FromSoftware is well known for adding seemingly useless items or places to its games to make fans speculate about the lore, and the Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree is no different.
But there’s one place in particular that has taken fans by surprise: the Scadutree Chalice.
This is a named location found after beating a certain boss, but it seems to serve no purpose. What could it be? Spoilers ahead.
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The Scadutree Chalice is found in an area behind the Shadow Keep. Players will have to defeat Commander Gaius first – he’s the armored pig-riding boss that reminds me a bit of that orc in Twilight Princess.
Players can then wander into a new area that leads to an archway and a cliff overlooking the Scadutree dominating the skyline. Here players will find a large unlit stone cup with five fragments scattered around it.
Now, on a basic level, those shards are incredibly useful as they are used to level up the player’s Shadow Blessing. But finding five in one place? This is definitely unusual.
So what is it about? My first thought was that this would be the place to use Messmer’s Kindling, but I quickly found a use for this elsewhere.
My loose theory is that the cup is related to Scadutree fragments. This is obvious given the name and the fact that it overlooks the tree. But is this where fragments form or their power is distilled? Or were fragments used here in some kind of ritual, which is why so many are scattered around?
The item description for the shards reads: “A shard of Scadutree containing a golden glow…It is said that when the Scadutree crumbles from its core, it will be scattered throughout the shadow realm. The people of Erdtree collect the shards and use them in prayer.” Is that prayer only in Sites of Grace, or this cup too?
Eurogamer’s Katharine Castle has also been investigating, testing out multiple poses or wearing Gaius’ armor, considering that nearby Albinauric knocks down windows. But so far, all to no avail.
Players on reddit have also speculated, following a post by XSidsgothemX. They suggest it may be related to the Albinaurics, i.e. the hut nearby, perhaps hinting at how they are made, or that their blood is wanted?
“There’s no way it’s useless. I’m hoping there’s a secret quest we haven’t discovered that allows interaction with Scadutree,” reads one reply.
Others have tried to light the cup with different vessels, but without effect.
Another user, Rockerode, suggests that the cup can also be connected to the Press Tower – this is found in the first area, but serves no purpose beyond placing a chest. “I think between the Scadutree cup, the press tower, and the trailer showing a scene none of us have unlocked, something is going on here,” they propose, perhaps tying it to some sort of quest to perform a ritual and cleared Scadutree. Is there a secret ending still to be found somewhere?
Or maybe, just maybe, the cup has no purpose beyond these five fragments. And this, of course, is reward enough.
Do you have any theories as to what the Scadutree cup is for or represents?
Scadutree Fragments are an integral part of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC as the primary method of character progression. Earlier today, a new patch was released for the game which rebalances the scaling of their Blessings.