Recaps

Horace bound Caria’s nobles to loyalty with Great Runes as Caria prepared for war, while Lilith discovered apparent dual aspects in Marika and Miquella. When Stormveil invaded Liurnia, Caria’s forces ambushed and routed the western army at the Raya Lucaria Settlement.

• Horace told Messmer that the nobles’ loyalty oaths acted as Great Runes and ordered him to prepare the Fire Knights.
• Lilith watched Marika shift between herself and Radagon, then saw a female shadow within Miquella.
• The Storm King launched his war, sending forces east and west to attack Liurnia and cut Caria’s supply lines.
• Harold led the western force toward the Raya Lucaria Settlement, where glintstone traps destroyed two scouting units.
• Gaius ordered albinauric archers to rain armor-piercing arrows on Harold’s troops, forcing the survivors to retreat as the Great Rune Knights emerged.

Caria routed Stormveil’s forces on both fronts, with Messmer killing the eastern commander, Reynard, and Horace preparing defenses for the expected arrival of the Storm King. The chapter left Horace confident that his ranged forces could overwhelm the Storm King if he entered the battlefield.

• The western Storm army lost most of its troops to Caria’s defenses and fled to Limgrave, while Reynard’s eastern force advanced across the great bridge.
• Reynard’s ballista bolts bounced off the Inquisitor Knights’ shields, and their shield wall protected Caria’s mages from stormhawk attacks as the mages devastated the Storm infantry.
• Reynard ordered an assault, but Messmer broke through the charging troops and killed him in three moves.
• The eastern Storm army collapsed, and Caria pursued it across the bridge and captured nearly a thousand soldiers; the Albinaurics routed the western force with arrows.
• Horace condemned Stormveil’s invasion and demanded its withdrawal, compensation, and the surrender of war criminals.
• Horace gathered golems, Loretta’s Greatbow mages, and Albinauric ranged troops to prepare for the Storm King, while Uriel shuddered at Horace’s threat to fill him with arrows.

Horace Loux prepared for Stormveil’s second offensive and lured the Storm King within range of Caria’s hidden massed archers. The Storm King survived two volleys but was badly wounded and carried out of the killing zone by the Stormhawk King.

• Horace ordered the Crayfish, Crabs, Albinaurics, and puppets to hold Stormveil’s western detachment while he prepared the eastern front for the main battle.
• The Storm King arrived with his army and challenged Horace to single combat, but Horace refused and taunted him into advancing alone.
• When the Storm King came within range, Horace gave the signal and Uriel ordered Caria’s golems, sorcerers, Albinaurics, and Inquisitor Knights to fire.
• The Storm King raised a Stormcaller barrier to withstand the first arrow volley, then tried to block the second wave with his halberd.
• Several arrows wounded the Storm King, and the Stormhawk King carried him away before the third volley arrived.

Horace’s unconventional tactics routed the Stormveil army, but the Storm King survived and ordered a withdrawal while vowing to fight again. As Horace and Rellana debated their next move, Lilith vanished to intervene in the war herself.

• Horace defended his ambush tactics to Uriel, arguing that saving his soldiers mattered more than battlefield honor, and Uriel accepted his reasoning.
• The wounded Storm King blamed Horace’s treachery for his defeat but acknowledged the loss and ordered Stormveil’s army to retreat and fortify its position.
• Horace and Rellana debated whether to attack the Storm King before he recovered, weighing the risks of fighting his rear guard or facing Stormveil Castle’s defenses.
• Lilith urged Horace to use his Law to overwhelm the enemy, then vanished before Horace or Rellana could stop her.

Lilith healed the Storm King with blood that drove many Storm soldiers into a frenzy, prompting him to turn the retreat into an assault on Caria. Horace used his divine authority to forbid flight and joined the battle, where the fighting continued as Messmer and Gaius faced Storm veterans together.

• Lilith's blood mist healed the Storm King but contaminated the camp and drove some soldiers into Bloodflame Frenzy.
• The Storm King ordered the unaffected troops to attack Caria, sending the frenzied soldiers to charge at the front alongside Stormhawks.
• Horace forbade flight across the battlefield with his divine authority, grounding the Stormhawks and Carian arrows while leaving Glintstone Sorcery effective.
• The Storm army reached Caria's defenses, where Inquisitor Knights formed a shield wall and Horace charged the Storm King.
• Horace clashed with the Storm King while Rellana cut through Storm soldiers, and Gaius rode to Messmer's aid against a group of Storm veterans.

Horace’s Carian forces fought the Stormveil army while he tracked down and restrained Lilith, then slowed time and wounded the Storm King. Horace and Rellana struck with three moons, leaving the Storm King near death as he questioned Horace’s use of battlefield tricks.

• The Inquisitor Knights held off Stormveil’s storm knights while the Nurse Corps treated Carian wounded with painful Bloodflame, and the Storm King accused Horace of causing the bloodshed.
• Horace sensed Lilith’s influence over the battlefield, bound her with golden chains, and ordered Uriel to withdraw the Carian army under the Inquisitor Knights’ cover.
• Horace used the Blood Moon to restrain time and pierced the Storm King’s heart, but the king survived the grievous wound.
• Rellana summoned the Full Moon and Dark Moon as Horace brought down the Blood Moon, and the three moons struck the Storm King, leaving him gravely wounded in a crater.
• The Storm King questioned why Horace had relied on tricks, and Horace replied that he had expected more from a king on Godfrey’s level.

After Horace defeated the Storm King with a burst of authority, the dying king asked him to spare his knights and demanded a final duel. Horace granted him a warrior’s death, ending the war as the Stormhawk King and the Storm Knights mourned.

• The Storm King realized Horace had overwhelmingly outmatched him and ordered Oleg, Engvall, and the Storm Army to withdraw.
• The Storm King asked Horace to spare his knights, then challenged him to a final fight with weapons alone.
• Horace and the Storm King fought across the crater, and Horace killed him with a strike to the throat.
• Horace closed the Storm King’s eyes and declared the war over as the Stormhawk King and Storm Knights grieved beside the body.

After burying the Storm King, Horace pardoned the surrendered Storm army and accepted Stormveil Castle's surrender. He then ordered Oleg and the veteran soldiers to arrest the castle's nobles and their families for alleged rebellion, and Oleg agreed with grim satisfaction.

• Horace buried the Storm King, and the remaining Storm soldiers surrendered while the Stormhawk King flew south and never returned.
• Horace assured Oleg and Engvall that he would pardon the prisoners, explaining that Caria sought Stormveil's lands and resources rather than the knights.
• Stormveil's nobles opened the gates and surrendered the castle, presenting Horace with inventories of its supplies and treasury.
• Horace told the nobles he would not trust their purchased loyalty and declared that he was suppressing a rebellion.
• Horace ordered Oleg, Engvall, and the veteran soldiers to arrest the listed nobles and their families, and Oleg agreed to carry out the order.

Horace ordered Nioh, Oleg, and Engvall to purge Stormveil Castle’s nobles, then offered the knights pardon and Carian investiture without fiefs. Afterward, Horace met Duchess, a blindfolded girl who had stolen grain from the nobles to feed villagers in her adoptive father’s poor domain.

• Nioh, Oleg, and Engvall led the knights in eliminating all thirty-seven noble families on Horace’s list, while Messmer and the Order of the Great Rune Knights watched the purge.
• Nioh reported that 564 people had been killed and their assets seized, and Horace pardoned the prisoners of war outside the city.
• Horace offered the Storm Knights knighthoods under Caria but no fiefs, telling them they would have to earn land by fighting Limgrave’s lords.
• Young Fire Knights watching the palace realized they could be hostages whose families’ usefulness determined their safety.
• Horace listened as Duchess explained that she had stolen grain from the great nobles to feed villagers in her adoptive father’s impoverished domain.

Horace arranged a Limgrave recruitment drive, hoping to draw the Duchess’s brother into his army, while Nioh’s knights crushed private armed forces and earned new fiefs. He accepted the hostility between Nioh’s brutal knights and the principled Inquisitor Knights as a useful check on both orders.

• Horace learned that the Duchess could barely remember her brother, then ordered Uriel to recruit warriors across Limgrave, especially nomads, and offered the Duchess a chance to serve in the army.
• A silent young man in a Stormhill nomadic camp heard of the recruitment, sensed that he and the Duchess would reunite, and went to speak with his father.
• Over three months, Nioh, Oleg, and Engvall led the surrendered Storm Knights in eliminating Limgrave’s sizable private armed forces, drawing condemnation for their slaughter of noble families.
• Horace granted Nioh and the other knights fiefs, rewards, and Carian vassal status, but Inquisitor Knights openly showed their disgust toward Nioh.
• Horace told Uriel that the two hostile knightly orders would monitor and restrain each other, making their rivalry useful to the ruler.

Rennala considered names for her triplets and resolved to find a way to hand her burdensome queenship to Rellana. After returning to Liurnia, Horace found Mohg learning bloodflame from Lilith and heard his ambitious plan to claim the Golden Dynasty by winning over his siblings and marrying Miquella.

• Rennala learned she was carrying triplets, considered naming a daughter Ranni and two sons Radahn and Rykard, and lamented the demands of ruling.
• Rennala decided she would find a way to make Rellana queen so she could escape her duties.
• Horace handed Limgrave's administration to Messmer, then returned to Liurnia with Rellana.
• Horace found Mohg calling Lilith his mother while she taught him bloodflame, and learned Morgott knew about it.
• Mohg told Horace he planned to enter the Thousand-Year Contest and take the Golden Dynasty by gaining his siblings' support.
• Mohg said he hoped to marry Miquella to win Malenia over, leaving Horace stunned.

Horace helped Morgott and Mohg remove their Omen aspects by binding them with a Great Rune that forbade them from harming each other. With their appearance no longer an obstacle, Mohg resumed planning to claim the throne and create a Blood Dynasty, while Morgott was sent to study governance.

• Mohg told Horace he planned to marry Miquella, win support, and transform the Golden Dynasty into a Blood Dynasty, then asked Horace for startup funds.
• Horace warned Mohg that the Golden Dynasty would not accept an Omen as king, prompting Mohg to ask for a solution.
• Horace summoned Morgott and offered to remove both brothers' Omen aspects in exchange for a Great Rune forbidding them from harming one another.
• The brothers accepted the condition, and Horace's Great Rune made their horns disappear while warning that they would return if either brother broke the bond.
• Horace directed Morgott to study governance at the Academy and Mohg to train with Lilith, then approved a modest allowance of Runes for Mohg's plans.

Rennala told Rellana she planned to abdicate and make her queen, with Horace handling Caria’s government, but Horace fled with Rellana to Leyndell. There, Marika immediately pressed him into service to review a procurement order, leaving him wondering whether Caria’s throne might be preferable.

• Rennala said she would abdicate and have Rellana inherit Caria’s throne, while Horace handled the government work.
• Horace refused, but Rennala and Rellana ignored his objections and began planning the succession ceremony.
• Horace took Rellana to Leyndell to lie low, where Marika’s herald summoned him to help with government affairs.
• Horace found that Marika had approved a purchase of sixty thousand bundles of arrows at two thousand Runes per arrow without understanding the total cost.
• Horace realized Godwyn was away fighting in the Mountaintops of the Giants while Marika struggled with Leyndell’s administration, and he reconsidered Caria’s throne.

Horace and Marika devised a way to identify corrupt officials by transforming a squad of Black Knife Assassins into thralls with blood glintstone. The chapter leaves Horace preparing to impose compulsory reeducation on ministers and noble children, threatening immediate execution for anyone who resists divine authority.

• Horace pointed out that officials were embezzling from the Golden Dynasty, and Marika admitted she had known but lacked the means and personnel to investigate effectively.
• Horace realized Marika could use her divine authority to distinguish and remove corrupt nobles without relying on conventional evidence or due process.
• Horace and Marika decided to transform Black Knife Assassins into thralls who could detect lies, and Marika appointed Horace Acting Chancellor.
• Marika summoned twelve Black Knife Assassins to Leyndell, where Horace used blood glintstone to bind them and enhance their perception.
• Horace assigned the Black Knives to assess ministers and major nobles, then announced plans to establish an academy to reeducate ministers and noble children.

Horace confiscated Marika’s weapons and ordered her to study after finding serious errors in her administrative work. While reviewing her papers, he noticed that documents from three months earlier were unusually competent and wondered if Radagon had already emerged as Marika’s other half.

• Horace confiscated the Stone Mallet and Mimic Veil, then ordered Marika to study history, arithmetic, and administration under his supervision.
• Horace chose Miriel to teach Marika and planned to have someone fetch the turtle from the Church of Vows.
• Horace reviewed Marika’s approved documents and found incorrect figures, muddled reasoning, and an approval to brew wine from Erdtree sap.
• Horace noticed that documents from three months earlier were neat, logical, and accurate, and suspected Radagon had handled them.
• Horace set the possibility aside until Miriel arrived, then worried that Radagon might appear while Godfrey was with Marika.

A player used a health-lock cheat in Elden Ring and discovered that NPCs could report him, summoning the Tracker and Inquisitor Knights to punish him. After he tried to avoid combat and admire Limgrave, another report caused the blood moon to descend toward his character.

• The player activated a health-lock cheat and defeated the spear-and-shield soldier at Gatefront, but received a cheating report and was killed by the Tracker and Inquisitor Knights.
• After restarting at the Church of Elleh, the player attacked a servant, received another report, and was killed again by the Tracker.
• The player reentered the game and wandered through Limgrave without attacking anyone, hoping to avoid further punishment.
• At night, the player watched and photographed the blood moon, then received a third cheating report as the moon began moving closer and filling the screen.

After repeatedly killing monsters and fleeing before the Inquisitor Knights could catch up, the player was trapped by the Tracker and killed. The Duchess then became the Tarnished’s maiden and explained the contest for the Elden Ring.

• The player set the time to daytime, killed a Demi-Human, and fled as the Inquisitor Knights appeared at the spot where it died.
• The player used hit-and-run tactics across Limgrave, killing monsters and repeatedly escaping the Knights.
• On the player’s seventh attack, a dark golden mark slowed the Tarnished and reduced his maximum health, allowing the Tracker and four Inquisitor Knights to surround him.
• The Tracker killed the Tarnished, then told the Duchess he had knocked the rule-breaking Tarnished unconscious seven times and asked her to watch over him.
• The Duchess agreed to act as the Tarnished’s maiden, explained the Thousand-Year Contest and the purpose of Runes, and introduced herself at an unfamiliar site of Grace.

A player tested the Duchess’s limits on cheating before setting out for Stormveil Castle, where the Mechanical Shrimp’s knockback and the nearby abyss defeated his health-lock cheat. He returned to the Duchess for advice and traded her Pocket Bread for her Crafting Notes, which promised to reveal the Shrimp’s weakness.

• The player repeatedly attacked creatures with cheats enabled, and the Duchess knocked him down before eventually warning him to stop provoking the lord.
• The player crossed Limgrave toward Stormveil Castle while occasional cheating reports brought no immediate intervention from the Tracker or Inquisitor Knights.
• The Mechanical Shrimp repeatedly knocked the Tarnished toward the cliffs, and a water bolt finally sent him into the abyss despite his locked health.
• The player found that the Mechanical Shrimp could only be damaged by critical attacks, then returned to the Church of Elleh to ask the Duchess about its weakness.
• The Duchess asked for bread in exchange for information, and the player gave her Pocket Bread and received Duchess's Crafting Notes 1.

Horace warned Marika that a Nomadic Tribe caravan had entered the Golden Dynasty’s territory with signs of the frenzied flame, and they rejected the Two Fingers’ order to bury the tribe. Marika put Horace in charge of handling the caravan and warned him not to let the frenzied flame ignite.

• Horace read a report about the Nomadic Tribe caravan and recalled how the Golden Dynasty had buried the tribe alive, leading to the Three Fingers’ arrival.
• Horace told Marika about the caravan and the traces of frenzied flame in its members’ eyes.
• Marika and Horace asked the Two Fingers how to handle the Nomadic Tribe, and Enia relayed their command to bury the suspected heretics underground.
• Horace objected to the order but could not explain his knowledge of the consequences, so Marika rejected the Two Fingers’ advice and left with him.
• Marika assigned Horace to handle the Nomadic Tribe and warned him not to let the frenzied flame start burning.

Horace learned that Hassan’s nomadic people had been infected with Frenzied Flame Sickness through Shabriri’s scheme and temporarily suppressed the symptoms with the Great Runes. He kept the caravan confined to the manor while he searched for a lasting cure.

• Horace questioned Hassan about the yellow in his people’s eyes, and Hassan admitted they suffered from Frenzied Flame Sickness.
• Hassan said Shabriri had deceived his ancestors with promises of special sight, infecting their people and forcing them to wander in search of a cure.
• Horace used the Great Runes to suppress the Frenzied Flame in Hassan’s eyes, but realized the sickness remained rooted in his soul.
• Horace told Hassan to keep the caravan inside the manor and avoid outsiders while he researched a more thorough cure.
• Horace warned Hassan that Shabriri was still alive, and Hassan promised to obey.

The player bought Trina's Lily from Kalé, crafted sleep arrows and a harpoon, and defeated the Mechanical Shrimp Lord of Cinder. After admitting to breaking the rules, the Tarnished was sent to Blood Moon Manor, where he fought an invincible Blaidd until Blaidd vanished.

• The player found that Kalé could order Trina's Lily and later bought all ten for 1,000 Runes each.
• The Tarnished crafted Beast-Bone Sleep Arrows and a Shrimp-Hunting Harpoon, then used them to defeat the Mechanical Shrimp Lord of Cinder.
• At the next Site of Grace, the Tracker asked whether the Tarnished admitted to breaking the rules, and the player chose yes.
• The Tracker transported the Tarnished to Blood Moon Manor, where White Wolf Warhound Blaidd invaded him.
• The Tarnished and Blaidd fought across the reception hall without either health bar changing, until Blaidd landed a critical attack and vanished.
• Dragon Girl scolded Blaidd for damaging the reception hall and told him the repairs would come out of his pay.

Horace tried magic and medicine to treat the nomads’ Frenzied Flame sickness, then discovered that the Gate of Myriad Laws could remove the affliction. The gate answered that it was “Not enough,” leaving Horace to wonder what it required.

• Horace used Tranquilize on Hassan, but the spell only briefly eased his symptoms.
• Horace made Frenzy-Flaming Moss, which suppressed Hassan’s sickness but required continuous use and scarce ingredients.
• Horace tried to restrain the Frenzied Flame with his Law, but the clash nearly overwhelmed Hassan, so he stopped.
• Horace asked the Gate of Myriad Laws how to cure the sickness, and it drew the Frenzied Flame out of Hassan through a narrow opening.
• Horace heard mysterious whispers as the gate opened, then saw Chains seal it shut again after it answered, “Not enough.”

Marika sent Godfrey a message through Lilith, then Radagon took control of her body and brushed off the Two Fingers’ questions. Godfrey received Marika’s instruction on the Mountaintops of the Giants and set out to get kindling while Serosh slept.

• Marika asked Lilith to tell Godfrey to return if he had lost his grace and carry out their agreement, while Lilith teased her until Radagon took control and severed their connection.
• Radagon went to the Two Fingers and answered their questions about Horace, the Frenzied Flame, the heretics, and the Black Knives with repeated claims that he did not know.
• Old Enia translated Radagon’s dismissive answers, and the Two Fingers trembled in frustration after he left.
• Godfrey listened for an hour as Marika cursed Lilith through a blood pool before finally hearing her message.
• Godfrey looked toward the giants’ cauldron and decided to get the kindling while Serosh slept beneath a rock.

Marika and Rellana struggled to read Godfrey’s illegible letter from the front, and Marika pretended it was a cipher to avoid exposing her ignorance. Miriel caught Marika trying to sneak away and made her return to her lessons, while Marika continued plotting to get Horace appointed Chancellor.

• Rellana examined Godfrey’s letter but could not make sense of its scrawled handwriting.
• Marika claimed the letter used a Golden Dynasty cipher, then avoided translating it when Rellana asked her to decipher it.
• Rellana left to find Horace, admitting to herself that she had only asked Marika to tease her.
• Marika pulled out her Mimic Veil to sneak away, but Miriel stopped her and ordered her to resume studying.
• Marika reluctantly opened her books and resolved to trick Horace into taking the Chancellor’s position so she could escape her lessons.

A trailer showed Horace rejecting the crown and declaring that only a rebellious hero could become king. It ended by calling nameless, fateless players to seek the Elden Throne, while an unseen voice promised they would all return to its embrace.

• The trailer showed Horace pick up the crown, then toss it from the Elden Throne and shatter it on the floor.
• Horace met the camera's gaze and declared that only a rebellious hero could become a king.
• Lilith appeared on the first of seven seats as blood covered it, while the remaining seats manifested Spiritflame, moonlight, glintstone, growth, Marika, and Fell God Flame.
• Horace spread his arms as a phantom girl appeared between them and vanished, while the narrator described fragmented images of a jester, a drunkard, a wave, and broken scales.
• The narrator called nameless, fateless players to contend for the Elden Throne and showed dangerous places and creatures across the Lands Between.
• The trailer ended on golden guidance of grace, as an unseen voice promised that everyone would return to its embrace.