‘Elden Ring’ dataminer uncovers deleted quest and a dark secret about Godrick the Grafted

Hidetaka Miyazaki’s games are always packed to the brim with hidden quests, items, and Easter Eggs for those of us inclined to scour every inch of these grimdark fantasy worlds. Though in the case of Elden Ring, most of these secret gems so far have involved content cut from the final game due to insufficient development time or other creative reasons that fall in the same vein.

Now, according to the dataminer whose clip about why there’s a random poisonous wall in the game recently went viral, there’s a deleted questline in Elden Ring titled “Coronation,” which ends with the Tarnished protagonist choosing a ruler for Limgrave after killing Godrick the Grafted, the Lord of Stormveil Castle. You can check out the video below.

It appears that in the original version, players would get another item after defeating Godrick called Godrick’s Crown. From there, you could choose three potential rulers for Limgrave between Kenneth Haight (who already lays claim to the title the first time you meet him), Nepheli Loux (the adoptive daughter of Gideon Ofnir), and Gostoc, the gatekeeper who advises you against taking the main path into Stormveil.

Interestingly enough, Gostoc — later seen stomping Godrick’s head after you kill him — has a deleted line wherein he claims to be the tyrant’s natural son and heir.

Godrick is one of the first main bosses that players will come across after beginning their journey in Limgrave. The self-proclaimed golden lord is a demi-god, which means that killing him will not only earn you a Great Rune but also help you progress through the main storyline since the Tarnished requires two of those to access Leyndell, Royal Capital.