WARNING: Major spoilers for Elden Ring’s Age of Stars ending ahead.
Summary
In typical FromSoftware fashion,Elden Ringcontains no shortage of tragic heroes and tales of loss meant to evoke profound feelings of sympathy that contrast with the brutality of the world. The Tarnished’s path to the end ofElden Ringis a bloody one that is likely to see many enemies and NPCs defeated at the player’s hands, but one character in particular may have the saddest end of all.
Ranni the Witch is a major figure in the story ofElden Ringthat many players are sure to have done the bidding of. An Empyrean chosen by The Greater Will as a candidate for the god of a new age, Ranni rebelled against her fate and masterminded the events of the Night of Black Knives that led to the Elden Ring’s shattering. Her questline involves assisting her alongside her half-wolf companion,Blaidd, in ultimately overthrowing The Greater Will and achieving the Age of Stars ending, but the player ends up alone by her side in the end.
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Blaidd’s Story in Ranni’s Questline
Able to be encountered early on in Limgrave,Blaiddis an imposing figure who turns out to be friendly and seemingly noble in his hunt of a traitor. Later seen in spectral form among Iji and Seluvis in theThree Sisters area beyond Caria Manor in Liurnia, he is established to be the most loyal to Ranni through his active role in her machinations. Meeting the player down in Siofra River and pointing them towards the path to the truth of Starscourge Radahn, Blaidd is clearly dedicated to helping his master no matter how far it takes him.
He can be extremely helpful inthe battle of the Radahn Festival, making Blaidd a memorable ally to those who stand by his side. When Radahn is defeated and the stars fall to open up the path to Nokron through a meteor, however, Blaidd will never make it down there as he intended to. He can be found trapped in an evergaol by Iji, confused about what danger he could pose to his allies. Ultimately, however, Blaidd will then reappear at Three Sisters in a hostile state and force the player to finally kill him.
The Tragedy of Blaidd and The Greater Will’s Influence
A Shadowbound Beast created for the sole mission of serving an Empyrean, Blaidd was unable to escape this truth in the end. Ranni’s goal within Nokron is toobtain the Fingerslayer Bladefor the purpose of killing her own Two Fingers and furthering her plot against The Greater Will, but Shadows like Blaidd are essentially programmed to kill their master if such a betrayal occurs. The fact that he maintained his sanity for so long after the Night of Black Knives is already an anomaly, as his loyalty for Ranni was strong enough to resist the orders of his own creator. He resists until the very end, reluctantly losing himself as he becomes just like yet another Baleful Shadow of The Greater Will.
While Blaidd’s undying dedication to Ranni is admirable, her own role in his life is implied to be more complex. She was surely aware of what fate would befall him, as despite her ignorance of Blaidd’s imprisonment by Iji, she sends her signature Black Knife Assassins to take him out in the end. The cost that Ranni pays in blood is not cheap, as all of her followers perish on the path toElden Ring’s Age of Stars ending. Blaidd gave everything to serve his master, even defying his own given purpose, but it’s unlikely Ranni would have ever done the same for him.
Elden Ringis out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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