Bonfireside Chat 224: Siofra River Well
Added 2022-08-28 19:47:00 +0000 UTCIf you thought the Lands Between were already big, I would like to have seen your face when you realized that there was a whole other map waiting for you beneath the surface. This week, we begin Ranni's quest by meeting her at the Three Sisters rises, and work together with Blaidd to try (unsuccessfully) to reach the forbidden city of Nokron. Instead, we find a false night and whole new cultures worshipping in the caverns under foot.
Comments
Just recently did Pidias quest again. I’m pretty sure the theory is correct. Not only are there winks towards that in game, but there winks to in FromSoft meta. Pidia being the puppet master is extremely similar in theme to Fools Idol in Demons Souls. The real crazy question actually is…..is there a difference between a doll and a puppet?🤷🤷 Oh and idk if it’s a patch but there’s actually a cerulean beetle near the ledge that would naturally take you down the cliff if you were to go after it
Jessie joy
2025-07-22 17:54:42 +0000 UTCstill love the show though
Tala Maillot
2024-03-19 18:16:45 +0000 UTCI too think that siofra is a beautiful area that deserves a lot more than 30 minutes of content
Tala Maillot
2024-03-19 18:16:06 +0000 UTCCan you guys start trimming the parts where Gary just kind of complains about other fromsoft fans? It's probably 20 mins of every episode
Justin
2023-09-13 13:00:48 +0000 UTCBeen really enjoying my re-listens to this season alongside my RL1 run, but this was the first dud for me, unfortunately. 70% of the episode taken up with other things meant this area got pretty short shrift. A complaint from Gary and Kole over recent FROM games were the prioritisation of boss difficulty & mechanics over elements like mood and enjoyment, so it was a little disheartening to hear them dismiss the Ancestor Spirit so quickly, as I rather enjoyed that boss as a return to earlier Souls values. Then the level itself - so much focus on the torch lighting over the amazing visuals, music, atmosphere and how it expands the entire Lands Between with the return elevator to Caelid? As a self-contained area, this felt like a DS2 zone with next-gen graphics, so maybe I'm just surprised to hear the boys' lukewarm reception on this one. But I think Siofra deserved better. Still love all you do.
Oliver Tripp
2023-04-26 18:19:51 +0000 UTCIt's very clear she did it intentionally could have really done without 20 mins of their weird fanfic and subsequent patting each other on back for how well done their purposed and nonsensical narrative was.
Umair Khalid
2022-09-08 07:52:22 +0000 UTCRe: Torrent's origins, there actually IS one other thing we know: When Ranni gives us the Spirit Calling Bell, she says it used to belong to Torrent's former master! That certainly does seem like a witchy connection. In that same interaction, she gives you the Lone Wolf ashes, whose description reads: "Spirits of wolves chased from their pack. They later encountered a nameless Tarnished, who welcomed them as hunting companions." Whether the wolves and the bell come from the same place, I couldn't say, but it's interesting that, as far as I know, the nameless tarnished wolf-bro isn't mentioned anywhere else, and that description feels conspicuously vague. Was Torrent's former master a witch AND a pack-leading hunter? A hunter with a witch friend (perhaps the Snow Witch's equivalent of Blaidd/Malaketh/Serosh)? Some other person, and this is all bullshit? Fuck if I know! Keep up the good work!
MrReciprocity
2022-09-02 01:15:28 +0000 UTCI may have missed it, but does it actually say anywhere Seluvis is using the puppets for deviancy or are we just assuming?
Mitchell Turner
2022-09-01 23:14:32 +0000 UTCSame here!
Daniel Runfola
2022-08-31 01:39:59 +0000 UTCI actually found the fight with the regal ancestor very challenging, but I LOVED the fight and loved the music for it. I did the Soifra River very early on in the game, long before I did Raya Lucaria or Caria Manor, so maybe I was accidentally underleveled. I personally found learning the dance-like moves of this boss very satisfying and this is one of the first parts of the game that got me into using the crafting system because I used a LOT of fire throwing pots to fight this guy. The amount of effort I put into this fight made the later fight against the Royal version of this enemy more fun and satisfying for me because I felt rewarded for having learned the lesser version so deeply. Honestly, as much as I hated lighting the torches, this fight and the initial reveal of this zone was satisfying enough that the whole area has a special place in my heart now.
Paige Herrmann
2022-08-30 15:22:55 +0000 UTCWhat makes talking about the Snow Witch that Ranni met even more infuriating is I'm pretty sure that's also just a reference to the manga Berserk? (Please don't yell at me I've never read Berserk lol)
Bryan Bronstein
2022-08-30 11:39:27 +0000 UTCVery interesting discussion and I find I am learning a lot that I missed in my first playthrough. I had no idea that the form that Ranni takes is a doll, I only thought that happened later so that was interesting. One thing I found confusing in your discussion was that I swore at one point that Melina outright states that Marika is her mother( maybe Vaati says something to this effect?). I found the dialogue but it's a lot more cryptic than I remembered: "There is something I'd like to say. My purpose was given to me by my mother. But now, I act of my own volition.I have set my heart upon the world that I would have. Regardless of my mother's designs. I won't allow anyone to speak ill of that. Not even you.". So I guess who her mother is is left mysterious but given that she has so much dialogue quoting Queen Marika, I assumed that they meant to imply Marika, again not like this is definite proof. Anyways enjoyed the discussion and glad we are past the spoiler wall
Mac Taylor
2022-08-29 21:56:19 +0000 UTCone of the 5 people who popped for the twin peaks the return reference reporting in
unluckychloe
2022-08-29 19:15:46 +0000 UTCCertainly still possible! It's just not how we interpret the character. Write in when we do the Roundtable!
Duckfeed.tv
2022-08-29 18:09:23 +0000 UTCI second this, the actual text of the Cursemark states: “This cursemark was carved at the moment of Death of the first demigod, and should have taken the shape of a circle.” “However, two demigods perished at the same time, breaking the cursemark into two half-wheels.” I doubt Ranni’s plan was just to die in body and soul, and Marika messed with that, as I’m not super sure how that follows with Ranni’s dialogue. She states “I have slain the body I was born into, and cast it away.” and “I stole the Rune of Death, slew mine own Empyrean flesh, casting it away. I would not be controlled by that thing” and speaks of plans for after her body’s death, it’s pretty clear she wasn’t just some bystander who wanted to off themselves in protest to the GW.
Lucas West
2022-08-29 16:54:33 +0000 UTCI always find discussing Ranni really frustrating because the lore community has dubbed her the resident "Good Guy" and so twist all the lore to make her look as good as possible no matter how much the lore actually contradicts that. It makes talking about her actual motives and why she's so ruthless impossible.
Shaun Higgins
2022-08-29 15:20:43 +0000 UTCTbh I don't understand why people feel your disagreeing with theories is dismissive. I guess you can't please everyone, but bringing up theories you disagree with is a natural part of discussion especially with a game like elden ring. Also I'm glad I'm not the only one who got "fucked up sex puppet" vibes off of Selvius!
JACKAL ALLTRADES
2022-08-29 11:57:37 +0000 UTCI think Ranni has to have been involved with Godwyn's death because almost everything that mentions their death in the same breath says that because they died at the same time, Godwyn's soul died but his body lived, and the reverse for Ranni. It's possible it was still something she was unaware of but that doesn't track to me, because then either she was just trying to kill herself so she couldn't be used by the Two Fingers and everything else is her just rolling with it not going quite like she expected, or her plan would've failed except for some other scheme, which is fine I suppose but doesn't feel satisfying to me
Stephen Swartz
2022-08-29 11:03:38 +0000 UTCI don't know guys... You are the only people I know that read Selivus' puppets as sex thing. Also you didn't mention the most interesting part of Ranni's design; that blue overlap of her silhouette. I have read that as her soul being attached to the doll she inhabits.
Mateusz Swietoslawski
2022-08-29 07:51:07 +0000 UTCSiofra is an area that I have done a complete 180 on. Originally I was blown away by the initial presentation and general sense of "I am not supposed to be here yet" when I took the elevator in the Mistwood. However between the wisps, sniper archers, and the torch puzzle this has become one of my least favorite areas on subsequent playthroughs. These days I just go down to talk to Blaidd and pick up a few items then exit as quickly as possible.
MeltyHam
2022-08-29 01:29:26 +0000 UTCKole: i am one of those five people, and it made me very happy. So thanks bud
ArdorsAndArbors
2022-08-28 23:32:54 +0000 UTClove the twin peaks reference. Now I just want Trent Reznor on the next fromsoft soundtrack
Yoav Hayut
2022-08-28 22:35:02 +0000 UTCThe music in the underground part is my favorite. Really weird. I think it's got one of those rain sticks in the instrumentation?
Randall
2022-08-28 22:19:40 +0000 UTC
