>>508563965Broadly speaking, Elden Ring tells the story of a world abandoned by God. Marika is a corrupted representation of Christianity, from the cross, to the statues in the image of Mother Mary/Maria. "Grace" means "mercy" and "thankfulness" (deus ex machina) by resurrection. Gold is both precious or pure, and imposing and decadent. "To grace" also means "to embellish" and "dignify" (donning gold jewelry and black silk).
As their name suggests, the Tarnished are crusaders under Godfrey, betrayed and asked to believe again. Faith implies trust in a divine plan, even when circumstances suggest otherwise, but can it be called faith if blessings flow freely (Age of Plenty)? It is faith that has kept people surviving through their bleakest moments in history, such as plagues, droughts and floods, slavery and war, such that survival has led to the concepts of luck, hope and fate.
At her statues we find sacred tears – in churches, no less – suggesting these tears were wept for her followers, suffering to bless others.
The fact that the Golden Order is poorly outlined, contradictory but ultimately faith-based is meant to be a clear indicator that regardless of the outcome or meaning of it, belief comes first. The very first character that the tarnished encounters is meant to discourage them and later attempts to stray them from the path of faith by corrupting their blood with a curse that implicitly prevents their rebirth from the Erdtree. Faith is known, arcane is shrouded. The Erdtree (through Marika's doing) provides an afterlife, while curseblood, Omens of the Erdtree's death, force a person live life like its their last, because it is. Omens have no afterlife, which is why the game includes scenes such as omens staring at a fallen friend, sleeping omens' nightmares, as well as the Fell Twins, proxy for Morgott and Mohg, to highlight the tragedy of God herself giving birth to the cursed abominations she hid specifically to maintain her holy image.
