Why Did Ranni Kill Godwyn? Unpacking the Fateful Ritual

I‘m often asked by fellow Tarnished about the motivations behind Ranni the Witch‘s most infamous scheme – orchestrating the death of Demigod Godwyn the Golden during the Night of the Black Knives. As part of a complex ritual to escape her destiny, Ranni targeted the Queen‘s beloved firstborn son. But why Godwyn? And what does his gruesome end mean for the Lands Between? Read on for rare insight into this formative event.

Ranni Sought Freedom Through a Grim Bargain

As an Empyrean prospect groomed to succeed Queen Marika, Ranni faced immense pressure from the Greater Will and Two Fingers to conform to the Golden Order. But the headstrong sorceress rejected this birthright, instead yearning for autonomy beyond the Greater Will‘s suffocating demands.

To defiantly forge her own path, Ranni hatched a radical scheme – she would cast off her flesh by destroying her physical Empyrean body, preserving only her soul‘s ambitions. This required utilizing Destined Death – stolen rune fragments granting the power to fully kill even demigods.

Who better to demonstrate this forbidden weapon‘s might than Godwyn the Golden, symbol of the Erdtree‘s blessing? His demise dealt a crushing blow to Marika while confirming Ranni‘s own death-in-the-flesh.

Cold logic surely drove Ranni‘s designs. But did deeper resentment also play a role? As the chosen daughter of Radagon, did Ranni see golden child Godwyn as an intolerable rival for succession? Either way, this fateful betrayal kickstarted the Shattering.

Killing Godwyn: Breaking the Golden Order Wide Open

In one fell stroke, Ranni‘s scheme achieved staggering consequences for the Golden Order and wider world. Slaying Prince Godwyn both tested the Death rune‘s power and fractured his mother Marika‘s authority.

Godwyn‘s gruesome end also Warped his towering golden form into the misshapen Prince of Death. And crucially, his soul‘s destruction enabled Ranni to cleanly discard her previous role and fleshly form.

At an awful price, Ranni unlocked her true magical potential beyond the Greater Will‘s shackles. Fate, Empyrean destiny, even mortality itself – all lay broken in the wake of her grand betrayal.

This table summarizes key impacts from Ranni‘s ritual that killed Godwyn. As we‘ll see next, the unfolding consequences totally reshaped the Lands Between into its current state.

Unleashing Destined Death Upon the World

Utilizing Destined Death as a weapon yielded chaotic results extending far beyond Ranni‘s calculated designs. Unbound from Maliketh‘s imprisonment after Gurranq was robbed by Night‘s Calvary, Death runes seeped across the Lands Between.

The stolen Death not only enabled Godwyn‘s murder; it also spawned the undead Those Who Live in Death abberations. Untold bloodshed followed this uncontained outbreak, shattering the Golden Order‘s authority and sense of security.

Empyreans were no longer untouchable paragons. Now, even demigods could suffer death‘s unmaking touch! Ranni‘s ritual revealed that the old order stood defenseless, its servants caught utterly unprepared for what came next.

Twin Prodigies of the Carian Dynasty

While Mystic Ranni is now synonymous with the lunar Dark Moon, her past as Radagon‘s daughter bears closer examination. Once a prodigious Carian royal mage in training, she likely surpassed even preceptor Azur or gladiator Jerren before pursuing herbalism within the Golden Order‘s orthodoxy.

Ranni and full brother Radahn‘s early years surely overlapped as junior prodigies nurtured in this environment, honing their knack for gravimagic. I like to imagine friendly competition between these gifted Carian cadets! Did young Rennala encourage her precocious twins to challenge one another‘s arcane talents?

We‘ll never know for sure. But Radahn grew into a legendary general under royal Godfrey‘s command. Meanwhile Ranni secretly studied taboo Carian scrolls and plotted the path to her destiny in the stars beyond the Golden Order…

In Conclusion: Far-Reaching Sacrifice for Freedom

As intended, Ranni‘s ritual thoroughly dismantled her previous role and destiny as vessel of the Greater Will, releasing the Carian royal‘s ambitions from such confines. Tragically, this arcane victory demanded the ultimate sacrifice – Ranni murdering her own flesh and her mother‘s beloved Godwyn.

These bloody twin deaths sundered Golden Order stability across the Lands Between, unleashing political chaos alongside unbound Destined Death. Marika‘s own desperate response, shattering the Elden Ring itself, stems directly from Ranni‘s aggrieved betrayal and its painful consequences.

Yet for coldly determined Ranni, now wholly fused with her Dark Moon spirit, all unfolded according to design. By leveraging stolen Death runes against the Golden Order, she gained freedom on her own uncompromising terms. Events set into motion by Ranni killing Godwyn still shape our journey now as Tarnished and would-be Elden Lords. Contemplating her immense sacrifices and stringently calculated gambits leaves one humbled indeed.

That concludes my insider perspective on pivotal backstory motivating Ranni‘s direction-changing scheme! Please stay tuned for more lore analyses here or on my YouTube channel. Journey well, my friends!