TheElder Scrollsgames haven’t always been great at establishing change.The Elder Scrolls Online, for example, showed fans of the franchise that, even 1000 years prior to modern games, the political landscape of Tamriel and the technology used was more-or-less the same as in the later games. There are some good reasons to believe a change is coming inThe Elder Scrolls 6, however.
The 200-year jump fromObliviontoSkyrimestablished some of the biggest political changes in theElder Scrollsworld. The trend so far is setting upThe Elder Scrolls 6to abandon one of the long-running staples of the series, and many fans will be excited to see what this change has in store for the upcoming RPG.
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The Fall of the Empire
The Empire is the main political force in Tamriel throughoutThe Elder Scrollsgames. The first fourElder Scrollsgames take place within a forty year period towards the end of the Septim Dynasty.Tiber Septimwas the first Emperor of all of Tamriel and supposedly ascended to godhood after death to become Talos, though this is disputed by the elven theology of the Aldmeri Dominion.
Oblivionends with Martin Septim, the final heir to the dynasty, sacrificing himself to merge with the god Akatosh to destroyMehrunes Dagonin the Imperial City. After that, the Mede Dynasty takes over, and during the 200 year gap between the end ofOblivionand the beginning ofSkyrim, things have not boded well for the successor dynasty. The Medes have been involved in a devastating “Great War” with the Aldmeri Dominion, formed when the High Elves took advantage of the weakened empire to split off with an ethno-nationalist in-group at the helm.
The Great War sees the Empire lose control of the south of Hammerfell, as well as Valenwood and Elsweyr. The White-Gold Concordat is signed to bring an end to the war but at huge cost to the Empire. The deal banned the worship of Talos, outlawed the Blades, and allowed the Thalmor inquisitors to roam across Tamriel weeding out dissent. This in turn led to huge resentment from the human population of the Empire, withSkyrim’s Civil Waras the main example. DuringSkyrim,the Empire takes another huge hit when the Dark Brotherhood assassinates Emperor Titus Mede II.
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The Empire in TES6
Between the Dominion, in-fighting, and the assassination of the Emperor, it’s hard to imagine the Empire is in a stronger position inThe Elder Scrolls 6than it was inSkyrim. Bethesda seems to be setting up the fall of the Empire entirely, or at least its resignation to a minor faction in Tamriel to allow for more interesting exploration of a political landscape which was once dominated almost exclusively by one central government.
There have been rumors thatThe Elder Scrolls 6will at least partially be set in Hammerfell, as well as areas of theElder Scrolls' lost continent of Yokuda. Since the Empire had to give up governing Hammerfell during the events of the war it will be interesting to see which new factions arise to fill the place of the Empire in the face of the Aldmeri Dominion. Fans will have to wait until more news comes from Bethesda, but it does seem that more is changing theElder Scrollslore than has changed for most of the franchise’s history.
