I kept wondering why the story told in Insanity—Vaas and Citra’s relationship, specifically—didn’t seem to be consistent with what Far Cry 3 showed and what its Lead Writer said (that Vaas left because he rejected Citra’s ritual). I also thought it was strange that Michael Mando didn’t “correct” that even though he partly rewrote the DLC with the team. But then, I realized that it could simply be because this is how he had been interpreting their relationship since the very beginning.
When he auditioned for Far Cry 3 and made such an impression that they decided to co-create a character with him, he had just been through a tough break-up, and it was this suffering that gave birth to Vaas. That “feeling of loving and of being in pain because of love”, as he once put it, is what he needed to externalize. The audition was his outlet, and the character came out of him as the personification of his pain. Vaas was born from romantic heartbreak.
Then, in The Far Cry Experience, in the episode “Red and Black”, he says something interesting:
Have you ever been in love? I've been in love once. Or maybe twice.
This sentence sounds familiar. In an interview, Michael explained the heartbreak he experienced was especially painful because he “had fallen in love for the first time (...) or maybe second time”. To me, it always sounded like Michael improvised this part (as he did a lot with Vaas), and for a long time, I thought he simply decided to add this line to humanize him and to allude to his own story. But now, I think he might have said that because he believed it was also where all the character’s pain came from, and that as an integral part of Vaas’ story, it had to be mentioned.
I found the third “piece of evidence” recently, when I explored the oasisstrings file for Far Cry 3. A long monologue that was supposed to be in the mission “Payback” caught my attention:
You took my sister way from me. You wanna fuck with me? You wanna fuck with me? Black heart, dagger ice. My blood is darkness, motherfucker. This is my fucking house! This is my fucking house! You wanna fuck with me? You know who the fuck I am? You know what I have been through? You know what's in my head, you motherfucker? Come! I'm waiting for you motherfucker! Come! I am going to find every piece of your fucking body, motherfucker! The world is on a diagonal. I am the balancing point. You think you are a warrior? You think you've got what it takes? Do you know what it takes, you motherfucker? You want to take my sister away from me? You want to take my heart away from me, you motherfucker? You're taking my heart! You're taking my love! Fuck you! You cannot kill me, motherfucker! You cannot kill somebody that's already dead! You cannot kill somebody that does not feel fucking pain. I don't feel pain motherfucker! You cannot take from me, what this world has already fucking taken. You want to disrespect me? I mean, you want to disrespect me? I mean you want to fuck with me? Huh? I like you. You are me and I am you. What is transparency? You've come to deliver me the truth. To hit me right here with transparency.
Even though the file doesn’t say who was supposed to say it and the corresponding audio is (sadly) not available, it seems obvious that the character speaking is Vaas. What’s interesting about this tirade is that it’s the only thing I found in the files that could imply he was, in fact, in love with Citra, and that he’s angry at Jason because he “took” her away from him… exactly like what we saw in Insanity.
What’s also intriguing is that there are several typos in the monologue: “way” instead of “away”, “ice” instead of “eyes” (I know this because he also says “dagger eyes” in multiplayer), or extra spaces. To me, it doesn’t look like a line the writers wrote for Michael to read, it looks like something he improvised and that someone then transcribed. Almost everything he says here is “recycled” from other lines, including deleted ones, except the parts about Citra, his “heart”, being taken away.
If they eventually decided to cut this monologue even though Michael’s performance must have been intense and I’m sad we can’t hear it, they did it for a good reason. This reason could be that what he says about his sister seems to come out of nowhere and wasn’t consistent with what the writers, or at least the Lead Writer, had in mind.
Now, I can only talk about the points of view of Michael Mando and Far Cry 3’s Lead Writer, Jeffrey Yohalem, because, to my knowledge, the other writers never talked about Vaas and Citra’s relationship in interviews. For example, I’m not sure what the opinion of the Lead Story Designer Lucien Soulban, who wrote most of the game’s dialog and notably the “insanity monologue”, is. What’s interesting, though, is that Insanity’s Main Scriptwriter, Nikki Foy, said she got to talk with him when she was working on the DLC, so if she asked him about that part of the story, maybe it was he who told her Vaas was in love with Citra. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time that two people who worked on the same game had diverging opinions about it...
So maybe it was Michael Mando’s idea, maybe it was Lucien Soulban’s opinion, or maybe it was Nikki Foy’s conclusion, but in any case, it doesn’t seem like it’s ever been Jeffrey Yohalem’s point of view, and I still agree with him since, to me, it never looked like Far Cry 3 implied that what made Citra and Vaas’ relationship incestuous was his attraction to her; it was only her desire to turn him into a perfect genitor for her ritual, which he refused to complete when he understood what she wanted. After that, he was never the same.
Essay 6. What is the sun? and what else is also the sun? Is Bear-Communion the deepest lore? Would like to thank an anonymous ask for kicking me into finishing this.
1.Unspeakable Light
The Sun is the most enigmatic heavenly object in Elden Ring. It receives little explanation despite it clearly existing, being highly visible, and driving the world's day-night cycle. In a world where there has been a long fascination with the celestial, this is very strange.
This observation cannot be blamed on the Sun somehow being an insignificant or minor celestial body. It moves the cycle of Day and Night, the time of its absence (Night) bringing out different beings. Solar imagery is also common in ER, so it's depiction clearly has significance to people. The Sun appears everywhere but is also apparently unspeakable. There is a language of "Sun Avoidance".
2. Solar Connections
Sun-Lore consists mainly of indirect references made through other things. Something may be Sun-like in appearance or the Sun may be used as point of comparison, but explicit statements about the Sun as an entity are non-existent. Thus it is difficult to make solid claims about the Sun, all we have is a list of "Sun-Connections".
2.1 The Sun and Life
The Sun as Light-Life is an obvious metaphor and ER is no exception. Warming Stone likens the Erdtree to the Sun, as beacon of Life-Light-Warmth-Gold. ER treats these concepts as largely equivalent anyway.
The Erdtree is thought of as Sun-like, from the Sunflowers that face it (a connection shared by it's shadow, the Scadutree) to even having "rays of gold" (see. D, Hunter of the Dead dialogue).
Another variant of the Warming Stone is the Sunwarmth Stone
2.2 Sun and Death
The Sun setting/fading is connected to death.
A colourless Sun appears in the Eclipse and Cursemark of Death.
The time of setting Sun (Dusk/Gloam) as per. Duskborn, GEQ.
Turning the clock forward, the time of the Sun's absence (Night) is associated with spirits (ie. post death).
2.4 Sun as Fire and Change
It has long been observed that the Flame of Ruin (and related things) invoke a ton of solar imagery. From depictions of the Fell-God (as fireball or solar face), to medallions worn by Giants and the casting sigil of Giantsflame. If the Erdtree is Sun-like in light-life, then Giantsflame is Sun-like in heat-flame.
With "Fire+Light" as Solar elements, then the Sun seems to have an affinity with Faith itself. Holy and Flame are the Faith weapon infusions, spells that deal Holy or Fire damage are mostly Faith-based (the few exceptions are still INT-FTH hybrid).
One interesting phrase is "Night and Flame", referring to the relationship between Astrologers-Fire Giants. The word "Flame" almost sounds like euphemism here for a more thematic "Day/Sun". Possibly "Sun Avoidance" language.
Fire imagery surrounds Death. What is Death but the transition from living to dead?
Burning the Erdtree is necessary step to a new Order. This process does not destroy the tree, but once Order is reforged the Erdtree's form comes to symbolize the enacted Order (as is tradition). Thus both tree and flame seem linked as part of the overarching Age-Order cycle. This burning is not the destruction of Order as a system, but the melting down of the prior one so that it may be reshaped.
In ER, Fire appears to represent change (or Ambition, the desire for change). In gameplay, Giantsflame has no special properties (as opposed to Blood or Chaos flames), most fire magic also seems to link back to it (lore wise at least). The game seems to treat it as symbolic of natural fire. Trees-Wildfires-Forest Regeneration.
Think about the association of Giants and Smithing Arts (reshaping metal with heat).
2.5 Sun and Order
The main "Elden Lord" endings are another place rich in Solar imagery. From the shape of all the Mending Runes, to Goldmask's headwear, the Dung Eater's Medallion and of course the previously mentioned Duskborn imagery. If the Sun is tied to Life, Death, and the cyclic reshaping of those laws; one could say that it is like the whole of Order.
2.6 Sun and the Past
Another Sun-Connection is with the past. A famous example is in the long-faded Sun Realm Shield, which is the only time the Sun is referenced directly in connection to a culture. Sun/Sun-like imagery is also widespread in Crucible-lore. In the central element on Crucible Knight Armour. On the striking face of Devonia's Hammer is "torrent of life". Even the faces of Trolls/Red Misbegotten could be seen as Sun-like.
One character that brings together many "Sun-Past" connections is the Dung Eater. He wears a solar medallion, carries a sword of Giantbone and cultivates the "Fell Curse" which bears horns. This Sun-Giant-Horn triad is also represented by the Fell God in it's "Solar-Face" depiction, and also with the poorly known Giants of the Land of Shadow/Rauh whose heads bear radiating horns (see. Storehouse Bodies).
3.1 Star of Yore
The sum of these connections depict the Sun as an ancient symbol for the passage of Life. Solar movement as the course of Life, its fading and disappearance as Death/Dying. The recurring nature of both Life and Days. To live, to be destroyed, to sprout again. The law of life cycle.
This type of symbolism is obviously not unique to ER, and is abundant IRL. From the human view, the Sun always rises and sets. The regularity of it's movement is used to measure time. You could say the Sun gives Order to life.
For an example of "Life as Day Cycle" in colloquial ENG (see. "Twilight Years" for Old Age).
The ever-glowing Erdtree is like a Sun that never sets. The promise of endless life.
As is probably obvious, there already exists a Thing that embodies the Laws of Life and Death; that being the Elden Ring. The ring is known to have been derived from a Golden Star, and what is the Sun but a Golden Star?
3.2 The Whole of It
If the Sun represents a past state of the Ring-Beast-Tree, are Sun and Crucible synonymous? Firstly, lets remind ourselves of Gold-Order-Tree-Crucible lore 101. The Erdtree was derived from a red-orange coloured "Primordial Matter", there is an explicit transformation of Crucible-Primordial Gold into Erdtree-Gold (see. Gilded Greatshield). The nature of this change can be explained by the founding of the present Order, its exclusion of Death (see. Mending Rune of the Death Prince), and great fear over the burning of the Erdtree (ie. changing of the Order). In short, Life-with-Death becomes Life-without-Death.
Thus Primordial Gold is "close in nature to life itself" (see. Ordovis's Greatsword) as it is natural/mortal life, the Elden Ring in it's wholeness. The imagery of fire, blood and flesh in both colour and name (Crucible). Life-Change-Death, the full cycle of life.
Aspects of the Crucible: Breath is the only fire spell under the Erdtree school. Enir-Ilim Priests are some of the few users of both Gold and Fire magic.
The colour space between Yellow-Gold (Life) and Purple (Death) is Red (Primordial Life).
Death is sometimes described as shadow (as per. Enia). So "Gold with Shadow" can also be "Life+Death (but in a disjoint state)" as in the present Order.
The Crucible's appearance is known to include an emission of light (see. Divine Bird Feathers) and a Spiral current (see. Spira). You can recreate a rough likeness of Elden Stars with Spira + Divine Bird Feathers.
This all to say that Sun-Crucible-Elden Star overlap in being connected to Life, Death, Change-Fire and the ancient times. Concepts that now exist in a disjointed state under the Golden Order - the Erdtree as Life, Giantsflame as Fire/Change, and the Rune of Death being sealed away.
3.3 Conclusions
What does all of this mean? At bare minimum, there is a procession that ties Golden Star-Sun-Crucible-Ring-Beast-Tree. Is this the same object in different forms throughout history? or simply that these things are derived from each other? There is no hard answer, go wild.
4.1 The Heavenly Body
Now for the speculative part. In ER, Stars are creatures. The Elden Beast specifically appears to be a spirit, in terms of appearance, and gameplay (full status immunity).
Given that Elden Beast is "incarnation of the concept of Order" (see. Elden Remembrance), and that Order can be reforged, it can be assumed that the spirit returns to the Ring. This is not a mortal flesh and blood creature in it's current state.
The Flame of Chaos can destroy spirits and thus dissolve Order as a concept.
If Sun-Crucible-Golden Star are synonymous, was the Fell God simply the corporeal body of the Elden Beast? Why does the Elden Ring need a vessel anyway? Run this idea through Bear Communion lore -> Person overcomes beast and claims its spirit. This art is "akin to the divine invocation of the hornsent" (see. Roar of Rugalea), which is to say that this is a form of spirit channeling. With reasonable speculation, Marika was some sort of spirit priestess in the Land of Shadow. So when it is said that Marika defeated the Fell God, and the Elden Beast is trapped in her body, what is the scenario here?
Going back to the observation that the sun is both everywhere and unspeakable, the Fell God is the only divine entity given a moral qualifier (evil). If the present age is built on the premise that the Erdtree should never burn, its pretty simple to understand why the Sun might be seen as evil and taboo to speak of.
A few caveats to this idea however.
The Fell God seems be a distinct fire-aligned force in the present, still active despite its defeat. But if this theory is true, then the Soul of the Sun as the Elden Beast is clearly still around. So is that really a problem?
The Ring depiction at Farum, suggesting that the Golden Star has existed in Ring-form since antiquity
There is a vague inkling that there might be some "Terrestrial Crucible" manifestation (as per. Scadutree/Spiraltree), that history doesn't go directly from Sun to Erdtree. There are intermediate steps, so is the Fell God one of those steps?
4.1 The Sun of Stone
One possible variant to this idea -> Is the Fell God a Construct? Rauh Burrows present the idea that spirit beings (Sprites) can be held in stone implements, with fire sprites being distinct from others (see. Fire Spritestone).
Guardian Golems are found around Rauh. And while its never explained what animates them, note that they have a large internal furnace.
Furnace Golems are more explicitly Fell-God inspired, their Furnace Visage is a mask made of stone.
Rauh Burrows are commonly found in structures surrounded by 8 spirals. The Fell God is sometimes depicted (but not always) as having 8 spiral horns. The Sun is often depicted (but not always) with 8 rays.
And while these examples are mundane relative to some hypothetical Elden Ring stone vessel, why not? I am putting the idea out there.
5. Shapes of the Sun
Just a collection of less obvious Sun-like imagery. Some of these might be based on real world objects, so take it with as much salt as needed. Many of these can also be seen as Flower-like.
Again the themes of Life-Death-Change, Order itself.
Many symbols ambiguous in being Suns or Flowers. For Sun-Flower connection - the obvious Sunflowers, but also Miranda flowers consume bodies and emit light (Cycle of Life and Death). The above Floral-Solar imagery in Dominula, Godskins and Tree Guardians.
Are horns and trees a solar motif in general? There is the known Sun with horns for rays, but also the Crucible Knight "Torrent of Life" motif is an "orb radiating roots". Sure, it is not the most Solar in looks, but the theme of radiating forth life is in the same vein.
Thus the Sun invokes both beast and plant imagery? the Crucible of life.
6.Notes and Extras
Some ideas that are beyond the scope of this essay.
The Elden Ring was derived from a Star. A Meteoric Ore Greatsword is a treasure in an ancient forge. To quote Smithing Talisman - "In ancient times, smithing was a divine act".
The image of a "Fading Sun" also appears in reference to Dragon Communion (see. Rock Heart)
Carian Sorcery faded during the Erdtree Age (see. Telescope). With the idea of the Erdtree as an earth-side sun that never sets, then perhaps the ancient Night and Flame arrangement was a division of Sun (Faith) by day, Stars (Intelligence) by night.
Certain Frenzied Flame imagery is also Sun-like, with the "Solar Body" replaced with emptiness. The total dissolution of Order.
The word "Sun" is used only 14 times in ER. Compare "Star" (29). "Stars" (134). "Moon" (76). Erdtree (430).
Some people say that "Red Gold" should be translated as Copper. And while this is true, it does not matter what noun is used here. ER is a fantasy setting where materials have magical properties unrelated to what they do IRL. Just as how Gold in the real world does not convey healing-lifeforce, whether Primordial Gold gets rendered as "Copper" or "DAASAFSFASFAS" is irrelevant to this discussion. The in-universe context is that there is Red-Orange substance that is "close in nature to life itself" and there is modern Yellow-Golden substance that symbolizes deathless life in the present, and that the prior gives rise to the latter.
There is sometimes an opinion about how the sun is "fake" or an illusion. But really all we can say as is that the ER sun does not act exactly like the IRL one. ER is a setting where star = living creature, so how much real world cosmology should we project? (if any).
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