Highlights
- Elden Ring sets a new standard for massive maps and boss battles, bringing the hardcore style of the Soulsborne genre into an open-world format.
- The lore in Elden Ring is intricately woven into the game, with many hints and subtle details, including the mysterious nature of Godfrey's beast regent, Serosh.
- Serosh, known as Godfrey's advisor, has a deeper connection to Hoarah Loux and the Axe of Godfrey, which becomes a symbol of Godfrey's compromise in service of Queen Marika.
Bringing the hardcore style of the Soulsborne genre into an open-world format, Elden Ring is likely to be remembered for setting a new standard when it comes to massive maps and boss battles alike. The epic boss encounters featured throughout the game are more than just enemies, however, as FromSoftware’s prolific style of lore presentation has bled into nearly every aspect of the game. Depicting a constant struggle for godlike power at its core, one of Elden Ring’s key pieces of lore seems to have intentionally become lost to time apart from several hints.
Many of Elden Ring’s bosses have become well-known among gamers, and the game’s final set of battles is especially significant. Maliketh, Malenia, and Radagon/Elden Beast all provide challenges and nuanced narratives worthy of the studio behind Dark Souls, but the ally of one powerful opponent may have some of the most subtle lore of all. While Godfrey, First Elden Lord may be a familiar encounter to those who have made it to the end, the true nature of his beast regent Serosh has remained a mystery to many players.
The Hidden Story of Elden Ring's Serosh
Serosh is known as Godfrey’s advisor who became bound to him when the man who was once a brutal barbarian took up the mantle of Elden Lord under Queen Marika, and this is as far as the story goes for many. Mysteriously uninvolved with direct combat, the beast is largely seen as a symbol of Godfrey’s lordship, slain by his own ally’s hand so that the persona of Hoarah Loux can truly return. This connection seems to be a simple subversion of what one would expect a magical beast to provide, but details surrounding Serosh paint a more complete picture.
Between the descriptions of items like the Cinquedea and Beastclaw Greathammer, both the intelligence of the beastmen of Farum Azula and the status of Serosh as the Lord of Beasts above them is clear. The time of Godfrey’s vow to be Elden Lord is associated with taking Serosh on his back, but it also doesn’t quite make sense for a king of his own to willingly put himself in service to another. Said to be an aged counselor of the golden lineage, the true story of Godfrey's beast regent is one as old as the Age of the Erdtree itself.
Serosh's Connection to Hoarah Loux Becoming Godfrey
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Godfrey’s broken axe is a key aspect of his design, but it also tells a story. Clearly resembling the material of the Beastman’s Cleaver wielded by the occupants of Crumbling Farum Azula, the Axe of Godfrey was likely a gift from Serosh himself. Hoarah Loux, prior to his lordship, may have defeated the beast king himself in Farum Azula in order to earn the respect of his future advisor. The Fortified Manor found in Leyndell appears to contain the seat of Godfrey himself, and directly across from what could easily be his former axe planted into the roundtable itself. A far more barbaric weapon in appearance, this axe could have been the one that damaged Serosh’s crown and scarred his face.
If this sequence of events is to be believed, then Serosh’s gifting of his own axe makes all the more sense. In laying down his previous weapon, Godfrey could also have left behind the identity of Hoarah Loux as a whole, including a history of battle with the Lord of Beasts. The Axe of Godfrey becomes more than just an emblem of the golden lineage, and in the context of Serosh, it is instead the true symbol of Godfrey’s ultimate compromise in service of Marika.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.