Tarnished unite!
Elden Ring is officially getting a DLC. FromSoftware announced on February 28, 2023, that Shadow of the Erdtree is in the works. They also shared artwork which includes some very intriguing elements. Check it out:
The internet has since swarmed with theories about what’s in store for us Tarnished. Right now, the most popular theory is that Miquella–a demigod and Empyrean in Elden Ring–is our trusty steed Torrent’s previous owner. I enjoyed learning about Miquella during my first playthrough and researching lore videos exploring the Lands Between, and frankly, it’d be nice to see him in something other than a giant, bloody egg.
For those who haven’t met Miquella, he and his sister Malenia are the children of Queen Marika the Eternal and King Consort Radagon, who are, in short, one being split in two. Because of this, both twins are Empyreans with the potential to take Marika’s place as the next ruler over a new reign. However, they were also born afflicted–Malenia with Scarlet Rot and Miquella with eternal childhood. Miquella spent a long time trying to discover a cure for Malenia within the Golden Order, but when his search proved unfruitful, he ventured off and established the Haligtree in the hopes it would become the new Erdtree. Miquella’s Haligtree became a haven for those suffering persecution or maltreatment throughout the Lands Between, and he cocooned himself inside the tree to bring himself to adulthood.
However, tragedy struck. Malenia fought Radahn in the Shattering and, either purposefully or not, afflicted a vast section of the Lands Between with Scarlet Rot when she won their encounter. Their half-brother Mohg kidnapped Miquella from the Haligtree and brought him to Mohgwyn Palace, where he’s been basically incubating him, intending to raise Miquella to full power and become his consort to form a new dynasty. Mohg is an agent of the Formless Mother–another deity roaming the lands most often represented by blood–and as such, has been drenching Miquella in blood to try and wake him. That’s where we leave Miquella in Elden Ring, but there are clues and acknowledgments of his efforts to research and heal his sister hidden all around. Oracle Envoys, beings said to herald the coming of a new age, can be found at the Haligtree, leaving us wondering if one of the twins was meant to take their mother’s place after all.
Thus, there’s a strong possibility this DLC will show us Miquella’s early life. Because Miquella certainly doesn’t look like that now . . . at least, not if the way his hand looked gives any indication. I’m holding the theory that the DLC is a prequel showing Miquella, perhaps in the events leading up to the Shattering. Will we witness Ranni’s Night of the Black Knives, Godwyn’s assassination, Malenia and Radahn’s duel, or more of the events preceding the original storyline?
Or, in a theory I’m starting to lean strongly toward, will we see Marika arrive in the Lands Between? She, too, has golden hair. And the tree shown is nothing like the Erdtree we know . . . If it’s a depiction of the Great Tree, we could be viewing a time before the Erdtree and the Golden Order came into full governance. Hence, the gold spear through the tree shown.
I genuinely hope it’s a prequel because I one hundred percent fought Miquella’s sister to the death, and I don’t want to face him after that. That cutscene would turn me into this emoji:
Where do you think Elden Ring’s DLC will take us? Are you looking forward to meeting Miquella, or do you think it’s someone else?
