A new, never-before-seen map file has revealed more secrets about content cut from the final version of Elden Ring.

Please note that what follows may be spoilery for some!

Notable dataminer Lance McDonald uploaded his discovery earlier today, revealing what he claims is a deleted scene of Miquella planting the Haligtree.

“This is a look at a never-before-seen map file where a cutscene was filmed for Elden Ring, which showed Miquella planting the Haligtree, as well as the process through which, during earlier development and testing, this cutscene was intended to have been played,” McDonald explained. “Finally, the similarly never-before-seen cutscene itself is shown.”

The idea of Miquella using his blood to nurture Haligtree isn’t new, exactly, as the flavour text describing Haligtree Knight Armour says: “Armour worn by knights sworn the Haligtree. Its left breast is emblazoned with the crest of the Haligtree. Though watered with Miquella’s own blood since it was a sapling, the Haligtree ultimately failed to grow into an Erdtree”.

Amazingly, though, McDonald has found a deleted cut-scene that pertains to this, including a “number of unused lines of spoken dialogue”, although he cautions that “without the intermediate cutscene file to connect these together, it’s difficult to know for sure which of these are intended for playback during this specific video”. He was, however, able to share the voice lines in what he believes is the right order.

You can watch the full video of McDonald’s discovery below:

Whereas there’s no doubt that developer FromSoftware scrapped the scene for a reason, as McDonald says, it shows how the game’s story and presentation changed during its development.

We slapped Elden Ring with an Essential 5/5 stars, writing in Eurogamer’s Elden Ring review: “Grandiose, mysterious, but now a touch more welcoming, Elden Ring tweaks the FromSoft formula to open up its world”.

Last month, The Forsaken Hollows’ unique tracks were finally released. You can find the full soundtrack on Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Line Music, and more. The full album runs slightly over 44 minutes versus Nightreign’s 2 hours and 24 minutes soundtrack.