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The Elder Scrolls series is an incredibly lore-dense RPG franchise for fans that truly get stuck into its world, but one piece of unique lore sticks out more than most: Dragon Breaks. Conceived to explain away the multiple endings of Daggerfall in Morrowind, Dragon Breaks are periods of splintered time where every possible reality and nothing at all happen simultaneously, resulting in fractured history, conflicting literature and planet-wide confusion.
Elder Scrolls co-creator Ted Peterson, who wrote Arena, Daggerfall and in-game books for Morrowind, isn’t a fan of the existence of Dragon Breaks. A controversial piece of lore for fans–who typically either adore them or hate them–Peterson explains that the storytelling device is a “silly” way of explaining away player choice.
Elder Scrolls creator on Dragon Breaks
In an upcoming episode of the VideoGamer Podcast, Peterson explains that he does like the idea of Dragon Breaks in Elder Scrolls, but that the concept is fairly overused. With five major Dragon Breaks existing over the fictional universe’s history, there is a worry that it’s simply a crutch for writers to lean on.
“The short answer is ‘no’, I am not a fan of the Dragon Break,” Peterson explained. “And I actually like the idea, but it’s, like, so overused just to excuse any illogical, you know, change. You can just say: ‘Oh, gee, it’s a Dragon Break!’”
Despite their prominence in the lore, The Elder Scrolls has been shy to delve too deep into the concept of Dragon Breaks, likely due to how messy they can be when not written extremely well. While we’ve actively seen Time Wounds–small fractures in time–in-game, the idea of properly adapting what a Dragon Break is inside a game while keeping the gravity of their lore descriptions is likely too difficult.
At the time of writing, Ted Peterson is continuing work on his highly-anticipated Elder Scrolls spiritual successor The Wayward Realms, which likely won’t have an equivalent to Dragon Breaks. Aiming to bring back the more free-form design of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, the impressive-looking RPG is looking great.
For more on our time with the Elder Scrolls creator, read about how grateful he is for fan projects like Daggerfall Unity, or check out our interview with Halo multiplayer announcer Jeff Steitzer.
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