4 years later, new Elden Ring cutscene uncovered with massive lore implications for DLC star Miquella

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Elden Ring is still keeping secrets, but dataminer Lance McDonald is good at easing them out – the YouTuber just discovered a piece of cut content illuminating more of FromSoftware‘s arcane story.

Lore spoilers for the 4-year-old game to follow! Turn back if you want to watch a VaatiVidya video first.

McDonald has uncovered a new cutscene showing demigod Miquella planting the Haligtree legacy dungeon – and a literal, crooked tree – with his own pale hands. While I believe everything in Elden Ring is intentionally vague enough to warrant your own interpretation, regardless of director Hidetaka Miyazaki’s vision, this missing scene shows Miquella didn’t just settle on the towering Haligtree as his refuge – he created it with the hope of lending its strength to his sick sister Malenia.

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“My dear twin. Accept this gift. A gift of abundance. My last drop of dew – let all things flourish, whether graceful or malign. If thou covetest the throne, impress my vision upon thine heart, in the new world of thy making, all things will flourish. Whether graceful or malign.” Watch the scene for yourself below.

Elden Ring Cut Content – Miquella Planting the Haligtree Deleted Cutscene and Map – YouTube
Elden Ring Cut Content - Miquella Planting the Haligtree Deleted Cutscene and Map - YouTube

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Miquella seems to address the Haligtree and Malenia, whose Scarlet Rot is eating her limbs, at once – he encourages both to siphon his power for the sake of cultivating their own.

To me, this signals the Haligtree is not only an alternative to Elden Ring’s religion around the Erdtree, but also physical proof of Miquella and Malenia’s success – or lack of it. Though a fellow lore hound on Reddit posits, “This implies that the Haligtree was a gift from Miquella to Malenia. So, maybe the Haligtree project didn’t ‘fail’ by rotting and was abandoned by Miquella. He simply gave his gift and focused on his own ascension plan.” Either way, I’m crying.

Being a FromSoftware fan requires recognizing that the studio often cuts enough content from its fantasy games to populate several other planets, but I would have liked to see more of Miquella’s history in the base game in addition to the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.