Godwyn the Golden |
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| Location | Deeproot Depths |
| Role | Deceased Demigod |
| Voiced by | N/A |
Godwyn the Golden is a background character in Elden Ring. He was a demigod and the firstborn son of Queen Marika the Eternal and Godfrey the First Elden Lord. In the Night of the Black Knives, he was assassinated by Black Knife Assassins with the use of daggers imbued with the Rune of Death, stolen from Maliketh, the Black Blade. His death would precipitate the Shattering, a war between the demigods which would be responsible for much of the current state of the Lands Between.
The rune of death was stolen. And the demigods began to fall, starting with Godwyn the Golden.
- Intro
Godwyn was a scion of the so-called "Golden Line", of which Godrick the Grafted was the final descendant. Early in his mother's divine reign, the Erdtree came under assault by the Ancient Dragons, who had ruled the world before Marika's ascent. The forces of the Erdtree managed to triumph against the ancient dragons, with Godwyn prevailing against the dreaded Fortissax, earning the mighty dragon's friendship in the process.
Seeking to be free from her fate as a pawn of the Greater Will, Godwyn's half-sister Lunar Princess Ranni stole a fragment of the rune of death, imbuing the weapons of Numen assassins with the rune. Ranni wished to shed her Empyrean body but preserve her spirit, which meant that someone else's spirit would need to die. Nevertheless, when the assassins fell upon the Royal Capital and murdered Godwyn, his soul was destroyed and left only his soulless body behind. He was the first demigod in history to die since the ascension of Marika to the throne of the Lands Between.
Godwyn's death would be the catalyst for the Shattering of the Elden Ring, plunging the kingdom into chaos without the guidance of the Greater Will. Due to Ranni's ritual, Godwyn's flesh was branded with half of the Cursemark of Death and he became the first of Those Who Live in Death. His body was laid to rest deep in the roots of the Erdtree, but it would eventually corrupt it, leading Deathroot to sprout across the Lands Between, causing others to also rise in undeath. These undead worshipped Godwyn as the Prince of Death, believing he would eventually return and lead them. An aspect of Godwyn's corpse appeared in the depths of Stormveil Castle and is responsible for the loss of Rogier's legs. Many figures, including his half-brother Miquella and his companion Fortissax, tried to cure him of his condition and allow him a proper death (see Golden Epitaph), but to no avail. Fortissax would also become corrupted because of his failure to defeat the Death within Godwyn (see Remembrance of the Lichdragon).
The deathbed companion Fia would become a leading figure among Those Who Live in Death, eventually making her way to Godwyn's corpse. Having received the other half of the cursemark from Ranni's discarded body with help of the Tarnished, Fia lay with Godwyn to grant him a second life as the Prince of Death. As a result of their union, Fia conceived a rune, which a Tarnished seeking to become Elden Lord might use to mend the Elden Ring, reimbuing the principle of death within the Golden Order.
Godwyn the Golden Location in Elden Ring
The corpse of Godwyn the Golden can be found at
Godwyn the Golden Notes & Trivia
- There is a statue in the Haligtree of an adult figure hugging the twin empyreans Malenia and Miquella. This is most likely Godwyn as the crown is too dissimilar to Marika's. Based on the available information, Godwyn was likely to have had a close relationship with the twins.
- Godwyn's face appears on the back of some crabs.
Godwyn the Golden Lore
Lore Items Related to Godwyn the Golden
Golden Epitaph
A sword made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, first of the demigods to die.
Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death."
Cursemark of Death
Cursemark carved into the discarded flesh of Ranni the Witch. Also known as the half-wheel wound of the centipede.
This cursemark was carved at the moment of Death of the first demigod, and should have taken the shape of a circle.
However, two demigods perished at the same time, breaking the cursemark into two half-wheels.
Ranni was the first of the demigods whose flesh perished, while the Prince of Death perished in soul alone.
Remembrance of the Lichdragon
Remembrance of Lichdragon Fortissax, hewn into the Erdtree.
The power of its namesake can be unlocked by the Finger Reader. Alternatively, it can be used to gain a great bounty of runes.
After Godwyn the Golden became the Prince of Death, the ancient dragon fought long and hard against the Death within its companion. Alas, victory was never achieved and its only reward was corruption.
Death Lightning
Incantation that channels the power of the ancient dragon Fortissax, now corrupted by Death.
Strikes surroundings with a storm of Death lightning.
Inflicts Death blight upon foes.
Charging extends duration of the storm.
It is said that this golden lightning was wielded by Godwyn, who befriended Fortissax.
Lightning Spear
One of the incantations of the capital's ancient dragon cult. Summons a lightning spear and hurls it before the caster.
Charging causes a lightning bolt to strike the point of impact.
Long ago, Godwyn the Golden defeated the ancient dragon Fortissax, and befriended his fallen foe — an event that gave rise to the ancient dragon cult in the capital.
Black Knife
Dagger once belonging to one of the assassins who murdered Godwyn the Golden on the Night of the Black Knives.
A ritual performed on the oddly misshapen blade imbued it with the power of the stolen Rune of Death.
Prince of Death's Pustule
A fetid pustule taken from facial flesh. Raises vitality.
It is said that this pustule came from the visage of the Prince of Death, he who used to be called Godwyn. As First Dead of the demigods, it's said he's buried deep under the capital, at the Erdtree's roots.
Prince of Death's Cyst
A fetid, overgrown cyst taken from facial flesh. Greatly raises vitality.
It is said that this cyst came from the corrupted visage of one unable to die a true Death. Indeed, it comes from the Prince of Death, scion of the golden bough and First of the Dead among the demigods.
Death Flare
Set the lusterless sun ablaze with the Prince of Death's flames, inflicting the death ailment upon foes.
Follow up with an additional input to bring down the armament, triggering an explosion.
Lhutel the Headless
Legendary ashen remains. Use to summon the spirit of Lhutel the Headless.
Spirit of a headless knight who leads the mausoleum soldiers. Wields a lance enrobed in Death and hurls spectral lances at foes.
Lhutel sacrificed her life so that in Death she could continue to protect a soulless demigod until their revival, earning her the hero's honor of Erdtree Burial.
Death Knight's Twin Axes
Golden war axes of the Death Knight. A pair of weapons made to be wielded in both hands.
Crackles with lightning, the power of the capital's ancient dragon cult.
The knight, once the personal guard of Godwyn, was also the protector of the Prince of Death's cadaver surrogate.
Godwyn the Golden Gallery
AnonymousMoral of the story: don't kill local Chads, it all goes downhill from there.
Literally everyone has nothing but praise for him, even his enemies. Dude could befriend anyone if he wanted to and he gets an end like THAT?
Absolutely despicable.
- Anonymous
Golden epitaph description: "O lord brother, lord brother, please die a true death"
Miquella never wanted Godwyn to be his consort. Destined death had killed him completely. He wanted Godwyn to die a "true death" and not be ressurected. It just wouldn't make sense if Godwyn suddenly came back. If his death triggered the shattering, it would have been pointless if Godwyn could return. Marika would have shattered the Elden Ring for nothing.
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They should have done a reskin of twin princes with a trololol song remix as the theme.
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Imagine being killed by a bunch of edgelords wearing hoods and daggers... My boy godwyn deserved better
- Anonymous
That close-up of his eye is horrifying, lol. Practically a jump-scare when I scrolled down.
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Missed opportunity. Still don't know much about him after the dlc. What weapon did he use ? I wonder what kind of relationship he had with Vyke
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I am glad we got prime radahn instead of Godwyn. So cool.
- Anonymous
Headcannoning a cool Godwyn boss fight do good when ain't got a ***** in ya ear telling you it doesn't make sense
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I agree with the others that it would of been cool to face some eldritch abomination form of Godwyn with Miquella as the final boss.
Sure, Godwyn soul was killed, but imagine if Miquella was doing what others were doing before him and was trying to resurrect him. So you encounter Godwyn not as his former self, but some hallowed, decaying, grotesque corpse, with Miquella puppeteering and controlling him.
Would make for a cool contrast between this (supposedly) kindly/holy-like saint (Miquella) and the sheer depravity & horror of him being adjacent to this horror he has turned Godwyn into.
- Anonymous
>Be Godwyn
>die
>Extra dead
>Body still alive, but no soul to inhabit it
>people tried to bring you back multiple times (Erdtree burial, Eclipse)
>They always fail
>Have a storyline in the base game
>Storyline is concluded in the base game
>No margin for error
>Story's over
>Get a dedicated ending in the base game because of the story
>
>Elden Ring "fans" wanted you to be the final boss for the DLC despite the fact that your soul is deader than a doornail, and your body already had its own complete questline that would get invalidated by this.
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Godwyn not being the DLC final boss is what you get when GRRM touches a story.
- Anonymous
I thought about this, and then it hit me. The next DLC or expansion is most likely related to the Latenna questline and Fia. I believe that what Latenna delivers to the giant Albinauric woman is a copy of Godwyn's soul in the Apostate Derelict.
As Latenna says, "Oh young yet towering sister of ours. Let the birthing droplet in. And create life. For us. For all the Albinaurics."
It's the one area where players cannot use their weapons to attack an NPC. Similar to Miquella's cocoon..
- Anonymous
Idk, I kinda wish after the DLC final boss we can like go back to time and talk to godwyn when he was still alive and play some chess.
- Anonymous
Godwyn+Miquella should have been the final DLC boss. I don't care that his soul is "dead" or whatever. If they can recreate Radahn out of Mohg's body (lmao what) then they could of resurrected Godwyn.
Just imagine him in his rotting fish form like some kind of puppet using Deathblight attacks with those insane eyes and the juxtaposition with Miquella charging him up with those hax lightspeed powers and faith spells. It would of been incredible. We've been teased throughout the whole game with his face everywhere and in all likelihood we'll never get a fight with him.
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GodWIN not GodLOSE. Miquella marked his defeat when he chose Morgott's *****boy over GOD WIN.
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People really let their head canons get ahead of them before the DLC released. From posted some promo art of the new Curseblade enemies people thought it was Godwyn
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Where does it say that he is the son of Godfrey? for some reason i always thought that mohg and morgott were the only children of Godfrey
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Fromsoft during DLC: Best we could is 2 death knights (great bosses btw)
- Anonymous
How is Lunar Princess Ranni "Godwyn's half-sister"? They have totally different parents.
Godwyn = Marika + Godfrey
Ranni = Rennala + Radagon
So, she is Godwyn's step-sister.
- Anonymous
My brother, come join me
Miquella if godwyn was in the dlc probably
- Anonymous
This character is so dead, you cannot believe it. And then everyone is like "But maybe he's still alive" "Maybe you can reconstruct his soul" RECONSTRUCT WHAT? THERE'S NOTHING LEFT!
- Anonymous
The most significant part of Godwyn is out of all of Marika's children he was the only one NOT cursed with something (Miquella eternal youth, Malenia eternal rot, Mohg/Morgott omen, and Godrick body dysmorphia due to weakness). Feels far too significant for him just to be used as an origin for everything else going wrong.
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The next Expansion definitely needs to be about Fia and Godwyn.
The plot should be about Fia succeeding in her goal to grant Godwyn a second life as the Prince of Death (which would be a soulless being) and the Tarnished has to stop him from before he can spread Destined Death to the Lands Between.
- Anonymous
to anyone curious why Godwyn fails to return in the DLC, might I remind you that his soul is gone? There is nothing for Miquella to place in Mohg's body.
would've been cool, sure, but it would've broken the canon.
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It would have been cool if there was a quest to trigger the eclipse to happen in the dlc, which ends with fighting a grotesque version of Goldwyn.
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Am I the only one who thinks Godwyn looks like a basilisk, with the big eyes and fish tail? (Basilisks have fish tails in ER)
- Anonymous
Don't worry guys, Godwyn will totally return in the "Demigod of The First Sin" edition where he'll explode out from certain sites of grace and give you cool monologues about the lore of the world with a cool voice before going on to become the true final boss after Elden Beast. Miyazaki told me in a dream.
- Anonymous
Given context of the DLC, considering Godwyn have bodyguards (Deathknight) all around him, and the black knife assassins are all female Numen, the assassination can only happen when Godwyn are alone in a room with the assassins where the guards are not allowed to interfere.
To add it up, the event that he was slain is called the night of the black knives.
We can see Godwyn is the biggest chad in the entirety of the Lands Between.
- Anonymous
funny From teased us since the reveal trailer in 2019 but we NEVER got to see him alive
- Anonymous
TLDR: FromSoft dropped the ball by making Radahn the final boss instead of Godwyn.
Played through the DLC mostly blind, and discovering the death knights and all the Ghostflame enemies got me hyped that Godwyn was gonna play an integral part in the DLC. I read a lot of the item descriptions of new items, and when I found the Death Mask in Shadow Keep, I was certain Godwyn was gonna be resurrected.
Having now reached the final boss, all I can say is how did FromSoft **** it up this badly? Godwyn not only had far more ties to Miquella in the base game than Radahn, but there were plenty of breadcrumbs in the DLC hinting at his resurrection. Radahn just came out of nowhere, and is so out of place. His story was done with his base game fight, which was far more impactful than his appearance in the DLC.
The final boss as is isn’t the greatest, but my biggest complaint is that it simply should not have been Radahn, but Godwyn. Instead of the new lore regarding Miquella wanting Radahn and using a convoluted plot to get Radahn’s soul in Mohg’s body, just have him utilize the burning of the tree with Messmer’s Flame to bring back Godwyn, and use him as King Consort.
Another note, Godwyn absolutely can be revived. If Miquella is capable of putting one Demigod’s soul into a different Demigod’s Body, how hard would it be for him to simply put a different soul in Godwyn’s body? Or, better yet, keep the whole “puppeteer” aspect of Miquella by making Godwyn an actual, soulless puppet, only brought back to life to serve Miquella, without a soul or free will.
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Everyone: wheres godwyn??
Miyazaki: surprise! Elden ring 2!
- Anonymous
only this game would deliberately put the death knights who served godwyn even into his new unlife in the dlc and make the final boss radahn again just to cash in on a second long clip of malenia whispering in a story trailer from 3 years ago lmao
- Anonymous
The biggest mistake of the DLC was not giving this guy anything important, nothing about the Eclipse was elaborated on, nor the long-term effects of the growth and spreading of his corpse. Unless Fromsoft makes an Eelden Ring 2 (which is unlikely), godwyn's story will be a bunch of buildup that ends in nothing
- Anonymous
I will be honest, it's probably one of the biggest mistake of From Software to not make us fight him, let me explain :
There's a whole ritual that could revive him that miquella tried in the base game, and we know that miquella and godwyn had a strong relation
Godwyn is the typical tragic hero, he was one of the best guy in the lands between, but had a horrible death
First phase, prince of death, then, like Ludwig he comes back to his glory, and we fight Godwyn the Golden
And the worst thing is that, it doesn't mean that it should take the place of Radahn, I've read someone saying that, miquella wanted to bring Godwyn back, the Great Will don't agree, so they bring radahn back (because he's one of the biggest fanboy of Godfrey, is loyal to the golden order and is extremely strong) and THEN, we could use the portal (or the eclipse, or another thing) to bring back Godwyn and offer him a true death
So my question is, why? Why no Godwyn when we have his ****ing bodyguards in the dlc? I'm sure the dataminers will find interesting things on this, but this is the biggest blue balls I ever had
- Anonymous
Nah, this guy is going to be the “Artorias” of this series or som ****, even the story of Fortissax trying to save him is similar in concept to Sif trying to protect their masters grave
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If there was an item description detailing that the black knife assassin meant to kill Marika for the the death ritual but mistaken Godwyn for her and the damage was already done to fix it, then Marika suspecting that someone wants to take the whole elden ring from her potential dead corpse so she shattered it . That would solve so much IMO.
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only complaint of the DLC is we fight Radahn AGAIN and not this guy...
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Why does everyone say he was killed in Leyndell?
He was buried there as he was given Erdtree burial, but there's no proof it's where he died.
Wouldn't it make more sense if he died in Stormveil? There's the biggest vestige of his face there and Rogier talks about this as a relic of the night of the back knives
- Anonymous
I'm convinced Godwyn has played his role in the story of Elden Ring and that we'll see or hear no more of him in the main game or DLC. He served as a martyr and a catalyst for the shattering and that's it. We know his soul is dead and we see where his body is. I can't wrap my head around why so many people think we'll see more of him.
- Anonymous
He's a MacGuffin and an absolute nothingburger of a character. He dies to set the game's events in motion. That's it. There's nothing more here.
- Anonymous
Godwyns going to be the bad guy, he's an unknown and infects everyone in the story in someway, the gold trees powers tainted by him, perhaps he's at the core, the shadow realm, the extremes dark hard, or in our case, the darkside of the moon. His dream world. He could even have used this to taint everything faster for some reason, look at it as if Godwyn wasn't dumb or blind, but that the knives sank in when he needed to extend his touch. Think about it. Maybe he betrayed Miquella in this way, which would be quite a betrayal, we don't know exactly what any of these characters look like other then words, and words can be a manipulation. Just a thought.
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Remember guys, he lived in body while Ranni lived in soul. So Ranni cant feel but Godwyn is still suffering the blight, decay, the pain for who knows how many centuries..
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Did He and Mesmer fought against each other during the beginning to mid of the dragon wars?
If so, could be why Ranni, who didn't support the greater will, wanted to kill him off after Mesmer was banished to the shadow realm.
- Anonymous
i think we can all agree by now why godwyn of all demigods was chosen for the assassination was that because of his parentage/abilities on his own considering he beat fortissax by himself and ended the ancient dragon war, he would've been the best option to repair the elden ring besides a tarnished, which would've put almost everyone's plans on ice, right?
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Unbothered, undead, blackpilled, thriving, spreading roots, influencing, promoting equality. What a chad.
- Anonymous
does anyone know if the corpse in deeproot depth has the cursemark on his back?
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I wonder what Morgott and Mohg think about their brother. I doubt they've ever even just seen him, or for that matter other demigods, pre-Shattering, what to say about interacting with them, but there's two moments that I find interesting.
First would be the name of Mohg's dynasty. "Mohgwyn" seems to be a combination of his own name and Godwyn's. So, it seems that Mohg respected\loved Godwyn enough to, in a way, name his dynasty after him.
The second thing would be assault of the Volcano Manor. The battle was between forces of Leyndell and Rykard's army.
As we all know, Morgott is the king of Leyndell, so he could've sent the army to attack the Manor if it was needed. Another thing is, Rykard conspired with Ranni in the Night of the Black Knives, and was given Blasphemous Claw.
"On the night of the dire plot, Ranni rewarded Praetor Rykard with these traces. Should the coming trespass one day transpire, they would serve as a last-resort foil, allowing Rykard to challenge Maliketh the Black Blade, the black beast of Destined Death."
Mayhaps, Rykard was supposed to be the "frontman" for NotBK, who would take all the blame for it.
We know that Leyndell fights wars defensively, but this time, Leyndell was the agressor. I really see no apparent reason why Leyndell, which stayed defensive thorough the Shattering, would just suddenly go specifically after Rykard and Volcano Manor who didn't even tried to openly attack the capital yet. Look, vore fetishist's ambitions are no more blasphemous than those of other demigods, it's just that he made blasphemy his trademark.
Maybe the plot did became known, at least to Morgott, and the assault of Volcano Manor was retaliation for Rykard's part in Godwyn's assassination. Because, once again, I don't see any other reason for Morgott to send an army to Rykard's doorstep specifically.
So, yes, there is a certain basis to suggest that the twins did cared about Godwyn after all, despite the fact that they've probably never even seen him before he got assassinated.
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maybe he's like the optional boss in the dlc, like laurence, kalameet and midir.
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Dude was prolly an absolute unit before he died. I mean think about it godfrey is tall as **** and any of marika/radagon's children are for some bizzare reason always taller than the player character.
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I find it very funny how people are sad about him and sometimes even use his death as an excuse to hate Ranni, when he's such a non-character. Really, we know jack about the guy. He could have been an ******* in his life and we'd never know
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the shape of the eyes reminds me of the basilisks, and it would make sense if that connection was intentional given the shared thematic role of deathblight
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I like the theory that Marika actually conspired with Ranni, that she realised the error of taking out the rune of death and was dissatisfied with the Golden Order and the Greater Will. The Numen women who killed Godwyn were close to Marika, after all. Why would they betray her?
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Not my theory, but I saw someone say once that the reason there is two godwyns is the fact the erdtree is trying to “rebirth” him like what it would usually do for people being buried into the erdtree, but because there is no soul it’s reproducing a corpse over and over again, causing more death root to spawn in. Also thought it was interesting he has two physical bodies while ranni has two spiritual bodies.
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This dude is such a Chad that even after his death everyone wants him, whether it be his revenge or his claspers.
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my poor godwyn may we will see him in the DLC and may Ranni will pay for her crime !
- Anonymous
I like the hypothesis that Marika removed death from the Elden Ring and thus from the Lands Between thinking it to be nice for everyone or to feed/prolong the Erdtree. And eversince, "those who live in death" only exist because they lack the ability to actually die. They are an approximation of the death they have no concept of any longer. And since they're stuck existing and all that, they may as well advocate for themselves and do so in the game via Fia etc.
All things should die and Marika not letting that happen, messed with things. And as dogma tends to do, that which lay outside of it as a result of its very own practices, was branded unclean/unholy but isn't actually 'bad' in any real sense. As for why Ranni would want to conspire with the Black Knives to kill her half-brother, I would say its a double statement of "you took out the rune of death and it should be put back in and I'll use it to kill my body your first sons soul" and also I would conjecture, that Marika/The Fingers intended to have Ranni breed with Godwyn and so Ranni acted in pre-emptive self defence. That an Ranni sided with her mother, not her 'father-mother' given that Godwyn is kinda a blond Radagon or something. I don't know lol
What needs to happen is a restoration of the Elden Ring in a form much older and more complete - as seen in Farum Azula - with death intact. With as much of it intact as possible to restore 'reality' to its proper nature and function.
Maybe the Lands Between are even 'between' and so 'seperate' because there was once an Elden Ring that joined it to other 'places' but a piece of it was lost/removed and so the lands literally drifted away from other lands. Like the Land of Reeds and such?
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has anyone else noticed that the godwyn in deeproot has his head upside down? we never see his face pre-deeth, so was his nose just on his forhead?
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After fighting his third phase I have to wonder how 20 Black Knife Assassins were enough to subdue him
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Two characters I hoped I could save when starting this game: the hot blond guy from the intro (Godwyn) and the friendly wizard I met in Stormveil Castle. Haha yeah, that went well for both of them. :(
- Anonymous
Poor guy. Only decent demigod in the game. I wish we could restore his soul and give him a proper death or bring him back to life. Fia’s quest seemed so incomplete and unsatisfying.
- Anonymous
I've seen a theory that he was a merman before his death, explaining the huge amount of water around Leyndell and the fact that you never see his lower body pre-death. I think this theory is cool because merfolk are one of my favourite things
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"They're right behind me, aren't they?" -Godwyn The Golden
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I’m confused how tf did his body end up like it does when you go to Deeproot Depths?
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We will probably see and fight Godwin in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC
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I still haven't seen anyone give a proper explanation as to why Godwyn apparently has two separate corpses, one beneath Stormveil, and another beneath Leyndell.
Godwyn is basically the nameless king of this universe yet he got killed by a bunch of numen with spicy daggers?
- Anonymous
gg
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