Elden Ring Lore - Marika's Godhood Explained

Something no one’s brought up (that I’ve seen): It’s heavily implied that the spirit tuner at the round table hold, Rodericka, is a Shaman (even of Shaman nobility); she has pale skin and golden hair, and was called to the lands between for an unknown reason, peculiar as she is tarnished and wasn’t guided by grace. She has a natural aptitude for spirit tuning and communing with spirits too. Her men were all captured and used for Godrick’s grafting (if they’re all Shaman, then the Grafted Scions are possible due to their blood). She befriends Master Hewg, who is reluctant to help her at first but softens when he notes ‘her eyes remind him of a spirit tuner he was fond of long ago.’ Theory: Rodericka is a relative (Shaman-bloodline) of Marika. She was drawn to the Lands Between because of her connection to Marika’s soul (outside the golden order connection everyone else has). She reminds Master Hewg of Marika herself, someone he once know and entrusted him to make a sword to kill a god (herself); that Master Hewg is an original Hornsent and kept alive by Marika through her grace (which starts to crumble when we burn the Erdtree, thus is mind starts to fade and fail). It would be poetic too, that Master Hewg and Rodericka become friends / foster family, as the rift between the Hornsent and Queen Marika started this entire thing in the first place. Very similar to the Hoslow <> pot connection which I think is 100% accurate! Edit: Marika 💁‍♀️💫 - not Merika 🇺🇸 🦅 Also forgot to mention: rare ghost gloveworts (8, 9, and 10) are found on all of the Shaman ships on the Cerulean Coast and (I think) are the only gloveworts found not near a gravesite (which I think adds to the connection of Shaman being spirit tuners)

It was Jarika all along

Rykard fed himself to the serpent. Elden Ring has so many instances of many bodies fusing into one.

All vessels are destined to one day break, but the great Alexander lived like a warrior til his last!

"I turned myself into a jar Radagon!"

Marika being the one successful saint is such a crazy/twisted take on the already messed up Divine Child from Sekiro. Monks experimented on a ton of kids killing them all in the process until they finally created the Divine Child.

The fact that we are a tarnished of no renown. And that we just apparently rose out of the erdtree itself and we are noted as having a connection to the spirits one of fond admiration Is it possible we the Tarnished are to Marika, what Millicent is to Malenia? Maybe thats why we can use the rune of rebirth without flaws, why we see grace, why the spirits like us, and why Torrent chose us

this isnt a perspective I expected for who marika is, but it made a lot of sense while listening and is definitly something to consider in context for the greater picture in the lands between

One glaring issue: The Elden Ring existed before Marika.

And as some other youtuber said: "Jars are like Crucible." As Marika's womb is a crucible of life.

Marika being a fusion of beings would make sense with her Radagon counterpart. It would also explain how her and Radagon were able to have children despite being of one body. Maybe the Hornsent succeeded in creating a saint with Marika, but she "betrayed" them by using countless of their souls to fuel the gate of communion and ascend to godhood, in part because she hates them for what they did to her and her people.

“Shaman souls melded into one” Marika is the emperor of mankind

I believe Marika was doing everything to escape her original fate as a Shaman, which would've involved her being subjected to the horrors of being fused with external sources. She likely made a vow in Shaman Village involving revenge against the Hornsent for what they did to her people. The Fell God was feared by the Hornsent, so I believe Marika used her power to lead them into slaying the Fire Giants, earning their trust by committing genocide and initiating the Age of the Erdtree... becoming a God shortly before this, I assume. She killed 2 birds with 1 stone: 1) Gained the favor of the Hornsent/Crucible, and 2) Eliminated a power that could have destroyed her Erdtree. She would then use the Crucible/Hornsent and her Lord Godfrey to conquer the Lands Between, systematically eliminating any potential threats to her Order, but once none were left, she banished the Crucible and sent them away without grace so they could never return and simply spread the good word of God... lol. She clearly had no loyalties to Godfrey as a lover since she is referred to as a "Strumpet" by the hornsent and had many bastard children. I even believe she had an affair with Radagon, leading into the conception of Messmer and Melina before he ever went to fight Rennala and the Carians. That could easily explain how Messmer is seen as "Radahn's elder brother" alongside Gaius. Once Marika took Radagon as her Consort, I believe she began openly persecuting the Hornsent since this would've been the exact time the Crucible/Godfrey were long gone, and every last major player is taken off the board (Carians, Stormhawk King, Morne soldier and his allies, Fire Giants, and others). Also, I'm 90% certain when Marika sent Messmer into the Realm of Shadow with the rest of the lands she removed from TLB, she had him take all of the blame and made it seem he acted on his own, which is ultimately why the Serpent is seen as a "traitor" or "blasphemous". (This is huge speculation territory) Because of her crimes, I do believe the Law of Causality and Regression came into play. Her committing genocide and likely earning the ire of the Fell God led into the conception of Radagon as a curse upon her, which I believe is a twisted reflection of Marika because of the path he follows to eventually earn her favor... and forces her to succumb to her original fate. Radagon seems to have done everything in his life to usurp Marika and become a "complete" being. He likely knew what she was by the time he initiated his plans and became the Champion of the Golden Order. And think about it... All of her children with Radagon are cursed. Her children with Godfrey were either human or hornsent... which aren't cursed. The Black Knife Assassins who were supposedly "close" to Marika at some point were likely loyal to her until they realized she had become a monster, arguably even worse than the Hornsent, and chose to betray her by forming an alliance with Ranni and Rykard and murdering Godwyn on the condition that the Age of the Erdtree would come to an end, which we know Ranni's end goal involved. I do not believe Marika housed the Elden Ring, but instead wore it as a crown and necklace, similar to Miquella's Circlet of Light which is said to basically be another object that would've helped him establish his Age of Compassion. Therefore, it is likely the Elden Ring took the form of a crown as well. There's a lot of implications involving Radagon's connection with Alchemy, and it all leads to a solid theory that he wanted to become his own Magnum Opus. Radagon was NEVER part of Marika until he forced himself to become one with her and attempted to fuse the Elden Ring into their conjoined body to become "complete", which was his greatest desire that we know of. The time-frame of this event is confusing (as is the entire time-line in general), but it likely happened after the Night of the Black Knives, where Marika would've been vulnerable if Godwyn's death led to her despair. Radagon would've begun assimilating her, and Marika around this point would've tasked Hewg to create a weapon that could slay a God. Then before Radagon's plan could come to fruition, Marika would have shattered the Elden Ring. Boom, Marika and Radagon's arc (sloppily) explained.

If Marisa started out as the Shaman in a jar with bits of flesh from other beings, maybe that’s why so many of her kids are “cursed”. Mogh came from bits of Hornsent DNA/spirit melding with her, Messmer came about by a bit of snake in the stew, etc. Radagon came about as maybe another Shaman/Numen in her pot.

yeah, i'll integrate this to my belief system

So Marika is a philosopher stone like Hohenheim from Full Metal Alchemist

I thought something similar when I they accused her of betrayal along with the Numen lore. The Hornsent were creating a god.

The jars, and to an extent how the crucible is described, seem very similar to the japanese/chinese sorcerous practice of kodoku, putting insects or spirits into a small container until one of them absorbs the strength of the others.

I think a lot of the jars were used by the hornsent along with their willing devotees to make the gateway

"Kindness of gold without order" to me sounds like grace. One definition of grace by my understanding is forgiveness/kindness, without the expectation of recognition or reciprocation, (to me a form of Order). Radagon and Marika might be two different Shaman with the same goal of revenge, or simply the two main aspects of Marikas world view. Marika is the half that believes grace to be paramount, whereas Radagon believes Order, reciprocation, eye-for-eye is most important. The shattering was Marika becoming disillusioned by the Order that gave her power after repeatedly disappointing her and continuing to haunt her, thus returning to the core belief that grace (kindness without order) is paramount, seeing that Order is hypocritical by nature. She granted grace back to those she banished (tarnished, the people of her one true Lord) not in hopes of forgiveness, but inner peace. She was then killed/imprisoned by Radagon as he awaits his demise at the hands of Marikas faithful, those guided by her kindness and forgiveness, (grace). Idk where to go from here, or how our tarnished can be seen as kind or forgiving but the description of the Minor Erdtree spell clicked with me since I'd been looking into grace definitions. Feel free to poke holes.