'Remembrance of Maliketh, the Black Blade, hewn into the Erdtree. Maliketh was a shadowbound beast given to his Empyrean. Marika's sole need of her shadow was a vessel to lock away Destined Death. Even then, she betrayed him.' Empyreans are the canon's god-candidates: a small pool of beings whose lineage and circumstances make them eligible to be elevated to godhood by the Greater Will. Marika was an Empyrean. Her rival, the Gloam-Eyed Queen, was an Empyrean. So is Ranni, the Carian princess who refused her destiny. So is Malenia. So is Miquella. So, possibly, was the unborn child Rennala held in her amber egg. The role of an Empyrean's shadow-bound enforcer (Maliketh for Marika, Blaidd for Ranni) is to ensure the candidate either ascends or doesn't, but never escapes.

'Remembrance of Mohg, Lord of Blood, hewn into the Erdtree. … Wishing to raise Miquella to full godhood, Mohg wished to become his consort, taking the role of monarch.' The canon's late-game horror is that the Greater Will's selection process is opaque even to the Empyreans themselves. Marika did not know in advance that becoming god required betraying her family. Miquella did not know becoming god required burning his own kindness as fuel. Ranni's questline succeeds at refusing the Greater Will's destined path; Mohg's at refusing to wait for the Will's choice. The Empyrean class is the canon's quiet metaphysical hinge: every theological catastrophe in the lore traces back to one of these candidates trying or failing or refusing to accept the Greater Will's offer.

◆ Sources

Boss LoreRemembrance of the Black Blade (on Empyreans)

Remembrance of Maliketh, the Black Blade, hewn into the Erdtree. The power of its namesake can be unlocked by the Finger Reader. Alternatively, it can be used to gain a great bounty of runes. Maliketh was a shadowbound beast given to his Empyrean. Marika's sole need of her shadow was a vessel to lock away Destined Death. Even then, she betrayed him.

Boss LoreRemembrance of the Blood Lord

Remembrance of Mohg, Lord of Blood, hewn into the Erdtree. The power of its namesake can be unlocked by the Finger Reader. Alternatively, it can be used to gain a great bounty of runes. Wishing to raise Miquella to full godhood, Mohg wished to become his consort, taking the role of monarch.