her other eye during frenzy ending. A reference to the land of shadow.

@frstudio3640

2 ай бұрын

@@nayyarrashid4661 It's not time travel. It's akin to something like an evergaol. Its a seal location that is not visible, but is still there. Miyazaki even states that the Land of Shadows is not some foreign land and occupies the same area as the Lands Between. Like I've stated in my theory, it seems like Marika simply hides the Lands of Shadows from the Lands Between and seals it to contain those she wronged and to hide the horrors she committed. This doesn't imply time travel at all, since it's entirely possible for both locations to exist at the same time. Farrum Azula is very much a physical location in the game that is within the Lands Between. You don't go back in time when traveling there. You only go back in time for the 1 boss fight.

Worth noting that the symbol of the omen is a sun with omen horns, as seen on the Dung Eater's armor and made a mockery of on the Wickermen. It's not supposed to be Messmer's symbol, just like how the fire giant symbols on the knees of the Wickermen are fire giant heads. It's more likely intended to make light of and mock their culture and spiritual symbols. Also, the notion of the Crucible and the Dragons being opposed is strange to me, considering that almost, if not all, of the omen features we see are manifestations of draconic traits. Horns, tails, claws and fangs. Breath weapons, wings, and scales. All draconic in nature. Hell, even Runebears can be tied back to dragons through gravelstone and their eyes. I'm sure it's more complex than a simple "the crucible and the dragons are opposing forces"

@allthe1

2 ай бұрын

Rewatching this part made me think it would be fitting as a GRRM story for the beasts and tree factions to fight over the corpse of the dragon/sun empire.

@allthe1

2 ай бұрын

The Erdtree faction being the winner obviously

@brodiebaxter99

2 ай бұрын

@@allthe1 I think this is a good take and the way I'm leaning. I recently watched timdiggity's video about the Gloam-Eyed Queen being a smooth-skinned serpent, with a lot of supporting evidence that makes a lot more narrative sense than what others have speculated. Of course, this would be yet another dragon-adjacent force we see at play in the DLC, as I believe Elden Ring snakes descend from dragons? Don't quote me on that, though. It feels like all roads lead back to Dragons when it comes to the history of the Lands Between, and I don't think there's any satisfying way to frame it where there aren't different factions of dragon-descended cultures at odds with one another.

@allthe1

2 ай бұрын

@@brodiebaxter99 All roads lead to Farum Azula, indeed! 😎

@Galamoth06

2 ай бұрын

I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that the omen "symbol" is a sun with omen horns. Dung Eater's medallion is a sun with little stylized rays of light emitting from it- I don't know where you're seeing horns. And the armor description tells us what it means: "The heavy, sun-shaped medallion represents both the guidance he once saw, and the ring to which it will one day lead." Goldmask's headpiece further solidifies the connection: "Its striking design represents both the brilliant inspiration that once shone upon him, and the vision of a ring that he will surely find at the end of his pursuit." I think it's pretty clear the sun symbology in this case reflects their destiny as Tarnished, called back by the guidance of grace to restore the Elden Ring. The Erdtree itself was once as warm and bright as the sun, or so it's said. For all intents and purposes, the Erdtree is the sun in the Lands Between, or at least served that function in its prime.

Miquella is Alexander.

@arkstream176

2 ай бұрын

This guy knows the truth 🙏

@bradleyfitzik2447

2 ай бұрын

@OP Hahahha nice one👌

@ckernick

2 ай бұрын

Wow! Spoilers alert next time please and thank you!

@vascosoncini

2 ай бұрын

:O

@nayyarrashid4661

2 ай бұрын

Why is this comment not pinned?

It is possible that the Fire Giants were defeated before the Erd Tree was grown, and then murdered at a later time by betrayal. This would explain why all of the dead Giants are kneeling at the moment they died.

I had an interesting conceptual thought about Mesmer's activities. His walking cells in which ALL living beings are fried, people, dragons, fire giants.... in some way represent the Crucible, i.e. mixing ALL life forms together. It also means Melting Furnace. which were used to remove/clean metal from impurities. Maybe Mesmer's entire war is about burning everything to get pure gold for Marika? Forcing savage peoples to culture, religion... "Baptism by fire". And the theme: Gold from Blood/corpse/dead/Red. These are the conditions for its appearance. Separating the Cultural/Human from the Animal. And like any Division, it is violence.

@kayhaich

2 ай бұрын

Gold from base material and blood sacrifices within a crucible via fire is an alchemical principle.

There was a video yesterday about the GEQ being a snake that was very interesting. He said that the "betrayal" was actually Radagon having an affair with the Gloam Eyed Queen and Mesmer being the spawn, which would be the reason for his read hair and the snakes.

@allthe1

2 ай бұрын

That's progressively taking place in my head as the most convincing parentage for Messmer, but I can't wait to find out what will be revealed / left mysterious in the DLC. We're overloaded with content and speculation rn, but I'm bracing for the avalanche of posts that are coming post release

Im kinda wrapping back around on the idea that Mesmer is a type of Freddie Kruger figure; brutal ruler and tormenter of omens in their sleep. He will use a type of blood flame to mirror mogh’s influence on Miquella while they rest the cocoon. I think the DLC will be, on a surface level, about purging Mesmer and Mogh’s influence from Miquella and liberating the sleep/shadow realm as a result.

@pijusburba4351

2 ай бұрын

I feel like current omens get transported from lands between to the shadow realm in their sleep and getting persecuted there, thats why it says that they have nightmares or whatever. And maybe it wasnt like this before Mesmers purge.

@Kenotic0913

2 ай бұрын

Miyazaki already stated that the DLC won't impact the ending of the base game. I think the only way that could be is for Miquella to end up being an enemy. He will be trying to ascend to godhood himself somehow and we will have to kill him at the end of the DLC, imo.

@apyorick

2 ай бұрын

I see Miquella has cast his charm on you as well.

@Galamoth06

2 ай бұрын

The Omensmirk mask is modeled after the spirits that haunt the omens' nightmares. I'm not really getting Messmer vibes at all, and he doesn't have any known association with sleep or dreams. I don't think there's any reason to purge Mohg's influence from Miquella (and I'm not sure why we should assume Messmer has any kind of influence over him), considering Mohg will be dead when we enter the DLC, and Miquella has cast aside everything, including his flesh, to enter the shadow lands. He's just not in that cocoon anymore. Lastly, I really don't think the shadow lands are a dreamworld. They're never referred to as a "realm," always the "shadow lands" or "lands of shadow." Miyazaki went out of his way to specify in an interview that the DLC isn't in the past or future, or another dimension; it's a physical place that exists alongside the Lands Between that has been "removed or hidden from the rest of the world." Also, considering it's where Marika first set foot and where the Erdtree was born, it just doesn't make sense for it to be a dream or spirit realm.

@colingrogan111

Ай бұрын

@@Galamoth06 Okay, hear me out though. What if this DLC's story is even more vague and metaphorical than the base game? It may be a "real" place in the same way the Lands Between is real; I'm thinking the cacoon will serve as a gateway of sorts to the Shadow Realm. It could simply be a place that exists on the other side of the planet where the sun doesn't shine/grace's light does not reach. It could have been the dominant lands at one point until it or the lands between were moved. I also think Miquella will play a role similar to Rani's where you could choose to be a consort for him at the end of the DLC and unlock a new ending; to complete his quest you'll have to kill mesmer for one reason or another. I'm thinking that maybe when Omens fall asleep in the lands between, their consciousness spawns into the Shadow lands where they are tormented by Mesmer or his followers (I have no basis for this, I think it just sounds interesting). Thanks for your response!

Ontos definitely deserves views, glad you bumped him up man

26:31 I believe the point being made here is more metaphorical than literal. Radagon is basically the symbol of the golden order, but his red hair is a symbol of the giants, which the description says he despised. So in a sense, the giants being an opposing faction to the golden order means that the giants are the silver to Radagon's gold

We never see Miquella because Miquella is the player, and all the tarnished characters who've tried to become elden lord and establish an order are a version of Miquella. I will try to keep this as short as possible. Miquella divested himself of everything. Mind, body, soul... when you divest yourself of everything then you become someone else. Not St. Trina ( he was already st. trina), he becomes "a tarnished of no renown", a rando... he doesn't even have a maiden... and I think there are multiple NPCs who had a hunch about this. Why is Varre literally standing outside where we first spawn into the lands between? he's fishing for Miquella. What he didn't know is how to IDENTIFY the true Miquella tarnished. Ranni knew (I think) which is why she gives us the spirit calling bell and the wolves spirit ash. The purpose of her wielding the power of sleep is to show her alignment with Miquella's dark side (which aligns with Ranni's dark moon ideology). She doesn't need to be St. Trina to put people to sleep. Also, note that basically EVERYONE in the game loves us and helps us and tries to sway us into being aligned with THEM. There are multiple times NPCs mention there's "just something about us" that makes us likeable... yeah, because we're Miquella. The tell-tale sign of the true Miquella tarnished was TORRENT. When Torrent liked someone, that was the person... and of course, that is us, the player... again, not everyone KNEW this, although I suspect some of those NPCs from the DLC will be more advanced in their PERCIEVED knowledge of Miquella's intentions and actions. The player has the power to choose any path. You can help Marika, destroy Marika, help Ranni, become Chaos itself, or whatever. No matter what you do, Miquella wins. That now poses the question... what about the DLC? Well, we have only seen so far, TALES of Miquella... this is YOUR story... OUR story. Which path will you walk? In the grand scheme of things, I believe Elden Ring explores the realm of multiple philosophies, religion, theory of everything, and most evidently, reincarnation. This is a masterpiece in terms of commentary about the human psyche and the universe all bundled into a video game. Incredible stuff!

@GhostWriter-Gohan

2 ай бұрын

Yessss. Excellent insight, the concluding point in particular was well chosen! Not only do I agree with all of this but have been tumbling down a similar rabbithole that started last summer with us being Trina.. Addressing how other characters seem to know was great. I've never heard anyone else say this, not only is this theory not been popular (ime) but further, not many people sit down to analyze dialogue for subtext especially in the scope of rejecting your own identity within a conversation Alas, if this IS what you do to identity subtext simply interpreting NPC dialogue to be directed instead towards Miquella, rather than us, a lot of mimicry is unveiled lol. There's still a lot more behind this, some of which I've fleshed out and others that have me perplexed. I'm hoping to finalize it all as a bound book, artistic passion project before the DLC and I definitely would love to talk about this a little bit if you're interested! Thaf being said, either way - great write up, W take and thanks for sharing!

@OscarTheStrategist

2 ай бұрын

@@GhostWriter-Gohan Your book idea sounds completely awesome! Regarding this lore theory, it is my favorite, and one of the top reasons I'm looking forward to the DLC's lore dump. However, I cannot completely take credit for this take. I heard of this particular take first from a video by a channel called AngelOfThePast here on YT, search for his name and the video title "Elden Ring's Hidden Story" - watch the whole thing. He gets some things "wrong"... but keep in mind, this video was made 2 YEARS ago, way ahead of its time! (and he gets a ton of stuff right) In the video, he goes hard on why he believes the player is actually Miquella. Although I disagree on some of the things he says, it is a must watch if what I commented here intrigues you just a little bit. I will not spoil it for you. From there, I have watched other's lore videos and come up with my own thoughts of course. I like to take in multiple perspectives and come up with my own head cannon for some things, and wild guesses on what things mean. For example... Another highly recommended lore series comes from a channel called TheCenteredTarnished, playlist "Elden Ring Lore: The Great Works" where he looks at the game's lore from a psychology perspective, namely CG Jung's work. Again, I don't completely agree with all his takes, but it is yet ANOTHER lens from which to view this amazing work of art known as Elden Ring. I hope that helps with your book research, and I'm down to chat about the lore and what I've gathered from just learning about it in my spare time for the last two years. Cheers!

I liked the theory mimic raised that part of the reason the Haligtree doesn't grow is that it runs on Miquella blood who is cursed with eternal youth, so the tree itself was stuck unable to grow eternally youthful. Cus then that means that Miquella leaves the tree willingly, and then he gets caught by Mohg.

@Timothy2012

2 ай бұрын

I actually think Miquella was willingly taken by Mohg and told Malenia he would return. The only character in the game that would have the want/capability of freeing Mohg and Morgott from the sewers and giving them their runes would be Miquella. Even if this isn't true, I think it's a main point that everyone loves/respects Miquella and would probably do anything he asked.

@yuomovaeh3028

2 ай бұрын

​@@Timothy2012 Morgott didn't like Miquella, at least he does not admit it. He pretty much curses all of the demigods during his boss fight cutscene claiming them traitors.

I think he got it right I mean in regards the time line when he noted that the birth of the erdtree and the fight with the gaints was in the same time or that what I understand from him , here is the prove when malina talks about that event in marika's own words "Hark, brave warriors. Hark, my lord Godfrey. We commend your deeds. Guidance hath delivered ye through each ordeal, to the place ye stand. Put the Giants to the sword, and confine the flame atop the mount. Let a new epoch begin. An epoch glistening with life. Brandish the Elden Ring, for the Age of the Erdtree!" focus in this words let the new epoch begin and also Sword Monument tells: "The War against the Giants Champions battle, trolls betray Fire vanquished, the era of the Erdtree begins" I think he got it right , nice reaction vid and I should say very good job to the creator of the original vid

An alloy of gold and silver is called electrum, which also means amber. The stars command fate and amber starlight commands the fate of the gods, because the gods are alloys: the empyreans all have double/split existences.

fun fact the thorny spikes that we see impaling the giants are also seen outside of the mountaintops of the giants around a fire monk camp by the eastern tableland grace implying that it may not have any connection to the erdtree and is maybe more symbolic of the fire monks instead

the omen are not in the haligtree by their own choice imo. They fit within the golden order system as low status members. But you never see them in open rebellion against their masters, as opposed to say the misbegotten, or the albinauric village. In leyndell you see that morgott himself is an omen.

It is going to end with use finding a illusionary wall that leads to a room with a dog on a control panel in it.

@tropezando

2 ай бұрын

Melina's body was in our trunk the whole time

If Shadows are given to Empyreans, then why don't Malenia and Miquella have Shadows? Is it because they are cursed?

I just found out you have all your Elden Ring stuff in one playlist and I needed to share my joy! Thank you for all of your content brother.

Love that Ontos is getting the recognition. He got some really very interesting speculations and theories in his channel

What if “shadow of the Erdtree” has a double meaning? We know that it is referring to the shadowed Erdtree, but what if we also see the first Shadow given to an empyrean? We know that Maliketh is Marika’s half-brother, so what if the “shadow of the Erdtree” is Maliketh’s mother/father?

Super interesting video, especially the bit about the war against the giants coinciding with the birth of the Erdtree. That would line up with Quelaag's theory that there's a cycle of growing new trees and burning the old, so the tree whose power was used against the giants could have been the Erdtree's predecessor, like you said. This made me think there are going to be some parallels between Marika and Miquella. Marika is driven by her compassion towards those dying and existing as part of the Crucible (which I think is the mountain of bodies we see that forms the core of the Erdtree), so she takes that chaos and forges a new order that's free of death. However, that has a whole bunch of negative effects she didn't anticipate (and evidently a lot of that she did, given her hiding of the Shadow of the Erdtree), and Miquella's actions are out of compassion for those hurt by the new order. I'll be interested to see what Miquella's vision of a better order might be, because I expect it will also have a dark side. Like the guy says in the opening of the gameplay trailer, "Pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. There is nothing more terrifying."

There are also some videos floating around about Blasphemous Rikhard sword and the battle arena looking like visceral flailing corpses in Marika story trailer so there is definitely a connection with the god devouring snake, the shadow land and even Tanith, who comes from a foreign land and is actually manipulating Rykard

Always enjoy these videos. There's another one you should check out: The Gloam Eyed Queen is a Snake. It's absolutely fascinating.

@MK-vi2cm

2 ай бұрын

That was a good one. Only thing wrong I remember from that one was Messmer being consumed by the God Devouring Serpent. Miyazaki confirmed that the dlc does not take place in the past so it wouldn't make any sense timeline wise.

Nice theory and great video as always, cheers from Germany

I think the aspect of the fire giant war happeing before the erdtree is possible due to what we know about mesmer being based off of the old god whos name in part means "tree grower", the trees impaling the giants in the mountains could be his doing

I’ve seen a lot of questions of if Miquella ever had working legs and that makes me think about his connection with the Albinuracs

@tropezando

2 ай бұрын

I've seen people say the same about Rennala and her children. We see no feet on Ranni's corpse, know nothing about Rykard's pre-snake form, and Radahn stubbornly uses gravity magic to ride a horse with his legs dragging so much they've become nubs. Rennala crawls on the ground, has odd lanky proportions like the large albinauric woman, and her sweetings made with the egg also cannot walk.

I think the seat of the Sun is more likely to be a what lyndel was before the golden order. Elden Ring has a lot of themes around colonization and it's very likely in my opinion that the seat of the Sun and the denizens of that City were yet another footnote in the conquering of the lands between

you should really do more react content like this mate. This was a great video. Always quality content from you.

Honestly if you did a breakdown of Ontos’ Metaphysics video I would watch that more than once. It’s such a solidly crafted theory. 🙏🏼

A fascinating video bro, not long to wait now!😮😊

I think Messmer’s secret war takes place probably a good amount of time after Marika’s apotheosis.

There will be a plot twist, I'm sure. You will find Patches kicking you off whenever you are near a cliff.

Thank you Zio Storm. Already preordered... waiting for installation and death over and over,lol. Any idea what levels we need to be? Everyone has theories, however you always have the best vids and info

There are tons of St Trina's lilies outside of the ruin where you find the huge albinauric woman in the consecrated snow field.

Always love your thoughts and analysis sir!

The effect that the pink butterflies have looks like the same as that orange effect that is around what seems to be miquella at the end of the trailer

15:25 Root Resin states that it was called the Greattree. >The roots of the Greattree were once linked to those of the Erdtree, or so they say, and it is for this reason catacombs are built around Greattree roots.

@sebastianestrada3697

2 ай бұрын

I believe the Erdtree was “grafted” onto the root system of the previous tree. Eventually grafted plants experience something where the rootstock (the original plant) starts to overtake the grafted section (fittingly called a scion). In Elden Ring this is figuratively represented in the Omen, which are folks born with aspects of the crucible (the rootstock in this context). The Omen appearing out of the Erdtree is not dissimilar from a mandarin appearing out of an orange tree. Not only that, but the imagery of the tree(s) in the DLC neatly aligns with this; the Erdtree in the center with the shadow tree growing from an offshoot on the trunk, very reminiscent of a tree experiencing reversion. (Also sorry in advance for the amount of times the word “tree” was used in this lmfao).

As of this moment, in Eastern Standard Time, it’s 20 Days, 11 Hours, and 52 minutes until Shadow of the Erdtree’s release.

@Mike-xp8zc

2 ай бұрын

*46 minutes :)

@TJuice1986

2 ай бұрын

@@Mike-xp8zc 20 Days 5 hours and 20 minutes!!

What's amazing is just how much Miyazaki references Gnostic elements in the Elden Ring story. It's interesting that the color purple is the motif for St Trina and her powers, which reminds me of a text I read about Bacchic rituals with the Burning Purple

Just fought the elden beast for the 30th time and noticed what looks to be a golden sunset or horizon in the distance. Its actual identical to the backdrop of the scene where marika is holding the rune in the story trailer for the dlc. Felt so cool when i pulled it up lol. What it means i have no clue 😂

My theory is that the final boss battle will be a 2v1 vs vati and Miyazaki. Once we defeat them the room will turn black and ziostorm will rise out the darkness. He will look at us, flex, and then say "i am the shadow of the erdtree".

I think the order of events is war in the land of shadow, birth of the erd tree, and then immediately after war against the Giants who were assisting the denizens of the land of shadow which is why the golden order saw them as a threat

The Gloam-Eyed Queen being a snake is a very cool idea. Still believe that her consort was Placidusax.

Awesome breakdown Zio 🙌🏼

Actually the most consentrated spot of St Trina Lilies is at the church where the giant Albinauric lady sleeps. Behind the church are nearly 20 Trina Lilies suuronding a tree there in the Consecrated Snowfield. 3 weeks out folks! We eatin soon! 🍽️

Idk why but my theory is that messmer was the 1st of the "union" children [ melania and miquella] though he was born similar to the greek goddess athena in which Messmer would be born from a part of marika's physical body

I do love the way that FromSoft has crafted this open ended, fading leads lore. It's a great reflection of our real understanding of history. The layers of obscurity that increase out ward from the immediate present creating so many possibilities and they could all be wrong, but our minds cant help but search for connections. The most wild thing though, is how much work they put in to something that may have gone unnoticed. Imagine the off chance that the game flopped and nobody cared about the deep lore.

Ontos’ theories are always amazing 🔥

This was cool. Those lost in death and water references makes sense to the Land of Shadows! Because I believe the Devine towers are what’s masking the land of shadow from the Lands between.

is it just me or is that corpse on the stairs with all the spears stuck into it wearing the mogh followers robes? also I can't help but notice the white cowl on the giant skeletons in places like selia and the underground cities seems to look like the ones marika pulls the golden strings from?

I’m still perplexed at Miquella and Malenia’s lack of shadow.

Something just occurred to me: The 'veiled' shape you were talking about with shadow of the erd tree - (Not sure if this video or another one) also shows up in the bedchamber before the boss room with morgott/godfrey. the way the cloth is draped... not sure what info can be drawn from that but... its a thing.

Looks like we are going to be forced to progress through the legacy dungeon this time, unless there is a Stormveil side passage type path. This time though I'd like if we choose the other way around, we get a harder boss on that path as a result.

I think yggistral/snake-god-gloam-marika theory is some of the best stuff i heard. Also the forging of gold from monsterous and base materials, sacrifices etc within a firey crucible is a basic alchemic principle which ties up a great many things pretty neatly. Finally the threads of the death rune being taken from the eye of a serpent ties up the sealed eye stuff pretty neatly.

"misbegottens in the haligtree??" Miquella: 🎵 OH YES THERE ARE 🎵 😁 "what about omens?" Miquella: 🎵 let's not go that far 🎵 😬

I really think in the shot with Merica and the two structures of bodies is her forming the erdtree, creating order in the strands and pulling the two body piles together to form the erdtree. Maybe the purge had to happen for a few reasons, but one reason could be to physically have enough bodies to start forming the erdtree.

The three places with the greatest concentrations of St Trina's lilies are Village of the Albinaurics, The Apostate Derelict Church where Latenna's quest ends with the sleeping Allbinauric woman, and the Forsaken Ruins in Caelid, which is also where St Trina's sword is found. The fact that Miquella has their own lily, makes me question whether they are the same person, or whether they have a twinned identity, which is very common in the game already.

Do the wyverns have large talons?

@Justin9700

2 ай бұрын

Do they have what?

@uninhibition31

2 ай бұрын

@@Justin9700 Large talons.

I have a theory that the seven followers of Miquella featured in the trailer are the seven soulless demigods in the Wandering Mausoleums.

Ontos finally getting some love!

12:44 i thought those were a product of bloodthorn sorcery. A bunch of those same thorny tree shapes can be found at the Guardians Garrison which is crawling with guilty using blood Thorn sorcery. IIRC those thorny trees can be found anywhere the guilty camps are found and the giants being impaled would imply that they are being judged guilty of a crime.

i haven’t seen many people mention the pink butterflies are visible in the haligtree mixed among the aeonian butterflies

Interesting, also "Ranni" literally means "Queen" in Marathi and Hindi. So I'm pretty certain the Ranni ending is the canonical ending of ER.

I think the crooked tree is the tree Marika grew and the straight tree being strangled, is the original crucible great tree. She is stealing the sap and using it to create the "fake" erd tree we see in the base game.

@Matt-bg5wg

2 ай бұрын

Explains why the Erdtree can be burnt and reborn. It’s just a projection of the real thing

Where you find the golden Amber Starlight it use to be called St. Trinas Hideaway in the game files

Marika/Maliketh had to defeat the GEQ. This is how Maliketh gets the rune of death. Did marika pluck it and leave it behind and the GEQ take it later, or did Maliketh defeat the GEQ so Marika could pluck it? Given the ID idea for this "grand betrayal" I think they had to defeat the GEQ to take the rune of death. Then the golden order was established.

Vatti said once that he felt the erdtree we know is a parasite. He changed his mind later but i never did. It has always felt, to me, like the elden beast "infected" an existing tree.

I think the wars could be in close proximity to each other. After all, the shadow war is an unseen war. Maybe the war with the giants isn’t coming to a close or they’re happening simultaneously in some way

The erdree wa splaced over a previously existing tree, from what I can recall of lore snippets...(response to tree discussion around the 15 minute mark)

The general thinking is that Miquella abandoned his old life because the golden order couldn't heal malenia, but I think it was for another reason. Maybe he found out the dark truth about Marika, and set out on his new journey to find a way to bring down the order.

did you see the spirit caller snail theory (idk what to call it)? the one where the "godskin" thing at the start of the trailer might be a snake which might be the gloam eyed queen. i dont remember who came up with the theory but its an interesting one since the spirit caller snail is actually kind of a snake with a snail shell and it summons godskins and stuff.

Zio, please make an ongoing podcast with a squad of lore knights!! Ratotoskar, Lore Hunter, Smough, and yourself would be amazing. I’d definitely subscribe but also feel there are enough ideas flowing between all of you that could keep it ongoing for a long time!

There are misbogotens in the haligtree so i think they sort of count as the omen

28:10 Another interesting connection: Iirc, in that church where there is a giant albinauric woman sleeping, there is a tree right outside surrounded by trina lillies, just like the one Zio mentioned

Great video within a video commentary. Been subscribed to you for about two years and I am just now realizing you are an incredibly deep guy despite the painfully masc outward demeanor and presentation. This video has me being like “F**k yeah Zio; goid word choice for that!” Haha. Cheers and cannot wait for the field day of post-dlc discourse. So amped. P.S. Just a weekly reminder: you’re a total 🦊!

I had always thought that Saint Trina didn’t appear until Miquella embedded himself in the Halifax tree and that was the figure that we saw growing above the cocoon that Mohg ripped out and then I had thought she disappeared when Mohg ripped it out of the tree and that’s where that line she appeared just as quickly as she disappeared came from was only around for brief time while Miquella was doing this ascendance thing.

A thing I would like to see is a video explaining some of the more popular theories for the DLC right before it's release, so we can look into it to see if we got something right :3

21:35 I wonder if that transition between worlds requires a different physical body then. Would explain why there is an independent leveling mechanic for the dlc

Just as Marika holding the threads up and weaving the Erdtree is shaped like the rune of life, the plucking of the golden thread from cloth/belly thing is shaped like the rune of death. But that could be a huge stretch on my part lol

Hi, I got a wild thought about Godfrey, it is stated somewhere that Crucible knights are his knights, and I guess it would have been impossible if it was after the crucible purge

there is also a metric ton of trina's lily beside the church with towering albinauric sister in the consecrated snowfield. Wich is also obviously connect Trina with Silver via the Albinaurics. Maybe its why you don't find any Albinaurics in the Haligtree ? Because they are St-Trina's followers not Miquella's? idk anyway those theories are fun to think about great vidéo you bring great points

Marika is pulling those gold threads out of the eye of a giant snake head on its side.

I don't think the war could have happened before the tree was created. However, there are some loose implications that could imply that the lands we see in the shadow lands were once a part of the. Region near the mount of the giants. So maybe that could support it but the evidence is literally just a single locatiom and armor associated with it

The land of the sun being veiled in shadow is totally like the eclipse

I agree when you said you hope Miquella is good I also hope he is but knowing these games I’m thinking something else will unfold which isn’t great for the tarnished! like to consider myself average when it comes to lore knowledge but with amazing videos like Ziostorm & a few other channels I’ve learned even more plus hear other peoples thoughts! One thing we know 100% is this is going to be a decent size expansion! Other companies would probably market Shadow of the Erdtree as a full on sequel lol shows you the respect between fromsoft and the fan base!

3:27 I hear a song from Lies of P inthe background

Question: should I go into NG+ or wait to beat Radagon & Elden Beast to access the DLC? I’ve been at the end of the game waiting for the DLC for months and I’m not sure what the best option would be.

Could the hand be reaching into the last dragon to "take" her order from it?

I think the omen have nightmares due to being vessels for souls, its never explained how they can do that attack and i think its cursed souls like the ones that dung eater can create and the ones that may have not died a proper death perhaps

I like the centered tarnished Theory and explanation of How It's all within Marica's psyche

15:10 There actually WAS another tree before (and even for some time during) the erdtree, called the great tree, as per the item description of the root resin: "Resin secreted from the roots of the Great tree. Material used in crafting items. The roots of the Great tree drive far and wide through the earth of the Lands Between. They were once entwined with the roots of the Erdtree, or so they say"

Saint Trina could be a vassal of a seal god or could be the god of sleep that has a connection to the moon