If you’re winding through the twisting threads of Miquella’s followers’ quests in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, you’ll eventually reach a point when Leda turns to you for advice. Should she go after Thiollier, The Hornsent, or should you just remain impartial.
Upfront: it doesn’t matter. Not at this juncture, anyway. You’ll be pushed onto the final decision regardless of what you choose. If you take no action, she’ll reach a decision on her own. As such, choose either target and you’ll learn who the game intended you to choose.
This conversation happens after the great rune breaks and Miquella’s influence over her followers wanes. As was mentioned in an earlier conversation, they each have conflicting goals and, without their mutual love of Miquella, are at each other’s throats. Toward the end of your interactions, she’ll ask the question, should she target Thiollier or Hornsent
- Suggest Thiollier: Straight up, Leda will disagree. She’ll consider your suggestion for a moment before arriving at the conclusion that Thiollier doesn’t pose a threat. She’ll then ask you to reconsider your suggestion, which removes Thiollier from the responses.
- Suggest the Hornsent: Leda will consider your words, then decide she needs time to consider harder. She asks that you return to her later. In this case, “later” just means that you should rest at a Site of Grace. Once you return, her mind is made up, and she’ll go after The Hornsent.
- Make no suggestion: This will just end the conversation. However, if you don’t return to make a suggestion (the one she wants), then she’ll still go after the Hornsent.
The repercussions of this conversation aren’t completely solid. You haven’t doomed Hornsent. When you get to the Main Gate of Shadow Keep, you can find summon signs for Hornsent and Leda. Choosing one will lock you in a fight against the other.
If you summon Leda here, Hornsent will be eliminated, which will end his questline and you’ll be awarded with the Lacerating Crossed-Tree Talisman. If you summon Hornsent, Leda will fight you, and he’ll be an available summon when fighting Messmer (the sign appears in the arena).
You can also choose to summon neither and just continue on. Nothing will happen and Leda will eventually just stop her pursuit, allowing you to continue on both questlines. So, really, who you summon at the Main Gate is the actual difficult choice. However, in the conversation with Leda, your only choice is Hornsent.
