The Elder Scrolls games are set in the medieval fantasy world of Tamriel, although the events inside them are set hundreds or thousands of years in the past. We will help you make sense of the convoluted chronology of this series with a complete list of game titles, in chronological order.
- The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online is the most recent game in the series, yet its timeline predates that of its predecessors. And it’s not like the previous Elder Scrolls games, where players can’t band together with their pals from various parts of the globe. A thousand years have passed after the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, hence the events of The Elder Scrolls Online are set in the distant past. The Daedric Prince Molag Bal kidnaps the player’s soul during the “create a character” phase of the game in an effort to merge his world of Coldharbour with Tamriel. Players eventually fight for the crown of Tamriel.
- The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard
The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard was the first in a series of action-adventure spin-offs for The Elder Scrolls. Cyrus, a Redguard, plays the main character as he travels throughout the island of Stros M’Kai. He came to the island in pursuit of his sister but, as is customary in Elder Scrolls stories, he ended himself in the middle of a civil conflict.
- The Elder Scrolls: Arena
Before ESO and Redguard, the franchise’s chronology began with The Elder Scrolls: Arena, the very first Elder Scrolls game.
The plot of The Elder Scrolls: Arena centers on Emperor Uriel Septim VII, who is betrayed by his adviser Jagar Tharn (the same Uriel Septim VII players encounter in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion). Tharn replaces the emperor by locking him away in a pocket universe.
- The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey
Only a Nokia phone could play The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey. The player takes control of an unknown individual whose mission is to vanquish the Umbra’Keth, a phantom monstrosity born of the conflict between the three realms of Skyrim, Hammerfell, and High Rock. Shadowkey doesn’t do anything to tie itself into the Elder Scrolls canon as a whole. Although much of Shadowkey takes place in Hammerfell, the game really begins in a town called Azra’s Crossing.
- An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire
When Mehrunes Dagon first attempted to attack Tamriel, it was many decades before the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and was chronicled in the Elder Scrolls Legends add-on Battlespire. It’s true that Mehrunes Dagon didn’t occupy the region by force. The invasion indicated above occurred some time after 3E 396, when Jagar Tharn handed up power of Battlespire.
- The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
In Daggerfall, players are tasked by Emperor Uriel Septim VII with resurrecting the massive golem Numidium and setting free the spirit of King Lysandrus. Daggerfall is far more open-ended than Arena, which only has one conclusion. There are five different endings in Daggerfall. Player decisions shape each of those endings, and the Numidium plays a role in each of them.
- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
The conflict in the game is between the Tribunal and Dagoth Ur. It is up to the protagonist, who may be the reincarnation of an ancient Dark Elf hero called the Nerevarine, to vanquish Dagoth Ur and fulfill a number of other prophesies.
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Appropriately enough, a convicted criminal is the protagonist of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, who is enlisted by Emperor Uriel Septim VII to save the continent of Tamriel. This scenario is so commonplace that it borders on a running farce, yet in this iteration, players must repel the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon and preserve Tamriel. According to canon, the events of Oblivion occur six years after those of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
- The Elder Scrolls: Legends
The player in The Elder Scrolls: Legends assumes the role of “The Forgotten Hero,” a character they have designed and are responsible for guiding through the game. The protagonist, High Elf Naarifin, is intent on unleashing Daedra to bring about the prophesy of the Culling.
- The Elder Scrolls: Blades
The protagonist’s hometown is destroyed at the beginning of the game. As they begin to restore their house, they come upon the burial site of a powerful wizard from long ago.
- The Elder Scrolls: Legends – Fall of the Dark Brotherhood and Return to Clockwork City
Throughout the course of the game, you’ll get to investigate Clockwork City, a setting last featured in The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal.
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the most recent installment in the story. Two hundred years have passed after the events of Oblivion, and the earth has undergone a dramatic transformation in the game’s setting. Half of Skyrim’s province wants to leave because the once-mighty empire has lost so much ground that it’s sparked a civil war between the two factions.
