Legions of Elden Ring fans have been scouring The Lands Between in recent weeks ever since director Hidetaka Miyazaki let slip that something (secret, reference, or otherwise) remained to be unearthed. A newly discovered link between a shield in the base game and enemies in the upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree expansion has been found and may indeed be that missing link.
Miyazaki sparked the game-wide scouring when he told IGN: "For me personally, there is a small element that I feel has not yet been discovered. So, whether that's up to user interpretation or up to further investigation and playing, that's something I'm looking forward to. I think it's a question of when and not if, but there may be something small still missing."
That "something small" might just be the Candletree Wooden Shield, the Candletree itself potentially the sigil of a faction exiled to The Land of Shadow. Shared by Redditor Cudakid210 (thanks, Eurogamer), the second part of the shield's description is what interests us, which reads: "A tall, medium-sized wooden shield. Light for its size and easy to handle. Thought to represent a surreptitious prophecy of cardinal sin, the lit candle-tree design was forbidden."
This sigil appears in the snippets of Shadow of the Erdtree from its reveal trailer, specifically borne by the red-haired Messmer, in related imagery, and by enemies. Without spoiling Elden Ring, the cardinal sin is a concept veterans will be familiar with, and the prospect of facing a faction exiled for making such a decision is intriguing.
What do you think? Could this Candletree connection be what Miyazaki was referring to? Let us know in the comments section below.
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[source reddit.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 8
That's one of the charms of FromSoft games, reading descriptions and making sense of things. Found a whole new city in my new playthrough, the surprises just don't stop.
@TheArt finding a whole new city is crazy 😂😂
But like you mentioned another one of the charms of fromsoft games.
@TheArt That's probably my favorite thing about Fromsoft's souls games. Usually finding a new city or area like Cainhurst castle would be a small dlc, but it's in the game which is badass
I didn't understand a thing while I played through the game. When I watched/read explanations about the lore online, I felt like they were talking about an entirely different game.
I'm not too crazy about having 99% of the lore hidden in item descriptions (same as not having a basic quest log or a simple pause button). As much as I enjoyed most of the game, it's a shame you have to rely on the internet if you don't want to waste hours trying to make sense of it yourself.
Absolutely adore FromSoft for exactly this kind of stuff. Hook it to my veins.
Someones going to go down the route "proof that its cut content to be sold as DLC" lets all boycott Fromsoft lol
@Rhaoulos I get the frustration, but I think joy of audience participation has been cultivated by FromSoft over the last 15 years. It seems, to me, that each release leans a little more into the obtuse nature of their story telling. It's definitely not for everyone, though.
That said, if you dig the combat and general gameplay of FromSoft, but want a little more of a cohesive narrative, I would highly recommend Lies of P. Seriously, one of the best games of 2023 and I think it holds its own with the very best of FromSoft.
@Rhaoulos After spending hours to read the lore and story behind Elden Ring, I was like "all of this effort just for that?" and was happy that the game don't throw at you all that lore during the gameplay. Honestly the story and lore of the game is pretty much forgettable, it's far from being the core of the experience.
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