The Divine Beast Dancing Lion immediately stood out as an unusual design, even in the DLC trailers. Software has a long and fairly varied roster of bizarre boss concepts, but this one is easily among the most outlandish.
At the base of the spiral tower sits the town of Belurat, home of the Hornsent, the ancient people of the Land of Shadow. Within Hornsent culture, the growth of horns is seen as a sign of divinity and an evolutionary gift granted by the Crucible. Among those bearing horns, it seems the most revered are the Divine Beasts, horned lions seen as messengers of the heavens.
Entering the theatre of Belurat, the player can encounter one such creature, or at least, what seems to be one at first glance. On closer inspection, though, this beast, the Dancing Lion, is no beast but an elaborate puppet made from one. Inspired by the Asian tradition of the Lion Dance, this boss is two people piloting a costume together in tandem.
Removing the costume itself, we can see how the two dancers interact in their animations, moving in careful coordination. The lead dancer puppets the Divine Beast's head, moving its jaws manually as they leap and lunge through their attacks. In the back, the second dancer follows and supports the first, even standing as a platform for when the "lion" rears up.
These dancers, known as Sculpted Keepers, are said to excel at divine invocation, allowing them to channel the beast's power. During the fight, this manifests as an ability to command the weather, with the lion's roar calling wind, snow, and storm.
Looking at the dancers, each seems to wear a cloth covering their head, masking their appearance. It can be assumed the dancers are likely Hornsent themselves, but it's possible they could be elevated hornless servants, too.
Most of the Divine Beasts were evidently slain by Messmer's forces, speared and burnt away in his war on the Hornsent. However, there may be lasting traces of them elsewhere, which possibly even explains a small oddity in the Lands Between.
In the base game, these blade-wielding Lions can be found prowling certain areas, such as Stormveil and Redmane Castle. Little lore exists for these beasts; however, one detail stands out now more than ever: the tangled horns crowning their mane. Given the new context with the DLC, this may imply they're related to the Divine Beasts or even living examples of them.
While not as grandiose as the storm-calling Lion Dance, some Lions do even have similar abilities to this freezing breath. Most interestingly, though, these lions, labeled in their AI as "OldLion OfArena", were originally meant for the colosseums. There are even dummied-out spawns in Leyndell for a Duelist and a lion to appear here, opposite each other in the fight pit.
And with what we know now, this matchup feels much more significant, with a horned lion facing a snake-adorned warrior. If these are divine beasts, the Homnsent's most sacred figures have been reduced to mere watchdogs and fodder for sport. While this is a cruel insult, the Hornsent aren't blameless, and cruelty is only circling back on them like their beloved spiral.
According to Miyazaki, Messmer's existence and the history of the Land of Shadow was written before development on the base game even started. However, they are still building off GRRM's writings. The idea the Colosseums may once have foreshadowed the backstory of the DLC is both entirely possible and somewhat staggering to think about. Then it's even more bizarre that they removed that little hint anyway.
(All of the above content and images are sourced from Zullie the Witch’s YouTube.)
