ESO and other main Elder Scrolls titles due to it being based in an open world full of other players, a stark departure from its staple of single-player adventures. The world also has to be set in a distinct time period to give players context and meaning to their choices and environment. The Elder Scrolls Online does this by incorporating the existing lore of the franchise and fleshing out its own additions to the timeline.
Given the looming release of the currently unnamed sixth Elder Scrolls game, players can find themselves scrambling to understand the context in which its story could likely be based. To do that, one might think it's imperative to know everything that has happened between the canonical ending of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, released in 2011, and the perceived starting point for Elder Scrolls 6. The answer to this is quite simple, however. Nothing has actually happened at all.
The very latest date that fans experience is the year of Alduin's defeat when the Dovahkiin saves the world in the finale of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Since then, the fate of Tamriel remains a mystery, and players are hoping the next game in the series will take them further along in the story. Naturally, this begs the question as to when The Elder Scrolls Online, released in 2014, actually takes place.
Where The Elder Scrolls Online Fits On The Timeline
Instead of taking the expected approach of forging ahead in time after Skyrim's release, Bethesda instead decided to take players back to long before the events of their first-ever Elder Scrolls title, that being Elder Scrolls: Arena. Arena takes place in 3E 389, and the events within every subsequent game happen after that time. Elder Scrolls Online, however, subverts this trend by acting as a kind of prequel, telling the story of a distant past.
Elder Scrolls Online's timeline starts back in Tamriel's Second Era, long before the Oblivion Crisis and even before the Septim Dynasty existed. The game takes place in the 582nd year, some three centuries before Talos, also known as Tiber Septim, united all of Tamriel under a single banner. Back then, the land was deeply divided, and thus vulnerable.
The Main Events Of ESO & Elder Scrolls Online: Imperial City
The simplest form of The Elder Scrolls Online is the base edition. This version contains, among many other features, the opening lore of the series, into which new players are introduced. It takes place in the Interregnum or the period of time between the Second and Third Empires. The story goes that during this chaotic time of political shift, Molag Bal, the Elder Scrolls' Daedric Prince of Domination, sought to conquer Tamriel by merging the mortal realm with Oblivion, a catastrophe that would spell doom for every living thing.
This dark scheme was centered upon the Imperial City, and first-time players will choose one of three factions to fight for while attempting to foil Molag Bal's plans and claim the capital as their own. These tenuous alliances are The Aldmeri Dominion, The Ebonheart Pact, and the Daggerfall Covenant, each vying for their right to rule the continent. While the Three Banner War between these factions is ever-present as an excuse for players to engage in Elder Scrolls Online player vs player content, other conflicts are canonically resolved in quick succession.
Culminating in The Elder Scrolls Online: Imperial City, Molag Bal was defeated and his plan to enact the Planemeld, as it is known, was soundly foiled. The Dark Anchors tethering Coldharbour to Tamriel were broken, and the link between the realms was forever severed. The player also helps the Fighters Guild destroy an ancient Daedric relic known as The Mortuum Vivicus. This was an ancient spell created by Molag Bal that fed upon the souls of thousands of mortals and had it been unleashed, all of Tamriel would have been destroyed.
Elder Scrolls Online Lore - Morrowind, Clockwork City, & Summerset
Morrowind, the first Elder Scrolls Online expansion, leads into the story of Clockwork City, the following chapter in the game's lore. The story follows the player through the land of Vvardenfell, aiming to assist Vivec in restoring his godly powers. A much grander plot is uncovered, however, as the player realizes they've been tricked by the Daedric Prince of Madness, Clavicus Vile, who the Dragonborn encounters in Skyrim.
Vile and his dog, Barbas, set these events in motion so they could learn the location of the Clockwork City and enact the next stage of their master plan. The Elder Scrolls Online: Clockwork City, takes the player on a journey where they discover that Clavicus is not working alone. He has allied with Nocturnal, Daedric Prince of Darkness, and Mephala, Mother of Dark Secrets.
Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset takes place in the Altmer homeland, where of the Psijic Order can be found in their own home of Artaeum. Eventually, players discover that the ultimate goal of these three arguably underrated Daedric Princes is the Heart of Transparent Law, which is situated at the crown of the multi-dimensional Crystal Tower. Nocturnal, however, decides that she wants this power for herself and betrays Vile and Mephala, a move that would lead to her swift downfall at the hands of the player. Order is restored, bringing an end to the Daedric War storyline.
Season Of The Dragon - Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr & Dragonhold
After a series of careless actions on the part of the Battlemage Abnur Tharn, an artifact known as the Wrathstone unleashes a terrifying trio of dragons that had long been locked away. Along with Tharn and Khamira, the Khajiit Queen, the player must prevent the dragons from siphoning all the mystical energy from one of Nirn's moons, also seen in Skyrim. Khamira managed to stop the feast by using the essence of her royal bloodline, but it's up to the player to defeat the trio of dragons.
Kaalgrontiid, the leader of these dragons, survives the ordeal and learns of a new way to gain power. In Dragonhold, he wants to become a celestial body himself this time, and the player takes the same team of Tharn and Khimera to stop him. They eventually managed to kill the dragon, but all the Magicka that Kaalgrontiid had sucked up was suddenly released, causing an explosion that would have devastated the entire continent. Instead of allowing this to happen, Tharn sacrificed himself, containing the blast and saving everyone else in the process.
Dark Heart Of Skyrim - Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor & Markarth
The Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor takes place in Western Skyrim, where the Nords are plagued by a supernatural army known as the Gray Host, led by a Breton vampire. The Gray Host have escaped their eternal torment in Coldharbour and the player must stop them from summoning even more monstrosities using Harrowstorms. High King Svargrim of Skyrim's Solitude covertly allied himself with the Gray Host, and when the city is threatened by a massive Harrowstorm, the player puts an end to his corrupt reign.
Markarth continues the story by establishing the Ashen Lord, Rada al-Saran, as the new target. His plan is to harvest the souls of The Reach in an effort to create a haven for his people where they cannot be killed. The leader of the Gray Host plans to do this through a timeless artifact called the Dark Heart, but the player does eventually succeed in ending his reign and saving all of Skyrim from an immortal army of vampires and werewolves.
The Gates of Oblivion - Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood
The most recent addition to Elder Scrolls Online is the Oblivion-themed Blackwood, an expansion that explores the cult following of Mehrunes Dagon and how they aimed to bring him into Nirn to wreak havoc, similar to Molag Bal's earlier goal. In order to do this, the Longhouse Emperors claimed four scattered weapons known as Ambitions to honor their pact with Mehrunes. While the culmination of this story is not yet known to Elder Scrolls Online players, it won't be long before they can forge ahead into the Deadlands and put a stop to Dagon before his inevitable return some eight centuries later for the Oblivion Crisis, as depicted in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.
Being a multiplayer RPG, The Elder Scrolls Online is routinely reinvigorated with new content, which can make keeping up with the lore a tricky endeavor. The game has been designed in a way that lets players decide which content they would like to adventure through, skipping any storylines they may find uninteresting and getting straight to the bits of gameplay they will enjoy most. While this is extremely beneficial in of The Elder Scrolls Online's gameplay, it can disrupt the flow of the lore and players might find themselves needing a guide to get them through the chronological events of the Second Era.
