Morgott, from Graceless to Grace-Given

Throughout my many playthroughs of Elden Ring, there has been one boss that, no matter how many times I fight them, I truly enjoy. And that has to be Margit/Morgott (I’ll explain in a bit). Whilst other bosses have interesting backstories or motives for their fighting. I think Morgott’s is the most enticing. His story is one of shame, hate, abandonment, as well as about the love of something that will never love you. So, let’s explain the complex and sad character of Morgott the Grace-Given.

       The first time your character will encounter Margit (I will be calling him Margit for the first half due to lore reasons) is in front of Stormveil Castle. As you walk along a stone path just before the castle, Margit appears. When the cutscene starts Margit yells, “Four Tarnished, In search of the Elden Ring. Emboldened by the flame of ambition” then Margit jumps landing in front of you in a cloud of dust. As Margit slowly stands up, he proclaims: “Someone most extinguish thy flame, let it be Margit the Fell!” However, “The Fell” isn’t truly his right title. When the battle begins it says, at his health par, he is Margit the Fell Omen. Now you might have encountered an Omen or two in the beginning areas but never got a clear description of what they are. From what I know, that is very limited as the Omen are fairly unknown, an Omen is a person born of Accursed Blood. Meaning that they were born not of the Erd Tree but of something else. And because of their “Graceless birth” Omens are born with malformed bodies and horns all over their bodies. These horns are seen by many as a mark of the Omens ``Graceless birth”, as such everyone in the Lands Between (The main area of Elden Ring) hate the Omen. They see them as a stain upon their land. To the point that many Omen children’s horns are brutally cut off, resulting in their deaths. Anyways, with that knowledge about the Omen we can continue Margit’s story. When you finally defeat Margit, you can immediately see something is different about his death. As when you kill other bosses they turn into a cloud of white mist, but when Margit dies he turns into a cloud of golden mist. This is quite strange which might make you think that Margit hasn't actually died. And this is further reinforced by his final word as he falls: “I shall remember thee Tarnished, smoldering with thy wretched flame of ambition. The hands of the Fell Omen shall brook thee no quarter, cower in fear of the Night!”. To many this might seem like an unimportant message. But what Margit refers to as the “Night” is actually the Night’s Calvary. The Night’s Calvary are a unique enemy only found at night throughout the world. From their item descriptions we learn that they work for Margit, and that their job is to stop the Tarnished before they become too powerful. They showed us why Margit was outside of Stormveil, he was simply trying to stop us.

       Now the next part of Margit’s story continues in the Altus Plateau and the Capital of Lenydell. Lenydell is home to both the Royal Family and the Golden Order. They play a greater part in Omens and Margit’s story. When you first make into Lenydell, specifically the Outer Walls, you will spot a familiar face. Margit, disguised as a lower soldier, waits for you before you can continue. This seemingly random appearance is useful for understanding more of Margit’s motives. First of all, why is Margit outside the capital of all places? As we learn in the Altus Plateau, the Omen are something imprisoned and forced into battle. So, why would Margit an Omen be the closest to the Golden Order. This question is answered as we explore Lenydell itself. Lenydell is a very unique area, as it has two separate parts—-the city and the sewers. The sewers is where Margit’s story deepens. The sewers of Lenydell hold a dark secret, as instead of being called the sewers of Lenydell, they are referred to as the Subterranean-Shunning Grounds. These sewers contain a ton of Omens but they are different, they still have their horns. This reveals a lot about the Omen. That some are allowed to keep their horns and others are not. These few Omen that still have their horns are actually Omens born of royal blood. We can conclude that Margit is one of them.

Now with the Omen’s story somewhat known we can talk about the final part of Margit’s story. At the end of Lenydell, in the Royal Palace at the foot of Erd Tree, we find the thrones of the Demi-Gods. Yet, awaiting us is Margit. He says, “What is thy business with these thrones? Ah, Godrick, The twins Miqulla and Melania, General Radhan, Rykard, and Ranni. Willful traitors all!” Margit then lifts his staff and breaks the mold upon it. Revealing a curved sword of changing hue, in fact this blade’s color is due to Morgott’s Omen blood being trapped inside him. Then Margit continues, “Have it writ upon thy meager grave, Felled by King Morgott, Last of all Kings”. So now we know Margit is, in truth, Morgott the King of Lenydell. This tells us that Morgott was born of the royal family, that he was placed in the sewer but escaped, and that Morgott is the truest of the demi-gods. Whilst the others fled to achieve their own goals, Morgott stayed to defend the capital and the Erd Tree. Even though the Golden Order and the people of Lenydell despise the Omen, Morgott doesn’t care. All he knew was hate but he loved his family, his home, the Erd Tree so much he would do anything to stop us. And this is reinforced by Morgott’s second phase. As his Omen blood begins to burst out, Morgott exclaims, “The Thrones stained by my curse… thy part in this shall not be forgiven!” And his sword glows with his blood. Morgott is willing to do anything to stop you, including using his horrid blood. When you finally defeated Morgott you can find him on the floor, shriveled and weak. He did all he could, but to no avail. In his weakened state we can clearly see that Morgott’s horns are gone. Meaning he could now live a normal life But he still says in a weak voice, “Tarnished, thou but a fool. We are… We are all forsaken”.

       Morgott’s story is about a man born graceless and abandoned by the world. But never resents those who hated him. Morgott knew what he was and what he could do. Yet, in the end he chose to protect the very people that despised him. He didn’t care, because all Morgott wanted was to be loved. To be loved by his family, his people, and his home. Yet that never happened. As Morgott’s remembrance reads:“Though born one of the graceless Omen, Morgott took it upon himself to be the Erd Tree’s protector. He loved not in return, for he was never loved, nonetheless, love it he did”.