Summary
Elden Ringfans are convinced that Shadow of the Erdtree’s final boss fight won’t be the villain Messmer, but will actually be Miquella or some other horrible beast that we cannot possibly conceive right now.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree’s latest story has got people talking about the upcoming expansion yet again, providing new details and plot hints that will have every armchair lore expert speculating until launch. From the trailer, we know that Miquella is indeedthe person that was included in the expansion’s key artthat was released upon its announcement, as well as what potentially could beour first proper look at St. Trina.
We also got yet another look atthe expansion’s villain in Messmer, who is being built up to be a rather imposing figure that we’ll have to cross swords/hammers/axes/big sticks with at some point during Shadow of the Erdtree. However, there are quite a lot of people that think FromSoftware might be building him up too much, and that the game’s grand finale will actually involve us having a scrap with Miquella instead.
FromSoftware Loves A Red Herring
AsReddit user Ironwolf6464pointed out on the Elden Ring subreddit, the base game’s first trailer made a big deal out of Godrick, setting him up as some terrifying villain only for him to be one of the first proper bosses you actually encounter. Radahn and Miquella were also used in the game’s marketing up to release; two more bosses that players can take down well before going into the final fight with Radagon and the Elden Beast.
Another user also points out that FromSoftware has a history of using certain bosses as poster children for marketing purposes, only for us to beat them and go on to tussle with something five times as monstrous later down the line. Lady Maria being the boss fight before the Orphan of Kos in Bloodborne’s DLC is a prime example of that.
That being said, if Messmer isn’t the final big bad of Shadow of the Erdtree, then who is? A lot of theories included in the same Reddit thread tip Miquella to be the expansion’s true final boss, given the lack of information we have about him, or possibly St. Trina, as it’s been pretty much established at this point that the two are the same or are very closely linked.
Whatever the case, we don’t have to wait too much longer to find out, asShadow of the Erdtree launches next month on June 21.
