Elden Ring has two mistranslations regarding Ranni’s quest and her Age of Stars ending, changing all of the story and lore fans believed in. We explained everything below, beware of spoilers!
Elden Ring is the latest game by FromSoftware, directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki. It follows Demon’s Souls, the Dark Souls series, Bloodborne and Sekiro. Be it the way its open-world is built, or how it ingeniously reuses enemy patterns and assets from past games, Elden Ring is a one-of-a-kind, massive experience that combines everything FromSoftware made over the decades. The game is already an unprecedented success forFromSoftware and when it comes to most Japanese studios, with over 12 million copies sold. Elden Ring‘s publisher, Bandai Namco, already promised more developments for the IP are coming.
The Souls series and Elden Ring are characterized by cryptic story elements. It’s up to the players to gather the various pieces of “lore” in the game in order to fully understand the characters and plot. It’s one of the many reasons why those games are so beloved and discussed. Sadly, Hidetaka Miyazaki’s games aren’t unknown to mistranslations, which hinder the comprehension of non-Japanese players.
Elden Ring: Ranni’s quest line and Age of the Stars ending mistranslations explained
In Elden Ring, there are two major differences in Ranni’s dialogue between the Japanese text and the English dub & translation. The first instance happens during a hidden event with Ranni as spotted by Elden Ring player Wotn. The second mistranslation happens in Ranni’s dialogue during the Age of the Stars ending.
Ranni quest line’s hidden event
After clearing Ranni’s quest, you can go back to her room and speak to her doll for a secret event. In this discussion, Ranni elaborates on the order she envisions, as in what will happen if you trigger her Age of the Stars ending. Elden Ring player Wotn pointed out on YouTube that this event was mistranslated.
In the Elden Ring English localization and dub, Ranni says in her event:
Ranni: “Mine will be an order not of gold, but the stars and moon of the chill night. I will keep them far from the earth beneath our feet. As it is now, life, and souls, and order are bound tightly together, but I would have them at a great remove. And have the certainties of sight, emotion, faith, and touch… All become impossibilities. Which is why I would abandon this soil, with mine order. Wouldst thou come to me, even now, my one and only lord?”
But if you read the Japanese dialogue in Wotn’s video, Ranni’s explanation goes:
私の律は、
黄金ではない。星と月、冷たい夜の律だ
…私はそれを、この地から遠ざけたいのだ
生命と魂が、律と共にあるとしても、それは遥かに遠くにあればよい
確かに見ることも、感じることも、信じることも、触れることも
…すべて、できない方がよい
だから私は、律と共に、この地を棄てる
それでも、付いてきてくれるのだろう？ただ一人の、私の王よ
Translated in English, you get:
Ranni: “Mine will be an order not of gold, but the stars and moon of the chill night. But I want to keep it all away from this land. Even if life and soul are closely bound with an order, I could just distance it all away. It’d be best if mine order could never be seen, felt, believed in, or touched again. This is why I would leave this land with mine order. Even so, I know thou would follow me, my one and only lord”.
You can tell through my translation that Ranni’s plans for the Lands Between aren’t as bleak as in the English text. Even if Ranni would bring an “age of stars and moon of the chill night” with her order, she would cast her order and herself far away.
Ranni’s Age of the Stars ending explained
Here too, Ranni’s plan was mistranslated, and the Japanese version of the ending doesn’t sound as horrible as the English translation.
Ranni’s ending dialogue in the Elden Ring English localization and dub:
Ranni: “…The battle is over, I see. I do solemnly swear. To every living being, and every living soul. Now cometh the age of the stars. A thousand year voyage under the wisdom of the Moon. Here beginneth the chill night that encompasses all, reaching the great beyond. Into fear, doubt, and loneliness… As the path stretcheth into darkness. Well then. Shall we? My dear consort, eternal.”
Ranni’s ending dialogue in Japanese:
…すべて、終わったのだな
私は誓おう
すべての生命と、すべての魂に
これよりは星の世紀
月の理、千年の旅
すべてよ、冷たい夜、はるか遠くに思うがよい
恐れを、迷いを、孤独を
そして暗きに行く路を
さあ、行こうか
…永遠なる、私の王よ
Translated in English, you get:
Ranni: “…The battle is over, I see. I do solemnly swear. To every living being, and every living soul. Now cometh the age of the stars. A thousand year voyage under the wisdom of the Moon. To all, you may consider the chill night as banished far away. Into fear, doubt, and loneliness… As the path stretcheth into darkness. Well then. Shall we? My dear consort, eternal.”
To me, it looks like the “chill night” is Ranni and her order, and she’s leaving with the Tarnished into that dark, lonely road.
Theories on how these mistranslations happened (Updated)
This is only speculation on my part, but the ending mistranslation is likely due to how the translator misread the sixth line すべてよ into すべてを. Having a different kana there changes the original meaning into the mistranslation.
It could also be due to a lack of context. There are many reasons why mistranslations can happen, especially when it comes to Japanese games. Tight schedules, slow communication with the Japanese developers, etc. Most of the time it has nothing to do with the translators’ skills. Translating Japanese games is extremely difficult, and translators should be thanked and credited rather than doubted and shamed.
These are definitely not the sole mistranslations in Elden Ring‘s English script, but blaming the translators won’t help us. In an age where sadly, more and more Japanese companies in the anime, manga, light novel and game industries are using machine translation, things will only get worse if even us fans don’t have the translators’ backs.
Now that you have a better understanding of Ranni in Elden Ring, what are your thoughts on her ending? Let us know in the comments below!
