Is ESO set during a Dragon Break?

[george]

I know it's not a simple answer, but I'd like to see what people think

[Da Nut Crackah]

Yes? No? There is no definitive answer. Some people look at the events of the game and conclude it must be a Dragon Break, others think it was just lazy story telling, and the lore discrepancies and continuity errors are plot holes that people would like to shove under the rug by calling it a Dragon Break.

[Allegos]

My favorite fan theory is the one where the Dragon Break is the reason there are so many different iterations of the Vestige running around at the same time.

[MightyJean]

I'd say no, there are a couple dialogs in Artaeum with Celarus during the Psijic Order questline (last quest) that imply a Dragon Break could happen in some circonstances, so unless a Dragon Break can happen inside a Dragon Break, it isn't. At least not at the time of Summerset's events.
What will happen if the staff fails to contain it?
"The staff will either shatter into eight inert fragments, or ..."
Or?
"Or the power will coalesce into an impossibly dense Aurbic gyre—creating a new Dragon Break. Or perhaps something worse.
I wish I could be more reassuring. But the Old Ways demand that we see things as they are—not as we'd wish them to be."
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Loremaster_Celarus#The_Towers.27_Fall

[Oakshadow]

There are only a couple lore confirmed dragon breaks in Elders scrolls. However Bethesda has confirmed that those few dragon breaks have created multiple timelines. ESO itself has been confirmed as being a separate timeline from the main Elder Scrolls games. Which is why so much of the lore doesn't jive with other games.

You could probably figure out where things diverged by comparing lore books but that's a lot more work than I'm willing to put in.

[Trigger]

no dragonborn = no dragon break. Dragons of Elsweyr were set free by Abnur Tharn, by mistake-he had no idea.