Throughout The Elder Scrolls franchise, one of its greatest mysteries concerns the sudden disappearance of the Dwemer race. The Dwemer were an advanced race and civilization that created technological marvels far ahead of their time. In fact, some of their inventions still haven’t been replicated in modern Tamriel despite disappearing thousands of years before.
Since their disappearance, both players and scholars of Tamriel have been left to wonder what became of the Dwemer. With Bethesda’s announcement of The Elder Scrolls 6, fans are debating whether the mystery will ever get resolved, and as it stands, it seems more and more unlikely.
In the first era, one of the Dwemer discovered an Aedric artifact called the Heart of Lorkhan, which was extremely powerful. A Dwemer architect named Kagrenac created a set of tools that would allow him to harness the power, and he wanted to use the artifact to gain immortality and power a colossal golem the Dwemer had built known as The Numidium. Another race called the Chimer caught on to the Dwemer’s plans and believed that using the artifact was blasphemy, so they attacked the Dwemer fortress in Red Mountain in an attempt to stop Kagrenac’s plans.
In an attempt to defend his people from the Chimer attack, Kagrenac manipulated the Heart of Lorkhan to try and grant immortality to the Dwemer. However, an unexplained event occurred and the Dwemer suddenly disappeared without a trace. The Chimer were also transformed during this event and became the Dunmer that Elder Scroll fans are familiar with today. As a result, there are a number of theories from the scholars of Tamriel and an official account from the Dunmer, but none of these can prove what actually transpired on the Red Mountain. Furthermore, The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind explores the Dunmer race and their ruling gods, the Tribunal, in detail.
They are certainly not reliable narrators, and their version of the events help reinforce their agenda of covering up certain details at The Battle of Red Mountain. As a result, there is no definitive answer to what happened to the Dwemer race and it remains one of the franchise’s biggest mysteries.
In Morrowind, players run into a Dwemer crafter by the name of Yagrum Bagarn. When the Dwemer disappeared, Yagrum was in a different realm, and as a result, did not disappear, making him the last known surviving Dwemer. After returning to the mortal plane, Yagrum contracted corprus, a disease that he is being treated for in Morrowind. He spends his days researching and studying what happened to the Dwemer, although he has yet to find success.
Yagrum thinks that either Kagrenac was successful in granting the Dwemer immortality, albeit with unforeseen consequences like becoming trapped in another plane or accidentally wiping out the Dwemer race. Whatever the case, Yagrum doesn’t seem to have any concrete evidence, and players are left in the dark as to what really happened at the Battle of Red Mountain.
The unresolved mystery of the Dwemer has become one of The Elder Scrolls’ longest plot threads, and it’s likely that more information will come to light in The Elder Scrolls 6. However, the extent of the information and whether it will finally explain what happened to the Dwemer remains to be seen. Bethesda has managed to weave together a compelling puzzle regarding the Dwemer disappearance, and it has become one of the most captivating aspects of The Elder Scrolls lore. However, it seems unlikely that Bethesda will ever reveal the truth behind the Dwemer though. Not only could it upset some fans who have developed their own strong theories, it’s quite difficult to bring them back to the series unless they become part of the main story itself.
In order to reintroduce the Dwemer to the lands of Tamriel, there needs to be an explanation for what they were doing the entire time they’ve been gone. There’s plenty of fan theories including different planes, time travel, and even soul binding as seen in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. However, since the Dwemer legend has been part of the series for so long, it’ll take quite a bit of time to explain the events that have transpired since their disappearance. This means that Bethesda will have to make the Dwemer storyline the main arc of a new game or at least a major component of it. Moreover, since the lore surrounding their disappearance is so limited, Bethesda would also need to explain the finer details and fill in the blanks along the way.
Perhaps most importantly, the Dwemer’s disappearance is a big draw for the franchise. Explaining too much means that part of that allure is gone, and while it wouldn’t hurt the franchise, it wouldn’t be in its best interest either. Keeping mystery alive, such as Star Wars‘ Yoda, goes a long way in worldbuilding.
As exciting as the prospect might seem, revealing the cause of the Dwemer disappearance would be a daunting challenge. Resolving the decade-long mystery is one thing, but there are many more important literal regions that Bethesda has yet to explore. The entire Elder Scrolls franchise has taken place on the continent of Tamriel so far, and some of its regions have not been explored in depth. With the popularity of The Elder Scrolls Online, provinces such as Elsweyr and Summerset Isle have become more likely candidates for future games. Beyond that, there are even more unexplored continents beyond Tamriel that can push the narrative forward without jumping back to explain what happened to the Dwemer.
At this point in time, it seems that Bethesda is satisfied with the ambiguous status of the Dwemer. After all, the allure of the mystery is much more exciting than the potential answer itself. Of course, that’s not to say the mystery of the Dwemer will go unresolved forever, yet there’s plenty of merit in building up the history and lore of the Dwemer over the course of their future games. Tamriel’s past is directly connected with its future, and there may come a time when the Dwemer will play an instrumental role in the main story of an Elder Scrolls game. A Dwemer may eventually appear from another plane, or they might return altogether someday.
For now though, it seems unlikely that Bethesda will explain what actually transpired at the Battle of Red Mountain for the foreseeable future. Fans will have to continue to create their own theories and wait patiently to see if The Elder Scrolls 6 will reveal anything about the Dwemer.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development.
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