Summary
SinceElden Ringfirst dropped in February 2022, players have beenpicking apart pieces of lorefrom the various cutscenes and context clues from the Lands Between. FromSoftware games have never been particularly forthcoming with the world’s lore,encouraging players to explore the world and piece together the story as they goinstead of guiding them along a linear narrative. While this has given the game hours of replayability (and plenty to discuss online), there are some questions players have about the various enemies and icons scattered throughout the game.
When theShadow of the ErdtreeDLC was announced forElden Ring, not only were players particularly excited about the prospect of new bosses and an entirely new section of the map to explore,but many expected some of their unanswered questions to be resolved.Unfortunately, despite there being nearly 80 new boss fights (many of them particularly difficult to get through), there was only a small fraction thatoffered more pieces of lore.
One Shadow Of The Erdtree Enemy Is Far Too Strong To Not Be A Boss
One enemy found in Shadow of the Erdtree has enough strength to be a boss, but instead it is treated like a regular foe for the Tarnished.
Shadow Of The Erdtree Players Were Hoping For More Lore In The DLC
With 80 New Bosses, Only Four Of Them Got Cutscenes
For starters, those entering the DLC area for the first timearen’t greeted with a cutscene to introduce the new areaor offer any new pieces of lore to dig into. Instead, players are teleported to the new area, giving a very anticlimactic entrance (that’s drawn plenty of ire on social media).
Even with the bosses that are central to the world’s evolving lore,players found that there was little lead-up to their fights, throwing players into major moments with little warning. “Some bosses I found out were super important lorewise and I only discovered later because there was no build up and I entered the arena thinking it’s just another boss,” Reddit userKhaoticolechoed in a post on Reddit.
There are 15 bosses who drop remembrances when defeated inShadow of the Erdtree, but while most of those with similar loot received cutscenes in the base game,only four of them in the DLC did.Even the cutscene after defeating the final boss, Radahn, many players said it felt lackluster. Though the expansion recontextualized some of the pieces of lore players had been chewing on sinceElden Ring’s initial release, facing off against Radhan (again) did little to explain some of the lingering questions the base game left players with.
Dialogue Cut From Elden Ring DLC Proves Miquella’s Plan Was Flawed All Along
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is massive and not everything made the cutting room floor, even if some of the dialogue adds to the lore.
There May Be Other Avenues FromSoftware Is Exploring To Delve Into The Lore
Data Miners Found a Deleted Cutscene & George R.R. Martin Addressed Adaptation Rumors
According to a data mine shared byElden Ringcontent creatorSekiro Dubi,there was a fourth cutscene with St. Trina that didn’t make it into the DLC.In the scene, the boss says, “Thank you… Finally, he will be free,” over a black screen. Though this seems like such a small cutscene, it further reinforces Miquella’s particularly evil and abusive tendencies – one of the few new pieces of lore players were able to get out of the DLC.
FromSoftware has not commented on the game’s lack of lore, but George R.R. Martin, the author whose work inspired the world ofElden Ring,referenced the rumors of a potential adaptation on hisblog. “Oh, and about those rumours you may have heard about a feature film or television series based on Elden Ring…” he wrote. “I have nothing to say. Not a word, nope, not a thing, I know nothing, you never heard a peep from me, mum mum mum. What rumour?” Though this is far from confirmation, it seems there’s been plenty of talks happening behind the scenes.
Unfortunately, those hoping to piece together the world of the Lands Between entirely from the content ofElden RingandThe Shadow of the Erdtreemay have to remain disappointed. It’s possible the world will be revisited in a live-action adaptation, where fans can see more of a linear story unfold, but for now, there are just some questions that will continue to remain unanswered.
