Summary
The Elder Scrolls 6is finally out of pre-production and on to full development, though the game is still a few years away at least. It’s already been a long wait since Bethesda announced it in 2018 and even longer sinceSkyrimwas first released in late 2011. Given the massive gap in mainline releases, fans have had plenty of time to speculate aboutThe Elder Scrolls 6.
While evidence is scarce, fans seem confident that theElder Scrolls 6will take place primarily in Hammerfell,with High Rock also possibly appearing. Perhaps understandably, there has been less talk about potentialTES6DLC. However, Skyrim may offer some hint that the next game’s DLC could see a return to Cyrodiil.
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Why Cyrodiil Could Return in TES6
IgnoringHearthfireandOblivion’s premium content,Morrowind,Oblivion, andSkyrim’s narrative expansions all followed the same pattern. The first is smaller in scope and focuses on telling a story. These would beTribunal,Knights of the Nine, andDawnguard. The second is more extensive and adds a new open-world area that is physically separated from the main world map.Bloodmoon,Shivering Isles, andDragonbornhad main quests, but these expansions were mainly about immersing the player in a new setting.
Skyrim’sDragonbornexpansion took players back to the island of Solstheim, off the north coast of Skyrim and Morrowind. WhileBloodmoon’s version of Solstheim gaveMorrowindplayers a vacation in snowy Skyrim,DragonbornofferedSkyrimplayers a taste of Morrowind. It also demonstrated that Bethesda isn’t averse to revisiting an earlier game’s setting. This opens the door forThe Elder Scrolls 6’s DLC to take players back to Cyrodiil. That doesn’t mean it will happen, but it also wouldn’t be unprecedented within theElder Scrollsseries.
It’s also not as if nothing is happening in Cyrodiil. Most ofThe Elder Scroll’s Great War took place there, and Cyrodiil is where the Empire expects the Dominion to attack. If theThalmor play an important role inThe Elder Scrolls 6, it wouldn’t be surprising if hostilities erupted once more. There is also the matter of the Emperor’s succession, assuming his assassination in Skyrim is canon. Not to mention thatOblivionfans might be curious to see how Cyrodiil has changed over the last 200 years.
As for what part of Cyrodiil,The Imperial City and surrounding Imperial Isleseem like the most obvious locations for aTES6DLC.Obliviondidn’t have the technology to do it justice, andESO’s version is an active warzone. The potentialElder Scrolls 6DLC could finally represent the sprawling metropolis as it’s meant to be. It’s also the perfect place for a story about court intrigue, Thalmor espionage, or both.
That’s not to say that the Imperial Isle is the only choice. Bruma might be too similar toSkyrim, but most of Cyrodiil’s other counties would work for a DLC. Kvatch might be a fascinating choice since non-MMO players never go to see a non-destroyed version of it. Two hundred years is more than enough time to rebuild the city and exploring it might be a nostalgic experience forOblivionfans.Kvatch’s destruction inOblivionalso frees Bethesda to redesign the city however it wants.
A third option might be a trip toOblivion’s cut city of Sutch, references to which appear in multiple games. A somewhat popular fan theory suggests the town was destroyed at some point betweenESOandOblivion. However, that’s fanon rather than canon, so it might still appear in a future game. Sutch’s location just over Hammerfell’s southern border is also a very convenient placement ifThe Elder Scrolls 6takes place in that province.
