Four months from now, I'm going to be dusting off my Pyromancer, my Blasphemous jump-attacker, and my original Moonlight Sorcerer-Knight to tackle Shadow of the Erdtree, Elden Ring's long-awaited DLC expansion. Today we got the official trailer for the DLC pack, and because I'm insane and also because FromSoft tends to hide tons of subtle detail in just about everything, we're going to do something crazy: we're going to go from shot to shot and comment on each thing we see in the trailer.
Let's do this shit:
We begin with what appears to be Melina standing at the top of Moghwyn Palace, where we fought the Lord of Blood, who had seemingly torn away Miquella's cocoon from its rightful place in the heart of the Haligtree to, as I interpret it, force Miquella to ascend as a god while Mohg would serve as his Elden Lord. I'm curious to see what happens here if we enter this DLC post-game or post entry to Farum Azula, as by that point Melina will have left us one way or another. We hear voiceover here talking about (presumably Miquella) "wielding" love to shrive clean the hearts of men.
In the next shot, we see Miquella's body in the cocoon as we did in the base game, a long and withered hand hanging from the crack in the sphere, and the VO continues: "there is nothing more terrifying."
To pause real quick: frankly, there is a sort of fascinating question about Miquella and his intentions. Is his love and universal acceptance of all the lost and abandoned people of the world genuine, or a stratagem? Would could be more terrifying, after all, than a malicious being who can inspire (or force) a feeling of love and adoration in all who behold them?
Our next shot picks up with exciting music and presumably our Tarnished riding Torrent through a new landscape - massive castles and bridges line the horizon as we ride down a rain-puddled road.
We then get a sweeping shot of what could be the same area, with ghostly gravestones. This looks similar to the promotional art that they used when the DLC was first announced. The ghostly gravestones are similar to the banners outside Leyndell and the ghost-trees in the Mountaintop of the Giants.
Next, riding in that same field to a ridge, the Tarnished stops and beholds a massive, gnarled and blackened Erdtree (or Erdtree-like structure) that seems to have diaphanous shrouds coming off of it and appears to be dripping golden sap into the top of some great tower. The tower has a crescent-shaped top, as if to catch the sap. Notably as well, there are thick root systems coming out of the top of a cliff nearby the Tarnished as they survey this sight. Unlike the Erdtree as we've seen it, this branches into at least two major crests, and only its sap seems to radiate light, while the rest is black or at least dark.
It seems very possible this could be the eponymous Shadow of the Erdtree, whatever that really means. The Erdtree itself in the Lands Between is likely an illusion, or perhaps to be more charitable, and object of pure faith. This seems more physical.
Then we see an armored knight with a cloak and who seems to be holding some kind of polearm made purely out of thin beams of light. The light has a long haft and then a crescent shape with a cross through the haft where it enters the circular interior of the crescent, almost like it's creating a star inside the crescent. The knight appears to be standing near below the tower where the dark Erdtree's sap runs down, as it looks like we've got a closer view of that tower from the previous shot.
The symbolism of the crescent I would imagine is associated with this tower and the Erdtree sap, so I could imagine this is something of a guardian of this tower or castle or city.
Cutting away, we see some kind of sentinel, resting on their sword, below a red sky. The sentinel has a helmet with a mask-like face on the front, and their sword near the hilt has a pattern that looks either like roses or ears - if it's the latter, this could have some connection to Gideon Ofnir. The helmet also has bun-like protrusions over the ears. We hear "in that forsaken place, blood must spill" from a different voice.
Next, we get a person in thick grey armor leaning over a pot, with some kind of corkscrew-like column behind them, as they look up at a stormy sky.
Then, we see a sleeping figure in a field of purple flowers. They wear white robes and a white mask. The robes look vaguely similar to the garb of the Nox, while the purple flowers and their sleep seem to call to mind Miquella's persona of St. Trina, who is associated with sleep (and Trina's Lillies are used to make things like sleep arrows).
Next, we see a figure approaching a throne in a dark throne room, with shattered pews, pages scattered on the ground, and braziers burning with violet flames. There is a figure on the throne here, whom we see in the next shot.
The voiceover continues "the blood of your fellows," as we see the woman on the throne (I'm assuming a woman) with a headdress and a strange mantle that looks almost peacock-like, though it also reminds me of Indian Naga figures.
Cutting away again, the Tarnished rides through a dreary swamp, with dark trees overhead and some kind of cabin up on a cliff. The same VO continues "the Erdtree faithful."
So, to complete the sentence: "in that forsaken place, blood must spill, the blood of your fellows, the Erdtree faithful."
Next is a portrait: an older man sitting down with a woman standing behind him. The man has short white hair and a beard, and has a cloak with a clasp. The woman behind has a cloak hood over her head and two braids that come down with some kind of lace decoration hanging from them, and also seems to be holding her belly as if pregnant.
Now, our Tarnished makes their way up some sort of deep shaft with a spiral path along the interior, and many Living Jars (or at least jars of the same design) hanging from chains over the shaft.
Then we see a figure (if it's the Tarnished, they're wearing different armor) climbing some giant pipe diagonally tilted into some lava, with a fan or turbine of some sort inside that seems to act as a pump, perhaps.
Now, we see a grand castle on a hill, with one of those strange shrouds that extend from the darkened tree above it. The castle looks massive - maybe it's really more of a city - and seems to be accessed only from a stairway up from a forest. We hear a third voice, this one feminine, saying "They were never saints."
Then we see a giant construct of some sort that seems to be like a giant walking wrought-iron basket filled with flaming boulders. The woman continues "they just happened to be on the losing side of a war."
This is interesting: As far as I can remember, the only person referred to as a saint in Elden Ring is St. Trina, who is the feminine aspect of Miquella. It doesn't look like any particular faction really won the shattering, but if Miquella and Malenia were intending to conquer the Lands Between, they certainly didn't succeed. (There is a question I still have about certain sequences of events - namely, did Malenia attack Radahn in Caelid because she thought he had been the one to take Miquella - believing that, since Moghwyn Palace is below Caelid that he might have been allied with Mohg, or was her absence from the Haligtree the opportunity Mohg took to steal Miquella in the first place?)
We get another shot of this fiery construct stomping around - yeah, you knew we were going to have to fight this freaking thing, didn't you?
Next, we see what looks similar to a Wormface slurping up a Tarnished. Notably, the one big difference is that this thing doesn't have any worms dangling from its face. But it still has a big old honking mouth to slurp people up in. So that's fun for everyone.
Then, we get the first shot of what I imagine will be one of the major bosses of the DLC. There is a lion-like face - that's about it.
The second shot, though, is more intriguing: the lion-faced being has bare feet that look very, very much like those belonging to Morgott, the Omen King (and his paper-thin cover identity of Margit the Fell). Morgott seems pretty unambiguously dead at the end of the game, his body dissipating in Godfrey's arms. But given that the existence of Omens, to me, is likely related to the Crucible and the hybrid animals like the Misbegotten, I wonder if this is some version of Morgott that fully underwent this bestial transformation, perhaps becoming lion-like like his father's seneschal, Serosh.
This lion-creature is covered with the twisting horn-like protrusions we see on the Omen, and we fight the guy in some grand plaza, not unlike Morgott (in both of his real "boss boss" encounters, other than the surprise one in the battlefields outside Leyndell).
We get a shot of the lion-omen breathing some kind of stone or dust breath and then wielding lightning. (Technically multiple shots, but bear with me, there's some quick edits).
Now we get I believe fourth voice - likely "Messmer" saying "Mother, wouldst thou truly Lordship sanction," as we see the guy walking into frame, long legs and arms.
He holds out his hand and conjures what seems to be a ball of shadow that then begins to burn with deep red flame.
Next, we get a wide shot, showing him with two snakes emerging from his back and perhaps a draconic wing off to one side, along with his polearm (that I think looks like the Blasphemous Blade). He continues "in one so bereft of light?"
And we get a closer shot of his face, which shows red hair (suggesting he's a child of Radagon) and an eye with a slitted pupil.
This last fact actually seems to argue against this being a younger Rykard, Likewise, if we're taking "Messmer" as his real name, that would seem to suggest he's the offspring of Radagon and Marika, and a full brother to Malenia and Miquella (assuming he's not just the dark side of Miquella, in which case he'd be a bit more than a brother).
The next shot is one of a Tarnished pulling of some quick and dexterous moves against some candelabra-wielding foes in what seems to be some kind of flooded basement? We don't get a good look at the enemies, but something about their movement and shrouds reminds me of the beastmen in Farum Azula.
Then, on what looks to be a road of some sort, another Tarnished swiftly throws some knives at an approaching foe with a cleaver-like sword (who almost looks to me like a larger version of a Vulgar Militia member) and staggering them. This is the highlight reel of "look at the cool stuff you'll be able to do in this expansion!"
We then see what actually looks a bit like Roderika in a white dress and a blue hood (contrasted with her old red one - both of which you can find in game) casting some grand spell that involves a bunch of butterflies and purple-pink energy (usually associated with sleep). She seems to be in front of an altar with some kind of beast sculpture, and is surrounded by big willow trees. The next shot shows the spell going off and a bunch of enemies reeling from it. The blackened tree is visible in the background.
The next shows a Tarnished unleashing a multi-kick combo on some armored knight, making me wonder if there's going to be some awesome unarmed fighting build you can make.
Then, we see someone (maybe another Tarnished?) hurling a giant bomb at people approaching on a bridge.
Now, an armored knight unleashing a rapid-fire crossbow, as we get a new bit of VO (will need to check whether this is a voice we heard before) saying "I assume you, too, are keen to know..."
Next, a somehow even more terrifying Runebear, with what appears to be Omen-like horns growing from it, roars. The VO continues "just what kind Miquella is doing here." (EDIT): Upon closer inspection, this appears to be similar to the Dragon incantations that summon a big dragon head above the caster - we can see a normal humanoid-sized body casting this spell. There are some hints that Bears are becoming draconic in nature in the Lands Between, so a full on bear-dragon spell doesn't seem that far outside the realm of possibility.
Again, to complete the line: "I assume you, too, are keen to know what kind Miquella is doing here," which suggests to me that the people in this area know it to be one of dark and troubled souls, and Miquella being this beacon of light and love and everything is either out of his element here or it reveals that he's not so perfect and sweet as we might have thought.
We then get a field of ghostly blue flowers that looks like a nighttime version of the field from the original promotional art, and two people dueling.
We get a shot of someone on beast-back wielding a sword that crackles with purple energy - suggesting likely Gravity magic.
Then we get this giant-mawed beast charging at the camera through some kind of shallow marsh. It looks like a rhino or something, but in the next shot, it slams the ground and seems to grow thorns that make it look a little like a porcupine. The thorns are also barbed, making me wonder if there's something like Deathroot coming out of it, or perhaps if it's related to the Thorn sorcerers.
Then, in some cave we see a skeletal-looking monster throwing a boomerang-like blade that might also be part of its body. It's riding a white horse (death riding a pale horse? Hm.)
Next, in truly gruesome FromSoft fashion, a corpse seems to pull a sword out of its own body and seems to be taking the skull with it as it does so. We get another VO line: "Those stripped of the Grace of Gold shall all meet death."
This line leads to our Tarnished marching up to Messmer. He continues: "In the embrace of Messmer's flame."
So, likely Messmer (if that's who this is) is being set up as the big bad here (knowing From watch him be the first boss). A little side-note, Death as a power in Elden Ring has a few manifestations, one of which are the Deathbirds, which might have been worshipped by followers of the Gloam-Eyed Queen (though they could be a totally different tradition). Importantly, though, the Deathbird worshippers burned the dead, and the fires lit from bone ash were part of their power. Is there a connection here? Who knows.
Oh, and the full line is "Those stripped of the Grace of Gold shall all meet death in the embrace of Messmer's flame."
The shots here are all basically just awesome battle shots of the Tarnished fighting Messmer, so we don't need to go shot-for shot here. However, a new VO begins in the middle of them: a female voice that says "Come now. Touch the withered arm, and travel to the realm of shadow. I will not be far behind. May we meet again."
And then, title screen.
Then, a radiant figure, glowing with light, raises a hand.
The hand passes in front of the gnarled tree, which in this shot is not dripping sap.
So, that's got to be Miquella, right?
It would be foolish to assume that I'd figured out any of the big lore here from the trailer alone, which is almost certainly edited to hide some of the juiciest pieces. Still, I want to throw out this idea:
Let's assume Messmer is the guy with the snakes and the polearm and all the fire, and is also the voice of the second to last line and the fourth line. He looks youthful, and seems to be speaking skeptically to an unseen "Mother" about whether one bereft of light is worthy of lordship. This suggests the guy hates Tarnished. That would make him a fitting villain for us to fight in this expansion.
Let's also consider the meaning of his name, Messmer: to mesmerize is to grab someone's attention, and archaically means to hypnotize them. Hypnosis, incidentally, is based on the Greek word "hypnos" which means sleep (and was personified as a deity). And who is associated with sleep in Elden Ring? Why St. Trina, of course. And who is St. Trina? Why, Miquella, of course.
I realize that might look like it needs a cork board and some red yarn, but given how central Miquella clearly is to this DLC, it seems fitting that its main villain is some aspect of the demigod himself.
The real question, then, is this: is Messmer just plain Miquella, full stop, or is Messmer Miquella's shadow, in the Jungian sense - the aggression, hatred, and cruelty that Miquella has repressed within his own mind to be the saintly demigod that he appears to be?
Will our defeat of Messmer be the death of Miquella, or will it free him from the shadow?
Again, given FromSoft, I would not be surprised if the answer to that question is left ambiguous, and that we'll be debating that for years to come.
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