As you know, the Queen of Lands Between is Marika and the final boss of Elden Ring is Radagon.

Here, Marika and Radagon are said to be the same person

In this article, the author, native Japanese, explained the lore of Marika and Radagon, taking the Japanese backgrounds into consideration.

目次 (Contents)

Notes of Marika and Radagon
1. Notes of Marika
2. Notes of Ragadon
Are Marika and Radagon the Same Person?
Having Two Souls and Minds in a Body
Postscript

Notes of Marika and Radagon

Let’s start with the notes of Marika and Radagon.

Notes of Marika

Marika is a Numan.

Numen have come from outside the Lands Between, and are long-lived.

Numen’s Rune
The Numen are said to have come from outside the Lands Between, and are in fact of the same stock as Queen Marika herself.

Numan (Character Creation)
The face of the Numen, supposed descendants of denizens of another world. Long-lived but seldom born.

The Numen seem to have lived in the Eternal City which was destroyed a long time ago.

As evidence, many Numen appear in the Eternal City area, Marika’s is called Queen Marika the Eternal, and the weapon of a Nox Priest looks just like Marika’s Hammer.

Moreover, from Rogier’s dialogue below, you can see the assassins of the Black Knives are scions of the Eternal City – Numen.

Rogier
You recall our conversation about the Night of the Black Knives, yes? They say the assassins who carried out the deed were scions of the Eternal City. A group entirely of women, arrayed in armour of silver under cloaks which fooled the eye.

The Numen carried out the deeds on the Night of the Black Knives, which Marika directed.

Black Knife Armor
The assassins that carried out the deeds of the Night of the Black Knives were all women, and rumored to be Numen who had close ties with Marika herself.

Gurranq
Marika…why…wouldst thou…gull me? Why…shatter…

Marika, Ranni, and Rykard plotted the Night of the Black Knives to steal the Rune of Death from Gurranq, Maliketh, and killed Godwyn.

However, Ranni seems to have betrayed Marika resulting in the incompleted death of Godwyn.

After the failure of the Night of the Black Knives, Marika resorted to shatter the Elden Ring.

This article is explaining why Marika shattered the Elden Ring.

Next, let’s talk about Godfrey.

Marika was first married to Godfrey.

Godfrey and Marika have children named Godwyn, Morgott, and Mohg.

However, Marika banished Godfrey from the Lands Between.

Marika’s own words
My Lord, and thy warriors. I divest each of thee of thy grace.
With thine eyes dimmed, ye will be driven from the Lands Between. Ye will wage war in a land afar, where ye will live, and die.

Marika’s own words
Then, after thy death, I will give back what I once claimed.
Return to the Lands Between, wage war, and brandish the Elden Ring.
Grow strong in the face of death. Warriors of my lord. Lord Godfrey.

After the banishment, Marika married Radagon and have two children, Miquella and Malenia.

Those are the notes about Marika.

Notes of Ragadon

We can see little about the origin of Radagon.

One of the few clues is the text of Giant’s Red Braid.

Giant’s Red Braid
Hefty whip woven from the flame-red hair of a Fire Giant.
Every giant is red of hair, and Radagon was said to have despised his own red locks. Perhaps that was a curse of their kind.

The fact that Radagon was cursed by the Giants indicates that Radagon was born after the War against the Giants.

Marika’s own words
Hark, brave warriors. Hark, my lord Godfrey. We commend your deeds. Guidance has delivered ye through ordeal to the place ye stand. Put the giants to the sword and confine the flame atop the mount. Let a new epoch begin. An epoch glistening with life. Brandish the Elden Ring, for the Age of the Erdtree!

Later, Radagon invaded Raya Lucaria and married Rennala, the head of the Carian Royal family.

Miriel
Lord Radagon was a great champion, possessed of flowing red locks. He came to these lands at the head of a great golden host, when he met Lady Rennala in battle. He soon repented his territorial aggressions though, and became husband to the Carian Queen. However, when Godfrey, first Elden Lord, was hounded from the Lands Between, Radagon left Rennala to return to the Erdtree Capital, becoming Queen Marika’s second husband and King Consort, taking the title…of second Elden Lord. The mystery endures, to this day… As to why Lord Radagon would cast Lady Rennala aside… and moreover…why a mere champion would be chosen for the seat of Elden Lord”.

The one of the reasons why Radagon married Rennala would be to study sorcery as described below.

Radagon Icon
As the husband of Rennala of Caria, the red-haired Radagon studied sorcery, and as the husband of Queen Marika, he studied incantations.
Thus did the hero aspire to be complete.

Radagon and Rennala have the children, Ranni, Rykard, and Radahn.

Nevertheless, Radagon left Rennala and married Marika to become Elden Lord.

You would think that Radagon just used Renalla.

However, the Miriel’s dialogue below and the text of Golden Order Greatsword implies that Radagon really loved Rennala.

Miriel
Radagon once cleansed himself with celestial dew, repented his territorial aggressions, and swore his love to Rennala. The Order of the Erdtree and the fate of the moon were conjoined, and all the wounds of war forgiven.

Golden Order Greatsword
Greatsword made of light, modeled after the Elden Ring itself.
Forged by King Consort Radagon to proudly symbolize the tenets of the Golden Order.
Telltale signs betray that this was once the greatsword bequeathed to him by his first wife, Rennala.

Moreover, the reason why the Red Wolf of Radagon appears in the Academy of Raya Lucaria would be because Radagon wanted to protect Rennala.

Those are the notes of Radagon.

Are Marika and Radagon the Same Person?

Many clues suggest that Marika and Radagon are the same person.

First, we can see the message “Radagon is Marika” if you use Law of Regression in front of the statue of Marika.

By the way, even the super-genius scientist Goldenmask freezed because he could not find the “Radagon is Marika”.

In addition, Marika is smashing the Elden Ring in the official trailer, and you can see that Marika have switched to Radagon.

The left is Marika smashing the Elden Ring, and the right is Radagon repairing it.

Marika’s Hammer
Stone hammer made in the lands of the Numen, outside the Lands Between. The tool with which Queen Marika shattered the Elden Ring and Radagon attempted to repair it.
The hammer partially broke upon shattering the Ring, becoming splintered with rune fragments.

Carefully seeing, Radagon has a lot of wounds on his body.

This is because Marika is the Elden Ring itself.

Enia
Marika’s trespass demanded a heavy sentence. But even in shackles, she remains a god, and the vision’s vessel.

In other words, the wounds on Radagon’s body is the that of Marika’s body – the shattering of the Elden Ring.

Those points indicate that Marika and Radagon are the same person.

Having Two Souls and Minds in a Body

In summarize, Marika and Radagon is the same person but have two personalities.

To use expressions fitting the world view of Elden Ring, Marika and Radagon have two souls and two minds in a body.

As described in the text of Twinned Armor, bodies, minds, and souls play important roles in making up the Elden lives.

Twinned Armor
The two known as D are inseparable twins.
They are of two bodies and two minds, but one single soul. Not once do they stand together; not one word do they speak to one another.
Perhaps this armor longs to find its way to the other D.

The text of Mending Rune of Perfect Order implies that Marika and Radagon have two minds.

Mending Rune of Perfect Order
A rune of transcendental ideology which will attempt to perfect the Golden Order.
The current imperfection of the Golden Order, or instability of ideology, can be blamed upon the fickleness of the gods no better than men. That is the fly in the ointment.

The text “fickleness of the gods” indicates the difference of minds of Marika and Radagon, which is more clearly stated in Japanese translations.

In addition, Marika’s own words indicates that Marika and Radagon were originally two individuals having two souls of course.

Marika’s own words
O Radagon, leal hound of the Golden Order. Thou’rt yet to become me. Thou’rt yet to become a god. Let us be shattered, both. Mine other self.

This situation would be the same to Miquella, Marika’s child, having a personality of Trina.

It might be natural to have two souls and minds for a Empyrean.

In summarize, Marika and Radagon would have two souls and two minds in a body.

Postscript

This is the article about “The Lore of Marika and Radagon Explained by a Native Japanese”.