In this article, we will discuss Elden Ring Lore: The Story of Blaidd. I assume that many of you know of Blaidd because of how popular he is. He is a Half-Wolf that’s directly connected to the side quest of Ranni the Witch. Half-wolves are like men, yet they resemble wolves.
You might think that they may be similar to Werewolves, but they’re far less savage. This particular Half-Wolf, Blaidd, is based on the popular manga/anime character “Guts” from Berserk. We will discuss Half-Wolves in more depth in another article.
If you are interested in the quest, you should check out our article Guide for Blaidd’s Questline in Elden Ring.
Meeting Blaidd for the first time
You can meet Blaidd for the first time in the Mistwood Region of Limgrave. To speak with him, you must obtain a unique gesture from the Merchant Kalé.
After speaking with Blaidd, he will tell us of Darriwil, a Bloodhound Knight that abandoned his master. Blaidd will ask us to assist us in killing Darriwil at the Forlorn Hound Evergaol in Limgrave. This Evergaol makes another appearance in Blaidd’s story.
After killing Darriwil, Blaidd will tell you of the Blacksmith Iji in Liurnia. As you probably know, these two, along with Seluvis, are allies of Ranni the Witch. Now let’s discuss the relationship between Ranni and Blaidd.
The Relationship between Ranni and Blaidd
The Blacksmith Iji tells us that Blaidd is Ranni’s stepbrother. Ever since childhood, they were together and very close. Queen Rennala, the mother of Ranni, approved of this wholesome relationship. While this is quite true, the reason why Blaidd is so attached to Ranni is because he is a “Shadow”.
What are “Shadows”, you might ask? They are guardians of Empyreans (those who are worthy of becoming Gods) and the Shadows are assigned by the Greater Will via the Two Fingers. The Shadows are eternally loyal to their Empyreans. Blaidd is the Shadow of Ranni the Empyrean. The tragedy of being a Shadow is if the Empyrean chooses the Dark Path of betraying the Greater Will and turning away from their destined path, the Shadow will go insane.
Unfortunately, this Dark Path is exactly what Ranni chose… So, Blaidd’s fate has been sealed from the beginning. He is to go insane if Ranni achieves her objective. This made many people look at Ranni in a disdainful way. But I personally believe that Ranni’s choice is justified. The “Destiny” of serving the Greater Will makes Empyreans slaves to it (more or less). They should be able to pursue their own destiny; to pursue what they think is right. Not what the Gods say.
I will not go into detail about Ranni’s Questline and how Blaidd eventually succumbs to his inevitable and tragic fate when Ranni achieves her objective. But that is how Blaidd’s tale ends if you pursue Ranni’s ending. The stories of the Lands Between are rarely happy.
Blaidd being imprisoned at the Forlorn Hound’s Evergaol
I said above that the Forlorn Hound’s Evergaol makes another appearance in Blaidd’s story. Iji is the one that imprisons Blaidd there because he knew what fate awaited the Shadows when the Empyrean is pursuing the Dark Path. Being the creation of the Two Fingers, the Shadows suffer another thing other than insanity if their Empyrean follows the path that will betray the Two Fingers. They’d go mad and betray the Empyrean. As you can understand, the Greater Will uses everything in their power to keep everyone faithful to them. This is why I said that many are more or less slaves to the Greater Will.,
The name “Forlorn” means “pitifully sad and lonely”. That’s exactly what Blaidd is when he’s imprisoned here. But Iji does this not out of spite, but out of consideration for Blaidd and the choice of his Mistress. The Tarnished releases him from the Evergaol, and as the quest of Ranni ends, Blaidd suffers his fate.
When the Tarnished reaches Ranni’s Rise after fulfilling his objectives and granting Ranni the ability to betray the Greater Will, he will see Blaidd muttering that he could never betray Ranni. And you see a bunch of Black Knife Assassin corpses around him. These assassins were sent by the Two Fingers to slay Ranni and stop her from betraying the Greater Will. These are the same assassins that kill Iji. They are a faction of interest and they deserve their own lore article.
Anyway, the Tarnished has to kill Blaidd here and end his suffering. Thus ends his tragic story. He did serve Ranni as best as he could, and that’s admirable.
Did Ranni care about Blaidd?
Many players say that Ranni actually cared about her own sake and she didn’t care about her allies. But I think that Ranni actually did care about Blaidd. And not only Blaidd, but also the Tarnished, and Iji. She tells the Tarnished to pass a message to Blaidd and Iji: That she loves them. So yes, in my opinion, Ranni did care about Blaidd and the others. And her continuation to pursue the Dark Path proves she is strong-willed; not insensitive. It must’ve been a hard choice for her, but she committed to what she thought was right.
