A Narrative Critique of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

A critique of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with an emphasis on scripted and unscripted narrative content. We begin with a close reading of the main story and progress to a more comprehensive analysis of the game's general themes (or lack thereof). Full spoilers for Oblivion ahead.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
2:13 Act I: Evil Afoot
39:19 Act II: Into Darkness
1:04:02 Act III: Homefronts
1:33:10 Oblivion and Multiplicity
1:45:44 Class, Based
1:51:44 An Inch Deep
2:04:11 Where it Works
2:10:12 Conclusion

[DukeofWhales]

Hey everyone! The YouTube algorithm is suddenly being very nice to me, which is a little terrifying but I’m choosing to be excited about it. If this kind of stuff interests you I’m writing a Skyrim essay now, so I hope to have more content out soon—and yes, will definitely upgrade the microphone situation. Thank you all for watching!

[Whaprone]

while you were relegated to my second monitor in the physical realm while i mindlessly played minecraft, you were on my primary monitor in my heart

[Merynos]

1:38:57 Just for the record, while not a Skyrim type alternative, in Oblivion you can kill Lucien Lachance at first meeting, which basically locks you out of the whole questline. There's even a quest update for that:
"Lucien Lachance, the Dark Brotherhood's representative, has been killed. He was my link to the mysterious assassins guild, and now that link has been severed... forever."

[Romanticoutlaw]

tbh, the dark brotherhood, thieves' guild, and shivering isles are where I think oblivion shines brightest. I think I've subconsciously been thinking of them as the "main" game for some years now, with the kvatch situation a thing I can get around to eventually, like any other side quest

[chrisr]

It is my duty to watch every hour+ long videos of TES series on youtube.

[christopherchilton-smith]

The destruction of the amulet makes me wonder if Dagon actually won. As the god of hope and revolution, the *destruction* of the amulet seems to allow for both, hitting all three of his notes.

[yarro]

Cameron's speech was written by Kirkbride, amd Todd loved the first draft so much it made it into the game. I genuinely wonder what it could have looked like if Kirkbride had been allowed to cook.
What I find the most ironic in Cameron's speech, is that he asks where the aedra are. Aedra made Nirn, the moral realm. Literally. We can't talk to them like we can with the Daedra because they are the earth, stone, and air. They don't exist in the way daedra do now.
As for agnosticism or aethism in TES, well there is an argument that it can exist. The Dwemer never denied the daedras existence. They just never felt that the Daedra were worth worshiping. Or the Aedra tbh.

Also also. It's really funny that you show the dichotomy of Oblivions potential endings of mantling either Pelinal or Sheogorath. They are both madmen in their own right, so at the end of the day the Hero of Kvatch winds up mad regardless of who they choose.

10/10 video!

[SyrinxOfTemple]

Thanks for making this honed-in on the story. It's refreshing seeing not just another blanket, general retrospective that touches the same handful of talking points.

[DropsOfMars]

Tonally I feel Oblivion is kind of the black sheep of The Elder Scrolls series. Morrowind and Skyrim feel more grounded, more real in a way. Oblivion honestly feels like not the events that took place but a retelling of what actually happened. Everything looks a bit too ideal, everything feels like a storybook. It's hard to rationalize that this Cyrodiil is the same province that borders Skyrim because they don't really feel like they're in the same world.

[lalalana]

I have never heard anyone talking about the feudal nature of society in Cyrodiil and the lacking depth of social interaction with NPCs. Thank you so much for a fresh perspective! I guess, I'll never look at this game the way I did. Back when Oblivion was released, these detailes seemed almost obscure.

[spiderz]

Oh wow this is your first video? That’s insane, we definitely need more long-form creators and reviewers on the platform, good work! Will definitely listen while at work.

[jiraffe]

About the Underking, he was a more major character in Daggerfall, so that might be why they didn't go into much detail here.

[Charsept]

These videos always remind me that despite my hundreds of hours in Oblivion, I've never finished the main story. I should really go back to do that.

[PaperFlare]

Just watched the video and I really enjoyed it! I hope you make more.

Something worth pointing out: your thesis of the empire being oppressive, corrupt, and crumbling has been a cornerstone of The Elder Scrolls from Arena to Daggerfall to Morrowind. However, in all those cases, the player was working to *uphold* that system. When you cut past the mystic symbolism and the mentions of fate, prophesy, the gods, etc, what are you left with?

In Daggerfall, you were a friend of the emperor and your ultimate objective is to dethrone the rulers of no less than 5 regions of Hammerfall and High Rock, unify a region that is, both figuratively and literally (due to the map design), the size and diversity of the entirety of Europe and northern Africa under the rule of a single family that would be unquestioningly loyal to the Empire.

In Morrowind, you are inducted as a spy that directly works for the emperor as the price of your freedom. Morrowind is the only region of Tamriel that, while still a vassal of the Empire, is free to govern itself thanks to the power of their triumvirate of God-Kings. Your goal - as a *potential* Nerevarine - is to destroy the source of the God-Kings' power, become a cultural icon and leader of the people of Morrowind, and collapse the church of the tribunal...leaving a power vacuum in the territory that will be swiftly filled by the Empire, who already had soldiers, forts, and colonizers spread around the island of Vvardenfell just waiting.

Oblivion's falling is the very clear push to make Oblivion more light-hearted and whimsical. Yet the ideas and lore from the past titles permeates the writing of Oblivion and you can see peeks of this darker past and the implications they carry.

[Mifune]

Great job with this. Once I heard you speaking on the pastoral themes I knew this was one of the king elder scrolls videos actually worth listening to. It’s crazy how much poverty plays a role in the world but is ignored by everyone.

[Digiflowers]

I've second-monitored my way through pretty much all of the TES video essay content on youtube, and this is by far my favorite analysis of Oblivion's narrative ☺️

[Fixtin]

Its a shame we didnt get to take part in the Goblin Wars.

[grahamwright]

This is a fantastic analysis, I desperately hope YouTube doesn't knock you down because you very easily could become the VaatiVidya of the elder acrolls

[MiaJoBella]

I've never seen analysis of these games quite like this and your Skyrin ones. You have a very fresh perspective and I am continiously impressed by your writing and analysis skill

[lntellectuaI]

Finally, a distinctly unique longform critique on Oblivion! Love the analytical narrative approach you took, connecting the story, lore and worldbuilding of the game to form a vision and understanding of the game like I haven't seen anyone do before. People like PatricianTV, WillLovesVideoGames and Private Sessions, that I've seen talking about Oblivion at length, focused too much on describing the details of the game and evaluating its systems, like graphics, combat, levelling, quests, maybe music and lore, without talking much about the interesting themes and motifs that you could extract out of the narrative. Only people like Noah Caldwell-Gervais and you here on Youtube manage to dig deep into the stories, worlds and characters behind the games and relate that to your audiences, which I greatly appreciate.

edit: I would really like to hear your thoughts on previous Elder Scrolls games, too, specifically Morrowind - with probably the best world, lore and narrative in the series. You focus briefly in the video on Lorkhan, saying that it's just a passing reference in Oblivion, but don't mention that the whole idea of Lorkhan was established back in Daggerfall, and explored thoroughly in Morrowind, with the Dwemer and the Tribunal explicitly dealing with the Heart of Lorkhan in that same game.