Highlights

  • Elden Ring's new trailer for the DLC Shadow of the Erdtree hints at a mysterious setting, which could potentially be an alternate reality.
  • The trailer suggests that the DLC may revolve around the character Miquella and his unresolved story from the base game.
  • The DLC could take players to a dream realm influenced by Miquella, offering a different yet narratively weighty experience.

FromSoftware and Bandai Namco recently released the first trailer for Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, raising a number of important and tantalizing questions. The trailer did manage to shed some light on Elden Ring's long-awaited DLC, though this was mostly in the form of hints and convoluted, puzzle-like bits of dialog.

Naturally, a key detail about Shadow of the Erdtree is its setting, which is referred to as a "forsaken place" in the trailer. It should be clear, simply from the trailer's stunning visuals, that the DLC will not be taking place in The Lands Between—at least, not The Lands Between that players are familiar with. That said, the mysterious setting featured in the trailer is reminiscent of the base game's map in some ways, with signature visual elements of regions like Caelid and Limgrave being shown, and these details, alongside a number of other hints and elements of Elden Ring's broader lore, seem to suggest that Shadow of the Erdtree will be set in some sort of alternate reality.

Elden Ring Leyndell Royal Capital
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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Could Take Place In a Dream Realm

Miquella May Have Created Shadow of the Erdtree's World

Miquella is one of Elden Ring's most important characters, and many fans have speculated that he will play some sort of role in Shadow of the Erdtree. It would appear that that speculation has not been unfounded, as the trailer makes numerous visual and expository references to the character, who is currently slumbering in a cocoon, guarded by Mohg. Miquella, a forever-young Empyrean, entered into a sort of extended comatose state after forming the Haligtree in his quest to cure his sister, Malenia, and ascend himself into adulthood. However, Mohg stole a sleeping Miquella from the Haligtree in an attempt to raise the latter to the status of godhood, thus rendering the former a King Consort.

The fact that this piece of Miquella's story is unresolved in Elden Ring's base game suggests that it will unfold in Shadow of the Erdtree. This is possibly confirmed by the DLC's trailer, which features a line of dialog that seems to tell the player to "touch the withered arm, and travel to the realm of shadow." The only part of Miquella's body that is exposed is his arm, dark and withered, sticking out of his cocoon. This line appears to be a clear reference to this arm, and suggests that players can enter this "shadow realm" or "forsaken place" through Miquella's metamorphosing body.

If this is indeed the DLC's premise, then it's safe to assume that Shadow of the Erdtree will take place in a realm that has been created by Miquella in some way. FromSoftware is no stranger to dream worlds, featuring one prominently in Bloodborne's DLC, so it's possible that Shadow of the Erdtree's setting will be adopting a similar approach. The world that players will explore in Shadow of the Erdtree could be a dark reflection of the "real" Lands Between, influenced by Miquella's perspective and other potential factors, such as Mohg and the Primordial Crucible, which are both associated with Miquella in direct and thematic ways.

Given the available information, it looks like Shadow of the Erdtree could be set in a dream realm, though whether it's a literal dream is to be determined. Knowing FromSoftware and understanding the greater lore of Elden Ring, it's probable that the "forsaken place," while perhaps created via Miquella's mind, is no less real than the rest of the world. This premise would allow for a setting that is notably different from the Elden Ring overworld while still being consistent and weighty from a narrative perspective.