Elden Ring's DLC Ending Explained - Shadow of the Erdtree Lore

Elden Ring's DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, is expansive, but it's ending seems deceptively simple. Let's break it down and see what lies beneath the surface.

Thank you to @VLimit11 and all the other creators, discord servers, and forums that discussed the DLC and its ending with me.
For cut content and other oddities, check out @SekiroDubi and @ZullietheWitch

Music:
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree OST

#eldenring #shadowoftheerdtree #eldenringdlc

Here's the cut Miquella dialogue:

Some of the above lines obviously would be one or the other. And maybe the extra ending would have been the Age of Eden as opposed to the Age of Compassion!

[MadLuigi]

Next videos will likely be looking at Marika, Messmer, and Jar lore, so stay tuned!

[guardiandarkness]

As a wise user said "an age of compassion with a god who abandoned his love would be screwed"

[lemouq]

Ending scene was kinda disappointing
We need another dlc

[EJaDav]

I’m a fervent believer that Radahn didn’t agree with the Vow due to him not having Leonard at his side.

You don’t just commit your life to a sect of magic to ride your beloved horse and even keep that sense in your state of rotting madness only to abandon him.

[jonasolsson]

Something I noticed just an hour ago playing with Radahns armour on is that the armour (both the OLD and the new) has Miquellas sigil/emblem on the upper part of the cape! The same sigil that appears when casting Miquellas spells! It's literally on Radahns back even in the base game! You can also find St.Trinas sword in Caelid, as well as a large amount of Miquella Lillies overlooking Radahns arena (it's got the most dense amount of Miquella Lilies in the game).

[consumerjtc]

Felt kinda bad that the npcs who fights with you ultimately die when they challenged a god alongside us.

[kasch]

No DLC ever brought closure except for Ringed City

[Pniq]

Gotta pay the troll toll to get into that lord’s soul

[arceuse]

I think the vow Miquella and Radahn made was that if Radahn was ever killed, he would go along with Miquella's plan, but because Radahn was such a golden order fanboy, he didn't make it easy.

[Scowleasy]

“Guys cmon my age of compassion would be great ignore that I threw away my own love and compassion cmon guys look at how pretty I am.”

[darklordauron]

I figured he had to divest himself of Trina because he saw how the Merika/Radagon duality messed things up. So by becoming a singular person being, he would not be schlepping the counter to his plans along with him.

[HateHolo]

I know that Miyazaki said that they have no plans for more Elden Ring content/DLC BUT how sick would it be if we got to go into the Divine Gate. Both Marika and Miquella have been in there.
Damn. I wish we could see it.

[kaden]

YO, I think the arm that Miquella is missing is the same one that's hanging out of the cocoon. There's also a cross-grace left behind by him that says he leaves behind his arm, and despite that being the singular word for arms I never found another cross-grace where he left the other. Maybe that proves that the corpse inside the cocoon in mohgwyn palace IS really Miquella.

[BiggieCrescent]

I feel like the Ending was unsatisfying, I at least wanted to get to talk to Miquella or something before be just dies, and the lack of a real "Ending Cinematic" was a bummer as well 😭😭😭 still a phenomenal DLC but the ending left me wanting more in terms of lore

[noxartorias]

Radahn was definitely manipulated into promising Miquella to be his consort. there would be no other reason why Malenia want sent to deliver Radahn to Miquella (in this case making it so Radahn is so weak he is able to have his flickering soul taken from his decaying body and placed into the body of mogh which through battle strengenths his soul so that he can fufill his promise to miquella that he made unwillingly)

[todd]

i think i know what’s going on. there are 2 ways of becoming a god, but both are technically by pairing the empyrean with another: a god sponsor, and/or a king consort.

for ranni, she paired herself with the dark moon (i think the dark moon is called celes, because the manus metyr is a house of worship for metyr, so the manus celes is a house of worship for celes), and us, her king consort. malenia has no king consort, but she’s paired with the rot, and when we slay her it’s “god slain” instead of “legend felled”. elden beast is a god because it is paired with the greater will, or something.

so who did marika pair with when she became a god? she was spurred by the two fingers (probably because how close her home is to the finger ruins), so probably the greater will, but unlike malenia who just let her god take over, marika used the divine gate. the divine gate requires a vessel, a lord’s soul and an empyrean, so who is marika’s lord and vessel? maybe radagon. 2 halves joined in the same vessel.

this is why miquella abandoned his other half. he needed strength to carry out his thousand year kingdom, so he and radahn will be another marika - radagon situation: 2 souls inhabiting the same body. that’s why the remembrance carries both of them, because they have, or are, becoming one being. furthermore, unlike other mounted bosses, like nameless king or prince lothric, radahn and miquella don’t attack one after another, their attacks are simultaneous. radahn’s swordplay is paired with miquella’s light. if we hand’g stopped miquella, miquella’s soul would fully fuse with radahn’s soul inhabiting mohg’s body, and such a force is unstoppable.

i think there should have been an ending where we allow miquella to take the throne and see his vision come to pass, but i also think we didn’t need to. how can a sightless, heartless, loveless god be compassionate?

and if you were wondering what his kingdom might look like, i think i should mention that miquella is extremely similar to his mother. miquella charms people to follow him and do his bidding. marika charmed the hornsent grandma into revealing where and how to use the divine gate, then betrayed her. marika used messmer and then hoarah loux to carry out her purges. miquella would likely use radahn as well as others he manages to charm to subjugate others under his vision as well. marika’s age was supposed to be bountiful, to be full of life and void of death, yet we found this supposed utopia in ruins. can we say that miquella’s kingdom will be any different?

i think there were 2 major themes in this dlc: parenting or family and vengeance. there is messmer who is an exceptional son up until his death, and there is ymir who seeks to be a mother to his reborn child as a coping mechanism for his passing. there is the hornsent and igon whose thirst for vengeance led to their demise. what goes around comes around, and try as he might, there is no way miquella can be better than his parent

[Coansp]

9:59 he in fact, cures any current scarlet rot status in the 2nd phase. I used to think it was just miquella using some cure spell, but this makes a lot more sense.

[enviosinterdimencionales]

mikella the "i never end my projects" god.

[brucepa]

10:30 I also saw that someone saying the red flame is Radahn's resist against Miquella's love, only to be shutdown right away as Miquella steps in

[Wylde_Starr]

I was right now years old when I realized the Divine Gateway is in the same shape as Merika's rune.