Elden Ring: Malenia’s devastating disease originated in outer space, a lore expert explains

Malenia is not only pretty nasty, but also a tragic character.

Malenia, demigod and one of the most difficult bosses in the Elden Ring, is surrounded by the Scarlet Blight. We see what this can do in the plagued Caelid, where Malenia unleashed the blight, but also on her own plagued body. But what does that actually mean? Lore expert Vaatividya explains that this is not a disease, but a god manifested in the blight.

Scarlet Rot is a god

It’s all about this: YouTuber and Souls specialist Vaatividya has dedicated a new video to the Demigods. We learn more about Malenia, which we can meet in the secret city of Elphael. Some parts of the demigod’s story should already be familiar to most fans:

Malenia and her brother Miquella: The two twins are demigods born from a bond between Radagon and Marika. They were already born with great burdens: With Miquella it is a body that always remains childlike, with Malenia it is her “susceptibility” to the scarlet fever.

Not a disease, but a god: At first glance, it sounds as if the scarlet rot is a disease and the demigoddess is part of a risk group. But it’s not that easy. The blight that is taking over Malenia is, as Vaati explains, one of the otherworldly gods who want to exert their influence in the land between. If you have never heard of these gods, we recommend Vaatividya’s first video on the subject:

link to YouTube content

Malenia is a servant of the god, but not a willing one: This god of blight has chosen Malenia as his vessel to impose his own order on the Between Lands – his own agenda, akin to the Golden Order we encounter everywhere.

Vaati notes that, however, there is ample evidence that the demigod seeks to evade the god’s influence rather than serve him. When she cannot defeat Radahn, however, she resorts to the Scarlet Rot as a last resort to plague all of Caelid – and thwart her defeat.

This video about the history of the Demigods contains the chapter about Malenia:

link to YouTube content

Here are more Elden Ring articles on Malenia and help with the boss fight:

Malenia’s fate

While Malenia is responsible for the Blight in Caelid, she is also a victim. The god who possessed her obviously gives her the power to use the Scarlet Blight for himself. At the same time, however, her body is being inexorably destroyed by this influence.

She wears multiple prostheses and we can see the change in her skin. The game makes it clear that there is no cure for her.

In the second phase, Malenia unleashes the Scarlet Blight.

Nevertheless, as Vaati reports, her brother Miquella tried to protect her from the scarlet fever by creating a special gold needle especially for it. This should help against the interference of foreign deities. The bond between the two twins was a very strong one.

In the first phase of the boss fight, Malenia makes it clear that she is fighting for her brother before becoming the Goddess of Scarlet Rot in the second phase. As we know, despite Malenia’s best efforts, Miquella didn’t end well. The story of the twins is one of the typically dark and sad FromSoftware stories.

What do you think of Malenia’s story and the character itself?