Summary
AnElden Ringplayer has spotted what appears to be a subtle nod to the plot ofShadow of the Erdtreein the item description of something that you can find in the base game, meaning a certain fact about Miquella has been staring us in the face this entire time.
FromSoftware is a very meticulous developer, and you just know that the seeds of Shadow of the Erdtree were planted way before its initial announcement. In fact, we know that Messmer and his cronies were in the mind of director Hidetaka Miyazaki during development, sincea shield adorning his crest was foundin the base game not long after Shadow of the Erdtree’s first trailer dropped.
Now that Shadow of the Erdtree is here and people have had time to dive in properly, yet another little reference to the DLC has been found in the base game, this time what appears to be a big hint to the plot.
This article contains spoilers for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree’s story, including details surrounding Miquella, the DLC’s ending, and other crucial characters. If you don’t want a big ol' spoiler, now is your time to duck out.
Elden Ring Player Spots A Shadow Of The Erdtree Plot Tease In Base Game
First spotted byTwitter user Jowan_JW, if you take a look at the item description of the Bewitching Branch, it talks about the Empyrean Miquella and the fact that he’s “loved by many people.” It also rather ominously mentions that Miquella has “learned very well how to compel such affection,” suggesting that people’s love for the guy isn’t as wholesome as it appears.
Many went into Shadow of the Erdtree with the notion thatMiquella was a decent dude who was trying to save his sister Miquella, though it’s revealed in Shadow of the Erdtree that he’s more of a bugger than he was letting on. For starters, we find out that Miquella has been using his powers to seduce people into helping him achieve godhood, possibly even his potential kidnapper Mohg, and that he also locked away St. Trina in the Stone Coffin Fissure after the two split apart upon his entrance into the Land of Shadows.
And while it’s also pretty clear from Shadow of the Erdtree’s ending that Miquella has fairly good intentions, it’s still pretty crappy of him to seduce people into loving him to get a consort and then reshape the world as he sees fit by force. Not cool.
You need to study Elden Ring as a full-time job to understand exactly what’s going on in the story, but the item description of the Bewitching Branch is basically a huge hint that Miquella has been stepping on people to achieve his own goals for quite a while, something which the plot of Shadow of the Erdtree strongly revolves around. We all thought Miquella was this wholesome little cursed guy, only to be slapped in the fact with reality. I guess that’s what you get for trusting an Elden Ring demigod.
