Elden Ringis two years old now, so you’d naturally assume that pretty much everything that is noteworthy has already been discovered, documented, and discussed at great length via several hour-long YouTube essays. However, recent comments from director Hidetaka Miyazaki aboutthere being “something small” players haven’t found yet, coupled withthe release of the trailer for Shadow of the Erdtree, have players diving back in for another search.
It’s because of this renewed secret hunting effort that one fan has managed to discover that Elden Ring has been hiding a Shadow of the Erdtree faction in front of everyone for the past two years. First spotted by Reddit user Cudakid210, a seemingly geenric wooden shield held the key to the mystery, as the shield’s item description explains that the candle-tree design on the front symbolizes a “surreptitious prophecy of cardinal sin” and was forbidden as a result.
There’s not much there besides a bit of world-building, but the recent Shadow of the Erdtree trailer reveals that this candle-tree design appears to be the icon for Messmer’s faction, the ruler of The Lands of Shadows. In th trailer, you may see multiple enemies holding candle-tree weapons, as well as a knight bearing the same design on the back of his horse.
As for what the “prophecy” the shield’s item description is referring to actually is, some think the design is alluding to the burning of a future Erdtree, given the act is considered a cardinal sin by many inhabitants of The Lands Between. With that being said, it would also make sense for Messmer to adopt that icon for his own faction as, while his motivations are still unclear, he doesn’t seem to be the sort of guy who’s a stickler for rules and regulations.
Anyhow, it’s a pretty big discovery that something as big as a heretical faction has been hiding under our noses this entire time, and does make you wonder what other discoveries could be made by reexamining certain pieces of lore or item descriptions now we have the context of the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer. It’s by looking at items that fans also think they’vefound evidence of Messmer being Miquella and Malenia’s brother, and I’m sure we’ll find plenty more hidden tidbits between now and the DLC’s launch on June 21.
