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Players that dare explore the hidden corners ofElden Ring’s DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, will find all kinds of hidden bosses waiting for them. While all of them are memorable, few are hyped as much as Bayle the Dread, the final Draconic boss of the game.
Upon closer inspection, he looks damaged beyond repair, clearly signifying that he was involved in a previous and epic fight, seemingly getting beaten up the most in said confrontation. Who was Bayle the Dread, how did he get so injured, and why so many characters want him dead?
Dragons And Ancient Dragons
While Bayle is indeed a Dragon, you might notice thathe only has two legs,and only one of those is functional.The Ancient Dragons (who usually make up the most powerful Dragons in the game) all have four.
This is an important distinction that has been around since the base game:first came the Ancient Dragons, with four legs and harder scales, and they ruled the land long before the Erdtree. After them camethe “modern” Dragons, with only two legs and softer scales.
One often overlooked distinction between the two Dragon variants istheir mentality:
Of course, with the word “Ancient” in their name, those Draconic variants came long before the modern dragons. However,no new four-legged variants seem to have been bornfor a while now, and in contrast, we see Greyoll depicted as the mother of (modern) Dragons,surrounded by her offspring.
Bayle Vs Placidusax
Baylefought Dragonlord Placidusax, both ending up severely maimed after the confrontation. We don’t know why they fought, but given the nature of modern Dragons and Placidusax’s role among his Ancient society, we can draw some conclusions.
Placidusax, Leader Of Dragons
With a title like Dragonlord,Placidusax had to be the leaderof at least some of the Ancient Dragons, and even more so when he was Elden Lord. At the very least, we have one confirmed follower, Florissax, who holds Placidusax in high regard.
Placidusax is the only Dragon we know ofthat has multiple heads, four to be precise. This might be the reason why he became Dragonlord, since it is hard to argue the might of a Dragon that can do four breath attacks at once.
Bayle The Challenger
Due to how animalistic the modern Dragons are (you even see two fighting on your way to Bayle, reinforcing this fact),Bayle seems to function as a territorial beast.We know that he and Placidusax fought, with Bayle the likely instigator: he saw the leader of the pack, and he wanted to take its place by force.
Placidusax lost two heads during that fight, visible on Bayle’s back. They seem like war trophies collected by Bayle, although the logistics of it make little sense; it is more likely that those heads were biting Bayle, and during the struggle, Bayle tore them off, but could never get them off his back.
This might have been when Placidusax secluded himself outside of time, so he could attempt to contact his god once more without further interruptions.
Bayle ended up hardly being able to move,losing a leg and most of his wings, but he was still able to flee the battlefield. We see how he can still fly during his boss fight, since he can summon spectral wings to lift him off into the air.
Dragon Communion
Due to Bayle’s insolence,the Ancient Dragons started topromote Dragon Communion, a practice that involves killing a (two-legged) Dragon and eating its heart. This allows mere mortals to summon the power of those Dragons, roaring like one or using their famed breath attacks.
While this practice became somewhat popular, it didn’t help diminish the numbers of Dragons in the Lands Between, since you can’t turn a corner there without stumbling into one. Yet the main goal was for someoneto slay a Dragon in particular, Bayle the Dread.
The Hunt For Bayle
Florissax, one of the main followers of Placidusax, was sent on a missionto ensure Bayle’s demise.Bayle’s lair is now in the Realm of Shadow, but we don’t know if Marika sealed his lair into the Realm on purpose or just because it was geographically close.
There,Florissax took a “humanoid” form, showing mortals the way of Dragon Communion and imparting them the blessing of Placidusax, but only if they vow to slay the dreaded beast. Why she needs to be in humanoid form isn’t known, although it makes her more approachable for the player than a massive Dragon they can’t fight.
Killing Placidusax doesn’t seem to impact Florissax in any way, but since the Dragonlord was outside of time, it might not even matter if he’s alive or not.
While you can’t summon her to help you fight Bayle,you can earn her Spirit Ashesafter defeating the beast, but it involves a rather hidden questline. Otherwise, she seems to die, leaving behind a stone heart that lets you become a humanoid Dragon like her.
Igon
A notably missing character in Bayle’s story is Igon, a man missing a leg that you find a few times in your quest to slay the beast. Since many players agree that Igon is a reference to Moby-Dick, it isn’t surprising then that Bayle thinks of Igon the same way that whale thought of Ahab, that is to say, not at all.
Still,Igon is obsessed with killing Bayle, since it was that creature that left him maimed. He even created special Harpoon ammo to take the beast down, andyou can summon him as an allyto help you take Bayle down.
Since you meet him crawling far away from the Dragon Pit,he doesn’t seem to have met Florissax, even if they both have the same goal. And once you defeat Bayle,Igon finally dies, his obsession gone, and also his reason to live.
