Miquella of the Haligtree (2024)

Miquella of the Haligtree is a demigod, an Empyrean, and the elder twin brother of Malenia, Blade of Miquella. He and his sister are the children of the union of Queen Marika the Eternal and King Consort Radagon.

Overview[]

Miquella, like his twin sister Malenia, was born afflicted. While Malenia was born with rot in her body, Miquella was cursed with the body of a perpetually young child.^[1] The twins were very close, and Malenia would become her brother's sworn blade and protector,^[2] while Miquella worked tirelessly to try and undo the curses they had both been born into. He made a promise to Malenia, who regarded him as the most fearsome Empyrean.^[3] Miquella is said to be loved by many people, indeed he has the ability to compel affection from others.^[4]

As an Empyrean, Miquella was chosen by his own Two Fingers as a possible candidate to succeed Queen Marika as a new god of the coming age.^[5] He was an adherent of the Golden Order fundamentalism, developing new incantations as gifts to his father Radagon.^[6][7] However, Miquella would abandoned fundamentalism when he found out it was unable to treat Malenia's rot. It was then that he began creating Unalloyed gold.^[8] He used it to craft needles that could ward away the meddling of outer gods and thus forestall Malenia's incurable rot,^[9] and would later even be used to subdue the power of the Frenzied Flame.^[10] He would also unsuccessfully try to find a solution for his half-brother Godwyn and his state of incomplete death.^[11][12]

At some point, Miquella started watering a sapling with his own blood in the hope that it would become a new Erdtree.^[13] The sapling was grown on top of the fortress of Elphael and became known as the Haligtree. Soldiers and Knights sworn to protect the Haligtree would use Unalloyed gold as a symbol of their loyalty and devotion to Miquella, wearing crowns made of the metal and creating shields embedded with it.^{[14][15][16][17]} Miquella was also said to bless the low and meek.^[14] The Haligtree would became a hidden haven,^[18] and was intended to be the eventual salvation for many of the persecuted and the unwanted in the Lands Between, such as the Albinaurics.^[19]

Miquella embedded himself into the Haligtree, but before he could finish this process, his tree was cut open and Miquella was kidnapped.^[20] His captor was none other than his half-brother Mohg, Lord of Blood, who had gained power from an outer god known only as the Formless Mother.^[21] Mohg took the slumbering Empyrean's infant form deep underground, where he worked to raise Miquella to full godhood, wishing to become his consort, create a new dynasty, and take the role of monarch.^[22] He would have his followers render offerings of blood and drench Miquella's cocoon in order to facilitate his awakening.^[23] Despite all of Mohg's efforts, no matter how much of his bloody bedchamber he tried to share, Miquella would remain completely unresponsive.^[22]

With Miquella's absence, his Haligtree became a misshapen husk.^[17][24] The Haligtree's soldiers and Malenia, presumably unaware of Miquella's abduction, desperately awaited Miquella's return to the rotten tree.^{[25] [26]} After Malenia's battle with General Radahn in Caelid, one of her knights carried her slumbering body back to the Haligtree.

Eventually, a Tarnished champion broke into Mohg's palace and slew the Lord of Blood for his great rune. Sir Gideon Ofnir suggested it might be safer to destroy the cocoon that Miquella remains asleep in, although the Tarnished has no option to destroy not even interact with Miquella's cocoon.^[27]

Notes[]

• Miquella's Lily is a delicate flower of Unalloyed gold, thought to be beloved by him in his youth. It signifies the faith in the Haligtree.
• The Albinaurics, beings artificially created by human hands, view Miquella's Haligtree area as the chosen land.^[28]
• The Haligtree is also inhabited by many unwanted and persecuted races, such as the Albinaurics, the Misbegotten, the Crystalians and the Kindred of Rot.
• In earlier versions of the game, he was supposed to appear as a shardbearer, his rune being the Rune of Abundance.
• Cut content shows that Miquella was explicitly said to be St. Trina of the Cradlesong, the saint of slumber. His consciousness was said to be in the world of his dream. Trina is described variously as a girl or a young boy, and notably they have their own Trina's Lily.
• A cut quest shows that Miquella, under the guise of St. Trina, used to sing a lullaby to soothe the Frenzied Flame affliction of the Red Eyed Merchants, helping them to retain their personhood and prevent them from becoming "one". ^[29]

Relevant Items[]

References[]