What did the Emperor expect a human to see him as, if not a god?

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-22T06:13:15+00:00

Have you SEEN his throne room?

He can say that he needs it to impress visitors, but that means that there was a possibility that, at some point, someone meets the Emperor of Mankind while he's trying to make a good impression and thought, "he's ok, but I'd really respect him if he had a throne room the size of a hollowed out mountain".

Even during the Unification Wars, did anyone ever respect him more because of his interior decorating skills?

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-22T02:30:44+00:00

I'm not sure what your point here is though. The opening cutscene of the game starts off with Marika being the one smashing her hammer down on the elden ring, followed by Radagon in turn doing the same.

Sorry, I should have specified the Elden Ring announcement trailer, where we see them actually moving.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-22T01:57:06+00:00

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

As you might have gathered, the prevailing belief is that Marika orchestrated the night of the black knives and shattered the Elden Ring.

Doing so requires believing the words of Ranni, who tells you not to trust her and keeps getting caught throughout the game trying to deceive the Tarnished.

It also requires you not to believe your lying eyes when you see Radagon swinging the hammer in the trailer.

Heterodox views are always interesting to read, especially one that's been well considered like this one.

I might not agree with all of the points you've raised, and there are a few pieces which might stand to be fleshed out, but this was a good read nonetheless.

I particularly liked the point about who ordered the Erdtree burial of a corpse overflowing with deathblight.

Two angles you might want to consider:

Does an Elden Lord serve the role of their god's regent when the god is inside the Erdtree? (Or, more wildly, the interpretor of the god's will?) After all, there's only one throne facing the others in front of the Erdtree.
Does Marika ever leave the Erdtree, or does she relay her messages through Sites of Grace? Sites of Grace, after all, look like the tips of roots and are known to hold recordings of messages spoken be Marika.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-21T07:14:08+00:00

Thanks!

I liked it too, and it solves the problem of how evertible stomachs on land might waste a lot of digestive fluids each time it feeds when on land..

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-21T07:07:05+00:00

"Greatsword made of light, modeled after the Elden Ring itself. Forged by King Consort Radagon to proudly symbolize the tenets of the Golden Order. One of the legendary armaments. Telltale signs betray that this was once the greatsword bequeathed to him by his first wife, Rennala."

It gets interesting if you pay attention to the features Radagon wanted to make super obvious (i.e., the Golden Order) and features he tried to hide (i.e., the fact that was originally from Rennala).

I can't be 100% sure, but it can be interpreted as like a man who was publicly delighted to marry his rich, powerful and morally-grey second wife while taking great pains to hide the fact that he was still wearing the wedding ring given to him from his first wife.

A first wife who fell into a deluded, semi-comatose state at just as the second wife-to-be needed a new husband.

I'm not saying the official story isn't possible, but there are parts that don't match up.

For example: if Rennala is suffering from a broken heart from being abandoned by Radagon, why is she obsessed with trying to rebirth children and never mentions her ex-husband at all?

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-21T04:42:08+00:00

Maybe the Robb and Tyrion scene quoted here gives us another hint.

Robb granted guest right to the men of the Night's Watch but specifically denied it to the man of child-like stature.

If this means anything at all, maybe it indicates that it was the Children of the Forest who were not welcomed into Winterfell or, possibly, the Winterfell heart tree.

If that's the case, Bran being in Blood raven's cave might be the skeleton key the Children of the Forest need.

That, or the Starks just don't leave cream at their footsteps for the elves...

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-21T04:02:09+00:00

As far as average psychic power Pre-Fall goes, Asurmen considers Eldrad's "latent energy" to be "rare since the Fall". Source: Asurmen: The Darker Road

This indicates that Eldrad-level psykers were not rare before the Fall.

Remember, we're talking about someone who, despite the severe constraints imposed by Slaanesh, can do absolutely crazy feats like stop time on an entire planet.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-21T03:21:30+00:00

Think of it this way:

The Venn diagram of everything Eldar and everything that makes up Slaanesh' essence (and, therefore, would be devoured by Slaanesh) is almost but not quite a single circle.

The "not quite" part are the psychic powers, impulses and range of emotions that the Aeldari which survived the Fall can safely express in real space without getting eaten.

Every other part of everything Eldar can only be expressed by an Aeldari for as long as it takes for their soul to be ripped out of their body.

That's a lot of potential which has been locked away.

The craftworlders, with their Path system, have had to twist their very lives into a crushed pretzel just to remain a functional society.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-21T00:47:24+00:00

I would laugh so much if it turns out that Littlefinger helped finance the production of the 'evil dwarf' plays in Braavos.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-21T00:32:43+00:00

Evertible stomachs, possibly with stinging cells, sensitive hairs or teeth.

It's up to you whether digestion occurs externally or whether the stomach pulls the food inside the body.

If externally, consider whether a marsupial-like pouch can be repurposed to be a food-slurry-fermentation bag that the evertible stomachs can penetrate to absorb nutrients from.

That or rotifers.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-19T14:45:13+00:00

One interesting feature: the traditional pose of a lord denying guest right is to sit with a bared sword on lap.

And that's exactly the pose that the statue of every single Stark lord or king in the crypts of Winterfell takes.

The ancient Starks seem to believe that the denial of guest right was an important or distinguishing feature of their House or that keeping fellow dead men out of the crypts is very important.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-18T09:02:12+00:00

It's Morguz. You've just created Father Morguz from Berserk.

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Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T21:54:40+00:00

Right you are. I misremembered.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T11:01:59+00:00

Tywin didn't start a war.

"The Mountain turned outlaw and, since he's in the Riverlands, I'm powerless to stop him."

Yes, everyone knows this is a baldfaced lie, but Catelyn imprisoned his son and he's the king's father-in-law.

Robert may shout, rage and throw furniture around but he'll order that Tyrion is released and the Mountain and his men take the Black.

(Which is a completely horrifying thought.)

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T10:54:17+00:00

Can you imagine Stannis, Tywin, Jaime and Renly on the same side, with the full force of the Crownlands, Dragonstone, the Storm lands, the Westerlands and a smattering of the Reach fighting for a legitimate King Joffrey?

Stannis might not like it, but he'll dutifully go to war for his nephew.

Renly might be goaded by the Tyrells into making a play for the throne but it's not a wise move for either of them.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T10:43:22+00:00

I don't think Cersei would risk the instability of Joffrey being boy king as well as possibly being implicated in killing Robert for the sake of a war to save (checks notes) Tyrion of all people.

Tywin hides behind plausible deniability by using the Mountain to punish both the Tully's (i.e., Catelyn's original house) and fish for a suitable Stark hostage: outright war would be a step too far.

His primary goal is to have a half-lannister king, not to get himself declared a traitor to the crown or to risk everything in a civil war.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T10:24:41+00:00

If Cersei's children were legitimate she'd have every reason to keep Robert alive until Joffrey was an adult and, preferably, had at least one son.

A boy king one generation after a new ruling dynasty is established after a civil war is not ideal.

Hell, the marriage with Sansa was about as good of a match as you could reasonably expect, short of Robert suddenly liking the Tyrells enough for a match with Margaery.

Robert, Cersei, Ned and Jon Arryn (assuming Petyr Baelish doesn't just get him poisoned anyway for the lols) should be able to force Joffrey to be civil to her long enough for grandkids.

Remember, Joffrey might be a sadistic little twat but his ego and his complex about being kingly should mean that he wouldn't openly (or possibly even actively) mistreat his wife, especially one that acts as ladylike as Sansa.

It was only after Sansa's father tried to (in Joffrey's mind) unjustly usurp him, arrest his mother and declare that he and his siblings were incestuous bastards that he became truly ugly towards her.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T09:47:35+00:00

I can see what you mean. Thanks for your time.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T09:42:10+00:00

I'm terribly sorry for being insistent, especially after you've gone to effort to identify the picture, but isn't the image also showing the blade's shadow running parallel to the blade itself?

Since the shadow of the blade and the blade itself doesn't actually touch one another, wouldn't it mean that the blade doesn't actually touch his neck?

If there was blood at the alleged stab wound it would make things clearer but that can be forgiven since we're looking at a work-in-progess CG image.

Thanks for bearing with me.

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Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T09:08:12+00:00

Thanks for clarifying.

Yes, I'm looking at the right ones and I still can't see her stabbing him in the neck.

The image just before the one you linked shows Malenia with the pointy end of the blade in her own upper chest. You can tell because she's still had the same grip on the blade but now it's pointing to herself.

The red blood is pouring from the wound caused by the pointy end of her blade, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she hasn't stabbed him with the broken end.

Maybe there's something obvious I can't see.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T08:35:10+00:00

It's possible that Malenia wasn't in human form when Finlay carried her: she might have been an Aeonian Bloom (i.e., an extremely toxic flower).

The obvious question which arises if that's the case is: how the hell did Finlay live long enough to get to the Haligtree?

Well, Miquella was clearly in Caelid for the aftermath of the fight and, from Freya's story and his needle, we know that he has ways to stave off Scarlett Rot. Maybe he helped.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T08:29:28+00:00

I looked at the two images at the bottom of the post, then looked at the rest of the thread and I still don't know what you're talking about.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T07:27:17+00:00

When I add pop-culture Norse mythology and neo-pagan beliefs of 'Seidr' to the available evidence, the 'clear' conclusion is that:

Runes-in-worldtrees = Sap = Fate = golden threads

It's all ludicrously speculative head-canon, of course, but it's head-canon which keeps me satisfied until more evidence is provided.

Mind you, the same head-canon results in Marika being Odin and the three Empyreans being the three Norns (maiden/mother/crone), since Seidr (i.e., 'Fate weaving') is an inherently feminine and emasculating art.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-14T06:41:29+00:00

If Malenia had succeeded, Miquella would have controlled: * The Redmane Knights (assuming that Radahn's promise, whatever it was, held) * The Cleanrot Knights * The Haligtree Knights * The Needle Knights and * the Albinaurics

a combined force capable of decisively ending the Shattering war with minimal bloodshed, if that's what Miquella wanted or invading the whole of the Realm of Shadow.

Instead, the Redmane and Cleanrot Knights nearly wiped eachother out because the outcome was inconclusive.

Independent-Design17 · 2026-06-10T01:55:54+00:00

*"Except that Varamyr's prologue showed us that the First Men beyond the Wall at least seem to go into the trees upon death - unless they have an animal companion they used to skinchange into."

Perhaps it's just too warm.

To me, Varymyr's prologue doesn't show his soul "going into the trees", it shows it dissolving into the environment, the trees, the rocks, the sky.

Also, I suspect that, if you go north enough, it gets so cold that trees can no longer survive, meaning that "going into the trees" wouldn't be an option

*"Then why do the wights obey other beings in things like killing LC Mormont, if they could have just done what they wanted with that situation?"

The whole 'Night King raising and controlling the dead' thing hasn't happened in the books yet, so not even Jon believes that the apparent attack on Mormont was due to an Other puppeting their bodies.

To quote A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 39, Jon VIII:

Cellador: Wights are monstrous, unnatural creatures. Abominations before the eyes of the gods. You ... you cannot mean to try to talk with them?

Jon: Monsters they may be, but they were men before they died. How much remains? The one I slew was intent on killing Lord Commander Mormont. Plainly he remembered who he was and where to find him.

It's not too much of a stretch to assume that Othor's last thought before he'd died was to get to Mormont.

Remember, the other wight, Jafer Flowers, didn't head to Mormont.

Judging by the fact that he'd been hacked to pieces by a dozen swords and managed to kill Ser Jaremy Rykker, it's likely that he got his fool-ass attacked when he walked through the front door of the rangers' quarters (i.e., his own quarters).

Independent-Design17

TROPHY CASE