Godwyn the Golden

From Eldenpedia
(Redirected from Godwyn)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page is a stub.
You can help by expanding it.

On a night of wint'ry fog, the rune of Death was stolen. And the demigods began to fall, starting with Godwyn the Golden.

- Elden Ring, Story Trailer


Godwyn the Golden was a demigod and son of Queen Marika the Eternal and Godfrey, First Elden Lord. On the Night of Black Knives, he was murdered by the Black Knife Assassins who used ritual daggers imbued with a fragment of the Rune of Death.[1]

Overview

Life

Godwyn was the son of Queen Marika the Eternal and her consort and first Elden Lord, Godfrey, making him a scion of the so-called "Golden Lineage", of which Godrick the Grafted was the final descendant.[2]

During his mother's reign, the Erdtree came under assault by the Dragons,[3] who had ruled the world before Marika's ascent. The forces of the Erdtree managed to triumph against the dragons, with Godwyn prevailing against the dreaded Fortissax, earning the mighty dragon's friendship in the process.[4]

This friendship between former foes led to the establishment of the capital’s Ancient Dragon Cult,[5] in which Leyndell Knights could learn dragon incantations. Fortissax’s own sister, the dragon Lansseax, took the form of a human to commune with the knights as a priestess of the cult.[6] The cult was allowed within the Golden Order since its seal, and lightning itself, were both imbued with gold.[7] The red-hued incantations were also taught in secret.[8][9]

Death

Godwyn is assassinated during the Night of Black Knives

Godwyn would eventually meet his end during the Night of Black Knives.[10] Seeking to be free from her fate as a pawn of the Greater Will, Godwyn's step-sister Lunar Princess Ranni stole a fragment of the Rune of Death from Maliketh, imbuing the weapons of Numen assassins with it through a fearsome rite.[11] His death was the first recorded death of a demigod, and served as the catalyst for the shattering of the Elden Ring and the subsequent war that broke out between his siblings and stepsiblings.

While Godwyn was believed to be the first dead among the demigods, he and Ranni both died at the same time. As a result, each was branded with one half of the Cursemark of Death. Ranni's flesh perished while Godwyn perished in soul alone.[12] He was buried at the Erdtree's roots below Leyndell,[13] but as he was lacking a soul, his body was unable to die a true death.[14] Some, including his younger half-brother Miquella[15][16] and his companion Fortissax, tried to cure him of his condition and allow him a proper death, but to no avail. The ancient dragon Fortissax would unsuccessfully try to fight against the Death within Godwyn, but was ultimately corrupted by the blight, becoming a Lichdragon.[17] Godwyn's personal guard became known as the Death Knights, and quested for their master's cadaver surrogates[18], which would lead them to the catacombs of the Realm of Shadow.

Prince of Death

Godwyn's deformed body at the Prince of Death's Throne

The living body, lacking a soul and unable to die a true death, transformed into an unrecognisable abberation, and became known as the Prince of Death. Deathroot sprouted from it, spreading across the Lands Between through the roots of the Erdtree, and giving rise to Those Who Live in Death.[19]

The deathbed companion Fia would become a leading figure among Those Who Live in Death, eventually making her way to the Prince's throne. With the help from a Tarnished champion, Fia gathers the other two halves of the cursemark, one from Ranni's discarded body and the other from Godwyn's body, and she then lays with Godwyn to grant him a second life as the Prince of Death. As a result of their union, Fia conceived a rune which a champion seeking to become Elden Lord might use to mend the Elden Ring, introducing the principle of life within death into the Golden Order.[20]

Relevant Items

Items associated with:


Gallery

Notes

References

  1. Tiche was one of the assassins who, on the night of the plot, imbued her black knife with the Rune of Death and slew Godwyn the Golden. She was the daughter of the Black Knife Ringleader, Alecto, and was killed protecting her mother during their flight from the royal capital. (Black Knife Tiche)
  2. Godrick's Great Rune
  3. Bolt of Gransax
  4. Sword Monument (Altus Plateau): "The Routing of the Ancient Dragons Godwyn the Golden fought to the last, Earning the friendship of dread Fortissax"
  5. Lightning Spear
  6. Lansseax's Glaive
  7. Gravel Stone Seal
  8. Ancient Dragons' Lightning Spear
  9. Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike
  10. Rogier: "Someone stole a fragment of the Rune of Death from Maliketh, the Black Blade. And on a bitter night, murdered Godwyn the Golden."
  11. Lunar Princess Ranni: "I see. Quite the sleuth, aren't we. Indeed, I am the witch Ranni. I stole a fragment of the Rune of Death, and used it to forge the godslaying black knives through fearsome rite. I did it all."
  12. Cursemark of Death
  13. Prince of Death's Pustule
  14. Prince of Death Cyst
  15. Ghost in Castle Sol: "Lord Miquella, forgive me. The sun has not been swallowed. Our prayers were lacking. Your comrade remains soulless... I will never set my eyes upon it now... Your divine Haligtree..."
  16. Golden Epitaph
  17. Remembrance of the Lichdragon
  18. Death Knight Armor
  19. Deathroot
  20. Mending Rune of the Death-Prince