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O Radagon, leal hound of the Golden Order. Thou'rt yet to become me. Thou'rt yet to become a god. Let us be shattered, both. Mine other self. — Queen Marika the Eternal
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Radagon of the Golden Order is a boss in Elden Ring. He is encountered inside the Erdtree in Leyndell, Ashen Capital, and is the first half of the final boss fight, with Elden Beast as the second half.
Overview[]
Liurnian Wars and Marriage to Queen Rennala[]
Radagon first rose to prominence during the Liurnian Wars, when he joined the heroes' ranks.[1] A great champion with flowing red locks, he arrived in Liurnia at the head of a golden host, where he met Queen Rennala in battle.[2] Although two wars would be fought between them, the First Liurnian War,[3] and the Second, no victor would emerge from either.[4] Radagon eventually repented his territorial aggressions by cleansing himself with Celestial Dew, and swore his love to Rennala.[5] He became husband to the Carian Queen,[6] wedding her at the Church of Vows.[7] Rennala bequeathed him a greatsword, bestowed by a Carian queen upon her spouse to honor long-standing tradition.[8][9] After entering into marriage with Rennala and joining the Carian line,[10] he ordered the Carian magic preceptors to don masks of confidence, to make it clear that all of their matters were to be kept strictly private.[11]
Radagon and Rennala had three children: Radahn, Rykard and Ranni.[12] While husband to Rennala, Radagon studied glintstone sorcery taught at the Academy of Raya Lucaria.[13]
After Godfrey, the First Elden Lord was stripped of grace and hounded from the Lands Between, Radagon returned to the capital where he went on to marry Queen Marika and become her King Consort and second Elden Lord.[14] Before leaving Rennala, Radagon gifted her an amber egg.[15] His departure left her heartbroken, and eventually led to her being deposed by the academy and imprisoned in the Grand Library.[16] His three children from the previous marriage would be raised to demigod status as stepchildren of Queen Marika.[17]
Marriage to Queen Marika[]
A sculptor from Leyndell was commissioned to create a statue of Radagon.[18] In doing so, he discovered a secret - that Radagon is Marika. This secret was hidden within the statue, and is revealed by casting Law of Regression in front of it, causing the statue's form to change from Radagon to Marika.
Radagon and Marika had a twin daughter and son: Malenia[19] and Miquella.[20] As they were born of a single god, they were both Empyreans, but were born afflicted: Malenia with rotting sickness and Miquella with eternal childhood.[21]
While married to Marika, Radagon studied incantations.[13] He is heavily associated with Golden Order Fundamentalism, a branch of the Golden Order said to be scholarship in all but name[22], which incorporates incantations that rely on a combination of faith and intelligence. His son Miquella followed in his fundamentalist footsteps, and created several incantations as gifts for his father.[23][24] Radagon would return the favor with his own gift of gratitude to young Miquella, however Miquella later abandoned Fundamentalism, realising that it could do nothing to treat Malenia's Rot.[25]
The Shattering[]
Radagon trying to repair the Elden Ring.
Following the Night of Black Knives, Marika shattered the Elden Ring, breaking the Golden Order. Radagon, on the other hand, remained loyal to the Golden Order, and attempted to repair the Elden Ring with the same hammer used to shatter it.[26] As punishment, Marika was imprisoned inside the Erdtree.[27] While Radagon had opposed Marika's treachery, he would share Marika's sentence, as the two were now bound in a single body.
When a Tarnished sets fire to the Erdtree in order to burn away the wall of thorns denying their entry, they encounter the imprisoned Marika. Suddenly released from her bonds, her hair immediately turns red as Radagon assumes control of their shared body and wields Marika's hammer to fight the Tarnished. However, Radagon is unable to defeat them and falls at their hands, with his body being subsumed by the Elden Beast to transform into a large sword[28], as it emerges to be the Tarnished champion's final challenge.
Boss Fight[]
Radagon is the first of two enemies that compose the final boss fight of Elden Ring, with the Elden Beast being the second. Players will have to fight Radagon again if they die to the Elden Beast.
Moveset[]
| Moveset List | |
| Stomp | Phase 1, 2 & 3 |
|---|---|
| Performs a quick forwards stomp. During phase 2, this may generate a golden explosion. | |
| Hammer Swing | Phase 1, 2 & 3 |
| Raises his hammer and swings it diagonally downwards. | |
| Hammer Swing Combo | Phase 1, 2 & 3 |
| Swings his hammer twice in a wide arc. May follow up with a stomp. | |
| Golden Hammer Swing | Phase 1, 2 & 3 |
| Imbues his hammer with golden light and swings it in an arc in front of himself. Golden cracks appear in the ground in front of him covering a large area which then erupt with golden energy. | |
| Grab | Phase 1, 2 & 3 |
| Radagon's left arm turns gold as he pulls it back, and then lunges at the player in an attempt to grab them. If the grab is successful he strikes them with his hammer. If the grab misses, a small shockwave is created where his hand hits the ground. | |
| Golden Hammer Strike | Phase 1, 2 & 3 |
| Imbues his hammer with golden light and smashes the ground with it. This produces a small shockwave where the hammer hands, after a brief delay. | |
| Hammer Thrust | Phase 1, 2 & 3 |
| Thrusts his hammer straight forwards. May perform this after a stomp. | |
| Lunging Swing | Phase 1, 2 & 3 |
| Closes distance by rushing towards the player, swinging his axe. | |
| Golden Spear Throw | Phase 1, 2 & 3 |
| Leaps into the air and throws a golden spear at the player. The spear remains in the ground for a short amount of time before exploding. | |
| Small Golden Spears | Phase 1, 2 & 3 |
| Throws five small golden spears in a fan formation. The spears will dig into the ground and then explode. In phase 2 he will immediately throw another five spears. | |
| Gold Breaker | Phase 2 |
| Leaps into the air and hovers for a moment, before smashing into the ground with his hammer, creating a large shockwave around him. | |
| Teleport | Phase 2 & 3 |
| Disappears and reappears somewhere else in the arena, creating an explosion when he reappears. Often performs an attack immediately after appearing. | |
| Golden Spear Strike | Phase 2 & 3 |
| Leaps into the air and produces a golden spear in his hand. Plunges the spear into the ground, creating a criss-cross pattern on the ground which drains the player's HP if they stand in it. | |
| Golden Spear Barrage | Phase 2 & 3 |
| Leaps into the air and throws many golden spears at once. | |
| Great Gold Breaker | Phase 3 |
| Teleports to the centre of the arena and smashes his hammer into the ground three times, which each impact producing a larger shockwave. The third strike has a longer delay than the first two, and leaves an impression of the Elden Ring on the ground. | |
| Double Golden Hammer Strike | Phase 3 |
| After teleporting, rushes the player and slams his hammer into the ground, creating a shockwave. Immediately follows with a second slam and shockwave. | |
Phase 1[]
Radagon relies on very fast hammer swings, and some of his attacks will generate shockwaves. These shockwaves will either be immediate, or will occur after a brief delay- for the latter, golden cracks will appear in the ground moments before the explosion.
At range, Radagon can throw golden spears at the player. He will either leap into the air and throw a single, giant spear, or quickly hurl five spears in a loose fan. These spears will remain in the ground for a second before exploding. He also has a grab attack which he may perform at close- or mid-range. During the grab, his left arm will glow gold and he will wind it back behind him before lunging. The shockwave generated by the grab may still cause damage even if the grab itself misses.
All of his gold attacks will inflict Holy damage.
Phase 2[]
After his health has been lowered somewhat, he will leap into the air and perform a Gold Breaker attack, creating a large area of effect shockwave. During this phase, Radagon will sometimes teleport, generating an explosion when he reappears. In addition to the golden spear attacks used in the previous phase, he may now jump up and throw a volley of spears. His stomp will also now create a shockwave that deals Holy damage.
Phase 3[]
Once his health is below half, Radagon will teleport into the middle of the arena and perform three rapid hammer strikes on the ground, each producing a large shockwave. He will now teleport much more often, and can perform two shockwave-inducing hammer strikes in quick succession.
Environment[]
The arena is a featureless, oval platform with no obstacles. It is not possible to fall of the edges.
Strategies[]
- This boss can be cheesed by running up to him as soon as possible and blocking his way. The AI doesn't become aggressive until it has made a certain number of steps, so you can take him down with ease as long as you have a way to deal damage without moving (bows, damage dealing auras, etc). This can also be done by running up to him as soon as possible, performing a jump attack (so landing too low for his line of sight), and quickly sidestepping behind him. You are then most likely free to make multiple strong attacks on him until his guard is broken, perform a critical hit, charge a strong attack again while he's standing up, and start the fight proper at that point onward with roughly half his health already gone.
Notes[]
- Radagon was said to have despised his own red hair, as it was perhaps the result of a curse by red haired Fire Giants.[29] Ironically, most of his children would inherit it, and some of them would even be proud of its heroic implications.[30]
- Radagon's rune can be seen in Radagon's Scarseal, Radagon's Soreseal, and in the thorns blocking the Erdtree. It resembles the criss-cross pattern seen in his statues, and is reminiscent of a sewing pattern, as he was also associated with sewing needles, perhaps symbolizing his need to keep things held together.
- Radagon Icon mentions how he studied sorcery as husband of Rennala, and incantations as husband of Marika, aspiring to be complete.
- When Marika's body changes into Radagon, her dress becomes his skirt.
Trivia[]
- Radagon/Marika are reminiscent of the alchemical Red King and White Queen, who are often depicted as the two halves of the Rebis. In alchemy, the Rebis is a single being possessing both male and female qualities, also sometimes referred to as the divine hermaphrodite. It is said that the Rebis hailed from one being that is separated into a male and female half until it is unified once again to form a transcendental being empowered by a dragon.
- Radagon is one of a small group of select enemies that need to be parried multiple times.
Gallery[]
References[]
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