As we all know, Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree will be released on June 21, 2024, and several new information has been released recently. It has been about a week since we got the story trailer, and during that time, the community has been trying to break down everything and find every secret possible.
There are a lot of discoveries, and today I want to discuss the new female NPC characters. I'm sure everyone is curious, so let's get started.
New Character
Let's start off by talking about this character, the supposed leader of our band of Miquella loyalists, who appears to not only be the narrator of the trailer but also our guide into Land of Shadow. Before the new DLC start, don't forget to get enough Elden Ring Runes.
She is almost certainly the person we'll meet in Mohg's arena who will tell us how to access the DLC. Further evidence to support that claim has come out thanks to an image shared by the official Elden Ring Twitter account, confirming that she is the same character we've seen consistently.
One thing you likely missed when take a closer look at this character's design is her belt. it might not appear significant at first glance. However, many of you pointed out that the design is eerily similar to the ring on the withered arm in the cocoon in Mohg's arena, supposedly Miquella's arm. They're not a perfect match, but there's enough of an overlap in the style to suggest a connection. Since she is searching for Miquella, her entire design is inspired by him.
What's The Ring Represent?
The question we need to ask is: what does that ring represent? At the moment, we don't have enough evidence for a clear answer, but I'm sure that will come up throughout the DLC. Rings in Elden Ring have a mysterious power. We see at the beginning of the game, Melina finds our body and places a ring on our finger before we awaken.
Our fate is bound by Dark Moon Ring, which allows us to complete her quest, summoning her to enact her destiny at the end of the game. Perhaps it's this latent power in Miquella's ring that allows us to travel to the Land of Shadow, or this ring could be an object that this character is seeking out in hopes of becoming Miquella's consort. After all, we know Miquella is waiting for a promised lord.
Character Appearance
Keeping on topic with the appearance of this character, a lot of you may remember the Elden Ring Closed Network Test. During that test, there were limited starting classes, and you were unable to customize your character. Every starting class came with a male and female counterpart with predesignated character appearances.
Enchanted Knight starting class was one of the most popular, and the female Enchanted Knight had a very distinct look: light blonde hair with colorless eyes and dynamic eyeshadow. This looks really similar to the face of this new NPC. They have the same hairstyle, color, and similar eyeshadow, although their eye color is a bit different.
Relate To Miquella
It is possible that it's entirely a coincidence given the limited number of customization options, but if this was an early prototype of this NPC, that would make a lot of sense. Both characters have armor underneath robes, and miracles related to Miquella are not purely faith-based.
For example, the Triple Rings of Light and Radagon's Rings of Light require an equal amount of faith and intelligence. The Cleanrot Knights can be directly tied to Miquella. The Miquellan Knight's Sword reads: Sword forged by servants of Miquella of the Haligtree with a design modeled after those carried by the Cleanrot Knights. Instead of glintstone, however, amber from the Haligtree is embedded in the blade. Loretta, a knight of the Haligtree, primarily wields Carian sorceries.
What might actually confirm this NPC as an early version is the 1.0 description of Loretta's helmet. The original description stated: Silver helm of the arbor sentinels who served the sacred tree of Miquella, the scion empyrean. Features a huge circular wood crest hailing from Raya Lucaria. These Enchanted Knights originally served the Carian royal family but were later bestowed upon Miquella, the recipient of The Vision, by King Consort Radagon.
Final Thought
I don't think the name of this class being Enchanted Knight is a coincidence, and the female Enchanted Knight from the network test looking almost exactly like this new servant of Miquella is too on the nose for me. When we finally meet this NPC in Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, I wonder if that face will be exactly the same, or if we'll find out in her lore that she used to be a Carian Knight who swore allegiance to Miquella.
If I had to guess, I think FromSoftware designed this character back then with their role as this NPC in mind but decided to use their character model for the Enchanted Knight class in the network test, knowing that they ultimately wouldn't be in the version of the game that releases to the public.
That's all the details we got about this new character in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC story trailer. Hopefully we'll learn more.