Elden Ring has a wealth of content already. From its vast open world, which constantly misleads players about its actual size as it keeps expanding – both above and underground, to the sheer number of weapons, armour sets, skills, and even characters compared to FromSoftware’s past work.
But if you’ve been following the studio’s games over the years, you’ll know that it’s very common for the community to discover unfinished levels, various bits of cut content, and mechanics that didn’t quite fully form during development and were disabled as a result.
Just recently, a major quest and mechanic involving getting NPCs drunk to get to them to loosen their tongues were discovered, which sadly never made the final cut.
Today, courtesy of the all-knowing modder and regular purveyor of surprises from within FromSoftware games, Zullie the Witch, we get to learn about another quest that also didn’t end up being finished. The modder and YouTuber published a video showing that players may have been able to pick Limgrave/Stormveil Castle’s ruler to succeed Godrick the Grafted.
Godrick, of course, is the first Shardbearer Demigod boss Elden Ring players will run into. Beating Godrick nets players their first Great Rune – one of two required to reach the end of the game. Regardless of how crucial Godrick is to the game’s progression, he’s also the lord of Stormveil Castle – and practically all of the region of Limgrave.
But what happens once you’ve defeated him? Well, it turns out, Elden Ring would have let you choose who should take the crown and succeed him as the lord of Stormveil. Zullie the Witch uncovered a quest line and unused dialogue that appears to present three NPCs – Kenneth Haight, Nepheli Loux, and Gostoc – as potential heirs. You’d simply have to offer the crown to one of them.
The video, embedded above, also reveals a curious detail. Gostoc, the gatekeeper you meet upon arriving at Stormveil Castle, claims he’s Godrick’s son, and indeed asks you to give him the crown. If you ever returned to Godrick’s boss arena after defeating him, you may have noticed that Gostoc has moved there, cursing Godrick and stomping on his corpse.
In an earlier version of the game, Gostoc’s story didn’t end there, assuming you picked him as the heir. Zullie suggests that defeating Godrick once awarded players his crown as a key/quest item, which they could have used to advance this quest. It’s not clear whether your choice of heir would have had any real consequences, but it’s an interesting idea of player agency FromSoft apparently flirted with during development.
If you’re done with Elden Ring, why not start a New Game Plus journey and try using a different class than your first go around? If you’re still struggling with a particular major boss, our Elden Ring boss walkthrough offers the necessary tips to taking down all of the required bosses.
