Summary
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreehas expanded on the Living Jar lore, revealing that the insides of these unusual creatures are much more terrifying than their outsides. While this discovery can be made fairly early on into the expansion, manyElden Ringplayers might have missed it because it’s somewhat hidden.
Living Jars have been prominently featured throughout FromSoftware’s 2022 soulslike, to the point that they even have a settlement in the form ofElden Ring’s Jarburg. Aside from enemies, some of these creatures also serve as friendly NPCs. But the base game has revealed fairly little about them, in FromSoftware’s typically cryptic fashion.
Elden Ring’s Living Jars Stem From Terrifying Experiments
Shadow of the Erdtreeexpands onthe lore ofElden Ring’s Living Jarsquite substantially, offering players a glimpse of how these unusual creatures came to be. Specifically, the Belurat Gaol prison area beneath the Blurat Tower Settlement dungeon contains a wide assortment of these jars, some more living than others. Exploring this underground location also yields a revelation that these creatures were once humans, who were essentially dissolved in jars as part of some utterly terrifying experiments. That process turned them into semi-amorphous blobs with limbs, some of which can be encountered in the Belurat Gaol outside their containers.
As if that wasn’t already clear enough from this very revelation, one ghost NPC found in the prison area spells out that they were forced into the jar, presumably as some sort of wicked punishment. But not everyone is convinced that this is how all Living Jars, such asElden Ring’s Iron Fist Alexander, were made. Instead, some fans have argued that these horrific experiments may have simply been unsuccessful attempts at recreating the Living Jars seen throughout the Lands Between, which never made their way outside the Land of Shadow.
Those wanting to investigate this lore using primary sources can find Belurat Gaol to the east of the Belurat Town Settlement dungeon, with its entrance being located at a spot where the castle’s walls run parallel to the nearby lake. The Abandoned Ailing Village north of the Gravesite Plain is the Site of Grace that’s closest to this spot. The location itself is reachable early on during the DLC.
Like all of the game’s other dungeons, the Belurat Gaol houses a boss fight, which might be fairly challenging for players at low Scadutree Blessing levels. Aside from expanding on the lore behind Living Jars, this location alsohousesElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree’s Greatjar Helmet, an oversized jar that might be FromSoftware’s homage to Let Me Solo Her, a player famous for helping thousands of Tarnished beat Malenia.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
WHERE TO PLAY
Shadow of the Erdtree is the first and only DLC expansion for FromSoftware’s groundbreaking Elden Ring. It takes players to a whole new region, the Land of Shadow, where a new story awaits the Tarnished.
