Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC dataminers have discovered a short hidden cutscene
"It'll be interesting to poke around..."
Dataminers have recovered a deleted cutscene from Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree.
As you may well expect given we're about to talk about cutscenes, this way be spoilers, so if you'd rather not know more until you've completed the DLC yourself, head back to the safety of Eurogamer's homepage now.
For those who have already completed the DLC (or simply don't mind spoilers, of course), the additional scene was uncovered by dataminers ChainFailure, MagicalShion, and Hnery, and brought into the public consciousness by Elden Ring content creator Sekiro Dubi.
Just like the others, there's no cinematics per se, just a black screen and a couple of brief lines of dialogue that reveal a hidden fourth cutscene for St. Trina.
"Thank you," a disembodied voice whispers from the darkness. "Finally, he will be free."
"Hearing that 'Thank you... Finally, he will be free' really reinforces something clear about Miquella's nature that we initially learned from the Golden Epitaph's description, 'A sword made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, first of the demigods to die. Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; O brother, lord brother, please die a true death'," explained very knowledgeable commenter, PierceArner.
"In divesting himself of everything he had, it's clear that he wanted to give it ALL up and also die a normal death - something impossible for his eternally youthful form just as much as it was for Malenia. Turning into a god in essentially the exact way Mohg wanted to do with his coccooned body shows how either one of which would have been a prison he could never escape where he was once again the literal embodiment of everything he had just cast aside.
"With Florissax offering her dreams and sleep to Placidusax and St. Trina's sleep itself being death, I think there are some interesting themes and overlaps in those roles, so it'll be interesting to poke around and see what ideas like this they cut back on slightly."
The discovery has fans wondering what else may have been chopped before Shadow of the Erdtree finally released earlier this month, and what else may be lurking in the game's backend just waiting to be discovered by dataminers…
"Oh, and about those rumours you may have heard about a feature film or television series based on Elden Ring… I have nothing to say. Not a word, nope, not a thing, I know nothing, you never heard a peep from me, mum mum mum. What rumour?"
Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC fans have elevated its once "Mixed" Steam user score, moving into the the "Mostly Positive" category once more.
The DLC initially fell to a "mixed" user rating on Steam after thousands of players logged their disappointment with difficulty and the PC version's performance issues.