Gentle Does Not Mean Good: a SotE Retrospective
Elden Ring is one of those games that's easiest to understand when you play it. The context of environment, music, progression, interaction, and storytelling is lost in the information transfer from game to wiki page.
Having finished playing through Shadow of the Erdtree, I can say for sure — no other presentation of the lore of Elden Ring could convey Miquella's wrongdoing quite as well as the game itself.
There are monsters in all corners of Elden Ring. Miquella is not necessarily what I'd call a monster. Among his demigod siblings, he's one of the more sane, and certainly one of the most well-meaning.
The words of others paint a very particular picture of Miquella the Unalloyed. That he is kindly, tender, that he uplifts the downtrodden. That he has promised to make the world a better place.
However, it becomes very apparent over the course of the game that those words are just words, and all the good intentions have not kept Miquella's promises.
I. Elden Ring
Miquella's stumbling path is laid out rather simply in the base game; Old Albus makes the first mention most players will hear of the Haligtree: A chosen land awaits us Albinaurics. Later, in the snowfields, Latenna refers to the Haligtree as her home.
But, upon reaching it (through a puzzle that requires climbing multiple ladders, a task that one imagines is quite difficult without functioning legs...) there are no Albinaurics at the Haligtree, and they would scarcely be able to thrive there if they were. Even putting aside the rot, there are more ladders, winding branches, narrow walkways. Barely safely navigable for your able-bodied Tarnished, much less for a population that cannot walk or require service animals to do so.
Or, one cannot help but notice, for a triple-amputee blind sister. Malenia sits in a stiff wooden chair at the foot of the Haligtree. She's been dreaming for a very long time. Her replacement arm is usable only as a sword. She dies calling out an apology to her brother.
Miquella, it seems, abandoned the Haligtree, and abandoned the Albinaurics. The implication exists that the Albinaurics lost his favor after the Eclipse ritual that intended to restore Godwyn, given the fact that there are imprisoned and tortured Albinaurics there, and the dialogue of the NPC on the roof of Castle Sol, right next to the left half of the Haligtree medallion:
"Lord Miquella, forgive me. The sun has not been swallowed. Our prayers were lacking. Your comrade remains soulless... I will never set my eyes upon it now... Your divine Haligtree..."
We can only speculate why he left Malenia behind, but he did. And still, she fights in his name, to her dying breath.
By the end of the base game, we have a complicated picture of Miquella. He's made plenty of promises, and plenty of friends, but his aspirations haven't come to anything.
II. Shadow of the Erdtree
In a mirror to the base game, emphasized because of his central role in it, Shadow of the Erdtree begins with praise heaped upon Miquella's name — namely by Needle-Knight Leda, another who dies in Miquella's name, to no reward.
At first, following the path of Miquella's crosses, his mission seems straightforward. He means to cast off all the baggage of his lineage, Marika's cruelties and curses. He even seems to have struck an accord with the remaining Hornsent, according to the NPC of the same name:
I believe Miquella's apologies, when he says our delivery will come. Uphold his covenant Miquella shall, and in godhood redeem our rueful clan.
And the spirit on the stairs after the Dancing Lion fight:
O tower of ours, hidden in shadow. O lofty spiral piercing the heavens. Lead him safely unto greater Godhood. And in divinity grant our salvation."
But we never find out exactly what that accord was, whether Miquella intended to follow through... or indeed whether he ever condemned the slaughter of the Hornsent at all. Given his treatment of Mohg... I have my doubts.
Regardless, some of what Miquella leaves behind seems reasonable. His mortal flesh. His fear. His doubts.
Then, from the spirit kneeling at the Stone Coffin Fissure, beside the Cross that declares here is where Miquella abandoned his love:
Kindly Miquella... I see you've thrown away... Something you should not have. Under any circumstances. How will you salvation offer...to those who cannot be saved? When you could not even save your other self?
Anecdotally, I walked directly past St. Trina the first time I reached the Garden of Deep Purple. She's so small, smaller than the Tarnished, curled up and unmoving. I thought she was another of the flowers until I looked closer. Her hands are barely half the size of yours, her voice is a weary rasp.
That's who Miquella abandoned here. That's the other self he discarded. His love.
St. Trina begs you not to let Miquella become a god. To not let him be imprisoned in divinity, as his mother was. The last thing she tells you:
You must kill Miquella… Grant him forgiveness.
For a game that tells much of its story in implication, this revelation is painfully straightforward — like his mother before him, Miquella's gone too far, cut too deep.
And, like his mother before him, those that love him and are loved by him do not escape unscathed.
III. Promised Consort
This part of the analysis requires its own section, if only because there's some interpretation of the text required; everything above is sourced from what can be seen and heard directly onscreen, but the circumstances that bring about the Promised Consort fight came to pass long before the events of the game. We don't see most of it, so we can only speculate.
This is also where I'll state my thesis on Bewitching, previously discussed only in the abstract: Bewitching is an act of violence.
From the description of the Bewitching Branch:
The Empyrean Miquella is loved by many people. Indeed, he has learned very well how to compel such affection.
Ansbach's dialogue after Miquella's Great Rune breaks:
Kindly Miquella has discarded his Great Rune. The fog that vexed my aging faculties has been lifted. And follies better left forgotten haunt me once again. Once, in an attempt to free Lord Mohg from his enchantment, I challenged Tender Miquella, only to have my own heart rather artfully stolen. I knew not how weak I was. I believed that with sufficient mastery, even an Empyrean would be within reach of my blade. I could not have been more mistaken… Miquella the Kind... is a monster. Pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. There is nothing more terrifying. Righteous Tarnished. Miquella the Kind makes my blood run cold. I am loath to admit it, but even at this very instant I wish to run very far away indeed.
Intent to keep the peace or to make the world kinder notwithstanding — Bewitching is an act of violence, an imposition of Miquella's will upon others. No matter how well-meaning that will is, it is an imposition regardless.
That being said, let's discuss Miquella's plan.
For clarity, we'll assume that Miquella's plan did not go disastrously off the rails in a way that still resulted in him very nearly getting what he wanted. That is to say, let us assume that the events that transpired were in some way shape or form intended by Miquella.
Miquella's plan starts with an indistinct promise made between himself and Malenia, and Radahn. (I do have a theory on what that promise was, but I'll keep that speculation for another post). In return for... something, Radahn would be Miquella's consort for his ascension.
The first thing we cannot know for sure is whether Malenia's conflict with Radahn was intended, whether he was intended to become a shell of himself, afflicted with rot.
Some implication exists that it was in fact part of the plan. From the Young Lion's Armor (purchased from the Finger Reader after defeated Promised Consort Radahn):
When Malenia, Blade of Miquella, let the rotflower blossom in Aeonia, Radahn heard a murmur in his ear— "Miquella awaits thee, O promised consort."
One way or another, Radahn as Miquella knew him is gone. Whether this was an accident, or some consequence of Radahn refusing to capitulate to Miquella, thus requiring drastic measures, we can't know.
Enter Mohg. We know that Mohg was charmed by Miquella, in a way that affected him immensely. Ansbach, in reply to the Tarnished admitting they were the one who killed Mohg:
Besides, what right have I to complain? I blame the enchantment more than anything.
Implying Mohg would have been unlikely to fight you if not compelled to do so by Miquella.
There's some subtler evidence for the effect of the Bewitching on Mohg in Varré's dialogue upon receiving the Pureblood Knight's Medal, which allows you to reach Mohgwyn:
The meeting must wait until the Mohgwyn dynasty commences. Luminary Mohg yet slumbers beside the Divinity. We must endure a little longer. Ahh, it is trying, but we must be patient. One day, you will be elevated, deservedly, basking in love. Right, my lambkin? Ha ha ha...
And upon his death:
I have given... everything... Please... my lord... Please, answer me... Luminary... Mohg.
Implying that Mohg has essentially abandoned his followers since Miquella bewitched him, something Varré knows isn't right given the claimed tenets of the Dynasty, but either can't or won't speak on.
So, Mohg was Bewitched, likely to take Miquella from the Haligtree, and regardless, to die defending him, so that Miquella could use his remains to house Radahn. Ansbach, after reading the Secret Rite Scroll:
As if using Lord Mohg to gain entrance to the land of shadow were not enough, he plans to use his corpse as the vessel of his king consort. He has forsaken Lord Mohg's soul. He desires only his empty shell. It beggars belief, but… I'm afraid Tender Miquella fails to grasp the humiliation implied by this act.
(Another thing that needs its own post to fully unpack, but: the defilement of corpses is mentioned often alongside the Omen curse. It seems possible that Miquella would not regard an Omen's body as one that could be disrespected or humiliated, given that it's already cursed. So much for acceptance of everyone and everything...)
Tellingly, while Miquella invokes Radahn and Malenia in the opening cutscene of the Promised Consort fight, Mohg receives no mention. Miquella spares no words for Mohg, sacrificed for his ascension, or for the Albinaurics or the Hornsent, who he promised a better life — or for any other of Marika's undesirables; the Omen, the Tarnished.
His promise rings hollow — a thousand year voyage of compassion... except for those who were used up, slain, or abandoned on the way. Except for those who never asked for his love. Except for those he deemed undeserving of it.
He offers it to you, but only if he steals your heart. Only when you can't say no.
That's not what I would call compassion.