Every game leaves a lot on the cutting room floor, and it stands to reason that the bigger the game, the more left on that floor there is. This certainly seems true for Elden Ring, which features an extensive list of cut content. There’s even some cut content for Godfrey, which may have better explained his marriage to Marika and his relationship with the player’s Tarnished.
Recently, yet another cut Elden Ring quest line has been found, and this one is tied to the merchants spread across The Lands Between. Players will encounter Kale early on in Elden Ring—the merchant who is dressed similar to Santa Claus—and he will talk about his nomadic people, the merchants. Other than coming across them in the Lands Between, not much really happens here, but it seems Kale and his people originally played a much bigger and darker role in the game.
Dataminer Sekiro Dubi has managed to restore the Elden Ring cut quest for Kale, discovering what would happen. It seems Kale would have moved around The Lands Between, appearing to the player in Liurnia and the Shunning Grounds too. In short, the quest would have led to finding the Grand Caravan of his people for Kale, discovering its ultimate fate, and Kale seeking revenge as a result.
It seems The Golden Order would have killed Kale’s people when they imprisoned Elden Ring's Three Fingers. Kale and the merchants seemingly served the Three Fingers at some point, indicated by their ability to utilize Madness attacks. This also explains why so many Merchant bodies in the underground of Leyndell and near the Three Fingers.
Kale’s quest sees him try to become the Lord of Frenzied Flame, failing but passing it on to the player. This would lead directly into this Elden Ring ending, explaining it better than perhaps the game does now. This is incredibly interesting and gives new insight into the merchants, the Frenzied Flame, the Three Fingers, the Golden Order, and more, so many no doubt wish it made it into the game.
As to why this quest didn’t make it into the final game, it’s hard to say. It likely had something to do with how many resources FromSoftware could put into Elden Ring’s development and how much it could cover, but it seems that every bit of cut content is as interesting as the game itself.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
