Lore oversight in the DLC. (spoilers)

[Grim Reaper]

Miquella is considered a god by the time we fight him in the DLC, it even displays "god slain" after you kill him, similar to the Elden Beast fight. However in order to kill a god, you must first obtain the rune of Destined Death from Meliketh, which is what happens before the Elden Beast fight, killing a god without it is impossible.

And yet Meliketh isn't a boss you have to kill in order to access the DLC, meaning you could kill Miquella, who is a god before getting the rune of Death.

[StarlightAsh♡]

I believe it either follows the line where you already have the rune of death by having killed maliketh in the lands between, or that the flame of messmer which you require to burn the tree also has the power to kill a god

[mpcgannon]

This is a good catch!

[StarlightAsh♡]

I also feel that miquella isn't a pure god, he falls more into the category of a fake god as he became one but didn't come into existance as one, so I don't believe he has the same unkillable status that elden beast has

[Chris1]

Anything goes in the realm of shadow.

[Key]

Yup, checks out, it's a plot-hole.

...We'll add it to the pile.

[Morton Koopa Jr.]

...how bout that.
This is an actual plot hole.

Gj op

[LuckyCheshire]

You have to obtain the Rune of Death to kill a god inhabiting the Lands Between, yes. Miquella isn't actually in the Lands Between though, he's in the Realm of Shadow, a disconnected space. The Elden Rune only holds power over the Lands Between, not the entire world.

[Chris1]

Isn't the point of getting the rune of death actually to burn the Erdtree and gain access inside?

I don't think it's an additional plot hole anymore than the existing situation around death is a glaring plot hole in the base game. FromSoft isn't consistent at all regarding "death" and how it is applied in the world of Elden Ring. Since sealing the rune of death, the ability for anyone to die is supposedly removed from the world.

Allegedly the only way to kill anyone is with the rune of death, which Ranni uses to "kill" her body and "kill" Godwyn's soul.

This is in the same world that has jars allegedly carrying corpses of the "dead" back to the Erdtree to feed the erdtree.

This is in the same world that locked merchants under Lyndell Capital, all of whom couldn't die and were endlessly playing their music and eventually summoned the three fingers.

This is in the same world that the tarnished tears through demi-gods left and right, including Godrick, Rykard, & Radahn, all without needing the rune of death at any point to defeat these enemies.

Killing Miquella without first killing Maliketh probably doesn't even crack the top 20 plot holes regarding "death" in this game.

[palacentes]

not how it works.... Malikeths rune of death enabled death in the lore. It has nothing to do with beating someone for good. We kill Rykard( his death cry is that no one can contain him, we are containing his soul) and Godrick the grafted before handling the rune of death. ( we absorb their souls/ runes ). The tarnished is perfectly capable of severing immortality regardless of whether somthing can die or not. This is also hinted with eating Bayle's heart. It says that Bayle will one day be free/ emerge, we are containing his spirit/ soul.

[Northstrider]

You need to unleash Destined Death to allow the flame of ruin to burn the thorns at the erdtree. Killing the god himself is not part of the rune of death's usage. That's what Hewg is there for.

Marika has cursed Hewg with eternal life so that he may smith as long as it takes until he can forge a weapon that can slay a god.

[󠀡󠀡]

the Realm of Shadow is actually where all death ends up eventually so there's probably some convolution of physics and time and space and balls

[palacentes]

Originally posted by palacentes:

not how it works.... Malikeths rune of death enabled death in the lore. It has nothing to do with beating someone for good. We kill Rykard( his death cry is that no one can contain him, we are containing his soul) and Godrick the grafted before handling the rune of death. ( we absorb their souls/ runes ). The tarnished is perfectly capable of severing immortality regardless of whether somthing can die or not. This is also hinted with eating Bayle's heart. It says that Bayle will one day be free/ emerge, we are containing his spirit/ soul.

actually no.... even before our great power, death is a thing in the lands between, even with the rune of death bound.

Item description of Mausoleum Soldier Ashes

The mausoleum is where the bodies of soulless demigods are lain to rest, and these soldiers followed their masters into Death by severing their own heads from their bodies.

Godwyn isnt the only dead demigod, he is the first. Its not clear how, but demigods can die. Sealing the rune of death only prevented death from old age and allowed people to live for 100s of years I believe. ( it could even be thousands actually)

We even have Fia, whose purpose was to bring back dead nobles at the cost of her own life energy/ life energy she absorbed. So nobles were dying and the rich got a nice way to come back. She explains it in her first "talk in secret" All in the wiki.

[Petra]

Well not really since Rykard still alive even Destined Death is released and Ancient Dragon Lord literally will come back after certain amount of time after they got slain by us.

[DustDemon]

he is not the same kind of divinity as marika, he does not have the elden ring which dictates the laws of the world powering him like marika/radagon.
He is a god but a god in the same sense as the hornsent divines. a lower tier of god if you will.

[Ser Pounce]

Originally posted by Grim Reaper:

Miquella is considered a god by the time we fight him in the DLC, it even displays "god slain" after you kill him, similar to the Elden Beast fight. However in order to kill a god, you must first obtain the rune of Destined Death from Meliketh, which is what happens before the Elden Beast fight, killing a god without it is impossible.

And yet Meliketh isn't a boss you have to kill in order to access the DLC, meaning you could kill Miquella, who is a god before getting the rune of Death.

I mean, wouldn't it make sense to be able to kill a god in what's essentially the realm of the dead ?