At first glance, hiring George R.R. Martin to help write Elden Ring’s story seems like a decision by the marketing team, and marketing was definitely involved, but it makes a lot more sense for Ol’ Georgie to write the story for the heir to the Dark Souls franchise than you might think.
George’s work made him the ideal candidate to build the world of Elden Ring and its inevitable sequels. However, his consultation ultimately ended when he finished his construction project and handed his creation over to Hidetaka Miyazaki, the game’s creative director, who would be tasked with furnishing George’s world.
This handover is most apparent in the perplexingly Elden Ring Millicent Quest Guide – VULKK.com and draws a line that divides Martin and Miyazaki’s contributions to the lore of Elden Ring. Before we get to that, we need to get on the same page about why George R.R. Martin is the best choice for the job he was given.
George R.R. Martin is known for his book series A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO’s adaptation, Game of Thrones. It’s ultimately a complex story of political intrigue about numerous factions vying for control of Westeros.
Truly, Martin’s proven talents and experience writing about factional politics make easily him the most qualified person in the world to write the story for the successor to one of the most popular RPG series in the world. The reason: Covenants.
The Covenant system is a popular and relatively unique part of the Dark Souls franchise. When you pledge yourself to a Covenant, you are deciding to support one of the various factions in Dark Souls.
While you can change your Covenant, you can only support one at a time. By successfully interacting in a Covenant-defined way online, you’ll earn unique rewards with that Covenant that often reinforce a relevant build.
Elden Ring ended up taking a step away from Covenants as online elements, but it’s clear that they were built into the foundation of the game. Complex, warring factions are central to Elden Ring’s story, and equipable Great Runes work in much the same way as Covenants.
While Great Runes abandoned the rewards system for playing online in a specific way, this previous core functionality does not matter in the context of Martin’s contributions to the story. His contributions to Elden Ring weren’t limited to the story either.
George R.R. Martin’s notoriety, combined with the more frequent use of celebrity product associations and endorsem*nts by Asian companies, made him a first-class car on Elden Ring’s hype train.
Elden Ring’s marketing team might have even paid for his story consultation out of their budget, freeing up more funding for FromSoftware to spend on other aspects of the game. Win-win!
Based on other reports, like Polygon’s in-depth investigation, we know that there was a period of back-and-forth between GRRM and FromSoftware as they worked together to build the world. FromSoftware would outline requirements for the world, and then Martin would deliver.
Still, GRRM was ultimately a consultant, not a permanent employee, so the back-and-forth had to stop at some point. There would have to be a final handover. That’s when Elden Ring’s creative director and President of FromSoftware would take over.
Millicent’s storyline, particularly its supremely vague and anticlimactic ending, shines a spotlight on what I believe to be that final handover and strongly suggests that Miyazaki made significant changes to the world after Martin’s consultation ended.
The length of Millicent’s quest relative to those required to unlock Elden Ring’s various endings, her connection to Malenia, Gowry’s hype, and the power attributed to Scarlet Rot and unalloyed gold not only imply but emphasize to the audience that she is a pivotal character.
“There is something I must return to Malenia. The will that was once her own. The dignity, the sense of self, that allowed her to resist the call of the scarlet rot. The pride she abandoned to meet Radahn’s measure.”
Millicent in the Prayer Room at Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree
This line illustrates perfectly how Millicent could have been meant to alter the Malenia boss fight. It makes sense to introduce something like a difficulty modification for what is arguably the hardest (and best) boss fight FromSoftware has ever made. If Millicent could return the Unalloyed Gold Needle, it could easily prevent the second phase from happening.
The fact that Millicent dies beside a pool of Scarlet Rot inhabited by Putrid Tree Spirit reinforces the notion that Miyazaki was playing around with the quest’s ending, though he failed to create anything satisfying.
Gowry says that Millicent was a bud that was meant to bloom, but what if he was only partially correct? Instead of blooming into Scarlet Aeonia after being defeated, what if Millicent wilted into the Putrid Tree Spirt? He left Chekov’s Gun hanging on the wall, with the only purpose being to undo another ending.
Given that the twist is so similar to what happens after Malenia collapses, it might have been a last-minute tweak to avoid dulling our sense of awe and terror as we see Malenia rise into the air.
The first time I saw Malenia spread her wings, I distinctly remember cackling like Voldemort after he conjured the gargantuan inferno serpent to devour Dumbledore.
Except I was in Dumbledore’s position, and I had no idea how to use the Carian Regal Scepter to repel my impending scarlet demise like he managed to do with the Elder Wand, but I digress.
So, while the parallels are, admittedly, deliberate in the final version of Millicent’s quest, it’s so anticlimactic as to be pointless. Potentially experiencing a slightly less spectacular twist soon after seems like a small price to pay to prevent ruining another character and quest.
It’s also possible that such a thing would enhance Malenia’s blossoming as a form of misdirection. We expect to fight another (big momma) Tree Spirit after Malenia goes down for the count, but instead, we get something far, far worse.
The fact that there is a second left-handed golden prosthetic arm just lying around at the Shoehorned–uh, I mean–Shaded Castle, both of which are constructed from exclusively reused assets (boss included), is also super weird.
Millicent’s quest just doesn’t make any sense the way it is. The quest would barely change and end up making a lot more sense if we actually found Malenia at the Church of the Plague being guarded by the Kindred of Rot.
But no, instead, we have Cleanrot Knight Finlay to thank for dragging Malenia all the way from the now Swamp of Aeonia back to the Haligtree.
Millicent’s quest is hardly the only loose thread in Elden Eing. There are some other major inconsistencies as well, including, but not limited to:
- Renouncing the Erdtree at the Volcano Manor doesn’t matter, even if you don’t defeat Rykard.
- Mohg the Omen somehow manages to slip past Miquella’s devoted followers and extensive fortifications at the Haligtree and then masterfully seduces the little gay wizard boy sleeping in an egg.
- The Lake of Rot directly beneath Liurnia and the Academy of Raya Lucaria is seemingly unrelated to Malenia but implies that Scarlet Rot is almost certainly connected to the Crystallians and Glintstone.
- Outer space (Nokron) and mercurial aliens (Nox and Silver Tears) are underground, alongside actual underground stuff, despite the moon and the stars being crucial to the story and Ranni’s ending.
Space not actually being in space is likely a budgetary constraint, but the rest have little to no explanation within the lore, at least based on my knowledge.
The real kicker here, and the reason I bring these other issues up, is because it’s so remarkable how little it takes to form a far more coherent and internally consistent story, to the extent that it makes me wonder if Hidetaka Miyazaki went and dug up these plot holes deliberately.
Rather than having the prosthetic arm already, Malenia would lose her arm while fighting General Radhan, causing the Scarlet Aeonia to bloom, and then, in one fell swoop, amputate Radhan’s feet and fly up to the Church of the Plague, conveniently already overlooking the battlefield.
There wouldn’t be an Unalloyed Gold Needle at Commander O’Neil’s at the epicenter of the Swamp, but wouldn’t it make more sense for Radahn to be still wandering around there instead of at a separate battlefield right next door? I have a feeling that horses are also a lot more submersible in swamp goo than sand dunes.
Malenia’s more extended absence from the Haligtree and the Shattering happening far more recently also presents a well-defined opportunity for Mohg to snatch Miquella. It has the added benefit of being more believable than Mohg slipping past Malenia by presumably dumping a giant bucket of St. Trina’s Lillies on her when she wasn’t looking.
You’d still need to obtain the Valkyrie’s Prosthesis, but it makes far more sense to get one made for Malenia at the Volcano Manor than it does to happen upon a second at the Shaded Castle that to give to the only other amputee you encounter in a setting that recently had a war.
The Recusants are clearly up to the task of creating a prosthesis for Malenia. They’re the most qualified faction in the lands between, as they have other technological marvels like the Iron Virgins, the bridge connecting the Temple of Eiglay to the prison town, and Zoryas (arguably a medical marvel).
Those at the Volcano Manor are keen to help because Miquella challenged the Erdtree by growing the Haligtree already. Their goals are aligned with that of the Volcano Manor, though they remain separate groups divided by their opposing views on the weak.
Aligning the interests of those at the Volcano Manor and the Haligtree presents you with a properly consequential decision:
- Spurn the Erdtree at the Volcano Manor and save Malenia so she can protect the Haligtree
- Remain faithful to the Erdtree and Golden Order and fight alongside Morgott and the Roundtable Hold.
Get ready because there’s room for outer space and underground with Ranni and Fia, too. Their quests would remain intertwined, though perhaps with Ranni’s stuff taking place in the sky or outer space, resulting in greater environmental variation, making the Divine Towers feel more important.
Instead of Melina having the whole thing and just whipping it out right when you needed it, each of those quests could become a source of half of the Rold Medallion. Conveniently, both are about equidistant from the Forge of Giants. You’d then be faced with a decision to burn either the Haligtree or the Erdtree, or both if you inherit the Flame of Frenzy from the Three Fingers.
The final bosses would be Radagon or Malenia, depending on your decision to spurn the Erdtree or destroy the Haligtree. Both feature enough spectacle and splendor to be final bosses.
While such a tale is substantially more coherent and cohesive, it locks away a lot of content behind decisions and forces the game to be far more linear. It’s practically unheard of for some blemishes in the story to be more impactful than making sure the gameplay experience is rock-solid.
You’re going on a wild goose chase (e.g. Millicent’s quest) if you’re looking for story consistency in an open-world game made by a true pioneer in action combat gameplay, especially when that story is deliberately shattered into a million tiny little item descriptions and Shakespearean dialogue.
Still, if you think I missed something, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. The story I (re)told here doesn’t patch all of the plot holes in Elden Ring, particularly the Lake of Rot beneath Liurnia, nor did I include the more limited development of minor factions like the Sellians and Ancestral Followers.
If you want more Elden Ring conspiracy theories, check out my reactions to the first and second trailers for Shadow of the Erdtree. I’m pretty sure they’ve already given away the whole story for the expansion coming out on June 21st, 2024.
