Elden Ring's latest patch tried to sneak a big 'ole chair into a boss arena like we wouldn't notice and immediately ponder the lore implications
What does the chair mean? And why now?
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's latest patch seriously shook up the weapon meta and modified some of my favorite toys: Mr. Market is bullish on the Backhand Blades, Rakshasa's Great Katana, and Blind Spot ash of war, but if you're still holding on to your Swift Slash stock, you'll want to sell now. A curious change made it into the patch with no mention in the notes, however: A fine wooden throne was quietly added to Rellana's boss room, the Ensis Moongazing Grounds. What could it mean?
My theory is that this chair was always supposed to be here, but some bug or oversight led to it being absent for the first month or so after Shadow of the Erdtree's launch—see also the borked quests at Elden Ring's initial release that were fixed a month later.
The Ensis Moongazing Grounds pretty clearly correspond to the Royal Moongazing Grounds in the base game's Caria Manor, where you fight the ghost version of Royal Knight Loretta. The new Ensis chair has the exact same model as the ring of chairs in Caria as well. Now, I had the juicy thought that maybe the new Ensis chair corresponded to a gap in that ring, but no such luck—though some of the chairs are knocked over or displaced, none are missing.
So as far as lore-pondering derangement goes, I don't think there's a ton to the Ensis chair—just a pretty surface-level demonstration of Rellana's homesickness (a partial recreation of Caria Manor) and isolation (one chair versus many). The motif of lone or empty thrones does appear a few other times in Elden Ring: The ones in Morgott's throne room come to mind, but there's a very distinct parallel to Malenia and her boss room, where she's dreaming in a similar chair, waiting for Miquella's return.
And such is the hold Elden Ring has on my psyche at this point: A single post-launch bugfix has me pondering the fine hardwood furniture of the Lands Between. Still, I think we can all agree on one thing here: It's kinda weird that they just snuck this thing back in here without saying anything.