Rise, my fellow Tarnished, as we’re heading back into the Lands Between for A NEW ADVENTURE! FromSoftware have announced a new DLC expansion, the Shadow of the Erdtree, for Elden Ring with one of the most mysterious and intriguing images ever!
I truly don’t have words to express my excitement and joy for this expansion.
Elden Ring has been my favorite game since The Witcher 3 released back in 2015 or when God of War was revived back in 2018, and it was more than deserving of its 2022 Game of the Year award win.
There’s simply nothing FromSoftware “half-assed” or “half-did” in making the world of the Lands Between, while there is so much hidden content, lore, mysteries, revelations, etc. that four full-length playthroughs isn’t even enough to complete the game.
I mean, there’s six separate, unique endings that sees out Tarnished become the Elden Lord by working with/for different, competing factions! There just isn’t a game in the last 5 years that has not only had so much content, lore, passion, love, and creativity poured into it, but also lived up to its extremely high expectations.
No, it EXCEEDED these expectations as I’m going to go on a limb and say that this is the best game FromSoftware and Hidetaka Miyazaki have ever made. And that’s a huge compliment given the pair were responsible for creating Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and the Souls games genre as a whole.
Nevertheless, as you can see from the image above, this DLC is going to take place after the events of main story and focus on the ever-young Empyrean himself, Miquella. Well, maybe.
To be honest, the image is so vague that I’ve got no idea what the expansion’s story will be about. Given how the person riding our beloved Torrent looks almost identical to Miquella in Mohg’s cinematic intro cutscene, I’m guessing he’s the one approaching what also appears to be a burnt, damaged Erdtree.
(FromSoftware/Bandai Namco-Elden Ring-Mohg And Miquella)
As everyone who fought Mohg will remember, Miquella was not killed or even touched (the game did not allow the Tarnished to damage the egg) by the Tarnished after they killed Mohg. In fact, it seems like Miquella only “awoke” when the Tarnished showed up to Mohg’s underground mausoleum as his arm dropped down and summoned the Lord of Blood for the fight.
Thus, given how Miquella is such a key character for nearly every demi-god, god, and villain, such as Mohg, Malenia, General Radhan, Godwyn the Golden, Radagon, Queen Marika, the Godskin Apostles (St. Trina is theorized to be their idol/god), Sir Gideon Ofnir, etc., it only makes sense that FromSoftware would focus the expansion on the super mysterious Empyrean.
As for the timeline of the game, it looks like it will take place after the burning of the Erdtree and the ascension of the Tarnised as Elden Lord.
The tree in the image looks a lot like the Erdtree and has something that looks like the Elden Ring hovering in its center, though I’m a little confused as to why the Erdtree looks the way it does. Yes, the Tarnished burned the Erdtree with either Melina or the Flame of Frenzy’s help, but all the endings that involved an “intact” Erdtree had it reformed to its former self by the end of the game.
Only Ranni’s “Age of the Stars” and the Lord of Chaos endings had the Erdtree either reformed into outer space (I still don’t know what Ranni was doing with Marika’s head), or the tree was hollowed out and burnt away by the Lord of Chaos. The endings with Goldmask, Fia, the Dungeater, and the regular ending all had the Erdtree alive and well…for the most part.
Now, this might also be the Haligtree if Torrent’s rider truly is Miquella, and that would open up so many more possibilities and questions for the main story. Namely, why is the Haligtree burnt and encompassed by the Elden Ring? What happened to Malenia’s Scarlet Rot followers? And why is the terrain so different?
Of course, this might just be a dream sequence and Miquella is only observing/thinking about what the Erdtree or Haligtree used to look like. Moreover, this might not even be Miquella as the rider looks more feminine than masculine from behind (in my opinion).
Perhaps its Queen Marika? Or maybe its Miquella as St. Trina? Maybe Mohg’s blood magic actually worked, and Miquella was reborn as St. Trina after the Tarnished left with Mohg’s rune? There really is so many possibilities.
Finally, for a detail that many might not remember, Torrent was given as a gift from Melina to the Tarnished once they got far enough in Limgrave. If Miquella is the original owner of Torrent, that must mean he and Melina are somehow related or connected.
Furthermore, during our first meeting with Ranni (when she calls herself Renna the Witch) in Limgrave by the old church, she says that Torrent’s “former master” entrusted her with the spirit ashes bell to give to the Tarnished who would mount Torrent. Thus, if Miquella entrusted his half-sister Ranni and his probable sister Melina to help the Tarnished on their journey to become Elden Lord, then was the Tarnished’s accent all part of a masterplan by Ranni, Miquella, and Melina?
(FromSoftware/Bandai Namco-Elden Ring-Story Trailer)
And how does this masterplan impact Ranni’s Age of the Stars ending, or Melina swearing she’ll kill the Tarnished if he becomes the Lord of Chaos?
I don’t know, but I’m so much more excited for this DLC than I was when first writing this article.
Thank you, FromSoftware and Hidetaka Miyazaki, for making such a brilliant game!
Images Source: Featured Image: (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) ((1) ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) / Twitter)
In Text Image 1: (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) (Elden Ring)
In Text Image 2: (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) (ELDEN RING – Story Trailer – YouTube)
