We Break Down The Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree Story Trailer

The new Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree story trailer dropped recently, and we have three lore experts on tap to discuss it. In the below video, Dave Klein, Lucy James, and Tamoor Hussain break down all the secrets sown throughout the three-minute trailer, and what questions this DLC could possibly answer in the existing game.

The trailer features a good amount of voiceover and narration, but our experts focused more on the imagery and the nature of the events shown. For example, at the beginning of a trailer, we see an unknown hand pull something out of a bag–possibly golden threads. Lucy compares this image to that of childbirth–a well-known theme in From Software games, particularly Bloodborne–and wonders what exactly it might represent.

Our three experts speculate that the hand may belong to Queen Marika, with Tam stating that the snake bangle on her wrist represents blasphemy in existing Elden Ring lore, and that we may learn how Queen Marika first became a god (as opposed to a regular Numen) in Shadow of the Erdtree. This could be the “seduction and betrayal” that the voice-over refers to, as Tam and Dave argue.

The discussion then turns to the image of a woman figure with long hair (likely Queen Marika) holding golden threads in her hand in what our experts call the Crucible. Dave and Tam speculate that this scene may be the creation of the Erdtree, possibly in the aftermath of a great war. Dave further states that the mysterious “Greater Will” could be involved in this process, which is often considered one of the Outer Gods by Elden Ring fans. Lucy and Tam call the image “pro-Erdtree propaganda,” joking that it promotes the Golden Order’s perspective.

Our experts next focus on the next part of the trailer, which refers to an “unseen war” waged by what appears to be new character Messmer the Impaler’s army. Dave, Lucy, and Tam all agree that these must be Messmer’s men, given that they all use spears, as well as the abundance of fire imagery.

Tam and Dave further debate the possible origin and implications of Messmer’s flame powers, with Tam noting one theory that states that the flame that burns the Erdtree near the game’s conclusion could come from Messmer himself. Later, Lucy points out that the impaled apparent “lion dancers” seen silhouetted against the flames appear to be bodies grafted together, and may belong to the culture that Messmer (and possibly Marika) are burning down.

Finally, the trio discuss why Miquella would “abandon everything” (in the words of the trailer) in order to return to the Lands of Shadow. Tam notes that Miquella may be returning to the original Great Tree (or Crucible) in order to help his sister Malenia overcome the rot inside her, since it seems that Miquella’s Haligtree isn’t enough for her to escape the Rot God’s curse.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as the discussion, so for more details, check out the full video.