#### [Youtube Link](https://youtu.be/TDjpBxhLbGg?si=o2FTEMR-ZLeHbvBb)
#### Characters:
[[Queen Marika the Eternal]], [[The Gloam-Eyed Queen]], [[Maliketh|Maliketh, the Black Blade]], [[Placidusax]], [[Godfrey]]
#### Subjects:
[[Empyrean|Empyreans]], [[Godskin]], [[Life and Death]], [[Gods]], [[Lords]], [[Elden Lord]], [[The Elden Ring]], [[Demigods]], [[Age Before the Erdtree]], [[Farum Azula]], [[Destined Death|Rune of Death]], [[Death]], [[Godskin Apostles]], [[Godskin Nobles]], [[Caelid Divine Tower]], [[Night of the Black Knives|Night of Black Knives]]
#### Items referenced:
[[Godskin Swaddling Cloth]], [[Gurranq's Beast Claw]], [[Radahn's Lion Armor]], [[Godrick's Great Rune]], [[Deathroot]], [[Axe of Godfrey]], [[Godslayer's Greatsword]], [[Blade of Calling]]
#### Elden Ring Lore References:
| Title | Creator | Link |
| --------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| [[Video - Unveiling the Gloam-Eyed Queen (Kosmos)]] | [[Kosmos]] | [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfxlKnE_ZYM&t=0s) |
#### Dialogue:
Hyetta's all things came from the one great
Enia: Marika's trespass demanded a heavy sentence
#### Notes:
Proposes Maliketh is the one who stuck Marika with the spread imbued with Destined Death, that is currently stuck in her, close to her womb.
#### Script:
Deep in the mountains of modern day Iran, carved high into a cliff face so no-one could ever change or deface it, lies the worlds most conspicuous autobiography. The carvings at Behistun, among the most famous and important rock inscriptions in all world history, in part because they basically allowed for the translation of Persian cuneiform, tells the story of Darius the Great, King of Kings, and his rise to power and subsequent reign. The story, carved in 3 separate languages so there would be no mistaking its message, begins of course with Darius's lineage, tracing back to the founder of the Achaemenid clan, Achaemenes. The inscription continues, detailing how, in the years after the great founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great, had passed on, his son Cambyses II had lost his mind, and had died of natural causes something which Herodotus later elaborates upon with a story of Cambyses accidentally stabbing himself with his own spear. After his death, next in line to the throne was Cambyses brother, Bardia, but according to Darius, the man who claimed to be Bardia, and sat upon the throne, was a usurper, a pretender in the guise of the true heir, who was in fact already dead by Cambyses hand. So, in some many words, Darius describes how he and a few fellow loyal took back the kingdom from this pretender. He says, to quote directly from the Behistun inscription, Then I prayed to Ahuramazda; Ahuramazda brought me help. On the tenth day of the month, I with a few men, slew that Gaum ta, the Magian, and the chief men who were his followers. At the stronghold in the district called Nisaia in Media, I slew him; I dispossessed him of the kingdom. By the grace of Ahuramazda I became king; Ahuramazda granted me the kingdom. These words are displayed fifty feet high into a cliff face such than none would ever forget Darius's message, that Darius, legitimate ruler of the line of Achaemenes, favorite of the one true God Ahuramazda, slew the pretender to the throne, and took the throne himself not from ambition, but by divine duty. Or at least, that's the story we re told. Of course, its Darius himself who's doing the telling, and here at Tarniahed Archaeology, wethinks he doth protest too much. To paraphrase the historian Susan Wise Bauer, if you have have to put up a giant sign proclaiming that you are the legitimate king, then you re probably not the legitimate king. Take for example, the agreed-upon world's first emperor, Sargon of Akkad, who called himself Sharru-Kinu, which has come down to us as the modified Sargon. Sharru-Kinu literally means, Legitimate Ruler in old Akkadian, so it's a pretty safe bet that he wasn t the legitimate ruler either. But such are the realities of transitions of power, and the retrospective stories told about them. These are the stories that need the most careful crafting, in order to ensure the stability of the realm, and belief of the people in the legitimacy of their rulers. You ve probably heard the adage, popularized though not created by Winston Churchill, that history is written by the victors, and though in reality history is written by the literate, which is certainly its own kind of bias, there s no doubt that the victorious and powerful have shaped our conception of human history from the beginning. Once he won power, Darius had to hold onto it, and to do so, he had a story to tell, one that legitimized his reign and explained why Cyrus s proper heirs were dead and he, instead of them, sat atop the throne. So that's the story we have, and we can only speculate as to it's half-truths or outright fabrications. A good story will outlast all of these doubts. That's not to say it's **all** made up, but the truth may be much Darius had some explaining to do, and he chose to do it in the most monumental way possible. The story of Marika's ascension to Queen Mother and God of this Age, of the defeat of her rival, the GEQ and the dangerous Godskins, is like Darius , is a story of transition of power, of a newcomer to power, and above all, it's a story told by the victors. If we want peer behind the veil of this legend to glimpse the truth of this era of competing empyreans, we must look for clues beyond the official story, the one written in Elden Ring s equivalent of the Behistun inscription. Being this veil, we will find a tale of machinations, betrayals, and ruthless power plays that surely Darius the Great himself would instantly recognize.
Chapter One: Yin and Yang: Rune of Life, Rune of Death What is the sound of one hand clapping? If this question doesn t provoke some profound understanding of the universe, don t worry about it. Us neither. Honestly the answer to the question is nothing? But still, this, and other similar Zen Buddhist paradoxes known as Koen, are designed to illustrate some apparent truths of our world, chief omong them is the notion of the inherent dualism of our world. That everywhere, all around us, are features and forces which can only be understood in opposition to one another. Take the famous notions of Yin and Yang, for example. It's not just that they re opposite, but that they re inter-dependent. You really can t have one without the other, and there's an inherent balance to them. Whether you realize it or not, you ve already come across these notions before. In Miyazaki's Dark souls mythology, the entire creation story is about the dawn of fire that cleaves the primordial unity, and the subsequent dualism that results (play clip: But then there was Fire and with fire came disparity. Heat and cold, life and death, and of course, light and dark.). This theme is continued in the trilogy all the way until the unflinchingly desolate end to the story, fundamentally about how fire and dark are interdependent: the brighter the flame, the deeper the shadow. In Elden Ring too, this theme has been continued, expanded, and iterated upon. Hyetta's dialogue sums it up pretty nicely: (Play clip: All that there is came from the One Great. Then came fractures, and births, and souls.). The primordial unity, this time called the The One Great, was divided into opposing forces, thus beginning birth, life, and death, but neither can one exist without the other, of course. What does it mean to be die if one isn t alive. What does it mean to be born, if one won t eventually die. The One Great is, of course, based off of the Tai Chi that split into Yin and Yang, and many other creation stories, including the Greek and Judeo-Christian ones, which use the breaking up of the primordial unity to result in the fractured and many featured worlds we inhabit. The moral parable of Miyazaki's works is, pretty much always, that trouble inevitably comes from denying this fundamental truth of the world, that seemingly opposing forces actually depend on one another. Lord Gwyn tried in vain to create a world of perpetual flame without dark. And Queen Marika tried in vain to create a world of perpetual life, without death. Which brings us finally to ER's central duality, life and death, and it's two queens, each a champion of one of these opposing but ultimately inextricable forces. Queen Marika and the GEQ. As we introduced in our previousepisode about Empyreans and Gods, being a god is all about producing new births. This really is perhaps the central theme of the narrative, and it is essential to understanding this world's intricacies. And like Queen Marika become a God through becoming a vessel of the ER and using it to produce new life, so too presumably did the queen and god of the previous age, the GEQ. The Godskin Swaddling Cloth reads: The Gloam-Eyed Queen cradles newborn apostles swaddled in this cloth. Soon they will grow to become the death of the gods. This description strongly implies, as the GEQ is literally swaddling newborns, that she is not just the leader, but is actually the mother of, the Godskin Apostles. According to the Black Flame Ritual, we know that the GEQ was an Empyrean chosen by the Fingers. And we know from our previous analysis what exactly it means to be an empyrean, and what it takes to become a God. It means taking a lord and, and using the power of the Elden Ring housed within your divine womb as a vessel, producing a the divine lineage of that age. So, if the GEQ was an Empyrean, but she's also referred to as a Queen, the same title conferred to Marika, is it possible that she actually ascended to Godhood, and all that that entails? The implications of this conclusion would be far reaching, so we certainly need additional evidence to justify it. And that additional evidence comes in the form of a mysterious line line of text that has been puzzling us for quite some time. In the description of Gurranq's beast claw, we learn Long ago, Gurranq was a beast of such terrifying ferocity that his former name meant Death of the Demigods What does this mean? Obviously Gurranq s former name is Maliketh, but, why was he called Death of the Demigods ? What demigods did Maliketh kill, long ago? To point out the obvious, it doesn t make much sense for him, loyal shadow of queen Marika, to have slain Marika's demigods. But, if we assume, based on our prior analysis, that the GEQ was an empyrean, and then a god, then she would have produced demigods just like Marika did, her very own divine lineage. And since we know Maliketh is the one who actually defeated the GEQ, a fact attested to in multiple item descriptions, then the picture becomes a little clearer. Long ago, Maliketh, presumably at the behest of Marika, attacked the apostles, defeated their leader the GEQ, and then became known as Death of the Demigods . If we put 2 and 2 together, that would indicate that some of those apostles were Demigods, that the GEQ produced her own demigod brood in the age before Marika. Here we should point out that, in the current age, Marika's age, a demigod is a bit ill-defined. It seems to be basically anyone with a blood or family relationship to Marika. For example, Radahns armor makes it clear that the 3 red headed step children, Ranni, Radahn, and Rykard, became demigods when they married into the family they re even literally called demigod step-children. And Godfrey is also called a demigod. So basically it's anyone in the God's family, as a simple definition, but it is not necessarily some genetic feature. But for our sake here, the point is that the Gloom Eyed Queen had her own set of demigods, back in the age before Marika. And it was those demigods that Maliketh slew, earning him his terrifying moniker. If you think about it, it's not so crazy a proposal. There are definitely distinct demigod broods that we know of already, and not all are created simultaneously or equally. There are at least three distinct broods First, the Demigods made with and by the GEQ, then killed by Maliketh. Then, the Demigods of Godfrey and Marika, which were know were the first demigods according to Godrick's Great Rune, just like Godfrey was first Elden lord, even though we know he wasn t actually first a bit of rewriting history by the victors, there, like Darius going out of his way to describe just how legitimate his reign was. If this description goes out of its way to tell us the Golden Lineage were first of the demigods, then presumably there were non-golden lineage demigods that were next. So we have the demigods produced by the union of Marika and Radagon, after Godfrey was out of the picture. Between those two are the demigod products of Radagon and Rennala, which would imply Radagon was already Marika at the time of this union, or possibly just because they were the step-children of Marika, but we re not even going to wade into that issue today. What's appealing about this structure is that each demigod brood is not just defined by the union that produced them, but also by the Elden Ring whose power begot them, because the Elden Ring changes with each brood, each time it is reforged. At first, the GEQ's demigods were produced by the Elden Ring as we see it in Farum Azula, presumably with the Rune of Death still contained within it. Next, after Maliketh defeats her and Marika plucks the RoD from the ER, the next brood of demigods is made by Godfrey and Marika, with the power of this new ER, the ER of the Erdtree. Incidentally, this version of the Elden Ring is likely the one we see stamped onto the tiles of Marika's and Godfrey s Via Ignatia. We haven t talked about it much, but this Elden Ring is radially symmetric, it's actually a distinct Elden Ring from the one we see on the game's cover or in the various incantations. It's a subtle difference, but there s no chance the developers were so careless with the Elden Ring's representation itself. Sure, we here at Tarnished Archaeology have been known to over-interpret a pot-shard or two, but this is not that. This is the Elden Ring, and even a subtle difference is significant. And we can be relatively sure it's Godfrey's Elden Ring as the road it's stamped onto stops at the very point where there is a sword memorial which reads Lord Godfrey, at last at the end of his campaign So this is where his campaign of expansion ended, and the road with his Elden Ring marks it. And finally, after Godfrey is gone, we have the demigod brood made from ER with Radagons trellis rune added these would be Malenia, Miquella, and likely Melina. As we keep saying, being a God is all about being a vessel for the Elden Ring, and using its power to birth new life. Each version of the Elden Ring has its own corresponding demigod brood. And like any story by GRRM, or indeed much of real history as we saw in Darius case, these competing broods did not always get along.
Chapter Two: Hubris: Death of the Demigods So now that we know there have been at least 3 distinct broods of demigods, and we can reasonably conclude that the GEQ had her own demigod brood, what can we deduce about the story of her reign, before the age of Marika and Erdtree? A big part of that story is how the process of Death was carried out in her reign, but that will have to wait until next episode. The GEQ is one of the most mysterious and powerful characters in the entire story, and the internet is already flooded with theories on this enigmatic figure. Shout out to Kosmos, who has some very interesting analyses, and in particular his video on GEQ is quite thought provoking, and we would highly recommend you watch it. In any event, we won t even attempt to summarize the various theories out there about the GEQ; rather we should use our new framework of the role of Gods and Lords, the knowledge that the GEQ likely birthed a prior brood of demigods, and of course a little bit of archaeology, to peer deeper into this story, a story that's only alluded to in scattered item descriptions and environmental details, but it is there nonetheless. ? For one, as we just discussed, it is reasonable to conclude that the GEQ was not just an empyrean, but actually the God of the prior age. ? It s tempting to propose, then, if she was the God of the Prior age, that she was actually's Elden Lord Placidusaxx's God, which would help to explain why the Nobles have draconic features, and perhaps explains the mystery of why Placidusaxx s God mysteriously fled. ? It's difficult to test that hypothesis further, enticing though it is, though there is some circumstantial evidence for it. Farum Azula definitely has a deep connection with death, so the GEQ being it's former God, a God who ruled with the power of the Rune of Death, would make some sense. ? First of all it's said to be basically a giant mausoleum, and based on the number of graves per square foot, rivaling only central yharnam, that description fits. Once again we ll have a lot to say in the next episode about the various funerary rituals in this game and their implications for the story, but even a cursory glance around Farum Azula reveals its obsession with Death. ? Not to mention, the only mandatory Godskin Duo boss fight is there, indicating some potential connection between the place and the GEQ, ? And most intriguing, the place is infested with death root, worm faces that spew death blight, and Those Who Live in Death. We are aware that this too has been a myserteous in the community for some time. How could Deathroot, which began spreading through the vast eternal root system of the land after Godwyn's murder, somehow have spread to Farum Azula, which has certainly been floating above the Lands Between since long before that fateful night?. Well the obvious answer is that it didn t come from Godwyn s body at all. According to its description, Deathroot simply is the Rune of Death. Rune of Death spread across the Lands Between through the underground roots of the Greattree, sprouting in the form of Deathroot So it's not some corruption specific to Godwyn's body, it's just the Rune of Death itself spreading through the roots. And so it seems clear that in the case of Farum Azula, it's spreading from a far more direct source, the Rune of Death itself. A floating city in the sky, the ancient seat of power of the GEQ, who wielded power drawn from the Rune of Death, would have no escape from the spread of its influence in the form of Deathroot. Though the GEQ was powerful indeed, her reign was ultimately ended, like all else in this world, even Marika the so-named Eternal. But the circumstances of this power transition are still quite mysterious. We do know some broad strokes, that Marika, Godfrey, and above all, Maliketh, defeated her. If you ve watched our Godfrey and Serosh video, then you ll already know that Godfrey once defeated Serosh, Lord of Beasts, and legitimized his new role by laying claim to the ancient power of Farum Azula, a detail conveyed by the fact that Godfrey's axe is clearly from the Farum Azula civilization. Both Serosh and Maliketh are natives of Farum Azula, no doubt, and Maliketh's monkish garb as his alter ego Gurranq bears striking similarity to the depiction of the beastman attendants in FA. So if Godfrey defeated the Lord of Beasts, it s no great leap to imagine an actual war between Farum Azula by the forces of the Erdtree. As we know, Godfrey then went on to proclaim himself Elden Lord, setting up his throne room in the newly conquered Stormveil Castle. The connections between Stormveil and the GEQ goes much deeper than that, something we will detail in an upcoming episode. But for now we need more evidence to figure out just what happened at the end of the GEQ's era. One area of potentially rich forensic analysis is the chamber where we find the Godslayer Greatsword, the sacred relic of the power of the black flame and the GEQ. The sword's description reads, Sacred sword of the Gloam-Eyed Queen who controlled the Godskin Apostles before her defeat at the hands of Maliketh. The black flames wielded by the apostles are channeled from this sword. It s talismanic power is still evidently present, as there are a Godskin apostle and a black flame monk still stand by guarding it. But who placed it here? And why? Perhaps the answer to these questions can tell us something about what happened during the end of the GEQ's reign. Its placement in this DT is quite interesting, as we are quite close to some relics of FA civilization, namely the gigantic complex surrounding the bestial sanctum and the Farum great bridge, both clearly matched to the style of architecture and iconography of FA. Not surprising given it's where Maliketh now hides away. So it's suspicious that this powerful relic would be kept in this Divine Tower, of all places. And this is the only Divine Tower that does not have a bridge attached to it, meaning that either it was destroyed or simply never built. Certainly a good place to hide an object you don t want anyone ever finding, down in a secret chamber in in the basement of a divine tower barely anyone can even access. And the chamber itself is quite interesting. It is covered in the ornate stone carvings we ve described in our DT's episode, but if you look carefully, you can seem something out of place here. This chamber inside a DT has some clear elements of a later stratum; specifically the stone brick torch lights that lines the chamber, which stick out like a sore thumb against the intricately carved elements of the original tower. We see these flame pans elsewhere in the Divine Towers, and outside the Stormveil Divine Bridge, and in each case they re consistent with a later stratum. But they are not additions of the people that built the Divine Tower bridges we can see their lanterns clearly as part of the bridges themselves. Likewise they are not native to the Divine Towers; indeed just outside this chamber there are other lanterns with a clearly distinct style, one that is consistent with the rest of the DT s, again demonstrating that the chamber containing the Godslayer Greatsword has been modified. The choice to place these here is a clue from the developers that they are later additions. But, by whom? ? Well there's an additional clue on these Torch lights, the curious vertical line of symbols we ve dubbed the Shiskabob rune . This is present on the DT fire bowls and the Elden Throne arena, as well as elsewhere in Leyndell. So clearly these are later additions, in the Erdtree era, to the Caelid Divine Tower, just as they are outside of the other Divine Towers (show examples). ? So what this place appears to be, then, is a chamber, or a vault, really, specifically created to seal away the sacred relic of the gloam eyed queen, in place where no-one would ever find it, at the bottom of a divine tower with no bridge accessing it. And of course, those in the position to seal away such a sacred artifact could be none other than those that defeated the GEQ and her army; in other words, Godfrey and Marika, the nascent army of the Erdtree. Putting this story together, it would mean that Marikas age began with the defeat, by Godfrey and his Crucible knights, of the previous Elden Lord Placidussax, the Storm Lord that Godfrey is said to have faced in single combat. Like Darius the Great and so many before and after him, it's not just about winning power, but also ensuring succession. After defeating their foes, the next phase of Erdtree conquest began with the genocide of the prior age's demigods, committed by Marika's loyal shadow Maliketh, a purge so brutal that his very name would come to mean death of the demigods. When Marika ascended to Godhood and reformed the Elden Ring, mirroring the process at the end of the game, she removed the Rune of Death from it, thereby neutralizing her foe, the GEQ, and, at least she thought, ushering in an Age of Life without death, an Age of Plenty. That we don t even know GEQ's real name is a testament to the truism that victors write the history, and we know Miyazaki loves using this trope of the forgotten ruler, just think of the Nameless King, banished from the annals of Lordran s history. Of course, like Gwyn before her, Marika's hubris, her attempt to make her own Age of Plenty last forever, was a transgression that could not remain unpunished.
Chapter Three: Nemesis The Chinese 1.00 Version of the game that is to say, the version that shipped physically before the day 1 patch contains a couple interesting nuggets of lore. Yes yes, we know, we don t need a lecture on the perils of interpreting such things. But at the very least we can glimpse a little bit of the developmental process very close to the final version of the game. And there are two item descriptions, one of the Blessed Dew Shield, which became the Icon Shield, and the Helphen's steeple, both of which refer to something called the Rune of Life . Since the Icon Shield refers in the final version of the game to the life giving bounty of the Erdtree something we have talked about ad nauseam in other episodes it is certainly tempting to postulate that the this mysterious Rune of Life was, at that point in development, Marika's cognate and opposing rune to the infamous Rune of Death . This would make perfect sense with the dualistic nature of Marika and the GEQ as we ve just outlined, each Queen was a champion of one of these opposing forces. Marika's major mistake, then, in attempting to create a world of perpetual life, was to neglect the fundamental fact that you can t have one these concepts without the other; much like Gwyn toiling for a world of perpetual flame, without admitting the duality of light and dark. There is no Rune of Life without a countervailing Rune of Death. What's more, in Gwyn's story we, humanity, creatures of the dark, are his nemesis, in both the common and Greek tragic sense of that word. Humanity, creatures of the dark that he neglected, deceived and subjugated, will one day kill him and replace him on the fire linking throne, or, worse yet, usher in an age of dark. Marika's nemesis is Death. Her enemy, manifested initially as the GEQ, queen of death, is also that which comes back to punish for her hubris of ever thinking there could be an age of perpetual life. This nemesis struck seemingly from nowhere, on a night of wintry fog. By now, no doubt you ve noticed that the brutal purge of the former demigods that began Marika s reign shares many similarities with that which would begin the end of her reign, the Night of the Black Knives: both are politically motivated mass assassinations which exterminated one particular lineage, in one case the GEQ's demigods, in the other case the Golden Lineage Demigods. The narrative symmetry here is at once beautiful and quite informative. Marika, it seems, got her comeuppance in the end. By fearsome rite Ranni and the Black knife assassins used the very same power, the Rune of Death, against Marika as she used to ascend in the first place, back when Maliketh purged the previous demigod brood. Of course, the catastrophe of the night of the black knives just drove her to focus on her new lineage of Demigods, the one she made with a new Elden Lord a new brood to start a new Age. Let us return, now, to Marika's crufixation scene inside the Erdtree, perhaps the most forensically rich scene of the end of Marika's reign. AS we mentioned in the last episode on this topic, the spear which pierces her divine womb, undoubtedly not of the same material as the golden crucifixion, appears to be made of Destined Death. It has the same color and similar particle effect, and thematically it makes sense for a weapon to kill a God requiring such an ancient power. But the fact that the cruciixion and the spear are not by the same agent would imply that her womb was still a source of power even after she was crucified. As we discussed in the last episode, the decision to pierce the womb, not the rib as in the obvious inspiration of the Crucifixation of Christ, is quite deliberate an informative. Her womb still contained power. As Enia says through her ventriloquist doll of the 2-fingers Marika's trespass demanded a heavy sentence. But even in shackles, she remains a god, and the vision's vessel. Confer Great Runes to become Elden Lord, and join Queen Marika as her consort. The Fingers have willed it so" This dialogue tells us two important things: one, that Marika remained with the power of a God even after she was shackled, and we of course we all know that the power of the God is inextricable from the divine womb. And second, it confirms that our role as Tarnished who would be Lord, is to join Marika as consort and seed her womb. But, then, again, that means someone, after she was crucified, decided to pierce her womb to prevent the power from being wielded. So let's look again at the last of the known demigod broods, that which was born through parthenogenesis after Radagon fused with Marika. ? Each of the siblings of this new demigod brood, each with their own butterfly, symbolizing rebirth and new beginnings, was born for a specific purpose. ? Miquella was to be the God of the next age, and his Haligtree would be the new Erdtree. ? Malenia was to be his sworn defender, like the twin princes of Lothric and Lorian, one the heir, the other his loyal blade. ? And Melina was born to burn down the Erdtree, the requirement for starting the new age and the new order. Melina is the Kindling Maiden referred to in the Blade of Calling, which also bears the same adage as Melina herself recites The one who walks alongside flame, Shall one day meet the road of Destined Death ? Together these three children form a kind of succession plan. And this plan made it pretty far, by the looks of how advanced and developed Elphael is. ? We talked in our Miquella episode about how all of the evidence thus far points to Marika supporting the transition of power to Miquella. But the evidence goes further, and has been right in front of us the whole time, on the giant seal of the base of the Erdtree. ? First off all it is a seal, not a door. It has no hinge, no entry point save for the portion of it which has been destroyed. It is a seal, meant to keep people out, from accessing the ER. ? And it s design shows us the planned order of succession. Reading from bottom to top, we can see the Elden Ring as the foundation for the Erdtree, certainly fitting based on knows descriptions of the two. Above that from the Erdtree a single sprout grows vertically and reaches what appears to be a cocoon. From this cocoon grows an entirely new kind of Tree, one with suspicious bilateral symmetry not seen in any Erdtree relief. This seems to be showing us the planned succession of Marika to MIquella after his emergence from the cocoon; from Erdtree to Haligree, which we know was originally planned to be the next Erdtree, hence the envoys in the Haligtree, and which we ve discussed at length in our Miquella episode. Here, on the giant stone relief which seals access to the Elden Ring, is the planned order of succession, from Marika's age to Miquella s. ? Of course, as the saying goes, no plan survives first contact with the enemy and this succession plan was ultimately aborted. Members of the prior demigod brood made quite sure of that. Mohg stole miquella from the Haligtree, preventing his full metamorphosis, and Morgott broke the seal of the Erdtree door, though he too was turned away, spurned by the thorns of Radagon, thorns that only the fufillment of Melina s birth rite purpose could circumvent. But then, how could there have been a succession plan, if queen marika is eternal? Why is there any need for a succession at all? Like Enia says, she remains a God even in shackles. Though, perhaps not. If being a God is fundamentally about wielding the vivifying power of the Elden Ring through her Divine Womb, then, what if that divine womb ceased to function? Then, and only then perhaps, she would no longer be fit to be a god, and the succession plan would be enacted. Which brings us, finally, back to Marika and the spear of DD in her womb. - it is this act, not the crucifixion per se, that ends her reign, triggering the succession. Indeed in the endings where we mend the Elden Ring and become Marika's consort, the spear has dissipated, and her womb can once again be seeded, this time by the tarnished of no renown. ? But who could have done such a thing? Who would have access to destined death, and access to Marika? - Not Morgott, who though he's close by, does not have access to DD, nor can he get through the thorns. - Not the Eldean Beast, who's attacks are golden, and is undoubtedly responsible for the golden crucifixion, as it's identical to an attack it performs on us during the boss fight -No, it seems there is only one agent with both the opportunity and the means to commit the crime, her very shadow, Maliketh the Black Blade. - So we have means and opportunity, but the obvious question now becomes one of motive. Why would Maliketh, eternally loyal to his master, commit such a deed? It's possible he was mind controlled by the GW, like Blaidd, but we would propose a simpler and more traumatic motivation simply put, Marika asked him to. - As Maliketh's remembrance states: Marika's sole need of her shadow was a vessel to lock away Destined Death. Even then, she betrayed him - What greater betrayal could there be than forcing her loyal shadow to be the one to pierce her womb with Destined Death. What more devastating a psychological twist of the knife? ? Mariketh and Marika, master and servant, names separated by only a syllable, their fates intertwined, saw the full arc of Marika 's age together. By the time we meet Maliketh, he has shed his former name, and is a merely a hollow shell of his former, fearsome self. But he was there at the inception of Marika 's age, carrying out the horrible crimes that would permit her ascension. It's only fitting, then, that he was there at the very end, too.
[[Dark Souls]]