Elder Scrolls Online has recently announced its new upcoming expansion, Gates of Oblivion. The cinematic trailer shows a returning character seeing a vision of the plane of Oblivion rules over by Mehrunes Dagon, Daedric Prince of Destruction.
The initial story of Elder Scrolls Online also dealt with a Daedric Prince and his plane of Oblivion, with Molag Bal and the realm of Cold Harbor attempting to invade Tamriel. Despite this, Elder Scrolls Online: Gates of Oblivion needs to answer one big question during the world reveal event.
The Return of Mehrunes Dagon
The global reveal event for Gates of Oblivion will take place on January 21 at 5PM on Bethesda’s Twitch channel. There’s one big question that the developers will have to answer, which they are very likely aware of as the biggest challenge selling Elder Scrolls Online’s new chapter to prospective players. The base plot of Elder Scrolls Online already risked feeling derivative when the game released back in 2014. The idea that a Daedric prince was launching an invasion of Tamriel had already been dealt with extensively in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, and as a villain, Molag Bal risked feeling like a reskinned Mehrunes Dagon due to the similarities of their roles if not their characters.
The huge challenge Elder Scrolls Online faces now is trying to portray Mehrunes Dagon and his realm, the Deadlands, without it feeling even more similar to the plot and aesthetics of Oblivion than the base game’s plot. It is well-established in the lore than Mehrunes Dagon has tried to conquer Tamriel multiple throughout history times due to his belief that it is a realm of Oblivion and rightfully his. However, not only is there the risk that Gates of Oblivion is not exploring new grounds, but even Oblivion struggled to make Mehrunes Dagon a compelling villain. He is, in both design and moral simplicity, essentially the classic devil incarnate.
Mehrunes Dagon is evil simply because he is evil and, unlike some of the other Daedric Princes, embodies a far more general and abstracted idea of evil. Even the aspects of evil which Mehrunes Dagon directly rules over, like ambition, revolution, and destruction, seem very closely based on the literary character of Satan in works like Paradise Lost. In other words, Mehrunes Dagon is already an extremely straightforward villain and was already a risk when Bethesda made him the main bad guy back in The Elder Scrolls 4. Zenimax Online Studios will now have to demonstrate that his return to the franchise is exciting, especially knowing that he will rise and be defeated once again at the end of the 3rd Era, long after the events of ESO.
Old Dagon, New Tricks
There is one aspect of the trailer which hints at a way Zenimax could breathe new life into Oblivion as a concept. The elf character seen in the trailer appears to be Eveli Sharp-Arrow, a character already seen in ESO’s Wrothgar. By exploring the way that Mehrunes Dagon is not just literally invading Tamriel, but potentially manipulating the hearts and minds of its people, Gates of Oblivion could portray a very different kind of invasion that takes the moral black and white of a character like Mehrunes Dagon himself and explores the moral grays of those in Tamriel that he has begun to influence.
It’s very likely, however, that players will once again be taking the battle to the Deadlands. Zenimax has a big challenge ahead. It remains to be seen whether a return to Oblivion is playing it too safe, or whether a familiar face will draw fans back into the MMO.
Elder Scrolls Online is out for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in development.