Gunslinger of 1899.

That's the Way It Is

Miquella, The brother of Malenia, He is one of the Empyreans chosen to succeed Marika. He was cursed with eternal childhood. Miquella created the Haligtree to house his curse and the pure golden needle to purge the rot from Malenia. He is the most wise, intelligent, kind, meek yet the most fearsome of all the demigods.

Miquella of the Haligtree is a demigod, an Empyrean, and the elder twin brother of Malenia, Blade of Miquella. He and his sister are the children of the union of Queen Marika the Eternal and King Consort Radagon. Cursed to be perpetually a youth, he created the Haligtree to house his curse and the pure gold needle to purge the rot god from Malenia.

Miquella, like his twin sister Malenia, was born afflicted. While Malenia was born with rot in her body, Miquella was cursed with the body of a perpetually young child. The twins were very close, and Malenia would become her brother's sworn blade and protector, while Miquella worked tirelessly to try and undo the curses they had both been born into. He made a promise to Malenia, who regarded him as the most fearsome Empyrean. Miquella is said to be loved by many people, indeed he has the ability to compel affection from others.

As an Empyrean, Miquella was chosen by his own Two Fingers as a possible candidate to succeed Queen Marika as a new god of the coming age. He was an adherent of the Golden Order fundamentalism, developing new incantations as gifts to his father Radagon. However, Miquella would abandoned fundamentalism when he found out it was unable to treat Malenia's rot. It was then that he began creating Unalloyed gold. He used it to craft needles that could ward away the meddling of outer gods and thus forestall Malenia's incurable rot, and would later even be used to subdue the power of the Frenzied Flame. He would also unsuccessfully try to find a solution for his half-brother Godwyn and his state of incomplete death.

Miquella is officially said to be awaiting for a promised lord. This, coupled with the official narration that Miquella will be the Tarnished’s guide in the Land of Shadow, suggests that Miquella is planning to ascend to godhood with the Tarnished as the lord or consort. As such, Miquella may be a friendly NPC rather than a foe.

Messmer the Impaler is unlikely to be Miquella. This is supported by the fact that Messmer refers to Miquella in third person when he said that the Tarnished, like others, is keen to know what Miquella is up to in the Land of Shadow. Furthermore, Messmer hunts anyone who is stripped of the Erdtree’s grace, whereas Miquella protects and shelters those who are without grace (such as Albinaurics). The “Mother” that Messmer mentioned is more likely to be Marika, because he asked why Marika chose a Tarnished without the Erdtree’s grace to be a lord (likely referring to the Age of Fracture or similar endings involving the Tarnished becoming a lord or consort to Marika).

A land that was severed from the Lands Between, the Land of Shadow may possibly correspond to the part of the Elden Ring sealed away by Marika to achieve immortality. The tree in the Land of Shadow is covered by shadowy veils and may represent the sealed part of the Erdtree. At the end of the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer, as Miquella raises his hand, the tree radiates with light and is no longer covered by the veils.

The events in the Shadow of Erdtree likely occur in the present timeline and not in the past before the Erdtree came into being. This is because the Land of Shadow is a land that is overshadowed by the Erdtree (i.e., the Erdtree already came into existence).

Towards the end of the trailer, the guiding voice said, “May we meet again”. We know based on official narration that Miquella will be the Tarnished’s guide in the Land of Shadow, but the Tarnished has never met Miquella. This may suggest that Miquella was guiding the Tarnished under the guise of Melina.

Miquella is confirmed to have stripped himself of his flesh. This means that the physical body that Mohg was caring for in