How Shadow of the Erdtree Enriched the World of Elden Ring

The following contains spoilers for FromSoft's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Reader discretion advised.

Key points

  • Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC reveals hidden secrets, testing players’ beliefs and theories.
  • Miquella's true intentions to ascend to godhood shock players, revealing her manipulative plans.
  • The community's ongoing speculations and theories add depth and intrigue to the complex world of
    Elden Ring
    .


By Fromsoft Elden Ring is a game that features many unexpected twists and turns that players must experience and endure as the world unfolds before them. However, many of the key plot points of the stories can be confusing to fans, to say the least. The game often leaves players with clues to the true nature of the story through small lines of dialogue and even item descriptions left behind for the player to focus on and study. Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC was no exception to this fact.

Due to the overall ambiguity of the game and its story, many players have been left to draw their own conclusions and theories about certain characters and plot points. Elden Ring. However, as the community created theories, some theories yielded more value than others. After arriving at what seemed to be a general understanding of who and what the villains were in the world of Middle-earth, players were shocked by the revelations that would come in DLC Shadow of the Erdtree.



What is the Land of Shadows?

Messmer's House, Marika's Hidden Child


The Land of Shadows is, as many players speculate, a piece of the kingdom hidden by Marika herself to protect the secrets that lie within the land. As revealed throughout the DLC, the Shadow Land holds many secrets, such as that of the child Messmer and his importance to the world as we know it. Messmer was Marika's child who, as stated in his own dialogue, was abandoned by his mother. While the game does not explicitly state why Messmer was abandoned, it can be assumed that Marika did so to protect the tree from the possibility of Messmer and his powerful flames destroying it. This is a theory widely supported by many, as the community is already aware of the great measures Marika went to to eradicate the Fire Giant race only to have the potential to do the same.

This fact also effectively adds Messmer to the family bloodline that many believed ended with the demigods we saw in the base game. It is in this sense that what we thought we knew, based on the first game, was quickly called into question so early in the DLC. This revelation has forced many players to rethink several theories that the community has developed over the years.


Another theory proposed by much of the fandom is that The Shadow Realm actually fits perfectly into the center of the game's original mapThe lands between. There is certainly merit to this theory, as the center of the original map appears to fit and support segments of the new map we are given in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. An example of this can be seen in how the top center of the new map contains the location where the Scadurtree avatar is fought by the player in the DLC. This would also suggest that this is the base of the Erdtree itself, which is supported by both locations being in the top center of their respective maps.

Miquella was alive and orchestrating the whole time

The Empyreans' Fascinating GiftElder Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Player with Hornsent


Miquella was a character that the player base had been waiting to see for a long time. Initially, the player base believed that Miquella was a poor cursed God who was unable to fulfill his will due to a condition that left him stuck in the form of a child. However, over the course of the game through the DLC, the Tarnished discover that Miquella had been freed and was venturing into the Shadow Realm. This is a shocking revelation for players once they discover it and leaves many wondering what he could possibly be doing.

As the DLC progresses, players discover that Miquella orchestrated everything that happens in the Shadowlands, as well as some of the key story points of the base game. It turns out that Miquella used her powers to coerce her demigod brothers and many of the NPC followers the player encounters in the DLC. After meeting the NPC followers, Dry Leaf Dane, Ansbach, NeedleKnight Leda, Moore, Redman Freya, and Hornsent, players learn that Miquella had many of them bewitched into following him. With all of these people coerced and following his every whim, Miquella was free to pursue his own ulterior motives.


Miquellas' objectives are perfectly clear

He intends to ascend to godhood

Miquella-on Radahns' shoulder in the final boss fight in Shadow of the Erdtree

Miquella's goals, while unclear for most of the DLC, are finally revealed to the player at the end. Even the NPCs who know they are being drawn to the Shadow Land by Miquella are completely unaware of what they are doing or why. These same NPCs, who believe the player has also been called by Miquella, are with the player at every major stage of the journey. That is, until the player has to fight and separate from them before Radahn, one of the toughest fights in all of Elden Ring.


The player discovers soon after this fight that Miquella's ultimate goal and the reason she is in the Shadow Land is to ascend to Godhood.. Miquella wants to accomplish this feat so that she can usher in her new order. As seen in the final cutscene that players can witness after defeating Radahn, Miquella asks Radahn to promise to be her consort in his ascension to godhood. From this, it can be interpreted that this is where Radahn fell under Miquella's spell. Miquella also tells Radahn of her dream for a better and kinder world, implying that she would use her power to coerce others on a much larger scale, ushering in an era of peace.

Mohgs' role in all this was a distraction.

And Shadow of the Erdtree helps clear Mohg's name


It was a widely accepted idea within the gaming community that Mohg was the villain who stole Miquella's body from the famous Haligtree visited in the first game. It was also believed that Mohg did this by force and was using Miquella as some sort of god figure for his dynasty. This would be revealed in his item descriptions which highlighted Mohg's intent to solidify himself as Miquella's consort so he could inaugurate his own order. As the DLC reveals more, it becomes clear that Mohg was under Miquella's spell and forced to do all of these things, shattering the community's preconceived notions of the character.

This new information has led players to ask an important question: why? Why would Miquella coerce Mohg, forcing him to kidnap her body from the Haligtree base? The player eventually discovers that Miquella had two motives. First, this would give him the freedom to travel to the Shadow Land, where his plan to ascend to godhood begins. Second, she could have Mohg's corpse to use after the player battles Mohg in the original game.


It is later learned from Ansbach, a former follower of Radahn, that Miquella took Mohg's body and used it to revive her deceased brother Radahn. This was part of Miquella's plan all along, as Mohg's body was needed to revive Radahn in his prime, before the festival battle. This is evident and can be seen when the player encounters him in the final boss battle, observing Mohg's distinctive horns protruding from Radahn's new body, as well as his use of Mogh's Blood Flame technique.

Theories have always been an important part of FromSoftware's games.

Radahns' Greatsword and Miquella's Lore in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC

The world of Elden Ring has never been exactly simple. Much of the story is intentionally left open-ended, so players can discuss and theorize about what everything means. While many take the theories with a grain of salt, others have allowed the theories to cause major divisions in the gaming community, especially after The Shadow of the Erdtree release. However, it’s also safe to say that theories and speculation will continue to linger because they are, and always will be, part of the fun of playing a Fromsoft game.


Leave a Comment