Before the greater will came to the lands between, life already flourished. There were already creatures that had built many societies, there were already scholars who studied the stars and looked to the cosmos for guidance and most important of all, there were outer gods who already called this place home. 

“All that there is came from the One Great. Then came fractures, and births, and souls. But the Greater Will made a mistake. Torment, despair, affliction… every sin, every curse. Every one, born of the mistake. And so, what was borrowed must be returned. Melt it all away, with the yellow chaos flame. Until all is One again.” -Hyetta. 

The frenzied flame is one of the few outer gods who we know quite a good bit about. We know that it has been here since before the arrival of the greater will, we know that it is a being of madness and destruction, and we know that it has had many followers through the ages. Even as we travel along the routes of the overworld in the present day of The Lands Between, we see it’s influence in towers and small towns where the flames of chaos light up and fill our own characters with madness. However, given the circumstances, we must ask ourselves, what IS this madness that fills us every time we look upon the flame?

Mirriam-Webster dictionary defines to be mad as the following “completely unrestrained by reason and judgment : unable to think in a clear or sensible way” And the definition definitely fits with a few characters that we see along the way. Most noticeable in the character of Edgar. 

Upon reaching Castle Mourne at the behest of his daughter Irina, you help Edgar by recovering the mournblade and beating the fiend at the end of it. However, when returning to his daughter, we find that Irina has been killed by one of the misbegotten slaves that had initially ramsack Castle Mourne. Edgar bows revenge against the creatures, swearing to kill every last one of them. 

However, the next time we encounter Edgar, he himself can no longer distinguish between friend or foe. Madness had consumed him, making him completely unrestrained by reason and judgment.

“Rest assured, Irina. It will be done.” -Edgar

But Irina doesn’t exactly meet a complete end. As the game shows one or two other times, the death of these characters is but a free real estate deal for any soul who would happen to have need of the vessel. Enter Hyetta, who looks, sounds and act exactly like Irina, yet with a different purpose. For the blind girl finds herself seeking distant light that calls out to her. 

“But when I eat one of those grapes, I can feel a distant light in the back of my eyes. It will lead me, to my true duty, as a Finger Maiden” –Hyetta

The grapes she speak of are shabriri grapes “A yellowing, oozing eyeball of the infirm. The surface is shriveled, and the inside is squishy, not unlike a large, overly-ripe grape.” 

Unbeknownst to her, she consumes eyes. Once we tell her what they are, at first she finds herself disgusted and yet, once we return to her, she sees things in a new light, so to speak. 

“The distant light is far and frail. So faint it can’t be seen by the naked eye. But with everyone’s eyes together, it appears. Finally, it all makes sense.” –Hyetta. 

In her mind, the consumption of eyes gives her greater vision. The sight to see the distant calling light that beckons somewhere far along the way. A light of fire. The fire that burns far below the city of Leyndell, beneath the ruins of the subterranean Shunning grounds. Beneath the floors where a great tragedy happened.

In a way, this scene describes one very important thing. The consequences of the Frenzied Flame.  

The Flame of Frenzied is a philosophy. I think youtuber, Ratatoskr, put it best when describing it “Being possessed by the yellow flames means that, in a way, life is not worth living.”  

“Those who gave me grapes howled without words. Saying they wished they were never born. Become their lord. Take their torment, despair. Their affliction. Every sin, every curse. And melt it all away. As the Lord of Chaos. No more fractures…no more birth…”

I want you to think about a moment in your life when everything felt dire, senseless. Perhaps a moment where despair filled your lungs until you weren’t able to breath and you found yourself asking “What’s the point?” Imagine now, that the feeling of darkness and despair never truly went away. Imagine more so, that it manifested and you felt the dark thoughts slowly become part of you more and more until all that once has value is no more? That’s why it’s so important when Melina speaks to you:

“However ruined this world has become, however mired in torment and despair, life endures. Births continue. There is beauty in that, is there not?” -Melina

To side with the Flame of Frenzied means to admit that life is not worth living. That life is at fault. At fault for every birth and death, for every flaw and defect. For all the suffering that exists in the world. Life is suffering and the only way to get rid of such pain and such suffering is to burn it all down with flames, until all becomes one with the ashes again. 

“The path of the Lord of Chaos. Burn the Erdtree to the ground, and incinerate all that divides and distinguishes. Ahhh, may chaos take the world! May chaos take the world!” -Shabriri

And in the end of this route, chaos does take the world. As we see the flames engulf the tree initially, then looking to an overtaken sky until all is back to being one. 

All is back to ashes. Yet even after all is said and done, when we think we’re safe, destined death comes to us all. 

Still, there are other options. Chaos is not the only ending we know of. 

Next Week: Thrones.