I Love How the Elden Ring Manga Handles Rennala

Throughout the Elden Ring: The Rad to the Erdtree gag manga, we see Nikiichi Tobita’s original take on the adventure and characters, and a good part of volume 4 involves Aseo’s interactions with Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. As expected, she isn’t exactly as we might remember from the game. However, much of this storyline pulls directly from what we know about her and plays with those expectations, while acknowledging her role in the title.

Editor’s Note: There will be spoilers for Rennala both in the Elden Ring manga and game below.

Before we properly meet Rennala in the Elden Ring manga, we first see Aseo reunite with Ranni the Witch in the Raya Lucaria Academy. After some refreshers Ranni and Rennala’s backstory, as well as her attempting to make him a Carian Knight again, she tasks him with meeting with her mother in the Grand Library and stealing her Great Rune for her own safety. She also mentions that she chose Aseo for this, since she knows he wouldn’t actually kill her mother.  

From there, we actually get to see Aseo meet Rennala in the Elden Ring manga, and the interactions do not disappoint. It begins by fully embracing her motherhood and interactions with the Great Rune sealed in an Amber Egg. She’s not malevolent at all. She’s just… an overworked mother pulled in too many directions by her Sweetings children. So much so that she needs to perform her Comet Azur to get the kids to stop playing with the books. 

Initially, she seems to dismiss Aseo, but once he reveals who he is, she and Carian Knight Moongrum actually take him as a threat. So much so that Moongrum steps up as the “boss” fight for the situation. He maintains his role as the Grand Library guardian, just as in the game. Except like the Godrick fight, it doesn’t go as expected. The Sweetings are still an issue, acting as a distraction and making it seem like she might be performing Twirling Retreat to again distract them.  

But I especially respect how the Elden Ring manga makes things more real at the end of the encounter with Rennala. Spoilers aside, Moongrum returns after his defeat to explain what she uses the Great Rune for. It’s a tragic moment and I feel an opportunity to sympathize with someone who previously seemed over-the-top and a major threat. To think even a gag manga would go out of its way to make readers understand someone better is quite a feat.

Which means I also especially loved is how Aseo eventually decides to deal with Rennala and the task Ranni assigned him in the Elden Ring manga. After consulting with Melina and Moongrum, this retelling decides to seemingly handle the encounter like we could in the game. As a refresher, this is an optional fight. So, we get to see how that would work in Aseo’s story as well. It allows us to see a more considerate side of things and appreciate the lore we picked up based on insights about Rennala here. 

The depiction of Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon in the Elden Ring: The Road to the Erdtree manga pulls from the game in so many good ways. It plays with what we know about her lore. It brings in her “Sweetings.” Her attacks are referenced. So is her very nature as a boss in the game. It’s all cleverly executed, as is much of this gag manga.

Volume 4 of Elden Ring: The Road to the Erdtree is available now, and Yen Press will release volume 5 on January 21, 2025.

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