Former Elder Scrolls writer Kurt Kuhlmann is convinced a major plot device in the series was born from a typo. Speaking on the FRVR Podcast, Kuhlmann said the Warp in the West — the idea that every ending of The Elder Scrolls Chapter 2: Daggerfall happened simultaneously — came from a mistake in a timeline.
“It came from the fact that there was this timeline that someone had made—this was from Daggerfall days—and there was this big gap in time,” Kuhlmann said. “And I’m 100% convinced that, in reality, in our world, that was a typo. Someone just typed a date wrong in the timeline, skipped like 3,000 years or whatever by accident. It’s right between the end of one year and another. So the last date in this year, and then the first date [in the next], there’s this gap.”
The Typo That Started It
Kuhlmann explained that the timeline in question was likely an internal lore document used during development of Daggerfall. The gap in dates was spotted by TES writer Michael Kirkbride, who saw the error as an opportunity rather than a problem.
Kirkbride thought the gap was awesome. He wanted to use it as the basis for the Dragon Break concept.
Multiple Endings, One Time
Daggerfall was designed with branching paths, and each playthrough could end differently. Normally, a sequel would have to pick one canonical path and ignore the others. Bethesda took a different route.
“If you want to have a sequel refer to the past, you’re just going to have to pick one of those [endings] and move on, and just say in the sequel of the game, ‘What actually happened was this,'” Kuhlmann said. “The player could have done all these different things, but we can’t have that.”
Kirkbride disagreed. Instead, he proposed that all the endings happened at once.
“Mike was like, ‘No, what we’re gonna do: What if all of them happened, and you got Numidium, and it was all crazy metaphysical stuff. So why not?’ Everyone sees all the different endings, and no one knows what really happened, and it’s this crazy metaphysical thing.”
The Books That Explained It
The Warp in the West became official lore through books. Daggerfall designer Ted Peterson wrote the in-game book “The Warp in the West” for Oblivion, but the concept was introduced earlier.
Kuhlmann and Kirkbride brought the idea to Morrowind. Kuhlmann’s book, “Where Were You When the Dragon Broke,” and Kirkbride’s “Dragon Break Re-Examined” established the lore around the phenomenon.
Kuhlmann tried to ground the concept in history rather than magic. His book explored how the confusion might come from bias, transcription, and record-keeping. But the skeptical approach was undercut by the book itself.
“Dragon Break Re-Examined also deliberately references events in Morrowind’s future as the past, implying the skeptical book itself is yet another example of timey-wimey shenanigans,” Kuhlmann noted. “An all-timer bit, for my money.”
The Legacy of the Warp
The Warp in the West became a fixture of Elder Scrolls lore. It allowed the series to acknowledge player choice while maintaining a consistent narrative.
The concept also created continuity headaches. Future games had to reference the Warp without contradicting it.
Other Studios, Other Choices
Bethesda’s approach to continuity is not universal. Other studios have struggled with similar issues, sometimes with more friction.
- Divinity: Original Sin 2 almost completely contradicts the story of Divinity 2: Ego Draconis (sans Original Sin) from eight years prior.
- Many RPGs simply pick one canonical path and ignore alternate endings.
Kuhlmann’s anecdote suggests Bethesda found a creative workaround. The typo became the plot.
A Story Worth Telling
The story of the Warp in the West is a reminder that lore often has humble origins. A simple mistake turned into a major narrative device that shaped a billion-dollar franchise.
It is also a tribute to Kirkbride’s creativity. He saw a typo and turned it into a philosophical puzzle.
The Takeaway
The Warp in the West is a beloved piece of Elder Scrolls lore. Its origin as a typo is a funny footnote, but it is also a lesson in adaptability.
When a mistake presents itself, the best writers find a way to make it work. Bethesda did that with the Warp, and the result has lasted decades.
Kuhlmann’s admission is a charming peek behind the curtain. It shows that even the most elaborate fiction has practical roots.
The Warp in the West is a typo that became a legend. That is a story worth telling.
Source material: “Former Elder Scrolls writer Kurt Kuhlmann is '100% convinced' a load-bearing bit of series lore was inspired by a typo,” PC Gamer.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.