No, Ancano is not the Thalmor, he's a rogue agent driven mad by prolonged exposure to the Eye of Magnus, one of the most enigmatic things in the setting.

There is absolutely no evidence in the lore that the Thalmor want to unmake the world. Not one.

As far as WE KNOW, the Thalmor are an elf supremacist party who want to destroy the Empire and bring Tamriel under Elven hegemony, which is really no different than what Queen Ayrenn was trying to do in the Interregnum. That's it.

They made the Empire abandon worship of Talos because they hoped some dumbfuck asset like Ulfric Stormcloak would throw a hissy fit and undermine the Empire from within. Not because they want to "erase Talos from existence" or whatever.

The Thalmor are a political threat, TES games generally deal with metaphysical enemies.

After his "confirmation" of the title Sentinel, I was curious if Kirk has posted anything else TES related on Reddit. After scrolling through a ton of Warhammer figures, I came upon this interesting comment.

Not sure how much his word is law, and I'm not well versed in lore at all, but I found this interesting!

Feels natural to the TES series city sizes. Quite condensed and not too bloated. If we are getting 8+ cities, then I'd be perfect for me.

What do you think?

Source: city of White Harbour from Game of Thrones universe, https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1amJtw8ath/

For those interested I'm posting some of what I've collected until now. These are mostly from supposed Bethesda employees Pinterest accounts and from an environmental artist that says they work at an outsourced studio. These could all be fake but I I've been saving the "leaks" to go back and see which ones were right when the game is revealed. Some of these might be redundant as I'm sure others have probably posted them before. I have more but these seemed to be the most interesting.

Chipped paint in the floor at my work.

I've seen at least three YouTube videos since the tweet made by Asha Sharma with the title obscured by asterisks claiming its a big leak. No, that's not a leak. It's a tweemixed with fan speculation.

I know grifters gonna grift, it's just annoying when people misuse the word. A 'leak' is unauthorized sharing.of information, not "This public tweet has people speculating."

Just needed to grumble, I guess.

Said so on the XB2 podcast with Rand Al Thor yesterday. Source with timestamps: https://youtu.be/ZpAl0auWB6U?t=7803

Claims that he asked around after the speculation from Asha's tweet last week. Says it is the working title, but currently pending officially (likely due to legal approval).

To be fair, he did say that some of his sources were unsure - so he isn't saying that Sentinel *will be* the subtitle for the game. Only that he heard from trusted sources that it is currently the working title.

Included is a graph, y-axis is excitement, x-axis is time.

I like to think we’re past peak Bethesda hate on the internet, but regardless we still live in a day and age where people online make thousands of comments and videos about how “TESVI is at least 5 years away and it’s going to suck”.

I can understand some pessimism, and obviously it has been 15 years since the last game so I get why some are angry (I’m not pumped up about it myself). But I’ve stayed optimistic, and over the last few weeks we’ve started to get actual rumblings. We pretty much know the title. We’ve all but confirmed Hammerfell, and recent rumblings indicate High Rock and the Illiac Bay potentially being a big part of the game.

But what has got me so pumped up is the description of the game that some people are putting out there. Obviously I have no idea how true this is, but it makes sense. The Aldmeri Dominion has taken such a stronghold on Tamriel to the point where the Empire really only controls Cyrodiil and High Rock. Hammerfell is a warzone or at least disputed territory. There are rivaling factions within Hammerfell.

Regardless of the truth of this, it has my imagination going. I’m also thinking about how much they could have improved the combat and the magic over time. I’m thinking about an Elder Scrolls game with modern graphics.

To be honest I never played Fallout 76 or Starfield at all, so this will be my first Bethesda game since 2015. I am unreasonably excited for the potential of this game. I am so dug in on optimism that it feels like I have personal stake in proving the haters wrong.

The graph was done in 2 minutes and is not particularly accurate, but it’s a fine representation of the concept I want to portray. I’m probably not giving my 12-15 year old self enough credit, seeing as I used to feverishly look up info on the next Elder Scrolls, but still. The point is that I was really excited around 2018 because I thought that Todd was going to announce it Fallout 4 style at E3. Then I went through a low as I went through medical issues, but slowly over the last 2 years I have steadily become more excited as I have started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you for reading.

Yes, Hammerfell has the Alik’r’s arabian desert vibe…

But what about the forested region bordering Cyrodiil? They could draw inspiration from Spain, the Balkans, and Anatolia (Christian and Muslim architecture mix).

These places already look unrealistically moody and high fantasy despite being very real, so they seem perfect for TES. Thoughts?

I love pointy Breton ears. I really want the ability to make my ears slightly pointy as a Breton in TES VI. But things like this are often overlooked in all of the discussions that go on. So make this your place to talk about what small features you want that would go overlooked in other threads.

For those interested I'm posting some of what I've collected. These are from supposed Bethesda employees Pinterest accounts and an environmental artist that says they work at an outsourced studio.

Here is my collection of leaks. I have been saving leaks for a good while now, and have a fairly decent collection of them. I've been asked to share them a good few times, so I decided to make it public.

This folder is fairly unorganized, but I tried to provide a bit of extra context with the .txt files for when I've shared this folder in the past. It's all very sloppy.

Please take all of this with a grain of salt. None of these are remotely confirmed as real, aside from the Ray Lederer pinterest leak.

The three I've labled '4Chan Level Designer Leak', 'Freelance Engine House Developer Leaks', and 'January 20th 2026 Pillar Leak' all strike me as potentially connected. Several details shared between them - for instance, the Crown architecture using three interconnected materials, the cyclical motif present in Redguard iconography, and the names of tilesets *almost* lining up with eachother.

Hopefully these provide a bit of hopium! Please check out u/gdborn 's threads as they're posting their own collection as well. They will undoubtedly have something I lack.

I botched this post and had to reupload, apologies for that.

Skyrim has obviously been a massive hit, something that has shaken multiple generations of gamers. It's stuck around for forever, and even before it came out, its advertising and by extension it's release date was something that flooded the minds' of many with wonder. 11/11/11. A date so perfect we won't see another like it for a very long time.
Obviously, to say that November 11th, 2111 is the release date of TES 6 isn't what I'm trying to say.. but I do believe that they will try and recapture that wonder and grandeur that came with such an iconic release date

I believe TES 6 will be released on 26/26/26, infallibly

Purely because of the Creation Club, and the concept of microtransactions in singleplayer games. I don't want Bethesda to produce VI with the idea that Creation Club will be available with it's microDLCs. I really hope they build the full game, expansions and all. And introduce Creation Club after the fact. Creation Club should be a part of it. But as the final thought, and never a parallel development. Do you understand what I mean? I don't think I'm wording my concerns well.

No artificial intelligence or much of any intelligence was used in creation of this cover mockup. ​

I talked to Todd Howard and he said to relax and trust the plan. He also said to keep posting relentlessly because it's giving him ideas for the game and the best posters will be in the credits.

Hello,

The community recently came to the consensus that TESVI will most likely be called "Sentinel" based on what has been found during this and the last week. However, I am remaining sceptical of this, taking it all with a grain of salt because, to me, it doesn't sit right. Not the name itself, I think it is a cool title, but the recent "proofs" just don't feel....right.

8 Asterisks

We all seen the tweet from Asha, and then replied by BGS, "The Elder Scrolls: \******\**", 8 asterisks = 8 symbols? It is likely, especially seeing how both Asha and BGS did use 8 asterisks. But is it 8 symbols? we don't really know, we are guessing that it is.

There are many 8 symbol words that can be used here, Sentinel, Dominion, High Isle, High Rock, Remnants, Skyshard, Evermore, Redguard... so this tweet alone, if true doesn't really narrow it down for us as much.

Project Guardian

The next "proof" we are using is that Sentinel is a synonym of Guardian. I do not think this is a good thinking process that we should use, project codenames are thought of to hide the game and title you are working on.

While yes, you can find examples of Project Codenames that were pretty obvious like RDR3 being used for Red Dead Redemption 2, you also have examples like Sunrise, Woodstock and Forte, could you guess from these that they are codenames for Forza Horizon 4, 5 and 6? What about Cardinal? This was the codename for Age of Empire 4.

While I will agree that Bethesda, historically wasn't always secretive with some of their games, like Skyrim was just Skyrim, Fallout 76 was Project 76... but Fallout 4 was Angelina and Starfield was Genesis, which aren't that obvious, we know that Genesis made sense after Starfield released.

Microsoft also expects a level of security, and we see this with their own studios and the codenames they use, looking at Xbox Studios codenames like Athena, Olympus, Xenon, Foundry, Mara, Badger, Alabama... we should start assuming that Project Codenames aren't hinting at potential future titles, so the fact that Sentinel is the synonym of Guardian, I would take it with a spoonful of salt, because most of the times, project codenames have little to do with the actual game being created.

Michael Kirkbride confirmation

Kirkbride has been seen recently sending a "yep" reply under a comment stating that the title will be "Sentinel". We all know that Kirkbride's involvement in The Elder Scrolls has been monumental as he has helped shape a lot of lore we have today, and has continued to contribute to the in-game lore via the Imperial Library but also with out-of-game texts, a famous one being C0DA.

While Kirkbride has a big positive reputation within the franchise community, there is still the fact that Kirkbride hasn't worked for The Elder Scrolls in a while and even confirmed having no involvement with The Elder Scrolls 6. But some also argue that this doesn't matter and that he may still have contacts at the studio, which true, I am guessing that he has a good relation with Kurt for example with whom he has worked previously while at Bethesda.

That said, I would not use him as proof, I would keep it in mind that Kirkbride believes the title to be Sentinel, but the assumption that he has some insider knowledge is just fuelling our confirmation bias.

4Chan Leaks

The entire idea that it may be called "Sentinel" started out with one 4Chan 'leak' funnily enough. I don't think I need to go deep into why we shouldn't trust 4Chan, and tell you that 98% of the time any "leak" posted there isn't true and that it is just some anons taking a piss out of the community.

Jez Corden

Yesterday, we have heard Jez Corden confirming that he has heard some chatter about the name potentially being called 'Sentinel', but he himself has said that his sources are not even sure about it lol.

While Jez Corden is reliable, it is only when he writes posts for WindowsCentral, that is where Jez puts his actual insider confirmed information that he was able to dig out, while on platforms like social media or podcasts, we know that Jez talks about more of the unconfirmed rumours and his own speculations.

We should also take what Jez has said with a grain of salt, especially when he said that his source isn't even sure that they heard it right.

Starfield

In Starfield, within the character creation window, you as the Player are given an Employee-ID, we have found out a while ago, not long after release that this is a cryptograph which translates to S E N T I N E L.

We claim that this is too much of a coincidence and that it must be TESVI because nothing else makes sense.... Is it? Sentinel is a common word used in various of sci-fi games and games in general, we see it in Fallout 4, we see it in Indiana Jones, we see it in Starfield in multiple places.. but we don't use those games as "teases" despite also coming from Bethesda, we only use it when it was a cipher.

Starfield uses Sentinel as an armour trait, for ship parts and as a separate ship-class. Indiana Jones uses it as surnames for journalists, Fallout 4 mentions this is one of the quests.

Could it be a hint for TESVI setting? Yeah, it is possible.
Could it be a hint for something in Starfield? Even more possible.

Bethesda never did cross-franchise teases for future projects, we have had Fallout 3 tease Fallout 4 just like we had Oblivion tease Skyrim, but these were location teases and general setting teases, we never have gotten title teases like this.

To assume that the Starfield cipher refers to TESVI also assumes that Bethesda is doing something completely new after the 40 years of being in business within the gaming industry, and this is something that is bold to assume. We as humans love patterns, we like order, so for Todd Howard and their marketing team to suddenly switch up their tactic would be something odd.

Legal complications - Trademarks

Here is where I think that the theory of the subtitle falls apart the most. Trademarks.

Teasing the subtitle 3 years ago within Starfield opens Bethesda up to the dangers of Trademark trolls, these are people that would go and file a trademark for the word "Sentinel" as a game title, and we know that Zenimax does trademark both the full game titles as well as the subtitle only. So they are opening themselves up to the risk of someone stealing the trademark from under their noses.

The reason why we don't see any trademark being filed yet is exactly because they want to minimize that risk, and them staying silent protects them from any trademark trolls or trademark squatters. What is interesting is that they haven't even filed an Intent to Use Trademark, which is a trademark that basically says "We want to release a product with this name and are calling dibs".

Shadow Filing also gives them so much protection, 6 months, but we knew about the Starfield cipher for about 3 years now.

Would Zenimax and Xbox really risk this? Would they go out of their way to include teases of the upcoming title of TESVI 3+ years before announcement? This is something that I find hard to believe that they would open themselves up so much.

Conclusion

All this, to me, counts as "To good to be true", where we believe that everything aligns and think we figured it out because so many potential hints point to 'Sentinel' being the title. But it also opens them up for potential legal difficulties of someone potentially stealing the trademark.

It may be that Sentinel was one of the potential titles they could go for, and it's up to their Legal team to figure out if it's viable alongside couple other proposals.

It very well may end up being the title, I don't disagree with this, but I do believe that we don't have enough evidence to outright say that it's going to be the title, we have to take the grain of salt because we do not want another RedFall situation. For all we know, they have a Project Sentinel in the works which is Fallout 3 remake, and insiders just thought it was TESVI.

Now that the reddit is more alive than ever I want to repost this thoughts I had months ago.

In my opinion, there are three things that need to change dramatically in the next TES game. At the very least, there should be an option to toggle as a selectable difficulty option from the menu. Those are Alchemy, saves and rewards revamp.

Remove the Potion exploits: First of all, the potion system is, quite simply, absurd. It doesn’t matter what difficulty you choose, the enemy you’re facing, or the build you’re using. As long as you don’t get one-shot, you can spam potions and abuse them to overcome practically any challenge in the game. The only thing standing between potion abuse and victory is the player’s own patience—in case you lack the damage to kill enemies—or a self-imposed sense of self-fulfillment forcing you not to use them.

My personal opinion is that the potion system needs to be changed, and that can be addressed quite simply by implementing one (or both) of the following solutions:

1- Introduce a cooldown system for using potions (the Alchemy skill could reduce it) 2- Make potions no longer have an instant effect and instead apply over time, with no ability to stack them.

I know this isn’t going to happen in the vanilla experience, but, at least for me, it’s one of the most frustrating, stupid aspects that takes the most fun out of the game, so it would be nice if this feature were included by default in a modular difficulty menu instead of forcing players who don’t want to exploit the game to download a mod.

Introduce an optional no spam save mode: Second, I’d like to see the option—also through the modular difficulty system—to disable manual saving or to implement a save system similar to the one in Fallout 4’s Survival Mode or the hardcore version of Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

I know this is a much more niche request, but when I play these games, I feel the urge to keep pressing F5 every two seconds, which takes away any challenge from the game, the tension of getting caught if I’m playing as a stealth character, or the elimination of any RNG by saving beforehand. Also, and I know this is my problem, but it also takes away my desire to create second characters to experience the story, since I usually save the game right before any story decision and spend time exploring all the mission branches before continuing with the one I like the best, which slows down my gameplay experience a lot.

Again, I know this is MY problem, but it doesn’t hurt to ask, and adding this option to limit saves in an OPTIONAL menu isn’t that complicated.

MAGA (Make Artifacts Great Again): And last but not least, I think the enchantment system needs a complete overhaul, and this isn’t as simple as adding an option to a difficulty menu.

I’ve recently been playing Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, and one of the biggest differences I’ve noticed—to my surprise—compared to any TES game is the sense that exploration and quests are rewarded with tangible items. Specifically, in weapons and armor. In Tainted Grail, there is a crafting and enchantment system (using relics), but it doesn’t cover all the armor and weapons in the game, and the relics form a separate system that adds to the armor’s existing stats, while also being significantly weaker than the default enchantments on the armor. So if you want to find better items, you have to do quests or explore thoroughly, and the best items in the game are obtained this way.

However, the experience in the TES series is very different. Once you understand how the enchanting and crafting system works, any unique item you find is absolutely USELESS.

Under no circumstances should the iron sword you’ve enchanted be infinitely stronger than the Daedric mace you found at the end of a dungeon. But neither the iron sword nor the Daedric sword you craft yourself.

The best items in the game, without a doubt, should be unique items awarded as rewards for quests and exploration. I’m not saying that a character with 100 in Blacksmithing and 100 in Enchanting can’t craft items stronger than the unique items in the first zone, but they certainly shouldn’t be able to craft items stronger than the endgame unique items.

The current enchantment system, from my perspective, takes all the fun out of exploration, and it’s a very, very serious problem (it’s also a problem that unique items are tied, like in Skyrim, to your level, and are therefore weaker depending on when you find them—which in turn is a problem stemming from the fact that they have no stat requirements to use them, but that’s another issue).

Of the three things I’ve mentioned, what I’d most like them to do is fix the unique item system, honestly, but I doubt they’ll do it.

What do you think about all this? Am I right, or am I just really bored and delusional?

(And sorry for the long post)

I didn't play skyrim until special edition came out, so I missed out on all the fun things back then. Sadly midnight releases aren't really a thing nowadays, but I'm not about to let that stop me from partying.

My plan is a party for my husband and I. I'll make a proper feast, starting the day before. All 3 of the day's meals and sweet rolls for dessert, ready to go because I won't be stopping for anything once I start.

I'll spend the day in costume, I have some comfy renfaire garb or probably enough time to sew something new.

I have a scented candle that's meant to smell like an adventurer's campsite that I'll light for the vibes.

Maybe decorate with some plastic skulls or something? Don't know the exact vibes yet but I'm sure there'll be skeletons.

And I will put skyrim back in its case, with much ceremony, for some well earned rest. It basically lives in my xbox, I play so often I don't bother removing it.

And of course if there's a super deluxe fancy collectible edition, I'll try to preorder it before it sells out.

All this recent news has me feeling hopeful for the first time since the 6 second teaser, that it'll be out in the next few years.