Shabriri is actually a thing | Elden Ring Archaeology Ep. 17

In one of Yura's cut dialogue, he says that "I'm running out of time. The worm-like writhing that has long plagued the back of my eyes is spreading ..to my brain ..and heart". This is presumably before he dies and Shabriri takes over his corpse. So you're very accurate in relating frenzy to be river blindness.

Regarding eyes I'm still convinced Marika and Radagon both lack eyes or lost them when they were "chosen". The Scarseal and Soreseal items very intently look like eyes which gives me the impression they had to sacrifice their literal eyes much the same way Odin does in Norse mythology.

I’d also note that Oedipus used what is basically a needle to gouge out his own eyes, tying back in to the cure for frenzy

I've always loved how the spells of Fromsoft games are manifestations of emotions or struggles, in spell form. Frenzied Burst, being dropped near Vyke and only ever used by him, is a very telling piece of his struggle: "In times past, every single person who attempted to control the flame of frenzy succumbed to madness after a desperate internal struggle. This incantation is testament to a meager victory." Not just any meager victory, "a" meager victory - a singular battle that was won, and it had to have been Vyke's. Moreover, Vyke didn't completely succumb to madness; he removed the Frenzied Flame from himself by gouging out his eye. What's also interesting is both the picture and animation suggests that Frenzied Burst comes out of one eye - further emphasizing that perhaps this Incantation manifested as a result of Vyke's victory in resisting madness. I wonder if it happened when his Finger Maiden killed herself. Her position doesn't seem to entail violence, and the village we find them in suggests that the people within it WANTED Vyke to become the Lord of Frenzied Flame. But Melina's dialogue emphasizes how awful of a path this is, and Vyke did it to save her - ergo, by killing herself, it was likely the inciting incident that made Vyke realize how misguided he was. Then and there, he removes the Flame of Frenzy - the lingering traces of that spirit devoted to its initial reason for being, which is protecting his Finger Maiden. Fucking love this game, man.

I think another really important factor in Vyke's "cure" of his madness is that to truly get the full embrace of the three finger you must enter the chamber without anything on you, but Vyke did not buy it all the way through, having been tricked into this path not out of the firm belief that life is only pain but exactly because he thinks his maiden should have a better life, to continue living, thus when he met the three fingers in the chamber he wore his armor instead of being naked the prints were left on his armor and not seared into his fleshed completely, which would allow him to just gouge his eye out instead of having to use the combined power of miquella's needle, malenia;s bloom, and Farum Azula's eternal storm to exorcise it.

Shabriri's Woe also mentioned the gouging of eyes, though in Shabriri's case it seems to have been done to him by someone else for the crime of slander, after which the flame of frenzy came to dwell in the empty sockets. This also overlaps with Briars of Punishment, stating the guilty had their eyes gouged out by thorns. Living in eternal darkness, they discovered the blood star. I'm not entirely sure how to unify these two descriptions, but it's clear the theme of eyes is a very important one in Elden Ring.

For those asking how Vyke could cure himself, he did not inherit the flame entirely - he did not go unclothed to the Three Fingers. His fingerprint armor is melted and burnt, while the Tarnished of No Renown must approach the Three Fingers unclothed.

Hands down the most insightful Elden ring content on the internet

On the note of consumable Grace representing eyes: the skulls that can be broken open to receive golden runes have glowing eyes. The skulls without glowing eyes do not drop runes when broken. It seems that the eyes themselves are what we are picking up…

A detail I noticed last time I played was in the lead up to the three fingers when we see all the merchants the few walking around make a clicking sound. This is a skill some blind people develop as a form of echo location, being able to tell the distance and even type of object in front of them. I think they tried gouging out their eyes but it didn't work out so well.

It's also interesting to note that sometimes basic enemies have 4 times the amount of runes when killed--denoted by glowing golden eyes.

I’m of the opinion that Vyke never truly accepted the flame, due to how his armor is burnt. We see our tarnished walking unclothed into the embrace of the fingers. Vyke, on the other hand, not only did not remove his armor, but was grasped from behind. Only fingerprints show on his front of his chest and side of his helm, as though the fingers clawed at him as he walked away.

YOOOO Another TA video?! I'm ready to learn. Thanks again TA, you really are a vanguard in Elden Ring Lore

I wonder if it's more accurate to sat that Vyke's eye invades us, rather than Vyke himself? We get his Frenzy-touched spear, and we get his eye, upon defeating him by the church. Maybe that is where he ripped out his eye and discarded it, only for it to manifest a phantom of him, still crazed by the Frenzied Flame. I also think it's possible Melina is the only who put him in the Evergaol, and possibly the one who ripped out his eye, remember she is "burnt and bodiless" and also her reaction to the Frenzied Flame ending suggests she may try to hunt any would-be lords of the Frenzied Flame.

I still get chills every time I hear The Song of Despair. Very aptly named, and perhaps the most horrific vision FromSoft has conjured of all their grim worlds and terrifying monsters

Mad respect for the lady who tore out her eyes to save the world. Even though she was sloshed and out of her mind, she nonetheless did that for us. GGs

Brilliant video. I never considered the possibility that Vyke repented, but now that you mention it, there's really nobody who could have locked him away in the Mountaintops of the Giants other than himself. It does seem strange that Vyke was so "simply" able to overcome his affliction however. Sleep is treated as anathema to frenzy (especially in cut content), so I wonder if Vyke at some point came into contact with something related to St. Trina, but alas there's no evidence of any such thing.

I just had a weird theory thanks to your last videos : What if the "visions" of the burning of the erdtree that led to people being banished were actually no visions? Maybe the tree was actually burning but most people couldn't see it because of their faith and the "ghost/golden tree" was hiding it ? And seeing the burning meant your faith wasn't strong enough ? That would explain the ashes in Leindel and why no one speaks of a previous burning...

I'm gonna pour myself a glass of Shabriri Vineyards Pinot and I'm going to savor this video

This is so exiciting, the flame of frenzy is one of the things I really dont feel like I have a great grip on, but I am so damn enticed by it. Hyetta's dialogue at the end of her questline was such a bombshell... The Gnostic implication of the Monad (The One Great), and a faulty creator demiurge (Greater Will)... The physical universe as per the Greater Will is one of suffering and curses, and the supreme divinity of the upper world is eagerly awaiting to destroy the lower world, freeing humanity from the physical corruption and having them return to their celestial forms.