Summary
Bandai Namco has shared a newElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreescreenshot. The image, depicting an imposing city, challenges one popular fan theory about the upcomingElden Ringexpansion.
Ever sinceElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreewas treated to its first trailerin February 2024, some fans have been speculating that Sites of Grace will be nowhere to be found in the Land of Shadow, and that they may instead be replaced with Miquella’s Runes. The theory gained even more traction come late May, when Bandai Namco shared the DLC’s story trailer, which featured multiple crescent-shaped Runes associated with Miquella, although never explicitly confirmed to be his.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Will Seemingly Feature Sites of Grace After All
But a new promotional screenshot that the publisher shared a day later appears to challenge that belief. The May 22 promo depicts an entrance to a massive city in the Land of Shadow, with a closer inspection of the image revealing that there’s a Site of Grace sitting at the bottom of its stairway. The fandom’sspeculation thatElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreewill be completely bereft of Sites of Gracehence appears to have been wrong. But whether this means that the expansion’s checkpoints will be completely unchanged is unclear.
The existence of Sites of Grace in the Land of Shadow does not in any way invalidate the theory that Miquella’s Runes will have a role to play in the DLC. The demigod cursed with eternal childhood will be acentral character inElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, with FromSoftware President and Creative Director Hidetaka Miyazaki already confirming as much. Specifically, Miyazaki recently said that the Tarnished will be following in Miquella’s footsteps over the course of the DLC’s story, which he said will be similar to how they were guided by Grace in the base game. That statement is what previously convinced some fans that Miquella’s Runes would be replacing Sites of Grace in the expansion.
It should be noted that FromSoftware has yet to confirm that the mysterious beams of light seen in the Shadow of the Erdtree promotional materials are actually Miquella’s Runes. But between the fact that a lot of the base game’s symbolism associated with Miquella features crescent shapes and the confirmation that the expansion will revolve around the eternally young demigod, that appears to be likely. Doubly so given how Miquella is the only demigod who doesn’t yet have aGreat Rune inElden Ring. Shadow of the Erdtree launches June 21.
Elden Ring
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ELDEN RING, developed by FromSoftware, Inc. and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to date. Hidetaka Miyazaki - President and Game Director of FromSoftware Inc. Known for directing critically-acclaimed games in beloved franchises including Armored Core and Dark Souls.George R.R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire - A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows, and A Dance with Dragons. As a writer-producer, he has worked on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and pilots that were never made. He lives with the lovely Parris in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
