Summary

  • At the start of Elden Ring, Melina gives us the Spectral Steed Whistle which we can use to summon Torrent.
  • We learn that he had a master before Melina, but it's never stated who that was.
  • One popular fan theory posited on Reddit is that Queen Marika the Eternal was the unknown master.

Torrent is a horned horse granted to us by Melina in Elden Ring. He can be summoned via the Spectral Steed Whistle, but its item description doesn't tell us much. What we do know is that he had a master before Melina, someone who also gave Ranni the Spirit Calling Bell.

With new information provided in Shadow of the Erdtree, one fan has an interesting theory—Queen Marika the Eternal was the unknown, elusive former master.

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The Land of Shadow is essentially the afterlife. Radahn has to die to enter, while Miquella leaves behind their body at the Moghwyn Dynasty to begin their pilgrimage. The Suppressing Pillar even tells us that "All manners of death wash up here", so it stands to reason that Torrent, being a spectral steed, is summoned from the realm of shadow.

This Land of Shadow was once part of The Lands Between and we know that Marika hails from the Shaman Village, but the realm has since been cast aside and hidden from the living. This gives her and Torrent a direct connection, but our steed's ties to this strange realm go beyond being dead. As one fan points out, there are giant coffin structures littered along the Cerulean Coast with sculptures of horned horses. This is all circumstantial, but it at least offers a bond between the two characters.

Melina Is All But Confirmed To Be Marika's Daughter

Another strong connection is that Melina, who gifts us Torrent, is almost certainly Marika's daughter. As I wrote in my piece about Marika and Radagon's family tree, there are four butterfly crafting items in the game which appear to correspond with Malenia, Messmer, Miquella, and Melina, tying them together. We also know from other names (like Godwyn, Godrick, and Godfrey) that lineage is denoted by similar titles.

Messmer's Kindling tells us that "much like his younger sister, [he] bore a vision of fire", and we know that Melina foresaw and later enacted the burning of the Erdtree. What's more, Melina was born at the foot of the Erdtree which, after overlaying the realm of shadow and Lands Between maps, places her birth in the Shaman Village where her unnamed mother gave her a purpose. It certainly lines up.

That would mean Melina, who is almost certainly Marika's daughter, gives us a steed summoned from the place where she and her mother were born. But what about the Spirit Calling Bell?

Marika Might Be The Spirit Tuner Hewg Is Indebted Too

This is where we leap from circumstantial evidence into full-blown speculation. Hewg mentions that he's indebted to a Spirit Tuner he knew long ago, and he also wants to make a god-slaying weapon to finally take down Marika.

What if they are the same person? "Maybe the reason why he wants to make a god-slaying weapon for Marika is because he is indebted to her," suggests OP. In that case, she may well be the accomplished Spirit Tuner who gave the Calling Bell to Ranni.

Marika is believed by many fans to have been involved in The Night of the Black Knives in which Godwyn, the first demigod to die, was slain. The Black Knives are Numen, the same as Marika, and Mailketh, who safeguarded the Rune of Death which Ranni stole, was Marika's loyal Shadowbound Beast. She may have given Ranni intimate knowledge to help in stealing a shard of the Rune of Death.

It's all circumstantial and speculative, so take it with a grain of salt, but if she was working closely with Ranni to tear down her own Golden Order (the Night of the Black Knives was immediately followed by the Shattering of the Elden Ring), then perhaps she gifted Ranni the Spirit Calling Bell much as Ranni gifted Rykard a Blasphemous Claw, while also leaving Torrent in the hands of Melina, who would later pass him down to us.

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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Released June 21, 2024 ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence Base Game Elden Ring Developer(s) FromSoftware Publisher(s) Bandai Namco Entertainment, FromSoftware Multiplayer Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer Engine Proprietary
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WHERE TO PLAY

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Shadow of the Erdtree is the first and only DLC expansion for FromSoftware's groundbreaking Elden Ring. It takes players to a whole new region, the Land of Shadow, where a new story awaits the Tarnished.

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