Avowed Is a Tiny Timeline Hop After Deadfire, and I'm Still Reeling

I have a confession: I am the kind of Eora nerd who reads fictional timelines for fun. So when I learned that Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed takes place only a handful of years after Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, I did not calmly nod. I choked on my drink. In 2026, with Avowed out in the wild, that tiny gap still feels like a prank. Deadfire ends with a god stomping across the Deadfire Archipelago, breaking the Wheel, and basically flipping the metaphysical table. Then Avowed says, hold my beer, we are going to the Living Lands about seven years later. Seven. Years. That is not a sequel gap. That is a coffee break. 😅

The Timeline Is Absurdly Long, Which Makes the Short Gap Funnier

Eora's history is massive. We are talking over 15,000 years of prehistory, plus enough political drama to fill a dozen lore books. The Engwithans allegedly created the gods in 600 Anno Iroccio. The Aedyr Kingdom rose around 2200 AI. By 2399 AI, after a war with the elven kingdom of Kulklin, it became the Aedyr Empire. Then, in 2823 AI, the first Pillars of Eternity happens. Deadfire follows shortly after. Avowed, according to director Carrie Patel in a June 2024 interview, is set only a short number of years after Deadfire, which fans approximate to around 2830 AI. 🤯

That table is doing a lot of heavy lifting, but so is my disbelief. The entire franchise has been pushing the timeline forward, and Avowed is no exception. It just pushes forward with the urgency of someone trying to catch a bus. 🚌

The Living Lands Are Far Enough Away to Ignore the Apocalypse

Here is the part that actually makes sense, even if it hurts my lore-obsessed heart. Deadfire takes place in the Deadfire Archipelago. Avowed takes place in the Living Lands. Those are not next-door neighbors. They are not even the same neighborhood. So while Eothas was busy breaking the Wheel and causing existential chaos, plenty of people in Eora apparently did not notice. Geographic distance is a wonderful excuse for narrative independence. It is also a wonderful excuse for me to ignore my problems, but that is another article.

Avowed's Envoy protagonist is sent to investigate a plague in the Living Lands. The game does not require you to know every detail of Pillars lore, and honestly, that is a smart move. Obsidian wants new players to jump in without doing 300 hours of homework. As someone who did the homework, I am mildly offended. As someone who also likes friends, I am relieved. 🧙

Cameos Are Possible, But Avowed Is Not a Victory Lap

Because only a few years pass between Deadfire and Avowed, old characters could theoretically return or cameo. Nobody has aged out of the story. A familiar face could pop up, say a cryptic sentence, and vanish into the fog. That is classic RPG behavior. However, Avowed has not shown itself to be highly concerned with picking up exactly where Pillars left off. It is firmly rooted in the same worldbuilding and lore that defines Eora, but it is also establishing a brand-new section of the IP. That means it leans into its own first-person action RPG perspective instead of being a direct sequel.

In 2026, after playing it, I can say the approach works. Avowed references the previous games, but it does not drown in them. The short timeline gap is a fun piece of trivia, not a narrative chain. It lets the Living Lands feel connected to the larger world without forcing every conversation to be about Eothas and the Wheel. And yes, I still think about that giant god statue. I probably always will. But Avowed proves that Eora is big enough for multiple kinds of stories, even ones that happen right after the apocalypse next door.

So if you are like me and you panic when timelines get too close, take a breath. Avowed is not a direct continuation. It is a side door into the same weird, wonderful world. Just do not ask me to explain the Wheel at a party. I will, and you will regret it. 🍻