Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Theres that word again, mother.
When was the last time we had a game about the glory of motherhood?Cooking Mamain 2006?
They either act like black holes of nurturing or theyre dead.
The gorgeous platformerGris, for example, is about hugging your dead mom in heaven.
Its always something like that with mothers in video games theyre either reduced to bodies or simple emotions.
Eager to hold you close, too close.
ButShadow of the Erdtreetreats motherhood like a classical power, like bloodlust in the Colosseum.
In doing so, it helps set a new standard for mothers stories.
What we lack is a reflection on maternal passion, the Bulgarian French philosopher Julia Kristevasaidin a 2005 lecture.
Cursed with eternal childhood, he first attempts to grow his body in a papery egg.
But Miquella isnt easily disturbed.
For Miquella, motherhood is a little gross.
It has to be, since its a carnal strength.
He isnt the only one who treats it that way.
Throughout the Land of Shadow, men and androgynous creatures all yearn for motherhood.
InShadow of the Erdtree, guys arent sucking on beef liver and looking up how-to-be-entrepreneur to feel indestructible.
Theyre trying to become perfect mothers.
BeatingShadow of the Erdtreerequires you squelch the golden boy Miquella, like Mohg cleaved him from his self-made womb.
WhileElden Ringpresents motherhood as a genderless superhero cape, it also takes traditionally masculine and feminine traits seriously.
Miquella and Ymir, who present as masculine, fail because they misunderstand a typically feminine aspect of motherhood.
Being a mother isnt only a creative pursuit; it also requires sacrifice and stillness.
But, even at its most perverted,Shadow of the Erdtreehandles motherhood like nuclear energy.
It demands respect, unlike Mother Mirandas obsession, which ultimately comes across as pathetic.
If you play with it, prepare to die.
Video games are often caught in superficial conversations about what a woman should be.
For a game likeElden Ring, so invested in the rhythm of civilization, it just makes sense.
It isnt prudent to leave mothers in the background, not when theyre responsible for all creation.
