Two interesting but overly long (per usual) video essays for lorefags. Kind of wish these guys would just make these as Substack or blog posts, but there's more reach and money to be made by doing videos.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=9yXrQqQ1JHQHis theory is that the Maiden created the Old One, which makes sense from a Gnostic perspective.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=eEhsM66M598Posits the player avatar is Godwyn himself in a resurrected body. Considering Godwyn is the archetypal sacrificial man-god-king, like Osiris or Jesus, then it makes sense, especially considering most adventure games are just typical heroes' journeys told in virtual form, with the player avatar being the typical hero/Jesus savior figure.
This tarnished archeologist video explains the death/apotheosis ritual practices inthe game world and accompanies the above theory well.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=A6xpSdbJfv4