Elden Ring's Deleted Quest Line Changes Everything For Kale

Dataminers continue to have a field day with "Elden Ring," discovering just how much content was left on the cutting room floor despite how massive the game already is. People have found cut endings, extra dialogue, and more. People have even found a bizarre item that fans would've loved if it hadn't been cut from the game. There was even an entire gameplay mechanic that didn't make it in, despite being nearly complete. This next find expands the lore of "Elden Ring" and explains a mild inconsistency with the game's NPCs. Mild spoilers ahead.

Datamined by Sekiro Dubi and posted on his YouTube channel, the discovered content features Kale, the merchant players find at the very start of "Elden Ring." In the version released to the public, Kale stays put in the Church of Elleh in Limgrave, selling you items, and sending you in the direction of Blaidd. Despite the rest of the merchants not having names, Kale functioned in the exact same way as his counterparts, despite his named status implying there might be more to him. In the datamined content shown in the video, Kale's quest line would have not only explained the nature of the merchants, but lead you to one of the game's alternate endings.

While Sekiro Dubi's video goes through each step of the quest, following Kale as he moves from location to location, the narrative he tells is the most important part. Early on Kale would have explained to players about the merchants' status as outcasts and how they were all once part of the Grand Caravan. The Grand Caravan has since gone missing and Kale goes on a journey to find out what happened to it. The quest eventually leads Kale to the Subterranean Shunning Grounds, where the Three Fingers reside.

In "Elden Ring" this area is lined with corpses, along with a few living people, all of which appear to look like the merchants in the game. Some of the living people even play instruments similar to the merchants. In the cut content, Kale spells it out clearly. The Grand Caravan and the Three Fingers were buried alive under the city for worshiping the cursed Frenzied Flame. This means that all of Kale's people are dead. He curses the Golden Order and attempts to embrace the Frenzied Flame at the end of his quest. While this quest isn't necessary in the final game, since other quests will lead you to the Three Fingers, it does provide insight into the merchants in "Elden Ring."