'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 sealed the Rune of Death within his own being, and was given the title of the Black Blade.' Maliketh is the half-brother and shadow-bound guardian of Queen Marika. The canon's term 'shadow-bound' is precise : a Numen demigod's shadow is a separate being assigned by the Greater Will to enforce the demigod's authority. Marika's authority required, after she stripped Death from the Order, that someone take that Death and seal it forever inside themselves. Maliketh accepted. He is what's left of the Rune of Death's containment vessel : a beast-bodied creature with a black-iron mask, wandering the Lands Between thereafter as Marika's executioner.

'I shall not part with it again. Stay away from Destined Death. Cower. Before Maliketh, the Black Blade. Cower. Before Maliketh, Marika's Black Blade.' His refusal to give up the Rune is what the Tarnished must overcome at Crumbling Farum Azula's heart. Defeating Maliketh shatters the seal and lets Destined Death back into the world. Black flames spread across the Erdtree from horizon to horizon. The cinematic that follows is the canon's most apocalyptic single image : the world tree consuming itself in a fire that should never have come back. Maliketh's death is what makes the lord-coronation possible, without it, the Elden Ring cannot be touched. With it, an Age of Death has already begun.

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Boss LoreRemembrance of the Black Blade

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 sealed the Rune of Death within his own being, and was given the title of the Black Blade.

Boss LoreMaliketh boss-fight lines

I shall not part with it again. ║ Stay away from Destined Death. ║ Cower. Before Maliketh, the Black Blade. ║ Cower. Before Maliketh, Marika's Black Blade. ║ Witless Tarnished... Why covet Destined Death?