Elden Ring's New DLC announcement is simply a title along with a piece of concept art. That bit of concept art, however, shows who the DLC is about

Not too much time after the one-year anniversary of Elden Ring, FromSoftware has finally, officially announced the new DLC, which also appears to be about Miquella. Shadow from the Erdtree was announced as having a simple social networking post along with a single bit of concept art; up to now, there aren't any trailers or screen captures of recent DLC areas, weapons, or enemies. The image is, however, filled with interesting clues regarding exactly what the DLC is going to be about and where it will require place. The art also heavily suggests Elden Ring's Shadow from the Erdtree DLC is going to be centered around Demigod Miquella, a character whose story is unfinished within the base game.

In the primary, non-DLC story of Elden Ring, the Tarnished protagonist seeks to achieve the rank of Elden Lord and usher inside a new age by slaying mad Demigods and claiming their Great Runes. Each major Demigod character player's fight within the Lands Between includes a Great Rune with abilities that match their personality and ambitions, but Miquella - by extension, his Great Rune - isn't among them. Although Miquella is mentioned often as well as glimpsed in certain forms, he remains quite mysterious. Elden Ring's Shadow from the Erdtree DLC, however, appears poised to reveal Miquella's continued role within the Lands Between.

Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC Art Shows Miquella Riding Torrent

In the backstory of Elden Ring, Miquella and Malenia were two Demigods born in the second marriage of Queen Marika to King Consort Radagon. Described as "twin prodigies" by Morgott the Omen King, both Miquella and Malenia were each cursed through the touch of two Outer Gods. Malenia, a sword saint who inherited her father's bright red hair, was suffering from a Scarlet Rot that slowly devoured her flesh. Miquella, in comparison, was chosen by an un-named deity of abundance and cursed with eternal youthfulness, never having the ability to mature into a grownup. In the present-day setting of Elden Ring, a kidnapped Miquella is slowly transforming inside a cocoon towards the top of Mohgwyn Palace.

In the upcoming DLC, players who saw Elden Ring's Miquella inside his egg could encounter the Demigod in the original, youthful form. The opening cinematic for Elden Ring as well as other statues found through the game world depict Miquella as a pre-adolescent boy with long, golden hair woven into elegant braids. This identical figure appears within the concept art combined with the official Elden Ring DLC announcement, riding atop a horned horse just like the spectral steed named Torrent that conveys players through the open world portions from the Lands Between. If the steed Miquella's riding is definitely Torrent, it has fascinating implications for that setting from the DLC and suggests players might encounter Miquella face-to-face.

Elden Ring DLC Setting: Miquella May Be In A Dream World Or The Afterlife

During a dream-stealing quest cut from Elden Ring, an NPC who sells Dreambrew eventually discovers that Miquella may be the true identity of St. Trina, a mysterious figure related to crafted items for example Sleep Pots, and weapons like St. Trina's Torch and also the Sword of St. Trina. Many Elden Ring lore analysts speculated that St. Trina would be a pseudonym Miquella adapted to be able to conduct experiments associated with the true nature of sleep or dreams. An alternative possibility exists, however, that suggests Miquella could've become St. Trina after being ripped in the Haligtree where they slumbered, and kidnapped through the decidedly unholy Mohg, Lord of Blood.

The dark fantasy Lands Between setting of Elden Ring is explicitly a location where a person's soul and body can exist independently of each other. Godwyn the Golden, assassinated during the Night from the Black Knives, only perished in spirit, his half-dead flesh surviving and mutating right into a grotesque horror at the heart of the Deeproot Depths. Lunar Princess Ranni, in comparison, used the Rune of Death's capacity to kill her very own flesh, then transplant her soul into a man-made puppet body. Using cremated ash along with a Spirit Calling Bell, players themselves can call forth the spirits of long-dead heroes to assist them in battle. This raises an issue: where do these spirits originate from?

The concept art released for Elden Ring: Shadow from the Erdtree, filled with verdant fields of wheat and ghostly gravestones, suggests a fascinating answer to the question above. Specifically, the spirit of Miquella and also the other spirits called forth via Ash may be trapped inside an afterlife or dream world, an airplane of existence parallel towards the material world from the Lands Between (possibly even a shadowy mirror from the Lands Between such as the Dark World in The Legend of Zelda: A Link towards the Past). Separated from his physical body, cocooned within Mohgwyn palace, the spirit of Miquella, riding atop a spectral steed, looks for a way home to his ailing sister and the Haligtree subjects.

If the strange Elysian Fields-style countryside depicted within the concept art for Elden Ring's under-development DLC is really a world for spirits, it has interesting implications not only for Miquella's whereabouts but for the origins from the spectral steed named Torrent, the player's Tarnished depends on. Could this golden expanse of grain be where Torrent resides whenever the player's Tarnished un-summons them? For that matter, who did Torrent fit in with before Melina gifted their Spectral Steed Whistle to the player? When Ranni the Witch provides the Tarnished a Spirit Calling Bell, she says, "I was entrusted this, for that. By Torrent's former master." It's easy to assume Ranni was referring to Melina, but she might have been referring to Miquella instead.

Elden Ring's DLC Art May Be Showing Miquella's Haligtree

Besides showing a young Miquella atop Torrent (given little attention in Elden Ring's lore), the idea art for that Elden Ring DLC contains another notable landmark - an enormous, tangled tree within the distance, leaking golden sap. If the DLC area is definitely a spirit realm of some kind, this mysterious world tree might be a physical "shadow" from the Erdtree that towers within the Lands Between. At the same time, this twisted, gnarled, leafless tree bears a detailed resemblance to the twisted, leafless, and rotting Haligtree that Miquella nurtured together with his blood. The golden sap this tree leaks might even symbolize the power from the un-named Outer God who cursed Miquella with eternal youth and eternal, nourishing abundance.