cyclonus11 wrote: »

VaranisArano wrote: »

Er, Skyrim's dialogue heavily hints that Serana was entombed during the 1st Era, prior to the formation of an Empire in Cyrodiil.

So it might have the Volkihar, but Serana seems unlikely.

From Wiki...

Her year of birth is unknown, but she was originally locked away in the mid-late Second Era, in between the rule of the Reman and Septim Empires

uesp>fandom usually. That said, serana's dialogue implies that she was locked up much earlier than the events of eso.

Really?

Harkon, Valerica, and Serena were turned to vampires during or shortly after the Dragon Wars.

We know this because Durhnervir TELLS US this himself and I quote:

“ the Dovah roamed the skys, vying for their small pieces of territory that resulted in immense and ultimately fatal battles."

"unlike some of my bretheren, I saught solutions outside the norm. In order to maintain my superiority, I began to explore what the dovah call, alok dilon, the ancient forbiden art that you call necromancy"

"The Ideal Masters assured me that my powers would be unmatched, that I could raise legions of the undead. In return I was to serve them as a keeper until the death of the one who calls herself Valerica."

"I discovered too late that the Ideal Masters favor deception over honor,"

So we know Valerica has been Imprisoned in the Soul Cairn and guarded by Durnevir since the before the First Era. We also know it was Valerica that put Serena in that tomb in Dimhollow Crypt Before she fled to the Soul Cairn.. So there is no way Serena was entombed between the two empires. No Empire has ever existed before she was entombed.

Harkon, Valerica. And Serena are one of the first vampires And the Volikhar clan is one of the oldest dating between 50-75 years after Lamae Bal which dates them to the Merethic Era before the rise of the first empire.

I’m sure they will twist things around to fit their narrative but I don’t think they really care about the lore anyways.

Just doing some more looking at sources, more for my own amusement at this point.

Serana herself seems really inconsistent in dialogue, naming nordic ruins as specifically older than her but also expressing surprise that the Dwemer have let their cities get run down.

She knows about the College of Winterhold from before her imprisonment, which dubious legends say was established by Shalidor in the early 1st Era, but definitely was around by 2E 169. (That's a really large gap of time and AFAIK, we don't have a more definitive date for the College's founding.)

PC: What do you know about Elder Scrolls?
Serana: "I mean... as much as anyone. Not a lot. You'd figure a couple hundred years locked away with one would have given me some insights, but no. Turns out you don't learn much from just sleeping with something."

PC: Do you trust Harkon at all?
Serana: "It's not a question of trust... he's just obsessed with the prophecy. And from what I could tell, a thousand extra years of obsession haven't made him any better. We should have found him a hobby."

(A literal thousand years matches with 2nd era...but a literal couple hundred years would only make it late 3rd era...so I take both with a grain of salt.)


That being said, the Prophecy itself also points to an earlier date - Arch Curate Vyrthur creates it after the fall of the Chantry when he becomes a vampire, which is sometime after 1E 700 and the disappearance of the Dwemer.
Knowing that, we can match dates of Cyrodiilic Empires.
Alessian (1st) Empire: 1E 243 - 1E 2331
Reman (2nd) Empire: 1E 2703 - 2E 430
This starts the Interregnum, though there remains an "empire" in Cyrodiil during most of the Interregnum, including the Longhouse Emperors immediately preceding Varen. There's a gap between the Reman and Septim dynasties, but there is still a rather chaotic "empire" in Cyrodiil for at least some of the Interregnum.

With that in mind, I think the best candidate for "no empire in Cyrodiil" is the 1st era, between 1E 2331- 2703 between the Alessians and the Reman era. This corresponds to a degree with Durnehviir's dialogue about dragons, as the Reman Empire led to the hunting of the dragons who survived the earlier Dragon War against Alduin's forces.

Its possible, thanks to ESO and Elsweyr, to argue that Serana means the Interregnum (despite there being plenty of candiates for an empire in Cyrodiil) and that Durnehviir went to the Soul Cairn to avoid his Elsweyr-roaming brethren...but that's something that's really only come up since the latest chapter.


The Developers are also inconsistent.
The OP posted one link from Bethesda, citing 2nd era Interregnum as their intention.
Here's an ESO AUA citing a 1st Era date for imprisonment, specifically in response to a question asking if Serana and family would show up in ESO: https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/699
Here's another ESO Writer's AMA from Sept 2014 saying "Serana is, IIRC, already in her sleep-tube by the time ESO kicks off." In response to a question about whether Serana will be in ESO. https://www.imperial-library.info/content/zenimax-online-writers-reddit-ama
None of that is to say that the Devs/Writers can't backtrack or contradict what they said earlier, but its not quite as cut and dried as the first quote makes it sound.

FlipFlopFrog wrote: »

If these rumours are true then I'm pretty hyped for a dawnguard vs vampire type expac. Could be good fun. I remember a while ago the was that strange 'vampire lord' bug, maybe we'll get a vampire lord skill line?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njEwh9wxOGA

Skip to 3:07 for the glitch.

I thought Bloodspawn from Spindleclutch and Valeric's father, Majorn the Ancient from Eastmarch were Vampire Lords but it turns out they were just gargoyles.

The dialogue is definitely not fitting in from Skyrim and the leaks were talking more about fungi so the chances of the next chapter being vampires is low.

RinaldoGandolphi wrote: »

I’m sure they will twist things around to fit their narrative but I don’t think they really care about the lore anyways.

My Bosmers and Argonian all agree with this assessment.

Ratzkifal wrote: »

This topic again? Alright...

Yes, there is indeed some lore mess around.

• Even during ESO's time and all of the second era, the Empire was never forgotten. The whole reason for the constant war is that everyone wants to be the next Empire.
• Also Serana is surprised that the Dwarven cities are so "run down" as if she doesn't know the Dwemer disappeared, which suggested a date of being entombed prior to 1E 700.

All of this points towards Serana being entombed prior to the 2nd era.

HOWEVER there is also plenty evidence supporting that Serana is actually from the 2nd era.

• Such as she never mentions any form of surprise to seeing the Chimer turned into grey-skinned Dunmer.
• Or Redguards don't weird her out at all, as they arrived at least a hundred years after her lastest possible entombment in the 1st era.
• Furthermore, author Matt "GStaff" Grandstaff said the following on the question of when she was entombed.

  The intention was that Serana went to sleep in the late second era, between the Reman and Septim empires. Her initial dialogue is just her surprise that there’s an Empire in Cyrodiil, as there hadn't been when she went to sleep.

• Also, the 1st Era obviously had an Empire in Cyrodiil too, the Alessian Empire which is already a human Empire.

Taking all of that into account, I think the 2nd Era, although late 2nd Era would be the most sensical for her entombment, as there hadn't been an Empire in Cyrodiil for a few hundred years at that point. Her surprise about the Dwemer cities being "run down" could also stem from an assumption of hers that Nords would move in and keep the empty cities running.

Additionally and on an unrelated note, with the way the prophecy of the Tyranny of the Sun is worded, you could see how someone (Harkon) could get very excited over it...

Dexion Evicus wrote:

"Among the night's children, a dread lord will rise. In an age of strife, when dragons return to the realm of men, darkness will mingle with light and the night and day will be as one."

We have an age of strife, dragons have returned (although not to the realm of men... yet) so this makes the whole situation a lot more urgent for Valerica and Serana to keep it all hidden from Harkon. Even though Dexion hasn't read the scroll yet, we must assume Harkon learned of this prophecy somehow through another way. This doesn't break canon yet either as a professional Moth Priest would still be required to use the Elder Scroll to locate the bow and/or confirm that the prophecy is actually true and not just a rumour.

TL;DR Bethesda made some continuity errors which ZOS can now use to give us more content involving fan favorite characters and nostalgia bait while fixing the timeline in the process through retcons.

An alternate possibility is late 1st era in the gap between the Alessian Empire and the Reman Empire. From 1E 2331 to 2703, there is no Empire in Cyrodiil.

This would account for her knowing about the Dunmer and the Redguards, give an earlier time for her comments on Dwemer ruins, and still have a decent number of active dragons prior to the arrival of the Dragonguard to account for Durnehviir's dialogue without having to rely on new lore only introduced in Elsweyr.

It's also in line with the ESO writers' quotes I listed above which cite 1st era or prior to ESO for her imprisonment - though as noted, things can change.

madeeh91rwb17_ESO wrote: »

What we know:
- Harkon was supposed to be a King of Haafingar region during or after the events of ESO.
- NPC dialogue hints Solitude as the destination.(For new chapter)
- ZOS loves milking nostalgia.

Therefore: Next chapter involves Molag Bal's Bussiness with Harkon, and Serana confirmed.

NO! Serana was imprisoned long before the timeline in ESO. In skyrim Serana says, cyrodil is the seat of an empire? i have been gone a long time.

IF serana really is in the next expansion, it's lore break as all get out.

Hope we finally get crossbows as weapon (not just that fighter's guild skill).