Miquella is a background character in the original Elden Ring and who is central to the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. It is revealed that Miquella has stripped himself of his flesh and his Golden lineage before travelling to the Land of Shadow, a place obscured by the Erdtree and purged in an unsung war.
My brother will keep his promise. He possesses the wisdom, the allure, of a god - he is the most fearsome Empyrean of all." - Malenia
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Gameplay
Shadow of the Erdtree Release Date Trailer Impressions
Miquella's lore
Miquella, the brother of Malenia, is one of the Empyreans. Cursed to be perpetually a youth, he created the Haligtree to allow himself to grow to be an adult and to purge the rot from Malenia. This is after the realization that the Golden Order was unable to cure Malenia from the rot.
Before he could grow the Haligtree to its full potential, Miquella was stolen away by Mohg, Lord of Blood, in his cocoon form. Mohg wished to have Miquella elevated to godhood with himself as Miquella's consort. However, regardless of how much blood Mohg tried to share with Miquella, there was no response because Miqualla has in fact stripped himself of his flesh and travelled to the Land of Shadow.
Miquella has the ability to compel affection from others. This is referred to as terrifying in the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer. Perhaps this is why he is known as the most fearsome Empyrean. Nevertheless, Miquella’s Haligtree is known to provide shelter to those without grace, such as the Albinaurics and the Misbegotten. As the Sacred Crown Helm puts it through a rhetorical question, “Who is it that Miquella shall bless, if not the low and the meek?” He is said to be awaiting for a promised lord and will guide the Tarnished in the Land of Shadow.
Expansion Speculations
- Miquella is officially said to be awaiting for a promised lord. This, coupled with the official narration that Miquella will be the Tarnished’s guide in the Land of Shadow, suggests that Miquella is planning to ascend to godhood with the Tarnished as the lord or consort. As such, Miquella may be a friendly NPC rather than a foe.
- Messmer the Impaler is unlikely to be Miquella. This is supported by the fact that Messmer refers to Miquella in third person when he said that the Tarnished, like others, is keen to know what Miquella is up to in the Land of Shadow. Furthermore, Messmer hunts anyone who is stripped of the Erdtree’s grace, whereas Miquella protects and shelters those who are without grace (such as Albinaurics). The “Mother” that Messmer mentioned is more likely to be Marika, because he asked why Marika chose a Tarnished without the Erdtree’s grace to be a lord (likely referring to the Age of Fracture or similar endings involving the Tarnished becoming a lord or consort to Marika).
- A land that was severed from the Lands Between, the Land of Shadow may possibly correspond to the part of the Elden Ring sealed away by Marika to achieve immortality. The tree in the Land of Shadow is covered by shadowy veils and may represent the sealed part of the Erdtree. At the end of the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer, as Miquella raises his hand, the tree radiates with light and is no longer covered by the veils.
- The events in the Shadow of Erdtree likely occur in the present timeline and not in the past before the Erdtree came into being. This is because the Land of Shadow is a land that is overshadowed by the Erdtree (i.e., the Erdtree already came into existence).
- Towards the end of the trailer, the guiding voice said, “May we meet again”. We know based on official narration that Miquella will be the Tarnished’s guide in the Land of Shadow, but the Tarnished has never met Miquella. This may suggest that Miquella was guiding the Tarnished under the guise of Melina.
- Miquella is confirmed to have stripped himself of his flesh. This means that the physical body that Mohg was caring for in Mohgwyn Palace is nothing more than an empty shell. This is why Mohg received no response even with the constant pouring of blood into the body.
- One theory posits that Miquella bewitched Mohg to befoul Miquella’s physical body with omen blood so that Miquella can rid himself of his Golden lineage. This may explain Mohg’s unnatural obsession with Miquella witnessed through his own monologues at the Mohgwyn Palace.
Notes & Trivia
- Miquella's Needle can be used to purge the influences of an outer god.
- Miquella's Haligtree area is seen by the Albinaurics, an oppressed race of artificial beings, as the chosen land.
- There is an unnamed cut ending associated with Miquella, where at some point Miquella was supposed to say to the Tarnished, “If thou covetest the throne, Impress my vision upon thine heart. In the new world of thy making, all things will flourish, whether graceful, or malign.” The word “malign” is not an accurate translation of the Japanese text, which literally says “not-so-graceful”. Based on the original Japanese text, Miquella may be envisioning a new world where both the graceful and the not-so-graceful (like the unwanted Albinaurics and Misbegotten) would flourish.
- Cut content shows that Miquella is St. Trina of the Cradlesong, saint of slumber. "Finally, I have found it..... St. Trina's, no, Lord Miquella's cadaver... I have partaken of untold secrets….. Such that I may aid you, O Lord... So please, I hope you welcome your humble servant Rhico... Into your dream, the world of your heart...... Indeed, I beg you grant my wish, that when you transcend from empyrean to god, allow me a place by your side....." - Rhico, cut NPC
- Reference to Miquella’s world of dream can also be found in what appears to be Miquella’s cut monologue, “Young seedling, young seedling. Return to the bosom of earth. But remember well, Thou’rt mine. So shall I give of myself. This is for thee. Mine abundance, my drop of dew. Quench thy thirst, throughout thy frame. Blossom and burgeon, time and again. Grow larger, stronger. Until the day cometh. When thou canst share in my dream.”
- Cut content shows that Miquella's Great Rune is the Rune of Abundance. "Twinblade that contains the power of the Rune of Abundance. The holy power within the blade can call upon part of Miquella's own strength" - Abundance Twinblade
- Miquella's Rune of Abundance seems to be the opposite of Malenia's Rune of Rot.
- A cut quest shows that Miquella, under the guise of St. Trina, used to sing a lullaby to soothe the Frenzied Flame affliction of the Red Eyed Merchants, helping them to retain their personhood and prevent them from becoming "one".
- The current state of Miquella's physical body that Mohg stole can be seen in the cocoon. The physical body looks thin with misshapen skin. This, however, may not be reflective of Miquella's true state as he is said to be slumbering within the world of his dream, and a ghost from the Consecrated Snowfield said that Mohg stole the precious "flesh" (and not soul) of Miquella.
Anonymousfrom the dlc leak vid by yosuke kayugawa's son on bilibili
Phase 1: St. Trina of the Cradlesong
Phase 2: Miquella of the Haligtree
Phase 3: Miquella, God of the Eclipse
first phase is apparently a sleep gimmick fight.
- Anonymous
YALL I JUST CAME UP WITH A THEORYYYY- So what if the reason mikela went to the land of shadow was cuz he was having a Pibby glitch- LIKEEE- IF HE WAS POSSESSED BY PIBBY- Omg please add ideas in the comments below im leaking out of every crevice
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Since Miyazaki is a huge fan of Berserk and Miquella was trying to cause an eclipse to save Godwin, I wonder if in the dlc Miquella will have a form in reference to the God Hand like Void
- Anonymous
i propose that this comment section be locked for the week of the dlc's release
you know, just to be safe
- Anonymous
oh boy an androgynous character i am sure that gamers will be normal about them!
- Anonymous
I think Miquella already separated his soul from his flesh when he embedded himself into the Haligtree. His abandoned flesh was meant to be fertiliser to grow the Haligtree. But he has a more important mission in the Land of Shadow, maybe to release the sealed primordial Crucible.
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I just wanna TALK to this mf. Of all the crazy important characters in the game, Ranni is the only one we get to even speak with.
Just let me hear what this dude has to say, at least BEFORE I have to kill him (if we do fight)
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Miquella is Peepee the Poopoo. Just like Marika he can change his pee and poo.
(also Mesmer has red hair same as Radagon and Miquella has golden like Marika). Malenia's helm quotes :
"My brother will keep his poo. He possesses the pee, and the piss, of a god – he is the most fearsome Empyrean of all"
- Anonymous
Lore says we are meant to love this abomination, yet I only feel disgust.
- Anonymous
What if he steals torrent from us then to fly across a huge boss arena doing crazy tricks and backflips. We are on foot trying to catch him like in the Elden Beast fight.
Please FromSoftware, don't make me fight my beloved Miquella
- Anonymous
Miquella is Mesmer the impaler. Just like Marika he can change his appearance and gender.
(also Mesmer has red hair same as Radagon and Miquella has golden like Marika). Malenia's helm quotes :
"My brother will keep his promise. He possesses the wisdom, the allure, of a god – he is the most fearsome Empyrean of all"
- Anonymous
The speculation forgets a key point: in Elden Ring, two people can inhabit one body. Marika and Radagon are the prime example, and clearly had opposing views on the Elden Ring. Marika destroyed it, and Radagon tried (and failed) to fix it after the Sundering. It's possible this duality is the defining trait of an Empyrean, although that is yet to be proven.
Regardless, Messmer referring to Miquella in the third person doesn't mean much yet. They could potentially still be the same physical person with two different personalities.
- Anonymous
if he's got speaking lines but isn't voiced by harry lister-smith, i riot
- Anonymous
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She will 100% be the level up girl of the DLC or something similar, you're not ready for this conversation.
>b-b-b-but Mitsubishi said nothing about that in the interview!
Michael Zaki also said that Elden Ring would be 30 hours long when asked in the pre-release interview of ER in 2022, and you trust him? LOL. He loves to troll when they ask him about upcoming games soon to release.
- Anonymous
Welp, guys, I think Miquella is aiming for the Yaoi Route on this one.
*Unsheathes the sword of eternal nights.*
For Ranni.
- Anonymous
Now the question is can we take ranni to the shadow of the erdtree???
- Anonymous
your info is confusing me in the interviews for the DLC they are calling Miquella a she but your and other info call Miquella a he.
- Anonymous
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I feel like Miquella and Malenia are just a better version of Lothric and Lorian
The red hair guy is Messmer the Impaler. There is nothing suggesting that he is Miquella. So I removed the edits saying that the main antagonist in Shadow of the Erdtree is Miquella.
- Anonymous
Guys, you are missing a huge key detail, they have the DLC named as the SHADOW of the erdtree, BUT, the erdtree is illuminated with light all over it, so HOW can there be a Shadow to a source of light?, i think i cracked the ending way before it is released.
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Imagine Miquella getting inside an AC to fight us, it should at least be a mod someday
- Anonymous
I wish we had more evidence how mogh kidnapped miquella from the erdtree, ot really look like it was a very stealth mission.
- Anonymous
So, in his slumber inside the coccon he was saint trina? Than saint trinna went missing after mogh removed him from the halightree.
- Anonymous
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Maybe fromsoft will pull a plot twist and make him an ally.
Yeah who am I kidding, Miyazaki would feel that is bad story telling and predictable so he'll have to make him genocidal and need to be put down in a climatic boss battle. Maybe make a half assed attempt to make him seem justified or something just enough so the fan base will still love him and write fan fiction of how he's this deep and tragic character.
- Anonymous
I would like for him to have a boss fight in his world of dreams, like Rennala has. And after we defeat him, he would become an ally and not die.
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"...Miquella is alive because one needs to be alive to slumber."
"In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulu waits dreaming."
We know that Miyazaki loves HP Lovecraft and the surrounding mythos. Miquella is an Empyrean and has god-like powers. He could be dead and still dream. After being fed tainted blood from the vassal of an Elder, sorry Outer God, who knows how twisted his dream has become?
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I think it would be cool if the DLC had Miquella hatching at some point, maybe after the fight with Mohg. And his is either a boss fight (If you had already killed Malenia) or he is a new ally (If Malenia is still alive).
Maybe a new ending too? Like maybe he walks into Malenia's arena (Like Siegward in DS3's Yhorm boss fight) and talks his sister down? And maybe they help you turn the Haligtree into the "promised land" it was supposed to be, to replace the Erd Tree which you still need to burn and **** (Or maybe already burned). Maybe he even finally succeeds in allowing Godwyn a true death. And maybe the player character becomes the Lord of this new Haligtree based kingdom with Malenia and Miquella as your consorts both.
I realize this might sound like a stretch to some, but I think it would be cool
- Anonymous
What if his rune turns you from a boy to girl or vice versa
- Anonymous
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I imagine miquella's great rune to give passive heal to the player, as it is like the growth he so abundantly creates.
- Anonymous
Imagine if you summon a spirit, and miquella "Compels the affection" of it to fight you.
If he does have a boss fight.
On a separate note, Miquella has lovely hair
- Anonymous
What if the whole world/game is miquellas dream? The Tarnished could be one of many influences he experiences.
If someone is sleeping and hears something, then this sound can become part of this person´s dream.
So i guess miquela could just dream the Lands between and people around him are the outer gods.
Or someone in a coma hears the voices of visitors around him.
(this is not my first language, sry)
- Anonymous
His great rune won't be lifesteal like malenias, but either a) gives 5 fp per kill or b) restores 4 hp per second
Source: chatgpt generating randomized abilities
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The Tarnished slaughtered everyone left in their family lol
- Anonymous
Miquella I'm hoping is going to be like Slave Knight Gael. One of the best EndBosses ever made by From.
- Anonymous
What if it turns out that you (the tarnished) are the reincarnation of Miquella. It would be very embarrassing for Malenia see as she killed us over 300 million times
- Anonymous
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Honestly have 0 idea what in the world this DLC is going to come to I just can’t imagine us fighting Miquella.
- Anonymous
i know i sound like a conspiracy nut for this but i highly doubt miquella's a straight good guy in the dlc, most likely he'll be in a enemy of my enemy type deal with you or he'll be griffith jr at the end. i know people hope he will be truly good so it doesn't shatter their perception of him as their hard-done-by-flawless-diamond-baby-boy-too-pure but the fact the game itself hints at him either being a manipulator through words or some empyrean **** along with the nascent butterflies that appear in places you'd least expect or think to look for them leads me to think he might've had spies in the world like gideon did, keeping tabs on things he couldn't that had no one to report to once he was kidnapped on top of him being a part of some plan to eclipse the erdtree (admittedly don't blame him), probably unnaturally bring godwyn back to life and start a new reign with either of them at the helm of it all
Idea: Abundance Twinblade with Holy Damage that scales from both Faith and Intelligence, like the Golden Order Seal. Ash of War similar to Spinning Weapon except it shows a symbol of his Great Rune. Like those little holographic toy fans.
- Anonymous
Please don't do the 'the good character that everyone seems to like is actually the evil bad guy' shtick... it's actually getting old. I really hope Miquella ends up being a genuine good. Would be refreshing.
- Anonymous
This is why I like strength builds... cos I wanna bash some of y'all with me mallet.
- Anonymous
Just a quick reminder that Gwyndolin will remain the best femboy anyways (I don't have foot fetish and jokes about it make me sick)
I wonder if we will have to fight Malenia again in the dlc, but this time with Miquella. Something like the Lothric and Lorian boss fight at ds3
- Anonymous
What if in the dlc there's a fight were we'll have to kill malenia again, but this time with Miquella? Something like the Lothric and Lorian boss fight at ds3
- Anonymous
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Don't tell me someone wrote that speculation after watching Vaati's video.
Lol
- Anonymous
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miqeulla's cocoon in Mohg's room is resting inside of a gaint pelvis
- Anonymous
I dunno if anyone is interested in this, but Miquella in his cocoon is a reference to Salvador Dali's "Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man." Look it up, it's cool stuff.
- Anonymous
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Miquellas soul is still in the haligtree, starts crying gold leaves while you are looking at the face during the phase 2 transition cutscene for malenia, before she says "Wait..."
the DLC entrance will be there. Miyazaki you diabolical mother-
- Anonymous
CHOWDAH! THAT EMPYREAN BOY PUSSY IS MAKING ME QUESTION MY LOYALTY TO THE GOLDEN ORDER!
- Anonymous
i think miquella is the final boss of the dlc.. he started it all.
hes the one thats prolly riding the horse in the poster.
it would only be natural for it to all end after killing miquella.
- Anonymous
i will make his bussy Bleed! (elden ring hemorrhage reference)
- Anonymous
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SoE is gonna be us entering Miquella’s dream, help him out. Then we fight the misshapen body in Mogh’s palace as final boss.
- Anonymous
Brace yourselves. It's coming. He was already barefoot in the promotional image, so you know it's gonna be good. It's the Lothric to surpass all Gwyndolins. The mother of all Berserk recerences. An expansion set in a dreamlike landscape. The ultimate Michael Zaki experience. If someone asked me to come up with something more typical, more pure, I couldn't have. It's the essence of FromSoftware. And you just know there'll be a catacomb with a Revenant trio fight (can't damage with Heal). And that will be the high point of Miyazaki's career as a games director.
pretty sure you will enter the DLC after killing Mohg and touching Miquella's hand here
- Anonymous
I hope in the DLC we get to see their shadow-bound beast(s) as well. I would love it if, because they are twins and the strange circumstance of their birth, they got one shadow beast for the both of them and it inflicted rot and sleep. That would be deadly.
- Anonymous
The Jpn version of st Trina sword saying people fear him. I'm praying he's a boss.
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How old is he? Because I see someone simping for him on discord
- Anonymous
New DLC just announced, Miquella was Torrent's former master, calling it now
- Anonymous
probably another gwyndolin / lothric femboy boss., elden ring version in the new dlc.
- Anonymous
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If Malenia is the "hand of Miquella", why'd she let Mohg steal him? Was she busy landscaping Caelid at the time?
- Anonymous
So this guy is powerful enough to get rid of the frenzied flame and the scarlet rot?
- Anonymous
I believe that there is a correlation between the Bewitching Branch and Sword of St. Trina, which further explains the possible link between Miquella and our beloved Saint. The AoW on the sword is a mist with petals activating the sleeping effect, while the branch launches a similar mist with a different color that also activates a spell, deaggroing and temporarily befriending the enemy you use it on. In other words, “A COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!”
- Anonymous
When did Gideon make that slumber comment? i couldn't find any video nor did I heard that in the game
- Anonymous
Assuming the cut content still holds, and the state of Miquella's body implies his physical body is dead, then he's probably something like Ranni, in the sense that his spirit probably lies elsewhere. The Consecrated Snowfield NPC implies that his soul and body are separate too. It's possible that Miquella's soul remains in the Haligtree itself. One can see the outline of large long-haired individual in the roots in Malenia's boss arena. It would give an alternate explanation why he's completely unresponsive to Mohg -- Mohg is giving offerings to a soulless corpse. Which would be in character, as the game itself tells you the Lord of Blood isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. It would also explain why Malenia doesn't acknowledge the missing cocoon -- her brother is still there with her, even if his body isn't.
Now if the cut content was the result of a last-minute change in lore, and he's slumbering in the cocoon like Gideon said, then he's in for a rude awakening when he wakes up as a desiccated cadaver. Either way, a major DLC bait.
- Anonymous
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Whelp, if there is one think we’ve learned here today, it’s that ol’ Mohg is a real scuzz bag.
- Anonymous
I'm also with the group that wants to believe Miquella is St. Trina simply because a weapon description states that St. Trina appeared as that of either a young girl, while some say he was a boy. The torch of St. Trina has a visage with a single eye. Gloam means "Twilight". Twilight is a combination of two opposites (day and night), while Castle Sol has sigils of the Eclipse everywhere, also a combination of opposites (sun and moon). I feel like there's enough bread crumbs to assume that somehow these figures are related.
The only truly 'weird' part is where they describe the Gloam-Eyed Queen as having lost to Maliketh as well as the motivation for why Miquella would want to kill their mother and father. I'm under the impression that Miquella may have not been the most loved or the most kind, but found out how to make people love him (bewitching branch). I also believe he created the first albinaurics. To me, Miquella's Needle having the Caduceus shape basically explains his experimental MO the most: he enjoys the combination of opposites to obtain a unique end-product. This is how he created the albinaurics by combining the soul (gold) with that of silver tears (of the moon-worshipping Nokstella).
There's also a weird timeline issue that we don't know when the Gloam-Eyed Queen and Maliketh fought, but it would have had to have been after Radagon left Rennala, as that was when Radagon became the second Queen Consort and helped make Miquella and Melania. That seems to be the only real hole in the association, understanding just how much time has passed since Radagon and Marika created their Empyrean children would probably help shed some light on this but until then I await with baited breath.
- Anonymous
I personally felt like the reason Malenia started her crusade is to get Miquella back, if you notice, the location of Mohg's dynasty, is right below where Malenia and Radhan fought, and in the end she failed to finish her quest in the very last step as her current state cant allow her to continue fighting Radhan (If her flower blossom one more time, she would became the God of Rot, which is something she and Miquella tried to stop)
What if Miquella is St. Trina in the same way Marika is Radagon? More often than not Miquella is regarded as being a man. However, according to Fevor's cookbooks, St. Trina is clearly a woman. Seeing how Marika transforms into Radagon right before his fight makes me believe that my theory isn't that big of a stretch.
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Miquella being the Gloam Eyed Queen is an awesome concept, and now that I think about it, fits way better than it being Melina. Miquella, spiteful that the Golden Order could do nothing to help Malenia's rot, turned against them, forming the godskin apostles in an attempt to overthrow the Order, and save his sister. I really hope DLC elaborates on Miquella, because he's such a cool enigmatic character.
- Anonymous
Wonder what’s goin on with his goofy wings he’s clearly growing in the intro cutscene
- Anonymous
While shaky, if the updated translation of the Godskin's theme is correct, then Miquella is very explicitly Saint Trina and the Gloam-eyed Queen.
- Anonymous
Mysterious how Miquella is the only mentioned shardbearer who still has his Great Rune by the end of the game (that we know nothing about) as well as him having no associated Divine Tower... unless the Haligtree is his tower though that would be weirder still since it isn't near the Erdtree like the others. Hopefully DLC will answer these questions.
- Anonymous
I'm pretty sure Miquella is actually the Gloam-Eyed Queen. The Godskins are weak to sleep, and even though the lyrics of thier boss music is not officially Latin, there have been rough translations done that suggest Miquella is actually an incarnation of the Gloam-Eyed Queen.
If you look at St. Trina's torch, there is a single eye near the forehead of Miquella, and the purple hue given off by the torch and the sword is of a similar color to the jewels worn by the Godskins. We know that the Queen was defeated by Maliketh, but I don't think we know if that was before Miquella was born, or after. Not to mention, Miquella was an empyrean, but we never hear about his shadow, or Malenia's for that matter, but Vargram the Raging Wolf, one who aspired to be a shadow, is seen wielding a Godslayer's Greatsword (indicating the one in the tower is not the only one I suppsose?).
- Anonymous
'Miquella's true ability' reads the last line in regards to an items description. I find that funny after stating "..he created the Haligtree.." in one of the very first lines. I think it's just another ability, if not personality trait, from being a god?
Miquella has always been a guy. Malenia, who clearly knows Miquella more than everyone else, refers to Miquella as her brother. The St Trina part is basically ordinary people being confused about St Trina’s gender, some think St Trina is female, but others think St Trina is male. These ordinary people were just guessing. As for whether Miquella is like Marika/Radagon, for now there is nothing suggesting that Miquella has another female counterpart. So yeah.
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