After taking down every big, bad boss in the Elden Ring DLC, we’ve got one big question on our minds – does Shadow of the Erdtree have more Easter eggs than any other game in the Souls series? There are direct homages and oddball Easter eggs around every corner of this DLC. You can discover references that go all the way back to Demon’s Souls, and we’re going to try to explain them all. Most of these Easter eggs are extremely small things we couldn’t help but notice as fans of the series. We’re convinced some of these details are callbacks, even if we’re just seeing things. And some of these secrets are so rare, you’d never find them on your own.
We’re going to talk about the details that jumped out at us as we played Shadow of the Erdtree. These are the items you missed, the cutscenes you skipped and the interactions you never knew were possible. We’ve already talked about the best items and where to find them. These are the weirdest little details and why they’re absolutely Easter eggs. Stick with us and we’ll explain with the entry that made us laugh out loud.
#1 Demon’s Souls References
We’re going all the way back to Demon’s Souls with the references in the Realm of Shadow. The first game that revolutionized the action-RPG genre and changed everything was only a modest hit back on the PS3, but its legacy is still felt in popular games like Jedi: Survivor, Hollow Knight and of course Elden Ring. So many games today wouldn’t exist if not for Demon’s Souls, and the developers at FromSoft decided to homage their original in the silliest way possible.
First off, you’ll discover statues to a character that look suspiciously like the Monumental on the stairs leading up into Belarut, Tower Settlement. This is a deeply holy location for the people of the realm – the statues appear to be sitting children with bald heads. The statues have a very similar look to the prophetic child in Demon’s Souls that gives you a mission to lull the Old One back to sleep. This isn’t the funny part, but we had to mention it. The funny part comes much later.
If you explore the deep depths of the Cerulean Coast in the south of the DLC map, you’ll discover a mysterious location called Stone Coffin Fissure. The underground dungeon is protected by laser-shooting stone worms, but the real threat is past that initial sprint. After dodging the lasers, you’ll need to walk through the rest of the cave. And that’s where you’ll find the rolling skeletons. These are skeleton enemies that roll and wield giant blades in a way that’s instantly recognizable – the rolling skeletons from Demon’s Souls are one of the earliest enemies we absolutely hated. Now, those skeletons are a cake walk. Back then? They were a nightmare. And now the rolling skeletons are back to look silly and remind us where this series started. Thanks for the memories, rolling skeletons.
#2 The Sword of Light
One of the strangest swords in the Souls series might be a veiled reference to Shadow of the Colossus and that game’s Sword of Light. The Stone-Sheathed Sword is a unique weapon found in one of three locations in the Realm of Shadow – one of those locations is the Ancient Ruins of Rauh, a spooky jungle with stone structures that are eerily reminiscent of the abandoned lands you’ll explore in Shadow of the Colossus. The area is also guarded by a giant Furnace Golem – and you’ll find a mysterious invisible bridge that leads to the Stone-Sheathed Sword location.
The director Hidetaka Miyazaki is a self-professed fan of Shadow of the Colossus, but these little nods aren’t quite enough for me to call it an Easter egg. It only becomes an Easter egg when you’ve collected the Stone-Sheathed Sword and taken it to two more secret locations. Depending on the next location you visit, you can transform the sword in the Sword of Dark or the Sword of Light – that’s literally the same name. Light and Darkness are big themes of Shadow of the Colossus, so we’re going to call this one big reference. It’s just done in the typical FromSoft way. It’s totally cryptic and most players will never find it.
#3 Winter’s Lantern Returns
Bloodborne should be fresh in the mind of anyone exploring the secret paths of Elden Ring. There are Outer Gods to contend with and a madness mechanic called Frenzy that works in the same way. There’s even a village in Elden Ring with a tower watching over a section of the map – stepping into the tower’s frenzied eye vision causes you to go mad in a way that’s very similar to the final dungeon of Bloodborne. While that’s an obvious ode to their cosmic horror masterpiece, there’s an even bigger reference in Shadow of the Erdtree. And this one is also way scarier.
The Winter’s Lantern is one of the most infamous enemies in Bloodborne. The strange singing woman in a tattered dress has a bulbous head covered in eyes. Just looking at this thing causes your character to go mad in that game – and something very similar happens in Elden Ring’s most secret DLC area. In the Abyssal Woods you’ll encounter the deadly Aged One’s enemies. These are hunched creatures carrying lanterns with massive, oversized heads that glow bright when they spot you. The only way to escape is by avoiding them completely, hiding in the tall grass, and hoping they don’t see you. If you do get spotted – you’re dead in a single hit. These are the next evolution of the Winter’s Lantern enemies and the spooky haunted mansion you’ll encounter next is so Bloodborne it hurts in the best way.
#4 Dark Souls References
Before getting into the real nitty-gritty details of the Land Between, let’s talk about some big similarities with the original Dark Souls. Like Dark Souls, you’ll drain water from an important location to fully explore it. In this case, you’ll drain water from the Shadow Keep, Church District to check out a ruin. The optional boss Commander Gaius rides a giant boar that looks just like the Fanged Boar enemies from Dark Souls combined with the Fang Boar Helm you can acquire.
And then there’s the Specimen Storehouse – a location that looks and feels a lot like the Duke’s Archives. The Specimen Storehouse actually has a long lineage of indoor dungeons, and they’re almost always my favorites. The Grand Archives in Dark Souls 3 and especially the Research Hall in the Bloodborne DLC are previous variants of the design, where you’ll navigate a tall indoor location while moving around stairs with switches in the center of the area to progress. These are minor references, but we love to see how FromSoft iterates on the same ideas.
#5 Revisiting The Cathedral
And now the secrets are getting really weird. The biggest quest in Shadow of the Erdtree is the storyline you’ll follow for Count Ymir in the Cathedral of Manus Metyr.The strange priest wants you to visit mysterious locations called Finger Runes – and he clearly harbors a dark secret. If you visit his location often while progressing his story, you can even encounter unique scenes that aren’t required.
If you visit the cathedral after the first Finger Ruins bell, but before finding the second in the far north, you’ll get a sinister glimpse into the story’s future. Visiting Ymir after the initial quest is unlocked, you’ll eventually find him cradling a small Finger Creeper to his belly. That’s gross enough, but return later and you’ll find Ymir mourning that same Finger Creeper in the nearby cemetery. While he’s away from his throne, you can even interact and discover a chilling glimpse of the underground ruins beneath the cathedral. It’s fingers all the way down.
And that’s not the only weird secret related to this quest. If you finish the story completely, you’ll encounter one of the most obscure item upgrades in the entire series.
#6 Jolan & Anna
Back on that weird Count Ymir quest – if you’ve found both finger ruins, discovered the third under the cathedral itself and fought the disgusting Mother of Fingers boss, there’s still one big secret. Returning to the Cathedral leads to a unique, secret boss fight against the transformed Count Ymir himself, who’s become a finger mother himself. He’s now sporting rows of gross fingers growing out of his robes and spawns new Finger Creepers to attack. And that isn’t even the weirdest part of this entry.
No, it’s what comes after. Once you defeat Ymir and his Black Knight guardian Jolan, you’ll find a dying Jolan on her pillar. Talk to her and give her a rare item called an Iris of Grace to unlock her Spirit Ash. This Spirit Ash is unique because it can be further upgraded by following an even-more-secret path. Near the second Finger Ruins, you’ll find the Shaman Village – a mysterious village bathed in gold light. If you drop off the side of the cliff above Rabbath’s Rise, you can reach a hidden room with a doll wearing knight’s armor. Interacting with the doll allows you to upgrade the Swordhand of Night Jolan to the Jolan & Anna spirit ash, summoning a pair of whirling Black Knights to fight with you. Some players think they’re the best summon in the game, and after everything you need to do finding them, we’re going to go ahead and agree.
#7 The O Mother Gesture
We’ve already talked about some of the most secret areas of the DLC – the Abyssal Woods requires finding an Illusory Wall and riding a coffin, but the most ridiculous secret has to be in the small chapel outside the Commander Gaius boss fight. We’ve talked about this puzzle plenty of times, but there are more wrinkles to the story. Literally.
Near the Commander Gaius optional boss, there’s a small chapel with a statue of Marika and a developer note. The clue lets us know something is up with this room, but not much else. Trying out all the gestures we found in the DLC, we discovered that the O Mother gesture activates a secret door, moving the statue and revealing the hidden path to the Shaman Village. That’s a big enough deal on its own, but let’s talk about what this all means.
The O Mother gesture is located north of Bonny Village by a headless statue. We know that the mother in question is Marika, who exiled Messmer to the Realm of Shadow due to his unprecedented cruelty. This cruelty was actually a sign of pure devotion to Marika, and the son never stopped having faith in the mother despite his potion as a blasphemer. So this gesture is essentially mimicking the desperation of Messmer and showing his faith – and to make this even more complicated, the gesture unlocks the hidden path to the Shaman Village, birthplace of Marika. We also know that the Shamans were kidnapped and butchered to be fermented in jars for a chance at sainthood. Messmer’s gesture is near Bonny Village, where multiple butchers and countless jars are hanging from ropes – what does it all mean? We have no idea, but the best little detail is nearby.
If you continue to search closer to the O Mother gesture location, you can find a totally unique discarded snake skin. Is this related to the Abyssal Serpent that possesses and wraps around Messmer? I’ll leave that to the lore historians to solve.
#8 St. Trina’s Blossom
We’re diving into even more deep lore in Elden Ring here. Back at the Stone Coffin Fissure we discussed earlier, past the rolling skeletons, you’ll have to make a leap of faith off a coffin to encounter a truly bizarre optional boss. The Putrescent Knight is a monster made of goop that’s pure death – it changes forms as it fights, and defeating it gives you access to Saint Trina herself. The sleeping maiden in a violet field of flowers is Miquella’s sister, and she has an entire quest for you to complete.
Not only her, but another NPC. If you revisit often and talk to the NPC Thiollier, you’ll get the option to drink St. Trina’s nectar. Drinking of the nectar causes you to die instantly. Keep doing it and eventually St. Trina will whisper a message to you – she’ll choose you as her champion and tell you to kill her brother Miquella. You’ll complete the quest after defeating the final boss, but there’s one more step you can complete.
Return to St. Trina and you’ll gain one more secret item. Miquella’s body drops the St. Trina’s Blossom – a purple flower that counts as a helmet. This simple piece of light armor doesn’t do much, only boosting your total FP slightly, but it’s such a secret item you definitely won’t want to miss it.
#9 Game of Thrones References
And here’s a ridiculously quick one. We know that George RR Martin, the author of Game of Thrones and the Song of Ice & Fire worked on Elden Ring in some capacity – though we also know that the developers at FromSoft twisted the narrative into a far less traditional narrative. Whatever actually went down, Game of Thrones and Elden Ring are connected.
If you’ve been watching House of the Dragon and playing Elden Ring at the same time, there are going to be some similarities. Like Game of Thrones, there are family legacies that are easily identified by different hair colors and there’s a civil war between different king-like aggressors that desire a throne. But the DLC includes some major references that you can’t tell me were completely intentional.
At the Jagged Peak, you’ll encounter a mad dragon hunter named Igon. Igon will assist you in defeating the optional boss Bayle the Dread. Compare that with the House of the Dragon characters Aegon and his mount Balerion, the Black Dread. Coincidence? Maybe. But call me skeptical. Those names share too many letters. They’re both dread dragons! We’re counting that as a reference.
#10 Radahn Mimics His Debut
And the last Easter egg on our list is one of the most fun. General Radahn, the final boss of Shadow of the Erdtree, was originally introduced in a 2021 cinematic trailer for Elden Ring. The trailer shows Radahn facing off against Malenia – in the fight, he summons two giant swords to his waiting hands using gravity powers. If you’ve seen this trailer, you might recognize something familiar in the latest DLC.
The opening cutscene with Radahn is exactly the same as this 2021 cinematic trailer. Radahn looks different, but the framing, the camera movements, and the animations are all almost identical to that 2021 reveal trailer, down the the sparks shooting out of Radahn’s blades. I guess the developers at FromSoft realized how cool that initial trailer makes Radahn look. In the base game, Radahn is nothing more than a rampaging monster that’s completely lost his mind. In the DLC, he can reclaim his status as the most powerful warrior in the Lands Between. All those cool moves in his final boss introduction cutscene come straight from the 2021 cinematic trailer. Who knew.
