Five ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree Theories We Found Interesting

This is an odd one, but it has some interesting backing behind it. Miquella is already implied to create alter egos in the form of St. Trina. While it isn’t confirmed, Miquella and St. Trina are both ambiguous-looking young boys and have a deep connection to sleep and water lilies. On top of this, we’ve seen characters previously change themselves, such as Marika and Radagon. Messmer also has Miquella's signature red hair.

There are a lot of similarities between Miquella and Messmer, from the red hair to the naming conventions of the siblings — Melania and Miquella, and potentially Melina, but that remains unconfirmed. Messmer placing himself on a throne similarly to the other demigods may be a show of their similarity or even familial relations. There is also a theory that each of the three butterfly items may relate to each of them individually: Miquella as the Nascant Butterfly, Melania as the Aeonian Butterfly and Messmer as the Smouldering Butterfly, due to his heavy links to flame. 

A few characters we’ve seen in the trailer have notable ties to The Lands Between, from Messmer to the mysterious scholar we see. This scholar looks like a member of the Carian Royal Family and bears a striking resemblance to the person on the Carian Inverted Statue. During the war in The Lands Between, it could be entirely possible that this mysterious scholar could have opposed the idea of the Golden Order and been exiled for this opposition. Another point towards this is Messmer. If Messmer is Miquella’s brother, which seems likely, his exile to the Realm of Shadow would make sense, as his name has been stricken from nearly every discussion of that family. Also, there are hints that Messmer may have opposed the Erdtree in itself. Messmer has obvious ties to snakes, from his helmet to the snakes that he has with him in many scenes, and in the description of the Duelist set it states: “The snake is viewed as a traitor to the Erdtree”. It would make sense for him to have been exiled by Marika if he opposed the order she fought to protect. 

The Realm of Shadow does exist in a physical sense, yet it doesn’t seem to exist on the same plane as The Lands Between. Miyazaki has stated in an interview that the Realm of Shadows is disconnected from The Lands Between, and we can see this in a few different details. Primarily, it seems there are curtains draped across the sky, similar to those seen in Marika’s chamber. With Miquella’s links to sleep and dreams, this could imply that Miquella has potentially brought the Realm of Shadows into some form of dream realm. At the end of the trailer, we also see Miquella, who supposedly lost his physical form, travelling to the Realm of Shadows. Either Miquella manages to reclaim his physicality, or he has power over the realm itself and manifests a new body.