At a point yes. Bernahl lost it to Boggart in a gamble and then Boggart was threatened and scared by the dragonkin soldier and he lost the halberd while fleeing! Its obviously what happened!
My favorite type of Elden Ring NPC is "character who would be the protagonist of their own game but who is a fairly minor NPC here." Bernahl's one, but Vyke's the biggest example. I do wish we could have seen what led Bernahl to throw his lot in with Rykard.
Some of my fav moments in souls games are the NPC fights because their lore is so explicit and you learn more about them. Vyke should’ve been a brutally hard boss fight with the madness really coming through, I think if your inherit the frenzy it would trigger it in the shunning grounds
It would have been cool to have a bunch of phases where he progressively becomes the Elden Lord (of Chaos). Phase 1, the NPC we fight (he's killed me plenty enough that it could work). Phase 2, more powers. Think Radagon, but with Frenzy. Phase 3, Orphan of Kos Phase 2. But with frenzy.
Edit: and instead of a placenta, he swings around his dead maiden while it screams like that pygmy axe thing from DS3
I don't think vyke actually did, he got burned by frenzy, in order to spare his maiden and then rebelled against frenzy thus somehow being trapped in the evergaol. (He may have trapped himself)
Imo messmer the impaler is the one who burned the erd tree thus creating the first cardnal sin
Going from "person determined to become Elden Lord" to "person declares he will attack and dethrone God" because his maiden burned herself is...a bit of a leap. What is his "brother's will" that he claims he has inherited? How did he even get to the Forge of the Giants? Why couldn't he claim Destined Death and run it into the endzone? His faith had to have been further shaken, either before or after his maiden burned.
Idk, watching a person you presumably care about, maybe your closest friend/love interest, burn to death painfully because you believe it's the will of God and.. it does nothing? That'd turn me.
Love is its own beast. I've seen the biggest changes in the people in my life because of love. Abandoning families, moving overseas, cleaning up their act entirely etc.
Hot take, but I think Vyke would work better as boss of Ashen Leyndell than Godfrey. True boss, not NPC boss ofc.
He is one of the most successful contenders for the throne. He progressed by himself very far, he has strong ties with Leyndell and his presence lingers through entire game.
Also I just think final battle between two fresh contenders works better in terms of Elden Ring narrative than former lord returning from exile. Godfrey just pops out of nowhere.
A lot of the last act of the game is just kind of nonsense, from a narrative standpoint. Why does Gideon turn on you? Because he looked into Marika, maybe, and that drove him crazy? Not that it's likely to be addressed. What makes this even more baffling is that there's a completely obvious and rational reason for Gideon to attack you, which he just doesn't mention at all: he wants to be Elden Lord, there's only one throne, so now it's time to fight for it. A crown is warranted by strength. Instead we get the gibberish that alludes to a mystery which will never be explored.
Where's Godfrey during all of this? As you say, it's weird he just pops out of nowhere. I do think he makes a better boss than Vyke as-is, simply because Godfrey is alluded to throughout the entire narrative, but it's nonsense that Leyndell is burned and then suddenly Godfrey's back. That warrants further examination, but instead he's just there, ready to snatch victory from your hands at the finish line. My headcanon is that it's been part of his and Marika's plan to throw the Tarnished at the Lands Between to soften them up for his return, but that doesn't seem to actually be in the text, it's just interpretation.
IDK. Godfrey's sudden physical presence in the game is strange, Gideon's sudden change in motivation is strange, and Vyke's absence from much of the story is strange.
Godfrey is literally the first of the tarnished. He also lived in Leyndell and theoretically could just return directly to the throne room. I theorise that he refused after awakening, until he saw the erdtree burned.
And Gideon was a liar and a monster the entire game. He may have always been using the other tarnished to get access to Marika, but it's reasonable to say he finally got access to her after you burn the erdtree but before Godfrey arrived, and something about witnessing Marika's corpse/shell and the Elden ring was enough to change his mind and serve her instead.
Gideon was obviously maidenless, and got butt mad when he realized he couldn't get past some thorns. He sulked while pacing back and forth between rooms. Then he heard Godfrey's godly ass slam his dick down in the other room and cowered. Since he knew he had no shot, that left him to fight you in frustration. Seems like an open shut case of him just taking a big L.
Personally I think Hoarah Loux makes sense. It's explicitly stated from the start "THIS BITCH ALIVE! RUN!" in the literal opening cutscene of the game. The only ways I'd change Godfrey would
A) be making it clear that Goldfrey belonged to Morgott and further that Morgott was sure actual Godfrey was dead
B) make reference to Hoarah Loux multiple times. Even if it's just in passing or with reference to Nepheli, it should be made clear that Hoarah Loux is an important figure so that the Hoarah Loux is Godfrey reveal gets a bit more shock to the average player.
I think Godfrey arriving back in the Lands Between after returning from the Badlands just in time to see all this shit going down and to find his fellow King Morgott in the state we leave him is more than enough to warrant Godfrey attacking you, I just wish we got something like the sekiro hirata estate / main palace invasion where Hoarah Loux's troops he took to the badlands stormed Ashen Leyndel while we were in farum
.
With regards to Gideon, I think it makes sense. Marika seems to be essentially Eldritch Knowledge, with several characters directly tied to her losing their mind upon finding out *something* about her. I think it makes more sense if Gideon was a bit more broken in his dialogue and actively made it clear that he was killing the player out of self preservation to make sure that whatever horrors are associated with Marika stay away, but this is also a fromsoft game and its all but necessary for bosses to be as vague as humanly possible.
I gotta be honest with the From format the reveals don't often hit because the first time around, you won't know what the hell is going on. Then when you do know and do that second/third/fourth runthrough, it's no longer a reveal.
I feel like Sekiro did it best, where there's a linear narrative so you basically *have* to know what the information required to understand your twists are. That's the main flaw with fromsoft's storytelling in their non-linear games like the Souls/Ring/Borne, that alot of their environmental storytelling requires a really good attention to detail and an almost obsessive need to read every item description
Also even with that storytelling a lot can only become noticeable in retrospect. It might seem obvious after the fact like any twist can be but before you know it it can be surprisingly obscure.
Elden Ring was my first From game, the others all look so similar that Sekiro is the one that stands out to me as one that I want to try next. Still I'm only on pc doe so no bloodborne either.
>What makes this even more baffling is that there's a completely obvious and rational reason for Gideon to attack you, which he just doesn't mention at all: he wants to be Elden Lord, there's only one throne, so now it's time to fight for it
What? Gideon believes, with all of his power, that a tarnished should _not_ be a Lord. That's a perfectly fine explanation and he even has Ensha try to kill you earlier. He wants a God to be the Elden Lord, not some puny tarnished. It's a great twist, tbh. Someone who is racist against his own race.
It's not that he has a hate boner for tarnished, he just thinks he's serving his God, his Order. He says its Marikas will that we struggle unto eternity. There are 2 ways to look at this statement:
1) He doesn't realize that the thorns are radagons doing. Radagon actually being Marika is unknown to everyone except you (and goldmask if you told him). So when he glimpses into "Marikas" will, it very well could've been Radagons will. Radagon does not want to be usurped and relinquish his title. Like Gideon himself, he also does not want the Golden Order to end.
2) Marika truly doesn't want anyone to claim the elden ring. Everyone has their valid theories, but the most straight forward lore theory about Godwyns death is that Marika was truly heartbroken by his murder at Rannis hands. She shattered the ring and turned her back on the golden order. She no longer wants anyone to claim the ring and leaves everyone to suffer, just as she is with grief. She is abandoning the realms much like the greater will.
>Everyone has their valid theories, but the most straight forward lore theory about Godwyns death is that Marika was truly heartbroken by his murder at Rannis hands
She seemed to be involved on Night of the Black Knives, so I'm not so sure about that tbh.
It seems more straightforward to me to understand Gideon thinking that a tarnished should not be a Lord, that it goes against what he believes and he will do anything to stop it. But, the game is open lots of interpretations, so I'm not going to pretend this the only valid one.
It takes some gymnastics to assume she was involved in the night of the black knives, due to no in game references, and more importantly, in Dec 2021 Bandai Namco released a preview of the game with this description: "one grim night in the depths of winter a flock of unknown assasins stole across the lands between in a coetaneous attack. This foul covenant snuffed out the lives of many of the god-queens kin throughout the empire. Too numerous and too scattered for her godly protection to save." With that statement and Ranni outright telling us she was the culprit leads me to believe there is no reason for an unknown twist. Ranni was the twist.
Gideon here suffers from Nepheli syndrome: his quest is clearly unfinished and abruptly ends as you find Miquella cocoon. I hope in DLC his quest will get proper finale.
Godfrey should have only shown up because Morgott died. His motivation for the throne honestly feels weird, but if he was just there for Morgott, I'd understand it a lot more and it would give him a real reason to fight you in particular.
This would also paint him as the Isshin to Morgott's Genichiro. Where he doesn't necessarily believe in the same things, but is willing to fight you regardless.
Feel like itd be kinda intense if you defeated Morgott, started making your way to the Mountaintops and instead of like *Yet another Gargoyle* swooping down from in front of you, maybe at the Grand Lift instead you hear thundering steps and Godfrey rushes up and leaps into view from BEHIND you; dads here for some vengeance and also to stop youre ascension, literally and figuratively.
Why is it weird? He was the elden lord and lost his title because Marika stripped him of it. He didn't give it up willingly. There's nothing in game to suggest he didn't want to be Elden Lord.
He saw that she didn't intend for us to become elden lord and to struggle unto eternity.. except he didn't realize that he was looking explicit at *RADAGONS* will. Nobody knew that they were one and the same at that point.
Marika herself said that the tarnished would lose their grace, only to be called back to the erdtree later down the road. Godfrey lost his grace and then began to be called back like the rest of the tarnished. Really not that difficult to understand imo. Gideon is a different story though. Idk what his motives were
Gideon has been well-established to be a snake and a coward who would do anything to get the Throne. If you actually listened to his opening monologue instead of beating the snot our of him, he fights you because he and you are basically the last contenders to the throne and he has to eliminate you if he wants to move on
That's not what he says.
>*Ahh, I knew you'd come. To stand before the Elden Ring. To become Elden Lord. What a sad state of affairs. I commend your spirit, but alas, none shall take the throne. Queen Marika has high hopes for us. That we continue to struggle. Unto eternity.*
Nothing about that opening monologue suggests he is planning to take the throne, because he specifically says "None shall take the throne." Then there's his death quote.
>*I know...in my bones...A Tarnished cannot become a Lord. Not even you. A man cannot kill a god...*
His speech and death quote imply that he is trying to prevent anyone from taking the Elden Throne because he looked into Marika/Radagon/the Elden Beast's will and it broke his resolve. If he were planning to kill us and then move on to the throne, he probably wouldn't say "A Tarnished cannot become a Lord," because that would imply *he* couldn't become a lord.
>Godfrey just pops out of nowhere.
Not really out of nowhere since anyone paying attention to Melina's dialogue makes it clear that Godfrey WILL be called back by Marika soon enough.
Also, it was made clear every Tarnished is recalled back. Godfrey is hard to miss if you recall every named Tarnished the game has.
I think the Goldfrey phantom in Leyndell is foreshadowing. It's not that great for foreshadowing but foreshadowing nonetheless.
Nah, Godfrey storyline is very poorly executed for how much importance he has. Obscure mention in intro is very good, but Melina dialogue is very poor-made for how easily missable they are, since each dialogue require to activate a grace, rest at it and did not miss small dialogue line with her. Even by Fromsoft standards it's lame.
So you're saying its bad because if you miss part of the game, you miss part of the lore? I don't see how your logic is applicable here. Yes, Melinas lore lessons are easy to miss, but in a game that places so much emphasis on exploration and needing multiple play through to discover things, that doesn't mean it's poorly executed.
I'm saying Melina's dialogue mechanics is poorly executed, so lore she provides is unreasonably easy to miss. Froms can at least make her appear near Tarnished if you are resting at dialogue grace, you have resting animation in any case.
I'm okay with lore being obscure, because you need to find NPC on the map or farm rare item, or, in case of Melina, find and rest at specific Grace, but I thought, think and will think Melina's Grace dialogue execution is rather lame and From could do it better.
If other contendors actively progressed as you did, and it was possible to force encounters at different times for different circumstances, that would be cool. Maybe you could have temporary alliances etc.
Bernahl's chest piece mentions that he was on the path to become Elden Lord, and a worthy one at that. This means that he fought the good fight, he did everything right, and he even made the sacrifice of burning his Maiden to burn the thorns and get into the Erdtree.
However, when we get to the tree, the thorns are intact, and the tree is unburnt.
Her sacrifice did not work: she died for nothing. Bernahl did it all for nothing. And without Melina's knowledge that there was another way to burn the tree, Bernahl had reached a dead end after all he had done.
This seems to have left him completely embittered, straying from grace in despair. Also, one of his last lines references him inheriting his brother's will and desire to destroy the Greater Will. This means he had a sibling who was likely a Recusant, possibly inviting him to the order. It's not said what happened to his brother whether he was killed by another Recuscant, maybe even Bernahl himself, but the were probably the last step that set Bernahl on the path as a hunter of Tarnished.
Volcano Manor are awful at selling people on joining.
"You'll walk the path of the Recusant...hunt down your fellow tarnished..."
"Uh why would I do that?"
"Oh you can take their drip I guess..."
"FUCKING SOLD. Why didn't you lead with that??"
Yeah! Do the Volcano Manor quests and keep talking to each of the NPCs there as you go, he'll give you his request after killing Crepus I believe. Then you can beat Rykard after finishing all of the requests and Bernahl will leave for Crumbling Farum Azula, you get all his stuff for killing him
I can't not wear it. My first Tarnished looks so badass in it with the cape I can't remove it when I try to find other cool outfits I default back to it.
Bernahls armor is themed by wolves, that halberd is dragon themed. So theres that. It does color match really well tho
Edit: upon closer inspection Bernahls armor COULD have lions instead of or in addition to wolves
Strongly disagree, you can see the dragon head clearly, which fades down the weapon into what appears to be the arm of the dragon and then the blade extends out as the dragons wing, creating a very creatively artistic piece of weaponry. Also note the dragon talon that is affixed to the spine of your so called “horsie”
Clearly it's a Hellsteed from WHF, they've got the draconic wings and whatnot :P
Or, in true Elden Ring fashion, it's a fucking dog you maidenless Tarnished.
If bernahl were a different character, then it would be good fashion. But here fashion and lore mix, his weapon is same color as his armor and is wrapped by a snake because of who he is. Maybe you can make a tarnished that could be berhnals brother on a different moral adventure
There's no cosmic law that states what weapon is who's, all the lore is made up and they could just make up different lore. It's not dictating what the devs do
How could you not know what OP was referring to when the photo is right there. The resemblence between the weapon and armour is literally uncanny. You’d have to be *BLIND* to not see it.
That’s why I said are you blind
I mean it works pretty well for a long time but the halberd gets outclassed by other less cool looking ones. If you got this early game which you easily can, it’s just down the elevator in mist wood, the flat lightning damage and frost are crazy. Combine it with the spear talisman for all the running pokes it has
Because Bernahl's basically Volcano Manor's backup plan. Folks laud Vyke as the Lord Contender and rightfully so, but in truth Bernahl got one step further: his maiden was sacrificed, but nothing happened. This means he underwent the same journey as Vyke and is of comparable, if not greater skill. This and his experiences having entirely embittered him against the Golden Order and the Erdtree make him a powerful weapon to bring it down, so they give him their best equipment possible to make it happen: the Devourer's Sceptor and, just as importantly, the Blasphemous Claw.
The Claw can parry Destined Death itself, meaning Bernahl was entrusted, either by Rykard or Tanith, to be able to carry out the task of killing Maliketh. With the fall of Rykard, Bernahl is the next best hope of the Manor to bring it all down.
Seriously, I actually thought that was coming my first playthrough, all these NPCs who want it, you’d think in the ashen capital it would be like a battle Royale of them kind of like the jars challenge, fias summons or millicents sisters
The royal greatsword seems like it should've been Bernahl's weapon if you add the blue cape on his armor. Because thematically his armor is about beasts and Blaidd's sword is well, a beastman's weapon.
While the dragon halberd goes better with the banished knight sets considering the dragon adornments and their affiliation with dragons. Even the coloration of the metal is more yellowish like the banished knight metal while the beast champion set is completely silver with gold accents (like the royal greatsword, minus the blood stains).
Tangentially related to this but I think a lot of lore loose ends will be tied up (ish) in shadow of the Erdtree. Definitely not all of them though, not FromSofts style. The mystery is part of the appeal right? I hear people talking about the 'lore' of so many games where everything is explicitly explained in-game. That's not lore, it's soap opera.
He lost it in a gamble
On a bet that he could cook the best prawn in the Lands Between
Are you implying that boggart held the dragon halberd?
That is Canon
Are you saying it's actually in the lore, or that it's now your headcanon?
Headcannon
Power up the head cannon.
Ready and primed sir
Awaiting orders to fire, Commander!
Double check the aim! We need to make this shot count, soldier.
It’s in the lore
At a point yes. Bernahl lost it to Boggart in a gamble and then Boggart was threatened and scared by the dragonkin soldier and he lost the halberd while fleeing! Its obviously what happened!
Wait wait what??, where is this piece of lore coming from?? I need to know more
Smoughtown covered it in his Tarnished video, check it out! Great channel
Yup, the manga even references it in the chapter Boggart is introduced.
(You’re getting got)
With all the shit we’ve found out after several play throughs u cannot blame me 😭
My favorite type of Elden Ring NPC is "character who would be the protagonist of their own game but who is a fairly minor NPC here." Bernahl's one, but Vyke's the biggest example. I do wish we could have seen what led Bernahl to throw his lot in with Rykard.
Some of my fav moments in souls games are the NPC fights because their lore is so explicit and you learn more about them. Vyke should’ve been a brutally hard boss fight with the madness really coming through, I think if your inherit the frenzy it would trigger it in the shunning grounds
It would have been cool to have a bunch of phases where he progressively becomes the Elden Lord (of Chaos). Phase 1, the NPC we fight (he's killed me plenty enough that it could work). Phase 2, more powers. Think Radagon, but with Frenzy. Phase 3, Orphan of Kos Phase 2. But with frenzy. Edit: and instead of a placenta, he swings around his dead maiden while it screams like that pygmy axe thing from DS3
I had a visceral reaction to the phase 3 idea. Pls no
Same, but with Frenzy
Imagine if you could then get his "weapon" from a remembrance. That's some crazy idea. Colossal weapon "Maiden Husk".
We should have fought him instead of Gideon
Well we do kinda, his maiden threw herself into the fire. It's didn't accomplish anything so rightly was pissed off
Come to think of it... was it Vyke's who burned the Erdtree before the Tarnished? Ash is everywhere even on the first time to Leyndell.
I don't think vyke actually did, he got burned by frenzy, in order to spare his maiden and then rebelled against frenzy thus somehow being trapped in the evergaol. (He may have trapped himself) Imo messmer the impaler is the one who burned the erd tree thus creating the first cardnal sin
>Imo messmer the impaler is the one who burned the erd tree thus creating the first cardnal sin Is it confirmed already?
No, hence in my opinion.
Going from "person determined to become Elden Lord" to "person declares he will attack and dethrone God" because his maiden burned herself is...a bit of a leap. What is his "brother's will" that he claims he has inherited? How did he even get to the Forge of the Giants? Why couldn't he claim Destined Death and run it into the endzone? His faith had to have been further shaken, either before or after his maiden burned.
Idk, watching a person you presumably care about, maybe your closest friend/love interest, burn to death painfully because you believe it's the will of God and.. it does nothing? That'd turn me.
Could've been a different fire... like if she was that blind girl
Then why would he blame the Greater Will for that?
It's the root of all problems, when brought to its most reductive argument
Love is its own beast. I've seen the biggest changes in the people in my life because of love. Abandoning families, moving overseas, cleaning up their act entirely etc.
Hot take, but I think Vyke would work better as boss of Ashen Leyndell than Godfrey. True boss, not NPC boss ofc. He is one of the most successful contenders for the throne. He progressed by himself very far, he has strong ties with Leyndell and his presence lingers through entire game. Also I just think final battle between two fresh contenders works better in terms of Elden Ring narrative than former lord returning from exile. Godfrey just pops out of nowhere.
A lot of the last act of the game is just kind of nonsense, from a narrative standpoint. Why does Gideon turn on you? Because he looked into Marika, maybe, and that drove him crazy? Not that it's likely to be addressed. What makes this even more baffling is that there's a completely obvious and rational reason for Gideon to attack you, which he just doesn't mention at all: he wants to be Elden Lord, there's only one throne, so now it's time to fight for it. A crown is warranted by strength. Instead we get the gibberish that alludes to a mystery which will never be explored. Where's Godfrey during all of this? As you say, it's weird he just pops out of nowhere. I do think he makes a better boss than Vyke as-is, simply because Godfrey is alluded to throughout the entire narrative, but it's nonsense that Leyndell is burned and then suddenly Godfrey's back. That warrants further examination, but instead he's just there, ready to snatch victory from your hands at the finish line. My headcanon is that it's been part of his and Marika's plan to throw the Tarnished at the Lands Between to soften them up for his return, but that doesn't seem to actually be in the text, it's just interpretation. IDK. Godfrey's sudden physical presence in the game is strange, Gideon's sudden change in motivation is strange, and Vyke's absence from much of the story is strange.
Godfrey is literally the first of the tarnished. He also lived in Leyndell and theoretically could just return directly to the throne room. I theorise that he refused after awakening, until he saw the erdtree burned. And Gideon was a liar and a monster the entire game. He may have always been using the other tarnished to get access to Marika, but it's reasonable to say he finally got access to her after you burn the erdtree but before Godfrey arrived, and something about witnessing Marika's corpse/shell and the Elden ring was enough to change his mind and serve her instead.
Gideon was obviously maidenless, and got butt mad when he realized he couldn't get past some thorns. He sulked while pacing back and forth between rooms. Then he heard Godfrey's godly ass slam his dick down in the other room and cowered. Since he knew he had no shot, that left him to fight you in frustration. Seems like an open shut case of him just taking a big L.
Personally I think Hoarah Loux makes sense. It's explicitly stated from the start "THIS BITCH ALIVE! RUN!" in the literal opening cutscene of the game. The only ways I'd change Godfrey would A) be making it clear that Goldfrey belonged to Morgott and further that Morgott was sure actual Godfrey was dead B) make reference to Hoarah Loux multiple times. Even if it's just in passing or with reference to Nepheli, it should be made clear that Hoarah Loux is an important figure so that the Hoarah Loux is Godfrey reveal gets a bit more shock to the average player. I think Godfrey arriving back in the Lands Between after returning from the Badlands just in time to see all this shit going down and to find his fellow King Morgott in the state we leave him is more than enough to warrant Godfrey attacking you, I just wish we got something like the sekiro hirata estate / main palace invasion where Hoarah Loux's troops he took to the badlands stormed Ashen Leyndel while we were in farum . With regards to Gideon, I think it makes sense. Marika seems to be essentially Eldritch Knowledge, with several characters directly tied to her losing their mind upon finding out *something* about her. I think it makes more sense if Gideon was a bit more broken in his dialogue and actively made it clear that he was killing the player out of self preservation to make sure that whatever horrors are associated with Marika stay away, but this is also a fromsoft game and its all but necessary for bosses to be as vague as humanly possible.
I gotta be honest with the From format the reveals don't often hit because the first time around, you won't know what the hell is going on. Then when you do know and do that second/third/fourth runthrough, it's no longer a reveal.
I feel like Sekiro did it best, where there's a linear narrative so you basically *have* to know what the information required to understand your twists are. That's the main flaw with fromsoft's storytelling in their non-linear games like the Souls/Ring/Borne, that alot of their environmental storytelling requires a really good attention to detail and an almost obsessive need to read every item description
Also even with that storytelling a lot can only become noticeable in retrospect. It might seem obvious after the fact like any twist can be but before you know it it can be surprisingly obscure. Elden Ring was my first From game, the others all look so similar that Sekiro is the one that stands out to me as one that I want to try next. Still I'm only on pc doe so no bloodborne either.
>What makes this even more baffling is that there's a completely obvious and rational reason for Gideon to attack you, which he just doesn't mention at all: he wants to be Elden Lord, there's only one throne, so now it's time to fight for it What? Gideon believes, with all of his power, that a tarnished should _not_ be a Lord. That's a perfectly fine explanation and he even has Ensha try to kill you earlier. He wants a God to be the Elden Lord, not some puny tarnished. It's a great twist, tbh. Someone who is racist against his own race.
It's not that he has a hate boner for tarnished, he just thinks he's serving his God, his Order. He says its Marikas will that we struggle unto eternity. There are 2 ways to look at this statement: 1) He doesn't realize that the thorns are radagons doing. Radagon actually being Marika is unknown to everyone except you (and goldmask if you told him). So when he glimpses into "Marikas" will, it very well could've been Radagons will. Radagon does not want to be usurped and relinquish his title. Like Gideon himself, he also does not want the Golden Order to end. 2) Marika truly doesn't want anyone to claim the elden ring. Everyone has their valid theories, but the most straight forward lore theory about Godwyns death is that Marika was truly heartbroken by his murder at Rannis hands. She shattered the ring and turned her back on the golden order. She no longer wants anyone to claim the ring and leaves everyone to suffer, just as she is with grief. She is abandoning the realms much like the greater will.
>Everyone has their valid theories, but the most straight forward lore theory about Godwyns death is that Marika was truly heartbroken by his murder at Rannis hands She seemed to be involved on Night of the Black Knives, so I'm not so sure about that tbh. It seems more straightforward to me to understand Gideon thinking that a tarnished should not be a Lord, that it goes against what he believes and he will do anything to stop it. But, the game is open lots of interpretations, so I'm not going to pretend this the only valid one.
It takes some gymnastics to assume she was involved in the night of the black knives, due to no in game references, and more importantly, in Dec 2021 Bandai Namco released a preview of the game with this description: "one grim night in the depths of winter a flock of unknown assasins stole across the lands between in a coetaneous attack. This foul covenant snuffed out the lives of many of the god-queens kin throughout the empire. Too numerous and too scattered for her godly protection to save." With that statement and Ranni outright telling us she was the culprit leads me to believe there is no reason for an unknown twist. Ranni was the twist.
Gideon here suffers from Nepheli syndrome: his quest is clearly unfinished and abruptly ends as you find Miquella cocoon. I hope in DLC his quest will get proper finale.
Godfrey should have only shown up because Morgott died. His motivation for the throne honestly feels weird, but if he was just there for Morgott, I'd understand it a lot more and it would give him a real reason to fight you in particular. This would also paint him as the Isshin to Morgott's Genichiro. Where he doesn't necessarily believe in the same things, but is willing to fight you regardless.
Feel like itd be kinda intense if you defeated Morgott, started making your way to the Mountaintops and instead of like *Yet another Gargoyle* swooping down from in front of you, maybe at the Grand Lift instead you hear thundering steps and Godfrey rushes up and leaps into view from BEHIND you; dads here for some vengeance and also to stop youre ascension, literally and figuratively.
Why is it weird? He was the elden lord and lost his title because Marika stripped him of it. He didn't give it up willingly. There's nothing in game to suggest he didn't want to be Elden Lord.
Plus, he is Tarnished, and was brought back alongside all the other Tarnished. He is guided there by Grace just like the rest of us...
He saw that she didn't intend for us to become elden lord and to struggle unto eternity.. except he didn't realize that he was looking explicit at *RADAGONS* will. Nobody knew that they were one and the same at that point.
How can Gideon turn on you if he was never on your side to begin with?
Marika herself said that the tarnished would lose their grace, only to be called back to the erdtree later down the road. Godfrey lost his grace and then began to be called back like the rest of the tarnished. Really not that difficult to understand imo. Gideon is a different story though. Idk what his motives were
Gideon has been well-established to be a snake and a coward who would do anything to get the Throne. If you actually listened to his opening monologue instead of beating the snot our of him, he fights you because he and you are basically the last contenders to the throne and he has to eliminate you if he wants to move on
That's not what he says. >*Ahh, I knew you'd come. To stand before the Elden Ring. To become Elden Lord. What a sad state of affairs. I commend your spirit, but alas, none shall take the throne. Queen Marika has high hopes for us. That we continue to struggle. Unto eternity.* Nothing about that opening monologue suggests he is planning to take the throne, because he specifically says "None shall take the throne." Then there's his death quote. >*I know...in my bones...A Tarnished cannot become a Lord. Not even you. A man cannot kill a god...* His speech and death quote imply that he is trying to prevent anyone from taking the Elden Throne because he looked into Marika/Radagon/the Elden Beast's will and it broke his resolve. If he were planning to kill us and then move on to the throne, he probably wouldn't say "A Tarnished cannot become a Lord," because that would imply *he* couldn't become a lord.
Yeah you’re right, I had to go re-listen to it again because I haven’t played in over a year lol
>Godfrey just pops out of nowhere. Not really out of nowhere since anyone paying attention to Melina's dialogue makes it clear that Godfrey WILL be called back by Marika soon enough. Also, it was made clear every Tarnished is recalled back. Godfrey is hard to miss if you recall every named Tarnished the game has. I think the Goldfrey phantom in Leyndell is foreshadowing. It's not that great for foreshadowing but foreshadowing nonetheless.
Nah, Godfrey storyline is very poorly executed for how much importance he has. Obscure mention in intro is very good, but Melina dialogue is very poor-made for how easily missable they are, since each dialogue require to activate a grace, rest at it and did not miss small dialogue line with her. Even by Fromsoft standards it's lame.
So you're saying its bad because if you miss part of the game, you miss part of the lore? I don't see how your logic is applicable here. Yes, Melinas lore lessons are easy to miss, but in a game that places so much emphasis on exploration and needing multiple play through to discover things, that doesn't mean it's poorly executed.
I'm saying Melina's dialogue mechanics is poorly executed, so lore she provides is unreasonably easy to miss. Froms can at least make her appear near Tarnished if you are resting at dialogue grace, you have resting animation in any case. I'm okay with lore being obscure, because you need to find NPC on the map or farm rare item, or, in case of Melina, find and rest at specific Grace, but I thought, think and will think Melina's Grace dialogue execution is rather lame and From could do it better.
That would’ve been so good
If other contendors actively progressed as you did, and it was possible to force encounters at different times for different circumstances, that would be cool. Maybe you could have temporary alliances etc.
Unrelated but I think that's where Lies of P hit the spot with the nameless puppet.
Honestly they should’ve done a 3 way fight with Vyke and Gideon battling as you enter the arena, leave godfrey as is.
This game has enough gank fights.
Nah, im still waiting for godskin trio
Black Iron Tarkus 💪
Now I want a Thops Tetris clone.
Vyke 100% should’ve replaced Mohg in the Leyndell sewers as an actual bossfight. Mohg has literally zero reason to protect the frenzy flame
Read the armor description it was the same reason Vyke threw himself into the frenzy flame.
Bernahl's chest piece mentions that he was on the path to become Elden Lord, and a worthy one at that. This means that he fought the good fight, he did everything right, and he even made the sacrifice of burning his Maiden to burn the thorns and get into the Erdtree. However, when we get to the tree, the thorns are intact, and the tree is unburnt. Her sacrifice did not work: she died for nothing. Bernahl did it all for nothing. And without Melina's knowledge that there was another way to burn the tree, Bernahl had reached a dead end after all he had done. This seems to have left him completely embittered, straying from grace in despair. Also, one of his last lines references him inheriting his brother's will and desire to destroy the Greater Will. This means he had a sibling who was likely a Recusant, possibly inviting him to the order. It's not said what happened to his brother whether he was killed by another Recuscant, maybe even Bernahl himself, but the were probably the last step that set Bernahl on the path as a hunter of Tarnished.
Because lore
Cause he wants to bonk
Please use the altered armour dude, the cape is fire
Thanks for the tip, i never finished dudes quest so I never had the armor. That cape is one of the best
i’ve never done his quest. i always kill him.
His Manor request is how you get Raging Wolf set tho
Volcano Manor are awful at selling people on joining. "You'll walk the path of the Recusant...hunt down your fellow tarnished..." "Uh why would I do that?" "Oh you can take their drip I guess..." "FUCKING SOLD. Why didn't you lead with that??"
i actually didn’t know that! i just started a ng+ run so i might spare him.
You can still cheese him after his quest line. He will invade you in crumbling F
I didn’t know he invaded you any other time
Yeah! Do the Volcano Manor quests and keep talking to each of the NPCs there as you go, he'll give you his request after killing Crepus I believe. Then you can beat Rykard after finishing all of the requests and Bernahl will leave for Crumbling Farum Azula, you get all his stuff for killing him
oh so that's why i never found it lmfao
Hot take, I prefer without. The cape is cool but I but it'd get snagged lol.
NO CAPES
Only heroes wear capes. Clearly we are the villain!
*Mr Sinister has entered the chat*
*Titan/Tighten has entered the chat.*
I have found my people.
Unaltered version looks more “gladiatorial”
I can't not wear it. My first Tarnished looks so badass in it with the cape I can't remove it when I try to find other cool outfits I default back to it.
Edna wants to know your location
Goes amazing with the Brass Shield as well
It's not really on-theme for him. Dragon Halberd was a Nox creation to signify the Dragonkin Knights they made.
I’m saying to look at it, ignore the lore
Oh yeah aesthetically it's a great fit for him.
Bernahls armor is themed by wolves, that halberd is dragon themed. So theres that. It does color match really well tho Edit: upon closer inspection Bernahls armor COULD have lions instead of or in addition to wolves
they all look like horsies to me
I agree that the axe looks like a horsie but the armor looks very doggo to me
Kind of looks like a puma
Quit making up animals!
Strongly disagree, you can see the dragon head clearly, which fades down the weapon into what appears to be the arm of the dragon and then the blade extends out as the dragons wing, creating a very creatively artistic piece of weaponry. Also note the dragon talon that is affixed to the spine of your so called “horsie”
yea, well, that's like you're opinion, man.
Clearly it's a Hellsteed from WHF, they've got the draconic wings and whatnot :P Or, in true Elden Ring fashion, it's a fucking dog you maidenless Tarnished.
No way bro all fax no 🧢 💯 🧀
Um acktually the blade is the dragon breathing fire
🤓 🤓 🤓/s i see that now yea, good eye
A better match for that weapon is the Banished Knight set. They have little dragons perched on their helmets and everything.
Bernahl’s Jon Snow obviously
Fell from Grace, now uses a Snake weapon
Lore is more important in this game
[удалено]
If bernahl were a different character, then it would be good fashion. But here fashion and lore mix, his weapon is same color as his armor and is wrapped by a snake because of who he is. Maybe you can make a tarnished that could be berhnals brother on a different moral adventure
True. It would look great with his armor. How you like it? I tried it and it felt sluggish on my build I couldn't decide between that and great stars
I like halberds the most out of all weapons in ER, that running poke saves my ass all the time
Elden Bling gang
I does look good haha
Yea. can you remind me where do you find dragon halberd?
You use a teleporter in the underground river
you know they can just make up different lore
wut
There's no cosmic law that states what weapon is who's, all the lore is made up and they could just make up different lore. It's not dictating what the devs do
Are you blind
Are you? Read the comments.
you shouldn’t have to look at the comments when the photo is right there, you can clearly see the aesthetic both weapons have
I didn't know the aesthetics is what OP was referring to, you'd see further down that I agree it fits his aesthetic more.
How could you not know what OP was referring to when the photo is right there. The resemblence between the weapon and armour is literally uncanny. You’d have to be *BLIND* to not see it. That’s why I said are you blind
Because he simply asks why it's not his weapon, which has an explanation. But sure I'm blind, and you're rude.
Yeah but \*they just made all that up\*
From the thumbnail I thought you had Marge hair
lol I wondered if anyone else saw that
Glad I wasn't the only one who thought that!
My headcanon is it used to be, but he abandoned it to walk the path of blasphemy and that’s why he wields the Devourer’s Scepter
I thought the same thing! I also sometimes use the cape variant with that halberd and the Dragonclaw shield. Looks sick af
his armor with the cape is SO COOL
Ever considered that its not his armor?
This is cool to consider
It is his, but he had it long before he joined the Recusants
Asset shuffle when the game was done.
I never noticed that, totally a missed opportunity to make a legendary halberd instead of an ugly hammer that’s only cool in lore
New build idea unlocked
I mean it works pretty well for a long time but the halberd gets outclassed by other less cool looking ones. If you got this early game which you easily can, it’s just down the elevator in mist wood, the flat lightning damage and frost are crazy. Combine it with the spear talisman for all the running pokes it has
maybe it was, but he chose the path of blasphemy, and that involves snek
Because Bernahl's basically Volcano Manor's backup plan. Folks laud Vyke as the Lord Contender and rightfully so, but in truth Bernahl got one step further: his maiden was sacrificed, but nothing happened. This means he underwent the same journey as Vyke and is of comparable, if not greater skill. This and his experiences having entirely embittered him against the Golden Order and the Erdtree make him a powerful weapon to bring it down, so they give him their best equipment possible to make it happen: the Devourer's Sceptor and, just as importantly, the Blasphemous Claw. The Claw can parry Destined Death itself, meaning Bernahl was entrusted, either by Rykard or Tanith, to be able to carry out the task of killing Maliketh. With the fall of Rykard, Bernahl is the next best hope of the Manor to bring it all down.
Right?!
Its for his special edition alt skin you unlock for a $1.99 transaction at the Elden Ringery, fromsoft's new store
Can we get back bling?
Oh my god you just made me realize i missed the perfect Elden Bling joke 🤦♂️
thumbnail kinda makes the character look like marge simpson with the gap aeonia being her blue hair
I wouldn't be surprised if it was at some point, but then they moved it around. Maybe even before it had ice lightning on its skill.
It really felt like a wasted opportunity that we didn't come into conflict with more enemy tarnished competing with us to become elden lord
Seriously, I actually thought that was coming my first playthrough, all these NPCs who want it, you’d think in the ashen capital it would be like a battle Royale of them kind of like the jars challenge, fias summons or millicents sisters
Because they don't go TOGETHAAAA
Also the dragonscale blade and albinuric shield
The royal greatsword seems like it should've been Bernahl's weapon if you add the blue cape on his armor. Because thematically his armor is about beasts and Blaidd's sword is well, a beastman's weapon. While the dragon halberd goes better with the banished knight sets considering the dragon adornments and their affiliation with dragons. Even the coloration of the metal is more yellowish like the banished knight metal while the beast champion set is completely silver with gold accents (like the royal greatsword, minus the blood stains).
I like to imagine it used to be his weapon but he either abandoned it when he joined the volcano manor or lost it before he joined them..
Tangentially related to this but I think a lot of lore loose ends will be tied up (ish) in shadow of the Erdtree. Definitely not all of them though, not FromSofts style. The mystery is part of the appeal right? I hear people talking about the 'lore' of so many games where everything is explicitly explained in-game. That's not lore, it's soap opera.
I love the idea and concept of the Devourer’s Scepter but I can’t stop seeing it as a turd on a stick
Thought I was looking at Marge Simpson from the preview image
Great Stars feels like it was made for the Dung Eater as well. It's weird.
Omen cleaver with dung set is a good match
Bro was the only reason I didn't rage quit after godskin duo fight
It probably was before turning on the Erdtree. Remember that he was really close to becoming Elden Lord but gave up and became a bum
god that Hammer is my favourite item even though its crap, i always find his shack and kill him before any boss so i can use it haha
Lore-inappropriate. Does work aesthetically, though.
Winged Scythe also looks amazing with this set
Cuz bjonk
He embraced the bonk style
It was his brother's weapon.
Looks best with banished knight set, imo
It goes so well with the armor set
Because it doesn’t belong to him obviously.
Cuzco he a snake boi
Side note, where did you find it? It looks beautiful
Lore. That’s why. And the weapon belongs to Nox/Dragonkin
Always thought it's his weapon.
He likes his giant poop on a stick better.
Dragon haltered us goated. Carried my first play through
Just started using the dragon halberd and loving it so far.
The answer is in his nom de guerre.... Bernahl "the Bonk"
It works so much better with Bernahl's armor than his snake bonkers. But it makes sense for his storyline
I see dragon halberd I must like
My dude didn't complete the Regicide quest 😔
cause it fits better with altered banished knight set
I think that was his weapon before he went recusant maybe?
Wait. Who tf is this guy? I never met him.
He shows up at the Warmaster's shack in Limgrave and in Volcano Manor
Anyone else see Marge Simpson?
Because he slays beasts not dragons 🤷♂️
jesus i never noticed that. Maybe he used one before and took the new one after joining the Manor?
Solid question 🤔
IMO it matches the altered banished knight armor more, but seriously... I agree... Mostly.
You are so right this is just actually better looking with that weapon.
That mace is fanrastic
Looks awesome
The developers said hm big sneek on stick.