Though roughly one month removed from the release of From Software’s highly-anticipated gameElden Ring, there’s still a ton of unanswered questions surrounding the title. While a brief closed beta shed some light on previously-unknown gameplay details, much of the game’s lore and many of the characters remain mysterious. Over the past few months, the developer has taken to Twitter to reveal small tidbits concerningElden Ring’s lore and locations, and a recent post potentially showcasing a never-before-seen character has both excited and confounded From Software’s followers.Posted on January 28— 29 days ahead of the game’s official releaseand only a few days after going gold— From Software tweeted a picture of an unidentified woman sitting on a bed in a dark room. Attached to the image was a blurb reading “many great champions have accepted her gentle, final embrace,” a sentiment that, without proper context, seems difficult to parse.RELATED:Elden Ring Director Believes More People Will Finish The Game Than They Do Dark SoulsOf course, mysterious veiled women are nothing new to fans of From Software games; veterans of the series may link this character to the Maiden in Black, a central figure in 2009’sDemon’s Souls. She also bears something of a resemblance to the Fire Keepers from theDark Soulstrilogy, and some may even be reminded of The Doll fromBloodborneor Emma fromSekiro: Shadows Die Twice.Elden Ring’s director did discuss Godfrey, another previously-unknown character, in some detail recently, and similar elaboration regarding this new tweet may be forthcoming.
Indeed, some on theElden Ringsubreddit believe that this character is either Melina or someone closely related to her.In the exclusive and coveted network test, Melina could be encountered after discovering three sites of grace, and she more or less took the place of the aforementioned characters from previous games. Both women are noticeably pale and shrouded in some type of hooded robe, but, without additional information, it’s impossible to confirm if this is the character seen in the new tweet.
The vaguely threatening message included with the image seems to be incongruous with what’s known about Melina’s character, however. Attempting to collaborate or form some sort of important relationship with the player character in-game, were Melina to have a history of granting great champions a “final embrace,” From Software probably wouldn’t let that info slip in a pre-release tweet. Still, Soulsborne lore is notoriously difficult to decipher—thoughElden Ringmay improve its digestibility—so there’s no use in putting much stock in the included message until fans know Ring’s world and inhabitants.
Elden Ringis set to release on February 25 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
