The Elder Scrolls 6: Sentinel Teaser Sparks Timeline Debate with In-Universe Quote

Teaser Sparks Speculation

This week's tease for The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel didn’t give us much to work with. Eight years since the last mention of the game, and all we got was a CGI sand dune. But that hasn’t stopped fans speculating about what it all means.

Most of the speculation is centred around the quote that ends the teaser trailer. “The scroll offered only a shimmer, a veil lifted thinly to my eyes,” it said. “A future lost. A victory undone. Sands of time scattered by fate.”

The quote was attributed to Yazar, Moth Priest of High Queen Irande of Hammerfell, where Sentinel is likely set. The year? 4E 206.

The 4E 206 Timeline Theory

While this is clearly the year the quote was recorded, fans are wondering if that’s also when the game will be set. If so, it would mean Sentinel takes place just five years after the events of Skyrim, which in turn would mean the Dragonborn’s achievements would be fresh in the memory of people across Tamriel.

"Most of the issues present in Cyrodiil as of Skyrim (like the encroachment of the Aldmeri Dominion) likely still apply," redditor HowdyHangman77 suggested. "We’ll likely find out from some obscure book or one-off dialogue what happened with the Stormcloak Rebellion (given the Empire’s waning power across Cyrodiil, I suspect it succeeded, but who knows)."

“This quote being 4E 206 doesn't mean the game will take place around then, but it's possible,” said Inner-Chance. “If that is when it takes place, the Dragonborn will likely be in Skyrim during the events of Sentinel. We would probably see dragons coming over the border and the civil war would almost certainly not have a victor yet. What else would this mean for Sentinel if this is the timeline of the game?”

Dragons were one of the standout features of Skyrim — seeing them flying overhead, attacking villages and towns in unscripted ways. Those are some of the best emergent moments in TES history, so you can imagine Bethesda wanting to build upon those systems as well as riding on the popularity of Skyrim, the studio’s most-played game.

Hammerfell's Geopolitical Landscape

Hammerfell is a huge area that borders Skyrim, Cyrodil and High Rock. Dragons don’t care about borders. A five-year jump from Skyrim leaves the outcome of Skyrim's civil war and regional political tensions intentionally ambiguous. In the Fourth Era, Hammerfell transformed from a fractured Imperial province into an independent, sovereign nation.

The Thalmor, an Elven supremacist political faction and extremist paramilitary force of the Aldmeri Dominion, were promised a large chunk of Hammerfell by Emperor Titus Mede II in 4E 175 in an attempt to end The Great Warm which saw the elven armies launch a surprise attack on southern Hammerfell in 4E 171, overwhelming the Imperial Legions and forcing a retreat across the desert. The Redguards saw this peace offering as a betrayal and refused to hand over their lands. As a result, Hammerfell was renounced and became a sovereign nation.

By the time of the Dragon Crisis in Skyrim, Hammerfell exists as a battle-hardened republic. While a deep bitterness remains toward the Imperial throne for abandoning them, the indigenous Redguards maintain active trade and diplomatic ties with individual provinces like High Rock. Sentinel could see the Thalmor march north once more as dragons raid from the east. It’d make for an interesting geopolitical setup for an Elder Scrolls game.

Alternative Timeline Theories

Countering this speculation though is the suggestion that Sentinel could be set decades or even hundreds of years after Skyrim, and the quote we see in the teaser is nothing more than a snippet from a lore book detailing ancient history, or a prophecy only now coming to pass in the distant future.

"All we know is that the game is set AT LEAST 5 years after Skyrim, it very well could be 20, 50, or 100 years after," one fan said. "5 years after the events of Skyrim, a Moth Priest had a prediction about the future, glimpsed in an Elder Scroll. How far into the future, we just don't know," suggested another.

It's worth remembering that Skyrim takes place 200 years after Oblivion. Will Bethesda jump forward centuries, as it has done before, for Sentinel? Last month, The Verge reported that Sentinel will dive into the history of the Elder Scrolls themselves, allowing players to discover their secrets firsthand for the first time.

We've got plenty more on The Elder Scrolls 6: Sentinel in the wake of Bethesda's announcement, including word that it is reportedly still at least two years away from launch, and an in-depth explanation of what Sentinel means.