For the first time since, I think Death Stranding, I've felt compelled to write not one, but two (2) blogs about the same game in short succession. In this case, however, I actually really like the lore and story of Elden Ring, as opposed to the Death Stranding one being about my trying to wrap my brain around the mess that was that game's story. So, as one might surmise, that means this is going to be full on SPOILERS, for not literally everything in the game (I'd have to write a whole book to cover all that), but some major things. Main plot beats, late game bosses (including the final boss), and deeper lore stuff that I know my friends and I can't stop thinking about, and talking about amongst ourselves.

So if you haven't finished Elden Ring, stop reading this, and go do that! I've got another blog all written up if you want very spoiler light thoughts on the game, and you can read it here. It only took me 150 hours over a month and a half, not like it's a big time commitment or anything...

The set up for Elden Ring is that the player character, one of many Tarnished, has arrived in the Lands Between with the goal of acquiring the Great Runes spread across the lands, and using them to reforge the shattered Elden Ring to become the new Elden Lord. Which, I should note, it was not until the very end of the game that I realized the Elden Ring is not a ring worn around a finger. All this is a pretty straightforward, very video game-y set up. Go kill the named bosses, get their special items, and become the new ruler of the land.

Where it gets interesting is that Queen Marika, who had been the central figure in all of the goings on in the Lands Between, is the one who shattered the Elden Ring. Despite it being crucial to her rise to power, she was the one who caused the Shattering, and plunged all the lands into a devastating war. And this isn't treated as the big twist of the game or anything, so far as I remember it was revealed fairly early in the game, though I don't remember exactly where or when. Now, as for her reasons, that the game doesn't really make clear without paying attention throughout...quite a lot of the game.

It does, however, lead into one of the most fascinating parts of Elden Ring's lore, and perhaps the thing that I find most compelling about it. Marika did not just come into power on her own, or even simply through her manipulation of others to do the work for her (like her one time consort and lead war guy Godfrey). It was the Greater Will, through those creepy sets of giant fingers that were the ones pulling Marika's strings, and as best as I can tell, using her to do their bidding. Whether that was uniting the Lands Between to as close to one rule as possible, or creating a system to feed the Erdtree (and its “small” (still enormous) Minor Erdtrees)) with every corpse the living jars could get their hands on, the unseen Greater Will and their Golden Order were the ones really in control.

But what exactly is the Greater Will? Well, to use the game's terminology, “Outer God” would probably be the correct term, but I'd prefer to use the word...alien. That's right, Elden Ring is really about aliens. Or at the very least, the Outer Gods are important, though largely unseen figures in the game, because the Greater Will isn't the only one, even if they are the one most relevant to the main story. But it's not just the Outer Gods, there's Fallingstar Beasts, which as one might guess from the name, came from falling stars, the Onyx/Alabaster Lords, who apparently came to life after something with falling stars as well, and Astal the “Naturalborn of the Void,” which is very alien too. Both in how strange it (and some other one off enemies similar in design) looks, but is also connected to space in some manner.

I'll be honest, I love space stuff, and aliens. A lot. One of the reasons why Bloodborne has stuck with me so much over the years is that its world and story ultimately revolve around the Great Ones, which even if they didn't arrive in spaceships or on “falling stars,” are aliens of a sort too. And as soon as I started getting into this stuff in Elden Ring, I got real excited, because they were doing it again! Then I got a smidge deflated because I thought about it a little cynically, in the “well they're just doing Bloodborne again” sort of way. But that cynicism didn't last that long, because even if it is similar ground to what they've done before, it's interesting enough to be worthwhile on its own, and a good enough concept that I understand why From would go to that well a second time.

Also, in a lot of ways, Elden Ring kind of does feel like a greatest hits of From's past games anyway. The Outer Gods are like the Great Ones again, the core of the game feels like the natural next step in how the Dark Souls games played, and it even has the stealth and jumping mechanics from Sekiro (even if the jumping felt better and the Death Blows were more useful in Sekiro). Even the basic setup is a lot like Dark Souls, only with the “normal” ending being the “become the lord” ending(s), as opposed to that being the “dark” or “bad” ending, and the light stuff on fire ending (Frenzied Flame) is the bad one in Elden Ring, as opposed to the “good” one in Dark Souls.

Of course these games have long been about being manipulated, and the question of what's right or wrong, or the best course of action is as ambiguous as anything else. By Dark Souls III I was definitely of the belief that the Fire was ultimately no good, and that trilogy was really about those in power (the Gods, starting with Gwyn) using said power to maintain control, and eventually forcing others to sacrifice themselves (light the Fire endings) to maintain their power, and the status quo. Of course, it's not completely cut and dry considering that Gwyn tried to relight the Fire himself (I think? I mean he's the final boss so I don't remember if he actually re-lit it or lost his mind before he could), but for as ambiguous as these games are, I don't think their societal commentary is subtle.

So, like how in Dark Souls III I went with the “let the Fire go out” ending, in Elden Ring I ended up with the Ranni ending, as I am fully bought in to the idea that the Greater Will and Erdtree are ultimately bad. Also because I had finished her quest, and I wasn't going to not get her ending after going through all that effort (more on that later). Ranni (a step-demigod and the daughter of Rennala and Radagon) thinks the Greater Will exerts their will too strongly over...pretty much everything, so her plan is to take the power of Elden Lord (and thus the Greater Will's Golden Order) to the moon, where it's far away from all the goings on down on the planet, so people can live as normally as anyone could in that world.

At least that's what I gathered from it, after talking with some friends about how some of her dialog was apparently not properly translated. I don't really know any Japanese, or how the dialog was written in Japanese, but the ending as literally written in English certainly sounds a bit...grim. But I think it's supposed to be more along the lines of just letting people be, but I dunno.

Also I like this ending because it has a strong, “written by dudes who included a marriage/consort thing with Ranni because she's a lady which then inadvertently makes it the lesbian ending if you played a lady,” energy. In the same way that in Prey 2017, Morgan Yu had an ex-girlfriend regardless of which gender you picked, meaning it was either (presumed) hetero dude, or lesbian. And I guess I got the better dialog where she refers to the player Tarnished with a more endearing word because I happened to go back to her tower and talk to her (in doll form (no, not her normal doll form, a different doll form)) before finishing the game.

As an aside, I know I tend to look at games from a very “I'm a queer person perspective,” so I like to lean into things like “inadvertent lesbianism,” but there was one thing in the game that the more I think about, it does bother me. I don't go into From games expecting anything queer, even if there are certainly trans readings of Gwyndolin in Dark Souls (the predominant theory was they're a trans lady, though I kind of feel the opposite and they're a trans guy). Anyway, the boss Mohg in Elden Ring, on the surface is just another crazed demigod, this one obsessed with blood and a blood related Outer God, but read into the item descriptions pertaining to him, and he gets...significantly creepier.

He was obsessed with becoming Miquella's “consort” to the point of kidnapping Miquella while inside a cocoon, and thus powerless to fight back. Now, for context, Miquella is a guy (thus making Mohg the only character I know of in the game with any sort of “canonical” “queer” “inclination”), but also afflicted with a condition that made him unable to grow beyond childhood (the cocoon was a means to attempt to get around that magically). And also Mohg's half brother, as they share the same mother (Marika).

Now granted, “consort” is a very loaded term that the game uses a lot, and arguably more often than not it's purely for political reasons, as opposed to anything else. But even so, Mohg wanting to be the consort of his half brother, who is perpetually a child is...creepy. Of course I don't exactly think the game thinks the “Lord of Blood” is anything other than a boss to be felled, but again, aside from the “inadvertently lesbian” Ranni, that's the closest thing to a queer character I found in this game, and...I don't like that. I think it's fine to have queer characters be villains in media, but less so when the only one in the game is an incestuous pedophile. Even if you try to look at it as Mohg wanting Miquella to grow up first, that's then him grooming his half brother, and considering the current climate of supposed grooming being the central pillar of the fascist attacks against queer rights in America, well it just starts to feel even grimier than before.

And before anyone tries to say “Mohg just wants to be monarch,” if that's the case, then he should be killing his twin Morgott, “the Last of All Kings.” If Mohg has any claim to any throne, it should be through his brother who's currently claiming to be king, not poor Miquella.

I'd like to think From, or even George R. R. didn't mean anything by this, and that I'm just reading into it too much. Maybe Ranni is canonically bi, and maybe there's other queer characters in the game that I just missed, or maybe there's a genderfluid reading of a character (or pair of) that I don't really buy into for reasons I'll get to later. Still, it's the one part of the game's lore that after thinking about, I felt bad about it. But now it's out of my system, so this longer than intended “aside” I inserted after writing the rest of the blog is over, and I can get back to just discussing the game's endings.

I haven't exactly had the time to replay a 150 hour game (I know it'd be much faster to play again now that I know what I'm doing), but I have gone and looked up the other endings. The Frenzied Flame ending seems pretty unequivocally bad, just swapping the Greater Will for a different, much worse Outer God. I mean, for as much as they overextended their will, at least they didn't want to literally burn everything. And the other endings, watching them all in succession in a YouTube video, the only differences seem to be the color of the sky, maybe some weather effects, and slightly different dialog from the narrator who I don't think had spoken since the game's intro.

Which is all to say that apparent mistranslations aside, I think Ranni's is the best ending, and probably the only reason to ever go for the other ones would be to get all the Trophies/Achievements. And considering the PS5 doesn't let you copy saves off the system like the PS4 (cowards!), I don't really think I'll be replaying it twice more to get the Trophies for the Frenzied Flame or Become the New Elden Lord endings. That was how I got the other two endings in Bloodborne whilst only replaying it a second time. Listen, I spent that time in the Chalice Dungeons to get to the Queen Yharnam boss for the Platinum, I put in my time!

But back to Ranni, on the whole I'd say her questline, and the side quests associated with it were my favorite side quests in the game. I'm counting the first quest with Blaidd, the one that can be found and finished very early on as a part of this, considering how closely tied Blaidd is to Ranni. Blaidd was also probably my favorite character in the whole game, partly because he was one of the first named NPCs I found, and interacted with, so he ended up being one I spent a lot of time with. But he's also a cool wolf man, and his initial seemingly one off quest to get back at that guy in the Evergaol felt like a classic little From quest. Help an NPC beat a mini boss (or in this case summon Blaidd for help), and then the two of you part ways, and continue on your journeys.

Quite a bit later on, I encountered a humble, though large blacksmith named Iji, just sitting by the side of a path leading up to a large manor. Aside from offering his smithing services, Iji tried to dissuade me from going to the manor, saying it was protected, and whatnot. Despite his being a much more pleasant blacksmith than Hewg at the Roundtable Hold (though Hewg endeared himself to me by the end of the game), I ventured forth regardless, avoiding the giant magical blasts, and eventually worked my way through the manor and met Ranni. Or, re-met her, since she appeared as Renna much earlier in the game, and gave me the ability to summon Ash Spirits. No, I don't really know what exactly the differences between Ranni and Renna are, or if that's just a fake name she used for some reason. I've not read into this, as I'd probably just wait for Vaatividya to do a video on Ranni and hear his explanation since he has such a nice voice.

Anyway, after pledging to Ranni (though I just remembered the whole reason I was looking to do this was because Rogier at the Roundtable had his own quest to find a Mark from Ranni's old body and I was going undercover at first), I was delighted to see Blaidd again, and find out that he and I were to embark on a quest together! Or, as together as anything is in a From game, which is to say we met up at a few different locations. First underground, then later at the Radahn Festival, which is yet another standout moment in a game filled with so many. That was also where I met Iron Fist Alexander, and the moment of charging up against the enormous Radahn with a whole crew of other warriors was fantastic. I know the word epic has long been ruined by the internet, but it felt epic in the very classical sense of the word, and that was a fun fight.

As an (actual) aside I beat Radahn before he was nerfed, though apparently he was later buffed again, so I don't know if he's as “hard” as he was initially, still easier, or maybe even harder? I dunno, I didn't think the fight was that hard, just a matter of summoning everyone for help, and figuring out how to avoid his falling star smash attack.

Anyway, eventually this quest led to Blaidd being locked in the very same Evergaol his prior foe had been (I must admit at this point I started looking up what was going on because I had gotten so far underground (and in the wrong direction, to boot) without finding Blaidd and I was worried). By Iji, no less. So I confronted Iji, feeling like I was about to be heartbroken at his betrayal, only to learn that he did it for Ranni's sake. As Blaidd, due to his nature as being from the Greater Will (I think?) would eventually lead him to turn against Ranni, as her quest was against the Greater Will. I conveniently did not mention to Iji that I had already let Blaidd out (or rather I don't think there was a dialog option to, but I don't remember exactly), and continued on my quest.

Which is to say I had to get a friend to help point me in the right direction because I completely missed where to go underground, and then later I had to look up what to do after I found the Ranni doll, but missed the one spot you can initially talk to her. So, after talking, I ventured onward, and eventually finished the quest with a wedding proposal (a bit odd considering how she and my Tarnished barely knew each other), a promise to meet again once this was all done, and a bit of a chuckle as I remembered this all started with a request from Rogier, who at this point was long dead. RIP to Rogier, who even if he fell in with the wrong crowd (Fia and her death cult), he still deserved better.

Sadly, this wasn't where it ended, as I was heartbroken first when I had to fight Blaidd (well I could have just run away but felling him in battle felt like the way it was meant to end), and then when I found Iji had been killed by the Black Knives. That especially, I hadn't seen coming. Unlike Blaidd, which I had accidentally read too far on the wiki page about the quest (plus it was easy to see coming after talking with Iji). But Iji, I was completely blindsided by, and felt terrible about. He didn't deserve that. Neither did Blaidd!

In the end though, that's kind of how a lot of the quests in From games go. People try their best, but things go wrong, their wills eventually give out in the face of seemingly impossible odds, or whatever else gets in the way. This wasn't the only time I felt devastated at what happened either.

After feeling happy that Diallos had found a place where he could be useful, at Jarburg helping the Living Jars, I couldn't help but get a sinking feeling in my stomach. I knew something was bound to happen, I just didn't think it would be as bad as it was. I came back one time, and found that the little Jar Bairn (or Jar Kid as I liked to call them) was the only Jar left alive, and Diallos was dying. He asked if he had been able to protect the Jars, but as I looked at him, and the devastation, I lied, and said he had. No point in making him feel despair in his last moment, even if he had failed in his duty.

As heartbreaking as this moment was, I think this quest has a bit brighter of an ending to its tale. Jar Bairn dedicates their life to growing up to be a brave warrior like Diallos, and like their uncle Alexander, and they go off on a quest to do so. Not seen again, but I'd like to think they succeeded. Who knows, we may even see them again in Elden Ring II, maybe all grown up and strong. Finally the Warrior Jar we all want to see in the world.

I won't go over every quest in the game, but I've got a few more I want to at least mention. Millicent's was another tragic ending, as she gave up right before making it to Malenia. This one especially hurt, because she was so close, and even if she would've (I think?) had to give up her needle to save Malenia from the Scarlet Rot, that would've been a better end than just giving up. Also because I could have used her help as a summon against Malenia, because while I refused to summon other players or use a Spirit Ash, I generally don't have qualms summoning the AI that the devs specifically placed at specific bosses. I like to think of those as bosses that were balanced or designed around having that help, and that maybe there's some story reason for their help. Like how I think it'd be really dumb to go against Radahn all alone!

But the other two I want to mention, Boc and Rya, have happier endings. Or, they can, I guess depending on what you do in them. Boc is a demi-human (I think?), and while there's not really much to his quest, I do think that after reading how else it can go, the fact that his is about accepting who he is, and not feeling ashamed of his physical appearance is nice. And I should say, I wouldn't have had any idea that you're supposed to use one of the Prattling Pate “say a phrase out loud” items near him (the “You're Beautiful” one that I think isn't actually from Pate) if a friend hadn't told me about it. And Rya is a similar situation, where I think the ending I got, not erasing her memory so she instead comes to terms with her serpentine origins, and goes off on a quest to truly find herself is an uplifting ending.

I mentioned Radahn and Malenia earlier, which brings up the topic of the boss fights. I didn't really want to spoil any of the bosses in my other blog, so now here I'm going to do just that for the bosses, or moments during bosses that really jumped out to me. Obviously the whole of the Radahn Festival and that epic charge to face him in battle was great, but maybe my favorite part of Radahn is that while he's the biggest boi, his steed is decidedly normal in size. I briefly mentioned Leonard in the other blog, but not the fact that Radahn mastered gravity magic specifically so he could continue to ride and spend time with his beloved friend. I still feel bad for Leonard in a way, because even with the gravity magic he does look to be struggling in the cutscene before fighting Radahn, but I like to think that's only because Radahn has since lost his mind. When he was fully in control of himself, I want to think Leonard barely felt a thing as the two moseyed about. But also, I can't help but admire such a dedication to an animal friend, learning to control a type of magic so well that he could also hold a falling star suspended in orbit. If that isn't love, I don't know what is.

But earlier in the game, the first moment in a boss fight that stood out to me was the second half of the fight with Godrick the Grafted. Where, during a cutscene, he lopped off HIS OWN ARM, and as is his namesake grafted on something else in its place. Naturally, he went with the head of an already deceased dragon. Just an absolutely gnarly moment, especially considering it worked and now he had fire in addition to all his other moves!

Malenia, despite my being frustrated at how hard her fight was, is probably my favorite boss in the game. Partly because overcoming that challenge was so thrilling, but I really like her just as a whole. Her entire aesthetic, in both forms of the fight, honestly. Though if I'm being honest, part of me wishes they'd gone even further with the prosthetics. Like, I know she'd already lost an arm, a whole leg and part of the other, but if the idea is that the Scarlet Rot takes the limbs first (this is what my lore obsessed friend told me), and she being the goddess of the rot, I kind of think almost her entire body should've been prosthetic. That, or after her rebirth for the second phase, she should have lost the prosthetics and had a wholly organic body again. Yes, even the cool arm that's probably the most iconic part of her visual design, going back even to the reveal trailer from 2019.

Also if I'm being honest, I'm jealous of any warrior who can just throw off literally all of her armor, and not only keep fighting, but be even stronger and tougher than before. Plus I appreciate that they had a boss who is a literally nude woman but did it without her feeling sexualized. On the flipside, one time after I died she was standing in exactly the right spot so her butt was right in the camera, taking up most of the screen, so that did get a big laugh out of me. All the rot butterflies are neat too, I just wish it was easier to appreciate them without having to be dodging for my literal (in game) life, haha.

In terms of the fight itself, the character, and the visual design, Malenia is my favorite boss in the game (Radahn's up there too, though), but my favorite funny moment in any fight has to be with Godfrey. The fight against the actual Godfrey, not his shade earlier in the game. First off, in the initial phase, I couldn't help but think that the lion Serosh looked like it was a Stand from JoJo's. I also, throughout that first phase, kept thinking that the second phase was going to be the lion getting off his back, and then having to deal with both of them at once. Surely that was the reason Nepheli (another character I found quite endearing, even if I didn't detail her quest here (I'm glad she ended up with her own castle)) was summonable to help, right? Considering that Maliketh was the hardest of the late game story bosses (for me anyway) the idea of a similar beast boss in addition to Godfrey seemed intimidating.

But no, instead Godfrey kills Serosh, maybe absorbs its power, throws away his ax, and assumes his true form: Hoarah Loux, warrior, and...professional wrestler. If you went against my suggestion and read this without finishing the game, I'm not exaggerating. He's shirtless (sadly not fully nude like Malenia; thanks cowards), covered in blood, and starts using grapples and throws. Throwing the player (and Nepheli) high into the air, before slamming them back down, shattering the ground around them. It's great spectacle, very silly, and I absolutely loved it.

I have the steelbook case for the game, which has Godfrey and Serosh on it, and through so much of the game I kept wondering why they, of all people, were on it. Aside from looking cool, which they do, it's a nice design, I couldn't really figure out why. Obviously Godfrey is important to the lore, but I would've thought Marika, maybe the Tarnished themselves, or even Malenia would make more sense. Malenia was the statue that came with the biggest collector's edition of the game, after all (I don't have that because that costs a lot more money, though honestly if I had that sort of money I would buy the game again to get it, haha). But having experienced this ridiculous fight, I see now. Good choice.

Then there's the final boss fight(s). First Radagon (at this point finally revealed to also be Marika (I again promise more on that soon)), and finally the...Elden Beast. Let me tell you, I was a bit perplexed at this one. At this point I was well aware of the alien stuff in the game, but I wasn't expecting the last boss to just be one. Or some form of one, I'm still not entirely sure what the Elden Beast is. Probably not the Greater Will themselves, just some manifestation of them, or maybe one of their more powerful minions or something? Either way, it was at least a pretty fight, if a bit on the easy side. If I hadn't already used up most of my flasks on Radagon, I'd have felled it on my first try. Even so, all it took was swapping out my physical damage negation talisman for a holy damage one, and I felled them both on my second try.

Speaking of, I'm mildly obsessed with the fact that rather than “defense,” Elden Ring calls it “damage negation.” I don't remember if any of From's previous games did this too, but I just find it funny.

So, I think the last big thing I want to bring up is the Marika and Radagon thing. Just the whole question of what exactly is going on with them. Are they the same person? My first thought was that Marika was some sort of genderfluid shapeshifter (I told you I'd get to it), and that she created the form of Radagon as a means to seduce Rennala, and bring about peace that way, as Godfrey didn't seem to be able to wrestle Liurnia into submission. As far as I know the earliest mention of Radagon is in relation to this stuff, so from that perspective it could be conceivable that he exists solely for this purpose, as purely a guise Marika created to suit her (and the Greater Will's) needs.

But that theory doesn't really work out considering a couple other things. The first, which is debatable given the fantastical nature of Elden Ring, is that Marika and Radagon had several children together. Again, given it's a fantasy world, I can't say that a shapeshifter wouldn't be able to have children with themselves. I also can't help but think about out of all the demigods, their two children, Malenia and Miquella, are the only two that were both with serious “health issues,” for lack of a better phrase. Malenia afflicted with the Scarlet Rot, and Miquella with the inability to grow out of childhood (though I guess how young he perpetually is isn't shown directly).

But really the fact that Marika and Radagon have such different motivations is the biggest evidence that they're two separate people. Marika shattered the Elden Ring, and Radagon tries futilely to repair it, as seen in the reveal trailer from 2019 (even then I thought something was up with there being two separate people who looked very similar working that anvil).

So, if they have such different motivations, and they're two separate people, why do they share the same body? That's the question, and considering how the game ends (with Radagon felled, and Marika seemingly also dead as a result), I really doubt we're ever going to get a concrete answer about it. That's fine though, I like the ambiguity of From's games, and I think having all the answers would spoil a bit of the fun. Like if I already knew everything there was to know about the game, what reason would I have to spend hours watching lore videos on YouTube? Talking about the lore with friends wouldn't be nearly as fun if we had all the answers, after all.

I could keep going, there's other characters, quests, bosses, areas, etc that I could go on and on and on about. But I think I've covered most of the stuff that really compelled me, and the stuff I really loved the most. And that one bit that I kind of hate the more I think about it.

If you read all the way through, thanks as always, and double thanks if you read both my blogs about the game. Like I said, it's rare for a game to compel me enough to write about it twice in a row, especially for almost entirely positive reasons, but that's Elden Ring for you. Or From Software, more accurately.

Here's to hoping that rumored/leaked mech game of theirs is real, and continues the incredible streak From has going.