The Greater Will supposed to be the most powerful entity in all of Elden Ring... but it doesn't seem to do much of anything during the Tarnished's journey and all accounts of its actions are legends from ages past. Lets dive into my possibly crackpot theory regarding the GREATER WILL!
Art by me
Music from the Elden Ring OST
Shoutout to:
@quelaag (Twitch: @xingenue)
@SmoughTown's video on outer gods • Elden Ring Lore | The ...
@garrulousgoldmask
Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:29 What do we know about the Greater Will?
06:05 Is the Greater Will an Outer God?
09:54 Is the Greater Will akin to the Hebrew God?
13:12 Evidence
22:25 Heavy Speculation
24:18 Marika is the Greater Will
DLC HYPEEEE It looks like we will be getting more info about Marika’s rise to power, so I hope my theory is proven wrong or at least altered by this new information! One clarification, maybe more to follow: I said the Nox were banished underground and my reasoning for this was because of their crafting of the finger slayer blade and the black knives… I did not mean they are directly correlated, but that their creation of these items proves that they are opposed to the reign of Marika.
yessss elden ring art AND lore, what a wonderful combo! this is such a lovely illustration and a very thought provoking theory! great work! 🙌🏾
Thank you so much for watching! Glad you enjoyed the artwork too!
I think the elden beast is the direct birth of the greater Will
Finally someone says what has been on my mind the whole time and is the only explanation that makes sense to me honestly. Marika is just too powerful. I did not know that Quelaag said this.
Thank you for watching! Yeah it was on her live stream over a year ago, we were all talking about the GW and Marika and she said something like, ”well, Marika is God, she is the god of the Lands Between.” That comment sent me down the rabbit hole. Before that I kinda believed that the GW was god and she was like a political figure or appointee.
@@phantomleaves my pleasure, just so happens that I am Hindu and have always wondered why nobody considered looking into Avatars, Avatar is a Sanskrit word which literally means to descend, because Lord Vishnu who is supposed to be the preserver of the world, likes to take various avatars and descend to planet earth to right the wrongs and re establish the balance of good and evil and every YUGA which is an age consisting of certain number of years each time sees a different avatar, which is interesting because Ranni herself says GW was looking for a new Empyrean to become the God of the coming AGE. Also the avatar of Lord Ram almost destroyed the world in his anger, when he realised his wife had been abducted by the Demon King but he didn't kill the world because He is the God and knows better, so in this avatar he actually lived as a human, got hungry and thirsty, was a king and all, so all in all avatars of the same one God Vishnu are various and they all their own will and purpose, which brings me to one final tid bit, that is meeting of Lord Rama and Lord Parshuram, both were avatars of the Lord Vishnu but they had descended in different ages and for different purposes but got to meet each other.
@@vinodchhabria8738 Wow thank you so much for that added context! I find Hinduism fascinating and I am also not sure why these games are not examined with it in mind, given how foundational it is to other belief systems that are referenced more often. Hopefully the DLC continues to back up this lore theory!
@@phantomleaves Hinduism has so many branches, I guess it takes a lot more time to look into it. I hope you make more videos and even about other games, good luck.
Love the vid, love the theory.
Thank you!
*Big Correction* I stated that the Kanji referring to the Greater Will in the Japanese translation was the same as referring to the Judeo-Christian God, but that is not the case. I believe I conflated two topics I am researching, but I am kicking myself for this error. The Kanji used for Greater Will can be interpreted as “Will” or “Great Will,” referring to the vigor or energy that drives one through life(as I understand it). It doesn’t change the main thesis of the video or the point I was trying to make in that section, however it should be noted that this was an error.
I believe what we see in as the cover Is the greater Will shedding aspects Of itself
are you referring to the cover art with Vyke in the center?
To put it short I believe this is the true story The one great aka Greater Will fractured itself creating existence The greater will being a force and existence Found it’s “Goldilocks” zone in the universe (Sent the elden beast to the lands between) Being the direct birth of a force of nature; The Elden Beast gave birth to the inhabitants of the lands between (Thus creating crucible era) Astel and the evolution of the lands between lead to other gods to be worship Elden Beast being a star like Astel Decides ti use a alien whose people are the ancestors to astrologers who would later become sorcerers in our time aka Marika the Numan not of the lands between Why So that intelligence can later be added to this faith equation but also To give birth to the rightful vessels of the outer gods Which is why I feel like simply putting it Greater will is removing aspects of itself which are the other outer gods
@@phantomleaves yes sir
@@phantomleaves Vike represents the fact if u don’t do Gold Mask ending you’ll end up like vike meaning another “chosen” tarnish spawn. Hence why we are all tarnished. Like literary my character is a tarnish that exist in the same multiverse as your tarnish I believe the DLC will contain the best great rune for the best ending
very interesting theory! I'll definitely think more about this. Though I will say, although both the Astels and the EB came from a falling star I don't think they are the same kind of entity. I still think the EB is the vassal/manifestation of whatever order the ER imposes, and is not literally a star like the Astels are implied to be. I also want to add that you have a very positive view of the Goldmask ending, and ending that in my opinion is not necessarily a "good" ending, unless we look at it from a GO fundamentalists perspective.
I like ur conclusion by I think a little differently we should have a discussion
broooooooo I’m so glad I found your video I spent the past few weeks thinking about this but I was starting to believe that that the Greater Will is using Marika as a vessel almost like a parasite Hence why the Elden Beast looks the way it does I also believe that Elden Beast created The dragons directly from its being But basically all of Marikas actions From leaving her husband getting with rennalla then merging with itself I feel like these are all actions of her being essentially possessed by the Greater Will
Thank you so much for watching and for leaving these comments! The GW could very well be acting as a parasite through Marika, I think that is a fair assumption on your part since we have so little real information about it, I can see how you would interpret things that way. I'm curious as to why you think the EB is a parasite based on its looks. It definitely looks draconic to me, so I can understand the connection you make between it and the dragons. However where I disagree is that this version of the EB is clearly associated with the golden order, with its golden holy magic and all, and the ancient dragons(of whom all dragons are descended from) can wield red lightning, imbued with the power of the crucible which predates the golden order (and this version of the EB, from my perspective). I appreciate your thoughts and input though
@@phantomleaves right so the EB does represents the GO but I feel as tho the GO is the Outer God that once called itself the Greater Will The force which created these other forces of nature Went from being the Greatest to being exposed at the very moment Astel raged war Now the game is primarily a civil war But that civil war is with the Golden Order and it’s offspring So in other words the golder order is the inner gods to these outer gods In other words these outer gods will not exist without the golden order Now the golden order is simply banishing them from the kingdom of the lands between Through the physical births of (M/R)’s kids So in short The outer gods we know Are simply the offspring of the Golden order As Godwyn etc. are the offspring of (M/R) The civil war started when the Golden Order shattered itself through Marika So that we may build it back and bring in gold mask ending so I believe Godwyn radagon mequilla and ranni were going to be the remaining of the family of the golden orders plans went to the scripted But Rani doing what she did ruined the greater will aka Golden Orders vision Between MR removing its eyes desperately trying to break away from the Golden Order or EB influence just to save the kids Rani already wanting nothing to do with the Order Miquella try a change the order so that basically back in its original form Which means reversing the doings of the Greater Will which would become the Golden Order So that all aspects of life aka outer gods can flourish Meaning all his relatives lives and the rightful vessels of these outer gods remain But that’s exactly what the golden order does not what
I agree with some of this, however the GO was founded when Marika removed the rune of death, that is why I distinguish between the GO and the "reign of Marika", as the latter encompasses the whole of her rule including before the founding of the GO. And Marika and Godfrey waged their unification war against the other cultures of the lands between before the founding of the GO, so I don't agree that the outer gods are offspring or products of the GO. I still hold that they, like order, are fundamental aspects of nature and the Elden Ring. But I don't disagree that the GO is opposed to and attempting to supress the other outer gods, at least that much is pretty clear.
idk. i see hyetta saying "all life came from the one great" it might as well be some unknowable eldritch being. the concentration of life force, power, souls, runes, is a reoccurring theme in the fromsoft universes. as well as ancient unknowable creatures. If all life came from one thing and split itself apart, for whatever reason, mistake or not. its against all of our interest for it to piece itself back together again. The Dog Pope says "All things can be Conjoined" or whatever. In our fight with Gideon he says: "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." Radagon is the one who made the thorns keeping us out. If Marika wants us to struggle for eternity. It seems like Radagon is aiding in that plan. It almost seems like Marikas plan was or became to stop the greater wills plan. force a stale mate. I mean just wtf is the greater will? it kind of looks like an amoeba or slime mold or something and im not the only one who thinks that. amoebas are one of the oldest living primordial type lifeforms. I mean i think it kind of works. Britannica kids says: "If an amoeba is cut apart, it instantly forms a new membrane over the cut surfaces. The part containing the nucleus may survive, but the other part cannot digest food and eventually dies. The nucleus is necessary for reproduction, which is asexual." Are we dealing with an ancient eldritch space amoeba? Are we all just part of the one great amoeba? Is the greater will just a small piece of a bigger amoeba? Thats one theory atleast. I have a bunch. yours is cool too. I found this video while pondering why tf is marika and Radagon made of stone? what other beings do we run into that are made of stone? And doesnt radagon Teleport? Made of stone and teleports? what else do we see that does that? falling star beasts, astels, onyx and alabaster lords. thats about as far as i am with that though.
The Greater Will being an eldritch entity totally tracks IMO. Nyarlathotep is one of Lovecraft's outer gods who frequently takes the form of a human, just as a contextual example. The Elden Beast is described as the "vassal"(landholder) of the GW, and yet it is also "the living embodiment of the concept of order," so while I think the GW and EB are distinct from each other, they may also be two aspects of the same entity. That is to say the "avatar" is the conscious aspect of the GW and the EB is the source of its raw power. I can't say I disagree with any of your assertions, especially your take on the conflict between Radagon and Marika. I think that Radagon has been pulling the strings for much longer than the fandom generally suggests.
Bro. Nice. Easy sub
Thank you!