Recently I’ve Been Thinking About Radahn And How, Despite His Pretty Major Importance To The Overall

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

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

Poor guy's really been through a lot.

Nothing in monster hunter wilds feels worse than someone joining your hunt (uninvited) right at the end and stealing literally half your Zenny from doing nothing.

How are you really going to be so terrible at your job as supreme god that your vassal successfully planned to overthrow you and betrayed you right under your nose and one of her possible replacements went to some seriously extreme lengths just to get away from you?

Wouldn’t be surprised if the GW abandoned the lands between out of embarrassment tbh. The other outer gods are never going to let it live this down. The formless mother has a very loyal pawn and the rot god has wormed its way back into the system. What does the GW have again? Two problem children that wont listen to it?

Oh what Radagon? Radagon's probably it's self insert it made/possessed to try and looks slightly less pathetic /hj

Kind of beating a dead horse (goat?) here but does anyone else find the interaction between Kris and Ralsei in chapter 2, before bringing all the Darkners to castle town kind of weird?

Just to refresh your memory, I'm talking about when he ushers Susie away, approaches Kris and whispers-

"(Kris, I have something to ask of you.)

(I need you to return to the Light World...)

(And go to the old classroom, to the EAST of the closet doors.)

(Inside, gather everything on the ground...)

(And bring it back here. Could you?)"

Most people have seen this interaction and have come away wondering how Ralsei knows the layout of the Light World, but I don't think that's the most important issue here. Mainly because knowledge of the Light World seems innate for certain Darkners, as Queen also references her light world location being the Library several times.

No, the thing I find weird about this interaction is his insistence on keeping Susie entirely in the dark.

This, by all accounts of reason doesn't make any sense.

Not only would two Lightners realistically have a much easier time transporting all of those items than one, but Susie is their team mate, there's absolutely no reason to keep this a secret from her, even with their rocky first encounter. But despite this, Ralsei goes to great lengths to make sure only Kris hears this advice, not only talking well out of earshot of Susie but also whispering as to negate any chance of her overhearing him.

It's just weird. I know a lot of people playing chapter 2 for the first time picked up on the uncomfortable vibe Ralsei was giving off in the beginning but I don't see much discussion on this interaction in particular.

And it's not only this either. From what I can tell, he seems to have a bit of a habit of keeping secrets from Susie. Even more so than his normal secrecy.

My memory is admittedly kind of foggy, so I can't pinpoint all examples of this, but a specific one that comes to mind is his secret conversations with Kris from chapter 1 and 2, which even we haven't been able to see yet. (Though you could easily argue that it's the player he doesn't want overhearing the conversation that time.)

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What do you think? Is there a totally reasonable explanation behind these actions? Am I just reading too far into things, or does something actually seem off with his exclusion of Susie in this conversation?

Out of curiosity, what are the major rebuttals to the "Melina = GEQ" theory?

Because honestly, the more I think about it the more it just makes perfect sense for her to be the GEQ, and I can't really think of any counter arguments that are all too convincing for me.

It’s all good, I’m happy to answer them!

Marika very much does seem to be incredibly distant with her family (even her golden child Godwyn) which is rather interesting. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was hardly present, which would also explain why no one caught on to her and Radagon being the same person.

Radagon seems to be more connected with his children (at least in the past) but the only other connection I remember being explicitly mentioned other than Miquella is Radahn, who despite heavily looking up to Godfrey, still wore the red hair he inherited from his father with great pride.

Rykard and Ranni however seem to be mama’s boys/girls respectively so Radagon breaking Renalla’s heart and leaving abruptly very likely struck a wedge in their relationship with him, which is probably why he’s hardly mentioned in their history’s.

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As far as I’m aware the wandering mausoleums house some of the demigods slain in the night of the black knives. The beings inside are described as “soulless” in a few places, which makes me think they were other victims targeted during the assassination, but due to not dying at the same time as Ranni, were lucky enough to just fully die.

They also seem to be somewhat possessed by a great deal of spirits, as they have glowing face shaped rocks littering their bodies, which makes me believe they’ve been animated through restless souls residing in them. Bells in elden ring are also pretty synonymous with raising the dead (spirit tuning bells specifically) so I wouldn’t be surprised if they had something to do with it too.

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The Nox are incredibly interesting. They seem to be one of the first civilisations that caught on to the finger’s corruption and forged the finger slayer blade in order to rebel, but unfortunately they were found out and literally buried beneath the lands between as punishment before they could ever use it (which would have been extra awful for them as much like the modern day Carians, they too used to worship and chart the night sky). The only remnants of their society left on the surface are a handful of ruins and the town of Selia in caelid. Which funnily enough Radahn is very closely tied too.

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As for your final question, unfortunately it’s anyone’s guess. I can’t say for certain how Marika and the Nox connect. However I do think it’s likely that the Nox and Carians have some sort of inherent link due to their similar cultures regarding the night sky and moons, how Radahn was so protective of Selia and how Ranni uses the Nox’s finger slayer blade to slay her fingers and bring forth the “age of night” that the Nox are said to be waiting for.

I don’t think I ‘hate’ a single Elden Ring character. Each and every one is designed so compellingly, their stories are so varied, their interactions while sparse are the type to carry magnitudes of meaning.

Example:

For the longest time I did not realize that the scene we stroll into at Castle Morne is a slave rebellion. The misbegotten are treated as chattel. My first go around I assumed “ah yes, monster attack castle, understand”

It wasn’t until I watched a random lore video that only referenced it that I got it. I went back and read the descriptions of stuff and I’ll be damned.

There’s a lot of little tidbits hidden here and there that flip entire perspectives on their heads. Preaching to the choir on this point.

Even the characters that I generally dislike/disregard (dung-eater, (hot take) Varre, selvus) I still find fascinating. One of the cool parts about the game is you can just kill the character you don’t like. If you’re doing a run and you want to get a little roleplay in, sometimes murder freak be murdering.

Personally, I’m not on twitter, instagram (used to be), deviant art (do people still use that), or anywhere else ((I Do have a blue sky but I think I’m too dim to use it just yet)) . I’d love to be in a space where people talk more about lore or art things! I haven’t the foggiest clue where to go though. When I hear people say “everyone hates on xyz character” or “this fandom is so nuts” or whatever I am genuinely confused. I’m only seeing a portion of the stuff here, and so far it’s been more than pleasant! Big ups to the people on here, so far you’ve all been very kind 😊

So I guess, could I ask anybody to fill me in? Or where to go to get filled in?

In the meantime I want you to know I’ve started working on a pair of drawings centered around Malenia and Miquella - ooooo be so tragic oooooo

Something curious I noticed recently while exploring Farum Azula is that some of the curtains draped around the area share a passing resemblance to the fabrics seen in Marika's bed chamber, and of the ones seen in the depiction of Marika from the opening cutscene.

I'm sure this isn't a particularly new discovery, and the designs aren't exactly the same, but they're just similar enough that it got me thinking.

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Funnily enough Maliketh also shares a very similar veil to Marika's (the thing connected to his elbows and looping around his back.) His even seems to have the same golden edges as the ones from Farum azula.

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To me it seems like black fabric with golden plant detailing's are a bit of a motif with Marika. Which is nice to know, considering how little we actually know about her. (It's also pretty sweet that she has matching outfits with Maliketh)

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But if this design is a running theme with Marika specifically and not just a mistake I'm making then it begs the question. Why does this ancient, timeless, crumbling city in the sky that's presumably much older than every other area in the game have Marika's favourite design decorating its walls?

Is Marika from the time of Farum Azula? The time of Placidusax? Is Marika his missing god who he's been waiting for? That should be impossible, and maybe it still is, but she seems to have some sort of connection to this place. If not for her design adorning its walls then certainly for her godly appointed body guard living here.

Her body guard who, by the way, uses a weapon that has cultural significance to the society of Farum Azula.

You know, the society that was blasted off the map by a meteor long before the age of the erdtree even began.

This was just supposed to be a nice little post about a small detail I noticed, and now it's turned into this. I don't even know if any of this actually makes sense but I've tried my best to put it together in an understandable way.

There's still so much to go into regarding this theory (why did Marika wage war against the dragons if they have a history like this? could the meteor that destroyed Farum be one of the ones the GW sent down to bury the eternal cities? If so then could that event possibly be one of the first things that shook Marika's resolve in the GW?)

But for now I think I need to just post this and let it simmer for a while. If you got this far then thank you for coming down this rabbit hole with me. I'd love to hear your thoughts because I am thoroughly lost in just what this could mean.

Thinking about how Miquella and Radahn as a single boss are the perfect representation of all 3 demigod sibling groups.

Miquella - Marika & Radagon

Radahn - Rennala & Radagon

Mohg - Marika & Godfrey

Not only that but they also represent all 3 magic types. 

Faith - Miquella’s holy magic

Intelligence  - Radahn’s gravity magic

Arcane - Mohg’s bloodflame magic

The 3 of them converge into one being. Mohg’s body, Radahn’s soul and Miquella’s mind all working in perfect harmony. To become one.

Something neat I just discovered while researching a different topic is that the icerind hatchet is known as the "freezing fog" and was crafted using a scale from a dragon. This dragon is almost certainly borealis, a boss who is found up in the mountain tops close to Castle Sol, and who also has the title of "Freezing fog"

It's a very small detail but I thought it was neat enough to talk about since I'd never read the axe's description before!

Considering the vast majority of the fandom calls Ranni a spoilt, selfish little princess for not wanting to play nice with the god and order that destroyed her home and drove her mother insane, it really doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that many would also not see what’s wrong with how the other races in the lands between are treated.

It seems like anyone who tries to break the status quo in the lands between is often painted out to be a villain in the fandom's eyes, unless they do it in a purely pacifistic way. Including the tarnished themselves. 

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Side note but this is also why I feel like any ending that reninstates the golden order as it was (including goldmasks ending) are some of the worst in the game. The persecution of many of the other races in the lands between aren’t going to stop if the golden order is put back in power. The golden order at its core was about trying to brute force control and "order" into the world by assimilating everyone else into it.

It kind of shocks me how people in the Souls fandom do not see Albinaurics as real people. Or even the Misbegotten rebelling in the Castle Morne as something they had to do.