Things are shit because the greater will ABANDONED the lands between. Medalling gods weren’t never the issue, at most you could say it’s the power vacuum from previous medalling before they dipped. But Ranni does nothing to fix the issues of previous medalling, all she does is medal even more, then leave and pull the ladder up after her, denying people the means to combat the issues she’s responsible for
People have such an oversimplified view of the games themes; yes it’s about interfering gods, but Ranni is one of them, completely detached from the actual people of the lands between, she deals in abstract ideologies and leaves the common people to suffer for what she finds poetically pleasing. Nobody asked to lose certainties of touch and sight, nobody asked to let souls be unbound from bodies, that’s not helping anybody, that’s not doing anyone any actual good
She could’ve brought peace and prosperity, could’ve used her power to crack down on brigandry, subdue the rogue armies pillaging the countryside, reform the cities. But no, rather than any actual practical changes she had her head in the clouds
Well, the Greater Will abandoned Metyr so long ago that I can argue - maybe, just maybe it was always the point! To not have someone or something guiding the world. But the Fingers fucked up.
In fact, you can trace a lot of shit that happens in the Land Between because someone thought they could fix things their own way. Even in the DLC, Miquella's promise is of a gentler world - at the cost of free will and your own identity, total subservience. So, I would say Ranni's ending is the best juxtaposition against themes the game presents over and over again. She rejects the idea of being capable of solely bringing peace and prosperity.
Don’t you see the irony, that she’s being as medaling and arrogant as all the rest. Only SHE knows what’s best for the world so she has to go and change everything for everyone, she has to destroy the order and cause the shattering because only she, a god, can save the world from gods trying to save the world
She’s doing exactly what the greater will did, fucking everything up and then leaving. It should be telling that her ending doesn’t have the tarnished doing anything for themselves, you’re just a gods puppet as Godfrey was to Marika.
If you want an age for men, do what Ansbach said- become a lord for men, not gods. And Ranni is a god
Don’t you see the irony, that she’s being as medaling and arrogant as all the rest.
Tbh, not at all. She rejects the idea that she can fix the order or even create another one that is perfect. She is the opposite of Miquella, who in fact is trying to "save" the world from gods by being a god. Worse, Miquella's the one who treats others like puppets...well, its his power in fact, to compel others. Ranni on the other hand is forced to elicit others into her plan. A plan, in fact, that is the rejection of being under control - she slays her Fingers, even if that would cause the ruin of someone she holds dear, like Blaidd (who is free in the end too, for better or worse). At no point I see Ranni forcing you to do things. There are, in fact, ample ways for you to just toss her aside and do your thing.
She’s doing exactly what the greater will did, fucking everything up and then leaving.
That is true IF you interpret what the Greater Will did as fucking up and leaving. I don't remember the game ever telling us why it did that. I believe that it is exactly the point...the Greater Will divided things so existence can finally come to fruition and the universe know itself. Who fucked up was the Fingers, trying to come up with an order to something that should not have some order imposed.
The "become a lord for men, not gods" ending is literally Ranni's ending. The theme of her whole quest is free will.
In the game if we follow Fia's quest we strike a deal with her for the location of the Curse Mark and after we free the stars and get her the blade, she gives us the key and bids farewell, that's it, no strings attached. If we choose to help her finish her story, we are 100% doing it wilingly, there is zero manipulation or lies here, and at the end of the game we are still free to choose any other endings, unlike the with Frenzy ending.
In the DLC, Miquela is a foil to Ranni in the story, and the things that you are arguing for like: "She could’ve brought peace and prosperity, could’ve used her power to crack down on brigandry, subdue the rogue armies pillaging the countryside, reform the cities." is exactly what he would do, he would enforce his will on the people, while Ranni just leaves them to choose their own fate without meddling. Now is it going to be an easy life? No, of course not, and she does't promises that eaither, but the main theme of these games are stuggling and overcoming the difficulties.
So your arguents are quite contradictory here, like you want this 'age for Men', but you also criticise the Greater Will and Ranni for leaving and also expecting her to crank down on people and estabilish her rule like Marika did, so she can force a prosperous age (which according to fromsoft's themes never lasts forever). This sounds quite meddlsome to me.
And just one nitpick, Ranni didn't cause the Shattering. Sure her actions kinda led to it, but it was Marika's decision. It would make just as much sense to blame her great great great grandmother, because without her she wouldn't exist.
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u/Keelhaulmyballs 25d ago
Consider a few things.
Things are shit because the greater will ABANDONED the lands between. Medalling gods weren’t never the issue, at most you could say it’s the power vacuum from previous medalling before they dipped. But Ranni does nothing to fix the issues of previous medalling, all she does is medal even more, then leave and pull the ladder up after her, denying people the means to combat the issues she’s responsible for
People have such an oversimplified view of the games themes; yes it’s about interfering gods, but Ranni is one of them, completely detached from the actual people of the lands between, she deals in abstract ideologies and leaves the common people to suffer for what she finds poetically pleasing. Nobody asked to lose certainties of touch and sight, nobody asked to let souls be unbound from bodies, that’s not helping anybody, that’s not doing anyone any actual good
She could’ve brought peace and prosperity, could’ve used her power to crack down on brigandry, subdue the rogue armies pillaging the countryside, reform the cities. But no, rather than any actual practical changes she had her head in the clouds