The Shadow of the Erdtree trailer complicates Elden Ring’s family tree even more

When the very first Elden Ring trailer was shown to the world, I couldn’t help but feel amused that – while it did showcase the texture of the world perfectly – little of the narrative was divulged. This is not unexpected for a trailer designed to hook you, though in the months and years that followed, the Elden Ring subreddit was filled with devout, researched, and dreamlike theories mapping out a web of potential plots. It was a great time to be on the internet, and as the game got closer to its launch, the lore behind Hidetaka Miyazaki and George RR Martin’s world soon became much more clear and visceral. The latest trailer for the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion does everything it can do to obscure that vision, and we’re back in the blind position we were before Elden Ring’s release. There’s so much more to the latest trailer than meets the eye, and – speaking on behalf of everyone in the Elden Ring community – things couldn’t be better.

The trailer’s ambiguity is a literal gold mine for Elden Ring lore theorists, myself included. One of the key frames from the trailer involves a figure pulling threads from a visceral and organic body. The trailer’s narrator mentions “an affair from which Gold arose,” touching on Miquella’s tale of “seduction and betrayal.” This figure then takes these threads and pulls them in a form that undeniably hints at the form of the lower runes on the Elden Ring, Marika’s symbol:

There’s a connection here, no doubt, but there’s also something quite literal to be read in this “affair from which Gold arose” and the implications it has on the Elden Ring itself. VaatiVidya – as expected – already has a detailed video breaking down the trailer, also touching on the fact that something is hiding within. He entertains the idea that fleshy mound from which the threads are plucked is in-fact Godskin. Vaati can have that theory. I’ve got a different one for you.

Your natural impulse trains you not to take things at face value, so when the narrator brings up seduction, an affair, and birth, you’re instantly expecting a red herring – it’s too obvious to be a reference to a real birth. There are other obvious implications too, perhaps a little more likely fans. The Lands Between could be Gold, while the Shadow might refer to the setting of the DLC instead for example. However, there’s an unshakable tone in the trailer that physical child-birth is a key factor. While others might read the threads pulled from an indescribable flesh sac as the narrator looting runes, I couldn’t help but associate this imagery with childbirth – a caesarean to be more accurate.

The narrator continues “and so too was Shadow born,” alluding to the fact that there are two beings likely borne of Marika. Godwynn the Golden takes the mantle of Gold, while another character, Messmer the Impaler, is perhaps that of Shadow.

Marika’s other children are all twins: Mohg and Morgott, and Miquella and Malenia. It’s not too far-fetched to assume that Godwynn and Messmer are twins too. Mention of an affair sort of throws this part of the theory down the drain, so half-siblings seems a much more likely occurrence.