Summary
With theOblivionRemake heavily rumoured to be shadowdropping next week, more and more players are reminiscing about the hundreds of hours they spent playing Bethesda’s fantasy epic. One of the most played sections of Oblivion is undoubtedly the tutorial section, a mad-dash escape from the Imperial City’s prison through its attached sewers.
However, a little-known fact about those very sewers is that not every creature that dwells within them is hostile. As pointed out byZamanthaD in a Reddit thread, there is a passive creature that’s often erroneously slain, and that creature is none other than… the innocent sewer rat.
Stay Your Hand
There are plenty of dastardly goblins to slay underneath the Imperial City’s prison, practising dark magics and participating in foul rituals. There are plenty of hostile rats, too. However, a single rat that spawns in the sewers section right before you exit the tutorial area has a different designation from the other hostile rats you encounter.
Rather than simply being called Rat, the hostile version of the creature, they are instead known as Sewer Rat. This is the only ‘Sewer Rat’ that appears in the entire game.
It was a cruel joke that Bethesda played on players in 2006, conditioning them to kill rats on sight, only to turn around and place a non-hostile rat in a compromising location. It’s a poignant lesson for life: don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t judge a giant rat by the crimes of their brethren.
If you think about it, this is the smartest creature in the game. After seeing the eventual Hero of Kvatch destroy a small army of goblins and rats, the humble sewer rat is content to let them wander by unopposed. This is to preserve their own life, yes. But there could also be something more divine at play.
Perhaps the rat has untold power but knows the player will be instrumental in preventing the destruction of Tamriel, and so allows them to pass. They may die, yes. But what is one rat’s life compared to the fate of the whole continent, and perhaps Nirn as a whole?
The Oblivion Remake hasn’t been officially announced, but it’sheavily rumoured to be releasing next week. Remember: always check which rat you’re slaying.
