Why Did Miquella Choose SPOILER as Consort in the Elden Ring DLC?

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Published 2024-06-29
It's not as random as you might think. Massive spoilers for Shadow of the Erdtree.

When I finished up the Elden Ring DLC, I had so many questions: Why is Radahn the final boss in the Elden Ring DLC? Why is Radahn Miquella's consort? Did Radahn agree to make that vow with Miquella? Or is there something much more sinister going on?

After scouring both the DLC and the base game with a fresh pair of eyes, I found my answers.

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Edited with Gling AI: bit.ly/46bGeYv

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All Comments (21)
  • You know how this vow sound. When a 6 year old tells you he is gone marry you when he is older. And you say yes yes to shut him up while you play a game.
  • Radahn: What happened? Miquella: I revived you! Radahn: Where's Leonard? Miquella: ...
  • @kowaikokoro
    miquella: ''promise you'll be my consort'' radahn: ''look leonard i crushed that star'' miquella: ''malenia end him''
  • @scribble8447
    Love the idea that Radahn is more or less just trying to get away from a crazy stalker. Clearly this game was set before the invention of the restraining order
  • @deathsyth8888
    Maybe the real villain of Elden Ring were the incestuous relationships we made along the way.
  • @TheScrootch
    Miquella couldn't have chosen someone who fits his ideals less. Radahn loves the thrill of battle and waging war, he loves the Golden Order and his heritage and he loves Godfrey and his legacy. Pretty much everything Miquella is going against
  • @TGZ-vx1it
    It might have been Miquella's curse that caused all of this. The situation with young Radahn sounds awfully close to a child asking their parents to marry them when they grow up and the parent humoring them with "of course, honey." I think Radahn agreed to the vow while assuming that the child would never actually accomplish his goal. The statue at the Haligtree (with the older brother holding the twins) shows Malenia clearly older than a child (appears to be a preteen), so Miquella might have asked Radahn for this vow while being a preteen and knowing the implications, but Radahn still saw him as a child due to his stunted growth. In some sense, Radahn may have been correct in his assumption that Miquella was still too naive, because Miquella, being cursed with eternal youth, seemed to have never outgrew his childish mindset and ambitions. Thus, he forced his will on Radahn, who thought he was making a promise that would never come to pass. Radahn never realized how fearsome and twisted an eternal child with godlike powers could become.
  • Speaking of Metyr, she could be the root of the corruption at the heart of so many things. It has been speculated that the greater will doesn’t care about what form order takes as indicated by putting forth Malenia as empyrean despite being under influence of an outer god, but I don’t think that’s the case. The Greater Will seems to have abandoned Metyr and thus the fingers that chose empyreans. Metyr constantly trying to contact the Greater Will may have been what attracted outer gods in the first place, or she may even be trying to invite a new god to rule over the order, as Kowtower’s Resentment implies she has become hateful towards the Greater Will that abandoned her. The theme of intergenerational trauma and parents abandoning their children runs deep in the DLC.
  • I like how Miquella’s three braids and the use of three in his symbolism (the interlocking rings of light, the three discuses he taught to radagon, the three stats raised by his crown) invoke the three fingers. Miquella’s order would be like the flame of frenzy, instead of all things being melted into a indescribable slurry, everything would be made one by Miquella enslaving everyone, making perfect, and total order, where everything would be in endless stasis, forever nascent, much like Miquella himself
  • @liamatte
    One thing to note is we know rykard was essentially trying to usurp the gods himself. How exactly we know now. The cave he lives in is lined to the brim with the same corpse-like structures as the gate of divinity. I believe rykard was trying to become a god by building his own version of that gate.
  • Radahn: "I am not gay! i refuse to be Consort to a twink, YOU CANT MAKE ME!" Malenia: "A little brainrot should fix that"
  • That's such a good point re: the dichotomy of "endless war" for Radahn and the concept of an age of compassion.
  • @SmoughTown
    Great video bud - really like the idea about Godwyn, and how the three siblings worked against Miquella.
  • This may sound like a joke, but I genuinely think the “vow” is Radahn saying: “Over my dead body” Miquella took that literally
  • @thanh5703
    Miquella at the Divine Gate: "I am stuck My Lord Step Bro"
  • @ironmonkey349
    Jarren was his best friend, they made a vow to die in glorious battle. Freya betrayed him. Also, the dlc makes me believe that Ranni's ending is the Good ending because of Yemir's line: We are all children of the stars, isn't that divine. An age of the stars would be an age bereft of gods, where the free will of the people rules.
  • @kurenian
    Also Miquella’s order is opposed to Ranni in a more thematic/character driven sense. Miquella basically wants to be Marika 2 electric boogaloo, but has given no indication for him being any different. And to Ranni, him “stealing” Radahn might be the same to her as Marika stealing Radagon from Rennala, a potential source of her trauma/motivations. She would not want her family to be stolen again. Ranni clearly values genuine attachment to people given her questline and ending, not forcing us to serve/wed her. In addition, Ranni’s order of stars would exist but she would be unknown to the lands between. Miquella specifically wants to be known, he cannot mind-control people through affections, if he is unknown. They even use different domains of sorceries vs incantations.
  • “Radahn wants to ride Leonard, not Miquella.” This is art. Pure, unadulterated art.
  • @badandslo
    I don't think Miquella used Mohg for the formless mother, I think it was because Mohg is an omen who are touched by the crucible. The Omen cannot return to the Erdtree where all spirits of the lands between go after death as seen with Erdtree burial and spirit summons. Those devoid of grace, who cannot return to the Erdtree are sent to the Land of Shadow to be killed by Messmer. Omens relate to the hornsent too who are more close to the crucible and even have the gate of divinity. The blood ritual Mohg conducted under Miquella's influence is probably the thing that allowed him to enter the Land of Shadow.