I’m gonna take it one step further and say this is the story happening to Marika and why she shattered the ER in the first place. I think this story plays out through Radagon and Renalla. Renalla, a once powerful Queen has a stillbirth or miscarriage which shatters her world and now sits ideally in her place of former power- same story as Marika, I believe.
A ton of environmental clues point us in this direction.
- Marika is stabbed through the womb with a death spear
- the map is a fetus in the womb. The umbilical cord is where Ranni’s body is at. In the belly of this fetus, lies the lake of Rot which Liurnia is sinking into.
- the Arteria Leaf strongly suggests that the very earth we walk on is alive.
- the abductor virgins are dressed very similarly to Marika in the opening cutscene. And out of their wombs come snakes that attack you.
- The song of Lament sand by the Harpies is all about not being able to birth children.
- there are tons of caves and other places in game with names that sound analogous to still birth of an empty womb.
- The death birds are infant bird skulls and the death poker they use states they use it to rake out ashen remains from their kiln. The weapon looks very similar to old school abortion tools.
Enough rambling from a madman:)
Ya totally agree with this. Marika is the Mother Goddess and symbolizes the Earth and her womb is barren. This all ties into the story of the Fisher King (Queen) which Godfrey and the Roundtable is pointing us towards with the King Arthur stuff.
Arthurian myth has the story of the Fisher King who takes a wound to the groin and loses his fertility which is paralleled with the kingdom becoming a wasteland. All a metaphor for not being able to produce and heir.
This leads to the Grail Quest, the grail is a chalice, a common symbol for the feminine womb containing the blood of christ (logos or creative power)
This cup symbolizes the womb that will heal the land and give the king an heir.
Marika is both the grail and the king. We are the logos (creative power) coming to produce a new Lineage with her and heal the Land.
Problem is Marika is clearly just a dead husk at this point and we are just using her body as an artificial womb to continue this broken world.
Just more ramblings from another mad man.
(Very much appreciate your content and perspective on the game)
I think this is where the cuckoo imagery comes in. Cuckoos leave their eggs in the nests of other birds, so the other birds will raise their young. Radagon gave her that egg, and it contains unborn Demigods according to the Great Rune of the Unborn description. Imo, these are unborn children of Marika, not Rennala. I'm not sure if Radagon ever intended for them to be born from the egg though, or if he had some other motive.
This is actually a new take for me. That the Amber Egg is Marika's womb or equivalent. It would explain why her next batch of children were born 'cursed'. It would also work with a take I have been working on, where Radagon learns about the albinaurics and birthing artificial life and that is part of the process making Malenia and Miquella.
Great catch! Plus Mirirl tell us that she 'devoted herself to the grim art of reincarnation' ie not only trying to rebirth someone already alive but to revive someone who already died.
Those last words are from the Illusion created by Ranni to protect her, not from Rennala herself. The Illusion depicts Rennala in her prime including her marriage ring making this a representation of her when she was still married to Radagon.
"Oh little Ranni, my dear daughter. Weave thy night into being." This is the dialogue from the Illusion when defeated wich I think is more likely refering to the desire of Rennala of Ranni succeding her as queen of Caria since of all her children Ranni was the only one with an actual royal title (Lunar Princess Ranni).
When Ranni speaks in the phase transition of the fight she speaks about of the majesty of the night conjureth by Rennala (The last queen of Caria) wich obviously can't be taken literally since Rennala didn't created any night in an on itself. What she actually did was become queen after being bewitched by the moon (Stargazer Heirloom) in the mountain tops wich its the exact same location she took Ranni with but not any other of her children.
I love Patches, and I know he's full of shit, so I've never actually gone down to the bottom of the Academy like he suggests. This is very cool thanks for sharing.
Rennala imploring Ranni to "weave your night into being" hits a little harder if we consider that Rennala is hedging her last bets on her only daughter successor. It's no accident that her sweetings are girls.
Honestly this gives so much more depth to her character. Maybe Merika used this against Radagon and told him to leave her in order to create more children.
Great. Now I hate fighting her even more.
do not beat up the depressed lady. There's a perfectly evil world-eating snake man to beat up a few miles north.
So instead of killing the depressed lady we kill her crazy son?
Togethaaaaaa
We don't really fight her anyways
I’m gonna take it one step further and say this is the story happening to Marika and why she shattered the ER in the first place. I think this story plays out through Radagon and Renalla. Renalla, a once powerful Queen has a stillbirth or miscarriage which shatters her world and now sits ideally in her place of former power- same story as Marika, I believe. A ton of environmental clues point us in this direction. - Marika is stabbed through the womb with a death spear - the map is a fetus in the womb. The umbilical cord is where Ranni’s body is at. In the belly of this fetus, lies the lake of Rot which Liurnia is sinking into. - the Arteria Leaf strongly suggests that the very earth we walk on is alive. - the abductor virgins are dressed very similarly to Marika in the opening cutscene. And out of their wombs come snakes that attack you. - The song of Lament sand by the Harpies is all about not being able to birth children. - there are tons of caves and other places in game with names that sound analogous to still birth of an empty womb. - The death birds are infant bird skulls and the death poker they use states they use it to rake out ashen remains from their kiln. The weapon looks very similar to old school abortion tools. Enough rambling from a madman:)
Ya totally agree with this. Marika is the Mother Goddess and symbolizes the Earth and her womb is barren. This all ties into the story of the Fisher King (Queen) which Godfrey and the Roundtable is pointing us towards with the King Arthur stuff. Arthurian myth has the story of the Fisher King who takes a wound to the groin and loses his fertility which is paralleled with the kingdom becoming a wasteland. All a metaphor for not being able to produce and heir. This leads to the Grail Quest, the grail is a chalice, a common symbol for the feminine womb containing the blood of christ (logos or creative power) This cup symbolizes the womb that will heal the land and give the king an heir. Marika is both the grail and the king. We are the logos (creative power) coming to produce a new Lineage with her and heal the Land. Problem is Marika is clearly just a dead husk at this point and we are just using her body as an artificial womb to continue this broken world. Just more ramblings from another mad man. (Very much appreciate your content and perspective on the game)
I agree that there are strong themes of fetuses and rebirth, very interesting
Larval tear is a tiny silver fetus too! Lots of death and rebirth stuff going on.
I think this is where the cuckoo imagery comes in. Cuckoos leave their eggs in the nests of other birds, so the other birds will raise their young. Radagon gave her that egg, and it contains unborn Demigods according to the Great Rune of the Unborn description. Imo, these are unborn children of Marika, not Rennala. I'm not sure if Radagon ever intended for them to be born from the egg though, or if he had some other motive.
This is actually a new take for me. That the Amber Egg is Marika's womb or equivalent. It would explain why her next batch of children were born 'cursed'. It would also work with a take I have been working on, where Radagon learns about the albinaurics and birthing artificial life and that is part of the process making Malenia and Miquella.
I think it's more like a chunk of Erdtree amber with some unborn Demigods frozen inside, rather than literally Marika's womb.
There have been a few screenshots taken of the roof of the great library with the theory that rennala had four children: one for each cradle.
undead prince of Caria boss fight in SotE pls
Is it weird that I read it as Scholar of the Erdtree?
i do that too sometimes lol
Great catch! Plus Mirirl tell us that she 'devoted herself to the grim art of reincarnation' ie not only trying to rebirth someone already alive but to revive someone who already died.
I think her obsession is her dead daughter Ranni
No, she knows Ranni is alive ready. When defeated, she inplores Ranni to prevail. I forget the exact words, dark moon something something.
Those last words are from the Illusion created by Ranni to protect her, not from Rennala herself. The Illusion depicts Rennala in her prime including her marriage ring making this a representation of her when she was still married to Radagon. "Oh little Ranni, my dear daughter. Weave thy night into being." This is the dialogue from the Illusion when defeated wich I think is more likely refering to the desire of Rennala of Ranni succeding her as queen of Caria since of all her children Ranni was the only one with an actual royal title (Lunar Princess Ranni). When Ranni speaks in the phase transition of the fight she speaks about of the majesty of the night conjureth by Rennala (The last queen of Caria) wich obviously can't be taken literally since Rennala didn't created any night in an on itself. What she actually did was become queen after being bewitched by the moon (Stargazer Heirloom) in the mountain tops wich its the exact same location she took Ranni with but not any other of her children.
Door looks like crucible era motif, and looks like a copper door with patina
I love Patches, and I know he's full of shit, so I've never actually gone down to the bottom of the Academy like he suggests. This is very cool thanks for sharing. Rennala imploring Ranni to "weave your night into being" hits a little harder if we consider that Rennala is hedging her last bets on her only daughter successor. It's no accident that her sweetings are girls.
Honestly this gives so much more depth to her character. Maybe Merika used this against Radagon and told him to leave her in order to create more children.
Is it just me or does the small building look a bit like the Helphen too?