The Lore of Elden Ring's Dragons

(Use code WINTER for 20% off on 1 or 30% off on 2 Displates)

*sorry for getting the discount wrong in the video!

SOURCES

MORE LORE

CHAPTERS
00:00 Placidusax, the Dragonlord
15:39 The Beasts of Farum Azula
27:54 Shadows of the Empyrean
34:37 The Ancient Elden Ring
44:02 The Nameless God
55:00 The Dragonkin
58:05 The Mother of Dragons
1:06:42 Dragons of Ice and Glintstone
1:15:25 The Dragon-Hearted
1:26:43 The War of the Ancient Dragons

MERCHANDISE

SPECIAL THANKS TO
►Mispap1, for Lore / Prepare to Cry editing and footage - @mispap1
►Rainer, for their modding assistance in these videos - @rainergeis4071

PLAYLISTS

SOCIAL

THUMBNAIL ART
►John Devlin

PATRONS
►I'd like to give sincere thanks to all my patrons - your contributions have changed the course of my life, allowing me to put more emphasis on video production in the future.

[VaatiVidya]

Most sponsors prefer to have their ads at the start or middle of a video - but for some videos that can really affect the viewing experience. So with that in mind, I'd like to take a second to appreciate Displate, who permit me to put their ads at any point in my videos. In this video, their ad is at 1:39:55.

As a result, you get an uninterrupted viewing experience in this one, so I'd really appreciate if you could check out their products, if you're interested. I'm lucky to have them supporting this sort of lore content, and of course lucky to have you guys supporting as well. Thank you!

[MaidenlessScrub]

Vaati: Placidusax's heads were severed in an unknown fight

Me coming back from the DLC: CURSE YOU,

[Ziostorm]

The quality of these videos is just incredible. The music, cinematography, and presentation really make you feel the scale of Elden Ring.

[westfall]

Can't wait for an updated version of this with Bayle the Dread. Hands down one of the coolest storyline in the game.

[VaatiVidya]

Admittedly, this video is about more than just dragons. But if it's only the dragons you're interested in, I'd recommend skipping ahead to 55:00 at some point as that's where I discuss most of the named dragons!

[Dahrell]

I love the fact that we had so much dragon-related Zullie the Witch content recently and to discover now that it was no coincidence and that you two were collaborating for this wonderful and massive video !

[TY-rich]

37:08 “placidusax is in a state of eternal maidenlessness.”

Yeah, same
Edit: Not anymore! 💪
Edit #2: Scratch that 😎

[axios]

With the newest lore from the DLC I present the following theories:

1: Modern Dragons are referred to by Igon and Florissax as drakes and spawns of Bayle, if Greyoll is mother of the drakes, that would make her Bayle's partner. She is probably in the Dragon Barrow specifically to die there, but it's sure she fled to the Lands Between with her children following Bayle's failed coup, then Placidusax sent a number of ancient dragons to teach humans about dragon communion, so that their endless hunger for power would lead them to annihilate the drakes.

Considering how willing Placidusax and his ancient dragons were to wipe out the drakes and how they were seen as inferior, this muddles the conflict between Bayle and Placidusax. Did Bayle just want power, or did he challenge the Dragon Lord to protect his mate and children? The only version of this story we get, unfortunately, is that of Placidusax's followers.

2: The Fled God might very well have been The Greater Will, now that we know the Two Fingers and Marika were guide-less from the start. It's funny because that would be equivalent to God giving up when a meteorite killed the dinosaurs and leaving, never to learn of the little monkeys that picked up the torch of existance in his name.

[Doodad]

I don't know what's more mind-blowing: The staggering amount of detail FromSoft packed into this game, or the ability of Vaati and his team to rigorously parse it all out.

[tanks]

Vaati dropping a video right now, seems like DLC update confirmation to me!

[Egalia_]

I really appreciate the dragons in Elden Ring because it’s the first time in the series for me that they really felt like a “people” or group. Before you just have Seath and the immortal dragon in DS1, nothing else. In DS2 you have the fake dragon and Sinh, the rest are completely uncharacteristic. DS3 has even less so. I feel like Elden Ring really makes them feel more like characters with their names and unique abilities. At least, for me it did

[williansouza]

watch a movie: nah
watch an almost 2 hour youtube video about game lore: hell yeah

[meropitou]

one thing about the glintstone dragons that i appreciate very much is how they are named.
the first glintstone dragon Smarag is most certainly named after the precious gemstone emerald, which is called a smaragd in german for example, a stone known for its green color.
Adula is what truely made me smile though, because it is likely named after Adularia or the effect of adularescence which describes the blue sheen most commonly found in moonstones. a good fit for Ranni's oathsworn

[Todietipso]

About the Old Lord's Talisman having four heads: Since Dragons could turn into humans. The talisman would have been worn when Placidusax was in their human form, which would mean the last head would be the one wearing the talisman

[thezelectian]

This could be a stretch but, when Vaati talked about the similarities between Caelid and the mountaintop, all I could think about was that Farum Azula is literally east of that gap between the two sections of the map. What im trying to say is that Farum Azula could possibly have been that land mass between both locations. Could be the reason why Caelid has Farum architecture, why Maliketh is located in both Caelid and Farum, why Greyoll and the northern section of Caelid is called the Dragonsbarrow, why the ice dragons are found in the mountaintops along with the corpses of the giants and the monster dogs and crows are in both locations. There’s so many connections between the three locations and the placement of Farum Azula so close to both Caelid and the mountaintops that it’s possible that long ago Farum was apart of the Lands Between. A capital in place of Leyndell before the Greater Will. Then, when the Nameless God died (or fled) the ancient dragons suspended Farum Azula in an eternal, timeless loop, tearing it away from the Lands Between. Another thing to add is that you can only reach Farum from the mountaintops. Again, could be a stretch, but it’s possible.

[gotmilk]

I love how bayle is the missing link between ancient and modern dragons

[SmoughTown]

Incredible - absolutely breathtaking work as always Vaati.

I constantly watch out for your content and you always lift the boundaries of what are possible, inspiring the rest of us. Thanks for the work, you and your collaborators have done; I know how much work goes into a long video - never mind one of this quality.

[chester]

I always remember the first time i saw Placidusax's intro cut scene - the two remaining heads reaching up and crossing over - the parallel between the two fingers communing or trying to commune with the Great Will was clear and impactful. From's story telling in their design is as masterful as their written story telling.

[ServerYT]

1:08:56

So we got a floating city that is most likely from Caelid, and a possible huge part of land that vanished, right next to architecture that looks exactly like Farum Azula, and on the other side you've got animals and Giants that match the beings from the other side?

Has anyone considered the fact that Farum Azula IS the land bridge that is now gone?

[ExpozDxSpaRtaN]

My theory about farum azula's time twisting properties is that placudisax actually has direct influence. Placudisax is still alive there in the past. Because he is entangled with that location in the past, when we lay down and become part of the land, we are then entangled with the land and become part of the moment in time affected by placudisax's presence. This only happens because we are not immune to time, just like crumbling farum azula. So we can be manipulated just like the land. For placudisax the arena isnt destroyed like it is for us, so by being at the same place where placudisax was, for him it could be the same thing as us just being there normally since its the same physical location, just different time location.