Deicide in Nyx

The title of this article is speculative or a fan-created nickname.

_____

Nickname The title of this article is speculative or a fan-created nickname. This article is about a subject that has not been identified with a specific name in official sources. The Azorius would condemn her, if only they knew her name.

[["Information",[{"data":"[[Mending Era]]","label":"Era"},{"data":"4559 [[AR]]","label":"Date"},{"data":"[[Nykthos]], [[Nyx]], [[Theros (plane)|Theros]]","label":"Location"},{"data":"''[[Journey into Nyx]]''","label":"Sets"},{"data":"[[Ajani Goldmane]], [[Elspeth Tirel|Elspeth]], [[Erebos]], [[Heliod]], [[Nylea]], [[Xenagos]]","label":"Characters"}]],["Outcome",[{"data":"\n*[[Elspeth]] undergoes a trial of [[Erebos]], and requests trading her soul with that of [[Daxos]]\n*[[Xenagos]], the newest deity of [[Theros]], is killed by [[Elspeth]], [[Ajani Goldmane]], and [[Nylea]]'s arrow\n*[[Nylea]] is freed from captivity, and forgives [[Elspeth]] for having killed [[Polukranos]] and [[Daxos]]\n*[[Elspeth]] is betrayed by her own deity, [[Heliod]], who kills her with ''[[Godsend]]''\n*[[Ajani]] bears Elspeth's corpse away from [[Nyx]], into [[Oreskos]] where she perishes, her soul going to [[Ilysia]] in the [[Underworld]]."}]],["[[Timeline]]",[{"data":"[[Great Revel]]\n\n[[Deicide in Nyx|Deicide in Nyx]]\n[[Nexus of Fate]]"}]]]

Deicide in Nyx
Information
Era	Mending Era
Date	4559 AR
Location	Nykthos, Nyx, Theros
Sets	Journey into Nyx
Characters	Ajani Goldmane, Elspeth, Erebos, Heliod, Nylea, Xenagos
Outcome
Elspeth undergoes a trial of Erebos, and requests trading her soul with that of Daxos Xenagos, the newest deity of Theros, is killed by Elspeth, Ajani Goldmane, and Nylea's arrow Nylea is freed from captivity, and forgives Elspeth for having killed Polukranos and Daxos Elspeth is betrayed by her own deity, Heliod, who kills her with Godsend Ajani bears Elspeth's corpse away from Nyx, into Oreskos where she perishes, her soul going to Ilysia in the Underworld.
Timeline
Great Revel Deicide in Nyx Nexus of Fate

The Deicide in Nyx was a climactic event in Theros, in which Elspeth Tirel and Ajani Goldmane ventured into the divine realm of Nyx to end the threat of the usurper god Xenagos. Their struggle freed the goddess Nylea, toppled the false deity, and ended in the betrayal of Elspeth and her martyrdom at the hands of her patron, Heliod. The event reshaped Theros’s pantheon and laid the seeds for Elspeth’s own mortal deification.

Description

In the wake of the Great Revel, Elspeth Tirel fled into the wilderness of the Nessian Wood. There, she found an unexpected reunion with the leonin Ajani Goldmane. Together, they sought to confront the chaos the newly risen Xenagos had unleashed by elevating himself to godhood. Aided by King Brimaz, they secured passage to the edge of the world aboard the legendary ship the Monsoon. Along the way, they encountered the merfolk planeswalker Kiora, who masqueraded herself as the mariner Callaphe, and narrowly avoided the wrath of Thassa to reach the gateway to Nyx at the Temple of Mystery, finding the astral version of Nykthos on the far side.

There, Elspeth underwent an ordeal given by Erebos, god of the dead. She was forced to reject an idyllic vision of the life she had always yearned for — a loving family, including a daughter named Mina. This was a life she could never truly have. By smashing the illusion’s golden cup, she proved her resolve and gained entry to the starry realm of the gods.

Within Nyx, Elspeth and Ajani found Nylea imprisoned by Xenagos’s revelry, locked in a pile of burning nyxborn. They freed her and released her beasts from the satyr-god, battling the enraged Xenagos in the dreamlike realm. The fight culminated when the arrowhead lodged in Xenagos's chest by Nylea presented a target for Elspeth to exploit. Elspeth thrust Godsend into the satyr-god's chest, exploding the arrowhead and rending his heart apart, casting Xenagos’s divine form into ruin and ending his short-lived godhood.

In the aftermath, Elspeth asked Erebos to trade her soul for that of Daxos, her beloved, who had been unjustly condemned by her hand. Erebos agreed, pleased to claim the soul of a mortal who dared slay a god. As Elspeth and Ajani fled, Nylea urged haste, warning that the other gods would not stand idly by. Though she had forgiven Elspeth for slaying both her hydra Polukranos and her favorite oracle, Daxos, Heliod had not.

At Nykthos, the sun-god appeared, seemingly to reward his champion — yet instead, he seized her divine weapon, Godsend, and struck her down with it. Fearing what Elspeth’s deeds meant for his power, Heliod ensured her death would cement his authority. Since her death inside Nyx would have meant the loss of her soul, Ajani hurriedly carried Elspeth’s body away from the star-realm and into Oreskos in the Mortal Realm, where the godslayer finally died and her soul descended into Ilysia, the mortal paradise of the Underworld.

Yet in death, Elspeth’s sacrifice inspired the people of Theros. Tales of her courage, her defiance of false gods, and her tragic death spread throughout the poleis and wilds alike. Mortal shrines sprang up in her name, and Theros’s faithful began to venerate her as a new kind of protector — one born not of divinity, but of sacrifice, justice, and mortal will. Thus, the Deicide in Nyx marked both the fall of Xenagos and the beginning of Elspeth’s quiet rise as a revered martyr.

In-game references

Represented in:

• Deicide