The Sealing of the Rune of Death

The sealing of the Rune of Death (also known as Destined Death) is the foundational event that established the Golden Order and the unique form of pseudo-immortality in the Lands Between.

The Sealing of the Rune of Death

The sealing of the Rune of Death was orchestrated by Queen Marika the Eternal and carried out by her Shadowbound Beast, Maliketh the Black Blade.

1. Pre-Sealing Context

  • The Rune's Original Place: The Rune of Death was originally a part of the Elden Ring itself, representing the principle of final, true death for all living things, including gods.

  • The Gloam-Eyed Queen: A figure known as the Gloam-Eyed Queen led the Godskin Apostles and wielded the Rune of Death's power through the Black Flame. The Black Flame was a god-slaying power that could kill even the gods and forge their skin into garments. This existence of Destined Death fundamentally challenged Marika's burgeoning Golden Order.

  • Maliketh's Victory: Marika commanded her loyal half-brother and shadow, Maliketh, to confront and defeat the Gloam-Eyed Queen. Maliketh succeeded, taking the Rune of Death from her.

2. The Act of Sealing

After securing the Rune of Death, Marika plucked it from the Elden Ring, removing the concept of "true death" from the world's governing principles.

  • Marika's Purpose: By removing Destined Death, Marika created a new order—the Golden Order—where life would not truly end. Instead, souls would return to the Erdtree to be reborn, a cycle of pseudo-immortality. This also made the gods (and the Erdtree itself) nigh-invulnerable to final death.

  • Maliketh's Role: Maliketh swore an oath to his sister to serve as the Rune's eternal guardian. He bound the overwhelming majority of the Rune of Death into his massive sword, the Black Blade, and then bound the blade's power within his own flesh. He then withdrew to the isolated citadel of Crumbling Farum Azula to guard it forever.

The Theft and the Consequences

The sealing of Destined Death defined the Golden Order for an era, but its betrayal led to the most pivotal event in the game's lore: the Night of the Black Knives.

1. The Fragment Stolen

The Empyrean sorceress Ranni the Witch orchestrated a grand scheme to defy the Greater Will. She:

  • Stole a Fragment: She somehow managed to steal a fragment of the Rune of Death from Maliketh.

  • Forged the Black Knives: She used this fragment's power to enchant the weapons of the Black Knife Assassins with a tiny, lethal sliver of Destined Death.

2. The Night of the Black Knives

On a "night of wintry fog," the Black Knife Assassins carried out Ranni's plan:

  • Godwyn's Soul Killed: They used the Death-imbued daggers to kill Godwyn the Golden, Marika's beloved son. However, the assassins only possessed a fragment of the Rune. This meant Godwyn died in soul alone, while his body remained alive.

  • Ranni's Body Killed: Simultaneously, Ranni used the other half of the fragmented Rune of Death to kill her own flesh-and-blood body in an inverse ritual, dying in body alone while preserving her soul.

  • The Result: The death of a demigod—the very thing the sealing was meant to prevent—broke the Golden Order. Godwyn's unique, soul-dead-but-body-alive state corrupted his burial site at the Erdtree's roots, spreading the corruption known as Deathroot throughout the Lands Between and creating Those Who Live in Death (the undead). This act of sacrilege is what immediately preceded Queen Marika's despair and the Shattering of the Elden Ring.