It's only been a little over a year since Elden Ring was launched, and already much of it is burned into my brain: the first time I saw Rimgrave is an iconic moment in gaming, just like the first time I left the sewers in Oblivion to greet Cyrodil, but at some point in its development then it was not Rimgrave, but apparently "Tenebrae."

Dataminer Sekiro Dubi's latest video focuses on an ongoing vision of Rimgrave suggested by files left over from the development of Elden Ring, in which familiar characters like Nepheli and Blaidd are replaced by newcomers and characters drawn from other parts of the game. The video stars Gilbert, a hybrid of Bloody Finger Hunter Yura and Witch Hunter Jelen from the finished game.

Sekiro Dubi's examination of the Elden Ring files revealed that the skeleton of Gilbert's quest line survives. According to their calculations, Gilbert appears to have been cut before Elden Ring's network test in late 2021. Gilbert shares Witch Hunter Jelen's set of weapons and eccentric armor, but has voice lines recorded by Yula actors, and his scripts have been hanging out at Yula's location since the finished game.

Gilbert is a servant of the "God of Vengeance" and was supposed to team up with you to fight the final game boss, Crucible Knight Ordovis. Gilbert would then become a summoner to fight Godric along with Vikey, the endgame boss and depicted in the box art of the Elden Ring. Gilbert also attacked as an invader when he killed a member of the traveling merchant trio.

Following Gilbert, "Sekiro Dubi" touches in various ways on how the rimgrave changed over the course of its development! In the real world, "Tenebrae" is a Christian religious ceremony leading up to Easter Sunday; Sekiro Dubi also shows how the Stormhill Shack once served as a minor hub for familiar NPCs like Roderika as well, NPCs that have been significantly relocated like Hewg, and in earlier work by dataminer Lance McDonald, the dreamy monk Jiko was also located there.

Gilbert's quest was apparently planned to extend beyond Rimgrave, as he shares General Radahn's affinity for the lookalike Jelen and mentions hunting down Marenia in the cut dialogue. It remains to be seen if any remnants of such a later phase remain in the game's files. It would be interesting to see From Software replace, re-contextualize, and even completely scrap the NPCs. I also like the surrealism of familiar characters behaving in unfamiliar ways. Aside from Calle's phenomenal cut-quest line, which Sekiro Dubi previously discussed in another video, I am quite pleased with the Elden ring we got.