The divine characters inElden Ringget their power from their Great Runes, and then certain powers are extended to their children. However, people who aren’t part of this family can also use the power of theElden Ring’s Great Runesif they possess the Rune itself or have its powers granted to them through loyalty to the current Rune bearer.
Elden Ring’s Destined Death is a power from a Great Rune that allows its wielder to fully kill Gods. This Great Rune has a long history inElden Ring, and it’s considered one of the most impactful Runes in the lore. Without the power of Destined Death, any gods that are slain are believed to be resurrected by the Erdtree.
RELATED:One Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Storyline May Be Hidden in Plain Sight
How Destined Death Fits into the Story of Elden Ring
The first known Rune bearer of Destined Death is believed to beMelina, the maiden of the Tarnished player character. While Melina may seem like a character with pure intentions, her proper form takes over when she comes into possession of Destined Death. Fans have theorized that Melina is none other than the Gloam-Eyed Queen, which is possibly revealed through the Lord of the Frenzied Flame ending forElden Ring. Should players choose to complete this ending, Melina appears and threatens that she will kill and deliver Destined Death to the player, except the game ends before any further action is taken. Depending on which ofElden Ring’s endings are considered canon, Melina may make true on this promise in one of the expansions forElden Ring.
While the Gloam-Eyed Queen was originally in possession of the Rune of Destined Death, theGodskin Apostlesserved her. These characters get their name from their armor made of the skin of dead Gods, as they were known to slay Gods with the Greater Rune bestowed by the Gloam-Eyed Queen. Since the Gloam-Eyed Queen and the Godskin Apostles seemingly served no master, the remaining Gods feared their power. It was only a matter of time before the Divine family ofElden Ringrevoked the Rune of Destined Death from the Queen and attempted to lock it away.
The Divine family defeated the Gloam-Eyed Queen and took ownership of the Great Rune of Destined Death to lock it away withMaliketh, the royal protector. The Divine family had no intentions of using Destined Death, even to kill the Gloam-Eyed Queen, so it was sealed away for the time being. According to some popular theories, with her power stripped from her, the Gloam-Eyed Queen took on the identity of Melina and sought out an envoy to regain that power, which led her to become the Maiden of the player character.
While Maliketh was guarding Destined Death, one of the children of the Divine family stole it. With the help of the Black Knife Assassins,Ranni the Witchused the stolen Great Rune to slay Godwyn the Golden and herself to rebel against her destiny as a member of the Divine family. Ranni is believed to live on through puppets made in her likeness, though her true body was slain. This assassination, known as the Night of Black Knives, is believed to be the reason that Queen Marika shattered theElden Ring, and was promptly imprisoned in the Erdtree. With the head of the Divine family imprisoned, this sent the Lands Between into a war over the remaining Great Runes. Long after this war, the player character is introduced to the story with the goal of uniting the Great Runes again.
Upon slaying Maliketh, the player character becomes the current bearer of Destined Death. As for all the Gods that the player character defeats before possessing Destined Death, it’s believed that their power is lost upon stealing their Great Runes. After losing their powers, the Rune Bearers are later denied a proper resurrection when the Tarnished player character eventually burns the Erdtree.
Elden Ringis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:A Small Addition in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Could Have a Big Impact
