#Or has convinced himself that he is some kind of Hermes Trismegistus but isn't

[miirshroom]

A theory about Lhutel and Ensha

In the Weeping Peninsula Lhutel is found in the Tombsward Catacombs, dropped by a Cemetery Shade. Her ashes read the following:

"Lhutel sacrificed her life so that in Death she could continue to protect a soulless demigod until their revival, earning her the hero's honor of Erdtree Burial."

If her ashes are held by the Cemetery Shade, she is protecting nothing, at least not in ashes form. So how is this meant to be interpreted - did she fail in her duty and become captured by the Cemetery Shade? Was her spirit improperly severed from the body and the body in Erdtree burial was corrupted by decay caused by insects? Is she on another plane of existence protecting the soul of the soulless demi-god before we gain the allegiance of her headless form?

Anyways, it is one of my less grounded theories that the soulless demi-god who Lhutel is meant to protect is "Ensha", but also not exactly the Ensha who is in the service of Gideon. The Royal Remains armour set includes bones studded with gemstones in a manner that is reminiscent of the Catacomb Saints of 16th and 17th century Catholicism. Essentially what happened is that some people in the 1500's stumbled on a Roman catacomb dating to the 3rd century and the Catholic Church declared that all of the bones were holy relics belonging to martyrs, regardless of who they actually belonged to. Literally, they couldn't know whose bones were in the mix - they just wanted more holy relics to inspire the faithful.

Royal Remains

"It is said that the bones belong to an ancient lord - the soulless king. The lord of the lost and desperate, who was known as Ensha."

So, the convoluted theory is that an unplundered catacomb dating to the time of Nokron & Nokstella was discovered relatively recently and believed to hold the ancient soulless demigod, and the mausoleum knights were formed to guard the tomb. Or multiple speculated tombs. But despite their best efforts, some guy plundered the catacomb, declared that he found the bones of "soulless king Ensha", fancied them up and crudely fashioned them into an armor set, and told everyone to call him "Ensha" now. Even if he did find a full and correct set of bones, he probably doesn't even have the original head, because it is a trend with the mausoleums that "soulless" is equated with "headless".

It is also my guess that the soulless demi-god referenced by Lhutel's Ashes and the soulless "Ensha" could be Miquella's soulless companion mentioned by the spirit at Castle Sol. Either that, or Miquella fancies himself king Ensha reborn and his soulless companion is a contemporary from the ancient time of Ensha.

This would make sense of false Ensha attacking when half of the Haligtree medallion is obtained. But regardless, it is strange to me that this dialogue is so often thought to be referring to the soulless Godwyn, when Golden Epitaph reads that Miquella wants Godwyn dead forever. Of course for this whole interpretation it would need to be accepted that the soulless demigods actually placed in the Walking Mausoleums are a red herring - they are Marika's unwanted children after all, so why resurrect them?

#elden ring #elden ring lore #analysis of art design #media analysis #ties into the theory that Miquella is either a reincarnation of an ancient dead god #Or has convinced himself that he is some kind of Hermes Trismegistus but isn't #St. Trina and Trismegistus both start with prefix tri- meaning three #Also thinking of how the cemetery shade model is a head crab