Elden Ring Players Debate Whether Drake Talisman Dragon Is Actually A Map

Elden Ring offers a world deeply rooted in lore that can only be pieced together by collecting items and reading their description. However, sometimes, players can read a bit too far into the game’s visuals and see a meaning that isn’t really there, as is the case with a recent debate surrounding the Drake Talismans.

Drake Talisman: Is It A Dragon or a Map?

The debate began on June 1, 2024, after Reddit user chrysamere shared a theory that the Drake Talismans, the ones that offer protection from various elements, are decorated with a map of the pre-Erdtree map. They even showed a picture of the talisman and drew comparisons to the post-Pangea Lands Between.

Chrysamere even explained how each area could have formed into what it is today after the Erdtree grew. However, it does take a bit of imagination to see the picture of the history they tried to paint.

However, this Drake Map Theory was quickly refuted by user erickr199, who made a post of their own breaking down why the symbol on the Talisman is actually a dragon. The post showed all of the talismans side by side, including the Dragoncrest Talisman, which is clearly adorned with a dragon.

The item description also claims that “The shape of the dragon has become symbolic of all manner of protections,” further proving that the image is a dragon. When compared to the Dragoncrest talisman, it’s easy to see that the colorful blobs are slightly marred silhouettes of the same dragon.

Of course, this debate has made its way outside of these two posts, taking over the Elden Ring subreddit. And thanks to the timing of this glorious debacle, it only made sense that the feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake would also be involved. There are countless memes of Drake’s face or album artwork being plastered on the Talisman. Several other users have also “found maps” in other Talisman’s and bosses, poking fun at the original post.

That said, the dragon on the Drake Talisman’s does look a bit odd. And since we haven’t seen the map for the Realm of Shadow coming to Elden Ring once the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC drops, we could have been looking at the new map all along.