Summary
Although Messmer is the mascot for the expansion,Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreeis Miquella’s story, and said story has many parallels with the tale of his mother, Marika. The Empyrean has many grand ideas for the world, hoping to make it a gentler place through rather ungentle means. He isn’t exactly the benevolent being that many in the base game had claimed, but neither was his mother, and this perhaps demonstrates the crux of his failures, since he was only ever going to reinvent the wheel.
One could argue thatthe base game is the story of Marika, since the Lands Between was her land and all the important bosses are somehow linked to her one way or another. Some are family, such as her many demigod children, some were married to her or her male counterpart, Radagon, while others are enemies of old that she had yet to properly eradicate, like the Fire Giant. These many bosses show Marika’s failings as a ruling goddess, and Miquella treading down the same path was never going to end well.
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Miquella Was Doomed To Fail In The Land Of Shadow
Following Marika’s Path Was Fraught With Danger
Miquella is an Empyrean, likely due to his parents being Marika and Radagon (who are the same person, confusingly), and is thus capable of becoming a god of a new age. He is not the only one,since his twin, Malenia, is also an Empyrean, as well as Ranni andThe Gloam-Eyed Queen. Unfortunately for Miquella, he fails in his endeavors and gets close to becoming a god, but unlike Ranni with her Age of Stars ending, does not usher in a new age with his consort.
Certain Empyreans have Shadowbound Beasts, wolf-like humanoids like Maliketh and Blaidd that protect them. They are vessels of the Greater Will but neither Miquella nor Malenia seem to have one.
Although Miquella vows to make a new age and a more gentle world, he goes about it just like his mother, unlike Ranni, who goes to the extreme to escape the control of the Greater Will. For one, Miquella grabs a war-like consort who can fight his battles, just like Marika with Godfrey. He does a lot to make this happen,putting Radahn’s soul into Mohg’s body, and there are many links between Radahn and Godfrey, with the former worshiping the latter as his idol, hence the lion motif on the Starscourge’s armor.
Miquella sought to make his own Erdtree before the Shattering, using his blood to water the Haligtree in this pursuit, but failed. He attempted to do what his mother had done before, but lacked the means, and this applies to when he split himself in two, gendered forms, resulting in the creation of St. Trina. Unlike Marika, however, Miquella did not work with his other half to gain an advantage, instead locking her away in the Stone Coffin Fissure out of guilt for his mother’s actions.
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Shadow Of The Erdtree’s Miquella Lacked The Ruthlessness Of Marika
This Contributed To His Downfall
Saying that Marika wasn’t the nicest woman is probably not a controversial statement. She had a habit of discarding children when they didn’t suit her anymore, causing genocides against those who stood against the Greater Will, and scrubbing inconvenient history from the annals. She was ruthless, andher final action of shattering theElden Ringcaused an almost world-ending civil warthat scarred the Lands Between. Putting two of her children in the Shunning Grounds because they are Omens isn’t the sign of a great mother either.
Miquella attempts to emulate some of this ruthlessness, particularly by abandoning the people of the Haligtree by manipulating Mohg into kidnapping him, getting two of his brothers killed and putting his sister in a coma, but he isn’t on par with his mother. When he ventured to the Land of Shadow and discovered whatMarika had done to the Hornsent, he began discarding parts of himself out of guilt. Miquella might have been ruthless by normal standards, but Marika is one of the most heartless characters inElden Ring.
Marika had Messmer lead a war against the Hornsent, thenlocked Messmer away in the Land of Shadow, despite him being her son.
Marika hasn’t exactly been a resounding success either. Yes, she was the ruling goddess of the Lands Between but was almost constantly warring, whether that be against dragons, giants, the followers of the Gloam-Eyed Queen, or the Carian Royal Family.To her credit, she did win all these wars (if a marriage pact with Rennala counts as a win), but she didn’t exactly make a gentle world. Miquella’s actions parallel his mother and the chances were that he would have made a similar world too, even if he sought to be gentle.
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Miquella Was Obsessed With Ascending To Godhood
But Failed When The Tarnished Came To Stop Him
It is somewhat ironic that Miquella was obsessed with godhood, yet failed to become one, while Malenia became one half-way through a fight (becoming the Goddess of Rot).Miquella was selected as a candidate to replace Marika by the Two Fingersand is really the only one trying to do so, but that might be why he fails. Malenia becomes a Goddess because of her bloom, while Ranni disobeys the Greater Will to usher in the Age of Stars. Neither follow in Marika’s footsteps like Miquella does, and both can succeed in becoming gods.
Ranni destroys her physical body to escape the control of the Greater Will using the Rune of Death, then put her soul in the body of a doll.
Miquella also fails to see the world as it actually is at the time, being obsessed with Radahn as his promised consort and his perceived kindness, even though it seems as though he never consented to the match, given that he had to die to make it happen. He tries to force Radahn into being his Godfrey-like consort, yet Godfrey seemingly chose to be the first Elden Lord with Marika.Miquella tries to be like Marika through his actions but fails at a few distinct points, like with the Haligtree trying to grow into an Erdtree.
Ultimately,Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreeshows how Miquella wanted to be like his mother, a god, and took many of the same steps, but found himself failing anyway. Ranni succeeds in becoming a goddess with a consort (provided that the Tarnished helps) while ushering in a new age by being completely different to Marika. Even Malenia manages to become a goddess of a kind, and if Miquella sought to truly usher in a new age, he shouldn’t have followed in his mother’s footsteps.
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is a popular game released by From Software, creators of games such as Armored Core, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne. Players assume the role of a Tarnished, a being once exiled to the Lands Between and has returned to repair the Elden Ring after the events of “The Shattering.” “The Shattering” occurred when the offspring of Queen Marika battled to claim the shards of the Elden Ring, known as Great Runes. Their war has brought lawlessness, destruction, and chaos to the land, and the player will challenge them with the assistance of a Maiden known as Melina as they travel towards the great Erd Tree to face their destiny and to become the one true Elden Lord. Players can tackle the game how they choose and can adventure across realms as they build their character how they want - be it a powerful magic caster or a brutal swordsman - they will have complete control over their build.
