If you’ve played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or its recently released Oblivion Remastered, you’ll know the opening tutorial section and its iconic ‘leaving the Imperial sewers’ moment well. You’ll also know all about that shocking death that arrives just before you make your final escape and, blinking, emerge into the beautiful open world of Cyrodiil.
Warning! Spoilers for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered follow.
The shocking death I’m talking about here is of course the assassination of Emperor Uriel Septim, an assassination he knows is coming and has come to terms with. Veteran fans have replayed Oblivion enough at this point to know it’s coming, too. But back in 2006 when Oblivion first came out, it became a rite of passage to try to save him from the inevitable Mythic Dawn backstab that kicks off the story.
Hundreds of arrow shots later and players soon discovered that there was nothing that could be done to save poor old Septim, not without tinkering with the game with mods or console commands. Oblivion only really makes sense if the Emperor dies at the beginning, so it stands to reason that the developers at Bethesda forced it to happen no matter what the player did to try to stop it.
And now, 20 years later, a new generation of Oblivion fans is trying to save the Emperor, and by that I mean trying and failing in much the same way. Players are waiting, bow and arrow primed, for the assassin to emerge from the shadows in a bid to kill him before he stabs the Emperor, but alas, it is no good.
@_elderscroller A new generation must close shut the Jaws of Oblivion! #oblivionremaster #oblivionremastered #obliviongameplay #oblivionclips #oblivion #obliviontok #obliviontiktok #skyrimtok #skyrimtiktok #elderscrollsoblivion #fyp ♬ original sound – ElderScroller
Some newcomers to the game didn’t even know they were supposed to talk to the Emperor in the first place, and so ended up with a room full of dead assassins as the endless stream of Mythic Dawn goons emerged to battle the group.
Others are seeking out their revenge on the Mythic Dawn, piling those corpses high.
Newcomers are also discovering that the assassins will just keep on coming if you don’t talk to the Emperor. They won’t stop. They can’t stop. They are infinite.
I found out you can ignore the Emporer and have the cultists spawn pretty much infinity during the hold out section
The old combat and look of the game really was preventing me from enjoying the original. I’m very happy the remastered it pic.twitter.com/s30YFoSEhl
— Eclipse (Miniatures Arc) (@3clipserenders) April 27, 2025
Other players are taking to console commands to see what happens, and, yes, it breaks the cutscene that’s supposed to play out after the Emperor is killed.
If you’re anything like me, when you first played Oblivion you reloaded your save to try to save the Emperor and, after multiple failed attempts, gave up. I confess I also tried in Oblivion Remastered, just in case the developers added some new outcome to the game, but alas, the Emperor must die now, in 2025, just as he had to all those years ago.
Meanwhile, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered players are warning newcomers to do Kvatch before the level scaling makes it an absolute nightmare. We’ve also got a report on a player who managed to escape the confines of Cyrodiil to explore Valenwood, Skyrim, and even Hammerfell, the rumored setting of The Elder Scrolls VI.
And be sure to check out our comprehensive guide to everything you’ll find in Oblivion Remastered, including an expansive Interactive Map, complete Walkthroughs for the Main Questline and every Guild Quest, How to Build the Perfect Character, Things to Do First, every PC Cheat Code, and much more.
Image credit: Nervous_Tumbleweed34 / reddit.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
