An Elden Ring player attempted to trick Radagon of the Golden Order into transforming, during a confrontation with the penultimate boss of the colossal open-world title. Unfortunately, the cunning stratagem failed to turn out as intended, with Elden Ring's hammer wielding demigod swiftly putting the player in their place.
The Lands Between is home to many secrets, often protected by magic or concealed by illusions, only dispelled by incredibly obtuse means. Whether it be through emotes, the culling of ghostly turtles, or the glow of a Glintstone Crown, the methods with which to uncover these treasures and nuggets of knowledge in Elden Ring can leave players scratching their heads. One of the most unique puzzles is found just after defeating the golden shade of Godfrey, in front of a statue of Radagon, and is conveniently pointed out by a message on the ground, which reads "regression alone reveals secrets."
In a video uploaded to Reddit by Jens_DV, the Radagon boss fight has just commenced, his arm raised as it would have been in the cinematic that comes moments before. The player waits for no time at all before casting Law of Regression, one of the few incantations requiring both intelligence and faith to perform. From a brief visual indicator that emanates from Radagon's torso, it is evident the incantation connected, but nothing seems to happen following this. Given the caption included for the post, "gamebreaking bug with Law of Regression, not working as intended," it becomes clear that this is simply an elaborate stunt.
Law of Regression is an incantation which, as outlined by the description, "heals all negative statuses, dispels special effects, and reveals mimicry in all its forms." However, the most famous application pertains to the aforementioned statue of Radagon in the city of Leyndell. Casting the incantation nearby turns the sculpture into one of the missing Queen Marika, revealing the two to in fact be the same person, and not merely a married couple.
Elden Ring's complex, intricate, and obscure lore aside, the player was clearly making light of the fact that when Law of Regression is performed during the encounter with Radagon, the second Elden Lord does not transition into Marika. Comments agreed that this would have been incredible to see, even if it only functioned similarly to Margit's Shackle, incapacitating Radagon for a short time as he fights back the transformation. With Elden Ring DLC on the horizon, it is likely players will be spending more time becoming familiar with the entity that is Marika/Radagon, with many hoping to face the god once again.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.