Godwyn is a kind of fascinating figure in Elden Ring. Given that Elden Ring's world was largely created by George R. R. Martin, the author of the books upon which Game of Thrones is based, it's natural to draw some parallels between these works of fantasy fiction. Martin and Miyazaki both clearly approach fantasy with a profound skepticism toward those who seek power and the received history of who has the "right" to rule over others (Martin, I'm certain, was heavily influenced by Frank Herbert's Dune series, which is sci-fi but deals with a lot of themes I generally associate more with fantasy, especially given its sort of feudal society in that 20,000-year future).
Anyway, in Martin's Song of Ice and Fire (and Game of Thrones,) one of the most important figures in the story actually died decades before the first book starts. Rhaegar Targaryen was the eldest son of King Aerys, and was thus in line for the throne. Much of the drama that sweeps the world is due to the fact that Robert Baratheon, one of the major lords of Westeros, rose up in rebellion against the "Mad King" and ended the Targaryen dynasty that had united the continent centuries ago. Rhaegar was among the casualties of that war, killed by Robert in one of the war's decisive battles.
At the beginning of the story, now-King Robert is one of the closest friends and allies of the character who we initially follow as our main protagonist, and we see things from his and the rebels' perspective, which painted the Targaryens are cruel tyrants.
And yet, the more we read the story, the more Rhaegar, at least, starts to sound like he would have been the ideal person to succeed his mad father - that, perhaps, had the war not been lost, or even started in the first place, that Rhaegar might have forced his father into a kind of retirement with him serving as regent until Aerys died and Rhaegar could become king proper.
The tragedy, then, is that Robert's rage at Rhaegar, robbed the land of a chance to have a good and wise king.
But it's also more complicated than that:
I won't go into every last detail, especially because some of the way this story plays out is fully confirmed in the TV show but only strongly hinted at in the books. Rhaegar appears to have been a great, well-intentioned man, but he's also one who was obsessed with prophecy, and the main point of contention between him and Robert (who's actually his cousin, because these are a bunch of medieval noble houses) is a woman named Lyanna Stark. Rhaegar, evidently, felt that he needed to father a child with Lyanna in order to produce a destined savior (they were also probably in love, though Robert, who also loved Lyanna, is convinced that she was kidnapped and worse).
And I think that's also something that comes up as a theme - this idea that there's the sort of human level of love and true bonding, but also the call of destiny.
Godwyn was, by nearly all accounts, the best of the demigods. Golden-haired like his mother, he also demonstrated a gift for diplomacy, turning the Ancient Dragons, who at one point had been the greatest threat to the Erdtree and the Golden Order (see Gransax's massive corpse that covers half of Leyndell, the damage of his attack still not fully repaired after who knows how long - boy, there's another whole post to be written about figuring out where that happens in the timeline) into stalwart allies, with an entire Dragon Cult that was friendly to Leyndell (I love that we finally learn how the rah-rah, pro-Dragon Dragon Cult and the "eat their hearts" Dragon Communion practice were actually compatible and actually make total sense).
Again, everyone seemed to adore Godwyn, and unlike Miquella, whose great rune compelled adoration (in my mind it's almost like a supercharged version of the instinct to protect children that basically every mammal has,) it seems Godwyn won his adoration through his actions.
And that's why it must have been such a heinous shock when Godwyn was murdered on the Night of Black Knives.
Godwyn's murder, as I understand it, along with many other murders of other demigods on that same night (there's even apparently a theory amongst Japanese Elden Ring fans that our Tarnished is one of the demigods who was slain that night, though I'm not convinced,) led Marika to shatter the Elden Ring in grief, which then brought about the Shattering War, the aftermath of which being kind of what we find ourselves in as the game begins.
Interestingly, Godwyn is never identified as an Empyrean. In fact, the only male empyrean we ever hear about is Miquella (the others being Ranni, Malenia, Marika, and the Gloam-Eyed Queen). However, perhaps in part because his naming convention follows from Godfrey (he's the only one of Marika-as-Marika's children who doesn't have an "M" name - not counting the children she fathered as Radagon, who all have "R" names) I'm inclined to think that the destiny expected for him was to become Elden Lord.
In fact, there's a bizarre detail that I'd never really thought to put together: In the base game, Mohg is obsessed with creating a new dynasty, elevating Miquella to godhood while he serves as Elden Lord. He calls this the "Mohgwyn Dynasty."
What, exactly, does he mean by that?
As we discover in the DLC, Mohg's actions are actually compelled by Miquella - it appears that he was pushed into this position to free up the body for Miquella to then use to house Radahn's soul. Mohg, it would seem, was sort of a pawn in all of this.
But this idea of a "Mohgwyn Dynasty" is curious for two reasons: the first is that it adds this "wyn" suffix to Mohg's name. Godwyn and Mohg are, in fact, full brothers (I'd always thought of Mohg and Morgott as being older brothers to Godwyn, but I could be wrong, and Godwyn could be the eldest). Might Mohg be seeking to be seen in as positive a light as his near-universally-beloved brother?
Second, he claims to be starting a new dynasty. Given that Godfrey begat Godwyn, and somewhere down the line there were also Godefroy and Godrick, there's a whole "God" line here (one that, given the state of Godrick, clearly doesn't end up in a particularly impressive place). Mohg is the son of Godfrey, but he might feel that, as an omen who has so been separated from his royal lineage, he may as well consider his "house" a separate one (while Morgott, despite all the abuses he suffers, is loyal to Marika to the bitter end). Had Mohg gotten the future he wanted, might there have been a Mohgfroy and Mohgrick somewhere down the line?
Also, it's interesting to note that the name "Godwyn" means, essentially, "friend of god." Godwyn does seem to be very talented at making friendships with both his fellow demigods and with the ancient dragons. (Ironically, Godfrey means "god's peace," which is more or less a nature that Hoarah Loux has enforced upon him by Serosh, when the actual man is only his true self when he is a savage warrior).
Anyway, we find out in Shadow of the Erdtree that Miquella and Radahn swore an oath to one another, that when Miquella achieved apotheosis, that Radahn would be his consort and Elden Lord. It's never been totally clear to me whether Radahn strove to get out of this obligation, and that Malenia journeyed to Caelid in order to force Radahn into compliance, or if the duel they fought was actually part and parcel of the pact they had sworn.
Still, while Radahn is one of the greatest warriors the Lands Between have ever seen, I find myself wondering if perhaps he wasn't Miquella's first choice.
Miquella, of course, at some point, tried to perform some kind of ritual involving an Eclipse to restore Godwyn's slain soul. (It's interesting that we almost never see the Sun in the game - for a long time, I was convinced that there simply was no sun, and only the Erdtree provided daylight to the Lands Between, but you can actually see a little sun in the sky in certain parts of the map, like Altus Plateau. A missing sun would have had interesting implications for the Eclipse, as well as the Dung Eater's armor and the Furnace Golems, but that's another post). Isn't it possible, even likely, that the motivation for this was not only out of Miquella's kind heart, but also perhaps to restore the figure who he first wanted as Elden Lord?
I'll admit that there might be holes in this: if Miquella and Radahn made their pact while both were children, that would likely have come before the Night of Black Knives. I mean, I think. (Actually, just the idea that Miquella ever knew Radahn as a child is somewhat questionable - we presume that the Marika/Radagon children were all born after the Radagon/Rennala children, though think there could have been some overlap - again, one of the toughest things about figuring out Elden Ring lore is just putting the timeline in sequence).
Still, thanks to the half-cursemark of death being carved into Godwyn's body, he's associated with death, and is the source of the rather horrific deathroot (one of the creepiest things found in the game) which then, in turn, seems to give rise to Those Who Live in Death, Elden Ring's take on the undead.
And thus, it is perhaps not a surprise that something of Godwyn wends its way into the Land of Shadow.
But I think a number of people were also surprised that his presence and relevance to the main plot of Shadow of the Erdtree was pretty minimal.
The Lands of Shadow are said to be a place where all manner of death washes up. So, if Godwyn is now the Prince of Death, it's be reasonable to see him here. And we do, but it's a little off:
In the base game, the catacombs - burial places that are connected to (or at least were connected to) the roots of the Erdtree can be found nearly everywhere - it's one of the most common "mini-dungeon" types. And we find that they're all infested with Deathroot, the creepy plant growths that, upon close inspection, have eyes and weird tendrils in them.
The Land of Shadow has only three catacombs - each of which is much larger than the ones we find in the Lands Between - even larger than the (four, I think?) Heroes' Graves (one of which we actually come out of after dying at the Chapel of Anticipation right at the start of the game).
These catacombs are bigger dungeons than the ones we saw before, but there's also a major distinction: they are not infested with Deathroot.
In two of these, the final boss is a Death Knight - a loyal knight of Godwyn, wielding both the signature dragon cult lightning powers, but also having a skeletal aesthetic befitting those serving the Prince of Death. The third, we find a slain Death Knight in a rather roundabout route (and get the cool armor, which I might be a little over-leveled in Endurance to use over heavier pieces) who perhaps we can guess was taken out by the Hornsent Inquisitors, as the final boss there is one of them (technically, this boss is fought outside of the dungeon, and thus gives you a separate site of grace).
But the two surviving Death Knights (well, surviving until we show up) are each guarding a massive Godwyn face, similar to the one we can find in the depths of Stormveil Castle.
And that's curious, because it's the only "Godwyn growth" we find in the Land of Shadows, despite there being some (though not many) of Those Who Live in Death, including a Tibia Mariner in Charo's Grave (not even sure where to begin with the fact that the Shadow Keep has a bunch of Tibia boats).
One thing that I hadn't even seen talked about until recently (I wish I could remember which of the dozen or so Elden Ring Youtubers I saw point it out,) but Stormveil is also free of Deathroot, despite the briars that are growing through the walls and making massive holes. These, it seems, are likely instead due to the "befouled winds" resulting from Godrick's grafting practices, and these briars might be related instead to the "briars of sin."
Going back to Mohg: Miquella needed Mohg for two reasons: he needed a new body, free of the Scarlet Rot, to put Radahn's soul into (this, again, feels like a point in favor of "Radahn was resisting his obligations" argument) but he also needed Mohg's connection, as an omen, to the realm of the Hornsent. It's pretty clear that "Omens" are really just the same people who, in the Hornsent culture, would be honored as touched by the divine. Because they were locked away in the Land of Shadow, perhaps Mohg's status as one of these Crucible-touched figures makes him a proper medium to enter the realm.
But if Mohg and Radahn were both back-up plans, and Miquella initially intended Godwyn to be his Elden Lord, was Godwyn capable of performing the same function?
First off, let's talk about Mohg and Godwyn (Morgott gets left out of this, I guess). Each is a son of Marika and Godfrey. And Godfrey had, as his loyal knights, the Crucible Knights. Now, how those knights related to the Hornsent is a bit of a question: we never see any Crucible Knights without their armor on, but the armor doesn't seem to have any means to accommodate Crucible mutations. Instead, the Crucible Knights use incantations to take on "aspects of the crucible," conjuring these animalistic aspects out of pure faith rather than physical embodiment - which might have been more seemly in Marika's eyes.
Mohg was utterly covered in horn growths - something that would have earned him high status among the Hornsent, but which condemned him as far as Marika's world was concerned.
And what of Godwyn?
What we see of Godwyn in cutscenes, including the moments after his assassination by the Black Knives, is what we might expect from someone loved and honored by Marika - a muscular and very human body, with golden blond hair.
But when we see his twisted and mutated body in the Deeproot Depths, he's obviously transformed considerably, his head now looking somewhat like a giant scallop (and it's unclear which is the "top" of his head). He also, interestingly enough, has a fish-tail rather than legs.
And that's been one of the major "what the hell" mysteries of the game. What is it about being the Prince of Death that has given him this strange, merman-like form.
But what if it's not anything to do with being the Prince of Death? What if he was always touched by the Crucible the same way his full brothers were? Or rather, not the same way. He does not have horns. But he does have this animalistic aspect. The Hornsent valued all expressions of the Crucible, but they considered horns the most desirable. Might Marika, thus, in a contrarian manner, found those non-Horn aspects to be, conversely, more acceptable?
Miquella needs a connection to the Lands of Shadow because it is where Enir-Elim stands, and where he can achieve his apotheosis (I'm curious whether Ranni is able to accomplish this without it because she's either more creative than Miquella or because her Darkmoon, with its portal-like appearance, grants her a literal different path toward divinity) through the Gates of Divinity, like Marika did before him. But Godwyn could have been that for him - he could have been both the way into the Shadowlands and also the right and proper Elden Lord for his new age.
Indeed, Godwyn seems like a better fit for Miquella anyway, as someone who was able to win the loyalty and friendship of former enemies, which is basically what Miquella envisions the entire world doing under his divine reign. Radahn, meanwhile, is awesome (and loved his horse so much he mastered gravity magic so he could continue to ride him) but really models himself more after Godfrey, a consumate warrior who wishes to battle fierce foes forever - a strange choice given that Miquella intends to end the very idea of war.
But the Black Knives plot kind of ruins it all, doesn't it?
That said, what is done - Godwyn becoming a living body whose soul is dead (whatever that ultimately means - Miquella seemed to believe it would be possible to revive Godwyn's soul via the Eclipse, but this also, notably, did not seem to work) and Ranni being a living soul whose body is dead - might have then served as inspiration for the act of necromancy that put Radahn's soul in Mohg's body.
Would such an act have been necessary in order to make Godwyn his Elden Lord? Or perhaps it was Miquella's failed Eclipse experiments that taught him what was needed to achieve this with Radahn and Mohg.
One last thing, and this might be more of a tangent that deserves its own post:
What, precisely, was the Eclipse that he was hoping for? How would it have revived Godwyn?
We experience two types of Eclipse here in the real world - a Lunar Eclipse is when the Moon passes beneath the Earth's shadow, which can only happen during a Full Moon because that's when the moon is directly opposite the position of the sun, and only when the plane of the Earth's revolution overlaps with the plane of the Moon's revolutions. Solar eclipses can only happen during a New Moon, because the moon must now be directly between the Sun and the Earth, and again, this is only when the planes of each are overlapping.
In Elden Ring, the moon's phases are treated as if they're separate entities - indeed, at the Moonlight Altar in Liurnia, we actually see two different moons, one bright and white, the other dark and blue. And this Full Moon and Darkmoon (a New Moon can be thought of this way because, given that the side of it that faces the sun faces away from us, it looks mostly dark from our perspective) are associated with Rennala and Ranni, respectively.
Thus, I have to imagine that the Eclipse would have had some major effect on the Carians, Miquella's kind of half-family. And I believe that the ghost in Castle Sol speaks of the sun being consumed, so we're probably talking about the Darkmoon in this case.
How interesting, then, that Miquella's plan to revive Godwyn would likely involve the very moon associated with Ranni, who took advantage of, or even planned, the Night of Black Knives that claimed Godwyn in the first place?
And might she have been the one who kept it from succeeding?
Last bit:
There is a shocking dearth of solar imagery in Elden Ring. It's among the most potent symbols in human culture, but we only see Sun imagery in two places, as far as I know. The sun itself is also barely visible in the sky - only a rather faint, small dot visible in a few parts of the map. The Erdtree's radiance really feels like the source of light in the Lands Between (not unlike the great trees of Tolkien's legendarium, which were the second versions of the world's great light sources after the Great Lamps were destroyed - I want to say it's the pilot of Rings of Power that lets you see them in their glory when Galadriel is a little girl) and the sun is kind of redundant.
But it's not as if no one is aware of it. The faces on the Furnace Golems appear like suns, the rays surrounding them wrought like horns. We also see a similar symbol of the Dung Eater's armor. Given his fixation on cursing people with omen-like horns, and his wearing of this symbol associated with the great weapons of Messmer's crusade, I do wonder if he either was a Crusader who was broken by his actions, or perhaps was meant to be one who then refused to go into the Land of Shadow.
But what does the sun, then, mean or represent?
Who is affiliated with it?
I could imagine Godwyn being associated with the sun simply because of his status as a radiant Golden Child, but I don't really have evidence to support that.
Now, I could imagine that sun imagery was avoided in part because it was such a prominent part of the symbolism of Dark Souls, what with Gwyn being the Lord of Sunlight and Solaire and all of that. Still, I really wonder if figuring out the role of the Sun in the lore of Elden Ring might be a key to unlocking some of its deepest mysteries.
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