Many fans of Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series have speculated that the upcoming release of The Elder Scrolls 6 could finally provide players with the long-awaited conclusion of Skyrim's Civil War. Within Skyrim, the Dragonborn is given the option of supporting either the Stormcloak or Imperial factions, ultimately leading their chosen side to victory in the conclusion of the questline. As the timeline of the series progresses, however, it seems apparent that a definitive canon victor will have to be chosen.
Although The Elder Scrolls 6 was confirmed to be in development back in 2018, it hasn't received much attention from Bethesda since then. Presumably, the studio was instead prioritizing the development of Starfield in the few years that followed TES6's announcement. Starfield was finally given an official release date during this year's E3 Expo, however, meaning that it seems likely that The Elder Scrolls 6 will see some substantial forward momentum in development progress in the upcoming year.
Given how little has been seen of TES6 thus far, hardly anything is known about the game's story or even where it fits into the Elder Scrolls timeline. Many have speculated, however, that it will serve as a sequel of sorts to Skyrim, addressing the aftermath of the Civil War and the ongoing conflict with the Aldmeri Dominion. Though it seems likely that the canon victor of Skyrim's war will be revealed within The Elder Scrolls 6, the series actually has a history of refusing to settle on just one canon answer.
How Daggerfall Could Hint Towards The Canon Ending Of Skyrim
The ending of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall presented players with six different endings to choose from, depending on which of the game's factions were given the Mantella by the player character. Consequently, developers had to determine how to avoid imposing a single canonical ending on the narrative of the Elder Scrolls series moving forward. The solution was found in the creation of a phenomenon known as a Dragon Break - an event in which time temporarily fractures into parallel timelines before reconverging, resulting in a world in which each separate timeline is equally canon. The Dragon Break has since then found a heavy presence in the lore of The Elder Scrolls, and multiple similar events have been described to have happened in the far past.
Daggerfall's ending became known in-universe as the Warp in the West, and the world of the series was significantly changed by the simultaneous different events occurring within that era. Given that the choice of Imperials or Stormcloaks in Skyrim is such a significant part of the game - one that has the potential to have major consequences to the timeline as a whole - it raises the possibility of another Dragon Break being utilized to avoid invalidating player decisions in regards to the outcome of the war. Doing so would make any number of potential Skyrim endings canon, and the effects of another Dragon Break would set the stage for Elder Scrolls 6 to introduce an interesting turn in the ongoing evolution of the Elder Scrolls franchise.