A video is circulating purporting to show off a datamined secret seventh ending to Elden Ring that hasn't been seen before — but as cool as the video is, it's sadly fake. [Update 4/1/2022: The creator has confirmed it was an April Fool's joke.]
Spoilers for the ending of Elden Ring follow — read at your own risk!
The video, posted by Elden Ring YouTuber Garden of Eyes conveniently around April Fool's Day, shows off the supposed "Age Absolute" ending. The first half of the video is the same as other endings, where the Tarnished restores Marika's severed head to her body. The differences begin as a five-fingered hand begins to appear in the background behind them as they do.
The scene then cuts to the throne room shown in other endings, but instead of the Tarnished sitting on the Elden Throne, the five-fingered hand is present, with the Tarnished appearing to worship it. The voice-over that plays is also the same as other endings, except for the final line: "The Age Absolute."
There actually is some precedent for people believing in an "Age Absolute" hidden ending. As Elden Ring dataminer ZullietheWitch tells IGN, among the other files for ending subtitles is a subtitle for "The Age Absolute," immediately following "The Age of Order" — which is one of the endings you can get through normal gameplay. However, Zullie believes this is an alternate reading of the same line, rather than a separate ending. Not only are there no text prompts or cutscene files for it in the game's files, but other ending subtitles apparently have similar alternate text versions that aren't used, so there's precedent.
Furthermore, Zullie says, the "Usher the Age Absolute" prompt shown in the video Garden posted doesn't actually exist in the game's files.
So how did this cutscene get put together then? Garden didn't respond to our request for comment in time, but from Zullie's background info and discussion in Garden's community Discord it's not too hard to piece together. The first half of the ending, with Marika, is exactly the same as other endings.
The giant, five-fingered hand doesn't appear anywhere in Elden Ring, sure, but it appears to just be an amalgamation of the models for the Two Fingers and the Three Fingers, both characters you can meet at different points in the actual game. The final shot of the Tarnished worshipping the five-fingered hand could easily just be a shot taken with a free camera of the Tarnished doing the Rapture gesture.
And the voiceover? That bit might be real. According to both Zullie and several members of Garden's Discord server, the voice line is from actual in-game data. But given its similarities to other lines, it's again likely just an alternate version of the Age of Order dialogue that wasn't used.
So sure, it's a fake, but it's a darn cool one to imagine, especially in a game where so much is still being discovered on a daily basis. And fortunately, there are still multiple other endings you can pursue with various obscure requirements and meanings - we have a guide to all of those right here.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.