The Lore of Elden Ring's Slumbering Demigod

Summary

This in-depth video explores the lore of Miquella, an eternally young demigod in Elden Ring with immense wisdom and power. It analyzes Miquella's character, his relationship with his afflicted twin sister Malenia, his creation of the Haligtree, and his mysterious alter ego St. Trina. The script suggests Miquella may have willingly allowed himself to be abducted by Mohg to achieve apotheosis, becoming a full god. It leaves many questions unanswered about Miquella's fate, hinting he could return in DLC content.

Takeaways

• 😱 Miquella and Malenia are afflicted twin demigods born from Radagon's singular parentage
• 🌳 Miquella created the Haligtree, a sort of Erdtree that housed outcasts and heretics
• 💖 Miquella invented unalloyed gold to help cure his sister Malenia's rot affliction
• 😴 Miquella has an alter ego named St. Trina associated with dreams and sleep
• 🌹 The Haligtree was meant to be a place of abundance and healing for outcasts
• ⛪ Miquella tried to use an eclipse ritual at Castle Sol to restore his brother Godwyn's soul
• 🧸 Miquella eternally appears as a child but has an unnerving adult form depicted in game
• 😢 Mohg kidnapped Miquella from his cocoon in the Haligtree to make him his blood consort
• 💉 Mohg wishes to Raise Miquella to full godhood with ritual blood offerings in Mohgwyn Palace
• ❓ Miquella's fate is uncertain but he may return or be reborn from his cocoon

Q & A

What affliction did Miquella's sister Malenia have that he tried to cure?

Malenia was afflicted with Scarlet Rot, which is the divine essence of an outer god. Miquella created golden needles to try to cure her rotting sickness and remove her pain.

What is unalloyed gold and why did Miquella embrace it?

Unalloyed gold is a pure, untainted gold that Miquella embraced in an attempt to treat his sister's rot, after realizing that fundamentalism could not help her.

What was the purpose of Miquella creating the Haligtree?

Miquella created the Haligtree to be a place of refuge and salvation for outcasts and heretics. He also likely wanted it to evoke the power and abundance of the Erdtree.

Who is St. Trina and how are they connected to Miquella?

St. Trina is described as a comely young girl or boy who seems to be an alter ego or second form of Miquella. St. Trina is associated with sleep and dreaming.

Why did Miquella embed himself into the Haligtree?

It's unclear, but likely to feed the tree with his blood, facilitate a rebirth, and/or fuse with the tree itself to become the adult female figure depicted within its roots.

Who took Miquella from the Haligtree and why?

Mohg, Lord of Blood, took Miquella. He wished to raise Miquella to full godhood and become his consort, taking the role of monarch.

What ritual was Miquella trying to perform at Castle Sol?

At Castle Sol, Miquella was likely trying to perform an eclipse ritual to restore the soul of his demigod brother Godwyn.

What outer god does Mohg commune with?

Mohg met an outer god underground called the Formless Mother or Mother of Truth. His accursed omen blood erupted with fire when they met.

Why does Mohg wish to make Miquella his consort?

Mohg wants to inaugurate a new dynasty with Miquella at the head. He believes raising Miquella to full godhood as his consort will make this possible.

Is Miquella still in control of his fate?

It's unclear. His sister Malenia believes he still has a plan and will return. But it's possible Mohg and the Formless Mother now have control over Miquella's fate.

Outlines

00:00

😇 Introduction to Miquella and who he is considered to be

Introduces Miquella as many things - a fundamentalist, the unalloyed, creator of the Haligtree, Lord of the Eclipse, St. Trina of the Cradle Song, a fearsome empyrean. Says that after watching the video, people will agree Miquella is a topic worth exploring more in upcoming DLC.

05:00

😨 Backstory on Miquella's early years and relationship with family

Talks about Miquella's early childhood being inspired by his father Radagon's fundamentalism. Miquella invented his own fundamentalist incantations as gifts, showing a good relationship between them. Also suggests an early kinship and grief over Godwyn's death, seen in the sword Miquella created to slay Those Who Live in Death.

10:02

😢 Miquella's devotion to helping his afflicted sister Malenia

Explains how Miquella abandoned fundamentalism as it couldn't treat Malenia's Scarlet Rot. This led him to pursue unalloyed gold and craft golden needles to alleviate her suffering. Shows his kindness and empathy through these efforts to save his sister.

15:05

🌳 About the Haligtree that Miquella created as a sanctuary

Talks about what the Haligtree is - an Erdtree that Miquella likely planted and watered with his own blood. Serves as a home/vessel for outcasts and heretics. Drips with dew/abundance like Erdtrees used to. An intentional comparison to the Painted World in Dark Souls - a safe space.

20:06

😴 Miquella's mysterious alter ego St. Trina

Introduces St. Trina, a comely young girl alter ego of Miquella. Associated with sleep and dreams. Unclear if Miquella has full control over this form. Cut content shows St. Trina wanting to help even frenzied merchants.

25:07

🌙 The eclipse ritual at Castle Sol to restore Godwyn's soul

Miquella attempted a ritual at Castle Sol to bring back Godwyn's soul using an eclipse. Eclipse is a symbol of the wandering mausoleums where soulless demigods slumber. The ritual seemingly failed but suggests Miquella believes restoration is possible.

30:08

😞 The fate of Miquella and his Haligtree

When we arrive, the Haligtree is wilting after Miquella was ripped from its womb-like cocoon. Guards still faithful awaiting his return. Malenia also awaits him still believing he'll keep his promise to come back.

35:11

😈 Mohg's bloody dynasty by taking Miquella

Mohg absconded with Miquella, wishing to raise him to full godhood and become his consort to start a new Mohgwyn dynasty. He still gets no response from Miquella's cocoon but his followers believe Mohg will awaken Miquella soon.

40:12

⚔️ Theorycraft on whether this is what Miquella intended

Questions on whether Miquella intended for this - eg. he's an expert at compelling love, Malenia believes he possesses the wisdom/allure of a god. Draws comparisons to Berserk with possibilities of Miquella allowing the sacrifice.

45:15

😴 Entering into slumbering Miquella's dreamscape

Wonders if we'll get DLC to enter Miquella's dream, as he's clearly grown in cocoon. Mentions cut character Rhico who wanted to enter Miquella's dream at Mohgwyn Palace to aid his transcendence into godhood.

Keywords

💡Miquella

Miquella is a demigod child of Marika and Radagon who suffers from eternal childhood. He is described as benevolent and tries to help his afflicted sister Malenia. He creates the Haligtree to help outcasts and invents unalloyed gold to help cure rot.

💡Haligtree

The Haligtree is a tree that Miquella grows to be like the Erdtree. He waters it with his own blood. It is meant to be a place of acceptance for outcasts and Miquella eventually cocoons himself inside it.

💡Unalloyed Gold

Unalloyed gold is a material invented by Miquella that can ward off outer god influences. He uses it to create a needle to help cure his sister's rot affliction.

💡St. Trina

St. Trina is speculated to be an alter-ego or grown up form of Miquella. Associated with sleep and dreams, St. Trina helps calm those afflicted by frenzy.

💡Godwyn

Godwyn the Golden is Miquella's older demigod brother who dies when his soul is killed. Miquella tries to restore his soul potentially through rituals at Castle Sol involving eclipses.

💡Mohg

Mohg the Omen abducts the cocooned Miquella from the Haligtree, hoping to raise him to full godhood and become his consort.

💡Outer gods

Outer gods like the God of Rot and Formless Mother require vessels to spread their influence. Miquella's unalloyed gold can inhibit them.

💡Dynasty

Mohg wishes to start a new dynasty with Miquella once he achieves full godhood, usurping the Golden Order.

💡Eclipse

The eclipsed sun is a symbol of Castle Sol. Miquella attempts rituals here involving eclipses to try restoring his brother Godwyn's soul.

💡Empyrean

As an Empyrean, Miquella is a candidate to succeed Queen Marika. Mohg wishes to help him achieve full godhood.

Highlights

Miquella is the demigod child of Queen Marika and King consort Radagon, who are the same being.

Miquella created fundamentalist incantations called Discus of Light and Triple Rings of Light, which he gave as gifts to his father Radagon.

Miquella abandoned fundamentalism as it could not treat his sister Malenia's scarlet rot affliction. This led him to invent unalloyed gold.

Unalloyed gold can ward away the meddling of outer gods and was used by Miquella to create needles that could forestall Malenia's scarlet rot.

Miquella planted the Haligtree, likely from an Erdtree seed, and watered it with his own blood. It was intended as a refuge for outcasts.

Miquella has an alter ego named St. Trina who is able to enter the dreams of others and once brought relief to those afflicted by the flame of frenzy.

At some point Miquella embedded himself into the Haligtree, possibly to feed it further or to achieve some kind of rebirth.

Mohg, Lord of Blood, broke into the Haligtree and absconded with Miquella's infant form, taking him to Mohgwyn Palace.

At Mohgwyn Palace, Mohg wishes to raise Miquella to full godhood and become his consort, though so far this has been in vain.

In the game, Miquella appears to have grown significantly since being taken by Mohg, suggesting his adult St. Trina form may be manifesting.

Cut content suggests we may one day be able to enter Miquella's dream, where he could potentially transcend from empyrean to god.

Miquella's Great Rune is one we don't know about yet, making him a prime candidate for future DLC content.

The lore surrounding Miquella is still highly mysterious, leaving many unanswered questions about his intentions and ultimate fate.

Miquella compelled affection from others to his advantage, earning him the name "most fearsome empyrean".

In the new world of Miquella's making, he wants all things to flourish, whether graceful or malign.

Transcripts

Miquella is many things. A fundamentalist.

The unalloyed. Creator of the Haligtree. Lord of the Eclipse.

St. Trina of the Cradle Song.

And not just a demigod, but a fearsome empyrean

who has been captured, but is unresponsive for now.

And after watching this video, I think you'll agree that

Miquella is a topic that almost has to be explored further

in some upcoming DLC for how could they not be?

Their character is surely too major, too foreshadowed

and too intriguing to just ignore.

So let's learn everything that there is to know.

For starters, Miquella is the demigod child of Queen

Marika and King consort Radagon, who,

as I'm sure you're well aware at this point, are the same being.

You can learn more about the timeline of events from my other videos.

But basically, after Radagon left Rennala,

the Academy told Radagon to go f*** himself, basically.

But Radagon took that literally, and he sired

a third set of demigod children all on his own.

Who were the twins Miquella and Malenia.

These children appear to be represented by the butterfly items in the game,

and the nascent butterfly appears to represent Miquella.

Its description elaborates on his state of eternal childhood, stating

that it "appears as if it's just emerged from its cocoon for its entire life."

Indeed, the word nascent means that something

is just coming into existence and beginning to display signs

of future potential, and that naissance is eternal for Miquella.

And I think that this eternal naissance is incredibly important for his character.

For Miquella and Malenia both seem

to occupy different sides of the life and death cycle.

That's not to say that Miquella represents life and Malenia represents death.

Rather, it seems like both land somewhere in the middle of each process.

Malenia is constantly resisting her Scarlet Rot and is in this

perpetual state of dying, and Miquella is in this constant state of naissance.

He is newly born and showing an abundance of life and burgeoning potential.

Special thanks to Quelaag for making this clear to me.

So Miquella is nascent but is also abundant,

and I think that's another extremely key word for him.

For example, there's this cut weapon called the Abundance and Decay Twinblade,

which symbolizes the twins and suggests that the twins were born from

an inseparable fate and hold the runes of both abundance and decay between them.

Not to mention the word abundance is also

literally spoken by Miquella in his cut content.

And thanks to a very recent discovery by Sekiro Dubi, we know this cut dialog

I'm about to voice is Miquella speaking and here he appears to be leading

you towards a unique ending for the game and he talks about his ability

to make life flourish, stating

this is for thee. Mind abundance.

My drop of dew. Quench thy thirst, throughout thy frame.

blossom and burgeon, time and again. Grow larger,

stronger. Until the day cometh. When thou canst share in my dream.

Elden Ring. O Elden Ring. Begets order most elegant. From my tender reverie.

and before I go on, I do want to say that Miquella talking about

his abundance is cut content, and you shouldn't really take it as canon,

but I think it does give us a deeper look at not only the powers

that Miquella might have had, but also the world that he could create.

He goes on to say, If thou covetest the throne,

impress my vision upon thine heart. In the new world of thy making

all things will flourish, whether graceful, or malign.

And I love that final line.

all things will flourish, whether graceful, or malign.

because Miquella isn't enforcing any real notions of good or evil here.

Instead, in the new world of his making, he simply wants all things to flourish.

And I feel like that is a very unique viewpoint

for a character in a Souls game.

Not to mention, Miquella is certainly one of the few beings

that is capable of creating this new world.

That's because he is an empyrean.

He is one of the very few who were candidates chosen by the Two Fingers

to succeed Queen Marika and to become a god to usher in a new age.

Now, we could go into an entire debate about why

the twins are valid empyreans and why they were born afflicted.

But honestly, that could almost be an entire video of its own.

So for now, I'll just give the simple answer,

which is that these twins were probably valid empyreans

because they have singular parentage from a god,

but that this singular parentage was probably

also responsible for their afflictions as well,

due to the almost incestual implications of such a thing.

Why do I feel like it was George R.R.

Martin that wrote this part?

Anyway,

let's move into the early childhood years of Miquella's eternal childhood.

Miquella's early years were clearly quite inspired by their father, Radagon,

who fostered a bit of a fundamentalist streak in his prodigal son.

And Miquella would go on to invent fundamentalist

incantations of his own, dubbed Discus of Light

and Triple Rings of Light, which he gave as gifts to his father.

These gifts reveal that Radagon and Miquella had a good relationship,

and Radagon must have been proud of his son, because these two spells

do represent those two key fundamentals of the golden order,

namely that there is a law of causality, which is a branching cause and effect

that goes outwards, but also that there is a law of regression,

that all things yearn eternally to converge once again.

And in gratitude, Radagon countered with a gift of his own showing

Miquella Radagon's Rings of light.

These incantations would go on to become core fundamentalist spells,

as they are true to those two concepts that form the basis of the Golden Order.

But there is another aspect of Golden Order fundamentalism,

and that is the persecution of Those Who Live in Death

hunters of these undead would attempt to stamp them out with spells

such as Orders Blade and Litany of Proper Death, which deal additional damage

against Those Who Live in Death and prevent them from resurrecting.

To recap, Those Who Live in Death exist because of Godwyn the Golden,

who was one of the early Sons of Marika and Godfrey,

who was eventually killed with a fragment of the Rune of Death,

and then the rune of death, which eventually spread its undeath

throughout the Lands Between via deathroot.

And there is an entire debate that we could have here about

whether the persecution of those who live in death

is even true to the core principles of fundamentalism.

Goldmask certainly doesn't seem to think so.

In fact, according to the Order Healing spell, Goldmask laments

the hunters of Those Who Live in Death, deeming them to be fanatics

who wanted nothing more than an absolute evil to contend with.

And the reason

I bring up this debate at all is because you could argue that Miquella

was on the side of these fanatic hunters as he created multiple weapons

that were capable of effectively slaying Those Who Live in Death.

For example, this is Golden Epitaph and it is "a sword

that was made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden,

And first of the demigods to die."

It is "infused with the humble prayer of a young boy"

and reads, O brother, Lord brother, please die a true death."

So this weapon is an effective tool of killing Those Who Live in Death

permanently.

And clearly, the young boy who created it was Miquella.

We can infer this because the sigil that appears

when you use this blade's skill is the Haligtree sigil.

And once activated, this ability called Last Rites imbues

the sword with a holy power that prevents Those Who Live in Death from reviving.

But beyond this being a potential tool to slay Those Who Live in Death

is that this weapon points towards an early kinship between Miquella

and Godwyn,

a relationship that might have made it all the more painful

when Godwyn's Soul would perish, but his body would remain spawning deathroot.

This is interesting as it gives Miquella a legitimate

emotional grievance against Those Who Live in Death.

And it's almost a bit hypocritical, I think, for what

I believe to be Miquella's character, as we previously established

that he might have been this character who wants all life to flourish.

But I guess that principle might not extend to Those Who Live in Death

For him. This sword might not be the only representation of Miquella's

relationship with Godwyn.

That relationship is potentially strengthened even more

when we consider this statue found in Elphael before the Haligtree.

It depicts a larger figure who is clearly embracing

the two empyrean twins, Miquella and Malenia.

But then who is this larger figure?

It could be their parent, Marika or Radagon, but then it doesn't

have their signature hair braid and instead it has this long wavy hair.

What's more, the statue asset is flat chested,

which appears to rule out Marika at least.

And after reading a good amount of debate online about this,

I think it's a fair conclusion to say that this statue represents

Godwyn, who himself does seem to have long wavy hair.

And this statue being enshrined here really tells a story.

It's a story of two gifted but afflicted

siblings who were supported by their older brother.

But then they were left alone as the older

brother would become the first demigod to die.

And this isn't the only statue in this location.

far more prominent in the area are these statues,

which depict two siblings left alone after their brother died.

There was one sibling, Miquella, who was forced to remain as a young child

and another who grew up in great pain, eventually losing vision

and limbs to rot and decay.

These statues are everywhere in the Haligtree, and they tell that sorrowful story.

They are an early sign of Miquella's extreme empathy for his sister,

and they foreshadow his desperate attempts

to give her relief from her terrifying condition.

And so the young Miquella abandoned fundamentalism

the some for it could do nothing to treat Malenia's accursed rot.

This was the beginning of unalloyed gold.

So what is unalloyed gold?

Well, an alloy is something that's created when you combine metals, usually

because you want to create a stronger compound at the expense of its purity.

So if we were to view Marika's Golden Order as if it were a metal,

which I think is something that the lore wants you to do, considering

the implications of the tarnished and everything like that,

then Marika's Golden Order would definitely be an alloyed metal.

Just think of all the foreign powers

that it's absorbed in the interest of strength.

For example, Godfrey and his Crucible Knights

were enlisted to devastate Marika's enemies and the ancient dragons

were won over and eventually became a part of Leyndell's forces.

Even the house of the Erdtree and the moon were married at one point,

literally.

After all, as Miriel puts it, all things can be conjoined under the Golden Order.

So I think Marika was definitely open to fusing factions and ideologies

to an extent, as long as it made her treasured Golden Order alloy stronger.

So hopefully now you understand what I mean

when I say that Miquella's gold is unalloyed.

It is pure. It is untainted.

And it is perhaps a singular ideology.

And if you subscribe to the idea that the cut content

is still representative of Miquella, then I would say that his ideology

is what I had Miquella quote earlier that in his new world,

all things should be allowed to flourish, whether graceful or malign.

And that that is his pure ideology.

Though, of course, that is my speculation based on cut content as well.

So please keep that in mind.

But Miquella's unalloyed gold couldn't have just been this

metaphysical concept of pure ideology.

It was a physical material as well.

For example, this is an unalloyed gold waterlily said to have been beloved by

Miquella.

This is a bewitching branch blessed with an incantation of unalloyed gold.

Unalloyed gold

Decorated the armor and shields of his soldiers.

It was inserted into their weapons.

And most importantly, perhaps, it was forged

into a set of armor for his sister Malenia.

Because remember the whole reason Miquella embraced unalloyed

gold in the first place, it seems, was because he thought that

it could treat his sister's accursed rot, while fundamentalism could not.

And he was right.

For Malenia's Scarlet Rot is no mere disease.

It's literally the divine essence of an outer god.

And Malenia is its vessel that will one day bloom into a true

goddess, but unalloyed gold is one of the few materials in the game

that can ward away such meddling of the outer gods.

Another example of Mirror Helms, like the one that Iji wears,

which literally reflects the influence of the outer gods.

Personally, I think the reason that unalloyed gold

inhibits the meddling of the outer gods is because it is a pure

metal and potentially a pure ideology.

But if that's not enough reason for you, then Quelaag actually has a great video

where she breaks down potential reasons at a chemical level.

But at any rate, reasons aside, Miquella crafted needles of unalloyed gold

which could be inserted into the tortured flesh of one afflicted

by rot to alleviate the suffering and forestall the effects of the rot.

And true to the needles descriptions, the Outer

God of Rot isn't the only one affected by this.

Our character actually uses the final version of this unalloyed gold needle

to subdue the Outer God of Frenzy, which is something you might want

if you decided to be a terrible person and burn down the world.

Anyway, when we first find Miquella's needle, it's been broken, snapped in half

and picked up by a commander at the very center of the Scarlet swamp.

But once this needle has been prepared, we can give the golden needle

to Millicent, proving that it does indeed work to forestall

the rotting sickness, to remove pain and nightmares from the afflicted.

It is after all, lovingly crafted by Miquella himself.

[Gowry] Well. Well, this is a marvel indeed.

The work of a true artisan.

A meticulous, bold craftsman who grasps the essence of life

[Vaati] in crafting these needles and pursuing unalloyed gold.

Miquella is attempting to save his sister from her affliction.

It seems like this objectively good deed, which is a rare sight in Elden Ring,

especially for a demigod

whose strengths have been known to tip them towards madness.

And that is what makes Miquella such a pure and likable character in Elden Ring.

So it's no wonder, really, that Malenia venerated her brother.

She is a character of undefeated prowess, and she's an empyrean, no less.

And yet she dedicated her blade to Miquella and Miquella alone,

for she believes that he possesses the wisdom, the allure of a god,

and that he is the most fearsome empyrean of all.

The story of their bond and duty to one another is legendary,

and that's something that becomes quite clear when we explore Miquella's

Haligtree and see these statues depicting their embrace all around.

And if you were one of the many defiled outcasts in Elden Ring,

you too might have felt inspired by this story,

and you might have felt inclined to earn Miquella's favor

and make the long pilgrimage towards your salvation,

towards the distant divine Haligtree and its brace

That was Miquella's Domain.

So first, what even is the Haligtree?

Well, it's pretty obvious that it's a sort of Erdtree

for one, Erdtree avatars have clearly emerged from it,

which they only do in order to protect the Erdtree's own offspring.

And then there's the Haligree knight armor, which confirms that

the Haligtree ultimately failed to grow into an Erdtree.

And one thing I've been wondering is when exactly was the Haligtree

planted then?

If we knew when, then we might be able to guess at its purpose.

Was it planted before or after the shattering of the Elden ring?

Because when the Elden ring was shattered, golden seeds flew from the Erdtree,

scattering across the various lands as if life itself knew that its end had come.

These seeds create these little illusory trees

and likely spawned the minor Erdtrees as well.

So I think it's a fair assumption that Miquella

might have planted the Haligtree from an Erdtree seed.

And if that was indeed the case, then it should have happened

after the shattering for before that, the Erdtree was considered perfect

and eternal, and it wasn't even believed that Erdtree seeds could exist.

But on the flip side, the Golden Epitaph Sword that we mentioned earlier likely

existed before the shattering as it was created to commemorate Godwyn's death.

And this sword displays the Haligtree sigil when its weapon art is activated.

So one could infer that the Haligtree

must have existed at this point too, Right?

So I guess it's always possible that Miquella somehow procured an Erdtree

seed before the shattering, or simply grew it from his own being

as he is a scion of the Golden Bough, after all.

But whatever the case, Miquella clearly decided that growing such a tree

was important, and he even went so far as to water it with his own blood.

This confirms that the Erdtree is indeed a bloodsucking parasite.

Just kidding. Sort of.

I mean, you have to admit,

it is pretty disturbing that an Erdtree could flourish in such a manner.

But this does lead us

to the final question, which is why was the Haligtree planted?

What was the point of it?

And at the end of the day, the main reason is always going to be

because it's like the Erdtree.

It's natural to compare them,

and the item descriptions seem to want you to compare them as well.

The Erdtree is this enormous icon of power and faith in the Lands Between.

So evoking that and inspiring worship is clearly a valuable thing.

But the Erdtree was only really an icon of faith in its later years.

Before that, it was a symbol of abundance, with light as warm as the gentle sun

that could gradually heal all those who bathed in its rays.

But perhaps most importantly, during this time of abundance,

it would drip sacred dew, sap or tears that could bestow

blessings, form crystal tears and even be embedded into talismans.

These were treasured things, and naturally

this was an extremely valuable symbol for Miquella to evoke.

Since he is himself associated with dew and abundance in the cut content.

And his Haligtree did drip with dew,

the greenish amber of the Haligtree can even be seen in cut content items.

It even looks as if it's mingled with a bit of Miquella's own blood

and that signature green hue of Haligtree

Amber is also seen in the Haligtree Knight's sword, which is not a cut weapon.

And this was modeled after the Carian Knight's own swords,

except it was embedded with Amber from the Haligtree instead of Glintstone.

Okay, so the Haligtree is a great symbol of faith and power and abundance.

And Miquella is related to abundance in the cut content.

But what else does the Haligtree add in terms of value?

Well, the Haligtree itself is something of a vessel fit for a god.

Miquella plants himself inside it.

Later on, Malenia returns home to it.

And speaking of it being a home, many of the creatures have made their home

within the tree and within the brace that supports it as well.

And I guess you could also argue

that the Haligtree might be a sort of a tool to be used.

After all, Marika puts the Erdtree to use in such a way,

using its roots to absorb people after their death, and perhaps

even its branches to rebirth life and then the Erdtree is later

used as a prison with thorns that are almost entirely impenetrable.

But I don't think Miquella's planned to use the Haligtree in such a way.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the Haligtree and the Erdtree is

that the Haligtree was built in a largely inhospitable region.

It is extremely difficult to reach, and unlike the Erdtree, it might not

really be designed for the benefit of the vast majority of the world.

As it stands, the Haligtree strikes

me as being more like the Painted World from Dark Souls.

It's a place for the outcasts, the heretical and the malign.

Not to mention the low and the meek who are specifically named

in the description of the Sacred Crown Helm.

While many of the Scarlet Rot afflicted seem to be here

because of the eventual decay of the Haligtree,

I think that there are a number of refugees here

that would have been here before that, namely the misbegotten, the crystalian,

These astray mages of Raya Lucaria.

And of course, Loretta, who deemed this place

to be a great haven for the despised Albinaurics.

The second generation Albinaurics even carry a weapon called the Ivory Sickle,

which reads "These weapons are evidence of their dedication to the Haligtree.

Despite never having entered its presence."

And we really don't find a single Albinauric within the Haligtree.

I'll admit I do find this a bit strange.

You do find quite a few Albinaurics so close to the Haligtree.

It's a bit strange to me

They don't go just that little bit further.

The reason given for the first generation of Albinaurics not being at the Halig-

tree is given by Albus, who says that

their faded legs are the reason for that.

But yeah, we find them defending Miquella and his Haligtree

all the same at the ordinary liturgical town,

which takes us to the Haligtree via a puzzle within an evergaol

The word liturgical means relating to public worship,

and this town is fittingly filled with many statues of Miquella

sitting alone, cradling what might have become the

Haligtree back when it was still just a sapling.

I also find it interesting that the Haligtree is

never called out as competing with the Erdtree,

or never called out for housing all these undesirables.

Perhaps the house of the Erdtree was happy to see

ungraceful folk leave their lands.

Perhaps the Haligtree

was extremely well hidden from everyone, and they didn't know.

Or perhaps Miquella could just get away with it because he was beloved by all.

For example,

the bewitching branch is an item that you can create from Miquella's Lilies,

and it is blessed with an incantation of unalloyed gold, and reads

"The empyrean Miquella is loved by many people.

Indeed, he has learned very well how to compel such affection,"

and that second part that says he has learned how to compel affection.

To me, that's saying that Miquella is very good

at knowing how to inspire others affection to his own advantage.

And nowhere is this more clear, I think, than at Castle Sol.

This is the Haligtree secret medallion.

It's furnished with that signature green amber and it features the Haligtree

in the background, for it allows you to access

a secret lower level of the Grand Lift of Rold and to progress

through the consecrated snowfields to this sacred place.

Having both halves of this secret medallion is therefore

extremely desirable, for the medallion has another name.

It's called Miquella's Favour.

[Finger Reader] Miquella's Favour

can be yours...

Slaughter... Slaughter...

Slaughter...

to all-hearing, slaughtered

but alas, it was for naught.

But all you need do...

snatch it from the big pot

[Vaati] Gideon is the "all-hearing man" in this dialogue

and he slaughtered an entire village just for one half of this medallion.

But he did not find it in Albus's possession.

But you can.

And the other half is at Castle Sol, right

before a nameless phantom who says this.

"Lord Miquella, forgive me.

The son has not been swallowed.

Our prayers were lacking.

Your comrade remains soulless.

I will never set my eyes upon it now.

Your divine Haligtree."

So this

phantom seemingly has or I guess, had one half of the medallion.

And yet he laments that he will now never set eyes upon the Haligtree.

To me, this suggests

that Miquella might have been withholding the second half of the medallion from him,

or that this phantom believed that he could solicit the second half

of the medallion from Miquella and make it to the Haligtree.

If he achieved his goal here at Castle Sol

and basically earned Miquella's Favour.

What exactly was supposed to happen here at Castle Sol?

What does it mean when the Phantom says the sun has not been swallowed?

Our prayers were lacking.

Your comrade remains soulless.

It means, I think, that the residents of Castle Sol and Miquella

were attempting to restore the dead soul of Godwyn the Golden.

And just to refresh your memory, when a fragment of the Rune of Death

was used to kill

Godwyn, it was also being used at the exact same time to kill Ranni.

And since they perished at the same time, Ranni lost her body,

And Miquella's demigod brother Godwyn perished in soul alone.

And despite this death seeming so final, Miquella clearly believes

that some sort of ritual performed here could restore the soul of his comrade.

For example, here's some more dialogue from a different phantom that reads.

"O great son, Frigid son of sol!

Surrender yourself to the eclipse! Grant life to the soulless bones!"

But the question is how, How does that work?

How does an eclipse restore life to Godwyn?

Now you can just take Miquella

at face value and trust that he knows what he's doing.

Or we can try to learn as much as we can about the eclipse

and see if we can reason out the mechanism behind this process.

So at Castle Sol, we find the Eclipse Shotel, which reads "Storied sword

and treasure of Castle Sol that depicts an eclipsed sun drained of color. In Sol

The sight of an eclipse inspires

a dreadful awe, preventing an onlooker from averting his gaze."

The most important part of this description,

though, is the part that says it's the storied sword of Castle Sol

as this proves that the veneration of the eclipse here goes back a long way.

But what does an eclipse represent?

So according to the Eclipse Crest Shields, "the eclipsed sun,

drained of color is the protective star of soulless demigods."

Honestly, I think calling it a protective

star is kind of the closest we come to understanding the mechanism here,

because you could reason that a protective star might be

a sort of outer god that lends them power.

Though that is just speculation.

The description goes on to say that "the sun in Eclipse is said to be

the symbol of the wandering mausoleum where the soulless demigods slumber."

So note that it says demigods, plural here.

Now, this could be because the wandering mausoleums come to house many demigods.

From a gameplay point of view, because you can take their remembrances here,

but it could be a word that is slightly lost in translation

as the Japanese version of the word demigods

does not specify whether it's a plural or whether it's a singular word.

So my take on this is that

I think the wandering mausoleums became necessary when Godwyn died.

I think that the mausoleum was intended to be a resting place

for him initially, but then also for any future demigods.

As all of a sudden all of their true deaths had become possible

as well, with the theft of a fragment of the Rune of Death.

The mausoleum knights themselves are these headless soldiers

who behead themselves, willingly following their master into death.

As such, they become these headless spirits tied to the land

so that they might better defend the walking mausoleums.

They also carry eclipse crested shields, and the eclipse is said

to aid the mausoleum knights by keeping Destined Death at bay.

It is their symbol and by keeping Destined Death at bay.

Maybe it's helping to keep their souls tied to the land.

We could speculate for a long time on how the eclipse has this power.

And I've done my best.

Maybe other people have a better take on it.

And maybe you guys do in the comments.

But in the end, it's simpler just to trust

that Miquella knew what he was doing with the eclipse at Castle Sol,

where he wanted to block out the sun and restore Godwyn's soul.

Well, that said,

We can't trust him too much,

I guess, because it's important to remember that this ritual failed.

According to this phantom, the sun was not swallowed.

But I guess the protective star of the soulless demigods

did not listen to their prayers,

And it did not appear.

But it is really fascinating to learn that such a thing might even be possible.

But Godwyn, whose soul seems to be as dead as

Ranni's body, might actually not be so.

If his soul is somewhere, then where has it fled to?

A part of me wonders if his soul is lost,

Then maybe it's lost within a dream.

One theory I did come up with regarding the mechanism by which Godwyn

Soul is brought back by the eclipse is that his soul might be brought back

by bringing about a sort of artificial dusk with the eclipse.

That's because Those Who Live in Death are called the duskborn, after all.

So there is an association between night and death, to be sure.

And there's also an association between death and sleep.

For example, when you pursue Fia's questline,

you use her as a medium to enter Godwyn's deathbed dream,

which is an entire dreamscape where the Dragon Fortissax

is futilely fighting against the death in his companion.

And then there's Rogier, who speaks this line of dialogue

as he is on the precipice of succumbing to deathroot.

[Rogier] Maybe I should tell you. Lately,

I feel I'm on the precipice of falling into a deep...

fathomless slumber.

[Rogier] He does say he's about to fall into sleep.

So in conclusion, a realm of death does seem accessible through dream.

And I think this is the perfect time to mention that Miquella has an alter ego.

Some say she is a comely young girl.

Others are sure she is a boy.

This is where we have to talk about the enigmatic figure

named St. Trina.

Perhaps the biggest in-game clue

about St. Trina's true identity is Trina's Lily, which bears

this undeniable resemblance to Miquella's Lily of Unalloyed Gold.

Its description reveals that it is "a symbol of faith

in St. Trina. dulls the senses, preventing agitation."

Naturally, it can be used to craft a bunch of sleep

afflicting items like St. Trina's Arrow which states

that this "sweet oblivion of sleep can become quite the habit."

And it tells of the priests of St. Trina who use these arrows

to spread their teachings.

Though the Japanese description seems to specify that

these were more of a tool used for their rituals, so it's largely left

to your imagination as to what rituals these priests might have been performing.

Though I will mention that it seems St. Trina might

actually be able to be found somewhere within sleep.

This is suggested by Fevor's cookbook, which reads "a record of crafting

techniques left by a man who was utterly captivated by St. Trina.

He continued the search for her in his slumber."

We get a side profile of her in the hilt of St. Trina's Sword,

which hints at that flowing astray hair that she has.

And then we get a much better front on view of this feminine adult form

Upon St. Trina's torch "the carvings depict

St. Trina, but in adult form, somewhat unnervingly."

The carving is indeed unnerving, and it's certainly strange considering

Miquella is supposed to be eternally a child.

It raises the question what has to happen for Miquella to grow up into this

and why is this bizarre creature, the adult form that he takes?

Another question worth asking, I think, is

whether Miquella even has total control of St. Trina.

What if he's in a similar situation to Marika/Radagon,

where the alter ego is an opposite of sorts

and able to act almost as if they have their own free will.

So all of this is definitely a little bit of a disturbing view

of what St. Trina could be.

But I guess we do have cut content that does somewhat reassure me

that the alter ego is still a benevolent person.

This cut content was first showcased by Sekiro Dubi,

and this cut content is truly ancient.

It exists in one of the oldest versions of the game that we know about.

So a lot has probably changed since then.

But regardless here we can learn about St Trina's crystal ball,

which once read "a crystal ball full of mist. symbol of St.

Trina of the Cradlesong. Copies Dream missed from a sleeping being. Dream

mist was once used as an ingredient in rare and potent physicks.

May the quietude of slumber come to all and sundry,

even to those whose red eyes burn with the flames of frenzy."

So this reveals that this cut version of St. Trina

even once had sympathy for those afflicted by the flame of frenzy.

They even went so far as to teach the merchants their songs.

[Kale] Our song derives from an old lullaby.

sung for us, long ago, deep inside our tomb.

But whoever it was sings no longer.

Its melody allowed us to

sleep, despite the cursed flame.

[Vaati] the description of Miquella's songs as a lullaby is referenced

by the modern day sleep pot description, which reads "like a lullaby, or a quagmire.

Its light purple haze irresistibly draws its victims down into sleep.

Sweet dreams."

This is the closest thing we have to Dream Mist as well,

which was an item that you could again once collect from sleeping enemies.

And after you did this, you were supposed to sell this dream mist

to the merchants who used it to quell their flame of frenzy.

But as the merchants once said, whoever it was that sings now sings no longer.

And this is a detail

that has remained intact, even in the final version of Elden Ring.

With St. Trina's Sword stating that St. Trina's

"appearance was a sudden as their disappearance."

Something clearly happened to Miquella that prevented them

from continuing their work as St. Trina.

And that is what we will discuss next.

At some point,

Miquella embedded himself into the Haligtree.

Why he did this is never explicitly stated,

but I think we can make a good attempt at puzzling it out.

So Miquella famously watered the Haligtree with his own blood

since it was a sapling so I guess you could argue that

he embedded himself in it to simply feed the tree more.

Which I guess is possible because the tree does eventually wither

without Miquella inside it.

And Gideon seems to tie his removal with the death

of the Haligtree, or it's turning into a husk.

But I don't think that can be the only reason why he embedded himself.

For instance, look closely at the Haligtree roots

and you'll see the form of a tree- like woman and where her womb should be.

There's a gap.

A gap that once contained Miquella's cocoon cradled by the Haligtree.

Now, either Miquella was attempting to fuse into and become

this woman like figure who might even be the adult form

shown on the St. Trina's torch or there was a rebirth occurring here.

This is a cocoon within a womb after all.

So rebirth could have been the intent here.

But regardless, it seems things ended prematurely for Miquella would eventually

be ripped out of the womb and the Haligtree would split and decay.

And so when we arrive at the Haligtree and the town of Elphael

that is built into the brace that supports it, the music here hits extremely hard.

This place is just so sorrowful for the Haligtree and

Miquella's Lilies and even St. Trina's Lilies are all wilting

and all who live here are just hoping and praying for their Lord to return.

I love the little detail of the guards looking outwards

and sitting dejectedly. to make matters worse for them

It was here that they realized that the sacred light inside

them would explode upon their imminent deaths.

And yet, spite of this, their spirit ashes show their faith, and state

"May the flesh of our deaths Guide Miquella's return."

And Malenia is here too, holding to the husk of Miquella, dreaming

and waiting for Miquella to return and believing full well that he will

[Malenia] corpse after corpse, left in my wake.

as I awaited... his return.

[Vaati] Malenia's set reveals that she believes her brother will keep his promise.

So what was that promise, I wonder?

Or was it merely to return or was it something more?

How much does Malenia know?

Why did she fight Radahn?

We'll have to talk about all of that in another video.

So there is still faith.

There's even this one Phantom in the consecrated snowfields

who has somehow puzzled out who took Miquella, and even where they are.

He is pointed towards the portal that takes you

to Mohngwyn Palace and Mohg The Omen.

So indeed, it was the demigod Mohg who somehow broke into the Haligtree

and absconded with Miquella's infant form.

And it's with him that the story ends.

Or maybe it's where this story truly begins.

So if you're not familiar,

Mohg is The Omen son of Godfrey and Marika,

and being an omen of royalty, he was born into a wretched mire of filth

in the Subterranean Shunning Grounds below Leyndell Capital.

But unlike his brother, Morgott, who reviled his accursed

blood, Mohg reveled in it.

And it was assumedly because of this accursed blood

that he chanced a meeting with an outer god called the Mother of Truth.

And as Mohg stood before her deep underground, his accursed blood

erupted with fire.

And he was truly besotted with the defilement that he was born into.

Mohg is just one of many characters who discovers a new identity

in the ways that they have been discarded by the world.

And how could he not?

For his defilement was validated by nothing less than an outer god.

And as always, we know very little about this outer god.

We know she is called the Mother of Truth and the Formless Mother.

We know that she desires wounds and bestows power upon accursed blood.

Her followers can thrust their arms into her body to scatter Blood flame.

And followers of Mohg can share in the Lord of Blood's

power and send blood flies before them.

There's even been some speculation in my recent shorts, and my tiktoks as well,

that the Formless Mother is also an outer God called the Blood Star.

But the one thing that all outer gods seem to have in common

is that they all require vessels to move through.

So in this case, the Formless Mother's vessel was Mohg, for example, the sacred

spear that he wields is a weapon, but it's also an instrument of communion.

And Mohg may well be doing her bidding with his actions.

These actions included him starting a new dynasty called Mohgwyn,

deep below the earth in the grounds of these ancient dynastic remains.

This is a secret place, difficult to reach.

And it was here that Mohg brought the infant Miquella.

Torn as he was from his cocoon.

I mean, that's how we see him in his opening cut scene.

But in game, Miquella seems to be back with a new cocoon here.

You can even see it sat upon this giant pelvic bone, which seems to be a reference

to the womb of the Haligtree woman That he was literally ripped from.

And it's from the Remembrance of the Blood

Lord, that we can learn of Mohg's intent here.

He wished to raise Miquella to full godhood and become his consort.

Taking the role of Monarch.

To this end, Mohg has begun soliciting blood offerings to Miquella,

and that certainly explains the state of so many who reside here.

According to the Lord of Blood's Exaltation talisman,

he proclaimed "Render up your offerings of to your Lord.

Drench my consort's chamber. slake his cocoons thirst.

His awakening shall herald the dawn of our dynasty."

And then to return to Mohg's Remembrance.

It stated that "so far this has all been in vain."

For no matter how much of his bloody bedchamber Mohg tried to share,

he received no response from the young empyrean.

So maybe nothing will happen.

Or maybe, according to the Pure-Blood Knights Medal,

it is not yet time for Mohg yet slumbers beside the divinity.

Be patient. The new dynasty is nigh.

What do you think?

I mean, it's kind of hard to know.

Even Gideon has no clue.

But something does seem to be happening to Miquella in their,

He has clearly grown for one since being taken.

So maybe his adult form is manifesting.

And personally, this is really speculation,

but this reminds me a lot of berserk, which we know

Miyazaki is always inspired by.

Spoiler warning. Really, You should watch that show.

But there's this moment at the very end of the first chapter where Griffiths

betrays his companions in this sacrificial ceremony of carnage and bloodshed

in order to be inaugurated and reborn as a god within an egg of sorts.

This really reminds me of that.

It also reminds me of a scene with Griffith where he allows himself

to be abused, basically, in order to get what he wants.

So I wonder what if this was also what Miquella wanted?

We know that he is extremely proficient at compelling others

to love him, and Mohg is clearly enraptured.

We know that Miquella is an empyrean prodigy, and we know that his sister,

who knows him best, has total faith that he will return.

So you'd think he's still in control of the situation

somehow, But that could be a part of the tragedy.

And Miquella, this benevolent being, might not have predicted this at all

and is now being completely taken advantage of.

Or maybe he did intend to be taken, but

he is going to get more than he bargained for with the Mother of Truth.

Or, maybe Miquella's fate really is long gone.

There's one other thing I want to mention.

There is this place called Miquella's Hideaway in the Altus Plateau.

And here we can loot Amber Starlight,

which Seluvis mentions is the very fate of a demigod.

Clearly, since it's here, you'd think it's Miquella's fate, right?

And then you also have to consider that the cut content that we are basing

so much of this video on is very much removed from the game

because it might not fit the developer's intent.

That's always possible.

So I really do hope you all bear that in mind as I would really hate to promote

ideas that are against the developer's vision for this character.

But I really do think that it's a possibility

that we're going to one day enter the dream of this slumbering demigod.

After all, there was once a cut character called Rhico,

who was supposed to say the following.

Standing before Miquella's Cocoon at Mohgwyn's Palace, he says, "Finally, I have found it.

St. Trina's. No.

Lord Miquella's

Cadaver. such that I may aid you, O Lord.

So, please, I hope you welcome your humble servant, Rhico... into your dream,

The world of your heart....

Indeed,

I beg you grant my wish, that when you transcend from empyrean

to god, allow me a place by your side."

Plus, if we

do get DLC, it's going to need a new great rune to acquire.

Right?

That's a huge gameplay mechanic in these games, and it'd be weird

if DLC came and you couldn't get more great runes.

Apart from Miquella's Great Rune.

The only one we don't know about also is Ranni's Great Rune,

which was allegedly cast aside, so there's always that to consider.

But hopefully we get some DLC to answer these questions

or more likely we'll get DLC that will give us more questions

than we started with.

That's always how it seems to go, but I really hope they throw us

some good curveballs with this one, as they always do.

But regardless, it's always a ton of fun to speculate with you all.

So if you're still listening to this extremely long video,

thank you for giving me your time today.

Thank you to Quelaag for reviewing the script for me.

Thank you, MisPap1, for the incredible visuals, as always.

And I also want to give a sincere and really reverential shout out

to Eugenia Lysa, who created the speculative visuals of St. Trina.

Please follow her work in the description.

She's one of the most talented artists that I've ever known.

And yeah, thank you as always, of course, for watching my videos

and I'll see you next time.

Captioned by in2thevoyde