The deliberate vagueness of stories in games developed by From Software leaves many players confused about the worlds they spend so much time in. Even the main story beads that are painstakingly obvious and impossible to miss in other action games can be omitted by players with a tendency to skip NPC conversations and pay little attention to the items they pick up.

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Roundtable Hold is a crucial hub area in Elden Ring. It is one of the very few places where players can feel safe in the Lands Between. The Tarnished can upgrade their weapons and Spirit Ashes there, as well as heed the Two Fingers' advice as to what to do next in the game. The Hold also has a lot of significance to the history of the Lands Between and Elden Ring's lore in general.

5 The Current Roundtable Hold is Located in a Different Realm

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Once players get to Leyndell, the Royal Capital during their playthrough of Elden Ring, they can find a 1:1 replica of the Roundtable Hold inside the city. Many FromSoft fans theorized about the meaning of this, with Reddit theories ranging from it being simply a case of reused assets all the way to the Roundtable Hold hub area being located in some sort of spiritual realm.

Fan theories aside, the most significant clue as to what the Roundtable Hold copy may signify is the fact that it is completely empty. Unlike the Roundtable Hold hub area, there are no NPCs to speak to, and no grace in the middle of the Roundtable. The most likely explanation is that the original Roundtable Hold (the one in Leyndell) was destroyed by the Shattering and that the current version players can fast travel to is an exact copy placed in a different realm, created by Marika to maintain a safe haven for all Tarnished roaming the Lands Between.

4 Hewg and Alberich's Connection

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Hewg is probably one of the most beloved NPCs in Elden Ring. He is an essential character that improves players' armaments and can modify their Ashes of War. When asked about his past and reason for being shackled in the Roundtable Hold, he explains to the Tarnished protagonist that he is paying off a debt he accrued prior to the Shattering, and will not leave until it is paid in full.

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Alberich, on the other hand, is an NPC invader that players can fight after jumping off the balcony in Roundtable Hold. Upon discovering the old Roundtable Hold in Leyndell, players can find his corpse and armor set in the same place they fought him in the new Hold. The commonly accepted explanation for his invasion is that Alberich may still serve the destroyed Roundtable Hold and considers the current version to be an abomination that disparages its legacy.

3 It is Intrinsically Connected to the Golden Order

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The Golden Order is the "status quo" that prevailed in the Lands Between prior to the Elden Ring's Shattering. Brought about by the rule of Radagon and Marika, it can be understood in many ways, but its primary characteristic is the lack of True Death and the primacy of the Erdtree. Instead of dying, souls are transported to the roots of the Erdtree, continuing to support the order and strengthening the tree that towers over the world.

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The only inhabitants who do not return to the Erdtree's roots upon dying during the Golden Order are the Tarnished, who may never die and are forced to roam the Lands Between on their never-ending quest to restore the Elden Ring. The Roundtable Hold is a haven for all Tarnished to recover after battle, share knowledge, seek guidance from the Two Fingers, and improve their gear. As such, its main purpose is to preserve the Golden Order, which is only proven by the fact that it becomes derelict and abandoned after the burning of the Erdtree.

2 Bell Bearings Left After Burning the Erdtree

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This is something that many players miss out on during their first and subsequent playthroughs of Elden Ring, but can actually aid them quite a bit on their quest in the Lands Between. After burning the Erdtree, players will return to the hub area only to find out that the vast majority of NPCs have actually left Roundtable Hold (or died when the Erdtree was burned).

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Those who don't want to miss out on the items sold by some of these characters should carefully search through the area to find Bell Bearings that were dropped by the characters who disappeared. They can then be offered to the Twin Maiden Husks (who remained in the Hold, as one of the essential trader NPCs), allowing players to keep the option of purchasing items and spells previously sold by the inhabitants of the Roundtable Hold.

1 Intriguing Roundtable Hold Location Theory

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The following bit of lore is not yet confirmed by any in-game text or conversation but given the events that transpire in the middle-to-late game, it actually makes a lot of sense when it comes to explaining where exactly the new version of Roundtable Hold is located, as well as why burning the Erdtree had such a disastrous effect on Elden Ring's main hub area.

According to a theory that has gained quite a bit of traction on Reddit, Marika has actually placed a copy of the Roundtable Hold inside the Erdtree. Given that players can only access it through fast travel, the fact that the area becomes a ghost of its former self after the tree is set on fire, as well as its importance to the Golden Order, this theory actually makes a lot more sense than the surface-level explanation that the Hold is simply located in an alternate realm.

Elden Ring is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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