Elden Ring’s final secret may have just been unearthed—and it was hidden in plain sight

We, the gamers, don’t often get games as filled with secrets as Elden Ring. And just as we thought we uncovered it all, Miyazaki said one little thing remained, but the keen-eyed Elden Lords may have just figured out the final piece of the Elden Ring puzzle.

Hidetaka Miyazaki, FromSoftware’s chief executive and the creative mastermind behind Elden Ring and other Souls titles, recently hinted at a potential “small element” lying still undiscovered. Naturally, this prompted a community-wide treasure hunt to unravel the final piece of the puzzle, and it appears they’ve finally done it. The secret was (drum roll…) a shield hidden behind a particular illusory wall, because of course it was, and it may contain what Miyazaki hinted at—though there’s still room for speculations. The discovery was made by Elden Ring player cudakid210, who posted on Reddit on Feb. 27.

The shield in question is the “Candletree Wooden Shield” bearing the crest of a faction we’ve only recently seen in the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer. “Thought to represent a surreptitious prophecy of cardinal sin, the lit candle-tree design was forbidden,” reads the shield’s item description. The item is found in the Sage’s Cave behind an illusory wall, which many may have already found, but never thought much of. Miyazaki, may you never change.

The leader of this new faction in the Lands of Shadow featured in the upcoming Elden Ring DLC, is, of course, Messmer the Impaler. The mysterious man, thought initially by some to be Miquella, is likely to be some “sinful” figure similar to Rykard and others (whose portraits also appear in the trailer), and his “cardinal sin” implies he is meant to be some Satan incarnate. The true scope of his misdeeds and what may have warranted the faction to be outlawed in the Lands Between remains to be seen on June 21, when Shadow of the Erdtree is geared to launch worldwide. Until then, I guess we have shields to get excited over.