The Lore of Elden Ring is FOUL

Ages ago, before the Erdtree, the Elden  Lord Placidusax was challenged by Bayle, a dragon that lacked the  stone scales that made his kin immortal. So in mutual hatred  they fought, flesh against stone. Welcome to our second video on the Drgons  of Elden Ring, which refines their stories with the extra content we now have from the Shadow  of the Erdtree.

The DLC has revealed many truths regarding the Drkes, Drgon Communion and so much  more. But what I want to start this video off with is The Crucible, because I think it actually has a  lot to do with the story of Placidusax and Bayle. So what is The Crucible?

Well, the aspects of The  Crucible describe it as a place where all life was once blended together. And Ordovis's greatsword  says that it has a red tint that exemplifies the nature of primordial gold, which is said to be  close in nature to life itself. This primordial matter, as it's called in the Gilded Great Shield  description, would eventually go on to become the Erdtree.

But this always confused me, because if  the crucible existed at the beginning of life on this world before the Elden Ring, then how could  the Crucible have traces of gold? Shouldn't the gold have come from the Elden Ring, which we know  arrived later? It didn't make sense to me.

But now with the DLC, I think I understand. Count Ymir  brings us the revelation that life itself was created in a cosmic rupture of the Greater Will  long ago. We know that the Greater Will has gold as its aspect.

And so it is that I think gold  is just an innate part of the primordial matter of the world. Even before the Elden Ring made  landfall and put its roots into the crucible, so to speak. All of this is to say that now I think  the ancient dragons were some of the earliest beings born from this primordial soup, they embody  many aspects of the crucible after all.

Horn. Tail. Breath.

Wing. Fang. So when Metyr, Mother of  fingers arrived on this world to scout things out, I think the ancient dragons might have been  the earliest candidates for lordship.

Then the Elden Ring was sent down in the form of the  Elden Beast upon a golden star. And with that, I think these ancients of the Crucible were  granted order. Remember, the Elden Beast is the living incarnation of the concept of order. 

And incidentally, the Elden Beast's internal name is Nebula Drgon, and it does somewhat resemble  an ancient dragon. It even spews the same golden breath as Placidusax does. Of course, these things  could be just coincidental, but what if they're not?

What if the Elden Beasts form was chosen to  help ensure that this vassal beast and the concept of order would be accepted by the ancient dragons?  That's a fun thought, I think. whatever the case, we learn from the remembrance of the Drgon Lord  that Placidusax was chosen as Elden Lord.

But the question remains. Who was his God who would be  the vessel of the Elden Ring? Was it actually the Elden Beast or more likely, I think, Did he have  a God equivalent to Marika, who chose him as Elden Lord in the first place?

In the end, we just don't  know. All we do know is that something went wrong with Placidusax's order and his god eventually  fled, with Placidusax endlessly awaiting their return. Whoever they were, it's possible that  this god was also an Empyrean, a valid candidate for godhood.

And like the other Empyreans that  we know of, it's possible that Placidusax's God was also an Empyrean chosen by the fingers. And  that idea makes me wonder if Metyr, mother of fingers held any influence in this Drgon Age. The  main reference to fingers in this age comes from the Cinquedea, a five fingered dagger wielded  by the high ranking clergymen of from Azula, who served the dragons.

The Cinquedea celebrates  a beast's five fingers, which are symbolic of the intelligence granted upon their kind. Now, this  description doesn't mention who or what granted the beast's intelligence, but in an older version  of this description, it does. Back in version 1.

0, it was said to be the Greater Will that granted  the beast's intelligence. So this mention of the greater will was removed by FromSoftware.  And yet, it does make sense that the greater will would bestow intelligence upon the beasts. 

Considering Placidusax was Elden Lord at the time. So here's my theory on why it was removed. What if  FromSoftware removed this mention of the greater will because they wanted to keep the lore a little  bit more open ended?

What if they wanted to leave room down the line for another character who might  have been capable of bestowing intelligence on behalf of the greater will? This is just an idea.  But what if it was Metyr who granted intelligence to the beasts through fingers?

But however it  happened, the beasts did gain intelligence. And a really great line on that topic comes to us from  the description of bestial vitality, which reads, having gained intelligence, the beasts must  have felt how their wildness slipped away as civilization took hold. The way this last line is  worded is strangely sad.

I feel like it highlights that while something was being gained here, thanks  to the intelligence that was being bestowed upon them, a crucial part of the Beast's nature  was being lost as well. Order had taken their wildness away, and just like with the aspects of  the Crucible, such wildness and chaos would one day be looked back upon with scorn. But as we know  from characters like Godfrey, the chains of order can be thrown off and wildness can be embraced. 

Just so aspects of the crucible can persist, even if they are suppressed. For these horns,  feathers, fangs all according to the DLC, are interminable evolutionary gifts and symbols of  primacy, seemingly baked into the DNA of all life, born from the crucible. This is why I think that  at certain points in history, the crucible of life would randomly throw a curveball into  the mix.

A wild card that challenges the established order. In the golden age of the  Erdtree, It was the omen and the misbegotten, and in the golden age of the Ancient dragons I'd  like to propose that this curveball was Bayle, the dread. There is something that I think  is really interesting about Bayle's heart.

The first thing you'll probably notice about  Bayle's heart is that it's fleshy and biatrial, as opposed to the hearts of the ancient dragons,  which are literally made of stone. This, I think, was a part of a genetic mutation, one that made  Bayle weaker in the sense that he was born mortal without the stone scales of the ancient dragons  that twist time and make them undying. But I think it also made him stronger in the sense that  he was filled with a mad hunger and a fierceness of spirit that you'd think could only come from  one faced with the inevitable prospect of death.

The other thing that's interesting about Bayle's  heart is that it's "dotted with horn like gravel stones". Gravel stones, as you may know, are  the compound stones that make up the stone scales of the ancient dragons, and gravel Stone  is found within the hearts of all of the drakes. But what makes Bayles heart different is that the  gravel stone in his heart is uniquely horn like, and considering the significance of horns in the  DLC, the fact they spell this out must suggest a connection to the Crucible, right?

I feel like  there's no way this description is a coincidence. The beast horn item from the DLC explains that  The Crucible has a particularly strong influence on the beasts of the Realm of Shadow, causing many  to grow horns despite the characteristics of their species. It was in this land that the vitality of  the crucible flourished, and so it is that I think Bayle's biatrial heart, dotted with horn like  gravel stones and glistening with deep red liquor, was likely a mutation of the crucible.

Thus  Bayle, father of the Drkes, was born as the first of the ancient dragons lowborn descendants.  These drakes are unique from the ancient dragons, whereas the ancient dragons have four limbs four  wings, stone scales, red lightning and two horns. The drakes have two hind legs, two wings, and a  single horn.

Most importantly, though, they don't have stone scales, making them mortal and paltry  compared to their forebears. But if Bayle was the father, then who was the mother? Well, it can only  really be Greyoll, The great Mother of Drgons, who might have been born in a similar way to  Bayle.

Or perhaps she's even the product of Bayle mating with a different ancient dragon and  continued Bayle's bloodline on her own. It's not completely clear. Whatever the case, as time went  on, it seems Bayle's descendants became lesser not only compared to the ancient dragons, but compared  to Bayle himself as well.

And I say this because Bayle's later descendants are lacking a few  of his key aspects. Take Bayle's magma aspect, for instance, according to The Talisman of Drad.  This aspect was so strong that when Bayle roared, it would cause the jagged peaks molten fury to  boil and churn.

And I love this design choice for Bayle because it's so poetic. Bayle is born  of the ancient dragons who were made of rock. And what is magma but molten rock?

Bayle's fire  is noted to be incredibly fierce, so if Bayle had any stone scales, perhaps they were melted away? I  believe this fierce fire is also a defining trait of Bayle's kin as well. You'll note that every  furnace column has a drake inside of its basket, and it's been speculated that these bodies might  have played a part in fueling these monstrosities.

Speaking of Bayle's fire, even Bayle's red  lightning is touched by flame. It's explicitly called flame lightning, and it's unique not only  to him, but also to a few of the other drakes on the Jagged Peak. This is significant because red  lightning was a hallmark of the ancient dragons, and none of Bayle's later descendants have  mastered lightning at all.

Specifically, the drakes that can summon flame lightning are the  jagged peak drakes encountered on your ascent up the mountain. These ones exclusively drop an item  called Drgon Scale Flesh, which marks them as aged dragons. Bayle too is called an old dragon,  so perhaps the older bloodline, being closer to the ancient dragons, explains this unique  lightning that they've retained, something that their descendants have lost over time.

I want to  note also that Drgon Scale flesh mentions these jagged peak drakes have inverted scales which  actually look a lot like gravel stones. So perhaps these drakes really are supposed to be closer  to the ancients in bloodline and nature, even if their models aren't any different than the other  countless drakes in the game. Another interesting thing about Bayle's flame lightning incantation  and his other Drgon Communion incantation is that they both require pure arcane to cast, as opposed  to something like Placidusax's ruin, which is cast with pure faith.

Placidusax having faith is easy  enough to explain. Placidusax was Elden Lord to the greater will and retains his faith even in  his place beyond time after being abandoned. So of course, his remembrance incantation also  requires faith to channel.

As for Bayle's arcane incantations, well, arcane is a little bit  trickier to explain as a stat, but basically, arcane relates to one's innate qualities. The  arcane weapons of eochaid, for example, can be swung through the air via the wielders will alone,  and the albinauricss born of primordial dew are said to cast sorcery with their innate arcaneness.  So when it comes to Bayle, of course, he would have incantations that require the highest arcane  investment because he's a character defined by his unwavering will and fury.

But why? Why was Bayle  so furious? Well, one clue might come from the hornsent Phantom in the elders hovel, who implores  Bayle to hurry and lay it all to waste.

To lay waste to the proud, the conceited each. Every  last one of that arrogant lot. To be clear, this elder hornsent Phantom might be calling on Bayle  to lay Marika and her kin to waste specifically since they purged his kind.

But I think there's a  parallel being drawn between the Golden Order and the Ancient Drgon Order here. I think this elder  considers them all a part of the same arrogant lot, a defining trait of the greater wills orders  across every age we know of, After all, is a pride among those in power and their dismissal of  those seen as lesser in the age of the Erdtree, the lesser were those touched by the crucible,  the tarnished, and many more besides. And in the age of the ancient dragons, the lessons were the  beasts who the dragon priestess actually insults as foul and lowly in the DLC, and then eventually  the Drkes too were considered foul and lowly, and the ancients would go on to have intense  hatred for them as they considered them their lowborn kin.

So yeah, I think there's a parallel  between the ancient dragon's order and Marika's, and I think this is why the Elder Hornsent Phantom  is calling on Bayle to lay waste to all of it. Now, the ancient dragons might be excessively  prideful in all of their depictions, but I do want to note that Bayle was likely once on their  side because, as we've discussed with Marika, being called a traitor suggests that there was a  kinship originally at some point. So Bayle might have had a kinship with the ancient dragons as  well.

It might not have been a great kinship, but he must have been considered a part of their  order at least. But then the ancient dragons would label him a tyrant. And it all suggests that  Bayle went against the established order and an established peace, harbinging destruction  upon it all as retribution for their conceit and their discrimination Perhaps, I think, just  like with Seathe the scaleless from Dark Souls, Bayle sought revenge upon his prideful,  immortal kin.

There's a huge parallel between these two characters, but unlike Seathe,  who switched sides to find his advantage, Bayle took a way more direct approach  and challenged the Drgon Lord himself. According to the talisman of the dread, Bayle's  challenge to the ancient Drgon Lord ended in grievous mutual injury, which has forced  his weight to now be supported by his tail, and he lost a talon, which now terminates in a  sharp bone that's wreathed in lightning. And as for Placidusax's wounds, His body is covered in  scars and gashes, his tail has been cut, and most notably three of his five heads have been severed,  two of which are still clenched upon Bayle's body to this day.

The Drgon Priestess notes that after  inflicting and suffering these grievous wounds, Bayle made a hasty retreat, but the damage was  done clearly, and I reckon we could even speculate that perhaps Bayle's assault even played a part  in why Placidusax's God fled, or perhaps a part in why Placidusax decided to hide away safe in this  place beyond time. This part of the timeline is still unclear to me, but I think Bayle's tyranny  did do damage. Whenever it was that it occurred, and after this, it inspired Placidusax to  hatch a plan, for as he did with Bayle, he saw in man a fierce spirit and insatiable  hunger the very things that he thought might one day fell Bayle, the dread, and his Drkes, who  would become sacrifices all.

"In a time long past, Bayle turned upon the dragon Lord. The foul  traitor assailed our master and inflicted a grievous wound only to make a hasty retreat,  becoming a sworn enemy of the brood. Since that day, Bayle and his bloodline,  the Drkes, have served as sacrifices for Drgon Communion.

" This is Florissax, the  Drgon priestess, and here at the Grand Altar, she explains the origins of Drgon Communion that  there is a mad hunger and fierceness of spirit that only flows from those young and short  of sight, and that after being wounded, Placidusax saw in mankind these qualities  that could one day bring about Bayle's doom, this hunger, unfathomable to the ancient dragons,  would be weaponized. And so the ancients tempted the Drke warriors with the hearts of the Drkes,  who, were their lowborn kin, turned foe. To me, this is one of the most satisfying lore points  of the DLC.

Previously, we only knew that Drke Warriors were driven to consume Drgon Hearts  and pursue the strength of dragons for the sake of the sublime beauty and awe that the  dragons inspired. And that was reason enough. But it's such a great unexpected twist that Drgon  Communion was founded to tempt Drke warriors to consume the heart of Bayle, in what the Drgon  Priestess calls the purest form of communion, the fullest sating of hunger and consummation as  a dragon whole.

And speaking of Drgon Communion, origins from the Rock heart, we learn that the  first partakers of Drgon Communion were humans who actually consumed the rock hearts of ancient  dragons, not the fleshy hearts of drakes. These rock hearts of the ancients were consumed in  the ancient original form of dragon communion. Turning the humans into a new form for the first  time.

So one thing I've been wondering is why the original form of Drgon Communion required this  consumption of ancient Drgon Hearts Specifically, were these test subjects of sorts, or perhaps a  showcase of what Drke Knights could aspire to? As far as I can tell, there are three stone hearts in  game. One belongs to the ancient Drgon man in the Drgon pit.

One, I assume, would belong to whoever  left it behind upon the jagged peak. And the last belongs to the Drgon Priestess. According to her  heart, The priestess was once an ancient dragon herself, but sacrificed that form for feeble flesh  to aid in the destruction of Bayle, the dread.

She assumed human form to share dragon communion with  the world, and to this end she attends the grand altar, bestowing the favor of the Drgon Lord Upon  the Drke warriors who passed through here in that pursuit of Bayle. The fact that Florissax attends  a site of Drgon Communion makes me wonder if the two ancient dragons with rock hearts might have  sacrificed their original forms in a similar way, giving up their hearts to take over the bodies  of the first partakers of dragon communion. And this is just speculation, But there is a dead  ancient dragon at each of the two sites of Drgon communion in the lands between.

So what  if these were the two ancient dragons who gave up their rock hearts? That's a fun theory, I  think/ the idea that these rock hearts were given up willingly is supported by the fact  that we know the first partakers of dragon communion were loyal to the ancient dragons, and  dedicated to their cause. For evidence of this, let's analyze the ancient dragon men starting  with the dragon Hunter's katana that he drops.

This katana is bristling with a spine of gravel  stone, and has what is called a jagged gravel stone aura, which is akin to the aura that the  dragon communion basins give off. Fittingly too for this agent of the ancient dragons, his weapon,  like all gravel stone weapons, has an anti dragon effect, but his role wasn't solely to hunt  the drakes. His katana reads Formerly a Drgon Communion Warrior.

The ancient Drgon Man was once  arbiter of those worthy to devour Bayle. That is, before you killed him and took his weapon for  your own hunt. And incidentally, the ancient Drgon Man's death might be what allows Igon to  progress in his quest.

"I am sorry. I repent. Oh, come no closer.

Oh the horror! Please savage me  no further. " So this pleading from Igon could be directed at Bayle, who does haunt him.

And who  is a dragon one should dread. But his begging for mercy could also be directed at the ancient  Drgon man, whose red phantom is just down the way. Acting, as we mentioned, as a judge of those  worthy to devour Bayle, the dreaded one.

But Igon, wounded as he is from a previous encounter with  Bayle, he's in no state to challenge the ancient Drgon Man, let alone Bayle himself. Fittingly,  it's been showcased by Zlofsky2nd that the ancient Drgon Man's human visage is draconian in  origin, and as per the character creation screen, Drconians have the stony face of the people  of the ancient dragons. As mentioned in our previous video on dragons, there is evidence of  humans being within the ancient dragons culture upon farum Azula.

So perhaps the man who consumed  this dragon heart was once loyal to their order. Alternatively, if you're in the camp of those who  believe that this face was never meant to be seen, you could opt to believe that the ancient  Drgon Man was once from the Land of Reeds. Given he wields a great katana, Drgon Communion  warriors are commonly from the Land of Reeds, It seems.

You can look to Yura and Eleonora, or  even the Great katana looted near the Ghost Flame Drgon in the gravesite plains, as more proof  of that. But whoever the ancient dragon man was, now he occupies the dragon pit, which  from the environment, you can figure out, is actually a bastion of those in service to the  ancient dragons in the realm of shadow. And I say this because in the lead up to the Drgon Pit,  you'll find a ton of ancient dragon statues.

Though they've all fallen into disrepair.  Additionally, in the dragon pit itself, you'll find fire breathing beast men who we know were  servants of the ancient dragons and the basins here are filled with what I can only assume is  the blood of Drkes. This is a place that serves the process of dragon communion.

And there's even  a magma wyrm here that resides. As you would have learned from our last video on the dragons. The  magma wyrms were once Drgon Communion warriors.

According to the Magma Breath incantation. Those  who have dined on the hearts of Drkes will find their humanity slowly slipping away, and once  they fully succumb to their fate, they are left no more than wyrms that crawl the earth. So when a  Drke warrior eats a Drke heart, they inevitably, it seems, turn into magma wyrms.

And I think we  can finally understand why. By talking about what happens to us when we consume Bayle's heart  at the grand altar and harness his power, his incantations both read: Even after being consumed,  the throbbing heart of Bayle continues to resist its subjugation, never weakening. One day, the  fire within will consume the very body and soul of its communion devourer.

. . one day.

So could this  never weakening resistance not also be true for the hearts of dragons that Drke warriors consume?  As mentioned by the Magma Breath incantation, it is the fate of those who partake in Drgon  Communion to succumb and become a magma wyrm, which I think finally makes sense because Bayle  is a magma dragon and the Drkes are his kin who have inherited his heat. Even before the DLC,  the Magma Wyrms scalesword was hinting to us that Drgon Communion is a grave transgression  for which the Magma Wyrms were cursed, cursed to crawl the earth upon their bellies  as shadows of their former selves.

And finally, with the DLC Drgon Communion being called a  curse Makes sense. Once consumed, I think these Drke hearts still beating are resisting their  subjugation. Just as Bayle's heart describes, and they eventually overwhelm their devourer,  turning their vessel not into a glorious dragon, but into an accursed land bound wyrm instead. 

So the sacrifice rituals that the Drke warriors were performing in awe of the dragons were having  dubious results. And yet the warriors continued to indulge their appetites, all according to the  Drgon Lord's plan. Such a grave transgression also retroactively helps to explain Ekzykes,  who was the Drgon Communion revenger who was so furious at the Drke Warriors that he did  not forget his hatred even as he succumbed to the Scarlet Rot.

But how many Drke warriors  have they really been over the ages? Well, to understand that, let's read the description  of the Drgon's Calorbloom, which you'll find on your ascent of the Jagged Peak. This flower is  dotted with gravel stone and has an uncanny shape coursing with hot blood.

Its description reveals  that a single flower is said to blossom only once from the hearts of dead warriors who oft partook  of Drgon Communion. So every time you loot this, you're actually plucking it from the  bodies of dead dragon Communion warriors, which is a fact that really helps to tell a story.  This Drke warrior likely died to this dragon.

Six Drke warriors died on their way up the peak, and  this one got hit by the most telegraphed boulder of all time. What's more, Calorbloom might also  actually help to explain what arteria leaves are, which are also found on human bodies and are also  coursing with blood. So I bet these grow from the hearts of dead warriors as well.

But let me take  my speculation on Calorbloom one step further. So Calorbloom's wide red leaves are essentially  identical to the leaves on these plants, right? So I think that might mean that these plants  might be Calorbloom as well.

They just don't have the flower anymore because the flower is said  to blossom only once. And these plants blanket the earth in really appropriate places for the story  here at the grand altar of Drgon Communion, for example. And here at the Jagged Peak summit, which  is Bsyle's domain, where all the Drgon Communion warriors are coming to challenge him.

So the fact  that his arena might be carpeted in Calorbloom, and the fact that this arena does feature a ton of  skeletons is meant to convey, I think that Bayle has seen many challenges and that all have failed  to take him down. But what about the plants at the Grand altar? Did a great battle take place here  as well between Drke and Drke Warrior?

Well, I think there's evidence that it did. As if the  gargantuan dead Drke, with what looks like its heart missing from its chest, wasn't enough  to walk upon its wing, and you'll be able to loot Drgon Communion harpoons, which I can  only assume you're pulling out of its flesh. These were tools of the old Drgon Communion  warriors.

At the key word there being old, which, in addition to the harpoons sporting sharp  gravel stone, might suggest these warriors had the ancient dragons favor back when the ancients were  taking a direct hand in wiping out the drakes. As for what actually killed the gargantuan Drke, if  you go behind it, you'll notice an enormous spike jutting out from the nape of its neck. And if you  travel over the Drke's head, you'll actually be able to get up there and get a close look down  at the thing.

So through the center of the object is this straight piece of what looks like metal,  around which some sort of stone growth has formed. What's more, the metal has a blue green tinge  to it. So what is this thing?

My first impulse was just to call it a huge dragon communion  harpoon. The metal rod down the center might have simply corroded over time, and the smaller  harpoons do actually have a bit of a green tint to them as well. And green rust is common to metals  like copper and brass, After all.

On that note, I've seen some speculation online that the green  could indicate that the metal is verdigris, which, according to the Verdigris Discus, is a corroded  metal known for its heft. This is a great theory, and it really helps to tie the harpoons  to crafting techniques that would have become unique to the realm of shadow. But to play  devil's advocate.

None of this really explains the rounded stone growths around the metal, which  aren't sharp gravel stone like you'd think they should be on a harpoon. One theory I came across  that's really cool is that this stone build up might be fulgurite Which apparently is a sort of  fossilized lightning that can occur from lightning strikes. Therefore, another theory is that this  giant steak might actually be the remnant of a lightning strike, or perhaps more accurately,  a dragon communion harpoon that has been imbued with lightning.

I feel like that combines all of  the theories together. Full credit to user EDUTY for dropping this geology knowledge on us. But  for this giant Drke to have been struck down by lightning, that would suggest that the ancient  dragons were around to smite it down.

So is there evidence for the ancient dragons being a part  of this battle? Well, maybe an item called Sharp gravel stone is found nearby on the corpses of  lesser drakes. The description reveals that this sharp gravel stone is actually the scale of an  ancient dragon that has supped on the blood of lesser dragons, suggesting ancient dragons were  here, I think, and that they were feasting upon the drakes.

What's more, red Fulgurbloom is found  on the south coast of the jagged peak and is said to bloom where the red lightning of the ancient  dragons strikes the earth. This description seems to suggest this flower was in fact not set  to bloom by the flame lightning that assails the peak, but rather by the red lightning of the  ancient dragons. And this is probably a good time to mention that there are ancient dragons upon  the Jagged Peak, who are not hostile to Bayle.

So it might not have even been the hostile ancient  dragons that generated the Fulgurbloom, or supped upon the drakes. It might have been friendly ones.  This brings us to ancient dragon Sennesax.

Who, among other ancients is actually on Bayle's  side, And it's very interesting to note that these ancient dragons saw some merit in Bayle's  challenge to Placidusax. For them to switch sides You'd think there really must have been some  injustice in the Drgon Lords persecution of their lowborn kin. Either that, or perhaps these  traitorous ancients simply believed that Bayle was stronger than the Drgon Lord, and maybe they  believed that might makes right.

It's impossible to know for sure. We learn about these traitorous  ancient dragons from the hefty red lightning pot, which does this lightning AoE where it strikes  and reads the ancient dragons who betrayed their lord to side with a tyrant. Were known for  wielding branching red lightning.

At first I thought that the branching red lightning would be  this attack. But it can't be. These are actually called lightning stakes, and they're the hallmark  of other dragons who definitely are not on Bayle's side.

Thus, I think the branching red lightning  is instead this sort of chain lightning that is characterized by its ability to branch out and  chain between enemies. This is the same lightning that Sennesax and the new lightning consumables  generate. One fascinating thing that happens after you defeat Sennesax is that when you reload the  area, the space Sennesax occupied will instead be filled with a number of these slimes that are  imbued with red lightning.

The implication being, I think that Senensax's flesh has degraded into  this form. Fun fact in the DLC Early Access, these were accidentally silver  tears imbued with red lightning, which they quickly corrected to these fleshy  variants instead. Upon release.

And I think it's a significant change because in the game's  data, this variant of slime is called wriggle carrion and carrion is explicitly defined as a  dead animals decaying flesh. You might not think that the ancient dragons would have flesh, but  they do. They can bleed.

They can be poisoned, they can rot, and they can die if they  are severely wounded. So too, apparently, can they become undying carrion imbued with red  lightning. Now, it is a bit weird that these are the only ancient dragons to turn into this sort  of carrion.

However, maybe it only happens to Sennesax and her brood because they wield that  branching red lightning that we talked about. Maybe that's how the carrion inherited this red  lightning, at least. Anyway, I think FromSoftware implemented this carrion spawn because they wanted  to signpost other areas where ancient dragons like Sennesax would have once stood upon the jagged  peak.

So now we know that where there's carrion, there was once an ancient dragon. And  sure enough, wherever you find this red, lightning infused carrion, you'll also commonly  find ancient dragon smithing stones nearby, which are the scales of these beasts. Therefore, I think  that in these places ancient dragons died.

But whether they were allied with Bayle and died to  Drke warriors, or whether they were allied with Placidusax and died assaulting the Jagged peak, I  think is up to you to decide. "Curse you, Bayle! What a sight.

A warrior true if ever one there  was. A fellow drake warrior! " in Igon's second encounter, he's somehow made it to the base of  the peak.

Despite his injuries. I suppose that by defeating the ancient Drgon Man, in a way, you  cleared the path for him That he could not conquer himself because of you. He can go down  and out of the chasm that requires the Drgon Communion Warrior to be brave  and show no fear.

"Igon. Piteous Igon. Do you not remember?

Conjure your  past? how once you were. When fear was yet foreign to you!

Ha ha ha ha  ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! " "Ah, Drke Warrior. Dear friend, grant me  this one wish.

Take this finger. My finger. scale the jagged peak face Bayle  the dread.

And when you do, summon me, summon my soul, my limbs are limbs no more. My  heart is twice over filled with fear. But a Drke warrior, I remain.

And my soul yet lies on the  mountain. " With this you bring you Igon on your quest. Or rather, he brings you on his.

Igon's  bell bearing that you loot here can be used to craft Igon's harpoons which can be fired from  his bow, which is imbued with Igon's obsession. The harpoons read the broken Drke warrior Igon  made these one by one, in the midst of his agony, so that Bayle the dread himself, would know  fear. But I think Bayle has already known fear at the behest of a great enemy who he fled  from after suffering his grievous wounds, which included the loss of a leg.

It's the same as  what happened to Igon. "I remember that name well. The broken Drke warrior, driven by bottomless  hunger and fiery ambition.

Precisely what the Drgon Lord envisaged for men who partake in  dragon communion, the mad hunger and fierceness of spirit that only flows from those young and short  of sight. He rather reminds me of Bayle, In fact. such thoughts are unfathomable to ones as old as  we.

" So it's clear that Igon was designed as a parallel to Bayle, someone who is wounded. "My  arms, my legs! " Furious.

"Bayle! Vile Bayle! " Terrified.

"AHHH" But unbowed. Defined by an  unrelenting will. "There is life in me yet!

I will soon feast upon your heart! " That will is present  in Bayle's descendants as well. We can look to the ghost Flame Drgon in the Realm of Shadow for  proof of this ghost flame breath reads the Land of Spirit.

Graves is home to all manner of dead,  and even the corpses of fallen dragons found their way there. Several of them were endowed with such  vivacity that even in death they could not fully die. Speaking of the realm of shadow, I wonder,  has Marika's veil over this land had any effect upon Bayle?

When Bayle challenged the Drgon  Lord, it would have been back when the realm of shadow was still a part of the lands between  and only then, long after, Bayle retreated to the jagged peak would the Realm of Shadow have been  split off from the rest of the world, becoming a land where death flows to, but not from, but  perhaps this doesn't matter at all to Bayle, because things between Bayle and Placidusax  are at a standstill. The elder Phantom asks, oh, Bayle, do your wounds yet ache, and has been  waiting endlessly for Bayle's fury to crest it's zenith. But clearly Bayle has done little in this  time.

The only evidence we have of Bayle striking against Placidusax at all, if you can call it that  is the presence of the Drkes flying all around Farum Azula. Given this new context of a mutual  hatred between the drakes and the ancient dragons, I wonder, are these drakes flying around in some  sort of suppression of Farum Azula? Or is their presence this environmental set piece that we  were never supposed to look too far into?

I'd love to know if anyone has any good speculation  on this. Perhaps there's little these drakes or Bayle can do to reach the Drgon Lord, because  Placidusax, as mentioned in our last video, has long dwelled in his seat at Farum Azula in his  place beyond time, waiting for his god to return. So maybe he can't even be reached there physically  at least "my dear Lord Placidusax.

Tonight, like every night, My solace is yours. May it grant  you sleep in your place beyond time. " Somehow the dragon priestess devotes her sleep to Placidusax,  an act that likely makes his eternity of waiting easier to bear.

And yet he would abandon her  in a mere instant. Should she drink Thiollier's concoction and falter in her duty. "I have  broken my pledge.

I succumb to the deep slumber that was meant for my Lord. T'was a craven act of  a foul and lowly beast. Forgive me, good warrior, my lord will no longer look upon me.

I have  fallen from grace. An old dragon no longer. go, Leave me be" Here, Florissax laments that she  has fallen from grace, which I feel like might be wording that intentionally draws a parallel  with losing the grace of the Golden Order.

The Drgons did once have the Elden Ring, after all,  so it makes sense that the ancient dragons could have once had Grace. But now Florissax has lost  Placidusax's grace. And she lost it just like that.

I think this serves to prove just how  painfully prideful the ancient dragons are. "I may be fallen, but I need not surrender  my honor. On second thought, I believe you do owe me something for the transgression. 

On a mere whim, you stripped me of my one and only Lord. As such, I require another. .

.  you. One day, may you become a dragon whole.

A Lord of your own making. Lead me, and I will  follow my good Lord. " In following this questline, you'll earn Florissax's affection.

The love of  the ancient dragons has been documented previously with Vyke, and it's evident here too. With the  dragon bolt of Florissax you receive, it reads. There was a time when the priestess never knew  love and thus never used this incantation herself.

It's interesting to note that under Placidusax's  reign, she did not experience love, but now, according to her spirit ashes, she not only has  a human form, but now she has acquired a human heart as well, all thanks to her bond with you.  Of course, this love is conditional on whether you can slay Bayle or not. Before we show off Igon's  fight with Bayle, I want to take a moment to shout out Displate who are the sponsor of this video. 

If you're looking for a dragon themed print, we actually do have one on there. It's called  Guardian of Moonlight and I reckon you'll have a fun time looking for all the references  hidden within. But when you go to buy a print, keep an eye out Now for the new textre option,  which is available on select prints in large size as well For the first time, selecting this option  gives a textured finish to your print, adding a depth that can really catch the light beautifully  at certain angles.

And with the link below. For a limited time, you can get 27% off if you buy 1 or  2 prints and up to 33% off if you buy more than three. So let me know in the comments if you pick  anything up.

But back to the video. on your way up the Jagged peak, you might have noticed the dried  molten rock at the base. It's a reminder that the jagged peak was a volcano once, though it seems  dormant for now.

In the surrounds are countless dead drakes, many with that sharp gravel stone  upon them that seems to indicate that they were victims of ancient dragons. But even though the  description says that they've been supped on, a part of me also thinks they might have just  been victim to each other. These dead drakes are surrounded by a jagged peak drake here and further  up to Jagged peak drakes clash with each other.

Such a thing reminds me of the description of the  horn strewn excrement, which reads. It is said that the deadliest of the horned predators enjoy  the sport of hunting and devouring other horned creatures. Their clash, I think, is this return  to the wildness often seen in the days of the Crucible.

In times long past, life was, after all,  a crucible of competition, and one revelation from the new found bear communion incantation is that  only through desperate battle with the feral wild can one discover a God unique to oneself. So going  back to what we said at the start of this video, I feel like there is a connection being made here to  the crucible, to the wildness that is so typical of it. A wildness that persists in the Drkes  despite the order once granted upon their kin.

At any rate, the biggest threat to Bayle still isn't  from his drakes. It's from you and Igon. Once, Igon was nothing more than a poor scavenger of  battlefields, but then he found honor through Drgon Communion.

"Curse you, Bayle. I hereby  vow you will rue this day! Behold, a true great warrior.

And I, Igon. Your fears made flesh. " From  Igon's dialogue, we can note an interesting reveal that the phantoms of others are embodiments of the  soul.

It's almost as if Igon's finger is furled in invitation. Invitation to fight alongside him and  fulfill the dream that he wasn't able to achieve in life. In phase two, Bayle's fury finally crests  its zenith, and he spontaneously generates wings of pure flame lightning, evoking the second set of  wings that ancient dragons have.

The second set of wings that he was born without. Now the battle  nears its end. Thank you for watching "Solid of Scale you might be foul Drgon, but I will  riddle with holes your rotten hide!

with a hail of harpoons! With every last drop of my being! Ha  ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Bayle the dread. You shall haunt me No longer. Before I go, special  thanks, as always, to Mispap1 for just knocking it out of the park with the cinematography in this  video, particularly the Bayle and Igon sequences, which were amazing.

Also, six or so of those shots  were also thanks to much118X. So special thanks to them as well for letting us use some of their  cinematography in this video. They've been helping with the next Prepare to cry as well, so look  forward to that.

And thank you again for watching.