Elden Ring Nightreignhas long been known to take place in a parallel world toElden Ring, but it’s unclear exactly how deep the two realms' connections go. Both clearly feature the eponymous Elden Ring, and thevarious Roundtable Holdsindicate that there are spatial similarities beyond Limveld’s passing resemblance to Limgrave, but there has yet to be any concrete evidence of a shared timeline. There is, however, a minute detail in one ofNightreign’s trailers that confirms some very important events fromElden Ringalso took place in its continuity.
The co-op roguelite action game is not only a bold departure fromElden Ring; it’s interesting new territory for FromSoftware’sSoulscatalog after the studio’s famed formula has been honed for over a decade following its establishment byDemon’s Souls.Nightreignis far outside of RPG territory, and it’s even taking liberties withhow FromSoftware is telling the story. But it does still haveElden Ringin the name, andthe most iconic landmark in the Lands Between has seemingly been confirmed as having existed inNightreign.
Elden Ring Nightreign Trailer Detail Suggests The Erdtree Existed In Limveld
Marika & The Golden Order Likely Ruled
Tucked between all the action inBandai Namco’s Executor Character Trailer (via YouTube),there’s a curious shot focused on the newly revealed character kneeling in front of what appears to be a painting of the Erdtree. The massive golden tree towers over a landscape reminiscent of Limgrave – in fact, the painting is very similar to early promotional images ofElden Ring, where Stormveil Castle and its crumbling viaducts can be seen in the foreground below the Erdtree’s branches.
While it’s not explicitly confirmed,this painting suggests the Erdtree existed at one point in Limveld, or at least stood over the land that would become Limveld before the Nightlords usurped power. This, in turn, likely means that Queen Marika the Eternal, the single most influential character inElden Ring’s mythos, rose to power at some point prior to the events ofNightreign, meaning the Golden Order probably preceded the bleak reality that the Night now commands.
While tree iconography abounds inElden Ring, the Erdtree is specifically associated with Marika, as she’s the one who created it to become the vessel of the Elden Ring. After Marika ascended to godhood, she cultivated the Erdtree during her wars of conquest in the Lands Between, before ultimately being imprisoned inside of it for shattering the Elden Ring.
Could The Nightlords Have Taken Over After The Shattering?
A Popular Theory Is Given Credence
Elden Ring Nightreign’s timeline placementremains elusive – if it can even be considered a connected branch ofElden Ring’s timeline at all – butthis seeming confirmation of the Erdtree’s existence at least provides some significant background informationto work with. A popular theory has been thatNightreigntakes place after the Shattering, the war that followed Marika’s destruction of the Elden Ring, with its outcome leading to the rise of the mysterious Nightlords.
The Erdtree’s absence from Limveld at the timeNightreigntakes place suggests this theory may be sound, or at the very least, an event similar to the Shattering transferred power away from Marika and the Golden Order to the Nightlords. As seen at the end of the Launch Trailer (also fromBandai Namco’s YouTube channel),the Elden Ring still exists, and can apparently manifest in the swirling, miasma-like sky above Limveld.
This could also imply thatNightreignis some sort of alternate epilogue toElden Ring, where someone claimed the title of Elden Lord and remade the world. However,it could also suggest that the events leading up toElden Ringnever transpired, and Marika was usurped before the Shattering, in which case the Golden Order would crumble and the Erdtree would likely disappear.
The Erdtree’s Disappearance Explains Some Things, But Also Raises More Questions
Were The Nightfarers Once Tarnished?
The Erdtree once existing in Limveld connects a few dots, mainly justifying why Sites of Grace are found throughoutNightreign’s shifting world, and similarly, whyNightreign’s Roundtable Hold appears to have a Table of Lost Grace. This all points to Marika’s Guiding Grace still being present in Limveld, but that only brings up more mysteries.Are the Nightfarers touched by Grace, and if so, does that mean they’re akin to Tarnished?
It’s also quite interesting that such imagery of Erdtree reverence would come from the Exectuor, who appears to have a strong connection to the Crucible. Their armor is similar to that of the Crucible Knights, andthe description of their character trailer mentions their “Primordial might.“Association with the Crucible doesn’t necessarily discount allegiance to the Golden Order (the Crucible Knights served under Godfrey, the First Elden Lord and Marika’s first king consort), but the Crucible is a notably separate entity from the Erdtree, having effectively been its precursor.
This also suggests thatNightreignshares a common past withElden Ring, and that the Golden Order came to rule over both timelines. There still isn’t a specific divergence point – if one exists – but it does imply that the mythology ofElden Ringremains largely intact in the history ofElden Ring Nightreign, and that the arrival of Night seems to be the single difference between the two.
