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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a 2006 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios, and co-published by Bethesda Softworks and 2K Games. Taking place within the fictional province of Cyrodiil, the game's main story focuses on the player character's efforts to thwart a fanatical cult known as the Mythic Dawn that plans to open portal gates to a demonic realm known as Oblivion.

Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion · CC BY-SA 4.0. Text adapted for this entry.

FULL SPOILERS AHEAD

The story, including the ending.

These write-ups discuss major events and outcomes for this listed work. Each source and its coverage are identified below.

Source plot synopsis — includes the ending

=== Setting ===
Oblivion is set in the year 433 of the Third Era, six years after the events of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, although it is not a direct sequel to Morrowind or any other game in the series. The game is set in Cyrodiil—a province of Tamriel, the continent on which all the games in the series have so far taken place.
Cyrodiil has been the capital of three human empires throughout Tamriel's history. In the distant past, the original empire, known as the Alessian Empire, was founded when a human slave named St. Alessia led an uprising against the Ayleids, an elven faction that at one point held dominion over Tamriel. The Ayleids were devout worshipers of the Daedra, magical creatures from Oblivion, a dangerous realm that is in another dimension. The Daedra are largely sadistic and selfish beings that desire to manipulate and cause chaos throughout Tamriel, and are the antithesis of the Nine Divines, Tamriel's religious pantheon of deities. Blessed by the Divines, Alessia was given the power to drive back the Ayleids and sever their connection to the Daedra by forging a covenant that kept the Daedra out of Tamriel via a mystical barrier. So long as a being of royal blood sat on the throne, the covenant would remain and the Empire would prosper.
In the centuries after Alessia's rule, two different incarnations of the Empire would arise that would continue to follow this covenant, with rulers handpicked by the Divines taking the throne in order to maintain it. Alessia's successor, the Reman Dynasty, rose to power in the aftermath of a war between the Empire and a feudal hegemony from the neighboring continent of Akavir. The Reman Dynasty would pave the way for Tiber Septim, a human warrior, to rise to power and unite the other races and provinces of Tamriel under a single banner. The Septim Dynasty, ruling over the Empire's third and current incarnation, has produced a number of heirs to the throne since Tiber Septim's death and ascension into the hero-god Talos.

Plot

The story begins with the player imprisoned in a cell for an unknown crime. Emperor Uriel Septim VII (voiced by Patrick Stewart), accompanied by Imperial bodyguards known as the Blades, arrives in the prison when fleeing from assassins who have murdered the emperor's three sons and are now targeting him. The emperor and the Blades reveal that the player's jail cell contains a secret entrance to a part of the city's sewer that functions as an escape route. Pardoned by the emperor, the player follows the group into the sewer where they come under attack by assassins. The Blades' captain is cut down during the fighting that ensues. Knowing he is destined to die by the hands of the assassins, Uriel Septim entrusts the player with the Amulet of Kings, worn by the Septim emperors of Tamriel, and orders the player to take it to Jauffre (voiced by Ralph Cosham), the grandmaster of the Blades. Immediately afterward, one of the assassins kills the emperor. The player escapes the sewer and heads out into the open world of Cyrodiil.
The lack of an heir for Uriel Septim has broken St. Alessia's covenant, allowing the Daedra to access Tamriel from Oblivion. Multiple gates to Oblivion open and an invasion of Tamriel begins by the Daedra killing and destroying anything in their path. Jauffre tells the player the only way to close the gates permanently is to find someone of the royal bloodline to retake the throne and relight the Dragonfires—with the Amulet of Kings—in the Imperial City. There is an illegitimate son named Martin (voiced by Sean Bean) who is a priest in the city of Kvatch. Upon arriving at Kvatch, the player finds that the Daedra have destroyed the city with very few surviving. A massive Oblivion Gate is obstructing the main city entrance and the player must venture through the gate into the Deadlands—one of the planes of Oblivion—in order to close it from the inside and allow access to the city. After closing the gate, the player enters Kvatch and takes it back from the Daedra with the assistance of surviving guardsmen. Martin has survived, and the player persuades him to come to Weynon Priory.
The player, now recognized as the Hero of Kvatch, returns to Weynon Priory with Martin, finding that it has come under attack by assassins and that the Amulet of Kings has been stolen. The player escorts Jauffre and Martin to Cloud Ruler Temple, the stronghold of the Blades in Cyrodiil. Martin is recognized as the emperor and is given command of the Blades. The player is optionally entered into their ranks and sets off in search of the amulet. After gathering information, the player learns that the group responsible for Uriel Septim's assassination and the theft of the amulet are the Mythic Dawn, a cult dedicated to the worshiping of Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince of Destruction. The cult believes Dagon is the true creator of the world and wish for him to "cleanse" it of all impurities. Killing the emperor and thus removing the barriers to Oblivion was the first step in realizing this. The player attempts to infiltrate the secret meeting place of the cult in the hopes of retrieving the amulet. When the player does so, the cult's leader Mankar Camoran (voiced by Terence Stamp) escapes through a portal, taking the amulet with him. The player takes the book that had opened the portal to Martin, who deduces a way to reopen the portal. The player seeks out three key artifacts necessary to recreate the portal: a Daedric artifact, The Blood of the Divines, and a Great Welkynd Stone. With all three retrieved, Martin reveals that a final ingredient is needed: a Great Sigil Stone from inside a Great Gate similar to the one that devastated Kvatch. Martin and Jauffre decide to allow the city of Bruma to be attacked by Daedra so that a Great Gate would be opened. Once it is, the player obtains the Stone and closes the Gate, also saving Bruma.
A portal is created at Cloud Ruler Temple and the player is sent through to Mankar Camoran's created realm of Paradise. After bypassing Daedra, Mythic Dawn members and obstacles, the player confronts Camoran and kills him. The player returns the Amulet of Kings to Martin and they subsequently travel to the Imperial City with the Blades to relight the Dragonfires, and end the Daedric invasion. They find the city under attack by Daedra and an enormous avatar of Mehrunes Dagon himself. The player and Martin fight their way to the Temple of the One. There, Martin laments that they are powerless against Dagon's avatar and explains that they can only defeat him one way. He bids farewell to the player and shatters the Amulet of Kings, merging himself with the spirit of Akatosh, the Dragon-God of Time, thus becoming Akatosh's avatar. After a battle, Akatosh casts Dagon back into Oblivion and lets out a mighty roar before turning to stone. Martin, whose soul was consumed by the amulet, enters the afterlife to join his forebears. In a telepathic monologue to the player, he sheds an optimistic light, explaining that while the Amulet of Kings is destroyed and the throne again lies empty, the gates of Oblivion are now shut and the future of Tamriel lies in the player's hands. The Empire's high chancellor sincerely thanks the player for their service during the crisis and proclaims them as the seventh Champion of Cyrodiil.
Sources and content license

Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license