Shadow of the Erdtree & Motherhood (extensive spoilers)
The entire Shadow of the Erdtree DLC revolves around ideas of motherhood & in particular about what happens after you're abandoned by your mother:
Messmer is the most obvious reference point, leading his inglorious crusade on his mother's orders, and still following her distant command after all these years, hoping for some scrap of recognition;
But also Metyr, daughter of the Greater Will, forever gazing out into the great beyond in anticipation of another message from its distant creator;
Count Ymir, who delights in being a child of the cosmos, and who endeavors to replace the mother that poisoned the well, diverting a lineage of gods into madness;
Romina, Saint of the Bud, acting as mother and guide to the abandoned pests of Scarlet Rot, the butterflies and kindred left without a goddess to follow in the Land of Shadows.
I think it's really notable that both times we use the Irises of Grace/Occultation, the dying person is looking for a mother's companionship - Queelign talks about "dearest mother", Queen Marika, and Jolan mourns the loss of her guiding star, would-be mother Count Ymir.
This ties the idea of maternal guidance/companionship & its absence to gold and darkness respectively, helping us make sense of other elements - this is the darkness the Swordhands of Night were raised in, the darkness of absolute solitude, with Ymir as their only guiding star; this is the warmth Marika left behind in the Shaman Village, the kindness of grace without order.
And I think this is the compassion Miquella promises to the world - a mother's loving guidance and gentle embrace. From his perspective, there is no contradiction in making his future children play well together. After all, what else is a mother - a god - good for, if not telling you what is right?
Extras: 1) There's also a lot of relationships that aren't motherly, but still revolve around being dependent on someone else & protecting that relationship from being usurped by others - Thiollier fighting us over the idea that anybody but him could be St Trina's chosen, that he might not be special in her eyes; Florissax gives up her sleep to distant Placidusax every night, and when her vow is broken, angrily demands we lead her as a Dragonlord instead; I think Miquella's focus on getting specifically Radahn also ties into this, maybe. I don't have a complete thematic point to make here, but I'm Perceiving the Pattern.
2) Also, it took me way too long to realize that the Shaman Village Grandmother is a direct model for Miquella embedding himself in the Haligtree! We talk about Radagon's golden hair a lot, but it's really neat seeing Marika's numen lineage show in her children as well.
3) All of this gives Ranni's journey into "fear, dark and loneliness" a lot of context - we have a much better idea of what she's rejecting, thematically - though I don't think it actually says all that much novel about the ending. (Also, the Dark Moon of Nokstella is itself a feminine guide to the stars, so v much a motherly figure in its own right. Some real irony in that.)
