ELDEN RING LORE: Who is Radagon?
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2024
- Lance McDonald: Elden Ring Cut Content - Limgrave's Burning Stone Heads - Varre's Alternate Dialogue
• Elden Ring Cut Content...
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00:00 - Intro
01:14 - Radagon Timeline
04:57 - Radagon was always Marika
06:46 - Radagon was extracted from Marika
10:51 - Radagon was a Fire Giant
13:02 - Norse mythology
14:58 - Radagon was a Fire Monk
19:04 - Radagon was a homunculus
22:24 - Summary
23:57 - The bald monk
27:30 - Channel update
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17:25 Counterargument: Radagon also uses no sorceries in his bossfight, despite it being well known he had studied them in the past. If Radagon were to abandon sorceries, then he would abandon fire incantations a thousand times over especially considering that he hates his (presumed) heritage
Under rated comment, you are correct. In fact, it only seems natural to me that the power of fire is prohibited to Radagon. I believe Radagon is tokenism set up by the greater will after conquering the giant war, in order to assimilate and better control the lesser giants, the descendants of giants and others under erdtree's order. Same apply to Marika, a tokenism to the descendants of eternal city, Numen and Nox, that's where Sellia comes from btw, even under the influence of the erdtree, just a sidenote, I believe Marika was the gloam eyed queen herself, she get betrayed and defeated by her own shadow Gurranq and too get assimilated into the being as she is now, a vessel of the God's will. Back to the topic, same apply to Ranni, as the first heir of Carian Royal, being appointed by two fingers as empyrean so that the erdtree could better assimilate and control the Carian loyal and the Raya Lucaria. Everything connected isn't it? I formed entire plot and story/theory to these and it seems true to me, but it will end being an essay cuz basically everything connected with each other, so I will stop at here.
That being said, we must acknowledge that he is the figurehead of the fundamentalist school of incantation, often perfectly marrying/requiring faith and intelligence (sometimes requiring intelligence alone) to be properly wielded. Not only that, but the criss cross pattern of the seal upon the Erdtree is the very same as the seals protecting Raya Lucaria, only golden. It seems to me that Radagon didn't completely abandon sorceries so much as he weaved them into the things Marika taught him, giving way to his own ideal of what magic should be.
@@ultrabear1583 Dear Mr Bear , thanks for these words as long as they might be that is what im looking for ! As it happens like many others im banging my brains to figufe stuff out so would you be open to conduct a 4,5 min chat with me some time , I have a couple of questions that I think you might have better answers to !
@@geraltapprentice6394 yea sure mate, feel free to ask any questions about elden ring, I'm happy to share what I observed, noticed and knowledges I had over the periods of lore hunting.
By the time we fight him, he is already dead and the corpse its manipulated by the elden beast....thats why he uses not magic
Has anyone thought about the idea that maybe the spear in Marika's side when she's crucified is Radagon? When she drops from the arc, the spear dissapears and radagon takes over, as if the spear was absorbed. He never uses the thorn in his boss fight either, which is odd. It is also the color of copper, or "red-gold". Perhaps it's also a shard of Amber Starlight so that Marika can be puppeted by the Greater Will after she begins to question the Order. Just a thought.
The spear is destined death, after u return death to the lands between, if u look good death return to the rune,
Who is Radagon? No, who WAS Radagon?
In this case, the best question really might be... Why is Radagon?
But nobody ever asks: how are you, Radagon?
@@spacecowboy5486 well, by the time you get to him he is too busy whooping your ass to listen to anything
I'll do you one better, why is radagon?
But gentlemen these replies beg another question...WHEN is Radagon?
The big thing about radagon and the fire giants for me is that aside from the braid alot of descriptions that mention fire giants can parallel radagon in so many ways just of the top of my head.
There's the sword of night and flame which was made by the early astrologers and fire giants BUT can also be seen as a parallel of radagon and rennalas marriage and union.
The trolls hammer said that trolls were descended from giants and that they considered smithing divine radagon is a divine who uses a hammer and from the golden order greatsword description we know smiths
Then there's the sword of milos a sword made of the bones of an undersized giant who was hated by his own kind. And what's radagons a potential undersized giant who hates his own kind's eventual fate? Being made into a sword!
Consider that causality is a big part of the Golden order religion. Radagon already is part of Marika in the future, but not in the past. Causality means it's already happened, we just haven't gotten there on the timeline yet
My thoughts exactly, this also plays very nicely with certain traditional Japanese approaches to storytelling, such as film making, which are more concerned with moods and themes than strict adherence to linear structure.
This video stands a foot above every other lore video that just repeats item descriptions and doesn't try to connect the dots.
Please keep making these.
At some point the souls lore community got really “clinical” and “scientific,” which may be bc dark souls III is a pile of half finished ideas and loose ends (Sekiro lore community was much smaller so I’m skipping that.) The best DaS3 lore videos ironically relied on DaS1 far more than the newer game, bc that’s where the cohesive lore was. Ring is far more cohesive than DaS3, but it’s also harder to interpret than DaS1. Weird spot.
@@sams7068 This is why I asked him specifically about the connection between the very sparse descriptions of a father of darkness and the quest line that Ranni is put upon and put you upon. The fact that her dialog references the dark references references mystery and being alone and fear makes me think that the father of darkness might be an outer god that is guiding Ranni. I ask him that because I don't like any other The lower hunter will dive so deep and attempt to make connections where it's all but compresensable
Check out Smoughtown, he's great too.
@@arcanefire7511 I watch him and I agree.
Ziostorm's not bad as well.
Agree 100%
On the issue of Radagon and Marika becoming one, I think its worth noting that Radagon is tied to the chemical Copper in that his symbol is clearly inspired by copper’s alchemical symbol. Marika meanwhile is associated with the chemical Mercury. In real world chemistry, pouring a liquid mercury onto solid copper forms a hard alloy of mercury co-crystalized with cooper. Also, in soil, copper pellets will attract mercury due to their small magnetic charge.
To add to this, it seems the 4 chemicals typical of alchemical amalgams (Mercury, Silver, Tin, Copper) are associated with the 4 main parents of Elden Ring, Marika (Hg), Rennala (Ag), Godfrey (Sn) and Radagon (Cu).
Where does all these comparisons between ER characters and chemicals even come from. I can't even remember copper being mentioned in game, and all of Radagons tools are gold, not copper.
@Charles Hastings yeah i know that but what connects those specefic characters with those specefic alchemical substances?
@@frokiedude0334 use brain next time
@@frokiedude0334 nothing bro, use brain
"The Erdtree might have been a giant mushroom because it feeds on dead things."
Or it could have been a giant tree, because trees *also* feed on dead things. Fungi aren't the only things that can decompose organic material, and trees can be nurtured with the dead just fine. In fact, an increasingly popular burial method intentionally uses the body to nurture a tree.
Also it looks like a tree.
Trees on its own cannot decompose stuff, it’s just the fungi that lives symbiotically with the tree roots that do it. Then the root takes it in.
I'd like to take this time to remind everyone that tree roots (and most plant roots) grow with symbiotic fungi known as Mycorrhizae. This fungus acts as a way to produce valuable nitrogen compounds and even acts as a bridge of communication between two plants. Proper mycorrhizal growth leads to stronger plants with better immune systems.
IT also means that plants use a fungus-based internet.
yeah the mushroom thing is weird because trees like any plant feed on decay.
@@VultureXV the forest network! I always love reading about it
I try to simplify it with a twist on your homunculus take: Marika is the Elden Ring and can extract runes from it as she did with Destined Death. Marika extracted the rune of order from the Elden Ring which became Radagon - his symbol of the lattice that supports the Elden Ring from behind.
Damn that's a good one. But why didn't the rune of the unborn manifest itself in the form of a being like radagon or Melina?
@@victorprati7908 The amber egg it was trapped in contained it?
@@Nostradevus1 oh yeah possibly!
The D twins' lore could support the theory that Marika and Radagon were always one being.
From D's armor :
"The two known as D are inseparable twins.
They are of two bodies and two minds, but one single soul. Not once do they stand together; not one word do they speak to one another."
From the Inseparable Sword :
"The inseparable twins found solace in the Golden Order,
the only institution not to revile them as accursed beings."
It would make sense that the Golden Order would accept them if Marika herself was the same type of being, two bodies, two minds and one soul.
Wait... Does that means they'r twins too?
Not to mention that one of the fundamental principles of the Golden Order, as espoused by Radagon, is the law of Regression, that disparate parts naturally seek to merge.
@@lopolka5373 SWEET HOME ALABAMA!
(I had to do it)
But the D twins clearly are two distinct bodies, since we cleary see the first D being killed by Death Blight, there is no way this body is the same as the second D we find near the Deeprooth Depths, cleary even though they would share a soul, they do not share a body.
Whereas with Marika and Radagon there is a serious question if they ever were two separate bodies or not, we cleary see Marika transforming into Radagon in-game and in-trailer, but there might be a possibility that in the past Radagon and Marika were two distinct people, with two bodies.
Pure speculation:
An interesting hypothesis i've seen before is that Marika might be similar to Asimi, the silver tear that can invade bodies (this is cut content). Maybe the Nox's ultimate weapon against the Greater Will was the succesful creation of an artificial being like Marika. Maybe Marika invaded Radagon's body at one point, thus becoming a single entity later.
We cleary see that Marika rebels against the Greater Will, which pushes her to shatter the Elden Ring, she is cleary the half of the Rebis that wants to remake the Order somehow, Radagon is the half that wants to preserve it now.
I theorized St Trina is both Miquella and Malenia combined.
I think you're onto something with the homunculus angle and being related to the nox practices, because seluvis specifically needs you to find amber starlight shards (which are gold) rather than normal ones (which are silver) in order to turn an empyrean into a puppet. It seems that silver simply isn't as powerful as gold, and that's why Marika succeeded where the nox did not
Idea inspired by @Smouhghtown's most recent video: Radagon is the only Fire Monk who was able to resist the Flame of Ruin and the Fell God's influence, and was chosen to be Marika's alter because of this.
You point out in this video that the only real problem with the Radagon = Fire Monk theory is him not ever utilizing fire abilities. I noticed in Smoughtown's video on the Fire Monks that there is a significant difference between "post-shattering"/modern Fire Monks and their initial form: wherein they were the initial guardians and defenders of the Flame of Ruin, but /not/ venerators of it. Their utilization of "o fire" incantations and depictions of the Fell God on their armor is due to some kind of innate transfixing effect the Flame has: one who watches upon it, even to defend it from being worshipped, will eventually and ironically begin worshiping it themselves (See o, Fire incantations and Fire Monk Ashes).
I posit that this is due to the Fell God's influence and Radagon seems to have some sort of innate ability to avoid/negate(?) the influence of Outer Gods. He is still subservient to the golden order though, and willingly accepts the guidance of the Greater Will as he is, as you point out, probably /the/ original Golden Order Fundamentalist. Keyword though being: fundamentalist. That seems to implicate a resistance to the increasingly frequent incorporation of heresy into the Golden Order's beliefs, which would correlate to the resistance to Outer God influences I feel.
Finally, I would like to posit that the Fire Monks were originally much more like the Golden Order Fundamentalists. Not necessarily in name, but in belief and ability. Think about it. Who in the world is a fundamentalist, or even uses their spells? I believe Radagon, Godwyn (pre soul death), and maybe Goldmask to be the only possible ones we find in game, and Goldmask is tarnished so there doesn't really seem to be any non-god fundamentalists left in the world when tarnished are let in to the lands between. (Corhyn seems to reluctantly accept the use of heresies) As the Fire Monks would likely utilize some form of incantation before falling to the Fire and using the Fire Giant-adjacent Fire Monk spells, what would they have used? Likely one of the lines of incantations that do bear lineage from the Golden Order, as they were made to be defenders of the Flame by Marika and the Golden Order. Out of those options we have the "Golden Order" and "Erdtree" incantation lines, and the Erdtree line seem to be more diverse in effect and much more utilized by the living members of the order like the Crucible Knights, Leyndell Knights and even Maliketh, while the Golden Order ones seem to be strictly utilized by devout members who adhere strictly to the Order (really, only Radagon at this point as many of the attacks are literally just his boss attacks for player use [subthought in a subthought whoaaaaa I also just noticed that Order's Blade, which enchants your weapon with Holy damage and I thought broke that pattern, depicts the Golden Order greatsword, which is actually Radagon's sword]) and it's /fundamentals/ of Golden, holy Magic that induces Order. I think these incantations were used by the wider population of Fire Monks when they were less Fire Monks and more Fire Guardians as they were initially intended.
Jfc you're awesome. What great catches and ideas to chew on, man!
you bonkers son
As soon as I heard theory #2 it made me think of this dialogue:
"I declare mine intent, to search the depths of the Golden Order. Through understanding of the proper way, our faith, our grace, is increased. Those blissful early days of blind belief are long past."
Maybe Marika separated the part of her that was faithful to the golden order so she could better understand it somehow, and then recombine after some point so she could be more perfect, like you mentioned with alchemy.
I believe something similar, I think the splitting off of Marika's devout and fanatical zeal was done by the Greater Will to both contain the Giants' curse as well as tackle the challenge of Liurnia and the house of the moon. I think I'm the beginning both the GW and Marika believed this to be a positive development, Marika felt she could explore the Order with greater depth rather than just blind devotion, the part of her that was Radagon found great success in the Liurnian campaign and then a great family life with Rennala, and the GW was able to conjoin yet another major power into its fold. But I think over time, the play backfired, as without her her most fanatical aspect, Marika began to scrutinize the Order beyond what anyone had anticipated, meanwhile Radagon was fulfilled with his family and in danger of being lost to the moon. I think the decision to call this devout aspect of Marika back to the capital was made in a rush by the GW to prevent any further fracturing of its control, bringing both aspects of Marika back into the fold by brutally crushing them together after ripping Marika from her studies and Radagon from his love, so that no other force may get in the way of Marika's commitment to the greater will. Causality and then Regression.
I think I agree. I made a comment noting Radagon's study of sorcery and the establishment of Golden Order Fundamentalism but that basically the synthesis couldn't happen (not that I really gave an answer as to why). Thinking on it more and with that Marika quote, these two aspects couldn't be rejoined. They can exist inside a single person but when separated into different points of view they seemingly cannot be reconciled.
I always thaught the same. Lately I start to think that she shedded her entire male aspect. Radagon is considered a champion so he is a unmatched combatened. Men tend to excel at combat sports compared to women. He is utmost loyal, wich men tend to be more compared to women. And he has the need for territorial expension, wich is a very male thing to do as well.
As someone who’s been arguing the Radagon=Mimic theory for months.
A few things I’d like to bring up to sorta add, his egg given to rennala uses larval tears of silver tears to change our form, and if you hold celestial dew is the base of silver tears that connects them more. And his unborn rune could be argued to describe Albernarics due to the handicaps. And you also have the idea that once Radagon and Rennalas child is the one to bring back the moon of the eternal cities. So perhaps Marika needed the Full Moon Queen, and her Golden Sun Hound to finally consumate in order to bring about a eclipse aka Ranni and she bring the age of stars aka the Eternal cities true goal. You could also argue Marika would have known the elden beast would have used her for sacred relic sword due to the ancient treasure of the eternal city the Fingerslaying blade.
I think an aspect glossed over with the M/R thing is why Marika took Godfrey as an Elden Lord while Radagon ran around doing stuff and then banished Godfrey and called Radagon to her to become Elden Lord. This means that effectively Marika was both the Empyrean (housing god/Elden Ring) and the Elden Lord. If we look at Placidusax the dragon also seems to have a male/female thing going on with one head being larger than the other. So again, there's that God/Elden Lord being one in the same thing. Also says something that both Marika and Radagon come across as made of stone or petrified - Placidusax being an Ancient dragon is also stonelike. Wonder if that particular form is a necessity in order to house the Elden Ring as an Empyrean in mythology is the place in which God dwells, which ties into the Firmament.
idk people rarely bring up exactly what an Empyrean is past the game lore - it's a place that is said to inhabit the fifth element and fire - including the place in which "God dwells" it is the upper most area of heaven having Aether (the air gods breathe). Aether, beyond its alchemy mythos, is a greek deity (personification of the air gods breathe) who was the child of Erebus (darkness) and Nyx (night). If you look at the Elden Ring or Elden Beast you'll notice the ring itself is suspended in "darkness" or a black substance.
Anyway. lol
Theyre the missing heads of placidusax, the old lord talisman only has 4 heads.
Being timeless and going by his ring id posit that the primordial ring is the ring of 'the one great' and rather than leaving placidusax it seperated into greater will(order) and frenzied flame (chaos). Once the elden beast arrives it decapitates the two heads and they somehow become marika (chaos) and radagon(order). Pretty wild speculation but it never sat right that Radagons name rearranges to a dRagon 😅
Another very good deep dive!
God, that one “you are yet to become me” line messes so much up. There’s so much to suggest Radagon and Marika were always one person (the Preceptors’ secrecy being the foremost example) but that line suggests he was originally an unrelated being. And yet we also have the “my other self” in the same conversation…ugh. You familiar at all with Sophie’s theory on Radagon presented on Sinclair’s channel? Her theory is that Radagon was originally simply a soldier that was unquestioningly loyal to the Golden Order, and that Marika fused him into herself because she wanted someone easy to manipulate.
The idea of Marika being cursed by the Fire Giants and expunging it in the form of Radagon is drawn from the “curse of their kind” thing in the Giants’ Red Braid. Interestingly another point in favor of the Radagon/Giant connection is the constant emphasis on his hair (as you mention in the video).
I don’t buy Radagon wanting the Erdtree to burn - I’m in the camp of Radagon putting the thorns up to keep anyone else from usurping him and creating a new Order.
Not sure what evidence we have for Miquella using rot to become St. Trina?
When she says "You are yet to become me," I think she is worried that Radagon will take over her body entirely and Marika herself will cease to exist. That's why she shattered the Elden Ring, "Let us both be shattered."
@@CrowsofAcheron But if Radagon was already part of her, how is he not currently her?
@@soarel325 I think they are separate personalities within the same body.
@@CrowsofAcheron How did people not notice they were never in the same room at once then?
@@soarel325Given the Goldmask questline, I'm not sure many ever actually knew of Radagon's existence outside of his marriage to Renalla.
Amazing video! I've also been so curious about Radagon and at least you've been able to find some theories. I am inclined to believe the "Radagon was created my Marika" theory and the "Radagon bloomed from the Erdtree" theory. Idk his appearance is so sudden in the lore timeline.
When I first paused and read "who is bald guy?" I was hoping it was something to do with Patches. Getting to the end of the video though, that does become a great question. Miquella tended to and tried to grow his own Erdtree. We know the Erdtree did not always exist or have the power it has in the time of the game. Perhaps bald guy is who tended to the original Erdtree, which eventually gave Miquella the inspiration or starting knowledge to attempt it himself? Though why someone of that importance would be completely without mention in the game is curious. Mayhaps, similar to the crucible knights, their origins and history contradicted the message of the current day Golden Order, and were therefore expunged from the annals of history? Great video!
Personally I believe the bald monk statue represents the man responsible for ensuring the growth of the tree. Just like Miquellas blood was required to ensure the growth of the hailigetree and it stopped once Mogh removed him from it, it is possible this monk was sacrificed or willingly gave himself as food. The reason why there are blooms at the feet of the statues of both Marika and radagon at least in my head cannon, is because the tree gave life to both of them at opposite ends of the greater will Desire ; regression and causality this would explain how they can be different entities while remaining the same being. It is posible since Queen Marika wanted the existence of only one God that she convinced her other half to merge to achieve that goal however broke the Elden ring in the process.
God I love the mystery of Radagon so much. Personally I subscribe to the 'was a different person once, melded with Marika to control her' theory. Also an interesting note, or rather one that a lot of writers implement, is that Radagon was everything Marika was not. It also seems he was the one who was more close with his children, teaching Miquella Golden Order Magics...whereas Marika uh...I mean, she isnt' exactly Mother of the Year worthy. Maybe Radagon could love, Marika couldn't? Who knows! 🤷 Love the video tho!
Another thing that could explain Radagon's relation to Marika could be the D twins. They share the same soul across two bodies and minds.
Regardless of my own thoughts, I agree that all the theories for Radagon's origins have their definite pros and cons. I'd say he's much like Melina and Marika in that we can't say for certain who these people actually are. They're connected to so many concepts and characters, and yet they remain enigmas. And to be honest, as much as I'd like some answers, these questions are what keep the lore so intriguing.
I'm looking forward to the other vids you have planned. The way you present theories, and admit that none of them really convince you is quite refreshing.
Kind of sad to hear you're already burning out on Elden Ring but...! That's okay. I'm sure the DLC(s) will bring us all running and raving again.
Regarding why Radagon hated his red locks and its relation to the Fire Giants: If Marika is Radagon, and Marika fought this big bloody war to try to lay the fire giants down to extinction in her efforts to destroy the Fell God, it could be surmised that Radagon's red hair simply reminded the being(s) of that war. A piece of the past that they'd rather forget, maybe, since most other wars involving the Golden Order seem to be "right" in some moral manner, whilst the war against the giants didn't have a good reason to be fought. They fought the Fire Giants because they feared the power of the Fell God as far as I can tell (the flame's power to burn the Erdtree), which is an awful past to be reminded of every time you go to look in the mirror.
To me at this point it's pretty clear Radagon merged with Marika later, because originally, it's flat out told to you that Radagon came from faraway lands. He was his own person with his own body.
Since Radagon has different motivations than Marika, I think one can make a very strong case that the Greater Will summoned him before Marika to become her consort. Marika is more or less imprisoned by the Greater Will to be god-queen and lately there have been some strong theories and discoveries that point towards her trying to destroy the Golden Order and the Greater Will, things the game tells you aside (like establishing Marika knew the order was imperfect, which that alone isn't as severe as her actively attacking it).
Radagon seems to be a measurement of the Greater Will to further limit Marika, or to at least force her to side with the faith in gold. Radagon's faith holds firm and he's in direct opposition of Marika, even imprisoning her within the Erdtree, evident by his crosshatching pattern on the roots we later burn.
Her body was effectively not hers after they merged. Without analyzing much, I believe Radagon was specifically merged with Marika for the Greater Will to keep her under its control. This is further supported by the fact that Radagon rises and fights you in a crumbled form Marika can barely move in, showing he was the one in charge at least at that point in time as a half-switched vessel of the ring.
I think this brings up some interesting questions and even answers, including the Greater Will's possible inability to switch the Elden Ring's vessel, having to "alloy" it with someone who's more fit for this task, since Marika formed doubts and saw the impurities within the order and this outer god.
I don't know, I have problems. To me, the imperfections of the order are Marika and Radagon's own doing. Dig on this, Marika straight up removes a Great Rune from the Elden Ring, an action that later has incredible and varied consequences. This action leaves the natural state of death out of the established order and leaves the Elden ring incomplete. I think we can all agree that removing a rune called "Destined Death" is going to have consequences. Now, it's noteworthy that Marika removed a Great Rune. Yet, there are few who have mentioned the fact that Radagon seemingly did the same thing. Crunchy mentioned it, but what about the implications? Radagon had another *removed* Great Rune. Also, consider what the rune is. The Rune of Rebirth. Meaning that Death and Rebirth, the cycle of life itself is straight up gone from the Golden Order. I suppose they thought this would make them eternal, and it sort of did, but it ultimately led to the calamity that followed. *They* did this, not the Golden Order.
The Greater Will made the Elden Ring specifically placing those runes in it, or perhaps forming it over time (who can say), but regardless it's intention is clear. It intended for the natural cycle of life and death to be part of it's order, but Marika/Radagon did not. Removing Death/Rebirth, or rather, change seems to be their intention. They wanted their blessed order to last forever. They're Gwyn all over again, methinks. Trying to preserve their way of life only to ultimately doom it.
Goldmask had it right. The flaw in the Golden order, was the gods. Not the Greater Will. I think the Greater Will encourages the change, or at least respects it's necessity. After all, if you believe the Frenzied Flame, the Greater Will created disparity in the first place.
I'll go one step further. I think that what Radagon saw as a fundamental principle of the Golden Order is wrong. Regression is not the natural state. Or rather, I don't think the Greater Will intends it to be. All things came from the "One Great" as Hyetta (channeling the Frenzied Flame) states. Everything was one. The Greater Will changed that. It made the static, dynamic. It seems off to me that Regression would be part of it's design. Seeing as how Regression is more in line with what the frenzied flame seems to want, a return to the One Great.
"Radagon came from faraway lands" is literally false and nowhere in game
I’m so glad you are making these types of videos!
Could Radagon have been separated from Marika during the war against the fire giants? The fire is hot enough to burn the erdtree. Why couldn’t it separate the two of them just like in alchemy?
The idea of the Erdtree being a mushroom could explain in part why the removal of the rune of death was such a huge deal. If things can't die right, the Erdtree would starve. It's a theory but, still sounds pretty neat.
Out of the like 5 elden ring lore channels I’m subbed to, you are easily my favorite one.
Great videos, I appreciate how concise and easy to follow they are.
Watching so many elden ring lore videos is flooding many new and smaller channels into my feet and that's very cool. I think this is a very important video on the way to understanding the games lore. I was especially intrigued by your second and fourth theory. Also I will look forward to an elden ring critique that is made with the same carefulness and intelligence as this video. Thank you for making great content as this and keep it up!
Absolutely awesome video as always my friend! Really comprehensive and thoughtful. Charge on!
keep it up man, your videos are only getting better and better
there is also a time traveling theory to explain it, that Radagon is in place of Marika in the future, but since Marika holds back time and keeps it in infinite stagnation, the two things starts to overlap and they are both at the same place ( by same place I mean they are inside the erdtree, being the vessel for the elden ring ) - so from Marika's perspective, time stopped and she holds it in an eternal, stagnating loop, while on the outside, Radagon wants to replace her and some sort of time overlap happens when Marika turns into Radagon, maybe the player breaks the frozen time when they enter the erdtree
and also maybe that was Marika's plan to happen and free herself, hence why she encourages Radagon to become her when she talks to him
Dude you make the best lore videos. You're the one I've been waiting for.
So I feel the strongest baseline we can get is that Radagon and Marika have a "connection" at least immediately after the Liurnian Wars. Personally, I feel Radagon (as an individual or an alter-ego) was used by Marika for a sort of power play. Godfrey is presumably out of the picture at this point, having fought all foes he could be brought against and Marika now saving him for later. However Liurnia for whatever reason was considered a threat by Marika. The astrologers seem to have kept to themselves so I think you can tie this into the struggle for dominance. I find it interesting however that prior to Godfrey's banishment that Marika did not sic him onto Liurnia. Perhaps the reason is that Marika felt Godfrey couldn't be motivated for such a fight, that or also she sought some sort of benefit by establishing political ties. Maybe Marika thought there was something to gain via understanding sorcery, like there was with the induction of dragon worship in the Golden Order. I cannot say for certain it was always a big brain play by Marika to make peace with the Liurnians, but she likely did have the capability to eradicate or neutralize them with Godfrey around if she so wished. You could argue that the Liurnians were a lower priority group to target comparatively to the Fire Giants, I'll grant.
I believe Radagon at that time was operating under the direct instruction/support/control of Marika. Radagon is described by Miriel in the context of leaving Rennala and becoming Elden Lord as a "mere champion," that its bizarre that a guy like that could become the second Elden Lord. Radagon being at the head of a golden host, and bringing gifts of gold as "just" a champion seems improbable. Why would Marika direct Radagon to do this? I assume to make him a better fit as an Elden Lord so in turn she can extricate her will. In his study into sorcery and therefore academia became and likely proliferated Golden Order Fundamentalism. But like you pointed out in the video, the greatsword given to him by Rennala was twisted into the Golden Order Greatsword. A sword which interestingly has no intelligence requirement or scaling, unlike Golden Order Incantations. A parallel exists with both the Laws of Regression and Causality incantations, that only have int requirements (I don't really have a point on the incantations but did think it was worth mentioning). Radagon appears to have eschewed all he learned from Rennala. To me the synthesis of ideas seems to have failed, and echoes how Marika and Radagon were incapable of reaching agreement. (This is the leap in logic btw) Its for this reason that I feel Radagon has to be some sort of extraction or is directly Marika. I'm not sure right now if you could directly attribute Radagon/Marika to Regression/Causality but both share this dualism.
Ooh this ones gonna be a great one.
I cant wait for your videos.
The few you uploaded are all excellent.
Top Tier Lore Videos
You and Zullie are the only two creators i have my notifications turned on for. Some of the most insightful content about these games for sure!
Can't believe I didn't get a notification for this!!!! Once again the best lore hunter channel with the most interesting theories out there, keep it up!!
Love the videos man. A lot of time and effort and it shows. Great job sir
If you make non-Elden Ring videos, it would be cool to hear you talk about irl mythology. It was neat learning about Loki/Fenrir etc. in this video. Also, if Radagon hated his hair so much, he could always just cut it off - becoming the bald statue depiction later in life. Eventually he would grow it back while stuck inside the Erdtree.
God I have waited so long for a new video from you. Thank you for blessing us
I see crunchy, I like the video. Simple.
See my immediate impression was a jekyll and Hyde situation. Radagon is like an aspect of Marika that grew in strength and dominance over time. I think he's a curse, either by the crucible, an outer god, or a result of her ties to the golden order, like a robotic and more straightforward and loyal servant to the golden order. Originally an alter ego, as he grew she weakened and this was her most major falling out with the golden order. She would eventually be erased and only Radagon would be left, but without her he'd have no will and no personality. And that's what we see, this machine monster in the final fight, a calculating and mindless slave to the elden beast. This was why Marika shattered the elden ring and plotted to have the order destroyed even after hope was lost for herself.
OH SHIT 👀 fuck the new MCU film, this is finally something hype to actually look forward to
Fantastic video!!
Love your content 🙌
The bald guy, his sprouting from a tree and the growing flowers in his hands, is an interesting parallel to Miquella! His final form could be bald. Maybe depictions of him as an adult as a way to honor him? lmao this is a neat nugget, thank you for putting it forward, appreciate the video! Radagon is one of the most mysterious yet shoved in our face as important characters in the entire game. He's honestly an enigma to me because unlike SO many other characters in ER I have a really hard time latching onto the emotional aspect of the character. I don't know how he felt about things, other than Miquella and their pass back n forth of rings of light, or even what he wanted.
So everyone seems completely stumped on Radagon's origin stories, but I'm always like "SURELY the brick hammer's item description is referring to him, right?"
I mean, I can't be literally the only one to have read that one, but I feel like I'm taking crazy pills when no-one is bringing it up.
It’s an intriguing idea; do you think there’s anything else that ties Radagon to Stormveil?
@Crunchy Nahh, certainly nothing that pops in the same way to me. I just feel that the mention of becoming a champion and the reference to giants is a dead give-away, or at least as close as one can get. One could argue that at the time (as a laborer) he was "a nobody", so nothing there would celebrate him from that era, and Godrick himself seems singularly obsessed with the Golden Lineage so he believably wouldn't put up a statue of Radagon either. Not to mention, Radagon being a worker, he would not be privy to the various storm techniques taught to soldiers. There's a weaker tie-in in the brick hammer's in that it's A HAMMER, drawing a parallel to the Radagon we face in the Erdtree; "The tool with which Queen Marika shattered the Elden Ring and Radagon attempted to repair it", as Marika's hammer's desciption says. And being a "laborer", I can totally see him being good at fixing things, even if he came up short with the Elden Ring.
I'm not sure what the rebellion part in the brick hammer's description is about, though I could see it being a coup from within when Godfrey came for the Stormlord, discovering and enlisting a young Radagon in the process (assuming the rebellion is even something referenced elsewhere).
I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch, but my impression is that Radagon IS a descendant of giants, and he hates his red hair because it marks him as such (being the Golden Order loyalist he is - he don't want anybody to burn down the tree). You could also draw a parallel between Rennala's and Radagon's romance, and the Astrologers and giants. "Considered them neighbours" the Sword of Night and Flame says, and it's kind of a stretch, but if there ever was inter-breeding between humans and giants, astrologers of old were probably the ones to do it (there's also a theory that Rennala has giant's blood in her, which could explain why it presumably manifested so strongly in Radahn).
TL;DR - Radagon was a manual worker who was physically strong and good with a hammer, was possibly discovered by Godfrey when he took Stormveil, so Radagon rose through the ranks, fought in the battle against giants and grew resentful of the people prophesized to have a part in taking down the Golden Order which gave him his new life and made his rise to greatness possible, later he led an army into Liurnia, married Rennala, and later still joined Marika because... I don't know, eugenics? That whole thing is still kind of a mystery to me.
@@Anublet90 good theory!
Great vid!
I liked SmoughTown's theory that at the point of Marika's ascension to godhood, which may have happened upon the defeat of the fire giants, that the greater will may have 'placed' the Radagon personality within her, as a kind of fail safe or contingency plan, as it may have already sensed that Marika was beginning to stray from its vision
I agree, this makes the most sense considering everything we know.
The biggest and most glaring problem with the assertion that Radagon was always someone else is 1) we know of in game, Marika is absolutely nowhere in sight during the battle with the Carians, despite being the one to personally put the Giants to the sword, we know she is capable in battle and has been involved in battles in the past, and this "Champion" emerges out of nowhere, and she is just gone the whole time (also in order to become a champion you have to have had done some sort of previous deed of heroism, but that is NEVER mentioned. Instead Radagon seems to just inherently be a "Champion" which to me, means a Champion of the Greater a Will and Golden Order itself, his very being coming into existence a triumph for the Greater Will, especially knowing now how dedicated he is to it)
and 2) A warrior, no matter how great would never have access to something as Divine and with so many implications of rebirth as the Amber Egg, let alone the rune that goes with it. The whole POINT of the Elden Ring is to control life. There is just no way around the fact that that kind of power is reserved for Godhood. In fact, Tarnished Archeologist goes into great detail how amber specifically is related to all life in the Lands Between, the Amber Medallions and the Amber drops that were once in the Erdtree. There is definitely some spooky stuff going on that this channel mentions in another video about how things you defeat are then able to be accessed for "absorption", like the theory that Melina is a combo of Marika and The Gloam Eyed Queen after Marila defeated the Gloam Eyed Queen. There is definitely something spooky going on with the concept of blending of life that comes up time and time again.
Is it possible the shattering of the Elden Ring happened much earlier than most people think? That the shattering caused Radagon to split from Marika, and Radagon’s attempt to repair the ring was an attempt to rejoin with Marika many years later? I can’t recall any evidence explicitly saying these events happened in quick succession.
It is mentioned that Marika/Radagon literally are the Elden Ring so it would make sense for them to split when the ring was split.
bend the narrative more
There is one thing I just don't buy with it comes to radagon and rennalas children, it's that they were somehow transformed into demigods when Radagon married Marika, I think it was all just a lie to cover up that they were demigods from the start
Yeah, also I think at one point Enia says the Demigods each and all are direct offsprings of Marika. Which means Ranni, Radahn and Rykard are also direct offsprings of Marika, which would imply Radagon ans Marika were already one when those children were born
The game worked really hard to prevent people putting 2 and 2 together
All the Celestial Dew in the game is found either underground, or places somehow associated with the Nox. Except one, which is in Raya Lucaria, near the gates (where you get ambushed by a Bloodhound). We know the Liurnians are associated with the Nox - it's where they learned Astrology. Could it be that attacking Liurnia was a way to require forgiveness, and thus ask them to supply the dew that only they had access to? A ruse, all to get the dew, and complete the Radagon mimic
That branch thing the bald monk is holding looks a lot like the Death Rite swords that are associated with the Death Birds - a weapon used by some priests that made a pact with the death birds to find an unusual kind of rebirth.
I think that it´s important to consider Radagon´s motivations in order to understand him. We know from many sources that Marika grew cold to the golden order, being potentially involved with the night of black knives, telling Melina that her purpose was to burn the Erdtree, taunting Radagon as a hound of the golden order and ultimately shattering the elden ring. Since Marika´s shadow was occupied with guarding the rune of death the golden order might have felt the need to keep Marika in check so that she doesn´t do anything too reckless to oppose it. Another thought that occured to me was that the Liurnian war´s outcome might have been orchestrated by the golden order all along. If the Order sensed that Rennala´s night and connection to the stars might be a worthy opponent, it could´ve sought to neutralize the threat by taking advantage of her one weakness: her emotions. So the order made Marika disguise as a man with red hair, ordered him become a devout disciple and made him carry out a romantic cleansing ceremony that weakened the heart of the moon queen. Now that they´re in love, Renalla is emotionally unable to completely oppose the golden order since it´s exactly what her husband stands for. After years of charade, Marika´s alter ego could´ve manifested to be it´s own personality inside of her. It´s only after Ranni was born and Radagon fled to the capital that Marika could´ve reconnected with her actual self, her contempt for the order. That´s why Radagon never became her. Because her feelings and her powers are hers alone, no matter how long he dwells inside her body.
As for his connection with the giants: I think this might be but a cruel taunt of the order. The golden order acts as a parasite and so it poses at what it defeats. The order was first known to be present as the ruling religion of Azula and it made a dragon its Elden Lord. The numen race of the eternal cities got defeated by the golden order and Marika, a numen, becomes its god. The Fire Giants get defeated and so the golden order incorporates their appearance and strength by making a new figure in the order look like one. The order overtakes the Carians and their wizard academy and the firstborn of a golden order union aka of the empyrians gets born as a witch (Ranni). Seems like a reoccuring theme to me.
Still finding Elden Ring channels that I all subscribe to so I can see what other people think about the game, just found yours and very new channel only a month old, Elden Ring is your base can’t wait for more theory’s :)
There is the cut quest of Assimi, where she later tells us that she wished that we would become Elden Lord and she "souvereign eternal". Also Asimi needs us to drink from two sources one filled with golden magic and the other with star magic, to become a perfect whole. Kinda like Radagon who studied the stars and the Golden Order as well. Also the Mimic Tears enemys are called "Marikaslimelegacy" in game. So what im assuming is that either Radagon or even Marika herself are mimic tears that later on merged fully with their original copy.
Man, the red hair braids item I found..
Made me sooo crazy... Thinking the curse of red hair that fell upon Marika after defeating the giants is the reason she made this "other self" to distance herself from it. And that's the reason why he hates it...
Theory #1/2 - Magnum Opus = Egg yolk and egg white separation, beating and rejoining in bakery processes. Philosopher's stone is a cake? Maybe Marika was the white and Radagon was the yolk, and something extracted the yolk for a different processing to be conjoined at a later time?
Theory #3 - Marika wasn't mentioned to be anywhere near the giant war, if anybody were cursed it would have been Godfrey, I think.
Theory #4 - Red wolves have red hair too, they are very much larger than all other wolves. They are also related to Radagon, whom Marika also called a hound in her own words. They also use incantations and sorcery that Radagon was said to have studied.
Theory #5 - Radahn as the equivalent to a wolf in norse mythology would coincide with Radagon having wolf geneology, as Ranni has a step-brother in Blaidd, who was half-wolf. In order for Blaidd to be her step-brother, he would have joined the Carian family via marriage, likely to be between Rennala and Radagon.
Theory: Radagon is originally the laborer who became a rebel who became a champion from the Brick Hammer description. As a servant class person he may very well have been misbegotten (cementing his connection to the other misbegotten, particularly the lions) originally, or a troll (cementing his connection to the giants) and transformed himself through the rune of rebirth and the egg, possibly as a reward from Marika (mirroring Boc's story and relationship with the PC.) The descriptions marked use of the word champion immediately brings Radagon to mind and the additional comment about it needing giant's strength to wield could be a hint as well, as Radagon is connected to the giants in various other ways.
I talked about this in my Crucible video!
@@CrunchyVideos I'll check it out!
Radagon and his origins are among the most Interesting topics in the game for me personally. I think him wanting things kept confidential even while w Renala hints at him either being marika or part of her even back then. Weather they were always in one body or rejoined later I go back and forth on, but I actually think him being so loyal to the greater will and Golden order while marika turns against it later could be a clue that he was extracted from her and most of her own blind faith and loyalty was extracted in the process. This is why he's so quick to leave Renala and return to leyndell to attempt to keep marika in line. I also get the impression he wasn't very close with any of his children or tried to be until miquella came along, but that could also just be miquella's likeability.
Leaving multiple comments to keep things separated.
I’ve seen creators do a “pay what you want with the expectation that you won’t get anything” Patreon. That might be worth looking into.
It’s downstream of this weird thing where your content is fresh, concise, imaginative, and well-edited and I would rather watch this video than go see a Marvel movie, and I have to pay to see the Marvel movie and I watch this for free. It just feels wrong.
(CZcams has a quasi-Patreon thing that I’m sure you know about that might be worth looking into.)
The no strings patreon is pretty common with part time/passion channels. I believe Patreon takes less than Utube, which takes less than Twitch.
why couldnt Marika just have hidden Radagon away from the world until she needed him? He could easily just be chilling in her body until the Liurnian war.
17:11 maybe it was Marika who was beguiled by the flame? And she had to separate this red-haired, blasphemous part of her to literally keep up appearances, resulting in Radagon. But she kept those heretical believes, while Radagon became the embodiment of order and loyalty to the greater will. If we believe that the events that lead to the fall of the greater will were all part of Marika's master plan, then her looking into the giant's flame could mark the beginning of all that.
I believe that Marika split off half of her soul, that half-soul divided from her like a cell and became Radagon.
I love your videos! So well done and go in to depth I haven't seen in other places. The one thing I haven't seen touched on is D who has two selves one soul. Do you think Radagon and Merika could have this same type of form? The sword you get from D is very much like the Sacred Relic sword, with the theme of silver and gold being intertwined.
Here's fuel for the fire that is the ErdTree Mushroom theory is the ErdLeaf flowers. At the start of the game we see the Erd Leaves falling, but leaves don't make flowers irl. Mushrooms however use spores to spread, so what if these ErdLeaf Flowers we find are just spore grown mushrooms?
I think depicting someone emerging from a tree it's just a Golden Order's custom that may be only reserved for very important people. Thus the bald monk might be just one of the many misteruous characters who helped build the fundamentalism of the Order.
The oblivion music at 5.20 gives me chills
Great video. After ruminating a bit, I did have a thought around Radagon's lack of in-game fire abilities but very prevalent lightening-esque faith abilities: Naturally occurring wildfires are most frequently started by lightening strikes.
That's a bit of a stretch.
This is beautiful art
I feel the biggest tell in Radagon’s origins is the way his sun turned out size wise. Furthermore I believe Radagon to possible have been the leader or instigator of the trolls betrayal of the giants during the war. Also we know that giants are the originators of smithing and anyone can break something, but only a smith can fix it again and of the two Radagon is the force that tries to repair the ELDEN ring(being a born blacksmith), more evidence to his Giant roots and I could be wrong as I haven’t looked closely at the hues of his Incantations but I feel they carry a red fiery hue to them that isn’t present in other order inactions!
Also in regards to the red haired misbegotten, I believe they was Radagons own version of a shadow wolf and the giant red ones are either the perfected version or a pre transformation version of the red haired misbegotten, as those two creatures are the only mention of Radagon owning/creating somethinf(apart from his kids obviously)
maybe radagon is an anagram of 'a dragon', so merika made a deal with the old dragons (former eldenlords) to become a partial dragon, or maybe she always was part-dragon and through some ritual or something the dragon part and the god part split...
Wow, well done
The erd tree was grafted onto the stump of the great tree. This IS the crucible. The reason the omen are despised is because they prove the erdtree is failing and the rootstock is trying to take back over and creates them. The statues in leyndell show the competition the erd tree had and the later ones show it as the winner. A single golden flower that would eventually become the giant golden tree.
Gotta love Jeremy Soules timeless pieces he composed for ESO 5. Here we are, almost 12 years later( from the release of Skyrim) and it still hasn’t lost it’s beauty
Crunchy is UNSTOPPABLE
I think the two Ds deserve to be metnioned when it comes to Radagon . They are golden order fundamentalists because only the golden order accepted their condition of being 2 bodies sharing a sould whereas Marika and Radagon seem to be 2 souls sharing the same body. Also it seems that of all the Empyrians in the game only Ranni is capable of becoming a god since Miquella and Malenia are deformed, which to me seems that if Marika was trying to produce an empyrian she might have chosen Rennala as a potential mother after Marika's children started getting born cursed by an outer god (mohg/morgott) and even with Radagon (Malenia is cursed by the god of rot) . Great video btw.
Miquella and Malenia are both capable of becoming Gods and they were chosen by the two fingers to accomplish this, deducted by the title of Empyrean. On top of this, the little white ball enemies with the trumpets appear on the Haligtree, which is further confirmation they are valid candidates of becoming the next gods of the lands between.
Malenia nearly turned into a god during her boss fight as well, that of scarlet rot, and Miquella nearly turned into a new outer god, or at the very least, plain god. If not for Mohg's kidnapping, his Haligtree could've killed off the Erdtree and he would've broken free of his curse, even if he failed in completely curing his sister.
@@anecro but out of the three, only ranni has an actual chance of succeeding in game.
Holy crap dude... the Asimi connection makes so much sense. When Melina talks to you after the silver tear has entered you she says “hello other you” which immediately makes me think of “mine other self” and all that. What a catch!
Ooo, I really like the final theory. I think what you said is correct, that the constant mentioning of his red hair is a clue. I also think that the whip mentioning him hating his red hair is a point in this theory's favour.
Love the Full Metal music in the background💀
Radagon is the felled fire god. Marika joined it with herself to have more power.
Amazing job I think you nailed it, if you can somehow tie in what the dragons were doing during these times, you'd have some of the best format for a good timeline of events
I personally like the "twin soul" theory.
The D brothers, were of two bodies and two minds, but one soul. Even though they should have been banished or killed for their blasphemous existence, Marika let him into the order.
Or at least, that's what I somewhat remember from the twinned armor-set.
So the theory goes that Radagon and Marika were of twin souls, but seperate bodies and minds. Though they had their separate lives, at one point Marika called Radagon to be "conjoined" in a single body. Yet, the "single mind" part seems to have failed.
Btw, I loved that bit about Radagon's thorns sealing the erdtree. In a sense, it's a self fulfilling prophecy. If you shatter the elden ring, and command the demigods to mend it, yet you seal the door to reach it, then it kinda seems like a very convuluted plan for burning the erdtree.
If Radagon was somehow related to fire giants, or monks, this would perfectly align with thise goals.
That monk is now Hewg and his body is the homoculous that Marika created, and split her essence into..
This is the best video about Radagon out there
Thank you!
Dung eater has red hair and goes around cursing folk, and was locked below the capital to be kept secret. I think he is also a small giant which is why the sword of milos is described that way, to suggest he dung eater, who wields milos, is a giant.
What if the Elden Beast was sent by the Greater Will to put Marika in check, and Radagon is the mortal incarnation of the Elden Beast.
I got flashbacks almost instantly after the skyrim world music was playing
My personal theory is that Radagon started as a part of Marika who was created/separated as the result of Marika’s own internal fight between her belief in the Golden Order and her feeling that it hid a sinister truth. The part that believed in it eventually left her body as Radagon to fight in the Golden Army where it could do its part to unite the lands which is when he got cursed. He married Rennala and then left to return to Marika and become whole once more. Her “thou art yet to become me” line is about how Radagon is yet to turn away from the Golden Order and become disillusioned like Marika.
Also the Rebus in Alchemy represents two ends of an extreme being unified in one body. Perhaps this is represented by Radagon’s undying devotion to the Elden Ring and Marika’s seeming hatred for it.
I think there's a lot here that could be taken many ways, but to me the inclusion of the golden sewing needle is curious. Why would Radagon NEED the needle? Why bring it with him even as he was married to Rennala? Same with the rune of the unborn, and to me they seem connected. We know Radagon had red hair like the rest of the giants, but what if Radagon WAS a giant? Not Just any giant, but their ruler. The flame of ruin now resides within the last giant, and we know even some trolls had to mutilate themselves to remove the influence of the Fel God; What if Radagon was not only the giant's ruler, but also the avatar of the flame of ruin. Marika may have "defeated" the head of the giants the same way Radagon "defeated" Rennala, through marriage. The flame of ruin would need removal, and we already know that flame can hold death from before the time of the erd tree due to deathbird items/spell descriptions, so it's not crazy to speculate that The Flame of Frenzy WAS their Fel God who was removed and housed within a severed finger so that giants who accepted the golden order could be welcomed into it. Here's where the Rune of the Unborn and Radagon's Golden Needle come into play, Marika "birthed" Radagon and he became her faithful hound once removed from the Fel God, but he needed a new identity AND his clothes needed to be adjusted to his new reduced size. Even after his rebirth however he could not get rid of his hair, the last shred of evidence for his former life. This would technically make him a demigod despite what he may have been due to being reborn into a form closer to mortal.
Lots of rampant speculation in this but I think it fits, at least somewhat. Perhaps the Fel God did curse Marika, and the red hair not being removed from Radagon was the first sign that those born from her would be cursed. Love the speculation in this video, thanks for putting it together!
There is some cut content about a flower crucible. It revolves around the Miranda Flowers. Many thinks it was cut just before the release of the game, because in the trailers the character performed the Miranda Flowers attack, were light strikes the ground around the flower, but the attack itself was not in the released game. It was tied to a staff like thing called Miranda's Prayer. Its description says that many people tried to use (?) the flower crucible, to turn themselves into Minor Erdtrees (there is some enemy around Leyndell's Minor Tree that is about this).
I didn't notice until you mentioned the statues of the old man, how the larger statues seem to depict him standing within a tree-like structure in bloom, very much like the underground dwellers worshipping the Ancestral Spirit, which strictly goes against the doctrine of the Golden Order. Oh, and, real short... the only bad thing I have to say about Elden Ring is that the "difficulty" spike going from Leyndell to the Mountops of Giants is.. horribly scuffed. I just can't imagine a reason for enemies to be so ballbustingly hard there, even at higher levels. Insanely tanky and also dealing ridiculous amounts of damage. Anytime I beat Morgott at the foot of the Erdtree and proceed towards the mountains are the times I realize that my enthusiasm for the game starts fading, and I begin taking more and more breaks between play sessions. Just thinking about the mountaintops makes it difficult for me to want to keep playing.
Crazy idea: what if when Marika said, "let us be shattered together" she meant it because she is cursed with the Elden Beast and Radagon is cursed with the Fell God?
I'm wondering if the bald guy was Radagon prior to the war with the Fire Giants and there is some sort of connection with their defeat and him gaining his red hair as well as becoming Marikas consort. I don't know what that connection would be but I wouldn't be surprised if it was either a curse or a contract between the Fell God and Marika. I also could see how this could have made him spiteful and set the plans in motion to burn the tree if he had a different life before the curse/contract was made that he was torn away from because of Marika. I'm now wondering if 99% of this game is Marikas machinations being played out and Radagon was just an unwilling pawn forced into his roll, which might help explain why he isn't immediately hostile to you when you fight him but it doesn't explain why he was so devoted to the golden order. To bad we can't talk to him before he becomes a sword to get some of this cleared up lol.
except radagon tried to fix the fking ring so this is bonkers
@@mynameismice your point is? Variations of the Elden Ring have existed long before Marika, she is the one who shattered it, and if he led a saintly life that got him statues all over the place id assume he was ok with the way things were. She is the one who destroyed order and I don't know if you could tell or not but Radagon was pretty into the golden order who was trying to maintain the status quo.
I actually thought the bald guy might be Rollo, as he was apparently super famous in his day, and there's at least one point in the game, in Leyndell, where we see perfumers praying to one of the bald guy statues.
What if Radagon is a construct, but he succeeded where the silver tears failed not simply because he was made of gold, but because he was made in the giant’s forge. Perhaps, in exchange for leaving the fell god alive within the last fire giant, Marika had the fell god make Radagon in the forge. This could explain the red hair and how radagon is related to the fire giants, as well as why he doesn’t like his red hair. Maybe because marika anticipated that she would need to do away with godfrey, and wanted an absolutely loyal lord without his own ambitions aside from pursuing the interests of the golden order. Of course, as we see, they grow apart as marika begins having doubts of the golden order. I’d imagine that Marika and Radagon were then conjoined after marika shattered the elden ring and radagon failed to repair it, which was an attempt by the golden order to keep marika in check. It’s possible that it was radagon who was even making the rune arc crucifying marika in the first place.
You missed one item that offers a hint at Radagon’s past: the Brick Hammer. “Wielded by a laborer who lead a rebellion, and later become a champion himself…The strength of a giant is required to wield it.” With the misbegotten being slaves, this could give him some tie to them as their liberator. The leonine misbegotten being “children of Radagon”may be a nod at ASoIaF by GRRM with Dany being called “Mhysa / Mother”. Also, the only person we see being referred to as a champion (I believe by Miriel) and also being related to giants via the red braid is Radagon. So I believe he was once separate from Marika, he was a giant or descended from them, he was a slave, he led a rebellion, he somehow became a champion in the Liurnian Wars, etc.
I covered this idea in my video on the Crucible!
@@CrunchyVideos Nice! I know what I’ll be watching on my lunch break then…
THE LORE MASTER IS BACK.
When the FMA music starts, you know you're in for a treat.
I theorize that when Marika became the vessel for the Elden Ring and ascended to godhood she also became the vessel for the Elden Beast which manifested as Radagon. In the game itself, aside from the Elden Stars incantation description there is no reference of this entity prior to its reveal. This is the other half Marika was referring to and may be what Ranni was alluding to when she expressed that she would not be controlled by “that thing” and why she abandoned her flesh. To be the god and vessel of the Elden Ring means to also to be the vessel for this separate consciousness or one that emerges from this union. The acceptance of the D Twins within the Golden Order is natural as the Golden Order is built on the principle of converged beings. One Body, Two Souls and minds as opposed to One soul and Two bodies and minds.
This entity is described as the Vassal Beast of the Greater Will but I think it’s possible to argue that a schism occurred between the two. Radagon, after rigorous studies of both sorceries and Incantations, developed an identity and deeper awareness of its own self. Radagon acts in self preservation when he attempts to restore the ring and by blocking the entry to the Erdtree with impenetrable thorns. In truth Radagon was rebelling against the Greater Will, trying to become a true god himself, complete without the need of a host like Marika. Radagon is the Champion of the Golden Order and the Elden Beast is described as the living embodiment of the concept of Order.
Radagon may not be red of hair not because of any ancestry to the Giants or Misbegotten, but because as described in the game, Red is representative of primordial life. As the Elden Beast is the origin of all life, the human form it manifests as is Red of hair. The color of the Ancient Dragon’s lightning similarly exemplifies the ancient Red energy among beings of divine gold adornment. The golden order is founded on the belief that Marika is the one true god, this ends up being false and emphasized through Goldmask's questline and the discovery that Radagon is Marika. T Corhyn and most people, this revelation brings up more questions than answers, but to a genius like Goldmark, he's able to conclude that the gods and the beast by extension are no better than man. This isn't just an indictment of Marika/Radagon, but this celestial emissary as well.
The last thing I’ll note is the transitory cutscene between the Radagon and Elden Beast boss fight. I think it could be argued that the Elden Ring/Beast is leaking out from the vessel that is Marika/Radagon and transmuting the matter into a sword to be wielded. I don’t think it’s emerging from the ethereal plane, I think it’s coming out of them. The existence of the Finger Slaying Blade as the treasure of the Nox and its resemblance to the Sacred Order Greatsword are also telling. There is an unknown number of Gods and dynasties throughout the history of the Lands between. I believe that this artifact is the remnants of a previous vessel the beast inhabited and why it’s so crucial to the Ranni’s plot as there may not be any other material capable of harming the Greater Will’s vassal or fingers.
I was always confused to how Radagon was so loyal to the Golden Order but gave it up to marry Rennala, only to go back to the Golden Order. It makes me feel that he might of not had an entirely free will. No matter what I hear about him there is always something in game that contradicts it.
I have to agree. Radagon seems to be getting pulled left and right in everything that relates to him. Whether he was always a part of Marika or joined her later, I think it's clear he was never truly "himself". Though he tried to be.
Marika says it herself. He's yet to become her, nothing more than a loyal dog. He also strives to become complete. Radagon knows he's a pawn and tries to better himself when with Renalla but is compelled to return to what he knows. Dude is a pawn of the Greater Will(and Marika?).
Ironic considering his devotion to the Golden Order. I think it's a great allegory for those IRL who attach themselves so tightly to any one belief all the while robbing themselves of living more complete lives. They simply become husks(or vessels) for a single idea.
Marika represents the opposite end. Those who would burn it all down, for themselves and others, in a pursuit for freedom and understanding.
Sorry for the book lol...
I always thought the Marika/Radagon schism was like a split personality situation. They are different people with different motivations, but they occupy the same body.
The bedchamber conversation, I always thought, was about Marika being worried that Radagon would take over entirely. This is one reason why she shattered the Elden Ring, to prevent being wiped out of existence.
I think Marika was supposed to be a figurehead, a vessel of the Elden Ring. But when she began to assert her own will, the Elden Beast/Greater Will attempted to take back control by manifesting Radagon. So Radagon wasn't around until Marika began to have doubts and reconsider her role.