Not quite. There’s a fair chance that the tarnished, swept up in yet another facet of the gods’ machinations, just happened to hitch their buggy to Melina and become elden lord. The lore is far from straightforward enough to actually define the true purpose of the tarnished. Not to mention the last minute rewrights. At first glance, the gods just seem like dicks. Took me a while to realize that they’re nearly all just disillusioned.