One of the Borderlands series' most popular elements is its many pop-culture references and easter eggs, and the upcoming Borderlands 4 has the opportunity to take the concept up a notch. As each subsequent entry introduced a larger, and more varied, open world to explore, developer Gearbox Software has included more expansive and complicated secrets to find. However, Borderlands 2 may include the series’ best, as one easter egg sees players reenact one of the fantasy genre’s most legendary storylines. In Borderlands 4, Gearbox could build upon this specific concept, making the complicated easter egg even greater, and far more tempting.

Little is truly known about Borderlands 4, aside from the fact that it is in development. However, fans have been speculating about many of its major elements since the release of Borderlands 3. The third entry in the series failed to leave a lasting impression, but its follow-up DLCs, and the release of New Tales from the Borderlands opened the door to a variety of new storylines. With so many potential paths laid open for Borderlands 4, the title has the opportunity to course-correct on a lot of the issues from Borderlands 3 and to improve on the series’ implementation of lore and pop-culture references.

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Borderlands 2 Featured an Expansive Lord of the Rings Easter Egg

Borderlands 2 stands as the best entry in the Borderlands franchise, and for good reason. The title introduced players to the series’ best villain, Handsome Jack, and saw them traverse a variety of unique environments in an attempt to thwart his opening of the vault on Pandora. Borderlands 2 also featured one of the series’ best and most complicated easter eggs. After obtaining a hidden item from the title’s opening area, the easter egg saw players tasked with traversing the entirety of Borderlands 2’s map on foot, in a reenactment of Lord of the Rings’ The Quest of the Ring.

To begin Borderlands 2’s LOTR easter egg, players must return to Claptrap’s Place after discovering Eridium Blight on True Vault Hunter mode. Within the location's fireplace, they can find The Gear, which acts as the journey’s One Ring, setting the easter egg into motion. Much like the Hobbits in the Lord of the Rings, players are then tasked with traveling to the top of Eridium Blight’s volcano completely on foot. Upon reaching the pinnacle of the Blight’s volcano, they will encounter a Psycho named Geary, the easter egg’s Gollum. Should players accidentally use a fast travel station, enter a vehicle, or die along their journey, they must restart the entire process. If players followed all the rules, Geary will slap them, steal The Gear, and leap into the volcano, releasing Rakks that drop a few loot chests. If they failed, Geary will slap them indefinitely, and they will need to restart from Claptrap’s Place.

Borderlands 4 Can Make The Gear Easter Egg Even More Tempting

While Borderlands 2's LOTR easter egg is among the series' best, Borderlands 4 could improve upon the concept and its execution in a repeat task. While the march from Claptrap's Place to Eridium Blight was expansive, the trek proved more arduous than interesting. A new The Quest of the Ring easter egg could implement smaller easter eggs along the journey, replicating key moments from the Lord of the Rings series. Not only would this increase the amount of unique easter eggs within Borderlands 4, but it could also indicate whether players have reached certain checkpoints correctly.

In addition to adding checkpoint easter eggs to Borderlands 4's potential Quest of the Ring, Gearbox could increase the risk and reward by thrusting players into combat encounters that replicate major conflicts within the LOTR series. Players could encounter witty knock-offs of Helm's Deep, Shelob's Lair, The Black Gate, and many more events as they trek toward their final destination, with each providing additional loot to players who pass each checkpoint. Upon reaching the "volcano" at the end of this difficult journey, players can even be gifted exclusive loot referencing key weapons from the LOTR franchise, akin to Borderlands 3's Burning Chomper shotgun. It remains to be seen what Borderlands 4 may entail, as the title has yet to be officially revealed. Still, fans hope the title will continue the series' long trend of deep and complicated easter eggs, with an update to BL2's The Quest of the Ring providing just one promising concept.

Borderlands

Borderlands is an action RPG first-person shooter created by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games. The series is commonly called a looter shooter set in a space Western style, where players can select from multiple classes that can level up and acquire new skills. The franchise has quickly become one of the best-selling franchises and produced spin-offs like Tales from the Borderlands as well as a film adaptation being developed by Lionsgate.