Come, now. Touch the withered arm, and travel to the realm of shadow. I will not be far behind.- Needle Knight Leda
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a downloadable expansion for Elden Ring. Created from the mythos written by George R. R. Martin, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree expands Elden Ring with a sprawling new realm filled with additional characters, bosses, weapons, spells, and more. First announced on February 28, 2023, it released on June 20, 2024, and was the first DLC to be nominated for a Game of the Year Award.
The realm of shadow was once part of the Lands Between, but now exists on another plane.[6][7]
Trivia[]
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree was first announced to the public on February 28th, 2023 on the game's social media accounts,[8] while the Gameplay Reveal was announced on February 21st, 2024.[9] The story trailer was revealed on May 21st, 2024.[10]
Director Hidetaka Miyazaki stated the title "Shadow of the Erdtree" contains a hidden double-meaning.[11][12]
FALL FROM GRACE The Land of Shadow. A place obscured by the Erdtree. Where the goddess Marika first set foot. A land purged in an unsung battle. Set ablaze by Messmer’s flame. It was to this land that Miquella departed. Divesting himself of his flesh, his strength, his lineage. Of all things Golden. And now Miquella awaits the return of his promised Lord. A New Story Guided by Empyrean Miquella, players are beckoned to the Land of Shadow, a place obscured by the Erdtree where the goddess Marika first set foot. In these strange new lands, players discover the dark secrets of the world as they meet others who follow in Miquella’s footsteps with ulterior motives.”
Miyazaki: “We started to imagine what the DLC development would look like around the end of the development of the main title. It became obvious that there were elements in the big picture of Elden Ring that wouldn't fit into the main title, so we thought it would be good to release these to the world as DLC. However, at that point it was still just a general idea, as we were still focused on the main release. Actual development work on the DLC started after the release of the main title and after the initial patches settled down a bit.””
↑Ed Nightingale (2024-02-21). Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is FromSoftware's "largest expansion" ever. Miyazaki details George R. R. Martin's involvement.. Eurogamer. Retrieved on 2025-10-10. “Miyazaki provided Eurogamer with further details of the expansion, and confirmed that Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin has not provided fresh material. “As for George Martin's involvement, essentially it is the same as it was with the base game,” said Miyazaki. “The DLC Shadow of the Erdtree is based on one part of that original mythos that he penned for us. It's not a brand new mythos that he's written specifically for Shadow of the Erdtree, he has not created something new which informed the design of the DLC. It's simply another part of the original story that we thought fit to tell as a new expansion.” Ideas for the DLC began to form around the end of Elden Ring's development, as there were remaining ideas that were “clearly not going to fit in” and would make more sense as DLC. Development then began around the time updates and patches for the base game had begun to settle down.”
Hidetaka Miyazaki: “Yes. That lion dance is, in a way, a typical DLC boss. In fact, the Land of Shadows is the place where Marika became a god and where the Golden Tree was born. Naturally, there was a culture there that existed before the Golden Tree, and the lion dance character comes from that culture. So I hope that you can get a feel for a different culture that is a little different from the main story.””
Hidetaka Miyazaki, Director: "First of all, the setting of Shadow of the Erdtree is a brand new land. It's a brand new map separate from the Lands Between. It is a land that is overshadowed by the particular Shadow of the Erdtree as opposed to the Erdtree in the Lands Between. And it takes place, again, on an entirely separate, physically separate map. So it will involve a warp of sorts to get there. "In terms of setting and themes, it technically occupies the same space as the Lands Between, the same universe. But due to something story related that we won't reveal today, this has become physically disconnected, and you'll travel to the Shadow of the Erdtree land as a separate place. "So this Land of Shadow itself is a place the player will visit to walk in the steps of Miquella. Miquella is a key part of the story this time, perhaps as guessed by many players who saw the art that was released previously. That is in fact Miquella, and it is he who traveled to the Land of Shadow and it's the players who will be tracing his path and following in his footsteps, trying to see what he's going to do there. Another axis of the story is Queen Marika and what she did in the Land of Shadow, and what led Miquella to follow her there."”
Miyazaki: “There are several reasons that I have employed fragmented storytelling, including in Elden Ring. First, I want the gameplay experience to become the player's story. For that, we don't tell a rigid story in a verbose way. Additionally, we want to leave some of the story to the player's imagination. This ties into making the gameplay experience the player's story as mentioned earlier and becoming absorbed in filling in the margins with your own imagination is simply fun, I believe. There is also the enjoyment of collecting the fragments in order to understand. Like, "Ah, so that's what it means. It all connects."“”
Miyazaki: “Erdtree refers to the Golden Tree that appears in the main title, so directly interpreting this, the DLC title means the shadow of this golden tree. In the concept art that was shown in Feb 2023, it is this shadow of the Erdtree that looms tall in the left background, and we also call this the "shadow tree". So the DLC takes place not in the Lands Between, but the shadow lands of which the shadow tree is a symbol. Also, there is another small hidden meaning in the title, we hope you will figure this out when playing the game.””
Cocoon of the Empyrean in Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum to enter the expansion.
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