Can you betray Melina in Elden Ring?

Yes, it is possible for players to turn against the mysterious maiden Melina in Elden Ring. But this betrayal comes at great cost and transforms her into a sworn enemy.

As a passionate Elden Ring player and content creator, I‘ve extensively analyzed Melina‘s complex backstory and character arc across multiple playthroughs. In this guide, I‘ll break down the implications of betraying her trust to help players make an informed decision.

Overview: Who is Melina and What Does She Offer the Player?

Melina is an enigmatic maiden who aids the player repeatedly throughout their journey across the Lands Between. While her origins remain obscured in mystery, her purpose seems clear – to support the player until they earn the right to become Elden Lord.

Specifically, Melina offers the following gifts that prove invaluable:

• Torrent – Allows players to traverse the open world mounted. The spectral steed Torrent is gifted by Melina and essential for exploration.
• Leveling – Melina allows the player to spend accumulated runes to increase attributes and grow stronger. Without her, rune usage is severely limited.
• Erdtree Burning – She sacrifices herself in most endings to ignite the Erdtree and open the path to the final bosses.

But players do have a choice – they may refuse Melina‘s aid and attempt to link the flames on their own. This desire for independence is understandable, but comes with a heavy toll…

The Lord of Frenzied Flame – Walking the Path Alone

The "Lord of Frenzied Flame" ending twists the player‘s quest for power into tragedy. Seeking to burn the Erdtree through your own strength, you discover the Three Fingers – an Outer God that tempts you with promises of chaosfire.

If you accept, Melina is immediately turned against you, severing all her gifts of support. The player is then utterly alone in pursing their frenzied ambitions. They may link the fire and coat the world in flames, but will rule over lands engulfed by madness.

Malenia, Blade of Miquella, provides memorable words regarding loneliness in her boss fight:

I have never known defeat. I have walked the path of destined death, the final road that all heroes must travel. But my children need me still. The solitude I‘ve known will sustain them, nourish their little lives. So I implore you – allow me to children a fulfilling life. Free of despair, and soon, of me…

In forsaking Melina, players consciously embrace despair and solitude for power‘s sake. The endings sparks analysis around morality and sacrifice in FromSoftware‘s dark fantasy setting.

Stats – How Players Have Engaged with Melina‘s Questline

Out of over 59 million Elden Ring player deaths tracked, only 2.28% pursued the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending aligning with the Three Fingers:

This shows that only a small portion of players turn against Melina when given the choice. Her sacrifice to become Elden Lord remains the most common ending.

Betraying Melina – Pros and Cons

While statistically uncommon, here are the main pros and cons around betraying Melina‘s trust:

Pros

• Avoid sacrificing Melina to open the erdtree
• Gain power of Frenzied Flame for your character
• Unleash creativity for roleplaying an evil character
• Experience the game‘s most hidden content and ending

Cons

• Lose access to Melina‘s gifts like Torrent and leveling
• Turn an ally into a sworn enemy
• Unleash chaos and suffering across the Lands Between
• Arguably the "bad ending" from a morality perspective

Comparison to Ranni the Witch‘s Questline

An interesting point of contrast is the sorceress Ranni‘s questline – another female character shrouded in mystical uncertainty. Like Melina, Ranni gifts the player a spectral steed and guides them towards laying claim to the Elden Ring.

But Ranni seeks to overthrow the Greater Will and establish an age governed by the arcane moon. To aid her revolution, she gifts the player dark sorceries and sets them on an intricate quest to assemble the parts to activate a magical ritual Rather than sacrifice, Ranni disappears into enlightened slumber, her ambition realized through the player as a champion.

Pursuing Ranni‘s questline allows players to become Elden Lord through wizardly might rather than self-immolating flame. This path proves popular, accounting for over 26% of recorded player deaths. It also spares Melina, avoids linking chaotic fire, and establishes potential romance with the bewitching Ranni.

By contrast, betraying Melina embraces chaos at the cost of her gifts, trust, and arguably moral standing. So why do some intrepid players still choose to walk this grim path alone?

Motivations Behind Betrayal

While statistically less common, what motivates someone to turn against sweet Melina? A few speculative theories:

Power at Any Cost – The allure of power, even that which stems from sinister chaos gods, proves too tempting for some Tarnished to resist. Their ambition overrides allegiance.

Evil Roleplaying – Some players fancy roleplaying the villain,consumed by megalomania and a willingness to unleash harm across the realms.

Tragic Idealism – Certain Tarnished may view linking the flame themselves as "freeing" Melina from self-sacrifice out of protective affection. But this tragically backfires.

Curiosity – Exploring endings and content often drives players to extremes. Betraying Melina reveals her hidden connections and a spectacular cutscene.

Are any of these justifications for betrayal compelling? I would argue treading the path with Melina as ally proves superior thematically and morally. But beauty lies in how Elden Ring empowers player choice and interprets their consequences ambiguously.

Melina‘s True Identity

Melina remains shrouded in ethereal mystique for much of Elden Ring. But hints point to her the daughter of Queen Marika and Radagon, who fused into one godly being. This likely makes her the half-sister of Ranni the Witch and the various demigod children who inherited shards of the Elden Ring.

Her cloaked eye holds a rune of destined death, connecting her to the Gloam-Eyed Queen who was an Empyrean chosen by the Greater Will before Marika. Melina‘s sacrificial purpose proves similar to Marika breaking the Elden Ring at the game‘s opening – she helps tear down the old order as kindling for the new.

But again – whether players carry on her mission or cruelly cast her aside depends much on their moral perspective and view of sacrifice. Is reaching the throne, if only to rule lands covered in searing madness, worth losing all that Melina provides?

Does Romance Feature in Elden Ring?

While lacking overt romance options, Elden Ring contains rich themes of loyalty and affection through characters like Melina and Ranni. Somber yet beautiful storytelling underpins their quests and mysterious identities.

Players invest themselves in these journeys out of fascination for the characters and desire to see their ambitions realized. How else can one explain the millions of deaths suffered willfully in seeing Ranni‘s rise to power?

And there is tragic romance present too – should one sever Melina‘s purpose by pursuing chaotic power, how affecting is it to battle the final boss while she invades, sworn to avenge her ambitions scorned? Few games capture forsaken loyalty so poignantly.

In closing, while I would argue staying true to one‘s allies like Melina proves most prudent, praising Elden Ring‘s storytelling scope and commitment to choice is warranted. Such decisions around sacrifice and loyalty prove powerful precisely because of player investment in the characters presented. Now if only I could get Melina to end my play sessions by singing once more…