#### [Reddit Link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/u9nix3/connections_between_torrent_melina_ranni/) # Connections Between Torrent, Melina & Ranni A big mystery of Elden Ring – why exactly do Melina and Ranni know Torrent so well? Why do they care about him so much? What is their relationship? While no item description spells it out cleanly, I believe there is enough lingering threads to draw something together. But first, we'll get the facts straight. **All About Torrent** There's not a lot of stuff that talks about Torrent directly (spoilers: they like berries). But, I think it's reasonable to assume that Torrent is in fact an Ancestor Spirit. Or at least some kind of Ancestor Spirit. The physical resemblance is clear enough on that, along with their similar jumping abilities. And Torrent is a spectral steed after all. Obviously there's some parallel here. As it happens, we know a good bit about the Ancestor Spirits and their order. From the Remembrance of the Regal Ancestor Spirit; > Ancestral spirits exist as a phenomenon beyond the purview of the Erdtree. Life sprouts from death, as it does from birth. Such is the way of the living. For the Ancestors, life and death interact differently. Life can come from both natural birth and death itself. This is represented well with the Regal Ancestor Spirit bossfight. In appearance, the Spirit is a decaying deer carcass – itself something between living and dead. During the fight, it will birth new life in the form of animal spirits. However, it can take the life away from these same spirits it just created to heal itself. In other words, life and death are very fluid concepts to the Ancestor Spirits, and they are able to interact with the boundary between life and death in unique ways. While Torrent cannot do these fancy things, one interesting thing they do is choose their own master. As Melina says to the Tarnished PC; > Torrent has chosen you And Ranni, if you attack her at the Church of Elleh encounter; > Torrent hath quite the ruffian chosen… There's no way for Ranni to have known Torrent chose us at this point. Unless it was something she already knew Torrent does based on prior experience. In other words, this is regular behavior for Torrent. We'll get back to this. **All about Melina** Melina of course knows Torrent very well. She speaks of them as though they are good friends, talks with them before she leaves us (for good or bad reasons), but most importantly they were traveling together as she was searching for a worthy Tarnished to help her quest to the Erdtree. Melina is very odd to say the least. We learn from her dialogue a few things; > It takes me back. > **I was born at the foot of the Erdtree.** > **Where mother gave me my purpose.** > Though now, everything is lost to me. > I...have to ascertain for myself. > **The reason for which I live, burned and bodiless.** She was born at the foot of the Erdtree and endowed with some purpose by her mother. In addition, she is "burned and bodiless". Or in other words – she's a spirit. At least of some kind. > My utmost thanks. > For bringing me to the base of the Erdtree. > **Here, I can govern my own movement.** > And thus, the accord is fulfilled. > I shall depart to ascertain the purpose I was given. Melina was not able to move freely outside of the Erdtree base. She needed us to guide her back, allowing her to "govern" her own movement. This burned and bodiless syndrome seems to impact her mobility. Later, Melina learns her purpose. > You were unable to enter the Erdtree, no? > Prevented by the mantle of barbs. > The thorns are impenetrable. > A husk of the Erdtree's being; that spurns all that exists without. > The only way to stand before the Elden Ring… > and become the Elden Lord...is to pass the thorns. > **My purpose serves to aid in that very act.** > So I'd like you to undertake a new journey, with me. > To the flame of ruin, far above the clouds, upon the snowy mountaintops of the giants. > **Then I can set the Erdtree aflame.** > And guide you. Down the path to becoming Elden Lord. And more specifically, she does this by using her own unique spirit form as kindling to get the flame going > Think not, of the kindling. > I shall see to that. **All About Ranni** Ranni knows Torrent. Probably not as well as Melina, but decently enough. We know that Torrent's former master entrusted Ranni with the Spirit Calling Bell, and asked her to pass it on to Torrent's next master. When you speak to her again at her tower following this encounter, she will again comment on Torrent; > It pleaseth me to see Torrent hale and hearty... While Ranni may have known Torrent's former master, it seems the source of that relationship was through Torrent. Like Melina, they clearly had some history in the past for her to care about them. Ranni conspired to kill her Empyrean body, but to still live on in spirit. She accomplished this by stealing a fragment of the death rune and imbibing it into special blades. The Black Knives used these blades to kill Godwyn the Golden (among others), but his death coincided with Ranni's own suicide. In their shared death, Ranni lived on as a spirit and was able to inhabit carious dolls in place of her usual body. Through her quest, we learn that Ranni's opposed to the Golden Order pretty aggressively, and would seek to have its influence removed under her order. **Tying it all together and Speculation** With the facts out of the way, we finally connect the dots and grossly speculate. The Ancestor Spirits were an order independent of the Erdtree, outside its purview. But like all these orders, they were vanquished in the wars fought by Godfrey. From the Protection of the Erdtree; > In the beginning, everything was in opposition to the Erdtree. But through countless victories in war, it became the embodiment of Order. From the Ancestral Follower equipment we learn; > The ancestral followers keep their distance from the Erdtree, awaiting new buds. They are certain to sprout from their very flesh, and indeed, their souls. In present times Lands Between, the Ancestral Followers are in hiding, waiting out the Erdtree's rule so their horns may grow anew and their own order be fully restored. I think its reasonable to assume that, by association, Torrent too would be opposed to the Erdtree's current rule as an Ancestor Spirt themselves. Torrent will never betray the player of course – but they did choose us. Likely, there was hope that we would have the strength to radically shift the current state of things. And in most endings, we do radically alter the status quo. And in all instances, we do burn the Erdtree. We don't know Torrent's former master who held the Calling Spirit Bell, but we know with certainty they interacted with Melina and Ranni. Melina was spirit construct built to burn the Erdtree. From her own dialogue, she cannot move freely. But Torrent, as an Ancestor Spirit, was able to help her move freely despite her spirit form. Torrent chose to help Melina – why? I think because of her nature, as a being who was built to change the world by burning the Erdtree. Ranni became a spirit following her body-death. We don't know the exact details of what transpired afterwards – but considering Melina's situation I think it's reasonable to speculate that Torrent somehow assisted her following this bodily transition. While Ranni can move freely between bodies in the present time, this may not have always been as easy – especially initially. And why would Torrent choose to help? Again – because Ranni clearly was working to overthrow the current Erdtree status quo. Tl;dr: Torrent is a vengeful Ancestor Spirit that is willing to help those trying to kill the Erdtree. This includes spirit women (Melina & Ranni) and Tarnished (you, possibly). #reddit