The Lore of Elden Ring is Cursed

Up until last week, we didn't know much about the DLC. In fact, we knew (NIHIL) But now we know that the DLC entrance is here in Mohgwyn Palace before Miquella's withered arm. I think it could be important to understand the circumstances of Miquella's death here at the hands of Mohg. So let's dive in. As the age of the Erdtree began, Mohg was born of the Union between Queen Marika and Lord Godfrey. Godfrey was the first Elden Lord, and as such, Mohg is one of the oldest demigods alongside his siblings who were Morgott and Godwyn. Mohg

and Morgott were twins. Born together and born as Omen, placing them in stark contrast to their brother Godwyn, who was the golden child, so to speak. Omen, like Mohg and Morgott, on the other hand, were considered to be cursed. But what are the Omen? Skip this chapter if you've heard it all before. But I think The Omen are born by chance, sprouting these grotesque horns that are vestiges of the primordial crucible. So what is the crucible? The crucible is a melting pot of life that existed before the Erdtree and its energies are actually what became

the Erdtree. It's here that there was this blending of many creatures, physiological aspects like feathers, tail, knot, scale, fang and horn. What's truly noteworthy about these aspects is that they would sometimes come to grow on creatures that weren't supposed to have them. For example, kill a deer or sheep or even an ancestral follower in the Lands Between. And there's a tiny chance that you'll receive a budding horn, which I think are not unlike the horns of the Omen. The budding horn reads "This horn began to sprout on a beast that typically bears no horn. Perhaps

it is a vestige of the primordial crucible." According to the Crucible talismans. There was a time when these aspects like horns were once considered signifiers of the divine. And that makes some sense because these aspects stem from the crucible which did become the Erdtree. So why wouldn't they be considered holy? And so it's during this time that we have to assume that the ancient warriors known as the Crucible Knights, were knighted, serving Lord Godfrey and fighting with many aspects of the crucible, including horn, tail, breath and even wing. But fast forward to the current age

and the Crucible Knights are lost, scattered all over the Lands Between fighting for different causes or for no cause at all. That's because Queen Marika's Golden Order abandoned them. The Crucible Gantlets reveal that "in time, the strength shown by these knights and even their appearance came to be looked upon with scorn for having such close resemblance to chaos." This matches a wider trend in Marika's Golden Order, where things were moving away from chaos and the crucible and even the Erdtree and towards fundamentalism instead, as the age of the Erdtree progressed, but the Crucible Knights got

off easy All things considered. Take these creatures, for example. Previously, they were seen as divine for having aspects of the crucible at birth. But eventually they came to be called misbegotten instead. A word that really sends the vibe that these were now seen as contemptible creatures bearing ill gotten gains. The misbegotten became seen as impure, a fact revealed by the Spirit Ashes of Perfumer Tricia, who was a healer who dedicated her efforts to treating misbegotten and The Omen as well. The Omen and the Misbegotten certainly needed treatment, as many of them suffered these grievous wounds

as a result of their horns being cut off. Those responsible for these wounds in particular were the Omen killers, a sect of Leyndell butchers, who had full authority to hunt the Omen and amputate the horns. So, in my opinion, the tradition of cutting off omen horns would have begun because horns are the offending part of The Omen as they represent their link to the primordial crucible, which is something that became this accursed concept. And omen do bear more aspects of the crucible than just horns. Mohg has a set of wings just like the Misbegotten and

Morgott might as well, though the only really raked in his animation files. Instead, Morgott has a tale just like The Crucible Knights. All that said, the defining aspect of The Omen are definitely the horns. That and their brute strength were enough to label them as omen, distinct from the Misbegotten, but still by chance. Though many Omen were apparently born directly from the Erdtree's royal line, two of the darkest items in the game are The Omen Bairn and the Regal Omen Bairn. The word bairn means child, and these items are dolls, their fetishes that were fashioned

to memorialize Omen children who are dead or who might as well be. The Omen Bairn's description reads "Omen babies have all their horns excised, causing most to perish," and those that survive live alongside those memorialized by the Regal Omen Bairn, which reads "Omen Babies born of royalty do not have their horns excised, but instead are kept underground. Unbeknownst to anyone imprisoned for eternity." So some concessions were made for omen as opposed to the misbegotten. Two Omen children Mohg and Morgott were, after all, a part of the Golden Lineage, So the royal omens weren't mutilated as

long as their horns were out of mind and out of sight. And speaking of sight, a horn seems to be responsible for Mohg literally being half blind, as it has grown relentlessly into his eye socket. Incidentally, there's a bit of a trend with blind characters in Elden Ring and in other Fromsoftware games as well, and it's that those blinded are ironically able to see what sighted folk cannot. For example, in Elden Ring it was the exiled prophets who accurately foresaw the Flame of Ruin burning down the Erdtree, and it was the guilty, their eyes gouged

by thorns, who glimpsed an Outer God in the darkness. There are lots of examples. So I guess coincidentally or not, Mohg, half blind and wounded, eventually did come to stand before an Outer God of his own as well, and he met her deep underground. This outer God was called the Formless Mother and the Mother of Truth, a fitting choice for The Omen, whose true mother had abandoned him we've talked about outer gods in other videos. But long story short, that these cosmic Lovecraftian entities that are at once extremely powerful but also strangely limited in how

they could influence events in the Lands Between instead of getting involved directly, they will often commune through envoys or vessels. And in the case of the Formless Mother, her subject of communion, one of them at least, was Mohg. The Blood Boon incantation describes Mohg's meeting with this outer god. It reads "The Mother of Truth craves wounds. When Mohg stood before her deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire and he was besotted with the defilement that he was born into." The text also describes what happens when you cast this incantation. You "thrust your arm into

the body of the Formless Mother, then scatter the bloodflame to set the area ablaze." So there's a lot to break down with this one description. But let's start with the fact that this outer god is at once both the Formless Mother and the Mother of Truth. So what exactly do these titles mean? Let's start with the Formless Mother, because I feel like that title is easier to rationalize. She is likely "formless" because Liquid blood is her essence. And incidentally, the word formless is also used to describe the Dragon Communion seal in Elden Ring, which is

also made of blood. But let's cast our net beyond Elden ring to Bloodborne, where an extremely relevant parallel to the Formless Mother exists in the character of Formless Oedon, which is also an outer god of sorts. The Oedon Caryll Rune states that "blood is the essence of the formless great one" Oedon. And while I absolutely think that the universe is of Bloodborne and Elden Ring are separate, I'm confident that Fromsoftware are reusing a concept from Bloodborne here in Elden Ring. So it is that I'm confident that blood is also the essence of the Formless Mother.

That said, the Formless Mother still has a body of sorts. We thrust our arm cross dimensionally into it when we cast Bloodboon and when we rip our arms out, we scatter not just blood, but blood flame. Thus, while I think the Formless Mother absolutely has an affinity for any blood, I think her essence is more accurately blood flame. And she's not the only outer god with a flame of her own. The Fell God has giants flame. Death has black flame and ghost flame. Frenzy has Frenzy Flame. And you could even theorize that the Greater Will

has the golden fire that spews from the mouth of the Elden Beast and Placidusax. So flame is commonly a sign of an outer god's essence. And I think the Formless Mother is no different with a blood flame that continues to threaten rupture on those afflicted long after it touches their flesh. The Formless Mother's other title is The Mother of Truth, and this title is a lot harder to interpret. The Mother of Truth... What truth? The only character that we know of that the Mother of Truth has appeared before, is Mohg. So we're kind of forced

to judge her character through his. And while I guess it's possible that the Mother of Truth venerates the absolute truth, a broader truth, the fact that she chooses to act through Mohg is at least a little bit telling. We know that she bestows power upon accursed blood, and I think this preference for accursed blood might be a part of the truth that she represents. I think she might prefer to act through those who are unfairly cursed. Like The Omen, like Mohg, and I say unfairly cursed because that's kind of what curses are always in fromsoftware

games. Curses are always the domain of the gods, and they're always delivered pretty heavy handedly. Take Dark Souls, for example, where Gwyn, a god, refused to relinquish his age of fire, opting instead to curse humanity with undeath. So that they might fuel his fire until the world turns to ash. Pretty over the top, right? And Queen Marika is actually very similar to Gwyn in that she's a God who arrogantly thinks her order is perfect to the point where she'll do anything to try and preserve it. Her hubris is alluded to in the Mending Rune of

Perfect Order description, which states that "the current imperfection of the Golden Order or instability of ideology, can be blamed upon the fickleness of the gods no better than men." And it's the same hubris that led to the scorn of the Crucible and I think the curse upon The Omen as well. To make things even more unfair for the Omen. Their curse appears to largely be one of perception. Ff hate. The Omen Bairn description conflates these two things and speaks from the perspective of an Omen child who pleads "Please don't hate me, or curse me. Please."

I also think this notion of curses being unfair is explored further in the Dung Eaters questline where the Dung Eater goes around defiling others and spreading the Omen curse. He calls this defilement his cursed blessing because if he defiles everyone, in the end everyone will be cursed and therefore no one will be. Thus, in his ending, a sort of cursed justice is restored to the world. Elden Ring has this consistent theme where characters turn their curse into their strength. And I think the Dung Eater and Mohg are perfect examples of that. And this is just

my theory, but I think the Mother of Truth might bestow power upon the accursed, because the truth is that curses of the gods are unfairly given. There should be nothing wrong with being born with omen horns, Right? It's just this genetic trait, a vestige of the primordial crucible that was once even considered divine. But thanks to the Golden Order, these creatures are now considered omens instead, So I'd like to argue that this unfairness is why the Mother of Truth bestows power upon accursed blood. But of course, this is just my theory, and I welcome any

challenges to it in the comments. I think challenging each other respectfully is how we can get a bit closer to the truth. Speaking of, I saw arguments ages ago that stated that the Formless Mother is responsible for the curse of the Omen. But I'd like to challenge that idea. I'm not sure it can be correct. For one, it's stated that Mohg first stood before the Formless Mother underground, and he was only down here because he was already banished here for being omen. So he must have been omen before this meeting. What's more, when he did

stand before her, it's stated that his accursed blood erupted with fire. Thus, his blood was already accursed when it erupted with fire. Finally, it says Mohg was besotted with the defilement that he was born into. Thus, he was born omen, like all of the other Omen children born to be shunned in a wretched mire underground. But I think there's a reason that people argue that the Formless Mother created The Omen. And I think one of the arguments is that Morgott, Mohg's brother, also has blood flame attacks just like his brother. So I think people reason

that blood flame is therefore synonymous with having accursed blood and that all omen have it. But that's not true because only Mohg and Morgott seem to have blood that was set ablaze. It's clear Mohg's was set ablaze in item descriptions, and it's clear Morgott weaponized his own flaming blood by recanting it. But no other omen fight with blood flame. So I reckon they both received this blood flame from the Formless Mother. I think the Formless Mother appeared before not just Mohg, but Morgott as well, even though that's never mentioned. Only difference was Mohg embraced this

power and Morgott spurned it. Indeed, Morgott only uses blood flame against us in his boss fight as a last resort. Morgott's blood flame became a curses sword that reads "Weapon of shifting hue used by Morgott, The Omen King. The accursed blood that Morgott recanted and sealed away, reformed into this blade." For him to have this I think, proves that it wasn't just Mohg that was approached by the Formless Mother. It was Morgott as well. They were both underground, assumedly sealed in the same place after all. So I think both of them had their accursed blood

set aflame. I think the Mother of Truth, like so many other outer gods, attempted to influence a demigod. And I think they failed with Morgott, but succeeded with Mohg. In the end, both Mohg and Morgott weaponised their trauma. For Mohg, We can look at the Cursed Blood Pot, for example, which you "throw at enemies to douse them in accursed blood, causing someone's spirits to assail them with a rabid fervor." A childhood memory of the Lord of Blood. It's basically saying that Mohg remembers being attacked for his accursed blood as a child, and considering the blood

specifically motivates spirits to attack. It might be referencing Mohg's experience of being haunted by evil spirits. According to the Omensmirk mask. Evil spirits haunt the Omen in their nightmares. So with this cursed blood pot now, Mohg could give others a similar experience. The Mother of Truth craves wounds. She desires bloodshed. Swarm of Flies, Bloodboon, Bloodflame. Everything to do with her is designed to let the blood flow. So the Mother of Truth's base desires are quite simple. But does she want more? Where do her goals end? And where do Mohg's begin? Well, beyond specifically wanting to

empower the accursed and beyond craving bloodshed, the Mother of Truth doesn't seem to want much. Take Mohg's sacred spear, for example. It's called an "instrument of communion with an outer God." And all it seems to do is pierce the Formless Mother coating the blade in her blood flame. That's it. That's the communion. What's more, this sacred spear is a design that will come to symbolize his dynasty, not the Formless Mother's dynasty. Mohg's Dynasty. The Formless Mother might enable this, but at the end of the day, she is behind Mohg's dynasty, But she's not the face

of it. So the most you could say, I think, is that she has ambition, Yes, but she's not interested in being this god That's worshiped. I think that's very fitting for an outer god, actually. Instead, it's Mohg's ambition that we should talk about. And it's Mohg's ambition that led him to leave the sewers long ago. Probably as soon as he could overpower the shackles that bound him here. This battle you have down here with Mohg is actually with an omen illusion, not unlike the fight that you have with Morgott's illusion. Omen Have this ability to

conjure illusions. We can sort of infer that from the soundtrack, which calls them omen illusions. Morgott uses his illusion to hinder the tarnished. His is pretty easy to understand, but it's kind of hard to understand why Mohg's illusion is down here in the sewers. Mohg's true location is a bit of a mystery, so maybe he put the illusion here to throw trackers off the scent and sort of pretend that he was still in the sewers. Or did he leave it here to prevent access to the Frenzied flame because his brother Morgott does something similar down

here. After all, this illusion of Mohg might even be conjured up by Morgott, because I just noticed that it seems to erupt into golden particles when it's defeated. Still, it's impossible to know for sure. Anyway, Nearby you can find an Omen Shackle. These shackles have lost most of their power now. And indeed, Mohg has long escaped the sewers. And not even the all-knowing knows where to find him. But he's here somewhere underneath the land of Caelid, a so-called "Lord of Blood" who rules in the ruins of an ancient civilization, which he has decided will be

the seat of his coming dynasty. This place is drenched in blood, swarming with Mohg's servants, and the crumbling palace itself is awash with the Formless Mother's blood flame. But it was not always this way. The map of Mohgwyn Palace reads "In the lightless depths lies the cave of an ancient civilization. It is here, Mohg, The Lord of Blood, is building his palace to be the seat of his coming dynasty named Mohgwyn." So this ancient civilization existed long before Mohg. What was this place? This ancient dynasty isn't given a name, but everything here should look very

familiar. The underground woodland evokes the one found in Siofra. The statues depict the same bearded figure as the statues in Uld and Uhl. These are the remains of an ancient dynasty that can be found all over the Lands Between. And Mohg has very intentionally started to build his dynasty on the remains of their own. Mohg calling his rule a dynasty is intentionally evocative of the ancient dynasty. We know about this ancient dynasty because of the Oracle bubbles, which are the sorceries of the claymen who served as priests in the ancient dynasty. The description goes on

to state the claymen searched for lost oracles within their bubbles. and theres a whole video to be had on this topic, So I won't go too deep into this for now. Especially since their culture doesn't really seem relevant to Mohg at all. Because I don't think Mohg is intent on reviving the old dynasty or continuing it. Rather, item descriptions stress that his is a new dynasty and if there's anything from the old dynasty that he does use, like the architectural remains of the palace or even possibly the antiquated Latin that he speaks, I feel he

might be trying to evoke the old dynasty because he might have envied how widespread the old dynasty was. And I think he wants his dynasty to have this heir of legitimacy, something it sorely lacks at the moment. Mohg's new dynasty is very different from the old. The Swarm of Flies Incantation sums it up well and reads "the new palace of the Lord of Blood lies in a swamp of festering blood." These flies can be cast as a blood oath incantation, which are spells directly linked to Mohg's own power. But aside from the incantation, these flies

also spawn from the blood tainted excrement that you can loot in this area, which contain "dense colonies of tiny eggs of unknown but assuredly revolting origin." The roped fly pot elaborates, stating "the maggots found in waste feed on blood and turn into vicious flies that are pitiably short lived. Their fangs inflicts countless lacerations on the victim while the grating sound of their wings assails their sanity." And specifically, these flies spawn from the excrement of carnivorous beasts, of which there are now many in the new dynasty, all festering with these bloody pustules and being even tougher

than their kin on the surface. So, yeah, not a great place. And yet many disenfranchised beings still seem to choose to reside here. Soaking in the festering blood swamp. Which brings us to the Albinaurics here. In a way, the Albinaurics themselves have accursed blood. Not unlike The Omen. The Albinauric Bloodclot reads "Albinaurics are lifeforms made by human hands. Thus many believe them to live impure lives untouched by the Erdtree's grace." Now, this is just my own speculation, but we know that the Formless Mother bestows power upon a cursed blood. So do you think maybe it's

fitting that of all the creatures in this blood soaked land, many of the Albinaurics have found a way to weaponize the blood. I think they've accepted Mohg's tainted blood quite well. The Red Albinaurics stand apart from their silver kin, who sit dejectedly upon the cliff face. The red ones patrol the area and fight with attacks that are actually unique from every other Albinauric in the game. Even their model is a little bit unique beyond just being red. Look at their heads and you'll see these tiny little omen horns sprouting. Personally, I believe this is because

they've been soaking in blood. Specifically, I think they've been tainted by Mohgs omen blood. We know from the seedbed curse icon and the dung eater questline that it's possible to spread omen horns, or at least that horns are an aspect of a defilement that can be spread. So I think that explains why they're sprouting horns here. And there is also evidence that reveals Mohg was attempting to share his accursed blood with others. This leads us to Varre and the war surgeons who were abducted by Mohg, who wanted to see if they could tame the accursed

blood as you enter the Mohgwyn Palace Grounds. Three white robed invaders assail you, one after the other. These are the nameless White Masks and the kind of have fascinating lore to speak of. The White Masks wear the War Surgeon Gown, which marks them as war surgeons who were effectively mercy killers. The dagger talisman elaborates, stating that "the white garbed field surgeons come to the aid of friend and foe alike, by dealing a final deadly thrust to spare them from the prolonged agony of a mortal wound." So their name is a bit misleading as there isn't

really any surgery occurring here that could save someone's life. Their favored weapon is the Miséricorde, a dagger with a name that translates to mercy. And it reads" Dagger favored by military physicians in white. medicine is mercy, and mercy upon the battlefield is ruthless." The White Mask's weapon is found in a storage quarter of Stormveil and the Talisman is found in Volcano Manor. So it's kind of difficult to say which faction they served, if any. After all, they delivered death equally to friend and foe, so they were probably a common sight on the battlefields of the

shattering, regardless of their allegiance. Their choice of white clothing is curious as well. In war, white is the color of truce, which is appropriate for these somewhat neutral characters. And incidentally, I think white also shows bloodstains a lot more starkly. And maybe that's why the color was chosen as well. These characters definitely got their hands dirty as they delivered their mercy, but constantly delivering mercy would eventually cause them to turn depraved. The dagger talisman ends with the line, "a sense of mercy is a catalyst for bloodlust," and the weapon, warns one, to "beware the killers

clothed as men of compassion." So the war surgeons inevitably developed this taste for blood, and it was this very fact that eventually led to them being targeted and abducted by Mohg. The war surgeon gown reads "of the surgeons that were abducted by the Lord of Blood. None were able to tame the accursed blood. None but Varre. That is; though he was an exception" therefore the war surgeons, These nameless white masks that assail you in Mohgwyn Palace, ended up here because they were unexpectedly abducted by the Lord of Blood. This reveals that Mohg was searching for

potentates who might be able to control the accursed blood that he had been graced with. It's more proof that he was looking to share his accursed blood with others and considering these surgeons now invade on behalf of Mohg, it seems clear that they were happy on some level to have this new violent outlet for their bloodlust. Though only one of their number actually manages to tame the accursed blood as Mohg desired. And that's Varre. But what does that really mean? To tame the accursed blood? Well, earlier we speculated that the Albinaurics are growing horns because

they've been doused not just in blood, but in Mohg's accursed omen blood. And I really do think that there's a lot of evidence that Mohg is trying to find worthy recipients who can tame his essence. Because instead of the phrase tame the accursed blood, the original Japanese actually says something a bit closer to accept the accursed blood. Which brings me to this interaction with Varre, where he gives you a wound and you accept what is assumedly Mohg's noble blood. "Give me your finger. This noble blood will be an immutable badge of honor. Once it settles

inside of you. good heavens. Clench your teeth or something." The bloody finger item, which is your finger, I might add, reads Glistening blood has been siphoned into the nail of this finger. Its sickly pale skin feels nothing now, but the nail still aches with the sweetest pain. "Never forget that feeling of agony, for it is what binds you to luminary Mohg. to all of us." And with a fresh infusion of this accursed, noble blood, you can invade other tarnished and sate your bloodlust materializing out of blood in other worlds, just like Mohg does. But that's

not the only way that you can invade with what is assumedly Mohg's blood. You can also do so with a festering bloody finger. These are consumable items and their not your finger This time. And three of them are given to you by Varre and he gives them to you as a test of sorts. "I have a gift for you. Something fit only for the wise. A means for circumventing the draw of the Two Fingers. Give it a try, won't you?" Varre is hoping that you'll use these to fuel a blood lust of your own, thereby

distracting you from the allure of the Two Fingers. Who have other plans for you as a tarnished. And if you prove this blood lust to Varre, you'll be inducted into the order and you'll have blood infused into you. Perhaps as he and other war surgeons once received. "I knew it from the very start. You have a taste for noble blood" as opposed to the bloody finger. You can receive these consumable, festering bloody fingers are blackened with blood congestion. And if you look closely, what look like omen horns appear to be writhing at the end, reinforcing

the idea again, that it's Mohg's accursed blood that had been injected into these fingers before they were cut off. The description goes on to state that these festering fingers "have been chopped off rather unceremoniously." The lack of ceremony indicates a measure of disappointment with the owner of these fingers, I think. And that's why I think these fingers once belonged to other inductees. Just like the nameless war surgeons who failed to accept the infusion of Mohg's blood. Note this dialogue from Varre. If you deny him, "you will die nameless without ceremony." So the nameless war surgeons

are likely also those whose fingers were unceremoniously chopped off It seems. They're a warning of what could happen to you if you listen to Varre's speech, which is enticing in its splendor but full of deadly consequence. Despite this harsh treatment of his subjects, Mohg is different to the Two Fingers, according to Varre at least. And one of the key differences apparently is love. In his dialogue, Varre laments that the Two Fingers have no love for the Tarnished, but Mohg does, He says. incidentally, the Tarnished are kind of related to Mohg via Godfrey In a way.

We're all of the same bloodline, So I guess it is true that we are at least somewhat alike, Varre really is very loyal Mohg. And indeed amongst all the war surgeons, Varre is actually the only one that's capable of incanting bloodflame blade. The spell that coats his weapon with what we know is the essence of the Formless Mother. Varre has been granted strength beyond any other character in Mohg's dynasty, it seems, and Varre is no doubt eventually very disappointed in you when you teleport to the palace early before the new dynasty has even begun. This

is what leads to an optional confrontation with Varre and his death. "Oh... Luminary Mohg Please grant the strength you promised. I have given everything" you can teleport to Mohgwyn Palace early with the Pure Blood Knights medal, which is something Varre gives you If you prove yourself to him. "I've gone out of my way to provide one to you. But you mustn't use it just yet. The meeting must wait until the Mohgwyn Dynasty commences. Luminary Mohg yet slumbers beside the divinity." Now that we've been inducted, we start to see Mohg's Luminary Vision and can learn how

Mohgwyn Dynasty is supposed to come about. The Lord of Blood's exultation Talisman explains Reading "Render up your offerings of blood to your Lord. Drench my consort's chamber. slake his cocoons thirst. His awakening shall herald the dawn of our dynasty." So he's specifically saying that others should make offerings to Miquella. And I think the ones he's telling to make the offerings would be his bloody fingers. By invading and killing I think we might just be making offerings of others. And I think also these offerings would be made by the sanguine nobles who are just as aggressive

as the bloody fingers are If you find them out in the open world. for example, this is one of many sanguine nobles and you fight them here at the Rose Church in Liurnia. It's likely named after the Blood Rose, which is an item deeply related to all things bloody. And the building itself is a sort of parish. It's a church that operates in a foreign land. And it's no coincidence that it's here that Varre attempts to recruit you. In fact, the enemy inside the church is supposedly a recruiter as well, although I kind of question

their recruiting techniques. The sanguine noble hood is" worn by nobles who serve the Lord of Blood" and Reeds, "known to strike from pools of blood. These assassins are missionaries come to share the gospel of accursed blood." just like the red Albinaurics, the sanguine nobles have started to grow omen horns, and their rank seems to exceed that of the Albinaurics As can be inferred by the Noble in Mohgwyn Palace, who stands before a crowd of Ablinaurics. Again, rather than being true omen, I think this is another instance where being infused with Mohg's accursed blood has led

to their horns growing a cursed blessing as The Dung Eater would say. The robes go on to read "The grand metallic pattern on the shoulder is a signifier of the noble rank they intend to claim upon the advent of the new dynasty they are working to install," and their weapons are designed to "rip the flesh with sickening efficacy," suggesting that they really are working to install this new dynasty via the blood loss of others. Making offerings for Miquella's cocoon. And again, I think the bloody fingers are the same way. Yura calls the bloody fingers "tarnished

held in thrall by excess blood zealots who stalk their own." "If it isn't Nerijus, the bloody finger. The end is nigh for you." Yura is familiar with many such bloody fingers. None more so than Eleanora, who is the one he loves. And she's the one who he considers to be the deadliest bloody finger of all. I'm dying to see "Eleanora violent bloody finger." In the end, though, Eleanora kills Yara here at the Second Church of Marika. And this church is interesting because despite being a church of Marika, there's clearly been an attempt by Mohg's adherence

to usurp it. Note the blood roses, the sanguine noble who appears here, the hound here festering with blood. And of course, Eleanora herself. Eleanora is one of Mohg's bloody fingers, the most dangerous of them all if Yura is to be believed. Perhaps it's for this reason that Mohg might have entrusted her with the purifying crystal tear an item that can nullify the effect of Mohg's right of blood attack. Either that or she has somehow procured this purifying crystal here because she has a secret plan to attack Mohg. You could definitely speculate in that direction as

well. I think if you wanted to. Eleanora wields a twin Naginata a weapon that's forged in the land of Reeds, which is a place "locked in civil war that has become alienated from the culture of its neighbors. Little Wonder. It is said that the entire nation has succumbed to blood soaked madness." It's on this note that I'd again like to return to the description of formless Oedon in Bloodborne, specifically the part that says "both Oedon and Oedon's inadvertent worshippers surreptitiously seek the precious blood." Earlier, we established that Oedon and the Formless Mother clearly have some

overlap, and I speculate that this overlap could extend to Oedon's inadvertent worshippers as well. Inadvertent means unintentional or accidental worship, In this context. and I think that the Formless Mother might have many, many children because I think you can make a good case for her having many inadvertent worshippers of her own. After all, the blood soaked madness of the Land of Reeds has led more than one of their number directly to Mohg, introducing Okina, who is a demon of a swordsman. His blood lust led him into combat with Mohg himself, and his sword tells of

this story, stating, When Mohg, the Lord of Blood, first felt Okina's sword and madness upon his flesh, he had a proposal to offer Okina the life of a demon whose thirst would never go unsated. So it was that Okina became a bloody finger of Mohg, cutting down his enemies with rivers of blood, a cursed sword which has felled countless men. Weapons like these are really powerful when paired with the Lord of Blood's exaltation Talisman, which gives you an attack boost if blood loss is triggered in the vicinity. And one amazing little detail is that this

captain of Godrick actually gets the attack power buff whenever there's blood loss nearby, hinting that he's actually carrying the Lord of Blood's Exaltation talisman and that he is thus and adherent of Mohg. The weapon art he uses, Bloody Slash, also suggests as much, as it is a "blood oath skill granted by the Lord of Blood." So it seems this Stormveil captain has either defected or is secretly loyal to Mohg, or he has a dual allegiance. I love that it's left open to your interpretation. The talisman itself is dropped by Esgar, a priest of blood found

in the catacombs below. Leyndell, the same place where Mohg first met the Mother of Truth. He wears the robes of an adherent of Mohg, except for his great hood, which reads "a burial shroud of sorts for those who discover at long last the truth they sought." I think this could be hinting that Esgar found the Mother of Truth here below, but it's hard to say for sure. Speaking of which, it's unclear if Mohg has ever shared the fact that he communes with the Formless Mother at all. Most worship of her appears to be really indirect

and bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed seems reason enough for her and those that perform it as well. Perhaps it's for this reason that the all-knowing casts doubt on Mohg's title, calling him the "so-called Lord of Blood." "so that's where the so-called Lord of Blood was hiding himself." Perhaps this lack of clarity about Mohg's rule is why even item descriptions cast doubt on Mohg, Who is "the reigning and high rank of the coming dynasty of Mohgwyn. Or perhaps a raving lunatic" After all, can blood offerings really lead to the awakening of Miquella? The Remembrance of

the Blood Lord Does state that "no matter how much of his bloody bedchamber he tried to share, he received no response from the young Empyrean." But Mohg needs Miquella to awaken because Mohg doesn't just want to be a ruler. He wants legitimacy in the eyes of the world. And since Miquella is an Empyrean eligible to be the God of this world, he could give Mohgwyn a legitimacy that might match even the Golden Order, which is structured in a similar way. It has a Lord and a God at the forefront. So it's time to finally talk

about Miquella. For if he does awaken, then it's very likely that this will lead to the coming dynasty named Mohgwyn and whatever nightmares that may bring whatever nightmares that may bring is an extremely ominous line, especially considering Miquella has a dreaming alter ego. So to explain that quickly. Like many other characters in the game, Miquella has a duality to his character. On one hand you have Miquella, the unalloyed who helped his sister resist the effects of the Scarlet Rot, who grew a home for the low and the meek, and who is cursed with eternal youth.

But then, on the other hand, Miquella is also Saint Trina, a mysterious character that has powers relating to sleep and dreams. The symbol of their faith is this trina's lily, which "dulls the senses, preventing agitation." And it's no coincidence that this lily is shaped just like Miquella's Lily, for the nascent Miquella is saint Trina, or they're moonlighting as them in their dreams, so to speak. And whatever Saint Trina has been doing, it's made a really good impression on a great many people. The Lands Between is a pretty harrowing place after all, and to get relief

it seems, some people have turned to Saint Trina whose lilies helps them get away from it all. Priests of Saint Trina also exist crafting sleep arrows to spread their teachings. "The sweet oblivion of sleep can become quite the habit." Another such item is the sleep pot, which says "like a lullaby or a quagmire. Its light purple haze irresistibly draws its victims down into sleep. Sweet dreams." Incidentally, the word lullaby brings to mind another piece of cut content to do with Miquella. Where the red-eyed merchants were once taught the song that they play in their tomb

by a mysterious figure and fittingly, Saint Trina's full cut name is Saint Trina of the Cradle Song, which connects them to the merchant's song. In cut Merchant dialogue It's stated that the one who sang for them now sings no longer. The singer is missing, just like Saint Trina, because the one who sang was Saint Trina. And we don't really have to just rely on cut content to tell us of that fact. An item called Fervor's Cookbook suggests that Saint Trina is missing, as well as it is "a record of crafting techniques left by a man

who was utterly captivated by Saint Trina. He continued the search for her in his slumber." So he was searching for her because Saint Trina went missing. Also, Saint Trina's Sword reads "Saint Trina is an enigmatic figure. Some say she is a comely young girl. Others are sure he a boy. The only certainty is that their appearance was a sudden as their disappearance." So Saint Trina went missing and returning to cut dialogue We also learn about a character called Rhico, a cut NPC who claims to be Miquella's humble servant and who we believe finds Miquella's body

at Mohg's palace. Here, Rhico states "Finally I have found it. Saint Trina's... No, Lord Miquella's cadaver. I have partaken of untold secrets such that I may aid you, O Lord. So, please, I hope you welcome your humble servant, Rhico, into your dream. The world of your heart." So Rico believed that he was finally going to be able to aid Miquella and enter his dream now that he'd found him in the physical world before the DLC trailer was revealed. I would have said, Yeah, I reckon the DLC will take us to Miquella's dream world. It sounds

like the perfect place for DLC, right? But now with the recent trailer, it can't be that simple because the interviews featured in my DLC video make it quite clear that Miquella's cadaver will instead take us to the Land of Shadow, a place that was once physically a part of the Lands Between before it was veiled and obscured by Queen Marika. In that video, we speculated that the Land of Shadow might be a place where the dead go. We speculated that it might be a kind of afterlife, or at least it might have once been a

sort of afterlife before the Erdtree sort of took over that role. We reason this because Miquella is said to have divested himself of his flesh to get there. The poem reads, "It was to this land that Miquella departed, divesting himself of his flesh, his strength, his lineage of all things golden." Of course, we don't yet know the true nature of the Land of Shadow, but it is kind of fitting for Saint Trina, of all people, to have died to arrive in this place. Because death in Elden Ring has long been linked to sleep. For example,

when Rogier succumbs to deathroot. He says this. "Lately I feel I'm on the precipice of falling into a deep fathomless slumber and I have an inkling it could spell trouble for you." Somehow, Rogier is almost hinting that he might be a threat in some realm beyond sleep. And he's kind of right, because later we do find Rogier or a part of his vitality, at least, which has been weaponized by Fia. We do this inside of Godwyn's deathbed dream, a phrase that obviously has sleep connotations as well. So I wonder, with death being so linked to

sleep, could Miquella have planned this death in his own slumber so that he could travel to the Land of Shadow? One piece of evidence for Miquella's death being a sort of deep sleep, could be the slumbering egg, which is an owl egg that will never hatch. Prized as a symbol of the most sublime slumber, The egg is this powerful parallel to the situation with Miquella's cocoon. Miquella's cocoon was taken by Mohg before it was ready to hatch. Just so this egg is looted from killing an owl and thus is also taken before it was ready

to hatch, perhaps before it was even ready to be born. The owl inside will never hatch. It's essentially dead. And this egg's description reminds us that this state of death is the most sublime slumber There is. So I conclude that there's a strong parallel between the slumbering egg and Miquella's Cocoon, touching the arm that extends out of the cocoon will bring us to the Land of Shadow, where Miquella traveled long before us. As per the IGN interview, Miyazaki states that players will be following in Miquella's footsteps in the same way that they followed the blessings

of the sites of Greece in the Lands Between. And of course, the player is not the only who is curious about Miquella. There are several other characters in the world and NPCs who have been following Miquella as well, and the player will encounter them on their journey in the Land of Shadow. And they will make new friends and enemies, we hope. Fittingly, Miquella does have many followers. So does Saint Trina. And while no one seems to know for sure where they disappeared to, it is rumored. Gideon's dialogue reveals that he suspected Miquella was with the

Lord of Blood. And there's even a phantom in the consecrated snow field who points towards Mohgwyn Palace's waygate. And they died knowing exactly who took Miquella as well. And then, of course, there's Rhico, that cut content character who senses their master needs their aid. Indeed, Saint Trina and Miquella seem to live on beyond the death of their flesh. And while the Land of Shadow might not literally be the dream world that many expected it to be, there is evidence that Saint Trina's presence has been felt here. For example. This is Saint Trina's Lily in the

base game. It looks a bit sad, right? It only has a tiny hint of purple left. So this is why I wonder could this lily in the background be a true lily of Saint Trina. It does appear to be more whole, and it appears in a sort of quagmire of sleep here. There's that signature purple sleep hue, and there's a masked character who is slumbering in this place. Incidentally, another thing I missed was that you can actually spy some lilies in the background of this fight as well. So perhaps this boss linked to Saint Trina.

But I digress. Miquella's actions are becoming clearer to us, but that still leaves Mohg. First up. How did Mohg manage to abduct Miquella? Well, earlier we talked about how Mohg abducted the war surgeons, presumably to test the accursed blood on them. So already Mohg has a bit of a history of abduction. And if he can materialize from blood anywhere, like this cutscene suggests, and like his sanguine nobles and bloody fingers seem able to do, well that would certainly explain how abducting Miquella was relatively easy for him, especially if Malenia was away fighting Radahn at the

time. So during Miquella's abduction, he was ripped out of the tree. There's clearly a large gap here in the tree like woman's form, almost as if this figure was pregnant with Miquella and indeed Miquella sits atop a giant pelvis bone in Mohg's palace, showing just how wholesale he was ripped from the Haligtree itself. The Mother of Truth desires a wound. Indeed. So we know what happened. But why? Why did Mohg think abducting Miquella was a good idea? going to get demonetized for that one. Mohg believed Miquella could have transitioned from Empyrean to god, maybe even

Miquella believed that he could. And I think Mohg wanted to take advantage of this process and take advantage of the new god that would soon rise. The Remembrance of the Blood Lord reads, "wishing to raise Miquella to full godhood, Mohg wished to become His consort, taking the role of Monarch. But no matter how much of his bloody bedchamber he tried to share, he received no response from the young Empyrean." The wording of Bedchamber is appropriate considering Mohg is trying to consort with Miquella and become his Lord, So to speak. And it being a bloody bedchamber

is appropriate too. As items state that Mohg slumbers beside the divinity and the cutscene seems to be suggesting that Mohg slumbers inside of Miquella's blood. Also, it's very fitting that they use the word slumber here. "Dearest Miquella, you must abide alone a while." So if Mohg becomes his consort, then Mohg will become a lord of sorts. Not unlike the dynamic with the Elden Lord that has existed throughout history, where they become consort to their god. But the real question that remains is how exactly does Miquella become a god in this situation? Considering Miquella's positioning in

the womb of this giant tree like woman, it's easy to assume that what he was attempting was a sort of rebirth. Here And this brings me back to Rhico's dialogue, the final part, where he says, Indeed, I beg you, Grant my wish, that when you transcend from Empyrean to god, allow me a place by your side. I wonder what if the cocoon was part of this transition? It reminds me a lot of Berserk which Miyazaki is endlessly inspired by. And spoiler alert if you haven't yet seen it, but a certain character here also achieves a

similar transition inside an egg, turning from human to a god of sorts. To become a part of the Godhand in this moment and achieve his dream, Griffith has to make a sacrifice, and in the end he chooses to betray his companions, branding them and sealing their fate. In my Miquella video, we draw a few parallels between Miquella and Griffith, and if Miquella is inspired by Griffith as much as I think, then that could be quite concerning as there is a part of Malenia's storyline as well that also seems to be setting up some betrayal to

come, although that is of course just speculation. This is probably a good time to talk about the fact that Miquella does have some very ominous overtones to their character. For starters, Saint Trina has an adult form and it's a one eyed creature with this spooky mass of elevated hair that is carved upon Saint Trina's torch. What's more, remember Saint Trina's Sleep fog draws others down into sleep against their will. Sleep is a weapon. St Trina's sword makes that even more clear, as does cut content, which states The Saint of the Cradle song has become the

very symbol of lost repose and the feeble of heart were Powerless to resist her kindness even upon the battlefield. So in cut content, at least, the Saint of the Cradle song actually fought in certain wars with kindness. So that description mentions Saint Trina's weaponized kindness, and so does this line from the trailer. "Pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive Clean the hearts of men. There is nothing more terrifying." Malenia also calls Miquella the most fearsome Empyrean of all. And lastly, the common soldiers of the Haligtree discovered a bitter truth as they awaited their Lord's

return to the Haligtree. They discovered that Miquella's sacred light would trigger them to self-destruct in their final moments. But even so, they remained loyal. And I quote, May the flesh of our deaths guide Miquella's return. So in conclusion, it's for these reasons that I'm a bit concerned about this scary dreaming demigod and about the nightmares that might be incurred by Mohg's ritual with him inside the cocoon. A part of me wonders if the Formless Mother was supposed to be a part of Miquella's ascension to God. Considering the ritual happening in Mohgwyn Palace, that would fit

because a few gods we see in Elden Ring do have an outer god as a patron of sorts. Malenia has the Outer God of Rot, and she is destined to become the Goddess of Rot. Marika becomes a vessel for the Elden ring, and she is the God of the Greater Will, who is almost certainly an outer god as well. So all of that sort of answers how Miquella might become a god as best we can. Considering how abstract the game is with these terms. My next question is though did Miquella foresee any of this happening?

The bewitching branch is an item that can pierce a foe and turn them into a temporary ally. And it reads. "The Empyrean Miquella is loved by many people. Indeed, he has learned very well how to compel such affection." The wording here is kind of sinister, right? The fact that Miquella is capable of consciously compelling affection in order to get what he wants is very manipulative. And if Miquella is capable of masterminding others affections. Who's to say he hasn't done the same with Mohg? Mohg's Infatuation with Miquella is very obvious and very cursed, Considering Miquella's eternal

youth and the fact that Miquella is technically Mohg's half brother. Again, I'm reminded of this scene with Griffith from Berserk, where Griffith spends a night with a powerful, perverted older man for money, which he needs to achieve his own goals. The man, Gennon, is obsessed with Griffith. But to Griffith, Gennon is nothing more than a stone lying on the side of the path he walks. And Griffith eventually discards him as such. In my Miquella video, we talked about just how much overlap there is between the characters of Miquella and Griffith. And so I just can't

shake the feeling that Miquella might be using Mohg here. But if that's true, why, what would Miquella stand to gain from masterminding this entire situation where he ends up dead and defiled? Before the DLC trailer dropped I had imagined that Miquella's arm would take us into Miquella's dream world, and so I thought that Miquella might stand to benefit or suffer thanks to Mohg's actions upon his slumbering form. I thought he might have even been co-opting the Formless Mother for his ascension into a god. But now, from what we understand about the DLC trailer, the Land

of Shadow is a place distinct from Miquella. So the answer becomes different. We know Miquella divested himself of his flesh and grace to get here, so it's harder to imagine that the bloody rituals happening in Mohgwyn are having any effect on Miquella's self. Mohg really might not be getting any response from Miquella. For good reason. So I'm going to present one new theory on why Miquella might benefit from being here. Based on the information we have from the DLC trailer and it's this. So we know Miquella divested himself of his flesh before reaching the Land

of Shadow. Right. And we know that he also divested himself of his grace To get here, he divested himself of his lineage, of all things golden. Divesting yourself of your flesh is hard enough, but divesting yourself of your grace is also difficult. Ranni has difficulty with this in her questline she divests herself of her flesh finally. But even then, she's still linked to the Two Fingers and has to kill them to be freed completely. So what if Mohg instrumental not just to the process of Miquella dying, but the process of Miquella losing his grace as

well? What if by being doused in accursed blood, Miquella was defiled to the point that Grace left him fully? We know that those doused in Mohg's accursed blood start to grow Omen horns and the Omen are graceless. And we know that being defiled is something that many people in the Lands Between fear. The Dung Eater Is proof of that. We talked earlier about how they defiled people and how those people are terrified of what this means for them And their rebirth. So it is that I think that Miquella might have wanted to die in this

manner, to fall into this state of sublime slumber and also to be defiled to the point where Grace leaves him. But that's just a theory. And of course, we don't have all of the pieces of the story yet. And I think it's impossible to say for sure which direction his story will go. I think this state of speculation is very much exactly where Fromsoftware wants us to be at this point. Even the all-knowing doesn't know what's going on here. "So Miquella was with the Lord of Blood after all. That is some fine intelligence. Indeed. While

I wonder what comes next, if he continues this long within the cocoon, all will be well. But perhaps it will be safer to destroy it. Miquella is The one thing that remains a mystery to me." So, what do you think? Did Miquella anticipate being taken from the Haligtree? Will he be affected by the Lord of Blood's machinations? Mohg certainly believes so. In fact, Mohg believes this even beyond the very moment of his death. "I can see it as clear as day. The coming of a dynasty. Mohgwyn." Before I go, let me tell you a little

story about a game that was scheduled to release on June 21st. So this is Enotria, A souls like title inspired by Italian folklore and history, which gives it an extremely unique vibe. For example, this is Quinta, the game's opening area rendered gorgeously in Unreal Engine five here. I love the verticality in these scenes. I think there's going to be so much level design they can play with there. And I was very excited to explore this Mediterranean world. But then Elden Ring announced its DLC for the same day as their release. Oof! Luckily, however, I've heard

they're announcing a new release date soon. Now, I don't usually take soulslike sponsorships unless it's something I've played and loved, but since the devs for this game weren't strict on what I had to say here, I decided to take this one because they're clearly happy for their product to speak for itself and I think that kind of confidence is awesome. Their gameplay trailer mentions huge skill trees, spells buffs, passives and a special type of equipment called masks, which are at the center point of each loadout. They've also said that they've spent a lot of time

getting the motion capture for animations right, which is potentially the most important thing for a soulslike for me. And the gameplay system also builds in something called Chainable Parries, which reminds me a lot of Sekiro, which I love. So if you like what you see, consider following some of their pages or even pre-ordering. You can learn more over at Enotria the last song slash preorder Or you can click the links in the description. Thanks guys.