Even though it’s been over a month since its launch, there are still a lot of questions about Elden Ring. It’ll likely be some time before someone out there pieces it all together in a believable and understandable way. Yet, one of the biggest questions thus far is what is Destined Death? It’s a story element that surfaces a lot, playing a major role throughout the story and in each of Elden Ring’s endings.

Some believe Destined Death is simply death, while others believe Destined Death itself to be one of Elden Ring’s Outer Gods—or a Lord/aspect of this Outer God. No matter what players do, however, they unleash Destined Death back into the world.

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Death in Elden Ring

View of Erdtree.

First, it’s worth looking at how death works in Elden Ring from a lore standpoint. There are beings in Elden Ring who have experienced a sort of half-death. What this means is that their physical body can die, but their mind can live on. For example, Ranni used the Rune of Death to kill her physical self to avoid The Greater Will’s control. Another “style” of death can be seen with Godwyn and Fia, as beings whose spirits never return to the Erdtree, or Those Who Live in Death.

Those whose spirits return are eventually resurrected by the Erdtree, and it seems this resurrection can go awry. It appears that the Outer God related to the Scarlet Rot can infect people severely through this resurrection, which lore suggests is the result of Malenia’s Scarlet Rot in some way. It’s not really explored in-game, but some think this Outer God is sealed away beneath Lake Rot.

Either way, this means there is common death, a partial death, living in death, and Destined Death. Many associate the latter with common death. While it makes sense, it seems too important to just encompass such a basic premise. Destined Death appears to be the fate that all living beings share—that everyone dies. Yet, it seems some have a bigger, more dramatic, and more "destined" death. In the story, Marika had taken the Death Rune, given it to Maliketh, and had wanted to ensure her family and demigods did not die. Others still could and did, and she enforced this, but she removed their destined death.

More so than the common death of any creature in the world of Elden Ring, Destined Death seems to be the inherent dramatic deaths of those involved. Players always ensure that Destined Death returns to the world in a playthrough of Elden Ring, and that’s potentially what allows them to truly, truly kill Marika/Radagon. Whether Destined Death is an Outer God or perhaps part of the Order of the universe, that so many Elden Ring elements utilize, is up for debate, but it seems everyone is destined for death—Destined Death is for those major beings who must die.

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Destined Death in Elden Ring’s Endings

frenzied flame

What really sets the concept of Destined Death apart from other types of death in the Elden Ring world is its association/use in the endings. Everyone restores Destined Death to the world, but the endings can manipulate it or use it to some degree. The six major endings to Elden Ring are the Age of Fracture, Age of Duskborn, the Blessing of Despair, the Age of Order, Lord of the Frenzied Flame, and Age of the Stars.

  • Age of Fracture – The default ending where the player becomes The Elden Lord for a new age. What happens in this age is not really defined, but since Destined Death has already been restored, it seems that it would continue on normally.
  • Age of Duskborn – This ending requires players to use the Mending Rune of the Death-Prince, which appears to change how death, potentially Destined Death, works. In this case, it seems no souls are resurrected and all life exists within death now, setting itself up as the new order of the land.
  • Blessing of Despair – Using the Rune obtained from Elden Ring’s Dung Eater, players become Elden Lord of a new age where every generation has the same, disgusting curse as the Dung Eater. With everyone cursed, they all share in this misery—likely impacting how they view death. This curse may also come from mending the Elden Ring a certain way, presumably impacting the return of Destined death as well. Perhaps they seek it but cannot obtain it.
  • Age of Order – This ending seeks to end the constant age of conflict in Elden Ring, where no god nor men start wars and no greater good sets itself up to condemn others as evil. In this ending, it stands to reason that Destined Death maintains its role in the Elden Ring’s order—if more along the lines of a more common death (since there is no conflict, supposedly).
  • Lord of the Frenzied Flame – If players tackle this ending but do not sacrifice Melina, she will appear after the defeat of The Elden Beast. In this ending, it seems the Tarnished becomes maddened with these flames and sets out to destroy everything. Melina will appear without this mark, perhaps suggesting that it was her Destined Death to be sacrificed in this ending, and promise to deliver “Destined Death” to the player—suggesting that the Tarnished’s destiny is to now die to her hands.

Elden Ring: How Ranni’s Ending Changes The Golden Order and Destined Death

elden-ring-ranni-in-tower

Every ending imposes some form of order, and Destined Death plays some role in that order. Whether it’s the destruction caused by the Lord of the Frenzied Flame (and the Destined Death of the Tarnished sought by Melina), the Age of Order which seeks to end conflict, the Order created by Those Who live in Death, the painful curse and order brought upon by the Dung Eater’s ending, or simply yet another age ruled by another Elden Lord, there is some form of Order in the Lands Between. Except in Ranni’s ending.

The sixth and final ending, The Age of Stars achieved by doing Ranni’s quest, sees that Order established, with Ranni replacing Marika with herself, ending The Golden Order and replacing it with her Order based on the Dark Moon, and removing the influence of The Greater Will from The Lands Between. She then, alongside her new consort and Lord (The Tarnished), takes a voyage throughout the stars for a thousand years—leaving the Lands Between to its own devices, without a ruling deity, a ruling Order, or even a mortal ruler for the first time. Here, without The Golden Order to impose it, it seems Destined Death is gone too.

Obviously, some of this is more speculative based on the Elden Ring’s fate and the Rune of Death, which seems to be what dictates Destined Death vs. common death. Whereas more common deaths lead to some form of simple resurrection, it seems Destined Death is absolute. Perhaps, in some relation to the Outer Gods, this is what Elden Ring’s cut Age of Absolute content deals with. But ultimately, Elden Ring’s story, lore, and world are still one big puzzle with a ton of unresolved pieces.

Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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