Summary
InElden Ring, we come across a strange, silent figure calledGoldmask. He wears a sunflower that always points directly at the Erdtree as he tries to unravel its true meaning. Eventually, he decides that the “fickleness of the gods” and their outdated ways is what brought about such instability, and so he urges us to usher in the Age of Perfect Order.
Shadow of the Erdtreeintroduces us to another monk figure with a very similar design—it almost looks like he shares Goldmask’s model aside from the iconic sunflower. His name isMidra, the Lord of Frenzied Flame.
We find him in a manse at the end ofthe foreboding Abyssal Woodswhere we unravel the story of a man too weak to house the infamous outer god, suffering to the bitter end. And as YouTuber Quelaag has broken down in detail, he appears to be the counterpart to Goldmask.
Both Appear To Be Inspired By Ascetic Monks
As Quelaag explains in their thread (which you should read in full—it’s incredibly interesting), the eye symbolism of the Frenzied Flame’s madness is strikingly similar to what we see inBloodborne’sinsight. Hidetaka Miyazaki and FromSoftware pull ideas liberally from past games to craft new stories, so these connections are more than just coincidence.
We find lumen flowers in the Old Hunters DLC that point towards the cosmic truth, similar to how Goldmask’s sunflower helps him see the Golden Order’s truth. But that’s not the only connection to the eye imagery of the Frenzied Flame, as the Mending Rune of Perfect Order he gives us resembles a fully actualised eye. This idea of seeing the truth behind the universe on a cosmic and metaphysical scale is something shared between Goldmask and the outer gods.
What’s more, the Scadutree Avatar we face as an optional boss in Shadow of the Erdtree resembles a shadowy sunflower.
Quelaana also speculates that “They both look similar because they’re both a kind of ascetic monk. One is experiencing extreme pain because the inquisition was punishing him. The other was free to contemplate”.
Goldmask is a fascinating character when you look beyond the memes, and while the DLC doesn’t dive deeper into his characters or even just his associated quest, it does offer an interesting parallel.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
WHERE TO PLAY
Shadow of the Erdtree is the first and only DLC expansion for FromSoftware’s groundbreaking Elden Ring. It takes players to a whole new region, the Land of Shadow, where a new story awaits the Tarnished.
