In the first few minutes of Bloodborne, we get treated to a brief cutscene featuring a character we don’t get to see again for the rest of the game. The NPC in question explains how blood ministration can solve all of our problems and asks for a few details to draw up a contract. After creating our character, the cutscene resumes, but we never find out who they were. Noted community modder Lance McDonald has not only found an earlier version of this opening, they also managed to get the NPC to respawn. According to their findings, his name is the Blood Minister, and he played a bigger role earlier in the game’s development. First, the cut dialogue elaborates on our character’s outsider nature. Supposedly, the protagonist came to Yharnam from a plagued land, and their only hope to cure their sickness is through blood ministration, though not Paleblood as the final version of the cutscene goes.
There’s also a different version of the same encounter with less dialogue, and no mention of the protagonist’s homeland. More interestingly, the game originally allowed players to speak to the NPC again after the process is concluded. This one is responsible for the more revealing dialogue. In it, the Blood Minister ends the conversation by saying, “Until the dank sweet mud takes us all… upon the awakening of Ebrietas.” Bloodborne fans will know that Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos is a Great One, and one of the game’s bosses. This encounter could indicate that Ebrietas had a larger/different role to play in the game’s story. If you decide to kill the Blood Minister, he utters one final line that makes mention of the dream/nightmare nature of the game’s setting, which is one aspect only specific characters are aware of in the story. You can watch the full video above. If you like what you see, McDonald has uncovered similar secrets in Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice before. Their work also extends to another mystery-filled game: P.T. Silent Hills, which we spoke to him about last year.
