Bethesda has revealed the title of its next role-playing game as The Elder Scrolls 6: Sentinel, eight years after first announcing the project. The studio has not shown gameplay, leaving the subtitle and a short piece of accompanying lore to fuel discussion about the setting and its connection to Skyrim.
The game’s title points to Sentinel, a major city in Hammerfell, the Redguard homeland. A quote attributed to Yazar, a Moth Priest serving Hammerfell’s High Queen Iradne, refers to a vision of a lost future and an undone victory. The passage is dated to 4E 206, placing the story five years after the events of Skyrim.
Sentinel is already familiar to players of The Elder Scrolls Online, where its explorable areas include docks, a Redguard training ground, a royal palace, a marketplace and sewers. Its position on the coast has also made the city an important trading center in Tamriel.
The timeline may put Hammerfell’s independence and security at the heart of the new story. The region was unified by the time Skyrim takes place, after northern and southern areas had been divided for centuries. That unity was intended in part to protect Sentinel from an Elven incursion that sought to exploit the wider turmoil.
Skyrim also leaves potential threads for a sequel. The assassination of Emperor Titus Mede II during a Dark Brotherhood quest creates uncertainty for the Empire, while the Saadia storyline raises the possibility that Elves have already penetrated Sentinel’s political circles. Saadia says she is being pursued for speaking against them, but the player can uncover that she betrayed the Redguards to assist them.
The trailer’s quote does not explain what course Iradne is considering, but its language suggests a ruler seeking guidance amid uncertainty. With no gameplay footage yet, the meaning of Sentinel and its place in the story remain open questions.
Sources: Polygon.