Elden Ring: Wait! Malenia doesn’t have a guard at all? That could be behind it
An exciting lore question about Malenia causes sleepless nights for fans.
It started out as a meme, but it quickly became reality: A question involving Elden Ring character Malenia was giving fans sleepless nights. A Redditor posted a cartoon in which a person is tired but suddenly wide awake after hearing the question, “Where’s Malenia’s shadow?” What is meant by this is not the shadow cast by your character model, but a person who fulfills a guard function. The topic obviously struck a chord. There was a lively discussion in the comments.
Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for the Elden Ring backstory and characters.
That’s what the “shadow” is all about
It’s all about this: In order to understand what the question is all about, we must first make a small detour into the background story of Elden Ring: In the intermediate land there are so-called celestials (in English: Empyreans) who are selected by the two fingers to possibly to be raised to the status of gods.
These are the shadows: Each of these candidates receives a so-called shadow. These are loyal subjects who protect and serve the chosen ones. However, they are even more loyal to the Golden Order – and thus to the otherworldly god called the Higher Will.
Therefore, the Shadows also monitor that the Celestials act in accordance with the Higher Will. Other celestials and their shadows include Marika and Maliketh, and Ranni and Blaidd. Malenia’s brother Miquella is also a celestial, unlike some other demigods.
Vaatividya explains the concept in his big lore video at 7:27 min:
link to YouTube content
Malenia’s shadow is missing
On Reddit, dragonfist897 now raises the question of where Malenia’s shadow is, posts a meme about it and writes:
Loreheads, help me understand.
link to Reddit content
This request is not denied. There is lively discussion. The top comment comes from JoBro_Summer-of-99 and raises the following theory:
I have an idea:
If Miquella’s Haligbaum is apart from the Golden Order, then it wouldn’t make sense for Malenia to have her shadows [neben ihrem ist der ihres Bruder Miquella gemeint] killed to further detach them from the Higher Will?
Aside from that, Malenia actually became her brother’s shadow as she considers him a more worthy god.
More on Elden Ring:
Most of you should know that Malenia is loyal to her brother. In most cases, anyone who has taken on the fight against the boss has often heard that she is “Miquella’s blade”. In the descriptive text for her winged helmet, she is also quoted as follows:
My brother will keep his word. For he possesses the wisdom and attraction of a god. He is verily the mightiest among the celestials.
Another interesting fan theory suggests that Malenia’s shadow may have fallen prey to the scarlet blight afflicting the boss. The comments also discuss the relationship of other celestials to their shadows. We can be curious whether future DLCs will shed light on the matter.
Now you are asked: Why do you think we don’t meet Malenia’s shadow in the game?
Reference-www.gamepro.de