Ron322

“Godhood would be Miquella’s prison. You must kill Miquella. Grant him forgiveness.” – St. Trina

Those were St. Trina’s last words. We, the Tarnished Elden Lord, would confront Miquella and his Consort Radahn at the Divine Gate. Our goal was to stop his Age of “Compassion”. The premise is that it would be compassion in light of Miquella having abandoned his Love. Compassion enforced through bewitching and enchantment instead of the love you abandoned is manipulation and madness. That isn’t benevolence, that is totalitarianism masqueraded as a Messiah. This is why I had to vanquish Miquella and Radahn. It’s why Ansbach told us to become Lord, “not for gods but for men”. We’re not to rise in Lordship for self-indulgence. We are not to be the puppet of divine beings. We rise for the service of a world that has fallen under the watch of these gods.

That is where we begin the discourse regarding Game Of Thrones’ Jon Snow/Aegon VI. As I’ve said before, seeing it through the eyes of Elden Ring is a different vibe. The story of A Song of Ice & Fire/Game Of Thrones would lead you to think initially that Rhaegar Targaryen’s seed came only from Elia Martell. Elia is the sister of Prince Oberyn, who also was known as the Red Viper. While Winds of Winter has yet to be released, the show gave us a revelation. It revealed that Rhaegar didn’t rape Lyanna Stark. Bobby Baratheon led us to believe this. Instead, Rhaegar married her in secret. Aegon VI was born to her instead of Martell. Ned would be given Aegon VI to raise as his own bastard son. No one knew he would be the next heir apparent to the Iron Throne. In addition, this would make Jon/Aegon VI the physical embodiment of Ice (Stark) and Fire (Targaryen). Even if Daenerys & Drogo’s son had been born, Jon/Aegon would get first dibs. This is similar to how Rhaenyra had first claim despite Daemon still being alive. The difference is that unlike Rhaenyra, Jon Snow is born male. By tradition, no one would contest a King but would be conflicted with a Queen. This is a theme explored in Fire & Blood/House of the Dragon.

Jon may not have been the one to execute the Night King to end the Long Night. This event looked like a curse upon the Lands Betw— erm I mean Westeros and eventually Essos. However, he did have an alliance with Daenerys. She brought her forces and everyone under him to face the great evil. The Forest Children created this evil. Their false belief was that it would lead them to defeat The First Men. Jon mostly avoided the politics of the Lands. However, his character demonstrated the Flame of ambition up to his assassination in Season 5. This ambition went beyond being a perceived bastard. He showed a willingness to lead those who were being trampled on, starting with his befriending of Samwell.

There is a parallel here with him and our Tarnished that aspires to be Elden Lord. We emerge from among the dead into a land divided by a shattering war. The war is due to a queen gone mad (Marika). She went mad because of the assassination of her beloved son Godwyn. We have to somehow make it to King’s Landi— erm I mean Leyndell to become Elden Lord. None of it will happen without facing many opponents along the way. This also includes the possibility to choosing to be Lord representing different principles and viewpoints.

The GoT version of Jon, upon resurrection, may not have wanted the Iron Throne. He also hesitated to be King of Winterfell. He was, before assassination, a willing Lord Commander of the Night Watch. In similar manner, the Tarnished didn’t ask to be called upon by Grace to seek the Elden Throne. However, he is ushered to do so. It just so happens that how you want to rule will be your choice.

The range of possibilities start with being Lord for Those Who Live In Death. This is through the mending rune of the Death-Prince. We’d be the equivalent of being the Night King.

You can also spread the Blessing of Despair. In this state, everyone in the land is afflicted with the Omen curse. As a result, the Erdtree will cease to have life returned and recycled from it. This will destroy the Erdtree over time and cause gradual depopulation.

There’s pursuing the Perfect Order, where upon Goldmask’s revelations, you seek to rule on the premise of justice and honesty.

Age of Fracture is where you simply take the Throne and whatever happens happens.

Becoming Lord Of Frenzied Flame is outright succumbing to the power of the Three Fingers. It means burning everything down to ashes.

Lastly, the Age of Stars. This involves helping Ranni. She is the one that had her half-brother Godwyn’s soul assassinated while having her flesh discarded. You help her open the path to ascend to godhood with you as her King Consort. This also ends the existence of Marika and her Golden Order. You would then rule from the stars with Ranni, under the guidance of the Moon. All life in The Lands Between (and arguably Land of Shadow) would decide how to govern themselves. They would also dictate how to rule themselves, for better or worse.

Book version of Jon, however, always longs for being respected, to rule and do so from the Iron Throne. These are also known traits of someone of Targaryen lineage. The liberties the show took from Season 6-8 weren’t outside the realm of possibilities. They align with the kind of turn of events Martin could write. In his reveal of being a Targaryen/Stark offspring, Jon had various choices.

Given his experience with Yigrette and being alongside the Wildlings, he can just be away with them. He wanted to live out being free of all the politicking and Lord/King stuff. This possibility would leave everyone to their devices. It would’ve shaken things up for everyone else. He lived free.

He could’ve kept his crown as King of the North. He even might’ve kept aflame the bond Starks and Targaryens once had. This would end the animosity and even stay Sansa’s sharp demeanor towards Daenerys at bay. From the start, Sansa also had ambitions of being a Queen one day. The presence of another Queen upon the Iron Throne wouldn’t allow this. As a result, this possibility would be the most likely to lead to division among the Stark house.

Jon joining Daenerys in sharing the Iron Throne would’ve been perceived as an actual “vanilla ending.” Many seemed to have wanted this outcome. However, it would likely have led to in-fighting. Some of the kingdoms, if they had someone ambitious among them, would then attempt to rebel. They would rebel the way Bobby Baratheon did.

Jon having done what he did to Daenerys but opting to take the throne would’ve caused some uproar among Essos. This would be especially among the remaining Dothraki and remaining Unsullied. While Westeros would support Jon, he would face a war with Essos. Conversely, all those who were free in Essos would then hear word of a fallen Daenerys. They would see it as an opportunity to re-enslave the people she freed. It would’ve led to backlash from everyone that followed Daenerys. They would think all the hard work done by Daenerys would’ve been for nothing. They would see those free cities in Essos becoming lands of enslavement. They would think all the hard work done by Daenerys would’ve been for nothing.

Jon’s decision to not take the Throne, despite his birthright, may have been the safer path. The 3 Eyed Raven is a being that can see the past, present, and futures. It also has the ability to manipulate the past (see Hodor). This would set up an interesting late story confrontation. If Samwell finds news regarding the sinister manipulations of the Raven in Essos, he will likely tell Jon Snow. He would inform Jon about a possibly resurrected Daenerys. This news would potentially ignite a fire in Jon Snow. He’d have to no longer hide away in exile. Jon would find a way to resolve a mess that was long weaved together by the 3 Eyed Raven. Bran had no interest in kingship. Yet when chosen, he accepted with a sinister grin. Viseris I accepted his election stoically whereas Bran replied simply with, “Why do you think I came all this way?”, leaving us to ponder if the appointment of him as King was orchestrated by Bran the whole time. He didn’t have to disclose his discovery of Jon’s true identity. He knew well the chain of events that would have dire ramifications. Yet he did.

It’s this book/TV hybrid of Jon Snow that parallels our Tarnished aspiring to be Elden Lord/Lord Of Frenzied Flame. Multiple outcomes but how the character pieces their world and ambitions together that determine how things will end. Like Jon Snow, we had to slay a Queen gone Mad. Like Snow, we had to slay a would-be King. Miquella was loveless yet would rule compassionately? He bewitches all life under his whims. That is just absurd hubris, flying in the face of sense. This isn’t a 1:1 ratio but just enough parallels to understand how similar the Tarnished and Snow are. Both have destiny thrusted upon them and upon their journey’s end, decide how their world will move on.

Tune in next time. I will discuss Arya Stark along with the Faceless Men. We will also explore parallel elements of the Black Knife Assassins.

In the meantime, I’ll be reading Fire & Blood. So far, it’s a deep but fun read. This book has led me to believe that FromSoftware needs to patch Bale. They should enable him to fly higher. He should have a bigger fire range and hit much harder with a bigger hitbox. Balerion the Black Dread flies so high, he looks like a tiny fly on the moon. Then he speed travels to the ground with absolute destruction in hand.