UPDATE: I tested both the Bewitching Branch and the DLC's new Charming Branch and as far as I can tell, they do NOT work on Those Who Live in Death. (The Scarlet Rot zombies in the Haligtree can be charmed though.) So that could offer another reason for Miquella's rejection of Those Who Live in Death. Thanks to everyone who brought that up in the comments!

"my haligtree is a haven for all persecuted people" "what about those who live in death?" "I said people"

Godwyns curse was that his life WAS golden and perfect, but his death would be dark and marred, worse than any other.

"Godwyn wasn't afflicted" isn't that kinda the point? Like out of all of her kids Godwyn was favoured because he wasn't born weird as so it's much more devastating when he dies in the most horrific of ends?

"They're right behind me, aren't they?" -Godwyn the Golden

I heard someone say that Godwyn is like black mold. You have a dark place that's kinda humid and before you know it... there's a godwyn growing in the the corner.

The real question I have is where are the two fingers of other empyryans and their shadows?

The fact that Miquella do not accept Those who live in death, could that be because he cannot charm skeletons?

I really don’t think Godwyn was afflicted before his assassination, to me it’s like despite being born pure and golden, even he was cursed in the end just not in the way expected.

I think it’s funny irony that the only demigod that was perfect, ended up being the most messed up

"... please die a true death" may be it is not kind words at all, the state of godwyn is probably a big problem for the age of compassion, I need to verify if skeletons can be affected by miquella's power.

i never knew godwin used spells to protect fia. i never attack friendly npcs

The Eclipse did work...the whole time, right in front of us, the Mending Rune of Death IS Godwyn, reincarnated!

oh wow I never noticed Godwyn protecting Fia 😳 that’s such a cool detail. and mentioning the real life story of a person with a locked-in syndrome was very insightful, this is a great theory 🩷

I'm sure Miquella eyed up all the demigods as potential consorts, and I'm willing to bet he didn't get his first choice because so many of them disqualified themselves by either dying or messing up their bodies. Godwyn got knifed and became zombie compost, Rykard jumped into a snake, Godrick was cringe, and the omen twins were living with the ninja turtles and then Morgott was in the witness protection program as Margit. As fellow empyreans connected to other outer gods, Malenia and Ranni couldn't be his consort, plus Ranni had already reverse-pinnochio'd herself. Melina was a free-roaming bodiless spirit, so she might have been able to be installed into a vessel, but as she had a sealed eye, maybe she was also an empyrean (gloam?) and not able to be a lord? Same with Messmer and his abyssal serpent? Realistically, only Radahn and Mohg were left for Miquella to consider as a consort by the time he embedded himself in the Haligtree.

When I saw the Godwyn face at the end of my first DLC catacomb I literally asked my TV screen: "Wait, what the hell are _you_ doing here?"

I actually REALLY like the idea that Godwyn always had deathblight.

Is death effectively a sea? Those giant caskets that look like ships. The caskets that use waterfalls and rivers. Godwyn's body is morphed as some aquatic entity. ...the mariner...

To me the fact that Godwyn is in the Realm of Shadow clearly tells the lands were veiled after his death, soon before or during the shattering Specially considering Radahn knew Messmer

They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose, Nor spake, nor moved their eyes. It had been strange, even in a dream, To have seen those dead men rise. -Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner

While I’m still a bit iffy on the idea of Godwyn being born afflicted with Deathblight, him being born afflicted with it could be the explanation we needed as to why Ranni and the Black Knives chose him as their assassination target. Knowing he would be buried at the foot or roots of the Erdtree based on the burial practices of Marika’s era, they must have known that his Deathblight and Deathroot would have inevitably spread across the lands through the Erdtree roots, harming Marika’s Order. Though this does raise some questions, especially if Marika did have some role in the Night of the Black Knives. And also, technically wouldn’t Godwyn make more sense if he was born uncursed? Also, technically Godrick’s lineage could be argued to have been born without any curses, though that line of lineage would curse themselves much later in life through grafting. After all, Godrick’s body pre-grafting is that of an old man, and he was able to disguise himself as a woman fleeing Leyndell. Grafting seems to be something passed down from his ancestors up to Godfrey and perverted through time, likely since he couldn’t match up to Godwyn himself. And wouldn’t Godwyn being uncorrupted from birth also help tie him to his Norse inspirations, like how he could arguably be compared to Baldur from Norse myth? A golden child of a God that cared for him immensely only to be killed off by a leaf/plant? We know Norse mythology did have an influence on Elden Ring’s lore.

I just thought of something. You know the cathedral in the DLC where Ymir is? It's called Cathedral of Manus Metyr. Manus = hand in Latin, while Metyr is self explanatory. Metyr is the name of the creature that lives underneath the cathedral. But what about it's Liurnian counterpart at the Moonlight Altar, Cathedral of Manus Celes? If we go by the same formula then wouldn't Celes be the name of Ranni's two fingers considering they live underneath the cathedral, making them the only two fingers in the game with a (known) name? Ranni's two fingers are also a lot bigger than the ones at Roundtable Hold so maybe Empyrean two fingers are special, more powerful and deserving of unique names? Do all fingers have names or is that exclusive to really important finger creatures such as Metyr or Empyrean two fingers?

So godwyn is basically Nito the first death ☠️

I really like the cursed Godwyn theory it makes a lot of sense that Godwyn may of been suffering from deathblight before his death. Perhaps his “golden” description was just kind of a facade and he was rotting underneath the surface, just like Leyndell and the Erdtree.

WAIT GODWYN CAN FIGHT BACK?!

I just realized that the Knight of the black knives makes ganking canonical smh

Godwyn doesn't lose He just keeps wynning

I don't think he was born cursed, but I do find myself agreeing that he must have had a change of heart and fully accepted his role as prince of death. In the lore Godwyn has been shown to be a Chad, not just a Chad in fact, but a Gigachad. I haven't found a single instance of Godwyn treating an individual cruelly or unjustly in any of the in game texts I found so I think it's very plausible that he sympathized with these people who were being brought back to the land of the living and immediately persecuted. One of the interpretations I've always had for his name "Godwyn the Golden" anyway is that he was a shining example of what a demigod should be rather than just a symbol of the Golden Order. The Golden Order is cruel and sees nothing wrong with tormenting and cruelly punishing their enemies, but Godwyn doesn't do that. Godwyn befriends Fortissax and probably all other Ancient Dragons not only because he kicked their asses, but because he treated them with dignity and fairness after achieving his victory. Being stuck in a state where all he can really do is observe, Godwyn has had nothing but time to watch the persecution of those who live in death and to me it just sounds like something Godwyn would do after spending god knows how long watching the kind of suffering the Golden Order inflicts upon his people.

Ranni, Rykard and Radahn were not cursed from birth. They are Marikas children since Radagon is Marika. Every demigod is directly spawned by Marika but not all are cursed from birth, so Godwyn could very well be born without a curse.

The second lion dancer is near or on top of a deathroot, that's why it seems to be using deathblight. You can find hidden Godwyn roots in a few places.

I'm honestly glad that someone pointed out why Godwyn can't come back properly and backed it up more than the standard reason of the rune of death.

KZfaqrs saying melina isn't messmers sister because it's NOT confirmed are honestly beyond coping and stupid. How could the game be anymore up front cmon. Things can be confirmed without saying it out right you ninny

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="730">12:10</a> Miquella made his vow when Godwynn was still alive because it was before the Shattering when the Promised Consort was still Young

Something to note: Morgott and Mogh's curses may not have been that they were Omen, but that they were both touched by the Formless Mother. Morgott is the only other Omen besides Mogh who uses bloodflame, which suggests that were either of them Empyreans, they could have become gods of blood akin to Malenia.

Finally, I don't Miquella had given up on Godwyn. In Castle Sol, after the boss of the castle, you find a spirit who says: "Lord Miquella, forgive me. The sun has not been swallowed. Our prayers are lacking. Your comrade remains soulless…I will never set my eyes upon it now… Your divine Haligtree." Maybe Miquella just never told Castle Sol that he was giving up on that scheme, but to me it seems more like they had failed. I'm kinda sad about how lacking the eclipse lore is to be honest. It's super intriguing that an Eclipse in the Elden Ring universe might have the power to bring back a soul from Destined Death or at least grant life to soulless bones.

The last part of the video is such a huge revelation on Godwyn and Miquella's changing agendas that i'm just astonished by it, it makes perfect sense. I'm not sure if Godwyn really had the Death Blight before his death, but regardless of that, the rest of the theory you present makes perfect sense, Godwyn seems to be conscious in Death, even without a soul, and he seems to now favor those who live in death, just like he favored the Ancient Dragons when he forgave Fortisaxx, which explains why Godwyn's Death Knights seem to protect his faces and also still wield Ancient Dragon Lightning.

Miquella: Don't worry Godwyn! I'm going to grant you a true death! Godwyn, blinking: Actually, these dead guys are my boys, and I kinda like being the Elden Ring equivalent of the Lich King. Miquella: Damn it! Onto Radahn! Excellent work once again! As a Special Ed teacher, I loved the connection to speech pathology. Great job bringing it back to his tolerance of the dragons, too.

I always thought the other children where legit jealous of Godwyn as he was seen as the perfect one.

i feel almost like godwyn being conscious and aware of everything that's happening in the lands between and to his own body is almost more nightmarish than him being mindless alongside being soulless.

I love Godwyn's idea. The one thing that reminds me of Godwyn is the movie Super Mario Bros where the king was turned into a mushroom and as a mushroom his fungus covered the land.

Whats interesting is the night of the black knives is sort of like beginning of Ragnarok. A prized son thought to be immortal killed in a deceptive manner. Ranni would be loki

Dude your lore videos and speculation just hits different. Thanks for all your hard work and contributions.

one connection I've not seen anyone make is that the omen powers (the non blood ones) look identical to the golden death powers (the ones that deal deathblight instead of cold damage)

The Diving Bell & The Butterfly is such an amazing underrated book & movie. I urge anyone who feels like life is not worth living, alone, unappreciative, depressed, or even on top of the world to watch it. It can change your perspective and I think it's a perfect metaphor for Godwyn being locked-in.

i don't think godwyn was born from godfrey he was born of the boughs of the erdtree, probably as all the souls (grace) get sucked up to become a lord, like death bed companions or jar saints, and used the golden egg to birth him, it's why we never see his legs, and probably why he wasn't cursed wasn't a true birth, hes like a golden alburnric or a sweetling, we see all artificial life loses use of its legs has anyone pointed out jars in the main game gold and red and male, the ones in the dlc are silver and blue and female, also in boney village the men are crying at the loss of the women, in windmill village the women are skinning men and having a party, seems to be hinting at duality, not sure how it fits, interesting and i doubt its on accident must have some kinda meaning

The thing is, Godwyn is the only child of Marika whose name starts with G, like Godfrey

Unless there's a Von Erich curse thing going on, I think it's silly to think of everyone's curses as being Marika's original sin because they're all disperate. Miquella's eternal youth isn't a curse, he can not age because he's constantly leaking rejuvinating dew everywhere. Which could explain why he does seem to visibly age once he abandons his flesh. Malenia was chosen from birth to be a vessal of the Scarlet Rot, an Outer God that's also a mystical plague, not anything innate to her. Omenhood is not a curse, it's what life before the Erdtree looked like, only Marika's prosecution of them makes people think they're cursed. If Godwyn was cursed with deathblight the whole time, someone would have noted it. He'd be Godwyn the My God! Good Sir, your legs have fused into a mermaid tail of rotting tree branches!, not Godwyn the Golden.

Seems to me that Godwyn wasn't initially into the whole "Duskborn" ending but becoming the Prince of Death left his soulless body unable to do much else. Wether Godwyn decided to seek the Duskborn age or was left with no other choice is hard to say.

Here’s my theory: Godwyn was actually cursed by the Crucible, his lower body being a fish like mermaids. The Crucible does not only manifest with horns, but also scales and wings. Godwyn was not viewed as cursed because Marika only hated those with Horns due to her past. Godfrey/Marika children seems to be only the affected by this, while Radagon/Marika children were cursed by the Outer Gods. Some “Death” Outer God probably took over Godwyn’s body as it is now vacant due to his soul dying. This “Death” Outer God existed long before Marika’s reign as Death Sorceries are known to be long forgotten rites. I think the Outer Gods are not from a foreign place or realm but concepts that have been pushed “out” by the Golden Order. Death, Rot, and Blood should not have been foreign to begin with. Also here a funny thought: Rings of Spectral Light (A Death Sorcery) -> Discus of Light (Gifted to Radagon by Miquella) -> Radagon’s Rings of Light(Is in the Golden Order Principia)

I love how this community keeps coming up with new interesting lore theories! Great vid man!

Godwyn curse was being mortal, thats why he was the choice of the black knifes, he was vunarable.

Garrulous Goldmask so peak as always damn. I kinda wish we could mix and match different mending runes and create unique endings.

I always thought your theories where good, but this one blows it out of the park. Ill subscribe now lol

Mawika

The cursed children thing reminds me of Game of Thrones; Cersei being cursed to watch her children die etc. Curses can come in many forms. I feel Godwyn's curse is primarily one of irony. He was supposedly the perfect god who did no wrong. He was noble, kind-hearted, courageous and beloved. Yet his death wasn't honorable, it was perhaps one of the most treacherous things that can happen to someone of his character. He was killed in the dead of night in a plot by his own kin, who murdered his soul. Ansbach even suggests that forsaking the soul is an extremely humiliating act. It sounds like Godwyn was perhaps a Robb Stark of this universe, and the Night of Black Knives was his Red Wedding. Kind of like how Radahn was a warrior who likely wanted a true and honorable death in battle. Yet the Scarlet Rot forced his body and mind to become a mindless undying zombie and when we killed it, his soul just went straight in service to Miquella where I imagine he was still not wholly free. Tragic irony.

He finished shadow of the uurdtri

Imagine trying to explain <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="142">2:22</a> - <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="187">3:07</a> to someone who doesn't know Elden Ring 😭😭

Him being cursed before dying doesnt make sense. Godwyn was the golden child aka perfect. Only time she had a relatively normal kid. Thats why shes breaks when hes killed. Every single one of her childrens were "defective" when compared to godwyn, to the point that marika chose a tarnished as lord rather then any of her kids

Just found your channel, pretty good!!! Awesome to find new and good lore videos!

I feel like godwynn might have been the scadutree avatar. Sunflower represents light, his moniker is “the golden”. The thorns, while not inflicting deathblight, seem to have deathblight-like visual effects. I think that Sunflower Godwynn was there to protect miquellas great rune

While Godwyn may retain intelligence, I think he's still dead. A soul is pretty much the essence of your being, your identity. When Mohg's soul is forsaken, his body becomes an empty husk for Radahn to fill. Godwyn perished in soul alone, and while his body and maybe a mind still live, it's not really Godwyn anymore. Whoever Godwyn really was, his personality, etc, that's all gone. The flesh lives on, and maybe the mind too, but without a soul, it would surely be a husk of a person, a zombie. Slime molds are interesting organisms since they form neural pathways and structures similar to animals with brains. Some slime molds can learn and have been shown to make decisions in laboratory experiments. That's rather like thinking or having a mind, yet the slime mold is a very primitive imitation of an actual mind, its "intelligence" being closer to a computer than a living thing. My point is, I think Godwyn is a similar case. We know his flesh/body is still alive. Whether he still has a cognitive mind is debatable, but there's definitely an argument to be made. Still, the Rancorcall to defend Fia could be something done instinctively or without thought. Our brains and computers are not so different. What separates an AI from a real human is that we have souls, and I don't mean that in any spiritual sense. We have identities, creativity, imaginations, and traits that define us and separate us from all being the same. The brain can think and the body can move all it wants, but without the actual individual who's piloting it, that mind and flesh would be more like a zombie or AI program than a living person. I think most sensible people would describe AI art as "soulless" since it lacks the creativity and unique imagination of a real, living human. It's art made by a computer that lacks a soul and is not really alive. Prince of Death Godwyn is that AI program, literally "soulless," thinking and acting but lacking the actual human behind the actions. In any case, no matter what life and intelligence that thing retains, it is not Godwyn the Golden anymore. Whoever Godwyn was before died on the Night of the Black Knives. So, in my opinion I think pre-assassination Godwyn and Prince of Death Godwyn should be treated as two different beings with different identities and goals. The person piloting the mind and body of the original Godwyn died, and now the mind and body are on autopilot, lacking any human aspects. I think one of the best real-life comparisons to Godwyn would be a virus. "Viruses are considered by some biologists to be a life form, because they carry genetic material, reproduce, and evolve through natural selection, although they lack the key characteristics, such as cell structure, that are generally considered necessary criteria for defining life. Because they possess some but not all such qualities, viruses have been described as 'organisms at the edge of life' and as replicators." - Wikipedia article about viruses (the info here is good despite Wikipedia not always being reliable, as this info is in line with the biology classes I've had) I think Godwyn is basically a virus, an "organism at the edge of life" as it were. The way his eyes and surrogate cadavers replicate endlessly and infect everything is very similar to a cancer or virus, and I think that comparison is intentional. Cancer and viruses don't have souls or minds, they're more like a computer program. Prince of Death Godwyn is much the same, as all he does is replicate and spread death. Does he protect Fia out of love, because he's conscious and retains human emotions? Or does he protect Fia in the same way a virus protects a cell through lysogeny? "Lysogeny is characterized by integration of the bacteriophage nucleic acid into the host bacterium's genome or formation of a circular replicon in the bacterial cytoplasm. In this condition the bacterium continues to live and reproduce normally, while the bacteriophage lies in a dormant state in the host cell." That last sentence is key, since I think that's what Fia and Godwyn's relationship is. Godwyn uses Fia as basically a host cell to transmit his death and replicate further. Perhaps since Fia dies in the end the relationship would be more comparable to the lytic cycle, where the host cell explodes and the new baby viruses swarm out of its ruptured corpse, basically. Fia lays with Godwyn, gestates and gives birth to the Rune of the Death Prince, and dies, presumably during the birth. That rune is basically the viral genome that is the catalyst for spreading and replicating, as putting the rune into the Elden Ring would presumably cause the Prince of Death's essence to spread to everything, maybe without needing Deathroot anymore. Deathroot gets the job done, but the Prince of Death's influence is seemingly slow and hasn't taken over on the same magnitude of the Scarlet Rot in Caelid. Relying on the tree roots to spread is fine, but using Fia as a means to spread quickly and completely would be most optimal, which is why he protects her. He doesn't love her, she's just the most optimal path for his replication. Dusk is a time that has some qualities of day but also some of night, which I think speaks to what the Age of the Duskborn is, more specifically Godwyn's nature as the Prince of Death. Godwyn has qualities of a living being (his still living flesh and mind) but also lacks some qualities of living things (a soul and conscience) that make his existence hard to categorize as alive or not alive, much like a virus - a being on the edge of life, the sun on the edge of night (dusk). One final note: lysogeny could explain Godwyn having deathblight before the assassination. In lysogeny the host cell continues to exist normally, but with the virus genome dormant inside it, waiting to replicate. Perhaps Godwyn always had undeath lying dormant within him, which is why he doesn't appear afflicted from the outside and no one would have known. His death was maybe the trigger for the deathblight to activate, for the viral genome to wake up and start replicating alongside the host cell. Sorry for writing so much, but I kept having more thoughts and felt like I had to write it all down lol.

Ranni's ending getting more and more likeable over time. That said I'll buy part of this. Specifically the "Alive but soulless" theory. It also makes sense in that death stuff requires INT/FTH and no ARC to operate. Same stat build, but Order vs Death. Same person, different skills.

Well I did no know about the Godwyn attack. The more you know.

They still have so much potential for a 2nd dlc with Godwyn. Since his soul is dead someone could still take over his body as that part of him is still living.

lol I always killed D immediately after he killed Fia, never even occurred to me to attack her. WHY DIDNT GODWYN STOP HIM

Very good another amazing speculation video, keep it coming.

Among all of the lore channels, you are the only one that actually makes sense 100%. Subscribed.👍

I can't believe that out of this entire video, i was most surprised by Melina being Messmer's sister... So she's the Gloam eyed?

Godwyn more like godLOSE lmao (ill see myself out)

Imagine Godwyn was alive all along but wore the mask/identity of the Dung Eater? I thought it was strange that when you progress the Dung Eaters quest, one of the lines he says is "my fate was the grandest, the most brilliant of them all!"

One theory I had is that Miquella's eclipse was his attempt to bring about the age of the Duskborn. The eclipse image is very similar to the mending rune of death, said to be Godwyn reborn. Perhaps he lacked the cursemark, and changed his plans to pursue godhood

I'm still mad we dont actually see an animated godwyn prince of death, let alone fight him.

Imagine if the reason why Ranni severed Godwyn’s soul from his body so he will not suffer a painful death from death blight (because there is no cure other than dying and being born anew with a different body much like what happens with us, the Tarnished). Maybe she respected him, and thus killed him that he may not also suffer from being another tool by Marika’s skewed propagandas; only to have been declined and so came the night of black knives. To top it off, Godwyn may have planned to disobey his mother since he wants to return death back into the world. And that she does not seek to fight her. Ranni may have known this, and thought of a plan where Godwyn will not witness his mother look at him with disdain.

We already fought Godwyn or G-wyn in dark souls.

Wow I never even heard someone else bring up D, the bringer of death and his twin. That’s a really compelling argument to be made

Are you sure the second dancing lion gives off death blight? When I played the dancing lion was surrounded by the death lizards. Once me and a friend killed them…there was no death near the dancing lion.

YOU JUST LIT A CANDLE TO MY THEORY. Miyazaki didnt want godwyn&miquella duo boss even tho he first considered it. Why? Because it would be too much like lordran and lothric. First of all, theyre two golden boys, blonde and radiant, and their primary powers are light, and light(ning). I believe from a game design standpoint miyazaki wanted something more contrasting and didnt want the screen to be filled with too many similar visuals, he wanted the duo boss characters to be heavily contrasting, complimenting eachother uniquely. Your theory that godwyn was always cursed and essentially crippled from the waist down makes complete sense, as it would then literally be a lothric twin princes clone fight

Promised Consort “Should’ve been Godwyn” Retcon-Radahn

I also have to disagree about the idea that Godwyn's presence implies something about the timeline... The Suppressing Pillar at the center of the Shadow lands states: ""The very center of the Lands Between. All manners of Death wash up here, only to be suppressed." Combined with the lore of the Cerulean Coast and the fact that killing Radahn is required to enter the DLC, it is implied that despite how well hidden this place is, Death is attracted here inevitably.

Also Ensha and this black and gold armor mixed with bone seeeeem sooooo related

a) Messmer didn't invade the lands of shadow until after Godwyn was born, and we've known since base game that Miquella and Malenia were cursed because they were born of a single god, not because of the Empyrean Grandam. The entire premise for you to theorize that Godwyn had deathblight before dying is flawed from root to stem. b) Godwyn's entire characterization is ABOUT being Marika's only child that wasnt cursed. This theory is......just obnoxious for a lore tuber to come out with. There's no reason for it. There are so many actual mysteries, why invent one that's not there...? Like...come on man.

That guy is not alive i tell you

Not all demigods are cursed: Godfrey was the first Elden Lord in the Golden Order Era but he came from the Crucible Era, and for this reason two of his three children he had with Marika were omens, labeled by the Mother Tree as "wrong" and therefore persecuted, but in the DLC we learn that horns were once a symbol of the divine. The three demigods that Radagon had with Rennala were all healthy, including Radahn who had no curses and was the strongest of all, Ranni who was an empyrean and also without curses and for Rykard there is no evidence that he had curses himself, he was just a little blasphemous. The only demigods who have these imposing curses are Messmer, Melina, Malenia and Miquella, all born from Marika and Radagon who are the same person and for this reason somehow linked to the deadly sin that is often mentioned when talking about them. also Godwyn is often described as the one who was closest to perfection, and the fact that he died in soul but not in body reflects the dynamics of undeath. I may be missing some details but this is the idea I have

Whoa, I never knew about the attacking Fia interaction, that's pretty damn important. I wondered the same thing about the Godwyn faces in the DLC. I was honestly really hoping for Godwyn to come back in the DLC in some form, but the only mentions of him are in the items and catacombs you showed. It feels like a HUGE loose thread, but with Godwyn and the gloam eyed queen, theres plenty of material for a sequel I guess. I think this all makes great sense, but not all of Marika's children were cursed. Radahn and Ranni seemed to make out ok initially. Not sure what it changes, if anything though

really cool note that great runes seem to be able to be birthed (maybe there’s some symbolism there too) - like Fia’s and Dung Eater’s runes. the implications of that for the other great runes might be something to look into 😳

All of Marika's children are cursed in some way except for Godwyn which is why his death is all the more tragic.

I am seeing some people pointing out that Godwyn having a afliction of Death dulls part of the story where Godwyn being "The Golden Child" the first Perfect and only child of Marika Is the First one that Dies is beyond tragic. Having said afliction just makes this weaker; However, I want to point out that Gransax has no wound; All Other dragons that fought someone or something have wounds: Greyoll is Rotting Placidusax lost 3 Heads BAYLE lost an Arm and a Leg The Drake on Charon's Grave Has a Stone Spear through his chest The ancient Dragons of the Dragon Cult churches around the Game all are mutilated Gransax has nothing?! Nothing! It's like he fell form the sky attaking Leyendel and Died?! There is something wrong there

My theory is that Godwyn helped Marika remove the Destined Death with his power of death blight, and in exchange Marika 'sealed' his curse of blight, which made him the golden child with no curse. When the destined death killed his soul, the curse came back and started eating away at his body, which Fortissax tries to fight to remove. There is probably an outer god for Death Blight as well which chose Godwyn as a vessel.

The hornsent granam curse seems to be specific. Since Radagons kids weren't born cursed. Also what if Godwyns father is Hoara Loux and not godfrey since Hoarah Loux was closer to the crucible than godfrey who is more aligned with marikas golden order

So tempted to make a Necromancer now.

For the sake of arguing, the only children of Marika that are truly cursed are those born out of Marika's union with Radagan (so herself). You could argue that being born Omen is a curse, but Godwyn, Ranni, Radahn and Rykard were all born without a curse to my knowledge. Maybe Ranni would be an exception because she was an empyrean, but is that a curse ? Based on the offsprings of Rennala and Radagon being mostly without curse, I feel like it's likely that godwyn did not have a curse.

So it could be that Godwyn's Body and Spirit are simply different entities at this point because only his spirit was slain meaning his body lived and the traces of what was left coalesed into a new being the Prince of Death, who is but also isn't Godwyn and that could easily just be why Miquella doesn't join him

His curse could likely be being a merman. Perhaps having a fish tail was seen as something less cursed than other things. Like he points out we never see his lower body.

Never thought about Godwyn be conscious... damn, that's messes up.

first: the Haligtree holds none who live in death, but they also hold Wraiths, who are conceptually very close to those who live in death, as both are beings who would once again live after dying. secondly: the Haligtree may not have held those who live in death due to their inherent ties to death root, which may have spread from death and subsequently corrupted the tree. i will say, it is rather interesting that the assassins who killed Godwyn, the Black Knives, can be found guarding the candles shielding the Haligtree's entrance

I would like to point out two things that work well with your theory that i just realized recently. A.) The royal remains armor speaks about a soulless lord called ensha B.) Their are both worm faces and ancient beast men who live in death in farum azula, but no deathroot as far as i am aware. I think deathblight existed before godwyn was even born, and the base game substantiates it. Godwyn inherited deathblight in the same way malenia inhereted rot. And beings like godwyn have exsisted that filled a similiar role. Of course i could be wrong and there is actually deathroot in farum azula that im unaware of

Godwyn’s curse is that his spirit was slain but his body still lives because Marika removed the rune of death. Conversely, Ranni slayed her mortal flesh in order to free her spirit, which is what we’re actually talking to when we speak to Ranni. But this is why the wounds marked on their bodies are called “curse marks”.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="548">9:08</a> In 600 hours, I've never once tried to do it

Not going to lie, I think Crumbling Farum Azula was actually a towering city similar to Enir-Ilim that likely hovered over the Jagged Peaks of the DLC, but when Marika cast the veil over the land of shadow (which is supposedly directly in the middle of what we know as the lands between, in that huge portion in the center, so the Jagged Peaks would be very close) Dragonlord Placidusax would have been far enough not to get caught in it, and likely would have been retreating to the storm beyond time after Bayle destroyed his city. I think the Jagged Peaks is where it would hover if Land of Shadow was on the main map

When I first learned of the theory that Godywn was afflicted with deathblight before the night of the black knives it was such a mind-blown kind of moment. I still think it’s one of the best and under looked lore theories! Great video