>>35771
>Impossible to know
I take the fact that he ultimately failed to stop her as a pretty poor sign, all things considered.
>Why wouldn't she?
Okay good so we're in agreement Ranni actually put forethought into this.
>Mohg
Means nothing now Shadow of the Erdtree establishes the fact that that Miquella apparently mindraped Mohg so everything we know about his motivations is colored by that
>Malenia
Means nothing given the Scarlet Rot's actual intentions for her are completely unknown since Malenia is defined by her loyalty to Miquella
>Moon
Given Ranni simply leaves behind the Elden Ring I'd argue the Moon is more interested in having a dominant Empyrean at all than in the Ring specifically
>Stars
[citation needed]
>Sure are a lot of gods involved in this war
Gods and their followers were warring with each other since before Marika's reign, it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the Elden Ring.
>He only managed that after
The fact that he managed it at all implies that rather than being completely wrong and thus breaking down like Corhyn he was able to recontextualise his beliefs into a result that was valid enough to affect the metaphysical stratum of the Elden Ring.
>My take
Okay that's like, your opinion man, and I disagree with it mainly because Shadow of the Erdtree
directly the Greater Will hasn't been doing anything since Marika took power. Maybe it's tyrannical, maybe it is in fact a very big Outer God, but hardly anything that happened during Marika's reign is substantive of it's main priorities
>Timeline is wrong
By "tyrant" I don't mean before she founded the Erdtree but after she took revenge on the Hornsent since the Minor Erdtree miracles specifies at that point there was nobody left to bless
>lying
Oh yes definitely, as I interpret it and infer from Melina's records of Marika's words, items, miracles and circumstances Marika's journey is one of tragedy to idealism to ruthless tyranny and then despair.
>Oh I just like arguing
Fair enough.
>Well creating an assassin to murder her out of her half-brother isn't something you do to avoid conflict
I would argue it actually is. Think of the Fingers as the CIA and their enforcers as agents sent to quell unrest before it can emerge. Yes, if you take the long view it's massively self-sabotaging, but I can see it as a realpolitik-based decision that it's better to kill someone who is doing the Greater Will's work but NOT in a way they approve of/is personally beneficial to them than it is to trust them to be loyal, competent
and of sound mind when they are to you an alien being from another world.
>no particular reason
That is not in fact what I think the story is. I do not, like you seem to, think that Marika is an actual Elden Ring player who was told all the facts about the setting and the Greater Will from the beginning by lifeforms with an interest in being honest. I do in fact think Marika was operating on limited information, strong biases and emotions, and that having power changed her greatly from the traumatised shaman she started out as.
I would say Marika did it for similar reasons to why Britney Spears shaved her head. Power, privilege, pressure, stress and a lot of shit behind the scenes. I also hardly think literally giving birth to Omens and also noticing all your loyalists devolving into religious fanatics with no capacity for critical thought is NOT an inciting incident. Have you ever given birth? it's kind of a remarkable moment.
>So Metyr told the Two-Finger
No, Metyr told Marika and the Two-Fingers supported her lie.
>"It's super easy!" Metyr said
Gods and creators telling their children and followers white lies is a consistent theme in the game yes, see also Marika telling her children to kill each other for her crown
>She did this while desperately wanting to obtain real contact with the Greater Will
Yes, I am under the impression Metyr genuinely thought guiding Marika to become the dominant goddess of the Lands Between would gain the Greater Will's favour and approval
>coincidentally the Elden Beast shows up
The Elden Beast was sent down with the Elden Ring. Placidusax was Elden Lord in a time long before Marika was born. We have established that whatever being Elden Lord means, it seemingly involves the Elden Ring. Therefore, the Elden Ring was sent down to the Lands Between long before Marika obtaining godhood. Now, Marika probably DID commune with or otherwise make use of it to some extent given her awareness of the Elden Beast but strictly speaking merging with stuff is something all gods have shown varying degrees of capacity for (see the Fell God manifesting on that one giant) so it doesn't say much about the Greater Will's intentions
It actually makes a reasonable about of sense as a series of continuous misadventures once you stop assuming that characters are perfectly rational actors that are consistently honest with each other, and have a perfect understanding of the Greater Will's intentions.
>and she lies to it too and it believes her
It's unclear if Marika ever spoke to the thing or if it would even care about her spreading mistruths as long as the Elden Ring remained intact, and entirely possible Marika saw it's elimination as a facet of dismantling the structure she PREVIOUSLY enjoyed but CURRENTLY wanted to get rid of.
>They'd just need to learn magic
Unironically yes. Look at everyone who made a Mending Rune, then look at the player character who murders the Elden Beast, then look at everyone who failed to accomplish anything like that because they had other priorities. Yes, everyone learning magic would be the optimal goal if the setting of Elden Ring worked under the assumption of perfect economic competition and all information was freely available and there were no barriers to entry in any kind of industry and nobody had any problems in their life. But it doesn't. The world is flawed, nobody understands the nature of the gods, and those in power are driven by rage, prejudice and bloodlust as much as noble ideals and camaraderie with their comrades. There are no certainties or constants, everyone is just trying to do the best with what they have while hoping or believing that either a higher power approves or that they have the strength to overthrow a higher power.
[Expand Post]
And that is why STR is king in Elden Ring.