Godwyn the Golden (2024)

Godwyn the Golden was a demigod and son of Queen Marika the Eternal and Godfrey, First Elden Lord. In the "Night of the Black Knives" he was murdered by the Black Knife Assassins with the use of daggers imbued with the Rune of Death.

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.^[1]

During his mother's reign, the Erdtree came under assault by the Dragons,^[2] 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.^[3]

This friendship between former foes led to the establishment of the capital’s Ancient Dragon Cult,^[4] 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.^[5] The cult was allowed within the Golden Order by tuning the incantations to be of a golden hue,^[6] although the real red-hued incantations were also taught in secret.^[7][8]

Death[]

Godwyn would eventually meet his end during the Night of Black Knives.^[9] 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.^[10] 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.^[11] He was buried at the Erdtree's roots below Leyndell,^[12] but as he was lacking a soul, his body was unable to die a true death.^[13] Some, including his younger half-brother Miquella^[14][15] 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.^[16]

Prince of Death[]

The living body, lacking a soul and unable to die a true death, transformed into an aberration unrecognisable from that who used to be called Godwyn, 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.^[17]

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 within the Golden Order.^[18]

Relevant Items[]

Items associated with:

Gallery[]

Notes[]

• The Prince of Death's Pustule and Prince of Death's Cyst feature his face multiplying.

References[]