Do not let Elden Ring Nightreign’s standing as a spin-off idiot you. It has loads of stuff to choose aside for lore fiends. Very similar to the towering Erdtree, Nightreign is only one department, one alternate timeline, with roots on this planet of Elden Ring. Nightreign brings its personal distinctive concepts and new characters to Elden Ring, even when the occasions of the sport don’t tie on to the unique. You’ll know what we imply once we begin exploring the ending of Nightreign beneath.
This text comprises spoilers for the ending of Elden Ring Nightreign.
Is Nightreign Canon?
Nightreign bends the historical past of The Lands Between in a distinct route, forking off from a pivotal second within the lore to provide us a peek at what would possibly’ve occurred if issues had gone a lot, a lot worse. It’s higher to consider the occasions of Nightreign as an alternate timeline somewhat than a canon storyline. You need not know every part about Elden Ring to get pleasure from it, however you do must spend fairly a little bit of time operating expeditions and combating Nightlords to get the complete image. When you do, you will begin to grasp how Nightreign suits (and would not match) into the story of the Lands Between.
Elden Ring Nightreign Ending Defined
Because the intro cutscene explains: Nightreign takes place in a world the place the Tarnished by no means present up. The conflict between the gods—often known as The Shattering—breaks out after Marika stirs chaos in The Lands Between by smashing the Elden Ring. 1000’s of years go and no person takes the throne, ultimately luring “an abomination” often known as the Nightlord to the land. This unnamed being is mainly a strolling pure catastrophe. Wherever he goes, the Night time follows, and an limitless torrent of rain slowly dissolves the world into nothing.
Depart it to FromSoftware to provide you with a good bleaker model of the timeline than what now we have within the unique sport. Right here, the Elden Throne is simply an empty chair sitting within the ruins of a world fading out of existence. There’s nothing to rule or to beat. And but a peculiar group of individuals have been chosen by some unknown grasp to try to defeat the Nightlord anyway and finish the Night time.
That is the place we are available. The Nightfarers group as much as seek out lesser Nightlords on their technique to the supply of the disaster. This includes dropping down onto what’s left of Limgrave and battling acquainted monsters and managers from not solely Elden Ring, however the Darkish Souls collection as effectively. Whereas the sport would not explicitly state why the worlds have converged, I like to consider it as the results of ruptures in actuality because the universe collapses in on itself.
When you convey sufficient of the Nightlords down, the true perpetrator is revealed to be the husk of a person named Heolstor. He carries what seems just like the Moonlight Greatsword from Darkish Souls in one in all his three arms, and is likely one of the most spectacular boss fights FromSoftware has ever created. Defeating him rewards you with the Primordial Nightlord’s Rune, which resembles the Nice Runes you discover in Elden Ring, solely with an inky hue.
Normally you come to see your allies hanging out within the Roundtable Maintain after defeating a Nightlord, however killing Heolstor leaves you standing in entrance of a Roundtable Maintain that has been lengthy deserted. A petrified corpse sits inside and while you place the rune earlier than it, it causes your Nightfarer to dissipate into streaks of sunshine that fly into the sky.
A post-credits scene exhibits the Lands Between as we all know it from Elden Ring—Erdtree and all—with golden leaves wafting within the air. A kind of leaves lands on a tree department atop an enormous that appears so much like Heolstor if he have been made out of wooden. It rises out of the ocean, pausing a second to face the Erdtree, after which steps away.
It is closely implied that by defeating Heolstor we have retroactively stopped the Night time from ever taking place within the first place. In different phrases: We have chopped off Nightreign’s department of the story for good, leaving the occasions of Elden Ring to play out as we all know them from the unique sport.
Who’s Heolstor and what occurs within the alternate endings?
We do not know so much about Heolstor outdoors of the relic you get from defeating him. It tells a short story of a knight who was slain by a hero earlier than mysteriously waking as much as curse the world. It is obscure sufficient to suit into a number of totally different interpretations, however essentially the most believable one appears to be that he’s deliberately a no person, a cosmic inevitability as pure because the solar setting within the night.
This traces up thematically with the alternate ending the Wylder can get in the event you end his remembrance quests. As a substitute of erasing the timeline, the Wylder takes up the mantle of Nightlord through the use of a Larval Tear, an merchandise from Elden Ring that’s related to rebirth. You study earlier in his quest that the Roundtable Maintain solely exists as a result of the Nightlord exists, and his sister, the Duchess, is locked to the identical destiny. He sacrifices himself to the Night time to maintain her alive.
In the Ironeye’s distinctive ending, he cuts the throat of the petrified corpse within the empty Roundtable Maintain and prolongs the Night time. His aim is to guard his clan of timeless warriors who you would possibly keep in mind from Elden Ring as These Who Reside in Loss of life. In Elden Ring’s timeline, These Who Reside in Loss of life are hunted by the followers of the Erdtree. The Ironeye’s choice saves them from this final result, however dooms the world in consequence.
The Recluse’s ending is the second most hopeful one you will get. Her remembrance reveals that she as soon as had a toddler who she deserted, leaving it to succumb to an limitless starvation and begin to devour every part in sight, together with her personal sister. After defeating Heolstor, the Recluse can discover the Night time-touched child within the Roundtable Maintain and embrace it. Her love calms the toddler and seemingly prevents a brand new Nightlord from forming.
The remaining Nightfarers haven’t got particular endings related to them. Their tales comply with the occasions of the default ending they usually probably disappear together with every part else when it is erased. However Nightreign’s story is not fully over: FromSoftware will ultimately launch new Nightfarers as DLC they usually may present much more perception into the character of this unhappy world— probably by way of their very own alternate endings.