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SinceElden Ringwas such a large game, many expected its DLC to be one of the biggest FromSoftware ever made, and Shadow of the Erdtree did not disappoint. The path towards Miquella is filled with dangers, discoveries, and epic boss fights for you to encounter.
The ending of the DLC, or rather, the goal of it, is to explore the Realm of Shadow to find Miquella and figure out what he was trying to do. Yet, even once you make it, it can be hard to understand what all of it was for, especially if you missed a few conversations with key NPCs.
Spoilers For Elden Ring And Shadow Of The Erdtree!
The Ending
After facing off with Needle Knight Leda and her allies, the way is open for you tofinally confront Miquellaand see what he was after. The arena you enter has two strange (and corpse-filled) towers that form a path;that isthe Divine Gateway, and from itemerges a rather young-looking Radahn.
After fighting him for a while,Miquella finally joins the fray, coming out from that very same Gateway but looking a bit translucent.He climbs onto Radahn’s back, putting all of his three arms around the mighty warrior, and adding his charming and divine magic to the moveset of the boss fight.
Beat them,and you finish the DLC, the duo vanishing into dust like most bosses do. you may interact with one final thing, a memory,showing a younger Miquella speaking to Radahnabout a vow andwanting to become a god, but there aren’t many more details other than that.
Miquella’s Journey
Miquella wanted to become a god that wouldguide the world through an Age of Compassion, one devoid of the influence of the Elden Ring. To do so, he wanted to use the same ritual Marika, his mother, used to attain godhood,a secret ritual involving the Realm of Shadow.
Miquella is one of the Empyreans, descendants of Marika, who are capable of becoming gods. The other known Empyreans are Malenia and Ranni.
For this,he needed to reach this Realm of Shadow, get to the Divine Gateway, andhave a Lord emerge from it as a heraldfor Miquella’s ascension. We see in Miquella’s memory that,as his Lord and Consort, he had already chosen the mighty Radahn.
The Vow
Miquella and some other party (probably Malenia)vowed to do something for Radahnat a young age, and in return,Radahn would become Consort of Miquellato usher in the Age of Compassion.
We don’t know what this vow entailed, but it likely had to do withwhy Malenia and Radahn had their duel in Caelidall those years ago, sinceshe whispers to him “Miquella awaits thee, o promised Consort” when delivering the final blow.
Mohg’s Role
Mohg fulfilled two roles in Miquella’s plan:a way to enter the Realm of Shadow, and a vessel for Radahn to come back from the Divine Gateway. For this,Miquella charmed Mohg, making him believe that Miquella was a way for Mohg to channel the Formless Mother.
While Miquella can be a very charismatic character, he often uses charming spells to sway people into his way of thinking.
Mohg’s rituals would drain the life and blood of Miquella,allowing him to enter the Realm of Shadowand be one step closer to the Divine Gateway. Once Mohg was inevitably defeated,his corpse would be used as a vessel for Radahnto make a return.
Leaving His Body And Love
We can’t be sure if Miquella really died or not at the hands of Mohg, but once he arrived at the Realm of Shadow,he definitely had a physical body.We know this because Miquella is leaving parts of it everywhere ashe lets go of his flesh on his journey to the Divine Gateway.
Messmer makes no mention of Miquella roaming his realm, either because he isn’t aware, or because he doesn’t mind the Empyrean going on a divine journey.
The other thing he leaves behind ishis other half, St. Trina, a worshiped being related to love and sleep. Miquella, like his mother Marika,was two entities in one, but the path he chose for godhood and for his Age of Compassionseems to have no need for love, hence why he leaves her behind.
Ascension
With his plan complete,Mohg’s lifeless bodyrises with Radahn’s soul(and equipment!), ready to have a glorious duel.Miquella only surfaces after some damage is done to Radahn, meaning that he only attains godhood at that point, and not when the fight starts.
Since Miquella is known for his many charming spells, it could be that the golden aura enveloping Radahn in his second phase isthe general being enchanted by Miquella. While Radahn did promise to be Miquella’s Consort, we can’t deny thathe looks more like a puppet being controlled,rather than a man who chose to be here.
Choosing A Consort
When all is said and done, a lot of players are wonderingwhy Miquella chose Radahn as Consort instead of Malenia, or Godwynfor that matter. The only thing we see Radahn do is fight well and be dead, andthose two things are true for the other siblingsof the Empyrean (as long as you beat Malenia in her fight).
General Radahn
Radahn fits the role of Lord Consort thematically for Miquella, particularly in howeach character parallels with the goddess of the Elden Ring.Miquella is the offspring of Marika that most resembles her (they both have two halves after all), andRadahn was such a fan of Godfrey(Marika’s own Lord Consort) thathe modeled a great part of his personality after him.
Also, if we consider the words of Redmane Freyja,Radahn would enjoy rising once more to do battle in an endless war.Malenia and Godwyn were known as mighty fighters, but the greatest general among them is definitely Radahn,gaining the loyalty of anyone that fights beside him.
This tells us how Miquella was planning to go about this Age of Compassion:charm everyone he canwith his spells or his Consort’s charisma, andslaughter anyone who resists.It is no wonder that St. Trina asks us (albeit in a cryptic manner) to kill Miquella, so this doesn’t come to pass.
Godwyn The Golden
Other than thematic reasons, Godwyn might not work as Lord Consort due tohim being more dead than normal dead people.With his soul slain, a resurrection might not even be possible, something that Miquella might have even attempted to do and failed.
Malenia The Severed
Malenia being an Empyreanmight rule her out completely from becoming Lord Consort, but in reality, it seems thatshe had a different role in Miquella’s plans.You see, for all of this to work,Radahn and Mohg need to be dead, andwho better to kill them than the Blade of Miquella, who has never known defeat.
Malenia being chosen as the Avatar of the Outer God of Rot might also make her ineligible as Lord Consort.
No matter what the vow was,this might be the real reason Malenia fought with Radahn, hence why she said “Miquella awaits thee, o promised Consort” to him when making her final move. The problem was,that move wasn’t so final, andit left Malenia incapacitated by the Rot, recovering at the base of the Haligtree.
This means that,not only is Radahn still alive(in a mindless, bloodlust state, but alive), but there is nowno one left to kill Mohg. It is rather fortunate then that we happened to come along, otherwiseMiquella would have been forever stuckas a bleeding corpse in service of the Formless Mother.
Why There Isn’t A New Ending
After learning of Miquella’s journey, a lot of players wish they couldhelp him create his Age of Compassion, but there isn’t a way to become Miquella’s Lord. Even if that Age is one filled with war and pain,it wouldn’t be the first bad ending, since you can already become the avatar of the Flame of Frenzy and burn the Lands Between to a crisp.
Still, part of why we can’t become Miquella’s lord is becausehe doesn’t want us as Lord.His plan revolves aroundRadahn being his Lord Consort, not some random Tarnished that stumbled upon the Realm of Shadow by accident.
Besides, even if there was an Age of Compassion ending,it would be too similar to the Age of Stars.Both Miquella and Ranni speak of a thousand-year voyage, becoming gods that replace the Gold Order, andmost definitely not restoring the Elden Ring.
Why We Go To The Realm Of Shadow
Something curious about this DLC, as opposed to the other ones in the Dark Souls series, is thatthere isn’t an event or NPC sending us on our quest.Even in Dark Souls 2, where you are meant to stumble upon the vast lands of its DLCs, you can eventually meet King Vendrick, who gives you the mission of collecting all the crowns.
Needle Knight Leda can be met once you beat Mohg, but she already assumes that we are on a quest to find Miquella the Kind.All the other characters are magically charmed by Miquella, hence why they are there, and why some of themdecide to leave Miquella’s serviceonce said charm is gone.
Is The Player Charmed By Miquella?
There isn’t any evidence that suggests that we are charmed by Miquella, since we can attack and betray Leda and her companions whenever we please. While it is thanks to the player that Miquella’s plans are set into motion (by killing Radahn and Mohg), the player can do that because they want to, not because someone asked them to do it.
We also know thatthe player isn’t immune to Miquella’s charms, since he can enchant you during the final boss fight. If you get grabbed twice by Miquella’s whispers, you become charmed, and it counts as an instant kill.
Eternal Search For Power
In reality,the player’s motivation to do anything is tied to their quest to become Elden Lord.Both Leda and Miquella mention this during their fights, how you wanting to become Elden Lord goes against their Age of Compassion, and why you need to die.
This means that, both in terms of lore and gameplay,we are only here to get more power and level up.This is part of why the DLC ends so abruptly after defeating Miquella; it was never about us, but about the Empyrean’s journey to godhood.
