What I think Shadows’ 2nd Expansion will be, based on what we know so far.

So I did some brief research (read: Wikipedia sleuthing) and I think I know what the 2nd DLC will be, including where, prominent characters, and possible PoE. This includes potential story spoilers based on information in the leaked art book, which I will hide behind spoiler tags.

This theory is based on a primary assumption that the 2nd DLC will take place in the Ise and Shima regions of Japan east of Iga. I believe this because the first DLC takes place in Awaji, an island to the south of the base game, which can be seen on the official map, greyed out, here. The other region greyed out and included on the map is comprised of the Ise and Shima regions.

Now when I first looked into this region as a whole, it didn’t seem to have much significance outside of fishing villages. Not very interesting for a DLC. But then I dug deeper specifically into Ise, and found the Ise Grand Shrine, which not only sounds like a perfect place to be an entrance to an underground Isu temple, but also happens to purportedly be the home of the Yata no Kagami, or Sacred Mirror, one of the Three Imperial Regalia of Japan. One of these other treasures, the Kusanagi Sword, could possibly be the Sword of Eden that was under the possession of Oda Nobunaga (assuming that part of the lore doesn’t get retconned). I think think the Yasakani no Magatama could be whats inside the box Naoe is shown protecting in the story trailer which we know gets stolen by the Templars thanks to the dialogue in the preview mission line. The leaked art book also mentions that the Templar Nuno Caro is personally searching for the 3 Regalia. So this leads me to believe that the Templars will orchestrate the attack on the Iga and the death of Nobunaga in order to get 2 of the 3 regalia, but will be assassinated by Naoe and Yasuke before finding the Mirror. This then perfectly sets up this 2nd expansion as a continuation of the story.

Furthermore, the Ise region is at this time under the control of the Kitabatake Clan, whose head is none of than Oda Nobunaga’s 2nd son, Oda Nobukatsu, who was adopted into the Kitabatake Clan and made their new head after their defeat by Oda Nobunaga.

TL;DR: So with ties to both Nobunaga and the Imperial Regalia, which feels like an obvious PoE for Shadows, and it’s presence on the map like Awaji for the first expansion, I’m certain the 2nd expansion will take us to the Ise and Shima regions to track down and protect the Mirror and possibly aid Oda Nobukatsu before the Templars can get their hands on it.

Also want to add that, while I hope it doesn’t in terms of overt fantasy, this will provide opportunity to explore Shinto through the lens of the Isu. I would hope it’s just an Isu Temple and artifact and not anything extra fantastical, but if they wanted to add in some elements like that, this would work for that as well.