Elden Ring Story Guide - The Frenzied Flame And The Game's Bleakest Ending, Explained

gamespot.com:

The world of Elden Ring is full of subplots and sidequests, usually given to you by completely missable NPCs who travel around the Lands Between, stopping at various landmarks along the way. Some of them are the keys to new weapons, armor, or spells, while others will unravel whole layers of lore and in-game mythology that will lead you to alternate endings and, maybe, change your understanding of your mission as a would-be Elden Lord altogether.

This is certainly the case with the Frenzied Flame, one of Elden Ring's most dense (and most easily missed) side stories that will walk you down an entirely new path on your quest to the Erdtree--which will even make for some new enemies and some ominous foreshadowing of the future, should you choose to see this quest through.

So what, exactly, is the Frenzied Flame and what does it have to do with Elden Ring's story? The answer is a little complicated, so strap in--and brace for a lot (and we do mean a lot) of major game spoilers along the way.

One of the key components of Elden Ring's internal mythology is the idea of The Greater Will, which is what's known as an «Outer God,» or an eldritch force that is exerting its influence on the Lands Between via conduits--regular gods, like Marika. There's a lot of finer points and ins-and-outs to being a god, outer or otherwise, in Elden Ring, but for now, its best to understand the Outer Gods in this story as puppet masters trying to pull the strings of the Lands Between while also existing firmly outside of the normal concept of reality.

The Greater Will uses Marika as a conduit, but it also uses monstrous hand-like creatures known as the Two Fingers to communicate. At some point in the past, it established the idea of The Golden