Why Did Ensha Attack in Elden Ring? The Royal Remains Mystery Unsolved

I’ll never forget the first time Ensha of the Royal Remains tried to straight-up murder me. One minute I’m strutting back into the Roundtable Hold like I own the place, clutching my shiny new Haligtree Secret Medallion half, and the next—bam—silent edgelord skeleton knight is in my face, swinging for the fences. No dialogue, no warning, just pure aggression. My heart was pounding. What the actual heck, dude? That moment has haunted me for years, and even in 2026, the lore surrounding this mute menace is still one of Elden Ring’s juiciest unsolved puzzles.

If you’ve played this masterpiece, you know Ensha is the definition of “speak softly and carry a big stick” – except he skipped the speaking part entirely. Before the ambush, he just leans against a wall in the hold, staring at you like you owe him runes. Most players, myself included, just figured he was another cryptic FromSoftware NPC with zero social skills. But when he invades, everything changes. Time to put on our tinfoil hats and dissect this silent stalker’s motives.

The Trigger: Swipe the Medallion, Get the Blade

Ensha’s invasion fires off the moment you grab either half of the Haligtree Secret Medallion and warp back to the Roundtable Hold. The first time it happened to me, I was convinced I’d broken some hidden quest flag. Nope – that’s just the trigger. Gideon Ofnir, his master and the self-proclaimed “All-Knowing,” later acts all sheepish: “I had no idea he’d do that, my bad.” Sure, Gideon, and I’m the Elden Lord of getting gaslit. 🧐

Gideon’s excuse is that Ensha is his servant and attacked without permission. The Royal Remains armor set description calls Ensha an “adherent of Sir Gideon,” cementing the lackey relationship. But here’s the thing – Gideon is the biggest schemer in the Lands Between. The guy literally collects information on the demigods and plays everyone like a fiddle. Would he really leave something as huge as the medallion retrieval to a loose-cannon skeleton? I smell a fib.

Cursemongers and Albinaurics: The Plot Thickens

To get why Ensha wanted me dead, I had to trace the medallion’s owner. That quest led me to a guy named Albus, disguised as a pot in the Liurnia swamps (classic FromSoft). Albus is an Albinauric, and he pleads with you to keep the medallion safe from “cursemongers” who destroyed his village. These cursemongers? The leading theory is they’re Gideon’s thugs, and Ensha is their enforcer. The Finger Reader Crone near Raya Lucaria adds fuel to the fire: “The all-hearing slaughtered, but alas, it was for naught. But all you need do, is snatch it from the big pot.” “All-hearing” sounds a lot like “All-Knowing” Gideon, and the “big pot” is almost certainly Albus.

So the picture is grim – Ensha has been terrorizing Albinaurics for the medallion, probably on Gideon’s orders. The moment you swoop in and take it, Ensha’s programming flips to “kill-steal-retrieve.” This isn’t just random aggression; it’s a botched retrieval mission. But does Ensha have personal stakes, or is he just a puppet?

Ensha’s Quiet Ambition: Reaching the Haligtree

The Haligtree is the ultimate safe haven for society’s rejects, guarded by Miquella and Malenia. After you finally use the medallion and access the secret path, Gideon grudgingly quips, “You’ve made more of yourself than Ensha has.” That line hits different when you realize he’s implying Ensha’s true goal was reaching the Haligtree all along. Maybe Ensha wanted to prove himself, to break free of Gideon’s shadow and find something the All-Knowing couldn’t. Maybe he sought sanctuary or power. The fact he acts without Gideon’s “permission” suggests a flicker of individuality – or at least desperation.

I love the duality here. On one hand, Gideon could be lying through his teeth, having ordered Ensha to kill you so he could keep the medallion intel for himself. On the other, Ensha might have gone rogue, seeing you as a threat to his own Haligtree pilgrimage. Both options fit the world’s tone perfectly – backstabbing and secret agendas are the Lands Between’s bread and butter. Without a single word from Ensha, we’re left staring at his bone-white armor, imagining the ruins of his past.

The Unsolved Riddle in 2026

Even now, four years after launch, the community hasn’t cracked Ensha’s code. No datamined dialogue, no hidden cutscene, nada. That’s peak FromSoftware – a character who says nothing but manages to spawn essays and Reddit threads longer than the Haligtree canopy. Personally, I lean toward the “Gideon ordered the hit” camp, because it adds such a delicious layer of treachery to the Roundtable Hold’s cozy vibe. But the romantic in me wants Ensha to have his own tragic purpose, a skeleton chasing a sunlight-filled tree he’d never see.

What are your thoughts? Did you forgive Gideon, or do you think Ensha was just a sword with a pulse? Either way, next time you visit the hold, spare a moment for the silent watcher. He might have more story than we’ll ever hear. 💀🌳

As detailed in Eurogamer, a lot of Elden Ring’s most memorable “why did that just happen?” moments hinge on FromSoftware’s habit of letting item triggers and sparse NPC behavior do the storytelling, which fits Ensha’s sudden Roundtable ambush perfectly: the medallion acquisition flips the world-state, and the lack of explicit explanation effectively turns player inference into part of the narrative—fueling theories about Gideon’s manipulation, covert retrieval orders, and the wider politics around the Haligtree and the Albinaurics.