Fans have long known that they need to defeat Mohg, Lord of Blood to start Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, but a new requirement for starting the DLC carries big story implications.
Miquella is a key figure in Elden Ring lore and a lot is known about the character. Groups like the Misbegotten seemingly worship them. Even the eternally in-fighting demi-gods seem to have a relationship with Miquella that ranges from having an amicable relationship to obsessive love. While most of Miquella’s story is known, the final chapters are a mystery.
Why was Miquella cocooned into the Haligtree? What was the end goal? Who removed the cocoon? And was that what killed Miquella? Is Miquella really dead at all?
There’s a major void in Elden Ring’s story and the start of Shadow of the Erdtree may be ready to fill it, judging from Hidetaka Miyazaki. In a wide-ranging interview that included a discussion of the Soulslike genre and details on the Elden Ring DLC’s story, Miyazaki let slip details on how to start Shadow of the Erdtree and the lore implications attached to that.
Miyazaki confirms surprise condition for starting Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
In an interview, FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki revealed that players will need to defeat two specific bosses in order to start the DLC.
The first boss is Mohg, Lord of Blood. This shouldn’t be any surprise to players who already played Elden Ring, or even those who watched the trailer. The one time players see Miquella is as a lifeless arm dangling from a cocoon in Mohg’s boss arena. The trailer strongly hints that this is where the DLC starts, showing the Tarnished approaching Miquella.
Defeating Mohg isn’t the only prerequisite for starting the DLC, though. In an interview with Game Bonfire, Miyazaki confirmed in an interview with that players will also need to beat Starscourge Radahn to start Shadow of the Erdtree, teasing some major implications to Elden Ring’s lore.
“From a plot perspective, players will understand it after playing the DLC, so there won’t be any spoilers here. From the perspective of the game design itself, considering that everyone generally defeats Radahn first, and then faces Mohg, we made this a requirement,” Miyazaki said.
Radahn’s fight with Malenia may be explained in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree’s story
Radahn factoring into the DLC will likely answer one of the bigger questions regarding Elden Ring’s lore.
Central to Elden Ring is the Shattering, where the Elden Ring was broken with the demi-gods fighting over its pieces. This led to an extended stalemate that remained in place until the Tarnished returned to the Lands Between.
Between those two points was the battle between Malenia and Radahn. It’s unknown why Malenia initiated the conflict. It’s definitively not related to acquiring shards of the Elden Ring, as Malenia’s forced marched past shardbearers on their way to Radahn. This is confirmed by Kenneth Haight in relation to Godrick the Grafted.
A longstanding theory has been that Malenia wrongly believed or was tricked into believing that Radahn had actually kidnapped Miquella. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree may finally answer the questions related to this part of the game’s story. Though precedent suggests the answer may not be especially thorough.
