Do you ever become Elden Lord?

In the world of Elden Ring, the title of Elden Lord is one of great reverence. The first to hold this title was Godfrey, who led the armies of Queen Marika in many wars to secure the supremacy of the Golden Order.

When his last worthy enemy fell, Marika robbed Godfrey and his followers of grace, and exiled them from the Lands Between, bidding them to travel far and continue fighting, so that they might grow strong enough to one day return and reclaim the Elden Ring. Godfrey and his warriors thus became the first Tarnished.

With Godfrey banished, Marika took Radagon, a champion of the Erdtree and secretly her male “other self”, as the second Elden Lord. Once Marika shattered the Elden Ring, Radagon tried to repair it, but both she and Radagon would end up imprisoned deep within the Erdtree, the two now bound in a single body.

With Radagon’s disappearance, and the failure of any of the Shardbearers to unite the shattered fragments of the Elden Ring, grace was once again extended to the Tarnished, and they returned to the Lands Between in order to once again brandish the Elden Ring and claim the title of Elden Lord.

When the player character goes down the Elden Lord path and collects enough Great Runes, they may choose to repair the Elden Ring within Marika (whether on its own or using any of the three Mending Runes) and usher in a new age of their choosing. They thus become the third Elden Lord and effectively Marika’s third consort, even if she remains in her shattered and unresponsive state.

In essence, becoming the Elden Lord in Elden Ring signifies the player’s ascension to a position of great power and influence. It fundamentally changes the lives of everything in the Lands Between and frees the world, guiding it in a new direction. The player’s influence by killing Marika breaks the cycle of life being disrupted and frees everyone’s souls from the Erdtree since it’s dead.

The player changes the foundation of the world by killing the Erdtree and the creation the greater will sent to this desolate place. So, yes, you do become the Elden Lord in Elden Ring, and your ascension to this position has profound implications for the world of the game.