There isn’t much time left before Elden Ring’s upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree DLC finally arrives, and fans are gearing up to tackle it. It’s been two years since the launch of Elden Ring, and still, the excitement surrounding FromSoftware’s fantasy tile hasn’t subsided.
Recently, FromSoftware gave us a cinematic trailer for Elden Ring‘s upcoming expansion. As expected, players went back and forth, analyzing every frame. While they noticed interesting characters and details, many players believed the mysterious Gloam-Eyed Queen was also featured in the trailer.
We Might Have Seen Gloam-Eyed Queen in Shadow of the Erdtree Story Trailer
With Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Hidetaka Miyazaki, the renowned president of FromSoftware, has continued the studio’s tradition of crafting games with deep and engaging lore. Undoubtedly, the Gloam-Eyed Queen is one of the most mysterious figures in the Elden Ring universe. Despite her status, we’re yet to see her in the game, but that could change soon.
In the story trailer, we can see Queen Marika pulling strings from a corpse. The corpse shown had horizontal stitching, which is a sure sign of Godskin Sitcher, a weapon that references the creation of Godskin attire that’s supposedly peeled and stitched together from Godskin.
As Marika holds the strings, they make a shape resembling one of the Elden Ring‘s downward arcs. This downward symbolizes Marika as seen on her scar seal, her crucifixion, and at the end of the trailer. Marika’s seal seems to be a subversion of the Rune of Death, and we see this particular rune after defeating Maliketh. It was part of the Elden Ring, delivering a destined death to everyone until Marika removed it.
Now, here’s the interesting part. We know for a fact that Godskin has clear connections with the Rune of Death. Godskin’s leader was the Gloam-Eyed Queen, who, like Marika, was an Empyrean. According to various items in the game, Maliketh, as Marika’s shadow, was tasked with eliminating the Gloam-Eyed Queen.
However, the exact nature of this clash still needs to be clarified. We don’t know if the Gloam-eyed Queen and Marika were equal or rivals or how the control of Elden Ring was divided between them. In the end, Destined Death was sealed, and the true power of the Gloam-eyed Queen’s blackflame was permanently lost.
Given the Godskin, the rune, and the war Marika won against her initially, there’s a big chance that the corpse Marika was pulling the strings from is the Gloam-Eyed Queen.
Who is the Gloam-Eyed Queen in Elden Ring?
The Gloam-Eyed Queen in Elden Ring was the leader of Godskins, a strange group that the Queen had a personal hand in creating and raising. As an Empyrean, the Gloam-Eyed Queen was chosen by Two Fingers to end Queen Marika’s rule and bring in a new age with a new god. While it’s not direct, many elements and dialogues of the game suggest that Gloam-eyed Queen is none other than Melina.
As Maliketh was Marika’s Shadow, he was tasked with eliminating the Gloam-Eyed Queen and eventually killed her before sealing Destined Death within himself. The Queen’s death is made explicit but isn’t shown. This makes her a prime candidate for a big Shadow of the Erdtree DLC appearance.
